CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE - CHRISTMAS

The night before Christmas… is the first night Lois does not sleep well in weeks. There are no nightmares about Qurac, luckily. Only contemplation keeps her awake.

She spends the night considering whether she should just tell Clark that she knows that he is Superman. It would be easy, of course. It would simplify everything.

But does she really want to do that here? In front of his parents? She knows they will have a lot to talk through, given the sort of deceit that they have both taken part in. For that, they will need time alone, she thinks. And this just isn't the place for that.

So she will wait. For now. But she resolves that she will tell him.

The morning arrives as soon as she decides, and for the first time, she is up bright and early. With little else to do but go downstairs, she throws on a fresh sweatshirt and pair of sweatpants, brushes her teeth, and heads there.

A glance out the window reveals a dusting of snow on the ground, giving her the ideal 'white Christmas' that she hears people always wishing for. Personally, she doesn't see anything special about having snow on the ground during Christmas. But it is sort of beautiful, she supposes.

She also sees that Clark is already up, but this time, he is alone as he cooks breakfast. Today he is actually in his pajamas, which are those old-fashioned, button-up, flannel kind.

"You know, I was sort of expecting footie pajamas from you, Smallville," Lois says as she enters the kitchen. "But I guess flannel fits your personality too."

Clark looks at her, smiling from his spot at the stove. "Merry Christmas to you too, Lois."

"Where are your parents?" she asks, snatching a piece of bacon out of the frying pan he is working with, and proceeding to nibble on it."

"Bed. I always make brunch on Christmas morning. Kent tradition. Gives Ma the morning off."

"Aw… that's adorable…"

He rolls his eyes. "Must you always make fun of me?"

She smirks. "You make it too easy. Plus, I actually think it's sweet, so I'm not really making fun of you."

"Uh-huh."

"I mean, do you need help?"

"No offense, Lois, but the last time you cooked anything, my kitchen was almost destroyed," he reminds her.

"That was a failure of teaching on your part, Mister, not mine. Plus, I can handle pancakes. Just pour the batter on the pan, yadayadayada. Easy peasy," she says.

He looks at her somewhat suspiciously, giving her room beside him at the stove as he begins cooking french toast. "If you say so."

Unfortunately, it's not as easy as she thought it would be. Making the batter proves to be a pain. She keeps cracking the eggs incorrectly and dropping the shards of shell into the flour. Then, when she reaches across Clark to get more eggs, she actually spills the batter on him, thus staining his pajamas. Of course, while they try to clean everything up, the toast bursts into flames, which they only manage to put out before the smoke reaches the detectors.

Lois is afraid that he'll be angry with her, given the fact that she essentially ruined Christmas brunch, but he actually just begins to laugh hysterically, which she can't help joining in on.

"Okay so… not a failure of teaching on my part," Clark manages between peals of laughter, continuing to scrub batter off his clothes. "You can do many amazing things, Lois Lane, but cooking is not one of them."

As he drops the burnt remains of the toast in Shelby's food bowl, Lois replies, "Have to agree with you there. I'll stick to reporting."

The dog sniffs the toast but doesn't dare eat it, instead coming to stand by Lois's feet with a whine.

Clark looks at the clock, still snickering slightly from the fiasco that breakfast became. "It's not too late. I can maybe go into town… pick up some food from the diner."

"It's open on Christmas?"

"Yeah. You'd be surprised how many people don't want to cook on the holidays."

After a quick trip upstairs, he is changed into fresh clothes and heading out the door, laughter still glimmering in his eyes. Before he leaves, however, he shoots Lois a pointed look at her spot in the kitchen. "You coming?"

She blinks and raises an eyebrow. "Do you want me to?"

"Well, considering that you were responsible for that mess," he says jokingly. "I think you owe it to me."

Lois snorts as she follows him out, grabbing her coat and heading toward their rental truck. "FYI, if you weren't hogging the eggs, we would have been fine-"

"Of course."

"And for the record, if they were given the proper chance, my pancakes would have been the best ever."

"Unfortunately, it is physically impossible for you to give them that chance."

They slide into their respective seats in the car. Shelby, apparently, wants to come along, because she jumps onto Lois's lap in the shotgun seat, causing Lois to start.

"You don't mind, do you?" Clark asks as he starts the car. "She always likes to go driving."

In all honesty, the dog isn't that heavy, and given the cold temperatures, feels sort of warm. But out loud, she complains mockingly, "Oh, you're just trying to torture me now, huh?"

"I thought cats were the ones you were allergic to."

"I'm allergic to all animals. You included."

"I'll compliment you on that one - it was quite the zinger."

"Thank you."

As the car pulls out of the driveway, Lois scratches Shelby's ears affectionately, and the dog proceeds to lick her face. The latter part is something she could live without, but like with many aspects of Smallville, she finds Shelby unexpectedly sweet.

The center of Smallville is filled with a small assortment of family owned stores. There's a church, a deli, a hardware store, a small grocery, and a barbershop. Nearby, there is a school that Clark must have attended in the past, and only a few feet from that is the diner. To Lois, the town feels almost depressingly small, yet somewhat cozy at the same time. She figures this place might be nice to visit, but an absolute pain to live in, given the serious lack of excitement in the area.

After Clark pulls the truck into the gravel parking lot, they enter the diner, which is unexpectedly crowded with people - families with children, old men nursing coffee, women discussing gossip over donuts. Everyone seems to know each other, which Lois finds rather strange, being from such a large city where no such thing occurs. But she supposes that a lot of small towns are like that.

The diner itself is similar to the types that are typical in movies about the midwest. It sports rickety wooden chairs and tables, a long counter for pie and coffee, old photos on the wall, and even an old record player that broadcasts crackly Christmas carols over the din of conversation.

Shelby follows them inside loyally, staying by Clark's feet instead of attacking everyone's food, which Lois is surprised to see. He must have trained her very well.

When people begin to notice Clark, there are excited murmurs. For a moment, Lois worries about the reasons behind them. Do they know about his identity as Superman? And if they do, does Clark realize how dangerous it is to have an entire town know that information?

"Well, well… if it isn't the big shot reporter!" someone calls out.

Clark smiles as people rush to approach him, causing Lois to back toward the wall, out of their way.

"What's the city like, Clark?" one old woman inquires.

"Have you met any celebrities?" another asks.

"Covered any big disasters?"

"Have you met Superman?"

Clark is blushing slightly, and he rubs the nape of his neck. "Um… the answer to the last three questions is a 'sort of,' I suppose. The city, though, is very big and beautiful. Different from here, but not necessarily better."

"We all took out subscriptions to the paper, Clark," a cook says, poking his head out of the kitchen. "You're one heck of a writer."

"Thanks, you guys, but I'm really not-"

The old woman pinches his cheeks. "Always such a modest boy. You know, it's not often that people make it big in this town."

He laughs a bit uncomfortably as he removes her hand, glancing at Lois in embarrassment. Then, he turns to a waitress.

"I've got a big order. Unfortunately, my breakfast plans went up in smoke."

As soon as the order is in, Lois fights her way through the crowd toward him. Once there, she whispers, "You sure are popular here, Smallville."

He gives her a lopsided smile. "Most people never leave this town. When a former football star does it, they get sort of invested."

"No offense… but I still can't imagine you as a football star," she replies.

Almost cockily, Clark turns to a man sitting at the counter. "Mr. Jenkins, do you remember that time we won the state championship?"

"We won? My boy, anyone there will say without a doubt that you won the championship. I remember the day like it was yesterday. Good weather, and the opposing team was huge…"

After delivering the food and gathering the whole Kent family for brunch, the day is mostly devoted to relaxation.

First, they open the presents under the tree. Clark bought his parents a new television, which they both have no idea how to use, but Lois manages to set it up for them. Technology, unlike cooking, is something she can handle. Clark, meanwhile, receives a set of books from his parents, which was apparently what he wanted. The whole family also receives some-much needed kitchen supplies from Lana, while about a dozen other family friends sent them various knick-knacks.

As they were unwrapping their gifts, Lois mostly stood watching them, admiring what they received. Suddenly, she realizes that she forgot to add her gifts to the Kents to the pile, so she stands up and moves toward the stairs, intending to retrieve them.

"Wait!" Clark calls, tossing a brand-new, recently unwrapped dog toy to Shelby (her gift, no doubt). "Aren't you gonna open your present, Lois?"

Lois stops short, taken aback. "You… you didn't have to get me anything," she stammers. "You've all given me more than enough by letting me stay here."

Clark holds up the one remaining box, which is covered in shiny purple paper and tied with a white bow. "Please. Just open it."

Almost reluctantly, Lois moves back into the living room and relieves him of the box. She shakes it slightly, trying to determine what is inside. Unable to do so, she begins to tear the wrapping paper off as neatly as she can, and pulls open the top flap of the box.

Inside there is an assortment of really fancy coffees and teas, a nice travel mug, and what looks like a bag of scones. There is french writing all over the packaging, which leads her to believe that they actually are from Paris, given his ability to fly there if he wanted to.

She chuckles, pulling the coffee out of the box to examine it closer. "Heh. You have called me a caffeine addict."

The gift, luckily, is not huge, but is still extremely heart-warming. Because instead of getting her something typical like jewelry or clothes, he bought her something that he knew she would use and love. She's always drinking coffee, after all. She has it with almost every meal, and is a sucker for fancy, expensive coffee shops that charge her six dollars for a single cup of the stuff.

Once again stammering, she tells him, "You… you really didn't have to get me anything. Honest."

He shrugs. "I wanted to, I guess."

They stare at each other for a few moments. Lois clears her throat and says, "Thank you, then. I love it. All of you just… just stay here. I have your gifts upstairs."

With that, she stumbles out of the room and scrambles up the stairs. The presents are in her suitcase, and she nearly tears the wrappings trying to pull them out. Eventually, she does it, and is promptly running downstairs with them. In the insanity, she nearly drops her extremely breakable gift on the floor, which would have absolutely sucked. She already caused enough small disasters for one day.

Now back in the living room, she goes to each Kent, handing them their presents - or at least, all but one. "Sorry for not putting them under the tree. I totally forgot," she apologizes.

Lois feels terrible as she realizes how generic her gifts to Clark's parents are. Martha and Jonathan got, of all things, socks and gloves. Despite the fact that they are, in actuality, high quality pieces of clothing, it still seems like she didn't try.

"Lois… these are so very nice," Martha compliments them, running her hands over the socks. "We'll get a ton of use out of them, don't you worry."

"Especially the gloves. I'm always working outside," Jonathan continues for her.

Lois thinks they're just telling her what she wants to hear.

Clark is last to open his gift. His present… she actually gave some decent thought to. He tears open the envelope attached to the outer part of the box, which, instead of housing a regular card, has a gift card inside.

"You gotta be kidding me," he mumbles, raising his eyebrows at her. He then holds up the card for everyone to see with sarcastic enthusiasm. "A gift card. For the Metropolis taxi service."

She smirks at him in return. "I had to figure out some way to pay you back, Smallville. Now, if you don't use it, you'll just be wasting my money."

"You're ridiculous," he informs her, shaking his head as he moves onto the box.

When he tears the wrapping paper off, his expression becomes less mocking, and more …impressed.

It's a framed blow-up of his first article. Since his office at the Planet is mostly bare, Lois figured that it could use some decor. A reporter's career, Perry always tells her, is not measured by long they were in the job, but how long people will remember their stories after they're out of it. And well… breaking the news of Superman's existence, even if he is Superman, was a pretty big deal for Clark. The article deserves some commemoration… even if she resented the first time she saw it… resented the first time she saw him.

Clark runs his fingers over the glass and the wooden frame. "Wow. I… never would have expected this from you, Lois. Especially when it comes to this particular story. "

"You're a good reporter, Clark," she admits, feeling a blush beginning to creep over her face. "That article was certainly something to remember. And I know at first I didn't really respect you… but now… things have changed. The day you joined the Planet staff was a lucky one - for everyone - and this is to remind you of that."

That leaves him somewhat stunned, but before she knows it, he is soon pulling her into a hug. It's brief, of course. A hug of thanks. But to Lois, it is worth so much more than a simple expression of gratitude, so she spends most of the hug burying her face in his shoulder to hide her red cheeks.

"What about that one, Lois?" Martha asks once Lois pulls away, pointing to the cylindrical gift in her hand, which is still wrapped.

Lois slips it behind her back. "This? This is for later."

The rest of Christmas passes quickly. She spends some time packing, since they are going back to Metropolis tomorrow. Then, about an hour later, she heads back downstairs.

At the time, Clark is making hot chocolate, and Lois temporarily decides to indulge in that drink instead of her traditional coffee. It's delicious, of course, with whipped cream, sprinkles, and tons of marshmallows floating around the warm chocolate, which totally hits the spot in the cold weather.

And the Kent household gets pretty damn cold. Their heater stopped working properly, probably as a result of age. Clark finds himself unable to fix it without an entirely new heater, so they decide to fight through the bad temperatures. Thus, they all wrap up in blankets as they sit on the couch in front of the brand new television, sipping their hot chocolate. One thing the house also doesn't have, besides a working heater, is cable, so they only play old VCR tapes.

Martha picks out some old Christmas-centric claymation film, from which Lois honestly gets the heebie jeebies. She hates little dolls - especially when they move, for Christ's sake. That's terrifying. So she finds herself not particularly enjoying the film, but engrossed in it all the same.

At some point, Martha leaves to start heating up Christmas dinner, which was made the day before - it must have been what she and Clark were cooking. Jonathan, meanwhile, goes to check on the chickens outside, leaving Clark and Lois alone… on the couch.

They maintain a pretty wholesome distance between each other - Clark, sitting comfortably to the far right, and Lois, freezing her butt off to the far left, hiding under all the blankets that the other Kents left behind.

When her teeth begin to chatter audibly, Clark turns to her, asking, "Do you want another blanket?"

"No," she tells him stubbornly. "I don't want to make you get up."

"Do you want me to tell you where they are?"

"No. I'm not that cold."

He rolls his eyes. "Why are you so stubborn?"

"Because I don't think I can fit under any more blankets, to be honest. Maybe if you set the blankets on fire or something, I'd warm right up…"

Once more, he rolls his eyes. Then he scoots over, closer to her, until they are side by side, their shoulders touching.

"What… what are you doing?" she demands, reacting to his touch like jolt of electricity.

"I can't set the blankets on fire, but I can lend you some body heat. I don't get very cold," he informs her stoically, like he is totally not suggesting that they do something very similar to snuggling, even though Lois knows that he is. "I can move back, if you really want."

She hesitates, oscillating between her options. On the one hand… she could just say yes and 'share body heat with him' or whatever, which seems pretty damn pleasant… but on the other hand, she could say no and totally not seem too desperate.

But it really is freaking cold, and she can feel the heat from his skin already.

"Fine," she mumbles, moving closer to him so that she is practically leaning against him. And he's right… he is warm. Maybe it has something to do with the solar energy in his cells… she doesn't really know. Whatever the reason, she is grateful for it.

They continue watching the movie like that for a while. Eventually, Lois feels her eyes closing - a result of her lack of sleep the night before. She tries to fight the exhaustion, but it keeps finding its way back into her eyelids, forcing them shut against her volition.

Before she dozes off entirely, she murmurs unhappily, "This movie is gonna give me nightmares."

"Why?" Clark murmurs back.

"… Somethin' bout their eyes…." she mumbles incoherently, referring to the claymation figures. The last thing she hears before she falls asleep is his laugh, hearty and soft.

She wakes up leaning on the couch - not Clark - to the sound of a great clammering coming from the kitchen. Clark and Jonathan are bringing food to the table in hordes of plates, the delicious smell wafting into the next room to make Lois's mouth water.

Martha pokes her head around the corner. "Dinner's in a few minutes, Lois."

Lois disentangles herself from her blankets, yawning as she sits up. "Do you need any help?"

"We're just about covered, thanks."

Soon enough, dinner is fully served, and they are all gathering around the table for one last real meal together. The food, again, is vegetarian for Clark's sake. There's some sort of squash soup that warms her the core, and an amazing vegetable and egg pie for dinner. Some traditional dishes are brought out too - like potatoes, nut loaf, and egg nog.

The fireplace is blazing, the tree is twinkling, and everyone seems to be thoroughly enjoying themselves. Lois feels like she has been trapped in some cliche holiday movie, and even more surprisingly… she finds herself loving it.

Halfway through dinner, she stands up, heading back to the last unwrapped present in the living room.

"Moment of truth," she announces, tearing off the wrappings with a flourish. She reveals a bottle of wine - the most expensive one she could find on short notice… the one she was planning to drink on her forsaken, lonely Christmas. "I wanted to save this for dinner. They say that it's always happy hour somewhere, even in the morning, but I figured it'd be kinda wrong to have that philosophy on a holy day such as this one so… let's open it now instead."

Jonathan and Martha remark about how long it's been since they've had a good glass of wine. Lois was a little worried at first, since they are such… traditional people, which means that they could have been opposed to all alcohol drinking. But they seem like pretty agreeable people in all respects, the Kents. And she likes that about them.

Clark easily pops the cork off the bottle, and Lois pours them all a decent portion into their glasses. The Kents seem to enjoy it, and Lois definitely does - it tastes delicious, so she is ultimately satisfied by her purchase. Clark, meanwhile, takes a small sip and nurses the glass a bit unenthusiastically. She wonders whether it tastes bad to him, given his super senses.

They continue to drink until Martha brings out a fruit cake, which Lois declines. She firmly believes that fruit and jelly should never be in pastries or on meat - to her, they just don't belong there. Then there is some sort of Christmas pudding that she does scarf down. Overall, at the end of the meal, her stomach is bursting.

With the wine buzzing in her veins, Lois begins to talk about herself more. She tells stories about articles she has written, and since some of them have been pretty ridiculous, they get decent laughs out of the Kents. Then, Clark and Lois both describe the Daily Planet in detail, though Lois's description gets a little confusing, given her current state. Other recollections ensue - more childhood stories, discussions of politics, plans for exposes, etc.

Suddenly, Clark's phone rings shrilly, startling the whole table. He glances at the caller ID, but before Lois can get a good look at it, he is leaving the table, heading outside to answer the call.

The door closes behind him with a click, but it seems to be the sound that turns off their conversation. Silence ensues, but not the uncomfortable kind. The companionable kind - the kind she often has with Clark.

"You guys seem to work well together," Jonathan observes, breaking the quietude. "You and Clark."

"Yeah… we do…" Lois mumbles. "At the Planet, I mean."

Silence again, but this time there is a little more strain than before.

Martha yawns hugely. "Well, I'm gonna head to bed. I want to see you guys off tomorrow, and I know you're heading out early."

Jonathan nods. "Me too. Thanks for the wine, Lois."

"No problem… "

Before they leave, heading up the stairs, Martha stops and turns back to her. "Oh, and Lois?"

"… Hmm?"

"Make sure he comes back in. He needs his sleep too, y'know."

Lois nods, and they leave. She hears their door shut upstairs, and then it is just her and the crackling fireplace.

After a while, Clark still has not come inside, so she decides that she will go out and ask how long he'll be. Lois is pretty tired too, so she'd like to get to bed as well…

She throws on her coat and braces for the cold that hits her when she opens the front door. When she leaves, Clark is standing on the porch, his phone pressed against his ear. He isn't wearing any outerwear, but then again, why would he? He never gets cold.

"-Yes. Thank you. Thank you very much. That's very good news. Take care now," he says into the phone. Then, he hangs up.

He glances at her as the door closes behind her. "Hey," he greets. "That was Captain Sawyer. They just caught Michael Polk… they're gonna be interrogating him about the anonymous arms dealer. Plus, they put out word that he's behind bars, so the hit on you should expire."

The information takes her off guard. Jeez… she hardly remembers what it's like to be in Metropolis at this point. It feels like a different world… a different decade… than the one she is in now. How strange will it be tomorrow, to go from these open fields to towering skyscrapers?

"That's… that's great news," she tells him sincerely. "That's one less thing to worry about, Thank God."

"Definitely. Their operation worked - he was gonna attack you at your apartment on Christmas day, knowing you'd be there, but since you weren't, they caught him in the act. But Maggie says you should keep wearing the bulletproof vest - give it some more time before you let your guard down"

She looks out at the snow-dusted ground, which is empty for miles around. "Huh. So being in Smallville really did save my life."

He nods. "I suppose so."

"And after tomorrow it's back to normal - story hunting and printing presses and all that jazz."

He leans on the porch railing, following her gaze. "Yup."

"You excited?" she asks.

"What?"

"Are you excited to leave?" she clarifies. "I mean, it must be hard to leave home."

He purses his lips before he answers. "Metropolis is my home too. Just in a different way. No matter where I go, I'll always miss them."

"The people or the places?" she asks.

"Both."

The cold, at this point, is unbearable to Lois, but Clark seems plenty willing to stand outside the whole night. Somewhat awkwardly, she tells him, "Uh… I just wanted to thank you again. For inviting me here. For everything."

His eyes meet hers. "It's no problem. None at all."

"Maybe," she replies. "But I'm still not sure I deserved this sort of kindness from you. Or from anyone, for that matter."

"You did," he affirms. "Trust me."

She smiles slightly, feeling light enough to say things that she never expected she would.

"I do, you know. I do trust you. With my life."

To that, he has nothing to say back. He simply stares at her, mouth slightly open, like he is trying to formulate some sort of response… or reveal some sort of truth. But he doesn't. He can't.

When minutes pass and he still has not said anything, she leans toward him and presses a kiss to his cheek. She feels him freeze… feels the warmth of his cheek against her lips.

"Goodnight, Clark," she says as she begins turning away, moving back toward the door.

But then his hand is on her shoulder, and he is pulling and turning her back toward him. There is something incredibly odd in his expression - something she does not know how to describe…a steeliness, but an affection. A longing. She can see it so clearly, they are so close together now. Mere inches away… centimeters…

It's almost surreal, the feeling of his lips on hers. His are smooth, perfect, as they slide over hers, matching hers top to bottom. His hands immediately cup the back of her head, while hers come to rest instinctively against his cheeks, bathing in the warmth of his bare skin. She can smell his breath - feel it hot in her throat… it smells like the wine she knows he didn't like… some sort of mix of plums and grapes…

He's so warm, and her head is hazy already. She is melting into him… and God, there is some sort of electricity-

But then he is pulling away abruptly, like he realized he had some pressing matter to attend to. His voice sounds strange… distorted… tortured?

"I'm sorry," he tells her. "That wasn't… wasn't-"

Lois is still too stunned to speak, and apparently, so is he.

"I just… I… g-goodnight," he manages finally, seeming angry at, of all people, himself. Then he is pushing past her, into the house, probably off to bed.

Lois knows that she should go to sleep too, but right now, she feels like she needs the cold to snap her back to reality.

TBC...

DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING SUPERMAN OR DC COMICS-RELATED

A/N: I hope you all have/had a wonderful holiday. And voila! A kiss! Finally (though I know it wasn't perfect)!

This book is coming to a close soon...and I need to get farther along in the sequel. I NEED THE MOTIVATION.

Well, I hope you enjoyed. Please review!