The Lesser of Two Evils - NC-17, Chapter 56 (May 27, 2016)

[darkangel]

I really like this fic. This fic portrays lex like how i view him...traped by the actions of his father but unwilling to surrender. I like the fact that chloe is resisting lionel while he thinks that she is clueless. Please update soon.

[kcsgirl82]

I Just started reading this fic and I love it! Please update as soon as possible

[kitten]

A/N: Just a short update before the cobwebs get too thick in here. I’ll remind you once again of the rating and the presence of borderline nonconsensual sex.

Chapter 21

Lex left the room once Chloe started shifting restlessly in the chair, knowing she wouldn’t be happy about him watching her sleep.

Things are awkward enough already, he thought with exasperation.

He walked to his office, listening for sounds of movement. Once he was sure she was awake and had a few minutes to compose herself, he would go back in. It was another of his attempts to make her burden a little less, though she didn’t seem to recognize his unprecedented efforts. Lionel delighted in catching people off guard, but Lex preferred fair fights. In most cases he didn’t enjoy fights at all, but had found they cropped up almost magically and he didn’t like losing.

A creak of the leather told him she was sitting up, a shuffle of fabric indicated she had pushed the blanket off. The smoothly oiled mechanism of the recliner made only the slightest sound as it was lowered back into an armchair. An almost musical rustling was the sound of bright blonde hairs over smooth skin, a sound Lex remembered as a counterpoint to the noises of pleasure she made in his bed. Noises he tried to hold in his mind to make himself feel less guilty by the smallest margin and for his own shamed pleasure.

He liked sex with Chloe, enjoyed it far more than he should under the circumstances. As difficult as it was to face her misery, his body reacted to her scent and her presence, even her voice. He found himself increasingly disinterested in what he had thought was his type of woman, his head turning more often for blond bobs on shorter women. After all of this was over he wasn’t sure he would be going back to his usual statuesque brunettes. There was something unsatisfying in all their polished grace. For all the suffering she had faced, Chloe maintained a pure sensuality that struck him as being both honest and innate.

And Lex was tired to death of lies.

He wanted the world to be straightforward for him so he could live a normal life. He wished it was as simple as being good and fair, but it wasn’t and never would be. His reputation proceeded him, always to his detriment. Friendly overtures were seen as false and aggressive moves were seen as the precursors to open warfare. And despite his poor little rich boy syndrome he wasn’t sure he could live without the wealth his father held over his head.

He walked casually into the living room to find Chloe standing groggily beside the leather recliner, her face reddened and her eyes soft. She looked at him vaguely, almost blankly, and he remembered his worry over her health.

"The nurse said you should try to eat something if you can," he said. "At least some water."

She nodded and her hair floated around her face with static. She put a hand up and pushed it out of the way, but it stuck to her sleeve instead.

"The blanket," she said, smiling self consciously and crossing her arms over her chest.

Lex nodded and tried a small smile in return, but Chloe wasn’t looking at him. Her chin was down and she was a little unsteady. But for the first time she wasn’t angry, frightened, desperate or sad. He thought she might even be relatively relaxed. It was different for him to see her that way and he found himself hoping the mood could last.

It’s blood loss you idiot, he chided himself. She’s too exhausted to flinch away. All the sappy, childish lies you make up in your head won’t change the fact that she hates you.

He sat at the far side of the long sofa and tried not to watch her too obviously. Chloe poured a glass of water and perched on the coffee table, sipping at it so slowly it would take her hours to finish it. Her eyes were downcast and her body was held into a taut huddle. It looked like she had to concentrate too hard to stay upright and he realized sadly that she was fully awake and tense.

For a few minutes she had felt strangely normal and at home, safe for a time. Sleep had been a relief and there was still a drowsy calm in her body. Chloe knew it should have disconcerting to wake up in the strange apartment, but it was a place she knew. The associations weren’t good, but they weren’t all terrible. She was a mess and it didn’t seem to matter. Cold water felt blissful against her lips and she drank it to feel that coolness chill her mouth, not really wanting it. There was a fuzziness in her mind that she supposed must be from donating a quantity of blood, but it didn’t bother her. The irritating symptoms of the cold she’d been fighting were mysteriously gone for the moment.

And Lex was looking at her very, very kindly, like he understood her.

It shouldn’t have mattered but she needed it so badly. Her bravery was lapsing into fatigue and there wasn’t anyone to lean on except him.

She mumbled something when he spoke and sat carefully on the coffee table, next to a bewildering array of food outside of a restaurant. He had said something about eating, was watching almost hopefully from an absurd distance on his stupid sofa.

Lex was aware that he was staring as Chloe lifted a single grape to her mouth, managing to make it five different bites before it was gone. The juice slicked on the center of her lower lip and she shook her head with a sour expression.

"I’m not really hungry," she said softly.

Chloe wasn’t looking directly at Lex but she saw his face make the subtlest twitch and she knew somehow it was of concern. Her voice was slightly too loud when she continued.

"But I feel fine."

She stood up to show him how fine she was and the movement stalled her balance. She caught herself by leaning down and bracing her hands on the coffee table. Lex leaned forward quickly but she sat down hurriedly and waved him back.

"Stupid."

Chloe muttered it bitterly under her breath, but Lex heard her.

"How sick have you been," he asked gingerly.

A long blink, and an even longer silence as she scratched brutally at the back of her neck.

"How bad has it been? Nausea? Vomiting? Passing out?"

An irritated sigh and final rough scrape of her nails across her nape punctuated her answer.

"I’m not poisoned, so don’t worry about it," Chloe insisted. Her voice should have been petulant and angry, but it was chilly instead.

Lex tried to find a way to comfort her, but he was helpless. Remorse and commiseration didn’t seem to be enough to reach her when she looked so shut down.

"It’s just a cold or something. I spend all my time lying to my friends and family, so I don’t sleep or eat. My body wants to quit on me, and I’m developing so many mental traumas I’ll never be able to have any kind of a life anyway. I wouldn’t be so lucky as to get poisoned. Right now the only thing I’m aspiring to is making sure Lionel doesn’t win. So I can’t talk about it. I can talk about anything else, but I can’t talk about that."

She had been worried about being with him that night, a nebulous sense of dread that sniped at her when she tried to ignore it. It had warned her there was little resilience left in her body and even less in her mind. She was weakened more by Lex, her ally, than by Lionel.

Pain inflicted by him would be personal somehow and leave scars that his father’s mistreatment couldn’t form.

It would also mean she would never be able to salvage anything from this time in her life. No lessons but trauma, and the lesser harm of simply being fucked instead of impregnated.

In that moment she hated Lex for being male and stronger than she was. She hated his body for being able to enjoy sex with her knowing she was under duress. She hated him for not finding another way to help her. And though she knew she was being unfair, she said it.

"I hate this," Chloe said tonelessly. "I hate you. I’ll never have any kind of life now."

Lex pushed past his hurt feelings and reminded himself that she was just venting very reasonable thoughts. There was no way to deserve what she was living through.

"I disagree. I don’t think you hate me and you’re doing better than most young women would under these circumstances. It’s good to be angry. It means you haven’t let your soul die. But you need help coping and I think I can do that."

He looked at her and waited for her eyes to turn to his. When they did, he saw they were dull but she nodded her head slowly.

"How?"

"Expectations can be almost impossible to fulfill," he said. "I used to think sex would be more than what it is, but the reality has been that it is an entertainment like anything else. Sometimes I hire call girls, and other times I date. I take women to dinner or clubbing, and I also have sex with them. It’s companionable, but it doesn’t imply any obligation to see each other again. It also involves a level of respect that puts us on equal footing."

Chloe looked vaguely disgusted at his lifestyle, but she shrugged petulantly and gestured for him to go on.

"Western society carries a lot myths that go unchallenged as fact, and it’s a disservice to people like us. We see how things go and it doesn’t match what we’ve been told would be. But we’re not powerless. You’re strong enough to keep me from doing anything to you that you don’t want."

There was a gleam of interest before she squelched it.

"I don’t believe you," she said bitterly. Her hands gripped each other viciously.

"Can I prove it to you?"

Her eyes closed tightly, and her head sagged. It was as if she couldn’t bear to look as she spoke.

"Nothing to lose, I guess," she said grimly.

[lilinny]

You've come back!! I'm so happy! Please don't stay away for so long. Fantastic chapter.

[psychgirl81]

I'm so happy you have returned! I was worried this fic had been abandoned. I love the realistic way you write these characters and I really want to know how everything is going to play out with this story.

[kimmie]

I am thrilled to see this story updated, but I can't believe you left it there, I can't wait for the next chap, but I'm gonna have to aren't I, but if I say pretty please will you promise the update will be up soon?!!!!!!

Another excellent chapter


Kimmie

[Zannie]

Great chapter I'm so glad you updated this fic. I love how you portray Lex's changing feelings. Really liked this:

After all of this was over he wasn’t sure he would be going back to his usual statuesque brunettes. There was something unsatisfying in all their polished grace. For all the suffering she had faced, Chloe maintained a pure sensuality that struck him as being both honest and innate.

And Lex was tired to death of lies.

It seems to embody part of the change that's happening to Lex. The other thing that strikes me is his irresistable need to care for Chloe, whether she wants him to or not.

"I hate this," Chloe said tonelessly. "I hate you. I’ll never have any kind of life now."

Ouch--but natural and realistic, and although it must have hurt him, I'm glad Lex is being reasonable about her feelings.

I don't actually agree with all of Lex's ideas about sex, so I can't wait to see how and what he's going to prove to Chloe. Update again as soon as you can.

[Yarvarni]

you are back!!!!!!!!!!!!! so happy! I love this story and its complexities!

[lexchloe]

So glad you've updated this fic. Wonderful chapter. I love how you're subtly showing the shifts in Lex's feelings towards Chloe. I like Lex in caring mode, trying so hard to make the situation easier for her.

In that moment she hated Lex for being male and stronger than she was. She hated his body for being able to enjoy sex with her knowing she was under duress. She hated him for not finding another way to help her. And though she knew she was being unfair, she said it.

"I hate this," Chloe said tonelessly. "I hate you. I’ll never have any kind of life now."

Again feel a lot of sympathy for Chloe and the situation she's in but I do wish she wouldn't blame/hate Lex and tell him these things. Glad that Lex rolls with the punches though and is still trying to make things as easy as possible and trying to give her back some of the control that she must feel she has lost. Very good update and can't wait for the next one.

[hfce]

This is so depressing. When will Chloe catch a break?


Hope