Crush (4/5)

[xtremeroswellia]

Crush (Part Four)

For one second as she began to drop off the fire escape, there was sheer panic.

And then…there was contentment.

She wasn’t sure where it came from and had she had time to really contemplate it during her three story fall to nearly certain death, she would have decided to commit herself to Belle Reeve if she somehow managed to survive.

But the thought never occurred to her at all as she let her eyes shut, imagining she was floating toward the ground like a feather rather than falling like a rock toward the quickly approaching cement sidewalk.

And then, just when there should logically have been blackness and a sickening crunch of bones shattering (not necessarily in that order), her descent was halted abruptly.

Opening her eyes in amazement, she gazed at a grinning Clark Kent. “Told you I’d catch you.”

The weight of what had just happened settled upon her like a choking fog. She’d just thrown herself off a three story building on the off-chance her best friend really was some kind of alien superhero. And he’d actually caught her.

Without warning, Chloe laughed and his grin widened. She had an incredible laugh--not just a small, girlish Lana giggle, but a full, unrestrained, contagious laugh.

That was Chloe--unrestrained. All fire and sass and passion. Unbridled and free.

And he liked that.

He liked that a lot.

* * *

Restless, Chloe didn’t even attempt to sleep that night. It would have been a useless waste of time. She wondered if she’d ever sleep again knowing what she did now.

She watched him as he slept, peaceful, as though nothing frightened him.

Maybe it really didn’t, she mused. After all, what does a seemingly invincible alien superhero have to fear anyway?

He was the same guy she’d fallen in love with in eighth grade and yet, he was different. He wasn’t himself.

This Clark--or Kal-El--as he’d called himself--wanted her, not Lana Lang. This Clark was a risk-taker, a danger-seeker. This Clark was irresponsible, irrational, and the epitome of anti-farm boy.

This was not the Clark she was desperately in love with.

Her gaze drifted to the red ring on his finger. Lowered inhibitions my foot, she thought.

He had no inhibitions.

That red ring had completely obliterated them, along with all common sense--his and hers alike.

Letting out a ragged breath, she thought about all the horrible situations that could play out--what if those lack of inhibitions prompted him to share his secret with the wrong person?

For instance, someone with the last name of Luthor.

Shuddering, Chloe rested her head in her hands for a moment. She would never in a million years tell his secret to anyone, but that didn’t mean someone else wouldn’t.

He had trusted her--twice from what he’d told her earlier, and she trusted him--with her life.

She didn’t, however, trust him with his own.

And she wouldn’t let that responsibility fall on her shoulders. If anything happened to him because of her lack of action..

She didn’t even want to go there.

The decision was made.

Standing, Chloe swallowed hard and climbed into bed with him, her heart thudding rapidly.

He stirred, opening his eyes and flashing her a lazy smile. “Change your mind and decide to join me?”

“How could I not?” she replied, leaning down to kiss him. The feel of his strong body against hers was almost more than she could handle.

Grinning, he eagerly kissed her back, getting lost quickly in the pleasurable experience.

So lost, in fact, he never even noticed when she slipped off his ring.