Things That Are His by Caro
Clark sings in the shower. Ever since he joined the band, there are mornings where if Lex stops to listen, he can hear the lyrical strains of whatever set list was currently in rotation for the band over the shower spray.
There's other changes too. Beyond the clothes and the CDs. Clark's more confident now. Less willing to let people overlook him when he has something to say. Lex likes to think that it's as much his influence as Ethan's.
Lex knows that he's petty when it comes to Ethan. But there are mornings when he thinks he'll scream if the words "Ethan says" or "Ethan thinks" rolls off Clark's tongue once more. He kisses Clark instead.
It's not that Lex is jealous, precisely. Oh he knows that given half the chance, Ethan would make his move on Clark, but Clark tells him that Ethan doesn't stand a chance, and Lex trusts Clark. It's more like a sense of nostalgia. There's a time when he occupied that role in Clark's life. When the words coming out of Clark's mouth were "Lex says" and he was the cool best friend that Clark looked up to.
But it's okay. He knows he's traded up in Clark's life and he prefers this role anyway. The lifelong friend turned first love, the guy who gets to see him when he first wakes up in the morning, all groggy with mussed hair, and the one who gets to see him late at night, naked and flushed, spread out on the bed. There's always an extra place setting at the Kent's for him when Clark goes for a visit and Caroline's letters always end with "Give Lex a kiss from me." He gets to argue with Clark over which movie they watch late night, and once recently, got to play grown-up and remind Clark that rehearsal was all well and good, but he had a paper to do. Jonathan Kent probably would have wet himself laughing over that one.
Clark's started a new song and Lex is getting the feeling that he's never getting the shower to himself at this point. That's okay, he thinks, opening the bathroom door and stepping inside.
Clark grins at him as he steps inside the steam filled shower.
"What took you so long?" he asks.
"Was just listening to the concert," Lex replies. Clark smiles and pulls him for a kiss under the spray.
No one else gets to see Clark like this either. This is all Lex's.
05/02/03