Tricky, Tricky (PG-13 to R) Chap 10 - 8/3 -Finished-

[MaskedGrace]

Tricky, Tricky -

By: Masked Grace

Chapter One -

"It's Not That Serious"

Rating: PG-13 to R.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chloe, Lex, Clark, Lana, Zoloft, Lipitor, Old Town Eatery or Dracula. The story's just for creative output and fun, I'm not receiving any money for it. Dang.

Another Note: Some of you asked for it, so here it is... Yay! :nsparty:

Feedback: Of course, I would loooove it, and you of course. :P



She was sitting on a park bench, headphones on and up to the fullest volume, no doubt. She was one of those who either listened to music loud, or had it off. As his legs traveled him closer to her, her head began to nod as her eyes flickered from her laptop's keyboard to the screen and her lips began to mouth the words of the song, or at least what he thought it was the song.

He was approaching the bench when her eyes happened to look over at the dark figure walking her way and a kind smile found it's way to her lips when she took him in, before taking her headphones off and placing them next to the CD player that she deftly turned off and closed her laptop, setting it next to it as he took a seat next to her.

"Hey Chlo." She turned back around to take him in, out in the summer warmth with one of his silk shirts on, the sleeves rolled to three-quarter lengths and his dress slacks looking impeccably clean, and to complete the ensemble, his shoes could have been mirrors. Proper summer clothing, for sure.

"Well, well, well, Lex. I thought the sunlight killed vampires,” he smirked as he remembered her accusing him of being a vampire after he stayed within the confines of his mansion for a week, too busy with trying to seal a deal to leave, and shook his head. "But maybe it's different for the all-mighty Dracula." His smirk grew into a soft smile and he relaxed into the bench's back.

"And here I thought you were going to be civil to me for once. I just might be hurt."

She mocked surprise, "Me? Civil? Let me ask Lex, have you been mixing drugs? Because you know, as your almost-shrink, I don't think it's wise to mix Zoloft and Lipitor."

That sparkle was in her eyes now - the one that told him that she was ready to take on anything he was willing to dish out on her after her statement. His eyebrow rose. She hated that he was "talented" enough to raise one without the other, since she couldn't. "What makes you think I have high blood pressure?" He saw her eyes travel to the eyebrow from maintaining eye contact and sure enough, he saw her slightly give him a glare.

"Oh, maybe it's because you just ooze stress and it has to be taking a toll somehow on your body."

"And why, exactly, is my body on your mind?"

She sputtered after his question that he said with a suggestive tone and looked away, "Uhh... No, it's not... not like that. I wouldn't think of you like that. Oh, that came out wrong. I..." her eyes came back to his and that smirk of his was spread out over his features and she felt her cheeks flush with blood.

"You?" he asked, his leg coming up to rest his ankle on his knee, making him look relaxed.

"I... am... going to kill you." his teeth were white when they were shown in the smile that she never saw out of him, a smile that reached his eyes and created crow's feet at the corners of them.

"Innocent little Chloe kill me? Why do I think that's unbelievable?"

She grinned innocently, "Because I'm... and I'm quoting you here, Lex -- 'innocent'?" she finished the statement by tilting her head and batting her eyelashes.

His eyebrow was still raised, "Innocent, hmm? Okay. So how are you and the living adjustments?" And just like that, he could change the subject. She immediately bit her lower lip in thought, her eyes falling to look at the sidewalk. It had been two months since she had graduated from Smallville High with Clark and Lana and was now attending the new college in Smallville - named appropriately "L.L. College" after Lex contributed an outrageous - and undisclosed -amount of money to build it. It was only a small college -- one of those two year ones, but for Chloe, it was better than being three hours away from everyone.

After a few days of being hounded by Lana - Clark just watched from a distance with a look of amusement on his face - of what she was doing that was so secretive, she finally gave in and told them about her moving out of her Father's house and looking for an apartment of her own and that she was, indeed, staying in Smallville. Lana had squealed, loudly, Clark grimaced and finally stepped into the conversation to ask her to move into the spacious apartment that Lana had just received from her father as a graduation present. It was weird living in quarters where Lana and Clark could - and did - flirt all they wanted, and Chloe secretly yearned for it, but tried to ignore it.

She sighed and returned to the day that was slowly getting warmer, "A bit... weird. And Clark says 'Hi'." she confided and squinted up at the sky, cursing it for not having cloud cover.

Lex noticed her glaring at the sky and had to curse it himself. Today was supposed to be another scorcher and the silk shirt wasn't making things cooler.

"Do you want to go to lunch? I'll pay."

"For your half again? I think not." His teeth came back out in a smile and he stood as she gathered her stuff and placed it into her book bag, standing to walk with him.
"So where are we going to lunch?" she asked, looking over at him, hands
in his slack's pockets and looking comfortable. She knew better.
He took in a breath and looked back over to her, "I don't know. Do you have a particular place you would like to go?"

She was actually shocked this time. Lex? Asking her where they were going? Something was going on... "What's going on Lex?" She was suddenly the reporter-Chloe, not friend-Chloe.

His eyebrows rose and he slightly shook his head, "Nothing. Just thought that since you whined all the way through the meal last time, and I don't want to go through that again, I'd give you the choice."

Chloe tried to raise one eyebrow, failed and looked at him, trying to see through his statement. "Fine. I'll believe it. For now. I was thinking about going to Old Town Eatery one of these days." He nodded his head in agreement.

"Old Town, it is. Hop in."

She hadn't even noticed that they had walked to his car, but hopped in, her book bag going to the backseat, per usual.

"Buckle up." He told her as the engine turned over and she gave him a look.

"You think I wouldn't after the last time that we made it to the restaurant in what? Point five seconds?"

"Oh, just relax. I'm carrying precious cargo... just buckle yourself up."

"Lex Luthor telling me to relax? That would most definitely have made it on the Wall of Weird. And awww... he said I was precious cargo." she teased and soon as the click from her seatbelt was heard, he pulled out from the curb.

"I wasn't talking about you, Sullivan. I was referring to that laptop back there. What kind of secrets do you have hidden in it, hmm?" As she stayed silent, she gave him a dirty look that he only smiled back to.

Today's lunch date was going to be fun, if anything. Now if only she would just remain friend-Chloe for a little while longer...



Ay Carumba! Like I said, I would love to have feedback, even if it's the ever famous, "Put your pad and pen away, kid. Stick to reading." or, "Add more, biotch!", I would love to know what you think. :)

[yasmine32068]

[QUOTE=MaskedGrace]
"And here I thought you were going to be civil to me for once. I just might be hurt."

She mocked surprise, "Me? Civil? Let me ask Lex, have you been mixing drugs? Because you know, as your almost-shrink, I don't think it's wise to mix Zoloft and Lipitor."

That sparkle was in her eyes now - the one that told him that she was ready to take on anything he was willing to dish out on her after her statement. His eyebrow rose. She hated that he was "talented" enough to raise one without the other, since she couldn't. "What makes you think I have high blood pressure?" He saw her eyes travel to the eyebrow from maintaining eye contact and sure enough, he saw her slightly give him a glare.

"Oh, maybe it's because you just ooze stress and it has to be taking a toll somehow on your body."

"And why, exactly, is my body on your mind?"

I loved this stretch of banter!!! It was too funny! Please may we have some more?!

Yasmine32068

[Louie]

Um the second one but with out calling you a bad name I find people tend to do what you want more when they don't hate you. And I do want you to add more and soon!

[Kit Merlot]

Oh man, you must add more!

I do love a flirtatious Lex Luthor, and a flustered Chloe Sullivan:D

And we do need to know what happens during their lunch;)

[lj715]

Really like it. Please add more.

[hfce]

This is classic Chlex I am so glad its back. More please.... :beg:



Hope :)

[itsjustXchar]

whoa! wait a sec here...."a little while longer"??? What the hell is that supposed to mean?? This is def. gonna be a good one. Keep up the good work.

[campbti]

That was cute, loved the banter and the details were good. waiting for more.

[kirt30]

ohh this looks like an intresting story can't wait to read what you come up with next.

[persephone47]

Aww, verry cute, I can't wait for the next part.

[MaskedGrace]

Holy!! :shocked: I didn't think that this many people would like it! :grin3: Big surprise for me when I didn't check the site for a few days and found that nine of you had replied. Hugs to everyone! :hug:
Besides that, I just stopped by to say that I'm working on the second chapter and will probably be post it today for a St. Patty's Day treat. :drinkin:

[MaskedGrace]

Tricky, Tricky -

By: Masked Grace

Chapter Two -

"Secrets"

Rating: PG-13 to R.

Note: Sorry that I forgot the summary last time. It’s in this chapter’s preceding notes. I've edited the ending of this chapter. Please make note of it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chloe, Lex, Clark, Lana, Old Town Eatery, the Talon, or...

Feedback: Of course, I would loooove it, and you of course.

Thanks to all of you who gave feedback. :) It meant so much.

Summary: Something’s going on in Lex’s life that’s got him acting not like himself. Thinking that she’s being the good friend that she is, Chloe decides to get to the bottom of it. But she never expected this.


Much to her surprise, Lex didn’t drive as quickly to the restaurant as he had the previous times that they had been able to meet for lunch. As she thought back on it, Chloe realized that they had started their lunch dates as pure accident –

She had been able to leave the campus of Smallville High due to the ‘Open Campus’ leniency and had spent the forty-five minutes in the Talon, just relaxing in one of the seats near a large window, one of her arms resting on the windowsill so that her face could turn up, into the warmth of the sun. She wasn’t sure how long she lounged there with her eyes closed and one hand around the blue and grey polka-dotted mug that warmed her hand, but she was enjoying the warmth of the spring sun after the last five months that the rain had onslaught the mid-western state.

She heard someone sit across the two-person table from her, take in a breath and take a sip here and there, but didn’t speak. She wasn’t in a rush to talk with anyone right now; she was just enjoying the little break in the day and the warmth.

Finally feeling a bit rude, Chloe sat up and opened her eyes, letting her pupils dilate and take in the person setting across from her. It didn’t take long to see the bald head and could almost see her own confusion.

“Lex?” his face was finally able to come through the dancing black dots that you can only get after looking at a bright light. He was relaxed into the back of the chair, watching her intently.

“You looked like a plant that hasn’t seen the sun for twenty years.” He commented dryly.

“Yeah, well, I feel like that,” She answered back, “what’re you doing here?”

“I should ask you the same, Miss Sullivan. Shouldn’t you be in school?” she had smirked.

“Chlo?” his voice was on her right now, instead of in front of her, and she looked up from where she was staring – the dashboard – to look at him, holding the door open and looking mildly concerned. Chloe almost snorted at that thought – Concerned. Lex Luthor. Two words that definitely don’t mix.

But he was, even if she wanted to deny it. She had become uncharacteristically quiet in the car, and first, he thought that it was because of his driving, so he kept it under seventy-five. Just barely. But she didn’t even acknowledge him slowing down a little; she just stared at the dash in front of her, her hands just slightly moving to finger the rings on her fingers. Maybe something had gone awry at the apartment and was psycho-analyzing it now, going over the “what if’s” in her head.

“Sorry about that.” She apologized with a smile, “You know me... going off on rampant thoughts all the time.” She rolled her eyes for good measure and he seemed to buy into it. She didn’t want to tell him that she was thinking about how good he looked that day – with the dark suit contrasting to his pale skin and green eyes watching her with that look in his eye that usually preceded a good romp in the bed at least twice. And oh Jesus, those lips --

He smiled back and closed the door after she had nervously run her sweaty palms down the sides of her jean skirt. She suddenly wished that it was longer than mid-thigh. All sorts of images flew through her mind’s eye at the thought of it riding up higher because of a certain person’s hand trailing... They were seated. How’d they get from the car to the table already? She shook herself out of her reverie and smiled at the waiter politely.

“Ice water is fine, thanks.” Lex nodded after the waiter had turned to him, indicating he wanted the same.

She finally took him in and couldn’t help but chuckle softly. He looked out of place in the restaurant, with the painting of a silhouetted cowboy on his horse and looking out at the sunset and the old wagon wheel leaning against the wall. Not to mention the red-and-white checkered table cloth clashing horrendously with his royal blue shirt.

He quickly glanced up at her from looking down at his menu and then looked back down at it, snapping his head up to look at her once more in what people call a ‘double take’, “What?”

She shook her head. She left her menu where the waiter had placed it, “We can leave if you want to.”

“What? Why?” He closed one side of his menu, folding it so it was now only two pages.

“I thought you’d be uncomfortable.” She told him honestly and he furrowed his eyebrows.

“Why would you think that? I live in this town, too... It’s not like I haven’t been here before.” He paused before his eyes flickered over her shoulder and back to her. “It’s the shirt, isn’t it?”

She grinned. “A little bit, yeah.”

“Thought so after seeing that woman staring at me like she’s going to slap some flannel on my ass and call me Jethro. Oh god, she’s still staring.” She closed her eyes and snorted, it turning into a full-out laugh as he smiled across the table at her.

The waiter came while she was laughing, bearing their drinks and a pad and pen, waiting for their order.

Chloe’s eyebrows shot to high heaven when she heard Lex’s order after she had ordered the pancakes special, “A hamburger, hmm? What’re gonna do? Cut it up and eat it like a sissy man?” she had taken on a southern drawl and dropped her voice down an octave, making him grin back at her.

“Just you watch, I’m gonna eat it like a true southern boy. All messy and the likes.” He teased back, making her smile back in surprise. They were silent for a few beats before he corrected the silverware order and straightened the napkin on the plate.

“So, what were you thinking about earlier that got you so silent?” he asked, his head tilted slightly to the side.

She took in a breath and looked at him over the table, a smile tilting her lips into a goofy, lop-sided grin. “About the beginning of our lunch dates. Do you remember? At the Talon?”

He nodded and leaned back in the chair, slouching down a bit as his arms went back to lace his hands behind his head, “You were sitting by one of the windows and trying to tan.”

Her mouth gaped open at him, “I was not trying to tan!” she cried, “I was enjoying the warmth. And then you had to come along and make it all chilly with that glare you were giving me.” She half-pouted, half-glared. Only Chloe could pull off that look.

“I was giving you a glare? I don’t remember that. I remember coming over and smiling at the fact that you looked like a content kitten, sitting there on a windowsill, sun napping.”

She blinked. Three times to be precise. “A kitten? You thought that I looked like a – a kitten?” he nodded and he sat up straighter as the waiter placed their food in front of the respectable person. No way had Lex just said that she looked like a kitten. Kittens were cute, fluffy little fur balls that made anyone fall in love with them after a small meow. But that was absurd, Lex was only trying to pay her a compliment.

As he reached for his food, she was still sitting erect, not even bothering to reach for a fork, “What?” he felt like he was beginning to be a parrot with repeating the word so much.

“Lex, you never cease to amaze me.” She shook her head and leaned forward, starting on her breakfast slash lunch.

He shrugged, his hands taking up the hamburger and bringing it up to his mouth, hardly being able to chew it after glancing across the table at Chloe and seeing another shocked expression; the fork was halfway to her mouth, the maple syrup dripping off the two pieces of pancakes.

His cheeks were so full of food that he had to bring the napkin that was resting softly on his lap, up to his mouth and smile behind it, having to look away before everything was lost and he laughed, spewing his food all over the table.

When he finished chewing and leaned forward to take a drink of water, he met her eyes again, but she was no longer frozen. Instead, she was nibbling on the bacon that came as a side dish. She smiled, shaking her head.
“I didn’t actually think that you’d go through with it. I mean... my God, Lex! Do you always take so big of bites so that you look like a chipmunk?” He snorted into the glass and set it down, wiping his mouth on his napkin.
“Is that payback for calling you a kitten?”

She shrugged nonchalantly, “Perhaps. Or maybe, just maybe, you need to take smaller bites next time as to not scare your eating companion.” He smiled back, the same smile that she had first seen earlier and she could have sworn she saw kindness in his eyes. Maybe she was getting too much sun.

Smiling back, they went on eating silently for the rest of the meal.


When they had finished and Lex had handed over his Visa to pay for it, she caught him glancing over her right shoulder again.

“Is she still staring?” she asked, her smile growing with every word. His eyes checked again and he smiled brightly at her.

“You would think I was a natural phenomenon with how she’s staring.” He talked through his teeth and she had to chuckle.

“Maybe she thinks you’re cute.” She teased.

Lex’s face fell, “Don’t joke like that, Chlo.” She laughed as he scribbled his signature on the dotted line for the receipt and put the credit card back in his wallet, slipping it back into the front pocket of his slacks.

They began walking back to the car, Chloe waiting until the restaurant’s door closed behind them to start laughing.

“She sure was a burly woman, Lex. I hope you know how to be dominating, ‘cause I’m sure she knows how to be.”

He smiled and scrunched his eyes closed, shaking his head at the images flying through his brain after the thought and opened the door for her, still hearing her laughing from outside the car.

She was struggling for breath when he started the car and barely could buckle herself in, “I could just imagine your kids... Jethro Junior! HAH!” she threw herself into another fit of hysterics and he shook his head, pulling away from the restaurant.

“Do me a favor, Chlo, and shut up.” He smiled over at her and she took in a shuddering breath, wiping a finger under her eyes to wipe away the tears. “I hate you Chlo. I really do.”

She barked out a laugh toward the roof. It was quiet for a few moments before she furrowed her eyebrows and looked over to him, “Wait... when did you start calling me ‘Chlo’?”

He took in a breath. Lex wondered when she would ask about that. The first time had been by pure accident. He had heard Clark call her that for years and it slipped out. And then it became a habit. And now, it was a sign of affection. Yes, him, Lex Luthor, was affectionate towards someone. Oy, how was he supposed to word this?

And considering the circumstances, he really should tell her. He sighed.
“Lex?” he looked over to her quickly and smiled reassuringly.

“I’m not quite sure when I started. I’ve been calling you that for a while now; I can stop, though... if it bothers you.” His eyes returned to watching the road when he began speaking.

She smiled to the passenger side window, “No, it’s okay with me. I kind of like it, actually.”

Lex drove her back to the college for her afternoon classes and dropped her off with a smile and waited until she was out of sight to drive away. She went through the rest of the day, randomly chuckling at the image that was presented in her head with Lex wearing plaid and calling himself Jethro and standing next to the hefty woman from the restaurant.

And thus, from that day, Lex and Chloe continued with their lunch dates, meeting every week on Thursday, unless Lex called and moved the half-hour long meal to a different day. He made a point never to cancel completely on her, scheduling it when he knew he had break in meetings or when he was on his way to Metropolis.

Chloe secretly enjoyed that he was a stable friend in her life now, no longer poking his head in when he needed her for her investigative skills or even for a conversation buddy at a random lunch date. Nope; he was there every week, picking her non-driving ass up from either the park that was near to the apartment, or the Talon, which was air-conditioned and felt lovely on sweaty skin, and had the effect of sometimes being their place for lunch, and happened to be closer to the apartment than the park. Sometimes, she found herself zoning out during his one-sided conversations that he regularly had when his eyes were cast down to a menu and wasn’t paying attention to her, and she’d find that she was thinking what he looked like in a tux at the front of a Church, or even what he looked like naked, hovering over someone with sweat glistening off his muscles as he made love to them.

Of course, he’d wake her out of her daydreams and she’d blush profusely, always making the excuse that she had her mind on her schoolwork and that she had a large project that was due soon. Obviously, that was a lie, her crimson cheeks giving it away, but she always stuck to it.

She just couldn’t understand why it was always her walking towards him and the lines of Best Men and Bridesmaids in the Church as he smiled handsomely in his tux, and it was her whom he was looking down at, bending down to give a searing kiss to while they were making love.

Finally, after laughing at one of her own jokes and watching as he rolled his eyes and returned them to the menu before him, she realized the flittering in her stomach wasn’t because she was hungry, but because she had a crush. On freaking Lex Luthor. She suddenly wasn’t so hungry after that.

[Louie]

cute and lovely all the way through to the end where it went all yewy and gross. more soon please.

[kcsgirl82]

I absolutely positively loved it!!!!!!!!!! update when you can!!!!!!!!!!!!

[lj715]

Loved the update! I could just see Lex @ the table with his mouth full of food. Please update soon.

[hfce]

I love this so much. More please and Chloe please give it up you got Lex. :D


Hope ;)

[Krysia]

There was a sinking feeling in her gut when she realized that both Clark and Lana both had the afternoons off on Fridays. She could almost feel her heart break at the realization that Clark was officially off-limits. [/color]

Poor Chloe , eventhrough I think Clark and Lana deserve eachother, that is still a hard way to realize somebody won't be with you. I hope Lex can make it all better ;)

[itsjustXchar]

I'm hooked. Point blank.

[MaskedGrace]

Tricky, Tricky -

By: Masked Grace

Chapter Three -

"Just A Friend"

Note: Sorry that I forgot the summary last time. It’s in this chapter’s preceding notes. I've edited the beginning of this chapter. Please make note of it.

Disclaimer: You don't know this? Check chapter one.

Feedback: Of course, I would loooove it, and you of course.

Thanks to all of you who gave feedback. :)

Summary: Something’s going on in Lex’s life that’s got him acting not like himself. Thinking that she’s being the good friend that she is, Chloe decides to get to the bottom of it. But she never expected this.



Chloe sighed with relief when she slid the key into the lock in the door and opened it, kicking off the flip-flops next to the couch. It was the end of July and the heat was never-ending. Summer was just at it’s peak and Chloe wished that fall would come already. She made her way to the kitchen to get herself a glass of ice water when she heard it – a moan. And it wasn’t a death moan after throwing up stomach acids for the past half-hour or even the moan of eating a sugary sweet that you haven’t been able to eat in a very long while.

It was a moan of gratification.

Blushing wildly, Chloe hoped that she hadn’t made too much noise while she came in and quickly retrieved her book bag off the couch and hurriedly put her shoes back on and quietly closed and locked the door, leaning against it when she was done. There was a sinking feeling in her gut when she realized that Clark and Lana both had the afternoons off on Fridays. She could almost feel her heart break at the realization that Clark was officially off-limits.

Chloe pushed herself away from the door with tears in her eyes and her lunch in her throat. Feeling that the elevator was going to make her stay on the floor any longer than she wanted to be, she ran for the stairs and raced down the three flights to the foyer. Only until she was out in the heat did she feel that she was able to breathe. But she still felt weak.

She leaned against the doorjam, trying to compose herself enough to make it somewhere - anywhere - where she didn't feel the cold of losing someone against her back. Or maybe that was the air conditioning from the building. She gave it a second's thought and decided that logic had no place in her head now, and rose a hand to her cheeks to brush the new tears away, the sounds of her harsh breathing and thumping heartbeat in her ears. She let her legs bend under her and she slid down the building, her elbows on her knees and her hands cradling her head as sobs racked her body.

There was a shadow over her now, making her feel colder, but she didn't look up. It was probably just someone waiting for the bus.

"Chlo?" There was a soft hand on her back that accompanied the voice and she sniffled as she rose her head. Lex was here. And he was wiping away her tears. That made her cry more, "Chlo? Hey, why are you crying? What happened?"

She shook her head and bit her lip, closing her eyes for a few moments before opening them and saw that tears were clinging to her upper eyelashes now and had to remind herself to breathe, taking in a big, shuddering breath, "Just get me away from here, Lex." He nodded.

"Can you stand up?" he asked, and she nodded her head, having trouble with it since her legs had suddenly lost their strength and she wobbled. He picked her up before she collapsed. She curled up to him automatically. Lex hoped that she hadn't noticed him taking a deep breath of her as he made his way to his car.

"Excuse me, sir? Could you open the door for me?" He asked a passing pedestrian. The man looked like he was in his early to mid-forties and nodded once he saw the crying woman in his arms, "T-thanks." Lex choked out; he hadn't thanked someone in a long time. The man nodded and went on his way.

"Chlo?" he asked, brushing the hair that had been in her face, away. She looked up from her lap and he wiped away her tears again, "Do you mind if we go back to the mansion? That's the only place I can think of."

"It's fine, Lex." she tried to give him a smile, but failed. He nodded and hesitated for a second before pulling away from her and closing her door, making his way to the driver's side.

She never noticed that his car smelt of him, before now. It smelt of rich spices and his aftershave and undertones of soap. Her eyelids drooped shut and Chloe Sullivan fainted to the smells of comfort.



Lex was buckling himself in when he saw that she fainted and he checked, making sure that her's was buckled properly as well, and took off from the curb, driving quickly to the mansion. On the way there, he wondered what had happened to make her break under like that. It looked as if her entire world had been crushed, taking her down with it.

He was kicking up a dirt cloud from the car as he screeched to a halt on the gravel and parked his car haphazardly. He was out and around it before he even had time to think. There was two things that he could think of to make Chloe like this: it was either journalism or Clark Kent. He would've bet the whole left side of his body on the latter.

He sighed as he leaned his shoulder against the doorbell, and a moment later one of his security guards opened the door, his hand reached into his jacket. It was taken out as Lex climbed the few stairs and entered his house, calling over his shoulder, "Mike, get some soup heated up in the kitchens. I'll be in my room."

It was much harder carrying a Chloe who didn't support some of her own weight and struggled not to hit one of her limbs on the doorway. Setting her down on the crimson of the silk sheets, he finally noticed how pale she looked. That wasn't a good sign. He sighed as he took the strap of her bookbag off his shoulder and set it down next to the nightstand. He reached over and untied her sneakers and set them next to her bag before lifting the comforter and gently took it out from underneath her and placed it over her form, tilting his head to the side as he stood there, watching her until a sound at the door rose him from his thoughts.

Mike was carrying one of the wooden trays and on it sat a steaming bowl of soup and a side of crackers. He sat it down on the nightstand and walked the few steps to stand by Lex, "Are you going to tell her?"

Lex exhaled a breath as he turned away from her and instead, looked at Mike, "I have to. I wish I didn't, though." He cast a glance over his shoulder as they moved out of the room, towards his study that was connected by a set of handsome Oak doors on the right side of the room.

"When are you going to?" Mike asked, following Lex into the room. He stood while Lex sat in a large, over-stuffed chair and slouched down in it, getting comfortable while he reached for a thick book next to the chair and opened it, laying it on his lap.

"Soon." Lex sighed out the word, "But not today." Mike nodded.

"You have to do it soon. Before --" he was cut off by Lex.

"I know." He nodded once more and left the room without another word.



Chloe woke to softness and the smell of allspice. She allowed herself a few deep breaths of the spice and opened her eyes, panicking when she saw that the room was much larger than her own and in rich, deep colors. She gasped as she sat up and groaned as she instantly felt lightheaded and laid back down, the world swimming around her. She searched why she would be in a room like this and instantly remembered the moan, the coldness, and the feeling of being sick and felt as if someone had socked her in the stomach. The feeling was back.

Lex walked leisurely into the room, heading towards the door when her movements were caught out of the corner of his eye and he turned, watching as she yanked a hairtie from her wrist and pulled her hair back into a small ponytail and gulped as she looked up at him. She was moving to the side of the bed and gulped again. She wasn't sure how long she could hold off from throwing up.

"Bathroom." she croaked and he nodded towards a door and she bolted for it, closing it carelessly behind her as she choked out her lunch.



Lex cringed at the sound and sat on the edge of his bed, waiting until she rinsed her mouth out in the sink and opened the door, shuffling her way to the bed with new tears wetting her skin around her eyes.

"Chlo?" he asked, turning after she crawled into his bed, her back to him. "Chloe." he pressed.

She sniffled and closed her eyes, "He had sex with her." her voice was quiet.
"Who?" he asked, scooting closer to her. She rolled over at the contact of his hand on her arm.

"Clark." she moved her eyes to look at the canopy of the bed and studied it before talking again. The tears were welling up in her eyes and her vision was becoming blurry, "I went into the apartment and they were having sex. I don't think I can ever look at him again."

Chloe closed her eyes and shook her head as the tears rolled towards her ears and rolled back over to face away from him. She didn't like people to see her cry.

"That wasn't what I was going to ask, but I'm honored you told me. There's soup on the nightstand if you feel up to eating." He left with a click of the door.



It was almost a quarter of an hour once Chloe settled herself down and gave herself a stern lecture in her head. She sat up gingerly this time and looked at the soup, furrowing her eyebrows at the fact that Lex had thought to get her soup. Thoughtful Lex wasn't the Lex she knew.

Noticing her bag, she reached for it and plucked her laptop out of it, setting it appropriately on her lap. She had some digging to do.


Lex parked his car at the front of the apartment building again and waited impatiently for the elevator.

"Hey Lex, come on in." Clark opened the door wider and Lex took the invitation, noticing Lana in the kitchen humming contentedly as she made a sandwich. He looked back towards Clark once the door was shut and he had his attention.

"Chloe's not here right now, but is there anything that I can help with?" Clark asked, his hands finding their way into his jeans.

"Clark, I know Chloe's not here. She's at my house now. Apparently, she ate something bad when we went to lunch. I'm just here to pick up some clothes." Clark looked worried. Lex could feel his anger at the younger boy fill his veins. He needed to remind himself that he was a friend of Chloe's, too. Any good friend would be concerned.

"Is she okay?" Clark asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Like I said, I'm just here for some of Chloe's clothes. If you could point me in the direction of her room, that would be great."

Clark nodded as Lana finally came into the room with her sandwich and a glass of milk. Lex took a moment to question Clark's sanity before he started speaking, "Chlo's room is this way." He turned his head to find Clark already walking to the room.

"Thanks, Clark. I think I can manage on my own from here." He tilted his head in the 'I'm-suspicious-of-you' look that Clark probably had copyrighted, but nodded a second later and walked back to the livingroom. Lex closed the door behind him and had to smile at the state that Chloe's room had been left in. He was going to be lucky if she had any clothes that weren't strewn over everything. He turned to the closet and went to work finding a duffel bag.



"I'm telling you Lana, something's up with him." Clark was being a drama queen in Lana's opinion, again.

"Oh, come on. You say that about someone every week, Clark."

"And when have I been wrong?" he retorted and couldn't help but think that Chloe was beginning to rub off on him.

"Clark, c'mon and leave him alone. He's just trying to help out Chloe." Clark sighed dramatically. She took another bite of the sandwich.

He rubbed his face and shook his head, "I know, but Lex doesn't usually act like this. Something's up." Lana rolled her eyes and shoved the rest of her sandwich in his mouth, laughing giddily as she kept the glass of milk from Clark as the peanut butter stuck to the top of his mouth and he struggled to swallow, reaching for the glass.



Lex heard their laughter from her room and shook his head, trying to tone them out. He mentally made a list. He packed some shirts, pants, a skirt... what else? A thought finally struck him and his eyes darted up from his fingers, quickly looking around to see if anyone had read his thoughts. Underwear. He had to pick out underwear for a non-girlfriend. Oy.

Moving to her chest of drawers, he had to fight out the thoughts that were running through his head as he found her underwear slash sock drawer and found various styles. He sighed and shook his head, one word going through his head: Pedophile.

[kcsgirl82]

Loved it!!!!!!!!!! What were Lex and that other guy talking about that Chloe needs to know!!!!!!!!!!! Please update soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Krysia]

"Can you stand up?" he asked, and she nodded her head, having trouble with it since her legs had suddenly lost their strength and she wobbled. He picked her up before she collapsed. She curled up to him automatically. Lex hoped that she hadn't noticed him taking a deep breath of her as he made his way to his car.


I loved this part. Too many times Clark and Lana broke Chloe's heart and she had to noone to turn to, she had to pick the pieces by herself. I'm glad this time Lex is there for her.
Grr, of course sleeping with lana somewhere Chloe can run into them doesn't stop Clark from being suspicious of Lex and his friendship with Chloe. A part of me hopes Clark will do something stupid soon and Lex won't be able to control himself and will tell him what a jerk he's beeing towards Chloe.
So what's the big secret Lex is keeping from Chloe? ;)

[hfce]

That was agreat update but what does Chloe have to know?


Hope ;)

[Louie]

Oh, I wonder what secret plans Mr. Luthor has up his (very expensive) sleeve. and really she's not even that much younger then him her could not really be a pedophile by touching here underwear, he'd just be a dirty man.

[leik2]

Too many good parts to quote. Enjoyed.
Okay so the obvious question: What does he have to tell her?

[yasmine32068]

Too many good parts to quote. Enjoyed.
Okay so the obvious question: What does he have to tell her?


Hey thats what I want to know too!

Yasmine32068

[meg20]

This is a nice story!!!
Like Chlex interaction and hope that you are going to post more soon!!!

[MaskedGrace]

Too many good parts to quote. Enjoyed.
Okay so the obvious question: What does he have to tell her?



Hey thats what I want to know too!


Yasmine32068

You'll have to wait, dear children, because...

okay, I'm not in storytelling mode. Sorry. :P But like I said, you'll have to wait. I'm making this a shorter story than what I first intended it to be... we have maybe three more chapters to go, and you'll learn all about the mystery either in the next chapter or the one after that. I don't have my outline notes with me at the moment, and I haven't even started on the fourth chapter, but I'll work on it to today and if I'm lucky, I'll have it posted this weekend. :)

Thanks to everyone who gave feedback -- I thought this story was horrifically bad, but all of you who have replied have really raised my spirits about it. Thank you!

[Louie]

Ummm, are you coming back to this soon? Please.

[MaskedGrace]

Lol yes, I am coming back to it. The next chapter has been a little difficult to write due to the fact that my Phantom muse from the attic has been quiet for the past few days and hasn't given me any ideas of how to take it. Luckily, I wrote quite a bit today and will try to post it tonight. If I'm not able to tonight, I'll post it tomorrow :)

[persephone47]

The last scene with lex picking out clothes was great, I can't wait for the next update.

[Louie]

Lol yes, I am coming back to it. The next chapter has been a little difficult to write due to the fact that my Phantom muse from the attic has been quiet for the past few days and hasn't given me any ideas of how to take it. Luckily, I wrote quite a bit today and will try to post it tonight. If I'm not able to tonight, I'll post it tomorrow :)

Sweet

[MaskedGrace]

Tricky, Tricky -

By: Masked Grace

Chapter Four -

"So What Does It All Mean?"

Rating: PG-13 to R.

Note/Warnings: Okay. So a little bit of language in this chap. If you're offended, well.. too bad. :P And I know that Chloe doesn't need corrective lenses, but I thought it would be an interesting little... thing. Also, there’s a bit of sexual innuendo. And… Lex is slightly OOC (gaah! I know. I’m sorry).

And this is also kind of like Reese's Challenge... well, it gave me the idea for it. Much thanks to Reese. :)

Disclaimer: You don't know this? Check chapter one.

Feedback: Of course, I would loooove it, and you of course.

Thanks to all of you who gave feedback. :)

Summary: Something’s going on in Lex’s life that’s got him acting not like himself. Thinking that she’s being the good friend that she is, Chloe decides to get to the bottom of it. But she never expected this.




Okay, I’m not a pedophile. She’s over eighteen. It’s okay; it’s legal. I’m just a... dirty old man. Dear God... I need to calm down and quit thinking about those little boy briefs that had a fucking zipper in the front. Oh Jesus .

Lex was arguing with himself as he forcefully zipped up the duffel and slung the strap over his shoulder, too involved in his thoughts to hear Clark speak to him when he entered the living room.

“Lex?” That time he got through.

“Yes, Clark?” Lex asked, turning from the open doorway.

“Did you make sure to grab Chlo’s contacts?” Clark asked with a half-empty glass of milk in his hand. Lex blinked.

“No, actually, I didn’t know that Chloe wore contacts.”

Clark nodded and set down the glass, walking to where Lex guessed the bathroom was. He came back a few seconds later, holding a couple of boxes of contacts, a case, and a pair of glasses. Lex took them and tried imagining Chloe wearing the purple framed glasses, staring down the screen on her laptop and nursing a mocha. Well, he could almost do it.

“Thanks.” he nodded to Clark and turned, “Lana.” he nodded to her also and she smiled back before he turned and left, his mind revolving around one certain pair of panties that he had put into the bag and now regretted it, knowing he was going to be interrogated from Chloe as to why he was in her underwear drawer to begin with.



Chloe sighed as she rubbed a spot over her eyebrow where pressure was starting to make itself known in the form of a headache. She hadn’t found anything and it had been a half hour since Lex left. She closed the laptop, put a hand up to her neck and bent it this way and that, trying to relax the tense muscles. She looked up when Lex barged in without even checking that she was there, or at least even decent.

“You know, I could have been naked.” She replied, giving him a look and he smirked back.

“But you’re not. So I have nothing to worry about, and I have seen naked women before, you know. Seeing as how this is my bedroom, they’ve mostly been seen in this room. Besides that, I went to the apartment and packed you some clothes, picked up your contacts and your glasses. I wasn’t sure which you preferred, so I just took both.”

She stared at him as he set the duffle on the floor next to the bed and placed the eyewear on the nightstand, noticing that she hadn’t touched the food as he sat on the bed.
“You packed… my clothes?” There was that smirk again.

“Yes. And let me say, Miss Sullivan, I didn’t know that you had such a wide arrange of panties. There’s this one pair that I wanted to ask about…” he trailed off as he unzipped the duffel slightly and pulled out the black underwear with the zipper that had spurred many naughty thoughts in a split second. The color drained out of her face as he raised them, his fingers holding the fabric on either side and rose an eyebrow, “Now, are you secretly a dominatrix in the bedroom, or are you just kinky?”

Her face flushed at his question, “LEX!” and grabbed at the underwear, wadding it up in her hand, “My God, you dirty old man! Why were you thinking about me being a dominatrix? Hmm?”

He looked at her boredly, as if the question he had asked was sarcastic, “Actually, I had my money on you being kinky.”

She was gaping like a goldfish before her mouth closed and she glared, “Oh yeah, and I keep handcuffs in my nightstand so that I could handcuff you to the bedposts and then drip chocolate syrup over your naked body and slowly lick it off to be a tease. Puh-lease.” She rolled her eyes and leaned over, dragging the duffel closer to her to shove the panties back in the bag.

“And there you go, thinking about my body again. You know, I might start thinking that you think about it quite often. Could I go as far as to say all the time? I might. That might not be too great for your health, being obsessive over it. I bet it kills you that I’m this close and you can’t touch me.” He was smirking again, now.

She snorted and looked back at him once she sat up. There was that glint again. “Oh, of course.” She mocked, “but you seem concerned about my health, too. Maybe a little too, much, eh, Lexy?” It was his turn to glare as she used the nickname that his girlfriends continuously called him – even after he asked for them to stop – and she grinned.

He waited, pausing for dramatic effect, “I’ve got some work to attend to, and it looks as though you may be tense – oh, shut up, Chloe,” he stressed as her grin turned into a smirk that could compete with his, at his comment, “I have a rather generous bathtub in the bathroom, and since you may have been busy when you last occupied it, you’re welcome to investigate. I’ll be downstairs, in the study, if you need me.” He stood and before she even had time to think about it, her mouth was spilling out words that her brain needed to know.

“Lex, what’s going on?” the question she asked earlier came back and he stopped in his tracks, heart thumping wildly enough for the sound to be called an African drum beat. How should he tell her? He thought for a moment on the question.

Not like this…

“I’m just meeting with… a client… is all, Chloe. There’s shampoo underneath the sink with the towels. Take as long as you need.” He spoke to the door and quickly opened and closed it, leaving her there to stare at it, confused. What the hell just happened?



Lex sighed as he moved down the lengthy hallway shook his head, checking his watch. It was only five-thirty? Jesus, this day was going slow.

“Hello Mister Butler. Thank you for coming.” Lex sat down behind his desk, folding his hands over the glass that served as the table top.

“Of course, Mister Luthor. Now, what did you want to change?”

“I want to give Chloe Sullivan everything.”



Lex was right; this bathtub was huge. She hummed a soft melody and closed her eyes as she relaxed into the back of the tub, reviewing on her victory from the last conversation. That’s right! Chloe Sullivan: 2, Lex Luthor: 1. Opening her eyes, a smile was tugging at her lips when it disappeared with the thought of Clark and Lana being at the apartment when Lex was there… how else could he have gotten in?

Sitting up, she snatched up the bottle of shampoo that she had found under the sink with the towels, just like Lex had said. Squeezing the liquid into the palm of her hand, she set the bottle back down before moving on to shampoo her hair and try to concentrate on anything that didn’t involve Clark Kent. Problem was – Clark was a big part of her life… up ‘till now. Most of her thoughts and memories revolved around him… up ‘till now.

She decided to concentrate on Lex’s behavior. He was certainly acting more mysterious today, but from what history taught her, Lex was just about always mysterious. Unless you were one of the few who were in on his inside loop that she knew she wasn’t part of. She was just an eating companion; a lunch buddy. Sliding further into the water, she ran her fingers through her hair to rinse out the shampoo and contemplated giving up on breathing, but decided that Lex probably wouldn’t want a bathtub with a floating Chloe inside of it. And she was naked… not how she would want to be found. For a moment, the words “Who cares?” flittered through her thoughts, but her hand reached down and pulled the plug from the bottom of the tub, and she took in a deep breath after she had broken the surface of the water. During her thoughts, she didn’t even notice that her lungs were burning.

Wiping away her wet hair from her face and ringing the excess water out of it, she stood and reached for the towel she had chosen when she found the shampoo and wrapped it around her, noticing a stitching on one of the corners. Lifting it up to see it better since she had taken out her contacts while she bathed, it was twin L’s. These were Lex’s towels. This was Lex’s bathroom. That was Lex’s bedroom. That was Lex’s bed.
Getting out of the tub carefully, she went to her duffel that she set in front of the sinks and dug around in it. Damn. Lex obviously didn’t know to get her lotion. And she noticed that her skin was already showing signs of being dry from the soap in the tub. Going through the numerous drawers and the cabinets, she finally found a bottle of lotion. It was regular lotion; nothing fancy. Chloe bit her lip in thought. It was Lex’s… she should ask whether she could use it or not.

Deciding that it wouldn’t hurt, she opened it and began to lotionize, smiling at the smell that always accompanied Lex. It was comforting and that was a nice feeling after having her heart (and stomach) constrict at the thought of a certain pair of people getting the horizontal jiggy on at the apartment that they shared. Thinking on it, she didn’t want to go back. Ever.

But she knew that was ridiculous; where else would she live? You could live here… with Lex her brain told her, but she quickly dismissed the thought. Lex was just being considerate (she snorted. Loudly enough for it to echo around the room) and wouldn’t want her taking up residence in the mansion. And besides, she had been friends with Clark this long… and it was stupid to abandon him after he chose someone else. She was being juvenile; it was stupid, really, that she would consider asking Lex if she could stay with him while she avoided Clark and Lana. But she still couldn’t deny that it hurt that everyone seemed to be goo-goo over Lana when she was probably the most boring person, alive.

And now, she was bashing Lana. Shaking her head at herself, Chloe dressed and threw her contacts case back in her duffel, instead, putting her glasses on.



The late-thirties man across the desk choked and sputtered as Lex continued with his calm demeanor and rose to pour his attorney a glass of water.

He returned with a glass that was half full. Mr. Butler, better known as Don to some of his clients, chugged the water down before blinking at Lex, whom was now seated across the desk from him once again.

“To Chloe Sullivan?” He asked, receiving an affirmative nod from Lex and blinking once more. He set the glass down and took in a breath to begin to question Lex’s sanity.

“Mister Luthor, Lex, may I ask why you want to give Chloe Sullivan everything you’ve come into possession of?” he asked, watching Lex intently as he leaned into the back of his chair, making it tip into a recline and seemed to think about it while his eyes traveled to the hardwood floor.

His eyes moved to connect with Don’s, “Because she’s inadvertently become someone of importance to me. I don’t know how I could have been so blind to everything she is and what she stands for, before.”

Don smiled. He knew that all too familiar tone in Lex’s voice. He had heard it in his own voice when he spoke to his parents at the tender age of nineteen, telling them how he planned to marry his high school sweetheart. It was love.

“You sound like you’re in love with the young woman, Lex.”

Lex’s features wrinkled in a grin, “Do I?” Don rose his eyebrows in response, the smile still gracing his own face, “Well, then, perhaps I am.”


Chloe dressed relatively fast and twisted the heavy towel around her head, making her laugh at herself when she caught her reflection in the mirror and she looked like she was wearing a turban that had half unraveled.

With a huff, she picked up her duffel that looked as if it carried the entirety of her closet in it, and the flittering thought of how Mary Poppins could have carried everything in that bag of her’s came and went as she made her way to the doorway to Lex’s bedroom.

Lex’s bedroom.

Chloe sighed exasperatedly at the fantasies assaulting her mind and shook her head as she dropped her duffel off at the bed, next to her book bag, and made her way to the door. Her investigative curiosity piqued at her mind remembering that Lex had a client to meet with before her bath. If she was lucky, Lex was still in his meeting and she could listen in… for only a little while, anyway.

Opening the bedroom door, Chloe peeked her head out and looked up and down the hall, slipping out of the room and closing the door with a soft click. She trotted down to the set of doors that she remembered barging into on many occasions and pressed her ear to one, hoping to hear the conversation through the oak doors.



“So, have you told anyone?” Don asked, suddenly.

Lex returned his gaze to the man and his eyebrows furrowed to create a line between them, “About what?”

“About…” he motioned with his hands, “everything.”

“Oh.” The happiness that Lex seemed to exude in those few seconds seemed to disappear, “No. Not yet.”

“Have you told… her?”

Lex sighed, “No, but I need to soon.”



Chloe took her ear away from the door to look at it quizzically and think, ‘What the hell are they talking about?’ before two fingers tapped her on the shoulder and made her yelp, unknowingly getting the attention of the two men on the other side of the door.

[teb85]

Fantastic fic , I love it so far ! I wonder what it is Lex needs to tell Chloe ? Can't wait for next update !!

[Louie]

Is he dying or something? Great chapter, I hope you and your little muse-ie friend can give use another soon.

[meg20]

great update!!!
loved the teasing between Lex and Chloe. Chloe getting gaught is so funny!:rofl: What the hell is going on?

[Krysia]

I'm surprised Clark didn't go into his lecture mode after finding Lex in Chloes room. Perhaps he forgot and will look for Lex later on to do it than ;)
I do hope Lex isn't changing his last will because he is sick and will die soon. I wonder how Lex will react to the fact that Chloe smeels like him now. More, please.

[hfce]

What a great update.


Hope :)

[MaskedGrace]

YAY! You get two chapters today! Double-u oh oh tee! Lol.


Tricky, Tricky -

By: Masked Grace

Chapter Five Part I -

“The Truth"

Rating: PG-13 to R.
Note: I dedicate this chapter to Rachel, of whom, I wouldn’t have been able to write it nearly as good as without The Pocket Muse. Thanks for the B-Day present. It will not be forgotten.

Disclaimer: You don't know this? Check chapter one.

Feedback: Of course, I would loooove it, and you of course.

Thanks to all of you who gave feedback. :)

Summary: Something’s going on in Lex’s life that’s got him acting not like himself. Thinking that she’s being the good friend that she is, Chloe decides to get to the bottom of it. But she never expected this.




Chloe yelped, startled from a hand tapping her shoulder. She was caught. Jesus, what a fine investigative reporter she was… being caught in the middle of spying on someone.

Turning, she put on the most apologetic smile she could muster to the man that looked like he towered at least two feet over her. His dark-skinned face wasn’t amused.

“Miss Sullivan, do I want to know why you’re listening on in Lex’s meeting with his attorney?” he asked. His voice was low; so low that it felt that the bass of it ricocheted in her chest. His attorney?

“Why is he with his attorney?” she asked, matching the hard look that the security guy was giving her.

“Because I discussing legal issues, Chlo. It’s okay, Mike.” Lex’s voice came from behind her and she jumped again, turning to face Lex and the man who he was showing out.

“Chloe, this is my attorney, Don Butler. Don, this is Chloe.” Chloe smiled softly at the older man, still shaken up from being startled, and they shook hands and he spoke.

“Pleasure to be meeting you, Chloe. Lex, just go ahead and send that to the office after you’ve signed it.” He motioned to the sealed manila envelope in Lex’s hands and turned and walked down the hall, obviously knowing his way out.

Lex’s eyes went to Mike and Chloe felt him walk away from behind her.

When she was certain that they were alone, she spoke, “I’ve given you plenty of chances to tell me on your own of what’s going on that’s making you act like this. Now you’re going to give me answers.” She demanded and he sighed.

“Come in, then.” He stepped back from the doorway, turning to walk to the mini-fridge that most thought to hold liquor, but he never did like his liquor refrigerated. Instead, his hand reappeared with a bottle of water and he broke the seal easily as she stepped into the room and shut the door behind her.

Truthfully, she was a little surprised that Lex was being so cooperative. She followed his lead by going to the side of the room that had the fireplace and the leather sofa and two chairs, sitting cozily on a decorative rug that Chloe guessed to have cost hundreds of dollars.

He sat on one side of the sofa – her on the other. He was silent, sipping the water, until he capped it and sighed, placing it on the table that set center of the square that was the furniture and the wall.

Chloe was getting a bad feeling in her gut. One that she was sure was either her digestive tracts knotting up, or her stomach was going to make her throw up again. She really didn’t want either.

“Lex?” he looked over to her and she didn’t have to look back to know he was frowning, “Get me a trashcan.” He stood swiftly, his shoes coming within her eyesight of looking at the rug and praying that she wouldn’t throw up on it, her request for a trashcan being filled.

She took it wordlessly and breathed almost like she was doing Lamaze. Finally, when she felt that she had her stomach under control, she looked over to him, gulping down the extra spit her body was creating.

“Are you going to talk anytime soon?” she fixed him with a look and he smirked, though it was somehow sad. His eyes watched her as she gulped down another mouthful of spit and he leaned forward, his elbows on his thighs and his hands rubbing themselves over his head before coming down to press his fingertips firmly into his closed eyes.

“There’s just so much to tell you. I don’t know where to start.”

Chloe watched silently. She figured that if she were to talk, she’d ruin his rug and any chance that she’d find out what was going on.

He suddenly stood and started to pace around the perimeter of the rug and couches, coming to a stop in front of the empty fireplace. He stared into it, as if it held a fire that was hypnotic. She stayed silent.

“I’m,” he paused, “dying, Chlo.”

She promptly threw up.



It was a bit of time before she stopped, and Lex had rapidly come over, taking the hair tie off her wrist and tying her damp hair back, catching her as her strength gave out and she slumped.

“Oh god. I ruined your rug.” She noticed the wet patch next to the trashcan and he stood and set it aside, returning to her a moment later to hoist her up and walk back to his bedroom.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s from Wal-Mart. I’m sure I can get another one, Chloe.”



After he had forced her to drink some of the soup that was reheated again, he felt confident that she was able to carry on a conversation.

“It’s likely that you have food poisoning. If it gets worse, I’ll take you to the hospital.” He set the soup aside and sat on the edge of the bed again.

“Uhh, Lex? Did you say that you were dying back there or did I hear wrong?” Her expression told him that she as hopeful that she heard wrong.

“Yes, Chloe. I’m dying.” Her face went pale and she dropped her eyes to the blankets. She fidgeted with her hands, the blanket.

“Oh.” She finally said after a while of remaining silent, feeling Lex’s penetrating gaze on her.

She raised her eyes to look into his, and asked him not the one question that he had silently wished she would never ask, but a rather different one, “Does anyone else know?”

“No,” he blinked at her in surprise and she nodded in return.

“Then why tell me?” There it was. Like clockwork, the question he was dreading having to answer. His Luthor instincts were telling him to lie to high heaven, but he swallowed and began to tell her the truth.




Chloe blinked, trying to clear the rising tears that were blurring her vision from seeing the television monitor from her relaxed position on the couch. Her feet were resting gently against the side of Lex’s pajama covered legs as she watched television. The glow illuminated Lex sleeping, his head being propped by the back cushions as he sat in a slouched position and snored softly, his hand protectively placed on her feet.

The clock on the VCR that never caused any trouble of blinking 12:00 AM at its owner, read 12:40 AM. Conan O’Brien was on and Chloe was having trouble of not laughing too loud, as to not wake Lex.

They had had a long talk in which Chloe had let herself cry a couple of tears; she wasn’t one that was big on crying in front of people. But she understood everything now, even the stuff that wasn’t explained in full detail. Perhaps it was because Lex’s ambiguity was coming into focus.

As her thoughts trailed away from the show as it went to a commercial and instead, went to Lex, her eyes traveled to him as he moved, burrowing deeper into the cushions. As her eyes adjusted to the darker image of him, he took in a deep breath in a sigh before he stilled. She watched his eyes flicker beneath his lids and looked back on the day in retrospect; more specifically, one of the monologues that he had gone through.

“When I learned that I would be dying, the only thing I could think about was you and how I never told you how I truly felt about you… so I gave myself a year. The amount of time the doctors gave me to tell you. Tell you that… I love you, Chloe.”

She smiled, imagining how stupid she must have looked, staring at him for a few minutes, speechless and mouth agape.

“I’ve had my stalkers in my day, but none that looked at me like that.” Chloe’s eyes refocused to see that Lex was still sitting in his slouched demeanor, but his eyes were now open, looking weary. She smiled. He looked cute when he was tired.

“And how am I looking at you?” He smiled back and yawned openly, sitting up and blinking his eyes a few times at the stark lighting of the television.

“Like you actually love me.” His eyes traveled to the corner of his sockets to look at her with a small smirk and she pushed lightly against his thigh with her foot and tilted her head. There was that glint again.

“What an interesting theory. Too bad your hypothesis is completely whacked.”

He laughed shortly and yawned again, his hands coming up to rub his face and looking once more at the television, deciding whether or not he should stay up and watch it with her.

“Well, as tempting as Conan is, I’m going to have to retire. I’ll see you in the morning. I usually eat breakfast around seven thirty.” She made a choking sound and he smiled as he stood, yawning once more as he stretched and wondered if he should kiss her goodnight.

Deciding against it, he pecked a kiss to the top of her head, and moved to walk away, but her hand caught his wrist before he could and her face rose to look at him.

He received her silent question loud and clear and bent, an appearance by his tongue licking his lips was seen before he pressed a kiss to her mouth, his hand moving up to cradle her face.

“I do love you.” She whispered, her eyes coming to open afterwards, to melt with his, as if she was saying something extra.

He smiled and rubbed a finger across her cheek as he pecked another kiss to her brow and whispered back, “Sleep well.” Before exiting to his bedroom.


Chapter Five Part II -
“Hidden Agenda”


The man watching the television monitor that transmitted to him, with only a fifteen second delay, smiled as he reviewed everything happening in every room except for the bathrooms (he might have been a lot of things, but pervert, he was not), and watched as Luthor took care of his young house guest. He had received word from his superior earlier in the day that the billionaire bachelor had changed his last Will to give everything to the blonde reporter.

And everything was falling into place now. Especially since the unlikely couple seemed to have a blossoming love life.

The man, better known as ‘The Axe’, smiled satanically at the quadrant-split monitor as the two unsuspecting persons kissed goodnight before Luthor left the room. Uh huh, everything was going according to the plan.

His superior was going to happy when he heard about this. The Axe checked the Rolex watch on his wrist that he had sniped off one of the bodies that had stood in his way and had been met with a very timely death with one of his hatchets. He smiled again once the memory of reading the paper the next morning to read that he had distorted the man so badly, they had to go off partial dental records.

Oh yeah, his jaw was very nice to rip off. The adrenaline and endorphins raced through his veins at the thought of being able to kill again, and anticipation ran its fingers down his spine in a shiver.

He could almost smell the blood – Luthor’s blood - being spilt as he sighed after lying on his makeshift bed on a cot, going to sleep with thoughts of blood splatter and bones crushing filling his senses as the high-tech security system went on recording the night’s events in the shabby hotel room that wasn’t even fifteen miles from the manor itself.

[hfce]

So Lex is not dying but is going to be killed? Please explain... :beg:

[MaskedGrace]

So Lex is not dying but is going to be killed? Please explain... :beg:

Oh, all in good time, my dear. All in good time. Adn who said anything about Lex being killed? I sure didn't. But then again, I never said that his body wouldn't be exhumed and mutilated after his death, either. -shrug- I guess you'll just have to keep reading. :P

[Louie]

I never said that his body wouldn't be exhumed and mutilated after his death, either. -:P

That's creepy MaskedGrace. The story on the other had is getting really interesting with your little Axe-man twisty-twist. More soon please

[MaskedGrace]

:rofl: yeah, I knew it would be creepy. Precisely why I (sort of) stole it from Dan Brown's Angels & Demons. :P

Thanks for the constant reading and feedback, Louie :)

[autumngold]

Chloe had better save Lex!! He's too gorgeous to die!! And he especially can't be killed!! That's wrong!! Please come back and update soon!! I can't wait to read more!!

[teb85]

This fic is getting more intriguing with each update ! I'm really enjoying it and can't wait for more !!

[Mel]

This is awesome.
Minus the whole 'Lex is dying' thing, that is.

[MaskedGrace]

:) Thanks, everyone. Whooo! I've got new readers... or at least, new reviewers. :D

Hey, is anyone interested in being a beta partner? I've already got one who just scans it for any glaring mistakes or anything, but she's not big on Chlex fiction... and I would love it to hear some feedback on it before I post it... so... any takers?

[MaskedGrace]

Tricky, Tricky -

By: Masked Grace

Chapter Six -

“It's The Things You Do"

Rating: PG-13 to R.

Note: I'm baaaaaaaaaack! Sorry for the wait. Dang writer’s block!

Disclaimer: You don't know this? Check chapter one.

Feedback: Of course, I would loooove it, and you of course.

Thanks to all of you who gave feedback. :)

Summary: Something’s going on in Lex’s life that’s got him acting not like himself. Thinking that she’s being the good friend that she is, Chloe decides to get to the bottom of it. But she never expected this.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“You’re moving?” Lana asked Chloe, watching her move back and forth from the closet to the large suitcase lying atop of Chloe’s bed. Chloe folded the shirts haphazardly before piling them into the suitcase and sighed, looking over to the confused girl standing in her doorway.
“Lana, like I said, it’s feeling a bit too crowded around here. And I mentioned to Lex that I was going to look for my own place and he offered me to stay with him while I do so.” Drawers opened and closed, Chloe looking for any remaining clothing that she had missed. Coming across the few pairs of underwear left, she had to grin at the fact that just a week and a half ago, Lex was doing this very same thing. Lex. She found herself grinning wider.

“Are you sure nothing’s going on that you want to talk about?” Lana asked in her normal Lana-fashion, her onyx eyes taking on a look and her arms crossed over her chest.

Chloe sighed once more as she picked up the remaining clothing and put it into the suitcase, turning to face Lana, “Like what, Lana?” Her hip jutted out with a hand placed on it, waiting for a response.

“Like, the fact that you’ve been ignoring Clark for the past week and a half and he’s beginning to feel like he did something wrong.” She motioned through the open door, to Clark’s bedroom door, which was closed. Clark, no doubt with his super-hearing, could hear everything loud and clear. Even the sound of Chloe rolling her eyes.

“I have not been ignoring him, Lana. I’ve been sick. Ask Lex! I could barely carry on a conversation with him! And that was only when I was awake!” Chloe stopped, lowering her voice but it still had clipped tones, “I haven’t been ignoring anyone, so don’t try to make me feel guilty for being sick.”

While her excuse to Lana wasn’t the whole truth, Chloe wasn’t about to go into a full discussion with her about how hurt and heartbroken she had felt when she had not only learned about, but heard, their relationship. Thinking about it while seeing Lana standing there, giving her that look, made her feel like getting sick again.

Lana’s posture softened after the doorbell rang and Chloe closed the suitcase, zipping it up, “That would be Lex.” Lana nodded, silent, and left to answer the door.

.-.-.

Lex stood there, patiently waiting in the hall after ringing the doorbell at hearing muffled arguing from inside. Chloe had said she would be fine, but to ring the doorbell if he heard any shouting, and while he figured she was all right, he didn’t want another episode like last week’s.

The door opened and Lex blinked in surprise when he didn’t find the petite blonde, but a rather masculine Clark.

“Clark.” Lex’s voice was level, showing none of his surprise.

“Lex.” Clark’s tone was equal with his, but noted a small muscle clenching in his jaw. Years of knowing Clark had told him how to read him like a book. So he was angry, if Lex was reading correctly, but the fact that the boy seemed to be snorting like a bull before it charges only solidified the fact that he was restraining himself from doing something.

“I’m here to pick up Chloe.” He was sure Clark already knew that, but the silence was a little heavy.

Clark nodded, his eyes darting away from Lex and he took a step back, “Sure. I’ll go see if she’s ready.” Lana’s presence replaced his and she smiled warmly, it was the smile that Chloe had talked about. Her cheap smile. Interesting.

“Lex. Hi. Come on in.” He gave her a tight-lipped smile as he entered, his eyes scanning the room as always.

“So how are you, Lana?”

.-.-.

“Chloe –” Clark began, taking up the space of her doorway, uncomfortable, “I just – what – why are you moving?”

Chloe sighed from inside the bathroom, raising her eyes from looking down at the sink, to look at the mirror that covered the medicine cabinet and looked into her eyes. The hazel-viridian eyes that stared back were afraid. Steeling her gaze, she zipped up the bag that was to carry her toiletries and entered back into her room to place them in a pocket in the front of her suitcase.

“As I’ve explained to both Lana and yourself many times, it’s too crowded here, Clark. You guys will probably enjoy the space after I’ve left. I doubt you’ll even miss me.”

“You know that’s not true.” His voice was soft and he sounded hurt. The image of her freshly-made bed with her overly-large suitcase with a smaller duffle next to it swam before her eyes as tears threatened to fall. She knew if she were to talk, her voice would crack. She turned her back to him as she took a few breaths to stabilize herself until the tears were gone, pushed back as far as she could push them.

“Just remember that the coffee pot automatically comes on at five and that the off button takes a bit of pushing to get it to turn off. Other than that, Lex is waiting for me.”

Picking up her things, she walked past Clark and towards the voices coming from the living room. Lex automatically took the larger suitcase off her shoulder and transferred it to his own. His hand grasped her’s softly as Lana reopened the door, giving Chloe a sad smile as she walked past, following Lex out the door.

Once the elevator doors closed, she let out a shuddering sigh, a tear falling freely down her florid cheek, instantly turning the tear warm.

Lex’s thumbs brushed it away before he wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders and took the smaller duffle from her grasp as the elevator dinged at floor-level and he escorted her out to the car.

.-.-.

Back home at the mansion, Chloe was nursing a cup of tea, feigning watching television. Her eyes were glued to the coffee table, her mind stuck on the fact that Clark had implied that he would miss her.

After she had cried in the elevator, Lex had surprised her by putting on her favorite movie and making her a cup of tea. Lex. Her mind drifted to think of him, the familiar tickling sensation in her nose as more tears sprang up. Biting her lip, her eyes move to look into the tea, where one of her tears had fallen from her eyelashes, watching as the surface rippled before calming.

She found herself thinking once more of their first lunch at the Talon. “It seems so long ago now.” She whispered, sniffling.

Lex moved from one of the doorframes that led into the room and sat next to her on the couch, watching as she set the cup down and wiped her tears away before facing him.

He took in her face: the way her lips were swollen from the crying, the way her eyes were now a deep forest color. “I’ve known you for almost five years now, Chloe. And I haven’t seen you cry until this past week. Tell me, if living in the mansion is so traumatic for you, I could get you a townhouse.” His elbow softly nudged her arm.

She exhaled a small laugh and rubbed her eyes, sniffling once more, “Glad to know you want me to stay here, Lex.”

“You’re the one who’s talking to herself and crying like it’s her hobby.” He turned one side of his mouth up and she laughed once more, “And you’re not even watching the movie or drinking your tea. I think I might be insulted.”

She smiled and his arm easily slid around her shoulders and he sighed, “So Miss Sullivan… are you up to watching the movie with me?” His feet rose to rest casually on the mahogany coffee table.

“I thought you had work to do.” She looked at him suspiciously.

“Not anymore. I just finished and came in here wondering what you were up to… and besides, brain dead monkeys could do what I do in a day.”

She snorted as she leaned to relax into him and put her head on her shoulder, tugging the throw blanket that was around her legs, closer to her body, “I doubt that.”

.-.-.

Lex was right. His work was something that just about anyone could do.

Anyone with a degree from every college in the world on everything they gave degrees for. Chloe sighed as she looked down at the work that had yet to be completed and the work that she had managed to complete. The difference between the two piles was staggering. One looked as if it was the Leaning Tower of Pisa while the other looked to be the world’s smallest foundation. But she had to continue. She had worked hard to get this far.

“Why did I want to do this in the first place?” she asked herself, leaning over to take the phone off the cradle and hit the second speed dial button.

“Office of Mr. Lex Luthor.” The voice was hard, obviously already bored of answering phones after being at work for only four hours.

“Hi Sarah, its Chloe. Look, I have a favor to ask you.”

“Hi Miss Sullivan. What do you need?” Sarah glanced up after seeing Lex open his office door and noticing that she was on the phone, he waited, his eyes glued to her. She felt herself slouch down slightly in her seat, feeling the weight his gaze had.

“I need you to tell anyone who calls for Lex that he’s sick for the next week.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll be sure to tell him right away.”

A pause on the other end and Chloe furrowed her eye brows, “Sarah? Why the heck are you… he’s there, isn’t he?”

“Yes, yes, Mr. Denver. I’m aware of how important the papers are.”

“Okay. Just… tell them that for me will you?”

“Will do, Mr. Denver. Buh-bye now.” Hanging up the phone, she turned to look at Lex, raising her eyebrows.

“That man is seriously scary. He wanted me to tell you that the papers for the Scape Project are downstairs.” She hoped the gulp afterwards wasn’t too audible.

“Great. Get Chloe on the phone, please.” And just like that, he retreated back into his office.

Sarah sighed as she folded her arms and clunked her forehead upon them. He had almost found out about Chloe’s surprise. Now that it was coming down to the wire, it was harder to make up who she was talking to instead of Chloe. She had been planning this for Lex for almost three weeks now, and had probably asked a favor from anyone and everyone on staff at LexCorp trying to successfully plan a vacation for Lex, and without having him know about it.

Dialing the number she knew by heart and no longer needed to consolidate her Rolodex, Sarah waited until Chloe picked up.

“I have a Mr. Luthor for you, Miss Sullivan.”

“Thanks Sarah.” Chloe replied, now in the kitchen and fixing herself a sandwich, the cordless phone trapped between her shoulder and ear. She wasn’t concentrating on making the food, but rather on her pounding heart. Relax. She told herself, he doesn’t know.

“Mister Luthor,” She teased, smiling into the phone, “shouldn’t you be at an all-important lunch date?”

She could hear him smile through the wire, “That I should, Miss Sullivan, but I’m sure my girlfriend won’t mind me staying in my office and having a terrific order-in chow mien lunch and having a wonderful conversation.”

“Seeing other women behind my back, Lex? Isn’t that kind of risky since I’m living at your house? Wouldn’t you be afraid that I would hear?” she grinned into the phone, soundly sucking a dollop of jelly off her finger as she finished putting her sandwich together.

“Who says I’m talking about other women?” he teased back, placing one foot on the corner of his desk and crossing an ankle over the other, relaxing into his executive chair and looking out over the city.

Her motions stilled and a shy smile tugged at her lips, “A-are you saying that I’m the girlfriend?”

“Why Miss Sullivan, I do believe you’ve become the sharpest tack in the drawer.”

She laughed, “Shut up, Lex. Quit patronizing me with old clichés.”

He chuckled, it was low and soft, but she heard and her smile grew, “Oooh, abusive now, are we? So what are you having for lunch?”

“PB and J sandwich.” She said through a mouthful of the said food.

She could practically see him roll his eyes and pinch the bridge of his nose.

.-.-.

The silence swallowed the sigh followed by the clanking of keys on a table in the darkness of the Luthor mansion. Lex set down his briefcase by the foyer’s table and furrowed his eyebrows at the blank envelope sitting next to the vase of flowers.

Picking it up, he pulled a plain, white piece of paper out of the envelope and unfolded it, reading the lines of poetry twice to make sure he was reading it correctly.

Finding the first clue is always important, and for you, I’ve got a surprise…
Where you can find the next is in the vision of this self-reflecting portrait’s eyes.

Pulling another paper from the envelope, he found it to be a picture of a sunset across the sea, the water an aquamarine color and the sky a flaming pink.

Turning his attention back to the “clue” he ran a hand over his forehead, his eyes squeezing shut, trying to piece together the words.

Opening his eyes, he made his way to the room in which a family portrait that was painted when he was nine. Looking at his eyes, he furrowed his eyebrows, seeing no sign of the plain, white envelope. Reading back over the lines, it said that it was in his vision.

Turning his back towards the painting, he spotted it: taped to the back of the door that he had just come through.

Opening in this one up, he discarded the first on a nearby table and read the lines quickly.

Congratulations, Mister Luthor, for it seems that you’re a sharp tack,
And I’m always found here, when I long for a cooled snack.

Lex sighed, looking around the room mumbling, “How many of these have you got planned for me, Sullivan?” before making his way towards the kitchen with a photograph of a snowy forest in his hand.

Placing the three pieces of paper on a countertop, he opened the fridge, taking the envelope that was stuck to a carton of milk.

The lighting is warm, the paper, worn, and the air is thick with the smell of leather,
And in Beauty and the Beast, it’s where they come together.

Smiling at the picture of a Mexican farmer’s market, Lex knew exactly where she wanted him to go.

Taking the envelope that was sticking out between two of the books in his private library, he first looked at the picture of a cityscape against the dark of night before looking at the clue.

Take the suitcase at the door, and follow the directions to your next destination,
For I have planned this for weeks to surprise you with a much-needed vacation.

A vacation? He noticed she was acting a little suspicious sometimes, but he didn’t expect this.

After putting the suitcase in the trunk of his car, he took the directions and read them, noticing that she was giving him directions to the airport.

Well, whatever she had planned, he was sure that she wasn’t going to be flying him economy.

[hfce]

Yeah you finally updated and it was good. Please don't wait to long to update I want to see where Chloe is taking Lex. :)


Hope :D

[autumngold]

Thank you so much for the update to your story!! I still hope that Chloe will be able to save Lex!! Please!! Can't wait for more!!

[Alizaleven]

Yay!! I really like this story :D I hope you update soon

[Louie]

awww, love people doing searches for each other. Lex shouldn't make assumptions though they only get you in trouble. can't wait to see what you do.

[MaskedGrace]

Tricky, Tricky –
By: Masked Grace
Chapter Seven –
“Just the Two Of Us”

Rating: PG-13 to R.

Disclaimer: You don't know this? Check chapter one.

Feedback: Of course, I would loooove it, and you of course.
Thanks to all of you who gave feedback. :)

Louie- your comment made me laugh out loud… almost made me want to write something bad to do to Lex… you know, sit him next to an elderly woman who won’t shut up….hah. :D

Khushiyan- Thank you for all of your comments, especially the play-by-plays with comments from you… mostly about what made you laugh. Hopefully, I can do the same for this chapter.

Summary: Something’s going on in Lex’s life that’s got him acting not like himself. Thinking that she’s being the good friend that she is, Chloe decides to get to the bottom of it. But she never expected this.

.-.-.



Chloe nervously popped her knuckles, glancing at the digital clock a few feet away, reading 11:45. Lex’s private jet had taken off from Metropolis’ airport at eleven and was due to land at the airport nearby, in fifteen minutes. And then, it would only take ten minutes to get to the Luthor’s Family yacht that Chloe had brought over from Palm Beach, hoping that Lex wasn’t one to get seasickness.

She chewed on her lower lip, wondering if this really was the best thing. Maybe they should’ve just stayed at the mansion and had a quiet day together. All kinds of second-thoughts flew through her mind, making the knot in her stomach worse than it was. She sighed, trying to calm herself.

Inspecting the table to her left, she found herself once more questioning her actions and whether he would appreciate it. Shaking herself of the thoughts, Chloe picked up the lighter that sat next to the candles that had yet to be lit, she quickly lighted them and glancing once more at the clock to find that it was now 12:04, she hurried down the dock where a Mexican restaurant sat. The sign on the front proclaimed that it was closed, but the lights still blared. Coming through the back door, she caught sight of Eduardo putting the finishing touches on their meals.

“Acabado.” He said to her, showing off his finished work.

“Yes, it’s lovely Eduardo. But he’s going to be here any minute.” She hurried to grab the plate and motioned for him to grab the other and cover it, before turning and hurrying back to the yacht.

“Muchas, muchas gracias.” She smiled at him after they had set up the rest of the table and he nodded.

“Denada, you’re welcome, seniorita Sullivan.” He smiled at her before leaving, heading towards the restaurant.

As if on cue, the driver that Chloe had hired pulled up to the docks as soon as the door to the restaurant closed. Taking a deep breath, Chloe found herself smiling as the taxi drove off and she could make out Lex walking towards her.

“Surprise.” She smiled once he was close enough for him to hear her.

He dropped his bag on one of the couches that lined the edge of the deck and looked around, first towards the bow of the ship and then aft, looking at the dinner she prepared. Taking a few steps towards her, he looked at her, dressed up and wearing more make-up than she normally did.

Before he could stop himself, he kissed her hard and long, one hand holding her head, tangling her short hair and the other was enveloping her waist, holding her to him. Pulling back, he answered her through harsh breathing.

“Color me pink and call me surprised.” Their eyes locked and she smiled, her hands on either of his shoulders, clutching his suit’s jacket.

“Or just stick to Jethro.” She joked, receiving one of his bored looks again. She laughed and was sucked into another one of his kisses that left her swooning.

“We have dinner.” She replied after feeling that if they went on with the kiss, she would faint. He smiled cryptically at her and nodded.

“Then let’s eat.” She nodded, smiling back at him. They started dinner in silence, both enjoying the company of the other and casting smiles over the candle-lit table to one another.

“So who cooked?” he asked once they were done and relaxing on one of the couches, the candles still burning brightly on the table, casting enough light for them to see one another. The wine glasses were now being sipped on from their position, Lex’s jacket was now discarded and his three-quarter sleeved arm relaxed on the back of the seat, Chloe’s hand resting comfortably on his thigh.

“Eduardo from Comida Buena, Bueno Períodos.” She motioned to the restaurant that was now pitch black and he looked at it, his head tilted.

“Good food, good times?” He asked, looking back towards her.

She shrugged, “I don’t know. I took French, not Spanish.” He cracked a smile at her and took in a breath, looking into his wine glass.

“Je vous remercie moi eu besoin de le.” He thanked her, earning a shocked expression.

“I didn’t know you knew French! What other kinds of secrets have you been keeping?” she teased, now smiling at him, “And it’s no problem. I needed this, too.” He went back to looking at his almost-empty wine glass.

“Je t’aime.” He whispered to her, his eyes coming up to look into her’s. Her breathing immediately stopped.

“You do?” she asked, her breathing starting up again; it was shallow and short.

“I do.” Her nose tickled and her vision blurred as she cried, closing her eyes softly at the feeling of his fingers brushing away the wetness from her cheeks.

“I love you, too.” Her voice was hoarse as she looked into his eyes and laughed, “I’ve never had anyone tell me they love me in French before.”

He smiled at her before hesitating with his next sentence, “May I show you?”

Her smile fell, her eyes growing wide, the tears stopping. Thinking about it, she figured that he hadn’t ever asked a woman before taking her to bed and this definitely wasn’t the way that she imagined her first time being… The more she thought about it, the more she felt her stomach drop into a pit. She sighed, trying to get control of her heartbeat once again.

“Yes.”





Muscles that Chloe wasn’t even aware she used, were strained and yelling at their highest voices at her as she awoke and got up, haphazardly putting on the underwear she was wearing the night before alongside the shirt that her shaking hands had unbuttoned off of Lex. She stumbled as the ship rocked and she groaned, the muscles in her lower back and legs straining once more.

After making herself a cup of instant coffee, Chloe climbed up to the deck from the bedroom and sat, the wind coupling with the coffee to wake her up. It was a warm, gentle breeze that carried voices through it, indistinct conversations from down the dock.

Finishing her cup, she groaned her way downstairs, back into the kitchen to rinse out her cup. Turning the corner, she smiled at the sight of Lex staring blankly into a cupboard in a pair of boxer shorts that she had remembered packing.

Somehow, the rocking didn’t seem as bad as she shuffled her way to the sink, getting Lex’s attention. He closed the cupboard and made his way to her, his eyes trailing down to the fact that she was wearing his shirt.

She followed his eyesight and blushed, “I always wanted to wear one after my first time. See how it feels.” He raised an eyebrow, earning a small glare from her and a light, playful smack.

“And?” he asked, leaning softly on the countertop.

“And other than the fact that I’m sore and can barely stand, I like it.” She smiled up at him, making him hum in response.

“I think there should be some Advil around here somewhere.” He looked around, distractedly, thinking. That made Chloe smile, picking at the hem of his shirt.

“Well, why don’t you go ahead and go take a shower and I’ll find some Advil and make us some breakfast?” he suggested and she nodded, watching as he searched a cupboard before closing it and going on to the next one.





“Oh, shut up. It’s not that badly burnt, Chloe.” He laughed as she made a face at the hash browns that were a very dark shade of brown, before catching sight of the look he was giving her and she laughed, slathering it with ketchup.

“Next time you offer to cook, allow me to remind you why you hired Mrs. Hoshi.” He barked out a laugh and nodded, picking at the hash browns on his own plate.

“Hey, could you do me a favor?”

“Hmm? What’s that?” she asked, watching as he took a sip of his drink.

“Shut up.”

She grinned at him, having the glint again, “Oh yeah? And wut are yah gunna do ‘bout it, Jethro?”

“You mean… before or after I toss you overboard?”





After sailing for three days, they returned to the dock with considerable tans and boarded Lex’s jet, hand-in-hand the whole way.





Chloe smiled at Lex, who was seated across from her on the jet, a pen clutched between his teeth as his eyes scanned over the hints for the crossword puzzle he was working on.

“Lex…” she trailed off, successfully getting his attention and he removed the pen and focused on her, “…I have another surprise for you…”

Now she really had his attention. He leaned ever-so-slightly forward and his eyes narrowed.

“You know how earlier… you said that you’re glad to be going home?” she asked the rhetorical question, but he nodded, “Well, we’re not exactly… going home.”

He leaned back, blinking at her a few times before speaking, “Well,” he paused, sighing, “I hope they have a washer and dryer where we’re going ‘cause this is my last clean shirt.” He smiled, picking up the pen and newspaper once again, “So where are we going now?”

She fiddled with her seat belt; “I thought that the Log Cabin in Canada w-would be a good idea?” second thoughts went through her head once again, making her think that they should just go home, like he wanted.

He thought it over for a few seconds, “Sounds good to me.” With a smile, he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the side of her mouth, making a blush rise to her cheeks.




“Agog?” Chloe asked in the third evening that they had been in Canada, the night threatening to turn into morning, “What kind of word is that?”

“Agog… it’s a word. Adjective… deriving from Middle French.” They were in the living room of the spacious cabin, playing Scrabble and nursing cups of coffee, the number being well into the double-digits.

“Middle French?” she replied from her position on the floor, watching as he nodded from his own position on the sofa, stretched out like some sort of cat, “So it’s a foreign word. You can’t use foreign words, Lex.”

“It’s not a foreign word, Chloe.” He sighed exasperatedly, “It’s English.”

“Agog?”

“Yes!”

“You’re telling me that agog is an English word?”

“Yes!” he replied, sighing once more.

“Then, Mr. I-know-non-English-words-and-try-to-cheat-during-Scrabble… what does it mean?” she raised her eyebrows expectantly, a smug look coming upon her features as he compiled an example.

“Agog. Meaning in eager desire; as in, I’m agog for your kiss.” He leaned forward, smiling as his fingers found and tightened around the blanket that she had wrapped around herself, pulling her until they met in the middle, the kiss filled with tenderness that Chloe wasn’t expecting.

After breaking apart and resuming the game with agog still upon the table, Chloe finished off her cup of coffee before suggesting that they get a few hours of sleep before their flight home.

“But not before a bit of rolling around in the bed, of course.”

Chloe gaped at him as she changed into her pajamas, pulling an overly large sleep shirt over her head as he undressed across the bed from her, “And what, may I ask, are you implying, Mister Luthor? I am a girl of morals and convictions.”

“Why Miss Sullivan! How outrageous of you to suggest that I’m implying anything? I was merely saying that we should watch Conan.” He paused as they both got comfortable under the covers, “Why? What were you thinking?”

[autumngold]

I love that Lex and Chloe are having such a great time together!! Chloe taking the time to plan this vacation, and Lex being such a good sport, it's so sweet!! Thanks for the update!!

[SianUrsula]

Is a miracle cure for Lex too much to ask for? Or perhaps an evil doctor persuaded by the MB to tell Lex that he's dying when he's really not? Please don't let Lex die!!

[hfce]

That was a cute update. I loved it. :D


Hope :)

[MaskedGrace]

Tricky, Tricky –
By: Masked Grace
Chapter Eight –
“What’s Changed”

Rating: PG-13 to R.

Disclaimer: You don't know this? Check chapter one.

Feedback: Of course, I would loooove it, and you of course.
Thanks to all of you who gave feedback. :)

Note: I’m going to try and finish this by Friday (I highly doubt that I’m going to… but I’ll try) since I’m leaving for a vacation at the beach for about a week and I once again doubt that I will be able to work on it while there.

Summary: Something’s going on in Lex’s life that’s got him acting not like himself. Thinking that she’s being the good friend that she is, Chloe decides to get to the bottom of it. But she never expected this.


.-.-.

Two weeks had passed since Chloe and Lex had returned home to find that their vacation was recorded by paparazzi who had been tipped off by “an anonymous source”, and their relationship splattered all over the gossip magazines, television shows and internet. She was lucky that she had decided to take the fall semester off from College in order to spend the last months of Lex’s life with him, not sticking her nose in Macbeth or her Trigonometry book that she often wondered if it weighed over the ten pound mark; because, if she had, she was sure that she would be pursued like Hound dogs after a fox. Thinking about it, Chloe figured that he had only around three more weeks.

Hearing the front door close, Chloe uncurled herself from a dangerously comfortable chair that she had settled next to one of the windows that held a spectacular view in order to concentrate on the article she was desperately trying to finish for The Daily Planet, and set her laptop on the nearby coffee table that was currently supporting her fourth cup of the day.

Entering the foyer, she took in the sight of Lex, reading over some mail that he had received, his eyebrows knitted in concentration.

“Hey Handsome.” She interrupted, beaming as Lex glanced up at her briefly before turning slightly, looking behind him.

“I don’t see Mike anywhere.” He commented dryly, turning back around in time to see her roll her eyes and smile softly afterwards.

He looked more tired today than she remembered him ever being and immediately sobered, feeling the bitter hand of fear take her insides and turn them to ice. It just wasn’t fair.

Obviously noticing her change in demeanor, he discarded the mail on the table and walked towards her, pulling her towards him for a hug and kiss combination and she drew in a shaky breath of his mysterious scent that clung to everything that was his, her arms finding their way around his waist, keeping him there.

Pulling back from her hug after a few minutes of staying there, he took in her face, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” She sighed out the word, looking away from his eyes, not wanting him to know when she wasn’t even sure herself, “I’m just stuck on my article for The Daily Planet and I’m in desperate need to do some shopping.” Figuring that she wasn’t telling him the large concern in her mind, but rather a few small ones, she wasn’t exactly lying. She returned looking back at his freckled eyes.

His smile was soft as his fingers grazed through her hair, pulling it away from her face, “Oh yeah? What kind of shopping? Are we talking Victoria’s Secret or Fredrick’s of Hollywood?”

She shoved him away with a sound of indignation alongside a smile, “You, Lex Luthor, are a dirty old man. Antagonizing a young woman such as myself while I was trying to make decent conversation. I was actually talking about published works, mind you.” Poking him in the chest, she turned on her heel and retreated back to the comfortable chair, followed by Lex who had slipped his hands in his slack’s pockets and watched her with amusement as she tried to get comfortable once again.

Leaning on the doorframe, he crossed his leg over the other to balance his toe on the hard-wood floor, “What kind of published works? You know, I think I saved a couple of dirty magazines from when I was a kid. Of course, I never needed them, but Clark insisted that the girl on page 27 had the best –”

“If you don’t want scalding coffee on you, I suggest you not finish that sentence.” She made a face over the screen of her laptop before continuing clacking away in rhythmic pattern.

“—hair was what I was going to say. Why? Did you think I was going to say something else?” He mocked innocence, grinning like a buffoon as she stopped once again and regarded him with a sigh and a skeptical look, “I swear it.” He moved from his position, studying her.

“You sure you’re okay?” Was there something there that screamed at him that she had a secret?

She ignored her thoughts and nodded, “Yeah. I’m fine. Just in need of fiction and inspiration.”

“Well, then, would you like to accompany me to the bookstore?” she stopped typing once again.

Looking up at him through her lashes, she raised her eyebrows, “You serious?”

“Do I look like Seinfeld? C’mon,” motioning with his head, “get some shoes on and we’ll go. I’ll even spring for a latte.”

“Oooooh. Specialty coffee.” She paused as she put on a pair of flip-flops that were hiding under the table, “Have I told you lately how much I love you?”

He took one of her hands in his own and thought it over, “I think I vaguely remember you telling me so, in the shower on the yacht.” She immediately reddened at the memory of the vacation and he chuckled.




“Oh, no, no, no, no. Put that back, right now, Lex.” A pause, “Did you hear me?!” she whispered loudly to him, watching as he “ooh”ed and “ahh”ed over the illustrations in an edition of the Kama Sutra that he had somehow found ditched between stacks of books.

“Did you hear me?!” she repeated, her cheeks now beyond the point of being red and were on fire, the color of crimson, “Put that back before someone sees you with it!” she turned, her eyes darting over the other patrons around them. They were too immersed in their own books to care about what anyone else was reading.

“Oh, calm down.” He said, snapping the book closed and replacing it where he found it. She handed him back his coffee and continued on their way down the bookcase until they saw movement where Lex had been standing. An older man, around the age of her father, looked around swiftly before reaching his arm where the book had been put back and continued to the cashier.

With a snort that was trying to conceal a laugh, Chloe turned to Lex and shook her head, “That was so gross.” He was smiling largely, despite the fact that his eyes were shut tight and his hand pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I almost wish I never would have seen that. It’s going to haunt me, you know.” He replied, opening his eyes once again and returning his hand to his slack’s pockets.

She laughed, nodding as her eyes scanned the spines of the books as she walked, “I might wake up screaming for a month because of the nightmares I’m going to endure.” He sniggered back in response.

Chloe stopped and pulled out a book, automatically turning it so that she could read the back. Lex took a few steps closer to her, reading over her shoulder.

“Chloe?” two heads swiveled to take in the sight of Lana, looking astonished and accompanied by a similar-looking Clark.

“Lana.” It took a couple of seconds for a smile to register on Chloe’s face and she immediately set the book down and transferred her coffee cup from one hand to the other to reach behind her conspicuously and clutch Lex’s hand. A small squeeze from his part was more than enough support.

“H-How are you? What have you been up to? I haven’t seen you at the college at all… or even the Talon for that matter.” Lana’s eyes darted between the two of them and Chloe slightly laughed, trying as hard as she might to not look at Clark, who was staring quite intently at her.

“Oh,” she scoffed, “you know, I haven’t been up to much.”

Lana smiled softly. Her bitchy smile. Chloe suddenly felt very dirty and sick to her stomach with just a tinge of guilt.

“Lex, hi.” She regarded him finally and Chloe ventured to look at Clark. Her heart thudded as he continued staring, their eyes locking while their companions continued to talk.

A small chirp next to her ear tore her gaze away from Clark to look at Lex as he let go of her hand with a small squeeze and reached in his breast pocket for his phone.

He sighed before looking at the three of them, “Excuse me. I have to take this.”

Taking a few steps away, Lex turned his back to the group and answered it, speaking a few words before coming back to the group and offering the phone to Chloe.

“It seems as though your cousin has been trying to get in touch with you since last week.” He gave her a look, “And has now screeched so loudly, I’m sure I’m now deaf in my right ear.” She had a smile that was a cross of pure amusement and pity.

“Excuse me.” She requested as she took the phone from Lex and put it up to her ear.

“Hi Lois.” Her tone was apologetic as she began to walk away, but before she could get very far, her body jerked as she pulled the phone away from her ear, Lois’ voice loud and clear as she began to chew her cousin out.

“Lois –” Chloe started, unsuccessful in cutting off the girl’s monologue, “Lois, if I could just –” She continued to walk away, leaving the three alone.

“Now Lois, that was just --” she sighed, getting another earful, “I went on vacation. No, to Mexico. And Canada. Yes, I said ‘and’… well, I didn’t take you because it was a vacation just for Lex.”

Starting to pace, she looked at the three of them, Lex was talking, but his eyes drifted to her and she exchanged a look with him. He gave her a smug expression back. She glared.

“Yes, I’m listening.” A pause and Chloe made a face before sighing once more, “All right, I’ll be there in a few.”

Disconnecting the call, she came back to Lex’s side, passing his phone back to him and rubbed a couple of fingers on her temple, trying to push away the headache that Lois had caused with her shrieking. Or maybe it was being so close to the Princess who believed that too much was a good thing, especially when applying perfume.

“It seems that the only way I can apologize is to meet her for lunch. Would you drop me off at Grandma’s Diner?” she looked at him miserably, earning a nod.

“Lana, Clark. It was nice seeing you again. Goodbye.” They left with apologetic smiles and holding hands.

Clark turned to Lana after the door closed and regarded her with a suspicious look, “Did that seem weird to you?”

“Other than the fact that you didn’t even speak a word the whole time? No.”



Chloe looked to Lex, studying his profile before he turned to look at her quickly, “Hmm?” he asked, shifting the car into fourth gear easily.

“Did you think that was weird?”

He thought it over for a moment, “You mean Clark not saying a word?”

She nodded, taking a sip of her mocha, “Yeah. I felt like I was under scrutiny.”

He slowed as they approached the Diner, looking over at her to study her profile, “If you thought so then, wait until Lois asks what we did for a week on vacation and you blush.”

“Ugh.” She groaned as she spotted Lois leaning against her car, staring her down, “Wish me luck.” She asked him hopefully.

“You’re going to need a lot more than luck.” He told her truthfully, watching as Lois came over as Chloe got out, holding the door open and bending over as to see Lex.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Uncle Scrooge McDuck. Tell me, are you too good to have lunch with some small-town girls like us?” she motioned between herself and Chloe.

“Good afternoon, Lois. How lovely to see you. I’m doing well, and how are you?” he asked, his voice monotone.

She put on a smile, “Just divine, Alex. Come, have lunch with us girls. I have a little bone to pick with you.”



Lois was sitting across the booth from the two of them, Lex was sitting up straight, his attention focused on Lois while Chloe was slouched down, watching the other people in the diner. She really didn’t want to be here.

“So…” Lois started, looking between the two of them, “How was your vacation? You know, the one that you took without telling me so that I thought that both of you had died.”

Chloe make a choking sound, her eyes wide as she sat up straighter, “Lois!” she hissed.

“What?” she gave her a confused look.

“You don’t just go around saying that people are dying!”

Lois rolled here eyes, “I didn’t say that people were dying, I said that I thought that they were dead.”

Their food came and it was silent before Lois spoke again, “So what happened on the vacation that you two are so secretive about?”

Chloe kept her face to her place and snuck a glance out of the corner of her eye to see Lex doing the same before looking up at Lois.

Lex spoke up, “We played Scrabble, mostly. A bit of crossword puzzles, some monopoly, but mostly Scrabble.”

Giving him a look that was skeptical, “Right. Scrabble. Like I’m supposed to believe that. Unless of course it was Scrabble between the sheets.”

In the middle of gulping down her water, Chloe choked, coughing a bit before getting her breath back, “Lois!” She received another confused look, “Get your nose out of my love life.”

Cocking an eyebrow, Lois regarded Chloe before turning her attention to Lex who was looking quite amused as he ate, “Why is she being so secretive? You would think that she was carrying child or something, my God.”

“Gah! Lois!”

[Louie]

Done by friday awww sadness. Oh Lois, we can only hope.

eek, I missed a part and read chapter 8 first must go back now and read chapter seven.

hey look random mention of my country, wowho. Though they aren't speaking Canadian French down there cause to me je t’aime means I like you more then it means I love you but *shrugs* it was still super cute. I love you said in the language of love, now if that isn't every girly girls dream (and some of the rest of us' dream to) I really don't know what's going on.

[autumngold]

You're going to save Lex by Friday!! I'm so excited!! That is what you meant wasn't it?!! Great update!! Can't wait for more!!

[kcsgirl82]

I hope Lex can be saved and it would be great if they could have a child, I mean to think you were dying just when you found the right person to be with and then find out you were going to live and have a baby that would be pretty awesome!!!

Please update again soon!!!!!!!!!!

[Louie]

I hope Lex can be saved and it would be great if they could have a child, I mean to think you were dying just when you found the right person to be with and then find out you were going to live and have a baby that would be pretty awesome!!!

It would also be(if done incorrectly), kinda super cheesy. Though this story has been full of wonderfully done cheese so far, so if anyone can pull it off it's probably MaskedGrace.

[hfce]

Great update and lex is not dieing right? He will be saved right?


Hope :)

[MaskedGrace]

It would also be(if done incorrectly), kinda super cheesy. Though this story has been full of wonderfully done cheese so far, so if anyone can pull it off it's probably MaskedGrace.


Awww! -sniffs and wipes tear away- Louie. How wonderfully sweet of you to say that I do cheesy stuff well. :wub: :hug:

... and wherever did I mention that Lex was going to live past the eighth of November? -scans over last chapter- Nope... I don't see it anywhere... so no miracles for Lexy-pooh. (Guh. Did I just say that?)

And no need to fret about the story being over. I plan to do several sequals :p

[Shane77]

It s such a wonderful story!
Amazing work really!
Hope you update soon!

[westwingwolf]

I love how cute Lex and Chloe are with each other. Clark and Lana are dumbasses as always. Lois is great, love her nosiness. But what is this weird plot with Lex dying. Lex doesn't die unless he's like 80 and has lived a long healthy and happy life with Chloe. And what's up with this sneaky person? I need the answers.

[Louie]

... and wherever did I mention that Lex was going to live past the eighth of November? -scans over last chapter- Nope... I don't see it anywhere... so no miracles for Lexy-pooh. (Guh. Did I just say that?)

And no need to fret about the story being over. I plan to do several sequals :p

But how do you do sequals especially several if one o0f the main characters is gone? Though I suppose you could write up everyones different reaction to his dieing.

[MaskedGrace]

I love how cute Lex and Chloe are with each other. Clark and Lana are dumbasses as always. Lois is great, love her nosiness. But what is this weird plot with Lex dying. Lex doesn't die unless he's like 80 And what's up with this sneaky person? I need the answers.


Hahahh... Well, seeing as how I'm leaving tomorrow (-tear!-) I just may have to give my muse a swift kick in the pants and make chapter ten shorter than what I had originally hoped for... no matter, though.

"Unless he's 80 and has lived a long healthy and happy life with Chloe." Amen to that! :P


and I know I very rarely give out shoutouts at the chapter beginnings, but thank you to everyone who had reviewed on this... especially if you've been with me from the beginning :) :blinkkiss

[MaskedGrace]

Tricky, Tricky –
By: Masked Grace
Chapter Nine –
“Whatever Gets You Through Today”

Rating: PG-13 to R.

Disclaimer: You don't know this? Check chapter one.

Feedback: Of course, I would loooove it, and you of course.
Thanks to all of you who gave feedback. :)

Note: I swear... this is like a new record for me. I can't believe I wrote this so quickly! :) Enjoy!

Summary: Something’s going on in Lex’s life that’s got him acting not like himself. Thinking that she’s being the good friend that she is, Chloe decides to get to the bottom of it. But she never expected this.

.-.-.


Lois shrugged after Chloe’s outburst, “I was only joking. Besides, it’s not like it’s true.” She paused as she went back to her food before stilling and looking back at her, “Right?”

Chloe scoffed, “Lois, please. I’m not that irresponsible.”

“Lana was looking a little pudgy, though.” Lex cut in, placing his napkin on his plate and relaxing slightly into the booth, done with his meal.

“You were checking Lana out?” “Where did you saw Lana?” The two women asked simultaneously, motionless and staring at him.

“I wasn’t ‘checking her out’, I merely noticed that her stomach – this is one of those times where whatever I say, I’m going to be in trouble, huh?” he asked, watching as Chloe’s eyes darkened.

Lois nodded, “Yeah, sounds like it. But that’s beside the point. Where did you see Lana?” she asked and Lex risked looking from Chloe to Lois and answered her.

“At the bookstore with Clark. That’s where we were when you called.”

“At… the bookstore? With Clark.” Lois repeated, turning to Chloe who had gone back to her food, “When did they learn to read?”

Chloe snorted, putting Lex’s comment aside for the time being, “Will you be nice?” she sobered before cracking another smile.

Making small talk while they finished their lunch, Lois happened to look out of the window and tilted her head, squinting her eyes against the sun, “Is that… paparazzi that I see?” she asked, grabbing the attention of the two.

“So it is… huh. I wonder why – oh, that’s right. Every reporter in the world wants your guys’ picture, don’t they?” she asked, earning identical jaded looks.

“Well, it wasn’t my choice to pick a rich and powerful boyfriend, was it?” she asked Chloe as they stood.

“Spare me, Lois. I’ll call you later.” Chloe replied as Lex paid for their meal.

“Okay, c’mon, Chlo. Great to see you again Lois.” Lex said non commitally, hurrying Chloe to the car.

The photographer was soon taking pictures of their dust.


Another two weeks passed by at an alarming rate and Chloe found herself hugging, kissing, watching and dreaming of him more often, her dreams filled with violent deaths that always woke her up in the wee hours of the morning, usually around the time that Lex was getting ready for work.

Today was one of those days that the dreams were so violent and gory, Chloe woke with cold sweat making the sheets stick to her through her bedclothes (if she had any) and feeling sick to her stomach. Peeling the hair off of her face, she got up and moved to the half-way closed bathroom door, smiling softly as she heard Lex humming a tune that was well familiar to her as the shower started.

Coming inside the bathroom, she smiled at the blurred outline of his body through the shower door, his humming continuing.

Shedding her clothing, she opened the shower door, watching as he lathered himself with soap, his head nodding in tune with his humming. She grinned.

Closing the door behind her silently as she joined him, her arms found their way around his waist, “Oh, if only The National Enquirer knew that Lex Luthor hummed Disney songs in the shower.” She teased as he turned in her arms, fixing her with a look that she had to laugh at.

“Only because you made me watch that wretched movie last night.” He joked, pulling her hair away from her face in order to brush a kiss to her brow.

“Hey, hey, hey, Beauty and the Beast was my favorite movie when I was little. Don’t be dissing on it, moneybags.” He laughed to the ceiling, “And look! Now I am Belle. I have a giant castle and my own very temperamental Beast.”

He growled, making her laugh, “Beast, huh? I’ll show you beast, Miss Sullivan.”



“Here, let me help.” Chloe asked almost forty-five minutes later, both of them now out of the shower. Lex was tying his tie in the bathroom, the finishing touch on his new dark blue Armani suit.

He gave her a look and looked back in the mirror, “I’ve been tying ties since I was eleven, Chlo. I think I know how to tie one.” She hummed, giving him the same look that he had given her.

“Maybe,” she said from her post on the counter, her feet dangling more than a few inches off the ground, “but you don’t know where center is.”

Moving in between her knees, he watched over her shoulder, in the mirror, as she straightened the tie slightly before smoothing her hands from his chest to his shoulders, her eyes glazed over.

“Don’t think on those dreams, Chlo.” He said suddenly, grabbing her attention and she turned her eyes to his, feeling her heart break. She would miss him.

“Right. Just my silly imagination.” She tried convincing herself, smoothing down his jacket once more, though it never needed it.

He nodded, his hands hooking in her kneecaps and pulling her towards him for a kiss. When they parted, he gave her a grin and a kiss on her cheek, “Use that imagination for something better.” He whispered before he quickly kissed her once more and left, humming once again.



Curled on the sofa in the living room, Chloe had the DVD player going, playing a movie that she wasn’t watching, nor listening to. A cup of tea sat on the coffee table, neglected, and the throw blanket was covering her legs, but she was paying attention to the phone that was clutched in one hand, deciding whether or not to call.

She had to get this off her chest, and she could only think of one person who she could trust…


“Yeah?” Lois answered gruffly, in the middle of washing dishes while watching a particularly easy Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? And of course, someone had to call in the middle of a clutch question.

“Lois? It’s Chloe…” her voice was quiet, meek.

“Chlo? Hey cuz. Say, do you know who replaced Gene Michaels as the manager for the Yankees in 1982?”

“Uhh… no, I can’t say that I do. Are-” Chloe sighed, wondering if she should have called at all, “Are you busy?”

“I’m cleaning… why?”

Another pause, “I need to talk to someone,” she replied, quiet once again.

“What kind of talk? Is this like, coffee-talk or Kleenex-and-cookie-dough-talk?” she asked, turning away from the sink and television.

“Cookie dough.” She sighed.

“Okay, I’ll be there in twenty.”



Chloe sighed, hanging up the phone, not feeling any better knowing that Lois was coming over.

She hadn’t even noticed that twenty minutes had passed until the doorbell rang. Getting up and walking to the front door, Lois’ voice met her ears before she ever saw anything.

“Now just listen here, Paul Bunyan… Chloe invited me over. Invited. As in, she’s expecting me, now let me through!”

Chloe smiled as she turned the corner into the foyer, “It’s all right Mike, I invited her over.”

He moved from the doorway and Lois stepped through, giving the tall man a glare as she held a drink carrier in one hand, carrying two coffees from the Talon, and in the other hand, a plastic bag from the local supermarket.

“I bring good tidings of cookie dough, coffee, ice cream, a few chick flicks and Kleenex. I thought we could make a day of vegging in front of the TV and wishing we had 1940 romances.”

Chloe felt her eyes prickle and sniffed as she realized she had made the right choice, “Thanks, Lois.”


Two hours later, the coffee was gone, tissues littered around the couch and coffee table, the cookie dough was half-way eaten and Casablanca’s credits were rolling.

“Thanks again, Lois.” Chloe sniffled before blowing her nose to no avail of relieving herself of her runny nose.

Lois shrugged from next to her, wiping her own nose, “It’s no problem… Everyone needs a day like this every once in a while.”

“No, it’s not that I needed a day like this. I… I’ve been having a hard time lately.”

Lois took the movie out before replacing it and sat back down on the couch, “Why? Is Lex not treating you right?” she asked, her eyes immediately darkening in anger.

Chloe nodded, “No, Lois… he’s dying.”



Another two hours later, the first half of Titanic was almost done and Lois looked over at Chloe, who looked positively miserable as she watched the tragic love story unfold.

“So did he tell you how?” she asked, reaching for a spoon and the cookie dough.

Chloe sighed, “Brain and lung cancer. There’s the chance that he could live if he had an operation, but he doesn’t want one.”

Lois nodded, her attention going back to the movie, the spoon placed firmly in her mouth.

“Yeah… I wouldn’t want to give my friends and family that kind of false hope, either.” It was Chloe’s turn to nod, looking at the television with tears building in her eyes.

“Worst part is… I’m in love with him and I won’t even get a chance to marry him.”

Lois looked over at her, a sympathic expression covering her features, “Would you want to be left a widow, though?”

Chloe sighed, turning to look at Lois, “Truthfully, I wouldn’t care.”

“Yeah,” Lois whispered, digging further into the cookie dough as she went back to the movie, “I’m just wondering, but why would you want to marry him?” she asked.

Chloe looked down at her lap, where her hands were playing with the blanket that stretched over both her’s and Lois’ legs, “Because I’m having his child.”

[biscuits]

ironic ending considering the beginning of the chapter. I REALLY do not want Lex to die. There was some cryptic subterfuge in one of the earlier chapters and that gave me hope that this was not going to be the end of Lex. Use the ready made conspiracy of doctors lying to Lex about it.

I liked the update and am eager for more, I'm just venting that Lex WiLL not die.

[hfce]

Oh that was sweet but she is having his baby. Oh no and he won't see it grow up. :( WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!! :(


Hope :puppydog:

[MaskedGrace]

Tricky, Tricky –
By: Masked Grace
Chapter Ten –
“Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again”

Rating: PG-13 to R.

Disclaimer: You don't know this? Check chapter one.

Feedback: Of course, I would loooove it, and you of course.
Thanks to all of you who gave feedback. :)

Note: Ah, the last chapter. I can do so much in the six or seven pages that I happen to write each time I do an update… but… I think I’ll make the farewell a short one. Look out for the sequel when I get back from vacation!

Summary: Something’s going on in Lex’s life that’s got him acting not like himself. Thinking that she’s being the good friend that she is, Chloe decides to get to the bottom of it. But she never expected this.
.-.-.

There wasn’t many of the large crowd that was gathered who cried as they lay the casket into the soft earth, the rain only letting up for the short while of his funeral; it was starting to sprinkle again. But Chloe Sullivan no longer cared about if her hair frizzed or whether her expensive clothes got wet. She cared about the man whom she had known for only a short while, but loved a lifetime… the man that they had put to rest in the family plot, his headstone being modest, yet declared that the family had money.

Alex Caden Luthor
January 17, 1979 – November 8, 2005
“Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.” - Kahlil Gibran

She was now standing at one of the secluded windows at the mansion, reveling in her memories with Lex, the playful banter, the love that she felt being held in his arms, even the annoyance she felt when he left the cereal boxes open or hogged the covers. As the rain started to pound itself against the glass, Chloe let herself reflect the weather and let herself cry, the tears only half-way down her cheeks before more fell. Her lips twitched as a sob threatened to explode out of her chest and she turned away from the window and quickly left the room, closing herself in the closest bathroom.

Chloe knew that she should been a gentle hostess to the hundred or so people who came from LexCorp and also LuthorCorp, including Lionel, but a part of her said that she should mourn and she was one who mourned in private.

Sitting on the toilet seat, she closed her eyes, feeling the tears seep in between her eyelashes and soak the mascara applied there. Starting to hyperventilate as she tried to push away the whimpers that rose in her throat, she knew she had to calm herself, but the sobs only got worse as they racked her body, her pitiful moans echoing throughout the room.

And then there were arms around her. Strong arms and a calm, soothing voice in her ear as a hand ran over her back and occasionally smoothed down her hair. Not caring who it was or if she messed up their clothing, she put her own arms around them as they moved her to the floor, where they were sitting, and rocked her. Burying her head into their clothing, she moaned into their neck, her face in the crook where it met the shoulder. She felt as if she were drowning; drowning in the weight of loss that bombarded her.

No… he couldn’t be dead. She had only just told him about the baby last week.

“You mean… I’m gonna be a dad?” he asked, staring with an expression so full of hope and love, she started to cry.

“Yeah, Lex. You’re gonna be a dad. I’ll even name it after you.” She told him as he lowered himself to kiss her, finally resting on his elbows and covering her wholly, her skin feeling like fire against his as he broke the kiss with a smile.

“I love you, Chloe. With everything that I am, every molecule, every fiber, everything that I’m made of and more.”

She laughed, “I love you, too, Lex.”

She lost track of time as she cried, her body shaking with sobs that erupted out of her into the person’s shoulder, occasionally forming words like, “Why” and “No”. A few times, she even let out screams, letting her lungs be without air until she could no longer take it and breathe in, only to scream once more.

When Chloe had stopped, she stayed there, sniffling and breathing in harsh, ragged breaths, “I’m afraid I ruined your suit.” She whispered, her voice being lost from the screams.

“I don’t care. You’re more important than any ol’ suit, Chlo.” She raised her head, brushing the hair away from her face as she took in the sight of Clark, looking at her with his big, grey eyes and one shoulder covered with mascara.

“Thanks Clark. That-” she paused, sighing as more tears threatened to fall, “That means a lot.” She sniffled as she tried to compose herself once more.

She chuckled, trying to lighten the mood, “How bad do I look?” she asked and he gave her a soft, sympathetic smile.

“Pretty bad. You want to take a shower?” he asked and she shook her head.

“No… I need to see to the guests. I just need to clean up –” She stood, looked at herself in the mirror and let out a sigh.

Her mascara had run, making raccoon eyes, her face had paled and her eyes were rimmed red, making it even worse, “You weren’t joking.”

“The guests are okay. Lana and Lois somehow got all of them to go home, even Lionel. The only ones here are the security guys, us and Lana and Lois.” He told her, standing up as well.

She nodded and not knowing what else to say she thanked him, “For everything.”

“It’s really nothing, Chloe. It’s what friends are here for. Do you want us to stay for a little while?” he asked and she nodded once more.

“Yeah,” she said, her voice cracking with emotion, “that would be nice. Thanks.”

It was his turn to nod and left, the door closing behind him and she quickly stripped off her clothes and turned the water on.

Climbing into the stall, she turned the warm water up and pressed her back against one of the blue-tiled walls, her skin soaking up the coldness as she bent her knees to sit, her legs folding in front of her and she hugged them to her, rocking herself as steam filled the stall and bathroom. Letting out a small cry, the tears came and she rested her forehead against her arms, crying once more as she wished with every tear shed that she was merely dreaming and Lex was still alive, sleeping right next to her with his arms around her waist as he fitted himself against her body, his chest against her back and pressing a kiss to her shoulder like he did every night before he whispered “I love you”.

“Please let this be another nightmare. Please.” She prayed, waiting to see if she would, indeed, wake up.

When it didn’t happen, she let out another cry, and let herself fall into her heartbreak at losing her soul mate, her baby’s father and the only man who she would ever love.

[Natasha]

I just started reading this today, and I loved every moment of it. I was hoping for a happy ending, but it was still good. I really enjoyed it.

[hfce]

That was so sad. :( I was hoping for a miracle. :puppydog:


Hope :(

[Louie]

Big meany, not giving the people what they wanted. At least she does have a part of him though, and that was nice that everyone was there for her and that she didn't have to deal with Lionel.

[autumngold]

Wow, that was depressing!! Poor Lex and Chloe!! I admit that I was waiting for the happy ending, but this was a good story!! Thanks for writing it!!

[marcela]

Ok, I just read it over again, and I'm confused......what about that guy, with the whole I-want-blood thing? really loved this story, by the way. so so sad and yet so beautiful.

[MaskedGrace]

Ok, I just read it over again, and I'm confused......what about that guy, with the whole I-want-blood thing? really loved this story, by the way. so so sad and yet so beautiful.

Ah, didn't you see my post when I had said that I was planning on doing several sequals? Hee hee!

[westwingwolf]

Okay I'm bad bad person but I started to read this before I left for my vacation to the beach, and when I came back I had the distinct feeling that there was a fanfic I was reading but couldn't remember the author, title or even genre despite the fact that I was loving the fic. I know that sounds awful but I'm a very forgetful person sometimes and it was entirely my stupid self and in no way speaks about the value of your fic. Which is wonderful and amazing and made me cry. And it may be my stupid stubborn nature but I don't want to believe Lex is dead. I don't know maybe I've watched too many soap operas now and I'll never believe someone's dead when they appear to be dead. Maybe I just really don't want Lex to be dead. Like someone mentioned before how can there be a sequal without Lex. How?!

[April]

this fic was so good, sad but good. I hope you come out with a sequel soon. I'b be interested and how you take this.

[MaskedGrace]

this fic was so good, sad but good. I hope you come out with a sequel soon. I'b be interested and how you take this.

Thank you, April. :) The sequel is already out, and it's a work in progress... meaning, I'm procrastinating on the next chapter. Lol.


Remember, Remember (http://forums.naughty-seduction.net/showthread.php?t=4804)

[Nonhalema]

I am nearly crying...it is so sad!...but still good story, and good work

[Ami Rose]

So sad! I can't believe he died! I was hoping that he'd take the surgery and survive for the bolaby and Chloe!