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On the event of her graduation, Lex took Chloe out to dinner. He had saved her life more than once in the past few years, and vice versa, and they had been mutually saved by Clark so many times that they shared a sort of intimacy not often found outside of their meteor-laced town. Besides which, it was nice to think that he had made more than one friend during his time in Smallville.
He had imagined their meal would be filled with generally pleasant talk about the future and about the past, things like Chloe's ambition in the world of journalism and that weekend they had been forced to camp out in a cave while some meteor rock influenced predator patrolled the exit.
Chloe, it seemed, had other ideas. "So, Lex, Clark and I broke up."
He looked at her in surprise. "What?"
"Yeah. I figured he probably hadn't told you yet, and thought you should know."
Lex folded his hands on the table. "That comes as a surprise. What happened?"
Chloe shrugged, her face thoughtful. "Well, you know how they say a boy always ends up marrying someone like his mother? I think I just finally realized that I am never, ever going to be very much like Clark's mom."
Lex frowned. "Interesting psychologically, but is that really a sound reason for breaking up with him?"
Chloe smiled. "In Clark's case, I think it is. His mom is pretty special to him, and I think he does need to be with someone like her."
"I don't know, Chloe," Lex objected. "You and Mrs. Kent have plenty in common. You're both warmhearted, brilliant women, you both adapt incredibly well to remarkable circumstances-"
Chloe, however, was shaking her head. "Trust me, Lex. I don't think I'll ever have what Clark is looking for."
"Well, what do you think he is looking for?"
"Hmm. Well, someone brought up with a certain sense of station, I think, who has been raised to hold a place in society but rejects the idea that such designations mean anything. Someone who never wants to admit that they can be stopped. Someone with a very defined idea of family, and the power it can contain."
Lex was shaking his head. Her description was certainly very...specific. "You really think those are the qualities Clark looks for in members of the opposite sex?"
Chloe grinned at that, though her expression was slightly odd. "Nah," she answered, throwing something down in front of Lex. "Mostly I think he just wants a natural redhead who fell in love with him at first sight."
Lex looked down at the photo taken of him when he was in preschool, his hair still intact and shining in the sunshine, and reflected that he was immensely glad at having Chloe Sullivan as a friend.