Chlexville Season 3

ASYLUM IN HER EMBRACE

She was exhausted. Now she understood why pregnant women needed as much rest and recreation as they could get. Chloe Sullivan had always been active as a reporter, crawling down shafts, chasing unidentified objects and running after stories. Never had she been this tired before, and all she did was ask a few questions and stop by the store.

Chloe tossed her plastic bag of purchases on her dresser and allowed herself to fall onto the bed. Unconsciously her hands rested on the swell of her belly. She was astounded at how well she hid the pregnancy. At close to five months, only Lucas and Lana knew about her condition. It was not even as if she consciously went out of her way to make the bump inconspicuous. She guessed she carried small. Her father used to tell her stories about people in her mother's office not even knowing that her mother was pregnant until she filed for a maternity leave. Chloe had always thought that he father was exaggerating until she experienced it herself.

Aside from the physical exhaustion, Chloe guessed that part of her hardship came from worrying about Lex. Knowing that the father who had claimed to love him had sent him to the madhouse, no matter how well Lionel meant, was bound to be hard on Lex. Also, Chloe had to worry about the appointment she had set with Lex.

She was so exhausted that she almost did not react when she heard her window slide open. Chloe just turned very slightly and registered that Lex had climbed whatever he had seen outside. She quickly sat up and held the sheet up to just under her chin.

"Lex, what are you doing here?"

She had needed to see him, but she made certain that she would not be tempted to drop by the castle for a visit. There was no reason for her to be there that Lex knew of. They had shared a kiss, but kisses were often and meaningless to the Lex Luthor that the world knew. Aside from that, Chloe still could not weigh Lionel Luthor's actions. He had been supportive of her when they thought that Lex had died. The money that she had been using to finance her doctor's visits also came from Lionel's… she would say heart, but she settled on bank account.

It was something very odd about the elder Luthor. He seemed so devoted to his son when Lex was gone. Now that they had retrieved Lex, Chloe questioned his faith.

"You owe me a conversation," he told her. Chloe drank in the sight of the man for whose love she had traded her youth with. He was pale, still shaken by the experience that he had gone through when he was taken to the madhouse. "I need to hear it from you."

"Lucas is important to me," she told him. "But so are you, Lex. You are so essential to my existence."

"I don't believe you," he challenged. "How can you fall out of love with my brother and in love with me so fast. We've not exchanged a hundred words with each other since we met."

Chloe took a deep breath. "Do you remember everything then?"

Lex held her gaze, then sat heavily on the edge of the bed. "Are you telling me that there are things between us that I've forgotten?"

She did not answer. Instead, Chloe reached out one hand towards him, carefully still holding the blanket to her chest. Lex hesitated, then closed his hand around hers.

"One kiss," he repeated. "That's as far as our relationship went."

Chloe twined her fingers with his. She did not need words that would force Lex to remember, because his sanity was teetering on the precipice as it was. There would be no force. Even if her heart cried at the touch and desired so much more than hold his hand.

"Are you prepared to leave Lucas for me?"

She had done so much more than leave anyone for Lex. If that was what he wanted now, she was powerless to say no even if she wanted. And she never wanted anything other than have the chance to love him. "I'm prepared to do anything for you," she answered.

Lex let go of her hand. "How am I in love with someone who can so easily decide to break someone's heart?" Chloe swallowed, because she was not willing to lose Lex because she wanted to be with him so much. "How can I not even care?" He leaned close to her and cupped her face with both of his hands.

It was a moment that would be burned into her memory eternities after the moment was gone and past. Her lips had been devoid of his kiss for so long, and like a thirsty woman she drank in all that Lex could give in that simple kiss. She had forgotten to breathe, and neglected the entire world. Chloe's arms came up and hooked around him, and she offered her entire being to the man who had left and returned for the same reason—to be hers.

In those seconds while she was lost in his embrace, Chloe recalled how close they had gotten to being together forever. Now they were going to begin again. After a promise of eternity, he had flown away and somewhere so far away, all that they had built was erased by the wind.

Was she truly willing to rebuild?

Chloe's hands clutched at his shirt, and she feared she would not be able to unclasp them anymore. Lex peppered kisses over the bridge of her nose, her temples, on the pulse points behind her earlobes. She had never felt so exposed before, not even when she made love to him. The man who loomed over her this time was virtually a stranger, unlike the devoted Lex Luthor who made love to her months ago. Yet even knowing that this Lex did not have memories of how much he really loved her, Chloe still felt protected as she bared her soul to him.

"Are you sick?"

"Wh—what?" she breathed.

Lex brushed a kiss on her eyelid, then continued, "That bag from the drugstore sitting on your dresser. I don't suppose there's a condom in there."

Chloe almost laughed at the sheer absurdity of the situation. She had no need for a condom in more ways than one. No one had ever touched her except for Lex, and he had had no inclination to touch her for sometime. Aside from that, there was no way the baby inside her would have a twin if she had sex without protection. The major cause for hilarity though was the fact that just when she almost had Lex completely, she would certainly lose him tonight.

"No," she said quickly. "I'm fine. It's my dad's." Chloe looped her arms around his neck and drew him down to her. "Kiss me. Just kiss me, please."

Chloe's lips hungrily searched for Lex. Her pleas were desperate as she tried to make Lex focus only on her, and forget the bag on the dresser. Sinful as it was, Lex allowed himself to drown in Chloe's need, because it was a fulfillment of his dreams and nightmares.

His hand cupped her breast and squeezed. Chloe moaned. She reached down and slid her hand inside his pants, recognizing his need was as great as hers.

"I love you, Lex," she breathed.

"I love you more," was his response.

As his hand drew lower, he stopped. Lex looked down at her in confusion. Chloe swallowed heavily. She felt where Lex's hand had touched, and she knew why Lex stopped. When confusion dissolved into betrayal, and Lex straightened, then grabbed the sheet that separated them, Chloe's eyes flooded with tears. Lex glared at her in disgust.

"I should have known," she heard him say.

Lex furiously ripped the blanket away from her and stared down at her body. Lex bunched the hem of her nightshirt and drew it up. He splayed his hand over the obvious belly.

"You were willing to leave Lucas for me?" he said in disbelief. Lex stood and strode towards the dresser. He dumped the contents of the bag on the dresser. Some bottles rolled down and onto the carpeted floor. He took one and read the prescription. "You were willing to leave him when you were carrying his baby?" Lex furiously buttoned up his shirt. "I should've known," he hissed. "Whatever he saw in you, I would never understand!"

When Lex reached for the doorknob, Chloe called out his name. "Lex!" He slammed out of the room. "Lex, come back!"

fin

Tune in to Chlexville: Whisper Forgotten Life

What happens when Lucas learns of what happened to Chloe and Lex in that room?