Chapter 5: Dental Hygiene

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Chloe's eyes widened in horror at the thought of Clark or Pete finding out about last night. Her cousin continued over the phone.

"I wasn't sure where you were or when you'd be back so-"

"What did you tell them?" Chloe asked, trying to stay calm. If either of them found out about what she'd done last night, she'd never be able to face them again.

"Relax, I told them you were still asleep because you had to work late on you last day. So they're going to drop by later. They said something about needing to see another friend... by the way, you never told me Cory was so hot!"

"Clark"

"Whatever! Those cowboys in Littleville must be doing something right."

"Yeah, they ride around on horses all day... shirtless, that's where the rippling muscles and the dark tan comes from." Chloe replied seriously. She looked up for a second and saw Lex leaning against the door frame with his eyebrows raised, fully dressed in a dark grey casual suit and a black shirt.

"I have to go now! I'll be back at the dorm soon, bye!" Chloe quickly hung up. She hoped he hadn't heard anything.

"Dark tans and rippling muscles? So is that what you're into Chloe?" he said grinning. "You know when we get back to Smallville, I'm going to have a whole lot of verbal ammunition against your sarcasm."

Chloe's eyes narrowed. "You want to talk about ammunition? How about *you* singing Pretty Woman in the shower! I bet that would make a great cover story... you have a great voice by the way."

"If you tell anyone about that I'll... I'll..."

"You'll what?" Chloe challenged.

"I'll kidnap you, tie you to a chair and make you watch Dawson's Creek reruns!"

"Fine! I'll agree to keep your dirty little secret, if you agree to keep mine."

"It's a deal." Lex said extending his arm.

Chloe shook his hand, something in his eyes told her that she could trust him... Everything was going to be alright, but she still owed Lex an apology, especially for trying to stab him with a fork, and for anything else she might have done last night.

Just then she noticed a small bucket next to the bed. "What's that for?"

Lex gave her half a smile, "You'll see. So what did your cousin say?"

Chloe tried not to make eye contact with him. "Just that I was all over some jerk and that this guy had come along and uh... rescued me." she paused, still not looking at him. "I feel so stupid, I should have known better..."

"It's okay, it wasn't your fault. You didn't know that he was slipping you alcohol," Lex said. Seeing her look so guilty made his anger for Vic escalate. "Do you want me to go find Vic and..."

"What...? Beat him up?" Chloe said with a little smile. Lex looked so insecure, he wasn't sure how to handle situations that couldn't be resolved with a check book and a pen.

"Well, no I wouldn't beat him up, but I could buy out his company and reduce him to a middle class citizen?" He offered. Was he actually having a friendly banter with the unpredictable reporter?

"That's okay, but thanks for asking," in some way he was rather sweet. Chloe got up unsteadily and suddenly her head started spinning. Lex saw the look in her eyes. It was the same look she'd had in his porsche, just before she'd-

"I don't feel so good..." Chloe said, finding it hard to keep standing.

Lex grabbed her from behind by the waist as she toppled onto him. Chloe snatched the bucket from the side of the bed before throwing up in it.

She tried desperately to figure out the situation. She was sprawled on top of a millionaire, who was gently stroking her back as she threw up into a bucket. It was official. Chloe Sullivan had just entered the Twilight Zone.

Lex looked at her tired little body. "Are you okay?"

"I'm sitting on you, and throwing up into a bucket, do I look okay?"

"If it's any consolation, I know exactly how you feel,"

"I feel like having a shower, brushing my teeth, heading back to Smallville and hugging my dad."

"I can relate to that... except of course hugging your dad."

Chloe groaned, "Please don't mention my dad... if he finds out about this-"

"He won't find out, it was in our deal, remember?" Lex said smiling.

"Thank you..." Chloe rose from her awkward position, feeling less dizzy. Lex still had his hand on her back afraid she'd fall over.

Chloe turned around, "I still want to know about what I did last night-"

"We'll talk about that later. Why don't you go take a shower and brush your teeth.... I think I have a new toothbrush in the upper drawer somewhere."

"You keep spare toothbrushes? Why? In case there's a nation wide toothbrush shortage?"

"I take my dental care seriously." Lex said smiling, displaying two rows of perfect teeth. "Now, hurry up and I'll give you a ride back to Smallville."

"No, it's fine. Pete and Clark will be at my cousin's soon to pick me up," she said heading for the bathroom and paused before entering, "Thank you... for everything, and I'm sorry about freaking out before and nearly murdering you with a fork, and for anything else I did to you last night"

Chloe saw Lex's smug grin and decided not to end on that note, "By the way do you think you could teach me the lyrics to Pretty Woman? You must have seen the movie a few more times than I did..." Chloe disappeared into the en suite bathroom.

Lex groaned. Sober Chloe was alive and kicking again. Suddenly he heard an urgent knock at the door. He frowned. Very few people knew where he lived, and nobody could get past the security at the door if they didn't have a pass.

He opened the door and his eyes widened when he saw who his visitors were.

"Clark... Pete..."

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Please Review! Oh.... and my apologies to Dawson's Creek fans *cough*