A/N:  Thanks to everyone for your encouragement.  The reviews to all my fics have been extremely supportive, so as part of Thanksgiving, I'd like to show my appreciation to y'all by updating each one of them.  Hope you enjoy.

CHAPTER TEN

Disclaimer in Chapter One

"Where are we going?" Chloe finally gathered enough courage to ask Lex as he sped through the streets of Smallville with ease.

Lex smirked.  "Where do you think?"

"Your mansion."

"Smart girl," he complimented as he snuck a look at her, noticing a slight blush creeping to her face.  "A penny for your thoughts, Miss Sullivan."

"Just a penny?" she snickered, regaining her composure.  "I would have thought that you could afford more.  Unless of course, a penny is how much you value my thoughts."

"Must you always be this difficult?" he inquired.

"Must you always be so evasive?" she countered.  If Lex had not been driving, there would have been a stare-off, but there were about 5 minutes from their destination, and Lex aimed to get there safely and efficiently.

There was a brief silence until Chloe broke it.  "I'm not that difficult," she protested in a friendly tone.  "I just like to keep people on their toes."

"Nothing wrong with that," he assured her.

"Well, tell that to my dad and to my friends," she grumbled.

Lex kept his eyes on the road stoically, but he felt for the girl.  "They only do so, because they care."

"I know," she responded weakly.  She hesitated for a moment, looking at him and assessing the possibilities of his reaction, but she decided to take a chance.  "Why do you humor me?"

"I don't," he tersely replied, slightly confused as to the emotional direction of this conversation.  "I interact with you, because I like being kept on my toes."

"Do you ever lower your guard?" she pressed.

Lex waited a second before replying.  "Is this on the record?"

Hurt filled Chloe as the implication of the question hit her.  Lex noted the tension and tried to retract it right away: "I'm sorry.  That was rather harsh."

Chloe shook her head.  "No, it's okay."

"No, it's not," he insisted.  "I don't, but I want to."  He gripped the steering wheel tightly; incredulous that he just opened himself up to someone.

The blonde, sensing an opportunity, seized it.  "Tell me something that no one else knows, Lex."

Lex hesitated, gripping the steering wheel tighter.  "When my mom died," he finally spoke.  "I couldn't be there, because I was at boarding school."

"My father sent me away, because he did not want me seeing my mother in such a weak state.  The thing was that it wasn't out of concern for my mental and emotional well-being.  He did not want me to see that, because he thought that it would make me weak."

Chloe was speechless.  She has expected something trivial tidbit, but Lex had offered her something more.  Not knowing what to do, she went with her gut instinct.

She gently covered his tight fist with hers.  That small gesture was enough to flood Lex's emotional state as he quickly pulled the car over.  "He was so invested in making me strong that he failed to realize that my passion for my mother and those I love was the biggest source of my strength.  It is the thing that drives me to destroy him one day."

"You need some sort of balance for that passion, Lex," Chloe responded.  "It can't be all channeled to the destruction of one person."

Lex turned in his seat to face her as hope swelled in his chest.  "And what do you suggest that I do, Chloe?"

Chloe licked her lips and took a deep breath.  "I.." she stammered. 

Taking another breath, she looked him in the eye as she covered both sides of his face with her hand and pulled him forcefully closer, slamming her lips over hers.