Author's Note: This story is a birthday gift for my good friend Aciel. Thank you for always supporting my writing, and for not giving up on my series even though they take me so long to write. December 2007 (Revised October 2009). When I originally wrote this story, I was going to make it a stand alone story in the Friendship series, but now I've decided to make it Chapter 9. (Previously called 'Rebellion')
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, and I am not making any money from these stories.
Warning: Non consensual disciplinary spanking of an adult by a parental figure.


Friendship Chapter 9


"Pleeeeease" Clark asked for the fourth time.

Sighing, Lex gave in, "Okay, okay, but you have to convince your parents."

Clark's smile turned into a grin. "Awesome!" he said, before super speeding to the farmhouse.

Lex chuckled as he turned back to the hoeing. He wondered what they would say. Seeing a rated R movie at fourteen didn't seem like a big deal to Lex, but then drinking a glass of wine at twenty didn't seem like a big deal to him either, and the Kents still wouldn't let him drink. Stretching, he could tell his shoulders would be sore tomorrow. It usually took a week or two of being back on the farm, before his muscles got into the routine of manual labor. He muttered, "I need to go to the gym more during school."

Starring off into the distance, he thought about the phone conversation he'd had with Lionel a week ago, after finishing off his sophomore year in college. Lionel hadn't demanded that he work at Luthorcorp the way Lex was expecting. He'd just told Lex that he wanted him to be happy, and if the Kents made him happy then he should spend the summer with them. Shaking his head, Lex decided not to worry about it, and to just be happy he could stay with his family without distractions for the next three months.

A few minutes later, a dejected looking Clark, trudged back out and picked up his hoe.

"They said no?"

Clark's frown deepened, "I'm almost fifteen. I'm the only kid in my class who hasn't seen it."

"I've seen plenty of horror films, and trust me when I say they're all pretty lame. The plot will most likely be incomprehensible. The acting will be mediocre at best. The special effects will be obvious. The characters will be one dimensional and idiotic. It's not worth the money to go see it," Lex said, trying to cheer the boy up.

Hoeing the ground harshly in irritation Clark said, "That's not the point. The point is that they're treating me like a baby, and all the kids at school will make fun of me for not seeing it."

"Pete won't laugh."

"I don't want to talk about it anymore." Clark shoved the hoe into the ground in anger, and it broke in half. Surprised, he looked down at the piece of hoe still in his hand. "Great. Now I'm gonna have to pay for a new one." Clark glared off into the field and tossed the piece of hoe as far as he could.

Watching the piece of wood until it became a little dot in the sky, Lex tried to come up with some way to make Clark feel better. He pulled some money out of his wallet, and handed it to Clark. "For the hoe."

His anger faded as he saw the money Lex was offering. He took it, feeling guilty, and offered up a, "Thanks Lex."

Feeling bad for him, Lex put an arm around his shoulders and said, "No problem little brother. Why don't you super speed through the rest of the weeding, and then I'll take you into town. We can buy a new hoe before Pop even knows the old one is broken."

"Okay."

Lex handed over his hoe, and stood still while Clark finished up the weeding in a few seconds. Once it was done, Lex said, "Go put the hoe away, and let me talk to our parents." He headed in to the house with the thought of making Clark feel better.

Jonathan was on the kitchen floor, trying to repair the dishwasher, while Martha was making cookies. Martha saw Lex and smiled. "Taking a break?"

"Nope, we're done."

Jonathan and Martha exchanged a look, and Jonathan got up from the floor. He looked at his watch, and then back to Lex. "You're done?"

Amazed that such a simple question could make him feel uncomfortable, Lex cleared his throat and said, "Yes. Clark's not having the best day, so I thought I'd take him into town for a little while."

Jonathan put his hands on his hips. "Clark's not having a very good day, because he's pouting. I don't think that kind of behavior should be rewarded, and I don't remember giving him permission to use his abilities to get the weeding done."

Having trouble seeing Jonathan's side of things, Lex couldn't help but come to Clark's defense. Crossing his arms, he said, "Clark's pouting because you're being over protective. He's almost fifteen, he should be allowed to see the movie. And I told him to speed through the weeding, because we're going to go into town for a while so I can cheer him up."

Jonathan was too surprised to respond for a moment, so Martha said with calm, "Lex, it's very sweet of you to try and make your brother happy when he's upset, but we're the parents, not you. If you disagree with a decision we've made, you can talk to us calmly about it, and give us your opinion, but the final decision is up to us. That goes for both you and Clark."

Lex was about to comment, but Jonathan found his voice again and said, "You don't get to tell Clark when he can and can't use his abilities, without prior approval from us. Now normally if you wanted to take Clark into town, I'd have no problem with it, but since you seem to be working up a sullen attitude to match Clark's, I'm going to say no."

Unable to control his tongue at this point, Lex raised his voice. "You don't have any say in it when I want to go somewhre!"

Having heard enough back talk from both his kids for the day, Jonathan walked up to Lex, grabbed his arm, and marched him over to the kitchen table.

Realizing quickly that he had gone too far, Lex's stomach sank, as he tried unsuccessfully to get away. "Noooo!"

With one bent leg resting on the kitchen table, and one foot on the floor, Jonathan hauled Lex across his leg over the table. He wrapped an arm around Lex's waist, and gave him ten quick swats, that weren't all that hard. The boy squirmed, but didn't cry out. Keeping Lex in place, Jonathan stopped swatting, and said, "You know Lex, it hasn't been all that long since the last time I spanked you. I'm surprised you're so mouthy. I know you're an adult now, and for the most part you can come and go as you please. But make no mistake here kiddo, I do have a say in where you go, if the only reason you want to go somewhere, is to prove you don't like my parenting." He drove that point home, with ten more of the lighter then usual swats, and said, "You and Clark can clean out the stalls for the rest of the day today, to make up for the work you didn't do this morning. Do I need to give you more incentive to behave, or are we done with this discussion?"

Anger coursed through him at how unjust it all seemed. He said through clenched teeth, "We're done."

Not quite believing it, but willing to let it go for now, Jonathan gave Lex one hard swat and let him up. The boy 'owed', stood up, and backed away a few feet. Jonathan pointed a finger at him and said, "I want all the stalls cleaned out, and new hay put in, and I want all the horses rubbed down." He noticed that Lex wouldn't look him in the eye, but did nod to show he'd understood. "Send Clark in to talk to me."

Suddenly alarmed, Lex forgot about himself, and remembered why he'd come to talk to Jonathan in the first place. "You're not mad at him right?"

Jonathan sighed with irritation. "No, I'm just going to talk to him about what happened."

Walking out the kitchen door, Lex found Clark standing on the porch giving him a worried look. He'd obviously overheard what had happened, and was having a hard time keeping eye contact. Giving Clark a sad little smile, Lex said, "Guess we're not going to town. Pop wants to talk to you."

Clark had been feeling guilty, that Lex had gotten in trouble trying to stand up for him, but now he was worried about his own behind. "Talk? You mean talk, or you know, talk?"

Patting Clark's shoulder, Lex said, "As long as you don't take a page from my book, and start arguing with him, I'm sure it will be a regular talk."

Once Clark had gone inside, Lex headed to the barn, and thought about what had happened. The more he thought about it, the more annoyed he got. He loved the Kents, and honestly did think of them as his family now, but he couldn't stop himself from thinking he was twenty, and could do whatever the hell he wanted, no matter what Jonathan said. And the more that thought went through his head, the more his mind worked on finding a way to get what he wanted.

A few minutes later, Clark joined him in the barn. "You okay?"

"Yeah, you were right, Dad just talked to me. But I don't think it's fair that they won't let me go to the movie, and I don't think it's fair that they won't let us go to town."

Relieved that his brother hadn't been swatted too, Lex went back to his work. They both shoveled silently, busy with their own thoughts. Ten minutes into the work, Lex had what he considered to be a great idea, and said, "Hey Clark."

Clark turned to him, but as Lex opened his mouth to talk, he realized Clark would never go for his plan. No matter how angry Clark was with his parents, he was way too 'good' to go along with the things Lex was thinking. Frowning Lex said, "Never mind."

Figuring he knew what Lex was going to say, Clark said, "It's okay Lex. I appreciate you trying, and it's not your fault Dad got angry about it."

Nodding, Lex got back to his work, and reconsidered his plan. He thought about what had happened when he'd asked Clark to lie for him about visiting his Dad while the Kents were away. That was the first time he'd heard Clark getting spanked, and he'd felt guilty for weeks that he'd gotten the kid in trouble. He also remembered that he'd told Clark, to tell him to screw off if he ever had another plan like it. More sure then before, that Clark would put an end to the plan before it ever got started, Lex kept his ideas to himself.

Over the next half an hour Lex perfected his plan. He didn't plan on getting caught, but knew there was a slim chance that something would go wrong, and needed to make sure Clark wouldn't be in trouble, even if he did. Once he had it all laid out in his mind, he told Clark he was going to get a drink of water. But instead, walked around to the back of the barn, pulled his cell phone out, and made a phone call.

That night at dinner, Lex was having second thoughts. He'd had time to calm down, and once the stalls were done, Jonathan had told both the boys he was proud of them for sticking with the work, even though they were both having a bad day. Lex was about to excuse himself to make another call, when the phone rang. Martha answered it. "Hello?"

"This is Lionel Luthor. I wish to speak with Lex."

Giving the phone a sour frown, Martha said, "Hold on a second please."

She put her hand over the phone and held it out to Lex. "It's your father."

Lex got up and took it. "Hi Dad."

Both Martha and Jonathan listened to Lex's side of the conversation. "Okay. When?"

"Tomorrow?" "Are you in town?" "Okay, I'll meet you there." "Bye."

Lex hung up and turned to face Jonathan, but quickly looked over at his plate instead. "I have to go to the mansion tomorrow and sign some papers."

Jonathan could tell Lex was already upset about seeing his father, and it hadn't even happened yet. Feeling protective, he said, "I'll go with you. We'll get it done, and come home."

Snapping his eyes up to meet Jonathan's, Lex shook his head. "No! I mean, that wouldn't be a good idea."

Standing, Martha put an arm around Lex's shoulders. "Lex honey, we don't want you to go over there alone after what happened in Metropolis."

Face turning red, he remembered pulling a gun on Lionel. He took a deep breath, and looked Martha in the eye when he said, "Mom I… I don't know how to put this nicely, so I'm just going to spell it out for you. Having Dad and Pop in the same room together is a homicide waiting to happen. They both have good reasons to hate each other, and I don't want to be stuck in the middle. The same goes for you too."

Tossing his napkin on the table, Jonathan stood and said, "Well you're not seeing him alone, and that's final, because you and your father in the same room alone, is a homicide waiting to happen too."

Clark said quietly, "I'll go."

Everyone looked over at him with surprise. Clark took a second to look at each of them as he spoke. "I'm the perfect choice. Lionel doesn't see me as any kind of threat, and like it or not Lex, I know you'll be nicer with me around. Plus I'm the only one who can guarantee no violence will take place. If someone tries something, I can keep them separated, take weapons away, or super speed Lex away."

The room was silent for a few seconds while everyone considered this option. Clark turned to Lex, and said, "And I don't want you to have to face him alone either."

Thinking he might just cry at the devotion he could see in Clark's face, Lex looked down and said, "That's a brilliant plan Clark."

Sighing, Jonathan gave in. "I hate to admit it, but you're both right."

Martha pulled Lex's face down, and gave him a kiss on the cheek, followed by a strong hug. "You call right before you go in, and then you call when you get out."

"Okay."

She let him go and walked over to Clark. She pushed some of the hair off his forehead and said, "You seem so grown up right now."

Rolling his eyes Clark said, "Moooooom."

She kissed and hugged him as well, and said, "Okay, everyone let's finish eating before the food gets completely cold."

Absorbed in their own thoughts, everyone ate quietly for the next few seconds. Instead of eating, Lex pushed the food around on his plate, cursing himself. His plan had gone better then he'd hoped, and felt guiltier, and less deserving of his family, than he had in a very long time.

Noticing Lex's lack of enthusiasm for eating, Martha chalked it up to worry about seeing his father, and decided she would make a big dinner tomorrow night.

# # #

The next day, after the morning chores were done, Lex and Clark got ready to go. Jonathan stood by the door with his hands in his pockets feeling helpless, while Martha repeated last minute instructions to the boys. "Drive safe, and call us when you get there. If you start to get upset, remember Clark is there to help you through it. Clark, be respectful, and don't let anyone see you use your abilities, unless it's absolutely necessary. Let us know how it went as soon as you're done."

Clark just nodded, but Lex said, "It's probably going to take a couple of hours. Nothing can be quick when my father's involved. I'm sure he'll want us to stay for lunch. We'll call when we get there, but then you shouldn't expect another call for two or three hours."

The car was uncomfortably quiet for the first few minutes of the drive. Clark tried to start a conversation. "When are you getting your grades?"

"In two or three weeks I think. They're supposed to be mailed home… to the farm I mean."

"I should get mine next week."

For a while, the conversation flowed normally, as they talked about school and friends. When there was a natural lull in the conversation, Clark looked out the window. "I think you missed the turn for the mansion."

"I didn't miss it."

"Yes you did, that's Mr. Baker's farm up ahead, so the turn off for the mansion is behind us."

Lex sighed, "I didn't miss it, I never intended to turn there."

"Um… I don't get it."

Now that the plan was in motion, Lex decided there was no turning back. Hoping he could convince Clark to go along with it, Lex said, "Look Clark, I know you're a good kid, and that's why I didn't let you in on my decision until now." Glancing over at Clark, Lex could tell he was both confused and worried. "My father never called, that was a friend of mine. He's imitated my father's voice for me in the past when I needed him to. He does a bunch of impersonations, and he's really funny at parties…. But I suppose that's not the point."

The only thing Clark could come up with was, "Why?"

"I felt bad for you when Pop said you couldn't see the movie, and then I got angry when he told me I couldn't take you to town. So I made sure we had time to go to town today to buy the hoe, and while we're in town, we'll go to see the movie."

Clark was dumbstruck. He sat staring at Lex with wide eyes, at a loss for words, and horrified at the truth of the matter. When Lex darted a glance his way, Clark said, "Dad's gonna kill you."

"You're going to tell on me?"

"You're going to keep lying to him?"

They looked at each other for a second, trying to figure the other out. Then Lex said, "Come on Clark, it'll be fun. We can go to the movie, and then you can tell all your friends about it. We get a day away from the farm, and we get to spend some time together. All you have to do is keep quiet about it."

Getting angry, Clark shook his head. "I can't! And you know I can't. I'm not good at lying, and I don't even want to."

Lex pleaded, "Just think about it for a few minutes. Don't you want to see that movie? You're not going to be able to any other way, and when we get home, I'll do all the talking."

"Do you remember what happened the last time you asked me to just keep my mouth shut? I don't want to get in trouble!"

"But that's the beauty of this plan. You won't be in trouble, because you can honestly say that you didn't know about it. It was all me."

Clark scoffed, "That excuse will never work. Do you want to get spanked or something?"

Lex felt his face heat up in anger and embarrassment. He yelled, "No! Of course not! I just don't think Pop should be telling me what I can and can't do, and it's not going to be a problem anyway, because he's not going to find out about this."

Now Clark wasn't just angry, he was confused. "How can you say that? Both Mom and Dad are worried about you right now. They're both going to want to hear all about it. You'll have to make up some elaborate lie. How can you play with their emotions like that?"

He could hear the truth in Clark's words, but that just made him more angry. Lex yelled, "I'll just tell them I don't want to talk about it! It's not my fault that they're worried. I didn't ask them to hover over me all the time! I can take care of myself. You know what? I started all of this because I felt sorry for you. I should have known you were too much of a wuss to ever do something fun."

Frustrated and hurt, Clark turned away from Lex and looked out the window. He started to cry quietly and hoped that Lex couldn't see.

Lex looked over at the back of Clark's head, and sighed. A few minutes later he realized Clark was crying, and felt his anger turn to guilt. He wished he'd never come up with the whole idea in the first place. "I'm sorry." Getting no response from Clark, Lex drove in silence until they got to town.

Parking near the theater, Lex turned the car off, and looked at Clark, who was still avoiding his eyes. Putting a hand on Clark's shoulder he said quietly, "When I first thought about doing this I was mad, and then I was about to change my mind when my friend called. But then when you all got so concerned for me… Well then I felt guilty, and I couldn't exactly tell everyone what I'd done at that point. And now… I don't know what to do. I know it was wrong of me, and I'm embarrassed that I did it, so I don't want Pop to find out. But at the same time I don't want to make you lie about it either. What do you want to do? If you want me to go right back to the farm and confess…. I guess that's what I'll do."

Wiping at his face, Clark turned in his seat to look at Lex. "You mean it?"

Swallowing once, Lex took a deep breath, and nodded, expecting Clark to tell him to head for home. But instead, Clark looked out at the movie theater for a few seconds. While the kid was thinking, Lex said, "Let's walk down to the hardware store so we can buy a new hoe, while you decide what we should do."

They both thought about their predicament as they walked to the store. As they were leaving, they practically ran into Lana and a few of her friends. Lana waved at Clark and said, "Hi Clark."

Clark felt slightly ill, and tripped over the hoe he was carrying. He heard some of Lana's friends laughing, but Lana squatted down, and held out her hand to help him up. "Are you okay?" Clark felt even more ill, and could only nod as he stared at her hand.

Seeing that Clark wasn't going to take Lana's hand, Lex reached down, and helped him stand with a hand on Clark's bicep. Lex said, "What are you ladies up to this afternoon?"

One of the girls, who looked older then the others, gave Lex a dazzling smile, and said, "We're going to see 'Blood on the Horizon'. It just opened this week. Would you like to join us?"

Knowing that Clark was against it, Lex said, "It's nice of you to offer, but we….."

Clark cut in with; "We were planning on going to the movie too, so we'd be happy to join you."

Looking over at Clark with shock, Lex could tell that Clark couldn't see anyone else on the street besides Lana. Lex turned back to the older girl, and gave her a smile in return. "We'll meet you over at the theater in a few minutes."

The girls headed to the theater, while the boys went to the car. Lex put the hoe in the back, and asked, "You sure about this?"

Bitting his nail, Clark said, "No. But it's Lana."

Thinking it was cute, Lex patted him on the back, and said, "Just try not to spill any popcorn on her okay?"

Clark brushed Lex's hand away and said, "It's not my fault I'm clumsy around her, she has a necklace that she wears all the time, and it has some of the meteor rock on it."

"Really? That sucks." Then Lex chuckled and said, "You'd be clumsy around her no matter what. Let's go see the movie."

"Not funny."

Lex got out his cell phone, dialed, and put it up to his ear. "Pop? We're here, and we're fine. I'll call you when we get done okay? Okay I will. Bye."

Realizing there was no turning back now, Clark felt ill. But thoughts of Lana quickly replaced thoughts of his father fiinding out what they'd done.

The kid looked kind of pale, so Lex put an arm around his shoulder and said, "We'll work on our cover story on the way home."

Clark felt ill through the whole movie, but thought it was completely worth it, since he got to sit beside Lana. He was especially happy, when she covered her eyes, and hid her head on his shoulder during the really bloody parts. He was too distracted by Lana, to even notice what was going on in the movie or with Lex.

Lex was sitting with the older girl, a few rows behind the younger kids. Through talking, Lex found out she was the older sister of one of the girls, and that her name was Abby. He realized quickly, that she knew exactly who he was, and that she was hitting on him. They ended up kissing during a large portion of the movie. When it was over, Abby gave him her phone number before heading home with the girls.

The lights came up in the theater, and when Lex saw that Clark was still sitting, he moved up to sit next to him. "What's up? Is something wrong?"

Clark grinned, "No, everything's great. Thanks for taking me, Lex. It was awesome. I just didn't think my legs would work very well around Lana, and I didn't want to end the movie by falling on my face."

Lex gave Clark a playful punch to the shoulder, and said, "Thank you for coming with me. Let's head home and work on our story."

Frowning, Clark said, "I'm sorry Lex, but I still don't think we should lie."

"What?" Lex lost all traces of his smile.

"Look, I don't want to be in trouble any more then you do, but I'm not good at lying, and you'll feel guilty about it for weeks if you do. Maybe if we tell the truth we'll just get grounded with extra chores. Dad always goes easier on us if we're being honest."

Lex shook his head. "You're probably right that you'd just get grounded, but I'm pretty sure I'd be in for more then that. How about we make it a really simple lie, that doesn't have much explanation to it. We can say that my dad got stuck in Metropolis, and we had to wait for a delivery service to bring the papers for me to sign. There wouldn't be much else to tell, and they wouldn't have to worry about any confrontation with my dad."

Some theater staff members came in and started to clean. Lex headed towards the exit and Clark followed. Lex said quietly, "Think about it for a few minutes. Do you really want to end this day grounded, or worse?"

Clark shook his head no, and did think about it while they headed to the car. Clark was lost in his thoughts, and it took him a few seconds to realize, that Lex wasn't walking beside him anymore. He turned, and saw Lex a few feet back, with a look of surprise and dread on his face. Clark looked in the direction Lex was staring, and saw his mother standing beside Lex's car, obviously angry.

Clark whispered, "Crap! What now?"

Lex was at a loss, and felt his stomach twisting. Not only was he going to get spanked, but Clark was probably going to get spanked too. As if having to see the disappointment in both his parents eyes at what he had done wasn't going to be bad enough. Taking a deep breath, he started walking again, and said, "I have no idea."

They made it to the car, and stood in front of Martha. Neither one could make eye contact. Clark said quietly, "Hi Mom."

"Hi Mom." Lex echoed.

Taking a deep breath of her own, Martha said, "I was waiting here, worrying about you two, and wondering what had gone wrong at the mansion. But as soon as I saw the look on your faces…" She turned away, knowing that if she continued, she would be yelling.

Lex said, "I'm so sorry. I was…"

Cutting him off, she said, "I'm too upset to hear it right now. I'll talk to you both when you decide to come home from whatever it is you've been doing." She walked away, and got in the truck which was parked a few feet away. She didn't look back at them as she pulled out.

Clark saw her wiping tears off her face through the truck window. Turning to Lex, he said, "That's not good. We don't want to be far behind her. If she's crying when she gets home, and Dad sees how upset she is… If we're not there, trying to make up for it, then we'll have done two things wrong."

Wanting to throw up the popcorn he'd eaten, Lex nodded and got in his car along with Clark. They drove towards the farm in silence. When they got close to the farm, Lex said, "Let me do the talking."

"Why, are you going to try and lie?"

"No. I'm going to make sure they know it's not your fault. I know I'm in for it, but you don't have to be."

Shaking his head, Clark said, "I agreed to go to the movie, and I knew it was wrong at the time. It isn't entirely your fault Lex. If I hadn't made such a big deal about the movie yesterday, the whole thing never would have happened. Not that I want to be in trouble too, but if I do get spanked, grounded, or both, you shouldn't feel guilty about it."

Lex glanced at Clark, amazed at what a good person he was, and said, "Too late. I already feel guilty enough for the both of us, but thanks for trying."

They pulled up to the farm as Martha was getting out of the truck. Jonathan walked out to the porch with a concerned look. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure, but I intend to find out." She turned to the boys, who were now both standing by the porch stairs, and said, "Both of you, in the living room, right now."

Clark gave her a quiet "Yes Ma'am" as he headed in.

Lex just walked in with his head hung low.

They sat together on the sofa, and could hear Martha talking to Jonathan in the kitchen. "I was on my way to the market, and saw Lex's Porsche downtown. I pulled over, thinking something must have gone wrong with his father, and waited for them. An hour later they came walking up, and as soon as they saw me, I could tell that they were up to no good. I don't know what they were doing, but I intend to find out."

Coming into the living room, Martha stood in front of the boys, while Jonathan sat in an armchair. She crossed her arms, and said, "Okay, let's hear it."

Lex kept his head down, and laid it all out for them. "I was angry yesterday when Pop told me I couldn't go into town, and in the heat of the moment, I called a friend of mine who does a good impersonation of my father. He called that night pretending to be him, so that Clark and I would have an excuse to be gone for a few hours today. But then… then you all were so worried about me… and I guess if I'd thought it through, I would have realized you would be, but at the time… I didn't want you to worry; I just wanted an excuse. Then Clark went and offered to go with me, instead of me suggesting it. I almost called it off, but you were all being so protective, and I was being such a jerk."

Turning to Clark, Martha asked, "You didn't know about any of this yet?"

"No."

Lex added, "I knew he'd try to talk me out of it, so I kept it to myself. He didn't know until he realized we passed the road to the mansion. Then I told him we could go see the movie together, but when he found out, he tried to talk me out of it. In fact we were about to head for home so I could confess like he suggested, when we ran into some girls…"

Lex turned to Clark, not knowing if he had told his folks about his infatuation with Lana. Clark muttered to his lap, "Lana was going to the movie, and asked us to go too. I knew it was wrong when I agreed to see it, but… But I did it anyway, and I'm sorry."

Lex said, "But then after the movie, Clark was still trying to talk me into confessing. He wanted to do the right thing, and probably would have talked me into it before we got home."

Clark shrugged, "I might have agreed to lie about it. I can't say for sure."

Slightly frustrated by Clark's abundance of honesty, Lex said, "You would have done the right thing Clark. I'm sure of it."

Martha said, "Is that it? Anything else you want to add?"

Both boys said "No" at the same time.

Martha turned to Jonathan, who looked fit to be tied. Martha wasn't at all happy herself. She turned back to them and said, "Both of you go to your rooms, while your father and I talk."

As soon as the boys were out of earshot, Martha went and sat in the same chair with Jonathan and snuggled up next to him for comfort. He put an arm around her and said, "Here I thought sending you to town to do some shopping would calm you down."

"Normally it would have, and you were right, I was fretting over it too much."

After a few seconds of quiet Martha said, "What should we do about Clark?"

"He went to see the movie after I told him he couldn't see it…"

"Under pressure," she pointed out.

"Seeing a girl he likes does not count as pressure."

"It does at fourteen, and besides Lex will just feel that much worse if he has to overhear Clark getting spanked."

"Maybe he deserves to feel that much worse. He lied repeatedly, and set up a scam to get his way, after I told him he couldn't do something."

Martha rested her head on Jonathan's shoulder, and said, "You know what I just realized?"

"What?"

"He didn't once call me Mrs. Kent when he was upset. Usually if Lex knows he's in trouble, he slips up. He didn't call you Mr. Kent either."

"Well he's been part of the family for a couple of years now."

"Exactly."

After a pause Jonathan said, "I'm not following."

Martha sat up, and said. "Lex may not realize it, but what he just did is normal teenage rebellion. He's not worried that we won't love him. He's not worried about getting kicked out. He's just seeing how far he can push, and seeing what he can get away with. I think that's a big step forward. And I think he's realizing, that teen rebellion in our house, is not the same kind of fun that it was in Lionel's house."

He could see the logic in that, and gave his wife a kiss on the cheek. "I think you're beautiful and brilliant."

"Thank you, and since you know how brilliant I am, I'm sure you'll reconsider Clark's punishment."

After giving it some thought, Jonathan said, "Okay, instead of a spanking, how about no movies for Clark for the rest of the summer? No movies in the theater, and no movies on television either."

"Okay, I think that's fair."

"As for Lex…."

Martha could hear the regret in Jonathan's voice already. "I know, and unfortunately I agree. We know the kinds of things he did to get attention when he really was a teenager. We need to give this one a lot of negative attention, so that he realizes very quickly that it's not something he wants to keep trying."

"Thank you for understanding."

"Thank you for understanding," she said back to him, with a smile. "I'll go talk to Clark, while you talk to Lex."

# # #

Clark heard a knock on his door and cringed. "Come in."

He was expecting his father with the dreaded box, but saw his mother instead. "Mom?"

She came in, and sat down next to him on the bed. Clark saw his father walk into Lex's bedroom across the hall, and shut the door behind him, and considered the possibility that he wasn't going to get spanked, even if Lex was.

Martha put a hand over his shoulders, and said, "Dad and I are really proud of the way you tried to talk Lex into confessing today. And we understand that girls in general, and especially Lana, have some influence on your behavior. But going to that movie, after we told you that you couldn't see it, was wrong and you know it." He nodded and she continued. "You're grounded from all movies for the rest of the summer, both in the theater and on television."

Clark didn't like the idea of no movies all summer. There were two big movies coming out soon, that he was excited to see. But he kept his mouth shut, expecting there to be more punishment to come for what he'd done. After a few seconds of silence, Clark timidly asked, "Is that it?"

Knowing what he was worried about, she said, "You're not getting spanked."

"Wow. Thanks."

Even though he was sure he knew the answer, Clark asked, "What about Lex?"

"I think you already know the answer to that," she said. "And maybe hearing Lex's punishment, will make you less likely to give in, the next time he tries to do something that you know is wrong.

Clark swallowed hard, and wished he hadn't run into Lana. Cringing when he heard raised voices across the hall, and wincing in sympathy when he heard the first smack.

# # #

Lex paced his room, cursing his own stupid plan, and wishing he hadn't done it. When he heard a knock at the door, he cleared his throat, swallowed hard, and said, "Come in."

Jonathan came in, shut the door behind him, crossed his arms, and said with a serious frown, "What did I tell you about taking Clark to that movie on Friday?"

Not able to keep eye contact, Lex felt sick to his stomach. Knowing what was about to happen, Lex whispered, "You said we couldn't go."

"And what did I tell you about going somewhere, just to prove that you didn't like my parenting?"

"Not to."

"So what exactly happened?"

"I was angry, and I decided to do something stupid."

Walking to the foot of Lex's bed, Jonathan took off his belt, sat down, and asked, "How many lies did you tell between yesterday and today?"

His eyes filled at the site of the belt, and he shook his head, not wanting to think about how many lies he had told, or how many swats that would turn into. He stammered out, "Um… One at dinner last night. One this morning before we left, and one when I called you…. so three."

"So if we added up all the statements you made during those three conversations, we'd be up to about twenty lies?"

Knowing this would mean twenty swats, Lex shook his head vehimently, and took a few steps back. He pleaded, "No Pop! Please, it's not like that… It's… It's not that bad… I'm really sorry already and…."

Jonathan cut him off. "You come here right now, young man. I'm not putting up with this kind of behavior from you. When I tell you no, I mean it, and you know better then to lie to me."

Lex stayed where he was. and said, "But I was gonna confess!"

With a sigh, Jonathan set the belt down, and stood up. Walking to Lex, Jonathan put a hand on his shoulder, and said, "If you had confessed last night at dinner, I would have given you extra chores to do. If you had turned the car around and confessed before you went to the movie, you would have been grounded for a couple of weeks. If you had called and confessed right after the movie, I would have spanked you, but I wouldn't have used my belt. But as it stands right now, I can't be sure if you're telling me the truth, or lying to get out of a more serious spanking."

"But I was! Honestly I was going to confess!" Lex didn't resist, when Jonathan pulled him towards the bed. Logically he could understand what the man was saying, but having the belt right there waiting for him, made it hard to think.

Sitting down again, Jonathan said, "Well maybe next time you'll think about this spanking, and you'll decide to confess a little sooner. Or better yet, you'll think twice before deceiving me in the first place. Take your pants down."

Lex felt some tears going down his face, as he unbuttoned his pants. He was pulled down over Jonathan's lap, and his pants and boxers were pushed down to his knees.

Jonathan said, "This wasn't the best way to start off your summer Lex. You're an adult now, and yet your teenage brother was more responsible then you today. You need to give that some serious thought." He started to spank Lex with his hand.

When he felt the first slap to his rear, Lex yelled, "Oooww!" more out of frustration then pain. But when more slaps landed, the noises Lex made, soon became involuntary reactions to the pain.

Jonathan kept spanking until Lex was squirming to get away, and yelping with each swat. He paused long enough to pick up his belt. He could see the back of Lex's head shaking no. Jonathan said, "People who love each other don't lie to each other in order to manipulate them, Lex. I don't do that to you, and I expect you not to do it to me. We've talked about lying more then once."

Lex was able to get out, "I know. I'm sooooorry!"

Jonathan brought the belt down, and felt Lex's whole body jerked at the fresh pain. The boy put a hand back to cover his butt, but Jonathan grabbed it, and held it out of the way. Gritting his teeth, Jonathan continued the spanking, and tried not to let the sorrowful noises coming from Lex get to him, until he'd given him twenty with the belt.

Taking a deep breath, to calm himself once it was done, Jonathan set the belt down, and let go of Lex's wrist. He rubbed Lex's back, and made comforting noises. When he felt Lex push to get up, Jonathan let him, even though the boy was still crying. He stood, while Lex fixed his pants as quickly as he could. Jonathan pulled Lex into a hug, and soon found it returned.

When Lex was down to sniffles, Jonathan hugged him tighter and said, "I love you Lex." He felt Lex hold him tighter too. Jonathan said, "That was some first class teenage rebellion, Lex. I hope you don't plan on anymore, but I'll be prepared to dish out more of the same if you do."

"I won't do it again," Lex was quick to say.

Putting his hand's on Lex's shoulders and holding him at arm's length, Jonathan looked into his eyes, and said, "I want you to stay up here in your room, and think about it. Really think about it, Lex. From the things you've told us, you were a menace in your younger years. Now that we've all come to the understanding that Martha and I are your parents forever, do you really want to spend the summer pushing the limits to see how often you'll get spanked? Or do you want to keep growing and maturing into the young man we know you'll eventually become?"

Lex felt more tears. "I don't have to think about it Pop. I don't want to push the limits anymore."

Patting Lex's arm, Jonathan said, "I think that's a good decision, but I still want you to stay up here, and think about things for a while."

"Okay."

Jonathan headed for the door, and said, "I'm going to send Mom up to talk to you."

"Okay."

As soon as Jonathan was gone, Lex put both his hands back on his rear, and gently rubbed it, trying to assess the damage. He muttered, "Shit that hurts."

He lay down on the bed and waited. When Martha came in, she went and lay down beside him on the bed. He asked, "Are you still mad?"

She shook her head no, and held her arms out to him. He scooted over and rested his head on her shoulder and she wrapped her arms around him. After a few minutes of quiet Martha said, "Clark is grounded from all movies for the rest of the summer, and you are too."

"I'm sorry I took him, and got him involved in my plan."

She kissed the top of his head and said, "I know you didn't do it with malice. In fact, you were trying to make him happy. I know you love him, and wouldn't do anything to hurt him."

He whispered, "Thanks."

"I love you sweetie, and when I found out you were going to have to see your father, I was truly worried about you."

Lex felt awful about making her worry.

"And then when I saw you in town, and realized that you'd lied about it… I was hurt that you'd lie to us over something so petty."

Through fresh tears Lex said, "I'm really sorry Mom."

"I accept your apology and I forgive you, but I didn't want an apology. I want you to take some time to consider the difference between our family dynamic and the dynamic between you and Lionel. From the things you've told me, Lionel has his emotional walls built up so high, that nothing can touch him. For years you threw everything you could at those walls to get an emotion out of him. But here, we've all let you into our hearts. There are no walls between us, so when you do something like you did today, we feel everything you throw at us, and it hurts us when you don't take that into account."

Lex hadn't thought he could feel worse, but he was wrong. He was all out crying now and had no idea what to say other then repeated apologies. Martha held him tight and said gently, "Hey now, none of that. I'm not trying to make you feel worse, I'm trying to point out something to you, that I don't think you understood until right now. I believe with all my heart, that you're a good person Lex, and I believe that you were meant to be a part of this family. You bring me happy moments every day, and I wouldn't give that up for anything. I just needed you to know how much you mean to me."

She held him for a while until his crying slowed down. She patted his shoulder and sat up. He moved over to let her up, and she reached for the tissues that were by the bed. She handed him the box with a smile and said, "When you feel up to it, come down and help with the afternoon chores." She gave him a kiss on the forehead before getting up, and leaving him to his thoughts.

Lex spent the next hour thinking about the things Martha and Jonathan had said and done. He was positive that he wasn't going to make this mistake again, and when he saw Jonathan and Clark heading out to the barn from his window, he decided it was time to go help out. He was committed to making sure the rest of his summer was full of happy memories both for himself and his family.

Chapter 10

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