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From Part 9:Though she still needed to know just who her competition was. If she was going to beat this unknown woman, it would help to know what she was up against. Though just how she was going to get that information was part of the plan she had yet to work out fully.
She’d ruled out asking Martha Kent, because she thought Martha wouldn’t say... but there had to be a way, didn’t there? Couldn’t she call Martha up and say something like “Martha, Clark asked me to send his girlfriend my recipe for lasagne, but he forgot to tell me the address...” That would work, wouldn’t it?
Except that Clark had probably told his mother all about her non-existent cooking skills... No, that one wouldn’t fly.
Maybe she could -
A sharp knock at her door disturbed that train of thought. Lois crossed the room and peered through the spyhole. Her jaw dropped as she saw Clark Kent standing on the other side.
*********
Now read on...Arriving back to his apartment after having dinner with his folks, Clark was determined to straighten things out with Lois as soon as possible. Even if it meant that she was even more determined not to think of him as a potential boyfriend, he didn’t want her thinking that he was in love with someone else - and even worse, that he’d been using her merely as someone to practice on.
He was holding onto a few shreds of hope, at the same time. He couldn’t help thinking that she did find him attractive; he hadn’t missed the way she’d checked him out a few times the previous day. Nor how she’d been enjoying their evening out, until that moment when he’d tried to kiss her.
She’d told him, too, that any woman would be proud to be seen on his arm. That he made a great date.
And, he’d remembered on his flight home, there had been her description of her ideal man. He’d thought, at the time, that quite a lot of that seemed to be close to a description of himself. She’d even reinforced that impression by recognising it herself.
Okay, she’d also said that she wanted a man who was extraordinary; now, that was a description which certainly fitted him, though she didn’t know it. Yet, at any rate. But she’d relieved him, too, by making clear that she wasn’t talking about a Superman-kind of extraordinary. All the same, he could give her Superman too, if that was what she wanted.
If she was willing to take Clark Kent, ordinary guy from Kansas, as her extraordinary man, then he could give her everything.
Before setting out, he got changed. He wouldn’t forget in a hurry the way Lois had looked at him when he’d tried on those black jeans and the CK polo shirt -
especially when he’d peeled the other T-shirt over his head in order to do so - and he wasn’t above using that knowledge to give himself an advantage right now.
And so, fifteen minutes later, he was knocking on her apartment door, taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself down as he waited for her to answer.
The door opened abruptly; she stood there in the gap, giving him a surprised look. “Clark? What are you doing here?” Then he noticed her eyes widen, and he decided that his decision to wear the black jeans had been the correct one. Yes, she’d noticed.
“I think we need to talk,” he explained. “Can I come in?” Just in case she felt inclined to slam the door in his face, he withdrew a hand from behind his back, revealing that he was carrying a Tupperware container. “I’ve got some of my mom’s chocolate-chip pecan cookies here...”
Lois shook her head, but a grin was sneaking across her face. “You really don’t play fair, Clark Kent! After last night, I don’t know if I should be speaking to you or your mom... but I can’t resist her baking.”
“That’s what I was gambling on,” he admitted, returning her smile.
“You better come in. I’ll make some coffee,” she said, turning away from the door.
The flowers he’d brought her the previous evening were still on the counter, Clark noted; that had to be a good sign. Or, at least, he hoped so.
He followed Lois into the kitchen, leaning against the counter as she spooned coffee grounds into the machine. She glanced across at him, giving him a brief smile which looked, to his admittedly anxious mind, forced. Yup, she was still upset. Or angry. He didn’t know which - or which emotion was worse.
Small talk. He needed to come up with some polite conversational nothings - the silence was becoming a tad oppressive. By the way Lois was biting her lip, he guessed that she felt the same way. He took a deep breath.
“So, how are you today?”
Oh, great start, Kent! he thought, kicking himself mentally. What an opening to give her, if she really was still annoyed with him over the previous evening!
But she gave him a quick smile, as if grateful that he’d broken the conversational barrier. “Oh, you know... pretty good. You?”
“I’m good,” he volunteered. “Lois, I - ”
“Clark - ” she began at the same time.
“Uh...” Awkwardly, he faltered. “You go ahead.”
“No, you...” Lois halted again, then rolled her eyes at him. “This is hopeless! Okay, look, all I was going to say is that I’m sorry for over-reacting last night. It was just so stupid.”
Clark grimaced. “No, it wasn’t. Look, Lois, that’s what I came over to talk about. It seems my mom’s been - well, doing some manipulating.”
Lois, having poured water into the machine, paused and looked at him. “Manipulating?”
“Yes. She told you some stuff which... isn’t exactly true.”
Lois frowned. “I can’t imagine your mom lying, Clark,” she said, sounding puzzled.
He shrugged, then glanced away, embarrassed now that it came to the moment of truth. “She told you that I was in love with someone, didn’t she? To get you to help me... well, smarten up a bit.”
She gave him a shocked look. “You mean that’s not true?”
“Well... not exactly,” he admitted.
A flash of something barely identifiable, but which could have been relief, flashed across her face. Then she moved away from the coffee-machine, advancing on him with an expression on her face Clark, as he looked up and caught sight of her, could only describe as predatory. “Are you saying that you’re
not in love with someone, Clark Kent?”
He opened his mouth, intending the word ‘No’ to emerge. But it refused to come.
“Uh...” he muttered, playing for time.
“Are you?” she insisted.
He inhaled deeply, then blew out sharply. “I... yes, I am.”
He thought that Lois winced at that. “So your mom didn’t lie,” she pointed out flatly. “Why did you say she did?”
“Oh, heck,” he mumbled. “She led you to believe that I was in love with someone else,” he added, not much more audibly.
Lois frowned. “Clark? I didn’t hear you very clearly. You’re in love with... who?”
There was a note in her voice which he couldn’t quite identify. It almost sounded like envy - but that was just ridiculous.
Wasn’t it?
“I...” Lost for words again, he just gave her a helpless look.
“I still don’t understand,” Lois told him, shaking her head in puzzlement. “Your mom said you’re in love, and you say you are - so what’s the problem? Why are you telling me that she misled me?”
He bit his lip; there was no way out, unless he was prepared to come up with some sort of lie, and he’d had it with misleading Lois over this subject.
“My mom led you to believe that I was in love with someone else. Another woman,” he clarified, ramming his hands deep into his pockets.
Lois stared at him. After a moment, eyes wide, she said, “And... you’re not?”
“No,” he agreed.
“Then... who...?”
“Lois!” he muttered frustratedly; surely she could work it out for herself? And then he could leave, and spare his embarrassment any further.
“Clark, tell me,” she said suddenly, firmly. “Tell me: who are you in love with?”
There was something in her expression all of a sudden: a confidence which hadn’t been there before, for one thing - and also something which he barely dared believe in.
Encouragement.
“I’minlovewithyou,” he gabbled, then turned away, as if ready to bolt for the door.
“Clark?”
“What?” he asked through gritted teeth.
“Do you think you could say that again?” she asked sweetly. “A little slower this time?”
“Why?” he demanded. Hadn’t she made him humiliate himself enough?
“Because I’d kind of like to remember the first time the man I love tells me that he loves me too.”
“What?” he gulped, turning to face her again.
And this time he could read her expression clearly. Yes, there was hope there, and longing - and love. The same light he’d seen in her eyes in the candlelight the previous evening was there again, but this time it was stronger and more powerful.
“I love you, Clark,” she told him, almost shyly. “And, yes, I can imagine that you’re surprised. I mean, I didn’t exactly fall over myself to let you know that I was interested. And I kind of made it clear that you came a very poor second place to Superman -”
“Hey, I thought nobody even placed beside Superman!” Clark pointed out, darkly humorous.
Lois shrugged awkwardly. “You were always there. I just - refused to admit it. It wasn’t until your mom made me think that I could lose you to someone else that I realised just how I really felt about you. And last night just confirmed it. I had a wonderful time, Clark - up until when I remembered that you were in love with someone else. And then I didn’t want to lose you. I’d already decided that I was going to fight for you.”
“You were?”
“Oh yes.”
A broad grin began to spread over his face. “That’s wonderful!”
“So are you going to say it again?”
“Say what?” he teased.
“Clark Kent!” Lois reached behind her and grabbed a towel. “Are you going to make me beat it out of you?”
He fended her off with one hand, catching the towel in the other. “You want to try?”
“You do know that you’re wasting valuable time here?” she pointed out.
“I am?”
“Oh yes.” She licked her lips slowly, deliberately. “Valuable kissing time.”
“Oh.” He dropped the towel instantly. “You know, you could be on to something there, Lois.”
“I am.” She gave him a smug look. “So... how about it?”
He tugged her towards him. “A kiss? Excellent idea.”
But she tilted her head away from him. “Uh-uh. Not yet, Kent - not until I hear you say that again!”
He pretended to consider; then he smiled. Huskily, he told her, “I love you, Lois Lane.”
A wide smile curved about her face. “And I love you too, Clark Kent.”
His head lowered, and this time she brought her face to meet his. And then their lips met, properly, in their first real kiss.
And there was no more pretence.
********
Dizziness. A sensation of being completely suspended from reality. Total, utter pleasure. Her world suddenly, totally wrapped up in one person, one moment, one completely blissful experience.
Clark’s kiss was like nothing she’d ever experienced before. Even the kisses she’d shared with him previously - mostly for the purpose of fooling someone or other - paled compared to this one. But then, she hadn’t been in love with him before.
And she supposed that made all the difference.
Clark raised his head, and she couldn’t help smiling at the dazed look on his face. And she felt complimented, too;
she could make him feel like that!
“You look exactly like I feel,” she told him, reaching up almost shyly to run her fingers through his luscious dark hair.
“Good,” he told her. “Because I feel happier than I’ve ever been in my life before, and if that’s how I look... then you must be too.”
She reached up and kissed him again, luxuriating in the newly-familiar feel of his lips moving over hers, his arms embracing her. And for a long time nothing else was said.
Finally, Clark raised his head; then he laughed in amusement. “I guess the coffee’s gone cold.”
Lois frowned. “Did you want coffee? I mean, isn’t this more...
more?”
“Oh yeah.” He grinned. “You bet!”
“You know, I love your mom,” Lois said suddenly, something about the thought of coffee reminding her of Martha Kent.
“You do?” Clark looked taken aback. “Even after what she did?”
“Manipulating us?” Lois shook her head. “Your mom knew exactly what she was doing, Clark. She knew I’d assume that she was talking about someone else. And, if I’m not mistaken, she knew that it’d make me jealous. And it did - I was jealous as hell when I thought there was someone else in your life, Clark.”
Yup, Martha Kent had played her like a violin, Lois thought. That woman was a genius for reading people and predicting their reactions exactly. She’d dangled her bait, and had reeled Lois in, hook, line and sinker.
To think that the mysterious woman in Clark’s life, the woman she’d thought of as her rival, was
herself! Part of her wanted to protest that Martha had made her worry for no reason at all, but then her more rational side reminded her that, if she hadn’t had the incentive of believing that Clark was in love with someone else, she would probably still be hiding her feelings from herself, let alone from Clark. No, they’d both needed Martha’s intervention.
The moment when Lois had realised that
she was the object of Clark’s affections was one she would remember for a very long time. She’d been all set to fight for him; she’d been so determined not to argue with him again, or let him see anything remotely approaching jealousy. When he’d first arrived, she’d been desperate to act - well, not normally, but better than normal: in a way which would remind him just what a nice person she was and how good she could be for him.
And now he was hers. And she was his.
Pygmalion had won her Eliza.
Or had Eliza won Pygmalion?
“Thank you, Martha,” Lois murmured, reaching up to kiss Clark again.
********
Much later, they finally got around to having coffee and the cookies Clark had so carefully brought back from Smallville as a peace offering. He had to laugh when Lois bit into one, however.
“You know, you didn’t even look that blissful after I’d been kissing you!” he pointed out with a wry grin.
She blushed, but then laughed. “Clark, come on - these are chocolate!”
“Oh yeah, I’d momentarily forgotten your addiction to anything resembling chocolate,” he said. “So does that mean I’m always going to take second place to your cocoa obsession?”
“Only when it’s as good as this.” Lois rolled her eyes. “These are
amazing! And so fresh, too! You’d never believe that you still had them from the beginning of the week!”
Clark gave her a puzzled look. “The beginning of the week?”
“Yeah - when your mom was here. That’s when she made them, isn’t it?”
It wasn’t, actually - she’d made them only a few hours ago, in Smallville, Clark knew. But since there was no way that he could explain having brought them back today, he didn’t rush to correct her.
To his relief, she changed the subject. “I’m so glad you came over to tell me that I misunderstood your mom, Clark,” she said, leaning her head against his shoulder.
He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Well, I had to set the record straight - even though I thought you’d probably laugh at me once you realised the truth.”
She reached for his hand and played idly with his fingers for a few moments. “I guess I couldn’t blame you for thinking that,” she told him after a pause. “I mean, I was kind of mean to you before. But, anyway, what I wanted to say is that I’m so glad that you’re such a Boy Scout, Clark.”
“A Boy Scout?” he queried, amused.
“Yeah. I mean, you just had to come and tell me the truth. You’re just compulsively honest, Clark Kent!”
The words struck Clark with the force of a blow. Compulsively honest? Him? When he lied to Lois on a regular basis about all sorts of things: where he’d been when he ran off, how he’d managed to get certain stories, how he’d got his hair cut and even just now, about the cookies.
He wasn’t honest.
In fact, he was a bare-faced liar. And a deceiver.
He had no right to be sitting next to Lois, holding her in his arms, kissing her and listening to her call him compulsively honest.
“What’s wrong, Clark?” Something about his anxiety must have communicated itself to her, for she stirred in his arms, turning to look at him, concern in her expression.
He had two choices, and neither were easy.
He could carry on lying, pretend that there was nothing wrong and leave the issue of Superman for another day. After all, how did he even know that they’d be together in the medium term, let alone the long term? And if they split up, wouldn’t it be better if she didn’t know?
But he couldn’t see himself falling out of love with Lois any time soon. And if she fell out of love with him, he knew that he would fight for her with everything he had in him.
So choice number two was to tell Lois the truth. Tell her everything - that he was an alien from another planet. That he was Superman, and that he had been lying to her ever since they’d met. And take the risk that she would be so furious she’d dump him on the spot.
But there was no choice, really. If this relationship was to have any hope at all, she had to know the truth.
Clark took a deep breath and wrapped his fingers firmly around Lois’s hand. “Lois, you remember I was saying that I came second to Superman, for you?”
“Clark!” Lois sounded alarmed, and he winced. He hadn’t meant to upset her. “You know I love you! Yes, I know I was an idiot over Superman for so long, but you don’t need to think that I still feel that -”
“Lois.” He cut across her, awkward now, unsure as to the best way to break the news. Lead up to it gently? Or just spit it out? “That’s not what I mean. I mean... well, I hope you
do like Superman still, because...”
“Clark, I know you two seem to have some sort of buddy thing going, but this is rid - ”
“Lois,
I am Superman!”
Okay, he’d kind of lost his opportunity for building up to it gently. But, after more than six months of protecting the secret with everything he had, the words just seemed to emerge with amazing ease. And there it was: with one bound, he was free from the secret which had kept him confined for so long.
He was Superman, and Lois knew it.
She was staring at him, eyes wide, mouth agape.
“You are...
what?”
“Superman,” he said meekly.
She grabbed her hand back, and then suddenly reached for his glasses, tugging them off. That didn’t seem to be enough for her; throwing his glasses aside, she smoothed back his hair with her other hand.
Then she sat back and stared at her handiwork.
“Superman,” she whispered.
“Yes,” he whispered back.
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!” she exclaimed.
Stung, he began to retort, “Lois, I - ”
“No.” She cut across him firmly, her expression having changed from indignation to resignation in the space of a single second. “No, I do believe it,” she added quietly. “I know exactly why you didn’t tell me. Don’t I?”
He pulled a face. Yes, it had been partly her behaviour, the way she’d treated him as Clark and as Superman, which had made him reluctant to tell her, but that had been far from the only reason. Mostly, it had been the very real fear that to tell
anyone would put not only himself but also his parents at risk. Jason Trask’s single-minded search for ‘the alien’ and anyone who had harboured him had reinforced that caution and ingrained it to his bones.
“Lois, I didn’t tell
anyone,” he pointed out.
She paused, still searching his face; quite what for, he couldn’t determine. Then she nodded. “I guess you didn’t.” Then she released his hair; he felt it spring back into place.
“So are you okay with it?” he asked anxiously.
She gave him a considering look. “Let me think about that for a moment.”
“Okay.” Nervously, he watched her, waiting for her decision.
“So...” she drawled, cocking her head to one side.
“Yes?”
“Do I get free flights?”
Clark blinked; whatever he’d been expecting, it wasn’t that! “I guess that could be arranged,” he agreed mildly.
“Good. And chocolate from Switzerland?”
He had to laugh at that. “Is that all my being Superman means to you? Your own private pilot and chocolate from Switzerland?”
Lois grinned at him, but sobered quickly. “Actually, no. You know, you being Superman really reassures me about one thing.”
“What’s that?”
She took a deep breath before responding. “Clark, you know that I have... issues with men?”
He nodded. “Yes, you told me about Claude the week we met.”
“Well, see, ever since I’ve found it really hard to trust men. And even though I love you and I admitted to myself yesterday that I need you in my life... there was still a part of me which was scared,” she confessed.
“Scared, Lois?” he prompted.
“Yeah... scared that you’d walk away, like Claude and like everyone else,” she said. “Scared that you’d dump me for someone else. Or lie to me. Or deceive me.”
“Lois, I would
never do that!” he promised huskily.
She nodded. “See, I believe you. I believe
Superman,” she said. “I know you wouldn’t lie, or treat a woman badly just because you can. You have integrity. And I love that about you, too.”
“Lois, just because I’m Superman instead of just Clark Kent, that doesn’t mean that I’m any more likely to keep my promises to you!” Taken aback, and almost a little offended that she thought it would take a Superman to persuade her to trust freely, Clark stared at her. “I’m
Clark, Lois. Son of Jonathan and Martha Kent from Smallville. Okay, I’m also from Krypton, but I’m the person I am because of them. And they taught me to keep my promises.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Lois said softly, after a pause. “Your parents are pretty terrific people. And they raised a pretty amazing son.”
“Thank you.” He smiled at her, reassured and mollified. “Look, Lois, you know that there are no such things as guarantees in life - but I give you my solemn word that I will love you with all of my heart and that I would rather rip my heart out than betray you,” he added, his words said solemnly.
She studied him for a long moment, then said, “And I promise to love you with all of my heart too. And that I’d rip my heart out rather than betray
you.”
How had she known that he felt insecure too? He hadn’t even had time to recognise that he did; he’d been too focused on reassuring Lois.
“I love you, Lois Lane,” he said softly.
“And I love you too. Even if you can fly and I can’t,” she said, sticking her tongue out at him. “And even if your mom had to knock us over the head to get some sense into us!”
“Remind me to thank her... ooh, maybe about the time I’ve finished paying off my credit card bill!” Clark replied, grinning.
And then she kissed him again, and words seemed unnecessary.
~ The End ~
