this story was wonderfully written and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think this paragraph sum it up for me
"I looked down and saw Smallville stretched below us. My chest still tightened slightly when I looked down at it. I had almost made a life here. Almost. And it might have been a good life. Maybe. But it would have been the wrong life. I looked up and smiled at Clark. The life we were going back to – in Metropolis and together - was the right life."
As Lois said it would have been the wrong life. not just because she got to be with Clark but her and Chad's relationship belong to a different time when they were in different places in their life. Once they both matured I believe their relationship was meant to be a deep and abiding friendship. Their love seemed young.
