Ch 2 – Boil, Toil & Trouble
Preoccupied with stacking hay bales, Clark didn't notice the car coming up the driveway to the Kent Farm until the horn beeped twice. Grabbing his shirt, he watched Lois Lane jump from her Mustang. Leaning back into the car, she pulled out a large box and carried it over to him.
"Hey," she greeted him, pushing the box into his arms. "Everything's set for 8:00. Have you had a chance to put the decorations up?"
Clark grimaced. "No, I remember telling you we couldn't have the party here! I can't… we can't. My parents are gone for the weekend."
Lois smirked. "Even better," she replied. Seeing his look, she said, "Lighten up. I'm just kidding. It won't be a big deal. Trust me."
"Seriously Lois, this isn't going to work. I'm supposed to be meeting with a recruiter from Princeton tonight. I don't want anything to mess that up."
"So meet your guy at the house. We'll be in the barn, quiet as a mouse."
Clark gave her a look.
"Just explain that you're throwing your friend a little birthday party. It's not like we're scheduling the Burning Man festival in your loft. Relax. This is Smallville. What's the worst that could happen?"
Clark chose not to think of an answer to that question. Lois started walking to the barn, and Clark felt obliged to follow.
"Sorry I didn't call. This was a busy week for me," Lois threw over her shoulder as she pulled one of the big doors open. "Chloe has no idea I'm in town and she and Lana went to a movie… that gives us…" she glanced at her watch. " …About 3 hours to give this place a makeover."
"What's in the box?"
"Chloe's gift." Seeing Clark's expression, she guessed that he'd forgotten about that part. "Not a good move, Smallville. It's okay. You can put your name on my gift- but you've got to wrap it. I've never been good at that."
While Lois dragged decorations from her trunk to the barn, Clark went into the house to wrap the gift. He was relieved that the tension that had been apparent the last time he and Lois were together had dissipated. She was as brash and bossy as before. He wasn't sure if he should be upset about that or not.
He'd been pretty busy since their "tumble in the field" last week, so he hadn't put much thought into what happened… purposely busy, that is. Lois was tall for a girl, and after she'd thrown him to the ground, he realized that she was pretty strong as well. He didn't dissolve into puddles of incoherency like he used to do around Lana, and even though he would never admit it; he was beginning to enjoy their bantering.
Placing another piece of tape on the ill-wrapped package, he set it to the side and went out to the barn to help.
Lois was glad that Clark had left her alone for a few minutes. Acting as if seeing Clark shirtless was nothing of importance left her a bit flustered. She wrapped a string of white lights around a wooden banister, briefly wondering if the Kent's had any extra extension cords.
She smiled to herself. There was something about the way Clark refused to be intimidated by her that made her enjoy picking on him. Her smile turned into a frown as she searched for a place the DJ could set up. There was that little issue of the kiss. They should probably talk about that. She had been trying to avoid feeling guilty about kissing her cousin's crush since it happened. Things between her and Clark had always been playful. She'd even threatened to break his legs if he'd hurt Chloe, but now she was in danger of doing the same. That probably meant she'd have to break her own legs, she mused, chuckling to herself.
"What's so funny?"
Lois jumped at the voice. She hadn't heard him return. "Nothing… We're going to need a table for the DJ over here."
"DJ? Exactly how many people did you invite to this thing."
"Let's see… a couple people from my dorm - My roommate might come, but I wouldn't expect anyone else from Met U to want to make that drive – and everyone at your school. Why are you looking at me like that? It's not like they'll all show up!"
"You don't know Smallville very well. Of course they'll show up. What else have they got to do?"
"Oh. Well in that case we might need a few more refreshments. What've you got in the fridge?"
Clark sighed. With Lois around, he had a pretty good feeling that things would get out of control.
When they had finished the decorations, Clark went inside to shower while Lois helped the DJ finish setting up his stand. He was expecting the recruiter to come in a half an hour – at 7:30 – and the party probably wouldn't get started until 8:30 when the meeting was over… at least, that's what he hoped.
He should have learned from the last time Lois was at the house that he needed to lock the bathroom door when he was inside, but habits are hard to break. Once again, he was shocked when he heard the door open and close.
"Lois!"
"Hey, relax. I closed the door so the heat wouldn't escape. I'd forgotten that you're out to set the record for longest shower. Do you think you could leave some hot water for me?"
Clark shut off the water and wrapped a towel around his waist. She was incorrigible. Stepping out of the tub, he moved toward the door, grabbing his clothes on the way.
Lois shrugged apologetically when he glared at her and reached to turn the water back on.
Clark was fiddling with his tie in front of the bathroom mirror when Lois entered with a brush in her hand; her hair still damp from her shower.
She moved in-between him and the mirror and took the tie from him.
"Thanks. My mom usually helps me with that," Clark said, blushing slightly with the confession.
"Hmm." Lois grunted, shaking her head. "Princeton? Are you really thinking of going that far away? I would think that a guy who still has trouble tying his own tie would stay closer to home."
"They have a great football program…" he offered sheepishly.
Lois finished the knot and patted his chest. "There you go."
Clark grinned and caught her hand to show his gratitude. Their eyes met and the realization of how close they were to one another became apparent on both of their faces. Letting go of her hand, he stepped back. "We should talk."
"I know," Lois agreed. "But after the party."
Clark nodded and moved into the hall. The doorbell rang as he reached the top of the stairs.
"Clark," Lois called. When he stopped and looked at her, her head was poking out of the bathroom, she smiled. "Good luck."
Clark ran a hand through his hair and sighed. If only he had trusted his instincts, he thought, looking over the mess that used to be the Kent's barn. Things had indeed gotten out of control, but he couldn't really blame that on Lois. The whole possession thing was just another Smallville mishap. Unfortunately, when the doorbell rang, it hadn't been the Princeton guy. Instead, at the door were a couple of early arrivers, excited about the prospect of a party. They were freshmen, and according to Lois, unaware that being the first to arrive at a party was worse than showing up after the guest of honor. With that warning, she sent them off to work. Unfortunately, she got a '911' page from Lana and ran off to see what the trouble was, leaving Clark to manage the party and prepare for the recruiter on his own.
Things actually got a little hazy after that. With all the people showing up, and the recruiter being late, things got hectic. At some point the girls returned, dressed for a Goth party… and then the 'fun' began.
It turned out that Lana was possessed by some ancient witch who decided to awaken two of her cronies in the bodies of Lois and Chloe. After wrecking havoc, a final showdown at the caves allowed Clark to 'exorcise' the witches with the help of the crystals. The best part was, they didn't remember a thing.
Clark was startled out of his thoughts when he heard the sound of a car door slamming shut. Moments later the screen door to the house opened and closed. Whoever it was must have been looking for his parents. Clark turned back to the barn. His punishment was to clean the barn… at normal speed. Noticing a pair of underwear hanging over the banister of the loft, he pulled his heavy-duty work gloves out of his back pocket. Right now, shoveling cow pies seemed much more appealing.
As he tied off the first garbage bag, someone cleared his or her throat to get his attention. Looking down from the loft, he saw Lois gazing up at him; her hands tucked in her back pockets.
"You know," he began, walking down the steps. "There is a theory out there about criminals who return to the scene of a crime…"
Lois smiled in spite of her mood. He was definitely getting better at making snide comments. "I just got done apologizing to your folks."
Clark's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Really?" He didn't take Lois to be the type that had a lot of respect for authority figures.
Lois knew what he was thinking. "Hey, I told you before that I liked your mom. Besides, I don't want them getting the wrong idea about me."
"Oh?" Clark fought the impulse to laugh. "The wrong idea, huh… Did they accept?"
Lois glared at him, then rolled her eyes. "Yes… then hinted that you could use a hand out here."
She began to pace.
"Listen, I don't have a clue what happened during that whole Quantum Leap episode. Judging by the clothes I had on when I woke up, I probably don't want to know… The whole Witches of Eastwick thing is kinda weird… I don't do very well with 'out of control'. I like things to go by my terms… and I'm a little freaked out about it all. One day, I'll get up enough nerve to ask you about what I did while… Anyway, things didn't go quite as planned with the party… and…"
"And?" Clark urged, smiling.
"Look, this is not my thing."
"This?"
"Apologizing," she said through her teeth. "And twice in one day is a record for me so shut up and let me finish… I'm sorry. About the recruiter, the party, and everything. You know, you could have your friend Lex make a call for you. Straighten this whole mess out…"
Clark shook his head. "No, I think I want to do this one on my own…"
Lois stopped pacing and faced him. "I still don't know what you did to get us to snap out of it."
Clark shrugged. "I was just in the right place…"
"…At the right time. Yeah, I know." Lois studied him for a moment, curiously, before deciding to let the issue drop. "Well, with that said, there is something else we need to talk about."
Remembering the judo lesson, Clark blushed.
"Oh yeah… that." He looked at the ground. "I'm sorry… I don't know what I was thi…"
"No, wait," Lois interrupted. "I'm on a roll today. Let me have a go at it. It was a momentary lapse in judgment by both of us. Freak thing… anyway, one time deal. You are my cousin's crush and," shaking her head as he tried to speak, she continued. "I know you told her that you didn't return her feelings, but until she realizes it, you're not free. It's some kind of code among friends and family… or something like that," she frowned.
Lois sighed and began pacing again. "Not that it makes a difference or anything. What I'm trying to get at is… I don't have that many friends, and in a weird way, I was starting to think we were approaching that… so what d'ya say? Can we just chock it up to passing insanity and move on?"
She held out a hand toward him.
Clark reached to shake before realizing that he still had his gloves on. Pulling them off, he grasped her had and grinned. "Deal."
"Good, because I hate awkward unspoken feelings between people. It's right up there next to awkward silences and…" Abruptly, Lois realized that they were still holding hands and quickly pulled away. She turned in a circle to gage the status of the barn. "So, you got another pair of those gloves?"
Laughing, Clark threw his pair at her and went in search for his dad's set. He was relieved that things were settling back to normal.
tbc
