A/N: Hello everyone! I know that some of you have reviewed saying that you want Lex and Kaitlyn to be together and happy. Without spoiling anything, I am going to tell you that won't happen in this story. I plan on continuing this story in two sequels, one of which will be a crossover with a different show. This sequel will be short, and then I will be crossing back into the Smallville universe. I'm afraid that happiness isn't going to be present until the third part of this storyline. No spoilers intended, but these two still have a long way to go.
The time placement of this episode isn't really exact. It takes place in the middle of season 4. It's after Lionel gets out of prison but before Lex is split by the black K. I did some research in order to give you a good time frame, and this is what I came up with for the time frame. Sorry for the long author's note but I just wanted to get some things out there. Enjoy the chapter! It will be told mostly from Lex's point of view, just to shake things up a bit.
Lex sat in his study staring at the papers on his desk with disdain. He hated paperwork. There were much more productive things that he could be doing. He opened his desk drawer and dug in it, trying to find something when he felt a box in the bottom of the drawer. Lex grabbed the box and placed it on his desk. He knew what this box was, and he had forgotten that it was in his desk.
Of course you forgot it was in there. You would like to forget about everything in it too.
Lex sighed before opening the box to look through its contents. The item on top was a picture. He picked up the picture and looked at it, smiling at the memory.
It was a picture from Kaitlyn's grad party. It showed them on her couch, him with his arm around her and her leaning on his shoulder, struggling to keep her eyes open. She had had a busy day and had been exhausted. He remembered her falling asleep on his shoulder, no doubt shortly after this picture had been taken. He had carried her up to her room and placed her on her bed before he left at the end of the party.
Lex placed the picture back in the box and continued to rummage through its contents. Most of the items in the box were pictures or paper cutouts. Lex came across a newspaper clipping. The title of the article made his heart skip a beat and he felt like someone had stabbed him with a knife.
Local Girls Injured in Billionaire's Rampage
Lex's eyes scanned the article, reaching the bottom of the page, which featured a picture of Lana and Kaitlyn. Both pictures had been taken while they were in the hospital. Lana had a few scratches on her face, but Kaitlyn had a large bruise across her cheek, a black eye, and a gash on her forehead. Lex looked at his own hand, mentally hitting himself for the wounds he caused. Kaitlyn hadn't talked to him since the day they ran into each other in the hospital. He had scared her off.
Lex shook his head to clear away the memory of the look in her eyes when she saw him. He had seen pain and fear. He could never wipe that image from his mind and he was worried that he would always remember her that way. Afraid of him, fearing that he would hurt her again.
Throwing the article back into the box, Lex noticed an item that he hadn't looked at since he put it in the box. It was a smaller box covered in purple velvet. He reached in and pulled it out. Opening the case, he saw the object within and felt a sadness creep over him. A purple heart shaped diamond stared back at him. Lex quickly closed the case and tossed in back into the box, closing the lid on the box and returned the box to his drawer.
A picture that had been stuck to the bottom of the case fell onto his desk and he picked it up, turning it over to see what it was. It was another picture of Kaitlyn and himself, taken at the summer festival. She looked so happy, and so did he. Lex sat there staring at the picture, ignoring the world around him. He didn't hear the footsteps of his father coming into the room.
"Lex?"
Lex looked up from the picture, startled by Lionel's appearance in the room. The picture fell out of his hands and fell off the desk to the floor in front of it. Lionel made his way towards the desk, picking the photo up off the floor. He looked at the picture and shook his head.
"I guess it's time that I cleaned up another one of my messes."
Lex looked at his father in confusion as Lionel sat in a chair near Lex's desk.
"What are you talking about dad?"
Lionel placed the picture on the desk and looked at Lex with a sad look in his eyes.
"Everything that happened with Miss Fordman…it's my fault."
Lex's confusion increased as he tried to grasp what Lionel meant.
"I forced her to make the decision to end your relationship. I'm not going to tell you all the details, I'll leave that for her to explain. The important thing that you need to know is that that girl loved you. She was determined to fight for you. I'm not proud of what I did, and I feel that I need to try and rectify the situation to the best of my ability. I think you need to go talk to her Lex. There are important things that the two of you discuss."
Lex shook his head, giving Lionel a look of disgust.
"Why does this not surprise me? Is there anything in my life that you haven't meddled in?"
Lex stood up from his desk chair and stormed out of the office, leaving Lionel alone with his regret.
Lex stood in the Fordman's driveway staring at the house, trying to muster the courage to go knock on the door. He slowly made his way to the house and noticed that the main door was open, leaving the screen door as the only barrier to the inside. Lex stepped up on the porch and walked up to the door, raising his hand to knock.
His inner thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a young child screaming. Looking through the screen, Lex noticed a small boy running past the door. The boy looked to be about 2 or 3 and had red curly hair. Lex was so shocked by what he saw that he almost didn't notice Kaitlyn come into his field of vision, chasing after the boy.
"Joshua Alexander! You come back here right now!"
Kaitlyn sighed exasperated and turned towards the door, jumping when she saw that Lex was on the other side.
"Lex? What are you doing here?"
Lex pulled out of his shocked state and turned his full attention to her.
"I'm here to talk to you."
Kaitlyn crossed her arms over her chest and continued to stare at him through the door.
"Talk to me about what?"
"The past three years. My father told me that we had some important things to discuss."
Kaitlyn's face softened and she realized that Lionel must have told Lex something and sent him to her to get the truth. She opened the screen door and waved Lex in.
"Come in Lex. We have a lot to talk about."
Lex stepped through the door and made his way to the living room. He noticed that there were toys all over the room and he had to step over a few to get to the couch. He sat down and looked up at Kaitlyn, who had followed him into the room.
"Well, would you like to start?"
Kaitlyn ran her hands through her hair before taking a seat on the couch next to Lex.
"Where would you like me start?"
Lex gestured to the toys all over the living room and to the young boy that had stopped running and was now playing near the stairs.
"You could start with explaining about the kid."
Kaitlyn sighed and stood again from the couch. She made her way over to the desk across the room and pulled a piece of paper out of one of the drawers. She walked back over to the couch and handed the paper to Lex before sitting back down.
Lex gave Kaitlyn a confused glance before looking at the paper she had handed him. It was a birth certificate.
Name of Child: Joshua Alexander Fordman-Luthor
Birth Date: April 26, 2002
Name of Mother: Kaitlyn Sophia Fordman
Name of Father: Alexander James Luthor
Lex looked up from the paper and met Kaitlyn's eyes.
"I have a son?" he asked with disbelief.
Kaitlyn nodded her head and took the birth certificate back from Lex.
"Yes Lex, he's your son."
Lex sat there not saying anything for a few minutes as he stared at Joshua in disbelief. Kaitlyn waited patiently for him to say something, giving him time to process what she had just told him.
"How long?"
Kaitlyn looked at Lex with confusion, not sure what he meant.
"How long what?"
"How long after we broke up did you find out you were pregnant?" Lex clarified, looking at Kaitlyn with a look she couldn't read. Her gaze fell to her lap as she prepared to explain everything.
"A little over a month. I found out a few days after you came over wanting to reconcile after your encounter with Desiree. I was afraid to tell you after what had happened. I was afraid of your father, I was afraid of causing you more pain, I was afraid of a lot of things."
Lex reached out to stop Kaitlyn from continuing.
"What do you mean you were afraid of my father? What exactly did he do?"
Kaitlyn looked up, meeting Lex's eyes.
"He threatened me. Multiple times. He didn't want us together. He took away my college grant, so I had no money to go to college. I wasn't going to let that scare me away, but then he did something worse."
Lex nodded his head, encouraging her to go on.
"He threatened you. He told me that if I didn't end things between us, that you would suffer for it. I was afraid that he would harm you. I felt that your wellbeing was more important than my happiness. So I made one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make. I had to break your heart."
As she was explaining everything to Lex, Kaitlyn felt that a weight was slowly being lifted off her shoulders. She felt many emotions flooding through her and she needed to spill them out.
"I did what he wanted me to do. I loved you too much. That's why I didn't take you back when you asked me to. I told you that I didn't believe in you anymore because I knew that I had to hurt you. I had to make you leave before I made the wrong decision and let my love surpass my judgment."
Lex shook his head in disbelief.
"Why didn't you just tell me? I could have dealt with my father. Especially if you had told me that you were pregnant. I wouldn't have let anything come between us. You meant the world to me!"
Kaitlyn's gaze fell to her hands again. She knew that the truth wouldn't be easy to tell Lex, but she had to get out everything.
"When I found out I was pregnant, I didn't want to tell you at first because I had just hurt you. I didn't want to come back and throw this in your face. I had planned to tell you eventually, but I never made the decision to tell you the truth. You met Helen and you were so happy. I didn't want to ruin that for you. After I thought you were dead, I regretted not telling you so much. While I was at your funeral, your father found out about Joshua and he tried to give me money. I refused to take it and I told him to leave me alone. He said that I reminded him of another stubborn parent that wouldn't accept any help no matter how much they needed it."
Lex snorted softly when she said that.
"He was comparing you to Jonathan Kent. I can see why he would make that comparison. You are almost as stubborn as he is."
Kaitlyn smiled to herself before continuing her story.
"When you came back from being stranded on the island, I was going to tell you about Joshua. I was going to see how you took it when we were considering getting back together. Again your father convinced me that it wasn't in my best interests to bring it up. He convinced me to end things with you again."
"So everything that you said about me choosing you because of my failed marriage and everything else, it was because my father told you those things?"
Kaitlyn nodded and felt ashamed for how much she had believed Lionel's lies.
"He knew all the right buttons to push to keep me away from you. He knew that you were my weakness and that I would choose to do what was in your best interest. Sadly, I went along with it."
Lex shook his head and took Kaitlyn's hand in his own, encouraging her to look at him.
"No. Don't blame yourself. All of this is not your fault. It's my father's. He played you and turned your own fears against you. He's good at that. It's what he does to get under people's skin and control them."
Kaitlyn nodded in agreement at Lex's words.
"Believe me, I know. He's done it to me many times. He finds my weaknesses and exploits them. There was another time that I wanted to tell you the truth but he stopped me."
"When was that?"
"I was going to tell you after our encounter in the hospital after you went to Belle Reeve. I even came to the mansion to tell you everything, but he threatened to take Joshua away from me if I told you anything. I had already lost you, I didn't want to lose my son too."
Lex sighed and rubbed his eyes with frustration and anger.
"Is there anything else?"
Kaitlyn looked down at the scar on her arm and decided that since she was telling him everything else, he may as well know what happened.
"The reason that you hurt me when you weren't in your right mind is because you found out about Joshua. You got very angry and you felt like I had betrayed you. You pushed me down the stairs and I broke my arm and hit my head. That's why I was so afraid of you that day in the hospital. I was scared that you were going to hurt me again."
Lex placed his elbows on his knees and held his head in his hands. Kaitlyn had suffered a lot in her lifetime, and most of it was at his expense. He had to do something to fix the damage caused by his presence in her life.
"There has to be something that I can do to help you. Since I have come into your life, you have had so many problems. I want to help you. You don't have to raise Joshua on your own anymore. I can help. I'm not suggesting that we get back together, but just let me be a part of yours and Joshua's life. Let me be the father that he needs."
Kaitlyn shook her head and looked over at her son, who was still playing with his toys near the stairs.
"Lex…I don't I can do that. I don't want to implant Joshua into the Luthor lifestyle. I don't want my son to grow up that way. I've seen what happens in your family and I don't want him to be shaped by that. I fear that if I let you be in his life, he will go down a path that I don't want for him."
Lex looked up at Kaitlyn with pleading eyes.
"Please Kaitlyn. I've already missed the first few years of his life. He needs a father!"
Kaitlyn stood from the couch and made her way over to Joshua, picking him up off the ground.
"I've been raising him without your help for the past few years Lex. I am perfectly capable of raising him on my own. My mom raised me on her own. I didn't have a father from the time that I was six years old. I'm sorry Lex. There's just too much that I can see going wrong. If you had asked me that when he was first born or when I was still pregnant with him, I might have taken you up on your offer. It's too late now. You are a changed man Lex. I don't know you anymore. I can't let my son be influenced by someone that I don't know."
Lex stood up from the couch and walked over to where Kaitlyn was standing. He stood a foot away from her, taking in her new image. She wasn't the same girl that he had fallen in love with 4 years ago. She had changed, and so had he. He realized that Kaitlyn had a point about his family. He wouldn't want to bring a child under his father's influence either. It was his father's fault that he was the way that he was.
"I understand how you feel Kaitlyn. If you want me to stay away, I will. Just remember that I still care for you a great amount. If you ever need anything from me, don't hesitate to ask. Please, just raise our son to be a good man."
Lex reached out and tousled Joshua's hair. He smiled sadly as the little boy looked at him with curiosity and wonderment. Joshua's hair was all his, but his eyes came from his mother. Lex looked over Joshua's head into Kaitlyn's eyes and felt his heart constrict.
"Take good care of him. And yourself."
Lex leaned forward, placing a kiss on Kaitlyn's forehead.
"I love you," he said softly before walking out the door, letting the screen door slam shut behind him.
He didn't hear her reply as she watched him walk away.
"I love you too."
A/N: Well, now Lex knows the truth. It took a long time for it to happen, but now everything is out in the open. I should be updating within the next few days. Just a warning though, the next chapter will not be a good one. It will be the start of a new path for Kaitlyn. Until next time! Please review!