The week went by relatively fast. Once Lois woke up, her recovery seemed swift, or rather Lois made sure it was swift. She quickly made her way back in the bullpen avoiding Clark to the best of her ability these days. In all honesty, she appreciated he was there for her at the lab, but she wasn't ready to quite breach the whole memories being back ordeal that seemed to have occurred because she remembered everything including how it all went down when her memories were temporarily AWOL.

Unfortunately for her, Clark didn't make avoiding him easy in the least. It seemed since everything happened, he was almost glued to her side. She would turn a corner, and he'd be there supposedly doing something related to his job. At first, she chalked it up to her making it up in her head that he was following her around or pure coincidence, but, when she happened to run into him in the basement storage area for the fourth time in one day, she knew his popping up everywhere wasn't made up or a coincidence.

To Clark's credit, he was at least not pushing her to talk about anything which she more than appreciated. She could tolerate his watchful eye as long as he wasn't going to push the subject. Although soon she was going to have to talk with him because this whole big brother watching routine he had going on was really pissing her off.

It would seem she had finally hit her limit, when she ran into him for the third time today causing her papers in her arms to scatter all over the floor. "Smallville, are you kidding me," she snapped as she bent down to clean up the mess he created. "Did you forget how to walk in the last week because you've accidentally run into me more times than you ever have before, and as much as I love cleaning up papers and coffee and buying new food, I don't."

"Sorry, Lois," he quickly responded as he tried to assist her in picking up the paper mess he had caused. Ever since she almost died, he had been keeping a watchful eye on her and trying to stay as close as he could without being creepy. Unfortunately, it had caused more than one collision with the feisty brunette. He wished he could say the collisions were purposeful, but sometimes when he was keeping an eye on her, he'd get distracted by a cry for help and end up bumping into her. He knew it wasn't scoring him any points in her good graces book which only made everything so much worse. He figured that's one of the one million reasons she hadn't attempted to talk to him since she woke up a week ago. In fact, he would almost argue she was actively trying to avoid him.

A part of him knew he should be respecting her space, but he couldn't help it. He'd even noticed that he innately started listening to her heartbeat after she almost died. It was a calming sound that reminded him she was still here and very much alive and well.

"Clark, I can't keep doing this," she finally said having picked up her papers. She made eye contact with him and almost wished she hadn't. There was clear confusion and sadness radiating from his blue eyes. "I know you've been keeping a watch on me after everything." She saw him open his mouth to deny the claim, so she quickly stuck her hand up to stop him. "Don't pretend you haven't been. Stealth is not your strong suit, Smallville." She fidgeted with the papers in her hands and took one deep breath before continuing while she watched him squirm in front of her. "Look, if you leave me alone for the rest of the day, we can meet up in your barn and finally talk later, okay?"

Lois knew she was throwing him a white flag of sorts. While she dreaded the conversation she was going to have to have, she couldn't do this whole bodyguard routine any longer.

Clark immediately made eyes contact with her and perked up a little. While he didn't love the terms and conditions, he would at least finally be able to get the time to talk over everything with Lois. He figured he could busy the rest of his day with hero stuff to distract himself. "Okay, barn after work," he confirmed giving her a small and almost hopeful smile.

Lois returned his small smile and nodded her head in agreement. "Barn after work," she repeated for good measure as she went to make her way past him to her desk. Good, finally Clark would give her enough time alone to think and formulate her thoughts for the later conversation. There is so much she wanted to bring up and ask, but there was also quite a bit that she wasn't too happy about overall.

"I guess I'll go chase some leads then," he conceded as she walked past him to go to her desk. With one last glance, Clark whooshed off to Watch Tower to find any way to distract himself for the rest of the day.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Chloe had been working diligently on trying to track down any leads on if Lionel made it out of the explosion. All signs and clues so far were pointing to no, but Chloe wasn't naïve enough to not attempt to dig further. A whoosh sound could be heard behind her, but she continued typing. "Surprised to see you here so soon, Clark. Thought you'd be glued to Lois's side for at least another month," she quipped donning a smirk on her face as she looked at the screen.

Rolling his eyes, Clark looked over at Chloe. "I kind of pissed her off today, so I'm giving her some space," he responded.

Chloe just chuckled and shook her head as she continued to type. "Good to see my cousin's personality hasn't changed too much." She paused finally turned to Clark having stopped her typing. "At least this time she didn't run off to a different country," she offered throwing a small shrug his way.

He just looked at her annoyed before deciding to change the subject. "Any signs of Lionel Luthor yet?" Clark was really hoping that Chloe would get the signal to drop the issue. He was trying to distract himself from Lois, not talk about her.

Turning back to the computer, she continued her frenzied typing. "If Daddy Warbucks made it out of his explosion, I've not found a trace of him at all." She sighed and continued to type as various screens popped up in front of her showing street cameras that were more than blurry. "I even canvased the street cams around the area, and there was no sign of any figures even remotely looking like Lionel making their way out of the area." She paused her typing and swiveled her chair to look at Clark. "It might be time to finally call time of death, Clark."

Squinting at the camera footage, Clark was starting to think Chloe's assessment was right. "Well, if you haven't found anything, Chlo, I think it's safe to at least shift the team's attention to other things." He didn't love that they didn't know if Lionel was alive or not. They didn't need any surprises springing up. Clark felt he had enough excitement in the last few months they'd he'd ever want again. "So, I think I'll just go on patrol then."

"Woah there, Boy Scout," Chloe quipped stopping Clark from speeding off. "As much as I'm all for you patrolling the streets, I have to ask what's caused you to peel away from Lois and don the vigilante act?" She folded her arms giving him a pointed look as she expected him to resist.

Clark rolled his eyes knowing he wasn't going to get out of this one. He should've assumed as much. "She said if I left her alone, we'd talk later," he conceded throwing a nonchalant shrug her way. "So, I need distractions until then."

"Ah, yeah that makes sense." Chloe paused slightly and hesitated before finally caving. "How do you think that's all going to go?" She only had a slight feeling as Lois wasn't just avoiding Clark these days. Since she woke up, she'd been avoiding Chloe too. Chloe tried to push her as to why once, but she made a half assed excuse saying she wasn't mad or avoiding her before running out the door. She could only assume that whatever the brunette was going to tell Clark wasn't going to be great news cause otherwise she wouldn't be avoiding her.

Brushing his hand through his hair pensively, Clark just shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I've been thinking though," he started pausing briefly. "Whatever happens, I think I'm going to tell her, Chloe." He looked down at the ground nervously upon the confession.

Chloe's eyes bulged in surprise at his statement. "Woah, back it up. I can only assume that you mean you're going to tell her the big ole' secret." Upon Clark's node, Chloe's mouth dropped open in shock. "Wow are you sure that's a good idea?" if Lois had bad news, she can't imagine piling on a big surprise like Clark being the Blur and from another would do to her.

Swallowing back his nerves at Chloe's question, Clark nodded his head. "Yeah." Again, he allowed a brief pause to settle between the two before continuing. "I mean, this whole thing started because of my secret. I just think it would be better if she knew." In all honesty, he wanted to tell her. After everything that happened, he wanted her to know him completely regardless of the consequences. He wasn't sure Chloe would see it that way, so it was easier to just have an excuse ready.

Nodding her head processing everything he was saying, Chloe finally responded," Okay." There wasn't much more she could say to that. Normally, she would advise against such a move in a big conversation like that, but this one was all on Clark. She couldn't argue that the lying to her cousin had ultimately almost caused her to die. It would also be kind of nice to be able to not lie to her cousin about everything. She started feeling worse and worse about it the last few weeks given everything going on.

"Okay, that's it," he asked surprised she didn't react more. He was expecting a debate or argument from the blonde of reason.

"Clark, this is your secret and your life. If you're ready to bring Lois into it, then I'm all for it." She threw him a reassuring look. "Just, don't expect revealing your whole self to fix everything, okay?"

Clark nodded his head in response to her. "Yeah, I know." He didn't love that she was right, but he knew in his heart she was. The lying was only a fraction of the problems that had happened. He'd have to take Lois's reactions and words and just go from there. "Now, is there any way you have anything that can distract me for the next few hours?" He smiled over at her hopefully knowing she'd concede.

And she did with a playful roll of her eyes. "Let me see what I can pull up."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The afternoon dragged on forever for Lois when the looming deadline of a talk was hanging over her head. She went over hundreds of scenarios in her head on how it could go, and she knew she was driving herself crazy. Her nervous energy had caused her to rush out of the bullpen the minute work was over. A part of her just wanted to get this done and over with. Pull it off like a band aid. The other part of her wanted to run far away and forget the problem ever existed. Putting on her big girl pants mentally, she decided the sooner the talk happened, the faster it could end.

Unfortunately, this caused her to be earlier than she expected. Instead of finding Clark in the loft, she found it empty. She was going to just turn and go, but she stopped herself. Figuring it was a good time to run her speech over again in her head. The irony of the situation was not lost on her. Usually, she was running thirty minutes or so late to everything but count on her to show up to the hard conversation too early.

Clark had finished up his patrol a little early figuring he could mentally prepare himself for everything to come. When he made his way up to the loft, he found a pacing Lois mumbling to herself. To anyone else, Lois would've looked as if she'd gone insane, but Clark found it a little entertaining and endearing. It was a bit comforting to know he wasn't the only one freaking out about having this conversation. He let her ramble a bit more to herself before finally interrupting by clearing his throat.

Lois jumped slightly surprised by the sudden intrusion of sound. "Geez, Smallville, warn a girl," she snapped slightly having stopped her pacing and mumbling.

"Sorry, Lois," he responded donning a small smile on his face having enjoyed the interaction. He made his way into the loft as he stood across from her in the windowsill. "So," he trailed off stuffing his hands in his pocket nervously.

"So," she responded copying his motion just the same. A silence fell between the two as they played eye tag with each other; both not really wanting to make eye contact but also wanting to make eye contact. Finally, having taken a deep breath, Lois broke the silence. "Clark," she started shifting her body to look out the window instead of at him. She wasn't sure she could get through her whole spiel if she had to look at him. "I've been thinking," she finally spoke up wincing at her words. She rehearsed them one hundred times over and couldn't think of anything less cliché? "A lot actually," she continued swallowing back her nerves and crossing her arms across her chest. "I really appreciate everything you did for me when I was in the hospital and lab. I do really." She swallowed again hating how Clark made it so easy to fall into silence. "I just, I'm not sure I can do this whole thing again," she finished avoiding making any eye contact with him. "After everything, I just think there's a lot we need to figure out. I'm just not sure I can do that as an us right now," she finished crossing her arms even tighter around herself than before.

Clark, to his credit, stayed quiet throughout her whole spiel. He was taking everything in; the way she stood, the way she looked out into the fields from the window, and even the way she refused to look at him. "Lois," he prompted turning her towards him so he could look in her eyes. He wanted to fight. To tell her that he had changed, that they were better together than apart. He wanted to tell her that hen he was dying his biggest regret was how he treated her, how he lied consistently to her. Most of all, he wanted to ask her to give him another chance. When their eyes connected, he could hear her inhale sharply. He knew the words wouldn't change her mind. Lois was a woman of action as well as words. "While I can't say I'm disappointed, I get it."

Her eyes widened a bit in surprise at his response. She was expecting him to fight or something. Maybe her fear was right. He wasn't willing to fight for her or them. She really was second best. That had to be the only answer for the sudden maturity Clark was showing. "Oh," she responded as the disappointment dripped from her mouth with that simple word. Wasn't this what she wanted? A clean break without all the mess? Why did it suck then when it was actually playing out in front of her?

His eyes widened slightly. His brows furrowed in confusion at her response. Wasn't he giving her what she wanted? "I mean, if it were up to me, I want this; you and me." She looked back up at him making eyes contact. "I just-" he paused mulling over his words. "Lois, what you said to me before, as much as it hurt to hear, you weren't completely off base." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously looking at the floor between them. "I haven't done a good job in showing you that I care about you, and that's on me." He sighed slightly disappointed in his own actions really. "Look, I just want to be able to show you that I mean it when I say that I care about you with not just words this time." He swallowed the thick saliva that had built in his mouth and stayed determined.

Lois absorbed his words shocked. Clark wasn't giving up on her. He was allowing her time to breathe and prove himself. She chewed on her bottom lip wondering if she really wanted him to prove his words. She had gone into this wanting a clean break knowing it wasn't going to be easy. But now, with the opportunity in front of her, she felt herself wanting to give in to him. All her alarms rang in her head reminding her of the feelings of abandonment he had caused her. The part of her that wanted to run was screaming now, but not out of fear of Clark, but out of fear of the realness of the relationship. This wasn't like in the past – the relationships that felt fantasy or unretainable. This was real and right in front of her and that more than anything scared her.

Taking a small breath, she squared her shoulders a bit more confidently although she wasn't totally feeling it. "So, what, you want a clean slate or something?" She looked away briefly considering her words. "Maybe a clean slate between us isn't such a bad idea." Chewing on her bottom lip, she kept her gaze down in thought. "We both did things that weren't great. Maybe, we just start from ground zero." She knew realistically that wasn't going to be possible. Not with Clark, but it was an idea at least.

The words hit Clark like a boulder. Ground zero. That meant any foundation they had built, would be bulldozed completely. Is that what he wanted? He considered the thought briefly. This would at least give him a chance to win her back if nothing else. "Okay, a clean slate," he replied in confirmation meeting her gaze. He wanted to step forward more as if a magnetic pull existed between them, but he resisted. A silent conversation seemed to play between the two as if an understanding was suddenly struck. Clark knew then it wasn't really ground zero. She was giving him another chance in the only way she knew how.

She swallowed and mustered a small smile. "Okay." She held out her hand for a shake as Clark grabbed it hesitantly. "I'm Lois, Lois Lane," she said locking eyes with Clark as if in a trance.

"Clark Kent," he responded the same. His eyes locked on hers transfixed by them always. Sometimes he felt she could almost read his mind when he got lost in her eyes. They stood there the two of them in silence, shaking each other's hands and looking into each other's eyes.

That was until Lois cleared her throat and dropped her hand diverting her eyes. "Well, I guess I'll see you at the Planet tomorrow then." She waited for a response and looked to see him nod slightly. With that, she started making her way to the stairs.

A brief hesitation from Clark lingered in the air as he debated with himself on the matter. Clark mulled his decision to tell her everything in his head. A clean slate. The phrase teased him. How was he supposed to have a clean slate with this woman? He was head over heels for her. He was only doing this to show her just how head over heels he was. Swallowing, he landed on a decision in his head. Turning towards her, he spoke up, "Lois, wait."

She turned towards him a confused look on her face. What on Earth else could he have to say that wasn't already said?

"Since we're starting with a clean slate, I have something that I need to tell you." He had made a decisive decision. Romantic or not, he was ready to be completely honest with her. No more secrets. No more lies. If they were starting with a clean slate, he wanted it to be completely clean. He paused as she stared up at him in confusion.

"Okay," she replied a bit more than hesitant. What possibly could Clark tell her?

He turned briefly away from her feeling his nerves take the better of him. Now or never. "I've been wanting to tell you this for a while," he started pacing a bit in the loft causing Lois's nerves to quicken. "My whole life I've been afraid. Afraid of telling people everything in fear they would get hurt or they'd reject me." He swallowed glad more than ever he wasn't looking directly at her. "Afraid of the things I couldn't control." He finally turned towards her looking directly at her. "When I was faced with the thought of losing you, there's one thing I regretted more than anything. It was not being honest with you." He swallowed again watching as she nervously fidgeted but yet taking in every word he was saying. "Lois, I'm the Blur."

TBC…