CHAPTER 7
Lex drove silently, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the muddy girl sitting next to him. He was puzzled over how to handle this situation. Chloe looked utterly exhausted, sinking heavily into her chair. A small part of his chest remained contracted in jealous anger over Chloe's not-so-subtle comment regarding the activity of Clark and Lana. He had hoped…well, it didn't matter what he had hoped. Obviously, despite the signs he had thought signified progress, Clark had bested him once again. He brushed the thought from his mind purposefully. At least he wasn't the only one left out of the party this time, as the limp figure in the passenger seat reminded him. He removed a hand from the wheel to rub away the start of a migraine in his temples. He wasn't exactly a comforting presence, and for a moment, he wished he could be, just to give Chloe back some kind of spark or to make her smile and say something smart and inconsiderate. This type of heroic saving didn't come naturally to Lex. He felt out of his element.
"Am I taking you home?" He asked as street names passed by in a blur.
Chloe's breath caught in her throat. "No. Can you just take me to-"
"No, Chloe." Lex interrupted sharply. "You may have won over the hospital staff so that you can practically live out of their waiting room, but I am not taking you to the hospital tonight."
Chloe wrapped her arms around herself to keep warm and tried to keep her shoulders from shaking. "I just don't want to go home, Lex." She whispered, just a breath above silence.
Lex felt a surge of protectiveness rush through his body, foreign and uninvited. "You can stay in the guest room."
Chloe's eyes flew open and she shot up straight in her seat. "Lex, that's ridiculous, I'm not-"
"Relax." Lex grinned. "The mansion's fairly large. In fact, there's a variety of guest rooms. You can pick the one that's farthest away from me, if it makes you feel any better."
Chloe eyed him for a moment before settling on a surprised but pleased smile. "That's really nice of you, Lex. Thank you." He felt rather proud of his selfless offering, until Chloe's smile faded back to an expressionless blank, leaving Lex just as clueless as he had felt before.