Note: AU in which Clark and Lex are both eighteen and met each other as freshmen at Metropolis University when they both join the streaking team. Unbetaed, feedback appreciated. Please don't sue for infringement, I promise to return them fully clothed.

"You ready for this, Lex?" Clark asked as he shucked out of his jeans, trying not to let his nerves get the best of him.

"Definitely, Clark. I've been waiting for this since we first met." Lex swiftly unbuttoned his shirt with his agile fingers while watching Clark.

"Oh, man, I know. I just couldn't wait till we could get out and be free." Clark pulled his t-shirt over his head, grinning at Lex as he dropped it on the ground.

"I still think it might help to wear a jock strap, but that would defeat the purpose." Lex took off and folded his pants, placing them on top of his shirt.

Clark looked around at everyone else as they stripped down. Kyle was struggling with his jeans, since his boots weren't letting them go, and Zoe was blushing redder and redder as she watched everyone else and fiddled with a button on her blouse. Their captain, fully nude except for his sneakers, went over to talk to her. After he left, she appeared to steel herself and began unbuttoning her top.

"Well, Clark, how do I look?" Clark watched as Lex turned a slow circle. Lex was paler than he should have been, but never going outside would do that for a person. The pale and sparse strawberry blonde trail of hair from his navel down around his balls somehow contrasted very nicely with his bare scalp. He was thin and yet muscular, but could really stand to put on a few pounds.

"You're gorgeous." Clark blushed immediately. "I mean..."

Lex gave him a wry smile. "It's okay. The human body is a wonderful thing. If you said there was something grotesque about me, I'd be upset." He looked down at Clark's boxers. "Come on, Clark, one more layer to go."

Clark looked down at his underwear, the final barrier between himself and the crowd. He hooked his thumbs into the waistband, pulled them down over his hips, and stepped out of them. He cringed as a breeze sprang up; even though his tolerance for extreme temperatures was great, certain parts of him still didn't like cold breezes.

"Yeah, Kent, lookin' hot!" Clark blushed again as he heard Natalie's statement. He glanced at her to smile, and found he couldn't look away from her chest. The cold breeze had touched her, too.

Before Clark could reply, their captain, Scott, rounded them up. "Alright, guys, this is the maiden run for all you freshmen. I know you may be a little self-conscious, but you all look great. Now, for this first run, we're gonna take it easy, get people used to the sight of us again. First, we're gonna follow Major Field on the eastern edge, then swing around to the East Quad..." Scott continued outlining their route, just in case anyone didn't memorize the schedule he emailed them all. "... And then for the home stretch we split into two groups and run along each side of the Main Quad, then back here." He clapped his hands together. "Okay. Everyone, put on your mask, and grab some paint from Warren to paint your number on your back."

Lex and Clark pulled on their black eye masks together and waited for Warren to drop off their paint. "I feel like an albino Zorro in this thing." Lex frowned and crossed his eyes as he spoke, as if he was trying to see his own mask. "I'm not entirely sure that these are going to preserve anonymity in any way."

Clark rolled his eyes. "They aren't supposed to. I mean, they will if people don't know you, but they're really the only sort of uniform we can have. They help unite us as a team. Same with the numbers."

Lex rolled his eyes back at Clark as Warren handed him a jar of paint and a brush. "Because running around nude together doesn't perform that function."

"Just go with it, Lex," Clark replied as he turned around so Lex could paint his number 34 on his back. The paint felt nice as Lex brushed it on, the bristles smooth against his back. When he was done, Clark returned the favor for Lex, trying to fit the 29 on Lex's back. "And... done!"

Lex turned to Clark, his eyes lingering on Clark's groin before they crawled up his abdomen. It would have made Clark uncomfortable, but Lex looked at him that way all the time, and he was used to it. Besides, sometimes Clark found himself scanning Lex the same way. It was really hard not to since they regularly spent time naked together.

"Alright, everyone!" Scott shouted. "Time to head out!" Scott grabbed the team's flag, blue with a black rectangle in the middle with a white "M" over it. People grabbed their kazoos, air horns, and whatever else they had to make noise and draw attention. "Ready? And go!"

The Metropolis University Streaking Team began its first run of 2006.

Clark had been wary of college, since he was used to a relatively small town and he knew most of the kids in his high school. The city, and a campus with thousands of other students, was very different. But, he had made a pact with himself, that he was going to try to be less shy, and more outgoing. Being in the shadows in Smallville was one thing, but he didn't want to be consumed by Metropolis.

When he first saw the fliers that advertised the streaking team, he had laughed. But then he had thought about it more and more, and figured that joining a team would be the best way to get his name out and make some new friends. Especially since he could join a team where it didn't matter the he was super strong or fast or invulnerable. He didn't even have to sneak peeks with his X-ray vision.

So, he had shown up fully clothed in denim and flannel, backpack flung over one shoulder, to the first meeting, walking into a room full of naked people. The only other clothed people were the freshmen; the upperclassmen were all already comfortable with each other.

Eventually the meeting was started, and the purpose of the team was explained, and its methods revealed (though Clark figured all of the words were a fancy way of saying 'we like to run around naked'). As it was wrapping up, a thin bald boy entered the room, introducing himself as Lex and apologizing for missing most of the meeting and asking if he could still join. Clark's eyes followed his movements, and traced the expressions on his face. If nothing else, Clark wanted to join the team just to meet more of the interesting-looking student.

Over the next couple of months, Clark became good friends with Lex. Even though they were both freshmen, they didn't have any classes together since Lex was in the sciences while Clark was sticking with humanities, but they saw each other at meetings and practices (which were really just the team hanging out naked together), and eventually hung out together on their own.

Clark told Lex all about Smallville, while Lex told Clark all about boarding school, graduating a year early, and the year he took off to travel Europe. Lex's father, Lionel, was apparently a total bastard, but he allowed Lex enough freedom to do what he wanted academically as long as he went into the family business upon graduation. Compared to all that, growing up on a farm didn't provide the most thrilling stories, but Lex liked the family tales that Clark had to share.

Clark found himself liking Lex more and more, even though Lex always seemed to be hiding something (though he was probably just shy). But Clark knew he wasn't one to talk. He took what Lex would give him and gave what he could in return, and he liked it. It felt so good to make a close friend without the weight of Smallville holding him down.

And when he was with the team, there was nothing holding him down.

"Clark Jerome Kent! Is this you in the paper nude?!" Clark winced and jerked the phone away from his ear theatrically.

"Yeah, Dad, it's me. But it's not like I'm alone, the team is there, too." He didn't think that that was a good argument, but it was all he had. He hadn't thought the school paper, which was also sent to parents who subscribed to it, would print a story on the streakers. Anything scandalizing was blurred, but there was still a picture and article on them.

"I don't care about the team! What the hell are you doing running around campus without any clothes on?!"

Lex, sitting at the foot of Clark's bed, watched with amusement as Clark rolled his eyes.

"Dad, I joined the Streaking Team. It's totally harmless, we just run around naked and startle people. It's fun and I've made some good friends." Clark looked pointedly at Lex just to watch Lex blush. "Besides, it's not like I can really join another sports team..." Hopefully that would sway him.

"Clark, streaking is not a sport. It's a crime. It's indecent exposure. And don't try to guilt me into any sort of consent. You're just lucky I got to the paper before your mother, Lord knows what she would do if she saw the picture."

Clark smiled; he knew his mother was much more lenient than his father. She'd probably think it was funny. "Dad, she'll find out eventually. I was going to tell you at some point, but for now I guess it was just easier to have the paper tell you."

His father paused before speaking. "Son, you know you can tell us anything, right?"

Clark rolled his eyes again. "I know, Dad, this just seemed really weird. But now you know and you can tell Mom and I can get back to my chess game with Lex."

Lex glanced around the room; Clark didn't even have a set of checkers, let alone chess. They had been in the middle of watching an action movie when Clark's father had called.

"Chess? Lex? Who's Lex?"

"A friend of mine from school, he's a chemistry major, or will be once he declares. We met on the team."

"You're not naked now, are you?"

Clark couldn't help but laugh. When he wasn't nude, Lex always wore long pants and sleeves. "No, Dad, we've both fully clothed. We only streak at practices and runs. But I got to go, I'll call you guys later. Bye!"

Before Jonathan could say anything else, Clark hung up and returned to his bed, where Lex was now leaning against the wall. "Sorry about that. My dad gets a little weird sometimes."

"Chess, Clark? Do you even know how to play chess?" Lex smiled not unkindly, but Clark seemed so awkward sometimes he couldn't picture him playing chess.

Clark rolled his eyes yet again. "Yes, Lex, I am cultured enough to know how to play chess. I grew up on a farm, not in a cave."

"Just curious, Clark. We're so different, it's comforting when we find similarities." Lex let his eyes flick to the screen of the TV where Die Hard was waiting to be put back on play.

"Glad to entertain, Lex." Clark hit the pause button, and Bruce Willis returned to kicking terrorist ass. Clark let his eyes slip to Lex, and watched him pick at a loose thread in a seam of his pants. For all the world experience his friend had, he still seemed like a little kid sometimes.

Lex, feeling the weight of Clark's eyes, glanced over at the taller, darker boy. Clark jerked his eyes back to the screen. Interesting, Lex thought. Was he... nah, he couldn't have been checking me out. Lex was only conscious of such a thing because in Europe he had been hit on by more guys than girls. It was flattering, but he didn't think he swung that way.

After the movie, they discussed the next streak, and then Lex went back to his room to finish some homework. Clark felt relieved, but only because once his father had asked if he and Lex were naked, Clark couldn't get the image out of his mind. And he couldn't figure out what that meant.

"Yeah! Alright, guys, that run was sweet! Whoo!" Scott clapped Clark on the back and shared high fives with some of the other team members.

The team had just returned from its second run, and went up to the suite that Scott and Natalie shared with a couple of their friends. Scott pointed to the fridge in the kitchen area, indicating that people should help themselves to its contents, while Natalie started opening bags of chips and pretzels and emptying them into bowls.

"There's beer and soda in the fridge. Don't touch anything harder than that, it's not even dinner time yet." Scott himself opened a can of beer and sat down on the couch.

Clark grabbed a handful of Fritos and a can of Pepsi while Lex grabbed a beer. Clark raised an eyebrow in question.

Lex looked surprised. "What, because I'm not 21? Who cares? I drank a lot harder stuff when I was in Europe. Hell, when I was at Excelsior."

"I dunno, I guess I never thought about it before." Clark blushed as he chewed on his Fritos.

"What, you don't drink?" Clark shook his head. "At all?"

"No. Just never saw the point." Besides, Clark thought, the way my metabolism works it's doubtful I'd even be able to get drunk.

"To each his own." Lex toasted Clark with his can and Clark smiled.

"Hey! Alright." Scott resumed shouting happily at his teammates. He always figured that team leaders should be vocal and positive. "I'm gonna order food, so pick something from the list. Anything special and you have to pay for it yourself." The team had a budget, but it still had to save money on deals when it could.

As everyone eventually ate and drank, Clark found himself relaxing more than he'd ever been before; he was in college, surrounded by friends, watching everyone interact happily, and there was alcohol. He really was enjoying himself, outdoor nudity aside.

He and Lex found a corner of the room near the large common room window and sat down, watching people walk by outside on their way to wherever. They were embroiled in a conversation about cartoons when Zoe came over to join them.

"Hey, guys. What's up?" She sat down and smiled, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

Lex smiled back. "I was just explaining to Clark the existential argument that underlies Family Guy. It's very different from that in American Dad."

Zoe just blinked at them.

Clark grinned. "That's how I feel. Sometimes I have just no idea what the hell he's talking about. All I said was that Adult Swim should be on Saturdays, too."

"Oh, but Clark, there's so much that can be enjoyed in a cartoon or other show if you're willing to look for it."

This time Zoe just blinked at Lex. "Right." She glanced back to Clark, admiring his piercing eyes. "So, Clark. You guys have any plans for after the party?"

Lex knew he wasn't included in whatever she was planning, so he excused himself to go talk to Rory, who looked like she could use someone to talk to.

Suddenly nervous, Clark swallowed. "Uh, no... It's Friday so Lex and I usually watch a movie, but uh, I doubt he'd mind if you and I did something." Or, at least I hope not, he thought, because Zoe is pretty and I've seen her naked and she has a tattoo on her lower back that's kinda hot and she's nice and talking to me.

"Well," Zoe began, "do you want to go to the TKE party later? My friend is a brother and he invited me to go. But not like a date or anything, just to come and hang out."

Clark glanced over at Lex, who was watching Rory laugh at something he must have said. He caught Lex's eye, and he gave him some sort of little dismissive wave that he interpreted to mean that he was fine with Clark doing something with Zoe.

"Um, sure, I'll go with you to the party. I haven't been to a frat party yet. Guess now's my chance." He'd been invited to rush functions, but he'd never gone to any, so he seemed to be off the frats' radar.

Zoe grinned back at him, finally relaxing. She flirted with him for a few more minutes before excusing herself to go change and get ready for the frat party. Clark glanced around and saw Lex tugging his sweater over his head. The days were warm enough to streak, but the nights were still chilly.

Lex saw Clark watching him and went over to tell him that he and Rory were going to head back to her room so he could check out her music collection. "Blue Oyster Cult, Clark! She likes Blue Oyster Cult!" Before Clark could ask what sect he was going to join, and thus possibly alleviate his confusion, Lex was out the door behind Rory.

Clark found Scott, playing some sort of card game involving a large cup with alcohol in it in the middle of the circle, with a bunch of the other team members, and thanked him for inviting them all over to the suite. Scott just waved him off and said it was no big deal, but then groaned as Natalie drew a queen from the cards and claimed the category was brands of Tampons.

Clark, having no idea what they were playing, just shrugged and left the party. He was halfway back to his room when he realized he had nothing to wear to the frat party.

"So, Clark," Lex asked, his voice just dripping with suggestion, "did you and Zoe have fun with the frats last night?"

They were in Lex's room, Lex half lying on his bed while Clark sat tipped back in his desk chair. Lex had also gotten a single, though he had probably bought his. Clark had just gotten very lucky in the draw.

Clark just smiled. "Yeah, as a matter of fact we did." His voice wasn't as suggestive as Lex's, but he did his best.

Lex's eyes widened, but his grin was mischievous. "Really? You get anywhere?"

"We danced a little, well, she danced and I kind of floundered, and then I kissed her good night. Just real quick, nothing much to it. But it was nice. It was a good evening." Clark watched Lex watch him knowingly. "That was it, Lex. But what about you? Anything happen with Rory?"

"Nah. She showed me her cds, and some of her posters, but after I realized that she has a weakness for jam music, I lost all interest in her that way. I don't think I could make out with her with that mindless shit playing in the background."

Lex was so weird.

"So that's it?"

"Yeah, it's not like I was expecting anything else. She's nice enough but I'm not really attracted to her. But Zoe, you guys look good together."

"Yeah, right."

"You do."

"Well, we'll see. I just don't know if I feel that way about her. I think anything I felt last night was just `cause of the circumstances. Besides, I think she was a little drunk."

Lex snorted. "Yes, I do believe she had at least two beers, and she doesn't strike me as one to drink often."

Clark groaned and clutched at his hair with one hand. "She had wine at the party, too, I've heard that stuff gets people wasted really quick. She probably doesn't even remember what she did."

"Trust me, Clark, it takes more than that to make someone black out. You can always ask her out again and see what she says."

"Nah, that's okay. If she wants me, she knows where to find me."

"Yeah, running around naked."

"Yeah. She is hot, though."

"Sure is. I'd like to run my tongue over that tattoo, see what it tastes like..."

"Lex!!"

"What?"

"I don't know." Because Clark didn't know. He liked Zoe enough, but not enough to really want to date her. But what did it matter what Lex said? Clark blurted, "You ever done that?"

"What, licked someone's tattoo?"

"Yeah. I mean no. I mean, have you ever had sex with someone?" Lex didn't flush at all, but Clark felt his own face burn up.

"What? Yeah. Why, you haven't?" Clark's humiliated downward gaze answered for him. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you. I just, I'm so used to the fast life, between boarding school and Europe, that I don't remember sometimes that some people have normal childhoods and don't lose their virginity when they're fifteen."

Clark looked back up at him. "Fifteen? Geez."

"I guess. It didn't mean much. She was from the sister school to Excelsior. We met at a dance, went out another time, and then she just sort of pounced." Lex shrugged his shoulders. "Fifteen year old boys don't say no."

"Wow." Clark flushed again. "What's it like?"

Lex frowned. "What, sex? It feels good, it's nice to feel like you belong to someone, good way to relieve the tension of boarding school and the drag of my father's shadow. I dunno."

"Have you been with anyone since?"

"Yeah, a handful of girls, the only ones who could get past my baldness. Lots of making out and gropes fests and stuff, though. And some sort of drunken groping with my friend Bruce."

"'Bruce'?"

"Yeah. I had gotten way too wasted one night at school, he was there, and he looked really good through my alcoholic haze. He wasn't drunk, but he didn't refuse, and after a minute or two he gently pushed me away and that was it."

"Wow." Lex had kissed another guy? What the hell?

"I suppose. But, Clark, Zoe may be a good chance..." Lex smiled wickedly.

Clark rolled his eyes. "I don't want to sleep with someone just to sleep with them. I'd like it to mean something. Even if I have been a virgin for forever."

"You're eighteen, Clark. Hardly forever."

"But you can say that. You've had sex with people."

Lex made sure Clark was looking into his eyes as he spoke. "Yes. I have. But it's never meant anything. It's only `insert organ, repeat as needed until completion.' People with my background don't have relationships that mean anything."

Clark looked at the floor again. "Oh."

"But I'd rather not talk about this anymore. You want to put in a movie?"

"Whadya got?"

"You say it, I probably have it either on DVD or on my computer..."

They got lost in the movie, though Clark couldn't shake his confusion, and Lex managed to feel guilty. But he wasn't sure what he was guilty about.

"Eww. We're going to get mud everywhere." Natalie grimaced as she pulled her sneaker out of the sucking mud. It had rained earlier in the day, and the campus was partially flooded in the grassy areas.

"Yeah, Scott, can't we change the route to stick to pavement?" Kyle hated running in the rain, and particularly didn't like getting muddy. He'd spent too many recesses and lunch periods with his face in the dirt as he was bullied.

"No! Today was when we planned for the streak of the baseball field and then the lacrosse team."

Even Warren, another senior, didn't want to run with the ground so soggy. "Scott, the lacrosse teams play on the turf. We're gonna fall on our asses."

"Oh, come on you sissies! It's not like any of you have never been wet or muddy before!" Natalie always came to Scott's defense. Clark had bet Lex that they were doing it.

"Thank you, Natalie. Now, the sooner we make the run, the sooner you can all go back and shower and marvel over the way in which the streaking team doesn't have rain delays. Now. Warren, paint!" Scott clapped his hands together again as the rest of the team stripped.

As Lex stripped, he thought about where he'd like to shove one of Warren's paintbrushes into Scott. If it weren't for his hyped-up immune system, he'd be walking back to his dorm today with a cold.

He glanced over at Clark, who didn't seemed to be perturbed at all. As Lex searched for goosebumps on Clark due to the damn air, he couldn't help but notice Clark's physique. Perfect physique, in fact. Better than Bruce's, maybe.

Clark glanced over at him. "You look cold, Lex." Lex glanced down at his body, aware that his body was, in fact, reacting to the cold. Stupid Scott.

"I'll just take a warm shower when I get back. We'll all need to after running through the mud."

Clark smiled. "Just think, haven't you always wanted to run naked through the mud before? Now's your chance."

Lex gave him a strange look, but eventually he smiled. "Though I've never thought about it before, I do suppose it might be fun."

"It will be. Just you wait and see."

The run started off just like any other, Scott carrying their flag, everyone's mask in place, everyone making as much noise as possible to attract attention. Everyone was getting splashed with mud as puddles were stepped into by the crowd. However, it got interesting when Warren, under the pretense of tripping, knocked Scott into a furrow that had been dug along the baseball field.

Scott hoisted himself up, flag and body half-covered in mud. Warren had stopped, doubled over in laugher, at the edge of the trough. Once she glanced back, Natalie joined him, as Scott tried to wipe himself off. When he saw that Warren wasn't going to apologize any time soon, he launched himself at him, knocking him down into the mud as well.

Somehow, the team leaders playing in the mud caused the rest of the team to break out laughing and have their own fun. Zoe threw mud at Clark as Clark whipped some at Kyle. In turn, Kyle knocked Clark down, but not before Clark was able to grab onto Lex's arm and take him with him.

Eventually someone spotted the campus police force coming their direction, and as discussed they all scattered in different directions so as to not get caught. Being known and having a theoretically anonymous picture in the paper was different then having law enforcement, even if just the campus force, write you up for indecent exposure or causing a scene, or whatever it is that Scott told them they had to worry about.

Zoe, Rory, and Kyle ran back the way they had come, while Scott, Natalie, and Warren took off across the baseball field, narrowly avoiding the practicing players. Clark and Lex managed to slip in between two dorms and escape notice as they ran.

"Lex! Wait." Clark pretended to be out of breath. "Where are we going?"

"We can circle around here," Lex pointed to their right, "And my dorm is across that square. We can shower and get dressed there."

Clark groaned. Their clothes were back outside Scott and Natalie's dorm, where they decided to begin and end today's run. He had almost managed to forget he was naked except for his mask and sneakers.

After what seemed like too long to Clark, they got to Lex's dorm and he let them in with the keypad next to the door. Clark could only pay libation later to the gods of modern security for them having updated Lex's dorm so he didn't need keys.

They burst into Lex's room, Lex nearly wheezing he was laughing so hard. "Oh my god, Clark, did you see Mary down the hall? I thought she was going to scream bloody murder! And we definitely surprised that couple making out in the quad."

"Lex! You almost ran into them!"

"Well, what the hell were they doing sitting in the quad right after it rained?!"

"I dunno, maybe they had planned the date and didn't care that the grass was wet. They had a blanket."

Lex just shook his head. "Whatever, Clark, it's still weird."

"Said the naked guy covered in mud."

Lex looked down at himself. Left leg and hip fully covered from when Clark dragged him down, right leg and torso speckled from running. He just shook his head and tossed Clark a towel.

"I'm not the only one. Come on, we can shower now and get cleaned up."

Clark wasn't sure if the layer of mud coating him counted as a covering. He wrapped the towel loosely around his waist, a futile gesture at that point, and followed Lex to the bathroom. Lex had pulled on a pair of flip flops, but hadn't bothered putting on his towel. And Clark couldn't help but notice that he had mud everywhere.

The bathroom in Lex's dorm was old-fashioned, since the building itself hadn't been remodeled in several decades, even though the security had been. A row of sinks was in the middle, with two toilets and two urinals on one side of the room, and the shower area on the other side. Clark gulped when he saw that the shower area was basically a big room separated by three curtains that didn't reach the floor, one in every corner except the one where the door was.

"Lex, these are gang showers. It looks like a prison."

Lex smiled. "I suppose, though at least here you don't have to worry about dropping the soap." He just loved making Clark blush. But what else was Clark's expression revealing?

Clark slipped his towel off and hung it on the hook that was nearest to his chosen curtain, and tried to get the curtain centered. "Lex, these curtains don't really... fit. Anything."

"Be glad you're a streaker, Clark. You have no shame at people seeing you naked, remember?" Lex turned on his shower, groaning when the hot water sluiced through the dirt caking him. "Oh God, that feels good. I didn't realize how cold I was. Oh, yeah..."

Clark turned on his own shower, hoping the running spray would drown out Lex's sex noises. Ever since Lex had told him he wasn't a virgin, and that he'd once kissed a guy, Clark's body had been interested in Lex's. Lex was attractive, in a weird sort of way, and he had nice skin and no weird blemishes or anything. And he was hairless except for his eyebrows and lashes and his pubic hair. Clark hadn't ever thought of how attractive a hairless guy could be, but the lack of hair just augmented Lex's sleek muscle.

And oh god, he thought, this is a really bad time to have an erection. He frowned down at himself, but it wasn't having any of it. He just gave up and tried to think about something other than how good the water felt and how nice it was to get the dirt off of him, and tried not to focus on Lex as he groaned again.

Clark realized he didn't have any shampoo or soap, which was really quite unfortunate. Taking a deep breath, he asked Lex, "Lex, do you have any soap with you?" He knew that asking for shampoo would have been stupid.

"Yeah, I grabbed some when you were fixing your towel." He pushed aside Clark's curtain and walked in, soap in hand. "Here."

Clark froze, he hadn't expected Lex to just walk in on him. Lex glanced downwards, his eyes pausing at what Clark could only assume was the hard-on he sported.

"Um, thanks." Clark took the soap and tried to turn around, but he could feel Lex's pretty blue eyes boring into him. "Um. Ignore that? Water feel good."

Lex just smirked and crossed his arms. "Like I've never seen a hard-on before, Clark. No reason to get all bent out of shape. The water does feel good."

That was when he finally broke contact with Lex's eyes and looked down and saw that Lex was partially hard, too, and no longer covered in mud and he stopped feeling any semblance of sure about himself and Lex just kept staring and he could feel himself blush and it wasn't due to the water and Lex was looking at him like he always did but there was more to it and oh god Lex moved closer...

"I've seen the way you look at me, Clark. I have a feeling it looks at lot like the way I look at you." Lex got as close to Clark as he could, Clark frozen in place. "Don't worry about it. Let's just see what happens." Lex reached up and gripped the back of Clark's neck, and pulled him down for a brief kiss, probably the chastest kiss Lex had ever experienced with anyone.

Lex pulled away and returned to his own curtain. Clark remained frozen, mind whirring with what had just happened and what it meant, because he really liked it but he didn't know why. And now he was scared.

He heard Lex turn off the water. "Clark, come on, get a move on, I want to go grab something to eat. And you need clothes."

The reminder that Clark was, in fact, still nude and in Lex's bathroom startled him into action, and he scrubbed the rest of the mud off his high-strung body and swiped at the dried body paint on his back. He turned the shower water cold, and tried to tell his matter that his mind was in charge of it. After a minute he was under control, and he turned off the water and slipped out to grab his towel.

He padded back down the hall to Lex's room, glad that he hadn't been waiting for him. Lex was at his desk, checking his email, wearing only a pair of jeans.

Clark stood in the doorway. Shifted his weight. "Uh, Lex? Do you have something I can wear?"

Lex didn't even turn around as he answered. "I put out a shirt that's too big for me and a pair of shorts you can probably squeeze into on the bed."

Clark wriggled into the shorts, definitely squeezing into them, and pulled on the polo shirt. "Lex, what the hell am I wearing?"

Lex finally turned around, smirk in its usual place. "I was given that shirt by a relative who never sees me. And the shorts I wear to play sports." Clark gave him a look that clearly reminded Lex that he didn't play sports. "Okay. Used to wear. At Excelsior I'll have you know I played Ultimate Frisbee. And I fence, too, but I can't wear those for fencing."

"'Kay." This wasn't the time for Clark to bring up extracurricular sports, or the fact that he had never seen Lex in shorts or a polo shirt. "The shorts are a bit tight, Lex."

"Yeah, you have thicker legs and a wider waist than I do. You look great in them."

"Um. Thanks."

"Come on, we can go grab an early dinner. Too bad about the run though, I would have liked to streak the lacrosse game."

Clark was confused at the different conversations happening. "But wait, you don't want to talk about what happened in the shower?"

"What, me kissing you?"

"Yeah. I mean, shouldn't we?"

"Don't be such a girl, Clark. We can do more when you're ready."

Lex grabbed a shirt and his shoes and gestured for Clark to put his sneakers back on, effectively ending the conversation for the moment, so Clark never got tell him that that wasn't quite what he wanted to talk about.

"Do you guys think that's a good idea?" Clark asked. He, Lex, and Zoe were in Rory's room, watching Kyle and Rory smoke up.

Rory inhaled again, then blew the smoke back out in Clark's direction. "What, weed? You think we should move on to something harder?"

Clark looked stricken. "No! I just mean... if someone were to catch us..."

Kyle lurched over to Clark and clapped his hand on Clark's knee. "No one is gonna catch us, Clark. Unless you say something. So don't."

Clark raised his hands in surrender. "I won't. Of course not." He still wasn't sure what he was doing here.

Rory offered joints to Lex and Zoe. "You guys sure you don't want any?"

"No, thank you. That stuff makes me paranoid." Lex looked bored. Zoe just declined with a hand gesture.

"You've used marijuana?" Every new detail about Lex that he learned both disturbed and excited Clark.

Lex just turned his smirk to Clark. "I was in Amsterdam for three weeks, Clark. Weed was just the beginning." Yeah, he thought to himself, Clark doesn't need to know the rest.

Clark swallowed loudly. "Oh." He blushed, knowing that he looked like a geek. Zoe watched on, and he couldn't believe he was such a loser with his friends. What did Zoe see in him?

Zoe gave Clark a strange look. "It smells good. But I don't really want to try it. Maybe another time."

This time Kyle clamped his hand down on her knee and slid his hand up her thigh. "Any time you want."

Zoe shoved his hand away. "That's okay, Kyle." She glanced back at Clark, who wasn't sure where to put his eyes. He settled on watching Lex gaze intently at Rory, who seemed to be doing naughty things with her mouth to the joint.

Clark looked back at Zoe, a little perturbed that she was looking at him with the same intensity that Lex was using on Rory. She started to say something but was cut off by Lex. "Hey, guys, I need to head out. I have a full day tomorrow of finishing up a chem lab and writing a history paper. Professor Matthews is such a bitch, she only gave us the weekend to work on it."

Lex stood up and grabbed his sweater. He gave a pointed look at Clark before he left. In response, Clark blushed. Rory caught the look and smirked. She moved over to him, joint in hand, to whisper loudly into his ear. "Go after him, man. He wants you." She then giggled harshly at him.

"Um. I should probably go anyway. It's been a long day, and I'm tired-"

"And you have a hot guy who wants you probably waiting for you right outside." Rory was always perceptive, green haze not withstanding.

Clark glanced over to Kyle and Zoe, who were having some sort of whispered conversation, Kyle making sure that Zoe understood the importance of whatever it was he was saying. "Uh. Right." Addressing all three of them, Clark said his good byes and left the room. He heard Kyle ask again if Zoe wanted a hit, but she said the contact high was good enough for now.

"'Bout time, Clark." Lex's drawled words from right outside the door to the dorm startled Clark, since even though Lex was pale he had a way of melting into the shadows.

"So you were waiting for me?"

"I just couldn't tolerate being in there any longer. The smoke was making me feel strange, and the way Rory was sucking on her joint was making me feel horny." Lex finished his words with a smirk.

"Oh." As the cool night air blew over his skin, Clark realized he had been feeling strange as well. Maybe he was affected by contact after all.

"Come back to my room with me?"

"Don't you have a lot of work to do tomorrow?"

"My lab and that paper. Nothing too difficult."

As they walked down the sidewalk, Clark could feel Lex sizing him up with his eyes. He had seem him naked more than a dozen times, so it couldn't have been too difficult. And he had to admit to himself that he liked it. He had grown accustomed to Lex's gaze over the previous months, and found himself missing it when Lex wasn't around. It was a little creepy, but it meant that at least somebody liked him, and that it was someone whom he felt similarly about.

When they got to Lex's dorm, Lex typed his code into the keypad, and asked Clark, "When we get inside, I'm going to kiss you again. Is that okay?"

Lex sounded as if he had casually asked if he could choose the night's movie, and he didn't even look at Clark as Clark tried to come up with a response as suave as the question. All that finally came out was a half-squeaked, "Yup."

As Clark followed Lex up a flight of stairs and down the hall, he could feel himself getting more and more tense, like how he felt every time Chloe would ask him a question he just couldn't answer and he just stood there trying to figure out what to say and she just looked at him, more and more dejected every time.

Lex finally dragged him inside, actually grabbing his hand. He shut and locked the door and closed his blinds. Lex sat down on his bed and used his remote to turn on his TV.

Clark was confused. "I thought you were gonna..." He trailed off and made a gesture with his hands that was so ambiguous even he couldn't figure out what he meant by it.

"Clark, it's after midnight, and it's on the university's station. This time of night it plays the campus radio station with pictures scrolling in the background." Lex patted the bed beside him. "Now sit down. You're making me nervous, like you're going to bolt."

Clark choked back a laugh. Lex was nervous? Clark was the one who knew he was in over his head. "Uh..."

Before Clark could finish whatever non-thought tried to pick its way through his brain, Lex was standing, one hand on the back of Clark's neck, and other around his lower back, his lips on Clark's.

Clark felt his arms go around Lex, felt his lips press back, felt Lex push him backwards against the door. He had several inches, pounds, and superpowers on Lex, and yet he felt trapped between the smaller boy and the door.

And he really, really liked it.

Lex felt a little weird, and he tasted strange, and Clark was still confused, and yet his body was horrified when Lex pulled away.

"You okay, Clark?"

"Yup. Never better."

Lex crossed his arms over his chest and smirked. "You seem a little tense."

Clark just cleared his throat. But then steeled himself to move back in on Lex, too fast for the shorter boy to uncross his arms. He rubbed one hand up Lex's back, and the other found a front pocket of his jeans. He pressed his lips against Lex's harder until Lex relented and parted his. He could feel Lex trying to push his body away, but the leverage wasn't great.

Clark finally pulled back, grin in place. For the first time since they'd met, Lex looked flushed with something other than the streaker's buzz, as they called it.

Lex dropped his arms again. "So, do we have something here?" He smiled at Clark's look of confusion. "Come on, Clark. Sit down with me."

Clark sat next to Lex on Lex's bed. He couldn't help but notice the way the dark blue spread brought out the color of Lex's eyes. He tried to tell himself to stop being such a girl.

Lex stretched back against the wall at the head of his bed, causing his sweater to ride up. "Clark, talk to me. You've never been with a guy, right?" Clark nodded his head, not sure where this was going. "And you've never... you know... with a girl." Lex's statement was accompanied by a crude hand gesture. Clark shook his head as he ducked it. "I've seen you look at me, Clark, and I can't say I don't like it. I've been attracted to you nearly since I first met you, even before the first practice where we fully stripped. I love your hair, and your eyes, and your grin... Show it to me, Clark." Clark looked up again, and couldn't help but grin as requested. "And then you you're your shirt off for the first time, and I wanted to traced your abs with my tongue."

Suddenly Clark wanted nothing more in his life to happen until Lex got his wish, but instead he looked at Lex skeptically. "I thought you weren't interested in guys."

Lex's eyes, if they could be said to, twinkled. "First time for everything, Clark. Other than that drunken fumbling with Bruce, I haven't looked at a guy other than to tell him `no' when he hit on me." Lex leaned forwards again, elbows on his knees. "Let's just say you inspire me to action."

Clark gulped, suddenly finding himself drowning under the weight of Lex's gaze. "I hadn't ever looked at guys before you, Lex. I've had a couple of girlfriends, but they didn't really work out that well. There were multiple sober fumblings, don't get me wrong, we just never quite got our act together." Clark swallowed again, briefly reliving Lana's fear and Chloe's waning interest. He just really couldn't believe he was saying this. "And then I saw you walk into that first meeting of the streaking team, and I knew that there was so much to you. I could just tell. And since then I've found myself looking at you, and then you always stare at me, and I can just tell you're doing bad things to me with your eyes since there isn't anything to undress."

Lex leaned forwards even more, his voice softer and softer. "Bad things, Clark? Or really really good things?" Lex maneuvered himself to where he could once again kiss Clark.

Clark pulled back, this time a smirk gracing his own features. "Let's find out." Clark met Lex halfway, and found that now that they were sitting, it was somehow less awkward, and he could be flush against Lex instead of above him.

And then Lex slid his hand up underneath Clark's shirt, and Clark found it hard to divide his attention between Lex's silky hand or his warm tongue, which had slipped into his mouth before he realized it. Clark groaned as Lex tried to get his nimble fingers into the waist of Clark's jeans.

Lex took his mouth off of Clark's so he could kiss and lick along Clark's neck. The hand trying to force itself into Clark's jeans gave up and instead trailed itself along the fly. Clark jerked back in surprise.

"Whatcha doing, Lex?" Clark chuckled nervously.

Lex raised his eyebrows. "Just exploring, Clark. Calm down. Unless you want to stop?" Please God, keep going.

Clark shook his head. "No, keep doing... that. Lemme just..." Clark leaned back in, capturing Lex's mouth again. He was just having trouble wrapping his brain around the fact that Lex really wanted him. That Lex's hand was cupping him through his jeans. That he couldn't seem to remember anything he'd ever wanted to touch more than Lex's skin.

Clark's hand found a sensitive spot at the small of Lex's back, and as he stroked the area Lex groaned appreciatively. Clark pushed Lex back, trying to take control. He just wanted more. Contact, sensation, Lex's little noises, whatever he could get. As he shifted over Lex, Lex's palm found a better angle, and all of a sudden Clark found himself near orgasm.

"Oh God, Lex, I think I might cum," Clark all but panted against Lex's mouth.

"Please do, Clark." Clark found himself thrusting against Lex's hand, and then he tipped over the edge, coating the inside of his boxers with warm, sticky fluid.

"Oh God, Lex, I'm sorry." Clark knew he didn't look so much sorry as embarrassed. He'd never come that fast in his life, and not at all with Chloe or Lana.

Lex just pulled Clark's head back with his hair so he could look him in the eyes. "No worries, Clark. The first time I had sex, I came really quickly, too. I wasn't inside her for more than a minute or two. She wasn't too thrilled, but I did my best to make up for it in other ways."

Clark swallowed. "You want me to help? You, I mean. With. Something?"

"Heh, it's okay, Clark. Right now I just want to enjoy having you here. And you know, it's strange, I've seen you nude so many times it's almost more arousing to be fully clothed with you."

"No, I can understand that. You're not focusing on what's underneath, you're thinking beyond that. Which might be good, because I don't know if I'm going to be able to handle seeing you without clothes again without getting hard."

Lex shifted down so he could whisper conspiratorially in Clark's ear. "Well, in that case, we might have to do something beforehand to ensure you won't be able to be aroused quite so easily."

Clark groaned against Lex's chest. "With your shirt on, I can focus more on what I feel, rather than what I'm used to seeing..." He skated his hand around Lex's torso until his fingers found one of Lex's nipples.

Lex hissed as Clark traced the areola with a broad finger. "Fuck, Clark. Do that harder." Clark complied, pleased that Lex had started squirming. He decided to make it worse by sucking on the pulse point in Lex's neck.

"Oh God, Clark. Yeah. Right there..." Lex's hand had reached down to rub himself through his pants.

Sizing up the situation, Clark told Lex to stop and wait a minute. He climbed fully over Lex, trying to make sure that Lex's groin was aligned with a good place to rub. He also pushed Lex's shirt up so his hardened nipples were exposed. As he leaned back down, he figured, Chloe went crazy that one time I did this to her, maybe Lex'll like it, too.

When Clark's warm, wet tongue made contact with his exposed flesh, Lex, while he didn't go crazy, still reacted the way Clark hoped he would. "Oh, Clark, like that, please..." He hooked a leg over Clark to get better leverage, and one hand clutched Clark's hair tighter.

As Lex moved faster, so did Clark, trying to make more urgent whines erupt from Lex. Before too long, a bit more than whines erupted from Lex as he pulled tighter on Clark's hair and shuddered up into him.

"Mmmm. Clark. That was fun."

Clark raised an eyebrow at his sleepy-looking friend. "Fun?"

"Yeah. Come lie down with me. Don't want you to go yet."

"You sure? I mean, maybe I should go."

Lex rolled his head to look at Clark fully. "You alright? I mean, you don't regret what we just did, right? I'm assuming you had fun, too." Catching Clark's uncertainty since it radiated off the boy in gigantic standing waves, Lex tried a different tactic. "By fun, I meant great time. The first of many great times, I hope. I'd really like to do this again sometime, with or without clothing. There's so much more I'd like to do with you."

Clark smiled a little, and settled back down along Lex. "Yeah, okay. I... `fun' isn't the right word, but I definitely am having a great time. With you."

Lex ran a hand up Clark's back. "Then stay the night here."

"Yeah. Okay."

Lex was already half asleep, listening to the lulling sounds of whatever slow rock played through the TV, when a tentative voice asked him, "Um, Lex? Can we change into something first?"

"Clark, why did you ever join the streaking team?" Lex sat behind Clark on Clark's bed, Clark wedged between his spread legs as he leaned against the wall. They watched a Seinfeld marathon on TV, Clark griping periodically about how stupid he thought the show was.

Clark pressed back a little harder into Lex. "I dunno. It seemed like the thing to do. I can't play sports, but it seemed like a good way to get to run around with a bunch of people, get to meet people."

Ignoring the sports comment, Lex only replied, "But it requires that you run around nude."

Clark turned his head to try to catch Lex's eye, but Lex was focused intently on the show. "Well, yeah. I figured, I was labeled as a geek in high school, and every time I tried to be cool it just made it worse. But here, no one knows me, no one knows that I was a geek with exactly two friends and a handful of acquaintances. I was always in the background, and no one ever noticed me; there was nothing to distinguish me from anyone else except that I had a way of saving peoples' lives. But here, people actually see the tall guy with the nice body. I mean, not to be immodest or anything. And they don't know that they're supposed to think I'm a geek."

Lex pressed his lips into Clark's hair. "Clark, if anyone can boast about their body, it's you. You're perfect, and maybe you couldn't see it before, but it's certainly evident now."

Clark blushed, pleased that Lex said he was attractive, even though his stares said most of that for him. "What about you? Why did you join?"

Lex chuckled. "I've always had a bit of an exhibitionist in me. I was shy and awkward as a kid, but then went a little crazy in my teens. At least this way, I'm not alone. And, you know, naked chicks. And you."

Clark rolled his eyes. "What if it were all ugly guys, would you have stayed?"

"Heh. Would you?"

"I doubt it. I might have released the exhibitionist within, but it's nice seeing other pretty people. And, you know, it really helps that I met you."

"Mmm. Yeah, that definitely helps." Lex shifted around until he could press his lips against Clark's, and Clark turned to accept him.

Lex climbed around to push Clark down and straddle him, and lazily allowed his tongue to war with Clark's, television forgotten.

To mix up the runs a little bit, Scott decided that the team should do several indoors, through the larger lecture halls, where the presence of a few more students at the beginning of class wouldn't be noticed. It never failed to rouse the classes or the streakers, because the streakers knew they were up close and personal with everyone, and the students in class knew that any semblance of a serious class was blown for the rest of the lecture.

For one of the final runs of the year, half the team joined an introductory biology class, while the other half was in another section of campus sitting in on an English Lit class. The weather was warm and sunny, so the students were restless to begin with.

At the assigned time, the streakers stripped out of their clothing and ran up, down, or around the lecture halls at whim until they reached the doors closest to the outside. Lex and Clark happily ran up the stairs in the biology lecture hall, Clark forcing himself to stare at Lex's shoulders and not his ass. They reached Warren, who guided them out through the fire exit, Rory, Kyle, and the rest of that half of the team on their heels.

The team rendezvoused at the halfway point, near the football field, and finished the run by heading to the locker rooms so they could put their clothes back on. Lex thought it was silly to have to carry them around in backpacks on certain runs, but there wasn't really anything else they could do if they wanted to start the run in the middle of something.

"Oh, man! That rocked!" Kyle and some of the other boys exchanged high-fives before he pulled a joint out of his pocket. Lighting it, he laughed, "I never saw an expression like that on my friend Mike's face! I'm so glad I picked the bio class, it was totally worth it to squick him!"

Scott, still nude, picked the joint out from between Kyle's lips. "Not in here, dumbass." Kyle grumbled, but put it out. He knew better than to say something back to Scott. The kid was in the top ten in his class, so maybe he knew what he was talking about. At least once in a while.

"Alright, guys," Scott returned to the rest of his team. "I hope to see everyone at the party this weekend, just another way to round out the year. Though if the last few runs go well, we can have another one before finals week." The boys all grinned, knowing Scott well enough that even if things went horribly, there would be a second party.

Once the boys left the locker room, they could hear Natalie giving the girls a similar speech in the girls' locker room. When they were clear of everyone else and alone, Clark grabbed Lex's hand and squeezed it. Lex squeezed back.

They had decided to keep their relationship a secret from the team as best they could, Lex outlining more reasons off the top of his head than Clark had come up with in several days: It might make things weird. People would treat us differently. Scott would tease. Everyone would be far-too-easily able to picture us fooling around. Neither of us is out yet. It'd be that much harder to not get hard around you because then we could actually touch around them.

The funny part, to Clark, was that they hadn't ever yet fooled around without being fully clothed. They had both agreed that it was sexier when dressed since they already saw each other naked on a regular basis, and, that unless one of them said otherwise, they were to keep their clothes on. The last time Lex had had his hands down Clark's pants, he couldn't stop whispering in Clark's ear about what a turn on it was being forced to rely on touch and memory. Clark wondered if Lex would be up for blindfolds.

"Clark, let's go back to your room." Lex started to tug him in that direction, then pulled his hand out of Clark's when they exited the building into the square.

Clark, willing to follow Lex just about anywhere he asked without any questions, turned in that direction as well. Lex continued. "I know we're closer to my place, but my father has been calling more frequently, to check up on me or possibly just annoy me, and since I usually ignore his calls or wait to return them when I know he won't be around, he may decide to pop in. I'd rather he not interrupt us..." Lex trailed off, turning his heated eyes to Clark's.

Clark gulped, and was suddenly really glad to be fully clothed so the other people in the quad couldn't see his erection. "Yeah. Sure."

They made it back to Clark's dorm, and he struggled to pull his keys out of his pockets. When he finally got his door open, the fact that Lex was practically draping himself over Clark not helping, he pushed Lex inside and shut and locked the door. Clark sidled up to Lex, pressing his lips against those of the paler boy, forcing his tongue past them as he drew his arms around the smaller waist. Lex moved backwards, pulling Clark by his belt loops until they reached Clark's bed. Lex sat down then pulled Clark on top of him.

One of Lex's hands slid up Clark's back to thread through his hair, and Clark braced one hand next to Lex's head as the other found its way underneath Lex's shirt. With his other hand, Lex took advantage of the space and undid Clark's fly and slipped it inside. He pulled out Clark's cock, heavy in his hand as he stroked it lazily.

Clark shifted a bit and trailed his lips down Lex's exposed neck, using his teeth where he deemed it necessary. Lex groaned and started to jack him harder, the hand in Clark's hair gripping tighter. Clark started moving with Lex's hand, and Lex started whispering dirty things in his ear, and he had to focus really hard on not biting deeply into Lex's throat as he came.

He paused briefly to enjoy his own satiation, but soon began working on Lex, wanting Lex to feel as good as he did. He undid Lex's pants and pushed them down enough to get what he wanted, then scraped whatever remains of his cum he could from Lex's shirt to aid Lex's precum as a lubricant to jerk Lex off.

Clark looked into Lex's half-lidded eyes, his flushed face, the expected smirk when Lex caught him looking. "Come on, Clark, bring me off, you know you want to, you know how, come on..." To quiet Lex's words, Clark captured his mouth again, and all Lex could do was moan as Clark's hand moved faster. Before too long, Lex shuddered up into Clark, doing his best to stifle his groan of completion. They were in a dorm, after all.

Clark finally shifted next to Lex, the narrow bed forcing him to still rest partially on top of him. "Mmm, Clark. We need to do this more often."

Clark smiled and quirked an eyebrow. "We already fool around as often as we can. Unless you want to feel me up during classes or at practices or during runs, we're doing all we can do." He saw Lex start to speak, his snarky expression in place. "And I know we're already nude during practices and runs, but you're not touching me then. It's hard enough as it is."

Lex pushed his leg against the general area of Clark's groin. "Not hard right now."

Clark climbed back on top of Lex, pinning his arms over his head. "And whose fault is that?"

"'Fault'? Why Clark, I thought you were happy with my efforts. If you'd rather walk around hard all the time, who am I to talk you out of it?"

"You're so wicked, Lex."

"And you love it. Don't deny it."

"I don't think I was going to."

Clark went back in again to kiss Lex, if for no other reason than he wouldn't have to look at Lex's knowing, sarcastic expression.

Clark sat in his room, trying to study Marshall McLuhan so he could write a paper on him, but he couldn't focus. It didn't help that he couldn't get past McLuhan's seeming double-talk and contradictions and invention of unexplained word definitions, but he was really worried about Lex. Well, not exactly about Lex, but more for Lex and what it meant for Clark.

Lex barely knew anything about Clark's past, and certainly didn't know anything about his origins. It was getting harder and harder to keep things from Lex, and pretty soon Lex was going to notice things were strange for Clark.

During a particularly good hand job, Clark had almost set the room on fire with his heat vision. Thank God he hadn't been with anyone when he had developed the power his sophomore year, when his alien hormones reacted to that Desiree Atkins woman. She had just shown up at their school one day, with her new husband, Bruce Wayne, who had just bought the fertilizer plant outside of town.

He had thankfully trained himself well enough to be able to let his total control go at least a little bit. He hadn't worried too much about hurting Lex with his strength, possibly because they'd only done hand jobs and he focused on not squeezing too hard. And the thought of hurting Lex or setting him on fire was enough to make sure he had his powers in mind, even when Lex decided to try to tease him and drive him crazy.

Clark wasn't sure what deity to thank for making his X-ray vision and super hearing not an issue when it came to sex. And his super speed sometimes came in handy, or at least he figured Lex liked it when he moved just a little faster than he should have, based on Lex's mewling. At least with all the crap he caused to happen, it was nice that something good could come out of it.

Clark was startled out of his thoughts by a knock on the door. He X-rayed through it, not willing to get up and answer unless it was worth it. He grinned when he recognized Lex through the heavy fire-resistant door. "Come in!" Calling Lex by name would have raised some questions he didn't want to answer, similar to the ones Lex had asked when Clark had ripped off the buttons on several pairs of pants in a row the first few times they'd fooled around.

"Hey, lover. I thought you might be studying too hard, so I brought a distraction. And a movie." Lex crossed the small room to kiss Clark lightly on the lips then drop into his lap.

Lex really was a shameless flirt.

"Whatcha reading?" Lex asked as he picked up Clark's book from the desk. "Ah, Understanding Media. The crackpot with a vision."

"It's for my intro communication class. We have to write a paper."

"How long it is and when's it due?"

"Four pages, Monday."

Lex threw the book back on Clark's desk, marveling at the way his boyfriend was working on such a short paper four days early. But it was Thursday, and neither of them had an early Friday class, and he was a little horny. And he wanted Clark to help him out.

"Clark, you have plenty of time." Lex dropped his voice to the level that he knew Clark found sexy. "Besides me, what do you have to do this weekend?"

Clark scowled, but blushed. "Just Saturday's run past the track meet and a history quiz to study for." He shoved up Lex's shirt, trailing his fingers along his abs. Lex had toned a bit since they'd met.

Lex leaned back against Clark, his hand coming to rest over the wrist of Clark's roving hand. "Then don't worry about it."

When it came to Lex, Clark was fairly pliant. Lex tilted his head back, and Clark kissed his neck, knowing that Lex was really sensitive in a couple of places. He felt his hair brush against Lex's bare head, and he stilled. Lex had mentioned something once about having been in Smallville...

"Um, Lex?"

"Mmm, yeah, Clark?"

"If you don't mind my asking, or anything, how did you lose your hair?"

"It's okay, Clark, you can ask me anything. And when I was about three, maybe four, my family went to Smallville to look into buying some land and a factory there. But it happened to be the day of the meteor shower, which you must know about."

Uh, yeah.

"And my father was discussing the purchase with the current owners, while my mother and I were walking through the cornfield nearby. And then the sky fell without warning. My mother tried to shield me, to save me, but the radiation was still enough to kill my hair follicles. Except my pubic hair and eyebrows and eyelashes. No one could really quite figure out why. But frankly I'm glad I have the lashes and brows, it really helps people accept that I'm not a total freak. And while the pubic hair makes a little more sense, it looks weird without hair on the rest of me. But it's definitely not worth the trouble of shaving it. But, the radiation also did something to my immune system, so I rarely get sick and heal quickly."

Afraid to ask, Clark couldn't not. "What about your mom?"

Lex's hand, which had been stroking Clark's, stopped. "She died. She didn't have anything to protect her, and the blast was too close. Even if the blast hadn't killed her, she probably would have had cancer or something."

Clark, absolutely horrified, pressed his lips against Lex's head and squeezed him tight, all he could do at this late age. "I'm so sorry."

Lex raised his hand back around Clark to grip the back of his neck, liking the feel of his hair on his skin. "I've learned to cope, Clark, with lots of therapy. It's been difficult, even now, I think my father blames me for my mother's death. If it weren't for her feeling that she should entertain me away from my father, she would have been next to him, and not roaming the cornfield. The whole experience was probably why my father decided not to buy anything in Smallville, and it's almost certainly why he considers me more his spawn than his son." Lex paused, and Clark could swear he could feel him smile. "It's interesting, though, a couple of years ago my friend Bruce, the guy I told you about, he bought the plant my father had been looking at. His first acquisition when he turned eighteen."

Clark laughed. "Your friend Bruce is Bruce Wayne?"

Lex turned a little to look at him. "You know him?"

"Lex, I'm from Smallville. Everyone there knows him. He comes through every now and then to check out the plant. And my friend Chloe said she's caught him snooping around the meteor rocks, probably doing research on something. And every boy in the school had the hots for his wife. He's not too bad looking either, so all the girls check out him."

Lex laughed. "Oh yeah, Desiree. That vapid whore. He told me about her, trying to kill him for his money. It's funny she got her claws in him right as he made a trip to Smallville, and you got to meet her. And don't mind Bruce, he's a good guy. He should be good for your town."

"I met him once or twice, stopped Ms. Atkins from killing him, saved him from this other psycho... I can't believe your first male flame was Bruce Wayne! That is so cool."

"'Cool'?" Lex could feel Clark smile against his head.

"It means I'm in good company."

"Well, you are when you're with me, anyway." Clark rolled his eyes, and they rested on the movie Lex had brought with him.

"Lex, what the heck is this? Poison Irving?"

"Ever hear of Poison Ivy?"

"That movie with Jamie Pressly?"

"Eventually, yes. But this is the version of that concept made with a guy instead of a girl. I figured the gratuitous graphic sex scenes would be a little more relevant this way. But if you don't want to watch it, and would rather watch something a little plainer, I suppose we can..."

"Nah, we can check out your pseudo-porn flick. It's certainly more fun than doing work." Clark's hand, which had resumed skimming over Lex, moved harder and lower down his torso. "You're so bad for me."

"Perhaps. But I'm also so good for you."

Clark really couldn't disagree with that, and he didn't even try as Lex wriggled around to kiss him.

"Kent! Luthor! Get over here!"

Glancing at each other, Clark and Lex hurried over to Scott.

"What, oh fearless leader?"

"Shut up, Lex. Now, I need to know something. Rory has been dropping little hints about the two of you. Is there anything going on that I should know about?"

Clark turned red, and Lex knew very little of it was due to his fire-engine hued shirt. Trying to save his boyfriend the humiliation, Lex spoke up for the two of them. "If anything is, it's got nothing to do with you and it's nothing you need to know."

Scott rolled his eyes. "Just don't run around hard, okay? I know it's tough, sometimes when I see Natalie run by my side it's all I can do to not take her right there, but I'd rather there never be a rumor that the streaking team has orgies or anything."

Knowing that Clark was going to squeak out something about orgies, Lex spoke up again. "I assure you, Scott, that we will do our best to not let our overactive freshman libidos consume us with the urge to copulate in the middle of a run or practice."

"Thanks. And I'm cool with you guys, no homophobia from me. Before you guys got here I gave the same speech to Rory and Kyle."

Lex didn't have time to cut off Clark's squeak. "Rory and Kyle?! Since when?"

Scott smiled. If he weren't straight, he'd probably want to jump Clark, too. "I caught them making out last week. They were in the library, in the neuro section, they figured no one would need any of those books, I'm writing a paper about phantom limb and knew that Ramachandran's books were up there, and, well, that was that."

Clark watched Lex nod like he knew what Scott was talking about, thought knowing Lex, he did. "Fascinating stuff. I've heard he's a good lecturer, too. Too bad he's not coming here any time soon." Lex really was a nerd.

"Alright, boys, we should probably actually get started. Today's the big day when we try to out-do the track team!" If nothing else, Scott was always enthusiastic. "Alright! Everyone, circle up! This is my favorite run of the season, where we buzz by the track. And it'll be extra special this year, since Zoe is on the track team!"

"What? Since when?"

"Since the season started. She's a pole vaulter, so she doesn't have to do as much running or anything. And haven't any of you noticed that she hasn't been to the last couple weekend runs?"

Now that he mentioned it... periodically people missed runs, or only half the team ran anyway, and sometimes it was hard to notice who wasn't there.

"So, when we run by, it'll be after the pole vault event, and Zoe's going to strip there in front of everyone and run with us from there! It'll be great!" No one could ever argue with Scott's logic, except during the rain.

After that, and reviewing the trail one more time, the team stripped down and painted and masked up. Clark had a hard time watching Lex step out of his pants and boxers. After what Scott had warned them against, watching Lex's muscles flex in the sunlight as he undressed was wreaking having on his control over his so-called overactive freshman libido.

Lex watched Clark close his eyes and inhale deeply. Concerned, he trailed his fingers down Clark's still-covered arm. "You okay?"

Clark breathed out a laugh and opened his eyes. "Yeah. Um, I'm just not sure, after everything Scott said, that I can do this." He quickly continued when he saw the hurt look on Lex's face. "I mean, I'm trying not to get hard! All I can picture is you running around with an erection, all because of me, and it just makes me want to jump you here!"

Wanting to tease, but knowing he shouldn't, Lex just tried to make Clark feel better. "Well. That would be fun, though we'd definitely be arrested and kicked off the team. So, we can't do anything. But, if it makes you feel any better, try to picture my father. Or your father. Or that history quiz you haven't yet studied for. Or the sunburn I'm going to get if we're out here too long, and I can barely wear a shirt, let alone be touched by hands. Just think of as many unpleasant things as you can. Or, recount baseball statistics. I've heard that that works."

Clark, who had gone pale then annoyed then sad at Lex's words, just replied, "I don't follow baseball."

"Then football. Or hockey. Or basketball. Whatever. The sport doesn't matter, it's the thought that counts." Lex cocked his head. "Or what thoughts you don't have that count."

Clark just groaned as Warren, as ever, handed out their paint. "Kent, keep it in your pants." Clark and Lex just looked at him. "Figuratively, of course."

Everyone finished stripping and shoved their clothing into the backpacks carried by several of the team's members. After they ran by the track meet, they were going to swing around the adjacent quad, between a set of buildings, then back again so they could change in the nearby building and Zoe could rejoin her other team.

As Clark carefully painted Lex's number on his back, Lex couldn't help but feel how good the cool paint felt against his warm skin, and the way the bristles of the brush tickled as they spread the paint. He closed his eyes and sighed happily, and he felt Clark move closer.

"Lex, calm down. Baseball. Hockey. Your father. Bad stock reports. The bathroom on a Sunday morning after a party." Clark's words weren't quite as effective as they should have been, since Clark's whisper voice wasn't that different from his sexy voice.

But Lex forced himself to tamp down on his arousal so he could get through this, and Clark could get through this, and they could hang out like normal people with their friends, and then afterwards they could fool around.

Scott barked his final orders and Lex opened his eyes to find Scott glaring at him, while Natalie smirked and Lex could have sworn she did a little nude shimmy.

Overall the run was fairly uneventful until they reached the track. People had gotten used to their presence, which was why they didn't bother streaking more often, and why they tried to hit different places on campus each time. They got some stares, and some people pointed, but nothing really amazing happened until they got to the track meet.

Scott led them along the edge where the hurdles were set up, and he made a move as if he were going to attempt them, but of course that was only to try to get peoples' attention. As if a fairly good-sized group of naked kids wearing nothing but shoes, numbers, masks, and the occasional backpack and making as much noise as they could ever had real trouble getting attention.

Clark could see Zoe standing with two other girls, and as they neared her, he could see her break out into a grin, and saw her say something to the girls she was with. That seemed to be the cue and all three of them pulled off their warm ups suits to reveal their nudity.

Scott handed Warren the flag so he could clap his hands and hoot like a maniac at the surprise. Zoe's grin never wavered as she and her two friends joined hands and raised them above their heads. The members of opponent schools at the meet lost their concentration a bit, but it seemed to be a slack time so it didn't matter that much. The cheers from the stands and passers-by were nearly deafening, nearly more so than they were for the big races and competitions.

Clark laughed at all of it, really happy with the way things were going, glad that Scott was glad, and Zoe was happy, and Lex was watching him out of the corner of his eye. Clark grabbed his hand to give it a squeeze, and Lex returned it but let go.

The team circled around on the designated route, finally returning to the meet, fully clothed, so Zoe and her teammates could rejoin the meet and the streakers could watch the rest of it. Clark and Lex begged off, Clark claiming he had work to finish, which was partly true, and Lex explaining that he had to take care of business with his father. Scott just shot them a look that clearly said he knew that that was a load of crap. Rory, holding hands with Kyle, grabbed Clark's hand as he passed by, and when he looked down into it, he realized that Rory had given him a condom. Lex watched Clark blush as they walked together.

"Clark, it's going to be really hard to, uh, go all the way with you if you blush like a school girl at the mere appearance of a condom."

"Sorry, sometimes the shy Kansas farmboy that I've been for the last eighteen years and whom I've been trying to fight rears his little sunburned head to patronize the freer person I've tried to become here." Clark grabbed Lex's hand again, not caring that they were still in the open on their way back to Clark's room. "But yeah, I want to. Eventually. And I know it's stupid and girly to say I want to wait, but I do. And I'm sorry."

"Clark, you began and ended that little speech with the word `sorry.' And I need to tell you that it's okay if you're shy, and it's okay that you're nervous. And it's definitely okay that you want to wait. I'm not going anywhere, and I like you far too much for anything like that to get in the way of what we have."

"Do you realize you begin half of everything you say to me by addressing me by name?" Clark turned to smirk at Lex.

"It helps me remember it the next morning." Clark gave him a shove that just unbalanced him, since they were still joined by their hands.

"Don't change, Clark." Clark didn't like it when Lex switched from humorous to serious without warning.

Clark stopped them, in the middle of the alleyway between dorms where they were currently standing, and kissed Lex as deeply as he dared, his tongue briefly entering Lex's mouth but not staying there long enough to do more than look around.

"I don't plan on it. And you can't either."

Lex just looked at him with his `aw, shucks' expression, which he knew didn't hold a candle to Clark's, before they lead each other back to Clark's room.

After they had reached Clark's dorm, they took a quick shower (in separate stalls) to rinse off, and then Lex had tackled Clark backwards onto the bed. He whispered his plan into Clark's ear, and while listening to Lex's voice Clark thought he was going to be finished before they even started.

They each stripped out of their pants and boxers, but kept their shirts on. After making out a little, they each laid on their left sides, right foot flat with their right leg bent at the knee, face to groin. They'd seen each other before, but never quite like this.

Clark just marveled at Lex's cock, straining for his attention, slit glistening. He stayed in familiar territory, just stroking it, watching more precum ooze out. Tentatively, he licked at it, causing Lex to squirm. He did it again, listening for Lex's moans, liking bringing down Lex's calm, collected front down a notch.

Lex gazed at the dark cock in front of him, and he just dove right in with his tongue, laving where he could reach. He enjoyed anything that made his farmboy squeak like that. He took in what he could, his hand mimicking the movement where his mouth couldn't reach.

Before too long, even at the odd angle, Lex had Clark overwhelmed, and he just started thrusting as best he could into Lex's waiting, open, eager mouth. "Oh God, Lex, I'm about to-"

"Go ahead, Clark, I'm waiting." Lex took Clark back in, just as Clark stilled, then shot into his mouth, down his throat. As he came, Clark went back to Lex, sucking and rubbing Lex until Lex had to stifle his scream around Clark's cock.

Afterwards, Lex shifted around so he and Clark were lying face to face, and they could kiss again, sharing each other. Clark pushed his hand up underneath Lex's shirt. "I think that I understand now why people say that sixty-nine is their favorite number." Lex just smiled. "Lex, I think, that, I'd like to see you fully naked."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Not to fool around with, per-say, but, I think it's time we did that. I see you naked all the time, but I never really get to see."

Lex smiled, knowing what Clark meant. "I'd like that. But only if I get to really see you, too." Clark just grinned and pushed Lex onto his back so he could pull him out of his shirt, and then Lex did the same for Clark.

On their sides again, they half watched each other look at and study them, but the rest of their attention was spent exploring. Clark couldn't get over the pale, smooth, hairless skin in front of him, the dusky nipples that clearly indicated that the room was a little chilly, the smattering of freckles across Lex's chest that he had only ever seen on a really sunny day. The nicely-toned but not overly-defined abs, the ribs that were visible, the scar from when Lex had his appendix removed.

Lex had to force himself not to reach out and touch, stroke, rub. Clark's skin was flawless, not a blemish or scar to mar the surface, and oddly no hair sprouting from his chest. It just made his dark nipples stand out, and Lex wanted to lick them. But he didn't, instead letting his eyes dip to Clark's chiseled abs, his own personal living statue of the divine.

"Lex."

"Mmm?"

"Can I touch?"

"Only if I get to touch you, too."

"Yeah, definitely."

And then they could reach out, and stroke and rub and trail their fingers along defined muscle. After a while Lex couldn't help but reach out with his tongue and lick, and Clark couldn't help but groan as Lex applied his skilled tongue. Lex climbed on top of Clark, their erections pressed together, and they rutted against each other until they both came, their bodies sliding through their cum.

Lex started to get up, feeling like he needed another shower, but Clark wouldn't let him up, and they fell asleep, even though it was only early evening.

"I can't believe Scott considers this the most important run of the season." Clark shielded his eyes against the warm May sunlight as he looked across the Main Quad. It was the weekend before finals, and it was traditional for Met U to have an all-campus picnic on the quad for faculty, students, and any parents who wanted to make the trip. The picnic was always the last run of the streaking season because it was the most visible and was therefore a solid way to end the year.

"Well, I can understand his point. Though I do feel somewhat self-conscious about running around nude in front of so many parents and professors." Lex was about to pull off his shirts when Clark stopped him.

"Lex, what are you wearing?"

"Black."

"Well, yes, which you really shouldn't do because it makes you look even paler and skinnier, but I meant your t-shirt." Clark tugged at the edge of Lex's shirt so he could read the words on it: `I'm surrounded by idiots and there's no escape.'

"Oh, that." Lex grinned before continuing. "It's just broadcasting the surface of the private thoughts I have when I walk around campus. I thought it'd be fitting to wear to the picnic, once we change back into our clothes."

"Aren't you hot in a black t-shirt and black" Clark grabbed the long-sleeved shirt underneath "thermal?"

"I'm cold."

"But it's not cold."

"Perhaps not to you."

"Whatever. You have to get out of that, anyway."

"Yes, dear."

Clark gave Lex a shove. "Shut up."

Any further banter was cut off as Scott gave his usual pre-run pep talk, which was longer than normal because since Scott was a senior, it was his last to give. Natalie smooched him afterwards, and Clark could have sworn he saw Scott tear-up a little bit. Their final party was that night, so it wasn't as if this was the very last time they'd see each other.

Once everyone was suited up (such as they could be), Scott hoisted their flag and lead the team through an alleyway and into the picnic. Clark tried to not let himself blush as he caught sight of thousands of people enjoying food and cramped outdoor recreation.

About a third of the way across the quad the team split into groups of two and three, to cover more ground and allow for small spaces between picnickers. They were all going to meet for the final third of the quad, then split into two groups at the other end and then run back on the outside of the quad the way they came.

Soon after Clark and Lex separated themselves to run alone, Clark heard a voice call his name. He normally wouldn't have turned to look, but the voice called again, more insistently. He looked towards the voice, and stopped in his tracks, causing Lex to crash into his back.

It was his parents. Father with a beer. Mother with a Sprite. Clark with a full-body blush.

"Oh God."

Lex frowned. "What's wrong?"

Clark pointed to the cheerful-looking woman waving and the man who seemed to be looking everywhere but at them. "Those are my parents."

Lex started to laugh, but sensing (and seeing) that his boyfriend was tense and red, cut himself off, but planned a teasing strategy for later in the back of his head.

Clark trotted over to them, grabbing Lex's hand and dragging him with him. "Hi, Mom and Dad, I can't talk now but we'll be back in a little while. We have to finish the run."

Mrs. Kent barely stopped smiling as she replied, "Of course, sweetie. We'll be somewhere around here."

Clark dragged Lex away from them, and they continued on the run through the quad, looking for the rest of the team. "I can't believe this! What are they doing here? They never said they were coming! They saw me naked! My mother saw me naked! What am I going to do?"

Lex rolled his eyes. "Not much you can do, sweetie." Clark looked over and glared. "What's the difference? Now your mom knows what a big boy you are." Clark dropped Lex's hand and smacked him. Then grabbed it again. "You'll all get over it. Just enjoy the fact that most of these people don't know you."

"Thanks, Lex. That really helps. What would you do if your dad saw you here?"

"Probably have a heart attack, since there's no way he's setting foot on campus before graduation," Lex replied happily. "But he's seen me nude since I've reached puberty, so there isn't anything he hasn't seen. Maybe I should get a tattoo or a piercing..."

Before Clark could even inquire about that story, they heard Scott yelling at them. "Kent! Luthor! Drop the hands and hurry up! Where you been?"

Lex let his hand slip out of Clark's, lingering at his fingers, before telling Scott that they had been detained by unforeseen circumstances. "Whatever, boys. Let's go!"

They reached the rest of the team, and the rest of the run was uneventful. While they were getting dressed towards the end of the alley from which the run began, Scott reminded everyone about the party, and told them that the season had been great.

Lex rolled his eyes. It wasn't as if they had actually competed with anyone.

Fully dressed, Lex looking like an extra from a movie about Satan worshippers (Clark wondered what he would look like with a pentagram painted on the back on his head), Clark and Lex returned to the picnic to grab food and look for Clark's parents.

"Just think, Clark, with your parents here embarrassing you through the ground, there wasn't any risk of either of us getting hard during the run."

Clark rolled his eyes while reaching for Lex's hand again. "Yeah, Lex. That's exactly what was running through my mind. Though you do have a point. It'll be a while before I'll be, uh, fully functional."

Lex leaned into Clark to whisper in his ear, and pulled away once Clark was fully flushed, and he hoped partially hard.

"Lex, I've told you you're pure evil, right?"

"Well, enough people have told me that my father is Satan that I've come to take that as a fact."

Clark stopped them so that he could kiss Lex. "I take it back. You're not evil."

"It's okay, Clark. I've come to accept it."

Clark tugged them through the quad, wishing that any of his visual gifts acted as sunglasses or person-detectors. Not quite sure of where his parents had ambushed him previously, he just wandered in the general area until he heard his mother call him again.

"Clark! Over here!" Clark cringed. It wasn't until his mom moved to hug him that he realized that he and Lex were still holding hands. He dropped it as his mom's arms went around him. "Sweetie, we've missed you."

"You guys didn't have to come all the way here, I mean I'll be ready to come home in a week or so."

His father, eyeing Lex carefully, just said, "We know, son, but we thought we'd surprise you."

Mission accomplished.

"Well, uh, great! You having a good time so far?"

Martha fielded that one. "Yes, we are. Your fellow students have all been very friendly, and we wound up talking to one of your professors that we met last semester. She said she hopes you take another class of hers in the future."

Maybe if he weren't invulnerable, the ground could swallow him on command.

"Who's your friend, son?" Lex tried to shy away from Jonathan's gaze.

Clark blushed. "Um. This is Lex. I've told you about him before." Just not everything, Clark thought to himself as he came to an important decision. He reached over and intertwined his fingers with Lex's. "We're together."

Both parents wore identical expressions of surprise. Both asked at once.

"What, son?"

"For how long, sweetie?"

Clark looked at the ground, using his enhanced vision and speedreading to count the blades of grass between his sneakers. "He's my boyfriend. For about two months."

Martha reached out to shake Lex's free hand. "Hi, Lex. It's nice to finally meet you." He watched her eye him critically. She seemed to see something she liked, and her smiled warmed.

When Martha released his hand, Jonathan reached for it automatically. "Yes. We like to meet Clark's friends." His eyes remained critical and his smile was nonexistent.

Clark watched the exchange warily. This wasn't the way in which he had planned on coming out to his parents. Though he supposed the hard work was done. His mom seemed okay, and he hoped his dad would learn to like Lex. "Are you guys okay with this? I mean, with me liking guys and being with Lex?"

"We just want you to be happy, Clark. And based on your phone calls and emails this semester, you are. I'm assuming Lex is part of that."

He needed to stop emailing his parents after he and Lex fooled around.

"Yeah, Mom, he is." Clark squeezed Lex's hand and gave him a shy smile. Lex returned both.

After that the conversation revolved around Clark's school work, social life, and whatever his parents could get out of him about his relationship with Lex, and also about Lex himself. After learning that Lex was rich and from a phenomenal educational background, and also learning that he was polite and eloquent, both senior Kents relaxed a bit. And it was clear that the boys really liked each other.

"So, boys, is there anything going on tonight?" As if Martha would be interested in joining a party.

"Actually, Mom, tonight is the final streaking party. Last chance to see the current team together."

"Oh, well have fun." She gave them both a Look. "Be careful of alcohol and drugs."

They both gave her their `aw, shucks' expressions while they replied, "Yes, ma'am."

"Martha, let the boys have their fun. But do as she says, son, Lex."

Both boys smiled.

The four talked until Clark excused himself and Lex to take a shower before the party. The Kents said that they should be heading back to Smallville, anyway. Good-byes were said, and Clark promised to phone home soon, and Lex promised to be good to Clark.

On the way back to their separating place to go to their specific dorms, Lex told Clark that his parents were nice, and that they seemed to be very accepting.

"Yeah, they've been really good with me and for me. I'm really lucky. I thought my Dad was going to flip when he saw us holding hands, but then he saw that you're a good guy and everything."

"Be glad I'm not older than you or something, or he'd think I'm only in this to take your virtue."

"Well, you can have any of that you'd like."

"Thank you. I plan to take advantage of that offer."

"I suppose I'll just have to let you then."

Lex rubbed at the back of his neck, his mind flitting to something that he had heard Martha whispering about with Clark while Jonathan distracted him. "Hey, Clark, your mom seemed awfully concerned with a couple of things. That you needed to be careful not to hurt me. She didn't mean emotionally, right?"

"Um. No. But I can't go into it right now. It's kind of... personal."

Lex looked up with worried eyes. "But, eventually?"

Clark thought for a minute, about what it would mean to let Lex in on everything, to tell him what he really was. If Lex would be angry, or resentful, or uncomprehending. If it was worth it to risk losing Lex by trying to make them closer.

Clark leaned closer, looking deeply into Lex's eyes. "Yes. Eventually. I promise." He leaned in the remaining distance between them, kissing Lex thoroughly, sealing the deal in the best possible way.

"Kent! Luthor! Thanks for waiting until the run was over!"

Clark and Lex broke apart, turning to where Scott and Natalie called at them from across the way a little. "No problem, Scott. The virtue of the team, such as it is, is intact."

"Awesome! Hopefully you guys can keep it together for next year!"

"You bet! Thought it would certainly add a little flair to the team!"

"Whatever, guys. You're coming to the party, right?"

"Yeah. We'll be there." Clark couldn't imagine missing it. Because of the team he had a social life, a hobby, and a boyfriend. The least he could do was round out the season with everyone else.

"See you later, Scott, Natalie." Lex turned to Clark as Scott and Natalie continued to wherever they were going. "So, Clark. Remember what your mom said about drugs?"

"Vaguely, Lex. She gives me those types of warnings like every chance she gets. As if I'd intentionally abuse a substance to escape reality. She should know me better than that."

"Well, I was just thinking. We're on probably the only team where we could do drugs, since we don't test. I mean, Rory and Kyle would have been kicked off, other people too, probably."

"What, you're thinking of taking up cocaine or something?"

"No. Just thinking."

"You do that too much, Lex. Stop it."

"Alright. Well, we should probably go now, so we can bathe and get ready for the party. So we can drink, smoke up, and then debauch each other."

"Huh, you know, Mom didn't really give us a warning against debauching each other."

Lex clasped his hand around the back of Clark's neck and pulled him down to kiss him. "Then we're free to do so without feeling guilty. Let's go."

Note: In case you were wondering, my school does, in fact, have a streaking team. You can check out their website at www.hamiltonstreaks.com/. Anything other than the fact that they run around naked periodically has been invented by me (i.e., they don't wear identical masks or paint numbers on their backs, but they do streak during lunch sometimes and they streak picnics, and they make a lot of noise while they do so). Every streaker I made up in this fic is just that: made up. No one is based on anyone specific at all. And yes, I shamelessly stole the name of their URL and modified it for the title of my fic. Please don't sue.