Title: Trick or Treat
Author: Arielleira
Rating: PG-13
Summary: While baby-sitting on Halloween night, Chloe loses the kid. Luckily, Lex shows up, and Chloe can show him how much fun Halloween can be while looking for the little brat.
Disclaimer: Doesn't belong to me. Really. Swear.
Notes: This is my first Chlex fic. First Smallville fic, really. Hope it doesn't suck too much. Though it's only going to be Halloween for the next hour and a half, it's a Halloween fic I've been working on today and yesterday.
*********************************
‘I can’t believe I got roped into this.’
Chloe stood in the living room of her neighbour, Ms. Alton, who was sprawled back in a chair with her leg propped up on the coffee table and her ankle covered in ice. Bouncing up and down on the ground while watching some horrid, mind-numbing cartoon was six-year old Jeremy Alton, clad in a red and blue Spiderman costume.
“I’m really, really sorry that this is so last minute, Chloe,” Ms. Alton said, “But I promised Jeremy I’d take him trick-or-treating, but them I sprained my ankle.” She sighed, her eyes straying over to her son. “And there’s no one else...” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Things have been kind of hard since his father left.”
Chloe’s heart softened a bit to the little boy and his mother. She knew how difficult a single-parent household could be sometimes. “It’s alright, Ms. Alton. I’m glad to do it.”She then turned to the little monster himself, who had been referred to in baby-sitting circles as the Terror of Trimmer Street. “Ready to go, Jeremy?” she asked in a forced voice, trying to remember that she was doing a good deed.
In a flash of movement, he managed to turn off the television, grab his trick-or-treat back, and run to the door in a very short span of time. “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!” Chloe grimaced as she watched him climb up the rail around the porch and jump off into the yard while screaming, “I’m SPIDERMAN!”
Chloe groaned, walking out after him. It was going to be a long night.
******
“Chloe, why aren’t you dressed up?”
Jeremy skipped along the sidewalk, swinging his half-full bag of candy around dangerously. Chloe shrugged, taking a Tootsie Roll out of her pocket and unwrapping it. “I don’t know. I didn’t have a costume. It was all a little last minute...”
Jeremy watched as she popped the candy into her mouth. “You’re not supposed to do that.”
Chloe gave a puzzled expression. “Do what?”
“Eat the candy,” Jeremy explained, “You’re supposed to wait until you get home and your Mom or Dad checks to make sure it’s not poisoned.” Still, his hand lingered dangerously inside his bag, as if waiting for Chloe to give the OK.
Hesitating slightly, Chloe gave a small laugh and spit the candy out. “Oh...yeah. Um, I forgot?”
Acting upon his short attention span, Jeremy suddenly darted up to the next door, leaving Chloe on sidewalk waiting. Making sure he wasn’t looking, she took another Tootsie Roll out and ate it.
Chloe let her mind wander back to past Halloweens, where she had been the one going door to door in various Princess dresses, bunny suits, and (one particular Halloween in 1997) a Baby Spice costume.
Shaking her head of memories, she looked up at the doorstep. The door was now closed again, and Jeremy wasn’t there.
‘Oh, shit.’
******
“Jeremy! Jeremy! JEREMY!”
Pissed off at the hyperactive little rugrat, Chloe ran around the neighbourhood like madman, screaming his name and storming past groups of little angels and zombie baseball players. She wasn’t particularly worried about him, it was a safe enough neighbourhood, and from what Chloe knew he spent most of the time running around it like a wild child by himself, anyway. But she definitely wasn’t going to get paid if she showed up at the Alton house at the end of the night sans Jeremy.
She shuffled down the sidewalk, a eerie autumn chill causing her to shiver under her thin long-sleeved shirt. Chloe was too absorbed in her thoughts to notice the headlights come up from behind her, and slowly come to a halt. It was until the car was right next to her that she noticed, and almost jumped out of her skin.
The passenger side window of the Porsche rolled down, and Lex Luthor’s face peered out at Chloe.
“Good evening, Miss Sullivan. You look troubled.”
Chloe trembled, quickly attributing it the cold. “I was baby-sitting,” she explained, “Well, taking this kid trick-or-treating. His mom had a sprained ankle...anyway. I was watching him, and I turned my head for one minute...”
“-and he was gone,” Lex finished, nodding his head in understanding, “Yes, little boys are like that. I remember distinctly running off myself quite a few times. Need any help looking for him?”
As soon as he said it, Lex wondered why he had. Why would he want to help some teenager look for a sugared-up little brat when he was on his way to a Halloween party in Metropolis?
‘Is it because the party will be all that boring, or because you’re eager to help out the beautiful damsel in distress?’
It was probably a little bit of both.
Lex got out of his car, and put the keys in his pocket, sauntering over to where Chloe stood. She stared at her, a little surprised. She looked beautiful in simple blue jeans a pale blue top. Lex smirked, and held out his arm. “Shall we go?”
**************
Chloe was slightly taken aback at Lex’s offer of service. Yes, they associated, but Sullivan and Luthor were no where near bosom buddies. Still, it was a cold, lonely night, and she appreciated his company almost as much as his help. Of course she wouldn’t say no.
He held out his arm in an act of pure chivalry, smirking slightly. “Shall we go?”
Chloe laughed aloud, taking the arm. “Let’s.”
“So,” Lex said as they marched down the sidewalk, arm in arm, “What does the little ruffian look like?”
“Well,” Chloe said, “Normally, he’s a pretty run-of-the-mill looking scamp. Brown hair, brown eyes, short. But tonight you may recognise him as Spiderman. Take care to look up in trees. He’s prone to jumping from extreme heights.”
The road was quiet, as it was already about 9 o’clock and most of the small children had already been ushered inside for a night of sugar consumption and Scooby Doo Halloween specials. At moments when she was sure that he wasn’t looking, Chloe snuck short glances at Lex, admiring how nice he looked.
“So...Luthor. I’m guessing you didn’t plan on finding me on the side of the road in various stages of distress. Don’t you have any special richboy Halloween plans?”
Lex looked up spooky night sky, his hands in the pockets of his black dress pants. “Not really,” he lied, “Halloween’s not really my kind of holiday. Seems kind of pointless, if you ask me.”
Chloe stopped right there in her tracks, staring at the bald billionaire as if he had just announced that he was giving away all his money to go live in the jungles of South America. “Pointless?” she said slowly, “Luthor, Halloween is one of the best holidays ever invented! What kid doesn’t love going door to door, dressed in some crazy costume, getting enough free candy to result in a mouthful of cavities? It’s an American tradition!”
Lex shrugged. “I guess a slight damper is put on the holiday when you can’t go and do anything of those things. It wasn’t even a consideration to let me go door-to-door to strangers homes, giving me every opportunity to be kidknapped, murdered, or actually have fun. My father wouldn’t allow it.”
This quieted Chloe a bit. “Oh.” They walked along the empty street a little while more in silence, when Chloe suddenly took Lex’s hand, causing him to start in surprise.
“You never had a real Halloween before, so I think it’s up to me to show you what you’ve been missing!”
Before he could ask her what she was going to do, Chloe dragged him up the steps of the nearest house. “Ring the bell,” she whispered to him.
Lex looked at her like she was crazy. “Are you kidding? No. We’re both way to old to trick-or-treat.”
“Ring it, Lex!”
“No!”
Chloe groaned in annoyance, leaning back against the brick house. For a second a brief image of himself pushing her hard up against the wall and taking her lips roughly in his fluttered through Lex’s mind. And for some reason, his hand went out to the doorbell and he pushed the glowing orange button.
A smile broke out on Chloe’s face and she jumped up, almost too quickly, causing her to fall into Lex’s chest. He had a arm on her shoulder when the front door opened, and Chloe’s voice rang out cheerfully.
“Trick or treat!”
A middle-aged woman stared at them, rolling her eyes at she picked up a big pumpkin bowl sitting on a table in the front hall. “You’re not even wearing costumes.” Still, she offered up the bite-sized chocolate bars, and both Lex and Chloe selected one, grinning. The woman couldn’t help but smile at the two. “Happy Halloween,” she said as she closed the door.
They walked back down to the sidewalk. Lex’s arm was still around Chloe’s shoulder, but neither said anything about it. They would rather just let it be, then speak and ruin the moment.
Chloe took a deep breath, letting the cold fall air fill up her lungs. She cautiously leaned into Lex’s shoulder, waiting to see how he responded. He didn’t push her away, so she let herself snuggle closer, taking in the scent of his cologne. “Do you like Halloween yet, Lex?” she asked in a mumble into his shirt, almost to herself. She fumbled with the wrapper of her little Hershey’s bar, breaking off a piece and putting it in her mouth as she stuffed the silver foil into her pocket.
“Hmm...” he said, taking time with his words, “Somewhat.” Lex then took hold of both of Chloe’s shoulders and turned her to face him, staring at her with cool blue eyes. Taken by surprise at the intensity in his eyes, Chloe backed up a few steps, until she was pressed up against a tree.
“What can I do to make it better?” she asked in a whisper.
Lex walked up a few steps, pressing himself against her. He leaned down to her ear, his warm breath on her neck causing Chloe to shudder. “Trick or treat.”
Chloe took her head back, looking at him, puzzled. “What?”
Lex smiled like it was obvious. “I said trick or treat. Now, in accordance with tradition, you have to give me something sweet and good.”
Not wasting a second, he put his hands around her neck and pulled her to him, capturing her lips. Chloe moaned against him, clutching his shirt for support. She tasted of chocolate and something else equally delicious.
It was a Happy Halloween indeed.
**************
Chloe was dreading showing up at Ms. Alton’s doorstep without Jeremy, but they had no other choice. She told Lex to wait out in the street, because she didn’t want Ms. Alton to think she had lost Jeremy because she had been busy making out with some guy.
She knocked on the door before remembered that Ms. Alton was laid out on the couch and couldn’t come answer the door. Chloe reached for the doorknob, but before she could get it, someone else opened the door.
“Jeremy!”
And there he was, chocolate smudged on the side of his face and holding a little packet of SweetTarts.
“Is that Chloe?” a voice called out from inside. Chloe stepped through the doorway, smiling sheepishly.
“He lost me.” She decided this sounded a whole let better than ‘I lost him.’
Ms. Alton laughed, waving her hand. “No worries, he showed up back here an hour ago. He often finds his way to wriggle away from a baby-sitter, and even me sometimes. I’m surprised you were so dedicated to look for him so long. Your money’s on the table right there.”
Chloe shook her head. “No, no. I lost him. I don’t need to be paid.”
‘I got enough out of tonight.’
“Nonsense,” Ms. Alton said, “Take it, Chloe. You spent a whole night alone with my boy and looking for my boy when you could have been out with friends, or with some boy. I know how you teenagers are. I appreciate you sacrificing your Halloween.”
Chloe blushed, taking the cash silently, not wanting to tell her that the night wasn’t entirely boyless. Slipping out the front door, she smiled as she saw Lex’s car waiting for her across the street. He honked the horn twice, and she ran over to him, grinning.
Halloween was Chloe’s absolute favourite holiday.
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Good the kid lost her. :biggrin:
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