Closer

A/N: So it took a while for me to update, not because I was slacking though; I don't have internet access where I stay during the week. The next episode will be a continuation and I've decided to throw in a little action/death defying situation to break up the angstyness of this episode and the ones to come. Please enjoy, and thanks for the choice reviews! :00

The flight to...wherever it was they were going, was passing a lot more peacefully than Lex had expected, considering the company anyways. Lucas and Clark had managed to keep themselves from fighting for at least four hours now.

"How much farther is it?" Lucas asked from across the cabin.

"Not much," Chloe replied vaguely, turning a page in the book that she was reading.

"She's been saying that for the past two hours," Lucas muttered, his voice carrying through the cabin.

"Then stop asking," Clark rolled his eyes. Lex shook his head and got up from his seat between Chloe and Pete, heading to the bar. Chloe wasted no time in swinging her legs up and over his vacated seat, resting her feet in Pete's lap and continuing with her book. Pete frowned slightly and then moved his Game Boy to rest on her ankles, smirking triumphantly while he hit several buttons in rapid succession and let out a triumphant "ha take that!"

Lex was pouring himself a glass of scotch, thinking that maybe he should get some friends his own age, when Clark ambled over, walking rather unsteadily in the moving plane. "Do you need a drink Clark?" Lex asked him with a small smirk, putting the cap back on the bottle. "You aren't a fan of heights are you?"

Clark shook his head and held onto the side of the bar for support. "I've never flown anywhere before," he admitted. "It's really...high."

Lex wasn't surprised about that; the Kent's were definitely down-on-the-farm people. "You're doing fine," Lex assured him. He and Clark hadn't been on the best of terms lately, but Lex appreciated the fact that he'd helped plan and organize this little impromptu trip. "Much better than Chloe was anyways...she was a wreck." Clark grinned at that and they both shot a paranoid look in Chloe's direction, hoping that she wasn't listening. She wasn't. "Still," Lex continued as innocently as he could. "It's probably comforting for you to know where we're going, no surprises there..."

Clark's grin widened. "Are you trying to get me to tell you where we're going?" Clark for once.

"No," Lex lied, unconvincingly. Clark shook his head. "I was just making conversation."

"I'd love to tell you Lex," Clark assured him. "But Chloe would kill me."

"How come?"

"Because it's supposed to be a surprise," Clark grinned again, knowing that Lex knew full well what Chloe's goal was there.

"As a general rule I'm not a huge fan of surprises," Lex informed him.

"Which is why I'd like to tell you," Clark insisted. "But honestly, I'm not really looking to get Chloe mad at me...she worked so hard at this, and she can get..."

"Scary?" Pete supplied, coming up beside Lex and joining them at the bar. Clark nodded sheepishly.

"I heard that Peter!" Chloe called over to them. Clark looked slightly panicked and shakily made his way over to where Chloe was lying across all three seats now, presumably to apologize.

Pete chuckled and Lex smirked into his drink. "So," Lex once again tried for a casual approach. "Do you..."

"No clue," Pete shook his head sadly. "I figured that Clark would have let something slip by now –you know how he is—but so far, nothing. Lucas doesn't know either. I'm thinking about sneaking into the cockpit and asking the pilot."

Lex took another swig of his scotch. "Don't bother, they won't tell you," Lex shook his head too. When Pete raised and eyebrow, Lex reached for the bottle to refill his glass. "I already asked and they wouldn't tell me anything."

"She can talk people into anything," Pete looked fondly over to where Chloe was still lying, only this time her feet over Clark's lap and she was laughing at something that he'd said.

"Yes she can," Lex agreed, knowing full well how persuasive Chloe could be.

"I always thought that if the whole reporter thing didn't work out Chloe would make business tycoon," Pete chuckled. "Or maybe a politician."

Before Lex could really think about that the pilot's voice broke over the speakers. "We're beginning our descent now, if everyone would please take their seats and buckle up."

Lex and Pete joined Clark and Chloe on the bench seats. Chloe sat up again so Lex could sit down, and Pete and Lucas buckled themselves into the bench across from them. They could feel the plane begin to descend...Clark squeezed his eyes shut and clutched at his armrests. Pete and Lucas rolled their eyes at him and they both attempted to cram themselves up against the window, trying to where they were. Clark turned his head resolutely away from the window, his gaze fixing pointedly on his feet.

Lex pretended that he didn't want to look, that he wasn't curious, but when Pete let out a low whistle he found himself craning his neck as inconspicuously as possible towards the window.

"Where are we?" Pete was glued to the window, his mouth open in awe. Lucas was trying desperately to see out too; he finally pushed Pete back against his seat and peered out, struggling (and failing) to look unimpressed. Lex turned to Chloe expectantly, as did Lucas and Pete. Clark managed to open his eyes long enough to look out his window; his jaw dropped and he quickly sat back in his chair, eyes squeezing shut again.

Chloe smiled smugly. "The same place that all other ridiculously rich people go to disappear for a while," she told them.

"Cayman Islands," Lex too since Chloe nodded and her smug smile turned into a beaming grin.

"Cayman Islands," she confirmed. Lex was honestly surprised; he assumed that Clark and Chloe would pick Hawaii or Mexico; somewhere full of other tourists...this was a nice alternative.

"I've never been to the Cayman Islands," Lex told her honestly. "But I'd always planned on it." She beamed then, accepting his comment for the complement that it was. He was impressed that her and Clark would select somewhere he'd actually never been.

"I want to retire here," Pete sighed wistfully, staring outside as the plane began to land. Clark gulped audibly and squeezed his eyes shut again. "Hell, I'd move here now." Chloe and Lucas nodded in agreement.

"We'll see if they'll let you in first," Chloe teased him. Lex watched in silent amusement as Chloe and Pete bickered, Clark began to turn red from holding his breath, and Lucas amused himself with making various crashing noises to scare Clark. So far, he was having an okay time.

The plane touched down (Clark flinched) and rolled to a stop on one of the runways. They filed out of the cabin once the captain had given the okay, and made their way out onto the runway where an airport authority was waiting to escort them into the building. "Are you all right Clark?" Lex asked when Clark almost fell down the stairs onto the cement. He looked a little green.

"Fine," Clark assured him. "Just need some fresh air..." They followed the airport worker into a terminal where they were asked to present passports. Clark turned to Pete. "Your mom said that she packed it in the front pocket on your backpack." Pete shrugged and rummaged through his bag, pulling out the passport triumphantly.

Lucas turned to Chloe with an obnoxious smirk on his face. "Don't worry, I brought mine along," he pulled his passport out of his back pocket and showed it to her pointedly.

"I so glad," Chloe returned and pulled two passports out of her purse. She held one out to Lex, who took it with a silent nod.

They cleared customs easily enough, Chloe answering all of the questions about their stay. Once they were through they collected their luggage and located the exit doors. Pete pointed at something through the glass doors. "Hey, I guess that's our driver?" they followed his gaze to the man holding a "Luthor" sign.

"Got my name on it," Lucas pushed his way through the crowd, Clark and Pete following excitedly behind him. Lex paused at the doorway and put a hand on Chloe's elbow to hold her back.

"Chloe," he lowered his voice so the others wouldn't hear. "Where are we staying?"

"Oh, in a private villa about an hours drive away," she told him with a grin. "Don't worry, I didn't book a tacky hotel room or anything."

"A private villa?" he asked...not wanting to say it but wondering where she'd gotten the money for a private villa. He hadn't gotten a bill recently, and she hadn't been using the credit card that he'd given her, so she must be getting money from somewhere else... "Chloe, I don't want to offend you here, but please tell me that you aren't using up your inheritance money to pay for this trip?"

"Lex!" she looked annoyed.

"Seriously Chloe," he shook his head. "Because if you are I want you to tell me now and I'll transfer—"

"It's not a very good party if you pay for it yourself Lex," she rolled her eyes, shooting a glance to the others who were now leaning against the car waiting.

"I don't care about—"

"Well I do!" she interrupted, pulling her arm away from his hand. "I don't know why you don't seem to understand this, but I want to do something for you for a change! You've done so much for me this year...and I just want to return the favor."

"I don't want you to bankrupt yourself because you feel that you owe me something Chloe," he hissed.

"I won't," she returned. "And I don't want you to treat me like a petulant child because you're not used to people caring about you. Now just forget about this conversation and let's go meet the others. Please?"

He sighed. "But Chloe, you really don't have to spend—"

"Lex," she put her hand on his shoulder and looked into his eyes seriously. "I don't do anything that I don't want to do."

"Neither do I Chloe," he insisted. "And I don't want to let this go."

"You are going to have to," she said, a definite tone of finality in her words. "Just let it go, and trust me when I tell you that I've worked it all out. Your job this weekend is to relax, not to worry about everyone and everything that you can't fix."

He frowned slightly at the way she said that. "You've worked it all out?" he repeated.

"I've worked it all out," Chloe nodded and moved her hand from his shoulder, picking up her bag again. He stared back silently for a minute and then gave a reluctant nod. "Thank-you."

Chloe smiled at him again and gestured to the others, indicating that they should go. Lex quelled down the feeling of unease; Chloe was fully able to take care of herself, and if she said that she'd worked it out, then she'd worked it out. He decided to take her advice, and tried to relax.

Chloe pushed the doors open and joined the others. Lex hesitated for only a second in the doorway, before stepping out into the Caribbean sun.

END...TBC...

Next time on Smallville:

...Clark and Pete step onto a beach of white sand..."Where's Chloe?" Pete asks with a smirk. "I wanna go skinny dipping"...

..."You never did tell me what you want for your birthday, big brother"...Lucas and Lex are stretched out comfortably on a pair of beach towels....

...Chloe takes a running jump off a cliff into a large pool of blue water...she resurfaces and something catches her attention, her eyes widen in fear...

...Pete points to something in the distance, his hand shaking a little as he does..."We've got trouble guys"...