Lois woke up at six. She groaned, realizing that she was never up this early. She stretched and looked out the window at the steely grey Kansas dawn. She saw movement at her car, Clark, putting the last of their luggage into the trunk. She got out of bed and dressed quickly, putting on jeans, an old shirt and her denim jacket. She didn't bother with makeup and put her hair in a rough ponytail. She went downstairs and saw that Clark had already made a pot of coffee. Lois smiled. Clark could be so considerate when he wasn't wrapped up in a personal drama. She looked up as he entered the house.
"Feeling better?" asked Clark.
"No," replied Lois, "but I'm not going to break down again. Lucy needs my help and the General would probably be disgusted." Lois paused and looked at the floor. "You probably think that I'm pretty foolish." She said quietly.
"Not at all. Lois, you are one of the strongest and toughest people I know" said Clark. He surprised himself with that.
She smiled. "Easy, Smallville. If it gets any mushier I'll throw up."
Clark cleared his throat and looked at the car. "We should get going if we don't want to miss our flight."
"You really don't have to come, Clark" said Lois. She was secretly happy he was coming, but felt that she had to give him an 'out'.
"The tickets already been paid for, thanks to your MasterCard" said Clark with a grin. "Besides, if I didn't come along, you'd probably get lost."
"Oh, sure! Like I'm the one who ends up naked in cornfields with no memory?" Lois smirked at Clark's suddenly blushing face. "Although, getting to see 'Clark Jr.' was a treat."
Clark turned and stalked out, muttering. Lois smile faded, as her eyes tightened. She hadn't meant to take things so far. She started to sniff, trying to stop the tears from falling again. Clark was one of her only friends that still stood by her, and she was trying to push him away. Well, she thought, no more.
Clark was angry. Lois knew just which buttons to push to send him past the boiling point. He paused, hearing her sniff from inside the house. He stopped and listened. She was crying quietly. Clark sighed. "Lois, come on!" he shouted. "It's time to go!"
Lois quickly dried her eyes and grabbed her keys off the table. "Coming!" she shouted, downing the last of her coffee.
Lois started the car, and they drove the first hour to Metropolis in an uncomfortable silence. Finally, Lois said, "Clark, I'm sorry for what I said earlier. It was rude and uncalled for. I really am glad that you wanted to come along, and I don't want to seem ungrateful."
Clark was mildly stunned. "I think that is the first time you have apologized to me, Lois."
"Yeah, well…don't get used to it. I'm almost never wrong."
Clark began to chuckle. "Okay, apology accepted." Lois smiled. She felt better already.
Clark fidgeted in his seat. Lois couldn't afford first class tickets, so they were stuck in coach. Lois took the window seat and left Clark with the middle seat. An old man in a Grateful Dead T-shirt and a hat that said "Fk You!" was drinking his ninth small bottle of Kahlua in the aisle seat. Clark remembered reading that the seats for the slaves who rowed on a Roman ship were only eighteen inches wide, and coach seats were only twenty inches wide. Two inches in two thousand years. Nothing like progress.
Lois grew tired of Clark's fidgeting. She elbowed him in the ribs, and promptly numbed her arm. "OW!" she said, rubbing her elbow. Man, was Clark rock-hard or what?
"What did you do that for?" asked Clark, taking her arm and making small circles on her elbow.
"You keep moving around" said Lois. Feeling was returning to her arm, and what Clark was doing was sending small shocks along her forearm. It wasn't entirely unpleasant. "What's your secret, anyway?"
Clark started and dropped her arm. "Secret?" he asked, wild eyed.
"Yeah, the abs of steel thing. You never work out."
Clark visibly relaxed. "Oh, you know, chores and stuff."
"Right, the Farmer's Workout. That's great video material" she laughed.
Clark shifted again. Sighing, Lois lifted the armrest between them. "Here, scoot over."
"Um, I'm okay, really."
"If you bounce your way across the Atlantic, this will be a bad trip for both of us. Now scoot!" Lois patted the seat between them.
Clark moved over, and was suddenly very aware of Lois' side, pressed along the length of him. "Are you okay, Smallville? You feel kind of warm." Lois held the back of her hand to his forehead.
"I feel fine, Lo."
Lois frowned. "You just called me Lo. Only my father calls me that."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Lois. I won't do it again."
"It's okay, not a big deal." Lois snuggled down against Clark and yawned. "Wake me when we get there."
Clark didn't sleep the whole flight. He really tried, but he was too conscious of Lois' body next to his. He listened to her heartbeat for the entire nine hour flight. He felt the rhythm of her steady breathing against his side. He looked at her, again realizing how peaceful and fragile she was. Clark was confused. Lois looked no different to him now than she ever did before. She was beautiful, with a killer body and sultry curves. He had always noticed that. But, he was still seeing something new in her. She wasn't as abrasive or shallow as he had always thought. Holding her as she cried her fear and frustration into his shoulder moved something in his heart. He realized that he had seen a side of Lois that few, if any, had ever seen. She had inadvertently bared her soul for him to see, and he felt awed at that. Not even when he was intimate with Lana had he felt that close to someone. Clark looked down at her sleeping face, brushing a few stray hairs from her bangs. She stirred and snuggled closer to him. He shifted and put an arm around her. She gave a quiet 'mmmm' and put an hand on his thigh. Clark flushed slightly. It was going to be a long flight.