so... i lied.
i said there were gonna be a few more chapters of this. but there's not. this is it. this is the end of Lois's POV of the 2nd installment of the Lilies trilogy.
but never fear. next up is Martha's POV, a short, probably 5 part POV. then comes the much anticipated (at least by me and Marcy) Clark POV, which is probably gonna be around 8 chapters.
only after Clark's POV will i start the 3rd and final installment.
so, i hope you've enjoyed Lois's POV and will continue to follow this story through the other POVs and final part of the trilogy. and thanks so much for the support and feedback throughout this story and always. it's appreciated more than any of you will ever know.
alright, here we go...
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Author: Alison
Disclaimer: Characters belong to DC, CW, AlMiles, etc., etc., etc. I only own the story and a pre-order confirmation number for the second season of The Office. I'm forever in love with John Krasinski. He makes me laugh and is just so gosh darn cute to boot.
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Chapter 12
It always felt like going home. She could instantly flash to it in her mind and it always felt the same.
The little dirt lane off the main road had unintentionally become the path to her future, though she wouldn't realize it until much later in life.
She was exhausted. She was also nervous.
But she was even more anxious.
During the last twenty-four hours, in the quest to discover more about his father, she actually discovered more about herself.
Up until now everything she tried to do was attempt to make him happy. It was all to make him feel better.
So who could've ever imagined it'd be his ex-girlfriend to point out the fact that all of her tears and heartache were for him.
Sure, she was upset over losing Mr. Kent, and she'd mourned the loss of him. But this pain, this grief, it came from much deeper. It was overwhelming at times and she had no clue why she felt that way.
But Lana's words echoed in her head all night and throughout the morning during her shift at the Talon.
She'd been crying for him.
It was all for him.
When she finally realized it, she smiled. It was as if a huge weight had been lifted. Perhaps it was because her subconscious knew and had been trying to break through. Perhaps it was because she secretly knew everyone around her knew. Or maybe, just maybe, it's because she just couldn't accept it.
She wanted to see him. She wanted to see his reaction. But she also didn't want to seem anxious in front of him.
After all, to him she was just Lois.
She'd been nervous all day. During her morning Talon shift, she dropped three cups of coffee and forgot to give change to five people. Mrs. Kent found it all pretty humorous when she stopped by around noon. She simply smiled at Lois and told her not to worry, that everything happens for a reason. She looked sheepishly up at his mother and said, "You mean, there's a reason I can't hang on to a single coffee cup today?"
Mrs. Kent grinned, took Lois's hand in hers, looked in her eyes and said, "Lois, I think you already know the answer to that question."
And she did. But that didn't mean she was going to admit the answer.
Even last night when she, Chloe and Lana were gathered around her kitchen island working on the scrapbook, she wouldn't dare admit why she was staring so long at the pictures of Clark, especially those of him with his dad. Part of her envied his family. She longed for the family photos and informal pictures of husbands kissing wives, fathers hugging sons, and just normal family life.
Part of her knew, even if it was deep down, that what she really longed for was his family.
As Chloe glued down the articles from various newspapers about Mr. Kent's life and Lana labeled several pages and pictures, Lois poured over the pictures from the old shoebox, rifling through them to find the right ones. They stayed up until three in the morning putting it all together. All of them ended up crashing in her apartment until they had to be at work or school, and Chloe had to be back in Metropolis.
That night changed Lois. She not only saw Clark in a new light, through the pictures, stories of his father and his family, but she also saw Lana differently. Sure, the girl had made some mistakes and bad decisions in her life, an example being her attraction to and subsequent relationship with Lex.
But, no matter how foolish Lana could seem, that night gave Lois newfound respect for her. Lana never once tried to talk Lois out of her feelings. She never seemed jealous. She never acted like it upset her, even though Lois was sure it did. Lana also didn't try to talk Lois into letting all of them be there when she gave him the scrapbook.
No, Chloe and Lana said from the very start of the evening, after Chloe helped Lois's tears subside, that she should be the one to give him the book. After all, it was her idea. And they all knew that Lois had grown closer to Clark in the last few weeks than any of the rest of them.
Her car slowly came to a halt outside the barn. He might not be at home. He could be in the house. But her gut was telling her exactly where he was.
And Lois Lane never ignored her gut.
She grabbed the package on the passenger seat next to her and stepped out of the car, softly closing the door and walking into the barn.
It was late afternoon and the sunlight filtered through the cracks in the barn walls as she made her way, slowly, up the steps to his loft.
He was sitting on the couch reading. Her stomach flipped and her heart skipped more than a beat as she paused at the top of the landing.
The sunlight shone all around him, reflecting off his illustrious black hair. He really was handsome. He really was…
She was completely lost. She just wanted to hug him.
He looked up at her and smiled, setting his book next to him on the old sofa.
It was that beautiful Kent smile she'd come to know, love and long for. She couldn't help but smile, too.
"Lois. I was hoping to see you today."
What? He was hoping to see her?
What did that mean? Did it mean anything at all? Why would he want to see her? Did he like her?
She smiled even more as she spoke.
"Really?"
Great job, Lane. That can only get you a yes or no answer.
"Yep. I was going to ask you if you-- What's that?"
He pointed to the brown paper wrapped and gold ribbon tied package in her hand.
"This? Oh, um. It's for you."
She walked closer and shoved it a little harder at him than she meant.
But what was he going to ask? He wanted to ask if she would what?
Argh. Men and their one-track minds. Apparently, multi-tasking only evolved with the female race.
"For me?" He smiled sideways and narrowed his eyes. "It's not my birthday and Christmas has come and gone. So…why a gift?"
She crossed her arms across her chest and rolled her eyes.
"Because I wanted to give you a gift, okay? So, just open it."
He grinned and shook his head as he began to tear into the brown paper, removing the gold ribbon and dropping it on the old wooden floor.
She stood nervously, anticipating his reaction.
As he removed the last bit of wrapping, his hands suddenly stopped as he stared in silence at the front cover of the leather bound scrapbook.
In the slot on the cover was the picture of his father from the frame he'd broken.
He looked up at her, then back down to the picture.
"Lois…"
She could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She couldn't swallow. Her throat felt dry. Was she even breathing?
He stood, still staring at the picture.
"It's sort of a collection of his life. Pictures, articles, bits of his infamous wisdom, everything he's done, everything he's accomplished. Including…" She paused, not certain if she should even say it. She took a breath. "Including his greatest accomplishment."
He began to flip through the book as he spoke.
"His senate run?"
She lightly sighed and smiled.
"No. You."
She bit her lip as he looked up at her and smiled. He turned and slowly walked to the window, flipping through the album.
He stopped and turned back to her.
"Lois…no one's ever done anything like this for me."
She laughed softly to herself. She knew the feeling.
She slowly walked closer to him. He set the scrapbook on his desk near the window, then ran his hand through his thick black hair.
"I mean…Lois…"
She smiled and put her hand on his arm. The flutter was building. She was staring into his eyes. She should've been terrified. She should've laughed nervously and run away by now.
But she didn't. She couldn't even if she wanted to.
Because it all felt right. Everything felt right.
It all felt like home.
The sunlight shone brightly on their faces through the window as he slowly leaned in to her. She moved closer to him. They were inches apart.
She wanted to kiss him.
She was surprised only by the fact that she wasn't terrified of her feelings anymore.
She leaned in. He leaned in.
This was crazy. Only a few short weeks ago and she would've had herself declared legally insane for this.
But he was so cute, so handsome, so…Clark.
He was moving closer. He closed his eyes.
She followed and slowly closed her eyes. She could feel his breath on her lips. She could almost feel his lips. She could almost—
"Lois!"
Her eyes shot open as she gasped, not realizing she'd been holding her breath.
Clark quickly stepped away from her as Chloe ran up the stairs, out of breath, to the loft.
Chloe? What was she doing there?
Well, that just ruined the moment.
This had better be important or one of these days Chloe would be interrupted just as she was on the verge of—
"Chloe, what's wrong?"
Clark rushed over to her as they both sat on the old sofa.
Chloe put a hand on her chest attempting to catch her breath as she looked from Clark to Lois.
"Lois, it's Lucy."
Lois quickly walked over to the couch, squatting next to Chloe and avoiding eye contact with Clark.
"Whatd'ya mean? What's going on?"
"I got a phone call this afternoon from Lucy. She's in trouble, Lois."
Great. Not this again.
Lois rolled her eyes and sat on the couch next to her cousin.
"When is she not in trouble?"
Chloe shook her head.
"No, Lois. This is real. And it's much worse than last time." She paused and turned to Lois. "Your father's in trouble, too."
What?
"Chlo, what are you talking about? What's happened to them?"
"I traced the phone call from Lucy to none other than our favorite Swiss kidnapper and bouncer, Marcus Becker."
Lois closed her eyes and shook her head.
If Lucy was still involved with that guy…
"The guy that kidnapped me and Lucy?"
"That's the one. I traced Lucy's call to a cell phone registered to him."
"I should've known. I should've known something like this was going to happen again. And now she's dragging you into it? I can't believe she called you and not me."
"She said she just didn't want you to be disappointed in her anymore."
Clark reached around Chloe and put a hand on Lois's arm.
"Lois, look, we'll figure this out. There has to be a logical explanation for all of this." He looked at Chloe. "You said she's in trouble. What kind of trouble?"
"That's the thing. According to Lucy, she and Becker were working with a notorious crime syndicate based out of Frankfurt, Germany, when something went incredibly wrong. Now, they're both being held for ransom. When word got to the General that Lucy had been kidnapped, he sent out a covert ops task force to find her. But, he went with them." She stopped and looked at Lois. "That was two weeks ago. No one's heard from him since."
What was happening?
She didn't ask for any of this. Yet, for some reason, her family kept falling apart.
She felt his touch on her arm. She could feel the warmth of his hand through her sweater. She didn't want to do what she was about to do.
But she had to.
She quickly stood, his hand falling from her arm. Her mind was racing. There were a million things she had to do.
She walked towards the stairs.
"Lois, where are you going?"
His voice. She loved to hear his voice. It was usually there when she wanted it, but always there when she needed it.
Slowly, she turned to look at him. He had stood. He looked as if he wanted to help, as if he wanted to go with her.
"I'm going to find my family."
She paused for a minute looking at him. How she'd give anything to rush over and hug him. How she'd give anything to run over and kiss him.
But she could already feel the tears. And she knew she had only one option.
So, she turned and quickly rushed down the steps. She could hear Chloe shouting her name from the loft, but she couldn't stop. She ran out of the barn to her car, hopped in and started the engine. She backed around the driveway, put the car in drive and sped through the gravel as Clark ran out of the barn door as she drove by. She only glanced at him briefly.
She could still feel his breath on hers. She could still almost feel his lips.
She could still feel him.
As she sped down the little dirt lane, she couldn't stop thinking of how she was going to save her sister and find her father. But, at the same time, she also couldn't stop watching him in the rearview mirror.
Because for the first time in her life, she was torn between needing to go and wanting to stay.
THE END
Watch for Martha's POV to And Then There Were Two followed by Clark's POV to the story. After Clark's POV, stay tuned for the as yet untitled final installment in this Lilies trilogy, also with multiple POVs (but starting with Lois's POV).
