Disclaimer: Neither Smallville, nor Metropolis, nor any of its inhabitants belong to us. They're all in the possession of WB, CW and so on and so forth. Please don't sue.
A/N: Blue: Look at us mixing stuff up! No yelling at us!
A/N: Sabby: This one is angstier than before and uhm...
Warnings: Here there be slash, meaning male/male relationships of the not so platonic kind. We'll warn you for individual bigger occurrences too. But remember. This is still Chloe/Lex main pairing.
~~~~
The living room was empty, dark and quiet. Too quiet. There wasn't even the sound from a stereo or the TV to make the quiet less disturbing. No reason to risk coming across a newsflash about. Him.
Just the fire crackling in the fireplace and the clinking of the ice in his glass of scotch. Depressing really. And when had it gotten so cold in Metropolis during mid spring?
Lex pulled a pillow over his lap and continued to stare into the fire.
This wasn't normal. He knew it wasn't normal. Especially not for him. He wasn't the type to sit around morosely doing nothing except brooding over the fact that his significant other was somewhere halfway across the world doing his 'duty' and wouldn't be home until god only knew when the next day.
He spent far too many nights like this, too.
That's what you got for falling in love with a hero. Stupid of him, really.
He should have never forgiven the supposed hero after he'd figured it out.
One moment of perfect clarity and he'd excused every lie, forgotten every insult, and forgiven all the failures.
Lex reached to his side and picked up the phone.
He didn't even know what time it was. Only that it was hours past a cold dinner and another one of those messages that he hated to receive from his S.O.
It rang five times before the other end was finally picked up.
“He did it again,” Lex said without preamble.
Chloe wasn’t used to being woken up at such an hour. She’d had some fairly good sex and was in a post orgasm coma so it took her a moment to take in the words, who had spoken them and who he was talking about.
“Did it again good or did it again bad?” The calls between her and Lex about Clark were becoming more and more frequent.
She could guess that it was the bad kind of doing it again by now. But Lex didn’t really have anyone else to talk to about it. Chloe was the one who understood. Too well.
Clark had been her first everything. Boyfriend. Sex. Love. Ex-Boyfriend. Gay ex-boyfriend.
He and Lex had been dating for years and, somehow, she and Lex had become sort of close.
Chloe scooted away from the guy who she was sharing her bed with. He was a heavy sleeper so she knew he wouldn’t wake up but it felt a little constricting to have his arm lying uselessly on her chest.
Lex sighed again. “In the I won’t be home for dinner because I'm rescuing helpless people in Somalia way.” She could hear the pout in his voice. She wondered where the Lex Luthor she’d known in her teenage years had gone to.
But she sort of knew. He’d been crushed by the work it was dating Clark.
“And, as you will notice, it’s way past dinner and he’s still not home.” Chloe could imagine him sitting in a dark room and brooding. But before she used the last card of her sleeve she asked a question.
“Can’t you call him and see what’s up and when he’ll be home?” Logically, she knew that it was impossible to get in touch with Clark when he was doing the whole hero thing. But maybe giving Lex an option would make him feel less helpless.
Lex stared into his drink and downed it. Call him. Didn't he wish it was that easy.
“His fucking costume doesn't exactly allow for a cell phone, you know that.”
And even if it did, Clark wouldn't even think about answering the phone while he was too busy carrying some damsel in distress or another out of a burning building. Cause there weren't any real firemen to do that job, no sir, the world needed a superhero to rescue everyone from everything.
While the hero's boyfriend was sitting alone at home, waiting up over yet another missed dinner gone cold and hoping to get at least a couple hours worth of quality time in between one rescue mission and another. Never mind that he had a business to run as well and couldn't spend his entire day at home waiting for the AWOL lover to come home.
Chloe knew how this conversation was going to end so she would just get to it. “Do you want me to come over?” She could leave a note for the guy in her bed. He’d just put his pants on and leave. They’d see each other again when one of them felt a certain itch for company.
“I don’t want to bother you….” It was Lex’s trademark comeback.
“It’s not a bother, Lex,” she said, honestly. She liked spending time with him. Talking to him and bitching about Clark was always fun for her. “You know I wouldn’t offer to come over if I didn’t want to.”
“Besides,” she said, stretching, “I’m not doing anything.” She looked over at the guy and grinned. “Anymore.”
Lex found a smirk somewhere and shook his head. He knew exactly what that meant.
Chloe liked to date around, not getting seriously attached to any guy. It was her thing. She had her friends, her job and then she had fun on the side with guys that looked good and fucked reasonably well.
“The guy still in your bed?”
He heard a low thumping noise on the other end of the phone and envisioned her picking up a random body part and letting it fall away beside her. “Uhuh,” she said, “but I can get out. No problem.”
Lex waited for the obligatory comment that was sure to follow. “I'm orgasmed out anyway, as much as I can with him, that is.”
That actually got a chuckle out of him and he put the pillow aside so he could put his glass on the desk. “You sure you can leave him alone in your apartment?”
He didn't want to be the reason her apartment got emptied while she was across town.
“Yeah, he's not a one nighter. I've done it before with him.”
“Ah.”
That was new, but then, he'd been out of the game for a while. Maybe one night stands were out of season.
“Booty call, Lex. You remember those?”
Trust Chloe to call him on it, too. But it didn't matter. At least he could always count on her to be there when he needed someone to fend off the moroseness and cold.
“Yeah, yeah.” He waved off the comment and filled up his glass again. “So you'll be here in twenty?”
She could hear the eagerness in Lex’s voice and she smiled. Lex was the one person, other than family and they didn’t count, that she knew was always glad to see her. “You got it.” She already had a key to their place so she just needed to throw on something that approximated clothing, write the note and drive.
“I’ll see you soon, Lex.”
Chloe placed the phone on the cradle and got moving.
~~
Lex wasn’t hard to find. He was in the living room, empty glass on the table beside him and pouting at the fire. “Hey,” she said, coming up behind him and laying a kiss on top of his head. That always annoyed him, she heard a mock growl and did it again.
She toed off her shoes and grabbed a blanket that was on one of the oversized chairs in the room. She used to sit in them but, as the calls from Lex had occurred more often, she’d slowly made her way from one chair, to the next and now to Lex on the couch.
Being with Clark was weird. You thought he loved you. He said it enough but he was bad at most things. At least with her, he was. The sex, well, she wouldn’t dwell on that. But even just basic, human affection.
She took off her jacket, which left her only in t-shirt and pajama pants and plopped down next to Lex. She spread the blanket over both of them and leaned against him. She always waited for him to speak first. Never sure if it would be a night where he was more angry, hurt, drunk or needy.
He relaxed into his seat the moment she was settled comfortably. It always felt a little less all bad when she was there. And the fact that she was wearing pajamas or comfy clothes nine out of ten times when she showed up on the doorstep had become another comfort thing. The first time he'd looked at her like she was crazy. But then, that first time he'd been pretty much out of his head with rage while on the phone with her and had calmed down considerably by the time she showed up.
Lex slung an arm over her hip and started fiddling with the soft flannel at the back of her thigh. Flannel. Same soft fabric that Clark used to wear before he got into the crappy off the rack suits.
“I can't even remember the last time I saw Clark in one of his stupid flannel shirts.”
It didn't make much sense to say that, but Chloe would get it. She always got what he was trying to say.
“These days, it feels like he's only ever wearing the fucking spandex suit. But then, these days I see more of him on TV than in person.”
Chloe nodded against Lex and moved closer. Some nights he hadn’t wanted to be touched. But, when she thought about it, that had been in the beginning. Now, he usually pulled her closer. But not for any nefarious reasons.
Lex had never been a person that you could easily touch. However, Clark had probably broken him of that habit. And then neglected Lex.
She ran her hand over his chest in reassuring circles. “I know, Lex. I’m sorry.” It was all she could usually say. “He’s a jerk,” she added, for good measure. A thought had occurred to her more and more often lately.
“What if you…” this wasn’t going to be easy for her to say. Or Lex to hear. For a number of reasons. One of them was that, even after everything, she thought that maybe she still considered Clark a friend of hers.
The Clark he used to be before he dated either of them, that was.
“Have you ever thought of seeing other people? Lex, tons of people, both men and women, would kill to be with you.” She knew it was true. Some for the fame and money and attention but maybe some for actual reasons.
Lex shook his head, not because he was denying the idea. He'd had the idea. Multiple times in the last couple of years. But then, he'd always found reasons not to.
His head fell back onto the rest of the couch and he stared at the ceiling for a change.
“Considered it, but in the end, it's not worth the trouble, I think.”
There weren't that many people out there that he was still attracted to. Sure, there were thousands of attractive people out there, but just because it looked gorgeous, he didn't need to have it.
He was seriously screwed up. And it was surely all Clark's fault. He'd been a hardass, once. He'd fucked and sucked with the best of them, not caring whether they hung around the next day or not. But now he didn't want that anymore. His life was devoid of passion anyway, no reason to make it worse by going out and fucking some random person just because he could.
And then there was still that inkling of hope that Clark might wake up one day and realize he was being a complete asshole, a neglectful asshole who couldn't even be bothered to come home for dinner one day out of the seven in a week.
“We used to be so good together, and now it's like I'm just some old toy that he can put aside whenever he wants to, because surely it's still going to be there the next time he feels the urge to pick it up.”
The defeated tone of Lex’s voice used to freak her out. Because Lex Luthor didn’t talk like that. None of the Luthors did. But now she’d become used to it. Which made her angry and sad at the same time.
“That’s cause he’s an ass, Lex.” He really needed to get out into the world again. He didn’t have to go and screw a random bevy of people. Just maybe go out and have a little fun. Get a little perspective.
“Clark is self centered and self righteous, always has been.” It was an unbeatable combination when you added in the whole hero thing. It made it pretty impossible to fight with him if he missed your birthday because he had to save a plane full of people.
“I think you need to have a life outside of him, you know?” She craned her head up to look at him. Lex didn’t work the long hours he used to. He was part of a consulting firm but was no longer a higher up in his own company. Lionel had gone postal when he’d found out about Lex and Clark. Another sacrifice Lex had made was his career at LuthorCorp.
An idea was forming in her head. Her friends knew that she was friends with Lex because she’d been photographed with him. They always wanted to meet him and begged her to bring him out with them. They said that they could loosen him up in no time flat. Maybe that’s what Lex needed.
“Come out with me tomorrow. I’m going to a club with some friends. Nothing crazy, just some light drinking and dancing.” If nothing else, it would get him off the couch.
Lex smirked tiredly and returned his stare from the ceiling to the flames. Staring at nothing but shadows on the wall made his eyes hurt. “Alcohol hasn't helped before, I doubt it will now.”
He couldn't even remember the last time he'd been out to dance. Wasn't sure he still knew how to play the game. It had been years. And then there was the fact that he didn't feel the need to socialize. Not with people he didn't know. “I doubt I'd make great company for your friends, either.”
And the pathetic thing about that was, it wouldn't be because he was Lex Luthor, powerful, dangerous, don't fucking mess with me heir of the Luthor Corporation who could get you disappeared with a single phone call.
It was because he was Lex Luthor, the guy with the morose airs that could kill any party mood with a handful of comments. If he put effort into it, he was probably able to talk a lottery winner who dated a super model into committing suicide.
“You don’t have to drink,” she pointed out. She didn’t want to rush Lex into anything that he wasn’t ready for, but she wasn’t above some gentle nudging. She wouldn’t resort to the ‘do it for me’ line. Yet. Or ever, really. She knew that Clark was a pro at that one.
“And, trust me, my friends don’t have that high a standard when it comes to conversation.” Lex would fit in even if he tried only a little. “I’ll tell them to be on their best behavior. Or their worst. Whichever one you want.”
“Plus, you don’t have to talk to anyone you don’t want to. And, you don’t have to touch anyone, either. But there’s no harm in looking, right?” It wasn’t as if Lex was going to bring home some random person. It wasn’t in his nature.
He chuckled at that, but it came out kind of rusty. He didn't see much humor in anything anymore.
But she was cute, in a way, trying to convince him to do something about the misery that was his day to day life because he'd gone and picked the wrong love interest. Again. As always. “It would have been so much easier if he was homicidal.”
Lex didn't need to look at Chloe to know that she was giving him the 'have you lost your mind? I think you've lost your mind.' look.
“No, really, if he had been like the ones before, he would have tried to kill me and then I either would have found a way to kill him, or he would have killed me and I wouldn't have to be...” He waved an all encompassing hand at himself and the situation in general. “This.”
Lex took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly.
What could it hurt? The worst that could happen would be that the evening went disastrous, her friends told her never to bring him around again, and he would go home to the same empty apartment, drink endless amounts of scotch and then call his best friend for another round of 'Why me?'.
“Okay.”
Chloe was mauling her lower lip, trying not to call him on the whole not wanting to be alive thing. While Lex became more and more depressed every day because of Clark, it was now difficult for her to try and remember all of the good the man did.
He could do even more good if he either fully committed to Lex or let him go. The man deserved better. “Thank you,” she said. “I can’t promise that you won’t regret it but I think it will be fun.”
Her friends didn’t know all that much about Lex, and she had no intention of telling them specifics, but she would let them know to give him space and take it slow with him. He warmed up to people really slowly.
Hell, it had to get really bad between him and Clark for him to have started calling her. She knew how lonely he must be in this apartment. Sure, it wasn’t the Manor but it was still a very big place. Going to bed and waking up every night to nothing for days on end when you were actually supposed to be in a relationship.
“Do you want me to stay with you tonight?” The question popped out before she could really think about it. She didn’t mind and it would actually make her feel better, too. It wasn’t as if she got in much cuddling time with her fucks.
“I mean, I’m staying tonight.” Lex would probably try to beg off, thinking she didn’t want to. “So, let me know when you want to go to bed.”
Lex turned his head to face her, almost tempted to smile. She was getting better with the pre-emptive strikes. Not that she'd ever pushed this far before. Usually, she would listen to him for a few hours and go home when he was ready to turn in. He would never admit it, of course, but it had consistently become a little harder to let her go.
Even though he loathed himself for it, he missed the contact, the warmth that she created, just by being there. He even missed the ridiculous pawing that she'd started some night or another he couldn't remember. Things had shifted from them on opposite ends of the table, to them adjacent to each other, to her next to him on the couch, to her cuddling up next to him and petting him like some oversized droopy dog.
And he liked it, for crying out loud!
And now she'd offered, and then insisted that she would stay. He knew she'd done it because she knew that he would refuse the offer if given a chance.
“So that's why you always show up in pajamas, huh? Just waiting for your chance, were you?”
The joke fell flat, but that didn't matter. It was as good a way as any to show his acceptance of her offer.
“Yeah, you know me,” she said as she started to kick off the blanket, “always wear the pajamas. It gets a man in bed like nobody’s business.” She was glad that he hadn’t said no. The lame joke was his tacit ok.
She knew that she’d told him to indicate when he was ready, but if he was letting her take charge with deciding to stay, maybe he wouldn’t mind this either.
“Come on, let’s go to bed.” She got up and held her hands out to him. Not sure if he’d take them.
Lex shook his head, but got up anyway. Who was he to argue with Chloe when she'd obviously figured it all out? Plus, it didn't make a difference if he was morose and insomniac on the couch or in the bed.
He took one of her hands and led her towards the bedroom. He couldn't even remember if she'd ever seen it before.
It was a simple room, much less ostentatious than the master bedroom in the manor. An oversized bed, a small walk in closet in one corner, door to the adjacent bathroom on the other side and a sturdy dresser by the window.
Lex took off his shirt, pants and socks mechanically and dropped them where he was standing at the end of the bed. No one there to care if things lay around.
While she and Lex could be quiet with one another, this was a different type of silence. She couldn’t put her finger on what type it was, just different.
She’d never been in their bedroom. But it was hard to find any traces of Clark. Which said something in and of itself.
Lex was silently undressing, uncaring as to where his clothes went. Even though he didn’t have any live in servants, they did have a person who came to clean the apartment once a week.
But her old habits died hard. She took off her own socks and then walked over and picked up Lex’s things.
After a small search for a hamper which was successful, Chloe returned back to the side of the bed. Lex had already slipped in.
It was strange thinking that she was taking Clark’s place. Sleeping on his side of the bed. But she was only doing it because he refused to.
Lex had turned on his side and mumbled a good night. But, what was the point of this if there wasn’t any touching? The man next to her would never admit it, but she knew that he craved affection.
She scooted over to his side and pressed herself against his back. Chloe threw one arm over his waist, her hand coming to rest against his stomach at an odd angle. She gave his shoulder a gentle kiss and then started to breathe evenly. She was tired, this shouldn’t take too long.
He involuntarily went rigid the moment she pressed against his back, but allowed himself to relax after a moment. This was Chloe. His friend who was offering him comfort. Comfort that, even though he hated to admit it, he sorely needed.
The angle was a little awkward like this and she seemed to not quite know where to fit herself. Not surprising considering that she was a good deal smaller than him.
“Your feet are icy.”
A flash of a memory ghosted through his mind. Before Clark, there'd been women, mostly. And all of them had icy feet. He'd always complained about it.
But now, it felt good. Because with the icy feet came a comfortable bundle of warmth pressed against his back. Someone who wouldn't run off at superspeed in a moment and not return until well into the next day.
He hooked his leg around hers to pull her feet between his own, covered her hand with his to reposition their arms more comfortably around his chest.
He could spend the night like this, get some rest, maybe even...
Before the thought was finished, Lex was out like a light.
~~~
tbc
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