PMD
15th June 2005, 08:52
This is a nice little piece I did a while ago. It's funny how up to the challenge you can be, when challenged. And my best friend, Jay, always challenges me. :) Enjoy.
Title: A Challenge From Jay - "Let Me Call You Sweetheart"
Author: PMD
e-mail: mary.davidson@sympatico.ca
Rating: PG-13/T
Category: Friendship, Chlex, slight hint at Clana, futurefic, songfic, Lex's POV, AU
Spoilers: Anything is fair game in Smallville.
Summary: Lex goes to check up on Chloe.
Disclaimer: To whomever owns Smallville, it's characters, Hallmark, and the song lyrics to Let Me Call You Sweetheart, I'm just borrowing them, will give them back, not making any money with their use in this piece, so don't sue me.
Archive: BtS, BT2, Electricchlex, FAA, MD, N.S. Forums, SFF_2004, SPP, WBFFZ, and Malu's site. If anybody else wants it, all they have to do is ask.
Feedback: Yes I would love feedback.
Author Notes: First off, praise and everlasting thanks to the man who challenged me to write this, my best friend, Jay. Thanks, dude. You got my muse off her duff and writing not only this, but finishing another piece. I also thank you for your support of my writing in all fandoms. Also, a special thanks goes out to David for betaing this piece. Now, enjoy, everybody. Oh, Challenge Elements at the end.
A Challenge From Jay - "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" - by PMD
Prologue:
Gabe thinks she needs protection from Mother Nature's fury but he forgets; her nickname is Hazel Fury. Maybe I'm the one that needs protection from Mother Nature and she's it for me.
~
The Sullivan House
It's been a hard day, getting the mansion ready for the twisters predicted. And as always, bad weather predicted is dead bang on, as I look into the sky and see it's calmness---alluding to the storm coming.
I'm outside the Sullivan home, looking in on Chloe, who's house-sitting for her father. He asked me to check up on her but I would have done it otherwise---to make sure she's okay. Oh, Lex, stop lying to yourself; you want to be here because you want to be near her; to see the beauty and hear her voice; to possibly touch her briefly---or be touched by her yourself. God, when did I turn into a Hallmark card? I think it was just after her 18th birthday and you saw her as the woman you first wanted to possess and then as the woman you just wanted in your life to love. Now I know how Clark felt all those years, with Lana. And they had a happy ending; why not her and me?
Well, this is one mystery I will need to solve myself. No---I'll need her help too.
I ring the doorbell and then wait outside, impatiently. Where the hell is she?
I knock and still no answer. In the basement already, Chloe? Damn---should have been---
The door opens.
"Lex, what are you doing here? You do know a twister is on the way?"
"Why did you take so long to answer, Sullivan?" I rage, my fear for her safety taking over.
"Well, I'm sorry but I was boarding up some windows," she retorts. Then she lets out a sigh. "I'm sorry."
I turn around, letting out a sigh. "No, I'm sorry. I was just worried---"
"---about your little sister."
"Yes," I lie. What---is that something akin to disappoint in her hazel eyes?
"Well, I'm okay, as you can see. I just hope you battened down your car so it won't blow away---that is if you can batten down your car."
"Actually, I had the limo drop me off. Arthur’s got time to get home before it hits."
"Are you sure?"
Now I'm worried about Arthur. I pull out my cell and call him.
"You got home. Okay, just checking. Make sure everybody gets into the cellar. Thanks, Arthur. Yes, I'll make sure she's okay. Bye."
I close it up and put it back in my pocket. She smiles at me. "What?"
"Awwww---Lex really does care about his staff."
I roll my eyes and smile back at her. "It's hard to find good help nowadays."
"Yeah, right, whatever. Speaking of help, help me with a couple of water bottles and some supplies?"
"Sure, lead the way."
~
We're making our last trip down the basement steps and I hear her squeal.
"What?" I ask, worried she'd found a dead mouse or something.
"Polly---I found Polly!"
"What?" She found a stuffed parrot?
She turns around, an old doll in her hands. "No---Polly. My doll from when I was---"
"---five?" I ask, with a smirk.
"Actually, older than that. See, Polly is passed down from generation to generation. I was so upset when Lois hid it on me when she visited us once here, that I cried all night. It was the one thing that meant the most to me because my grandmother gave it to me on her deathbed. I guess Lois was mad that it didn't go to her."
"I guess," I state, looking at the porcelain cheeks and the blonde hair. "I believe she gave it to you because it looks a bit like you, when you were younger, if I recall the pictures your father showed to me of you back then."
She looks down at it and back at me. I can't handle the stare of hers so I look down at my shoes, noticing the dust on them from the basement.
"Don't you dust down here?" I ask her, changing the subject.
"Not much since it's only used to store things. Lex---does she really look like me?"
"I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it," I reply.
This small whisper of a smile lights on her face. "Thanks, Lex."
"You're welcome. So, do we have everything?" I ask, changing the subject once more.
"Can't handle a compliment, Lex?" she asks.
God, not only beautiful but as smart as a whip, as my mother's father would say.
"I can but there are more important matters at the moment---like making sure you see your father again, and not in the hospital."
"Yeah, of course, you're right."
I quirk an eyebrow. "Say that again? I'm right, did you say?"
"Oh, don't let it go to your head, Alexander. It's just the law of averages. Now, help me with the door and the bolt," she says, as she places the doll down on the bench, lovingly.
I chuckle at her as she walks by me, determined to protect us both.
I join her. "Sure everything is battened down up there?"
"Yes, Dad," she snorts, pulling the door close while I put the bolt across.
"Just checking."
~
The wind is howling outside of the house but it's not as loud as the first year I was here and my father and I were injured by a twister.
She walks around, restless. I'm not sure if it's just inactivity or me that's doing it.
"I'm worried about my dad."
Oh, God, her father. I get up and walk over to her.
"Chloe, he'll be okay. He's in Metro, far away from the twisters."
"Yeah, I guess. Maybe I'm just worried that he's worried about me. I don't like to be a worry to him."
I smile.
"What?" she asks.
"You just used the word worry three times in that dialogue."
"So?"
"So, writers are supposed to not do that when writing, right?"
"I'm not writing---I'm worried---and don't say it. I know, I used the word again."
She turns away from me and looks into a box. "Oh my God!"
"What?" I ask, walking to the box and looking in. "Records?"
"Yes, records. But the one on top, is my father's favorite. He always said he wanted me to dance to this on my wedding day. Or maybe it was to dance with him to it, on my wedding day."
"Oh," I ask, picking it up and taking a look at it. "Let Me Call You Sweetheart. Nice song."
She looks at me, strangely. "All right, the man who lives for hard rock knows a classic like this?"
"I like a lot of different types of music, Chloe. I don't limit myself; unlike some people I know."
"Hey, hey, just because I don't like opera doesn't mean I'm not a nice person---or well rounded."
Oh, you are well rounded in the right places, Chloe. I smile outwardly at my thoughts.
She touches my hand and I look at her. "What?"
"You know, I know you are nervous about twisters because of the one you had to deal with, Lex. You don't have to hide it from me."
I'm startled---I am nervous but I never acknowledged it until she said so.
"So, what are you going to do about it, Sullivan?"
"I could do what my father did when I was nervous or scared."
"And that is."
She opens her arms and I walk into them. Then, I hear her start to sing, her words vibrating right into my heart:
"Let me call you Sweetheart
I'm in love with you
Let me hear you whisper that you love me too
Keep the lovelight glowing in your eyes so true
Let me call you Sweetheart
I'm in love with you"
She backs away from me, her eyes searching mine. Do I dare take this chance? Stupid fool that I am, I look away at that moment and she backs away further.
"Guess not," I hear her whisper as she walks away from me.
The pain in those two words tells me this was more than one person singing to another to ease their anxiety. She wants this as much as I and I ruined it. Or did I---okay, sing your heart out, Lex, for this is the most important thing you will ever do in your life---don't blow it:
"Let me call you Sweetheart
I'm in love with you
Let me hear you whisper that you love me too
Keep the lovelight glowing in your eyes so true
Let me call you Sweetheart
I'm in love with you"
She stops in her tracks after the first sentence and turns around. Then she makes her way back to me until, at the end, she's right in front of me.
"Really?"
"Really," I answer, leaning down as she leans up, to kiss me.
As we back away and make our way to the steps, together we sing:
"Let me call you Sweetheart
I'm in love with you"
And always will be.
The End.
Further Authors Notes: And the elements from this challenge are:
time: futurefic - Chloe isn't living at home anymore and she's over 18
Place: Sullivan basement - most of the action takes place in the basement
Object: an old doll - Chloe finds an old doll in the basement that is very precious to her.
Words: mystery - the mystery of why they can't have a happy life together like Lana and Clark
shoes - what Lex looks at when he can't handle her stare
dust - what are on his shoes and in the basement
record - a favorite record of Gabe's is found
Song: Let me call you sweetheart - the favorite song of Gabe's---and something they sing to each other, showing how they feel about each other
Title: A Challenge From Jay - "Let Me Call You Sweetheart"
Author: PMD
e-mail: mary.davidson@sympatico.ca
Rating: PG-13/T
Category: Friendship, Chlex, slight hint at Clana, futurefic, songfic, Lex's POV, AU
Spoilers: Anything is fair game in Smallville.
Summary: Lex goes to check up on Chloe.
Disclaimer: To whomever owns Smallville, it's characters, Hallmark, and the song lyrics to Let Me Call You Sweetheart, I'm just borrowing them, will give them back, not making any money with their use in this piece, so don't sue me.
Archive: BtS, BT2, Electricchlex, FAA, MD, N.S. Forums, SFF_2004, SPP, WBFFZ, and Malu's site. If anybody else wants it, all they have to do is ask.
Feedback: Yes I would love feedback.
Author Notes: First off, praise and everlasting thanks to the man who challenged me to write this, my best friend, Jay. Thanks, dude. You got my muse off her duff and writing not only this, but finishing another piece. I also thank you for your support of my writing in all fandoms. Also, a special thanks goes out to David for betaing this piece. Now, enjoy, everybody. Oh, Challenge Elements at the end.
A Challenge From Jay - "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" - by PMD
Prologue:
Gabe thinks she needs protection from Mother Nature's fury but he forgets; her nickname is Hazel Fury. Maybe I'm the one that needs protection from Mother Nature and she's it for me.
~
The Sullivan House
It's been a hard day, getting the mansion ready for the twisters predicted. And as always, bad weather predicted is dead bang on, as I look into the sky and see it's calmness---alluding to the storm coming.
I'm outside the Sullivan home, looking in on Chloe, who's house-sitting for her father. He asked me to check up on her but I would have done it otherwise---to make sure she's okay. Oh, Lex, stop lying to yourself; you want to be here because you want to be near her; to see the beauty and hear her voice; to possibly touch her briefly---or be touched by her yourself. God, when did I turn into a Hallmark card? I think it was just after her 18th birthday and you saw her as the woman you first wanted to possess and then as the woman you just wanted in your life to love. Now I know how Clark felt all those years, with Lana. And they had a happy ending; why not her and me?
Well, this is one mystery I will need to solve myself. No---I'll need her help too.
I ring the doorbell and then wait outside, impatiently. Where the hell is she?
I knock and still no answer. In the basement already, Chloe? Damn---should have been---
The door opens.
"Lex, what are you doing here? You do know a twister is on the way?"
"Why did you take so long to answer, Sullivan?" I rage, my fear for her safety taking over.
"Well, I'm sorry but I was boarding up some windows," she retorts. Then she lets out a sigh. "I'm sorry."
I turn around, letting out a sigh. "No, I'm sorry. I was just worried---"
"---about your little sister."
"Yes," I lie. What---is that something akin to disappoint in her hazel eyes?
"Well, I'm okay, as you can see. I just hope you battened down your car so it won't blow away---that is if you can batten down your car."
"Actually, I had the limo drop me off. Arthur’s got time to get home before it hits."
"Are you sure?"
Now I'm worried about Arthur. I pull out my cell and call him.
"You got home. Okay, just checking. Make sure everybody gets into the cellar. Thanks, Arthur. Yes, I'll make sure she's okay. Bye."
I close it up and put it back in my pocket. She smiles at me. "What?"
"Awwww---Lex really does care about his staff."
I roll my eyes and smile back at her. "It's hard to find good help nowadays."
"Yeah, right, whatever. Speaking of help, help me with a couple of water bottles and some supplies?"
"Sure, lead the way."
~
We're making our last trip down the basement steps and I hear her squeal.
"What?" I ask, worried she'd found a dead mouse or something.
"Polly---I found Polly!"
"What?" She found a stuffed parrot?
She turns around, an old doll in her hands. "No---Polly. My doll from when I was---"
"---five?" I ask, with a smirk.
"Actually, older than that. See, Polly is passed down from generation to generation. I was so upset when Lois hid it on me when she visited us once here, that I cried all night. It was the one thing that meant the most to me because my grandmother gave it to me on her deathbed. I guess Lois was mad that it didn't go to her."
"I guess," I state, looking at the porcelain cheeks and the blonde hair. "I believe she gave it to you because it looks a bit like you, when you were younger, if I recall the pictures your father showed to me of you back then."
She looks down at it and back at me. I can't handle the stare of hers so I look down at my shoes, noticing the dust on them from the basement.
"Don't you dust down here?" I ask her, changing the subject.
"Not much since it's only used to store things. Lex---does she really look like me?"
"I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it," I reply.
This small whisper of a smile lights on her face. "Thanks, Lex."
"You're welcome. So, do we have everything?" I ask, changing the subject once more.
"Can't handle a compliment, Lex?" she asks.
God, not only beautiful but as smart as a whip, as my mother's father would say.
"I can but there are more important matters at the moment---like making sure you see your father again, and not in the hospital."
"Yeah, of course, you're right."
I quirk an eyebrow. "Say that again? I'm right, did you say?"
"Oh, don't let it go to your head, Alexander. It's just the law of averages. Now, help me with the door and the bolt," she says, as she places the doll down on the bench, lovingly.
I chuckle at her as she walks by me, determined to protect us both.
I join her. "Sure everything is battened down up there?"
"Yes, Dad," she snorts, pulling the door close while I put the bolt across.
"Just checking."
~
The wind is howling outside of the house but it's not as loud as the first year I was here and my father and I were injured by a twister.
She walks around, restless. I'm not sure if it's just inactivity or me that's doing it.
"I'm worried about my dad."
Oh, God, her father. I get up and walk over to her.
"Chloe, he'll be okay. He's in Metro, far away from the twisters."
"Yeah, I guess. Maybe I'm just worried that he's worried about me. I don't like to be a worry to him."
I smile.
"What?" she asks.
"You just used the word worry three times in that dialogue."
"So?"
"So, writers are supposed to not do that when writing, right?"
"I'm not writing---I'm worried---and don't say it. I know, I used the word again."
She turns away from me and looks into a box. "Oh my God!"
"What?" I ask, walking to the box and looking in. "Records?"
"Yes, records. But the one on top, is my father's favorite. He always said he wanted me to dance to this on my wedding day. Or maybe it was to dance with him to it, on my wedding day."
"Oh," I ask, picking it up and taking a look at it. "Let Me Call You Sweetheart. Nice song."
She looks at me, strangely. "All right, the man who lives for hard rock knows a classic like this?"
"I like a lot of different types of music, Chloe. I don't limit myself; unlike some people I know."
"Hey, hey, just because I don't like opera doesn't mean I'm not a nice person---or well rounded."
Oh, you are well rounded in the right places, Chloe. I smile outwardly at my thoughts.
She touches my hand and I look at her. "What?"
"You know, I know you are nervous about twisters because of the one you had to deal with, Lex. You don't have to hide it from me."
I'm startled---I am nervous but I never acknowledged it until she said so.
"So, what are you going to do about it, Sullivan?"
"I could do what my father did when I was nervous or scared."
"And that is."
She opens her arms and I walk into them. Then, I hear her start to sing, her words vibrating right into my heart:
"Let me call you Sweetheart
I'm in love with you
Let me hear you whisper that you love me too
Keep the lovelight glowing in your eyes so true
Let me call you Sweetheart
I'm in love with you"
She backs away from me, her eyes searching mine. Do I dare take this chance? Stupid fool that I am, I look away at that moment and she backs away further.
"Guess not," I hear her whisper as she walks away from me.
The pain in those two words tells me this was more than one person singing to another to ease their anxiety. She wants this as much as I and I ruined it. Or did I---okay, sing your heart out, Lex, for this is the most important thing you will ever do in your life---don't blow it:
"Let me call you Sweetheart
I'm in love with you
Let me hear you whisper that you love me too
Keep the lovelight glowing in your eyes so true
Let me call you Sweetheart
I'm in love with you"
She stops in her tracks after the first sentence and turns around. Then she makes her way back to me until, at the end, she's right in front of me.
"Really?"
"Really," I answer, leaning down as she leans up, to kiss me.
As we back away and make our way to the steps, together we sing:
"Let me call you Sweetheart
I'm in love with you"
And always will be.
The End.
Further Authors Notes: And the elements from this challenge are:
time: futurefic - Chloe isn't living at home anymore and she's over 18
Place: Sullivan basement - most of the action takes place in the basement
Object: an old doll - Chloe finds an old doll in the basement that is very precious to her.
Words: mystery - the mystery of why they can't have a happy life together like Lana and Clark
shoes - what Lex looks at when he can't handle her stare
dust - what are on his shoes and in the basement
record - a favorite record of Gabe's is found
Song: Let me call you sweetheart - the favorite song of Gabe's---and something they sing to each other, showing how they feel about each other