What You Don't Know...

Chapter Twenty Two


Even as she finished off her third cup of coffee in the last half hour, Chloe knew it was a mistake. Not that she’d regret the caffeine rush that was sure to hit her soon, but Lois might. Then again, her cousin had planned to meet her there 20 minutes before, so she had had no one to blame but herself.

But she couldn’t deny that the relative privacy had been nice. The Kents were being wonderful, but with Mrs. Kent’s propensity to comfort her with baked goods and Clark’s need to hover, she had a legitimate fear of ending up a three hundred pound basket case in no time. As much as Chloe would miss them she was glad that she’d be heading back to Metropolis in the morning; back to her apartment, her job, her life.

Of course it helped that Clark was a highly portable best friend. She had no doubt that, for the foreseeable future, she’d be receiving “friendly” visits once, twice…twenty times a day. His over protectiveness had scaled new heights since her return, but somehow everything that had happened had brought them even closer. It was one of the very few positive things to come from the whole ordeal.

The other had been completely out of leftfield. Apparently, in an attempt to excuse her ever lengthening absence, Lex had given Lois a number of solid leads regarding many of Metropolis’ prominent corporations. And Lois had done her best to follow them up; but even she, with all of her dogged determination, had to admit that she was in a bit over her head.

Which was why Chloe was meeting with her. They had decided that the most effective approach to the matter would be for them to investigate the leads together and then, once they’d mapped out the basics of the myriad of conspiracies, learned how the players were interwoven, they would spilt the story, each of them covering a different angle for their respective papers.

The development pleased Chloe in a variety of ways. Not only did it provide a distraction from her personal life, something journalism had always done for her with the sheer amount of focus it required, but it would also be a bonus to land such a high profile story for the Planet.

Regardless of the tales Lex or his lackeys had spun or how understanding her immediate superior was about her sabbatical, Chloe was left in the frustrating position of feeling as if she had to prove herself all over again. It was maddening because she’d put her heart and soul into pursuing her dream, and it was only her absolute faith in her talent and drive that kept her from weeping at the unfairness of it all.

The door chimed, and Chloe looked up to see yet another person who was not her cousin. She would have been irritated, but the pressure of more than twenty ounces of coffee on her bladder left her with a modest sense of relief that she had time to use the restroom before Lois arrived and began to take off in twenty different directions, only three of which would lead anywhere.

As she exited the bathroom she glanced down the narrow corridor to see if there was either a Lois or more coffee waiting for her. The distraction was one she regretted as she felt strong arms close around her and pull her into a large supply room off the hallway.

Released immediately, she whirled around at the sound of the lock clicking into place and was only mildly surprised to see Lex’s tall frame leaning against her only means of escape. Unless she wanted to shimmy out of the half window set so high on the wall that she would barely be able to reach the sill if she stood on her toes; which, given the single-minded look on Lex’s face, she might be willing to try.

“I guess I don’t have to ask how you knew where I was,” she said, the derision clear in her voice at the pointed reminder that he still had men following her.

Lex simply looked at her; drank her in. It had only been days since he’d seen her last without the lens of a camera between them, but the wait had been interminable. Seeing her now, dressed casually in jeans and a light sweater in a soft burgundy hue she seemed lovelier than ever; her righteous indignation lending a fiery glow to her skin that he found irresistible, even as the target of her wrath.

“Look Lex; as I’m sure you’ve been informed, I start my internship tomorrow.” She’d observed his interest and knew that it was best for her shaky peace of mind to end their encounter as quickly as possible. “I have a lot of things to do, so just tell me what you want so we can get this over with.”

This time there was no mistaking the heat that flared to life in his eyes.

“You know what I want, Chloe.”

His words were a caress and she covered her spark of need with anger. “Do you have and decency at all? Aren’t you even remotely sorry?”

“Of course I’m sorry,” the pain in his tone matched the sorrow on his face lending an honest intensity to his words. “I have a million things to apologize for; but loving you isn’t one of them.”

Chloe closed her eyes as if she could keep the words from slipping into her mind and crafting fantasies of things that could never be. She had to stem his promises of happily ever after before she was pulled once more into his intrigues and deceit.

“What’s wrong with you?” She demanded. “We weren’t in a real relationship. I wasn’t your wife. God, Lex,” her hands flew up in exasperation, “leave it to you to develop some weird, reverse Stockholm syndrome.”

With a deep sigh, Chloe leaned against the wall. She looked at Lex – really looked at him, and what she saw in his eyes, his face, in the resolve carved into every line of his body, shook her. She needed to hold on to her belief that this wasn’t personal for him; that he’d never stopped using her, never had the change of heart he claimed. But convincing herself of that was getting harder with every new confrontation.

And, suddenly, it was all too much. He cared, he didn’t care; did it really matter? She knew that the answer was, sadly, no. Some things, once broken, could never be repaired.

“I can’t keep doing this with you,” she needed him to see reason, to understand. “You want me to believe that you have feelings for me, fine. Maybe in your twisted, Luthor way you do. But what do you expect me to do about it?”

He made to answer her, but now that she had started, Chloe wasn’t done by any means. “I have nothing left to give you, Lex. You’ve taken it all.”

Lex had been elated to hear Chloe finally open herself to at least the possibility that his feelings were real, but there was a resignation is her voice that tore at him for the depth of the doubts and insecurities that he’d known lived within her and had undoubtedly encouraged. He wanted to reach out, to hold her and assure her of her limitless worth, but her eyes were shimmering with tears and he loathed thinking of how many had already spilled because of him.

“I was happy,” she continued, unaware the impact of her trembling words on the tenuous control of the man before her. “For once in all of my miserable experience with love I was actually happy. And you,” she hated the fact that she couldn’t disguise the vulnerability in her voice, “with your lies and your stupid plans, you took that from me.”

Her growing sobs beat at his soul and Lex couldn’t help but step towards her. He wanted so desperately to pull her into him, to soothe her, but the insight that had come with loving her allowed him to acknowledge that the move would be as much for him as it was for her…maybe more so.

“I know, Chloe,” his regret was sincere; he just needed her to hear it, believe it. “I know I did. But it can be yours – ours again. Let me give that back to you.”

“You can’t,” she cried. “It’s too late.”

And he gave into his impulse, no matter how selfish; because to see her there, to watch her weeping and do nothing, was beyond him. “I love you,” he declared, pulling her shaking form against his chest, “we love each other. It will never be too late.”

“I can’t.” Though she meant the words she couldn’t help but lean into the warmth he offered. “I just can’t. I’m never right; not about these things.”

In that moment, Lex realized something that had never before even entered his mind. After all the pain and disappointment that Chloe had suffered in connection with her few attempts at relationships, she’d grown far more distrustful, far more afraid of herself then she ever could be of him.

“Chloe–”

Before he could finish, a jarring crash echoed through the room and Lex spun, pushing Chloe behind him, in time to feel a large fist to slam into his jaw and send him hurtling into a high row of boxes along the wall.


Chapter Twenty Three


Clark had somehow managed to rein in the majority of his strength when he’d hit Lex but, as angry as he was, he had no idea how, or even if he was particularly grateful for the restraint.

When Chloe’s cell phone had rung earlier that afternoon, he’d been surprised to see that she had left it on the kitchen counter. A reporter to her very bones, she never went anywhere without her phone. But her focus had been understandably scattered over the past week and so he’d answered it, figuring he could simply run it to her if the call were important.

And it had been. Lois had been hung up with some kind of lead, which she was sure Chloe would understand, and had informed him that she wouldn’t be able to meet with her until later that evening. Clark had assured her that he would go to the Talon and deliver the message in person; partially because he wanted to get Lois off the phone, and partly because he wanted to take advantage of the legitimate excuse to check on Chloe in person.

He’d been hesitant to let her go into town on her own, although certainly smart enough not to say so to her face. Everything in her life seemed so precarious, and even if she wasn’t his best friend, and even if he hadn’t discovered how much deeper his feelings for her went, the fact was that her life had, once again, been turned upside down by his secret. It made him feel almost irrationally protective of her, but he didn’t no how else to deal with the fear that came with having her out of his sight.

Clark knew it was ridiculous; knew that she’d be moving back to her own place the very next day. And yet he couldn’t help but view everything up to the minute she was gone as his time with her; and he was reluctant to relinquish a moment of it, even to Lois.

Entering the Talon he’d been surprised not to see Chloe at the table which, despite her being in Metropolis the majority of the time, was still accepted as hers. Linda, a waitress who’d been in their graduating class, waved him towards the booth and told him that Chloe would be back momentarily. But just as he’d been about to sit, a noise had caught his attention.

It was Chloe’s voice; Chloe’s sobs. He’d know them anywhere as he’d spent the last week listening to her cry herself to sleep.

Looking past wall after wall he finally saw her – her tears falling and shoulders shaking as Lex held her trapped against him. He didn’t remember moving or destroying the door, didn’t know if he’d displayed his speed or strength for all to see, was aware of nothing except the satisfying feeling of his fist connecting with Lex’s face.

But as Clark watched him fly into a row of boxes and slide to the floor, awareness rushed over him and he turned to Chloe only to watch in horror as she ran to kneel over the fallen man.

“Lex!” Chloe was frantic. She knew how dangerous Clark had the potential to be, especially when he was protecting someone he cared about. The thought that that massive power might have been focused on Lex made her stomach clench and her heart skip in terror.

Running her hands gently over his face, careful to avoid the area that was already showing signs of bruising, she asked, “Are you alright?”

Lex had no idea how Clark had found them or how he had managed to completely annihilate the door, and at that moment he couldn’t have cared less. To have Chloe touching him again, not through tears and anguish, but with tenderness because she cared, wiped away all other concerns, leaving nothing in his world but her gentle fingers and love filled eyes.

“It was worth it,” his smile became a slightly pained wince somewhere in the attempt. “To see you look at me like this again; it was worth anything.”

“Lex, don’t–”

She made to move her hand but he grasped it, held it against his skin. “Tell me you don’t love me Chloe.” He pressed a brief kiss against her palm. “Look in my eyes and say the words.”

And she looked deep, drown in the stormy ocean of his gaze, and found that there was little point in trying to force the lie. After her painfully obvious display of fear and apprehension, Lex wasn’t asking her a question, he was demanding confirmation and Chloe knew that all she could do was hope to minimize the damage.

“Loving you doesn’t change anything.”

The quiet words shot a physical pain through Clark’s chest that made him feel nearly human in its intensity. And he knew then that he truly loved Chloe Sullivan, because the sharpest part of the ache was for her – for all the times she had loved him and he’d gone to her to talk of loving Lana; their problems, their plans even, he was horrified to admit if only to himself, their sex life.

As Chloe stood and stepped towards him, Clark pulled her into his side and guided her out of the room. Wherever her heart lay, whatever his feelings for her, Chloe was, and always would be, his best friend and the only thing that mattered at that moment was that she was hurting. But for all of his abilities, all of the advancements of his true race, the power to heal a broken heart wasn’t one of them.

However any plans he’d been considering to help Chloe through this latest trial in her tumultuous life were brought to a screeching halt by a sound that frightened him to the marrow. As they were stepping into the main room of the Talon Clark’s sensitive hearing picked up Lex’s voice, not full of the disdain or menace that he’d grown so used to in recent years, but filled with unshakable promise laced with the all too familiar tone of Luthor obsession.

“You’re wrong, Chloe; this changes everything.”


TBC