Chapter 4 – A promise
The next hour was spent reliving the nightmare that was Tequila. Chloe wondered how her stomach managed to keep down the first batch of the stuff, but now it was just getting ugly. 'Where the fuck did Pete find another bottle of Tequila', she muttered, not completely realizing that she was speaking out loud.
"What was that?" came a slurred voice with a slight squeal at the end.
Chloe flipped her head to the left to realize it was Lana. Although to be fair Chloe was just assuming that the brunette haze in front of her was the 'pink princess'.
'Ha, she's drunk.'
'Yeah but so are you, dumbass' her little voice reminded her. And when had her little voice gotten so loud. Lana's image seemed to sway in front of her, or was she swaying, it seemed a little hard to tell. Then someone grabbed her arm. "Oh God," Lana exclaimed.
'Yeah must have been Lana' Chloe deduced. 'Wonder what's wrong with her'.
Lana suddenly swayed back to the right and then her hand flew to her face, and she bolted off the couch, tripping over Pete, who was sitting on the floor between the girls. Clark caught her on her way to the floor, but she kept moving toward the door. Clark suddenly realized she was sick and helped her get out of the room, hoping he remembered where the nearest bathroom was. Pete having been trampled in the stomach by Lana, was not doing so good either. Being gut checked while highly intoxicated, very not good. He followed Lana out of the room.
'Alone at last', the voice in her head had a certain lilt to it, 'Wait a minute, I wasn't supposed to have to be alone tonight. And I'm not gonna be.'
With that Chloe rose from the couch and took about two steps before she realized her mistake. Moving was a huge mistake and now she would have to pay. Lex had been watching the little group from the corner and when he saw the others leave, he was beside her just as she started to lose her balance. She felt his arms steady her and tried to focus on his face, but all she could manage to say was "Sick," it came out as something between a plea and a warning. He moved quickly and pulled her out of the room and down to the end of the hall.
He turned the knob and pulled her inside, shutting the door with his foot as he saw her hand fly to her mouth. They reached the toilet just about the same time the Tequila decided it was ready to come out. He bent her over at the waist and placed her hand on the side of the commode. She threw up until she thought she would die. Her head was spinning, her throat hurt and her stomach was twitching. She heard the commode flush, and suddenly she remembered Lex was in the room, and that his arms were holding her up. 'Oh please let me die, let one of those freak Smallville things happen right now and take me away, never to be heard from again.' She groaned with the realization of what was happening and how horrible she felt. 'So much for being impressive tonight, yes Chloe I am sure that he was very impressed by the way you puked in his expensive commode' her inner voice was taunting her now, very rude, but likely not untrue.
She tried to lean back a little and he let her settle back against him on the floor. She covered her face with her hands, somewhat to hold her head up but mostly to cover the embarrassment that was pulling her down like a weight.
"Sit still I'll get you a towel and some water." Lex whispered in her hair. He settled her back against the wall and then moved across the room. She keep her eyes tightly shut, but heard the faucet running and then it was off and she heard his shoes take the few steps back to her. Then she felt the cool towel on her forehead, and she reached up to hold it. Her fingers caressed his hand as she took the cloth from him and pressed it to her lips and then her eyes. She was trying desperately to get a hold of herself, but she was starting to shake a little. Whether it was from the cold of the tiles she was sitting on or the situation that was doing it she wasn't fully sure. She guessed a little of both.
"Wash you mouth out with this, it will help." He said softly, a gentleness in his voice she was sure she had never heard before. She opened her eyes a little to see the glass of water he was placing in her hands. She tried to nod and smile a little but she wasn't sure if her face actually made the gestures that she had intended. She let the water sit in her mouth a second cooling off the heat and sickness that still lingered there. Then she spit it back into the commode, after 3 or 4 iterations of that and she was feeling a little better.
"Thanks" she managed, hoping it sounded as sweet and grateful as she meant it. Although she still felt like she was hearing through pounds of cotton in her ears and seeing through Coke bottles. She still felt woozy and really just wanted to lie down. Suddenly the coolness of the tile floor seemed like a nice idea. She leaned down, and suddenly Lex had a strong hold on her again.
"Chloe, are you okay," he asked, the concern evident in his voice.
She looked up at him, able to see his features now, but she could not read him, not that she usually could. "I just wanted to lie down for a minute," the almost childlike quality in her voice seemed heavier with the alcohol.
"Ok, I'll take you somewhere more comfortable."
He lifted her off the floor and she wrapped her hands around his neck and leaned into the warmth of his chest. She had always dreamed of him carrying her for some reason, and even though the reasons for it now were bothersome, it didn't dampen the feelings it aroused in her. Chloe would have never thought of herself as being someone who needed or even wanted to be carried by a man. But somehow, with Lex, everything was different. She didn't have to be strong around him; he let her be however she wanted. She never felt a need to prove to him she was strong, he just seemed to know.
The next feeling she had was of pure heaven. She felt the cool smoothness against her feet, then legs, her back and arms. She was sinking into a softness that made her want to snuggle into it, and the best part was that the warmth of the body next to her was still there. She felt a hand pull her arms from around his neck, and she was going to protest, but the hand held onto hers drawing it back to his chest.
He lay beside her holding her hand as her head leaned into his shoulder. Lex propped himself up on his elbow and looked down into her face, a small smile now gracing her lips that were just slightly parted. He leaned down and kissed her forehead just at her hairline and breathed, "Rest now, Angel"
She heard his soothing voice, but didn't register the words completely. "Uuummm" was all she managed before sleep overtook her. Her last thought was, 'Angel, I want to be his Angel'.
He awoke to the sound of a knock on the door. He hadn't meant to fall asleep. He was just watching her in the pale light drifting in through the edges of the heavy drapes. Listening to her soft breathing, feeling the perfect fit of her body curled up into his, he must have drifted off. He unwrapped his hand from hers where she was still holding tightly to him and moved gracefully to the door. Just as he reached it, he heard the voice from the outside call his name.
"Mr. Luthor".
'Thank God' Lex thought, it was Andrew. He opened the door and stared at his butler. Andrew's voice was low and steady, really the perfect servant, but he was more than that, and Lex trusted him, well more than most.
"Mr. Kent is back looking for Ms. Sullivan", Andrew called Chloe by her name to her face because she had asked him to, and because Mr. Luthor made it quite clear that whatever she wanted when she was around, she got. However, he knew enough to show the proper respect for her when he addressed his employer directly.
"Back?" Lex questioned, a little louder and more harshly than he had intended.
"Yes Sir. He drove Ms. Lang and Mr. Ross home a while ago, and said he would be back for Ms. Sullivan later. He has just arrived and appears to be scouring the house for her." Andrew sensed that this news was not going to be well received and he was not disappointed.
"Boy scout", he rasped out, his eyes twitching and his jaw setting and resetting as he tried to push away the anger the came with the knowledge that Clark didn't trust him to take care of her. 'I have to make friends with a fucking Boy Scout, God I am an idiot.' He mentally berated himself, as he knew he had only himself to blame. 'Pick someone to befriend so clean that he makes priests run to confessional and then fall for their best friend, oh and make sure you are the devil himself to deliver the perfect recipe for angst and disaster.' Lex shook his head to clear the tirade he was having with himself.
"Give me five minutes then tell him she is up here resting and send him up." His voice was calm and firm, the perfect businessman tying up the loose ends of the deal. Andrew saw the tension was back in his employer's face, the steel back in his voice. Gone was the ease and comfort that Chloe seemed to bring into the house like fresh spring air. Andrew nodded and hoped that the air would not leave completely and that it would come back soon, everything was better with fresh air.
Lex shut the door and moved to the bed, he glanced down for only a second more to imprint the picture of her sleeping in his bed firmly in his mind and praying that it would not be the last time. He sat beside her and grazed his fingers along her cheek. She sighed but didn't wake, and then she took in a breath, and said "Lex", it came out so soft that had he not been inches from her mouth he wouldn't have heard it at all. For a second he thought she was awake then realized that she was still asleep. She was dreaming or something akin to it and she had said his name.
His head was almost swimming with the awe of what that tiny thing did to him, all his senses were reeling. 'Damn it, get a grip', with that he breathed deep and placed a kiss on her forehead and said "Chloe, you have to wake up now". His tone was gentle but loud enough to make sure she wouldn't miss it.
Her eyes fluttered open and she was staring up into his blue-gray eyes that looked almost cloudy in the dim light. She had dreams about moments like this, really good dreams. But, now. 'oh god', flashes from earlier. Tequila, sick, vomit, floor, oh god. "Oh God, I …. I mean I threw up," and with that threw her hand over her mouth and crawled hastily backward in the bed nearly crawling her way off onto the floor, before he reached out to stop her.
"Chloe, it's okay.," His voice was soft and his eyes held none of their usual mocking. "Clark is on his way to take you home, so why don't you go into the bathroom and freshen up," it came out as more of a directive than a suggestion. She simply nodded and scanned the room to notice that she had no idea where the bathroom might be, and at that instant she forgot to breathe. She was in Lex's bedroom. There was no mistaking the huge room, the giant bed and the black silk sheets she felt underneath her. 'Oh god' was the only thought she could manage, after everything, it was suddenly too much. Chloe Sullivan was completely stunned and overwhelmed all at the same time and she couldn't seem to function on any level.
Lex seemed to notice her sudden distress and utter stillness, he was a little unnerved since normally she twitched and fretted when she was nervous. He reached out and took her arm and moved across the bed pulling her with him. He slid her onto the floor and she braced herself against him when at first her legs seemed unwilling to hold her. But after the second step she recovered and followed him to the door. He opened the bathroom door and flipped on the light, dropping her arm and letting her stand in the doorway. He walked to a tall pantry and opened the cabinet and pulled out a toothbrush still in its box. He handed it to her and then turned to leave the room. He turned back slightly and leaned in closer to her then said, "Clark will be here in a few minutes, I'll be here when you're ready to go." Then the door closed quietly behind him.
She couldn't read the tone of his voice and it wasn't until he had shut the door and she was staring into the mirror that she finally let the words hit her. 'I've missed my chance, it's all over' were the words that kept repeating in her head as she brushed her teeth. She got some mouthwash from the same pantry that he had gotten the toothbrush from and then stood staring at her reflection. She had been able to hide behind the comfort of the alcohol when she asked him to kiss her and now she had nothing to hide behind. But the feelings she had waking up with him saying her name and looking down at her was enough to make her sure of what she was going to say. Before he could tell her it had all been a mistake, she was going to ask to spend the night.
She walked out of the bathroom with every ounce of courage that she had amassed in her entire life. She had learned about living in the shadows and how to wait for what she wanted to come to her, but it never came. Good things did not come to those who wait, they came to those who took them. Chloe was done with waiting.
Lex was standing by the window, trying to figure out exactly what to say. How do you ask a teenager to come to your bed, to give up her virginity (he was assuming on that point, but felt confident in his view), and to do it all with a man that had a worse reputation at age 23 than ten average men amass in a lifetime. And to top it off her father was in his employ, her best friend was his best friend and he wasn't entirely sure that the devil moniker was all that misplaced. He sighed, heavy and deep like the weight of the world was descending on him. Suddenly all he wanted was to be out of this room and immersed into a bottle of scotch until he couldn't remember his own name.
Suddenly he felt small warm hands caress his back and then move around his side and arm until she was pressed up against his chest her arms holding him close while her hands drew small circles on his back. He looked down and the moonlight danced in her eyes from the tall windows where he had drawn back the drapes in hopes of avoiding actually turning on a light.
"Lex," she breathed.
"Yes Chloe," he matched her tone for tone and encircled her body with his arms. All his high moral ground abandoned his thoughts of doing the right thing gone out the window, now all he wanted to do was beg her to stay, but he held his tongue and waited for her to speak.
With a deep breath she began, "Thank you for everything tonight: the party, for the kiss, taking care of me, not abandoning me when I was, umm, a little less than fully composed," she smiled up at him sweetly and almost laughed.
He chuckled, "It was my pleasure, all of it," his voice heavy at the end hoping to impart how really much a pleasure it was, being with her like this.
Another deep breath, "I'm glad," …deep breath… "I want to stay." Exhale. The words were out. Now prepare for the worst.
He went still, his breathing shallow, his stomach turned over and he was instantly hard, all in the blink of an eye. His eyes were glowing and a wide mischievous smile was gracing his lips. Everything was perfect in the world. Until…
The knock. He stiffened and muttered a curse under his breath. His arms tightened around her and he whispered "Clark" from between his clenched teeth. She glanced to the door. She wanted this, but honestly she had wanted to test the waters of any kind of "thing" with Lex in private for a while before going public with it, especially to Clark. Suddenly she had a thought.
She looked up, the same sweet smile as before. "Promise me that I am not missing my chance if I walk out that door right now. Promise me that this is not the last night I will be in this room. Promise me that you will invite me back, to stay." Her voice was low and sultry; her emphasis of the last words left no doubt what she was asking.
He smiled, "And if I agree to all your requests then what?" he was leaning down now and she was pulled so tight against him that she could feel him pressing against her stomach. She knew he wanted her and she suddenly felt powerful.
"Then you have one week to fulfill all your promises. If you fail, I will come to claim what is mine by any means necessary." She had just the right amount of sass and intimidation in the last part that made him chuckle lightly. Then his eyes turned dark and he leaned forward until his forehead rested against hers.
"Ummm, Chloe are you in there?" Came Clark's sheepish voice from outside.
Ignoring the intruder, Lex muttered through clenched teeth, "And if I say that this is your only chance?" Lex's voice was warm but the words came out stiff and ragged.
Chloe knew what he was asking, was she willing to tell Clark right here and now that she was going to sleep with his best friend. She didn't hesitate for one second.
"I would say that I hope the door is strong, because you are not getting me out of this room until I hear you screaming my name while you are coming inside me." She barely recognized the sound of her own voice; it was all sex and need. 'Hot damn, I didn't know I could talk like that, must be the Luthor effect,' she thought reveling in the way he was looking at her. His shock showed on his face for a split second only to be replaced by a look that was almost predatory.
"She'll be out in a second", he turned and yelled at the door. Then looking back at Chloe who was sharing his smile, "a week it is then." The weight of his promise carried in his voice. He turned and walked her to the door. As he moved to open the door he whispered in her hair, "Happy Birthday Chloe." Then kissed her forehead and swung the door back moving back from Chloe as she moved forward toward a somewhat surprised Clark.
"Sorry Clark I was just brushing my teeth. Tequila very bad," she said in a mock caveman voice.
Clark nodded, "Yeah, tell me about it", his face showing the fatigue of having to care for a drunk Lana and Pete for the last two hours. "Uuh thanks Lex for making sure Chloe was okay."
"It was my pleasure," Lex repeated, but his tone was more friendly.
"Mine too," said Chloe. She smiled again and followed Clark down the hall.
