Title: "Like a Melody"

Summary: "A pretty girl is like a melody/That haunts you day and night." A new addition to the Kent family is sickly, stubborn, and challenging. Lex Luthor does not like to be challenged.

Author Notes: PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR NOTES AT THE BEGINNING OF EACH CHAPTER! I just about died when I saw all the reviews! It's so encouraging when people actually like my OCs--and thankfully, no one has referred to her as a Mary Sue. Anyway, this chapter was the hardest to write thus far, because Clark is just so...one dimensional. I'm just used to complicated individuals and motives, and Clark somtimes isn't so complicated. Ah well. Do enjoy.

THIS IS AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE FANFICTION

Chapter Three

"I saw a man pursuing the horizon."
--Stephen Crane

The distant sound of a car rumbling down caught Clark's attention as he walked to the barn, his arms wrapped around a cardboard box. A wide grin split his face at the sight of a silver Lamborghini pulling into his driveway. Stopping outside of the barn, Clark waited for the driver to cut the engine and emerge from the sleekly designed interior.

"Moving out, Clark?" Lex asked as he slammed his car door closed. "Or have you just decided to live in the loft fulltime?"

"No, just cleaning out the guest bedroom," Clark answered as he entered the barn. He set the box onto of the other two just inside. "Mom's been using it as a junk room for years, so there's quite a lot of stuff to clear out."

"Any particular reason?" Lex peered into one of the boxes curiously, noting the odd collection of curios.

"We've got company coming to stay. Some cousin from Metropolis."

Lex looked mildly interested. "Is there any chance in hell I might know this cousin?"

Clark laughed. "Nope. She's not from Kansas. Her father was in the military so she's lived all over the place."

"She?" Lex smirked. "Maybe I'll get to know her."

Clark fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Unless you have some deep-seated desire for my father and her father to come after you with shotguns, I wouldn't suggest it."

"No loss to me. I've got plenty of…associates to keep myself suitably entertained."

Clark frowned at Lex. It didn't take a mental heavyweight to figure out the kind of life Lex had led in Metropolis. As a boy billionaire, he could afford to buy all the fast cars and easy women he wanted. Clark could certainly see the allure, but he couldn't understand how someone could do that indefinitely.

"I still need to assemble the spare bed. I guess…," Clark scratched his head uncertainly. "You do have time for a drink, right? No major crisis to worry about?"

"I've got time," Lex replied with practiced ease. He folllowed Clark to the yellow farmhouse before asking, "You never did mention why your cousin's coming to visit--or her name."

Leave it to Lex to ask the one question that Clark wasn't allowed to answer. Mom had explicitly told him to withhold information on Kate's illness. It was Kate's decision on who to tell and when. When Clark had pressed the matter, Mom just said, "Some people have an issue being known as a cancer patient. Others don't."

"Still with me?"

"Yeah, sorry," Clark shook his head, snapping out of his reverie. "It's Kate Marshall."

"Kate...," Lex repeated slowly, letting the syllable roll off of his tongue. He wrinkled his nose in distaste. "Don't much care for it myself. It lacks dramatic flair."

Clark did roll his eyes at that. "Well, we can't all be named after world conquerors."

"Clark, you disappoint me," Lex shook his head sadly, "Have you never heard of Catherine the Great?"

"Nope. You're talking to a Kansas farmboy, remember?" Clark reminded him as he pushed open the screen door. He could tell what was coming—more random and useless trivia, courtesy of Lex.

"Pity. Her Imperial Majesty Ekaterina II Aleksejevna, Empress and Autocrat of all the Russias—"

"I though she was named Catherine the Great."

Lex gave him a sour look. "That's her name when you anglicize it. She didn't conquer the world but she did westernize Russia. An enlightened despot, if you will."

"Whatever."

"I'm just trying to give you some culture, Clark," Lex stole an apple from the basket on the table. He took a large bite out of the fruit, chomping loudly.

"Culture, huh?" Clark asked dryly at the obnoxious sound. Lex rarely ventured into the house so it was amusing to see him lounging in the Kent kitchen. Clark was sure that every newspaper editor in the world would sell their mothers just for a snapshot of Lex inelegantly gnawing on an apple.

"Still waiting for you to answer the other part of my question," Lex looked at Clark expectantly, having finally swallowed.

"You mean why she's coming?" Clark rummaged through the refrigerator, trying to by himself some time. He hadn't bothered to think of a cover lie yet for Kate. Ignoring Lex's irritated look, Clark asked "What do you want? Water, apple juice, milk—"

"Water's fine."

Clark tossed Lex a bottled water. "Well, I think Mom said it was a financial issue," Clark fudged. "She's working and going to college, so money's tight." Certainly a plausible explanation, one that Lex wouldn't probe too deeply.

Lex had his thinking face on—not always a good sign. "She's at Metropolis University right?" At Clark's nod, Lex's brow furrowed, "If she's in financial straits, the school usually has programs available to lower income families. Loans, grants, and the like. Do both of her parents work?"

"Er…no," Clark ducked his head back into the refrigerator, under the pretense of looking for his own drink. "It's a single parent family."

"All the more reason that she should be receiving some form of financial aid!" Lex scowled darkly.

"Jeez, Lex, just drop it!" Clark groaned. Lex was too inquisitive for his own good. As good as it was for the corrupt world of corporate business, such prying was invasive and unwanted in Smallville. A change in conversation was definitely needed. "I think Mom said she's a history major. Maybe you two can talk about old dead white guys."

Lex just arched an eyebrow at that. "The vast majority of human history is not full of 'old dead white guys,' as you so tactfully put it. And besides," Lex sniffed a bit, "Metropolis University is hardly known for the quality of its history department."

"So says the man who got kicked out."

Lex laughed, pushing himself off the counter. "Thanks for the apple, Clark. I've got to be getting back to the crap factory—"

"Clark!" Mom's voice called down the stairs. "Get up here and assemble this bed!"

"—and it seems that you have some chores to finish up," Lex smirked.

Clark wouldn't mind being a boy billionaire if it meant he didn't have to ever do chores again. "Yeah, yeah. See you around, Lex."

Lex had a devilish little gleam in his eye. "Definitely. I'd like to meet this cousin of yours—even if her name is something so mundane as Kate."

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