Title: Never Again

Author: Tara

Author's e-mail: crazy_girl31_2002@yahoo.com

Category: angst and drama

Spoilers: none

Rating: R, just in case

Pairing: Lex/Lionel and Lex/Clark

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters

Summary: Lex thinks about "the incident"

Warnings: It's not graphic, but there is slight incest and rape. If that bothers you, please don't read it.

Feedback: Yes, please!

Author's note: Because of the feedback I received for this story, I have decided to continue. This is the final chapter. I hope you all like it.

"Lex, please tell me. What's the matter?" Clark asks as he strokes the back of Lex's bare head gently. Clark tries to pull Lex back to look at him, but Lex just clings to him tighter. They stay pressed together like that for a few moments longer when finally Lex pulls back a little and looks into Clark's hazel eyes.

"Oh, Clark," Lex says, his voice filled with longing and complete anguish. " I want to tell you, I really do. I just don't know if I can," Lex says and drops his eyes to the floor beneath them.

"You can tell me anything, Lex. You can trust me with anything and everything. You should know that. You do trust me, don't you?" Clark asks hesitantly, not sure he really wants to know the answer.

"Of course I trust you," Lex says sincerely. " I trust you more than anyone, but it's just hard to talk about." Lex stands up and walks over to the window. He can't see out of it, but he needs something to distract him while he gets up the courage to tell Clark about "the incident".

Clark waits patiently for Lex to tell him what's wrong. Clark knows it must have something to do with Lionel Luthor because Lex had yelled his name in his sleep the night before. He'd sounded so angry and hurt when he'd yelled it. Clark had tried to comfort Lex then, too, but Lex had pushed him away. Clark decides he's going to have to push a little himself to get Lex to tell him, so he says, "Does this have something to do with your father?"

Lex is slightly startled by Clark's abrupt question, but recovers quickly. "Yes, it does. How did you know?" Lex asks Clark.

"You yelled out his name in your sleep last night, so that's what I was thinking must be bothering you," Clark says looking at Lex to judge his reaction.

Lex closes his eyes and replies, "Of course. You tried to calm me last night, too, didn't you? I'm sorry I pushed you away, Clark. I've been having these nightmares about something that happened a long time ago. I thought that they had gone away, but they returned last night. I can't figure out why. It's been almost 5 years since I've had them, and all of a sudden they're back," Lex lets out a sigh and runs a hand over his bald head.

"What happened to you? What happened that would make you have such horrible nightmares?" Clark asks rising. Clark goes over to Lex and puts his arms around him and gives him a hug, a real hug; not one like his father has given him. The only time his father ever hugged him was for publicity purposes. Lex melts into the hug, and he's in heaven. It just feels so good.

Lex decides it's time to tell Clark about "the incident". "Clark, if you really want to know what happened, I will tell you." Lex pauses briefly before saying quietly, "When I was twelve my father raped me."

"Oh, Lex, that's horrible! I'm so sorry," Clark says as he pulls Lex even closer, if that's possible, being careful not to squeeze him too tightly. Afterall he wanted to comfort him, not hurt him.

"I came home from boarding school for the holidays, and he was drunk. He came into my room that night and held me down on the bed. You can guess what happened next, and I'll spare you the details, they're not something you want to hear I'm sure. It was a horrible experience. I thought I had finally forgotten about it, but I guess it will always be there to haunt me."

After Lex says this he feels so much better. Sharing this with Clark had somehow eased the burden of it on his mind. Maybe he could finally get some sleep; he was beyond exhausted now. "Clark, I'm so tired. I think I'm going to go back to bed. Are you going to join me or are you going to stay up?" Lex asks yawning uncontrollably.

"You definitely should get some sleep, but I think I will just stay up. I'll be here when you get up," Clark says and kisses Lex lovingly on the forehead. "I love you, Lex," he says.

"I love you, too, Clark," Lex says and then leaves for his bedroom. He falls asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow, or maybe sooner.

Clark had been absorbing all of this, and he was becoming increasingly furious with Lionel Luthor. How could a father do something like that to his son? The man was sick! He'd never wanted to hurt another human being in his life, but at this moment he wanted to hurt Lionel. But, Clark reasoned, you could hardly call Lionel a human being. Clark knew he couldn't really hurt Lionel, no matter how much he wanted to.

As long as Clark was around, Lionel would never be able to hurt Lex again, he'd make sure of that. Lionel would never be able to hurt Lex again. Never again.

~The End~