Author's note* Thanks again to Julie on the beta. I have a question for my readers. If I wrote a Chloe/Lex intimacy scene and took the rating up to R or NC-17, would anyone stop reading? I wait for your response.
PDA 7: The Shoebox Under my Bed
The first thing Chloe noticed when she woke up was that Lex's strong arms were around her. The second thing she noticed was that she was neither in her bedroom nor at the manor. Though, considering her first observation, this fact did not bother her. Chloe looked around. [Hmm. The walls are painted an overly enthusiastic shade of teal, everything in this room is disposable, and I'm currently hooked up to an IV. I'd say I'm at SMC. Wish I knew how I got here.]
Chloe turned her attention towards Lex. He was asleep. [He always looks so peaceful when he sleeps. Like all of his cares have melted away.] As much as Chloe loved Lex, there was a part of him that she was never able to reach. It was the haunted look in his eyes, the knots in his shoulders after a phone call with Lionel, and the rages he flew into.
Not now though. Now, Lex was in a place his father couldn't get to him and Chloe was glad of it.
Chloe softly stroked Lex's forehead. The gentle touch awakened Lex. His gray blue eyes fluttered. "Chloe? You're awake? How long?"
"About ten minutes. Lex, why am I in the hospital?"
Lex sat up and swung his long legs over the side of the bed. He rubbed on hand over his eyes, and then his scalp. [How much should I tell her?] He got up off the bed and took a seat in one of the chairs in the room. It faced Chloe, still lying of the bed. "Angel, how much do you remember?"
Chloe's eyes clouded with thought.
"Um. I remember that you were going to meet with my dad..... then he came home. He was upset. We had a fight. He told me to leave. Then I don't remember anything until waking up here at Smallville Medical Center. Oh my god, Lex. My dad threw me out! What am I going to do?"
"You are going to come back to the manor with me. I'll send someone for the rest of your things later."
"I can't do that, can I? I mean I can't just live with you. Isn't there paper work? Don't I have to go to court about custody or something?"
"Don't worry. I've already taken care of all that?"
"Should I ask?"
"No. Probably not?"
Chloe mentally filed that away for later. "Okay, then. There is another issue here. What your proposing is equivalent to us moving in together. That is a huge relationship step. One I wasn't quite prepared to make. It would different if we weren't dating, but we are. It's not like you're getting a roommate or a renter. We have a relationship. Lex, we haven't even slept together."
"I know. You told me that you needed to wait. I respect that decision."
"And I thank you for that. But what your suggesting is like a marriage. How would this work? Would we have separate bedrooms? Am I supposed to play hostess for your dinner parties? I don't even have an after school job. How can I afford things like clothes and other essentials."
"Chloe. You know that I will pay for anything you desire."
"That's just the point. You won't be my boyfriend anymore. You'll be my sugar daddy. How is this supposed to be an equal relationship if I rely solely on you for financial security? What would happen if we ever got into a fight? Would you throw me out on the street."
"No. God, Chloe. How could you ever think that? I love you more that any other person on this earth. I would never do that."
"But you understand my concern? Normally, dating couples have space to work out differences. When they get into a fight, they don't speak for a few days, spend time with their friends, and then make up. We would be living together, making that whole cycle much more complicated."
Lex sighed. He wasn't planning on telling her this now, but what could he do? "Chloe. The reason you are in the hospital is because of me."
"What?"
"After the fight with your father you got into your car and drove to my house. On the way there you lost control and ended up in a ditch. Your car was totaled. It was my fault. When you were lying there, I felt so helpless. Angry. Chloe, I was angry. Angrier than I have ever been before. I knew what I had to do. I came to a decision. Chloe, we cannot date anymore. I love you, but I feel that it would be better if we ended our relationship. Since you said that living with me would be easier if we were not dating, you should have no problems with it now."
Chloe looked at Lex with no small amount of pity in her eyes. "I think that what you've just said is the dumbest thing I've ever heard."
"What?" said Lex, a little stunned.
"Did you not catch it the first time? It was the dumbest thing I've ever heard. It was by far the dumbest thing you've ever said. Do you have some undisclosed mental problem that I haven't picked up on until now?"
Chloe continued, "Let's take this in stages, shall we? A. None of what has happened is your fault. B. We are not breaking up. C. My moving in with you has not been decided yet. Understand?"
Lex looked pained as he began to speak. "Of course it was my fault. If you hadn't been dating me, Gabe wouldn't have lost his temper. Then you wouldn't have been in that car accident and almost killed. I put your life in danger."
"You were obviously not listening to me earlier. This is not your fault. You must be spending entirely too much time around Clark because you've adopted his least endearing quality. My fight with my father was his fault. My car accident was my fault. You were not responsible for either. If you want to blame yourself this you might also want to tack on the Irish potato famine and the stock market crash of 1929, because you are as much at fault for those as you are for what happened to me."
Lex started to grin a little. "I assume that the fall of the Roman Empire is also my fault."
Chloe shook her head. "No, that one is squarely on Clark's shoulders. Lex, I love you. As much as I thought I could ever love anyone. I refuse to let us be over because of some imaginary guilt or misplaced desire to keep me safe."
Lex stood and walked over to the bed. He knelt beside it and took Chloe's hand in his. "Chloe, I love you. I want to keep dating you. Will you forgive me?"
Chloe smiled one of her 500 watt grins and said, "Only if you go on a supply run for me."
"Anything. What do you need?"
"From my house, I need some clothes, pajamas, toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner and my laptop. From school, I need my textbooks and the novel I'm reading. My locker combination is 15 14 48. Also, my purse from wherever it ended up. It was in the car with me. Oh, and one more thing. Under my bed at home is a shoebox. Please bring it also."
"A shoe box?"
"Yeah. It has a few things that will make this hospital stay a little more tolerable."
"No problem. Try and get some rest while I'm gone. Ok?"
"I promise. I'll sit here and watch TV like a good little couch potato."
"Good. I'll see you in a bit."
"Bye, Lex."
[It's funny,] Chloe thought. [When I first moved to Smallville, I had a crush on Clark Kent. The wholesome, all-American farmboy. Lives off of fresh air and sunshine. When I grew up and got over my crush, I fell in love with Lex Luthor. Debonair playboy. A man that likes his bourbon neat, his cigars imported, and until me, his women surgically enhanced. Very different. Right? I still can't get over all the similarities between them. Like the way the both approach life. Clark treats life like a martyr, convinced he was put on this world to live a life of servitude. Lex, on the other hand, treats life like his enemy. Something he had to conquer, or be conquered by. Like opposite ends off the same spectrum. Never taking things one day at a time. Never being satisfied by just living. Both Lex and Clark have unattainable goal looming out in the future. I don't know what this goal is. I'm not sure that they do.
Chloe reached for the remote and turned on the TV. [I'm not going to think about this anymore today. Lex told me to relax, so I'll relax. I also have to think of a way to tell lex that I can't move in with him...]
TBC...
PDA 7: The Shoebox Under my Bed
The first thing Chloe noticed when she woke up was that Lex's strong arms were around her. The second thing she noticed was that she was neither in her bedroom nor at the manor. Though, considering her first observation, this fact did not bother her. Chloe looked around. [Hmm. The walls are painted an overly enthusiastic shade of teal, everything in this room is disposable, and I'm currently hooked up to an IV. I'd say I'm at SMC. Wish I knew how I got here.]
Chloe turned her attention towards Lex. He was asleep. [He always looks so peaceful when he sleeps. Like all of his cares have melted away.] As much as Chloe loved Lex, there was a part of him that she was never able to reach. It was the haunted look in his eyes, the knots in his shoulders after a phone call with Lionel, and the rages he flew into.
Not now though. Now, Lex was in a place his father couldn't get to him and Chloe was glad of it.
Chloe softly stroked Lex's forehead. The gentle touch awakened Lex. His gray blue eyes fluttered. "Chloe? You're awake? How long?"
"About ten minutes. Lex, why am I in the hospital?"
Lex sat up and swung his long legs over the side of the bed. He rubbed on hand over his eyes, and then his scalp. [How much should I tell her?] He got up off the bed and took a seat in one of the chairs in the room. It faced Chloe, still lying of the bed. "Angel, how much do you remember?"
Chloe's eyes clouded with thought.
"Um. I remember that you were going to meet with my dad..... then he came home. He was upset. We had a fight. He told me to leave. Then I don't remember anything until waking up here at Smallville Medical Center. Oh my god, Lex. My dad threw me out! What am I going to do?"
"You are going to come back to the manor with me. I'll send someone for the rest of your things later."
"I can't do that, can I? I mean I can't just live with you. Isn't there paper work? Don't I have to go to court about custody or something?"
"Don't worry. I've already taken care of all that?"
"Should I ask?"
"No. Probably not?"
Chloe mentally filed that away for later. "Okay, then. There is another issue here. What your proposing is equivalent to us moving in together. That is a huge relationship step. One I wasn't quite prepared to make. It would different if we weren't dating, but we are. It's not like you're getting a roommate or a renter. We have a relationship. Lex, we haven't even slept together."
"I know. You told me that you needed to wait. I respect that decision."
"And I thank you for that. But what your suggesting is like a marriage. How would this work? Would we have separate bedrooms? Am I supposed to play hostess for your dinner parties? I don't even have an after school job. How can I afford things like clothes and other essentials."
"Chloe. You know that I will pay for anything you desire."
"That's just the point. You won't be my boyfriend anymore. You'll be my sugar daddy. How is this supposed to be an equal relationship if I rely solely on you for financial security? What would happen if we ever got into a fight? Would you throw me out on the street."
"No. God, Chloe. How could you ever think that? I love you more that any other person on this earth. I would never do that."
"But you understand my concern? Normally, dating couples have space to work out differences. When they get into a fight, they don't speak for a few days, spend time with their friends, and then make up. We would be living together, making that whole cycle much more complicated."
Lex sighed. He wasn't planning on telling her this now, but what could he do? "Chloe. The reason you are in the hospital is because of me."
"What?"
"After the fight with your father you got into your car and drove to my house. On the way there you lost control and ended up in a ditch. Your car was totaled. It was my fault. When you were lying there, I felt so helpless. Angry. Chloe, I was angry. Angrier than I have ever been before. I knew what I had to do. I came to a decision. Chloe, we cannot date anymore. I love you, but I feel that it would be better if we ended our relationship. Since you said that living with me would be easier if we were not dating, you should have no problems with it now."
Chloe looked at Lex with no small amount of pity in her eyes. "I think that what you've just said is the dumbest thing I've ever heard."
"What?" said Lex, a little stunned.
"Did you not catch it the first time? It was the dumbest thing I've ever heard. It was by far the dumbest thing you've ever said. Do you have some undisclosed mental problem that I haven't picked up on until now?"
Chloe continued, "Let's take this in stages, shall we? A. None of what has happened is your fault. B. We are not breaking up. C. My moving in with you has not been decided yet. Understand?"
Lex looked pained as he began to speak. "Of course it was my fault. If you hadn't been dating me, Gabe wouldn't have lost his temper. Then you wouldn't have been in that car accident and almost killed. I put your life in danger."
"You were obviously not listening to me earlier. This is not your fault. You must be spending entirely too much time around Clark because you've adopted his least endearing quality. My fight with my father was his fault. My car accident was my fault. You were not responsible for either. If you want to blame yourself this you might also want to tack on the Irish potato famine and the stock market crash of 1929, because you are as much at fault for those as you are for what happened to me."
Lex started to grin a little. "I assume that the fall of the Roman Empire is also my fault."
Chloe shook her head. "No, that one is squarely on Clark's shoulders. Lex, I love you. As much as I thought I could ever love anyone. I refuse to let us be over because of some imaginary guilt or misplaced desire to keep me safe."
Lex stood and walked over to the bed. He knelt beside it and took Chloe's hand in his. "Chloe, I love you. I want to keep dating you. Will you forgive me?"
Chloe smiled one of her 500 watt grins and said, "Only if you go on a supply run for me."
"Anything. What do you need?"
"From my house, I need some clothes, pajamas, toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner and my laptop. From school, I need my textbooks and the novel I'm reading. My locker combination is 15 14 48. Also, my purse from wherever it ended up. It was in the car with me. Oh, and one more thing. Under my bed at home is a shoebox. Please bring it also."
"A shoe box?"
"Yeah. It has a few things that will make this hospital stay a little more tolerable."
"No problem. Try and get some rest while I'm gone. Ok?"
"I promise. I'll sit here and watch TV like a good little couch potato."
"Good. I'll see you in a bit."
"Bye, Lex."
[It's funny,] Chloe thought. [When I first moved to Smallville, I had a crush on Clark Kent. The wholesome, all-American farmboy. Lives off of fresh air and sunshine. When I grew up and got over my crush, I fell in love with Lex Luthor. Debonair playboy. A man that likes his bourbon neat, his cigars imported, and until me, his women surgically enhanced. Very different. Right? I still can't get over all the similarities between them. Like the way the both approach life. Clark treats life like a martyr, convinced he was put on this world to live a life of servitude. Lex, on the other hand, treats life like his enemy. Something he had to conquer, or be conquered by. Like opposite ends off the same spectrum. Never taking things one day at a time. Never being satisfied by just living. Both Lex and Clark have unattainable goal looming out in the future. I don't know what this goal is. I'm not sure that they do.
Chloe reached for the remote and turned on the TV. [I'm not going to think about this anymore today. Lex told me to relax, so I'll relax. I also have to think of a way to tell lex that I can't move in with him...]
TBC...
