"She said we're much too different." Clark smiled, feeling tension drain out of Lex's shoulders as he began rubbing the bare back. 

Lex's muffled chuckle shook him slightly. "If only she knew." 

"Ignoring the literal interpretation, she's kind of right." Clark pointed out his voice dropping a fraction. Lex rolled abruptly, pulling Clark down over him. 

It was one of those moments that made Clark wonder how much the meteors really had affected his lover. Sometimes Lex moved so fast, pulled so hard. He could resist. He could move faster than bullets and catch falling airplanes, but when Lex pulled - he followed. After a moment of writhing, their bodies fell into a comfortable, cuddlesome position on the large bed. 

"Next time tell her what we have in common is stronger than our differences. It's in the soul and nothing - not social circles, not even DNA changes that." Lex pushed his nose against Clark's throat, his lips brushing the thick, corded throat. It was the part of Clark so few people ever saw - that little piece of him that didn't want to powerful or special, the part that longed to belong. Lex would rather change the world so that a person like Clark fit in than change Clark to fit the world. 

"Do you really think so?" Clark asked smally, his face burrowing into Lex's shoulder. 

"Hey, behind your soul, there's a person there a lot like me." Lex told him, his hold on Clark tightening as the larger man tensed. 

"We don't even know if I have a soul." 

"Clark." Lex pushed Clark onto his back. Rising up on his knees, Lex looked down at the younger man. "Babe, we've talked about this. Your world developed along similar genetic lines. We're the same - with different suns." 

Clark nodded because it was easier than arguing with Lex. Warm lips rewarded him with a sweet kiss. "I love you." Lex whispered as the kiss turned heated. Clark pushed his doubts aside and let himself enjoy the feel of Lex settling on top of him. 

"Love you too." 

In his hands, the cold, calculating businessman and the vicious executive melted away. His lover claimed to be a passionless man, but Clark never saw him that way. As nimble fingers tore away his shirt and worked to open his pants, Clark watched Lex's face. Eyes closed as he moved back, Lex felt his way over Clark's body with the hands of a blind man. Palms sure and slow out of habit - fingers lightly leading. 

Clark swallowed as bright blue eyes peeked at him under rust colored lashes. Lex's mouth latched on - just beside his left ear - sucking and gnawing his way down Clark's chest. A groan from either of them or both of them filled the air as Lex's mouth passed his navel.  

Crying sharply, Clark arched up under Lex's hot mouth - trying not to float. Thoughts of different and the same melted under the fire of his lover's ardor. 

Sitting at his desk in the middle of the Planet's bullpen, Clark tried not to think too hard about last night's conversation. He was also trying to type a story for deadline, but his thoughts kept returning to Lex. 

I laugh when he gets all 'crazy genius' on me. A memory - Lex in the kitchen, covered in flour and sugar and God knew what else. He'd tried to make cookies, but because Clark liked both white and dark chocolate chunks, M&Ms, and nuts in cookies, Lex tried to make one batch of cookies with everything in it. He'd tripled the dough recipe to compensate for the extra toppings. Tasty, though they were, 'The cookies' left their kitchen looking like a mad scientist's lair.  

Clark felt a smile growing on his face. They'd spent the evening nibbling cookies and drinking milk, watching one of many wholesome movies Lex would never admit to owning.  

I love when he sleeping my arms - peaceful and safe. After the initial sugar rush, Lex snuggled up against his side and began snoring lightly. 

I hope he never sees how different we are. I try not to think about those differences too, but I hurt when I fail. 

I need him to save me, but I fear he's going to get tired of trying to. 

Clark scrubbed his face to stall the beginnings of tears. He didn't know why he was so emotional lately, but in the past week, he'd gone through more angst than all his formative years put together. 

A soft knock on his cubicle wall, snapped his head up. It was damned hard to sneak up on Superman, but once again, Lex had moved in a way most humans couldn't. 

"I traded an exclusive with Lois to get you the day off." Lex was smiling, but if one knew to look, concern added tiny wrinkles between his brows. 

Clark opened his mouth to argue, but on top of looking concerned, Lex's hands were stuffed in his pockets. It was the pose that walked all over Clark - with Lex looking sweet and shy and vulnerable. 

"Be lookout." Clark sighed, speed-typing his article and emailing it to Perry. Lex tensed, his eyes roving the bullpen. 

"Done?" Lex asked as Clark shut down the computer and grabbed his coat. 

"Yes." Clark couldn't help the smile that curled on his lips as Lex glanced around the quiet news room. "It's midday - everyone's at lunch or working on a story." 

"Oh." Lex ushered him to the elevator. "Why haven't you left for lunch?" 

"I usually go after everyone else - when they're all clamoring about the deadline." 

"Ah." Lex ushered him onto the elevator and pushed a button before stepping back to stand pressed against Clark's side. Even in empty elevators, Lex was discreet in public. If someone were watching, they wouldn't see Lex's hand pressed against Clark's, so the little shifting of fingers that was almost holding hands. 

Clark frowned when the elevator stopped below the lobby, but above the parking garage. The old records office was in the subbasement - after everything went digital, the office became storage. He followed Lex, curious, but not worried. He could smell the candles half a step off the elevator and the food. Lex opened the records office door and waved Clark in before him. The softness on that usually sharp face telling Clark that maybe he felt those same things too. They really weren't that different. 

"You planned this." He smiled, kissing Lex's jaw as he passed him. "You're too good to me sometimes." He paused to put his arms around Lex's waist. 

"You've been upset lately." Lex leaned in, his hands on Clark's back. "I've tried using logic, but it won't convince your heart." 

Clark started to draw back, but Lex held on. "Listen to me. There was a time when I agreed with Lois. I thought we were too different, and I didn't want to risk losing you. So I went for more exotic women - hoping they'd distract me from what I feel. I had a plan for my life, and I met you long after I'd set it in stone." 

Lex held on tighter, the tension in Clark's body piercing his heart like a spear. "I've had greener pastures, and no matter what they had to offer, do you know what I couldn't forget?" he paused, petting the lush dark hair. "When I left that last time - when I proposed to Pamela Isely - all I could think about was that last thing you said before I left Smallville - " Don't laugh, Lex, but I love you. And I hope you're right and she's the one. I try not to doubt it, but it hurts me to think that she might end up being like the others. I needed to tell you that I care about you and even if I'm scared that she'll hurt you - I want you to be happy." Lex stopped, his voice breaking. Clark straightened in his arms and cupped his jaw with a smooth palm. Big thumbs wiped at his tears. "And I know you want me happy too, so if this doesn't work out, Come back to me." 

Clark kissed a tear track, pressing their foreheads. "Then I told you everything. I was terrified I was losing you." 

"It lead me back to you - knowing you would care about me no matter what." Lex slid his hands to Clark's waist. "Then, God, I showed up at your apartment door fresh from Batman's rescue and her arrest." 

Lex shivered, his voice thick with emotion. "You didn't say you loved me." 

"I said I was sorry she didn't make you happy."  

"It meant more - hearing that." 

"You laughed at me." Clark smiled, his eyes closed in memory.  

"I loved you - I finally understood that." Lex shifted, his hands slipping on the back of Clark's neck, standing with their bodies flush. "This past month - you've been distant - hurting. I hoped you would come to me and I tried not to feel pushed away, but it's hurting too much now. For both of us. I need to know what's wrong." 

Clark took a deep breath. "I told you one of Batman's enemies from Gotham teamed up with Lionel?" 

"Yes, Dr. Crane, Scarecrow." 

"He mixed a dose of his mind serum with traces of red kryptonite." 

"CLARK!" Lex pulled back, his hands no longer passively holding on. He reached up, holding and feeling his lover's face - eyes studying as if he could discern the damage just by looking. "Why didn't you tell me?" 

"I - it made me so scared. Batman had to use green kryptonite to subdue me while he made a cure." 

"That's when you were 'chasing a lead' in Gotham?" Lex's voice grew soft and small. Clark's chest tightened harshly. 

"He promised not to tell you." 

"You asked him to?" 

This time the hurt in Lex's voice drew blood. Clark pulled him back into a fierce hug. "I was out of my mind with fear." 

"I would never hurt you." Lex's voice turned to stone and ice, along with tension running down his spine. 

"Hurt me? Jesus!" Clark pushed Lex back, his hands lightly gripping the wiry biceps. "Hurt ME? I was terrified you'd go after your father. The last time he tried something - " 

"I promised he wouldn't live to regret it." Lex finished.  

"I was so scared you'd do it and get caught or hate me because I'd be the reason you murdered him - leave me." 

"I'll never leave you." Lex cut in, his voice still harsh, but with more determination than pain. "I won't say I haven't thought about taking care of Dad. Hell I almost did once, but I was scared too. Scared you'd leave me if I crossed that line." 

Clark smiled sadly, letting their forehead touch again. "Guess we're really not so different." 

Lex shook his head, rubbing their foreheads lightly. "We have our differences, but we fit. That's what matters - not what's different or the same, but what works. And that works - we work - just me and you."

The End

 Not that Different, by Collin Raye

She said we’re much too different
We’re from two separate worlds
And he admitted she was partly right
But in his heart’s defense he told her
What they had in common
Was strong enough to bond them for life
He said look behind your own soul
And the person that you’ll see
Just might remind you of me

I laugh, I love, I hope, I try
I hurt, I need, I fear, I cry
And I know you do the same things, too
So we’re really not that different, me and you

She could hardly argue
With his pure and simple logic
But logic never could convince a heart
She had always dreamed of loving someone more exotic
And he just didn’t seem to fit the part
So she searched for greener pastures
But never could forget
What he whispered when she left

I laugh, I love, I hope, I try
I hurt, I need, I fear, I cry
And I know you do the same things, too
So we’re really not that different, me and you

Was it time or was it truth
Maybe both lead her back to his door
As her tears fell at his feet
She didn’t say I love you
What she said meant even more

I laugh, I love, I hope, I try
I hurt, I need, I fear, I cry
And I know you do the same things, too
So we’re really not that different, me and you