Not mine. Not even close. Just a snippet mostly dialogue.

Lex craned his neck for a glimpse of his favorite person as he climbed the somewhat rickety wooden steps to the loft. "Hello Clark."

"Lex! Come in." Clark winced internally. 'Great invite him to come in, when he's already in. Can I be any more of a dweeb?'

"Haven't seen you in a while. You haven't been avoiding me, have you?" Lex attempted a smile to show he wasn't really serious even though he was. It had been three weeks since he'd seen Clark.

"No, of course not! Just" Clark paused. "Just got some things on my mind, you know? Been thinking and struggling a lot about some things."

"Wanna talk about it?"

Clark sighed, and indicated the couch with a wave of his hand. He had known that he would have to talk about this with Lex eventually. They didn't talk about some things much, and sex was the biggest taboo topic. Sex fell under the 'big ol' can of worms' heading between them.

"Sure--can I get you something to drink?" Without waiting for an answer, Clark reached down behind the couch where he had stashed a cooler. He pulled the top of the cooler open and extracted a root beer for himself, and handed a bottle of water to Lex.

"Thanks."

Clark sat down, but didn't look at Lex. Instead, he stared out the window of the loft, and started to fidget his knee up and down. Bounce, bounce, bounce.

"Clark?"

"Yeah, well, um. This is hard."

"Clark, you know you can tell me anything, right?" Lex was getting excited. Was Clark about to spill his secrets? He'd waited a long time for this.

Clark looked at Lex searchingly. "Can I, um, ask you a personal question, Lex?"

"Of course."

Clark looked away. He couldn't say this looking at him. "Are you straight?" Since Clark was facing the other way, he didn't see the expression on Lex's face just--ripple. Just for a moment.

"No."

Clark whipped his head around. "You're not?" Lex just smiled a little and shook his head. "So, do you like, consider yourself bisexual?"

Lex laughed. "Well, I consider myself omnisexual actually. I was into the club scene for quite a while, as you know. Club kids generally don't care who they fuck, as long as they're pretty."

"Oh. Pretty wild, I guess, huh?"

"Trust me Clark, whatever you're imagining in no way comes close to the real thing. In general, you know, I've been trying to live this reputation down, since I've been to Smallville."

"I know," Clark smiled affectionately at his friend. "You're a reformed character now."

"Yeah, I have a business to run, and--let's say that certain people in Smallville," Lex looked straight at Clark now, "have been a good influence on me." Clark squirmed and colored, just a bit, but didn't look away. "And besides, I find that the rep can be quite useful at times. In business, it can be quite intimidating to know your opponent has done unspeakable things, things you could only dream about doing."

"Unspeakable things, huh?"

"Yeah." Lex gave a twisted little smile, and then sobered. "So, in answer to your question, I've had a lot of partners of both sexes. I actually prefer men a little more, but women can be nice. Not to mention they can be useful socially and in business."

"Like Victoria?" Clark didn't look very happy as he said this.

'Oh yes, Victoria had been very useful.' Lex half closed his eyes and smiled, remembering the way he used Victoria to obtain a victory over his father and Hardwick Industries. After a moment, he opened his eyes. Uh, oh--Clark looked pissed. "Victoria was useful in a business sense, Clark. She and I had a history, and I was used to her. Of course, my knowing her so well led directly to her downfall."

"So, knowing someone well and, and, having sex with them--it's just a tool for you?"

"Not always, Clark," Lex said softly. He saw that he had hurt Clark by talking about Victoria like that. He scooted a bit closer on the couch. "Why are you asking about this Clark?"

"Oh, well," Clark took a deep breath "because I think I might be gay."

"What!" Lex couldn't help himself. He yelped. He actually yelped, but hearing Clark say those words completely out of the blue shocked him. His heart started beating overtime, and he kept repeating to himself, 'Oh my god, Oh my god.' After all, as much as he hoped to hear those words, he would have bet the whole town of Smallville that they would never leave Clark's lips.

"Are you upset?"

"Keep cool, now,' Lex told himself. 'Don't scare him.' "Of course not, Clark, just-- surprised. And anyway, what makes you think you're gay?"

"Are you sure you don't mind me talking about this?"

"Clark!"

"Yeah, okay. Just hard, you know."

Hard--yeah, Lex knew hard, alright. Just thinking about Clark, and gay, and hard--Lex shifted a little on the couch.

"It started with these dreams. Really intense, erotic dreams. I don't remember all the details, or anything, just that some of the things were really bizarre and" Clark looked away "--my partners were guys. Men. I really didn't think anything about it at first. I mean, you can't be responsible for what your dick might do in your sleep, right? Things like that are normal."

"That's right, Clark, they are. It doesn't necessarily mean that you're gay."

Clark moved a little to the side on the couch and leaned in toward Lex. "Yes, but they kept happening. More and more, and they were full of stuff I didn't even consciously know about real kinky stuff." Clark carefully didn't mention that the one person who starred most in his dreams was a certain bald best friend of his, nor did he mention his too-close acquaintance with the ceiling of his bedroom after the dreams. "It's like my subconscious was kicking me in the ass and telling me to wake up and pay attention. So, I started thinking about it."

"Was this the first time you really thought about it?"

"Yes. No. Well " Clark leaned back. "There were a few, um, fooling-around type incidents with buddies when I was younger. But, I really didn't place much importance on them, guys do stuff, you know? Except that when I look back on it now" Clark paused.

"Yes?"

"Well, " he laughed, "I think I actually did an awful lot of that fooling around. Maybe more than is normal, I don't know. All I know is that after the dreams started, I started thinking about it, and I couldn't stop. I started to be aware of gay themes everywhere, on the street, on TV--God, Lex, have you ever watched any of those cop shows? Some of those partnerships---well."

"Oh my God. You've been watching Starsky and Hutch reruns again, haven't you?" Lex's eyes were dancing.

"Shut up," Clark muttered, smiling.

Lex sobered instantly. "I'm sorry Clark, I know this is hard for you."

"Yeah, well . . . I kept thinking about it. You know I've always liked Lana, right? And Chloe, too. I mean, she's my friend, but she's a cute girl, you know?"

Lex nodded. "But?"

Clark stood up, quickly, not looking at Lex, and started to pace back and forth in the small space in front of the couch. "But I've always been kinda clueless around girls. I like them okay, I just never know the right thing to do. And, when Whitney left, I tried to connect with Lana, but --stuff--got in the way, I guess. I found myself with the thing I've always wanted in my grasp. Surprised the hell out of me to realize I didn't want it after all. So, I started to do some research on the internet."

Lex looked up in surprise. "What, your parents don't have a kiddie blocker on their computer?"

"No. They trust me. After all, this is me," Clark turned around and thumped himself on his chest. "Clark, all around American Boy, geek, and goodie goodie."

"That sounds a tad bitter."

"Not really, it's just " Clark sighed. "I guess am, a bit. I mean, I like to do what's right, but I sometimes get just a little tired of being the sweet boy who never does anything wrong." Clark stared into the distance, watching the cows sleep through the barn wall. In a low voice, he said, "There's a lot more to me than most people realize, and that I'm just beginning to realize myself, you know."

"Yes, Clark, I know."

Clark turned around and looked at Lex. Their eyes locked, one of those meaningful seconds between them, when Clark felt more was being said than just in words. Clark resumed his pacing. "Anyway, some of that stuff on the internet . . . some of it was just gross, but some of it was really hot, too." Clark laughed a little. "Didn't help much with stopping the dreams, though. And so I started to really look at the guys around me. Thinking about touching them, what their bodies look like . . ." Clark dropped heavily back down onto the couch, causing the springs to squeak faintly, and put his face in his hands. "I'm sorry for dumping all this on you."

"What are friends for?"

Clark looked at Lex and smiled, tentatively. "So, you're really not, like, upset or anything?"

Lex thought, 'or anything . . . yeah', but just said, "No Clark, I'm not upset. I said you could tell me anything, remember?"

"Yeah. Cool. And . . . thanks for listening."

"So what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know, really. Nothing, I guess. Try to find a guy to date?"

"Pretty hard in Smallville."

"Yeah."

There was a small pause, not too awkward, and Lex looked at his watch. "Clark, I'm sorry, but I've got to take off. I've got an early meeting in Metropolis, unfortunately."

Clark stood up immediately. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kept you."

"Don't be stupid Clark, you know I always make time for you." There it was again. One of those pauses, with looks. Lex finally turned around and Clark followed him to the top of the stairs. He started down the steps, but turned suddenly half way down. "Clark?"

"Yeah, Lex?"

Lex took a deep breath, and a chance. "Wanna go out with me on Friday?"

The smile on Clark's face could have rivaled a star. He nodded.

"Okay." Lex looked at him one more time before turning to leave. "See you Friday."

"See ya," Clark whispered.