Thank you to everyone for the feedback, it's much appreciated. I'm so pleased that you're all enjoying the story. As you can tell the story is winding down, but it's not quite over yet; so I hope you enjoy the rest as much as what came before.

Linda

**

Chapter 28

Two Weeks Later

Clark landed in the backyard, set Lois down carefully, unlocked the back door and gave the house a quick sweep with his x-ray vision, before pointing over his shoulder with his thumb "I've put our bags in the bedroom, and I'll unpack them when I get back with Fred, ok babe?"

"Ok." Lois stepped inside the house, grateful that he'd switched on the kitchen and hall lights when he'd brought their bags prior to dropping her off. Staying at the farm the past two weeks had been enjoyable, and the arrangement had worked out beautifully for all of them.

They'd initially intended to stay in Seattle, but by the end of the first weekend had given that idea up as a bad joke. Three times between Friday and Sunday afternoon Clark returned from a Superman call to find her friends visiting to see how she was. It wasn't the visits anyone minded, it was that they were almost reduced to playing charades just so that he could go along with the lies his mom, she or Chloe had given for his absence. So when Martha hesitantly suggested transferring to the farm, they'd all cried 'yes' so heartily, anyone would think she'd just offered to lead them all to Nirvana.

In the end it had saved Clark from taking time off work, while also giving him the freedom to shoot off at moment's notice if required. Her friends were spared their lousy acting and the lies they'd perpetuated, and her neighbours didn't get the opportunity to be suspicious about anything. Chloe could come after work with Clark if or when she wanted to, while at the same time, Martha didn't have to be away from her own life and friends. And Fred; well he just loved to bask in the great outdoors and all the attention lavished on him from three females for a solid two weeks. He'd also enjoyed dumping them to play with Clark when it suited him to do so. As for herself; she'd enjoyed every moment of it. The first few days she'd slept a lot, but after that she'd gotten a kick out of spending time with Martha during the day; and one time even enjoyed a girly gossip and afternoon tea session with the older woman and her friends. That had been fun, and she was certainly looking forward to spending time with them all again in future.

Stepping into the bedroom, Lois smiled. Tonight she was looking forward to sleeping in her own bed. Staying at the farm was great, and she always enjoyed it but it was also nice to come home once again.

Picking up a bag from the floor, she kneed it onto the bed and attempted to unlock it without success. Swearing softly, she pushed down on the lid with her cast, used the fingers of her good hand to snap open the lock and sighed in satisfaction at the snick. After opening the case, she pulled out some clothes, tossed them on the bed and swung around guiltily at the voice behind her.

"Lo I said that I'd put our clothes away."

"I know but I hate feeling useless."

"You're not useless; the problem is that you only have one good arm at the moment." Clark remarked gently, before proceeding to zip around the room putting everything where it belonged, and storing their cases once again. Taking a seat on the bed beside her a minute later he smiled "And as you can see, it doesn't take me any effort at all."

"Show off." She pressed a hand against her mouth to stifle a yawn then cocked her head "Where's Fred?"

"He's becoming reacquainted with the house by sniffing around." Leaning forward he pressed his lips against her cheek, and smiled when she tried to stifle another yawn "How about we go to bed, it's pretty late."

"It's only 7." She replied somewhat drowsily.

"Yeah, but we're still on Smallville time so it's actually 10, which granted isn't very late but we're not used to staying up until all hours anyway."

"True."

After helping her to change into a nightdress, he thumbed towards the doorway when she stepped towards the bathroom for her nightly ablutions "I'll just go and check to see if Fred's ok, secure the house and be back in a minute."

When he returned five minutes later it was to find Lois in bed, and fast asleep. After brushing his teeth and having a quick shower he returned to the bedroom, slipped under the covers, spooned around her, and pressed his face into her hair.

Damn, he'd been giving Lois plenty of time to rest and recuperate, but had hoped that on their first night home they'd make love. Well that wasn't happening. Holding her close at night was nice, but he missed her; oh who was he kidding, he missed sex. He'd gotten spoiled; he was used to falling asleep with Lois after they made love. It was a rare night when they didn't; actually it was only when they had visitors stay over, or at certain times of the month when she said no. He'd had more cold showers in the past two weeks than he'd had in years, and frankly....they sucked.

When his fingers touched the cast on her arm, he silently called himself every filthy name under the sun for being insensitive, then cursed again when she turned around, slid her leg between his, laid her casted arm on his waist, and pressed her face into his neck. God she smelled wonderful, her leg between his silky smooth, and why did he put a nightdress on her anyway; what the hell was that all about? He didn't mind her wearing nightclothes to bed, in fact he was more than happy for her to do so, as long as he got the pleasure of taking them off her lickety-split, after he'd gotten a good long eye full first.

His hand trailed down the satin of her nightdress, slipped under the hem to gently rub over her bottom, then up to stroke along the smooth warm skin of her back. The whole time they'd been at the farm she'd slept in nightclothes, but they were home now, and enough was enough. Sitting up carefully to ensure that he didn't dislodge her unduly, Clark lifted Lois up slightly with one arm, and used his free hand to slide her nightdress up, but was stymied by her arms. He didn't want to wake her up but he did want her naked; chewing his lip indecisively, he shrugged and whispered "Lift your arms baby." Her good arm automatically lifted, he slid the material up and over her shoulder, then gently drew it over her head, down over her casted arm before tossing the nightdress aside, and placing her gently back down. Lying down again, his arms slid around her waist to draw her close until her breasts were pillowed against his chest. A little sigh of delight escaped his lips, a low hum followed a moment later when she wiggled closer and slid her leg between his once again; this was much better. Now he could actually feel every feminine curve moulded against his without the barrier of cloth in the way. Satin and silk was all very well, but they didn't even come close to feeling as sensuous as her skin against his.

He loved Lois' sexy nightdresses, he loved it when she dressed up in something trashy that she'd found in novelty store, but naked was always his favourite.

His lips curved upward in recollection at the time shortly after he'd told her about his fantasies. He'd arrived home to find her sitting on a stool at the kitchen island, with his spare set of glasses perched on the tip of her nose while pretending to read a book. Her long beautiful legs were crossed, her feet shod in killer heels, and she was wearing a frilly blue checked apron. It hadn't taken him long to discover she was wearing nothing more than the apron, the shoes and his glasses. At the time he didn't know whether to fall to his knees with his tongue hanging out, or to laugh when she turned around slowly and whispered 'help Superman, help, help'. He'd managed to resist blathering, had quickly spun into the suit and gotten into the spirit of things, more than ready for a round of fun and games; and fun they'd had.

He loved all her passionate sides, from the playful sex kitten, to the sensuous seductive woman, the impatient 'I want you NOW' hellcat, to the soft ardent lover. He also delighted in anything she wore, because every single time he undressed her, it was like he was unwrapping his own personal gift.

Pressing his lips to her cheek, he tucked her in closer, breathed in the scent of her skin and drifted off to sleep.

***

Next Day

While Lois set the table for lunch, Clark pulled the tray out of the warmer, and decided that now was the time to remind his girlfriend about the house.

"The realtor took me through the house yesterday Lo..." At her light frown, he prompted "The one in Metropolis that I told you about."

She nodded and set the forks beside their plates "Did you like it inside as much as outside?"

"Yeah, I'd already checked it out with x-ray but seeing it was better." He replied setting the garlic bread on the table before returning to the oven.

Lois' brow wrinkled once again "How come the house is still available?"

He shrugged nonchalant "I asked her that and the realtor explained that not many people want the hassle of upkeep when renting a somewhat ample house with even bigger lawns; so in a way I'm lucky that Fred's large enough that I wanted the space." When she glanced at her dog and smiled in agreement, he continued "Anyway, I thought we could go and see it sometime today or tomorrow. If not we'll have to wait for next weekend, and I really don't want to take the chance that someone else might coming along and snatch it out from under me."

"Well it's up to you; but if we're going today then we need to go soon so that we can inspect the house in the daylight, or we can go tomorrow after breakfast."

He grinned, grabbed the spaghetti and after setting it on the table, clasped her good hand to squeeze "How about we go tomorrow, then we can check out the house, and afterwards stroll through the Sunday market along the riverfront."

She nodded then shook her head "We're taking Fred remember; he'll feel claustrophobic by the press of people."

"I'll bring him home before we go to the market." Clark supplied readily.

"Ok."

Letting go of her hand, he returned for the condiments, she grabbed the napkins and set them beside their plates, and once Fred was fed the two sat down to eat.

While her two guys played in the back yard after lunch, Lois watched them through the kitchen window and smiled.

They'd been together for only 9 months, and yet Clark was willing to rent a house just so that she wouldn't have to put her dog in the kennel when she visited Metropolis. How many men would go that far just to keep their girlfriend happy?

She really was lucky; she'd expected their relationship to have petered out by now, well it just went to show that even at 36 years of age she could still get it wrong. What had Carly said the morning after she'd first spent the night with Clark?

Her brow furrowed, her eyes narrowed; what had Carly said? She was describing the way Clark had been looking at them in the restaurant. Her friend said that he was smiling in their general direction, but it was her that he was focused on, her face that his eyes didn't budge from. Then her friend told her to trust her instincts.

Well her instincts were clamouring now. She'd told Clark their relationship was going to be casual, but she couldn't remember any one time when he'd agreed with her.

The first night she told him that she didn't want a relationship, he'd replied they could see each other while she was in Metropolis, that he'd come to see her when she returned to Seattle, and then they could take it from there. He hadn't disagreed with her, but neither had he agreed.

Giving him one last long look, Lois tapped her chin and moved to sit on the couch in the family area.

When she reminded him again the next day that all she wanted was a casual fling, he said that he was willing to take things slow and see how it went; he'd fielded her words. When he'd asked if she wanted them to make love, she'd corrected him and called it sex, but he hadn't rephrased his wording. Basically, he'd made agreeable noises both times, but he hadn't actually concurred.

He'd come to see her two days after she left Metropolis and proposed spending the weekends with her in Seattle. When she'd pointed out that he could date women who lived closer to him, he'd said.....

30 minutes later Clark came into the house with Fred hard on his heels and found Lois in quiet contemplation curled up on the couch.

"Baby are you ok?" At the lack of response, he sat beside her and tried again "Lo..."

"Hmm what?"

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, just thinking about some stuff." She smiled and patted his hand.

He nodded slowly, looked at Fred lying on the floor beside the couch, and grabbing the remote switched the TV on "Do you feel like watching anything in particular Lo?"

"No you go ahead."

At the absent tone in her voice he nodded again, but had a feeling that he knew what she was thinking about. Since walking into the house, Lois' eyes had been plastered to his face, but her mind was elsewhere. As the look on her face was one of reflection, overlaid with purpose, he was pretty sure that his goose was cooked.

Deciding his best bet was not to say anything he surfed through the channels for a while, before settling on a documentary. Pretending an absorption in the program, he wondered how long it would be before Lois started to screech.

As one memory after another rushed rapidly through her head, Lois chewed her lip, brought back moments and conversations, backtracked here and there; and finally her eyes widened in comprehension.

Shaking her head in amazement, she turned to face her boyfriend fully "You rotten bastard, you totally conned me."

Oh oh, he knew it; she'd finally caught onto him. He'd known by the look on her face that she was busy chewing over their relationship, and had fully expected her to have him figured out before too long, so her words didn't come as a complete surprise. However, figuring that discretion, ignorance and an engrossment in the program was his safest hidey hole for now, Clark slipped an arm around Lois' waist, and cuddled her closer against his side but couldn't stop the tiny smile from kicking up at the corner of his mouth "Lo do you mind, I'm trying to watch this very interesting program on...." He trailed off not having a clue what the hell he was watching.

"On...?" She encouraged sweetly.

He focused harder on the screen, saw the fisherman cast the line and burst out "On fly fishing, and your yammering is not making it easy."

She let out a scoffing laugh, and cupping his chin turned his face towards hers "You don't fish."

"I might...." At her lifted brows he tacked on snootily "....someday."

She grabbed the remote from his hand, switched the TV off and when his mouth opened, she smiled gently "How'd you do it?"

"Do what?"

Despite the innocence in his voice, she heard the smug tone under it "Clark Kent don't you dare pretend that you don't know what I'm talking about."

"I think you're getting paranoid babe, I've heard that can happen to women over 30."

Lifting her good hand, she grabbed onto his ear and twisted "I know this doesn't hurt you, but it makes me feel better." She twisted harder then let go with a sigh "You completely sneaked in under my radar; how'd you do it?"

He dredged up the most guiltless smile in his arsenal and let it shine "What are you talking about woman? You're the professional con, not me; I'm just a sweet farm boy from Kansas."

She snorted indignantly in response "Like hell, first you conned me into letting you stay on the weekends, then you talked me into dating you exclusively, that was shortly followed by your suggestion to stay over a couple of nights during the week; which turned out to be every night I might add....."

"You forgot to mention that before I talked you into letting me stay over during the week, I also got you to agree that you were my girlfriend." He cut in to remind her happily.

She shook her head incredulous "How in the hell did I fall for it?"

He pecked her nose with smiling lips "You fell for my charm."

"I fell for what you blatantly carry around in your pants." She replied indignantly "You did a complete role reversal on me; initially you suckered me in with sex and now…"

"Now…" He trailed off helpfully.

She narrowed her eyes and hissed "Now you know very well that I love you."

He laughed in sheer delight and picking her up, sat her in his lap "Lois from the moment I saw you in that restaurant, which by the way was before Chloe even approached you, I'd already told everyone at my table that I was going to marry you." The look on her face was so dumfounded, that he couldn't resist bending down to capture her lips in a soft kiss and confessing gently "Sweetheart, you were mine from that night."

"You played the innocent farm boy to the hilt...." She began, only to trail off as her eyes widened in shock "Oh my god! The day after I met your mom, I told her that I didn't think Chloe would fall for the farm boy type, and when she said that that can happen to the best of us; I said...." Lois broke off chuckling.

"What?" Clark encouraged with a grin, between giggles she continued "I said, not me; give me a nerd with glasses any day of the week."

He let out a bark of laughter and hugged her one armed "Well, well, well Ms Lane; it seems that you did indeed fall for the nerd with glasses, he just happened to be a farm boy. Which as my mom pointed out, even the best could fall for." He finished smugly.

She elbowed him "Shut up."

He pressed his lips to the corner of her mouth and smiled "Well, I remember the next day you saved me from that guy with the sword arm when I took off to find Chloe by myself. If you hadn't turned up when you did Lo, I honestly don't know if I'd be here now; its 17 years late but thank you for saving me that day." She shook her head in amusement and picking up her hand he brought it to his lips and pressed a kiss to the fingertips "God I was slow, usually it was me helping and saving people, and yet it was you who either helped or saved me several times within the first few days that we met. First you found me and took me to the Medical Centre, then instead of making my life hell by asking a lot of questions on how I was able to look after myself against fully trained army guys, you just made a joke about our adventure, and then you saved me from that guy with the sword arm. Talk about being given clue after clue and ignoring it."

"You're seeing the situation a lot more idealistically than it really was." She replied patiently.

"No I'm not; I'm finally seeing it for what it really was." He countered gently "You're the one Lo, I realised it the night I saw you in the restaurant, but looking back to when we were kids, I can remember multiple times when I was given a sign, and just didn't pay any attention."

She smiled and pressed her cheek to his "You're a romantic sap."

Clark rubbed his cheek softly against hers before lifting her off his lap to sit on the couch "I sweet talked you into everything you mentioned before...."

"No you didn't." She cut in firmly "Sweet talk is using insincere honeyed words to get what you want, and you never tried to manipulate me."

"No." He agreed with a small smile "I did use sneaky methods to keep you from running away, but I wasn't interested in manipulating you into anything, so thank you for understanding that."

"I can respect sneakiness; I did it to you more than once back in the day." She responded with a mile wide grin.

"True, but as I don't want to be sneaky, or win you over with artful double talk, I'm hoping that my next words and the sincerity behind them will be enough." He heard Lois' heart falter before speeding up, but didn't know if that was a good thing or not. Cupping her face in his hands, Clark kept his eyes steady on hers "Lo, you're the woman I'm meant to share my life with; you always were. I don't have to imagine my life without you baby, I've lived it. After saving me from sword guy years ago you said, 'how did you ever survive without me?' I know at the time you were just being cheeky, but I've asked myself that a lot over the last 9 months. I did survive without you Lo, but another way of saying survive is to endure, persevere, hang in there, and that was all I did. I really only started to live when I found you again Lois, before that I simply existed."

She wondered how it was possible to feel so happy and wretched at the same time.

He stroked her cheek softly with his thumb, and asked quietly "I don't know if you really took in what I said earlier, but I very clumsily said out loud what I hoped to ask in the right setting with the right ambiance." He took a deep breath and finished quietly "I love you Lois, and I'm asking if you will do me the very great honour of becoming my wife."

She blew out a soft breath, and placed her good hand on his cheek "Please don't take this the wrong way, but I don't want to get married again; I'm sorry."

Freeing her face, he picked up the hand in the cast to twine his fingers with hers "I know you're scared Lo, but don't let one bad experience put you off trying again. We're all entitled to a second chance at love and happiness babe."

She pressed her lips together and smiled regretfully "Second chance huh?" She dropped her hand from his cheek, and reached over to pluck a tissue from the coffee table, but instead of using it, began to shred it absently "Clark my marriage..."

"Lo, your marriage and mine will always be there. They can't be wiped out, but we shouldn't let past mistakes stop us from having a future now."

She ran a hand through her hair and shook her head "I wanna show you something." Tossing the balled up tissue on the table, she made her way to the bedroom, took out the box from the back of her cupboard, and returned to the lounge room once again to re-take her seat. Peeling off the lid, she reached inside, lifted out a photo and looked at it before handing it to him "What'd you see?"

He took the frame, looked at the picture and felt his heart ache. What he could see was Lois in a wedding dress smiling up at the man holding her in his arms. So this was Joe; he was good looking but not movie star handsome. His face shone openly with pride and elation, and he was clearly in love with his new bride. Lois looked beautiful; her hair was in long loose curls, and her face framed by the tossed back veil was one of unbound happiness. Their fingers each sported a mint new ring. This was a part of her past, but it hurt to see his love looking at another man with that expression on her face. Clark took a deep breath, let it out slowly, wrenched his eyes away and looked up "I see two people in love."

She nodded slowly "That's what everyone saw." She took the photo and put it back in the box, before replacing the lid and putting it on the coffee table "I kept that picture so that I wouldn't forget. I haven't looked at it in a long time, but..."

"Lo, I'm not Joe; I promise that I won't ever cheat on you." He cut in softly "You've given me more happiness, love and passion than I knew was possible to experience. I would never do anything that could jeopardise losing your trust, and make you take that all away from me."

She frowned lightly "Joe never cheated on me Clark; why would you think that he had?"

He shrugged half-heartedly "You said that cheating hurts more than honesty, and ..."

She sighed in understanding then looked down into her lap, and up again "I see; well Joe was never unfaithful, he's a nice decent man who deserved better than what he got from me."

Hearing the misery in her voice, he sucked in a deep breath and asked quietly "Did you cheat on him?"

She shook her head then shrugged unhappily "Not in the true meaning of the word, but I did cheat him."

"What'd you mean?"

"Joe was my second husband Clark; I got married the first time when I was 21; it's his name that I used when I began to write. We met, had a fling, got married at the registry office, and when our fling had flung itself out several months later, we shook hands and parted with no hard feelings on either side. However, that was far from my first mistake." She smiled dispiritedly and shrugged "I was engaged three times before I met Joe; I called it off each time for one reason or another, but what it really came down to was that I wasn't ready to be anyone's wife. Then I met Joe, and when he asked me marry him I said yes. I began to plan the wedding, and had no qualms that I was doing the right thing. I was ready to commit, all I'd been waiting for was the right man, and at long last I'd found him; it was Joe." She reached for a tissue, wiped her eyes and blew her nose before letting out a deep sigh "But a couple of weeks before the big day, I started to wonder if I was making a mistake. I actually woke up one morning and it no longer felt right. Can you believe it; I went to bed one night, woke up and just like that..." She snapped her fingers "...all my confident assurance that I was doing the right thing was gone."

"Did anything happen to make you feel like that?" He asked quietly.

She shook her head and let out a little sob "No, it was just me. I thought that I was experiencing the fabled cold feet people talk about; it just didn't seem possible that I could go from sure to doubtful all in a night's sleep. But just as I'd done three times before, I started to look for ways to break it off."

"Why didn't you?"

She shrugged apathetically "I don't know, I wanted to but he was nice and I just couldn't do it. All the others were nice too, but Joe was just; he was so sweet, do you know what I mean?" He nodded quietly, plucked out a tissue and handed it over. She smiled thankfully, wiped her eyes and continued "Even while I was standing there listening to the minister as he charged us with our responsibilities to each other, while he talked about the sanctity of marriage, and as I recited my vows, I kept telling myself to call it off, to just speak up, but for the first time in my life I didn't have the courage. After the die was cast and we were married I was determined to be happy no matter what, and to make Joe happy." She took a deep breath and continued softly "I thought that after all the hullabaloo with the wedding was over that all my misgivings would vanish, and I'd once again feel confident as I had before, but I didn't. Joe was the sweetest guy, but our marriage just didn't feel right. I knew that I'd made a mistake and when I asked him for a divorce, I know that I broke his heart."

"How long were you married?" He asked gently.

"Two years; we got married when I was 31 and we lasted for two years. I cheated him Clark, if I had just been honest when I started to have doubts, he wouldn't have been so devastated when I told him that I didn't love him."

"Did you ever love him?"

She shook her head minutely "No, I thought I did, and that's what makes it so much worse. Five times; two of which I married the man, I thought that I loved someone, and every time I discovered that I'd read my heart wrong. Investing so much of yourself in a relationship only to find out that you've mistaken your feelings takes a heavy toll on your self confidence." She plucked out a new tissue, blew her nose and grabbed another to wipe her eyes "It's funny, but years ago I used to think my boyfriends left because they weren't interested once the chase was over and they'd caught me. Now I can't help wondering if I drove them away in some manner. Before Joe, I thought the reason I called off my engagements was because I wasn't ready to get married until I met the right man, but now I know the problem is with me; I get bored and then look for a way out." She sighed and wiped her eyes "You told me once that you and Lana were married for 9 years, and that you were unhappy for a good portion of that time, but at least you stuck it out Clark; I couldn't even do that."

He reached for her hand again and squeezed her fingers "Lo, I shouldn't have stayed married for as long as I did." When she swallowed hard and looked at him, he smiled sadly "Yeah, I stuck it out, but don't give me any awards for it because I was miserable. Lana wasn't any happier; the two of us just didn't want to admit that we'd made a mistake. It was ego for both of us; the only difference is that eventually I thought to hell with my pride, and told her that I wanted a divorce. You at least had the guts to admit you made a mistake and set Joe free to find happiness with someone else, rather than keeping him tied to you because of egotism."

She shook her head again "I hurt him a lot Clark."

"Have you seen him since you broke up?"

"Yeah, he came to see me one day a few months before I met you again, he told me that he's met someone and that he's happy. I could see that he meant it, and I was genuinely glad for him." She paused and smiled softly "I told you that he was sweet..." Clark nodded "...well he was. He could have called me any number of names and I would deserved them all, but he never did; not once. He said that I had made him happy, that I'd never made him feel like he wasn't good enough, and then he thanked me for that." She swallowed hard and shook her head minutely "Before he left, he told me that he hoped one day that I would find someone who could make me happy in a way that he wasn't able to." She wiped under her eyes and shook her head again "I didn't earn that from him, and I didn't deserve it."

Clark lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to the tips of her fingers "He sounds like an honourable man, one who didn't want to hurt the woman he'd loved once upon a time."

"Yeah." Lois sighed heavily and looked at him sadly "I can't marry you Clark, I'm sorry but I just can't. I've gotten it wrong five times now, and the last time I really hurt a man that had done nothing to warrant it. I no longer trust my judgement when it comes to love."

He nodded slowly "You were married to Joe for two years; how long were you with the other fiancées before him."

"Joe and I were together for just over three years all told; the longest relationship I've had other than with him lasted for a year; that seems to be about par for my attention span." She replied with a cynical twist of her lips.

"A few weeks ago when I told you about the house I found, you said that if we break up in a year or so that I'll be stuck with a big house until I find an apartment. Is that what you're scared off Lo, that we're going to break up in a year because you think that you're going to become disinterested and look for a way out of the relationship?" She bobbed her head fractionally. Clark squeezed her fingers and clarified "You don't want to get married because you think that in a few years, you'll do to me what you did to Joe, correct?"

"I didn't want to love you Clark, I thought the only thing I was good at in a relationship was sex; so I decided to forget about men, and just have the occasional fling when I got the itch but you sneaked in under my guard and..." She bit her lip and shook her head in condemnation "I'm so sorry, I should have told you why I didn't want to get involved, I should have said something when you wanted us to date only each other; god I should have said no straight away."

He tilted up her chin and shook his head "Don't say that Lo, don't ever apologise for loving me or for giving us a chance." He pressed his lips gently against hers then lifted his mouth a fraction "Please don't ever be sorry for that baby, not ever."

When her chin quivered, he cupped her face in his hands and locked his eyes on hers "I love you Lois. When you told me that you loved me, I told you that the past is the past, and the future was ours, and I still believe that. I don't believe for one minute that you're going to get bored and look for a way out of our relationship." When her mouth opened, he pressed a finger against her lips "I don't Lo."

He picked her up, cuddled her into his lap and continued quietly "Let me tell you a little bit about what I do know and believe, ok?" She nodded and taking a deep breath he told her what was in his heart "As you know, years ago I believed in destiny, well I still do babe. The reason my marriage didn't work out wasn't because destiny made a mistake, it was because I did. I chose to marry Lana; destiny never chose her for me. Even so, we could have been happy if we had anything remotely in common but we didn't. The only thing Lana and I had in common with other couples who get married is that I'm a guy, and she's a girl; end of story." He squeezed her waist and gave a rueful smile "My marriage to Lana was doomed to failure from the very beginning, and if I'd taken my head out of the clouds just once, I would have realised it long before I recited any vows. Back then I had a childlike view of love, and insisted that she was the one even after she'd given me ample proof that she wasn't, or that she could ever make me happy. God knows why I thought getting my ring on her finger was the right thing to do, but believe me when I say that I paid for disregarding all the warning signs and marrying her anyway."

He stroked her jaw with his thumb and kept his voice firm "I'm not going to include your first marriage because that was a fly by night mistake that's happened to a lot of people; including me. Mine was caused by redK, but don't make the mistake of thinking that I didn't know what I was doing because I did; the redK just made me indifferent to my actions but that's all." She smiled dolefully in understanding, he inclined his head and got back to the point "So you married Joe, were engaged several times before him, and because you're the one who wanted to break up, you came to the erroneous conclusion that you didn't have it in you to sustain a long term relationship, but that's crap Lois. The reason my marriage failed, and you could never settle down with any of the men you were involved with; including Joe, was simply because we were always with the wrong people." He pressed his lips to the corner of her mouth, and slipped the hand on her waist around to rub softly over the small of her back "It was always meant to be us Lo; you and me. I never should have married Lana, and you shouldn't have married Joe; we should have been together all along. I don't mean that we shouldn't have had other relationships; that's part of life and a learning experience that everyone goes through, but we shouldn't have made a commitment to anyone except each other. That was where we went wrong, and that was why we both failed."

Cupping her cheek he locked his eyes with hers "You can call it following your heart, I can call it destiny; and in the long run it really makes no difference. If I had really followed destiny, and if you had really listened to your heart, we would known years ago that we had no business making vows to anyone but each other." He finished steadily.

She smiled tremulously "Thank you."

"For what baby; telling you the truth?" He asked quietly against her cheek.

She shook her head before lifting it to cup his cheek in her good hand "For not making me feel like a heel."

"You're not a heel, or I guess we both are." He smiled lopsided "I hurt Lana, you hurt Joe, so I guess it's only fair that two heels end up together."

She gave a watery laugh and nodded "What made you finally decide to call it quits with Lana?"

Clark grimaced and blew out a deep breath. Seeing the discomfiture on his face, Lois slid out of his lap, and waited. Racing to the fridge, he grabbed the wine bottle, and two glasses, came back poured them both a glass and sipped. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, saw her waiting expectantly and asked "Why do true confessions always make you feel like an idiot?"

"Because there's nowhere left to hide afterwards." She replied promptly "C'mon, it can't be any worse than what I've just told you." When he rolled his eyes, she knocked his arm with hers "Ok, then let's start with this, when did the bloom fall off the rose?"

"A little over three years after we were married; as Lana and I were never talking or dating for long before we were fighting, I thought when she was upset about one thing or another, that it was perfectly natural and she had her reasons y'know?" Lois nodded; he nodded and rolled his eyes again "Yeah well, after living with her 24/7 for a few years, I found out that Lana could make a mountain out of any mole hill that she came across. Everything was a big deal; everything was a problem or a drama. If she had genuine worries or fears that would be something, but I finally realised that she just made everything important because she liked the attention; eventually I just got sick of it, and her."

"Well I know that the two of you couldn't go for long before there was always trouble in paradise, but what on earth were you always bickering about?"

He sipped his wine before confessing "She was usually either lambasting me or crying because I wouldn't tell her what she wanted to know. Tell me the truth Clark, why can't you trust me Clark, how can you expect me to trust you when I know that you're lying, and keeping secrets from me Clark." He sung in a mimicry of his ex-wife and shook his head "That was pretty much the basis of all our conversations and arguments; that I wouldn't spill my guts and tell her everything about myself."

"You've gotta be kidding; that was what all the carry on was about?" Lois asked incredulous.

"Yep."

"Oh my god..." She began to chortle but at his lifted brows, stifled her mirth with her hand "My boyfriends loved it when I told them how great they were at something, how sexy I found them, that kind of thing; but you were turned on by Lana calling you a liar, and....bitching at you all the time?"

He flushed and hunched his shoulders "Leave me alone; I was an overly romantic teenage boy who didn't notice the bitching."

"How could you not?" She asked in genuine astonishment "The two of you didn't date until you were 18, so if that was what most of your disputes were about, then it went on for years beforehand; so how could you not notice?"

"Not just beforehand, it also went on while we were dating and when she was with Lex." He admitted truthfully, and at the disbelief on her face reminded her snottily "Hello I was a teenage boy, she was a pretty girl; thinking with my dick."

Lois grinned jovially "Well the teenage boys I knew tended to follow Elvis' school of thought when thinking with their dicks. You know the..." She cleared her throat and began to sing "'a little less conversation a little more action please, all this aggravation ain't satisfactioning me. A little more bite and a little less bark, a little less fight and a little more spark, close your mouth and open up your heart and baby satisfy me'." She finished with a wiggle of her brows.

He grinned and nodded "They had the right idea, but I just figured that all of Lana's griping was justified, since I believed that I was in luuuurve." He mocked lightly. She nodded and patted his arm in solidarity. Sighing heavily he continued "Anyway, after she came back from her fake death I told her everything, we got married and it was all good for a while, but it wasn't long before I finally clued into the fact that she was so used to getting her own way, that when she didn't it could be pretty ugly. The only thing I never gave Lana that she wanted before her divorce from Lex, was the answer to what I was hiding; that I was alien and had powers. However, since I didn't give her that, I had to suck up all the more just to stay in her good books, which of course I was happy to do, and as that was what she was accustomed to, that was what she was expecting to be true ever after." He let out a short sharp laugh "To think for years I thought our problem was that I was hiding stuff from her, turns out the real problem was that she's just a natural born shrew."

"So what'd you do?" She asked curiously.

"Nothing at first, I tried to ignore it figuring that she'd grow up and out of it; boy was I wrong." He snorted lightly "One day about 4 years after we were married, she was carrying on about something; don't ask me what, because I'd gotten so used to tuning her out that I hardly paid any attention, but for some reason this day I'd just enough. Maybe I was just tired, I know that I was fed up to my back teeth with her grumbling, but for some reason this particular day was like the straw that broke the camel's back y'know?"

She nodded and lifted her wine to sip "Yeah some days the patience is hard to keep; and well you know me, my tolerance for bullshit has always been pretty limited, so....."

He lifted his glass in salute "Well take my word for it; after living with a woman who can't tell you what the hell her problem, is without first carping about everything under the sun, I've come to prefer your direct way of talking and confronting. It may be hard to hear at times, but it's better than being subjected to a theatrical tirade wondering what burr is up your butt, before you decide to get to the point." Lois bit her lip; Clark's lips twitched "So as I was saying, that day I'd just had a gut full and when I couldn't take it anymore I yelled; oh for god's sake Lana, will you just shut the fuck up and stop bloody whining."

Lois coughed out the sip of wine she'd taken and commented politely "I bet that shut her up fast."

He barked out a laugh and nodded "Kind off, she squealed like a stuck pig and then she began to cry."

Lois pressed a hand against her mouth to stop the laughter from spilling out "What does a stuck pig sound like?"

"Tell Lana to shut the fuck up and you'll know." He grinned wickedly.

Leaning forward with interest she asked eagerly "So then what happened?"

"Well I felt bad for yelling, so calmly told her that she didn't need to carry on. If she had a problem or an issue, we could discuss it like adults, but to stop acting like a kid because she wasn't one."

"And she?"

"Pouted." He replied succinctly before taking a sip of his drink.

Lois lifted her hand quickly and began to chew on her nail. He cocked his head to the side and smiled ruefully "Do you wanna know when I reached the lowest point in my marriage?"

She nodded and gestured with her drink for him to go on.

He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck and told her what he'd never told anyone "We were in Metropolis just shopping while waiting to go and see a play. It was our sixth anniversary; god knows why we were bothering since neither of us was happy. She was whining about something, and as had become customary I wasn't paying any attention when I felt someone staring. So I turned around and there was Lex; he was just standing there, very casually smirking at me."

He paused to sip his drink, noted her lips were twitching and nodded gravely "Yeah, so he walked over and in a very conversational voice said; 'Y'know, LuthorCorp made an absolute killing in the market last financial year, but my elation over that was nothing, compared to how thrilled I feel today seeing the two looking just as blissfully happy as you always did. I can only imagine how fortunate you must feel Clark, hearing the dulcet tone of Lana's voice in your ear every day, crying or moaning about one thing or another. Looking up to find her sitting across from you at the breakfast table, and then at dinner; yep there she is again, still sniveling or nitpicking. Going to sleep beside her at night and the sour expression on her face is dancing behind your lids, waking up in the morning and the first thing to greet your day is the pouty little sulk on her face. Every….where you turn, there...she...is.' Then he turned to her, shook his head sadly and said 'Oh Lana, I honestly tried to see things from your point of view, but I just found it impossible to get my head that far up my ass. However, I'm sure we all remember how determined Clark was to do it, and he's clearly a lot more flexible than I am, since he succeeded where I failed'. After that he turned back to me and with a look of unholy glee on his face said 'Oh Clark, it really does my heart good to know that my old friend's destiny, the one he fought so hard for, has come to fruition. I can't think of anyone who deserves to be doomed; oh excuse my faux pas, I mean blessed with a lifetime of Lana more than you do; and I sincerely wish you both a very, VERY long life."

"Ouch!" Lois drew back, and swallowed the giggle that wanted to pop out.

"Ouch is right, but he was far from done." He huffed out a laugh. "In a very jovial manner he then said 'being a spectator to your romance was such a pleasant experience. Watching the two of you fight, make up, break up, get back together, break up, get back together, break up, get back together; going back time after time for more of the same. Why it was as beautiful as watching a dog forcing itself to regurgitate, only to turn around and eat its own vomit again. So tell me, in your relationship which one of you was the mongrel, and which one of you was the puddle of sick?' He looked between us interestedly and when we declined to answer, he just nodded affably and pronounced "Yes, it's a really hard call, but I think you took it in turns myself."

"And you just stood there without saying anything?" Lois asked with a huge grin.

Clark flushed deep red "I was tempted but what could I say since he was bloody well right. Lana tried to make him look foolish but she was totally outclassed and Lex proved it when he just turned it around to make us look like even bigger idiots. She said, 'you're just bitter because I left you for Clark, but please remember that your father had to blackmail me to marry you, whereas you married me of your own free will Lex.' Well he just nodded agreeably then leant in close and whispered 'so I did, but you please remember that I was admitted to Belle Reeve by my loving father, and underwent voluntary head treatment a second time at another institution. So I clearly wasn't totally compos mentis back then my dear and I have the medical records to prove it. Do either of you have a defence that's anywhere near as good for YOUR behaviour?"

Lois sputtered out a laugh, Clark's lips crooked up lopsided "I decided it was best not to give it a try after that."

"No it was probably best not to, so then what happened."

Clark shrugged half-heartedly "He looked us both up and down, then gave a fake sigh and said; 'I wronged you Clark, the first time you saved my life I sent you a car in appreciation, but I never even acknowledged your second and even more greater bravery on behalf. By sleazing onto Lana while I was married to her, you actually sacrificed yourself to ensure that I wouldn't be damned to a lifetime with a faithless slut, who is quite frankly is the most nauseating, not to mention tiresome person I've ever had the misfortune of knowing'. Then he strolled away laughing but stopped long enough to turn back and call out 'by the way, don't bother trying to off load her onto anyone else, I've already put the word out. There's not enough gold in Fort Knox to tempt even the most desperate into touching her with a cattle prod."

"Yikes."

"Yep, yikes is right." He nodded slowly and lifted his drink in salute.

"Well I hate to say it, but just as Joe had every right to condemn me…" She broke off and shrugged apologetically.

"I know; we both deserved everything he said." Clark smiled unhappily "What's really galling is that I did save him from still being married to Lana, only to lock myself into prison with her for 9 long years."

"What'd Lana say after he left?"

"She cried." His chin quivered when Lois began to cough "I know, she just stood there with tears streaming down her cheeks and cried; needless to say we did not go and see the play after that."

Lois gulped back a laugh and shook her head "Why would you; nothing you saw in the theatre could have topped Lex's performance."

He nodded in accord, and when Lois could hold it in no longer, she began to shriek with laughter. Giving up the battle to be stoic Clark joined in.

After their mirth died down, she cocked her head and asked "So why did the two of you stay married; it couldn't all have been because of ego."

"When it comes right down to it, that's what it was Lo. One part of me didn't want to give up, but the bigger part just didn't want to admit that I'd made such a colossal mistake. So I stayed with her and became even more miserable with every day that passed."

"Did Lana want out of the marriage too?"

"Yes and no; she wasn't happy but she was scared of being alone. However after I stopped indulging her and told her to shut up, suck it up and grow up, I think she was also looking for a way out. Lana wasn't surprised when I told her that I'd had enough. She was hurt that I wasn't willing to keep trying, hurt that we couldn't make it after all our nonsense years before, but she wasn't shocked." He shrugged apathetically "I had to get out because I had nothing left to give Lo; no more care, no more tolerance, not even obligation. She'd sucked me dry until I was barely a husk of my former self."

"You kept trying, so that counts for something." She commended sincerely.

"Yeah well, she was very trying." He replied dryly.

Lois grinned fast and bright "Good one."

"I wasn't the perfect husband Lo; despite everything I can't blame it all on Lana. She has her faults, but I'm sure that she'd say the same about me if asked." He admitted truthfully.

She looked at him and asked ruefully "We both fucked up, didn't we?"

"Yeah baby we did; but we've been given the chance to get it right this time and that's what counts." He put his glass down, took hers and set it beside his then captured her good hand in one of his "After everything I've said; are you ready to take the chance on marrying me"

"No, Clark I'm sorry; I don't know if I'll ever be ready. I do love you but I think I've used up all my second chances." She admitted quietly.

"You haven't Lo." He refuted just as softly.

"I need to be sure this time."

Instead of feeling deflated he nodded in agreement "I didn't expect one conversation to change your mind, and I don't feel that I've lost anything either." His lips crooked up in a half smile "You realised before you got married that you were making a mistake, so how long were you with Joe when that happened?"

"Almost 14 months."

"Ok, and the longest relationship you've had other than with him was for about a year, correct?" She nodded slowly "Well if you're not looking for a way to dump me in 27 months, which is just over two years away, by which time we'll have been together for three years, will you marry me?"

She gave a tiny smile in return "I don't know; will you ask me again in two years?"

"Yes." He replied without hesitation and leaning forward pressed his lips against hers.

She lifted her hand to sit on the side of his cheek, and deepened the kiss before pulling back "I cared about Joe, a part of me always will because he's the kind of man that inspires that emotion, but although I didn't love him, at one time I truly believed that I did." She leant forward and pressed her lips to his lightly "I love you Clark, and I wish that I could say that I know this is the kind of love that will last for a lifetime, but I've read the signs wrong in the past, and I don't think my heart will recover if I get it wrong again. However, I am willing to take a small leap of faith now." At the curiosity on his face, she took a deep breath and offered a compromise "What would you say to Fred and me moving to Metropolis?"

"Are you sure you wanna do that Lo? You've put down roots here, your friends, your work, your house; it's all here in Seattle." He asked, rubbing his hands lightly up and down her arms.

"Yeah, but if we stay here then you can't go outside on the weeknights without people questioning how you're in Seattle when you work in Metropolis. I can see my friends easily enough, and I can work anywhere. As for this house, well I may love it, but it's only bricks and mortar, I love you more." She summed up neatly.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." She smiled and tilted her head "Besides, if I didn't move to Metropolis all your plans would go up in smoke."

"What plans?" He asked innocently.

"What plans he asks?" She snorted then elbowed him for good measure.

Clark grinned proudly "Ok so I had plans, shoot me."

"What's the point, the damn bullets would just bounce right off." She laughed in return.

He chuckled in appreciation and after sobering ran his fingers into her hair at the sides to obtain a clear unobstructed view of her face "I had plans, but what I'm going to say now, I mean it with all my heart Lois. I want you to marry me, but you don't want that, and marriage should be something both parties desire, otherwise they already have one strike against them. In a little over two years time I'll ask you again, but if you still aren't ready or just don't want to, it won't change a damn thing. I can never go back to just existing baby, that's not enough for me anymore; but together with you IS enough. As long as I have that, then I already have everything I need."

She smiled at him through her tears "You really think we'll last."

"I know we will, and one day you'll know that I'm right." He affirmed sedately "Knowing that you're willing to uproot your life and move to Metropolis, makes me feel like I've won the lottery Lo, and that's the truth."

She cuddled into his side, leant her head on his shoulder and looked up "The house that you've found..."

"It's going to be our house Lo, and if you don't like it then we'll just keep looking until we find a place that we're all happy with ok." He asked seriously.

"Ok, but I'd really prefer to buy a house rather than wasting money on rent."

"I can't afford to buy a house Lo."

"I can; I've been lucky Clark, my books have consistently sold well, so between the amount I get paid for the book itself, and the royalties that have been generated from sales and reprints both here and overseas I've managed to save quite a bit. I've also made a bit of money on investments which has added to the coffers, and if it's still not enough, well this house should fetch a good price on the market, so we shouldn't have any problems affording a new one."

"This is your house Lo."

"I think of it as our house, and the new one will have both our names on the title."

He shook his head "That's not fair Lois, you'll be paying for the house and I won't be bringing anything to the table."

"Bullshit." She replied swiftly before sitting up and smiling winningly "Money is essential to live, to pay bills etc, and yeah I have more than enough to live comfortably, but unless I have someone to share it with then what's the point. I can afford a house Clark, but without you it won't be a home. That's what you've made this place for both Fred and me, so as far as I'm concerned you're bringing a hell of a lot to the table."

He leant down and pressed his lips to her forehead "I have some money baby, just not enough for a house."

"Well if you like, I can make a hefty down payment and we can spend the next 20 years paying it off together, or we can look at this logically and decide that since the house is going to be both of ours, it shouldn't matter who pays for it."

"You're logic is very annoying."

"Since you've conned me on various occasions over the past 9 months with logical arguments, you now know just how I feel." She smiled unrepentant.

He grinned agreeably "I'll let you pay for it on one condition only..." Her eyes narrowed at the glee in his "If you do decide to dump me one day then you can keep the house...." When her mouth opened, he continued smoothly without giving her time to interrupt "I'll just take Fred."

"You're not getting my dog!" She hissed menacingly.

"Then you'd better not try to get rid of me." He almost sang back.

Her mouth snapped shut before she began to giggle "You are the most underhanded, conniving, sneaky person that I've ever met."

He hooted in laughter "Well if that's not the pot calling the kettle black."

"Yeah, and who should know better than the pot." Lois retorted swiftly.

"And that's exactly why we're perfect for each other." Clark returned just as promptly.

They grinned before leaning forward to seal their lips. Pulling back after a moment, he nodded at the box on the table "Maybe it's time to get rid of that picture babe, and only keep one's of us."

She nodded softly in agreement "It is."