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Gemkat5
8th May 2005, 18:21
TITLE: Gentle Rain
AUTHOR: Kat
E-MAIL: gemkat5@yahoo.com
DISCLAIMER: The 'only' thing I claim to own is the insane idea that formed this story. Everything else is borrowed.
SPOILERS: none
SUMMARY: It's Mother's Day and Chloe disappears to be left alone. But Lex knows where she went and lends a little comfort. This is set somewhere in the Season 2 era, though no spoilers are used.
FEEDBACK: Of course I want FB, Sillies! :grin3:
ARCIVING: BT2, NS.Net.
RATING: PG-13 (yea, I kept this one clean...well, almost)


GENTLE RAIN

Lex drove through the steady rain with his own dark cloud over his head. He should be in a great mood. He had out bid his father, a rare achievement, and won a multi-million dollar deal. But instead of reaping what he sowed he felt an anxiety for a feisty little blonde who had been missing since early that morning.

When he had finally returned Lana's calls, she told him that Chloe hadn't been in the house that morning when everyone woke up. Then she failed to retrieve her morning coffee at the Talon. By noon her close friends and father were beside themselves trying to find her.

Pete was the one who actually tried calling her cell phone and she had answered, only to tell him to bug off and leave her alone before hanging up. She didn't want to be bothered and was staying someplace where no one would find her.

Cutting short his weekend in Metropolis, Lex headed back to Smallville immediately. He had a feeling he knew exactly where she was, and he had a suspicion as to the reason for her disappearing as she had done.

~

Lex had stopped at the Talon to speak with Lana before heading to the mansion. No one had seen or heard from Chloe except for her hanging up on Pete. Sometime around noon, Gabe had found a note that had fallen behind the end table were he kept his car keys. Lana showed it to Lex.

'I'm fine. Don't send a search party.'

One thing Lex knew about this circle of friends was that they never listened to each other. If one of them told the others to go away, they would all show up to find out why. Lex gave up pretending to understand their logic long ago. Though he admired them for their friendships with each other, a fact they could care less about.

"Give me two coffees to go, Lana." Lex told her, putting the note in his coat pocket.

"You know where she is, don't you?" she asked, pouring his coffee. He refused to answer her but the look in his eyes said it all for him. Lana made a latte for Chloe and handed it to him. "Tell her she didn't have to hide from us. We would have been there for her, or left her alone if that's what she wanted."

'You left her alone so well she had to hide in the one place none of you would think of looking for her,' he thought dryly to himself. Outwardly he politely stated, "I'll make sure to tell her."

He took the coffees and left the Talon.

~

He pulled up to the mansion, the rain showing no sign of letting up any time soon. Lex ran from the car to the front door, his manservant opening it for him as he approached.

"She's in the stables, sir," the man stated seeing Lex with two cups of coffee in his hands.

Lex paused and looked at the man, 'really' looked at him, "You're too intuitive for your own good sometimes, you realize that," Lex said in a dead pan serious tone.

"Thank you, sir. Would you like an umbrella?" Enrique replied. He had been in service for Lex too long to be intimidated by Lex's comment.

"No. I'll be fine," he stated and hurried for the stables.

He was dripping wet by the time he got into the stables, opening the heavy door one handedly was interesting in itself but he had managed it. Once inside he saw the soft glow of an oil lantern coming from the back and moved towards it. He was about halfway down the aisle when the light went off.

"Chloe," he called gently. "It's Lex. Turn the light back on." Within a minute the light came back on.

He soon reached the stall she had taken residence in and sat down on the strewn hay across from her. He had expected her to hide, try to sneak out, or at least cover her tear reddened face. But she did none of those things. She laid on the piled hay just staring blankly at the rafters.

"I brought you a latte," he stated softly. "But somewhere along the line I mixed up the cups, so now I'm not sure which one is which."

"How did you find me?" she asked, pulling herself up to a sitting position. "You don't even use these stables."

"I've known that you come here when you don't want to be bothered, or found," he affirmed, putting the cups down between them, making sure they didn't fall over.

"Are you mad?" she asked, taking one of the cups of coffee.

"Do I look mad?" he countered.

"You look wet," she stated seriously. "Very wet."

He stood up and removed his over coat and draped it on the side of the stall. "Is that better?" he asked reseating himself.

She shrugged and sipped at the cup of coffee. Grimacing, she handed it to Lex and reached for the other cup. "Did you tell anyone that I'm here?" she asked, her eyes meeting his.

"You're secret is safe with me, though I can't leave you out here by yourself, Chloe."

"Then you obviously have no idea how many times I've come here before," she said solemnly.

"Chloe," pausing until she looked at him. "I'm trying to be a friend."

"Well, you're doing a great job. Why can't anyone understand that I want to be left 'alone'?"

He bowed his head, stared at the styrofoam cup in his hands unseeingly for a moment, then rose to his feet. Shrugging on his wet overcoat, he silently left her to wallow in her misery. Not even halfway to the exit he heard her heart wracking sobs of loneliness and abandonment.

~

Enrique met his employer at the door, taking the unwanted cup of coffee and wet overcoat as he paused in the hall. Judging by Lex's demeanor, the servant refrained from inquiring about the girl and went about his chores.

Lex had called Gabe to assure the man that his daughter was safe and would most likely return home in the morning. For the next hour Lex sat before the fireplace, not liking the idea that Chloe was upset and alone in his stables. A rolling boom of thunder shook the very foundation of the mansion, the lightning that followed dimmed the lights briefly. With his mind made up he stood and headed for his room.

Returning to the main floor mere minutes later, he grabbed an umbrella from the stand by the door and, tucking the oversized blanket from his bed under his arm, he pushed out into the rain.

~

Dropping the umbrella just inside the door to the stables, Lex made his way back to where Chloe was. Quietly approaching the stall, he could see her lying on her side in a semi-fetal position, the soft glow from the lantern illuminating enough to see that she had fallen asleep.

Unfolding the king sized comforter he gently laid it over her. She jolted with alarm into a sitting position when the material brushed against her cheek.

"Chloe, it's me, Lex!" he whispered in a rush, placing his hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "I was only giving you a blanket."

She glanced at him briefly, her eyes were red and puffy from her tears, and pulled the blanket tightly around herself as she lay back down.

"I guess you think I'm pathetic," she whispered.

"Why would I think that?" he asked, pausing in his retreat to leave her alone once more.

"Since I moved here I've tried to prove that I can handle anything. That what happened in my past doesn't matter and that I don't have to live my life as the 'poor victim'. And here I am crying until I feel sick to my stomach because today was mother's day and mine left me like I wasn't worth her time."

Lex remained still, just standing there looking down at her without anything to say.

After a couple of minutes she realized he hadn't left but didn't have a reply either. Chancing a glance at him from under wet lashes, she realized suddenly how selfish she had sounded.

"Oh god, Lex, I'm sorry," she amended, sitting up to lean sideways on her arm to look up at him regretfully. "I wasn't thinking."

"It's alright. I've come to terms with my mother's death a long time ago. In fact, that was the reason I had planned to stay in Metropolis this weekend. Vying for a business deal against my father was just a cover for my true intentions."

His response, though meant to comfort her, only made her feel worse. Of all the places she could have chosen to 'hide out' for a day, how could she have been so dumb to pick being anywhere near Lex. The fact that she hadn't counted on him finding her, and knowing that he was expected to be in Metropolis until Monday, was slightly soothing for her blunder. But none the less she felt unwelcome here now.

"I'll just go," she stated demurely, gathering her few things to put inside her backpack.

"You planned to make an all nighter out of this?" he observed, noticing that the items she had brought with her could be listed as a teenager's survival pack. Complete with snack foods, flashlight, a small CD collection, and a CD walkman.

She glanced back at him, the feeling that she had done something wrong settling over her.

"Chloe, it's pouring outside. The roads aren't exactly safe. You can stay the night but at least come up to the house."

"If you're letting me stay, I'd rather sit it out in here if you don't mind. It just has the whole 'wallow in self pity' feel about it."

He looked at her thoughtfully. "Do you honestly wish to be left alone, Chloe?"

"Yea?" she answered unconvincingly. "Why drag anyone else into it?" she asked rhetorically with a shrug.

"Then you leave me no choice," he stated, removing his wet overcoat. "I'll stay with you, just in case you decide you want company."

She watched with wide, uncertain eyes as he settled himself beside her... in the straw... in a damp and dusty stable stall, wearing an Armani suit.

"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked, watching him help himself to some of the blanket. "You didn't drive through a meteor field or something, did you? Maybe get struck by lightning on the way to the stable?"

He paused in his movements and stared at her without blinking. Chloe sat back on her heels.

"Okay, I guess not."

Lex making himself comfortable put a damper on her 'being left alone' thing, but there was a part of her that was touched that he was staying.

"Chocolate?" she offered, holding out an opened Hershey's bar for him to take a piece.

He studied her for a brief moment, judging whether her offer was part of accepting him staying with her, or if she was simply trying to cover up how uncomfortable he was making her.

"No, thank you."

He watched her pop a small piece into her mouth, chewing rapidly as she reached for the latte he had brought. Another roll of thunder, followed by a sharp clap of lightening resounded around the stable with a higher intensity than being in the mansion. He noticed her jump, pausing at taking another sip to glance fearfully towards one of the windows.

"Are you sure you don't want to move to the house?"

"No, I'm fine. It's just a storm," she replied with more bravado than she was feeling. Then, as if on cue, the roof above her head started to leak, dripping water on top of her head in a steady stream. "Oh, fuck," she whispered softly, looking up while leaning to one side. "Well, there goes the neighborhood." She returned her gaze back to Lex.

"I have a state of the art entertainment system if you're interested in getting out of the rain."

She had to admit that his offer was sounding better and better as the storm raged on. "How's your DVD collection?"

He smirked at her in triumph before gathering the blanket and rising to his feet.

~

Enrique had met them at the front door, handing each of them a towel to dry themselves off with. After handing over their wet jacket and coat, Lex led Chloe to his entertainment room.

She hadn't realized how chilled she was until the warmth from the mansion surrounded her when she walked in. Now, making herself comfy on the sofa by the fireplace with a dry blanket to snuggle in, she was glad that Lex had found her.

Having found the remote control, she clicked play for the DVD to start just as Lex returned with a huge bowl of popcorn, his butler following behind with a steaming mug of hot cocoa. Handing Chloe the milk chocolate mix, the servant quietly left the room.

Lex had placed the popcorn on the table before Chloe then seated himself in a chair off to the side of the couch, allowing Chloe to have full reign of the oversized furniture. She looked over at him and took in how rigid he looked sitting there with his hands firmly placed on the arms of the chair, his back straight, and feet firmly planted on the floor in front of him.

"Is that comfortable for you?" she asked, wondering if he always sat like that, even when relaxing. He turned his attention from the TV screen to look at her questioningly. "Well, I figure it this way," she replied to his expression, her mood lifting somewhat in his company. "You were the one who dragged me out into the rain to be more comfortable indoors, the least you could do is sit next to me and make it worth getting wet."

He moved to the couch and she shared the blanket, pleased with herself that at least now he 'looked' more comfortable. She moved closer to share the popcorn, and snuggled against his side. Not even halfway through the movie Chloe slumped heavily against him, falling asleep on his lap.

With his arms outstretched on the back of the sofa, he looked down at her sleeping form. 'How the hell did that happen?' he thought with a raised brow.

"Chloe?" he called softly, lowering his left arm to take hold of the wrist that rested limply at his thigh. Lifting the limb from his leg, he stared disbelievingly at it as it hung loosely from his light grasp. "It's dead, Jim," he muttered under his breath letting her hand flop back to his leg.

Easing himself out from under her without waking her up, he turned off all the electronics then headed for the door. 'I'll deal with that tomorrow,' he thought, flicking off the light switch.

~

"Did you sleep well last night, Chloe?" Lex smirked knowingly, approaching the circle of friends standing around the counter in the Talon.

Taking a sip of her latte as she turned around, her eyes danced with mischief as she swallowed the hot liquid. "What little I got, yes, as a matter of fact, I did," she grinned back at him.

He nodded, taking his own coffee that Lana handed to him.

"I'll catch up with you guys at school," Chloe shot over her shoulder as she headed for the door.

"Thanks for the coffee, Lana," Lex commented, following the blonde outside.

"Have a good day, Chloe," he called as he walked around his car.

"You too, Lex," she called back, getting into her own vehicle.

"What was that about?" Clark asked his friends in general, after they had left.

"I'm not sure," Lana pondered with a frown. "Lex knew where she was last night and got a latte for her, that's all I know."

"Is it just me or did it seem like something happened between them last night?" Pete asked, hoping he was wrong.

"No, its not just you," Clark answered.

"They got in separate cars, didn't they?" Lana asked, leaning over the counter to see outside.

"Yea." Both Pete and Clark replied simultaneously.

The three friends stood by the counter staring outside with confusion.


The End.

Whenyoufall
8th May 2005, 20:26
That was lovely. So, did anything else happen between them later that night that you're not telling us, hmmm? :)

bluengreenswmer
8th May 2005, 21:51
Hmm...so I wonder where they're going....seperate cars don't mean nuthin....

LEXNCHLOEROCK
8th May 2005, 22:27
Hmmm...what little sleep she got....Hmmm Do I sense a sequel where we flashback to the missing hours Chloe was "in" the mansion with Lex? If not, oh please please please! Good fic! The only thing that would have made it better for me besides the missing hours is Chloe sharing memories of her mom with Lex and vise versa.

Queen Of Tact
9th May 2005, 05:00
Aww I loved it Kat, great job!!!!!

Happy Mothers Day!!!!



CC

autumngold
9th May 2005, 05:54
Thanks for the great story!! I love Chloe and Lex having secrets together!! I also love that Lex was there for Chloe in her time of need!! I would love to read a sequel to this story!! Please!! ;)

hfce
9th May 2005, 18:17
Great job Kat. That was great.


Hope :)

carebear72884
10th May 2005, 13:25
hmmmm it seems you left out a scene. (why can't us NSer's just enjoy a little fluffy chlex friendship without begging for smut?)

:wub: very cute, I loved it, you should write more.

PS: 1000 posts! I never thought I would get there!

starmoon
12th May 2005, 05:15
that was great you should write a sequel or just add more, or write more stories eaither way i am happy.

Nonhalema
10th June 2007, 21:11
yeah...clark and pete and lana confused...my happy day

Tanschana
11th January 2009, 20:05
Very very very nice!

Ami Rose
9th February 2013, 12:56
Haha. Great ending