Chapter 9: The Day After

In the barn, climbing up the steps. "Clark! Honey, you here?" Martha called out.

"Yeah, Mom"

"Are you all right, you've been rather..." she tries to think of the word "... excited." Since his return from his unscheduled trip to Metropolis, Clark has been acting differently.

Clark looks at her, almost blushing.

"Umm... I took your advice and told Lois how I felt"

Martha glanced at him in surprise.

"Oh... well... how did it go?" She'd known for the past month that her son has been having strong feelings for Lois Lane, but she never really thought he'd actually go through with it. Maybe this was different. Everything about Lois and Clark was different, unique somehow.

Clark could only look at her smiling.

"I see," she nodded her head in relief. "I take it that Lois felt the same way?" He didn't have to answer the question because she already knew, but it didn't hurt to hear it said verbally aloud.

Before Clark had a chance to answer, another presence appeared in the barn.

"Hello?"

Martha looked down from the loft. "Lois," she says.

"Hi Mrs. Kent," she replied. "If this is a bad time, I could come back later"

Martha looked away from Lois and faced Clark, he shook his head silently telling her not to let Lois leave. Martha was more than happy to leave the two together to talk. She looked back towards Lois.

"Not at all, Lois. Why don't you come up, I was just leaving"

Lois did what she was told. Martha Kent would probably be the only other adult figure in Lois Lane's life that she harbored great respect for.

She made her way slowly up the stairs before brushing into Martha's shoulder as she made her way down. She caught the older lady turn.

"While you're here, you should join us for dinner"

"Mrs. Kent," she beamed. "I'd love to but I don't want to intrude"

"You're not intruding," a male voice called out from the top stairs. Both ladies turned to see Clark leaning on the rails with a smirk on his face.

Lois smirked right on back.

"Smooth, Smallville," she says aloud. "Tag-teaming me with your mom, I didn't know you could be so sneaky"

"There's a lot you don't know about me," he shot back playfully.

Martha watched the scene play out before her with great interest and amusement. If she didn't know better, her son was actually teasing Lois. To her greater surprise, neither seemed to be bothered that she was standing right there.

Lois turned her attention back to Martha, succumbing to the Kent Family dinner.

"I'd love to join you guys for dinner"

Martha smiled greatly. "It's settled then," she responded enthusiastically. She looked up to Clark. "Be down in a few minutes?"

Clark nods.

"Just when I thought your mom couldn't get any cooler," Lois commented to herself as she watched Mrs. Kent leave the barn. She turned back to Clark only to catch him eyeing her with interest.

"I didn't expect to see you so soon." He stayed where he was as he stared down at Lois on the stairs.

She didn't make a move. "I spent the night at Chloe's," she answered rather abruptly - still processing everything that has happened in the last two days. "To my complete and utter surprise, she already knew everything before I could even say 'Hey!'"

"You went to see Chloe?" Clark wasn't quite sure if he should be worried. He hadn't gotten to the part where Chloe had been the deciding factor to which convinced him to go, or run, to Metropolis and confess his feelings. Then again, Lois didn't look upset.

"I hardly ever really keep anything from her, this..." she gestured between her and Clark. "... is no exception"

"I was going to tell you"

One step up. "I'm glad you didn't." She raises her eyebrows, which came with a look of gratitude. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that we we're both thinking on the same wavelength," she assured him. "But I've got to hand it to you, Smallville, there was a lot I didn't see coming yesterday, but Chloe..." she shook her head in continued amazement. "I'm grateful," she finally intended to say before she went off on a tangent. She went to Chloe's house to figure things out, and she was 99.9 sure that she would be on the receiving end of a very angry Chloe Sullivan, but to her surprise, which was happening a lot lately, it went the complete opposite.

Now there they were, in his loft, completely devoid of any outside interference.

Clark breaks the momentary silence.

"This is a little awkward, isn't it?" Stepping a bit closer to her.

"A little"

"I'm no expert. I'm not even an amateur. I'm more like a third time beginner at this," he admitted, almost shamefully.

"Don't worry, it's new to me too," she says assuringly.

"I find that hard to believe"

She raised an eyebrow. "I'm not one of those girls who believes in the idea of 'love at first sight'"

"Oh yeah, so what do you believe in?" He wasn't surprised at the admission.

"I believe in taking a deeper look," she answered.

"So you're a romantic pessimist," he concluded.

"No, more like a romantic realist," she corrected.

"Is that your non-subtle way of telling me to take things slow?" He says smirking.

"I didn't realize we were running a marathon," she grinned.

They both laugh.

"Is Chloe okay?" Clark asks.

"As far as I can tell. She handled it better than I did"

He smiles. "We're not doing anything wrong, you know"

"No," she agreed. "But why does it feel like I'll hurt her anyway?"

Clark looked at her in awe.

"I've never met anyone besides my parents who protected their family as fiercely as you do"

"My father, Chloe, and even Uncle Gabe are the only family I have. It's easy to just pack up and leave when there isn't anything tying you down"

"And now?"

"Well, there is this one guy," she mused. Her voice turned teasing.

"Is that right," he says, playing along. He moves closer to the stairs. "Anybody I know?"

"Maybe," climbing a couple steps forward herself.

"Would it be inappropriate of me if I kissed you?"

"I'd be offended if you didn't"

He was in front of her now.

He leans forward. "What about the other guy?" He cradles her chin with his fingers.

"What about him?"

"You'd be committing a sin," he was losing his focus, his mind was all on her.

She could sense his lips near her neck, her body suddenly frail, small even. She felt his arm slowly begin to trace around her waist, pulling her closer, pressing her to him. "He'd forgive me," she whispered.

"Eventually." His response was barely audible before they started kissing.

Then...

"KIDS! Dinner's ready!" Martha yelled out from the porch, breaking the intimacy Clark and Lois were sharing.

Almost clumsily. "We should..."

Breathing hard. "Go," she finished.

"Before anyone..."

"Way ahead of you," she chimed in.

"Right"

After they left the barn, halfway to the house, Clark stops when he feels a coldness grip his throat. He about nearly collapsed if it wasn't for Lois, who'd stop suddenly just as he did, and intertwined her hands with his own, there was a warmth that pulsated through her touch that thawed whatever it was that consumed his lungs mere seconds ago.

"Are you okay?" She looked at him with worried eyes. He didn't have to be her boyfriend to care, because she has cared about him long before anything truly tangible was realized. Did she just say boyfriend?

Breathing in. "Yeah, I'm okay... I was just..." Something was happening to him again, and he hoped that it doesn't come back.

He looked down on their hands and held it softly.

"You are so warm"

She chuckled. "That's a weird line, Smallville."

Finding his voice. "Yeah, well, I'm new at this..." He pulls her in for a quick kiss. "Bear with me"

"Patience is not my virtue," she quipped. Her face softens, the light from the moon illuminating her. She looked beautiful, he thought.

"Let's get inside," she continued, grabbing both his hands. "Your mom's cooking will cure what ails ya," she adds imitating a pirate's voice. Clark laughs, embracing her from behind as they made their way towards the house.

Whatever it was that took a hold of his lungs earlier, he wasn't going to let it keep him from enjoying a care-free evening with his girlfriend. Girlfriend... he liked the sound of that.

To be Continued...