Granted (R)

**Kit Merlot** · 20th February 2004, 19:37

THis is a wonderful update! Could Clark be a bigger jerk?

I am also looking forward to how Lex and Chloe are surviving in Metropolis!

GREAT JOB :biggrin:

**Elviriel** · 22nd February 2004, 05:52

Love it ! I love Pete he's so cute ....
Update soon ! :chlexsign2:

**tigroon** · 22nd February 2004, 14:49

What they said. When do you update ? *pouts*

katspell · 22nd February 2004, 17:03

I am totaly into this. Does Clark really think that he's going to be able to talk Lex out of his wish? I don't think so. Chloe might have a chance, that whole 'I don't know if you love me because you're under the influence so unwish it and we'll give it a try' I can totaly see Chloe being that honest.

so, anyway, update with the Chlexy goodness!

**newbatgirl** · 27th February 2004, 14:04

Ummmm, more Chlex? Soon?

scifichick774 · 29th February 2004, 01:38

Slick, hot, passionate, craving…Lex and Chloe’s lips and tongues moved together in a frenzied embrace as his limo slowly wove its way through Metropolis’s weekend traffic. Normally, Lex would have driven his date to their location in one of his sports cars to try and impress her, but he already knew that Chloe didn’t care about his money or possessions and a limousine was much more conducive to…other activities.

Their hands crawled over each other’s bodies and when Lex began to caress one of her breasts over the thin fabric of her skimpy shirt, Chloe thought she might never get enough of being with him.

The thought correlated with a wanton moan that slipped from her throat and Lex’s subconscious took the cue to let things progress to the next level. He started to lean her back on the seat, blinking in confusion when she pushed him away and turned her eyes away from him.

“I --- I can’t do this, Lex,” she half-whispered shakily through labored breaths.

Lex frowned. He could have sworn she was enjoying their foreplay as much as he was.

“Chloe,” he said, reaching out for her and reluctantly pulling back when she held a hand in front of her to stop him. Suddenly he was reminded of what she said – or rather, *didn’t* say – in his apartment.

“I’m not going out to get drunk or hook up with some random guy. I mean, I’ve never ---”

“You’ve never…what?”

“Nothing…not important…”

Shit. Could he be any more of a bastard? The woman he professed to be in love with had all but almost admitted that she was a virgin and he had been prepared to let her first time be in the back of a limousine because his hormones had apparently taken on a life of their own. Or maybe that wasn’t the problem at all – or not entirely anyway.

Maybe she just didn’t want to sleep with him period. Considering the fact that she wasn’t under the effects of the ancient alien relic, Lex begrudgingly admitted that it was a distinct possibility, and that she had only been kissing him to ease his discomfort over not returning his feelings.

“Chloe,” he repeated, sucking in a breath and hoping it wasn’t audible. He didn’t want his latter thought to be true and needed to eliminate the first before he even considered it as a possibility. “You know I’d never force you to go further than ---”

“It’s not that,” Chloe interrupted. Turning her eyes to him, she looked at him with an apologetic expression. “It’s just…” she paused and Lex feared the worst.

God. He should have found a way to keep her back at the apartment, where at least he wouldn’t end up having competition for her attention for the evening.

“…I don’t want to take advantage of you,” Chloe continued.

Lex blinked.

“What?”

Chloe shook her head as she began to explain.

“You think you’re in love with me ---”

“I am.”

“You’re not,” Chloe corrected. “You think you are because of that medallion thing. And when Clark finds a way to make everything the way it was, then you won’t ---”

“Clark?” Lex cut in, his voice suddenly suspicious and accusatory. “Why would he ---”

“Because I asked him to,” Chloe admitted, wincing after she said it. If Lex didn’t know Clark’s secret, then this could get messy. “Actually, ordered would be a more appropriate word,” she continued, hoping that the slight veer off course wouldn’t be noticed. “Guess I’ll have to apologize for that,” she told herself absently, her eyes widening with a sharp jolt when a thought sprung into her head. “I care about him again.”

Lex closed his eyes and leaned the back of his head against the plush seat.

“Great,” he mumbled sarcastically.

“No – not like that,” Chloe quickly clarified. “Just as a friend. Ever since the wishing stuff happened, I haven’t felt *anything* for him – like he was…nothing…non-existent.” She stopped and rolled her eyes. “I’m pretty sure that was his wish…loser.”

One corner of Lex’s mouth twitched upward at her comment and he cracked open an eye to look at her.

“Why would he wish that?” he asked, suspecting he knew the reason, but his tone conveying one of disbelief than that of actual questioning.

Chloe shrugged and unconsciously scooted a little closer to him.

“Because he’s an idiot,” she answered nonchalantly. “For some reason he thinks that once someone has a crush on him it lasts forever. Hopefully the thing with Lana and Pete will teach him otherwise. Anyway,” she said, twisting in her seat to face him head on, “You’re not seeing the big picture. If Clark’s wish is undone, then ---”

“He either found a cure or the wishes wear off,” Lex finished for her.

“Exactly,” Chloe said with a smile that seemed entirely too bright to Lex, given the circumstances.

He had no desire for his wish to be ‘cured’ or ‘wear off’. In fact, a small part of him was still holding out hope that his second wish, for Chloe to fall in love with him as well, would come true when she woke up the next morning. He pouted and Chloe arched an eyebrow.

“What’s with the look? I thought you’d be happy,” she said. Her mouth dropped open in what she believed to be sudden understanding. “You’re worried because you’re still affected.” She frowned at her own words. There wasn’t a lot she could say to alleviate his fears since she didn’t know exactly what Clark had done, or if he had done anything at all. Shooting him a sheepish smile, she reached her arm out and sympathetically placed her hand on his shoulder. “Maybe it just takes time. Don’t worry about it yet, okay?”

Lex nodded once but then quickly shook his head.

“No,” he said.

“No?”

He turned his head to make eye contact with her.

“Why don’t you like me?”

Chloe’s eyebrows rose practically to her hairline.

“I do,” she protested. “Lex, if I didn’t like you, then I wouldn’t care about how you’re going to feel after all of this is over. I’d just be using you for your body and enjoying it while it lasted.”

Lex arched an eyebrow at her and she blushed.

“Good to know, but I actually meant why you don’t like me?”

Chloe pulled pack as she straightened her posture in surprise.

“Oh,” she said. She risked a glance at Lex, who was looking at her expectantly. It wasn’t rhetorical; he really did want an answer. She barely resisted frowning, knowing that if she did, it would only make the situation more uncomfortable. “Um…to be honest, I don’t know. I’ve just never really thought of you like that.”

“But we get along,” Lex argued. “We’re both smart, attractive, have great banter…”

Chloe smiled.

“You make it sound like we should have gotten together a long time ago,” she observed.

Lex appeared thoughtful, giving her a distinctly unsettled feeling in the pit of her stomach. Finally, he nodded a couple of times in agreement with her offhanded statement.

“Yes.”

He mentally reprimanded himself for not going after her before, but quickly excused it with the same reason he gave himself when he first got to know her. She was in love with Clark and she wouldn’t have given him the time of day as something other than a friend.

“Lex ---” Chloe trailed off from whatever she had been about to say as the limo pulled to a stop in front of the club.

Lex flashed a confident half-smile at her. If the wish wore off or was somehow repealed, then he was now certain that he’d still have to pursue her. Their kisses and rather heated make-out session were enough to convince him that Chloe could love him eventually – he’d just need to woo her into it.

“Ready?” he asked.

Chloe took a breath and then faked a smile as she nodded once.

“Let’s go.”

~*~*~*~

Chloe rolled her eyes. She and Lex had only been ushered into the club less than ten minutes before and already a beautiful brunette woman had set her sights on Lex and was on her way over to them.

‘It doesn’t matter,’ she tried to tell herself. ‘You don’t like him like that anyway, remember?’

Chloe frowned. Pete’s ‘betrayal’ with Lana was still fresh in her mind and she didn’t relish the thought of being deserted again, especially not by someone who thought he was in love with her – at least for the time being. As far as she knew, the wish could wear off right when the woman came over to them and flaunted her expensive plastic boobs in his face.

Lex placed his hand on the small of her back and she crooked her neck to smile gratefully up at him. She had long known that he was a keen observer of the people and things that were important to him, but she had been so wrapped up her own thoughts that she had temporarily forgotten that she was now included in that category.

The brunette stepped in front of them and smirked at Chloe.

“Hi,” she greeted; her voice snide and sultry, and barely heard over the blare of the loud music.

“Not interested,” Lex gruffly informed her and proceeded to slide his hand across Chloe’s back to rest on her waist.

The brunette glared at him.

“Was I talking to you? No,” she said. Chloe’s eyes widened but she managed to plaster a nervous, fake smile on her face by the time the woman looked back at her. “So, you wanna dance?” she asked, ignoring the growl that emanated from Lex’s throat over the thrumming pulse of the music that seemed to be shaking the walls.

“Sorry, I’m taken,” Chloe replied, a falsely apologetic smile on her lips as she raised her hand to sit on Lex’s chest and hastily curled her body up against him.

The woman shrugged.

“Okay, hon. Come find me when you get bored with your boy-toy.”

Chloe watched with a stunned expression as the brunette left, only vaguely registering the fact that Lex had moved to stand directly behind her and was wrapping his arms around her waist in a loving, yet entirely possessive gesture.

“Well…that was…surreal,” she commented, primarily to herself.

Lex dipped his head and kissed her neck.

“You’re taken?” he teased, his warm breath caressing the moist spot of skin that his lips just left.

“You did say I could only dance with you,” she reminded him, her tone as light as the one he just used. Then a thought occurred to her and she twisted around in his arms to look at him. “Please tell me you didn’t bring me to a gay club so you wouldn’t have competition.”

Lex smiled.

“I didn’t – but I wish I had thought of that.”

Chloe couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up from within her and she smiled up at him.

“So…” she said, pausing as she ran her hands up his chest and looped them loosely around the back of his neck. “I believe something was said about dancing?”

Lex grinned down at her and began to slowly lower his mouth toward hers, almost brushing their lips together when someone slapped him hard on the back. The action caused him to stumble and scrape his teeth against Chloe’s mouth, cutting her lower lip and drawing a swift yelp of pain from the depths of her throat.

He swiveled around to threaten the person who slapped him, his menacing glare transforming into a deep scowl when he saw and recognized the offender.

“Hey! I’m glad I found you guys,” Clark said excitedly, oblivious to the fact that Lex was trying to drill a hole through his head with his eyes and Chloe was touching her split lip with her fingers in an effort to keep any blood from dripping down onto the rest of her.

Lex’s hands clenched into fists and he drew in a deep breath to steady himself. He knew if he got into a physical fight with Clark that he would lose, leaving him with the only advantage he had – intelligence.

“Clark,” he greeted dryly. “What brings you here?”

“I ---” Clark started, only to stop and have his eyes grow large when he took in Chloe’s appearance. Form-fitting black leather pants that rode low on her hips, a red halter top that bared entirely too much skin for the slimy guys who were starting at her to be seeing, and…his eyes narrowed at her bloody mouth. “What happened to your lip?” he asked, glancing accusingly over at Lex.

“You bumped into us,” Chloe said with a glare.

“Oh,” Clark said. “I --- sorry.”

Chloe sighed and wiped a smear of blood off onto the back of her hand.

“You found a way to reverse the wishes,” she said knowingly.

Clark looked startled.

“Yeah. How did you know?” he asked.

She threw him a knowing look, one that though still filled with irritation for the pain he inadvertently caused to her lip, was laced with the undertone of friendship that he hadn’t seen in her eyes since the wishes had first been granted. He gave her a meek smile and shoved his hands in his pockets.

“So, do they wear off or do we need to do something?” Chloe asked.

Clark cringed. This was the part that he knew wasn’t going to go well. He didn’t know what Chloe had wished for, but convincing Lex to give up finally being in love with a woman who cared nothing about his money or societal position was going to be more than a little bit difficult.

“You…uh…have to hold the wishing stone and unwish your wish,” he finally said.

Chloe looked at him incredulously.

“You’re joking.”

“No.”

“But that makes no sense,” Chloe argued. “Why would they create something that could grant wishes if people can just undo them by saying so?”

Lex’s eyes darted back and forth between the two friends, their words swimming in his mind.

“Wishing stone?” he asked Clark.

“The amulet,” Clark clarified.

“I gathered. How did you know the name of it?” Lex asked before turning to Chloe. “And who is ‘they’?”

TBC...

**carebear72884** · 29th February 2004, 01:56

Hmmm...who is they chloe?? does she know or suspect something?? hm.... update soon, please the suspence is killing me.

**Clannadlvr** · 29th February 2004, 03:01

Hee hee hee.....will Lex unwish his wish? I can't wait to see what happens!!

Oh, and having the woman come on to Chloe instead of Lex? And having Lex assume she was going for him?

Priceless!