A/N: I couldn't hold off any longer… I had to do this! This chapter marks the beginning of… *dundundun*… THE FUN! YAY!

Nothing too major yet, but things become, shall we say, clear… yeah.

Enjoy!

-Nymphean

Chapter 4

Tuesday Morning

Lex walked sleepily down the hall, stretching as he went. The sun was shining through the windows, clear and strong, and he squinted as he passed through the shaft of light. As he was about to head down the stairs, he noticed the door to his sister's room at the end of the hall was wide open, a rare thing for Lydia, who relished in her privacy. Then again, maybe she'd been too tired to think when she got in last night. Still… Lex started towards the door, curiosity pushing him along.

He peered through the door and into the outer bedchamber, which consisted of a mirror and a dresser, as well as three armchairs, a fireplace and French doors which lead out to the balcony. The door to her inner chambers was open a tiny crack, and Lex strode silently over to it.

He felt his stomach churn as he looked into the room. No luggage, no mess left from unpacking, no signs that the bed had been disturbed that night. Lex knew very well that the servants wouldn't have visited Lydia's room at this hour of the morning, and ice would start forming on the wall of every cavern in hell the day his sister made her own bed. Lex was beginning to worry.

Maybe her flight got delayed, He thought to himself. She said she'd be back yesterday. Yesterday MORNING, Said a little voice in the back of his mind. Lex quickly shoved the thought away and started downstairs. He found Marguerite, one of his maids, in the front sitting room.

"Marguerite," he said politely, in greeting, making the tiny Latino woman jump.

"Good morning, Mister Luthor," she said quickly. "I didn't see you there."

"That's quite all right. Has my sister called?"

"No-o…" Marguerite appeared to be thinking very hard. "No, for sure."

Lex furrowed his brow. "Thank you, Marguerite."

"You're welcome, Mister Luthor."

Lex practically ran up the stairs and into his office. Something wasn't right with the whole situation, and he'd be damned if he didn't find out what it was. He thumbed through the enormous Rolodex on his desk until he got to the 'W' section. "Wainthrop, Wayans… Wayne." He pulled out the card with Bruce's home, work and cellphone numbers on it and walked around the desk to where the phone was. He sat down and listened to Bruce's home phone ring once… twice… three times… He left a brief message and hung up. The same thing happened with the cell. Lex frowned worriedly as he dial the last number. It was answered on the second ring.

"Hello, Wayne Incorporated. How may I help you?"

"Bruce Wayne, Please," Lex said harshly. The young woman on the other end of the line paused.

"May I ask who's calling?"

"Lex Luthor." The woman breathed in rather quickly, and Lex fought the urge to smile sadistically. Most of the time, he hated the power his name had, but sometimes it was a good thing.

"One moment, Sir… I'll put you through to Mr. Wayne."

Lex waited for what he thought was considerably more than 'one moment', and finally the awful muzac on the line stopped and a rich voice greeted him.

"Bruce Wayne."

"Bruce, it's Lex." He tried to force the desperate, worried tone from his voice.

"Lex, Hi. How can I help you?" Lex frowned again.

"I was just wondering if my sister's left yet. She hasn't arrived, and I was wondering if you knew when her flight left."

There was a long pause, and then, "Your sister? Lex, I don't know what you're talking about." Lex felt his stomach turning cartwheels.

"She went to Gotham on Saturday night to see you."

"No-o…" Bruce paused, evidently thinking. "Are you sure she was coming to see me?"

"Positive." Lex couldn't disguise the worry in his voice. "You mean she never found you?"

"No… I never saw Lydia… I haven't spoken to her since the party."

Lex squeezed his eyes shut. "Shit. Bruce?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you alert the authorities there, get them to be on the lookout for her?"

"Certainly." Bruce sighed. "God… I hope she's alright."

"Yeah," Lex said distractedly. "Thanks, Bruce."

"I'll keep you posted."

"Okay. Bye."

"Talk to you soon."

Lex hung up the phone before his friend, and put his head down on his desk. Shit. Now what do I do?

*****That Evening*****

Clark sat on the couch in the loft, trying to concentrate on the book he was reading. And failing. Miserably. He hadn't spoken to Lex since the night he'd called to invite him to the movies, and he was feeling awful about it. Awful for ditching his friend because of some stupid, insignificant news, awful for being so stupid about everything. But most of all, awful because he hadn't seen Lex in what felt like forever, and he wanted to, which was quite possibly the worst and most disturbing thing of all.

He heard the sound of hay crunching under someone's shoes, and his first thought was Lex. But the staggering, uneven footsteps didn't sound like Lex Luthor's. Clark frowned and peered over the edge of the loft. "Oh my God…"

There, below him, was Lydia Luthor, staggering around like a rowdy drunk after closing time. Clark hurried down the ladder to greet the girl. "Lydia, hey! What're you doing here?" When the girl looked up at him, Clark could clearly see from the blank expression on her face that she was drunk. Her clothes were wrinkled and her hair was a mess. Clark raised an eyebrow. Another side to Lydia Luthor that I hadn't discovered. "Hey, you in there?" He put his arms around her to hold her up straight and make sure she didn't fall down.

Lydia chuckled. "Hello, Mr. Kent!" She leaned her head backwards so she could see his face. "Couldn't wait to get your hands on me, could you?"

"You're drunk," Clark stated flatly, holding her at arms length. Lydia pouted.

"You're no fun."

Clark rolled his eyes. "Can you get up the ladder?" Lydia leaned to the side, looking dangerously as if she was about to topple over. "Okay… I'll carry you…" He put one arm around Lydia and shepherded her towards the ladder. "Hold on…" He began to climb, one handed, and Lydia moved her feet from rung to rung. Somehow, they made it to the top, and Clark guided her to the sofa. "Sit down," he ordered, pointing, and Lydia obliged. She was obviously past the laughing, screaming, atrocious dancing stage of drunkenness, and was now mellow and complacent. Clark was reminded of a living rag doll as she flopped down in the couch. "Now talk. Why are you here?" He sat down beside her.

"Nowhere else to go."

"You could go home," he suggested.

"Nope. No one to talk to."

"Lex?"

"Doesn't understand. Doesn't care."

Clark furrowed his brow. "Of course he cares about you. You're his family."

"Lionel's his family, and he fucking hates him." Lydia slurred.

"Touché." Clark looked at Lydia's blank face. "But he doesn't hate you, trust me."

"He acts like he does."

"That's because you act like you hate him."

"But I'm only joking half the time. I'm his sister, I'm SUPPOSED to act that way."

"You're very logical for a drunk person." Lydia smiled.

"I'm not that drunk… I've had the whole flight back to get it out of my system."

Clark looked at her questioningly. "Flight back from where?"

"Well, first there was the flight back from Gotham, but that was days ago, and then I went to New York, and then back to Metropolis. I took the six-seater back from there to here… couldn't really drive."

Clark blinked, overwhelmed. "That's a lot of flying for one weekend."

"Well, I couldn't stay in Gotham. I had a feeling I'd be crashing some parties if I tried."

"Why were you in Gotham."

Lydia shook her head. "Long story."

"I've got a while."

"Bruce." Lydia closed her eyes. "It was Bruce."

Clark raised an eyebrow. "Wayne?"

"The very same." Lydia turned and looked at him. "How do you know Bruce?"

"You introduced us…"

"Oh yeah. Right. Vodka one, Lydia zero." She sighed. "Anyway, I was going to see him. We had this thing… a couple years ago, and the other night I thought…" she dropped off, shaking her head. "Anyway, it's never going to happen again."

"Why not?" Clark was hooked into her story, however drunkenly it was told.

"I saw him kissing this girl… some catty bitch with really bad hair… we never really broke it off, you know… I just went back to Italy. I guess I was hoping…" She paused. "I guess I was hoping he'd…" And suddenly, she was crying, and Clark felt the instinctive urge to comfort her. And so he did. Lydia sobbed into his chest, her tears creating growing wet spots on his shirt as he patted her back and held her to him.

"It's okay," He whispered in her ear. "It'll get better. He's obviously not the right guy for you…"

"But I wanted him to be," Lydia sobbed, "I wanted him to be so much…"

Clark felt his heart aching for the poor girl in his arms. She seemed so tiny and fragile compared to him, and he wished he could offer her the comfort she was seeking from Bruce. But he just couldn't… he didn't feel anything for her except a kind of brotherly sympathy. Plus, she was so weak, he was almost afraid the he would break her.

"Lydia, did I ever tell you about Lana?"

*****

Lex stepped quickly into the empty barn, almost bounding up the ladder. "Clark?" he called out in a panicked voice as he reached the top.

"Shh…" Came Clark's voice from the sofa.

"Have you seen…" Lex stopped dead and almost collapsed. There, lying against his friend's chest, was his sister. Lex felt torn between falling on the floor in relief and pounding the shit out of both Lydia and Clark for worrying him like that.

"She finally fell asleep, after two hours of crying like a fountain…" Clark kept his voice low, so as not to wake the sleeping girl. All feelings of animosity faded from Lex as he realized that Clark had offered his sister the comfort she so obviously needed. For what, he did not know, but Clark would tell him, no doubt.

"I've been looking everywhere for her," He said quietly, sitting on the edge of the couch. "I was worried out of my mind…"

"Sorry. I would have called you, but I think she might have killed herself or someone else if I'd left her alone." Clark smiled apologetically. "She was really torn up about Bruce…"

"What about Bruce? I called him… he said he hadn't even seen her!"

"I know. But she saw him, Lex… specifically, she saw him kissing another woman."

Lex furrowed his brow. "What? Why should that matter?"

"She's in love with him, Lex." Clark's frank expression told Lex that he was telling the truth.

"Oh. I didn't know she was… emotionally attached." He looked at the floor. "She usually doesn't let her feelings out to other people."

"Well, she was pretty drunk, so I guess she forgot to be guarded."

"Oh." Lex looked back at Clark. "Thank you for looking after her."

"It's okay… I don't even really mind. She's good to talk to… even when she's drunk. We talked for a long time."

"What about?" Lex's curiosity was piqued.

"About Men, women, Bruce, Lana, Love, Hate, You…" Lex put up a hand to stop him.

"You talked about me?"

"Why not? Are you hiding something?" Lex felt his inner voice screaming at the irony.

""What could I possibly be hiding?"

"I don't know, Lex… maybe you're better suited to answer that question."

"You're even starting to talk like her," Lex said irritably. "It's unnerving."

"Don't dodge the question, Lex."

"You didn't ask a question, I did. Ask me a question and I'll answer it."

Clark paused, looking Lex in the eye. "Why didn't you tell me?" He asked finally. Lex felt worry swelling up inside of him.

"Tell you what?" He replied coolly. Clark shook his head.

"You're still trying to dodge the question. Don't do that!"

Lex sighed. "I don't know what you're taking about, Clark."

"Lydia told me about you, Lex… She told me. That you're…"

Lex squeezed his eyes shut. Thank you EVER so much, Lydia! "What did she tell you, that I'm gay?" He laughed. "That's the alcohol talking. She's been known to say things like that about people when she's drunk. She said it about my father once… that had some interesting results."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah… she's a lousy drinker."

"She told me that when she was sober, Lex."

Lex bit his lip. "Oh?"

"Yeah." Clark caught the older man's eye. "She told me the rest of it tonight." Lex swallowed hard.

"The rest of it?"

Clark shook his head. "You really should have told me, Lex." He reached out and put a hand on Lex's shoulder. "REALLY."

Lex held his breath, hoping against all hope that what he was hearing was real, that he wasn't just misinterpreting everything. He probed Clark's eyes, trying to find any hint of ridicule or jest in them, but all he could see was worry and truth. "Clark…" He almost whispered the boy's name, "I'm not sure I understand…" Clark moved his hand to Lex's mouth, and he covered his lips with one finger.

"Shh… You know you do…"

Lex closed his eyes, feeling like someone was untying knots inside of him. He felt disconnected, undone, confused. This wasn't happening, this could never happen, not for him… and then he opened his eyes, only to be greeted by the perfect, endless green ones that were always in his head. He'd started dreaming in that particular shade of green. If there was one thing in the world that could make Lex Luthor want to write a sonnet, it was those eyes.

"Clark… please tell me you're not joking…" Clark smiled slowly, that beautiful shy smile that Lex loved more than all the others.

"Lex, no…" Clark shook his head. "I don't think I could joke about this…"

Lex felt like laughing and crying at the same time. "I think it's going to take me a long time to believe what you're saying."

Clark's smile grew a little wider. "I barely believe it myself."

"Wait…" Lex hated himself for having this thought, but it was nagging him, and he had to voice his concern. "What about Lana?"

Clark shook his head. "I've been fooling myself. I needed to feel like something in my life made sense, so I went after Lana. But I don't feel anything when I'm away from her, don't want to pick up the phone every five minutes just to hear her voice. That place belongs to someone else." Lex felt a stupid grin spreading on his face.

"If my sister wasn't sleeping on top of you right now…" he began. Clark laughed quietly and looked down at Lydia, smiling fondly.

"We should really try to get her home without waking her… She's had a really tough few days." Clark shifted slowly, maneuvering his arms so that he could pick up the sleeping girl. Lydia moaned quietly in her sleep and buried her face in the crook of his neck as Clark stood up.

"How do you plan to get down the ladder?" Lex asked, amused. Clark shrugged and freed one hand, then made his way to the ladder.

Again, despite incredible odds, Clark managed to make it down the ladder without anyone getting hurt. Lydia's eyes opened momentarily, and she looked up at him blearily.

"Go back to sleep," he whispered, patting her head. The exhausted young woman closed her eyes when she was told and was soon breathing regularly again. Lex shook his head, amazed.

"I can't believe it… you've tamed her." Clark laughed under his breath.

"Someone had to." He slid Lydia into the back seat of Lex's car, eyeing the seatbelts dubiously.

"Don't worry about it," Lex said. "I'll drive slowly."

"Mm Hm, sure you will." Clark looked at him, eyebrows raised.

"I will. I swear." Clark's smile disappeared, replaced by a more serious expression. He took a step forward, towards the older Luthor.

"We really do have to talk, you know."

Lex nodded. "I know. We will, tomorrow. I can pick you up from school."

Clark grinned. "Okay. Now get home, before she wakes up." Lex returned the smile and got into the driver's seat. He rolled down the window and was just about to drive away when Clark put a hand on his arm. "Lex…"

"Yeah?"

"I…" the boy paused, "I'll see you tomorrow."

Lex shot the boy an odd look. "Okay… tomorrow."

As Lex drove away, Clark felt like kicking himself. Why did you have to go and almost say that? You idiot… take it slow. You've got him to admit everything… don't lose him now. A small smile crept onto Clark's face as he watched Lex's car disappear. Never again would he ever say one bad word about Lydia Luthor. She would always be his benefactress, the one who started things rolling.

God bless you, Lydia Luthor, he thought to himself as he opened the door to his house and retreated inside.