Advent Calendar - DEC 19
Title: My True One
Fandom: Smallville
Pairing/Characters: Clark/Chloe
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: all characters belong to theCW/DC Comics
Warnings: I confused my prompt with my last year one, so instead of Christmas Stockings, you've got Gifts
Words: 2684
Summary: Two souls will find their way back to each other. After S10, future fic
Author's Notes: Part of the
smallearth Advent Calendar - DEC 19. Many thanks to
latetothpartyhp for the beta.
-------------------------------------------------------
She watches from afar. Since she moved to Star City near seven years ago and even further putting an ocean between them, she felt the strain on their friendship.
It had begun long before her move, even before digitally burying Chloe Sullivan. She could say it began the moment she put on that hideous and tacky bauble of a ring from Jimmy.
It seemed to have signified the end of their duo against the world, and left them both adrift, awkward and searching for a definition of who they were to each other and what their relationship meant now.
They'd bickered, chose sides, put others between them, and ran away from unaired emotions and underlying questions and after such a long time she figured all that had been entrenched in the past.
So to get a tearful but resolute call from Lois saying that this time, after failed matrimonial event number nine they were done for good, no more retries, Chloe was sure that it was just Lois being Lois and that after a week or two they'd be back to being the Daily Planet's finest couple.
It was a shocking surprise to discover that didn't happen. A week went by and not a word or e-mail from Clark or Lois. Two weeks, and then a short voicemail from Lois, from a new number with a Gotham area code.
"Settling in nicely, the locals sure are friendly..."
Chloe raised an eyebrow at that and felt her mind wonder about what really must have happened following Clark's return after foiling whatever Lex's latest diabolical plan had been.
Still not so much as a fly-by from Clark. He'd visit now and then while circling the globe on various Justice League missions, or just for a hello to his favorite almost second cousin in-law. She would have been worried if it weren't for Oliver letting her know that he'd seen Clark around Watchtower. They were still on good terms with each other and regularly kept in touch for Flynn's sake.
Lois wasn't the only one not cut out for monogamy. To be fair, Oliver had done his best. But considering the strains on him time, splitting himself between Queen Industries, the League and paroling his home city, he'd had very little time left to nurture his personal life, his family.
And being surrounded by powerful, supermodel-like women hadn't helped. He'd never cheated, that she'd known about or even suspected, but it all started as a passing secret thought didn't it? With the way he looked at Dinah, it would have only been a matter of time. Not that she could judge. Clark would always hold a very small secret place in her heart and mind. She was once afraid of that part, but now she understood that perhaps everyone had that weakness, a first love.
"I heard Lex's super-bots shot through the super-couple's wedding ceremony. He seems to be handling it well though. Although maybe not, if he's hanging out for monitor duty."
Oliver had delivered that message to her while sweeping Flynn around airplane style. His tone conveying that while he was fond of their friend, he still didn't really understand him. Chloe smiled at that. Clark liked monitor duty. It meant he had extra time with J'onn who he saw as a father figure, especially now that he was seeing Martha, and also he enjoyed mentoring the younger heroes. Talking things out with J'onn was probably the best thing for him right now.
Satisfied that this latest personal drama hadn't sent her best friend into a mope and that he seemed to be coping, she put Clark and Lois' troubles in back of her mind and went about her days. Which quickly blurred into a month.
It took her by complete surprise when a small red gift box appeared on her front doorstep.
Unraveling the gold bow and opening the lid, she lifted out the blue card resting on white tissue paper. Her heart skipped a beat as she read the neat script that she recognized as unmistakably Clark's.
"Fear has always kept me from speaking the truth. Give me courage."
She'd always stood beside him, encouraged him, believed in him when he didn't believe in himself. Why on earth would he think that had changed? Of course she'd support him, always and especially when he needed it. Half tempted not to wait for him to show up and explain his note, she glanced underneath the card and frowned harder at the small gem charm nestled inside the paper. It was a fire opal and carved, or more accurately, for Clark had most likely lasered it himself, burned into the surface was the Kryptonian symbol for bravery.
Chloe flipped the card over hoping for more insight into this mystery and found nothing.
With a bemused smile she closed the box and retreated back into the apartment. Texting him, she thanked him for the gift and invited him to talk about it. She got a single word reply.
Soon.
When your best friend was the world's greatest superhero, soon was a matter for debate. A catastrophic weather crisis in Europe and having to entertain Flynn for the holidays, Chloe promptly forgot all about the intriguing gift, that was until the next surprise arrived.
The door bell chimed.
Flynn ran to get it before she could even find the tea towel to wipe her hands dry. Peeling potatoes was messy business.
"Is your mom around?" an impatient voice asked.
She hurried down the corridor to the door and saw young man bearing a box bursting with red and white tulips. He spotted her with relief and thrust a LCD tablet at her.
"Sign please," he said. "Thank you."
He barely seemed able to wait for his tip before he was racing for the elevator. Chloe shook her head. He could be excused. It was Christmas Eve after all.
Inhaling, she smiled brightly. Who could possibly be sending her flowers? Who also knew which were her favorite? Two years ago she would have immediately said Oliver, but they were long past the random gifts stage. Besides, his presents for Flynn and a small box, which she assumed was probably a gift card or jewelery for her, were already tucked underneath their small tree.
She searched amongst the blooms and foliage for a card to no avail. She hadn't gotten a chance to ask the delivery guy for a sender either. Luckily the box had the florist's number.
"Sorry. Online Order, no sender and I can't reveal the payers details. I'm sorry."
Chloe huffed. She could hack the shop's system but decided in the spirit of the holiday she'd let the sender have their anonymity.
Putting the flowers on the dining table, she finished preparing her meal for two and allowed Flynn to open one of his gifts after dinner, before bed.
The following morning, it rained. It rained like it had been saving up all year and decided to flood the streets. They were stuck indoors and a seven-year-old stuck in a two bedroom high-rise apartment with a shoe-box sized living room for more than four hours in a stretch was not good. Chloe was at her wits end. There were only so many toys she was willing to trip over before, she planted him in front of the TV, feeling like a terrible mother for allowing him to rot his brain. Worn out, she flopped down on the couch next to him and ruffled her son's soft blonde hair.
The door bell rang again and she wondered who it could be. She hardly knew anyone on her floor, save from the occasional greeting while passing in the hall or collecting the mail in the lobby.
Her shoe thunk-ed against something while she stuck her head out the doorway. There was another small gift at her feet. Same little red box.
This time there were two gems and no card. An emerald and an amazonite.
The engravings read, friendship and healing. Chloe frowned and chewed on her bottom lip. They'd healed that rift that had come between them years go. It was well in the past. They'd been in a good place for a long time. Not quite the best friends, joined-at-the-hip that they'd been in high school but they were older now. They had other obligations and responsibilities than just to each other.
Tugging out her phone, she texted him. Thoughtful as it is, I'm in no need of healing. Right as rain here, literally.
A second later his reply beeped. Some hurts fade to scars, but they're still there.
Chloe felt her heart pinch and her eyes blurred. The memory of a quiet conversation, a confession on a dewy morning with Oliver came to the forefront of her mind and for a moment she felt a burst of anger and hurt wash over her in equal measure. How much of that conversation had he heard? Had he been listening in deliberately? Eavesdropping?
She didn't text back. She took the box and this time she left it on the shelf in her study, although she'd been momentarily tempted to toss it in the trash. But she was a mom, she'd learned how not to let her temper get the better of her. She had someone watching her every move like a hawk, and absorbed bad behavior like a sponge along with everything else he noticed. She needed to set a good example.
Working through the rest of the holidays at her foreign post for the Star City Register, organizing Flynn's suitcase and coordinating with Oliver's people, Chloe forgot about her peeve with Clark. It was New Year's Eve, and Flynn was with Oliver in California for his share of the holidays, when her antagonist showed up in person.
He knocked and waited for her to answer her door like a regular person, unlike his usual visits when he floated through her balcony doors after Flynn was asleep.
She folded her arms across her chest, and stared at him pointedly.
Clark blinked behind his glasses and rubbed his neck nervously, before offering her the box he was holding.
"What if I don't want it?" she asked mildly petulant.
Clark quirked a small smile. "I'm hoping your curiosity will win out."
Chloe let out a breath and snatched the box, before stepping aside to let him in. She waved him in the direction of the lounge.
"I didn't mail your gift this year because from your first mysterious gift, I figured you'd be by soon," she emphasized for him. Soon had turned out to be almost three weeks later.
Tearing off the ribbon she lifted the lid.
A ruby. This one had an engraving too. If the red hue and the associated symbolism of the stone didn't give it away, the Kryptonian glyphs did. True One.
Chloe felt her cheeks flush and her heart beat kick up a few notches, she clutched the box to her chest and stared at him.
Clark met her gaze unflinching. His eyes were open, full of hope and watching her intently. "I sent those others to give you time to think about what I said in my note."
"Give you courage?" Chloe asked, her voice hitching.
Clark pried her hand away from where it was clutching the box in a death like grip. "I know you, Chloe. And after years of inadvertently hurting you, letting you push me away, and even failing take a chance myself, I knew that after all this time if I just showed up out of the blue and told you how I felt, you wouldn't believe me. You'd brush it off, or laugh in my face. You're the one person who knows me even better than my own mother, all my secrets, my weaknesses, my fears. Except one. It's you, Chloe. I'm afraid of you, for you, afraid of losing you. In so many different ways I don't even know where to start."
Chloe felt tears prickle behind her eyes. She tugged her hand free and hugged herself around that box. It was digging into her chest but it was nothing compared to the feelings his words were stirring in her heart.
"I tried to replace you at first. And it worked, for awhile. Until the differences between you became so obvious that I knew I was just going through the motions, doing what I was expected to... Not that she wasn't good to me, and I did love her... I just wasn't... she's not you. But you had Oliver and you were happy..."
"Clark, how did this... When? You've never given me any..."
"The fake wedding wasn't enough of a hint? Chloe, I was drunk on magically roofied champagne and married my best friend. I even picked your ring."
Chloe snorted. "A ten-dollar ring and I called the chapel, it was just a mock up. Oliver and I were the ones who got the certificate."
"Oliver said it was ten-dollars because I'd melted down ten sets of studs from the dollar-shop and made the thing. And even yours and Oliver's I dos weren't real because Chloe Sullivan had no ID."
Chloe had to admit he had a point and they still had no idea why she and Clark had ended up back at the farm.
It was as though he was reading her mind. He guided her to the couch and crouched down in front of her knees. "I kidnapped you in a truck full of money. I even kept the monkey because you thought it was a cute."
"Lemur," she corrected him.
"You called him a monkey," Clark argued. "Didn't you ever wonder why I took the van, Chlo?"
She shook her head, wide eyed. Clark took her hands. "Oliver is a billionaire. I just sold my family home so that Lois and I could buy a place of our own, and with city prices I barely had that. I wanted to impress you."
Chloe's jaw dropped. "That's just.."
"Crazy? I know but you can't argue that there was a method to our madness. You left the chapel with me, Chloe. Not Oliver."
"I woke up in a closet," she protested.
"I probably locked you in there to keep from running away. Which you usually do any time I want to jump the friends boundary."
"Clark..." she started to protest quietly.
Clark leaned over and touched his finger to her lips. "Just tell me this, do you ever think what if?"
He drifted closer till his nose brushed the tip of hers. Chloe felt tingles race from her head to her toes.
She chewed on her bottom lip, one hand coming up of its own violation to rest against his warm cheek and anchor his head where it was, still within an inch of her own.
A breath escaped her and in the next instant they were kissing.
It felt thrilling, warming, nurturing and while it filled a need she didn't know she'd been denying, she needed more, wanted more from him.
They broke apart and she realized that he'd pulled her into his lap and they were sitting on the floor, arms and legs and tangle of limbs. She giggled and he brushed a lock of hair behind her ear and held her chin.
"I love you, Chloe. I've always known it. At first I tried to deny it and ignore it, I was young and I didn't really understand what I wanted. After the Phantom Zone I tried to hide it because I was too afraid to mess with what it seemed like you wanted. With Lois, and after I hurt you when Jimmy died, I tried to bury it but I've always known. I'm tired of not fighting for you. I'd rather be afraid with you, than without you. You'll always be a danger magnet. You're too passionate about everything in your orbit to settle for safe or easy. You give me courage, Chlo. Sometimes you're brave enough for the both of us. We've faced the worst the universe has to offer together, why not tackle love? I promise to heal the hurts that I caused, if it takes a lifetime."
The entire time he'd been holding her, pouring out his words that promised love and hope, Chloe felt tears trailing down her face. He now gently brushed those tracks of moisture and watched her earnestly, tenderly.
"What do you say? Will you except this? And I promise it's definitely not the last gift I'll be giving you." He snapped open a black box. It contained a fine platinum cable bracelet. He picked up the ruby charm from where it had fallen to the carpet and slid it on.
"In Kryptonian culture a man gives his chosen life mate a bracelet."
"Clark, we don't know if we'll work together. You and Lois just broke it off and we haven't even dated."
"I don't need more time to know who I want, Chloe. Who I need standing beside me, but if you do... you can just hold onto it for awhile. Until you're sure."
Chloe tried to calm the racing of her heart, putting one hand to her throat feeling her thundering pulse. She swallowed and slowly extended her wrist to him. "I'll always stand with you, Clark. Always."
He wordlessly locked the clasp around her pale wrist and pressed a kiss to her hand. "To a new beginning."
Her eyes sparkled and she smiled brightly with giddy apprehension. "Happy New Year, Clark."
Clark kissed her hungrily and deeply, pulling back finally grinning. "Best New Year ever."
Fandom: Smallville
Pairing/Characters: Clark/Chloe
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: all characters belong to theCW/DC Comics
Warnings: I confused my prompt with my last year one, so instead of Christmas Stockings, you've got Gifts
Words: 2684
Summary: Two souls will find their way back to each other. After S10, future fic
Author's Notes: Part of the
smallearth Advent Calendar - DEC 19. Many thanks to
latetothpartyhp for the beta.
-------------------------------------------------------
She watches from afar. Since she moved to Star City near seven years ago and even further putting an ocean between them, she felt the strain on their friendship.
It had begun long before her move, even before digitally burying Chloe Sullivan. She could say it began the moment she put on that hideous and tacky bauble of a ring from Jimmy.
It seemed to have signified the end of their duo against the world, and left them both adrift, awkward and searching for a definition of who they were to each other and what their relationship meant now.
They'd bickered, chose sides, put others between them, and ran away from unaired emotions and underlying questions and after such a long time she figured all that had been entrenched in the past.
So to get a tearful but resolute call from Lois saying that this time, after failed matrimonial event number nine they were done for good, no more retries, Chloe was sure that it was just Lois being Lois and that after a week or two they'd be back to being the Daily Planet's finest couple.
It was a shocking surprise to discover that didn't happen. A week went by and not a word or e-mail from Clark or Lois. Two weeks, and then a short voicemail from Lois, from a new number with a Gotham area code.
"Settling in nicely, the locals sure are friendly..."
Chloe raised an eyebrow at that and felt her mind wonder about what really must have happened following Clark's return after foiling whatever Lex's latest diabolical plan had been.
Still not so much as a fly-by from Clark. He'd visit now and then while circling the globe on various Justice League missions, or just for a hello to his favorite almost second cousin in-law. She would have been worried if it weren't for Oliver letting her know that he'd seen Clark around Watchtower. They were still on good terms with each other and regularly kept in touch for Flynn's sake.
Lois wasn't the only one not cut out for monogamy. To be fair, Oliver had done his best. But considering the strains on him time, splitting himself between Queen Industries, the League and paroling his home city, he'd had very little time left to nurture his personal life, his family.
And being surrounded by powerful, supermodel-like women hadn't helped. He'd never cheated, that she'd known about or even suspected, but it all started as a passing secret thought didn't it? With the way he looked at Dinah, it would have only been a matter of time. Not that she could judge. Clark would always hold a very small secret place in her heart and mind. She was once afraid of that part, but now she understood that perhaps everyone had that weakness, a first love.
"I heard Lex's super-bots shot through the super-couple's wedding ceremony. He seems to be handling it well though. Although maybe not, if he's hanging out for monitor duty."
Oliver had delivered that message to her while sweeping Flynn around airplane style. His tone conveying that while he was fond of their friend, he still didn't really understand him. Chloe smiled at that. Clark liked monitor duty. It meant he had extra time with J'onn who he saw as a father figure, especially now that he was seeing Martha, and also he enjoyed mentoring the younger heroes. Talking things out with J'onn was probably the best thing for him right now.
Satisfied that this latest personal drama hadn't sent her best friend into a mope and that he seemed to be coping, she put Clark and Lois' troubles in back of her mind and went about her days. Which quickly blurred into a month.
It took her by complete surprise when a small red gift box appeared on her front doorstep.
Unraveling the gold bow and opening the lid, she lifted out the blue card resting on white tissue paper. Her heart skipped a beat as she read the neat script that she recognized as unmistakably Clark's.
"Fear has always kept me from speaking the truth. Give me courage."
She'd always stood beside him, encouraged him, believed in him when he didn't believe in himself. Why on earth would he think that had changed? Of course she'd support him, always and especially when he needed it. Half tempted not to wait for him to show up and explain his note, she glanced underneath the card and frowned harder at the small gem charm nestled inside the paper. It was a fire opal and carved, or more accurately, for Clark had most likely lasered it himself, burned into the surface was the Kryptonian symbol for bravery.
Chloe flipped the card over hoping for more insight into this mystery and found nothing.
With a bemused smile she closed the box and retreated back into the apartment. Texting him, she thanked him for the gift and invited him to talk about it. She got a single word reply.
Soon.
When your best friend was the world's greatest superhero, soon was a matter for debate. A catastrophic weather crisis in Europe and having to entertain Flynn for the holidays, Chloe promptly forgot all about the intriguing gift, that was until the next surprise arrived.
The door bell chimed.
Flynn ran to get it before she could even find the tea towel to wipe her hands dry. Peeling potatoes was messy business.
"Is your mom around?" an impatient voice asked.
She hurried down the corridor to the door and saw young man bearing a box bursting with red and white tulips. He spotted her with relief and thrust a LCD tablet at her.
"Sign please," he said. "Thank you."
He barely seemed able to wait for his tip before he was racing for the elevator. Chloe shook her head. He could be excused. It was Christmas Eve after all.
Inhaling, she smiled brightly. Who could possibly be sending her flowers? Who also knew which were her favorite? Two years ago she would have immediately said Oliver, but they were long past the random gifts stage. Besides, his presents for Flynn and a small box, which she assumed was probably a gift card or jewelery for her, were already tucked underneath their small tree.
She searched amongst the blooms and foliage for a card to no avail. She hadn't gotten a chance to ask the delivery guy for a sender either. Luckily the box had the florist's number.
"Sorry. Online Order, no sender and I can't reveal the payers details. I'm sorry."
Chloe huffed. She could hack the shop's system but decided in the spirit of the holiday she'd let the sender have their anonymity.
Putting the flowers on the dining table, she finished preparing her meal for two and allowed Flynn to open one of his gifts after dinner, before bed.
The following morning, it rained. It rained like it had been saving up all year and decided to flood the streets. They were stuck indoors and a seven-year-old stuck in a two bedroom high-rise apartment with a shoe-box sized living room for more than four hours in a stretch was not good. Chloe was at her wits end. There were only so many toys she was willing to trip over before, she planted him in front of the TV, feeling like a terrible mother for allowing him to rot his brain. Worn out, she flopped down on the couch next to him and ruffled her son's soft blonde hair.
The door bell rang again and she wondered who it could be. She hardly knew anyone on her floor, save from the occasional greeting while passing in the hall or collecting the mail in the lobby.
Her shoe thunk-ed against something while she stuck her head out the doorway. There was another small gift at her feet. Same little red box.
This time there were two gems and no card. An emerald and an amazonite.
The engravings read, friendship and healing. Chloe frowned and chewed on her bottom lip. They'd healed that rift that had come between them years go. It was well in the past. They'd been in a good place for a long time. Not quite the best friends, joined-at-the-hip that they'd been in high school but they were older now. They had other obligations and responsibilities than just to each other.
Tugging out her phone, she texted him. Thoughtful as it is, I'm in no need of healing. Right as rain here, literally.
A second later his reply beeped. Some hurts fade to scars, but they're still there.
Chloe felt her heart pinch and her eyes blurred. The memory of a quiet conversation, a confession on a dewy morning with Oliver came to the forefront of her mind and for a moment she felt a burst of anger and hurt wash over her in equal measure. How much of that conversation had he heard? Had he been listening in deliberately? Eavesdropping?
She didn't text back. She took the box and this time she left it on the shelf in her study, although she'd been momentarily tempted to toss it in the trash. But she was a mom, she'd learned how not to let her temper get the better of her. She had someone watching her every move like a hawk, and absorbed bad behavior like a sponge along with everything else he noticed. She needed to set a good example.
Working through the rest of the holidays at her foreign post for the Star City Register, organizing Flynn's suitcase and coordinating with Oliver's people, Chloe forgot about her peeve with Clark. It was New Year's Eve, and Flynn was with Oliver in California for his share of the holidays, when her antagonist showed up in person.
He knocked and waited for her to answer her door like a regular person, unlike his usual visits when he floated through her balcony doors after Flynn was asleep.
She folded her arms across her chest, and stared at him pointedly.
Clark blinked behind his glasses and rubbed his neck nervously, before offering her the box he was holding.
"What if I don't want it?" she asked mildly petulant.
Clark quirked a small smile. "I'm hoping your curiosity will win out."
Chloe let out a breath and snatched the box, before stepping aside to let him in. She waved him in the direction of the lounge.
"I didn't mail your gift this year because from your first mysterious gift, I figured you'd be by soon," she emphasized for him. Soon had turned out to be almost three weeks later.
Tearing off the ribbon she lifted the lid.
A ruby. This one had an engraving too. If the red hue and the associated symbolism of the stone didn't give it away, the Kryptonian glyphs did. True One.
Chloe felt her cheeks flush and her heart beat kick up a few notches, she clutched the box to her chest and stared at him.
Clark met her gaze unflinching. His eyes were open, full of hope and watching her intently. "I sent those others to give you time to think about what I said in my note."
"Give you courage?" Chloe asked, her voice hitching.
Clark pried her hand away from where it was clutching the box in a death like grip. "I know you, Chloe. And after years of inadvertently hurting you, letting you push me away, and even failing take a chance myself, I knew that after all this time if I just showed up out of the blue and told you how I felt, you wouldn't believe me. You'd brush it off, or laugh in my face. You're the one person who knows me even better than my own mother, all my secrets, my weaknesses, my fears. Except one. It's you, Chloe. I'm afraid of you, for you, afraid of losing you. In so many different ways I don't even know where to start."
Chloe felt tears prickle behind her eyes. She tugged her hand free and hugged herself around that box. It was digging into her chest but it was nothing compared to the feelings his words were stirring in her heart.
"I tried to replace you at first. And it worked, for awhile. Until the differences between you became so obvious that I knew I was just going through the motions, doing what I was expected to... Not that she wasn't good to me, and I did love her... I just wasn't... she's not you. But you had Oliver and you were happy..."
"Clark, how did this... When? You've never given me any..."
"The fake wedding wasn't enough of a hint? Chloe, I was drunk on magically roofied champagne and married my best friend. I even picked your ring."
Chloe snorted. "A ten-dollar ring and I called the chapel, it was just a mock up. Oliver and I were the ones who got the certificate."
"Oliver said it was ten-dollars because I'd melted down ten sets of studs from the dollar-shop and made the thing. And even yours and Oliver's I dos weren't real because Chloe Sullivan had no ID."
Chloe had to admit he had a point and they still had no idea why she and Clark had ended up back at the farm.
It was as though he was reading her mind. He guided her to the couch and crouched down in front of her knees. "I kidnapped you in a truck full of money. I even kept the monkey because you thought it was a cute."
"Lemur," she corrected him.
"You called him a monkey," Clark argued. "Didn't you ever wonder why I took the van, Chlo?"
She shook her head, wide eyed. Clark took her hands. "Oliver is a billionaire. I just sold my family home so that Lois and I could buy a place of our own, and with city prices I barely had that. I wanted to impress you."
Chloe's jaw dropped. "That's just.."
"Crazy? I know but you can't argue that there was a method to our madness. You left the chapel with me, Chloe. Not Oliver."
"I woke up in a closet," she protested.
"I probably locked you in there to keep from running away. Which you usually do any time I want to jump the friends boundary."
"Clark..." she started to protest quietly.
Clark leaned over and touched his finger to her lips. "Just tell me this, do you ever think what if?"
He drifted closer till his nose brushed the tip of hers. Chloe felt tingles race from her head to her toes.
She chewed on her bottom lip, one hand coming up of its own violation to rest against his warm cheek and anchor his head where it was, still within an inch of her own.
A breath escaped her and in the next instant they were kissing.
It felt thrilling, warming, nurturing and while it filled a need she didn't know she'd been denying, she needed more, wanted more from him.
They broke apart and she realized that he'd pulled her into his lap and they were sitting on the floor, arms and legs and tangle of limbs. She giggled and he brushed a lock of hair behind her ear and held her chin.
"I love you, Chloe. I've always known it. At first I tried to deny it and ignore it, I was young and I didn't really understand what I wanted. After the Phantom Zone I tried to hide it because I was too afraid to mess with what it seemed like you wanted. With Lois, and after I hurt you when Jimmy died, I tried to bury it but I've always known. I'm tired of not fighting for you. I'd rather be afraid with you, than without you. You'll always be a danger magnet. You're too passionate about everything in your orbit to settle for safe or easy. You give me courage, Chlo. Sometimes you're brave enough for the both of us. We've faced the worst the universe has to offer together, why not tackle love? I promise to heal the hurts that I caused, if it takes a lifetime."
The entire time he'd been holding her, pouring out his words that promised love and hope, Chloe felt tears trailing down her face. He now gently brushed those tracks of moisture and watched her earnestly, tenderly.
"What do you say? Will you except this? And I promise it's definitely not the last gift I'll be giving you." He snapped open a black box. It contained a fine platinum cable bracelet. He picked up the ruby charm from where it had fallen to the carpet and slid it on.
"In Kryptonian culture a man gives his chosen life mate a bracelet."
"Clark, we don't know if we'll work together. You and Lois just broke it off and we haven't even dated."
"I don't need more time to know who I want, Chloe. Who I need standing beside me, but if you do... you can just hold onto it for awhile. Until you're sure."
Chloe tried to calm the racing of her heart, putting one hand to her throat feeling her thundering pulse. She swallowed and slowly extended her wrist to him. "I'll always stand with you, Clark. Always."
He wordlessly locked the clasp around her pale wrist and pressed a kiss to her hand. "To a new beginning."
Her eyes sparkled and she smiled brightly with giddy apprehension. "Happy New Year, Clark."
Clark kissed her hungrily and deeply, pulling back finally grinning. "Best New Year ever."