Previously...
Clark headed upstairs towards the room he still considered to belong to his parents, despite the fact that they hadn't shared it in three years. His bedroom door was shut and, when Clark listened, he could hear the steady rise and fall of Chloe's lungs - a sure sign that she was already asleep. Clark got into his parents' bedroom and took Lois to the bed. Thinking that she'd be more comfortable, Clark stripped her down to her underwear and placed one of his old shirts over her head. He wrapped the duvet snugly around her and folded her clothes onto the chair next to her.
The sudden knowledge that Lois was safe and resting made Clark realize how tired he truly was. He looked out of the window at the full moon in the blackened sky. It must have been around one in the morning... 'Lois would understand me taking a break from my protector duty... Right?'
The appeal of a warm bed too strong, Clark took off his jacket, shoes, socks, shirt and pants so that he was left in just his boxers. Not really considering the possible results of his actions, he slid into the bed next to Lois, wrapping his arms around her, knowing that he had finally done it. He had found the person he could spend the rest of his life with. He just hoped that after the inevitable conversation tomorrow, he would survive long enough to tell her that.
The morning rays of the sun shone through the eastern windows of the Kent Farm. Clark Kent, a simple farm-boy who was more than he appeared, groaned and buried his nose deeper into the chocolate brown hair of one Lois Lane, reporter and now extraordinary human (thanks to a Kryptonian crystal). It's a shame she didn't know anything about that... Yet anyway.
Blinking in the sudden light, Clark made the mistake, or happy accident depending on how you look at it, of looking down into the dark delves of the covers. "Woah..." What had he been thinking the night before? He was in his boxers, not such a shock for him but Lois... Her predicament was slightly different. The shirt he had thrust over her head, in a haste to cover her nearly nude body, was now bunched up around her armpits, revealing the lacy underwear beneath it. 'One word: Gulp.' Then the only thing that would matters worse happened. She turned over. He couldn't help but stare at her, even though he knew that she would kill him for taking advantage of the situation and gawping at the black bodice that was so full it was on bursting point. His gaze drawn lower, he noticed only one thing. 'Lace is slightly see-through...'
He snapped his head to the side, only to be blinded by the sun rays. 'Serves me right.' Clark sighed before reluctantly turning away from the woman next to him and looked up at the ceiling, it wasn't right to look at her no matter how much he wanted to. It was ten thirty, a good lie in for a farmer who usually rose at five. Finally deciding to move, Clark left Lois in the bedroom, though not before putting on his pants and shirt, and headed into the kitchen. It was empty.
Moving over to the counter, Clark started to make a pot of coffee, even after over nine hours of sleep, he needed a caffeine jolt. "Hey Buddy." Clark bent down to scratch a drowsy Shelby behind the ear and fed him, before retuning to the art that was coffee-making. Soon, the distinct scent of coffee wafted through the kitchen. Clark really shouldn't have been surprised to find Oliver, Chloe and Lois all stood in the kitchen when he turned away from the pot, his own coffee in hand.
His friends eyed his mug hungrily, even Oliver looked at the coffee as if it was heaven in a cup. Rolling his eyes, Clark produced them each a mug of their own, which were graciously accepted before being devoured in one minute flat. Silence remained in the room and everyone just stood, empty cups on the little island that was located in the centre of the kitchen. Surprisingly, it was Chloe who spoke for the first time that morning.
"I can't think of a time that I needed coffee more." It was odd that the statement was about a caffeine-infused beverage rather than the miraculous recovery of her cousin, but this was, after all, Smallville.
"I know what you mean. I've never felt so exhausted in my life!" Lois smiled to herself, she could still taste the bitterness of the coffee beans mingled with the sickly sweet tingle of the four teaspoons of sugar that had to be present in any of Lois' cups of coffee. Clark couldn't speak, any attempt only left him in the unknown predicament of having forgotten any of the English language, only the arousing image of Lois in bed that morning residing in his brain. He had to be careful, such thoughts could send the blood to the wrong end of his body and his life was embarrassing enough. He decided to forget about it, just play along...
"I don't even drink coffee, I'm normally a herbal tea kinda guy." Oliver didn't understand it, usually he couldn't stomach the stuff and now he was craving it above all else.
"Become a reporter, then you'll understand its appeal."
The friends shared a small smile before comfortable silence was established again. It lasted a couple of minutes before they moved onto another topic and another cup of coffee. Once they were awake enough, Oliver decided to head home, taking Chloe with him with the intention of dropping her off at the Talon on the way. Lois, now dressed in a pair of darkened jeans and another of Clark's old shirts - a bright red plaid one from his freshman year of high school - looked over at Clark, who was looking right back at her.
"So... Smallville, do you wanna go out to the barn?" She hoped that he'd agree to go. For some reason it didn't feel right having this conversation in the kitchen. Thankfully, he replied with a simple 'sure' and they were soon in the familiar surroundings of the loft.
"Clark, there's a reason I wanted to come out here. I want to ask you about the other day." Lois walked over to him so that they both stood facing each other in front of the 'window' - if you can have a window in a barn. "I remember everything up to being on the roof of the Planet. Then all I can remember is the gunshot before everything gets a little fuzzy. What happened out there?"
Clark looked at Lois and knew that he was about to do something that he had never done before. He would reveal his secret, even though there was a chance of him lying and her believing it, she hadn't seen him use his powers to his knowledge and there was no chance of a do-over she would never forget about what he told her. This would be his choice without any forced circumstance or begging on her part, and he had to do this right.
"Lois, you know that I have this side of me that seems kind of out of character. Like when I disappear without warning?" Clark paused and Lois nodded, a perplexed look on her face. "Well, what if I were to tell you that I have this... secret that I hide from the people I love to protect them?"
"I'd tell you that you can't protect everybody forever, and that keeping secrets from the people you love is only going to drive them away. It will always become a barrier in any relationship, they'll think that you don't trust them no matter the reasons behind the secret." Lois looked at Clark, more nervous than she'd ever seen him before, and couldn't look away from the intensity of his gaze.
"Lois I'm going to do something I've never done before. I'm going to tell you everything about me. Everything. But you have to remember that I'm still the same guy you met in that cornfield four years ago, the guy who's chops you bust at every possible occasion, the person you took under your wing at the Planet. You have to promise me that you'll try to see that I'm still gunna be Smallville when this is over."
Lois was starting to get worried. 'Was Clark some kind of fugitive? A guy under witness protection maybe? Or even a secret agent undercover as a farmer/reporter all the while living a double life?' She hoped that at lease he wasn't a murderer, the number of her ex-boyfriends that were in jail or wanted by the cops was sky-high, even without adding Clark into the mix. She didn't want that record-breaking number to increase any more through Clark's contribution.
"Okay Clark, I promise that I'll try to see you as Smallville after you tell me what the hell you are talking about."
There was a moment's silence before Clark sucked up enough courage to finally say it. "Lois..." 'Or not.' "I'm an alien." The words just fell out of his mouth so quickly, he wasn't sure if she'd understood him. On the other end of the conversation, Lois was debating whether he could say something like this so calmly and it still be a joke. They locked gazes and Lois knew that he wasn't kidding, those blue-green eyes were full of desperation and a desire to be accepted. "You're not talking, that's never good." Clark tried to decipher her expression, x-ray her mind, anything to know what she was thinking at that moment. He got nothing.
Lois blinked before asking a question she already knew the answer to: "You're serious aren't you?" He nodded a puppy-dog look on his face as his eyes searched her face for some kind of reaction. 'She's freaked out. She can't accept me...' He panicked, she still wasn't giving him a response, so he continued.
"I'm from a planet called Krypton. My biological parents sent me to Earth in the first meteor shower, where my human parents found me - naked in a cornfield no less. They took me and my spaceship home." Still silence. Clark decided to say more, his nervousness causing him to go into all out babble mode. "I can lift aeroplanes with one hand; I can run to Metropolis in a second flat; I can see through objects a mile thick; I can hear cries for help on the other side of Smallville; I can burn anything with a single glance; I can send barn doors across town with a single sneeze; I can survive nuclear explosions and can take clips of bullets without getting a scratch on me and I can fly without an engine to help! Lois just say something, tell me I'm a freak, an alien a lunatic. I don't care!" He stopped taking a breath to slow down. "But the most important thing you have to know about me is that I'm completely and totally in love with you."
A/N And I think I'll leave it there! I couldn't wait too long to update, since I didn't really leave you on a cliffhanger last time. Is the story okay? Or have I gone too far? I've only got one more chapter to go and I think I'll call it discoveries. I don't know about an Epilogue yet, I still haven't decided whether I need one or not. Please review, I want to know what you think! Specifics would be great, but a review whatever length/specifics you can give me would be amazing. Thank you! ^_^