Clark smiled as he looked into the vivacious, dark green eyes of the girl before him, straddling his lap. A grin had seemed to be permanently plastered to his face ever since she had agreed to go out with him, and let’s just say her attentions definitely had him smiling now.

Let’s face it, Kent had gotten lucky, again. If everything had gone according to plan Chloe would have been long gone from his life already. But fortunately for him, life didn’t always do that. He bit his lip guiltily. He always felt bad for being glad that Chloe had had to stay in Smallville and go to the community college like he had. It wasn’t fair for him to be glad about it. About Gabe’s illness. Chloe had known from the moment that he had started to get bad that she wouldn’t be able to go to Met U, and it had crushed her. It had defeated her. Almost.

For one whole summer, Clark barely saw or heard from her at all. She had holed herself up in her house, grieving all those opportunities missed. Then, all of a sudden. When Clark’s first day of college had started he’d spotted her. Chloe Sullivan in all her former glory - there was not a hint of what tragedy had befallen her. In a way, both their fates were the same, so he could understand a part of what she had felt. He knew how it slowly ate at you from inside. He had had to stay in Smallville for college because of his parents. They needed him on the farm. They all knew that he would have to leave some day, but Clark wasn’t ready to leave them yet. He wasn’t ready for his destiny.

That was another thing that he and Chloe had in common. They were both scared. Scared of their own futures. They were walking parallel paths in life, but somehow Chloe’s seemed so much nobler. The only way she would ever get out of Smallville would be at the untimely death of her father, and by then, she probably would have dug herself into so much of a rut here in Smallville, she would probably never get out. Clark wasn’t sure whether the burning passion, enthusiasm and delight that she had in life would be extinguished before then by a life of small town hardship. He hoped not, because at that point, the Chloe he knew would be dead. His parents had coped, that was evident. But they had each other. Once he had left, and he had to at some point, Chloe would be alone.

He had hoped that Lana would stay, so that Chloe would have some company during her adult years. But there was little chance of that happening. Lana had finally managed to cut her ties to her dead parents and this town and had gone off to Metropolis U with Pete, who was studying Law, and Lana to study Fashion design. Of all the people in Smallville, Clark would have thought that Lana would have stuck by the Sullivan’s. She was family now, surely she owed Gabe. But apparently she didn’t think so. She was a different Lana now; she was determined and ambitious. Nothing was going to stop her from getting what she wanted. Not since she had lost Clark’s heart. She rarely returned to Smallville anymore, and if she did it was to put flowers on her parent’s graves. The Sullivan household was not on her list of places to visit. Maybe that was because she knew how bad she would feel if she saw Mr. Sullivan. Or maybe she wasn’t strong enough to see him so ill. She hadn’t been one time when he was ill. He couldn’t help but feel sorry for Lana. She had been built up by so many people, although - he admitted he’d contributed to that a heck of a lot over the years - that it was a bit of a disappointment that you found there was a scared little girl under the fairy princess façade.

He and Chloe had soon found themselves in the same classes at Smallville Community College, he had chosen to do the Journalism and English courses, and so had Chloe. So after the start of term, Chloe was on the staff of the Smallville Ledger. He should have known Chloe couldn’t survive very long without being involved in some kind of newspaper or publication. The Ledger had a new editor that had seen her ‘quirky and unique’ work in the Smallville Torch and jumped at the chance to hire her. All these crossing of paths had meant that Chloe and Clark had renewed their bonds of friendship and re-realized why they had been friends in the first place. Before Clark had known it, he had discovered that he was in love. He had just hoped that the wonderful girl he saw before him would return those feelings. He had felt that in comparison to her, he had very little to offer her, except his Super-strength, or the knowledge of his powers. And this was before she had opened up to him about her father. She had simply refused to hang out with him socially. But little by little, he gained her trust and she started to open up to him. She told him why she couldn’t hang out with him, about her fears over her father, about how hopeless she’d felt about her future. Tears still glistened in his eyes at the thought of it. That was when he’d finally opened up to her. It hadn’t seemed like he was burdening her with this when he told her, unlike when Lana and Pete had found out his secret. With her it seemed like relief to find out. Reassurance to her that she hadn’t been going crazy, and it had delighted her that he had finally felt able to entrust her with his secret after waiting for him to admit it to her for so long.

And this was before she had opened up to him about her father. She had simply refused to hang out with him socially. But little by little, he gained her trust and she started to open up to him. She told him why she could hang out with him, about her fears over her father, about how hopeless she’d felt about her future. Tears still glistened in his eyes at the thought of it.

“Clark, what’s wrong?” Chloe asked with concern, jogging him back to reality.

He looked at her sadly. He was trying to keep that bright light burning, but he couldn’t help thinking that his leaving might be what extinguished it, and that broke his heart as much as it was going to break Chloe’s. Why was he putting them both through all this?

She kissed his neck and shoulder. “C’mon Clark, you know I can always tell when something’s bothering you,” she told him. After all she was going though, she was concerned for him.

“I... I was just thinking about us,” he said, huskily. His hands traced the outline of her slim figure. This just wasn’t fair to her. To either of them. But now, with Chloe trying to initiate foreplay with him? It was hardly the appropriate time.

She looked at him confused. “What do you mean... A-are we not working out?”

“No!” he reassured her. “I- I just... Well, now isn’t really the right time for it,” he admitted. He kissed her lips softly, trying and quell her fears. Perhaps his movements were a little too quick, he thought to himself. But like he had rightly said, now wasn’t the time or the place. As he undid her bra and kissed along her collarbone and across her beautiful breasts, he emptied his minds of all his doubts. He was living for the moment and right now, this moment belonged to Chloe and making her happy.

He marveled at the way the moonlight fell across her body, from the window, as he lay her down on the bed. It highlighted all her curves and made her look more fragile than she really was. She was vulnerable when she was with him. No barriers. No defense. Just Chloe.

“I love you, Chloe,” he murmured, as he kissed her stomach. To which she smiled, her eyes dancing as she giggled and replied that she loved him, too.

She closed her eyes and inhaled sharply as his lips brushed over the front of her thong. He traced over her covered clit with his tongue. It glided with ease over the smooth silk as she rose up to him, moaning softly. He was utterly devoted to her. All Clark wanted was her happiness. To him, was the most rewarding thing in the world.

Soon the thong was gone, as his tongue worked his way inside her. Chloe’s moans and breathless screams echoed in his ears and he smiled and continued, working even faster. Super-speed certainly had its advantages... She cried out, begging him to stop, and threatening to kill him if he did, almost within the same breath, as she reached the verge of orgasm.

“Clark!” she called, breathlessly, just moments before her orgasm ripped through her body and she let out a scream. “Mmm, God I love you,” she told him, blissfully. She pulled him close and he slid inside her with a deep moan. This all felt so good and so right. Neither of them ever wanted it to end. But with a strangled cry that died on his lip, they were over. Their heads were planted next to each other on the pillows and Chloe found her way into Clark’s arms.

“Chloe,” Clark began. “I want you to know that I’ll always love you. But- I can’t stay here forever, I- I’ll have to leave, at some point...”

“I know, Clark.”

“I don’t want to hurt you when I do,” he continued.

“But you have to go, Clark. We both know that. You need to share your gift with the world. But we have right now. No one can take that away from us. I know that I can be happy for the rest of my life because I’ve known you and you’ve reached out and connected to me in a way no one else can. I will always treasure our time together. Just because I can’t live my life the way I always dreamed, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t. I’m not going to hold you back, Clark. When the time comes, I’ll let you fly away.” She pressed a finger against his lips to silence him. “No regrets, okay?”

He nodded and knew from then on that they were living for the moment.