Well, here it is the final chapter! I would like to thank Darkfirelight, CaptainStoner, mpanze20, Chunk127, Dylboyslim and everyone else who left me a review, as well as those who have added the story as a favorite and/or followed it! Your input and interest has helped me to both improve my writing and encouraged me to complete my first fanfic on this site. I hope my story has been as fun for all of you to read as it was for me to write it!

'Almost done. I just need to print these last few copies, and then I can get out of here.' Clark was standing in front of the only printer that the school newspaper had at its disposal, anxiously waiting for the last few pages of Monday's edition of the Torch to print so he could get out of the office…and away from Chloe. It had been 3 weeks since he had turned Lana's offer down, and he still hadn't made a decision about what to tell his best female friend concerning how he felt about her. Clark definitely knew he wanted to be more than friends with Chloe Sullivan. He was simply afraid that his realization of this fact might have come too late. 'What If Chloe is already so fed up with me constantly rejecting or ignoring her feelings for me that she won't even give me a chance? What if we do start dating and it doesn't work out? What will happen to our friendship then? Will Chloe and I dating make things frosty between her and Lana?' Thoughts like these continued to plague the young Kryptonian, instilling Clark with fear and doubt and making him confused. So Clark did what he normally did when he couldn't decide what to do: nothing. He had tried his best to ignore his feelings for the blond teen who had had feelings for him since the first day they had met and to continue to be just a really good friend to the young reporter. But sometimes he would slip up, and he would find himself looking at Chloe for too long, or gazing at her in a way no friend should look at another. This was an alarming aberration that was occurring with greater and greater frequency as time went by and Clark found himself paying more and more attention to characteristics of his "friend" he had never bothered to notice before. Like the way she smiled when she was proud of Clark for doing something she thought was noble. Or the way her eyes lit up when she thought she had gotten wind of an important story. Little things Clark hadn't seen because he had been so focused on Lana.

Thankfully, although Chloe would occasionally call Clark on it when he was "acting weird", and seemed a little more annoyed every time she said as much, she hadn't figured out what was going on yet. If she had, she had been generous enough not to say anything to Clark about it. However, the fact remained that conversations between the two friends had become progressively more awkward ever since Chloe had confronted Clark about his actions while under the influence of the red meteor rock, and Chloe was becoming more and more irritated with the farm boy. This state of affairs did not make Clark desperate enough to avoid Chloe entirely, but the alien did try to minimize the amount of time he spent alone her. Unfortunately, Chloe had told Clark and Pete she needed their help finishing up Monday's edition of the Torch since the school would be under construction over the weekend, leaving the Torch staff only Friday afternoon to complete Monday's edition. Clark had reluctantly said yes, despite the anxiety being around Chloe caused him, because he did not like to let his best friend down when she was hard pressed to finish an assignment before a deadline and really needed his help. Unfortunately, Pete had needed to cut out early for a family event, leaving only Clark and Chloe to finish up the last hour or so of work. During that last hour, the editor and her coworker had barely said a word to each other that wasn't work or school related, and Clark had been attempting to avoid eye contact with Miss Sullivan at all cost. Now that the work was finally done, Clark was going to hand all of the paper copies to Chloe so that she could file them (she still insisted that anybody else would just file it wrong), and get out of the office as soon as possible.

Chloe, however, had other plans, and blew away Clark's evacuation strategy with only five words after he handed in the copies. "Clark, we need to talk." Before Clark could protest, or utter the standard excuse that his parents needed him home as soon as possible for chores, Chloe's intense gaze made it clear that this was not a friendly request, but a demand, and that there would be serious repercussions for her and Clark's friendship if Clark did not comply. "Now." Chloe added unnecessarily in an ominous tone, just in case Clark was too dense to understand her non-verbal indication that she was being serious. Thankfully, Clark's recently acquired (justified) paranoia that Chloe would eventually confront him about his altered behavior towards her person had made unusually receptive to Chloe's non-verbal communication that his best female friend was now doing just that.

The young man from the stars gulped, and then slowly nodded. "Sure Chloe. What do you want to talk about?"

The blond reporter sighed. "I want to talk about you, actually. You have been acting really strange lately. You keep making excuses when I ask you to help me study for school, or help me out with the paper when Pete can't. I mean, you're here today, and I'm grateful for that, but it still sort of feels like you've been avoiding me. And then there's the way you keep avoiding making eye contact with me. And on the rare occasions you do manage to look right at me, you get this strange expression on your face, like you are trying to work out some kind of puzzle. It's really weird. And to be honest, it's really freaking me out and I want it to stop." The angry look on Chloe's face immediately vanished after she noted the panicked expression that had just appeared on Clark's face, which made Chloe sorry for taking such a harsh tone against her best friend, despite the fact that she found his recent behavior both perplexing and unsettling. Deciding to take a different tactic in her discussion with the farm boy, Chloe paused awkwardly while biting her lip, further analyzing her friend's "deer in the headlights expression". 'Yep. Clark knows exactly what I'm talking about. Good. It's time we got this problem between me and him out in the open.' "And furthermore," Chloe added, "I think I know what's been bothering you, and by extension, me."

Chloe once again felt sorry for her friend now. His eyes were nearly bulging out their sockets and he looked like he was on the verge of a panic attack as he managed to choke out. "You do?"

Chloe was barely able to resist the urge to roll her eyes, but Clark's nervous state stopped her. "Yes. Lana told me all about your conversation three weeks ago. How you told her the truth about Pete drugging you, but turned her offer for a rain check date down because you needed…" Chloe made quotation marks with her hands, "'time to think.' That's what this is about isn't it? You turned Lana down because you realized…" Chloe gulped, suddenly finding herself in a much more somber mood than a few seconds ago. "that I still had feelings for you and you didn't want to screw up our friendship, right?!" Chloe gave Clark a challenging look, daring him to contradict her on this, as she continued her monologue. "And that's why you wouldn't date Lana, and that's why you have been avoiding me. Because you didn't want to hurt your poor friend Chloe by dating Lana, or risk leading me on. Well, I've got news for you Kent, I'm a big girl, and I don't need to be handled like a porcelain China doll that might break at any second. I could handle you dating Lana much easier than I can handle that! "

Only after Chloe was done with her tirade against Clark did she realize how angry she had sounded. The young woman hadn't intended to lace her words with such venom while talking to a friend that had only been trying to protect her feelings. But her years of unrequited longing for Clark Kent sometimes got the better of Chloe Sullivan, making her bitter and angry with her unrequited love interest for brief periods of time. This was one of those times. Thankfully, although she was mortified that she had actually displayed some of those feelings toward Clark, Chloe knew that she would bounce back from this all too familiar state of emotional turmoil, she always had before. Unfortunately, her love for her best friend had been more persistent, even when she was mad at Clark, or disappointed in him for letting her down…again. It seemed that, for her, there was no getting over Clark Kent. Snapping herself back to reality, Chloe noticed that Clark was not reacting to her accusations as she had suspected he would. He didn't seem angry, or defensive, or even the Kent trademark: guilty. Instead, the young man had that same puzzled look on his face that Chloe had noticed Clark wearing several times before when he hadn't known she was looking. That look, and the mystery behind it, was starting to drive Chloe a little crazy.

Finally, Clark spoke. "Chloe, I never thought I would say this to you, but you are dead wrong. That is not even close to the reason that I turned Lana down. Or why I've been acting different lately." Clark now understood that was the truth. He had privately admitted to himself that the real reason he had turned Lana down had nothing to do with his friendship with anyone. He had turned her down because he realized he had very strong feelings for Chloe that would have made dating Lana dishonest. In fact, he was pretty certain now that he was in love with his best friend. However, Clark just wasn't certain how his friend would handle that information after 3 years of cluelessness, denial, and even outright rejection of Chloe's feelings on his part.

Chloe's jaw dropped. She couldn't believe she had been wrong about Clark. She had been so certain that she knew her friend well enough to interpret his behavior, but the sincere look on his face indicated that there was no deception in his words. Composing herself as best she could, Chloe ventured a question with a raised eyebrow that clearly indicated the reporter's skepticism. "So, you didn't turn Lana down because you were trying to preserve our friendship?"

Clark shook his head. "No. I had completely different reasons for doing that."

The reporter slowly nodded, processing that information. "Okay, so are you really trying to tell me that I have had nothing to do with the reason you turned Lana down and have been acting strange lately?"

Clark's eyes quickly shifted away from his friend. Chloe had learned this was a sure sign Clark was about to lie, or give her an honest, but evasive, answer to her question. "I…I didn't say that." Clark stammered. From the incredulous look on Chloe's face, Clark could tell his friend didn't believe him, but before Chloe could question him further, he sighed again, and added. "Look, if we are really going to have this talk now. It can't be here." Chloe raised her eyebrow. In the space of five minutes, Chloe had become worried, then angry, then confused. Now she was torn between impatience at Clark's seeming inability to answer her questions directly, and intrigued by the mysterious thing that was bothering her friend. Deciding that expressing her impatience would probably just cause Clark to retreat further into his proverbial shell, as he had done so many times before when the junior reporter had tried to interrogate the farm boy, Chloe let her curiosity win out and decided on a more patient approach this time. However, the blond teen's tone clearly indicated that she still expected answers from her friend very soon, "And why is that?"

Clark sighed. "Because the Torch is more or less, your place. If we are going to have this conversation, it needs to be on neutral location. Someplace that doesn't belong to either one of us."

Now Chloe was right back to confused again. Although she was technically the head of the school paper, she thought the Torch belonged to Clark and Pete as much as it belonged to her. Or, almost as much anyway. Impatiently gnawing on her lip, Chloe asked in an exasperated tone that indicated her patience with the youngest Kent was wearing thin, "Clark, can you just tell me what's this is about? I'm getting real tired of you beating around the bush."

The farm boy shook his head emphatically. "I'm sorry, but we need to talk about this somewhere else, or things could get real awkward. Just trust me on this." The memory of Chloe basically propositioning him while sucking on a lollipop in a not so innocent way in this very office rushed to the surface of Clark mind, but he pushed it away to focus on the task at hand.

Chloe sighed. The look on her face indicating that Clark's evasiveness was really getting old. "Okay. How about the Talon?"

Clark vigorously shook his head again. "No. The Talon is no good. It's…too public." 'And Lana would probably be there', C lark thought to himself. Before Chloe could even make another suggestion, Clark shot it down. "And the loft won't work either, because it's on my family's property. We need a neutral location." 'Also, that's where I told you my secret.'

At this point, Chloe was equal parts intrigued, excited, and annoyed. The only thing that was keeping her annoyance at Clark from winning out was the fact that Clark seemed absolutely petrified at the prospect of telling her why he was so upset, which only made Chloe's reporter mind even more eager to find out what was bothering her friend. It had to be something big, maybe even the big secret that Clark seemed to keep from even his closest friends, although Chloe couldn't fathom what that would have to do with her. Therefore, Chloe reluctantly went along with Clark's plan to find another location for whatever conversation he planned to have with her. She knew Clark wanted to tell her something important, but finding a location for him to do that was becoming a problem. Evidently, Clark wanted a place that was not specifically connected to either one of them, but was also isolated. But Smallville was…small. There weren't that many publicly accessible remote locations nearby. Except….Chloe's eyes lit up again, causing Clark to smile involuntarily as his friend spoke. "How about Crater Lake, then?"

Clark nodded. "That's perfect, actually." The lakes isolated location would be a good place to have this conversation. The young alien picked up his backpack and turned to leave the school office. "I'll meet you there in 20 minutes then." After speaking these words, Clark left the office at a brisk pace before Chloe could exclaim that whatever Clark had to say better be very important to put her through so much trouble to hear it.

Back at the Kent farm…

"Ok, Clark. That sounds fine. Yes, we trust you to follow the rules. Just make sure you make it home on time for supper. Take care, son."

Jonathon Kent hung up the phone and looked at his wife Martha, who had been waiting expectantly for her husband to tell her what their adopted son was up to until he hung up the phone, allowing her to speak. "That was Clark, right? What was he calling about?"

Jonathon smiled. "I have a hunch that I've finally figured out what, or should I say, who, has been bothering Clark so much these past few weeks."

Martha raised her eyebrow. "Well, what is it? He has been on edge a lot lately, and he has been zoning out more than usual." Mrs. Kent sighed. "I hope this isn't about Lana again. She's a nice enough girl, but I just don't think she's right for Clark. I feel bad for our son, but I really think he needs to move on."

Mr. Kent chuckled. "I think he already has. Clark said he needed to talk to Chloe about something, and that the two of them would be by Crater Lake if we needed him for anything. He made it sound like it was important that he talk to her right away."

Martha raised her eyebrow. "And you think Clark likes Chloe now, as more than a friend?"

Jonathon nodded. "I think so. He did mention in passing that he was putting his pursuit of Lana on hold, and he hasn't brought her name up in conversation up for the past few weeks. Plus, he kept coming up with excuses not to see Chloe when she called our house phone to see if Clark could help her on one project or another. At first, I thought it was because things had become awkward between them after the whole parasite incident, but now I'm not so sure."

Clark had not told his parents much about what he had done with Chloe under the influence of the red meteor rocks, but when two teenagers made out in a public place like the Talon in a small town, people talked. Jonathon Kent hadn't pressed Clark for any further details as to what had happened. He felt like he knew entirely too much already. Even so, the farmer had a sneaking suspicion that his hunch about how the red meteor rocks worked was right, and that Clark's actions during that time might have indicated that his son had more than a platonic interest in the young girl he had been friends with almost 3 years. Now he was almost certain that was the case.

Martha frowned. "That would be a relief. Chloe's a nice girl, and heaven knows she has liked Clark since the day she met him, so I know she would treat him well if they started dating. But are you sure it's okay for the two of them to be alone like this? What if they…you know…do something impulsive?"

Jonathon shook his head. "Chloe's a smart girl, and Clark knows our family's rules. I don't think they will cross that line, as long as the two of them don't fall under the influence of outside forces, like last time. He and Chloe will be fine. Besides…"Jonathon added carefully, unable to keep his voice from betraying a hint of worry despite his jocular words. "We studied Clark's blood when he was little with that microscope that came with his chemistry set, before he developed invulnerability. The boy doesn't even have DNA as we know it. His genetic code is completely different from anything born on earth, so I doubt he could get a human girl pregnant, anyway."

"Jonathon Kent!" Martha smacked her husband's arm softly in mock consternation.

Mr. Kent raised his arms in a look of mock surrender. "Hey, I'm just trying to be realistic about the situation. You know I don't want Clark to be that stupid. And if you ever told him I said that about his biology, I'll deny it. I'm not looking to encourage him. But I do trust him. Besides, he needs to get this situation with Chloe straightened out so he can clear his head. He forgot to feed the cows for the third time this morning. I'll just be glad when this whole situation is resolved." Martha nodded her head in agreement. If Jonathon was right, and Clark and Chloe did end up dating, she would be happy for both of them. She just hoped her son knew what he was doing.

Crater Lake, 20 minutes later…

Chloe stood near the water's edge, stomping her left foot nervously and trying to restrain the urge to start pacing back and forth while waiting for Clark to arrive as questions raced through her mind. 'What does Clark want to talk to me about? Why was it so important for him to meet me in a "neutral location"? What did he mean when he said he was acting differently because of me, but not because of our friendship, and what does that have to do with Clark not pursuing Lana? And why isn't he here yet? We left at the same time, but I've been waiting for him for almost ten minutes! Did he decide to bail on me?!'

Chloe's last question was answered by the sound of the engine inside Clark's truck as said vehicle finally pulled into a nearby parking lot that was just within the junior reporter's field of vision after said occupant of the vehicle had driven around aimlessly for almost half an hour trying to figure out what to say to one of his best friends. With less than a minute, Chloe's friend was walking towards her, and the expression on his face made Chloe's irritation at him for being late fade away immediately. The boy looked more nervous than she felt, and that was saying something. After saying hello to Chloe, the teenage alien sat on a bench near the water's edge and motioned for Chloe to set next to him. After she did, Clark finally began to speak. "I've been trying to think about how to say what I'm about to say to you for several weeks, and I've come to the conclusion that It'll will probably come out wrong no matter what, so I'm just going to apologize for that in advance. However, I really need to get this of my chest, so please bear with me."

Chloe tried to force a smile, but it looked more like a grimace as she tried to stop herself from demanding a straight answer from her friend once again. 'Great. Now the farm boy is making me even more nervous. I wish he would just say what he wants to say so we could get past all this awkwardness between us.' "You're one of my best friends, Clark. Whatever is on your mind, you can tell me." The blond teen couldn't help but notice that Clark had visibly grimaced when she had used the word "friends", but she didn't know why. She would have to file that information away for later.

Clark sighed dramatically and decided that even he was getting tired of setting the stage for this conversation. It was time to just say what he had to say. "Ok. Here goes. When you were under the influence of the parasite, and Pete drugged me, I…knew what I was doing the whole time."

Chloe glared at her friend, and Clark could tell she was about to form an angry response to his statement, so he corrected himself. "I mean….I wasn't in control of my faculties or anything, and now that I'm sober, I'm amazed at how messed up my thought processes were, and at the remarkable displays of bad judgment I exhibited in my behavior at that time. What I really meant to say was that…I remember everything that happened during that time quite vividly."

"Oh."Chloe broke eye contact with Clark and looked toward the lake, then began to shuffle her shoes awkwardly on the ground beneath her feet as the full impact of Clark's words sank in. "Everything? Does that include the things…we did together while under the influence?"

Clark nodded. This was part of this conversation the alien teen had been dreading, and now Chloe could see why her friend had been reluctant to say what was on his mind as he continued. "Especially those moments. Yes."

"I see." Chloe scooted to the very end of the bench furthest from Clark as the reporter began to experience a mixture of embarrassment for her past actions, and an irrational surge of anger directed at the boy next to her. The young woman couldn't help but feel it was unfair that both of them had to live with the fallout of that day, but only Clark got to remember it. No matter how it had happened, making out with Clark was a memory she would like to have kept.

One thing that was confusing the young reporter was Clark's motive for telling her this info now. When Chloe said as much, Clark nodded, and then took a long deep breath. Chloe knew this meant the farm boy was preparing to vocalize a long spiel about what was on his mind. "The thing is, Chloe; I haven't been able to stop thinking about what happened since then. And not just the things we did together, but also the things we told each other."

"Like what?" Chloe interrupted in a soft, nervous voice that did not match her usual snarky demeanor.

Clark coughed awkwardly. "Well, for one thing, you told me that you still had feelings for me…"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "I figured that. Look, Clark, if you brought me here just to tell me you only think of me as a friend you didn't have to…"

But Clark wouldn't even let her finish that thought before he plowed on. "I also told you what my secret was." Chloe's eyes seemed to bulge out of her socket in surprise as Clark continued speaking. "Yes, Chloe, I do have a secret. A big one. I know that has been pretty obvious. I'm afraid I can't tell you what it is right now, because it's not just my secret to give away, but I do trust you enough to tell you that I do have one, and that my parents have drilled into me that I can never tell anyone what it is for…a long time now."

Chloe nodded solemnly. "I understand. Thank you for admitting that much to me, though, Clark. "

Clark smiled. Surprisingly, just admitting to his friend that he did have a big secret made him feel better, even if he hadn't told her what it was yet."You're welcome."

Chloe frowned. "Does anyone besides you and your parents know about this secret of yours? I bet you told Lana"

Clark sighed. He was more than a little upset Chloe had brought the subject of Lana up again. "I didn't actually. There is only one other person who knows, and that is only because he pretty much stumbled over my secret by accident. He's sworn to secrecy, though, and I trust him not to tell anyone."

Chloe nodded as she became lost in her own thoughts. 'Him, not her. And Clark trusts this person. Probably Pete then. He's a good friend to Clark for keeping his secret for him, but I'll be damned If I'm not just a little mad at him for not letting me in on whatever that secret is!' Chloe mentally noted.

However, Clark quickly brought Chloe's attention back to the subject of the conversation. "The point, Chloe, is that I trusted you enough to tell you my secret when I was under the influence. You and no one else. But there was more to it than that. When you and I were…ahem, expressing our feelings to each other, it didn't just feel like lust, not on my end anyway."

Chloe laughed nervously. The girl was clearly uncomfortable with the turn this conversation was taking and tried to deflect her dialogue with Clark in a different direction. "Clark, you were under the influence of a mind altering substance. None of those feelings were real."

Clark shook his head roughly. Although Clark had been reluctant to have this talk with Chloe, once the farm boy had started to explain how he felt, he became more and more confident in his ability to do so, and increasingly determined to be understood by the object of his affections. "No. I think those feelings were very real. No. I know that I've cared for you as more than a friend since before formal last year. After we broke up in the aftermath of the twister, I convinced myself that I was over you and distracted myself with Lana. But that event a few weeks ago showed me how wrong I was. When I was under the influence, all those feelings for you just came rushing back. And here's the thing, Chloe. They haven't left since then. I'm sorry that it took me so long to realize that I liked you as more than a friend. In fact, I think I may have fallen in love with you but …I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you are willing put up with an idiot like me, I would like to give us another chance." Now finished with what he knew he needed to say, Clark found his courage starting to falter again as he quickly looked away from Chloe. The Kryptonian was almost certain that he had just made a complete fool of himself, and he braced himself for the rejection he was certain would come from his "friend."

Chloe sat in stunned silence for over a minute before responding. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't allow herself to believe the words that had just come out of her friend's mouth. After all, one can only have one's hopes dashed so many times before they stopped believing their circumstances would change for the better, and Chloe had been waiting for Clark to say something like that to her for years. However, judging by the way Clark was nervously staring down at his shoes in an attempt to avoid eye contact with her, Clark was telling the truth.

After hesitating for several seconds, Chloe gulped before giving Clark a nervous reply that did absolutely nothing to disguise her insecurity, a fact which made the girl mentally kick herself for allowing herself to be so vulnerable around the man who had unintentionally broken her heart more times than she could count. She would have been mortified to know that tears were now starting to come out of her eyes, but she was too caught up in the moment to notice them. "You love me? You really mean that? Because if you don't really mean what you are saying, I would appreciate it if you wouldn't say those words. I'm not sure I could take it if you took them back, or ran off on me again. I hope you realize just how much faith you are asking me to put…"

"I meant every word." Clark interrupted Chloe forcefully.

Chloe nodded and quickly wiped away the droplets she was just now noticing were running down her face. "And you want us to be a couple?" Clark just nodded. Chloe frowned and voiced her final objection toward Clark's words. "What about Lana?" 'Smooth, Sullivan. The boy of your dreams tells you he loves you and asks you to be his girlfriend, and you ask about his old crush, nice going.'

Clark shrugged. "Lana is a nice girl, but… I've come to realize she isn't who I thought she was, and that I would much rather have you than her. That's why I turned her down. I know you. You are smart, beautiful, funny, and loyal almost to a fault, and I'm sorry it's taken me this long to realize that. I know any guy would be lucky to have you, but…I was just hoping that I could still be that guy?" Clark's last sentence came out as awkward mumbling that his friend could barely hear, despite the fact that he had rehearsed this conversation in his head dozens of times, and Chloe finally made eye contact with the man she had loved since the first day she had met him as Clark's eyes implored, no, pleaded her to say yes.

Chloe discreetly pinched her left arm to make sure this wasn't a dream. She found it hard to believe that this moment, the one were Clark had not only noticed her in a romantic way, but had picked her over Lana Lang, was actually happening. Now Clark had even violated protocol by skipping the awkward first few dates, telling her he loved her, and asking her to be his girlfriend! Unbelievable as this whole situation was for Miss Sullivan, however, the slight pain in her arm confirmed that is was actually happening. Before Clark could bother to ask Chloe why she had pinched herself, however, Chloe surprised even herself when she practically launched herself at Clark as her lips made contact with his and the young woman finally allowed herself to express the feelings for Clark that she had hidden for so long. The osculation started out tame, but before long, both teens' mouths were open as their tongues began to explore each other's mouths with ever increasing intensity. Finally, after almost a minute, Chloe managed to pull herself away and catch her breath. "Is that enough of an answer for you, Clark?! And in case you couldn't figure it out, I love you too!"

Clark smiled the big dorky grin that Chloe loved so much and pulled his new girlfriend gently to his side so that she could rest her head on his shoulder. As Clark and Chloe watched the sunset descend past the lake and toward the horizon, they both felt happier than they had in a long time. Tomorrow, there would be difficulties for their new relationship, such as how Lana would handle Clark and Chloe dating, or when (definitely not if) Clark would get around to telling Chloe the secret of his alien heritage. But tonight, Clark and Chloe were happy just to be enjoying each other's company and confident that, whatever the future may bring, they would be able to handle it as long as they could face it together.

There it is. I hope you all enjoyed the conclusion! As for my thoughts on writing a sequel…I would really like to do so, but between school and work, as well as another fanfic I have been working on for Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles since before I even started the story you have just finished reading, It may be a long time before I am able to do a decent follow up to Ruminations and Consequences. However, if anyone wants to use this story as a jumping off point and create a "sequel" of their own before I have the chance to write one myself, they have my permission to do so. If not, I will get started on a follow up story of my own as soon as I can. Thanks for reading my story!-supercode