Disclaimer: I own nothing.
AN: Another chapter of it falls, more angst ahead...
It Falls Apart
Chapter 14
Lex groaned at the noise. He reached out blindly and finally found the source of his annoyance.
"Luthor." he grumbled through the phone.
"What the hell?" was the response that he received.
He opened his eyes at the words of the caller and tried to get up from his precarious position on the couch. He couldn't believe that he slept in the den, on the couch instead of spending the night in the comfort of his bedroom.
"What are you doing with Chloe's phone?!"
Clark Kent. That was the person on the other line. And from there everything seemed to click in his mind. She was the reason why he was on the verge of falling off the sofa, if it weren't for her possessive hold on his arm he probably would have fallen off. He closed his eyes again and savored the moment. It's been awhile since he was able to be so close to her without her guard up.
"Lex!" Clark barked loudly, causing Lex to wince. Hopefully Chloe won't wake up at the racket that the farm boy was making.
He gently disentangled himself from Chloe's arms and left the room so she wouldn't be disturbed by the call. From the looks of things Clark would be barking over the phone. A lot.
"If you did anything to her I swear to god Lex-"
He was basically ignoring what the younger man was saying but at those word Lex snapped to full attention, "Chloe is safe and sound Clark. For your information she sought my company and not the other way around. Maybe if you and Queen did not go out of your way to keep me from her she wouldn't be here tonight."
"I'm picking her up. Oliver and I will be at the pent house in half an hour." Clark said stubbornly.
"You will do nothing of the sort. It's three am, do you honestly want to wake her up just so you can snatch her from me?" he snapped back bitingly.
"Listen Luthor, I'm picking her up. Either wake her up or let her sleep through everything. I don't care. I will not let Chloe spend a minute more in your company." It would appear that Oliver snatched the phone from Clark to put his two cents on the situation.
"You can try." he countered acidly.
"We'll be there in a few minutes." with those words the idiot hung up.
Lex looked at the phone and tried to control the rage boiling within him. He had two choices. He could either make sure that neither of the two can get into the building, ensuring Chloe's continued presence in his penthouse. Or he can just let Chloe go. He marched back to the den and found her still asleep.
He had another choice, he can let her decide for herself.
He sat back on the couch and indulged in a little bit of staring. He had no idea when he could get the chance to see her this way again.
As always, he was mesmerized by her. He couldn't stop himself from touching her. He took her hand in his and felt her hold onto him instinctively. He let their fingers intertwine and Lex couldn't help but feel the rightness of the moment.
He kissed her cheek as he tried to take his hand from her. But she refused to let go, tightened her grip instead. He smiled mildly at her gesture, hoping that she would be this clingy when she was awake. Surprised to see that she actually was.
"Hey." she smiled up at him sleepily.
"Hey."
"Where did you go?" she was still smiling at him, and Lex felt an intense desire to keep her smiling.
"I love you." he placed a kiss on the back of her hand.
Her eyes softened at his reply. She sat up and freed her hand from his grasp. He was momentarily disappointed until she grabbed the back of his neck and kissed him. He was shocked at her action, it took him awhile before it registered in his mind that she was kissing him.
Instinct then took over. He allowed her to set the pace, simmering in his desire to deepen the kiss. Her mouth descended against his, moving with such tender intensity. She parted his lips with her tongue urging him to respond and he can't help but kiss her back.
He kissed her like a man dying of thirst, she was his water. He kissed her with intention. He kissed her the way he never had before and they have shared many a kisses. But this was different. He never want it to end. He wanted to prolong the contact. Forever. For always. He wanted to be the only one kissing her. Not Clark. Not Oliver. Just him.
His kiss became brutal at that thought. Punishing her, for something that she may have or have not done. Chloe merely moaned at the change. He pulled away abruptly when the thought was fully realized. She may very well be kissing Clark or Oliver. Or worse both of them.
They were both breathless when they parted and Lex tried to pull away from her completely.
"Don't. Don't ruin this. And no I haven't been making out with either Clark or Oliver." she tightened her hold around his neck.
Lex' jaw tightened at her words, not completely believing her. Not when she admitted that she's been with Oliver, in every sense of the word.
Chloe buried her face against his chest, he knew she could hear the pounding of his heart. She looked up at him and he knew. She still loved him.
This time he initiated the kiss He lowered his head and their lips met. Softly. Gently. Apologizing for his brutality. Begging. Wanting. Needing. Her. Just her.
"God I love you." he murmured as he kissed his way to her neck. Chloe gasped at the contact and tilted her head back to grant him better access.
He could feel everything at her touch. She was quietly telling him of her devotion. To him. No matter how many times she claimed that she couldn't be with him again her touch told him a different story. He felt the silent joy spread from his heart throughout his entire body.
He repeated the words. Over and over. He felt like he couldn't say it enough. He loves her. With his entire being. He was hers, she made sure of that. Lex knew then he would die, if she ever left him again. And he was scared shitless at the thought. But he wouldn't change it for the world.
Lex had pulled Chloe to his lap so that she was straddling him. Knowing that the moment was a culmination of not being this close to each other for months at a time. The moment was unplanned, unexpected. He had no idea when he woke up that morning that he would be holding her so close. And he had no intention of ever letting her go.
Until the pounding of the door interrupted them.
Chloe was in a daze when they parted. Lex figured he was pretty much in the same condition. He growled at the insistent knocking. He completely forgot that Clark and Oliver were coming to pick her up.
"That must be Kent and Queen." he sighed heavily as he uttered the words.
"W-what? What are they doing here?" Chloe's brows furrowed at his announcement.
"They thought something happened to you. I stupidly answered your phone, thinking it was mine." Lex closed his eyes as he tried to control his baser instincts.
"Fuck." Chloe murmured as she climbed off his lap and tried to straighten her clothes, which Lex couldn't remember touching.
"My thoughts exactly. They want to take you home." he muttered uselessly as she looked for her shoes.
"Stupid idiots. Who do they think they are thinking that they can just barge in here? It's not like I can't take care of myself. Damn it!" she cursed loudly since she did not find what she was looking for.
Lex smiled at her ranting. And then held up the pair of shoes she was looking for. She smiled at him weakly as she took them from him. He had finally gotten hold of himself that he got up from his position. He was headed for the door when he felt Chloe grab his arm.
"Lex, what happened a few minutes ago-"
"Chloe if you say that it never should have happened I will have to contradict you, vehemently." his shoulders stiffened in anticipation of her words.
She rolled her eyes at him, "I was going to say that it was nice. And if it hadn't been for the interruption…things would have definitely escalated beyond…that. And as much as I've…enjoyed…that I prefer if we take it slow." she looked at him determinedly. "But that doesn't mean that we can't do…that again."
Lex looked at her with such affection. "I wouldn't mind if we do…that again either." he applied the very term that she used.
She let out a choked laugh at his remark. He held out the door for her with flourish and followed after her. He shed the triumphant mood that Chloe had put him in, as he prepared for what could very well be an ugly confrontation with Clark and Oliver.
The pounding at the door did not diminish since it first penetrated his consciousness. If nothing else it became more insistent for every passing second that it went unanswered.
Lex wondered briefly why he was paying so much for a staff that wouldn't even answer the damn door, then he remembered that it was three thirty in the morning. Even servants have their limits.
He held Chloe back by the arm, a silent message that he was going to open the door and not her. She frowned at him but stepped back.
Lex opened the door to the two men who were scowling at him with such ferocity.
Oliver stepped into the penthouse without waiting for an invitation.
"Where is she?" Clark blurted out as he did the same.
"She is right here." Chloe answered tartly.
"We're taking you home Chloe." Oliver muttered as he moved towards her.
"No!" she crossed her arms across her chest.
"Chloe-" Clark reached out a hand to her.
Her eyes narrowed at the gesture.
"How dare you two barge in here? What the hell were you thinking? Coming here to take me home. I am perfectly capable of getting home myself. I don't need an escort." She huffed angrily.
Lex just moved out of the range of her fury and watched the scene before him with the slightest bit of amusement.
"But Chlo-" Clark tried again only to be cut off again.
"No. There is no room for buts. It's not enough that you two have become the center of my universe in the last two weeks. You had to take this away from me. A night away for myself."
"But you're not by yourself Chloe. You're with him." Oliver stated with derision.
"You don't get to dictate who I can and cannot spend my time with. I thought we all came away from the situation with the knowledge that I am dating all three of you. It's not like I asked for this. You must not think that this is what I want." she was shaking her head in her attempt to convince all three of them of that fact.
"Then choose. Choose someone." Clark emerged from his silence.
"Clark-"
"I love you Chloe. You're my best friend, my confidant, you're my constant." Clark smiled at her as he took a few steps towards her.
"I may not have known you for as long as he has but I'm in love with you Chloe." Oliver spared a glare at Clark's direction.
"But how-"
"It's not difficult to love you Chloe, and unlike some people it didn't take me years to realize just how much you mean to me. I love you. Because you're you. You are an amazing woman and I know that if I don't fight for you I'll regret it for the rest of my life." Oliver was looking at her intently.
After Queen's heartfelt confession the two men looked at him expectantly. He merely raised his brow at them.
"I don't break under peer pressure." he offered as an explanation.
"You don't belong in the same category as we do Lex. Why don't you just take yourself out of the equation? It's not fair to Chloe, it's not fair to us. We actually love her." Clark countered with such hate.
"You actually think you have me figured out don't you Clark? Well you don't. Just because I don't feel like confessing my feelings for Chloe in front of you doesn't mean I care for her less." he replied coolly.
Oliver and Clark just shook their heads in disgust.
"So Chloe, choose. If you don't want the confusion, end it now. Pick someone." Clark switched gears as he uttered the words in a pleading tone.
"He's right. It's not fair to us. You're dangling us along." Oliver assumed the same stance as Clark, arms folded across his chest.
"Fair? Is it fair that you want something from me that I may never be able to give you?" she shot Oliver an accusing look. "Is it fair that you only realized that you really want me when you found out that everyone else wanted me?" she shot to Clark.
She tore her gaze away from the two idiots and settled her eyes on him, "Is it fair that you only realize how much I meant to you when I-" her entire demeanor changed, she was no longer angry. Her entire form conveyed such profound sadness.
Lex stiffened at her words. Knowing that their secret was finally coming out in the open.
"What do you mean by that? What did she mean by that?" Clark looked between the two of them in bewilderment.
"They have been together since your senior year Clark. Lex has been using her even before he used Lana." Oliver's expression hardened.
"Chloe…" Clark looked at Chloe, begging for an explanation.
She shook her head, "He didn't use me. He loved me. He loves me." she uttered with such conviction.
"Do you really believe that Chloe? This is Lex Luthor we are talking about. He will only hurt you." Clark was becoming angry.
Lex shot a cold look to Oliver and walked over to where she was. "Chloe-"
"I-I have to go." She moved away from his touch and headed for the door.
Clark moved to follow her, while Oliver looked on with a grim expression.
"Don't. Don't follow me. I just want to be alone. Just leave me alone." Chloe said the words brokenly as she left all three of them staring after her.
TBC