They had been dating for 5 months. No-one knew of course. It had started off very casual, not that they were fuck buddies but more that they kept the banter and avoided intimacy of any sort. They kept it light, breezy and fun. Always fun. Painfullyfun.

Lex sifted through his papers rubbing his forehead distractedly. He wanted to stop by the Torch this evening and see Chloe. They never made any formal arrangements. Either he stopped by the Talon or the Torch or she stopped by the mansion. This was part of the game they played, both with each other and the outside world. Recently however, after the initial banter and heated fumblings, they had started to have real conversations. And not just of the business variety of which they were both fond of. Lex liked having someone intelligent and well-informed (sometimes too well-informed) to talk with. Their conversations and their games of cat and mouse with the information they each had was as much of a turn on for Lex as her physical beauty and he knew she felt the same. Recently though, there had been conversations of a different variety. Of hopes and fears. Especially fears. Hopes seemed to be on the back burner for the time being.

And then yesterday he had told her the truth about Julian. In a moment of absolute weakness he had confessed the truth, glad to have a kind ear to listen instead of the bitter, twisted one of his father. Chloe hadn't said anything. Again to her credit, for what could she say? She had just listened intently, gently rubbing his arm and nodding, as if she was finally understanding things or rather him. This of course in turn had scared him shitless and he had pushed her away. Metaphorically speaking. He had gotten up and slipped the mask carefully back into place muttering about having to prepare for a meeting. He had been dismissive and cold. Chloe had known exactly what he was doing and had been perfectly understanding before leaving quietly with a witty parting retort leaving him feeling like the 17 year old in the relationship, immature, petty and wishing for her to come back.

Putting his papers in his drawer he got up, walked outside to the Porsche and sped off.

Just another Friday night in Smallville Chloe thought. Sitting at the table with Clark she spotted Lana looking like she was about to kill the cappuccino machine. She was about to say as much to Clark when she saw Lex walking in. She hadn't had any contact with him since his confession yesterday and his subsequent retreat into the Fortress of Lex. Seeing him she felt what was fast becoming her standard response, excitement mixed with annoyance. Whenever she was with him though, the annoyance slipped away to be replaced with an alien maturity she didn't know she possessed. It was always two steps forward and one step back with Lex and her goodwill and patience where he was concerned seemed to know no end. A fact which constantly surprised her.

The incredible make out sessions helped as well of course. They hadn't slept together yet which she knew was a source of some irritation for Lex. He never pressured her and she didn't feel pressured, yet his increasing…frustration was getting harder to ignore. She didn't want to take that step whilst they were still in some sort of limbo. They had yet to define the "relationship" and no-one knew about them. Which was more than ok. She was not ready for that particular talk with Clark, Lana, her father. Basically everyone. So the secrecy was good. Yet it didn't inspire confidence, and neither did Lex. Therefore she wasn't putting out. She wasn't a prude and didn't believe that her virginity was a precious flower that needed to be nurtured for the right man that came along. Rather that she wanted to be in a respectful alliance when doing the deed. Not necessarily in love, but respected. Fully.

"Hi Clark, mind if join you?" he said sitting down, nodding acknowledgement to the other two. Lana looked at him with warmth and gave a friendly smile, Chloe barely looked at him at all and seemed to be grimacing as Lex pushed in next to her. "That's my girl" Lex thought sardonically.

"So, how's your dad doing Clark? Getting back to his old self?" Full of self-righteous bullshit? He thought to himself.

"He's doing fine. He gets a little down now and then but you know Dad…he'll be fine." Clark replied earning a sympathetic smile from Lana and a yawn from Chloe.

"I barely got any sleep last night" Chloe said quickly, seeing three pairs of eyes on her. Inwardly groaning at that fatal error she sunk back into uncharacteristic silence.

"I've been meaning to ask you where you were last night actually" Lana started playfully.

"At the Torch. I was working on something slightly different to my usual piece. More of a character study. An examination of the psyche. A human behavioural piece." Lana looked mildly interested and she had probably lost Clark after psyche. Lex had a studied look of boredom on his face. Chloe took this as encouragement enough.

"I was researching the humanoid repression loner phenomenon, more commonly known as the asshole syndrome." Finally having everyone's full attention she continued, "It's the regular idiot man, wanting real human intimacy but too scared to let down his guard thereby lashing out at anyone and everyone that gets too close. Maybe not everyone actually. Just the select lucky few." She said all this in a casual tone whilst looking around the Talon and out of the window. Not making eye contact with anyone at the table.

"Why would you be looking into that Chloe?" Clark asked genuinely confused.

Before she could form a non-answer Lex jumped in, saying cryptically, "Why do we look into anything Clark? There's a famous saying…" Chloe leapt up before she could hear anymore "Oh God please, no fricking poetry. Enough with the goddamn poetry." Before gracefully exiting the Talon, bags and coat swirling around her.