Accommodations
Pairing: Clark/Lex
Rating: PG
Summary: Clark wins a trip to London and decides to take Lex along for the ride.
Author's note: Nearly everything in this story is based off of real life events that have happened to me in London, or other UK cities. So, yes, in most cases, Clark's stupidity is based off my own.
Last Updated: August 27, 2007
****
“Lex, quit fidgeting.” Clark
looked over at his friend, who was losing the battle of trying to appear calm
and collected. “You’re going to be fine.”
“I don’t understand why you wouldn’t let me upgrade us to First Class. At least
then we would get drinks while we wait for them to fix this stupid electrical
problem.”
“I won this trip to London, and it came with coach airfare, so here we are.” The
teen explained.
“The lady at the counter asked if we wanted to upgrade, and we-”
“In case you didn’t notice, I don’t have the money to do that.” Clark
interrupted.
“I could have taken care of that.” Lex huffed.
“I know you could have, but-”
“Just don’t be complaining to me in five hours when your legs are cramped from
being in this little bitty space.”
“I knew I should have brought my mom.” Clark muttered. “At least she would have
appreciated this trip.”
“As slow as they’re going, she probably has enough time to pack and drive to
Metropolis. And at this point, I’d be happy to give up my seat to her.” Lex
pulled his cell out of his pocket and offered it over to Clark, who only folded
his arms across his chest and stared out the window. Lex tucked the phone away,
silently watching the other passengers around them.
“It’s not that I don’t appreciate the trip, Clark,” Lex said nearly twenty
minutes later, “It’s just that I was trying to make it better for us.”
“How?” Clark responded. “By complaining about everything?”
“No, I-”
“I’ve said this a million times, and I have a feeling that I will say it a
million more before the trip is over, but you’re not allowed to upgrade
anything, or pay for anything this weekend. You understand?”
“I understand what you’re saying,” Lex started, “yet I don’t understand why.”
“You can’t stand to live like us silly commoners for a few days?” Clark said
with a phony British accent.
“Clark?”
“Yeah?”
“No more fake accents.”
“Cheerio mate.”
Lex shook his head and sat back in his seat, trying his best to not laugh at the
dorkiness that was his best friend.
“At least I got you to smile for the first time since I’ve seen you today.”
Clark couldn’t help grinning back.
“I’d smile more if you told me exactly why I have to play commoner this
weekend.”
Clark sighed. “Please, just play along.”
“Play along? If I’m going to spend the next four days ‘playing along’ I want to
know why.”
“And what if I don’t want to tell you?” Clark teased even though he could tell
that Lex was not in the mood.
“Then I just won’t talk to you until you explain.”
“That would be a relief” A male passenger behind them said. “Your arguing is
giving me a headache and we haven’t even left Metropolis yet.”
“Actually,” came a voice from somewhere to the right of them, “A better solution
would probably be for you and your lover to go relieve some stress by joining
the Mile High Club.”
Several snickers came from the others seated around the arguing friends, causing
Lex to shoot out of his seat. Before he could open his mouth to say anything,
Clark grabbed Lex’s arm, pulling him back down.
“Lex, don’t.” Clark whispered. “You’re only going to make it worse.”
“But they said we-”
“It doesn’t matter what they said. We know the truth about… us.”
“We’re friends.” Lex supplied.
“Friends.” Clark repeated, giving Lex a wary smile. Lex’s gaze became oddly
intense, and Clark had to look away. Clark had wanted to be more than friends
since that fateful day nearly three years ago when Alexander Luthor had come
into his life. Clark had tried to deny it, tried to focus on Lana – the girl
he’d been in love with for as long as he could remember. Only now, he couldn’t
remember why he’d been in love with her. When he was with her, all he could
think about was Lex’s gorgeous eyes, the scar on his upper lip, or the
smattering of faded ginger freckles that covered his body.
Clark shifted in his seat and pulled a magazine out of the seat pocket in front
of him. He had to think of something else, anything but the fact that he was
going to be alone with Lex for four days. Alone. Together. Which was just what
Clark had been hoping for when he’d invited his friend to come along on this
trip. He’d originally planned on bringing his mother, but she claimed that
leaving her husband alone for more than two days could only end in disaster.
Clark had been about to dispute that they’d done it before, when she mentioned
perhaps Lex should go in her place.
“He’s old enough to be considered your guardian and I know that he’s familiar
enough with London that I feel he’d keep you safe and out of trouble.” She’d
said.
It was at this point that his father had opened his mouth to argue, but one look
from Martha quickly shut him up.
“Besides,” She continued, “ever since he’s taken over LuthorCorp, he seems
stressed. I bet he could use a vacation.”
Clark had been quick to agree, hoping that maybe this trip would not only let
him spend some time with Lex, but also allow Clark to sort out his feelings for
the older man. If only he could get Lex to calm down for five minutes. The whole
not using money thing was really getting him worked up over nothing. He does
make a good point, though. Clark thought to himself. Why am I making him ‘play
along’?
Over in his seat, Lex was seething. To anyone else, it might have appeared he
was actually looking at the SkyMall catalog he’d pulled out of the seat pocket
in front of him. Instead, he was flipping the pages while trying to calm
himself. But all he could think about was the fact that he was crammed into a
small area with many other people – some of who were already poking fun at him,
and stuck next to a friend who was constantly picking fights with him.
Okay, that last part wasn’t true, Lex thought, looking over at Clark. The
younger man was hunched over in his seat, furiously writing in a small notepad.
Lex knew that if he leaned forward just a tad, he could probably see what Clark
was writing. And he would have looked, but Lex decided he’d have to reign in his
curiosity so that they wouldn’t start yelling at each other again. If they kept
that up it was going to be a long four days.
Lex had big plans for those four days, and fighting had not been part of his
plan. Ever since Clark had invited him on this trip, Lex had been unable to
sleep. He had been ecstatic that he’d finally been given a chance to be alone
with Clark for an extended period of time. Lex knew that it would be the perfect
opportunity to get Clark out of his element, so that Lex could see if his
suspicions were correct.
Lex knew that he liked Clark. A lot. More than a lot. Lex wanted Clark more than
he’d wanted anything in his life. At first he’d thought it was just a whim, that
perhaps he liked the boy just to get back at his father for sending him to the
crap factory. But the feeling never went away. It just got worse. The more he
got to know Clark, the stronger the feelings got. He suspected that Clark might
feel the same way, yet Lex wasn’t sure. He was hoping this long weekend would
give him the answer he desperately needed. Lex had no idea, though, what he
would do if the answer wasn’t the one he wanted.
He tried not to think about that. There was plenty of evidence that Clark felt
the same way. There was plenty of evidence that he didn’t, too. Lana being the
main factor. What does she have that I don’t? He wondered. Other than the
obvious fact that she’s a girl. He huffed and shoved the catalog back into it’s
pocket. It didn’t matter. For the next several days, Clark was all his, and Lex
was going to use this opportunity to the best of his ability.
Unfortunately, his plans required money. Which Clark wasn’t allowing him to use.
It was completely unreasonable. Especially since Clark gave no solid reason as
to why Lex couldn’t use his own money. So until he got a reason, he was going to
do what he pleased. Starting with a drink. Maybe a little scotch would help him
relax and hopefully let him get some rest before they landed. Just as he started
to reach for the call button, the captain came over the intercom and told
everyone that they would be taxiing out to the runway as soon as everyone was
seated.
“Finally.” Lex said, smiling over at Clark. “Are you ready for the trip of a
lifetime?”
“I think so.” Clark responded nervously. “Are you?”
“Absolutely.”
****
TBC...