Safe and Sound (Part Four)
Apr. 16th, 2006 08:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xtremeroswelliaPrologue | One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine | Ten | Eleven | Twelve | Thirteen | Fourteen | Fifteen | Sixteen | Seventeen and Epilogue
Is anyone reading this? Hello? *taps microphone* hehe
Chapter Four
I don’t blame you for quitting
I know you really tried
If only you could hang on through the night
“Okay, so what do you think?” Chloe glanced up from the computer she’d been working at in the Met. U. Daily office.
“Here. Let me see.” Marty motioned for her to stand up, and when she did, he slid into her chair, studying the computer screen. “Hmm.”
She folded her arms across her stomach, watching as he read over the article she’d just finished writing.
“This isn’t bad,” he told her, nodding a bit, and her heart sank. That was definitely not the reaction she’d been hoping for. He glanced up and saw her crestfallen expression. “It just needs a bit of reworking. Don’t worry, you’re a good writer, Chloe.” His voice was quiet.
She managed a faint, albeit somewhat forced smile.
“Here. Sit down.” He pulled a chair up beside him and she reluctantly sat in it. He read the lead of her article aloud. “It’s attention-grabbing but it’s more based on speculation than fact,” he explained. “We don’t want to deceive our readers--we want to give them just the facts.”
“Well, yeah, but it’s kind of a no-brainer conclusion, don’t you think? I mean, the starting quarterback is busted for steroids and now the entire team is under suspicion.” She gave him a look.
He was quiet for a moment. “Chloe, we don’t really want to jump to conclusions and accusations…especially when it comes to the reputation of a lot of VIPs on campus.”
“So what you’re saying is that you don’t want to offend anyone.”
“There’s a difference between not wanting to be offensive and wanting to be a good journalist.”
Chloe frowned, perturbed. “Are you saying I’m not a good journalist?”
“No, of course not. I’m just saying…well, from what you’ve told me your high school newspaper was a bit more of a…sensationalist newspaper than what the Metropolis University Daily is. It’s not a criticism,” he added quickly, holding up a hand. “But I think what you’re used to writing is a bit different than what we do here.”
She sighed softly, looking at the floor. “Maybe I’ve gone into the wrong field,” she said, unable to help feeling dejected.
“You haven’t,” he told her quietly, taking one of her hands in his. “You’ve got a lot of natural talent. We just need to work on showing you how to hone it.”
Chloe blew out a breath, slowly lifting her gaze to meet his. “So you’ll help me?”
Marty smiled. “Count on it.”
* * *
Clark was sitting on the edge of Chloe’s bed when she came back to the dorm later that evening. “Hey.”
She was a little surprised to see him. She’d gotten used to seeing him on a daily basis over the last few weeks--ever since she told him she knew his secret. But between classes and spending time with Marty, she hadn’t seen him in almost a week. She hadn’t even talked to him. In fact, she’d barely seen Lana, for that matter. “Hey. What are you doing here?” She glanced around, but didn’t see any sign of her roommate.
“Classes got done early. Thought I’d run by, see how things were going.” He leaned forward as she set her bag on the floor by her desk.
“Everything’s good.”
“Yeah?” Clark watched her. “So tell me about this new guy.”
Chloe paused for a moment, not looking at him as she unpacked her bag and began organizing her books on her desk. “His name’s Marty. He’s the Met. U. Daily editor.”
“What’s he like?”
“He’s really sweet, funny, smart. Good looking.” She shrugged.
“You guys are seeing each other?” he asked, still watching her.
Chloe turned to look at him. “What’s with the third degree, Clark?”
Clark looked surprised. “I’m not…I’m just curious. I haven’t talked to you in awhile and…” He shrugged, looked down at the floor. “I miss you. That’s all.”
Her eyes softened a bit at his quiet admission. “I miss you too,” she confessed. She moved to sit beside him on the bed. “I guess between our schedules and…uh, other people, we’ve kinda been busy.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” Clark frowned. “Well, you wanna do something today? Maybe go catch a movie or something? Hang out for awhile?”
Chloe smiled. “Yeah, I’d like that. I’m done with classes for the day, so…should we invite Lana?”
“She’s busy with projects this afternoon. I was kinda hoping it’d just be the two of us.” Clark smiled back.
Her smile widened, her cheek dimpling as her eyes sparkled. “Sounds great. So what movies are playing?” She stood to go across the room and grab a copy of the Daily Planet that lay on her desk.
“Whatever you wanna watch is fine with me,” he told her. “I’ll even pay.”
A chuckle escaped her. “Wow, you have missed me.”
“I really have,” he told her softly.
She looked over at him and smiled as she unrolled the paper and opened it to the movie section. “Hey, they’re showing Titanic on the Square.”
“Chloe, you’ve seen Titanic like, fifteen times.”
She stuck her tongue out at him.
He grinned. “All right. Titanic it is. What time does it start?”
Chloe glanced at her wristwatch. “Looks like we’ve got a half-hour. It’s not far, you mind walking?”
He gave her a look. “Considering I can get there faster on foot than by car, I think that’s all right.”
She rolled her eyes. “All right, Mr. Superfly, let’s go. Not all of us can move at the speed of light.”
Clark grinned and headed for the door, pulling it open to find an unfamiliar looking guy standing there. “Can I help you?”
The guy’s eyes narrowed a bit. “I’m looking for Chloe.”
Chloe quickly ducked under Clark’s arm. “Hey, Marty!” she said brightly.
He smiled back at her, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Hey.”
“This is my friend, Clark Kent. Clark, this is Marty Adams,” she introduced them.
The two young men sized each other up, each eyeing the other suspiciously. Clark held his hand out first and Marty reached out and shook it, squeezing a bit more roughly than usual. Unable to stop himself, Clark pinned him with a look and squeezed back, causing Marty to flinch just slightly and pull his hand away.
The tension didn’t go unnoticed by Chloe, who felt awkward and somewhat uncomfortable without even really knowing why. “Clark and I were just heading out to catch a movie.”
Marty lowered his gaze from his face to hers, a somewhat forced smile still on his lips. “Oh. That’s too bad. I was hoping we could do something this afternoon since we were both free.”
She gave him an apologetic smile. “Maybe later this evening? I’ve hardly seen Clark since school started.”
“Sure. This evening sounds great. Give me a call when you get back.” He eyed Clark for a moment, then leaned down and kissed Chloe’s cheek. “See you later.”
“Bye,” she said softly, a faint smile on her lips.
Clark watched the guy walk away, feeling more than a little tense and uneasy. There was something about Marty that he just didn’t like.
“What was that?” Chloe asked, giving him a look.
“What was what?” he shook his head, feigning confusion.
She sighed. “Forget it. Come on or we’ll miss the movie.”
Clark rested a hand on her shoulder and led her out of the dorm room.
* * *
Chloe was smiling by the time she made it to Marty’s apartment that evening. She’d spent all afternoon hanging out with Clark and it had been really nice. It’d been a long time since the two of them had done something together besides attempting to save someone or stop a bad guy. Too long. But the day had been stress-free, watching Titanic, having a popcorn fight in the nearly empty theater, and then going out to the Olive Garden for dinner. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed Clark until she’d spent the time with him, and now she was glad she had. She felt like they’d reconnected in a way they hadn’t in several weeks.
They’d decided to try and do something fun together every couple of weeks, just the two of them. “A best friend’s day,” Clark had called it. He even suggested the two of them take a road trip up to Wichita to visit Pete sometime in the near future, which sounded great to her. She reminded herself she still hadn’t emailed her old friend back since he’d last written her, and told herself she’d do it later that night.
As she was thinking about the old days in Smallville with Pete and Clark, the door opened and she smiled brightly at Marty. “Hi.”
“Hi.” He smiled, but once again it didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“I know I said I’d call, so I hope it’s okay that I stopped over instead.”
“Of course. Come in.” Marty stepped aside to let her in his apartment.
Chloe flashed him a smile and walked in, glancing around. For a single college guy, his place was pretty neat and organized. Impressive, she thought, turning to look at him.
“You want something to drink?” he offered. “I have bottled water, soda, and wine.”
“Oh, uh, water’s good. Thanks.”
Nodding, he headed into the kitchen, grabbing two bottles of water from the fridge and handing her one before hopping up on the counter. “So. Tell me about this Clark guy,” he said casually.
She was a bit caught off guard. “Oh, well…we’ve been best friends since the eighth grade.” She shrugged. Whenever the topic of Clark Kent came up, she started feeling uneasy--for more reasons than one.
“So you two aren’t…?”
“No,” she said quickly, shaking her head and ignoring the brief pang she felt. “He’s dating Lana, actually.”
“Lana? Your roommate?”
She nodded. “Yeah. He’s been head over heels for her since he was seven.”
Marty was silent for a moment, still looking a bit tense. “And how do you feel about him?”
“What do you mean?”
He pinned her with a look and she let out a breath, looking down at the floor.
“Things with Clark are…complicated. I won’t deny that at one point I had very strong feelings for him. But…they weren’t returned. And Lana’s my friend. So I got over it.”
“So you don’t wish he felt that way about you?”
Chloe was quiet for a moment. “It would complicate things way too much at this point. Because of Lana. And because…I’m interested in someone else.”
“Anyone I know?” he asked casually, a hint of a smile on his lips.
She looked up at him, smiling back. “I think you know him pretty well. He’s this really sweet guy, works on the school newspaper as the editor.”
Marty grinned. “I think I do know him. He is pretty cool. So if he were to, say…ask you to be his girlfriend…what would you say?”
A bright smile that lit up her face graced her lips. “I’d say I was one lucky woman.”
Is anyone reading this? Hello? *taps microphone* hehe
Chapter Four
I don’t blame you for quitting
I know you really tried
If only you could hang on through the night
“Okay, so what do you think?” Chloe glanced up from the computer she’d been working at in the Met. U. Daily office.
“Here. Let me see.” Marty motioned for her to stand up, and when she did, he slid into her chair, studying the computer screen. “Hmm.”
She folded her arms across her stomach, watching as he read over the article she’d just finished writing.
“This isn’t bad,” he told her, nodding a bit, and her heart sank. That was definitely not the reaction she’d been hoping for. He glanced up and saw her crestfallen expression. “It just needs a bit of reworking. Don’t worry, you’re a good writer, Chloe.” His voice was quiet.
She managed a faint, albeit somewhat forced smile.
“Here. Sit down.” He pulled a chair up beside him and she reluctantly sat in it. He read the lead of her article aloud. “It’s attention-grabbing but it’s more based on speculation than fact,” he explained. “We don’t want to deceive our readers--we want to give them just the facts.”
“Well, yeah, but it’s kind of a no-brainer conclusion, don’t you think? I mean, the starting quarterback is busted for steroids and now the entire team is under suspicion.” She gave him a look.
He was quiet for a moment. “Chloe, we don’t really want to jump to conclusions and accusations…especially when it comes to the reputation of a lot of VIPs on campus.”
“So what you’re saying is that you don’t want to offend anyone.”
“There’s a difference between not wanting to be offensive and wanting to be a good journalist.”
Chloe frowned, perturbed. “Are you saying I’m not a good journalist?”
“No, of course not. I’m just saying…well, from what you’ve told me your high school newspaper was a bit more of a…sensationalist newspaper than what the Metropolis University Daily is. It’s not a criticism,” he added quickly, holding up a hand. “But I think what you’re used to writing is a bit different than what we do here.”
She sighed softly, looking at the floor. “Maybe I’ve gone into the wrong field,” she said, unable to help feeling dejected.
“You haven’t,” he told her quietly, taking one of her hands in his. “You’ve got a lot of natural talent. We just need to work on showing you how to hone it.”
Chloe blew out a breath, slowly lifting her gaze to meet his. “So you’ll help me?”
Marty smiled. “Count on it.”
* * *
Clark was sitting on the edge of Chloe’s bed when she came back to the dorm later that evening. “Hey.”
She was a little surprised to see him. She’d gotten used to seeing him on a daily basis over the last few weeks--ever since she told him she knew his secret. But between classes and spending time with Marty, she hadn’t seen him in almost a week. She hadn’t even talked to him. In fact, she’d barely seen Lana, for that matter. “Hey. What are you doing here?” She glanced around, but didn’t see any sign of her roommate.
“Classes got done early. Thought I’d run by, see how things were going.” He leaned forward as she set her bag on the floor by her desk.
“Everything’s good.”
“Yeah?” Clark watched her. “So tell me about this new guy.”
Chloe paused for a moment, not looking at him as she unpacked her bag and began organizing her books on her desk. “His name’s Marty. He’s the Met. U. Daily editor.”
“What’s he like?”
“He’s really sweet, funny, smart. Good looking.” She shrugged.
“You guys are seeing each other?” he asked, still watching her.
Chloe turned to look at him. “What’s with the third degree, Clark?”
Clark looked surprised. “I’m not…I’m just curious. I haven’t talked to you in awhile and…” He shrugged, looked down at the floor. “I miss you. That’s all.”
Her eyes softened a bit at his quiet admission. “I miss you too,” she confessed. She moved to sit beside him on the bed. “I guess between our schedules and…uh, other people, we’ve kinda been busy.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” Clark frowned. “Well, you wanna do something today? Maybe go catch a movie or something? Hang out for awhile?”
Chloe smiled. “Yeah, I’d like that. I’m done with classes for the day, so…should we invite Lana?”
“She’s busy with projects this afternoon. I was kinda hoping it’d just be the two of us.” Clark smiled back.
Her smile widened, her cheek dimpling as her eyes sparkled. “Sounds great. So what movies are playing?” She stood to go across the room and grab a copy of the Daily Planet that lay on her desk.
“Whatever you wanna watch is fine with me,” he told her. “I’ll even pay.”
A chuckle escaped her. “Wow, you have missed me.”
“I really have,” he told her softly.
She looked over at him and smiled as she unrolled the paper and opened it to the movie section. “Hey, they’re showing Titanic on the Square.”
“Chloe, you’ve seen Titanic like, fifteen times.”
She stuck her tongue out at him.
He grinned. “All right. Titanic it is. What time does it start?”
Chloe glanced at her wristwatch. “Looks like we’ve got a half-hour. It’s not far, you mind walking?”
He gave her a look. “Considering I can get there faster on foot than by car, I think that’s all right.”
She rolled her eyes. “All right, Mr. Superfly, let’s go. Not all of us can move at the speed of light.”
Clark grinned and headed for the door, pulling it open to find an unfamiliar looking guy standing there. “Can I help you?”
The guy’s eyes narrowed a bit. “I’m looking for Chloe.”
Chloe quickly ducked under Clark’s arm. “Hey, Marty!” she said brightly.
He smiled back at her, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Hey.”
“This is my friend, Clark Kent. Clark, this is Marty Adams,” she introduced them.
The two young men sized each other up, each eyeing the other suspiciously. Clark held his hand out first and Marty reached out and shook it, squeezing a bit more roughly than usual. Unable to stop himself, Clark pinned him with a look and squeezed back, causing Marty to flinch just slightly and pull his hand away.
The tension didn’t go unnoticed by Chloe, who felt awkward and somewhat uncomfortable without even really knowing why. “Clark and I were just heading out to catch a movie.”
Marty lowered his gaze from his face to hers, a somewhat forced smile still on his lips. “Oh. That’s too bad. I was hoping we could do something this afternoon since we were both free.”
She gave him an apologetic smile. “Maybe later this evening? I’ve hardly seen Clark since school started.”
“Sure. This evening sounds great. Give me a call when you get back.” He eyed Clark for a moment, then leaned down and kissed Chloe’s cheek. “See you later.”
“Bye,” she said softly, a faint smile on her lips.
Clark watched the guy walk away, feeling more than a little tense and uneasy. There was something about Marty that he just didn’t like.
“What was that?” Chloe asked, giving him a look.
“What was what?” he shook his head, feigning confusion.
She sighed. “Forget it. Come on or we’ll miss the movie.”
Clark rested a hand on her shoulder and led her out of the dorm room.
* * *
Chloe was smiling by the time she made it to Marty’s apartment that evening. She’d spent all afternoon hanging out with Clark and it had been really nice. It’d been a long time since the two of them had done something together besides attempting to save someone or stop a bad guy. Too long. But the day had been stress-free, watching Titanic, having a popcorn fight in the nearly empty theater, and then going out to the Olive Garden for dinner. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed Clark until she’d spent the time with him, and now she was glad she had. She felt like they’d reconnected in a way they hadn’t in several weeks.
They’d decided to try and do something fun together every couple of weeks, just the two of them. “A best friend’s day,” Clark had called it. He even suggested the two of them take a road trip up to Wichita to visit Pete sometime in the near future, which sounded great to her. She reminded herself she still hadn’t emailed her old friend back since he’d last written her, and told herself she’d do it later that night.
As she was thinking about the old days in Smallville with Pete and Clark, the door opened and she smiled brightly at Marty. “Hi.”
“Hi.” He smiled, but once again it didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“I know I said I’d call, so I hope it’s okay that I stopped over instead.”
“Of course. Come in.” Marty stepped aside to let her in his apartment.
Chloe flashed him a smile and walked in, glancing around. For a single college guy, his place was pretty neat and organized. Impressive, she thought, turning to look at him.
“You want something to drink?” he offered. “I have bottled water, soda, and wine.”
“Oh, uh, water’s good. Thanks.”
Nodding, he headed into the kitchen, grabbing two bottles of water from the fridge and handing her one before hopping up on the counter. “So. Tell me about this Clark guy,” he said casually.
She was a bit caught off guard. “Oh, well…we’ve been best friends since the eighth grade.” She shrugged. Whenever the topic of Clark Kent came up, she started feeling uneasy--for more reasons than one.
“So you two aren’t…?”
“No,” she said quickly, shaking her head and ignoring the brief pang she felt. “He’s dating Lana, actually.”
“Lana? Your roommate?”
She nodded. “Yeah. He’s been head over heels for her since he was seven.”
Marty was silent for a moment, still looking a bit tense. “And how do you feel about him?”
“What do you mean?”
He pinned her with a look and she let out a breath, looking down at the floor.
“Things with Clark are…complicated. I won’t deny that at one point I had very strong feelings for him. But…they weren’t returned. And Lana’s my friend. So I got over it.”
“So you don’t wish he felt that way about you?”
Chloe was quiet for a moment. “It would complicate things way too much at this point. Because of Lana. And because…I’m interested in someone else.”
“Anyone I know?” he asked casually, a hint of a smile on his lips.
She looked up at him, smiling back. “I think you know him pretty well. He’s this really sweet guy, works on the school newspaper as the editor.”
Marty grinned. “I think I do know him. He is pretty cool. So if he were to, say…ask you to be his girlfriend…what would you say?”
A bright smile that lit up her face graced her lips. “I’d say I was one lucky woman.”
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Date: 2006-04-22 04:09 am (UTC)