Chapter two

"Cl-ark, seriously just be honest!" Kara teased as she popped a piece of chocolate in her mouth following her older cousin as he left the kitchen, "You love her-you want to kiss her-and you want to date her!" She sang obnoxiously as Clark tried to swat her away.

He raised an eyebrow in the blonde's direction, "Where the hell did you learn that?" She shrugged, "It was in this moving picture Lois and i watched the other week… Miss Congeniality."

He rolled his eyes, "You mean movie?"

Lois he should have known. For some strange reason everything seemed to revolve around that feisty brunette lately.

Ever since Kara had appeared in his life she seemed to be completely enamored by Lois Lane. She talked about Lois constantly, she thought Lois was hilarious; she had even taken on some of Lois's own traits, like her ability to annoy Clark beyond belief.

It truly was a mystery to Clark why Kara Kent adored Lois Lane so much, when they first met Lois was anything but polite to his little cousin.

She was abrasive and suspicious of her right from day one. And when Clark found out from Chloe that Lois had been secretly investigating Kara behind his back, he was furious.

As much as Chloe and Lex laughed off Lois's journalism career Clark knew better, she was good and she always got to the bottom of her stories no matter what it took. He began to worry that she'd somehow stumble upon the truth about Kara and ultimately him.

And at the time that made him nervous, really nervous. Because for some reason he couldn't bare the though of Lois looking at him like he was an alien, a freak. She was the only person who ever treated him like a normal guy, and he liked it.

But to Clark's surprise and amazement Lois had dropped the issue as soon as he confronted her about it. It was the biggest fight they've ever had and Clark would never forget it, because that was the day he realized he had slowly fallen in love with Lois Lane.

"Clark listen to me, you can't trust her! Her birth certificate... i looked into it and it's not even real!" She tried desperately to get him to understand waving the paper in front of him, she was worried about him. He'd let this stranger in his life, in his house and he didn't even know who she really was.

"Why are you doing this Lois?! Is it for a story? Because i highly doubt Perry will be interest in a piece about a teenage girl who came to Smallville to find the only family she has left after her parents' death!" He was fuming, seething and he wanted nothing more than to shake the nosy bossy abrasive girl in front of him, "I can't believe you've been doing this behind my back! Why are you trying to hurt me?! She's my cousin Lois. I know it! That should be enough I'm asking you to let it go."

Lois eyed him wearily placing the documents she'd accumulated on Kara in the waste bin, "I would never hurt you Clark; i was trying to protect you. I... you and Martha, you're my family you took me in and gave me a home and you're both so generous... I just, i didn't want someone to take advantage of that."

Tears formed in pools below her brown orbs. "I'm sorry." She whispered as she walked towards her bathroom and Clark had to use his super hearing to listen to the barely audible confession.

Staring at her retreating figure, he felt his heart clench in sympathy and understanding.

Suddenly he felt this indescribable urge to confess everything to her. He knew no matter what he told Lois she'd accept it, understand him and punch him for not telling her sooner.

"Lois, listen Kara, she's different..." He said slowly unsure where to begin.

She turned around to face his frantically wiping away the remaining tears, "She's your cousin." She stately firmly; letting out a small smile. "I get it, Clark. Everyone deserves to have family; i should have never tried to take that away from her, or from you. I won't question it again."

Clark stared at her he didn't know how to reply, Lois was the first person to accept his hardly adequate answer with no questions asked and that relived him but yet sacred him at the same time.

Lana, Pete and Chloe they always pushed for more and yet here was Lois the most headstrong girl he had ever met letting something go simply because he asked her too.

He felt a burst of admiration and adoration flow through him as Lois beamed back at him her brown eyes speckled with gold.

"Friends?" She asked pushing her hand out towards him.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her into a tight hug, "Best friends."

It was then he realized just how much he'd underestimated Lois Lane.

Because over the last three years she'd somehow made him fall completely head over heels for her, without even knowing it.

"Kara can you just stop it!" He grumbled while stomping up to the barn, a nosey little blonde following his every step.

She flipped her hair to the side and sent him a cocky smirk, another thing she'd learnt from Lois, "I'll stop it when you get the courage to tell her that you are completely madly totally crazy for her!" She giggled as she plopped onto the couch taking up as much space as possible so Clark had no option but to stand.

It was times like this he was glad Chloe and his Mother were both no longer around on a regular basis, because he was sure they'd join in on the pick-on-Clark-day that Kara seemed to be thoroughly enjoying.

He knew there was no point that, like with Lois, he'd never win the argument but he couldn't face the barrage of teasing he'd have to endure if he actually admitted his feelings for Lois.

"Admit you have innate feelings for her and I'll stop." Kara huffed with annoyance, as Clark moved her legs so he could sit.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes not wanting to see the victory on his cousins' face, "Fine! When-i-don't-want-to-smother-her-with-a-pillow-i-kind-of-love -her." he said all in one breathe.

"Well that was quite the romantic declaration."

Kara immediately jumped up ready in a defensive position as the unknown voice boomed from the stairs.

Clark however was already well aware of the voice's owner, it belonged to the person he'd once called a friend.