A/N: New update!! Yay! Ok, so short chapter, but a new one should be posted this week if all goes well. Jade and I have been busy like hell. Her being more busy than me, i didn't had her edit this chapter, so sorry for the mistakes :s

Enjoy!


Chapter 24

When Chloe got angry and threw Lex's attitude back in his face, he realized he was being an ass and he should apologize. Instead, however, he rather perversely grew even more irritated. Pressing down the gas pedal, he wove through the traffic that was thinning on the outskirts of the city and sped back to Smallville, suddenly feeling that he couldn't get there fast enough to make this evening end. It had all been a gigantic mistake; Lex had blown it almost right out of the gate, and things just kept getting worse.

The silence in the car had grown to be insufferable, and though Lex had resolved to not make things worse, he had plenty to say.

"Chloe, when are you going to stop seeing me as the person you want me to be and start seeing me for the person I am? Because this is who I am; this is my life! Since you seem to have a hard time processing the vast differences between the life you lead in Smallville and the one I live every day, let me lay it out for you!" Lex paused, taking a small breathe before going on. "This isn't a fairy tale, Chloe. You may think there's something spectacular about the fact that I live in a castle and that I can order up a car without a problem when another one is totalled. You may think there's something romantic about the fact I can so easily carry you off to Metropolis to take you out to a fancy restaurant. The truth is that I spent less money on that one dinner than I routinely spend when I buy a new shirt. Does that sound romantic to you? Magical? Well, it's not because nothing in this world comes free. Not even to me.

"If you thought there was even a chance that you could be seen with me tonight and not draw attention, then you were kidding yourself! From the moment you agreed to have coffee with me this afternoon, it was a foregone conclusion that people would be wondering what you were doing with me, and from the moment we showed up at that restaurant tonight, people were going to assume that you would be receiving a pair of diamond earrings tomorrow!

"The story is going to break tomorrow that Lana has left me, if it hasn't already, and when it does, the entire world is going to assume it was my fault. They'll find out about Clark; they'll find out about the baby my wife aborted out of desperation to be rid of me. The rich and powerful of Metropolis will sympathize with me publicly because I have money so I'm part of the club, but behind closed doors, they'll laugh every time rumors and innuendo about my divorce are splashed across the six o'clock news and every newspaper in the country. "That poor Lex Luthor - able to buy anything he wants...except a woman who can stand him." And let's not forget that meanwhile, every socialite in town will start sharpening her claws to get her chance at being the next ex-Mrs. Luthor.

"You think it's funny and you laugh about it, and that's fine. I'll join you; what else can I do? But what do you really think people will say when they find out Lana tried to kill me? You think they'll laugh? You think they'll realize her instability may have nothing to do with me? You're out of your mind! When one wife tries to kill you for your money, that's just the price you pay for being rich. When a second wife almost succeeds at killing you for your money, you just have incredibly bad taste in women. But when a third wife tries to kill you a week after your wedding...? What kind of monster drives three women to hate him so much that they want to see him dead? Oh, and let's not forget that his former best friend even thinks it of him; it must be true, right?"

Having started to speak, he couldn't seem to stop himself. Everything came pouring out - things he'd never even realized he'd been thinking. It just all came out in a rush, and he was too full of bitterness and anger to care. Because he needed to look at her as he finished, Lex pulled the car over to the side of the road, stopped, then turned to face her.

"From the moment I picked you up to go to the restaurant today, I knew how my evening would end. Did I make a mistake with you tonight? Absolutely, and it was one I won't make again. I shouldn't have kissed you. I shouldn't have let myself...I was actually enjoying myself tonight, and I forgot, for a minute, who I was. In the restaurant, I let myself believe that I could be just like any other man and just enjoy the evening." And then, as suddenly as it had come, his anger and bitterness drained away, leaving him emotionally exhausted in its absence.

Chloe who had kept the first part of the trip looking outside the window, turned her head back to Lex, a little taken by surprise. What had gotten into him? Of course, he was right though. It did seem like it was who he was. She'd read about him in the newspapers, she'd heard about him from Clark, her father and from so many other persons who'd struggle with Lex. She'd even had many encounters herself with him or witnessed his behaviors. So why was she sitting next to him, after what seemed to her like an enjoyable moment?

Well it appeared that Chloe also remembered him as the man who had saved her life and her dad's. She knew secrets no one did, probably even Clark. She knew about his deceased little brother and how he had lived a pretty rough childhood. She also remembered him fighting against his father to keep the plant in Smallville and how many times he had covered her back, even when she had been trying to bring down one of his project. Yeah, Chloe cared because she knew there was good in him and that the last few years had been pretty rough for him. He'd been fighting to prove he was a better man than his father. Better than what people thought he could be. Not much people had gave him the chance to prove it. And now Lex had given up too.

One thing she hadn't thought through, and he was right, was about the outcomes in the public world. Soon, people would know about him and Lana. And Lana would know about tonight's dinner and maybe even about the kiss. And so would Clark. This was going to be a circus and it was her fault. Of course, kisses aside, she hadn't expected it would be such a big deal. Mostly when they were at the coffee place. Thinking about it, Clark's jealous demonstration probably hadn't help either. Now she felt terrible for putting her friends in such position.

"You... you enjoyed tonight?" Chloe finally said, though it didn't stop Lex to continue.

"I live the life my father laid out for me, Chloe," Lex continued in a quieter tone. "And that means I can give you trips around the world and treat you to the most lavish experiences you've ever dreamed of. I can buy you almost anything you could ever want. But I can't give you quiet evenings out, with just the two of us. I can't offer you privacy; unless we're in the mansion, there will always, always be someone watching.

"That's the life I lead, Chloe. I won't pretend there aren't things I enjoy about it, but it's not romantic. It's not perfect. It isn't even all that pretty every once in a while. When I drop you off this evening, I'm going to have to turn around and go right back to Metropolis so I can find at least two of those women who only see me for my bank account and do what I can to make sure that that's the story everyone's talking about tomorrow and not you. From the very beginning of the evening, I knew that's what I'd have to do at the end to keep your name from being linked to mine because I know how much you'd hate..."

Breaking off, he gave an impatient shake of his head. "I wasn't going to tell you any of that, because I don't want you to hate me for the things I have to do to keep what little privacy I can find in my life, and I don't want you to feel bad for me that I have to do it. But I can do these things - I can be your friend and do the things I have to do to keep you safe from the world I live in...I can do them because I think it's worth it to have...to be friends with you. And I would very much like to be your friend, Chloe, even though I know friendship is something I'm not very good at. I can do everything in my power to keep your privacy, to keep our names from ever being linked together romantically. Even if that means making a public spectacle of myself every once and a while - it certainly wouldn't be the first time.

"I wasn't lying before. There are times I'm not entirely sure I'm not the monster the world assumes me to be. There will be times, as my friend, when you'll hate me for the things I'll do and, as your friend, I will do whatever is in my power to make amends when I drive you to that. After tonight, if you still want to be my friend, I can deal with the problems that come along with that. If you decide you never want to see me again, I'll understand and I can deal with that too. But please don't...don't tell me that you want to be my friend if you're going to be ashamed to be seen with me in public. Don't tell me you want to be friends if you're going to be ashamed of me." He offered her a weak smile. "I can handle just about anything the world throws at me, but I'm not sure I can handle that."

As he finished talking, he looked back to the road and tried not to wince as he began to drive again. Was it even possible for him to make a bigger ass out of himself than he had just done? If she decided she was ashamed of him and never wanted to see him again after this, he wasn't entirely sure he could blame her. But at least, as embarrassing as his speech had been, Chloe had been given a chance to see the weakest and most pathetic part of him. And if she chose now to walk away, at least he would be spared the pain of her doing it later. Everyone Lex had ever cared about had become ashamed of him - or of the fact that they had been friends with him - before the end. His father, Clark, Lana...he just couldn't bear it if Chloe did the same. It was better, he supposed, to drive her off now than to have his heart broken by her later.

So if he was acting now to protect his heart, why had his heart felt suspiciously like it had been breaking from the moment Chloe had asked if they could leave the restaurant?

At last, Chloe took her turn to talk. "Please don't..." She took a deep breath. She was trying to find the right words. Lex seemed on edge. "Lex, I'm sorry if I made you feel like I was embarrassed to spend time with you. The thing is, I wasn't. I was only thinking about Lana and Clark. I didn't want them to read about the dinner in the newspaper. But you know what... It's done and even if you go fool around with some girls to put attention on it, it won't change the fact that my name will be there somewhere. And I have to assume it and the consequences with it. So don't go back... Don't try to protect me. I don't need to be protected. I can handle myself."

She looked back at the window, seeing that they were approaching Smallville. "And I'm not ashamed of you, Lex. I don't know what it'll take you to take me seriously, but I'll prove it to you that it is possible to live some kind of normal life." Chloe put on hand on the top of Lex's, looking back at him, while he was driving. " And that at you can be happy. And mostly importantly, that you can be a good man."

She let go her hand, not wanting this to degenerate once again and softly sighed. "There is more than meet the eyes Lex... And I think I..."

*DRING*

Lex's phone interrupted her as the car passed by the 'Welcome to Smallville' sign. Without much noticing, Chloe had slipped the bottle of water she'd found in the car in her bag, preparing herself to get back at her apartment, as they were getting closer to it.

"Go on.. You can pick up." She said, trying not to look disappointed by the interruption.

She couldn't help but think that maybe she had said something wrong to make him be so cold in the car. And the only reason she could see and with what he had said, he made sense, was when she asked to leave. Was Lex... falling for her? Or perhaps he cared a little more about her than he would have liked? Or maybe it was because he thought she didn't enjoy the night.

"But... you are like any other man.." She couldn't help let out. Not that he really was convinced though. Chloe's eyes left his and looked down. She felt bad. Bad for thinking that there could have been more. Bad that Lex had such a negative opinion of his own future.

Chloe's reaction left Lex bemused, though by this point, he should have realized that every time he was tempted to think the worst of the woman in the car next to him, she found a way to surprise him. This evening was no exception, but, then again, perhaps he had been too quick to react to her response at the restaurant.

Her words surprised him, but he found himself hanging on her every word. When his phone rang, interrupting her train of thought, he was tempted to throw the damn thing out the window. What had she been about to say, he wondered. She what?

But now he couldn't throw the phone out the window without her being curious as to why he was feeling so hostile toward the inanimate object. So, without glancing at the caller I.D., he flipped it open and barked brusquely into the receiver, "Luthor."

In silence, he listened to the person on the other end of the line. Then, after a couple of minutes, he said tersely, "I'll expect your report in ten minutes, then. Yes, of course."

Clicking his phone shut, he glanced at Chloe out of the corner of his eye. Mulling over his options, he finally sighed heavily and turned the car towards the Mansion. "You'll have to excuse me if I delay taking you home, Chloe. But, see, I have absolutely no doubt that you're curious about that phone call I just received. And, knowing you, I could take you home, but it wouldn't do any good. You'd probably get in your car, drive back to my house, sneak past my security, and... oh... maybe scale my ivy trellis to listen in on the goings on in my office."

Smirking slightly, he continued. "Of course, knowing that, I could try to do everything in my power to thwart you, but I think you and I both know how this would end. If you didn't manage to break your pretty neck...and I think we can agree that your luck will manage to just get you through without that happening...you'd no doubt find a way into my office to find out for yourself what the report I'm waiting on is about. Or, alternatively, you'd be found clinging the side of my mansion like a petite and better dressed Spider-Man, and I'd have to explain to the police why the woman the newspapers will assume to be my newest girlfriend is scaling my house, I'd end up bribing them to keep it quiet - which would, of course, be a futile effort - and a new rumor would circulate around town that I'm now subjecting all my newest girlfriends to a new form of extreme dating." He paused, as he turned on his private road.

"Plus, my gardener would hate me for what "I" did to my ivy, regardless of the fact that I wasn't the one clinging to the ivy as if my life depended upon it. He'd either quit - best case scenario - or drop passive-aggressive hints about how I should never be allowed near plant life again for the rest of my life or until my head exploded from the pressure."

Thrwoing her a wink, he said lightly, "So I think you and I both can agree that it would just be easiest if I take you with me to my place until teh report arrives. Besides, it's about Lana, so this concerns you, in a way. Given the peculiarities of her behavior lately, I"ve had some things of hers tested. I thought perhaps some sort of toxin or foreign agent might have contributed to her mood swings."

Chloe slightly frowned, amused (and somewhat relieved) by his change of attitude. "You think you know me that well?" She then dramatically sighed, and looked in front of her, moving her eyes to the side of Lex, barely moving her head. "I'm offended. I'd probably would have gone to bed dreaming of a better world, who knows?" She then paused and put a small smile at the corner of her mouth. "But if you insist... I guess I'll go with you..." She avoided looking concerned, but having news about Lana was indeed something really important at this moment. It might even be a moment of truth.

In a couple of minutes, they arrived back at the Mansion and Lex pulled the car into the drive. Killing the engine, he walked around and helped her out of her seat, his mind working furiously to devise a way to look at the report before she got a chance to. By bringing her along, he further cemented the idea that he had nothing to hide, but it was going to be tricky if he discovered that he did, in fact, have something to hide.

Well, he could be clever, he supposed. At any rate, he escorted Chloe into his study and walked over to his desk, checking his fax machine. "Make yourself comfortable," he said causally when he saw that the report hadn't arrived yet.

He was parched, so as he booted up his e-mail to see if he had received anything pertinent, he asked, "Do you mind pouring me a drink? Water would be excellent." Of course, whiskey would be better, but if he was going to drive Chloe back to her place and return to Metropolis this evening, he might want to slow down on the alcoholic drinks. He wanted to cause a scandal, but getting in a DWI crash wasn't exactly what he had in mind. "I'd appreciate it," he added with a smile.

Chloe made herself home as she put her bag on the couch and removed her coat. "Water?" Chloe asked as she looked around. Walking over the mini bar, it became obvious that it was...a full equipped bar. She had trouble finding what was water… or vodka or any other alcool. She even doubted he would have bottles of water in here. As she was about to ask him for the water, she remembered putting in her purse a bottle of water, unopened.

She walked over the couch and opened the bottle pouring Lex and herself some water in the glasses she had taken from the bar. Chloe let the bottle on the top of the bar and walked back to Lex's desk. "Here." She said as she put it beside him and sat on the chair on the other side of the desk, in front of Lex.

Moment of silence was killing Chloe. Wasn't now 10 minutes later? "What did you get tested by the way?" She asked after drinking almost half of her glass.

Lex absently took a sip of his water and grimaced at its tepid taste as his fax began to spit out a number of papers. Taking a moment to scowl at the glass in his hand, he momentarily considered throwing it out and pouring himself a real drink instead, but considering how much of a drunken ass he'd made of himself in front of Chloe the night before, he should probably take it easy. He wasn't exactly eager to repeat the experience, particularly not since he had already decided that letting himself get genuinely too much closer to Chloe was to be cautiously avoided.

So, bracing himself, he downed half the glass in his hand before he set it aside. Then, picking up the pieces of paper coming out of the fax machine, he took a seat and began to scan them.

"Hm?" he asked as Chloe asked him a question. It took him a moment to process her inquiry, but once he had, he glanced up at her quickly before looking back to the papers in his hand. "Oh, a number of things," he answered with a distracted air. "I didn't bother to test most of the food around here, since I ate it with her and I didn't suffer any ill effects, but I did test a few things that only she has been exposed to in the last few days. Her toothpaste, toiletries - well, those that she didn't break when she came at me with the fireplace poker, at least - the vitamins she was taking for her...for her pregnancy." It still hurt to think about what she'd done and the child he would never be allowed to have.

Chloe took note of what he was saying and nodded. "Of course.", she said, finishing her glass in the process. Usually, when Lex was looking for something, he usually found his way to do so. Hopefully it was the case here.

Ruthlessly thrusting that thought aside, Lex picked up the remainder of the document and continued to read. "Of course, I suppose it's possible her mood swings were due to a combination of her pregnancy and her...mental illness, but...well, call me an arrogant man, if you want, but I like to think that any time a woman goes from begging for sex to trying to kill me within a span of five minutes, there might be something more going on."

But it was with a sigh that he finished reading the last sheet in the stack. "Unfortunately, I think I'm going to have to reconcile myself to the fact that Lana just might not have thought me the excellent lover I like to pride myself on being, because there's absolutely nothing in these documents that looks the least bit likely to have caused such a change in her."

The image of Lana begging for sex wasn't the most welcome image in her mind as she did her best to chase it away and not look disturbed. "I understand... I'm sure there is an explanation Lex..."

Damn. He didn't want to say as much out loud, but there had been a part of him that had rather hoped that he would find something incriminating in those sheets. Something that would explain why he'd had everything he'd ever wanted for such a short time and then, in the course of about a half an hour, lost everything he'd wanted to hold on to so badly. But, no... Lana hadn't been drugged. She had simply wanted him one minute and then decided she loathed him the next.

Sitting back in his chair, he brooded silently over this rather depressing thought for a moment, and then he looked back up at his companion. She was watching him silently, clearly waiting her turn with the report, and so, since he didn't see anything incriminating for him personally, he handed it over.

"In fact, the only the least bit noteworthy was in the bottle of vitamined water I sent them of she drank for her pregnancy. She'd been drinking it that evening when she...ah...when we had our last falling out. In the formula, they found all the usual vitamins, but they also found some traces of...well, as odd as it's going to sound... rock. Red rock, with a cellular structure close to that of the green meteor rocks that are all over this town. What it was doing there is anyone's guess, but it seems unlikely that it caused her behavior that evening."

Throwing back the last of his drink, he finally caved and turned to his bar. "In the light of the news that my wife does apparently genuinely despise me, I think I'll have a real drink. Can I offer you one?"

As he was speaking, Chloe stood up, not looking at the paper he had in his hand. For some reasons, the conversation about the attack reminded her about his injury. She knew he probably hadn't cleaned it since. Still, she dared to ask. "Lex.. Have you changed your bandage since yesterday?" She walked over him and took his arm in her hands. She saw a little blood on his shirt. "That's what I thought." She sighed. "For a guy who's been injured as much as you, don't you know that a bandage needs to be change at least once per day? And in your case, maybe twice would have been a good idea since it's deep."

She looked around and saw the emergency kit. Someone must have put it there for Lex but as he had spent the day with her, he probably had forgotten. "Take your shirt off.. Please." She added this time so it wouldn,t sound like something else. "I'll change the bandage. And no complain here."

As she opened the kit and took what she needed, she thought about Lex's last statement about the red meteor rock. Red K? Could it be possible? She thought it only affected Clark. But if green K affected human, why not red? Damn... She'd have to talk to Clark about it. But right now didn't seem appropriate to suddenly disappear after hearing those news. Lex wasn't a fool. Instead, she explained to him what it did. At least in case Lana still had that vitamin water with her and showed up again. What if she did had show up intoxicated earlier?

The shirt off, Chloe took care of Lex's arm, trying to focus on her words and not on Lex's really great body that was just calling to her so badly. "Erhm.. I think you found something. Red... meteor rocks. Well they affect people. It happened in high school.. once. And well.. it kinda made the person turn bad... or.. well in Lana's case, maybe totally obsessed with you." Chloe said not really lying since the other case had been Clark. But mentioning it made her realize if it made Clark go bad, Lana had been more... impulsive in love? She couldn't quite define it since she hadn't witnessed it. "I wouldn't be surprised if it was the problem. We're in Smallville after all. Sorry." She said as she took off his bandages to reveal fresh blood on his arm.

She looked up at Lex. "What if she..." Chloe stopped. Maybe Lana had aborted under Red K., but on second thought sadly she doubted. Not with what she had seen of Lana recently. Not with the way she acted with Lex on red K. She would have kept it. "Maybe she wasn't herself this morning. What if she still has the bottle with her? Or another one... Lex.. how many bottles did she have?"

As she spoke, Chloe applied some alcool on his wound, gently cleaning it with a towel, her eyes not helping to give a look at his body once in a while. "Sorry. Again." It was an odd thing to stand beside Lex that was higly attractive and speaking about a dead serious subject. It was odd, but it helped her focus a little. At least so she could sound coherent.

"Ok so now relax your arm a little. Going to apply some tincture of Iodine on your wound." As she applied, Chloe gently blew on the wound so it would sting a little less. Her mouth so near of his skin. There were just too many things invading her minds on what she would do to that skin. Not again! She just couldn't chase her attraction for him away too long apparently. "Almost done.." She said with a little pink on her cheeks, embarrassed by her thoughts.

"As for Lana.. well... hmm.. I think we're onto something now..."