Just Between You and Me

By Lori Belle

Fandom: Smallville

Rated PG-13

Summary: Being in the right place at the right time allows Clark to write an article that leads to more than just a new career.

Author’s notes: This is my first Smallville fic and only my second slash one. Yay! for any one who catches the Princess Bride reference (the book, not the movie…though that too).

I’d love to get feedback, use cenedra2@aol.com. Was it good/bad? Just okay?

Thanks to my beta, SouthernChickie. Any mistakes not found, belong to me. :)

And oh, yeah, they don't belong to me. *sigh*

Enjoy!



Just Between You and Me
By Lori Belle
***

“Damn it! How did none of you get to Luthor’s announcement last night! The Planet was scooped by the Inquisitor! The Inquisitor! And I had no people there. That’s it! Lane, get your ass in here!” With a slam of his office door, glass rattling, Perry White went to sit and fume. Lois Lane stood up from her desk muttering.

“How the hell were we supposed to get in? Luthor has a total ban on all reporters from the Planet. His security is better than the President’s!”

Clark Kent, former farm boy and current mail boy for the Daily Planet, spoke up as he had heard Lois’ mumblings to herself as he delivered the office mail. “Well, if you’d been the target of six assassination attempts in the past twelve months, you’d be paranoid too.”

“Listen, farm boy, what would you know about Luthor – wait six? There were only three!” She turned around to focus on the mail boy.

But Lois Lane was too late. Clark had already moved on. She shrugged; what would a non entity like Clark Kent know about Lex Luthor’s life? She put it out of her mind and went over to Perry’s office. Hopefully he wouldn’t yell at her for too long. She had things to do.

Clark had heard Perry’s rant earlier. He now had a dilemma. He had landed this job but wanted to be a journalist; not a mail boy and this could be a perfect opportunity to show his skills for he had been at Lex’s party the night before and he had good gossip and valid information about high ranking people in Metropolis.

While admittedly a farm boy, Clark had been friends with Smallville’s resident billionaire since he fished him out of the river when he was 15. As he grew older, the two remained friends and when Clark moved to Metropolis for college, Lex moved with him. Lex considered him one of the few people he trusted.

He had even told Lex of his major secret, that he wasn’t from around here. Lex had taken it with aplomb. He had assured Clark he would never use him and had taken steps to protect his friend. He had a clean up crew remove as many meteor rocks as they could find and had them destroyed. He had hunted down any information on Clark his father had that was unusual and made sure that Lionel could not use it against the Kents.

The two stayed close through this process and spent a lot of time with each other. Lex often invited Clark to a function as a date and therein laid Clark’s dilemma. Could he use Lex to advance his career? He knew that Perry’d kill for an eye witness account of Lex’s announcement of LexCorp’s new policies. But everybody else in Lex’s life had used him and Clark couldn’t do that to him.

So Clark did what he always did when faced with a tough decision. He took a break and called Lex.

“Luthor.”

Clark smiled. He could picture Lex at his office, flipping through files, scanning e-mails, but knew he’d drop everything for Clark.

“Hey, Lex.”

“Clark!” Lex’s voice went from impersonal to happiness at hearing his friend’s voice. “What can I do for you?” He was curious. Usually Clark didn’t call unless there was an emergency, during the day. Clark realized how busy Lex was and made sure not to bother him at work that much. Clark figured that he monopolized too much of Lex’s valuable time as it was and knew that Lex needed every minute at work to get his business done.

“Um, Perry White? My boss?” Clark’s hesitant voice started.

“Yes, I know who Perry White is.” Lex had had the man and almost everyone else in the building investigated as soon as Clark announced that he had been hired by the Daily Planet. The Planet had been cleared of two felons, a terrorist and a dead beat father.

“Well, earlier I heard him yelling about how none of his people could get into your party last night. He really wanted copy on it and this could be a good break for me and of course I won’t reveal any non public info about LexCorp…; LuthorCorp is okay, right, though? But would you mind?”

“Clark-Clark!” Lex tried to break in a couple times but finally just let him finish. When Clark finally stopped, “What are you asking? If it’s okay to write about the party?”

“Well, yeah. It’ll be published if he likes it.”

“Clark, you know you can do whatever you want – I never want to be the reason you’re held back. I just ask that you hold yourself to what a normal reporter could find out about me and LexCorp. LuthorCorp, on the other hand, is fair game. Go for it. I hope you take Dad down!” Lex enthused.

“Lex!” Clark laughed. He could picture Lex’s shark like grin at the thought of his father being legitimately taken out of the race between the two men. “Ok, I promise I’ll help all I can to make sure LuthorCorp gets slammed.” He paused. “Thanks, Lex. I know you could have told me not to write about LexCorp.”

“Clark.” Lex started but was interrupted by Clark.

“No, Lex, don’t. I have to go if I want to write this thing. Talk to you tonight?”

“Yep. Pizza and movies at seven.”

“See you then. Bye!” Without waiting for an answer, Clark hung up.

Lex just looked at his cell phone in bewilderment. Clark was the only person who could upset Lex’s life and get away with it. But, Lex smiled, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

After hanging up, Clark turned to the computer in the mailroom. Since he was on his break, he decided to write the article now. Using a touch of speed typing, Clark had a 500 word article written. He knew it’d most likely be cut, but it did give a good sample of his writing.

Ten minutes later, he had a printed copy of the article ready for Perry’s approval. He grabbed the paper and decided to brave the lion’s den once again. Knocking on Perry’s door, he heard a bellowed, “Come in!”

“Well, what do you want?” Perry was as harsh and blunt voiced as usual.

“Mr. White, I’m Clark Kent.”

“So?” Perry had no time for mail boys bothering him.

“You wanted an article on Luthor’s announcement party?”

“Yeah, still not telling me why you’re here.”

“Here.” Clark shoved the papers at Perry. “I wrote about it.”

Perry looked at the papers in front of him. Still not taking them, he asked, “And how would you have gotten access? All Planet employees were banned.”

“Um, well…” Clark stumbled over the words. “Lex and I are friends. He invited me.”

Perry’s eyebrows went up. This clod was friends with Lex Luthor? Right and he was the Queen of England. However, Farm boy seemed incapable of lying. “Give that to me.” He grabbed the article. Better to read and find out he was right rather than risk letting a good source go. He started to read.

“My God. This is good. You can prove this?” Perry was stunned. If even a third of what was written there was true, a great deal of important people were going to be in a lot of trouble come morning when the article was printed.

“Lex will back me up – Lionel won’t but he wouldn’t even if it was flattering to him.”

“Boy, you have yourself a job if this checks out. What’s your name again?”

“Clark Kent.”

“Well, Clark Kent. Welcome to the world of journalism. Now leave and I’ll give you a call later after I check this out.”

Clark leaned over the desk, and shook Perry’s hand. “Thank you, Mr. White. It’ll check out!”

“Oh, just leave.” Perry turned back to his computer and started typing. He reached over and grabbed the phone before Clark managed to turn around and leave.

He could hear Perry yelling into the phone as the door closed.

Before he got too far, Lois Lane, who had seen him enter Perry’s office attacked him.

“What were you doing with Perry?” Her shrill voice rang across the room. “Farm boy?” Even though Clark was ignoring her, Lois refused to give up. “Farm boy!” Her voice was shrill enough to shatter glass.

“Ms. Lane,” Clark finally turned around, “What can I do for you?”

“You can tell me what you were doing in Perry’s office.”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but I had some information for him. Now, Ms. Lane, if you’ll excuse me?” Clark moved past the startled reporter, but Lois stuck with Clark as he took the elevator to the parking level. “Ms. Lane,” Clark sighed, “How far were you planning on following me?”

“Until you tell me what you told him.”

“Fine. If I tell you, will you go away?”

“Maybe.”

“Ms. Lane, have you ever heard of the saying, ‘Curiosity killed the cat?’”

“Nope. So?”

Clark gave in, knowing the reporter wouldn’t give up. He was going to have to rush if he wanted to meet Lex on time and he couldn’t do that with nosy here following him.

“Fine. I was at Lex Luthor’s soiree last night. I wrote up what I heard and gave it to Perry. Happy now? Can I go, hopefully without you?”

“What!?” shrieked the upset reporter. “How the hell did you get invited there?” She grabbed his arm before he could get into his car.

“I know Lex. He invited me. Now, Ms. Lane, you are making me late. Good bye.” Clark removed her arm from his, having to use force but not hurting her. He firmly slammed the door in her face and drove off, watching the stunned look on Lois’ face in his rearview mirror.

Lois watched the farm boy drive away. No way could he know Lex Luthor. She stared until the car disappeared and then ran for the elevator. Riding impatiently up to her floor, she made a straight line toward her computer to do research on Lex Luthor and Farm boy. She stayed past everyone else but only became frustrated with the lack of information on both.

Sure Lex had gone to Smallville. Sure he seemed attracted to trouble that Clark also got involved in. But where’s the rest? Lois could smell the story. She just had to dig for it. Quickly saving the now outdated link for the online version of “The Wall of Weird,” Lois shoved the keyboard away from her. Farm boy’s past eluded her. He had beaten her twice now!

Perry had even ran out to stop the printing of the first page after confirming Clark’s information, telling her that come Monday, she’d be working with Farm boy. Working with him! Lois Lane partnered with no one! Perry had even told her that his article was better than hers! How dare he?!

Earlier that day:

Perry White waited until Kent had left his office and personally started to confirm the kid’s information. Not one piece turned out to be false. Hell, Luthor’s office had even confirmed some of it once they heard the magic words…those being ‘Clark Kent.’ He studied the article. Well written, sources correct and powerful enough to attract all sorts of attention. Kent would go far, and Perry was determined to go with him.

White stood up, exited his office and bellowed for a runner to take the article down to editing and then printing. Seeing a furious Lois Lane, he got an idea. “Lane, on Monday, you’re working with Kent.”

Lois started to argue, but a quick, “You partner with him or you do pet shows for the rest of your career. Which is it?” Perry started to dial the phone in front of him and Lois quickly agreed.

“Fine,” she spat. “I’ll work with Farm boy, but don’t expect me to be happy about it. And he’s only written one article, he won’t be able to hack this job. And when he fails to deliver, I’ll be the one you come to for something printable.”

Perry just smiled and walked away, unbothered by Lois’ accusations. That was the start of a beautiful relationship. He was sure of it.

***

Clark drove home to change into something more comfortable and then rushed over to Lex’s penthouse. Lex had ordered a pizza which arrived just after Clark did and the two sat down on the couch talking about their days while they ate. He shared his day with his best friend and both laughed over the image of the stunned Lois watching Clark’s car drive away.

Lex’s day had gone by fairly smoothly. He had had a meeting with the executive of Plesiasorp, a chemical plant he was interested in buying out. It had gone well and he hoped to close the deal on Monday. Until then, he just had to keep the deal from his father’s eyes. As almost no one knew about the deal, he was fairly confident he’d be the new owner of the plant come Monday.

Almost at the end of the meal, Clark brought up the newspaper article. When he had gotten up to put his dishes in the sink, he had paused to pick up the folder he had brought in with him. Going back to the couch, he handed it to Lex.

Before taking it, Lex wiped his hands on a napkin, and put his pizza crust laden plate on the coffee table. “What’s this?”

“It’s the article I wrote. I wanted to show you what I wrote, so you could see I didn’t put anything in there that could hurt you and LexCorp.”

“Clark, I told you earlier, you don’t have to ask my permission. I’m a public person and I’m used to being written about.”

“Yes, but not by your friend. I don’t want to take advantage of you, Lex!”

“I trust you not to do that, Clark. You’re probably the only one I do. I don’t need to read this.” Lex tried to put the folder down on the coffee table, but Clark’s hand on his arm prevented him.

“No, read it. I want to know what you think. Do you think it’s any good? Perry seemed to like it, but he was kinda desperate for anything about your party.”

Lex sighed, “Clark, I think you’re a wonderful writer. Your professors at school thought you were a wonderful writer. Even Chloe is jealous of your talents! I’m sure it’s well written.”

“Read it anyway. You might like the part about Lionel.” Clark smirked knowing that the conversation he had overheard between Lionel and his current lackey was quite damaging to the man’s reputation. He wouldn’t have time to cover it up either.

Lex finally opened the folder up and started to read. He was impressed by the concise reporting of the event and when he got to the part about his father, his barely there eyebrows rose quite high. “Clark? Did you really hear this?”

“Of course I did.” Clark was fairly insulted that Lex had even thought that he might make it up.

“Sorry, Clark, it’s just that this is amazing! No one’s been able to nail anything to Lionel in years!”

“Yeah, he didn’t realize I was standing behind him. I was mostly blocked by the coat rack and didn’t move until he had left.”

Lex didn’t comment and kept on making glances over to the phone. Clark smiled; forgiving Lex immediately for the unintentional slight Lex had given. “Go, make your calls. Just realize the paper is coming out tomorrow morning. Okay?”

“Sure, great,” Lex muttered on his way towards his cell. He made several calls, ensuring that Lionel would not be able to weasel his way out of this jam. The EPA was going to have a field day with Lionel’s factories.

Clark continued to laugh on the couch as he watched the business man almost literally rub his hands together in glee. Both men knew that this would only serve to irritate Lionel Luthor, but would at least give the man a heads up that he wasn’t quite as untouchable as he thought he was. The fines would total only a fraction of the amount of money he was worth, but Lionel hated to be parted from any money unnecessarily. And he would most certainly find this unnecessary.

Lex continued to show his glee in his repressed manner. His smirk popping up unexpectedly even after he rejoined Clark on the couch. He even let Clark choose the movies without argument, a minor miracle on his part.

The night passed quickly for both men. They watched a couple movies, but both focused more on the other than what was being shown on Lex’s TV screen. They laughed and made fun of the movies they had picked. The couch seemed to shrink over the course of the evening, both men moving closer to each other, until they were leaning against one another. Neither noticed their closeness until late that night when a tired Clark shifted and almost fell into Lex’s lap.

Lex just smiled and pulled Clark further down so that his head rested in his lap and threw a blanket over the young man’s legs. “Lex?” Clark’s voice was hesitant.

“Yes?” Lex knew what Clark was asking, but wanted to make sure his friend realized it as well.

“Is this okay?”

“Clark. If this wasn’t okay, do you think you’d be here?”

“No?”

“No.”

“Oh.” He paused for a minute. “What does this mean?”

“It means whatever we want it to mean.”

“I don’t want to lose our friendship, Lex.”

“We won’t. I don’t want to lose you either. You’re the only one I care about.”

“Care about?”

“Yeah.” Lex didn’t speak for several minutes. Clark let him take his time, hoping that for once Lex would share how he was really feeling. Lex didn’t disappoint him. “Clark, you know my father tried to remove all feelings from me. But you steamed your way through all my defenses. You’re the only one I let close to me. I told you once that our friendship would be legendary.” Clark nodded. “Well, I think it’s more than friendship. I…Clark…” Lex couldn’t get it out.

“I love you, too, Lex.” Clark knew that Lex really did love him, but admitting to feelings was virtually impossible for the stoic man. Lex admitting to what he had already was a great achievement. He decided to take the leap, knowing that if he did, Lex was more likely to feel like he could too.

Lex sucked in a quick breath. Clark, farm boy Clark, had just admitted that he loved Lex Luthor, a man! He smiled a real smile. If Clark could admit that he loved Lex, Lex could admit that he loved Clark. “I love you, too.”

“I know.”

“You know, huh?” Lex decided that they were getting too serious and decided to change the mood they were in.

“Yep.” Clark felt the change and knew that Lex wouldn’t be comfortable discussing their feelings for much longer. “I always know what you’re thinking.”

“Oh, you do, do you? So what am I thinking now?”

“You’re thinking that you really want me to do this.” With that, Clark reached up and dragged Lex’s head down to meet his and kissed him.

Startled, Lex let Clark pull him down. He never imagined his lovely farm boy would have ever taken the initiative and kissed him first. But hey, he was NOT going to complain. When Clark tried to pull away, Lex wouldn’t let him but stopped after a few more so they both could breathe. Breathing was important.

They only pulled a few inches apart and just stared at each other grinning. While not on the same level as Westley and Buttercup’s, it was still a pretty damn good kiss. Way better than hooking thumbs.

The two settled into each other, content to just lay together in peace on the couch. Clark, exhausted by his long day, fell asleep quickly. He was comforted by Lex’s presence and felt safe enough to relax fully. Lex, on the other hand, stayed awake. He played with Clark’s hair, absently playing with the curls that slowly appeared as Clark’s gel lost its grip. He didn’t often spend time just watching his lover’s sleep, but for some reason, Clark was different. They weren’t even true lovers yet, though he doubted that would last.

Clark had surprised him tonight. He had opened up and had taken the hard route. Lex knew that he was a hard man to get involved with and he envied Clark his courage to do so. He knew that it was hard just being friends with Lex Luthor. Being Lex Luthor’s boyfriend was another hurdle. But, for once, Lex was confident that he had found someone that would stick by him and would be good for it. He knew that without Clark Kent in his life, he would have already turned to the dark side. Lex laughed. Only Clark would get him speaking in Star Wars metaphors.

Lex settled into the couch a little more. He wasn’t sure what would happen in the morning, but he was ready. What he did know was that everything would be okay. He and Clark would survive anything that was thrown their way.

***

The next morning was a unique experience for both men. Neither had spent a more comfortable night that ended up so uncomfortable. Clark was not a short man and when he woke he woke with a smile that quickly turned into a grimace. Even his super strength couldn’t handle sharing a small couch with another person. “Good morning.”

Clark almost fell off his perch. “Lex! I didn’t know you were awake!”

“I noticed. As much as I love being close to you, Clark, do you think you could move? I can’t feel my legs.”

Clark scrambled to an upright position. “Sorry, Lex. Next time, can we use your bed? That thing is big enough for the both of us, I think.”

Lex didn’t think he had ever heard anything so good. Clark wasn’t regretting anything about last night. He wanted to come back! “Of course, anything for you, Farm Boy.”

“Hey! I resemble that remark!”

“I know; I think it fits you perfectly.”

“Leeexxxx! If you call me that…I’m gonna call you…um, I’m gonna call you…”

“See, you can’t even think of something. So you have to call me Lex. I get to call you Clark or Farm Boy.” Lex nodded. “Yes. I think that works.”

“Fine, you can call me Farm Boy if I can call you…Fred.”

“Fred?!” Lex’s incredulous voice rang out. “Where did you get Fred?”

Clark shrugged. “I don’t know. It just came to me. It fits, somehow. Fred.” He nodded firmly. “I like it. Fred.”

“No, you will not call me Fred!”

“Why not?”

“Clark!”

“Fred!”

Lex actually growled. “You may not call me Fred.”

“I’ll make you a deal, Fred. I won’t call you that if you don’t call me Farm Boy.”

“Deal.” Lex did not even hesitate. He could do his best not to call Clark Farm Boy if he never heard that name again. He shuddered. Fred. What was that boy thinking?

Clark laughed out loud. He knew that Lex would not like Fred. That’s why he had picked that. He knew that Lex would not be able to accept Fred. It was the only way to get him to stop calling him Farm Boy and it had worked just like he thought it would. He continued to laugh even as Lex’s face gained an evil look. He decided discretion was the better part of valor and went to make breakfast. He was just entering the kitchen when he remembered.

It was morning. The paper came in the morning. Lex got every major paper in the morning delivered to his penthouse door. He took off for the front door. He passed a stunned Lex who had no idea why Clark was acting like a kid at Christmas. The grin on his face could light a city block, it was so bright. He followed Clark slowly, meeting up with him in the foyer.

“What are you doing, Clark?”

“Lex! It’s here! Look!” He shoved a paper in front of Lex’s face. He didn’t let go and the paper was moving back and forth, up and down. Lex grabbed onto Clark’s wrist, “Clark! Let go! Give me the paper so I can read it. Okay?”

“Sure, Fred, just look!”

Lex took the paper. He unfolded it slowly, drawing out the situation just to get Clark back for the Fred comment. “LEX!”

He decided to end Clark’s misery and completely unfolded the paper. He skimmed the articles but quickly found the one Clark was interested in. “LUTHOR SCION COMPLETES BREAK FROM FATHER”

He read the article; it was the same as the one he had read last night, but the fact that it was in a newspaper made it seem more real. His Clark was a real reporter. He looked up at Clark and grinned. “You did it, Clark. Your parents will be so proud of you. I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks, Lex. You really like?” Insecurity shown through his statement.

“Of course I do. Have I ever said I liked something when I didn’t?”

“No.” Clark stopped after he automatically answered and thought. A smile slowly appeared and he repeated, “No, you haven’t. I’m a reporter! Lex, I did it!” And in an act of complete childishness, grabbed Lex in a hug and swung him around.

Lex did not appreciate it, but put up with it because it was Clark. “Clark, put me down now!”

Clark looked sheepish. “Sorry, Lex.”

“Just don’t do it again.” Lex’s heart twinged when he saw Clark’s downfallen face. “Clark,” he sighed, “what do you want to do to celebrate?”

Clark looked up, much happier, “Spend the day with you? Do you have something planned at the office?”

Lex knew that Clark was his at that. “No, I don’t have anything to do today. I’ll do anything you want to.”

Clark took him at his word and they stayed in. They ordered from Clark’s favorite restaurant and spent the day talking about their future. They talked about how much Clark would be able to reveal as a reporter and Lex promised that he would never make Clark compromise his values. Clark promised not to snoop and also promised to try to keep Lois Lane away from him. Lex knew that promise would be hard to keep and knew that he wouldn’t hold it against Clark when he failed. Lois Lane was one persistent woman.

Both Lex and Clark knew their relationship would not be kept quiet. There had been rumors previous to this; it was impossible for their not to be with Clark spending so much time with Lex with no women in sight. They discussed coming out to both Clark’s parents and Lionel. About how much they’d reveal to the press (virtually nothing). They knew their privacy would be hard fought, but worth it.

They even talked about Clark’s powers and his desire to help those that needed it. Lex had been working on a plan to help Clark hide his identity while using his powers. Clark agreed to work with Lex before he went out and did something drastic. He wanted to get settled into his new job first anyway.

The day passed quickly, but the serious topics soon turned to less weighty matters. The two fooled around, making out like teenagers on the couch, in the kitchen, in the spa and anywhere else they found. They took things slowly, but did explore each other, finding each other’s hot spots. Before they knew it, time flew and it was time to face the real world once more.

They parted easily, knowing that the other would be waiting when they got home that night. Lex was off to his office where his fellow associates were still celebrating the minor defeat of Lionel Luthor. Clark was off to the Daily Planet where Lois Lane was waiting not so eagerly for him.

“Kent! Lane! Get your asses in here.” Perry White shouted out into the bull pen.

The two rushed into his office and stood in front of the desk. Perry glared at the impatiently twitching Lois and finally spoke, “Your first assignment will be to investigate Lionel Luthor. Kent, I’m relying on your connections to delve deeper into what you covered in your article.”

“Yes, sir. Of course, sir.” Lois’ sarcastic voice filled the room just as she grabbed Clark’s upper arm and pulled him out of the office door.

As she pulled him along to their desks, she started dictating rules to him. “Farm Boy, you do not do anything without me. You don’t go anywhere, talk to anyone or even move from this room without telling me where you’re going. Understand?”

“Yes, Lois, whatever you say Lois.” Clark did not appreciate her condescending attitude. It reminded him of Chloe, though Lois was several times worse than his childhood friend.

Lois looked at him funny, then went on to continue the conversation she had started the other day. “So, Kent, how do you know Luthor?”

“Lane, I’m sure you’ve already investigated me. I met Lex in Smallville. He ran off the road and I pulled him out of the river. We became friends and stayed that way throughout high school and college. Does that meet your approval?” Clark was feeling fairly snarky; he missed Lex and didn’t appreciate the nosy reporter interrogating him like he was the criminal they were investigating.

“Whatever, so are you two just friends or what? You can’t tell me that you two don’t spend time in the bedroom together?” Lois tried to fish for any information possible on her elusive new partner and his famous friend.

Clark decided to see if he could ruffle Lois’ feathers a bit. Also, he could not let the audacious woman control their partnership; this would be the defining point of the partnership. He had to prove that he could hold his own against her. He moved closer, stepping closer to invade her personal space and spoke, “What do you think, Lois?”

She just stared at him opened mouthed. This was not the quiet small town boy she had gotten used to when he was a mail clerk. He stepped away and moved to the other side of the desk. It was almost noon, time to meet Lex for lunch.

But, before he left, Clark followed up on his advantage, utilizing the skills Lex had taught him. He leaned over the desk and whispered in a sultry voice, "Shh, it's just between you and me, right?" He winked, stood up and walked away leaving a flabbergasted Lois in his wake.

As his and Lex’s relationship would be the stuff of legends, so would his partnership with Lois Lane.


END