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CHAPTER THREE

"Ok, I'll admit, this is really good."

"Well, I'm glad you're enjoying the food, Lois," Clark said.

"You know, over protective boyfriend doesn't look good on many guys, but you…it's kind of hot," Lois admitted.

"So, you think I'm hot?" Clark asked. He was smiling at her from across the table.

"Of course I think you're hot," she said. She took a bit out of her food. She pointed her fork at him. "I wouldn't be dating you if I didn't."

Clark laughed. "Well, I didn't picture you to be that type of girl, Miss Lane," he said.

"You have no idea," she teased. She took an other bite of her food. "So, Clark Kent, do you think I'm hot?"

"No," he said honestly. From the look on Lois's face, she wasn't expecting that answer. "I think you're the most beautiful woman in the universe."

She smiled at him. "Is taking girl's breath away becoming a habit of yours?" she asked him.

"No…just yours, Lois," he said.

"It better be just me or else."

Clark smiled at his girlfriend. He could get use to a life with her like this.

\S/

"You fed me dinner. Now you want to watch a bunch of romantic comedies with me? How much can a girl take?"

"Not a bunch, just a few. Maybe two or three. Starting with The Proposal," Clark said.

"What's that?" Lois asked.

"Sandra Bullock? Ryan Reynolds?"

"Never heard of it," she said.

"Then we're watching it."

\S/

The movie was over now. Lois was curled up right next to Clark on the couch. She was using his shirt to wipe off her tears.

Clark turned to her. "Are you crying?"

"No," she lied.

"Oh really? Lois, you know you don't have to put up a front for me. It's ok to be a softy around me," he said.

She looked up at him. He was right. He was the one person she could show her true self to. "Fine, I was crying, but can you blame me?"

"And why were you crying?" he asked.

She pointed to the television. "He fell in love with her! Despite the fact that she use to treat him like crap and boss him around! It reminds me of us," she said the last sentence in a whisper.

He smiled when he heard her. "It was obvious from the start that he was going to fall in love with her," Clark said.

"No duh. It's a romantic comedy, Clark," Lois said. She pointed to the DVD case on the coffee table.

"I was talking about me," he said.

She looked up at him and met his look. He had just the most lovingly eyes looking down at her. "We hated each other when we met," Lois said.

"Did we? No. You stirred up stuff inside of me that no one ever even touched. You brought out a side of me that I didn't even know I had. Those are the reasons why he fell in love with her and why I fell in love with you," Clark said.

Lois didn't know what else to say but, "I love you, too, Clark. My Smallville." She leaned up to give him a quick passionate kiss.

He was the one to pull away. "I have something to give you," he said.

When she saw him reaching for his coat pocket, she freaked out. "Smallville, I swear to God if you're proposing I'm going to kick you butt!" Lois exclaimed.

"I'm not proposing," Clark said. He saw Lois's relief written on her face. "It's nice to know my girlfriend loves the idea of me proposing." He was being sarcastic.

"It's too early to be thinking about marriage," Lois said.

"I agree," Clark said. He pulled out the small box. "That's why I want to give you this." He opened the box to reveal a ring.

"It's still a ring, Clark."

"Yes, but not an engagement ring," he said.

"Then what kind of ring is it?" she asked.

"A promise ring," he said.

She couldn't believe it. "I've never received a promise ring," she said. She looked down at the ring then up at Clark. "So, I don't know how they work."

"Well, I've never given a promise ring to anyone, but I'm pretty sure you make a promise," he said.

"And what promise are you going to make to me?" she asked in the same teasing tone as he did.

"Hmm," he said. He scratched his head pretending to think about it.

Lois punched him in the shoulder and couldn't help but laugh. "You can't just give a girl a promise ring without giving her a promise," Lois said.

"I thought you said you didn't know how these things work," Clark teased.

"Come on, Kent. Quit stalling. What's the promise?" Lois asked. She was slowly starting to grow impatient.

"My promise is that…I promise you we do have a future. I don't know where that future will lead us, but there's a future with us. It may be too early to decide how far we want to get with that future, but no matter what, I know I want you as a part of
my life…forever."

She looked up at him and said one word. "Yes."

"Yes what?" he asked.

"Yes..I accept your promise," she said.

"Well, I di-," he began saying, but he was interrupted when Lois hugged him tightly. He pulled back. "What was that for?"

"Just shut up and kiss me, Kent."

"And I thought I was the one giving the orders."

With that, he happily obeyed.

CHAPTER FOUR

"You are super bossy," he said. With every word he said, he gave her an other kiss.

"You like it," she said. She pushed him down onto the couch then climbed into his lap saddling him. She ran her hands over his chest. "You have no idea how difficult it is to be around you and fight the urge to rip your shirt off."

"Lois!" Clark exclaimed.

She giggled. "Come on, I'm just saying the truth," she said. She started kissing his neck.

He battled to get the words out. "Lois, this isn't like you," he said.

She pulled away from his neck. "See, that's where you're wrong, Kent. This is me. You're the only person I can be my true self around," she said.

"You're making this hard," he said.

"Oh really?" she asked. She bit her lip as she looked in between them to his lap. Clark turned bright red. "I didn't mean it like that. I mean that I want to take my time with getting to know you," he said.

"We've known each other for 6 and a half years, Clark. I think we know everything about each other," Lois said.

"Not everything, Lois. There is so much I have not told you," Clark said. He looked away from her. "Things that may change how you see me."

She took his face in her hands and forced him to face her. She looked straight into his eyes. "Nothing can ever change how I see or feel about you," she said.

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do," she said. She pushed her body closer to him. She smiled when he let out a groan of pleasure. She knew she had him were she wanted him.

"Lois, please don't do that," Clark barely got out.

"Why?" Lois teased. She was having a blast. She traced his lips with her index finger. "Cause you're tempted?"

"I'm really tempted right now," he admitted.

"Good," Lois said. She started kissing Clark's neck. Then she slowly made her way to unbutton the top of his dress shirt.

"You are a trouble maker," he whispered.

Instead of answering him back, Lois made an other command. "Take off your shirt," she said.

As if he was the one on the spell, he obeyed. He didn't have the patience to deal with the buttons so he quickly ripped off his own shirt. Once the shirt was gone and thrown across the room, he caught Lois staring at his chest. "There," he said. He smiled at her.

She smiled at him. "Oh yeah definitely dating you for your looks," she teased.

He laughed against her lips. After pulling away from the kiss, he whispered into her ear. "It's your turn."

She smiled. "Always the boy scout," she said Within a flash, she pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it with his shirt. "How's that?"

The first thing he noticed was the bra. It was the same bra that he accidentally picked up from the laundry in their last movie night. "You look beautiful in red," he said.

Unlike other guys, Clark kept his eyes focused on hers. Most guys would stare at her chest the second her bra was off, but not Clark. He saw into her soul. "I love you," she told him.

He had the biggest smile on his face. "Not as much as I love you," he said. He felt her smile again his lips as she pulled her into an other kiss and knew she liked this side of him.

She pulled away and cradled his face in her hands. "Let's make love, Smallville."

It dawned on his what they were about to do. He quickly removed Lois from his lap and got up to grab his shirt and put it back on.

"We shouldn't have done that," he said.

"Clark, we've been dating for months. I'm in love with you. You've in love with me. This is typically what people in love do," Lois said. Clark remained quiet. "Unless you lied when you said you loved me."

"Of course I love you, Lois!" Clark exclaimed. He needed to find a way to reach out to her. He picked up her shirt from the floor and handed it to her. "I'm just not ready to take this step."

"In other words, you don't want to," Lois said putting her shirt back on.

"Lois, I really do want to be with you," he admitted. He was telling the truth. Ever since he saw how he and Lois had been together in the future, something inside of him wanted to be with her now.

"Then why not?" she asked.

"Because I respect you," he said.

"Respect me? That's a lame excuse," Lois said.

"Believe it or not. It's true. With Lana, the second we got together, we rushed into things," he said.

"Great now you're talking about your ex," Lois said.

"Just shut up and listen," Clark said.

It was a command and she knew it.

"I don't want to screw things up with you. I don't want to rush into things and then ruin the chances I have of becoming your husband. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I did that," Clark said.

He grabbed Lois by the waist and dragged her to sit by him at the couch. She had to shut up and listen. So protesting against Clark was out of the question.

"If there's no future between Clark and Lois, I don't think there much of a future at all," he said.

He waited for her to respond, but she just sat there in silence. It didn't come to him that Lois wasn't allowed to speak until moments later.

"Feel free to give your opinion, Lois," he said.

"How do you know there's no future at all?"

"Because I've see the future and it wasn't pretty at all,' he said.

She laughed and he wished she knew how serious he was being. "You drive a hard bargain, Kent," she said punching him in the arm. She leaned into him and wrapped her around him to give him a hug.

He hugged her back just as much. "Does this mean that you won't be mad at me when I ask you to sleep in my room while I sleep on the couch?" he asked.

"Just as long as you ask," she teased. He gave her a half smile. "If you're not ready, that's ok with me."

"Thank you, Lois for understanding."

She smiled at him. "Goodnight, Smallville."

"Good night, Lois."

TBC