A/N: This piece takes place during and directly after episode 10x06 "Harvest." (You all know what that means!) It was inspired by the song "The Next Ten Minutes" from the musical "The Last Five Years." Give it a listen if you haven't already heard it. It's beautiful and such a Clois song, that I couldn't help but write something after I heard it.
He's going to ask Lois to marry him, that much is a given. The only variables are when, how, and what she's going to say.
Sure, it had taken him longer than absolutely necessary to realize that she's the one. Even he'll admit that there were parts of him that wondered if there still might be hope for him and Lana, even with the Prometheus in the equation. But Clark has always believed that there are a million tiny moments that add up to the big ones, and his relationship with Lois is no exception.
First there was homecoming and Brainiac and that trip into the future that allowed him to see just how Lois would protect him at all costs. The look on her face when he'd acted so surprised that she'd help him had been more surprising than his trip into 2017—because she treated him like an equal, like a man, and not just a super-powered being. And that was when he knew without a doubt that what he felt for her was real, absolute, and infinite.
It was refreshing, really, having a plan, and figuring out what comes next. When he'd pulled her into his arms and danced with her in the barn and told her he loved her in a voice so steady it surprised even himself, he felt something click into place. Lois is like coming home—peaceful, perfect, undeniable.
Her faith in him hadn't wavered, not even once, when the Believers had kidnapped and intended to sacrifice them. Even without powers, even in a seemingly hopeless situation, she'd believed that together they would be just fine. And they were. And that was the moment he decided that she deserved to know absolutely everything. The choice to give her Virgil Swann's diary to explain everything felt momentous, and he agonized over it for hours before she arrived at the farm, but as soon as she took it in her hands, a wave of calm rushed over him.
Then he'd needed her so badly, in a way he'd never needed anyone before, not even Lana. It was like being on red-kryptonite without the thin veil that keeps him from controlling himself. He needed her in that moment, because he felt he might die without her. She's like breathing.
He's never been as thankful for his mother's candle obsession as he is now, because he knows how special this moment is for both of them and he wants it to be as romantic as possible. He never imagined there would be a use for approximately one thousand white candles, but as he spreads them around the master bedroom and lights them with his heat vision, he can't imagine a better use for them. And if his mother ever asks while they're all slightly used… Well. It storms a lot in Central Kansas. But not tonight. This night is perfect, with the full moon high in the sky and cicadas singing softly in the distance. He opens the window to let in the cool night air.
Lois had excused herself to the bathroom for a moment and he's grateful for the temporary reprieve. Even though they haven't explicitly discussed it, Clark knows that they both understand what happens next. In a way, he's glad she made them take things slowly, because even as frustrating as it had been for him, somehow it wouldn't have felt right letting Lois know him completely physically without her also knowing him completely in all the other ways that few others do.
"Clark?" she says quietly from the doorway of the bathroom, her voice uncharacteristically questioning.
She looks exactly the same as she did when he last saw her, but somehow, now that the decision has been made, she has an almost ethereal glow around her. He's breathless and he can't do anything but gape at her.
She blushes furiously and tucks her hair behind her ears. "I, um… The candles are nice."
He smiles. He knew she'd appreciate them. "I know it's not a romantic Scottish inn or whatever, but I thought…"
"Oh, Clark, I don't care about that. It's… It never was about where we are or what I'm wearing or any of that." She reaches for his hands and closes the space between them. "Tonight's about us, just us, and this is perfect." She kisses him softly then and her hands snake under his t-shirt.
He wants nothing more than to rip off all her clothes, throw her on the bed, and tell her with actions how much she means to him. But he restrains himself, tangling one hand in the curls at the nape of her neck as the other works free the buttons of her shirt. You only get one first time with someone, and he knows without a doubt that she is the last woman he'll ever be with. She's known as much for months, he realizes, and that makes him all the more determined to make things perfect for her.
His head swims, lost in the heat and soft pressure of her mouth on his, and he breaks their connection to grasp her face and really look at her. "I love you," he says solidly.
"I love you," she replies and the light that blazes in her eyes has an undeniable effect on him. He's waited so long for her, he can hardly believe that she's real and here and his.
She kisses him and moves her fingers to the button of his jeans.
Beyond that, everything seems to occur at half-speed. He remembers finding her tattoo and being amused, but mostly really turned on by it. He remembers mapping every inch of her body with his fingers, committing every part of her to memory, because even though he's seen himself do this before—last year, when he ended up in her memories of the future—he never could have dreamed that she'd feel like this.
And then he kisses her and time stops completely as she opens for him and in one slow, steady, fluid movement they're one and they fit together perfectly and he sighs against her neck as he fills her. He rests then, savoring this moment, until a tear slips from beneath her eyelashes and splashes on his cheek. He pulls back to look at her, worried for a moment that she's hurt, but before he can ask, she smiles at him and reaches a hand up to his cheek.
"I've been waiting for this forever," she says breathlessly. "Waiting for you forever."
"You have me." He takes her hand in his and twines their fingers together. "Forever," he whispers against her bare skin.
And then he starts to move.
He'll never get tired of looking at her like this. When her hair is wild around her face and her eyes are heavy and half-lidded from ecstasy. "You're beautiful," he murmurs as he brushes some hair off her forehead.
"Careful, Kent." She smiles sleepily. "A girl could get used to that kind of talk."
A silent, comfortable moment passes between them, the only sounds their light breathing and the heavy ticking of the clock. If it weren't for that he might swear that time was standing still for them.
"Lois, someday I'm going to ask you to marry me." He isn't completely sure what makes him tell her exactly what he's thinking, but the way her eyes widen in surprise immediately makes him rethink it. Everything had been so perfect…
"I'm not asking today," he adds quickly. "Or even next week… But I just wanted you to know that someday, when you're ready and I can buy you the ring of your dreams and I can ask your dad for permission… When it's right, I'm going to ask you."
He knew it was risky, bringing up this topic when she's so exposed, so vulnerable, and she's already shared herself with him in the most intimate of ways. But he also knows that she hates being blindsided with anything relationship related and better he bring up the idea of marriage now and ease her into it, rather than just whipping out a ring at dinner one night.
She swallows hard and traces his jaw with her thumb. "It might take me a while," she finally says. "And I hate that, because I love you and I know that you'd probably marry me tomorrow if you could." She laughs. "Once you make up your mind about something like this, there's no going back."
He nods. Her read on him is exactly right. He doesn't make decisions lightly, but when he does—especially where Lois is concerned—he makes them for life. He realizes for the first time that this is probably why he was so hesitant to start anything at all with her. Part of him has known since the day he looked at her that she was his forever.
"But," she continues, still rubbing her thumb against the stubble on his chin. "If you can just wait for me for a little bit, I promise I will get there eventually. I know that you're the one, Clark, I know that. But old habits die hard. And if I start to run, well... Please come after me? Because I want to marry you. And someday, when it's my time, I want to know that I spent my entire life safe and loved in your arms."
"Always." He kisses her temple and then, because it seems like something she'd cling to, he clears his throat. "Tell you what. Why don't we take things a day at a time? And if everything goes okay today, tomorrow I'll ask you for another day. And eventually, all those days will turn into forever."
"God…" She sighs. "I don't know how anyone survives this life without someone like you."
It's more than he could ever expected. "You must really love me," he says, half-teasing because he knows that if she didn't love him with all her soul, she would have been dressed and out of Smallville in less than five seconds at the first word of marriage.
"Duh." She smiles broadly and kisses him for a long time. When she finally pulls away, she studies him, with one eyebrow raised. "Would you really ask my dad for permission?"
"Absolutely." He nods. "It's the right thing to do. And, if I'm being completely honest, I'm a little afraid of what would happen if I didn't."
Lois smiles. "Smallville, you should maybe be more worried about what will happen when you do."
A/N: Thank you so much!