A/N: So, I'm now also posting this on AO3, for reasons that I kinda-sorta explain on that site. You'll still be able to read everything on here, but if it's easier for you, the story is also (Update: so linking kind of failed, but on AO3 my username is bendyourspoon, and you should be able to find this story on my profile.)

Well, this one was tough to write, and it has very little editing, but I wanted to get it out to you, so here goes.

Chapter 13

Lana wanted to keep Lex from doing something terrible. Lex knew this. The thing was, though, that it had never really been about Lana.

He loved Lana, and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. That didn't make her the only important thing in his life… or even the most important. Lana's wishes were not his be-all end-all, especially when it came to Clark.

The casual observer would probably believe that Lex's mutual enmity with Clark was about Lana, but the truth was that she was a small piece in an infinitely more complex puzzle. Lex loved Lana. So did Clark. But Lex also loved Clark—they'd been like brothers—and the fact that that bridge had been burned was killing him.

Clark had hurt Lex more than anyone in his life possibly could, and, frankly, he was sick of letting things just lie between them.

But when it came to Lana, he would let her play her little games. If it eased her mind to think that she was protecting Clark by "distracting" Lex in the bedroom, then so be it. His plans for Clark were as good as done anyways.

Xx

"So, uh… your mother seems nice," she said, immediately cringing at how lame that had to have sounded.

"Yeah, she is," he said.

Chloe looked over at Jimmy, feeling incredibly awkward. The pair were sat on Jimmy's bed—he didn't have much private space. Chloe could feel the flashbacks from her summer as an intern coming on, and she shook the thoughts from her head. Right now was definitely not the time for those kinds of thoughts.

"I… I don't really know what to say right now," Chloe practically stammered.

"I know," he sighed, his hand moving to his forehead. "And I'm not trying to excuse how I treated you. That was pretty crappy."

"Yeah," she agreed. "It was."

"I just… wanted you to understand," Jimmy said. "It's not… I never set out to hurt anybody, least of all you. It's just that I don't do so well under pressure, and, well, my life is practically one big pressure cooker."

"I can imagine," Chloe breathed. He looked like a kicked puppy and it was all she could do not to reach over and embrace him. "Just tell me that you're sorry."

"Oh, I am," he said so quickly that she had to smile.

After a second, she said, "So, how long has your brother…?"

"He was diagnosed last year," Jimmy told her. "It wasn't long after that that mom got hurt and couldn't work anymore."

Before she could stop herself, Chloe put a comforting hand on Jimmy's shoulder. Why hadn't he told her this before? Having to take care of a brother with cancer was a lot to bear, especially if you didn't have anyone to talk to about it. He was barely even considered an adult in the law's eyes; Chloe knew she didn't always feel like she was actually a grown up.

"But I mean… what about your dad?" she asked.

"He sends what he can," Jimmy replied. "It only really covers the rent and some of the cost of food. With Jayden… there's a lot more we need."

"Yeah, I guess I get that," Chloe said quietly. She felt… horrible. She wanted to offer to help, but there wasn't really anything she could do… was there? From everything she'd learned today, and everything she'd already known about Jimmy, she knew that if there was something she could do for his brother, he would have asked her already. He wasn't the type of guy to let his pride get in the way.

"So, you didn't tell anyone because…?"

"Because I didn't want to be pitied," Jimmy sighed. "And because I didn't want either you or Lois to feel like it was anyone's problem but mine. I didn't… want it to be about that."

"Ok," Chloe nodded. She could understand that. "I may not be able to do anything about your job—heaven knows I've had more than my share of strings pulled to even get where I am—but there is one thing that I might be able to help you with."

Jimmy looked up at her, his eyes a mix of careful hope and outright skepticism. "And what would that be?"

"I can find out exactly what role my cousin played in this," she said, "and kick her ass if need be."

This elicited a slight chuckle from the man next to her. "You know," she said, "I'm willing to call you my friend again… if you want."

He looked up at her and smiled.

"But I'm going to say this right now, so you can't ever say that I led you on. I am not looking for anything more than friendship right now. Now, if that changes, and if I decide that I want to be more than just friends with you, I will let you know. Otherwise, friends."

"I guess that's more than I have a right to ask for," Jimmy smiled.

Xx

"No need to thank me, Smallville," Lois's voice followed the door opening, and Clark didn't even want to know. "I am a genius."

"I feel like I'm going to regret asking you this, but what are talking about?" Clark asked.

He was seated on the couch trying to make sense of the paperwork in front of him, but he'd been staring at it so long that it was all kind of blurring together. Lois took his question as an invitation to sit down next to him, squashing any hope he had of actually getting anything accomplished any time soon.

"Chloe's honor has been avenged," she said mysteriously.

"And that's all I need to know, thank you," he said to her. "You are not going to make me an accessory to whatever it is you've done."

"Wouldn't dream of it," she said, before gesturing to the paperwork and raising an eyebrow. He opened his mouth to explain, but before he said anything, Lois grabbed the papers from his hand. "CKU, huh? Thinking of going back to school?"

"Yeah, I just think it's time," he said.

"Huh," she said. "Well, I'm proud of you."

Clark did a double take. Had Lois Lane actually just said that to him? "I'm sorry, Lois… I don't think I heard you. Could you say that again?"

"Shut up, Smallville," she said, glaring at him. "I just came by to say that nobody hurts my cousin and walks away unscathed."

"Um," Clark said, feeling a little uncomfortable all of a sudden. "Is that a threat?"

"What?" Lois said, looking shocked that he'd even suggest such a thing. The look passed, before he saw the realization wash over her face. "Um. Yeah… no. Chloe said that if I refrained from putting you in the hospital that she would proofread some of my articles and give me some tips."

Clark couldn't help the sudden bout of laughter. He couldn't even decide which part of what Lois had just said was the funniest, but it all just struck him as hilarious for some reason.

"Shut. Up," she said again.

The two of them just looked at each other for a couple of seconds before his door was opened once again, and all hell broke loose.

"What the hell did you do?" Chloe came in, angrier than Clark had ever seen her, which was saying something.

Both Lois and Clark stood, prompting Chloe to look at them both. When she looked at Clark, she said, "Please tell me you had nothing to do with this."

"Chloe, I can honestly tell you that I don't even know what she did," Clark said, and he was so glad that that was true. The way Chloe looked right now, he didn't know if she'd forgive him if he'd been a Lois's accomplice in whatever she'd done… which was obviously something very, very bad. And if he'd finally done something to Chloe that she wouldn't forgive him for, Clark just didn't know what he'd do. It was difficult enough trying to figure out what exactly their relationship was.

"Ok," Chloe said, and Clark breathed a sigh of relief. He'd wondered what she would say if she didn't believe him. But she was letting it go, and for that he was thankful. He couldn't say that Lois would be thankful, though, because Chloe's eyes when she turned to Lois were actually kind of scary. "Lois, what were you thinking?"

"What was I thinking?" Lois repeated, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "I don't know, maybe that what Jimmy did to you was horrible, and that he's not a nice guy, and what the hell is he doing here?"

Clark looked up to see a very uncomfortable looking Jimmy Olsen standing in his doorway.

"He's here because he's my friend, and because you caused a lot of trouble for him, and can we please go upstairs and talk in private?"

Xx

It wasn't long after the girls left the room that their raised voices could be heard from the living room of the farmhouse, and Jimmy Olsen was left in an awkward situation with one Clark Kent, who he didn't think too highly of, and who probably didn't think too highly of him.

"…he did was wrong…"

"…say it's only about me…"

Clark cleared his throat and said to Jimmy, "Um… you can sit down if you like."

So they both sat on the couch, and things got even more uncomfortable, if that was even possible.

"…is a good guy, Lois, you don't even…"

"…even think that? He just hurts…"

Jimmy looked at the floor, glad that he was only hearing snippets of the argument. If even these tiny parts were this bad, he didn't even want to know how bad the big picture was.

"Just so you know," he decided to say to Clark, "I didn't tell her to do this."

Clark made a sound, almost like a laugh, and Jimmy didn't understand what was funny. "I don't think you can ever tell either of them what to do, or, well… what not to do."

"That's true."

"So, uh, looks like Chloe forgave you?"

"Yeah, I guess," Jimmy shrugged. He so did not want to be having this conversation right now. Well, nothing that had happened today was anything Jimmy had ever wanted to happen. Except, of course, that Chloe had forgiven him. If there was one silver lining in all of this, at least he had his friend back.

"Just… she forgives really easily," Clark said. "I know that better than anyone. Just prove her right, ok?"

That was really rich coming from Clark. As far as Jimmy had seen, Clark hadn't done a damn thing to prove his worth to Chloe, and yet she couldn't walk away from him. There had to be something that Chloe saw in him. Something that made Clark Kent the kind of guy that gets into a girl's heart and then refuses to leave. But all Jimmy could see sitting next to him was the kind of guy that hurts the girl he's supposed to love again and again, and somehow still manages to be her hero.

Of course, Jimmy didn't say any of that. He just smiled and nodded, praying to whatever deity was listening to please, just let this day be over already. And when Chloe came back down the stairs, Jimmy shot up from the couch, ready to leave.

But then, Lois was right behind her, pleading with her. "Chloe, please," she said. "I just don't understand."

"It doesn't matter," Chloe said, her voice sounding like she was ready to cry. "It can't be undone. I just… can't have this conversation anymore right now. I need to wait until I calm down."

Xx

Lois watched as Chloe left with Jimmy, unable to do or say anything about it. When they were gone, she went back to Clark's couch, and buried her head in her hands.

"I knew that Chloe wouldn't necessarily approve of what I did, but I never expected this reaction," she had said it to herself, but of course, Clark was still standing awkwardly in the room, and somehow he must have decided that it was his job to do something to comfort her, as she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"I mean, am I wrong that Jimmy did a messed up thing and maybe Chloe shouldn't be so quick to forgive and forget?"

"I don't know," Clark said. "I mean, she always forgives me, whenever I… and anyways, she never forgets whatever I put her through, and I doubt she's forgotten what he put her through."

"Yeah, but you're a good guy," she said, and then put on her best threatening glare, let Smallville say anything to make her regret saying such a nice thing about him. She could be honest with him to the point of being mean, but she had to admit the guy definitely had his good points about him. In fact, they probably outweighed his total geekdom and penchant for hurting his cousin. Probably.

But Clark just looked down at the floor. "Maybe, I don't know," he said, and then met her eyes again. And there was this look in his eyes, that sometimes she saw and didn't quite understand, like maybe for once, Clark actually knew a lot more about how the world worked than he let on. "But maybe, there's something that Chloe sees in him.

"I mean, I don't really know the guy, but Chloe has this way of seeing the good in people. Like she can find something special in almost anyone. And maybe there's something she saw in Jimmy that let her forgive him, and call him a friend again."

Damn, now Lois just felt bad. Leave it to Chloe to make what Lois had thought of an hour ago as her great act of heroism to look just plain selfish next to her noble forgiveness. Shit.

"Jesus, you start filling out one form to get back into college again, and all of a sudden you're a freaking genius or something," she said, rolling her eyes.

Clark still had that look in his eyes, and Lois found it difficult to maintain any kind of eye contact.

"So, what are you going to do about it?"

And he was right. She needed to do something. Now she'd hurt Chloe, and she wasn't just going to sit around and hope that whatever magical powers of Chloe forgiveness would work for her. "Well, I'm going to need your help."

Xx

She flipped her phone open, and said, "Yes?"

"I've got the information you wanted on Luthor, if you're sure."

"Of course I'm sure."

"Well, then, we can meet up tonight, but first… may I ask you a personal question?"

"That depends on the question."

"Why are you marrying a man in two days if you still feel that you have to hire a private detective to look into him?"

"Goodbye, Mr. Jones. I'll see you in a few hours."

Lana's hands were shaking as she shut the phone. She didn't know if this Jones guy had actually found anything useful, but at this point, she was grasping at straws. She wasn't underestimating Lex—she thought that Lex probably knew about the detective—but she didn't want Clark to get hurt… no matter how much she loved Lex.

A/N: So hopefully you can see why I wanted to get this one right. It's not an easy subject. I hope this clears things up for some of you, as there was a bit of confusion in the last chapter!