Author's Notes: Thank you Barbara for checking and correcting any errors this chapter has. I don't think I'll ever stop being grateful. And thank you everyone else for the continued interest and comments. It means a lot.

Chapter 4

Lois tried to busy herself in front of her computer by typing up the latest political scandal in Metropolis but instead, her eyes would surreptitiously wander across the room waiting for a certain co-worker to get back to his desk.

She sighed deeply – ever since her sister Lucy planted the seed of possibly liking Clark Kent into her mind, it was all she could think about. Regardless of the troubles she was having with Richard, and with Superman, finding out that she might actually harbor feelings for another man just made her look selfish and completely finicky.

How could she have let this happen? She was only one person.

One minute they were friends, the next, she was admiring him from afar.

This is ridiculous, she thought, closing her computer application abruptly and leaving the bullpen at full speed. She didn't even stop to apologize to the poor intern that dropped a massive stack of files to the ground as she made her way out of the office.

By the time she made it onto the roof, she found an unwelcome presence waiting for her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, clearly annoyed that she wasn't going to be alone.

"Probably the same reason that you are," he replied, stuffing his hands inside his pants pocket to hide the soot covering his fingers from the building fire that occurred a few miles from there. He had landed a mere few seconds before Lois appeared on the roof.

"I doubt it," she replied acerbically.

Instead of feeling offended by her caustic tone, he took a few steps towards her and said, "Is everything okay, Lois? You seem on edge about something."

If there was anything she disliked about her mild-mannered partner, it was his uncanny ability to pick up on her mood swings, along with his totally sincere demeanor in dealing with it. She could probably stick chewed bubblegum on his chair, and he'd find it amusing instead of irritating.

"Nothing, I just wanted to be alone," she answered with a believability level of zero.

"Is there anything I can do?"

Lois sighed and wished he wasn't always so nice.

"You could do me a favor and give me a moment by myself here." It was at this point where she felt torn. On one hand, keeping her distance might help her deal with her burgeoning feelings for him, and on the other hand, she just simply enjoyed his company and no amount of hating how she felt was going to change that.

"Okay," he said softly.

She looked at him and carefully avoided meeting eye contact. "Thanks."

"Call me if you need anything," he said, slowly disappearing from her view.

Lois took a deep breath, feeling nauseous all of a sudden. This wasn't supposed to happen. She was supposed to be fixing her relationship with Richard and figuring out how Superman fit into her life, especially where Jason was concerned. Clark Kent shouldn't be anywhere near her thoughts and ponderings.

"God, I'm an idiot!" she berated herself. The urge to light a cigarette became very tempting.

Then she heard the door open behind her and she spun around ready to give Clark a thrashing for interrupting her moment alone, but instead, it was a different face that met her wrath.

"Perry?"

"You have a minute?" her boss asked. She had a sinking feeling it wasn't a question but she nodded anyway.

"I was just taking a break."

"What exactly is the appeal up here?" he said randomly. "Hell, it's colder up here than on street level." He didn't let her give her two-cents as he continued. "Look, I'm not here to coddle you or anything, but I've been meaning to say a few words to you."

She quirked an eyebrow. "Only a few?"

"Watch it, Lane," he warned almost playfully. "I still approve your paychecks."

Lois tried to smile but she couldn't. She felt this conversation coming long before Superman came back into everyone's lives.

"What did you want to talk about?" she asked just to get the ball started. She knew it was about Richard and their rather long engagement.

"It's about Richard."

Score one for her.

"I know it's none of my business, but whatever problems you two are having, they've gotta be addressed."

Had he been anyone else but Perry White, Lois would've told them to 'stick it where the sun don't shine', but since it was, she was more prone to listening to what he had to say.

"I've known you for a long time, Lois, and it's clear as day that this isn't for you, and that's just my personal opinion of the matter."

Automatically, she became defensive.

"Chief, I love Richard."

"I know you do," he replied sadly. "But not enough for you to want to walk down the aisle with him in front of God and say 'I do.'"

Lois wanted to argue with him, yell at him that he was so wrong, but she couldn't. The words refused to come together, and she couldn't speak up. The silence between them spoke volumes and Perry, the veteran of the two of them, nodded in understanding and support.

"I love my nephew as if he were my own son, but you, Lois, you've been like a daughter to me all these years, and I don't want you hurting anymore than him. So please, for my blood pressure and both your happiness, deal with it. You're Lois Lane," he said her name proudly and a momentary burst of strength rose inside of her. "You never do things the easy way."

When he moved closer to take her in his arms like a father did to a child, Lois couldn't help but wrap her arms around him as well and cry. Cry at the indefinable realization that he was right.

"Shhh…" Perry spoke softly, following it with a light kiss on her forehead. "You're going to get through this. You both are."

If he only knew it wasn't just she and Richard who would be hurt by this.

Jason munched on his whole wheat cereal while watching his mother go through her closet for something to wear. He got tired of waiting in the kitchen so he asked if he could keep her company while she finished up. Thankfully, he had gotten his wish but now he wasn't so sure it was a good idea.

"Mommy."

"Yes, sweetie," his mother responded absentmindedly. She held up a couple of outfits in front of him. "What do you think?" One hand held up one dress, while the other held another.

Jason stared at his mother's clothes and shrugged, they all looked pretty to him.

"I dunno."

"Pick one."

"That one," he said enthusiastically. "I like that one the best," he pointed to the outfit to her left. "Are you and daddy going to a party?"

His mother sighed. "Something like that." But he didn't understand why she didn't look very happy.

For as long as he could remember, he was always so sensitive to his mother's emotions.

Ding Dong.

As soon as the doorbell was heard, Jason jumped to his feet and ran downstairs.

"No running in the house!" Lois yelled out to him, but she knew it was no use. Ever since Clark came back into her life, a lot had changed. For one, she had a child of her own, and secondly, that child in question made it his mission to hang out with her long-time friend as much as possible.

It sometimes surprised her the level of comfortability that existed between them. Even in her son's early years, he was always so against being held by another person, especially Richard at first. Eventually, Jason got used to being held by Richard that the only others capable of holding him without getting much of a fuss were her father and Jimmy.

But it seemed though that Jason struck an immediate rapport with Clark, whom, for lack of a better word, had become Jason's own best friend.

The first time she caught the two of them hanging out was at the Planet. She was going to the roof for some fresh air after a long day at work when she found Clark standing behind the ledge holding Jason in his arms as they talked.

It was another late night at the Daily Planet where most of the senior staff including Jimmy stayed up to work on a story. After two hours in front of a computer, Lois stepped out of the bullpen to get some much needed air. She didn't even notice that two of her companions were missing until she reached the roof and spotted her son with Clark

"What's that up there?"

"It's a shooting star," Clark answered softly.

"Why is it shooting?"

"Well…" Clark chuckled. "When a meteor hits Earth's atmosphere, the meteorite starts to melt and eventually explodes in a bright light."

"How come?"

"Air friction," Clark explained simply, but it only earned him a little face of utter confusion. He smiled and so did she at their sheer adorableness at watching them interact.

"What's that?"

"Friction happens when one thing, which in this case, the meteor, meets against something else. Like air."

"Why?"

Lois remembered hiding behind the door smiling at the sight of an old friend trying to explain the laws of physics to her young son. Jason's constant "Whys" could make any normal – or abnormal – person go crazy, but not Clark. He stood there telling him everything he wanted to know, and she never noticed a moment of impatience or irritation in his body language while he did so.

Clark seemed to genuinely enjoy hanging out with her son, and at first it baffled her. She couldn't remember a time in their previous working relationship where he was exposed to children.

She was suddenly taken out of her thoughts when she heard a knock on her door.

"Come in."

Clark slowly opened the door and it didn't surprise her that he remained by the door. He was a farmboy and a gentleman to the core.

"Hi, Lois," he said in his normally happy way that he always greeted her with. "I was wondering if you had a spare t-shirt."

It was at that moment she looked up and noticed his dress shirt and jacket was stained with orange juice.

"Oh my God, what happened?" she asked, abruptly stopping whatever she was doing to help Clark. She grabbed a towel in her bathroom and handed it to him. "Did Jason do this?"

"It's okay," he smiled, his eyes filled with amusement. "He was excited."

"Excited to see you, no doubt." She went into her closet and searched through a pile of old clothes. "Here, I think you can use this." It was one of her father's old grey army shirts back in the day.

"Thanks." He awkwardly points down the hall. "The bathroom…"

"Oh, right," she replied, completely distracted. "Yeah, it's the first door before you reach the stairs."

"Thanks," Clark said again before leaving.

Lois fell back on her bed and sighed. "This is a disaster," she muttered to herself before hastily getting up and putting on the outfit her son picked out. When she was done, she exited her room to grab something in the other bathroom completely forgetting that there was someone else in there still.

"Jason!" she called out over her shoulder. She turned the knob to the door and walked in. "Did you take all your—" she stopped dead in her tracks, the thought of asking Jason if he had taken all his medication becoming a distant memory as soon as she caught sight of a shirtless Clark in her bathroom.

Clark turned to her in immediate concern. "Is everything all right?" he looked over her as if he was trying to see if Jason was okay. "Lois." He lightly placed both his hands on her shoulders. "Lois," he repeated worriedly.

"I'm… uh… fine," she stuttered.

Who knew that underneath all those layers of clothing was a man whose body was fit for a God?

"I'm sorry," she added, blinking yet unable to… Look away for Christ's sake! "I… totally… forgot… you were in here."

"Oh," was his uncertain reply. Apparently, not only did he have the most amazing body she had ever seen on a man, but he was completely oblivious to how good-looking he was. "I guess I was taking too long."

"No!" she burst out uncharacteristically. "I'm the klutz, I should've knocked," she provided weakly before taking a huge gulp. "I should go."

"Yeah."

"Okay."

Lois remained glued to her spot, looking like she was still trying to recover.

"Lois?"

"Yes?"

"You're still here."

"Oh." She looked around the spacious bathroom and couldn't ignore the humidity that suddenly engulfed the room. "Right. I am. I'm going to go now." She quickly turned and left the bathroom leaving a completely confused Clark behind.

To be continued…