(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 10

"Oh, wow" Chloe gasped for about the fourth time as she and Lex walked down the Las Vegas Strip just as it was getting dark, taking in the bright lights and different kinds of people, "This is amazing" she enthused, though her fiancé looked less impressed.

"I guess it is, if this is your first time here" he agreed as he watched her, watching the world.

Vegas held little thrill for the man who had gambled away a fair part of his fortune in the surrounding clubs, and taken a few of the dancers back to his hotel room. Yes, he had a lot of memories of this place, and similar from other places. That version of himself was long gone, the wild and reckless boy who cared nothing for friends, family, or fortune. In place of that person, Lex had started to become another, one far too like his father for comfort. Chloe had changed all that.

Working with this young woman against Lionel had given them a reason to spend more tome together, though little of it was enjoyable back then. Plotting to bring a man down, send him to jail for the rest of his life, it was hardly romantic. Still it was done, and done for the best, and the outcome had been a friendship that only grew stronger as Lex kept Chloe at a safe house and was her sole visitor and friend for several months.

Long weary weeks of work, meetings, the press, and all were borne solely out of knowing that Lex could count on Chloe to brighten his weekends. She smiled throughout it all, and revelled in his conversation about the comings and goings in Smallville. They talked about anything and everything, and an unlikely friendship slowly became something more. He'd felt it sooner than she had, or so he thought, but it was there and started to become obvious quite quickly. There was a connection and an attraction, but neither had been willing then to make the first move.

In all honesty, Lex could not remember a single one of those good reasons that had caused him to hold back. Sure, he knew she was still only seventeen, but age was just a number and she was so very mature, not a naive little princess like Lana Lang or similar. Chloe was all women, in all kinds of ways, and very soon she would be his woman, his wife, the one he would spend the rest of his life with, loving her unconditionally.

"Lex?" she said more loudly, her voice cutting through the fog in his brain as well as the general hustle and bustle noise of the Strip, "Are you okay?"

"I was just thinking" he told her, turning to face her and smiling as he ran his fingers through her hair, "You know I can't imagine my life without you in it? You've made me a better man, Chloe, and I can't figure out what I did to deserve you"

"Must've been something pretty awful" she joked, and though he seemed to pick up on the humour, he didn't really laugh, just stared down at her in that intense way that made her whole body quiver in the best way, "Lex, I'm not going anywhere" she promised him, "We came here to get married, remember?" she told him, flashing her diamond under his nose, "This is what I want"

"Me too" he said, a genuine smile on his lips as he leant in to kiss her softly, "Now come on" he said the moment they parted, "We have a wedding to plan"

Lois and Clark made pretty good time, landing in Vegas early the next morning. Lois had maxed out her credit card paying for the flights and with the possible need for a hotel and such still to come she was going to in some debt, but that didn't matter to Miss Lane. She was ever determined to stop this before it went too far, before her cousin made the biggest mistake of her life by marrying Lex Luthor. Both the thought of the wedding day and more so the wedding night made Lois physically wince, not least because it reminded her of how close she and Clark had come to cementing their relationship in some very definite way.

Not that they had a relationship, other than a vague, undefined, awkward kind of friendship. Now they were friends that had made out twice and very nearly went way further than that yesterday afternoon. Hell, in the dream Lois had they'd come even closer, though Clark obviously knew nothing of that.

The young Mr Kent was as hell-bent of saving Chloe, and to a lesser extent Lex, from the huge mistake they were about to make under the influence of red kryptonite. He was also as embarrassed, if not more so, than Lois at having to spend time with her like this after what they had done. She tried to make light of it and then ignore it, but Clark couldn't let go so easily. He tried to sleep on the plane, but every time he closed his eyes and relaxed he could see it all again, feel kisses on his skin, hands inside his clothes as Lois moved beneath him.

As much as Clark tried to will away the memories and thoughts that fantasised beyond what actually happened, he couldn't do it. In fact he was seriously starting to think about Lois as girlfriend material, as crazy as that sounded even in his own head! As much as they fought, he had to admit she was fiercely loyal to her family and cared a great deal for Chloe. She was surprisingly respectful to his parents and helped out at the farm if they needed a hand. In her heart, Lois Lane was a good person, he realised, she just liked to hide behind an angry young woman stance quite a lot of the time. When she smiled she was pretty, beautiful even, and Clark wondered how he hadn't seen that before. Perhaps he just hadn't cared to look, so blinded was he by Lana. All this with Chloe and Lex, hanging out so much with Lois, it had at least had the advantage of taking his mind off the girl who had run off to Paris and left him.

"Earth to Kent!" Lois tried one more time to get his attention as he weaved off the wrong way in the airport and she almost lost him, "Geez, where'd you go?" she asked, both his eyes and hers shifting at the same moment and looking down at where her hand was on his arm.

The simple action shouldn't mean anything, but it just served to remind the pair where touching of any kind had led them to before. Lois retracted her fingers in a second, and pointed out the direction they should be going in instead.

"I was just... Doesn't matter" Clark muttered as he pushed past Lois and they headed on out of the airport just as a new morning dawned over Nevada.

A few hours later...

"The Riviera, Lois?" Clark shook his head as they exited the over-sized over-priced resort, "How are we going to pay for that?"

"Relax, Smallville, it's only for one night... hopefully" she told him, "And after this is over, believe me a certain Mr Luthor will be paying of my credit card bill after what he's done"

"We don't know that he's done anything" Clark defended his one time friend, though he didn't always trust the guy himself.

"He touched my cousin!" Lois yelled, catching a little too much attention from passers by, and Clark shot her a look that told her to keep it down.

"She was kind of touching him too, Lois" he reminded her, "And besides, we both know that it's not their fault. The water is making them act out of character"

Lois couldn't answer that, since she knew how right he was. Unfortunately, she also knew that her attraction to Clark wasn't one hundred percent borne of infected water. He was hot, she'd have to blind not to know that, and so decent that it drove her crazy. Unlocking his wild side had given Lois a glimpse of the kind of guy Clark Kent could be if he just loosened up a little, and Lois liked that guy. Of course, she wasn't about to tell him that, she could do without him getting a big head and/or going all weird on her, or should that just be more weird, since he was already jumping like a scalded cat every time so much as their elbows touched!

"So, where do we start?" she said, looking down at the list of wedding chapels they'd managed to obtain, "There are so many of these damn things..."

"I guess there has to be, with all the people wanting to get married and all" Clark said unhelpfully as he and Lois leaned over each other to see the list.

"I'm trying to remember anything Chloe might have said, any clue as to which of these places she would choose" her cousin shook her head as she realised nothing was familiar or obviously likely.

"Hold on a second, Lois... Little Chapel of the Flowers" Clark said suddenly, his arm appearing over her shoulder and finger landing on the page where the name was written.

"And Chloe likes flowers?" Lois said, having a vague thought that she probably did, but not really getting it.

"I remember at Lex's last wedding, she loved the flowers" he explained, "She made such a big deal about it, about wanting a whole lot of flowers at her wedding one day"

"Okay..." Lois began, checking the location of the chapel on the map, "That's miles away, and we're running out of time..." she said, with a shake of her head, only when he turned around Clark was gone, and no amount of yelling summoned him back.

"Are you sure about this, Chloe?" Lex asked her as they stood outside the little chapel she had selected as the one she would most like to get married in.

She had managed to get a fancy dress to wear, something with a little slink and a little class, which was odd for Vegas but Chloe loved it. She made a beautiful bride, there was no doubt about it and Lex was the smartest and proudest groom ever as he waited for their turn to become man and wife.

"I've never been as sure about anything as I am about spending the rest of my life with you" Chloe told him with a smile that lit up her entire face.

"I actually meant are you sure about this chapel?" Lex explained, though her words had made him very happy, "It's such a cheap little place..."

"The money doesn't matter" Chloe shook her head, "It's the most beautiful place, a fairytale kind of place, and perfect for our wedding"

"Our wedding would be perfect wherever it was" Lex assured her, "because in the end I'll be married to you, and you will be Mrs Chloe Luthor" he said as his hands went to her face and he leaned in to kiss her.

"Hmm" she murmured dreamily against his lips, "A perfect wedding day, and then a perfect wedding night" she sighed as they parted, looking forward to the whole thing immensely and not having to wait long for the fun to begin it seemed as a woman came out of the chapel and told them it was their turn.

"Now or never" Chloe smiled, as she picked up the edge of her dress so she wouldn't trip on it and turned towards the door.

"I choose now" Lex told her with a smile as he slipped his hand around hers and they went inside together, seen by the world for the last time as single people, soon to be a married couple.

To Be Continued...