Lex’s voice echoed loudly in the room. “He’s gone.”
Chloe stumbled out of the empty closet and sneezed.
“Woo. I’m betting no one’s been in there recently,” she said, shaking the dust off. She waited to see if another sneeze would come, but it didn’t. “So what’s the damage?” She asked, surveying Lex.
His chest was still covered in dried blood and one side of his face was so swollen he didn’t look like himself.
“Sixteen stitches in my arm, five on my eye, and a broken nose.”
Chloe got madder, seeing Lex so placid about the whole thing.
“Has this happened before Lex? Because this is unacceptable, in fact it’s worse than unacceptable. He should be shot. No wait…He should be strung up by his toenails, oh, no, better. We should rip his toe nails off, and pour some rubbing alcohol on them, and then string him up-” she ranted, arms flailing about and pacing, trying to convey her disgust to her lover.
“Chloe. It’s nice of you to defend me, but I assure you it isn’t necessary. It’s not like I just let him do this to me. He beat me,” explained Lex, walking towards the bathroom.
“Exactly Lex. He beat you. He put his hands on you!”
“We do this all the time. It’s just a game,” he placated, examining his face in the bathroom mirror.
“A game where he breaks your nose?”
< I cut his coat. > He wanted to say, but knew the moment he thought it that it was the lamest excuse ever.
Lex was silent for several seconds. The lights in the room were suddenly too bright for him and he hurried to turn them down.
“I’m not a kid anymore, and you don’t know my father.”
“And I don’t want to know him.” Shouted Chloe, cutting him off.
She helped Lex take off his tattered shirt and used the toilet bowl as a seat.
“You don’t know my father, or the world he lives in. The pressure to know exactly what everyone else is doing at all times, to project the right image, hard enough no one messes with you, but still look accessible to everyman. I know because I have to do it too. I’m not going to go into every detail, but it’s exhausting. You can start to loose yourself.”
“God Lex, if your father was ever like that, I don’t remember. Your father is arrogant, ruthless, cutthroat bastard and he wouldn’t care about the everyman if someone paid him to. The only image he is projecting is one of total disregard for the rules of the world we live in. He does everything like he’s immortal. He stomps on people, he laughs in their faces, he thinks he controls everything and has a hand in everything.”
“I admire him Chloe. Sometimes I admire him. How does he do it?”
Chloe was driving her point home, having heard Lex, but wanting to get her idea out on the table.
“Worst of all, he’s doing nothing to preserve this world for future generations. What about us Lex, what about our kids and the generation after that? We all have a responsibility but the few people that, like him, wield more money than most governments on the planet, could change the world for the better right now.”
“Are you getting off your soapbox?”
“What soapbox, I’m sitting on the- oh. Sorry. I’m saying he flaunts being above the law. Lex, believe me, no one can live like that without… I don’t know.”
She took the washcloth from him and began to clean him off gently.
“You know what I wish for sometimes?” He asked. “That I be surrounded by complete morons.”
“That’s a strange dream.”
“You can’t know what it’s like for me to constantly deal with smart, underhanded people who either have their own agendas or my fathers, and who’ve been in the game a lot longer than I have. I can’t keep my guard up all the time, and I am just waiting for the day I’ll be exposed for the two-bit poseur I am.”
“Lex?”
“Yes?”
“What is it you want me to say?” She pleaded, stopping her ministrations. “On one hand, I want to tell you just get the hell out of all this, because no good can come of it. I want to tell you to leave and never come back. On the other hand, I want to tell you to shut up! You’ve done good things. People can tell you and the Devil apart. You’re Lex Luthor! You can do anything. And it’s truer for you than for anyone. You are not like your father, and you are not going to be, I won’t let you.”
“Tell me to shut up.”
“Shut the hell up, man!”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Lex through the towel he was wiping his face with at his reflection and walked out of the bathroom. Chloe followed closely.
“So, will you do the same for me when I go on another tangent about, you know?”
“You want me to tell you to shut up?” He asked incredulously.
“Yes! I mean, I’m still terrified but I’m alive right now. I eat great food, I have a roof over my head, I’ve got friends and a great father, I’m going to get to graduate and I found you. Who am I to complain?”
“You’re allowed to complain, Chloe,” he said, taking her hands in his.
Her whole demeanor changed. The hard façade crumbled as relief washed over her.
“Oh, good, ‘cause I’m still not okay with it, Lex. I’m so scared.”
Lex hugged her with the one arm he could move, and they swayed together.
“Aren’t we a pair…”
While Lex was struggling to get ready for bed, Chloe went in search of some ice to keep the swelling in his cheek to a minimum.
She changed into her nightshirt. After brushing their teeth together, they slid into bed.
Chloe applied the ice to Lex’s face and cuddled up to him, on the side that wasn’t so damaged.
“So this is our last night together.”
“I refuse to believe that.”
“What happens tomorrow?”
“You have to be at school at-”
“Around 8.”
“I have to be in Metropolis to get the full report on that conference your father attended. I’m being picked up at seven thirty.”
“So what about people seeing us together?”
“We should be able to dodge anyone in the house, and if not, we’ll just say you arrived early and we’re doing the interview on your way to school. We’ll take the limo.”
“Lex?”
“What?”
“How many times do you think we can use that excuse?”
“It works,” he smiled that smile that made Chloe want to follow him everywhere.
“Can you be kissing me now?”
“Just watch the nose.”
They definitely could have had more sleep.
Last night had been gentle and beautiful, and full of slow building passionate kisses that she enjoyed to the fullest.
She had enjoyed good kissing in her life, but Lex and she were magic together.
She moaned, and her eyes flew open when she felt Lex hike up her long skirt.
She turned her head to look at him.
“What?”
“Lex, we’re in your limo.”
“With tinted windows and everything. Come on; let me. I can tell you’re thinking about me. You know you want to.” He whispered in her ear, nuzzling it. He breathed in her sweet scent.
“No I don’t.”
“Ah, but your body says different,” he smirked, when her pelvis lifted itself enough for him to slide her panties off.
He brought them to his face for closer evaluation, and put them in his coat pocket.
He implored her to relax, starting with feather light touches.
She moaned, but still wondered: “What about you? This is the last time we see each other for a while I’m sure. Don’t you want me to… Return the favor?”
“No, I have my reasons,” he purred. “Close your eyes. Now I want you to concentrate on how much you like this. I want you to think of this all day. I want you to think of this weekend and I want you to think of my fingers inside you one the way here.”
Then just when she was about to come, he shifted her position and kissed her greedily. That sealed the deal. Colors exploded, sensations peeked and silent promises were made. When they finally parted, Chloe realized they had stopped in front of the school.
“How long have we been here?”
“About ten minutes.”
“Oh my God! Are you crazy?”
‘Yes.” He says licking his fingers of her juices. “Don’t worry, they’ll look ‘cause they always look, not because they think something’s going on.”
“Right, you’re right,” she looked around the limousine and lifted her bag, “so where are my underwear?”
“I’m keeping them.”
“What?”
“I’ll be thinking of you, too.”
“You’re not keeping my underwear.”
“Yes I am.”
“Whatever. Bye.”
“Bye.”
Chloe went for the door.
“Do I get a last kiss?”
She turned around and pecked him on the mouth.
“Bye.”
“Chloe.” Said Lex, pulling her arm almost desperately.
“I’ll call you later, you deranged, perverted man,” she teased. Trying to stay annoyed so she could be strong, she opened the door.
Chloe was blushing crimson when she exited the limo. Everyone was gawking like tourists at a theme park, watching her and whispering. She looked down to make sure she still had her clothes on. She started for the school confidently.
Then Lex had gotten out of the car to hand her the purse she had forgotten. Seeing his amused expression, the last thing she had said to him was “jackass” as he bent over and kissed her cheek chastely. He whispered “later” in her ear and sauntered off... She headed to her phys ed locker first, where she had a pair of extra underwear. The students that saw her slipping them on while shaking her head and laughing made a path for her as she headed out the door and into the Torch office.
Her last edition had been ready for a week, and was only missing the Valedictorian’s speech and some sport scores. She went over it again, and cliqued on to the Internet.
It was finally time to seek understanding of her disease. She pulled out her mother’s diary and started leafing through it.
Her eyes shifted from different pages of her mother’s diary to her computer. The printer was printing non-stop.
Pete had to knock on the blonde’s head to get her attention.
“What’s going on?”
“Research. Where’s your other half?”
“She had to make an appearance in Math class; I on the other hand, wanted to see what you were up to.”
“Why?”
“I heard you were here but I didn’t see your car.”
“My dad took it to Metropolis on Thursday. His is in the shop.” She stated, not looking up from her work. “Is it true?”
“What?”
“You rode in with Lex Luthor?”
“Yeah, he gave me a ride.”
“People are saying some weird stuff about you and him.”
‘You know how it is, you say hi to someone you normally don’t and by lunch you’re married and you have two of his kids.”
“I know. I was just giving you the head’s up.”
“Thanks.”
“Have you seen Clark?”
“No, not at all, why?”
“He had gym with me this morning. He never got out of the locker room! He just said he’d be a minute and when I went to check on him he was rocking back and forth with his hands on either side of his head.”
“I’ve been telling you he isn’t feeling well for weeks now.”
“Well he seemed fine to me.”
“You’ve been more than a little distracted with little miss hot pants. I just think we need to keep an eye on Clark.” Still not looking up form her computer.
“Okay. So what am I missing here? Mutants making a comeback?”
“Nothing like that, I’m doing research.”
“On what?”
“Cervical and ovarian cancer.”
“Depressing; for what?”
“My mother. She had cervical cancer. It spread to her ovaries and she had a hysterectomy. Then it spread to her liver and she died.”
“But you were in sixth grade, Chloe.”
“I know.”
She looked up and him and put the diary down. She did not want to do this now, but she knew it was a waste to lie to him.
“Pete. Sit down with me for a minute.”
“Okay.”
“I have what my doctor called type three cervical cancer. It’s more advanced and harder to treat than the garden variety kind.”
“What? Are you joking?”
“I wish I was.”
“What? Oh my God Chloe!” Pete exclaimed, jumping up out of his chair and backing away.
“Pete, look at me. I’m fine.”
Pete Ross looked at one of his best friends. He squinted and cocked his head. “You’re lying, you said cancer.”
“Like I was going to leave you after that.”
“So, what did you gather?”
“I got some stuff on the different types of… what you have. A bunch of statistics. Metropolis versus Smallville.”
“Let me see that.”
“I already have 125 pages of material here. It’s going to take a while to sift through.”
“Okay, leave it.”
There was a knock at the door.
“Am I interrupting?”
“*Lex Luthor*.” Pete turned around. “Hey, nice shiner! What’d ya do this time?”
“Your mother.”
Over the years, Pete and he had gotten into a habit of trading insults. He was pretty sure the boy didn’t hate him anymore, but he wouldn’t bet on it.
“What brings your bald behind to our neck of the woods? And for the second time today I might add.”
“Just passing through, *Peter*. Thought I’d stop by and give Chloe a more in-depth interview.”
“Well, she has better things to do than listen to a chump like you spewing-”
A brunette poked her head in, looking around.
“Babycakes?”
“Janette. I’m just finishing up I’ll be right there.”
“Babycakes?” questioned Lex and Chloe, amused.
“Stuff it… both of you” Pete responded. “Chloe, you have enough pages to get through on your own, I’ll take these home and organize them okay? I’ll see you later.” He said, gathering his things, passing to kiss Chloe on the cheek and give Lex a dirty look. He headed out the door with the pretty brunette.
“You should hear them. It’s always something different. Last week it was Love-muffin.”
“Really.” Lex said, walking over to the office door. “So, I was sitting in the meeting this morning, listening to these boring middle-aged men talking about an exciting new development in the field of management, ” he closed the door and locked it, “raging hard-on, thinking of you, when I decided I didn’t want to wait to see you again.”
She thought of a million things to say. She wanted to reprimand him for showing up at school. She wanted to show him that you can’t always have what you want. She wanted to remind him of the million reasons why they could never go pubic. She wanted to kiss him, a lot.
He was loosening his tie, slowly. Chloe surged forward to help him, but he stopped her with a hand gesture.
Silently, divested himself of his tie and unbuttoned his shirt, just enough that she could have access to his fine looking chest.
Her eyes glazed over and she unbuttoned her own shirt. He walked towards her and knelt down, taking the hem of her skirt and pulling it up, kissing his way to her core. He frowned at the underwear.
“What? You’re the degenerate who took my panties in the first place! I had no choice but to get my granny-”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said, tugging them down. “I was just surprised you had any on at all. You look luscious in just about anything, although I like you better naked,” he explained, placing one of her legs up on a chair. He unzipped his pants for comfort and continued his ascent.
“Oh,” she gasped as he ran his tongue over her exposed pussy.
Chloe was mortified when they heard a knock on the door.
Lex, just got up, flipped her over, put his hand on her mouth, bent her over the desk and entered her in one savage thrust. Chloe’s surprised scream was sufficiently drowned out by Lex’s hand.
The girl kept knocking and calling, but Lex wouldn’t stop. He bent over to whisper in her ear.
“Forget all of that. The door’s locked. It’s just you and me. I know you like it hard like this, I know how you like it.”
He let go of her mouth and Chloe took a deep breath. “Yes, God, Yesssss,” she hissed as he thrust into her deeper still.
“I love this. God Chloe, It’s so fucking good.”
“More Lex, more. Please.”
“I love it when you beg. Say you’re mine.”
“You know I am.”
“Yes that’s right. You’re all mine.”
He pulled out and she turned over. She sat on the desk and they kissed and continued to mate almost immediately.
Lex pulled away and looked her in the eyes. “You love me, right?”
‘Yes.”
“Good.” He managed to get out, his mouth crashing onto hers.
“Lex, do you love me?”
He kissed her with all his heart, trying to convey what he couldn’t yet say. His heart was yelling YES YES YES but his mind knew no good could come of it. Then he realized he was already beyond the point of no return.
He looked at her. He gave her a kiss. Then he gave her another one.
“Yes.”
“What?”
“I do… Love you.,” he paused. “I love you,” he whispered.
She was stunned. She didn’t know whether to cry, or to scream or to panic.
She ended up laughing which made him laugh.
Whoever was still knocking on the door periodically so they buried their faces into each other’s shoulder not to make too much noise.
Lex was still thrusting in and out of her, and when she re-adjusted herself, their passion ignited once more.
They kept kissing, smiling and confessing their love of each other and of what they were doing.
They lay down on the desk to finish, and when they came, half the things on it crashed to the floor. Which led to more knocking…
They got up and straightened up their clothing as much as possible. Chloe refused to let Lex steal another pair of underwear, but she did manage to get him to give up his purple silk boxer shorts. Chloe went to the door, a little exasperated. Before she opened it, Lex backed her up against it for a little more kissing, I-love-you’s and good-byes.
Chloe opened the door to find Lana Lang, hand on her hip and none too pleased.
“What were you doing in there? I’ve been out here forever!”
“She was with me,” explained Lex, stepping out from behind the door, flashing her a charming smile. He put on his sport coat.
“Oh, Lex. Hi. I didn’t know… I mean I had heard you drove Chloe here this morning but I didn’t know you were still here… with her.”
“We’re doing an interview,” Chloe said, but could hardly manage to keep a straight face after having used the lame excuse again.
“Well, you may want to leave the door open next time, people are talking about you two.”
Chloe rolled her eyes. “Since when do I care what people think?”
Lex leaned down to Lana’s level and whispered conspiratorially: “The rumors are true, you know. We’re having a torrid affair.”
Lana blushed at his closeness and Chloe smacked him on the stomach.
“Anyway, I worked on my economics paper in here last night and I need to print it out for my next class.”
“Lana, you know my policy. The computers are for strictly Torch related business.”
“I know, but the ones in the library were down, again.”
“I’ll talk to the principal about that.” Lex assured her. He then addressed Chloe, taking her hands in his, he looked very serious. “Goodbye, goodbye, parting is such sweet sorrow.”
Chloe laughed at his ridiculous antics. “Lex?”
“Yes my love?”
“Get out of here.”
“Right.”
He left the two girls in the doorway, whistling a little tune down the corridor. They saw him saying hi to everyone who passed or stared.
Lana shook her head. “He’s a piece of work that one.”
Chloe made her way back to her desk. “Tell me about it.”
“Did he tell you what happened to his face?”
“No, just that he was fine.”
“Well, we all know that,” Lana let slip. At Chloe’s half-shocked, half-curious look, Lana quickly explained and changed the subject. “Well, I’m not blind. Anyway, I’m so glad high school is over. I’m afraid, sure, but the rumors and the backstabbing… I just want no part of that.”
“Yeah.” Chloe said, half listening. She was busy putting the things back on her desk, and making coherent piles of her research.
“I mean, I think it’s nice that they like me enough to name me valedictorian…”
“Oh, they were announcing it this morning, right. Well, congratulations!” Chloe said sincerely. She had already resigned herself to Lana making the speech.
“Thanks, but anyway, it’s just ridiculous. I mean, who would ever think you and Lex Luthor? I mean, he’s like, the world’s most eligible bachelor.”
“Well, I wouldn’t go that far.” Chloe thought aloud.
Lana pressed print on the computer, and waited for the paper to come out.
“Well what I mean is he’s… you know and you’re…you know…”
“Out of his league?”
“No, just…”
“Whatever Lana. Close the door on your way out, I’ve got a ton of work to do.”
Lana started walking away, but something got caught in her heal. She picked it up, perplexed.
“Um, Lex… Um, I think Lex forgot his tie.”
“Leave it on my desk, I’ll give it to him.” Chloe said, smiling to herself.
When Lana was gone Chloe closed and locked the door. She pulled Lex’s boxers out of her drawer and wished for one second that that’s what Lana had tripped on.
She had more work to do, but she decided to blast music and dance around for a song or two. Lex loved her. YEAH! And, the good thing about Lana being valedictorian was that Chloe knew exactly what she was going to say, so she could finish the issue early.
Lex stepped into his limousine and smiled. < I am so dead. I am finished. I love someone and she loves me. I needed to hear she loves me so much I accosted her in school. HIGH SCHOOL! This cannot end well. > But still he smiled on, he was elated, and screw everything else.
