Chapter 7:

They jumped apart.

"Way to go Chloe!" they heard Pete hiss. "Uh, don't mind us, we were just leaving" he said pulling Chloe out the screen door.

"Don't leave. I was just going up to bed" Lois replied quickly.

As she slid past them she grabbed her cousin, dragging her into the living room.

"I'm sorry Chlo, that was not supposed to happen again."

"Again?" Chloe asked, her eyes widening.

Lois grimaced. "Well, there was a slight incident in Metropolis." She shut her eyes and waited for Chloe to speak. Or yell.

She was surprised when Chloe enveloped her in a tight hug, shrieking in delight. "It's about time!"

Lois opened her eyes, confused. "What? Uh, Chloe I think you're missing something big here. Like wanting to kill me?"

"Don't play dumb Lois, or try to hide behind my old feelings. You know how I feel about Clark now. You guys have been doing that whole fighting-and-flirting thing for so long, we knew it was only a matter of time."

"We?"

"Oh, just practically all of Smallville" Chloe answered off-handedly. "By the way, sorry for interrupting, but I have never seen Clark like that, well, at least not with Lana. That was seriously HOT."

"Chloe!" Lois attempted to stop her cousin's hyper chatter.

"Right. Oops. Sorry, Pete and I will leave you two alone. Good luck! Love you Cous'! And I expect details tomorrow, you hear!" Chloe said quickly. She was too excited to take a breath. She gave Lois one last hug before rushing back outside to say good-bye to Clark, and to snag Pete.

Lois just started after her, confused and unsure what just happened.

Clark walked into the living room where Lois was still standing.

"I think I'm cursed," he mumbled, running a hand through his hair in sheer frustration.

"Huh?"

Clark watched her. "Things alright between you and Chloe?"

She looked up. "Yeah, great actually. At least I think so. She talked and left so fast my head's still spinning. What were you mumbling about?"

"Just that I'm cursed. Maybe this was a bad idea." Clark slumped dejectedly onto the nearest chair.

Lois rolled her eyes. "Oh please, get over yourself, Smallville. I thought you were over these pity parties."

She walked towards him, stopping to lean against the wall, arms crossed, prepared to kick his butt if he continued in the same vein.

Clark stood up. "I am, but you know what, I think I've been pretty honest about how I'm starting to feel for you, and you just dodge me. And not just today, even before if you think about it. And how am I to—"

Lois had enough of the talking. She walked up to him and before he even realized what she was doing, she grabbed his shirt collar and tugged. Hard. "Shut up, Smallville." She whispered before kissing him.

He smiled against her lips. She was definitely bossy but in this case, he didn't mind in the least.

He pushed her up against the wall and proceeded to kiss her properly.

In their lust-filled stupor, they didn't notice the picture hanging precariously on the wall until it came crashing down.

"Way to go!" Lois whispered breathlessly, pushing him away.

"You knocked it over."

They both bent down, cleaning the pieces of shattered glass.

"You pushed me into it."

"Clark?" Jonathan and Martha came rushing into the room.

"It's okay, a picture fell, that's all." He reassured them.

"Smallville here, knocked it over while we were cleaning up" Lois added.

"What! I knocked it over? That was your fault."

Jonathan watched them suspiciously. "Never mind. I don't think I want to know." They were obviously hiding something. And he was too tired to listen to them argue about it.

Martha just watched them in bemusement. Both of their faces were flushed, but whether from embarrassment, anger… or something else, she wasn't certain.

"Just pick up the big pieces. The rest can wait till morning. Are you two going to bed soon?" she asked.

Clark's cheeks went scarlet; he shot Lois a warning glare as she tried to stifle a giggle.

"Lois and I are just going to finish cleaning up then we're going to bed. And thanks again for tonight. It was a really nice surprise."

"You're welcome son. Good night you two." Jonathan replied with a yawn. The adrenaline had run its course and exhaustion was taking over.

Martha said her goodnights, hugging both of them. Before she exited the room she turned and watched her son and their houseguest speaking in heated whispers. Shaking her head at their strange behavior she followed her husband. Something was going on. Maybe Chloe had an idea.

"That was too close!" Lois exclaimed, throwing the last shards of glass into the trash. "Two points for me." She threw her hands up in mock-victory.

Clark stared, unimpressed. "Too close" he agreed. "We have rotten luck with interruptions."

He was beginning to worry about the lack of self-control he seemed to have when she was around. Now that he knew what it was like to kiss Lois Lane, all his thoughts and efforts seemed to focus on how and when he could kiss her again.

"Right, well, tomorrow we'll be going picture frame hunting," She said staring dubiously at the broken picture. "That does not look fixable."

Clark looked over her shoulder. "Definitely not fixable," he agreed.

They finished cleaning in silence, double checking to make sure no one would get a piece of glass in a foot, then cleaned the few remaining plates and party cups. Lois grinned tiredly. "Not bad, we finished faster than I thought."

"Mmm hmm," he acknowledged, dropping his pillow and blanket on to the couch.

"Clark…"

"Yeah?" he asked turning to face her.

"Just so you know, I foresee us spending a lot of time in that loft of yours." She smirked and his surprised expression then kissed him lightly before twisting out of his grasp and heading upstairs to bed.

He watched her go with a smile. He had a feeling things were going to get very interesting.

We might kiss when we are alone
When nobody's watching
We might take it home
We might make out when nobody's there
It's not that we're scared
It's just that it's delicate

Delicate-Damien Rice

The End