Dalla Luce Della Luna (The Star-Struck and Stricken Remix) [Smallville: Chloe/Clark]
Title: Dalla Luce Della Luna (The Star-Struck and Stricken Remix)
Author: savage_midnight
Summary: Fairytales don't last forever and neither do Princesses.
Rating: G
Fandom: Smallville
Original: Dalla Luce Della Luna (By the Light of the Moon) by danceswithgary.
Nobody knows when it happened. Maybe it was the day the wind blew South-East instead of South-West, or the day the spider failed to snare the fly. Maybe it was the day that someone said yes instead of no, or drove right instead of left.
It could be said that one choice changed everything, but it could have been many. Nobody knows, nobody will ever know, and the only truth that exists is the life in which they live.
--
Lex Luthor never follows in his father's footsteps. He follows his love of science instead, channels all that passion and intensity into his work, and spends most of his days hidden away in Cadmus Labs. He never moves to Smallville. The castle is filled with his father's presence, which resonates across the town, stirring the folk, shattering the fragile peace that lingers. It repels some, draws in others, and Nell Potter is the only one to experience both.
The marriage cracks alliances down the centre. Lana Lang never becomes a part of Clark Kent's social circle. She shares no kinship with Chloe Sullivan, and Whitney is left behind when Lana falls for her distant, mysterious stepbrother.
Some events unfold differently, others do not. Clark's destiny doesn't change, established long before the choices that changed this world were made. But his decisions aren't the same and what once was never becomes what is. His father lives, his mother doesn't run for the Senate, and Lionel Luthor's interest in the Kents is fleeting.
Clark's obsession with Lana Lang starts to waver the day of the hurricane. This time, when he leaves Chloe star-struck and stricken on the dance floor, it's to save his parents, not Lana. He has few chances to save the Luthor princess in this world; she spends most of her time in Metropolis or chasing down the illusion of family at the Manor.
When Pete leaves -- and that happens as it has always happened -- it's just him and Chloe. They draw closer in the months that follow, Clark seeking normalcy, Chloe seeking something that he can't name. He fails to understand why she sticks by his side when he lets her down so often, but her anger is fleeting and her trust unwavering. She tallies up the amount of times he's saved her life, weighs them against the times he's left her behind or sneered at her while hopped up on Red K, and strangely, inexplicably, doesn't find him wanting.
There are days when he wants to tell her everything. And one night he does. He doesn't do it because he's in love with her. He does it because she's Chloe, his best friend, the one he trusts implicitly. That's the night Alisha sees them in the loft, grinning at each other like idiots because she finally understands and he can finally stop lying. That's the night Alisha runs Chloe off the road, jealous and insane, unable to bare another girl being his secret keeper. That's the night he begs Jor-El to undo his mess, to make everything right, and he does, and Chloe never flatlines, never leaves him alone.
He never shares his secret again but Chloe still continues to forgive and forget, until he's waiting for the day that their friendship snaps and shatters, leaving him with nothing.
That day never comes. A different day arrives, a day when he looks at her and thinks maybe he's in love with his best friend. It happens the week that Chloe's cousin, Lois, is in town, and Lois smirks at him. He looks at her questioningly and she looks back, comments on something he's never noticed before, about the way he looks at Chloe, not looks, but stares, gaze hot and steady like he's not ashamed to gaze at her like he was when he gazed at Lana Lang.
And it hits him. That he likes looking at his best friend like that, that he simply likes looking at her.
There’s one night, when they’re curled together on the sofa in the loft watching old movies, when he tests his love theory and kisses her. It’s an awkward kiss. There’s no building expectation, no tension, just a moment when he turns her head up to his, and she looks at him with confusion, not passion. He moves in a little too fast and the kiss is hard, fumbling. But he tries again and this time she gets it, this time there’s an eagerness there, and they move in together. There’s a brush of lips, soft, testing the waters, and then she slides her tongue into his mouth, twines it around his own, and the night is spent like this, lip-locked, content, like the matter has been discussed, settled, and they know exactly where to go from here.
And they do. The transition from friends to lovers is seamless, and Clark wonders fleetingly why it's so easy. It makes him nervous for a while. He expects everything to fall apart, like they did that night, but nothing happens and soon enough they're Chloe-and-Clark, a unit, a package.
Somewhere down the line Alisha is released with a clean bill of health, and in her infinite wisdom, in her own way trying to right the wrongs of the past, she helps Chloe unravel Clark's secret. And he waits for everything else to unravel with it, for everything to break into pieces, for Chloe to turn up pale and lifeless, but that never happens, either. They have the talk and Chloe takes it all in her stride, the way she does and always has, and things move smoother than ever.
He proposes the night before they graduate, presents her with a ring crafted from the crystals of his fortress, and she smiles that infectious smile, the one that makes him grin for hours, and whispers yes, yes, over and over until he has to shut her up with his mouth.
The ceremony is small and perfect, and after Clark follows Chloe to Metropolis. She lands an internship at the Planet and he spends his days speeding between the farm and the city, until his parents decide to give up the farm and move closer to their son.
And that’s how it goes. Young and in love, the early years of their marriage suffer through the smallest of trials. He gets comfortable somewhere along to line, stops waiting for the day everything falls apart, and it’s during this time that it happens.
He’s at his parents house, waiting for Chloe to join them for dinner, when he gets the call. While he's been waiting for the day that his secret will eventually kill her, something else does instead. A dark street, a wife late for dinner at the in-laws, and a bus running off schedule.
Chloe’s body is barely recognisable. It’s a closed casket for the funeral and Clark spends it going over the what-ifs. What if he’d picked her up from work himself? What if the bus driver hadn’t been driving over the limit? What if he’d just begged Jor-El a little harder, a little longer? Would she have lived?
The lack of answers drive him crazy, leads him back to Smallville so he can track down the memories he already has. He rents the apartment above the Talon, sleeps with the smell of coffee lingering in the air, and refuses to take his wedding ring off.
On his thirty-fifth day there, Lana Lang works into the Talon. She gives him a small smile while he’s standing at the counter ordering coffee he doesn’t like, and it makes him pause. It’s not quite as bright as Chloe’s smile -- no one’s ever will be -- but it’s enough.
Seven months later he takes his wedding ring off.
Author: savage_midnight
Summary: Fairytales don't last forever and neither do Princesses.
Rating: G
Fandom: Smallville
Original: Dalla Luce Della Luna (By the Light of the Moon) by danceswithgary.
Nobody knows when it happened. Maybe it was the day the wind blew South-East instead of South-West, or the day the spider failed to snare the fly. Maybe it was the day that someone said yes instead of no, or drove right instead of left.
It could be said that one choice changed everything, but it could have been many. Nobody knows, nobody will ever know, and the only truth that exists is the life in which they live.
--
Lex Luthor never follows in his father's footsteps. He follows his love of science instead, channels all that passion and intensity into his work, and spends most of his days hidden away in Cadmus Labs. He never moves to Smallville. The castle is filled with his father's presence, which resonates across the town, stirring the folk, shattering the fragile peace that lingers. It repels some, draws in others, and Nell Potter is the only one to experience both.
The marriage cracks alliances down the centre. Lana Lang never becomes a part of Clark Kent's social circle. She shares no kinship with Chloe Sullivan, and Whitney is left behind when Lana falls for her distant, mysterious stepbrother.
Some events unfold differently, others do not. Clark's destiny doesn't change, established long before the choices that changed this world were made. But his decisions aren't the same and what once was never becomes what is. His father lives, his mother doesn't run for the Senate, and Lionel Luthor's interest in the Kents is fleeting.
Clark's obsession with Lana Lang starts to waver the day of the hurricane. This time, when he leaves Chloe star-struck and stricken on the dance floor, it's to save his parents, not Lana. He has few chances to save the Luthor princess in this world; she spends most of her time in Metropolis or chasing down the illusion of family at the Manor.
When Pete leaves -- and that happens as it has always happened -- it's just him and Chloe. They draw closer in the months that follow, Clark seeking normalcy, Chloe seeking something that he can't name. He fails to understand why she sticks by his side when he lets her down so often, but her anger is fleeting and her trust unwavering. She tallies up the amount of times he's saved her life, weighs them against the times he's left her behind or sneered at her while hopped up on Red K, and strangely, inexplicably, doesn't find him wanting.
There are days when he wants to tell her everything. And one night he does. He doesn't do it because he's in love with her. He does it because she's Chloe, his best friend, the one he trusts implicitly. That's the night Alisha sees them in the loft, grinning at each other like idiots because she finally understands and he can finally stop lying. That's the night Alisha runs Chloe off the road, jealous and insane, unable to bare another girl being his secret keeper. That's the night he begs Jor-El to undo his mess, to make everything right, and he does, and Chloe never flatlines, never leaves him alone.
He never shares his secret again but Chloe still continues to forgive and forget, until he's waiting for the day that their friendship snaps and shatters, leaving him with nothing.
That day never comes. A different day arrives, a day when he looks at her and thinks maybe he's in love with his best friend. It happens the week that Chloe's cousin, Lois, is in town, and Lois smirks at him. He looks at her questioningly and she looks back, comments on something he's never noticed before, about the way he looks at Chloe, not looks, but stares, gaze hot and steady like he's not ashamed to gaze at her like he was when he gazed at Lana Lang.
And it hits him. That he likes looking at his best friend like that, that he simply likes looking at her.
There’s one night, when they’re curled together on the sofa in the loft watching old movies, when he tests his love theory and kisses her. It’s an awkward kiss. There’s no building expectation, no tension, just a moment when he turns her head up to his, and she looks at him with confusion, not passion. He moves in a little too fast and the kiss is hard, fumbling. But he tries again and this time she gets it, this time there’s an eagerness there, and they move in together. There’s a brush of lips, soft, testing the waters, and then she slides her tongue into his mouth, twines it around his own, and the night is spent like this, lip-locked, content, like the matter has been discussed, settled, and they know exactly where to go from here.
And they do. The transition from friends to lovers is seamless, and Clark wonders fleetingly why it's so easy. It makes him nervous for a while. He expects everything to fall apart, like they did that night, but nothing happens and soon enough they're Chloe-and-Clark, a unit, a package.
Somewhere down the line Alisha is released with a clean bill of health, and in her infinite wisdom, in her own way trying to right the wrongs of the past, she helps Chloe unravel Clark's secret. And he waits for everything else to unravel with it, for everything to break into pieces, for Chloe to turn up pale and lifeless, but that never happens, either. They have the talk and Chloe takes it all in her stride, the way she does and always has, and things move smoother than ever.
He proposes the night before they graduate, presents her with a ring crafted from the crystals of his fortress, and she smiles that infectious smile, the one that makes him grin for hours, and whispers yes, yes, over and over until he has to shut her up with his mouth.
The ceremony is small and perfect, and after Clark follows Chloe to Metropolis. She lands an internship at the Planet and he spends his days speeding between the farm and the city, until his parents decide to give up the farm and move closer to their son.
And that’s how it goes. Young and in love, the early years of their marriage suffer through the smallest of trials. He gets comfortable somewhere along to line, stops waiting for the day everything falls apart, and it’s during this time that it happens.
He’s at his parents house, waiting for Chloe to join them for dinner, when he gets the call. While he's been waiting for the day that his secret will eventually kill her, something else does instead. A dark street, a wife late for dinner at the in-laws, and a bus running off schedule.
Chloe’s body is barely recognisable. It’s a closed casket for the funeral and Clark spends it going over the what-ifs. What if he’d picked her up from work himself? What if the bus driver hadn’t been driving over the limit? What if he’d just begged Jor-El a little harder, a little longer? Would she have lived?
The lack of answers drive him crazy, leads him back to Smallville so he can track down the memories he already has. He rents the apartment above the Talon, sleeps with the smell of coffee lingering in the air, and refuses to take his wedding ring off.
On his thirty-fifth day there, Lana Lang works into the Talon. She gives him a small smile while he’s standing at the counter ordering coffee he doesn’t like, and it makes him pause. It’s not quite as bright as Chloe’s smile -- no one’s ever will be -- but it’s enough.
Seven months later he takes his wedding ring off.