Fic: Shadows of the Past

[kitmerlot_1213]

Chapter 11


"I told them everything I knew of the curse. The cycle begins once an object has been passed into someone’s possession, and the pattern always remains the same. Two people who are in love with each other begin to have dreams of the murders. A third person, usually a man, becomes obsessed with the woman and then enraged with jealousy towards the man the woman loves. The third person then tries to interfere in the couple’s lives. The story has never ended well, because it always ends in death…

***

Lex and Chloe stood and stared up at the old, broken-down house that had become the key to their, and the Todd’s, salvation. Lex could have sworn that he had ordered the ramshackle house to be demolished. Apparently, most of the workers at the crap factory were of a superstitious nature, and they didn’t want to tick off the spirit world, so, to Lex’s relief, the old Todd house had been left untouched.

Lex couldn’t help but grimace at the sight in front of him. The house looked like the classic example of what a haunted house should be. The shutters were falling off of the windows, the paint had been worn down to the bare wood, the wood itself was warped, and looked like it wouldn’t hold if a fly landed on it. Yet, Chloe wanted to look inside the house, and in particular, the kitchen.

Chloe concluded that as impossible as it sounded, the house was the key to solving the murders. The house was where all of their dreams started from, and the kitchen was where the curse was born. The fury of the killer’s actions was so encompassing that inanimate objects were tainted by it, because Megan’s journal and Daniel’s car had been infected. If they could walk into the house, and follow the hallway down to the kitchen, maybe something would be jarred, psychically speaking.

Lex didn’t ask how Chloe seemed to know all of this, but he believed her and he would do whatever she wanted. He would get them into that house, and he would make sure that they both came out alive. Lex tried to hide the fact that the information Mrs. Fordman had given them scared him, but he didn’t think anyone was fooled, especially Chloe. He knew that he could face danger for himself without blinking, but Chloe’s being in danger was another matter entirely.

Apparently, they were not the first couple haunted by the Todd family. Over the past eighty years, at least one hundred and thirty couples were thought to have died from the curse. Mrs. Fordman couldn’t be sure that they had been touched by the evil that killed Megan and Emma, but according to news reports, the couples involved in the violent deaths had always been viewed as very happy together.

The sudden violence of the man killing his wife, and then himself, was always a shock to the grieving family and friends. And on more than one occasion, a family had been stunned by a deathbed confession of a man who had been a friend, or sometimes a family member to the couple, admitting to killing the wife in a jealous rage.

Lex didn’t want Chloe or himself to become yet another victim of the house’s malevolent power. He couldn’t protect Chloe from an unseen danger, but this time, he knew where the threat to Chloe’s life was coming from. It was in the shape of Clark Kent: friend, farm boy and would-be murderer. Clark had become part of the curse simply by being involved with both Chloe and Lex. And it didn’t hurt that Clark had unresolved feeling for Chloe that were apparently coming to the fore because of her relationship with Lex.

At that thought, Lex felt an odd mixture of guilt and happiness. He felt guilty because Chloe’s life was in danger because of being involved with him, but at the same time, he wouldn’t trade having Chloe’s love for an instant. He had never said the words to her out loud, but he hoped that Chloe knew that he loved her. She made him happier then he had any right to be, and having Gabe’s approval meant the world to him. But they still had to deal with Clark.

Intellectually, Lex knew that Clark was both his and Chloe’s friend, but he was now under the influence of the curse. Clark would be irrational and in a jealous rage until he acted out his murderous thoughts. Lex didn’t even want to contemplate the possibility of having to hurt, or even kill his best friend, but if it came down to saving Chloe or Lex, Lex would always chose Chloe

He had no intention of letting Clark anywhere near Chloe, but Clark had proven to be damn near invincible on more than one occasion, and he had an uncanny ability to slip in and out of places virtually undetected. But Lex was prepared for all eventualities when it came to protecting what was his, and he was fully prepared to stop Clark Kent from taking anything or anyone away from him.

***

Clark watched from the shadows as Chloe and Lex walked towards the front door to the Todd house. He hadn’t been near the house since he was a child, and it had always given him the creeps. He couldn’t understand why Lex would take Chloe to a dusty old house in the first place.

This was just more proof that Lex didn’t deserve a wonderful girl like Chloe. She was clearly too good for him, and she was probably smiling patiently at him, just waiting for an opportunity to leave. And then Clark would be there to take her away from the unwanted attention of Lex Luthor.

Clark smiled happily at the thought of finally having Chloe all to himself. But he was puzzled as to why Chloe and Lex were at this place to begin with. The old Todd house was not exactly a place conducive to romance. No, there was another reason they were here, and Clark tried to remember everything he had ever heard about the house.

It had always been a fixture at Halloween, with all of the 7th grade boys daring the 6th graders to run up and touch the front door. Once, on a dare from Pete, he had entered the house, but he had started to feel sick by the time he made his way to the kitchen. At the time, Pete had accused him of being a baby, but he now suspected that there were meteor rocks embedded in the walls. The house had been directly in the path when his ship crashed into the cornfield.

But it didn’t matter if the walls were painted with green Kryptonite paint, nothing would stop him from stealing Chloe back from Lex.

With a firm nod of his head and an unnaturally violent gleam in his eye, Clark followed the unsuspecting pair into the house.

***

"I’m too late. Blood is all over the floor. Oh dear God, Megan and Emma are dead. What have I done? And how am I going to tell Daniel?"

Chapter 12


Chloe turned to Lex and tried not to let her disappointment show. "I thought that the kitchen would look different, but it doesn’t." She had barely gotten her sentence out when a bright light illuminated the kitchen, and a woman appeared.

Chloe gasped in surprise and moved to walk towards the woman, but Lex had grabbed her around the waist, holding her still. He lowered his head and whispered in her ear, "Chloe, it’s happening again."

Megan stood at the sink, washing the dirt off of the carrots. Her cutting board was next to her, with her sharpest knife lying on top of it. She was planning on cutting up the carrots and adding them to the stew, when she heard the front door slam. She glanced at the clock in surprise, knowing that Daniel wasn’t due home for another hour. She started to walk towards the kitchen door, when a man burst in.

Chloe and Lex exchanged a look of sudden understanding. The man who was standing in the middle of Megan’s kitchen was the same man who had been staring at her in the background of all the pictures they had seen at Mrs. Fordman’s.

Sick with dread, Lex and Chloe realized that Megan and Emma’s murders were about to be replayed right in front of them. He tightened his arms around her, and Chloe snuggled deeper into his embrace, both taking comfort from the other’s presence.

Megan tried to appear calm, but she was frightened. Owen Todd scared her, but she more fearful of how he glared at Emma. She breathed a silent prayer that her little girl was in the sitting room playing jacks, and not in the kitchen with her. "Daniel isn’t home from work, Owen, but you’re welcome to wait for him. Can I get you anything to drink?"

She moved towards the icebox, but surreptitiously reached for the knife by her cutting board. She was suddenly glad that Daniel insisted on her always keeping a weapon at the ready. He didn’t like the though of anyone hurting his girls when he was away on railroad business, and he knew that Megan was more that able to defend herself and their daughter from an intruder.

Megan wondered if Daniel ever thought that she would have to defend herself and her daughter from his own brother.

Owen’s hand covered her own before she could reach the blade. "Now, Megan, we both know the reason I’m here and it doesn’t have anything to do with my brother."

Megan looked Owen directly in the eye, and her heart nearly stopped at what she saw reflected back. Owen was grinning at her, the insanity that the entire Todd family tried to keep hidden clearly showing through. He didn’t bother to conceal his desires or his intentions, when he reached out a hand, and tenderly brushed a strand of hair from her face. Megan couldn’t stop the shudder of revulsion that racked her entire body from his touch.

She spoke as gently as she could. "I could never love you, Owen. I’m sorry."

Owen heard her words and saw her reaction when his fingers brushed her hair away from her face. She hated him and in that instant, everything changed. His expression went from a look of devotion to one of murderous rage.

He grabbed her by the throat and shouted at her, "Why can’t you love me? WHY?"

Lex could feel Chloe flinch when Owen shouted, and his arms pulled her tighter against him. He began to whisper soothingly into her ear. "Soon, love, soon. We’ll be able to help, but first we have to get though this. I need you to stay strong."

Chloe nodded at his words, but she couldn’t stifle the sob from coming out of her mouth. Lex kissed her cheek, and she turned quickly in his arms and buried her face in his neck. He held her to him, but Chloe raised her head when she heard the sound of a struggle.

Megan broke free of Owen’s grasp and she made a run for the door. But Owen was faster and stronger, and she was suddenly pinned to the ground, with a burning sensation in her side. He was leaning over her, and she saw her knife, covered in blood. She knew that he was about to kill her, but he was not going to hurt her baby.

Megan ignored the pain in her side, and raised both of her legs and kicked Owen in the face. He fell off of her, and she tried to get up but she couldn’t. She had to get her daughter away from this madman, but she could hardily move. She looked back over at her brother-In-law and saw him start to get up, the knife in his hand.

Megan couldn’t control her terror anymore. She just started screaming Emma’s name over and over again, her heart filled with a deepening despair, because she knew that her daughter was going to die this night. She didn’t stop screaming when her stabbed her chest, or her arms. She didn’t stop screaming when he cut her stomach or hands. She only stopped screaming when he slit her throat.

Chloe hadn’t realized that she had been crying until she felt Lex brush the tears from her cheeks. She was about to reassure him that she was all right, when the sound of running footsteps came from the hall. Chloe’s face paled, and her stomach dropped. Emma.

Emma heard her mother’s voice calling her into the kitchen. She ran to the kitchen, and answered, "What is it, Momma?"

Emma stopped short in surprise. Her uncle Owen was here, but where was momma. She saw her momma, but she was lying down on the floor, and there was red all over her.

This game wasn’t fun anymore, and she was scared. It was time for her momma to get up, so Emma ran towards her.

Suddenly, Uncle Owen picked her up. He wasn’t supposed to pick her up, daddy said so, but daddy wasn’t here. Emma started to cry out for her momma, but Uncle Owen just shook her.

He shouted at the frightened little girl. "Shut up, you brat! It’s all your fault. Megan could have loved me, but then she had you. Well, I’ll guess I’ll fix that!"

He threw her into the sink and held her down. The water was cold, and no one gave her a bath but her momma and daddy.

Emma cried out one last time. "MOMMA!"

Chloe thought that she was going to be sick, and from Lex’s green complexion, she wasn’t the only one. Owen killed Megan because she didn’t love him, and he killed Emma because he thought she was to blame for Megan not loving him.

For the second time that night, Chloe and Lex heard the sound of running footsteps down the hall. Owen was still standing by the sink, and Chloe could see part of Emma’s dress. A man ran into the room and looked at the carnage. He was older, with graying hair, but his face seemed familiar.

He walked past Megan’s bloodstained body, but he couldn’t bring himself to look at her. He saw Emma lying in the sink, soaking wet and already a horrible blue shade. His hands were starting to shake, but he didn’t know if it was in shock or fear.

He reached Owen’s side and removed his hands from where he had held the little girl underneath the water. The knife he had used on Megan was lying by her body. He turned Owen towards him and gently shook him. There was no response, and Owen appeared to be in a stupor.

The man slapped Owen across the face, again gently at first, but when he received no response, he used more force. Soon, the man was almost pummeling Owen, and finally he came out of his trance.

"Dad, what are you doing here?"

Lex snapped his fingers and started muttering almost to himself. "I knew the old man was helping to cover up, I just knew it!"

Chloe shook her head, too stunned to even form a coherent sentence. "He covered up his son’s murder of his daughter-in-law and granddaughter. Why would he do that? And what about Daniel?"

Lex smiled grimly when he answered Chloe. "Daniel’s father thought that he was protecting his family. He knew that Owen was unstable, so he tried to keep him locked up. Unfortunately, Owen may have been insane, but he was also intelligent. Mr. Todd senior clearly underestimated the level of his son’s intelligence and his insanity."

Chloe nodded thoughtfully, and she started to speak, but she was silenced by what she saw next.

Mr. Todd took a dishtowel from a drawer and wrapped the knife in it. He then turned towards the back door, and left the kitchen.

Chloe and Lex looked at each other, and followed him out to the back yard. They didn’t even question it when the unnaturally bright light from the kitchen seemed to follow them outside. Somehow, they knew that this was also a part of the curse, and that they were meant to see it.

Mr. Todd went to his car, and emptied out his toolbox. He placed the knife in the toolbox and tied it with a rope. He then walked to farmhouse’s well and pitched the toolbox into the water. After he heard the splash, he walked back into the kitchen.

Chloe and Lex followed after him, too stunned by this latest development to make any comments to each other.

Mr. Todd bundled a now docile Owen into his car. He walked into the kitchen and looked at Megan and Emma. He muttered a prayer under his breath and then left Daniel to discover the dead bodies of his wife and daughter.

The bright light faded, and Chloe and Lex were left in an almost semi-darkness. Neither one seemed to notice when the light faded. Instead, they stood stock-still in the middle of the kitchen, trying to make sense out of everything they had witnessed.

They now had the answers to Megan and Emma’s murders, but they were left with the bitter knowledge that it was Daniel’s own father and brother who had a hand in destroying his life.

They had a lot to discuss, but neither one wanted to be in the house a moment longer. Lex held his hand out to Chloe, eager for them to leave the room where so much death and destruction had occurred. She smiled and reached out her hand to take his when a rush of air blew past her.

She blinked in surprise and then her face paled. Lex was lying on the ground, his arm at an odd angle to his body. She stepped towards him, when Clark blocked her way, a strange smile covering his face.

"It’s okay Chloe. I’m here now, and Lex can’t hurt you ever again."

Chapter 13


The sight of Clark standing in the kitchen caused Chloe’s stomach to clench in fear. Outwardly, she tried to remain calm, but when she felt Clark wrap his arms around her in a hug, it took all of her self-control not to kick him in the shins.

She saw how Owen reacted when Megan rebuffed his advances and Chloe decided that she wasn’t going to provoke Clark if she could avoid it. She was determined to stay alive so she could get herself and Lex away from Clark and out of this god-forsaken house.

But, the first thing she had to do was break Clark out of the hold the curse had on him. And she didn’t have a clue how to do it.

Clark held her much longer than was necessary, and she took several deep breaths to stop herself from visibly shaking. To her relief, he finally pulled back, but he didn’t release her from his grip. Instead, he stared into her face, as if he were trying to memorize it. Chloe stood perfectly still and watched him watching her.

Clark’s face was pale, his eyes were glazed over, and he was sweating. Chloe remembered that Clark seemed to be exhibiting the same symptoms when he confronted her at her house, right after she and Lex had first gotten together.

She should have put it all together then, but she had been distracted by her feelings for Lex, and her happiness that he returned her feelings. Truthfully, she had been more concerned with her father’s reaction to her and Lex being involved than what Clark thought.

She wished that she had paid more attention to how irrational Clark had been acting that night. Perhaps they could have circumvented all of the drama and escalating violence that was happening now.

Chloe shook her head at her own negativity, and instead, turned her attentions to planning her next move. She doubted that telling Clark off would be the wisest move that she could make. Yet, he seemed relatively calm, and he hadn’t made any violent moves towards her. Maybe she could still get out of this in one piece.

She tried to back away from his embrace, but he tightened his hold on her. She tried not to wince, but Clark’s fingers dug into her arms. Clark smiled down at her, and Chloe’s blood chilled in her veins.

Clark’s once bashful smile was now a sinister leer and Chloe’s fear mounted when he pulled her in towards his body. He lowered his head to kiss her, and Chloe reacted instinctively. Her body went rigid, and she threw herself forward, headfirst. Clark’s mouth made contact with Chloe’s head, and they both cried out: Chloe, in pain, and Clark in surprise.

Clark was stunned enough that he let go of Chloe and she quickly scrambled to Lex’s side. She checked for his pulse, and whispered a silent prayer when she found it beating strongly. He was unconscious, and he had a broken arm, but he didn’t appear to have any other injuries. Now, she had to get them out of there.

Chloe quickly looked around for a weapon, and mistakenly turned her back on Clark. In that short span of time, Clark grabbed her by the throat, his fingers slowly squeezing her windpipe. The only sound that Chloe could make was a rasping croak.

Clark grinned and loosened his grip. "I gave you a chance, Chloe, to leave here with me. But the first opportunity you got, you ran back to HIM! What do you have to say for yourself?"

The first time she went to speak, Chloe’s voice could barely be heard. She carefully cleared her throat, and spoke again. "Clark, please listen to me. This isn’t you. You don’t want to hurt us. We’re you’re friends."

Clark snorted. "Chloe, I love you. What do I have to do to prove it to you? Kill Lex?’ Clark’s eyes brightened at this thought. "Now there’s a plan. Nothing says ‘I love you’ like murdering your rival!"

Chloe shivered at the sheer malevolence in Clark’s voice and her fear made her snap out at him. "Clark, stop being a jackass! You and Lex aren’t rivals, you’re friends. You aren’t going to murder anyone, especially Lex and me. And if you try, God help me, I’ll kick the shit out of you myself!"

Clark was startled at Chloe’s speech and his fingers loosened slightly from around her neck. Chloe took full advantage of his lapse in concentration. She pushed him away from her and ran to Lex’s prone form, fully intending on dragging him out of the house with her.

Clark’s anger returned, but before he could go after Chloe, the light in the room changed. It became brighter, and a woman materialized in the room. His eyes widened in fear and he stood still, unsure of what was happening.

Chloe saw the bright light appear again, and she closed her eyes in resignation at having to watch the murders happen all over again. But her eyes snapped open just as quickly when she realized what it meant. This time the murders were being replayed for Clark’s benefit, and hopefully, watching the killing of an innocent woman and her daughter would get through to him.

She muttered another silent prayer, and leaned in closer to Lex. He had started to stir, and Chloe was afraid that his regaining consciousness would cause Clark to try to injure him again. Lex slowly opened his eyes, and when his gaze fixed on Chloe, he started to speak to her. She covered his mouth with her hand, and she nodded to Clark.

Lex saw his friend staring transfixed at the sight of Megan. As if sensing their eyes on him, he turned to the pair and asked, "What’s going on? What’s happening?"

Chloe didn’t have a chance to answer, because Owen had made his appearance. She watched Clark’s reactions to Megan’s murder, and she was oddly satisfied when she saw his already pale skin become almost ghostly white. Chloe could see his agonized expression when Megan’s screams finally stopped.

She saw him shuddering, and gasping for breath. Clark put his head in his hands, and he seemed to be talking to himself. His inner monologue came to an abrupt halt when he heard the little girl’s voice. He raised his head slowly, and he seemed to be afraid of what he was going to see next.

He didn’t have long to wait. Clark’s mouth opened in mute horror when Owen placed Emma in the sink, and turned on the water. Clark moved forward as if to help her, but he seemed to understand the futility of the gesture. His face turned a sickening greenish hue, and he looked like he was going to pass out. Instead, he fell to his knees, unable to move.

Chloe and Lex moved towards Clark hesitantly, unsure of what to expect. Lex held his broken arm close to his chest, but he was ready to react if Clark tried to hurt Chloe in anyway. They looked down at their friend, and they were surprised to see that he was crying. His head was bowed, and tears were falling off his cheeks and landing on the floor.

Chloe and Lex went on either side of Clark and they lifted him to his feet. They tried to move him towards the door, but he appeared to be almost catatonic. Chloe slapped him lightly, but she didn’t get any type of reaction. Lex leaned into Clark’s face and spoke slowly and evenly. "It’s over now, Clark. We have to get you out of here."

Finally, Clark lifted his eyes to his friends’ faces, and Chloe nearly cried when she saw Clark’s sorrow filled gaze. The curse was broken, and their friend was back

****


It had been four weeks since the incident at the Todd house, and many changes had been made to the Smallville landscape.

Lex, using contractors based in Metropolis, had the farmhouse demolished, and the farms’ well dredged. His contractors recovered the toolbox, and the knife inside was checked for fingerprints, and DNA. The prints came back a positive match for Owen Todd, and the DNA came back a positive match for Megan Butler Todd.

Owen Todd had been a suspect in a series of unsolved murders on young women in Metropolis and Gotham. In the case of each murder, Mr. Todd paid the family a substantial amount of money. He would make it in the guise of a philanthropic gesture, but the police viewed the money as payoff. Mr. Todd may have been trying to divert suspicion from his son, but he only resulted in raising the police’s interest even more.

Chloe wrote the article that cleared Daniel Todd of his family’s murder. She also named Owen as the actual killer, laying out the evidence against him. She provided a timeline that proved Owen being present in both Metropolis and Gotham on the dates when the other women were killed. She was careful to show her timeline as her own theory and she allowed the readers to draw their own conclusions.

Chloe also implied Mr. Todd senior’s involvement in the cover-up, citing the evidence that Owen was always institutionalized after a woman’s body was found. After Megan and Emma’s death, Owen had been found by the doctors at the Almshouse to be in a catatonic state. The doctors couldn’t determine what caused it, and he never recovered.

She couldn’t put in her story, but both Chloe and Lex felt that the catatonia was caused by the curse finally releasing him. Unfortunately, Owen had been insane before his fury created the curse. Once it left him, his brain was completely fried. Thankfully, the same fate didn’t befall Clark. They had successfully broken the curse, and Clark’s sanity did return.

Chloe’s article was published in The Smallville Ledger, and it was picked up in The Daily Planet, because of the Metropolis connection. She was proud that they were able to help the Todd’s but she was still troubled by Daniel’s suicide.

One afternoon, when they were in Lex’s study, she asked him what he thought. He paused in consideration and then he spoke. "I think Daniel’s father told him that Owen killed his wife and daughter. And I think Daniel couldn’t live with the guilt that he brought this violence into his family."

Again, Lex paused, and when he spoke again, his own pain colored his speech. "But I don’t think Mr. Todd expected Daniel to feel the amount of guilt that he felt. His father underestimated his son again, but this time, his son destroyed himself."

The bitterness in Lex’s tone angered Chloe, but her rage wasn’t directed at Lex, but towards the man who warped his view on father/son relationships. She reached out a tentative hand, and traced her fingers across his cheek. He captured her hand in his, and pulled her into his lap. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, and buried his face into her neck, breathing in her scent.

Chloe could feel his heart racing, and she tried to calm him. She knew that he fought against his father’s upbringing everyday of his life, and she vowed to help him anyway she could. She soothingly ran her hand up and down his back, trying to help him keep his demons at bay.

After several moments, Lex lifted his head and smiled at Chloe. She smiled back and leaned in to kiss him lightly on the lips. She barely brushed her lips across his, when a loud clearing of a throat startled the pair. They looked towards the door, and Clark was standing there, trying to fight down his urge to pull Chloe off of Lex’s lap.

He was still amazed at how enraged he had been when he had first seen Chloe and Lex together. When he followed them into the farmhouse, he shoved Lex out of the way so he could get to Chloe. He hadn’t even meant to break Lex’s arm, because his only thought had been to get Chloe away from him.

But, she had fought him and the irrational part of his brain decided that Chloe had to be punished. Clark’s gut still twisted when he remembered how close he had come to suffocating her. But then, the vision happened.

The vision was what stopped him from hurting Chloe and then going after Lex. He hadn’t realized it, but there had been a voice in his head whispering to him that he had to hurt Chloe. When he heard Owen’s voice, he recognized it as the voice in his head. Then, when he saw how callously he killed that lady and her daughter, Clark finally understood that the voice wasn’t sane.

He was able to push the insane whispering to the back of his mind and focus on the fact that Chloe and Lex were his friends, and they didn’t deserve to die because they loved each other. He was not a jilted lover, and they were not having a clandestine affair.

As soon as the three of them left the house, Clark felt as though a haze lifted from his brain. The urge to hurt his friends vanished, but a whole host of other emotions remained. He was envious of Chloe and Lex’s relationship, and he was mortified at how he had acted towards them.

He couldn’t look either of his friends in the eye, because he was overcome with guilt for trying to hurt them. He started to avoid them at all costs, and he relied on his mom to tell him about how they were doing.

Finally, he bit the bullet and approached them while they were at the Talon. Or, rather, he walked up to Lex and apologized for nearly killing him and Chloe. Clark knew that an apology didn’t even begin to come close to making things right between the three of them, but it was a start.

Lex merely raised an eyebrow at Clark’s words, but then he’d graciously accepted Clark’s apology and extended his hand, saying, "Another week and Chloe was going to call in the Marines to look for you."

Clark smiled sheepishly and tried to calm the nerves in his stomach at the mention of Chloe’s name. He opened his mouth to ask Lex to give her his best when he felt a hand on his arm.
Clark turned around to find Chloe there, a wry smile on her face "It’s about time you came out of hiding!"

Clark swallowed the painful lump in his throat when he saw her. She was letting her hair go curly, and she was wearing one of his personal favorite shirts: a red, sleeveless v-neck shirt, with a plunging neckline. Chloe always looked particularly good in red. He shook his head at his own thoughts, and cursed his own blindness. How was it, that after all the years of knowing her, he never noticed how pretty she was?

He ignored the urge to tell how gorgeous she looked and instead, held the article in his hand. "I have a ton of questions about what happened at the farmhouse. Can you spare an afternoon?"

That was the beginning of Clark finally accepting that he lost Chloe, and that she and Lex were together. And here he was now, standing in Lex’s study and trying not to grimace at the sight of Chloe in Lex’s arms.

This time, he knew that his anger wasn’t the result of a curse, but pure jealousy. He had always thought that Chloe would be on the sidelines waiting for him. That she would be right by his side whenever he needed her help, regardless of her own problems.

But while he had been pining over lost opportunities with Lana, Chloe found someone else, a man who treasured her, cared for her, and wanted the best for her.

Clark was sickened that he wasn’t that man, and that Chloe didn’t need him anymore because she had Lex. Sure, they would be friends, but Clark missed that feeling of knowing he had Chloe’s complete devotion. And now, Lex had it.

As long as he lived, Clark would regret losing Chloe to Lex. If he were completely honest with himself, he would acknowledge that she had never been his. That Lex hadn’t stolen Chloe from him, but that Chloe left him willingly. Lex won Chloe’s heart by always being there for her, and telling her that he cared for her. Two things that Clark had never managed to do.

He looked at his two friends, and finally admitted to himself that they looked good together. They obviously cared for each other, and Chloe’s beaming smile told him everything that he needed to know. He turned his attention to Lex, and was amazed to see how relaxed he seemed. His smile was genuine and his eyes softened whenever they rested on Chloe, which was often.

Clark was torn from his reverie by Chloe’s concerned voice. "Clark, is everything okay?"

He smiled at his two friends, and nodded in acceptance. "I’m getting there, but I think everything is going to be fine."


THE END