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: It's been months, and I am really, truly sorry. Anybody who's still on the lookout for this, I'm so glad for you. Summer has started, and I once more, have time to write. So I will be continuing this. Again, sorry!

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. Again, PG-13

Chapter Ten - Chloe

Clark was preoccupied the next day at school, but he managed to smile and turn his attention to her as Chloe trotted up to him during their first break of the day. "Clark!"

"Hey, Chlo."

"How's Lex?"

Clark shrugged. "Dunno. Okay, so far. The first side-effect of the drug was that it gave him a really weird craving for pineapple-olive-pepperoni pizza, or so he says."

Chloe wrinkled her face in disgust. "Yuck."

"Yeah, but you can take the pineapple off, and then it's fine."

"I guess. So, how are you?"

Clark shrugged again. "Worried. Nervous. Angry at my parents for not understanding."

Chloe looked at him with a piercing look in her eyes. "But they don't know everything, do they Clark?" She asked gently.

Clark started. "You... know?"

She shrugged. "Guessed. So-"

Clark cut her off. "Don't think this is the best place to talk about it, Chlo."

She blushed a little. "Oh. Yeah."

"Come over after school? We can talk."

She nodded. "Yeah. That would be great."

"Okay. I'll meet you in the parking lot after last period?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Clark."

He smiled. "Thank you. I think it'll help to have someone I can talk to."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Clark saw Chloe again at lunch, but they sat with Pete and his latest crush, and neither one of them brought it up in their company. Instead, lunch was a brief inquiry over Lex's well-being, and then smalltalk about the next school dance, social function, whatever. Clark tuned out a fair amount of it, which, he figured, could probably account for his not really remembering what had been said.

He met Chloe in the parking lot after school just as they'd agreed, and they managed to leave before Pete showed up and invited himself along. Pete wouldn't think it was strange that they didn't hang out with him that afternoon, after all, they all had their own lives, but he would think it was strange that Clark and Chloe were hanging out together without him.

Clark's mother was in the kitchen when they arrived, baking something for the Talon, and she smiled and said hello before they went out to the barn. His father was in the far fields, but Clark still kept alert to any sounds that could signal he was coming back-- the last thing he wanted his father to walk in on was this conversation.

Sitting down on the couch in the loft, Clark fiddled with a piece of straw he'd picked up as he wondered what to say. Chloe, blunt as ever, made the question moot. "So, you and Lex?"

He nodded, blushing a little.

"When?"

He shrugged. "Two months ago, give or take."

"How'd it happen?"

"Long story. Involves at lot of embarrassing things."

"Do I want to know?"

"Probably not."

She nodded. "Okay."

"Does anyone else know?"

"No."

There was silence for a moment while she pondered what to ask next, and Clark looked up. She didn't look angry or disgusted, which he figured she wasn't, since he probably would have heard about it sooner, instead, she looked a little... hurt?

"Chlo, what's wrong?"

She met his eyes reluctantly. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Us?"

"Me and Pete. Maybe Lana."

Clark shrugged, not really sure of the answer to that. "Pete... he's my best friend. And I think he would take it well... but I'm not one hundred percent sure. I was scared."

"And me, and Lana?"

"Lana... maybe because I think she would be mad. And probably accuse me of using her. Which she has every right to, I have been using her."

"What, to focus on, as a way to not be gay?"

He nodded, blushing a little. "I think so."

Chloe's voice got softer, and a little more hesitant. "And me? Why didn't you tell me, Clark?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I really don't know." He paused. "Are you mad at me?"

She looked up from where she'd been staring at her hands. "No, I'm not mad. I guess I'm just a little... hurt. That you felt you couldn't tell me, for whatever reason."

"I didn't want to hurt you, Chlo."

She smiled weakly. "I know that."

Clark crossed the room to where she was sitting, and bent down to hug her. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. You had your reasons, even if you didn't know what they were."

"I should have told you."

"I wish you would have. But it's your life. I'd like to be included, but sometimes we can't tell everyone about everything."

Clark knew only too well how true that was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The phone was, unfortunately, in the kitchen of the Kent farmhouse, so Clark had to wait until both his parents were gone to call Lex. As the phone rang, he fidgeted impatiently, worried about his lover.

Finally, it was picked up. "Hello?"

"Lex? It's me."

"Hey, Clark." Lex's tone relaxed audibly.

"Were you expecting someone else?"

"Maybe. Why?"

"I could hear the tension in your voice, Lex. You should be resting."

The younger Luthor sighed. "Just my father, calling to bother me now that he can't do it in person."

"You told him he couldn't come see you?"

"Yeah. First smart thing I've done in a while."

Clark could hear the tension in his lover's voice, so he tried to lighten up the conversation a little, despite his raging anger at Lionel. "Really? I thought that was when you finally decided to kiss me?"

Lex laughed. "That, too."

"Cause, let me tell you, that took you long enough!"

"I guess it did."

"So, how are you?" Clark didn't expect to get a straight answer, but he had to ask. He wasn't disappointed.

"Fine."

"Really."

Lex sighed, knowing he wasn't going to get out of this. "A little queasy. Tired. But honestly, I'm okay, Clark."

"That's good."

"Yeah. But the hospital food sucks. Bring me some more pizza when you come see me?"

Clark laughed at the aristocratic distain in his lover's voice. "Sure. More pepperoni-olive-pineapple?"

"That particular craving has gone away." Lex sounded mildly disgusted by the idea that he'd eaten that. "Regular cheese sounds much better."

Clark laughed again. "That's good to know. The pizza guy looked at me seriously funny when I told them I was ordering pepperoni-olive-pineapple pizza."

"You'd think they would have heard everything, by now."

"Maybe he was new to the job."

"Maybe. Have you done your homework?"

Clark rolled his eyes. "No, Mom."

"I will not be the reason you fall behind in your schoolwork, Clark." Lex was deadly serious.

Clark softened, realizing that Lex was having another one of those insecure 'I'm not good for him' moments. "I promise I got all of last night's done with plenty of time to spare. I'll finish tonight's, too."

"Good."

"Chloe knows about us." Clark had been trying to think of a way to spring that gently, but there just didn't seem to be one.

Lex coughed a little on the other end of the line. "What?"

"I said, Chloe knows about us."

"And how did she figure that out?" Lex didn't sound accusing like his words could have been, merely intrigued.

"She guessed."

"And you didn't deny it?"

"I couldn't, Lex. I've been lying to everyone for long enough. Please don't be mad."

Lex laughed a little. "On the contrary, Clark. I know Ms. Sullivan can keep a secret, and she's a good friend of yours. I think it's good that you have someone to talk with now."

"You're not upset?" Clark hadn't honestly expected Lex to get mad at him, but he was surprised that the younger Luthor wasn't upset at the idea of being outed.

"No."

"Okay."

"How's your homework? Working on anything new in that wonderful English class of yours?"

Clark groaned. "Only you could think that an English teacher who subjects us to novel after novel of Dickens' is wonderful."

"It's amazing literature, Clark. And if you can't appreciate it for that reason, appreciate the fact that you'll be able to out-class everybody else in your knowledge of one of the most famous classical writers." There was a laugh in his voice.

Clark laughed. "Guess so. But no, nothing new in my 'wonderful' English class. Other homework is pretty boring. I haven't gotten a chance to tell Mom and Dad about the calculator, so I'll have to pay you back later."

"Don't worry about it. Don't worry them about it."

Clark seriously considered it, but knew he could never get away with it. "It looks different, and I do my homework at the kitchen table sometimes. They'd notice. And then they're get mad that I didn't tell them."

"Yeah, I suppose so." Lex wasn't thrilled, but his relationship with the Kents was rocky enough, and Clark knew them better than he did. More than that, though, he really didn't want Clark to get in trouble because of him.

More than he already did, that was.

Clark always seemed to know when Lex was debating going into serious internal battles. "Don't do that," he chastised.

"Do what?" Lex was mildly used to it by now, but it was still somewhat surprising every time it happened.

"Go all brood-mode."

"I am not going all 'brood-mode.'" Lex replied in an aristocratic manner that had Clark holding back his laughter.

"Alright, Mr. Blue-Funk."

Lex sighed in a long-suffering way. "I am neither 'broody' nor 'blue-funk-ish, whatever the latter may be."

Clark laughed out loud this time. "It's what my dad used to say," he explained. "Whenever I would get all sullen and not talk and hide in my room, he'd tell me to 'get out of my blue funk and come help with the chores."

Lex mulled it over for a moment. "My father would just ignore me when I did that," he responded a little sadly.

"Your father is an asshole." The teenager's voice was dark and serious.

"Clark!" Lex was a little taken-aback by the vehement assertation and also by the fact that Clark was insulting his father to his face.

"Sorry," he responded sheepishly. "Sometimes I just can't help it, though."

He could hear the smile in Lex's voice as he replied, and sighed softly in the relief that he hadn't made his lover mad. "I know. Believe me, I've called him that and worse."

"He doesn't deserve you."
Lex went utterly silent. Clark jittered a little in his chair as he waited for the younger Luthor to speak again. He believed what he said to the bottom of his heart, but he also knew that Lex didn't, to the same degree.

Finally, when he responded, it was in an utterly neutral tone. "Well, that's a matter of debate, I suppose." He paused. "How are Chloe and Pete? Have you seen Lana?"

Recognizing that pursuing his chain of conversation would lead nowhere except into a fight, Clark let it go. "Chloe's fine. Like I said, she knows about us. She's a little hurt." He dropped his gaze to the floor unconsciously, feeling bad that he'd caused his friend any hurt. "I didn't know she still thought of me that way."

Lex wasn't about to point out his boyfriend's blindness in the matters of the heart, but it had been pretty obvious to everyone, at least everyone who wasn't Clark, that Chloe still had it bad for him. "She'll get past it. She's a good friend."

"I know. And she's been really cool about it. I just wish I didn't have to hurt her, you know? But it's not like there's anything I can do about it."

Lex wondered briefly if there wasn't, but he pushed the thought aside. Though it may or may not have been Clark's choice to fall in love with a Luthor, it wasn't his choice whether he was gay or not. "No. There's not. Just remember that, Clark. It might be hard sometimes, but you'll be a lot happier if you just let yourself be who you are."

Clark's tone went a little young and petulant. "Then why won't you let me tell people about us?"

Lex sighed. "Because that's not part of who you are. That's part of what you feel. The difference might not seem huge right now, but believe me, it is." He paused. "Besides, that wasn't only my decision."

Clark sighed. "I know. Sorry."

"Apology accepted. Now put down the phone and go do your homework, okay?"

"Yeah. Okay." Despite his words, Clark didn't make any move to say good-bye or hang up the phone.

The silence hung for a few moments, then Lex spoke his name. "Clark?"

"Yeah."

"Homework. Go and do it, remember?"

The teenager sighed. "Yeah, I remember. I just don't want to hang up."

"Do it anyway." Lex's voice was firm, but loving.

"Alright. See you tomorrow."

"Don't get in trouble because of me."

"I won't." Clark crossed his fingers in his lap as he spoke. "Bye."

"Good-bye, Clark."

[Prologue] [Sleepy] [Scared] [Bloody] [Stay] [Appetite] [Reality] [Fine] [Know] [Normality] [Chloe]