Chapter 7: Touchy-Feely

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Chloe counted to ten slowly... like that was going to help! She needed to fix this situation.

"You two," she said pointing to Clark and Pete, "On that couch,"

"You," she said pointing to Lex, "On the opposite couch."

Chloe breathed a sigh of relief as they followed her orders. "Now, just so that you know, I didn't sleep with Lex. If anything I owe Lex a debt of gratitude, and I will explain it all as soon as I get dressed because I'm *not* very comfortable standing in front of the three of you wearing a guy's shirt."

The room was silent. Chloe walked up to Lex, "Where did you put my skirt?" she asked, hoping she'd never have to repeat that sentence for the rest of her life.

"On the chair behind the door," Lex said with an even tone, avoiding Pete's glare. There was no use in provoking him.

"Thank you." Chloe replied heading back to the bedroom, then stuck her head outside the door again.

"Will one of you *please* make me a cup of coffee?" she pleaded.

Lex nodded, hiding a smirk. Chloe was handling things pretty well considering. He got up and turned on the coffee machine.

Clark's head was full of questions. This morning he and Pete had set out to pick their best friend up to take her back home, but now... At least he was certain that nothing had happened and that Chloe was alright. He and Pete had jumped to conclusions and it hadn't been fair to Lex.

"Are you okay, Pete?" Clark asked, not looking at him.

"No. I don't understand why we're still here." Pete said stubbornly. His side still hurt from where Lex had kicked him, but he wasn't going to admit that to anyone.

"You can leave if you want, nobody's stopping you," Lex stated coming back into the room and setting Chloe's coffee down on the table. What was it about Chloe that made everyone want to protect her?

"I'm not going anywhere without Chloe." Pete seethed.

"How's your nose, Lex?" Clark asked, before he could retort Pete's remark.

"Nothing a Kleenex and minor plastic surgery won't fix," he replied. Lex glanced at Pete He was still clutching his abdomen where he'd been kicked.

"Did I hurt you?" Lex asked cautiously. Almost feeling guilty.... almost.

"Are you kidding? My grandmother kicks harder than you... and she's got arthritis." Pete lied coldly.

There was silence in the room till Chloe reappeared, wearing what she'd worn to the dance last night. Clark's eyes widened. He'd never seen Chloe wearing anything so...

"Slutty by Smallville standards, I know, but relatively conservative by Metropolis standards." Chloe said a little embarrassed. She pulled up a chair between the two couches. Pete and Lex sat in stony silence, and Clark nodded for Chloe to continue.

"Here's the story. I went to this club," Chloe explained. "I ran into Lex, we exchanged uh... pleasantries, then I went off to dance with some other guy-"

"What guy?" Pete interrupted.

"Vic something or the other... anyway I kind of got drunk and-"

"What!" Clark and Pete exclaimed together.

"You were drunk? Chloe Sullivan actually got drunk?" Pete asked, shocked.

Lex noticed how Chloe shrank, "It wasn't her fault. The guy told her it was punch."

Chloe grabbed the coffee and sat back in the chair. She'd come this far, she might as well tell them everything, "I started dancing with him and things got a little... out of hand."

"What do you mean out of hand?" Clark asked.

"Just a little touchy-feely."

"Touchy-feely!?"

"Will you shut up and let me finish?" Chloe asked irritated. There was a pause. "Thank you. Lex then saw me dancing and brought me here before I did anything stupid. I got the bed; he got the couch."

"Hence the pillow you're sitting on," Lex told Pete.

Clark's eyes narrowed, "Who was this guy?"

"Victor Neufeld... son of Henry Neufeld," Lex stated, then noted their blank expressions and realised he was the only one in the room who read the financial section of the newspaper.

"...of Neufeld Industries?" he continued.

"Wow!" Chloe exclaimed in realisation, "I didn't know he was *that* Victor... he's loaded!" she noticed the three pairs of eyes on her "Um... not that it matters, he's still a jerk."

"A huge jerk. The guy does nothing all day, he lives off his rich and powerful father and-" Lex stopped when he saw the expressions, "What? I have a job, I'm not like him! I run the crap factory!"

Chloe grinned, "Well... now that everything's sorted out we can-"

"Not everything," Pete stated, "What are we going to do about this guy?"

Clark saw the look in Pete's eye and nodded in agreement, "We have to do something about him."

To Chloe's surprise, Lex joined in, "I know where he lives, we can take my car," he said getting up.

Chloe's jaw dropped, "Yeah, that's a brilliant idea! I'll go get the baseball bats so we can beat this guy up!"

"Yeah!" they agreed, the sarcasm flying over their heads.

"I wasn't serious, guys. You three can't go and... and..."

"Defend your honour?" Pete suggested.

"I'm not a damn princess from the eighteenth century! I don't need you three to defend my anything!"

Lex sighed, "She's right. None of us are in the position to take on the Neufelds." No matter how much he wanted to beat Vic into a pulp, it just wasn't a smart thing to do,

"Thank you," Chloe sighed in relief, "It's nice to know that you guys care though."

"Sure," Clark said.

"Anytime," Pete confirmed.

"We couldn't have taken my car there anyway," Lex stated.

"Why not?" Chloe asked.

"There was an uh... accident." Lex replied. "I had someone come over to pick it up this morning."

"Oh no! Was it my fault? Did I crash it?" Chloe's eyes widened. She still had no clue about what happened last night, and dreaded finding out.

"No, there wasn't a crash. You... uh, you threw up in it." Lex stated with a sympathetic smile.

Chloe groaned and placed her head in her hands.

"Somebody drive me back to Smallville, please?"

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