Day Ten: In the Telling

The book wasn't at all what Clark had expected. He'd been in Metropolis all day with his mom and they'd ended up with only a few minutes at Barnes and Noble. He was supposed to get something for school about life in another country. He'd picked this book because reading about academic life in England seemed like an easy way to complete his own academic work.

Clark had run home alone to finish his homework. His parents were spending a romantic night in the city, although Clark was pretty sure it was only romantic for his mom to be in the city. He ate the dinner Mom left for him and finished most of his homework at the kitchen table. When nothing was left but reading, he settled on his bed and opened the book.

It was hard to say what he'd been expecting, but this couldn't really be what boarding school in England was like. Clark was pretty sure he'd have heard about it if all the boys in British school were doing *that* to each other. He was totally embarrassed now. What if the cashier at the store had known what the book was really about? Oh god, was that why he smiled at Clark? The memory of that knowing smile made Clark's cheeks burn. This was a disaster. From now on, Clark was going to carefully read reviews on Amazon.com before he picked anything out. He couldn't look this up on Amazon though; what if it recommended other books like this and his parents saw it?

There were so many reasons he shouldn't read this, but Clark couldn't seem to stop. He told himself it was just exciting because it was pornography, not because it was about a 21-year-old guy and a bunch of 17-year-old guys. Not because this was anything like those thoughts he'd had about Lex. Clark was sure his thoughts were different. Most of the things the boys did together in the book Clark had never even heard of, hadn't even known if they were possible. Suddenly the idea of Lex doing the things the boys did came to mind, and his cock jumped. He really, really shouldn't be reading this. If it made his dick hard, but he didn't do anything about it, it didn't count, right?

"Clark." Lex! Clark felt like he jumped a foot in the air. He didn't know what to do with the book--hide it or use it to cover his erection.

"Sorry I startled you, the door was open."

"It's Smallville, Lex, the door is always open." Clark tried to look calm, but he could feel the flush blazing beneath this skin. He held the book in front of him, trying to both conceal the cover with his hand and use the book to hide his erection.

"*The Boys of Swithins Hall*, Clark? I'm surprised." Clearly Clark hadn't concealed it as well as he'd hoped.

"It isn't what you think. For school, I had to, I mean, um..."

"You're reading erotica for school?" Lex's right brow scrunched down, making him look confused and amused at the same time.

"Erotica? No, it's for, it's..." Clark couldn't make sense of the conversation, couldn't even make sentences.

"Are you okay, Clark? You're a little flushed." Under his concerned expression, Lex looked like he might burst out laughing. Clark was sure there had never been a more humiliating moment in his life. Not even the time his mom had sent Chloe up to his room while he'd been acting out the underwear scene in *Risky Business*.

"Do you want something to drink, Lex?" Clark tossed the book on the bed and hustled Lex down the stairs.

Lex accepted iced tea and Clark tried to act as normal as possible while they sat at the kitchen table, talking about Lex's recent trip to Hong Kong and what Clark was doing in school. Clark couldn't seem to shake the feeling that he was unwittingly amusing Lex. It was more than that though; Clark could barely pay attention to their conversation. Something had happened upstairs, something more than Clark's complete mortification, he just couldn't put his finger on what it was.

"Do you think that's how it should be, Clark?" Lex asked. Clark had no idea what Lex had been talking about.

"How did you know what that book was about?" Clark had hoped that as he got older he'd start thinking before he spoke. Clearly he hadn't.

Lex's smile was sly, full of secrets, and visible amusement.

"Well, let's see," Lex said noncommittally, setting down his glass and heading for the stairs.

Clark didn't know what to do. Was Lex going to get the book? Please, no! Should Clark follow him? Stop him? He could move fast enough to intercept Lex and hide the book. Maybe he should do that? But really there wasn't anything Clark could do, not without revealing too much. Or too much more than he already had, anyway.

Trudging slowly up the stairs, Clark was sure he was moving towards nothing but further shame and humiliation.

Lex sat on Clark's bed in shirtsleeves, his jacket tossed carelessly over Clark's desk chair. The dreaded book was open in Lex's hands, and Lex seemed to be searching for something in it. Hours might have passed while Clark stood frozen, waiting to see what Lex would do. Finally Lex appeared to have found what he was looking for. He handed the book to Clark, his left index finger marking the line Clark should start reading on.

"From here through the end of the chapter." Lex nodded at the book as Clark took it.

Dazed and unsure, Clark started to read. The words sort of spun on the page, but Clark could still see them, they seared into his brain, forced themselves on him. He couldn't look away, couldn't look at Lex, couldn't do anything but read on.

It was so detailed. Clark was sure some of the things they did in the book were not possible. The part Lex had pointed out was about a teenager and his chauffeur. It was more than morally wrong, Clark was sure, but he couldn't believe how sexy it was. He couldn't go on reading it in front of Lex. It was so dirty, why was Lex having him read *this*?

At last Clark finished the chapter. He closed the book slowly, trying to buy time for… something.

"Well," Clark cleared his throat, daring to look at Lex, "that was, uh, it was. It just was," he concluded lamely.

Lex was smiling. A gentle smile, Clark thought, not leering or creepy.

"You asked how I knew about that book."

"Yes," Clark said, still standing in the middle of the room. He felt like he towered over Lex. He didn't know if he should go sit by Lex on the bed. Would it be weird? What would Lex think?

"My chauffeur gave me that book when I was 17."

"What?" Clark reeled. He sat heavily beside Lex. His brain flooded with images of a young Lex doing the things from that book with someone, a vague shape of a man that taxed Clark's imagination. "Your chauffeur? That's, just, he, um, was it a he?" Clark wished that today of all days he could sound less dumb, maybe form a real sentence or two. He looked at Lex and saw a shadow pass quickly behind Lex's eyes.

"Where did you get the book, Clark? Did someone give it to you?" Lex's question was tense, filled with an underlying meaning that Clark felt like he should get, but totally didn't.

"Barnes and Noble. I thought it was, um, well I thought it was something else."

Lex nodded. "But you read it?"

"No!” Clark jumped up and ran his hands nervously through his hair as he paced in the small room. “Well, I mean, just the first half."

"And what did you think?" Lex asked, his face revealing nothing to indicate what Clark's answer should be.

Clark blushed furiously. He couldn't tell Lex that. It was just not okay.

"It was pretty dirty, I guess."

"Dirty." Lex smirked as he said the word.

"Yeah, I mean, I don't think school is really like that in England. Do you? Er, did you? Um, I mean, you went to school there, right?"

Lex laughed, but it didn't feel mean, like he was laughing at Clark. Clark loved that laugh. Lex didn't laugh like that enough.

"No, Clark, school wasn't like that in England, although some of the boys did do those things."

"Did you?"

"Would it change how you feel about me if I said yes?" No! Clark wanted to shout, but he didn't. And it *would* change how Clark felt. It would strip away so much of the guilt over the things he imagined about Lex late at night. There was no good way to answer the question, but Clark, ever clever, changed the subject.

"Do you like it, to do those things?" Or he could make a tasty sandwich out of his foot.

"How about I tell you how I discovered *The Boys of Swithins Hall*?" Lex offered.

"That sounds good."

"You might not like the story," Lex said patting the space next to him for Clark to sit down.

"I won't be upset about stuff." Clark answered as he sat down. He thought he might have sat too close, but worried it would be weird if he moved away now.

"I know, but if it is upsetting you, tell me to stop, okay?"

Clark nodded. He was very unsure about what Lex was going to say. Everything about this evening was becoming quite surreal.

"When I was 17, I had a chauffeur who pretty much only drove me," Lex began. "He'd been with us for a few years. When I was being bullied at school he taught me to fight, and I guess we were pretty close. He was certainly more of a real friend than anyone else around me. His name was John McClendon, but everyone called him Mack." Lex shifted his arm and Clark felt a little giddy when Lex's hand accidentally brushed his.

"Okay," Clark said, when Lex's pause seemed to last too long. Clark felt very discomfited to realize just how close he was to Lex. He could feel the heat of Lex's body. Their knees kept accidentally touching. It was almost unbearable, a million times more anxiety inducing than sitting by Lana had ever been.

"Well, I think this story contains a lot of the things most people think are wrong, Clark."

Clark blushed a little.

Lex went on without further explanation. Clark suddenly hoped he wouldn't regret learning anything he was about to hear from Lex. His stomach fluttered nervously. Was hearing about Lex and someone else going to make him feel angry and jealous like Victoria and Desiree and Helen had?

"Mack and I *were* friends. You should understand that. He never coerced me, or made me do anything I didn't want to do. He gave me the tools I really needed to be independent and to defend myself. And he never tried to take that power away from me."

"Uh-huh." Clark nodded, pretty sure he wasn't really supposed to say anything.

"At 17, I got sent home from Excelsior Prep, having gotten trouble, for, among other things, being caught with another boy."

"Caught doing what, Lex?"

"We were caught, after hours, skinny dipping in the pool." Clark considered Lex naked and kissing another a guy. He couldn't be jealous because the idea was pretty hot. The idea of it made Clark want to squeeze his dick a little until it was hard, or maybe rub it against Lex.

"My father was pretty hard on me about it. There was a lot of fighting. I felt I was grown up enough to make my own decisions about sex, but my father thought I had to properly represent the Luthor name at all times. And that means never getting caught with your pants down, so to speak.

"Mack knew I was upset. We spent a lot of hours sparring in the gym and driving aimlessly around Metropolis so I didn't have to be at home. One night after we'd been driving around for hours, he gave me a package when we returned home. It was small, flat, wrapped in brown paper and he told me I could ignore it if I wanted to, that maybe it was best if I did. And then he left.

"I locked myself in my room before I opened that package. It was *The Boys of Swithins Hall* and the passage I had you read earlier was carefully marked." Lex shifted again, this time his thigh pressed along side Clark's. Clark was careful not to interrupt so Lex would go on although he wanted to push tightly against Lex's leg to make sure the contact between then wouldn't break.

"I must admit, I was pretty shocked at first. The Luthor part of me thought it was pretty presumptuous of the help to give me something like that. And maybe I was a little scared too, that a grown man thought of me like that. But mostly I was very, very interested.

"I read the whole book through, cover to cover that night, masturbating almost constantly." Clark felt his cock growing hard again at the picture Lex painted. He wasn’t sure what was stronger, his astonishment at Lex speaking so openly, or his arousal at the idea of Lex masturbating.

"I re-read the part with the chauffeur several times. Obviously Mack wasn't as old as the character in the book, and certainly wasn't fucking my father like the chauffer in the book was." Lex paused and Clark shuddered internally about the idea of Lionel Luthor having sex with anyone.

"For the next couple days I mostly avoided Mack, driving myself if I had to go anywhere, or staying in my room. But really I couldn't think about him without touching myself. I wanted to touch and be touched, I wanted to lick and suck and fuck and do all the things I'd read about in that book. The idea of doing them with Mack was pretty hot, and maybe I thought it would be safe, but I didn't know what to do. Should I tell him I liked the book? Try and come on to him? Should I just wait and see if he did anything?"

Clark was light-headed, all the blood had left his head, rushing to parts lower. He was sure Lex could feel Clark's whole body was vibrating.

"Um," Clark licked his lips, his mouth was dry, "what did you do, Lex?"

"Something pretty stupid in the end, considering how much trouble Mack could have gotten in since I was still under age." Lex chuckled nostalgically, like it was something much further away than a mere 6 years ago. He reached out and let his hand rest on Clark's thigh, squeezing very softly every now and then. Clark felt like his whole being only existed in that firm point of contact.

"What did I do? Well, Mack came to pick me up one night after some function I'd gone to with my father. I'd come in a limo with my father and was surprised to find Mack waiting in the town car when I left, Dad having gone off somewhere earlier in the evening.

"I sat in the back of the car, taking off my jacket, tie and vest. I've always found tuxedos a little uncomfortable and I wanted out of it. I caught Mack's eyes in the mirror as I took off the vest, and realized this was pretty much my chance.

"Keeping my eyes on the mirror, so I'd see every time he looked back, I unbuttoned my shirt. I let my hands wander over my body like I would if I was alone in my room, finally undoing my pants and starting to stroking myself about the time we pulled into the parking garage." Clark knew Lex could feel him breathing heavier now, and thought maybe Lex's hand felt just a little bit warmer.

"Mack's expression never changed in the mirror," Lex went on, "but he was an ex-Navy SEAL and I was pretty used to him being impassive most of the time. He stopped the car like normal and opened my door. But then he just stared for a minute, watching as I touched myself. Then he leaned in and growled, 'Do you know how much trouble you could get me in doing that? Put yourself together and go inside.' He closed the car door and was gone when I came out of the car."

"Wow, Lex, what did you do?" Clark would have been so embarrassed, but Lex always seemed so calm, he couldn't imagine Lex ruffled over something like that, even at 17.

Lex laughed a little.

"Well, I was pretty humiliated. I thought I'd completely misinterpreted why he'd given me that book.

"I went to my room, undressed and laid on my bed. I tried to finish masturbating, but I kept flashing back to the scene in the garage and how mad at me Mack was.

"After about an hour, there was a knock on my door, and Mack came in without even waiting for me to answer. I scrambled to cover myself, but he told me not to, that he wanted to see me just like that. He said he was here to watch, since I so obviously wanted to put on a show for him.

"I tried to do it like I had in the car, but I was pretty nervous."

Clark kept imagining what it would be like if Lex walked in on him and made him touch himself while Lex watched. It was really hot and Clark knew he'd do it for Lex.

"Mack came over and sat on my bed, watching intently while I jacked off. I got hard really fast." Lex's hand squeezed Clark's leg again and then moved slowly to rest over Clark's erection. Clark wanted to buck up into Lex's hand, to get contact, relief, but he held back, still unsure.

"I felt pretty slutty letting him watch me like that, and the idea was enough to make me come all over my hand and stomach."

Slutty. The word echoed in Clark's head. He didn't know it applied to boys. Was it different than when the guys on the football team said it about some of the girls?

Lex squeezed Clark's dick just a little. Clark pushed hard into the touch.

"It seems like you're enjoying the story?" Lex asked softly right into Clark's ear. The whisper of Lex's breath made Clark shudder.

"Uh," was all Clark managed to get out before Lex was kissing him. It was so surprising that Clark jerked back, hitting his head on the wall. He opened his eyes to see Lex looking a little shocked, maybe even…hurt?

"I don't actually know what to say to you right now, Clark. You seem pretty freaked out. Maybe I should go. We can talk about this later. Or never again." Lex moved to stand up.

Panicked, Clark grabbed his thigh.

"No, it's okay. I'm not freaked out. Really. Maybe a little. But I want to know. I want to…" Clark trailed off and they both lay there staring at Clark's had gripping the top of Lex's thigh. Time passed in heartbeats that lasted millennia.

"What do you want?" Lex asked very softly.

For the first time since he'd cracked open that cursed book this evening, Clark's head felt clear. He looked at Lex, met his eyes for the first time all night.

"I don't know how to ask for what I want. I don't really know what it is."

Lex's kiss came to Clark in movie slow motion. It was soft, just a brush of lips lightly over Clark's own. Lex pulled back slowly, watching Clark's reaction.

"Is it something like that?" Lex asked.

Clark swallowed, wondered if he'd really be able to speak.

"Yeah. Like that." His voice sounded scratchy, deep, like someone else's voice coming from far away.

Lex put his hand over Clark's, making Clark suddenly aware of how long it had been on Lex's thigh. He could feel Lex's heat through the fine wool of his pants.

The next kiss came faster and lasted longer. Clark lost count after that, lost track of everything. There was movement, awkwardness, time passing, breathing, and a million things that Clark let flash past him while he stayed inside the kisses. He wasn't sure when he'd laid down or how Lex had moved over him. But he was sure he didn't want to be anywhere else right now.

"This is what you want?" Lex asked, his words tickling against Clark's lips.

"No."

"No?" Lex started to sit up and Clark could feel the tension in Lex's body.

"No, I want more than this." Clark reached up and slid his arms around Lex, pulling Lex down on top of him.

The kissing involved their whole bodies now. Clark could feel every place that Lex touched him, could feel parts of his skin heating as Lex's hands ran over his shirt, along his jeans. Their tongues twined and it wasn't gross at all, it was intimate, it felt important.

Clark sat up a little so Lex could pull off Clark's t-shirt. He fumbled with Lex's buttons and Lex had to help him a little. When Lex finally had his shirt off, he pressed back down, making their bare skin meet, any doubts Clark had evaporated. He rolled a little, keeping his arms around Lex, until they lay on their sides facing. Clark let his hand run over every new part of Lex-- chest, ribs, back. Clark's cock was harder than it had ever been. He could feel Lex's erection pushing into the hollow of his hipbone. Clark pushed back at Lex. Their hips met a steady rhythm that harmonized with their hands and their kisses.

When the kisses stopped, Clark wanted to protest, until he felt Lex's mouth on his neck, moving down over his collarbone. It was almost like floating, Lex's touch, the kissing, the heat, dreamlike. It felt relaxed, even as his blood rushed, tingling through every part of his body.

The calm rushed forward into excited anticipation as Clark felt Lex fumbling with the buttons on his jeans. Lex got the jeans open, but as he started the push them down Clark was seized with panic. No. It couldn't be. Not today. He was wearing the Sponge Bob Squarepants boxers that Chloe gave him on his birthday. Why couldn't he have done laundry like his mom told him to? This was *way* worse than getting hit by a car while wearing dirty underwear. Lex was going to think he was a total dork. Clark contemplated super-speeding them off, but Lex would probably notice.

Worry was erased when Lex reached into the cursed underwear and touched Clark's bare cock for the first time. It felt so good; Clark was going to come if Lex touched him much more. His stomach ached with nervous energy and the desperate need he had from Lex's touch.

Lex slowly moved his hand over Clark's cock, stroking up and down. Clark thrust his hips up, he couldn't help it. Lex's hand felt hot, but Clark knew he was hotter. Closing his eyes, Clark tipped his head down, burying his face against Lex's neck, trying to clear his head.

Lex was touching his dick. *Masturbating* him.

Clark shivered, feeling how different Lex's strokes were from his own. Was this how Lex touched himself? Clark's hips jerked up at the thought and now he had to try and calm himself down, or he was going to come in Lex's hand right then.

The fine skin of Lex's neck smelled of Lex and something faintly spicy. Clark let his hands slide to Lex's hip. He kissed Lex's throat, daring to dart his tongue out a little, making Lex moan, which was enough for Clark to do it again-- to taste Lex. But Lex's body was no distraction, if anything he was closer to coming now. Clark was starting to tremble from the exertion of holding back.

Lex's free hand skated lightly up Clark's chest and twined in his hair, pressing Clark's head down. Clark's belly tightened, sent out shimmering ribbons of pleasure that were undoing all of his control.

"It's okay, Clark," Lex whispered. "Come for me."

It was too much to hear Lex's voice while Lex he stroked Clark's cock. Clark felt turned inside out, pulled into Lex's hand. Clark shuddered and jerked through an orgasm that seemed to span all of history.

Lex held Clark against him afterwards, kissing his forehead, and his hair until Clark's breathing slowed and Clark could talk again.

"I'm sorry," Clark said, pulling back from a little so he could see Lex's face.

"For what?"

"For, um," Clark blushed furiously, he could feel it heating his chest, neck, face, ears… burning, "for, uh, *coming* like that." He spat the unused word out as quickly as he could and lowered his head.

"Clark." Lex tipped Clark's chin up and looked him in the eye. "That's what you're supposed to do. That's what *this* is all about." Lex's smile was soft again, no trace of teasing in it.

"I just don't know. I mean, what I'm supposed to do with you, with boys. I don't even really know what I'm supposed to do with girls."

Lex kissed his forehead and reached between them to wipe his hand and Clark's stomach with the sheet. It was really too embarrassing to bear. There wasn't anything that ever prepared Clark for a moment like this. What was he supposed to say?

"I like kissing you. It makes me feel not freaked out." Clark was pretty sure that *wasn't* what he was supposed to say.

Lex contemplated Clark for a second, brushed Clark's hair off his forehead and then kissed him slowly and softly.

It was like they fell back together in the kiss. Some puzzle piece that Clark had overlooked in his nervousness fit them right back together. The kiss ended and Lex rolled over onto his back, leaving Clark tucked up against his side, between Lex's warm body and the cold wall. Clark suddenly realized just how small his bed was. He also realized just how much skin he had exposed and tried to stuff his sticky, limp dick back into his shorts and pull up his pants and gracefully as he could. Unfortunately grace had never been Clark's strong suit.

Clark finally got settled, resting his head on Lex's shoulder and trying not to wonder if Lex had seen the Sponge Bob boxers, trying not to wonder what happened now.

"Do you want to hear the rest?"

"There's more?"

"After I came, I was still hard and Mack made no move to leave and said nothing, so I smeared my come all over my hand and kept jacking off." Lex turned, propping himself up on his elbow to lean over Clark as he spoke. Clark was already starting to get hard again when Lex kissed him again deeply. The kiss was desperate and Clark suddenly realized that Lex's heart was pounding as much as his, and he was aware of how hot Lex's skin was, felt Lex's hard cock against his hip.

Lex broke the kiss.

"At this rate I'll never finish the story." He reached into Clark's still unfastened jeans and jacked Clark's cock as he spoke, pulling back a little to get enough space between them to do it. "You are just so distracting," Lex smirked as Clark whimpered at Lex's touch.

"Mack watched me touching myself for a while before he finally moved, kneeling next to me on the bed," Lex said as he moved off the bed to kneel beside it, his hand still on Clark's cock. "He reached out and put his hand over mine and made me stroke a little faster." Lex's breath tickled Clark's stomach as he bent over Clark's prone body. "And then Mack leaned down and put his mouth over my cock."

Clark gasped and thrust up harder than he meant to when he felt Lex's mouth on the head of his own cock. Unfazed, Lex let Clark push into his mouth, before he pulled back to lick down and back up the length of Clark's throbbing flesh. Clark wasn't going to last long like this.

"It was my first blow job from someone who really knew what he was doing. Even though I'd just come, I knew I wasn't going to last long." The words vibrated over Clark's stomach, as Lex lifted Clark's hips to pull his jeans and boxers further down his thighs. Clark inhaled deeply, very aware of the pounding of his heart.

The silky heat of Lex's mouth seemed to reach all over Clark's body, a fiery flush that spread as Lex sucked him. Clark looked down and saw Lex had his own cock out, stroking himself while his mouth worked over Clark's dick. It was too much and Clark didn't want it all to end right away.

"Lex," Clark croaked, his tongue feeling thick in his mouth. Lex's eyes flicked up to meet Clark's even as his mouth still engulfed Clark. "Come here," Clark pleaded. "Kiss me." Lex released Clark, the cool air on his spit-wet cock pulling down the tension just for a second and then Lex climbed back onto the bed and his hot mouth was on Clark's.

Clark reached between them, his hand heated and damp as he grasped both their cocks and clumsily pulled them together. His rhythm was unsteady as he jacked them. Clark didn't really know what he was doing, but it felt really, really sexy to have Lex's cock against his. It felt *slutty*.

"Oh god, Clark, yes." Lex's whisper was hoarse, scratchy with lust. Clark really liked the sound of it. They fell into a deep, intense kiss, their tongues twining. With the throbbing pulse of both of their cocks in his hand, Clark felt completely joined with Lex. Clark felt his balls draw up as his orgasm coiled at the base of his spine. It was going to be soon. He broke the kiss to tell Lex that he couldn't wait, but it was too late. Pleasure burned into silver light and exploded in his head. As the aftershocks shook through him, Clark felt new heat on his stomach. He turned just in time to see Lex's face as he came.

Clark was unanchored, completely adrift in Lex's look. He let his sticky hand slide over Lex's hip and pulled Lex to him, clutching a little too hard, he knew.

Lex cleaned the gluey mess off his pants as well as he could with a corner of the blanket and then wiped Clark's hand and his belly. Clark didn't feel silly or embarrassed at all. It was like this was how things were supposed to be.

"How does the story end?" Clark asked, not caring if Lex saw his Sponge Bob boxer as he tried to make himself presentable.

"Well," Lex said as he sat up and straightened his shirt, "we both came that night in my bed."

"Just like we both did here," Clark said happily as he sat up too.

Lex chuckled.

"Yes. Hopefully nothing will happen between us that will make either of us feel uncomfortable or unhappy, just like it did with Mack."

"So it was happy ending?"

"I hope so?"

"You hope?" Oh god, was Lex still with the chauffer? Now Clark *did* feel jealous.

"The story started something that led me to be here today, Clark. I hope we have a happy ending."

Clark hoped they did too, but he didn't answer. Instead he just kissed Lex again. For the first time their future felt uncomplicated.

~finis~