There were a million thoughts bouncing around in his head and he couldn't seem to focus on a single one of them. The only thing he could focus on was the subject of most of them: Lois.

Between his secret, her trip to the future, Zod's presence on Earth, and the presence of a Kandorian clone from the future out for blood, it was no wonder that Lois was occupying his thoughts. But despite all of those things and what they meant, there was one thing that ranked above all else. The way she was acting around him was… different. She was still her typical sarcastic self and she wasn't cutting him any slack, but there was something she was hiding from him. She had admitted as much when she told him that she'd told him everything he needed to know, but something about it was nagging him.

It wasn't just that she wouldn't tell him, it was the fact that her personality completely changed when he brought it up. Hell, she had acted that way even when he didn't. He had a theory, but he wasn't sure he wanted to let himself believe it yet because it wasn't true, it'd crush him. But still, he couldn't deny how she had been acting around him every time he touched her. When she had hugged him in the Fortress, he had been too overcome with emotion and information to really process what had been going on. But thinking back on it now, the way she had held him and touched his face had been different compared to their hugs in the past. Still, he chalked it up to the emotions of time travel and seeing that he wasn't dead.

But then there was the way she had looked at him when he sped her to the farm. If he didn't know any better, he swore she had been staring at his mouth. And then there was the weird way that she practically jumped out of his arms. She had held his hand when she told him about the assassin and again after he had finished reading her memoir about the future. Sure, it wasn't the first time she had ever held his hand, but every other time in the past had been when someone was hurt or dying. But the thing he couldn't get out of his head was the way she had reacted when he suggested that the world would end without her.

It had been a joke. Well, sort of. But that was their thing. They had always joked and jested with each other because that's the way that Lois was and for him, it was special because she was the only person who seemed to be able to bring that side out of him. She got under his skin like no one else and she had flustered him in the beginning of their relationship, but she had also been the only girl he had ever felt totally comfortable around and it was because of the fact that she gave him a hard time. And most of the time, it was because he needed it, though he'd never admit that to her. But this was a different situation.

As soon as the words had left his mouth, she had clammed up and turned away from him faster than he could blink. When he asked her what was wrong, she had blamed it on the coffee of all things, as if something she consumed more than water would make her act almost… embarrassed. He hadn't imagined the blush in her cheeks or the sound of her heart thumping against her chest. No, something about their conversation had made her nervous and he knew that it had something to do with what had happened between them in the future.

Well, her and his future self. It was a strange thing to be jealous of oneself, but he couldn't help it. He was. He was angry that he had been the one to tell her about his secret and that they had obviously shared something between them. Something she didn't want him to know. When he read over her notes about the future, she had been extremely detailed about nearly everything. From the landscape to the conversations, from the timeline to the facial descriptions, Lois had been entirely thorough about her entire experience except for one moment: the night before she left. She had gone over the details of their plan with his future self, Oliver, and Chloe, but after that, she had simply skipped to the next day. He knew she hadn't forgotten; she was hiding something.

As he stood on the rooftop of the Daily Planet and surveyed the city, he did his best to let go of his rampant thoughts about the bodacious brunette that had taken root in his mind. He could overanalyze how Lois was acting later. Right now, he had a much more important task at hand: groceries. He had sped to Metropolis after his conversation with Lois not because of the Kandorians, but because he still had to fulfill his duty to the citizens of the city. There had been an apartment fire, a bank robbery, an impending chemical spill, and a couple of attempted car jackings that had kept him busy before he was finally able to come to a stop. By that time, he realized that it was already approaching evening time. Knowing that Lois probably hadn't had anything substantial to eat and had she had no money for take-out, he decided that food took precedent over an alien assailant, especially one who hadn't made an appearance all day.

He knew that she'd probably give him a hard time for the amount of food that he'd gotten, especially the amount of vegetables, but he also knew that if he bought a lot of food, she'd be more likely to stay. Though he'd take it to his grave, he had stopped by her apartment and checked it out. If she ever found out, he'd blame it on the time travelling Kandorian. His main reason for his visit was to check and see if anyone had been there searching for her, but he couldn't deny that a little piece of him just wanted to spend some time in a place that was simply Lois. It was creepy and he knew that, but after three weeks without her or any other shred of human contact, being in a place that radiated both of those things was a huge comfort. When he saw that she barely had a thing in her refrigerator, it only hammered home the hope that she'd stay with him for a little while. Thus, he went overboard on the grocery shopping.

"Clark!"

The paper bags in his hands dropped to the ground immediately. He hadn't been consciously listening to her and he wasn't exactly sure how he had heard her voice through the chaos of Metropolis and miles between him, but he could question it later. In a flash, he was standing in his driveway, watching Lois throw punches and defend herself from a woman he didn't recognize. She had short black hair, large cobalt eyes, and was dressed in a black leather body suit, but that's as much as he saw before red blurred his vision at the sight of Lois fighting for her life. There was a cut above her right eye and she was holding her already injured arm close to her chest. If she hurt one more hair on her head…

"Get away from her!" he yelled as he sped in front of Lois, blocking her from any further abuse. The woman in front of him relaxed her stance, but only slightly, as a smirk formed on her face.

"I knew you'd be watching her. I was never after Lois," she said. Scowling, she readjusted her footing and raised her arm, poised to fight. "I want you."

A fist came flying at his face much faster than he expected and it caught him in the chin. Stumbling backwards into Lois, he caught his footing and swung back at the woman, but she blocked his arm. Her left fist connected with his side, but he caught her arm and threw her into the barn, watching as her body disappeared in an explosion of splintered wood. Speeding in after her, he stood with his back to the hole in the wall, preventing her from attempting to go after Lois again.

"You followed Lois from the future to come after me... why?" he yelled. For someone that he didn't know, he couldn't believe how much hatred she looked at him with. But the next thing that left her mouth caught him by surprise.

"Because you betrayed us!"

She spun at him instantly, aiming to hit him with a backhand, but he caught her arm easily. When he did, his eyes went to her wrist and he felt his stomach plummet to his feet. Adorned on her wrist was a very familiar watch. It had a brown leather band and a black face that was cracked, but he would know that watch anywhere. It was the one that he had worn every day since his father had died.

"My father's watch…" he whispered. Red filled his vision again and he ripped the personal effect off of her wrist, pushing her across the barn from him and into the wooden pillar across from him. Looking at the stolen watch in his left hand, he reached into his pocket where he had been keeping his father's watch for the past few weeks. He looked at them side by side as they ticked at exactly the same pace. The only difference besides the physical imperfections was the date. The one in his left hand was set to one year in the future. If he had needed any more proof about Lois's journey to the future, this was certainly enough.

A flying object and a thump on the ground in front of him shifted his gaze. On the ground in front of him sat an open bag and a glowing blue chunk of rock. Blue Kryptonite.

"How do you know about..." he began to ask, though he already knew the answer.

"Blue Kryptonite takes away my abilities, too. We're of the same world, Kal-El," she said as she reached behind her, pulling out a sword and positioning it in front of her body. The glint of the blade looked a lot more lethal behind the glow of the blue meteor rock on the ground and he couldn't help but let a jolt of fear course through him.

"Why are you risking your own life?" he asked. Sure, she had evened the playing field, but it was still a risk for her to come after him.

"Because it's the only chance I have to defeat you... before you destroy our world."

Before he could begin to think about the implications of her answer, she came flying at him with a scream. Ducking to his right, he felt the immediate effects of the Blue Kryptonite on his speed. Luckily for him, it had still been enough to dodge her as he heard the sound of metal hitting the ground. He popped up immediately and maneuvered his body to the left as she struck again, then took another step back from the deadly blade. Out of the corner of his eye, he grabbed a metal pole from the tool barrel to help aid in his defense, bringing it up in front of his face as the sword made contact with the wooden handle. Pushing back, he forced her away from him and swung, but she dodged him easily. Standing a few feet away, she pointed the sword at him and snarled. In a swift motion, she moved quickly at him, bring the sword down in a chopping motion, but Clark was ready for her and blocked it. Or so he thought.

Her blade cut clean through the metal pole. As she swung across him, more than likely aiming for his neck, he dropped to one knee and reluctantly let go of the remaining half of the pole. Taking the opportunity he saw, he reached up and wrapped his hand around her neck, standing and squeezing as her bulbous eyes bulged even more. She brought her elbow down on his arm, breaking his grasp, then punched him in the face. Caught off guard, he stumbled backwards and she landed a kick against his chest, forcing him to the floor. As she closed in on him, he used all of his strength as he kicked his leg out and caught her in the face. The assailant flipped through the air, then landed gracefully on her feet.

It was obvious that she was still angry with him and hell-bent on getting revenge on him for whatever his future self had done, but it was also apparent that she was frustrated with how well he was handling himself, even under the effects of the Blue Kryptonite. He was crouched to the floor, awaiting her next move, when she spun around towards the table saw. He barely had time to react as she tossed a saw blade through the air like a Frisbee. By the time he saw it sticking out of the wooden pillar behind him and felt the stinging sensation on his cheek, he was on the move again. Ducking to left as her sword came down, he stood and dove again as her sword came slashing through the air at him.

Before he could blink, he watched as the engine that had been hanging up in the barn for weeks came swinging through the air and plowing into the woman, propelling her through the air and through the horse stall. Not taking the chance for her to recover, he rushed towards her, but it was apparent rather quickly that she wasn't moving. Dropping to his knees, he turned her body over and heard her sputtering breath. Looking down, he saw her sword impaled in the center of her stomach. Shuddering deep breaths wracked her body as blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth. The anger had vanished from her face and was instead replaced with regret and disappointment. Reaching towards him, she placed a hand against his cheek and sighed.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. Her thumb stroked his cheek several times and he frowned. Why? Why was a woman who had just tried to kill him apologizing to him? It didn't make any sense. But before he could ask, her hand dropped and he saw all of the light go out of her eyes. As her face slumped downwards and her body went limp, he couldn't help but feel a pang of sorrow ricochet through his chest. Assassin or not, she had been like him. She was from his planet, whether she was a DNA copy or not and it hurt him to see.

Falling backwards, he sat down on the ground and stared at her body, laying there in the aftermath of their fight. He knew logically that it was a good thing. She was one of Zod's soldiers. She had tried to kill Lois and she had tried to kill him. She had to be stopped if she was a threat to anyone on Earth. But at the same time… did she really have to die? It had been an accident, but he couldn't help but wonder… if it had come down to it, could he have killed her?

"Clark? Oh God, are you okay?" he heard from behind him. Moments later, he felt Lois beside him. He heard her suck in a breath as she presumably laid eyes on the dead body and his eyes shut.

"It was an accident," he said, feeling an unconscious need to defend himself. "I didn't kill her, she just… died."

The feeling of a pair of warm arms around him did immediate wonders and he leaned into the embrace fully. The smell of her shampoo wafted across him and he inhaled deeply, breathing in the intoxicating scent that could only be described as Lois Lane. Tucking his head into the crook of her shoulder, he took several slow, deep breaths to calm himself as a set of small hands rubbed comforting circles up and down his back.

"I know. I know, it's okay, it wasn't your fault," she whispered. His grip around her tightened as the words spilled out. For the life of him, he couldn't remember a time where he had ever felt so safe, despite what had just transpired.

He had no idea how long they sat there, but when he finally found the strength to get up, Lois was right by his side. She didn't leave him when he closed the dead woman's eyes. She stood beside him as he reluctantly picked up the body. She walked in step with him as he brought her to the far edge of the property. She helped dig the hole where he finally laid her to rest, despite his protests. She held his hand after they had buried her and gazed at the grave as the sun set. Not once, did she stray from his presence and he was beyond grateful for it.

"Thank you," he eventually said, finally finding the strength to look at her. Hazel eyes shimmered at him, filled with regret and understanding, but most importantly, with complete and utter acceptance.

"Of course," she whispered, touching her hand to his cheek. Unconsciously, he found himself lean into her palm. It was unavoidable. Every emotion he had felt concerning her the past few days was catching up with him and after his analysis of her behavior earlier today, he was sure there wasn't much more he could do to stop himself from giving in to his desires. The one thing that was keeping him from acting was her obvious hesitancy around him. But even so, it was getting harder and harder to ignore that he wanted her.

As they made their way back towards the farm house, a familiar car pulled into view and Clark tensed. Evidently, Lois felt his tension because he felt her squeeze his hand not a moment later. His eyes shifted to her and she gave him a soft smile, before releasing his hand and walking ahead of him. He missed the warmth of her hand immediately.

"Lois!" the small blonde exclaimed before she rushed into her cousin's arms. He could tell by the way that they held each other that they were both doing their best to hold back tears, but both for different reasons.

"I'm so sorry, Chlo. I was going to call you, I swear," she explained, gripping her hands. He couldn't help but notice the tears in Chloe's eyes, but as they shifted to him, he looked away. He couldn't bear to deal with another guilt trip right now. Not after what had just happened. So he simply stuffed his hands in his pockets and fixed his gaze on a particularly crooked fence post on the horizon.

"Where have you been? I've been searching for you for weeks now," she said. Anyone else would have taken her tone as worried or hysterical, but Clark could hear the tinge of accusation in her words. Apparently, so could Lois. The way her back straightened out and she shifted her body weight backwards was enough to tell him that she knew she now had to go on the defensive.

"Well… to keep a long story short: the future."

Clark's eyes snapped to the two women in front of him. Chloe's eyes bulged at the new information, moving from Lois to Clark, then back again. Watching as her throat bobbed up and down, he braced himself for whatever was going to come out of her mouth.

"The future? Lo, that's… that's impossible. Time travel isn't real," she said, doing her best to cover up her lie with a half-hearted laugh. Chloe's eyes connected with his again and he saw the complete and utter fear exploding within them. Part of him felt bad for her. She had carried the burden of his secret for years and even now, while they were at odds with each other, she was still trying to protect him. But the other part of him couldn't help but feel irrational anger. Even if Lois didn't know anything, did Chloe have to go and make her feel like an idiot? Couldn't she at least hear her out before she shot her down?

"Save it, cuz. I travelled a year into the future and saw the world turn into a bad rendition of intergalactic Mad Max," she said. Chloe merely frowned and shook her head.

"Did you hit your head? Let me take you back to the hospital," she said, doing her absolute best to keep the truth out of her voice. The way Lois's shoulders drooped made him take a step forward. He couldn't help it. When she looked back at him with a painful look of exclusion on her face, he made a move to say something, but the shake of her head stopped him. Taking a breath, she turned back to her cousin and put her hands on her hips.

"Guess I'll just have to prove it, huh? Okay, here goes: I know Clark's an alien and I know you have a high-tech hero clubhouse in the heart of Metropolis," she said, effectively making Chloe's mouth drop to her feet. "I know that Ollie is the Green Arrow and I know that Zod and his alien cronies are here on Earth trying to turn the world into a red sunned wasteland. I also know that this conversation will go a hell of a whole lot faster if I let you read everything I wrote down about my trip to hell and back, so why don't you let all of that sink in and I'll be right back."

Had Clark not just buried one of his own, he would have laughed at the expression on Chloe's face. Her mouth was open, her eyes were wide, and it looked as if she had been slapped across the face as her gaze followed Lois's retreating figure into the house. After the door closed behind her, she turned her attention back to Clark, who could only offer a mildly comforting look.

"She… she knows?" she croaked and Clark nodded.

"She knows. Everything she said is true," he said. "She got into a fight with Tess at the Planet and somehow ended up with the Legion Ring in the midst of it."

All of the minimal color drained from her face. He knew all too well what she was feeling. It was scary and violating that someone had knowledge about your most protected secrets without telling them yourself, but at the same time, Chloe had done that to him years ago. It hadn't been her fault and he knew that, but she had always pried into his private life, even when they were just kids. For the shoe to be on the other foot gave him a selfish satisfaction, but he tried his best to bury that thought. They stood in silence as Lois came bounding back down the steps and unceremoniously shoved the stack of crumpled papers at the small blonde.

"Here, this should help fill in some blanks," she said. Chloe took the papers and eyed them warily, much like Clark had done when he had first been presented with the information. "Come on, I'll put on a pot of coffee while you read."

Over the next half hour, Chloe read and reread everything that Lois had written down about her time traveling experience. She was mostly quiet, but asked for clarifications when she needed it. When she finally finished reading over the words, she sat back in her chair with a blank stare.

"I died," she whispered. "I'm going to die. We're all going to die."

"No, honey, that's exactly what's not going to happen," Lois said as she reached across the table for her cousin's hand. Tears formed in her eyes and before Clark knew it, she was sobbing at the kitchen table. He was totally taken aback by the outburst, but apparently Lois was not, or if she was, she didn't show it, because next thing he knew, their arms were wrapped around each other. Uncomfortable with the situation before him, he got the feeling that it'd be best if he let the two of them have a moment together, so he quietly excused himself to clean himself up. But as he climbed the stairs, he couldn't help but hear one word that Chloe kept echoing: Jimmy.

He took a much longer time in the shower than he usually did. He did his best to try and let go of everything that had happened the past few days, to let it all wash away with the hot water, but if there was one thing he couldn't let go of, it was Jimmy. He had been the entire reason that Clark had decided to leave his humanity behind in the first place and where did that lead him? To a world where everyone he loved was dead. But Jimmy was dead too, so how was he supposed to make up for that? What was he supposed to do differently to keep the people he loved from dying? He thought he was doing the right thing by letting everyone go. Jor-El had told him one thing, then changed his mind. Now Lois was here telling him with certainty that he couldn't do what he had been trying to focus on for three weeks. It seemed like he couldn't take one step forward without taking five steps backwards.

Eventually, after he finished showering and changed, he snuck out the front door and into the barn to clean up. He still heard them talking as he made his way downstairs and he didn't feel like interrupting. He had gotten rid of the Blue Kryptonite, stashing it away in a lead box for safe keeping, but he cleaned up the rest of the barn at normal speed. He wanted to spend as long as he could in solitude. But as it turned out, it was short-lived.

"What happened?" Chloe asked. Turning, he saw her walk through the door with a furrowed brow. Her tone seemed lighter than it had before, but he could still sense the darkness beneath her puffy eyes.

"Someone followed Lois back from the future and tried to kill us. I stopped her," he said simply. He hoped that he wouldn't have to elaborate and was thankful when she didn't ask what exactly he meant by that.

"Who was she?" she asked, walking slowly towards the broken pillar in the middle of the barn. Tossing a piece of the broken pipe he had used to defend himself earlier, he sighed.

"She's from Krypton," he said.

"What was she doing here? What did she say?" she asked suddenly. Clark grimaced, but acquiesced to her question. He couldn't exactly avoid the topic, especially since Chloe had read about everything that had happened, or would happen, if he didn't make the right choices. Moving towards the sink, he washed his hands and wiped them off with the old towel draped over the barrel beside it.

"She told me that I would cause the end of the world," he said, refusing to meet her eye and closing both of his, instead. "I made some mistakes in the future and it seems they're catching up with me before I even have a chance to make them."

"You can't believe everything an assassin tells you. What does she know, anyway, right?" Chloe said. Blinking, he saw the remnants of the friend he used to know. There was a faint, but genuine smile on her lips that warmed his heart. Maybe there was hope for them after all. But still… it didn't change the fact of the matter at hand.

"The future."

"Right… the future."

The way she said it instantly made the hair on the back of his neck stand at attention. The way her eyes shifted made him even more wary at what she was about to ask him. A knowing pit began to form in his stomach and he did everything in his mental capacity to keep his intuition at bay, but something deep inside told him that this wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation.

"What is it, Chloe?" he asked. When she took a step towards him, he couldn't help but take a step back. Noticing his reaction, she stilled her movements and did her best to compose her expression. But the minute the words left her mouth, it contorted into a woman in pain.

"I want you to go back and save Jimmy," she breathed. "Take the ring and stop him from being killed."

Of all the things he thought she'd say, that certainly wasn't one of them. He had expected her to berate him for his actions in the future, or the present, for that matter. He expected her to tell him that he needed to continue with his training now more than ever so he could defeat Zod. He expected her to tell him that above all else, he needed to leave Lois out of it because if he didn't, he'd certainly get her killed. But this… this was something completely unexpected.

"You can't ask me to go..." he said lowly, unable to finish getting the words out, but it didn't matter. She was already halfway to him, nodding and pleading with tears in her eyes, yet again.

"You said that your sole purpose for giving everything up is so that you could dedicate your life to helping people," she said. "So, help him, Clark. Save him."

What was he supposed to say to that? She was throwing his own words back at him, but she was twisting them. Of course he wanted to help everyone he could possibly help, but he couldn't save Jimmy. He was gone.

"That would be changing destiny," he said, trying to reason with her, but she just kept shaking her head at him.

"Whose destiny? Not Jimmy's... you and I both know that," she argued. "He didn't deserve to die, Clark. He died because you and I screwed up, because we made a mistake. Now you have to fix it!"

"I'm not a god!" he yelled, his anger finally getting to him. "And the last time that I tried to rewrite fate, my own father died. He died right here in my arms because of me."

The fact that she could even ask him to do that, knowing exactly what had happened last time he messed with time and fate, made him angrier than he had been in a long time. He understood her pain, he truly did, but the image of his father lying there lifeless, not even five feet away from where he was standing now, was too much to think about. Who knew what would happen if he dared to mess with time again?

"I've given up so much for you, Clark. This is the only thing I've ever asked from you. Please? Please do this for me. Please save Jimmy," she said. She was full on begging now, tears streaming down her eyes as she walked towards him, arms wrapped around her torso like she was going to keel over any minute. He kept backpedaling as she moved toward him until his back finally hit the wall, causing both of them to stop. As he stared into the once bright blue eyes that were now only filled with pain and loss, he struggled to get the words out of his mouth, but he knew he had to. He couldn't help her.

"I can't."

She whimpered and it nearly broke him, but he knew he was right. He couldn't risk it. He couldn't play God ever again, no matter where he was from and what powers he possessed. He watched as a stream of tears fell down her face, but as soon as she had gained even a shred of composure, he saw the cold anger return and he braced himself for the insults and the rampage. But it didn't come. Instead, for the second time this evening, she surprised him.

"What if it was Lois?"

All he could do was look at her. What if it was Lois? Could he do it? Could he let her go? Or would he do the same thing he did for Lana and risk someone else's life for hers because he couldn't bear to be without her? If he lost his mother because he went back in time to save Lois, could he live with himself? He wasn't sure. When he thought back to how he felt about Lana and how sure he was he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, he almost wanted to laugh. He had loved her, that much was true, but how he felt about Lois made that seem like a playground crush. So the question remained.

"C'mon, Clark, answer me. Would you go back if it was Lois?" she asked, her voice rising as she took a step towards him. He opened his mouth to answer and tell her that of course he wouldn't go back, but the words dried up and he stood there gaping at her. The look a betrayal and resentment deepened at his silence and for a moment, part of him thought she might try to hit him. But thankfully, he was saved before it came to blows.

"Smallville! You used up all the hot water!"

Lois came bounding through the barn door with a head full of wet hair and a frown on her face, but he knew that it wasn't real by the way her eyes softened as she stared at him. Her eyebrows were pinned together, arms were crossed, and legs were set slightly apart, but he knew just by looking at her that she must have heard their conversation and had taken it upon herself to save him. A sigh of relief escaped him and he tried his best to keep the smile off of his face, but he knew by the way that Chloe scoffed that he had failed.

"Call it payback for all the years you lived here," he said, inwardly smiling in delight at the way she stuck her tongue out at him. Turning to look back at Chloe and make up an excuse to go check on the water heater, he found that he didn't need to. She had already turned around and began walking towards her cousin, who grabbed her arm as she tried to pass by.

"Hey. Call me if you need anything, okay?" she said softly. Chloe stopped, pausing to contemplate her cousin's request, but only gave her a curt nod before exiting the barn and disappearing. As the roar of her engine sounded and faded down the driveway, Clark shot a knowing look at the woman standing before him.

"I'm assuming you heard all of that?" he asked.

"Guilty as charged," she said with a shrug. "Figured I owed you one after saving me from alien Hitler's right-hand."

"Thanks," he said flatly at her joke. She simply shrugged again, this time with a small smile, before it was replaced by a more sympathetic look as she walked towards him.

"Are you okay?" she asked, reaching out to touch his arm. "That wasn't fair of her to ask of you."

"I'm okay," he said. "I just wish I could do what she wanted, but…"

He didn't need to say the words in order for her to know what he was thinking and he was grateful for that. It was hard enough to think about not being about to save Jimmy, let alone repeat the painful truth.

"You can't," she whispered and he nodded. "It's okay."

"It is though?" he asked. The question slipped out of his mouth before he could stop himself. Truthfully, he wasn't sure how he would have answered if Lois hadn't interrupted their conversation. Even if he had said that he wouldn't go back to save Lois if she had been in Jimmy's shoes… would she have believed him? Because honestly, he wasn't totally convinced that he would have believed himself.

Before he knew it, her hips were beneath his palms and he could feel the heat radiating off of her damp skin. The smell of her shampoo was wafting over him in waves and it made his knees nearly buckle. The only thing keeping him upright was the fact that he had her in his grasp, so close to him that if he wanted to, he could merely lean in and…

"Lois, if it were you—"

"You'd let me go," she whispered, her breath hitting his lips, making it impossible for him to look anywhere besides her mouth. She was almost flush up against him now and he felt a strange buzzing noise fill his ears, almost as if all of the sounds around him were blurring into one.

"I'm not so sure," he whispered, his eyes fluttering shut with their own volition.

"I am."

With one tilt of the head, he could touch his lips to hers, just like he'd been dreaming about since the first time she had kissed him in that alleyway, not that he would have ever admitted it to anyone other than himself. But now, as he stood here with her hands on his shoulders and his clutching her small waist, he knew that it was the only thing he wanted. It was the only thing he'd be able to think about until he finally felt her soft touch again. His nose brushed against hers softly and he leaned in, feeling the whisper of her lips against his own.

"Clark."

When he opened his eyes, the moment was shattered. She was still standing there in his grasp, her cheeks flushed slightly pink and her heart hammering against her ribcage like a thumping drum, but the way her eyes looked at him with such agony and, dare he say, fear, was enough to pull him out of the haze he had just found himself wrapped in. Frowning, a wave of disappointment crashed over him as she slowly extracted herself from his arms, hands gliding sensually down his biceps until they dropped to her sides. Reluctantly, he let go of her, confused and more hurt than anything.

"I just… I, um… did you ever happen to get those groceries?" she asked. Her voice was breathy and alluring, but the question caught him so off guard, that it snapped him out of his stupor.

"I did, but I left them when I heard you call for help," he said with a frown. Where did that come from? What was going on with her?

"Well, would it be too much to ask you to order a pizza? This Earth girl hasn't exactly had a full meal in a couple of days," she said, retreating slowly towards the door.

"Yeah, sure. I'll order extra," he said, his frown deepening as she kept backing away from him. What did he do? Why was she acting so… un-Lois-like?

"Great. Thanks, Smallville," she said and flashed him a forced smile, before turning on her heel, but he couldn't take it anymore.

"Lois, wait," he said, taking a few long strides to catch up with her and ask her exactly what the hell had just happened. But before he could, she had turned back around and held a hand up to stop him.

"Clark! I just… I can't. Not right now, okay? I'm sorry, just… not now."

With that, she left him standing in the doorway of the barn, thoroughly confused with his heart completely pulverized.