Set the morning after the episode Contact. Lois is not about to let Clark throw their relationship away.
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
A/N: In response to a challenge to use a quote from a movie/tv show in a declaration of love.
It was late in the morning when she woke up, the sun streaming through a crack in the curtains. Her head felt thick and heavy, the remnants of a headache hanging on, and as she sat up, the events of the day prior began to flood back. She choked back a sob as she recalled Clark’s parting words to her. She’d sobbed quietly into her pillow until she’d fallen asleep, waking when Star entered the bedroom babbling on about something, bearing a steaming mug of tea. Star had left shortly afterwards, promising to be back in the morning. From the sounds of it, she hadn’t returned yet.
She was not going to sit in bed and wallow all day! Normally she’d just ignore the headache but today she wasn’t going to fight it and made her way into the bathroom for the aspirin. As she swallowed two, she glanced at herself in the mirror. All that crying had left its mark as her eyes were puffy and red. Blinking furiously to stop the new tears that had formed from falling, she grabbed a washcloth and soaked it in cold water, wiping her face down, gingerly dabbing around the abrasion near her temple.
Damn Clark! She threw the washcloth in the tub in frustration. It wasn’t his fault she had been hurt. Yesterday her head had been swimming and pounding as he’d spoken the words that had ended their romantic relationship and she hadn’t had the words to argue back. He’d said those final words and left, leaving her heartbroken. Now she was angry and wanted the chance to give Clark a piece of her mind. She left the bathroom, stomped through her bedroom, and opened the door to the rest of the apartment, before remembering that she only wore a silk nightie. That wouldn’t do! She pivoted back to find something suitable to wear. Once changed, she stopped long enough to apply some makeup to try to hide the puffy eyes, before heading to the kitchen.
The adrenaline from her burst of anger was spent so she leaned against the kitchen counter as her head began to swim and a mild bout of nausea rose within. Maybe she’d wait a bit, make sure she wasn’t going to knock on his door and throw up all over him. That probably wouldn’t help her argument, she mused grimly. Instead, she filled a glass with water and headed towards her couch.
***
A sharp knock on her door startled her awake. How long had she been sleeping? Who was at the door? “Clark,” she whispered breathlessly as she headed to the door.
“Lois! Are you there? I don’t have a key and my hands are full. I didn’t know what you’d want when you woke up so I grabbed a bunch of stuff and it’s really heavy. Are you there?” Star’s shrill voice pierced through the headache that had subsided considerably. “Lois? Please answer otherwise I’ll have to get the Super down here to open your door. Your boss told me to check on you…”
Lois groaned and slowly walked to open the door. Star was tenacious and would not be leaving until she’d seen her.
“Oh, thank goodness you’re alright. I promised I’d look in on you this morning and then a client contacted me. That’s the problem with conversing with the departed, they don’t have much concept of time, or scheduling. I was going to come up here right after but I thought you might be hungry and didn’t know if you have anything in your fridge. Here…” Star thrust one laden arm towards Lois. “…Could you grab these?”
Lois, speechless and trying to keep up with Star’s quick chatter, took the tray of drinks and two paper bags from Star’s outstretched hand. She could smell the coffee first and sighed happily. There was nothing like a good cup of coffee. Clark made… no, not going there. She busied herself opening the other bags. One of them emitted a strong smell of bacon and she felt the nausea threaten to become something more violent and she quickly pushed the bags further down the kitchen counter.
“Anyways, I’ve got coffee, one of those is just black, I wasn’t sure what you liked so there’s some cream and sugar in one of these bags…” Star continued as she placed the remainder of the bags on the counter, and another tray with more drinks. “There’s a cappuccino for me, unless you’d like it, some other frothy sweet drink that the guy said was really good, some chocolate coffee mixture, and two different teas.”
Lois felt a burst of gratitude to Star. She could be quite annoying, and this constant chatter was a bit much at the moment, but she had a heart of gold and meant well.
“Are you hungry? I picked up a few breakfast sandwiches and pastries, they’re in that bag way over there. I also grabbed some cereal, milk, orange juice, and bread. Are you ok?”
Lois was smiling at her and reached for the coffee. “I think toast would be great. Thanks for all of this, Star. How much do I…”
“Nothing, that’s what we do for friends,” Star interrupted. “You had a rough night last night. I’m glad Superman stopped by and apologized to you, especially as he wasn’t there to stop you from being hurt!”
The smile fell from Lois’s face. “He can’t be everywhere at once, Star. He saved a lot of people stopping Fences yesterday. One minor casualty is nothing compared to the good he does.” Now if only she could get Clark to see that, she thought glumly.
“If you say so! Are you ok for a bit on your own? I promised your boss I’d watch out for you and make sure you don’t go into work but I’ve got a client coming over shortly. A live one,” Star clarified at Lois’s dubious look.
“I’ll be fine. I’m not heading into work today. I’ll just hang out here for a bit.”
“You sure? I’m just downstairs if you need me.”
With Star gone, the apartment was quiet again. Lois put the groceries away and made herself some toast, heading back to the couch with her plate and coffee, turning the television on before she sat down. As her nausea abated with the dry toast she began to get ready to head over to Clark’s, but as she walked past the television to turn it off again, a breaking news bulletin announced that Superman was on scene of a train derailment, stopping a fire and helping to contain hazardous chemicals with the emergency response teams.
Lois perched on the edge of her coffee table, closely scrutinizing the picture. She wanted to see Clark’s face, see if she could spot any of the sadness and weariness she felt, on his expression. Unfortunately, the camera couldn’t get too close due to the toxicity of the fumes from the fire and she wasn’t able to see a clear picture of his face. Lois watched until Superman flew off without a word to anyone. The reporters speculated that he had another rescue to go to which would explain his abrupt exit, and Lois turned the volume down. There would be no point going over to Clark’s now if he wasn’t going to be home.
***
The day had passed rather quickly, though it hadn’t felt like it at the time. She had changed into sweats and a comfortable sweatshirt and had spent most of the day bouncing between watching some action movies she had on VHS, reading, and napping. She hadn’t been able to watch any of her favourite soap as she was still too emotionally strained to enjoy fictional couples agonizing over their relationships. At some point in the late afternoon she had stood in front of the fridge trying to find something appetizing to eat, Star’s purchases of sugary cereal and breakfast sandwiches not whetting her appetite in the slightest. She’d dialed the local pizza delivery and when they answered, had burst into tears and hung up, remembering the last time she’d had pizza at Clark’s. At that point she’d had another nap and now she was hungry and fed up.
Lois Lane never wallowed, she told herself. It wasn’t the first time she’d been dumped and she’d survived those heartbreaks, she’d survive this one too.
Would she, a small nagging voice asked in her head? After her other disastrous relationships, she’d not only survived, but thrived. She’d become a stronger reporter, investigator, and a more resilient, independent, woman. Was merely surviving enough? With Clark she had become even better at her job, especially when they worked together, and at no point had she felt her independence being trampled upon by him. While she liked who she had been before she became romantically involved with Clark, she loved the woman she had become with him. He made her feel cherished, desired, sexy, intelligent, and she never doubted his love for her.
What about him? He broke off their relationship because he didn’t want her to be used or hurt by anyone trying to get to Superman. Following his reasoning, it would mean a long lonely life without love, continually afraid of someone getting hurt because of him. What was next on the severing ties block? Their friendship?
No, she wasn’t going to allow that to happen to him, or to her. With her resolve firm, her headache and nausea long gone, she strode to the bathroom to take a quick shower before heading over to his place. If he wasn’t home, she would just wait for him.
***
She should have worn more layers, she mused. It wasn’t terribly cold, but sitting, leaning on his door, and not moving, was making her a bit chilly. Thankfully someone else had let her in the building so she wasn’t waiting outside. When she’d first arrived to his front door, she’d knocked several times, and called out, knowing if he was home he could easily hear her. There was a light on but she couldn’t see through the curtains over the windows in the front door. She assumed he’d left a light on before leaving, either as Clark or Superman. She was mulling over the idea of heading over to the Planet to see if he’d stopped in to write up a rescue, or running home to get her lock picks, when suddenly the door opened and she fell backwards. He caught her before her head hit the ground.
“Lois? How long have you been here?”
“Uh, I don’t know. I’m not even sure when I left the house and I ran out without everything. My purse, your key, lock picks, watch…” She stood, noticing that he hadn’t invited her in, and the hand he had used to help her stand was quickly retracted.
“It’s late, I was…out.” Clark made a flying motion with his hand, imitating the gesture she always used on him to denote his ability to fly.
“Ah. Can I come in?” Lois didn’t wait for a reply and walked past Clark down the stairs into his apartment.
“Lois…”
“Clark,” she interrupted. “I don’t want to hear it. You didn’t give me a chance to say anything after your noble little gesture yesterday, you just left, so now it’s my turn.” She swallowed hard, trying to contain the anger she knew was beneath the surface. If she yelled at him, they’d get nowhere. She watched his shoulders slump and he ran a hand over his face, removing his glasses as he did. She could see he looked tired and momentarily wondered if this was the right time to push him.
“Ok,” he said softly. “You’re right.”
“This isn’t the first time I’ve been hurt chasing after a story, you realize that, right? I was doing this before you showed up, and whether or not you decide to stick with your decision to dump me, I’ll keep doing it.” She watched him wince at her tone and she took a breath to try to calm down again. “Just because we’re not together doesn’t mean criminals aren’t going to use me to get to Superman.”
He sighed heavily. “I know. I’ve thought of that too.”
“What’s your conclusion? That you’ll have to completely cut me out of your life?” She choked back a sob before continuing, not wanting him to decide that’s what he had to do. “You can’t do that to me, or yourself! What about the next person? Anyone that you, Clark, or Superman, gets close to? Are you going to live your life never being with someone, no friends, no love? Have you thought about that?”
“No, Lois, it’s not like that. I can’t have you getting hurt because of me.”
“Oh? What about Griffin sending me those horrible gifts? Or Trevino trying to have me killed after I witnessed a murder? I could go on! Those incidents had nothing to do with Superman. In case you didn’t notice, our line of work has its own unique hazards.”
“But Lois, don’t you think you’ve been reckless? Always assuming Superman is going to come to your rescue?”
“Are you forgetting the times I’ve helped you? I distinctly remember digging a Kryptonite bullet out of you once, though of course, at the time I didn’t know it was you.” He dipped his head in acknowledgement and she forged ahead, she could see his resolve starting to melt. “Clark, I am a bit reckless, as you put it. I tend to jump in feet first without checking the water level, but that’s who I am, who I’ve always been. I’m not going to change that for you, anymore than I would want you to change who you are for me.”
Clark was half sitting, half standing, against the back of his couch and she could see the look of defeat on his face. He looked miserable and would not meet her eyes. She walked towards him and took his hands in hers.
“Clark, look at me,” she said and waited for his eyes to meet hers. “Forget Superman, forget Fences, forget everything that’s happened in the last twenty-four hours, just for one moment.” He nodded, keeping his gaze on her. “Right now, I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.” She felt the tears in her eyes spill over but wouldn’t let go of his hands to wipe them away.
Instead, Clark tugged gently on their entwined hands, pulling Lois towards him. He let go of her hands and engulfed her in a hug, holding her tightly against him.
“Oh, Lois. I do love you, I only wanted to keep you safe,” he whispered into her hair.
“You can’t keep me in a safety deposit box, Clark. I have a job to do, and it’s the life I chose. I’ll do both with or without you, but I’d rather you were with me.” He didn’t say anything in response and they stood there holding onto each other for several minutes before Lois broke the silence, tears still spilling down her cheeks. “I love you, Clark. Why don’t we go back to that? No marriage talk, no planning the future, just you and I.”
Clark leaned out of the embrace and looked down at her, lightly brushing away the tears with his thumbs as he cupped her face with his hands. She closed her eyes as his lips lightly brushed hers and within a heartbeat they were passionately kissing, her hands in his hair, his around her waist, and she knew if he let go her legs wouldn’t hold her on their own.
“Oh, Lois, I’m so sorry,” he gasped in between kisses.
It was a while before the touches and kisses became less frantic and more soothing, and when the kisses ceased, Lois laid her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes, savouring his strong embrace. Relief that their break up was no more coupled with the emotional strain that she had endured left her feeling exhausted and she struggled to keep her eyes open.
“Lois?”
“Mmhmm.”
“Can I take you home?”
“Jeep’s downstairs,” she mumbled.
“I’ll take you home, I’ll pick you up tomorrow with the Jeep,” Clark suggested.
“Ok.” With her assent, Clark scooped her into his arms and sat her on the couch while he changed, before picking her up again. She kissed him and snuggled closer as he stepped towards the window.
Once at her apartment, Clark gently set her down and kissed her goodnight. “Lois, thank you.”
She grinned sleepily in response. “I love you, Clark.”
“I love you too, Lois.” He stepped towards the open window. “You’re not ‘just a girl’, you’re an amazing woman.”
“Well, you’re not ‘just a boy’ either, but you needed to see past that.”
He laughed in response. “Goodnight, Lois. I’ll see you in the morning.”
She closed the window behind him and sleepily made her way to the bathroom. Falling into bed she sighed in relief. The last twenty-four hours had been a nightmare she’d rather forget and never relive.
