Once again, other than polishing, this story is already completely written. I'll be updating every two or three days. If you're reading, I'd love to hear from you.

Joan

Well, it looks like Clark is about to make a terrible terrible mistake. Can't wait to see more

Tara

I agree with StarKat that if Clark decides to do this only can trouble brew.

If Clark seperates from Superman, will his love for Lois be split in two? How will he fly home to visit his folks? Will his reporting skills dimenish? Will Lois not think he kisses as well? Will Superman also be in love with Lois and then Clark will have to compete - literally - with himself for Lois's love?

So many questions, can't wait to see if any of the answers will show up in the next installment.

I know I said that this deal was a bad idea, and I think we all understand that, but you are doing an excellent job of showing how Clark could come to this decision. The sentence 'Lois could so easily replace Clark' made me feel almost sick, just searing with its stark bluntness, a real illustration of Clark's deep insecurities. We always hear about Lois's vulnerabilities, but Clark's are just as real, just as potentially damaging. That's one thing about Lois that has always disappointed me--while Clark waited for two years and endured Luthor, Lois took only a month or two before she left him for Scardino, even knowing it would hurt him, even knowing nothing serious would come of it. And this Dennis seems to be getting the same kind of rebound that Scardino did, profiting from the inroads Clark made in getting her to open up to others.

Anyway, back to your story, I love the progression here. We all know Clark's going to make the deal, but leading up to it has proven to be interesting already. Though I still don't think Lois should even be looking at another man, I like how she does think that none of them will ever be Clark, and therefore none of them are good enough.

I'm very much looking forward to the next chapter--please, don't wait too long to post!

I think he's not giving her enough credit here. But it's very in-character for Clark at this time. He's very concerned about being an alien, and "coming out" to Lois. He's making it a bigger deal than she would, probably. So of course it's going to lead him into a bad decision which will in turn lead us into a good story!

When I first started writing this story, I was a little concerned that people would feel Clark would never take such a drastic step. So I was especially pleased that you felt this was done in a believable fashion:

AntiKryptonite You're all correct that Clark is making a big mistake and this is going to cause problems. Many of VirginaB's insightful questions will be addressed in the next chapter.

I agree with you IonlantheAlias,

We'll learn more about that later too.

Thanks for reading and commenting!

Joan

Don't do it Clark!

Nicely written. I love Lois' warring thoughts on Clark - how she hates that he leaves her without explanation but is starting to really fall hard for him at the same time.