Well, this had to happen, I think. Clark doesn't realize and won't admit that he actually *wants* to stay with Lois. Lois already tried to force the issue once, when she asked Clark for a divorce before. The fact that he won't commit to her is killing her.
It should be noted, of course, that it is Lois who has been obsessing about the divorce. Clark hasn't been thinking much about it. In the same way that he has been most unwilling to
talk about the divorce, he has been unwilling to
think about the divorce. When Lois and Clark first heard that Navance was dead, they both immediately thought about Christopher. But it was Lois, not Clark, who remembered that this meant that their official reason for staying married was gone, too. So it was Lois who pushed Clark away. I don't blame her, or at least, I definitely understand her. Admittedly I don't think it was the right thing to do, but like I said, I certainly understand her. But that leaves us with the question - what if she hadn't? If Lois had left it to Clark to push for a divorce, would he have done so? Or would he have stayed and allowed their platonic relationship to go on and on until death did them part?
Clark was so decisive, so strong-willed, when he and Lois were in Latislan. Now his will seems frozen. He doesn't know what he wants regarding Lois, except that he pretty much wants things to go on like before, because that way he doesn't have to make any other decisions.
So maybe Lois was right to push him away after all. I wish she would have told him that she still loves him and she wants him if he wants her, but she won't keep him imprisoned if he wants to get out of their marriage so he can be free to pursue other women.
These two chapters were heartbreaking, particularly chapter 135, but I think they were good for the story and necessary, too. You know what they say about dropping hints in a fic: 'If you hang a shotgun on the wall of a cabin in the beginning of a story, you have to fire that shotgun before the story is over.' You can't dangle the threat of divorce before our eyes for such a long time without making someone actually go for the divorce, Carol. But I don't need to tell you I hope that Lunkhead Clark will come around and realize how much he truly loves Lois!
Ann
