Great chapter. I was worried that we would have to wait till next Saturday for this part. But, was pleasantly surprised to see a new installment this morning.
I may be the only one here, but I've tried my best to keep my heart/head open to the idea that Lois and Chad could end up together and stronger at the end of this tale. Yes, Lois and Clark are soul mates. That, I have no disagreements with. But, Clark is still very much a part of Lois life, and perhaps in this universe, they weren't meant to be romantic soul mates, but best friends.
That being said, I wouldn't mind if Lois and Chad break up either. I just think it should be done as realistically as possible. Yes, Nancy could choose to have Chad be unfaithful to Lois. It would be the event that breaks them up. But, I think it would be OOC for Chad. More importantly though, I think it goes against the very title of this fic, breaking up is hard to do.
If Chad's infidelity caused the break up, it wouldn't be hard for Lois to decide to leave him. However, it would be much harder for Lois and Chad to say to themselves we still love each other, we still respect each other, but we want different things out of life. This isn't puppy love. They've made a commitment to each other, and thus, there's no simple solution. Just as we would fight against Lois and Clark divorcing for the wrong reasons, I've been weary of Lois and Chad divorcing.
For all those who want Lois and Clark to end up together at the end of all this, Lois has so much baggage with her relationship with Chad. She will first need to deal with these feelings and the fall out from her first marriage, for Lois and Clark to even have a chance. I argue that they would stand a better chance if Chad ends this story as a nice guy (or dead, but Nancy's ruled that out) rather than an adulterer.
Going back to Lois and Chad, I still think there's more that both of these people can do to try and save their marriage. If Lois were to return to Metropolis at this point, I would think they would both have regrets that they didn't do everything they could to save their marriage. I hope Chad's last sentence in this chapter is the start of an in-depth discussion about what other options are available.
Lastly, with only seven chapters left, I'm really not sure how this will end. I'd like Lois and Chad to break-up, but in a civilized way. I'd like for them to say to each other, we tried our very best, but it wasn't meant to be. Then, when Lois returns to the DP, she can begin to heal and start over. But, as we've said before, maybe breaking up is too hard, and Lois and Chad find another way. I'll have to wait and see.
