Something Old, Something New
Chapter 2: A New Man
Dry and dressed in jeans and a soft T-shirt, Kate ventured through the house and into the kitchen. She found Lex placing glasses on a large tray along with enough soda to get a stadium full of people hyper on the sugar.
"Expecting guests?" Kate asked, pulling herself up to sit on the marble countertop.
"Yes, actually," Lex smiled. "I'm having friends over today."
"You have friends now?" Kate joked. "You must have changed."
Lex smirked at her, pulling dip from the fridge and tortilla chips from a cupboard by Kate's head.
She looked at the large quantities of food that filled the tray, "What are you, feeding an army or something?"
"Well, we will have to live on this for twelve hours," Lex pointed out, as though it were obvious.
Kate looked at him incredulously, "Exactly what's going on?"
"I told you," Lex said calmly, "I'm expecting friends. I assume you'll be spending the day with us?"
"If you don't mind. What do you have planned?"
"Movie marathon."
Lex laughed out loud at Kate's expression. The Lex Luthor she knew would never be heard uttering the words 'movie marathon', let alone participating in one.
He turned serious for a moment, "I can call it off if you'd like a day of quiet – I'm sure they'll understand."
"No," Kate squeezed his shoulder appreciatively. "I'd love to meet your friends. A movie marathon sounds like just what I need to keep my mind busy."
"I agree," Lex smiled and continued adding junk food to a second tray.
"So, twelve hours of movies?"
Lex nodded, "Midday to midnight. It's become tradition."
"You know, Lex, you seem really different," Kate said with a kind smile. "You're more relaxed; it looks good on you."
He smiled, "Thankyou, Kate."
The doorbell rang loudly and Kate slid off the counter, endeavouring to make a good impression on Lex's friends.
"I should have thought of that," she said softly. Lex gave her a confused expression and she went on, "The doorbell. I stood out there pounding on the door with my fists – not nearly as practical."
"But far more dramatic," Lex complimented. "I enjoyed hearing about it from Mrs. Jacobs."
"New housekeeper?"
Lex nodded as the kitchen door swung open and a casually dressed group of four walked unceremoniously into the room. A young black guy in a baseball jacket threw a bag full of movies onto the counter, and two girls stood talking amongst themselves as they perused the contents of the food tray.
"Hey, Lex," a tall, handsome young man entered last, and moved to shake Lex's hand.
"Hey, Clark. How's it going?"
"Yeah, fine." He shrugged, "We've got homework coming out of our ears, but it's no biggie."
"Well, that sounds painful," Lex joked lightly.
"Hi," the spunky looking blonde walked up to Kate and stuck out a hand for her to shake. "I'm Chloe."
Kate shook her hand with a smile, and Lex spun around looking slightly distracted.
"I'm sorry; everyone, this is Kate Finn, an old friend of mine," Lex explained. He pointed to the group members in turn, "Kate, this is Chloe Sullivan, Pete Ross, Lana Lang, and Clark Kent."
"Nice to meet you all," Kate smiled around at them. They made a nice dynamic, and she was happy to see how calm Lex seemed as a part of this group.
Lex continued, "Kate's visiting me for a little while."
"Oh yeah?" Chloe's searching eyes locked onto Kate, but she wasn't unkind. "What brings you to Smallville?"
Kate looked slightly uncomfortable, "My wedding, actually."
"Really?" Lana looked delighted at the romantic notion. "When is it?"
"About an hour ago," Kate replied after a glance at the kitchen clock. "I couldn't make it."
The room went quiet and Kate felt slightly guilty. She hadn't meant to alienate Lex's friends; she only wanted to be honest.
The phone rang, and Kate let out a small breath of relief at the distraction. Lex picked up the phone with a clipped 'Lex Luthor', and immediately a blanket of cold spread over him. No matter how much time passed between visits, Kate knew that this one thing would never change – only Lionel Luthor could bring about this reaction so quickly.
Lex listened patiently to his father, "…you know how the damn French are. Anyway, I won't be home for another couple of weeks; just thought I'd let you know."
"That's fine," Lex replied. "I'm sure I'll survive."
There was silence on the other end of the phone; Lex knew that the conversation was over.
"We'll talk again soon, son," said Lionel eventually.
Lex put the phone back into its cradle and turned back to the group.
Kate smiled knowingly, "So, how is Lionel?"
"Still alive and well, much to my disappointment," Lex replied unfeelingly. He seemed to notice his social faux pas, and let some of the coldness slip away, "Shall we get settled upstairs?"
Pete grabbed the movies from the counter and led the way back into the entrance hall and up the staircase. As they entered the large recreation room, Kate smiled at the familiarity.
"It looks just the same in here," she said with a grin. "Except for that, of course," she pointed to the large screen television that was surrounded by three black leather couches. "Since when are you so into TV?"
"Since we started movie marathons," Chloe said.
"And when was that?"
"About a year ago," Lex replied.
Kate was stunned, "I don't even know you anymore, Lex Luthor."
Lex smiled almost proudly, saying softly, "You will."
The wall clock said it was almost twelve, and the group took what were obviously their regular seats on the couches to begin the marathon. Lana put her tray down on the coffee table and sat next to Clark on the middle couch. Chloe took a seat on the couch to their left. Lex beckoned to Kate, who set the second tray down and sat beside him on the third couch that he would otherwise have sat on alone.
Pete placed a DVD into the player and sat comfortably on the couch with Chloe, holding the remote.
Kate wondered about this new Lex and his new life. It seemed that he was a whole new man – making jokes and inviting friends over for off-beat social occasions. But Kate remembered the coldness that came over him at the sound of his father's voice, and she knew that he could never truly break free of his old life. She wondered if things would be any different this time around.