Chapter 13
"Blow the Candles Out"
A Smallville story by Xica
Characters: Clark, Chloe, Pete, Lana, Lex, and Mari
Disclaimer: All the usuals apply. All I own is my poor Smallville infested brain and the characters that are created from it.
Trying to move on. Bask in the return of Lana and Pete.
"Mari, you're fucking kidding me".
Mari sighed and turned around to face Chloe who was sitting on the edge of her bed, looking ready to pounce.
"Chloe I couldn't have made that up if I tried"
"You slept with Lex Luthor"
"Yes"
"You slept with Lex Luthor!"
"Yes" Mari said, impatience creeping into her voice, why oh why hadn't she kept her mouth shut? She looked at Chloe's face, flushed to a deep pink, and behind the shock she saw a flicker of intrigue. Chloe was one of the few female friends Mari had, and the only one Mari could trust with something like this. She braced herself for the onslaught on admonitions she knew was going to come.
"So was he as good as we all imagine him to be?" Chloe asked, the mischief running through her mind evident.
Mari, obviously relieved, laughed and jumped onto the bed.
"Oh. My. God. You have no idea how good".
"Well come on, out with it! I need details woman! Chains, whips, whipped cream, blindfolds, give me all the dirt!" Chloe exclaimed and Mari had to shush her.
"Chloe pipe down! If my granny hears you she'll lock me up and throw away the key".
"Sorry, but come on. You can't keep me in suspense".
Mari relaxed and became thoughtful. "Well actually Chloe, there was no kinky sex stuff. I mean it started out kind of rough. He threw everything off the dining room table and if I hadn't stopped him I'd probably have splinters in my ass".
"Ew gross" Chloe said, wrinkling up her nose in horror. "I would have gone for the desk but who knows how sturdy that glass is?"
"I bet he does" Mari said without thinking and she and Chloe burst into hysterics. "Okay, okay. What next?" Chloe asked when they had both calmed down.
"Well then he dragged me up to the bedroom and…" Mari trailed off, her face breaking into a smile.
"And what?" Chloe asked impatiently.
"It was wonderful" Mari said with a deep sigh, "better than I ever imagined it could be".
"Okay so you did the deed and then what happened?"
"Well he fell asleep, and at first I didn't know what to do. But then I got tired so I figured I'd take a little nap too. So I totally conked out and when I woke up he was gone".
"Gone! What do you mean gone? He just left you there?" Chloe exclaimed, her disgust evident.
"Well there was a note. He said he was in his office handling some business, but that he'd be back".
"So what happened when he came back?"
"I wouldn't know. I left. I came here".
"Why?"
"At first I was going to stay, but then I got to thinking about how weird it would be. I mean what the hell would we talk about? And when I needed to leave what would I say? 'Well gee Lex, I'd love to burn the sheets with ya one more time but I've got some Algebra to finish before school tomorrow".
"Mari" Chloe started but Mari cut her off.
"No Chloe, don't try to tell me that it would have been alright. You don't know that. Everything was perfect the way it was. There was no reason for me to stay there and ruin it".
"So now what?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well are you going to see him again?"
"Chloe" Mari said exasperatedly, "this isn't like you and Clark. There will be no 'seeing' Lex Luthor".
"Well why not?"
Mari looked at Chloe as if she was insane. "Chloe are you brain dead! He's Lex Luthor. And I'm…well I'm just not the type of girl he can date. I'm still in high school for chrissakes! It's not like we can go to the Friday night football game and then go make out at Crater Lake".
"Well you hardly ever do that stuff anyway".
"That's not the point".
"It is the point Mari. What you're basically saying is that he's good enough to sleep with and nothing else. You're also saying the same thing about yourself. How would you feel if Lex told you that?"
Mari looked away from Chloe's piercing gaze and did not answer.
"Exactly. You'd feel like shit. Mari you and I both know that adolescent crush or no, you wouldn't have slept with him if you didn't have some kind of feelings for him".
"You don't know that" Mari said weakly.
"Yes I do" Chloe said, grabbing the other girl by the shoulders.
"But it doesn't matter anyways. I mean Lex probably doesn't want anything to do with me".
"Mari, I hate to state the obvious, but the only way for you to find out for sure, is to talk to him. Otherwise this is going to haunt you".
Mari let Chloe's words sink in and she managed a wan smile, "Geez Chloe, when did you become the relationship expert?"
"Hey, years of watching Oprah and reading Cosmo had to come in handy someday" she said laughing.
"Hey Chloe, you wanna go into town and grab some dinner? I'm starving".
"Yeah well I guess you never did get to eat lunch", she said slyly and Mari stuck her tongue out at her. "But I think you ought to shower and change clothes. Post coital Eau de Lex is not necessarily in vogue in Smallville".
Lana stood behind the counter at the Talon thinking hard. It hard been nearly twenty-four hours since the party from hell, and she hadn't come any closer to solving her problems. For the most part, she was still in shock that Kent had chosen Chloe over her. That was something she would never have imagined in a million years. Lana had always relied on the fact that no matter what happened in her life, Clark Kent would always be there for her to fall back on. But now that that was obviously no longer the case Lana was stuck at a crossroads. Move on from Clark, or wage war against Chloe Sullivan?
"Lana? Lana!"
Lana was startled from her private reverie by a familiar voice.
"Hi Pete" she said listlessly.
"Hey yourself" Pete said flatly. "I hope the landing wasn't too hard".
"What are you talking about" Lana asked, clearly confused.
Pete smirked, "Well you look like you were somewhere else. Like you were floating on a cloud or something. Are you okay?"
For a second Lana hesitated, not sure how much she should tell. After all, Pete was Clark Kent's best friend, and an equally close friend of Chloe's. There's no way he would be on her side. Sighing deeply she said, "Pete, did you ever have one of those days where you'd be thankful if the ground opened up and swallowed you whole?"
For a second Pete was quiet and Lana feared that she'd said too much. She was just about to pretend she was joking when Pete said, " A hole in the ground? You won't get too many style points for that. I'd always figured a firing squad would be a much better way to go".
Pete's eyes locked on hers, and behind the seriousness she saw a crinkle of a smile forming in the corners of his eyes. Lana let a giggle escape and Pete joined in. Soon they were both laughing hysterically to the point where Lana had to wipe a few stray tears from her cheeks.
"Ross, I think its time we had a little chat. The coffee's on the house".
Hours later Lana flicked off the lights and headed towards the front door of the Talon, locking it on her way out. Although it was only a little after ten, Main Street was dead as could be. Normally the quiet bothered her, but now it was slightly comforting. The slight chill, a sign of the impending fall, invigorated her as she inhaled the fresh air. She'd spent quite a while talking with Pete while she finished up her shift and it had given her a new perspective on things. He'd been surprisingly candid, telling her about his Mari-Erica problem and how he regretted the way he'd handled things. He was scared that in the process he'd lost a potential girlfriend and probably alienated one of his good friends. Eventually he coaxed out the story of her fight with Chloe out of her, and even though she suspected that he already knew all the details, she felt better talking about it. Hearing herself admit to the way she acted surprised the both of them. Eventually Pete had to go home and Lana had busied herself with closing down for the night.
But out here, in the clarity of a starry night, Lana knew what she had to do. A beeping horn pulled Lana out of her thoughts. Nell was waving her towards the car and Lana quickly jumped inside.
"Did you have a good day honey?" Nell asked.
"Actually, aunt Nell today wasn't a good day. And tomorrow might not be either, but I've got a feeling things are looking up".