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Prologue:

Lex checked his watch. 3:43 a.m. Very late. Or very early, depending on how one viewed such things.

He slipped the extra key into the door and turned it gently. As the lock slid back, he painstakingly twisted the knob, gliding the door open in near silence. Closing the door with just as much discipline, Lex found that his efforts had been rewarded. Clark remained sound asleep in his tiny twin dorm bed.

Lex paused to admire him sprawled across the mattress, cheeks flushed in sleep, mouth open and slightly drooling. Perfect. Easing off his coat and gloves, Lex felt his own breathing shifting into alignment with the deep rhythmic rise and fall of Clark's chest.

The dorm room windows were open to the cool spring night. He could hear cars driving by the dorm even at that early hour of the morning. The moon, not obscured by clouds, shafted through the windows ghosting pale white light over every surface, absorbing into Clark's hair and skin.

The two months in Europe had been difficult. If Clark had not insisted that he finish his freshman year at Metropolis University, the dull business trip could have been a romantic, sexy vacation. Instead, daily phone calls had scarcely kept them going during their separation.

Clark wasn't expecting him. He had arrived early after wrapping up negotiations two days ahead of schedule. The ink had still been wet on the contracts when he had caught the Concorde home to Clark. Or rather to the Metropolis airport where the limo waited to take him to Clark's dorm.

And now he was here.

Warmth spread through his torso and into his limbs as he watched Clark sleep. He allowed a gentle smile to creep across his features. The residual Valium he had taken to survive the plane made this dropping of his guard less difficult.

Lex drifted silently toward the object of his rapt attention and sank down onto the edge of the bed.

Clark stirred at the pressure on the mattress, shifting on the bed to make room beside him. With his eyes closed and his voice gruff with sleep, Clark whispered, "Jack? `S that you?"

Lex stiffened. Jack? Who the fuck was Jack? Lex's mind scrambled and the warmth that had just been coursing through him withered, leaving something cold and hollow behind.

Clark sighed, still mostly asleep, patting the bed beside him, "Come on, lie down, Jack."

Lex didn't move. Bitter gorge rose to his tongue, filling his mouth. He couldn't move. He couldn't even think. Well, nothing beyond, Who the fuck is Jack?

Finally, Clark opened his eyes. Then they opened wider. "Lex? Lex!" Surprise lighting his eyes, he jerked into a sitting position, reaching to pull him into his arms.

Lex rose just as Clark's hands closed on him. He jerked free of Clark's touch easily, ignoring the whimper of disappointment issuing from Clark's throat.

"Wha...?" Clark gasped with the air and expression of a child who has just been teased with his favorite toy.

"Clark. Who the fuck is Jack?" Lex spat the question into the chill void between them.

Clark's eyes widened with comprehension. "Oh! Jack...." He trailed off. Lex moved toward his coat and began to pull it on.

"No! Lex! Really, it isn't ... wait. Wait!"

"Wait?" Lex paused, stabbing Clark with icy blue eyes, "You certainly seemed to be expecting someone other than me...and even asked him into your bed." Lex quickly buttoned his coat and stalked toward the door.

A flash of movement, barely visible, and Clark had blocked the doorway. "Wait a minute Lex. Jack is just a friend."

Lex snorted.

"A female friend, Lex. A girl that lives down the hall who has nightmares and sometimes I let her sleep with me if they get really bad. Just a friend. A friend. A friendly friend. Friend."

As Clark explained to Lex he started to pet him, stroking his shoulders, his arms and his chest soothingly. Clark took the lapels of the coat into his hands and began to peel it back.

Lex looked skeptical. "A female named Jack?"

"Jack. Jackie. Jacqueline." Clark pushed Lex's coat gently off and tossed it across the chair. Lex found himself relaxing under Clark's soothing caresses.

Clark rested his hands on Lex's shoulders and peered into his eyes. Lex searched the hazel, changing eyes and when he found what he needed there, he gave in to a kiss and embrace.

After several seconds of soft, plush lips gently exploring his mouth and face, Lex pulled back, "I still don't like it."

Clark looked at him quizzically, running his hands up and down Lex's back in calming strokes.

"No one shares your bed except me. No one." Lex stated slowly, his voice low and cruel in tone.

Clark studied him thoughtfully. "You're right, Lex. I'm sorry."

Momentarily mollified by Clark's quick acquiescence, Lex ran a hand through Clark's hair. It was matted from sleep and his fingers tangled with the knots. Lex grasped the hair and pulled Clark forward to lick at his lips.

"Lex. I'm glad you're here," Clark whispered, pulling back from Lex's mouth. "But I thought you wouldn't be back for two days."

"Wrapped up earlier than I thought," Lex muttered pushing Clark against the door and pressing his face to his neck breathing in the musky scent of sleepy-Clark.

Clark tucked his chin slightly to capture his head. "I've missed you," he whispered. Lex responded by clutching at the muscled torso in his arms.

Clark walked Lex backwards toward the bed and pressed him down, licking and kissing and muttering, "Let me get some of these clothes off of you."

"Okay, babe," Lex murmured. Clark's face softened at the endearment.

Clark crouched down to remove Lex's shoes and socks. First the right foot, then the left foot. As Clark peeled the socks away, Lex watched him admire the fine bone structure of the feet.

Clark massaged them gently, chastely kissing the toes and the instep. Clark was tentatively sniffing his feet, much to Lex's silent amusement, when the sound of a key turning in the door cut the atmosphere. Lex stiffened. Clark looked up at him reassuringly, "That will be Jack," he whispered.

The door opened softly, squeaking a bit. "Clark?" a voice called sweetly. A pale, small face framed in a mop of curly black hair peaked around the door.

Clark rocked back onto his heels but didn't get up. "Jack. Bad dream?" He asked.

"Yes. A bad one." The girl entered the room, stopping uncertainly in the doorway at the sight of Lex on Clark's bed and Clark on the floor in front of him. "Oh, I've come at a bad time." She muttered looking embarrassed.

"Jack. This is Lex. Lex this is my friend Jack from down the hall." Clark waved his hands between them as he made introductions, never getting up from his crouch.

Jack nodded shyly, "Hello. I've...uh...heard a lot about you. Clark talks about you constantly." She stifled a nervous giggle, "Even in his sleep sometimes. He'll call your name."

Lex jerked and looked at Clark with eyes again turning cool. Clark sighed and put his hand on Lex's knee. Lex opened his mouth and replied icily, "Unfortunately, I can't return the compliment as I've heard nothing of you until a few moments ago."

Clark swallowed a gasp. Jack timorously wrapped thin arms around her chest. An uncomfortable silence stretched for several seconds as Clark gazed at Lex with disapproval in his eyes.

Jack broke the silence, "Um, Clark, I'm gonna go back to my room. I'll be okay."

Clark stood up and turned his back on Lex. His boxers and t-shirt clinging to him. "I hate to just send you back, Jack. Do you want some water and maybe to tell me about your dream before you leave? That might break it up a little so that you can go back to sleep." His voice was low and compassionate.

Jack looked past him at Lex. "Nah. I'm cool. I'll just see you tomorrow, Clark." She left before Clark could protest again.

Clark turned to Lex and crossed his arms over his chest defensively. "Lex, that was uncalled for. She is my friend." Lex looked him in the eye, "Anyone who is in your bed," Lex gestured to the tiny area, "while I am on the other side of the world is not my friend."

His throat constricted as he rasped, "I mean it, Clark. This is over now. Never again. Remember?" Lex was rigid and tight.

"Lex...okay. Never again. You're right." Clark agreed, meeting Lex's gaze solemnly.

Lex stood up, "Get your luggage. Start packing. You are coming with me. Pack everything."

This time Clark didn't try to swallow the gasp, "What?"

Lex spoke slowly, firmly. "You are coming with me. Pack. Everything."

Clark looked around his room stupefied. Lex knew that Clark wouldn't argue, after all he had wanted to move in his first semester at college. It was Lex who had insisted that Clark have the "experience" of the dorms like any normal kid. Or as normal as a bi-sexual alien could get.

Clark nodded, "Okay. You win, Lex. Let me just...pack up..." Clark gazed around lost again, "But...I've got a lot of stuff."

Lex surveyed the room taking in all the various material objects. CDs, books, clothes, computer, mini-refrigerator, various presents from Lex. Yes, a lot of stuff. "Okay, just get clothes for tomorrow. I'll send movers."

Clark sat down on the bed. "Um, hold on. Let me make sure I'm awake here." He scrubbed his face with his hands, looked around, then back up at Lex and grinned. "So, the limo is parked out front, or what?"

"No, I need to call the driver." Lex turned to retrieve his cell phone from his coat pocket. "I told him not to come around again until 6:30."

Suddenly Clark was close to him, wrapping warm limbs around his body, grasping his ass, and sniffing deeply at his neck. "Forget the limo for now. I need to smell you."

"Smell me?"

"Mmhmm." Clark stripped Lex of his shirt easily as he kissed and sniffed at his neck and shoulders. "Come on, get your pants off."

"You want to smell me?" Lex asked again, incredulously, as Clark pulled his pants off. "Whatever happened to `Fuck me now, Lex'?".

Clark laughed as he pushed Lex back toward the bed. "Don't worry, you'll hear that too."

Lex's wiry energy bundled and tensed as Clark wrestled him down. Stroking Lex's sides, Clark moved in for a kiss. He licked Lex's lower lip then sucked it gently. Lex moaned and shifted allowing the Clark's body to drop between his thighs. Rocking gently into Lex, Clark moved from Lex's lips to his brow littering wet, tender kisses over it.

"Don't leave me that long again," the Clark muttered.

"I'll try." Lex replied. He was rewarded with a blinding smile and renewed ardor in a kiss, tongues sliding wetly over one another, gliding over lips, teeth and ticklish gums.

It wasn't until dawn that they got around to packing Clark's clothes.

Chapter I

Way Too Cheerful

Clark wasn't able to pay attention in class. His thoughts were focused on Lex. Lex...not across the ocean in negotiations with less powerful men twice his age. Lex...across town at the LexCorp Tower, less than four seconds away at Clark's top clip.

He had spent all morning reliving the previous night in his mind. The surprise of Lex in his bed. The terrible moment when he thought Lex would leave. The show of jealousy that Clark found he...rather...liked.

Clark had his own doubts and fears concerning Lex's trip abroad. Being intimately aware of Lex's sex drive, he knew that two months of celibacy would be difficult for the man. Clark still remembered the early days of their friendship in Smallville, before they became involved, when Lex had run through women and men like water.

But he didn't want to think about that. He wanted to think about last night. The way Lex had smelled, so good, so right. Like Lex was created just for Clark to inhale. The way Lex had moaned and cursed and cried out when Clark had translated emotions into the physical. The tender moments of rest in between...and the actual sleeping, curled together, limbs entangled on the twin mattress.

Tonight he would stay at the penthouse and tomorrow...tomorrow the movers would bring Clark's things. He, Clark Kent was going to live with Lex Luthor...like...well, like he was permanent.

"What are you grinning about, you loon?" Jack's voice cut into his thoughts, "Did you have a good night, or what?"

Clark came crashing back to Journalism 120 to find that it was over.

"Yes, you did, didn't you? Lucky boy." Jack laughed, hooking her book bag over her shoulders.

"Yeah, I did." Clark flushed, gathering up his books, he added, "Lex asked me to move in with him." Well, that wasn't entirely accurate, Lex had ordered him to move in but Jack wouldn't understand that.

"Wow. Are you ready for that?" Jack asked as they headed out of the classroom and down the hall.

"I've been ready. Lex is the one who needed the space."

Jack nodded, "So is he ready to go public with your relationship then?"

Clark shook his head. "It depends on what you mean by public. He doesn't mind my friends knowing, but I'm sure Lex will keep my name out of the papers for as long as possible. He wants me to have my privacy."

They were silent for a moment as they negotiated the throng in the hallway and exited the building. The spring was turning into summer and the heat of the afternoon sun beat down bright and fierce. He shaded his eyes with his hand, looking across town toward LexCorp Tower before turning back to Jack who was tripping along beside him trying to keep up with his long strides.

Jack spoke up again, "It can't be that bad, surely...I mean what's the harm in giving up all pretenses? He wouldn't have to go to those functions you claim he hates with those women you also claim he hates."

Clark paused and thought about this, "I trust Lex, Jack. And I've seen how ruthless the press can be with him and people who are close to him. He's had to negotiate quite a bit to get them to back off from me."

"Oh, so the press knows you exist?"

"Of course they know...they keep an eye on his every move."

"So, what did he do to get them to back off? Appeal to their sense of decency?"

Clark rolled his eyes and snorted, "No, I'm sure he bribed or blackmailed someone...everyone. Whatever it takes." Clark always hoped that it was within legal limits, but he was afraid to ask. Sometimes, with Lex he didn't want to know.

Jack smirked, "Blackmailed and bribed for you? It must be love."

Clark laughed, giving her a friendly slap on the back before veering off toward his next class.

Of course, Clark's privacy was more important than the average lover of a multi-billionaire. It wasn't simply the typical `coming out' concerns regarding homophobia and persecution. Lex's power and Clark's invulnerable body made them nearly impervious to these problems.

Nor was it just the fear that his relationship with Lex would interfere when he started a career. Accusations of his position being bought were inevitable no matter how discreet he and Lex tried to be.

The concern was that Clark was an alien. He did weird things, to put it mildly. People would be terrified if they knew what he was capable of. It was possible the US government could declare him their property, turn him into him a high level science project, or worse, use him against his will for any number of purposes.

Clark's privacy was essential to his very life and probably to the lives of others as well. Lex's power was vast but neither of them wanted to test it to see if it would be enough to protect Clark should he be exposed.

Clark shivered. These thoughts seemed to climb under his skin and make him itch. He reined in his emotions and exercised extreme discipline to prevent himself from ditching class and speeding to Lex. He would see him tonight. Lex had work to do...he had been out of the country for quite some time. Clark should respect that. He repeated these things to himself as he claimed his usual seat near the door.

It was as the movers were bringing in the boxes of Clark's things that it hit Lex that this might not have been such a good idea.

First of all he would have to deal with his father. Lionel would not be happy to learn that Lex had made such a drastic move with his lover. Despite the fact that Lex was officially out from under his father's thumb ever since the coup that formed LexCorp, he still had to deal with the old man's cantankerous and epic-long opinions on his personal life via fairly regular, though unwanted, phone interactions.

The second problem was Clark's father. Jonathan was sure to be difficult. Mainly because Lex wasn't really sure what he was getting into. He knew that he was committed to Clark in a permanent way and that this was simply the next step in the relationship. But what did it mean exactly? Were they the equivalent to engaged? Jonathan was going to want to discuss intentions and that was a conversation that made Lex feel ill even contemplating.

And in addition there was Lex himself... There was no doubt about it. He had made some foolish choices before leaving for Europe. Time alone, away from Clark...lonely...had taught him how much he had risked for the rather spurious cause of curiosity. But could he trust that he wouldn't commit a similar betrayal again? And could he continue to keep it from Clark? Especially if they were living together...and then there was the guilt...an emotion with which he was still fairly unfamiliar.

Lex leaned against the back of his black leather couch and watched as the movers deposited about 15 boxes of various sizes on the floor of the living room. Clark had told Lex that he could handle the unpacking when he returned from class. Lex had no doubt that he would make short work of it. In the meantime though, the boxes looked like huge interlopers in Lex's space.

There were so many things that Lex hadn't considered when he impulsively told Clark to move in. And that was something Lex didn't do. He didn't act impulsively.

Lex decided that despite his need to strategize, this was probably an area that would not benefit from breaking out paper and pencil and writing up a detailed plan of attack. And what was there to attack anyway?

He leaned helplessly against the couch staring at the boxes. What the hell did Clark have in there? Who knew how it would all fit into his life? What if Clark had some secret Barry Manilow collection that he didn't know about? What if Clark had some exceedingly proletarian idea of décor and he returned from the LexCorp offices one day to find the penthouse redecorated in Martha Kent-ish florals and plaids?

Lex was pretty sure he was starting to panic. He looked down at his hands and was infinitely disturbed to see a tremor. Where was Clark when he needed him? He needed to see that long, lanky stride moving toward him right now. Needed to be reminded that it would be okay even if Clark did secretly like Barry Manilow.

It was a reprieve when his cell phone rang. "Luthor."

His assistant's voice responded, "Lex, I have the reports on the confidential code Charlie research Hamilton has been working on."

Lex ran his thumb over his eyebrow nervously, "Great, Mitch. I'll be there in ten." Snapping the cell closed, he glanced at the boxes again. A restless hand scrambled over his scalp as he moved to grab a set of keys.

On the elevator to the garage, he remembered to leave a message for Clark with the answering service. Flipping open his cell, a recorded voice announced three new messages. He briskly left one for Clark; then pressed "zero".

He shook his head as Martha Kent's voice started, "Clark. It's your mother. Call me. We've tried the dorm for two nights now and your father is getting upset...um, hi Lex, honey, tell Clark to call home, okay? Clark...I'm serious, we need to talk about how to tell your dad about the possible move. Lex? I hope your trip went well...just have Clark call okay? Bye guys...we love you." Apparently Clark hadn't been entirely forthcoming with his parents about the move into Lex's penthouse. Great.

The second new message began; a male's voice boomed "Kent! Wanted to try this new number you gave me, make sure it worked. Are you gonna help me with that philosophy shit or not? Damn you! You always lie to me. Anyway, I still think you're hot and I'd fuck you. Heh. Bet that'll piss off your bald billionaire...Hope he doesn't get these messages. I'm just fucking with you anyway. Really though, if I fail philosophy I'm blaming you for being so damn distracting. Call me...oh, it's me, Keith, in case you didn't already know. You've got my number."

Lex frowned. It irritated him that Clark had never mentioned this Keith guy who was making such overt suggestions. Strange. Definitely something he would be following up on later...in detail...for maybe an hour or so of interrogation...if his pride would let him.

As he slid into the Lamborghini the third message started and he was reminded again that he was a lucky bastard, indeed. "Lex, it's me. Just wanted to call and say hi. If you're at work on speaker phone pick up..." long pause, "Lex, I just wanted to tell you that...hold on, Jack, I'm leaving a message...um, anyway, that I got something special for tonight. I think you'll like it...Jack, you're being really rude...Be home early...okay? Love you. Bye...God, Jack fine I'm done!"

Lex chuckled. Clark had picked up something special for tonight. Damn this moving in thing was a good idea.

Chapter Two

Prankster

Clark was disappointed to return from class at 6:30 p.m. to an empty penthouse. Depositing the bag of groceries on the table, he looked over at the stack of boxes against the wall. The silly grin he had sported all day spread across his face.

He strolled to the phone and pressed the code to check voice mail. Grimacing at his mother's message, he tried to decide if he needed to call home tonight or if he could put it off one more day. After the second message, he groaned at Keith's idiocy and hoped that Lex hadn't heard it.

Lex's message was short and to the point. He'd returned to the LexCorp offices for an important impromptu meeting. Clark shrugged off the disappointment and unpacked the groceries. Lex would be home soon enough.

Next he tackled the boxes from the dorm, deciding he would call his mother once he had started dinner. He sped through the unpacking leaving a pile of items he was unsure about on the dining room table to ask Lex's opinion later.

Clark enjoyed this merging of their lives more than he had imagined. Placing his underwear in the drawer next to the Lex's gave him a thrill. He knew it was only a matter of days before he would have all new underwear. Lex wouldn't be able to tolerate the faded cotton touching his silk. Lex was compulsive in bizarre ways. Clark smiled at this thought and stroked his hand over a pair of Lex's boxers.

Saving it for last, he hung his clothes haphazardly in the closet space Lex had cleared for him. He took gleeful pride in making sure that his pants were mixed in casually with his various shirts in a completely random order.

After completing this task, he set off towards the kitchen to make Lex's favorite dinner; spaghetti made with Clark's mother's own sauce recipe.

Once the sauce was started Clark located his cell phone in the pocket of his book bag and dialed Smallville. After only two rings Martha answered.

"Hello, Kent residence."

"Hey Mom, it's me."

"Clark, honey! Where have you been? I've been trying to get in touch with you." Martha's voice was concerned and a little exasperated.

"I know, I'm sorry." He cleared his throat. "I've just been busy with the move."

Silence stretched over the phone line for a long moment. "Oh...so it is a done deal then?"

Clark tried to continue sounding enthusiastic, "Yup! I just unpacked my stuff a few minutes ago and now I'm making dinner."

Martha sighed. Another long pause amplified Clark's guilt before his mother spoke again, resigned, "Okay. I'll find a way to tell your father."

He released a long breath, stirring the sauce as it bubbled, "I'll tell him. Lex and I can come to Smallville in the next few weeks and we'll tell him together."

Martha was quiet on the other end of the line, dragging out his anxiety. Finally, "Clark, I appreciate your desire to do the right thing, but in this case I think that preparing your father before he sees Lex would be the wisest move to make."

He couldn't help but agree with her. His father and Lex were on eternally shaky ground and he was dreading their first interactions after his dad found out about the move. Of course it couldn't be as bad as when they told Jonathan about Lex being in the know on the whole alien thing.

The conversation came to a close just as his sensitive ears recognized the purr of the Lamborghini on the street below. Clark turned the heat down on the stove and put a lid on the sauce. He strolled out to the living room and waited on the black leather couch in anticipation.

As Lex opened the door, Clark stood up with a goofy grin on his face. He couldn't help it; it was just there.

Lex looked tired and Clark recognized immediately that he was deep in thought, distracted.

"Hey, Clark." Lex greeted absently, placing his keys in their designated spot by the keys to the silver Ferrari.

Clark approached him slowly. "Hey Lex...how was your meeting?" he asked cautiously, concerned.

"Hmmm? Oh, good. Fine."

Lex seemed to wake up then and really look at Clark. Moving forward with his natural grace, Lex leaned in and nipped a kiss onto his jaw, "Let me start over..." He looked into Clark's eyes with a steamy heat, "Hey, Clark."

Clark inhaled slowly feeling his cock respond to the sultry voice. "Hey, Lex," he responded in his best imitation.

Lex pressed closer, his voice still warm and erotic in tone, "What is this surprise you have for tonight?"

Reminded of his surprise, Clark broke the spell by flashing a silly, brilliant smile, "Later." Dropping a kiss on Lex's forehead, he pushed Lex away, "I'm going to check on dinner, okay? You go change."

Lex nodded, leaning back into Clark's neck and biting gently one last time before sauntering off into the bedroom. Clark didn't head for the kitchen. Instead he waited for several seconds until he heard the closet door open. Then he sped stealthily to watch.

It was just as he expected. Lex stood frozen in the middle of the huge closet staring at Clark's clothes hanging across the back wall. Clark checked his watch and looked back up at Lex. Suddenly Lex was moving, rearranging Clark's clothes, pulling the pants out and starting to sort the shirts by color.

Clark watched for several seconds before a laugh forced it's way out. Lex turned around looking nearly ashamed.

"Lex, I'm impressed, you managed to restrain yourself for all of 15 seconds. Very good." Clark teased.

"You set me up." Lex shook his head, abandoning his work. "I'm glad you find such joy in my compulsions."

Clark nodded cheerfully, "Yeah, I do. It's fun." He motioned for Lex to step aside and then, in a blur, sped the clothes into an order that Lex could live with. All the pants together, all the shirts together and hung in colors by shade.

Clark turned back to Lex who had watched with a raised brow. "I never get used to that," he commented softly, unbuttoning his shirt.

Clark leaned back against the wall and observed as Lex removed his shoes and socks, tossing the socks into a hamper and placing the shoes neatly in place. He next removed his shirt revealing long, wiry arms and white, white skin. As Lex hung the shirt back between the darkest lavender and the deep magenta shirts, Clark felt irresistibly drawn to trace the sculpted muscle of his back. Leaning into the gentle hands, Lex shivered.

"Lex, I want to hold you. Come lie down in the bed with me for a few minutes."

Lex frowned, "I don't like to snuggle, Clark."

"I'll pretend to believe that if you come lie down with me." Clark stroked up and down Lex's torso, tracking over the smooth skin with calming, convincing hands. Lex allowed him to lead them to the bed. Hungry for contact, Clark curled around Lex and kissed him, licking lightly at the scar on his upper lip.

"Clark, take your shirt off." Lex whispered unevenly.

Clark shook his head, "No. We have to eat the spaghetti in a few minutes. We can't get anything started."

Lex started to wriggle in protest, trying to wrench around to remove Clark's shirt himself. But the strong arms held him fast, "Hold still. Just lie back and let me smell you for a little while."

Lex stilled, "I don't understand you and this smelling thing." Lex submitted to Clark nuzzling his neck and sniffing him with deep breaths, "This has been getting more and more intense in the last year. I think it is some kind of alien kink."

"I just like the way you smell, Lex." Clark breathed against his throat, listening to the rush of blood in Lex's veins.

"Yes. You like the way your mother smells too, but you don't force her to lie down and let you smell her."

Clark shuddered, "Yeah, that thought kind of grosses me out."

"See? An alien kink."

Clark licked a line down the pulsing jugular of Lex's neck, "It's a good kink though, right?"

Lex stifled a smile, "I think I can deal with it."

Pushing aside the uncomfortable sensation that accompanied his hypocrisy, Lex decided to bring up the phone messages over dinner. Open, honest communication was important in a relationship right? He was pretty sure he had read that somewhere. And maybe if he made a fresh start now...

"Clark, your mom's spaghetti is my favorite," Lex commented to begin the discussion.

"I know." Clark replied smiling, "That's why I made it."

Lex nodded thoughtfully and stabbed at the air with his fork, "You know, spaghetti was Aristotle's favorite as well."

Clark sputtered, "What? How could you know that? Did they even have spaghetti back then?" He looked at Lex over his glass of wine, suspicious.

"Of course they had spaghetti back then and it was indeed a favorite of Aristotle's." Lex was gazing at Clark seriously.

Clark responded skeptically, "I don't believe you. I think you're fucking with me."

"Well, then you'd be right." Lex leaned back in his chair, "So tell me, who is this Keith guy that wants to fuck with you?"

Clark sighed and sat his fork down, "Oh, you heard that, huh?"

Lex gazed at him, silently waiting.

"Well...Keith is a friend. He's in my philosophy class and asked me to tutor him." Clark shrugged a little, "He can't seem to grasp rational thought for some reason." Clark flashed a grin, "Probably the drugs."

"Mmhmm. And why does he want to fuck you?"

Clark looked bewildered, "I don't know...why do you want to fuck me?"

Lex waved his hand, "Okay, I concede that was a stupid question." He shifted his gaze to his food; he didn't want to ask what he really wanted to ask.

Clark studied him closely, "Lex, what?"

Lex cleared his throat, pushed his pride down and met Clark's eyes, "Well, are you attracted to him?"

Clark smirked, "Lex? Are you jealous?"

He glared and Clark looked amused.

Clark continued, "Seriously, you've been unusually jealous since your trip, Lex. First Jack and now Keith. Is there something I should know about? Are you projecting your own guilt onto me?"

Lex's mouth narrowed, "Don't avoid my question, Clark. And you know damn well that I have nothing to hide. Mitch was with me the whole time."

Clark raised his brows, lips twitching with laughter, "So, you and Mitch, huh? That's disgusting."

"Goddammit, Clark!" Lex growled, clenching his jaw and turning his head away.

Clark reached out, forcing him to take his hand, "Keith is an attractive guy, but you know that I'm not going to act on anything." Clark stroked the soft inside of his palm.

Lex pulled his hand away, ducked his head and returned to his food, "Good."

Clark continued to study Lex as he ate. Feeling the weight of Clark's eyes measuring each bite, Lex decided to lighten the mood. Modulating his voice into something like cheerfulness, Lex asked, "So, what is this surprise?" He looked up to meet the hazel eyes.

Clark's mouth broke into a smile and his expression changed from ponderous to playful. "You'll see. It's a surprise. How could it be a surprise if I told you beforehand?"

Lex examined Clark's face and shuddered at the gleeful gleam in his eyes. A troublesome memory involving Mickey Mouse ears crept forward. "Clark, you didn't purchase any head accessories did you?"

Clark laughed outright, "No! You're going to like it. I promise."

Lex was hiding something. Clark could tell. But he couldn't decide if it was simple jealousy Lex was trying to suppress or something more. His gut told him there was more but Clark shook off the concern. It was probably just LexCorp business, not worth ruining the evening over...a deal that fell through or something.

He finished loading plates into the dishwasher and wiped down the kitchen counters even though Lex was always saying that is what he paid the housekeeper to do. He hated to leave a mess for Maggie, though; she had enough to do.

Lex was in the living room trying to decide between jazz and classical. Clark could hear him talking to himself as he flipped through his CDs. Clark grinned. He enjoyed overhearing Lex's little personal lectures to himself, they were uniquely Lex and usually terribly endearing.

Lex was muttering, "Beethoven, official diagnosis syphilis. However, it was more likely lupus that..." He broke off as Clark entered the room. "Do you want to listen to Beethoven or Coltrane?"

Lex was sprawled elegantly on the floor by the stereo with several books of CD's open around him; his attention fixed on the two discs in question.

Clark smiled and shrugged, collapsing onto the sofa, "I don't care, you decide."

"Hmm. But I don't know what the surprise is...what would go better with the surprise?"

"Ah, you mean as a soundtrack to your life, kind of thing?" Clark chuckled.

Lex ignored him and continued to stare at the two discs. Clark wondered if his boyfriend was doing a silent eeney-meeney-miney-mo.

Clark decided to give Lex a break by revealing, "Well, it's kind of a dramatic surprise, if that helps any."

Lex sat up straight gazing at Clark with curiosity and a hint of worry, "Well, in that case, let's have some Beethoven."

Lex slipped the disc into the player and turned to Clark as the low, rich strains of the symphony began. "Well, Clark, you have my undivided attention..."

Clark stood up, "Let's go out on the balcony, I put your surprise out there."

"It's that big?" Lex looked surprised and a little alarmed.

"Oh, yes, it's that big. It's really big." Clark smiled a little shyly, "I hope you like it."

Lex leaned over and pressed a button on the stereo to turn the speakers on outside. Smiling at Clark, he stood up, brushing off his pants, "Well, come on then, let's see it."

"Okay, well, close your eyes."

Lex dutifully obeyed and Clark led him to the balcony doors. "Aren't you going to turn the balcony lights on?" Lex asked, keeping his eyes carefully shut.

"No. It'll be better with the lights off."

Now Lex was seriously intrigued, Clark could almost see his mind working on the puzzle. A large item that would be better with the lights off...Lex frowned.

"You'll never figure it out, Lex, so don't even try." Clark teased as he covered Lex's eyes with one hand to prevent him from cheating and used his free hand to open the balcony door.

Keeping his hand over Lex's eyes, Clark maneuvered him out onto the balcony. Spinning Lex around so that he was facing him and clutching Lex to his chest, Clark carefully removed the hand from his eyes but grasped his chin to prevent him from looking around.

Clark held Lex's eyes with his own, "Lex, you trust me don't you?" Lex stiffened slightly in his arms and his eyes grew serious and nervous, "Yes, Clark. I do."

"And you know that I would never let anything bad happen to you, right?"

Lex shifted in Clark's grasp and looked decidedly wary, "Of course, I know that. Yes."

"Okay, then...this is your surprise, Lex."

Clark let go of Lex's chin while simultaneously pulling his body almost painfully tight against him. Lifting an arm towards the sky, air was suddenly rushing by them. It was fast and startling. Instantly, Lex was screaming, a long wail that frightened Clark enough that he immediately changed directions and set them both gently back down on the balcony.

Clark loosened his hold on Lex to look down into his face. Lex was shaking hysterically, his face sickly white and his breath rapid and erratic, hyperventilating.

"Lex, it's okay, shhh, calm down." Clark loosened his grip more and found that Lex wasn't supporting his own weight. Clark stroked his back and murmured words he hoped Lex found comforting.

Several minutes passed before Lex's breathing came into some measure of control. "What the fuck, Clark!" Lex finally rasped, clinging to Clark almost desperately.

"I can fly, Lex." Clark replied simply.

Suddenly Lex changed, strength returning with rage. Wrenching himself free, he began pacing the balcony. Energy sparked off of him as he spat out, "Fuck you, Clark! Fuck! You!"

Clark, incredulous and hurt, gasped, "What? Why?"

"Why? Well, first, you know that I'm scared shitless of flying!" Lex whipped around, "And second, how long have you been keeping this from me? And third, what if you had dropped me?" Lex paced madly, speaking faster than he was thinking. "What kind of sick fuck are you? Jesus! Fuck!"

Clark took a steadying breath, "Well, first, Lex, you said you knew I'd never let anything bad happen to you, so I thought you'd be able to handle it." Clark fell into step beside Lex. "Second, I've only known for about a month and I wanted to tell you in person not over some long distance phone call to Europe. I would've told you last night but we got...well...distracted." He ducked his head trying to catch Lex's eyes as they covered the length of the balcony again and again. "Third, I would never drop you!" Clark grabbed Lex's arm to stop the pacing, "And lastly, I'm the sick fuck who can fucking fly!"

Lex sat down hard on his ass. Clark knelt down next to him, speaking softly, "I'm sorry, Lex. I didn't mean to scare you."

Lex's eyes were wild, roving over the young man crouching before him. Suddenly Lex started to chuckle and his chuckle turned into laughter, which escalated to hysterical laughter...something must have broken inside of him because Clark had never heard him laugh like this.

Clark exercised his authority as the only sane person on the balcony to pick Lex up and carry him inside. Lex, his head on Clark's shoulder, managed to gasp, "I'm glad we chose Beethoven."

"Yeah, because that ended up being so important," Clark agreed.

Chapter Three

Fever Above the Waist

That was the first night Lex woke to the sound of his own screams.

"Shhh, Lex. Wake up!"

He sat up, blinking sweat out of his eyes and breathing hard.

"It was a dream. It's okay." Clark rubbed his back in soothing circles. Lex coughed and rubbed his hands up over his scalp.

"Was it about flying?" Clark's voice was thick with guilt.

He shook his head, "No, no. Not flying."

Clark ran his hands up over his scalp and back down his back soothingly, "Do you want some water?"

"Uh, yes, water would be great."

Clark turned on the bedside lamp and started to roll out of bed, "What was it about? Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, just water." Lex was trembling for the second time that night. He hadn't had nightmares since just after his mother died. His autonomic nervous system must have gone into overload from the shock on the balcony.

Clark returned and sat on the edge of the bed handing the glass to Lex. He took a sip or two of the cool liquid and kept his eyes away from Clark, staring down at the velvet comforter. After several silent minutes of sipping water and Clark stroking his back, Lex spoke, "It's spring. The nights will be much warmer soon, we should have the housekeeper switch the velvet for the silk."

Clark nodded. "We'll leave a note for Maggie tomorrow."

Lex sat the glass on the bedside table and shifted away from Clark, "I'm okay. Let's go back to sleep. I'm sorry I disturbed you."

"You didn't disturb me. I wasn't asleep."

Lex turned onto his side, "Insomnia?"

"A little. It's happening more and more. I hear things...in the city. It keeps me up."

Lex frowned, "Come here. Lie next to me."

Clark moved into his space and pressed Lex down into the bed. "Let me smell you, Lex."

"Okay."

Clark curled around him and took in deep draughts of Lex odors. "What do I smell like, Clark?" Lex asked sleepily, struggling against the calming effect Clark's proximity and gentle touches had on him.

"You smell like you, Lex."

"But what is that like?"

Clark sucked in a deep breath, "Um, well, you smell like a lot of things. There's garlic from the spaghetti, and the woodsy smell of the wine and then under that is your odor which is kind of a sweet smell...like a mixture of oatmeal and vanilla."

Lex chuckled half asleep, "I smell like oatmeal and vanilla?"

"Kinda. But you know, different."

"Why do you like it?"

"Because it is you. Because it calms me down. And you were right...it is kind of sexual for me. I can't explain it."

"I think you just did."

"Yeah." Clark's hand trailed down from his lover's throat, over his chest and across his abdomen. Lex's cock stirred and goose bumps broke over his skin.

"I want you to fuck me, Lex." Clark whispered softly, pressing himself, already hard, into Lex's thigh. He grazed over Lex's cock and it hardened under his hand.

Lex's eyelids fluttered closed at the touch. He muttered, "You won't do anything kinky like try to fly while I'm screwing you, will you?"

Clark smirked, "No. Just the usual." He rocked into Lex, "But you used to be more adventurous."

Lex smiled, memories involving the desecration of Clark's once innocent flesh flooding his mind. He sighed contentedly, "I can't say that I'm entirely disappointed that you're a pervert."

"Alien kinks, remember?"

"Mmmhmm. But no flying." Lex turned into Clark's arms, catching his breath as Clark nipped his earlobe.

"It's hard to fly inside, anyway." Clark chuckled, teasing, "But now that you've mentioned it, we'll have to try it sometime...outside."

Lex shuddered, "You're making me lose my hard on."

Clark snickered and began stroking the softening flesh, "Oh, no you don't. You have to fuck me."

"Perverted and demanding."

Clark rolled onto Lex, lowering his head to press his lips to Lex's. After several moments of soft contact, Clark leaned over to the nightstand, slid open the drawer and removed the towel and tube kept there.

Lex murmured, "How do you want this, Clark?"

"Hard, fast. Wear us both out." Clark replied handing the tube to Lex.

Lex could still remember when every encounter with Clark was hot and raging and crazy with intensity. There were still incidents of profound passion and erotic madness...but now, as often as not, sex was about tenderness. And sometimes it was just about getting each other off. Surprisingly, he was learning to appreciate these cycles.

Lex placed the tube of lubrication under the pillow where it would be easy to find later. Clark rolled on the bed, positioning the towel to prevent the later irritation of a wet spot on the sheets, before lying back in quiet anticipation.

Lex knew the way Clark liked it when he said hard and fast. Those words meant little to no foreplay and rough fucking. Climbing to crouch over Clark's hips, he skimmed his fingers over Clark's face. Tracing the curve of his cheek and the soft tremble of lashes, Lex felt his gaze softening and warmth starting in his solar plexus.

"Clark?"

"Yeah?" Clark's hands were ran down Lex's spine, circling each knob, tracing each rib.

Lex ground his ass into Clark's hips and pressed his lips to his lover's with additional passion.

Clark broke the kiss, whispering "I know." He gazed lovingly into Lex's eyes, sensing Lex's shift of mood, before whispering, "Hard. Fast."

Nodding, Lex closed his eyes and leaned forward again to crush his mouth with Clark's. The taste of Clark and hot, soft sensations were more than enough to banish the lingering dread from his dream. It was true that Clark, shifting under him, swallowing his gasping breath, was all that he needed, all that he could ever need. And maybe he would want to die without this, without Clark, without their tongues entwined and sliding together. In the back of his mind, a voice questioned his sentimentality and pushing it down, away, he twisted fingers into Clark's hair, pressed in tighter, enjoying the smooth slide of their skin together.

All too soon, Clark pressed his hands against Lex's shoulders, ending the kiss. Lex moaned as Clark lifted him up and off. Clark ignored this vague protest and rolled onto his stomach, "Now, Lex."

Lex closed his eyes. He wanted more. More contact, more tenderness. But for some reason Clark wanted just to fuck. Breathing in shallow gasps, Lex struggled with his own humiliating neediness, not wanting to ask for it...hoping that he wouldn't beg for it.

"Lex?" Clark moaned.

Lex opened his eyes. Clark was next to him, spread out like a victim on an altar. Arms over his head, legs apart, firm ass lifted and presented to him brazenly. Raking his eyes over this vision, his gaze locked with Clark's. The eyes of changeable color bore into him with a desperate need, somehow unrelated to passion, "Please, Lex, just fuck me."

Lex didn't know why but Clark needed this...and he needed it this way. "Okay." Lex could give him this; there would be other nights...

Reaching for the tube under the pillow, he squeezed an ample amount of gel into his hand. Slicking up two fingers, he crawled between Clark's spread thighs. Clark lifted his ass in encouragement. "Don't tease, Lex," he muttered urgently.

Spreading Clark wide, Lex admired the golden skin shading down into a darker toned line leading to the even subtly darker asshole. Lex didn't even want to resist the urge to trace a light tongue down the line, just the tip skimming the roughly textured skin; too little contact for actual taste, but the smells, so spicy, musky and warm, filled his nostrils. Then he was lapping thickly at the hole, the taste here primal, dark and wholly what he was seeking. Plunging his tongue into the tiny spasming hole and pulling back out, he licked at the edges. Clark-taste on his tongue; Clark-scent inhaled with each breath. The guttural moans coming from above were transcribed onto his nerves as singing pulses to his hard cock. Pressing his cheek to Clark's hip, he none-too gently pressed both fingers into the tight, hot hole. He watched his fingers disappear, twisting, sliding, fucking the ass roughly. Clark sighed with a long, low moan of relief and shifted back to bury them deeper.

Lex's cheek, warm against the trembling of Clark's haunches, stared at his fingers, coming into view and then slipping away again. Each clutch, each clasp around his fingers and the sight of that warm hole, begging for more, shot straight to his groin. Turning his face to suckle and bite warm, soft skin, he worked a third finger into Clark's ass, moaning at the sensations thrumming through his body, answering the taunt edge of Clark's whimper.

Three more hard thrusts with his fingers and Clark was on his hands and knees, arching into his hand, "Goddammit, Lex fuck me!" His cock twitched at the need in Clark's voice, wanting nothing more than to obey that command. Lex fucked the ass with his fingers for several more torturous seconds, bringing his cock under control, keeping on that line between reason and lust.

Pulling his fingers out, Lex wiped them quickly on the edge of the towel. The search for the lube was made excruciating by the distraction of Clark's ass bucking into the air in a sexy agony of want. Finally he found it in the blankets and was able to position himself against Clark.

Lex took his time pressing into the warm heat, shuddering at the grabbing sensation against his cock. This was his favorite part; this was the altar at which he worshipped...the initial breach. The way Clark's ass spasmed against him; trying, unsuccessfully, to reject his advance. It was the bright, clear feeling of conquering Clark all over again. The slow rush of pleasure, almost too much, almost making him press harder, press faster. Almost making him lose control, but not quite... And Clark was always so fucking tight.

Clark rocked back trying to force him to hurry. "Please, Lex. Hard," he moaned, dragging the word into to three, maybe four syllables.

It would be cruel to ignore a request made so prettily.

So, Lex took his time, rocking softly into the flesh until he was balls deep. Gripping Clark's hips, he held on and reveled in the sensation of Clark squirming against him, the sensation of Clark losing control while Lex walked that line of power. Clark finally broke, crying out, wrenchingly, "Come on!"

Smiling indulgently, Lex pressed his hand against Clark's neck and pushed his face into the pillow. Clark whimpered with naked anticipation as Lex pulled back, only the head of his cock remaining in the tight, clinging heat. Moving his hands to grip Clark's shoulders, he set a rapid and rough fuck, his balls slapping against Clark's ass.

"Fuck...perfect..." Clark gasped in release as he pressed up to meet his thrusts. Lex closed his eyes against the sight of his cock ramming into Clark and repeated the long solid strokes until Clark was quivering and shuddering uncontrollably. He curled around Clark and bit into his back, riding him hard and fast. Lex knew by Clark's mewling that he wouldn't last much longer. Unbelievably, Clark managed to rasp, "Harder."

"Fuck Clark..." Lex panted and slammed into the ass that opened beneath him. He grasped Clark's hair in both hands and yanked ruthlessly. Pounding into him, Lex was bruising his hips against Clark's flesh and the friction on his cock was nearly unbearable. He reached around Clark's waist, grasped the dripping cock and pumped hard.

Lex growled, "You first, Clark...I want to feel it."

Clark reached down to encircle Lex's hand with his own, guiding Lex to the rhythm he needed. But Lex needed to end this, his own orgasm approaching rapidly. He angled a thrust, hitting Clark's prostate. The younger man jerked and cried out with an almost painful scream. Lex wrapped his arms around Clark's waist and rode out the convulsive shudders. Several more thrusts into the quivering, contracting ass pulled Lex into the blinding light of orgasm. Clark's name, sounding remarkably like a ragged whimper, escaped Lex's throat as he pulsed hard and long within him.

Collapsing onto Clark, sated and exhausted, Lex listened to Clark's strong heartbeat under his ear. He could still taste the core of Clark on his tongue and feel the gentle aftershocks twitching around his cock. When Clark began shifting beneath him, Lex slowly withdrew and rolled off. Clark used the towel to clean them both, tossing it on the floor by the bed to deal with in the morning. Then, pulling Lex into his arms, Clark kissed him gently, tenderly and perhaps gratefully. "Thank you," he whispered.

Lex couldn't respond. He was already drifting off against Clark's warm body, the occasional sniff from Clark banishing any fear of the nightmare returning.

Snuggled in close, Clark watched the man in his arms fall into dreams. He was grateful for the generosity Lex had shown. He knew that Lex would have preferred a more tender, gentler encounter. But Clark had needed the silence that only came when Lex was pounding into him. At night, the city was so loud.

Clark studied Lex's face. He looked so young when sleep smoothed his features. The mask of cocky self-assurance and well-rehearsed arrogance replaced with something childlike and needy. Clark wished he could show everyone this sleeping-Lex. He wanted to partition off their bed with velvet ropes like at the museum and usher people past. Clark wanted to remind the world that Lex was just a kid.

Hell, he needed to remind Lex sometimes. Lex was the same age as Keith but he behaved and looked much older. Especially when some weighty business matter rested on his shoulders. Or when his alien lover decided to surprise him by flying him off of the balcony.

Clark leaned close and breathed in Lex's scent again. He considered enlisting Mitch's help to make Lex do something more in line with his age. Clark couldn't remember the last time Lex had taken him to a club or to one of the wild parties of his jet-setting contemporaries.

Lex had developed a routine over the last year that consisted of work, more work and lazy weekends with Clark. Vaguely Clark wondered if moving in with Lex would further this domestication.

Monitoring Lex's heartbeat and admiring the strong rush of blood pumping through his body, Clark finally rolled onto his side to try to sleep. He willed his ears to stay focused on the comforting breaths and beats of the man next to him and not to wander to the world outside of the room.

But just as he was about to drift into sleep he distinctly heard the sounds of a woman ten blocks away crying out as her husband slapped her, punched her and finally kicked her into silence. Clark lay in the bed trying to block out the sounds, trying to control his shaking. He wondered if Lex's nightmare was worse than this reality.

Chapter Four

Glass World

While Lex had been away, Clark had developed the habit of spending his Saturday mornings at the chain bookstore near Met. U. He liked it there. He could spend hours browsing, listening to CDs, drinking pretty good coffee and eating sugary pastries. Looking at his boyfriend in the café across the store, he noticed that Lex seemed pretty content here as well. Clark returned the CD he was examining to its cache and strolled over to join him.

Lex barely acknowledged Clark as he settled into the seat beside him. Instead, he flipped to another page in the book he was studying intently.

Reaching out to steal Lex's coffee mug, Clark sipped the sweet, warm liquid and sighed appreciatively. He ducked his head trying to see what book Lex was reading.

"Clark, get your own coffee," Lex muttered without looking up.

"But I like the way you make it," Clark answered simply.

Lex glanced up at Clark over his book, "I'm not your mother, Clark. You aren't going to sucker me into making your coffee for you."

"Okay," Clark answered taking another drink from Lex's mug.

"Clark, people are going to notice that you are drinking my coffee..." Lex trailed off leaving the implication for Clark to examine.

"Let them notice then. They'll just think I have poor hygiene."

Lex shook his head and chuckled, "Whatever." He returned to his book.

Clark leaned back stretching out his legs. "What are you reading?"

Lex looked up with a smile, carefully holding his place in the book with his finger. "A book of `recently uncovered' material by Neitzche, but in actuality it is simply a rehash of earlier information."

"Why read it then?"

"It's always fun to read post-brain fever Neitzche." Lex smirked conspiratorially.

"In what way exactly?" Clark asked.

"Well, Neitzche..."

Clark stopped him with a wave of his hand. "Nevermind, Lex. You have to stop telling me about this stuff." Clark sighed deeply before finishing the last of Lex's coffee.

"Why?" Lex frowned. He appeared disappointed at having his lecture forestalled. He had probably been planning it even while Clark had been looking at the CDs. "You've always found philosophy interesting when I've discussed it in the past."

Clark smiled indulgently, "Yes, I do find it interesting, but you have to stop. I'm bored to tears in my Philosophy 110 class and the professor hates me because I know the material better than he does." Clark shook his head remembering, "I accidentally corrected him the other day regarding Plato's thoughts on war."

Lex smiled, "I'm gratified to know you have actually been paying attention all of these years."

Clark shrugged, "Yeah, well, Lex, you are ruining my grade."

"Can't you just test out of this class? You are obviously too intelligent for it."

"No. It is a requirement. Every Tuesday and Thursday, I have to sit through two hours of boring, poorly constructed lectures about philosophers and philosophies that I could write a fucking dissertation on already... I think the teacher is going to fail me." Clark was genuinely concerned.

"He won't fail you." Lex stated calmly turning back to his book and lifting his mug. He set it down with a sigh when he realized it was empty. "Fine, Clark, go buy coffee for both of us and I'll mix both mugs."

Clark smiled, pleased. "Be right back."

Clark walked through the bright café toward the order counter. He stood third in line and eyed the desserts in the display case.

"Clark!"

Clark looked around to see Jack and her friend Denise strolling towards him. Flashing a warm smile, Clark called back, "Hey, Jack! What's up?"

Jack, shifting her bags to Denise, reached up and gave Clark an awkward hug. "I haven't seen you outside of class since you moved out of the dorms, Clark." Jack looked him over as though to check for changes.

"Yeah, I've been busy." Clark smiled a little sheepishly.

"Riiight." She glanced at Denise and motioned with her head over toward Lex, "That's his boyfriend."

"Oh, that's Lex Luthor?" She studied him for moment, "He's hot...So hot I think that table wants to screw him." Denise winked at Clark who blushed a little.

"Uh, thanks? I guess..." Clark smiled teasingly at Denise.

Denise looked back and forth between Lex and Clark, "Yeah, wow. You guys...together...wow. You know this may seem inappropriate, but can we watch sometime?"

Jack busted out laughing while Clark turned scarlet. Denise, a crude little pervert, couldn't resist taking the joke even further, "God I love how he blushes, Jack. Do you think he gets a full body blush when he comes?"

Jack slapped Denise on the arm and made disapproving noises over her giggles. Clark's face was nearly on fire. He was relieved to be saved by the woman behind the counter asking for his order. He requested two coffees and a slice of the chocolate cake.

While the woman behind the counter filled his order, Clark gathered fistfuls of sugar and creamer. He looked around trying to figure out how he was going to carry the condiments and the coffees and the cake back to the table where Lex was still reading, oblivious.

"I'll help you carry it over there" Jack offered seeing his predicament. "Thanks, Jack."

"Great." Denise grinned, "I get to meet him? Cool."

Clark turned to Denise and remarked seriously, "Listen, don't make any jokes like that because Lex will not find them funny."

"What? Your boyfriend doesn't have a sense of humor?"

Jack gave her a warning look as she took the handfuls of creamer and sugar from Clark and lifted the cake from the counter. Clark paid and picked up the two very full mugs of coffee, balancing them delicately.

"They always fill them too full, don't they?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, but I think I can manage it." Clark held his hands very steady as they walked over to the table.

Lex looked up when they were about three feet from the table. He closed the book and put on his polite, greeting-someone-new face.

"Lex, you remember Jack..." Clark gingerly set the full coffees on the table. Lex nodded at Jack in greeting then his eyes shifted to land on the lithe blonde with her. "And this is Jack's friend, Denise." Clark finished.

Lex smirked in the way that most considered to be his smile and said, "Nice to meet you, Denise. And Jack, I'm glad to meet you again. Perhaps I will make a better impression this time." Clark smiled at Lex, relieved that he was being gracious, having apparently forgiven Jack for the sin of sleeping in Clark's bed.

Jack dumped the sugar and creamer on the table, setting the chocolate cake down in front of Clark, "It wasn't a big deal." She shrugged, "I just wish I still saw Clark occasionally. Maybe you'll let him out to play sometimes?"

Lex shifted his gaze to Clark, "He's free to come and go as he pleases. I don't keep him shackled by any means."

Clark shrugged, "I've just been busy, Jack, like I said. Besides, it isn't like you've called me or anything." He avoided eye contact by slurping hot coffee first from one mug and then the other, making room for Lex to add the cream and sugar.

Jack looked a question at Denise who shrugged and nodded. Jack directed her attention back to Clark, "We're going to The May Day tonight to club, wanna come out with us?"

Clark glanced at Lex, "Well, um, maybe next time?"

"Okay, Clark, whatever." Jack replied, exasperated, "You used to go out all the time before your boyfriend came back from Europe." She pulled a pretty pout, "We need a designated driver, you know. When you don't go that means we have to take a cab."

Clark exhaled sharply in irritation before replying, "Jack, listen, I'm sorry. This just isn't a good time for me to go out partying."

Indomitable, Jack demanded, "Why?"

Clark again looked to Lex who was watching the exchange with apparent interest and concern. "Because...why do I have to explain myself?"

Jack shrugged, "Fine. Whatever."

Jack and Clark appeared to be engaging in a stare down. Lex sat back in his chair curious to see who would win.

Over the last year, Lex had never met any of Clark's college friends. In fact, as far as Lex knew, Clark hadn't really made any friends. Now it occurred to Lex that perhaps Clark kept them separate on purpose. After all, Clark had often excluded Lex from his life with Chloe, Pete and Lana.

The stare down ended when Jack finally looked down. Clark had won. Lex was impressed; Jack seemed like a feisty thing. Lex reached for the packets of sugar and proceeded with mixing the two mugs of coffee.

Lex noticed Denise watching him with fixed interest. He glanced up at her with a small smile as Jack began speaking to Clark.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I've just missed you. We used to be close." Lex didn't miss the pointed glance his way although he pretended to be busy measuring out the creamer.

"Jack, we are close. I mean, aren't we?" Clark asked concerned, reaching out for her hand.

"Yeah. I guess." She glanced at Lex again and then shifted her gaze down.

"Yeah. I'm sorry Jack. I'll call you more often, okay? We'll go out, you'll come over. Whatever." Clark stroked her hand affectionately with his thumb. She nodded and smiled.

Lex's eyes drew jealously towards their physical contact. He made a concerted effort to shrug it off and added a lot more sugar to the mugs.

"Want some coffee with your sugar, Mr. Luthor?" Denise quipped the tired joke.

"Call me Lex." Lex charmed her with a glimpse of a genuine half-smile, "Please, I'm only a few years older than you. You're making me feel like Humbert Humbert."

Denise lowered her brows in confusion, "Who?"

"Haven't taken many literature classes, eh?" Lex looked up from under his lashes as he stirred the mugs.

Denise smiled broadly at his flirtations. "Nope. I'm an opera major."

Lex's eyebrows shot up as he took in her slight frame, "Really? I would never have guessed."

"Yeah, Lex, you should hear Denise sing sometime." Clark piped up. He had released Jack's hand and was reaching for the mug of coffee Lex had mixed for him. "She's amazing. And really loud."

"Thanks, Clark. I think." Denise laughed and blushed a little.

Clark tilted his head and arched a brow, "Now look who's blushing...what was that earlier about a full body blush?" His eyes twinkled mischievously.

Denise's flush darkened, glancing toward Lex in embarrassment, "Damn you, Clark."

"Heh." Clark grinned, "You'll never beat me at that game, Denise. I learned from a master." He inclined his head toward Lex.

Denise looked back at Lex and said with some measure of awe in her tone, "Your boyfriend seems much too polite to humiliate a girl by suggesting anything about full body blushes."

"That's because you don't know Lex." Clark answered smugly.

Lex glanced at Jack and caught her watching him darkly. She flushed before quickly turned to Denise. "We've got to go." She hugged Clark, "Well, we'll see you around, maybe."

She nodded at Lex who lifted his mug at her in acknowledgement. Lex smiled at her friend, saying, "Denise, I would enjoy discussing opera with you sometime. Come over any time. Both of you. Either of you. Clark would enjoy it."

Denise nodded, face glowing, "Thank you, Lex."

The girls waved as they walked away and Lex watched them make their way across the store. He was turning back to his book when Clark broke the silence.

"Why did you say that?" Clark asked with irritation.

"What?"

"That they could come over? That I'd enjoy it?"

Lex shook his head in confusion, "What? You wouldn't enjoy seeing them?"

"No, I do like them. I just don't know about having them over."

"Why?"

"Because Lex...how can I say this..." Clark looked away for a moment, "Lex, we live in a penthouse on Prince Avenue."

"That's true. We do." Lex narrowed his eyes. "I'm not sure what you're trying to tell me, Clark."

Clark took a deep breath, "Lex, it's more than that just that. I mean...the penthouse is...well...furnished. Denise and Jack live in the dorms. Our other friend, Keith, lives in this ratty apartment on 3^rd street where he sleeps on a pile of blankets because he can't afford a mattress. Having them over would be just...weird."

Lex contemplated his coffee. He sighed and opened his book again.

"Damn it, Lex. Don't do that."

"Clark. What am I supposed to say? I'm not going to apologize for having furniture."

Clark laughed at that as he took a sip of coffee, "No, you are right. Of course. I'm just...well, I wanted to get to where it felt more like my home too before I have people over."

Lex shrugged, "Well, it isn't as though I set up a play date with your friends. Just don't invite them over, that can't be too difficult."

Clark rolled his eyes, "You don't know Jack. Now that you've said she can come, she will. She's worse than Chloe. How do you think she ended up sleeping in my room? She gets her way."

Lex smirked and looked down at his book, "No, Clark, I get my way. So don't worry about it, okay? Eat your cake."

Clark sighed and swallowed more coffee. "Okay, but I really think you are underestimating Jack."

Lex was tired. Very tired. The Board of Directors had grilled him mercilessly on his proposal to acquire additional medical laboratories in Hong Kong. In addition, further issues had been debated regarding extensive changes at the Smallville plant.

Lex had been grateful that Gabe Sullivan had presented the dissenters with his usual common man perspective, swaying the Board to Lex's point of view. Gabe was handy that way, always coming across as unbiased when in fact he had been in Lex's pocket since the early days of the coup that created LexCorp.

Opening the penthouse door, Lex was shocked to hear loud music, a blaring t.v. and a lot of laughter...male and female voices. Suddenly a loud crash was followed by Clark's distinct voice, "Fuck! I told you to stay out of there!"

Lex wandered into the living room to see five people milling around. The door to Lex's office was ajar and Clark was trying to push his friend Jack out.

"I'm serious, Jack. Get out." He was obviously using just the right amount of strength because her hold on the door gave and she teetered back without falling.

"Jesus, Clark, I just wanted to see his office."

"Just `wanted to see' doesn't mean touch and break stuff...do you have any concept of how much that was worth?" He was still trying to keep Jack from re-entering the office. "Listen, I have to clean this up. Now stay out here and make sure no one else breaks anything." Clark sighed heavily shutting the door.

Lex stood motionless at the entrance to the living room. Jack was running her hands over the leather books in shelves lining the wall next to the office. Two girls and a boy were eating popcorn and watching a movie on the television. Two other boys were fiddling with his stereo and looking through his CDs.

Clark exited the office looking desperate. Lex observed him scan the room, eyes widening as he suddenly called out, "Jack, get Dave away from the stereo, now." Lex looked over to see a shaggy-haired mutant-looking guy twisting the knobs of his Mark Levinson amplifier ruthlessly.

Lex cleared his throat and called out loudly, "Clark, may I have a word with you?"

The motion in the room came to a halt as every head swiveled to look at him. Clark's eyes were guilty and wide as he met Lex's gaze. Tearing his eyes away, Clark turned to Jack and said fiercely, "Jack, make sure nothing happens until I come back."

Clark took long strides across the room his big hands curled into fists. Lex lead the way to their bedroom, shutting the door behind him.

"I'm sorry, Lex..." Clark started. "I had no idea this was going to happen. See, we are in this study group for a project and Jack volunteered our place for the group meeting and I thought it would be fine but obviously it hasn't been and..."

Lex lifted his hand, "I'm not angry, Clark. Just surprised...and tired. How long is this study group going to last?"

Clark shuffled, "God, I want them all to leave now. They are all assholes and I'm so pissed at Jack...she broke the Russian Imperial lamp in your office...how the fuck she did that I don't have a clue but it was shattered..." Clark looked more angry than Lex had seen him in a year.

"It's okay, Clark. But what was she doing in my office?"

"I don't know. I went to the bathroom and when I came back all hell had broken loose. Jack was in your office and Dave and Keith were fucking with the stereo and they had the t.v. on." Clark was shaking his head.

"Listen, I've had a long day, can you send them home or is your project due tomorrow?"

Clark nodded, "I can send them home...it'll just look..." He let the sentence trail off.

"Like I made you send them home?"

"Yeah."

Another huge crash was followed by Jack screaming, "What the fuck? Are you circus animals or something? Jesus!"

Clark's expression changed from angry to enraged, "I'm sending them home. Now."

Lex followed him out the door and watched as Clark stalked into the living room. A quick glance showed that the source of the loud crash had been the overturning of a shelf of books.

Clark stood in the middle of the room and spoke in a deep timbre that Lex recognized only from Clark's rare bursts of temper, "Listen up! I want you all to pack up your stuff and leave. NOW. We will have to meet somewhere else in the future." Clark was tossing books and bags and jackets at people, "I want all of you to get out."

Jack looked across the room at Lex mouthing the word `sorry' as she gathered her belongings. Everyone was silent as they filed past Lex and out the door, none of them even had the guts to meet his eye or introduce themselves after making a wreck of his home.

Clark grabbed Jack's arm as she started by him, "Jack...why did you do this?" He expression was angry and hurt.

Jack paused, "I didn't realize they would get so out of hand, Clark. Honestly. And I didn't mean to break the lamp, I tripped on the rug and knocked it over when I was trying to get my balance. I'm sorry." She looked at Lex, "Really, Lex, I'm sorry."

Lex sighed, "Apology accepted." He turned to Clark, "I'm going to go change, I've had a very long day."

He left Clark with Jack. Loosening his tie as he approached the bed, he flung himself down on it fully clothed. On days like this he felt too old, he didn't feel 25, he felt 40. He wondered if he would be able to sleep the whole night or if he would wake up screaming again.

Closing his eyes, he waited for Clark to come into the room and remove his clothes for him. It was so much easier that way. He drifted into a fitful sleep, when he did wake up screaming he was naked and being soothed by his lover.

Chapter Five

Paper Cuts

The Metropolis Museum of Modern Art was essentially owned by the Luthors, as was everything of much value in Metropolis. It had been Lex's idea that Clark and Keith develop a paper on Existentialism and Modern Art for their end of semester project.

Clark wasn't sure how Keith had managed to be assigned Clark as a partner, but he had little doubt that it had been arranged. Keith was a really damn attractive guy and Clark had a standing rule about men or women that he was attracted to...run like hell. Avoid temptation...he'd made a commitment to Lex. And Clark wasn't a masochist; he didn't get off on sexual tension he couldn't act on.

Still, despite constant rebuffs, Keith apparently continued to harbor hope that he would eventually find a way into Clark's bed. Or perhaps that he could somehow coax Clark into his pallet of blankets on the drafty floor of his very dirty one room apartment.

Clark stood, fists stuffed in his pockets, studying a `masterpiece' by an artist he'd never even heard of.

Clark couldn't really see what made this painting more brilliant than any of the work that he'd seen art students schlepping around campus in their portfolios.

The midnight blue of the lower ground brushed and blended into a stark orange above. The card next to the painting implied that the work was meant to illustrate a portal into a transcendent reality. Clark blurred his eyes a little. He supposed he could sense a fuzzy feeling starting in his solar plexus, but maybe aliens just aren't meant to transcend to whatever reality this painting took humans.

The next panel revealed a scratchy drawing of a round white circle on a black background. The circle held a ghostly smile etched in smudgy white, like a head empty of thought or sight. Clark jolted as this work suddenly and violently recalled the screams that had once again awakened Lex in the night.

It had happened every night for three weeks and no matter how much Clark questioned or threatened, Lex refused to tell him what the dreams were about. Most of the time he claimed not to remember, but Clark knew that he did. Lex's eyes would look at him just barely too steadily.

Clark always knew when Lex was lying now. It had taken him several years to catch every nuance, but now Lex couldn't hide...something Clark kept carefully to himself knowing it would terrify his boyfriend.

Absorbed in the painting, trying to place why it had reminded him of Lex's cries, Clark was unaware of Keith sneaking up behind him and was startled by the hand on his ass.

"Keith, keep your hands to yourself." Clark grumbled, keeping his voice at acceptable museum level.

Keith removed his hand. "I can't believe I am at the MmmmOMA at 10 a.m. on a Saturday morning. I should be sleeping off last night's party."

"MmmmOMA?" Clark smiled.

"Yeah, you know Metropolis Museum o..."

Clark cut him off, "Yeah, I get the reference...I was just admiring the `mmmm' part."

"Yeah, well that was in reference to your fine ass, actually."

Clark ignored this and indicated the next painting, "Keith, read the title of this painting..."

"This one?" Keith leaned forward and squinted at the name plate, "It is called, `Painting' by Hermion Archne, formerly titled `Yellow Circle in Blue Ground'."

"Don't you agree that the title `Painting' much more accurately captures the feel of this work than the original title?" Clark asked thoughtfully.

Keith, catching on, struck a grave pose before the piece, "Absolutely, I see what you mean. The work would have just been missing a certain `clarity' if the artist had chosen to retain `Yellow Circle in Blue Ground'."

Clark cracked up, "Yeah."

Keith laughed too. Several grim museum attendees glared in their direction.

"I think those people hate us," Keith chuckled.

"Yeah, art isn't a laughing matter, Keith. It's serious business." Clark grinned, "Come on, let's move on."

Lex waited impatiently for Clark to return from the museum. It had been four hours. If they had toured every gallery and visited the gift shop, Clark still should have returned thirty minutes ago.

Lex was pretty sure he didn't like Clark's friend Keith. Of course he'd only seen him for five minutes when Keith had picked Clark up for their excursion. But during that brief meeting, Lex had not failed to notice that Keith was surprisingly attractive and that the young man found every excuse to touch Clark.

Lex looked again at his watch, only a few minutes had passed since he last checked it. He was drowsy, exhausted, but he feared napping during the day. If the nightmare started when Clark wasn't there to wake him...Lex shuddered just thinking about it.

Lex couldn't remember the last time he had sat idle for such a long period. There was nothing that he wanted to do; he just wanted to see Clark. That was all he could seem to focus on. And Clark was at a museum with some guy who kept touching him. Lex felt nauseated.

He shifted on the couch. He wondered if he had lost more weight; his bones seemed to be poking him on the inside. Clark had said something the other day, hadn't he? Lex tried to remember what exactly had transpired...Clark had been in the bathroom, shaving...yes, now he remembered.

Clark had dropped the razor when Lex emerged from the shower naked. "Shit, Lex, are you eating?" Clark had asked with anxiety engraved on his face.

Then Clark had forcefully examined him from every angle, turning him easily. "You aren't eating, you aren't sleeping...you have to talk to me, Lex." Clark had been angry. Somehow, in a way his sleep-deprived mind couldn't even begin to orchestrate now, Lex managed to get him to agree to discuss it later so that neither of them would be late.

He had evaded Clark fairly easily since then. Clark was busy with finals and Lex was busy at LexCorp.

And it wasn't just the dreams...Lex had never known that guilt could be so all-consuming, so undermining. During his time in Europe he had almost been able to forget his betrayal. He had told himself that if he was honest about everything going forward then this one thing would be okay. Lex shook his head at the lies he had told himself to justify his actions...hell, the lies he had told himself to justify the lies.

Lex stood to fix a brandy but sat back down when he remembered the time. He thought that maybe he should eat something. Lex was fairly certain that the last time he had eaten was the prior day at a lunch meeting. He wasn't hungry though.

Laughter reached him from the hallway and the key scraped in the door. He could hear Clark joking, "Shut the hell up!" Clark's voice rang with laughter. Lex's stomach tightened again, he couldn't remember the last time he'd heard Clark laugh like that. Open, silly, crazy, kid laughter. Lex wondered when he had stopped being fun.

Clark stumbled into the room with Keith on his heels, still laughing. "Give me a break, Keith. You are so full of shit."

Keith shook his head and grinned broadly, "No, I swear, it's true." Keith was holding onto Clark's arm with one hand, while one finger of the other hitched into the waistband of Clark's pants. Clark wasn't pulling away.

Lex went cold.

Chapter Six

Chill That Burns

Clark stopped short when he saw Lex on the couch. Lex was doing nothing. This was not good. In fact, this was the exact opposite of good.

Clark cleared his throat, his face suddenly losing every trace of laughter, "Hey, Lex. Everything okay?"

"Of course, everything's fine. Why?" Lex rose smoothly prepared to greet Clark's guest. Keith released his grip on Clark's arm and took a step away.

"You just seem like something is wrong."

Lex mustered a gracious smile for Keith as he responded to Clark, "No, nothing is wrong. Just tired. How was the museum? Did you get everything you needed?"

Keith smiled broadly, "Absolutely. Clark told me that the project was your idea, thanks."

Lex shrugged, "It is a project I wish I could do myself."

There was an awkward silence as Clark continued to study Lex and Lex studied Keith.

Keith cleared his throat, "Um, Clark tells me that you and I are the same age."

Lex flinched. Clark noted the involuntary movement with surprise. "Are we? I wasn't aware of that."

"Yes, I'm 25...I'm afraid I'm not as accomplished as you, obviously. Unfortunately, I seem to lack ambition."

"No, Keith, that's not fair." Clark shook his head, and deadpanned, "You have plenty of ambition. You lack intelligence."

Keith shot a hand out and slapped Clark's ass hard, "Fuck you, rent boy."

Clark blushed and gave Keith a look that he hoped conveyed the right amount of warning and you-are-so-dead.

Clark returned his attention to Lex who was too obviously darting eyes between him and Keith.

Lex smirked frozenly, "Unfortunately, I haven't been getting much sleep recently. So, I'm going to head off for a nap. Would you mind keeping it down?" Clark shuddered at the cold animosity in Lex's eyes as his boyfriend appraised Keith one final time before turning toward the bedroom.

Clark monitored Lex's retreating back, listened to the heart rate, noted that the stomach didn't seem to be digesting anything.

A deep concern for Lex flooded him. He had been struggling for the last several weeks trying to determine just how much to push Lex, trying to fathom what could be eating at him. Lex was impatient, jealous, and moody to an extent that he had never been before. It was beginning to affect their relationship...

Clark realized that he had been staring at the door leading to the bedroom long after Lex had disappeared from view. Keith finally cleared his throat, "So are we going to watch that movie?"

"Do you mind if we see it another day?" Clark asked absently, still gazing after Lex and shifting into x-ray vision. Lex was lying prone on the bed.

Keith frowned, "Sure...I guess." Clark put his hand on Keith's back and directed him rapidly toward the door.

Keith resisted for a moment, "Let me just ask you one thing, Kent."

Clark, very distracted, paused, "What?"

"Why do you stay with him?"

Clark felt himself grow intensely cold, his fears congealing in anger focused on Keith. "I love him," he replied, his voice hard.

Keith shook his head in pity, "You're just another rent boy, you know. It won't be long until he gets over you."

Clark shrugged, dismissive, "Believe what you want Keith, but if you want to be friends with me...." Clark moved in close to his friend's face and held his gaze, "Shut the fuck up and keep your fucking hands off me. Understand?"

Clark was surprised at the ferocity he felt. His face had changed from his usual mild mannered gentleness to an angular expression that had no give.

Wide eyed, Keith nodded dumbly.

"Good, then I'll see you in class." Clark shoved him out the door.

Clark was shaking. He needed to get himself together before confronting Lex. He wasn't sure he was ready to deal with whatever was going on, but it couldn't wait any longer. Lex was rapidly disintegrating and Clark needed to know how to help him.

Clark entered the room to find Lex lying on the bed with his eyes closed, deep blue smudges underneath. Clark sat down on the mattress next to him.

"Where is your friend?" Lex's voice was tired and husky.

"He left."

"Good."

"Yeah."

Clark fondled the collar of Lex's shirt. "Want me to get you a Snickers?"

Lex shrugged, "Not hungry."

"Lex, you haven't eaten today. You need to eat something. Please." Lex looked away from him, rolling onto his side, curling into himself.

Clark, recognizing that begging might backfire, decided to throw in some humor, "My mom will kill me if you come home next weekend looking this thin." He smiled tenderly.

Lex frowned and tucked his hands up under the pillow protectively. "Maybe I won't go home with you. I'm not looking forward to it anyway."

Clark blinked, hurt. The trip happened to fall on their fourth anniversary. Clark took a steadying breath. After a pause, Clark continued calmly, "Lex, I will be back in a second with some food, which you will eat and then we will discuss what is going on with you."

"Nothing's going..." Lex started but Clark's hand clamped over his mouth.

"Lex, don't. Just...don't."

Using his speed had become part of his every day life with Lex. Mainly because if he didn't move fast, he wasn't sure he could keep up with him. Lex's energy was of a crackling speeding nature and a good part of Clark's fear stemmed from the obvious waning of Lex's spark in the last several weeks.

Clark was back in the bedroom within moments bearing cheese, crackers, Snickers bars and orange juice. Lex was still curled into a fetal position with his eyes shut, lips slightly parted, his breath even and deep...feigning sleep.

Clark almost chuckled at the absurdity of it all. Lex, behaving like a child. Lex, looking more and more vulnerable even as he tried to prevent being vulnerable. Lex, who, despite his extreme intelligence, never seemed to grasp that Clark was more familiar with his body's vibrations and functions than he would ever be.

But it wasn't funny really, so Clark couldn't find it in himself to laugh. In fact, he felt the prick of tears behind his eyes although he was not sure if they were of fear, frustration or sympathy for Lex's struggle.

"Sit up. Eat this. Now." Clark ordered in his most commanding voice.

Lex merely twitched.

"I mean it Lex, don't make me force feed you. You know that I can, so stop being obstinate."

Lex wearily sat up. He ate anything Clark placed in his hands without a word and without meeting his eyes.

Clark observed every breath, every twitch of muscle but couldn't even begin to guess what Lex was thinking. He was sure that Lex was casting about desperately for an out but Lex was so far off his game, and Clark was so determined, that Clark had no doubt about who would win.

Clark decided to start the conversation by striking someplace that would make Lex sit up and pay attention, "Lex, you're losing your game face...think about that for a minute and then let me help you."

Lex buried his head in his hands. "I just need some sleeping pills, that's all. Toby said he would get some for me. Strong ones that will stop the dreaming."

"Lex...no sleeping pills." Clark scrutinized Lex's body, sighed deeply, "What pills have you taken today?"

Lex shrugged.

"What have you taken today, Lex? Tell me." Clark spoke gently but the steel was evident in his tone.

"I'm not sure. Just some stuff that Toby gave me...said it would take the edge off." Lex shrugged again.

Clark gripped the sheets to keep from gripping his lover, "Lex...where are the pills?"

Crystal blue eyes looked up and met his, smirk on the scarred lips, "Find them if you want to get rid of them."

"Lex, you are acting like a child."

Lex lay back down, turning his back on Clark. "You're always saying I should act my age more often."

"Lex, you aren't acting your age, you're acting like a seven year old."

Clark was preparing to search the apartment when it hit him that this was a set up, a distraction. Damn, Lex was good.

Clark took some deep breaths and studied Lex, trying to remember how to get in when Lex was slamming the door.

Finally he lay down too, spooning him. "You can't do anything to make me leave, you know," Clark whispered in his ear.

Lex was silent but the tension in his body stepped up a notch.

"I know you do things, Lex. Things that I wouldn't like...but I won't leave you. You can even try to make me leave and I won't." Clark didn't hesitate on any of the words but he prayed with all of his being that Lex wouldn't take him up on the challenge.

Lex stirred, cleared his throat, "But how do you know for sure? You don't even know what..."

"I don't need to know `what' to know that I won't leave." Clark's heart rate increased at Lex's admission that he had indeed done something.

Lex's voice was husky, restricted, "What if I send you away? Will you go then?"

Clark frowned, where was this coming from? "Lex, if you send me away, I'll go. But I won't leave. Do you understand?"

Lex nodded. He was silent for a long moment and then he pressed his back into Clark's warmth, "Don't go."

"I won't." Clark pressed a kiss to the back of Lex's scalp. "But you have to tell me about the dreams."

Lex sighed, his hand began stroking Clark's where it rested around his waist, "In my dream, I'm at my LexCorp office and I'm looking at a file full of pictures."

"And?"

The hand stroking his stilled, "That's it."

"And that makes you scream, lose sleep and not eat? Come on, Lex..."

Lex was silent, struggling with something. Clark could feel the quivering tension of the body as it battled.

"The pictures are of you."

"Of me?"

"Yes."

Clark pulled Lex even closer, "Lex, I didn't realize I was so un-photogenic, if pictures of me frighten you so much, we just won't take any more."

Lex snorted, "Fuck you."

"Yeah...go on. What am I doing in the pictures?" Clark suspected something, remembering how jealous Lex had been lately, remembering a particularly grotesque joust with Lionel that involved Victoria Hardwick.

"You aren't doing anything."

Clark took a deep breath trying to remain patient, "Lex, what about the pictures makes you scream?"

"You're dead." Lex's voice was rough, but calm, as though he had removed himself from the room.

Clark gripped his lover tightly, "Lex, God, that's a terrible nightmare."

"Yes."

"Why do you think you keep having it?"

"I'm not sure." Lex was evasive, "But I do keep having it and it seems very real."

Clark shuddered remembering the despair in Lex's screams. Clark buried his face in Lex's neck breathing in his comforting scent, imagined Lex's death and felt the familiar illness at the thought. Smallville had given him too much experience in dealing with that particular fear.

Lex flipped to face him then. Gazing into his eyes Clark saw something that he could only recognize as guilt. The pit of his stomach soured as he realized the dream wasn't even the tip of the iceberg.

"Go on, tell me the rest, Lex."

"You will be angry." Lex's eyes cool and blue gazed almost challengingly into Clark's.

"I've been angry before, we both survived."

Lex frowned, "I'm not good at pleading my case. I've never really had to do it before."

"You'll need to plead your case?" Clark stroked his fingers over the veins at the sides of Lex's scalp, spoke as though to a naughty child, "Oh, Lex, what have you done?"

Lex closed his eyes. His face became suddenly vulnerable and he took a deep, shuddering breath, "It will be better if we don't talk about it."

Clark shook his head, "No. It won't. We've played this game before. Tell me now."

Lex extricated himself from Clark's arms and sat up. Clark followed suit. Lex scooted up the bed, bracing his back against the headboard, putting space between them. Clark sat cross-legged across from him, arms resting on his legs, his back to the door of the room.

Lex took a deep breath, he seemed to recede into the headboard, the vulnerable part of him vanishing into smooth, hardness, "Okay, Clark. Nearly four months ago, before I left for Europe, I betrayed your trust in me."

Clark closed his eyes. "You slept with that woman from the gala, didn't you?"

Lex replied as though from far away, "Woman from the gala? I don't even know which woman you are talking about."

Clark's eyes flew open. "You've slept with so many you don't know which one I'm talking about?" he asked incredulously.

Lex waved his hands in the air, "No, no, no. Don't say anything until I'm done, you've gotten us way off track."

Clark waited in heightening anxiety, in a tension that was a fine line between relief and abject fear.

"Four months ago I became fixated on my curiosity regarding the meteor rocks in Smallville. Where they came from, how they relate to you, why they hurt you..."

"You could have asked me, I know all of that. The A.I. gave me that information."

Lex's eyes grew narrow and cold, fury pouring off of him like atmosphere, "You knew all of that and never told me?"

"I didn't know you wanted to know, Lex," Clark responded calmly.

Lex continued. His voice was clipped and hard, "I did. I wanted to know very much and I decided I would find out."

Clark nodded, "Go on. Just tell me what you did so we can move on."

"What I did?" Lex smirked cruelly, but the hand scrambling over his scalp betrayed his fear, "Well, see, Clark, what I did was collect some samples of your semen. Then I surreptitiously enlisted a scientist to run some analyses of it and the meteor rocks."

Clark shifted back on the bed stunned. His mind couldn't seem to process the words. "You..." Clark lost his words somewhere between hurt and rage. He stared at Lex, silence buzzing in his mind, mouth dry and tongue paralyzed.

"Well, Clark?" Lex asked challengingly but Clark detected the undercurrent of panic.

Clark closed his eyes against Lex. Gritting his teeth together, he tried to get a handle on his emotions. After temporarily short-circuiting, words were now flying to the surface of his mind, to the tip of his tongue. Harsh words, angry words, bitter words. All them full of meaning he couldn't be sure that he should speak. Not when his heart was pounding and all he could hear was the rush of his own blood.

Finally, Clark looked up to meet Lex's gaze. He could see that Lex was prepared for the worst, his body was flexed and tight, ready to bear the wounds of whatever Clark would say or do. Ready for the inevitable moment when Clark would walk out the door and abandon him.

"Lex, I'm not leaving. But I need some space to think before I do or say something I'll regret." Lex's eyes revealed real terror under the feigned cold distance. Clark took a deep breath, "I repeat, I am not leaving."

Clark stood up then and left the penthouse grabbing a set of keys on his way to the door. It wasn't until he hit the garage that he realized he'd grabbed the set for the limo. Once again, life with Lex required using his speed. He had to get away, out, now. Clark ran.

Lex crawled off the bed and into the bathroom. He opened the little hidden compartment behind the medicine cabinet and took out the pills that Toby had given him. It had been an hour since he'd last taken one and he hadn't even had any liquor with it. Lex felt pretty confident taking another pill. Just to calm down. Just to make sure that he didn't die from the pain.

Lex poured a small glass of water from the sink and looked at himself in the mirror. He did look too thin. He looked sick. Purple smudges under his eyes and his cheeks looking sunken, like his father. And that thought alone made him vow to eat three square meals daily.

Thoughts came unbidden to his mind, fearful thoughts, wounding thoughts. Things like...he won't be back, and he'll break this promise and you don't deserve him anyway. Lex closed his eyes and felt the truth of that last one in the fiber of his being. He didn't even deserve these four years together, how much longer could it last?

More thoughts cascaded through his mind and Lex considered the advisability of taking more than one more pill.

Like a blessing, his mind finally conjured images of a hotel room, and the exchange, and the promises made there. Wielding these memories as weapons, Lex fought the demons working on his soul.

He pondered the pill in his hand and the glass of water, staring at them, struggling with his fears...wanting to believe in the hope. He turned to the medicine cabinet again, retrieved the pills and shook the entire contents of the bottle into his palm. Looking back to the glass of water he thought of how easy it could be. One fast swallow.

Instead, Lex turned to the toilet and flushed the pills.

Chapter Seven

Weather This

Clark ran hard. Flying was still too unpredictable and lacked the advantage of physical exertion. He reached the bridge in 4.3 minutes...a little off his best time. He was getting faster as time passed. He could no longer travel with Lex at top speeds because it took his breath away and the friction chaffed Lex's skin. Lex didn't really like the speed anyway, he felt too out of control.

Lex. Control. Clark shook his head and leaned against the rail of the bridge looking down into the water. It had started here. The friendship, the relationship, the lies. Clark ran his hands through his hair, scrubbed them over his face. God, what was he going to do about Lex?

The feeling of hurt at Lex's betrayal was somehow residing just outside of his skin. He could sense that he should feel more of it, his logical mind told him that he should be furious. That he should want to hurt Lex in return. But the actual feeling associated with these thoughts remained incomplete, half-formed, half-felt.

A car rumbled behind him, pulling to the side of the road. Great, just what he needed...an intrusion. He waited until he heard a car door slam and feet crunching on gravel. He donned the face he had perfected over the years and turned to greet whatever Smallville citizen had recognized him.

"Clark?" Martha Kent approached with concern on her face, "Honey, what are you doing here?"

"Mom! Hey!" Clark was startled to see his mother but he tried to play this situation off, "Just out for a run...you know." He smiled his innocent smile and saw that she was not fooled.

"Out for a run, huh?" She gestured toward his clothes. "It looks like you just took off to me, honey."

Clark looked down at his dusty shoes, the same ones he had worn to the museum that morning. He sighed, "Yeah. Um...I needed to think." Clark knew his mother was scrutinizing him, knew that she would see through him.

A sympathetic smile curved her lips and his mother nodded. Martha approached him, wrapped her arm around the tall young man her son had grown into and turned them both to face the river. "This is where you met him," she stated simply.

Clark nodded and, despite his best effort, tears welled in his eyes, "Yeah. Right here. Bam. He hit me."

Martha and Clark stood observing the water moving swiftly below. The color was muddy and gray, churning with a recent rain.

Martha broke the silence. "You had an argument." She gently stroked his arm and twined her fingers through her son's.

Clark shrugged, tried to appear nonchalant, "It happens, right?" He studied their entwined hands, her fingers so small in his.

Martha chuckled, "You bet it happens! But there are arguments and then there are arguments. Which kind is this?"

Clark smiled and wiped a hand over his eyes, "I don't know. I want it to be just an argument...but Lex makes it so difficult sometimes."

"I bet he does."

They watched the water churning below. "He would've died if he'd hit anyone but me." Clark murmured.

Martha smiled sadly, tugging on his arm, "Come on, let's go home. Your dad is attending a meeting in town...we can talk alone."

Clark nodded, "Okay." He shuffled along beside her. "Will you make some coffee for me? The way you make it for Lex?"

Martha hugged him tightly to her side, "Of course, sweetheart."

Martha sat the mugs down at the table and looked at her little boy. She watched him sigh and shift in his seat. The dark curls were longer than she had ever let them get. She wondered if Lex liked his hair longish. Observations like that drove Jonathan mad, but they comforted her. They reminded her that Lex did love her son, that he was gentle with Clark, she had seen it. She remembered the casual caresses she had inadvertently witnessed over the years and the look on Lex's face when he didn't think anyone could see him watching Clark.

Finally Clark spoke, "Does Dad make it difficult sometimes?" He looked up from his mug with sadness pooled in his eyes.

"Yes. Sometimes he does."

Clark nodded, looked back into his coffee, "Lex...he...doesn't trust much."

"He doesn't trust you?" Martha asked gently.

"Um, I don't know." Clark closed his eyes, "I think he trusts me. But he doesn't trust..."

"Doesn't trust?"

"You know, trust that things will be okay...trust in anything."

Martha sipped her coffee, set the mug down again before saying, "I know. Lex may never trust."

Clark rested his elbows on the table and buried his face in his hands over the mug. Martha scooted her chair over so that she could reach him. Rubbing soothing circles on his back, she whispered, "Do you want to tell me about it?"

Clark shook his head in the negative.

"Okay. That's fine. But you know I won't judge him, honey."

Clark nodded, lifting his head. That sat in silence for several moments before Clark asked, "How do you know you'll never leave Dad?"

Martha paused, surprised at her son's question. "Because I made a commitment to him and when I made that commitment I knew that there was no way I would turn away...no matter how tough it gets."

Clark looked thoughtful, "Is there anything he could do that would make you leave?"

Martha fought the urge to ask if Clark was contemplating leaving Lex and instead replied, "Well, if I discovered that he was molesting children or torturing animals..."

Clark chuckled.

"I wasn't joking, Clark."

"I know, Mom." He smiled sadly, "I'm pretty sure Lex isn't into children or hurting animals. I'm pretty sure Lex is just into me."

Martha nodded, watched the way his shoulders slumped as if under a burden, "That's a heavy weight, huh?"

Clark's lips quivered for a minute, "Yeah. But I knew it would be." He tucked his face in his hands again, "Heck, he told me it would be and I said I could handle it...but, Mom, sometimes I worry that I can't."

"Clark, honey, you've got enough on your shoulders, you don't have to do this."

He shook his head, "No. I do have to do this."

Martha frowned, "Explain that please," visions of Lex somehow coercing Clark passing through her mind.

"I have to stay to prove that he is loved. And because I have to prove to myself that I can love that way."

Martha's brows furrowed, "That's a lot of proving, Clark."

Clark looked up. His eyes seemed stronger, "Yeah. But I deserve to love like that...we deserve it. Even if all I get back is knowing that I gave it."

Martha shook her head, "Love can sometimes be it's own reward, but I'm not sure in this case it is the same thing, honey."

"It is. It is exactly the same thing. Besides it isn't about a reward." Clark chuckled sadly, "You know, I'm always wanting other people to forgive him...it should be easier to do it myself, huh?"

"It depends on what he did..." Martha trailed off. She was worried by the way Clark's mind worked, so different from her own.

Clark shook his head, "No, it doesn't depend on that at all. It depends on me and how much love I want to give...and the quality of it."

"Clark, you don't owe him anything, you know that?" Martha's were brows lowered in concern.

"Mom, you don't understand. This isn't just about him. This is about what I want." He looked at her with a growing strength.

"What you want?" Martha's breath caught a little, uncertain of the territory she was traveling.

"Right. What I want is to be with Lex. Period. End of story. He wants to be with me. Period. End of story. The rest is details."

"Clark, sometimes the devil is in the details." Martha's life experience told her that the details were the things that caused the most pain.

"True. And that is where the quality of love comes in...and the trust. Or faith. Or whatever you want to call it." Clark sounded so certain, so sure, so ready to lay down his life for this.

Martha stared at him not sure if she comprehended this alien son of hers. She watched his face become even more determined but was still unprepared when he suddenly stood up.

"Thanks for talking with me, Mom."

Martha rose as well, "No problem, honey. I hope it helped."

"It did. I love you." Clark embraced her tightly.

"I love you, too. And I love Lex. Let him know that for me, okay?"

"I will."

And he was gone, faster than she could see. She sighed and sat down to finish her coffee.

"Clark?" Lex called into the darkness.

"Yeah. It's me."

"You came back."

The mattress sank under the heavy weight of Clark sitting down, "I told you I would, Lex." Clark sighed deeply, sadly, "I always will."

Lex felt the mattress sink more as Clark leaned towards his reclining form and pressed a kiss into his forehead.

"Where did you go?"

"The bridge...home. Had coffee with Mom."

Lex was afraid to reach out to Clark, he wanted desperately to pull the young man close but he needed to be sure of his absolution before he could move forward.

"What did Martha have to say?"

"To summarize...she loves you, she loves me...she wants me to be happy, she wants us to be happy. The usual."

Lex nodded, "No specific words of wisdom related to this particular issue?"

Clark smiled sadly, "She's still in the dark on the details. Who wants to tell their mother about the tragic abduction of their semen?"

Lex sighed, "I suppose that might be a little uncomfortable."

Lex fingered the edge of Clark's shirt and pondered the commitment he had made to himself when he flushed the pills. He took a breath and spoke evenly, "By the way, there is a small compartment behind the medicine cabinet."

Clark closed his eyes, "And you've been using it to hide pills from me."

Lex nodded, "Yes."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yes."

Clark stood up then and caressed Lex's head gently, "From now on, no stealing my semen, spit, shit or snot."

"What about urine?"

"No."

Lex smirked, "What if I suffer a head injury and forget this discussion?"

"Lex..."

"Okay. I agree to your terms."

Clark's mouth spread into a tight-lipped smile. He stroked a finger down Lex's cheek and turned, disappearing into the bathroom. Lex heard a loud crunching noise.

Clark returned and sat back down on the bed. "You'll need to call someone to fix that wall."

Lex pulled Clark into his arms, "Thank you."

Chapter Eight

Alpha In His Blood

Lex sat uneasily at the Kent family table. It appeared that Jonathan did indeed want Lex to address the issues of intentions and status of their relationship, as well as the maintenance of Clark's privacy.

Lex struggled to keep his temper in check as Jonathan plowed through some insults and implications that were none too pretty. He knew that Jonathan harbored a belief that some day Clark would come to his senses and abandon this `foolish' and `dangerous' relationship.

Lex attempted to sidestep the issue of privacy by responding blandly, "Mr. Kent the only thing that has changed is Clark's residence. My efforts to provide him with a private life will not be reduced, my best spin-doctors continue to work to keep our relationship as quiet as possible."

Jonathan was not satisfied, "Lex, you can't tell me that everyone isn't quite aware of Clark's status in your life. You and Clark haven't exactly been discreet."

Martha sat the roast down at the table blinking pointedly at Jonathan, who ignored her.

Lex shrugged, "I maintain, Mr. Kent, I do my best to keep Clark's personal life private. I don't deny that people know of our relationship, but there have been no front page exposes about him."

Jonathan snorted, "Thank God for small favors."

Lex prickled at this, "It is no `small favor', Mr. Kent. The effort is quite time consuming and expensive. I spend a great deal of money to protect Clark."

"If you want to protect Clark, send him back to the dorms and end your relationship."

"Dad..." Clark's cut in, his voice edged with warning.

"I believe that I can better protect Clark when he's close to me." Lex responded evenly, ignoring Clark.

Jonathan glared at him from across the table, "Lex, you are the most dangerous part of Clark's life. One day his relationship with you is going to bite him in the ass." Jonathan took a swig from his beer.

Clark broke it off at that point, "Dad, stop it. Now."

"Fine, Clark." Jonathan narrowed his eyes at Lex. "We'll finish this after dinner."

Clark sighed and shook his head, glancing at his mom for support.

"Jonathan, let's not discuss this at all. It is their anniversary." Martha pronounced firmly.

Lex pondered his plate and wondered how he would choke down all the food Martha had dished onto it. Martha was a wonderful cook, but he was still feeling off from the last several weeks. Lex gingerly speared a steamed carrot with his fork.

"Lex, tell Mom about that run in you had with Marlon Brando in Europe." Clark grinned at him with encouragement.

Martha's head popped up, "Really, you met Brando?" She sighed, "I had a thing for Brando when I was a kid."

Lex swallowed his carrot and wiped his mouth carefully, "Yes, I met him, but I'd be surprised if anyone has a `thing' for him now."

"Tell her how you met him!" Clark chuckled.

Lex smiled at him, "Yes, well, I met him in the bathroom of the Ritz Paris."

Martha took a dainty bite of roast and gazed across at Lex with interest.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Jonathan commented snidely.

Martha shot her husband a look.

Lex decided to ignore the comment. "I was in a stall, minding my own business, as one usually does in a bathroom," he spared Jonathan a pointed glance at this, "when suddenly my stall door opened and Marlon Brando was standing there."

Clark guffawed and covered his mouth with his napkin.

Lex grinned at Clark. "He is a massive, giant man. He was clearly extremely drunk and actually had his hand on his zipper."

Jonathan muttered, "I knew this was the direction this story was going..."

Martha pursed her lips and gave a Jonathan a withering sidelong glance.

Lex pretended not to have heard, "It was obvious that he was outrageously intoxicated, to the point that he didn't even see me and it appeared that he was going to urinate on me. I must admit, I was startled to the point that I almost didn't act quickly enough."

Lex, enjoying the giddy anticipation on Clark's face, allowed a chuckle for his own story, "I finally stuck out my hand and introduced myself, `Mr. Brando, Lex Luthor. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance.' That seemed to get his attention. He took his hand away from his fly and shook my hand, muttered something about having to use the facilities and moved to the stall next to mine. It was a close call." Lex grinned, "Needless to say, I'll never look at `A Streetcar Named Desire' in quite the same way."

There was a moment of silence as Clark looked at his parents expectantly and Lex wondered if his story was perhaps a poor decision after all.

Jonathan laughed first. Lex suspected that it was a laugh full of regret for what might have been, but at least he laughed. Martha looked horrified but terribly amused. Finally she suddenly began giggling and couldn't seem to stop.

Lex noticed the way her gold-red hair shimmered in the light as her head shook with mirth. Jonathan began to laugh again too as he watched his wife gasp for air. Martha's giggle was contagious...soon Clark was chuckling hysterically.

Lex was pleased. He permitted himself a natural open smile. He had won the battle for this night. Maybe one day he would win this war.

Clark was relieved to pull out of the Kent driveway. The visit to his parents had been comparatively uneventful but when it came to his dad and Lex the potential for a major showdown was always just below the surface.

He turned his attention to Lex and listened to his digestive system processing dinner, appreciating the gurgles and squelching noises. He used his X-ray vision to check on the workings visually.

"Clark, why are you staring at me?" Lex asked.

"I was watching your digestion."

"I don't like you spying on my bodily functions.""Too bad. Maybe if you didn't pop pills you aren't supposed to take and if you ate regularly then I wouldn't feel compelled to monitor you." Clark looked at him with both brows raised in challenge.

"Bullshit, Clark. You just get off on looking at my insides."

"Yeah," Clark agreed softly.

Lex smirked, "You don't `monitor' other people do you?"

Clark shook his head, "Not on purpose, no."

Lex nodded, easing into a warm glow. Clark could see that Lex liked being the object of his undivided attention in a way that no else was capable of giving.

"Lex?"

"Yes?"

"Happy anniversary." Clark smiled sweetly, putting a hand on Lex's knee.

"Dinner with your parents? This is one I'll never forget, Clark."

Clark frowned, "Yeah, sorry about that."

Lex smiled and turned the wheel off the road towards the mansion. Lights shone in every window. Clark gazed up at it in surprise, "You have something planned," he murmured.

"Of course I do." Lex replied, "You doubted me?"

"Never." Clark grinned, "You know, except when it comes to the safety of my semen." Clark regretted the joke as soon as it was out of his mouth.

Lex's mouth narrowed and the warm glow seemed to chill and shrink, "Maybe you should be more careful with whom you trust your semen."

Clark removed his hand from Lex's knee, cleared his throat, and coughed a little, "Um, I was just kidding, Lex."

Lex ignored him and pulled into the garage. He pulled up the parking brake but didn't move to get out of the car. Clark waited patiently, he knew that Lex would begin it.

"Did you see the Joan of Arc film `The Messenger'?" Lex asked.

Clark sighed and leaned his head back against the headrest preparing for another one of Lex's convoluted and encrypted discussions. Sometimes it tired him that Lex had to script his emotional life in code in order to reveal it.

"No, Lex, of course not. I never have seen any of the movies or plays you mention in these lectures." Clark wished he had adjusted the timbre of his voice before saying that...or maybe just not said it at all.

"True." Lex was silent, pondering, "Well, you know about Joan of Arc, right?"

"Lex..."

"She never was one of my heroes." His tone was tight and even, measured in every nuance.

Clark knew this was his cue to ask why and momentarily he resented this role, "Why?"

Lex turned to face him, speaking slowly, "Because she lost, Clark. Martyrs always lose."

Clark sighed, "I'm not a martyr, Lex." Godfuckingdammit, Lex could be so fucking difficult.

Lex smirked and shook his head, dismissing Clark's assertion, "Then, why did you forgive me?"

"I didn't forgive you for you, Lex. I forgave you for me." Clark ran his hands through his hair in frustration, "Maybe if you would stop looking at me as your savior then you would see that I'm just as selfish as you are."

Lex flinched, "You are not my savior."

"Right. I'm not. You need to fucking believe that." Clark turned his body to face Lex, "Dammit, Lex...stop with this stupid belief that you somehow got lucky and tricked me into being with you."

Lex stared straight ahead, "You think I'm selfish? You think we're selfish?"

"Shit, I hoped we were past this..." Clark turned his head from Lex to gaze out the passenger window. He ran his eyes over the other cars parked in the garage. He had forgotten about the yellow Porsche...maybe he could convince Lex to let him use it. He pulled his mind back to the moment, turned back to Lex, "We are no more selfish than anyone else. I'm not pulling my dad on you here, Lex. Okay?"

Lex still just sat and stared at the steering wheel. The only evidence that he was even listening was the rhythmic clenching of his jaw.

Clark's mouth started babbling again, "Besides, I hope to God we are both really fucking selfish because that is the only thing that will keep this relationship from falling apart."

Lex's head snapped to the right and his eyes locked with Clark's. "When did you figure that out?"

"I don't know. Not long ago."

"Just now?"

"Yeah."

Lex nodded, moved to open the car door but stopped mid-motion.

"What?" Clark snapped.

Turning to meet Clark's eyes again, Lex's voice was distant, belying the importance of his words, "I only hope that you are selfish enough, Clark."

"I am, Lex. I know you aren't going to make this easy for me," Clark bit out with angrily. Lex looked quickly away with an expression that might have been shame. Clark continued, "But I can take it." He jerked his door open and got out of the Ferrari.

Lex opened his door as well and uncurled gracefully, peeling off the gloves and tossing them into the driver's seat. Clark had the advantage. Lex wasn't expecting it.

He rounded the car, advancing faster than Lex could react. Lex tried to hold his ground but had no defense when Clark shoved him hard against the car. Clark felt him recoil despite a valiant attempt not to look frightened.

Clark's face morphed into a hard, angular expression, radiating anger and determination. He held Lex hard against the vehicle, harder than necessary, hard enough to leave some bruises.

"See, Lex, I can have what I want. I will take it if I have to...stop telling yourself that I'm the victim here. Maybe you're the fucking victim, Lex." Clark shook him, squeezing just a little harder.

Lex gasped. As Clark glared into Lex's eyes, they swirled into a liquid heat. Lex rasped, "God, Clark...this is...so...fucking hot."

Clark stared, felt Lex move against him. He couldn't believe this...Lex was turned on. He had expected fear maybe, anger definitely, but Lex bucking into his leg? No.

Clark fought laughter but couldn't resist it. It broke the tension of the moment and Clark knew that this discussion was over. For now.

"Maybe you're into being dominated after all, Lex." Clark whispered releasing his grip on Lex.

Lex licked his lips, staring at Clark lustfully. "Maybe I am...Who knew?"

Chaper Nine

Gender Nectar

Clark grasped Lex's arms and shoved him roughly through the entry to the bedroom. Lex kept his balance but Clark was on him instantly, pushing him onto the bed.

"We're doing this my way." Clark's voice was coarse, commanding.

Lex nodded silently, his eyes full of fear-laced excitement.

"Stay here." Clark ordered firmly. Lex scooted back on the bed, his head on the pillows and his shoed feet marking the coverlet.

Clark raised a brow at the shoes. Lex rasped, "Should I take them off?"

Shaking his head sharply, Clark commanded, "No. Stay here. Don't move."

Clark turned his back on Lex and strode toward the bathroom. Shutting the door behind him, Clark studied himself in the mirror. Admiring the gravity of his expression and the intensity of his gaze, he thought about the show he was going to put on and knew that it had to be perfect.

Finding the tube he was searching for in the second drawer, Clark took a long bracing look at himself and whispered encouragement to his reflection, "You can do this."

Striding back into the bedroom, he found Lex as he had left him. His bald head stark against the blue pillows and his dark magenta shirt half-unbuttoned.

"What took so long?" Lex asked.

Clark tossed the tube on the bed and commanded, "Don't ask questions. I'll tell you what we're doing when the time comes." Clark was pleased with the timbre of his voice, harsh, deep, low.

"You aren't playing around," Lex looked at him bewildered and licked his lips nervously. "You're serious, Clark?"

Clark straddled Lex's hips. He leaned forward, smirk on his lips, eyes locked onto Lex's and wrapped a strong hand gently around the white throat, "Are you frightened?"

Lex's eyes were wide and intense, "No." Clark's hand tightened minutely. "A little," Lex revised.

"Are you turned on?"

"God...fuck, yeah."

Clark turned his grip into a caress, running his thumb over Lex's jugular in soothing strokes. "I'll try not to hurt you."

Lex nodded, swallowing hard.

Clark released Lex's throat, grasped the edges of the half-unbuttoned shirt and ripped it off. Lex flinched but didn't gasp or move. Next Clark removed Lex's belt and watch, throwing them on the floor by the bed. Crawling down Lex's body he removed the shoes and socks, dropping them to the carpet below. The pants ripped easily beneath his hands and peeled off.

Clark stood up to admire his work. Lex lay naked, white skin reflecting the hue of the blue coverlet, swollen cock lying stiff against his stomach. Clark removed his own clothes next, not using his speed. He kept his focus on Lex who watched in wide-eyed silence.

Approaching the bed, he again straddled Lex's thighs. He gritted his teeth, stroking his hands over the soft skin of Lex's neck and chest roughly. Lex closed his eyes and submitted to the petting. The silky slide of skin under his fingertips and palms was less hard, less primal than he really needed.

As Clark's fingers traced the blue, throbbing line of the jugular, Lex moved his hands onto Clark's thighs. Clark growled, a noise he wasn't sure he'd ever made before, "Don't touch me." Lex seemed to whimper as he obeyed.

Clark grasped Lex's chin harshly and twisted his head to the side with no gentleness. Burying his face in the exposed neck, taking in great draughts of Lex's scent, he reveled in the rushing of blood and the deep thud of Lex's heart. It was the sound of Lex's life beating beneath him, exposed only to him, heard only by him. He brushed his lips on the throbbing pulse, licked a line over the blue. Lex quivered under him.

Clark needed more. He pressed a sucking kiss to the tender skin, and then bit down firmly. Lex cried out. Clark bit harder, just enough to almost break the skin. Lex squirmed beneath him, making sounds close to agony. Clark pulled back and examined the mark. No blood, there would be no scar.

He licked the bite mark gently as an apology before wrenching Lex's head to expose the other side of his neck. He again breathed in Lex's scent, licked along the blue vein, admiring the sound of the pulse, the heart, the life, before biting cruelly into the unblemished throat. Lex writhed beneath him, rasping, "Clark! Too hard!" Clark pulled back. Again, precision pressure...no blood. He licked it tenderly.

"It wasn't too hard, Lex," he muttered darkly.

Lex's breathing was ragged and his heart was beating out of control. Clark could feel Lex's cock pressing hot and hard against his abdomen as he leaned over to reach his throat. Clark looked into Lex's eyes, liquid with lust, reflecting shock and something close to fear. Clark's eyes followed the lines of Lex's shoulders down to his hands, which were balled into the coverlet with a mixture of pain and arousal.

Clark felt his act mutating into reality. Lex wasn't going to stop him. Clark was going to take Lex's control, rip it from him totally, leaving Lex open, bare and vulnerable

Clark again moved into the neck. Lex whimpered. The warm scents lifting from Lex filled his lungs. It seemed these scents, oatmeal and vanilla and mild spicy warmth, could seep into him and fill any holes, any gaps if he could get enough of it. His fingers found another white, untouched spot. Clark sank his teeth in again, tensing as Lex's body shuddered and a high-pitched whine escaped his throat. Clark released the bite and licked lightly at the red symmetrical indentations.

Lex was rocking up into him, slicking pre-come onto Clark's stomach with every subtle buck. Clark recognized this feeling, was intimately familiar with it...it was the feeling of Lex trying to take control. Clark sat up abruptly, snarling, "I told you not to move." His hand grasped Lex's hip and forced it into stillness with ease.

Lex gasped, "You're hurting me." It was a statement spoken with wonder, not a request to stop.

"I told you I would try not to...I didn't say that I wouldn't."

With those ominous words, Clark reached for the tube on the bed and squeezed an ample amount of the gel into his hand. Lex's eyes widened and he looked down at Clark's hard, blood-filled cock. The balled hands convulsed in the coverlet and Clark saw naked fear in Lex's eyes. In an instant his strategy was revised, this was about control not rape.

Clark looked down at Lex. "You are going to do exactly what I tell you to do. Nothing more. Nothing less."

Lex swallowed hard and nodded; a look of shame crossing his face as his body began to tremble with fear.

Clark grasped Lex's cock, stroking it until it was slick. Lex looked momentarily confused until Clark positioned himself over Lex's hips. Clark enjoyed the burn as the tight muscle of his entrance stretched taunt to let the thick cock head enter. Lex gritted his teeth as Clark bypassed his favorite slow, prepared entry for a tight, harsh, rough passage. Clark was absorbed in watching his face twisting. Lex's mouth opened and his eyebrows drew down in an exquisite grimace, as he rode out the convulsions of Clark's ass. "Too fucking tight." Lex gasped, hands again gripping the coverlet in pain.

Clark pressed on until Lex was balls deep in his ass. "It isn't too tight, Lex."

Lex was gritting his teeth and moaning, head tossing back and forth on the pillow. Clark felt full, the burn had already passed, but he knew that the lack of preparation had made the entry painful for Lex. He waited for his body to adjust to the sheer size of Lex's cock which was already twitching in him. He pressed harder on Lex's hip as he struggled to buck beneath him.

Clark began to move, slowly rising and falling, keeping one hand locked on Lex's hip, holding him in place. Lex reached to stroke Clark in rhythm. Batting the hand away, Clark grasped both of Lex's wrists in one hand and trapped them over his head. The other hand he used to continue to ground Lex's straining hips.

"Please, Clark." Lex begged prettily, muscles tense and fighting for motion.

Clark ignored him and began to move again in a rhythm that he knew would make Lex come. He growled, "Don't come until I tell you to, Lex."

Lex moaned, his feet skidding across the coverlet as his body fought for some measure of control.

Knowing that his own sounds of ecstasy would make Lex crazy, Clark shifted so that Lex's cock brushed his prostate with nearly every stroke. Clark twisted and moaned and mewled as he fucked himself with Lex's cock. He made sure to make the sounds Lex liked best, the high pitched squeak, the low guttoral moan, the pants tinged with sobs.

He shifted again to stop the sensation as he felt his orgasm approaching, reining himself in before he lost control. Lex was gazing up at him like something very lost and wild. His face crashing through pleasure after pleasure. Desperation was welling in the liquid depths and the muscles of his entire body were twitching with the struggle to stave off orgasm. Clark whispered, "Don't come, Lex."

Lex's face crumbled at Clark's command in the agony of fighting his body. He looked as if he might break. Clark kept up the steady rocking. Lex was writhing beneath him, struggling hard, but Clark simply shifted to provide a smoother glide. Lex cried out with sobs edging his voice. "Please, Clark! God, let me move...fuck!"

"Don't come, Lex." Clark growled again. Watching Lex's face grow panicked, he picked up the pace. Any moment now...yes.

"Please..." Lex whined pathetically, helplessly, before his eyes rolled into his head and he came hard. His entire body convulsed with the force of it. Clark watched as Lex's expression shattered, control irrevocably lost.

Clark released Lex's hip and grasped his cock. He shifted to hit his prostate again as he rode Lex still pulsing inside of him. Gazing down at the look of absolute vulnerability on Lex's face, he flew over the edge. The rush slammed through him and he squeezed his eyes shut. Staring into the black tinged with blue, he bit back the name on his lips, keeping control even to the end.

After several moments, Clark released Lex's wrists and lifted off the softening cock. Lex pulled him into the first kiss of the evening. Tongue probing gently, lips devout on his mouth, Lex drew Clark up next to him.

Searching Lex's eyes, Clark could see that the point had been taken, the earlier argument conceded and Clark was the victor.

Chapter Ten

Sauce Without Blame

Several hours later, Lex adjusted the water in the shower making it slightly cooler. Clark had left it a little too hot, but luckily not scalding. He examined the bruises that were blooming on his arms in the shape of Clark's hands. Just looking at them was making him hard again.

His knees felt a little weak at the memory of the look on Clark's face while they had fucked, so intense, in control, unwavering, doing whatever he wanted. Lex shuddered...and Clark could do...a lot...if he wanted. Clark had rendered him helpless, had removed every last vestige of control. And Lex had liked it...had trusted it.

"Clark!" He called over the rushing water.

"Yeah?" Clark answered from the closet.

"Come here."

"I just got out!" Clark called back.

"I didn't say `Get in'."

The opaque shower door opened and Clark's head peeked inside. The questioning expression turned to a grin when he saw the state of Lex's cock.

"We just finished, Lex."

"I know. I didn't call you to get me off again." Lex chuckled.

"Why not?" Clark appeared disappointed.

Lex shook his head, soaping up, "I wasn't intending to employ reverse psychology, Clark. But if you want to help me out, feel free."

Clark's hand went to the buttons on his recently donned shirt. Lex felt a shot of lust hit his already hard cock. The soap popped out of his tightened grip, "You had better not be teasing, Clark."

Clark grinned evilly. "Teasing is fun."

Lex clenched his jaw and closed his eyes in frustration, certain that Clark was not going to make good on his offer. He opened his eyes in relief when he felt a hand graze his hip. Clark, naked again, dropped to his knees and sat back on his haunches. The water pelted him, soaking his hair and running in rivulets down his chest and arms. Lex closed his eyes against the beauty of beads of water in Clark's lashes and the glow of his steam-flushed cheeks.

"Did you want to ask me something, Lex?" Clark asked innocently.

"Later," Lex bit out.

"Nope. Ask me now and then I'll take care of you."

Lex couldn't believe he'd ever been so foolish as to teach Clark how to tease. "This is fucked up, Clark."

"I'm a pervert. I like fucked up."

Lex cast about for something to ask that wouldn't take long to answer, "What do you want for breakfast?"

Clark laughed, "Good try. What was the real question?"

Lex reached down and stroked his cock to try to take the edge off. He kept his eyes closed so that he wouldn't have to see Clark naked and beautiful kneeling before him.

"I wanted to know when you wanted to make a strategy."

"A strategy?"

"For our relationship"

There was silence and then Lex was shocked to hear Clark laughing. It was that crazy, open, kid laughter Lex had heard that day with Keith. Lex opened his eyes and Clark was bent over with his forehead on the shower floor convulsing with laughter.

"What? I'm serious." Lex couldn't help but grin though, thrilled to hear that sound again.

Clark sat back up, hiccuping back more laughter. His eyes were glowing as he looked up at Lex, "Okay, let's discuss it now, before I blow you."

Lex shifted, groaned, stroking his cock again. "Blow me first."

"No." Clark laughed again. "Here's my strategy, Lex. Are you ready?"

Lex looked down into Clark's mischievous eyes, "Fuck you."

"My strategy is four fold. First, it is to love you because you're Lex. That's easy. Second, it is to forgive you because I want to be with you. And sometimes that is easy too, but not always." Clark grinned, "Third, to accept that you are always going to do things that piss me off and, fourth, to trust that I can deal with whatever those things might be."

"That's it?"

"That's it. Love, forgiveness, acceptance, trust." Clark looked up at him with eyes full of love. "Now tell me your strategy."

Lex frowned, muttered, "I don't have one yet."

Clark nodded and smiled fondly. "Well, I would advise that you consider adopting mine. I think it works."

Lex nodded his head, stroking his cock again. "I'll consider it."

"Be sure to make a diagram of it tomorrow, okay? Complete with logarithms and quarks," Clark wise-cracked.

"Logarithms and quarks? Are you taking science and math classes, Clark? Because apparently you need help in that area." Lex rolled his eyes.

"That's why I'm going to be a journalist...so that I don't really have to know anything at all." Clark brushed Lex's hand away and gripped his cock.

"Oh, so you have been listening to my anti-journalism position."

"Shut up, Lex and let me blow you."

Chapter Eleven

Fierce Calm

Clark pulled on his slacks and blue silk shirt. He glanced over at Lex who was already finished dressing and seemed a little distant, but in that sated way he always was after sex.

"What do you have planned, Lex?" Clark asked as he rummaged in the overnight bag, pulling out a messily wrapped box with a smashed bow.

Lex looked up from frowning at the box in Clark's hands and captured his eyes, replying, "It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you beforehand, now would it?"

"Ah, so you've discovered you can fly, huh?" Clark winked at him.

Lex chuckled, "Sure, Clark."

Clark smiled happily, "Cool. Come on...I'm ready."

Lex led the way as Clark followed down the hallway and into the library. Clark looked around the room and was gratified to see that so little had changed. The employees who tended to the mansion in between visits kept everything exactly the same.

The lights were not bright but not low, and gentle music had seemed to cue as they walked into the room. Clark couldn't determine the composer but he listened with appreciation because he knew that Lex had chosen this music specifically for whatever he had planned.

Lex indicated the leather couch with one hand. Clark sat down with obediently. Lex moved across the room to his old desk. Clark saw the medium sized box sitting there, carefully wrapped in purple paper. A bottle of wine and two glasses were also on the desk. "Wine, Clark?" Lex asked.

"After the presents, maybe."

Lex uncorked the bottle and poured a glass for himself and then returned to the couch with the box.

He perched next to Clark, put the box behind his back and eyed the sloppy looking package in Clark's hands, "You didn't need to buy me anything...I hope you didn't use the money from your grandparents."

Clark turned the gift over and over, "I know, Lex. And I didn't spend any of my money on this."

Lex's smile was teasing, "So you put my present on the credit card that I pay?"

Clark grinned, "No, you ass. I got it for free."

Lex looked perplexed. "Okay....well, I want to open my present first," he stated, setting his wine glass carefully on the floor next to his feet.

Clark gripped the box a little tighter, denting an edge, and then apprehensively handed it over to Lex, "I hope you like it."

Lex shifted so that he could better see Clark's face, "I'm sure I will."

Clark enjoyed watching Lex measure the weight of the box and shake it experimentally. Lex's brows furrowed, looking up at Clark in amusement and playful confusion. Then he carefully, neatly, began unwrapping the already half-demolished paper. Once the box was revealed he opened the top and peered inside.

He reached in and pulled out a polished rock the size of his palm. In fact, it fit perfectly in his palm Clark noticed, pleased. Lex weighed the rock in his hand, looking at it in confusion.

"Turn it over." Clark murmured, "You opened the box upside down."

Lex turned the rock over and saw that a heart had been scorched into the surface. Clark cleared his throat, "I had planned on burning a nice quote into it but, um, I slipped. So, then I thought I'd make it into your initials...but I messed that up too. So I had to morph it into something and..."

"You did this with the heat vision?" Lex asked softly, passing it from hand to hand.

"Yeah. And the rock, it's, um, from the river..." Clark shifted uncomfortably. Giving gifts always made him feel silly.

Lex nodded, "Yes. I had guessed that." With a long, pale finger Lex traced the outline of the heart. Clark was uncomfortable with Lex's silent study of the rock. He hadn't expected such absorption in the gift.

"I don't know what you'll do with it."

Lex looked up at him then. "I know exactly what I'm going to do with it."

"You do? What?"

Lex smiled, "You'll see..." Lex paused, momentarily transported in thought, "Do you think you could make two more just like this?"

Clark shrugged, "Sure...why?"

"Do it and then I'll tell you." Lex replied looking self-conscious.

"Alright. How soon?"

"There is no rush." Lex traced the heart again and then replaced the rock in the box. He looked up, solemn, "Thanks, babe."

Clark's smile brightened at the name, "You're welcome. I'm glad you like it."

"I do." Lex replied, leaning in and kissing Clark gently, pulling back he whispered, "It means a lot."

"Now for my gift..." Clark grinned.

Lex smiled and reached behind him for the purple wrapped box. He hesitated before handing it over. Clark thought Lex looked like he might want to take it back, but he apparently settled for picking up his wine again.

Clark weighed it in his hand and shook it a little for show, "It's a book," he announced with confidence.

Lex smiled nervously, "Yes, it is a book."

Clark grinned, "What, Neitzche again? Or maybe, um, the Tao of Pooh?"

Lex chuckled, "The Tao of Pooh? No, I'm afraid not. I hope you aren't disappointed."

Clark ripped the paper off and opened the box. His smile disappeared entirely as he stared down into the box. This was not what he was expecting. This was...a photo album.

Lex looked on nervously and sipped his wine. "Your mother helped me with it."

Clark pulled the leather photo album out of the box and knocked the box and wrapping paper onto the floor. The cover was embossed with the dates 2001-2006. He couldn't look at Lex as he fought back the embarrassing wave of emotion that was filling his eyes.

"Aren't you going to look at it?" Lex asked anxiously.

Clark opened the album and scrawled on the fist page in Lex's spiking handwriting were the words, "For Clark on our 4^th Anniversary. Lex"

Shit. Clark was really going to lose his shit if he didn't start breathing now. He took in a deep and definitely shuddering breath.

Lex shifted beside him, "Clark?"

"This is...really..." Clark's voice cracked, "um, unexpected."

"Look at the pictures." Lex's voice was low, warm.

Clark turned to the first photo. A fuzzy black and white screen capture from a security tape, apparently. It was of Clark and Lex at the museum gala from Clark's freshman year in high school. Just after they had met, the night Victoria Hardwick had appeared.

"As far as I know, that is the first picture of the two of us together," Lex commented softly. "I acquired it in a rather strange way."

Clark nodded, overwhelmed. He would ask about it later.

He flipped to the next picture. It was taken at the Kent farm. Lex was sitting on the front porch steps next to Clark, shucking corn. Another picture from when they were still just friends...if they had ever been just friends. "Your mom gave me that one. I had forgotten about that." Lex sipped his wine and tapped the picture, "I remember you spent the whole time talking about Lana...I wanted to kill her."

Clark managed a chuckle. He turned to the next picture.

This one was taken after he and Lex were already together. Lex was sitting on the Kent's couch with Clark on the floor beside him; Clark's head was resting on Lex's knee. Jonathan could be seen in the background glowering at them.

Lex laughed, "Look at your dad..."

But Clark was looking at the two of them, remembering the passion he felt then. Remembering the way it had actually hurt to have to restrain from touching Lex, the little ways he would sneak in physical contact. "Did my mom give you this one too?"

"Yes."

The next picture was taken the following year at Clark's 17^th birthday party. Clark and Lex were standing beside the cake. Clark's arm tossed around Lex's shoulders grinning broadly, Lex looking uncomfortable. Clark ran his finger over Lex's form in the photo. The smile was so forced and not real, the way Lex used to be.

He flipped to the next picture, one he hadn't known existed. It was a black and white of Lex and Clark in a Metropolis club. Both of them were obviously drunk and Clark was leaning into Lex while Lex caressed his hair. It looked as though they had just kissed.

Lex chuckled, "That's a blackmail picture I kept. We look like we were having fun."

"Blackmail picture?" Clark asked softly.

"Yes, I used to get those in the early days. Most of them were terrible or too graphic, but this one was good...so I kept it." Lex sipped more wine and slipped an arm around Clark's waist.

The lump in Clark's throat returned.

The next several pictures were also from his mom. Various shots of Christmas, New Year's Eve and the occasional candid. All the photos featured Clark and Lex, but there was an excellent one with Clark, Lex, Chloe, Lana and Pete from the summer after graduation.

Third from the end Clark hit upon a picture that shattered his triumph over the earlier tears. Disney World. The photo showed Lex in linen and Clark in jeans and a new shirt, both of them glowing, radiant. It had been taken on the balcony of their hotel suite. Clark was standing behind Lex with arms wrapped around his chest. Lex's hands were in his pockets as he leaned into Clark.

Lex sat his now empty glass on the floor. "You got a maid to take that picture, remember? She was a surprisingly good photographer..." Lex smiled at the memory. "I wasn't sure we would even be in the frame since she couldn't speak English...what did we decide? That she was Mandarin or something?"

Clark wasn't answering. This was the memory that he came back to when times got rough, captured right here on film. This was the one that anchored him. It was taking an inordinate amount of effort not to cry. This was not what he had expected at all.

The last three pictures were several that had been taken over the last year. One of Clark and Lex in jeans moving boxes into Clark's dorm room and two from Christmas at the Kents. Clark closed the album in silence.

Lex looked at him expectantly, "Was this okay?"

"Lex..." Clark couldn't find the words, "This was..."

"More than okay?" Lex supplied.

Clark smiled, grateful for the help, "Yes, much more than okay."

"Thank you, Clark," Lex whispered softly.

"Oh, right...thank you, Lex." Clark looked into his eyes. Lex laughed, "I wasn't telling you to thank me, Clark. I was thanking you."

Clark shrugged, "You already thanked me. I'll make two more, soon."

Lex shook his head, saying seriously, "No. Thank you for giving me this," Lex indicated the photo album, "...four years I don't want to forget."

Clark gritted his teeth, "Fuck, Lex. Are you trying to kill me?" Clark gasped around the lump in his throat choking him.

"No."

Clark sat the photo album down gently on the floor and turned to Lex. He closed the distance between them quickly. Pulling him into an embrace that would be impossible to escape even if Lex wanted to, Clark whispered, "I really fucking love you, you know..."

Lex, breathing shallowly from the pressure of Clark's arms on his lungs, managed, "Yes. I know."

Epilogue

Lex was home late. Meetings at LexCorp had run over and he was tired. Sometimes he wondered if taking over the world by 30 would be worth it. Probably not, but still, he planned to do it.

The apartment was empty. Clark was gone for a week in Smallville with his parents. He was due back the next day and his summer internship at the Metropolis Journal started the next week.

He pressed the speaker-phone and dialed the code for voice mail. Three new messages. Lex hoped that none of them were from his father. He'd been blessedly free of phone calls from him for nearly two weeks. It had almost been too good to be true.

And it was. "Lex. This is your father. You'll be having dinner tomorrow night at the Mia Playa with Duchess Mariana's daughter. Play nice, son." Lex shook his head in disbelief. He pressed a few numbers to forward the message to Mitch at the office. "Mitch, give the Duchess's daughter my regrets. I won't be able to join her for dinner tomorrow. Make up whatever you want. Hell, tell her I have the bubonic plague."

The second message was from Pete, "Clark, man. Hey. Chloe's here with me and we were just talking about you. You'd think you could call an old friend or two once in awhile. We're getting an apartment together. As friends. And not like you and Lex were `friends'. Clark, man, nevermind...our new number will be 333-555-6757 starting on the fifth of June. You can still reach Chloe on her cell...Bye...Chloe says bye, too."

The third message was from Clark, "Hey Lex. It's me. Only one more day and I'll be home. Mom doesn't like me calling it home...but it is, you know. I helped Dad with the fence today, got it all done. Um...let's see, Mom made apple pie for dessert, it was good. I thought of you and how much you like it. Next time I think I'm just going to run or fly back and forth between home and the farm because this sucks...see I could've brought you apple pie tonight. Well, I love you. Bye."

Lex smiled warmly and whispered "I love you too," as he clicked off the speaker-phone. It was okay to say it because no one would hear him anyway.

"Want some pie?"

Lex startled, "Fuck! Clark!"

Lex was instantly enveloped in a very snuggly Clark, who immediately began sniffing at his neck. "I didn't want to wait anymore to see you."

Lex turned his head to give Clark better access. "Clark, it's only been 6 days."

"I know you missed me."

Lex smirked, "How do you know? Maybe I liked having the place to myself."

Clark was adamant, "No way. You missed me. You said the magic words...I heard you."

"No I didn't."

Clark chuckled, whispering into his neck, "Want some pie?"

"Your mom's apple pie?"

Clark pulled back, rolled his eyes mockingly, "No, Lex, I decided to pick up some frozen pie at the grocery store on my way over instead of bringing you my mom's pie..."

Lex punched lightly Clark in the gut. "Yes, I'd like some pie."

"Before or after the sex?"

"During."

Clark flashed his brilliant grin. "Good call."