A/N: Sorry this took me a little longer then normal to get out. Writer's block's a bitch. Hope the length of this chapter makes up for the wait! Enjoy!

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Chloe was reading on her bed when the doorbell rang later in the evening. Lana was still at the Talon, and her father was in the bathroom, so Chloe hopped off her bed, and made her way down the stairs. A deliveryman was standing on the steps, looking bored.

"Can I help you?" Chloe asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, I got a delivery for Chloe Sullivan."

"That's me." She said, sighed the required delivery slip, and taking the box off his hands. "Thanks." She said, before shutting the door.

She hurried to her room, so that her father wouldn't see the box, and question her about it. She still hadn't decided whether she was telling him that she was going on a date with his boss, to a Valentine's day ball no less.

She tossed the box on her bed, and pulled the top off. Inside was the most beautiful gown she'd ever seen. It was a deep red that suited her coloring perfectly. She pulled it out, and held it up against her, looking at the mirror. It was a halter style dress, she realized. Leaving her back entirely bare and plunging fairly dramatically in the front. She knew she'd look great but she wasn't sure that she wanted Lex to see her in it. After all, he *did* have a reputation as a playboy.

Deciding to rise above rumor and innuendo, she didn't call Lex and tell him to find something more appropriate. She tried the dress on instead, to see if it would fit, she told herself.

It fit. Beautifully. The fabric skimmed over her body, outlining a feature here or there, but not doing much more then teasing. Except for the back, which was open almost to her tailbone. She swirled around in front of the mirror, feeling like a princess. The thought made her burst out laughing. She flopped down on her bed.

That's what Lex had done, she realized. He made her feel like a princess. He listened to her whine about valentine's day when no one else would, and he'd even given her something to do on Valentine's day. So what if he was just being nice to some dumb high school kid... at least he was making an effort.

She smiled, recognizing the sighs of a baby crush emerging. She stifled it, telling herself that this was an exercise purely in the spirit of knowledge. She'd help Lex out, and then she'd would have help figuring out who the V-day stalker was.

She was just taking the dress off, when the phone rang, she scooped it up, as she hooked the dress on a hanger.

"Hullo, this is Chloe." She said.

"Ms. Sullivan." The familiar tone coupled with the formal words made her smile.

"Mr. Luthor." She quipped.

"Did you get the dress?" He asked.

"Yep. It's beautiful Lex!" She said, then toned her voice down. She didn't want to sound like she was gushing. "You'll get it back in good shape, I promise."

Lex's chuckle came over the phone loud and clear. "Don't bother Chloe." He said. "Consider it a gift. If you hadn't agreed to come, I would be taking the woman of my father's choosing, and that would have been unacceptable."

Chloe laughed at that, but was stunned by the gift. "I don't know if I can keep this, Lex. I mean, when else would I wear it?"

"Doesn't matter. It's still yours, I'm sure you'll look stunning it in."

Chloe smiled. "Well, there is one problem." She said, her voice serious, although she was teasing.

"What's that?" Lex asked.

"Well, I don't really have any shoes to wear you see. I mean, there was the Gucci but that wouldn't do, and then the Prada, but it just didn't work with the effect I was trying to achieve..." She trailed off, chuckling a little.

"Are you laughing at me because I'm rich?" Lex demanded the humor evident in his voice as well.

"Well, to be completely honest, yes." Chloe sighed. "And shoes actually are a problem Lex. Do you honestly think I have anything that will match? I don't want to have to sell my car to buy a pair of shoes."

Lex laughed at that. "Well, I think I can take care of that too. If you don't mind."

Chloe shook her head, and then realized he could see it. "No, I don't really mind, but to be honest, now that you've said it, I feel like a heel. I was totally milking you for a spiffy pair of shoes."

"I know." Lex said, "and I don't mind." He sighed. "It's probably the cheapest thing that anyone's ever asked me for, and I was going to do it anyway."

The valentine's list came back to Chloe's mind abruptly, and she remembered that expensive gifts had been one of the things that Lex resented about the women he dated.

"Lex, you don't have to." She said quickly. "I do have shoes, and I'm sure no one will be looking at my feet anyway."

"I'm sure that's true but I would still like to buy you a pair of shoes."

"Okay, if you insist."

"I do. I'll see you tomorrow, at seven o'clock. All right?"

"Yep, thank you again for the dress."

"Your welcome. Have a good night Chloe. Sleep tight." Then Lex quietly hung the phone up.

"You too." Chloe said to the dead line. She sighed, and hung the phone up.

***

Valentine's Day dawned bright and sunny. Chloe rolled over as the sun slipped through the slats of her blinds and hit her in the face; she jammed her face into her pillow, and willed herself to go back to sleep.

She hadn't actually had a good sleep. She had taken too much time convincing her father that he should just take his date out for dinner, instead of bringing her home. Her father had wanted to have dinner together, since Chloe wasn't doing anything for Valentine's. She finally convinced him that her feelings wouldn't be hurt, so Gabe relented and called his date, setting up dinner at six, before their movie.

Chloe couldn't decide why she hadn't told Gabe that she was attending a ball with Lex in Metropolis, but she figured it was because she just didn't want to argue with her dad about it.

Lana knocked tentatively on the door. "Hey, Chloe?" She called quietly. "Are you awake?"

Chloe groaned, and Lana took that as an affirmative.

She slipped into Chloe's room, and perched on the bed. "This was in the living room this morning." She said, dropping a box on Chloe's bed with a quiet thump. "You're dad left a note saying it came last night, late, but you were already up here and he thought you were asleep."

Giving sleep up for lost, Chloe struggled to sit up, and finally compromised by resting on her elbows. "What is it?" She asked, barely coherent.

Lana smiled. "I dunno. Maybe it's a gift from your secret admirer! It *is* Valentine's day today."

"Uh huh?" Chloe muttered.

"I'll tell you what. I'll get you some coffee, and you can open it, and then we'll see if you don't have anymore clues as to who your secret admirer is." Lana hopped off the bed, and headed downstairs, to grab coffee for them both.

Chloe sat up fully, and looked at the box. She drew it to herself, and pulled the top off.

The shoes were beautiful. Chloe was sure she *would* have had to sell her car to buy them. A deeper color red, to complement the dress, high heeled, and open toed.

Chloe wasn't sure how well she'd walk in them, but she did know she'd look good doing it. Grateful that her father hadn't opened it, and come looking for answers as to why someone was giving her shoes, she pulled the shoes out, and slipped them onto her bare feet.

Lana chose that moment to reappear with coffee. She announced her arrival with a gasp.

"Oh Chloe! They're gorgeous!" She put the coffees down, flopped down on the bed, and pulled one of Chloe's feet onto her lap. "Where did you get these?" She demanded. "These are like five hundred dollar shoes!"

"No!" Chloe asked, shocked. That much? It was ridiculous. Chloe sighed. "Well, uh, Lex sent them."

"What?" Lana asked, confused. "As in co-owner of the Talon, last name Luthor... *Lex*?"

Chloe nodded. "I asked him for his help with something, and this is what I had to do to get it." Lana looked confused. Chloe expounded. "He needed an escort to a charity ball. So I help him out, and he helps me."

"So he sent you shoes?"

"Well, and a dress." Chloe said, not wanting Lana to make a huge deal over it.

Lana gasped. "Let me see!" She pulled on Chloe's arm, bouncing on the bed, until Chloe relented, and pulled the dress out of the closet.

"Oh, Chloe!" Lana sighed. "It's beautiful!"

Chloe shrugged. "It's okay, I guess." She said, not sure why she was irritated with Lana. It was almost as if she didn't want to share the experience with her. Lana had Clark; she wanted Lex, all to herself. She snorted at her own thoughts, and stuck the dress back in the closet.

"So what is Lex helping you with?" Lana asked, as Chloe kicked the shoes off, and put them in the closet as well. "It must be something big!"

"Uh, yeah." Chloe said, still not sure she wanted Lana to know that she was actually taking steps to find out who the secret admirer was. "It's something for the Torch. An expose."

"So, you're helping him by going to the ball, and he's helping you with your expose?"

"Yeah, that's pretty much it."

"Cool!" Lana said finally. "My Aunt went to one of the Luthor's charity things once. She said it was amazing! You'll have to tell me everything that happens there, okay?"

Chloe nodded. "Yeah, well, it doesn't start until tonight, and since I'm up, I'd better get ready for school." She paused. "Is my dad home?"

Lana shook her head. "Nope, he left early."

Chloe nodded. "Okay... Lana you can't tell my dad. I'll tell him after, but I don't want to argue with him about this, and Lex is his boss after all. It could be awkward."

Lana smiled, enjoying being a conspirator. "Okay!"

Chloe nodded. "Okay then. Dibs on the shower!" She jumped up and left the room.

~*~*~

As the day dragged, by, Chloe found herself fighting to keep her attention on the tasks at hand. Her mind was mostly on the coming night. She had surprised herself by how much she was looking forward to it.

Maybe I'm not as opposed to Valentine's day as I though, Chloe mused to herself, while she was waiting for third period to end.

By lunch, Clark commented on her vacant behavior.

Chloe smiled at him. "I just had a bad sleep last night." She said, brushing his concern off. "I'll get to bed early tonight, and be fine tomorrow!"

Clark nodded. "Yeah, cause you sure are out of it. I asked you a question twice, and you still don't realize I did!"

"Oops, sorry. What was the question?" She asked.

"You want to do something with me and Lana tonight?" He asked.

Chloe looked at him, surprised. She looked around for Lana, who was just approaching their table. "I don't think so Clark. I don't want to be the third wheel."

"No, Pete an Ginnie are coming too!" Clark protested.

"Fifth wheel, then." Chloe smiled. "I'll be fine tonight Clark. Thanks for your concern."

"Of course Chloe will be fine tonight!" Lana agreed, as she sat down beside them.

"What do you mean?" Clark asked, observing Lana's smile.

"Didn't Chloe tell you?" Lana asked surprised at she looked at Chloe.

"Tell me what?"

"Well, Chloe is going..."

Chloe interrupted quickly. "Moviefest. I'm going to watch all my favorite romantic movies to celebrate Valentine's."

Clark looked surprised. "Oh, okay then. Have fun."

Lana looked quizzically at Chloe, wondering why she didn't tell Clark about her date with Lex, but she didn't push the matter, seeing Chloe subtly shaking her head and mouthing no.

Chloe didn't say explain to Lana, but she really didn't want to deal with Clark's overprotective behavior. She knew he'd object to her doing something with Lex and she just didn't want to argue about it.

By the time evening had rolled around, Chloe had perfected her 'moviefest' lie. Her father had asked about it, Pete and Ginnie had asked, and even her father's date. She'd convinced everyone that she would be fine.

Lana had faithfully kept her mouth shut all day. Chloe sighed in relief as she flopped on the couch. She was finally alone. Her father was gone on his date, Lana had headed over to the Talon to help close up early.

Chloe headed upstairs to get ready for the ball. The thought seemed silly, like she was Cinderella or something.

By seven o'clock, she was ready, and nervous. She wasn't really the kind of girl that Lex usually took out, and she hoped she wasn't an embarrassment.

She had piled her hair on her head, in a deliberately sexy disheveled look. She'd even gone with a silver choker and a bracelet that her father had given her on her sixteenth birthday. She slipped the shoes on, and looked at the whole effect in the mirror.

She didn't even look like herself, she thought. She smiled to herself. She could almost rival Lana for attention in the get up. She swirled around and promptly fell over.

Giggling on the floor, she made a mental note not to try anything fancy in the shoes. Four-inch heels were a little beyond her usual maneuvering capabilities.

Chloe carefully made her way down the stairs to the windows. If she was completely honest with herself, she was too excited to just sit on the couch and wait.

Right on time, she watched out the window, as a long dark limousine pulled up in front of her house. The driver got out, and walked around to the door. He held it open, as Lex stepped out.

He was dressed in an obviously expensive tux. He walked up the walk, and rang the doorbell.

Chloe stood at the window, too stunned to move, absorbing how good Lex had looked in his tux. The doorbell rang again, and jumping she hurried to open it.

He smiled, taking in the dress and her flushed appearance. "All ready to go?" He asked courteously, offering her his arm. "Have you got a coat?"

She shook her head. "Nothing that matched." She said, her stomach sinking.

He smiled, and she found that she was reassured. It was a nice smile, one that she couldn't actually remember ever having seen before. "I have something in the limo." He offered his arm again.

She nodded, shutting the door and locking it, before taking his arm and being led to the limo. He helped her in, before following and pulling the door shut behind him.

She settled herself into the plush leather seat. Lex took a seat opposite, and taped on the tinted glass barrier, to indicate they were ready to go.

The limo smoothly pulled away from the curb. He pulled a beautiful deep gray cape out of a bag. "I thought you might need something, in case it got cold." He explained.

Chloe felt the fabric. "I could get used to dressing like this!" She said quietly.

Lex laughed. "Interesting." He waited till she made eye contact. "I should tell you, you look exquisite."

Chloe could feel herself blushing, and willed herself to stop acting like a smitten lovebird. "Thank you." She said in an even tone, once she pulled herself together. "You look pretty good yourself."

"I know." Lex said with a self-confident smirk. Chloe laughed, as the limo left the Smallville town limits, on it's way to Metropolis.

TBC...