Hey, everyone! It's been awhile since I updated. I got a little distracted by Thanksgiving, but I am back with my longest chapter ever. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 9: Near Miss

Lois woke late Saturday morning. Normally, she would have run to the office to see if she could get in any extra work, but today, she still felt ill enough that Clark probably would have her head if he found out about it. Somehow, he always found out about things like that, even when she tried to keep them from him.

Since she wasn't going out and Jason was staying at her sister's place, Lois was left with nothing to do with her day but rest. She hated resting.

In an effort to keep herself occupied, she decided today would be a good day to organize the kitchen cupboards, a task she had been putting off ever since moving into her apartment. Originally, many of her things had been thrown into storage spaces without any sort of structure. Over time, she had fixed most of those spaces, but the kitchen had yet to be touched, probably because she hardly used it.

Today was as good a day as any. A task of that undertaking couldn't be done without coffee though. Coffee was one of the few things she ever used the kitchen for; it made sense that it would fuel its reorganization.

An hour later, she realized that she had gotten in way deeper than she could handle. Every countertop in her small kitchen was covered in pots, pans, appliances, and other assorted utensils. Why did she have all this stuff anyway? She never used any of it. Instead, it just took up space in her kitchen, and now that she had taken it all out, she didn't know how to fit it back in.

The phone rang; Lois grabbed it, glad for the break. It was her sister, Lucy. "Hey, Luce, what's up? How's Jason doing?"

"He's good. Just calling to see how you've been. Clark made it sound like you were pretty sick."

"He was exaggerating. It's not that bad. Just a bug or something. Probably just wanted you to keep Jason out of the way. We don't want him getting sick or anything."

"I'm sure, though Jason seems to be a lot healthier than he used to be. I haven't seen him have an asthma attack for like a year or something. It's like he just suddenly got better. Is that normal?"

Sure, Lois thought, if your Superman's son and your Kryptonian genes finally kick in. "His doctor did say kids often outgrow a lot of allergies."

"I guess so. It was just so sudden and..."

Lois decided to steer the conversation in another direction. "So, anything new in your life? Things still good with Ron?" Lucy had been dating Ron, a coworker of Lois, for several months now. He was the first decent guy she had dated in a while.

"Things are fine, great. We've been talking about moving in together. We'd probably wait for the lease to end on our current apartments and then find a new one. It's so weird when one person moves into the other's space. We'd never really feel like it's ours, just his or hers. Anything new with your romantic life? It's been awhile since you broke up with Richard, you know."

Crap, Lois thought, why did I steer it to this topic? She paused. "Nothing new, just the same old boring life of a single mother."

Silence came from the other end of the line. "Liar," Lucy finally said.

"What makes you think I'm lying?"

"It took you too long to answer. If there was really nothing to report, you wouldn't have to think about it. So spill."

Lois sighed. "Fine, there's this guy. He and I are just friends, but lately I've been finding myself attracted to him romantically...and sexually."

Lucy's voice squealed with excitement. "Really? Is this a friends-with-benefits thing or a real-relationship thing? Because, honestly, you could do with either right now."

Lois sighed. "Please tell me Jason is not in the room right now."

"He's watching television in the living room, has been for hours. The kid wakes up with the sun."

"Good, I think he's a little young to hear his aunt bandy around phrases like 'friends with benefits' with his mother."

"Fine. So, what is it?"

"It's nothing. Nothing has happened."

"But you want something to happen. I just want to know what that is."

"I guess I want a real relationship."

"Good, just make sure you tell me when you and this 'mystery man' make things official." Lois could imagine Lucy putting air quotes around the words "mystery man."

"Fine, but what's with the tone of voice on 'mystery man'?"

"Oh, come on, Lo, I know who the alleged man is. I just need to know when you and Clark start sleeping together so that I can win a bet with Ron."

"You have a bet with Ron over whether Clark and I sleep together?" Lois said angrily.

"No, we have a bet about when. So far, we are closest to my predicted date, so I need to know exactly when it happens."

"I can't believe you! How dare you make such assumptions about my relationship with Clark?"

"I'm right, aren't I?"

"Fine, so you're right." Lois crossed her arms. "Though, like I said, nothing's happened. I don't even know if he's interested."

"Seriously, Lois, for a reporter, you are pretty dense. The man worships the ground you walk on, always has. If you said jump, he would learn to fly. Trust me, he's interested."

Lois' conversation was interrupted by a knocking on her front door. She walked over to it and opened it. Her eyes feel upon Clark Kent dressed in khakis and flannel; her mind pushed things a little bit further. She blushed.

"Sorry, Lucy, I have to go," she said hastily before hanging up the phone.

SSSS

Lois and Clark looked at each other for a second.

"May I come in?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah, sure, come on in." Lois turned away to hide her blush and walked back towards the kitchen. Clark followed.

"I just dropped by to see how you're doing? Are you feeling..." His sentence trailed off when he caught sight of the kitchen. "What did you do in here? Was there some kind of great kitchen war?"

Lois turned around, having finally composed herself. "No, I'm organizing it."

Clark raised his eyebrow in suspicion. "Organizing usually involves making things cleaner." It was just like Lois to spend her day off organizing a space she never used.

"I am making things cleaner. They're just getting dirtier first. That's how it works." She surveyed all the dishes lying everywhere. "Though, I could use some help, if you have nothing else to do." She looked coyly at Clark.

Clark couldn't believe Lois was flirting with him. Yet, that was what she seemed to be doing. Maybe Cat had been right. He grinned. "I guess I could help you out. Since I have nothing better to do."

Lois smiled back. "Great, now, you start organizing stuff into categories, and I'll figure out where I want them to go. It shouldn't take us that long."

Two hours later, they were still working on the kitchen. Lois kept changing her mind about where she wanted things to go. She told herself that she totally wasn't stalling so that she could keep watching Clark moving things around. That was just an added bonus; since his current ensemble showed off more than his usual attire.

Clark and Lois, confined in the small space of the kitchen, kept bumping into one another. Every time Clark accidentally rubbed against Lois, he could hear her heartbeat speed up.

Things seemed like they were finally going to wrap up. Lois went to lift a heavy pot into an overhead cupboard when she felt it slip a little. Clark stepped behind her, grabbing the pot before it could fall and slipping it easily into its spot. Lois turned around to face him.

She was standing right up against him, not quite touching. His arms came down resting on the counter on either side of her. Lois could feel the heat radiating off his body. Clark heard her heart start to race. He couldn't believe this was happening. Lois was falling for him, Clark Kent, the real Clark. He took a tentative step forward. She reached her arms up around his neck and started to pull herself up. He leaned his head down towards hers.

The sound of a woman screaming cut through the moment. Some idiot was robbing a bank downtown. Clark pulled away and looked at the clock. "Wow, I didn't realize it was so late. I have a doctor's appointment across town. I should go."

Clark quickly vacated the apartment, leaving Lois flustered and confused.