The minutes on the clock ticked tediously by and in the last four minutes alone Lois had gone from muted nervousness and excitement to outright panic that either Clark wasn't going to show or that the date would go horribly wrong. Chloe had left her to her own devices, deciding on taking an badly timed visit to the hospital when Lois' freak-out had spiralled out of a rational person's control.

"It's ok Lois, just breathe." She told herself, taking a second to stop pacing in her heels. It was currently 7.58pm, and nothing she could do could make her forget about that.

A knock at the door completely threw her off and she couldn't decide whether opening the door should come after quickly checking herself out in the mirror or whether she shouldn't keep the Blur waiting. "Coming!" She yelled at the door as she decided on the former option. She scuttled over to the door and found Clark standing there in a black suit with a blue tie that highlighted his eyes. "Hi." She smiled.

Clark stood dumbstruck for a moment, and closing his mouth as he said, "Lois, you look... incredible."

"Oh this old thing?" She joked uncomfortably, clutching hold of the door. Every cell in her body was quivering in nervousness. She knew that for all the feelings she had for Clark and the Blur, she and Clark had been friends – and not always great ones – for years. Despite thinking she'd been prepared to be with him, her present uneasy behaviour told her different. "Do you wanna come in?"

"I was hoping you would come out." Clark smiled, taking her hand. His hand sparked as he grabbed for hers. She relaxed into his hand, and he felt the tension in his shoulders go.

She nodded, smiling, and followed him out, locking the door behind her. As they descended the stairs, hand in hand, Clark stopped at the bottom, turning to face her. "I was going to bring you flowers, but then it occurred to me, I have no idea what you like."

Lois smiled, relaxing into the conversation, "Well Smallville, I'm a complicated woman and complicated women like different flowers depending on the situation."

"Ok, and what sort of flowers would be appropriate for a date with you? Complicated or otherwise." Clark asked, smiling at the easiness of being with her. Sometimes Lois was the Lois he had gotten used to over the years: filled with quips, patronising, teasing, kind; and sometimes she was the Lois he had only recently met: shy, nervous, unsure, beautiful, irresistible. The two together made Clark feel like he wasn't special, that everyone else in the world had two personalities, that Lois could understand him like no one else; she made him feel like the human he had always wanted to be.

And her smile... "Orchids." Her hands softened in his. "You can't go wrong with orchids."

Clark smiled knowingly, and took his hands away from hers. "Orchids it is."

Lois blinked, and felt a gust of cold wind blow across her face, to see Clark standing in front of her, just as he had before, slightly adjusted and with the biggest bouquet of orchids she'd ever seen in his arms. Her mouth dropped open, and then a laugh escaped. "You really know how to impress a girl, Smallville." She accepted them into her arms, admiring their astounding beauty, and murmuring as she looked into his eyes, "They're perfect, thank you."

He smiled the smile that made Lois' knees go weak every single time and made her heart beat a mile a minute; it was his nervous/ modest smile. The smile that told her he had no idea what he was doing and loving every moment of it; the smile that said he cared for her as much she did him; and the smile that told her that for any moment of doubt she had that Clark was the man for her, there were a million moments like this overwhelmingly telling her that this was right in every sense of the word. In that second, Lois lunged herself at him, unwilling and unable to stop herself from kissing him right there in that light. At first surprised, he responded fire for fire, strength for strength, holding her close as she enclosed her arms around his neck. It was a passionate release for both of them, finally letting go of years of playing and teasing, and embracing something more, something that they'd both needed for so long. Clark felt the spark of fire she had within her ignite his lips, pulling her over for more, wanting so much for this to never end, for this to be real.

Slowly, and hesitantly at first, they pulled apart, gasping for shallow breaths. "Wow." Clark smiled, stroking her cheek. "Remind me to get you flowers more often."

Lois bit her lip. "Makes me wonder why you never got me any before." She took a few steps back, flowers in hand, looking at him longingly, "I'm gonna put these in some water. I'll be right back." She winked as she ascended the stairs, leaving Clark watching her as she went.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

The drive to the restaurant was filled with sideward glances and blushing smiles on both parts, finding little to say, enjoying the fact that they didn't need to say anything at all to know what the other was thinking. The restaurant was black and dark red, a slighter darker shade than Lois' dress, with the theme of romance sprinkled around the place as if Valentine's Day could have been constructed there. They were shown to their table quickly, and were sat at a table in the corner of the restaurant, and Lois was silently happy that they were far away enough from others that they would be able to talk about anything and everything.

"Thank you." Lois said to the waiter as he left them, and looked over to Clark who grinned at her. "What?" She smiled.

"If someone had told me 6 years ago that this is where we'd end up, I wouldn't have believed it." Clark replied.

"I would have laughed." Lois cracked a smile. "And probably been insulted."

"You know, traditionally, people make nice on a date." Clark teased. He loved the thrill of Lois' character: one minute she was kissing him like nothing he'd ever experienced and the next she was back to insulting him. Her unpredictable nature contradicted his entirely, and he admitted to himself that the thought of Lois had never, from the moment he met her, seemed entirely off the table for him.

"Yeah well, I don't think tradition is something we're going to have to worry about. It's not exactly typical to go out with a... you." Lois lowered her voice as she realised her surroundings and substituted 'superhero' for 'you'.

Clark chuckled, "It's kind of a new experience for me to go out with a Lois Lane as well."

"It'll be the thrill of your life, Smallville." She grinned, opening the menu.

"I bet." Clark murmured.

"What?" Lois cocked her head up.

"Oh, the steak looks good." Clark covered, grabbing the menu from beneath his elbows.

"You know, for all your abilities, it's a good thing you're still a klutz in real life. It was only due to your impeccable timing with the coffee today that Rick believed you are nothing more than the average run of the mill plaid wearing farmboy." Lois smiled, leaning into the table.

Clark grinned, ignoring the stereotype. "I guess having 'clumsy clod' as a partner isn't so bad."

Lois looked confused and then clocked it. "You could hear us? You were listening!"

"I've had some bad experience with people almost finding out before, it helps if I look like the last person in the world to be who I am." Clark explained. Lois nodded, somewhat in amazement, before returning back to her menu. Clark watched her movements, elegant and unintentional, and in his bones he couldn't believe that this is where they ended up, and how lucky that made him feel. "Lois?"

Her head snapped up, "Yeah?"

"I..." Clark began, "I think I'm going with the steak after all." And Lois replied with almost a snorted laugh and returned back to her menu. He completely chickened out. What happened? Clark didn't know what held him back; there were things he felt, things he knew he should tell Lois, especially after she accidently opened up to how she felt about Clark to the Blur, but every time he wanted to tell her how much she meant to him, how special she was to him, his tongue caught in his throat. Deep down, he felt it was because of Lana. Despite every way they tried it, him being human, him being superhuman, it didn't work, and he feared that the same could be true of a relationship with Lois. He feared that loving her now, now that she was finally right there in front of him, would mean that everything would be ruined the way it was before. Ultimately, Clark feared that his powers meant he wasn't allowed to be in love, and that was what was really holding him back.

"Clark?" Lois' soft voice called him back to reality. "You look like you're a million miles away."

"I'm right here with you." He smiled uncertainly, taking her hand for effect.

"And as sweet as that is, I think I know you better than that." Lois claimed, resting her menu on the table. Lois felt a pang in her chest, she knew what that look meant: she'd seen that look, she'd looked that look. It was the look of uncertainty, of realising that this was a horrible mistake, and suddenly every comfort she felt before in that restaurant was gone and instead was replaced by a feeling of awkward silence. If Lois had one thing though, it was pride. "Look Clark, maybe this wasn't such a great idea. We both have work in the morning – "

"Lois, tomorrow's a Saturday." Clark smiled.

"Right," Lois almost stuttered. "Clark..." She was lost for words; on the one hand, she really didn't want to go, she wanted this to be the perfect date; on the other hand, she had to save face if he was calling it off first. She decided to go with her unprecedented and unpredictable move: honesty. "Is this really what you want? I thought..." Lois broke eye contact, feeling incredibly vulnerable. "I guess some break ups are too hard to get over right away." She placed her napkin on the table, stood from her chair and walked away and out of the restaurant.

As she approached the car park she became increasingly aware that she had no car, and taxis seemed to have disappeared into the abyss when she needed them.

"Lois." She spun to face Clark, he stood on the opposite side of her and the restaurant, meaning he must have supersped. "This is not about Lana." Lois nodded as best she could, but her chest swelled, meaning that tears felt like they were on the way. "It's not. Well, not entirely."

"Clark, it's fine." Lois nodded, arm folded across her chest. "We all have a first and lost love -"

"No, it's not like that." He took a step closer to her. "Do you remember what I said the other day at the apartment? I said that I lied to you when I said there was nothing between us at the wedding. Lois, there's always been something between us, however ill-defined." Lois cracked a smile through barely there tears. "I haven't been fair to you. You told me in the elevator how you felt – "

"It wasn't supposed to come out at you." Lois replied, defending herself. "It came out to the Blur."

"Don't you see how glad I am that it did? I know you Lois, I know you hate being the vulnerable one, I know that you're scared this might not work out because I feel it too." He took a step closer to her, holding her hand his and placing his other hand on her cheek, wiping away the single tear she shed. "But as hard as this is to imagine, you, Lois Lane, make this easy. I don't have to pretend to be anything I'm not with you, you make it easier to be who I am, you make me be the man I was born to be." He kissed her softly. "I guess what I'm trying to say is... I love you."

Lois felt another warm tear slide down her face as her eyes closed in silent relief. Her heart skipped a beat, and she rested her hand on his chest. "As long as you said it first." She smiled, then broke into laughter. Clark took her in his arms, and felt her head rest on his body. He felt relieved, happy, unburdened, elated, confused and clear all in one. He had told Lana he loved her too, and he had, but the way he felt about Lois excelled beyond that. It made him feel like he could –

"Umm, Clark?" Lois' voice made him distantly aware that her head was no longer on his chest, rather her forehead was.

"Lois, what are you...?" Clark couldn't see her eyes anymore, just the top of her head.

She snapped her head back up at him with a gleaming smile. "I'm no expert, but I'd call this flying."

Clark looked down to the floor, to find that their feet were significantly off the ground and that they, in a thankfully deserted restaurant car park, were floating about a metre and a half in the air. Clark smiled, and then laughed, and then kissed Lois for all the reasons he could possibly think of.

"How are you doing this?" Lois asked in awe, holding onto him just that much tighter, unsure of his new powers.

He held her in tightly for reassurance. "It's you." Clark smiled. "You gave me what I needed to feel like I can take on the world. You gave me what I needed to finally be able to fly."

Ok, I am nervous about this chapter. I'm hoping u liked the ending of this chapter, but I don't know if I rushed this.

Honesty will be appreciated. Lies would be awesome =P

Thanks, Feral X