Never Say Goodbye

Chapter 20: Bittersweet Love

Throughout the night, he tossed and turned, waking up a few times, praying that when he went to sleep again, he would have better dreams. His wishes weren’t granted. Never had he been so grateful when morning arrived.

He needed to distract himself so he tried to keep busy. His chores were taking longer nowadays, his paranoia causing him to do them the normal way. But he needed to waste time. He just had to get his mind off Oliver.

'Focus, Clark, focus.' He had a life before Oliver and would have a life after him. He still had Zoners to hunt down. There were several super powered alien criminals on the planet and they all had one goal in mind: to kill him. It was high time he went back to searching for them. If he let them find him, who knew how powerful they would get in the meantime? And he couldn’t give them time to find each other. It was hard enough taking them on one-on-one. If there was a group, he probably wouldn’t last.

He made a mental note to pay a visit to the Fortress. Perhaps Jor-El would be able to help him track down the Zoners, now that the Fortress was restored. At least he would have a list of Zoners and know what to expect. That way he’d be able to tell the difference between a Zoner and someone like that monster he encountered in Seattle.

His planning was interrupted when Chloe called him. She wanted to check on how he was doing and he filled her in on what happened with Oliver.

“Oh, Clark,” she said, “I can’t believe he knows!”

“I certainly didn’t see it coming,” Clark replied. “Then again, I should’ve. I have been accidentally dropping hints for a while now. It was only a matter of time before he figured it out.”

“Was it all accidental, Clark?” Chloe questioned.

“What do you mean?” He asked.

“I mean, maybe a part of you wanted Oliver to figure it out.” Chloe said slowly.

“Why would I want him to know about this?” Clark asked.

“I know you, Clark,” Chloe said, “And I know that you wouldn’t want Oliver falling in love with you because of how he felt for Kal, but can you honestly deny that you hoped it would be enough to get his attention?”

“I wouldn’t do that.” Clark replied but his heart wasn’t in it.

“Okay, Clark, I’m not trying to put words into your mouth,” Chloe said, “I know you’ve been through a lot. So just take it easy, okay?”

“I can’t,” Clark said, “I’ve wasted so much time already. I have to go find the Zoners again. It’s time that I just accept the fact that Oliver is out of my life and get back to work.”

He heard Chloe sigh but she didn’t argue with him. “Okay, Clark, do what you have to but please be careful.”

“I will.” He promised. When he hung up, he was more conflicted than ever.

Chloe’s words haunted him all day. Is that what he had been doing? Purposely dropping hints so Oliver would find out? He didn’t want to believe it.

Besides, he had work to do . . . he had to get his life back on track. Somehow, he managed to convince himself of that and pushed the thoughts out of his head.