CHAPTER SIX
Disclaimer in Chapter OneShocked at Chloe's blatant refusal, Lex uttered, "Excuse me?"
"I'm sorry," Chloe practically slapped her forehead for the brainfart. "I meant that I have so many things to do. The Torch needs to be in by today, and I have a couple of articles left to do."
"Chloe Sullivan, procrastinator," Lex said skeptically. "I never pegged you for one."
"Is this a pegging moment, Lex?" she teased, remembering their joke from the day before. Lex wanted to reply to her statement with another innuendo-laden response, but he thought the better of it.
A confused Chloe shrugged. "Anyways, I still have the articles to do, procrastinating or not."
Lex glanced at the Mac and moved closer. The blonde wanted to stop him, but it was too late. He was reading the first lines when he said, "Chloe, these are Lana and Clark's articles. Why are you doing these for them? In their credit, may I add?"
"Finishing them," she weakly corrected, which elicited a glare from Lex. "They went shopping for ball stuff in Metropolis, so I got stuck with half-done articles."
"That's not acceptable, Chloe," the billionaire argued. "You're their friend, not their slave."
"I know that," she half-defended. "I'm just helping out, that's all."
Lex looked at her with concern. "Helping out is one thing," he told her. "Being a pushover is another. They're our friends, Chloe, but we both know that they're abusing your goodwill."
Chloe frowned, her mood souring by the second. "How dare you," she snapped. "How dare you accuse me of being a pushover when I'm just trying to be a good friend. But you wouldn't know what that would entail, wouldn't you, Lex, as you don't even have real friends."
That stung Lex, and the expression on his face reflected that. Even worse, Chloe knew it, and guilt flooded her emotions. "I'm sorry," she stuttered. "I didn't mean.."
"Yes, you did," he interjected, but his tone remained calm. "And you're right. I never really have any real friends, but one thing I know for sure is that real friends treat each other with respect and care."
Chloe crimsoned with shame and remain speechless. Giving up, Lex turned around to leave, but as he was about to take a step, a hand on his arm stopped him.
"Lex, I'm sorry," Chloe practically begged as tears began to flow down her cheeks. "I was just frustrated with the way they've been treating me, and I took it out on you."
The billionaire hesitated, but his regard for the blonde took the better of him. He cupped her face to wipe the tears away, and he proceeded to open his arms. Chloe stepped into them and wrapped her arms around him.
"Well," Lex finally spoke after a long moment of silence. "How about we finish your articles, so you can make it to dinner?"
"We?" she asked incredulously, loosening her hug to look up at him.
"You can't finish these articles by yourself," he pointed out. "They'll be late."
"You have a good point," she agreed.
"I'll help you on one condition." She looked at him questioningly. "You take the credit you deserve, and I get mine."
"Lex Luthor, guest reporter," she grinned. "Smallville High will never buy it."
"Isn't that the best part?"
Later that night, Chloe plopped herself on her bed. Or what was once her bed as it seemed that a mountain of clothes had taken over. "Argh," she grumbled, frustrated that she could not find anything to wear and concerned that she was way too invested into a small dinner with Lex Luthor.
She stood herself up and dug through the mound again, finally settling on a nice crimson number. After she had put it on, she heard a knock on the door.
"Come in," she called out, and Lana poked her head in.
"Hey," the brunette greeted. "Nice dress, but I think that would be too dressy for school tomorrow."
Chloe laughed. "It's not for school, Lana."
"Well, then it would be too casual for the ball," she offered.
"Not that, either."
"You have a date?" Lana inquired, incredulous at the thought.
The blonde was offended, but she thought that if she told Lana about Lex, her housemate would only blow the whole thing out of proportion. "No, just meeting a friend," she said.
"Must be some friend," the Talon owner teased. "But did you finish the English homework yet?"
"No, I'll finish it at the Torch tomorrow."
"What?" the brunette practically shrieked. "You can't do that, Chloe. I need that homework."
"Then why don't you do it yourself?" she answered in a controlled tone.
"Chloe, you can't leave me like this."
"Aren't you overreacting a bit?" Chloe inquired. "It's homework; I'm sure that you're well capable of doing it yourself."
Lana was losing her patience. "How dare you betray me like this?"
The blonde guffawed. "Wow, hold it there, drama queen. No one is betraying you." Remembering Lex's little lecture earlier, she continued. "Besides, I'm your friend, Lana; I'm not your slave. It's one thing to ask for my help; it's another to abuse it."
"Is this about me and Clark going to the ball?" her housemate brought up, clearly missing the point. "I thought that you were okay with that. You yourself said that you weren't going to the ball."
"No," she protested. "It has nothing to do with you or Clark or the ball. I just want to have some time to myself. I just spent the day doing your articles, and every night, I can barely do anything without your breathing down my back about schoolwork. Do your own work, Lana. I have stuff to do."
With that, she took her sweater and purse and stormed out of the room, leaving a rather shocked Lana in her wake.