Title: Oh Christmas Tree
Author: me_ya_ri
Email: me_ya_ri@yahoo.com
Rating: G
Challenge: CLFF Wave 39 – First Time + Christmas / New Years
Notes: Many thanks to danceswithgary for her beta work! Set in S1 when everything was shiny and new because I love the potential way back then.
Summary: Lionel has never allowed Christmas into Lex's private life, meaning that Lex has never had a Christmas tree with presents for him under it. Clark decides that's a shame and sets about changing that for Lex.

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Clark smiled, pleasantly distracted from his Christmas shopping by the echoing sound of the carolers making their way up the block. It wasn't as though he was likely to find what he was looking for in the Fordman's general store. Shopping for Lex in the small-town store didn't make much sense, but Clark was really just looking for ideas in the hope that something would strike him.

Stepping outside, Clark laughed quietly as he spotted Lex staring at the carolers with a perplexed expression. When Clark walked up next to Lex, he nodded at Clark and then returned his attention to the cheerful singers. The way he looked at them left Clark with the impression that Clark saw them as a puzzle rather than as something entertaining to listen to while shopping.

"Hey, Lex," Clark said. "Holiday shopping?"

"Hmm? Oh, no. I was talking with Nell about flowers for a party my father wants to throw at the mansion, actually," Lex said. His tone was utterly distracted, which made Clark grin at him.

"Enjoying the carolers?"

"Carolers?" This time Lex's expression was as obvious shock as Clark had ever seen on his guarded friend's face. "Real ones?"

"Well, of course they're real, Lex," Clark laughed a little hesitantly. "They're caroling, aren't they? What else would they be?"

"I thought they were actors for a commercial," Lex murmured with that puzzled frown. "I couldn't figure out where the cameras were."

Clark stared at him, his mouth dropping open in shock. Lex didn't notice it at first but, once he did, the old Luthor mask slid over his face, hiding his emotions almost completely. As always, the cool expression made Clark shiver, though perhaps not as much as it might have before they'd become friends. He gave his head a little shake to clear it and then peered at Lex in a way he hoped would amuse him, even if Lex wasn't likely to show it.

"Have you ever heard carolers before?" Clark asked suspiciously.

"Of course," Lex said in his best urbane, rich, powerful tone of voice. "On TV. How much do they generally expect in donations? I assume that they'll want something after they finish this set."

"You really never have heard carolers!" Clark squawked in shock.

A blush crept up over Lex's neck, heading for his cheeks and ears. As Clark stared at him it expanded over his entire face and then up over his scalp. Clark tried not to stare, but the thought that anyone could have gone their entire life without hearing carolers at least once was astonishing. Lex glared as if the ferocity of his expression would make up for the fact that he was as red as a neon sign.

"Wow," Clark said, turning to look at the carolers who had finished their song and were now strolling up the street towards the next block, singing the next carol.

"No money," Lex commented.

"Nope."

"They just… wander around singing."

"Yup."

"To… bring people joy?" Lex peered at Clark with enough uncertainty that it made Clark's heart squeeze for him.

"Pretty much," Clark confirmed. "It's a Christmas thing. People don't do that in Metropolis?"

"Not that I've seen," Lex sighed. He shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck as if he simply didn't get it. "I didn't think that sort of thing happened outside of Christmas specials on TV. My father has always said that Christmas is simply a commercial opportunity. We only had decorations in public locations, never in our private living areas. I've never quite seen the point of Christmas trees and the like."

Clark patted Lex's shoulder, getting a wry smile in return. Lex switched the conversation to a discussion of how the cows were dealing with the cold weather snap that they'd been having lately, before slipping away to return to the mansion. After he'd left, Clark wandered down Main Street, pondering what it would have been like to grow up with Christmas only being something that other people celebrated. The thought that Lex never enjoyed the excitement of presents under a Christmas tree made him sad.

"Mom, Dad," Clark asked once he got back home, "do you think it would be okay if I got Lex a Christmas tree from the back forty?"

Mom looked at him as she passed the mashed potatoes to Dad. She seemed a little curious but not upset, while Dad growled but he didn't look too grumpy about it. Clark hoped that they'd say yes because the best present that Clark could think of was giving Lex a real Christmas for the first time.

"Doesn't he have one already, sweetie?" Mom asked.

"No, Lionel doesn't allow Christmas decorations," Clark explained. "Lex has never had a Christmas tree, decorations or any presents of his own."

"What?" Dad squawked. He looked utterly horrified by the thought.

"Apparently Lionel thinks that Christmas is nothing but a 'commercial opportunity,'" Clark said, using air quotes and rolling his eyes. "So I thought maybe I could give Lex a tree and some decorations so he could have his own Christmas. He'd never even heard carolers before today. I don't think I could give him any presents that would mean anything, but I can give him a tree of his own. If it's okay, I mean."

Mom had her fierce expression on by the time Clark was done talking. Dad looked equally fierce, though his expression had more of a feel of fury than wanting to help. After dinner, Dad went with him to pick out a nice big Christmas tree. They brought it back and left it in the barn until the next day. It didn't surprise Clark when Mom took the branches they'd trimmed off and turned them into a small wreath for Lex, using some old red calico she had from a quilt for the bow.

"He won't have any ornaments, will he?" Mom mused as she stitched the bow together.

"No, I guess he wouldn't," Clark said thoughtfully.

"Paper cutout ornaments?" Dad asked. "I can make some for the tree."

"Popcorn chains!" Clark said, grinning. "And maybe some more bows, Mom? Chloe mentioned that they'd downsized their tree this year. Do you think it would be okay if I asked Chloe and Mr. Sullivan if they have some spare strings of lights?"

"I don't see why not," Mom said. She smiled at him and went to get more fabric to make more bows for Lex's tree.

The next day, Clark got Chloe and Lana involved. That netted him several strings of twinkling lights, some plastic snowflakes from Lana and Nell and four boxes of tinsel from Chloe. They pointed him at Whitney who, after he got done laughing at Clark's 'quest,' was more than happy to donate scraps of tin and some ornament hangers. Clark used tin snips and his fingers to turn the tin into little bells. They didn't chime, but they looked more or less like bells when he was done with them.

By the time the weekend rolled around, Clark had a big box filled with decorations, the wreath, and a brand new tree stand that Pete's family had never used because his Mom had decided to go with fake trees instead of real three years earlier. Clark drove over to Lex's mansion with everything loaded in the truck, his stomach doing flips the entire way. It took a lot of nerve to grab the tree and carry it into Lex's immaculate mansion.

"Hey Lex," Clark called as he pushed open the door to Lex's office. "Where do you want to put your tree?"

"Tree?" Lex stared at Clark and the eight-foot fir. "Clark, what…?"

His voice trailed off as if he couldn't find the words to continue. Clark grinned at him and leaned the tree against the pool table for the moment. Its branches made that Christmas tree shushing sound as they settled around the legs of the table.

"I've got some ornaments in the truck, plus a stand for it," Clark said. "Be right back."

Clark left before Lex managed to marshal any words. He had everything in the office and was setting the tree in the stand before Lex stood and came to steady the tree for him. Lex's expression was a complicated mixture of confusion and something that looked almost tender as he stared down at Clark.

"Why are you setting up a Christmas tree in my office, Clark?" Lex asked.

"Well, I thought you'd like one," Clark said. "Dad helped me pick it out. There's a wreath, too. Mom made it for you out of the trimmed branches. Chloe, Lana, Nell, and my parents helped me collect the ornaments for it. There are even some little tin bells that Whitney helped with. Well, actually, he gave me the tin and I made them. Every tree should have bells, not that they sound good or anything. They just look nice. Oh, and Pete gave me the stand."

When Clark stood up, Lex's expression was so stunned that Clark wondered whether he was going to break into tears. Clark opened the box and fished out the light strings, offering one end to Lex as he went to plug it in. Together they wrapped the lights onto Lex's tree, Clark chattering about how his mom thought that trees should have all one color but his dad had always loved multicolored strings.

The popcorn strands got another of Lex's perplexed 'I didn't think anyone actually did that' looks but he helped Clark drape them willingly enough. After that, they worked their way through the ornaments, putting snowflakes and paper doves and tin bells on the tree. Lex smiled at the little bows Clark's mother had made, settling each of his with meticulous care so that they'd be perfectly centered on their chosen branches. The bright calico bows were a beautiful color contrast to the silvery colors of the other decorations.

After all the ornaments were on the tree Lex asked, "So what's left?"

"Tinsel!" Clark declared.

He offered Lex a box of tinsel and took one for himself. Clark took the back of the tree and worked his way around to the front. When he got there, he started laughing because Lex was placing the tinsel on the tree strand by individual strand.

"There's three more boxes, Lex," Clark explained once he managed to stop laughing. "You don't have to be that stingy with it."

"I prefer to think of it as discriminating," Lex said, though the blush staining his face and spreading out to make his ears glow made the words a lie.

Lex watched Clark's grab and drape technique with the tinsel and copied it, though he was still somewhat more restrained. On his side of the tree, every single bell and bow showed clearly. When they were done, Clark stood back and nodded in satisfaction.

"Only one thing missing," Clark said. "Do you have a step stool?"

Lex wordlessly went to the bookshelves and brought back the little wooden stool he used to reach books on the top shelves. Clark took the last ornament, the heavy old silver star his grandmother had given him, out of the box. It was made of silver filigree with an old coil of wire as the base, so it had never stood the way it was supposed to. He carefully placed it on top of the tree, adjusting its base so that the star would stand upright instead of listing to the left.

"I suppose that one has a history too?" Lex asked once he put the footstool away.

"Mmm-hmm," Clark murmured. He gazed at it, glad that the old star had a new life on Lex's tree.

"Are you going to share it?" Lex asked after a moment.

"It was my grandmother's," Clark said. "My mom's mom. Before she married my grandfather, she inherited it from her great-aunt. Grandma gave it to me a few years ago when I turned ten. She said that it would find its home eventually and I guess she was right. I have my dad's mom's Christmas angel in my Christmas decorations, so I've never used this one before. I think it goes really well with your tree, Lex."

Lex made a little noise deep in his chest that sounded almost like someone had punched him. Clark looked at him and blushed at the gratitude shining in Lex's eyes, and then he shrugged and shuffled his feet a little to hide his embarrassment.

"I can't keep that, Clark," Lex said so quietly that it was nearly a whisper.

"Sure you can," Clark said, shrugging. "The tree and all the ornaments are yours now. I mean, there aren't any presents under it, but-"

"I can't think of a single present that would be worthy of sitting under this tree," Lex declared. His eyes looked suspiciously wet but there weren't any tears.

"I'll have to wrap a whoopee cushion for you or something," Clark said, just to see if he could get a laugh.

The joke worked, getting a belly laugh from Lex. "Thank you, Clark." He put a warm hand on Clark's shoulder and had so many emotions sparkling in his eyes as he looked at Clark, that Clark grinned back at him.

"You're welcome, Lex." They looked at the tree for a long moment before Clark turned back to Lex with another laugh bubbling up. "Hey, I don't suppose you've ever gone sledding, have you?"

Lex looked at him in what would have been a suspicious manner, if he hadn't been fighting against a grin of his own. "No, I can't say that I have. Do you happen to know of a place that's good for sledding?"

"Well, now that you mention it," Clark drawled as his laughter won and was joined by Lex's. "I think I do."

The End