This is my absolute favorite paragraph in this part:
“Hey, James,” Clark says, and he grins at his friend. And it’s only then, as Lois looks at the man before her (Superman transformed into Clark Kent with no more than a single expression), that she realizes that all the smiles he (this stranger between the two) has been offering her aren’t true smiles at all. They’re pale imitations. Cheap knock-offs. Smiles that prove he is glad to see her (or at least, polite enough to pretend he is), but smiles that are guarded. Wary. Waiting for the other shoe to drop (for the next article to hit the newsstands).
That one genuine smile wipes away all of the polite lies between them. Things are not "fine", as they keep saying. No, there is a much deeper wound that has has damaged their relationship, and despite the fact that they're both pretending it's not there, pretending they can move past it, Lois and Clark are both lying to themselves by not honestly addressing the myriad of conflicting emotions they both feel. And that you can say so much with one genuine smile is a testament to your incredible writing ability.
