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.
Forged I.D.'s and I Do's
by Chinita92
Chapter Ten:
FEEL
feel:
-verb
1.to feel or examine through physical contact
2. think or believe
3. be conscious of
"You know, I'm getting the slight impression that you like this whole 'holding hands thing'." Lois teased Clark as they reached a small corner cafe.
"What would make you think that?" Clark asked nervously, averting his gaze away from Lois' hazel eyes. If anything, he enjoyed too much the feel of her small soft hands fitting into his large ones as they walked around Metropolis.
"Relax Sweetie, I'm just messing with you." Lois said, a Cheshire smile forming on her tanned face. As they walked in, her eyes followed a random stranger that past them, this causing her to sigh in relief. "This," she began and then lowered her voice to barely a whisper, "pretending to be your wife is..." Another pedestrian walked towards them. She grunted. "Oh crud, never mind... I can't even--"
"Get a word in?" Clark said, finishing her thought.
She widened her eyes and nodded viciously. "Well I'm sorry you're not liking this whole 'limited speech' thing, because I know I am lov-ing it." Clark said, lying through his teeth. They sat themselves at a table by the window, hoping to spot Simon in the area.
"You say that now, Sma-" Lois stopped herself from completing her statement. Calling him 'Smallville' was second nature to her, meaning that she now had to fight against the urge. They couldn't even have a regular conversation. Instead, It was substituted with sickly sweet -fake- talk.
Pretend.
How she now detested the word. She would give anything to have a normal conversation with Clark, or anyone really. It was all 'Honey this' and 'Baby that'. Just thinking about the hypocrisy made her stomach threaten to bring her Cap'n Crunch back up.
"You okay?" Clark asked her, releasing his hand from their hold and bringing it up to her arm. Her eyes followed his move, to which she quickly tore from, letting her gaze sit on her fingertips that laid on the cold glass tabletop.
"Yeah, why?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows, confused about more things than she should have been.
"You swallowed hard and your heart started to beat faster-"
Her jaw slightly dropped at the reminder that he could hear her every whisper, movement, and breath . To be honest, she found it a little unsettling, and Clark read the expression off her face perfectly.
"Sorry, I couldn't help it."
"Its okay." Lois said, ending the subject abruptly. She set her eyes on the menu before her, feeling a twitch on her lower eyelid. Her body was desperate for caffeine. A unoccupied waitress past them, making her call for her attention. The young blond turned around, an irritated expression on her features. She began mumbling swear words under her breath as she walked over to the table.
"Yes?" she asked avoiding eye contact with the pair seated before her. She clicked her pen open, waiting for their order.
"Uh, excuse my wife, she hasn't had her coffee yet, that and the fact that it's still early don't mix well." She looked up from her blank pad to meet Clark perfect features. She blinked several times, a sensual smile forming before her.
"So, what is it you desire?" she asked suggestively, biting the corner of her lip flirtatiously. Lois watched Clark giggle uncontrollably, completely ignoring her existence. Lois rolled her eyes. What did she see in him? He was nothing special. In fact, there were a lot of unattractive things about him. For example, his eyes were too blue. She sighed. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing. But- his nose was way too.. too... pointy? 'Actually it looks good from here' a voice said in the back of her mind. 'There has to be something...' She thought, stroking her chin. She glanced at his lips. She was smart enough to not even go there. 'Definitely nothing wrong in that department.' She was so busy scrutinizing Clark, desperately trying to find a flaw, that she didn't hear him call her.
"Erin!" She abandoned her train of thought, directing a blank stare at him. "What?"
"What do you want?" he said, an impatient look in his eyes.
"Oh- um, let's see..." she said taking a moment to recover. "I'll take a frapuccino with extra sugar, and extra creme. Could you bring some extra Sweet-N-Lows too?" Lois asked, knowing too well that places like this never added enough sugar for her taste.
The waitress jotted her order down with a a quizzical eyebrow. Her piercing honey eyes met Lois's for the first time, and Lois didn't like the once over she gave her. "Anything else..." she said audibly, then lowered her voice generously, "...like a cavity?" Lois looked at Clark with a look that said 'hold me back or I'll hurt her'. Clark's super hearing caught the waitresses zinger and it seemed Lois did too.
A heated Lois leaned in, about to whisper something to him, when she looked up at the specimen. "You can go now." Lois said, a smile so forged and sweet that could've possibly given the waitress the cavity she had offered.
When the blond scurried away, Clark turned back to Lois. "Hey, calm down. It was just a joke, a little uncalled for but-"
"-Don't go there." she said fuming. She cracked her knuckles, feeling the need to hurt something. "I don't get why you're so upset about it..." Clark began.
"Upset? First of all she comes over cursing at us, and then on top of that, she storms over and totally ignores me and starts shamelessly flirting with you and-"
"She was not flirting." Clark corrected her, letting a disbelieving laugh slip out. 'Wait.. Did I hear correctly?' "Even if she was..." he said, a sly smile smeared on his full lips, "what's it to you?"
She looked up at him, her face stoic. "Nothing."
"Someone's a little jealous..." Clark said, leaning back in his chair, a feeling of confidence waving over him.
"Jealous? Please! The day that I' m jealous of some sleazy waitress is the day that I'll bite my head off." Lois said, subconsciously rolling back her shoulders.
"So you're not jealous because you know she's no competition?" he asked, not thinking his words through.
She snorted. "So you're saying I have nothing to worry about?" He looked from the window and over to her, finding Lois sitting in her chair, long legs crossed, plum dress clinging at her tone thighs, its hem a foot away from her knees. She began to twirl the end of her French braid, expectant of Clark's answer.
"That's not what I meant..."
"Sure..." she said, grabbing her purse from the floor in search of her cellphone. She had declared the conversation over, shutting him out. Part of her anger was directed to him too- for he didn't have to go along and be so nice to the cheap hag.
"Here's your pancake and egg combo with orange juice." Lois looked up from her Text Message to see the cause of her bad mood. She grunted.
"Thank You ...?" Clark said, asking her name.
"Sara." the waitress said. "But you can call me Yours." she added, accompanying her words with a wink.
Clark tensed up, not enjoying the uncomfortable air. "And her coffee?" he asked, pointing to an irritable Lois.
"Oh right, I left it at the counter." Sara said and pranced away.
"Do you see? She deliberately forgot to bring my order because she's jealous that I have the Wife status and that you're taken!" she hissed behind a cupped palm.
"Well.. I'm not really taken..." he said, his mouth full of pancakes.
She stared at him in awe. "You can't be serious..." she looked over at Sara the Slut behind the counter. Sure she was pretty but... not good enough for Clark. Of course she couldn't let him know that. "Her? Even someone as dorky as you are can do better than..." Lois turned to see Sara pushing up her breasts and fluffing up her hair before a silver tray. "Better than that... Crap."
"Relax, I'm only kidding. Besides," he said looking out the window, "she's not my type."
Lois felt her stomach fill with a buzzing sensation. She folded a napkin on the table, dying to question him further... which she did. "Type? You have a... type?" she asked, seeming indifferent while folding a napkin several times over.
His eyes wandered over her face, taking in how beautiful Lois looked when she was lost in thought. The way her eyebrows furrowed, her lips slightly pouted and how her eyes became vacant. 'You're my type, and she's not You.' he thought.
"Here's your coffee." Sara said, leaving her cup on the table. She smiled at Clark and slipped out a napkin, writing down what Lois could assume was her number. "Ahem." Lois coughed, tapping at her Styrofoam cup. Sara turned to face her, rolling her eyes. She dug in her apron pocket, her fist emerging with the object of Lois' desire. She released a vast amount of pink sugar packets from her grasp, causing them to messily cascade over the small glass table.
Lois began to gather the sugar packets in a neat pile, trying to contain herself, but had enough of it. She looked up at Sara, her lips thinning. "I don't like you.Stop flirting with my husband and start doing your job right. Okay?"
Her skin paled to the shade of white paper. "I-I-I am doing my job-" she began defensively.
"Oh sweetie, I worked in a coffee shop and that is not how you deal with customers, even with the the annoying ones like me. When you don't like a customer you're supposed to suck it up, not try to steal their spouse." She turned to look at Clark. "I'll be in the car." She grabbed her purse and coffee and stood up, but not before returning awkwardly and stuffing Sweet-N-Lows into her purse. Clark heard the chimes of the main entrance sound sharply, letting him know Lois had walked out. Without hesitation, he stood up from his seat leaving behind the scrumptious plate of breakfast.
"Wait!" Sara called out to Clark. He turned around, feeling the urge to punch the bimbo himself.
"What?" he asked, sighing impatiently.
"Here's my number in case you get bored of that loud trap." she said grabbing his hand and crumpling the napkin over his palm. Clark shut his eyes, containing his anger.
"Believe me when I say that it will never happen." Clark said, letting the napkin drop to the floor. He turned around and began walking away when he heard her call out to him.
"You mean you're never going to get bored of her or we'll never happen?" she asked, just as he grabbed the door.
He turned to her, his blue eyes cold as ice. "Neither."
"Lois?" Clark asked in a low voice as the Volvo halted at a red light.
"What?" she asked, looking out the window, the Sun's rays turning her hazel eyes into a bright shade of green.
"You haven't said anything since we left..."
"And?"
"Trust me when I say that it's not like you."
She sighed. "I'm just..." she said and stopped, waiting for a reason to come to her, "not in the mood for talking right now."
He furrowed his eyebrows, "But I thought you were dying to be alone so you could do just that, you know without the possibility of people hearing in."
She turned to him, her bottom lip a tad redder than her remembered. "I'm just tired, that's all." Lois lied and turned her back to him yet again. She continued to bite her lip, lost in thought.
"Um, Lois... I wanted to ask you something..."
Her eyes darted up from the car lock, staring into space. "Ask what?" She asked, looking at him from the corner of her eye, her back still facing him. She felt her pulse quicken as she waited for what seemed an eternity for him to speak up.
"Well..."
She turned hesistantly, catching him off guard. "Whatever it is, just... come out and say it." Lois said, sounding a lot more cooperative in the talking department.
"Well, you said Simon told you that he knows the Grocery Store like the back of his hand right?" he said, his eyes glued to the traffic before him. He turned to glance at her, noticing her smile falter a bit.
She felt his gaze on her, to which she looked up and smiled widely, exposing her pearly whites. "Um, yeah... he did say that."
"So I was thinking we should go, maybe if we're lucky we'll spot him there-"
"-and then do what?" Lois found herself suddenly so intrigued with the volume knob, that she didn't see Clark run his hand through his hair, a look of desperation on his face.
"I guess... its finally time to get into... um, Married-Mode."
She looked up at him, her lips slightly parted in fear. "And what exactly does 'Married-Mode' consist of...?"
He gulped, afraid of what his answer should be. "Um..."
"Um, what?" she asked, annoyed by his lack of coherence.
"Well..."
"Oh god." she said in a ominous tone.
"What?" Clark asked worriedly.
"Please tell me we don't have to..."
"What?" Clark asked, not sure of the idea Lois was trying to convey.
"You know..." she said motioning to her lips and his.
"Oh! You mean kiss?"
"Of course I mean kiss!"
"In that case, probably. Yeah." Clark said to which Lois shut her eyes, wishing he didn't just say what she heard.
"Gee, thanks Lois."
"Oh shut up." she said, putting up her wall. "Are you sure it's completely necessary?"
"Well, we want to convince him... don't we?"
"I guess... but..."
"Lois, do you think I want to kiss you?" It hurt Clark to lie to her, but it seemed it was the only way to make her want something. The General didn't want her to smoke, so she did. Chloe told her to back off from avenging Wes' death and she did. Maybe telling her that he didn't want to kiss her would make her want to. Maybe...
She faced him, trying to seem indifferent. "Well of course I don't think you want to kiss me. Heck, I sure as hell don't want to kiss you either." she said, refraining herself from adding a spiteful comment.
"Good." Clark said while awkwardly facing the road.
"Great."
The silence filled the small car as worry consumed them both. 'What will it be like?' Clark thought, feeling excited all of a sudden. Lois rubbed her temples, asking herself the same question, only she wasn't looking forward to finding out.
"Well we're here." Clark said as he parked the car.
Lois unfastened her seatbelt throwing him an arched eyebrow, "Thanks for stating the obvious." She said unlocking her door. She opened it and stepped out of the car, careful to not stand too close to the incoming traffic. She slammed the door closed, and leaned down, her head sticking into the open window of the car. "You coming Sweetheart?" she said and smiled, only for it to fade away seconds after.
"Should have kept my mouth shut." Clark said under his breath. He stared longingly at a pissed off Lois who stood by the store's entrance with crossed arms. She seemed almost mad at him for 'not wanting to kiss her'. He rolled up the windows and stepped out of the car, meeting Lois at the front door.
"Ready when you are." he said, holding out his hand. She looked down to his palm in distaste, for the last thing she wanted to do was make any physical contact with Clark. She slapped her hand on his, her fingertips resting on his warm skin.
"When we get to the apartment you can roll your eyes all you want, just suck it up and try to look at least alittle attracted to me." he said, his jaw clenched in frustration.
"Well you can't teach an old dog new tricks." Lois spat. She eyed him in a challenging manner, as if daring him to answer her.
"My god, woman! Could you be any more annoying? You're as stubborn as a Pitbull on a pant leg. Just let go whatever negative feeling you have and play along, would you?" Clark said, almost pleading her.
"You're just like all of them," she said, shaking her head. "You're not a man, you're a dog- and in case you didn't know, they make me sick." She glared at him, a part of her angry at him and the other at herself. She felt so low, lying to Clark just to get the last word. Truth was, Clark was different. She'd never admit it to him, but he was the nicest, sweetest. Most genuine man she'd ever known. She rolled her eyes, hating herself for letting her pride get them this upset at each other. She eyed him hesitantly, and when she noticed his spirits crush at her remark, so did hers.
"Let's get this over with." he said, his eyes never meeting hers.
Lois simply nodded, following him quietly into the store. As they entered, they were greeted by a worker who handed them a flyer of coupons and special offers. Clark nodded him a thank you and began scanning the area for Simon.
"Any sign of him?" she asked, keeping her voice low.
"Not yet." he said, kicking his X-Ray vision into gear, counting 13 skeletons inside the store.
They walked down several aisles, each one making Lois tense up. With every step and turn, she feared they would run into Simon. She didn't know why she felt afraid, for she was never one to be scared of trouble. She looked up to Clark who met her eyes, but quickly turned away. Lois sighed. She hated seeing Clark mad at her.
"Listen," Lois began, mustering up any ounce of humility inside her to work up an apology. "I didn't mean-"
"Shh." Clark said holding up a finger, causing this to cut Lois off. She furrowed her eyebrows, following his gaze. "What?"
"I hear someone, someone breathing." he said vaguely.
"Well there is a slight possibility that it could be me.. I know I could be inhuman but I do have lungs you know." Lois said, not knowing that Clark had tuned her out long ago.
"It's him." he said, finally facing her since they entered the store.
"How do you-?"
"He's standing at the end of the row, behind a shelf. I saw him."
"Oh my God." Lois said, starting to freak out. "What do we do?" she asked, a look of vulnerability pasted on her face.
He looked at his surroundings, thinking as quick as possible. If he took any longer in deciding his move, he'd get caught in the act. He stared deep into Lois' eyes, mustering up all the courage he had in him. He brought his hand up to her face, his hand sliding down to the back of her neck.
"Uhh, what are you doing?" Lois asked, staring accusingly at his outstretched arm.
"Kiss Me." Clark ordered, fighting to get the words out of his throat.
"Wha-"
"Kiss... Me." he whispered in the dead air.
"Oh god, you're seri-"
Clark took in a breath and bravely dove for her face, pressing his lips against Lois' parted mouth, shutting her up in mid-sentence. She found herself paralyzed, for she.. Lois Lane was kissing.. Clark Kent?! She viciously shut her eyes closed in a wince. What was she to expect? He tightened his hold on her as if nudging her to respond, to breathe, to relax- anything to make the kiss credible. He tenderly kissed her upper lip, his face gravitating to the right where he then attempted to slide his tongue into her mouth, but Lois wasn't having it.
Honestly? She was too shocked of how her body tingled next to him, of how she really, really liked his arms around her, his lips over hers, the musky scent that he wore, and more than anything.. the effect he was having on her. What was she supposed to do? If she did kiss him back, would she go past the point of no return?
Clark put distance between them, letting his forehead rest on hers. "I'm asking you again, please just... kiss me."
She raised her hand up to his jaw, motioning his head away from hers. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see her face. He didn't want to see the repulsion in her eyes. "I'm sorry." she said, closing her own eyes in thought. He swallowed hard, her rejection affecting him morethan he thought it would. Although, he should have expected it, it was Lois after all. It seemed she interpreted his silence because she continued to speak. "I meant, I'm sorry... about the things I said earlier. I didn't mean any of it." He opened his eyes to meet her distraught face. She looked from the floor to him, shrugging. Clark seemed confused, a second ago he was sure Lois was pushing him away, was she now letting him in? "So, um this is me... apologizing." Taking in a deep breath, she tightened her hold on the side of his face and brought his lips down to hers. She pressed her lips against his, feeling his warmth surge through her. She softly brushed her lips against his again, waiting for him to react. It took him no less than a second to do so when he tenderly kissed the corner of her mouth, sliding his bottom lip between her own. Her body shook in his arms not knowing how to react to her emotions. He hugged her tighter, his left hand cupping the side of her face, the other on her lower back. Finally relaxing, she wrapped her arms around his neck, twirling his hair around her fingers. She softly sucked his top lip, her feelings pouring over him. Wait- Feelings? Lois tensed up at the thought, but soon found herself torn away from the idea. They found themselves lost in each other, discovering the other's weaknesses and strengths. But then, something happened. Suddenly her eyes fluttered open. She looked at her surroundings. Something was wrong. She slid a hand over his chest, tearing his lips away from hers. They stared at each other in silence, knowing that things would never be the same.
"Ahem."
Lois wrapped her arms around herself, reality biting her in the behind. She discretely made eye contact with Clark who looked down to her, a look of longing firmly planted in his eyes. She gulped, and turned to the man in front of her.
"Erin, you said?"
"Yeah." Lois answered, discarding a thought that had crept up to her a second ago. Instead, she focused on the matter at hand. "Um, this is my.. husband- Tod." Clark smiled awkwardly, his hand reaching for Lois' in the obscurity of her back. She shot him a pleading gaze that she quickly broke from. Lois brought both hands in font of her, leaving Clark's to hang lifelessly behind her.
"Nice to meet you Tod. Name's Simon. Simon Henkell."
Looking into Simon's piercing gray eyes, Lois suddenly didn't care about how awkward things had just become with Clark. She leaned in closer to him, openly lacing her fingers with his. The stranger before them watched Lois give Clark's hand an affectionate squeeze, causing her wedding ring to glisten under the light. Clark knew he shouldn't let their cover go to their heads, but it all felt so real. Was Lois feeling what he was feeling? His subtle stare panned up from her clasped hands, letting it rest on her face. And as the sight of Lois numbed his mind with thoughts of her, and only her- Clark had no doubt that he was in love...
...In love with his wife.
To Be Continued...
Author's Note: Yeah, I took long. Life Sucks. So.. I don't feel very confident about this one... at all. Feedback appreciated. :]