babydee1 | Chlark Fanfic: All The Way, Chapter 5 (Reply)

Yoo-hoo! Some more Tween!Chlark for y'all, in which the young pair deal with the aftermath of their first kiss. If you're just tuning in, there was a chapter posted this morning.

Enjoy! Banner by the lovely

summerstar882. Thanks again!

Title: All The Way

Author: BabyDee
Pairing: Chlark

Rating: PG13 (for now)

Warnings: None
Timeline: All Seasons. Works as a sequel to Daisychain.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to the CW & DC comics.

Summary: Chlark: as they were, are and ever should be.

Feedback: …makes me squee. J

Author’s note: written for

ellyfanfiction, who won a Chlark story from me in an auction.

Read previous chapter here.

Read story from the beginning here.

Chapter 5

The First Kiss: Pt 2

The first time ever I kissed your mouth

I felt the earth move in my head…

- ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’, by Roberta Flack

***

Clark found himself suddenly in Chloe’s arms, her lips fused to his. The newspaper slipped from his nerveless fingers and fluttered to the floor, and he felt dizzy, as if the floor had started spinning. Quickly he reached out to steady himself, his fingers coming into contact with Chloe’s upper arms.

She was kissing him. Oh God, Chloe was kissing him.

Her lips were gentle and soft, and tasted of strawberries. Her body seemed to radiate heat because he suddenly felt very warm all over, like a heater had been turned on inside of him. His hands tightened on her arms and he instinctively pulled her closer, his head tilting slightly sideways as his lips pressed down on hers.

Immediately she pulled her head back, breaking the kiss. He stood rooted to the spot in a dreamlike haze for about five seconds, his eyes closed and lips puckered up to empty space before he realised she was no longer there.

Slowly he cracked one eye open, then the other. Chloe was staring at him, breathing hard as if she’d just ran down the street at full speed. Her lips were flushed and parted, and she had her hands clenched into tight little fists.

“I know you’ve been thinking about doing that all day, even before all the stuff on the bus, so I thought I’d just…get it out of the way, y’know…so that we can be friends,” she rushed without taking a breath.

He swallowed. “And to seal the deal with the newspapers too, right?” he asked, the calmness in his voice belying the storm raging within him.

She grinned, her cheeks turning scarlet. “Uh…yeah; that too.”

He smiled back at her, his hands in his pockets while she held hers behind her back. He had no idea how he was managing to stand there all cool, calm and collected when she had just kissed him.

Holy cow, he’d just been kissed!

“Was that your first kiss?” he blurted out before he could stop himself.

“No!” she said defensively. Then, more quietly: “Was it yours?”

“No!” he lied hastily.

“Well…okay, then,” she said lamely.

“Mmm-hmm.”

She swayed lightly back and forth, glancing upward and all around the room until she was comfortable enough to look him in the face again.

“I didn’t embarrass you, did I?” she ventured hesitantly.

“Oh no, no…it was, um…it was nice, actually.”

“Oh good, good. Glad you liked it.”

He wondered if she knew he’d lied about it not being his first kiss. He stared guardedly at his feet, spotting the newspaper on the floor between them. Quickly he picked it up and folded it, and then handed it to her.

“Here you go.”

She took it from him, her awkward shyness dissipating as her eyes lit up at her favourite publication. “Thank you, thank you so much for this. I don’t know how you did it, but…thanks.”

He waved a dismissive hand. “Anytime.”

“Listen, I’m sorry I freaked out on you earlier,” she went on in a small voice. “I really shouldn’t have laid all that on you. I’ve just…really missed not living in the city, y’know?”

Clark tilted his head. “Well, I’ve never lived in the city, so actually I don’t know,” he replied with a grin.

“Oh ha-ha, funny,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“But I do know how lost I’d feel if I were taken away from the only home I’ve ever known,” he finished quietly.

She sat on the couch and smoothed the paper in her lap, then lifted her head and stared nostalgically out the window. “That about sums up exactly how I feel,” she said with a sigh. “I just want to get back to Metropolis so badly…”

Clark sat next to her and took her hand in his. “Chloe, I know this isn’t what you would have chosen for yourself, but try and remember that this is only temporary,” he said gently. “I know we only just met, but I can see that you’re destined for great things.”

Her eyes brightened. “You think so?”

“Sure I do. Listen, I’ll do my best to get you a little bit of Metropolis everyday, as long as you don’t ask me how.”

She giggled then, and squeezed his hand. “Agreed. Reluctantly, but agreed.”

He grinned. “Good. And don’t worry; time will fly, and when the time is right you’ll be back in Metropolis, and it’ll be like you never left. And until then…” he put an arm around her shoulders. “…I’ll do my very best to make sure you never feel lonely. Okay?”

Chloe stared into his eyes, and gave him the brightest smile he’d ever seen. “I’m so glad it was you,” she whispered. “You’re the best First Day Tour Guide ever.”

Her arms went around his neck, and he pulled her close in a hug. She felt warm, and comforting; homey, almost, and not at all embarrassing or icky.

He sighed, feeling strangely content, as if he could hold her forever like that; but that would just be awkward. And then it would get weird. And icky.

He leaned back and regarded her with a funny look. “Is it weird that this doesn’t feel weird?”

Chloe frowned at him. “That’s a paradox if I ever heard one. If I say yes, then it’s weird. If I say no, it’s still weird. I can’t win.”

“So you’re saying it doesn’t feel weird?” he asked, his arms still around her.

She shook her head, making her flippy hair bounce. “Nuh-uh.”

“Chloe, we’re teenagers. This should be weird by default.”

“And yet it isn’t,” she said thoughtfully. “Which, in all honesty, is weird.”

“There you go!” he said triumphantly.

She laughed. “Fine, I’ll let you have this one,” she conceded. “But I have to warn you, I am a kick-ass master of argumentative speech. You don’t wanna come up against me in a debate.”

“Is that so?” he said, intrigued. “I believe you’ve just issued me a challenge, Chloe. Okay; one of these days, we’ll settle this verbally, and I assure you: I will win.”

“Bring it on, buddy,” she drawled, her voice low and threatening. “I thrive on challenge.”

“You mean you like to argue?”

Her brow furrowed. “I like to have a dissenting opinion,” she explained after a slight pause. “Y’know…swim against the tide, do the unexpected; give people something to think about. Like those jockos who pretty much force the little kids to walk all the way around the block to get their bus? They shouldn’t be allowed to do that, and once people realise how unfair it is, they’re going to speak out until something gets done about it. All it takes is one little article.”

Good heavens, she was serious. “Be careful, Chlo,” he pleaded. “You’re the new kid in town, so you already stand out. Start ruffling the wrong feathers, and you might as well have painted a big fat bullseye on your back.”

Chloe shrugged. “Whatever; I’ll risk it. I’m ready to be controversial, especially when it’s all for the cause of…” she made quote signs in the air “…truth and justice!”

The quote from the door of the torch, he realised. There really was no stopping her.

“Okay, you win,” he sighed in resignation. “But be prepared to live out the rest of your school years in isolation, because you’re not gonna make any friends if you tick off the popular kids.”

“I can take whatever they throw at me,” she said confidently. “And as for living in isolation, that’s not gonna happen. I already made a friend. A great one.”

Clark smiled warmly at the girl who had stormed into his life and brightened it considerably in a single afternoon. “Me too,” he said honestly.

She smiled back at him, and for one second he was tempted to lean forward and kiss her again.

“Yo, Clark!” yelled a disgruntled voice from below, startling him. “If you ain’t lying dead up there with a broken neck, you soon will be!”

Chloe blinked and inclined her head in the direction of the voice. “Friend of yours?” she queried.

Clark sighed and rose to his feet, then held out his hand. “Come with me, Chloe. There’s someone I’d really like you to meet.”

***

Chapter 6…