DISCLAIMER: I don't own Smallville or Superman.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Author's Note: Beta read by Author07.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
SPOILERS: General spoilers for s6
Last Night as a Free Woman
By Hollywood Recycle Bin
The light was dim, dim enough that you can hardly see anything that wasn't lit up near the stage and bar as numerous hard, tanned, oil covered bodies glistened and glittered. The men, most of them very muscular, danced sensually to the cheesy music in very little, if anything at all though some were still in the process of taking stuff off. Chloe and Lana both blushed coyly while Lois dragged them over to one of the blue lighted stages. It was clear they'd never really been to a strip club before, well not one where the men were stripping in Chloe's case anyway.
"Wait here, enjoy the view, I'll go get us the private room," she shouted over the music; smirking at the guy gyrating his crotch at them. She slipped him a dollar bill and left.
"You'd think being forced to become a stripper once meant she'd be less inclined to come to these places." Chloe said with a shake of her head.
"Maybe she liked it?" Lana replied as she starred, almost horrified at the crotch in her face.
"If she did then she shouldn't have complained about it so much when we got back."
"Well maybe, she's ashamed of liking it." Lana paused when she realized what she just said.
"Nah!" The girls exclaimed in unison and giggled.
Chloe's gaze lingered on Lana.
"What?" the other girl said, still smiling.
"Nothing just, I haven't seen you giggle like that in a long time. So many things have happened to us; it's easy to forget we're only twenty. Most people our age are still out partying and experimenting and enjoying their youth and look at us. I'm spending most of my days working at the Dailey Planet and you, you're getting married!" Chloe's eyes were sad, regret clearly on her face. It wasn't something Lana was used to seeing on Chloe. Chloe always seemed so certain with what she wanted and did.
"Well, we've got tonight don't we?" Lana smirked, trying to imitate Lois' confidence before grabbing a waiter's ass. "Hey, can we get some tequila and a diet coke over here?"
"Sure." the blonde guy said, a little nervously. It was clearly his first day on the job.
"Lana, are you sure about the rest of us drinking? I mean it's kind of weird us drinking and you not being able to?"
"It's alright; I'm not a big fan of alcohol anyway. Last time I got drunk I only have a vague recollection of and I think vampires were somehow involved."
"You're just trying to get me all liquored up so you can have your wicked way with me aren't you?" Chloe asked with a twinkle in her eyes. Lana stuttered but before she could say anything, Lois arrived back and dragged them all to the private room. Lana saw the waiter from before and told him to serve them in there.
The room was dimly lit but not as dark as outside, the lights casting shadows on the walls; there were small spotlights in the corners of the ceiling, pointing at the center of the room. Near it were two big sofas; they looked comfy and Lana tried not to think about other occupants of the seats before her as she sat down. Chloe took a seat right next to her while Lois took the other one. The rookie waiter came in after them and Lois unashamedly stuck a twenty into the back pocket of his painted on jeans as he bent over to put down the drinks. He quickly ran out of the room as soon as the drinks were safely on the glass table.
"Weird place for a modest person to be working," Lana said as she looked at the spot where the waiter had been. She'd almost expected to see a waiter shaped hole in the wall.
"Probably needed the money... Desperately," Chloe added. Lana smiled.
"I bet he lasted as long as I did at the Beanery."
"No, fifty bucks says he quits three hours from now tops." Chloe challenged. "There are a lot of very drunk customers out there who would have a field day in making him increasingly uncomfortable. I mean, I'm not even drunk yet and I wanna poke him till he cracks."
"You're on." Lana laughed and Chloe took a piece of lime into her mouth, sucking it. It looks like she's kissing it, Lana thought as she watched her pink lips pout around the green fruit. It only lasted for a second before Chloe stopped and threw back the shot of tequila into her mouth. Lana snapped out of it (whatever "it" was) and took a sip of her own drink.
"No." Lois interrupted, a thoughtful look on her face. "A hundred, says he lasts."
"Do you know something we don't?" Chloe asked her cousin suspiciously. She had thought her cousin would bet on an even shorter time.
"No, just a feeling." Lois replied rather cryptically.
"Deal!" the other girls said at the same time before Chloe took another shot, Lois taking two to catch up.
"So, Lana, my soon to be married best friend; are you ready for the night you've been waiting for?" Chloe said, wrapping her arms around the girl... no woman, next to her. Lana just gave her a confused look.
"Yeah Lana, are you ready to experience." Lois paused for effect (or possibly to stop herself from bursting out laughing), "A whole new world?"
And just on queue, the music came on, a remix of a song Lana knew all too well.
"I can show you the world, shining, shimmering, splendid,
Tell me, princess, now when did you last let your heart decide,"
"OH. MY. GOD!" Lana exclaimed before she was stunned into silence.
Aladdin was tall, and very much like the strippers outside his muscles rippled under the purple vest. His skin shimmered gold, a slightly curled strand of black hair fell over his face. His dark eyes had a mischievous glimmer to them as he flashed his perfect white teeth at them in a playful, teasing smile. If Lana didn't know any better she'd have thought Chloe and Lois found a meteor freak with the power to turn cartoons into real people.
Lana's mouth hung open and she gaped like a fish for what seemed like eternity.
"I knew she'd love it." Chloe said before both she and Lois burst out laughing uncontrollably.
"I am never telling you anything ever again!" Lana finally said, breaking out of her shocked state. She recalled a game of truth or dare one night back when she was living with the Sullivans. Somehow she had always known that her confession over her crush on Aladdin was going to come back and haunt her.
Aladdin was still moving sensually to the music, from the knowing look on his face it was obviously not the first time his act was hired for the sole purpose of embarrassing someone. He gave Lana a wink before taking the sword out of his waistband and dancing with it—Lana hoped the wicked looking curved blade was fake as he ran it over his bare chest.
The girls simultaneously gasped when, at the lines "unbelievable sights" Aladdin took his sword and swiped it across himself in one quick swish. The thin billowy white fabric of his pants slowly fluttered down, leaving him in nothing but a red thong. The two cousins cheered before downing more shots. Lana's face was still red from embarrassment but she took a drink with them anyway (even if she couldn't have alcohol). She decided to let go and started hooting with her friends.
As the song neared the end Aladdin kneeled down in front of Lana and handed her the sword. Lana looked confused but before she could ask if he wanted to be executed the man stood up and gestured to the thong. Lana gulped.
"Come on Lana; do it!" Chloe cheered.
"Yeah, don't be a prude!" Lois joined her.
Lana stayed frozen, her face heating up once again. Chloe groaned at Lana's hesitation and somehow slipped the slightly smaller girl onto her lap. She wrapped her hand around Lana's, her entire body touching the other girl's as she pulled Aladdin's thong away from his skin and forced Lana's to cut the fabric.
Lana didn't resist, didn't have a mind to resist, didn't even notice the Adonis in front of her, or the sword in her hands as she felt Chloe's warmth envelop her, Chloe's breasts rubbing against her back with only layers of clothing between them, Chloe's cheek a hair's breath away, the entire length of her arm all touching her. She could smell the tequila from her breath, the faint and forever lingering scent of ink that was covered by the Versace perfume Chloe got last Christmas, which Lana knew Chloe only kept because the bottle looked cool.
In that moment all Lana could feel was Chloe, all she knew was Chloe.
"Thanks." Aladdin said with that wide mocking grin on his face. It was only then that Lana realized she had been staring at the man's well endowed penis for what was probably a very long time.
It was possible that he thought she had never seen one before, or that maybe Lex Luthor's ruthlessness in business was really him overcompensating for what he lacked that Aladdin obviously had plenty of. Neither was the case, in fact Lana didn't even notice the organ waving in front of her face until about a few seconds ago.
She wasn't about to tell him or anyone else in the room that the reason she was so flushed was because her very female best friend, (her maid of honor, the one who would be walking right in front of her in her wedding which was happening very very soon) was touching her though.
Lois laughed loudly, like her whole body was melting into a puddle of laughter. She was probably thinking of the latter reason why Lana had been staring; again the brunette resisted the urge to defend her future husband. She tried not to think about what that said about their relationship and instead just gave Aladdin a sheepish smile.
She then noticed she was still sitting on Chloe's lap and looked at the other girl. She thought she would laugh at Lana with her cousin but instead she saw in Chloe a reflecting flush and a strange sad look in her bright eyes. She was also slightly breathless, nervous looking as she quickly placed Lana back on the seat, away from her lap. Lana's heart skipped a beat and she wondered briefly if Chloe knew what she felt only a few moments ago. She quickly thanked god that she wasn't a man for she knew without a doubt that if she was, there would be a very prominent and unconcealed bulge in her pants.
Lana was more than confused, she'd never been with another woman before, her experience was limited to only two men in her life, Clark and Lex, and neither had had a problem pleasing her (even if Clark had stopped touching her completely after his mysterious death and resurrection last year). She knew she had always found Chloe to be incredibly gorgeous (and that Clark was a blind idiot with no sense of his surroundings what so ever for not noticing that) but she never thought much about her attraction before; every women admired other women's beauty. It's not like men who feel it threatens their masculinity to admire another man's physique. So what if she had admired Chloe a little bit more than she did other women, (or other men if she was honest with herself), it was just a little friendly admiration right?
And what about Chloe wasn't admirable? She was beautiful, incredibly smart, focused, driven, and independent; she also had a great sense of humour and was quite possibly the kindest and most helpful person in the world. She was the only one Lana knew who never had an ulterior motive with her, even if she did keep secrets from her from time to time she knew she could trust her. She didn't even have that with Clark; or Lex for that matter.
The more Lana thought about it, the more she was starting to get a little uncertain about that notion of a little friendly admiration. Not that it changed anything, after all she was pregnant and getting married and she loved Lex and they were gonna get married and have kids and fill the dreary mansion with smiles and laughter like they had planned. So what if she was learning that she swings a little more towards two sides than one? It didn't change anything at all.
And with that resolved, Lana tried her best to push it out of her mind, determined to not think about it anymore that night, or ever again for that matter. She also tried to not think about the fact that she had been "not thinking about it" for a very long time before tonight as well.
"Jimmy is well endowed!!" Chloe exclaimed a little too loudly. As the night wore on, alcohol slowly but steadily washed away the gang's (minus Lana) inhibitions, but more importantly it loosened their tongues and what they thought they had a silent agreement on, not to talk about earlier that night was broken. It turned out that Lana wasn't the only one who had been ogling Aladdin's package during that moment and had to defend her man's honor.
"Yeah you're right, her boyfriend is probably not small Lois, I'm just extremely lucky," Aladdin chimed in, laughing. After his performance Lois had persuaded him to stick around and drink with them, he had agreed to do so but only with his pants on. "I don't want to distract you from the other dancers," he had said, brimming with confidence and smugness. "It'd be mean to rob everyone else of their tips."
Lois and Aladdin talked and joked like old buddies (well, old buddies who flirt anyway). Occasionally Lois would give Aladdin two twenty dollar bills and make him put it in the thong of another dance as the dancer put one into the waistband of his pants. The two also drank like fishes yet managed to be a lot less drunk than Chloe who probably would have trouble standing up right now let alone walk in a straight line.
"Umm, I'd also like to say that Lex is not small," Lana said finally; since Chloe was defending her man it'd be unseemly for her not to do the same, "and he's also very good in bed." she added for safe measure. It sounded awkward, especially for someone sober but she felt the ridiculous need to get it out there.
Chloe gasped. "You're not even drunk and you're talking about sex. You're not infected by vampires again are you?" she giggled.
"No... And for your information I'm perfectly capable of talking about sex without being drunk." Lana replied, feigning confidence, but she couldn't help the blush that began to color her face. The other girl smiled widely but didn't comment.
Lana noticed Aladdin giving Lois a shy-ish smile. An odd look for someone who was acting so cocky minutes ago.
"Hey, uh, if you guys don't mind, I really gotta go now." Aladdin said as he got up. "I have classes tomorrow. I'm a student at Met U. I'm part of the whole stripper myth thing, you know, working to pay for college? Anyway I can't afford to miss anymore classes, so good night ladies." he said before walking out the door.
Lois watched him leave with a thoughtful look on her face. "You know, Metropolis at night is a very dangerous place to be traveling alone in. There's all sorts of dangerous people out there... Someone should go with him, make sure he doesn't get attacked by muggers or rapists or gangs or something on his way home."
Chloe snorted. "Are you gonna volunteer to be stripper boy's big bad protector?"
Lois rolled her eyes and didn't dignify it with a response. "Listen, are you two gonna be ok on your own?" she asked instead.
"Of course we'll be!" Chloe replied, pretending to be insulted. "We're all adults here. Hell, this one here's getting married!" she gestured to Lana. "That's a very adult thing to do you know? Life long commitment and partnership and ..." Chloe paused, seeming to have forgotten her train of thought.
"I meant do you guys mind me leaving?" Lois clarified.
"It's ok." Lana answered this time as Chloe threw her arm on her shoulders.
"Yeah Lois, we can have fun without you. Now go get laid!" Chloe ordered. The other girl rolled her eyes again before walking out the door. Chloe took another shot.
"Are you sure more of that is a good idea?" Lana asked, looking at her now very drunk best friend. The blonde just shrugged.
"So, what do you want to do now princess? Want more pretty boys?" Chloe spoke into Lana's ear, making her shiver.
"You know I hate being called that," she replied, trying to determine what was up with Chloe. Drunk or not it wasn't like Chloe to provoke her.
"Sorry," the blonde replied quickly before repeating her question.
"No, I don't wanna see anymore naked guys," Lana looked Chloe in the eyes; "I kinda like just being here with you. We don't hang out like we used to anymore, I mean we hang out but it's different. Ever since I got with Lex things have been-"
"Tense?" Chloe finished.
"Yeah, I hate that." Lana noticed Chloe's arm was still draped across her shoulders and leaned into it. It was nice, being near Chloe like that, Lana wondered why they didn't do it that often. As far as female best friends go they really didn't touch that much, just a few hugs on special occasions like pregnancy or coming back from the dead.
"Why do we always let men come between us?" Lana pondered; her voice calm as she rested comfortably against the other girl. The comment was made, and the other girl tensed slightly, grabbed another drink but didn't answer. Silence took over for a while and Lana was happy to let it, let Chloe cool down a bit from whatever she was feeling and she let herself melt into the embrace of her best friend. It felt so good being so close to her, being enveloped in Chloe and all her Chloe-ness. She tried not to think about how much better this was than when Lex held her, or Clark, focusing instead on the moment and wishing it would last forever and also wishing Chloe felt the same way.
Finally after a long reign of silence, Chloe took one more shot, the last from the bottle, and spoke.
"So, no more pretty boys," she said, voice rough but quiet. "How do you feel about girls instead?"
Lana's head whipped around to face the other girl, confusion clearly on her face but before she could say anything Chloe quickly pressed her mouth against hers. It was sloppy, the fact that she was drunk was clear yet it didn't really matter; her lips were slippery with balm against the stickiness of Lana's lip gloss , the taste and smell of tequila on her making Lana's head spin, intoxicating... or maybe that was the kiss itself, Lana wasn't sure but at that point, didn't seem to care.
When the other girl didn't push away, Chloe pushed further, leaning her whole body over the other girl, covering as much of her as she could, her arms going around her waist and pressing closer and closer to her, like if she tried hard enough she could simple sink herself into Lana. It wasn't until Lana felt Chloe's hand slowly sliding up her top that she was jolted out of the haze.
"Chloe, please stop." she says quietly but she didn't push the other girl off her. Her whole body felt like jelly and she wasn't sure why. She thought she might have to push the other girl off but then Chloe slowly got off her. The silence this time hung in the room like the blade of a guillotine.
After another eternity Lana got up off the couch they were sitting in and grabbed her purse. "Come on, let's get out of here. I'll make sure you get back to the Talon ok."
"Lana..." Chloe started but the other girl cut her off.
"It's alright Chloe. It was just a little alcohol." she said as she faked a smile. The other girl bit her lip, fire in her eyes, looking like she was going to burst out if she didn't say anything but still keeping quiet as she meekly followed Lana out the door.
To say that the cab ride back to the Talon was tense was like saying the universe was pretty big. Silence surrounded them like radiation after a nuclear explosion and neither of the girls seemed to have the courage to make eye contact. When they arrived though, Lana followed Chloe out instead of going back to the Luthor mansion. The reason she even took the cab ride with Chloe was so she could make sure Chloe didn't get herself hurt in her intoxicated state after all.
Both girls were still carefully avoiding each other's eyes, even as Lana's hand hovered over Chloe, trying to make sure she didn't fall down the stairs but at the same time, too afraid to actually touch her.
"Well good night," she said as they stood in front of Chloe's apartment. Curiosity finally got the better of her and she finally looked up at Chloe's face. The other girl was looking right back at her, her eyes shining in the dim light, starring at her with an intensity Lana had never seen in anyone before in her life. Once again there was that feeling that the other girl was about to explode with words but kept quiet.
"Bye." Lana said, bidding farewell again if only to fill the silence before walking away.
"Wait!" The words were barely a whisper but in the quietness of a small town's night Lana heard. She stopped walking but before she could turn around Chloe spun her into her arms and kissed her again. It was less sloppy this time, more insistent and focused and Lana couldn't believe how in one night she could get so used to the taste of Chloe on her lips.
The kiss lasted longer this time, with Chloe exploring, conquering what she wanted and Lana just letting her, feeling her. When the need for air became a problem, Chloe let go and started kissing her neck.
"Chloe, you're drunk. You have to stop. We can't be doing this." Lana finally protested, but once again couldn't find it in her to push the other girl away.
"Can't we?" Chloe asked with a wicked smirk before going back to her exposed neck.
"No, we can't Chloe!" Lana repeated once again but still didn't pushed her away. Chloe stopped what she was doing and Lana tried not to show how much she hated that Chloe wasn't touching her anymore.
"You're pathetic!" venom dripped from Chloe's voice as she said it, followed by a borderline psychotic laughter.
"Excuse me?!"
"You heard me, princess! You don't fool me. I know what you're doing, I know you, remember? Been your only real best friend for six damn years! You go around acting all sad cause you think nobody knows you 'cause all they see is your beauty? Well I know you! So drop the bulshit!"
"Chloe, what are you talking about?" Lana said; her own voice hardening along with indignation though she still wasn't sure what was going on.
"This! What you were doing just now! If you wanted me to stop kissing you, you would have pushed me away but you didn't. No, you told me to stop but didn't put any effort into it because you wanted me to kiss you, but if you at least put up a small facade of resisting and not aggressively kiss back then you can tell yourself that you're not really doing anything wrong here and blame it all on poor lovesick drunken Chloe in the morning! It is just another one of your pathetic passive aggressive tactics to help you live with yourself."
"How dare you?" Lana's voice was cold steel; the indignation and anger spiking through her like cracks spreading in a glacier, just waiting for the right moment to crumble down. Chloe noticed of course, knew just how much she was pushing Lana's buttons but it didn't phase her one bit.
"Oh I dare?"—snort—"I should have dared a long long time ago." she said as she loomed over Lana. She was only a tiny bit taller than the other girl but the anger in her made her seem so much bigger. Lana stood her ground though, putting as much ice into her stare as she could.
"Do you know how hard it is being in love with you, Lana? Being in love with the town princess, the girl everyone else in town wanted but can't have. Do you have any idea how that made me feel? Just another face in the crowd of Lana fans. And of course they all think just 'cause they watch you all the time that they think they know who you are, hell even Clark thought that! But I know none of them ever had a single clue, all they see is what you wanted them to see when they watch you and that girl has nothing to do with who you really are at all does she, Lana?"
The other girl remained silent, her jaw set in a grim line.
Chloe knew she was right.
"I've seen the way you look at me when you don't think I notice Lana, the way you lean into my touch but avoid it at the same time. At first I thought it was all in my head but not anymore. You're a good liar Lana, you can lie while looking someone directly in the eye, you can lie a whole lot better than Clark ever could; I've always wondered how long you can keep lying to yourself.
When you and Clark broke up that last time, I thought maybe you'll be coming to your senses soon but you never did, just jumped onto Lex and leave me hanging, waiting to catch you when it all falls apart yet again and this time you got yourself knocked up and now..."
Chloe shut her eyes against the tears that were threatening to fall. Her fist balled, nails digging into the palms of her hands, her whole body shaking with anger and despair.
"God, Lana, for once in your life, can't you just be true to yourself? Be truthful to what you really want just once before retiring to the life of Mrs. Luthor III?"
"You wanna know what I really want right now?" Lana said after being silent for so long. She stalked over and pressed the other girl to the wall. "This!" she said before her hand connected to Chloe's face. The slap was loud against the quietness of the store, and Chloe felt her skin ringing where Lana's hand had been. They didn't need that much light to know there was a handprint on Chloe's face. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Lana grabbed the other girl's face in her hands and kissed her.
There was a lot of fumbling before the girls managed to get themselves inside Chloe's room and lock the door.
There was sweat. Sweat in her hands as she touched her, partly nerves and more, years of unresolved tension, finally crashing down all around them. Both of them lost in a tangle of hair and hands and skin and tongue, caressing and bruising each other all at once.
It was stupid to leave marks. Lana knew that but she couldn't help herself. She'd come up with something to tell Lex later but now, now there was only Chloe. Only Chloe that mattered, that always mattered, no matter how many times she acted like she didn't.
She tried to tell her with her body. All the words that get stuck inside her mouth, words she couldn't say, even as the touch sometimes turned rough, trying to grab on like her hands were trying to get as much of Chloe as it could before it had to let go.
Forever.
It was their first time together, and looking to be their last. One night for Lana to be true to herself before a lifetime of lies. It's ironic how life turns out. Lana had always hated being lied to, but to herself, she seemed to have had no problem.
She knew the lies would be harder now, no matter how good of a liar she was.
The issue with Lex and the baby hung in the air. Just another guillotine ready to drop, to kill the spell of the night. Neither one of them had enough money to run away from Lex's wrath if he found out. She didn't think her future husband was a bad man but, she didn't think he'd let her get away with his baby either. And she wasn't about to let him raise it on his own. She couldn't.
So; one more night. Then they all go back to acting like it never happened. Just like with most things that happened in this town.
No point worrying about it now though. Let the guillotine hang in the air. Now there was only Chloe to think about. Only her touch, the freckles on her smooth pale skin, and her blunt fingernails on Lana's hips as they rubbed against each other. Mouths connected, breathing in the same heady air, the lingering scent of alcohol and perfume.
They scramble together, blindly fumbling, and as they reached their precipice, falling together into ecstasy. All the while knowing that soon it will be tomorrow, and the sun would rise and wash away everything that had happened between them tonight.
Soon, neither of them would be free from the ties they created both to each other and those that exist out there, in the rest of the world.
They spent tonight, their first night together, like it was their last.
The End