Summary: Lois has an obsessed meteor freak stalking her and putting her life at risk. In order to protect her, Clark reveals to her his secret and proposes. Proposes to pose as a married couple, that is. Do new identities also come with new feelings? Or are these fake too?
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Previously on Forged I.D.'s and I Do's:
"Once we walk through that door, we're not Clark Kent and Lois Lane-- We're Tod and Erin, married, and in love. ...It's going to be weird and hard, but its just going to have to be."
...Sometimes our Dreams can Reveal Our Darkest Secrets:
Lois stared at the shadowed figured that stood by the church doors. As she approached, it was none other than Smallville. He now stood before her, and in one swift moment, held her in his strong arms.
'I've got you.' he said, licking his lips as his face approached hers.
"I've wanted to do this, for a very long time." Lois said, grabbing Clark's hands. He leaned in closer, as did she. Suddenly a a shout was heard.
"Clark!" At the door, Lana looked on as Clark and Lois broke away from their compromising position.
"Lana, we need to talk--"
She shook her head. "--I come here to tell you that I want us to be together until death do us part, and I see you about to kiss Lois?!"
"You outgrew me! You're here with Lois, and I'm alone-- wanting to be with you."
"Lana, I'm so sorry."
"I think I always put in extra money in my piggy bank..."
"Why?"
"Because I never really wanted a bike."
And Other Times, Reality does it All on Its Own...
Clark awoke from his dream, realization hitting him upside the head. He heard her buttoning up what he could imagine was her pajama top. But then she made a tying sound of sorts. A robe? Why wear a robe if she had already dressed herself? He was to busy to answer the question when he heard the door open and her footsteps coming closer. He tried to relax, and steady his breathing., he began to panic,not knowing how to act around her now.
Now that he knew he had feeling for Lois.
"Sweet Dreams, Smallville." She said then stroked his forehead, pushing his hair back. There was no way he could not have reacted to that. He pressed his face deeper into her palm, moaning softly.
Her breath hitched in her throat, just before running away and shutting the bedroom door behind her, and locking it.
Damn that Lois Lane.
Damn her.
Forged I.D.'s and I Do's
by Chinita92
Chapter Ten:
IDENTIFY
identify – ahy-den-tuh-fahy:
-verb
1. to recognize or establish as being a particular person or thing; verify the identity of
2. to associate in name, feeling, interest, action, etc.
Lois stared at her pale fingertips, cursing them for seemingly having a mind of their own. What if he had woken up, finding her hovering over him, fingers practically through his hair-- and not to mention shortly after undressing him? She shook her head-- that wasn't even the point. Why had she been compelled to caress his face in the first place? She sighed and opening up her robe, exposing one of Clark's plaid shirts beneath. She snorted bitterly. All her decisions pointed to one answer-- that answer being wrong.
"So wrong." she said, almost in a brain-washed tone. She held her throbbing head, repeating over and over again that sleep was the remedy to all her jacked up thoughts.
"It was the only thing that was clean." she said under her breath when angrily fluffing up her pillow. Stripping the comforter away from Jimmy's mattress, she slid off her bunny slippers and hopped into bed. Once finding a comfortable position, she stared at the poorly lit popcorn ceiling above her, dreading the next day.
"Tomorrow, Tomorrow I can't stand you tomorrow, --damn-- its only a freaking day away!" After a bitter remake of Orphan Annie's musical number, she let out another sigh and faced the night table to her left. She slid a rectangular plastic object off the surface of the table, bringing it closer to her.
"Erin Durling-Wellance." she softly spoke aloud when running her eyes over her forged Identification Card. "Age: 23, Sex: Female, Marital Status: Married."
Married. Her mother immediately came to mind. What would she think of something like this? Taunting the sacredness of marriage? She really didn't have a choice-- anymore. If she did, she wouldn't be married to Smallville, at least pretending to be.
Pretend. She had forgotten about that word... Hearing it again brought a certain reassurance to her, the reminder of the unrealistic aspect of it all. None of the recent events would never EVER happen unless under the extreme and really strange circumstances she found herself in. Meaning the stomach fluttering, mindless forehead caressing, subconscious plaid shirt wearing, fear of convincing Simon and the half naked farm boy on her cousin's boyfriend's couch were simply product of a situation that would never occur in a million years-- if not for her bad luck. So once it was all over, the weird feelings would go along with it too? Yes. That's what it was. "My hard drive is simply confusing this all with the real thing." She patted her chest, right above her heart. "Well its not, buddy. Got it?" she sighed, happily this time. "Glad we got that sorted out." And with that, she turned over and switched off the lamp, a wide smile of satisfaction smeared on her face as she dozed off to sleep.
"Lois." Clark said, followed by a groan. All he could hear was the faucet running and very convenient radio hosts laughing up a storm in the background.
"Lo-is!!" he said again, banging on the bathroom door this time.
She finally answered. "What?! Isn't there a planter out there you could pee in or something?"
He caught himself scanning the room out of desperation, that is, until he realized there was no need for such drastic measures. "Lois, hurry up would you?"
"Never rush a girl, Smallville." he heard her high-pitched voice through the door. He swore he could almost see her mischievous smile through the thick wood that separated him and her.
He shook his head in frustration, making his way to Jimmy's (or now Lois') unmade bed. He sat down, the springs screeching under his weight. Maybe he wasn't that disappointed about Lois not coming out of the bathroom... Maybe he wasn't ready to see her yet-- not after the revelation he had the night before. When he awoke that morning he felt a momentary glimmer of hope when he felt no rapid heartbeats or sweaty palms. That was until he got an earful of Lois humming in the bathroom.
It all sort of felt like the morning after, really. But to his surprise Lois was her usual snarky self, which was relieving to some extent. But then that meant that their little moment had no effect on her- not that it surprised him... Lois could never see him as anything but Clark ''Yes Ma and Yes Pa'' Kent, even with the knowledge of his powers. He always feared people close to him would see him differently when finding out about his secret, so the fact that Lois saw him exactly the same should have made him happy, right?
"Be careful there Ghandi, if you concentrate too much on that spot on the carpet you might just catch our neighbors downstairs doing the horizontal limbo. We wouldn't want those baby blues scarred for life, now would we?" Lois said, arms crossed as she stood by the bathroom door, already dressed for the day.
He looked up, just about ready to come up with some retort, when a bullfrog decided to move in the Timeshare that was his throat.
"Huh?" Lois asked, scrunching up her nose at his cracked and incoherent syllable.
He had a theory that if he gave Lois a sack of potatoes to wear she would would still look sexy, wait-- that wouldn't be so bad... Gutter-Alert! He shook his head. She looked great wearing that deep plum summer dress, the jersey kind that clings on every curve and falls just above the knee. And the tasteful cleavage she sported didn't hurt either. Her hair was brushed slick back in a French braid, her make-up consisting of lilac eyeshadow, black mascara and tinted lip balm.
He cleared his throat, surprised at the effect Lois caused him.. He was never suave with the ladies like Lex or Oliver was, but he was never this pathetic pile of mush.
She snapped her fingers in front of his face, her hand gesture causing the air to circulate around her scented wrist, making the smell of her perfume linger in the air. He immediately looked up at her, a strange smile tugging at her lips. "What?" she said. He stood up from the bed, standing closer to her than he expected. She awkwardly swallowed. He smiled at her and she smiled at him, her moist lips reeling him in. If only, he could... taste them, he thought, nearing her face. "Ugh... Smallville?"
"Smallville!!" she yelled out, waving her hands before his face. "Would you get up from the bed already?! I thought you needed to 'relieve' yourself? Or do you just enjoy rushing me out of the bathroom?" Lois said, her hands on her hips. He looked around. His vivid imagination had gotten the best of him. He awkwardly stood up from the bed, for real this time.
"You okay Smallville?" Lois asked, once noticing the seriousness etched in his features when he solemnly walked towards the restroom.
He turned around, surprised at being exposed to a rarely seen layer of Lois' personality: Caring. "Just peachy," he lied through a tight-lipped grin. She furrowed her eyebrows as he shut the door closed. She shook the strange feeling that set in her stomach, or at least tried to. She grabbed her fake ID and stared at it, repeating the word Pretend as she read over it again. Once acquiring her happy place, she set the ID on the table and faced the bed, cocking her head to the side, deciding if she wanted to make it or not.
"Meh. It could wait." she said, and began to walk out of the room, but not before reversing her steps to the table, swiping the card off its surface and placing it in her pocket. Something told her she would be needing to look at it more often than she hoped for.
Clark scrubbed his face with his palms, trying to temporarily forget that Lois was in the next room. Drops of water rolled down the tip of his nose and chin when lowering his head under the shower head. You know the worst part of it all was knowing what it felt like to hold her, kiss her, smell her. I guess you could say he was a bit masochist, because he enjoyed the pain that was Lois, the teasing, the sarcasm... it just worked for him. All those times he was annoyed at her for it... deep down he might have just been frustrated with himself for enjoying it. The same frustration he felt for letting this massive crush develop to its full potential. He turned off the water, grabbing a a white towel that hung on the wall. He wrapped it around his waist, and snatched yet another towel for tossing the excess water out of his hair..
Lois leaned against the kitchen counter while glumly holding a large bowl, drowning her Cap'n Crunch in milk with a large spoon.
"Lois!" she heard Clark call to her.
"Yes hun?" Lois replied sadistically.
Silence. A cough. "Um, could you hand me some clothes please?"
She brought her spoon up to her mouth. "Eating, sorry." she said and took a bite.
"Please?"
She snorted. "Come on Clarkie, its not like I haven't seen you in a towel before!" she called out, her mouth full.
"It's not that hard, Lois. Just grab it, come here, and you're done. Please?"
"Still Eating!"
He sighed. "Next time you need a favor," he said, walking out of Lois' room holding his towel securely at his hip, "don't ask me."
A loud clunk was heard when Lois' spoon dropped unceremoniously in her bowl. She began to cough, trying to tear her eyes away from Clark. Last time she saw him in a towel... he was... well, in high school. But man, kids sure do grow up fast, she thought, while slightly fanning her face with the cereal box. His toned upper body glistened with stray water droplets, a few occasionally rippling down his abdomen. His pectoral muscles looked tighter and had grown exponentially in size.-- and his biceps? She shivered. Delicious. Lois gulped, not realizing that she still hadn't swallowed her cereal.
"Have you seen my sneakers?" he asked, throwing a pair of dark wash jeans and a gray T-shirt over his shoulder.
"Uh... no." she said, focusing intently at a cracked tile on Jimmy's back splash.
"Hmmm..." he said, and scratched his damp hair, making it even messier than before. She looked over, deciding if she should go help him, when she caught sight of him bending over, rummaging on the floor of the closet.
"I- um..." she set her bowl on the counter, and dug both hands in her dress' pocket, hastily digging for her object of desire. "C'mon, C'mon..." she said, looking at Clark, to her pocket, Clark, pocket, Clark. 'Hurry!'
"A-ha!" she said, holding her I.D. up to her direct line of vision.
"Pretend." she stated clearly and smiled, soon for it to fade She flicked the plastic with her finger, "I said 'Pretend', damn it!" She shook the I.D., as if hoping for the magical power that it held the night before to resurface. She nervously looked at Clark who approached her... with one last attempt she laid it on the counter, both of her hands beside it.
"Pret-"
"Lois, does this match?" Clark said holding up a pair of dark brown sneakers beside his gray shirt.
Lois kept her eyes glued to the I.D. on the counter while speaking. "Uhh.. Yes?"
Clark cocked an eyebrow. "Lois you didn't even look." he said, swinging his head to one side.
It was true, the poor guy could have held up a blue shoe with an orange shirt and she still would've said yes, anything to get him out of her side, really-- and most importantly: fully clothed.
"Yeah well, I'm busy." she said, trying to shoo him away. He grabbed her arm and softly forced her to face him. He set his shoes on the counter.
"Are you feeling alright?" he asked, pressing his hand up against her forehead. She glared up at his fingers and back at him, her hand swatting his away from her. "What was it you said? Oh right! 'Just Peachy'?" she said, baring her teeth at him displeasingly.
"Did I do something to you?" he asked, a genuine fear flashing his eyes. Seeing this made her feel guilty. She sighed. "No, you didn't, Clark." she said softly and smiled wholeheartedly. Her eyes rolled over to his shoes and grabbed them. "Although you might want to try black instead." she said and shoved them playfully at his bare chest.
"Thanks, but um.. can I change in your room?" he asked, smiling.
She nodded enthusiastically, thankful that the man would finally get some clothes on. As he gathered his clothes, Lois grabbed hold of a small kitchen towel and twirled it, slapping his butt as he turned away from her.
"Hey!" Clark cried out, surprised at her action.
She bit her lip, fighting back the chuckles. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help it!"
He looked at her playfully, shaking his head. "Don't complain when I return the favor." he threatened just before closing the door of her bedroom.
She smiled at herself, once alone. "I'll take you up on that." she said, grabbing her bowl and dropping it in the sink. After rinsing the it out and sticking it in the dishwasher, she took notice of her cold, plastic I.D. on the damp counter. "You suck, you know that?" she said, giving it a nasty once-over. "You are going back in here." she said, grabbing it and shoving it in her pocket again.
She sighed, finding herself nothing else to do. "Clark, are you going to eat anything?" she called out when making her way into the living room. She plopped down on the couch, stroking the armrests while waiting for him to answer.
"Uh..." he began but trailed off.
"Uhhh, what?" she said, mimicking his deep voice. "Yes or No? I still need my coffee fix which I'll get on the way over to wherever it is we're going. Speaking of which, what's the plan?" she said, sloppily switching subjects.
He opened the door, rolling down the bottom hem of his shirt over his ribs. She blinked rapidly, not expecting another shot of Clark's chest again. "Well?" she said, grinning like an idiot.
"I guess trying to find Simon and convincing him, that we're.."
She gestured for him to continue.
He looked down, causing his now placed glasses to slightly slide. "...in love."
"-Married." she corrected.
"Lois, its the same thing." he said, shaking his head..
"Eh, whatever." She stood up from the couch, and grabbed her bag that hung on the coat rack. "And after we 'convince'? How do we know its safe for us to go home?" she asked, not sure how she felt about the idea of going back so soon.
"I guess until I figure out how to get him under custody of the authorities without any of us getting hurt." he said and shrugged.
"Sounds reasonable enough.." she said and headed for the door, "for a farm boy that is."
"You thought this farm boy was more than enough last Valentine's Day..." Clark mumbled to himself.
"Did you say something Smallville?" she turned around and asked, her eyes bright and expectant.
"Nope. Nothing."
She nodded, hoping he would have something to say, for she was stalling the 'getting out of the apartment' part.
"You sure?"
He blinked, slightly amused at the obvious. "Yes, Lois, I am. Do you want me to open the door for you?"
"Aw, how chivalrous of you Kent, but I can get it myself." she said, raising her eyebrows at him. She pushed her shoulders back, and flipped her hair off the shoulder, hitting Clark in the face. She turned around in mock-shock. "Oh, I'm so sorry! Did I get you?" she asked, playfully stroking his cheek.
"You know what, Lois, you did. But there is something that you didn't do.." Clark said enigmatically.
"What's that?" she asked, distracted.
"This." And with that Clark Kent unlocked and opened the door, stepping out onto the hallway, seizing to exist. He was Tod Wellance now. "Come on, Erin. You and I have things to do."
Lois inhaled and exhaled nervously. She winced as she slowly began inching her way out of the apartment, holding onto the door frame. Clark rolled his eyes, a smile forming.
"Any day now..." he said, glancing at his watch.
"I'm getting there! Cool your jets Speedy!" she said defensively.
"You know if I didn't know you any better, I would say that you're scared."
"Pfft." she said, a look of disbelief on her face. "And what is it that I could possibly be scared of?"
"I don't know..." he said childishly, his face turning a bit more serious in a matter of seconds. "Look, don't think I don't feel weird and a strange knowing that we're going to have to be all love-y dove-y as of now, but you know it's for your own good, right?" he said, tossing her a reassuring smile.
She hesitantly made eye contact with him, lifting one corner of her mouth glumly. "Yeah."
"Good. Now come with me, let us be brave together." he said in the most cheesiest of ways. She looked at him with a flabbergasted expression. "You did not just go there."
"Yes I did... anything to make you smile."
Hearing those words brought chills up her spine. No one ever said something like that to her, and he wasn't even trying to impress her... He really... meant it..
He held out a hand, smiling sheepishly as a blush crept up his cheeks. Without hesitance she slid her fingers over his palm, finally stepping onto the hallway beside him. As he locked the door with his free hand, she could not stop gazing at their clasped hands. And the best part was... that she didn't even feel the slightest urge to fish out her I.D.
Author's Note: Okay... kill me, another short chapter... but I really liked how it ended there and I wanted that to be the last thing on your mind when reading. I swear next chapter will get to the good stuff, okay?