Chapter Four

Lex watched the fields fly by, a myriad of yellows and greens, with the occasional cow thrown in. Beside him Chloe sat clutching a folder in her hands; a copy of her father's will. She was supposed to look it over and meet with the lawyer again next week.

He watched her out of the corner of his eye, remembering her frustration at the meeting. For a girl who'd never had to worry about paying bills, or legal matters, this came as quite a shock. He'd always seen her quick wit and remarkable intelligence, but hadn't realized just how young she still was. Until now.

The most pressing matter, what she was undoubtedly worrying about, was the issue of to whom guardianship would be granted, and where she was going to live. The Kent's had offered to have her stay with them, and take over custody, but Lex had a feeling that she didn't want that.

They'd discussed emancipation with Gabe's lawyer, and found out how long the process could take. Still, it looked like she was leaning in that direction. He knew she was worried about where she would live for the time being. With Clark gone, the Kent's had a spare room for her, but both Pete and Lex had some worries about what would happen if Clark came back. Where would she go?

They passed the Smallville sign and Lex's eyes fell on the picture of the meteors, as they did every single time he drove by it. Chloe looked up at the sign too, surprised, as if suddenly realizing how long they'd been driving. Instead of turning left, on the road that would bring them to the Kent farm, Lex turned right, towards the mansion.

"Where are we going?" she asked him, turning in his direction.

"I have something to show you," Lex told her. Chloe just nodded, not questioning him further. He couldn't help but wish she'd revert back to her intrepid reporter ways and try to pry more information out of him, but she didn't and they drove the rest of the way in silence.

Parking the car in the circular driveway, Lex led her in through the foyer. His new butler met them in the hall. "Good afternoon Mr. Luthor," he nodded to them. "Miss."

"Hi," Chloe replied blandly.

"Walden, is it ready?" Lex asked ignoring the confused look Chloe gave him.

"Yes sir, they finished about an hour ago," Walden nodded.

"Good, come on Chloe," Lex put his hand on her back and led her down a hallway into the left wing of the mansion. They passed the large set of double doors, leading to his room, and continued on past a few more until they were almost at the end of the hall. "Here," Lex reached into his pocket and withdrew a polished key, holding it out to her. Chloe took the key from him and raised her eyebrows in question. "Just open it."

Chloe unlocked the door and pushed it open slowly. Inside was a large bedroom. From the look, and the smell, of the pale purple paint on the walls, it was newly decorated. There was a four-poster queen-sized bed, made of a light oak. The fluffy duvet had a colourful silk cover and about six matching pillows.

A matching dresser and night stand stood near the bed, and a desk was pushed against the west wall, right between two large windows. A bookcase and several empty shelves adorned the wall and a new laptop sat on the desk. There two doors on the east wall, a three way mirror situated between them.

"Pretty," Chloe remarked, running her had over the wooden dresser. "A bit more feminine than I pictured you in but..." Lex rolled his eyes at her.

He walked over and opened the first door, revealing a decent sized bathroom with a claw-footed tub. "My room's down the hall," he told her and opened the second door. He gestured for her to look inside. "This room is yours."

Chloe raised her eyebrows again but followed him into the walk-in closet, where it was already half full of very expensive looking clothes. Lex watched her as she took in the room.

"You're giving me a room?" she finally asked him. He nodded.

"Chloe," Lex led her out of the closet and gestured for her to sit down on the Queen Anne bench at the foot of her bed. "I know you've been wondering where you're going to be staying, now that Gabe is..."

"Dead?" she finished bitterly.

"No longer with us," he corrected. "I just want you to have the option, in case you decide not to stay with the Kent's."

"I knew you felt guilty Lex, but I didn't realize it was this bad," she got up and came to stand in front of him. "You know that you don't have to but me things, don't you? I don't want you to pity me either."

"This isn't about pity Chloe," he put a hand on her shoulder.

"So it's just about guilt then?" she asked. When he didn't reply she shrugged his hand away.

"Okay, okay," he conceded. "I do feel guilty. I promised to protect you and failed."

"I won't live with you because you feel guilty Lex," she said slowly, hoping to make him understand. "How long would it be before you started worrying about what I'm looking at, what I've found out? It's the same with you as it is with the Kent's; none of you trust me. I can't stay somewhere where everyone sleeps with one eye open because they're terrified that I'll expose all of their secrets."

"To be fair, I don't really trust anyone," he muttered. "It's nothing personal –"

"Right."

"Okay listen," Lex put both hands on her shoulders now. "You don't have to stay here, but I want you to know that this room will always be here for you. Okay? Even if you move to Edge City, there will always be a place for you in Smallville."

Chloe blinked a couple of times, her eyes becoming a bit more watery then she would have liked. "Lex? Why are you doing this?" she asked him, hoping he'd tell her honestly. "You've told me the truth before...please tell me now."

Lex held her gaze, trying to stare her down. Finally, she noticed his eyes soften, the usual lines of his face seemed to smooth out. "Because you need someone to take care of you right now," he told her quietly. "And I need someone to take care of."

TBC...