Disclaimer: In no shape or form do I own the rights to Smallville or any of its characters.

A Breath of Fresh Air: Chapter Two

The raven haired boy heaved a loud sigh as he flicked through a History textbook, finding himself unable to concentrate at all. His study 'date' with Lana had been cut short and for once it wasn't because of some meteor freak terrorising his friends or the people of Smallville. In fact, he had actually left of his own free-will. The thing that bothered him most however was that he wasn't entirely sure why he had left. Just being there with Lana, it…it hadn't felt right somehow. He apologised to her, lying by saying that he had a headache and thought that it'd be best if he went home and lay down. She seemed surprised by it but in all generally seemed to believe him.

Still, Clark couldn't help but feel guilty. He hated lying, especially when it wasn't for protecting his secret. But his secret was entwined with so many aspects of his life that it was difficult to be completely honest about anything. Lying was second nature to him no matter how much he desired to tell the true, and despite if he ever were to let on about just what exactly his secret was, he had a sinking feeling that Lana wouldn't react well. Not that she didn't have the right to. After all just about every person affected by the meteor rocks seemed to go psycho and try and hurt or even kill people. It wouldn't exactly be a comfort to find out that the person you liked was indirectly responsible for this whilst having unusual powers of his own, and then to learn the small detail that he is actually from a completely different planet. When it came down to it, no matter how much he didn't want to admit it, he and Lana would never be together. She got angry with him when he wouldn't be truthful, claiming that he was driving her away, but of course if he were to be truthful with her, then…

He sighed again. It was a no win situation. The confusing thing however was that he wasn't as distraught about the situation as he should have been. In fact the reason he had left earlier was less to do with the knowledge that he and Lana would never happen and more with the fact that his mind kept turning to Lex. It was almost as if he missed the man despite having only seen him the night before. Lately Clark found himself spending more and more time at the mansion. Even if he had no reason to visit, he always seemed to find an excuse to go over there, and Lex of course would welcome him with open arms. The mansion was a sanctuary almost; he could relax and be himself. Lex didn't expect anything from him and he was certain that the man enjoyed his company too. It wasn't like with Lana where he found himself constantly trying to play up to her expectations only to let her down. Lex on the other hand generally seemed to accept him.

Clark stopped his thought process for a moment, suddenly realising that he had just compared his relationship with Lana to the one he had with Lex. He wasn't sure why he had thought this. After all they were completely different weren't they? Lex was one of his best friends while Lana was the one he supposedly loved. Yet lately he found himself wanting to spend more time with Lex than with Lana. Lex was his best friend but usually you want to try and spend as much time as possible with the person you have feelings for, right? Meanwhile he had just made an excuse to get away from the person he had feelings for and found himself missing his friend that he had just seen yesterday. Wait a minute…that wasn't right was it?

At that moment if he knew that there wasn't a chance he would make a hole in the barn, he would have whacked his head repeatedly off the wall. Things were slowly beginning to make some sort of sense and it frightened him. Whenever he was around Lex he felt happy. It was different feeling he experienced when he was with Lex than his other friends. Plus he always went to visit him whenever he could, and yesterday when Lex had urged him to tell Lana how he felt for her, he had felt a strange kind of disappointment.

Was it possible that the feelings he had harboured so strongly towards Lana were being transferred on to Lex? But that didn't make any sense! Nothing had changed in his and Lana's relationship. In fact if anything it had only gotten stronger. Unless… maybe it was his and Lex's relationship that had changed… His father kept grudgingly pointing out that he was spending too much time at the mansion, Chloe had been complaining that he was ignoring his Torch duties and when he met Lana earlier to study she had mentioned that she hadn't seen him about the Talon as much recently. And of course the only two other places he would be whilst not in school were home or at Lex's. Clark placed his hands over his face and his bit down on his lip. He really had been spending a lot of time at the mansion recently. But when had his relationship with Lex changed? Had it really? Or was it all in his head?

He was suddenly reminded of Desiree, Lex's bitch of an ex-wife. Although he had been attracted to her, he remembered being slightly jealous of her relationship with Lex. All of a sudden Lex had stopped focusing his attention on him and was infatuated with her. They were even getting married despite having known each other for only two weeks! It was the meteor rocks doing but still… The way she tricked Lex, forcing him to turn against him. Clark clenched his fist together, the very memory pissing him off to no end.

Realising how angry he was becoming he stopped and let his hand drop. It was over with now. There was no point getting so wound up about it.

Suddenly he found himself overcome with a great urge to go see Lex that very second. He needed to know; needed to find out. Just what exactly he needed to find out he didn't know. He just had to…

A few seconds later he disappeared from the barn as if into thin air.

Lex resisted the urge to sigh as he stared blankly at the computer screen. He had been sat there for over three hours now and slowly but surely he found himself loosing the will to live. He considered stopping and finding something to do other than work for Lexcorp but when he thought about it more carefully he realised that there was very little else to do. This is in turn, led him to the question: what did he actually do in his free time? The answer to his question was rather simple. His time not spent working was spent with Clark. And of course with Clark not here right now… well…

He ran his hand over his scalp suddenly feeling quite pathetic that he depended on the boy's company so much. Trying not to dwell he went back to work.

Meanwhile outside Clark nervously knocked on the door to Lex's office. He wasn't exactly sure why he was knocking as he usually just walked in. Rude maybe, but he did live on a farm after all. Plus as usual Lex didn't seem to particularly mind much.

"Yes?" Lex called from inside.

Taking a deep breath, Clark opened the door and went in. "Hey."

"Clark?" The surprise in Lex's voice was evident, however it quickly returned to normal tone. "What are you doing here? I thought you had a date with Lana."

There was that word 'date' again. "Uh, I uh…" Oh God, he was such a dork… Why was he so nervous?! He wished the ground would open up and swallow him whole, and if not he could punch a hole through the floor boards and hide down there. Somehow he didn't think Lex would appreciate that however…

Lex rose from his chair and hurried over to him. "Clark, did something happen?" he asked, his voice full of concern. He put his hand on the boy's arm and Clark felt his cheeks redden. The question was reasonable enough, after all this was Smallville and he did seem to have a track record of running out on Lana because of some meteor rock related problem.

"No. Everything's fine. I just thought that I'd come by."

Lex relaxed. Clark was fine. He wasn't in any danger which was good. Still, it didn't answer his question of why he was here.

"Clark, what about-"

"I uh, bailed." What the hell kind of excuse was that? In fact, it wasn't an excuse at all!

"Uh-huh. And why exactly did you do that?"

He bit his lip. He didn't know how to answer that and in all honesty, he still wasn't sure the reason he had came here. He had hoped he would find the answer but now he just felt more puzzled than ever. He could either tell the truth or do what he usually did. Lie.

"Clark?"

"I-I wasn't feeling well…" He repressed a sigh. Always had to play the lying card…

"Are you okay?" asked Lex, the concern showing upon his face again.

"No, I am. I just…"

"Clark, if you're not feeling well I think you should go home and try and get some rest." As pleased as he was that Clark had came over, he was a bit more concerned with his friend's health. "Did you drive here?"

"I walked."

"Look, I'll grab my keys and I'll take you home, okay?"

"No, Lex I'm fine! I just-"

This time Lex placed both his hands on Clark's arms, and Clark had to fight not to shudder under his touch. "Clark, I don't want you getting sick. Now just let me drive you home."

Lex, he looked so… Why did he always have to lie to him like this?

"Lex, I…" He stopped.

"What is it?" The older man asked, his grip gently tightening on the fabric of Clark's shirt.

He couldn't do it… "Thanks."

Lex let go of him and gave the boy a smile. "No problem."

As he turned away and went to get his keys, Clark in a moment of despair couldn't stop the disappointment from spreading over his face. He had done it again. It didn't matter who the person was, he couldn't stop. "Why… Why can't I just…" he whispered solemnly to himself.

"Did you say something?" Lex asked as he returned with his keys.

He shook his head and plastered a fake smile on his face. "Nope."

The drive to the farm was unusually quiet with Clark barely saying more than a few words. Lex was unsure whether this was because his friend wasn't feeling well or if something else was going on. The boy had spent most of the journey staring idly out of the window and Lex found it difficult to keep his eyes on the road and not flicker back and forth to check on him. Clark on the other hand seemed too absorbed in his own thoughts to even notice Lex staring at him.

"Thanks a lot." said Clark as they arrived. "I'm sorry to make you drive me."

"It's fine Clark. I really didn't mind."

The boy nodded and started to open the car door when suddenly Lex reached out to him. "Clark, wait!"

Clark felt himself pull back slightly. Why was Lex looking at him like that? His eyes so intense…

Deciding that since he was the one who had stopped him Lex spoke first. "Clark is… is everything alright?"

The boy's eyes widened and for a brief second, Lex was convinced he saw a great deal of fear in them. "What-what do you mean?"

The man repressed a sigh. Of course. Clark Kent would never reply to anything straight out. "You've been acting strangely. The other night you seemed desperate to leave and then tonight you came over when you should have either been on your date with Lana or at home resting. Maybe, it's just me but I find that a little odd."

Clark slowly found himself becoming annoyed. "I didn't realise that I had to justify my behaviour to you Lex. I told you the other night that I had to go home and help my mom, and tonight, well maybe I just wanted to see you."

"Clark, I didn't mean it like that. I'm just concerned."

Well maybe I don't appreciate being interrogated over every little thing I do." With that he opened the car door and brushing free of Lex's hand he got out.

Lex stayed silent as he watched his friend walk away with him. He wasn't exactly sure what had just happened but nonetheless found himself overcome with guilt and regret. He wanted to cry out for him to stop but that hadn't helped last time. It had only made it worse. So he remained there sitting in the car watching Clark until the boy finally faded into the darkness. He was alone once again.

Author's Notes: Any advice on how I could improve and constructive criticism are always welcome. Thank you for reading.