The Memoirs

Alexis couldn't help the little shudder as she looked down at Clark, sleeping on the new exam table.

The new lab was laid out almost identically to the old one. The same type of equipment was there, only upgraded to the best that she--he?--could have possibly procured. Even the exam table was state of the art, where a push of a button could warm the metal so that it wasn't contact-cold to the touch.

The walls were pristine white, the door guarded by new security measures, and it was on the complete opposite side of the house from where the other had been. One day, she was going to get Clark to set fire to that room, and burn it clean.

At least her handprint hadn't changed, and they had been admitted into the lab without a thought. And after almost forty straight hours of work, poring over test results and machine readouts that said basically nothing was wrong with his brain, Clark had finally given into the exhaustion, curling up on the lab table and crying himself to sleep. She'd covered him up with one of the heat-reflecting blankets, turning the reflective surface inside so that it reflected Clark's body heat back onto him to keep him warm, and she kissed his cheek. And slipped a folded note into his hand.

Clark--I've gone upstairs for a few minutes. I'm going to get something to eat, and see how Dominic is doing, and bring you down a real blanket. Don't worry; I haven't left you. Always, LL.

She kissed Clark's hand as she put the note there, and filled his dreams with soft thoughts of warmth and love before slipping out.

The door sealed itself behind her as she left, and she locked it with a handprint so that nobody could find their way in. The oversize flannel shirt that she'd borrowed from Clark covered one of Chloe's sweaters, and they concealed her chest fairly well, because no amount of flat binding was going to press her large breasts down.

Besides, they hurt when they were bound. Instead, she opted for concealment as she climbed the stairs, slipping into one of the secret panels as his father walked by, talking on his cell phone and going to the office.

Alexis let out a sigh of relief, and came out of the passage way, ducking quickly through the hallway until he knocked on the door of Dominic's bedroom.

Dominic was half asleep. He'd been watching Pirates of the Caribbean, as his morning was free since the real physical therapy didn't start until Monday, he wasn't exceptionally tired. So he dozed with Johnny Depp on in the background, eyes closed and blanket drawn up warm around him. He hid his other hand, which more and more was becoming disfigured from simple lack of use, under the sheets, the other holding the blankets to his chest.

The knock woke him up from the doze, and he blinked rapidly, eyes flickering up to the door. "'lo?"

"It's me," Alexis called from the doorway. "I just wanted to see how you're doing."

"Who? Come in," Dominic answered, lifting his head a little on the pillows and frowning at the door.

"Lex," she said, and came into the room, sitting on the corner of the bed. "How are you feeling?"

Holy shit!

Dominic's eyes widened into round ovals and he struggled away from the edge of the bed, though he couldn't move, and he never felt his uselessness as much until now. "What are you playing at?" He gasped, and yelled, or tried too--his voice was hoarse from all the shouting he'd done with Ms. Bird and Lex the day before. "Someone! Someone, help!"

"Dominic, calm down," Alexis said tiredly. "I was hoping you wouldn't be affected by this." He held out his hand, that bore his mother's wedding ring. "See? I'm still me. You're just not seeing me as me."

"How… you aren't Lex! You took... you! Get out of here, get out right now, get out!"

"Dominic, it's me." Alexis sighed. "Remember? The kid who took you in a death ride in the Porsche in the middle of a rainy November night? You nearly shit yourself when we hydroplaned, but the wheels caught traction on the dry pavement at the last minute."

At that, Dominic went very, very still. He stared at the woman... she had long, deep red hair, a slender body she was hiding with too many clothes, and piercing gray eyes. She reminded him of... and how would she... "How can I trust its you, eh?"

Alexis held out her hands. "Ask me something that only I would know."

Dominic said, almost immediately, "Who won the football game in Ireland?"

"We did. I nearly had my spleen tackled out of me, I think my ribcage is still buried in the mud in Crystabel's back yard, and let's not forget the fun joke of my father's faked heart attack."

"Oh, God."

It was Lex.

Horrifying.

"You're a woman."

"You noticed?" she asked wryly. "Before you ask, I have no idea how it happened. Because no, actually, I'm not. I just look like one."

Dominic didn't say anything for a moment, looking at him from the cradle of his pillows propping him up, and frowned, softly. "How did it happen? Or rather, how did you get yourself into this mess this time?"

Alexis smiled, and that looked like Lex's grin this time. "You... really don't want me to answer that."

Dominic stared at Lex...then made a face. And he would have made a comment, if what happened yesterday hadn't been plaguing his mind. So instead he kept his mouth shut, eyes quiet and low, and nodded. "What are you going to do about it?"

Alexis blinked in surprise, having braced herself for a scathing sarcastic remark, and it took her a second to recover. "Clark and I have been down in the new laboratory working, but so far, we haven't found anything."

"You were having sex, and got stuck like this." Simple remark, no mean intent behind the words. "Have you talked to Jor-El?"

"That would be it in a nutshell, yes." Alexis smoothed a hand down her side in a nervous gesture. "We have; he's currently vanished into the bedroom and is accessing the ship and sorting through all the terabytes of information that the ship's memory contains and see if there's anything that can help us."

Dominic tipped his head to look at Lex... her... Lex. "You're a very pretty woman, if it helps you any. If you're stuck like this, at least you're not ugly."

"Gee, thanks." Sardonic tone. "I wasn't sure how you'd see me, and that's part of why I wanted to come and see you. The good news is, I don't think Dad is going to realize he's got a daughter quite yet, and how do you think he's going to react to finding out that Rory's going to have an older sister with gender issues?"

"Well, you're not stuck like this. You'll find a way," Dominic reassured him as much as one in his state could reassure, which wasn't much. "Would you like to stay with me and finish Pirates?" He motioned to the TV on the stand, which had been propped higher so he could see it by a large crate.

Alexis shook her head. "As much as I'd like to, I need to get back to Clark. He thinks this is his fault, he blames himself, and he thinks that I'm going to leave him because of it. I left him a note telling him that I was coming up here to see you, get something to eat even though I'm not hungry, and get a blanket for him, because he's sleeping downstairs. I don't want him to think I've left him. But if you'd like, you can come downstairs with Clark and I. Help with moral support, if nothing else, and help me keep Clark's spirits up."

All Dominic heard was, 'no', and just nodded, looking back up at the television. Be good, do what everyone said, and they'd help him. Don't complain, be pleasant, don't scream and rage and cry and admit you're fucking lonely. But he didn't say any of it, just nodding again. "I'll see you later, then. Take care. Keep me informed."

"Do you want to come down to the lab?" Alexis offered again, patiently.

"No."

Stairs. Wheel chair. Couldn't move. No. He'd rather be here, where he didn't have to beg too much to get what he needed.

"Thank you, though."

"I can move you down the elevator," she offered. "You can watch your DVD on the system in the lab, because I'm working with the sonic imager and the ultrasound. You can help me cheer Clark up," she wheedled.

"No," Dominic said again, without looking away from the TV. "But thank you."

She gave an exasperated little smile. "Don't give up, okay? What we did was a lot of work, to get you back to the world, and don't throw it away, okay?"

His heart seized. "I know. Thank you. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Alexis smiled. "Just... be yourself. Be the strong man you've proven yourself to be."

When the woman...when Lex smiled, some of the panic in Dominic's chest diminished the smallest bit, and he didn't say anything else, back to watching the television again.

Alexis got up and kissed him on the forehead. "Call down on the intercom if you need me, okay? I'll come right up."

Yes, Dominic knew that, but he just nodded, letting his eyes fall to half mast before closing. He pulled the blankets up with his free hand, making sure it was covered and warm, before closing his eyes completely.

Alexis sighed. Again. "Dominic... don't let this get you down. I know it's hard. But don't let it. Please. I miss you."

Dominic looked up at Lex, fingers tightening on the blankets. "I'm sorry. I'll try."

"Don't be sorry!" Her voice was filled with distress. "You don't have anything to be sorry about! Just... don't let it get you down. Look at me. I'm not letting this sudden sex change get me down. You've... you're stronger than this. Okay?"

"Okay." He didn't know what else to say to make it better, so his throat tightened, uncontrollably, and he croaked, "I'm trying, I am. I promise."

"I know you are. Just... don't stop trying." Alexis suddenly sat back down on the edge of the bed and hugged Dominic tightly.

Dominic felt like crying, his throat burning and a lump rising up in it. Instead, he let Lex hug him, and hugged back as much as he could, disquieted by the breasts pressing into his chest but not letting go. He felt everything he was going through coming up to the tip of his tongue, his depressing running rampant in his mind, and he choked down on the sounds wanting to come from him. "I... don't know… what to do... I'm trying.."

"I know," she said softly. "I know. The worst I ever did was have a pin put in my knee and had a few weeks of therapy. That's it. I can't imagine how hard this is being for you, but you can't give up. Cause I need you strong, because without you, my father's a jerk and I don't have my friend."

"I wish you had let me go," Dominic said instead, quietly, eyes closed against Lex's neck. Being held because it was okay, not because of what was happening, because he was Dominic. Christ. He felt like he was going to break apart in a million pieces any second, and float around the room.

"I don't," Alexis said, with a choking noise in her throat. "I don't, I couldn't lose you. You really are my friend, Dominic, and I really do care about you. I couldn't lose you. You're part of mine and Clark's family now, and we need you."

"I don't think I can do this," he whispered back, hoping to god Lex knew what he was talking about so Dominic wouldn't have to explain.

"Yes you can!" Alexis sniffled as she put her head on Dominic's shoulder. "You can, you have to. You're strong, and I'll help you. But don't listen to anybody that says you can't. You can be as tired and as cranky as you want to be, but you can't give up."

No. If he was good they would take care of him.

He changed the subject, just a little. "No. It'll never be the same. I can't saddle Lionel with a lover who can't even move. I can't expect him to live out the rest of his life catering to me." His voice was croaking, quiet, more than he'd told anyone, but it felt safe here, with Lex.

"You will move, you will. I'll make it happen. I'll bring in whoever or whatever I have to. Clark and I will work with you, and we'll talk to Jor-El and see if he knows any therapies his people had that would work for you."

Dominic just shook his head, but kept his eyes closed. "I'll try," he said again, softly, and turned his head away. "Go on."

"You will." Alexis hugged Dominic tightly. "Come down to the lab. You can help, and maybe if you're there, Clark will feel better."

"I can't help. I can't move," Dominic said, with a little laugh that sounded more like sob than anything else.

"That's what you don't get," Alexis said, with a sniffly little voice. "You don't get that just by being there, you help, because you being around makes people feel better, because you're so important to them."

No. Dominic had to say he didn't get it, but as he watched Lex sniffle, the almond shaped eyes filling with tears, he finally swallowed tightly at the lump and rose his good hand to cup the side of Lex's face. "You look like your mother, like this. Did you know?"

Alexis shook her head. "No, I didn't know, I didn't know."

"You do. She had the same face. Much more slender and willowy, but you...you've got your father's stock--broad shouldered and sturdy." But he swallowed, and didn't say anything else for a moment. "H… will you help me to the bathroom? And then... I'll go down with you."

Alexis nodded. "Course I will. C'mon, let's get you into your chair." She got up off the bed, and gripped Dominic's good hand tightly.

"That's not going to cut it, love." Dominic felt as distressed as his voice sounded. "Maybe you should get Lionel."

Alexis shook her head. "I'm not going to talk to Dad until I have to, and please don't tell him about this. If you don't want me to, because of this," and her hand indicated her breasts and current situation, "Then I'll call down for Clark."

"I won't tell Lionel," Dominic answered, firmly, "And its not that. Are you... you have... I can't move. I can't do anything." Being carried. By a woman.

Yes, Morgan, old chap, you've really sunk that low.

"I'm not quite a woman, I just pretend to be on television," Alexis quipped. "Let me siphon a boost off Clark, and we'll get you in and out in a minute."

Dominic just sighed, closing his eyes with a pained expression of utter humiliation, and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Alright."

Alexis grinned, and gave a little tug on his and Clark's connection, and siphoned off just enough of Clark's strength to let her boost Dominic up out of the bed.

She moved him carefully, carrying him quickly through the room, and into the bathroom, and helped to settle him on the toilet, ignoring the lift. "I'm going to bring your chair in here for when you're done, and tuck your blankets in too."

Dominic grasped the bar Lionel had installed on the side of the toilet, hard, holding on with wide eyes. "I can't. You have to use the lift. I can't keep myself steady, love." I don't want you here while I'm taking a piss.

Alexis nodded. "All right. Here we go, then." She moved Dominic into the lift, and quickly puzzled through the controls, and gave a little clap of glee when it worked. "Yay!!" She waited until Dominic was situated again, and when she saw that he was steady, she nodded. "Okay. I'm going now, and I'm going to get your chair ready, and you give me a yell when you're done."

"Alright." Dominic answered, looking up when she cried out "Yay!" and trying not to think about what a feminine thing that was. It was creepy, but oddly not as much as he would have imagined, and he shook his head as he grasped tightly to the lift and did his business. When he was done, after much bullying of his warm up pants and shirt, unable to look at his cock--which was still terribly bruised and swollen from the catheter they'd removed only a week ago. He washed his hand in the sink, leaning over the slightest bit to do it, and after he was done, with a grunt, righted himself. "Alright."

Alexis was wheeling the chair back into the room when she heard Dominic calling. "I'm coming!" She hurried into the room, and brought the chair, so that when she moved the lift again, with another little squeal of glee, it deposited him carefully into the chair. "Yay, I did it!" She did a little twirl, and then picked up the blanket she'd brought, tucking it in around his legs. "How's that?"

Dominic stared up at the girl as she twirled and didn't let himself think about how much payback he was going to have, as she leaned down to tuck it in around his legs. With his good hand he set the bad one in his lap, half hidden under blankets so he wouldn't have to see it, and swallowed and cleared his throat as he nodded. "Fine."

"Yay!" Alexis leaned over and hugged Dominic again. "Okay. Food next. Let's see... oooh! We have pizza leftover in the fridge and Pepsi. How does that sound? You hungry? Cause we can order a couple extras too."

He had the urge, insane urge, to snap at her, but he didn't. If he was nice, they would help him. "No, thank you. You can get some for Clark, if you like."

"You can snap at me, I don't mind." She hummed softly under her breath as she started pushing him out. "Do you want me to take you down to the lab first, or do you mind taking a detour to the kitchen with me?"

"Don't read my thoughts." He asked, softly, and didn't say anything else as they began out of the room. He hadn't seen Lionel since early that morning--didn't have the faintest where he was. There was an odd sort of aching in his throat where his lover was concerned, but he didn't want to see Lionel either, so it worked out fine.

Crap, she was doing it again. "Sorry, I really didn't mean to. It was just... there."

Dominic didn't answer, just staying quiet as they moved. His eyes were doing a little better today but not really, and everything moved by way too fast for him to catalogue. It made him sick around the middle so he kept his eyes closed, ignoring the vertigo as they did.

"You know, I'm thinking that this leaking, where I'm picking up your thoughts and stuff? I think it has something to do with this. It probably doesn't help the fact that I haven't been practicing, and didn't use them until I went in after you."

"Perhaps that's why you can't turn back--you're channeling someone's hidden desires." Dominic supplied, head still down against the nausea.

Alexis' eyebrow raised. "Wow. That's something I hadn't thought of before. I wonder." She hummed thoughtfully as she pushed Dominic's wheelchair.

Dominic didn't reply, just concentrated on not losing his juice and toast from lunch, which had been the only thing he'd been able to eat without getting nauseas.

Alexis pushed the chair carefully into the temporary elevator that had been installed, and it lowered them down to the main floor. She whistled as she pushed the chair into the kitchen, and put the two pizza boxes and the two soda bottles into the basket on the back of Dominic's chair, then wheeled them back down towards the lab.

Without a pause, Alexis lifted him, chair and all, and carried him down the steps and palmed the door open. "Clark? Honey, we're home."

Dominic scrabbled his hand out and grasped Lex's shoulder, tightly, in fear and nausea. He closed his eyes firmly as they jostled all the way down, wincing at each step before they plinked down to the bottom. He swallowed a lump of bile and winced as he pushed himself straight, glaring at Lex. "Warning, next time?"

Clark gave a particularly loud snore from the worktable.

"Sorry," Alexis said, and set him down gently on the floor. "I didn't think about it." She walked over to her aushna', and poked him in the shoulder.

"Its alright," Dominic said, quickly, "I didn't mean to offend."

Clark cracked open his eyes wearily, sleepily, and looked up at the woman standing above him with no recollection of who she was.

And then everything sort of rushed back, and he winced, physically, and sat up to rub his eyes. "Oghn."

"Hey. I'm back," she said with a grin, crawling onto the table beside her aushna'. "And I brought a friend." She carried the grin over to Dominic. "Dom, don't worry. You didn't offend me. I'm sorry I didn't think about warning you, but I haven't gotten a ramp installed yet for deliveries."

Clark rolled over onto his back, and when he saw Dominic sitting there, with his half grown hair and his slightly stubbly cheeks, he smiled. "Hi, Dominic," he said shyly, beaming at him.

Dominic, who could never fend himself from Clark Smiles, couldn't help giving a small one back.

"Lex and I are on bath duty tonight. That is, if you don't mind getting naked around a couple of guys. oh!" Clark looked at Lex. "Didn't Eddie say we should swim with him?" He looked at Dominic. "What do you say? A good swim?"

Dominic, horrified by the prospect, grit his teeth tightly to stop the scream of 'no', and instead tried to look past his gut reaction. "Swimming?"

Alexis nodded. "Yeah, he did. He said that Elaine told him you used to swim, so that might be something your body remembers better than anything else. And water therapy is better for you at first, because you won't be holding up your entire weight; you'll be mostly weightless." She nodded. "So, what do you say? You, me, and Clark? We'll help you get showered in the bath house, and then take a couple laps."

"And you won't let me drown?" He wasn't joking. He was totally serious. "I can't move. I..." Am terrified.

"I know you're scared," Alexis answered. "But it's me and the super-powered alien. I didn't kill you in the Great Porsche Death Ride, and I'm not going to let anything happen to you now, okay?"

Dominic nodded, watching them both. Clark looked sincere, and he was huge. He could probably touch the bottom for more than half the pool. And Lex was a good swimmer, Dominic had taken him to a lot of his lessons himself. So. He swallowed a deep breath, fingers in his free hand trembling, and nodded. "Alright."

Why not? lets show how weak I am just a little more.

Be nice. Be good. And they'll help you.

"You don't have to, you know," Alexis said, sliding off the table to crouch beside Dominic's chair. "We can just give you the bath, and see how you feel after that, if you want?"

He nodded. Firmly. Swallowing hard. "Alright. Thank you."

"What's with all of this 'thank you' business, Dominic?" Clark suddenly asked, eyebrow raised as he sat up on the table and let his bare feet, but for flip flips, hang off the edge. He was wearing his jeans with the frayed ends and a yellow t-shirt that nearly blinded him whenever he looked at a mirror, but he was comfortable, so what the hell. But right now he wasn't comfortable with Dominic's... submissiveness. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Dominic croaked, immediately.

Alexis put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently. "You're never this nice, even when you're being... nice. What's up?"

"Nothing is up. I promise."

"Your promise is sounding hollow." Clark peered at him. "Seriously, Dominic. What's up? Why are you acting like you have to be a little saint?"

"Nothing. its nothing." His hand had twisted in the blanket around his legs. "Its nothing. Please, just go on about what you were doing."

"Now I know something's wrong," Alexis said, trading looks with her aushna'. "Tell us, please?"

"No!" He cried it, then grit his teeth and looked away, tense, fighting off the nervous shakes he wanted to indulge in as he grasped the blanket tighter and bit his lower lip.

Alexis didn't move, just stayed beside Dominic's wheelchair, gently stroking his hand. "Whatever it is, it's okay. You know that."

"Go on about your business," Dominic said to the blankets, unable to look up.

She just kept stroking.

Dominic didn't know what to say without making it be construed as an insult or a snap, because he wanted to do both, and just grit his teeth tightly as he closed his eyes. "Please."

"Talk to us then?" she asked in her quiet little voice.

"I can't." His voice broke, desperately.

"Sure, you can, Dominic," Clark said as he leaned down beside them both, and tilted Dominic's face up enough so he and Alexis could see him. "I mean it. Its okay. What's wrong?"

"I… can't… can't tell you." Christ. Christ.

"You can tell us," Alexis wheedled. "We're your friends."

"No, you're my step sons, one of whom is having a crisis," Dominic answered, carefully steering the conversation away. "Do what you need to do. I won't get in the way."

Alexis had Lex's stubbornness and a feminine need to take care of everything. Bad, bad combination. "What we need to do is to help take care of you too, because you're going to have to help us. We need an outside mind to look at this, and you're the closest one to us that we trust, and you know me."

Dominic didn't say anything, just looking down at the blanket covering his useless, spindly legs. He didn't want to say anything, he couldn't.

Alexis was getting near tears, and she blinked them back furiously. "You can talk to us, please!"

He looked up at the slightly choked voice next to his, and gazed, horrified, at the tears filling Lex's...Alexis's...eyes.

Clark was doing the same, horror stricken as he watched Lex... be... well... girly. And he didn't know how to react to 'girly', so he stuttered and swallowed and looked deeply uncomfortable. Which Dominic was imitating. Yeah. Uncomfortable. "Er... it's... alright, aushna'," Clark said, awkwardly patting her on the back.

"It is not all right!" Alexis flared. "Something is wrong with Dominic, and he won't tell us, and I'm tired and I'm hungry, and I'm not in a good mood and I WANT MY DICK BACK, DAMMIT!"

Clark had the distinct pleasure of seeing the surprise going over Dominic's face before the man burst into peals of laughter. They were hoarse, and weaker than what they sounded, but they were still there and he beamed, broadly, squeezing Dominic's knee gently as he grinned himself. "He's panicking a wee bit, I think."

Dominic had gotten to the point where he didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so he laughed for the sake of it. "Poor Lex."

"I am not panicking!" She pinned both of the men in the room with Lex's patented death glare. "You!" she said, pointing at her aushna'. "You try losing your dick for a few days and see what YOU feel like!" And then she just glared at Dominic again. "And you with your not-sharing and your laughing!" And then she stamped her foot.

Dominic gave a ghost of a smile at that. "Calm down."

"Yeah, what he said," Clark grinned, saucily. Once he'd gotten over the panic that he hadn't hurt his aushna', and that Lex had done it to himself... well, he was still panicking, but if he smiled a bit one and again he felt better.

"MEN!" she shouted, and grabbed one of the pizzas and one of the drink bottles out of the little basket, flouncing over to her desk and turning her back to the both of them, mumbling the whole time.

"You are a man, Lex." Dominic felt the need to reassure this, eyebrow raised at the woman's back, even as he let go of his death clamp on the blankets and stretched out his fingers a little. If they were arguing, they weren't talking about him.

"Not at the moment," she tossed back, shoveling half a slice of pizza in her mouth.

"Not at the moment," Clark echoed, smiling at his aushna', before looking down at Dominic and saying simply, "Even if you're a bastard, we still love you. You don't have to act nice just because you think if you are, we'll take care of you. We'll do that regardless, Dominic."

Dominic looked up, shell shocked, and the blood effectively ran out of his face as he stared at the boy.

Alexis didn't look up from her pizza, but she nearly choked on it as she swallowed. "Whatever you just said, Clark, you hit the nail on the head. I think he's about to have a heart attack."

No. No. They were going to laugh at him. Or say something terrible. His jaw locked and he looked away, unable to look at them, not Clark's sympathy or Lex's understanding. He couldn't. So instead, he answered, "I'm being nice because I want to be, Clark."

"Liar."

"He thinks we're going to laugh at him," Alexis piped up. "And don't tell me to stop reading your mind, because I'm not. You're projecting it."

"Leave me alone," he said, very softly, jaw tightening uncontrollably.

Alexis put the pizza down at that and turned around, wiping her hands on a sterile towel from the drawer under the desk. "Dominic, do you really think that we're only taking care of you cause you're nice?"

"You didn't want to be around me when I was acting a bastard, now did you?" Dominic said hotly, then paled again and clenched his hand in the blank again. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Clark murmured, gently squeezing Dominic's knee again. "You can't bury yourself under nice words, Dom. You'll go nuts."

"It's okay; you're stressed out, we understand. You might make us mad, but that doesn't mean we'd leave you somewhere to rot. We're always here to help you." Alexis sniffled again.

Dominic didn't bother saying that they'd left him with Ms. Bird, the harridan, and the thought had him calming again. She had shown him. He had to be nice, or people wouldn't help him. He'd nearly humiliated himself because of it, not that he wasn't already humiliated of course, but more so. He thought the anxiety and depression were going to have his stomach lining for dinner. "I'm glad you are," he said softly.

Alexis just kept sniffling. "No you're not. You don't think we're telling the truth!" She got up and went back to her desk, picking up the little towel she'd wiped her fingers on and wiped off her face, then loudly blew her nose.

"I'm sorry," Dominic said again, looking up before back down. "I'm sorry."

"There's nothing for you to be sorry about, Dominic," Clark answered, and leaned forward to kiss his forehead. "Its okay. I promise. Don't get upset, alright? It'll be okay. Ignore Lex, he's got hormones now."

"I do not have hormones," she huffed, and turned back around. "We're not going to treat you like a dog, Dominic. You don't have to behave and roll over and all that."

Yes. He did. But he didn't bother saying it. "When you finish, we can swim. Good?"

Alexis just stomped her foot again, and went back to the desk, going through the printouts and doing her best to ignore Dominic. "You don't want to share? Fine. Be that way." She sniffled, and grabbed for the tissue box. "Only trying to help."

"Lex, stop." Clark looked up from his crouch in front of Dominic and glanced over his shoulder, giving Lex a warning look. "I think we should finish here, and go get on with the evening. What do you think? We really can't do anything else until my dad gets back to us."

"Fine with me," she sulked.

"These are the reasons I'm gay," Clark muttered to Dominic, but didn't get a response in return. Instead, he nodded, smiled, and looked up at his lover. "Up for a dip?"

"I don't have a bathing suit that'll fit," she answered, pointing to her generous chest.

"Chloe does," Clark amended. "She keeps some with Shay. I'll get it, alright? Don't worry. You and Dom get to the pool house, hmm?"

"It better not be one of those two piece things!" she yelled. "I want a once piece!" She looked down at Dominic. "You ready to go?"

 

-fin-

go on to the next part