A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews. They mean a lot to me. *smile*
Chapter 5
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The next morning, Lex woke up and groggily rubbed his eyes with one hand, frowning in confusion when he realized that he still had his clothes on from the previous day. His head started throbbing with a fury and when he sat up he was overcome by an immense wave of nausea.
“Oh, God,” he moaned and rushed out of his bed toward the bathroom to throw up, not making it all the way there before it actually happened.
“Charming,” Lucas said sarcastically, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. He leaned against the open bedroom’s door frame and folded his arms across his chest. Lex stepped around the spew of vomit on the floor and went to the bathroom to splash his face with cold water and rinse out his mouth. Lucas followed him and couldn’t hide the enormously pleased smile that graced his lips. Lex turned around and shot what he thought was a scathing look at his brother. Lucas cringed, but not because of Lex’s expression. “Lookin’ a little green around the gills there, bro. Whatever it was that you took yesterday must’ve given you a hell of a hangover.”
“What do you want, Lucas?” Lex sickly rasped out, immediately regretting speaking at all as his own words echoed loudly through his already pounding head and he felt like he needed to throw up again.
“Dad wants to *talk* to you,” Lucas answered casually and then smirked at his older brother. “Three guesses as to why.”
Lex furrowed his brow, searching his brain for a possible reason to warrant a special lecture from his father first thing in the morning. His mind flitted through images and feelings from the day before and his eyes grew wide as if he were actually watching the scenes replay themselves right in front of him.
“Shit,” he said under his breath.
“Yep,” Lucas answered cheerfully. “It sucks to be you.”
Lex pushed past him and went over to his closet, searching for a change of clothes.
“Do we know what happened yet?” he asked. Lucas arched an inquiring eyebrow at him.
“Uh – ye-ah,” he strung out. “You took something, got doped out, attacked Chloe when she was trying to take you to your room, *and* you told me that I wasn’t pretty.” He made a mock hurt face and Lex ignored him, shaking his head.
“I didn’t take anything,” Lex said more to himself than to Lucas. His brother started laughing, unable to control the sheer evil joy that spread through his body with knowing that he was responsible for Lex’s predicament. Lex gave him a strange look and Lucas calmed down by clearing his throat.
“Sorry, but that didn’t come out quite as convincing as you’ll need it to if you’re going to say that to dad,” Lucas said. Lex seemed to be in his own world of thoughts again and didn’t immediately respond to what Lucas said. He changed his shirt and kicked off his pants before reaching for another pair.
“Is Chloe alright?” he finally asked. Lucas grinned.
“She’ll live,” he answered somewhat cryptically. “And live well.” Lex nodded.
“I’m sure the settlement will be quite hefty in her favor,” he said. Lucas creased his brow, but released it when he realized that he and Lex were talking about different things.
“She’s not pressing charges,” he told him. Lex looked at him with surprise.
“She’s not?”
“Nah. If anything, I think she felt sorry for you.”
“Great,” Lex mumbled sarcastically.
“Hey, it’s better than getting sued,” Lucas pointed out. “*That* would have really pissed dad off - and as it is ---”
“Where is he?” Lex interrupted.
“Dining room.”
Lex gave the younger man a curt nod and turned on his heel to leave the bedroom, never turning around to see the wide, wicked smile that had placed itself on his brother’s lips. He walked down the maze of hallways and stairs and sucked in a deep breath before entering the dining room where he saw his father seated.
“Dad,” he greeted, trying not to let any hesitation or emotion about what happened seep into his voice. Lionel looked up from his paper for a millisecond and then motioned to the chair across from him. Lex walked over and took a seat while Lionel folded the paper back up and laid it on the table. The expression in his dad’s eyes was easy to read and Lex inwardly winced.
“I was rather hoping that we wouldn’t need to have this conversation again in my lifetime,” Lionel started.
“It’s not what you think,” Lex argued.
“Oh?” Lionel asked. “And what is it that I think?” Lex sighed.
“You think I’m doing drugs – that for some reason I’ve reverted back to my old habits,” he replied. Lionel’s cool stare accompanied by an awkward pause made Lex squirm a little in his chair, though he did his best to hide it. “It’s not true. I didn’t take anything.”
“Then how do you explain your behavior yesterday?”
“I don’t know what to tell you, Dad.”
“If you’re going to bother to lie, then the least you could have done was come up with an excuse,” Lionel said dryly. Lionel picked up his fork and turned his attention to the plate in front of him.
“Believe what you want, but I’m not lying to you,” Lex stated with a tremendous amount of regained backbone. He was sick of never being good enough in his father’s eyes, and if his dad wasn’t going to believe him even when he was telling the truth, then maybe it wasn’t worth it.
“You’re extremely fortunate that Miss Sullivan is so forgiving,” Lionel said. “I, however, am not. I’ve requested that one of the security guards be with her at all times when she’s on the property – just in case you try to pull anything like that again.” Lex closed his eyes for a second and pinched the bridge of his nose. His headache was only getting worse and now he was being told that he wasn’t trusted to be anywhere near Chloe, the only person who he might have a chance in hell of convincing that he wasn’t taking drugs.
“You!” a female voice yelled accusingly. A strange tingle swept through Lex’s body. It was like what happened the previous day, only on a much, much smaller scale. He and Lionel both turned their heads and rose from their seats when they saw Chloe storming into the dining room, followed by a large man who Lex knew to usually be on the night watch for their security detail.
“Chloe, I ---”
“You gave Sean my number?!” Chloe asked, cutting Lex off and focusing her somewhat angry glare at Lionel. Lex looked surprised, but Lionel grinned at her.
“I didn’t think you’d mind,” Lionel answered.
“But ---”
“Chloe,” Lionel said in a placating voice, “He called and asked for it – and you like him. I didn’t see a problem.”
“You didn’t see a problem?” Chloe asked in disbelief. “He ---”
“You like him, yes?”
“That’s not the point,” she protested.
“Of course it is.”
“It’s not,” Chloe volleyed with a smile. Lionel could see that there was no real anger behind her words, but he humored her anyway.
Lex looked back and forth between them with a strange expression on his face, his body having a completely inappropriate response to their banter. He didn’t feel stoned as he had the previous day, but he was beginning to feel lightly intoxicated as they continued to argue. He shook his head to try and clear it, focusing on the people across from him instead.
“What are you two bickering about?” Lex asked. Chloe and Lionel both stopped talking and turned to face him. He watched as Chloe’s face went from somewhat amused to worried and concerned.
“Lex --- how are you feeling?” she asked. Lex kept his expression neutral as he nodded once.
“Better – thanks,” he answered, not even realizing that she had dodged his question. Chloe nodded and gave him a small smile. He was surprised to see her turn to face his father without asking him anymore about it or bringing up the fact that he basically owed her one for not going to the media with the story about how he latched onto her breast through her shirt with his mouth while he was stoned on something he didn’t knowingly take.
“So?” Chloe asked Lionel. Lionel smirked at her.
“I apologize,” he said, although his tone indicated the opposite. Chloe grinned victoriously and Lex blanched at the fact that his father, the man who never said he was sorry for anything, had just given Chloe Sullivan an apology. “Will you be going out with him?” Chloe’s grin spread into a smile and she let out a small, uncharacteristic giggle. Lex’s eyebrows rose and his mouth dropped open a little in shock. His dad was apologizing to Chloe and she was giggling? If those weren’t signs of the apocalypse right there, then he didn’t know what was.
“Yeah,” she answered. Lionel gave her a pleased smirk and Chloe shook her head a little, catching sight of the security guard who was standing off to her side. “By the way ---” she paused and motioned to the guard with her head, “What’s *that* about?”
“He’s just there for your protection,” Lionel said with a small shrug of his shoulders. Chloe gave him a pointed look.
“I distinctly remember telling you that I could take care of myself,” she said. Lionel grinned and Chloe rolled her eyes. “Fine. But if he tries to follow me home, then I’m getting one of Lana’s stalkers to dump his body in the woods.” Lex and Lionel both chuckled at her statement and she shook her head again before flashing a smile at Lionel. “I’ll see you later.”
“You’re not staying?” he asked.
“As much as I’d love to, the halls of Smallville High beckon – or at least the principal does,” she said. “I’ll be by after school though.” After Lionel nodded, Chloe walked over to Lex and gave him a sympathetic grin. “I know we’re not friends, but if anyone knows how much life can suck, it’s me. So – if you need to talk or whatever --- off the record, okay?” Lex felt one corner of his mouth lift ever so slightly with her words. Even if she did believe that he was taking drugs, and even after what he had done to her, she wasn’t condemning or judging him.
“Thanks.”
“No problem,” she said with a small smile and then turned around quickly to walk out of the dining room, waving goodbye with her hand high in the air as she left.
Lex grinned almost goofily as the tingle in his body evened out and he felt completely content. Lionel sat back down and steepled his fingers together as he eyed his son suspiciously.
‘Interesting.’
TBC…
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