"If you use your supervision to look through that blindfold I swear I will never speak to you again." Lois said as she drove.
"You and I both know that that isn't true." Clark said with a knowing and somewhat smug smile on his face.
Lois made a face that she wasn't sure if he would actually see or not. She knew it was true, she doubted she could last very long without talking to him, especially on this drive.
"Fine" she said with a bit of a huff, "but if you do look through that blindfold and figure out where we're going you won't be participating in the usual Valentine's night activities."
A blush almost instantly crept up Clark's neck and onto his face to highlight his cheekbones. "Lois…" he said in an exasperated tone.
It was now her turn for a smug smile to appear. She knew that would embarrass him and reveled in the control she had over him… at least this part of him. He was a true gentleman, one that rarely if ever talked about sex (no matter how good it was) and she loved that about him but sometimes she couldn't help but use that adorable trait to her advantage.
"Sorry Superman, did I embarrass you?" she said teasingly. The nickname had only been a recent development. When they first got together, it had been something that was pretty sensitive to both of them, understandably so. As they had gotten closer and spent more time together, they had started to get more comfortable with the idea and it was just nature for either of them to bring out the nickname jokingly from time to time.
It was Valentine's Day and their first as a couple. The last few months had been better than either of them could have ever imagined. The exchange of "I love yous" had come quickly but so naturally that neither of them questioned it. They had decided that they had been together long enough to warrant an exchange of gifts on this day.
To Clark's great surprise, Lois had actually seemed very excited at the idea. He hadn't taken this self-made, determined, tough reporter to be the romantic type but apparently she was. He had thought long and hard about what to get her. The typical stuffed teddy bear hugging a box full of chocolate? God no, even if she had been that type of girl, which everyone who had ever met Lois knew she wasn't, it was far too cliché and impersonal for their relationship. Jewelry? That was a possibility. Lois wasn't the ornate, gaudy type that would wear huge earrings and chunky necklaces; this was partly because they would get in her way as she ran from place to place tracking down leads and racing to the scene of the crime (much to his chagrin at times). No, she was definitely a stud earring and a simple chain kind of girl. After much debate, he had finally settled on a simple, thin silver chained necklace from which a diamond-cut sapphire hung. He by no means made enough money to afford such a stone but with his special capabilities, he really didn't need to buy it (after all the mines were easy enough to locate and the whole heat vision thing made the cutting effortless). To make this gift more special and unique, Clark had lasered in a microscopic image of the El family crest. It couldn't be seen by the naked eye so Lois could wear it in public without being questioned but it was there, kind of like their own little secret.
Lois had received Clark's gift that morning before they had started their journey. She of course had brought up the price but after he had explained the process of actually getting the gift, she was much more at ease and took it in. It was one of the most gorgeous things she had ever seen and it strangely came with a microscope. Clark instructed her to put it up to the stone and look inside. At that point Lois lost all capacity to speak. The stone was the same color as his suit, the crest was in the stone, and she would always have a piece of the man she loved with her when she wore it.
After Clark had given her her gift, she was even more grateful that she had come up with her Valentine's idea. She had lost sleep over what to get this wonderful man for their first Valentine's Day. What could you possibly get the man who has saved your life on several occasions to show your love? She ran through everything she could think of, she even searched the internet deleting her history afterward to make sure he wouldn't find out. There were so many aspects of Clark that she didn't know where to begin. Should she get him something funny? Something sentimental? Something romantic? A combination of all of them? What the hell could she get this farm boy turned city boy who was also a superhero? Farm Boy…it hit her! Clark had adapted very well to Metropolis and seemed to be enjoying it (if you asked Clark, a lot of it had to do with the fact that Lois was there) but she knew that he missed his home. He hadn't been able to see his mother, his dog, or his farm since he had put it back together the day after Zod's attack. There was so much repairing to do in the city that it had taken up most of his time outside of his job at The Planet.
So here they were, driving to Smallville, Kansas teasing one another and Lois praying she could actually pull this off. She knew that Clark would try his best but she wasn't really sure how much control he had over not seeing past a thin blindfold. If he did look through, she knew that he would know exactly where they were going and the surprise would be ruined.
The gift was a surprise to Clark but they weren't showing up unannounced. Lois had called his mother (making sure he wasn't even in the same building when she called) and had discussed the plan with her. Martha seemed very surprised at hearing from her but the surprise quickly turned to joy when she heard what Lois was planning. They arranged a time for the couple to arrive and said their goodbyes before Clark came within his very long earshot.
The conversation for the rest of the car ride was light and enjoyable. Occasionally Clark would ask where they were going or why it was taking them so long but Lois refused to answer any of his questions. She was finally turning onto the road that would lead to his house when she started to get anxious. What if he had wanted to just stay at home that day? Was it still too soon after the attack that it would bring up bad memories and ruin Valentine's Day? She knew she was in too deep to turn back now and just hoped that it would be all that she had hoped.
Lois stopped just a bit up the road from his house, enough so it was in plain sight but not so close that they were in the driveway. She parked the car and took a deep breath.
"Wait here" she said as she got out of the car and went over to the passenger's side. She opened his door and took his hand, helping him out of the car.
"You ready for your gift?" she asked.
"After hours of waiting, I'm more than ready." Clark said with a small grin on his face.
Lois walked around behind Clark and took off his blindfold. He opened his eyes and…silence. Not a word, no expression, just silence. Lois felt her stomach twist and drop as she started to panic and think that this had been a horrible idea. It was then that Martha Kent came out onto the porch with their dog.
"Mom!" Clark exclaimed as the biggest smile Lois had ever seen spread across his face. He started running towards the house, at a speed that was considered only a little faster than the average human, as the family dog bounded towards him. When they met Clark kneed down and tried to pet her as she manically licked his face and jumped on him. Lois relished in the sound of the pure laughter that was escaping his lungs. She slowly started to walk towards the house and watched as Clark raised himself from the ground. He walked over to his mother who had begun to walk toward him. Their embrace was enough to break Lois's heart into a million pieces from the shear love that she saw in it.
By the time Lois reached the house and members of the Kent family, mother and son were separating. As Martha pulled back, she could see that she was crying but could not seem to shake the smile that was plastered on her face.
Lois quietly walked up behind her boyfriend as he turned to face the car were he had left her in such a rush. The smile on his face matched that of his mother's and made Lois smile as well.
"So do you like your present so far?" she asked, still nervous for his answer even though she was pretty sure she knew what it was.
"I love it" he said with his eyes shining as bright as she could ever recall.
All of the tension that had been building up in her body during the trip seeped out of Lois as her smile widened.
"Good" she said, "well, let's not waste it outside in the cold." Lois took Clark's hand and followed Mrs. Kent into the house to continue what was very rapidly becoming Clark's favorite Valentine's Day if not his favorite memory.