To Keep Me Warm

The snow is snowing and the wind is blowing But I can weather the storm!
What do I care how much it may storm?
I've got my love to keep me warm

-Irving Berlin

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." Lex frowned at the back left wheel of his car, which was spinning uselessly in the air. There was no way he was going to be able to get his car out of the ditch on his own.

Lex hated winter, with the freezing cold and the slushy snow and the fucking black ice. He pulled his cell phone out of his coat pocket and tried to turn it on. It only beeped at him belligerently before shutting back off. The battery was dead. Someone was fired. "You've got to be fucking kidding me."

He should have been, at that very moment, curled up in front of a nice warm fire with his boyfriend at the Kent homestead, sipping on spiced apple cider or maybe some homemade eggnog.

Unfortunately, some last minute business had dictated he stay in Metropolis for a few more days and he hadn't been able to drive back to Smallville with Clark. Which was why he was standing in the middle of the road at 5:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve and why the hell did it have to be so fucking dark so early in the evening?

Lex sighed, resigned. He was only a few miles away from the Kent's farm. He could either wait around for a car to drive by, or for Clark to come out looking for him, or he could start walking. Since Clark wasn't expecting him for several more hours, Lex made sure his car was locked and trudged off toward the farm.

Twenty minutes later, Lex was regretting his decision. "Shit," he cursed as his foot broke through a thin layer of ice and plunged into the freezing puddle beneath it. Now both his feet were wet and his ass hurt from slipping and falling more times than he was ever going to admit to. Could it get any worse?

It started to snow.

By the time Lex reached the Kent's, his lips were blue, his ears were freezing and it had been a long time since he had felt his feet.

Clark opened the door, took one look at him and started laughing.

"Fuck it." Lex turned around and stepped off the porch.

"Lex, wait," Clark called out between bouts of laugher. "Where are you going?"

"I'm walking to the mansion. It's not funny!" Lex informed Clark when he grabbed Lex's arm.

Clark smiled, pulling Lex into his arms. "I'm sorry, baby. You just look so miserable."

"You did not just call me 'baby'," Lex informed Clark, though he made no move to break away from the embrace.

"Of course I didn't. Come inside." Clark pulled Lex along behind him back onto the porch and into the house.

"My car's in a ditch." A wave of heat washed over Lex as the door closed behind him. Clark had a roaring fire going in the fireplace and had the loveseat, piled high with blankets set up in front of it. Lex didn't move as Clark pulled off his wet coat, gloves, shoes, socks and pants. It wasn't until Lex was standing in the living room in nothing but his boxers and his sweater that he asked Clark about his parents.

"Every year mom bakes about fifty pies and she and dad take them around to everybody on Christmas Eve. They usually come back with all sorts of cakes and breads and jellies and jams. It's great." Clark was rubbing Lex's feet between his hands and Lex groaned as the feeling started to painfully return. When had he sat down?

"C'mon." Clark pulled Lex up. "You can take a shower and finish warming up."

"My clothes are all still in the car," Lex told him.

Clark tested the water of the shower before walking over to Lex and pulling off his sweater. "You can wear some of mine, we'll get yours later."

"Kay." Lex stepped into the shower, sighing as the hot water cascaded over him. He stayed there until his skin was pink and his feet had stopped tingling.

Stepping out of the shower stall, there was a big, fluffy towel, a pair of flannel pants, thick socks, and a worn T-shirt waiting for him. Lex smiled when he realized that the towel and the clothes were warm.

"I threw them in the dryer for a few minutes," Clark informed him from the doorway.

"Hmm, that kind of ingenuity should be rewarded." Lex wrapped his arms around Clark's waist and leaned in for a leisurely kiss.

"Come downstairs," Clark said when they broke apart. "We have hot apple cider." He waggled his eyebrows.

Spiced cider secured, Lex and Clark settled into the cocoon of blankets on the loveseat, basking in the warmth of the fire.

"Warm enough?" Clark murmured, wrapping his arm around Lex, pulling him closer.

Lex nodded as he struggled to keep his eyes open. It was a losing battle. Warmth seeped into him from all sides, the fire crackled and snapped and Christmas music played softly in the background. Lex relaxed into Clark's embrace, enjoying the heat. It was good to be home.

THE END