(no subject)
Series:Out
Rating: PG 13
Paring: Lex/other, Clark/Lex
Summary: Slash, Clex: FT, angst
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
“Chloe, I’ve checked the Beanery, the Torch, Pete’s, Lana’s. Where else does Clark hang out?”
“Have you checked the farm?” Chloe snarked as she yawned, sitting up in a bed to stare at Lex, who was anxiously watching her over her father’s shoulder.
“Chloe, don’t f…,” Gabe’s warning grumble tempered Lex’s retort, “mess around here. This is serious. No one’s heard from him since two o’clock.”
Ever sharp, Chloe jumped on his last comment, “Why was Clark calling you at two am?”
“You’ve spoken to Clark, then?”
Gabe looked away from the unabashed relief and hope in Lex’s expression - made somewhat uncomfortable by Lex’s obvious feelings for his daughter’s friend… or more precisely, for the friend that his daughter had a crush on. He had long recognized that Lex and Clark enjoyed a close friendship, but had believed that it was largely based on equal amounts of novelty, gratitude, and hero worship on both parts. But, Lex’s harried state and panicky concern when he showed up on the Sullivan’s doorstep searching for Clark lead Gabe to believe that, at least on one side, there was more going on than friendship.
“Nah, I didn’t have to.” Chloe answered in blithe annoyance as she dragged a t-shirt out of her bedside table and pulled it on over her head.
“Then, how did you know?” Lex asked.
“Not getting much sleep, are you, Lex? What’s wrong? Conscience getting to you?”
Gabe hissed sharply, “Chloe, mind your manners!”
“It’s all right, Gabe. She’s right. I didn’t happen to get any sleep last night, and less than an hour the night before. But, I would still like to know how she knew that Clark was calling me at 2:00 a.m.”
The look that Chloe flashed her father at Lex’s uncharacteristic admission was a mix between curiosity and concern. But, he shook his head in response to her unspoken question; no, it wasn’t anything to do with business that he knew of.
With, a shrug, she wrapped her blanket around her hips tying it in a loose knot on her hip, and walked over to her closet- smirking as they finally focused on the fact that she was getting dressed and turned away.
“It was a pretty simple guess, Lex.” Chloe explained as she dug out the cargo pant’s that she’d picked at the army navy store. If Clark was such a mental funk that he was hiding out from his friends (not something that he often did, but it had happened before) she was probably going to need the sturdiest gear she could find - preferably with multiple large pockets.
“He was at the torch until 4:30 yesterday. He didn’t call me, and you’re still walking on eggshells around his father, so I know you didn’t call him.”
“He might have called Pete or Lana?” Lex suggested.
“Get real, Lex.” Chloe answered snidely at his dense response. “Pete isn’t worth crap after midnight, and even Clark isn’t masochistic enough to disturb Lana’s beauty sleep.” Her biting comment earned a chuckle and an appreciative smile before she pinned him with and uncompromising stare - asking again, “So, why was he calling that late?”
Lex quickly paled to an astonishingly ghostly pallor, as he thought of the past two days’ events.
“Lex, what did you do?” she asked in a voice softened with concern.
“I ended our friendship yesterday… without telling him why.” Lex confessed.
“Oh, smooth move, Ex-Lax.” Chloe immediately radiated an angry intensity that caused even her father to retreat as she spun on them and pushed by to grab her hiking boots and dig violently through a middle drawer for her winter socks. This was definitely looking like it was heading into the boonies. “I wasn’t aware you had so many friends that you could throw Clark away without thinking.” Chloe continued in a scathing tone that immediately put Lex on the defensive.
“You may not be able to understand this, Chloe. But, I was doing it for his protection.” Lex answered equally angry with her tone when she knew nothing of the circumstances.
Making a quick decision, Lex turned to her father, explaining, “Gabe, an article is coming out today, in a national magazine, featuring a deathbed interview of a former lover that exposes in lurid detail the circumstances of a torrid fling that we had eight years ago.”
“Eig-eight years ago? But… that would have made you…”Gabe paused as he considered the implications.
“Fourteen?” Chloe asked with wide eyes.
“Yes, it ended just before my fourteenth birthday, when he tried to blackmail my father. But, that is not what will matter here or in Metropolis. No, after they read that it was a homosexual affair and he died of aids, that’s all they will need to justify ostracizing anyone associated with me.” Turning back to Chloe, Lex finished, “I didn’t want Clark to go through that.”
“Dad, can we have a minute?” Chloe asked earnestly.
Gabe was ready to immediately reject the idea of leaving Lex in his daughter’s room until he got over his shock at Lex’s revelation and remember why Lex was there in the first place. Abruptly nodding, Gabe left them alone to plan how he would handle the fall out.
Tucking her laces into the tops of her boots, she sat on the bed staring at him quizzically. The look in her eyes had softened and her voice had taken on a compassionate tone, Chloe’s words were no less accusatory: “Lex, how blind are you? Why do you think Clark was picked as the scarecrow in the first place? Clark’s been going through that kind of crap since before Dad and I moved here. If anything, your friendship has been giving him some protection because so many parents work for you.”
Noticing Lex’s confusion, Chloe paused to explain. “Calling Clark a fag or painting it on his locker doesn’t seem like such a smart idea when a word from you could put their parents out of work.”
“Clark would never ask for that.” Lex protested, “He’s never even said anything… not a single word, ever, about being harassed.”
“No, of course, he wouldn’t.” Chloe agreed. “He’s not built that way.” She studied him quietly for several moments, until he had to fight not to straighten his tie and jacket nervously.
“You really don’t get how bad your screw up was, do you?” She asked gently.
Unfamiliar with being challenged by anyone in the same sedate tones that his mother used to use, Lex was more than a little stunned. Thankfully, Chloe didn’t wait for an answer that he wasn’t sure he could give.
“Lex, even if half the town didn’t already think that Clark is “as queer as a three dollar bill.” Chloe paused to emphasize the insulting phrase with finger quotes. “Clark would still want to support you and help you ride out the criticism. And, not only because it’s just what friends do.” She finished significantly.
“Chloe, what are you saying?”
“Geez, you really aren’t in top form, are you?”
“Chloe, just tell me.”
“Christ, Lex, I don't know how you can't see it, but he’s in love with you.”
Rating: PG 13
Paring: Lex/other, Clark/Lex
Summary: Slash, Clex: FT, angst
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
“Chloe, I’ve checked the Beanery, the Torch, Pete’s, Lana’s. Where else does Clark hang out?”
“Have you checked the farm?” Chloe snarked as she yawned, sitting up in a bed to stare at Lex, who was anxiously watching her over her father’s shoulder.
“Chloe, don’t f…,” Gabe’s warning grumble tempered Lex’s retort, “mess around here. This is serious. No one’s heard from him since two o’clock.”
Ever sharp, Chloe jumped on his last comment, “Why was Clark calling you at two am?”
“You’ve spoken to Clark, then?”
Gabe looked away from the unabashed relief and hope in Lex’s expression - made somewhat uncomfortable by Lex’s obvious feelings for his daughter’s friend… or more precisely, for the friend that his daughter had a crush on. He had long recognized that Lex and Clark enjoyed a close friendship, but had believed that it was largely based on equal amounts of novelty, gratitude, and hero worship on both parts. But, Lex’s harried state and panicky concern when he showed up on the Sullivan’s doorstep searching for Clark lead Gabe to believe that, at least on one side, there was more going on than friendship.
“Nah, I didn’t have to.” Chloe answered in blithe annoyance as she dragged a t-shirt out of her bedside table and pulled it on over her head.
“Then, how did you know?” Lex asked.
“Not getting much sleep, are you, Lex? What’s wrong? Conscience getting to you?”
Gabe hissed sharply, “Chloe, mind your manners!”
“It’s all right, Gabe. She’s right. I didn’t happen to get any sleep last night, and less than an hour the night before. But, I would still like to know how she knew that Clark was calling me at 2:00 a.m.”
The look that Chloe flashed her father at Lex’s uncharacteristic admission was a mix between curiosity and concern. But, he shook his head in response to her unspoken question; no, it wasn’t anything to do with business that he knew of.
With, a shrug, she wrapped her blanket around her hips tying it in a loose knot on her hip, and walked over to her closet- smirking as they finally focused on the fact that she was getting dressed and turned away.
“It was a pretty simple guess, Lex.” Chloe explained as she dug out the cargo pant’s that she’d picked at the army navy store. If Clark was such a mental funk that he was hiding out from his friends (not something that he often did, but it had happened before) she was probably going to need the sturdiest gear she could find - preferably with multiple large pockets.
“He was at the torch until 4:30 yesterday. He didn’t call me, and you’re still walking on eggshells around his father, so I know you didn’t call him.”
“He might have called Pete or Lana?” Lex suggested.
“Get real, Lex.” Chloe answered snidely at his dense response. “Pete isn’t worth crap after midnight, and even Clark isn’t masochistic enough to disturb Lana’s beauty sleep.” Her biting comment earned a chuckle and an appreciative smile before she pinned him with and uncompromising stare - asking again, “So, why was he calling that late?”
Lex quickly paled to an astonishingly ghostly pallor, as he thought of the past two days’ events.
“Lex, what did you do?” she asked in a voice softened with concern.
“I ended our friendship yesterday… without telling him why.” Lex confessed.
“Oh, smooth move, Ex-Lax.” Chloe immediately radiated an angry intensity that caused even her father to retreat as she spun on them and pushed by to grab her hiking boots and dig violently through a middle drawer for her winter socks. This was definitely looking like it was heading into the boonies. “I wasn’t aware you had so many friends that you could throw Clark away without thinking.” Chloe continued in a scathing tone that immediately put Lex on the defensive.
“You may not be able to understand this, Chloe. But, I was doing it for his protection.” Lex answered equally angry with her tone when she knew nothing of the circumstances.
Making a quick decision, Lex turned to her father, explaining, “Gabe, an article is coming out today, in a national magazine, featuring a deathbed interview of a former lover that exposes in lurid detail the circumstances of a torrid fling that we had eight years ago.”
“Eig-eight years ago? But… that would have made you…”Gabe paused as he considered the implications.
“Fourteen?” Chloe asked with wide eyes.
“Yes, it ended just before my fourteenth birthday, when he tried to blackmail my father. But, that is not what will matter here or in Metropolis. No, after they read that it was a homosexual affair and he died of aids, that’s all they will need to justify ostracizing anyone associated with me.” Turning back to Chloe, Lex finished, “I didn’t want Clark to go through that.”
“Dad, can we have a minute?” Chloe asked earnestly.
Gabe was ready to immediately reject the idea of leaving Lex in his daughter’s room until he got over his shock at Lex’s revelation and remember why Lex was there in the first place. Abruptly nodding, Gabe left them alone to plan how he would handle the fall out.
Tucking her laces into the tops of her boots, she sat on the bed staring at him quizzically. The look in her eyes had softened and her voice had taken on a compassionate tone, Chloe’s words were no less accusatory: “Lex, how blind are you? Why do you think Clark was picked as the scarecrow in the first place? Clark’s been going through that kind of crap since before Dad and I moved here. If anything, your friendship has been giving him some protection because so many parents work for you.”
Noticing Lex’s confusion, Chloe paused to explain. “Calling Clark a fag or painting it on his locker doesn’t seem like such a smart idea when a word from you could put their parents out of work.”
“Clark would never ask for that.” Lex protested, “He’s never even said anything… not a single word, ever, about being harassed.”
“No, of course, he wouldn’t.” Chloe agreed. “He’s not built that way.” She studied him quietly for several moments, until he had to fight not to straighten his tie and jacket nervously.
“You really don’t get how bad your screw up was, do you?” She asked gently.
Unfamiliar with being challenged by anyone in the same sedate tones that his mother used to use, Lex was more than a little stunned. Thankfully, Chloe didn’t wait for an answer that he wasn’t sure he could give.
“Lex, even if half the town didn’t already think that Clark is “as queer as a three dollar bill.” Chloe paused to emphasize the insulting phrase with finger quotes. “Clark would still want to support you and help you ride out the criticism. And, not only because it’s just what friends do.” She finished significantly.
“Chloe, what are you saying?”
“Geez, you really aren’t in top form, are you?”
“Chloe, just tell me.”
“Christ, Lex, I don't know how you can't see it, but he’s in love with you.”