The Tipping Point (R)

[Kit Merlot]

Excellent update, but Lex fired Enrique?! WTF??!!! Enrique was just trying to get Lex to be honest with himself.

I found this line quite intriguing though:

He wondered how Clark would have reacted if he’d heard the full version.

Well Lex finally talk to Chloe about that fateful kissing/making out moment? I hope so

This needs to be repeated often: Clark is completely awesome in this fic--I love how he is casually telling Lex all about his being an alien, and his super powers--that is fabulous. And he is getting Lex to admit hidden romantic feelings for Chloe--like how he doesn't want to hurt her, or that he needs her in his life.

This is just a beautiful story--wonderfully done.

[dagney]

Your Lex/Clark interaction was terrific. I like the devious Clark. Your doing such a wonderful job with this tale. I'm still thinking (watch out thinking hurts) that maybe a new man to try and sweep chloe off her feet might make Lex very very nervous and wake up and smell his Chloe's coffee lol. dagney

[somethingeasy]

“Of course not. You’re an oaf, not exactly my type and you wear flannel. Plaid flannel.”

Using the moment that Clark was too busy gawping and trying to figure out what Lex’s answer meant, beyond the insult, Lex soldiered on.

ROTFLMAO at Lex’s reply to Clark’s snark (hey, that rhymes!). heh, so does this mean Lex might have reacted amorously to Red-K Clark, while he was sporting leather and a bad-ass attitude?

“I wonder, sir,” he said, “If Mr. Kent’s hand has ended up where yours was.” Perhaps Mr. Luthor claimed to not remember anything but Enrique clearly remembered just how high up the limb was on Ms. Sullivan’s body.

Enrique didn’t bother to look at Mr. Kent. His employer was livid. “Enrique, one more word and you're fired.”

“I was drunk, she was drunk, it was my birthday.” His employer used that as an excuse again.

The decision made, Enrique threw down a napkin and spoke. “Ass. There's a word.”

Clark watched as Lex turned around a little and then closed his eyes. He turned back to Enrique. “You're fired.”

“Well,” Enrique said as he buttoned up his vest, “at least I'm not a fool. Good day sir. Mr. Kent.” He nodded at the boy before leaving the room.

I really enjoyed this part. I ADORE Enrique, and the way he was so insistent on listing out all the details of all that had happened during the Chlex grope-fest. I love that his determination to reveal the full extent of Lex’s carelessness and negligence outweighed any fear from the wrath of his employer. Yayyy Enrique!!

‘I was drunk, it was my birthday’??!! Oh. My. GOD! WHAT the hell kind of rationalization is THAT??!! No wonder Enrique reacted in such utter disgust that he virtually quit right on the spot.

He cleared his throat. “You’re right about one thing.” Lex seemed a little distracted but that brought him back to the conversation. “She was my best friend and I kissed her. Numerous times.” He paused. “She do that thing with her tongue with you?”

The exclamation of his name was out of Lex’s throat before Clark even finished his sentence.

“I was just curious,” Clark said. He looked down at the table and rubbed at a scuff on the top of it. “Guess you didn’t have sex with her though, eh?”

Lex couldn’t believe what had just happened. His butler had pushed him so far that he had to actually fire the man for his insolence. He’d lost his best employee and now Clark was sitting there talking about kissing Chloe and if that wasn’t bad enough, about fucking her. The girl had had enough trouble getting over the farmboy and the whole damn thing between them and now this and Lex was going to lose his mind.

“You fucked her?” His eyes narrowed as he looked at the farmboy. “You’re fired, too.”

Oh NO! At this moment, I wanted to CRY for poor Chloe. I couldn’t imagine how horrible it must have been for her to have been used by TWO men that she loved deeply, but who only wanted her to satisfy a bit of temporary lust. The poor girls self-esteem must be completely in the gutter.

I don’t blame Lex for being so incredibly angry and outraged on Chloe’s behalf… but it would be nice if he could apply that same perspective onto himself too, instead of trying to explain, excuse and rationalize his thoughtlessness away.

“Oh really.” His voice was on the edge of wavering from the effort not to shout. “Right, of course,” he snapped. “When I fuck up, everyone is on my goddamn heels brandishing the pitchforks and torches, but when you fuck up, we shouldn’t be talking about this.”

Lex sneered in disgust, fed up with this entire situation and the fact that he had to explain his actions to someone who had absolutely no right to judge.

“And that is exactly why we’re not friends anymore,” he accused Clark as he sat up straighter on the couch, letting off some of the steam that had been building for years now. “This fucking hypocrisy and double standard bullshit that you’ve been pulling on me since the first time you couldn’t explain your actions without lying.” Lex remembered that day well. You didn’t forget the days where someone held a gun to your head and then caused you to dangle over an abyss of about a hundred feet. “And I know it’s all about your stupid fucking secret. Which by the way, I’ve almost got figured out anyway.”

heh, I can see that Lex is trying to deflect the attack away from himself by focusing on Clark’s faults, but he DOES have a point over here. I was so pleased to see him venting and ranting, and getting all these festering issues out into the open, FINALLY! It was so satisfying (probably for Lex as well as for BlueSabby’s readers).

Lex had mulled over it long enough to narrow it down to three options. Of course he’d like to know which of them it was, but he was pretty sure it could only be three things. Alien, meta-human or meteor mutant. Whichever it was, he had no idea why it justified lying into the face of someone you called friend.

LOL! I love that Lex has actually figured out what the whole ‘secret’ is really about. I always thought SV Lex was portrayed as an IDIOT for not being able to deduce the truth. It’s good to see THIS Lex putting that high IQ and obsessive regard for investigating and details to work.

The gloves were off now. And Clark, amazingly, felt great about it. There was so much shit between him and Lex at the moment, both stuff that only had to do with them and things that Chloe was entangled with that it felt good to just scream at Lex. Like he’d been doing to Clark.

“Stupid secret,” he yelled, finally letting himself go, “Stupid secret? Ok. I'm an alien, happy now?” He saw Lex recoil just slightly as he yelled that piece of information at Lex. “At least I don't go around kissing my best friends and then pretending that it doesn't mean anything.”

ROTFLMAO! Oh. My. HEAVENS! He told! I cannot believe he actually TOLD! *rubs eyes and re-reads to make sure* yep, he finally told to truth. YES!!!

And I really loved the way he just blurted the truth out because he was just so annoyed, angry, irritated and insanely TIRED of keeping up the pretense. It must have felt really good to finally let go.

“You know, that alien business would be so cool if I wasn’t busy hating you right now,” he admitted grudgingly.

His geekish side would love to lay in on Clark with all kinds of questions and possibly a few amusing tests and experiments, but he really was too busy being angry for that fucking stunt and Clark’s hypocrisy.

Lovely! I really liked how having the secret out in the open cleared the air between the two friends. NOW they can start talking about important things without getting side-tracked by the tired old dancing recriminations filled with ‘secrets and lies’.

LOL at the way Lex was just itching to grab Clark and start some in-depth exploration of his Alien Powers. Hmmm, I most sincerely DO hope he was planning on asking Clark’s permission before strapping him onto a lab-table and starting some of his ‘amusing experiments’…

“Riiight. The fact that you kissed her means nothing. The fact that you looked ready to come across the table at me when I led you to believe I fucked her?” Clark shrugged his shoulders. “I’m sure that means nothing, too. Your reactions to her, both now and in the past, tell me all that I need to know, Lex, even if you’re not ready to admit it.”

*phew* I was EXTREMELY relieved upon finding out that Clark was just messing with Lex with he inferred that he had slept with Chloe. Thank GOD! I was seriously worried about the girl’s psyche after considering that she had her heart carelessly broken by TWO friends that she was devoted to.

Thank Heavens, it was just a trick. Heh, and I’m seriously impressed with Clark for his manipulations. This is extraordinarily subtle work from the farm-boy. A very cunning and sneaky way to find out exactly how Lex feels about Chloe, and how he would react to the news of her sleeping with someone else.

“Like the thought of hurting her devastates you.” It was the most obvious. Then there was, “how you even fucking look at her.” It had always unsettled him. The intensity that Lex leveled in her direction. Chloe shrugged it off. It was just the way Lex was, she explained.

my, my! Not only is this Clark sneaky, but he’s also observant and insightful. He’s still the dorky farmboy, but I’m actually seeing signs of the stalwart and determined truthseeker reporter he’s eventually going to become. Excellent characterization of Clark, BlueSabby *sigh* You brought my Superman back to me.

“Well of course I don’t want her to be hurt,” Lex defended himself. Devastated really was an exaggeration in his opinion. He didn’t do devastated. He did do pissed and offended, though. “And I don’t fucking look at her.” The way Clark had put emphasis on the word, he could only imagine what the farmboy associated with it.

He didn’t look at Chloe any differently than he did any of his other friends. He was sure he didn’t. So he looked her in the eyes and actually cared enough to show interest when she said something, whatever it was she happened to say. So what. That’s what one did with friends.

“She’s my best friend.” The statement came out with more conviction than anything else he’d said so far. “I care for her and of course I’d be ready to fucking strangle you if I thought you’d hurt her anymore than you already did. Not that I think strangling you would actually do any good.”

*disdainful snort* And Lex is STILL making excuses. Pathetic… Clark has come clean… Lex should really follow the boy’s example and try to practice a little honesty too. Good thing Enrique left the room, otherwise Lex might have been the recipient on another concussion right about now.

I don’t suppose BlueSabby can make a chandelier fall on his head, can they?

Clark leaned forward a little. “First off, yes, strangling me would do nothing but piss you off even more. You can also cross beating me to death, shooting me, dropping an anvil on my head, poisoning me with arsenic, stabbing me and setting me on fire off of your list. None would work.”

ROTFLMAO! I loved the combination of smugness and exasperation bleeding through Clark’s tone as he listed out all the ‘nyah nyah, can’t kill me with that’ items. Hilarious!

He sat back in his chair. “And you’re right about something else. You don’t look at her.” Clark cocked his head to the side, considering what a better word would be. “You gaze at her,” he said, nodding. “That’s a much better description of it.”

Wow! If CLARK had noticed some ‘gazing’ taking place, it MUST be true! Heh, I guess this is why Enrique was so incredibly frustrated by the way Lex was dragging his heels about the potential Chlex relationship. The poor man-servant must have been in ‘agony’ for all this time.

“I’m lousy at dating,” Lex practically blurted out. “She’d hate me in a week flat and then where would I be?”

Oh, this was progress.

“So you now admit that you’ve thought about dating her? A woman who you claim to have only friendly feelings about?” Hanging around Chloe must have rubbed off on Clark. He felt like he was channeling her with all of the questions.

woo hoo! Clark’s making amazing headway in getting to the truth of the matter. I loved the thought about how he must be ‘channeling Chloe’ ROTFLOL!

Lex felt like he was on trial and the goddamn opponent attorney had just fucked him over on a minor slip. There was only one thing left to do. Spin control.

“Of course I thought about dating her. She’s hot, smart, funny,” Lex rattled off her best attributes then turned the sword around. “You thought about dating her, too, and you were disgustingly in love with Lana all the while.”

That had been a while back, granted, and during the time Clark had played the on again off again game until Lana had exploded like a light bulb, but that didn’t mean it didn’t count.

Eeee
Lex is feeling trapped now. He’s beginning to acknowledge that there ‘might’ be some truth to everything Clark is saying, but he’s still trying to slip, slide and evade reality. You have to admire a guy who so damned determined to hang onto his delusions like this.

“But,” he said, “If you’re not sure. If you doubt how you feel. You owe her at least a day of thinking that over. You owe her a whole lot more for saving you from that marriage. But I think she’d take a few hours of you thinking about what it is that you want from her.”

I thought this was the smartest suggestion Clark could have possibly made. He’s basically using Lex’s love for brooding against him by giving him some ‘constructive’ to brood upon. LOL!

His mind was working overtime now. “You’ve obviously thought about this already. You’ve come to this conclusion yourself and then gone in the opposite direction, I’d wager.” He had started dating Andrea rather abruptly. “Maybe right before you got involved with Andrea?”

Lex jerked slightly and his face changed. Clark didn’t know what it meant but it wasn’t important. He got to his feet. “I think I’ve said more than my fair share for the night. For the rest of the year maybe.”

I am sincerely impressed by Clark. He left on the best note possible. Challenging Lex to ‘consider and think carefully’ afterwards is the BEST way Clark could ensure that Lex would at least ‘consider’ the possibility that he might be in denial. I am in awe of Tipping-Clark.

Clark walked through the doors and then popped his head back in. “We can talk about the fact that I can fly tomorrow. Night, Lex.”

Lex was too dumbstruck for a moment to say anything in return. Clark had just announced he’d be stealing his cake and offhandedly mentioned he could fly. And even worse he’d made Lex think.

“I really strongly dislike you right now, Clark Kent!” he yelled out into the hallway as soon as he was capable of forming a coherent sentence. “Fucking alien.”

ROTFLMAO! I love it… Clark left getting the better of Lex in a verbal battle. He actually left Lex momentarily speechless, AND then, the best rebuttal Lex could come up with was an immature crack ‘fucking alien’. LOL! This is a day to be marked on the calendar. I don’t think Lex is EVER going to get over the humiliation of being verbally beaten by the alien farm-boy.

“Chloe,” he said, softly. She jumped a little and then turned around. “Hi.” Her voice sounded soft and she looked very small.

“Clark,” she said, “do not look at me like that or you may find your crotch on the business end of my knee.”

“Got it,” he said. “He’s in the dining room.” He bent over and kissed her on the cheek before pulling her into a hug.

“Clark,” she said, and he heard the warning tone in her voice.

awww, I loved how Clark was being all sweet, sympathetic and supportive over here. True, Chloe interpreted it all as pity, and therefore felt obliged the reject the gesture, but I’m sure a good part of her appreciated it all the same.

Remembering the reason she’d run out earlier, which again he only knew thanks to Clark, Lex was out of his chair in a second, meeting her halfway. “I was an ass,” he apologized, wondering how he could fix this. “But I didn’t mean it.”

He looked her over carefully, trying to judge how bad he’d messed up. His jaw clenched involuntarily at the sight of her slightly red eyes. She’d obviously been crying. “You didn’t drive the whole time, did you?” It was a stupid thing to worry about when she was obviously in one piece in front of him but the question was out of his mouth before it had checked in with his brain for logic.

“Lex, you have to stop…”

Chloe couldn’t quite say what she meant. The obvious concern and worry and apologetic stance made her chest tight. It made her want him all the more.

*sigh* That was an immensely sweet apology from Lex… The urge to drop a chandelier on him has lessened a ‘little’ bit. But it was quite rough seeing how his sweetness only made things harder for Chloe, because it only illustrated how WONDERFULLY he acts around people he cares about… it certainly didn’t make it easier for Chloe to fall OUT of love with him.

She couldn’t tell him to stop caring about her but she couldn’t get him to care about her more.

This part struck me as the saddest sentence in the chapter. How Chloe is grateful that she’s regarded with ‘special regard’ by Lex, but at the same time, it’s torture because she wants more of that regard that what he offers. Poor Chloe.

“Lex, what’s wrong?” She stared up at him, seeing if she could get anything from his face.

‘Uh oh’. Lex tried to smooth out his expression. There was no way he could tell her what Clark and he had been talking about without upsetting her. And the last thing he wanted was for her to run straight back out that door again.

“I think I had too much cake.” It was a lie, but a convincing one, considering he’d polished off almost the entire ground tier of the enormous thing.

He wished he could tell her about Enrique. It would be an even more convincing reason for him to be this unsettled, but there was no way he could explain about Enrique because of the reason he’d had to fire the man.

Heh, I can see how this whole business must be frustrating the HELL out of Lex. He probably wants to scream, whine and complain about the difficult, stunning and confusing day he’s just had… but he can’t say a word because Chloe is at the centre of his difficulties.

Heh, it’s only a matter of time before Chloe finds out about… well, everything. Starting with the whole ‘Clark finally blurted out the secret’ to the news about Enrique effectively quitting because he was so disgusted with the way Lex had mishandled Chloe.

I can’t wait to see her reaction when she realizes Enrique got fired because he was (sort of) defending her honour. I’m sure she’s going to rave at Lex and tell him to hire back Enrique… and then she’s probably going rage at Enrique, telling him it was STUPID to get himself fired for ‘insignificant little her’.

Heh, Enrique is not going to listen though. LOL!

“I don’t know if I’m equipped to deal with this. Again.” She had to tell him this. Had to explain. “I can’t guarantee that I’m not going to run out on you like I did tonight every time things get rough. I don’t think that it’s fair for you to have to deal with that.”

She snuck a glance over at him. “You shouldn’t have to apologize every time I have a little breakdown. So, I think that…”

I felt a considerable amount of despair after reading this. I thought I was witnessing the end of a lovely friendship over here. It was heart-breaking.

“No.”

The word came out firm and decisive before she could even finish that horrible sentence. She was not going to break up with him over this. “I’ll try to be better at this. And if you have to run off every once in a while I can live with that. It’s not your fault that this happened and I know you have that instinct to run off when it gets too much. That’s okay.” But only if she came back again. It was not okay, however, to break things off and just leave and not come back.

Of course he’d seen this coming. He’d known their friendship didn’t have a chance after she’d confessed her feelings for him. But now that the moment was here, Lex wasn’t willing to give up without a fight. There had to be a way to keep their friendship. He’d try his damnest not to trigger any uncomfortable shit and she could run off whenever he accidentally did. But he was not willing to let her go.

Oh GOOD! I was just sinking into despair from Chloe’s words, but Lex’s determination perked my hoped right back up again. I loved how understanding he was being, and how he assured Chloe that he was more than willing to accommodate any ‘surprising, hysterical and unreasonable’ reactions from her. This was basically the best kind of response he could have given her… telling her that she can act as crazy as she wanted, and there would be minimum embarrassment for her because he wouldn’t judge her for the irrational behaviour.

They needed a subject change. It didn’t matter that it would be totally forced. Anything was better than this. “So,” she said, “what are you wearing to the party?” It was totally and utterly lame. Possibly the lamest thing that she could say. Which was why she was going with it.

It got a small smile out of Lex and her hand crept over to steal the plate of cake that he hadn’t yet finished. She listened as he explained the intricacies of a tuxedo. That reminded Chloe. She needed a dress.

LOL over the subject change. Did they really go into talking about clothes? ROTFLMAO!

Lex was relieved that she’d agreed with his decision. He didn’t delude himself into thinking all was right and that things would be like they used to be, but the important thing was that she hadn’t insisted on leaving him. She would try and keep this friendship alive and there was nothing that was more important than that.

Damn it! Now I don’t want to throw a chandelier at him AT ALL! His sweetness, consideration… and his determination to hang onto the Chlex friendship made me melt and instantly forgive him for being a deluded, denial-filled prat. No wonder Chloe fell in love with him… he might be an idiot, but he’s an irresistible idiot!

I look forward to the next update. Please post soon.

[Kaimore]

I love this fic. It has very humorus lines(mainly when Clark and Lex talk to each other).

[manny]

I was crying so much that I could hardly read. More soon. Please

[SVfan1286]

Bring on some more angst, can't wait till Lex realizes his feeling for Chloe.
Please update again soon!

[xxasaxx]

update soonish???

[BlueSabby]

A/N: Blue: A partay and a date. Enjoy!

A/N:Sabby: We've got some progress going on...except not really.


The party was in full ‘swing’ and Lex was still busy making the rounds, shaking hands and chatting it up with the more important guests. He kept up the façade of charming host with a smile and readily explained to everyone who was tactless enough to bring it up the reason why this was a charity event instead of the wedding that had been supposed to happen.

“Imagine my surprise to find out that my ex-bride had ulterior motives,” he’d said that very same sentence with slight variations countless times already.

Lex waited calmly for the reaction about to follow. By now, it was predictable in the range from raucous laughter to a sympathetic clucking of the tongue.

Since he was speaking to a group of women at the moment, he turned his gaze into the crowd, not needing to hear the sympathetic words and cattish barbs at Andrea they had to offer. He let his gaze roam, looking for a savior. He’d even consider Lana to fall into that category under the circumstances.

All he needed was one of the three to get him out of the gaggle of people. Of course he couldn’t find either of them anywhere in the near vicinity. Lex resigned himself to the fact that he would have to suffer until one of them, preferably Chloe, found him. He really wanted to sneak off and just get away from all this, at least for a few minutes. Was that too much to ask?

Of course if Chloe found him first, it might not be a good idea. Not that he was drunk or that anything would happen. It wouldn’t. He didn’t make the same mistake twice.

“It’s really a shame that you haven’t found the right woman yet. This is the third time, isn’t it?”

Lex suppressed a wince at the woman’s blunt but kindly meant comment.

“He looks like he’d rather be going through Chinese water torture,” Chloe said. From her and Lana’s vantage point, they could see Lex clearly. They were looking down at him from the top of a staircase that looked out on the dance floor.

“You said hello yet,” Lana asked in her best impression of a casual voice.

“Nope,” Chloe said. She hadn’t been avoiding him exactly. Just keeping her distance and mingling with the rest of the guests. But she’d make her rounds and it was time to bite the bullet.

“Chloe, if you just want to…” Lana wasn’t sure what she was supposed to be doing to be a good friend in this situation. The whole thing was very confusing.

Chloe shook her head. “I’m good,” she finished her glass of champagne and handed it to Lana. “I’m going in.”

“Roger that,” Lana said as she watched Chloe descend the stairs. Clark had told her about a kiss between Chloe and Lex. She wished Chloe would bring it up. That would free Lana from pretending not to know about it.

She watched Chloe approach Lex and held her breath. Chloe looked amazing. Much better than anyone else there, in Lana’s opinion. She wanted to make sure she could see Lex’s face when he saw Chloe. When the man wasn’t thinking about how he should react, how he shouldn’t react and what his reactions meant, Lana was sure that what she saw would be telling.

Lex felt a hand touch his shoulder blade and automatically turned around to step back from whoever thought they were important enough to touch him.

His eyebrows flew up as he caught sight of Chloe in the probably most amazing dress he’d ever seen her wear. “Hey,” he said with a smile, then immediately caught himself.

What the hell was he supposed to say now and how was he supposed to say it so it didn’t come out wrong. “You look great. Where’ve you been hiding?” There, that was friendly enough without using any of the words that could form into a sling around his neck, right? Right.

“Thanks. I’ve been around mingling” she said, causally. “Watching Clark try to pick up the various ladies is highly amusing. Though, I think he did get a bite,” she said, pointing over to where Clark was talking to a rather attractive woman.

A man came into Chloe’s field of vision in front of Clark. He caught sight of her and waved. To be polite, she waved back. Kenneth Driesden. One of the men that Lex had warned her away from. He’d cornered her about half an hour ago. She quickly turned her attention back to Lex.

“What about you, any old woman try to set you up with her daughter or her granddaughter?” Lex looked very good himself. But was she supposed to say that or would it just make him more uncomfortable.

“God, could they look any more awkward?” Lana didn’t ask the question to anyone in particular. But she had seen Lex’s reaction to Chloe. Another little fact to be filed away for later.

Lex’s eyes narrowed at Driesden for a moment, but since the man had moved on and not tried to come over, it was okay. He looked back at Chloe and gave a nonchalant shrug of his shoulder at her question.

“They’re too busy clucking over my bad luck and ripping Andrea to shreds.”

They’d moved away from the group of women he’d been talking to, so it was okay to speak openly. Lex looked over at Clark for a moment, not surprised to see him scuffing a hole in the non existent carpet. “I get the feeling Clark bit off more than he can chew, though.”

The woman in question that was looking amused at Clark’s antics was one of the daughters of a business partner. The name escaped him at the moment, but the millions belonged to MacPaltry.

“He’ll be fine,” Chloe said. “I think you underestimate how charming that whole country bumpkin thing can be to a woman. It’s all about the body language.”

As Chloe spoke the woman laughed and briefly touched Clark on the arm. “He’s so in,” she said, mischievously smiling up at Lex.

When Lex mentioned his ex, it struck Chloe that she hadn’t heard anything about the woman since everything had been called off. “Lex, have you spoken with Andrea since everything happened? Did she try to write the whole thing off?”

Lex looked down at his champagne glass. Should he have spoken to Andrea? It never even occurred to him to do so. “My lawyer took care of the necessities. There was nothing left for her to claim at the manor so…” He shrugged again, not really sure how to say it in a round about way. “No, I haven’t spoken to her since the day you showed me her true colors.”

It still left a bitter taste in his mouth, that day, and he tried to wash it down with the champagne in his hand. That goddamn bitch could have had it well. If she’d been honest with him about her financial problems, he might even have accepted them. He hadn’t planned to marry her out of love, after all. But if there was one thing he didn’t forgive it was deceit.

At that moment Clark managed to stumble over his own feet and Lex watched in horrific fascination as one of the big farmboy paws landed with impossible precision on the breast of the MacPaltry heiress. He winced and waited for the slap. Only it never happened.

“That boy has more luck than brains,” he said in awe as he watched the woman laugh it off and take Clark’s misplaced hand into hers.

Something occurred to Chloe. “What if it’s all an act?” She gestured over to Clark. “How amazing would it be if he were some evil mastermind who had us all fooled?”

Discussing Andrea didn’t appear to be a good idea. Lex got all moody and broody. Much like the man who had been approaching them but was intercepted by another man who shook his hand and smiled widely.
Chloe knew that Bruce Wayne was on his way over to see Lex. Which meant she should make herself scarce if she didn’t want to see some sort of juvenile pissing contest.

Unless Lex wanted her to run interference. “You want to be alone with Bruce Wayne or do you need backup?”

Lex bit the inside of his cheek. “How close is he?” After all he’d had to suffer in the way of society the last thing he needed right now was Bruce Wayne and his ‘I’m so much better than you’ attitude. Even as he asked, he started walking, not turning around to see how close the man in question was.

“I’m really not in the mood for a ‘mine’s bigger than yours’ discussion right now,” he explained in a low voice as he took Chloe’s arm and lead her in the direction of the next best exit.

Chloe snuck a glance over her shoulder. Mr. Wayne was still hung up with that other guy. But he was staring over at her and Lex. She turned away and rolled her eyes. Great, yet another person who would be told by Lex that she meant nothing to him. That they were just friends.

It appeared as if she wasn’t feeling sad about it tonight but bitter and angry. She took a deep breath and let it out. She needed to see a shrink or something. The advice she got from Clark and Lana was fine and good but they were both acting very strange lately. Like they were holding something back.

She’d been desperate about two days ago and unleashed everything. On her dad. Poor man hadn’t even known what to say.

“He’s still busy with that other guy,” she said as Lex led her through three doors. They came out, somehow, on the other end of the dance floor. “Nice move,” she said.

Lex leaned back against the wall and relaxed marginally, now that they were out of the line of fire. “Thanks,” he acknowledged Chloe’s compliment, even though it had sounded a bit sarcastic. “And thanks for the warning about Bruce. He’s gotten worse since he hooked up with that woman. The last thing I need now is his immature posturing.”

He looked Chloe over and allowed himself to appreciate her dress while she looked around the room. It was truly gorgeous and there was no doubt she’d caught quite a few eyes already. Some of the upper class heiresses had to be green with envy. Lex grinned.

The grin fell however, as he realized he didn’t know what to say to Chloe, now that they were alone. She’d pulled back from him ever since that incident with the cake. Not completely, but noticeably. And he spent all the time around her trying to steer clear of all things that might hurt her. Which made conversation that much more difficult.

He would love to ask her what she thought about the auction. Especially of the fact that the size four wedding gown had been sold to a size ten fifty year old woman who still pretended to be thirty. But bringing up anything that had to do with the wedding would only hurt her, so it wasn’t an option.

Thoughts that had been triggered by his conversation with Clark were also still running through his mind. Between organizing the last minute details of this event and trying to salvage his friendship with Chloe, he hadn’t had much time to properly think about it.

Last night he’d stooped low enough to pull out the dictionary. However the definition of love found in Webster’s was so clinical and vague; he’d thrown the heavy tome at the nearest wall with a frustrated growl. ‘Various forms of emotional and reciprocal attachments between humans’, indeed.

Chloe looked around the room and it was hard to miss the way that some of the men were looking at her. Lana had told her that it was required that she spoke to at least seven, Chloe had no idea why the number was seven, eligible bachelors. She’d already gotten three out of the way. And had also gotten a date out of it.

Life went on and she was forced to go along with it. She knew she should tell Lex. She didn’t know how she was going to do that or why she should, she just knew that it had to be done.

The decision was taken out of Chloe’s hands a few moments later. They’d gotten very far away from Bruce which had taken them closer to another man. Dexter Clarke. The man that Chloe had made a date with. Apparently, though, they’d forgotten to exchange numbers. She remembered that fact as he approached her.

“Lex, I...” was as far as she got before Dexter reached them. “Hi, Lex,” he said, looking around Chloe. “Sorry to interrupt.” He looked back down at Chloe. “I forgot to get your number.” He smiled in a disarmingly sweet way which clearly indicated that he thought himself a fool for forgetting that.

He took a small notebook out of his pocket along with a heavy, expensive pen. Chloe quickly scrawled her cell number on the notebook and handed it back to him. “Thanks,” he said. “I’ll call you about Saturday.” It looked as if he was about to leave but then he quickly leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

Lex’s brow arched as he watched the exchange between Chloe and Dexter. Dexter Clarke, 25, handsome, only son of Charles and Bridget Clarke, following in his father’s footsteps to become a lawyer. Substantial net worth, no scandals that Lex was aware of, and he would be aware if there were any. Single, and apparently planning on a date with Chloe.

He didn’t know what to think of it. Surely, it was a good sign that Chloe was willing to get back on the horse of dating. If she fell in love with Dexter, they could return to the friendship they had before she fell in love with him. However, if the two hit it off just a little too well and she did fall in love with Dexter and this turned into something like a serious relationship… Dexter Clarke lived in Massachusetts. Maybe this date was not such a good idea, after all.

But Lex couldn’t say anything. He had no right to tell her who to date and who not to. But couldn’t she have picked someone who at least lived in Kansas? There were enough Metropolis high society boys around to pick from. Okay so most of them weren’t really what he wanted for her, either, but at least they weren’t from the East Coast.

Again, he had no right to judge or dictate her choices. But seriously, a lawyer? From Massachusetts?

His hands had ended up in the pockets of his tuxedo slacks and he knew his face had smoothed out into a blank mask. Small mercy to have a game face when he was mulling over things that he didn’t want others to be aware of.

“Dexter Clarke, hm? Not a bad pick,” he offered with a smirk.

The hands being shoved in the pockets was a dead giveaway. Lex wasn’t pleased with what was happening. She didn’t know why, but she knew that he wasn’t being honest with her. She wondered if she could push their already fragile relationship by asking for what he really thought.

“But not a good one, either,” she asked. Lex looked put off by the question. She took a step closer and leaned in as she whispered to him. “You may be able to fool everyone else with that non expressive face of yours, Lex,” she looked up at him, “but I know you better.”

“What is it this time?” She really needed to know because…“If he’s some crazy freak, or heavy into drugs or women or men I’d like to know before I go out with him.”

Lex shook his head. “It’s nothing like that. He’s a decent guy, from a good family. Uprising lawyer, intelligent. No scandals.” And Lex wished there was at least something shifty about the guy. He couldn’t very well tell Chloe that his major concern was the fact that the man didn’t sit well with him because he lived a handful of states away. It was ridiculous. But it was. “You’ll like him.” Just hopefully not too much, not enough to move to Massachusetts at least.

Chloe shook her head, she was starting to get angry. “What aren’t you telling me, Lex?” Something weird was going on. If there was a flaw to the man, Lex would usually have no problem telling her that. In great detail. But he was still holding something back.

And it pissed her off. Was he protecting her? Shielding her from something she needed to know. And that was when a fact that she didn’t want to face hit her. She didn’t trust Lex.

That had never been an issue until now. But here he was, hands in his pockets, not making eye contact with her and not telling her something that she thought she needed to know. He only clamed up like this when it was something important.

Lex remained silent. “Fine,” she nodded once and then started to storm off.

And there she went, running off again. He wasn’t going to run after her. There was no use in doing that when he couldn’t clear the air between them. It was just so fucked up. She’d go and let off some steam and he’d go and get himself a drink.

Cracking his neck once, he watched her storm off until she vanished into the crowd then made his way to the bar. ‘Fucking Dexter Clarke,’ he thought. The snarl he emitted unconsciously was enough to keep his path clear. “Double scotch, no ice.”

He stared into his drink before he downed it, wondering if it would have been better to mention why he didn’t like the idea of her dating Dexter. Of course with Chloe, chances were good that she would have stormed off either way. “Another.”

Why the hell did she have to go and fall in love with him? Why couldn’t things have stayed the same? Things had been good. Of course that should have been the biggest clue that an anvil was about to drop. Things around Lex always tended to blow up spectacularly in his face whenever he least expected it.

He downed his second drink and wished for this sad excuse of a party to be over already.

His thoughts turned dark around his fourth glass of scotch. So she wanted to date Dexter Clarke from Massachusetts? Fine, great. He’d go find himself some chick from Nebraska and see how she liked the thought of that. He should get back on the dating horse anyway. Not that he really felt the urge, but it would keep the hounds at bay.

~~

On his fifth scotch, Lex had discarded the idea of finding a woman from Nebraska, but was still browsing the attending females for candidates. The best thing to do in this currently fucked up situation was to find himself a date and move on.

There were more than enough available, but only a few that seemed suitable and out of those only a handful were brunette. Upon closer inspection, including small talk and the necessary compliments, that handful turned out to be incredibly shallow and annoying.

Dissatisfied with the results of his hunt, Lex returned to the bar for more scotch.

Lana downed her third glass of champagne and kept her eyes rooted to the bar. It seemed as if Lex didn’t think he’d had enough. He was wrong.

The man was clearly drunk. And if she could see it, so could everyone else. A few weeks ago she would have been inclined to help him. She wasn’t sure she was anymore. Especially after Chloe had dragged her into a corner and blown through what had happened between them. After the blow by blow, Chloe had left and Lana had gone looking for the bald idiot.

Her first instinct had been right. She’d watched as he’d hit on tall brunette after tall brunette. Each one more whorish than the next. After he smiled at a woman who was clearly a high priced hooker, Lana had had enough.

It wasn’t that she cared all that much about Lex. She cared about Chloe, Chloe cared about Lex and so by the law of syllogism….

“How’s the whore hunt going,” Lana asked, rather loudly so the woman with her hand on Lex’s arm could hear, as she approached the bar. She looked at the woman’s hand. “Wow, that’s a pretty big rock. Where, exactly, is your husband?”

She looked the woman up and down, taking in her garb. “Perhaps at the pharmacy, refilling your script for penicillin?”

Without waiting for an answer she grabbed Lex’s arm and jerked him away from the woman. “We need to talk.”

Lex had been talking to a woman, but then some dervish in a pretty dress had him by the arm and was pulling him somewhere else. It took him a second look to figure out that the dervish was Lana. He must have had too much to drink.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he asked the irate brunette as he removed his arm from her well manicured grip.

Then it hit him. If Lana had grabbed him and gone out of her way to drag him somewhere else to ‘talk’ something had to be wrong. This was still Smallville, after all.

“Shit, did something happen? Is Chloe alright?”

He could feel the alcohol receding from his system, fast. A crisis of the mutant kind was not something you could deal with when drunk. Lex had learned that the hard way.

Faced with such a nonspecific question, Lana decided she’d do what was best for Chloe. “Yes, something happened to Chloe and I’m not sure if she’s alright.”

She waited for Lex to have a reaction, it didn’t take all that long, and then she spoke again.

“You feel that? That sick feeling, your heart racing, the wondering if she’s ok,” Lana leaned in closer as she spoke, “hold onto that. It means that you care about her. More than any other person in this room or in the sorry excuse that passes for your life at this moment.”

Lana recognized the rage in his face. She was treading in very dangerous waters. “I told you not to hurt her. Why do you keep doing it? I know that you’re self destructive to a fault but it’s time to sack up and be a man. That means facing what you’re most afraid of.”

“So,” Lana stood up straight, “while you continue to find anyone to date you who isn’t Chloe maybe you should ask yourself why that’s the first reaction you have when you find out she has a date. Night, Lex.”

Lana let out a long breath as she made her way out of the party. Hopefully, Lex wouldn’t have her killed for what she’d just done.

He was completely sober now. Fury was slowly overcoming the terror he’d felt not a minute earlier. The terror Lana had induced with her idea of a “wake up call”. Only that she was way off in her assumptions about the reasons for his fear when he thought something had happened to Chloe.

Of course his heart had stopped and then summer-saulted back into motion when the worst case scenario of Chloe dead somewhere in or around the manor had seared through his brain. She’d been his best friend for years.

And the last words they had spoken to each other had been in anger.

Maybe he shouldn’t have let Chloe storm off after all.

But Lana was a nasty little bitch who’d taken advantage of his feelings towards Chloe for her own purposes.

Lex’s eyes narrowed. He would think of something to pay the conniving wench back for that.

And who was she to make presumptions about his feelings, anyway?

He’d had enough of this night. There was no suitable date to be found in this 21st century version of a decadent soiree. They could find their own way out at the end of the night and he’d played nice for long enough.

Straightening out his jacket, Lex made his way towards the doors with determination. He’d find someone tomorrow. The sooner both he and Chloe had someone else to focus on romantically, the better.

~~

As it turned out, fate must have taken a vacation day and spared Lex his daily dose of ‘things going to hell in a hand basket’. During a social call with a business acquaintance, Lex had acquired a date.

She was a shrink from California who needed a date for the opening of the new wing at the Historical Museum of Metropolis. He was a guy who needed a date, period. It had worked out for the best.

They’d spent the better part of the afternoon criticizing ancient art and pottery, followed by an invitation to dinner that she had happily accepted. The conversation so far had been pleasant and on an intellectual level Lex normally didn’t get to enjoy unless he was with Chloe.

Felicity had complimented him on his choice of wine and Lex returned the compliment on her choice of the main course, for both of them. He had no problem with emancipated women, as long as they didn’t read him the riot act when he opened the door for them or tried to help them into their coat.

“The crème caramel was a good choice for dessert. The last time I was here, Chloe made the mistake of ordering chocolate cake, thinking it was a safe choice. Let’s just say their interpretation of cake is unique.”

He shot a smirk at his conversation partner before bringing the spoon to his mouth. The crème really was excellent.

Another mention of the mysterious ‘Chloe.’ Earlier in the evening Felicity had excused herself and called her friend. She needed to know if Lex Luthor was going out with her in order to get back at some society woman. A picture of him in the gossip pages with her in order to incite some jealousy. Or maybe revenge.

Her friend had assured her that wasn’t the case. Then she’d asked if her friend knew who this Chloe was. That’s where things had gotten interesting.

One Chloe Sullivan. A female friend of Lex Luthor’s for years. A few years younger than the man who was sitting before her. By all accounts, nothing was going on between them. But Felicity had heard enough to draw up her own opinion.

She was a shrink, after all. And Lex Luthor needed her help on many levels. Hell, on every level but no more so than dealing with his unresolved feelings about Chloe.

Felicity wasn’t sure if he was obsessed with the woman, in love with her or a combination of both. But there was clearly something going on here. Which stood in the way of anything going on between them. She wasn’t interested in getting involved with another emotionally unavailable man.

“What did Chloe think of the cake,” she asked in a neutral tone. The answer would do a great deal in determining if Lex was hopelessly in love with the woman or if the authorities needed to be notified because he was a day away from keeping her head in a box for his very own.

Lex put his spoon away and folded his hands on the table. He couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth as he remembered that afternoon.

“Well, after her initial reaction of ‘What is that supposed to be’, and the waiter assuring her that it was indeed the chocolate cake she had ordered…” he trailed off with a small chuckle remembering the confused looks on the faces of both Chloe and the waiter.

“She told me to pay and the next thing I knew we were on our way to this small Jewish bakery halfway across town so we could get some <I>real</I> chocolate cake, instead of some ‘French Art Nouveau disguising as dessert’.”

The drive had been worth it though. Lex didn’t have much of a sweet tooth, but that cake had been amazing, and Chloe’s antics and enthusing had amused him to no end. She had a tendency to go from serious to silly in no time flat, and silliness was something his life had been sorely lacking before Chloe came around.

“It was worth it. You see, she likes to make me try things just for the hell of it, or because I mention that I haven’t tried them before.” Lex thought of the infamous Twinkie-incident with a half smile. “It’s a hit and miss thing, but lucky for me there’ve been more hits, so far.”

He on the other hand, was mostly responsible for the misses. Another incident involving cake came to mind; and of course his overreaction last night. Lex still didn’t like the idea of Chloe dating Dexter, but he could admit that his imagination had run away with him. There was no reason to fear the worst, just because of one date that would probably lead nowhere, fast.

Felicity wished that she had her pad in order to take notes with. This was surprising indeed. The man didn’t have the look about him that she’d seen with other psychopaths who were convinced that, if given the chance, the woman of their dreams could and would be with them for all time.

Instead, he looked like a man recounting a favorite story of his in regards to one he held dear. However, she got the feeling Lex was not aware of this himself. That wasn’t all that unique in a man, though. They tended to lean towards idiocy.

He spoke fondly of this other woman. But also very carefully. There was something going on between the two of them. But not romantically.

She nodded. “It’s important to keep yourself open to new experiences.” That’s why she’d agreed to go on this date. She’d never gone out with a man worth so much money.

The date had been going relatively well. They’d fallen into companionable conversations. But there hadn’t been any spark and she felt as if Lex was holding himself back. Yes, that was his M.O. but she thought that Chloe had more to do with it. Even though she and Lex were sitting together alone, there were definitely three people on this date.

“Your friend sounds like a lot of fun,” she said, smiling. “I’m surprised you wouldn’t rather be out with her.”

“Why would I?” Lex was surprised by the question. Had he made a faux pas somewhere during this date? Not likely. He hadn’t pegged Felicity for the insecure type, though, either. “I happen to enjoy your company immensely; in fact I never would have thought that a blind-date could turn out so well.”

Of course there was also the fact that Chloe wasn’t speaking to him at the moment. He had tried calling her in between the meeting with his acquaintance and this date. He had even spoken on her voice mail. But his private cell phone hadn’t given a sign of life the entire day. So she hadn’t called back and was now probably enjoying herself on her own date. Peachy.

Overcompensation, a classic move. Felicity hadn’t meant to sound insulted or put off. She was actually very curious about his answer. “Thank you very much,” she said, smiling. “I’m having a fine time, too.” Too bad she hadn’t gotten here before this Chloe person. She and Lex might have been a good match.

She’d drop the whole inquisition for now. Usually when someone was this far in denial they had to pull themselves out of it before any headway could happen. Or have someone to help them and Lex didn’t strike her as the type that had people egging him on to not be a fool.

They would finish their date, she’d say goodnight and hope that he didn’t want to see her again. Or, if he did, she’d make it clear that they should be friends and no more. Of course, she might have to play some defense at the end of the date. Lex probably thought it was going well and would try something when he dropped her off. That ought to be interesting.

[westwingwolf]

I know Lex doesn't notice that he's falling in love, if not already in love, with Chloe, but he's got to recognize it soon right? No, he'll probably continue to be an idiot for a long while.

Clark as a secret evil mastermind is a scary thought, but when Lana is the smartest in the bunch, then that is a sad state of affairs. I've never said this before, but I hope nothing bad happens to Lana.

I'm glad that Chloe is trying to move on. I hope it makes Lex suffer because that is the only way that he's going to pull his head out of his ass.

Are we done with Andrea or is there a chance that she's going to try and get revenge on Chloe?

[xxasaxx]

Lex is a dumbass!