Tricky, Tricky -
By: Masked Grace
Chapter Three -
"Just A Friend"
Note: Sorry that I forgot the summary last time. It’s in this chapter’s preceding notes.
I've edited the beginning of this chapter. Please make note of it.
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Summary: Something’s going on in Lex’s life that’s got him acting not like himself. Thinking that she’s being the good friend that she is, Chloe decides to get to the bottom of it. But she never expected this.
Chloe sighed with relief when she slid the key into the lock in the door and opened it, kicking off the flip-flops next to the couch. It was the end of July and the heat was never-ending. Summer was just at it’s peak and Chloe wished that fall would come already. She made her way to the kitchen to get herself a glass of ice water when she heard it – a moan. And it wasn’t a death moan after throwing up stomach acids for the past half-hour or even the moan of eating a sugary sweet that you haven’t been able to eat in a very long while.
It was a moan of gratification.
Blushing wildly, Chloe hoped that she hadn’t made too much noise while she came in and quickly retrieved her book bag off the couch and hurriedly put her shoes back on and quietly closed and locked the door, leaning against it when she was done. There was a sinking feeling in her gut when she realized that Clark and Lana both had the afternoons off on Fridays. She could almost feel her heart break at the realization that Clark was officially off-limits.
Chloe pushed herself away from the door with tears in her eyes and her lunch in her throat. Feeling that the elevator was going to make her stay on the floor any longer than she wanted to be, she ran for the stairs and raced down the three flights to the foyer. Only until she was out in the heat did she feel that she was able to breathe. But she still felt weak.
She leaned against the doorjam, trying to compose herself enough to make it somewhere - anywhere - where she didn't feel the cold of losing someone against her back. Or maybe that was the air conditioning from the building. She gave it a second's thought and decided that logic had no place in her head now, and rose a hand to her cheeks to brush the new tears away, the sounds of her harsh breathing and thumping heartbeat in her ears. She let her legs bend under her and she slid down the building, her elbows on her knees and her hands cradling her head as sobs racked her body.
There was a shadow over her now, making her feel colder, but she didn't look up. It was probably just someone waiting for the bus.
"Chlo?" There was a soft hand on her back that accompanied the voice and she sniffled as she rose her head. Lex was here. And he was wiping away her tears. That made her cry more, "Chlo? Hey, why are you crying? What happened?"
She shook her head and bit her lip, closing her eyes for a few moments before opening them and saw that tears were clinging to her upper eyelashes now and had to remind herself to breathe, taking in a big, shuddering breath, "Just get me away from here, Lex." He nodded.
"Can you stand up?" he asked, and she nodded her head, having trouble with it since her legs had suddenly lost their strength and she wobbled. He picked her up before she collapsed. She curled up to him automatically. Lex hoped that she hadn't noticed him taking a deep breath of her as he made his way to his car.
"Excuse me, sir? Could you open the door for me?" He asked a passing pedestrian. The man looked like he was in his early to mid-forties and nodded once he saw the crying woman in his arms, "T-thanks." Lex choked out; he hadn't thanked someone in a long time. The man nodded and went on his way.
"Chlo?" he asked, brushing the hair that had been in her face, away. She looked up from her lap and he wiped away her tears again, "Do you mind if we go back to the mansion? That's the only place I can think of."
"It's fine, Lex." she tried to give him a smile, but failed. He nodded and hesitated for a second before pulling away from her and closing her door, making his way to the driver's side.
She never noticed that his car smelt of him, before now. It smelt of rich spices and his aftershave and undertones of soap. Her eyelids drooped shut and Chloe Sullivan fainted to the smells of comfort.
Lex was buckling himself in when he saw that she fainted and he checked, making sure that her's was buckled properly as well, and took off from the curb, driving quickly to the mansion. On the way there, he wondered what had happened to make her break under like that. It looked as if her entire world had been crushed, taking her down with it.
He was kicking up a dirt cloud from the car as he screeched to a halt on the gravel and parked his car haphazardly. He was out and around it before he even had time to think. There was two things that he could think of to make Chloe like this: it was either journalism or Clark Kent. He would've bet the whole left side of his body on the latter.
He sighed as he leaned his shoulder against the doorbell, and a moment later one of his security guards opened the door, his hand reached into his jacket. It was taken out as Lex climbed the few stairs and entered his house, calling over his shoulder, "Mike, get some soup heated up in the kitchens. I'll be in my room."
It was much harder carrying a Chloe who didn't support some of her own weight and struggled not to hit one of her limbs on the doorway. Setting her down on the crimson of the silk sheets, he finally noticed how pale she looked. That wasn't a good sign. He sighed as he took the strap of her bookbag off his shoulder and set it down next to the nightstand. He reached over and untied her sneakers and set them next to her bag before lifting the comforter and gently took it out from underneath her and placed it over her form, tilting his head to the side as he stood there, watching her until a sound at the door rose him from his thoughts.
Mike was carrying one of the wooden trays and on it sat a steaming bowl of soup and a side of crackers. He sat it down on the nightstand and walked the few steps to stand by Lex, "Are you going to tell her?"
Lex exhaled a breath as he turned away from her and instead, looked at Mike, "I have to. I wish I didn't, though." He cast a glance over his shoulder as they moved out of the room, towards his study that was connected by a set of handsome Oak doors on the right side of the room.
"When are you going to?" Mike asked, following Lex into the room. He stood while Lex sat in a large, over-stuffed chair and slouched down in it, getting comfortable while he reached for a thick book next to the chair and opened it, laying it on his lap.
"Soon." Lex sighed out the word, "But not today." Mike nodded.
"You have to do it soon. Before --" he was cut off by Lex.
"I know." He nodded once more and left the room without another word.
Chloe woke to softness and the smell of allspice. She allowed herself a few deep breaths of the spice and opened her eyes, panicking when she saw that the room was much larger than her own and in rich, deep colors. She gasped as she sat up and groaned as she instantly felt lightheaded and laid back down, the world swimming around her. She searched why she would be in a room like this and instantly remembered the moan, the coldness, and the feeling of being sick and felt as if someone had socked her in the stomach. The feeling was back.
Lex walked leisurely into the room, heading towards the door when her movements were caught out of the corner of his eye and he turned, watching as she yanked a hairtie from her wrist and pulled her hair back into a small ponytail and gulped as she looked up at him. She was moving to the side of the bed and gulped again. She wasn't sure how long she could hold off from throwing up.
"Bathroom." she croaked and he nodded towards a door and she bolted for it, closing it carelessly behind her as she choked out her lunch.
Lex cringed at the sound and sat on the edge of his bed, waiting until she rinsed her mouth out in the sink and opened the door, shuffling her way to the bed with new tears wetting her skin around her eyes.
"Chlo?" he asked, turning after she crawled into his bed, her back to him. "Chloe." he pressed.
She sniffled and closed her eyes, "He had sex with her." her voice was quiet.
"Who?" he asked, scooting closer to her. She rolled over at the contact of his hand on her arm.
"Clark." she moved her eyes to look at the canopy of the bed and studied it before talking again. The tears were welling up in her eyes and her vision was becoming blurry, "I went into the apartment and they were having sex. I don't think I can ever look at him again."
Chloe closed her eyes and shook her head as the tears rolled towards her ears and rolled back over to face away from him. She didn't like people to see her cry.
"That wasn't what I was going to ask, but I'm honored you told me. There's soup on the nightstand if you feel up to eating." He left with a click of the door.
It was almost a quarter of an hour once Chloe settled herself down and gave herself a stern lecture in her head. She sat up gingerly this time and looked at the soup, furrowing her eyebrows at the fact that Lex had thought to get her soup. Thoughtful Lex wasn't the Lex she knew.
Noticing her bag, she reached for it and plucked her laptop out of it, setting it appropriately on her lap. She had some digging to do.
Lex parked his car at the front of the apartment building again and waited impatiently for the elevator.
"Hey Lex, come on in." Clark opened the door wider and Lex took the invitation, noticing Lana in the kitchen humming contentedly as she made a sandwich. He looked back towards Clark once the door was shut and he had his attention.
"Chloe's not here right now, but is there anything that I can help with?" Clark asked, his hands finding their way into his jeans.
"Clark, I know Chloe's not here. She's at my house now. Apparently, she ate something bad when we went to lunch. I'm just here to pick up some clothes." Clark looked worried. Lex could feel his anger at the younger boy fill his veins. He needed to remind himself that he was a friend of Chloe's, too. Any good friend would be concerned.
"Is she okay?" Clark asked, his eyebrows furrowed.
"Like I said, I'm just here for some of Chloe's clothes. If you could point me in the direction of her room, that would be great."
Clark nodded as Lana finally came into the room with her sandwich and a glass of milk. Lex took a moment to question Clark's sanity before he started speaking, "Chlo's room is this way." He turned his head to find Clark already walking to the room.
"Thanks, Clark. I think I can manage on my own from here." He tilted his head in the 'I'm-suspicious-of-you' look that Clark probably had copyrighted, but nodded a second later and walked back to the livingroom. Lex closed the door behind him and had to smile at the state that Chloe's room had been left in. He was going to be lucky if she had any clothes that weren't strewn over everything. He turned to the closet and went to work finding a duffel bag.
"I'm telling you Lana, something's up with him." Clark was being a drama queen in Lana's opinion, again.
"Oh, come on. You say that about someone every week, Clark."
"And when have I been wrong?" he retorted and couldn't help but think that Chloe was beginning to rub off on him.
"Clark, c'mon and leave him alone. He's just trying to help out Chloe." Clark sighed dramatically. She took another bite of the sandwich.
He rubbed his face and shook his head, "I know, but Lex doesn't usually act like this. Something's up." Lana rolled her eyes and shoved the rest of her sandwich in his mouth, laughing giddily as she kept the glass of milk from Clark as the peanut butter stuck to the top of his mouth and he struggled to swallow, reaching for the glass.
Lex heard their laughter from her room and shook his head, trying to tone them out. He mentally made a list. He packed some shirts, pants, a skirt... what else? A thought finally struck him and his eyes darted up from his fingers, quickly looking around to see if anyone had read his thoughts. Underwear. He had to pick out underwear for a non-girlfriend. Oy.
Moving to her chest of drawers, he had to fight out the thoughts that were running through his head as he found her underwear slash sock drawer and found various styles. He sighed and shook his head, one word going through his head: Pedophile.
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