Hey, guys!

Sorry it's been so long! I was diagnosed with a new arm injury thing and the pain has kept me from doing a lot of typing. But hopefully after I start therapy for it, I'll be able to write more often again.

I hope you enjoy!

Chapter Twenty Five.

Lex felt more like a child than he had in years. It was finally here. Christmas was three days away.

Lex chided himself for being so excited. He needed to focus. He had one last meeting left before he could spend the rest of the holidays with Clark.

Besides, he was an adult. His almost giddiness was childish and ridiculous. It was Christmas. One day out of the year. Nothing to be so excited for.

He walked into Clark's room, then over to his son's bed. In three days' time, he would be waking him up for Christmas. He still needed to wrap the gifts…

"Clark, wake up," Lex said, making sure to keep his voice gentle and soft. "Time to get up, bubba."

Clark rubbed at his eyes sleepily, then opened them. "Why?" He whined.

Lex chuckled, then reached over and ruffled Clark's fluffy bedhead. "Because it's time to get out of bed," he said. "We need to get you to the farm."

Clark sat up, and Lex didn't miss the panic that flashed in his son's eyes. "Why?"

"I have a meeting at the plant, but as soon as it's over, I'm free until after Christmas," he explained. "Now, let's get you dressed."

Clark crossed his arms and glared at Lex. "No," he said. "No farm."

Lex sighed as he grabbed Clark's outfit. If Lex was being honest, his son's angry stare hurt, but what was he supposed to do? He didn't have much of a choice. Clark had to go to the farm today.

"It's only for a few hours, kiddo," he said. "C'mon, Martha said that she would feed you breakfast. Let's get you dressed."

Clark sighed, slowly got dressed. He dragged his feet and kept coming up with reasons why they couldn't leave yet as Lex tried to push him out the door.

Finally, Lex just picked him up and carried him to the car. "You're gonna have fun with Miss Martha," he told him.

Clark glared at Lex again, and for a second, Lex wondered if he was going to bite him again. Lex quickly disregarded that thought though, Clark wouldn't hurt him.

"I don't wanna go," Clark whined as Lex buckled his seatbelt. "Why do I have to go? I wanna stay with you…"

Lex shook his head. "You can't," he said. "It's a long meeting at the plant and we're going to be talking about boring adult stuff. You're going to have fun with Miss Martha instead."

Clark huffed and crossed his arms, but when Lex tried to look at him through the rear view mirror, Clark turned his head so he couldn't see him.

The drive to the farm was quiet. It wasn't a good quiet either. It was tense and uncomfortable. Every once in a while, Lex would try to start up some conversation, but it wouldn't go through. Clark wouldn't speak to him.

Lex hesitated for a second when he pulled up to the farmhouse. He really wished that he could just give in and take Clark with him, it was what they both wanted if he was being honest. He couldn't though, it wasn't professional, and sooner or later Clark wouldn't be able to follow him everywhere anyway.

"C'mon, kiddo," he said as he got out of the car. "It's only for a couple of hours."

After a few minutes of coaxing, Lex was finally able to get Clark out of the car and to the front steps.

"Hey," Martha greeted as she opened the door. "C'mon in."

As soon as Lex walked past the door and into the house, Clark froze. He wouldn't move.

"No!" He said.

Lex sighed. "Clark," he began. "Come inside."

Clark shook his head. "No," he said again as he crossed his arms.

"Do you want some breakfast, honey?" Martha asked. "I made some pancakes for you."

Clark shook his head. "Wanna go home," he said.

"It's only for a few hours," Lex said.

Clark shook his head. "Will not!"

Martha frowned at Clark's words, but Lex understood them. For the first time in a while, he understood Clark.

He was scared that Lex would leave him again.

Lex's mouth suddenly felt very dry and he tried to swallow, but it didn't do anything.

"Hey," Lex said as he crouched down to Clark's level. "I'm not going to abandon you again. I'll be back in a couple of hours."

Clark's eyes filled with tears. "Will not…" He said again.

Lex reached out to gently coax Clark inside, but before he could get too far, Clark yanked his arm out of Lex's grip and punched him.

Lex tried not to gasp at the shock or the pain. Clark could pack quite the punch… His son had hit him though. He couldn't leave him here with Martha.

He stood, then turned to Martha. "I think I'm just going to take him home," he told her in his calmest voice, even though he was definitely not calm. His mind was reeling. His son had punched him.

Martha nodded. "Of course," she said. "Whatever you think is best. Take care, you two."

Lex grabbed Clark's hand and walked towards the car. He could feel Clark trailing behind him, but he didn't really care.

He couldn't take Clark to the plant. He would have to reschedule the meeting or set up a different meeting place.

He buckled Clark into his seat without a word, then got in his own seat and dialed the number for Gabe Sullivan.

After a few minutes, Lex was speeding down the road back to the mansion. Gabe would meet him at the mansion, but by the time he got there, the meeting could have already been part of the way done.

Lex tried to calm himself down and loosen his grip on the steering wheel, but it wasn't working. If Clark was worried that he would leave him again, how would he ever get anything done? What would happen when Clark needed to start school? Or when Lex had to go out of town for work? Clark couldn't follow him everywhere.

When they got to the mansion, Lex walked to his office. He didn't say a word to Clark or anything, he just began to get out everything that would be needed for the meeting. He was so behind on everything…

"Daddy?"

"What?" Lex said as he grabbed another folder and placed it on the desk.

"Play with me?" Clark asked.

"I don't have time," Lex told him. "I have to get everything ready for this meeting. If you wanted to play with someone, you could have played with Miss Martha."

Clark stomped his foot on the ground. "I don't wanna play with her!" He said. "I wanna play with you!"

Lex placed another folder on the desk, this time it landed with a thud. "I don't have time, Clark."

Clark threw the toy on the ground and balled his little hands into fists. "You never have time!"

"Pick that up," Lex commanded. His voice was louder than it normally was when he talked to Clark. "Then you're going to go to your room until the meeting is over."

Clark ran over to Lex and wrapped his arms around his leg. "No! Not going!"

Lex took a deep breath and tried not to scream even though his anger and stress were starting to boil over. If he had hair, he would have ripped it all out by now. "Let go," he said as he pulled Clark off of him.

"You need to go to your room and stay there until after I am done with this meeting," Lex said again. Why wasn't Clark listening? Did he not get it?

"No!" Clark said, then pushed the files into the floor. The papers scattered everywhere.

"Clark!" Lex scolded. He could feel the heat of anger rising in his chest.

"You hate me! You care about work! Not me!" Clark said. "Like Lionel!"

"Don't you ever say that again!" Lex told him. He was nothing like his father. He loved Clark. Lionel had never, ever loved his son.

"It's true!" Clark said, then started to sob.

Lex balled his fists and every bit of stress and anger overflowed before he could stop it. "Stop crying, you're a Luthor!" He shouted at his son.

There was a moment of silence as the words sunk in, then Clark's little face broke and he began to wail before running out of the room.

Lex looked at the empty doorway, then slid to the floor and started to cry as well. What had he done? He had made Clark cry.

He was just like his father.

For everything that had happened before it, the meeting went surprisingly well.

Everything at the plant seemed to be going well and Lex had apparently proven his father wrong about the whole thing. Although, proving him wrong didn't do much good now that he was dead.

Throughout the entire meeting though, Lex's mind was on Clark and what had been said. He never should have shouted at him like that.

As soon as it was over and Gabe Sullivan was gone, Lex decided to go check on Clark. Not only did he need to check on Clark, but he needed to talk to him. To apologize for what he had said. The words had been out of his mouth before he could stop them, but that didn't make it any better.

When Lex walked up to Clark's room, he frowned. Normally he would be able to hear the child's sobs, but not this time. His stomach clinched and he felt sick to his stomach. What had he done?

He swallowed, then knocked on the door.

"Clark?" He said softly as he cracked the door open. "Can I come in?"

Clark made no sound, and Lex frowned as he opened the door all of the way.

"Clark?" Lex asked as he spun around the room to make sure he wasn't seeing what he was seeing.

"Clark!" He called as the guilt began to change to fear. This was bad. This was so bad.

But it was too late. The window was open, and the child was gone.

So! There you go! First fight and Clark has run away! Please follow, fave, and review! I would love to know what you thought!

Thanks for reading! Love y'all!