Clark took his time gathering the fire wood. Once again, Lois marvelled at his dedication to the role of ‘ordinary man who definitely wasn’t a superhero’. She made her way into the living room while he was out, making things just a tiny bit more intimate for when he got back.

She brought out the bottle of half finished wine, put on some soft Christmas music, and lit a few candles around the room. Eventually, the door opened and he made his way inside, arms filled with wood for the fire. He made a show of setting it down and Lois had to look away to hide the smile.


Somehow she’d gone from being furious about his deceit to being highly amused by the lengths he went to in order to keep his secret. As amusing as it was, however, she knew it needed to come to an end. The way things had been going since they had arrived at this cabin told her that it wouldn’t be long before things escalated between them and while the thought of things getting physical between them was beyond exciting, she didn’t want to do that until all cards were on the table.

She needed to tell him soon because she wasn’t sure she would be able to keep her hands off him much longer.

Which led her to her one and only flaw in THE PLAN. Okay so not the only flaw, but probably the most glaring one. She had no idea how to actually tell him she knew. She’d managed to do everything she’d intended to do in order to set the scene. Now everything was in place and Lois had no idea how to bring it up. What should she say? ‘Hey Clark, I know you’re Superman…wanna neck’? Ugh, why was this so hard?

She sat down on the rug, curling her legs underneath and watching as he took stock of what needed to be done in order to start the fire.

He crouched down beside the fireplace and began placing the larger logs inside. Once there were a few larger logs on the bottom, he grabbed some old newspapers, scrunched them up and placed them around the logs.

“Is there anything to start this with?” He asked her, as he looked around the area surrounding the fireplace. “A utility lighter or something?” When he didn’t find anything, he sat down next to her.

And suddenly, Lois knew this was it. Her window. She took a deep breath, and looked him in the eye, her voice even but not accusatory.

“Why don’t you use your heat vision?”

She watched as it took a moment for him to register what she’d just said. If it wasn’t for the fact that he’d spent so long protecting this secret, he probably would have responded to her reflexively with the truth, so easily did she ask the question.

As it was, it took him a beat to train his face not to respond. She knew the look now as well as the instinct to deny the truth.

“I don’t know what you’re…”

“Clark, I know you’re Superman,” Lois said as she reached out and took both his hands. He watched her warily, as if he wasn’t sure where this was going. “I’ve known for about four weeks now. Please don’t try to deny it. We both know I’m smarter than that.”

“I don’t know what to say,” he said finally. Somehow she’d expected him to be happier about the fact that he no longer had to hide. Instead, he seemed almost disappointed. “I guess it all makes sense now.”

“What makes sense?” She asked. He looked down, then back up at her again. Slowly, as if he wasn’t sure he should be doing it, he pulled off his glasses, turned and lit the fire with his heat vision just as she’d suggested.

“Just…the way you’ve been acting towards me,” he said with a shrug. He moved to put his glasses back on, and she reached out to stop him, stilling his hand in mid air. “Like you were interested in me…as more than a friend”

“You think that it’s because I know you’re Superman?” Lois asked, realizing how this particular reveal must look to him. “Clark, I promise that’s not it.”

“Oh really?” This time there was a somewhat sharp edge to the way he spoke – a hint of anger behind the resignation. “You just decided you had feelings for me at the same time you found out I was Superman?”

“That’s not fair,” Lois said, stung by his response. “I’ve always had feelings for you, I just didn’t know it. And yes, I realised those feelings before I discovered your secret. Watching the person you care about die in front of you tends to do that to a girl.”

She watched as he blanched and then had the decency to look somewhat chagrined.

“I’m sorry,” he said finally. “I’m being unfair. I’ve been lying to you for two years now and I didn’t think…Are you angry?”

“No,” she replied honestly. “I was. I was furious. There I was, in the car after I had just gotten you back, pouring my heart out to you and not only did you fall asleep, but your glasses fell off and there it was.”

She swallowed heavily as all those emotions came to the surface once more. Even when he was right in front of her, she couldn’t let go of the pain she’d felt when she thought she’d lost him.

“That must have been a huge shock,” he murmured. “Why didn’t you say something when I woke up?”

“I couldn’t!” She exclaimed, surprised she even needed to explain this to him. “I thought you’d died. I thought I would never see you again. I thought I would never get to tell you how I really felt and then you were back and I was terrified. I was so scared, Clark.”

She couldn’t hide the edge of panic that he somehow seeped into her voice and before she knew it, he’d moved closer to her, taking her hand in his and kissing it gently, palm up.

“I’m here,” he said softly against her hand. “I’m here.”

“I thought I couldn’t be mad…not after I’d almost lost you,” she was babbling now, letting out a wave of emotion she hadn’t even realised she’d been feeling. “I mean how ungrateful is that? I almost lose the man I love and then I get him back and I’m mad about a teeny tiny – okay gigantic – secret? And what if I lost you again? What if the universe decided I didn’t deserve you? What if someone took you away from me? What if…”

Her words were silenced by Clark’s lips as they pressed gently against hers. The kiss started out tender and reassuring, but soon turned into something much different as Lois opened her mouth and pulled him deeper into the kiss, gasping softly as his tongue found hers. Her entire body seemed to come alive as their tongues teased and flirted back and forth. Heat gathered low in her stomach and she reached up and ran her hands roughly through his hair.

She stretched her legs out from underneath her, and he lifted his arms in an attempt to wind them around her waist. In doing so, he lost his balance and the extra weight of his body pressed her down to the floor, with him on top.

Without missing a beat, he adjusted himself so that he was lying flush against her body, making sure to prop himself up slightly with his arms, so as not to crush her. She bent her knees, opening her legs so that his body was settled in between them.

She moaned as his hands gently roamed the side of her face and over her shoulders, settling on her waist and gripping her tightly. She felt overwhelmed with sensation. The feel of his body, the scent of him, the way his breathing increased whenever she ran her tongue along his, the way his hips pressed down against her whenever she squirmed restlessly against him.

When they finally pulled back they were both gasping for breath, their breathing laboured as they both took in the intensity of the kiss. Two years of flirting had resulted in the most perfect first kiss Lois had ever experienced.

“We should slow down,” she panted, “if you keep kissing me like that…”

He kissed her again before she could finish the sentence and whatever resolve she had flew out the window. She let out a whimper as he drew back once more and they both scrambled into a sitting position, their bodies on opposite sides as they faced each other.

“Did you mean it?” He asked, his eyes still darkened by desire but slightly more lucid. Before she could respond, he leaned forward and kissed her collar bone causing her to close her eyes and throw back her head. She might die of pleasure if he kept this up.

“Oh Clark…” she breathed as he continued to kiss her neck. It was as if once started, he was addicted to kissing her, and she was powerless to stop him. She’d never been so incredibly excited as she was at this moment.

“Did you mean it?” He asked again, his lips causing a delicious rumble on her skin.

She could barely register what he was saying, but she had enough presence of mind to get out a brief response before he captured her lips once more.

“Did I mean what?”

“That you’re in love with me?” He spoke in between frantic, almost desperate kisses that set every part of her body on fire. “Because I love you. Oh, God, I love you.”

She managed to gather up enough resolve to pull away from his incredibly addictive kisses long enough to run her hand tenderly along his face, as if trying to memorise every detail of this moment for years to come.

“Of course, I meant it,” she said, still somewhat breathless. He sat there, chest heaving hair mussed and so very handsome and Lois knew without a shadow of a doubt that she’d never loved anyone more. “I am so sorry I ever made you feel like I couldn’t. I’m sorry for everything.”

“I should be the one apologising,” he said, finally regaining control of himself. It was if once they pulled away the guilt came crashing down and he looked almost anguished over the idea of having caused her any pain. “I made you think I had died. I never meant to…I just didn’t know what to do.”

“I understand,” she assured him. “I do. After I calmed down I realised why your secret was so important. That’s why I wanted to tell you. I didn’t want you to carry this burden any longer.”

“All this because my glasses fell off," he mused, touching his face gingerly as if he wasn’t used to not having his glasses there.

“We could go around in circles apologising,” Lois said finally after a moment of silence. “Or we could decide to move forward. I know I want to be with you. And if the way you kiss me is any indication, I think you want to be with me too. Can we just…skip past the apologies and the guilt and go straight to the part where you make love to me?”

He looked at her for a moment as if he wasn’t sure if he’d heard her correctly. After a beat, he reached out, gathered her in his arms, and crushed her lips to his once more.

“Let’s go make use of that one bed,” he rasped, lifting her up and carrying her towards the bedroom.

Last edited by lovetvfan; 12/22/21 11:45 AM.

Spike: "There's a hole in the world...feels like we ought to have known."
-Angel