Okay, Carol, I have been reading but not commenting. I know how much comments help a writer to be productive but the semester is about to end and school has been sooo demanding. So I apologize. Anyway, I just must comment on how wonderful this part is.
"I love you, Lois. I love you on so many different levels. I love you as my work partner. Your writing makes mine better; it always has. I love you as my best friend. The one person I can tell anything and everything. I love you as my wife, my soul mate. The woman who will spend the rest of my life with me. I love you as the woman who will – someday – be my first and only lover and the mother of my children. The part where we'll make love is only a part of why I love you and what I love – or will love – about our lives together." He kissed her hair. "Think about a year ago tonight. Think about it honestly. How did you feel about me a year ago?"
One tear followed another down her face to his chest. "I think part of me hated you. Maybe not hated, but wanted to hate you; thought I hated you. You were having sex with another woman – and even though we weren't, you'd promised me so many times that you wouldn't cheat on me. I knew that I was weeks away from you leaving me – either for Mayson or someone else or no one. I couldn’t believe that you'd really love me at all, much less enough to stay long enough to let me work through my issues. And..." She stopped, unable to go on.
"What, honey?"
"You're going to hate this," she warned.
"It's okay."
"Part of me wondered if you wouldn't... not force exactly, but guilt me into sex. The whole 'I've worked my tail off for over three years to get us through college and take care of your sister – you owe me' or 'if you don't want me to leave, you'll have sex with me' type thing."
Wow! There was a lot of emotions packed into these few lines. I am so lad that Lois and Clark had this little talk and are *really* talking to each other now. This had gotten them so much closer, as they said, than a year ago. I love that they were honest about their feelings, good and bad, but I especially love how Clark told Lois how he loves her at different levels. He was so sensual. I almost got tears in my eyes just visualizing Dean pouring his heart out to Teri (on the series).
Clark didn't say anything for several minutes. "It's hard to explain," he finally said. "I loved you, but different than how I love you now. It was a feeling, which is good. But love is more than that. To a certain extent, love is a choice. I chose to be there with you every night, every day, even though I felt you pulling farther and farther away from me all the time. It would have been easy for me to just sort of bail like you thought I was going to, but I also knew that wasn't what I wanted. I was afraid that you were going to do that and I was trying plan how I'd win you back if you did. I was counting the money I'd saved in my head and how best to spend it to get the most bang for my buck; to impress you the most, if I thought that was what it was going to take to get you to stay. I hated the distance between us and couldn't wait to graduate so that we could finally spend time together and maybe I could figure out what it was that kept us from committing more fully to each other. Maybe get you to open up to me about your past, your family. I had *no* idea how you felt and I knew that, but I didn't know just how little I knew."
Clark would have tried to win Lois back. Just wow! This should speak volumes to Lois about how much Clark loves her...is in love with her.
"I don't know," he said honestly. "I don't think we would have left Metropolis together. We wouldn't have the money we do. Though that's small compensation for what happened, it's true. A week or so before graduation, I would have asked you out for a date the day after graduation. What would you have said?"
"I don't know. I think I would have said yes, but still questioned your motives – if it was just a ploy to get me to have sex with you or if your motives were more altruistic than that."
Clark chuckled. "Well, I won't lie and say that I didn't hope it would lead to making love with you someday, but I certainly didn't expect it to for a while. I didn't really have a timeline in mind or anything, but I figured it would be at least a couple months, if not longer and I was okay with that. I just wanted a chance to romance you, no matter how long it took for us to get to that point."
Funny how Clark can take Lois's fears about his motives and turn them into his attraction for her, yet giving her honest answers.
"Hey, what did I miss?"
"Not much." She looked at him thoughtfully. "A cute guy asked me out."
He smiled back. "I hope you said yes."
"I did."
"Good. You'll have to tell me how it goes."
"I'm sure you'll know all about it."
"I'm sure I will."
This whole date thing was so sweet. I love how they had to be impromptu, as if they had just really met. I think this way the pressure was less for both of them. It was so sweet how nervous they both were.
Lucy and Jimmy headed for the balcony as Clark turned back to Lois. "I hear you have a date tonight," he said with a smile.
She nodded. "He's supposed to pick me up at seven at Perry and Alice's."
"Well, I won't see you before then, so I hope you have a good time."
She smiled softly at him. "I plan on it."
Just so sweet...so emotional...such progress. As usual, I am in awe at how well you have laid this story out. I am anxious for more. When they do make love it will be magical, with or without first time awkwardness.
Ann wrote:
Lucy and Jimmy's marriage was sweet, but since I'm such a diehard Lois and Clark addict, and take an interest in the other characters only as much as they have an impact on Lois and Clark's lives, I'm going to let others comment on that.
Ditto!
Absolutely fabulous!
~Sheila
