Deserted (NC-17)

[scifichick774]

Title: Deserted
Author: scifichick774
Rating: NC-17 eventually (please note the ‘eventually’ part since it will be a long time before anything happens)
Category: Drama/Romance/Angst
Spoilers: Major spoilers for Exodus and anything else through season two is fair game.
Summary: A ‘what if’ fic. What if Chloe had overheard Helen plotting with Lionel and become a liability? Chloe and Lex…deserted island…I’m sure you can put the pieces together. Chloe/Lex
Disclaimer: Not mine, no infringement intended, please don’t sue.
Feedback: YES!! REVIEW!! I’m serious. I really need a feedback fix.
Archival: Sure – just let me know where.
Author’s Note: I’ve received like four different challenges from people to do what’s basically the same fic, but since CC was the first one to challenge me, this is based on her challenge. Many apologies for getting this out so late, but you know how awful my muse has been.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The dark-haired beauty paced back and forth in a crescent-like fashion, almost, but not quite, circling the body of the young woman who lay unconscious on the floor. Her eyes shot up; not to the man who had brought in the body she seemed so fixated on for the last five minutes, but to her partner, if one could call him that since he was obviously the brains in the operation, in crime.

“What are we supposed to do now?” she spat, waving her arms wildly in the air before planting them on her hips and scowling at him. “How did she even get in your house to begin with? Are *all* of your security guards incompetent?”

The older man gave her a rather amused smirk, one which only fueled her anger for the situation.

“She was here by invitation,” Lionel Luthor replied calmly, watching to see what his son’s fiancée’s reaction would be to the news.

“What?!” she yelled and then darted her eyes over to the door to make sure that no one else was showing up in the doorway because of her outburst. “Are you telling me that you actually *asked* her to be here? Are you *trying* to get us exposed?”

Lionel fixed her with a stern glare and she squirmed a little on the inside, but held her ground with her outer physical appearance.

“I intended to meet with Miss Sullivan after you left, which, if I might remind you, was supposed to be a good half hour ago. I hardly think I can be held responsible for your last minute wedding jitters.”

Helen Bryce glared back at him.

“The plan has to be perfect,” she reminded him. “I’m not going to risk my own life just to kill your son.”

“Nor is anyone asking you to,” Lionel said in a collected but almost demeaning way. Helen’s lips thinned into a single, frustrated line.

“What are you going to do with her?”

Lionel looked up from where he had been gazing contemplatively at Chloe Sullivan’s inanimate body.

“I’m certain a disappearing act can be arranged,” he responded coolly to placate her. Helen shook her head.

“She heard *everything*, Lionel,” she argued. “*And* she’s a reporter – granted it’s only high school, but you can’t just give her money and ship her off someplace and expect her never to contact her friends and family again. She might be bitter because of the whole tortured teen triangle thing, but there’s no way you’re going to be able to buy her off.”

One corner of Lionel’s mouth lifted in a bemused smirk.

“I wasn’t suggesting anything of the sort.”

Helen stilled herself and blinked at him.

“Oh.”

“Precisely,” Lionel said when the woman in front of him finally caught on to what he was saying.

“Well, what then?” she asked. “I’m supposed to be getting ‘married’ in a couple of hours. I don’t have time to ---” Lionel cut her off with a flick of his hand.

“It will be taken care of.”

Helen pursed her lips at Lionel’s nonchalant attitude. He was going to screw things up for both of them if he wasn’t careful.

“It better be.”

With that, Helen stalked out of the office, ferociously acknowledging the security guard’s presence as she purposefully bumped into him on her way out. The man looked over to Lionel with the unspoken question of what he should do next, a question which Lionel seemed to be considering as well if the expression on his face was anything to go by.

“Sir?”

Lionel let out a small, yet overly dramatic sigh as he kept his eyes fixed on Chloe.

“It’s such a shame, really,” he mused aloud. “She could have proved very helpful.”

“Yes, sir,” the guard automatically replied.

Lionel lifted his eyes, but didn’t even look at the guard as he started walking to his desk. He unlocked one of the drawers and pulled out a medical vial of a clear liquid, along with a sterile-bagged syringe. The guard, as he had been trained, stared straight ahead. There would be nothing to bear witness to if he wasn’t paying attention.

His employer took him by surprise though. Instead of delivering what the guard assumed was poison into her veins, Lionel handed the syringe and vial to him.

“Just give her enough to sleep, not to kill her.”

“Sir?” the man asked questioningly, expecting that Lionel would have wanted her dead right away.

“Then place her body in one of the storage compartments on the jet,” Lionel continued, as if he hadn’t heard his employee speak at all.

The guard nodded in sudden understanding and shoved the syringe and vial into his jacket pocket before bending down to pick up Chloe’s body. Her oversized purse dangled off her side, connecting where she had the strap draped across her chest. Lionel noticed it at the same time the guard did and motioned with his head for him to leave the purse on one of the chairs.

With no further ado, the guard started to leave the room, carrying Chloe’s limp form in his arms. He was confident that Lionel would dispose of the purse, whether by incinerator or more nefarious means; and that would just leave Chloe to ‘mysteriously vanish’, slumbering while blissfully unaware of even being on a plane that would send her plummeting to her death. He stopped and turned around when he heard his boss call his name.

“Sir?”

Lionel gave him an evil, devious expression lined with self-satisfaction in return.

“The other matter we discussed has been taken care of as well, I presume?”

The guard nodded a couple of times.

“Of course, sir. I took care of it myself right before I came back here and caught the girl listening in.”

“Good,” Lionel replied in a pleased tone. He leaned back in his chair. “Very good.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Helen’s gut twisted as they boarded the airplane. If she had to fake one more smile, it was going to drive her insane.

When Lionel had first approached her about coming to Smallville, she was hesitant. Although it was true that she had a personal vendetta against Lex Luthor, blaming him for the rift between her father and herself, she thought it would be a much simpler plan to just kill the guy straight away rather than drag it out. But Lionel was persuasive and convinced her that she would get much more satisfaction out of making his son’s life hell before finally disposing of him.

That thought brought a genuine smile to her face, which ended up being remarkably well timed as Lex had just smiled at her and was undoubtedly hoping for a sign of affection in return.

She reached out and handed him one of the glasses of champagne, the one she knew was drugged because of the almost invisible knick in the glass’s stem. Lex took her hand and raised his glass with his other arm.

“To our new life.”

Helen faked a smile, hoping it would come across as looking timid rather than false, and said nothing. Lex observed his new wife’s demeanor with concern.

“What’s the matter?”

“Nothing. Everything’s perfect,” she lied. ‘Or it will be in a little while.’

They clinked their glasses together and Helen brought her glass to her lips and sipped slowly, her full attention on Lex finishing off the liquid in his own glass.

~*~*~*~*~

The sound of thunder rolled by Lex’s window, and slowly awoke him from his previously unconscious state. He blinked a couple of times as he tried to regain his bearings, and then his eyes darted around the plane.

“Helen?”

He told himself to calm down; that just because there was a storm outside that it didn’t mean anything was wrong. After all, planes flew in storms all the time and Helen could just be using the lavatory.

Thunder crashed again, shaking the plane, and Lex took a better look at the scene around him. The emergency oxygen masks were all hanging down from the ceiling, a fact which Lex had been blinded to because of his worry for Helen on his first glance around.

Then, he heard another noise.

A persistent thumping and thudding started coming from one of the overhead compartments near the back of the plane, followed by a loud, struggled humming.

‘Oh, God,’ he thought, his mind immediately flitting to the possibility that they had been hijacked somehow while he was sleeping. ‘At least she’s still alive.’

He frantically pulled at the latch and he stepped back, startled at the sight in front of him when the compartment door opened.

Chloe Sullivan, his best friend’s friend and his plant manager’s daughter, tied up with her hands behind her back and her mouth gagged.

“Miss Sullivan?”

She tried to talk again, but with the gag in her mouth, it still only released the loud hum.

Lex stay immobile for a second until his shock wore off, then he helped her out of the compartment by tugging on her and letting her slide down in his arms. Her restraints were quickly disposed of and she tore the gag from her mouth just as Lex came to his senses enough to say something.

“What are you doing here? What’s going on?”

His voice was stern but distressed and Chloe found herself feeling really bad that she had to be the one to tell him that his father and his now-wife had planned all along to kill him.

“Your dad --- Dr. Bryce ---” she trailed off, for once unable to come up with the words to explain the horrible situation they were in, and shook her head. “I’m sorry.” Lex frowned.

“What about them?” he bit and started to move toward the front of the plane. “Don’t panic. The storm is probably just responsible for the masks coming down, electrical interference or something. Helen is most likely talking to the pilot about it now”

His words sounded desperate and Chloe knew that there was nothing more she could say that would make him believe the truth. She followed him to the cockpit, tripping and falling into him when the engines shut off. She gasped when she saw it in complete disarray. Chloe had expected the pilot to be in on it, but knowing very little about planes, had only thought that he would take the keys out or something, not make it impossible for them to escape.

The control panel was torn out, the wires that had been attached to it hanging and sparking in every direction. But both of their attentions were drawn away from the wires when they looked out the window.

The ocean was getting closer and closer as the plane was diving toward the ground.

“Shit!” Chloe exclaimed and turned around to run toward the other end of the plane. Noticing that Lex wasn’t following her, she grabbed his arm and tugged on him, urging him to come with her. “Come on! We might still be able to get out!”

Lex, in shock and hurt from betrayal, simply stood still. Chloe left him there and rushed to try and rip apart a couple of the seats. Helen and Lionel’s conversation had told her that the parachutes and lifeboat would be gone, and she found herself resorting to the thing she always laughed at when the flight attendants gave their speeches.

“In the event of a water landing, your seat may be used as a flotation device,” she mimicked in a sour panic.

Lugging the two large pads back to the cockpit, she arrived just in time to see the water crashing in through the front window.



TBC...

[Blaire023]

*wicked smile*....its gonna be so good. And sab's gonna be so pissed you started a kick ass fic without her being here to hop on the kris kickass fic train. *hops on first*

I'll save her a seat.

Love it of course, like you didnt know it. And if anyone can bring justice to this premise, it'd be you.

~B

[Charlie]

Great story, can't wait to find out what Lex and Chloe will do on a deserted island...no clothing...only Lex to play with...however will Chloe survive? :eyebrows:

[hfce]

Oh wow :ohmy: Kris you have another masterpiece. More please noWWWWWWWWWWw :goof:


Hope :worship2:

[vardaquareien]

:yay3: Yay you sarted another ficcy!!! And it's absolutely great so far!!! :yay3:

*skips away humming manicly*

[celticangel]

Great start. Can't wait for the rest. :yay: :yay:

[bluemoongirl23]

Wonderful beginning. I know have a visual of Chloe in a coconut bra and Lex wearing a grass skirt. Hee. Poor Lex...he'll be ever so sad. Hope Chloe will be able to cheer him up.....eventually.

Blue

[Val]

LOVED the begining! More! :biggrin:

[krahmogh]

This is great!!!!!! Can't wait to read more. Update soon please. ;)


:chlexsign4:

[Impress]

Originally posted by Blaire023@Jul 22 2003, 09:28 AM
*wicked smile*....its gonna be so good. And sab's gonna be so pissed you started a kick ass fic without her being here to hop on the kris kickass fic train. *hops on first*

I'll save her a seat.

Love it of course, like you didnt know it. And if anyone can bring justice to this premise, it'd be you.

~B
Make room I'm coming aboard.

Good chica. I like how you worked the season finale in here. I hope Chloe gets to knock the crap out of Helen at some point.

[hler]

Can I have a seat on the kris kickass fic train? :yay: I'll take an isle seat, I like to stretch out my legs. :biggrin: Woohoo, I am looking forward to this ride!!!
~Heida

[Tandy]

This is so good! Poor Lex, i feel so bad for him. Well, Chloe will just have to make him feel better!

Tandy

[Susan S]

Very interesting. Love the interaction between Lionel and Helen, who is so out of league when dealing him. I can't wait to see what happens next!

Susan S

[asharnanae]

I really dont know how you keep comeing up with sooooo many great storys!! Well, there is the fact that your a fantastic writer, bet that helps! he he! Can I borrow some of the inspiration juice please! :biggrin:

[Queen Of Tact]

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HEHE you can't tell I'm happy that ur righting this fic can ya? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE post another ch soon.... This fic is going to be so kick ass I can't wait to read more and more and more....

CC

[Gemini]

Nice!! I can't wait to see what happens, this should be really interesting! :biggrin: Grrr... evil Helen.

[fighterangel]

:yay: I can't wait for more. This is gonna be soo fun. Write another chappie soon, pretty pretty please w/ a cherry and sprinkles on top.

[dsapiro]

Yay, new fic! :yay: It is gonna be really good, can't wait for more!

[kidkarmina]

I agree with everyone here, great start :blinkkiss: ! I really wish something like this happened in the real show **sigh**...oh well. I'm glad we have such great writers here to get some Chlex fix :wub:. Please update soon!!

P.S.

I know I'm asking for too much but I'll go ahead and ask. Please don't forget to update Accident Prone as well (and soon) :biggrin: . Just luv your stories...

[kmdaugherty2821]

:chlexsign3: *EVIL gRINNS..* *SIGH* great beginning to yet another story.. how do you do it? well anyways please update soon! =)

[sabby]

Here I am back again and getting right into it. You worked the season finale in perfectly. That smile she had in the plane EVIL! Anyway, I already know this is going to be good, so gimme another chap, NOW!

hugs,
Sabby

[scifichick774]

Lex awoke to a sharp, stabbing pain in his ribs and a dull yet stinging pain in one of his legs, in addition to what seemed to be a general soreness all over his body which was only masked a little by slight numbness for being in the cold water so long. It was daytime, and from the heat and sun’s position in the sky, Lex guessed it was sometime in the afternoon; although Lex couldn’t tell whether only one night had passed or it was the afternoon of a day a couple further along in the week.

A large wave crashed, knocking the side of his body against some rocks as it swept over them, and it was only then that some of Lex’s memories came flooding back to him.

Helen seeming off when they got on the plane, waking up after not remembering going to sleep, seeing the inside of the plane torn apart, finding Chloe in a compartment bin…Chloe. He maneuvered his body as much as he could to see if he could find her. He didn’t have to look far. He could see her unconscious body floating next to his, her arm outstretched and her hand slipped under one of the straps on his seat so they wouldn’t be separated.

He felt a twinge of warmness at the action, but it quickly subsided when he got a better look at her. Chloe appeared to be in worse shape than he was, or at least how he felt he was, and that was damned awful.

She had several abrasions all over her body, a head wound which was still spilling fresh blood despite however long they had been floating there, and a gaping gash in the arm that held them together. Then there was the light blue hue that her skin had taken on. It was primarily her mouth and her fingers, but it disturbingly reminded him of the heavy makeup they put on people playing corpses on the forensic shows he watched when he had spare time.

“Chloe?” It came out as little more than a croaked whisper, so Lex tried again after clearing his dry throat. “Chloe?” There was still no response and Lex closed his eyes.

With his sense of sight temporarily disabled, his other senses took over. The pain in his body started throbbing unbearably, but he wasn’t focused on that. His eyes snapped open when he heard a familiar sound - the sound of waves breaking against a beach.

He didn’t see anything other than the rocks and a vast expanse of ocean in his immediate field of vision, but having been on enough spoiled holidays when he was younger, he knew that sound, and where it was there was land, and land meant that he and Chloe had a very real possibility of being rescued.

The next large wave collided with another one and swept him over the short rock that had been keeping them there. It did not, however, push Chloe over. Instead, it moved her halfway over, scraping her injured arm against the rock as the water pulled back into the sea. Lex cringed. Chloe didn’t even make a grimace or any whimper of pain when it happened and the image of her lying on a morgue slab flashed before his eyes.

Although it was true that he had never been friends with the girl, barely acquaintances really, he still had no wish for her to die – especially when he remembered that she had been the one to get over the shock of seeing the plane diving toward the ocean and get the flotation devices on them just as the water was crashing through the front window.

‘She saved my life,’ he thought in astonishment. ‘A slip of a girl who barely knows me and she still brought back something to help me live instead of deserting me and jumping ship when she had a chance.’ His thoughts bitterly flitted to Helen.

Chloe hadn’t gotten a chance to explain, not that he had given her one, but a part of him already knew what she was going to say. The fact that she said Helen’s name in the same incoherent sentence as his father’s was enough to push him toward the belief that Helen and his father had been working together all along, or at least for a while now.

The virulent loss he felt for the love he realized he never really had started to build up in his system and with that came rage. Unfortunately, there was nothing to throw nor a wall to throw it at in the middle of the ocean, so he clenched his fists and let out a pained, feral yell.

It was loud, much louder than he had anticipated, and he glanced over at Chloe to see if it had spurred her from her sleep. It hadn’t.

Lex clenched his jaw and sucked in a breath, trying to ignore the pain that swept through him with the action. He reached out with the hand closest to her and grabbed hold of her arm. Gripping it as tightly as he could, he tugged on her. Her body moved only a little, the action mostly serving to injure her arm even more than it had been already. Lex frowned, but gripped his hand around her arm again when he saw another large wave heading toward them.

The wave crashed into them, pushing Chloe the rest of the way over the rock even though the water moved over their heads. Lex couldn’t tell whether she was breathing or not, and only hoped that his minimal training in first aid would be enough to get all the seawater out of her lungs.

But now there was hope.

He now saw the land that he had been so sure was there but had been out of his line of sight before. It might take several waves and considerably more effort than he was currently physically capable of putting into it, but the sandy beach was not far off.

He frowned when he remembered the movie that Helen had forced him to watch. Castaway. She had rented it, telling him that he simply had to see it and that Tom Hanks’s performance was amazing, but now Lex couldn’t help but wonder if she had been trying to foreshadow the actual events of his life.

‘No,’ he thought. ‘If she expected me to have a chance at living, she wouldn’t have gone to so much trouble to make sure I didn’t.’

He grinned to himself when he caught the outline of a rather large house, most probably a villa or mansion, on a large hill on the island.

‘Someone lives there,’ he thought. ‘We’ll be saved.’

The newfound hope gave him the boost of adrenalin he needed and he started to push his arms against the surf, moving he and Chloe closer to the shore.

Every stroke made his pain feel that much worse, and by the time he got them to the beach, Lex was ready to collapse from the agony and exhaustion that were wracking his body.

He slid onto the wet sand and was forced to crawl because of his severely wounded leg. Chloe’s hand slipped from underneath the strap and Lex saw the waves start to try and take her back further into the water. He pivoted to grab her, reaching her floating leg just in time to pull her back over before she got to the point where he wouldn’t be able to reach her without getting back into the water himself.

After exerting the last of his energy, Lex breathed heavily, his chest heaving as he removed what he had thought was a strange lifejacket. He glanced down to get a better look at it, furrowing his brow when he saw that it was a cushion from one of the seats.

‘Of course,’ he thought sourly. ‘Helen would be smart enough to remove the parachutes and lifeboat.’

He didn’t want to dwell on that though, at least not right now. There would be plenty of time for self-pity and plans for revenge after they got help and were recuperating in a Caribbean hospital somewhere. The thought made his gaze drift back over to Chloe.

She still looked like she was at death’s door, but the faint beat of her heart was evident when Lex pressed his cold fingers against her neck. He removed the straps from her airplane seat and set it down beside them as he sat next to her. His eyes fixed on her chest to see if she was breathing, but with Chloe’s clothing being water-soaked and clinging to her skin like plaster, a fleeting thought crossed through his mind that Clark must be the biggest idiot in the world to turn down someone who’s natural beauty far outweighed Lana Lang’s and was intelligent as well.

He grimaced when he saw that she wasn’t breathing; not only because it meant that she might die soon if he didn’t do something, but also because in order to do something, he would need to reposition his body so that it put direct pressure on the two areas of it that were wounded the most.

‘Or not…’

Lex leaned down and maneuvered himself so that he was hovering over her, supported by the strength in his arms instead of crouching and risking aggravating the fracture he was sure was present in his leg. It still hurt his ribs to be in this new position, but no matter what he did, there was no way around that.

He balanced himself on one arm and opened Chloe’s jaw with the other, wincing when he saw the water already in her mouth. He leaned her head to the side to let the excess water drained out and only hoped that he wasn’t too late, that she didn’t have so much water in her lungs not to be able to save her.

Slowly he lowered his mouth to hers and began to perform mouth to mouth resuscitation. Lex pulled back when Chloe started to cough and tilted her head to the side so the water could be expelled. After coughing and sputtering, Chloe tried to push herself up to a sitting position, only to have a scream rip through her throat at the pain that shot through her arm.

“I don’t think it’s broken, but you’ve probably torn a tendon or something.”

Chloe tried to turn in the direction of the voice, but her head started to swim, and she closed her eyes again, letting her head rest against the sand.

“You need to stay awake,” the voice came again. “You have a bad head wound, most likely a concussion, and ---”

“Shut up,” Chloe rasped out. She coughed again and let out a small groan, opening her eyes just a crack to look at him for a second before closing them again. “Just shut up. No offense, because I know you’re like an expert on head wounds - since you seem to get one every month or so - but just shut up until the ringing in my ears stops. Okay?”

Lex couldn’t help the pleased smirk that slid across his lips.

“You got all that out in one breath, so I’m going to wager that you’ll be okay,” he said. Chloe groaned again.

“What part of ‘shut up’ did you not understand, exactly?”

“Will you stay awake if I stop talking?” he countered.

“No,” she said flatly. “I plan on slipping into a coma. They’re relaxing.” Lex snickered, immediately regretting it when the shake of his body made him clutch at his side.

“I suppose you would know,” he retorted, the wince coming through in his voice as he was unable to resist the comeback for her snide comment about his numerous head injuries. “How many have you been in now? Two? Three?”

Chloe opened her eyes and glared at him, giving him a tight, forced grin when she saw the smug smirk on his lips.

“At least I don’t marry people who try to kill me,” she said. She knew it was low, especially considering the situation they were in, but honestly – the man *did* have horrible taste in women. Lex’s eyes seemed to cloud over and she frowned as she closed her eyes again. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

Lex said nothing. He just stared down at her as her words brought up a host of memories and feelings that were better left behind. Desirée and her manipulative scheme to marry him and then have someone kill him so she would inherit his money, Helen and her obvious plotting with his own father to wipe him off the face of the earth.

He briefly wondered whether Helen knew what she had gotten into when she agreed to deal with his father. After all, if the man was evil enough to try and have his own son killed, then certainly he wouldn’t have any qualms about having Helen dealt with as well.

‘Good,’ he thought resentfully.

“You’re quiet,” Chloe observed quietly after a few moments of silence passed by. Lex’s gaze went to her once again, this time catching her open and apologetic eyes. “I *am* sorry. It was out of line for me to say that.” Lex nodded once, but still said nothing, causing Chloe to get frustrated. “What? You’re still not going to talk to me?” She rose up to a sitting position using her good arm, pushing back the feeling of nausea that came with it. “Well, guess what? I’m the only other person here, Lex. You’re going to have to talk to me sometime!”

She pushed herself up so she was standing, though she was wobbling a little on her feet because of all the blood she had lost. After she shook her head lightly to try and clear it, she decided that it would be a better idea just to sit down again.

“If you’ll recall correctly, you told me to shut up,” Lex finally said. “I was just doing what you wanted.”

Chloe let out a small sigh and looked at him apologetically again. The poor guy had been through hell – *again* – and she was acting like a spoiled brat.

‘Way to go, Sullivan,’ she thought sarcastically.

“And technically, you’re not the only other person here.”

Chloe blinked and looked back at Lex.

“What?”

“When I first woke up, I saw a house on the hill,” he explained, motioning to the large hill with his head even though the house wasn’t visible from where they were because of the massive amounts of foliage.

“Oh,” Chloe said in response. “And we’re still here because…?”

“They may not have seen us,” Lex offered. Chloe stared at him in disbelief.

“No, I meant why are *we* still *here*?” she asked. “Why aren’t we going there to ask for help?” Lex gave her a blank look.

“If you hadn’t noticed, neither one of us is in any condition to move, let alone take a nature hike up that hill to find the owners of the house.”

It was then that Chloe finally took inventory of all of their combined injuries. Lex had several cuts and scrapes in addition to what was probably a broken leg and a rather large gaping wound down the side of his ribs. And she, well, she already knew she had a head injury and that her arm hurt like hell. She quickly looked over her body, engulfed in her own thoughts when Lex started to speak again.

“Your arm and your head will need medical assistance,” he said. “I didn’t see anything else that won’t heal on its own.”

‘Thank you Dr. Luthor,’ she thought snidely to herself, barely restraining herself from saying the comment out loud. Instead, she opted for a nod of her head and closed her eyes again to fight back a wave of dizziness.

“Chloe?”

“I’m still awake,” she murmured. Lex let one corner of his mouth curl upward.

“I know,” he said. “I was wondering --- I need to know ---” he trailed off, unable to form the words simply because they would solidify the fact that what had happened to him, to *them*, was true.

“You want to know about your dad and Dr. Bryce,” she said knowingly. She saw Lex swallow and look the other way.

“Yeah.”

Chloe nodded.

“Okay.”




TBC…

[bluemoongirl23]

I like that even through the haze of pain and trying to keep the two of them alive, Lex still takes the time to think that Clark is an idiot. And, methinks that the villa, while comfortable will be empty. Which is fine by me. Poor, broken Lex. I'm sure Chloe will be able to make it better.

Blue

[sabby]

Ok thank god you already cleared that up, so we know, but you shouldn't keep Lex waiting, and I still want to know how exactly Chloe found out. Update soon please can't wait to see what comes next

hugs,
Sabby

[vardaquareien]

I was cringing the whole way through this, the poor things! So many injuries, at least they can take care of each other! ;)

I agree with blue - I luv the fact that even in a life threatening situation, Lex can still observe that Chloe is so much more attractive and intelligent than Lana and that Clark's an idiot not to want her!

More, more, more!!!

[kidkarmina]

Please continue......(and soon :blinkkiss: ); luving every minute of this. :wub:

[Gemini]

Ah! You had me on the edge of my seat! For a moment there I thought chlex were going to be shark food. Hmmm... house on the hill... interesting. :yay:

[Blaire023]

I almost feel like welcoming Lex and Chloe to the club of gimps, as I sit here with my gimpy casted leg.

*passes them cards for a membership*

There, all set

~B

[fighterangel]

ouchies, those injuries sound like they hurt a lot.

Feel better Blaire, take care of your leg.

Can we have another chappie please?

LA

[hfce]

More more please :worship2:


Hope :blinkkiss:

[Charlie]

:worship2: We want more. We want more. We want more. :worship2:

[Tandy]

Great chapter! i like the verbal judo they still got going even thought they're injured. :goof:

Tandy

[Susan S]

So they are injured and possibly stranded on a deserted island. I loved Lex's observation about Clark and the mini arguement over injuries. Can't wait to see what happens next so update!

Susan S

[dsapiro]

So, are there people in the house? And how will they get up there to find out? Update soon!

[drina]

The premise of this story is so intriguing....I think of "Blue Lagoon" immediately, even though both definitely are not innocents of the mind, actually. But it would be real cool to see how they survive.

[jem]

at least they have a house?? :biggrin:

[Queen Of Tact]

Eeeek! I can't believe it took be so long to review for the 2nd ch..... I love it love it love it...... I so can't wait to read more..... please please please update sooooooooooooon!!!!!!!


CC

[scifichick774]

Lex rubbed his tired eyes with his hand as he listened to Chloe tell the rest of what she overheard and her theories on what had probably happened after she was knocked out. Her fervor while going over the details and the possibilities seemed to suggest that she had regained quite a bit of her energy. Chloe noticed the same thing and gave him a tiny, almost unperceivable grin before she tried to stand up again.

“And you know the rest,” she said, frowning down at the damp, sandy clothes that were still hanging to her curves. Her eyes drifted to a small clearing behind some trees near the base of the hill. “You think that’s a trail?”

“You’ll never make it,” Lex said discouragingly, though for the life of her, Chloe couldn’t figure out why.

Part of it was that he really didn’t relish the idea of being left alone on a beach in his condition and despite their differences, some company was better than none at all; and part of it was that he had a feeling that she would really be so stubborn as to go trotting off on her own, risking further injury to herself, and he would be unable to help her. Lex wasn’t sure why that bothered him, but it did.

“Well, thanks for the pep talk, Coach,” she said sarcastically, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Lex argued, opting for a different tactic since it looked like her stubbornness was going to win out. “I was simply pointing out that your body has been put through the ringer, you need to rest and let it recover.”

Chloe rolled her eyes and suddenly felt lightheaded again, but did her best to push it away so Lex wouldn’t be able to tell. Okay, so he was probably right about her not being physically ready to trek up the side of a hill, but that didn’t mean that *he* needed to know that.

He sighed as she wobbled a little with the first step she tried to take.

“Not one word,” she warned, cringing when she used her wounded arm to point her finger at him. “The owners of that house obviously didn’t see us, and we basically have *no* chance of getting out of here alive if we don’t get their help, so I’m going.”

“Chl---” Lex stopped talking when Chloe took another step, shakily pointing her finger back at him to remind him about not saying anything.

As much as he hated to see her leave on her own, he was certainly in no condition to go with her. What could he do? Crawl along side her as he drug his broken leg behind him? The idea was less than appealing. And he had to admit that Chloe definitely had a point about needing help. In addition to all of the injuries both of them had sustained, he was feeling substantially dehydrated and suspected that Chloe was as well. It would have done him little good to have brought them to the island in the first place if they were just going to lie down on the beach and die there.

He silently watched her as she slowly made her way across the beach, her feet sinking into the warm sand with unsteady steps as she went. The last he saw of her was when she stopped at the clearing between the trees and turned around to triumphantly smirk at him, indicating that she had obviously found a trail. She disappeared behind the greenery and Lex sighed, wondering whether he was ever going to see her alive again.

Chloe was dizzy and the trail, though it was there, was overgrown and littered with fallen leaves and branches so it was easy to get disoriented and start walking the wrong way, only to see a glimpse of where the trail really was later on. She cursed the entire way up the hill as the plants scratched at her open wounds and the insects of the island immediately took to the scent of blood that was coming off of her.

“Dirt and bugs,” she grumbled to herself. “And dad wonders why I never want to go camping.”

She finally reached a point on the hill where she could see the villa that Lex had been talking about. It still seemed far away, but at least now she wasn’t wandering aimlessly. She also noticed that there was a lush valley down below with a small stream running through it that, according to what little she had learned in Geology, was most likely fresh water.

‘Good to know in case these people won’t help us,’ she thought to herself.

Chloe had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, and by the time she finally reached the house it was only confirmed for her. Despite its elevation away from sea level, it looked like it had been through several storms and was currently vacant.

She frowned as she circled the back of the house to where she found an entryway that looked like it once been covered with French doors, but was now just broken glass and weathered wood.

She carefully stepped over the glass and broken boards as best she could, peeking her head in through the space where the doors used to be to see if perhaps she was wrong and it had just been this latest storm that had damaged the house.

“No such luck,” she muttered to herself under her breath.

There were still pieces of furniture, but most of them were so messed up that no one would ever want to use them, even in times of desperation. She took a chance and tried to turn on the light-switch, only to let out a tiny sigh when nothing happened.

“Figures.”

After looking over the house as much as she could, she noticed that the sun had started to fall. If she didn’t take advantage of what little light was left, she would never make it down the trail before it turned dark – meaning that she would never make it down the trail period, because there was virtually no chance of her taking another step once the lights were turned off. It had been hard enough to navigate in the afternoon sun; she wasn’t about to try it at nighttime.

Lex briefly thought that he would have been pacing if his leg wasn’t broken.

‘Scratch that, I’d be chasing after her,’ he inwardly amended. ‘Or I wouldn’t have let her leave alone in the first place.’ He looked back toward the opening between the trees and growled. Not that he could see much because the sun had gone down quickly and the moon left him only the bare minimum of lighting, but he could see that Chloe wasn’t there.

“Stupid stubborn girl! She probably slipped and fell down the hill - she’s probably lying dead against a tree somewhere. Damn it!”

Lex’s rant drifted over the sounds of the sea, the birds, and the insects, and Chloe found herself stopping dead in her tracks right before she got to the beach. He sounded angry rather than concerned and she wasn’t looking forward to having to break the news about the unoccupied house to him.

‘By the way, we’re going to die,’ she thought morbidly. ‘Yep, that’ll go over well.’ She stood there for a moment before she took another step, cursing at herself when she stepped on a rather large twig and the snapping sound it made echoed through the air. ‘Better play the dumb blonde – or scared blonde anyway – that way he can’t be mad at me; well, no more than he is already.’ “Lex? Are you there?”

Lex’s heart started pounding against the inside of his chest when he heard the twig break, the sound of Chloe’s voice immediately following doing little to calm it down. If anything, his heart rate rose when he heard the frightened lilt of her voice carry out into the night.

“Over here!”

Chloe let out a breath of relief when he called out to her. He was obviously just thankful that she had made it back okay and with any luck she might not receive a horrible lecture on how she shouldn’t have gone off by herself when she had lost so much blood.

“Hey,” she said quietly as she slowly made her way toward the outline of his form.

“Hey,” he responded, hoping that she could tell how relieved he was that she was alright and he wouldn’t need to turn it into an unnecessarily sappy moment by saying so. Then it hit him. She was alone. “What happened?”

Chloe shook her head apologetically as she leaned on her good arm to help her down to a sitting position.

“Nada,” she replied. “Overgrown trail, dizzy spells ---”

“The house,” Lex said impatiently. “What happened with the house?”

“It’s torn apart,” she said quietly. “At least the outside is – although most of the inside doesn’t look all that great either.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah,” she agreed. “Doesn’t look like anybody’s lived there for a while. Sorry.”

Lex rubbed his face with his hands, his fatigue finally setting in again.

“I did see a stream though,” Chloe said, breaking through his exhausted exterior. “It’s in a little valley past the trees. I don’t know for sure, but ---”

“Fresh water,” Lex finished for her.

“That’s what I was thinking,” she confirmed. She twisted her head a little to look back at the entrance to the trail, frowning when she could barely make out anything. “I can’t go back tonight,” she whispered more to herself than to him.

“I wasn’t going to suggest that you do,” Lex said. “I’m actually surprised that you’re still alive after that little stint of yours.”

“Which ‘stint’?” Chloe asked cheekily. “The one where I eavesdropped on your dad and Helen and got caught or the one where I went up to the house after you told me not to?”

“Both.”

Silence seemed to take over as reality hit both of them at the same time. It was one thing to be half-conscious and still clinging to a glimmer of hope; it was another to know that death was now a very real possibility.

“I can go back up in the morning,” Chloe finally said.

“Chloe ---”

“There’s still some stuff up there,” she said. “I don’t know how sanitary it is, but we can rip up some of the sheets to make a splinter for your leg or something --- and don’t arch your eyebrow at me, I’m not a moron – I took a first aid class.”

Lex couldn’t help the chuckle that erupted from his throat.

“I know you’re not a moron, Chloe.”

“Yeah, well, apparently it’s not common knowledge,” she said, a hint of bitter sadness lining her voice.

Lex frowned. Chloe may be stubborn, but he had always known she was intelligent from the first moment that Clark had mentioned her. That anyone would doubt that fact simply because she made decisions they didn’t agree with – it bothered him. It upset him because he saw too much of himself in her and he knew what it was like to have to prove yourself over and over again and still never be completely accepted.

He wanted to reach out and shake her shoulders, tell her that Clark wasn’t worth it – not even as a friend if he couldn’t accept every part of her personality, if he couldn’t get past his moral platitudes to see that her making different decisions than he did didn’t make her any less of a person. But he didn’t. Instead, his mind flitted to that region that his own personal devil’s advocate liked to frequent.

‘Maybe she already realized that Clark is just an ignorant boy. Why do you think she was over at your house in the first place?’

Lex frowned again. It was a good question and one that he didn’t have an answer to.

“Chloe?”

“Yeah?” she replied sleepily. He knew she was tired just from the tone of her voice, let alone the yawn that quickly followed, but he wouldn’t be able to get any rest until he knew either way.

“Why were you at my house?”

“What?”

“You overheard my father and Helen at my house. Why were you there?”

“Oh,” Chloe responded, barely able to keep her eyes open. “Your dad said he wanted to see me.”

“I didn’t realize that you and my father were on speaking terms,” Lex said accusingly.

“The Torch was completely trashed and he paid for the renovations,” Chloe said, leaving out the rest of the details about how Lionel had approached her earlier about investigating Clark.

“Okay,” Lex said in a disbelieving tone. “So, why did he want to see you?”

Chloe let her eyes drift closed and settled against her good arm as she lay down.

“Chloe?”

“Hmm?”

Lex closed his eyes, but only for a second. He couldn’t believe he was about to ask what he was going to ask.

“Are you sleeping with him?”

Chloe opened one eye and turned to look at him.

“You’re joking, right?”

“No.”

“Lex ---”

“Every girlfriend I’ve ever had has slept with him,” he said sourly. “Some before the relationship, some after, some during. So, don’t get angry with me for wanting to know which category you’re in.”

“I’m not in any category,” Chloe responded defensively. “Because I’ve never slept with your dad – nor will I *ever* sleep with your dad, and I’m *not* your girlfriend.”




TBC…

[bluemoongirl23]

Ok, bottom line this one for us: Is there a bed in the broken house? *waggles eyebrows* I love how Lex is putting Chloe into the girlfriend category already. He's a goner and doesn't even know it yet.

Blue

[Tandy]

:goof: He's not his girlfriend yet ! Maybe soon though! Wonder how they'll deal with things. Great chapter as always!

Tandy

[Calliope]

Blue is so right. Lex is going to be whipped before he knows it. I hope they find shelter soon. Unless there's a storm. Which causes wet clothes. Which need to be taken off. Umm, I'll be going now. :huh:

[hfce]

Yup Lex has fallen :lol: more please :biggrin:


Hope :chlexsign2:

[Queen Of Tact]

yeah an update... hehe and a great one at that....... I so can't wait to read more... I'm loving this story so please please please update again soon.....


CC

[mina murray]

He he. I think Lex is going to have to drug his cute little butt up the hill all by himself. ;)

[dsapiro]

But she didn't say that she would never be his girlfriend. More soon! Yeah, yeah, rotation. Just hurry up, ok.

[Brittany]

I love this story, thanks for the update, it was a good one. I especially liked the end. Can't wait for the next chapter, they both need some sexual healing ;) !!! I loved what blue wrote in her review about there being a bed in the broken house, that's funny. My mind is in the gutter right beside yours!! :biggrin:

[vardaquareien]

I love the way that Lex's sub-conscious already considers her as his girlfriend! Can't wait to hear what his explanation for that is!

Gee trashed house...that also means no change of clothing, and the ones they're wearing now are very tattered and dirty. What will they do with no clothes? *hint, hint* I'm sure Lex's sub-conscious can come up with an answer! :satanwink:

[tigerbaby]

Every girlfriend I’ve ever had has slept with him

Jumping the gun are we Lex?

Can't wait to see what happens next.

[Béatrice]

:popdevil: it is a very good beginning and i can't wait anymore.

I hope they're going to live in the house and some interesting things will happen, maybe on the beach.

What are Lionel and Helen doing in the same time ?


PS: sorry for my bad english

[staysixkid]

Originally posted by scifichick774@Jul 29 2003, 03:50 AM

“I’m not in any category,” Chloe responded defensively. “Because I’ve never slept with your dad – nor will I *ever* sleep with your dad, and I’m *not* your girlfriend.”




TBC…
...but you wanna be, don't you Chloe??? Lex's g/f friend, that is.

[shailafter]

how can lex be so dumb asking a question like that?! (is chloe sleeping with lionel). he's going to get thrown back into the ocean if he's not careful! hahaha and we don't want that. where would we be then with no lex.. more importantly no chlex smut :biggrin: :chlexsign3:

[kidkarmina]

I love you for updating so quick :blinkkiss: ! Very :cool: stuff. **sigh** I really wish something like this would happen in SV **sigh** Anyway, can't wait for the next one..... :chlexsign2: !

[scifichick774]

A/N: Fic rotation? What fic rotation? Sorry, but my muse is pushing this one. Hope you guys won’t mind too much.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Chloe slept fitfully throughout the night; tossing and turning, waking up several times when she rolled the wrong direction and the gritty sand irritated the open wound on her arm. When the sun finally began to rise and light the sky, she woke up for good, grumbling under her breath when Lex’s heavily sleeping form was the first thing she saw.

Although he had apologized for asking whether she was involved with Lionel and told her that he never meant to imply that his feelings toward her were anything other than platonic, the tone of his voice suggested that he was only saying one or both of the comments to placate her.

‘Asshole,’ she thought, turning her head so she wouldn’t have to look at him anymore.

She shakily pushed herself up and sloughed the sand away from her body as best she could, wincing when her hand drifted across the injury on her other arm. She held it up to get her first truly good look at it. It still hurt, but at least it wasn’t bleeding. In fact, it looked like it had started to softly scab around the edges, although Chloe wasn’t entirely sure as to whether or not that was a good thing.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t how it looked that mattered, but how it felt – and it felt lousy. She thought that her head wound would have caused her the most trouble, but it actually seemed to be a dull ache compared to the sharp pain that had taken residence in her arm.

“Probably infected,” she murmured, the soft sound of her voice causing Lex to stir ever so slightly. She looked at him, glanced over to the trail’s entrance, and then looked at him again as she made her decision.

~*~*~*~*~

Lex finally awoke several hours later to the heat of the mid-day sun pouring down on him, tampered by the strange sensation of a small trickle of water against his parched lips. He groggily opened his eyes, staring at Chloe in surprise for but a second before sitting up and accepting her offering of fresh water from an oversized cup.

He opened his mouth and greedily drank the liquid, basking in the almost blissful pain of having the cool fluid sweeping down his dry, cracked throat. He finished quickly and turned to Chloe with an unsure expression on his face. She motioned toward a bucket filled with water and it was all Lex could do not to stick his entire face in it and drink from it like it was a trough.

When he had enough he wiped his mouth through panted breaths and turned to see Chloe sitting down, staring out at the ocean.

“I --- thanks,” he said. Chloe nodded a couple of times, but didn’t turn back around to look at him. Lex moved to sit closer to her, unnerved when she didn’t even seem to acknowledge his presence. ‘She must still be angry about last night,’ he thought to himself. ‘But then why would she bring me water?’ “Chloe ---”

“There’s some fruit over by the seats,” she interrupted quietly, still not turning to look at him. Lex twisted his head to see a small pile of exotic fruit lying on top of what looked like…Chloe’s shirt? He snapped his head back around, his eyes widening with surprise when he saw that she was wearing something different than she had been from the time he last saw her.

“New clothes?”

Chloe let out a huff of air through her nose.

“I’m pretty sure you can’t call them new,” she said, finally swiveling her torso to shoot him a wry look. Lex blanched at the dried spots of old, spattered blood on the front of the sundress she was now clothed in. “I needed something dry,” she explained when she saw him pale a little and then try to cover it up. Lex nodded absently.

“Am I to take it from the condition of your new apparel that the previous owners ---”

Chloe turned away from him again, but this time Lex noticed the haunted expression that creeped over her face.

“Something bad happened in that house,” she said in little more than a whisper.

‘Well, that certainly explains why she’s not mad at me anymore,’ Lex thought. ‘Nothing like one bad thing to make you forget another.’

He nodded again and reached out to place his hand lightly on her shoulder, which, because of the new dress and the amount of skin it allowed to show, was now sporting the beginning signs of a sunburn. Chloe pulled away as if his touch had scalded her more than the sun and Lex frowned.

‘Okay, so she *is* still mad at me.’

“I brought what I could find down from the house. They actually had a first aid kit, but I don’t think any of the medicines are still good. There were a couple of long Ace bandages though, so at least I don’t have to try and rip some sheets up to put your leg in a makeshift splint,” she rambled, jerking him away from his thoughts.

“You’ve had a busy day,” he observed.

“You’ve been asleep for most of it,” she countered dryly, though Lex noticed there was no hostility laced into her words. She was probably just exhausted from having to make a few trips back and forth and…Lex furrowed his brow as he took in her appearance again, leaning forward to sniff her right after his eyes traveled her body. Chloe turned her head and looked at him with bemused surprise. “Did you just ---?”

“You don’t smell ---”

“Gamey?” Chloe supplied. Lex gave her a hint of a smirk and his eyes danced with an amusement he hadn’t felt in quite a while.

“I was going to use a less offensive description, but yes,” he said. “You smell…nice. Care to share your secret so you don’t have to sleep next to someone just as ‘gamey’ as you were yesterday?”

Chloe chuckled silently and she graced Lex with a smile that would have taken his breath away had he not seen her smile at several Smallville residents in the same manner. It was just how she was; the smile wasn’t something special reserved for him. And why should it be? They barely knew each other and she was sure to never look at him the way she looked at Clark.

‘Not that I want her to,’ he thought to himself, quickly followed by, ‘Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that. Because God knows it would be a disaster if someone beautiful, smart, *and* nice actually liked you – you and *not* your money. Hell, she likes Clark and he has nothing…’

“Lex?”

Lex blinked a couple of times, only to focus on Chloe’s really concerned-looking face.

“Are you okay? Do you have sunstroke or something?”

“I ---” Lex paused and shook his head. “Just a little lightheaded.” Chloe nodded.

“You need to eat,” she said, already starting to stand up to retrieve some of the fruit for him. “I felt amazingly better after my blood sugar went back to normal – or as normal as it’s going to get here.” Lex grinned at her and she walked back over to him, kneeling beside him as she emptied out the contents of her arms.

“So,” he started, holding a piece of fruit out in front of him and then rubbing it against his shirt. Chloe leaned her head forward as her body shook with laughter and Lex raised an eyebrow at her.

“You really think rubbing it against your bloody, dirty shirt is going to make it any cleaner?” she teased and then shook her head as if she couldn’t believe it.

He narrowed his eyes playfully, but then brought the fruit up to his mouth to take a bite, nodding in appreciation at the sudden rush of sugar that filled his body.

“I believe you were going to tell me how you suddenly appeared looking and smelling clean when I’m still ---” he trailed off and looked down at himself before looking back up at her knowingly.

“Ah – the miracles of water,” Chloe said. Lex gave her a blank look and she rolled her eyes at him. “I took a bath. There wasn’t any soap, but ---”

“There’s running water in the house?” Lex asked with surprise. Chloe frowned.

“I wish,” she said. “The stream is deeper toward the end; it kind of flows into a pool before it hits another and flows into the ocean.”

“You took a bath in the stream,” Lex repeated with a modicum of disbelief.

“It’s not like I had a lot of options,” she said defensively. Misreading the look on his face, she swiftly added, “And don’t worry, I got the drinking water from upstream, the little pool thing is downstream. No cross-contamination.”

Lex let one corner of his mouth rise into a lopsided smirk.

“I wasn’t actually thinking about that, but it’s good to know.”

Not wanting to overanalyze what he meant and knowing that Lex had a tendency to be kind of flirtatious, at least in the few times he had been in the room with her, Chloe simply grinned back at him and then stood up again to go get the supplies she had been able to find to piece together some sort of splint for him. She knew that it was a poor effort at best and that it had little chance of actually helping heal his leg correctly, but she reasoned that it wasn’t as if they had a lot of other options available and at least this way he would be able to hobble with a walking stick or something.

Lex stayed silently appreciative as Chloe knelt down beside him again and bit her lower lip as she seemingly tried to decide on the best way to raise his leg without hurting him too much would be.

“Um…”

Lex leaned forward to help her, but ended up wincing at the pain caused by the gash in his side. Chloe let out a small sigh.

“You leave any water in the bucket?”

Lex nodded and Chloe gnawed on her lower lip again, this time with embarrassment.

“What is it?”

“Maybe you should – you know – wash up a little first. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to wrap a dirty wound because you’re just locking the germs in there. I’d tell you where the stream was, but ---”

Lex smiled inwardly in delight at Chloe’s rambling. She may not like him as a man, but at least she saw him as one; and her embarrassment over the situation was oddly endearing after years of being treated like an object, like a means to an end to get his money.

“It’s fine,” he answered, cutting her off. Chloe nodded; thankful that he hadn’t let her go on much longer, because if she had then she was sure she would have started blushing.

“Good. I brought a washcloth, it’s been rinsed off so it shouldn’t be moldy or anything, and I’ll just take a walk while you…clean.”

“How far away is the house?” he asked as Chloe tossed the damp washcloth at him.

He twisted his head to look at her and saw her struggling to bring over the bucket half-filled with water with her one good arm. Lex frowned when he saw how much trouble she was having with it and realized how much effort she must have put into it when she lugged it from the stream to the beach while it was full. If he hadn’t been impressed by her intelligence and wit before they had gotten in the mess they were in, he was certainly impressed by her stubbornness and resourcefulness now.

She had already saved his life by getting him a flotation device and now again with bringing him drinking water so he didn’t die of dehydration. Lex silently vowed that if they ever got out of there alive that he would do everything in his power to make it up to her.

“About fifteen minutes,” Chloe answered, snapping him out of his thoughts for the fourth time in a relatively short period of time. Lex made a mental note to start paying better attention so that wouldn’t keep happening to him, though for the life of him, he couldn’t remember the last time it had before he had been stranded on the island with Chloe. “It took longer yesterday because the path was overgrown, but ---”

“You had a busy day today,” he said with an understanding grin.

Chloe smiled back at him and nodded.

“I should get going so you can ---” she stopped and motioned to the washcloth before starting to turn around to leave.

“Chloe?”

“Yeah?”

“Stay nearby.”

Chloe arched an eyebrow at him and he smirked at her.

“So I can call to you when I’m done.”

That time Chloe did blush, but she covered it well with a light shake of her head and turned the other way.

Lex smiled to himself as he watched her walk down the beach. Maybe his father and Helen trying to kill him wouldn’t end up being such a bad thing after all. Hell, if nothing else, he could end up making a friend out of the whole deal.

He stripped off his shirt and started to wash his chest, quickly followed by the other parts of his body. He groaned and grimaced when he had to run the cloth over his side and his leg, but knew that Chloe was right. It would do no good to wrap the wounds if they were filthy.

When he finished he yelled her name and hoped that she hadn’t wandered off so far as not to be able to hear him.

“Chloe?!” he called out again when he didn’t get a response within five minutes, going into a panic when he still heard nothing.

Then he caught sight of her walking slowly back toward him on the beach. He smiled at first, but then she got closer and he saw that she was wearing the same horrified expression on her face that she had on earlier when she talked about the house.

“Chloe?”

She got even closer and he saw that all the color had drained from her cheeks.

“What’s wrong?”




TBC…

[drina]

What is wrong??? She discovered a dead body or what???

[Gemini]

OMG, what's wrong? What happened? Tellme tellme tellme! Arg, they should make cliff hangers illegal. I'm going to start a petition banning cliff hangers! Grrr...

Great chapter by the way ;)

[kidkarmina]

Okay, I truly meant it when I said I love you for posting so quickly. And I still do :blinkkiss: ! However, I hate you for leaving it hanging like that :tease: (you are such a tease)!!!! Luving every minute of this :yay: !

Now that you have your fun, get back over here and tell us what made her looked so pale??!!

[hfce]

What you cant stop there nooooo . More now please....



Hope :worship2:

[staysixkid]

Oh my god! What's wrong??? You are Pure Evil!

Ok, I seriously think that the incredible scariness of their situation, hasn't hit Lex yet. He's thinking about friendship, and goodness and stuff like that, instead of worrying about the important stuff, like: infections, sanitary issues, ghost, island animals, and most importantly, how the hell they are getting off that island and what the hell happened in that house?. This leads me back to my first question. What the hell happened? What did Chloe see? That line she whispered to herself, "something bad happened in that house" just about had me turning on all my lights on in my room. It freaked me out! So, please...reroute your rotation again, and let us in on what happened on that island. I'm ashamed to say this, but what the hell...when's the smut happening??? Am I a bad person for asking that?

fee

[fighterangel]

omg what happened...? And what bad thing happened at the house? Update please please please

LA

[shailafter]

gah! :ohmy: what happened?! the suspense is killing me! great chap heheh

[Val]

OMG OMG! KEEP WRITTING!!!! Please????
More now!!! Tell your muse I love her for keeping you on this one!

[dsapiro]

I don't care about the rotation thing. I agree with your muse, update this one soon. What did she see?

[Brittany]

:ohmy: Okay, this is getting a little scary! What did she see and what the hell happened in that house!?! Is their a killer on the island? This story has me thinking about the movie I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. I hope there isn't a killer on the island still, I mean Lex can't do much protecting with a bum leg. Anyway update super fast I need to known what she saw! :huh:

[who?]

how can you end it there :ohmy: ...update soon..like now

[sabby]

How could you stop it there? Are you crazy? You do know that we will have a word about this later! Screw rotation, I want to know what the hell is going on there! How can you end a chapter like that! Now being evil is one thing, but this, this is taking it too far! I want an update and I want it now!

hugs,
Sabby

[vardaquareien]

DITTO, DITTO, DITTO!!!

What happened? How could you do that? Update NOW!!! Do you really wanna see a grown woman cry? I mean full out sobbing! Coz that's what I'll be doing if I'm kept in suspense for too long!!! :crygreen: :nono:


...I'm serious I will cry!!! :mad:

[Béatrice]

Please tell us what happened ?

We can't wait any longer !!!!

:yay: :yay: :yay:

[Charlie]

Nooooooo, I can't believe that you stopped there. You are pure evil. Pleeease give us an update soon. I want to know what she saw. :worship2:

[celticangel]

Great part!! :worship2: Can't wait to see what was wrong! :yay:

[Luthien]

Good lord girl! That has got to be the best cliffhanger I've ever read! I've read some of ur stuff over at ff.net and it prompted me to read this one. Might I say that I am highly intrigued and very happy that I did decide to read it. I can't wait for the next update so hurry! :chlexsign3: Lemme know when the next chapter is out

[bluemoongirl23]

Why? Just why do you hate us that much? Okay, I've got duct tape right next to me....don't make me have you use it on you, young lady. *shakes finger at Kris* More soon....pretty please.

Blue

[scifichick774]

Chloe was shaking so lightly that it could have been construed as a constant shiver, but the heat from the sun shining overhead and her colorless face suggested a far more foreboding reason for her demeanor.

“Chloe? What happened?” Lex asked again when she didn’t answer him or even look him in the eye.

She twisted her head ever so slightly at the sound of his voice and felt an overwhelming wave of nausea course through her. Within a second, she was vomiting out what little contents of fruit and water she had consumed earlier, her body succumbing to dry heaves soon after.

“God,” Lex exclaimed under his breath. ‘Maybe she just ate something bad – obviously not, idiot. The water could be contaminated – Giardia perhaps? No, then I’d be feeling it to – and she was fine until she took her walk.’

“I ---” Chloe trailed off and despite the fact that she had thrown up, she still couldn’t stop shaking.

‘Fuck it,’ Lex thought, pushing past the pain to stand up and balance on one leg. For some reason he felt the sudden urge to hold his arms out to her, to console her the way no one but his mother and Pamela had ever done for him; but instead he stood there, his arms at his sides as he stared at her, waiting for her to say something – anything.

“S-she’s dead,” Chloe barely whispered out after a few minutes of silence passed between them.

“What? Who?”

Her eyes finally connected with his and in that instant he knew. Not that he should have been surprised – he should have known that his father wouldn’t want any witnesses to the plot, including his partner in crime. After all, he couldn’t let Helen live to blackmail him, now could he? Still though, with everything Chloe had seen in her course of investigating the strange events in Smallville, certainly one dead body wouldn’t be enough to upset her as much as it was.

Lex startled himself with his own line of thoughts. Had he really become so callous as to slough off the woman he thought he was in love with, the woman he had been married to – however briefly, as little more than a dead body?

‘I have no soul,’ he thought to himself.

All those years he had thought his father was the soulless bastard – perhaps it was actually an inherited trait. At that moment, the only thing he felt for Helen was the seething hatred that only betrayal could bring. Chloe, on the other hand, barely knew the woman – knew that Helen and Lionel had put her on the plane to kill her – and was only managing to hold back any tears because of the beginnings of dehydration.

Lex let out a breath when he realized that he cared more about Chloe’s reaction than he did about his own, which disproved his fleeting theory of not having a soul or any human compassion whatsoever.

He nodded his head absently.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. And he was. He was sorry that Chloe had to be the one to find Helen’s body, that Chloe had become enough of a threat that Lionel and Helen had tried to kill her along with him, that she was in love with a boy who could never reciprocate her feelings because he was too blind to see any beauty past what the other kids in school said was acceptable.

“*You’re* sorry?” Chloe asked with a morbid half-chuckle before shaking her head. “You’re the one who just lost his wife.”

“I think you and I both know that she never saw herself in that capacity,” Lex said stoically. Chloe closed her eyes for a second and allowed her head to nod once in a defeated motion.

“I’m sorry,” she replied. And she was. She was sorry that Lex had been in Smallville when the meteors hit, leaving him to be the subject of ridicule from his peers for years to come. She was sorry that his mom had died when he was so young and the only person left to raise him was the last person on earth who should have been given that responsibility. Most of all she was sorry that he had apparently gone through his entire life searching to replace the love he had only known for a short time as a child, and because of his money would probably never find it. ‘Well, that and the fact that we’re both probably going to die here,’ she thought sourly.

“It was bad, wasn’t it?” Lex asked, tearing her away from her thoughts.

“Yeah,” she said. “It was. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Lex responded. ‘More than okay,’ he thought with more than a twinge of bitterness. “You want to talk about it?” Chloe raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

“You want me to talk about how I saw Dr. Bryce’s half-eaten body crashing against the rocks down the beach?” she retorted in a disgusted tone. Lex grimaced.

“Half-eaten?” he asked. ‘Well, that explains the horrified look she had.’

“Fish – shark – something,” Chloe rambled. “It was just…gross.” She shuddered and Lex could practically see her trying to push the image of the corpse out of her head.

“I can imagine.”

Chloe let out a small, tired sigh and then looked at Lex – really looked at him.

“You’re standing,” she observed. ‘And shirtless – please God, don’t let me have said that last part out loud.’

Lex couldn’t help the smirk that rose to his lips.

“You just now noticed that?”

“Hey – I was distraught,” she said. Lex snickered and Chloe rolled her eyes. “Well, it’s probably a good thing. It’ll be easier to wrap your leg this way.”

Lex nodded and Chloe walked over to where she left the supplies. She came back with two pieces of wood that Lex figured she probably got from the house since they were flat rather than tiny limbs that had fallen off a tree, and the elastic bandages she had mentioned.

She placed the boards on either side of his leg and began to wrap the bandages tightly around them to hold them in place.

“You said you learned this in first aid class?” Lex asked with surprise. Chloe had only finished with the first bandage and it already felt better to have the steady pressure against his leg. He was impressed and briefly thought if they ever got out of there that he might have to take the same class that she had.

“No-oo,” she strung out. “I said I took a first aid class and that I’m not a moron.” Lex tilted his head to the side as he looked down at her.

“So, where *did* you learn how to do this?”

“The wonder that is television,” Chloe replied. “And stop moving, you’re going to screw it up.”

Lex didn’t apologize, but he did still his body as best he could.

“One of the surgery channels?” he asked after a little less than a minute had passed. Chloe secured the second bandage and stood up to give him a smug smile.

“MacGyver.”

“MacGyver,” Lex repeated as if what she was telling him was completely foreign to him. Chloe rolled her eyes.

“That’s what you get for having boys as best friends,” she said. “You’re forced to watch reruns of shows like MacGyver instead of soaps.”

“Ah,” Lex said in understanding. Thinking that he finally had a way to relate to her, he grinned. “Well, if it helps, when we get back I’ll force Clark and Pete to sit through ---” he stopped as he saw the emotions on Chloe’s face shut down. “What is it?”

“We should try to get up to the house before the sun starts to go down,” she said dismissively. “Come on, you can use me as a crutch.” Lex frowned, but wrapped his arm around Chloe’s shoulders as she positioned herself against him.

“Chloe ---”

“The walk to the stream is a lot closer from the house, but I left the other bucket I filled up there just in case,” she said.

“Chloe,” Lex said again, this time with a touch of sternness.

Chloe clenched her jaw and continued to help him hobble toward the trail, surprised at the good time they were making already when she considered the condition he was in. She just wanted to keep moving; she didn’t want to dredge up painful issues. Why couldn’t he just see that and let it be?

“I don’t really want to talk about Clark right now,” she said quietly in an almost desperate voice.

Lex mentally slapped himself. He should have known better than to bring up Chloe’s longtime unrequited love. He had just been trying to raise her spirits, to reassure her that they *would* be going home someday, but he hadn’t factored in the equation of her possibly never being able to see the boy again; never being able to say goodbye.

The rest of the trek up the now partially cleared trail was done in silence; the occasional grunts and warnings to be careful being the only sounds to come out of either of their mouths.

They made it into the house and Chloe helped him over to an oversized wooden loveseat that had a worn down ottoman in front of it so he could keep his leg up.

“I --- the sleeping situation is kind of sketchy,” she admitted. “They have one bed that wasn’t hit by whatever hurricane blew through here and they have some sheets, but I’ll need to rinse them out in the stream and let them dry before we can use them. We can stay in this room for tonight though.” Lex arched an eyebrow at her after she sped through her words.

“*One* bed?”

“I didn’t trash the place just to cozy up to you if that’s what you’re worried about,” she shot back snidely, following it with a smirk of her own that made Lex decidedly uneasy – which he supposed was the reason he did it himself so often. “You’re welcome to take the couch,” Chloe continued, false sweetness dropping off every note in her voice.

Lex twisted his head to look at the couch she was motioning to, pulling it back to look at her with the same horrified expression she had been wearing earlier.

“I told you – something bad happened here.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t stay here,” Lex suggested, hoping that he didn’t sound like too much of a coward just because he didn’t want to stay in a house that still had the blood of the previous owners, or the people they killed, strewn across some of the walls and drenching some pieces of furniture like the couch in question. Of course, the bullet holes that seemed to be sprayed everywhere across the room didn’t do a lot to calm his nerves either.

“It’s this or the sand,” Chloe replied, making Lex frown. “Look, I’d suggest the whole Swiss Family Robinson tree house thing if I knew how to do any of that stuff, but the most I was able to make in shop was a spice rack. What about you?”

“I never took shop.”

“Wow. I’m in shock,” Chloe said sarcastically. “So?” Lex still seemed indecisive and Chloe shook her head with mild amusement. “If it makes you feel any better, the bedroom that the surviving bed is in is actually in pretty good shape. No blood, no bullet holes, no horrible smell of mold – but I think that’s because it’s the only room in the house that doesn’t have a broken window.”

Lex let one corner of his mouth curl upward. Chloe sounded like a real estate agent trying to sell the worst house possible. He could almost imagine her saying, ‘And if you’re really lucky, the previous owners won’t come back to the island and shoot you in your sleep.’

“Okay.”

“Okay?” Chloe asked.

“Okay,” Lex repeated. Chloe let out a breath of relief.

“Thank God,” she said. “Because I was just gonna have to push you down the hill if you wanted to sleep on the beach again.”

A deep roaring chuckle erupted from Lex’s throat and Chloe soon found herself laughing as well. Soon their amusement died down and the sunlight filtering into the house started to fade.

“What about tonight?” Lex asked.

“What do you mean?”

“The sleeping arrangement for tonight,” he clarified.

“Oh --- um ---” she stalled as her eyes darted quickly around the room. Lex gave her a lopsided grin and lifted one arm over the back of the loveseat as a silent invitation. “I can’t – I might hurt you.”

He smirked at her.

“I’m fairly certain I’ll survive.”




TBC...

[bluemoongirl23]

See, I knew that watching all of those MacGyvers would pay off! I wasn't wasting my time, after all. And a dead Helen makes for a happy Blue. Poor Chloe, though, to have to see such a sight. I guess that Chloe and Lex will have to cuddle up to fit on the loveseat....oh, too bad....

Blue

[kidkarmina]

Well I'm happy to say I like how Helen died. And MacGyver comment....classic. Luv that show :blinkkiss: ! Anywy, never liked that woman :tease: so good riddance. Thank you for posting it so fast. You've quenched my thirst. Unfortunately, not enough because I'm still hungry for more :biggrin: !

[asharnanae]

Lex let one corner of his mouth curl upward. Chloe sounded like a real estate agent trying to sell the worst house possible. He could almost imagine her saying, ‘And if you’re really lucky, the previous owners won’t come back to the island and shoot you in your sleep.’

:biggrin:

Have I mentioned how much I love this story.

:chlexsign1:

[Susan S]

Oh! Wonderful update! I'm so glad that you you didn't leave us hanging as to what Chloe found on the beach. I am wondering if she found anything else, like decaying corpses, in the house. Lex needs a bit of a reality check about their situation though. Can't wait to see more.

Susan S

[dsapiro]

Helen deserved it, but Chloe shouldn't have had to see it. But now she gets to sleep all cudled up with Lex, so thats good at least. Update soon.

[Queen Of Tact]

I loved it.... and 2 ch in one day!!!!!!!! Yeah I so can't wait to read more....... This is so great, but i think i would be a bit freeked having to sleep in that house....


CC

[DawnieAngel]

first things first. I'm SO sorry I haven't reviewed sooner. This story is really good, intresting concept, wonderfully written. Poor Chloe! Not what you need to see in an already stressful situation! I love how Lex is coping with all this by focusing soley on Chloe! It's really sweet! I can't wait to see what happens...not sure i'd of have the guts to stay in that house...sounds waaaaay to creepy for wimpy lil me! But then maybe if iwas with Lex i might be persuaded heehee. Update soon! It really is a great fic.

[Val]

I must say I love the fact Helen is dead. Just feel sorry that Chloe had to find her.
Want more soon! ;)

[Tandy]

:yay: :yay: Helen is dead! Helen is dead! Helen is dead! :yay2: I love this fic!

Tandy

[hfce]

YES!!!! HELEN LEFT THE BUILDING!!!!!!!! CAN I HAVE AN AMEN!!!!!!! :clap: and I say chloe and lex are brave sleeping in that house. I rather face the elements outside.


Hope ;)

[hler]

I hear Hope's AMEN!!! :clap: Amen, sister soul. Hell-en is dead!! Gruesomely done, yet oddly gratifying.....
Gotta Love the Chlexness, loving this so far, it goes to the head of the class!!

[Blaire023]

*tackles kris in a flying squirrel hug*

sooooooo good. And the sharing. Hey, Sharing is Caring.

Bustin out the old school care bears videos over here.

And thank you for updating it even though you were mentally fighting with yourself. I so love this one, ask Sab, i honestly can't stop talking about it.

~B

[Brittany]

:biggrin: Yay!!! The wicked bitch is dead ( I'm doing a happy dance!) I'm looking forward to the next chapter, hope bed time comes early for Chlex the next day! ;)

[shailafter]

:applause: :applause: :applause: great chapter!!!

[drina]

Helen eaten by sharks literally and figuratively (Lionel Luthor)...

[sabby]

Come on, screw rotation, this is too good to wait for *G* Helen is dead, Helen is dead *singsong* sorry I'm happy every time this is the case, I am an evil, evil person :biggrin:

Anyway, I want more, and I want it ASAP this is gonna be soo good. Chloe and Lex trying to sleep in one love seat? heh that's sure as hell gonna give trouble *g*

hugs,
Sabby

[L'infini]

What's Chloe found?! What's Chloe found?!?!? Oh, it's only dead, mutilated Helen, that's OK then. Phew, had me worried that it was some innocent character I'd never met before, that I actually gave a flying rat's ass about, not just some old hell bitch.

Incidentally, should we be worried that a character is killed and we all just throw a party and dance around screaming 'Yes! Let her BURN!' ? Nah, I didn't think so either.

My only problem with this fic is poor ole' Lex's broken leg. Now, by my calculations nothing smutty can happen for a while or the ummm impact, is going to play havoc with his healing process and cause him quite a bit of pain as well. :eyebrows:

Hoping my calculations are wrong, loving your fic and praying for updates.

[Jakie Firecracker]

:worship2: :worship2: :worship2: :worship2: :worship2: :worship2: :worship2: :worship2:
Though I will not be joining the "yay! she's dead!" party re: Helen, as I am totally indifferent towards her. Next time, kill Lana! Or make her be a raging biznitch.

[tigerbaby]

THANK GOD!!!! (does happy dance)

I've seen wood with more chemistry than Lex and the wicked witch of the west.

And I agree with Jackie, Lana has got to be the next to go

[Luthien]

Well I hope the shared bed experience, minus the onslaught threat of being murdered, will lead to wonderful and beautiful smut. ^_^ :drool: :chlexsign3: :yay:

UPDATE SOON PLEASE :worship2: :yay2:

[scifichick774]

A/N: Once again, it's a looong time until it gets to the smut, but I'm trying to update frequently to get you there faster.

~*~*~*~*~

“And where is, uh…um…”

“Helen?”

“Helen. Hmm…”

“Helen’s out of town at a medical seminar. Otherwise I suspect your visit would be putting her anger management techniques to the test.”

The dream flitted to an image of Lex and Helen sitting on the floor as they talked about what had happened with her ex-boyfriend. The night Lex proposed. He realized as he replayed the jumbled scenes in his mind that he should have known that something wasn’t right, that he shouldn’t have let his suspicions go just because Helen ranted at him about having her followed. After all, she *had* been seen in the pictures with Lionel. Lex unknowingly gritted his teeth as he slept, watching the past unfold before him, tortured by the fact that he couldn’t change it.

“So what do you say, Dr. Bryce? Will you marry me?”

Helen smiled a forced smile and touched his face, but gave no answer before Lex leaned forward and started to kiss her.

When he pulled away, Helen’s face and body had contorted into the bloody, gruesome mess that Chloe had briefly described to him earlier that day.

“*You* were the one who was supposed to die! *You*!” she yelled angrily in a distorted voice. Lex scrambled backward and quickly rose to his feet, but Helen’s half-eaten corpse seemed to float off the ground and stare at him with a vengeful expression. “You ruined my fucking life!”

“I – I didn’t – I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Lex stammered in horror, still trying to back his way toward the door, but having no success.

“One stupid case! I was set to go into plastic surgery, but no! I had to end up getting you on my rotation that night. A sniveling, spoiled brat who, because of my sleep depravity, I thought I could make a difference for. Then I started thinking I could make a difference in other people’s lives…”

“That’s a good thing, Helen. You helped a lot of people,” Lex said, shaking his head to try and return the image of her into the beautiful woman she was just moments before.

“It was all a lie, Lex! I never helped you. You’re still the same self-centered rich kid I met that night in the emergency room. Because of you, my dad blackballed me from the medical community. I had to end up working in *Smallville*! You deserved to die – and you will.”

Suddenly Lex found himself back on the plane, plummeting toward the ocean below. But this time Chloe wasn’t there, he had no flotation device, and he felt the shards of glass and metal slice into his skin as the plane hit the water.

Lex’s eyes shot open, his skin covered with a sheer layer of sweat and his chest heaving as he panted for breath. He mentally reminded himself that the dream hadn’t been real and that Helen was dead and had no way of exacting any kind of revenge on him. He looked around the dark room in brief confusion until he started to raise his hands to rub his face and one of his arms hit Chloe’s body. His heart pounded faster behind his ribs and after a second of gazing down at her, he tightened his grip around her shoulders.

He had heard her the night before on the beach, stirring in her sleep, even getting up on occasion; but there was no point in rehashing the nightmares that she was obviously having. God knew he didn’t want to talk about his, he couldn’t imagine that hers were any better – especially now that he knew what she was talking about when she said that something bad had happened in the house, and that she had been the one to see Helen’s dead body crashing into the rocks down the beach.

The reality of the situation finally hit Lex hard. He and Chloe had been in a plane crash and were lucky to be alive, even if it was with severe injuries. Nobody knew where they were, and because of Lionel’s connections, it was likely that no one was looking.

‘No. That’s not true,’ Lex told himself. ‘Clark will look for her. He and I might not be on the best of terms right now, but he *will* look for *Chloe*.’ He felt her partially chilled body snuggle closer to him and he let the smallest of grins pass over his lips, knowing that she wouldn’t be quite so comfortable if she consciously knew who she was leaning against.

She whimpered and her head started shaking, but Lex could tell that she was still dreaming from the rapid movement behind her eyelids. Someday he would need to ask her about what images her nightmares held, but not now.

“Where could she have gone? Aren’t you even worried?”

“Of course I’m a little worried, Martha, but Chloe is a big girl and she can take care of herself…usually,” Gabe said with a grin. “Besides, she’s probably just off chasing a story and forgot to leave a note.”

“Well, I suppose that *is* possible,” Martha conceded with an uneasy smile. “And I’m sure that Clark and her other friends are doing everything they can to find her.”

~*~*~

“So, where’d Chloe take off to?” Pete asked.

Lana snuggled up to Clark, tightening her grip on his arm as if subconsciously claiming him away from the girl in question.

“She didn’t say, but probably Metropolis,” Lana said. “Her cousins and stuff are there.”

“Yeah,” Clark agreed. “It’ll be good for her to see her friends again, maybe they can figure out why she’s been so…”

“Bitchy?” Lana suggested sweetly. Clark raised an eyebrow and grinned at her.

“Well, I was going to put it a little nicer, but yeah.”

“Yeah, can’t imagine why she’d be all hostile toward you two at all,” Pete mumbled to himself.

“It’s not my fault she likes me, Pete,” Clark said.

“True,” Pete agreed. “It’s just your fault that both of you treat her like crap.”

“Pete!” Lana exclaimed in disbelief.

“Hey – you don’t want her as part of your ‘bubble’, that’s cool; but if that’s the case then you need to stop using her.”

“We don’t ---”

“Hello?” Pete said, cutting Clark off. “You totally take advantage of her. She’s not Google, Clark – do your own damn research if you don’t want her around.” He stopped and cast a scolding look at Lana. “And you - the girl offered up her house to you even though she never liked you. And how do you repay her? Snoop on her computer? Lie to her?” Pete shook his head despairingly. “I hope her friends in Metropolis can talk some sense into her – because she sure as hell deserves more than what your inclusive little world can offer.”

Chloe started to cry in her sleep, tiny tears slipping down her cheeks as she dreamt a twisted version of how people in Smallville were probably reacting to her mysterious disappearance.

Lex frowned and brought up his hand to sweep away her tears with his thumb. Chloe sniffled.

“I love you,” she half-whispered.

Lex’s eyes grew wide and he was certain that his heart had stopped beating. He knew that she wasn’t talking to him; that most likely she was talking to a dream vision of Clark, and because of the sadness with which it came out, Lex guessed it wasn’t a good dream.

He suddenly felt guilty for ever trying to set up Clark with Lana when Clark had Chloe – beautiful, intelligent, interesting Chloe – all along. And Chloe loved him - *really* loved him. She obviously wasn’t interested in Clark for his money or power, since he had neither; if anything, she had been the giving one in the relationship, trying to get Clark interested in something besides joining the football team by letting him write some articles for the school paper.

Lex fleetingly thought back to when he thought Helen would be able to save him from the man he thought he was becoming. Closed off, jaded, unable to trust…and for a time, he believed that she was doing it. That by throwing her tantrums and breaking him down she was helping him to become a better person. Lex groaned at his own stupidity.

Real love was the only thing that would have been able to save him; real love that was supportive and accepting no matter what, real love that would have built him up instead of weakening every part of him until only a shell of who he had once been was left, real love like Chloe apparently had for Clark and Clark had thrown away in favor of a perfect girl who wasn’t anything near perfect.

Chloe opened her puffy eyes so see Lex looking down at her. She blinked a couple of times, not surprised to see that the sun hadn’t completely come up yet, but surprised that Lex had woken up before her.

‘Must have been the extra long nap,’ she thought to herself.

“Hey.”

“Good morning,” Lex retorted, loosening his hold on her a little bit so she wouldn’t be creeped out. Chloe pulled back as if she had been burned and Lex frowned, thinking that he had been too late with the movement.

“God! I’m sorry! I didn’t hurt you, did I?” Chloe asked, her eyes frantically running over his bare side.

Lex stared blankly at her for a second before he realized that she hadn’t been appalled to find herself snuggled up to him, but she had been leaning against his wounded side and was worried about him.

“Actually, it feels better,” he said as he looked down at the injury.

“You don’t have to say that to make me feel better.”

Lex met her eyes and gave her a half-smirk.

“When have you ever known a Luthor to say something just to make someone feel better?” he asked. Chloe’s expression went from depressed to serious in the space of a second.

“Depends on the Luthor,” she replied. Lex furrowed his brow and then narrowed his eyes.

“You’re talking about my father,” he observed. Chloe seemed to flinch, but rather than let Lex see the emotions that came across her face, she stood up and turned her back to him as she scanned the floor for the second bucket of water she had left up there. “I get the feeling that you’re not telling me everything.”

He heard Chloe take a deep breath and then release it, only to turn back to him with watery eyes.

“It’s better that way,” she said in a choked voice.

“Why?”

Chloe paused for a second before answering, staring down at her hands as she fidgeted with her fingers.

“Because you’ll hate me.”

“Chloe, I could never --- what is it?”

“Your dad,” she started, noticing how Lex’s body stiffened.

“What about him?” Lex asked, not liking where he thought this might be going. He knew Chloe hadn’t been entirely honest about her ‘meeting’ with his father, but he had decided to let it go at the time. Now he wasn’t sure he wanted to ever hear what she had to say, because if she was going to talk about how Lionel had seduced her…

“He offered me something – a deal.”

“Go on.”

“I turned him down, told him to stick it – well, I wasn’t nice when I rejected him,” she said, waiting for Lex to comment. When he didn’t, she took a breath and continued. “He wanted me to investigate Clark for him. I told him no, but then a couple weeks later I found out that Clark and Lana were together and that they had both been lying to my face about it --- I was angry and --- I went to the house to tell him that I’d do it. I don’t know if I ever would have told him what I’d found out, but I was angry and curious and ---”

“That’s it?” Lex asked, unable to hide the surprised relief lining his voice.

“That’s not enough?” Chloe asked with a sour half-chuckle.

“Chloe, you saved my life.”

“So has Clark.”

“It’s different.”

“How?”

“That night on the bridge,” Lex started, looking completely serious as he met Chloe’s questioning gaze, “I hit him, Chloe.”

“What?”

“I hit him with my car and the force of it knocked us both over the bridge,” Lex said. “He thought he was responsible, and because of that mixed with his hero complex - he saved me.” Chloe opened her mouth to speak, but Lex cut her off. “You, on the other hand, could have grabbed one seat and jumped out of the plane, incurring substantially less damage to yourself.”

Chloe found herself stunned and moved back to sit next to him on the wooden loveseat.

“You hit him.”

“Yes.”

Chloe nodded a couple of times.

“Well, that explains a lot.”




TBC…

[sabby]

Oh this is interesting. I think a certain farmboy will be in deep trouble when the duo comes back to smallville *evil grin* Update soon, I want to see what happens next!

hugs,
Sabby

[hfce]

Noo why did you stop? I want more man,,,, :crygreen:



Hope :worship2:

[Blaire023]

Veddy veddy good. i like it. i like it a lot.

i ummmmm, hehe, you know i want the smut so bad i can taste it.

~B

[asharnanae]

:biggrin: you the super story writer!!! can I borrow some of the inspreation juice??? :worship2:

[dsapiro]

I'm glad Cloe tod him, and I'm glad that he took it so well. Great job Kris, update soon!

[shailafter]

oOoo what happens next?! :chlexsign3:

[Tandy]

Well, i'm glad Chloe told him about the deal and that he doesn't think it's that bad. The fic is wonderful!

Tandy :wub:

[fighterangel]

really good, your a great writer. now what happens next? Please update soon!!!!!

LA

[Brittany]

;) That was great as always, but too short! Please update soon, I want to know what happens next!

[Val]

Originally posted by sabby@Aug 1 2003, 03:59 PM
Oh this is interesting. I think a certain farmboy will be in deep trouble when the duo comes back to smallville *evil grin*
I so hope so! :devil:
MORE SOON!

[scorpio]

Wow.This is very, very good. :) :clap:

Lana is a bitch...and Clark is a dick. And Pete... he´s just the best. Poor Lex and poor Chloe. Let them find some comfort in each others presence. and maybe even something more ;) They deserve it.

[scifichick774]

He didn’t know for certain how much time had gone by since they had landed on the island, but by Lex’s ‘internal clock’ it had been about a month. A month filled with Chloe going out and exploring the small island as best she could while he was stuck around the creepy villa day in and day out. Chloe took him down to the where the stream started to pool each day so he could bathe, but apart from that he was sitting on the half-broken lawn chairs on the veranda or staying inside when the rain came.

As appreciative as he was to Chloe for getting fresh fruit and water every day, not to mention the time she actually managed to kill a bird by throwing a rock at it and they had meat for the first time in a few weeks, Lex found his boredom increasing daily and couldn’t help but think that if they were there much longer that he was going to go stir-crazy.

The situation with Chloe didn’t help. Although she was faithful about helping to take care of him and keep him company, more recently she seemed sullen and withdrawn; as if she had given up hope of ever being rescued, of ever seeing the people she really *did* care about again. He could hear her murmured cries while they slept and Lex found himself feeling helpless because there was nothing he could do or say to comfort her.

He could lie and say that any day now someone was going to put the pieces together and find them, but he knew she was smart enough to realize by now that his father had probably put a stop to any sort of investigation. Chloe had even said that she wondered if Lionel had faked a car accident since he probably had her purse or if he had just destroyed the purse and people had assumed that she had gone missing. From what Lex knew about his father, he surmised it was most likely the former.

Lex squirmed in his seat and kept looking out at the trail to the stream as if his stare would somehow make her materialize. It didn’t.

At least an hour passed before he saw Chloe slowly dredging her way past the trees surrounding the trail. Lex frowned when he noticed how exhausted she looked, wondering how long she had been like that and if he had just been so wrapped up in his own survival to notice.

There was no doubt that she was undertaking a lot more physical activity than she had been used to back in Smallville, and that combined with the significant decline of caloric intake and sleep was taking its toll on her body. Lex had a bad feeling that her sudden bout of depression was well warranted.

Chloe greeted him with an absent nod of her head and then practically collapsed into the chair next to him.

“You’re working too hard,” Lex said. Chloe didn’t even acknowledge that he had spoken; she just looked up at the sky. “I’m sorry.”

“None of this is your fault,” she responded quietly. After a beat, she lobbed her head over to the side to look at him. “How’s your leg?”

“Getting better, I think,” he answered with a modicum of enthusiasm. “I’ve been able to walk around a little more with that stick you brought me.” Chloe smiled weakly.

“That’s great.”

“You wanna see?”

Chloe let out a half-chuckle and propped herself up on her elbow.

“Sure.”

Lex steadily rose from his chair, using the sturdy yet slim piece of wood that Chloe had found a couple of weeks before. He walked around a little and Chloe started to laugh.

“It’s not a crutch, it’s just something I’ve come to rely on to help me get through life,” she said. Lex furrowed his brow and Chloe shook her head as she let out a small sigh. “You never watched TV, did you?”

“News, stock reports,” Lex answered dismissively. “I caught a couple of soap operas when I was in the hospital.” Chloe snickered.

“Which time?”

“Funny, Sullivan,” Lex said sarcastically, but with no real menace lining his voice. “What about you?”

“Which shows did I watch when I was in the hospital?” she jokingly shot back. Lex smiled.

“You were unconscious every time you were in the hospital,” he said. “I meant in general.”

“Ahh,” Chloe said understandingly and then shrugged her shoulders. “Doesn’t really matter anymore, does it?”

Lex frowned at the seemingly sudden change in her demeanor. One minute she was having a nice, lighthearted conversation with him and the next she had slipped into a defeatist attitude that he knew he might not be able to break through. Though, he couldn’t argue with her logic. There was little point in reminiscing about the way things used to be when they may very well never be that way again.

“I guess not,” he finally said.

An uncomfortable silence settled upon them and Lex looked over to see Chloe nervously running her teeth over her lower lip.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she lied.

“Chloe ---”

“If I ask you a question, will you promise not to get angry with me?”

“I don’t make promises that I don’t know if I can keep,” Lex informed her. “But I’ll do my best. What is it?”

“Did you really not know – or suspect, I guess – you know about Dr. Bryce?” she asked.

“About her and my father’s partnership or about her in general?”

“Both.”

Lex let his face slip into the cool façade that he used so often in business meetings, the one that hid all of his emotions so well that people couldn’t tell what he was thinking one way or the other.

“I did,” he finally admitted. Chloe’s eyes widened in surprise, but she said nothing and just waited for him to elaborate. “As you know, my history with relationships is…less than stellar. When she and I first started going out, I hired a private investigator to do a background check on her and follow her around for a little bit.”

“O-kay,” Chloe said slowly. “And what? Nothing showed up?”

“He gave me pictures of Helen and my father talking in the park,” Lex answered coolly, a twinge of anger creeping into his tone, though Chloe couldn’t tell whether the anger was directed at Helen, his dad, or himself. She guessed the latter.

“But you stayed with her.”

Lex gave her a look that she hadn’t seen on him before, one of sad desperation.

“I wanted to believe,” he said. “I wanted to believe the lies that she was telling me. I know it sounds crazy, but ---”

“It doesn’t,” Chloe interrupted, turning her gaze away from him. “It doesn’t sound crazy at all.”

Even though she wasn’t watching him, Lex nodded. He knew that Chloe had gone through her own period of denial about her situation with Clark. The difference was that Clark hadn’t set out to hurt her. He had simply been too infatuated with Lana to see anything else.

“Not all guys are like him, Chloe.”

She turned and gave him a sad grin.

“Not all women are like her,” she said. A twinkle sparked up in her eyes and a laughing smile took residence on her lips. “Just all the women you go out with.” Lex’s mouth formed a wry grin and he shook his head.

“I’d argue with you, but I think you can cite too many examples for me to possibly win.”

Chloe laughed and Lex smiled. At least he had managed to pull her out of her funk for a brief moment in time.

“Lex Luthor conceding defeat,” she said teasingly. “Never thought I’d see the day.”

“You still haven’t,” he said with a seriousness that startled her. After a second, he cleared his throat and sat back down again, facing her as he rested his leg on her chair. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“You made an observation about the women that I’ve been unfortunate enough to go out with, but aside from Clark, I don’t know that much about the guys that you’ve dated. You need to give me a little ammunition to make it a fair fight, after all.”

Chloe straightened in her seat, but instead of the closed off look that Lex was expecting, her expression sparkled with amusement.

“All I’m going to say is that I’m apparently a meteor mutant magnet,” she said. “I don’t think you need anymore details than that.”

“The hell I don’t,” he said. “You’ve got me curious now.”

Chloe laughed and shook her head.

“Tough.”

“Come on,” Lex prodded.

“Okay, you want to know about the guy who tried to suck out my body heat or the guy with telekinetic abilities who tried to kill me because I found out that he killed Principal Kwan?”

Lex arched an eyebrow.

“Interesting,” he said.

“Yeah, well, that’s Smallville for you.”

“No, I meant – who’d have thought we’d have something so strange in common?”

“What do you mean?”

“The people we date try to kill us,” he said with a mirthful smile. Chloe snickered.

“Well, at least yours is for a valid reason. Greed is a normal motive.”

“Speaking of which, may I ask you a question?”

“Shoot.”

“Why have you always treated me like you do?” Lex asked. Chloe’s eyes darted over to him with a questioning look.

“I don’t think I understand. I treat you like I treat everybody else.”

“Exactly.”

Chloe furrowed her brow.

“How did you expect me to treat you?”

“I don’t know, just not how you do,” Lex admitted. Chloe sucked in a breath.

“I’m sorry. According to Clark and Pete, I know I can come across kind of…brash…at times, but ---” she trailed off when Lex chuckled and shook his head in disbelief. “What?”

“Nothing. It’s just – for someone so smart, you’ve picked friends who are complete idiots.”

“It’s not like I had a lot of options,” Chloe retorted, reminding him that for most of her life she had been the outcast. “And what about you? Clark’s pretty much the only friend you have.”

“It’s not like I had a lot of options either,” he said, reminding her that despite their differences in monetary status, he had been considered an outcast for most of his life as well.

“Okay, so --- friends?” she asked, holding out her hand to shake his. Lex looked down at her hand and then back up to her eyes with a faint smile on his lips. He reached out his hand to grab hers and gave it a firm shake.

“Friends.”




TBC...

[Blaire023]

Well well well, friends you say? hmmm, i'm thinking more than a friendship will come of this in the future *eyes rating* oh, yeah, you know what i'm talkin about.

~B

loved the similiarites :chlexsign3:

[sabby]

Hmmm, kay, good start. But still, this is not in the friendship section :biggrin: so I think this friendship will probably soon develop into something more *g* Update soon please

hugs,
Sabby

[staysixkid]

Good God! Is possible? Is there another fic that could replace 'The Deal" as my favorite? Damn! I LOVE this story! I'm seriously addicted and it's haunting me!


...not to mention the time she actually managed to kill a bird by throwing a rock at it and they had meat for the first time in a few weeks,
My neighbors must be wondering what all the manic cackling is about. I busted a gut reading that line! For reasons unknown, I can honestly picture Chloe pitching little rocks at a poor defenseless tropical bird. This is brilliant work! Now I have to head back to the drawing board…I’ve got some ideas flowing.

Ophelia

[beanie1816]

I love this fic cause we get to see the healthy develpment of a stable relationship. First they become friends then lovers which is the way i want to meet my future husband. Cant wait for the next update!

:worship2:
Megs

[dsapiro]

friendship is a wonderful way to start a relationship. Great chhapter, update soon.

[Brittany]

:biggrin: Yes,yes this friendship stuff is great but when do we get to the smut? I enjoyed this chapter just as I enjoyed all the others, but I'd enjoy it even more if there was smut! Please update soon! Did I mention I want smut? ;)

[Tandy]

:yay: Friendship is a start, hopefully to something with a lot more smut! :blinkkiss: Honestly, you're doing a wonderful job setting their relationship. MORE!

Tandy

[drina]

Guess they're going crazy with cabin fever...what can they do? ;)

[scorpio]

Aww. What a good chapter. I like their friendship. I really do.
And...I can´t belive I´m saying that but there´s no need to rush with the smut. :huh: Did I just say that? :lol: Oh, but you´re welcome to give us some sexual tension, though. ;)

[celticangel]

Aww their friends. :wub: Can't wait for the next part. Update soon. :worship2:

[Val]

Aww that was such a cute ch.!
More! :biggrin:

[TestingFaith]

ok...this is GREAT...i wanna see more soon


Did ya see the scary-ass-monkey segment after Pirates of the Caribbean?
Lily M. :sunny:

[bluemoongirl23]

Yeah, "friends" I buy that one. Well, they'll start out that way then. I love it when I get two updates for the price of one! Great stuff. I love Lex holding Chloe as she sleeps and his carefullness at not freaking her out. And, then, of course, their banter is wonderful as always.

Blue

[hfce]

Friends sure ;) :lol:


Hope :chlexsign2:

[roslyn]

ok, now i like smut about as much as the next person, but i have to say i really like how your building this strong fiundation for the two of them to stand on. first them realzing they have much in common, then the beginning of a friendship, it makes their relationship as a couple more sensible because they got to know each other before they jumped into the bed together. :biggrin:

by the way, loved this chapter and i can't wait for the next so update really soon!

:wub: Roslyn

[Luthien]

That was so nice, two nice and plump new chapters of Lex & Chloe. I'd really like to know what is REALLY happening in Smallville at the moment though, anything near Chloe's dream? I hope not. I imagine Clark beating the crap out of Lionel, then Jonathan Kent taking his head on a pike. Nice huh?

Update soon please! :worship2: :chlexsign3:

[hler]

Friends......with benefits?

Sounds good to me!!!!

:yay: MORE!!!!! :yay:

~Heida

[shailafter]

yea.. "friends" :eyebrows: hahah aw it's going to take forever to get to :smut: but the story is still great! :chlexsign3:

[kidkarmina]

I have not finished reading the rest of your updates, but I just want to let you know that I like Pete telling Lana and Clark off; even if it was just in Chloe's dream. Okay, now that I've got that off my chest, I'm continuing...... :blinkkiss: !!!

[kidkarmina]

Aaww...that was very sweet. I like the fact that you are taking the time to develop their friendship, feelings, etc. As everyone knows, friendship can blossom to the next level; hence, the smut :blinkkiss: (eventually). This is brilliant :wub: !

:chlexsign3: definitely.

[fighterangel]

Friends, ok, friends are good, but friends w/ benefits are better. Although friendship leads to the best relationships. Loved the banter... Update soon :yay:

LA

[fighterangel]

Friends, ok, friends are good, but friends w/ benefits are better. Although friendship leads to the best relationships. Loved the banter... Update soon :yay:

LA

[Queen Of Tact]

yeah what a great couple of ch.... I love the chloe and lex bonding.... I can't wait to read more......

CC

[scifichick774]

Another couple of weeks passed and like most mornings, Lex found himself waking up on the bed alone.

He frowned.

Although he would tell her not to over-do it, he secretly delighted in the days when Chloe would physically exhaust herself, because he knew it meant that she would sleep in the next morning; her body too concentrated on rest to allow the nightmares to awaken her.

They still hadn’t talked about the images that plagued them in their sleeping hours, and from the way Chloe changed the subject any time he brought it up, Lex figured it might be a long time before they ever did.

There was another reason, apart from a good night’s sleep, for Lex to be fond of the mornings when Chloe would rest beside him; though he would be hard-pressed if he tried to put it into words. It was an indescribable feeling, one that dug into his core emotions. It made him feel secure, comforted, protected…loved – even if he wasn’t.

His mouth opened wide with a yawn and he stretched his arms as far as he could without inflicting any pain to his side, which was now healed; though parts of the newer, darker skin still looked tender.

He started to push himself up to a sitting position when his hand ran across a damp spot on the sheets. Lex furrowed his brow and lifted his hand, only to have his eyes grow wide when he saw the small pool of blood that graced the sheets and his hand.

“Chloe?!”

His first thought was that she was hurt, that her arm wound had opened up somehow and she had been too stubborn to wake him up and tell him that she needed help.

“Chloe?!” he called again, knowing it was probably futile, because if she had gone to the stream or something then she wouldn’t be able to hear him from inside the house. “Damn it!”

His next thought was that maybe the blood hadn’t come from her. He had two large injuries himself and it was entirely possible that one of them had ‘sprung a leak’ as Chloe put it.

He looked down at the side of his ribs. It wasn’t pretty and he was certain that no amount of plastic surgery would ever be able to cover the scarring completely, but it wasn’t bleeding.

That left his leg.

Unfortunately, it was still wrapped and he couldn’t see the back of it unless Chloe was there to look at it. It didn’t hurt, but from previous experience, Lex knew that wasn’t necessarily an indication of whether the injury had reopened or not, especially when it had been in a good splint.

“Chloe?!”

“Geez, keep your…well, I would say shirt, but I’m obviously too late for that,” Chloe teased as she came into the room. Lex glared at her.

“Where have you been?” he asked in angry frustration. Chloe cocked her head to the side and gave him a quizzical look.

“Same place I am every morning,” she answered. “You know – getting food and water so you can stay alive.” She raised a challenging eyebrow with the last statement and Lex let his face fall apologetically.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. Chloe nodded once in acquiescence and then moved to sit in one of the chairs near the end of the bed.

“That fish trap thing you made actually worked,” she said with a small, already tired smile.

“Great,” Lex said, temporarily forgetting about the blood. “What’d you catch?” Chloe gave him a lopsided grin and a befuddled expression.

“Like *I* know,” she said dismissively. “They’re fish. You want to know the specific kinds then you can be the one to gut them.” Lex smiled and leaned forward ever so slightly.

“Why do I get the feeling that you would have stuck me with that job anyway?”

“Because you’re smart,” she answered in a snidely chipper voice. “So, what was with all the yelling?”

“Oh – um – I need you to check my leg.”

Chloe’s face contorted with concern and she moved to sit next to him on the edge of the bed.

“What’s wrong? Does it hurt? Do you think you have an infection?” she rambled worriedly.

“Chloe ---”

“I know, I know, just check it,” she said and started to unwrap his leg.

Slowly the long upper bandage came off, followed by the two pieces of wood, and finally Chloe unraveled the bandage that was pressed against his bare skin.

Her eyes inspected every inch of the injury with precision and Lex found himself grinning dumbly down at her. Although it was true that they had become friends, he had never had anyone call himself his friend and actually put so much care into it. His mind flitted to Clark and he briefly wondered why Chloe had put up with him for as long as she had, quickly skipping onto how Clark could have possibly chosen someone who was so wrapped up in their own problems to even notice there was a world outside Smallville over Chloe.

‘Once again, Clark Kent is an idiot ladies and gentlemen,’ he thought to himself.

Chloe grinned as she looked over Lex’s unwrapped leg, her fingertips gently skimming the surface of his skin to make sure it was completely healed. Lex could swear he felt tiny sparks of electricity fly at each point of contact, but he forced himself to push that feeling down. There was little point in falling for someone who was already in love with someone else, especially when he had just been burnt for the zillionth time with Helen.

“Looks good,” she said approvingly, jolting him out of his thoughts. Her lips quickly fell into a frown though and Lex braced himself as he expected her to give him horrible news. “You’ve got a nasty scar though.”

“Chicks dig scars,” he said in joking relief. Chloe started laughing, her head falling forward as her body shook with amusement. “It wasn’t *that* funny,” he said with a smile, enjoying how her cheeks had colored because of her joy.

“It’s not that,” she said. “It’s just --- you sounded like Pete.”

Lex resisted the urge to squirm uncomfortably where he sat on the bed and opted for arching an eyebrow instead.

“He used to say that – in that voice too,” Chloe explained. “And I used to laugh at him too, so don’t get all offended.”

“I wasn’t,” Lex protested, albeit half-heartedly. “You miss him.”

Chloe nodded sadly and stood up only to lean her back against the bedroom wall.

“I do,” she admitted. “Even after he started taking Clark’s side on everything, he still made time for me. You know?”

Lex nodded once. He tried unsuccessfully to quell the small twinge of jealousy that arose within him when she talked about her friend. He couldn’t say whether it was jealousy over the fact that she had the kind of friendship he could never hope to have or jealousy over hearing her speak so endearingly about someone else, but either way, he didn’t like it.

‘Jealous of Pete Ross…maybe I died in the crash and this is hell.’

Chloe cleared her throat to break the somewhat uncomfortable silence that settled upon them.

“Well, your leg looks fine,” she said, changing the topic back to the original reason for the conversation. “Why were you worried about it?”

“I noticed some fresh blood on the sheets,” Lex answered after a beat. “And since our other wounds have healed ---” he trailed off when he saw Chloe grimace and look away. “Chloe?”

“It was…my…fault. I’ll take them down to the stream later, okay?”

“Not okay. What’s wrong? Did your arm ---?” Lex suddenly started to question, his worry level rising again when he remembered his initial reaction to feeling and seeing the blood on the bed.

“*Not* my arm,” Chloe interrupted, giving him a pointed look in the hope that he would get the message. Lex’s eyes widened for a split second in understanding.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“So ---”

“I think I was just late because I lost so much blood when we crashed,” Chloe said. “As strange as it sounds, it’s a good sign that I started up again. Means I’m not dehydrated or anything.”

Lex nodded absently.

“So, how are you going to --- I don’t think they have any supplies here,” Lex said awkwardly, doing his best not to fall into his Clark Kent impersonation just to make the situation more bearable.

“Well, since your leg’s feeling a lot better and you’ve been getting around pretty well, I’m thinking I’ll just do the tribal thing and go to another part of the island for a few days.”

Lex stared at her in disbelief.

“You’re going to leave me alone just because you’re on your period?”

“I don’t see a lot of options, Lex,” Chloe said, running a hand through her hair and thanking whatever spirit possessed her to allow Lana to try out her new home waxing kit on her the day before she left. “It’s not like you can’t take care of yourself now, and like you said, they don’t have the supplies I need and there aren’t enough sheets to go ripping them up. I’ll just be ‘island girl’ for a little while and rinse off in the water when I need to.”

Lex blinked.

Surely she couldn’t be saying what it sounded like she was saying and there were few ways he could broach the topic without coming off sounding like a jackass.

“As appealing as the idea sounds, you can’t just walk around naked, Chloe.”

“Like I said – *other* part of the island,” Chloe reiterated. “Don’t worry; you won’t be able to see me.”

“I wasn’t worried about *me* being able to see you,” Lex mumbled under his breath.

Chloe arched an eyebrow, unsure whether she had heard him correctly.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Lex quickly lied. “But what if we’re wrong about being the only people on the island? Or a passing ship sees you sunbathing nude? Is that really the first impression you want to make?”

“Yes,” Chloe replied with a bright, humored smile. “Because if there’s a guy on board, and you know there will be, then we’ll have a better chance of getting off the island.”

“Funny,” Lex said dryly. Chloe let out a small laugh and though he grinned as well, Lex shook his head. “I’m serious, Chloe.”

“So am I,” she responded. “If anyone else was on the island then we would have seen or heard them by now. And when was the last time you saw a ship or a plane? Because I haven’t seen a ship since we’ve been here and the last plane --- well ---”

“You’ve made your point,” Lex grumbled. “But I still don’t see why you can’t stay here.”

“I don’t have enough clothes to be able to just bleed into them, Lex,” she said irritably. Lex leaned forward and smirked at her, causing Chloe to roll her eyes. “Okay, now you’re *acting* like Pete too. Knock it off!”

“Ah, but you like Pete,” Lex pointed out.

“Yeah, but not like *that*.”

Chloe’s eyes grew wide and she snapped her mouth shut, turning her head so Lex couldn’t see the blush that rose to her cheeks.

Lex arched an eyebrow in sudden interest. She probably hadn’t meant that to come out sounding the way it did, but his body had taken immediate notice of the possibility that she might be developing feelings for him.

“I didn’t mean it the way it sounded,” Chloe quickly covered.

“It’s okay. Being stuck on a deserted island together, we’re bound to ---” Lex had meant to say his statement seriously, but a mirthful quality slipped into his voice and Chloe promptly cut him off.

“Oh, no!” she objected loudly. “Nothing’s happening and nothing’s *bound* to happen. You and me? Friends – and that’s it. Understand?”

“Whatever you say,” Lex replied with a full smile.

He hadn’t seen it often since they’d been there, but God, Chloe Sullivan was beautiful when she was angry.




TBC…

[asharnanae]

:biggrin: great update, the whole blood thing was really funny! Chloe going 'Island Girl'!! love it!

[Queen Of Tact]

Oh no that ch will just not do! I think you need to come back and post another one :blinkkiss:


CC

[Val]

Yay so it begins! Kinda anyways!
MORE! :yay2:

[shailafter]

oh i love lex all worried about chloe like that! it's so sweet! :wub: great chapter! ahahha chloe becoming a naked ‘island girl’.. lex would love that huh? :chlexsign3:

[staysixkid]

*shouts out* I LOVE THIS STORY

Lex is way better at handling difficult situations, than anyone I know. I'd be more like Chloe, sad and slightly depressed that we are not getting off that island. I'm shocked at the role reversals. I'd figure that Chloe would be the hopeful one, and Lex the "we're never getting off" one.

Than again, I could be wrong. I'm bad at analyzing.
*shakes head in shame*


Heh...Lex has romance in mind. Forever the flirt. Let us see how long it'll take before things start to heat up. I loved the tribal idea...lol!!! How will poor Lex survive without her for a week? Let's hope they get rescued before Chloes' hairs grow back too...how embarassing.

This story kicks ASS! I love it. And I need more of it!

[dsapiro]

I love this story so much. Need more soon!

[Tandy]

I think chloe had a little freudian slip! course, she's developing feelings for him! And Lex is such a flirt...i love him!

Tandy :goof:

[hfce]

Chloe period :lol: to funny. I love it. ;)


Hope

[Blaire023]

heh...yes that's all i have to say....heh....

lex the forever flirt as someone above me said, and the fact that chloe's little slip up almost well, slipped up, was too funny.

~B

[bluemoongirl23]

Lex would dehydrate and die without her. He's all hurt and stuff and boys are incapable of taking care of themselves, we know that. So, Chloe, you're just going to have to stay with him. Love Chloe's slip and Lex's immediate notice of it.

Blue

[Impress]

Kris as usual great work.

[Btab12207]

In the last chappy- u said that they had been there for a month or so and i was just thinking when is this gonna happen and guess what it did- lol :lol: neway i loved it! keep it up and update soon

x0x0
kris

[Brittany]

:biggrin: Loved it as always. Can't wait for more!!

[zeppo2]

:biggrin: I LOVE this story!! More please!!

[vardaquareien]

Love this fic!!!

I hope they come up with a solution to Chloe's little problem... coz they can't be apart...coz you know... that would mean they're not...you know... together!!!...and you know I can't handle that!!!

:idea: It's an island, surely there are leaves around...ooohh scrap that idea - :dry: chaffing!!!
...ummm :idea: how 'bout Chloe just stays in the water for a week and Lex waits on her?
...:unsure: hmmm she'd turn into a prune
... Ok so I have no clue but you're brilliant you'll think of something! :biggrin:
Pwetty please?

[sabby]

heh *G* that was bound to happen, tho I think I'm gonna agree with Lex on this one, Chloe running off into the woods and playing island girl in the nude? Heaven only knows what could happen! Anyways, I want an update! Update Now! Please!

hugs,
Sabby

[scifichick774]

Lana stood over the month-old grave, her arms wrapped around her body despite the heat of the summer sun blaring down on her.

“I never told her,” she said quietly.

“She knew,” Clark said uncomfortably.

“No, not about us,” Lana said. “I mean, I never told her I was sorry.”

“For what?”

“Lots of things,” she responded somewhat cryptically. Clark remained silent, knowing that Lana would elaborate if she was given time. “When Nell moved away, I couldn’t even imagine moving to Metropolis, so Chloe invited me to stay with her. She could barely even stand me, Clark. The only reason she asked me to stay was because she thought it would hurt you if I left.”

Clark looked down as he shuffled his feet and then lifted his head slightly to eye the road that led out of the cemetery. Although it was true Lana was placing the blame on herself, he was feeling just as guilty because of the things she was bringing up in her self-deprecatory rambling.

“Then, we got to know each other a little better, and we decided that neither one of us would go after you.”

“Oh.”

“And then ---”

“It wasn’t your fault that this happened, Lana.”

“It feels like it is,” she said in a sad voice. After a couple of seconds, she shook her head and looked at Clark. “You should see Mr. Sullivan, Clark. He looks worse and worse every day.”

Clark gave her a pained look.

“My parents said he hasn’t talked about it since it happened.”

“He hasn’t,” Lana confirmed. “It’s like he’s trying to pretend it didn’t happen. He’s been throwing himself into his work to try and forget, but ---” she trailed off and shook her head, trying to will away the tears that were springing to her eyes.

“Lex’s dad isn’t exactly sympathetic,” Clark finished. Lana gave a brief nod of her head and Clark’s features started to cloud with unresolved anger. “How can he be like that? Especially when he just lost his own ---”

“Lex and Mr. Luthor didn’t exactly have the same kind of relationship that Chloe and Mr. Sullivan had.”

“I know, but still,” Clark said with aggravation, running a shaky hand through his hair. “Lex’s plane went down and I don’t even think he’s looking for it.” Lana narrowed her eyes and tilted her head to the side with suspicion.

“The Coast Guard is still looking for the plane, aren’t they?”

“I don’t know – probably.”

“You think Mr. Luthor had something to do with it?” she asked, a small twinge of horror lining her question. Clark darted his gaze to the side so he wouldn’t have to look her in the eye.

“I don’t *want* to think that, but ---”

“But you do.”

“I don’t know,” Clark said evasively. Lana reached out and touched his arm sympathetically. “It’s not like there’s anything I can do anyway.”

“No,” Lana said. “I guess there isn’t.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

“It’s a viable option,” Lex argued, his face marred with a desperate frown as Chloe changed the sheets on the bed.

“No, it’s not,” Chloe shot back with a half-laugh. “I’m not going to stay here and just wrap a towel around myself any time I’m near you, Lex. That’s just stupid.” Silently adding, ‘And no doubt you’d see me naked if I stayed in the general vicinity.’

“It’s not stupid. My leg is feeling better, but I can still barely make it to the stream and back without a lot of effort. How am I supposed to ---”

“You just don’t want me to leave you alone in the creepy house,” Chloe interrupted with a teasing grin. Lex gave her a hard stare.

“I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Uh-huh,” Lex said disbelievingly. “Is that what you told your dad every time you’d go out investigating a story - only to wind up in the hospital hours later?”

“No,” Chloe said, an angry tone slipping into her voice. “My dad was too busy *working* most of the time for him to notice that I was gone.”

Lex cringed, knowing full well that Chloe had every right to place the blame for her dad’s work habits on him. He had only been trying to build up his company, to keep it out of his father’s hands, to let those people keep their jobs. He hadn’t stopped to consider that many of them might actually want to spend time with the families they were trying to support. After all, he hadn’t exactly been raised in a home where his father had showed any interest in his family.

Chloe let out a small sigh and then shook her head.

“I’m sorry. But you know, I’m probably going to be short-tempered for most of the week, which is another good reason why I should leave.”

She ran her hand through her hair again and refused to meet his eyes as she picked up the bloodied sheets and hefted them up into her arms.

“Chloe, be reasonable,” Lex said, following her to the other room. “I think I can handle a few days of you being angry with me if it means I know you’re safe.”

“Well, I can’t,” Chloe said in frustration. “And I’m leaving, so suck it up.”

“Chloe ---”

“You can have the fish,” she said as she ignored whatever protest he had been about to launch and motioned to where the fish sat on the counter. “You should probably have them for breakfast though since I’m pretty sure they won’t keep.”

“Chloe ---”

“You know where the fruit trees are if you run out, and that bucket should be plenty of drinking water for you. If not, then you can go down to the stream.”

“Chloe!”

Chloe snapped her head around to look at him, surprisingly startled by the seething rage that seemed to be pouring from him.

“You’re. Not. Leaving,” he said through gritted teeth.

Chloe took a couple of steps and met his glare with one of her own, placing her hands on her hips as she came within inches of the face that was looming down at her.

“You’re. Not. In. Charge,” she replied, matching the stops he had used between his own words just seconds before. It felt fairly adolescent even as it came out, but in her irritation, she had no other retort.

“I’m older,” he countered, just as immaturely. “Your father will expect me to take care of you.”

“Yeah? Well, newsflash! My dad doesn’t know where I am and, because of *your* dad, probably thinks I’m *dead*. And the fact that you’re – what? Five years older than me? It doesn’t mean anything. *I’m* the one who’s been taking care of *you*, which means that if anyone’s in charge, it’s *me*!”

Her face kept getting closer and closer to his with every emphasis she put on a word and with the combination of her proximity and the feral beauty that had overcome her, it was all Lex could do to restrain himself from reaching out and grabbing what he wanted. A simple tug at the back of her head and he could slam his lips down against hers, plunge his tongue into her mouth, satisfy the hunger that had been slowly building in him for weeks now.

“And, as self-proclaimed leader, *I* say I’m leaving,” she said, stepping back away from him, mercilessly ripping him away from the small daydream that he was getting entirely too into.

Lex pursed his lips. If her anger was a turn-on, her absolute refusal to give in after a struggle wasn’t.

“Let’s not turn this into a ‘Lord of the Flies’ situation, alright? I’m sure we can come up with a…compromise.”

“As I remember, that book only had boys in it, which, if you hadn’t noticed, I’m not,” she said, looking down at her body and then back up to him to emphasize her point.

“I noticed,” Lex said, his eyes widening as he mentally slapped himself for saying the thought aloud. Hoping to cover his slip, he quickly added, “Otherwise we wouldn’t be having this discussion.”

Chloe let out a small defeated sigh.

“Fine. What is this supposed compromise you’ve come up with?” she asked and then pointed a finger at him. “And I’d better not hear the word ‘towel’ or I swear to God --- crap.”

“What’s wrong?”

Chloe squirmed uncomfortably as she felt a familiar warm, sticky fluid start to dribble down the inside of her thighs.

“I have to go,” she said, turning on her heel to bolt out of the house.

“Chloe!”

“Just to…rinse,” she said as she stopped at the top of the trail that led to the stream. “I’ll be back to argue with you in just a second.” She made it halfway down the trail before a thought occurred to her and she whipped her head back around to yell at him. “Avert your eyes!”

Lex folded his arms across his chest and snickered.

Only Chloe Sullivan would use the word ‘avert’ when she was pissed off at him and rushing to rinse off her legs.

Rather than obey her demand, he watched as she ran all the way to the pooled part of the stream, smirking to himself when he expected her to just get in and raise her dress so it wouldn’t get wet. That would certainly give him ammunition for his side of the argument when she got back.

His eyebrows rose in surprise and he darted his tongue out to moisten his suddenly dry lips when he saw her lift the dress over her body and toss it to the side before shimmying out of her panties. His head leaned to the side to try and get a better view, but he found himself swiveling around and sucking in a deep breath when he thought she was turning to see if he was watching her or not.

Not since before he had been a teenager had he felt any sort of shame over perusing a woman’s curves when they hadn’t known or didn’t want him to. Of course, it had been a long time since the women hadn’t known or didn’t want him to.

The lure of enticing a rich boy with their charms was too much for most women, at least the ones that he had been around, to pass over.

He gently reminded himself that Chloe wasn’t one of those women and that she had given him explicit directions. She didn’t want him to look at her and he needed to respect that if he could.

‘Maybe a little break wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all…’





TBC…

[Blaire023]

too short...want more...

but i guess i'll have to deal

~B

and why not with the kissing, it would have shut her up...for a split second

poor people can't even brush their teeth

[sabby]

YAY, an update, and a good one, well aside from the blana but anyway *pouts* it was too short, and I want more, pretty please update soon kay?

[HumbugGirl]

Wow, I can't describe how sorry I feel for Chloe. Poor girl. That's a pretty terrible situation to be in. I think she's handling it wonderfully though and Lex is just a lovey being all understanding and manly at the same time. At least he isn't all embarrassed and I suppose that's the advantage of this being Lex - he really is the sort of guy that you can see not freaking out where another guy would.

I liked the part with Lana, it was very realistic. In the show I really felt for Lana and the problems she had with the whole triangle by wanting to remain friends with Chloe and be with Clark. I honestly that you've represented her as she would have realistically reacted to something like this happening.

[staysixkid]

Heehee! Reverse Psychology!


*I’m* the one who’s been taking care of *you*, which means that if anyone’s in charge, it’s *me*!”

LOL@ Lord of the Flies reference- Brilliant! Very fitting!

It seems like Lex is always in the mood. Now how is he going to convince Chloe to share his feelings?

Please don't bring hygiene into this...it'll ruin the mood! :ohmy:
I adore this story! :biggrin:

[Sunflow]

I loved the 'Lord of the Flies' reference *g* Love that book.
But come on, they (Clana) have given up on Chloe and Lex so soon? Buried them already? Oh what good friends they are, having hope and such. Bastards :dry: *smacks Clana*

Sunflow

[hfce]

oh man I want more :tease: more please :biggrin:


Hope

[petriebird18]

Poor Gabe, Poor Chloe, :newdevil: Lex. ;)
Now i want more. Now? How about now? FINE, i'll WAIT here, staring at my computer screen until you update again. :biggrin:
~Deidre~
:chlexsign3:

[dsapiro]

Great chapter. So whats the comprimise gonna be?

[Tandy]

I do feel bad for Chloe, must be horribly uncomfortable to be in that situation. Great chapter, i specially liked Lex trying to 'avert' his eyes! :biggrin:

Tandy

[kidkarmina]

Hey Kris,

Can I just pretend that you wrote the last two chapters because it was my birthday :biggrin: ?

Seriously though, in case I have not said it enough, I luv this fic :blinkkiss: ! :chlexsign1: interactions are :wub: and slightly :devil: ish (especially their thoughts).

Please update soon!!!

Joanna

[Val]

Heheh great ch!
I want more! :biggrin:

[bluemoongirl23]

Their fight over who was in charge was priceless. And really, Lex will curl up and die without her. Too bad he didn't give into tempation.....yet. And, I did like the little part with Lana, at least she feels some remorse.

Blue

[ladymichelle]

This is terrific! I can't wait to see how you resolve this agruement between Lex and Chloe.
By the way how did they explain Chloe's death, did they know she was on the plane?

Update soon please!

Michelle

[shailafter]

nothing better happen to either of them when separated.. if they are separated.. nevermind they better NOT be separated! bahhaahah!!! more please.. :worship2:

[who?]

great chapter...more please *begs nicely*

[andy jo]

great story as always you are doing a great job can't wait for more so please try to update soon
:worship2: :worship2:

[fighterangel]

uh ohhhh, this is gonna be good how is she going to answer that.... hehehe. Update soon

LA

[scifichick774]

A/N: I believe I already mentioned this, but the smut is a long way off. Keep that in mind so you don’t hurt me.

~*~*~*~*~*~

‘A week,’ Lex thought. “A whole. Fucking. Week.” He pulled back his arm and threw a large portion of an already broken vase against the wall.

‘So go look for her,’ a voice inside his head chirped up.

“I can’t – stupid leg,” Lex grumbled.

‘Really? Seems like you’ve been getting around pretty well for the last week,’ the voice taunted.

Lex pursed his lips. Technically that was true. His leg had actually grown stronger after he started using it again; it wasn’t anywhere near perfect, but it was better.

“She’ll come back,” he said, trying to convince himself that Chloe hadn’t completely deserted him.

‘Sure, if she’s not hurt – or *dead*.’

That last thought was the one that did it. Lex grabbed the walking stick that was propped up against the wall and headed out the door.

He made it as far as the stream before he realized he had no idea which direction to start looking in.

“Shit. Maybe she’s just lost.”

‘All the more reason to go looking for her, right?’

Figuring that she would stay close to water, Lex let out a small sigh and started following the large creek upstream.

The sun drifted down through the holes in the tree canopy and despite the fact that there were many moments when Lex wished he had just stayed back at the villa, he found that the island was beautiful and actually a little larger than he initially believed.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he came upon a clearing along the side of the stream and spotted Chloe sunbathing nude in the small section of sunlight that was covering the area.

Lex’s eyebrows rose and he had to mentally slap himself for leering at her. He shook his head lightly and then cleared his throat before looking away.

Chloe screeched and stood up, holding up the scant sundress to her body to cover herself.

“What are you doing here?!” she yelled, thankful that Lex was at least looking the other way and had only caught a small glimpse of her naked.

“Plane crash…stranded…” Lex answered somewhat teasingly. Chloe glared at the back of his head.

“You know what I meant,” she said tersely. “And you can turn around now.”

Lex smirked as he turned back around to face her, but his delight in seeing her upset quickly fell when he remembered why he had come looking for her to begin with.

“What?” she snapped.

“You were gone for a week,” he said.

Chloe smiled a bright, triumphant smile.

“I know I was gone a little while longer than I said I would be, but it was totally worth it,” she said.

“Was it?” Lex asked. “Because I started to go stir crazy in that damn house. Hell, I even started talking to myself.” Chloe snorted.

“I’m guessing that’s off the record?”

Lex glared at her, but she simply gave him a smile that let him know she was just teasing him. That’s when he noticed her teeth and he narrowed his eyes.

“Your teeth – how did you ---?” he trailed off when he couldn’t think of a way to say what needed to be said without sounding crude.

“Nice, huh?” she said, closing much of the space between them. “And feel,” she said, lifting her leg so he could touch it. Lex let another tiny smirk grace his lips as his fingers ran along her amazingly smooth leg; too caught up in the sensation of the sudden pricks of electricity dancing through his body to catch onto what Chloe meant. “If we ever get out of here, you have to buy this island – it’s a goldmine.”

“What?” he asked, snapping back to reality and disappointed when she pulled her leg away.

“My teeth,” she started, walking over to one of the small bushes that littered the forest floor. She bent down and pulled off a piece of what looked like a thick, bumpy leaf. “Chew it,” she said, holding it out to him. Lex raised an eyebrow at her and she rolled her eyes. “I’m not trying to kill you, Luthor. You’re my only human companionship on this island.”

“Not that that’s mattered to you for the last week,” he muttered under his breath.

“Just chew it,” she said, still holding the item out in her hand. He frowned, but picked it up out of her hand and placed it in his mouth, only to make a face of soured disgust that Chloe started laughing at. “Don’t worry, it gets better.”

To his surprise, Chloe was right. The bitter taste that had been in his mouth was rapidly turning into something that resembled a strong mint flavor.

“Good?”

Lex nodded a couple of times and Chloe grinned and rested her hands on her hips.

“Okay, now spit it out, because I don’t know if it really would kill you if you swallowed it or not,” she said. The chewed up leaf went flying from Lex’s mouth and Chloe let out another laugh.

“That’s not funny,” he said, wiping a little piece of spit off his chin that had come out with the leaf.

“It was just a joke,” she replied and then flashed him a small smile. “Besides, now your teeth are all sparkly clean.” Lex arched another eyebrow and Chloe sighed. “Run your tongue along them if you don’t believe me.”

Lex smirked at her.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were coming onto me.”

“That’s only a turn on for guys, Lex.”

Lex creased his brow ever so slightly.

“Really?”

Chloe smiled condescendingly and Lex pouted, but ran his tongue over his teeth.

“Nice.”

“Told you.”

“And the legs?” he asked, motioning to them with his head instead of giving into the temptation to bend down and touch one again.

“Different plant,” Chloe said casually. “Kind of works like Nair, but without all the burning – though I don’t think you’ll be needing that one.” Lex gave her a tight grin and Chloe chuckled. “So, you were worried about me?”

Lex blinked once, and then observed her warily.

“Why do you ask that?”

“You came looking for me,” she pointed out. “So you must have been worried that something happened to me.”

Ah. So that was it.

Nothing sinister in her motives. No seeking out to play the part of damsel in distress. Just one plus one equals two – except in this case, it added up to a lot more than that.

“Not everyone has Clark’s hero complex, Chloe,” he said, causing her to lift her eyebrows in surprise. “I came looking for you out of purely selfish reasons.”

“I should have figured,” she said with a partial laugh. “So, what did you need?”

“You, actually.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I missed you – having you around,” Lex clarified. “Despite what the gossip columns say, I’m not exactly good company – especially when it’s just me and the voices in my head.”

Chloe snickered and surprised him by moving forward to give him a hug.

Lex’s eyes widened and he stood there still as a wall as Chloe’s arms moved around him. Only when he felt her rest her head against his chest and hear her let out a sigh did he reciprocate and embrace her.

“I missed you too,” she said.

Lex ran his hands up and down her back as she pulled away and Chloe gave him a small, almost uncomfortable smile; feeling that she had stepped over the line by hugging him, especially when he seemed so ill at ease with it.

“Well, I guess we should be getting back.”

Lex nodded.

“I don’t know how much daylight we have left.”

“We should be fine,” Chloe replied, picking and gathering up enough of the plants so she wouldn’t need to make a daily run over to that part of the island. She handed an armful to Lex, who just grinned back at her.

They started walking along the stream back to the house, neither of them commenting on anything of significance. Lex admitted to losing his temper and breaking some items and Chloe made fun of him. When the house came into view, Chloe opened her mouth, sucking in a breath as if she had forgotten something.

“Oh, by the way, I think I may have discovered why the house is all bloody.”

Lex looked at her through the corner of his eye.

“Because people were killed there?” he responded snidely. Chloe bumped the side of her body into him to chide him for the joke.

“Besides that,” she said.

“Ah. Well then – care to enlighten me?”

“There’s a big old field of Whitney’s best friend in the middle of the trees --- and I really shouldn’t be making fun of someone who’s dead, should I?”

Lex raised an eyebrow.

“What are you saying?”

“Marijuana and lots of it,” Chloe said. “I’m guessing that whoever owned this place was some sort of drug dealer or something.”

Lex emptied his arms and then leaned against the door, hovering over Chloe as she put her plants down.

“And how would you know what ---”

Chloe turned around and gave him a pointed look.

“First of all,” she said, bringing out her fingers to tap off her reasons, “I’m originally from Metropolis. And I don’t think I need to tell *you* of all people how early dealers start trying to sell to kids there.”

Lex frowned. He knew she wasn’t the squeaky clean image of wholesomeness that Clark and Pete would have him believe, but he didn’t like the idea of her running around with a bad crowd before she even met the do-gooders of Smallville.

“Second,” she continued, “how do you think Mr. Campbell manages to make a profit on his crop every year when all the other farms in the area are suffering?”

Lex’s mouth opened in surprise.

“You’re joking.”

Chloe shook her head and smiled.

“Right smack in the middle of all that corn,” she said. “If we ever get back there, I’ll show you.”

“You’d better,” he replied. “So, why didn’t you ever report on anything like that when you were there? I’m sure that Principal Reynolds would have glowed over you if you managed to bring down a drug grower.”

“Yeah, because that wouldn’t have made me any less popular with all the guys who usually try to beat me up anyway,” she said sarcastically. “And I’ll have you know that Principal Reynolds already ‘glows’ over me.”

“Does he?” Lex asked a little suspiciously and then set his jaw as if he made a decision. “He’s too old for you.”

Chloe let an overly dramatic shudder sweep through her body and then she backhanded his chest.

“You’re worse than Pete!”

Lex caught her wrist as she tried to pull it away and started to lean toward her.




TBC…

[Jakie Firecracker]

:yay: :yay:

ARGH! Cliffie! NOOOOOOOOOOO!

[Btab12207]

YOU.....YOU.....YOU...... :ohmy: Don't hurt you! Don't hurt you! DON'T HURT YOU!!! YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! YOU EXPECT US NOT TO KILL YOU WHEN YOU LEAVE IT THERE?!?!?! HOW COULD YOU!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS! U ARE PURE EVIL!! THIS IS U :devil: AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!! I THINK I MIGHT HAVE A HEART ATTACK!!!LOL JK JK BUT IM STILL EXPECTING AN UPDATE VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY SOON AND IM MEAN SOON CUZ IM HAVING SOME MAJOR PROBLEMS HERE!!!!!- OK RANT OVER neway i love this fic as always - along with all your other ones but i want and update!! so UPDATE! GO! UPDATE! NOW!!! srry sometimes i get alittle carried away- so yes where was i i love this and UPDATE SOON!!


x0x0
kris

[hfce]

What but you didnt finish but get back here right now!!!!!!! More please nowwwww


Hope :crygreen:

[scorpio]

Finally they´re having something to clean their teeth. :goof:
And Chloe won´t have to worry about how keep her hair in check. ;)


“Marijuana and lots of it,” Chloe said. “I’m guessing that whoever owned this place was some sort of drug dealer or something.”

Will there be trouble in paradise?


Give us more. We need it. We crave it. :biggrin:

[hler]

yeah, ummm, I think there's something wrong with my computer.....it seemed like the end of that chapter got cut off. 'Cause you wouldn't have just ended it there would you have....no I didn't think so. So I'll just check back in oh say a few minutes and the problem will be fixed right? *goes back to being in denial*

~Heida

[staysixkid]

Ok, you start the story off with

A/N: I believe I already mentioned this, but the smut is a long way off. Keep that in mind so you don’t hurt me.


and you go and do this....

Lex caught her wrist as she tried to pull it away and started to lean toward her.

hmm...something just doesn't seem right. :dry:

Ok, Whitney, a pot head! :pclol:
Now that's funny!

I :love: this story. Can't say it enough.

[Tandy]

:devil: Tease! Tease!
How could you leave it there?

A/N: I believe I already mentioned this, but the smut is a long way off. Keep that in mind so you don’t hurt me.

??? What about the last scene then??? Tease!

More soon please! I need more! Pretty please update soon!

Tandy

[Val]

HOW COULD YOU STOP THERE???
I want more NOW! :yay2:

[Queen Of Tact]

That was great... Just what i needed after a long day at work........ Please please please please post more soon.... I need it and crave it.......


CC

[zeppo2]

Very good! :biggrin:

You must be crazy to think that the people won't come after you with pitchforks after leaving it like that, evil!

We want more!!!

I am so your groupie! :wub:

[shailafter]

this story just gets better and better! can't wait to read more! :biggrin:

[kidkarmina]

Don't know (again) what to say except, more please? :wub:

[dsapiro]

You are a mean person, Kris to end it there. You have to update soon, please.

[Blaire023]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I am so in denial here. What the hell is wrong with you? *smacks kris upside the head*

GAH!

*storms off*

~B

*peeks head back in* excellent chappie though

*glares at kris again* DON'T TALK TO ME!

[Brittany]

Loved it! Lex missing Chloe was sweet. :blush: I'm glad you cleared up all the hygiene issues, that bad breath and hairy legs thing was always at the back of my mind, despite all the Chlexiness. Can't wait for more! :worship2:

[ladymichelle]

This is great! :biggrin:
I hope that you fill us in on the week long separation!
Update soon please.
Michelle

[lunaluthor]

wow excellent story just found it and now I'm hooked so update soon :yay: :yay:

[bluemoongirl23]

Yeah, I'm not even going to waste my breath yelling. It does nothing but make me light headed, which, actually is kinda nice........thought process trailing off.

So, are we gonna see high Lex and Chloe *bounces in chair* That would be fun.

As for the lean thing, I'm sure he's joking or someone will trip or a random rhino will come and break the mood.

Blue

[roslyn]

ok, i think something happened when you posted this fic, cuz part of the chapters missing. i mean i'm sure you would never end it there, cuz that would be just plain :evil:

but getting back to the fic of what i did read...i love this fic so much that if you update really soon i'll throw you a party :party2: (i love this emoticon..he's so cute)

so update soon!

:wub: Roslyn

[sabby]

Ok I know that you have that update waiting for me there somewhere on your computer...Now post it already! I am waiting!!!! And I'm not one for patience you know it!

hugs,
Sabby

[vardaquareien]

Originally posted by bluemoongirl23@Aug 11 2003, 02:36 AM
As for the lean thing, I'm sure he's joking or someone will trip or a random rhino will come and break the mood.
*sigh* sadly, I agree with Blue here. I just know that somehow your not gonna let us have a yummy Chlexy moment! Isn't it nice to know your readers have so much faith in you? :biggrin: Oh and there's the fact that you warned us the smut's a long way off!!! We won't kill you. For now.

[scifichick774]

A/N: Geez, you guys. It’s like you have no faith in me at all. How am I supposed to create a decent amount of UST if I don’t have them kiss? *shakes head* Foolish people.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Lex’s eyes closed just as his lips brushed against Chloe’s, his bottom lip dragging a little over hers as his mouth became more persistent. He released her wrist and grabbed her waist, tangling his other hand into her hair. Chloe let out the tiniest moan, her lips parting against the warm, wet tongue that Lex had let dart out of his mouth to try and push its way into hers.

Her hands crawled up his bare, muscular chest and clamped to the back of his head and neck to keep him where he was and possibly force him closer. Their tongues slid against each other, rocking into each other’s mouths until Chloe pulled away with a gasp for air.

They stepped back and stared at each other through wide, shocked eyes, both raising a hand to their own lips.

Lex was surprised that she hadn’t pushed him away, that she had melted into the kiss just as much as he had, and was wondering if she felt the same electrical charge that seemed to sweep through his body when they were kissing. Unfortunately, he also realized that the reason she pulled away didn’t have everything to do with the need to breathe.

Casual innuendos were one thing, but to become involved in a physical relationship with him when they both still had so many unresolved issues with their personal lives was something else entirely.

‘Kind of seems like I should have thought of that *before* I knew how good of a kisser she was,’ he thought with a light frown.

“Chloe ---”

“Lex ---”

They grinned nervously when they said each other’s names at the same time, and Chloe motioned for Lex to go first.

“We can’t do this,” he said. Chloe nodded a couple of times in agreement, but Lex kept talking as he tried to convince himself rather than her. “We’re both trying to get over being hurt by people we cared about and as much as I ---” Lex paused with a sigh, “--- as much as I’ve come to want there to be something between us, I can’t let either of us do this just because we’re on the rebound from bad relationships.”

Chloe’s eyebrows rose and her mouth spread into a quick smile.

“Oh. Yes – that’s good – we’ll go with that,” she rushed out, pushing herself past him to walk toward the wooden loveseat. Lex blinked once in confusion and turned to face her.

“What were you going to say?”

Chloe gave a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders, but refused to make eye contact with him.

“Just that I didn’t want this to end up like Blue Lagoon where the chick gets pregnant,” she said, successfully forcing down the light color that started to spread across her cheeks and then smiling at him. “But your reason was better, so we’ll use that.”

Lex frowned.

‘I really need to learn how to keep my mouth shut,’ he thought. ‘Better not say that aloud – she’ll just agree with you.’ He pushed a teasing grin onto his lips and moved toward her. “You’ve seen Blue Lagoon? I must say, even with your ‘city girl’ tendencies, I never pictured you for being into soft core porn.”

Chloe snorted and relaxed back on the loveseat. Her time away from Lex had been nice, but it was definitely good to have furniture instead of just the ground or trees to sit on again.

“I’m not, but it’s one of Lana’s favorite movies,” she said. Lex raised an eyebrow, but whether it was in surprise or disbelief, Chloe couldn’t tell. “She said she finds the whole idea of being stranded on a deserted island with one person *romantic*---” she paused and used her fingers to make air quotation marks as she rolled her eyes and flashed him a humored smile. “--- Which leads me to believe that she didn’t even consider the possibility of being injured on the way to said island. She’s not very…realistic sometimes.”

Lex nodded once and grinned, choosing not to point out that they had been wrapped in a passionate embrace moments before after she made the injury comment since it was just another reason that they shouldn’t be together – at least not yet. The kiss had been the product of a high stress situation, mixed with pent up emotion, and a good dose of chemistry – but their entire time on the island thus far could never be classified as romantic.

He sat down next to her and twisted his body so he could look at her.

“When she initially brought up the idea of renovating the Talon instead of tearing it down, she cornered me with an old movie poster and started rambling about how much the place meant to her because of her parents,” he said.

“You’re joking.”

Lex shook his head.

“I believe Clark had a talk with her after I turned her down, giving her a short comment about how I was a businessman. But the fact that she approached me the first time without any sort of plan or numbers was almost surreal.”

Chloe chuckled and Lex found himself smiling at her. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad not acting on his physical feelings for, perhaps he really could just get to be better friends with her…Chloe reached out and laid her hand on his arm, causing the all too familiar sparks to crawl through his arm and Lex inwardly sighed as her chuckle turned into a full-blown laugh.

‘Maybe not so easy after all,’ he thought.

“That’s so Lana,” she said as her body shook, jerking him out of his thoughts. “She does stuff like that all the time.”

“Why do you think that is?”

“Probably because she usually gets away with it,” Chloe answered, letting her laughter taper off into a small sigh. “I must admit, out of all the things that people think I’m jealous of Lana for, that’s got to be the only one that I really am.”

“Not Clark?” Lex asked, reaching out to tuck some loose hair behind her ear and trying to keep his voice steady as they started to move past the banter and joking that the majority of their conversations were filled with.

“Clark is included in that category,” Chloe said seriously, an almost, but not quite bitter look crossing her face. “Lana has the ability to get what she wants from most people by just widening her eyes and fluttering her eyelashes. You know how many women would kill for a power like that?”

Lex couldn’t help the half-chortle that escaped from his throat.

“You make it sound like she’s material for your wall at the Torch.”

“I’m not sure she isn’t,” Chloe retorted, her lips curved in a wry grin. “After all, she did wear that meteor rock necklace for a long time - since she was a kid. You can’t tell me that kind of radiation exposure didn’t do *something* to her.”

“Has she tried to suck the fat out of you? Or steal your body heat?”

“No, but it affects everybody differently,” Chloe answered. “And how’d you know about those other two?”

“You wrote about them.”

Chloe looked at him with genuinely pleased surprise.

“You read the Torch?”

“Only your editorials,” Lex replied with a bemused smirk. Chloe’s smile went ear to ear. “Don’t let your ego get too inflated – I’m pretty sure my dad reads them too.”

Chloe’s smile fell and she nodded.

“I know.”

And the air between them drifted into dangerous ground once again.

They had briefly discussed the topic a few weeks before, Chloe telling him that his father had wanted her to research Clark for him, but they never got into the details, and that bothered Lex the most. He knew Chloe had intentionally skipped over the little gaps in her story, but he could only suspect why. And his suspicions weren’t good. Chloe had said that she didn’t sleep with his father, but that didn’t mean that he hadn’t hit on her or done…other things. The very thought made him angry enough to keep talking about it.

“How did he ‘accidentally’ bump into you anyway?”

Chloe looked away, somewhat ashamed of herself as she recalled the first time she had met Lionel Luthor.

“I went to the hospital to try and get an interview with John O’Conner, to see if I could get him to confirm a connection with LuthorCorp.”

“The truck driver who got hurt,” Lex said knowingly. Chloe nodded in confirmation.

“I didn’t know until I got there, but he was unconscious.” She paused for a second and when she didn’t continue, Lex prodded her.

“Go on.”

“I’m not proud of this, but I took a picture of him.”

“And?”

“And your dad was in the room the whole time, lurking in the shadows. He said he admired my dedication, which was obviously just a snide way of saying that he caught me.”

“I see,” Lex said. “I assume you called him on the fact that he was in the room?”

“Yeah, but he just said that O’Conner working for his company was never a secret.”

“Ah. And the whole thing with the Torch office?”

“The next day, I went to school and the office was torn apart. *Everything* in that room was broken,” Chloe said, still choking up at the memory, “even one of the pillars.”

Lex frowned.

He didn’t know Chloe that well before they had been stranded together, but from what Clark had told him, she treated the high school’s newspaper as if it were her baby. To know that his father had taken advantage of that same knowledge made him seethe.

“And you called him.”

“No,” Chloe said, wiping the wet trails off her cheeks. “He showed up there a few hours later – said he wanted to help me rebuild.”

“How did he even know what happened?” Lex asked suspiciously. Chloe gave him a pointed look and Lex raised his chin a little in understanding. “I don’t suppose you got a confession out of him?”

“No. He said he thought the same kids who hijacked his truck were behind it – and when I pushed it, he evaded my questions.”

“Typical.”

Chloe shook her head in dismay, her eyes still wet from crying.

“I was just so upset, Lex. I got there and everything I had worked so hard for was ruined. Then Clark comes in and he was…”

“He was…?”

“Nothing,” Chloe said and then sniffled. “I just don’t think I was at the top of my game when your dad finally came in because I had other things on my mind.”

Lex squared his jaw.

Chloe’s recount of the story seemed entirely plausible and thought he was pleased that his father had resorted to a different kind of manipulation other than seduction; he was disturbed that Chloe had to go through it at all.

If and when they ever got rescued from their new home, the people back in Smallville would have some retribution to pay.

“I’m kind of tired – think I’m going to go to bed early,” Chloe said, stretching out her arms a little bit. “Thanks for listening to me ramble on about my problems though.”

Lex barely had time to nod once before she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. He stared at her, half-stunned as she gave him a tired grin, rose from the loveseat, and walked back to the room.

Lex’s head fell and his hands rose to run down his face.

‘I really, *really* need to learn how to keep my mouth shut.’




TBC…

[Val]

Why UST? Why do that to us?? :'( EVIL!

hehehe loved it! *smacks Clark* he just pisses me off!
More soon! :biggrin:

[Tandy]

Loved this chapter! I can't wait to see how the failed atempt at resisting eachother goes! I give them... one day! More soon please!
:blinkkiss:
Tandy

[asharnanae]

argh!!!!! NO not the dreaded UST!!!!!!!! Please no!!! moop! oh well, thanks for the fabtasticness that is the update!! :biggrin:

[Calliope]

I'm waiting for the RST!! I do like the growing friendship between the two. :biggrin:

[Brittany]

:ohmy: Lex can be so stupid sometimes, he should have let her talk first, it's just good manners. Love this chapter it was great, of course, everything you write turns out great! Please update soon!!! :worship2: :worship2:

[bluemoongirl23]

Wow. I must say I *am* shocked that they actually got to (looks for better phrase other than play tonsil hockey.......) express their feelings (shut up, I'm tired). And, I don't care what you say....a rhino will come out of nowhere at an inopportune moment....I can just feel it.

Blue

[hfce]

More please :clap:


Hope :biggrin:

[shailafter]

teeheehee :biggrin: on an island with one other person is pretty romantic.. but reality does pretty much suck the dreaminess from the fantasy.. bahahah still i wouldn't mind being stuck on an island with lex luthor! whoo :yay:

[vardaquareien]

at the risk of sounding like a six year old... :yay3: They Kissed! They Kissed! :yay3:

We have faith! And there is no such thing as a decent amount of UST. UST is evil, fullstop. However I have faith in your writing luv, even with UST you make every chapter a stupendous reading experience! (am I laying it on too thick? :biggrin: )

*glances 'round for stampeding rhino*

[sabby]

Blue, it's a deserted island somewhere in the pacific....there are no rhinos!!!

Anyway, great chappy Kris, and thanks for the touch of romance before everything goes back to UST. Hope you don't hold out too long with the smut tho.

And Lana a meteor freak...WHY HAVE I NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT IT! It's so obvious! *Shakes head* *g*

Update soon please

hugs,
Sabby

[Blaire023]

I don't know, Sab, I'm with blue on this one, I'm thinking a rhino might just be what they need. For no other reason than to fulfill one of blue's wishes.

I love this fic, you know I do kris, and can I just thank your patient family for leaving you alone long enough to update? THANK'S KRIS' FAMILY!

~B

[Lel]

I Love this Fic. It has me completely hooked.

I do, however, Need more. So please update soon

Lel :blinkkiss:

[fighterangel]

I love this fic, update soon, what's gonna happen next? More please :yay:

LA

[roslyn]

can i just say, that i wanna smack Clark and Lionel, and Lana just for being there! God they make me so god damned frustrated...but other then that can i just totally say i'm with vardaquareien in the *They Kissed* part, i was practically jumping in my seat...stupid UST though, i menai have faith in you, but why UST???It's not fair...

sorry, i ramble when i'm frustrated

great chapter. but i need more...like now...so go update...like now hehe

:wub: Roslyn

[S.Ann Smith]

that's right lex, you do need to keep ur mouth shut.... then we'd get to the smut faster-silly silly bald man...

But besides that great chapter kris ^-^

[lunaluthor]

another fab chapter but don't overdo the UST thing some smut is in order :yay: :yay: :yay:

[scifichick774]

The table was set and the same bountiful meal sat in front of him as it did every morning, but Clark simply sighed and picked at his food.

“Something wrong, son?” Jonathan asked, using the tone that let Clark know that he not only knew something was wrong, but most likely already knew what it was.

Clark sighed again and continued to look down at his plate.

“I was just thinking about what Pete said the other day,” he finally answered.

“Ah,” Jonathan said knowingly. “Clark, what happened to Chloe wasn’t anybody’s fault, let alone yours. The semi lost control and she couldn’t get out of its way. There’s nothing you could have done.”

“There’s nothing I could have done without exposing my powers,” Clark corrected with a pointed look. If his brief jaunt away from home had taught him anything, it was that his father had a tendency to overreact about him using his abilities; unless, of course, it was for something that benefited him as well, such as farm work.

“You weren’t here, Clark. There’s no way you could have known.”

“Well, that’s what it all comes back to, isn’t it?” Clark bit, though the increased anger was directed toward himself rather than his dad. “I wasn’t here and now two of my best friends are dead because of it.”

Jonathan let out a breath and then rubbed his face before looking back at his son.

“We’ve been over this, Clark. Even if you *had* been here, there’s no way you could have known that truck would hit Chloe – not unless you were following her around constantly. And Lex ---” Jonathan paused and stiffened in his chair. “Lex died in a plane crash on the way to his honeymoon in the Caribbean. Now, unless you’ve developed the ability to fly and haven’t told us about it ---”

Clark frowned and shook his head lightly.

“I guess I see your point,” he said begrudgingly.

And he did see his father’s point – sort of. But he couldn’t shake the guilty feeling that stemmed more from his last encounters with his friends than from feeling responsible for their unpreventable deaths.

Chloe had been so upset – not over the fact that he and Lana had gotten together, but at the fact that he and Lana had lied to her about it. He had come to see how poorly he had treated her over the last couple of years and the more he thought about it, the more he couldn’t blame her for cutting him out of her life. He only wished that he had gotten the chance to make amends with her before she died.

And then there was Lex. Clark had chosen to destroy the spaceship he had come down in and take off on his motorcycle over showing up and fulfilling his duties as best man at Lex’s wedding. Though he didn’t know it at the time, it would have been his last opportunity to see his friend alive – and he sloughed it off

So, even if he hadn’t been responsible for their respective deaths, he was still guilty of being a bad friend; and that realization hurt just as much.

~*~*~*~*~

The last two weeks had been fraught with tension that had quickly escalated into short tempers and stupid arguments. Lex woke up that morning to find Chloe gone and decided to make a peace offering of sorts by trying to clean away the horrific remainders the previous owners left behind. Unfortunately, it turned out to be much easier in his head than it was to actually carry out.

“Fucking…blood…argh!”

“What are you doing?”

Lex turned and scowled at Chloe as she walked into the house, her arms full of fruit.

“What does it look like?” he snapped. “I’m trying to get these stains off the walls.”

“O-kay,” Chloe strung out and then started to walk toward the bedroom. Lex frowned and dropped his rag to follow her.

“We’ve been here for three months by my count ---”

“You’ve been keeping count?” Chloe asked in surprise, squatting down to let the fruit roll from her arms onto the floor.

Lex sighed.

“My point was that we’ve been here that long and this house is still torn apart. Don’t you think we should try and make it a little more…livable? Or do you not have any sort of nesting instinct at all?”

“Sure I do,” Chloe said, silently taking inventory of everything she had gotten that morning. “But I’m not Lana. My survival instinct is a lot stronger than the need to decorate.”

Lex opened his mouth to speak, but quickly closed it. Even after his leg had healed to the point where he could walk with a stick, Chloe had still been the one to get fresh food and water for them every day.

He furrowed his brow when he finally noticed that it looked like the better part of Chloe’s morning had been spent stockpiling and that she had placed all the items against one of the walls in their bedroom.

“What are you doing?”

“Survival instinct,” she muttered.

“What?”

Chloe twisted her head and gave him a bemused expression.

“You haven’t looked outside yet, have you?”

“Earlier – when I had to --- why?” Lex asked suspiciously.

Chloe motioned with her head toward the open bedroom door.

“See for yourself.”

Lex eyed her warily, but did as she said and hobbled out to the tiled porch.

The sky was filled with dark grey clouds, a fierce wind was whipping at the trees, and the ocean’s waves were swelling up far past their normal size.

Chloe came up beside him and stared out at the scene as well.

“Could just be a tropical storm, but I’m guessing ---”

“Hurricane,” Lex finished for her. Chloe nodded and wrapped her arms around herself.

“Yeah.”

Lex turned to look at her with concern and she gave him a forced grin.

“The bedroom was the only room that wasn’t damaged before, so I thought that was probably our best bet for riding it out.”

Lex said nothing, but placed a hand on the small of her back to lead her inside.

“When do you think it’s going to hit?”

“Do I look like a weather girl?”

Lex stopped walking and tilted his head to the side as he pretended to really look at her.

“Kind of. You’d have to use a lot more hairspray and makeup though,” he teased. Chloe reached out and slapped his arm playfully.

“Jerk.”

“So, a couple of hours?” he asked, lightly rubbing the spot on his arm with his other hand.

“Probably,” she answered. “I just hope it doesn’t last very long.”

“And that we live through it.”

“That too,” Chloe agreed, though Lex noticed it was more somber instead of in her normally upbeat tone.

“I was actually joking,” he pointed out. “I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

“I guess.”

“Chloe, you’ve stocked up enough stuff for the next couple of days. And if Lana Lang can survive being swept up into a tornado, then surely you and I can survive a hurricane in the shelter of our own bedroom.”

He had meant it to be reassuring, but the look Chloe was giving him would suggest otherwise.

“First of all, we don’t have Clark here.”

“So?”

“He saved Lana.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” Chloe said as they moved into the bedroom and shut the door. “And out of curiosity, when did you start thinking of this as *our* bedroom?”

“Since we started sleeping here?” Lex countered.

Chloe shook her head and leaned her back against the door so she could slowly slide down and Lex observed her body language closely.

“Which part do you have a problem with, Chloe?” he asked and Chloe raised her eyes to look at him questioningly. “The fact that I’ve started to see this as home – as decrepit as it might be? Or the fact that I referred to it as *our* bedroom?”



TBC...

[staysixkid]

I'm so behind on fics, but I couldn’t resist!

“My point was that we’ve been here that long and this house is still torn apart. Don’t you think we should try and make it a little more…livable? Or do you not have any sort of nesting instinct at all?”

“Sure I do,” Chloe said, silently taking inventory of everything she had gotten that morning. “But I’m not Lana. My survival instinct is a lot stronger than the need to decorate.”

Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!
Where you have ended...reeks of UST!!! I love it

[hfce]

That was so good. I love how they are fighting like a real couple. ;)


Hope

[petriebird18]

Awe! "OUR BEDROOM" That's so cute! See how natural that sounds?
I'm loving this fic, and Chloe and Lex SOOOO should get together soon, maybe this hurricane is just what they need (hint hint, nudge nudge) ;) :biggrin:
UPDATE SOON!!!
~Deidre~
:chlexsign3:

[Val]

Awwww Lex is so cute!!!!!!
I can't wait for more! I hope you're right Deidre, that the hurricane is all they need! :biggrin:

[bluemoongirl23]

I can't even yell at you for ending it there cause I was so happy to see that you updated. So, will someone else scream at Kris for me? Curious to see where the ensuing discussion takes our twosome. I love how it takes the two of them being 'dead' for Clark to realize that he's a bonehead.

Blue

[Queen Of Tact]

you stopped there!!!!!! How could you stop there?? That is just evil evil evil........ I mean it's getting to the good stuff( not that it hasn't been all good)and you stop... I see how you are.......

xoxoxox
CC

[Brittany]

:biggrin: Glad to see an update it was great! :wub: Lex was so sweet, trying to make the place all homey for them. Can't wait for more!

[Tandy]

:yay: More! More! I hope they cozy up during the hurricane! :blinkkiss: More!

Tandy

[Calliope]

Hmmm, a bedroom, a hurricane, no lights... Whatever will our duo find to occupy themselves??? :blush:

[dsapiro]

I'm so glad that he's asking that question. I can't wait to see what her answer is. Whatever are they going to do with themselves durring the hurricane, when they are trapped together in the bedroom? Hmmm....

Update soon!

[Sunny]

Aaawwww.... Loved it!!!! This fic is great... Write more soon please! :yay:

[sabby]

Now here's where the sparks are gonna fly. Trapped in a bedroom, for hours on end....a LOT UST thrown in the mix....that just has to explode one way or the other.

Enough with the Clark moping please, it just takes up space, and we know he feels guilty for everything but that's where it ends. He never does something about it.

Anyway, great chappy, love the '*our* bedroom' bit and can't wait for the next update!

hugs,
Sabby

[lunaluthor]

evil young lady to stop it here :devil:

need my update need my update :yay: :yay: :yay:

[mia]

hey! great story! :) update! update!!!!
i just have a really stupid question...what does UST mean??? :)

thanks!

i can't wait to read the next chapter.

[vardaquareien]

:wub: aww OUR Bedroom!!! *Runs to hug Lex for being so cute! ...Then realises that as a ficticious character, he's not huggable and bursts into tears*

There's only one way to survive a hurricane...snuggle together in a big bed!!! :satanwink:

btw mia, UST = Unresolved Sexual Tension.

[nessa]

I'm so happy you've updated. I like all your stories, you allways have original ideas about how Lex and Chloe get together. :biggrin: Can't wait for the next chapter.

[scorpio]

Originally posted by nessa@Aug 18 2003, 09:46 PM
I like all your stories, you allways have original ideas about how Lex and Chloe get together. :biggrin: Can't wait for the next chapter.
I second that. :biggrin:
Please don´t let us wait too long for an update. This story is simply great. It get´s two thumps up. http://www.click-smilies.de/sammlung/grinser/grinning-smiley-004.gif http://www.click-smilies.de/sammlung/grinser/grinning-smiley-003.gif

[fighterangel]

Ohhhhh "OUR bedroom".... hummmmm.... I love it. Write more... Update soon

LA

[kidkarmina]

Like everyone here, I like "our bedroom" comment as well. I'm definitely intrigued on how Chloe going to answer his question. :wub:

Please update soon :blinkkiss: !

[Sab_Luthor]

hummmmm
our bedroom OUR bedroom hooo this so cute :wub: :wub: :wub:
i'm in heaven. ho a pink elephant
i can't wait write more please please please please please please
i'm waiting for an update here and i'm not moving at least i have one
:worship2: :worship2: :worship2: gimme one :crygreen: :crygreen: :crygreen: ple ea easeee

[scifichick774]

A/N: I know I don't say this often enough, but thank you so much for all of your feedback. I love it.

~*~*~*~*~

“Well?” Lex asked impatiently after Chloe had simply curled her knees up to her chest, let her head fall to the crook in between them, closed her eyes, and ignored him.

“Both,” Chloe answered after a beat without raising her head.

“Both,” Lex repeated.

“Yeah.”

“I don’t suppose you’d care to elaborate?”

Chloe drew in a deep breath and sighed it out slowly as she raised her eyes to look at him.

“I’m just scared, okay?”

“Of me?” Lex asked in concern, maneuvering his leg so he could sit down beside her.

He quickly ran through everything that had happened since they had been on the island. He couldn’t think of anything he’d done other than yell when he lost his temper, but that didn’t mean that she hadn’t heard of his numerous temper tantrums and outbursts in the past. He had never struck a woman, but he was certain that his days of drinking and womanizing did little to reassure her that he was the kind of guy she wanted to become involved with.

“I --- do you have any idea how hard this has been for me, Lex?” she asked, her eyes starting to glisten with unshed tears. “And the only thing that’s kept me going is that *really* remote possibility that someday we’ll be rescued. But if I start thinking of this place as home, then ---”

“Then you’re giving up,” Lex finished for her. Chloe nodded a couple of times and wiped away the few tears that escaped her eyes. Lex knew it was probably bad timing, but he couldn’t get rid of the nagging ‘both’ that she had uttered earlier. “And me?”

Chloe looked down again and tucked some hair behind her ear.

“I ---”

Her sentence trailed off into a startled, high pitched scream as something large crashed into the house, apparently close to them as it shook the room they were in.

She felt his arms wrap around her and she practically collapsed against him, her hands clinging to his sides as she buried her head against his shoulder, her body trembling in fright.

Lex reached up to soothingly stroke her hair, inwardly hoping that the action would calm him as well.

He had never seen Chloe Sullivan scared before. Energetic, yes. Livid, certainly. But not scared. And Lex couldn’t say that he liked it anymore than she did.

Although, the fact that she was making no move to try and escape his embrace was something he could quickly learn to live with.

The wind howled past the walls of the room, the heavy sounds of crashing, snapping, and breaking sweeping through the house and the immediate outside area. The deep crack of thunder was what finally seemed to do Chloe in though.

She closed her eyes and clung tighter to him, chanting something under her breath that Lex couldn’t quite make out because it was muffled against his skin.

“Shh,” he said, stroking his hand down her hair yet again.

“Don’t leave me.”

That time Lex caught it. It wasn’t any louder than a whisper, but Lex caught it.

He held her closer, frowning when he tried to think of why she would possibly think that he would leave her. Then it hit him.

Clark.

Lex knew for a fact that Clark had left Chloe at the dance during the tornado to make sure Lana was alright, though he suspected that wasn’t the only instance when Chloe had been in immediate peril and Clark had chosen to save the brunette girl’s life over hers.

The realization made him not only disappointed, but angry as well.

Disappointed because from what he had been able to piece together, Chloe had always been there for Clark, helping him when he needed it, even offering a home for Lana to stay in when Nell moved to Metropolis because she knew how hurt Clark would be if Lana moved away.

Angry because Clark had completely taken advantage of Chloe’s friendship and her crush on him, so much so that she might question any feelings she had for any other men in the future and quite probably would shut herself off emotionally like Lex had earlier in his life.

Angry because he was very likely the only man she would be around for the rest of their short lives if the storm killed them or they were never rescued, which meant that despite their growing friendship and attraction for each other, she would never be able or willing to completely open up her heart to him because of Clark Kent’s insensitive stupidity.

If they ever did get rescued, Clark had some severe apologies to make.

‘Scratch that,’ Lex thought. ‘If we ever get out of here, he’s never getting near her again.’

Chloe’s eyes widened, as if suddenly struck by the realization of what she was doing, and she slowly pulled away from him.

“Sorry,” she mumbled apologetically and began to scramble to her feet, turning her face away from him so he wouldn’t see how embarrassed she was for breaking down in front of him.

“Chloe ---”

“I don’t usually lose it like that,” she said.

“I know you don’t,” Lex replied as he started to stand up as well. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really,” Chloe said, wrapping her arms around her body self-consciously and heading over to look out the window.

It was made of a thick plastic, unlike the other windows in the house had been, and when they had initially moved in, Lex had offhandedly made a comment about it being bulletproof glass. At the time, she had accepted his observation without asking any further questions about how he would have known that, but now it was just another item on her growing list of petty excuses she could come up with not to become involved with him.

Had she really been hurt so badly in her past relationships not to give him any sort of chance though? When it had just been about sex – or the possibility thereof, she had been more accepting about making him her first. But when Lex gave her his reasons for not wanting to become involved just yet and she realized how serious he was about the whole thing, an uneasy feeling swept through her and she started forming the aforementioned list in her head.

‘Stupid Clark Kent,’ she thought. ‘I’m never going to be in a decent relationship with anyone because of him – not that a relationship with Lex would be decent anyway – or maybe it would – he’s gotten to be pretty nice since ---’

“You know, you never answered my question.”

The voice startled her enough to shake her from her inner rambling and Chloe blinked a couple of times before turning her head to the side to see Lex standing next to her, watching as the rain sprayed so hard against the window that they couldn’t see out.

“I said I didn’t want to talk ---”

“The other question,” Lex clarified.

“Oh.”

Lex gave her a half-smirk and stepped forward to face her as he leaned against the wall.

“Are you scared of me?”

Chloe’s eyes widened in disbelief and then a gurgling chortle released from her throat.

“God, no! Is that what you thought?”

“You said you were scared.”

Chloe sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

“Of the situation, not of you.”

“But you said you had a problem with both,” he reminded her. “With the fact that I’ve started to see this place as home *and* that I called the room ours.”

“But that doesn’t mean that I’m scared of you,” she said. Lex gave her a pointed, expectant look and Chloe barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “Fine. I’m scared – but not of you – of…us – or the idea of an ‘us’ anyway.”

Lex looked down at the ground before returning his eyes to her and folding his arms across his chest defensively, preparing himself for what he was sure would be the reiteration of the past he had tried to forget and move on from.

“I ---” Chloe paused and an apologetic look crept over her face. “As you know, I don’t have the best history with guys. And it’s made me kind of…skittish. Does that make sense?”

Lex frowned and nodded once.

“It’s always going to come back to him, isn’t it?”

“What?”

“Clark.”

Chloe shook her head lightly.

“I was talking about me. Yeah, my friendship and crush on Clark didn’t end well, but it’s not just him. It’s…everyone.” She let out a breath and then looked at him pleadingly, silently begging him to understand. “Every man – boy – whatever – in my life has ---” she trailed off and closed her eyes for a brief second. “I’ve just always had to pretty much take care of myself, and the idea of giving up some of the control that I’ve come to rely on to get me through things isn’t exactly comforting.”

Lex opened his mouth to speak, but quickly closed it; a smirk taking residence on his lips instead of a comment.

“What?” Chloe asked.

“Nothing. I just figured something out.”

“And?”

Lex pushed himself off the wall and let his smirk broaden into the one he knew bugged the hell out of her.

It wasn’t about the bad relationships either one of them had been trying to get over anymore, it was just about them. And if Lex could make her rely on him in some way other than just being the physical presence of another human being, then he could edge his way past her control barriers and into her heart.

“*And*, if we survive the storm, I’ll let you know.”



TBC...

[hfce]

Kris get back here right now. You cant leave it there. I want more please..... :crygreen:


Hope :cool:

[Calliope]

Ahhh! There needs to be more cuddling and comforting. :chlexsign2: I, myself, prefer to think of Lex's knowledge of bulletproof glass as 'worldly' instead of 'death hazard'. :biggrin:

[Arin]

Meanie. I wanna know.

[Brittany]

:biggrin: Great update but way to short, I need more than that!!! Can't wait for the next chapter, bring on the cuddling. :wub:

[Charmingjen]

Wow, amazing fic. I am totally loving it. I just started reading it early today and just finished the latest chapter. It's great. I'm looking foward to the next entry. Oh how I wish I were deserted on an island with him. Of course I wouldn't want to be injured and there's that whole murdered house thing. Oh and I would definitly need supplies if 'mother nature' came knocking on my door.

:lol:
Jen

[Tandy]

:crygreen: MOre soon now! :crygreen: Please more soon! I need more please Please? :worship2:

Tandy

[sabby]

*smirks* oh yeah, this is gonna be interesting. I wonder how Lex plans to make Chloe rely on him, cuz it sure as hell won't be a piece of cake. I hope your muse and RL cooperate so that we get another chappy soon.

hugs,
Sabby

[staysixkid]

This is such a brilliant story. I adore it! :heart:

For some reason, I'm not upset about the sudden ending to this chatper. Hmm..I must be coming down with a cold or something.

[ghostwriter]

That's mean of lex. of course they are going to survive the storm, i mean they survived being in a plane that crashed into the ocean..... Great chappie

Can't wait for an update

[lunaluthor]

hey you are evil and Lex is very mean, how can you leave Chloe and me in this cluelessness (is this a word)
another great chapter I love your story so come back and give me some cuddling :yay: :yay: :yay:

[tigerbaby]

Well Lex is obviously Mr. Pessimistic. Of course they'll survive the storm, and to shake off those depressing thoughts, they need to have mind-blowing life-affirming smut.

So go write. Any time now would be good.

[flower]

What ya mean, "If we survive the storm, I´ll tell you"?

I wanna know now!

Update!

FloweR

[drina]

Haven't read this fic for sooo long and i have so much to catch up on, but it's all good!

fantastic job as usual, and waiting impatiently to see what Lex will reveal to Chloe.

[dsapiro]

But, but... you stopped. That can't be right. You have to update soon, for whats left of my sanity. I relise that its not a lot, but still. Please. :worship2: :worship2: :yay:

[venus1978]

hey thats not fair.... come back here and update

[Val]

I want more NOW! You can't stop there! :yay: :yay:

[Sab_Luthor]

but but but.......NOOOOO.......you you you can't. you can't letting us, letting ME like that
HOW DARE YOU?
there's no way you come back right mow and give us an update
and i say RIGHT NOW OK
i'm not kidding i swear

[zeppo2]

I'm not the overly threatening type so I won't hound you I love the 'our bedroom' bit so delicious!
And we are going to survive the storm right? I want to know what Lex has in mind...

[fighterangel]

ahhh I wanna know i wanna know, PLEASE UPDATE&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; Right now&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; <jumps up and down>

LA

[bluemoongirl23]

I&#39;m fairly certain that they shall survive the storm. And very glad of it so I can see what&#39;s in store for them afterwards. More soon.

Blue

[Trinitytrp]

[FONT=Courier][COLOR=purple]PLEASE.... WE NEED MORE... I"m Dying Here&#33;

[scifichick774]

Six Months Later…

Lionel Luthor drew in a breath and turned to make eye contact with Pete Dinsmore.

“You’re certain there are no ‘flaws’ this time?”

Dinsmore pursed his lips and nodded.

“He’s the best one yet,” he answered solemnly. “He doesn’t have any of the abilities that the previous clones had, but he’s substantially more stable in all other areas because I was able to get his cells to stop aging at an accelerated rate. For some reason, that’s what’s affected the others’… mental well being.”

Lionel thoughtfully nodded once. Everything was going according to plan so far.

“How much will he remember?” he asked.

“Nothing past the car accident that your real son was in a couple of years ago,” Dinsmore answered and then hesitated before giving Lionel a hard, yet pleading look. “Do we have a deal?”

Lionel’s mouth crept into a smirk, but he nodded.

“I’ll have Emily and all of your research on her brought back to you the second ‘Lex’ is placed on the island.”

Dinsmore let out a relieved breath.

“Thank you, Mr. Luthor. You won’t regret this.”

“I’d better not.”

~*~*~*~*~

Two Days Later…

“…Lex Luthor, son of billionaire Lionel Luthor, was found *alive* just hours ago after being presumed dead for almost a year. Nine months ago, the younger Luthor was married to Dr. Helen Bryce and was on his way to his honeymoon when his plane went down in the middle of a tropical storm. No word has been released yet on his condition, but we’ll continue to keep you updated as we receive the information…”

Clark stared at the television screen, mouth agape in shock.

“He’s alive,” he said, the words coming out as little more than a whisper.

Martha rapidly blinked, tears of joy filling her eyes. Not only was she happy that her son would have his friend back, but she had grown quite fond of Lex herself as well. She clasped her hand on top of her son’s and smiled at him.

“He’s alive,” she said in a chocked voice. “Oh, Clark…”

Clark pulled his mother into an awkward hug, still stunned by the news.

After ridding himself of the red Kryptonite ring and coming back to town to find out that both Lex and Chloe had died, he thought he’d lost his chance to make amends for good; but the news report that just aired changed everything.

Clark hugged his mom a little tighter, careful not to hurt her because of his powers, and made a silent resolution.

When Lex came back to Smallville, he would do everything he could to patch up their friendship. Even if it meant telling Lex the truth.

“What’s going on?”

Clark and Martha pulled apart and Martha looked teary-eyed at her husband who just came into the room.

“Lex is alive,” Clark answered. Jonathan’s eyebrows rose questioningly.

“What?”

“The news – they just said that they found him,” Martha elaborated.

Jonathan pursed his lips thoughtfully.

“Huh.”

Martha frowned.

“I thought you and Lex made up?” she asked. Jonathan absently nodded.

“We did. I just can’t help thinking that there isn’t something more going on,” he said. “I mean, how many people besides Clark could actually survive a plane crash like that?”

“There have been cases,” Clark argued.

“I’m not doubting that, son,” Jonathan replied placatingly. “But nine months later?” He stopped and shook his head. “Doesn’t that seem a little strange to you? Like they should have found him before now?”

Martha sucked in a breath, preparing to play peacekeeper between the two men in her life once again. She touched Clark’s arm and gave him a small grin.

“What’s important is that they’ve found him now and he’s alright.”

Clark stared at his father for another second and then snapped out of it, turning to nod at his mom.

“I’m going to go see if I can find out anything else.”

Clark left the house and Martha gave Jonathan a disparaging look.

“What’s really going on?” she asked.

“I told you – I just think it’s suspicious is all.”

Martha folded her arms across her chest.

“You think he’s going to start asking questions about Clark again, don’t you?”

Jonathan drew in a deep breath and then released it as a sigh, running a hand through his hair.

“You know as well as I do that extreme situations like that can change a person, Martha.”

“That doesn’t mean he’ll change for the worse.”

“Doesn’t mean he won’t either.”

~*~*~*~*~

The waterfall and large pool of fresh water beneath it had been a nice surprise. Unfortunately, it was on the other side of the island and for practical reasons wouldn’t be used that often.

But today was different.

Today the sun was shining high in the cloudless blue sky and Chloe was taking full advantage of the trek she and Lex had made through the overgrown paths and marginally rough terrain. She closed her eyes and stretched her humidity-moistened body, letting out a small moan of approval when the sunlight filtering through the trees hit her face.

She mused that the only thing that might make the situation better would be the removal of her bra and underwear, but as good of friends as she and Lex had become, the fact was that she knew if she was naked it would spark some long forgotten arousal and upon seeing the lust in his eyes, she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from acting upon it.

Lex watched on with amusement, smiling over at her from the pool of water he was treading in. One giant sweep of his arm against the water’s surface sent a wave of cool water splashing over Chloe and earning a shrill yelp from the depths of her throat.

“Oh&#33; You jackass&#33;” she yelled, no conviction behind her words as she was smiling brightly at him from her now standing position.

“Yeah?” he asked teasingly, a broad smirk on his face. “You gonna do something about it, Sullivan?”

Chloe narrowed her eyes at him and then dove into the water, arising only to retaliate with a large sweep of her arm that sent a cascade of the cool liquid directly toward Lex’s face. Lex shook it off and leapt toward her in the freshwater pool.

Chloe squealed as she tried to fend off his attack, struggling to swim through her laughter to the nearby rocks, Lex caught her leg and half-drug her to him under the water. Chloe came up sputtering for air and Lex smiled at her.

It had been a long time since he had been able to show or feel any real emotion other than bitterness or distrust and for that, he silently thanked the fact that he had been stranded with Chloe. She was a woman who could draw a smile out of any man without trying and without having any sort of hidden motive or agenda behind it.

Lex’s smile began to fall into a somewhat serious, contemplative expression. He didn’t like the thought that she may very well be smiling at an entirely different young man if they were ever rescued, but wasn’t completely sure where the sudden wave of jealous possessiveness had sprung from. It wasn’t as if he had any competition on the island, though he still hadn’t made any sort of pass toward her after they had agreed to pursue a relationship. He wondered if that was the problem.

Gripping her waist with one hand under the water, Lex leaned forward slowly and closed his eyes just before his lips softly pressed against hers. Chloe raised one hand to his shoulder, using the other in a steady rhythm with her legs to keep herself afloat.

Her mouth opened for him and she savored the feeling of their tongues writhing against each other as well as his warm skin beneath the skin of her palm. She felt his fingers on the back of her bra and pulled away from him to remove the garment completely once he unclasped it.

They kissed again and he started to move them toward the area of the pool where they could easily get out. Their eyes locked when they reached the rim, and after slowly climbing out, Lex leaned her back against the large flat rock that covered the ground.

Hovering over her, he once again covered her mouth with his own. His lips moved across her face, trailing lazy kiss across her skin until he reached her ear.

“When are you going to tell me?”

Chloe opened her eyes to look at him questioningly and he stared down at her almost pleadingly, barely dipping his head to brush his lips against hers.

“All you have to do is tell me,” he whispered.

The weight of him on top of her disappeared and Chloe frowned, the images surrounding her fading into obscurity as she slowly slipped back into a conscious state.

Chloe awoke groggily, stretching out her body and furrowing her brow when she realized that Lex wasn’t beside her in bed.

“Good morning.”

Chloe turned her head to look at the doorway, her eyes widening in surprise when she saw Lex standing there. In the time since they had gotten there, it was rare for her not to be the first one out of bed, and to see Lex apparently wide awake when she wasn’t came as a bit of a shock.

“What’s going on? Why are you up?” Chloe asked, pushing herself up to a sitting position.

“I thought you might like *me* to bring *you* breakfast for once,” Lex answered, motioning to the plate in his hands. Chloe narrowed her eyes and looked at him suspiciously, confusion taking over her features when she smelled and looked like meat in addition to the fruit she had become so accustomed to. “Rabbit,” Lex said in response to the unspoken question. “Those traps I made actually worked.” Chloe grimaced and Lex’s pleased expression fell. “What’s wrong?”

“You killed bunnies?”

“I thought you said rabbits were rodents?” Lex reminded her.

“Well, yeah – doesn’t mean I want to eat them,” Chloe said.

Lex rolled his eyes and sat down beside her, setting the plate down on the bed.

“They weren’t the soft, snuggly bunnies that parents give their kids for Easter, Chloe. They were wild rabbits – and you need your protein.”

“I guess,” Chloe agreed half-heartedly.

“Just try it,” Lex urged.

Chloe frowned and brought a piece of the fire-cooked and partially burnt meat up to her mouth. Her tongue darted out to taste it, the very smell sending a shot of hunger down to her stomach. Gently, she took a small bite and closed her eyes.

“Mmm,” she hummed approvingly.

Lex readjusted his position, Chloe’s moan over the food sending entirely different signals to his body. He gave her a small, uneasy grin, even though she couldn’t see it.

“I would have made you coffee, but ---”

“God, don’t even joke about that, Lex,” Chloe interrupted, some of the meat still in her mouth. “I’d kill for some coffee right now.”

“And here I thought you’d broken your addiction to caffeine since we’ve been here,” he teased, thankful to be discussing something that would give his body time to cool down.

For his part, he thought he had exerted more patience and restraint than he had in his entire life when it came to not just pressing Chloe into having a relationship with him that was more than friendship. He had been doing several things for her and sharing the responsibilities of survival since the hurricane, but unfortunately, Chloe Sullivan was the most stubborn woman he’d ever met in his life, and it seemed that she was no longer interested in any sort of a physical relationship with him – if she ever had been at all.

‘That, or she just hides it really well,’ Lex thought. He blinked and something in his eyes flashed with a newfound understanding. ‘Of course she hides it well, she was in the same type of relationship with Clark for how long? God. I’m an idiot.’

Too wrapped up in his own thoughts, he didn’t realize that Chloe was looking at him strangely.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’ve been acting like *Clark”,” Lex responded, half in disgust and half in disbelief, his gaze straight ahead instead of focused on the woman next to him.

Chloe arched an eyebrow at him.

“Are you feeling okay? One of the rabbits didn’t bite you and give you rabies or something, did it?”

Lex finally turned his head to the side to look at her.

“Chloe, I think ---” Lex trailed off and Chloe looked at him expectantly.

“You think ---?” she prodded when he didn’t continue. In one swift movement, Lex’s mouth was on hers, a hand tangled in the back of her hair so she couldn’t push him away without causing herself pain. “Mmph&#33;” Wide eyed, Chloe managed to turn her head a little and break the one-sided kiss. “What are you doing?&#33;”

Her tone made Lex pull back in confusion. Was it possible that she really did just like him as a friend? That their short make-out session months before had just been the product of too much stress and the realization that they were probably never going to be rescued?

“I like you,” Lex offered lamely, mentally slapping himself for now sounding like Clark as well.

“I like you too,” Chloe said.

“No, I mean ---”

“I know what you meant,” Chloe interrupted. “But I thought you didn’t want to get involved because of the whole ‘rebound’ thing.” She paused and tipped her head to the side. “Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”

Lex leaned toward her and kissed her again, softly this time, but still persuasive. No sooner did Chloe let her eyes flutter closed and begin to return the kiss than Lex pulled away, his lips still just brushing against hers.

“I changed my mind.”

“You changed your mind,” Chloe repeated incredulously. “So --- what? I’m just supposed to jump into bed with you because you had a change of heart?&#33;” ‘Not that you mind,’ a little voice inside her head whispered. ‘That’s not the point,’ she inwardly argued. ‘He should just tell me that he cares about me or something, not try and jump me because he’s finally over someone he never should have been with in the first place.’

“Technically, you’re already in bed with me,” he pointed out teasingly, hoping his joking attitude would help to soothe Chloe’s now defensive demeanor. His smirk fell into a serious expression as he continued to observe her. “And it’s been almost a year – aren’t you over him yet?”

Chloe’s mouth dropped open, but no words came out.

“Shit,” he mumbled, running a hand over his smooth head. “That didn’t come out how I wanted it to.”

Chloe sighed and shook her head before smiling at him.

“I thought you were trying to get over Helen?”

Lex’s eyes narrowed questioningly.

“What?”

“You know – your whole speech about why we couldn’t get involved. You said you were trying to get over someone who hurt you. You ---”

“I said *we* were trying to get over people who hurt *us*, Chloe,” Lex corrected. “I was generalizing because I thought you were still ---”

“---In love with Clark,” she finished for him. Lex said nothing, but the fact that he looked away from her confirmed her answer.

‘When are you going to tell me?’

The words he spoke in her dream echoed through her head and Chloe blinked in surprise. Surely he couldn’t think that she was still harboring feelings for Clark? Not after everything they had been through…

‘All you have to do is tell me.’

“I’m not,” she said.

Lex raised his eyes to look at her again.

“So, where does that leave us?”




TBC...

[hfce]

Where does that leave us SMUT BABY&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; :drool: :smut: Lionel needs to be :die:
:tease:


Hope

[venus1978]

Hey you cant just stop there come back here and update....... Please :biggrin:

[asharnanae]

:worship2: that was sooo godd, but damn you with the evilness of the cliffhangers&#33;&#33;&#33; :tease:

[tigerbaby]

I read this over at ff.net as I was having problems with the board here but I can&#39;t believe that *six* months later and almost a year on the island if I&#39;ve done my math right and still no smut.

I guess in order to get any action I&#39;m going to have to go write my own smut filled piece