[Author's note: I was basically gonna get the whole thing completed before posting up again, hence delays, but Just_call_me_cutie, in return for giving the first review of the year, gets her wish of an update to keep her going :) . More  to follow. ]

#now when I rise I shine

I've got you on my mind

and the question isn't if

the question is merely when #

-Eels.

Clark found himself stirred out of a light sleep by an annoying incessant beeping. That was the first strange thing – the second was that he had the most godawful crick in the neck.

Some realisation of where he was dawned as the bed shifted beneath him, and a familiar voice grumbled a few expletives, as Lex reached out to wreak bloody murder on his alarm-clock.

Sitting up himself, Clark sleepily rubbed his eyes and looked from Lex; childishly turning over and pulling a pillow over his head to block out the light that was till on from the night before – and what had been torn from its socket and flung down onto the floor.

"Y'know, something as expensive looking as that probably has a 'sleep' button Lex."

A muffled response came from under the pillow; "In all the time you've known me you should have figured out that I am not what is so perkily called a 'morning person'."

Clark yawned and stretched.

"Actually I had figured that out. I just love to taunt you."

Lex emerged blinking into the light in order to fix him with a mocking glare that turned into a smirk.

"Well gee, Clark, not to ruin your moment of glory or anything, but you should also know that we self-mellowed adults like to set our alarms a little later than your average student."

He watched amused as the smug face of Clark Kent fell in wonderfully genuine horror, as he checked his watch.

"Oh my god, I'm late for school!"

"Hey you can always use your – "

A brief whirl of action ensued before Clark was standing there again, a little less dishevelled having washed and apparently borrowed one of Lex's less-expensive looking shirts.

" – superspeed?" Clark finished helpfully.

Lex shook his head.

"I'm telling you right now I'll never get used to that."

That was met with a wide Kent grin, and a hasty,

"I really have to go- if my parents hear that I was late we're in trouble."

Just as he was heading to the door though Lex called out ,

"What? No good-bye kiss?"

Clark turned back, and paused for a second with a guilty look before obliging.

" I'll never get used to that", he said quietly afterwards.

Lex gave him a compassionate smile.

"Yeah, well, I bet when we first met you didn't see yourself spending the night here in the future."

He couldn't believe it but Clark was blushing bright red – no, wait, he could believe it.

He rolled his eyes.

"You know what I mean."

He did; even in the early days, weeks and months of their friendship he'd been amazed at how easily Lex had taken him into his life, so different from his own. Every time Clark had turned up on his doorstep – this small town kid, still in high school, and a world apart – he'd never been made to feel uncomfortable, or unwanted. If Lex had wanted their contact to end with an offered gift in appreciation for saving his life and all, then that would have been it. Nothing else was expected of in terms of friendship. That was what had surprised and intrigued Clark from the start. Here was this rich, powerful and dynamic person, and he'd wanted to spend time with Clark. Sure, maybe in the beginning it wasn't quite the hours spent talking and spending time with each other that it had been the last couple of months, but there had always been a strange air of acceptance from Lex, as if he'd decided from the start to take an interest in Clark's life. But to be completely taken into Lex's world– to be privy to his secrets; to be spoilt with the occasional gift his wealth and influence could afford, to attend one of Lex's parties and meet his friends; to meet those people important in his life, from his past enemies, to Victoria; and now, to spend endless private hours talking in confidence with Lex in his room...this  was something that was both unthinkable and yet inevitable from the beginning.

"I'll try and come by after the party tonight, okay?" Clark said quietly.

Lex nodded but there was a brief flicker of something in his expression.

"You know I wish you could be there with me."

"Yeah, well I don't think your friends would appreciate it even if I could."

Clark started to protest – to say that his friends, who at best had only ever been impressed by brief displays of charm or wealth, hadn't actually cringed every time he mentioned Lex's name. But they both knew the truth, especially after Chloe's little speech that morning.

"I'm sorry Lex." He said quietly.

But Lex's expression stayed firm and confident.

"C'mon Clark, do you really think I care what people think of me?"

It was a rhetorical question but still, left unanswered it seemed to hang in the air too long and, with a saddened look in Clark's eyes, they let the implication remain unchallenged and yet unconfirmed.

Clark merely stepped closer and gave him a determined, and lingering kiss.

"I'll see you later." He said, before leaving the room and hurrying quickly along the darkened halls of the manor to find, somewhere in its depths, his book-bag that he'd left downstairs the night before.

Lex felt a wave of self-pity, standing alone, exhausted and still so confused about all that was said last night. And now Clark was running off to school, his friends, to a party….and all he'd have to think about all day was how incredibly complicated his life had become.

And he was worried too; worried that it was those increasingly frequent pitying and loving looks from Clark that were making him even more and more sensitive to the hardships in his life. It was easier to hide from your fear, anger, and vulnerability when there wasn't anyone around who wanted to hear about it, and who's presence just made you want to confess everything and curl up in their arms.

He hadn't had anyone make him feel like that for a long, long time…and it was getting more and more difficult to keep his previously all too familiar façade of confidence and clear-mindedness alive.

~ ~ ~ ~

Clark made it to school just as the bell rang for lesson changes. Hurrying through the halls to his locker he almost didn't hear his name called .He turned.

"Oh, hey Lana, I'm sorry but I can't stop-"

but he did, as he caught the concerned look on her face.

"What is it?" he asked lowering his voice as he approached her, standing by her open locker. "What's happened?"

She shook her head, but was watching him strangely.

"Nothing's happened, I'm okay, it's just…" she paused, " I'm not sure if you are."

Credit should be given to her for catching his brief shifting to a defensive stance.

"I don't know what you-"

"I called around you house last night" she interrupted, speaking quietly and seriously, "and your Mom told me you were at Chloe's."

For a strange moment Clark felt a sudden urge to dissuade her from getting the wrong impression about him and Chloe – just as he would have a year ago in full-on crush mode. Old habits die hard. Momentarily distracted by this little minute of introspection he found himself spinning lies automatically.

"Oh, yeah, well I caught up with her later after all, and we were just going over some last –minute ideas, it got late, and-"

"That's not true Clark, any of it.." Lana still kept her voice low, and while it was full of concern, there wasn't any really bitterness there. "You weren't at Chloe's, because I know she was pouring her heart out to me two hours after the Talon closed."

"What?"

Lana was watching him so intently, he felt like the truth must be written across his forehead.

"I got a pretty good idea of what's been going on with you two lately, and what she told me really got me worried about you Clark, because I've noticed something's been off with you for a while too. I came round last night to give you some advice, which believe me, I feel all the more justified giving you this morning than I did then."

She stepped closer, as he averted his eyes, just to avoid that gaze of pure and honest care and worry for him.

"Whatever it is you're going through, keeping it a secret from your friends' isn't healthy Clark. And if you've gotten involved with something that…" she seemed to struggle for words for a second, before sighing and settling for; " Look, if it's that someone's asking you to lie for them, then you should really think about whether your relationship, however exciting it might be, is really worth it."

"Lana, I'm not in a rela-"

"Or, and I think this is the more likely situation, if you're lying and hiding to protect Chloe – then Clark, I can tell you that while you may have good intentions, you're only causing her more pain."

She made as if to move away, but then, turning back and biting her lip she decided there was one last thing that needed to be said, no matter whether it broke certain long-established barriers between them or not.

"If you were in Chloe's position, and loved someone who couldn't love you back-" Clark's eyes shot up, and painful understanding flashed between them as Lana forced herself to carry on, "– wouldn't the only way you could move on be to see that person happy with someone else, no matter how hard it may seem at first?"

They stood oblivious as the other students thronged around them in the busy hallway, laughing and happy and grumbling after pop quizzes went disastrously wrong. There were the glistening of tears in both their eyes that betrayed the hurt of a year of unspoken wishes and agreements.

Eventually Clark met her gaze with his own, dark and both terribly vulnerable and weighted with responsibility at the same time.

"You and Whitney were lucky though; " He said oh so quietly. " you weren't laden with as many secrets as we are."

With that Clark looked away hastily and walked off, leaving Lana staring after him, to wonder for very long time just how she could have been blind to such painful depths of Clark Kent.

TBC