Quirks

Clark sighed deeply as he walked into the yellow farmhouse and spotted the yellow flame barely flickering on the mantle. He walked towards the candle and blew out the wick with a soft puff of breath. Clark looked up towards the ceiling annoyed, and sighed again. He rubbed his temples with the pads of his thumbs and rolled his eyes.

"Chloe." He mumbled, frustrated.

He could no longer count the times that she had forgotten to blow out the candles she lit. It pestered him to no end. Actually, lots of little things that Chloe did annoyed him, and as he took up residence on the familiar couch in the Kent farmhouse he looked back on the relationship and realized how many little quirks that the blonde reporter had.

Aside from her persistent need to forget everything he told her, anything from blowing out lit candles before she left the house, to staying put when he had to rescue her or someone else from impending doom. She had certain little ticks that drove him up the wall, for instance, her refusal to correctly use a tube of toothpaste.

"Chlo', push the toothpaste up from the bottom, not the middle." Clark told her, as she started gargling.

"Hmphh." Chloe answered, with a nod.

"Spit the mouthwash out before you try to answer me." Clark sighed, frustrated. Chloe rolled her eyes, and kept on gargling, ending the conversation.

Her ridiculous need to play, on constant repeat, any song that she was currently obsessed with until she knew all the words.

"Chloe, can we listen to something else? If I have to hear 'Rain is a Good Thing' one more time, I'm shoving kryptonite down my ears." Clark told her, only half serious.

"Ain't nothin' like a kiss, out back in the barn." Chloe sang to him, sweetly. And, when she winked, he shook his head, stifling his chuckle. "I thought you'd appreciate a song about corn, Clark. Shame on you, you're giving farmers everywhere a bad name." She said.

Her frustration over every little word that she used in an article, and the inevitable debate she would have between the word she had first thought of and three more that she could use in its place.

"Clark, quick, I need another word for entrepreneur!" Chloe yelled to the unsuspecting farmer who was currently sifting through his mail.

"Um, businessperson?" Clark asked, surprised, looking up from the stack of envelopes, Chloe rolled her eyes.

"Clark, you're right, maybe journalism was never your thing…" Chloe told him. "Broker, backer, executive, industrialist. Industrialist! Perfect." Chloe chirped happily, busily typing on her laptop. Clark mumbled something that sounded a lot like 'Rude girlfriends.' Chloe just rolled her eyes again, and focused back on her story.

Chloe's ability to burn anything, including microwavable Mac' and cheese. Clark did actually laugh a little at that thought.

"Chloe, are you okay? Chloe!" Clark shouted, yelling through the farmhouse. He'd smelled smoke and had come rushing in from the garden. He heard crying from the kitchen and immediately made his way to the noise. "Chloe, are you alright?" he asked her softly, standing behind her.

"Clark, I'm the worst girlfriend ever!" Chloe sniffled, her head tucked into her elbow on the kitchen island.

"Chlo', of course you aren't, what's wrong?" Clark asked her, gently rubbing soft circles on her back.

"I was trying to make you something to eat, I know how much you love macaroni and cheese, and I figured who could screw up microwavable food. But, I accidently hit the button for 45 minutes, instead of 4 minutes and I got distracted playing with Shelby, and then when the microwave didn't go off after a while, I got curious, and I realized what happened, and then this is what came out…" Chloe trailed off, and then pointed to a melted plastic container with what looked like the remnants of cheese crust covering the bottom half of the dish.

Clark started to laugh, and Chloe looked up at him, eyes narrowed with the faint sight of tear tracks down her cheeks.

"Are you laughing at me, Kent?" Chloe asked, her voice taking on a dangerous edge.

"No, of course not." Clark told her, sobering at the look on her face.

"Well, in that case, enjoy your plastic meal." Chloe told him, annoyed. And, then stalked up the stairs where she locked herself in the bedroom until the next morning.

'She wouldn't even speak to me until I went out and bought her a latte from the Talon.' Clark told himself, shaking his head to clear his thoughts.

"Clark!" Chloe yelled from outside.

"Chloe?" Clark questioned, getting off the couch and heading towards the front door, he saw her in the driveway, car door open and a grocery sack loosely hanging from her right arm.

"Clark, can you carry these in for me?" Chloe asked him, already headed towards the house. Clark sighed and added another number to his little list of 'Chloe Quirk-isms'. Her fascination with making him carry everything. He walked to the car and quickly pulled out the bags, and then headed to the house, and then placed the bags in the spots Chloe designated for them.

"Hey, Chloe?" Clark began, and when she nodded her head to her name, he continued, "You left the big candle on the mantle burning, again." He finished with a pointed look. Chloe turned to face him, and told him, calmly,

"No, Clark, I didn't. I didn't light a candle today, I've barely been her all day."

"Well, Chloe, there was a candle lit when I came home today, and since you're the only one besides me who stays here, it had to be you."

"Or, it could have been…" Chloe started but was cut off by Clark,

"No, Chlo', it wasn't me. I didn't light one. Now, we've talked about this, I'm not mad, you just need to try harder to remember to blow them out."

"Well, Clark. It wasn't me. Maybe it was," But Chloe was again cut off by again, but this time it wasn't Clark.

"Who blew out my candle?" Martha Kent asked, coming down the stairs to join the little group.

"your mom." Chloe finished, with a pointed look of her own.

"Mom? What are you doing here?" Clark asked, confused.

"Clark, this trip has been planned for three weeks." Martha answered, giving her son a hug.

"Oh, yeah. I guess I…" Clark started but, his sentence was finished by a chorus of both Martha and Chloe,

"Forgot." The women in the kitchen laughed at the look on Clark's face, and the 'Hey!' that they were sure would come. But, Clark just rolled his eyes.

"Only Clark Kent would be able to lift buildings, run faster than the human eye can see, and stop bullets, but not remember that his own mother was coming to visit." Chloe jokingly told Martha, who, in return laughed heartily.

"But, quirks and oddities are what make Clark Kent who he is." Chloe said, moving towards Clark and lacing her arms around his middle. "And, I wouldn't want him any other way." She finished, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. Clark smiled down at Chloe, and hugged her closer to him as he bent down to whisper in her ear,

"I feel the same way about you, Chlo'." And, then kissed her forehead as Martha looked on at the young couple who were obviously perfect for each other.