Chapter 2 of Fragile Hearts *PG-13, language*
Fragile Hearts - Chapter 2
By ~*~Tasha~*~
Chapter Summary: *PG-13, language* Lex is at his mansion thinking about what Chloe said and what he said to Chloe the same night of Chloe's visit. Will Lana be able to reach him the next day after Chloe moves out of their dorm room? What will Lex do now with the knowledge he'd gained from his conversation with Chloe?
Author's Note: Some of Season 5 will be paralleled as this story continues, but I'm sure you will find that most of it is irrelevant or drastically changed. There will be NO Lexana in this story. Also if you are a huge Lana fan, thinking her pure or nice, you won’t like my portrayal of her. Just warning you.
Author's Note #2: I was asked in a review if the Jimmy is this story was the one that was talked about on Smallville as a summer fling for Chloe between seasons. No, this Jimmy is not related at all. He is just a fellow freshman she met in one of her journalism classes.
Disclaimer: These characters, and some of the bits of dialogue, are the property of the WB, CW or whatever they are calling themselves now. A lot of time is involved in my writing, but your feedback is the only form of "payment" that I receive. I have only the hope that you will enjoy what I come up for our heroes, heroines, and villains.
'Single' quote marks surround thoughts in this story. "Regular" quotes are around spoken words.
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Time seemed like it froze Lex Luthor's spirit in a never-ending replay of his argument with Chloe Sullivan. He hadn't moved from his place on the floor for at least a half hour after she left the mansion. Even later, he still hadn't moved all that far from the "scene of the crime". He sat at his desk with an empty glass in his hand.
The image of Chloe's face when Lex threw out his last jab about her relationships ran by him again. How could he have been so cruel? There was no excuse that he could use to justify his actions. The comment hadn't stemmed from business competition or even a justified hatred against Chloe. She'd never given him a real reason to hate her. Anything she did to him after Lionel Luthor's trial was a reaction to the way he had been aloof and rude to her.
Chloe lashed out at him tonight because of Lana Lang, and all of the angers and jealousy he felt knowing Chloe had to know Clark Kent's secret poured into every two-edged remark that he made. Lana was supposed to be the love of Clark's life, but he was positive that Lana didn't know Clark's secret. What did that day about Clark's relationship with Chloe? It told his jealous mind that Chloe had to mean more to Clark than Lana. He'd assumed that meant that Chloe was still in love with Clark Kent.
Lex unstopped the crystal decanter of alcohol that had become a permanent fixture on his desk the last year and a half. He tipped it over to refill his tumbler with plenty of the amber liquid. He wished the numbing effects of the alcohol could erase the memory of seeing Chloe fight back tears before she left.
Last year's quest to discover the secrets of the caves and Clark Kent's secret still seemed to consume him. The caves were a more distant memory than the latter. All he wanted to do was get revenge against Clark for thinking so little of him in the first place. He had no real interest in Lana Lang, but Clark assumed that Lex was trying to horde in on the woman Clark loved.
'Why the Hell would I do that when I spent so much time trying to get those two together in the first place?' Lex wasn't stupid enough to not realize that Lana was part of the reason that Clark wouldn't trust him or be a friend with him anymore. Another reason was the efforts of Lionel Luthor that made it appear that Lex was doing things behind Clark's back.
So now Lex sat alone in his family's ancestral home, empty and confused. He wiped his lips on the edge of the arm of his long sleeved dress shirt. When would he learn that revenge would never bring him peace? During his brush with death a short while ago, he'd seen his mother again. Was this one of the other things she warned him about? Did the blood on his hands start with the death of his own redemption?
The liquor did nothing to ease the pain in his heart and soul. It was funny how many people thought Lex Luthor had no heart and barely a soul. If they only realized just how much heart he had, they would use it to their advantage. Lionel Luthor had seen a glimpse into where his son's heart lay during the trial and before it. It was another reason that Lex distanced himself so far from Chloe last year after the trial. He wouldn't give his father a chance to take away anyone else that he loved.
In the end it seemed that it had been Lex's own actions that took Chloe away from him. He closed his eyes tightly. Her words repeated in his head like a mantra, 'The man I love no longer exists. It seems you killed him.' He slammed his empty fist down onto his desk in frustration.
"Was it worth it?" A voice that sounded similarly like his own sounded from next to Lex Luthor.
Lex Luthor looked up into his own face, dressed exactly as he was. He blinked once and then again. "What the Hell?"
The other Luthor rested his thigh against Lex's desk. He propped one cheek of his butt on top of the desk, and his clasped hands rested in his lap. "Was it worth it, Lex?"
"I have no idea who the hell you are, but you'd better explain yourself." Lex reached for his desk drawer where he stowed away another smaller pistol than the bigger one he kept in a box on his desk. The last time he saw himself anywhere other than a mirror, was not a good memory. He wasn't going to let anyone try to steal his life from him.
An amused Lex Luthor tutted at the Lex Luthor at his desk. "I know where you keep your little guns and toys, Lex Luthor." He reached over a stunned Lex and pulled the gun from the drawer. He twirled it around in his fingers like a toy. "You can't hide anything from yourself. Of course you keep trying to."
'I'm losing it.' Lex rubbed his hand over his face. He leaned forward, placed his elbows on top of the desk, and rested his head in his hands.
"Stop brooding." Alexander hopped off the desk. "It really doesn't suit you."
Lex looked up into his own eyes. "If I just ignore you, you'll go away," He said out loud. He should know better than to drink as much alcohol as he had in the last two hours.
"You should be happy that you are talking to me instead of Luthor." Alexander leaned over, and he put his face right in Lex's. "You've gotten into enough trouble with him in the driver seat." He stood up, clucked his tongue and shook his head. "I'm hoping that my presence means you are at least willing to listen to some sense this time."
"Go away," Lex muttered. "I have enough shit to deal with without hallucinations getting in the way."
"Hmmm, it seems that a pity party is in the works as well, is it now Lex?" Alexander sighed. "Luthor really needs to lay off the synapses. I'm going to ground him from mission control for a while. Knowing the stubborn ass, I'll have to lock him out."
"Oh God," Lex looked up at the ceiling. "Chloe cursed me, didn't she? She decided I needed to pay for it all?" He threw his hands up. "It wouldn't be the first time we've had witches in this town."
Alexander laughed hard. It sounded a little bit strange to Lex's ears. A memory of the last time he'd truly laughed came to mind.
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(A year and a half before in a special safe house during Chloe's seclusion)
"Lex!" Chloe jumped up off the couch. She ran to him and hugged him hard. She didn't care how eager she sounded at seeing his face. She was going stir crazy without any contact with the outside world. She was used to always being connected to everything via a phone or the Internet. They were afraid that Lionel Luthor would be able to track most devices. So, she'd been relegated to doing word searches by hand and reading books. ‘Being dead sucks.’
Lex groaned from the force of Chloe's attack on him. He instinctively wrapped his arms around her back and hugged her. The more he told himself that he should distance himself from Chloe Sullivan, the less he seemed to take that advice. It was a chance for him to even be here, but he had to see her at least every few weeks. "Easy there Chloe. If I go back with bruises, someone might notice." He worried about her all the time, and it was becoming harder to keep up the façade of her death.
Chloe stepped back only far enough to look into Lex's eyes. She rolled her own eyes at him. "They will chalk it up to some kinky encounter with your latest bimbo conquest."
Lex raised a brow. "Why Miss Sullivan, are you implying that you are my latest bimbo conquest?" He teased her.
"Sorry, wrong hair color," Chloe teased Lex right back. She playfully slapped Lex on the chest. "Besides my IQ is too high for the common bimbo status of most of your girlfriends, Luthor."
"You wound me, Chloe." Lex covered his heart in a mock gesture as if he'd been shot. "I'm of a mind to turn around and take this lovely bag with me."
"NO!" Chloe squealed. "If you take that bag away, I will never forgive you."
Chloe's voice almost sounded like a whimper, and Lex relented. He ended her torture and handed the bag full of new books and mind puzzles to her. "Here you go. Don't say I never did anything for you."
"Thank you, Lex." Chloe flung her arms around Lex's neck. She kissed his lips briefly. "You are a god."
"So, I've been told," Lex quipped, "Glad you finally noticed."
Chloe rolled her eyes again. "You are so full of yourself, Luthor." She blushed a moment later at the thought, 'But I'd rather I was full of you, Lex.' She quickly looked away and plopped herself back on the couch of her small room. She made sure the journal she’d been writing in before Lex’s arrival was carefully tucked under the seat cushion.
Lex wondered what caused the redness to rise in Chloe's cheeks. She looked so adorable when she blushed. 'She looks so beautiful in her little shorts outfit. When did she get so curvy, or have I been blind?' He straightened his back, and he adjusted the uncomfortable acknowledgement from his groin towards Chloe's blush while she was turned away from him.
Chloe looked up into Lex's eyes. She tilted her head to the side a little as she contemplated what the look on his face meant. Once she went to Lex for his help in dealing with Lionel Luthor, she'd learned even more about the elusive Lex Luthor. His face's subtle expression changes told her more than his words ever could. The more time she spent with him, the better she thought she was at reading those mood changes. She patted the empty space on the couch next to her.
"Don't mind if I do." Lex shrugged his arms out of the calf-length duster that he wore. It was large enough for him to hide the bags under without looking obvious when he went for his visits to Chloe. She'd commented one time on how much she loved the feel of the leather during one of his first visits. He never thought about it too hard, but he knew that was one reason why he wore it for every visit instead of the practicality that it hid the bags well.
"So tell me about the ongoing saga that is Clark Kent and Lana Lang." Chloe smirked. "It's been 3 weeks since your last visit, and I'm going through withdrawals."
Lex looked at Chloe and laughed hard. "You're kidding right?"
"Nope. It's the only soap opera I've got, and I can only get a fix every few weeks." Chloe poked Lex in the chest. "So ... spill ... how are they screwing up this time?"
Lex laughed even harder. God he loved this young woman. She was just what the doctor ordered for his wounded heart and soul. The thought was so casual and natural in his mind that he didn't seriously think about the slip of his thoughts until way later after his visit.
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"You're far away, Lex," Alexander knew what memory had crossed his own mind. "She really did know how to get the fire burning without even trying, didn't she?" He sighed. "Always a little spit fire, that one."
Lex nodded and hung his head. It was one of the things that he loved the most about Chloe. She wasn't flighty and transparent. She was a strong woman with ideals and a firm backbone. True, those qualities often came head to head with his own stubbornness, but he admired her forthright attitude.
"She's the only one you’ve truly relaxed around since Helen, wasn't she?" Alexander further stoked the fires of Lex's thoughts.
Lex gritted his teeth at the mention of the traitorous bitch that he'd been fool enough to fall for.
"Then again, not even Helen saw you at a more vulnerable point than Chloe did," Alexander prodded himself further. "Yet, she still stood by you even against Clark for a while. Chloe never judged you based on what others said, not until you proved them right by acting like an ass."
"I don't need a lecture from you," Lex ground out.
"Apparently, you do." Alexander shook his head back and forth. "Look what your quest for revenge has done, Lex. You've lost one of the only good things in your life. So, I ask you again. Was it worth it, Lex?"
"No," Lex choked on the words. "No, it wasn't."
"I'm glad to hear you finally acknowledge that, Lex." Alexander smiled. "Now the next question is what are you going to do about fixing this mess?"
"I don't know." Lex sighed. "I really don't know."
To anyone outside of Lex Luthor's own mind, nothing was amiss. The master of the house was merely passed out on his desk, sleeping it off. To Lex Luthor's mind, he'd had quite a conversation and revelation with the warmer side of his mind in the form of a dream.
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(The next morning at Lex's mansion. Takes place at the same time that Lana and Chloe are arguing at their dorm room)
Lex groaned. His head felt like someone was hammering nails into it. He rubbed his temples and lifted his head off the desk. He gazed around the empty room. What he realized now was a dream from the night before came back to him full force. "Chloe!"
The moment Lex jumped up from his chair he regretted it. He pushed a button on his phone, "Enrique, it's one of those days. Drop it off in my bedroom."
A short but polite, "Right away, Mr. Luthor," answered Lex's request.
Lex moved a lot more slowly towards the door into the hall. He made his way up to his bedroom to take a shower. He had a mission for the day. He only hoped that he succeeded.
A couple hours later, Lex sped down the road to get to Metropolis. He hoped that Chloe would listen to what he had to say. He still wasn't sure what he'd be able to say to get back in her good graces. Right now anything was worth it to have her friendship again, if nothing else. He darted in and out of traffic. He was a man determined, a man with a goal ... winning back the beautiful and fiery Chloe Sullivan.
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Lana Lang cursed at her luck. She was stuck behind a harvester on a one-lane road near Smallville. 'If he'd just move over a little bit I could get by.' She beeped her horn a few times. 'Come on. Move over.' She needed to get to Lex's place as soon as possible.
Lana wanted Chloe to pay, and she thought that she had the trump card that would get Lex Luthor to be putty in her hands. She would offer herself to him in exchange for his cooperation with Chloe. No man could resist Lana Lang when she gave him a taste of her body. She refused to acknowledge that Clark had left her even after having her in his bed. She chalked it up to his own stupidity, not a rejection of her.
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(Chloe and Lana's dorm after both have left)
The door to Chloe and Lana's dorm was unlocked. "Strange," Lex said out loud. No one answered when he knocked. He'd tried the doorknob on the chance that maybe they just didn't hear the knock. He was surprised to find the door unlocked.
Lex stepped into the room cautiously. Then he stopped dead in his tracks. "What the Hell happened here?"
A voice from the hall answered his outspoken question, "Some big fight from what I heard."
Lex snapped around to face the origin of the voice. "Are they all right?" No blood seemed to be able to be seen, but that didn't mean anything.
"Yeah," The vapid brunette from next door to Chloe and Lana answered. She twirled the lollipop in her mouth around. She pulled it out and curled her tongue around the confection before she sucked it back into her mouth. She knew exactly who was standing in the empty room. She let her eyes roam over Lex Luthor from head to toe.
Lex rolled his eyes at the woman's obvious attempts to arouse him. He felt nothing, and that in itself surprised him. There was only one woman he wanted to see go down on a sucker like that and hopefully not just a lollipop. "Do you know where they are?"
The brunette shrugged. "Don't know," She said. "I know that the blonde moved out. She was furious about some guy the other one was making the moves on." She sighed. "That blonde was throwing stuff around in here since 7 a.m."
'7 am?' Lex knew that Chloe was not a morning person. She must have been really ticked off to start moving that early in the morning. "I'm sure it was quite an inconvenience to you." He tried to be polite, but he really wished that the woman would disappear.
The brunette strolled into Lana and Chloe's dorm room. "Care to make it up to me, sexy?" She reached out to trail a finger down his chest. She gasped when Lex grabbed her hand and pushed her out the door.
"I'd rather you go away." Lex slammed the door in the woman's face and locked it. He turned back around to survey the room again. The more he looked the room over, the more he noticed that everything that belonged to Chloe was gone.
Lex walked over to the heap of belongings on one bed. He recognized a lot of them as birthday presents from Lana to Chloe. 'I wonder if I will have a box waiting on my doorstep when I get home.' He frowned. 'She's cutting ties.' He'd seen the signs before. He'd done it himself a time or two.
A particular photo on top of the pile caught Lex's attention. He picked it up. Several others fell from the pile when he displaced the one. He gathered several of them in hands, but a particular one remained on top of the pile.
Lex clutched the top photo in his hand. He remembered when it was taken. It was one of the few times Lana, Clark, Chloe and he were all smiles. It had been some impromptu get together at the Talon. The four of them were huddled together with their arms around each other in a pose for the camera.
Lex sat down on the stripped down bed that he knew was Chloe's. He ran his fingertips over the top of the photo in an outline over her face. Nothing remained in the room that was Chloe's except for the pictures.
'Where are you, Chloe? Where have you gone?' All of his resolve was gone. He was lost, and he didn't know where to go to next.
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(To Be Continued)
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So? Make Lex beg to get Chloe back
Ah well, can't wait for more, sweetie. 
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