"Do you mind dropping me off at the Talon. I need to speak to Chloe about Lois and set the record straight about me and her." Clark asked as they entered Smallville.

"No…honey. Good luck." Martha smiled as she watched her reluctant son getting out of the car.

Chloe was sitting with Lana when Clark walked in. "So what happened?" she asked excitedly.

"Lois is landing in Smallville in T minus 7 days." He smiled.

"That's great." She got up and hugged him. "I can't wait to see what my cousin makes of small town life."

She looked down at Lana. "You'll love her, Lana."

Lana looked at Clark uncomfortably. "I am going to see Lex about the Talon, so I will see you later."

"Ouch.." Clark commented. "Is she still pissed at me? I thought she would be glad to finally step off the Clark and Lana rollercoaster."

"I don't think she will get over it just like that."

"Can we talk somewhere private, Chloe? There is something I need to clear up with you." He asked nervously.

Chloe's heart pounded. "Of course."

They headed up to the apartment. "Sit down." Chloe pointed to the sofa.

He took a seat. She joined him. "You look nervous. Whatever it is, you can tell me."

"Ok... the past few days, I have had comments off people saying you think we may be more than friends…and there was all that stuff with pretending to be my girlfriend when we went to Fort Ryan." Clark stuttered.

"What people!"

"My parent, for one. Anyway I think we need to clarify the status of our relationship.

"Ok, you go first." She moved towards him.

"Chloe, it would be so easy for us to get together because we are best friends and even easier to read things in something which is not there. Basically what I am trying to say is that, I love you as a friend but I do not have romantic feelings for you."

Her face crumpled. "But Clark, don't they say that is how the best relationships start…as friends, I mean."

"Chloe, I know you may not want to hear this, but I cannot flip a switch and turn on feelings for you. I just don't feel that type of connection with you."

She had tears in her eyes. "You mean the type of connection you have with Lana."

Clark got off the chair and knelt in front of Chloe. "I realised months ago that I did not even have that type of connection with her either. I thought I did, but now I know I was too blind with the 'first love' thing to see my feelings for her were not the real thing."

"You're not gay, are you?" Chloe tried to make a joke.

"No, I'm not."

"Is there someone else?" she asked.

Clark paused and gave her the best answer he could in the circumstances. "There may be…I don't know yet."

"She is one lucky girl. You met in Metropolis, didn't you?" she probed.

"Yeah…kind of. " he announced non-committedly.

Chloe was knocked over by his sincerity so much so that she could not be mad with him. She hugged him. "Thank you for having the guts to be honest, Clark. I guess I can cope with just being one of your best friends."

He hugged her back. "You always will be, Chloe!"

Clark looked at his watch. It was past six, and he was meeting Lois in five hours. He headed home.

His parents were waiting for him to come back.

"How did she take it?" Jonathan asked him.

"Surprisingly well actually. She seemed to accept it." He explained.

"We are impressed that you had the courage to confess rather than lead her on." Martha said.

"She assumed it was because I still had feelings for Lana, but I managed to convince her."

"Are you really over Lana?" his dad inquired.

"Yeah totally. I think it was more of an obsession than anything else. It would not have worked out in the long run. She is still mad at me though."

He smiled at his parents. "Thanks for today!" he hugged them.

"I just hope we don't regret the decision. Lois sounds like a feisty individual to say the least." Jonathan commented.

"You won't. Her heart is in the right place." Clark defended her.

"Has she mentioned anything to you about a boyfriend?" His dad asked.

Clark tried to sound convincing. "No, I don't think she would talk to me about anything like that."

Jonathan was not convinced and knew his son was hiding something. He knew they would just have to keep a close eye on Lois.

Meanwhile back at Fort Ryan, Lois was so excited about living on the Kent Farm. It would be such a cool change from the base.

She had always felt closer to her cousin than she had to her own sister. Maybe it was the close proximity in ages between her and Chloe. The Kent's seemed lovely, and Clark may prove interesting to live with. He was a good listener for someone his age and particularly considering he belonged to the male species. He was also very cute, not that she had noticed. Perhaps she had a girl crush on him, but then again he was only a boy, not as grown up and self-assured as her 'boyfriend'.

She pondered her use of the word 'boyfriend'. Were they dating? She didn't even know his true identity or even what he looked like for that matter. Moving to Smallville would allow her to continue her romance with Kal. Although she has no clue where they were headed but the mystery just increased the intensity of their relationship.

She looked at her watch. It was almost 11pm. She closed her eyes and waited … Right on cue, she felt the ground move from underneath her feet…

She didn't manage to get any words out of her mouth before she felt the pressure of Kal's lips on hers.

Once she came up for breath, she announced. "You don't waste anytime, do you?"

He almost growled. "I can't help myself when I am around you. You drive me crazy."

"I know how you feel. " she kissed him again.

"So how are you doing?"

"Well, I have some great news. I am moving to a small town called Smallville. I don't know if you have heard of it. You may not have done, as it seems to only have a population of 34 people, 6 cows and 2 horses." She joked.

"Yeah I know it." He replied. "Does this mean that we can keep on seeing each other?"

"yes… definitely. I just need to get my friend Clark on to the case. He is the one who sent you the message to meet me. Don't worry though, we can trust him to keep our secret."

"You've known him a long time then?" Clark asked, wanting to find more about her thoughts on his true identity.

"No, just a week or so." She replied.

"And you trust him?"

"Yeah one hundred percent, otherwise I would not have asked for his help. I just had to see you."

"How are things in your real life?" she asked.

"Fine, things are starting to go back to normal, whatever normal is for me." He joked.

"You mean with your powers?"

"Yeah, I guess I have spent years craving for a normal life and the chance to be honest with my friends, but I always have to hide."

"Do any of your friends know?" she asked, thrilled she was one of the chosen few.

"Yeah, one of my closest friends does, but I think he wished he had not found out. It just seemed to complicate matters."

"If he is your friend, I am sure he understands."

"Lois, it is a lot to take in. I am not your…run of the mill…meteor freak, as people like to call them."

"My cousin has told me all about the meteor shower. I just assumed you must have been affected by it somehow. I mean you're not exactly an alien, are you?"

"Well actually now you mention it."

She laughed loudly, but then stopped mid-laugh. Something told her that she had hit the nail right on the head. "You're not from another planet, are you?"

"What would you say if I said I was?"

"It would be a shock but I would deal with it." She offered.

"You really mean that, don't you?"

"Yeah…yeah I do. It would not change the real you. Well not that I know who you really are."

"Do you want to know?" he stepped forward. For the first time ever, he wanted to show someone who he really was, and to break down the barrier between them.

She placed her hand on his chest, motioning for him to step back. "No, not yet. Maybe sometime…"

He moved back. "If you ever ask me to reveal myself, I will." He promised.

"Thank you, Kal. But for now, let's keep the mystery." She kissed him. "I am sorry our meetings are so brief, but after Friday, things should be easier if I can convince Clark that it is a good idea to cover for us."

"I am sure he will." Kal replied. He kissed her goodnight before returning her to the base.

Clark sped back to Smallville. He just wished Friday would hurry up.

Things between him and Chloe were kind of back to normal, but there was a hint of disappointment from Chloe in the way she acted towards him.

It was agreed that Lois would be arriving at six. What the Kent's did not bank on was the need of a convoy of three army trucks to ferry all of Lois's luggage.

"Where will we put all this?" Martha whispered to Jonathan who looked white when he saw the amount of stuff being unloaded.

Lois was organising all the troops and telling them where to put all the stuff.

"Lois, If this ever gets back to my chain of command, I will be in trouble." Sam actually looked nervous.

Clark helped to take some of the cases up to his room. Soon he could not see the bed.

Lois came up and started to unpack. "So where will you be sleeping, Smallville?"

"Smallville?" he announced. "Where did that name come from?"

"I don't know. I think you just sum up this town, so I am going to call you Smallville from now on."

"Do I get a say in this?" he smiled.

"No, of course not!" she playfully punched him in the arm. Without thinking he grabbed her arm and almost swung her around to kiss her.

"What's with that!" she asked shocked.

He pointed at the floor. "I was just worried you would trip on one of your many bags."

She laughed. "You are so chivalrous."

Maybe his parents were right, she could be harder work than he thought but then again he was up for challenge.
Her father said his goodbyes and she was amazed that he cried. She promised to be good and to keep in touch as much as possible.

"I will believe that when I see it." Her father managed a laugh, something she did not hear very often.

Clark, Lois and his parents headed back into the house. "So where are you going to be sleeping? She asked him when his parents were out of earshot.

"With you, of course. It is the country after all. You don't mind bunking up do you?"

She took him seriously. "No way. I have to speak to your parents about this."

He looked at her, and the biggest grin yet appeared on his face.

"I'm kidding, what do you take me for?"

She punched him again. He realised he would have to get used to the play punches as something told him they were going to be a regular occurrence from now on. What neither of them had realised was the amount of sparks were already flying between them…