Title: Cease to Amaze
Author: Nadia Mack
Timeline: Post-Lucy
Disclaimer: I Own Nothing
Author's Notes: I needed to refuel my creative juices, so I opted to do some one-shots. Hope you like and please review.

Tired… that's what she was.

Lois was tired, the sun's rays hitting her skin without regret, but she sucked it up and forced herself to carry on. It was the least she could do. She realized that working at the Talon didn't seem enough, so while Clark and his father were in Metropolis for his heart check-up, Lois made the personal decision to help out in the farm as best as she could.

Boy, was that a bad idea, but there was no backing out of it now.

Lifting another set of hay on top of another, she wiped the intense sweat off her brow. How farm boy managed to do this every morning is a complete mystery to her, she felt like she was hauling anvil.

"Lois!" she barely heard someone say behind her as she lifted another block of hay. "Here, let me." She felt a hand reach out, gripping its rope.

"What the hell!" she blurted out annoyed at the interruption. "Get your own hay!" she added, pulling the stack towards her, but she was surprised to meet resistance.

"Come on, Lois, you're tired. Let me help," Clark says, tugging the stack towards him. Clark and his father had just returned from Metropolis, and he dropped his dad off at the Talon to see his mom while Clark went ahead and headed back to the farm where he caught the sight of Lois working the barn.

To his own surprise, he was shocked to see her do it, amused that she was having a hard time, yet grateful that she's even trying.

"There's plenty more where…" and before she could even finish, he effortlessly yanked the stack right off her hands.

She sighed both in frustration and exhaustion. Not cool.

"Do you mind!" she scoffs. Must he always exude strength like that? If only he had that same confidence with girls. Sometimes she absolutely felt the urge to barf whenever he's on one of his self-absorbed pity-party trips.

"Look, I'm just trying to help," he explains as he puts the stack on top of the pile she had been compiling for the last hour, and he did so without labor.

"You could help elsewhere," she replied in quick retort.

It was Clark's turn to sigh towards her stubbornness. "You know, most girls would be thankful, but you're always doing the complete opposite of everyone else"

She shrugs her indifference towards the subject off. "So I'm not a conformist, deal with it, Smallville"

"You could at least use my name every once in a while, that's why it was given to me," he says with another sigh.

She looked up at him for a moment to contemplate the suggestion. "Umm…" she stared at him straight in the eye. "No," and spun around to grab another load.

Clark breathed out. She'll remain stubborn till the end.

"Would you at least let me help you finish this?" he recommended earnestly. He really did want to help her, he could hear her hold her ragged breaths already, and he fears she'd collapse from the heat.

Sometimes he'd wonder why a girl like Lois who lacks any kind of ambition in life can hide so much responsibility inside herself. Chloe… her baby sister Lucy… her father the General… and in some ways, his own family.

It's becoming clearer that it grates his nerves that Lois doesn't take her life as seriously as she does her friends and family.

"Lois," he continued to press. Clark wasn't going to just let her finish off his chores; not because she was fragile or anything, but because she wasn't as used to it as Clark was. "Just…"

"Fine!" she says, letting her grip on the stack go. Clark fell on the ground with a thud, and all Lois could do was laugh.

"Nice, Lane. Very mature." Clark picked himself up and dusted off his trousers before lifting the stack of hay again and putting it in its proper place. "What are you doing out here anyway?" he asks in an attempt at chit-chat. He wondered maybe if she wanted something.

Lois looked at him like he was crazy. What has she been doing? What the hell kind of question is that. Lois shifted her weight on one foot as both hands placed themselves on her hip.

"I thought I'd roll in the hay for a while," she remarked sarcastically, the annoyance in her voice incredibly evident.

Clark held a groan of never-ending frustration.

"I meant…" he began with equal annoyance. "Out here? Why are you hauling hay out here?"

Lois shrugged the question off and grabbed a bucket besides her.

"Where are you going?" Clark asks her.

"What does it look like? Betsy and I have a lunch date, care to join us?" she says with a smirk. She saw the irritation cross his face and she smiled brighter.

He threw the last stack of hay a little too forcefully that either didn't even know it. "You can be downright cold, Lois," he deemed truthfully. Ever since they've met, she's made it her mission to give him a hard time.

"Hmm…" So there really is a backbone behind all that plaid he wears. She'll never admit it, but she absolutely enjoys giving him a hard time, people around him do so little of it anyhow. "What's got your jock straps all tied in a bunch?"

Clark cringed at the metaphor.

"What makes you think something's wrong?"

She dropped the bucket and took a couple steps forward. "Let's see…" she walks up to him, meeting his eyes with his own. "You're moody, irritated, and lack any kind of clothing sty…"

"Okay, Lois, that's enough thanks," he interrupted her with vigor. "And no, nothing's wrong with me, just you"

"Me!" She points to herself. "What'd I do?" She asks, reacting so innocently. "I can't help that you like plaid so much…"

"No… that's not what I meant"

"Oh, so it's the male PMS?"

"Lois!" he groaned.

"God, Clark. Relax for a second, would you." She turned to grab the bucket. "The guy needs to get laid" she commented a little too out loud.

"Excuse me!" Clark bolted into the barn.

Lois spun around. "What?"

"What did you just say to me?"

Her eyes creased, recalling the last few minutes. "Uh… relax?"

"No," he eyed her angrily. "After that?"

Then she grinned and Clark knew she wasn't even a bit forward by it. "Oh yeah, the getting laid part." She pats his shoulder. "Only you have control of that," she says with a wink.

"Don't you take anything seriously?" Clark knew he shouldn't have asked it, because he's learned that pinning Lois down is like trying to hit a bull's eye from a hundred miles away. She does take things seriously, just hardly ever with him.

"Not when it isn't called for," she answered quite honestly.

"So what, you've made it your personal mission to destroy my life?" That was incredibly low and farthest from the truth, but he wanted to make her just as uncomfortable as she made him.

Unfortunately for him, it still didn't work, because he saw only a smile grace her lips as she worked Betsy's milk. Why can't words ever hurt her as it so easily does him?

"I'm not going to apologize just because I like to tell the truth," she revealed to him, not fooling around this time.

Clark suddenly felt really small, but it still didn't take away how much many of her words affected him.

"But…" he heard her add. Clark pops his head up to meet her gaze as she continued. "I am sorry for hurting your feelings," she apologized softly.

Clark was dumbstruck with surprise. Every signal in his mind concludes that she was honest and sincere, and he guessed he just wasn't prepared for just how serious Lois Lane can be.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, at least for Clark because it seems that Lois has adjusted well in the farm life, but he wouldn't dare say anything about it in front of her because he knew she'd deny it.

"I've never done it," Clark found himself suddenly confessing.

Lois looked up with a bemused smile. "Huh?"

"You know," Clark says shifting inconveniently. "Mak… ing…" A pause. "Love," he finished off rather quickly.

Lois could only chuckle at his inexperience, making Clark even more inferior. "Forget that I even said anything," he took back.

"No, Clark. I'm sorry." She stood up and headed in front of him. "I didn't mean to come out all insensitive there," she explains.

Clark is unconvinced. "Right, and that laugh sure wasn't indicating it," he replies sarcastically.

Lois couldn't help but smile at his reply.

"Sex is nothing to be embarrassed about"

"Not for you"

"Oh, is that how you think of me?"

"I didn't mean it like that." Clark hadn't meant to accuse her of anything, she just happened to make him say things he normally wouldn't say… to anyone.

"Look, I'm not going to pretend I know what it's like for you. To be honest, it's been a while," she admitted.

Clark raised an eyebrow at the revelation. Half of him thinking how far out of league she is for him, and the other half, infinitely curious to hear what she has to say.

Before either of them realized it, they silently walked back to the house. Lois washed her hands in the kitchen sink as Clark sat on a stool next to the counter.

"What was it like for you?" he found himself asking. "Your first time, I mean," he asks, embarrassed to openly ask the question to someone he never really thought of even asking in the first place.

Lois looks to him, her eyes ceasing up as his did moments ago. She remained silent and Clark was beginning to think he crossed the line.

"In general or in specifics?" She asks him in confirmation.

Clark was a bit taken aback. Lois was actually going to talk with him about this.

"You serious?" He wanted to be absolutely sure first.

She rolled her eyes. "Do I look like I'm joking?"

A smile broke through Clark's nervous veneer. "I don't know," he shrugged. "It's hard to tell with you sometimes," he teased.

Lois nodded in satisfaction, giving the guy credit for keeping up with her. She signaled her head towards living room. Clark followed and they both sat on opposite ends. Lois contemplated her thoughts in an attempt to explain it without making it sound complicated or intricate.

"When I was twelve, I've been in so many different countries, the harsher the environment, the more protective the General became," she began to share. "So… when we were stationed in California, the General put me through survival training"

"Survival training?"

She nods. "You know… basic land navigation, climbing, knife training, self defense and how to tie a knot a hundred different ways," she says, pointing out all the different things that were required to learn.

Clark nods his understanding.

"Well, that went on for four years"

"I still don't get…"

"Let me finish," she stops him with her hand to his face. Clark grins at her dominant nature. "My last year, I met this guy, and we were pretty good friends. And things got serious pretty quickly"

"Serious how?" he asked carefully.

"I liked him… a lot actually, but did I love him?" She shook her head. "No, I wasn't," she admitted regretfully. She took a deep breath before she continued. "Anyway, the last night before we headed back home, he said he was in love with me and that he wanted me to be his first"

Clark rolled his eyes. "That's a bad line"

Lois responded with a low chuckle. "Yeah, well, I fell for it hook, line and sinker"

"Do you regret it?"

Lois took a moment to herself before answering. "Yes"

"I'm sorry"

"Don't be"

"So I guess it didn't turn out how you expected it to"

"Most things in life don't turn out how we expect it to." She lifted her knees to her chest and watched to him thoughtfully. "Clark, you're first time is either going to be the most amazing experience, or a complete disaster… and it'll be complicated either way"

Clark leaned back against the couch and thought about her words. "Wow," he expressed whole-heartedly. Clark merely glanced at Lois, expecting a clever retort, but none came. She simply smiled at him.

"Sorry," he says sincerely. "I'm not used to this Lois Lane," he smiled. He didn't need to say anything more. The silent eye contact between them was enough to acknowledge how thankful he was for her to share the very personal experience. He knew it was something she didn't do often.

After another moment of silence, Clark decided it was time to speak up.

"Want to watch a movie?"

Lois sighed her head up high. "Tell me it's not To Kill a Mockingbird again?"

Clark looks at her defensively. "What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing," she says resolutely. Then, "Nothing except the fact that we've watched it like… seven times already."

"Sev…" He paused to sit straighter. "It's a perfectly good movie"

"Never said it wasn't"

"Well, I like it"

"I prefer the book more," she countered.

Clark is semi-surprised. "You read To Kill a Mockingbird?" She nods. "By your own free will?"

Lois rolls her eyes. "Yes!" She grabbed a couch pillow and hit him with it. "Don't act so surprised"

"You never cease to amaze me, Lois"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah"

She waved off his compliment like it meant nothing and the action bothered him. Why couldn't she just take a compliment? Clark turned to the television and pressed play on the remote. He shifted uncomfortably on the couch because he realized that Lois was right, they have been watching 'To Kill a Mockingbird' many times; it never left the DVD Player.

But to his continued surprise and silent thanks, she watched it with him anyhow.

"Ugh! Idiots!" Lois berated the screen.

Clark looks at her amused.

"What?" She says when she saw him staring at her.

Clark kept still and just returned her question with a smile. It was always fun watching a movie with her, even if it was the same film over and over again. Somehow, she made every viewing a new experience. He guessed because her mind was always working 24/7 that she often finds newer things to talk about.

By the end of the movie, Clark had fallen asleep as Lois wiped the tears from her eyes. She's such a sap. She looked over to her companion and smirked at his sleeping position. What seemed like bad for your back; seemed perfect for Clark whose head bowed in front of him, arms crossed and sitting upright on the couch.

It was rather entertaining for Lois.

She got up, stretched her muscles and proceeded to help Clark lie down, despite his sleeping state. Once she miraculously managed to lay him on his back, she grabbed a nearby blanket and wrapped him under it.

Even though she's made it her own personal hobby to give him a hard time, it's hard not to notice his charming, innocent and polite tendencies. Softly running a hand through his hair, she leaned forward and kissed his forehead, whispering a 'thank you' to his ear before getting up and heading to bed herself.

Once she was gone, Clark opened his eyes and quietly listened to her jump into bed. He touched his forehead where Lois' lips pressed just moments ago.

She just never ceases to amaze.

Upstairs, the thought runs both ways.

The End