Sully’s Notes: This is the
sequel to “Grin and Bare It,” which is the unofficial sequel to “Fantasies.”
Thanks, Val, for the plot bunny and my Internet Twin Maveness for letting me
steal some ideas from her story. And also Sam Jones III for being a rad-ass
Pete and Allison Mack for being a kick-ass Chloe.
Rating: PG-13.
Disclaimer: Ideas and story
are not mine. Feel free to sue if you want a loud-ass dog and an old truck
named Luthor. Yeah. Didn’t think so.
The Bare Essentials
By Sullivan Lane
(katpicson@yahoo.com)
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Yes, something, Pete.
You’ve been staring at me like I’ve grown a second head or something.”
“Almost.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve had this silly grin
on your face for the past couple of days. I’m just wondering what it’s all
about. The Chloe Sullivan I’ve always known doesn’t grin for days. Usually
there’s a little sarcasm thrown in to keep everyone on their toes, but for the
past couple of days … nada.”
“Hmm. I have no idea what
you’re talking about. There’s nothing wrong with finding a little joy out of
life and grinning about it. Especially when it’s so … joyful.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah.”
“…”
“OK, if I tell you
something, you’ve got to promise not to say a thing. To anyone. Not even
Clark.”
“I swear on the Wall of Weird.”
“First, let me ask you a
question: What’s your deepest, darkest secret?”
“I thought this was all
about you. Why should I tell you that?”
“I need blackmail material
in case you rat me out.”
“Ooh, is what you’re about
to tell me blackmail material?”
“Possibly. Potentially.
Almost definitely. So. Out with it.”
“I’m not telling you
anything. What if your little secret isn’t as exciting as mine?”
“What if it is?”
“Good point. When I was six,
I kissed Lana.”
“Whoa, really?”
“Yeah. We were playing hide
and seek. I was It. She was really easy to find, and in exchange for not
tagging her, she let me kiss her. Now out with it.”
“Hey, does Clark know about
this?”
“Chloe!”
“OK, OK. Even though that
wasn’t nearly as exciting as what I’m about to tell you, here it is: You know
how I’ve been mysteriously absent for the past two weeks?”
“I do recall coming into the
Torch office to find you AWOL more often than usual, yes.”
“Well, it’s because I’ve
been … with someone.”
“Who?”
“Let’s just leave names out
of it.”
“Ooh, OK. Was it a chick?”
“Geez, Pete! No!”
“Wait, you’ve got a
boyfriend and you haven’t told me? What’s up with that, Chloe? I thought I was
your main dude.”
“It just kind of … happened
a couple of weeks ago. And it’s been awkward for us, so we haven’t said
anything to anyone.”
“Do I know the guy?”
“Uh, maybe. That’s not the
important part. Do you want the blackmail-able info, or not?”
“Come on, just tell me.”
“Well … we … we kind of … we
did it.”
“It? Like … sex?”
“Like … yeah.”
“How was it?”
“I think I blew it.”
“Whoa, didn’t you know
whether or not you bl – ouch! What? Why are you hitting me?”
“Not that kind of ‘blew
it’!”
“Oh, well, you’re talking
about sex, I assumed that you meant --”
“Never mind! I’m not telling
you the rest.”
“Damn, Chloe! You set
yourself up for that one. Admit it.”
“… Oh, fine.”
“What happened with Mr.
Blow?”
“Don’t call him that!”
“OK, so what else happened
with Mr. Secret Boyfriend?”
“Oh, I … uh … I kicked him.”
“You didn’t! Ha ha ha …”
“Then I slapped him upside
the head.”
“Ha ha ha …”
“Stop laughing!”
“Ow, stop hitting me! Is it
Punch Pete Week or something?”
“Who else has been hitting
you?”
“Uh, no one. You seem to
think boys are your automatic punching bag or something. You need to work on
that.”
“Thank you for that
extra-special vote of confidence.”
“Sorry. Please continue.”
“Well, he was just … doing
some weird stuff.”
“Like?”
“Just things that aren’t …
sexy.”
“Did he tweak your goodies?”
“Pete!”
“Well, I figure if I don’t
guess, you won’t tell me.”
“OK. Yeah. He did. And I
kicked him.”
“And what did Mr. Secretive
say?”
“He said, ‘ouch.’ A couple
of times.”
“Hee. And then?”
“And then we made up and …
uh …”
“You did it?”
“Yeah. And I haven’t spoken
to him since.”
“How bad was it?”
“How bad was what?”
“The actual sex.”
“That was … um.”
“Horrible.”
“Huh. No. There was no bad.
It was great. There was … nakedness and stuff.”
“Woohoo, naked!”
“Do you want to know the
story or what?”
“Sorry. Yes, I do. So it was
great.”
“Very great. But afterward
it was like …”
“Horrible.”
“No, still great. But I
still kicked him. And got kind of mad for the, uh, tweaking.”
“Did he … enjoy it?”
“If you’re asking if he …”
“Yeah.”
“He did.”
“Then he’s probably
wondering if he did something wrong.”
“He didn’t. He was awesome.
And I kicked *him*.”
“So what?”
“Oh, I don’t know.”
“You’re overestimating the
guy, Chloe. If you did the horizontal mambo with the guy, and he obviously …
you know … then he’s probably not mad.”
“Pete?”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t call it the
horizontal mambo.”
“OK. But the point is, go
talk to Mr. Mysterious. I bet he’d love to … get kicked and smacked upside the
head again. So to speak.”
“You think?”
“Yup. Boys are easy that
way.”
“*sigh* OK.”
“Besides …”
“Besides what?”
“Clark is really
understanding.”
“How did you … What … Did
Clark tell you? I’m gonna kick his --”
“Heh. Nope. You just did!”
“I hate you!”
“Is that what you said to
Clark when you --”
“Shut up.”
- Fin – 07.01.2002