SV Fic: Strawberry Wine (1/1)

[xtremeroswellia]

Title: Strawberry Wine
Author: X_tremeroswellian
Email: adwilliams03@yahoo.com
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Chlark friendship and UST; Chloe/other
Summary: Where DID Chloe get all these mad hacking skills anyway?
Author’s Note: Song title is from “Strawberry Wine” by Deanna Carter.

* * *

My first taste of love
Oh, bittersweet
Like green on the vine
Like strawberry wine

Strawberry Wine

“So you think you can do it?”

Chloe glanced at Clark with a small smile on her face as she sat behind the glowing screen of her computer at the Daily Planet. “Hack into the LuthorCorp plant? Wouldn’t be the first time.”

“I’ll just feel better when I know what Lex is up to.” He sat down on the corner of her desk, glancing around the empty room.

“You mean what Lex is up to with Lana,” she replied, not looking at him.

There was a pause.

“Chloe, Lex is--”

“Dangerous,” she cut him off. “I know. I’ve had the ‘I’m just looking out for Lana’ speech as many times as I can handle, Clark.”

He sighed softly and looked at the floor. “Maybe I should have just told her the truth.”

Chloe shrugged a little, focusing on what she was doing. “There’s risk in everything you do. Just part of life.”

He nodded slightly, watching her work, her eyebrows furrowing in concentration. After a long moment, he frowned a little. “Chloe, can I ask you something?”

“No, it wasn’t me who ate the last piece of your mother’s apple pie last night,” she said without hesitation.

He lifted an eyebrow and smirked at her.

“Uh, right. What was the question?”

Clark shook his head a little. “You never did tell me where you picked up all these amazing hacking skills.”

The corner of her mouth hitched upward in a tiny smile. “No, I didn’t,” she agreed.

There was another moment of silence.

He sighed, sounding slightly exasperated. “So are you going to?”

Chloe paused, her fingers hovering over the keys on her keyboard. Then she lifted her gaze to meet his, a mysterious, nostalgic twinkle in her eyes.

* * *

Two Years Earlier

“You’re going to hack into the Metropolis Police Department database?” Chloe’s arms were folded across her chest, a doubtful expression on her face.

“Well, they’re not releasing a statement until tomorrow but if I hack into their database, the Daily Planet can get the scoop on the biggest story since O.J.”

“Which of course, solidifies your impending and budding career as the Planet’s youngest reporter.”

Jimmy smiled, his eyes twinkling. “Technically you’re younger than I am,” he pointed out.

“Two years, Jimmy. And I’m not even in college yet.”

“So? What difference does age make, Chloe? You’ve got the talent and the drive just like I do. That’s all that counts.”

“Maybe. But I’m sure some mad hacking skills don’t hurt either.” She smirked.

“You’re right about that.” He grinned at her again and turned back to his computer, pausing briefly. “I could teach you.”

Her eyebrows lifted. “Why would you do that?” she asked suspiciously.

“Are you always so guarded, Chloe Sullivan?”

“Generally, yes.”

He sighed and looked at her once more. “Why would I help you?” he repeated, his voice soft. “Because I like you. You don’t take crap from people and you’re smart and funny…” He mumbled something else.

“What was that?”

“I said you’re beautiful.” His cheeks flushed pink and he began typing quickly, missing the shocked expression on her face.

Chloe wasn’t used to such compliments from anyone, particularly anyone of the male persuasion--with the exception of her father, but he didn’t count. Swallowing hard, she gazed at him, seeing him in a different light than she had before. If you could get past the glasses and the red bowtie around his neck, he was actually kind of cute. Not the type she usually fell for. Not that she had a type she fell for. There was only one person who she compared every other guy to, and he was tall, dark, handsome and wore a lot of flannel.

And he happened to pretty much hate her guts at the moment. A familiar ache tugged at her heart and she could vividly recall the last time she’d seen him. The club had been dark and smoky and he’d had a pretty blond bombshell hanging onto his arm and she hadn’t been sure which of them had been more startled: her, or him. She’d tried to talk to him but he’d told her, in a not-so-eloquent way, to screw off. She’d managed to track down where he was staying, and approached him at his apartment, which was decked out in leather furniture of all things--but he’d again pushed her away, threatening that if she breathed a word to anyone about where he was, he’d been gone and no one would ever see him again.

Reluctantly she’d been keeping his secret, but the words that he’d thrown at her that night had been harsh and still hurt. She didn’t understand what was going on, but clearly that had not been the innocent farm boy she’d fallen in love with years ago.

Pushing aside all thoughts of Clark Kent, she found herself gazing intently at Jimmy, wondering what it would be like to kiss him. He was apparently attracted to her and she couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to kiss someone who actually wanted to kiss her back.

“Jimmy?”

He looked up at her. “Yeah?”

Wordlessly, Chloe leaned down and brushed her lips against his, closing her eyes.

He was startled for a moment, but then he quickly began to kiss her back, pulling her closer.

And that’s when his chair tipped over, sending them both sprawling onto the floor.

Jimmy’s face flushed with embarrassment and Chloe couldn’t help but giggle. She reached out and gently pulled the glasses off his face and kissed him once more, not bothering to get off the floor.

After a long moment, he slowly pulled away, looking at her with a dazed expression on his face. “That was…”

She smiled at him a little and then rose to her feet, holding her hands out to help him up.
Jimmy slid his hands into hers and stood up as well, reaching out and putting his glasses back on. “Chloe…”

“Yeah?”

He hesitated. “What are you doing in an hour?”

She glanced at her watch. “Nothing. My cousin’s not going to be back at her dorm tonight. She went out of town to visit her sister. Why?”

“Well, uh…I’m almost done here. Maybe we could…”

Chloe waited silently, watching him shift nervously from one foot to the other.

“Maybe we could go back to my place.”

* * *

Chloe looked around the apartment, feeling nervous. “Nice place,” she commented, drawing in a breath.

“Thanks, it’s uh…it’s actually my brother’s.” He shrugged as he headed into the kitchen and toward the refrigerator, pulling a bottle from the door.

“Where is your brother?” she asked, wrapping her arms around herself.

“He’s out of town for the weekend, too.” He smiled a little, fumbling to open the screw-top lid on the bottle and frowning in frustration.

“Here.” She moved to his side, glancing at the label. “Strawberry wine?” She raised her eyebrows and unscrewed the lid as his cheeks flushed a little.

“Yeah, it’s all we’ve got…sorry.”

She shrugged, watching as he moved to get glasses. She poured them each a glass and gazed at the red liquid for a moment before taking a small sip. It was slightly bitter, but not as bad as some of the other drinks she’d tried under her cousin’s supervision. Drawing in a breath she downed the whole glass quickly, glancing at him only to find him staring at her in surprise.

She smiled faintly and poured herself another glass.

“Why don’t we uh…move to the living room?” he suggested.

“No offense, but I think the bedroom would be more comfortable,” she said boldly.

His eyes widened again and he nodded. “Yeah…you’re right. Okay, it’s…down the hall to the left.”

Nodding, she carried the bottle and her glass out of the kitchen and down the hall, feeling nervous all of a sudden. She quickly took another long drink, letting the alcohol do its thing and soothe her nerves as much as possible.

He followed her closely, bumping into her as she paused in the doorway of his room.

Was she really going to do this? She took another drink and moved to sit down on the bed, setting the wine bottle and glass on the small table at the bedside. She wondered if she could go through with this. She watched as he approached her slowly, unconsciously licking his lips, and ignored the voice in her heart telling her that this was wrong because he wasn’t the one she wanted.

The one she wanted, her mind reasoned, was now a complete stranger, and he’d never want her back. So what difference did it really make? Maybe this would make her forget about Clark Kent all together.

Drawing in a breath, she winced a little as his hands squeezed her breasts a little too hard, and as he fumbled more than she’d hoped he would. It was over in moments and the pain between her legs was intense. There was nothing satisfactory about the encounter, nothing that left her feeling like sex was a big deal, although by the way Jimmy collapsed beside her on the bed, she had a feeling he felt differently.

She slowly dressed once more, no intention of spending the night, and he didn’t ask her to. “So those lessons you were talking about earlier? Are you still good for them?” she asked, feeling like a mechanical, broken robot.

“Yeah, of course. We can start tomorrow.” He smiled lazily, his eyes drifting shut.

She nodded though he didn’t see it and straightened her blouse and skirt, heading for the door. “Bye, Jimmy.”

“See ya tomorrow, Chloe.”

* * *

“Chloe? Are you gonna tell me or not?”

She drew in a deep breath, losing the faraway look that had lingered in her eyes for several long moments. She turned back to the computer. “I took lessons,” she answered, a faint, sad smile on her face.



Oh yes, and go vote for Chloe: http://www.kryptonsite.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=56582&perpage=15&pagenumber=2 . Please?