Those in-between spaces were the hardest, Clark thought. That time in between school and chores, when he was walking home with nothing but his own thoughts for company. When he was in between classes, feeling invisible and hoping to stay that way. When he couldn't figure out where normal ended and freak began, but he knew he was in between those lines somewhere.

Those quiet spaces in between words when all he could see was the complex curve of Lex's mouth in front of him, the broken line of the scar, the crooked smile that was always lingering somewhere none too far away.

The space between Lex and his father as they'd hugged for the cameras, the cold hollow emptiness in the back of Lex's eyes. The world of difference between Lex's life and his own.

Clark wanted to explore those differences, invite Lex into his space, but he was unsure. He could cross the distance between their homes in a flash, but he didn't know how to traverse this other distance. Despite Lex's assurance that they had a future, Clark didn't know what he could possibly want with a sixteen-year-old farm boy. Or maybe he had too many ideas of what Lex might want. After all, Clark did have internet access, and he'd made judicious use of it since the night he'd been tied up as a scarecrow.

He'd been confused and frightened at first by the realization that, if his body hadn't been too weakened from Lana's meteor necklace to manage it, he'd have spend the entire time up there with a huge boner. A boner that had appeared as soon as he'd recovered enough, on hands and knees with the knowledge of Lex behind him, looking at him. Skin still tingling with the memory of Lex's soft hands as he'd untied the rough ropes only moments before. It wasn't only the mystery of Jeremy Creek that had sent him running away, clothes clutched in front of him like a shield.

Not that he hadn't already spent a lot of time pondering his first introduction to Lex. Clark had built elaborate fantasies based on those few seconds his lips had spent pressed to Lex's cold ones. Daydreams which invariably got him walking the halls with his books placed strategically, and Chloe teasing him about Lana. After that night there had been dreams, too, ones where Lex hadn't untied him nearly as fast, where Lex had done all the things that Clark's teenage hormones had been crying out for him to do.

So, where did that leave him? In between again, knowing he still thought of Lana as something close to perfection, but looked at Lex with a longing that had nothing to do with expensive trucks and everything to do with the reason he'd started doing his own laundry. He just thanked providence his mom was too nice to mention it and his dad was too computer illiterate to go hunting through the 'history' files on the browser. He hoped.

Where it left him this time was in between deliveries, with Lex's saved for last. He'd been trying to figure out motivations and complications, and if he didn't hurry, he wouldn't have enough time left for even a simple salutation. Sighing, he'd put the truck in gear and driven to Lex's, hoping his friend would be in between meetings and have time to see him. Wishing he was able to use his newfound vision to see into Lex's mind, to know what he really wanted.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

He carried the produce into the kitchen, wondering if Lex actually ate even a fraction of what he ordered. Sometimes Clark suspected he just bought the stuff from them because it gave him a way to help Clark out that his father couldn't easily refuse. Other times he found himself hoping that Lex paid for the extra deliveries just as an excuse to see Clark. He did always seem to be lurking about when Clark showed up, conveniently just driving up or having a few minutes to spare.

As if on cue, Lex walked in. He was covered in a light sheen of sweat, white towel around his neck, wearing black shirt and white fencing pants just like the day Clark had had to return his gift.

"I'm out of water up in my study, is there some down -- Clark! Hi, I didn't see you there."

Clark blushed, hoping Lex hadn't noticed the once-over. "Just the usual produce delivery, Lex. You must be the healthiest man in Smallville by now."

Lex smiled, that secret little smirk that spoke volumes, but in a language Clark didn't yet understand. "Well, I do have house guests now and then. Can you stay for a while, or do you have to get home?"

"I'm all done with my deliveries, I could stay for a little while. What did you have in mind?" He felt his blush deepening, as his mind supplied a list of possible activities. He shifted his hips in what he hoped was an unobtrusive manner, trying to keep from embarrassing himself any further.

Lex's eyes flickered down and back up so fast Clark wasn't sure he'd seen what he thought he'd seen. Had Lex just looked at his crotch? "Well, if you can get permission to stay for dinner, I can get cleaned up and we can share some of that organic produce. I have a great home theater, we could watch a movie or something."

"You've actually got an evening free? I'm willing to ask my mom for permission, just so I can witness Lex Luthor actually relaxing. Can I borrow your phone?"

"Sure." Lex turned to his cook, who was watching the exchange with interest. "Can you make sure dinner is for two?" He looked back at Clark, busy on the phone, and added, "Just have Clark show himself up to my office when he's done, I've got a few things to take care of."

Clark convinced his mother that no, the big bad Luthor wasn't going to eat him and yes, he had been invited and it was, after all, Friday night so homework wasn't an issue. He tried to hide the instant erection he got at the mental image of Lex eating him, swallowing him down like one of the more *educational* pictures he'd found online. He managed to force his body back into submission by transferring the energy into a speed-run to Lex's office, only to find his friend on the phone.

"I don't care, I can do it tomorrow. Christ, is one night off too much to ask? I know, I know... Look, I pay you enough to handle things like this for me at the last minute, so don't go and... Fine. If getting up at 6am is what it takes to get some space. Yeah, yeah. Thanks."

Clark cleared his throat, and Lex started. "How'd you get up here so fast?"

"Lex, you don't have to cancel anything because of me..." Misdirection was better than outright lying, but he was going to have permanent red marks branded into his cheeks from all the blushing he did whenever Lex was around.

"Caught me, huh? Well, I needed a night off anyway, and what better way to spend it than with a friend? Don't worry about it, my assistant will just have to earn his exorbitant salary for once." Lex's smile was disarming, and Clark tried to just let it go. Found it was easy, when he looked into the surprisingly earnest grey eyes.

"All right, since I've already got permission. Actually, if you don't mind, Mom said I could stay over." Clark's entire body felt like it was blushing this time. "I, um, I'd have to take the truck home and get a few things after dinner, if that's ok?"

Lex actually looked slightly shocked for a moment, before an urbane mask came down. "Well, as you heard, I have to be up and about at 6am tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure that, unlike me, you're used to early Saturdays. If you can handle it, you're quite welcome to stay." Was it Clark's imagination, or did Lex's hands shake a little as he picked up his water?

"Great! Um... so, what now?" Clark clutched at his own water bottle, the cool, slick sides sucking the heat out of his hands. He hadn't really thought Lex would go for it, and he had no idea how he'd handle the knowledge that he was sleeping in the same house as Lex without making an idiot out of himself. He somehow didn't think the staff would let him wash his own sheets here.

"Now, I give you the short version of a tour, let the staff know I'll be having a guest, and take a shower, if you don't mind. I don't think you'd want to sit next to me at dinner in the state I'm in now."

Clark nodded dumbly as visions of Lex in the shower filled his brain to capacity. He let Lex lead the way, totally oblivious to the brief and ironic commentary Lex gave on the tour, barely noticing when Lex shanghaied a servant to make up a room for him across the hall from Lex's own. He found himself in Lex's bedroom with no clear idea of how he'd arrived there, erection pressing into the fabric of his boxers, head swimming with fantasies that might get him kicked out on his ass or, really, had a near-infinite set of possibilities for his ass.

Lex was looking at him with a sort of intense puzzlement, and he blinked, trying desperately to clear his mind. What was he doing there? "What do you want me to do while you shower?" Margaret Thatcher naked on a cold day. Margaret... damn, it wasn't working nearly as well as he'd hoped...

"Hmmm... well, usually people just take the opportunity to nose around my bedroom while I'm not looking, but you might actually be too polite to keep yourself amused that way. Why don't you just come in and talk to me?" Lex was walking across the room and stripping as he said it, boots first, then the white fencing pants, underneath which he wore dark pants so tight that... well, it didn't matter much because they were off, now, too, and Clark was trying not to stare. "I won't be long, anyway. No hair to wash."

"I..." Really brilliant. Now he's hard, staring, *and* speechless. Really subtle. "Um, I'm not sure..." He found himself following Lex into the bathroom anyway, and managed somehow not to trip over the trail of discarded clothing. Even when the boxer-briefs came down, revealing an ass just as perfect as Clark could have wished for.

Lex went straight for the shower, pulling the frosted glass door closed between them before even starting the water up, and Clark wondered if maybe he wasn't the only one having difficulty with his libido. He tried to pull on that locker-room mask, thinking the sort of safe things you were supposed to be concentrating on when you were only a few feet and a thin pane of glass away from another naked man. Finding that a spectacular failure, he just gave in and took the opportunity to adjust himself, feeling the slide of precum and quietly praying it wouldn't soak through his jeans and give him away.

"So what movie do you want to see, Clark?" Lex asked, voice oddly distorted by the shower.

Caught with his hand on his cock, Clark jumped before realizing that Lex couldn't possibly be watching him. He cleared his throat, not bothering to move the hand. Thought about the sort of videos Lex might have. Wondered if there might be one with a dark-haired boy and a pale, bald man, doing the sort of things it was illegal for him to be watching in this state, at his age.

"Um, I dunno. What are you in the mood for?" He stroked himself absently, watching the blurred outline of his pale friend as he performed his ablutions. Wishing the view was clearer, but alternately glad Lex couldn't see him in this state.

"Well, I've got a huge collection, most of which I haven't watched myself. I was just figuring you'd want to watch something your parents wouldn't let you see." Clark was pretty sure he was already watching something his parents wouldn't want him to see, as Lex's hands wandered over his slim form, one moving to cup and slide over his cock. Clark's hand had developed a mind of its own, slipping into the front of his jeans to tease at the damp head of his erection.

His eyes refocused, and suddenly he could see Lex clearly, hand working down between his legs and slick with soap, cock hard and quite as needy as Clark's own. "I have an idea of something you could do." Clark found his entire body was working about a million times faster than his brain, mouth spilling out words he hadn't meant to say, hands removing clothing at astonishing speeds.

Lex's voice was slightly strained as he replied, "What's that, Clark?"

Clark opened the shower door to reveal himself to Lex, naked, hard, and silently praying he wasn't getting things horribly wrong. "Me."

Time seemed suspended for a moment, Clark standing there nude in the space between the shower and the door. Waiting for Lex to make up his mind; to take him up on his offer, throw him out on his ear or even kick his ass. He felt exposed, naked in a way that wasn't just physical, and the small part of his brain that had been absent from the proceedings so far finally caught up to suggest that maybe Lex just got off on fencing with that incredibly hot blonde he had for an instructor.

Fortunately for Clark, Lex's brain was moving a bit faster than his own and by the time that thought really started to penetrate, he was already being pulled into the shower, into Lex's arms, into a kiss. Into his future. He retained just enough presence of mind to close the shower door behind him before letting all thought pass away and moving entirely into the realm of feeling.

Lex tasted so much better without the taint of death and river rot, the heat between them already built almost to the sparking point. Lex's cock was slick with soap and slid easily between their bodies, and Clark bent his knees to bring their erections together. From the way he was breathing, Clark was pretty sure Lex had been most of the way to orgasm before his interruption, so Clark just held on and put his teenage hormones to work making sure they got there together.

Slide, thrust. Slick heat and soft moans escaping the wet, red mouth in front of him. Eyes closed and head thrown back, neck tasting of water and some soft perfume, and underneath the subtle flavor that must be Lex. He felt the tingling building in his body, and flattened his hands in the small of Lex's back. Clark buried his face in the soft neck and concentrated with all his being on *not* *hurting* *Lex.* He felt himself coming and somehow managed to hold his body still while his cock jerked, sighing with relief as he felt the tingling subside.

His hands were once again moving to roam over Lex's back and ass, fingers straying curiously down the crack now that the moment was less urgent. For him, anyway, because it seemed his teenage hormones had jumped the gun and Lex was still moving, whimpering and pulling Clark's head up for a kiss, hips alternately pushing forward into Clark's embrace and back onto the fingers that were now probing more purposefully.

Clark moved them into the spray, rinsing the last vestiges of soap from Lex's cock and gaining a whimper at the lost slickness, before pushing Lex back against the wall and dropping to his knees. This was where he'd get a real taste of his lover, and he looked up into Lex's pleading eyes as he swiped his tongue tentatively over Lex's cockhead. The unguarded look of pleasure on Lex's face, combined with the bitter-salty taste of soap and precum on his tongue, was all the encouragement Clark needed.

Water streamed down his broad back, splashing over his heels and keeping him warm as he knelt on the cooler tiles and took Lex's cock in his mouth. Clark implemented all his 'net-learned theory as lips, tongue and throat worked to make Lex come. From the whimpering moans and desperate scrabble of fingers in his hair, he figured he must be doing something right. He took another risk and slid his index finger into his mouth alongside Lex's cock long enough to spit-slick it, and then moved it back to further explore behind his balls.

Clark pushed the finger slowly past the tight ring of muscle, and Lex's hips bucked. He started fucking Clark's eager mouth, hands now firmly entangled in the boy's hair. Clark considered this a successful move and began fingerfucking Lex, pushing further with each stroke until his entire finger was inside. He wiggled it around, looking for that spot that all the porn assured him was there, and was rewarded with a final thrust and a flood of bitter liquid that left him choking slightly but very self-satisfied.

Lex slid down the wall to sit in front of Clark, limp and satiated. "Well, that was way better than my movie idea."

Clark grinned, crossed his legs and gathered his new lover into his arms. "Who says we don't have time for a movie, too?" He scooted awkwardly until they were once again under the hot water, gently rubbing Lex's swiftly cooling limbs. He was struck with that uncertainty again and stammered out, "I, uh, I hope this is... ok... I mean.."

Lex grinned lazily and tangled one hand in Clark's hair. "It's much better than ok, and I'll thank you to stop looking so cute and innocent. I refuse to feel like I just debauched a virgin when *you* just climbed into my shower and sucked me off."

"Well, you can always return the favor." Again, Clark's mouth was running ahead of his brain, but his cock was predictably hard again and there was no way Lex could miss it, seeing as it was poking him in the leg.

"Oh, I had something a little more... probing... in mind for this, Clark." He wriggled around in Clark's lap, sliding his ass against Clark's erection and smirking. "But, from the size of you, we'll need a little help." He stood to grab a bottle off a shelf. Having an idea of what they were about to do, Clark moved back out of the spray before Lex sat back down, this time straddling his lover.

Lex looked Clark in the eye. "I just want you to know, I'm clean. I wouldn't normally do it like this, but... Are you ok with that?"

Clark thought about it. One thing about an internet-based sex education was a tendency towards fantasy over reality, but he was pretty sure he knew what Lex was talking about. Plus, he really didn't think he would be susceptible to anything Lex could give him, anyway. Still, there was one thing he thought his lover deserved to know.

"Lex, I do want to do this. Just like this, right here, just you and me and whatever's in that bottle. But I think you deserve to know that I-I... I've never done anything like this before. Ever." He was blushing again, embarrassment overlaying the flush of heat and desire in his cheeks to make him feel almost feverish.

"You're actually a virgin? You've never... that was the first time you've ever sucked a cock, wasn't it?" At Clark's nod, Lex looked thoughtful. Clark was just starting to worry when an evil, sensual grin broke out over the older man's face. "Well, who would have thought I'd get such an honor. First you save my life, then you give me droit de signeur." He shook his head, giving Clark an unreadable look. "You know you can't tell anyone about this, right? Because your father would have my ass in jail so fast..."

"Lex! I wouldn't do that to you. I know how my father feels... I won't even tell Chloe, I promise. I'm good at keeping secrets."

"Maybe, but you're a terrible liar, Clark. I think we may end up watching that movie tonight, if only so you've got a convincing story to tell. Now, as for the debauching of young virgin farm boys... I don't normally make a habit of it, but for you, I'll make an exception." His grin was back, and he slid back enough that both their cocks could jut up into the space between them.

Lex poured the bath oil over them, taking their erections together in one hand and lightly thrusting, slicking them both. With his other hand he spread more oil over Clark's fingers. Clark wasted no time before stretching Lex's opening with one, then two. Finally unable to wait any longer, Lex moved up into Clark's lap. He wriggled until both legs were wrapped around his lover's waist, and Clark enfolded him in strong arms. He moaned as he took Clark in, leaning forward to return the embrace.

Clark had never felt anything quite like it, the burning heat that wasn't nearly as hot as walking through fire but penetrated his skin in a way those flames never had. He moaned and held on, letting Lex control their rhythm as he rode him. Clark captured Lex's mouth, pouring all the heat back into his kisses. He reached down to grasp Lex's neglected cock, holding his hand still and letting their thrusts provide the friction, flicking a thumb now and then over the sensitive head.

He never really knew how long it took, but the tension built quickly and soon they were coming -- Clark moaning Lex's name, Lex silent in his ecstasy. They held each other for a few panting moments before moving to share the still-warm shower. They cleaned each other with quiet efficiency and dried off with gentle camaraderie.

Even out of the shower they stayed close, Lex apparently as unwilling as Clark to let any space separate them, and Clark thought that for once, this in-between time wasn't so bad.