The Memoirs

"There she was, just a'walkin down the street singin' dooowa diddy didde dum diddy do!"

Pete was singing on top of his lungs. The snow was melting, the birds were singing, and he was in love. He felt...amazing, superb, wonderful, and he grinned at his girlfriend in joy. Class was going amazing, he was actually LEARNING instead of just staring blankly at the book, and for the first time in a long time he felt like he had a future. Which, you know, he loved. School was over and Clark, Chloe and Whitney had been something of a null and void, and he and Shay were on the way to the mansion to bug them. ...After they made out. he grinned at his girlfriend just because he wanted to, like an idiot, and snuggled her close. "I love you, blondie."

"I love you, muscles." She giggled as he snuggled her, and she couldn't stop the huge, dorky grin that spread over her face. School had gotten a lot better now that Pete wasn't mad at her anymore, the homework was easy, the classes were boring, and she was worried about Clark.

But, then there was Pete. And she grinned. "Leave the singin' to CJ, Pete. And you just dance."

"Man, you’re not the first to tell me." He snickered as they walked across the parking lot, to Shayla's pile of scrap metal. "You ever hear Chloe sing?"

"I heard her torturing a cat once, but when I opened the door? Just her and the radio."

Pet snickered and rubbed her butt wickedly, though his eyes were completely innocent. "Man, and you haven’t even heard the worst of it. I'll tell ya what she did once in the Torch, but right now, I’m gonna have to..." He grabbed her around the waist, spun, and landed rump first leaning against the car with his girl in his arms.

Shayla gave a little squeal and a squeak as Pete twirled her, and then she giggled breathlessly. "You're gonna have to do what?" she teased him, eyes twinkling saucily up at him as she wiggled her butt against his hands.

"Uh....welllll.." He pretended to think. "Maybe..." He dropped his face and gave one little pink ear a hardy nip. "And..." And then her jaw line, sucking and kissing a line of kisses down it as he pressed her closer. "And--"

"Excuse me, Mr. Ross."

Pete glanced up...eyes wide, and he scrambled out from under Shayla's weight before he straightened. Coughed. "Hello, Principle A... uh... Reynolds."

"What exactly are you doing?" One eyebrow up, and a hard face glared at them.

"G...going home, sir. Not making out or... or anything. You know." Cough.

"We're having a talk about who's house we're gonna study at after school, mine or his. What's it to you?" And Shayla already didn't like Principal Asskick, as he was being known as.

"That didn’t look like... talking. I don’t want any more PDA's on my property, are we clear? if you want to make out, take it home." Another hard glare, and the principle turned and walked away.

And hid the small smile as he did it.

Pete let out a heavy breath. "Okay. Uh. Christ." He grinned crookedly at his girlfriend and opened the car door for her. "Get in, you blond troublemaker."

Shayla grabbed Pete by the collar, hauled him in, and kissed him. Long, hard and deep, she was panting by the time she let him go. "Not a troublemaker," she grinned, and then slid into the front seat passenger side.

He laughed as soon as she'd let him go, even though his cock was hardening like a fucking stone and he slipped into the drivers side, closing the door and giving her a stoic glare. "You know, you’re gonna be bad for my good-boy image." And because he was a wicked kid, he reached over and stroked her breast softly through her shirt. "I think I like it."

"And you could be good for my bad-girl, anti-authority, Principle-Asskick-Can-Kiss-My-Skinny-Blond-Ass image." She slipped her hand over his thigh, brushing her knuckles lightly against the hardening length there.

He couldn’t help the wicked leer, but covered it with a soft mock pout. "You mean I can't kiss your skinny blond ass?"

"You can kiss my skinny blond ass any time you want to." She kissed his nose. "He can fuck off and die." She giggled. "I'll PD my A for you any time I want to."

Pete laughed and revved her engine, which was amusing to think, and grinned again as he took the clunker out of park and slowly backed up. "I wanted to ask you, Shay... if you’d like to..." Wicked glance. "You know."

She blinked innocent eyes at him. "Like to have sex with you on the hood of the car during gym class? Yes."

He grinned, once more, cause he was just so happy and so bad, and smiled at her as he pulled out onto the road. "I meant, if you'd like to go to my new apartment and fuck like bunnies on the floor. But hey, if you don’t want to..."

"Oh, I'm all for that. But!" she said. "But I wanna check on Clark first. I haven't seen him since he went home sick yesterday, and he looked like crap. We make a quick detour, we make sure Clark's okay, and then we go back to the plan of fucking like bunnies at your place."

"Clark check. Check." Pete pulled down the road, stopped at a stop sign, and turned left before cruising on the mostly crowded street with kids going home towards the mansion. "He's prolly playing hooky, Shay." A roll of his eyes. "Prolly got Lex so far up he can't think straight." A moment. "Ew. I don’t want to walk in on that."

"Why should he think straight? He's queer as a three-dollar-bill, and I say that with nothing but love for the boy." She snuggled. "Then you can sit downstairs and wait for me while I go bang on bedroom doors."

A loud snicker, and Pete glanced at her, brow raised. "Ah. Does that make me queer as a three dollar bill to, Shay?" The other brow came up.

She thought a moment. "No, you're a battery. You're AC/DC, go both ways. Switch hitter--you know, hit from either side of the plate." She smirked. "Helps having a gay brother."

"I..." And now, he got quiet and very, very shy. "I needed to ask you something, Shayla."

"Okay." She dropped all her teasing, and all her flakiness, and the seriousness that only came out around her Pete came to the forefront. "What is it, baby?"

"You know I’m... whatever. I’m not gay, but... yeah. Do you think maybe…" He turned pink under his skin. "Do you think maybe sometime it would be okay if I fill... fill myself, when we have sex?"

She blinked. "You're joking? Of course it would be okay. I mean... you'd have to let me see it, the first time, maybe... help you? I don't know. But... yeah. I'm totally okay with it, Pete." She moved her hand from his thigh to his cheek, and rubbed the backs of her fingers across his warm chocolate skin. "I'm okay with anything you need to be happy, baby."

"I want it." He missed it. As much as he loved Shayla, and he did, the feeling of something hot and hard moving inside you couldn’t be paralleled. ....Well, alright, being balls deep in his girl usually did it, but sometimes he just wanted to be taken, and something moving inside would definitely be okay. He turned and smiled at her, shyly and softly, and nodded. "Okay. Thanks, Shay. And yeah," He laughed it. "You can see it. You can help me put it in, okay?"

"Yeah." She gave him a grin. "I need to talk to Chloe," she continued, and the grin got a little more mischievous, and a lot more promising. "She knows a few tricks, and I just... need to have a little chat with her about it."

"Yeah?" Pete gave her a curious glance as he pulled onto the long road leading to the mansion. "I just like it. Miss it. It feels... its definitely good." A little throaty sigh. "Not as good as being inside you, though." At that he gave a little murmured sigh, and gazed at the mansion. "Wow... its kinda quiet around here today, huh?"

"Yeah," she said mysteriously. "Should probably talk to her and Whit both," she said musingly. "Though Whit gets all freaked out when I mention sex things around him." She followed Pete's gaze. "Yeah. It is. But, everybody's gone now, except Morgan and Big Daddy, and then Clark and AJ. All my family is gone, so hey... yeah, quiet."

"I had a crush on Whit for a few months last year." Pete said suddenly. He'd never admitted it to a soul, and gazed at his girlfriend a little shyly. "Does it make me horrible?"

Shayla shook her head. "Only if it makes me horrible for kinda having a crush on Chloe when I first saw her. Even though I couldn't stand her, I thought she was so pretty and everything I wanted to be."

A blink. What? Hello. Pete stomped on the brakes, right in the middle of the road, and turned to gaze at his girlfriend. Every single male fantasy swarmed into his head like a bunch of bees. Hello. Shayla and Chloe going at it.

Mother fucker.

"You... Chloe?"

Shayla squeaked again as Pete slammed on the brakes, and she was very glad for her seat belt as she braced her hands on the dash panel. "Yeah. Me and Chloe. I mean... I had this crush on her. And she taught me... you know, how to do... myself."

He was raging hard in just about point five seconds. "I... you.... oh, God." He hated Whitney with every fiber of his being in that exact moment because the mother fucker had seen it. "Shay… baby. Talking about these things while I’m driving does not ensure you a deathless ride."

"Meep!" she squeaked out, and then slapped her hand over her mouth. "No more talking about girl-crushes then."

He grunted and reached down to fix himself before he popped a button. Shifted. Grunted again, though the grunt sounded like a moan, and trembled. "Yeah. Hi. Wow."

Shayla stared at him, like she was doing geometrical calculations in her head.

Which she was.

"How far back does your seat go and how long are your legs?"

Pete blinked at her, as he tried to get the clunker restarted with shaking hands. "Huh?"

"Okay, let me rephrase that. Is there enough room down there for me to suck you off while you're driving, or should I just use my hands?"

Motherless fucker.

He looked at her and moaned. Short, soft, and the love in his heart for her was fierce. "You'd do that?" He asked softly, reaching over to stroke her hair softly.

She nodded. "In a heartbeat, baby. I love... I love knowing that you're hard because of me, but I love even more... I love getting you off even more because it's both of us."

"Yeah. I… oh." He swallowed, hard, and leaned down, pushing the chair back. "We can wait. To drive. Are you sure? God, you’re so hot." His fingers reached before he could stop them and cupped her breasts in both hands, kneading softly as he reached forward to kiss her. Soft, loving sucks before he delved in deep, hands sliding down around her waist and up so he could touch hot skin. Oh... yes.

Her breasts. when he slid his palms under the cups of her bra, were the best things he'd ever felt.

"I'm sure." She unfastened her seat belt and turned around in the seat, leaning over to press light kisses against the zipper of Pete's jeans, moaning softly against the little metal teeth as his hands rubbed against her breasts. "Mmmm... oh, Pete." She raised a hand to help her unzip him, and then the same little cool hand slipped in to gently ease him out. "Oh... beautiful."

"Fuck." He gritted it. Her hand around him was just… it was fucking gorgeous and he moaned and let his head fall a little more forward to stroke her. Her nipples were hard little pebbles and he muttered as he let them go, stroking over her back as she leaned over him. "Thinking about you with Chloe." He moaned, head falling back. "So sexy, Shay, my girl."

"I know Whitney said, but, I was with her once. When she taught me. And she kissed me, cause I was thinking about you, and I needed just the little bit of extra push, and she kissed me so it would feel like you kissing me and that's when I got off." Then, she slipped her mouth over his head, little tongue lapping delicately at it, and she didn't say anything else as she engulfed his head in her mouth.

He moaned, wrenching his fingers free of her clothes and slamming against the roof of the car. Good, good, so very very good and he tried not to jerk up as the pleasure skimmed through his blood. It was outrageously sexy and he moaned through his teeth, his shaking fingers sliding down her back. He reached down, unhooking her very cute slacks and pressing them down, down enough so that when he slid over her back side and down, he could press his thumb inside of her hot entrance. She was so wet, so lovely, and Pete slipped the thumb out and two fingers in. "Shay. Shay."

Shayla shuddered as her boyfriend's fingers slipped into her and started stroking. She moaned around his cock, sucking the head a little deeper into her throat, sliding down to take part of the shaft into her mouth and jacking the rest with her fist as she sucked lightly.

"Shay. Shay." He grunted it, stroking inside of her deeper before pulling free. He pulled her up, gently, as much as his cock said HELL NO, and squirmed out of his seat belt. "Here. Come here." He squirmed his way into the back seat, which was covered with a soft blanket they'd used last time, and he offered his arms to her.

Shayla crawled over the seat to him, and wrapped her arms around him as she snuggled in. "Here I am, baby." She leaned down and kissed him, tongue seeking his and sucking it lightly, nibbling the tip.

"If the clunkers a rockin', don’t come a knockin'." Pete grinned, still trembling as he took her weight. She was so pretty, heavy in a good way on his body, and he turned so they were on their sides, facing on another. "Like this, here. Like this. Tell me you want to, baby." He kissed her right back, softly, amusement and joy in his eyes.

"You know I do, Pete. I want to. I want... I want to feel you inside me, want to feel you fucking me, please, baby." She grinned as he adjusted her, hands on his face and stroking his cheeks gently. "I want to, baby, I want to make love with you, right now."

"We've still got our clothes on." His voice lowered to a seductive octave, as his palms went over her. His palms stroked up over her belly so her shirt was lifted, and murmured his appreciation at her chest. He took her breasts from her bra cups, the straps keeping them pressed together, bound, and the little nipples peaked, hard. Each thumb stroked rosy peaks and he undulated his naked erection against her still partially clothed valley, sighing softly as he moved with wicked intent.

"I don't care; that just makes it more fun." She raised her hips up, and started squirming. "I told you to remind me to start wearin' dresses again."

He ducked his head and licked each nipple, catching one with his teeth and tugging it away from her body, so the weight of her breast was held with her nipple. He rubbed his lips around it before letting it fall, sighing his pleasure as he brought one leg bound partially with clothes up. He tugged her little slacks down, and was still pulling her panties down when he entered her. Slipped right in, easy as a dream, and he moaned his pleasure as he reached down to stroke her clit. "Oh, yes."

Shayla squeezed him with her knees, twisting slightly and corkscrewing her hips so that she slid down further on him, sheathing him in one stroke. "Pete... so big like this, bigger than any other way!" She undulated against him again, arching up and offering herself to him as her hands braced on his shoulders.

"Mmmm. My blond angel." He murmured, slowly beginning to thrust. Easy, sweet, and he smiled his joy as he pulled her close and snuggled, mouth stroking over her neck as her breasts pressed into his chest. A low moan of approval and he sighed, her tight sheath home as his hips worked.

She moaned softly at that, loving being called his angel, and she leaned down, nipping his shoulder as she slid up and down his shaft. "Angels... don't blow their guys... in the front seat," she panted out against his skin, nipping with sharp little bites.

His hips jerked, pressed in deeper, with the memory. Shay and Chloe, kissing and licking and touching one another, and he moaned sharply as he began to move in earnest. Easy, hard thrusts in and out and he sighed in pleasure, moaning as he arced and nipped her lips, diving in for a hard kiss.

Her mouth opened hungrily, sucking out the kiss that Pete was giving her, her body rubbing against his, dangling breasts just barely touching his shirt, nipples rubbing against the hard fabric. "Got you hot, baby... wish you could have watched us."

"Me...too." He grunted, thrusting into her a little faster. He rolled just a little on the wide backseat so he was over her, moving faster as he pinned her lovely arms up above her head so he could feast on her breasts. Sucks, licks, purrs into them as he drove into her, loved her body with everything he was, gave her pleasure as he shuddered and squirmed his hips. "Felt... felt good, with her?"

"Felt good," Shay nodded against his cheek, arching up against him. "Felt lots... lots different than you. Felt good... felt weird. Tasted different... kinda... Chloe-ish." She shivered as he purred, and her arms wiggled gently in his strong grip.

She loved when he pinned her down like that. "Better with you."

He groaned, deeply, and thrust harder. Close, very close, tight and her heat all over him. Close, close, close, and he thrust harder, grunting nearly silently.

Oh.

He arched, gasped as his spine tingled like a live wire, and dropped his hand to her clit, rubbing it hard as he began to jerk wit encroaching orgasm. Once… twice... and he exploded, letting out a hoarse cry of pleasure as he thrust in deep and let himself come.

She came almost as soon as he did. Sharp cry as fire spread out through her body, a jump as she felt him thrust deep, a whimper at his pleasured cry as he came. Feeling the spurts inside, her sheath clamped down tightly around him and she came, squealing softly, panting out his name.

"Christ, God, I love you Shayla." Pete moaned, working his hips and thrusting his orgasm out as he sighed. He dropped his face to nibble at her face and throat, kissing her skin gently before he slipped out of her. He brought her underwear up, hooking the tiny bits of lace around her hips again and doing the same for her slacks. Fixed her breasts, with kisses to each, back into her bra, and smoothed her shirt.

And because it was lewd, tucked himself back into his pants and grinned down at her. "Sorry."

"I love you, Peter Ross." She slipped her hands over his chest, rubbing his shoulders gently. "What you sorry for, baby?"

"Sorry, cause I just took you in a car on the side of the road and I’m not at all sorry about it." He smiled, wickedly, and kissed her softly.

"The only thing you gotta be sorry about is not lettin' me finish sucking you off," she teased wickedly, and then cupped his cheeks gently. "I do love you, Pete, so much."

"I love you too, Shay. I do. You’re my girl." He murmured into her lips as he crawled back into the front seat. The horn honked and he couldn’t help snickering like an idiot, squirming his way into his seat belt again. "Just lay back there like your sexy self. We'll be at the mansion in a sec."

"Mmm... okay." She sat up and slipped her arms around his neck, hugging him.

It took another five minutes to get to the mansion. A lot of giggles and flirtations as Pete parked the car, and he stepped out, pushing the front seat up of the two door so Shay could get out. "We're here, babe. Come on, lets get in and out. Hey..." Wicked grin at her. "Want to try that foam your sister gave us?"

Shayla's nose wrinkled. "Eww. That shit's icky. Now, the bottle of strawberry lube I snitched from AJ? Now that we can try." She was more than a little surprised to find that Enrique wasn't at the door, and she opened it with a little push.

Silence. Complete, utter silence. There was the faint ticking of a grandfather clock from somewhere in the castle, the sound of her breathing, and that was it. "oooh... kay?" she said softly. "Um... hello?"

Pete stepped in beside her, and blinked. He hadn’t been expecting sheer silence... this place was never quiet, even when people were in it. People were always talking, the music Mr. Luthors boyfriend liked playing. Singing, laughing, coughs, sneezes. The normal sounds of a house. But as they stepped in, Pete blinked. Huh. "Maybe no ones home?"

"Ms. Bird and Enrique are always here. So're Bruce and Dickhead. Plus, AJ's not working at the plant yet, so unless he went somewhere with Morg and Big Daddy, then Clark, Ms. Bird, and Latino Heat should be here."

"Hey, and your mom. Where is she at, anyway? Maybe she and Big, Bold and Buff are making out again." Pete teased, glancing around. "Well, want to see if the Lexhole is in his office?"

"Yeah, they're probably holed away up in her room bangin' their brains out, and ewww, I didn't just say that about my mama!" She tugged him in the front door, and headed down the hallway. "Hello?" she called out, a little louder. "Man, who the hell died in here?" she muttered in her regular tone.

"No clue." Pete rolled his eyes. "Yo! Someone here?"

Silence.

Except when he was met with Chloe's pale face, peaking out of the kitchen. "Hey! C'lo, What’s up?"

Chloe... just... stared at them. She couldn’t do anything else, her throat working as she came out. She had a gallon of orange juice and glasses, as well as some dry crackers. She and Whitney hadn’t even gone to class today… just come over as soon as they were both awake.

Her life friends. Her poor life friends. "P...Pete. Shay."

"Chloe!!" Shayla broke away from Pete and pelted towards her friend. "What the hell, Chloe? Seriously, who died? You look like.... oh, shit!" Her eyes widened. "Is Clark okay? Jesus, c'mon, Chloe, tell me Clark's okay, tell me he's not dead, c'mon, Chloe."

Who’s... dead? Chloe blanched for a moment, swayed, but kept her balance, eyes wide and glassy a moment before she shook herself free. "Clark’s fine, Shayla. You... should go to your room, or whatever. I’m just bringing this… this up, for him and Lex. So... yeah." She didn’t even know what to say, swallowing and rubbing her face against her shoulder.

Pete’s brow rose. Clark wasn’t his favorite person right now, but he was worried regardless. "What happened with Clark?"

"Fuckin' hell. I should have known somethin' was up when Dickhead Grayson showed up kissin' my ass last night and doin' cartwheels to keep me from gettin' back here." She snarled. "I wanna see Clark, C'lo. You didn't see him yesterday, he looked like he was about two steps from dead and I wanna *see* him!"

Funny thing was, Chloe HAD seem him yesterday. Had seen why he looked two steps away from being dead... was a first hand witness of the gore that had come from her best friend.

And she swallowed.

"Lex won’t like it. You can’t.. y... you have to ask him." She nodded, gazing at her friend. "Please don’t make me explain. "I love you, Shay, you’re my best girl friend. But please... don’t make me explain."

"Okay, you don't gotta. Point me towards AJ and I'll make him explain to me." She set her jaw. "I love you too, Chloe, and yeah. I wanna know what's going on here."

"He.." She swallowed. "Come on. Come up." She nodded it and just knew her Ashimel was going to be angry. And where had that thought come from? She'd beg his forgiveness later, when he wasn’t... oh, God. She walked back up the steps, the juice Clark had requested in her arms on the tray, and stepped up the steps silently. The door was at the end of the hall, and as soon as she got there she knocked gently. "Lex?"

"Come on in, Chloe." Lex pulled Clark up against him, the blanket pulled up over his lover's legs as he rested his head against Clark's shoulder. His arms cuddled Clark close, and he gently nosed Clark's cheek. "Chloe's here, with your juice."

"Lex... Shayla and Pete are here." Chloe said softly, wincing as she gazed at the two of them, before back to the door. "They want to see Clark."

Fear leapt up and claimed Clark by the throat. The morning had exhausted him, and he'd slept for a few hours of the deepest sleep in his life in his lovers arms. Where it was safe. But now, knowing, feeling Pete and Shayla on the other side of the door made him yank the blanket up over him, covering his tee-shirt and sweats with the blanket and up, over his shoulder. He was already so bared in front of so many people… no more.

"Get them the fuck out of here now." Lex's voice remained calm, cool, and collected. "I don't care if you kill them. Just get them the fuck out of here."

Shayla... blinked. "Whoa. What crawled up your ass, AJ? I just wanna make sure Clark's okay."

Pete’s eyes darkened, softly, as he saw his friend. From what he'd seen before Clark had hidden was pale skin, sweaty hair, glassy eyes. He didn’t like it, and glared at Lex. "He's our friend. We have a right."

"No more, no more," Clark whispered, shaking his head. Too many people knew his shame... no more. No more. His Lex was so close, keeping him safe, and Clark had remained silent and mute until now. He didn’t want any more people.

Lex wrapped his arms around Clark tightly, sheltering him. "Do you have a problem understanding English, Shayla? Get. The. Fuck. Out. Take your boyfriend with you, and go. I don't care where, just get the fuck out of my house. Now."

Pete blinked, startled. Lex wasn’t his favorite person in the world, but he also knew the man wasn’t a hard ass. He loved Clark, very much, even that much Pete got, and he never got like this unless... Pete swallowed, hard. "We'll leave. Is Clark okay?"

"No, fuck no, we're not leavin'! I'm not leavin' until I get to see Clark!"

"He will be," Lex answered Pete softly. "He's under the weather right now, but he'll be all right." No fucking way, he thought to himself. "Now please... go."

"Shay." Pete shook his head, looking at Chloe as his blond friend closed the door in their faces. Something was going on here that they didn’t understand, at all, and Pete’s eyebrows furrowed softly. "Shay, come on."

Shayla raised her fist to pound on the door, but Pete's soft voice caught her. "Pete... I just wanna know what's goin' on with my friends."

"I know. Now’s not the time, baby." Pete wound his arm around her waist. "Something’s wrong... Clark’s not sick." He frowned, deeply, pulling his girlfriend to the stairs. "Come on, lets go to your room, okay?"

"Okay." But once up at the top of the stairs, Shayla changed direction. "Come on. We're going to AJ's room. I saw some shit when we got home last night; I think Morg's been rippin' up carpet cause he had scrapes on his hands, right across the knuckles, and right here," she said, rubbing the crease between his thumb and his other fingers. "That's from yankin' up rough-edged carpet and padding. Graham used to get'em all the time there."

"Alright, baby." Pete’s mind wasn’t at all on anything other then Clark. Something had happened, something big, and he was almost terrified to ask. His friend was his friend, and Pete loved him. But being rejected by him stung, even though Pete knew he'd done the same thing to Clark only a week ago. instead he followed his girlfriend back down the hall, holding her closely to him as they walked. "What do you think happened?"

"Don't know, but if Morgan's rippin' up carpet, and Dick's keepin' us from comin' home last night... then that means whatever it was was big." She dragged him up the hallway. "Fuck, it's locked." She stopped and thought. "Go to my room, and bring me that long silver stick thingie I use in my hair."

"Shayla... don’t you think if its bad they don’t want us around?" Pete asked softly, though...his curiosity, and the ebbing fear, was enough to get him moving. He left Shayla and used the secret passage to get to her bedroom. He walked in and immediately went into her bathroom, searching for the 'long thingie' she'd asked for, amused because she'd called his cock that once, and he'd remind her of it later as he walked back through the passage and handed it to her. "Here, baby."

"Thank you. Make sure nobody comes up the stairs, okay?" She got down on her knees, and peered into the lock. She inserted the silver tube into the door, and worked the casters gently with the flat end until she heard a click, and then, twisted it through her hair. "Okay, come on."

Pete glanced up from his watch on the hall and rejoined his girlfriend. He was nervous, skittery in a way he hadn’t felt for a long time, and he gazed at his girl as she opened the door.

And his eyes widened.

The room had been stripped bare. The flooring was up and gone, only cement and wood shining through. The windows were bare, the walls had all the wallpaper ripped off. The furniture left in the room had been cut into pieces, as if easier to move that way. And Pete just... stared. "Oh, God."

"Hoooo-lee shit." Shayla whistled. "Man almighty. What the fuck went on in here!"

"I don’t know." Pete shook his head, staring in awe. Everything had been ripped up and gone. The closet was stripped bare, the bathroom gleaming, and the scent of bleach made Pete step back and make a face, waving a hand in front of his face. "Holy fuck, that stinks." He turned around again, shaking his head in awe. "Christ."

"This place has been sterilized." She looked at Pete. "I am very not happy here, Pete. At all." She looked around. "Down to the bare fucking concrete." As she looked at the floor, there were small, dark spots still on the cold surface. "Hey... check this out."

Pete walked over to her and hefted his jeans a little, crouching low at where she was pointing... and his eyes widened. "Fuck...t… that’s blood. Shay. That’s old blood." He'd seen it enough after pounding his brothers or being pounded on... blood stained everything, no matter what. And Pete grunted, in anger. "What the fuck happened here?"

Blood. Sick Clark. "Clark must be sick. He must have... but Jesus Christ, Pete... how... why would they rip up the room if Clark bled? I mean... Christ."

"I don’t understand." Pete shook his head, rubbing his face with his palm as he glanced up. Clark was his friend, his best friend, but right now... Lex's voice had scared him. It had been fierce... and it had been sad. Whatever had happened was bad, and Pete was terrified. "Shay… let’s go back to your room. Baby, not now. In a while, we'll try again."

"Okay." Shayla let Pete pull her up to her feet. "I don't understand either. But I'm gonna." She wrapped her arms around his waist. "I'm gonna."

"I am too. Come on." Pete led her out the door, closing it firmly behind them, and led her to the secret entrance.

~ * ~ * ~

And Chloe was trying not to cry. She was sitting in a big chair, her legs up to her chest and her eyes closed. Whitney was sitting on the floor underneath her, and Clark and Lex were on the bed. Clarks little whimpers were destroying her, Lex's soft voice breaking her heart. And she closed her eyes.

Lex wrapped his arms around Clark, rocking him. "Sssh... it's okay, baby. He's safe now. He's safe."

Clark only whimpered when he needed to breathe. The only time he had said anything was when Shayla and Pete had tried to come in... other then that, he'd been silent. Mute, staring at the ceiling, or out the window, quiet. He didn’t want to think, or speak, and Lex being there was a comfort. His lover being close helped him, soothed him.

Just like he knew being there, being close, soothed the war torn visages of Lex's mind. He caressed their joined fingers every once in a while, moved closer, and provided his lover with any peace he could.

Whitney was sitting on the floor between Clark's bed and Chloe's chair. His knees were tucked up close to his chest, and he had his chin resting on it, watching Clark. He didn't say anything, but tear tracks stiffened his cheeks. He wanted to help, but he knew he couldn't.

Chloe had given the glasses to the men laying on the bed and had watched as Clark had drunk three glasses of orange juice with barely a gasp uttered. Since he'd been hurt, Ms. Bird had gone through six gallons of regular orange juice, and two of apple. Maybe there was... was something, in his alien physiology, and wasn’t that a terrifying thought? Her ashimel, being an alien? She bit her lip and dropped her fingers into Whitney’s hair gently stroking the long blond locks as she comforted her gentle lover.

Clark shifted, just a little bit, and snuggled a bit deeper into Lex's arms. It was good like this, comfortable. He was reliving his childhood, reel for reel, in his mind. Backwards through time, a silent litany of images and joys and heartaches.

Whitney looked up at his girlfriend, and then laid his head against her leg, moving his gaze back to his friends on the bed. He felt helpless, sad, drained emotionally and physically exhausted, and he knew that was only an echo of what Clark and Lex were feeling, and his heart ached for them.

Lex pressed gentle kisses to Clark's temple, holding him close, urging him to drink the juice that Chloe kept bringing them. He knew Clark would have to eat, sooner or later, but for now, the orange juice would keep him going.

"You must go home." Clark finally said softly. He sat up, slowly, pain eating him alive. The rev from that morning was gone... now all he felt was aches, pains, bone weariness, and like his skin was going to split open every time he sat. But he did now, back straining, and drank more of his juice. It was something his body craved, constantly. Orange was best... apple was okay, but not as good. He wanted it, and he needed it. But his friends needed food, and sleep, and he gazed at the both of them quietly. "You are good life sha'nauch. You are good life friend. But you must... you must rest." He offered his arms to Whitney quietly, knowing Chloe was still too frightened.

Chloe bit her lip, bringing her knees tighter to her chest as she lay her cheek on one, snuffling softly. Pushing Shayla away had hurt her, because these men were her life friends but Shayla was her pal, and she sniffled and rubbed the tears that kept trickling away.

Whitney got to his feet quickly and went to Clark, making his large body as small as he could as he snuggled against Clark. "We'll make sandwiches in the kitchen, and we can sleep here," he protested, hugging Clark gently and offering what support he could.

Lex carefully relinquished Clark to Whitney for just a moment as he looked at Chloe, and beckoned her over. "Chloe... come here?" he asked softly.

She nodded, hard, and climbed to her feet. She was terrified, skittish and nervous, but she crawled up onto the bed and wrapped her arms tightly around Lex's waist. "I am....I am so, so sorry."

Clark brought his friend close, heart aching with love for the both of them as he held Whitney close, groaning softly as he shifted and got comfortable. "Your parents. They will worry.... we can’t let that happen. No... no one, no one else... no one can know." He trembled, and the very thought had him bringing his sheets and blankets closer.

"Sssh." Lex brought her close to his chest. "It's all right, Chloe. I know you're scared, but don't be. Clark is still Clark, and I am still me." His hands stroked her back gently, and he breathed in quietly. "Thank you, for being here." He didn't say anything else, just held her tightly against him.

Whit shook his head. "No... Mom knows I may be sleepin' over; told her that me and you and Chloe and Shay and Pete were having a huge study group and if it got late we'd sleep over here. She's cool."

"it was pretty scary." Chloe whispered, eyes flying up. "Not... not the... the baby, Clark." she said softly, apologizing with her eyes to the both of them. "The afterness...the after was scary. We didn’t know what happened... Shay told me Clark wasn’t feeling well, and... and I thought you were dead." She was trying so hard not to cry, she really, really didn’t want to anymore, just hanging on to Lex's warm chest.

"Okay." Clark said softly. Nothing more, just gazing quietly at nothing as he let his eyes fall to half mast. Here, with his life circle complete, he could let the guards down and his body relaxed. Lethargic but not at all sleepy. Just... there.

"We didn't know either, Chloe. We didn't know, not until I got here. Clark didn't know, I didn't know." He pressed a soft kiss to her hair. "We just... we didn't know. It's okay to be scared."

She nodded, trembling softly. "I know. But I love you guys, so much. There shouldn’t be a didn’t know. there should be a 'knew'. You know? There should be, there should always be." This can’t happen any more. "You guys are...the strongest people I have ever known. You deserve to be happy."

"Chloe?"

"Y… yes, Clark?"

"Shut the fuck up."

Chloe jumped, eyes widening and filling with more tears as she sat up. "I didnt--"

"You didn’t, no. Yu really didn’t. Just shut up. I gave birth to a five pound child yesterday. You really don’t know. So shut up. I don’t want your condolences, I don’t want your pity, I don’t want your explanations. I want you to shut up. Because you don’t understand." Clark didn’t even look at her, just gazing at the ceiling. "I don’t want you to talk about this with me right now. Alright? Just let it go."

Lex tightened his grip on Chloe. "Clark... if you're going to take it out on someone, take it out on me. I deserve it; she doesn't. She's only trying to help here."

Chloe brought her arms around herself, tightly, eyes filling with more tears as she turned her face away.

"You don’t deserve it, Lex. You gave me a child to take care of. And I fucked it up. But what’s new, right? Everything I do I fuck up. Everything I say, everything I do, everything that my hands touch is immediately fucked over. You know why? Because I’m sixteen years old. I’m sixteen years old, and everything I am is a piece of shit. I want to die. I wish God had taken me."

"Chloe, I want you and Whitney to go to the grocery store and get us some more orange juice, all right? Can you do that?" He reached over the dresser and handed her his wallet. "Buy out the store, if they'll let you, and my credit card is in the third slot."

He looked down at Clark then. "I do deserve it, Clark. I was the one who didn't know, okay? I didn't know you this could happen; I saw the sac, I saw the things inside of you and I still didn't take precautions." He pulled Clark back against him and hugged him tightly. "I don't wish that, Clark. Because if you were gone, I would be too."

Clark said it so quietly, so no nonsense. It was straight from his heart. "You’re the only thing keeping me here, Lex. You know that? You’re the only thing. I don’t think I could stand being alive if I didn’t have you. And I’m not invincible anymore, and I can’t even bring myself to kill myself." Clark turned his eyes on Lex's, and they were quiet and dead. "What kind of a coward am I?"

Chloe nodded, scrambling from the sheets as she grabbed Whitney. "Come on, baby." She whispered, grabbing her coat and purse.

"You're not a coward, Clark. It takes a stronger man to survive than it does to quit." Lex stroked his fingers gently through Clark's hair. "You're not a coward. I'm going to be here with you, Clark, because I'm not going to let you go. I need you, so much." The deadness in Clark's eyes killed him, and he ached for it.

Whitney shook his head, and pressed himself against Clark's back as carefully as he could. "Clark... do you want me to go?"

"Its okay, ashimel." Clark reached over and stroked Whitney’s face one. "Go, with ashikana. I need to be alone with Lex."

Clark shook his head at his lover, just a little, and reached back to feel the stitches along his back with a slight shake of his head. "Its not worth living. I see that now, Lex. And I don’t mean to be dramatic over it, because its not about being dramatic. Its just... it hurts so much. There shouldn’t have to be pain like this, Lex. People weren’t meant to felt pain like that."

Whitney nodded, and he slid off the bed, and went to Chloe's side. "Come on; let's go." He took Lex's wallet and slid it in his front pocket, and laced his fingers through Chloe's, pulling her close and hugging her.

--fin--

go on to the next part