Couple(s): Chloe/Lex

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: Everything but the plot belongs to someone other than me.

Spoilers for: nothing

Author's Note: Short and sappy, I know; I'm simply setting up before I jump ahead a few years.

Such a Little Thing Makes Such a Big Difference

******

"It could be worse," Chloe whispered to herself following Lex's most recent visit. (She'd lost all track of the date and time; she only knew that her husband's almost daily appearances meant that another twenty-four hours had past.) "I could be pregnant with Lex's baby; there would be no real way for him to take the child, so he or she would go to adoption anyway. Then Lex would be without one of his offspring. There; it could be worse."

She rarely made sense when she babbled out loud, but she didn't have to; it only served to fill up time and to help her remain sane. "Wait," she continued, "I don't know if it is or isn't Lex's! I suppose I could've had testing done before I decided to turn myself in. *That* would have been peachy." Why she was so angry with herself was a bit of a mystery. "This way, though, I can spend hours convincing myself that the baby is Lex's, then convincing myself that it has to be Guy's."

Banging her head sharply against the wall, Chloe focused on something Lex had said that day: "I'm waiting for you, Clo. I don't care how long you're here, I'll still be faithful to you. You're the third person I've ever loved--the first I've loved romantically--and I don't intend to restart the process."

Of course, he didn't just blurt that out; she had to ask him if he was seeing anyone else. "Have you found a girl to replace me yet, Lex?" were her exact words. It was meant to be a light remark, but he'd been entirely taken aback.

John and Lena were still in the dark regarding her whereabouts; Lex, Gabe, and Martha had crafted an elaborate tale about how Chloe had gone to nurse a sick cousin back to health for a few months. Despite their unusual perceptiveness, the younger Luthors didn't contest what they were told; they had no reason to, after all.

"I love you, Alexander," she whispered near the end of his visit that day, surprising them both. Only during arguments or silly times did she address him that way. They were neither fighting nor being goofy then; it simply slipped out of her lips. There was a strange finality about it that worried her, though she couldn't pinpoint what it signified.

Her husband had gasped noticeably, then swallowed; he didn't like it anymore than she did. "I love you always, Clo." There was no 'touching' through the plastic for once; the use of that single name had created an invisible wall between them. Both felt it, though neither knew what had happened.

"Things are different now; things will always be different now. I wish I knew why," Chloe muttered in her cell, hugging herself. *'Alexander'; four basic syllables, Lex's birth name. No big deal, right?*

Her skull hurt from thinking all evening, and the prison 'food'--more like multi-colored oatmeal--helped none. Finally giving into the emotions that had been stifled since her first day in jail, Chloe sobbed.

******

He hadn't been fully honest with her that day; he *had* strayed once. The first weekend he was alone following her imprisonment, Lex had gotten so lonely and depressed that he'd called an escort service. A semi-attractive brunette, bearing an odd resemblance to one Victoria Hardwick, accompanied him to a ritzy hotel in Metropolis, where they spent the night together.

There were several reasons why he didn't particularly enjoy himself. First of all, cheating on his wife--even though she thought she wanted him to--dug a proverbial knife into his back; secondly, the girl wasn't impressive, but he chalked that up to the third reason why the night was awful: the girl wasn't Chloe.

No woman would be better than Chloe--as a lover, as a wife, as a human being--and not just because he was still madly in love with her. "But enough of that; she wouldn't want me to be thinking like this," he mumbled. After switching off his bedside lap, he laid down; fairly content with the empty pillow beside him.

******

At the beginning they felt like they had to fill the entire fifteen minutes with words; after a while, though, they realized that there was only so much to be said. They had since resigned themselves to feeling the other's presence and being comforted by it; silence could sometimes be more intimate than talk.

"Chloe," he spoke up the next afternoon, gripping the phone so tightly he feared it would crack.

"Lex," she shot back.

"There's something you need to know." His cuticles were suddenly fascinating.

"I swear if you say something sappy like, 'I'll never forget you' or, 'you're always in my heart', I'll find a way to chuck something at your head." He noticed she was only half-serious; the fact that she could make jokes on occasion relaxed him.

"That's not it," he continued, voice lowering to just above a whisper. "I-" Pause. He licked his lips. "I slept with someone a couple months ago; when you were first arrested." It was out.

"I told you to find someone, remember?" was her immediate response. Then reality hit, and her blue eyes--which had become dull and hard--widened. "Oh, Lex...."

"I'm sorry. I was so lonely and..." When she'd told him to find another girl, she hadn't meant for him to screw random bimbos; she'd meant for him to find another love. The distinction was subtle, but he understood why she was so upset.

"I can't expect you to wait, Lex, but...no. It's your life; do what you want." Tears were pinching at her eyes, and his heart broke all over again.

"Forgive me," Lex begged; Lex never begged. "Please."

"I do," she assured him, "I just hate not being around you; I hate knowing that I hurt you." A muttered obscenity reached his ears, but he ignored it.

"How are you holding up? It's been, what, four months?" She was quite pregnant, and he wasn't quite sure what to feel.

Glancing down at her swelling stomach, she smirked. "Guess so; I haven't been keeping track of the days. I figure I'll know that it's been almost a year the day I go into labor."

The blaring PA system no longer made them jump. "Two minutes."

Their goodbyes weren't rushed, but they weren't involved; Lex and Chloe knew they'd see each other the next day. Still, it was hard to leave.

"I love you. See you tomorrow," was his automatic statement.

"Yeah. Love you too."

It had become routine, and that bothered Lex; they shouldn't have been used to it! "Lex..." she whispered.

"Yeah?" he asked quietly, silently thanking her for extending their time together.

"Yesterday...when I called you that--I don't know what that was," Chloe continued, suddenly fearful. "It kind of scared me, to be honest. Strange, huh? It shouldn't have, should it?"

"Don't worry about it." There was no time to go into it; that would have to wait.

Then a guard was tugging on his arm, and another was standing by Chloe. The Luthors parted ways, without so much as a last glance.

There would always be other visits.