Present/Story for Babydee1
Title: The Mistletoe War
For: Babydee
Words: 2,761
Rating: PG-13
Every year around Thanksgiving Chloe seemed to forget how to walk through a door. The action was so bizarre that Clark couldn't help but notice as Chloe would skirt around the edges of the doorway, clinging onto the doorframe. He'd never really thought about it, instead he'd always chalked up it to another quirkiness of his friend, like her Wall of Weird and her funky clothes. The Christmas decorations went up and Chloe started avoiding doors. It was almost a holiday custom.
Then one day in December, Clark finally understood.
Clark lay on the living room couch of his parent's house watching a Christmas movie and trying not to feel sorry for himself about his failed relationship with Lana. After the tornado, Clark had imagined he'd be spending Christmas very differently. He'd seen them snuggled together on this couch as the snow fell. Maybe they'd make a game of trying to be caught under the --The front door opened and Clark peeped over the back of the couch. Bundled up in a fluffy coat with colorful hat and gloves, Chloe smiled brightly at him in greeting from the door. "Hi, Clark."
Clark smiled back at her. "Hi, Chloe. Come on in."
He found he was still smiling as he watched Chloe perform her annual tradition of trying to slink through the door. Clark watched in fascination at the contortions Chloe used to slither through the doorway using an absolute minimum of space despite her bulky winter wear.
As Chloe skirted around the room to the couch, Clark shifted over so she could have a spot next to him. Chloe flopped down gratefully on the couch and started stripping off her gloves.
Clark looked at her quizzically and asked, "Hey Chloe, why do you do that?"
Chloe looked at him with a raised brow. "Take off my gloves? Well, see Clark, for us mere mortals --"
Clark bumped her shoulder fondly, knowing she was teasing him. "No, why do you go all weird about doors this time of year? I just realized you've done it as long as I've known you, but never asked."
Chloe's smile dimmed and she became very interested in unbuttoning her coat. "Oh, that. It's nothing really, I'm just trying not to..."
Clark suddenly became concerned. "What is it, Chloe? Did I ask something wrong? I didn't mean to."
"No, Clark. You didn't do anything wrong. It's just..."
Clark looked at her with concern in his brilliant blue eyes. He put a large gentle hand on hers where they now pulled and tugged at her coat buttons. "You can tell me, Chloe. Maybe I can help."
Suddenly Chloe burst out into self-deprecating laughter. "Oh, Clark. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you. It's actually really stupid now that I think about it. It's the mistletoe."
Clark looked at Chloe blankly for a moment before saying, "The mistletoe?" Then his eyes snapped back to the front door and the small clump of inoffensive green and white foliage just over it. He quickly shifted to X-ray vision to search for hidden dangers in the shining leaves, but he didn't see anything - not even a stray crystal of kryptonite. He looked back to Chloe in confusion. "What about it? It looks fine to me." Chloe stripped off her hat, and gave him a look like he was a very dim child. The effect was only slightly spoiled by the cloud of short blonde hair floating wildly around her. "I don't want to be caught under it."Clark still felt lost. "Umm, why not?"
Chloe rolled her eyes and got up from the couch to hang up her coat. "No reason, apparently."
Clark continued to stare at the plant, thinking about the peck he gave to his mom's cheek as they left through the door this time of year, imagining his parents coming through the door and pausing to kiss, how he had thought he'd try to catch Lana...
Sudden comprehension dawned on Clark. "You don't want to have to kiss anyone."
Chloe gave him an unreadable look. "Right. I don't want to have to kiss anyone."
Clark felt like there was more to it, but Chloe jumped in with, "So have you gotten all your shopping done yet? Especially for the really important people? Like freshmen living in dorms that could really use a new coffee maker because the one in the dining hall is always broken?"
Clark smiled at the not-very-subtle hint. "Maybe...but if I did know someone like that, I'd tell them that Santa has heard their wish."
Chloe flopped back on the couch next to him and pulled one of the blankets over her lap. "Well good then. So what are we watching?"
Clark smiled back. "It's a Wonderful Life."
"Good. I love that one."Chloe snuggled deep into the couch and Clark pulled her legs over his lap without a thought. She always had cold feet this time of year, but now that she knew his secret he could do something about it. He shot a burst of heat vision at low temp on her cold toes. Chloe's head fell back on the arm of the couch in bliss. "Oh, that's so nice. I swear they are never warm from October to April except for that."
"Is that why you keep coming over? Just to use me for my heat vision on your freezing feet?" he teased.
"Of course," Chloe replied. "What else would I use you for?"
Clark smiled over at her and caught a glimpse of the mistletoe back at the door behind her. From his angle, it looked almost like it was over her.
Suddenly, Clark understood. It wasn't some hypothetical "anyone" that Chloe didn't want kissing her under the mistletoe. It was him.
Clark found himself confused again. Why would Chloe go to such extremes to avoid kissing him? They'd done it before. Maybe it was during a mind-whammy or to act as a cover, but they had kissed. And now that she knew his secret, they had become even closer, though not in a kissing way.
He looked at Chloe stretched across him, smiling and watching the movie. She was his best friend, nothing more.
Right?
So why was she still avoiding mistletoe?
And why did it bother him so much?
****************************
They watched the movie and another one after it, laughing and chatting about their favorite parts, warm and comfortable in each others company. It wasn't until Chloe made her careful way out the mistletoe-free back door, that Clark realized this was the sort of winter day he had imagined for himself and Lana.
Except it was with Chloe, and he hadn't thought of Lana once while she was here.
The only part that had been missing was the kiss under the mistletoe.
Clark found he couldn't stop thinking about that as he made his way up to his bed.
**************************
Clark's dreams that night were full of distinctly non-platonic kisses under green and white foliage with Chloe.
**************************
Clark awoke the next morning feeling confused. Why had the idea of kissing Chloe under that mistletoe suddenly seem so appealing?
Was it because she had obviously thought about it too? For years?
Well, there was one way to know for sure. Clark raced into his clothes and made a beeline into town. He had to make a purchase.
***************************
Later that day, Chloe made her usual acrobatic effort to get through the Kent's front door without ending up under the mistletoe at any point.
Clark watched as she shimmied around the edges of the hall until she reached the "safe" area of the living room. She divested herself of her coat, hat, and gloves with what seemed to Clark as interminable slowness. He knew it wasn't, he was just oddly excited. After she was done, she smilingly came over to the couch. Clark tried to keep acting casual casual.
Just a few more steps...
Chloe froze just before getting to the couch. Shelby jumped up on the cushions of her usual spot, smiling with his tongue lolling out. He bounced in place slightly, looking expectant. Chloe's gaze was shifting upward with a strange expression. Clark looked up too, but he already knew what she was seeing.
"That's new," she said looking at the bright clump of fresh mistletoe above the couch.
She looked back down at the smiling, happy dog who gave her a little whine.
Chloe burst into laughter. "Shelby, are a total ham!" She bent down and gave Shelby a kiss on the head and a ruffle of his ears. Obviously feeling satisfied, Shelby jumped off the couch and ambled into the kitchen, now interested in a snack.
"Lucky dog," Clark mumbled under his breath.
Chloe turned with a inquiring expression. "What was that, Clark?"
He fumbled for an excuse. "Oh, I was just happy to see Shelby likes the new mistletoe."
"You got the mistletoe for Shelby?"
"Uh, yeah. He doesn't usually use the front door so he was missing out on...ummm...kisses. So we got this one here for him."
Chloe looked to the kitchen at Shelby sniffing at the cabinet where his treats were kept. "That was thoughtful of you."
Shelby looked back at her again and wagged his tail hopefully.
"Well, I guess if it makes Shelby happy..." With a sigh, Chloe crossed the seating area and sat down on a chair away from the offending greenery over the couch. "So what are we watching today?"
Clark just barely held back his sigh.
****************************
Clark's dreams that night had he and Chloe walking through a room full of hanging clumps of mistletoe, where he had to stop and kiss her under each one. By the third step and subsequent kiss, they were both breathless and laughing as they kissed.
It was wonderful.
When Clark awoke the next morning, he knew what he had to do.
Again he raced into his clothes and down into town.
****************************
Clark had a very hard time trying not to show his nervous excitement as Chloe once more made her twisting way through the door of the Kent house. He knew he spoke too fast and too loud when he suggested they fix up some snacks before settling in for another movie.
Chloe gave him an odd look. "Sure, Clark. You know I adore junk food." She paused, then continued, "Are you feeling ok? You look flushed."
"I'm fine. I'm just hungry."
Chloe smiled. "Alright, let's get you fed then." She made her way for the kitchen, but paused at the door, looking up. "Ummm, Clark?"
"Yeah?" Clark's voice sounded weird even to his own ears.
"What is going on in your kitchen?"
Clark knew he was a terrible liar, but he started on the story he had prepared. "Oh, that was Mom. She did that this morning."
Chloe looked back to Clark, her voice strange. "Your mom...?"
"Yeah, Dad's been having such a hard time lately, and maybe she thought it would cheer him up to you know...be kissed and stuff."
There was a long beat of silence, then Chloe asked, "How depressed is your dad, exactly?"
"I'm not sure what you mean, Chloe." Clark gave his best wide-eyed innocent look.
Chloe gave him another long look before turning back to stare into the kitchen. "I think your mom might be overdoing it a bit."
Clark looked over her head into the kitchen. There were about twenty clumps of mistletoe hung throughout the room.
Maybe he had overdone it.
Clark knew it was too late now to scale it back, so he soldiered on. "Yeah, well, he's really depressed, and you know the kitchen is where the food is, and who doesn't like food? And if he is kissed too, well, that's kind of like a bonus."
Chloe looked back into the room full of homemade goodies on the counters and shiny-leaved plants. "I guess."
"You know, maybe I'm not really that hungry," Clark said.
Chloe looked back at him. "You sure?"
"I mean yeah, because if we did go in there, we'd probably end up kissing like...every three steps or something."
Chloe narrowed her eyes at him. "Yeah..."
Clark clapped his hands together. "Or you know what? How about we order pizza?"
*****************************
Clark's dreams that night were of himself and Chloe rolling and wrestling and kissing on a soft mat of mistletoe.
When Clark awoke, he felt hot and sticky and frustrated in a new way. Throwing off his covers in frustration, he tore through the house and pulled down every sprig, every scrap, every ornament or thing that might be mistaken for a leaf of mistletoe and threw it out.
Was it only because she had put it off the menu that he suddenly found himself obsessed with the idea of kissing Chloe? Doing...other things with Chloe?
It was crazy. He couldn't keep doing this.
It ended now.
*****************************
When Chloe knocked on the door the next day, she found a very grumpy Clark laying out on the couch watching a mindless action movie. She started to do her usual shimmy through the door when she realized that there was no longer any mistletoe up.
That's odd.
"Clark, are you ok? It's Christmas Eve and I saw that the..." Her words trailed off when she saw that the kitchen trashcan was overflowing with greenery. She looked back to Clark. "Is your dad alright? And Shelby?"
Clark gave her a confused look. "Uh, yeah. They're fine. Why?"
Chloe rolled her eyes. "Because of the excessive shrubbery in the trashcan, maybe? Haven't you been telling me about how it was to share the love and help with health and stuff?"
Clark blushed as red as his favorite jacket. "Oh, yeah. That. They're much better now. Thanks."
"Oh, then I guess this isn't needed anymore..." Chloe said, pulling a sprig of mistletoe from her pocket.
Clark didn't think it was possible, but he was getting even redder. "No. It was a nice gesture, but..."
Chloe flopped down on the couch next to Clark. "Well, damn it. I was a waste then, wasn't it?"
"Uh, I guess, I mean it was kind of you and all, but the truth is --"
"Actually, Clark I am really, really disappointed."Clark was about to reply when he caught a mischievous glint in Chloe's green eyes.
Could it be?
Clark cleared his throat. "Well, you know Chloe...maybe you should use it. If you are disappointed by something. I mean, it got my Dad better...you know, being, uh, kissed a bunch..."
She gave him an arch look. "But I don't see Shelby."
"Shelby?" Clark repeated dumbly.
"Yeah. He got the kiss last time."
"Oh."
Clark couldn't hide his own disappointment. He was so busy going into a moody funk, he didn't see Chloe's eye roll.
"Though I suppose you could stand in, Clark."
Clark looked up, afraid to understand what she was suggesting. "You would want me to substitute a kiss...from my dog?"
Chloe's pealing laughter rang out. She leaned in close and held the little sprig of mistletoe over her head, smiling at him brightly. "Hopefully you slobber less."Clark grinned as he pulled her in close. Chloe was a small warm weight. He often forgot how tiny she was because her personality was so big. Slowly, he lowered his lips to hers. The kiss was soft at first, but as he felt her soft, warm body relax into his, a heat started burning in him. Without thinking, he dragged her across his lap and deepened the kiss. Chloe's hands worked their way through his hair and pulled him tight and close as their mouths fused in a heated, volatile kiss. Clark kept his eyes tightly shut as he felt them begin to burn. Eventually, he started to feel slightly light headed from lack of air, which even with all his powers he still required.
He slowly separated his lips from Chloe's but his arms kept he locked in his lap. He felt slightly dazed, and when he looked down at Chloe he saw her eyes were also unfocused and her lips were red as holly berries.
She looked at him and smiled with cat-like contentment. "Wow..." Chloe breathed out.Clark couldn't help his grin. "Better than Shelby?"
Chloe seemed to consider for a moment. "Well, slightly less furry at least."
"Hey!" But he grinned. "Maybe you'll stop avoiding mistletoe now."
Chloe's eyes twinkled. "Well, that depends."
Clark gave her a confused look. "On what?"
"On if it is you are the only man in this house that catches me under it."
Clark grinned wider. "I think I can arrange that."
And they kissed again...without any mistletoe.
~ THE END ~