Chapter 18
"Wow, Chloe, you look great," Lana exclaimed when Chloe and Clark arrived Friday night. Chloe was wearing an ankle length, denim skirt with a slit to the thigh. She had on a green peasant top blouse over that.
Chloe twirled to show off her outfit. "Thank you, Lana. You don't look too bad yourself."
Lana was wearing an off-the-shoulder, light pink blouse with long sleeves that billowed around her arms. "Thank you, I try," Lana teased, swinging her hips so her long white skirt swayed back and forth.
"We're only going to the penthouse tonight, you two," Lex told them, eyeing their outfits. "We're not going out."
"What, we can't look beautiful for our men?" Chloe asked, taking in Lex's black slacks and deep purple dress shirt. "And what about you? Look at what you're wearing."
"I am so underdressed," Clark muttered, walking up behind Chloe.
Chloe turned around and gave Clark a charming smile. "Only you could make flannel sexy," she said, taking his hand.
"Only you could lie through your teeth," Clark threw back, taking his hand from hers and wrapping it around her shoulders. "Let's go."
Lana and Chloe wasted no time snuggling up to Clark and Lex once they were in the limo. Chloe threw her legs over Clark's lap and rested her head on his chest.
"Tired?" Clark asked, amusement making his eyes sparkle.
Chloe tilted her head up at him. "Let's think about all that's happened this week," she said, holding up her hand to tick off the items.
"How about we don't and say we did," Lex said, cutting her off.
Lana smiled, cuddled up to Lex, and laid her head on his chest. "Sounds good to me."
Chloe shrugged half-heartedly. The four spent the rest of the ride in silence, only talking if either had anything especially interesting to discuss.
"Here we are," Lex said as the limo stopped.
"I'm glad we sent the luggage ahead so we don't have to carry it," Lana replied, uncurling herself from around Lex.
Lex nodded, reaching over to open the limo door. The four climbed from the limo and made their way into the glass elevator that would take them to the penthouse. Lex pulled the key from his pocket and let the couples into the large apartment.
"Now for our plans," Lana said, smoothing silky strands out of her face.
Chloe grinned. "There will be no sleeping tonight."
Lex broke into a sly, sexy smile. "What will we be doing?"
Lana laughed, then covered her mouth with her hand. "Not what you're thinking."
"First, Lex is going to make smoothies," Chloe announced, grabbing Clark's hand and dragging him to the kitchen in the back of the apartment.
"Oh, I am, am I?" Lex asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"We always make smoothies when we come here," Clark complained, his grin betraying his tone.
"Exactly," Lana replied, slipping her hand into Lex's to follow Chloe. "It's tradition."
"The usuals?" Lex asked, letting Lana force him behind the kitchen counter.
"Of course," Lana answered, as if it were obvious.
"Lana knows what she wants," Clark said, smiling. "And apparently what the rest of us want, too."
Lana sat on a padded bar stool and glanced around at her friends. "Did you ever think we'd end up here?"
"Well, this is where I told the chauffeur to take us," Lex said, turning to get the ice-cream so it hid his smile.
"You know good and well what I mean *Alexander*," Lana said, shooting Lex's back a dirty look.
"I'm still amazed your plan worked," Chloe said, leaning back against Clark when he wrapped his arms around her waist.
"What plan?" Clark asked, looking at Lana.
"I thought you were crazy," Chloe went on. "It would never work. I mean, changing Clark and the great Lex Luthor? Impossible!"
Lex chuckled. "I am so glad no one thinks of me as the great Lex Luthor anymore," he said, shaking his head in amusement as he spooned ice-cream into the blender.
"*You* changed *us*," Clark asked skeptically.
"You don't believe us?" Lana asked innocently.
"Senior year of high school Lana approached me. Well, more like attacked me," Chloe explained, her eyes shining.
"Did not!" Lana exclaimed loudly. When Chloe gave her a pointed look she blushed. "Okay, maybe I did."
Chloe laughed. "She forced me to admit my feelings for Clark, then she-"
Lana cut in. "Then I admitted my feelings for Lex. I was a woman with a plan."
Chloe laughed softly. "Yes you were. She had this great plan to make Clark stop liking her and Lex stop liking me."
"Chloe's jaw dropped to the *floor* when she found out that Lex had feelings for her. It dropped even further when she found out I had feelings for Lex," Lana remembered with a grin.
"Really? It was that amazing?" Lex asked with a sly smile, glancing up from the blender.
"You have to realize that at that point in time she was perfectly tragic Lana Lang, and you were big, bad, untouchable Lex Luthor," Chloe said, nodding. "You can say I was surprised."
"My plan had three parts," Lana explained, holding up fingers to count them off. Part one was a date with Chloe, Clark, and I. This is where we would put that little hint in your head, Clark."
"I think this is where you first realized that I had breasts, which did *in fact* make me a girl," Chloe said, tilting her head up to look at Clark.
Lex laughed, then quickly contained himself. "Oh, he was very aware, Chlo. We just both thought you liked a certain wanna-be-senator of ours."
Chloe's mouth fell open. "You thought I liked Pete?"
Clark blushed. "Well, he was always touching you. He always had a hand on your shoulder, or arm, or anywhere he could."
"That's because he liked me," Chloe said, moving to sit next to Lana. "He had it bad, too. I'm just glad he told me instead of letting it brew like I let my feelings for you, Clark."
"And step two?" Lex asked, trying to get the girls back on track.
"Step two," Lana repeated, smiling at Lex. "Making you realize I could be more than a business partner."
"That was the tricky step," Chloe admitted. "Because we also had to make it clear that you going for Lana wouldn't hurt Clark."
"Right," Lana agreed. "You would never go out with me, if you thought that meant betraying Clark."
"That would be very true," Lex said, pouring a smoothie into a large cup.
"It was a total role reversal for Lana and me. For the first date I was a complete nervous wreck. Of course, Lana was totally calm, cool, and collected since she didn't have feelings for Clark. For the second date, I was the calm one, and Lana was the basketcase."
"Step three," Lana said, nudging Chloe with her elbow. "The double date at the botanical gardens."
"Complete with picnic baskets, and the final step; securing our new boyfriends," Chloe said triumphantly.
"So, in other words you completely played Lex and me?" Clark asked warily.
"Like a drum," Chloe said, grinning maliciously.
"Here," Lex said, handing out the smoothies. "A peanut butter smoothie for Chloe, cherry slush for Clark, strawberry smoothie for Lana, and finally an espresso smoothie for me."
"Yum," Chloe said, standing up and leading the group to the horseshoe of couches. "So, any questions about our mind games?"
"I do," Lex said, giving Chloe a cautious look.
"Yes?" Chloe asked impatiently.
"What if we hadn't changed our minds? What if it only worked for one of you?" Lex asked, mischievously.
"Ha!" Lana laughed, then clamped a hand over her mouth at how loud she had sounded. "Actually we had a plan for that."
"We did?" Chloe asked, confusion written across her face.
"Well, I did," Lana said, sitting next to Chloe on the couch. "If only one of them changed, or none, then we were going to move to plan B."
"What was plan B?" Clark asked. "And might I add I don't like the look on your face."
Lana laughed. "Plan B was to go to extremes to find two worthy guys."
"Hmm," Chloe said, her eyes lighting up. "I kind of like that idea. You mean like go all out to find someone. Let it all loose?"
Lana nodded at Chloe.
"Okay, no more looks like that," Lex said, giving Lana a dirty look. "You're trapped now. There is no going back. There will be no 'Plan B' going on at this time or in the future."
"Aw, is Lex feeling a little insecure?" Chloe asked, sticking her lip out in a pout.
"You want to see insecure?" Lex asked, taking Chloe's cup and handing it to Clark.
"Lex, what are you doing?" Chloe asked as Lex pulled her from the couch.
Lex just smirked. As Chloe's eyes grew wide in anticipation of what he was going to do.
"Lex?" Chloe asked, her voice coming out a squeak as he jerked her to him roughly.
Lex spun her around once then tossed her back onto the couch. "What? Were you feeling a little insecure about what I was going to do?"
"Ooh, you're gonna get it, Luthor," Chloe said, throwing herself at him.
Lex sidestepped and Chloe went sprawling on the opposite couch. She quickly righted herself and smoothed her hair. "Fine. You don't bother me," she said huffily.
Clark laughed. "Obviously he does."
"Fine," Chloe said, getting up, and pulling Lana from the couch. "Lana and I are going swimming."
"We are?" Lana asked. "Oh we *are*," she added when Chloe shot her a dirty look.
* * *
"What are you two going to do?" Lana asked, once all four were settled in the hot tub.
Chloe sighed. "Well, unfortunately it's either one or the other. There's no way I can commute."
"What if you stayed in Metropolis during the week and then went to Smallville on the weekends?" Lex asked.
"We can't afford to have two houses," Clark pointed out, trailing a finger in the warm water.
Lex nodded. "True."
"Come on you guys. It's not that big of a deal. Lex and I can come visit, and it's not like you can't stay at the mansion on the weekends if you want," Lana said, trying to lighten the mood.
"That's true," Chloe said, taking her drink from the floating cup holder. "But what about the farm? It's not just about me."
"I don't know," Lana said, pushing herself up to sit on the edge of the hot tub.
"Clark's wanted his own farm for like forever, and don't forget Lauren," Chloe said sadly.
"Clark's had a farm for over six years now. Don't you think it's time to live your dream of becoming a journalist?" Lex asked seriously.
"Okay, Clark's right here," Clark said huffily, rolling his eyes.
"Clark, I'm sorry. Just trying to weigh the options," Lex said, giving Clark an apologetic look.
"I know," Clark admitted. "So, what are we going to do?"
"This is between you and Chloe," Lana said, squeezing Clark's arm. "Lex and I have different opinions so we're no help there."
"I think we should do it," Clark said, looking up at Chloe.
"Excuse me?" Chloe asked, furrowing her eyebrows.
"Let's do it. You'll never get another opportunity like this, right?" Clark asked, starting to smile.
"Right?" Chloe replied cautiously.
"I've always been interested in journalism, but I've just never really looked into it. I can take some courses at Met:U," Clark replied, his face beginning to shine.
Chloe began to smile. "You could."
"Then I'll have another career besides farming," Clark said, looking at Lex to get his opinion.
"I think going back to school is a great idea," Lex assured Clark, also smiling.
"Let's do it," Clark said, with a confident nod of his head.
Chloe shrieked and threw herself into his arms.
"I take it you think this is a good idea?" Clark asked, hugging her tightly.
"It's an amazing idea," Chloe said, pulling back to kiss Clark.
"I'm so happy for you two," Lana said, slipping back into the water next to Lex.
Lex slipped an arm around Lana. "If you need anything you can count on us."
"Wow, Chloe, you look great," Lana exclaimed when Chloe and Clark arrived Friday night. Chloe was wearing an ankle length, denim skirt with a slit to the thigh. She had on a green peasant top blouse over that.
Chloe twirled to show off her outfit. "Thank you, Lana. You don't look too bad yourself."
Lana was wearing an off-the-shoulder, light pink blouse with long sleeves that billowed around her arms. "Thank you, I try," Lana teased, swinging her hips so her long white skirt swayed back and forth.
"We're only going to the penthouse tonight, you two," Lex told them, eyeing their outfits. "We're not going out."
"What, we can't look beautiful for our men?" Chloe asked, taking in Lex's black slacks and deep purple dress shirt. "And what about you? Look at what you're wearing."
"I am so underdressed," Clark muttered, walking up behind Chloe.
Chloe turned around and gave Clark a charming smile. "Only you could make flannel sexy," she said, taking his hand.
"Only you could lie through your teeth," Clark threw back, taking his hand from hers and wrapping it around her shoulders. "Let's go."
Lana and Chloe wasted no time snuggling up to Clark and Lex once they were in the limo. Chloe threw her legs over Clark's lap and rested her head on his chest.
"Tired?" Clark asked, amusement making his eyes sparkle.
Chloe tilted her head up at him. "Let's think about all that's happened this week," she said, holding up her hand to tick off the items.
"How about we don't and say we did," Lex said, cutting her off.
Lana smiled, cuddled up to Lex, and laid her head on his chest. "Sounds good to me."
Chloe shrugged half-heartedly. The four spent the rest of the ride in silence, only talking if either had anything especially interesting to discuss.
"Here we are," Lex said as the limo stopped.
"I'm glad we sent the luggage ahead so we don't have to carry it," Lana replied, uncurling herself from around Lex.
Lex nodded, reaching over to open the limo door. The four climbed from the limo and made their way into the glass elevator that would take them to the penthouse. Lex pulled the key from his pocket and let the couples into the large apartment.
"Now for our plans," Lana said, smoothing silky strands out of her face.
Chloe grinned. "There will be no sleeping tonight."
Lex broke into a sly, sexy smile. "What will we be doing?"
Lana laughed, then covered her mouth with her hand. "Not what you're thinking."
"First, Lex is going to make smoothies," Chloe announced, grabbing Clark's hand and dragging him to the kitchen in the back of the apartment.
"Oh, I am, am I?" Lex asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"We always make smoothies when we come here," Clark complained, his grin betraying his tone.
"Exactly," Lana replied, slipping her hand into Lex's to follow Chloe. "It's tradition."
"The usuals?" Lex asked, letting Lana force him behind the kitchen counter.
"Of course," Lana answered, as if it were obvious.
"Lana knows what she wants," Clark said, smiling. "And apparently what the rest of us want, too."
Lana sat on a padded bar stool and glanced around at her friends. "Did you ever think we'd end up here?"
"Well, this is where I told the chauffeur to take us," Lex said, turning to get the ice-cream so it hid his smile.
"You know good and well what I mean *Alexander*," Lana said, shooting Lex's back a dirty look.
"I'm still amazed your plan worked," Chloe said, leaning back against Clark when he wrapped his arms around her waist.
"What plan?" Clark asked, looking at Lana.
"I thought you were crazy," Chloe went on. "It would never work. I mean, changing Clark and the great Lex Luthor? Impossible!"
Lex chuckled. "I am so glad no one thinks of me as the great Lex Luthor anymore," he said, shaking his head in amusement as he spooned ice-cream into the blender.
"*You* changed *us*," Clark asked skeptically.
"You don't believe us?" Lana asked innocently.
"Senior year of high school Lana approached me. Well, more like attacked me," Chloe explained, her eyes shining.
"Did not!" Lana exclaimed loudly. When Chloe gave her a pointed look she blushed. "Okay, maybe I did."
Chloe laughed. "She forced me to admit my feelings for Clark, then she-"
Lana cut in. "Then I admitted my feelings for Lex. I was a woman with a plan."
Chloe laughed softly. "Yes you were. She had this great plan to make Clark stop liking her and Lex stop liking me."
"Chloe's jaw dropped to the *floor* when she found out that Lex had feelings for her. It dropped even further when she found out I had feelings for Lex," Lana remembered with a grin.
"Really? It was that amazing?" Lex asked with a sly smile, glancing up from the blender.
"You have to realize that at that point in time she was perfectly tragic Lana Lang, and you were big, bad, untouchable Lex Luthor," Chloe said, nodding. "You can say I was surprised."
"My plan had three parts," Lana explained, holding up fingers to count them off. Part one was a date with Chloe, Clark, and I. This is where we would put that little hint in your head, Clark."
"I think this is where you first realized that I had breasts, which did *in fact* make me a girl," Chloe said, tilting her head up to look at Clark.
Lex laughed, then quickly contained himself. "Oh, he was very aware, Chlo. We just both thought you liked a certain wanna-be-senator of ours."
Chloe's mouth fell open. "You thought I liked Pete?"
Clark blushed. "Well, he was always touching you. He always had a hand on your shoulder, or arm, or anywhere he could."
"That's because he liked me," Chloe said, moving to sit next to Lana. "He had it bad, too. I'm just glad he told me instead of letting it brew like I let my feelings for you, Clark."
"And step two?" Lex asked, trying to get the girls back on track.
"Step two," Lana repeated, smiling at Lex. "Making you realize I could be more than a business partner."
"That was the tricky step," Chloe admitted. "Because we also had to make it clear that you going for Lana wouldn't hurt Clark."
"Right," Lana agreed. "You would never go out with me, if you thought that meant betraying Clark."
"That would be very true," Lex said, pouring a smoothie into a large cup.
"It was a total role reversal for Lana and me. For the first date I was a complete nervous wreck. Of course, Lana was totally calm, cool, and collected since she didn't have feelings for Clark. For the second date, I was the calm one, and Lana was the basketcase."
"Step three," Lana said, nudging Chloe with her elbow. "The double date at the botanical gardens."
"Complete with picnic baskets, and the final step; securing our new boyfriends," Chloe said triumphantly.
"So, in other words you completely played Lex and me?" Clark asked warily.
"Like a drum," Chloe said, grinning maliciously.
"Here," Lex said, handing out the smoothies. "A peanut butter smoothie for Chloe, cherry slush for Clark, strawberry smoothie for Lana, and finally an espresso smoothie for me."
"Yum," Chloe said, standing up and leading the group to the horseshoe of couches. "So, any questions about our mind games?"
"I do," Lex said, giving Chloe a cautious look.
"Yes?" Chloe asked impatiently.
"What if we hadn't changed our minds? What if it only worked for one of you?" Lex asked, mischievously.
"Ha!" Lana laughed, then clamped a hand over her mouth at how loud she had sounded. "Actually we had a plan for that."
"We did?" Chloe asked, confusion written across her face.
"Well, I did," Lana said, sitting next to Chloe on the couch. "If only one of them changed, or none, then we were going to move to plan B."
"What was plan B?" Clark asked. "And might I add I don't like the look on your face."
Lana laughed. "Plan B was to go to extremes to find two worthy guys."
"Hmm," Chloe said, her eyes lighting up. "I kind of like that idea. You mean like go all out to find someone. Let it all loose?"
Lana nodded at Chloe.
"Okay, no more looks like that," Lex said, giving Lana a dirty look. "You're trapped now. There is no going back. There will be no 'Plan B' going on at this time or in the future."
"Aw, is Lex feeling a little insecure?" Chloe asked, sticking her lip out in a pout.
"You want to see insecure?" Lex asked, taking Chloe's cup and handing it to Clark.
"Lex, what are you doing?" Chloe asked as Lex pulled her from the couch.
Lex just smirked. As Chloe's eyes grew wide in anticipation of what he was going to do.
"Lex?" Chloe asked, her voice coming out a squeak as he jerked her to him roughly.
Lex spun her around once then tossed her back onto the couch. "What? Were you feeling a little insecure about what I was going to do?"
"Ooh, you're gonna get it, Luthor," Chloe said, throwing herself at him.
Lex sidestepped and Chloe went sprawling on the opposite couch. She quickly righted herself and smoothed her hair. "Fine. You don't bother me," she said huffily.
Clark laughed. "Obviously he does."
"Fine," Chloe said, getting up, and pulling Lana from the couch. "Lana and I are going swimming."
"We are?" Lana asked. "Oh we *are*," she added when Chloe shot her a dirty look.
* * *
"What are you two going to do?" Lana asked, once all four were settled in the hot tub.
Chloe sighed. "Well, unfortunately it's either one or the other. There's no way I can commute."
"What if you stayed in Metropolis during the week and then went to Smallville on the weekends?" Lex asked.
"We can't afford to have two houses," Clark pointed out, trailing a finger in the warm water.
Lex nodded. "True."
"Come on you guys. It's not that big of a deal. Lex and I can come visit, and it's not like you can't stay at the mansion on the weekends if you want," Lana said, trying to lighten the mood.
"That's true," Chloe said, taking her drink from the floating cup holder. "But what about the farm? It's not just about me."
"I don't know," Lana said, pushing herself up to sit on the edge of the hot tub.
"Clark's wanted his own farm for like forever, and don't forget Lauren," Chloe said sadly.
"Clark's had a farm for over six years now. Don't you think it's time to live your dream of becoming a journalist?" Lex asked seriously.
"Okay, Clark's right here," Clark said huffily, rolling his eyes.
"Clark, I'm sorry. Just trying to weigh the options," Lex said, giving Clark an apologetic look.
"I know," Clark admitted. "So, what are we going to do?"
"This is between you and Chloe," Lana said, squeezing Clark's arm. "Lex and I have different opinions so we're no help there."
"I think we should do it," Clark said, looking up at Chloe.
"Excuse me?" Chloe asked, furrowing her eyebrows.
"Let's do it. You'll never get another opportunity like this, right?" Clark asked, starting to smile.
"Right?" Chloe replied cautiously.
"I've always been interested in journalism, but I've just never really looked into it. I can take some courses at Met:U," Clark replied, his face beginning to shine.
Chloe began to smile. "You could."
"Then I'll have another career besides farming," Clark said, looking at Lex to get his opinion.
"I think going back to school is a great idea," Lex assured Clark, also smiling.
"Let's do it," Clark said, with a confident nod of his head.
Chloe shrieked and threw herself into his arms.
"I take it you think this is a good idea?" Clark asked, hugging her tightly.
"It's an amazing idea," Chloe said, pulling back to kiss Clark.
"I'm so happy for you two," Lana said, slipping back into the water next to Lex.
Lex slipped an arm around Lana. "If you need anything you can count on us."