CHAPTER TWO

Author's Notes:

Some parts might seem familiar to other fics but that was not my intention.

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Clark Kent didn't know the exact time or date he fell in love with Lois Lane. But he did know he was in love. Standing there in the caves, making the decision together to be without each other, was the hardest thing he had ever had to do. He had had to give up a lot during his life because of who he was. And Lois was just another casualty of the life he led. As the cave opened up, there was a bright light that enveloped both of them. Clark held Lois's face in his hands, gently caressing her cheeks with his thumbs. Brushing the tears away. He cannot believe Jor-El convinced him to do this. He cannot believe that he let him. As the light grew brighter and stronger he never lost his grip on Lois and never tore his eyes away from her face. He was going to love her forever. No amount of convincing could persuade him otherwise.

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The first time Clark Kent told Lois Lane he loved her she laughed at his face. The second time he said it she sighed and changed the subject. The third time he said it she looked him straight in the eye and said, "Take it back."

It was not that Lois was adverse to the idea of love. It was just that Clark was so fickle. He loved everyone. He thought everyone was fabulous, good, kind-hearted, wonderful, etc. Clark's history was a testament to that. He was in love with Lana without even meeting her, just by seeing her when he was five. An infatuation that had plagued him most his life so far. And Clark barely knew Alicia when he convinced himself that he loved her. So, when it was Clark's turn to say "I love you" to Lois, she would have none of it. He was going to have to prove it.

A year after Lana had started at Met U Clark and Lana had broken up. It was inevitable and not a surprise to anyone. The distance was too much and they had indeed grown apart. On top of that, they had nothing in common. Clark was more in love with the idea of her rather than actually in love with her. Their conversations were dull and Clark had to admit, Lana was dull and not a very good girlfriend. When Lana was accepted into Met U she hadn't even told Clark she applied nor the fact that she was moving. What bothered him the most, Clark finally allowed himself to realise, was how self-centred she was. He spent most of his time with her making sure that she was okay. She spent very little time, if any, on wondering whether Clark was okay.

Lois had settled in wonderfully in the apartment above the Talon. Any remnants of anything vaguely Lana-like had disappeared and now the apartment belonged and felt like it had always belonged to Lois. She was getting ready for her Friday night alone in front of the television, rewatching romantic comedies to lull herself to sleep and to make her escape from her tiny little life. It was on one of these Friday nights, a wet and rainy one that Clark had turned up at her door. He was thoroughly soaked but it didn't look like he felt it. When she answered the door all he said was, "Hi."

She opened the door wider to let him in. He stood in the middle of her apartment. Water dripping down his clothes. She placed a hand gently on his arm. "Clark?"

He turned to face her. The water dripping down his hair and onto her head and face. He wiped those away gently with his fingers. He fingers linger for a moment on her face, then as if he realised what he was doing, retracted them quickly.

"Do you mind if I stay here tonight?" he asked.

Lois's look made him press on. "It's just that mom and dad are in Metropolis for the weekend and it's a bit lonely in the house."

"Even with Shelby in the house," she joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Even with Shelby in the house."

"Well, then I suppose you could stay," Lois replied. "There are some towels in the bathroom and you can put your clothes in the dryer so you have something to wear tomorrow."

She made her way back to the couch, unpausing her film. Very aware of Clark's eyes watching her all the time. When she heard the bathroom door closed she breathed a sigh of relief. Farmboy was making her nervous and she didn't like it one bit.

He was surprised at how clean her bathroom was. And how her bathroom smelled of her. He slowly peeled the clothes off himself. He didn't know why he was here. He was just lonely. Sitting in his loft all night wasn't his idea of fun. He was torturing himself in the loft. Having a 'pity party' as Lois called it. Everyone had left him. Pete, Chloe, Lana. The only constants in his life so far were his parents and Lois.

"Lois," he whispered quietly.

He felt his head droop and he caught his head with his hands. Gently rubbing the self-pity from himself. He grabbed the towels from the towel rack, used one to dry himself and the other to wrap around his waist. He could have easily dried the clothes with his heat vision but thought better of it. Lois might get suspicious. He grabbed the pile of wet clothes from the bathroom floor and left the bathroom.

Lois heard him leave the bathroom and without missing a beat said, "The dryer's in the laundry. Turn left, and it's 2 doors down."

Lois's eyes never moved from the television set in front of her. It's not like she didn't like having Clark there. She would usually spend her Friday nights alone so this was different. She heard Clark walking back and then felt his presence behind her as he stood. Hesitating.

"I don't have any clothes."

Lois scoffed. "Well, you're the genius who decided not to keep dry. Ever heard of an umbrella?"

Lois stood up, looked Clark up and down and walked past him and walked into a room. She reappeared a few moments later holding out a blanket.

"I'm sorry, I don't have it in red," she said as he took the blue blanket off her. "And we're back to day one. Huh, imagine that."

Clark and Lois sat on the couch watching the film, finally getting over the slight surprise of the situation and gently moving into the comfortable banter that usually existed. Clark fell asleep before Lois and when he fell asleep she decided it was time to go to bed too. She gently moved him further into the couch, lifting his legs so that the whole of him was resting on the couch. She moved the blanket to cover him. She smiled. Having company on what was once a lonely Friday night wasn't too bad.

Subsequently, Clark had invited himself over every Friday night after that. Although, not spending the night, on his parents' orders.

"It's just you and me. Isn't it Clark?" Lois said as Clark returned to the couch after a toilet break.

Clark looked confused. "Okay, what just happened between me going to the bathroom and me returning?"

He sat beside her, the movie still going on in front of them.

"I was thinking."

"I suppose that can be strange. Especially the first time."

That remarked earned him a slight punch on the arm.

"I mean it's just you and me in Smallville. Everyone else has moved on, progressed. And me and you are stuck here. It's slightly depressing, that's all," she said as she then turned her attention back on the movie.

"Why don't you try and get out of here then?'

She sighed. "What am I going to do Clark? Up and leave and go to Met U? There's got to be more to life than that."

"Like what?"

Lois was staring at the television and Clark only saw the side of her face. And he watched her face brighten slightly.

"Like saving the world."

"I don't think they're running courses on that at Met U."

"No, I don't think so either."

She paused slightly, choosing her words carefully. "I was thinking of going back to Europe. Travel, track Lucy down, gain a world life experience."

She paused before continuing, as if she was awaiting a reaction. But Clark didn't give her one.

"Actually," she said slowly. "I wasn't just thinking about it. I'm going to go."

Big silence.

"So it'll just be me in Smallville."

"I guess so."

"It's the end."

"What?"

"Of the movie," he said as he pointed to the television screen. "It's the end of the movie."

"Yeah, it is."