print this story!

Disclaimer: Smallville and all related elements, characters and indicia © Tollin-Robbins Productions and Warner Bros. Television, 2002. All Rights Reserved. All characters and situations—save those created by the authors for use solely on this website—are copyright Tollin-Robbins Productions and Warner Bros. Television. Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster.

Author's Note: Thanks to SullivanLane for beta'ing an earlier draft. So many things I didn't even know were off! I didn't get a second beta job, so any errors are all mine. Also, I grew up in the south on a tobacco farm. I know all about shelling beans etc, but I have no idea about a midwestern farm. Do they grow butter beans out there? You'll have to just go with it if they don't :P.

Girl Talk
by Candace

"Knock knock," Chloe Sullivan called while shielding her eyes from glare and looking through the screen door. She knocked on the wooden frame for emphasis.

Martha Kent looked up from her position on the couch. The older woman was sitting with a large silver bowl full of green beans in her lap. By her feet there was a large paper grocery bag that Chloe couldn't quite see into from her position on the porch. Martha smiled through the door but made no move to get up. Instead, she ushered Chloe inside with a handwave.

"Hi, Chloe, come on in," Martha said as Chloe stepped inside, "I didn't hear you pull up; I think I get a little too interested in the Discovery channel sometimes. Clark hates when I watch it, but it makes this shelling a little more enjoyable," Martha said with a smile before returning to her work.

Chloe stood in front of Martha and watched for a moment as Martha found a pod among the beans. She grabbed the pod in one hand and squeezed the sides until it popped open to reveal three smooth beans. She let the beans fall back into the bowl and then dropped the empty pod into the brown paper bag by her feet. Her motions were smooth and practiced and the entire process took her only seconds.

Chloe wrinkled her nose in disgust, "Ugh, shelling time again? Don't you farm people ever take a vacation? Whoever said 'green acres is the place to be' was seriously oxygen-deprived."

Martha laughed at Chloe's expression, "This is just the first batch. The majority won't be ready for a few weeks. Even so, it's been a whole year since the last bean crop came in."

"Not nearly long enough in my book. Really though, do you need any help with that? I know misery loves company, and I did learn my technique from the best," Chloe said smiling.

The previous summer, just weeks after Chloe moved to Smallville, she had shadowed Martha, curious about how a "real life farm wife" lived. Chloe had spent her adjustment period in the Kent house learning to shell beans, husk corn, and can tomatoes.

"That's ok Chloe. Actually..." Martha let the word hang while sorting through the bowl in her lap with both hands. She pulled out two final pods and retrieved the last beans from them, "...I think I'm all done." She put the full bowl on a nearby table and stood up, brushing off her jeans as she did so.

"I thought Clark would have told you, but he isn't here this weekend. He and Jonathan are on their annual father-son camping trip," Martha said while picking up the bowl and steadying it on her hip.

"Yeah, he told me about the whole hunter gatherer, male-bonding thing. I'm actually here to see you."

"Oh, well, in that case come on in the kitchen. You can rinse out these beans while I clear out a place in the freezer for the guys' catch. They always bring home tons of fish that I have to clean." Martha scrunched her nose in disgust, but smiled while she talked of her husband and son.

"No problem," Chloe said accepting the bowl as she followed Martha into the kitchen.

Chloe went to get a clean bowl from the cabinet and then washed her hands as Martha began sorting through the freezer deciding which frost-covered packages could be thrown out or thawed and used.

"So, Chloe. What's on your mind?" Martha asked as she tossed an empty ice cream container into a nearby trash can. She mumbled something, but Chloe could only catch pieces about "teenagers with no manners" "empty containers", and "raised on a farm".

"Actually, I just wanted to apologize for the interrogation the other day. Clark pointed out how insensitive I was about the entire adoption business. It really wasn't any of my business."

"Clark told me you two had gotten in an argument over that. I'm sorry about that. You have to understand, Chloe, that Clark's adoption just isn't something we really talk about. We know Clark is our son and we love him and that's what we really care about. You don't have to apologize to me though, you couldn't have known how we felt about it. Tell you what, if it's settled with Clark, then it's settled with Jonathan and me, okay?" Martha asked smiling.

Chloe gave a quick smile and nodded, "Okay."

"Besides, Chloe, we know it's hard for you to resist a story. Not many eighth-grade girls would have interviewed me on why I moved away from ‘civilization of any kind' to live in a... what did you call it?" Martha asked teasingly.

Chloe gave an embarrassed laugh. "A cow-town barely worthy of a post office. Gosh, I forgot I did that!"

Martha laughed. "And on your first day here, too! Then you demanded that Clark show you what the inside of a barn looked like."

"That I remember," Chloe said with a laugh

"And then you kissed my son," Martha said, holding back a laugh when Chloe's eyes widened and her jaw dropped.

"Wha? But... how did... I mean, did he... I... well... . How did you know that? Did Clark tell you?" Chloe finally choked out.

"He didn't have to. I had my suspicions when he came inside with a face as red as a tomato and declared in a very serious voice that 'Girls are weird.' The fact that your face is that same shade and you can't look me in the eyes is confirmation enough."

Chloe covered her face with her hands and then let out a laugh. "Yeah, I was pretty bold that day." She sobered quickly and then added under her breath as she turned back to the sink, "More bold than I've been since."

"You know, Kent men are not known for their perceptiveness, Chloe. I had to ask to borrow Jonathan's notes for two weeks before he asked me my name," Martha said with a distant smile, remembering.

Chloe didn't question Martha's knowledge of her feelings, just chalked it up to mother's intuition. If it had been Pete, Chloe would have denied her feelings for the 500th time, but she decided that it felt good to have someone to talk to. She realized, with a pang, exactly what she had missed since her mother's passing.

"Sometimes I feel like he looks right through me to see Lana. I can't be Miss Pretty Perfect Pom-pom Princess, and I don't really think I want to be. But sometimes..." Chloe let the sentence hang while she chewed on her bottom lip.

"... you wonder if Clark would like you if you were more like her?" Martha finished.

Chloe nodded sadly, looking very much the 15-year-old in love. Martha smiled at the girl, wishing for a moment that she'd had the chance to raise a daughter in addition to her son.

"Chloe, I'm going to tell you a story about another young boy with the last name Kent. Now, this boy grew up all his life living on a farm in Smallville. He was a trusting boy who tended to put other people's needs in front of his own. In high school, this boy had the most gigantic crush on one of Smallville's beauties. She had dark hair and dark eyes and was head cheerleader."

"Boy, this sounds familiar," Chloe grumbled while Martha just smiled.

"The boy thought that the dark-haired girl was as close to perfection as a woman could get. Finally, the boy got his chance to be with the girl. Together they were Homecoming King and Queen and everyone assumed that they would get married after high school."

"If your next word isn't ‘but' then you are an evil, evil woman."

Martha laughed and emphasized her next word, "But... the boy slowly got disillusioned about his perfect girl. He realized that the girl had hang-ups and imperfections just like everyone else. Eventually he realized that the girl wasn't right for him, that he had been in love with the dream of her, not with the girl herself. He left Smallville to take classes in Metropolis because his father demanded his son be well-educated. In Metropolis he met a girl who was nothing like the Smallville beauty. But he fell in love with the new girl first as a friend and a study mate, and later as a woman. They got married and adopted a very stubborn, but very handsome young boy." Martha finished with a smile.

"You and Mr. Kent? But then his crush was on... "

"Yep, none other than Nell Potter," Martha rolled her eyes

"Lana's aunt," Chloe said with disbelief.

"Lana's aunt. They might not share genes, but Clark and Jonathan are more alike than you know. Give it time, Chloe. Just be you."

"I've given it a year, Mrs. Kent."

"Have you actually told him how you feel?"

"Well no, not straight out, but I've been dropping hints like meteors. Maybe I should just wear a sign."

"I don't think you need it, Chloe. Just be that bold girl who kisses innocent boys she barely knows. He'll get the picture. I know my son, Chloe."

"I'll try, but I'm this close," Chloe said holding her fingers slightly apart, "to hitting him out of pure frustration."

Martha just laughed and closed the freezer after finishing her task. Chloe lifted the bowl of now clean beans onto the counter and left the dirty bowl in the sink to be washed. She dried her hands on a nearby hand towel and turned to Martha.

"Thanks for the advice Mrs. Kent."

"You're welcome, Chloe. Us Metropolis girls have to stick together," she said with a wink and then continued, "And anytime you ever want to talk, I'm always here, okay? I could use a little more girl talk in my life."

"Okay, Mrs. Kent... " Chloe began, but was interrupted by the sound of the old truck pulling up the drive.

"That must be the boys. You're welcome to stay for dinner, Chloe. We always cook some of the fish and there's enough potato salad in the fridge to feed a small army."

"Or your son when he's hungry." Chloe grinned. "No, I still have an article for the Torch to work on. Thank you for the invite, though, and for everything else."

Martha gave Chloe's hand a brief squeeze and Chloe began to walk towards the back kitchen door. She stopped when Clark came in holding up a string of gutted fish.

"Look, Mom!" he said holding up the fish like a kindergartner at show and tell. He glanced over at Chloe curiously, "Hey Chlo! What are you doing here? Are you staying for dinner?"

Chloe laughed as Martha took the fish from her son. "Hi, Clark, I'm talking to your mother, and I can't, Torch work."

"Oh, okay. I'll walk you out then," Clark said rinsing his hands quickly in the sink and then taking a step towards Chloe.

"Whoa, there, Cowboy. You reek, seriously... and what is all over your shirt?"

"Fish guts," Clark said proudly.

"Ewwwwww, gross. Stay away from me then."

Clark gave a mischievous grin.

"Clark, no, don't even give me that look."

"What look?" Clark asked innocently as he took a tiny step closer.

"Clark Jerome Kent." Chloe warned.

"Chloe Elaine Sullivan." Another step.

"You wouldn't put fish guts on your clean best friend, would you?" Chloe asked sweetly while glancing towards the door.

Clark grinned, "Yep. I sure would."

Chloe realized she had backed into the refrigerator so she decided to make a run for the kitchen door just as Clark lunged at her. She ducked under his outstretched arms and darted out the door shrieking his name. Clark gave chase, narrowly missing a collision with his father.

Jonathan came into the kitchen after yelling for Clark to slow down and dropped the sleeping bags and fishing tackle boxes that he had been carrying onto the floor. He came up behind his wife who was watching the two teens, smiling. Martha turned to give her husband a quick kiss on the lips before turning back to watch the scene out the window.

Outside, Chloe had ducked behind the tractor, hiding from Clark, but he saw the blonde head and was trying to sneak up behind her. Chloe noticed him just in time and took off laughing while Clark yelled, "Chlooooooooooooooeeeeeeeee, just give me a huuuuuuug," as he chased behind her.

Inside the kitchen, Jonathan wrapped his arms around his wife as he watched his son catch the blonde-haired girl and pick her off her feet in a fish-gut filled hug. Chloe was screaming threats of bodily harm and lots of "yucks" and "ewwws", but she was laughing.

"Do you think there is something between those two?" Johnathan asked quietly in his wife's ear.

"Not yet," Martha laughed as Chloe got her footing again and the chase resumed, "Not yet... but there will be."