Disclaimer: Mine, all mine. Just kidding.

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Hiding the Truth

"Would you stop it!" Chloe yelled at the top of her lungs.

She glared at Lex from her place at the bars. The feeling had started to come back to her legs, and the doctors insisted she step up her physical therapy. For some unknown reason Lex had come into the room to watch. All summer he had sat in his office, working, except for when he took her out into the garden. Which he did everyday, whether she liked it or not. And she didn't like it. The more timed she was with him the more she wanted to tell him how she felt. To kiss him, and hold him until she felt dizzy.

Now he sat watching her. Not speaking, an unreadable expression on his face. And it was driving her crazy.

"I'm not doing anything." He replied confused.

"You're just sitting there. It's bugging the hell out of me." She said. The therapist chuckled. Chloe glared at her.

"I think that's enough for today." Lex told the therapist. She nodded. Saying good-bye to Chloe she gathered up her things and left the room quietly.

Chloe struggled over to her chair. She was exhausted. She slipped a little hen she was almost there. Lex hurried over and caught her before she fell. Being so close to him was more than she could take. She burst into tears as he eased her into her chair.

"Chloe? What's wrong, please tell me." He pleaded as he got on his knees I front of her.

But Chloe kept sobbing. She placed her hands over her face, unable to stop. The past few months came barreling at her, forcing all of the feelings to the surface.

Lex sat there in desperation. He didn't know how to help her. He hated feeling helpless. He placed his hands over hers and gently pulled them from her face. "Please. Let me help you."

Chloe's tears slowed as she looked into the eyes of the person she loved so much. She despised herself for letting him see her like this. " I can't." she whispered.

"Why?" he asked her, the rejection and sadness evident in his voice. It just made her hate herself more.

Lex didn't know what to do. He cared very deeply about Chloe. The thought that she was in pain and wouldn't let him help her was killing him. All he wanted was to make the tears stop, take away her pain. She just had to tell him how.

"Chloe, I just want to help." He said desperately.

"You can't. No one can." She said softly. The tears continued to fall softly.

"Why?"

She looked at him and he knew. He knew that the pain she was feeling went deeper than her accident. Something was wrong, very wrong, with her heart.

"Who is it?" he asked.

She shook her head.

He frowned. Why wouldn't she tell him?

"You can't fix this Lex. No amount of money can fix this." She spat.

Lex froze. That was what she thought of him? That he solved all of his problems money, that he couldn't help her by just being there for her. It was like she had just stuck a knife in his heart. He slowly stood, the rain falling outside making the only noise in the room.

"I don't want to fix it Chloe. I want to be there for you. I want to help you." He said slowly.

"That's not possible." She whispered.

"Why not!" he screamed in frustration. H e started pacing the length of the room. Chloe watched him. Watched the pain in his face that she had caused. She never wanted this. It was why she had kept it to herself for so long.

Suddenly, Lex stopped pacing. He walked over and once again kneeled in front of her. "Chloe, I'm not leaving you alone until you tell me what I have to do to help you."

She knew that tone, that determined glint in his eye. He wouldn't give up. She had no choice.

"I'm alone Lex." She whispered.

He stared at her in shock. How could she think that? "You're not alone Chloe. So many people love you."

She shook her head. "He doesn't. He doesn't love me."

Lex didn't know what to say to that. How could anyone not love this amazing girl? She was so wonderful. The thought of someone making her feel so alone, so awful made him want to hunt down whoever it was and kill him.

"I want him to love me Lex."

He put his hands on her cheeks, forcing her to look into his eyes. He willed her to see how much he cared for her. That she wasn't alone. It wasn't what she wanted, but it might help.

Chloe looked into his eyes. Those beautiful eyes that had captured her heart so unexpectedly and refused to let go. She had no other choice now but to tell him. The pain was too much. She couldn't take the agony anymore, couldn't take hurting him anymore. He needed to know.

"I want you to love me."

The words seemed to echo around the room. He had heard them , but he couldn't seem to wrap his head around them. Him. She loved him, wanted him to love her back.

She kept going. She had held it in for so long, now that she had admitted it, she had to let it all out.

"I was never going to tell you. I didn't want to make you uncomfortable. But you wanted to know, needed to know. I know you can't ever love me back. But that's what I want. I want you to love me, to let me love you. I want to marry you, have children with you. I want to grow old with you. Now please-let me leave."

Lex sat and stared at her. He couldn't comprehend what she had just told him. She took his silence as the confirmation of what she had been expecting. Slowly she pushed her chair back and wheeled herself to her room.

-

Chloe managed to make it to her room before she broke down completely. She struggled out her chair, sobs racking her body, and laid down on her bed.

She had finally told him. And just as she had expected, he had rejected her. He didn't love her, never would. Why did it hurt so much? This was what she had been expecting. She had seen it coming a mile away. But the pain in her heart betrayed the fact that she had been secretly hoping for a different ending.

So she cried. All night, and into the dawn she cried like she had never cried before for the lost dream and the love she knew she would never have.

-

Lex sat on the floor outside Chloe's door all night. He had followed her to her room, hoping that he would be able to persuade her to talk to him. But the sound of her crying stopped him. It broke his heart to know that he had broken hers.

As the new day broke over the clouds he remembered the look on her face when she had told him. He had been waiting, longing for that look his whole life. Love. Pure, unconditional love. For him. It was what he had been searching for ever since his mother died. And it had been right there in front of him. All the love he wanted condensed into one little blonde girl who never gave up on anything. But now she had given up.

She had given up on him.

She thought he was upset. That he didn't want her, couldn't lover her back. But she was wrong. He wanted to love her. He so wanted to share in that love that she felt. He had known Chloe long enough, seen enough to know that when she loved someone it never went away. He had always cared about her, loved her in that way friends love each other. Now he wanted to go to her, to kiss her and let himself fall in love with her. She was so easy to love.

He still couldn't understand why she loved him. All of the fights they had had came barreling at him. All of the harsh words, all of the hurt feelings. But she had still found a way to love him. To take him into her heart and care for him like no one else.

As the sun rose over Smallville he vowed to make her see. He vowed to let her know that he wouldn't let her give up. Not now that he realized just what he had to lose. He wanted to make her his. And Lex Luthor was not someone who gave up on what he wanted.

Chloe was hurt now. But by the time this was over, she would not feel pain anymore. Only love. His love.

He had work to do.