[Completed] Into A Glass Sky (18/R) [Archive] - NS Forums - Your number one site for Chloe and Lex (Chlex)

HumbugGirl

19th April 2003, 00:58

completed

Title: Into a Glass Sky
Author: HumbugGirl
Email: humbuggirl@hotmail.com
URL: http://www.geocities.com/peacefulempress/home.html or http://www.geocities.com/oddfiction
Pairing: Lex/Chloe, Clark/Chloe, Clark/Lana
Rating: 18/R
Summary: Lex has a plan.
Spoilers: Tempest. None of S2.
Disclaimer: Okay so I haven’t had the chance to come up with a proper disclaimer yet so you’ll have to put up with the basic ‘none of the characters belong to me, this is a non-profit piece of work just written for fun with praise directed at the creators of Smallville’ kinda thing.
Distribution: Please ask me first. I don’t like finding my work on sites when I didn’t know it was going to be there.
Author’s Notes: 1) This is completely AU. I just wanted to play around with the characters a little to try and get me back into the habit of writing. 2) My boredom produced this. 3) I’ve tried very hard here not to make the character OOC but in some places it may have run away from me.
Feedback: …is the food of the gods. Not that I’m calling myself a god, um, goddess but I’d really like some anyway.

1.

“We leapt into your arms,
Playing with the fragile;
Looking into a glass sky.”

“How would you feel about a little revenge?”

The question startled Chloe from her thoughts and the blonde girl looked up. Her eyes widened as she saw who the person to speak had been. Shifting uncomfortably in the chair she was occupying Chloe pulled her skirt down until it was once again over her knees and was no longer in danger of becoming seriously wrinkled while still meaning to make the action look natural. “Tell me, Mr Luthor, do you always sneak up on young girls and frighten the hell out of them like that?”

He smirked a little and slid into the chair across from her with all the grace of a feline and placed the two cups he had been carrying down on the table. “Only with girls I like,” he replied then gestured to one of the cups. “The waitress said that was your usual choice.”

Chloe glanced down at the cup on the table still trying to figure out what Lex was talking about. He had complimented her in his own way by saying that he liked her but she knew by now that when Lex Luthor complimented someone then it was usually because he wanted something from them that he knew he couldn’t buy. The question was of course, did she want to know what he wanted from her? Looking back up at him Chloe noticed the blue sparkle of his eyes that told her he had read her body language. Of course she wanted to know. What reporter wouldn’t? “Thank you for the coffee Mr Luthor.”

“Why do you still call me that?”

She raised an eyebrow at him and said, “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“You call me Mr Luthor. Even your friend Pete doesn’t call me Mr Luthor anymore and I know very well how unfriendly his feelings are towards me. So, I’d like to know, why you insist on by it?”

Because I can use it to distance myself, Chloe thought and then said a little prayer silently to hope that she hadn’t said those same words aloud. Lamely she answered, “Because that’s your name.”

The smirk returned and somehow seemed to taunt her even more than usual. “I’m also called Lex in some circles.”

Against her will and small smile drifted onto her lips. “Very well, what do you want, ‘Lex’?”

He leaned back in his seat and stretched out his legs in front of him in a relaxed pose. After glancing around the near empty Beanery with an almost conspiratorial air he said, “This isn’t about what I want; it’s about what you want.”

“And that would be revenge?” she asked sceptically.

“It could be.”

She paused and reached forwards to take a sip of the coffee he had brought over for her. “And what would I want revenge for?”

“A number of reasons but I can tell you the main one; he hurt you.”

Tilting her head a little to one side she said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Another brief smirk followed her words. “I think you do. Let’s examine the evidence shall we?”

“You sound like a lawyer.”

“I apologise but bear with me. First let’s look at where you are currently.”

Frowning she replied. “I’m sat in the Beanery. If you want to be precise I’m sat in the Beanery at a table with you. Granted I realise that it’s strange but I didn’t think it would be a reason for revenge, or for twenty questions.”

“You’re sat in the Beanery with me when you should be sat in Talon with Clark or Pete or someone.”

“So, I decided that I fancied a change,” she replied with the sneaking suspicion that she knew in which direction this conversation was heading and Chloe was certain that she didn’t like it. Trust Lex to figure it out if anyone was going to. Sometimes it felt like the man went out of his way to make everyone else’s business his own. Steadily a somewhat frustrated look seeped onto her face as he just stared at her, apparently waiting for her to continue. “I did!” she protested.

“And this little change has nothing to do with Clark and Lana?”

Meeting his eyes and narrowing her own slightly she asked, “Who have you been talking to?”

He chuckled in satisfaction at her response and Chloe resisted the urge to reach over the table and hit Mr Mightier Than Thou on the arm. Somehow she didn’t think Lex would be quite so jovial if she actually acted out her more violent urges.

“Clark mentioned that you hadn’t been around much lately. He’s terribly confused about it actually and can’t for the life of him figure out why. However, a glance in the happy young couple’s direction was more than enough for me to conclude what had happened.” He took a sip of his drink then added, “I don’t blame you actually. Only a masochist would want to be around those two at the moment.” His eyes narrowed watching her face for any reaction. “The way they’re all sweet and loving and so completely focused on each other… its sickening.”

A shiver ran through Chloe at his words and she choked back the rush of emotions that ran through her. “Are you mocking me?”

“Why on earth would I do that?”

It was a good question and one that Chloe was not sure how to answer. Somehow it suddenly seemed that the impossible had happen and the conversation had become even more demoralising. Why would Lex want to mock her? Why on earth was he even here talking to her anyway? Didn’t he have someone else’s life to make fun of? Tiredly she said, “Just tell me what you want.”

“I thought I already had.”

“Lex! Please…” She took a deep breath to calm herself. “Please, don’t talk in circles okay? I don’t have the patience for it today.”

The smirk had returned. “I’m going to give you the opportunity to have a little bit of revenge on him.”

Keeping her face blank Chloe asked, “Tell me again why I would want to do that.”

“Clark told me about your little ultimatum just before he decided to run off and play hero. From what I understand you’ve kept to it.”

“Okay, I won’t deny that. What does that have to do with you?”

“We’re going to make him jealous.”

Her eyes widened before she had chance to stop them but even as a protest rose to her lips Chloe stopped herself. Listening to what he had to say couldn’t hurt after all. “Go on.”

“He still has feelings for you, that much is clearly evident whenever you happen to talk about you to him, Chloe. The problem is that he doesn’t realise that he has them.” He paused and Chloe bit her lip ever so slightly. “Do you want me to continue?”

Nodding she said, “Yes.”

“You have to make him realise he still has feelings for you if you want him back.”

“And you think that making him jealous is going to do that? I’m not buying it Lex. You’ve been trying to get him together with Lana for ages now so why would you want to alter things now? What’s your motive?”

“I like games and I’m a firm believer that people should always go after what they want. You want Clark and he wants you. This thing with Lana would keep him amused for a while but I think we both realise that it wouldn’t last forever. Imagine if Whitney should come wandering back into town; how long do you think it would take Lana to run straight into his arms? A day? An hour? Five minutes? Let’s be realistic shall we, she’s on the rebound and when she gets over it Clark is the one who is going to end up getting hurt. Unless we do something about it of course.”

“So you’re doing this for Clark’s sake?”

He nodded. “I owe him a lot.”

It was almost believable. It was the type of thing that Chloe could see him doing for the teenager that he claimed was his best friend and the words that he spoke seemed logical enough to her. She didn’t know whether it was wishful thinking or desperation that made her nod her head in agreement. “Okay, I’m in. Now tell me what you had in mind?”

2.

Lex was truly able to twist everything around in a million directions at once leaving Chloe stumbling in the dark as to what he actually had meant. This time was no different. When she agreed to this little plan of his she had thought that it would be harmless, now as she stood in the centre of the room, hugging her arms about her Chloe had to wonder whether this wouldn’t be a good time to reassess her opinion of the situation she had managed to place herself in because this certainly had the potential to be anything and everything but harmless. The air in the room was pleasantly warm on her skin through the thin, gauzy material of nightdress she was wearing at Lex’s suggestion but Chloe still felt a shiver run down her spine as she waited in the quiet. Nervously she scrunched her toes in thick carpet beneath her feet

She couldn’t quite believe she was here. Even after listening to Lex’s proposal she had been surprised to hear herself agreeing to the plan. Everyone one of her better instincts had screamed that this was a bad idea but Chloe guessed that she was just about desperate enough to go along with it despite any objections she might have had. Lex had sounded so convinced that it was a good idea though and he had sounded sincere over wanting to act in better interests for Clark so she had gone along with him and that had led to her standing in the middle of his richly decorated bedroom with only a thin nightdress on.

Another wave of nerves hit her. Maybe it wasn’t too late to change her mind after all.

Even as that thought passed through her mind the door to the bedroom open and Lex appeared, naked from the waist up with only a pair of black silk pyjama bottoms on. For a moment her breath caught in her throat at the sight of him, at the smooth lines of his back and then of his hairless chest as he turned to face her, each displaying a surprising amount of well toned muscles. She had never thought that Lex would be quite so, well, well built. He moved like a sleek cat, every action seeming perfectly well timed and coordinated as he padded across the carpet toward her with bare feet. Chloe glanced away from her perusal of his chest feeling the beginnings of a blush flood across for face only to find herself looking into stormy blue eyes. They looked so different from usual. Lex was renowned for his stoic appearance but at the moment he looked anything but cool.

She let out a brief gasp as he grabbed hold of her arms and pulled them away from her body, breaking her protective stance. “I knew that colour would look good on you,” he all but purred.

“Getting in character Lex?”

He didn’t even so much as flinch but instead raked his eyes over her again. “It isn’t that hard to do under the circumstances.”

Rolling her eyes at him Chloe said, “So what now?”

His demeanour changed suddenly and Chloe realised just how easily Lex was able to switch one and off his individual masks. It was a characteristic that Chloe had been witness to several times over the past two weeks as Lex had put his plan into action. Slowly she had become aware of the degree of precision and awareness that Lex planned every aspect of his life down to. It was impressive but it also struck her as obsessive and compulsive. He could of course act on impulse but Chloe suspected that in any action he did make her was already plotting what could possibly follow.

The plan had been a simple one; to hint to Clark that she was as desirable as any other girl in Smallville, to suggest to him that maybe she wouldn’t hang around forever and that he should pull himself together and act before it was too late. And although she had had her doubts Chloe guessed that the plan was actually working. The first step, as Lex had suggested, was to deliberately place herself in situations where she knew Clark would be aware of her presence but where she was not forced to acknowledge his. At school she still carefully avoided him but on an evening instead of hiding away at The Beanery like she had been doing Chloe returned to her usual haunt of Talon. There she could take a table by herself deliberately ignoring any invitation by her friends to join them or would venture to sit with Lex if he was present.

If nothing else the small changes in her routine had served to make Clark curious. In her brief conversations with Pete her friend had mentioned several times that Clark seemed to be developing a growing preoccupation with exactly what she was up to. The idea was pleasing to Chloe and she found herself trusting more in Lex than she had before.

Apparently satisfied with these developments Lex had then begun to put the second phase of his plan into operation. This involved him hinting to Clark that he had more than a passing interest in the petite blonde reporter by infrequently asking questions or making observations about how she was dressed or how he thought that the colour suited her eyes or hair or something along those lines. They were general compliments that he made sound so completely sincere that although Chloe had been convinced that Clark would never fall for anything so obvious but apparently she had been wrong because Clark had begun to take every opportunity he had to watch her when she was with Lex. It was something that more people than just herself had noticed.

Then one day, midway through the second week of her campaign Chloe had opened her locker at school to find that a note addressed to her had been shoved inside. On opening it Chloe had discovered that it was from Clark, asking to meet her in the offices to The Torch after school. At Lex’s advice Chloe had simply not shown up. The next day Clark has approached her with as irritated an expression as he could manage on his face. It had seemed oddly comical at the time. Realising what her script now suggested she acted like Chloe had pretended to be disinterested and when Clark had asked her where she had been the previous evening she had simply said that she had been meeting up with a friend.

Similar conversations had occurred with Pete and even more surprisingly Lana when she had dropped out of arrangements with them. Once again Chloe had simply replied that she had been meeting up with a friend, or she had got talking to a friend and forgot to call up to cancel their plans together and although these conversations made her uncomfortable and nervous, Chloe realised that they were probably making reports back to Clark of her stranger and stranger behaviour.

And gradually she had begun to see changes in Clark. When she was around he became nervous and skittish and she would often catch him staring at here for apparently no reason at all. It was almost amusing. Most of all though it was what she wanted and there was an odd feeling of satisfaction in her. It was a feeling that Chloe knew she should despise in herself. The way in which she had reported these things to Lex made her want to hate herself but the look of pride which always seemed to come into his eyes when she told him these things seemed to make up for whatever disgust she felt for her own actions. And that perhaps was the strangest thing of all.

She had begun to enjoy her game despite all the guilt that came with it. The idea shocked her and yet for some reason even that excited her and intrigued her because Chloe suddenly found herself wondering just what type of person she was.

And so she found herself stood here half naked and waiting for the handsome young man before her to speak.

“We get into bed,” he said very matter-of-factly. Chloe felt a shiver of tension run through her as she glanced at the bed and then back at Lex. Somewhere in her head there was something screaming that enough was enough and that she should stop this right now but looking at him, at the arrogant assumption on his face that she was going to do whatever he said Chloe felt any resolve she might have had melt away. It was too late to back out now. She really didn’t have a choice anymore.

Lex said nothing, only waved her over towards the bed which suddenly seemed very, very large and daunting. Chloe tried to pull herself together. She put her head up high and padded across to the bed, crawling onto it and settling herself near the headboard. Once sat there the blonde tucked her feet under the covers and watched Lex with uneasy eyes.

“Explain to me how this is going to work again,” she said.

He cocked his head on one side. “Clark will be arriving with the groceries I ordered from the farm and he’ll find some excuse to come and talk to me like he always does. The staff are going to let him up here because I haven’t told them any different and when he comes in then he’ll find us, in that,” he said pointing to the bed. “Together.”

“He’s not going to fall for it. He knows…”

“He knows nothing,” Lex interrupted approaching the bed. “Only what we tell him.”

He seemed to glide onto the bed in effortless, fluid movements and Chloe found herself catch her breath as she watched him. Once again he seemed every inch the seductive, sleek man who had entered the room only moments before. There seemed to be a familiar voice coming from elsewhere in the house and although Chloe knew she should not have been able to hear it, much less distinguish who it was she knew that Clark had arrived. Lex too appeared to have heard this and he moved even closer to her, placing one hand on her thigh and sliding it around in an almost investigatory manner. He had one hand on the mattress supporting himself as he leaned over and gently laid a kiss on her lips. It seemed he was coaching her, easing her into the kiss and after a few moments hesitation Chloe relaxed.

The minutes seemed to lengthen as she waited for Clark to find them and as Lex’s touch became increasingly surer she found herself hoping that he might never come across them although her reasons for wishing this were confused even to herself. Part of her believed that it was because she didn’t wish for him to find them and another part of her she realised to her despair was wishing it because she did not want Lex to stop whatever it was that he was doing to her.

And slowly she grew more confident. Her hands wandered from where they had been lightly pressed on his chest, slipping over his shoulders appreciatively and around the back of his neck, drawing his head down further towards her and deepening the kisses they shared. With a small wriggle of her body she let herself move down the bed and into a laying position while he still hovered for her. Then he was lowering himself down and she could feel his weight against her as something delicious and desirable. Slowly she felt him knee her legs apart as he settled himself into a more comfortable position and without having to even think for a moment Chloe co-operated with him, parting her legs and letting out a long shudder of desire as he began to kiss his way down her neck and to her breasts.

Chloe brought her leg up, letting the nightdress slide up her thigh and daringly stirred against him. He looked up at her and was unable to hide the surprise from him face. This was just play Chloe reminded herself but there was a sudden rush of something in the eyes of the man before her that made her wonder. She felt her eyes widen as he used both hands to ease the nightdress up over her hips, exposing the shred of matching material that her panties were made from.

“Chloe?” a voice said and the blonde girl darted her eyes up from her perusal of Lex’s face and she felt something sink inside of her.

Lex too had spun his face around towards the door and the direction of the voice. “Clark,” he said and to listen to him Chloe thought you would have guessed that they had just met in Talon rather than here. With as much dignity as he could manage in his current situation Lex sat up and let Chloe draw the nightdress back down while giving her a self-satisfied smirk while his back was momentarily to Clark. When he turned back to Clark she was certain that his face would once again be stoic.

“Chloe…” Clark said once again and it was clear from the expression on his open face that he was trying to decide what to say; to decide what he could say.

At his fallen expression she felt a momentary twinge of guilt rush through her. Gathering herself together and wondering why she had never thought to ask Lex what they would do if this situation ever came to be Chloe opened her mouth and said “Yes, Clark?”

“I… Nothing. I’ll, um, see you later okay?” he said and then just turned and left, leaving Chloe unsure as to what had just happened.

“That was very much a non-reaction if I ever saw one,” Lex said.

“He acted like he hadn’t seen anything,” Chloe confirmed feeling more than a little bewildered. “Why would he do that?”

Lex looked over his shoulder at her and Chloe felt herself blush as he let his eyes roam over her. “Perhaps that is something you should be asking him?” Lex said and reached out to toy with the hem of her nightdress.

She couldn’t help but stare at it; at the way his fingers danced across it and appeared to be playing. “Perhaps I should.”

“Perhaps not quite yet,” he suggested, his eyes lowered away from her face.

“Lex…” she began and then stopped as he looked up at her. His eyes had turned that icy colour that often washed through them and yet they were no more devoid of passion that they had been moments before. It made a strange ache fill her.

3.

She left the manor only shortly after Clark, having thrown on her clothes and watched Lex with wary eyes. Undoubtedly there was something more going on in his head than she had ever imagined. There was no doubt in Chloe’s mind of that now. His reaction had cultivated seeds of doubt in her mind that had lingered there from the beginning.

But still she found herself listening to him. As she had dressed he had watched with even the smallest pretence of turning away and Chloe had not felt brave enough to tell him to do so. That was not all though, his attentions were oddly pleasing. And while she had dressed he had spoke telling her of future plans that she got the impression he had managed to think up of on the spot. Chloe found she could only half listen to him.

Now she was driving back towards her home and a nagging feeling came over to her that she abruptly realised was shame. She looked back at her actions and felt it boiling. What on earth would happen if it ever came out that she had been playing such a cruel game with a boy who was meant to be her friend? What would her other friends think? What would her father think? She knew the consequences to Lex would be little ones. Nobody would be surprised by him acting in such a way but for her… for her it would be entirely different; for her there would be endless criticism that she had hurt such good and kind and nice boy as Clark Kent.

As she pulled up in front of her house Chloe slumped over the wheel of her car. Turning her head to one side she stared at the radio accusingly as it played some entirely too happy pop tune. She jabbed her finger at it in order to turn it off and accidentally knocked the bag on the seat next to her. It fell over and the beautiful lingerie that Lex had given her peeked out. It appeared a horrible reminder of what she had just done. Letting out a long sigh she rammed everything back inside the bag angrily and climbed out of the car. In a moment of pure frustration she slammed the door, wincing when it seemed to sound considerably too loudly.

Turning around she immediately ran into something hard. Looking up she realised she was nose to chest with Clark. His face was serious as he looked down on her and reached out to grasp her arms just above the elbows to steady her. It was an all too familiar gesture to her and Chloe felt herself pale. What on earth was he doing here?

“Hey Chloe,” he said and to her his voice sounded more than a little forlorn.

“Clark,” she replied nervously. Biting her lip she then added, “Did you want something?”

“I’d kind of like to have a word if that’s okay with you?”

Dipping her eyes and stepping away from him she said, “I don’t think that’s such a good idea at the moment do you?”

“I think it’s important that we talk.”

She had been making to walk away from him but Clark had reached out and grabbed hold of her arm again, holding on so tightly that she could not move. Unfortunately it caused her to spin and her bag flew from her shoulder, causing the contents to go everywhere. Chloe felt herself pale even further at the sight of the nightdress strewn across the grass. She dug her heals in and tried to pull away from him. “Let me go!” she exclaimed and to her surprise he did and she ended up on her ass. It stung and Chloe felt tears form in her eyes.

“Why did you do it Chlo’?” he asked quietly. He dropped to his knees in front of her. “I don’t understand. You never mentioned that you were… I mean, I understand that you like Lex because he’s, well, he’s good looking and rich and he can be very charming but I never thought that you… that he…” He trailed off slowly.

Looking up at him she said, “At least he noticed,” she said quietly. She hadn’t been certain that he heard her but when his eyes widened Chloe knew that he had. Chloe stood up quickly feeling another wave of embarrassment and grabbed the fallen things from the floor and then turned to Clark. “I don’t want to do this now,” she told him. “I just… I want some time to myself.”

“Tired or something?” he asked, sounding surprisingly bitter. It was a sound that she was not used to hearing come out of her old friend’s mouth. From the look that immediately followed Chloe was certain that even he too was surprised and perhaps regretted his words.

“Goodbye Clark,” she said with a sigh and marched up the porch steps.

“Chloe wait,” he called out after her. Chloe looked back at him over her shoulder. “I didn’t mean to say that. I’m sorry. It’s just, I never expected this.”

She gave him a wry little smile. “If it’s any consolation, it wasn’t what I was expecting either.”

“Do you love him?” he asked and Chloe felt her heart fall because if anything this was the question she had been dreading from him. In her head she had already planned out some long speech to give but looking at him now with those large puppy-dog eyes Chloe found there was no way she could dream of lying. At least she didn’t think she was.

“No.”

“Then how can you possibly think about…” He stumbled over the words and eventually gave up.

“How could I think of sleeping with him? I think you already answered your own question before, Clark. He’s charming. He’s good looking and he actually sees something more than just another friend when he looks at me.”

As his eyes widened with realisation Chloe turned and rushed into the house, shutting him out and wondering what the hell she had got herself into.

4.

For the rest of the weekend she had hidden herself away from the world. The only person she had spoken to be had been her father and only then to tell him that she didn’t feel very well and didn’t want to talk to anyone. She had ignored it when her cellphone rang, knowing that whoever it would be would only want to ask questions of her, ones that she probably would not feel like answering. By this time she was certain that Lana would have managed to get out of Clark what had happened at the Luthor mansion; he wasn’t the type of person who would be able to keep such a secret for long. And she reasoned that Lana would not have thought it beyond her right to tell Pete what was troubling Clark so much.

And yet no one actually came by the house to confront her. Chloe unconsciously took this as a sign that she had been completely forsaken.

When school rolled around on Monday Chloe found that the idea of going in terrified her and she played sick when her father came to make sure that she had woken up. He looked on at her as she lay curled up in bed with concerned and reluctantly gave her permission to have to day off, silently vowing to himself later that he would somehow manage to get out of her what had happened. Gratefully she had given him a weak smile and buried her head under the covers until she was certain that he had gone to work. Then Chloe climbed out of bed and drifted downstairs in her pyjamas and switched on the television. She made a light breakfast of cereal and coffee and curled up on the sofa with the promise to herself of doing nothing for the rest of the day.

At some point she must have dozed off because a sharp sound woke her and Chloe found herself staring at the clock which read eleven o’clock. The blonde sat up sharply, shaking away the remainders of sleep that had stuck with her. As the noise interrupted the silence a second time Chloe realised that it was the doorbell. Hating to wonder who it would be she climbed off the sofa, grabbed the blanket she had been covering herself with and wrapped it around her body before shuffling towards the front door. When the bell rang a third time the small blonde let out a brief curse and hurried up a little.

Opening the door she felt herself falter a little as she looked at the person on the other side.

“Your father is very concerned about you,” Lex said and stepped inside, easily slipping past her. “He mentioned in passing that you didn’t seem very well.”

“So you thought you’d drop by and see what the matter was.”

He gave her a smirk. “I know what the matter is. You’re having an attack of nerves.”

Crossing her arms she replied, “More like guilt.” The look he gave her was indulgent and he reached towards her, running his fingers down her cheek. “Clark isn’t here now,” she told him.

“I know,” he answered and stepped closer. Chloe suddenly wondered how she had never noticed how physically imposing Lex could be before. At the moment he seemed to fill all her vision leaving no room for anyone else. An arm wrapped about her waist and drew her to him. It took Chloe a second to realise that the feeling in her chest was her heart pounding.

Gathering her courage she looked him in the eye. “I’m not the person you’re meant to be playing games with Lex.”

“But you are the person who I feel like playing games with.”

If anyone else had said those words then they would have either sounded like a child whining or have been enough to cause a shrill of fear to go through the person listening to them though. When Lex said them though, Chloe found that they had an oddly seductive quality.

“It’s a pity you don’t get to then isn’t it?” she said trying to keep her voice steady. She had meant to as a statement but the way it hung in the air even after she had finished left it sounding too much like a question, much too much like a challenge.

A smirk filtered onto his lips and ever so quickly he leaned down and laid a kiss on his lips. He did not however allow it to deepen. Even so he did not step back from her. “Chloe I would have thought that you of all people would have realised by now that I am always playing games.”

“That doesn’t exactly in-still confidence in me about you,” she told him.

“Perhaps I just mean to keep you on your toes.”

“As part of your game?”

“As part of our game.”

With the smallest trace of irritation in her voice Chloe said, “I don’t play games.”

“Really? I doubt Clark would agree.” The playful, amused tone in his voice made her wince and Chloe stepped away from him, aware that the room seemed very cold now they were no longer sharing body heat. Absently she crossed her arms over her chest and turned away from him.

“I’m going to make coffee,” she announced and walked away. There was a characteristic soft sound of his shoes are he walked along behind her.

“Avoidance, Chloe? Before today I would never have expected that from you.”

Walking over to the counter and reaching to switch on the kettle she answered, “I’m not avoiding, I’m ignoring. There’s a difference, granted only a very slight one but a difference all the same.” Turning around he saw that he had already made himself at home and was busy emptying a spoon into a mug on the breakfast table. As she watched he repeated this action into a second cup. The sight made her smile and start at the same time; Lex Luthor the homebody. Who would ever have guessed?

He caught her looking and seemed to stiffen, catching himself and once again becoming the reposed young man who nothing could faze. There was click from behind Chloe and she jumped, startled slightly by sudden noise. The look he gave her was indulgent. Shaking it off, Chloe stepped over to the table with the kettle and poured hot water into both mugs.

“You can call it what you want but we both know the truth.” He paused as she slid onto the chair opposite his. “We need to discuss what we’re going to do next.”

“There won’t be a ‘next’,” she replied. “I’m starting to think this has gone quite far enough.”

“You can’t honestly be considering quitting now?” he asked and there appeared to be some real surprise in his voice. At the nod of confirmation she cast towards him Lex shook his head. “Just when you were getting what you wanted.”

Frowning she said, “And I don’t suppose that you’d care to explain how exactly this mess is what I wanted?”

“He’s paying attention to you isn’t he? Isn’t that what that scene in front of your house was all about the other day?”

“Not exactly… Wait, how did you know about that?”

He waved away her question as if it was unimportant leaving Chloe slightly miffed. “That really doesn’t matter. What matters is the fact that we’ve produced the desired reaction. Will you at least listen to what I have in mind?”

She meant to shake her head. It was what she knew she should do but somehow she didn’t have the will to and she found herself nodding. After all, what harm could it do to just listen to him? Famous last words, Chloe thought miserably.

He took a sip of the coffee and then said, “You need make yourself visible again. This hiding yourself away… it doesn’t accomplish anything.”

“That’s easy for you to say. You are not the person who is going to be deemed bad guy in all this. People expect things like this from you...”

Lex raised a pale eyebrow at her and affected a hurt expression. “Would you?” he asked.

“Would I what?”

“Would you expect it from me?”

“I’ve learned that I should never take anything for granted where you’re concerned Lex. I’d certainly never expect anything.” The comment elicited a smile from him. “What? You find that pleasing or something?”

“It does feel a little good to know that I’ve managed to baffle even your journalistic skills.”

Looking him straight in the eye she replied a little uncertainly, “Don’t mock me.”

“I wasn’t.”

“I mean it Lex.”

“So do I.”

Somewhat warily she said, “I can never tell when you’re being honest.”

“Anyone would think you were trying to butter me up, Chloe Sullivan.”

“Well ‘anyone’ would be wrong, wouldn’t they?”

He didn’t answer her question only gave her a knowing smirk instead and turned the conversation back to his plan.

5.

Never in her short, albeit somewhat hectic life, had Chloe ever thought that she would be this nervous about walking into a place like Talon. Gathering together her courage she turned off her car’s engine and climbed out of the vehicle, pulling at her violet shirt and grey skirt until they were once again neat. Bending down she glanced in her wing mirror to check that her make-up was still as perfect as it had been when she put it on. The brief glance was enough for Chloe to be reminded that there seemed to be something wrong with the innocent expression painted on her features. She half wondered whether it was out of place. Chloe shook the feeling loose and straightened up.

Lex had said that she should try to get back into her normal routine; he’d even suggested that this would be the perfect place to do just that. It was only now that Chloe’s mind informed her that of course he would think this was the perfect place – it was just public enough to cause her a sufficient amount of embarrassment to scar her for life when everything went horribly wrong. Silently she let out a groan at the thought. It wasn’t as if she had been forced to agree to go along with this. She still had free will; she could have chosen to ignore him. Damn, irritating, convincing face, she thought remembering the way he had smiled reassuringly.

The air inside the coffee house was cool and the atmosphere seemed somehow quiet, a perfect little sea of calm and tranquillity that was significantly different from its usual thriving crowd. For once there were few people inside and even they seemed sedated and that meant that only one or two curious sets of eyes looked up as the blonde entered and made her way up to the counter. From behind the counter a pair of dark eyes looked up and at her and their owner shifted slightly from her relaxed posture. A mixture of emotions fled across Lana’s face as the girl who was meant to be her friend came closer.

“Hey Lana,” she said hoping up onto a stool and placing her bag on the counter beside her.

For a moment the brunette’s eyes widened in surprise and it appeared that she might not make any answer at all. “Hi Chloe,” she said finally. The words sounded stiff and formal coming out of the other girl’s mouth and Chloe cringed.

“I guess Clark told you then,” she said.

Lana placed the cloth she had been using to scrub away at the counter top with perhaps a little too vigorously down. There came about her face an anxious expression, one which was only rarely seen if Chloe’s memory served her correctly. “I’m not judging,” she began. “Honestly I’m not. But don’t you think that you might have been a little rushed getting involved with someone like Lex. I mean, Lex is Lex and everyone knows what he can be like sometimes. I didn’t even think that you liked him that much. And to let Clark find out that way…”

Biting her lip and wishing that she could tell the other girl just what was going on Chloe answered, “Things between me and Lex just escalated. Just because it was quick doesn’t mean it will be a bad thing Lana.”

“But what about Clark? I always thought that you liked him.”

She shrugged. “I got fed up of waiting for him to notice that I was waiting. Hell, I got fed up of waiting full stop.”

Lana shook her head. “He would have eventually,” she offered though Chloe suspected that even to her it sounded like a thin excuse.

“I would have been wasting me life away while waiting,” Chloe replied growing frustrated. It was the truth after all. The whole reason that she had done this was so that she didn’t waste her life away. Well, that and a little ‘revenge’ as Lex would have termed it. The thought made Chloe bristle. This wasn’t revenge for her. It was… It was something else entirely that was nowhere near so wicked. “Besides, you’re the last person that I would have expected to be pushing this.”

Lana’s eyes widened again reminding Chloe of just why the girl was deemed doe-eyed on occasion. “What do you mean?”

Chloe raised her eyebrows. “You’re seeing him aren’t you? That should be reason enough not to push it.”

“Maybe that’s precisely the reason I am pushing it.” The seriousness of her expression startled Chloe. It hadn’t exactly been the answer she was expecting. “I don’t like to see you upsetting him Chloe. Why can’t you just be his friend?”

“That’s like asking you to ‘just be friends’ with Whitney,” she retorted.

“It’s not the same. Whitney and I dated for, well, for a long time. You and Clark… it was never that. Couldn’t you just go back to how it was before?” Chloe tried to ignore the pleading sound that had entered the other girl’s voice. “What you did was cruel Chloe. I know that somehow you… Lex… One of you did this. I’d like to believe it wasn’t true but I can’t convince myself of it.”

The blonde girl’s eyes widened. “How could you… how can you think I’d do something like that on purpose?” she asked in amazement.

Lana gave a small shrug. “I don’t know what to believe anymore. You’re not who I thought you were.”

For once the reporter found herself lost for words. She honestly didn’t know what to say to the girl and she stood up abruptly feeling tears come to her eyes. This was harder than she had imaged it would be. This was much worse than she had ever imagined it would be. “I think that I’d better go,” she said.

“I think that would be best,” Lana replied from underneath lower eyelashes and the blonde girl couldn’t help but wonder if she was trying to hide some shame at the words she had spoken only moments before.

Feeling a shot of irritation and embarrassment rush through her at the tone in the other girl’s voice Chloe retorted, “And what would your boss say if he knew you were throwing his girlfriend out of his café?” she asked. “You’re not being fair Lana and you know it. Not everything is as black and white as you try to make it. Maybe you should… maybe you should actually try to look at things like you really are and not be so self-centred!”

The tears were threatening to escape the confines of her eyes and Chloe turned quickly to find that now most of the patrons of the café were looking up at her. She felt her jaw clench, seemingly of its own accord. Grabbing the strap of her bag Chloe slipped it over her head and made to march out of the café, pretending that she didn’t give a damn what anyone else thought.

The light streaming through the door startled her momentarily and Chloe blinked. In that moment she felt herself collide with something and when she opened her eyes again she found that she was looking directly into a man’s chest and surrounded by a scent that was oddly comforting. Turning her face upwards and preparing herself for another rush of embarrassment Chloe found herself staring up at Lex. It was too much. He stood there with such a perfect look of sympathy combined with curiosity on his features that the tears that had been welling in her eyes flowed freely. Lex quickly brought his arms up and pulled her against his chest enabling her to hide from the spectators and she felt his fingers tangle in her hair.

“I’m not going to ask what the matter is,” he asked quietly.

“You don’t need to,” she mumbled against him, completely enveloped in his arms.

He shifted slightly and she wondered whether that meant he was nodding or shaking his head. It didn’t seem to matter. At the moment the only thing that seemed to matter was that she was with someone else who was sympathetic to her view point.

They were making a spectacle of themselves. She knew it and as much as she wanted to move from view it seemed that Lex did not feel the same urge. He held tight to her and she felt him lean his body as much against hers as she had to his and gradually the threat of tears eased. Moving slowly Chloe moved her hand between him and rested it on his chest before using it to push away from him slightly. Beneath her palm she was surprised to feel his heart beating powerfully. Chloe found herself reluctant to turn her eyes upwards, knowing that they must be reddened.

“Do you feel better now?” he asked.

“I’m not sure that I could feel better. Can we leave now?”

“I was rather looking forwards to a cup of coffee,” the young man confessed.

“But…” the blonde began.

“But what? You shouldn’t care what they think,” he said, clearly meaning the people in the café. “Besides, I want to.”

Looking him in the eye Chloe saw the sense of determination there and reluctantly gave in. “I don’t know how I’ll face Lana after what I just said to her.”

“You’ll face her because you’re with me and because when she’s working she should get paid for that and not for giving her opinions out where they don’t count.”

“Couldn’t we just go across to The Beanary?”

“Because it would be easier?” Chloe nodded her reply. “Life should never be easy Chloe.”

He turned and marched off into the café leaving her stood in the doorway. Absently she followed him with her eyes and tried to decide what to do. She could just walk out. She could just head down the street and pretend that whatever the hell had just happened hadn’t happened and that nothing was wrong. Of course, then she would be lying to herself and the idea of doing that didn’t impress Chloe as very sensible. Maybe Lex was right, maybe what she needed was to get up in the world’s face and show it she just didn’t give a damn. Or maybe he was just playing her like he had been playing everyone else.

When she realised that she had been standing in the doorway much too long alone Chloe hurried over to where he had sat down and sank down on the seat next to him. She very deliberately ignored the astonished look on Lana’s face which quickly turned to one of disapproval when she saw that the pair was actually going to stay seated. Reluctantly the small brunette picked up her orders pad and wandered in their direction.

“Hello Lex,” she said as she approached their table. “What can I get you?”

“Just a black coffee,” he replied. “And I think… perhaps some cherry pie. How about you Chloe? What would you like?”

Chloe’s eyes were wide. She couldn’t quite believe how relaxed Lex was being about all this. It stunned her when he spoke to her and she had to remember quickly how to speak and then again of something to order. “Latte,” she replied. “And, erm, I guess I’ll have a piece of pie as well then.”

Lana stared at her a moment and only shifted when Lex asked in silky smooth tones, “Is there some problem, Miss Lang?”

She shook herself, sending dark hair flying in all directions. “No, sorry, I’ll get right on it.” Chloe found it almost amusing to see her hurry away and a slight smile came to her lips. Directing her gaze at Lex she saw that he too had a smirk on his face. It made her smile even more.

6.

The next day Chloe found herself with the courage to return to school. Climbing out of her car and walking into the halls of Smallville High she found herself with not the slightest bit of concern as to what people were thinking. It just didn’t seem to matter any longer. After her talk with Lex the night before when he had managed to convince her that everything would be just fine Chloe could not find it in herself to worry about anything.

She wandered leisurely through the corridors, eventually emerging in the offices of the Torch. It felt good to be back in a place that often felt more like her home than her actual home did. Even the prospect of a pile of work to try and in order get the next edition out on time couldn’t faze the blonde as she slipped into her comfortable chair and leaned back. All she needed now was a cup of coffee and a great story to write about and everything would be perfect.

She closed her eyes momentarily and just breathed in the atmosphere of the office. When they flickered open again she spied that a small note had been stuck to the side of her computer screen and she leaned forwards to read it. Chloe frowned when she realised it was from Pete.

‘Chloe, I edited the sports page and suggested a couple of possible layouts because I didn’t know when you’d be back. Pete.’

The blonde’s frown deepened. Why had he not just called to tell her? She had left her phone on since yesterday on the off chance that Lex might call so Pete should have been able to get through her. A thought dawned on her. What if Clark has told him? It made a shiver of horror run through her. That was something that she had never expected. She had imagined that he would tell Lana but never Pete because he had to know how Pete might feel… Of course after the spectacle in Talon yesterday it wouldn’t be surprising if Pete had heard already even without Clark’s intervention.

How could she have been so stupid?

Her mind began to tick over and several things clicked into place all at once. It occurred to her that Lex’s arrival at Talon hadn’t been incidental at all. It had certainly been planed and remembering his comment about knowing Clark has gone to see her Chloe realised he had been keeping a much closer eye on her than she had previously realised. She didn’t know whether she should be afraid or grateful. After all if Lex hadn’t turned up at Talon yesterday she might have never got back on her feet after the scene inside. On the flip side she realised that he had deliberately manipulating the situation to further his plans.

That thought made her blood boil and she found herself reaching for her phone even without thinking to call him as the urge to call Lex flooded through her. Chloe quickly snatched her hand back. He didn’t deserve to be called. He really didn’t if what she suspected was actually true.

Chloe tensed as another thought came to her. If Lex had been watching her when she was at home then she reasoned that it wasn’t entirely unreasonable to suspect that he was watching her now too. After a contemplating this idea for a moment the girl shook her head. That was paranoid. Still, she couldn’t stop herself from climbing to her feet and moving to the window to see whether she could see one of his cars parked outside. To see whether she could see anyone unusual hanging around.

It was while she was peering outside that Chloe heard the door swing open behind her and then close again with an audible click. She spun around, half expecting to see Lex but not entirely too surprised to see Clark stood there with a stern expression on his face. It looked out of place.

“You had no right to say that to her,” he said and even though his voice had been quiet it rang out in the room loudly.

“And you had no right to tell her what you had seen so I guess we’re even.”

The boy shook his head, somehow despairing. “I don’t understand what you’re becoming. You were never like this before.”

Chloe leaned back, half sitting on the table behind her. She crossed her arms over her chest and he took this as an invitation to come closer until he was at a point where he was looking down on her. The blonde reframed from the chuckle that wanted to escape her. How very appropriate. It seemed to be all he wanted to do recently.

“Why do you have such a big problem with the fact I’m seeing Lex?” she asked suddenly, startling them both out of the silence that had settled in the room.

He pursed his lips and looked away from her. “You’re not in love with him Chloe and yet I walked in on you about to…” He blushed. “Well, you know what.”

“Sleep with him?” she asked and his eyes widened. “Is this what this is all about, Clark? Some small town sense of morals? Because I’ll tell you right now I’m a whole lot happier the way I am than I was mooning away over you-“ She stopped abruptly. “I didn’t… I didn’t say that.”

Clark’s mouth had dropped open and he had to quickly slam it shut again. “You like me?” he asked.

Refusing to think too far about things Chloe replied somewhat sarcastically, “Gee Clark, what gave it away?”

He seemed to be having a few problems understanding just what it was that she was telling him and Clark’s mouth closed and then fell open again as if he were about to say something and then closed again. There was an extremely confused expression on his face. Chloe remained silent, waiting for him to speak.

“I didn’t realise,” he said finally. He looked back at her and then took the time look her up and down. It was a movement that he tried to conceal but she was easily about to recognise it. Chloe covered a small smile. Now he decided to notice her. “You should have said something.”

“And how exactly would I have done that?” she asked him.

His features creased into that expression that told Chloe he was desperately trying to think things over and failing miserably. “You would have found a way,” he said finally. “I know you would have if you’d really wanted to.”

“What then, Clark?” she asked gently, reaching forwards to place her hand on his arm so that he would look at her. “What do you honestly think would have happened then?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted after thinking about it for a few moments. Abruptly he stood straighter and half turned away from her. “I need to get to class,” he told her and without another word left the room leaving Chloe sat alone.

It seemed that Chloe had been holding her breath and she let it out in a long stream before bringing her hands up to her face to rub her eyes as a great sense of tiredness washed through her. A part of her still disbelieved that she had finally told Clark the secret that she had been holding inside for so long. A part of her could not comprehend what had just happened. It seemed that Lex’s plan had actually worked. Clark was finally paying attention to her but on the other side of the coin it seemed that what she had wanted was now ruined because of how she had gone about it.

In the distance the bell rang signalling the start of school for the day. Chloe gathered herself together and then made to leave the room. As she did so she glanced down the corridor in the direction that she knew Clark would have headed to class and saw that he was stood further down the corridor, deep in conversation with Pete. The latter of which looked up at her and at that moment Chloe found herself staring straight into his eyes. She looked away quickly from the recrimination that she saw painted there and turned to hurry to her class.

7.

Her first meeting with Pete had been no less painful than her previous one with Clark had been. He caught up with her outside of the cafeteria, taking hold of her arm and drawing her away from the crowds and into the near perfect silence of the nearest classroom. He never said a word. Chloe went with him without saying a word. Something had clicked in her head and she knew that this was something that could be postponed but not forever and she reasoned that to talk to him now, when he still wanted to talk to her was probably going to be the best course of action – even if it was not the easiest.

Uncomfortable silences seemed to be the story of her life recently Chloe thought as she dipped her eyes away from the blank expression that Pete was giving her. He paced away from her and then came back again. “I don’t suppose that you want to explain what the hell you’ve been thinking of?”

For once Chloe found herself at a loss for words. She wasn’t quite certain how to respond to this. She couldn’t play the game with Pete as she had been doing with Clark and there was none of the bitterness that she felt for Lana to play off here. She honestly did not know what she could say to her friend that wouldn’t end up getting her more in trouble.

Pete had been waiting for her to speak and when it became apparent that she was reluctant to do so he continued, “Why the hell Lex Luthor of all people Chlo’?”

“It seemed right,” she offered weakly hating herself for sounding like such a victim when it was the last thing that she felt like she was at the moment. “He made sense.”

The young man’s eyes brightened as he caught hold of a familiar train of thought. “This is his entire fault then. Luthors never know when to keep to themselves. They always have to take what doesn’t belong to them.”

“I don’t belong to anyone Pete,” she reminded him but remained uncertain that he had actually heard her. Instead he just continued on like she had never even spoken.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he coerced you into it. It would be just like him to do something like that.” Pete’s eyes flamed and even in his voice Chloe could detect the heat of anger. “Someone should put him in his place. It’s about time that someone told him that you can’t just walk all over other people.”

A shrill sensation of fear shot through Chloe and she grabbed hold of his arm as he moved to start pacing again. “Don’t you dare hurt him,” she warned. “Pete I’m serious. I’ll never forgive you if you hurt him.”

The expression on her friend’s face turned to a pained and confused one. Chloe had to admit she was more than a little bewildered by her reaction herself. Lex was more than capable of looking after himself after all. There was no reasonable explanation for the rush of emotions the thought of Pete heading over to the Luthor manor to do damage to the younger Luthor had caused in her.

“I can’t explain it,” she told him finally. “It doesn’t make sense to me either.”

“You’re going to keep seeing him aren’t you? No matter what we say you’re going to keep seeing him.”

“You’re speaking for Clark now as well?” she asked and when he nodded added, “I remember a time when Clark and Lex were friends.”

“I think you’ve just about ruined any chance of that Chloe,” he replied and to her horror she realised he might actually be right. For all that Lex had said about this being the best thing for Clark it seemed that his plan had worked contrary to their friendship. If she was to find herself with Clark after this there was no way that the two young men could possibly be comfortably friends again. The earlier suspicions in Chloe’s mind deepened. “Sort yourself out,” Pete suggested. “Find out what you really want and maybe then we’ll all be able to be friends again like we used to. At the moment though… I don’t understand you Chloe and I know that Clark is hurting.”

“Are you saying that you won’t be my friend anymore?” Chloe asked in astonishment.

“No. Not that. Only that, well, things are on hold for a while.”

Shaking her head she said, “I can’t believe that you’re saying this. This isn’t you talking Pete.”

He shrugged unapologetically. “I’ve got to get going – Clark and Lana are waiting for me.”

She nodded absently, still in a vague type of shock. She barely noticed when he left the room as by that time her mind was already racing far beyond its confines. Finally she came to a decision and she ran off towards her locker narrowly avoiding collisions with several other students along the way. She knew where she had to go.

It wasn’t until she was storming towards the door of the Luthor mansion, her feet crunching on the gravel path, that Chloe began to have any doubts. Stubbornness prevailed though and she marched right up to the door and then had to wait an agonisingly long time for someone to answer it. By the time the butler opened the door the blonde girl was tapping her foot anxiously and reaching up to press on the door bell yet another time. She could not hide her irritated expression when the door finally opened.

“Yes Miss?” the old man asked.

“I need to see Lex – I mean, Mr Luthor.”

The man raised his eyebrows at her. “Is he expecting you?”

“Well, no, but I need to see him.”

“I’m sorry, Miss. I’m afraid that Mr Luthor is seeing no one today unless they’ve made a previous appointment.”

“He is in then?”

“Yes Miss, but as I said, he’s not seeing anyone.”

Chloe frowned. “Couldn’t you just tell him that Chloe Sullivan was here to see him?”

“I could but it wouldn’t make any difference. I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to leave Miss Sullivan.”

The blonde’s mouth dropped open and she quickly slammed it shut again as the man closed the door in her face. She couldn’t help but notice the way that it slammed and wondered whether someone was trying to tell her something. After a moments deliberation the petite young woman turned and hastily stepped across the green lawn. She followed the walls of the house glancing in each window she came to and silently praying that no one caught her. It seemed that she walked forever before coming to the right window.

Stood there Chloe found herself staring at the sight of Lex Luthor reclined in an armchair, a cup of something in one hand and a newspaper resting on his lap. His eyes were closed and his head tilted back. She found her breath catching in her throat at the sight of his sculptured features so relaxed and unpractised. It reminded her or the fact that the moment she stepped into the door he would alter, becoming Lex the businessman, Lex the co-conspirator and Lex the lover. Okay, so maybe only pretend on that last one but it would still be yet another façade of his.

Remembering to breathe Chloe looked at the window in more detail. As she had suspected it was just ajar, letting in cooler air from outside. Moving as quietly as she could the young woman quietly lifted up the safety arm and let the window swing open. With a slight exhalation of breath as she boosted herself up Chloe climbed onto the frame and dropped down onto the soft carpet. Looking up she saw that the man still hadn’t moved. For someone who was usually so alert he certainly was out of it. She half wondered whether there was something the matter with him then dismissed the thought.

Chloe paused to pull the window closed after her so that the cool breeze that was now blowing through it didn’t startle Lex awake. She wanted that pleasure all to herself.

Pulling her bag over her head she let it fall silently to the floor by the window to stop it from rustling against she clothing as she wandered towards him. Chloe found herself rather proud of her stealth as she crept towards Lex’s apparently sleeping form. She came to a halt in front of him trying to keep control of her breath. Leaning slowly down she reached out with one hand to pod him in the arm only to find that a hand had suddenly shot out and grabbed her wrist. Chloe let out a squeal as she was spun around, landing butt first on Lex Luthor’s lap. The force of her spin caused the blonde girl to tilt backwards as she landed and she ended up putting a hand out to behind herself to steady her descent. The grip on her arm tightened and she found herself being hauled upwards, back into a sitting position.

The startled expression on her face quickly turned to one of embarrassment, flushed with blood as she realised that he was quietly chuckling. “Hey!” she exclaimed. “It’s not funny.”

“But it is!” he replied. “The look on your face…” Lex trailed off as another low chuckle came over him.

Chloe sat watching him in amazement. “You knew I was there all along didn’t you?” she asked. When he nodded she smacked him on the arm. “You jerk!”

“Oh come now,” he answered, eyes still shinning from his previous laughter. “Weren’t you planning to do something similar?”

She hated that he was right. She found it more than a little irritating that he had read her so easily. It was at that point that Chloe regained enough of her control to remember why she had come here and tried to get rid of the surprise which was still flooding her and leaving her out of control.

She moved to push away his hands only to realise that he would not relinquish the hold he had on her. Chloe let out an exasperated sigh and slumped slightly, turning her face away from his to look down at her lap. “They’re asking me to make a decision,” she said finally.

“Oh?”

“I’ve got to make a choice, either them or you.”

He nodded slowly. “That should be a fairly simple choice considering…”

Chloe did not respond for a moment. “This is your entire fault you know.” “I had expected you to believe as much. However, in this case, it is not entirely true. We are both responsible this time.”
It was the blonde girl’s turn to nod. “I guess you’re right.”
“I’ve had a certain amount of experience in such things,” he said dryly.

Chloe gave a low chuckle that surprised her. “My problem is that I think you’ve managed to manipulate me so much this time that I don’t know what I want. On the one hand I’ve made Clark notice me and I’ve the chance of still being his friend. On the other hand there’s the fact to consider that he, and the others, so easily convinced themselves that I was bad, or, you know, something. And that, well… that worries me.”

Lex didn’t say anything in reply and for once she was glad that he was quiet and didn’t want to offer advice. There was a certain amount of peace in knowing that she had actually told someone what was going on inside her head - even if that person were Lex.
She was suddenly aware that he was tracing small circles on her lower back and Chloe turned sceptical eyes on him. That same stoic look that often seemed to come over Lex’s face was painted there again. He almost looked like he was waiting for something. Whatever was going on in Lex’s head though, he did not want to give it away just yet.

She found her eyes wandering over his face. They started at his cool expressionless eyes and then moved down to soft, full lips. It appeared dreadful that he could be so calm when there was a torrent still raging inside her, even if it had calmed slightly for the moment. Before she had entirely realised what she was doing Chloe leaned down and pressed her lips tight against his. Still he did not respond and she violently ripped her wrist out of his grasp in order to allow herself to shift position. Chloe turned, straddling his legs and once again pressed her lips forcibly on his. It was a task, but Chloe found she had the will to continue to work on him until gradually Lex began to return her attentions.

Apparently when Lex decided that he wanted to do something he didn’t take much more persuading because within seconds she felt him reaching under her skirt and hiking it up her legs to expose her panties. Then his hands closed on her buttocks and in one sharp movement Chloe found herself pressed fully against him and gasped at what she felt. Then his hands moved upward to cup her breasts, momentarily brushed her erect nipples through the soft material of her shirt.

Chloe found herself giving a small whimper and she broke the kiss, reaching skyward to pull her t-shirt over her head and let it fall to the floor without a second thought. Before she had time to do so herself Lex’s hands had reached behind her back, unfastened the clip there and the lacy material of her bra fell forwards. Lex didn’t offer any words of compliment only dipped his head forwards and captured one nipple in his mouth with a slight flick of his tongue. Once again Chloe moaned and then bucked her hips against his as the man gently bit down on her flesh.

There was still a vague feeling in her that what she was doing was contrary to what she should be doing but the sensation was Lex was producing in her as she moved against him more than outweighed whatever else was going on in her mind at the time. Throwing caution to the proverbial wind Chloe reached down between them and fumbled with his belt until she managed to get it unfastened. And then, before she knew it he was inside of her and nothing much seemed to matter at all anymore.

Seven hours and forty-three minutes later Chloe had reached a decision that she hoped she wasn’t going to regret.

Lex was still dozing on the bed, perhaps not completely asleep but near enough to it that Chloe knew he wasn’t likely to take any notice of her any time soon. Easing herself out of bed Chloe slipped her clothing, which had fortunately made it upstairs with them, back on. She looked once at Lex, pausing to admire the figure he cut laid there, before leaving the room and hurried through the many hallways of the Luthor mansion until she found herself back in his study. She found her bag quickly where she had left it and left the mansion.

At some point during the last few hours she had realised something. Despite whatever her friends or Lex said she had more than two choices in this matter. She couldn’t accept that her friends so easily believed that she was capable of deliberately hurting them and she couldn’t accept the view that Lex had suggested that there was no way out but to accept him, to play along with his game for at least a while longer until he grew bored. She chose a third option. She decided that she would set her own boundaries. She would have some time apart from Clark and Lana and their perfect little relationship and from Lex’s insatiable desire to scheme his way through life.

There was a lingering part of her that knew she would miss her friends and that, strangely enough, despite everything that he had done and caused in recent times, she would also miss Lex. She would certainly miss the way in which he touched her. Chloe cast that thought immediately out of her head. Lex Luthor was not what she needed at this stage in her life. Maybe in a few years when she was older and could compete with him on a more even level then she’d think about revisiting whatever it was that they had been about to start but at the moment it was just too much for her to cope with.

Leaving the Luthor property an eerie calmness came over Chloe. Tomorrow she would go to school and pick up her life again. She would work on the paper and go to classes and try to explain what she was feeling to Clark and Pete if they were to ask and then when Lex contacted her, like she was sure he would eventually, then she would tell him once and for all that things were over between them; at least for the time being. And maybe then she would be able to start living her own life again instead of how other people telling her how she should live it.

EPILOGUE

Slowly things returned to normal with Clark and Pete and even Lana who although reluctant one day cast a smile in Chloe’s direction that seemed to say everything was forgiven. There was only the occasional uncomfortable atmosphere between them all, usually when Lex would enter a place where they were or when she would be caught staring in his direction too long. Pete outright blamed Lex for the whole brief affair and Lana secretively seemed to take this opinion too although she was considerably less vocal about it. Clark apparently didn’t know what to think. Out of all of them he seemed the most comfortable speaking to both Chloe and Lex afterwards which surprised everyone else far beyond what they would admit. It was almost as if he had chosen to forget all that he had heard and seen.

Clark rarely showed any sign that he continued to have whatever feelings he had shown momentarily during the game. In a way Chloe was glad. She honestly wasn’t certain that she wanted him to have feelings for her anymore after all that had happened. The idea was startling and she found herself left believing that his reaction had been the product of some form of jealously instead of any real feelings for her of that type.

Strangely she did not find herself as sadden as she might have thought she would be.

Naturally Lex had acted like he didn’t give a damn about what happened to her. He played his part as the indifferent lover excellently. It was something that wasn’t entirely unexpected for Chloe and yet it had still brought with it a slight sting of pain because the simple truth was that she knew that it wasn’t the case.

No one else saw the secret little notes he would send her after their public ‘break-up’. There was never any private break-up but he seemed to understand as well as she that now was not their time. That did stop the little remembrances of the hours she had spent with him arriving on her doorstep; small notes of poetry or random insightful thoughts and quotes that Lex was so well know for because they were always relevant. They never saw the small expensive gifts that would arrive every Christmas and birthday, ones that were sometimes meant to be seen and others that were clearly meant to be seen by Chloe and Chloe alone. Sometimes Chloe would use then and other times she would tuck them away safely, wrapping them up again so that she could take them out occasionally and studying them in detail, lovingly. Chloe took secret pleasure in wearing the lingerie that occasionally appeared and knowing that no one else, except for perhaps Lex who would never saying anything anyway.

She enjoyed the occasional secretive glances they would share and would let out shuddering sighs whenever he stared at her too long. What was worse was that she found that she could not stop herself from watching him. And eventually she realised something completely unexpected; she didn’t ever want to stop watching him.

THE END