Lois was sitting on a chair in her apartment, reading a book. Someone was at the door.

"Come in," she said distractedly, not bothering to look up and see who it was.

"Lois?"

Lois groaned inwardly, when she heard Clark's voice. She got more focused on her book and didn't answer. She hoped he would take a hint and leave.

"Lois? Lois?"

"What, Smallville?" she said at last in an irritated voice.

"I haven't seen you for an entire week."

"Poor baby. I'm sure it broke your heart."

"I mean it, Lois. I've missed you."

That caused her to look up. "You missed me? I've been gone a whole summer before. We're hardly joined at the hip."

He pulled up a chair next to her and put his hand over hers to indicate his seriousness. "I really did miss you. I like seeing you on a daily basis." He cracked a grin. "Who else can I get to annoy the heck out of me?"

She pulled her hand away and averted her eyes to the book. "I'm sure if you place an ad in the paper, you'll find someone."

"Ever since that lipstick fiasco, you've gone out of your way to avoid me. Why? It's not like you—or we I mean—remember anything."

"I don't remember anything, but I have a strong suspicion you do, and I know I made a fool of myself."

"You didn't make a fool of yourself."

"Aha! So you remember. See that just goes to show you that men can hate the girl they're with, but if she comes onto them, they're certainly not opposed to it. All men are jerks."

"I was opposed to it, and I don't hate you."

"Then how did I kiss you in the first place? You had to have let me kiss you. You don't have an answer to that one, do you? Don't get me wrong. I don't blame you. I'm just a little uncomfortable with our relationship now."

"Uncomfortable? We've seen each other, you know. Plus, you walked in on me in the shower and that was when we were practically strangers. It's never made our relationship uncomfortable before."

"That was different."

"How? Because you were in control of the situation?"

"No, because I never kissed you before and heaven knows what else."

"I already told you we didn't do heaven knows what else."

"I know, but it wasn't from lack of trying, was it? I made you a freaking White Snake CD! Do you know how embarrassing that is?"

He took her hand again, clasping both hands over it and looking her straight in the eye. "I don't care what happens between us. I always want you in my life."

"And I want you in mine, Smallville. I'll get over it. Meanwhile, I'm going on assignment for a couple of weeks."

"I know. I'm going with you."

The soft look that had been on her face only moments before was replaced with the earlier look of stubbornness and there was a spark of anger in her eyes. "The heck you are. Do you even know where I'm going?"

"Sure. Chloe told me all about it. She wanted to cover the story herself, but it was too farfetched for the Planet, so she gave it to you. There's supposed to be this place called Paradise Island that's filled with real Amazons."

"Tell me what does the word Amazon mean?"

"A woman warrior."

"A woman warrior with an extreme dislike of men. They'd kill you the instant they saw you."

"I doubt that, and you're not part of the tribe. They'd probably kill you too."

"No reason for both of us to get killed."

"Lois, if you go, I'm going to. You need somebody to help you."

"Whatever. Come if you want, but just so you know, I don't think there are going to be real Amazons or that half the stories about that island are true. It'll probably be a waste of time."

"That's fine with me."

She tossed the book in his lap. It was called All You Ever Wanted to Know about Amazons. Clark flipped through the pages. Lois had written in the margins of the book. She was about halfway finished.

"Why do you write in your books like this?"

"I don't like to passively read. It's boring. I like to highlight and write my thoughts and opinions in it."

"You can't even listen silently to a book? You have to have a conversation with it and ruin a perfectly good book?"

"Hey, it's recommended by professors thank you very much. It improves your memory of what you read, and besides, it's better that it's obvious it was read than sitting on a bookshelf, collecting dust."

"So why did you give it to me?"

"Because now that you're coming along, I don't have to read it. You can finish reading it for me, and if I want to know something, I'll just ask you. Unless you think the reading might be too difficult. I can always get you the Idiot's Guide."

"No, thank you."

"Good. I'll see you tomorrow afternoon at 2:00. It's too bad I rented a private plane or you might've not been able to find a seat on the flight."

"Trust me. I'd have found a way to get over there."

She smirked. "I think you would have. You better get home. You've got some heavy reading and packing to do before the trip."