Every Day's a Holiday When I'm With You
by RL
This story was inspired by Kaethel sometime around the beginning of January, though I don't think she knows it.
Though it's a bit early, I'd like to post this in honor of her birthday early next month.
*****
This story takes place immediately after "Individual Responsibility."
*****
Lois looked at herself in the mirror and sighed. <This will never do,> she told herself, frowning at the black dress she wore that didn't quite hang right on her frame. Then she glanced at her bed where three additional outfits lay. She grabbed the burgundy dress from the bed and quickly changed. This dress fell to just above her knees, showing off her shapely long legs, and was sufficiently low-cut to be revealing, but demure enough to wear comfortably in public.
<Perfect! Yes, this is the one! Wait till Clark sees me in this!> she exclaimed to herself.
Running to the bathroom, she triple-checked her makeup and hair to make sure everything was in place. She glanced at her watch and panicked.
<He'll be here in five minutes!>
Rushing through the apartment, she cleaned as rapidly as she could. A few stray shirts ended up stuffed in a cupboard in the kitchen while a few magazines were thrown into the bedroom.
<No, not there!> she thought as she picked up the magazines carelessly tossed on the floor. She looked around desperately for a place to stash them. The bed! Tugging on the mattress, she shoved the magazines underneath. Lois flushed as she realized what she was doing. It wasn't as if Clark was going to see the bedroom tonight.
At least she didn't *think* so.
Just then, there was a knock on her door.
Lois raced for the door, pausing just before she reached it, and calmed herself. She walked slowly up to the door, took a deep breath to settle her nerves, and yanked the door open to see Clark standing before her.
Her mouth fell open slightly at the sight before her. Clark was dressed in a very nicely tailored black sports coat over a white buttoned-down collared shirt, accompanied by one of his trademark ties. The jacket was unbuttoned, allowing her to see just how well defined he was as she took in the sight of his broad shoulders and muscular chest. For a moment, she flashed back to the time when she had seen him bare-chested nearly two years ago. Lois' eyes wandered lower to take in his gray wool slacks tightly hugging his hips. She once again admitted to herself how very attractive her partner really was.
Suddenly the room seemed very warm. Slightly embarrassed, she glanced at Clark and was gratified to notice that he seemed as equally taken with her. His eyes were slightly wide, and he seemed to be holding his breath. Their eyes met, which broke them both out of their thoughts.
"Lois..."
"Clark..."
They both laughed as she gestured for him to come inside. Clark brought his right hand from behind his back to reveal a dozen long-stemmed roses.
"These are for you," he said, offering her the flowers that were an unusual combination of yellow with red tips. Pausing for a moment, he gave her a dazzling smile and told her, "You look beautiful, Lois."
Lois heart jumped as she accepted them. "You shouldn't have, Clark. These are beautiful. I haven't seen these colors together before. What do they mean?"
She watched as Clark blushed. With a cute little half-smile, he told her, "The yellow means friendship; the red tips mean 'falling in love.'"
"Oh, that's lovely! They're very unusual. Where did you find them?"
"I saw them in a shop somewhere and thought of you." Clark looked down, failing to hide his embarrassment.
To hide her own suddenly flushed face, Lois brought the roses up to her nose and inhaled their freshly cut scent. She then said, "Just wait right here for a minute while I go and put these in water."
She walked over to the kitchen and brought down a vase from one of the overhead cabinets. While her hands busied themselves with filling the vase and clipping the stems before placing them in water, she reflected on their impending date. She found herself feeling excited and even a bit giddy. Mixed in was a little bit of fear.
More than anything else in the world, she wanted this to work. It was already far too late for them to go back to being just friends. And she began to realize something else. Going out with Dan didn't inspire these feelings within her: happiness, fear, anticipation, nervousness, and hope. Could it be love? Could she have finally fallen for her best friend?
<But what if it doesn't work out?> Her conscience warred within her. <He's always running out on me. Does that mean he doesn't feel the same way? He has to feel something for me since he's the one who asked me out. It isn't like Clark to risk our friendship for a casual relationship. With him, it's forever.>
Her internal struggle continued as she picked up the vase and placed it at the center of her coffee table. She looked up to see Clark still standing in her foyer, watching her. In his eyes, she saw a tenderness she had never seen before in anyone's expression. It was how she had always imagined how the men in her romantic novels looked at their true loves. Though she would never admit it to anyone, she had secretly hoped something like that could happen to her someday. Was Clark in love with her?
Their eyes met, and she felt a flutter in her chest. Clark walked over to her and took both of her hands in his. He bent his head down slightly, and she parted her lips in anticipation. After what seemed an eternity, his lips touched hers in a sweet caress. Her heart leapt, as she felt swept away by the heady emotions coursing through her.
The kiss deepened as his arms wrapped securely around her, and her arms went around his neck to pull him closer. Their bodies melded together while the world disappeared around them. Feelings of love and intense pleasure ran through her, driving out any remaining fears. Her hands went higher, tangling in his thick hair, as he pulled her body even closer to his. She moaned into his mouth and heard him moan in response to her kiss.
Lost in her emotions, she barely felt Clark pull back. She heard a disappointed sound come from her own throat, feeling bereft of his closeness. It took her a few moments to calm herself sufficiently to open her eyes.
She saw that Clark still had his eyes closed and was breathing heavily as if he was trying to regain his own composure. His eyes sprung open, his gaze intense and full of emotion. "God, Lois. That was incredible! Another second and I don't think I could have stopped myself."
In spite of her momentary disappointment, Lois couldn't help but smile. That was her Clark, ever the gentleman. He was nothing like any of the men she had known in her life; that made her feel even more secure. "Would that have been so bad?" she teased.
Clark suddenly gave her a deer-in-the-headlights look as he began to stammer. "Relax, Clark. I'm kidding," she told him, giving him a peck on the lips. "Let's go to dinner. I'm starved."
*****
"So what made you want to travel all over the world?"
Clark looked up from his salad and glanced at her for a moment before he spoke. With a somewhat far-away look, he mused, "I think it was mostly because I came from Smallville. Having lived in a small town for all of my childhood, I guess I just got a touch of wanderlust."
"Got tired of smelling all that hay?" said Lois with a broad grin.
Clark chuckled. "Don't get me wrong. I love Smallville. But I wanted to see new sights, experience things I've never done before. I think what mattered most to me was meeting new people and seeing all the different cultures.
"I guess I'm not cut out for small town living. I'm just a city boy at heart," he said with a twinkle in his eye.
An eyebrow went up in surprise before Lois noticed the gleam in Clark's eye and the mischievous expression on his face. Unable to help it, she laughed delightfully. She hadn't had this much fun since...her last date with Clark, she realized. He had always had the ability to make her laugh or just to get her out of her bad moods.
"And I moved around a lot because I was looking for something that I never found in all those places," he continued.
Intrigued, Lois asked him, "Oh? Why did you stay in Metropolis? Did you find what you were looking for?"
At that moment, Clark gave her a little wistful smile. "Yeah, I did. I found you."
Lois found herself melting. She looked away a bit to wipe a tear from her eye. Once more she understood what a wonderful man her partner and best friend really was. From any other man, she would have looked upon such a declaration cynically. From Clark, she could see the sincerity in his face. She was certain he was in love with her.
And she found she was falling in love with Clark, too. She was struck with the realization that she had been feeling this way about him for a long time, but had been either too stubborn or too scared to admit it. Exhilaration swept through her as she finally stopped hiding from her emotions.
But there was still the matter of Clark's disappearing act. They couldn't really move forward with a relationship until that had been resolved. Her feeling of delight vanished. "Clark, I feel bad bringing this up right now, but we need to talk about why you're always running out on me..."
*****
Lois Lane was in love. Last night's date had been absolutely wonderful. Clark had stayed with her all throughout their date, from 7:00 all the way to the time when he had walked her to her door at midnight. Having never truly been in love before, she'd been feeling giddy all morning. Now she found herself humming love songs in the shower and in the Jeep and could barely keep herself from bouncing her way through the crowded lobby of the Daily Planet as she looked forward to seeing her boyfriend again.
Boyfriend!
That had a great sound to it. She hadn't had a serious boyfriend since high school, not counting that disaster of a relationship with Lex where she had felt more like a possession than a girlfriend or fiancée, so this was all so new to her. Clark, on the other hand, made her feel loved. He had been so attentive last night and had been his usual charming, gentlemanly self. And one thing was certain. She had feelings for Clark that in no way resembled the feelings she had for Dan.
While she liked Dan, and occasionally wondered what it would be like to be in a real relationship with him, she knew she was in love with Clark. It was Clark she dreamed of at night when she was free to express her feelings, even if it was only to herself. Her dreams had formerly been occupied by Superman, but events of late had shown her how childish those feelings for him had really been. The love she had felt for Superman paled in comparison to the emotions that overtook her whenever she thought of her best friend.
Her anger over Clark's disappearances had come very close to doing permanent damage their budding romance. The two of them had been on such an emotional rollercoaster for so long, what with Clark constantly running off on her whenever they started a serious conversation. But last night was different. They could each feel that difference in the air. Gone was the normal air of calm friendship between the two of them. In its place were a touch of romance and a definite feel of sexual tension.
And they had had their first serious talk about their relationship since Mayson Drake had died. For so long, Lois had wondered if Clark had really been in love with Mayson. She had told herself over and over that Clark would not have asked her out if he had fallen for the blonde Assistant DA. But his behavior following the deadly bomb incident had brought out all her insecurities.
Clark had assured her last night that he had never been in love with Mayson. "It was you, Lois. It was always you," he had told her. He had gone further by telling her that his withdrawal from her had mostly been due to his guilt over what he perceived to be his inability to tell Mayson that his heart belonged to someone else. So Mayson's death had left Clark without a sense of closure.
Clark's explanation still didn't tell her the reason for his disappearances, but he did reassure her that his departures had nothing to do with her. He had said cryptically, "I promise you that you'll know soon, Lois, but there's something I have to do first before I can tell you. It's not just my secret to keep." And she believed him. If there was one thing she knew about Clark, it was that he was a terrible liar. Clark had not lied to her.
And that kiss. When Clark had picked her up at her apartment early that evening, he had kissed her. She grew flushed at the thought of the feelings Clark had brought out in her. She had never felt so wonderful in her life. While definitely passionate, it was also very sweet with the promise of something more. That something more was what she couldn't wait to experience.
So it was with a bit of disappointment that she noticed Clark wasn't at his desk when the elevator opened to the newsroom. She stared wistfully at his empty chair as she walked to her own desk. Upon arriving, she noticed a bud vase with a single red rose emerging from the slender glass neck set next to her monitor. A card leaned against the vase. She happily picked up the card.
Opening it, she read:
Lois,
Last night was magical. I had the best time of my life being with you. I'm hoping that was the start of many wonderful days and nights together. I also have a surprise for you tonight. Would you meet me at my apartment at 7:00 after work?
Love,
Clark
P.S. Wear something warm.Lois felt a surge of happiness as she read the card. Clark was asking her out again. This time, there was no hesitation. She had almost turned him down just a little over twelve hours ago. That would have been a major mistake. Wild horses, or even a Kerth-winning story, couldn't keep her from Clark's apartment tonight. Okay, she'd have to seriously think about it if it were a Pulitzer-winning story, she thought with a grin. Immediately she mentally went through her wardrobe, trying on outfits for her date. 'Wear something warm,' Clark had said in the card. It was April with fairly warm temperatures in Metropolis. She wondered what Clark meant by that.
With a shrug, she sat down and turned on her computer. Even though it was more fun to think about Clark and their impending date, Perry White didn't keep her on the payroll so she could daydream. In the middle of reading a tip from one of her sources, Lois was distracted by one of the Planet gophers, who dropped off a phone message.
She opened the handwritten message and read:
I'll be back in town tonight since I was able to wrap up my case. How about we get together for some dinner and who knows what else? Let's be spontaneous! How does 7:00 grab you? I'll swing by your place and pick you up. See you then.
DanHer happy mood dissipated rapidly. She had to call Dan and tell him that she couldn't date him any longer because she didn't have any romantic feelings for him. Suddenly, she sympathized with Clark's plight with Mayson since she was now faced with a similar dilemma. Having dated Dan several times, she was now in a position of having to tell him that she didn't see him as any more than a friend.
But she wouldn't make the same mistake Clark had made. She had to end it with Dan as soon as possible. She didn't want to lead Dan on with a promise of something more, especially since her feelings for Clark were finally clear. And any delay could doom her relationship with Clark, knowing how much her dating Dan had hurt him.
She was struck by the irony of the situation. Lois had started dating Dan in the first place because of Clark's perceived indifference. Before last night, she and Dan had almost been a couple even though she knew deep in her heart that she could never love him. Now she found herself wondering how she should break it off without hurting him.
It probably wasn't possible, so she had only one choice. She picked up her phone and dialed his phone number. It rang several times before the answering machine picked up.
Frustrated, Lois hung up the phone without leaving a message. <What can I do? I've got two dates for the same time tonight!>
*****
tbc...
