Killing Time
Title: Killing Time
Chapter: 1/1
Characters/pairings: Clark/Lex, Lana
Ratings: PG-13
Warnings: Mild underage sexual content, Slash
Summary: Sequel to Of Trust and Promises. Lex and Clark decide to wait until Clark is eighteen to be together, but this puts a strain on their friendship, and puts Clark in a difficult position.
A/N: This story is for twinsarein. Cause dear, you're just awesome. <3 Enjoy!
“It’s gonna be a boring summer here,” Lana complained. She was sitting beside him at a table in the Talon. “Chloe’s got that internship in Metropolis, and I’m going to stay with Nell. Aren’t you doing anything this summer beside working on the farm?”
Clark shrugged. “Haven’t really thought about it,” he said. To be honest, he hadn’t thought much about any plans that weren’t set roughly a year and half in the future. It had been months since he and Lex had spoken of the… arrangement. Honesty was supposed to make things easier. That’s what his father taught him, anyway. Well, maybe not easier, but somehow better, right? Being honest with Lex, though, had caused him nothing but headaches, among other uncomfortable pains. It had put a strain on their friendship as well. It wasn’t to Lex’s fault, of course. Lex acted as though nothing had changed between them. Clark couldn’t so easily just go back to before, though.
“Well, you should come to Metropolis and visit,” Lana said. She tugged on his shirtsleeve, as though willing to drag him to the larger city at that moment.
“I will,” Clark said with a laugh. He pulled his arm from her grasp and rested it over the back of her chair. He reached towards the table for the mug of hot chocolate. He was fairly certain there was more whipped cream in the mug than hot chocolate, but he hated to critique Lana’s drink making skills. He took a sip of it, and looked up when Lana laughed. “What?”
“You got a little,” Lana’s voice trailed into a laugh and she reached forward, swiping at a bit of whipped cream on his nose. Clark laughed, taking his hand from the back of her chair to wipe at his face to make sure it was all off.
“Hey.” The familiar voice made Clark look up, a smile reaching his face before his eyes met Lex’s. The smile faltered slightly when he noticed a blonde girl clinging to his arm. “This is Jess. Jess, this is Clark and Lana.”
“It’s, um, nice to meet you,” Clark said.
“You too,” Jess said. “Lex’s told me all about you.”
“Really?” Clark asked, he shot a questioning look to his friend, but Lex wasn’t paying attention to him, his eyes trained on Jess instead.
“Oh of course,” Jess said. “Don’t suppose you can really be pulled from a car underwater without retelling the story to anyone who’ll listen.”
“A classic good Samaritan story never gets old,” Lex said, finally casting a smile in Clark’s direction, only for a moment before turning back to Jess.
Clark shifted uncomfortably. He could see Lana out of the corner of his eye, a look of recognition on her face. “Oh, Clark,” she said. “I forgot. Chloe said she wanted us to help her at the Torch. We should get going.”
“Yeah, definitely,” Clark said. He stood and started for the door without a backwards glance. “See you later, Lex.”
“It was nice meeting you,” he heard Lana say behind him.
“What was that?” Lana hissed at him when she caught up to Clark on the sidewalk.
Clark ignored her. “Come on,” he said, gesturing to the passenger side of the truck. “Chloe’s gonna kill us if we don’t get there soon.”
“She doesn’t need our help, Clark,” Lana said. “I made it up.”
“Why?” Clark asked.
“Because in there you looked like you wanted to either sink to the bottom of the ocean or toss Jess down there,” Lana said. “I didn’t want to stick around to find out which one happened.”
“It’s nothing,” Clark said. “I need to get back to the farm. I was supposed to go straight back after I made the deliveries for my dad.”
“But you would have gone to the torch to help Chloe anyway?”
“He would’ve understood,” Clark said.
“Then he’d understand if you hung around to talk to me for five minutes,” Lana said. “What’s with you lately? It’s like these last few months you’ve been somewhere else.”
“I’ve been right here,” Clark said. “Sorry, Lana. I have to go.” He jumped into the truck before Lana could stop him and started the engine.
“Clark!” Lana yelled at him, but he just pulled out of the parking space and headed back towards the farm.
Clark drove the long way around back roads as he headed for the farm. He drove slower, ignoring angry drivers that flew past him on the dirt road, kicking up dust and gravel against the windshield. He tapped his fingers against the steering wheel, replaying the last half hour in his mind.
He hated seeing Lex with Jess. But what Clark couldn’t figure out was why Lex was there with the girl in the first place. She had been hanging over him like a cheap scarf that he was too good to wear. Clark had thought he and Lex were… Hell. He didn’t even know what they were. Maybe that was the problem. They weren’t really anything. Because as Lex had said, Clark was too young.
Clark drove home, finished his chores in less than twenty minutes, and skipped dinner, claiming that he was feeling sick. Against his mother’s wishes, he avoided her mother-hen attitude over his sickness and went up to the loft. He really was feeling sick, but if wasn’t something a bottle of cold medicine and some chicken soup was going to help. He just felt sick at the idea of where Lex and Jess were at that moment.
His sick curiosity was sated when he heard footsteps downstairs and a familiar voice. “Clark? You in here?”
“Up here,” Clark called. He kept his eyes set out the window as he heard footsteps climbing the steps behind him. He only glanced at his friend when Lex stepped directly into his line of sight and leaned against the window frame.
“What’s wrong?” Lex asked.
“Noth-”
“I mean it,” Lex cut him off. “What was that at the Talon? Why’d you run off like that?”
“Chloe needed our help with the Torch,” Clark said, the line sounding too rehearsed even to his own ears.
“That’s bull,” Lex said. “You help her with that everyday after school. She never needs your help on the weekends.”
Clark looked down, hiding a quick smile. As much as he was annoyed with Lex right now, he liked that Lex knew these things about his life. Just the little facts that seemed irrelevant, and mad it difficult for him to lie, but still. Lex knew those things. He noticed those little details that Lana had apparently missed.
“So how’d you and Jess meet?” Clark asked, looking back up at Lex and putting on as casual a tone as he could manage.
Apparently not casual enough, because Lex just sighed and ran a hand over his face. “Figured,” he muttered in an annoyed tone, so low that Clark was sure he wasn’t supposed to hear.
Clark glared at him and stood. “Nevermind,” he said. “Doesn’t matter. Just go back and hang out with her. Sorry to have pulled you away.”
“Clark stop,” Lex snapped. “You didn’t pull me away. I came because I wanted to see you. And Jess is,” Lex just waved his hand vaguely.
“She’s what?” Clark asked, attempting valiantly to keep his anger in check. “Your girlfriend? Your fiancé that you’re marrying tomorrow? Please, at least tell me you’re not going through that one again.”
“She’s neither of those,” Lex said.
“Yeah, well, she looked a little too close to be your sister,” Clark said.
“Will you just stop and listen to me?” Lex asked. “What is this? What’s going on with us? The last few months you’ve been walking on eggshells around me. If I’d known this is what was going to happen, I wouldn’t have-”
“Don’t tell me what you would’ve done differently, alright?” Clark said. “Because I started this. Should’ve just kept my mouth shut. If you’d rather be hanging around with Jess or some other girl, then at least tell me upfront, instead of pretending like you-” Clark’s voice caught and he closed his mouth, shaking his head as he walked to the railing of the loft, leaning over the side of the stairs.
“Pretended like what, Clark?” Lex asked softly. Clark gritted his teeth, hating the way that his body still betrayed him even when he was angry at Lex. He hated the way his skin burned with desire when Lex put a hand on his shoulder. He hated the way he instinctively leaned into the touch just a bit. He hated the way his jeans were tightening at such little contact.
Clark turned around, slightly unnerved by how close Lex now was. Lex’s hand slid form his shoulder to his arm when he turned. Lex moved his hand over Clark’s chest, palm pressing against the left side where his heart was beating uncontrollably.
“If anything,” Lex said. “I was pretending to enjoy her company today, Clark.”
“Then why were you with her?” Clark asked.
“For appearances,” Lex said. “I’m not one to have a steady girlfriend for a long time, but being single and unaccompanied doesn’t fit me very well either. If I’m seen with no other female beside my business partner at the Talon, and am seen hanging out with you more often than not, people will start to talk.”
“So let them talk,” Clark said.
Lex laughed and shook his head. “Clark, people talking here is different than people talking in Metropolis,” he said. “In a big city, a hundred rumors will be flying around about any given person at any given time, and most will be chalked up to lies and exaggerations. In a town like Smallville, only a couple rumors will fly around, and since everyone knows everyone, every rumors will come closer to the truth.”
“So jess is a beard?” Clark asked. “You don’t seem the type to just keep someone around to protect your image if you don’t like them.”
Lex shrugged. “I don’t dislike her,” he said. Clark frowned, and Lex sighed. “She’s a way of killing time, Clark. Entertaining myself for the next two years. I don’t like Lana hanging off your arm any more than you like Jess hanging off mine.”
Clark was surprised by the sudden change in tone. “What are you talking about? Lana and I are just friends.”
“That’s a lie,” Lex said. “Just as much as it would be to say that Jess and I are just friends. You’re allowed to have fun, Clark. I’m not asking you to make a vow of celibacy until you turn eighteen. Date Lana. Date Chloe. Date the captain of the football team if you want. Enjoy your high school years.”
“How can you say that?” Clark asked. With every word Lex said, Clark felt his hope and heart sinking like a lead weight. “Do you even care about me at all? If I’m dating someone else, or kissing someone else. I thought. I don’t know. That you wanted me. I don’t want to see you with anyone else, so how are you so okay with seeing me wi-”
Clark’s words were cut off when Lex closed the space between them and pulled Clark into a kiss. The kiss was everything they’re first kiss hadn’t been. The first had been sweet, gentle and full of promise. This was intense, passionate, and full of longing.
Lex bit at Clark’s bottom lip, sucking it into his mouth and nibbling at it until it was bruised and red. Clark wrapped a hand around Lex’s neck, nails scratching at the bare skin of the back of his head. He gasped when he felt Lex pull at his hips, pressing their bodies together in a tight heat. Clark surged forward, driving Lex backwards until his back his the side of the barn. He swallowed Lex’s gasp of surprise.
When Lex pulled his mouth away, Clark tried to follow him, but Lex put a hand against his chin, tilting his face upwards. Clark bit his lip against a moan when Lex starting to kiss and bite at his neck. Lex gently licked at the red marks Clark knew would fade in less than an hour. He found himself wishing his bruises stayed longer than they did.
When Lex looked back up at Clark, his pupils were blown wide with desire, and his lips were red and parted, soft gasps escaping. Lex leaned up, catching Clark’s lips in a gentle kiss, and then he pulled back. He ran a hand through Clark’s hair, tugging lightly on it, and leaned his head back against the barn wall.
Lex smiled at him. “I do care,” Lex said. It took Clark a moment to remember what they had been talking about, and why he had been angry at Lex. “And I don’t mind telling you all that. Yeah, I’d rather be the one sitting with you in the Talon, drinking hot chocolate with my arm around you, but I don’t mind that it’s Lana instead. Because in a couple years, I know where you’ll be. I know whose bed you’ll be in. And it won’t be Lana Lang’s.”
Chapter: 1/1
Characters/pairings: Clark/Lex, Lana
Ratings: PG-13
Warnings: Mild underage sexual content, Slash
Summary: Sequel to Of Trust and Promises. Lex and Clark decide to wait until Clark is eighteen to be together, but this puts a strain on their friendship, and puts Clark in a difficult position.
A/N: This story is for twinsarein. Cause dear, you're just awesome. <3 Enjoy!
“It’s gonna be a boring summer here,” Lana complained. She was sitting beside him at a table in the Talon. “Chloe’s got that internship in Metropolis, and I’m going to stay with Nell. Aren’t you doing anything this summer beside working on the farm?”
Clark shrugged. “Haven’t really thought about it,” he said. To be honest, he hadn’t thought much about any plans that weren’t set roughly a year and half in the future. It had been months since he and Lex had spoken of the… arrangement. Honesty was supposed to make things easier. That’s what his father taught him, anyway. Well, maybe not easier, but somehow better, right? Being honest with Lex, though, had caused him nothing but headaches, among other uncomfortable pains. It had put a strain on their friendship as well. It wasn’t to Lex’s fault, of course. Lex acted as though nothing had changed between them. Clark couldn’t so easily just go back to before, though.
“Well, you should come to Metropolis and visit,” Lana said. She tugged on his shirtsleeve, as though willing to drag him to the larger city at that moment.
“I will,” Clark said with a laugh. He pulled his arm from her grasp and rested it over the back of her chair. He reached towards the table for the mug of hot chocolate. He was fairly certain there was more whipped cream in the mug than hot chocolate, but he hated to critique Lana’s drink making skills. He took a sip of it, and looked up when Lana laughed. “What?”
“You got a little,” Lana’s voice trailed into a laugh and she reached forward, swiping at a bit of whipped cream on his nose. Clark laughed, taking his hand from the back of her chair to wipe at his face to make sure it was all off.
“Hey.” The familiar voice made Clark look up, a smile reaching his face before his eyes met Lex’s. The smile faltered slightly when he noticed a blonde girl clinging to his arm. “This is Jess. Jess, this is Clark and Lana.”
“It’s, um, nice to meet you,” Clark said.
“You too,” Jess said. “Lex’s told me all about you.”
“Really?” Clark asked, he shot a questioning look to his friend, but Lex wasn’t paying attention to him, his eyes trained on Jess instead.
“Oh of course,” Jess said. “Don’t suppose you can really be pulled from a car underwater without retelling the story to anyone who’ll listen.”
“A classic good Samaritan story never gets old,” Lex said, finally casting a smile in Clark’s direction, only for a moment before turning back to Jess.
Clark shifted uncomfortably. He could see Lana out of the corner of his eye, a look of recognition on her face. “Oh, Clark,” she said. “I forgot. Chloe said she wanted us to help her at the Torch. We should get going.”
“Yeah, definitely,” Clark said. He stood and started for the door without a backwards glance. “See you later, Lex.”
“It was nice meeting you,” he heard Lana say behind him.
“What was that?” Lana hissed at him when she caught up to Clark on the sidewalk.
Clark ignored her. “Come on,” he said, gesturing to the passenger side of the truck. “Chloe’s gonna kill us if we don’t get there soon.”
“She doesn’t need our help, Clark,” Lana said. “I made it up.”
“Why?” Clark asked.
“Because in there you looked like you wanted to either sink to the bottom of the ocean or toss Jess down there,” Lana said. “I didn’t want to stick around to find out which one happened.”
“It’s nothing,” Clark said. “I need to get back to the farm. I was supposed to go straight back after I made the deliveries for my dad.”
“But you would have gone to the torch to help Chloe anyway?”
“He would’ve understood,” Clark said.
“Then he’d understand if you hung around to talk to me for five minutes,” Lana said. “What’s with you lately? It’s like these last few months you’ve been somewhere else.”
“I’ve been right here,” Clark said. “Sorry, Lana. I have to go.” He jumped into the truck before Lana could stop him and started the engine.
“Clark!” Lana yelled at him, but he just pulled out of the parking space and headed back towards the farm.
Clark drove the long way around back roads as he headed for the farm. He drove slower, ignoring angry drivers that flew past him on the dirt road, kicking up dust and gravel against the windshield. He tapped his fingers against the steering wheel, replaying the last half hour in his mind.
He hated seeing Lex with Jess. But what Clark couldn’t figure out was why Lex was there with the girl in the first place. She had been hanging over him like a cheap scarf that he was too good to wear. Clark had thought he and Lex were… Hell. He didn’t even know what they were. Maybe that was the problem. They weren’t really anything. Because as Lex had said, Clark was too young.
Clark drove home, finished his chores in less than twenty minutes, and skipped dinner, claiming that he was feeling sick. Against his mother’s wishes, he avoided her mother-hen attitude over his sickness and went up to the loft. He really was feeling sick, but if wasn’t something a bottle of cold medicine and some chicken soup was going to help. He just felt sick at the idea of where Lex and Jess were at that moment.
His sick curiosity was sated when he heard footsteps downstairs and a familiar voice. “Clark? You in here?”
“Up here,” Clark called. He kept his eyes set out the window as he heard footsteps climbing the steps behind him. He only glanced at his friend when Lex stepped directly into his line of sight and leaned against the window frame.
“What’s wrong?” Lex asked.
“Noth-”
“I mean it,” Lex cut him off. “What was that at the Talon? Why’d you run off like that?”
“Chloe needed our help with the Torch,” Clark said, the line sounding too rehearsed even to his own ears.
“That’s bull,” Lex said. “You help her with that everyday after school. She never needs your help on the weekends.”
Clark looked down, hiding a quick smile. As much as he was annoyed with Lex right now, he liked that Lex knew these things about his life. Just the little facts that seemed irrelevant, and mad it difficult for him to lie, but still. Lex knew those things. He noticed those little details that Lana had apparently missed.
“So how’d you and Jess meet?” Clark asked, looking back up at Lex and putting on as casual a tone as he could manage.
Apparently not casual enough, because Lex just sighed and ran a hand over his face. “Figured,” he muttered in an annoyed tone, so low that Clark was sure he wasn’t supposed to hear.
Clark glared at him and stood. “Nevermind,” he said. “Doesn’t matter. Just go back and hang out with her. Sorry to have pulled you away.”
“Clark stop,” Lex snapped. “You didn’t pull me away. I came because I wanted to see you. And Jess is,” Lex just waved his hand vaguely.
“She’s what?” Clark asked, attempting valiantly to keep his anger in check. “Your girlfriend? Your fiancé that you’re marrying tomorrow? Please, at least tell me you’re not going through that one again.”
“She’s neither of those,” Lex said.
“Yeah, well, she looked a little too close to be your sister,” Clark said.
“Will you just stop and listen to me?” Lex asked. “What is this? What’s going on with us? The last few months you’ve been walking on eggshells around me. If I’d known this is what was going to happen, I wouldn’t have-”
“Don’t tell me what you would’ve done differently, alright?” Clark said. “Because I started this. Should’ve just kept my mouth shut. If you’d rather be hanging around with Jess or some other girl, then at least tell me upfront, instead of pretending like you-” Clark’s voice caught and he closed his mouth, shaking his head as he walked to the railing of the loft, leaning over the side of the stairs.
“Pretended like what, Clark?” Lex asked softly. Clark gritted his teeth, hating the way that his body still betrayed him even when he was angry at Lex. He hated the way his skin burned with desire when Lex put a hand on his shoulder. He hated the way he instinctively leaned into the touch just a bit. He hated the way his jeans were tightening at such little contact.
Clark turned around, slightly unnerved by how close Lex now was. Lex’s hand slid form his shoulder to his arm when he turned. Lex moved his hand over Clark’s chest, palm pressing against the left side where his heart was beating uncontrollably.
“If anything,” Lex said. “I was pretending to enjoy her company today, Clark.”
“Then why were you with her?” Clark asked.
“For appearances,” Lex said. “I’m not one to have a steady girlfriend for a long time, but being single and unaccompanied doesn’t fit me very well either. If I’m seen with no other female beside my business partner at the Talon, and am seen hanging out with you more often than not, people will start to talk.”
“So let them talk,” Clark said.
Lex laughed and shook his head. “Clark, people talking here is different than people talking in Metropolis,” he said. “In a big city, a hundred rumors will be flying around about any given person at any given time, and most will be chalked up to lies and exaggerations. In a town like Smallville, only a couple rumors will fly around, and since everyone knows everyone, every rumors will come closer to the truth.”
“So jess is a beard?” Clark asked. “You don’t seem the type to just keep someone around to protect your image if you don’t like them.”
Lex shrugged. “I don’t dislike her,” he said. Clark frowned, and Lex sighed. “She’s a way of killing time, Clark. Entertaining myself for the next two years. I don’t like Lana hanging off your arm any more than you like Jess hanging off mine.”
Clark was surprised by the sudden change in tone. “What are you talking about? Lana and I are just friends.”
“That’s a lie,” Lex said. “Just as much as it would be to say that Jess and I are just friends. You’re allowed to have fun, Clark. I’m not asking you to make a vow of celibacy until you turn eighteen. Date Lana. Date Chloe. Date the captain of the football team if you want. Enjoy your high school years.”
“How can you say that?” Clark asked. With every word Lex said, Clark felt his hope and heart sinking like a lead weight. “Do you even care about me at all? If I’m dating someone else, or kissing someone else. I thought. I don’t know. That you wanted me. I don’t want to see you with anyone else, so how are you so okay with seeing me wi-”
Clark’s words were cut off when Lex closed the space between them and pulled Clark into a kiss. The kiss was everything they’re first kiss hadn’t been. The first had been sweet, gentle and full of promise. This was intense, passionate, and full of longing.
Lex bit at Clark’s bottom lip, sucking it into his mouth and nibbling at it until it was bruised and red. Clark wrapped a hand around Lex’s neck, nails scratching at the bare skin of the back of his head. He gasped when he felt Lex pull at his hips, pressing their bodies together in a tight heat. Clark surged forward, driving Lex backwards until his back his the side of the barn. He swallowed Lex’s gasp of surprise.
When Lex pulled his mouth away, Clark tried to follow him, but Lex put a hand against his chin, tilting his face upwards. Clark bit his lip against a moan when Lex starting to kiss and bite at his neck. Lex gently licked at the red marks Clark knew would fade in less than an hour. He found himself wishing his bruises stayed longer than they did.
When Lex looked back up at Clark, his pupils were blown wide with desire, and his lips were red and parted, soft gasps escaping. Lex leaned up, catching Clark’s lips in a gentle kiss, and then he pulled back. He ran a hand through Clark’s hair, tugging lightly on it, and leaned his head back against the barn wall.
Lex smiled at him. “I do care,” Lex said. It took Clark a moment to remember what they had been talking about, and why he had been angry at Lex. “And I don’t mind telling you all that. Yeah, I’d rather be the one sitting with you in the Talon, drinking hot chocolate with my arm around you, but I don’t mind that it’s Lana instead. Because in a couple years, I know where you’ll be. I know whose bed you’ll be in. And it won’t be Lana Lang’s.”