Part 4 of 4

It's Lois' last day in Smallville and Clark was more than a little sad to see her go. Sure, she'll be back this summer and then to Metropolis in the fall, but that knowledge alone didn't quell his stomach from feeling all kinds of disorienting knots.

"You sure you don't want to come with me?" Chloe asked as Clark looked up from his desk at The Torch.

"I'm sure," he lied.

"Look, Clark, about what happened a few days ago. I won't stop you," she sincerely admitted.

Clark stared at her in bewilderment and thought back to a few days ago. He smiled internally as he remembered him and Lois taking Chloe home, where she had passed out ten minutes earlier. They spoke to each other the whole way home that night, and a true friendship was forged.

Now back to the present, Lois was leaving, and he wasn't so fond by that fact at all.

"What do you mean, Chloe?"

"I mean…about Lois. I've had some real honest to God self evaluation the last couple of days, and when it comes right down to it, I love you guys. You're both my very best friends, and if you want to, you know, ask her out or something, don't let me stop you."

Clark blinked away his surprise. "Really?"

Chloe just smiled genuinely at him. "Really," she assured. "Now let's hang with her by our poor excuse of a bus stop."

They laugh and headed out.

When they reached their destination, they already saw Lois sitting cross-legged by the side of the road.

"Hey there, cuz!" Chloe greeted with a smile, followed by Clark.

"Hey," he says.

"Hey to you both, too." Lois got up and hugged her cousin. "I'll be back, okay, so try to stay out of trouble at least until I get to brew the trouble with you"

Chloe laughs. "Yeah, you too"

As the cousin's separate, Lois and Clark awkwardly stood in front of each other. Chloe found that this was her cue to leave and makes up some horrid excuse to make her exit. "I've got an article to write," she declared, getting surprised looks from her friends.

"Wait a second," Lois says, lifting a finger and rushing past Clark and towards Chloe.

"Later cousin!" Chloe pressed on the gas and speeded off.

Lois just stood there flabbergasted when suddenly her phone rings. Rolling her eyes, the distinct ringtone she used to differentiate callers indicated who it was. She flipped her cell open and placed it to her ear. "Chlo… Eee…" she answered.

"Hi Lois," she replied, her voice filled with crazy enthusiasm.

"Why'd you leave?" Lois says monotonously.

"So you and Clark can have some alone time," she answered like it had been the simplest question in the world.

Behind them, Clark forced his ears not to hear anything. He hadn't had a clue that Chloe would pull a stunt like this.

"What makes you think we needed to be alone?" she expressed in denial.

"I can tell you like him"

Lois laughs out loud but then immediately silenced her laughter when she saw Clark look at her from the corner of her eye.

"Chloe," she whispered to her with heavy annoyance. "You can't be serious. Turn around right now!" she ordered unconvincingly. All she heard was meek laughter on the other end. "Oh, you're so going to get it, little cousin, mark my words." Lois hung up and turned around to face Clark Kent.

"So…" Clark says, unsure of where to begin while silently cursing Chloe for her little stunt. He knew there were ulterior motives as to why she urged him to come. So why wasn't he all that mad?

"So…" she replied uncharacteristically without anything to say.

Another moment passed, and there was still nothing.

"Well, this is awkward," he concluded, dying to break the silence.

"Did you have anything to do with this?" she crossed her arms and quirked an eyebrow.

Clark looked at her surprisingly but held his ground. "Me? No way, I'm just an innocent bystander," he defended truthfully yet eventually feeling grateful to his best friend nonetheless. This wasn't exactly what he had in mind, but he'll take whatever he can get.

"Uh huh"

"You don't believe me?" he says, feigning offense.

"I didn't say anything"

"Yes you did," he argued.

And then Clark noticed something peculiar. "Where's your dad?" He saw that it was only Lois waiting for the bus.

"Got called in, I'm sure it's another matter of 'national security' so I'm headed back to Europe and he'll meet with me later"

"You do that alone a lot?" he asks curiously.

"Often, actually"

"That's pretty amazing"

She shook her head. "Not really"

"Are you always so hard to converse with, I thought we got along fine the other night"

"I had no idea I was under close observation," she replied, their flirting coming in strong and hard.

"I didn't mean it like…"

"I'm just teasing," she interrupted. "I know what you meant"

And then they were met again with another long silence. This was getting a bit ridiculous for the both of them.

"This is awkward," Lois finally agreed.

"See!"

And they share a nice laugh. Clark this time put together all the courage he had and decided to just go for it. What did he have to lose?

Probably his integrity… but he could live with that.

"You think… maybe we could… uh… dinner… um… breakfast, lunch… I don't know, some kind of food get together when you… get back," he fumbled mercilessly with words. He was normally not this pathetic.

"I don't know, Clark, was there a question somewhere in that sentence?" she smiled at him, amused at his attempt to ask her out.

"Hey, look…" he was about to argue with her when he realized… "You called me Clark"

"That is your name, isn't it?"

Clark smiled and felt a little more confidently and recomposed himself to try again. "Would you go out with me?" he finally managed to ask without clumsiness.

They stare into each others eyes for another moment, almost oblivious to the bus that just parked right beside them.

"That'd be my ride," she says, noticing the bus' arrival.

"You haven't answered my question." If there was a power he needed, it was the gift to read her thoughts. He tried one more time. "Will you go out with me, Lois Lane?" He took a few steps closer to her.

She didn't move, and he took that as a good sign. He cupped her face in his hands and slowly leaned in to kiss her. He felt his kiss reciprocated when she returned it and he felt all the uncertainty fly away now that he knew that she felt something for him.

Parting, "Is that a yes?" he says, their foreheads touching.

"If you say so," says Lois lost in the moment, temporarily wondering where that answer had suddenly come from.

He chuckled, the feelings she invoked in him was new and intoxicating.

"I'll see you when you get settled in then," he concluded, letting her go from his embrace, even though he didn't want to.

Lois finally fell out of her trance and subconsciously agreed to whatever he proposed. She smiled at him before giving him a light punch to the arm. "Seeya'around, Smallville." She walked backwards, passing her duffle bag to the driver to put in the bottom compartment all the while keeping eye contact with Clark Kent.

"Take care of Chloe for me," she says aloud, and then winked at him before climbing the steps of the bus and mouthing a 'Wow' to herself afterwards.

Clark nodded his head and yelled back to her. "I will!"

He waved another goodbye, but the beauty of watching her leave was knowing that it wasn't goodbye. He'll see her again soon, and when the time is right, which he knew now was closer than ever, he's going to take the leap of faith…

"… And then they lived happily ever after," she finished, sweeping her hand through her sleeping son's soft black hair. She leaned forward and kissed him softly on the forehead. "I love you." She smiled when she realized she wasn't alone in the room.

Without turning, "How long have you been standing there?" she says to the figure leaning on the doorframe.

He smiled widely. "Long enough to want to sweep you off your feet," he says romantically. He spent the last few minutes watching his wife share a story to their four year old son to get him to sleep.

She finally turns around and walks towards him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she met him face to face.

In return, he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her lovingly. "What were you telling him?" he asks, only catching the tail end of her story.

She raised her eyebrows and grinned. "Oh, just the story of how we met," she replied nonchalantly.

"Really?" he says, grinning as well. "I don't remember us meeting like that"

"Hmm…" she reacted, kissing him lightly on the lips. "Somehow, telling our son that I met his father buck naked in the middle of a field without any memory of whom he is would be more than enough to scar him for life"

"He's going to find out eventually," he says, kissing her back.

"That's why it's preferable to tell him when he's older," she smiled.

"Oh yeah, when would that be?" he wondered amusingly.

"Oh, I don't know… twenty five at least," she replied teasingly.

"Lois!" he whispered strongly, unable to rid the smile off his face. He and Lois have been married eight years, been together for ten, and they still find each other insatiable and happy.

"Clark!" she mockingly returns.

"I love you Mrs. Kent," he never tire telling her.

She kisses him again. "I love you back, Mr. Kent." She releases herself from his embrace as he walks quietly toward their son to bid him goodnight. "Even after all these years, I still can't believe that he's ours," he revealed, all the love in the world showing in his soft voice.

"Me too," she whispered in return.

Someone once told them that 'kids are the future. An affirmation and a declaration of faith in what is to come. Faith in the future.' Their child was living proof of that.

Clark stood up and took one last look towards his son for the night; he made his way back to his wife's side and held her hands tightly with his own.

"Let's go to bed"

She smiled, lifting his hands to kiss them lightly.

"Right behind you, Smallville"

The End