YAY!!! You're posting Playing for Keeps!!
Superman's visit was really poignant and wistful - poor guy was devastated for a moment, but I love the way Lois rescued the situation. And it makes a
lot of sense that he should tell her as Clark, not as Superman.
And then the revelation... I've read a
lot of explanations for why Clark didn't tell Lois sooner, but somehow this one really resonates with me:
"I know I should have told you earlier," he said, rushing to tell her the rest before he lost his nerve. "But at first I was protecting my secret. It wasn't just for me – it was for my parents. If anyone knew who I was – what I was – they would use my parents to get to me. If something happened to them because of me…I would never forgive myself. Then, when we became friends, when I got to know you and trust you…. I should have told you, but I just wanted…. I needed…. You didn't understand. You couldn't see that he was just a disguise. When you looked at me, I need you to see *me* - not him. I know that's selfish, but I didn't want to be different. I just wanted to be me, and I just wanted you to love me."
I think it's his uncertainty, his humility - that's what does it for me. He's not defensive or accusing. He's stating facts, simply and carefully, and explaining how it affected him. And I can't see how Lois's heart wouldn't melt at this!
Oh, one thing I've just noticed from posting that extract - you have Word's autocorrect function messing around with your ellipses. They look fine in your post and in mine, but it didn't in the posting window, which is what alerted me. When you send this to the archive the ellipses will turn into one . - so you might want to fix that before submitting the story.
Anyway, can't wait for MORE!!
Wendy
