Everything In This World

By Viv

*~*~ Part Twenty-Three ~*~*

Chloe yawned, blinking rapidly as she tried to get some moisture into her eyes.

She couldn't possibly be feeling tired right now. Was she some sort of crazy person or something? Here she was, luxuriating in the unique sensation of being ensconced in Lex's arms for the better part of the evening, getting as close to him as any person could hope for in the space of one night in a very public place - and she was yawning?

Oh this couldn't possibly be true. Chloe Sullivan, infamous for pulling all-nighters at the drop of a hat, was feeling tired? Maybe she just needed another cup of coffee.

Either that or she needed a lobotomy stat, because she clearly was heading for the Metropolis Institution for the Mentally Deranged, feeling tired and sleepy and other mundane normal human emotions despite the fact that Lex smelt so tingly fresh even after sitting in the same spot for what seemed like hours at the Talon, talking to her like he was really entranced by her school girl charms and not even pretending to notice how obscenely boring she could be on a zero caffeine intake. She had only had a cup of mocha, which wasn't really even one full caffeine shot, and for a gal who needed a full bag of coffee per cup of water, that meant that it hadn't really been too much of a pick-me-up.

"Want to head home?" Lex shifted slightly, giving her room to sit up. Which she didn't because duh, did she really want to go anywhere that wouldn't involve Lex wrapping his arms around her body and making her feel like the only person in the room?

She made a curious muffled sound in the negative, swivelling her body so that she could bury her face into his chest. Her slightly child-like gesture made Lex smile fondly down at her. "Okay, in non-Chloe that means no, right?"

Chloe smiled into his chest, if possible burying deeper. She absently stroked the smooth material of his shirt, delighting in the cool, slippery sensation of the fabric against her warm skin.

She couldn't believe they had been sitting (well, reclining) here for so long. Initially she had dragged Lex into the Talon for her obligatory coffee pit stop after their dinner and movie, but they had ended up staying here for the rest of the night. Now the normally bustling atmosphere of the coffee house was grinding down to a slower, mellower pace, and Chloe had to admit that if she wasn't here with Lex, she would be exiting stage right to avoid being mistaken for someone who actually had a social life.

But who cared what she was mistaken as, as long as she was with Lex Luthor?

Lex chuckled suddenly. "You know Chloe, I'm really starting to like that wiggling you're doing. You're kind of like a very sexy cat." Chloe's quickly eyes snapped open as her cheeks started to flame beet red. Oh dear God, he was right. She was becoming cat-ish, and meow-y and sex kitten-ish ... and that wasn't Chloe. Chloe wasn't any of those things because firstly, she wasn't sexy, secondly, she was a serious student of journalism with integrity and intelligence to spare and thirdly - she wasn't sexy at all.

She knew it. She was in some really spaced out dream that her brilliant yet obviously deranged mind had concocted. Either that, or she had just had a horrible accident and she was lying at Metropolis General suffering from a coma and this was her brain's way of telling her it was okay to be in a coma and -

Chloe found herself sitting bolt upright, beads of sweat starting to form on her brow. Lex's startled eyes bored into hers, before his expression gave way to a gentler curiosity that was only mildly amused at her sudden antics. "Was it something I said?" He asked wryly.

Chloe gulped before venturing, "No, with a big side dish of ... yes." She admitted grudgingly.

He sat up straighter, swinging his legs so that his body was upright. "Which part brought on the side dish?"

Chloe narrowed her eyes, trying to detect a hint of mockery in his voice. This man was way too practiced at hiding his emotions, something she made a mental note to try to probe later. But not in any physical way, which was so not the point at the moment.

She cleared her throat self-consciously. "The ... part where you said the sexy thing." She blushed even more furiously, more than what Chloe thought was humanly possible. Clearly her body was determined to transcend the bounds of human behaviour tonight. She sighed pitifully. "I'm just ... not used to it. I mean, being called nice things. You know ... I just ... Oh forget it. I'm an idiot."

A flicker of surprise illuminated Lex's eyes, as if he was just coming to the realisation that Chloe was Chloe - a 17 year old high school junior whose track record with guys included two lame psycho meteor freaks and possibly one Clark Kent. In other words - she had absolutely zero experience with guys in general, let alone guys with the experience of Lex Luthor.

"Of course." Chloe wasn't sure whether he was saying it to himself or to her. She had to remind herself that as smart and as worldly as Lex was, he was just a guy, prone to reading situations wrong. Besides the obvious fact that he wasn't a mind reader specialising in Chloe 101.

"I'm an idiot?" She asked, half-scared at the reply she was going to get.

"What?" Lex dragged his attention back to the present, his pale blue orbs focusing fully on Chloe's confused hazel ones. "What - no." He ran his hand absently across his bare scalp, one of the first nervous gestures that Chloe had seen Lex use. "It's just that - I should have realised."

"Realised what?" She asked, curiosity overriding every other feeling churning inside her confused mind at the moment.

He looked deeply into her eyes, unblinking. "Realised that you're so young, still."

Chloe blinked, trying to digest what he was trying to say. She was well on the way to grabbing the random strings of thought that was now floating in the air between them and weaving them into one coherent strand, but her mind was dulled by lack of sleep and also - she was caffeine deficient. A serious medical condition in the world of Chloe.

"Well ... is that a problem?"

There was a slight pause, causing Chloe's breathing to hitch slightly. A mantra of 'please say no' echoed in her mind.

"No." He said, and Chloe was relieved by the decisiveness in his voice. At least he didn't have doubts or second thoughts. "It's just ... I keep forgetting how young you are Chloe. How impressionable." He looked into her eyes, his expression for once so artlessly honest and open it succeeded in knocking all air completely out of her body. "I promise I won't forget that."

"Um ... okay." She wasn't sure what else she was supposed to say. The conversation had turned very serious all of a sudden, and she had the uncomfortable impression that he had just committed to something she couldn't quite grasp. A phantom concept that refused to materialise in front of her, a pledge to her to do something ... but she couldn't understand it.

She opened her mouth to ask him but quickly shut it again. Somehow it seemed intensely private, something that Chloe didn't want to intrude on. It was enough that he felt so much for her that he had momentarily let his walls down, to make her a promise that she knew he would keep. He looked so earnest and serious at the moment, she hadn't the heart to disturb that conviction.

"I'm starting to get a bit tired Lex." She grinned apologetically, yawning to emphasise her point. "I'm sorry. But for the official record - I had a great time."

He leaned in, giving her a long, savouring kiss. "For the record, I had a great time too." With that he helped her up and they walked away from their table, Chloe's face radiant as she leaned against Lex for support.

(c) September 2002