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View Full Version : [Completed] Solace (NC-17)



HumbugGirl
19th April 2003, 01:05
completed

Title: Solace
Author: HumbugGirl
Email: humbuggirl@hotmail.com
URL: S t o r y v i l l e - http://www.geocities.com/peacefulempress/home.html or
Oddments – http://www.geocities.com/oddfiction
Pairing: Lex/Chloe
Rating: NC-17
Spoilers: Tempest
Summary: The events of Tempest have a bigger effect on the Lex and Chloe than could ever have been guessed.
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.
Feedback: Always appreciated.


1.

Someone had been industrious enough to spike the punch even under the watchful eye of its caretaker, a pig-eyed woman who worked in the school library when she wasn’t playing chaperone. Chloe wasn’t certain what it had been spiked with but she did know there was a warm, glowing feeling inside her from it that felt kind of nice as she sipped at her forth cup and savoured the taste in her mouth.

Someone had spiked the punch and it seemed to her that everyone was merrily dancing about without a care in the world despite the weather warning that had been announced and Clark wasn’t here. He’d gone missing. Vanished off the face of the planet and she’d only turned around for a second. There was some part of her that could have cited a verse of epic proportions on exactly what or rather who had caused him to disappear but there was a contrasting part of her that didn’t want to accept it. He’d said this was her night and she’d believed him as she always did with that unshakeable trust born of a wonderful friendship and maybe something a little more. Only now he wasn’t here and the reason for her abandonment was probably sat at home in front of a lovely warm fire, safe and secure because it was official that when bad things happened to Chloe Sullivan only good things could happen to Lana Lang. It had always been that way.

Chloe took another sip of the punch and tried to make the tears rising in her eyes subside. A disturbing sensation of unease had begun to rise inside of her. She was all alone and she was sure people kept glancing at her and this was not how this evening was meant to go. She didn’t have a Cinderella complex but she did have something worse – a fairy princess complex and for just once she wished that everything would work out wonderfully the way she had planned it and she wouldn’t have to kick herself for getting her own hopes up.

Absently Chloe reached for another cup from the refreshments table and drank it down. She collected another one feeling more than a little light headed but figuring that the night couldn’t actually get any worse than it already was. She couldn’t believe he’d left her here all alone at the dance. Damn his dimple faced innocence and hero complex.

Tonight was meant to have been so special. It had taken most of the money she had saved from her allowance to buy the dress but the moment that she’d tried it on Chloe had known it was the only one for her. The matching shoes had put her over budget and she’d been forced to borrow money from her father to make up the difference and her underwear… well that had been put on a credit card. Hopefully her father wouldn’t ask too many questions when he saw the name of the shop on the bill he was going to receive. The underwear had been the crowning point of the outfit, all skimpy pale pink satin with delicate laced edges, that made her feel so unbelievably sexy and she’d half been hoping that she wouldn’t by the only one to see it that night.

She’d somehow managed to finish another drink and picked up a fresh cup. Chloe turned back to the dance floor and to the happy couples there feeling an odd sense of anger growing in her. It didn’t seem fair somehow. Above the gym lights flickered bringing a rousing chorus of ‘ahs’ and giggles from the assembled teenagers.

Taking her drink Chloe marched from the gym. Maybe Clark was hanging around somewhere that she hadn’t looked yet. Even he would have second thoughts about going out in weather like this. The girl gave a little shake of her head realising that it was probably only hopeful thinking on her part.

She’d always been aware of the way in which Clark felt towards Lana. It wasn’t something that Clark was really capable of hiding as his eyes seemed to scream everything he was feeling. But for a while there she had thought that maybe he was getting over his infatuation with the beautiful brunette girl. Silently Chloe cursed the other girl’s boyfriend for going away and effectively making Lana available again just when it seemed Clark was ready to move on. Whitney really could pick his moments.

The school was eerily quiet even with music from the band playing in the distance. Chloe found herself feeling just the tiniest bit naughty as she wandered through the empty corridors knowing that no one was supposed to wander far from the gym tonight. In an almost unconscious action she wandered in the direction of the offices of The Torch, to her sanctuary and away from the almost certain embarrassment of being on her own at the biggest social event of the school year. She could almost imagine the pitying expression on Pete’s face now with the ‘you really should have expected it’ sentiments on his lips.

Chloe flicked the lights on in the room and instantly felt better. Slumping down in a seat she thought, this is more like it, this is me.

A sound broke through her melancholy thoughts and brought the blonde girl to her feet again. Quietly she crossed to the window and stared out in amazement at the approaching ambulance.


2.

Someone had called an ambulance. Lex could vaguely remember the housekeeper running into his study with a shocked expression plastered on her tired face and the incessant sound of her voice as she asked again and then again if he was okay and what had happened. Lex had pushed away from her feeling vomit rising in his throat as blood trickled down over his eye clouding his vision. He had never liked the sight of his own blood.

God only knew how long he had stood there staring at the still figure of his trapped father. Certainly long enough for the man to beg and plead with words that had so very nearly filled him with something near sympathy and certainly long enough for the older man to pass out. Then there had been people running around the room, dragging Lionel free of his imprisonment and casting querying, stunned glances at his son as he just stood there, as still as stone and almost as unresponsive.

Someone had helped him into the ambulance, placing their blood drenched and gloved hands all over his arm then wrapping a red blanket about his shoulders. He supposed it was intended to be a comforting. “You’re just in shock Mr Luthor. Everything will be fine. Don’t worry.” And all the while the only thoughts that kept running about his head as he sat there, shivering slightly, was that he hadn’t been in an ambulance for years.

As they drove cautiously along the wind outside rattled the walls surrounding him dauntingly. The storm raged and Lex was reminded of childhood fears he had not even dared to admit to himself for a long time knowing they were foolish. Rain was loud on the roof, a ceaseless drumming sound pounding its way into his skull. It was giving him a headache or maybe that was the cut. Either way he wished it would stop. He wanted to think clearly and the constant ache wasn’t helping at all.

“Mr Luthor,” a voice called interrupting his thoughts and startling the young man. Lex looked up and into the eyes of the middle aged paramedic who was watching him with concern.

“Yes. What?”

“We’re going to have to stop. I’m afraid the weather’s getting too bad to carry on. The high school is just ahead and it should be still open so we can stop there. The Prom’s going on tonight you see.”

“Yes I know,” he found himself saying. He looked at his father laying unconscious still. “If you must.”

“We have to. Don’t worry Mr Luthor, your father’s stable for the time being.”

That wasn’t what I was thinking, popped into Lex’s head and he had to check the paramedic’s face to make sure he hadn’t said it out loud. Luckily it seemed he hadn’t.

The school appeared deserted as they pulled into the parking lot. There were cars dotted around all over the place but no other sign of life. They pulled up outside the front steps and waited while the ambulance driver rushed up the steps and opened the doors. Moments later the man had returned and they were carrying Lionel up the steps on the stretcher while Lex followed short way behind on foot.


3.

In his own way Lex Luthor had always scared her. There was something cold and demanding about him that made her feel the need to crawl away and curl up in a ball when she found herself under the scrutiny of his gaze. In Smallville Lex wasn’t God but he was damn near close to it and the young man knew it as well which only made the fact more infuriating. But at the moment the demi-god didn’t look much like he was in control. In fact he looked more than a little dazed and confused and there was an air of the ‘lost little boy’ about him that seemed completely out of place. Wasn’t it Clark that was meant to wear that expression?

On a stretcher Lionel Luthor looked like death. His head lay at an odd angle, eyes closed and mouth slightly open. There was a tiny trail of blood from the corner of his lips running down his jaw line. Chloe refused to look at his torso which was a mess of blood though from the unconcerned expressions on the faces of the paramedics she guessed that there wasn’t much bleeding out. Lex was staring at the prone man with something akin to fascination on his face. There was no anxiety there though; he didn’t appear to be upset in the least by the sight of his injured father.

As the young man glanced in her direction Chloe darted back into the shadows not wanting to be seen by him. At a distance she followed them through the school until they came to the cafeteria and entered. The older Luthor was laid on a pair of tables hastily pushed together and the two paramedics began to fuss over him with a speed and confidence born of experience. Lex was left to his own devices and eventually sat down at another table appearing to be somewhat dejected. Every so often he would look in the direction of his father and then turned away again with a look resembling disgust on his face.

Chloe stared at the man who was being blamed for the loss of her father’s job trying to make the resentment she had been feeling for most of the day grow again in her heart but only to find it flop and refuse to develop into anything substantial. It was useless. She couldn’t hate someone who looked like their entire world had just fallen apart.

“Mr Luthor?” the female paramedic said walking slowly, almost fearfully up to Lex.

“Yes?”

“I can take a look at that cut now if you want.”

Once again he glanced at the still form on the table. “I don’t want to be in here.”

The two paramedics looked at each other. “I can’t leave your father Mr Luthor,” she said. “In case there’s an emergency you understand.”

“I-I can do it.” The comment came out before Chloe even realised she had opened her mouth. The blonde girl stepped into the room nervously knowing that there was no way to get away now that she had announced her own presence.

Startled Lex demanded, “How long have you been there?”

“Not long.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea Miss,” the paramedic answered.

“I have a first aid certificate. If it’s not too bad I think I’d be able to manage.”

The woman still appeared unsure. “Would that be okay with you Mr Luthor?”

The young man threw his hands up in the air with look of resignation. “Why not?” He stood, pulling himself to his feet somewhat groggily and the action seemed somewhat strained. Chloe crossed the room quickly meaning to give him an arm to lean on but he pushed her away. “I can do it myself thank you very much.”

Suddenly it was a lot easier to hate him. “You can barely stand up!” she exclaimed feeling braver for the alcohol still running hot through her blood and taking hold of his arm in spite of his protests. “There’s a first aid kit in my office we can use that,” she told them and walked off pulling Lex along behind her.


4.

Chloe’s office turned out to be those belonging to The Torch. He supposed he should have realised that in advance. It was after all pretty obvious where she had meant.

Leaning back in the chair she had seated him in Lex carefully touched one hand to the injury on his head and winced. It still hurt but at least a little of the dizziness had passed now. For the moment Lex tried to forget about the pain and concentrate on the small blonde girl who was moving about the room collecting things together in order to clean and dress the cut on his forehead. Chloe Sullivan was the last person he had expected help from especially considering the fact that he, no Lionel, had just put her own father out of work.

In a way he had to admire her. Under her circumstances Lex wasn’t sure he could have been quite so civil. Then there was what he knew of her besides. She managed and ran the entire school paper, virtually by herself most of the time and wrote articles for the local newspaper in her spare time. His employee records suggested that she virtually ran her father’s household and still seemed to have time for a social life. That was more than he was able to do now-a-days.

Then again there were other ways to admire a person too.

The dress was pretty and it flowed around the blonde’s legs and the low cut was flattering to her figure. He’d always thought that the girl had a kind of naïve charm to her and it seemed all the more evident as she approached him with a stern, business like expression on her face placing the things that she had assembled on the desk beside him. Leaning forwards Lex sniffed the air before her.

“Have you been drinking?” he asked and strangely his voice sounded shocked. He didn’t know why he should be. After all at her age he had been regularly seen on the club circuit in Metropolis and alcohol abuse had been one of his lesser sins.

“Yup,” she answered dipping a cloth into the glass of water she had brought to the desk and moving it up to his cut.

Lex shot to his feet. “I’m not sure it would be a good idea for you to do this after all.”

She turned her eyes up at him. “I’m not drunk if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“You don’t know what I’m thinking,” he said, angry that she had dared to assume what was going on in his mind. Almost the instant that the words came out of his mouth he regretted them.

Chloe’s eyes lit up and it seemed that the girl took his words as a challenge. “First you’re thinking that I’m drunk and that I’m probably going to mess this up,” she said waving the damp cloth around in the air. The blonde put a hand on his chest making him wince as she touched fresh bruises he hadn’t even known he had and pushed him down into the chair again. “But I’m not. Secondly you know I’m a reporter and that I want to be one when I leave school, so you’re probably thinking that I’m fishing for a story. But I’m not. Thirdly you’re thinking that I’m a child but I think we both know that I’m more grown up than other people my age. If nothing else you’ll have got that impression from Clark. So there’s no reason to be paranoid Lex Luthor because I’m not going to go running to all my friends bragging that I saw Lex Luthor when he was at his weakest okay?”

For a moment he sat wide eyed and unable to say anything in reply. “I’m not…”

“Yes you are. You’re sat there with your own blood all over your face, clutching at your ribs and chest like someone has hit you, your father is injured and you’re hardly up to your usual verbal judo.” He smiled a little at her unconscious use of his own phrase. “So sit still and let me do this.”

“A little bit of alcohol seems to give you an awful lot of courage Miss Sullivan.”

“Chloe.”

“What?”

“My name is Chloe and you’re Lex so now that we’re not being formal anymore do you want to tell me what happened?” At the look in his eyes she added. “Off the record of course.”

After a moment in which he decided there was no use avoiding her question he said, “There was an accident at the manor. My father and I were involved in it. We were on the way to the hospital when the ambulance driver suggested that we stop here because of the storm.”

“It’s a good job too.”

“Why?”

“There was a tornado warning.” She lightly placed the cloth against his forehead and began to wash away the blood.

“You’re not serious?”

“It was earlier tonight and hence the big ol’ storm.”

Lex laughed a little. “It never rains it pours,” he said. If it wasn’t his father stopping him taking over the factory then it was a natural disaster getting in the way.

“How do you mean?” she asked putting aside the now pink cloth and picking the antiseptic bottle.

“Nothing.”

“Ouch!” the girl suddenly exclaimed as she gained her first clear look at his cut and as she took a step closer to him her dress brushed against his knees. “You know this might need stitches or something.”

Lex found himself wincing as she soothed cotton wool covered in the antiseptic over the cut. “Sometimes I think my either life needs stitches.” She’d stopped at his words and he looked up into her eyes and wondered what she saw when she looked at him.

“It can’t be all bad,” she said softly.

“You wouldn’t believe it. Do you know something Chloe Sullivan?” he said with a small laugh. “I’m being forced out of my own life. Every single day I have to fight that little bit harder for control and one day there’s going to be no fight left in me and do you know what I’ll become when that happens? The cone of that bastard through there.”

“You know I don’t think that I’m the person that you should talk to about this. I’m not exactly unbiased.”

Lex nodded. “I’m sorry about your father’s job. If I could do anything about it then I would. I knew nothing about the decision to close the plant. It was as much of a surprise to me as it was to everyone else.” The blonde looked sceptical. “I don’t need to be judged right now Chloe.”

“Its hard not to but I’ll try. I think we should change the subject though. Keep your head still.”

“Okay. Perhaps you’re right. So, what happened to Clark? I thought you and he were coming to the dance together.”

She bit her lip, looking adorable as she did and a slight pink blush came to her cheeks. “He decided to disappear on me right after the tornado warning. As far as I know he’s gone looking for Lana.”

“Ouch.”

“That’s about what I was thinking.”

Lex gestured to the cup on the table. “And that prompted the drinking?”

“Actually someone spiked the punch but it was kinda convenient.” She paused again. “You’re his friend Lex; feel like explaining why he can be such an asshole sometimes?”

“I always thought that Clark was a fairly decent sort of fellow.”

Chloe frowned. “Well he’s not,” she said and pouted. Lex could suddenly see tears rising in her eyes. The blonde girl sat on the desk and put her hands on her lap. “What have I done that’s so wrong?”

There was an uncomfortable silence as tears began to roll down the pretty little blonde’s face. Lex struggled with himself. He’d never really had many female friends, there had always been plenty of women in his life of course, the prospect of bagging one of the most eligible bachelors in the country had always made sure of that, but there had been very few actual friends. Awkwardly he stood and reached forwards and clasped her hands in his own.

“Listen to me Chloe, I’m sure there’s nothing to wrong with you. Clark’s just young and he can see what an accomplished, intelligent and beautiful young woman you’re going to be – that you are even now. For the time being he’s still dazzled by the thought of dating the town prom queen. It’s a stage every boy goes through but he’ll get over it. Lana’s a very pretty girl but she can be a little lacking in the personality department sometimes.” He noticed a small smile hinting on her lips but it disappeared again as she seemed to catch herself. “Clark will realise that sooner or later,” he continued. “He’ll figure there’s more to someone than how good they look in a gym slip or how vacate looking their smile is. You’ll just have to wait for him to come around.”

She hugged him suddenly and Lex almost recoiled; years of not being allowed comforting human contact kicking in. Gradually however he relaxed himself into the tiny blonde reporter’s arms and put his own about her shoulders.

She was warm against him, pleasantly so in fact and Lex soon closed his eyes and lost himself in a scent that was uniquely feminine despite the alcohol. The girl in his arms was soft and yielding and possessed an innocence that was both endearing and comforting. He tightened his hold on her, not wanting to let go of the refreshing creature still clinging to him as the small fit of sobs that had racked her body passed. Finally though the blonde pulled away and looked up at him. To Lex’s surprise she reached up slightly and brushed delicate lips across his. When he raised an eyebrow she said, “I figure I should get at least one kiss on my prom night. Thank you for listening Lex.”

“You’re welcome and the thanks are returned.” Leaning down he pressed their mouths together again and felt her give a little gasp. Pulling away again he added, “It should at least be a proper kiss.” Chloe blushed deeply and stepped away from him clearly flustered. Lex smiled a little noticing the way that the girl’s chest was heaving slightly and finding he was pleasantly surprised by the fact.


5.

“Hey Chloe you’ll never guess whose here… or maybe you will.”

The blonde girl felt her eyes widen in shock as she spun towards the door and saw her friend stood just inside the office. “Pete!” she exclaimed and the blush that had blazed across her face deepened. “I was just… Lex… He… Okay start again. Lex hurt his head and I patched him up.”

He stared at the older man with hostile eyes. “Well there’s a paramedic running around looking for him everywhere.”

Lex stepped up to her side and walked passed her, brushing her bare arm as he went. As he did a shiver ran through her. Not once did he glance back in her direction, he didn’t even look at Pete as he walked by, head held high with that arrogance that Chloe had come to expect from any Luthor male. It was all she could do not to put her fingers to her lips and see whether the tingling sensation that remained from his kiss was really there. All of her sudden her body remembered the way that he had felt when they were up close and could not stop herself from letting out a sigh. For some reason she didn’t seem to be able to stop blushing.

Quickly she turned away from the door and hoped that Pete hadn’t noticed. She reached forwards to take hold of the pink tinged glass of water she had been using to clean up Lex’s cut and promptly knocked it over. “Shit!” she exclaimed frantically moving papers aside to protect them.

“Are you okay?” her friend said grabbing hold of the blood stained cloth and mopping at the spill. “Did he upset you?”

“No Pete. He didn’t upset me. Believe it or not but I don’t think he’s entirely evil like you do.”

“Entirely being the operative word in that sentence. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes!” she snapped. “He was hurt. I was helping him. We talked. It was nice. There you go, that’s what happened. Are you happy now?”

The young man held up his hands. “No need to bite my head off.”

She sighed slumping into a chair suddenly feeling physically exhausted. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m just tired.”

He nodded, apparently accepting her explanation. “What happened to Clark?” Chloe shot him a glare. “What, another touchy subject? Come on what happened?”

“He ran off to find Lana.”

“Oh.” He paused. “I’m sorry Chloe.”

“There’s no need to be. I’m fine. Really I am.”

“You’re obviously not.”

“Pete! Really I am. I’ve already talked it though and had a wonderful reassuring speech and now I don’t even want to think about it okay?”

“Sure. Who did you talk to?”

She wiped a strand of hair out of her eyes and said quietly, “Um, it was Lex.” She could almost hear the cogs turning over in his head.

“As in the guy who just walked out of here?”

“Yes.”

Pete chuckled. “I would never have figured him to be the comforting type.”

“Well you don’t know him.”

“And you do?”

“No but… Damn it Pete lets not get into this.”

“Okay I give up. Hey, did you know someone spiked the punch?”

Chloe picked up her cup and waved it in front of him. “I’ve already fully taken advantage of it.”

His eyes widened slightly. “How many of those have you had exactly?”

She shrugged. “I lost count.” The blonde girl pushed herself to her feet. “And I feel like another one so why don’t you escort me back to the ball Prince Charming?”

He smiled and offered her his arm. “I can think of no greater honour.”


6.

It all seemed just a little unfair somehow. For the longest time they had been uncertain about whether or not the old man would live or not and then when they finally decided to say for definite that he was going to die he went and lived. Granted he was still confined to his sick bed, unable to work, even weeks after the accident ensuring that Lex had almost complete control over the company but it still didn’t seem fair somehow. The fact was that Lex knew that one day the old man would be well enough to take the reins again and then, then it would probably spell the end of his days in Smallville. On reflection, he thought, it might spell the end of his days anywhere considering the fact he was pretty certain that Lionel was convinced that he would have just left him there to die without ever offering assistance.

As he sipped at his coffee Lex reminded himself that he wasn’t too sure himself what he would have done in the end. The thought sent a shiver down his spine.

They’d barely spoken since his father had regained consciousness, granted they hadn’t spoken all that much before but now it even less so. Lex could still clearly see the look of fear in the older man’s eyes as he had seen his son for the first time since the accident. It had made him smile at the time. Even now there was always a look of cautiousness, nervousness in Lionel’s eyes whenever they talked, as if Lex would suddenly try to smoother him with a pillow. It was one of the reasons that the younger man had been unable to figure out why his father insisted on being treated at home, in Smallville no less. The biggest mystery of all though was that the senior Luthor had decided to keep the plant open.

“You look pleased with yourself?”

Lex looked up to find himself faced with Clark. There was a smile on the boy’s face displaying brilliant white teeth. You should be on a commercial for toothpaste, Lex thought silently. Behind the tall boy was the slight form of Chloe. She peered at him nervously from around her friend and when they caught each other’s eyes she blushed.

“It just feels good to be alive and in Smallville,” he replied. “Why don’t you take a seat?”

“Thanks,” Clark answered quickly, manoeuvring the blonde girl into a chair despite the protest that had been on the tip of her tongue meaning that she ended up looking more than a little flustered. “Your usual?” he asked her.

“Sure.”

“What about you Lex? Need anything while I’m up at the counter?”

The older man shook his head and Clark wandered off towards the counter. When he reached it he smiled broadly at the dark haired girl stood there who smiled back brightly. There was something in her actions, the way she casually leaned against the counter as he talked and nodded vacantly at the young man that screamed something had changed between them. Glancing over at Chloe Lex saw her watching them too with avid interest. There was an almost wistful expression on the young girl’s face. Apparently he wasn’t the only one who saw the budding relationship between the two youngsters.

“I’m sorry,” he said to her finally.

Chloe turned bright eyes on him. “I’m not. I mean, I am but the way I see it I’d rather he was happy with her than miserable with me.”

“That’s very noble.”

“I prefer to think of it as more tragic than noble.”

The billionaire’s son nodded in agreement. “It could be that too.”

A sign escaped her. “I wish it wasn’t,” she said leaning back firmly into the purple cushioned chair. For the briefest moment Lex though he glimpsed a hint of cleavage as the dark green shirt she wore gaped. It was gone again quickly and he looked up to her face before he was caught staring. The thought of soft, seeking lips suddenly flashed into his head.

“What?” she asked and Lex realised he had been caught. The reported brought her fingers up to brush away some hair from her face and smiled nervously at the same time. Her entire face lip up. Clark’s an idiot, he found himself thinking.

Lex returned the smile. “You look quite charming today is all.”

Chloe laughed a little, the sound ringing out even in the constant chatter of the cafe around them. At the counter Clark glanced around in their direction as his conversation with Lana was interrupted. “You’re smooth aren’t you?”

“I try to be.”

“Somehow I don’t think that it takes much trying.” Her eyes widened. “I-I don’t know where that came from.”

“I’m sure it was meant as a compliment,” he answered, amused by her reaction. You’d think the poor girl didn’t know how to flirt harmlessly. “Have you decided if you’re going to do anything about that?” the young man asked gesturing briefly to where Lana was standing with a sweet vapid smile on her face as Clark rambled on about something, ignoring the other customer present and as yet not served. It had only been a matter of time until they got it together and while Lex was pleased for his young friend he couldn’t help but feel a bit of regret for the girl sat at the table with him.

“I think a bit of breathing room might be in order. The idea of being a third wheel on their love wagon doesn’t feel all that appealing.”

Lex raised an eyebrow. He’d half expected her to say she was going to fight for the young man who was supposedly the love of her life. Chloe Sullivan had never struck him as a quitter. “An admirable decision,” he said finally. “It shows strength.”

She seemed to brighten slightly, her posture straightening a little. “You think so?”

Taking a sip of coffee he answered, “Yes.”

“This is one thing I never thought I would hear myself saying but you should watch out Lex Luthor or I might end up running to you whenever I need emotional support or an ego boost. Ever thought of becoming a therapist?”

Lex chuckled surprising himself. “Somehow I don’t think I would remain very sympathetic for long. There are very few people that I can imagine listening to for any length of time.”

She gave him a strange little look out of the corner of her eye that seemed to be both curious and full of realisation. For a second he held her eyes wondering at the depth of intelligence he saw there then glanced away as a shadow loomed over them. Across from where he sat Clark slid into a seat with almost surreal grace.

“Hey, what you guys been talked about?” the new arrival asked placing cups down on the low table.

“How terrible Lex would be as a counsellor,” the blonde by his side said instantly and then reached for her drink. She paused with it near her mouth taking a deep breath that reminded Lex oddly enough of himself first thing in the day.

As she spoke however there appeared on Clark’s face an anxious look that did not pass until he glanced at Lex and realised his other friend had not taken offence. “Um, yeah,” the dark haired youth said obviously having to think about his reaction.

“And on that note I’m afraid I’ll have to leave you,” Lex said pushing himself to his feet. He smiled at the pair and wondered not for the first time exactly why he enjoyed their company so much. “As usual it’s been a pleasure. Chloe, Clark, I hope you have a good day.”

The blonde girl smiled at him endearingly over the rim of her coffee cup while Clark flashed another toothpaste ad smile. “You too Lex,” the boy said as his friend turned to leave. Lex glanced back letting his eyes longer on the pretty blonde for a moment then left the coffee house.


7.

As Lex left Clark turned and smiled in a way that somehow managed to be innocent and yet full of suspicion. To sum it up Chloe was suddenly sure that there was a myriad of thoughts running through the young man’s brain and he was just waiting for the chance to say something. Chloe narrowed her eyes at him and sipped nervously at her coffee.

They continued to sit in silence for what seemed like an eternity until Lana appeared with a sunny smile and took the seat that Lex had been occupying. “That looked like an interesting conversation you were having,” the dark haired girl said.

“We weren’t saying anything,” Clark answered.

“Not you two. I meant Chloe and Lex.”

The blonde could not but help appear startled. She had been completely unaware that anyone had observed her conversation with Lex but herself and Clark. That Lana had been able to tear her eyes away from the dark haired farm boy was amazing but that she had actually thought that there was something to observe went beyond amazing and into the realms of wonder. “We weren’t really saying anything,” she told her mirroring her friend’s words unconsciously. Lana did not appear convinced and instead put a small, conspiratorial smile on her face that made Chloe lower her eyes and suddenly begin to be very interested in the bottom of her coffee cup.

Clark’s eyes brightened as a thought occurred to him and Chloe found herself wishing that Lana had just disappeared off the face on the planet and never spoken. “So, Chloe, what do you think of Lex now you’ve had the chance to get to know him better?”

It was all she could do not to choke on the sip of coffee that she had been taking. She seriously doubted that Clark had any idea exactly how much better she now knew his friend. “He’s okay. He’s not exactly the cold, heartless bastard I thought he was.”

The comment seemed to satisfy any curiosity that Clark had been maintaining and instead the conversation now turned to other matters leaving the blonde girl the opportunity to zone out. The truth was that whatever her reservations had once been about Lex Luthor they had all but disappeared recently. Today had been the first time since the night of the prom that she had actually seen him to speak to and to her surprise it had evoked a whole range of emotions that she had never thought possible about the cold young man. No that was wrong, he wasn’t nearly as cold as people supposed. There had been genuine sympathy for her in his eyes when they had been discussing Clark and Lana and the manner in which he had reassured her hadn’t been at all distanced or cold.

It wasn’t the most comforting of thoughts in spite of whatever stupid comment she might have made to him about therapy. The memory of that little event nearly made her groan out loud. There were very few people alive that ever made Chloe feel stupid and unfortunately Lex Luthor was one of them. She didn’t know why it was, how sometimes he could make her end up feeling like a gibbering idiot when they talked and yet still be uplifting to the point she would come away feeling good about herself. All part of the mystery man image she thought with a small smile.

“So what do you think?”

Chloe looked up and in Clark’s direction. “Huh?”

“I think Chloe was a little distracted,” Lana said. “We were talking about driving to Metropolis this weekend - you, me, Clark and Pete if we can tear him away from whichever girl’s he’s dating this week.”

“It’ll be fun,” Clark promised obviously elated with the idea of spending the entire weekend in the company of the girl he adored. “Please?”

She felt herself relent and nodded at him eliciting pleased expressions from both of the other teenagers.

“We can share the cost of a room!” Lana exclaimed and Chloe felt her heart fall at the thought. An entire weekend in the same room as Lana Lang without throttling some of the niceness out of her… Nope. Not possible. Silently she cursed herself. Hadn’t she just got through telling Lex she’d be giving the happy couple space?

Clark was stood up, pulling himself to his full height, still with that pleased expression plastered on his face. “Now that’s sorted I guess I can get going – chores to do and all that,” he explained. He turned large eyes on Lana and added, “Maybe I’ll call by again later?” As usual his voice was filled with quiet hopefulness.

“I’ll see you then,” the dark haired girl answered. When Clark had left she turned to Chloe and said, “We haven’t really had much of an opportunity to talk lately.”

When do we ever, the blonde thought but said out loud, “No we haven’t. Was there something particularly you wanted to talk about?”

A flash of nervousness danced across Lana’s face. “Well really it was about me and Clark. Are you okay with it?”

Chloe fought to keep her face impassive. “It doesn’t really have anything to do with me,” she answered resisting the urge to breathe a sigh of relief when the sentence came out without betraying the rush of emotions that accompanied it.

“That isn’t exactly what I meant.”

“Lana, Clark will do what Clark wants to do irrespective of what I think. I’d never let a friend of mine be miserable because of me.” It hurt to say those words to the cheerleader who stared at her with such an open face full of honesty and indecision. Still Chloe could almost feel the wave of relief that washed over from the other girl as some of the tenseness slipped out of her shoulders.

“I really do care for him,” Lana confided. “And I promise you that I won’t ever hurt him.”

Gritting her teeth Chloe answered, “I suppose that’s all I can ask for.”

Lana smiled slightly. “We’re going to be friends Chloe. I can feel it.”


8.

She really should have guessed that Lana would like pop music Chloe thought as yet another upbeat song began. She should also have guessed that the boys would let the petite brunette dictate what radio station they should tune into. Around her the others were chatting companionably while Chloe hunched over the wheel and fought the urge to scream in frustration at the midday Metropolis traffic. At either side traffic streamed by while the lane they were in seemed only able to stand still.

“You know maybe we should have taken the other route,” Clark said suddenly gazing around him out of the windows while Chloe gripped the steering wheel all the tighter to stop herself from turning around and hitting her friend. Her fingers were slowly turning white. Now he realises, she thought, when we’ve been sat in traffic for the last three quarters of an hour with no end in sight.

“Really Clark, whatever gave you that impression?” she snapped. “Was it that asshole who keeps driving around in circles trying to get into this lane right in front of me every time or the other asshole behind who obviously believes that we should all drive bumper to bumper?”

There was a sudden deafening silence in the car except for the sound of yet another pop princess singing about love and some impossible dream boy.

“You’re doing a great job Chloe,” Lana offered. “I’m sure this will clear up soon.”

The blonde growled under her breath as another car began to edge its way out in front of her. “Oh that is it!” she exclaimed. The other passengers in her car found they were thrown back in their seats as their petite friend floored the accelerator and dove out into the fast moving traffic. For a terrifying ten minutes they clung on for dear life until she found some free space and slowed to a sensible pace.

Pete cracked an eye open. “You’re been spending too much time with Luthor,” he said. “You’re starting to drive like him now.”

She shot a glare at the young man sat in the front passenger seat beside her. “Would you rather be still sat in the traffic? No? I didn’t think so.”

“The turnings just a head on your right,” Clark told her his voice only slightly hesitant. Chloe turned the car without saying a word.

The hotel that Lana had picked was as nice as anything Chloe would have chosen herself. If there was one thing that the reporter would be willing to admit about Lana Lang it was that she had innate good taste and an uncanny ability to track down reasonable prices. As she looked up at the friendly, five story building with its sunny exterior Chloe was filled with an impending sense of doom as the prospect of spending the entire weekend with the group of overly happy people stretched out in front of her. This had been a really stupid idea.

They parked her car in the hotel’s tiny parking lot around the back of the building then struggled around the front with Clark and Pete insisting on carrying all the bags while the two girls out distanced them. Inside the hotel a matronly woman behind the check in counter gave them a look that was both curious and amused on their arrival. When the two boys entered, bantering with each other she raised one greying eyebrow at Lana and Chloe and smiled at them all.

“So is it two rooms?” she asked, peering at them over the top of her half moon glasses.

“Yes,” the dark haired girl replied leaning ever so lightly on the reception desk. “Chloe and I will be sharing while Clark and Pete will be in together. That’s going to be alright isn’t it?”

“Oh!” the woman exclaimed and seemed to be a little relieved. “Certainly.” She turned to the computer on her desk and tapped away for a second. “We’ve got rooms free on the third floor, three-oh-five and three-oh-seven. Would that be okay? There’s a connecting door.”

Lana glanced around at the other three for confirmation and then said, “I think that will be fine, thank you.”

“Okay then, if you’ll just sign the register then I’ll get someone to help you with your bags.” She lifted up a large ledger onto the counter and handed Lana a pen.

“That’s okay,” Clark said as the woman turned to the back office. “We can manage. There’s no need to get anyone.”

“Clark man,” Pete exclaimed. “I can’t believe you just said that.”

The dark haired youth sighed. “Hand them over.”

Pete grinned at him then passed him one of the bags and readjusted the ones he was still holding. “Why do we need so much stuff anyway?”

Chloe rose at eyebrow at him and shook her head gently. “You’re travelling with two girls Pete and as much as I hate to conform to social stereotypes I have to admit that this time it’s the truth that we tend to take a lot of things and that begs the question of what else did you think would be the reason?”

“When you put it that way it does seem a little obvious.”

“Are we all done?” Lana asked. At the nods she received all around then she plucked the two room keys from the counter.

“Thank God!” Pete exclaimed. “An elevator.”

Clark looked at the suitcase that his friend was carrying then glanced at the ones in his own hands. “I really don’t see what you’re complaining about.”

“Will you guys stop acting like big babies?” the blonde reporter said stepping into the waiting elevator car and holding the door open for the others as they piled in. “If its that big a deal then I’ll just carry my own things.”

“You can’t possibly do that,” Lana said in mock outrage. “It’ll hurt their feelings. They won’t get to feel all manly.”

Surprised at her humour Chloe turned to the other girl with a grin on her face. “We certainly can’t have that,” she replied. “I can imagine the temper tantrums now. They’d never shut up!”

Looking over the top of the heads of the two girls Clark said to Pete, “Do you get the feeling that someone’s talking about you?”

“Strangely enough I do.”

There was a loud ping as they reached the right floor. The four teenagers poured out, chattering excitedly at the prospect of seeing their rooms for the first time. Lana handed over a set of keys to the boys and then unlocked the door to the room that she would be sharing with Chloe. With an encouraging smile Clark handed over their suitcases and then shooed them both inside before disappearing into his own room.

It was nice. There were two twins beds up against one wall, a dressing table with a stool and a free standing wardrobe all made from dark wood giving the room a luxuriant atmosphere. Two large windows were situation in the far wall with drapes flanking them and bright sunlight shined through them highlighting a low coffee table with a padded chair near by. Chloe dropped her bags on the floor without a second thought and jumped on one of the beds, bouncing up and down slightly as she landed. Lana smiled at her and wandered around the room. She disappeared through a doorway them appeared again. “Bathroom,” she said acknowledging Chloe’s questioning look.

“That must be the door to the other room then,” the blonde said gesturing to the one that was as yet unexplored. “Want to take a look?”

Lana shook her head. “I’m sure they boys will check it. This is nice isn’t it?”

“Sure.”

She sat at the dressing table on the stool facing the other girl. “Chloe, have I done something to upset or irritate you or make you angry with me? I thought we were okay after that chat the other day.”

The blonde resisted the urge to let out a groan. They hadn’t been alone together for two minutes and already Lana was trying to be all touchy feely, lets talk about our feelings and be best buddies. This was what she had been dreading. Why couldn’t Lana just understand that she didn’t like sharing how she felt all the time? Chloe took a deep breath and dipped her head slightly so that the brunette wouldn’t see her expression.

“Everything’s okay,” she said finally.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes I’m sure.”

Lana’s head cocked to one side and for a moment the girl closely resembled a cocker spaniel. “Positive?”

“Yes!” the girl exclaimed and the strange thing was that Chloe realised it was true.

The adjoining door flew open and Clark appeared. “This is just… Wow!” He smiled at Lana and placed a gentle kiss on the girl’s head. “You’re so clever.”

Lana turned a brilliant smile on Clark. “So what do you want to do now?”

“I’m getting a little hungry,” the tall, dark haired young man admitted.

Chloe glanced at her watch shocked at the way the time had rushed by. It suddenly seemed to her that there was an empty pit where her stomach should have been. “I noticed a restaurant a couple of blocks away. “We could go there.”

“I’ll just get my purse,” Lana said.


9.

When he had lived in Metropolis it had seemed like heaven. Everything he wanted, no matter what it was, what time of day or night it was, was always on hand. It had been good to be known as the bad boy, to be held in awe and to have known that if anyone even thought of laying a hand on him then they could count on retribution. But the best part had been the sense of freedom that he felt the city had provided him with. He’d thought Metropolis had been the only place on earth for him.

Now as he sat waiting for the board member sat in front of him, a Mr Danilov who was firmly in his father’s pocket, to finish what was clearly a previously prepared speech on a subject that he’d already memorised on the flight to Metropolis from Smallville Lex found his thoughts turning back to the sleepy little town. He found himself remembering tiny little details about the house and the town and all the people and realising that although he’d only been back in the city a few hours he seemed to miss the place. It was, he thought, a favourable sentiment that had been developing for quite some time.

The man had finally finished speaking and was watching Lex expectantly while he appeared to consider his reply. The proposal was of course ridiculous and he had already decided that his would answer it in the negative. Instead what was really running through his mind was the question over why his father had insisted that he attend this meeting and indeed why it had to take part in Metropolis. Absently Lex wondered whether he was letting his paranoia do the thinking for him.

“I’ll think about it and run over the numbers,” Lex said pushing himself to his feet. The man seemed to take the hint and also stood holding his hand out. Reluctantly Lex shook his hand, finding the flesh clammy with perspiration. It was all he could do not to wipe his hand on his trouser leg when they separated.

Left alone Lex returned to the desk that normally belonged to his father and rubbed his eyes. Lionel had to be up to something. He was always up to something and that fact had helped Lex developed fine survival instincts. After a few moments silent contemplation he called in his personal assistant and dictated a memo to her to forward onto Danilov with strict instructions to delay it a day or so in order to maintain the fiction that he had thought the proposal over. There would be no use angering board members, even ones as unimportant as Danilov, by seeming dismissive of their ideas.

For a moment he though about calling the house back in Smallville then changed his mind. It would look too much like he was nervous and that would be seen as a weakness that could be exploited.

It didn’t take too long to decide to leave the paper work on his desk for the day. The thought of spending the rest of the day pouring over it held no appeal what-so-ever and although Lex knew that he would probably regret leaving it later he was not in the particular frame of mind that cared at that point. His personal assistant looked up abruptly as her boss left his office still in the action of pulling on a coat.

“Mr Luthor!” she exclaimed. “What do I say if anyone calls?” Waving away her question Lex made for the elevator and then down to the parking lot.


10.

One thought had begun to rotate in Chloe’s mind – she couldn’t believe they were more sickening happy that ever here in the city. Absently she twirled the straw in her cola and watched Clark and Lana over the table as they shamelessly stared into each other’s eyes with a look of complete contentment. Maybe if she exposed herself for long enough then she’d become immune. The thought was not a welcome one. It didn’t help that Pete had wandered off. Glancing around, she saw that he was currently leaning over the counter talking to one of the waitresses who appeared to be very interested in what he was saying.

Great, she thought, here I am the odd one out again and this time it’s my own stupid fault. In a vain effort to start a conversation she said, “So what do you want to do this afternoon?”

“I don’t know,” the other girl answered.

“Um, whatever,” Clark replied reaching for the hamburger on the plate in front of him. As Chloe watched Lana reached across and stole a fry from his plate and popped it into her mouth. At the rate she was going Chloe was beginning to wonder why she hadn’t just ordered a plate for herself instead of the salad sat before her. Oh, the problems of being Little Miss Perfect and having to worry about you perfect figure. Or at least appear to worry about it and hence the salad.

“Come on this is Metropolis, the city where anything and everything can happen. You must be able to think of something?”

Clark shrugged again.

Feeling a fresh wave of irritation she said, “You know something I think I’ll go get some air.”

Chloe pushed away noisily from the table and marched out of the restaurant, ignoring the curious looks directed at her by the other patrons. On reaching the outside of the building she felt as if a huge load had been lifted from her shoulders and realised that she had been holding her breath. Chloe let it out as a long rush of air that startled a man walking by her. It was at times like this that she wished she had taken up smoking or some other vice that would have allowed her to lean against a wall looking cool, calm and collected. Preferably one that wouldn’t get her arrested or in her looking like an immature school girl who was apparently unable to keep her temper in check. That was a little how she was feeling at the moment actually.

Realising that she had perhaps behaved foolishly the blonde girl turned around and stared in the large plate glass window. To her disbelief the couple had returned to eating as if nothing had ever happened. Beside her the door to the restaurant opened and Pete appeared.

“What’s the matter?” he asked and to Chloe it sounded as if he was none too pleased at having been pulled away from his conversation with the waitress.

She cast a wry look at him and gestured through the window. “I might as well have not even existed.”

Pete sighed and leaned against the wall for support. “You have to stop this.”

“What?”

“This obsessing. They’re together now for better or worse. You can’t keep… Oh forget it.”

“No, what were you going to say?”

He hesitated again and met her eyes. “Chloe you’re one of my closest friends – you always will be – but you have to move on now.”

“Don’t you think I’m trying?”

“I think that your head’s telling you that you are but your heart isn’t in one hundred per cent agreement.”

For the first time in a long while Chloe really looked at Pete wondering when he’d turned into the fountain of all knowledge. Her mind ran briefly over what she had said to Lex about keeping her distance and realised that she should have kept to her decision and yet all it had taken to alter it had been one pleading glance and her heart had taken control of the good ship Chloe again. After all, she’d never denied Clark anything before; it had probably wondered what was so different about now.

“Pete I think I’m going to take a walk. Can you tell the love-birds?”

He looked sceptical. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“I spent my childhood in Metropolis; I’ll be fine.”

“Okay then. Meet you back at the hotel later?”

“Sure.”

“Be careful.”

“I will.”


11.

There was something relaxing about driving. It always managed to help him think for some inexplicable reason. Even the Metropolis traffic could do nothing to disrupt the connection. After five minutes behind the wheel he could string mental sentences together. After fifteen minutes his thoughts had started to order themselves. After half an hour Lex found he was able to come to reasoned, rational conclusions even if he had to say them out aloud to fully grasp them and by the time fifteen more minutes had passed he was one again able to make leaps of intuition and understanding such as he was known for.

His father wanted him out of the house and away from Smallville which suggested that he was planning something. This had been established with very little difficultly. That the ‘something’ in question was significant was also obvious and the only thing Lionel could do in his present condition that would warrant getting Lex out of the way was inviting someone to the house. This thought firmly in his mind Lex telephoned one of the less respectable members of his private work force and had them track down all flights coming into airports around and near Smallville and subsequently the passenger lists. Perhaps there would be a name he would recognise. On a second thought he made a note to have the security tapes for the manor reviewed in case his father had forgot about them and the evidence they could present his son with. That was a long shot. If Lionel had been planning this for a while then he would already have covered such small details.

He felt some of the tension that had been building in his shoulders ease out. It may not be perfect but at least he could hazard some guess and maybe forget about his troubles for a while.

A blonde flash caught his eye and Lex slammed on the brakes. He was thrown forwards by the force of the car screeching to a halt and felt his chest constrict as the seat belt locked into place. The sound of more tires skidding behind him was vaguely audible over the noise of his heart beating quickly in his ears. Lex sat staring at the girl stood in front of his car while panting in an effort to catch his breath. His wits partially regained the young man unfastened his seat belt and flung open the car door. Only a second later he was stood, leaning against the roof for support.

The girl was still stood in front of the car in the middle of the road though thankfully someone had gone to help her because she was trembling violently and didn’t look as if she would be able to keep on her feet for much longer.

“What the hell did you think you were doing?” an irate man said climbing out of a car that had halted at an odd angle behind Lex’s. He lumbered forwards carrying his rather extensive waistline with him with surprising ease. Lex took one look at the man’s reddened features and turned his back on him. “Hey I was talking with you! Hey baldy!” A hand grabbed at Lex’s shoulder and spun him around.

“Don’t do that,” Lex warned.

“Now listen…” the man said, trailing off as he met the young man’s eyes.

“Whatever grievance you have I’ll deal with in a moment but first I’m going to see how the young woman I nearly hit is. If you have a problem with that then I suggest that you shove it up your ass because it will probably do more good there than anywhere near me.”

Lex spun on his heals and stalked off towards where the girl had been sat down on the curb. The woman who had helped her eyed Lex suspiciously but didn’t say anything. When he reached them Lex bobbed down beside her. “Chloe?” he asked. “Chloe are you okay?”

She turned pale eyes to him, her skin an unhealthy shade and her lower lips still trembling ever so slightly. Her hands were clutched together tightly, resting in her lap and Lex thought that she seemed to be hunched over as if trying to make herself smaller. “Lex?” She glanced at the car and then back at him. “Don’t tell me that was you! What are you trying to do – wipe out the entire teenage population of Smallville?” The young man felt a smile drift onto his lips. If she could snap at him then she was probably fine. “Don’t grin at me mister. You scared the life out of me!”

“Says the girl who wasn’t looking where she was going,” he replied though there was little irritation in his voice as he spoke. Her eyes shone lighting up her face and Lex could see her winding up for another scathing reply. If anything Lex realised that it was good to see the small blonde.

“You know him?” Chloe’s rescuer asked, her face betraying the confusion that she obviously felt over their exchange. When the woman looked at Lex her features we stance showed that she was still more than a little protective of the blonde girl sat on the curb.

“Sure,” Chloe replied and to Lex it seemed there was a little more confidence to her voice than there had been before.

Standing Lex held his hand to her and pulled Chloe up after him. As she still seemed a little unsteady on her feet he kept his arm out for her to hold onto and was a little surprised to find she accepted the aid without any argument. “Come on,” he said. “Maybe I should take you to the hospital or something.”

The blonde shook her head. “No, don’t do that. I’m fine and it’d only mean you getting in trouble.”

“Your consideration is very welcome but it’s no problem.”

“Lex! Seriously I’m fine. Just great. I could do cartwheels but I won’t because that would look stupid.”

A horn erupted at some distance. It was closely followed by the sound of another and then another as more drivers grew increasingly irate at the hold up. She couldn’t have chosen a back street to step out in front of his car she had to choose a busy one.

“Shit,” Lex hissed under his breath glancing up at the line of cars reaching back down the street. He gestured to his car. “Get in; I’ll take you back to wherever it is you’re staying.”

Moments later Lex was behind the wheel again having dealt, somewhat loudly perhaps, with the other driver who had been hassling him. The other man had gone away with a sullen if slightly baffled expression on his face and the slight feeling that somehow he had been convinced into believing that he hadn’t been outsmarted. Once they were moving Lex found himself asking her twice where she was staying. He glanced out of the corner of his eye at her and found that the blonde had slumped in her seat and had her eyes closed.

“If its okay with you I don’t really feel like going back there just yet,” she said and to Lex’s ears it sounded like a plea.

Feeling a little foolish the young man said, “You need to rest Chloe. You’ve had one hell of a shock.”

“I don’t want to go back to the hotel. Clark and Lana might be there being all gooey eyed and I’ve had about as much of that as I can stand for one day. Plus I’ve got to share a room with her and she’s all sunshine and happiness at the moment. One more ‘let’s be friends Chloe’ talk off her and I swear that I will not be responsible for my actions. The worst thing is I know she means well which only gets me angrier because I feel like such an ass for being so hostile.”

Lex felt surprise course through him as he listened to her rant. She might as well have been oblivious to his presence. It was a most adorable tendency of hers that he had discerned from their few conversations together and as he listened Lex felt amusement well in him. “You’re here with Clark and Lana?”

Beside him the blonde girl ducked her head slightly and became very interested in what was outside of the window. “Clark kind of…”

“Asked?” Lex surmised bluntly.

“Am I that easy to read?” she said. “I’m not the only one who seems to hang on his every word sometimes you know.”

“That’s entirely different. He saved my life. I owe him.”

“He saved my life too,” she shrugged. “So that’s no excuse.”

“He’s the only person who gave me the time of day when I moved to Smallville,” Lex pointed out.

“Hey! What about me?”

He gave her a charming little smile. “If I remember correctly then you were as suspicious of me as everyone else.”

“No I… Okay well maybe a little.”

Glancing out of the corner of his eye again Lex saw an irritated expression on her face. The sense of honesty that Smallville seemed to ingrain itself on to most of its town’s people had obviously worked its magic on Chloe too. It was a shame really; if the girl really did want to be a journalist one day then she’d have to learn that half truths were sometimes necessary.

“So where are you whisking me off to?” she asked in an attempt to change the subject.

“My apartment. Seeing as you won’t go to the hospital and you don’t want to face your friends yet it seems like the next best place. I take it you have no objections?”

Chloe shook her head. “You’re joking right? The opportunity to have a nosey around Lex Luthor’s place… oh the possibilities!”

For a moment he was startled and wondered whether she was serious or not. One glance in the blondes direction showed him the mischievous little quirk of her lips and reassured him she hadn’t been.

HumbugGirl
19th April 2003, 01:08
Lex left his car with a parking attendant outside the building that housed his penthouse apartment. Having climbed out of the car Chloe stood with her mouth slightly a jar at the sight of the building then and hurried up the steps to catch up with Lex as he stalked into the building. As they entered a tall door man dressed in deep purple livery inclined his head towards the pair in greeting and then inside a security guard sat behind a row of monitors smiled and loudly called out a ‘hello Mr Luthor’ that Lex briefly acknowledged.

In the elevator Lex pressed the correct button then absently put his hand to his chest as a blunt pain began to form. For the first time the young man realised that as he took a deep breath that the slight pain he had noticed before turned into a stinging one that was considerably worse.

“Are you okay?” Chloe asked a flood of concern filling her eyes.

“I think I strained a muscle or something when I braked.”

“Maybe you’re the one who should be thinking of heading to a hospital,” she suggested kindly.

Lex gave her a wry look. “I don’t think that will be necessary.” He shook his head as a thought occurred to him. “One of us always seems to be injured or end up that way when we’re around each other.”

“Not all the time,” the blonde objected trying to think of all the occasions they had spoken.

“Most of the time,” Lex countered.

“What can I say; I’m your good luck charm.”

Lex chuckled at her dryness and the movement made him wince.

Emerging into the apartment Chloe immediately walked up to the wall of windows making up the far wall of the living room. “This is amazing!” she exclaimed taking in the sight of Metropolis spread out below, seeming to glow in the afternoon gleaming sunlight. Turning to him she added, “I take it you’re not afraid of heights?”

Lex shook his head in reply. “I’m going to get myself something to eat. Do you want anything?”

“I ate already but a drink would be great if that’s okay.”

She followed him into the kitchen and together they perused the range of drinks available until Chloe eventually settled on a cola from the refrigerator. The blonde girl seated herself at the central island and watched in amusement as Lex pottered about the kitchen fixing a sandwich. “I never thought I’d see you making yourself something to eat. Actually I didn’t realise you’d even know where the kitchen was. It’s very homely.”

“Thanks,” he answered dryly and piled a lettuce leaf on top of his ham and tomato. After squishing the top slice of bread down on top of it all he sliced the sandwich in two and carried it on a plate over to where Chloe was perched still watching him with a amused little grin on her lips. He sat opposite her and waited for any further comment from the girl. As he had expected he didn’t have to wait very long.

“So why are you slumming it back here in the kitchen anyway?”

“How do you know that I don’t eat back here all the time?”

“You had to search for a knife.”

Chuckling Lex said, “You don’t miss anything do you?”

“It’s one of my better qualities. You didn’t answer my question.” She picked up her drink and stared at him, eyes dancing happily in triumph. The intensity of her gaze was almost unnerving and Lex found he had already begun to talk without realising.

“I had some business to take care of here in Metropolis and I happened to pick the one weekend that the staff had scheduled their holidays for.” He leaned over as a piece of ham made an attempt to escape his sandwich and took a deep rushed intake of air as his chest hurt again.

”That’s it,” Chloe said putting her glass down on the counter and letting a determined expression slip onto her features. “We need to take you to see someone or at least take a look to see if there’s anything wrong.”

Lex smirked at her. “Are you asking to see me naked Chloe Sullivan?”

A brilliant blaze of red suddenly dappled her flesh and the blonde pushed hair out of her face. “That wasn’t… I didn’t mean to…”

He stood up. “You stay here and enjoy your drink while I go check this out,” Lex told her waving a hand just in front of his torso.

She didn’t reply, only looked at him with wide eyes and that flustered expression still plastered on her face.

From the kitchen Lex wandered slowly through the apartment and into the bathroom adjoined to his bedroom. Once in there he put the door to but left it slightly ajar finding himself still uncomfortable with the idea of leaving Chloe alone. With stiff movements Lex loosened his tie and slipped it over his head with a brief sigh. In the mirror his eyes lingered over the fading mark on his brow from his pervious injury. Thank God that was disappearing. He had enough image problems even without it.

The silk tie removed and placed on the counter by the sink Lex worked on the buttons of his deep purple shirt. With considerable effort he shrugged off the garment and moaned aloud at the sight that greeted him. A large, long blue-black bruise stretched from one side of his body across to the other exactly where his seat belt had been. It was as much as he had expected. Carefully Lex brushed his fingers over the mark marring his pale skin wondering whether there was anything broken underneath. It didn’t feel as if there was anything that serious but he’d never had a cracked rib or internal bleeding before so how would he know. For all he knew there could be a splinter of bone piercing a lung or some other organ right at this moment. Lex took his head to dispel the thoughts. Ever since he had been young and had lived through the meteorite strike only to find that he had been changed by the event Lex had dreaded the idea of getting sick again. Of course the idea was ridiculous. He didn’t get sick anymore but the thought still sat prominent in his mind.

In the next room the telephone began to ring and Lex hastily reached for his shirt in order to slip it back on and groaned slightly as he did. The next couple of days were not going to be fun. For the bathroom cabinet he took a pair of painkillers and swallowed them with tap water. As he walked out of the bedroom and into the sitting room he was met by the sight of Chloe stood with the handset pressed to her ear. “I’ll just find him for you Mr Luthor,” she said and to his distress Lex realised she had answered the phone. He could only imagine what was running through the man’s mind and what he would have to say to his son.

Chloe turned towards him the surprise on her face evident at seeing Lex stood there. Wordlessly she handed the phone over and backed away eventually deciding to sit on one of the couches.

Taking a deep breath Lex put the telephone to his ear.

“Hello son,” a voice at the other end rumbled.


12.

Chloe perched uncomfortably on the leather clad couch and pretended to be otherwise occupied while Lex carried out a conversation on the telephone in hushed tones at the other end of the room. Although the level of his voice was low Chloe found she could still pick up on the odd word from him. It was enough to tell that whatever was being said was not going down well with Lex. The blonde heard her name mentioned and glanced once again in his direction only to find Lex was facing away from her.

She knew she shouldn’t have answered the telephone. Even as she had been reaching for the handset Chloe could remember thinking that she should really wait until Lex came back and let him answer but no, she had to go and be curious and answer the damn thing. Sometimes she was just too stupid. Chloe had the distinct feeling that the young man was going to ever so angry with her when he finished with his call.

The memory of her first sight of him coming into the room filled Chloe’s mind, nudging away all other thoughts until the only thing she could see was that finely sculpted chest peeking through his partially opened shirt. A warm flush passed through her. Despite anything she might have said before the thought of seeing Lex naked hadn’t been too far from her mind ever since. It hadn’t actually been too far from her mind for a while now, probably ever since they’d kissed at the prom and as much as Chloe hated it admit it there was something just plain sexy about the young man and it wasn’t entirely unconnected to how kind he had been to her. Looking at him now Chloe let her eyes linger over his trim body. She was suddenly uncomfortably aware of how she must look to him in her usual casual if fashionable clothes and big heavy boots. Not exactly the sex kitten image.

She was suddenly aware that he had finished the phone call and averted her eyes quickly from the pleasant view that she had been studying. It would not be good to get caught staring. God what would Clark think if he knew what was running through her head?

“You’ll be pleased to know I think everything’s okay.”

“Huh?” she said. He had somehow crossed the room quickly while she wasn’t looking and was now sinking down onto the couch beside her. Chloe couldn’t help but glance at the small distance that lay between them as the cushions shifted and she slipped slightly in his direction. The blonde readjusted her position.

“My chest. It’s mainly bruising. I’ve had worse.”

She wanted to ask when but didn’t. It was another part of Lex Luthor’s charm that he held a certain amount of mystery about him and although she enjoyed nothing more than solving a mystery for some reason she couldn’t imagine the handsome young man beside her without a few secrets. He wouldn’t be Lex anymore. “Sorry about the phone call. I wasn’t sure you would hear it. I hope you…”

He waved away her apology. “Don’t worry about it. He was just being a jackass as usual. To be honest I think its grating on him that he’s stuck in Smallville while I’m out in the world. He’s having a little trouble accepting the fact he can’t keep an eye on me as well as he used to.” Lex laid his head back and closed his eyes. “What do you want to do now?”

Chloe shifted a little on the couch, uncomfortably aware of the fact he had yet to button up his shirt so that it lay open giving her delicious little glimpses of flesh and they were sitting very close and that his question had brought more thoughts into her head than should be there. She couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her. In normal circumstances she was perfectly capable of keeping her hormones in check. Hell, hadn’t she done that for the past God only knew how many years where Clark was concerned?

Lex isn’t Clark, a traitorous part of her mind said sounding all too logical for the blonde’s tastes.

She had obviously been thinking too long because Lex had reached out a hand and touched her forearm ever so gently. She saw his eyes were still closed giving her a perfect view of his profile. “Good you’re still there. I thought I was talking to myself for a moment then.”

“Sorry. I was just thinking.”

He cracked an eye open at her and absently Chloe realised he hadn’t moved his hand away yet. There was suddenly a light, almost tickling sensation on her skin and she realised he was tracing a pattern there with finger tips. He didn’t appear to be entirely conscious of his actions and not for the first time Chloe wondered what was going on behind his blue eyes. “I take your silence as indecision then.”

The blonde girl nodded, not trusting her voice entirely and licked her lips a little to rid them of their dryness. It was in her head to say something, anything that would relieve the growing tension in the room that only she seemed to be able to feel but no words would come out. Lex sat there, slumped slightly and with all the apparent grace of a cat. All of a sudden he looked much too much like a predator for Chloe’s comfort and she had to mentally remind herself that there was nothing to fear from him. He was Clark’s friend and, she thought, her friend as well.

“I have an idea,” he said casually turning to sit sideways on the couch. Chloe felt him clasp his hand around hers and responded in kind without thinking.

She eyed him a little suspiciously and with a slight narrowing of her eyes said, “And what would that be?”

A smile played across Lex’s lips and he shifted his weight so that it pressed on Chloe a little and the blonde found herself being laid back against the arm of the couch. Lex was hovering above her and Chloe felt her breath catch as he leaned down and kissed her.

“What was that?” she asked when he drew back and was distressed to find that her voice sounded throaty.

The look he shot her was amused. “I thought you would have remembered. It wasn’t exactly something new.”

“That wasn’t what I meant and you know it,” Chloe replied feeling a frown form on her forehead and trying to ignore the reclined position she was still in. “Why did you do that?”

Lex shrugged slightly the movement causing his open shirt to move and giving her a very nice new view of him. With pained will she tried to keep her eyes firmly on his face knowing that otherwise she might go into hormone overload. “Because I felt like it,” he said as if it was no big thing. Before she could say anything else he had expertly manoeuvred her into a considerably more comfortable position that unfortunately included him having a knee between her legs to continue to support his frame. “Because…” he said leaning down nuzzling her neck and placing a trail of kisses along her jaw. “You look adorable with that vaguely confused expression on your face.” He settled his weight on her and Chloe blushed again as she felt him, hard and oh so very masculine pressed against her leg. “Because you’ve been checking me out ever since I came into the room and because you feel a little like you need human contact right now. But mostly because,” he said, deft fingers working quickly on the long line of buttons on her shirt. “I wanted to.”

“And if I said to you I didn’t want to?” she asked, stumbling over the words and having to lick her lips again. It suddenly seemed very hot in the room and she found herself having to take extra deep breaths.

His eyes came up to her face and met her own. “Then you’d be lying.”

Chloe gave a breathy laugh, half unable to believe his confidence, his audacity and half wondering whether she had fallen asleep and was dreaming. Lex didn’t wait for any reply but moved aside her shirt to expose breasts clad in pistachio coloured lace and Chloe was suddenly glad that her own inbuilt paranoia about Lana Lang had made her wear on of her nicest sets of underwear. Oh God what was she still doing here?

Lex had begun to kiss his way across her stomach, occasionally grazing his teeth on the delicate flesh in mock bits. It felt like nothing Chloe had ever imagined and although the biting stung a little she quickly found it didn’t seem to matter as the pleasure outweighed the pain. To her surprise he used his teeth to pull down the zip on her cord trousers and Chloe lifted her pelvis so he could ease them over her hips. He sat back on his heals for a moment, discarding the shirt from his shoulders and unfastening the leather belt about his waist. For the first time Chloe felt naked but she sat up all the same, the leather of the couch creaking quietly as she did to reach around her back and unclasp her bra while trying to ignore the fact he was watching her intensely. As the straps came loose and fell away Chloe slipped them forwards and then let the bra fall to the floor. It was all she could do not to bring her arms up to cover herself and then thought passed unbidden into her mind that she still didn’t know why she was going this.

The man in front of her leaned over the couch and fumbled around in a draw of the table stood there. A moment later he held a small square packet and sat back on the couch. Chloe felt a blush rising to her face again and mentally kicked herself. A condom. She was blushing at the sight of a condom and she had really better get over it quickly because in a minute she was going to be doing a lot more than looking at it.

This was so not happening. She had to be dreaming. Either that or she had been living in Smallville way too long and had somehow managed to go insane for meteorite exposure. There was no way on earth she could possibly be about to have sex with Lex Luthor of all people.

Without saying a word Lex hooked his fingers under the waistband of her panties and drew them down her legs before tossing them over his shoulder with a mischievous little grin on his face. Chloe returned the smile nervously and reached up to Lex gently tugging him down on top of her, mindful of the bruising. The smoothness of the skin across his shoulders didn’t surprise her and as her curiosity grew Chloe let one hand wander up the back of his neck and to the back of his head. She could feel him parting her legs again and settling himself between them. A hand cupped her groin and Chloe squirmed straining to kiss him. Lex returned it and slowly pushed a finger into her with ease. Finding her wet he withdrew it and instead ran his hand along her thigh, lifting her leg and helping the blonde position her hips.

Lex smothered the cry she gave as he thrust by covering her mouth with his. Chloe clung all the harder to his shoulders. She found herself careless as to the pain of his bruising as she raked nails across his back leaving behind fine trails of reddened skin. Before long he had built up a steady rhythm going deeper and deeper and the blonde found herself meeting his thrusts with movements of her own. An age old sensation began to build in her and Chloe muttered gasped pleadings under her breath to Lex, begging him while her own body writhed and twitched in pleasure. Then she came and it seemed that there was a wave of emotion flooding over her. Moments later Lex came while tiny impulses still swept through her. They lay in a heap on the couch, both fighting for breath.

Still glowing and with the deliciously heavy sensation of Lex slumped on top of her Chloe closed her eyes promising herself it would only be for a minute.


13.

Lex’s eyes opened and he was instantly aware of the fact that he appeared to have been resting next to a pleasantly warm body. Moving slowly so as to let the last effects of sleep leave without protest he sat up, rubbed his eyes and ran a hand back over his scalp. This done he looked back down at his female bed partner and swore under his breath remembering instantly what had happened.

She looked so peaceful laid there asleep. It seemed her lips were still reddened and were slightly parted as she breathed easily. Her head had fallen to one side and so had her hair resulting in it having a wispy appearance. The image of what she had looked like writhing that tight little body of hers around underneath him flooded into Lex’s mind and he briefly wondered about whether or not to wake her up. That idea was quickly suppressed with thoughts of a cold shower.

Clark was going to kill him.

Lex stood quickly feeling a sudden urge to leave the room but returning momentarily to throw a blanket he had retrieved over the girl. Chloe muttered something in her sleep and rolled over, exposing a length of thigh as she did and reminding him to quit hesitating and get out of the same room as her before he was tempted to do anything else that would get him in even more trouble.

Still, Clark was going to kill him because not only had he slept with the boy’s precious friend he had deflowered her, popped her cherry, and taken her virginity… He had been her first. For the briefest of moments he felt an irrational anger towards the blonde girl. If only she’d… No this was his fault. If he hadn’t gone and got so irritated with his father, if he’d kept his emotions in check then it wouldn’t have happened. No, instead he’d caught sight of the odd appreciative glance she had shot in his direction and decided to act on it almost without thinking because it was good to know that someone wanted him around.

After a moment or two’s consideration he headed for his shower and let the water run full blast over his body.

Having just stood there for several long minutes Lex realised that he didn’t actually regret having seduced the girl. It was a surprising revelation. Clark might want kill him and his reasons for doing it may not have been entirely honourable and just but he realised Chloe Sullivan had been worth it.

The thought stunned him. She’d been sweet and yielding and trusting but there had also been a passionate quality to the way she’d responded to him that had made him very aware of the fact she was enjoying his touch as much as he was enjoying hers.

Then what the hell am I doing stood in here when she’s out there naked and soft and sexy?

Lex turned the shower off, absently realising that his finger tips had begun to prune and fumbled around for a towel on the rail outside the shower door. Successfully finding one he dried off quickly and wrapped a fresh one about his waist before wandering back through to the sitting room only to find the couch empty. Looking around the room he noted to his dismay that her clothes were missing. Moving quickly about the apartment he searched for her wondering whether she had decided to revert to her reporter nature or to get a drink but to no avail.

Lex sat on his couch and rubbed his head with his hands. “Shit.”


14.

It seemed her leg was cold. With an almost lethargic series of movements Chloe flipped the soft woollen blanket that covered most of her body further over herself and rolled onto her back and opened her eyes. There was a delicious kind of ache that made her instantly think of Lex. Pushing herself into a sitting position the blonde girl looked about the room while clutching the green blanket to her chest. He wasn’t there but she could see his clothes still sat on the floor where he had discarded them and listening carefully Chloe now detected the sound of a shower somewhere else in the apartment letting her know that he hadn’t left her completely.

The blonde pulled her knees up to her chest unsure of what to do. It wasn’t as if she had ever really been in this position before. Her decision was made for her as a shrill noise filled the room. Chloe scrambled off the couch, moving a little stiffly and clutching the blanket in front of her and searched for her cell phone. She eventually found it hiding in her jacket pocket and quickly answered.

“Chloe you okay?” Clark’s resonant tones came after their initial greeting.

“Sure, I’m great.”

“Cool. Listen some girl Pete met had invited us to a party later. Lana said I should ring you so you could get back to the hotel in time to get ready.”

“Oh, okay.”

Her voice must had sounded hesitant because Clark quickly added, “If you don’t want to go you don’t have to. We can do something else.”

Half-heartedly Chloe looked around the sitting room and wondered what she would do when Lex finally got out of the shower. The easy way out of course would be to escape while she could and getting back to the hotel in time for the party would be a perfect excuse. How did she know Lex hadn’t intended her to leave anyway? “You’ll be at the hotel?”

“We should be.”

“I’ll get over there as quickly as I can then.”

“’Kay. See you soon.”

“Bye.”

Now stuck with her decision Chloe raced to get dressed. There was a brief moment of doubt as she reached for the door handle on exiting the apartment. Chloe paused and glanced back trying to dispel the rush of feelings that suddenly washed over her and the realisation that she didn’t actually want to leave. The girl shook herself. There was no use acting like a love sick school girl.

The ride to the hotel Chloe spent sat in the back of a cab trying not to let her confused emotions overrun her sense. It was ridiculous; here she was wondering whether she had made the right decision when she knew what Lex Luthor was like. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t heard of his reputation where women were concerned and the fact that she might have fallen into the same trap was a niggling thought constantly in the back of her mind. Chloe gritted her teeth. Well if she had then there was no way that she was going to let it get to her. It wasn’t as if she was any less of a person because of it.

Still, she didn’t want to think of what had happened like that and Chloe desperately wanted to believe that she was overreacting. That it was some kind of defence mechanism that she had unconsciously brought into play. After all, it wasn’t as if she had just gone through a life changing experience of anything…

By the time she arrived at the hotel Chloe was feeling better, more sure of herself overall than she had since the beginning of the trip. On entering the hotel room she looked around and finding herself confronted with Lana managed to smile at the brunette, genuinely pleased to see the other girl for once.

“You look happy,” the ex-cheerleader said as Chloe emerged from the bathroom having showered and brushed her teeth. Chloe looked at her startled and realised that there had been a small grin on her lips that she hadn’t even been aware of. “I’m sorry about lunch. I guess I wasn’t really thinking. Where did you head off to?”

“I ran into an old friend,” the blonde lied easily without even the slightest hint of guilt. The thought of pure and innocent Lana Lang knowing what she had been up to and with whom all afternoon was not a comforting one. Absently Chloe wondered how long it would be before Lana would go to Clark with that little piece of information. It was something she definitely didn’t want her best friend knowing about. Seeing that the other girl expected more details she added, “We got to talking and time just disappeared. Did you have a nice afternoon?”

Lana shot her a mischievous little expression. “I dragged them both shopping. Pete looked like he was going to scream for most of the afternoon.”

Chloe chuckled quietly. “I can imagine. How did he meet this girl he found out about the party from?”

The brunette shrugged slender shoulders as she disappeared into the wardrobe momentarily before reappearing with a little black dress. “I have no idea.”

“Sounds like Pete.”

She gave a pleasant understanding smile and gestured towards the wardrobe. “Want anything out of here?”

“Um, my lilac top and pants,” the blonde replied after a moments thought.

“Pete said he wants to meet up with this girl and a couple of her friend before heading on over to the party. He thought that maybe we could get a little something to eat with them. Hey, would your friend like to come do you think?”

It took a second for Chloe to think of which friend she was talking about and then she remembered her fib about where she had been all afternoon and shook her head. She really couldn’t see herself inviting Lex to a high school party.

All in all it turned out to be quite an enjoyable evening which surprised Chloe no end. The party was hosted at the home of some senior who went to one of Metropolis’ high schools and appeared to have sent out a general invitation to everyone they met by the number of people present. By the end of the evening the blonde girl had quickly decided that city kids and country kids were basically the same. It seemed they all partied the same way; getting drunk, eating too much, listening to an eclectic mixture of rock music and corny pop music and with at least one kid ending up throwing up into a bush. In the new environment Chloe found her ‘outsider’ status had been downgraded to ‘newbie’ when she wasn’t looking. She still found the time to sit back though and enjoy the show as girls had streamed in Clark’s direction and Lana had stood there with a mildly disgruntled expression on her face.

By the time they made it back to the hotel Chloe was feeling light-headed on a mixture of slowly sipped cheap beer and adrenalin. She skipped along the sidewalk, arm in arm with Lana and then raced the other girl up the steps outside the hotel, emerging triumphant at the top. They were still giggling loudly as they entered the lobby and moved towards the elevators, each trying to quieten the other.

“Miss Sullivan?” a voice called. “Excuse me is one of you young ladies a Miss Sullivan?”

Chloe halted in her steps and waved the others. Turning towards the check in desk she smiled at the receptionist. “Sure, that’s me.”

The receptionist smiled at her. “You had a delivery while you were out. I’ll just go get it for you.”

Chloe was still frowning, wondering who would be sending her anything here of all places when the woman emerged from the back room carrying a large bouquet of long stemmed flowers. Her pale eyes widened in surprise and she asked with awe, “Are you sure they’re for me?”

“The delivery man said Miss Chloe Sullivan and you’re the only one we have staying here.”

Reaching over the desk Chloe took the bouquet from the receptionist and cradled it in one arm while searching among the fragrant flowers for a card. When she found it the blonde struggled to open the tiny envelope eventually pulling out the small white card trimmed with silver. Silently she read the message and felt her breath caught in her throat. ‘We need to talk, Lex.’ For a moment Chloe could do nothing but stare at the telephone number he had printed at the bottom with very few thoughts of anything in her mind.

Oh this was great. Just freaking fabulous. Did he have some kind of alarm that went off whenever she made a decision so he could come along and get her all confused again? And how had he found her anyway? Chloe gave a small unconscious shake of her head. Who was she kidding? This was Lex Luthor, the man could probably find Elvis if he wanted to.

Chloe shoved the card into her pocket and opted to head up the stairs. Of course Lex had never thought about what she should tell her friends. How on earth was she going to explain the flower? Stood outside the room door Chloe stared at the number and mulled it over in her mind. Okay so maybe it wasn’t so difficult. She’d just tell them that they were from the old friend she’d met or maybe that she didn’t know who they were from because the card had been missing. Steeling herself against the barrage of questions sure to come Chloe put her hand on the door handle and entered the room.


15.

Lex stared at the fireplace in his study and wondered how such a little thing could cause him to waste so much time thinking when there were bigger, weightier concerns to be considered. It wasn’t really bugging him that she hadn’t called. It wasn’t even the fact that he had been forced into making the first move by seeking her out and sending her the flowers. No, it was the fact that he didn’t seem to be able to get past the fact that her not calling had him jumping up and pouncing on his cell phone every single time it rang. This, he concluded, was not a good thing because it clearly suggested that he felt more for Chloe than she felt about him. For perhaps the first time in his life Lex regretted all the time he had turned away from people just because they seemed too needy.

God he hoped that wasn’t the way he seemed to Chloe. Almost immediately after he had tracked her down and had the flowers sent he had begun to regret it. Chloe didn’t seem like the type of girl who would appreciate being stalked. Still, maybe the gesture had gone across as romantic rather than worrying. He could always hope that.

There was a somewhat tentative knock at the door to his office and a second later a brunette head appeared despite his having made no reply. Seeing him sat alone Victoria pushed the door open confidently and stepped inside. It irked him to see the ridiculously sweet and clearly false smile on her face.

This had been his father’s motive.

On returning to Smallville in the early hours of Sunday morning he had walked into the house to find that his father had firmly entrenched the British girl in her own suite of rooms, giving her to run of the house and its facilities so that she might do as she pleased. It was a move that even Lex hadn’t been expecting, one he had never anticipated and it had shaken him somewhat although he didn’t care to admit it to himself.

“Your father and I have made a decision,” she purred seating herself down in one of the armchairs by the fireplace. With the ease of someone feeling entirely in her element Victoria leaned back into the chair with that self same smug little smile on her lips. The sight made Lex’s stomach lurch. He didn’t actually hate her. To hate her would betray that she was a weakness when he no longer felt that she was. It was just that Victoria had no idea of what a dangerous game she was playing. She had no idea what the consequences may be.

Keeping his face stoic Lex replied with, “And what would that be?”

“Well, Lionel suggested that I move my things in here permanently.”

Lex nodded briefly, standing to face the window behind him. The news didn’t upset him but it was clear that the young woman was looking for some sort of reaction and so he gave her one in the vain hope that she would leave. “Thank you for letting me know.”

“You don’t object?” she asked and Lex thought that her voice sounded a little surprised.

“What is there to object to? My father is old enough to make his own decisions.”

“What I meant was…”

“I know what you meant,” he answered half turning towards her only to see that Victoria had stood and had crossed some of the distance between them.

“Lex,” she said cautiously. “You understand that this isn’t a position that I impractically want to be in.”

“For any position you’re in Victoria, you have only yourself to blame.”

For a brief instance Lex though he saw a frown mar her features. She quickly wiped it away however and gave a mournful smile, so transparent Lex would have had to have been blind not to see it. Victoria Hardwick was much too used to using her looks to get by in the world. “I know,” she said stepping closer and reaching a hand up to play with the collar of his shirt. Her expression turned thoughtful. “I really do. The truth is I regret what happened between us and,” she added. “If I could change things then I would.”

The young woman looked up into Lex’s eyes and closed the remaining distance between them. He smiled at her, reaching up and taking hold of her wrist. “You can’t honestly believe I would fall for that.” Lex pushed her away and returned to his seat. “Go back and see my father Victoria. This conversation is finished and I’m sure he needs some of your tender loving care.”

Her mouth fell open slightly and a mystified expression drifted onto Victoria’s face. Lex wondered if she knew how much like a fish she appeared at that moment and suppressed the smile that accompanied the thought. The British girl flushed and spun on her heals storming out of the room but thinking twice about slamming the door as she went. Remaining sat at his desk Lex shook his head slightly in amusement. If ever there was someone who could fit the profile for being a spoilt brat it was Victoria Hardwick. Reflecting on her presence he decided it was a mistake on his father’s part to try and use this woman against him. For the first time he truly realised he no longer gave a damn about what the older man did. It was a refreshing discovery.


16.

She hadn’t been able to concentrate all week. The previous Sunday had been fun; they had slept in, eaten a late breakfast and gone to an early showing at the multiplex cinema before heading back to Smallville and Chloe had hardly thought at all about the card sat in her pocket. Then she had accidentally found it again on Sunday night as she had been unpacking from the trip and a whole new rush of anxiety had washed over her. She would have bet any money Lex wasn’t getting all upset about the prospect of a telephone call. That just wasn’t the sort of thing that he would do being all Mr. Cool, Calm and Collected by nature. The knowledge irritated her slightly.

So she had spent three very long days turning her stomach into knots as she contemplated just how she was going to approach dealing with him. Unfortunately no answers had so far miraculously popped into her head to help out and Chloe was starting to wonder whether there wasn’t some kind of conspiracy out there to make her feel like shit that she didn’t know about. If nothing else it was beginning to get tiring.

Wednesday evenings at Talon were pretty much quiet as they got throughout the week but if you had to go somewhere then it was the somewhere to be in Smallville. On entering the café the blonde girl immediately found her eyes drawn to the counter where her friends were sat around chatting together amicably. Chloe couldn’t help but smile knowing that they were currently the only occupants in their self contained perfect world. Even the sight of Lana giving Clark a peck on the cheek couldn’t irritate her as the resignation that had wormed its way into her since the trip to Metropolis kicked in. They were happy together and if they were meant to be then they would be. She felt she could now fully believe that more than she ever had before now that the realisation that there were more men out there than Clark Kent was firmly planted in her mind.

“Hey people, what you talking about?” she asked hopping up onto a stool beside Clark. The young man gave her a sunny smile as soon as he saw her.

“Lex Luthor,” Pete said and gave an exaggerated faux yawn while rolling his eyes.

Chloe felt a shiver of tension run up her back and tried to loosen it out without drawing too much attention to herself. After all it was perfectly natural for them to be talking about him seeing as the man was one of Clark’s best friends. “Can I get a mocha Lana?” she asked the brunette who had been patiently waiting at the other side of the counter, then while trying desperately to appear relaxed she added, “Oh? What’s up with him now?”

Clark’s expression turned forlorn. “That’s the problem, I don’t know. I went to sit by him earlier and he wouldn’t even have a conversation with me. I can’t figure out what I’ve done wrong.”

“That man doesn’t even need a reason to be an asshole Clark. He just is one,” Pete said. “Don’t you think Chloe?”

Mortified by the question she stumbled over her words. “What? Yes. No. I mean, I don’t know. Wait he’s here?”

Lana reappeared placing a steaming cup down in front of the blonde girl. “He’s over in the corner,” she said. “Don’t turn around! He’s looking over here right now.”

“Does he look angry?” Clark asked keeping facing towards the girl almost too intently.

“No. Actually he looks kind of, well, engrossed.”

“In what?” Pete said curiously and it was suddenly clear to Chloe that she wasn’t the only one who was trying to fight the urge to turn around and try and catch a glance of the young businessman.

The brunette appeared to think and then flushed slightly saying, “Nothing.”

“Come on Lana,” the young man persisted.

She looked up from her perusal of the counter and met his eyes then almost absently glanced aside at Chloe momentarily as she did so. “He’s probably just staring into space or something.”

“Right,” Pete exclaimed disbelievingly. “If you say so.”

“Pete…” Clark warned as Chloe found Lana glancing at her again. The blonde wrinkled her brow in an unspoken question and true to form the other girl was unable to stop herself from directing her gaze over Chloe’s shoulder for only a fraction of a second. It was still long enough though for her to realise just what or rather who Lex was looking at. She found herself wondering with a ridiculous level of paranoia whether Lana had guessed that something had gone on between them. An uncomfortable sensation rippled through her and Chloe was suddenly aware of eyes burning into her back with the type of intensity that bespoke only one man. She shifted on her stool and fought the urge to turn around and look at the man who was watching her.

“Maybe I should go over and talk to him again,” Clark suggested and his comment seemed to be considered and somewhat reluctant.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Lana asked quickly. “He wouldn’t even talk to me about Talon and he still doesn’t look all that happy.”

“Yeah, when a Luthor doesn’t want to talk about money then you know something is wrong,” Pete interrupted with a small grin.

“You need a neutral party,” Lana told the tall farm boy ignoring his friend. “Perhaps Chloe should go over. She could be all, you know, reporter like and get some answers out of him.”

Chloe nearly choked on her drink as she sipped at it and tried not to gawp at the other girl as Clark exclaimed with zeal, “That’s an idea!”

“No, it really isn’t,” the blonde objected the moment she collected her wits. “I mean, what will I say? I don’t know what to say to him. Why would I? It’s Lex…”

Clark smiled at her reassuringly. “You’ll think of something.”

She looked at each of them in turn then said in disbelief, “You’re actually going to make me do this aren’t you?”

“Please Chloe,” the dark haired young man said. “I’m worried about him. He’s been behaving kind of erratic ever since the accident at his house.”

Staring at him Chloe found she wasn’t quite able to believe this was happening. A part of her was half hoping that he was joking but the look of sincerity plastered on his face convinced her otherwise. “Oh, okay,” she said giving in and standing up. “You owe me big time for this and no gawking. I won’t be able to do if I know you’re all watching.”

“It’ll be like you’re both not even there,” Clark confirmed and waved her on her way.

Chloe sent one final glare in Lana’s direction and saw the other girl blush slightly before she slipping off the stool, picking up her drink and walking very reluctantly in Lex’s direction. Glancing over her shoulder briefly the blonde saw that her friends were trying their best to ignore her as per instruction. By the time that she had reached Lex’s table where he sat alone Chloe was trying her hardest not to shake. Reluctantly she settled down into the chair opposite him trying to dismiss the odd way in which he was still staring at her.

“Let me guess,” he asked. “Clark asked you to find out what’s wrong with me.”

The girl swallowed with a mixture of annoyance and nervousness. She couldn’t quite figure out what it was that she had just heard in his voice but whatever it had been it hadn’t been entirely pleasant. Chloe wondered what it was that had been running through his mind just before her arrival to cause such a reaction to her presence. Putting a look of what she hoped appeared uncaring coolness on her face Chloe said, “You know he’s worried about you. If you just tell him what’s wrong then he won’t bug you anymore.”

A wry little expression swept onto his features. “Somehow I don’t think you’d appreciate that Chloe.”

Her eyes widened slightly at the realisation of what he meant. “Listen if you’ve got a problem with me then don’t take it out on Clark. That’s just childish.”

Lex shook his head leaning forwards. “Childish? You’re calling me childish? You’re the one who ran away.”

Chloe felt herself flush and glanced about her to see whether anyone else had heard him considering the fact he hadn’t been exactly discreet about the level of his voice. Somehow she guessed that he wouldn’t take kindly to her telling him to keep the sound down. Nervously, she said, “I didn’t know what to do.”

Out of the corner of her eye she saw that he had decided to settle back into his seat again. She watched as he ran a hand back quickly over his scalp in a gesture that was easy recognisable as his. “Why didn’t you call?” he asked and it seemed that some of the irritation had gone out of his voice only to be replaced by a degree of tiredness.

“And say what? I’m not even sure that I understand what happened.”

He grinned and somehow made it seem suggestive. “I would have thought that was obvious.”

“I didn’t mean that! I meant, well,” she faltered and stopped. Chloe paused a moment and then continued, “I’m not going to explain myself to you Lex. I don’t understand you most of the time and you’ve this habit of making me more than a little nervous lately which I really can’t explain because I don’t really get nervous and what was I meant to think anyway waking up and finding that you’d disappeared?”

“I would have explained that if you’d rung, which, I may remind you, you didn’t.”

“And what was to stop you picking up a telephone and calling me?”

He raised an eyebrow. “That would have been an amusing conversation if your father had answered. ‘No, no problem Mr. Sullivan I was just wondering if Chloe was in. What do I want to talk to her about? Well, actually I would have talked to her the other day in Metropolis after we slept together but she ran off…’”

“Okay, okay! I get it.”

“I am not some immature brat in high school Chloe so don’t expect me to behave like one.”

“I wouldn’t…”

“Wait, let me finish and I’ll tell you what I would have said the other day if you’d stuck around long enough for me to.” Chloe felt a frown filter onto her face but kept quiet all the same so that he could continue. “I enjoyed the time we spent together and I don’t just mean the sex. I didn’t want you to go anywhere and I don’t want you to go anywhere now because even when you’re disagreeing with me and it feels like you’re doing your damnedest to piss me off I still find myself enjoying your company. You’ve made me discover a whole new level of patience within myself that I never knew existed. Now, what were you going to say?”

Chloe sat for a few moments with her mouth slightly ajar trying to take in what he had just said and turning it over and over in her mind. “I…” She stopped again to gather her thoughts further. “Are you saying you like me? As in like me, like me?”

That small smile returned to tilt his lips in a charming expression. “Yes, I believe I am.”

“Oh my God.”

“I’m not saying its eternal devotion Chloe. I can’t say what I’m going to think or feel in six months time but I do know that at the moment I don’t seem to be able to get you out of my head for more than a few seconds at a time and that seeing you has been the high point of my day so far. You just have to give me the chance to prove it to you.”

Looking up she met brilliant blue eyes and saw a sincerity there that she hadn’t seen in the past and yet she still wasn’t quite able to believe what she thought she was hearing. “I think I’m shell-shocked or something,” she told him truthfully. “This really wasn’t what I was expecting to hear.”

“Do you…” he began and she heard him falter slightly over the words as if he wasn’t quite used to saying them. “Do you need some time to think?”

The blonde girl shook her head in reply. “No, I’m fine.”

A relieved little expression slipped onto his face and Lex leaned forwards again. “Then I was thinking that maybe we could get together and do something.”

“Like a date?” Chloe found herself asking.

“Like a date.”

“Okay.”


17.

There was this rather large part of him that didn’t, couldn’t, quite believe that she’d actually said yes and on hearing her reply an explosive sigh of relief erupted from his chest and he laughed a little as well. It suddenly felt like he was back in high school despite whatever he might have said to her before. A smile drifted on Chloe’s lips too and there was suddenly an odd fluttering sensation in his chest that Lex guessed must be excitement. He found himself having to suppress the growing need he felt to lean forwards and capture her lips with his own knowing what a reaction it would cause among the other patrons of Talon and anticipating that it might embarrass Chloe entirely too much for her. Instead he had to console himself with the thought of an entire evening spent in her company with no interferences and, if everything went to plan, with no cause for caution between them.

Reaching for a napkin on the table Chloe pulled a pen out of her handbag and wrote a number on it. “This is my cell phone number,” she said handing it to him. “Call me when you decide what you want to do and we can make arrangements then. I’d better get back to the others now or they’ll start getting suspicious.”

“Okay,” Lex said accepting the napkin and pocketing it. “You can safely tell Clark that I’ll be considerably more approachable now if you want to.”

She smiled again. “I will, and Lex?”

“Yes?”

“I’m looking forwards to our date,” she said before then turning and hurring away. He watched her settle herself back down at the counter. The other teenagers immediately turned to her and from the look of it began to ask the blonde girl questions. Realising that he had what was probably a stupid looking expression of satisfaction on his face Lex quickly tried to wipe it away as Clark slipped off his stool and approached him cautiously. The young man took the seat that Chloe had occupied only moments before and cast him a friendly smile.

“Chloe says you’re feeling better now,” he said with the kind of innocent that told Lex that Clark had believed whatever the girl had told him.

“Yes, considerably so.”

“Cool.” There was a break in the conversation during which a concerned look passed in Clark’s eyes. “Did it have something to do with Victoria being at the house? I heard her talking when I was there the other day making the delivery.”

A little part of Lex’s good mood fell away at the mention of the woman’s name but he tried to keep his expression the even and unflustered. “No, things are fine between me and Victoria. You might even say they’re going quite well.”

“That’s good. I mean I know things didn’t end well between you two and it’s great that you can still be friends. Is she going to be staying for long?”

He gave a small shrug. “As far as I know indefinitely.”

“Well, tell her I said hi or whatever.” He looked over his shoulder in the direction of Lana.

“Go and see her,” Lex said pulling himself to his feet. “I have to get going anyway.”

Clark looked a little sheepish but he stood anyway. “I’ll see you later.” Lex bid him goodbye and watched as the young man turned and hurried away towards where his girlfriend was standing. As he approached the dark haired girl smiled brilliantly and Chloe shifted a little on her seat to look back at him. Lex smiled at her and the girl hid a smile of her own.

Lex left Talon feeling as if nothing in the world could possibly go wrong.


18a.

Her heart was beating, pounding in her chest and making it hard to breathe. She felt like she couldn’t sit still and had to try very hard to resist the urge to fidget around on the leather bucket seat. Outside the window of the car there was nothing but darkness for miles around but Chloe knew that soon they would be seeing the bright lights of Metropolis creeping towards them. When Lex had said they were going to go on a date she hadn’t imagined that this was what he had in mind. Of course she hadn’t really known what to expect anyway. The song playing through the car’s speakers changed and she was suddenly aware that the man sat beside her had started to hum along with it as he concentrated on the dark road ahead and a smile lightened on her lips. Somehow, at that moment Lex seemed very, very human.

She shifted a little in her seat so that she was looking across at his profile. As she did so the pale material of her skirt pulled across her knees and Chloe had to tug it down again. It was a pretty little outfit in a dark red with a matching top with shoe-string straps and it had taken her ages to decide whether she should wear it or not. Chloe only hoped that what she was wearing was appropriate for their date. Lex as always looked immaculate in dark slacks and a purple shirt.

“Are you going to tell me where we’re going yet?” she asked.

Lex glanced at her momentarily and grinned broadly giving a cheeky air to his features. “Nope.”

“How do you know I’ll like it if you won’t tell me?”

“Life is about educated guesses.”

His answer made her pause and think and she asked playfully. “Why Mr Luthor, have you been investigating me?”

The small smile returned. “You might say I’ve had more than a passing interest in you recently.”

It had her heart do a little flutter and suddenly Chloe felt like chuckling in delight. Ever since she had started to get ready earlier in the evening the blonde girl had felt a sizable case of nerves begin to grow in her as the excitement and anticipation began to build. By the time that she had seen Lex park at the end of her street, well out of sight of her father, Chloe had been a bag of nerves. She had rushed down the street and climbed in the car before leaning over and giving Lex a peak on the lips. Now she felt like once again leaning in close and kissing him but had to settle for the contented feeling she was experiencing inside.

Metropolis was buzzing with nightlife by the time they reached the city. Unlike on her last trip to the city they headed into the centre of the entertainment district where all the most exclusive clubs and restaurants were situated. Chloe’s eyes were assaulted with the sight of hundred of people wandering around on nights out, some in large groups and others just as couples. As they drove through the crowds Chloe began to feel an odd sense on kinship with the young couples milling around and she felt a small smile filter onto her lips.

Looking around she couldn’t figure out for the life of her where Lex was going to park his car. To her surprise he drove around the back of a building and down into an underground parking lot. They paused momentarily for him to speak to a burly security guard who was apparently surprised to see Lex back in the city, mentioning briefly that he had heard that Lex had been exiled to the middle of nowhere. At that comment Lex laughed a little and then drove on. They parked the car in a row next similarly expensive looking machines and then they climbed up a short flight of stairs and into an elevator.

“Are you going to tell me where we’re going now?” Chloe asked as the doors closed in front of her and the elevator car began to climb at a startling rate upwards.

He reached across the small space between them and clasped their hands together. “It’s a private club,” he said. “I thought that we might get a bite to eat upstairs in the restaurant and then go to the club which is on a lower level.”

Frowning she asked, “As in a dance club?”

Lex nodded.

“Lex really I hate to sound obvious but I’m not old enough to go into a club.”

He gave her an indulgent smile. “This isn’t the type of place that really cares about that. I haven’t been here in a while but I doubt they’ve changed the rules since I last visited.” There was a niggling little suspicion in Chloe’s mind that he sounded too confident and that something would have to go wrong now. She took an unconscious step closer to him and felt Lex curl an arm around her waist in what was a surprisingly comforting gesture.

When the elevator doors opened Chloe felt her eyes widen slightly at the room before her. It appeared to be an anteroom and immediately opposite a man was stood in a smart dark suit behind a podium like structure on which rested a book and a telephone. It was the large plate glass wall behind him though that caught Chloe’s eye as beyond it she could see the other patrons. Each was sat at a table and each seemed to occupying a world that was solely theirs and no one else’s. Her first glances told Chloe all she needed to know; these were the richest of the rich and each was distinctly glamorous and suddenly this didn’t seem like the best idea in the world.

She faltered on leaving the elevator and when Lex turned back to check on her she gave him a brief smirk and said, “Do you ever go anywhere without a view?” It was a defensive thing to do and almost the minute she had said it Chloe wished she hadn’t added quite so much sarcasm. After all, Lex was just being Lex. He had been brought up to this type of setting and had probably never imagined she would be uncomfortable in it. Keeping that thought in her mind Chloe took a deep breath and held her head high on entering the restaurant.

They were shown to what the head waiter had referred to as “sir’s usual table”. There were one or two secretive, curious glances in their direction from the other patrons but as Lex pretended not to notice them Chloe did the same. Finding herself suddenly the centre of attention though had slightly rattled the young blonde and she had to concentrate hard all the way through dinner to avoid glaring at the other customers accusingly. Lex ordered some expensive looking bottle of wine and to Chloe’s relief he wasn’t questioned over his date’s age. Sipping delicately at her glass Chloe couldn’t help but wonder what it was like to live in the kind of opulence that Lex was now showing her all the time. She had expected to feel judgemental about it but instead the blonde girl found herself oddly comfortable and now understood that it would be much more to give up than she had ever imagined.

Catching Lex looking at her over the table she asked, “What?”

“You’ve hardly said a word. Is there something wrong?”

With a small shake of her head Chloe replied with a smile, “Now what on earth could be the matter at the moment? I’ve eaten a delicious meal, I’m sipping good wine and I’m sat with a good looking man.”

He returned the smile. “I do believe you just complimented me Ms Sullivan.”

“Why I do believe you’re right Mr Luthor.”


18b.

There was something about her that was simply adorable. As he settled back against the cushioned chair and watched her reaction to the club he decided that it all had to do with the wide-eyed fascination she was so innocently showing at the moment. However where other girls would proclaim their wonder Chloe kept a tight rein on hers and instead made ambiguous comments about the setting. Lex knew that she was having fun though. He could see it in every single movement she made.

“Come on lets dance again,” she said clasping his hand in hers and moving to stand up.

“Hold on a minute will you? Let an old man catch his breath.”

Chloe grinned at him and leaned into a lingering kiss. Drawing away she replied, “You seem to have plenty of breath as far as I can tell.”

Lex slid a hand around to the back of her neck pulling her into another kiss while drawing her body towards his with his other hand. At the small moan that she gave he released her and Chloe sat back, her lips reddened and a slightly dazed expression on her face. “Want to sit still for a while?” he asked and she nodded briefly before leaning against his shoulder.

“Those lips should be made illegal,” she muttered. “They can do much too much damage.”

To his surprise Lex felt a deep rumble of laughter erupt from his chest and then absently wondered exactly how many drinks he had consumed. Chloe rested a hand on his chest and looked up at him. “I like that sound.”

Her voice had been soft and thoughtful and there was something about her words that made Lex’s stomach tight. If he hadn’t known better he would almost have thought that he was nervous. Instead he realised that the sensation that had coursed through him had been considerably more exciting, more exhilarating than nervousness could ever be. He realised that it had been a flash of happiness. Catching her hand in his Lex drew it up to his lips and made a thin line of kisses along her palm. “Shall we go somewhere else?” he asked. Breathlessly she nodded.

It was a short drive to his apartment from the club but for some reason it seemed last an eternity. By the time they had entered the elevator Lex could feel himself growing impatient with the world around him. As he felt Chloe’s arm snake around his waist and the telltale sensation of her fingers working his shirt loose he reached over pressed the elevator car’s emergency stop button and gave a silent prayer that no one else would suddenly decide they need it.

“What are you doing?” Chloe laughed as she saw what he had done. Ignoring her question Lex slipped his jacket from his shoulders and let it fall to the floor. “A striptease?” she asked. “Gee, I’m a lucky girl.”

“Not exactly.” He stepped towards her with an almost predatory gleam in his eyes. As he did so Chloe took a step away so that her back hit the wall of the elevator car. Lex placed both his hands on her hips and then leaned down to kiss the blonde girl, an action which she returned with vigour. Taking hold of the soft fabric beneath his fingers he gently pulled it upwards until it bunched around Chloe’s waist. She let out a startled gasp and leaned her head back against the wall as he hooked his fingers inside of the waistband of her panties and dragged them down.

“Lex… This is naughty.”

“I know.”

She let out a low giggle as Lex dipped his head down to kiss his way over her bared shoulder. “What if we get caught?”

“We won’t.”

Chloe slid her hands up his arms and wrapped them around his neck as he lifted up her body and propped them up against the wall. The flesh of her thighs was soft and firm underneath his hands and Chloe let out a low moan as they pressed their bodies together. Lex could feel the heat of her even through his clothes and he felt a shudder run through his body at the thought of nothing at all standing between their fleshes.

“Are you going to get undressed or what?” she demanded moving one hand to claw open his shirt. The buttons popped open and Chloe ran a hand all over his chest.

“Feeling a bit demanding tonight aren’t we?”

“Shut up Mister and get them off.”

“Only too happy to oblige.” There was a difficult moment while he struggled to unfasten the zip on his pants and they nearly fell sideways, then they were both free of their clothes and he found himself inside her. It seemed to him that they both knew instinctively just where to touch each other. There appeared to be a type of delicious symbiosis between, they moved as extensions of each other with little care for anything else. Lex found himself burying his face in the blonde’s shoulder, taking in deep breathes of the scent of her flesh. He nibbled gently at her collar bone and heard moan’s elicit from Chloe’s mouth as she pressed her back against the wall of the elevator and pushed them closer together. A sharp pain cut across his back as the girl dragged her nails across the surface of his skin and Lex became aware of the sensation of her tightening around him, twitching as an orgasm flooded through her. With some degree of relief he let himself go.

“Still think that was naughty?” he asked settling her back down on her feet.

Her eyes were still slightly closed and a tremble ran through her. “The good kind of naughty,” she said leaning against him.

“I rather thought so as well.”


18c.

Stretching she found her hands touching the dark wood headboard but discovered it was impossible to make her feet stick out of the end of the bed. Dark silk sheets rolled across her skin, slipping away and Chloe sent out a groping hand to pull them back then buried her face in the pillow beneath her head as the sound of a telephone broke into the perfect silence of Lex’s bedroom. She was really beginning to hate telephones. They always seemed to interrupt at the most inappropriate moments.

There was a groan beside her and suddenly the blonde girl found herself covered by a male body as Lex leaned over her to reach for the handset. “Do you have to get it?” she asked plaintively.

“Unfortunately it might be something important,” he replied and briefly kissed her before grabbing the handset and rolling back over to his half of the bed. Chloe allowed herself a small smile at the curt manner in which he answered the telephone. It appeared someone else hadn’t wanted to be disturbed from snuggling either.

HumbugGirl
19th April 2003, 01:11
When he finished the phone call Chloe couldn’t help but notice that some of the playfulness that had dominated Lex’s mood earlier had disappeared. He appeared thoughtful and more than a little withdrawn and the blonde girl felt a sudden rush of both concern and interest in what the conversation had been about. The look on his face though prevented her from voicing her question and Chloe found herself being drawn into Lex’s arms.

After a moment where he just held her he asked quietly, “Chloe?”

“Yeah?”

“Where did you see yourself being this time last year?”

She bit her lip lightly. “Pretty much where I am I guess. I thought I’d have the torch and still be in Smallville going to class every day and, well, I guess that’s it really.”

“You didn’t see yourself with Clark?”

Chloe felt a shiver of tension run through her body and she pulled away slightly from him until she could look into his eyes. “I saw myself still running around after him. I saw myself watching him watching Lana and okay, yes, I guess I sort of held some hope that we’d be together even though I guess I knew it was a vain hope. What’s this all about, Lex?”

Reaching across he wiped a strand of hair from across her eyes and Chloe blinked. “I’ve been wondering whether you’d be with him now if I hadn’t… If we hadn’t… I mean…”

“I know what you mean,” she replied softly, catching his hand and laying a kiss on the palm of it. “I wish I could find an answer for you but the truth is I don’t think I can. I don’t know myself. I do know that lately when I’ve been hurting you’ve been there for me and I know that when I’m around you little questions about whether or not I want to be with Clark don’t seem to matter.”

“That’s… sweet.”

A slight frown appeared on Chloe’s face at his answer. She dismissed the vein of doubt that suddenly spread through her. “I have no doubts Lex.”

He watched her with serious eyes and there was something hidden there that Chloe couldn’t quite make out. The look worried her. It made her decide to sit up, pulling the sheets around her and away from him, exposing the smooth lines of Lex’s chest to the cool air in the apartment. The silk formed a protective casing around her as the distance between them seemed to grow. Then suddenly he smiled at her, a brilliant smile that made his blue eyes sparkle and dance and she suddenly couldn’t see him for anything more than her handsome young lover. This was Lex the man, not Lex the businessman that was so feared by many.

“What did you want to be when you were a child, Lex?” she asked as the question popped into her head unbidden.

“I suppose I wanted to rule the world.”

“Are you serious?” she laughed.

“A little, blame that one my father’s influence. He felt I should learn about leadership from an early age. Apparently it would help me in business.”

“That’s a very pessimistic viewpoint.”

“It’s the truth though. Even now that I’ve become my own person, I don’t want to live in the shadows, Chloe. There is too much out there for me to do that. Living my life away quietly somewhere… It’s not for me. What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Wouldn’t you like to rule the world?”

She paused for a moment and thought about the question and the implications. “No, I don’t think so. I wouldn’t want to rule the world; just live in it.”

Very seriously Lex answered, “Sometimes we can’t Chloe. The world needs leaders, people who won’t fade into the scenery and we don’t always have a choice over whether or not that person is ourselves.”


18d.

“I’ll be done in a minute,” Lana called disappearing into the backroom.

“Take as long as you need,” Chloe replied turning to face the empty space of Talon. It was only minutes since the last customer had left and already the coffee house seemed too silent, almost hauntingly so and Chloe wondered how Lana could stand to be in here after hours on her own. Then again some people said the same about her staying behind at school on Fridays to finish work on the Torch.

Standing up from the low couch where she had been sitting Chloe wandered over to the counter to wait for the other girl. Ever since Lana’s car had been trashed during the tornado they had been taking turns to drive her home after Talon closed on a night. Normally Clark would take the opportunity to spend more time with his new girlfriend but for once he had been forced to rush off home and Chloe had found herself volunteering. To her surprise she didn’t find the prospect of the task at all arduous, safe in the knowledge that the uncomfortably silences that might have formed between them before were now well and truly in the past. As Lana appeared from the backroom the blonde girl smiled at her and reached for her own jacket seeing that Lana was already wearing her coat.

“All finished?” she asked.

Lana nodded and they both left the café after making one final check that everything was switched off and then turning the lights off. They pilled into Chloe’s car and she pulled away from the curb and headed in the direction of Lana’s house. By the time they reached their destination there was a steady flow of conversation flowing between the two.

“Do you want to come in for a drink or something?” Lana asked climbing out then leaning down to look across at Chloe who was still sat behind the wheel.

“Nell away again?”

The brunette laughed. “How well you know me.”

Chloe plucked the key out of the ignition and opened the car door. “Okay but only a quick one. I should really get home early tonight. My Dad’s starting to nag about me a curfew.”

“Like that would stop you,” Lana answered unlocking the front door. It stuck a little and she gave it an extra hard shove.

“Don’t tell him that,” she answered stepping over the doorstep. She followed Lana in the sitting room and settled herself on a couch. “I’m agreeing with him for the mean time just to make him stop going on and on about it.”

A nervous little expression drifted onto Lana’s face as a thought appeared to enter her mind. “I’ve been meaning to ask actually just what you’ve been up to recently. We don’t really see that much of you nowadays.”

Chloe shrugged knowing this was difficult ground. It had been two weeks since Lex had originally approached her about the idea of going out on a date and since then they had spent considerable amounts of time together and as happy as they both were about the relationship it hadn’t been a difficult decision to decide that it might not be a good idea to tell their friends and family. Chloe had found the element of secrecy exciting so for the time being it wasn’t something that she felt she especially wanted to change. That thought firmly fixed in her head Chloe said, “I’ve been working on the Torch. There’s been a lot of extra stuff to do for it.”

Once again Lana got that uncomfortable look that told Chloe she had something else to say and she shifted a little on the couch. Standing suddenly she said, “You know I think I’ll go get those drinks.”

Puzzled by the other girl’s strange reaction Chloe stood to follow her, not for the first time wondering whether Lana knew something that she wasn’t meant to. “What?” the blonde asked entering the kitchen.

“Huh?” Lana replied looking up with startled eyes from where she had been retrieving a spoon.

Chloe moved towards her. “You were going to say something else, what was it?”

The brunette shifted from one foot to the other. “Its just I popped by the Torch’s offices the other day when I thought you’d said you’d be there to see whether you needed any help and, well, you weren’t there.”

It was Chloe’s turn to feel uncomfortable and she tried to keep her face straight to avoid showing any unwanted emotion there. “I probably just went to get a drink or something. You know the coffee machine in the teacher’s lounge is a hell of a lot better than the one available to the students.”

“That sort of occurred to me so I waited around.”

“Maybe I’d already gone home…”

“Chloe…”

“Okay, you caught me,” she laughed trying to lighten the mood and to make it sound like she was joking. “I’m actually having an intense affair with Lex Luthor.”

Lana’s eyes widened and then turned serious. “Are you?” she asked.

Chloe breath caught in her throat and she made a little choking noise. “Come on…” she started but was stopped but the other girl speaking again.

“It would explain a lot of things Chloe. I’ve seen the way that he’s been looking at you lately and I can’t say that, from what I’ve seen, it hasn’t been entirely unreciprocated on your part.”

“I can’t believe you’re saying this.”

“Please Chloe, just tell me the truth. We’re friends aren’t we?”

Chloe stared at the look of determination on Lana’s face. It looked more than a little out of place. “Okay,” she replied a little softly perhaps. “You’re right. Are you happy now?”

“Oh Chloe, I never meant to upset you. I just wanted, needed to know. I’ve been worried. I wanted to know if you were in trouble so I could help.” She reached out and took hold of Chloe’s hand. “You are okay aren’t you?”

“Sure,” the blonde answered dryly. She withdrew her hand from Lana’s and put it up to her face to wipe away a strand of hair.

Leaning back against the counter Lana said, “Why haven’t you said anything?”

“We didn’t want to and don’t go running to Clark about it okay? Let’s just keep it between you and me.”

Lana nodded. “I can do that. I don’t understand why you’d want to but I can still do it.”

“Thank you,” Chloe exclaimed and impulsively hugged the ex-cheerleader. After a stunned second Lana returned the gesture. When she pulled away Chloe flushed slightly in embarrassment.

“If you find you need to, you know, talk about it then feel free to call or whatever,” Lana said. She smiled nervously. “I wish I’d had someone really close to speak to when I was with Whitney.”

“I thought you used to talk to Clark?”

“I did but I couldn’t tell him everything. There was always this… this barrier stopping me.”

Chloe couldn’t help but smile as she realised what the other girl meant. There was an odd sort of reassurance growing in her. Almost absently she realised that any conversation of this type would never have happened with Clark or Pete. She would never have been able to talk to them about Lex like this.

She watched as Lana’s eyes widened as a thought came over her. “Listen, I know you said that you had to get home but I was thinking that maybe you’d like to stay over. You can borrow anything you need.”

Smiling Chloe answered, “Okay, I guess I’d like that.”


19.

At seven he had been due to meet Chloe outside of town by the windmill so that they could drive to Metropolis together. The plan had been to keep a low profile and go to a concert then see where things would go from there and he had found himself looking forwards to it with a degree of eagerness that was almost startling. The thought of the date had been the highlight of his week so far and now it was ruined. All because of some stupid emergency at the plant that probably would have passed by the time that he got there proving that he had not even really been needed in the first place to deal with it. Still, he knew that he would be expected to hang around and make sure that nothing else went wrong and that would be the thing that ate into his time.

As the phone rung for the twentieth time without being answered there was a beep and a recorded voice from the phone company told him to leave a message and Chloe would get back to him when she could. “Chloe it’s me. Call me when you get this message. Bye.”

“Who’s Chloe?” a voice asked as he placed the cell phone handset down on his desk. Lex turned from his view out of the window and found that Victoria had quietly made her way into the room behind his back. The young woman looked tired and there was a far more nervous look about her appearance that he had ever seen before. That was what living with his father would do to anyone. A part of him wondered why she had put up this long with the associated hassles of being involved with Lionel Luthor but he reasoned that it was most probable that his father had something on the young woman that he hadn’t bothered to tell his son about that kept her firmly at his side. The truth was that Lex really didn’t mind. They were both busy making each other miserable and in doing so had very little time left over to bother him.

“Someone who is none of your concern,” he replied grabbing his jacket and checking to make sure he had his car keys. Looking over at her again he added, “Was there something you wanted Victoria?”

She gave him a dazzling, beauty queen smile. “Now Lex,” she said. “Is there any reason to be so blunt?”

“Actually there is. I was just on my way out so I’ll ask you again, is there anything you want?”

Victoria shrugged and perched on the arm of the nearest chair. “I really do think you could learn to be more civil towards me Lex. We are living together now you know.”

“Correction, you’re living with my father. Is there anything else?”

Indignation spread to her features and for a moment Victoria looked like she would throw something at the young man stood in front of her. “I suppose there isn’t. But let me tell you something Lex, you had better get used to me being around here because I am not going anywhere.”

He smirked at her. “Oh I don’t think you’ll be here that long,” he replied.

She stood abruptly. “What do you mean? Lex, answer me.”

“You don’t honestly think he’ll stay interested for long do you?”

“But…”

The young man closed the brief case that had been sat open on the desk and picked it up after putting on his jacket. “Victoria you’re being naïve. You’re a passing fad and when he gets bored or decides you’re no longer useful then he’ll discard you. Oh, don’t take it badly. It’s just the way things are.”

“You little…” she began but Lex held his hand up to stop her.

“I’m going now. Feel free to snoop around although I don’t think there’s anything really that would interest you.”

Without another word he walked towards the door and out into the hall ignoring the rant he could hear coming from Victoria.


20.

For what seemed like the millionth time Chloe flipped down the little mirror and checked to make sure her makeup hadn’t got mused then glanced at her watch. Okay so he was nearly an hour late, there was nothing to worry about. He probably just got held up at home or with something to do with the plant. The blonde leaned forwards, peering over her steering wheel and out at the surrounding countryside searching for his car but to no avail. She leaned back into her seat and clasped her hands on her lap. After sitting still for the space of no more than ten seconds she reached forwards and switched the radio on only to find that the dial had somehow been tampered with and the only thing she could find was static. Chloe clicked it off again and checked her watch to discover that another very long five minutes had passed. Her irritation growing the reporter reached for her phone wondering whether she should call him or not to find that there was a message flashing telling her to call her voice message box.

She sighed as she heard Lex’s velvety voice. “Chloe it’s me. Call me when you get this message. Bye.”

Dialling in the number that she now knew off by heart Chloe waited for him to pick up impatiently.

“Hello,” an unfamiliar voice answered.

“Hello, I… I think I’ve got the wrong number or something. Um, I’m looking for Lex.”

There was a pause and then the person answered, “Oh you’ve got the right number.”

Chloe bit her lip slightly. “Is he there?”

“No, he’s busy at the moment.”

She wanted to ask what he was doing that was so important that he couldn’t come to the phone. She wanted to ask who it was that had the right to answer her boyfriend’s private phone. But she didn’t. Instead she quietly and nervously asked that he be told that she called and then rang off.

Sat in her car in the middle of nowhere Chloe realised she was beginning to feel isolated. She let out a loud sigh and accusingly stared at the display on her phone. There was a small voice inside screaming at her to try and call him again even though she didn’t know what she would say anyway if she did get through to him. It suddenly seemed to be growing cold and after peering out of the windows once more she started the engine of her car and began to drive in the direction of town.

By the time that she reached the town limits a turbulent ball of emotion had grown in her stomach and she had begun to feel physically sick. Only one solution to what had happened filled her mind. He must be seeing someone else and that someone else was probably the person who had answered his phone. The woman hadn’t sounded happy to hear Chloe on the other end of the line and the blonde girl thought she had detected the tiniest hint of jealously in the other woman’s voice. Shaking her head she tried to tell herself that she was being silly and almost subconsciously she turned her car towards Talon realising that she needed someone to talk to. This was too much. Her mind was so fuddled that she couldn’t make sense of anything. She needed someone to help her think it through rationally.

It seemed to take forever to find a parking space and by the time she had Chloe was breathing hard and desperately trying to control the flood of emotions inside of her. She was overreacting. It wasn’t like she was even certain as to what had happened so she had to be overreacting. Taking a deep breath Chloe climbed out of her car and glanced down. Perhaps a little overdressed for a Friday night at Talon but it would have to do.

“Chloe what’s the matter?” Lana asked as the blonde reached counter.

“Can we talk?” Chloe replied and seeing the look on her new found friend’s face Lana called over another waitress to take her place while she ushered Chloe into the backroom. Once there Chloe slumped down onto a battered old armchair and Lana perched on a box. “Has Lex been in this evening?”

“No. Why has something happened? He’s alright isn’t he?”

The strangest sensation began to rise in her. Chloe blinked rapidly and to her horror realised that there were tears in her eyes. Using the back of her hand the girl wiped away one that had escaped and started to trail down her cheek. “This is stupid,” she muttered angrily.

Lana stood grabbing a handful of paper napkins from a carton. She pressed them into the reporter’s hand and sat back down. “Chloe, has Lex done something?”

“No. Yes. I mean no. I mean I don’t know. We had a date and he never showed up and when I rang his cell phone to see why a woman answered.”

“Oh Chloe!” Lana exclaimed clasping the blonde’s hands in her own comfortingly. “He’s, well, he’s an ass!” The blonde girl was unable to suppress a small smile at the sound of Lana Lang swearing.

“Who is?” a new voice asked from the door. Both girls jerked their eyes upwards to see Clark stood there looking the picture of innocent. Chloe quickly looked away again not wanting her friend to see her reddened eyes.

“Hi Clark,” Lana said a small smile gracing her features.

“Are you okay Chloe?” he said after leaning down to give his girlfriend a peck on the cheek.

Chloe sniffled a little. “Sure. I’m just venting.”

For the briefest of seconds Clark appeared miffed but obviously decided it would be too taxing to question his tiny friend further.

“Clark, I was wondering whether there was anyone visiting up at the Luthor Mansion with Lex?” Lana asked and somehow, Chloe wasn’t sure how, she made the question seem innocent.

“Not that I can think of. Only his father but I guess you already knew that.”

The brunette bit her lip and appeared to think for a second. “I must have been seeing things,” she said quietly.

“Why do you say that?” Clark asked.

“Oh nothing. It’s just that, well, I thought I saw someone, a woman actually, driving one of Lex’s cars the other day and I couldn’t see her clearly so I was curious as to who it might be.”

Chloe was having a little difficulty believing her own ears and she tried her hardest not to let her mouth fall open in surprise. She had not, could not, have just heard Lana Lang lie to her boyfriend. All of a sudden Chloe could see her in a whole new light, one that was less than picture perfect but was strangely okay all the same. Quickly she turned Clark in order to see whether he had picked up on the ex-cheerleaders tiny fib but saw that his face was displaying a look of complete and utter trust.

Almost reluctantly Clark said, “It might have been Victoria, you know, his girlfriend.”

It seemed that once again the entire world seemed to have decided to fall in around her ear. Reality fix, anyone? Yup, give Chloe Sullivan a big dose she’s been living in wonderland. The figure of Victoria Hardwick, polished and pristine in her perfection loomed very large in Chloe’s mind. It was almost enough to make her laugh.

“I thought they broke up,” Lana said on the peripheral of Chloe’s thoughts.

“They did but Lex kind of hinted the other day that they were getting back together. I think it explains why he’s been so much happier lately. I’m happy for him. She always seemed like such a nice girl.”

Chloe permitted herself a silent bitter laugh. And here I was thinking I was the reason, she thought. Then added, Victoria Hardwick is not nice, she’s a cow.

“I think I should go,” the blonde said abruptly. She stood nearly causing Lana who was looking at her with an expression of big doe eyed concern to tumble from her perch.

As she moved to pass him Clark put out a hand to stop her. “I really don’t think that you should drive Chloe. You don’t look well.”

Feeling the urge to shoot the messenger she shook off his hand. “I am perfectly capable of deciding that for myself,” she snapped and stormed out of Talon.


21.

It was perhaps the most stupid thing he had ever done. Well, at least that he had done in recent times. The minute he had realised Lex had found himself fighting the urge to groan out loud in despair. How the hell could he had been as stupid as to tell her to ring and then leave his phone at home? As he stalked into his house Lex glanced at his watch and winced at seeing that the hands had already crept part nine o’clock. Chloe was going to kill him.

Entering the office Lex stopped short at the sight of the brunette sat behind his desk with her feet up. There was an open file on her lap and a glass of wine on the desk in front of her. As he came into the room she glanced up at him and smiled then at his curious expression said, “You did say to have a look around.”

Lex sighed. He should have known she would take him seriously. “Find anything interesting?”

“Not really. Looking for this?” She held up his compact little mobile phone, waving it briefly around in the air.

Lex walked across the room and plucked it from her hand. “Any calls?” he asked not wanting to appear overly interested.

She looked at him wide eyed and innocently. “No, were you expecting one?” The moment that the words came out of her mouth Lex felt a fresh rush of concern. She was attempting to keep something from him.

Leaning forwards he positioned a hand on either arm of the chair and put his face close to hers. “Who called?”

“No one. Lex…”

He took hold of her face and said, putting as much severity into his voice as he could manage. As he spoke she flinched slightly. “Do not lie to me Victoria. I am really not in the mood for it.”

“Now son I really don’t think that’s an appropriate way in which to treat your step mother.”

Lex found himself having to blink twice at the sight of his father stood in the doorway in order to clear away the surprise at seeing him. The older man was dressed in deep blue pyjamas with a matching dressing gown and slippers and he was leaning heavily on a walking stick although Lex suspected it wasn’t nearly as much as he wished to. With slow, very deliberate steps he came further into the room never taking his eyes off his son and the British woman.

“What?” he asked.

“Your stepmother. Or should I say your step mother to be.”

“You can’t be serious!” Lex exclaimed glancing from his father to the young woman in question. Victoria reached up and removed his hand before giving him a knowing little smile. The effect was somewhat spoiled by the red marks left where his fingers had been.

“Now Lex that’s beneath you,” Lionel replied. “I would have thought you would have been happy – after all, you now have two parents to irritate instead of just the one.” He held out his free hand. “Come my dear, we have plans to make.”

Victoria slipped out of the chair and as she brushed past Lex she whispered, “She seemed like a nice girl but isn’t she a little young for you?”


22.

Chloe found it was surprisingly easy to cut yourself off from the world. She went to school as usual but she no longer visited Talon on a night or nipped around to Clark’s for a quick chat. She spent as little time as possible in the offices of the Torch as every moment spent there seemed to taunt her with memories of the first night that she and Lex had spent alone in each other’s company. Pete seemed to sense that something had happened and that she needed to be left alone and after several stronger hints Clark caught on as well although the hurt look in his eyes when she finally told him where to go cut her to the bone. About the only person’s company she could stand was Lana’s and that was only because the girl kept coming over to her house and insisting on being let in to see her blonde friend. They didn’t really broach the subject of why she was behaving like this.

It was over a week since their appointed date and Chloe was still trying her damnedest to avoid him. If there was one thing that could be said for Lex though it was that he was persistent. It seemed that every time she went to answer her phone it was him and every piece of mail that arrived for her either at school or at home was from him and several time she would look out of her window and see him sat in his car further down the street obviously trying to determine whether her father was in. One time she had accidentally caught his eyes and seen the almost painful look of desperation there and Chloe had found herself having to steel her heart against giving in and talking to him. He had to know what was wrong. He had to understand.

She just felt so silly. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t known what he was like but she’d ignored it and gone falling head long in love with him.

Chloe looked up from her blank computer screen and let out a long sigh. She had been looking at it for over an hour now trying to find the will to work but instead her mind kept coming back to Lex. If she didn’t get him out of her mind soon then she was going to get into trouble at school. Leaning back on her seat Chloe reached for her coffee cup and sipped carefully.

Rain was dripping in through the slightly opened window, making a puddle on her windowsill. The blonde girl stood, wrapping her dressing gown tightly around her and shuffled over to the window. Leaning heavily on the it she pushed it down and was about to turn away when something outside caught her eye. Chloe blinked away her surprise and closed her mouth.

What the hell was he doing?

A black Ferrari was parked by the curb and as if that wasn’t prominent enough there Lex was, stood in the middle of her front garden dripping wet. She couldn’t help but wonder how long he had been standing there. Then suddenly he glanced up at her bedroom window and Chloe felt her heart begin to pound in her chest. For a moment she could do nothing but stare at him; at the way that he seemed oblivious to the rain and the intense look that she could see in his eyes even from this distance.

Abruptly Chloe remembered to breathe and drew in a shuddering draught of air. The spell was broken and she backed away from the window as the first hints of panic started to rise in her. Her thoughts turned to her father who was sleeping in the next room and she realised how lucky she was that Gabe hadn’t seen or heard anything about Lex’s recent peculiar behaviour already.

Finding her slippers and putting them on Chloe hurried down stairs and opened the front door. Lex was still stood exactly where he had been the last time she had seen him. As she opened the door he redirected his gaze from her window to her. Standing in the doorway she asked angrily but quietly, “What are you doing?”

He took several steps towards the door. “Waiting to talk to you.”

Creasing her brow into a frown Chloe said, “Well I don’t want to talk to you so just go away.”

Lex shook his head. “That’s not going to happen. I’m going to stand out here until you decide to talk to me.”

“Please Lex… What if someone sees you?”

“Let them.”

It took a couple of moments for what he said to register and Chloe felt a wave of exasperation come over her. “Why are you so stubborn?” He shrugged his shoulders. “You’re going to catch your death.”

“There’s one way to stop that.”

The blonde let out a sigh. “My Dads upstairs; what if he sees you?”

“Then we’ll think up a reason for me being here. You can’t keep avoiding me.”

“I could try.”

“But you won’t.”

“Okay, okay. Come in but be quiet.”

Backing out of the way Chloe let him inside and showed him through to the living room where he took off his coat and handed it to the blonde girl while she fussed over the mess he was making. Finally Chloe picked up a blanket that was kept in the room and threw it at him. “Sit on that,” she told him before taking the seat across from him, trying to keep the expression on her face stern and waited until Lex had finished arranging himself.

“Well?” she said.

“I talked to Lana and I found out what happened. Actually she gave me quite a dressing down. I didn’t realise you’d told her.”

“She kind of figured it out for herself. But, you know, great. You can understand why I don’t ever want to look at you again.”

“Chloe, will you just let your defences down for a moment so I can talk? What I was going to say is that I can assure you there is absolutely nothing between Victoria and myself.”

She bristled a bit at his tone wondering why everything he said always seemed to sound so convincing. “Then… then why didn’t you mention she was staying with you? Actually I’d kind of like to know why she’s staying with you at all.”

Lex leaned back and looked thoughtful. An almost pained expression came over his features. “I can hardly believe it myself but Victoria Hardwick is going to be my stepmother.”

The reporter’s mouth dropped open in surprise and she let out a brief laugh then stopped when she realised he was serious. “Lex that’s… I mean… That’s just mind blowing!”

“It wasn’t the most pleasant surprise in the world.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You didn’t give me a chance to.”

Chloe lowered her eyes. When she looked up at him again she said, “I’m not sure I can do this. Look at me – the first sign that something might be wrong and I just jump to conclusions. You… you don’t need someone like that.”

Lex leaned forwards, placing his elbows on his knees and said, “If I didn’t want that; if I didn’t want you I wouldn’t be here. It’s as simple as that. There are no ifs or buts.” He paused and rubbed his brow briefly with the tips of his fingers. If she hadn’t known better then she would have said that he was embarrassed. “Something occurred to me over the past few days that I never realised before. It was something that I didn’t imagine that me, as a Luthor, would have a chance of experiencing and discovering it rather meteorically winded me. I’m in love with you. I didn’t know what to do with the knowledge so I tried to continue as I always have done in the past and I didn’t wake up to the fact that it wasn’t working until it was, quite obviously too late. I can only hope that it isn’t too late to change.”

“You… you’re in love with me?”

“You sound surprised.”

“I am. This wasn’t what I was expecting. Urgh, I think I’m getting a headache.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “You better not be lying to me.”

“I swear I’m not. You just have to trust me.”

Looking into his strong blue eyes that at that moment she could believe him, she could believe that he was entirely sincere. The young man stood and pulled her to her feet as well as he did. Leaning forwards ever so slightly he laid a kiss on her lips and Chloe felt her heart flutter a little in her chest. When he withdrew the blonde was left hanging in the air. Damn why did he have to have such a dramatic effect on her?

“Well?” he asked hands drifting down to settle on her hips.

“Um, what?” she replied and gave a little laugh. “I can trust you again but I swear if you do anything to make me regret that decision then I’ll kick you ass.”

Lex gave a wry little smile. “I think Lana would do it for you.”

“She couldn’t hurt a fly.”

“If I was you then I wouldn’t be so sure. You didn’t hear what she said to me.”

Stepping into his embrace Chloe said, “I suppose that I should thank her then.”

“Oh?”

“If she hadn’t gone and got mad enough to speak to you then I’d probably still not be talking to you.”

“I’ll send her a bunch of flowers,” he told her leaning down for another kiss.


THE END

Warunee
19th April 2003, 01:44
This is the first fic I've read that was written by you. Definitely in my top ten list!

I have to re-read it again now.

Thanks for posting it here.

Much kudos to you, Carm.

:yay2:

Lady Candy
12th October 2003, 12:38
This ff is simply sweet ;) I like it a lot...
Any moments of love alternated with any moments of fire ;)

Clannadlvr
11th March 2004, 10:00
*grins*

This is my first time reading this fic...well done!

I loved this part...


Chloe flicked the lights on in the room and instantly felt better. Slumping down in a seat she thought, this is more like it, this is me.

I think it's so perfect how Chloe retreats to the Torch after Clark leaves her at the prom. This is just so intune with her character.

Great job!

gina
26th March 2004, 21:24
Awesome fic! How I wish *this* had happened after Tempest! I loved how it was both sweet and smutty. Great job! :)

katspell
27th March 2004, 02:54
awwww, this was great. There were lots of great lines. I also like the likeable Lana. Thanks for posting it.

starmoon
9th April 2005, 23:34
perfect.

welshy
10th June 2005, 00:23
Amazing fic :wub:

SianUrsula
18th June 2005, 18:24
wow I've got those little fluttery feelings in my chest when all the angst is resolved and there's happy endings all round. YAY! And like some other people said, it was nice to see a nice Lana for a change.. sigh... I can go to bed happy now.

arkakitty
20th June 2005, 21:54
It is great :) I loved the Lex standing in the rain...yummy :)

micah_luther
7th August 2005, 09:56
That was a refreshing story. I loved it. I'm going to read it again

darkangel
9th August 2005, 07:41
:cheeky: :grin3: :D This was hott.

noirrobin
15th December 2005, 22:41
I loved this story. It was so sweet and romantic. It is way to weird to think of Victoria as Lex's step-mother. It was really refreshing to see Chloe and Lana written as friends.

Goldielocks
16th December 2005, 19:15
that was beautifully writtin..god i wish that really did happen..but i can live it out in my lala chlex land.....thank u so m uch for writng this wonderful pieace

pipersmum
31st December 2005, 17:28
I have read alot of your stuff on your own web page and I love your writing:D This is no exception I absolutely loved it;) If only this could have happened in season 2 we would all be happy bunnies. Loved the way you wrote Lana likeable for a change:P
Lex and Chloe getting it on in the elevator:drool2: :drool2:
And i can't get the picture of a soaking wet Lex out of my head:yeahbaby:

txalb
31st December 2005, 22:51
Wow! Do I love this story or what? I don’t think there was anything about it that I didn’t like. The pace of the story was great. I never felt rushed and I through the relationship moved at a believable rate. I didn’t pick up on any spelling or grammar errors, something that's always a plus when it comes to fanfiction. And the storyline was great. I also really liked the scene with Lex, Victoria, and Lionel. Just too funny.

I really loved it, thanks for writing.

txalb

~*~Tasha~*~
8th July 2006, 09:56
Interesting piece. Victoria and Lionel ... man that just makes me cringe. {Chuckles} That dad of Lex's has some kink ... sleeping with Lex's ex's. {winks and smiles} Nice read.

Nats
8th July 2006, 15:59
Just read ur fic for the first time. Loved it. I even liked Lana in this story which is not something I usually say.

jaab
25th November 2006, 17:59
Lovely. Nicely done! :grin3:

blacktears
12th January 2007, 09:31
Very long story but i love it very much
The idea is very cool

xiaoyouangel
17th March 2007, 18:49
thanks for the wonderful story...love it!!!

Nonhalema
11th May 2007, 12:11
Loved it....great story

kitten
21st November 2009, 05:37
Hi HumbugGirl,

I think this story might be the second most likely way Chlex could have happened on the show, with the problem being Chloe's age at the beginning of season 2. However, if the network hadn't had prudes to deal with, Lex and Chloe definitely could have formed this odd friendship that became a relationship. You even dealt with all the other characters in a realistic, humane way. Amazing, and I'd never have had the patience to write something like this.

malugargula
6th January 2013, 22:11
Great fic

Ami Rose
28th February 2020, 05:51
That was cute! I loved it!