"Go By"

///chapter six///

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“He’s been doing what?”


The gang was all there—her, Jimmy, Lois and Clark, all of them together at one of those twenty four hour coffee places in the middle of the night in Metropolis.


Chloe regretted bringing it up at all. No one knew how personal the meteor rocks were to her, and she wasn’t about to get flustered up about it. Not now. Not while Clark was here.


Clark Kent, native to Smallville and everything weird that rolled into it. She’d absolutely forgotten who was sitting next to her. If they talked about the subject any further, she might spoil more than she’d want to. Even Jimmy and Lois didn’t have full disclosure.


She could feel his eyes burning patterns on the side of her face for answers, but Chloe refused to look at him. In a childish move, she feigned interest in a nonexistent text message on her phone.


Tonight had been all too weird. He’d swooped in from out of nowhere to save the night, and tagged along as if this were a habitual rendezvous. But it wasn’t, it was strange. Clark was practically a stranger now, Chloe hadn’t even heard his name, nor even seen him for years. But there wasn’t any awkwardness between them and ironically that was what made it all strange. It was as if time never passed, instead rolling backwards to where Clark was still her best friend as in three years ago. Everything about seeing Clark again was so, so…

So easy.


Like he fell right into place, right next to her where he sat next to her now.


A small bit of her was irritated about that. How dare Clark pop in to rekindle all of their friendship she had resolutely ended, and with serious effort. There were reasons why she didn’t call or answer his calls. Reasons she deftly shoved away as soon as they crept into thought.


But a few fluttered past her protest, settling in. The internal push and pull made her chest feel tight with unease. This wasn’t like her. Where was all the audacity and pluckiness that usually saved her from awkward situations?


She gathered up all her strength, looking for something, anything to say that would save her from the drowning silence that was currently suffocating their table.


What was Clark doing in Metropolis anyway?


She was about to ask him that exact question when the waitress slid in four plates with a healthy serving of complimentary pie accompanied with four hot coffees.


Chloe smirked instantly. Apple was Clark’s favorite if she remembered correctly.

How serendipitous. She thought, unwrapping her fork.


As she indulged in the first bite, she heard Clark say something about good natured people existing outside of Smallville, contrary to her belief. It was just like Clark to be proven right. She wouldn’t let him win though. She only shrugged and brushed it away, more interested in her dessert.


Jimmy was enjoying his slice across from her with Lois snoozing through the entire late night chorale.


Poor Lois, it was her birthday after all.


“You guys don’t taste something funny in this stuff?” She heard Clark peep up from his plate.


Chloe turned, her coffee resting below her lips. “Funny?” She couldn’t help but smile at Kent’s geeky glasses sliding dangerously down his nose. She resisted the itch to push them back up.


Instead she leaned in, pinching off a corner of Clark’s pie and tasted it. “No, it’s ok.” She looked back at Clark who looked less than O.K. He was scrunched backwards in his seat with his shoulders shaking.


“Clark, are you alright?”


Before she could say or do anything else, Clark leaped up and over the back of the booth, darting outside.


“Whoa, he’s pretty fast for a big guy.” Jimmy lifted his felt hat, scratching his head.


She turned to Jimmy with an equally surprised look. “Yeah. I’ll see what’s the matter.”


Chloe grabbed her coat from behind her and scooted out the door, the chime on it sounding.


“Don’t stay out too long, coffee’s getting cold!” Jimmy called after her. Lois rustled beside him, leaning her head against his neck. He made a face when he spied a wet spot on his collar.


“Aw, c’mon, Lo. You’re droolin’ all over me.” He gave her a light shove, kicking back to finish Clark’s abandoned pie and coffee.


**


Outside, a low fog rolled in with a light rain that couldn‘t decide whether it wanted to rain or not. Chloe wrapped her coat tighter around her body, looking left and right. It was dark, but the shop’s dining room lights distributed through the parking lot, providing just enough glow for Chloe to see him. He was leaning against the brick wall.


“Whoa, Clark.” Chloe walked to him and rested a hand on his shoulder. “I’ve never seen you so allergic to apple pie before.”


Clark smiled queasily. He felt a whole lot better; however his stomach threatened a repeat. Since ordinary food poisoning couldn’t faze him, Clark knew something else was up. Ordinarily he would have tracked down the source right away, but presently he had company. Chloe was there, holding his hand, guiding him to sit down.


“Here, come sit for a moment.” Evidently the drizzling stopped, as Chloe led Clark to the side of the curb that was still dry. She wrapped her coat tighter after a shrill gust of cold air swept passed. She looked over at Clark’s light jacket and wrapped her arm around his, rubbing her other hand against his shoulder.


“I bet you’re freezing!”


Clark hid the amusement at her concern, but it was a sweet gesture anyway so he glanced back with a small smile. “No, I run hot. It feels good outside.”


She looked and shivered. “You’re weird!”


Clark laughed at both the candor and accuracy of that.


They seemed like a close knit bunch, Chloe and her friends, as Clark observed from the outside. But he didn’t feel like an outsider, in fact he felt quite comfortable.


Even though the feeling was nice, he considered his main concerns in what Chloe had mentioned earlier. He’d thought Lex had given up on his meteor obsession long ago, but apparently not. Evidently, he was more fixated on the phenomenon than before, mining even further into the attributes of the radioactive remnants of his lost home.


Clark knew he had to investigate this right away, and find a way to stop Lex and all of the worst intentions he knew that were driving this experiments, but first he needed to convince Chloe to drop her investigation. Meteor rocks and Lex Luthor were both known to be deadly. Clark wasn’t about to let another innocent person become another meteor related fatality.


He spied from the corner of his eye and saw she wasn’t just shivering anymore, but plainly shaking. She was freezing.


Clark untangled Chloe’s arm from his and wrapped his own around the outside of her, drawing her in. She hesitated at first, but acclimated to the nook of his shoulder.


“Thanks, but..” Chloe smiled against his jacket. “I thought I came out here to make sure you were ok.”


“I’m ok if you’re ok.” Clark offered, hoping she would just silently agree to sit out here with him while he recovered, buying some time with her.


Chloe was quiet for a moment.


“You’re really warm.”


Clark smiled. “I told you.”


Clark waited for the usual snarky remark from Chloe’s plucky mind but there wasn‘t one. Clark might not have been hanging around Chloe these last years, but he knew her how her mind worked, and how it never stopped working. He wondered what she was thinking about that kept her wagging tongue at bay.


So quiet in fact that his ears rested back onto the steady rhythm he’d been hearing all night.

Wait a minute. Clark realized, looking down at her.


The revelation caught him, causing hairs to stand on his neck.


He turned his head slightly, causing his chin to brush the top of her hair.


“Your hair. It’s long.” Clark stated, keeping a small smile to himself. He looked down at her shoulders where her hair rested in long waves, all the while still tuned into her inner cadence.


Chloe laughed a little and tugged playfully at one of the golden curls Clark still eyed. “They’re clip ins. Lois thought long hair would ‘transform me’.” She said, making a grand gesture with her hands at the word transform. “I got them earlier today.”


Clark looked skeptical. “Clip ins?”


Chloe rolled her eyes and reached behind her ear, un-snapping one. She carefully pulled it away to reveal a neatly organized set of faux, clustered golden waves.


Clark, amazed, sat admiring the technology. It looked just like her real hair that was tucked neatly beneath. He made several dubious looks before he smiled.


“Do you want to try it?”


“Me? No!” Clark coughed, “No. I’m good.” He pushed up his falling glasses.


Her roll of laughter tantalized him. “Don’t worry. Something tells me blonde isn’t your natural color, Clark.” She followed with a smirk.


He narrowed his eyes and played along. Secretly, he enjoyed it. He missed her teasing. It awakened a part of him he thought he lost a long time ago. Plus, it kept her from being quiet. When she was quiet, Clark was forced to listen to the something he’d also been hearing tonight. It wasn’t as loud as her heart, but it was there in the recessed corners, lecturing him to leave and not look back.

Jor-El. Clark thought, grimacing as he did. He wasn’t oblivious to Jor-El’s jealousy of Clark’s remaining ties to humanity. Every time Clark spent an afternoon with his father, Jonathan Kent, instead of meditation at the caves, he could hear Jor-El chanting scornfully.


Despite his biological father’s interference, Clark couldn’t peel himself away. He felt a overwhelming sense that he should stay; and the revelation of her heartbeat proved the ground for further investigation. There was something here, in this moment, that Clark felt an intense connection and pull of gravity. He’d explain it all to Jor-El later. But for now, Clark sat next to Chloe, his arm gently placed around her on this strange, particular night.


“I think long hair looks good on you. I didn’t even recognize you at first.” Clark watched, keeping the conversation light.


Chloe smiled. “That was the point. I needed a good disguise tonight. Couldn’t afford being recognized, I mean half the faculty was there. But I doubt they could recognize anything through the booze goggles.”


Chloe paused and turned. “Speaking of goggles. What’s up with the glasses, Kent?”


“Oh.” Clark bent his head down and removed the dark frames with his free hand, his other arm still wrapped around Chloe protectively. “My uh, my mom thought they were a good idea. I’ve been having trouble reading things, um, up close.”


Chloe gently took them from his hand; her fingers brushing ever so slightly against his.


She pushed the glasses onto her own nose and turned. If the glasses were oversized for Clark, now they were definitely gigantic on Chloe’s smaller face. She looked like she was wearing costume jewelry.


“Well, do I look dashing?” She posed mockingly, a lopsided grin adorning her rosy cheeks.


Despite his inner protests, a goofy smile crept onto his face which in turn made Chloe’s grin even more brilliant than before. He smiled wider, unsure if he should admit that glasses looked silly on both of them, or that he’d forgotten how beautiful her smile was.


They found themselves smiling giddily at each other, a buoyant feeling passing between them. Clark idly wondered when the last time he felt this way. He couldn’t remember.


“I guess we’re both in disguise tonight, Clark. “ She poked at the obtuse shape of plastic.


Clark smiled, lightly tugging one of her long curls. “Yeah, disguise.” She didn’t know how close to the truth she was.


Holding the glasses with both hands, Chloe squinted through the lenses at the surrounding billboards dotted along the highway. “I don’t see how these help. I can barely make out any difference with them.”


“Uh,” Clark stopped her, gently removing them from her face. “Yea, they help. Like I said, I have trouble seeing things up close.”


Clark watched her furtively roll her eyes and whisper something along the lines of

Yeah, you always were oblivious.


“What?”


“Nothing!” Chloe smiled brightly, looking as if caught red handed. She retreated further into her coat, asking herself how he could have possibly heard her. But she was drawn back by Clark’s mysterious gaze that concentrated only on her. His glasses were still in his hand, and for the first time, Chloe saw the unobstructed face of the boy she remembered from freshmen year.


It had all happened very fast. Clark Kent used to be just a name and a distant memory but now… Now he was a real person sitting right next to her, watching her as she recounted all that had happened that night.


Several airy moments passed, until Chloe broke the strange, stimulating silence that suspended between them.


She asked of Pete and Clark’s parents, to whom he answered the best he could. He wouldn’t mention the fact that his parents were more and more distant than before, always worrying about the obscure future loomed over their son. Wouldn’t dare bring up the fact that Pete had moved away to protect his secret. And he would never mention the reunion with his biological father through the Kawatche caves’ A.I. That would be a weird conversation.


So he bumbled along, only revealing that Pete had moved to Wichita and his parents were still living happy on the farm.


Chloe nodded, listening quietly as Clark spoke of things back home. She noticed that Clark seemed to be stepping very carefully around certain subjects. She knew it might be crass of her to pry, but she didn’t care, the journalistic twitch in her was curious to know.


“How’s Lana?”


Clark glanced up, fiddling with his glasses in his hand. “She’s fine.” He smiled, knowing that it was the truth.


Chloe nodded, and became quiet again.


Clark debated on elaborating on that short answer, but he elected not to.

Too much history, stagnant history. Clark focused on the present.


“I’ve missed you.”


She stilled against him. “You have?”


He saw her surprise and recognized his own. Hadn’t he missed Chloe? Maybe he hadn’t understood it before, but her heart beat had stayed with him. Perhaps it was a way of compensating. Throughout the past years he had waded in dark, untread waters, not knowing what would happen, where he was going. But she was there, in a way, that lulling cadence guiding him to a small sanctuary. And now she was here, right beside him.


“Yeah, I have.” Clark looked at her shyly. “The Torch wasn’t the same without you. Pete and I never did visit. I guess I’ve missed a lot of stuff since you’ve left. You’ve changed awfully lot.”


Chloe snorted. “Like how?”


“Well for one,” Clark wagged his glasses and leaning forward with a serious face, resembling one that Jonathan Kent might use, “You didn’t use to drive like the devil was after you.”


She smiled, “Well, live in the city for a few months and you learn how to drive creatively around traffic. Besides, you should see how Lois drives.”


“Lois?” Clark raised a brow. “Yeah, she seems,” he proceeded carefully, “she seems a little loud.”


Chloe smiled again. “Well, she is my cousin, Clark. Sullivan-Lane girls never were wall-flowers.”

Cousins. Clark nodded at the concept and continued.


“Two, you snuck into a nightclub to only then hack into its transaction records?”


“How is that any different than sneaking into Smallville Medical Center and looking up patient files?” Chloe quickly riposted.


Clark blinked. “How did you even get into that place?”


Chloe rolled her eyes, and reached inside of her blouse, pulling something out, which Clark noticed, or tried not to notice, was hidden inside a black lace bra. Clark snapped back to the object she held between her fingers.


“Chloe!” Clark grabbed it from her and studied it in disapproval. It was Chloe’s picture, with her longer hair, heavy make up and a fake birth date and bogus name.


“So I managed to make a few friends at the DMV, so what?”


Clark stared at her in disbelief and waved it in her face. “This is… this is…” He gave up, throwing up his hands.


She snatched it back, and returned it to its hiding place.


Clark peaked over his shoulder.


“What?” She smirked back, “Don’t look at me that way. I did what I had to do.”


Clark rubbed his forehead, repositioning his slipping glasses. It seemed that Chloe had gotten way more creative with her investigative skills. If he was going to deter her from going after Luthor, there wasn’t going to be any easy way about it.


“Look, Chloe, from what you told me back in there, investigating the Luthors is dangerous.”


This time Chloe threw up her hands. “Jeeze, some things never change.”


“What’s that supposed to mean?”


She looked at him and sighed. “I mean, the charming ‘Kent family lecture’. I haven’t seen you for three years and already within one hour you’re already giving me the 4-1-1 on how dangerous the world is.”


Clark opened and shut his mouth, grimacing.


“Oh really?” Clark countered. “You know exactly how dangerous the Luthors are, except you willingly go looking for trouble. Yeah, you’re right Chloe, some things never change. You still follow your curiosity until it leads you into trouble, like it always has.”


She sighed again.


“I’ve been absolutely fine all these years without you hounding me. I’m fine, Clark. I know what I’m doing.” She saw his doubtful expression and continued carefully.


“Look, the meteor rocks are an important subject for me. I feel guilty for all those stories we investigated at the Torch. I know we were young, but it was wrong. I always assumed they were freaks, but the truth was that Luthor was using them as social experiments the entire time.


They didn’t have a chance. Most of them,” Chloe breathed deeply, forcing herself to keep it together. “Most of them were born that way.”


“And you want to be their voice.” Clark prompted. “I didn’t realize you ever felt that way about it.” Clark said, another revelation passing through him. Finding a sympathetic voice for the meteor infected was rare if not nonexistent.


“Listen, Chloe, I understand what you’re trying to do. I understand you feel guilty but you don’t have to do this. This is dangerous.” Clark used his mild manner, trying to perforate her stubbornness.


But she only turned towards him with defiant eyes, clearly none of his influence touching them.


“Just because they’re different, doesn’t mean they deserve to be social outcasts and criminals. They deserve justice from what Luthor’s done. I’m not going to stop pursuing this just because I get bumped around once or twice. These people have no one else supporting them, speaking up for them. I can’t turn away.”


He stared back at her, recognizing himself inside her words.


“I just don’t want you to get hurt.”


Her concentrated gaze broke away from his.


“I never get hurt.” Chloe said, partly to herself.


Clark frowned, searching for the reason why she shut off all of a sudden. She remained silent, unconsciously rubbing the part of her forearm where it had been grabbed violently earlier.


He clued in on her restless fingers, stopping them with his.


“Did he hurt you?” He pulled back her sleeve, touching the skin there. It was soft, and warm, but there wasn’t any sign of bruising.


Chloe tweaked back, recovering her wrist. “No, he barely touched me.”


She knew normally there should have been a dark purple spot there, but there wasn’t. Just the tingling sensation left behind, her body acclimating quickly. She remained quiet hoping Clark would leave it alone.


But his hand continued to linger over hers as he continued to examine her shortness with him. He knew she was hiding something.


One of her hand slipped into his, and she rubbed her other palm onto top of it. “I’m ok, Clark. Really.”


One look into his searching blue eyes, and she lost it again, resolving to staring into the strange fog building around them.


And it certainly was a strange night.


Clark’s attention remained on the back of Chloe’s hair while several cars passed, swirling the low lying white clouds.


He thought about how bizarre it was sitting next to her. Talking with her, lecturing her. It all seemed so easy, like they hadn’t been apart at all.


He found it bizarre that Chloe had fastened herself to the cause of the meteor infected. Apparently they had been fighting for the same team and not even known it. He didn’t bother hiding the quiet smile that formed with the amusing discovery.


But hearing her talk about following Lex Luthor drew up every red flag Clark possessed. He didn’t like the idea of someone as defiant as Chloe going head to head with Lex himself.


Clark knew he hadn’t even come close to dissuading her from Lex. The problem now was how he was going to keep her from it. Keep her from getting herself hurt or worse.


Clark did a double take at her profile, envisioning what motivated her within that stubborn little head of hers.


She was hiding something, Clark was sure of it. But he knew he’d figure it out, just like her heart beat. Evidently, Chloe couldn’t hide herself from him. He’d been in touch with her all this time, only too dense with himself to figure it out.


He looked at her again.


What else was she hiding up her sleeve?


“Clark, what are you doing here?”


Somewhere between Clark’s eddying thoughts, Chloe had turned towards him.


It was the question she’d waited to be answered all night. She wanted her answer. Out of all the nights Clark could have shown up, he chose this one.


“I haven’t seen you for over three years, you never called or visited, we never ran into each other before and you can’t tell me that Metropolis is a small town, because it isn’t.” She huffed, catching her breath. “So, why are you here?”


She watched his blue eyes cloud over, as if he were reaching for an answer. He bumbled over a few syllables before he just gave up all together, becoming very quiet.


It was intoxicating how cute he was. She couldn’t resist it anymore. Who knows if this were the last time she’d see him again. Another three years could pass.


He was still the same Clark, endearing with his automatic concern for her safety and all. He still wore his red jacket and blue cotton shirt. She looked down at his work boots that seemed the same as before. The only thing that seemed different was the reflection of his eyes. They looked, pained, different somehow.


She wanted to change that. She wanted to go back to her previous, shedded self, and reclaim that moment on the gym floor.


She felt her older cousin’s sage influence rolling over in her mind. Kiss Him.


“No excuse?” She peered at him with questioning eyes.


“I was just taking a walk around the city. You know, sight seeing.” He cleared his throat.


“Strolling around, huh? In the clubbing district? You? Clark Kent?” She smiled lopsided,

“Somehow I find that very hard to believe.” She scooted closer, watching Clark become more uncomfortable with every inch.


“So, where’s the truck? Don’t tell me you walked all the way from the farm.” She said, leering at his unhinged composure.


Clark let a laugh escape him.


“Actually, I ran.” He looked up at her, his eyes twinkling.


She exchanged a disbelieving look of her own before rolling her own pair.


“Clark Kent, you always were a terrible liar.”


He smiled to himself, feeling Chloe’s investigative antennae retracting back. Then he felt her shift beside him, her palm resting on top of his forehead.


“You feeling better?” She asked, checking his temperature.


He’d forgotten why she’d followed him out here in the first place. His stomach wasn’t churning anymore. In fact it felt very light. He swallowed hard as he watched her move even closer.


“You look nervous. Something wrong?” A wry smile danced across her lips.


If you’ve ever encountered a situation where you stood at an airy precipice, consciously hovering between two actions, one being where you walked away, the other where you dove head first, and then being able to see two very different endings, you would be where Chloe was at that moment. She hesitated, making a bet that this opportunity would never arise again.


She found herself with a strange confidence. No matter how much she could potentially humiliate herself, the chances of seeing Clark Kent again after tonight was, well, very doubtful.


She slipped her fingers between his sideburns and swept his glasses away. Behind them, his eyes stared back at her with an intensity that made all of her fearless flirtation dissolve instantly. All of the previous distance and sadness she observed in them before changed into something clear and very much in the present. She would have faltered back if it wasn’t for Clark strong hand that caught her waist, holding her still.


She remained fixed, her eyes on his, mysteriousness in them that quieted the restlessness in hers.


She blinked helplessly, Clark’s large hand against her back.


He smiled and watched as she smiled too. It was the same smile he’d witness so long ago on that day they’d dressed up in funny, starched clothes. He wore a white flower on his chest, she a pink one.


A curious, magnetic force pulled them forward, each of them leaning in closer. Their breath teased each other’s lips, tantalizing the tiny space that still lingered between them. Clark even felt his heart beat syncopate in his chest with hers. The familiar lulling cadence resonating at every corner of his mind.


Spellbound, they both failed to hear the faint door chime as Jimmy and Lois sauntered out.


“Oh gross!”


The sound of Lois’ booming voice sent Chloe reeling backward, leaving Clark hanging forward. He watched as she jumped up from the curb, tossing him his glasses.


Lois and Jimmy were leaning against the car. Lois, clearly sobered up, with her arms crossed against her chest, while Jimmy rested a foot on the bumper, a smug smile directed at Clark.


“I hope you weren’t going to kiss him, Chlo. I mean he just threw up and all. I mean, puke!” Lois looked between Chloe and Clark, a look of repulsion.


“No, I…” Chloe bashfully motioned back at Clark who now stood behind her. “I was just checking if he had a fever.” She followed her cousin’s look of condescending judgment back towards the car, her high heels clacking the entire way.


This humiliation would follow her all the way back to the city and into next week or next month. Depending on how long Lois would rag her about it. She looked back at Clark who stood alone, not daring to take a step closer towards them were she anticipated her cousin’s pounce.


“Uh huh, sure.” Lois narrowed her eyes, to what Clark recognized as disapproval. “Look, whatever. The night is young and it’s still my birthday so technically you and Jimmy still owe me a night out on the town.”


Lois flashed a hollow smile at Clark as she grabbed Chloe by the hand and led her away. “Nice meeting you.”


“Yeah,” the shutter going off his camera as Jimmy snapped a picture of Clark from the car. “See ya later, C.K.!” He waved his hat before sliding in behind the steering wheel. Lois dropped in beside him.


Chloe opened the back door, paused, and then turned around. She might have been humiliated yet again in font of Clark, but she wasn’t going to strand him out here.


“Clark, how are you going to get home? Seriously, where’s your truck?”


“I told you. I ran here.” A mysterious smile crookedly spanning his face.


He watched her brows knit together, a small crease forming between them. He knew she must be thinking up a million scenarios of him being stranded in the middle of the city, but he couldn’t lend an logical explanation. He thought it best to leave her in her bewildered expression.


Jimmy honked the horn. “C’mon, Chloe.”


Clark saw her look away, only briefly, while she got into the car. It was more than enough time to make his exit, leaving the entire car perplexed.


“Clark?” Chloe leaned out the window, looking left and right. She couldn’t see much in this fog. It was like Clark had just disappeared completely.


“Where did he go?” brows knitted again.


“Who cares.” Lois leaned back in her seat, yawning. “That guy’s a total geek, Chloe. I can’t believe you were about to lay one on him.”


“Oh, shut up Lois.” She said, sighing from the backseat. She ran her fingers through her hair, unsnapping the rest of her clip ins, brushing her natural hair out. Unlike her false hair, her true length fell around her chin. She smiled, remembering how impressed Clark was with the longer version.


As Jimmy pulled out of the parking lot, Chloe turned in her seat, still searching for Clark in the rear window.


But there was no sign of him. Only the dry spot where they had stayed close.


She told herself it was for the best. She didn’t need herself relapsing into that again. They weren’t kids anymore, and there were myriads of reasons why Chloe didn’t need any distractions.

Distractions. She ran her fingers over her wrist.


She stared out the side, her eyes idling running across some spilled crates by the coffee shop’s dumpster. One of them, printed in large, block letters read:

From the Orchards of Bradbury Farms, Smallville Kansas. Nature’s Greenest Fruit.


She watched it go by, as Lois and Jimmy sang flat with the radio, their car picking up speed down the lane.





chapter seven