I'll be keeping this very A/U, as unfortunately I have not been able to keep up with the show seeing how I've moved to where a tv is a foreign concept. But fret not thyself, it is only temporary.

Your reviews are truly the only reason I am continuing this because I am really pressed for time. Bear with me if I have to quickly move the events away from the date it was first written in to something closer to our own time and space.

Chapter Three

The ride to the apartment should have provided Chloe time to think. Time to rationalize and develop a plan of action. But did it? No. Why? Because Lex spent the whole time trying to murder her.

Chloe was literally glued to the passenger seat as he sped through the empty city streets. He tried to explain to her that it was abandoned because everybody was gathered in the square to celebrate the New Year, but she really couldn't hear above her silent screaming and the loud gnarl of the engine.

It was all she could do to stop herself from kissing the ground when he finally came to a stop before the tower of Babel. The hotel, called 'The Luthor' must surely touch the sky, it looked to Chloe as though it was up into the stratosphere, and inside was everything a business/luxury hotel should be.

As he led her to the elevator, he watched carefully her face, which only just seemed to be regaining colour, to see if she would have any trepidation.

"I'm fine, Lex. And I'm not an invalid so you can take your arm from off my elbow." When he wouldn't let go at first, she turned to him to see a mischievous look on his face. She had the sudden urge to box him, the only thing that stopped her was that he had pulled her out of the elevator. Wait… that gives her reason….

"What were you doing at my office tonight, Chloe?" He asked as the elevator closed its doors behind them.

She had her head propped against the glass of the lift and flopped it to face him as she said, "I came to wish you 'Happy New Year'."

He smiled at her wit. "I could just get you drunk and find out later."

She flew her hands in a frustrated gesture. "You don't know how to behave around minors do you? First you try to kiss me, now you try to get me drunk. What next, you plan to have me hooked on opium?"

"Don't be silly, marijuana is a much quicker route." He said with a smirk on his face.

Chloe sighed her exasperation and looked around herself, wondering if there wasn't some way to reenact the night's events with Clark in place of the nonentity beside her.

"Seriously, what were you doing there?" Their banter had bought her enough time for a reasonable lie.

"I was visiting my cousin and decided to drop by to wish Clark a Happy New Year."

Unfortunately, her lie wasn't reasonable at all.

"I though you didn't have a place to say in Metropolis." His brows furrowed slightly but his mouth's sardonic twist showed that his was a mock concern.

"I don't. My cousin left when I did, she's gone to Portsmouth and her place is locked up."

He gave her a smile which said 'I-don't-really-believe-you-but-I'll-leave-it-at-that-'cause-we've-reached-the-penthouse-and-I-can-find-out-if-your-lying-later'.

It was obvious to Chloe that not everyone who stayed in the hotel could access the lift to the penthouse. Reason being that the lift opened right into the spacious living area of the suite. The floor was intermittent white carpet on dark wood. Very warm cushiony carpet upon very hard polished wood.

The apartment reeked of neo-age affluence, from the plasma screen TV to the avante garde art collection with the artist's names not written, but painted into the fresco, leaving their origins indiscernible.

"Leave it the sybaritic." She said under her breath.

Lex felt his patience wearing thin, she was a nice conversationalist, until she became too emboldened.

"One doesn't have to be indulgent to value art, Chloe."

"No… one just has to have a fat bank account." She put her hands up and made what would have been a seriously ugly face had she not been so cute. "Bank!"

Her teasing tone made him lighten up. He frowned to himself though, as he didn't normally get defensive about anything he liked.

"I'll show you your room." He said, and moved off without waiting to see if she followed.

The room he took her to was about twice the size of the one she had at home, and about as big as Lois' whole apartment. But it wasn't the room or its decorations that caught her eye, it was the immense, shimmering view of Metropolis. Walking toward it, she completely blocked out Lex' promise of coffee.

She could see all the city to the north. Including the square where the new years' festivities were still not showing signs of wearing down. It was a good thing she wasn't afraid of heights, for when she looked down all she could see of the road was the tiny dots of car lights, so faint they looked like fireflies.

She must have stood there for a while for the next thing she heard was the shatter of glass and a muffled curse from outside. It was then she registered his offer of coffee. It didn't take her long to find the kitchen, a spacious granite and steel supercomputer, as the smell of fresh-ground coffee helped her.

She walked in to find Lex discarding broken pieces of a white mug into the silver trash dispenser, and had a momentary lapse in which she wondered if it was made out of real silver.

"It was just a cup, Chloe." He said, again slightly defensive.

This snapped her out of her reverie. "Huh?" She asked as she scratched her neck in confusion.

He looked at her dazed expression and smiled. "Sit, I'll get you some coffee."

She complied obediently and watched as he opened a cupboard full of mugs. He had rolled his sleeves up so his arms where showing, she could see faint dark hairs matted to his skin, contrasting but oddly blended to the white of his shirt. The moment lasted only as long as it took Lex to retrieve a second cup, which turned out to be two as the first one didn't match.

He turned to see Chloe looking at him with an odd expression.

She caught herself quickly though, and asked with as much concern as she could muster, "Do you have OCD?"

Lex took a time to answer. One of those times in which it is clear he's wondering whether or not that was a real question and if he should answer. "Hardly."

She blushed at her forwardness and tried to explain. "It's the cups. I have a cousin diagnosed and he does shit like that." She said, taking the cup and seeing the look he gave her for her language.

She smiled slightly. "It's Metropolis, it gets to me this way."

He was about to comment when her face lit up as she tasted the coffee.

"Wha…?"

"Blue Mountain Peak Coffee, most expensive in the world." Was he trying to impress her? He wondered. That was something he'd normally say… never. "It's grown only in the Blue Mountain district of…"

"Jamaica." She cut him off. "I thought this stuff was pure legend." She took another sip and her face took on a dreamy expression you normally see only she was she was tracking a good lead.

The coffee was the thing that got her through the rest of the night. For when she got to bed after telling Lex goodnight, it began to feel as if she ha not control over herself anymore. She was determined however, that she would have complete control over her life. A life that did not have Lex Luthor as her soulmate.

A/N: Hit me with some reviews if you like this new chapter. It has been a long time coming I know. You can also tell me whether or not you'd like the story to continue being PG or what.