CHAPTER 41:

Walking across the restaurant towards Bruce, Lois could see the admiring looks that were being thrown at Bruce and she smiled to herself before she caught the look on a cute guy who was definitely giving her the eye. Glaring at the man she quickly walked and sat down opposite Bruce.

"Why do I get the feeling that we are doing something wrong?" she asked with a smile on her face.

"Come on Lois, we are doing nothing wrong, we have done this a hundred times before," Bruce replied with a twinkle in his eye.

"I know Bruce, but I didn't tell Clark I was coming to talk to you and for some reason I get a feeling we are doing something wrong."

"We can go somewhere else if you want?" he replied before he smiled and whispered "plus Clark can hear anything so he probably knows we are having lunch."

"You're right," she grinned at him before she leant back and caught the waiter's eye. When the waiter arrived Lois ordered a bottle of Montana Sauvignon Blanc and Bruce ordered a double bourdon and dry.

Looking across the table at Bruce she knew that she was still attracted to him on a physical level. His calmness and sense of self was a powerful attraction and he was a seriously commanding presence when he wasn't playing up the playboy aspect of himself.

'What is it with you Lane, you have the most powerful man in the galaxies hot for you and you sit here and think how sexy Bruce is. Hehe for a woman that people used to think was an ice princess you certainly have how some of the hottest guys running around. Yay for me.' She thought before she realized that Bruce had asked her a question.

"Sorry my mind was a million miles away, what did you say?" she asked with an abashed look on her face.

"I asked, so what did you want to talk about?"

"I am not sure how to start this but I have no one else to turn to who would understand everything. It's Clark . . ."

Lois proceeded to tell him about the feelings she was currently going through with Clark. Bruce was the perfect person to talk to as he let her just talk about the toll it was having on her and how she was being greatly affected.

Over the next couple of hours, Lois poured her heart out to Bruce. Along the way they polished off a couple of bottles of wine and she found herself sitting besides Bruce on the bench seat laughing loudly.

He had made her realize that it wasn't her role to take on what Clark was sharing with her but to know that in sharing all she had to do was listen, not try and make it better. Slowly he had made her see that Clark chose to share his pain with her, he wasn't trying to burden her with it and she should see it as a huge vote of confident in her. If anyone was to know what Clark was going through it would be Bruce and he found himself being envious of the bond Lois and Clark shared.

She had felt Bruce's loneliness when he had spoken aloud his wish to have someone to share his burden with and couldn't resist saying to him "you didn't share it with me when we were together Bruce."

Softly he replied, "I wish I had, I now know that you would have coped, I was scared of losing you."

Lois was shocked and didn't know what to say to that. Bruce had never been so open in regards to his feeling previously.

"Bruce all you had to do with me was open up and share with me. You should have given me the chance to decide what I wanted. You are so important to me and I don't know how I could have survived all this without you." She said as she took hold of his hand and squeezed.

He looked down into her face and his other hand came up and stroked her face before he lent down and gently kissed her. For a second Lois moaned under his lips before she put her hand on his chest and pushed him back gently saying, "Bruce we can't."

"I know, Clark needs you more than I do, I get that."

"No Bruce, it isn't need, I love Clark, I love him more than I could ever imagine loving anyone. I don't deny I am immensely physically attracted to you but Clark completes me in a way I never thought possible."

Bruce dropped his forehead down onto hers and replied, "In my life, I have never been jealous of anything another person has, but right now I am jealous that Clark gets to have you and I have to accept only friendship from you."

"I'm sorry Bruce, you have to accept it. My life with Clark is where I want and need to be. As hard as sharing that life is with him, I would rather suffer the pain and be with him than half live my life without him."

Lifting his forehead off hers Bruce's eye widened as he saw Clark standing in the door of the restaurant looking at them, 'oh shit' he thought before he said "It isn't me you should be telling this to, it should be the man standing over there who looks like he wants to kill me right now," he replied to her.

Lois whipped her head around and wished she hadn't when the look on Clarks face coupled with the amount of wine she had drunk caused her to feel dizzy.

Clark didn't look happy at all to see Bruce draped all over Lois. To him it was pretty obvious that something serious had been going on. The picture he was faced with was his best friend and the woman he loved draped over each other in a quite intimate pose.

He had heard Lois's heart speed up and he had flown over as quickly as he could to see that she was safe. He refused to listen in on her private conversations, as in his mind it was the height of bad manners so all he had to go on was what he could see. To say he was angry was to put it mildly, but he knew he had to give them a chance to explain, just not right now, right now he had to leave before he tore the restaurant down around their ears.

Looking at them angrily, he quietly said "We will talk about this later," and left.

"Shit . . .," they both said as Clark disappeared.

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