HumbugGirl
19th December 2005, 20:47
Title: The Last Love
Author: HumbugGirl
Email: humbuggirl@yahoo.com
URL: http://www.pink-kitten.org/lamplight or http://www.livejournal.com/~humbuggirl or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lamp_light
Fandom: Smallville
Pairing: Lex/Chloe
Rating: FR13
Summary: One shot. He’d give her everything.
Spoilers: S3. AU after finale.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Smallville. I never have and never will.
Feedback: Naturally it’d be loved.
It was foolish to try really. This wasn’t Smallville after all. This was the big city. This was in the glare of the bright lights of Los Angeles and even though the bar she’d gravitated towards had looked less than reputable – and therefore more likely to serve her – it had turned out that there were more morals in that shabby looking little dive than she could ever have expected.
Chloe Sullivan stalked out of the bar, eyes narrowed in irritation and arms flapping as she sought to fasten the belt of her jacket. At least this time she had managed to keep her temper in check; she hadn’t ranted at the bartender until he had been forced to threaten to get someone to ‘remove her’. Granted her irritation had perhaps been a little over the top but, Chloe reasoned, she was young, pretty, blonde and on the run – they should have sensed her desperation and been queuing up to buy drinks for the seemingly vulnerable girl in their mists in all of about thirty seconds.
Not that she really wanted the drink. Not really. No, what she wanted was the human contact; the friendly – or otherwise - banter with the bar staff and the feeling that maybe she wasn’t quite as alone in the city as she suspected she actually was. What she had wanted was the sort of feeling you couldn’t get from either chatting briefly with someone stood behind a cash register or to some nameless, faceless person online.
The thought made her purse her lips and shiver slightly. Lex had a lot to answer for dumping her here of all places. When he said he was going to hide her away Chloe had envisioned a private island somewhere complete with bright year-round sunshine, tropical forests and a secret villa opening up onto a white sand beach. She had even toyed with the idea that there would be staff to wait on her twenty-four hours a day as befitted a guest of a Luthor. It had all seemed rather appropriate considering it was the Luthors who were behind the mess she was currently in anyway.
She had not pictured a small apartment in a big city where apparently, according to Lex, she would be hidden by the shear volumes of people. It hardly mattered that the little apartment was actually very fashionable and comfortable or that she could have anything and everything she wanted – private servants excluded. There was a refrigerator that was always stocked, a giant television and an endless supply of DVDs. There was a big comfortable bed, a luxurious little bathroom and twenty-four a day internet access from a brand new top of the range computer. She even had her own coffee machine capable of making practically every variety she could have named!
Chloe didn’t want it though; not if she was truthful with herself. What she really wanted was something that she could not have yet. She wanted to be home, in Smallville. She wanted her family and friends around her. She wanted to see Lex. Talking to him on the phone just wasn’t enough anymore; not when that meant she only got to talk to him once a week.
Her heart did that strange little hop it always seemed to do whenever she seemed to think of Lex nowadays. Chloe scolded it instantly.
She held her hand out for a passing cab – the first respectable looking one she had seen. Suddenly the desire to try and hit another bar was gone, replaced with the imagined sound of Lex’s voice if he ever found out that she had been wandering around on her own again at night – let alone that she had been trying to get served. Hell he probably wouldn’t even have spoken – just stared at her disapprovingly.
There was no doubt in Chloe’s mind that the only reason she was even contemplating thinking about what Lex would say, what Lex would want, was because he was the only person she had spoken to recently. If she had been allowed to speak to anyone else – even Lana – then Chloe seriously suspected she would still be capable of much more independent thought.
Not you think about Lana like you do about Lex, a voice remaindered her. Thank goodness. If she thought about Lana the same way she had found herself thinking about Lex recently then Chloe seriously suspected she would have found the strength to have herself committed as a meteorite freak because the next step would have been starting to stalk the girl.
In the back of the cab Chloe sighed and absently rubbed her brow. She fixed her eyes so that she was looking purposefully out the window. The last thing she wanted was for some inquisitive cab driver to start questioning her.
Just as she seriously expected the only reason that she was now listening to Lex was because he was the only person to listen to, Chloe had long decided that the sudden stirring of lust she felt whenever she thought of him or saw his picture in a magazine or spoke to him was because he was the only man she was in contact with. Sure there was the usual parade of lust-worthy men strolling around on the television screen but that wasn’t the same as being about to speak to a man, to know him. Lex was real for her whereas anyone else was anything but.
The thought made her uncomfortable; almost as if she were being disloyal to him which was even more ridiculous. The only reason she had to be thankful to Lex, to be loyal to him, was that he had helped her out of a very bad situation in Smallville.
The cab pulled up outside the apartment block where Chloe’s improvised home was. The blonde paid the driver and quickly exited, jogging up the steps and tapping in the passkey that would let her into the building.
The block was alive as she walked through it to the elevator and then along the corridor to her apartment. From beneath the doors warm golden lights shone and music, chatter or the sound of a television rang out. The block was a lively little community and Chloe had always regretted the fact that she hadn’t felt like she could get involved with it more. The truth was though that she was too nervous. She was scared of the questions that would be asked concerning why someone as young as she was came to be living alone in the city and about how she could afford the little piece of paradise Lex had arranged for her inside when she never left it to go to work. Most of all though she was scared about what would happen to anyone she became too friendly with if Lionel’s cronies found her again.
And they would find her. Chloe didn’t doubt it for a second.
The thought made her approach her door with a little more caution, running over the checklist of things that Lex had left her with when he had deposited her in the neat little apartment. She’d smiled at the time. Overjoyed at being out of immediate danger and away from Lionel she had laughed and joked about the list of things he’d told her to do without fail every time she returned home. She’d called him overprotective and fussy. He’d given her a careworn look. It had almost been sweet.
She stopped halfway through the list, abruptly aware that there was light spilling out from underneath the door. Startled, Chloe almost desperately tried to recall whether she had left the lounge light on when she had left. It had been dark outside already so it was a possibility but she couldn’t remember for certain.
Taking a deep breath she walked her way through the rest of the checks. Everything else seemed to be just right; maybe she had just carelessly left the light on.
Her hand twitched towards her pocket and the mobile phone secreted there. Stubbornly she stopped herself. This time she would go running to Lex; she couldn’t bare the thought of once again ending up looking foolish because of a mistake on her own part.
Steeling her self, fully expecting to get clobbered over the back of the head by something heavy, Chloe opened the apartment door slowly and stepped inside.
The blonde very nearly let out a cry when it swung open enough to reveal who was there. She breathed a long sigh of relief and stepped readily into the room.
“Lex!” she exclaimed closing the door.
Quickly shrugging off her coat Chloe crossed the room towards him. Surprising herself as much as she did the tall young man the blonde embraced him in a tight hug. Her initial intention had been that it would only last a second or two but somehow as she accidentally sucked in a deep lungful of his scent Chloe became reluctant to move. The moment stretched out and gradually Lex brought his arms up to stiffly return the gesture.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
Chloe froze, realising what she had been doing. For a second she stayed perfectly still, wide-eyed in astonishment at her own actions and then very slowly unwrapped her arms from around him. Taking a step back she rather awkwardly looked up at him.
“Sure… It’s just a surprise to see you here, that’s all.”
Lex raised a querying eyebrow. Chloe didn’t blame him. If she had been in his position, had been subjected to an apparently overexcited blonde teenager throwing herself at him, then Chloe suspected that she would have had a few questions as well.
“What are you doing here?” she asked quickly, deciding that going on the offensive was probably her best option. Taking another step further away from him Chloe turned and dropped her bag onto the couch.
“I was in town so I thought I’d drop by and see how you are. I’ll admit I was a little surprised to find you weren’t home.”
Chloe froze with her back still to the man. For a second she’d forgotten about that little point. In fact Chloe suspected that she rather hoped that Lex would have forgotten about that as well.
“I popped out to get the evening edition,” Chloe said, wishing that her voice sounded rather more confident than it actually did.
“Dressed like that?”
The blonde bit her lip, thankful that Lex couldn’t see her face. She resisted the urge to glance down at the top she had worn out. It was black with a plunging neckline; certainly a little low cut but not much more that usual. “Oh you know me. Always living dangerously – dressing dangerously,” she answered with faux flippancy.
“Yes,” Lex drawled.
Chloe frowned and glanced back towards him as she tried to decide whether he had really been so accepting or whether he had simply decided not to push the point any further. Either would have been a peculiar option considering exactly who the man stood behind her was; in recent weeks Chloe had almost begun to wonder whether Lex had decided to turn himself into a surrogate big brother. More than once she had prayed he had not and not only because the idea of having someone quite as intimidating as Lex Luthor for a brother wasn’t necessarily entirely appealing.
Lex was peering at her thoughtfully. The blonde met his blue eyes and shivered slightly, bringing her arms up in a subconscious self-conscious manner that she immediately regretted.
In a surprising manner Lex suddenly let out a long sigh, moving so that he was sat on the back of the couch. He brought a hand up, running it over his scalp in an irritated fashion that was far too familiar for Chloe’s liking.
“I’m trying to protect you Chloe,” he said softly. “And if you insist on wandering off all the time how am I meant to do that?”
Chloe raised an eyebrow. “I’m not going to have to start searching the apartment for cameras, am I?” she joked.
Once more he turned his eyes towards her though he didn’t comment.
The blonde started. “I’m not, am I?”
“Of course not,” Lex told her. “Though I’m starting to think it would be a good idea.”
Pursing her lips slightly Chloe took a walked towards him until she was close enough to comfortably reach out and touch his arm. Her fingers brushed the line of his bicep though the fine material of his shirt.
“You don’t need to do that,” she said. Abruptly far from comfortable the blonde girl added, “Just… Just talk to me a little more often.”
His brow creased slightly. Clearly he was mulling over what she said; no doubt, Chloe decided, taking into consideration her reaction at first seeing him. Her heart stopped in her chest. She didn’t want him jumping to the conclusion that it was him specifically she had been missing.
Not that Lex ever jumped to a conclusion, she thought. No, he’d pick at a situation and ponder it, weighing all the possibilities until he came up with the most logical solution. It was simply unfortunate for her that the most logical conclusion also happened to be the one that she missed him when he wasn’t there.
Chloe went to pull away only to become aware that Lex had caught her wrist. Softly he switched his hand around so that he was holding hers.
“You’re lonely,” he stated as if it had never occurred to him before.
The blonde nodded her head slightly. She didn’t want to say anything; she was too busy concentrating on the warmth of his hand against hers. It was delicious and rare and Chloe was damned if she was going to waste it.
“You could have said something.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Chloe told him. “It’s not like anything can be done about it anyway. Everyone thinks I’m dead.”
“I know you’re not,” he pointed out. His voice was strained and Chloe seriously suspected the reason was guilt.
Teeth clenched she moved closer to him again, ignoring the sensation of her thighs brushing against his as she did so. Instead she lightly embraced him, resting her head against his shoulder. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment.
“Don’t be like that,” she said. “You’ve done more than enough for me.”
Lex’s hand went instinctively to the small of her back. Chloe couldn’t tell whether he felt awkward or not but there was no mistaking the sentiment in his voice when he next spoke.
“I’ll never manage to do enough,” he said quietly.
Chloe tightened her arms around him. Her breathing had quickened as impromptu tears prickled her eyes. It was a sudden and unmistakeable change which Lex could not fail to miss.
She pulled away sharply, turning and beginning to walk towards the kitchen. “I’m going to make coffee and then you can fill me in on everything that’s been happening back home – and I mean everything. I need my monthly dose of weird.”
“Chloe…”
“Do you want one as well?”
“Chloe!”
She escaped into the quiet of the kitchen. Leaning with her back against the closed door she sucked in a deep breath and then felt around on the wall until she found the light switch. A second later she was nearly catapulted across the small room as Lex tried to open the door behind her.
He stepped inside, closing the door and effectively cutting off her last route of escape. She sighed and crossed to the counter, flicking the switch to turn on the fancy coffee machine.
“Chloe,” he said softly.
She froze halfway between the coffee maker and the draw with her cutlery in.
“You know you’ve only got to ask for anything you want, don’t you?
Tension rolled through her shoulders. The change must have been apparent because Lex was suddenly by her side, peering at her thoughtfully.
“I know,” she said quietly. Sucking in a deep breath she turned to him slowly. Voice shaking with nerves she added, “There is one thing you can do for me.”
“Anything,” he reminded her.
Chloe flushed brightly, ignoring the stream of thoughts that comment sent rushing to the fore of her mind. “Stay tonight,” she said finally. At the baffled look that appeared on his face she added, “It gets lonely.”
Lex shifted from one foot to the other rather apprehensively it seemed to Chloe. The blush in her cheeks deepened as she realised she had probably just stepped over the invisible line that always seemed to stand between them.
“There’s only one bed,” the businessman pointed out.
The blonde nodded, “I know.” When he didn’t immediately reply she continued rapidly, “You know what? Don’t worry about it. It’s fine. Really. You don’t have to. I just… the company…”
He reached out to catch her arm as she once again moved to step away. Slowly he pulled her towards him. Chloe held her ground at first and then gave way and allowed herself to be turned to face him. Lex slipped a finger beneath her chin and turned her face up towards his so he could study her expression. Suddenly Chloe felt utterly transparent; the suggestion she had tried to make sound innocent suddenly sounding anything but.
“What do you want from me?” he asked her.
Feeling nervous she fumbled with the words that came out of her mouth. “I’ve missed you,” she confessed. “Don’t do anything because of guilt. I don’t expect anything.”
Lex raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were in love with Clark.”
Chloe lowered her eyes, feeling embarrassed as she started to speak. “What I feel for Clark is… different. I can’t have him – I never could really and now… Well, now I never can. What I feel for you though is different again. You’re there for me Lex and I think you always have been even if I didn’t realise it.”
Once again Lex applied enough pressure to turn her face up to his. Unexpectedly he leaned down, brushing his lips over hers and making Chloe’s legs melt. She reached out and grasped the front of his shirt to stop from falling against him entirely.
“You only had to ask,” he whispered against her mouth.
Chloe smiled shyly. “You could have told me that sooner.”
THE END
Author: HumbugGirl
Email: humbuggirl@yahoo.com
URL: http://www.pink-kitten.org/lamplight or http://www.livejournal.com/~humbuggirl or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lamp_light
Fandom: Smallville
Pairing: Lex/Chloe
Rating: FR13
Summary: One shot. He’d give her everything.
Spoilers: S3. AU after finale.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Smallville. I never have and never will.
Feedback: Naturally it’d be loved.
It was foolish to try really. This wasn’t Smallville after all. This was the big city. This was in the glare of the bright lights of Los Angeles and even though the bar she’d gravitated towards had looked less than reputable – and therefore more likely to serve her – it had turned out that there were more morals in that shabby looking little dive than she could ever have expected.
Chloe Sullivan stalked out of the bar, eyes narrowed in irritation and arms flapping as she sought to fasten the belt of her jacket. At least this time she had managed to keep her temper in check; she hadn’t ranted at the bartender until he had been forced to threaten to get someone to ‘remove her’. Granted her irritation had perhaps been a little over the top but, Chloe reasoned, she was young, pretty, blonde and on the run – they should have sensed her desperation and been queuing up to buy drinks for the seemingly vulnerable girl in their mists in all of about thirty seconds.
Not that she really wanted the drink. Not really. No, what she wanted was the human contact; the friendly – or otherwise - banter with the bar staff and the feeling that maybe she wasn’t quite as alone in the city as she suspected she actually was. What she had wanted was the sort of feeling you couldn’t get from either chatting briefly with someone stood behind a cash register or to some nameless, faceless person online.
The thought made her purse her lips and shiver slightly. Lex had a lot to answer for dumping her here of all places. When he said he was going to hide her away Chloe had envisioned a private island somewhere complete with bright year-round sunshine, tropical forests and a secret villa opening up onto a white sand beach. She had even toyed with the idea that there would be staff to wait on her twenty-four hours a day as befitted a guest of a Luthor. It had all seemed rather appropriate considering it was the Luthors who were behind the mess she was currently in anyway.
She had not pictured a small apartment in a big city where apparently, according to Lex, she would be hidden by the shear volumes of people. It hardly mattered that the little apartment was actually very fashionable and comfortable or that she could have anything and everything she wanted – private servants excluded. There was a refrigerator that was always stocked, a giant television and an endless supply of DVDs. There was a big comfortable bed, a luxurious little bathroom and twenty-four a day internet access from a brand new top of the range computer. She even had her own coffee machine capable of making practically every variety she could have named!
Chloe didn’t want it though; not if she was truthful with herself. What she really wanted was something that she could not have yet. She wanted to be home, in Smallville. She wanted her family and friends around her. She wanted to see Lex. Talking to him on the phone just wasn’t enough anymore; not when that meant she only got to talk to him once a week.
Her heart did that strange little hop it always seemed to do whenever she seemed to think of Lex nowadays. Chloe scolded it instantly.
She held her hand out for a passing cab – the first respectable looking one she had seen. Suddenly the desire to try and hit another bar was gone, replaced with the imagined sound of Lex’s voice if he ever found out that she had been wandering around on her own again at night – let alone that she had been trying to get served. Hell he probably wouldn’t even have spoken – just stared at her disapprovingly.
There was no doubt in Chloe’s mind that the only reason she was even contemplating thinking about what Lex would say, what Lex would want, was because he was the only person she had spoken to recently. If she had been allowed to speak to anyone else – even Lana – then Chloe seriously suspected she would still be capable of much more independent thought.
Not you think about Lana like you do about Lex, a voice remaindered her. Thank goodness. If she thought about Lana the same way she had found herself thinking about Lex recently then Chloe seriously suspected she would have found the strength to have herself committed as a meteorite freak because the next step would have been starting to stalk the girl.
In the back of the cab Chloe sighed and absently rubbed her brow. She fixed her eyes so that she was looking purposefully out the window. The last thing she wanted was for some inquisitive cab driver to start questioning her.
Just as she seriously expected the only reason that she was now listening to Lex was because he was the only person to listen to, Chloe had long decided that the sudden stirring of lust she felt whenever she thought of him or saw his picture in a magazine or spoke to him was because he was the only man she was in contact with. Sure there was the usual parade of lust-worthy men strolling around on the television screen but that wasn’t the same as being about to speak to a man, to know him. Lex was real for her whereas anyone else was anything but.
The thought made her uncomfortable; almost as if she were being disloyal to him which was even more ridiculous. The only reason she had to be thankful to Lex, to be loyal to him, was that he had helped her out of a very bad situation in Smallville.
The cab pulled up outside the apartment block where Chloe’s improvised home was. The blonde paid the driver and quickly exited, jogging up the steps and tapping in the passkey that would let her into the building.
The block was alive as she walked through it to the elevator and then along the corridor to her apartment. From beneath the doors warm golden lights shone and music, chatter or the sound of a television rang out. The block was a lively little community and Chloe had always regretted the fact that she hadn’t felt like she could get involved with it more. The truth was though that she was too nervous. She was scared of the questions that would be asked concerning why someone as young as she was came to be living alone in the city and about how she could afford the little piece of paradise Lex had arranged for her inside when she never left it to go to work. Most of all though she was scared about what would happen to anyone she became too friendly with if Lionel’s cronies found her again.
And they would find her. Chloe didn’t doubt it for a second.
The thought made her approach her door with a little more caution, running over the checklist of things that Lex had left her with when he had deposited her in the neat little apartment. She’d smiled at the time. Overjoyed at being out of immediate danger and away from Lionel she had laughed and joked about the list of things he’d told her to do without fail every time she returned home. She’d called him overprotective and fussy. He’d given her a careworn look. It had almost been sweet.
She stopped halfway through the list, abruptly aware that there was light spilling out from underneath the door. Startled, Chloe almost desperately tried to recall whether she had left the lounge light on when she had left. It had been dark outside already so it was a possibility but she couldn’t remember for certain.
Taking a deep breath she walked her way through the rest of the checks. Everything else seemed to be just right; maybe she had just carelessly left the light on.
Her hand twitched towards her pocket and the mobile phone secreted there. Stubbornly she stopped herself. This time she would go running to Lex; she couldn’t bare the thought of once again ending up looking foolish because of a mistake on her own part.
Steeling her self, fully expecting to get clobbered over the back of the head by something heavy, Chloe opened the apartment door slowly and stepped inside.
The blonde very nearly let out a cry when it swung open enough to reveal who was there. She breathed a long sigh of relief and stepped readily into the room.
“Lex!” she exclaimed closing the door.
Quickly shrugging off her coat Chloe crossed the room towards him. Surprising herself as much as she did the tall young man the blonde embraced him in a tight hug. Her initial intention had been that it would only last a second or two but somehow as she accidentally sucked in a deep lungful of his scent Chloe became reluctant to move. The moment stretched out and gradually Lex brought his arms up to stiffly return the gesture.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
Chloe froze, realising what she had been doing. For a second she stayed perfectly still, wide-eyed in astonishment at her own actions and then very slowly unwrapped her arms from around him. Taking a step back she rather awkwardly looked up at him.
“Sure… It’s just a surprise to see you here, that’s all.”
Lex raised a querying eyebrow. Chloe didn’t blame him. If she had been in his position, had been subjected to an apparently overexcited blonde teenager throwing herself at him, then Chloe suspected that she would have had a few questions as well.
“What are you doing here?” she asked quickly, deciding that going on the offensive was probably her best option. Taking another step further away from him Chloe turned and dropped her bag onto the couch.
“I was in town so I thought I’d drop by and see how you are. I’ll admit I was a little surprised to find you weren’t home.”
Chloe froze with her back still to the man. For a second she’d forgotten about that little point. In fact Chloe suspected that she rather hoped that Lex would have forgotten about that as well.
“I popped out to get the evening edition,” Chloe said, wishing that her voice sounded rather more confident than it actually did.
“Dressed like that?”
The blonde bit her lip, thankful that Lex couldn’t see her face. She resisted the urge to glance down at the top she had worn out. It was black with a plunging neckline; certainly a little low cut but not much more that usual. “Oh you know me. Always living dangerously – dressing dangerously,” she answered with faux flippancy.
“Yes,” Lex drawled.
Chloe frowned and glanced back towards him as she tried to decide whether he had really been so accepting or whether he had simply decided not to push the point any further. Either would have been a peculiar option considering exactly who the man stood behind her was; in recent weeks Chloe had almost begun to wonder whether Lex had decided to turn himself into a surrogate big brother. More than once she had prayed he had not and not only because the idea of having someone quite as intimidating as Lex Luthor for a brother wasn’t necessarily entirely appealing.
Lex was peering at her thoughtfully. The blonde met his blue eyes and shivered slightly, bringing her arms up in a subconscious self-conscious manner that she immediately regretted.
In a surprising manner Lex suddenly let out a long sigh, moving so that he was sat on the back of the couch. He brought a hand up, running it over his scalp in an irritated fashion that was far too familiar for Chloe’s liking.
“I’m trying to protect you Chloe,” he said softly. “And if you insist on wandering off all the time how am I meant to do that?”
Chloe raised an eyebrow. “I’m not going to have to start searching the apartment for cameras, am I?” she joked.
Once more he turned his eyes towards her though he didn’t comment.
The blonde started. “I’m not, am I?”
“Of course not,” Lex told her. “Though I’m starting to think it would be a good idea.”
Pursing her lips slightly Chloe took a walked towards him until she was close enough to comfortably reach out and touch his arm. Her fingers brushed the line of his bicep though the fine material of his shirt.
“You don’t need to do that,” she said. Abruptly far from comfortable the blonde girl added, “Just… Just talk to me a little more often.”
His brow creased slightly. Clearly he was mulling over what she said; no doubt, Chloe decided, taking into consideration her reaction at first seeing him. Her heart stopped in her chest. She didn’t want him jumping to the conclusion that it was him specifically she had been missing.
Not that Lex ever jumped to a conclusion, she thought. No, he’d pick at a situation and ponder it, weighing all the possibilities until he came up with the most logical solution. It was simply unfortunate for her that the most logical conclusion also happened to be the one that she missed him when he wasn’t there.
Chloe went to pull away only to become aware that Lex had caught her wrist. Softly he switched his hand around so that he was holding hers.
“You’re lonely,” he stated as if it had never occurred to him before.
The blonde nodded her head slightly. She didn’t want to say anything; she was too busy concentrating on the warmth of his hand against hers. It was delicious and rare and Chloe was damned if she was going to waste it.
“You could have said something.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Chloe told him. “It’s not like anything can be done about it anyway. Everyone thinks I’m dead.”
“I know you’re not,” he pointed out. His voice was strained and Chloe seriously suspected the reason was guilt.
Teeth clenched she moved closer to him again, ignoring the sensation of her thighs brushing against his as she did so. Instead she lightly embraced him, resting her head against his shoulder. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment.
“Don’t be like that,” she said. “You’ve done more than enough for me.”
Lex’s hand went instinctively to the small of her back. Chloe couldn’t tell whether he felt awkward or not but there was no mistaking the sentiment in his voice when he next spoke.
“I’ll never manage to do enough,” he said quietly.
Chloe tightened her arms around him. Her breathing had quickened as impromptu tears prickled her eyes. It was a sudden and unmistakeable change which Lex could not fail to miss.
She pulled away sharply, turning and beginning to walk towards the kitchen. “I’m going to make coffee and then you can fill me in on everything that’s been happening back home – and I mean everything. I need my monthly dose of weird.”
“Chloe…”
“Do you want one as well?”
“Chloe!”
She escaped into the quiet of the kitchen. Leaning with her back against the closed door she sucked in a deep breath and then felt around on the wall until she found the light switch. A second later she was nearly catapulted across the small room as Lex tried to open the door behind her.
He stepped inside, closing the door and effectively cutting off her last route of escape. She sighed and crossed to the counter, flicking the switch to turn on the fancy coffee machine.
“Chloe,” he said softly.
She froze halfway between the coffee maker and the draw with her cutlery in.
“You know you’ve only got to ask for anything you want, don’t you?
Tension rolled through her shoulders. The change must have been apparent because Lex was suddenly by her side, peering at her thoughtfully.
“I know,” she said quietly. Sucking in a deep breath she turned to him slowly. Voice shaking with nerves she added, “There is one thing you can do for me.”
“Anything,” he reminded her.
Chloe flushed brightly, ignoring the stream of thoughts that comment sent rushing to the fore of her mind. “Stay tonight,” she said finally. At the baffled look that appeared on his face she added, “It gets lonely.”
Lex shifted from one foot to the other rather apprehensively it seemed to Chloe. The blush in her cheeks deepened as she realised she had probably just stepped over the invisible line that always seemed to stand between them.
“There’s only one bed,” the businessman pointed out.
The blonde nodded, “I know.” When he didn’t immediately reply she continued rapidly, “You know what? Don’t worry about it. It’s fine. Really. You don’t have to. I just… the company…”
He reached out to catch her arm as she once again moved to step away. Slowly he pulled her towards him. Chloe held her ground at first and then gave way and allowed herself to be turned to face him. Lex slipped a finger beneath her chin and turned her face up towards his so he could study her expression. Suddenly Chloe felt utterly transparent; the suggestion she had tried to make sound innocent suddenly sounding anything but.
“What do you want from me?” he asked her.
Feeling nervous she fumbled with the words that came out of her mouth. “I’ve missed you,” she confessed. “Don’t do anything because of guilt. I don’t expect anything.”
Lex raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were in love with Clark.”
Chloe lowered her eyes, feeling embarrassed as she started to speak. “What I feel for Clark is… different. I can’t have him – I never could really and now… Well, now I never can. What I feel for you though is different again. You’re there for me Lex and I think you always have been even if I didn’t realise it.”
Once again Lex applied enough pressure to turn her face up to his. Unexpectedly he leaned down, brushing his lips over hers and making Chloe’s legs melt. She reached out and grasped the front of his shirt to stop from falling against him entirely.
“You only had to ask,” he whispered against her mouth.
Chloe smiled shyly. “You could have told me that sooner.”
THE END