*October 15, 2004*

Clark felt a shiver of nervous anticipation run through him as he stepped into Luthor Castle. He had spent a month thinking about it, but he had finally decided that he couldn't take the chance that his future self was right and that not telling Lex about his feelings would lead to the death of... well... everyone. He still occasionally had nightmares about the vision that he had shared with Cassandra, and the possibility that he could have lived a future where it all came to pass scared him more than he could almost imagine. To lose everyone, all his friends and family and everyone else in the world, was the most horrific thing he could think of. The thought that his best friend, Lex, could be the cause of it was also highly disturbing.

George let Clark into the house as he always did and told him that Lex was in his office. Clark thanked the man and then headed towards the familiar room. He tried to think of how many times he had been here over the past three years. Two or three times a week for three years; it had to be at least a couple hundred. The familiar surroundings helped put Clark at ease and made him feel more comfortable about what he was going to be saying that evening.

His future self had assured him that Lex shared his feelings, but he couldn't quite shake the fear that Lex was going to look at him with disgust and order him out of the house, or take one look at him and laugh in his face. What if Clark never saw the other man ever again? What if their friendship was ruined forever? Would it be worth it? To save everyone he cared about? Yes, it would, no matter how much it pained him to admit it. Saving everyone he loved was worth the possibility of making Lex hate him.

Clark took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and laughed softly at his silliness. This was Lex, his best friend. There should be little to be scared of here. Maybe he was just making up all his fears. Surely, he knew
Lex better than anyone else, and Lex had always been a good person to Clark.
He would still be a good friend now, no matter how he felt about what Clark was going to say to him.

The door to Lex's office was slightly ajar, so Clark pushed it open farther and let himself in. Clark knew the signal by now. If the door was open he was more than welcome to walk in, but if it was closed, he needed to knock first. Lex had instituted their little signaling system after Clark had wandered in on one too many business meetings. Lex had laughed and said that it wasn't so much that he cared, the meetings were often boring and he would rather get out of them anyhow, but that it wasn't seemly for Clark to be wandering around the manor unchecked. And since the last thing that
Clark wanted was to appear rude or unmannered in front of Lex or his guests, he had agreed to Lex's idea of leaving the door slightly open when Clark was welcome to walk in and interrupt him.

Lex was on the phone when Clark entered the office. The man looked up and saw Clark. He nodded and gestured towards one of the chairs sitting on the other side of the desk. Lex couldn't expect the call to last too much longer if he was indicating that Clark should stay, so Clark settled himself in the chair and waited for his friend to be free. The call seemed boring and appeared to be a discussion of the feedstock for the plant. Sometimes Clark wondered how Lex could put up with all the day-to-day minutia of running the plant when he was still so young. There was no way that Clark was going to want that much responsibility when he was twenty-four.

"Clark," Lex greeted him as soon as he managed to get off the phone.

Clark had been looking around the room, trying to see if anything had changed since the last time he had been there. He found that it hadn't. It didn't surprise Clark. Contrary to what he wanted people to think, Lex was actually quite orderly and predictable. He turned back to look at Lex when the other started to speak to him.

"Hey, Lex," Clark returned. "If you're busy I can go. I... I didn't mean to interrupt anything." He felt more nervous than he ever had around Lex and the last thing that he wanted to do was drag the other away from anything important just so that he could confess that his feelings ran deeper than they probably ought to.

"Don't be silly, Clark," Lex said with a smirk. He slid out of his chair and walked over to the small bar in the corner of the room. "I'm never that busy." He opened the cabinet and reached in for a bottle of water. "Want anything?"

Clark's eyes tracked Lex's movements and Clark couldn't help but think about the way that Lex moved, so feline and graceful. He was slightly startled when Lex's words brought him back to reality.

"Umm... no," Clark said quickly and a perhaps little too loudly. He knew that it simply wouldn't be safe for him to be holding anything breakable right then.

Lex just shrugged, smirked a little bit more, and then closed the cabinet.
He walked back over to his desk and sat down. "So, Clark," he started.
"What can I do for you today?"

"I... uh... I need to talk to you about something," Clark muttered. He watched as Lex unscrewed the cap of his bottle and took a long pull of the cool, clear liquid. Clark swallowed compulsively in response and struggled to make sense of the words Lex had started speaking.

"Nothing's wrong, is it?" Lex asked. Worry was plain in his voice and Clark immediately felt like an ass for making his friend concerned.

"No, no, it's nothing like that. I just need to tell you something."

"Okay," Lex said reasonably. He lowered his bottle of water to the table and fastened his eyes on Clark.

Clark could feel himself start to blush. He always felt slightly uncomfortable when Lex looked at him like that, like what he was going to say something vitally important to the future of everyone, which today might possibly be the truth. It made Clark feel like he was being put on the spot and analyzed. It also always reminded him of how young he was.

"I... I like you, Lex," Clark stuttered out.

"I like you too, Clark," Lex returned with a smirk that was almost a genuine smile. He seemed to be waiting for whatever else it was that Clark was going to say. How could he not understand that Clark had already said what it was that he had come there to say? Why did it need to be so much more complicated than necessary?

"No, Lex. I... I mean, that's it. I like you. A lot. As more than friends." Clark felt like a dork. Was it possible for him to sound more like a child while he did this? This was no way to convince Lex that he was right.

Lex's face fell, his pseudo-smile disappearing. His eyes narrowed and he seemed to be scrutinizing Clark to see if the young man was serious or not. Evidently what he saw in Clark's face put him more at ease, because a moment later Lex's eyes softened and he started to look more like the person that
Clark knew.

"Clark, I...," Lex started, but Clark jumped in and cut him off.

"Lex, I'm sorry. Look, you don't have to say anything. I just wanted you to know," Clark said hurriedly. He stood up quickly and started heading towards the door. He almost knocked over his chair in his haste to leave the room.

The look in Lex's eyes had told Clark enough. Lex was surprised by Clark's words. He wasn't disgusted, but he didn't understand how Clark could feel that way about him. He had likely never thought of Clark as anything other than his best friend. Or his little brother. Oh, God. His future self had been wrong, so very wrong. Clark just wanted to go hide somewhere so that he could ride out his embarrassment alone.

"Clark, wait," Lex called after him. He was up, out of his chair and moving towards Clark as fast as he could. He caught up with Clark and placed his hand on the younger man's arm. "You don't need to be embarrassed. I was just surprised, is all. What made you tell me this now?"

"I... I just wanted you to know," Clark stuttered. "I thought that it would be for the best. I... I know that you don't feel the same way."

Lex laughed. It was louder and harsher than Clark could remember ever hearing Lex laugh before. "Clark, I can't believe that you think that," Lex said after a moment of Clark staring at him in slightly hurt confusion.

"Lex," Clark protested. He didn't understand Lex's reaction to this at all. It sure wasn't making him feel any better about the situation.

"Clark. I'm sorry," Lex said softly once he had managed to stop laughing. "I just can't believe that you've never once noticed the way that I look at you. I mean, half the town probably knows how I feel about you. I suspect it's most of the reason why your father has such a huge problem with our friendship."

"You like me too?" Clark asked slowly as he began to make out the meaning behind Lex's words.

"Of course I do, Clark." Lex agreed. His eyes swept up and down Clark's body and Clark could feel himself starting to blush again. He couldn't believe that Lex was looking at him like that, like he was something special.

Lex stepped forward and reached out to pull Clark's face down towards his. He moved their heads expertly and then kissed Clark. It was amazing; it was heaven. Clark had never been kissed like that ever before in his whole life. None of the girls he'd kissed had ever made him feel like he was feeling right then, like the rest of the world had fallen away and all that was left was him and Lex. It was more than amazing, and it was over all too soon.

Lex pulled back and stared up at him as Clark tried to catch his breath.

"So... so what now?" Clark asked slowly as he began to regain the ability to form coherent sentences.

"Now this," Lex told him with a sly smile and reached out to start undoing the buttons of Clark's shirt. He leaned forward and once again captured Clark's lips while he undid the top three.

Lex's actions startled Clark. He knew exactly what the other man was initiating, but he didn't think that he was ready to have sex with Lex. Until just a few minutes before they had only been friends. Now they had started this new level in their relationship, and Lex wanted to jump straight into being intimate with each other. It seemed like too much all at once. Clark kissed Lex briefly, then stepped back and removed himself from the kiss. Lex's hands fell away from Clark's shirt.

"Lex," Clark protested with a little laugh that was designed to take the sting out of what he was saying. His shirt hung open in the front, but he made no immediate move to close it. It didn't concern him too much; Lex had seen his chest before. Clark just didn't want it to go too much beyond that right then.

"Clark," Lex returned with a smirk and stepped towards Clark again. He slipped his left hand inside Clark's shirt and ran it over his stomach. It felt good and Clark was almost shocked when he heard himself moan in response to the touch.

"Lex, can't we... can't we just date for a while?"

Lex smirked. "We've been dating for three years, Clark. I think that's long enough for anyone." Lex's hand continued to move over Clark's skin. His fingers found a nipple and teased it gently. Clark moaned again, soft and low, and then blushed hotly.

"Lex," Clark tried again.

"Isn't this what you wanted when you came here this afternoon?" Lex asked in a low voice. "I know you've dreamed about this, Clark."

Clark groaned as images from remembered dreams flashed through his mind. He had thought about this, and the truth was that he really did want to have sex with Lex. He didn't think that now was the right time, though. They had only just admitted their attraction to each other. They needed time to get used to that, to see how the other was going to fit into each of their lives. Clark needed to think of a way to deal with his parents when they eventually found out what had happened between him and Lex.

"I want you, Clark," Lex said softly as he stepped even closer.

His hands returned to the buttons of Clark's shirt and continued to undo the rest of them. Clark didn't offer any more resistance. Lex's words and his voice were ringing through Clark's head. Lex wanted him. He wanted Lex. Maybe it wasn't so wrong. Maybe it was the right time after all. Lex did know a whole lot more about those kinds of things than Clark himself, and his future self had assured him that Lex loved him.

Lex reached up to push the shirt off Clark's shoulders. Clark shrugged out of the garment and then leaned down to kiss Lex soundly. If Lex were sure that this was the right time, then Clark would go with it. If only because he knew that Lex loved him and, because of that, he also knew that Lex wouldn't do anything to hurt him, at least not intentionally.

Lex leaned in and started to run his tongue over Clark's skin. He traced a line over to Clark's left nipple and drew the little bud into his mouth. He sucked it softly and then bit down on it. Clark gasped and shuddered in response.

"Okay," Clark agreed.

"Mmm," Lex muttered around Clark's flesh. He didn't remove his mouth from Clark's nipple when he reached up and started to undo his own shirt.

Before Clark was fully aware of Lex moving, the other man was shirtless and pressed up against Clark's body. His mouth had left Clark's nipple and sought out his mouth for another kiss. Clark indulged his new lover and they shared a kiss that sent a spike of lust and need straight down to Clark's groin.

"I... I've never," Clark muttered as Lex's mouth eventually left him. He felt silly saying the words, but Lex needed to know that he was the first, that Clark had no real idea of what he was doing.

"I know," Lex said, and what looked like a genuine smile once again crossed his face. Clark knew that Lex liked the idea of him being a virgin; untouched by anyone except him. Lex was going to be his first and it was all so exciting and special. It was going to be perfect.