Hidden Feelings
Author's Note: Finally, here's the sixth installment! I must say, this is the longest chapter I have written so far, and I did it all in one sitting. With that said, please bear with me if there are any grammar/spelling mistakes! I read the chapter three times to make sure there aren't any, but if there are still some lingering around, then I apologize! Now it's time to reply to my past reviewers—but before that, thank you for all the reviews/favorites/alert! You guys are awesome.
alexindigo – Please let me hit Clark with the kryptonite brick. I've been wanting to do that ever since he ran back to Lana's arms in the Bride episode. And as for Patrick, well, you'll see soon enough! Thanks for reviewing!
oye – I couldn't stop laughing at your review, haha. Someone's fallen in love with Patrick! About the kid on the streets—talk about a question overload! (You're making me want to dedicate a chapter solely on reader FAQ, lol.) But no, the kid was just on her way home, and yes, she is normal. She just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, and well, thank goodness the RBB was there to save her, right? Thanks for the review!
katlynne – You sure know how to flatter a person, don't you! Well hopefully this update satisfies you for the time being, and I hope you'll like it! Thank you very much!
Gladius Grim – Ah, well he'll surely feel the wrath of Lois Lane soon enough. Karma is out to get him now. Thank you so much for reviewing!
imhooked – I'm glad you enjoyed the previous update! And you're right about Lois feeling more confused and rejected by his disappearance. Let's see what happens once she goes to Paris! Thanks!
LoisNClark4Ever – You will see one of Clark's reactions at the very end of this update (but sorry to say, it's not about Lois and Patrick though), I can tell you that much. Let me know what you think of it! Thanks for taking the time to review my story!
The Fake Commentor – You scared me with your review there, buddy. I thought you were going to sue me for sure! Kidding. Anyway, well I hope this update makes up for all the days you had to wait and I hope you find it very satisfying. And no worries, Lois won't look like sloppy seconds here. I'll do whatever it takes to get Clark to realize that he belongs together with Lois. About the artifact—nope, it isn't the same one in Isis, so don't get that idea fixed in your head! I highly doubt Hawkman will make an appearance in this story, since I'm really trying to zoom in on just Lois & Clark's relationship. I hope that won't discourage you from reading though! Thanks for the wonderful review!
Hot-chocolate329 – Well, I did promise that I won't make Patrick evil, right? And yes, I'm still sticking to my stance that they won't have any romantic relationship, but it's good to know Lois has found a good friend in him. Just like you, I prefer Lois & Clark as well. They are destiny. Thank you so much for the review!
Chapter 6: Confessions & Revelations
Ten twenty-four pm.
It had been exactly twenty minutes since Clark excused himself to use the bathroom.
Looking around the bar, Lois tried to find him. Left, right, across, behind… the man was nowhere in sight. She checked her phone to see if he called.
No missed calls, she thought.
As each minute passed, she grew more concerned about Clark. The bar was becoming more and more crowded, making it harder for her to recognize his face. She decided to go to the back and check the bathroom first.
After looking around the area, Lois slightly opened the door, enough for her to take a quick peek inside.
"Smallville? Smallville, you still in there? You having some indigestion or what?"
Just then she heard a flushing noise and a man walking towards the door. She closed it, hoping he didn't see her sticking her head inside. The attempt was too late.
"Hey, this is the men's bathroom! Women's is on the opposite side!"
"I can see that, baldy. I'm looking for my friend," she answered, a little angry.
"Your friend?"
"Yeah… he's yay tall, wearing a blue dress shirt, red tie? You can't miss him."
"Look, there was no one else inside but me, lady. I'm afraid you won't find your friend in there." He ended the conversation as he went back to his friends.
No one else inside? But where could Clark possibly be?
Confused, Lois took another look around the bar. People were dancing, drinking, eating, flirting, exchanging numbers… all having a good time. That was all she wanted for her and Clark to do. But now with him going MIA, she didn't know what to think. Did he leave her there purposely, or did something else happen? She wasn't sure what to do next.
Worried, she pulled out her phone and dialed his number immediately.
A computerized voice answered on the other line and asked her to leave a message. She dismissed the call and redialed his number.
"Come on, Smallville, where are you?" she breathed.
"…Kent's phone. Please leave a message after the tone." The call went straight to voicemail once more.
"Clark, it's Lois. I don't know where you are or what happened to you, but when you get this, please, please call me back." She pressed the end button, hoping he receives her message and calls her right away.
"Looks like your boyfriend left you here all alone," the bartender interrupted as he handed Lois a cold bottle of beer. It was now eleven o'clock and she still didn't get any calls from Clark.
"Thanks," she replied. She sat there patiently still waiting for him to arrive.
"I'm sure he'll come back for you. You look way too nice to waste such a beautiful evening. Go have fun," he encouraged her.
Lois smiled at him, appreciating his concern, but at that moment she was way too caught up worrying about Clark. It had been at least an hour since he left her stranded in the bar by herself, and there were still no sign of him anywhere. She called his phone again.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. All were still answered by the same computerized voice. That was the last time she was ever going to call him.
Turning her head around, she saw a table full of men cheering loudly. As the space cleared out, she saw five men sitting around the same table with empty shot glasses on their hands. The end of her lip curved as an idea clouded her head.
"You know what? I will have fun," she told the bartender as she headed towards the crowded table, joining them.
Twelve thirty-six am.
"Lois?" Clark answered his phone after being liberated from the green kryptonite.
"Uh… no, man. This is the bartender from Tropical Twist," a man's voice answered.
Tropical Twist… It was the name of the bar that he and Lois went to together, before he left her. But why was the bartender calling from Lois' phone?
"Where's Lois? Is she okay?" he demanded.
"Yeah… see that's why I called you. I think she's had a little too much to drink and is causing some disturbance with our other patrons here. Your name was the first to pop up in her 'Calls Made' list so I just redialed the number…"
Before even finishing his sentence, Clark interrupted him.
"I'll be right there," he told him as he hung up. He took a quick sigh.
"So what did the abandoned Lois Lane want?" Oliver asked him.
"I need to get her out of there. She's drunk," he answered, feeling guilty that he left Lois all alone in the bar when he promised he would come back.
"Go. I'll take it from here," Oliver said, letting Clark run back to Lois while he looked over the city. He watched as he nodded at him and super-sped away to race back to the bar.
"This is going to be interesting," he chuckled as he remembered the last time when Lois was drunk: the night of Jimmy and Chloe's wedding. Clark was going to be in for a surprise.
"Lois?"
Clark's eyes scanned the bar and found one Lois Lane sitting sloppily on a high chair with one hand resting on her forehead. It looked like her head was throbbing with pain.
"Lois?"
"Oh, there you are," the bartender replied as he handed Lois' phone to him, "you really need to get your girlfriend out of here before anything else happens."
Lois turned her head and saw Clark with a concerned look on his eyes. She got up from the chair, with a bottle of beer on her hand.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the world's greatest liar," she looked at him rudely.
Clark took the bottle out of Lois' hand and placed his arm around her waist, to keep her from falling. He looked her in the eye.
"Lois? Come on, let's get you home."
She removed his hand and tried to stand up straight. She failed miserably.
"Leave me alone. I can take care of myself…" she said, pushing his hand away from her.
"No, Lois. We need to get you home."
"You can go home. I don't care where you go, I'm staying right here," she challenged him.
Clark found Lois' purse sitting on the table and grabbed it, quickly searching inside for her car keys. As soon as he found it, he grabbed her by the hand and dragged her out the door.
"W-wait, wh-what are you… hey! I'm still playing with them!" Lois yelled out as she tried to get out of Clark's captivity.
He led Lois out of the bar and headed straight to her car, sitting her on the passenger's seat.
"No—Clark!" She fought with all her might. It was a wasted effort.
He ran to the other side of the car and sat on the driver's seat, speeding away back to Smallville.
Clark opened the front door and helped Lois get inside.
"Wha—why am I in your farmhouse, Smallville?" Lois asked. She dropped her purse on the ground as she plopped down on the couch, laughing. She recognized that the decorations inside didn't match the items in her apartment.
Clark closed the door behind him and dialed Chloe's number once again. The call went straight to voicemail so he assumed that she was already sleeping. It seemed that he had no other choice but to have Lois spend the night at his house. He picked up her purse and placed it on the coffee table.
Lois laughed once again as she watched Clark pace back and forth around the living room. She had no idea what was bothering him.
"You reeeeeally need to relax, Smallville..." She stood up unsteadily and walked towards him. Unfortunately, she tripped on her own feet. She giggled as soon as she realized she fell to the floor.
Clark crouched down and met Lois' eyes. With an alarmed look, he placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Lois, are you okay? Here, let's sit you on the couch."
She wiped her lips with her right arm and pushed Clark's hand off of her shoulder. She giggled for the millionth time.
"I feel fine," she told him.
"It would be better if you're sitting on the couch," he smiled nervously. He propped her up off the floor but instead of sitting down on the sofa, she held her own and stood up. That didn't last for long, however. She lost her balance and Clark got to her before she fell to the floor once again.
After a couple minutes of absolute silence, Lois decided to speak.
"Clark, why did you lie to me?"
He turned around and saw her sitting down, the expression on her face disappointed. It hurt him to know that he was hurting her as well. What's worse of all, however, was that he couldn't even tell her the truth.
"What are you talking about, Lois?" he asked, trying to sound as if he didn't know what was going on.
"Why did you leave me at the bar? You left me there thinking you would come back, but you made me look like a fool sitting there, waiting for no one."
"Lois—"
"If you didn't want to be with me, then why didn't you just say so? I know I'm not that important to you nowadays, but would it really hurt if you were honest with me just once?"
Each word that escaped Lois' lips felt like a million lashes whipping at him. He stood there in the darkness, dumbfounded. He had no idea Lois felt this way all along.
"I—"
"I understand if Lana needed you to be there to comfort her. Besides, she's everything to your world anyway."
Now Clark had no idea why Lana was being brought into the picture. At first, he thought Lois was just angry at him for neglecting her at the bar, but how did Lana get in the conversation?
"Lois, this has nothing to do with Lana," he assured her.
"No, this has everything to do with Lana!" she yelled out, really grabbing Clark's attention.
Calm down, Lois is just drunk, he told himself. She doesn't mean anything she's telling you right now. Somehow, for some reason, a part of him wanted to know what Lois meant. What did she mean when she said it had everything to do with Lana? He realized this might be his only chance at finding out.
He sat himself on the coffee table, sitting across from Lois. His face was just a couple of inches away from her now.
"What are you talking about?" he asked her, curious.
"The night of Jimmy and Chloe's wedding," she cleared her throat, "do you remember when we danced? After all those months we spent together here at your house, watching movies, having fun, trying to get you to move on with your life… I thought you were ready. I thought, hey, maybe you were ready to put your heart out there again. I thought you closed that chapter in your life already. But I was wrong."
She paused for a moment, letting Clark take it all in. He sat there with a confused look on his face. He didn't say a word, waiting for her to talk some more.
"I tried to resist this for a long time, Clark. I didn't want to admit to them, but I realized I was only lying to myself. And when we were dancing, I thought you felt it too. I thought you were ready to let me in, but the minute Lana stepped in to that door, I knew you were still the same old Clark that was in love with her."
Recollecting back the memories from Jimmy and Chloe's wedding, Clark remembered the dance he shared with Lois. He remembered staring into her deep brown eyes, almost as if he was looking inside her soul. There was a level of comfort and awkwardness when they were dancing, for reasons he couldn't understand before. What he couldn't remember though was what happened after once Lana decided to crash the wedding. He was way too caught up with the feelings that resurfaced once the love of his life returned.
Still confused with what she meant about admitting to something, Clark asked Lois, a little unsure whether he really wanted to know the answer to that question.
"What are you admitting to, Lois?"
She looked at him and smiled. She couldn't believe he was so blind not to notice.
"Believe it or not, I do care about you, Smallville. I care about you more than you will ever know."
Just then, Lois caressed Clark's cheeks as her face moved closer to his. Step by step, inch by inch, moment by moment…they finally met. She then pressed her lips into his, letting him take in all of her. She tilted her head until the angle was just right.
Couple of seconds later, Clark moved away from her, breaking the kiss. He'd seen Lois get drunk many times before, but he'd never seen her come on to him that strong.
"Lois, this is wrong. I'm sorry." He looked down on the floor, waiting for her reaction.
Countless teardrops escaped Lois' eyes, staining her face with the heavy mascara. She looked at Clark in disbelief as she brought her right hand to his face, slapping him.
"I'm sorry too," she muttered, wiping the tears away. She grabbed her keys and moved towards the front door.
"No, Lois. I can't let you leave. You're too drunk to drive," he said, beating her to the door. He blocked it to prevent her from leaving.
Rather than fighting Clark to let her out, Lois felt dizzy. She wrapped her arms around her stomach, grimacing.
"Lois? Are you—?"
Before he even finished what he was going to say, Lois vomited all over her dress and all over his arms. Luckily, he found a piece of shirt hanging on the coat rack as he quickly wiped it on his hands and on Lois' face. Before she could even apologize, she lost all her senses and fainted in his arms.
So much for one pleasurable harmless night, he thought as he carried her upstairs to his bedroom.
The next day…
Clark raced back to the Kent farm after stopping a fire in the city. He wanted to make sure he was there when Lois woke up so she wouldn't suspect that he left her once again. He took out some food in the fridge and started making breakfast.
Upon smelling the aroma of coffee coming from the kitchen, Lois woke up, surprised to see that she was wearing Clark's red flannel shirt. To add to the confusion, she realized that she wasn't sleeping on her own bed either.
"Oh no…" she let out, her eyes widening.
She ran downstairs and found Clark toasting some bread and cooking eggs in the kitchen. He smiled at her, pouring her a cup of coffee.
"How's your rest, sleepyhead?" He handed the warm cup to her.
"Thanks," she said, taking a sip. The warmth of the drink soothed her.
"You feeling better?"
"Yeah, I'm great," she replied. She tried to remember what happened last night, but no memory came to her. She wanted to know how she ended up in the farm, wearing Clark's shirt.
"Clark?" she hesitated at first.
Clark looked at her and smiled again. After the turnout of last night's events, he thought it would be better if he didn't bring it up. Lois wasn't in her right mind and most of the things she said probably didn't mean a thing anyway. Especially the ambushed kiss.
"D-did we?" Her eyes were pleading for answers.
"Did we what?" he smirked, making it harder for her.
She shot him a look. "Come on, you know what I'm talking about."
"No, Lois. We—we didn't."
She took a deep sigh relieved that nothing happened between them last night. It would've been a messy situation that she didn't want to be a part of. She helped herself with some of the eggs.
"You did end up vomiting all over yourself and my arms," he told her. "But don't worry, I took care of it."
Her eyes widened after hearing about her behavior last night. She never felt so ashamed as she did now.
"Well I'm sorry for throwing up like a piñata." That was all she could tell him.
"It's okay. Your dress is sitting on the dryer upstairs," he said as he joined her to eat breakfast.
Then, complete silence.
"Clark?" She couldn't resist asking him. She needed to know.
"Hm?"
"Did anything else happen last night? I mean, other than me…"
It was clear that Lois didn't remember anything she said or did last night. If Clark were to tell her about the things she said, it was just asking for a problem that can be avoided right now. No, it was better if she didn't remember.
"No, Lois. Nothing else happened," he replied as he took a bite of the sausage.
"Good. I trust that you're telling me the truth," she said as she took another sip of her coffee.
They sat there quietly devouring the breakfast Clark prepared for the both of them. It was nice to know that she could still sit down and have a decent meal with him, without blurting out all the awkwardness they've had ever since someone came back in town. It seemed as though Clark didn't even notice that she was a little less involved with his life now, so she just focused on the idea of sharing another moment with her friend before leaving the next day. She felt bad not telling Clark about her soon-to-be-disappearance, but it would be easier if she didn't mumble a word about it.
"Thanks, Clark." She met his gaze as she smiled from ear-to-ear.
"For what, Lois?"
"For being a good friend," she told him.
Clark placed his hand on top of Lois', whose eyes widened at the uncomfortable position of their hands wrapped together. She rapidly removed her hand and looked the other way, a little embarrassed.
After another silent moment had passed, Clark decided to ask Lois one question about last night. After little time has passed, part of him still wanted to know if she felt something more for him than just a friend.
"Lois…"
"Yep?"
"About last night, when you said—"
Right as he was about to let out the words, he heard the front door close shut and footsteps approach the kitchen.
"Clark, are you and Lois working on an article today because I thought it'd be a good idea if we—" Lana was stopped by what appeared in front of her.
When she came inside the house, she expected to see Lois with him since her car was parked in the front. She thought that they were just talking about something work-related, but when she saw Lois wearing Clark's favorite shirt, she realized that something else had been going on.
"What is going on here?" she asked, afraid to know the answer.
"Lana, before you start assuming anything, it's not what it looks like," Lois told her upfront.
"I'm sorry Lois, but I need to talk to Clark in private."
"Yeah, okay." She got up from the chair and raced upstairs to change to her clothes.
Clark followed Lana towards the living room.
"Lana…"
"Would you mind explaining to me what I just witnessed there?" Her tone was furious.
"Lois got drunk last night, so I brought her here."
"And you couldn't drop her off at the Talon?" she asked him, still with the same tone.
"I tried to get a hold of Chloe, but she was already asleep!" he said, defending his side of the story.
"So-so what? You took her here and then what?"
"Lana, why can't you trust me? I told you, nothing happened!"
"I thought there'd be no more secrets between the two of us, Clark." Her voice was breaking. She turned around, not wanting to face the man who broke her heart a million times before.
"You're the one to talk about secrets—what about you trying to locate Lex?"
Lana's eyes widened as she slowly turned back around and looked at Clark. She was stunned.
"H-how did you know about that?"
"I wasn't sure before, but I am now," he replied, disappointed. "Why are you even doing this?"
"I'm trying to protect you, Clark. I'm doing this for you."
"Lana, if you know anything about me—even as the Red-Blue Blur—you know violence is not the answer," he whispered to her, still agitated.
She blinked her eyes a couple of times to prevent the tears from falling. The last thing on her mind was having a fight with Clark, and yet here they were arguing just like they have before. It seemed that lies and secrets, along with trust and honesty, were always going to be the things that broke them apart.
Giving up, Lana gathered her belongings and gave him back his car keys. She didn't want to continue fighting with him any longer.
"I'll see you later, Clark." She stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind her.
"Hey, you okay?" Lois descended down the stairs after the verbal altercation ended.
Clark brought his hand to his forehead and shook his head lightly.
"I'm sorry to put you in the middle of all this," he apologized to her.
"No, don't be. I should be the one who's apologizing. I mean, if only my alcohol tolerance wasn't so weak…" she chuckled, trying to lighten up the mood. The attempt failed.
He scoffed as soon as he heard Lois' joke. That's how Lois always was—trying to make him feel better after any storm. He was glad she could be so optimistic, even during times of seriousness.
"Thanks, Lois. You always try to make me feel better."
"Eh, it comes with the package. I'll see you later, k?" She patted him on the shoulder as she opened the door. She turned around and took one last good look at him—it was going to be the last time she sees him before she leaves for Paris. Too bad the face that she'll have to remember was full of sadness and frustration.
What have you done, Lane? This is all your fault!
She knew that she was the reason for this mess, and, being who she was, she knew she'd have to fix it soon. She made that promise to herself as she started the engine and drove away from the Kent farm. All she knew was that she wasn't going to be the reason why Lana and Clark broke up, if they were going to.
The next day…
It was another busy Monday morning in Metropolis, so Clark super-sped out the house to make it at the Daily Planet on time. Besides, he didn't want Lois yelling at his ear complaining about why he came late again.
He checked his watch and smiled as he saw that it was exactly 9 in the morning. He made it on time, and, as messy as things were back home, he wanted to forget all of that whenever he went to work. He was going to handle them at the right place, and at the right time.
After his verbal quarrel with Lana yesterday, Clark still hasn't received any phone calls from Lana. He figured that she just needed space, so he didn't bother calling her to check on how she was doing. He did, however, tell Chloe about the entire showdown and asked her to keep an eye on Lana for the time being. She agreed to do so without any hesitation.
As he marched towards his work desk, he was looking forward to seeing Lois and working side-by-side with her again. It had been a while since they worked on the same story together, and now that their solo projects were finished, it was time to reunite the Lane-Kent team once again.
Upon reaching his work desk, he frowned as he found Lois' desk empty. Her purse wasn't sitting on the rotating chair like it always did, and he noticed that the computer was untouched. It wasn't like her not to come to work, unless she was sick or took a day off. He chose to pick the latter.
The whole day, Clark occupied himself as he worked on his next assignment. He called his clients, revised his drafts, scheduled appointments…all without Lois Lane. He never noticed just how big of a role that woman has played in his life professionally and personally. For him, she was irreplaceable. There was only one Lois Lane in the world.
After a long day of running around at work, Clark decided to stop by at the Talon and drop off the folders to show Lois what he has so far. Since they were going to work together, he figured it would be nice if he showed it to her earlier rather than giving her a rundown when she gets back to work. He knocked as soon as he approached her apartment door.
"Lois?"
Clark knocked on the door once again. Still, there was no response.
Using his x-ray vision, he checked if there was anyone inside. No one. He was about to leave only to be stopped as he saw Chloe heading up the stairs.
"Chloe," he flashed a smile her way.
"Clark," she smiled back at him. He moved out of the way as she unlocked the door with her keys.
"H-how is Lana?" he asked, hopeful.
"She's doing fine. We got together for lunch earlier, and she told me she wasn't ready to see you just yet. You just need to give her some more time. Right now she's with Jimmy grocery shopping."
He nodded, understanding what she meant. He looked down on the floor and studied the patterns.
"I'm still mad at you for telling her about Lex though," she said as she pulled out a glass to get some water. It was her who told Clark about Lana's secret extracurricular activities, and she wasn't particularly happy when she found out that Clark called out Lana about it.
"I'm sorry. I wasn't going to mention it but it frustrates me that she still doesn't trust me."
"I'm sure she'll understand that it was just a big misunderstanding, Clark. You'll just have to wait when she's ready."
Moving away from the subject, Chloe noticed the neat stack of folders Clark was holding.
"What are those?" Her eyes darted to the folders.
"It's this new story Lois and I are supposed to be working on. Where is she anyway?"
"Lois?"
"Yeah, these are for her."
"Clark, I just dropped off Lois at the airport." She was surprised that Clark didn't know that Lois was leaving for a while. She assumed that he knew since she didn't go to the Daily Planet for work. Boy was she largely mistaken.
"Wait, what?"
"Didn't she tell you? She asked Tess for some time away. She's going on a vacation."
"By herself?"
"Technically, yes. But, she did mention visiting Lucy. I thought you knew!"
"She didn't tell me anything," he frowned.
"Well, that's the least of your concern right now," she finished the rest of the water, "your focus should be on how to be on Lana's good side again."
"Actually Chloe, there's something I need to tell you..." he uttered, hesitating a little. He wasn't sure if he should tell her.
"What is it, Clark?" she tried to find her best friend's eyes.
He took a quick sigh and met Chloe's gaze. It had been bothering him for a while now, and if there was anyone in the world he would tell it to, it would be none other than the person who'd known him almost all his life.
"Something else happened the night Lois stayed over my house."
"Oh Clark, please don't tell me…" she didn't want to say the words out loud.
"No, no! It's not that. While she was drunk, she said a couple of things, and well, she-she kissed me."
"Okay, as much as I love Lois, she can be a little too friendly when she gets some alcohol in her system," she replied, defending her.
"No—it's… I-I don't know what came over me. It just happened. Then all of a sudden, I knew I had to stop it," he stammered, not making any sense to Chloe.
"From what I remember, I know this isn't the first time you and Lois kissed. You two always forget they ever happened. What was different this time?"
"Um, well, uh..."
"Clark, what happened?"
"I…"
Chloe's eyes widened. She was losing her patience with him.
"Well…?"
He hesitated once again. It was so much harder to say it out loud.
He paused and fixed his composure. Then finally, giving up, he let the words out loud.
"I kissed her back."
He winced at his own words as he waited for Chloe to give him a response.
Author's Note: I hope you all enjoyed Chapter 6! As we all know the holidays are over, so I am back to working my two jobs and school. That means it's going to be much harder for me to find time to update, but I will try my hardest to update as soon as I can. I don't know when that will be, but until then, I hope everyone has lovely days! Thanks for reading!