Chapter 1

A/N: Update time! I'd just like to point out that I don't know what is concidered legal age in Kansas, so I'm going with 18. If it's not actually 18, pretend it is, because I'm not going to change it in the story. Okay? Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing; you guys kick major ass. :0)

Lex arrived at eleven o'clock exactly to pick Chloe up. He went straight to the nurse's station to fill out any last minute forms. Luckily, Chloe knew Gabe's insurance information like the back of her hand, because as she'd pointed out, this was her fourth hospitalization in a period of thirty months.

"Do you have release forms ready?" Lex asked the nurse.

"Yes sir," she handed Lex a form to sign. He had been granted temporary custody for the time being, until she had a chance to sit down with her father's lawyer and see what her options were. Lex signed the papers and then handed the nurse a card.

"This is my personal line," he explained. "I want any additional expenses billed to me; don't concern Chloe with it."

"Of course," the nurse nodded and clipped the card to the billing information. "You can take her home whenever she's ready."

"Thank-you," Lex nodded to her and then made his way to Chloe's room. He knocked and waited for her to answer the door. Chloe called for him to come in. He found her in the bathroom, staring fixedly at the shattered mirror. Lex looked quickly from the fire extinguisher in her arms to the glass on the floor...

"Ready to go?" he asked her, ignoring the mess. Chloe looked at him, slightly surprised, but nodded anyways. He could understand having occasional rage attacks; he'd had them before.

"Sure," she put the extinguished down in the corner and smoothed down her top. "Thanks for the clothes."

"How do you know I bought –"

"Only you would spend three hundred dollars on a sweater that you'd never wear," she half-smiled. Lex shrugged and led her out of the room. They passed the nurse's station on the way out and nodded politely to the nurse on duty. Lex placed his hand on the small of her back and guided her to the elevator.

They came off in one of the parking garages and he led her to where he'd parked his car. Chloe mumbled a thank-you when he held the door for her. "I've never been in a Ferrari before," she told him quietly.

"First time for everything," he smirked and then started the engine.

"Where am I going?" Chloe looked at him blankly, tearing her eyes off of the passing buildings momentarily.

"Where do you want to go?" Lex asked. "I'll bring you anywhere you want." She shrugged, looking very unsure.

"I don't have any clothes to wear," she finally told him, turning back to glance out of the window. "Can we go to my house? I have some there."

"Okay," Lex nodded. "Do you need anything? We can go shopping."

"I don't need anything," she shook her head, still not looking at him.

"Do you want anything?" he asked her eagerly, hoping to be able to do something she'd enjoy. "I could take you anyways. There's a really great boutique on 49th Street that has the Dolce and Gabbana fall line in, or Lillix on Main has Vera Wang –"

"Lex," she cut him off, traces of a smile on her face. "You don't have to buy me any clothes, I have plenty of stuff at home."

He frowned. "Are you sure you don't want anything?" he asked her again. When she shook her head at him again the smile on her face slid into a weak grin. Not her usual mega-watt, but it was a start.

The ride to Smallville passed quietly for the most part. Lex drove fast and Chloe didn't feel like talking. She occupied herself by looking out the window at the passing fields. It started to rain just before they reached Grandville, and Chloe found herself wishing that she were outside. It was still raining when they got to Smallville, and by the time Lex pulled the car into the Sullivan's driveway, it was pouring.

"Better run for it," Lex told her. Chloe nodded, realizing that she didn't have a coat with her. They climbed quickly out of the Ferrari and started up the driveway. Lex hurried up the steps and under the overhang of the roof, safe from the water. Chloe supposed that rain must be really cold on his head.

She followed him, not running like he did, allowing the cool rain to soak her. She looked up at the house in front of her – and froze. The cold rain soaked through her hair, causing the sweater to cling to her body, the pants to become heavy, and still she didn't move. The house that had once been a safe haven, her home, now looked threatening and unfamiliar.

"Chloe?" Lex's voice echoed through her ears. She didn't notice him come back down the stairs until the feeling of his hands on her shoulders woke her from the trance she'd been in. "Chloe!"

"Huh? Lex?" Chloe caught his eyes with hers, not wanting to express her fears. He seemed to be able to read her mind.

"It's fine Chloe," he cried to make himself heard over the falling rain. "I had it checked out yesterday. My security team made sure it was safe to go inside. Okay?"

She nodded slowly and allowed him to lead her up the steps. "I don't have a key," she realized, pushing a chunk of sopping wet hair out of her face.

"I do," he pulled a silver key out of his pocket and gave it to her. She didn't ask why he had a key to her house. While he shivered beside her, she took a deep breath and unlocked first the deadbolt, and then the handle. Cautiously, she opened the door and let it swing open. When nothing happened she let out the breath that she didn't realize she'd been holding.

Feeling like an idiot now, Chloe hurried inside and Lex let the door slam behind him; she willed herself not to jump in shock. She looked around the house, the reality setting in; her father wouldn't come home at five thirty, dinner wouldn't be made for her when she came home from the Torch office, and there would be no coffee brewing when she came downstairs in the morning.

"My room's upstairs," she told him, watching him take off his wet coat.

"Do you want me to come with you?" he asked her. She shook her head.

"No, make yourself comfortable," Chloe pointed the way to the living room and then left him. She climbed the stairs quickly and averted her eyes when she walked past her father's room. Chloe pulled a duffle bag out from underneath her bed and opened it up. She opened the closet doors wide and saw that half of her clothes were gone; they'd been in the luggage she'd brought to the safe house. They were gone now.

Grabbing the last of her clothes from the closet, the last of the underwear from her dresser, a couple of pairs of pajamas, and a few pairs of shoes, she piled them all in the bag. It wasn't full. Thinking that maybe Lana had left some clothes behind, she hurried across the hall to check her closet for something to borrow. She found only heavyweight sweaters and some winter clothes; things Lana didn't need in Paris in the summertime.

Chloe removed a blue cardigan, the lightest weight sweater in there, and a conservative black skirt from the closet. She'd need something to wear on Friday...

Walking back to her room quickly, she stuffed the skirt into her bag and changed mechanically out of the wet clothes she was wearing, and into the blue sweater and a pair of jeans. Suddenly, she paused and stared at the bag unblinkingly. She'd packed it automatically, without thinking, but now she was realizing that she didn't know where she was going. Was she staying in the house, or going with Lex? Going to the Kent's?

Abandoning the bag, Chloe sat down on the edge of her bed and looked around blankly. Her computer was gone, destroyed in the explosion. So was her digital camera, all of her favorite CD's, her wallet, her father...

When Lex came upstairs twenty minutes later he found her sitting in the same spot, staring blankly at the wall.
TBC...