Clark sighed and flopped back on the couch in the barn. It was another long, boring summer day. He wished he were anywhere else than where he was. His parents were off at another cattle auction. They were trying to replace the herd that had been lost earlier in the year. If only his father hadn't been so stubborn and had actually taken Lex's money, it would have been a lot easier to do that. So Clark had been left alone at the farm again. He'd already completed his own chores and the ones his father normally did. He was thinking about going to Lex's place, but remembered that the older man had said something about having a lot of work to get done that week.

Lex. If only Clark could find some way to tell the man how he felt. It shouldn't be this hard. Lex had been sending him signals since the first time the two of them had met, but for some reason he still seemed so untouchable. Maybe it was the sleek, smooth Luthor exterior that Lex seemed to wear around everyone except Clark. Maybe it was all the extra responsibilities that his friend had needed to take on after his father's accident. Clark really didn't know, but there was something that was making him stop and pull back every time he thought he was finally going to tell Lex how he felt.

There was a sound of feet hitting gravel in the barn and Clark's ears perked up. He hadn't heard his parents' vehicle pull up, so that meant that whoever was downstairs, it wasn't them. Chloe was in Metropolis still doing her internship, so it couldn't be her either. Of his friends, that only left Lex or Pete, and as often as Lex seemed to pop up in the barn, Clark really didn't think the man would be there after expressing the necessity of his work earlier in the week.

"Pete?" Clark called.

"No, Clark, it's me," came the reply and Clark was surprised to find that his visitor really was Lex.

"Hey Lex," Clark greeted the man as he finished ascending the stairs. Clark stood up from the couch and stepped towards the stairs. It wasn't until Lex was on the landing and his face was in the light that Clark could see him clearly. This wasn't Lex. Or maybe, this wasn't his Lex. The man definitely looked like Lex, and he sounded like Lex, but he was way older than Lex.

"Clark...."

"Who are you?" Clark demanded and then moved back as an older version of himself also stepped up onto the landing. "Wh... what the hell?" Clark demanded.

"Clark, it's okay," Lex insisted and stepped forward. "We're here to talk with you."

"What's happening?"

"Clark, it's really okay," the other Clark said in a soothing voice. "We're from the future and we've come here to speak with you."

Clark stepped back further. The back of his legs hit the couch and he fell down into the soft seat. "I don't understand."

"I know this is strange. What you really need to know, Clark, is that we've come from two very different futures where things went quite wrong," Lex explained.

"We've come back to help you change your own future," the older Clark continued.

"You're from different futures?" Clark asked. That didn't seem to make any sense to him. It they were from different futures, then why were they here together at the same time.

"I know that's confusing. It would take too long to explain it and doing so would taint your timeline, but yes, we're from two different futures," the other Clark explained. "In my future everything goes bad because you wait too long to tell Lex how you feel. You need to do it now, before the end of the summer."

"What? No, I can't," Clark protested.

"You have to," Lex told him. "He cares for you too, believe me."

"Did you love your Clark?" Clark asked the older version of Lex.

"Very much so," Lex admitted.

"But it didn't work out?"

"Something else went wrong," Lex told him with a sigh. "Something that we've already managed to prevent from happening again. Now you just need to go tell Lex how you feel about him."

"Why is it so important that I do this right now?"

"Lex is going to go away to a conference in a couple of weeks," his older double Clark supplied. "Something will happen there that will change Lex's life forever. If you don't tell him that you love him and stop him from going, he'll never properly be able to love you back."

"You're sure?" Clark asked. He didn't know if he liked the sound of this. He was supposed to put himself out on the line to prevent something that he didn't even understand? What if they were wrong and this Lex really didn't care for him the way this Lex had cared for his Clark? What if Lex laughed in his face and Clark had to feel even more like an outcast than he already did?

"We're positive," Lex supplied. "That's me in there and I know that I care for you very much, but I'm scared to get involved. I'm scared that I'll hurt you. You're so young and I want you to go out and experience life before you come to me and ask for this. The problem is that neither of us can wait for that to happen. You need to go to me and tell me how you feel and you need to be sure of it. I'll try to convince you to wait. You can't let that happen."

"I...," Clark stuttered.

"You're planning on asking him to go camping with you at the end of the summer, right?" Old-Clark asked.

"Yes," Clark replied.

"Tell him how you feel and take him camping with you. Everything will work out," Lex insisted.

"If you're sure," Clark hedged.

"We're sure," both the other man assured him.

"Okay," Clark finally agreed. "I'll try." He still felt worried, but if they were both sure then it must have been true that Lex liked him. After all, this Lex had said that he loved his Clark. Hearing that come out of Lex's mouth would be like a dream come true to Clark.

"Go now," Lex insisted.

Clark stood up and passed them. "Thanks," he said.

"Thank you," Old-Clark returned.

The two older men smiled softly at each other as Clark rushed down the stairs and headed towards Lex's place.

***_***

"Lex?" Clark asked as he stepped into Lex's office. He felt so strange being here in Lex's mansion after speaking to an older version of Lex in his loft only moments before. He only hoped that the two older men had been right, because if they weren't, Clark was going to feel like a complete idiot in only a few moments.

"Clark," Lex called out in surprise and looked up from the papers he was working on. "I didn't expect you to come over this afternoon."

"I... I'm sorry. Are you busy?"

"No, Clark. I'm never too busy for you." Lex closed the file that he had lying open on his desk and turned to look directly at Clark. "You have my full attention. What do you need?"

"Umm," Clark muttered. Now Lex was staring at him and he felt like he was being put on the spot. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Something's wrong?" Lex asked. The concern was evident in his voice. Lex knew that Clark's parents were out of town and he had told Clark more than once that if anything ever happened when his parents weren't around that Clark was to come to him. It was only logical for Lex to assume that something had happened and Clark needed his help.

"No, nothing," Clark assured his friend. "It's something personal."

"Personal?" Lex asked with a hint of amusement in his voice. His eyebrow rose. Clark always loved that expression when it was on his friend's face.

"Yes," Clark confirmed.

"Lana?"

"No," Clark said with a small laugh.

"Chloe? I know she's in Metropolis for the summer. I can take you into the city next weekend to visit her if you'd like," Lex offered.

"Lex, no," Clark insisted. "This isn't about either of them."

"Then who?" Lex asked. "Who's got your eye this week, Clark?" Lex teased softly.

Clark blushed. "You," he muttered.

"What?" Lex asked as if he hadn't heard correctly.

"I... I said you, Lex. That's what I came here to tell you. I like you."

"I like you too, Clark," Lex said with a small smile.

"You understand what I'm saying, don't you Lex?" Clark asked. He wasn't sure if what he had said had really been understood in the way that he had meant it. Maybe Lex just thought that he meant that he liked him as a friend.

Lex's smile faded and he looked at Clark's seriously. "I understand," he said with a nod. "I like you too, Clark. I just think we should wait. You need to experience life some more before you can decide that this is what you really want."

"No," Clark insisted. This was exactly what the others had said Lex would say. He moved over to stand next to Lex's desk and looked down at his friend. "I don't want to wait. I don't need to experience life more. I know that you're what I want."

"Clark," Lex protested.

"I'm not a child. I like you, Lex. I dream about you. You. Not Lana, not Chloe, not anyone else. You're the only one who makes me feel happy, nervous and excited all at the same time."

"Clark, I don't know what to say," Lex replied.

"Just say that you feel the same way."

"Clark, you know that I like you," Lex agreed.

"You like me a lot, don't you, Lex?" Clark asked in a low voice as he moved closer to Lex. He dipped his head so that he could kiss the older man. He was moving slowly to allow Lex the option of pulling away if he wanted to. Lex didn't even twitch.

"Yes," Lex breathed as Clark moved in.

And then Clark's lips were on Lex's and nothing else mattered. They were kissing and it was amazing. Lex's mouth opened up under Clark's and his tongue slipped into Clark's mouth. Kissing Lex was nothing like kissing any girl. It was so much better than Clark had ever imagined it would be. A shiver ran through his body and he moaned into Lex's mouth. Lex's hands came up and slid into Clark's hair. They kissed for several long moments before eventually pulling apart.

"Wow," Clark breathed, his mouth still close to Lex's. There was only a wisp of space between the two of them.

"Clark, I...," Lex started and then stopped. "That was amazing."

"I really like you," Clark insisted. "I want to be with you. I don't want to be with Lana or Chloe or anyone else. Just you."

"Okay," Lex agreed with a nod.

"You're sure?"

"You make a very compelling argument," Lex told him with a smirk and then leaned in to capture Clark's lips again.

They kissed for a long time, tongues sliding over one another. Clark moaned deep into Lex's mouth and nipped at his lips. Lex's hands slipped up under Clark's shirt and started to explore his stomach. Clark pressed into Lex's touch and ran his own hands down over Lex's arms.

"Clark," Lex gasped as they eventually pulled apart again.

"Yes?" Clark asked.

"You know I really like you, Clark, but if we don't stop doing this now, I'm not going to be able to stop us from taking it further," Lex warned his friend.

"What if I don't want to stop?" Clark asked in a low voice.

Lex groaned and rested his forehead against Clark's shoulder. "Clark," he gasped. "I respect you and I can't say that about a lot of people in my life. I want this to go somewhere and I hope that you want that as well. Because of that I want us to take some time before we jump into bed."

Clark blushed fiercely at Lex's words, but eventually nodded. He had to agree with the older man. If what the other Clark and Lex had told him was true, then this would be the most serious relationship of his life. He needed to do it right, to take it slow and build something lasting between the two of them. If the fate of the world rested on their ability to make their relationship work, then it was the least that Clark could do.

"Okay," Clark agreed. "I wanted to invite you to come camping with me during the long weekend before school starts."

"I... I'd love to, Clark, but I can't. I have to go to a conference that week. I won't be back until the Saturday," Lex told him.

"Do you really need to go?" Clark asked.

"Yes," Lex insisted.

Clark knew that he needed to keep Lex from going to that conference. He didn't know what was supposed to happen there, but whatever it was, the future Clark and Lex were sure that it would change Lex into a person who couldn't love Clark and Clark didn't want that. "Lex, please?" Clark pleaded. "I really want to go away with you. Can't you send one of your employees instead?"

"I guess I could," Lex conceded.

"Just the two of us," Clark breathed. He leaned back in and kissed Lex again. "Alone and in the middle of nowhere."

"Okay," Lex agreed when Clark released his lips. "I'll call Phillip right now and get him to go in my place."

"Cool," Clark said with a smile and Lex smiled right back. There couldn't have been anything better.

***_***

"How are they doing?" Lex asked Clark. The two of them were standing outside in the yard of the manor next to the time travel pod that Lex had arrived in. Clark was using his x-ray vision and his sensitive hearing to 'spy' on the Clark and Lex inside the manor.

"Lex agreed to go away with him instead of attending the conference," Clark reported.

"Thank God," Lex said. "I can imagine how stubborn I would have been if Clark asked me the same thing at this time."

"Clark was very convincing," the other man said with a smile and turned back to look at Lex. "I think it's going to be okay."

Lex nodded. "All we can do now is hope for the best. We'll never really know how it ends up for them."

"No," Clark agreed somewhat sadly.

"Have you decided?" Lex asked gently. "About whether you want to come back with me or not?"

"What will happen to me if I give you back the time tether and you leave without me?"

"You'll eventually fade out of time and cease to exist. It probably won't take long. It should be only a couple of minutes once you rejoin your own timeline. We've made enough changes that you can't possibly exist any longer," Lex explained.

"And if I go with you, I'll just join your timeline like I always belonged there?"

"Yes. That's Jor-El's theory anyhow, and he's been right so far."

"Do you want me there?" Clark asked. "I know that I could never replace your Clark, but I like you, Lex."

"I like you too, Clark. You remind me a lot of, well, of my Clark. We're fighting for our freedom against the Sengari. The world is in pieces. It's not a nice place to be," Lex let him know.

"Maybe not," Clark agreed, "but it seems to be the only place for me now."

Lex nodded. It was true. There was really nowhere else for this Clark to go. If he remained behind, he would eventually cease to exist, and he couldn't go back to the time he had come from. "I do want you there," Lex assured him. "That's why I brought the tether for you in the first place."

Clark thought about it for a moment and then nodded. "Okay," he said. "I'll come."

The timer on Lex's tether started to beep. He rolled up the sleeve of his shirt and pressed one of the buttons on the device embedded in his arm. He would be so glad to be able to have it removed once he and Clark returned to the future.

"It's time to go."

Clark nodded his understanding then turned back to look at the young Clark and Lex in the manor one last time. They had so much ahead of them that Clark couldn't help but smile.

"I'm sure they're going to be just fine," Lex assured him and placed his hand on Clark's shoulder.

Clark smiled down at Lex and nodded slowly. He followed the other man into the time pod as they stepped into their future together.

*end*
02/10/28