Title: Picture Perfect
Author: Jade
Disclaimer: The boys aren't mine.
Rating: R
Pairing: Clark/Lex
Feedback: jade@jadesfic.com
URL to the ClexFest: http://www.kardasi.com/Lexclusive/ClexFest
Notes:
1) Written for the CLex Fuh-Q-Fest from this challenge:
What if a talent scout for a modeling agency is driving through Smallville (on his way to God knows where) and spots Clark? What if he offers him a contract that would solve the family financial problems? What if Jonathan went ballistic at the lifestyle he thought the job would entail. What if Lex talked his way into the first photo shoot? And a nervous wooden Clark who was useless in front of the camera was suddenly beauty and seduction personified? (Boji)
2) Thanks to Christine and Kathryn for the beta. All remaining mistakes are mine.

PICTURE PERFECT
by Jade

Clark pulled into the driveway of his parents' farm and cut the engine of the truck. His father turned to look at him, waved, and then said something to Clark's mother. The two of them seemed to be working on the tractor once again. Clark waved back and then hopped out of the truck. He headed around to the back of the pick-up and started to off-load the empty produce crates that he had picked up while delivering that week's orders.

He shook his head. He couldn't believe his parents were trying to fix the tractor again. The thing was older than he was, and it was almost impossible to find parts for the vehicle. What they really needed was an entirely new tractor, but Clark also knew that it simply wasn't an option for them. Or at least, it wasn't an option right then. That might change in the near future, if only he could convince his parents to listen to him.

He had been offered an opportunity earlier that day that could make all of their money problems disappear. He knew it wasn't going to be easy to convince his father, and even his mother might be a tough sell. It was something that he really thought he wanted to do, though, both for his parents as well as for himself.

Clark placed the last crate down beside the back door. He straightened up and dusted his hands off on the legs of his pants, then started to walk over to where his parents were standing. He wasn't even sure how he was going to bring this up, but knew he would have to find a way.

"Hey, Clark," his dad greeted him as he approached the tractor. His mother was leaning inside, bent over the motor and his father was standing next to her, offering suggestions.

"Dad, Mom," Clark returned. "Broken again, is it?"

"It was working yesterday," his mom muttered, but didn't look up from whatever it was that she was looking at.

"We think that we might have to rebuild the entire engine this time," his dad told him. He looked really worried about that possibility and Clark knew why. It would take time they didn't have to do that, and even that was only if they could find the parts they would need.

"So, I was at the Talon today," Clark started, attempting to sound casual about it, but failing miserably. He could hear the nervousness in his voice and he was sure that his parents were able to pick up on it as well.

He had been at the Talon to drop off Lana's first produce order. The coffee shop had recently decided to start serving lunch as well as beverages and snacks. Lex, being the owner, had insisted on only using the Kents' produce to make the food. Clark had wondered about that, but when he'd asked about it the other man had just smiled enigmatically and said that he'd always been satisfied with the Kents' product in the past. Clark had been sure there was more going on with Lex's answer than the obvious but he hadn't been quite able to figure it out.

"How was Lana?" his mom asked him. She stood up from where she had been bent over the engine. She grabbed a rag and started to wipe her hands off as she spoke. Clark knew that she likely assumed that his nervousness was connected to the girl, but that simply wasn't the case.

"She's good," Clark told her. He knew that his mom still liked to think that he and Lana might eventually get together, especially after his relationship with Chloe had ended the year before. But the truth was that Clark just thought of her as a good friend, like Pete and Chloe again now that they were no longer dating. He was attracted to someone else. He probably had been for a lot longer than he had been aware of it, actually, but he didn't think that he was ready to deal with it. It was simply too much to handle with everything else that seemed to keep happening in his life.

"You should invite her over for dinner sometime," his father suggested.

Clark nodded. He didn't really want to get into that discussion right then. "I will," he agreed.

His parents traded spots and his father started to poke at the engine.

"I need to speak with you guys about something," Clark started again.

"Sure, honey," his mom said. She stood next to him and continued to clean her hands.

"I met this guy at the Talon," Clark started. He could see his mother nodding, encouraging him to continue. Clark took a deep breath and just decided to spit it out. "He said he was with a modeling agency in Metropolis and..."

"No," his father said sharply and snapped up from where he had been looking at the engine. His hand banged against part of the tractor and he cursed mildly before cradling it with his other hand and starting to rub the pain away. His eyes bore into Clark, and Clark felt like he was bolted in place.

"Dad, you haven't even heard me out yet," Clark protested.

"No," he repeated. He reached out to take the rag from Martha and started to wipe his own hands off. Apparently they were finished looking at the engine.

"He said that I had exactly the look he's been searching for. I could make a lot of money doing this. You know that we could use it," Clark insisted.

At first, he hadn't been overly thrilled at the prospect that Cory had offered him, either, but the more he thought about it, the more the idea was growing on him. This was something that he could do and not have to worry about using his gifts or having anyone find out about them. He could make a lot of money, help alleviate his parents' debt, and ensure that he would be able to go to college the following year.

"Clark, I really don't think that you understand what something like this would entail," his father said. He closed the side of the tractor and started to pack up the tools they had been using. Clark's mother bent down to help him.

"Dad, I'll just stand there and they'll take pictures of me. That's all that will happen."

His father glowered and shook his head. He looked like he was going to say something else, but Clark's mother cut him off before he was able to get any words out.

"Honey, what about school?" she asked calmly. She might have sounded calm, but Clark knew her well enough to know that she was just as worried as his father, although likely about entirely different things.

"Cory said that I would likely spend the rest of the summer in Metropolis and then during the school year it would only be a week or so at a time. I can take schoolwork with me and do it or catch up later if I need to. You know that I can."

"Cory?" his father asked. His voice sounded strained.

"Corwin Sato, the modeling agency guy," Clark explained. He pulled his wallet out and passed the man's business card to his father, who merely glanced at it before looking back up at Clark.

"I don't know, honey," his mother continued. "It's your senior year. You need to make sure that you keep your grades up so that you can get that scholarship from Met U."

"But don't you see? If I do this then we won't need to worry about me getting a scholarship. I'll be able to pay for college myself."

His mother stared at him unhappily and Clark knew that what he had just said had been absolutely the wrong thing to say. He could tell that his father wasn't happy, either, although how much of it was new unhappiness and how much of it was old unhappiness, Clark couldn't tell.

"Not that I still won't get one," Clark protested immediately. "Mom, that's not what I meant at all."

"Clark..."

"It would just be nice not to have to worry about money all of the time."

"Clark, no," his father said with enough finality that Clark doubted he was ever going to change the other man's mind. "You don't understand what this would mean."

"You keep saying that, but I still don't know what it is that you think that I don't understand," Clark snapped. He wasn't happy. His father didn't even seem willing to listen to him about this.

"Clark, there will be... expectations," his father said slowly.

Clark narrowed his eyes and tried to figure out what his father was talking about.

"Are we talking about sex, Dad?" he demanded a moment later.

"Clark," his mother warned him but he suspected that it was more for the tone he had taken than what he had said.

"Well, are we?"

"Yes, Clark, we are," his father confirmed with a sigh. He finished putting the tools away and slammed the toolbox shut with a loud clank. "And a lot of other things as well."

"Dad, it won't be like that."

"Right," he snorted. Jonathan picked up the toolbox, pushed off from the side of the tractor, and headed towards the barn. Clark and his mother followed behind.

"Dad..."

"No, Clark," his father snapped and turned around in the barn door to face him. "You are not going to make yourself into some kind of... sex symbol, no matter what the benefit might be. Besides, you know that money doesn't really mean anything. There are other ways for you to pay for college and for us to pay the mortgages on the farm without you giving up your dignity."

"I know how to take care of myself," Clark insisted.

"Clark, I said no. This conversation is over."

"Dad..."

"Clark," his mother warned him and placed her hand on his arm. He looked down at her. "It was a good idea, but this just isn't something that we're going to be able to agree on right now."

"Mom, I really want to do this," he told her.

"Honey, not now," she said calmly. "Just go inside and get ready for dinner, okay? We'll be inside in a moment."

Clark wanted to protest. He even opened his mouth to do so, but, at the last moment, he decided against it. He shook his head, turned, and walked towards the house.

He had known that it would be hard for his father to accept this idea, but he had hoped that the older man would have at least listened to him. Instead, his father had simply refused to hear anything that Clark had said, and Clark couldn't help but suspect that his father had almost accused him of wanting to prostitute himself. That wasn't what this would be like at all, he was sure, and he wished he knew some way to convince his dad.

The only good thing was that his mother hadn't seemed completely against the idea. She had been worried about his schooling, but Clark knew that he could convince her that it would be okay. And it would be okay. Clark was a good student, he could keep his grades up, of that he had no doubt at all. Maybe if he could convince his mother that modeling wouldn't be such a bad thing, she could bring his father around. It would take some planning, but maybe it would just work.

***_***

Martha had always loved the quiet times when their day was over and night was settling on the farm. Clark was up in bed or out in the barn and it was just her and Jonathan. Alone, together. Tonight was a little different, there was tension between her husband and her son and the day hadn't ended the way that she had anticipated when she'd gotten up, but she still liked the peacefulness that evening brought. It allowed her to think and try to come up with a solution for what was happening between her two stubborn men.

Clark had gone to bed angry and frustrated and Jon was being even more stubborn than normal. She was surprised that Clark seemed so taken on this modeling idea, but she knew that he figured he could help all of them this way. She knew her son would do almost anything to help people he cared about. Really, as long as Clark kept his grades up, Martha had no objections to Clark doing this, or anything else. Of course, she would insist on being there the first few times to make sure that everything was above board, but no reputable company could argue against that being her right as a parent.

Jon was worried about all sorts of other things like sex, drugs and alcohol, but Martha liked to think that she knew her son better than that. He was almost eighteen and he'd never been in trouble, not anything serious anyhow. Martha was also pretty sure that, although Clark had dated Chloe for six months, he was still a virgin. She wasn't deluded enough as a parent to have anything particular invested in that belief, but she really did think it was true.

Jonathan was being stubborn for no apparent reason. All she could think was that he had some type of stereotypical belief about models and modeling that he was projecting onto Clark. It was hurting Clark and it was preventing him from pursuing what might be a really good opportunity for him. That meant that it needed to stop now before it got even more out of hand.

"Jon?" Martha asked quietly. She hoped that her husband hadn't fallen asleep during the time they had lain in silence in their bed.

"Yes?" he asked. His voice didn't sound sleepy at all, and Martha realized that he had likely been doing the same thing as she; lying there and thinking about their day, and his fight with Clark.

His breath brushed the back of her neck. He was curled up behind her, his arm draped around her waist. It was comfortable, but it wasn't the most convenient position for speaking. Martha shifted slightly so that he would loosen his hold on her and then rolled over to face him.

"This thing with Clark..."

"Martha, we talked about this already. I don't want Clark getting involved in that sort of thing."

Martha sighed softly. She wanted to argue that they hadn't really talked, that Jon had just laid down the law and expected her and Clark to abide by it, but she knew it would do no good. It would only lead to another argument, and that wasn't what she wanted.

"Clark will be eighteen in a month and half," she reminded her husband. Their son was almost a man. Soon he would be able to make his own decisions regardless of what they wanted for him.

"And until then this is our decision," he insisted.

"Jon, he wants to do this," she told him quietly.

"Why," her husband demanded. "Why on Earth does my son want to put himself on display for the rest of the world?"

Martha thought about that for a few moments. She didn't really understand why Clark would want to do this either, but the fact remained that he did. If he weren't interested in it, he never would have come home and spoken to them. He simply would have told the man in the Talon no and walked away.

"Maybe he just wants to feel special for a while," Martha suggested eventually.

"He already is special."

"Special in a way that he can share with others," she clarified for him. "You know that it isn't easy for him living with his powers and having to hide them all the time. This is something he could do and not have to worry about his secret being revealed. It's something he could do and feel normal."

"But everyone would be looking at him," Jon protested.

"And all they will see is a man, just like any other man."

"The lifestyle," he said quietly.

"Clark's a good kid," Martha assured him. "You know that. And he's going away to college next year, anyhow. He's going to have to deal with all of this sooner or later. Wouldn't you rather be here for him to come to if he needs the help than be estranged from him and not able to do anything about it?"

"I don't like it."

"I know you don't, Jon, but our baby is growing up. That's just the way it is. And Clark's right, we could use the money."

"Martha!"

"It's true, and you know it, Jonathan Kent," she insisted and poked him in the arm. Sometimes he was so stubborn that he made himself willfully blind. "We're in debt already. What are we going to do when Clark leaves and we need to hire on people to replace him? We can't afford it. We both know it. Do you honestly think that Clark doesn't know it as well? He wants to help us. Let him."

"I still don't like it," Jonathan grumbled again, but Martha knew that she had won. Jonathan would give it a try and, really, that was all she was asking for.

"I know," she said gently and leaned in to kiss her husband. "Clark wants to do this, though. I'm going to insist on being there for the first while to make sure that everything is okay."

Her husband nodded and grunted his approval of that.

Martha knew that her son had changed a lot in the last couple of years. He'd grown up and grown wiser, learned a little bit more about the way the world worked outside of Smallville. She also knew whom that change could be directly attributed to; a certain young man from Metropolis. Clark was still innocent about a surprising number of things, though. There was no way that she was going to allow anyone to take that innocence and use it against him. So she would be there, just to make sure that didn't happen, and to reassure herself that everything was going to be okay.

***_***

Lex almost hadn't believed Clark when the young man had come to the castle two weeks before and told him that he had been recruited by a modeling agency in Metropolis. It wasn't that Lex didn't believe that they would have been interested in Clark, in Lex's opinion any of them would have been stupid not to be interested in the handsome young man who was his best friend, but he couldn't believe that Clark had said yes to the idea or that his parents had gone along with it in the first place, especially Clark's father.

It had been true, though, and as soon as Clark had told him when the first photo shoot was, Lex had offered the use of his penthouse in Metropolis for the week. Clark had shook his head, thanked Lex very nicely and explained that he and his mom were likely going to need to stay in Metropolis for the rest of the summer. So, of course, Lex had extended his invitation for that entire time and beyond. Clark had eventually agreed, excited not to have to stay with friends of his mother for the summer, and had somehow convinced his parents of the wisdom of Lex's offer.

Lex had planned to travel with Clark and his mother that Monday, take them to the penthouse and get them settled, and then drive back to Smallville later that night. Late Sunday night, though, he had been called to an 'extremely urgent' Board meeting in his father's offices that was scheduled for first thing Monday. So, the Kents had needed to drive up alone. He had left a message with them asking that they arrive around seven that evening. Lex had assumed that he would be back by then, but as it turned out, the meeting had lasted until eight. He had left as soon as possible, and drove back to the penthouse as quickly as he could, but it was still eight-thirty before he reached the lobby door.

He was relieved to see that someone in his building had at least let them inside so that they hadn't needed to wait outside for him. Still, Clark and his mother looked weary from the wait and Lex was not happy about that.

There were days when he hated being his father's son more than others, and this was one of them. If he wasn't so sure that there was no way for his father to know about his planned trip to the city that day, he would have sworn the older man was playing another one of his games. Calling Lex to a meeting when he knew that the young man had plans with his friend was exactly the sort of thing that Lionel would do.

"Clark, I'm sorry," Lex apologized as he let himself in through the door. "I had no idea the meeting would run this late."

"It's okay, Lex," Clark told him. Lex could tell that it wasn't okay, though. They had likely been waiting there since seven; Clark's mother was nothing if not punctual. "It's not your fault."

Lex felt Martha's eyes traveling the length of his body before she spoke. He knew that she was taking in his tired look and the slightly crumbled texture of his clothes that not even the finest fabric could avoid after so many hours seated in an office chair. "Your father works you too hard, Lex," she said softly.

"It's nothing that I'm not used to," he assured her. He stepped towards Clark and gestured to the two bags sitting on the ground. "This everything you have?"

"Umm, there's some more stuff in the car," Clark told him, "but it's not really important. We can get it tomorrow."

Lex nodded and leaned down to pick up one of the bags.

"It doesn't make it okay," Martha told him. "Have you even eaten?"

"I'm sure there's something waiting for me upstairs," he told her, and he was sure that there was food upstairs for him. Mary doubled as his housekeeper and cook and Lex had made sure to let her know that he was coming into town. She wouldn't have left the place without leaving something for him to eat that night. Whether or not he would actually get around to eating it was another issue entirely. Really, Lex just felt like undressing and crawling into his bed. Food, or anything else, seemed like too much effort right then.

Clark's mother nodded, but didn't say anything. He knew that she didn't approve of the way his father treated him, and in some ways it was nice to know that she had kind of taken over worrying for him. It had been so long since he'd had a mother of his own, though, that he wasn't always sure how to deal with her attention. He knew that she cared, if only because he was one of Clark's friends and if something happened to him it would hurt Clark as well. He also knew that she often stood in the middle of Clark and Jonathan's fights about him and his friendship with Clark. He didn't envy her that position.

They stepped into the elevator and Lex moved over to the keypad. He pulled his keycard out of his wallet, swiped it through the reader, and then pressed the button for the penthouse suite on the top floor. Almost immediately they were moving up through the building.

"Ooh," Clark's mother gasped and reached behind her to hold onto the railing for support as the car sped them up to their destination.

"It's a little fast the first time," Lex told her with a nod, "but you get used to it. Otherwise it would take forever to get up to the top." He had honestly forgotten that certain people weren't accustomed to these types of elevators. He'd been on so many of them during his lifetime that it was just something he had gotten used to. He suspected there were many things he was used to that the Kents would find strange and maybe even disturbing.

The ride in the elevator didn't take very long, and soon the three of them were standing outside the penthouse door.

"I had extra cards made for both of you," Lex explained as he let the three of them inside. He pointed to the two credit-card sized pieces of plastic lying on the table next to the door. "They'll get you into the building, the parking area, the gym and pool, and up here to the penthouse. They won't allow you to access any of the other floors in the building. It's a security thing." Lex stopped talking when he realized that neither of the other people in the room with him was listening any longer. Both of the Kents were looking around the place in wonder.

"How many floors is it?" Clark's mother asked him.

"Just two," Lex told her. "Down here is the living room, the dining room, the kitchen, my office, and the main bath. The bedrooms are upstairs. There's three of them and they each have an ensuite and a balcony attached."

"This is bigger than our house," Clark exclaimed and wandered into the living room area.

"Lex, this is too much," Martha protested. "We can't possibly stay here."

"Why not?" he asked her seriously. "Most of the time it's empty anyhow. It'll be good to have people here for a change." If nothing else, Mary would appreciate their presence. She was always complaining that the length of time Lex spent there barely justified her job.

"I..."

"Just accept it," Lex told her. "It's a place to stay and you need it."

"I... okay," she eventually agreed. Lex had known that she wanted to. Clark's mother was a city girl, she appreciated things like this, but she also knew what her husband would say when he eventually saw the place they were staying. If Lex was creative, he might be able to delay that day for a while anyhow. It would give Clark and his mother a chance to experience living there for some time before Jonathan started insisting that they needed to go stay with Martha's friends instead.

"Oh my god, there's a hot tub out here," Clark said as he approached the window that looked out onto the first floor balcony. "That's so cool." He pressed his hands up against the glass and just stared outside.

Lex smiled and shook his head. Sometimes Clark did things that reminded him how young his friend was. In a strange coincidence, they were often also the same things that reminded Lex just how much he was attracted to Clark, and this time was no exception to that rule. Clark was standing at the window, looking so happy and excited and all Lex wanted to do was to go over there, draw the other man into his arms, and kiss him. He knew that he couldn't, though, and especially not with Clark's mother in the same room. It was more than just Martha's presence that stopped Lex, though. He still didn't know if Clark was even interested in other men that way, and then, of course, there was the issue of Clark's age. Although, at seventeen, he was over the age of consent in Kansas, he was still a minor and Lex doubted very much that anyone would care that Clark was over sixteen if Jonathan Kent decided to object to Lex pursuing his son.

Lex sighed internally and shook his head. He was too tired to be contemplating these sorts of things. He needed sleep. He needed to be ready for more meetings in the morning.

He called Clark back over to where he was still standing with the teen's mother. He quickly showed them around the penthouse, and took them to their bedrooms. He had placed Clark in the room next to him and his mother in the one at the end of the hall. He hadn't thought that there was any particular design in that when he had assigned the rooms, but now Lex was starting to doubt himself. Maybe he had placed Clark nearest to him just in case something did happen between them.

"I'm going to go to bed now," Lex told Clark as he helped the young man unpack his clothing in his room. "I have another early meeting in the morning and I need to get some sleep before then. I'll likely be gone before you and your mother get up."

"Okay," Clark said with a nod. He turned to watch Lex walk across the room to the door.

Lex paused in the doorway and turned back to Clark. "Good luck tomorrow, not that I think you'll need it."

"I'm nervous," Clark confessed.

"Don't be, I'm sure you'll do great."

"Maybe," Clark said uncertainly.

Lex nodded slowly and turned to leave the room. Clark still had no idea what his looks did to other people, but Lex was sure that he was going to be learning that very, very soon. Then what would Clark do with the knowledge? Lex didn't know if he wanted to know the answer to that question. He only hoped that it didn't hurt too much when Clark found his next girlfriend and started coming to his best friend for advice on dating or sex.

***_***

Clark sighed heavily. This wasn't turning out to be as much fun as he had thought it would be. As soon as he had arrived at the studio that morning, the hair people had snatched him away from his mother and Cory and spent a couple of hours doing his hair and treating it with more styling products than Clark had known existed before that day. It had turned out curly, a look that Clark normally spent a good twenty minutes trying to avoid, and it had highlights in it. If Pete saw him like that, Clark knew that he would never live it down. And that wasn't even mentioning the makeup that had been applied to his face as soon as the hair people had finished making him into a curly-haired freak.

It wasn't a lot of makeup. Truthfully, Clark could barely tell it was there when he looked in the mirror, but he could feel it. All over his face and on his lips. He wondered if that was what girls felt like everyday and then wondered how they dealt with it. It just didn't feel clean at all. All he wanted to do was go wash his face.

Mostly Clark felt foolish, awkward and too tall. And he wasn't wearing a shirt. That's what he hated the most. He felt naked and utterly exposed to the world. The thought that millions of people could potentially see him like that was doing something to his stomach that he didn't like at all. He was rapidly losing interest in the entire situation, but he had signed a contract and his mother was there and... He just needed to get through the next few hours and then it would be all over. He kept telling himself that, but it wasn't making it any easier.

"Okay, Clark," Daniel, the photographer, told him for what felt like the twentieth time, but was likely only the fifth or sixth, "Cynthia is your girlfriend. She smells nice, you like being with her. Smile, look sexy, that's all we need."

Clark nodded and looked down at the girl standing beside him. Cynthia was a couple of years older than him and very pretty. She had an incredible smile and she really did smell nice. She had seemed like a nice person as well, in the few minutes that Clark had spoken to her, but Clark just couldn't make himself feel anything for her and that was making it almost impossible for him to pretend that he did.

"Clark, she's not your sister," Daniel called out as he continued to take pictures of the two of them.

Clark tried to smile and look sexy. He wasn't even sure if he knew what Daniel meant by that term. He tried to imagine that Cynthia was Chloe and then tried to remember how he had looked at her when they were dating. Even that didn't seem to work as Daniel continued to give him directions from behind the camera.

In the background, Clark heard some kind of confrontation. He looked up slightly and saw Cory and another man arguing with someone at the door. Clark watched as the third person stepped around Cory and into the light. It was Lex. His eyes rose and met Clark's, and Clark couldn't help but smile at his friend.

"That's it, Clark," Daniel suddenly called. "Now keep that smile and look down at Cynthia," the man instructed.

Clark did as he was told. He had felt so lost amongst all these new people and even his mother's presence there hadn't made him feel any better. But Lex, Lex was the one person who always made Clark feel better no matter where he was or what was happening around him. The way he could just walk into a room and take control of any situation always made Clark feel safe.

"Okay, good," Daniel said. "Now lean into her. Just slightly. Perfect," he told Clark as he took even more pictures.

Eventually Daniel was done taking the pictures and he let Clark step back from Cynthia and look up to where Lex had been standing. His mother was with Lex now and she seemed to have calmed Cory and the other man. Lex was smirking softly. He nodded at Clark when he saw the teen looking at him and then started to walk towards where they were taking the pictures.

Clark couldn't help but notice that Lex looked really good in his black suit and lavender shirt. His long coat was off and draped over his arm. Clark had seen his friend like this countless times over the years that they had known each other, but it never stopped amazing him how handsome and powerful Lex looked like that. In that moment he had absolutely no doubt about his attraction to the other man. He only wished that he knew whether Lex felt the same way.

Lex's smirk intensified as he drew closer and Clark felt himself smiling broader than before. Lex seemed to be in a good mood and that made Clark happy as well. Lex's meeting must have ended early for him to be there already. Clark was glad. Lex worked too hard as it was and these stupid meetings didn't make it any easier on him.

"Whoa, Clark," Daniel called to him.

Clark was trying hard to concentrate on the photographer's directions, but the almost tangible feeling of Lex's eyes raking over his chest was distracting him. It had never before felt like that when Lex had looked at him. Clark didn't know if it was the setting or what, but there was definitely a charged feeling between him and his friend. Suddenly, Clark was sure that Lex was attracted to him just like he was to Lex.

"Okay, I want to get some of you by yourself." Daniel turned to see what Clark was staring at and then nodded to himself. "Let's have your... friend come and stand over here by me, though."

Daniel waved to Lex and he complied with a shrug and another smirk. Clark's eyes tracked him as he moved. Maybe this wasn't as bad as he had thought it was. If only he could have Lex here with him all the time, but even as he thought it, Clark knew that it wasn't a possibility. Lex had other commitments, and really, it would start to seem strange if Lex always showed up with him. It would start to look like there was something going on between them, and while that wasn't a bad thing, Clark didn't know if it was really what Lex wanted.

"Hey," Daniel greeted Lex as the younger man came to stand next to him. "Daniel Hanson."

"Lex Luthor," Lex said and reached out to shake the man's hand. "How's Clark doing?"

"Better now," Daniel said with a smile. He started taking some more pictures of Clark and calling out instructions that Clark tried to follow. A few minutes later he was done. He stepped back from the camera and looked over at Lex.

"You Lionel Luthor's kid?" he asked slowly.

"Last I checked," Lex admitted with a small laugh, "Although some days I think that we both might deny it."

"It's good to meet you, Mr. Luthor," Daniel said. He juggled his camera around so that he could reach out and shake Lex's hand.

Clark was always a little surprised by people's reactions to Lex. To him, Lex was just a guy he hung out with and secretly lusted after. To the rest of the world he was the Luthor heir and everything else that came along with that. Clark definitely liked his version of Lex better, but he knew that few people other than him ever saw it.

Lex took the man's hand and smirked softly. "It's good to meet you too," he said, "but it's Lex. Mr. Luthor is my father."

"Okay," Daniel agreed with a chuckle and turned back to face Clark. "Clark, we're done," Daniel called to him.

Clark nodded. His mother came over to speak with him before he could move to talk with Lex. She brought a shirt with her and Clark slipped into it as soon as she passed it to him. She seemed to have picked up on his earlier discomfort and was worried about him. She wanted to make sure that he was okay and Clark assured her that he was.

His mother said something about needing to go speak to Cory for a couple of moments and then took off in the direction that the man had left a moment before. Clark turned to look for Lex again, and found that his friend was still speaking to Daniel. He started towards where they were standing.

"I want to get copies of those last pictures you did, the ones that just had Clark in them," Lex said. He was talking quietly and Clark knew that he thought that he and Daniel couldn't be overheard.

"I really can't make copies," Daniel protested, "They belong to the company that's paying for them."

"Which Luthor Corp owns," Lex told the other. "So really, I own them anyhow. I could get them through the company, but it's easier this way."

"Well," Daniel conceded, "I guess that's true. I'll make you copies and have them delivered to your office?"

Lex nodded his acceptance. He turned back to look at Clark and smiled softly when he saw Clark watching them. Clark wondered if Lex knew he had overheard the conversation.

Lex motioned for Clark to join them and Clark went to stand beside Lex. He ended up standing slightly behind the older man and knew that particular stance emphasized their height difference. It also gave the impression that he was protecting Lex. It was often the way that they stood when they were together, although Clark didn't have a really good reason why that was.

"Clark," Lex greeted him and shifted his eyes up to Clark's face.

"Lex. You got out of your meeting early?"

"Dad had some kind of emergency in Europe," Lex said with a shrug. Somehow Clark knew that wasn't the entire story. Hopefully he would hear the rest of it once they were alone. He usually did. "You looked amazing up there."

"I felt kind of foolish," Clark admitted in a fast mumble.

"Don't be silly," Lex assured him, "You were great."

"For some hick farm kid from Smallville," Clark conceded.

"For anyone," Lex said and gave him a serious look. It was Lex's 'don't argue with me' look. Eventually Clark nodded and accepted Lex's assessment of the shoot. It would do no good to argue with him about it.

"How long have you two been together?" Daniel asked them a moment later. Clark realized that he and Lex had been staring at each other for an unusually long period of time.

"Umm, we're not really..."

Lex reached out and placed a hand on Clark's forearm. It made the younger man stop speaking.

"We've been friends for several years now," Lex said smoothly.

"I see," Daniel said with a nod and a look that said he didn't believe it wasn't more than that. "You might want to cool it with the looks if you don't want everyone to know about it. It was great for the pictures, though. At least now I know why Cynthia was doing nothing for you, Clark," the older man joked lightly.

Clark couldn't help it; he blushed. He felt like his ears were going to burn off.

Daniel laughed. "You ever want some pictures of the two of you, call me," he told them and passed his card to Lex. Lex slipped it into his pocket. "You look great together."

"Daniel?" someone called from the other side of the room and all three of them turned to look. Another man was waving Daniel over to where he was standing.

"Oops, gotta go," he said with a smile. "It was good meeting both of you." He shook Clark's and then Lex's hand and hurried across the room to where he was needed.

The man's departure left a strange silence between the two of them.

"Lex..." he tried to start.

"Clark," Lex cut him off. "Not here. Later, okay?"

"Okay," Clark agreed slowly. He wanted to know what Lex thought about what had happened, but he knew that wasn't really the time or the place to be having a discussion of that nature. Once they had some privacy, though, Clark intended to try and get a better idea of what Lex was thinking.

"Good," Lex said with a nod. He smiled again and it sent a thrill through Clark's body. It was so rare that Lex would really smile, and it always made Clark smile back at him. This time was no exception. "Have you had lunch yet?" Lex continued a moment later.

"Umm, no," Clark answered, a little confused by the abrupt change in subject.

"Let me take you and your mother out to eat then," Lex offered.

"Unfortunately we can't leave yet, Lex," Clark's mom said as she walked up behind the two of them. Clark was surprised that she had managed to get so close without him hearing her.

"What? Why not?" Clark demanded.

"We have a meeting this afternoon."

"Oh," Clark said. He could feel his face fall as he realized he was going to be stuck there for several more hours.

"Why don't you go get cleaned up and changed?" his mother suggested.

Eventually he nodded. He really did want to get all the make-up off his face and all that crap out of his hair. Being stuck in a meeting all afternoon didn't sound like fun at all, though, especially when the alternative was spending time with Lex. He would really rather be with Lex.

He also remembered the discussion he'd had with his mother before they had left for Metropolis, though. This was a job and Clark needed to treat it as such. That meant that he couldn't always have what he wanted and that sometimes he'd need to do things he didn't necessarily want to do. He supposed that this was one of those times. He was pretty sure that Lex would understand. After all, how many times had he been called away for work or some kind of meeting?

"I'm sorry," Clark told his friend.

"I understand," Lex assured him. "When will you be finished?"

"I'm not sure," Clark's mother answered him.

Lex nodded slowly. "Call me when you're done, okay?"

"Sure," Clark agreed and then headed off towards the change room. His mother had been giving him a look that told him he needed to get moving. Clark pushed his thoughts of Lex to the back of his mind. There would be plenty of time later to try and figure out what was going on with his friend.

***_***

When Lex arrived back at his penthouse, he changed out of his suit and into a blue shirt and a pair of black pants. The suit had been uncomfortable and, being that it was the middle of summer, way too hot. His clothing changed, he stretched out on the couch in the living room and allowed himself to relax a bit.

The meetings with his father and the Board of LuthorCorp over the last two days had been long, drawn out and boring. Lex wasn't even convinced that they had been strictly necessary. Many of the things that had been discussed had also been talked about at the regularly scheduled meeting not three weeks before. He had the feeling that his dad was up to something. Lex just didn't know what it was yet.

His later encounter with Clark had been much more interesting. Clark had looked amazing with his hair curly and his face slightly made up. Lex wondered what it would take to convince the teen to wear his hair like that all the time, but suspected that it wouldn't be easy. He had wanted to reach out and run his fingers through the thick black locks. The way Clark had looked at him had been just as amazing. That smile was the one Lex pictured in his mind when he thought of Clark. The image of Clark smiling like that with no shirt on would fuel Lex's fantasies for months.

And that's all they would be for a while yet anyhow. No matter what Lex was sure he had seen in Clark's eyes and what Lex himself had implied after Daniel had asked about their relationship, Lex wasn't going to act on it. After Clark had retreated to the change room, Mrs. Kent had 'confessed' her concerns about Clark to Lex. She had spoken about how Clark suddenly looked so adult like this and how she was worried that some people might think he was more grownup than he actually was. She was worried about the glamour and the lifestyle and she didn't want to see Clark get hurt.

Lex had promised to look out for Clark but he had also understood what Mrs. Kent was trying to tell him. She must have seen the way Lex had been looking at her son or heard more of their conversation than he had originally thought. This was Mrs. Kent's way of asking Lex to back off and he respected her too much not to abide by her wishes, at least until after Clark's birthday. After that, it was Clark's choice and Lex would be waiting. Until then, Lex would need to find a way to distract Clark without making him think that Lex was totally uninterested in him. It wasn't going to be easy, but he could do it for Clark.

***_***

Clark was frustrated. Really frustrated. In fact, he felt like he was going to scream if the situation didn't resolve itself soon. Back at the start of July when he had his first photo shoot and Lex had come to observe, Clark had been sure that something was going to happen between the two of them. Clark had wanted to talk about it right then, but Lex had insisted that the studio wasn't the right spot for the conversation and had put it off until later. Clark had thought that later would mean that evening, but now it had been almost two months and Lex was still putting the conversation off. Every time Clark tried to bring it up, Lex would change the subject. If Clark tried looking at Lex the way he had looked at the other man that day, Lex just ignored him. It was driving Clark insane.

He knew Lex was interested. If he hadn't been interested, he would have simply told Clark that and it would have been okay. They could have stayed friends and hopefully gone on much the same way that they always had. The fact that Lex wasn't saying anything told Clark very clearly that Lex was interested, but that for some reason he wasn't acting on that interest and he wasn't letting Clark act on it either.

It was well into September, Clark's eighteenth birthday had come and gone, and he was back in school. Very few of his classmates had yet to take notice of Clark's new job, and he was secretly thankful for that. He was sure it would soon change, though. Some of the ads featuring his picture had begun to appear in Metropolis, and Clark didn't think it would take long before one of his classmates traveled into the city, recognized him, and then came back to Smallville with the news. He could just imagine the teasing he would have to endure, but he knew it would be worth it. The money was good, already it was starting to make a difference in their lives, and Clark would be able to pay for college no matter what happened in the future.

Now Clark was about to make his first trip back into Metropolis on his own. His mother had come to enough of his photo sessions to be fairly confident that nothing shady was going on. After a summer spent almost exclusively with Clark in the city, she was ready to stay home and spend some time with her husband. Clark tried not to think about that too much, but he knew that it was what his mother wanted and needed, and so even though he was a nervous about being in the city by himself, he wasn't making a big deal out of it. His parents obviously trusted him enough to take care of himself and he was thankful for that. Besides, Lex would be there for most of the week that Clark needed to be in the city.

He had called his friend and made sure of that almost as soon as he had been told that he needed to be there and his mother had said that she wouldn't be going with him. He didn't know whether Lex's presence made his parents feel better or worse about the trip, but for Clark it made everything just a little bit less frightening and that was really all that mattered to him.

He would be missing a whole week of school. His parents had protested it at first, but apparently it couldn't be helped. There were a series of shoots that the agency wanted Clark to attend and all of them were during the week. Clark had needed permission from the school, but had gotten it with relative ease after his mother had gone in to speak with the principal. His friends had thought that it was pretty cool that he was being allowed to skip the time at school, but for Clark it only meant that he would need to both work and do all his school work in the space of the week. One of his bags was full of reading assignments and homework that his teachers had sent along with him.

Clark was taking his mother's car into the city. He would have been more comfortable driving the truck, since it was the vehicle he was most familiar with, but he knew that his parents would need it to make deliveries while he was gone. In the end, he didn't mind too much and, at least, it meant that he wouldn't have to take the bus into the city. That was a big relief.

Clark finished loading the last of his luggage into the back of the car and then headed into the house to say a last goodbye to his parents. The two of them were in the kitchen waiting for him. His mother looked like she was regretting her decision to stay behind and his father still looked uncomfortable with the whole situation. Clark knew that the older man was doing the best he could to be supportive of Clark's new job, but it wasn't easy for him. This wasn't anything like how his father had imagined Clark's life.

"Are you ready to leave then, sweetie?" his mom asked him as he entered the kitchen.

"Yeah, I guess so," Clark said with a shrug. It felt weird to be leaving his parent's house alone. He wondered if this is what it would feel like when he left their house for good the following year. How much harder would it be to leave for Metropolis knowing that when he came back nothing would be the same? He didn't even want to contemplate that yet, and so Clark pushed the thought to the back of his mind.

Clark's mom nodded and stood up from where she was sitting at the kitchen table. She crossed the room quickly and drew her son into her arms. She hugged him tightly for a long moment before eventually letting go and stepping back to look up at him.

"Drive safely," she told him seriously.

"Of course," Clark assured her. He always drove safely, and she knew it. He'd never take the chance of hurting someone else with his own recklessness.

"And don't bug Lex too much. He's there to get business done, you know?"

"I know, Mom," Clark promised although he was pretty sure that Lex wouldn't be disturbed by his presence. He planned to have his discussion with Lex that week, no matter what type of resistance his friend might put up. Clark wasn't going to let Lex put this off any longer. He needed to know where he stood with the other man. He knew that if they could just speak honestly with each other, that they could be together and happy. Clark just wished he were free to be completely honest.

"Call us when you get there," his father instructed as he stepped up to stand next to Martha.

"I will," Clark said and then stepped forward to hug his dad as well. "I... I guess it's time to go, then," he said after he released his father and stepped back to look at both of his parents again. This wasn't easy, but he knew that it was worth it.

Clark's mother nodded, but didn't say anything. Clark got the distinct impression that she was on the verge of tears. If it was this difficult for them to let go of him now, what *were* they going to do when he left for college?

Clark stepped back from them and turned to let himself out of the back door.

"Have a safe trip," his father called after him.

"I will, Dad," he called back. He turned back and waved to his parents one last time before he rounded the house and headed for the car.

Clark breathed a sigh of relief as he sat down in the car and started the engine. That had been hard, but bearable. Besides, he would only be gone for a week. It wasn't like he wasn't ever coming back. Clark would be back on Saturday afternoon, and that was only six days away. He was a teenager and he should be enjoying this unexpected freedom. How many of his friends would be allowed to go into the city alone and spend a week there with only a twenty-three year old friend as supervision? None of them, he was fairly certain of that.

Clark slipped a CD into the player, turned up the music and headed out of town. By the time he passed the city limits sign, he had forgotten all about his worries about this trip and was excited about the opportunity that lay ahead of him. He was going to be alone with Lex in the penthouse for almost a whole week. There were so many possibilities in that. Clark wanted Lex and he was fairly certain that the older man also wanted him. Hopefully this would be the week when they both got what they wanted.

***_***

Lex looked down at the picture in his hand and smiled fondly. It was a picture of Clark after Lex had walked into that first photo shoot in July. The young man looked happy and relaxed. The smile on his face was radiant and Lex knew that it had been just for him. He was the reason that Clark had smiled like that, and it had felt like a gift.

He knew that the younger man was attracted to him. It had been a small buzz of an idea in the back of Lex's mind for the last couple of years, but it hadn't come to the front and declared itself until that day. Lex had always suspected that Clark might be attracted, but he had been with Chloe. After they had broken up he hadn't seemed to be looking for another relationship. He was with Lana a lot and Lex had almost managed to convince himself that she was the one that Clark ultimately wanted. He had been so sure that Clark was heterosexual and just had this strange, passing attraction to his best friend. He had been wrong, though, and the way that Clark had looked at him that July afternoon had confirmed it. There was no way that Clark could look at him like that and not feel a deep longing. Luckily Lex felt the same attraction.

Now that Clark was finally eighteen, Lex was free to pursue those feelings. He had waited out of respect for Clark's mother's request, and then a couple weeks longer because he wanted to wait until he could be alone with Clark to discuss what needed to be said. Now the time for waiting was up. Clark had called him last week and told him that he would be coming into Metropolis for a photo shoot. His mother was planning to stay behind in Smallville and Clark wanted to see if Lex would be in the city because he was nervous about being there on his own. Lex had assured his friend that he would be around.

Lex almost felt like he couldn't escape the city these days. His father had recently upped his bid to have Lex move back to the city on a permanent basis. He called meetings on a regular basis that required Lex to travel back and forth between the castle and the city. Lionel constantly reminded Lex that his rightful place was at his father's side. Lex felt himself being convinced. Smallville was his home, but he was rapidly outgrowing it. He needed to reenter the larger world and establish himself. He needed to stand next to his father and be ready to take over the company if it fell to him unexpectedly. The only thing that was really keeping Lex in Smallville now was Clark, and Clark would only be there through the next summer. His friend would be going to college. If his friend's parents didn't make sure of that, Lex would, and then Lex himself would be moving back to Metropolis.

He had told his friend that he would be in the city that week. He had originally only planned to be there Thursday and Friday to accompany his father during his latest take-over bid. He had thought that maybe he would visit a couple of acquaintances in Metropolis over the weekend, maybe hit a club or two, and then return to Smallville Sunday afternoon. Clark's visit to the city ensured that Lex would be remaining there for the rest of the following week as well.

He let his father think that he was staying to oversee the final details of the take-over. Lionel had been pleased. He even mentioned how much more focused Lex was lately. Lex had smirked silently to himself and thought of the teen who was bringing about his new found 'dedication'. He knew that if his father knew the truth of the situation, he wouldn't be happy at all. Lex also knew that Lionel was just going to have to deal with it, because if the week went the way he hoped it would, Clark would be in his life for a long time to come.

Lex knew the younger man would be arriving at any moment, and he was surprised to feel a flutter of nervous anticipation in his stomach. He hadn't felt nervous about anything in years. Of course, it had also been years since anything had meant as much to him as Clark did. There had been his mom and Pamela and then nothing for years. He had almost convinced himself that he would never care for anyone else again when Clark had suddenly crashed into his life.

Clark had been something that was too good to hope for. He was everything that Lex had never known that he needed in his life. He was honest, caring, and genuine. Wasn't it ironic that Clark, a big, goofy kid from Smallville was everything that Lex Luthor had always needed? Lex only hoped that he was worthy of Clark and that somehow he would turn out to be what Clark needed as well.

Lex sighed at that thought. Since when had he gotten so needy?

"Since Clark," Lex muttered to himself.

"Since me, what?" Clark's voice asked from behind Lex.

Lex whipped around quickly and saw his large friend standing in the doorway. He had his suitcase in one hand and his keycard in the other. His eyes were fixed on Lex. Lex couldn't believe that he had been so distracted he hadn't heard the other man open the door.

"Clark," Lex greeted his friend loudly, deftly avoiding the question. "How was your drive?"

Lex dropped the picture he was holding. It landed on the coffee table on top of the envelope holding the rest of the pictures from that first photo session. He crossed the room to where Clark was standing.

Clark stepped the rest of the way into the room and let the door close behind him. "Not bad," he told Lex. "It's Monday, rush hour was over long ago, so traffic was light coming into the city."

Lex nodded in response.

Clark's eyes drifted towards the coffee table and the pictures that were lying on it. Lex moved so that he was blocking Clark's view and hoped that he wasn't too obvious. It wasn't that he didn't want Clark to see the pictures. It was just that seeing the pictures would lead to talking about what was going on between them and Lex had planned to do that later in the day. Preferably over dinner with music and wine and all those other romantic things that Clark deserved.

He cursed himself for taking the pictures out in the first place, but he had been thinking of Clark and had been overcome with the need to look at those first pictures. The look on Clark's face clearly showed everything the teen was feeling for Lex at that moment. At least Lex thought the emotions had been for him. He had seen how stiff Clark had appeared before he had seen Lex, and then suddenly the younger man had just lit up. It had been almost overwhelming to see the depth of emotion in his eyes.

"Why do you have that?" Clark asked. He dropped his suitcase on the floor and then stepped around Lex. Clark moved over to the coffee table and picked up the picture.

Lex groaned to himself.

"It's just a picture, Clark," Lex insisted. His voice sounded much calmer than he felt. He wondered why he was instinctively denying how much the pictures meant to him. Was he really that afraid of Clark's rejection that he was distancing himself already?

Clark looked back at Lex with an expression that clearly said he didn't believe his friend's indifference. Clark reached down for the brown envelope on the table and pulled out the rest of the pictures.

"These are from my first shoot in July," the younger man stated. He dropped all of the pictures back on the table and then turned to look at Lex.

"Yes," he confirmed. It wasn't like he could deny what they were.

Clark tilted his head and paused for a moment before he continued. Lex knew that he friend was thinking. Lex wanted to say something, but he just couldn't seem to do so. He needed to let Clark make this first move, so that they were both sure that it wasn't just Lex's desire and experience that had started them down this path.

"You like me," Clark said with surety.

"I don't think that it's ever been a secret how much I like you, Clark," Lex said. "You're my best friend. You know that, right?"

"Of course," Clark confirmed with a nod. "But that's not what I'm talking about."

"I know it isn't," Lex agreed. "And you're right, I do like you, and I'm pretty sure that you like me as well."

"Yeah," Clark agreed. His voice was just a hiss of sound. "I.... For a while now. I just didn't know how to tell you."

"I'd glad," Lex admitted and permitted himself a real smile. He wanted to reassure Clark that everything was still all right between them. It felt good to finally have their feelings at least partly out in the open. "The real question, though, is whether or not you want to get involved with me."

Clark rushed to answer, but Lex put his hand up to stop his friend's words. He wanted the younger man to hear him out before he made a decision about this.

"It won't be easy, you have to understand that. This is Kansas and it would be hard for you to be with any man here, let alone someone as public as me. People are going to say things about you, Clark. Things that you aren't going to want to hear. I can protect you from a lot of that, but I won't hide. I'm not ashamed of you, and I won't act like I am. And you have to be prepared for the fact that school will be hard once people find out."

"Lex, I want to be with you," Clark insisted.

"This isn't going to be easy," Lex insisted right back. "Are you sure?"

"You're the only person I've wanted since I broke up with Chloe," Clark said.

Lex was surprised. He hadn't imagined that Clark had felt so strongly about him for so long. He had thought that it was probably a more recent thing; that it had just developed in earnest over the last few months. He'd never imagined it was as deep seated as that. Maybe there was a chance for their relationship to work out in the long run.

"My parents will freak," Clark said softly.

"Your mom already knows," Lex admitted.

Clark's eyes snapped up to meet Lex's.

"She does?"

"She kind of figured it out at the shoot," Lex said and gestured towards the photos that Clark had dropped back onto the coffee table.

"Oh," Clark muttered and then blushed slightly. His eyes left Lex's and he looked down towards the floor. Lex wasn't sure why this embarrassed the teen so much. "Did she ask you to wait until I was eighteen?"

Lex nodded in response and Clark's blush deepened. It was very intriguing. "Why?" Lex asked him. He was surprised that Clark had figured it out.

"After my birthday she gave me this whole talk about how I was an adult now and how I needed to make my own choices. She went on about responsibility and everything and I thought she was talking about school and my job, but now I think that maybe she was talking about you."

"Oh." Lex had a grin on his face. He wondered if this was Martha's way of sanctioning any relationship the two of them planned to have in the future. "I'm sure she meant well."

"Yeah," Clark agreed. He looked back up at Lex and smiled softly. "Can we not talk about my mother right now?"

"Okay. I..." Lex started, but was cut off when Clark stepped forward, leaned in, and kissed him soundly.

Lex knew that Clark had been with Chloe for quite some time, but he was still surprised at how good a kisser the younger man was. Chloe had taught Clark more than Lex had imagined, and he couldn't help but be thankful for that. When Clark finally pulled back from the kiss, Lex smirked up at his taller partner.

"Do you have anywhere you need to be today?" Lex asked Clark slyly.

"Nope," Clark admitted with a grin. "Don't even have a meeting until tomorrow morning."

"Good." Lex grabbed Clark's hand and led his new boyfriend up the stairs towards his bedroom. To hell with his plans, this had worked out just fine all on its own.

They kissed and pulled at each other's clothes as they made their way up the stairs together. Their clothing came off and fell scattered on the floor, the little piles making a trail of cloth behind them. By the time they reached the bedroom, they were both naked. They continued to kiss as they moved across the large room and then collapsed onto the bed.

"You've done this before?" Lex asked Clark once they both parted in order to take a breath. It wasn't really a question. Clark seemed so comfortable with everything they had done so far, so it was almost certain that this wasn't his first time.

"Not... not really," Clark said softly and blushed at his admission.

"Not really?" Lex asked. He was unsure of exactly what his partner meant by that.

"No. I mean, I've fooled around, but I've never gone all the way," Clark said by way of clarification.

Lex smirked at that and kissed Clark soundly. "Good," he said with a soft growl. He didn't even bother to wonder why that turned him on, he just went with it.

Clark and Lex continued to stroke and pet each other on the bed. They kissed deeply and lost themselves in the sensations. Lex moved down Clark's body, dropping kisses and exploring. Clark moaned and writhed under Lex's lips. Eventually he couldn't take it anymore, and he grabbed Lex's arm firmly. Clark flipped them both over so that he was on top. He proceeded to explore Lex's body the same way that Lex had explored his. Lex smiled a little at Clark's actions and realized that he was learning what to do as they went on.

Eventually Clark finished his own exploration and returned to kissing Lex on the mouth. Lex wriggled out from underneath the larger man and crawled back on top. He reached into the bedside table and retrieved a condom and a small tube of lube. He met Clark's eyes with his own and a serious look passed between them.

"You're sure?" Lex asked as sincerely as he could at that point. He wanted to make sure that Clark knew what he was getting into, but he didn't know if he would be able to stop even if Clark asked him to. Luckily, Lex didn't need to find out.

"I'm sure," Clark assured him and smiled broadly.

Lex nodded. He rolled the condom on himself and then reached down and started preparing Clark with the lube. The younger man moaned, closed his eyes, and just enjoyed the feelings that Lex was creating in his body. Lex was glad to see that Clark was enjoying what he was doing as much as Lex had hoped he would.

When Lex finally slid into Clark, it felt like coming home. Sex had never felt like that before and Lex realized this was what he had been waiting for his entire life. He and Clark belonged together, and he would fight anyone who tried to pull them apart now.

"Lex," Clark gasped and pressed up towards his new lover.

It took them a few minutes to find their rhythm, but when they had, it felt so good. It seemed to last forever and, at the same time, it was over way too soon. Lex felt himself building quickly towards his release. When he eventually fell over the edge, he cried out and felt Clark following right behind him.

Lex collapsed down on Clark's chest and felt the larger man's arm wrap around him. He'd never felt more content than he did in that moment. It had been everything he had always hoped his first time with Clark would be.

***_***

Lex woke up several hours later. The late afternoon sun was shining in the window and making the entire room glow a warm orange color. He wasn't cold, although he probably should have been since he was lying naked on top of his bed. Clark's large body was wrapped around his, though, and giving off enough heat to make Lex more than comfortable. He shifted slightly in the larger man's arms and felt Clark tighten his grip.

"Clark?" Lex asked softly. He wasn't sure if Clark was awake or not, and he didn't want to wake him if he was sleeping.

"Hey Lex," Clark murmured.

Lex didn't answer. He just snuggled deeper into his new lover's arms. He'd never been a snuggler, but he had a feeling that he was going to pick up the habit now that he was with Clark.

"Thank you," Clark said after a few minutes of silence.

"Thank *you*," Lex returned. He rolled over in Clark's arms and kissed the younger man.

"Lex?" Clark asked when they separated.

"Mmm?"

"I want pictures of us together."

Lex nodded and couldn't help but smile. "I'll call Daniel first thing in the morning," he said.

"Good," Clark said, "because I want you to see that you look just as besotted as I did in that picture."

Lex snorted. There was no way he could look as love-struck as Clark had, was there? A wave of uncertainty passed through him. He decided not to worry about it. He was Lex Luthor. Clark had to be teasing him. He snuggled into Clark's chest and placed a kiss on his neck.

"Yes, Clark," he agreed sleepily and then closed his eyes again.

-end-