Chapter Text
cover by ctbn60
PROLOUGE
Mrs. Moran led the skinny, red-headed boy to the front of the class, her arm around his small bowed shoulders. "Class, please say hello to our new student." She looked down at the timid boy and smiled. "What do you like to be called, hon?”
His voice was barely audible as he replied, "My da—family calls me Lex—”
"All right then," she said softly, so only he could hear, and then louder to the other students, "Class, say hello to Lex.”
The class erupted into a chorus of "Hello Lex", and quite a few snickers, and the teacher allowed the obviously uncomfortable boy to sit. She watched him choose a seat as far back as he could get, and wasn't surprised that he wanted to keep to himself. As he passed seats to get to his choice, a bigger boy looked up and grinned at him in a friendly way. Lex tentatively responded, then let his head drop. The other boy's smile dimmed and he looked concerned.
From her vantage point at her desk Mrs. Moran saw Clark's look, and smiled to herself. She didn't have to worry about Lex; it looked like Clark was about to adopt another stray. She glanced over to where Pete Ross sat, and felt good about her young charges. Clark had taken Pete under his wing—it was hard being different in a town where everyone was very much alike, and Clark had made sure that Pete wasn't alone. He was a really good kid, she thought, definitely destined for good things.
FIFTH GRADE 1997
Clark motioned for Lex to sit with his friends and him at lunch. Lex looked grateful to find a place with Clark and the others and dropped his bag on the table. Clustered around the end of it sat a little girl with brown hair, a blonde boy and a black boy. The black boy waved at him and smiled. "Hi, I'm Pete," he managed between bites of his sandwich. Lex smiled back and nodded hello.
The blonde boy looked over at him. "Whitney," he said firmly and looked Lex over with a not-quite approving expression on his face.
The girl gave him a tiny smile "Lana," she whispered, and looked up at him through her lashes. Lex smiled back and said "Hello," in an equally quiet way.
Clark watched his friends be nice to the new boy with satisfaction, and turned to Lex.
"So, you're not from around here at all?" Clark just wanted to get Lex talking, he knew that Lex was from Metropolis, knew that he was richer than anyone in Smallville, and that his dad was kind of a creep, or at least sounded like one from what his dad said when he thought Clark wasn't listening.
Lex nodded, opened the paper bag and reached in. Everyone stopped to see what a rich kid brought to lunch. A little sigh of disappointment went round the table as he pulled out a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in an ordinary plastic container. Lex looked up at the disappointed faces and his own expression drooped. Than his eyes met Clark's and he relaxed a bit at the big grin on Clark's face.
"So…p b and j, hunh? If you pull an apple out of there and a note from your Mom, you're officially a geek.”
Lex blushed red and crumbled the bag shut as fast as he could, but stopped when Clark laughed and pulled a peanut butter sandwich out of his own lunch bag, and an apple. He set them down on the table. "Yep, you're one of us!"
"Speak for yourself, Clark" Pete retorted, and blew the paper sleeve of his straw at him. "Not a geek, never will be."
The others joined Pete in their protest, and the friends teased and joked with each other and slowly drew Lex into their circle. Clark watched it all with a huge grin.
~o0o~
They'd been surprised once again. The rich kid was riding the bus with them and they were beginning to doubt that he was really rich. Wouldn't he have a chauffeur pick him up, and wouldn't he have like, caviar for lunch, or some other rich people's food?
The bus drew up to Clark's stop. After saying good-bye to Whitney, he stood, glanced back towards the rear of the bus, and caught Lex's eyes. The look in his eyes made Clark stop. Lex looked like Death was waiting for him at the next bus stop, and Clark knew he couldn't leave him all alone. He shrugged at Whitney and jerked his chin to the back of the bus; Whit lifted a bit in his seat and looked back too, rolled his eyes, and waved his hand in a shooing motion to the rear of the bus. Clark grinned, and went back to sit with Lex. "Hey, I ‘m gonna get off with you at your stop, okay?"
Lex stared at him. "There's nothing around there, your stop isn't near my house, I know…" He blushed and felt annoyed—but a little pleased too. "You don't have to baby-sit me, you know."
"Of course I know that," Clark said, "but I figured maybe you'd want to have someone to walk with, at least until you're used to the place, right?" Lex looked doubtful until Clark asked him, "Have you ever seen these before?" and pulled two dog-eared copies of Warrior Angel out of his book bag. Lex's eyes widened a bit and he grinned at Clark.
"Sure! I like that book—and that's no way to handle a comic book, you know!"
Clark grinned and let Lex ramble on about comic care and comic books in general, and in no time they were at Lex's stop. Lex stood and began to walk down the aisle. He seemed to stumble and he fell. Pete shouted "Hey!"and started to get up, but Clark shook his head, and Pete subsided, shooting dark looks at the person responsible. Clark knew Lex been tripped and he was angry, but Lex got up and ignored it, ignored the snickers, and ignored Clark's concern. Clark glowered at the culprit, a look that said you're in deep trouble if you try it again. Snickering stopped. The biggest boy in fifth grade just declared Lex off limits for teasing, and it was easier to go along with Clark than to go against Clark when he wore his crusader hat, so just like that, Lex was granted immunity.
Off the bus, and Clark trotted to catch up with Lex. "Hey, do you have to walk home too?" he panted.
Lex looked at him like he was slightly insane. "Well, I don't know about you, but I can't fly. How else do I get home?”
"Don't you have like, a driver or something? Rich people on TV always have drivers." Clark walked along beside Lex, scuffing through the leaves on the roadside.
"Chauffeurs and I'm so sorry to keep disappointing you like this," Lex replied. "Nope. No driver. Dad doesn't do that stuff here. 'Fresh air and exercise do a body good, young man'," he said, in a voice obviously intended to mimic his dad, and Clark grinned.
”So, if it was up to you, you'd want the chauffeur and maybe something better than pb and j for lunch?"
They both kicked up the piles of leaves on the roadside as they walked and Lex cut his eyes towards Clark, grinning as he said, "Hell, yeah! Wouldn't you?”
Clark was simultaneously shocked and thrilled to hear Lex curse. He really was different, Clark thought and looked at his new friend in admiration. They were in sight of the huge stone heap that Lex lived in, ‘the castle' everyone called it, even though it didn't look like a castle to Clark. Where was the moat?
"Hey, I gotta go now, okay? I don't want to get in trouble by coming home too late—say Lex, if you feel like it later, come by my house—here," Clark scribbled his phone number on a piece of paper ripped from a notebook. "Whitney and I are going to build a fort, want to help?”
Clark looked so expectant that Lex grinned back at him. "If it's okay with my dad, yeah, I'll come.”
"Cool," Clark said and turned back to run down the road. He'd wait until he got far enough away, then he'd cut over into the fields out of sight and run really fast all the way home. He was always super careful not to let anyone know he could run so fast, just like his dad said he should.
~o0o~
He let the smile wanting to get out wreath his face, and ran up the stairs to the front door. Maybe he could get Cook to make some cookies to bring with him if his dad said he could go. Was that cool to do, he mused to himself as he waited to be let in. He better ask Clark first.
MARCH
It was cool in the woods off of the Kent farm—that had been another revelation to Lex. A real farm, complete with farmers. Mr. Kent was huge and a little scary and he didn't wear overalls, just some beat up jeans. Clark's mom wasn't plump and didn't wear her hair in a bun, in fact she was kind of—sexy looking, Lex thought and blushed, snuck a quick glance at Clark. He supposed he was feeling the same way that the guys had felt when he didn't have rich people food for lunch. He grinned at himself. Goofy.
They'd gotten a pretty good start on the fort and Mr. Kent was helping, or at least as much as Clark would let him. Lex was surprised to learn how stubborn Clark could be. Lex always saw him as a goody two shoes, but maybe not so much.
They were working on the roof; Whitney was holding a hammer for Clark, who was climbing on the roof beams, Pete was hammering away at a side wall with Lana, and Lex stood ready to run for whatever they needed.
"Clark, let me do that will you?"Mr. Kent sounded a little annoyed, and Lex glanced at him, trying to judge how angry he was and ready to edge away, when Clark yelled down, "Dad! I've got it! I can do it.”
Time stopped. Lex froze. He waited for…for something terrible. But Mr. Kent just rolled his eyes at Clark and muttered, "Yes sir,"—Pete and Lana hadn't stopped working and Lex forced himself to relax and let go of the breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
He had so much fun that day. When they took a break from working, they sat around the little clearing eating sandwiches and drinking ice tea—Lex thought it was the best food ever. Mrs. Kent had even sent a plastic container of cookies along and Lex had to admit, they were better than Cook's.
Mr. Kent talked and joked with them and at one point ruffled Lex's hair wildly and called him ‘Red' and it made him feel stupidly happy—he couldn't stop grinning, not even when he caught sight of Clark smiling at him fondly.
Not even when he thought he saw Whitney glare at him.
~o0o~
He stopped and gave Lex a long level look.
"What?" he asked flatly.
Lex tried to smile, but he was a little shy of Whitney. He kind of scared Lex sometimes. There was something about him that made him seem older than the rest of the guys—something that lurked in the corner of every smile and sometimes clouded his blue eyes. Lex thought he recognized what it was, figured he and Whit had more in common than Clark and Pete did—that's why he wanted to be better friends with him. He thought Whit could use the kind of friend he could be, the kind of friend who would understand things Clark just couldn't. Lex wouldn't mind having someone he could talk to, either.
"I—can I ride with you today? I don't have anything else to do, so—"
"Sure," Whitney replied. "I don't care.”
"Good."
They rode together, not speaking, just concentrating on the road, the summer sun warming them as they pedaled leisurely along. A slight breeze dried the sweat the heat rose. Silence hung around them comfortably, broken only by the sound of their tires whirring on the asphalt and the low drone of a plane in the distance. They rode farther than usual, until there was nothing around them but fields and they were on a dirt access road between farms. Whitney told Lex there was a pond a little ways off the road, so they headed over to see what they could find—frogs or something, and they speculated as to whether any rare species could be in it.
"You can get a lot of money for discovering a new kind of animal, it's a fact," Whitney was saying. He looked over at Lex and said, "Not that you give a shit about money."
Lex laughed and Whitney grinned.
"Fuck you, Whit, "he said and Whitney's eyes got big, and he looked at Lex in something like admiration.
"Whoa, Luthor, didn't know you knew those kinda words—kiss your mom with that mouth?"
Lex laughed and stuck his tongue out, waggled it at Whitney and said, "Naw, but I kiss your mom with this and she likes it!”
Neither one of them had any real idea of what that meant but clearly in some way his mother had been insulted and Whitney was honor bound to defend her. He jumped Lex, and they wrestled and thumped each other and laughed a lot, and finally ended up sitting against a fence just talking—getting to really know each other.
"…so, he's kind of a dick. I just keep away from him as much as I can.”
Lex nodded, seeing the wisdom in that. "Yeah. My old man's gone most of the time.”
"Lucky you," Whitney huffed. "I wish the guy had a job that would take him away from me and my mom for weeks. That'd be great. But no, he's got that stupid store, and I've got to be there doing stuff," he spit to the side and glowered, and Lex felt guilty for not having to deal with his dad all the time like Whit did. "You know, Clark's a great guy," Whitney said, "but he doesn't understand this stuff, he doesn't get it."
Lex felt a little odd, scared—he didn't want Whit to say bad things about Clark, but Whitney went on to say, "Not that I don't think he's great, he is, he's just dense sometime!"
They laughed, grinned at each other. They got it, they were soldiers in the same war.
Whitney stood up, and grabbed Lex's hand to pull him up, too. "Come on Red, let's get back before the bastards send the hounds out after us," he snickered. Lex let himself be pulled to his feet, and thought, even though Clark was his very best friend, Whit was real cool too. It was like Pete always said; you had to give someone a chance first, before you write them off. Lex was giving Whit a chance, he hoped Whit was giving him one….
Whitney looked at Lex and said, "You know, at first I thought you were just kind of hogging Clark to yourself, trying to take over. It made me mad, because we've all been friends since first grade, and you were the new guy. But you're kind of cool. I like you."
Lex grinned back and felt a bloom of warmth all through him. Jesus, don't let me blush like a girl… "Same here," he said and vibrated under the thud of Whitney's fist hitting his arm.
"Good."
Lex grinned all the way back to the castle, and somewhere in his muddle of happy thoughts floated the recollection of really intense blue eyes.
JUNE
School had been over for a month, and the fort was nearly finished. The walls were up and as Mr. Kent said, the roof was sound. Lex smiled, remembering Pete and Clark imitating Mr. Kent, standing with their chests puffed out, and hooting, "The roof is sound, m'boy!”
It always gave Lex a little shiver along with the laugh. They were so bold! But Mr. Kent, he just laughed right along with them, it was…it was…cool.
~o0o~
"Hunh?" Lex tried to act uninterested. "Why?"
Pete had to stop and look at Lex. "Red! Have you ever seen Whit with his shirt off?"
Lex swallowed, his mouth instantly gone dry, and it took him a couple of tries before his voice worked. "No, no I haven't..."
"Man! He's always all bruised up." Pete looked concerned and said seriously, "I think his dad beats him." He stared at Lex, waiting for some reaction. Lex said nothing, Whitney hadn't given him permission to tell, and he knew Whit wouldn't care for Pete and Clark to discuss him. He just looked at Pete until he began to fidget.
"Well, I think so," Pete grumbled. "Or, or maybe he gets it playing football...."
"Maybe—maybe, Pete. So, how's Sam doing?"
Lex stuck a turtle head-down in the lake and Pete slapped his hand away as he rescued it. "Him? He sucks," Pete snapped.
"He's leaving soon, hunh?"
Pete looked pretty pitiful, and it went right to Lex's heart. Pete mumbled, "Yeah, I get to have his room, he said so. My mom said it's okay."
"You know, you're lucky you have brothers, Pete."
"You only think that 'cause you don't have any —besides, you do have brothers! You've got three, remember, we're the Mousekteers?"
"Musketeer, Pete—read a book, why don't you."
"Read? That's what they make movies for!"
Lex snorted, and shoved the turtles into the mud, and grinned as he watched Pete yank them back out and rinse them. He sobered quickly when he caught sight of Pete's face, crumbled and creased, and said, "Pete, it's okay if you're sad about it—”
"What for? Sam beats me up all the time, and takes my stuff and hogs the TV and—" One fat tear rolled down, dropped off the end of his nose.
"Idiot," Lex said gruffly, fondly, and punched his shoulder. Pete didn't look up, but he grinned and wiped his face.
"Don't tell anyone Red. I'd really hate to have to kill you. Ow! Faggot!"
Lex laughed and punched Pete again "What, a little punch like that? Girly-man! Let's head back, okay, Pete?"
Pete agreed and started to gather his turtles. "Yeah, I'm hungry now...."
"Ooo! Really? Wow! News flash, Pete Ross hungry—oof! Okay, okay, we're even now!" Lex laughed and put up his hands to ward Pete off.
He grinned, and not for the first time that year, Lex thought how lucky he was to have such good friends.
~o0o~
"What are you reading," he whispered into Lex's ear. Lex turned and was face to face with Whitney, who grinned. Lex blushed, a wave of warmth swept over him and he scrubbed at his ear in an annoyed way. Whit grinned even wider, until Clark nudged him with his foot.
"Leave Red alone, he's trying to read!"
Whitney turned his head toward Clark, ready to be nasty, but he stopped when he saw Clark's face and the little spots of red on his cheeks and figured Clark had been aware the whole time that he'd been teasing Red, and had just reached his limit. Poor guy, he thought.
"I don't care, Clark. Whit's just bored, is all. Not everyone can watch re-runs of those stupid turtles endlessly like you and Pete,” Lex sighed.
"Hey!" Pete huffed, and Clark looked almost angry. Whit was pretty sure that it wasn't the turtle comment that made him angry.
"Anyway, Whi-iit,"Lex drawled sarcastically, "the book's called The Man Who Folded Himself. It's good. And you keep bothering me so I can't read.”
"See, I knew he was getting on your nerves," Clark snapped, glaring at Whit, who smirked back. Clark's little fit was almost funny—suddenly Whit hit the floor with a thump. Sam, Pete's older brother, grinned over the top of the couch. "Hey, faggots."
"Shut up—screw you—I'll tell mom!" They yelled all at once.
"See, you sing together like little boy band faggots. Are you watching that Ninja Mutant shit again?”
Pete looked scandalized. "I'm going to tell mom—”
"Well, tell her this too, than," Sam said, grabbed the remote control and changed the channel while giving Pete and Clark the finger. The boys protested angrily but Sam just laughed. He leaped over the top of the couch and landed on Clark and Pete. "Geez, this is a lumpy old couch," and jumped up and down a bit, until the boys were screaming for him to stop, stop and laughing so hard, they could barely breathe. Sam punched Clark lightly in the stomach, shoved him off onto Lex on the floor. He jumped up, reached down behind the couch and pulled out a basketball. "Anybody gonna play? Come on girls, get some fresh air.”
Whitney followed him out, winking over his shoulder at them. Clark lay on top of Lex, and grinned up at Pete.
"Your brother's kind a pain in the ass, Pete," Lex wheezed out, and tried to push Clark off, who was not cooperating in the least.
"Yeah," Pete grinned proudly. "He is, isn't he?"
JULY
They were on Lana's porch, drinking sodas and arguing over which Ranger had the coolest powers, and everyone agreeing that Lana shouldn't be allowed to join in because pink was not a power and liking the Pink Power Ranger because of that was just gross. It was pointed out to her that it was girly, and she responded well yes, she was a girl and Whitney said not when you're hanging with us, and it was decided that when she was with them, she was an honorary guy. The matter satisfied, they went back to arguing, this time, whether Warrior Angel was cooler than Captain Marvel, and Lex really got into that conversation, this he knew. Power Rangers he only saw at Clark or Pete's house, they had no TV at home besides the one in his parent's room, where he wasn't allowed.
Lex was coming down very vocally on the side of Warrior Angel when suddenly everyone was quiet, looking over Lex's shoulder. He twisted on the porch swing to look behind him. Mr. Kent was standing there, a tense look on his face.
"Lex, I've come to take you home, son. Your mother…well. Come on, let's get in the truck, I'll talk to you on the way home.”
Everyone looked at Lex, and his stomach sank. His first impulse was to run, run like crazy, but it wouldn't do any good. This thing would still be waiting for him, no matter where he went. He looked at the concerned faces of his friends and wished he was alone. He'd never told any of his friends his mom was sick. It wasn't something a Luthor would do, was supposed to do. He got off the swing and trudged down the steps.
"Lex."
He turned to face Clark. "Do you want me to come with you?" Clark looked so worried, but Lex shook his head no. He couldn't deal with anyone but his own self at the moment. Clark nodded his head as if he'd read Lex's thoughts, and Lex was grateful. He looked up into Mr. Kent's too sympathetic eyes.
"Let's go," he said.
It wasn't until he was sitting in the truck Lex realized he'd forgotten to add 'sir'.
~o0o~
Lex could hardly breathe, was wiping his face on his sleeve and gasping for air when he heard a noise.
"Lex? Are you okay—well, that was stupid, I'm sorry." Clark's head poked in the doorway and Lex was instantly angry and embarrassed.
"Go away!" His angry cry was muffled in the crook of his arm, and he tried to shrink even more. He heard Clark whisper okay, but he came in anyway, followed by Pete and Whitney. They all looked so sad Lex had to close his eyes.
"We—the guys…we heard. About your mom. We just wanted to say…" Pete came forward and knelt next to him; hit Lex lightly in the arm. "Sorry man, sorry—it really sucks. But, we're right here, okay?"
Lex nodded, didn't move his head from his arm. Whitney crouched down by him and didn't touch him, just sighed. "Hey, Lex. Man, this is so fucked up…"There was a little gasp and he looked at the other boys.
"What? It's true isn't it? It's fucked up. A kid shouldn't have something like this happen—"and then he did reach out and grab Lex in a rough hug. "Cry if you want to man—it's okay.”
And Lex burst out into tears again, clutched frantically at Whitney for a moment before letting go. Whitney hugged him back hard and stood, walked up to Clark and laid a hand on his shoulder. "You should stay with him a little while Clark, we're his buddies but you guys are best friends."
Whit looked back over his shoulder at Lex, just looked for a bit, and Clark got a strange feeling, his stomach kind of –flipped and hurt for a second, and then it was gone and he nodded to Whitney. "Okay, Whit. Talk to you guys later."
They trooped out and Clark was left alone with Lex. Lex had calmed himself a bit and leaned back against the wall. Clark dropped down in front of him, and leaned his elbows on his knees. "Okay, talk. Why didn't you tell us your mom was so sick? Why didn't you tell us she died? If my dad hadn't asked how you were, we wouldn't have known…that hurt, man. It's like you don't trust us—trust me."
"Clark, this is my deal, not yours. I don't care about your feelings right now." Lex backed down when he caught sight of Clark's face. "Okay, sorry," he sniffed and wiped at his eyes. "I didn't say anything because it's weak to not carry your own trouble.”
Clark was confused. Didn't you go to your friends when things went wrong, and what could be worse than your mom dying? What kind of house did Lex live in, poor kid? Clark shifted and moved next to Lex and threw an arm around him. "Lex, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Did your dad tell you that? Well, he's kind of a butt hole isn't he?" Clark grinned when Lex let out a bark of surprised laughter, and felt even better when he felt Lex nod his head. He reached up with his other hand and ruffled Lex's hair, pulled at the long red strands a bit., and said quietly, "You never have to look too hard to find your friends, okay? You never have to do anything on your own as long as we're here. We're like the Musketeers, only more than three."
Lex let his head fall back against Clark's arm and laughed. Clark felt warm all over; he made Lex feel a little better. That was cool. "Come on, let's go to my house, get something to eat. I don't know if this makes you feel any little bit better, but my mom? She really likes you, Lex. She'll take care of you. I'll ask her to.”
Lex nodded solemnly back at Clark. "Thanks Clark. I'm glad to hear that. I like you guys a lot too."
They made their way out of the fort and Lex turned to Clark, looking embarrassed. "You know, sometimes, I like to pretend that your dad is my dad, that I live with you guys and I'm your brother. And I'll punch you if you laugh.”
Clark looked solemn. "No, I don't think that's funny. I like it. You'd be a good brother. We'd like to have you with us, my parents really like you, Lex.”
"Yeah, well….”
Clark nodded. "Come on. Let's go home."
~o0o~
It didn't seem right to Clark that the sun should be shining, the trees should be so green, or that everyone was talking like it was a normal day. Lana kept looking at him from around her Aunt Nell's back, her pale face wet with tears. He didn't want to look at her, he didn't want to cry. If he started the other guys would and they had to be tough for Lex—Red. He wouldn't want them crying, he'd hate it.
Clark stood between his mom and dad, holding his mom's hand close down at his side so no one could see and looked around at the others. Pete stood with his people and Whitney stood with his mother—his dad had to be at the store, he'd said.
When the end came, and Lex and his dad came up to toss a handful of dirt onto the coffin below, Clark shifted away from his parents and made his way to where the Luthors had been standing. He'd be there when Lex came back.
Clark closed his eyes and heard the dirt drop on the coffin lid, and a moment later felt someone next to him. He opened his eyes and saw Lex straight and stiff next to him, his head tilted far back and his eyes open wide—trying to keep tears from running down his face, Clark realized. He couldn't stop his hand from moving—his fingers touched Lex's, at the touch, his eyes closed, but he nodded. Clark knew he appreciated that he was there, didn't mind that he was just about holding his hand, somebody should. It wasn't right to ask a kid to be brave and tough at his mother's funeral. Lex's dad glanced at him and his look was disapproving, Clark glared back, fu—forget respect, the old man was a straight up—asshole.
The adults were coming up to Mr. Luthor and murmuring whatever you were supposed to say at these times, and Clark led Lex away towards his friends. They stood in a little knot around him; everyone had a hand on him, as if they could lighten the pain for him.
"Is it true, Lex, are you leaving tomorrow?" Lana asked and a sob caught in her throat. Pete looked like he was about to explode and he glared at Mr. Luthor like his eyes were lasers, and he was waiting for him to burst into flame.
"I can't believe your damn dad is sending you to boarding school. Stupid—"
Clark laid a hand on Pete's arm, "Shh, Pete. Keep it down. Don't get yourself in trouble." He turned to Lex and said "Where, Red? How far away is it?”
"England," Lex laughed with a hitch in his voice. "Don't think you guy's will be visiting anytime soon."
They huddled together, a knot of misery, until Lana pulled out a camera. Everyone groaned, but she stuck out her lip and said, "You idiots can act like you don't want your picture taken all you want but we'll be glad to have them later.”
Lex nodded. She was right; it would be good to have evidence that he'd once had friends like this.
Lana got them to group together, and flash—Pete and Clark flanked Lex, each had an arm over Lex's shoulders, Whitney stood behind Lex with his hand on Clark's shoulder. They looked into the camera with ferocious glares as if challenging the universe to do worse; their black suits and ties, their white shirts glowing in the sun and looking so out of place on their young bodies. Then, Whitney took the camera, and Lana took Clark's place, leaned into Lex's side, and he put an arm around her and dropped his head on top of hers. Whitney frowned a little as he tried to focus the camera, and turned to see Clark staring at Lex.
"Red's a good guy, isn't he, Whit?"
flash Whitney turned to face Clark completely, and said, "Yeah. He really is. I'm going to miss him a whole lot.”
Clark nodded solemnly. "Yeah. Me too." He stared at Lex who was smiling at something Lana said. "A whole lot. It's like I'm gonna lose…an arm, or something." Clark rubbed at the center of his chest.
"Yeah. I know." Whitney let his hand rest on Clark's back for a moment and rubbed lightly before moving off to join the friends.
The adults were drifting away, heading to their cars and the friends had to split up. Clark ran up to Lex, ignoring his father, grabbed his arm and said, "Meet me at the fort before you go!"
Lex nodded, glancing at his dad, who was scowling, nearly snarling at him. "Yes, okay." He looked at Clark, searching his eyes for some sign of what he wanted, but "I'll be there." he said.
Clark grinned at him and sprinted off to rejoin his mom and dad, who were getting into the car with Whitney and his mom. The boys slid into the back seat and Whitney hissed under his breath when Clark knocked against his side.
"Hurt yourself at football again? Maybe it's not your game, Whit." Clark caught the movement of Whitney's eyes toward his mom, and then Whit shrugged. "Yeah, well, it happens. Just suck it up right?"
Clark opened his mouth, hesitated and closed it again. "I guess you're right—just seems, you get hurt a lot is all." Whitney shrugged, irritated— and Clark knew that was all he was going to get from him on that. Subject closed.
~o0o~
Clark seemed ill at ease, nervous and finally Lex asked him point blank "What the hell is up Clark, I mean, it's not a great day," he laughed bitterly, "but you're acting even weirder than usual.”
Clark swallowed and said, "Red. Remember when you said we should be brothers?”
"No, you said we should be brothers.”
"No, it was you–shut up," Clark said when Lex looked like he was going to interrupt again. "Whatever! Anyway, I was watching this movie the other night, and these kids decided to become brothers, blood brothers, you know?”
Lex nodded, he was familiar with the concept. It happened a lot in the old books he read.
"Okay, so, that's what we're going to do, so we never forget and we'll always be friends—no matter where we are." Clark pulled a small red folding knife out of his pocket and held it out on his palm. "It's my dad's pocket knife, I thought—"
"I don't know Clark, that's kind of gross–and painful." Lex looked extremely doubtful, and Clark sneered a little.
"Come on Red, don't tell me you're afraid of a little pain?" and Lex laughed again, that laugh that Clark knew meant more, the one that made Whit look at Lex whenever he laughed like that and share a twisted smile with him.
"Okay, tough guy, let's do this!"
Clark took Lex's outstretched hand and sliced a shallow groove across his thumb and winced with Lex when blood bubbled up. He took the blade and sliced across his own thumb and…nothing. He looked puzzled and cut again, harder, and Lex looked up at him.
"Clark. It's not working. The blade is ...dull?" he looked down at his thumb thoughtfully, and Clark nearly sawed at his thumb until finally a thin stripe of red appeared, and they pressed their thumbs together, mixing and smearing the blood.
"Do we say anything?" Lex asked, his brow furrowed as he stared at his blood-smeared thumb.
"I don't know, how about, ‘we're brother's forever now'?”
Lex nodded "Sounds good to me…Clark, is it always that hard for you to bleed?”
"Yeah, when I was real young, like five or something, I'd skin my knee and bleed like crazy, but I haven't for a long time now. I used to think everyone was like that…now I know different. I still don't know why I don't bleed easy, or get sick...”
"That's pretty cool, Clark, I'd like never to get sick or stuff.”
They headed back to the Kent farm, neither of them speaking but once in a while one or the other would glance at their thumb and smile. They parted at the Kent driveway, shaking hands like grownups, until Clark grabbed Lex into a tight hug. He pressed his face into Lex's shoulder, and spoke, his voice muffled by the cotton. "Remember, brothers!"
Lex nodded yes and pulled away from Clark, but not before he scrubbed his hand over his hair. "Red—Lex, I—you take care of yourself—"and he ran up the drive.
~o0o~
After a horrible dinner with his dad, and negotiating with the housekeeper on what personal items he could pack—and that was nearly a battle to the death—he heard a knock at his window. Again, a knock and he went to the window, looked out and down at a hiss.
Whitney stood on the lawn, waving something in his hand.
Lex waved back and made a shushing motion, and Whit nodded and gestured for Lex to come down. Lex held up five fingers and scooted back from the ledge. He knew everyone was asleep so he just tossed a jacket over his undershirt and ran lightly down the stairs to the back of the house and out the door.
Whitney was waiting and the thing in his hand turned out to be a folder of pictures. Lex took them and shuffled through them quickly, sorrow bubbling up again as he remembered the afternoon and how dead he'd felt. There were other pictures though, one of Pete and Sam together, a school picture of Lana, one of Whitney glaring into the lens…and Clark. A handful of pictures of Clark, at birthdays, picnics, building the fort, and one of him looking into the camera with a painfully sweet expression on his face.
Whitney watched him look the pictures over, and asked him gruffly, "Was I wrong?”
Lex looked up at him, and Whit asked again, "Was I wrong, Red. To bring those pictures of Clark?”
Lex shook his head no, and Whit smiled. "I kinda thought so—you're good at hiding things Lex. We both are.”
He moved over to Lex and leaned forward until they were only separated by a breath, and then he pressed his lips lightly to Lex's. They stood for a moment, lips pressed softly together, and Whit's hands went up to Lex's shoulders. Lex's heart skipped a beat, and then Whitney stepped back. "That's from Clark. I think if he was smarter he'd know he doesn't want to be your brother." Whit reached a hand behind Lex's neck and squeezed lightly. "I'm not going to act like we'll meet again, we probably won't. Thanks for being my friend Lex, thanks for helping.”
He pulled back from Lex, and Lex grabbed his hand. "I love you, Whit!”
He pulled free of Lex, leaned down and grabbed his bike. As he got on, he said, "Yeah? Maybe, Red, maybe..." Whit rode off, stopped half way down the drive, turned back and waved once and then rode on.
Lex stood in the drive a little while longer; he touched his lip, and then looked down at the pictures clutched against his chest. His life had changed for the worse when his mom died, and tomorrow his life was supposed to change again, and here in the dark, on his driveway, it changed in a way he could never have imagined.
~o0o~
Clark watched Pete ride his bike up the drive like he was being chased by a monster. Or Fluffy, the neighbor's evil bastard of a poodle.
"Clark!" he was yelling even before he disengaged from his bike. Clark watched Pete with some amusement; whatever it was that had Pete flustered had to be good, for sure. Maybe Pete's quest to get to third base with a girl finally panned out, though Clark figured it was doubtful Pete had hit any base at all yet.
"Red's back!" he yelled and Clark stopped in shock. What? "What!" Clark shot to his feet. "He called you, you saw him?" He jumped off the porch and ran to Pete.
"No," Pete was shaking his head. "I heard my dad tell my mom that he was back." Pete scowled. "Back for a week.”
Clark shook his head. "I don't get it. He never wrote us, or called…he's here now and he still doesn't try to get in touch—" the boys looked at each other and both of them were angry, the initial excitement draining away in shared hurt.
Pete scuffed the gravel of the drive and turned to face away from Clark. "Yeah, well, screw him. So what he's back, right? He didn't care about us, why care about him?”
"Yeah, you're right, Pete…" Clark hesitated, and then asked him, "You want to round up Whit, see if he wants to ride bikes?"
Pete looked at him suspiciously. "Where to?" He had that look on his face, the stubborn pugnacious look, the one Clark called the Nose, and Whitney just thought was plain funny.
"Just around…do you think Lana knows?"
Pete shrugged his shoulders, and leaned his elbows on his handlebars. "Don't know."
Lana had discovered in sixth grade that she was indeed a girl, and liked the things a girl liked and hanging out with the boys wasn't as appealing as it had been, or at least that particular group of guys. Lana had developed into one of the popular girls, though she never developed the mean streak that some of the girls seemed to have. She still spoke to them in the halls, called on the phone sometimes and Pete was still hopelessly infatuated with her, and it hurt his heart anew each day, watching her with her new crowd.
"Yeah, okay, let's go get Whit." Pete stopped and grinned at Clark, his mercurial mood changes in full swing. "I know a real good road to ride."
A few hours later, the boys were straddling their bikes across the road from the castle driveway. They all adopted the same stance, elbows on handles bars and knees spread and locked. Whitney looked contemplative. Of the three he was the only one who hadn't been angry that no word had ever come from Lex. He'd never expected any.
They lingered a while, discussing which TLC member was the hottest, and no one wanting to admit the reason they were idling there.
Finally, Whitney sighed and leaned back on his bike, "Come on. This is stupid. We either go up to the door, or go the fuck home." He scuffed one sneaker against the ground and studied the others. He knew they were paralyzed with indecision. Okay, no problem. He'd taken worse hits than this. If he knocked on the door, and he wasn't welcome, it wasn't like the butler would beat him up. Maybe.
Whitney rose up, ready to push across the road, when the sound of crunching gravel drew their eyes to the drive opposite. A Mercedes was coming down the driveway; they came to the edge of the road, anticipation of the 'we might see Red' kind on Clark's face, uncertainty on Pete's…Whitney was Whitney and just waited impassively.
The car rolled along side of them and went past, but not before they all got a good look at Lex in the back seat, wonder and joy plain on his face and then the car pulled away, increased speed as it went up the road. The boys sat stunned for a while.
Pete was the first to respond. "Did you see him? I don't know about you guys, but I think he looked pretty damn glad to see us!”
Clark grinned and felt warm from head to toe. Red had looked surprised and pleased. He did want to see them, he thought, Clark could tell, that was Le—Red's happy face all right. "Yeah. Yeah, he did look glad, didn't he?”
Whitney smirked and rode a bit ahead of them, called back to them, "Come on, if we hurry, we can get back in time to play some games at Pete's house.”
"Hey! What makes you think my mom's gonna let us hang out at the house?" Pete looked a little worried and put upon, as he pedaled hard to catch up with Whitney.
Whitney laughed over his shoulder and yelled, "Come on Pete! We've got our secret weapon—your mom thinks the sun rises and sets in Clark's ass!"
"Shut up! That's not true! And it's nasty!”
"Clark, it's so true! They sure don't like me!”
"That's because you're such a jerk, Whit," Pete yelled, "And wait for us, you jerk!”
~o0o~
By the time he made his way up the drive and around to the back of the house, he was panting for breath, but felt a little calmer. He picked up a handful of gravel from the decorative planters that lined the side of the back patio, stepped back and began tossing stones at the window he sincerely hoped was still Red's.
The stones tapped against the window and in the dark silence seemed too loud to Whitney. The dark surrounded the little square of light cast from the window, and it pressed on him, trying to cover him in its black folds, and Whitney was startled to feel fear of it—the dark was usually his friend, his protector.
Suddenly the window went up and something fluttered to the ground next to him, when he looked up again, the window was shut. He bent and picked up the thing, which turned out to be paper tied to an old Mutant Ninja Turtle figurine. Whitney relaxed, calmed by the sight of that turtle. Held it up to his eyes and snorted. Even now he could remember the horrible afternoon not long after Lex had left, the afternoon that Pete had a meltdown when he discovered Raphael was missing. And here the little bastard was, he thought, and Red had him all along. He laughed to himself as he opened up the note.
Go to the kitchen door. Whitney shrugged and went past the main patio quickly, down the short series of steps that curved around to the smaller patio off the kitchen doors. He saw that the doors were slightly open, so he leaned his head in. There was a dim light on over the huge stove, just enough to make out obstacles in the kitchen. Lex was sitting at a butcher-block topped island, swinging his feet and rubbing his hand over the top of the counter. He hadn't noticed yet that Whitney was standing in the doorway, so Whit just stood quietly and took him in. Lex was taller now, and filled out a bit, not so scrawny, though he was still as pale as always, unless that was just the light—Lex looked up and his eyes got wide when he saw Whitney.
"Whit, damn—Whit, you scared me!" He jumped off the stool and ran at Whitney, threw his arms around him and squeezed, lifted him off the floor an inch or two.
"Woof! Jeez, Red, you really put on some muscle, boy!" He pounded Lex's back and they parted and grinned at each other, sizing each other up, cataloging changes and just enjoying being in the same place once again.
"So, you fucking asshole, no phones in England?" Whitney wandered over to the counter near the stove, picked through a bowl of fruit there and selected an apple. He turned back to Lex, and grinned at him before sinking his teeth into it with a crunch, and watched Lex watch him chew—Lex grinned back.
"Whit, you never change, no manners, no couth—perfect," Lex laughed softly as leaned back on the opposite counter. "You knew I wasn't going to keep in touch, I never thought my dad was going to bring me back here. But…he's buying that plant outside of town.…”
"Jeez, the shit factory? Yeah, that kind of suits him. So, he's moving here again to run it?" Whit gnawed on the apple, he'd worked it down to the core, and was looking at the rest of the fruit. Lex caught his hungry look and went to the massive fridge and poked around inside. He looked over his shoulder at Whit. "You want…roast beef? That's what we had tonight; you could have a sandwich—"
"What if your dad or the Cook comes in here, won't you get in trouble?" Whitney was so hungry, it'd been too late to bother the Kent's and no way could he go to Pete's house and ask for food—his mom would go ballistic, and it would just be a whole ball of crap he didn't want to deal with.
"Shit, Cook could sleep through a tornado, and Dad's not here…got a date, I guess." Lex shrugged and gave all his attention to making a sandwich for Whitney, carefully sawing at the roast, taking time to stack the slices evenly on fresh bread. Whit hopped up on the stool at the kitchen island and watched him work. Red was feeding him, he didn't even really ask, he just took it upon himself to feed him. Whit felt—great. Happy…for a moment he was completely happy.
Lex set the plate down in front of Whitney and sat across the kitchen island from him, watching him eat. He grimaced suddenly and Whit glanced down to where Lex was looking, at his arm, the bruises just visible under the edge of his t-shirt sleeve. He knew Lex was looking at the clear imprint of a hand there.
"So, I see your dad is still a jerk." Whit didn't even hesitate, kept on eating. "Um-hum," he said when he'd swallowed the bit he was chewing. "No dinner tonight. The dick wouldn't let me eat.”
Lex leaned his elbows on the counter and cradled his chin in his hands. "So, ever tell the guys about it?" At Whitney's negative headshake, Lex went on. "How is everyone? Are they okay?”
Whit worked away on his sandwich and grinned at Lex with teeth full of mashed sandwich. Lex stuck his tongue at him, and Whit swallowed and laughed. "First of all, Clark's fine and so freakin' stoked you're back, I thought he was gonna explode. Hell, he almost did when his dad wouldn't let him come back up here today. Oh, here, before I forget." Whit shoved a hand into his jeans pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "This is his number," he said. "Call him. He's been waiting three years," and snorted at the look on Lex's face.
Lex stared at the paper and felt his eyes burn for a moment, than shoved it into the pocket of his sweatpants and continued, "How's Pete? Lana?"
Whitney shrugged and laughed, "Well, when you meet up with Pete again, don't mention you stole his turtle. It's been three years but I bet he'd still freak on you! Lana's fine, she's got her own thing these days. Popular girl now, y'know."
Lex's eyebrows rose, he never thought of Lana as being interested in that kind of stuff.
Whitney reached across the counter and traced the line of Lex's hand. "It's good you're back, Red, everyone missed you. We're real glad you're home again.”
Lex moved his hand and smiled at Whitney. Whitney acted like he didn't notice Lex avoid his touch…it was cool. He perched on the edge of the stool kicking his feet back and forth and trying to figure out whether he should go and sleep in the Kent's barn—
"Whitney. You can't go home tonight, can you?"
Fuck. Red was always too quick for him. All he could do was grin at him and nod.
Lex looked annoyed. He knew it was something Whitney had done purposely—some strange act of defiance against his dad, acts that usually backfired.
"You never change, do you, you idiot. What the hell did you do now?" Lex leaned forward a bit, eyes locked on Whit's, ready to laugh or curse.
Whitney smirked, "I got caught at the Wal-Mart in a fitting room booth with my hands down Beth Johnson's pants—nah, you don't know her, she came after you left. She lets guys do pretty much anything." He laughed at Lex's appalled look. "Come on Red! If someone's gonna throw it at you, you're gonna catch it, right?" He cocked his head and studied Lex. "Are you a virgin, Red?”
"Not all of us feel like sharing every damn bit of our lives, Whit," Lex snapped, and Whitney grinned, held up his hands and nodded to Lex. Fine. Virgin it was.
They went upstairs to Lex's room. Lex told him he could sneak an army in past his dad and the man probably wouldn't notice, or care—something Whitney doubted, but he really didn't want to sleep in Clark's barn so he just followed Lex up the stairs.
"Damn. This is your room?" Whit looked around at the huge space. Lex had a queen-sized bed, and a couch, and bookcases from floor to ceiling, and his very own bathroom. Whit shook his head. Rich people. He walked over and looked into Lex's closet; it was the size of Whit's whole room at home.
Lex tossed him a pair of sweat pants, and a towel. "Go, shower—you need it, and use the deodorant in there, too."
Whitney flipped him off as he passed him on the way to the bathroom. He stepped through the dor ans stopped in awe, floored by the luxury of the space. The shower was unbelievably huge—Whit messed about trying to figure out how the plumbing worked exactly, and finally got it to work.
Standing under the warm rain of water, Whit was filled with gratitude to Lex for letting him in. It had been…just a really crappy couple of days. And here he was, not even talking to Lex for more than a few hours after not speaking for years, and Lex. Lex was taking care of him again. He felt his face flush, his eyes prickled for a moment before he cursed himself for acting like an idiot. That kind of stuff didn't get you through the day.
~o0o~
Did Whit really think that they didn't know what was going on, did he think Clark was so clueless that he missed the bruises and the fact that Whit showed up in their the barn from time to time? It was weird, as if something somewhere took a wrong turn. It wasn't like this when Whit was a little kid. He remembered Whit and his dad tossing footballs in the park—true, that hadn't happened since he was in fourth grade. But it was different then. Things changed and Whit got harder and harder and his dad didn't come around anymore, spent all his time in the store and you'd think Whit would have nicer stuff, that they'd have some money. It was like Whit was being raised by strangers who didn't care that much about him…Clark shifted onto this side and thought how grateful he was for his mom and dad. If he could have chosen parents, he would have chosen them. His dad—sure he could be annoying some time. Like tonight. But mostly, he was a good guy.
Clark sat up. Which is why he was going to feel really bad, in a minute or two. Clark stood and pulled his jeans and sweatshirt on, found his sneaks under his bed, and tried not to think about his parents and how truly pissed off they'd be if they found out he went to Red's which was what he was going to do right now, he thought as he tied his laces.
He left the house quietly and walked swiftly out to the end of the drive. He turned into the direction of the castle, stopped and took a deep breath, a breath of anticipation, growing exhilaration….
Clark stared trotting, then running lightly, the wind just moving his hair, then running, faster—things beginning to blur, wind pulling at him, running faster, the wind building to a screech and clawing at his clothes and then—silence. Silence, icy and crystalline, everything around him floated past in slow motion. It wasn't as cool at night; he loved seeing the slow dance of everything around him when he ran super, super fast. He grinned to himself in his private slice of the world; he should be at Red's in minutes.
Clark slammed to a stop behind the castle, a little out of breath but euphoric and jittering with the thought of seeing Lex again. He ran up to the back of the house and looked for the window he knew was Lex's. There was a glow of light behind the curtains and he felt good—Red was still up. Perfect. He bent down to grab a few pieces of gravel lying in the grass and drew back his arm to toss a piece at the window when the curtain moved back and Whitney was at the window.
Clark faltered, his arm dropping—what the heck was Whit doing there?
He backed up out of the square of light on the lawn, into the shadows of the shrubs and felt crushed. He heard, saw Whit laugh and spit out of the window, and thought, did Lex invite him; did Lex call Whit and not me, his best friend? For a moment life sucked so bad, and then rational thought hit Clark—of course Lex hadn't done that. Whit had probably done the same thing Clark did—couldn't wait so he snuck out to see Lex. More than likely Whit had no other place to go besides the barn, so he came here instead. Clark knew Red was a sucker for Whit…oh well. Let them catch up on stuff; Whit's having a bad week anyway. Maybe Red can help him out.
He decided he'd come back in the afternoon, or maybe right after he finished his chores. Good to know that Whit had another person to look out for him, too.
In typical Clark fashion, he forgave his friends for something they weren't even aware of, took his hurt and let it blow away as he raced back home.
~o0o~
"I thought I saw…nothing," Whit muttered. He shrugged, jumped onto the bed and threw himself flat on his back. He felt better than he'd felt all day. Full, clean and sleeping on a mattress instead of a horse blanket like he figured he'd be doing tonight. "So, Red…"Lex turned on his side to face him and shoved his hand under his head. He smiled, but looked so tired.
"Am I keeping you up?” Whit asked.
"No, it was just a crappy tiring day. I had to go to the city with my dad, and sit through some boring meetings with him. He wants me to know how a business works. God, he's such an ass.”
Whit noticed Lex had a faint English accent, kind of cute.
"He's been keeping me busy; I think he's trying to keep me away from you guys—I don't know. He barely lets me out of his sight. It's driving me crazy."
Whit sighed, "It never gets better does it, Red—you and me, and the shit we have to deal with."
Lex's eyes drooped lower and lower as he replied. "Yep. We few, we proud, we screwed.”
Whit snorted, and Lex grinned briefly before his eyelids shut and his breathing slowed and Whit watched him drift into sleep and loved him very much, just for that moment. He slowly reached out his hand, smoothed his hair back from his forehead, and ran a finger softly, lightly over his lips. Lex slept on, but his lips quirked into a brief smile and he breathed a name before sinker deeper into sleep.
Whitney sighed and had to smile a little. Red was constant, that's for sure. Clark. Guess that wasn't going to change. He felt a stirring, a fluttering low in his belly and rolled away from Lex.
Not going to admit the thought of Red and Clark was kind of…hot. Whit's bruises reminded him that he hadn't had a decent rest since that stupid thing with that stupid girl, and he let himself relax completely. No one was going to drag him out of bed, and shout in his face, or throw him against a wall or….
Sleep reached up and dragged him out of the world for a little while.
~o0o~
"Hey! Clark, it's…yeah, it's me. Would you like to come over later…yeah? Cool. They can come, of course, but I'd really like it if just you came first, we can, unh, catch up on stuff…great! See you in a little bit, then. Bye."
All right then, Lex told himself, first shower, then eat and bring out those comics…Clark will like those… he grinned to himself thinking of the excitement in Clark's voice. It made Lex feel good to be sure that after all this time, Clark was still his friend.