Author's Note: Happy Holidays everyone! After an unfortunately long absence, I'm back to writing and I'm so exicted. This particular fic was writen for Divine Intervention's Secret Santa fic exchange, and I'd figured I'd post it here too. Plus, this way I could also give you an update on my stories and tell you that I'm posting a new multi-chapter fic very shortly called "The Dividing Lines".

And yes, that was some not so subtle pimpage of my own story.

Also, I have not abandoned my 7 Deadly Sins one shots. There will be more, as soon as I can. But for now, I hope you enjoy this. Probably not my best work, but I hope you like it anyway. :)

- daydreamer

December 24, 2009

Lois Lane downed the last of her coffee, wincing at the acrid taste of cold work made coffee as she squinted at the article in front of her.

"Hey Smallville," she said as a shadow loomed over her shoulder. "Which sounds better? 'Moral-lacking sycophants' or 'unethical brownnosers'?"

Clark Kent blinked in surprise at her question as he leaned down to place a fresh coffee in front of her. "Uh, what are you working on Lois?"

"A story about the mayor's office," Lois answered cheerfully. She snatched up the coffee cup and sighed in pleasure. "Mmm. Thanks Clark. One more cup of the crap coffee in here and I wouldn't have taste buds left."

She looked down at the logo on the side of the coffee cup and raised her eyebrows. "Did you walk all the way down to Metro Coffee in the snow?"

Clark shifted uncomfortably. Technically, he had run there on the way back from pulling a family out of a car wreck down on the highway, but she didn't need to know that. "I…I had to pick up some things for my mom's Christmas dinner tomorrow, and I stopped by." He pointed to her screen. "Impressionable only has one 'p'."

Lois' suspicious gaze broke as she turned back to the computer to fix her mistake. Taking a deep breath, Clark used her lack of attention to build his confidence to ask his next question. "So are you just about done for the night?"

Lois shrugged and made a non-committal noise, suddenly typing faster than ever. "Why, what's up?"

"Well," he said slowly, "I was wondering if you wanted to come to the farm." At Lois' frozen look, he elaborated, "You know, to spend Christmas with me."

His smile was so bright that Lois' stomach twisted in regret as she said, "I don't think so, Smallville."

The smile slid off his face, replaced by a look of total disappointment. "Oh…why not?"

"Lots of work, Clark. The news waits for no one," she shrugged, making sure to stay focused on her computer screen. She was half afraid that if she looked up, she would cave at the sight of his trademark puppy dog eyes.

"Brady is making you work on Christmas Eve?" Clark asked with a frown.

"Uh, not exactly," she said truthfully. After all, she wouldn't put it past him to actually go to Brady and ask for her to get off early. "I'm working on some possible leads on a new story."

When Clark continued to look like she had just announced Christmas was cancelled she gathered some papers off her desk and stood to face him. "Look, Clark it's just Christmas Eve. I'll be over first thing tomorrow, I promise—you know I wouldn't miss a visit from your mom, especially if she's cooking Christmas dinner."

She leaned in to give him a quick kiss on the lips as she headed towards the copy room. She looked over her shoulder one last time and called back, "Go home, Clark. Enjoy Christmas Eve. I'll call you later."

Chloe Sullivan leaned back in her chair, stretching her fingers and wincing as she took a five second break from attempting to get around the particularly tough new security system Tess had installed. It seemed like every time she had managed to bypass Tess's ridiculous amount of firewalls, a new system would appear. Maybe it was time to call it a night.

A sudden whoosh made her look up from the multiple computer screens. She smiled at the new arrival.

"Hey Clark." She eyed his Blur outfit with raised eyebrows. "I know that Blur duties wait for nothing, but I thought your plan was to spend Christmas Eve with Lois."

"That was the plan," Clark nodded with a frown. "But Lois turned me down."

"She what?" Chloe looked back up in surprise. "Your own girlfriend turned you down? How does that happen?"

Clark shrugged, sounding put out. "She said she had work to do."

Chloe's eyebrows rose even further. Work? Doubtful. She had a feeling she knew exactly why her favorite cousin had locked herself up at the Daily Planet for the night, and it had little to do with work, and everything to do with the man in front of her.

"I'm actually on my way back to the farm now," Clark continued. "I just wanted to check to see if you still plan on coming over for Christmas dinner tomorrow. My mom's flight comes in at noon, and I know she'd love to see you."

"Yeah, I'll be there. Oliver said he'll stop by too, and he might bring Mia."

Clark's face brightened a bit at the thought of more guests for Christmas. "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow Chloe."

He disappeared as fast as he came, and Chloe's eyes knitted together thoughtfully. Lois was avoiding Clark, and she was positive she knew why. A conversation from the day before bubbled to the forefront of her mind.

"Oh…my…god."

Chloe's bag hit the floor as she stepped into the tiny apartment she currently shared with her cousin. Normally she didn't mind sharing the apartment, despite the lack of space. It was nice to have someone there at the end of the day. And of course, Lois needed the space; she had had an apartment of her own briefly before her disappearance, but in the weeks after that with no Lois and no rent the landlord had decided her contract was void and kicked her out. But this, Chloe decided, was a bit ridiculous.

Shiny scraps of wrapping paper were littered around the floor of the apartment, full roles of it still stacked on top of the couch and other various surfaces. Every color of ribbon imaginable lay scattered around, hanging off the arms of chairs and crumpled on the floor. Numerous scrunched up balls of tape had been strewn around, and—Good god. Chloe looked upwards. Was that tape on the ceiling?

"Um, Lo?" Chloe managed, straining to find her favorite cousin among the gift carnage.

"Hey Chlo!" Lois Lane's head popped up from by the couch. "Oh hold on, don't look. Your present's out."

Obediently, Chloe closed her eyes. She listened as Lois scrambled around to find a suitable hiding place for her present.

Something slammed, and Lois piped up, "Okay you can look."

Chloe opened her eyes and raised her eyebrows at Lois, who was beaming at her from across the room, hands on her hips and a triumphant smile on her face.

"Did Santa's workshop explode in here?" Chloe asked, moving her bags from the doorway and shaking the snow out of her hair.

"I did my Christmas shopping today," Lois said proudly.

"On the twenty third of December?" Chloe asked. She reached over to fish a mug from the cupboard as she threw a smile back at Lois. "Isn't that early for you?"

"Well," Lois said slowly, "I figured I'd be too busy tomorrow to do it like I normally do, so…"

Chloe tilted her head in confusion. "Why? What's going on tomorrow?"

Lois stared at Chloe like she'd grown an extra head. "Christmas Eve, first of all? Jeez Chlo, I know you've been working hard lately, but did you seriously forget Christmas was coming up?"

Chloe blinked. Christmas. Right. She hadn't forgotten it exactly. It was just that with her job at Watchtower, it was becoming increasingly easy to put everything else aside to the point where eventually things just snuck up on her when she least expected it. It seemed that Christmas this year was one of those things. This was becoming so frequent a habit in fact, that Lois had threatened multiple times to get on Oliver's case about overworking her. As far as Lois knew, Chloe was doing computer work for Oliver's company.

"Of course I didn't forget!" she lied. "I just…usually you aren't so excited about Christmas, Lois."

"Yeah. I guess this year is different," Lois said distractedly. She didn't speak again for a few minutes, which Chloe took to mean she was in some sort of Clark induced daze. This happened a lot, as of late.

"Um, Lois?" she said to remind the other woman she was still there. "You never said what was keeping you so busy tomorrow. Expecting a call from the Blur or something?"

"The Blur?" Lois said, snapping out of her daze. "Oh…no." The distracted look returned to Lois' face, and she twisted a spare scrap of ribbon between her fingers in silence before she blurted out, "I think Clark is going to ask me to spend Christmas with him."

Chloe was unsurprised. She took in her cousin's tense attitude with raised eyebrows and asked, "Is that a bad thing?"

"No! Well yes…no! Kind of…" Lois trailed off lamely. She shook her head and muttered to herself, "This could be bad."

"I think those are all possible answers Lois. Which one is it?" Chloe asked, holding back laughter. Her mouth twitched until she couldn't suppress her giggles any longer and burst out into peals of laughter.

"Chloe! It's not funny!"

"No…" she gasped, "it's just…I've seen you face down murderers without batting an eye, and you're afraid to spend Christmas with your boyfriend? Smallville's most mild-mannered resident?"

Lois rolled her eyes and raised her chin. "I am not afraid. I just think that it might be a little soon.

"You've spent Christmas at the Kent farm before," Chloe pointed out.

"Yeah, but that was before Clark and I were together. It's different now. Plus, Mrs. Kent won't he home until around noon on Christmas Day, so it'll just be the two of us all night." Lois threw herself down on the sofa, folding her arms across her chest. "It's just that…Clark and I agreed to take it slow."

"And you think that spending Christmas Eve alone with him at the farm will wreck that?" Chloe caught on.

Lois threw her an exasperated look. "You've seen us, Chloe. We're barely achieving slow as it is."

Chloe winced. She had a point. Ever since to two had started dating the month before she had been walking in on some semi—and occasionally more than semi—awkward moments. Just the other day she had come home to find Lois situated in Clark's lap on the couch, the two of them attached at the lip. The weird noise she'd made—something between a choke and a laugh—had succeeded in catching both their attentions, causing Lois to fall to the floor with a surprised cry of 'Chloe!' and Clark to turn an interesting shade of red. And as happy as she was for the two of them, opening the door to find them enthusiastically kissing goodnight was a sight she could probably do without.

"Which is why I want you to come too," Lois stated. Chloe looked up with a start.

"What?"

"You and Oliver can come over and hang out with us tomorrow night. You were going to come over Christmas day anyway. No stress, just a few friends hanging out, and Clark and I don't screw up our relationship," she finished firmly, grinning like she was wowed by the sheer genius of her own idea.

"So," Chloe said slowly, trying to wrap her mind around exactly what Lois wanted, "you're asking me to chaperone you and Clark?"

She was on the verge of laughter again, but Lois cut across with a quick, "Please, Chloe? I know it sounds stupid, but this is important to me. I really don't want to mess this up."

The laughter faded from Chloe's face as she took note of the worried look on her older cousin's normally confident face. Her expression softened. "Lois, I don't think there's anything you could do that would make Clark not want to be with you."

Lois' eyes flicked up in surprise. "You think?"

Chloe thought back to the months before when Lois had returned, seeing the first glimmer of hope come back to her best friend's face when he had heard she was alive. She thought about the weeks that had followed, of the progressions Clark had made since Lois had been back in his life. She thought of the smile that been almost constantly present on his face since Lois had agreed to be his girlfriend. She smiled. "Lois, do you remember when we were kids and I used to tell you that I was always right?"

"Yes."

"Well I'm always right."

Lois smiled, looking relieved. "So are you saying you'll do it?"

Chloe shook her head. "I'm sorry Lois, but I promised Oliver I'd fix a glitch in his system tomorrow night. I probably won't be home until late as it is."

"Oh." Lois' face fell marginally. "Alright, well I'll just have to figure something else out. But it's too bad I won't get to see you tomorrow."

"I know. Sorry," Chloe apologized. "But, if it makes you feel any better I rented some movies for tonight. I figured we could have a girl's night. I'll even help you wrap the rest of your presents."

Lois raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think I need help?"

Chloe shot a glance at a lumpy mess of wrapping paper on the coffee table. "Is that a present?"

"It's Lucy's."

"Then you need help."

Lois tossed a couch pillow into Chloe's face with a laugh. "Shut up."

Chloe shook her head. So this was Lois' new plan: avoid being alone with Clark at all costs. She swiveled in her chair, tapping her chin. It seemed pointless that the two were going to be alone tonight, when it was painstakingly obvious to everyone else that all they really wanted was to be together. If only she could convince Lois to get over her relationship hang ups…

A computer system off in the corner caught her eye and she grinned. Clark probably wouldn't like this, but if it got Lois out of the Daily Planet and out to the farm… "Merry early Christmas, Clark and Lois."

"Come on," Lois groaned, fiddling with the police scanner. "Something happen. Anything!"

When nothing but static met her request she flopped back down onto her chair. She searched around for something, anything, to do, and her eyes eventually settled on her computer.

Lois squinted at her screen with a slight frown. She really didn't want to stay here all night, but what choice did she have? Blowing her bangs out of her eyes, she opened up a fresh window on her screen and composed a small list.

Possible things to do tonight:
1)Stay here at the Planet and finish up the City Hall story
2)Go home and unwrap presents early fr. Chloe and Clark. (Rewrap after)
3)Go to the farm and unwrap Clark

Lois' eyes widened when she noticed what she had written last and hastily pummeled the backspace key. She cleared her throat.

Bad Lois: stop thinking about Clark. Going to the farm will only mean trouble.

Yeah…but I like trouble.

Lois shook her head. She had to focus, that was all. Focus on…something.

The phone on her desk rang and she practically fell out of her seat in her haste to answer it.

"Hello? Hello?"

"Hello Lois," a deep voice chuckled. "I didn't mean to disrupt you."

"Hey," she smiled. "You didn't disrupt anything. I was just…working on a story."

"Must be an awful important story if it's keeping you at work on Christmas Eve," the Blur pointed out. "You don't have anywhere else to be?"

"I was going to go to Clark's, but—" She paused. As close as she felt to the Blur sometimes, she didn't really feel comfortable admitting that she'd blown Clark off because she was afraid that if she went over to his house they wouldn't be able to keep their hands off each other, and as a result their plans to take things slow would be blown to hell. "—but, uh, I'm swamped, so…"

"I see."

There was a small pause on the other end before Lois said, "Did you need my help for anything?"

"No. I just wanted to wish you Merry Christmas, Lois."

"Oh." She smiled again. "Merry Christmas to you too."

"Oh, and Lois? I know it's probably not any of my business, but the news can probably wait just this once. Stories come along everyday. Opportunities to spend time with the people you care about don't. I'll talk to you soon."

The line clicked in her ear, and Lois looked down at the phone in surprise. Since when did the Blur hand out pearls of wisdom? Especially when it came to her love life?

Hanging the phone back on its cradle, she bit her lip. Was he right? Was she just being overly cautious about this whole thing?

Of course not, she thought with a snort. You made this decision for a reason, Lane, now stick with it.

Across town, Chloe glared at the screen feeding her footage from the Daily Planet's security tapes. She sighed as she watched Lois put the phone back down and turn back to her computer.

"Come on, Lois. I'm trying to help you out here." When all Lois did was begin to fiddle with the police scanner again, Chloe set her jaw. "Fine, if you won't listen to the Blur, maybe you'll listen to this."

She picked up the phone again.

Clark Kent stood back to admire the Christmas tree he had just finished decorating. He smiled sentimentally at the twinkling lights and ornaments. It looked good, but it wasn't the same. He brushed his hands off on his jeans and sighed. This was the first Christmas Eve he had spent alone in, well, ever he supposed. He had been looking forward to spending this first Christmas with Lois, but she was miles away in Metropolis, buried under a mound of work.

A nudge to his thigh made him look down. Shelby stared up at him and let out a small whine.

"I know Shelby," he said, squatting down to rub behind the lab's ears. "Christmas isn't the same, is it?"

Bam! Bam!

The sudden pounding on the door had him up in an instant and pulling open front door. Shock crossed his face as he saw a very wet and very concerned looking Lois Lane shivering on his porch.

"Lois?" he said in surprise.

"I heard," she said shortly. Before he could react, Lois' arms were wrapped tightly around his waist. "I'm so sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Clark tried to ask, but it was very difficult to concentrate with her so…close and…wet.

"Is Shelby going to be okay? What did they tell you? What exactly is wrong with her anyway?" Lois demanded, firing off questions faster than he could answer them.

"Shelby?" he asked in confusion. "What's wrong with Shelby?"

Lois fixed him with an equally confused look. "I was hoping you could tell me."

At the sound of her voice, Shelby suddenly came bounding into the room, barking excitedly. Lois dropped her arms from around him and asked flatly, "Clark, why is Shelby greeting me at the door?"

"Why wouldn't she? Lois, what's going on?"

"Chloe called and left a message on my machine saying that there was something wrong with Shelby, and that you'd had to leave her at the vet." Lois bent down to scratch behind the dog's ears and looked up at Clark to say dryly, "But apparently, that's not true."

"Shelby is fine." Clark shrugged, still looking puzzled. "Maybe you misunderstood what she was saying."

Not likely, Lois thought dryly. Nice one, little cousin.

"Well now that you're here," Clark said with a happy grin, "you might as well stay." He eyed her soaked clothes, dripping steadily on the kitchen floor. "Come on, I'll grab you something dry to wear."

Lois scowled at his amused expression and clomped her way into the kitchen. He had no idea, did he? No clue that this was a bad idea, that she had stayed at the Planet to help their relationship, not hinder it. Lois' foul mood deepened when she heard Clark begin to whistle cheerfully from upstairs. This was going to be a long night.

Two hours later

Clark's eyes darted between the TV and Lois, who was bobbing her foot up and down in a distracting way as she stared intensely at A Christmas Carol like it was the most interesting thing she had seen in a long time. Her hair had started to dry, only the ends curling damply, and she was wearing nothing but one of his flannel shirts and her socks as her clothes dried off by the fire. She looked beautiful.

And nervous. She'd been next to silent for the past few hours, even when he'd offered her her favorite hot chocolate, straight from Martha Kent's reciepe book. Not to mention the fact that she wouldn't stop bouncing her leg up and down as she watched Scrooge beg the Ghost of Christmas Future for a second chance. Reflexively, he reached out and placed his hand over her knee to stop the movement. Her eyes flew to his and he dropped his hand as though he had been burned.

He felt as though the room had warmed a few degrees. Her skin was so soft.

Focus, Kent, he thought sternly. You promised to take it slow. Feeling her up won't help that.

Lois shifted, crossing her legs. Clark watched as his shirt inched higher on her thigh. His lips began to part

"Presents!" he squeaked suddenly, leaping off the couch. "I—I've got a present for you. Hold on, I'll go, um, I'll go get it."

Lois bit back a grin as Clark practically flew off the couch and into the kitchen. At least she wasn't the only one affected by the other. She listened to Clark root around in the kitchen before he found whatever he was looking for and strolled back into the room.

"Here," Clark said brightly, holding out a small wrapped gift.

"I thought tradition stated that gifts weren't supposed to be opened until Christmas morning," she said, but she took the gift anyway.

"Since when did you ever listen to that rule?" Clark teased.

"True," she smirked. She raised her eyebrows as she took note of the pattern on the wrapping paper. "Plaid. Really?"

Clark just grinned in return and waited as she tore open the wrapping paper and slowly pulled her present from the box. She pulled a picture frame from the wrapping paper and laughed.

It was a double frame. On the left was an older picture of the two of them, from the first year she had spent in Smallville. It showed a half furious half laughing her running from a soaking wet Shelby they'd been trying to bathe as Clark laughed in the background. On the other side, there was a picture of the two of them at their first monster truck rally, both of them sporting big grins and their arms looped around each other.

What a difference a few years makes, she thought.

"We've come a long way," Clark's voice brought her out of her reverie.

"Yeah. We have." She smiled up at him. "Thanks, Smallville."

She leaned forward to give him a quick chaste kiss, but Clark's hand found the back of her neck, tethering her there. He groaned against her lips.

Lois' eyes slid closed as Clark deepened the kiss, her mind sliding into autopilot. This was the problem with taking it slow, she decided. It was like every time they got close, all their rules went straight out the window and all she could remember was how much she loved Clark and everything about him. His smile, his kindness, the way he always seemed to know exactly when she needed a coffee and doughnut break, and the way he had kept his promise on every rule she had made up the day he had asked her out, including the one about taking it slow.

They were moving so fast that she didn't even realize that she had been tugging his shirt upwards. He pulled away for a split second to help her get his shirt off before ducking his head back down to her.

Clark's t-shirt hit the floor as her back hit the couch cushions. He leaned back a bit, using his forearms as leverage so he wouldn't crush her. He trailed kisses down the side of her neck. He smiled at her sigh as he hit a particularly sensitive spot. He moved his head back up and captured her lips again.

"Wait," she murmured between kisses. She pushed up against his chest. "Wait, Clark. Stop."

Clark pulled away with a dazed look. "Lois?"

"I—" she paused, her face regretful. "We shouldn't, Smallville."

"Slow?" The fact that he had been reduced to one word sentences would have made her laugh if she weren't pinned beneath a good two hundred and some pounds of half naked Kansas farmboy.

"Yeah, and I should go." She managed to wiggle her way out from under him and snatch up her still wet jeans from their place by the fire.

"What, now?" Clark looked at the clock. "Lois it's eleven at night on Christmas Eve. And it's snowing."

"Great time to test out those winter tires," she said breezily, struggling to get her pants on.

"Lois," he caught onto her arm in exasperation. "What's going on? You've been acting strange all day."

"That's because I knew if I had come over tonight, this would happen." She gestured between them. "This right here, Smallville? We're not exactly crawling along at a steady pace, here."

"Lois," he said slowly, "I know you want to take things slow. I told you I was fine with it. I was even the one to suggest taking it slow. I'm not going to push you into anything you don't want to do—"

"I know," she cut him off. "And it's not that it's something I don't want to do." Her eyes roamed over his shirtless figure and she swallowed. "Just the opposite, actually, but… Come on, Smallville. You know my track record with dating."

"And mine is that much better?" he asked incredulously.

She shook her head. "I have a father who barely remembers to call on a regular basis, let alone remember it's Christmas, a sister who could be anywhere south of the equator right now, Chloe is so busy that I barely see her anymore, and your mom practically lives on the other side of the country. If this didn't work out, and I lost you… You're my best friend, Clark. You're the closest thing I have to a constant in my life. I don't know what I'd do if..." She bit her lip. "Look, Smallville I did want to be here tonight. These past few weeks have been amazing. But in my experience, when things are good, there's always something bad just around the corner. And I don't want to hurry things along by pulling a Lois and..."

She let the words trail off into silence. Her eyes cast around to focus on something—anything—else. Clark frowned.

"So you want to slow this down because you're afraid you'll lose me?" He stared at her intently, understanding finally setting in. When she didn't answer, Clark stepped forward, forcing her chin up to meet his eyes. "Lois, listen to me. Taking it slow is fine. I can wait forever, if that's what you want. But stop waiting for me to suddenly run away. I'm not going to do that. There's nothing you could do to scare away."

He wished in that moment that there was some way she could remember the lost memories he had witnessed from her time in the future. Maybe then, she would understand what he had learned that day: that there was no way he could ever turn away from her. She meant too much to him for him to ever let her go. He had known there was no turning back the moment he had found her again on the train. He'd known the second Jor-El had told him to cut his ties with her. He needed her, and she didn't seem to understand that.

Lois snorted slightly, a small show of false bravado to mask the vulnerability she felt. "That's sweet of you to say, but how do you know?"

He brushed a lock of hair back, hoping to dispel any of the doubts she had. "Because I just...know. You're you."

As soon as he said the words, he felt as though they weren't enough. He still wanted to somehow make her understand. He wanted to say something that would put her fears at ease.

There was a small pause before Clark said unexpectedly, "Lois did I ever tell you why I left during the three weeks you were missing?"

"You were visiting relatives in Poughkeepsie," Lois shrugged and cracked a slight smile. "But why the hell you would want to go to Poughkeepsie is beyond me, Smallville."

Clark didn't acknowledge her weak attempt at humor. Instead he watched her face carefully and continued, "Lois, when you disappeared…I thought you were dead. I thought that you had been killed. And I…" He ran a hand over his face. "I ran away. And I wasn't going to come back."

Lois stared. "Why not?"

"I was upset. And angry. With everyone, with myself." Clark shook his head, his eyes slightly out of focus as he remembered. "I thought that if I had been there you would still be alive. And it was like everything here—the Planet, the farm, even our friends—were all reminders that you were gone, that I was never going to see you again, and I'd let you down. I just wanted not to feel the way I did anymore. I didn't want to have to be me anymore if it meant feeling that lost. So I ran away, and for three whole weeks I refused to talk to anyone."

Clark swallowed thickly and chanced a glance at her face. He couldn't read her expression.

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked quietly.

"Because I want you to understand," he said, looking over at her with a sad smile. "I don't want you to think that I could just get up and leave one day when it's not like that. I can't do that. When you showed up again, it felt like a weight had been lifted. And I came back." In more ways than you know, he added. "Being back around you, it just felt right. I guess it took thinking that I'd lost you forever to make me realize how much I love you."

His words were met with a stunned silence. Clark's eyes widened. He hadn't meant to say that. Oh god, if intimacy between them was worrying her, how was she going to react to him telling her that he–

"I love you too."

Her voice was so firm and determined that he looked up in surprise. "You—?"

Lois leaned forward and captured his lips with hers, her hand sliding up to play with the hair at the nape of his neck. Clark responded eagerly, winding his arms around her waist and lifting her up onto the kitchen counter. Lois smiled against his mouth. She slid her hands down from his neck, across his chest and scraped her fingernails down his abdomen. Clark shivered in response, but tensed suddenly when he felt her hands on his belt buckle.

"Lois?" he pulled back slightly, giving her a questioning look. "What about taking it slow?"

She reached up and ran a finger across his full bottom lip and gave him a full fledged grin. "Yeah, about that," she said, "some rules are made to be broken, Smallville."

The trademark Kent smile appeared on his face. "You're sure?"

She tugged him back towards her by his belt. "I'm sure."

December 25, 2009

Lois buried her face deeper into the pillow, smiling in contentment as she felt a warm arm pull her closer under the covers. She felt the sunlight streaming in the window, warming her face and waking her a little more. She wasn't sure what time it was, but truthfully, she didn't care. Instead she snuggled closer to the warm body behind her and kept her eyes closed tight.

The phone rang suddenly, annoyingly shrill and out of place in the idyllic atmosphere the two were sharing. She heard Clark groan softly against the back of her neck.

"Let it go to voicemail," he murmured when she moved to get out of bed. He tugged her back to him gently.

Lois rolled her eyes with a smile but settled back against him. Eyes now open, she watched fluffy snowflakes swirl past the bedroom window, shimmering in the morning light.

Christmas morning, she realized. Something pushed at her memory, an important something that she needed to remember, something she needed to do, but she pushed it away as she felt Clark brush his lips against her shoulder.

"Lois Lane and Clark Kent!"

The shrill yell of her cousin's voice practically made Lois tumble out of bed in shock until she realized Chloe was not so much in the room with them as she was leaving an angry message on Clark's machine.

"I've called six times already. I've been trying to get a hold of you all morning. It's almost noon. What have you two been doing?"

Lois could hear Oliver in the background warning Chloe that she probably didn't want to know the answer and bit back a laugh.

"Oliver, Mia, and I are on the way to the farm as we speak, and if you guys aren't up and dressed by the time we get there, I'll make sure that you'll regret it."

"She doesn't scare me," Clark mumbled through a yawn.

"I'm serious. If you guys aren't greeting us at the door, Clark, I'll make sure Mrs. Kent lets Lois help out with dinner—" Clark's eyes flew open in horror. "—and Lois, let's just say your Whitesnake collection will be taking a long vacation."

Lois frowned. "She wouldn't."

"And don't think I won't! Ten minutes, you guys," she finished, before adding cheerfully, "Merry Christmas!"

The machine clicked off, sending the farmhouse into silence once more.

"Her small stature is misleading about the evil that lurks underneath," Clark grumbled into Lois' hair.

She laughed. "She's right, though. We need to get up, Smallville. Your mom is going to be home soon, and as much as she may like the fact that we're a couple now I think she'll draw the line at catching us in bed."

If she had been hoping that bringing up his mother would be the thing to get him out of bed, she was disappointed. Clark pulled her back down to him as she stood, a huge smile gracing his handsome face as she crash landed into his arms.

"Chloe said we had ten more minutes," he pointed out, "and I haven't said good morning to you yet."

"That doesn't take ten minutes, Clark," she teased.

"What I have in mind does," he grinned. "More time, actually, but if we're on a schedule…"

Lois laughed. She smoothed his messy hair back with her fingers as he craned his head up to kiss her, gently tugging at her lower lip. He pulled back and smiled softly.

"Merry Christmas, Lois."

"Merry Christmas, Smallville."

Taking it slow was overrated anyway.

Twenty minutes later

A disgruntled Chloe shivered at the icy wind rolling across the Kent Farm and brought her glove covered hands closer to chest to create more body heat. She bobbed up and down on her heels in an attempt to keep warm as she glared at the locked door in front of her.

Beside her, Oliver Queen checked his watch and pulled his expensive coat even tighter. He sent Chloe a look out of the corner of his eyes and frowned.

"You had to give them alone time for Christmas." He shook his head. "You couldn't have gotten them chocolate or a greeting card like everyone else?"

"Oh, shut up."

End.

Hope you enjoyed it. I don't think it turned out too bad, in spite of me being sick and tired (not of anything in particular, I mean literally). Make sure you check out my new fic--it'll be posted soon. :)