Part 7 Chloe Come Join Us

"Lex, seriously, I do not feel comfortable letting you look inside the bandages!"

Chloe's face was florid with embarrassment. Lex had been offering to check on her cuts and change the bandages for her since he arrived three hours ago. His presence in her house was unexpected and she asked him what he was doing there. He told her that he had decided to hang around with her since she was home from school. When she handed him a glass of juice, she arched her eyebrow at him and asked, "Are you keeping me company because you want to pretend you're my brother already?"

He spit the juice back out of his mouth so quickly some of it may have gotten blown from his nose had it been something he would do. Lex remembered Lucas' comment about not being fun and he wished for once he did the disgusting action. "Chloe, I have no intention of pretending that I'm your brother."

"Good," she decided. "That would have been so wrong."

Lex moved from his position on the couch so that she could settle beside him. He leaned close and asked, "Why, Chloe? Tell me why it would be wrong."

The caress in his voice almost sent her running away before she melted right there. Before Lucas arrived, Lex had been the sexiest man in Smallville, with no one coming a close second. Lucas' arrival placed him neatly on the second spot, but Lex had always been, to Chloe Sullivan, the most pleasurable combination of intelligence and attractiveness that never failed to magnetize her. She swallowed and refrained herself from jumping on him and taking advantage of him. She also pushed away that niggling urge to ask him why he was suddenly emanating flirtation vibes that was almost unmistakable. The only thing telling her that there was nothing flirty going on was that this was Lex Luthor and she was Chloe. "Well I don't think Lucas and I are moving in that direction. We're not even getting that far."

So for the past three hours they have been surfing channels on the television. Their eyes were tired and Chloe's were almost crossed. "Now would you tell me why you're here and not at the mansion?" She yawned.

Lex considered the question for a moment. Did he really come off no nonsense, enough of a stick in the mud for her not to believe that he wanted to hang around her? They had been spending enough time together before he left for Metropolis. He had succeeded in making it appear that he was spending time with her because she happened to be there when he needed to talk to Clark or to Lana. He was only glad that she never knew that he carefully timed his occasions of free times to the exact free times of her schedule. Nobody knew he was fascinated with her because he never said it aloud. Even to himself, he hadn't admitted it, only owning up that he was amazed with the way her mind took leaps and bounds. "You don't believe that I want to spend time with you."

She blinked blearily for a few seconds and then grinned. "This is my house, Lex. You can't run into Clark here. You can ask Lana about the Talon, but I doubt she'll be home until eight tonight. There's an open mic night."

"Dad and Lucas are meeting. I think they're hiding something from me."

Chloe had quickly changed the subject because until now, she had not had the chance to tell Lex that Lucas had been pulling his leg all along. She did not want Lex to think that she was actually seeing Lucas. Talking to her 'boyfriend' last night, she got him to agree that they should tell Lex the truth. Chloe did not want Lex thinking that she became her brother's girlfriend because it would be too weird if, and only if, they happened to find out that they liked each other. At the though, Chloe's grin turned lopsided. A girl could wish. After all, with Lex here, Lionel's words were disproved. She only wondered why Lionel Luthor would make up lies about his son.

Come to think of it, whatever Lionel told her did not translate to what she thought it did. Lucas was right. Lex never mentioned anything about her.

And that just offended her. Why had Lex not mentioned her when they been spending days on end together?

And she was doing it again. Dang.

She really had to tell him the truth. Now.

"The thing that irks me," he was saying, and she focused on his lips forming the words, "is that the two of them are conspiring against me. After everything I've done for Lucas, and after all those years I've tried proving to my dad that I'm worth something, they're lying to me."

Chloe's jaw dropped and she almost gasped. Was Lex Luthor opening up to her? What was wrong with him? She scooted closer to him on the couch. Suddenly, her senses peaked. Every pore of his skin emanated warmth that she felt on her own skin. Her gaze flew up to meet his unwavering one. Lex had amazingly blue eyes. They were almost gray. The color showed her the storm inside him so clearly that she could not help but reach up and cup his cheek. Her thumb brushed the smoothness of his chin. She was assailed by the scent of musk and Lex. His closed lips were moist with his frustration. Chloe swallowed deeply and leaned towards him, for the moment pushing away thoughts of Lucas and Lionel, Clark and Pete, even her dad. Right now Lex Luthor was as close to her as he had been in her most secret fantasies, telling her things he never said even in her wildest imagination. Her eyelids fluttered closed. She carefully placed her lips on his, and he kissed her fiercely in return. He tasted like Lex. Lex tasted like. alcohol.

Her eyes shot open and with her lips still fused with Lex's, she met his gaze again. Her eyes almost crossed at the proximity. Chloe tried to push away. His arms came up around her and tightened. "Lex," she protested. When she finally got free, Lex leaned his head back on the couch. "You. Are. Drunk!" she said in an increasingly high pitch voice. "You're drunk. Right. Now." No wonder he was prepared to bare his heart and soul.

Chloe collapsed right beside him on the couch, feeling foul and cheated. Was she destined to have the Luthor she found hot yet never attracted her beyond a very appreciative friend? Even that relationship was a goner.

"I can't believe this," she muttered. "Right when it was getting good." Chloe looked at Lex again, whose eyes were not closed. He was breathing evenly and it appeared that he was asleep. "Lex Luthor, I hope you're a forgetful drunk." Chloe sighed, remembering how she kissed him. "I took advantage of a drunken man. I am repulsive."

"You're not repulsive," Lex breathed.

Chloe's head snapped back towards him. "What?" she prompted softly.

"Chloe." He smiled in his sleep. Chloe did too. "You're hhhhot."

"Go to sleep."

Lex smiled in answer. Chloe waited a few minutes to assure himself that Lex really did fall asleep already. Then, stifling her squeal of mixed excitement and embarrassment, Chloe snatched the phone from its cradle and hurried to the kitchen. She swiftly dialed the number from memory.

"What."

"Fantastic greeting," she responded. "What is your brother doing on my couch, drunk as a. insert some appropriate metaphor here because I am all out."

"The bastard!" Lucas exclaimed, starting to chuckle. "He got wasted and went to your house? He really needs to stretch his summa cum laude ass to practical things."

"Lucas, you are technically the bastard," she could not help pointing out.

"Trivial matter," he answered with a pleased grin. "Lex is still insane."

"I don't really have much interest about the ten ways you can insult your brother. I want to know why he's drunk."

"He probably drank too much and then drove there," he told her matter-of- factly. "It's something I would have to take up with him. Or maybe you can," he suggested. "You'll have the ace when you start crying. Tell him you don't feel comfortable about his drunk driving when you just had a brush with death involving a reckless driver."

Chloe scrunched up her face with disgust. "Will you or will you not tell me Lex's problem?"

"Lex and the doctor terminated their engagement last night while we were in the hospital."

"Oh."

"Best decision he ever made since he decided to finance my high life."

"Thank you, Lucas," she said with finality, fully intending to put down the phone.

"All right, dear. I love you too. And be home for dinner tonight, okay? I'm making pasta and chicken."

Chloe turned off the phone. She went to the refrigerator and poured herself a glass of juice. She waited a few minutes before returning to the living room. Now, Lex was lying halfway. She sincerely hoped he would forget the way she jumped him.

Chloe sat on an armchair and turned on the television, making sure the volume was low enough that he would not be disturbed. He had expressed his dislike of lies and deception. How was she going to tell him that there was nothing between herself and her brother, that she decided to go along with the story because Lucas asked her to? Around four shows later, she still could not formulate a correct way of telling him.

"What time is it?"

She jumped on her seat and looked at her guest, who was now sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "Four."

"Wow. I slept a long time." She nodded. "Look, Chloe."

She braced herself for his words. He would tell her she had no interest in her and that she may have had the wrong impression when she kissed him.

"I'm sorry I went out like that. I guess I had a bit too much to drink."

He did not remember. She flashed him a smile brilliant enough to shame the sun. Now he was sober and ignorant of what transpired earlier. "No, no! It was fine. I understand. Lucas told me you broke up with Dr. Bryce. Are you all right?"

Lex stared at her for a long while, thinking about the answer for the first time. "I am," he told her. "I really am. Turns out she's not the woman for me. There are other people who would better suit me, you know. Someone who can give me balance."

"Lucas and I broke up this morning too," she suddenly spoke up. The moment the words left her lips, she realized the driving force behind them. She did not want Lex to start considering other options for women who can balance him while she's attached to someone in his mind. The reason for the outburst about not being good enough, the way she was incensed that he had a file on her, the way she acted coldly when he came home being demanding and distant, fell clearly in place.

"You did. How are you doing?"

Chloe smiled, trying to make it look like she was putting on a brave front. Inside her heart was palpitating. She was so unused to the lie. She needed Lionel to teach him how to do this without breaking into a sweat. What would Lionel Luthor say if he found out that after he helped her fix the Torch office, here she was lusting after his son, making up lies to get his attention? He would think she was the worst ingrate of all.

She sighed and allowed her gaze to drift away partly to show sadness and partly because she could not look him in the eye so long and not burst with the truth. To her utter delight, Lex took her arm and pulled her into his comforting embrace. She almost groaned in pleasure.

'Luthor, you are going to hell,' she scolded herself, shocking her into a choking fit. 'Luthor? Luthor?' She wondered how many years of community service she should impose upon herself for that double whammy.

"What was an intelligent girl like you doing with him anyway?" he asked, rubbing a hand in circles on her back.

Chloe buried her face into his shirt, sniffing all she could of him and preserving the scent in her memory. It was the perfect opening to tell him that she was with Lucas because h asked her to help him out. "Waiting, I guess," she said into his skin. 'To hell, CHLOE. To hell.'

"For the perfect man?" Again, she nodded. "What should he be?"

'You.' She opted for a subtler yet sure answer. "He has to balance me."

She saw Lex's jaw physically tense at her words. Lex stood from the couch and walked over to her. He held his hand out to her and waited until she took it. Lex pulled her up to her feet. "You kissed me," he said.

Chloe blinked. He remembered. Should she be apologizing? Before she could decide, he grabbed her arms and kissed her, this time there was no way he could forget it.