Twist Upside-down

by

Kelsey

Disclaimer: SV and Superman belong to so many people I'm not going to list them all here, okay? Just be assured they don't belong to me.

***Author's Note: If you're confused, this is how it goes: Prologue, chapter 2, etc... are in current time. Chapter 1, etc, (odd number) will be flashbacks for a while. If it says '_ weeks ago' at the top, it's a flashback. If not, it's in current time.***

Summary: When a deadly illness befalls Lex, Clark will stand at his side. But what will the effect be upon their relationship with each other and the rest of their loved ones? Clex.

Rating: Will change as we go. So far, PG

Chapter Four - Stay

"No, you cannot stay in Metropolis on a weekday night with Lex Luthor!" Jonathan Kent roared into the phone. Had Clark been normal, he probably would have had to hold it away from his ear so that it didn't deafen him. As it was, he was getting impatient with his father and was eager to return to Lex.

"Dad, he's scared."

Jonathan snorted. "I bet he is."

"Dad!"

The elder Kent male sighed. "Alright, I believe you that he's scared. Anyone would be when they got that kind of a diagnosis. But you can't stay!"

"He's all alone."

Jonathan muttered something that sounded like 'well, that's his fault', and Clark bristled.

"He's not his father! How many times does he have to tell you that?"

Jonathan didn't respond to the question, assuming, as Clark had known he would, that it was rhetorical. "The answer was no, Clark. It's a school day and it's late enough already."

Clark sighed, not wanting to have to reveal his hand, but he would if his father insisted on forcing it. "He's terrified, Dad. He didn't speak a word on the way here, the doctors could barely get him to stay put. They did a spinal tap and he cried, it hurt so bad. Have you ever seen a Luthor cry? He's nauseous as hell and they're going to pump poison into his body starting tomorrow."

"Clark..."

At that point, somebody interrupted. Martha had been listening silently on the other line, but had decided enough was enough and it was time to intervene. "Jonathan, let him stay. He's Lex's only friend, and he needs somebody by his side to get him through this."

Jonathan sighed again, having been wavering already. "Fine. Tonight. Not again."

"Not even weekends? Dad, he needs somebody around, if I'm not here, nobody will be."

"We'll talk about it when you come home. Which, by the way, you must do by seven o'clock tomorrow night."

Knowing this was the best he was going to get, Clark agreed. "Okay. Thanks, guys, really. I know Lex appreciates it, too."

Jonathan sighed. "We'll see you tomorrow, Clark."

"I'll call Chloe and see if she can bring by my homework tomorrow."

"We'll let her in if she shows up."

"Okay. Bye."

"Good-bye, son."

"We love you, Clark. Be careful."

"I will."

Hanging up the phone, Clark sighed. It was times like these when he really wished he didn't have to keep the secret of him and Lex for so long- his parents were so trusting of him, and they loved him wholeheartedly... yet he knew that they couldn't handle the idea of Lex and he being together. They were Kansas farmers, and as much as they were liberal in every way that they could be, they had been born and raised in a homophobic community. Not to mention the plain old hating-of-Lex thing that his father had down to an art.

"Lex?" He poked his head into the room before entering. His lover was, as before, lying still curled up on his side, but now he was clearly impatient, and Clark was glad to see some of the arrogant billionaire he loved come back.

"Clark. How long do I have to stay like this?" There was a dry tone in his voice that he always got when he knew that he either looked or sounded ridiculous, or had in recent memory.

Clark looked at his watch. "Sorry, Lex, you've got fifteen minutes left."

The billionaire whined like a small child. "Do I have to?"

His lover smiled. "Well, no, if you feel like barfing all over the place."

Lex grimaced. "I think I'll wait, then, thank you very much."

Clark smiled. "Is is okay if I make another call? I have to ask Chloe if she'll take my homework to my house tomorrow."

"You're staying?"
Clark nodded, then suddenly got insecure. "Unless you don't want me to."

Lex smiled, the gentle smile he reserved only for Clark. "Of course I want you to. I just didn't think..."

"That my dad would let me?"

"Yeah."

Clark grimaced a little, then grinned. "It took a little convincing. And by a little, I mean arguing until I was blue in the face. But he let me stay."

Lex didn't smile, and Clark leaned over. "What's wrong?"

"Other than the obvious?" At this, he cracked a wry smile. "It's just... you shouldn't fight with your father over me, Clark."

"Oh? What should I fight him over?"

"I don't know. Boring, teenage stuff. Your curfew. How far you can let your boxers show in public. All the stuff that sixteen-year-old's who aren't my lover do."

Clark shrugged. "I don't have to argue about my curfew, I don't have one. I don't wear butt-hang jeans. And I want to be here with you."

Lex closed his eyes, and was silent for a moment. Clark waited, as patiently as he could.

"I should tell you to go home."

"But you're not going to," Clark predicted, knowing Lex well enough to guess what he was thinking.

"No. I'm not. Because I'm a bad, selfish man who doesn't want to be alone tonight."

Clark leaned over in the chair and ran a hand softly over the side of Lex's face. "You are not bad or selfish, Lex. I wouldn't want to be alone any more than you do if I was in your place."

Lex looked about to speak again, but instead, closed his eyes and nuzzled his head into Clark's hand. He was silent for long moments, and Clark just watched him, equally still.

It was Lex that broke the silence. "How much longer?"

Clark glanced at his watch. "Five minutes." They fell back into the comfortable silence after he spoke, though Lex flexed a few muscles, experimentally seeing what made him dizzy and what he could handle. Clark just watched.

Lazily, Lex's eyes ran up Clark's body until he met his lover's eyes. "Call Chloe," He said softly, holding out the phone that Clark had given to him when he was done calling his parents.

Clark took it. "Do you want me to..."

"Stay quiet about why you're here?"

Clark nodded.

Lex winced. "I don't want to tell you to keep secrets from your friends, Clark."

"But you'd rather I didn't tell her."

Lex shrugged slightly, wincing again, this time in pain. "No, actually, it's fine. She'll find out as soon as she gets on the 'Net tonight, anyway. Might as well learn it from you."

Clark searched his lover's face for a moment, then nodded. "Okay." He dialed the number that he knew by heart into the tiny phone, and held it to his ear to listen for Chloe to pick up.

And pick up she did. Rather excitedly. "Hello?" Clark could hear the tension springing from her.

"Chloe."

"Clark! I called your parents as soon as I heard, but they told me that you were with Lex, and I don't have his cell phone number, or I would have called you! Is it true?"

Clark ran a hand through his hair. "Depends on what you heard."

"That Lex... that Lex has cancer."

Clark sighed. "Yeah. Yeah, that part of it's true."

"Oh my god, Clark."

Clark laughed, a little humorlessly. "You're the third person to say that today, Chloe. First me, than my mother, now you."

"I... just don't know what else to say. Is it operable, Clark?"
He sighed. "No. He has leukemia."

"That's... cancer of the blood, right?"

"I think so. Look, can you tell my teachers I won't be in class tomorrow, that I had a family emergency? And if you could drop off my homework at the house, I'd really appreciate it."

Chloe sounded kind of dazed, like she always did when she was running in full reporter mode. "Yeah. Sure, Clark. Say hi to Lex for me, okay, and tell him the town's rooting for him."

Clark smiled. It was just like Chloe to say something like that, even when half the town hated the young billionaire. "Yeah. Sure I will. Thanks, Chloe."

"No problem. Hey, does Lex mind if I write a story in The Torch about this?"

"Just a second. I'll ask him." Clark covered the mouthpiece of the phone with his hand tightly, knowing Chloe would be listening to see if she could make out what Lex would say. "Chloe wants to write a story about you in The Torch."

"And she's asking permission?"

Clark smiled. "She's not always as tactless as she usually is around you, Lex."

"I guess not." Lex was silent for a long moment, then sighed. "Sure. Why the hell not? Everybody else will have their pieces out tomorrow, anyway."

Clark uncovered the phone. "Chloe?"

"Yeah?"

"It's okay."

"It is? Oh, good. When are you coming home?"

Clark sighed. "Tomorrow."

"And you're just so thrilled about that decision," Chloe dead-panned. He smiled.

"Sorry. It's not you guys..."

"I know. It's just that you don't want to leave Lex." Her tone held a note of something that Clark couldn't place. Maybe... jealousy? Was she jealous of the attention he was giving Lex? "It's okay. I'll see you on Friday then, okay?"

"Yeah. Tell Pete when I'll be home for me?"

"Sure. Bye, Clark."

"Bye, Chloe."

Clark hung up the phone and motioned to hand it back to Lex, who shook his head and lifted one hand to point at the bedside table. Clark put it down, and then looked at his watch. "Thirty-five minutes, Lex. You can try and sit up, if you want."

He nodded. Clark stood and hovered over the bed, not really sure how to help and not wanting to hurt him more. Luckily, Lex was willing to guide him, and reached out for his lover's hand. Placing it on his ribcage, near the bed, he slowly straightened out his legs and then reached for Clark's other hand. Together, they rolled him gently onto his back and propped pillows around the puncture site so that he wasn't leaning on it. Lex winced several times as he moved, but looked much more content when he was sitting up, despite the obvious pain. Sometimes Clark forgot that Lex was nearly as uncomfortable when he displayed any sign of weakness at all as most people were on blind dates.

"You okay?"

Lex nodded. "A little dizzy. I'll live, though."

"Good." He took Lex's hand and kissed it, then settled down in the chair beside the bed. "I brought my backpack with me, so I have my English reading. Is it okay if I read for a while?"

"Sure. What is it?"

Clark rolled his eyes. "Great Expectations. We're doing this Dickens thing in English class, remember how I was reading A Tale of Two Cities? And now this."

"I take it you don't like it much." Lex's voice held a hint of laughter, despite the pain evident in his eyes when Clark looked closely enough.

Clark shrugged. "He's too wordy. Sometimes you just want to tell him to say something and then be done with it, not spend a whole page talking about it."

Lex laughed aloud. "I remember thinking that when I read it in high school, too. But it grew on me." He closed his eyes and took Clark's hand again as the teenager settled down as best as he could, trying to fold his large frame into a plastic chair that wasn't comfortable to start with. "Read it to me." He said, not quite a question and yet not quite a statement.

Clark raised an eyebrow, not sure that he'd heard right. "You want me to read it to you? We're already thirty-five or forty pages in."

Lex shook his head. "It doesn't matter. I've read it twice already."

Clark shrugged. "Okay. Yeah, sure."

They sat there quietly as Clark read from the book, Lex with his eyes closed. Both were thoroughly immersed in the story when the door creaked open and the doctor Clark had dubbed Doctor number one entered the room. She smiled at them, and Clark caught her eye, returned her smile and motioned for her to wait a moment.

Patiently, she listened to his strong, melodious voice finish the passage, and then he put the book down. Lex opened his eyes as soon as Clark stopped reading, and nodded to the doctor when he noticed her in the doorway. "Please, come in." His voice was imperialistic, and Clark had visions of interrupting board meetings, because that was the only other time he'd heard Lex talk like that.

The doctor entered the room, and Clark glanced at her nametag, vowing to actually remember her name. Rachel Devon. So, Doctor Devon. Not quite as distracted now as he had been before, he figured it wouldn't be too hard to remember. Behind her, a nurse followed, pushing a small cart.

"I'd like to take another blood sample," Dr. Devon told Lex, and he nodded without expression. "Then we can finish the tests and get on with figuring out the treatment."

"Certainly, Doctor." It was almost creepy how different Lex sounded around other people, Clark decided. Holding out his arm and rolling up his sleeve, he gave no indication he even really noticed as the nurse tied the tourniquet, swiped the inside of his elbow with an alcohol wipe and pushed in the needle. Clark wondered idly what it felt like. Needles, like everything else, broke when he tried to put them through his skin.

An orderly poked his head in the door. "Doctor Devon? Lionel Luthor is asking for you at the front desk."

Lex rolled his eyes and groaned under his breath, but Clark heard anyway. The doctor looked to him, and he tipped his head, dismissing the orderly before he answered her unspoken question. "Don't tell my father anything. Tell him I'm an adult now, and if he wants to know what's going on, he's going to have to actually come talk to me, as painful as that may be."

The doctor looked a little nervous, but she nodded and disappeared. The nurse pulled the needle from his arm and labeled the tubes of blood and then followed her out. Clark glanced over at Lex, who seemed to have deflated as soon as the medical personnel left.

"Do you want me to go?"

Lex opened his eyes and looked over, elbow bent to keep the cotton-ball on the puncture site. "You mean when my father comes to see me?"

Clark nodded.

Lex shook his head. "You can stay if you like. He's not going to say anything you haven't already heard."

Clark frowned. "I know. I just hate it that he thinks he can be so mean to you, just because you're his son."

Lex laughed humorlessly. "It isn't because I'm his son, Clark. In case you hadn't noticed, he treats everybody that way."

"I guess. But he's really nasty to you."

"As opposed to just underhanded and cruel to the general populace?"

Clark didn't have an answer for that, and Lex sighed. "It's okay, Clark. I promise, I'm used to him."

"I know, and that's part of the problem. You shouldn't have to be. No father should treat his son like that."

Lex smiled sadly, but didn't reply.

[Prologue] [Sleepy] [Scared] [Bloody] [Stay]