Title: Standing on Common Ground
Author: Snoogins123
Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Smallville they are the property of the WB and superman creators, but I'm not against the idea of them renting out Michael Rosenbaum for an evening.
Rating: PG-13
Notes: There are spoilers for Crush up to the end of the series but this bunny has a mind of its own, so no-one flame me if it doesn't stay particularly loyal to the series storylines. Reviews are always welcome as this is my first attempt at fanfiction.
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He watched as Chloe shook her head, running her fingers through her hair, the vulnerability that he had just witnessed on her face, quickly replaced with the cocky, happy-go-lucky mask that before now he had known as 'Chloe'.
Hmmm seems I'm not the only one that likes to present a certain face to others.
"Jeez, I'm sorry, didn't mean to get all maudlin on you there. Your question just took me by surprise. Most people just want to know how she died. But then again I shouldn't expecting anything pedestrian when it's Lex Luthor asking the questions huh?"
He decided to take that as a compliment.
"It's fine, I know how it is, sometimes those feelings sneak up on you."
"I guess so."
He turned to look out the window, knowing that watching as she wiped the mascara smudges from under her eyes was not really what Chloe needed.
"This day is never great for me, well I guess that's obvious, nobody's favourite day starts in a graveyard."
"Sounds like she was a fun person."
"Yeah, she was."
"So you never thought about following in her footsteps, becoming a dancer."
"Oh no way!" Chloe laughed, "When they gave me these" she pointed to her feet, "they only provided me with two left ones. I can avoid embarrassment on the prom dance floor but that is where my skill in dancing begins and ends."
"So you are out to make your own path."
"Well, no offence, but I hardly have a burning desire to enter the fertilizer industry either. Besides, I've always wanted to be a journalist, before I could even spell the word."
"Hence working on the Torch."
"Editor of the Torch." She corrected him.
"Of course, forgive me." He returned her smile, glad that some of the earlier tension had lifted. He had been worried that they were steering the conversation, dangerously close to a 'soul-searching' session and although he had no qualms about listening to Chloe reveal personal things about herself, he was certainly not going to do the same in return.
"So did you always want to go into the family business?"
She makes it sound like a father and son furniture making company.
"I don't remember there being much choice in the matter. I'm the Luthor heir, my place in at Luthorcorp." He made no attempt to hide the bitterness behind his words.
He couldn't remember a day when it was not made abundantly clear by Lionel, that Lex was to be groomed to take his father's place. To be exactly who Lionel Luthor expected and demanded him to be. Lex often wondered just how much longer he could fight becoming that man.
"Sorry." Catching the young woman's look of concern, Lex quickly pushed thoughts of his father from his mind.
"For what?" His expression, he hoped, unreadable.
"I just thought I might have said something wrong..but….doesn't matter."
He decided he needed to change the subject, quickly.
"So do you miss living in Metropolis?"
She eyed him for a moment and he wondered if she was going to challenge his sudden need for a new topic.
"Yeah sometimes. Not that Smallville doesn't have its own unique charms, and plenty of material to keep my wall of weird up and running, but I'm not really a small town kinda girl. Sometimes I just can't help craving the smog and congestion of the city but I plan on going to Metropolis U in the not-so-distant future so I'll be able to get my fix daily. Do you miss it?"
"Strangely enough, not really. I'm here quite often on business and Smallville has grown on me. And I guess having a friend like Clark there has made it tolerable."
"Well if there is anything that farmboy can do it's make the intolerable, tolerable."
Well that came out of left-field.
"How do you mean?"
The blush that was now creeping across her face from the apples of her cheeks was too conspicuous to hide no matter how much she was trying.
"Just that…well he's a great friend…and high school is intolerable…but not..so much with him there…being a friend and all."
Her eyes were pleading with him not to push her any further, remembering himself how loathe he was at that age to discuss any matters of the heart he simply tucked the information for use another time.
I wonder if Clark knows. Not that I would tell him but a nudge in the right direction might be a good idea.
"Ahh high school, the bastion of repressed feelings and unrequited desires. Good thing Clark can make it a little more bearable for you." She glowered at his smirk that was slowly turning to a smile.
I just couldn't help myself.
"Exactly. Hey! What kind of music do you have in here?" She suddenly became very interested in the CD rack in the cupboard opposite her
"It's mostly classical I think, you like classical music?"
"It's not the first thing I put on the car stereo but I'm not adverse to a little Mozart every now and again. I remember my parents had a thing for the opera La Bo…something. I have no idea what it was about, but I don't think that mattered, I really loved the music from that."
Lex selected his Puccini compilation from the rack and put it in the player. As the sounds began to fill the back of the limo he turned back to Chloe.
"Is this the one that you mean?"
She cocked her head listening intently to the woman's voice, a smile slowly creeping across her face.
"Yeah, this one. This was their favourite. Mine too I guess, seeing as it is the only opera I know. Personally you give me an angry female, a guitar or piano or both and I'm set musically." She saw his disapproval, "Hey, I'm a teenage girl we have to like Tori Amos, it's built into our genes to surface only after the onset of puberty." The blush returned as she realised she had just mentioned puberty to Lex Luthor. "Just don't tell Clark or Pete, one of the major downside's to having best friends of the male of the species, is the merciless teasing that ensues when I happen to get to girl-like for them.
"Of course, your secret is mine."
Who would have guessed that Chloe Sullivan was a Tori Amos fan and a blusher.
