Title: The Revelation
Series: Finding Home. Second in series.
Author: Christie
Email: tinamishi@yahoo.com
Archive: http://number14.org/precious
Genre: Smallville (Lex/Lana); established relationship, drama, angst
Rating: R (sexual situations, strong language)
Spoilers: General S1 & S2 (nothing overt)
Summary: Is Smallville ready for Lex and Lana? Are Lex and Lana ready
for each other?  Series sequel to Close Quarters.   
Disclaimer: Smallville was created by Millar & Gough.  This story is
non-profit.
Distribution: If you've got Close Quarters, by all means take this.

*

Sometime after 6:30 a.m., Lana had opted out of the snooze button
option and unplugged the alarm clock completely, sending it crashing to
the ground with a sudden yank of its cord.

Lex had only groaned and turned over, and Lana simply turned with him,
pressing herself against the warm skin of his bare back.  Dimly, she
realized that they were in her bed, so they must have somehow migrated
to her room deep in the night.  She was positive she hadn't walked
there on her own, and wondered if Lex had carried her.  She listened to
his soft, steady breathing for a few seconds, then felt the lull of
sleep wash over her once more.

It couldn't have been more than an hour later when Lana heard a dull
thumping somewhere in the back of her mind, relentlessly pushing its
way through the abyss between sleep and wakefulness.  She mumbled
softly and squeezed her eyes shut tight, hoping that if she just waited
long enough whatever it was would go away.

"Lana!  Lana, where the hell are you?  LANA!"

Chloe's voice vaulted Lana from dreamland and she sat straight up in
bed, panic thrumming through her limbs.  She looked desperately at her
nightstand for her clock, but it lay dormant on the carpet below, its
face blank, cord strewn as far from the outlet as it could possibly
get.

Her eyes adjusted to the bright light of morning, light that was
intense enough to assure her that it was at the very least past seven,
probably nearer to eight.  The thumping on her door sounded again.

"LA -- NA!"

Chloe had managed to stretch Lana's short name into long syllables, and
the conversation they'd had before she left the Talon the day before
came rushing back to her.  Chloe was supposed to get a ride from her
dad to the Luthor Estate and meet Lana at 7:30.  They were going to
compare notes for first period and Lana was going to drive them to
school.

About ten seconds after they'd had the conversation, Lana's mind had
wandered back to Lex and the reporter and she hadn't thought about
Chloe since.

She managed to scramble out of bed, only then remembering the other
person in the room; the other person in her bed that -- oh my GOD --
Chloe could *not* see.  Lex was stirring, and as soon as he opened an
eye, Lana was frantically shushing him.

"Chloe's here," she said, rushing around and gathering what she hoped
were the complete components of an outfit that would pass for decent. 
"She cannot see you."  Lana emphasized 'cannot' as though it were in
all caps, bolded, between asterisks and underlined.  Twice.  "Just stay
here and don't make a sound.  Leave after we do."

He was barely sitting up, looking at her through bleary eyes.  Lana had
no idea if he'd heard a word she said, or even realized she was
speaking, not to mention in the throes of a near heart attack, but she
didn't have time to make sure.  Instead, she threw herself across the
bed, kissed him chastely on the lips, and muttered, "shhhh" before
hurtling out the bedroom door and slamming it behind her.

Chloe looked more than irritated. She looked livid.  Lana ushered her
inside and stripped off her pajama bottoms, stepping into her jeans.  
"I overslept," Lana explained quickly, voice muffled by the turtleneck
she was wrestling over her head.  "I'm so, so sorry."

She found the neck hole and pulled the material past her face, meeting
Chloe's eyes.  

"You're in here hitting the snooze button while Jack Frost's nipping at
my ass?" Chloe asked shrilly.  "My dad dropped me off like ten minutes
ago!  I was about to go ask Lex for a ride, for godsake!"

At the mention of Lex's name, Lana tensed, but forced herself to remain
in motion, using one hand to thread a comb through her tangled hair,
the other to grab a pop tart from the box on the counter and stuff it
into her backpack.

"I'm sorry," she said again, reaching for her coat.  Her eyes skimmed
the still-closed door of her bedroom.  So far, so good.  Lex must have
been coherent enough to understand her instructions, or he'd fallen
back asleep.  Either way worked for her.  "Let's go," she told Chloe.

They were almost out the door.  Almost home free.  Chloe followed Lana,
foot just on the cobblestone walk when she stopped, her eyes narrowing
in recognition.  She turned around, and Lana felt her heart begin to
pound.  Had Lex walked out of the bedroom?  Lana had to stand on her
tip toes to see what Chloe was looking at through her open doorway.

"Is that Lex's coat?"

In the same instant that Chloe voiced it, Lana saw the long, black wool
coat; so obviously expensive, so obviously Lex.  Leather driving gloves
peeked out of one pocket.  There was no mistaking that coat.

Lana cleared her throat.  It had to be below freezing, one of those
cloudless, calm days where the cold just settles into your bones and
stays there for hours.  But she suddenly felt hot, sticky and sweaty
underneath her turtleneck and jacket.

"Yeah," she said slowly, wishing Chloe would turn around, wishing they
could close the door, get into her car and get as far away from the
enigmatic young billionaire in her bed.  "Lex helped me with my bio
last night, I guess he forgot to take his coat when he left."

Chloe turned.  As soon as she'd stepped completely out of the doorway,
Lana reached in and closed the door soundly behind her.  She used her
keys to lock it, the turn of the deadbolt sending a rush of relief
through her entire system.

"Lex helped you draw a frog's intestines," Chloe muttered.  It was
obviously not a question, and Lana only pressed her lips together.  Her
fingers were crossed inside her jacket pocket.  

"Must have been pretty cold when he left," Chloe said, now leading the
way to Lana's car.  Lana noticed how her eyes skimmed over the black
Ferrari parked haphazardly in the gravel drive.  She also noticed
Chloe's eyebrows raise fractionally, just enough to show she'd had an
interesting thought, obviously unwilling to share it with her
companion.

It made Lana uneasy.  "Yeah," she said carefully, measuring the
distance between the guest house and the main house with her eyes. 
"But it's a quick walk to the kitchen, he probably didn't even think of
it."

Chloe only mmmhmmm'd in response.  They didn't talk much the rest of
the way to school.

*

Bad was too small a word to describe the enormous suckage of her day. 
Lana let her backpack fall from her shoulders and thump unceremoniously
onto the floor of Lex's study, unwilling and -- she guessed -- unable
to move it to a more prudent location.

Lex looked up from the computer monitor behind his desk and raised his
eyebrows.  "Bad day?"

Lana opened her mouth to protest the tiny three-letter word he'd chosen
to describe it, but felt too exhausted to bother.  She snapped her
mouth shut and shrugged.  Lex rose from his chair and moved around the
desk.  Lana knew he meant to go to the mini-fridge and retrieve a
bottle of water, but she stepped into his path and slipped her arms
around his waist instead.

She leaned her full weight against him, feeling her limbs soften and
droop, like a rag doll.  Lex chuckled in her ear and propelled them to
the sofa, settling them both down atop it.

"I give up," Lana said, breathing deeply where her face was nestled
into his shirt, letting the familiar smell of soap and dryer sheets
clear her head.  "I'm quitting everything and just staying
here...forever."

Lex laughed softly again, his fingers beginning a gradual descent from
the crown of her head to the very ends of her hair.  "What happened?"
he asked softly.

Lana sighed.  She felt a burning in her eyes and tightness in her
throat, both signs that she was about to cry.  It surprised her,
because she didn't feel like crying -- not at this moment anyway -- but
maybe it was building up from all the times today when she *did* feel
like crying and hadn't let herself give in.

There wasn't one thing in particular...nothing she could put her finger
on and explain with simple words.  Nothing Lex could fix for her;
nothing that could be fixed by anyone, she supposed.  It was just a
general feeling of overall foreboding that something was
coming...something was going to happen that was going to bring her neat
little world crashing down around her ears.

Chloe had avoided her all day; not that Lana could blame her, and it
wasn't like she had scoured the school seeking out Chloe.  But
something wasn't right there -- Chloe was definitely on to something,
and had probably spent the day putting two and two together, and had
more than likely, by now, gotten four.  

Lana had gotten a big fat "F" on her biology quiz, and a 'see me after
class' in red pen scrawled across the top in letters so huge it was
impossible for everyone in the row behind her not to read it.

When the cheerleaders asked her to help with the pep rally she'd had to
decline, because the Talon was understaffed and it was her
responsibility to pick up the slack when there wasn't anyone else to do
it.  All of the girls she considered her friends, in their red and gold
skirts and white tennis shoes, walked away from her table like she was
some kind of outcast now.  Quit cheerleading and got a job, how much
*lamer* could she be?

Her stomach had given a lurch in the middle of math class and she'd had
to get the pass to go to the bathroom; only to come back and realize
she'd missed the entire lecture on adding and subtracting polynomials
and was confused for the rest of the period.  Plus, they had fifteen
problems due tomorrow and she had no idea how to do them.

And she had to do her frog over because its intestines or guts or
*something* was all the wrong color.  She had to buy new colored
pencils to make sure she had the right color.  Not to mention the three
extra credit assignments Mr. Holt had given her when she'd met with him
after class and said if she didn't do them (correctly), she might fail.
 To top it off, Lex had to check them over and sign off on them because
he was her guardian for all intents and purposes, and the whole day had
started out badly because he was in her bed when Chloe woke her up in
the morning.

Lana was afraid if she told Lex all of that, just the way it had all
just run through her head, he'd realize that -- hello -- he was dating
a High School Girl and this kind of stuff was just way, WAY beneath
him.

Instead, she started to cry.  She felt the heat of a single tear slide
down the side of her face and leave a little wet dot on his shirt.  It
only took that before the torrent unleashed, and she sobbed while he
held her, wondering just how bad life could get before it inevitably
had to start getting better.

When she was finally calm enough to speak she sat up and accepted the
handkerchief Lex handed her, wiping her eyes sheepishly as he waited. 
If there was one thing Lex was (besides incredibly understanding as far
as her roller coaster emotions went) it was patient.  He had to be, to
go through this kind of thing and still tell her it was worth it, that
he was happy, and that he didn't regret anything they'd done for one
single second.

It would be nice to hear that now, but Lana was afraid she wouldn't
believe it.  She was in that kind of mood, the kind that *almost* made
her want to say screw it, lets tell everyone so I don't have to go
through life feeling crappy all the time.

She kind of felt that if people knew about her and Lex, it might
alleviate some of the pressure.  Things like frog intestines and
polynomials might be easier to take if she didn't always feel like she
was hiding this big, intense thing that everyone would disapprove of. 
And she could talk to her friends freely, stop lying to them and
causing them to avoid her at school because of some weird happenstance
like Chloe seeing Lex's coat in her house in the morning.  That is, if
she still *had* friends after they found out about her and Lex.

Lana took a breath.  "Chloe saw your coat in the guest house this
morning," she told him, figuring she'd start with the important stuff
first, and work her way to extra credit biology assignments.  "I made
up something as to why it was there but I'm not sure she believed me. 
She didn't say anything, but she avoided me all day."

Lex was quiet, seemingly considering this.  He shrugged a little and
fixed his gaze on Lana.  She found it difficult to look away whenever
he looked at her like that, like he was about to impart some important
information and it was your tough luck if you didn't pay close
attention.

"It would be okay if Chloe knew, Lana."

Lana was expecting some insightful and certainly helpful advice.  She
was not expecting what had come to be a very redundant statement.  Lex
wasn't afraid to tell.  She'd duly noted it weeks ago.

"Would it?" she challenged, suddenly not caring if they had the same
argument over again.  "Can you guarantee me that it'd be okay?  That
I'd still have the few friends I do after Clark found out?  That Nell
wouldn't have me living at 721 Park Place with its huge kitchen that
nobody uses?"

Lana was serious -- more than serious -- but wasn't it so nice that she
could amuse Lex with her hysteria.  She sat up fully and glared at his
grin.  

He put both hands up in concession.  "I'm just saying that the world
wouldn't end if you told Chloe and it might make things easier on you. 
I don't like seeing you in a total meltdown after a bad day at school."

Lana could forgive the understated use of the word 'bad' -- again --
because Lex sounded genuine, like he didn't really think the world
would implode if it knew Lex Luthor and Lana Lang were dating.  And
rationally, Lana knew he was right.  The world would keep spinning,
days would keep turning into nights, and eventually it would be spring.
 The two worst things that could happen were losing Clark and being
sent to Metropolis; neither of which meant the end of the world as long
as she still had Lex.  Because really, that was the point, wasn't it?  

Chloe might wig but wouldn't abandon her forever, and Clark -- well,
friendships came and friendships went and the true ones passed tests
like this.  And deep down, Lana truly believed Clark would always be
her friend no matter what.

"Is this about Chloe or is this about Clark?" Lex abruptly asked,
cutting into her thoughts.

Lana looked at him sharply.  "Can you read minds?"  She was only half
kidding.

Lex smiled and stood, moving toward the refrigerator to retrieve the
bottles of water he'd been interrupted in getting earlier.  "I can't
help but think that if Chloe knew, you'd be fine, but its Clark finding
out that scares you."

He handed her one of the blue bottles and Lana took it, used the time
spent twisting off it's cap and taking a long sip to stall and try to
figure out how to respond to that.  Lex was right, of course.  The
question was, why did it matter so much?

"Clark will have a stronger reaction," she said finally, feeling as
lame as she knew it sounded.

Lex raised his eyebrows in mid-sip.  "You think?"

Lana smirked at him.  "You're his best friend and I'm…"

She felt a heat rise to her cheeks as she tried to find the words and
Lex only smiled, touched her cheek gently.  "The one that got away?"

Lana wanted to smile in return but could only nod, her entire mood
completely staid.  "He'll think you took me away."

Lex moved closer, bringing her into an embrace.  She sighed, letting
her body relax and melt into the contours of his until they interlocked
perfectly.

"He had his chance," Lex said gruffly, dipping his head to one side to
nuzzle at her ear.  It sent tingles up her spine and she gasped softly
as he nipped her earlobe.  "I told him time and time again to go for
it," he muttered.  "It's not my fault he didn't.  I told him if it were
me, *I* would."

His warm breath tickled her ear and made her weak in the knees but
still Lana managed to feign indignance and push him away.  "You tried
to pimp me to Clark?" she asked incredulously.

Lex only shrugged and closed the space between them.  He was nuzzling
her other ear within seconds.  "I really, really didn't like the
quarterback," he said, lips moving across her cheek and finally
settling against hers.

*

Things were pretty hazy when Lex kissed her like that.  Sometimes, the
world fell away completely.  But Lana felt it when Lex pulled back; the
entire atmosphere changed in one single second and she had that feeling
in her gut that everything in her world was about to shift.

Sometimes those feelings were wrong.  But it was rare.  Lana blinked up
at Lex, registered the wet-kissed look of his lips and slight flush of
his cheeks but most of all the surprise in his eyes.

Lex didn't even have to form the word, Lana knew they had been
interrupted -- knew the secret was now shattered to a billion pieces
because someone was standing in the entryway.  Someone had seen all too
much and she'd have bet her college savings that it was --

"Clark."

Lex's voice sounded nothing like she'd expected, nothing like hers
would have.  He was already composed, striding across the room like
nothing unusual at all had just occurred; as though Clark didn't look
like he'd swallowed a bug and Lana wasn't standing there discreetly
making sure all her buttons were fastened. 

"What can I do for you?" Lex continued.  Lana couldn't see his face but
wagered he was as unfettered as he got, maybe even smiling easily as he
would have at any other time.  It was, after all, common for Clark to
stop by after dropping off produce; he'd become such a regular visitor
that he was never announced and Lex gave him as much free reign of the
castle as he gave Lana.

Lana had the distinct feeling Lex wasn't so collected inside, but she'd
learned from the School of Luthor early on that to project outward
confidence is the first step to making it so on the inside.

Somehow, that was a lot easier said than done in a situation like this.
 Maybe age was the difference, or experience, or both, but Lana knew
she and Clark definitely weren't going to be able to pull this off
without a scene.  Lana was fighting the urge to flee Smallville
entirely and Clark's expression of surprise was quickly turning into
anger and worse, disappointment.

"What the hell is going on?"

Clark Kent hardly ever said hell and he *never* yelled, at least not at
Lana and not at Lex that Lana knew of.  She felt her entire body tense.

"Clark…" Lex said, holding a hand out like he was placating a spooked
colt.  "Take it easy."

Clark sidestepped Lex.  "Lana?"  He sounded confused.  Like he
genuinely didn't believe his eyes and had to give himself another
chance to be completely wrong.  "You and Lex…?"

Lana felt a tidal wave of guilt crash over her.  Her chest felt so
weighted it was difficult to breathe, much less form a coherent
thought.  She tried to go over the reasons she'd had for keeping this
from Clark.  There were millions of them and now she was having trouble
grasping onto just one.  Telling Clark would have been one thing. 
Clark finding out on his own -- like this -- was something else
entirely.

"Clark, let me explain," Lana heard herself say.  She sounded hollow,
like she wasn't really in the body of the girl that just got caught
kissing Lex Luthor.  She was elsewhere, talking *for* that poor,
clueless girl.

"Explain…?"  Clark said, and it sounded more like a statement than a
question.  "What could you possibly say that would make me understand
this?"

Lana had to admit he had a point.  She *didn't* have an explanation,
not one that would make him suddenly accept it.  'I love Lex' wasn't
going to cut it.  Lex stepped between them and Lana blinked.  She had
momentarily forgotten he was there.  Part of her was grateful for the
reinforcements but mostly she was scared that he'd say something
very…Luthor-like and the damage would skyrocket.

"Clark, Lana and I are together," was all he said.  He'd even managed
to sound gentle in his matter of fact tone and Lana thought that he'd
done okay.

Clark's eyes had shifted.  Looking at Lex, he didn't look so shocked
and panicky.  When he'd looked at Lana, it seemed like he was looking
at something he didn't really want to see but couldn't look away. 
That's what I am, Lana thought.  A train wreck.

"How long?" Clark asked Lex.

Lex told him.  Six weeks hadn't felt all that long but when Lex said
it, it sounded like a lifetime.  Clark opened his mouth as if he were
going to say more but seemed to flounder for words.  Lana wanted to
help him; wanted to talk to fill in the space but there was absolutely
nothing to say except that she was sorry.

So she said that: "I'm sorry, Clark," and he only gazed over Lex's
shoulder at her as if seeing her for the first time.  Again he opened
his mouth, again seeming to want to say so much.  His eyes were wild,
the expression of someone trying desperately to wrap his mind around
something and failing miserably.

"Clark," Lana said, for no other reason than to keep him upright.  It
didn't work.  He stumbled a bit, legs suddenly appearing too long and
feet too large.  All six foot plus of him seemed withered somehow, his
entire being just sagging with the information suddenly resting on his
shoulders.  Information, Lana was positive, he didn't want -- Clark was
suddenly 'oblivion is bliss' personified.

He managed to choke out an "I'm sorry too," before turning, his hand
grasping blindly for a structure that wasn't there.  He stumbled again,
then righted himself with amazing agility and bolted from the room.

-end-
Continued in Finding Home III: The Confrontation.


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