Chapter Eleven

Chloe's eyes slowly fluttered open and fixed on a lamp beside her. That wasn't her lamp. Where was she? She shifted and felt something against her back, something warm and solid. Oh yeah, she knew where she was now.

With a big smile, she turned around and stretched against Oliver, shivering when his hand drifted up to cup her breast. Last night had been amazing, the first time she and Oliver had made love and she couldn't have imagined it any better in her head.

She'd been worried that it might have been too soon, but as soon as he'd kissed her, all thoughts had flown out of her head and she'd just let herself go with the flow. And she was glad that she did.

"Morning." she said, leaning over to kiss him. It lasted a few minutes because neither wanted to be the first to pull away but eventually, Chloe did. She couldn't believe she'd taken their relationship to the next level last night. But the pleasant ache she had told her she wasn't regretting it.

Her feelings for Oliver were definitely strong. She'd never been this happy before. Ever. Not even during the very brief phase where Clark seemed to be interested in her many years ago. She could now recognise that for the infatuation it really was. What she felt for Ollie, no, that was definitely real.

"Morning gorgeous. How did you sleep?" he asked with a wink.

"Like a log. That was one heck of a workout Ollie." she replied with her own cheeky little smile.

"I like to do my part. Now, how about a nice fattening breakfast to replace some of those calories we burned?"

"Sounds great but I didn't know you could cook."

He frowned at her, then smiled and pointed at himself. "Single man, living alone. It was either learn or starve, and since I like to eat…"

"Point taken." She laughed as she laid back against her own pillow so that Oliver could get out of bed. She watched him leave the room with nothing on, admiring his backside, then shaking her head to get rid of the thought.

She snuggled down a little and closed her eyes. The bed she was in was huge, she'd never seen one so big. But then Oliver did like his luxuries. She loved the way the satin sheets felt against her bare skin, the way the pillow moulded itself into the shape of her head, cushioning it.

She didn't realise how long she'd been laying there daydreaming until Oliver appeared in the doorway, this time wearing some boxers, and carrying a tray full of food.
As she sat up, her stomach voiced its approval of the smells wafting over. Oliver paused and started laughing.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"Nothing." He sat down on the bed next to her and put the tray down. Then he reached out and smoothed her hair. "You have the cutest bed hair I have ever seen. All spiky and sticking out at weird angles."

She ran a self-conscious hand through her dishevelled locks and glared at him. "Well, if I recall, you're half to blame for the state of my hair."

"Ooh, touchy in the morning. Note to self, do not anger Chloe in the mornings." His smile softened into one of adoration. "Chloe, you always look beautiful to me. Bed hair or not."

Most men couldn't pull off the cheesy charm, but Oliver could. And though she hated herself for it, his compliment actually made her blush. She could feel her cheeks heating up so to distract him before he noticed, she started on the food.

"Hungry?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Aren't you?"

He didn't take his eyes off her. "Yes." he replied, the hungry look in his eyes almost making her choke on her toast.

"I want to spend the day with you Chloe. Do you have any plans?" he asked, taking a bite of toast.

"Uh, no I don't think so. Oh, but I want to stop by my apartment before we go anywhere. I need to talk to Lois. I can't keep lying to her, not when we're…well, when we're getting closer."

He nodded. "I understand. Okay, well, you go and see Lois, I'll take care of a few things and then we'll spend the rest of the day together. Deal?"

"Deal. So where are we going?"

He winked at her again. "Who said we're going anywhere? Right here seems like a pretty good place to me."

Chloe swallowed hard. He was making it very hard to fight the flush she could feel on her face. Did he know what he was doing to her? Something in the way his eyes gleamed, told her he did.

Lois stirred restlessly, tossing from side to side in an effort to get comfortable. But nothing was working. She was hot, bothered and achy and she just wanted to sleep. Her head felt like she had a brass band marching inside it and her throat was all scratchy and sore. How did she get sick? She never got sick, not usually.

Then it hit her. Her date with Clark last night. She groaned out loud at the memory of it. It had been a perfectly great date, but she'd wanted it to be perfect. And being sick wasn't on the list of making a good first impression.

Of course, she was way past the point of first impressions with Clark, since he'd known her for years, but last night was new. She'd wanted to create a lasting impression that made him want to come back for more. Sneezing and coughing her way through the date was probably not what he was looking for.

"Hey sleepyhead, how are you feeling?" Clark asked as he walked over to her carrying a tray. For a moment Lois had forgotten how to talk. He was only wearing a vest, his boxers and a smile and for the life of her, she couldn't stop her eyes from appreciating the view. All those muscles packed under one shirt; what would it be like to run her hands over them?

She shook her head. What the hell happened last night? She couldn't remember much after he'd brought her up to her apartment. It was all a little blurry, but some parts stood out.

Her frown caught his attention because he sat down next to her and looked at her with a serious expression. "You don't remember much about last night do you?"

"Not really." Wow, her voice sounded bad. Clark smiled sympathetically as she tried to clear her throat. "Did you stay here all night?" She didn't know if she was imagining it or not, but she could swear he sounded a little disappointed. But with what?

He nodded and she couldn't help but notice that his smile faded a little. "Yeah, you asked me to. I didn't want to leave you alone while you were sick so…"

"Where was Chloe?"

"I don't know, she didn't come home last night."

"So you stayed here all night? Just because I was sick?" She couldn't help the hint of disbelief in her tone. But she wasn't used to someone being this attentive when she was sick. Her mom had died at an early age and the General had always had the attitude that 'what didn't kill you, made you stronger'. So for Clark to take care of her was incredibly…sweet. And totally something he would do.

"Yeah, I wanted to make sure you were okay. You were running a pretty high fever. You're still a little pale this morning, maybe I should take you to the doctor."

"No, I'm fine. I just need a little rest that's all." She laid back down on her pillow and closed her eyes. "Some of your mom's chicken soup would be fantastic right about now too."

"Well then, you're in luck."

She opened her eyes as he placed the tray in front of her. There was a bowl of chicken soup, smelling absolutely delicious and a cup of coffee.

"You made this?" she asked.

He looked mildly offended. "I can cook you know. Mom gave me the recipe when I called her earlier to explain where I was." Oh man, he'd told his mother that he'd
slept here? Mr Kent must be having a cow right now, she thought.

"Sorry," She took a sip of the soup and had to hold back the moan because it was even better than Martha's and that was saying something. "It's great Smallville, thanks."

He smiled in reply, and started getting dressed. "You're leaving?"

"Well, I figured that you might want this handing in as soon as possible and I have an errand to run so…" he replied, holding up her finished Blur article.

"Did you read that?" she asked warily, but then mentally corrected herself. What did it matter if he did? The whole world was going to see it in less than a day. Still, she couldn't quite figure out where this protectiveness over the Blur had come from all of a sudden. Maybe it was because he'd confided so much in her last night, she felt the need to protect him. Yeah, that was it.

"No, I'll wait like the rest of the world to find out about this guy. But how did you get all this anyway?"

She smiled, remembering the night before. "He called me."

"Must've been some call to put a smile like that on your face." Clark replied and she narrowed her eyes at him. Was he jealous?

"It was…informative." she replied, choosing her words carefully. "So uh," She put down her spoon as he sat on the bed next to her to put his shoes on. For some reason, she really didn't want him to go. "I'm sorry about last night."

"Why?"

"It can't have been much fun taking care of a sick person on your first date with her."

Clark stilled and looked over at her, then he turned and pinned her with the biggest smile she'd ever seen on him. "I had a lot of fun last night Lois. We had a great time, but I wish that you would've let me take care of you sooner. I know you don't let things get you down but watching you fight through dinner and then walking in the park while you were so cold, I felt so bad."

"Lanes don't quit because of a little cold, Smallville." she said, tipping her chin up.

Clark pursed his lips in annoyance. Didn't anyone take care of her when she was sick as a child? Somehow he doubted it and that made him a little sad. He never got sick, ever, but he knew that if he had, his mom would've been fussing over him, making him soup, keeping him comfortable because that's who she was. He couldn't see the General doing that though.

"That's your dad talking, not you. And this isn't a little cold. There's nothing wrong in letting someone take care of you."

"But…"

He put a finger to her lips. "No, no buts. And for the record, last night was the best date I've ever had."

"Huh?" She looked at him as if he'd just spoken a different language.

"I had dinner with a beautiful, smart, sexy woman…" He couldn't believe what he was saying. He'd always thought it, but he'd never said anything like that to Lois before. "Then I brought her home because she wasn't well, and I took care of her because I wanted to. It was nice, you fell asleep in my arms and…it was nice." he trailed off at the look on her face, aware that maybe he'd just said too much.

But she didn't go off like he expected her to. Instead, she smiled. "Always a gentleman huh Smallville? I'll bet you stayed on top of the covers too."

"Of course." He frowned, not knowing why she seemed to just accept that she'd fallen asleep in his arms.

They fell silent for a few minutes and Clark found himself wanting to kiss her. So he leaned in, but she stopped him. He tried not to feel disappointed, but it was hard.

"I don't want you to catch this."

He smiled. "Some things are worth the risk."

He pressed his lips to hers, softly at first and then when she responded, he deepened it. Some small part of him couldn't believe he was kissing Lois Lane, she was way out of his league, but here he was, kissing her anyway. And she was kissing him back.

"You don't remember anything about last night?" he asked again, after pulling back. He wanted to be sure that it was something she'd said because of the fever she'd had.

"I remember you being…you." She shook her head slowly. "But other than that, no. Why, did I do something stupid?"

"No, not at all. But you were pretty delirious." He chuckled, wryly. "You even said that you loved me, I mean, you must've been hallucinating."

Even as her eyes went wide as saucers, inside he was screaming at himself to shut up. Lois did not do well with being put on the spot. So why did he say it? Was he expecting some declaration? For her to say that she meant it? He felt like such an idiot.

"Yeah, me in love with you? Come on," she scoffed, but Clark thought she looked a little uncomfortable. Could she have been telling the truth? A sudden spark of hope filled him.

"Well, if it helps," He ignored the voice inside, telling him this was a disastrous mistake waiting to happen. To shut up and get out before it was too late. He pushed it all down and focused his attention solely on Lois. "I think I might be…with you."

He heard her gasp before she could control it, and then the tray tipped off the edge of the bed, sending its items sprawling across the floor. But neither of them cared at that point. Both were still staring at each other. Lois, eyes wide and alert, Clark, hoping against hope that he hadn't just lost her not only as a friend, but as something more.

After few more silent minutes had passed, Clark couldn't take much more. "Lois…"

"Just…wait a second." she interrupted, trying to get her bearings.

This was a lot to have dumped on her, especially being sick and having just woken up. Nice timing Clark. But even as it had occurred to him, he just knew he had to tell her.

"You're in…love with me?"

"Well, I…don't know, I…" He hung his head and sighed. Now that he'd said the words, he knew that they were true, and he wondered why it had taken him so long to see it. "Yeah, I guess I do. But it's okay. I don't expect you to feel the same-"

The rest of his sentence was cut off by her hand over his mouth. "How can you be in love with me? It's not possible."

He moved her hand away and held it in his. "Why isn't it possible?"

"Because you're…you and I'm…me. We don't do this!" she practically shrieked. Great, he'd freaked her out. What had he been thinking?

"But it is possible." he said.

She shook her head, removing her hand from his grasp and raking it through her hair. "This is a lot to take in Clark…"

"I know, I'm sorry I said anything. I should've waited. Listen, I'll stop by later and see how you're doing."

He stood up to leave and Lois felt something pulling her towards him. She had no idea why, but she knew she couldn't let him walk out that door without hearing the truth. But she was terrified. This was a big mistake, she knew it. But she had to do it.

Clark had just reached the door when he felt a tug on his jacket. He turned around and saw the sheer fear on her face just before she placed both hands on his cheeks and pulled his head down to hers.

"I remember what I said last night." she whispered in his ear. He wrapped his arms around her, feeling elated. But what did this mean?

"You…do?" He pulled back far enough to see her face.

"I lied before. I do remember what I said. I just didn't want to face the humiliation. But you totally blindsided me with that confession Clark. Where did that come from?"

"Does it matter?" he asked, smiling down at her. He felt like something monumental had just happened.

"No, I guess not. I just can't understand it."

"Lois, we're not meant to understand it. We're just supposed to feel. So how about we take this one day at a time, no pressure, and no fears." The last one he'd mentioned simply because she still looked like she was about to walk into a cage full of hungry lions or something.

Was it really that scary for her? He had to admit to a few nerves himself, but he wasn't scared, not anymore at least. Maybe because the more he thought about it, the more sure he became.

"Yeah, I can do that. One day at a time." she replied, nodding. He tipped her chin up so he could look in her eyes.

"Lois, I love you." It felt so strange, yet so exhilarating to say that to her.

He watched as she swallowed hard and then smiled. "I…love you too."

"There, that wasn't so hard was it?" he asked, chuckling as he wrapped his arms around her again. She leaned her head on his chest and exhaled hard.

"I guess it had to be done Lois and Clark style though huh?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, it was like pulling teeth. You'd think saying 'I love you' would be easier." she chuckled against him and the vibrations on his chest felt nice. But then she started shivering again.

"Lois, let me call the doctor." he said, feeling her forehead. "You're burning up again."

"I'm fine. Just need to sleep."

He lifted her up and put her back in bed. She still looked pale and he was starting to worry.

"Hey, I'm not dying you know. It's just the flu, I'll be fine."

He nodded and leaned in to kiss her again. She grabbed his collar when he tried to pull back, holding his lips against hers for another minute. Then she let go.

"Do you really have to go?" she asked, softly.

"I guess I could stay for a little while." he replied, with a smile.

She grinned at him. "Good, because I spilled my soup and that was kinda your fault, so I need some more."

"How was that my fault?"

"Was I the one that made a shocking confession just now? Out of the blue? Don't think so." she smirked and Clark felt better for seeing it. It meant that she was still somewhat alert and after everything they'd just said to each other, he was glad that she wasn't running and hiding either.

He shook his head and chuckled. "Yes boss. Oh, what about your article?"

"It's okay, I can email it in."

Clark picked up the tray and empty bowl from next to the bed and walked back into the kitchen. His heart felt lighter, as if he'd gotten some sort of weight off his chest. It didn't occur to him that his feelings for Lois had been there a lot earlier than he'd thought.