Title: Everything I do
Fandom: Smallville
Pairing: Clark/Lex (is there any other?)
Rating: PG
Author: Lillian Luthor
E-mail: issokyahoo.com
Feedback: sure, I'm a bitch for it... I'll even settle for flames if you have nothing good to say
Archive: if you care enough to want it, you have it. just let me know, or whatever...
Disclaimer: they're not mine, nothing this pretty has ever been mine... I'm just borrowing, in an amateur and unprofitable kind of way.
Notes: Attempt at fulfilling a exhortation-in-disguise challenge. Well Amy, you didn't mention anything about killing your plot-bunny, so here we go... I'll try not to hurt it too much, promise ; )
--o--
"You're surprised? Lizzie, let me tell you, I'm surprised!" the father of the bride chuckled "I never expected her to actually marry him. Sure, they had been dating for three years, but I never thought I'd live to see her settle down"
"She's not pregnant, is she?" some woman in a emerald-green gown asked, her tone ill-meaning
"Oh please, even if she were pregnant I wouldn't have thought she would marry" the bride's maid snarky remark came at once "I can't believe she deserted me... I'm officially the last single woman in this family now. I've gone from being a strong example of women power, to be a sad and lonely old maiden"
"Well Lois, if you stopped waiting for Superman and started paying attention to the real men around you, like that nice Kent young man, you wouldn't be single at your age..." some old aunt decided, grabbing another glass of champagne from a passing waiter "Your clock is ticking darling, and it's not ticking backwards..." she wiggled her eyebrows
"Aunt Bea, I hate you" Lois replied, her deadly glare lost for the most part on the already tipsy old woman "She's not changing her name, is she?"
"Chloe? She probably made the poor fellow change his name..." Gabe laughed happily; he had seen his only daughter walk to the altar only a few hours ago, and now he was at her wedding reception surrounded by family and close friends... what was there not to be happy about?
"Speaking of which, here comes the new Mr. Sullivan..." Lois grinned, noticing the approaching tuxedo-clad man
"It's still Mr. Olsen, I think..." the bridegroom smiled good-naturedly, joining the small group "Is Clark here yet, I haven't seen him since the church..."
"I'm sure he's around, I see Martha and Jon over there..." Gabe pointed vaguely in some direction; the room was crowded enough that it was almost impossible to see anyone who was further than six feet.
--o--
"Well, it was about time you married, Chloe" she chuckled "Your dad kept insisting my children would be the only grandchildren he'd ever have, and insisting they call him 'pops'... he's a great guy, your dad"
"Yeah, he is..." she smiled in return "And he's probably right, Lana.... just because I've married doesn't mean I'm planning on procreating anytime soon... I mean with my career, and Jimmy's..." she paused for a moment "Oh my god, Lana, isn't that Laurie holding a glass of champagne?"
"Oh my god!" Lana all but yelled, her eyes wide as footballs "Pete, get that glass out of your daughter's hand!" she demanded, but Pete was too distracted talking to some old man to even listen to her "Men!" she sighed in defeat, stalking towards her little girl, who was presently taking sips from the alcoholic beverage.
She couldn't help it but laugh at the scene that unfolded, of Lana snatching the glass from the kid's hand and waving it in front of Pete's face, who in turn looked like a kicked puppy in his undeniable guilt. Her old uncle Thomas was even softly shaking his head in disapproval as he stared at the Rosses, and his expression was so somber even Lana ended up laughing, against her better judgement. It took about a second for Pete to start laughing as well.
"Well, it appears Mr. Ross won't have to sleep in his office tonight, after all" a voice from behind her called, just when old uncle Thomas was scolding both Pete and Lana, who at least had the decency of looking contrite.
"Lex, you made it!" she yelled happily, turning around to jump into her friend's arms; it was amazing how, after they had gotten over some pretty important differences, they had become really fond of each other
"Of course I made it, I wouldn't miss it for the world..." he smiled, giving her a brief twirl before setting her back on her feet "How many times does one get to see the infamous Chloe Sullivan tying the knot... I'm surprised this isn't pumped up with press"
"I am the press, Lex..." she chuckled, poking him in the arm "So where have you been? I haven't seen you in what seems like centuries... and, where is Clark?"
"I don't know" Lex sighed, his smile faltering "Probably with Lois, or the Kents... you know he doesn't much like to have me around publicly, something about resting him credibility in his job..."
"Oh" she frowned in understanding, kicking herself mentally "Listen Lex, don't take it personally, you know how he is about hard work and not buying his way into his job..."
"I know..." he murmured, glancing at his watch in a gesture that Chloe quickly recognized as the prelude before bolting, and that was so not happening; it was her wedding, and her perfect wedding had Lex Luthor in it
"Lex, come on, Clark really likes you... you're definitely his best friend, even if he's a moron about it..." she sighed, for a moment wishing she had a huge chunk of Kryptonite to hit Clark over the head for being so dense
"Well, I'll settle for what I can get..." Lex tried to smile, failing miserably, and wasn't that an image she hated
"Oh, come here..." she said, taking him in her arms for a hug "Don't do this to yourself, Lex... you know I love Clark, but he's not worth this..." she told him tenderly, hoping Lex would listen to her yet somehow knowing he wouldn't "I know you're in love with him, but sometimes I think love is not for Clark; he's always been too wrapped up in his little world to notice... I moved on a long time ago, and you should do the same thing Lex"
"I know" he sighed, clinging to her for a moment longer before slowly pulling back "I'm trying, okay? Now you just have fun, go be an ecstatic newly wed, and don't worry about me... I promise I won't bolt" he smiled at her "I'll just go say hi to your dad"
"You do that" she smiled back, while mentally considering how much Kryptonite it actually took to give Clark diarrhea without actually killing him
--o--
"Where the hell have you been, Smallville?" Lois' loud voice snapped at him as he entered the room "You are a mess! And what happened to your hair? Did you get lost on your way to the men's room?"
"I'm sorry Lois, I kind of forgot to... um... feed my cat" he improvised, flinching mentally for being so lousy at it "I was only gone a minute"
"You left my cousin's wedding to go feed your stupid cat?" she asked incredulously, sometimes unable to believe how socially-challenged Clark Kent actually was "She was asking about you a minute ago"
"Thanks Lois, I'll go find her now" he assured her, quickly stalking away from her before she asked any more questions, and chuckling to himself when he heard what he thought was Chloe's aunt Bea's voice reminding Lois she was going to die a maiden if she kept treating men like that. He gathered she was going to die a maiden, at least if she insisted in taking pride of being 'Superman's bride'... so not going to happen.
"Kent!" Chloe's yell interrupted his line of thought "What are you grinning so nastily about?" she asked with a raised eyebrow
"Nothing, Chloe" he assured her, trying to compose himself "How's the party going? I'm sorry I had to go for a minute there..."
"It's okay..." she patted his shoulder "Remembered you left an apple pie in the over?"
"Yeah... that was a bad one" he admitted, rolling his eyes at the memory of the way Lois had mocked him about it for about a month "It wasn't as much the bad excuse as it was that I actually make apple pie..." he sighed
"You make good apple pie, I'm actually kind of bugged you didn't bring any to my wedding party..." she said, only half-jokingly "Your mom's is better, though... of course, you're a jerk and she's not, so there" she said, apparently out of nowhere, and he was trying to decide if it was some sort of joke he didn't understand when suddenly she smiled brightly and punched him not-quite-softly in the chest "Gotta go be a bride and all that stuff, you have fun, okay?"
"Sure Chlo..." he said to her already retreating form, taking a full breath for the first time since leaving the church; it was just his luck that someone had decided to attempt to kill senator Rochester today of all days. Stupid Rochester. He actually quite deserved to be shot, really, but he couldn't just go around choosing whom to save...
He looked around the room, trying to see where his parents were, but couldn't find them in the big crowd. It was just as well Pete was only a few feet away, holding Melinda, his youngest, by the arm.
"Hey Pete, Mel..." he greeted them politely, smiling down a the little girl
"Hi uncle Clark, where were you? Aunt Chloe thought you weren't coming, but I told her you would..." she smiled brightly up at him "Pick me up?" she asked with a toothy grin
"Sure Mel, come here" he agreed, lifting her easily in his arms "Where's Lana?" he asked Pete
"That's what I was trying to find out" his friend said, shaking his head "Uncle Thomas just finished abusing us a minute ago, and then she was gone with Lex and I... I kind of lost Laura" he admitted, quite embarrassed "Will you look out for Mel while I look for Laurie?"
"Yeah, sure, Mel and I are the best friends" he smiled, earning himself a proud grin from the little girl "Is Lex here?"
"Yeah, he looked crappy..." Pete confessed, his eyes still scanning the crowd "I asked him if he was alright, but Lana insisted it was a woman's job... Oh! There she is!" he brightened up as he caught sight of his oldest daughter "I'll be right back..."
--o--
"No, no, you don't get it, it's not about the money... it's the principle of the thing" Lex insisted, putting down his now empty glass; the discussion had been going on for about ten minutes, and it was quickly becoming tiring
"Well, but I am sure there is plenty of money coming in from this..." Jonathan insisted as well, stubborn as a mule as always; he wouldn't be good 'ol pa Kent if he weren't, Lex gathered
"Not so much, no... there will be money coming out of it eventually, I'm not saying there won't be, but right now there's more money flowing out than there is flowing in..." he sighed, his eyes pleading with Martha's, who looked back at him with sympathetic eyes "In medical research, millions can be spent before something is achieved, if anything... so it's not about the possible earnings, but about the possibility of making a difference..."
"Well, you do have the money..." Jonathan said matter-of-factly, obviously not finding it very merit-worthy that Lex was investing in cancer research, and researching himself... Lex had to ask himself why he was there anyway, only to remember he had seen Martha and decided to say hello before realizing she wasn't alone. Fortunately, as it usually went, it was also her who let him off the hook.
"Jonathan, leave Lex alone for a minute..." she smiled when the music started playing louder; several couples had already started for the dance floor "Come on, let's dance..."
"Of course, Martha" Jonathan smiled tenderly at his wife, escorting her away from the table with barely a nod of acknowledgment to Lex. At least he hadn't had to meet that annoying Lois Lane, he sighed as he started contemplating the dancing couples before him. From across the room, Clark was carrying Pete's Mel, and staring at him with a strange expression on his face... their eyes met over the crowd on the dance floor.
--o--
Mel was telling him about the pony his dad had given her for her birthday, two weeks ago, when he glanced around the room and noticed Lex. He was sitting with his parents on the other side of the room, apparently in deep conversation with his father. His dad had gone a long way towards liking Lex, or at least respecting him, in the last few years, but sometimes he just couldn't help himself; he had hated Luthors for too long, and it was simply out of his control sometimes.
He was about to cross the room and distract his dad, when his mom stood up and his dad followed her, nodding somewhat courtly to Lex; it took him a moment to realize the music was louder now, and some couples were already gathering in the dance floor. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned his head to find Pete back, carrying Laurie; when he looked back at Lex, their eyes met. Suddenly, the lyrics to the song started...
Look into my eyes, and you will see
what you mean to me
Lex's eyes were steady on his, with a look that he had seen one and a thousand times in his best friend's face, and yet it seemed like it was the first time he saw it. There was warmth, hope... love, in those light blue eyes...
Search your heart, search your souland when you find me there, you'll search no more
It was the same look that made him grow weak at the knees and promptly look away; it was the look that made him stammer and babble bad jokes. It was the look that, he realized now, made him look back at Lex with the same eyes. With the same warmth, and the same hope... the same love. He didn't realize when he put Mel down and started walking across the dance floor towards Lex; he didn't know, either, how could he have never realized how much Lex meant to him...
--o--
He wanted to look away, to pretend he didn't have the feelings that he did, but he couldn't tear his eyes from Clark's. His best friend's eyes were conveying the same emotions his probably did, and he had to remind himself that Clark didn't, in fact, share them... He wasn't even listening to the song playing until Clark slowly put the little girl down, never taking his eyes off Lex's, and started walking across the dancing crowd towards him...
Don't tell me it's not worth trying for
Don't tell me it's not worth dying for
His breath caught in his throat, his heart pounding quicker in his chest, as he suddenly realized Clark was not stopping, not changing direction... Clark was standing in front of him, his eyes looking at him –and only him- the way he had always dreamt they would, and he was holding his hand out to him.
You know it's true
"Will you dance with me, Lex?" Clark's soft voice asked, sounding both uncertain and hopeful at the same time; like his own voice would sound, but he didn't need to speak.
Everything I do, I do it for you
He just had to take that hand, and let himself be lead to the dance floor.
--o--
He didn't know what he was doing, he didn't know what would happen –or what he expected to happen. His heart was beating in his chest in a way that it never did; only for Lex. He could lift a bus, carry a plane through the air, and all Lex had to do was look at him; look at him the way he was now.
Look into your heart, you will find
There's nothing there to hide
Every seconds seemed to last forever, and they were already in the dancing floor, surrounded by dozens of faceless people, slowly swaying to the rhythm of the music, their hands at each other's hips, their movements flowing and perfectly coordinated, their eyes never leaving each other's.
Take me as I am, take my life
I will it up, I would sacrifice it
In that moment, in that private moment, nothing mattered; not Superman, not the Luthor name, certainly not the people around them. All that mattered was Lex, who was still looking at him with those beautiful loving eyes, and how could he have not know? He didn't even realize when he slid a hand slowly up Lex's back, to rest in the back of his neck. He didn't realize when he leaned ever so softly to capture his best friend's lips in a tender kiss; a kiss that seemed to go on and on, as they slowly swayed to the music.
Don't tell me it's not worth fighting for
I can't help it, there's nothing I want more
When the tip of Lex's tongue softly parted his lips, he sighed into the kiss and slid his other hand up to Lex's waist; he knew then, with Lex's arms locked against his back, and Lex's mouth on his, that they were sealing their destinies. He didn't understand how he couldn't have known, but he knew that he would no longer be able to live without it...
You know it's true
Everything I do, I do it for you