By Raquel Guimaraes <lanelana@yahoo.com.br>
Rated: PG-13
Date: February 2003
Summary: As Valentine's Day approaches, Lois and Clark are faced with the stresses of a slow news cycle and their growing feelings for each other.
First of all I want to dedicate this story to a very special person called Adam Labotka. This story is for you, Adam.
Many thanks to: my sister Rangele who gave me a lot of ideas to this fanfic and I don't know if could finish this without her. Missy Gallant who was kind enough to BR this for me and I know she is busy with her own stories. I really appreciated Missy. My amazing friend Tina Patoula who loves L&C as much as I do and who has been a super friend to me. My good friends on IRC and all the FoLCs out there.
DISCLAIMER: The principal characters and concepts and some instances of dialogue in this story were taken from the "Lois & Clark" series and are therefore the rightful property of DC Comics, December 3 Productions and WB. The story itself is mine.
NOTES: This story takes place in Season 2. Lois and Clark are still good friends. Let's see if they will continue this way ;)
Feedback is always welcome.
Have fun and Happy Valentine's Day everyone!
***
It was almost Valentine's Day and Metropolis was all decorated. The radio stations were playing romantic songs, and the stores were full of people who were buying gifts for their Valentines.
Lois drove towards Clark's apartment. They were supposed to have a meeting with a source early that morning and she was going to pick Clark up. Lois wasn't happy because she hated this time of the year. She looked around her and she only could see red, red and red, hearts, hearts and hearts. To make things worse, it had been a slow news week. She was pretty sure this meeting wouldn't amount to anything.
***
Clark was waiting for Lois' arrival. He knew it would be a long day because he knew Lois wouldn't be in the mood. Clark was sure that this week's activities would make Mad Dog Lane strike back. He also wasn't in the mood because he'd received a call from some ex-colleagues inviting him to a Valentine's Day party this Friday. Clark didn't answer them but he knew he would have to respond to the invitation soon.
He heard a knock at his door.
"Clark, hurry. We are late," he heard Lois saying.
"I'm coming," Clark answered the door. "Good morning to you too, Lois."
"We don't have time for this; now let's go."
Clark rolled his eyes. <Yeah, this hasn't been my week.>
They walked to the car. Lois and Clark didn't exchange a word. Just the song on Lois' radio was breaking the silence. Suddenly, the radio was playing "My Funny Valentine" by Frank Sinatra.
"Oh, I love that song," Clark said.
"And I hate melancholy songs," Lois replied and turned off the radio.
"I see you aren't in the mood today, Lois. What happened?"
"Nothing happened, Clark. It's just that I don't know if you noticed but we don't have an article to write. Perry will want our heads because I'm sure this meeting with *your* source will be worth nothing."
"Oh, I thought you were mad because it's Valentine's Day this week." As soon as Clark realized what he had said he knew he had made a big mistake.
"Don't make me laugh, Clark. I didn't even realize it was Valentine's Day week. Don't you think I have better things to do instead of worrying about a stupid date?"
"Lois, I think you are being hypocritical."
"Oh, really? Why?" Lois was in her full battle mode.
"Never mind." Clark didn't want to fight today. Lois seemed pretty upset and the last thing he wanted was to make things worse.
"You started, now you finish it."
"Lois, please. I don't want to fight." He suddenly became downcast.
Lois looked at him. "Clark, are you okay?"
"Yeah, sorry about what I said."
"Is there something wrong?" Lois insisted.
"Not really." He didn't look at her.
"Please, Clark. You can tell me."
"Well, I-I received a call today."
"A call? Is something wrong with your parents?"
"No. My parents are fine. It was from an ex-colleague. It seems he is planning to throw a party this Friday."
"Oh, Valentine's Day," Lois said.
"Yeah. He asked me to come with my girl. I don't know why he thinks I have a girl. I didn't know what to say and then I said I would think about it."
"Oh Clark, you should have said something."
"The problem is that I don't want to go, but I know I should."
"Why should you go?"
"Because if I don't he and his friends will make fun of me."
"Clark, you're a grown man. You shouldn't worry about what these jerks would think of you. You're not in college anymore."
"You're right, Lois. I'll try to come up with an excuse. Thanks."
"You're welcome."
***
After the meeting, Lois and Clark went back to the Planet.
"See, I told you that meeting would be a waste of time," Lois said, rolling her eyes.
"Well, we didn't know for sure," Clark answered.
"Do you think we can come up with some article today?"
"Yeah, we can write something. Don't worry. I'll talk to Perry and I'm sure he will understand."
"Clark, this is a newspaper. That means we need news to write. Somehow I think if we don't have good things to write about right now, Perry will kill us."
"Lois, Clark, in my office now," Perry called them.
"I think you're right, Lois."
"Coming, chief," Lois answered.
They entered Perry's office.
"So, what do you guys have for me?"
"Chief, we are still working in that thing about the West Side robberies," Clark said.
"Yeah, we don't have too much information, but we'll come up with something. We wasted our time with a source today. He said a lot of things we already know about," Lois completed and looked at Clark.
"Lois, Clark, the Planet can't wait, you know."
"We know, chief. Maybe you could give us some more time or another thing to work on in between."
"Well, I can't blame you. We are in a slow news week."
"So, can we go to our desks now?" Clark asked him.
"First, I'll tell you something. If things don't work out, I have another thing for you two."
"What?" Lois asked.
"Lois, go and write something. You don't need to know now but I'm sure you won't like what I have in mind."
"I think we have to go now, Lois," Clark said and pushed her through the door.
"What did Perry mean?" Lois asked Clark.
"I don't know, but I know we have to write something fast or we'll be in trouble."
"Clark, you know we don't have enough to write."
"We need to try."
***
Later that afternoon two guys entered the Daily Planet.
"Hey, you! Do you know where Clark Kent is?" one of the guys asked.
Jimmy looked at the guys. "He is over there." He pointed to Lois' desk.
"Thank you."
Clark and Lois were trying to write something, but they knew they hadn't enough information.
"We are in trouble. Face it, Lois."
"I can't believe we can't write a thing. What's happening to Lane and Kent?"
"Well, it's not our fault and…"
"Excuse me." A dark haired man interrupted them.
"Can we help you?" Clark asked him.
"Oh, you don't recognize me. I'm Richard Mellon. We did class together. I talked to you on the phone."
Clark looked at Lois. "Oh, yeah. Hi Richard."
"Hi. This is Michael Stuart."
"I remember you. You were a football player."
"Yeah. I went pro after college but I had an injury and ended my career."
"So what bring you here?" Clark asked them.
"We were in the neighborhood and I remembered you work at the Daily Planet. We stopped to know if you are going to the party this Friday. It will be great, Clark. All our ex- colleagues will be there. You have to come too," Richard said.
"I don't know. I have a lot of work to do."
"On Valentine's Day? What's your girlfriend said about it?"
"I-I…"
"Clark, won't you introduce your friends to me?" Lois interrupted.
"Oh, sorry Lois. This is Richard and Michael. They were my collegemates in Smallville University."
"Hi. I'm Lois Lane. I'm Clark's partner. Nice to meet you."
"Hey, nice to meet you, Ms. Lane," Michael said.
"So Clark, will you go?" Richard started again.
"We are a little busy," Lois answered.
Richard looked at Lois. "He is busy with work or…" he grinned, "… with you." Richard and Michael laughed.
"Let me tell you something. What Clark and I do is not any of your business." She looked at Clark. "I thought there were nice people in Smallville."
"They aren't from Smallville." Clark said.
Lois stared at them. "Now if you excuse us, we have a lot to do."
"Take it easy, babe. Clark, we'll call you later." Richard looked at Lois.
"I mean if you won't be busy *working*."
"Bye, Richard," Clark said.
<That guy is a pig!! Clark should blow him off.>
The guys went towards the elevator.
"Clark, you shouldn't let them talk that way. I mean, you don't need to go. And why would you have to go, anyway?"
"Lois, don't you see? All of my ex-classmates are married or have a serious relationship. I'm 28 and I don't even have a girlfriend. I think they know that and they want to make fun of me there. That's why they keep asking me about my girlfriend."
"Lois, Clark! Come in here now," Perry yelled.
"Well I think we'll have to talk about that later," Lois said.
"Perry probably wants our article. We are in trouble."
"We're coming, chief." Lois yelled.
They walked towards Perry's office.
"Did you call us, chief?" Lois asked him.
"No. It was Elvis. For God's Sake, Lois, of course I called you. Don't pretend you don't know what I want."
"Perry, I know what you want, but we don't have the article."
"Okay. Then I think you'll have to write about something else. I told you that before."
"You said I wouldn't like that."
"Yep. You and Clark will have to write about Valentine's Day."
"WHAT?" Lois said, shocked.
"You'll have to write something about that day."
"Perry, it's not a good thing to write about."
"Why not? You don't seem to have anything else for me right now."
"Chief, it's not a good idea," Clark interrupted.
"Do you want to get fired?"
"No," Lois and Clark said.
"Then go and think about what you'll write. You'll have until this Saturday. I think it's time enough."
"Fine." Lois said, and walked out.
"Lois, can we go to the conference room?" Clark asked her.
"Why?"
"I think I have an idea. It can solve our problems."
"Okay."
When they were in the conference room, Clark didn't know what to say. He had an idea but he was sure Lois wouldn't like that. She could think he wanted to save his skin with his "friends".
"So what did you think?" Lois broke the silence.
"I think that's a bad idea. Forget about it." Clark started to open the door.
"Oh, Kent, spill it."
"Lois, you know I like you and respect you, right?"
"Why? Don't you think I'll like what you will say?"
"Just listen to me. Perry wants us to write something about Valentine's Day. We don't want to write about that, right? I have a party to go and I know that Richard isn't a good guy like he pretends to be. He has some not-so-clean business in Metropolis. I think I should go to the party to investigate him, but I can't show up in there without a girl. We could go undercover and talk to people, then we'll have something to write to Perry. What do you think?"
"Are you crazy? I won't pretend I'm your girlfriend, Clark. This is ridiculous."
"Think about it. We don't know what we're going to write and Perry wants something. Would be that bad if you pretended you were my girlfriend just for one day? It isn't as if we didn't do that before."
"Clark, there's nothing you can say that will make me change my mind. No way!"
Perry entered in the conference room.
"Are you fighting or thinking about the story? I thought I was clear in there," Perry said and pointed towards his office.
"Perry, I came up with an idea that could be a good story for you, but Lois doesn't like it just because she'll have to go undercover on a Valentine's Day party." Clark said.
"He wants me to pretend I'm his girlfriend just because his ex-classmates from Smallville U think he is dating someone. He just wants to make a good impression there. It's not fair." Lois was upset.
"This guy Richard has some strange business activities and I want to go to that party to look for something. It's not because of what Lois said… it's because of that too, but I think we can write a good article and we won't have to write about Valentine's Day."
"I think he is lying just to make me go there with him."
"I'm not lying."
"Lois, why don't you want to go there? It seems Clark knows his guy and besides, you did that before. Worse, you pretended you were his wife in the Lexor Hotel a time ago." Perry pointed out.
"But…but that's different," Lois said.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Clark asked her.
"I don't know…I just don't think that's a good idea. That's all."
"Well, I'm your boss and I say you'll have to go."
"But Perry."
"No 'but Perry' thing. You'll go, period." Saying that, Perry left.
"So I'll call Richard tonight and I'll tell him we'll go," Clark said.
"Fine, but you'll pay for that, Kent. I swear."
Clark just laughed.
***
Clark was home. He was thinking about the party <Someday, Lois, you'll be spending a real Valentine's Day with me>
He was sad because it would be pretending once more. He imagined how it would be like to go out on a date with Lois. He loved her so much, but she loved him like a brother. It was what she told him when the Nightfall Asteroid made him lose his memory. Lois was there to say goodbye to him. He remembered what she said, "Clark, whether or not that memory of yours comes back, I want you to know that I think you're terrific." And then after he said likewise, she told him "I mean, I love you…like a brother." He really meant something to her. Clark just wished he could mean as much to her as she meant to him.
There were other times when he thought that Lois liked him more than a brother. She had been really upset when she thought he had died, and she had been acting strange since they met Mayson Drake. He knew Lois didn't like Mayson but he didn't know why. Could she be jealous? Clark wasn't sure but what if he acted on Friday as if they were on a date…a real one? Would Lois think it was just an act? Would she be upset? Maybe he could try and see.
He was so tired of hiding his feelings and tired of being alone. He knew all his friends were married or in a serious relationship. It was time to do something with his life. He was the Man of Steel after all, and it was time to have as much strength in his love life as he had as Superman.
Clark picked up the phone and dialed the number Richard had given to him earlier that day. The phone rang twice.
"Hello."
"Hi. It's me, Clark."
"Oh, I thought you were busy. That's why I didn't call you."
"No problem. I just called you to say that I'll go to the party."
"Oh, great."
"Lois will go too."
"Is she your girl?"
"You'll see." Clark smiled.
"I knew she wasn't just your partner at work. Congratulations, Clark. She's a babe."
"Respect her, Richard."
"Okay, sorry. See you two at the party tomorrow."
"Sure. Bye."
"Bye."
Clark thought for a few moments, then went to bed.
***
Lois lay in her bed. She couldn't sleep. She was worried about the party.
Clark was her best friend and if it were in another time in her life she would do what he was asking her without thinking. The problem was, was that things were different now. When she had gone undercover at the Lexor Hotel, she didn't know she had feelings for Clark…not the ones she thought she had now. Well, she realized her feelings when Clark kissed her when they were there. To be honest, it'd been a while since she had been confused about what she was feeling for him. She remembered the pheromone perfume incident and the way she had thrown herself at him. Of course she hadn't admitted that to him. She just said "All right, maybe, somewhere very incredibly deep inside me is some eensy, weensy, microcosmic, although highly unlikely, possibility that I feel some sort of unmotivated, completely unrealistic attraction to you." Although she said that she knew there wasn't an eensy, weensy, microcosmic possibility. There was a huge possibility that she was attracted to him…well, because she was really attracted now.
There were other times when she thought about Clark in a different way. When the Nightfall Asteroid had almost crashed into the Earth, she wanted to be with Clark. If she was going to die, then she wanted to spend the last hours with her best friend. But even then, she knew she was looking at him in a different way. Lois thought that she was going to die and then it didn't matter that she was risking their friendship. She wanted to be with him as a couple before the end. Well, she had called him, but he had been alone, except that his parents were there. She had made an excuse and came back the day after. Lois remembered the look in his eyes when she found him in the alley. He wanted to know about Superman and he thanked her. She was so caught up in his eyes that she said she loved him but when she realized what she had said, she'd added in "like a brother". She saw the disappointment in his eyes and somehow it had hurt her too.
The other time was when she thought he had died. Lois was devastated and she realized she couldn't live without him. She cried all night because he had died in her arms; he had died without knowing she loved him. She remembered how happy she was when he came back. All the time she had suffered and prayed had worked; he was there with her. She thought she couldn't waste time and she needed to tell him what she felt when he "died". She said "I know our relationship has always been difficult to define, but, when I thought about how much I missed you, how much I was going to miss you for the rest of my life, well, I started to think, maybe there's more to our relationship than just friendship." Clark had fallen asleep and didn't listen to what she said. Lois never found the courage to tell him that again.
What about that time when she saw Mayson kissing him? Lois felt sad and hurt. She didn't like that fake blond. She was trying to steal her Clark.
<Why am I so upset?> Lois thought. <Because you love him now and it will be hard to pretend again> a little voice came from inside.
Lois stood up and went to the kitchen. She wouldn't sleep anyway.
She looked out her window. Lois didn't know why she still thought about the Man of Steel. She knew she loved Clark but she still loved Superman, somehow. What was happening with her? She couldn't love two different men. No, she knew Superman was a fantasy, a thing she could hold on to…he was safe. He couldn't hurt her like the other men she had in her life. That's why she kept her fantasy for so long. The problem was that she didn't know if she still wanted to be safe. Clark wasn't safe. Should she risk their friendship?
***
He was trying to search something that could help them to find out things about Richard's business when Lois stepped out of the elevator. He didn't even look at the ramp but he knew Lois had arrived. Clark was connected to Lois somehow. He always felt her heartbeat even when he was around a lot of people.
Lois walked down the ramp and went to her desk. When she passed Clark's desk she didn't even look at him.
"Good morning, Lois," Clark said.
"Good morning? What good is in it?" Lois looked upset.
"Tough night, Lois?" he asked her.
"It's not any of your business." She sat in her chair.
Clark walked towards Lois' desk. "Lois, please! You know this isn't my fault."
"Oh, no? Who was the one who told Perry about that stupid party?" She crossed her arms and stared at him.
"It was me but…look, it doesn't matter. Perry would give us a different assignment anyway."
"Yeah, but now I'll have to spend the night pretending I'm your girlfriend and still write something about it tomorrow."
"Lois, it's not that bad. I already told you we did that before."
"And I already told you it's different."
"Yeah, but you didn't tell me what that's supposed to mean," Clark challenged her. "Why is it different?"
"I-I don't know. Can we discuss what we'll do tonight?" Lois changed the subject.
"Well, I've already called Richard and that's okay." Clark thought it was better to let things go for now.
"What time is that stupid thing?"
"8:00 and it will be in a club." Clark answered.
"So is that okay if you pick me up at 7:30?"
"No problem."
"But we are going with my car and I'll drive," Lois pointed out.
"You always drive." Clark smiled and walked towards his desk.
Lois started to think why she was so upset with all of this. Okay, last night she realized that because of her love for Clark she didn't want to pretend…she didn't know how to pretend she was pretending, if that made sense. She couldn't pretend she loved Clark if she really loved Clark. Okay, now she was babbling with herself and was sounding stupid.
Clark himself was lost in his thoughts. He didn't want to scare Lois off but he was tired of waiting for the right time. Maybe there wasn't a right time. Some things were worrying him though…why Lois was so upset and what she meant by it's different. Well, he couldn't know that, but he would do everything to make this night a special one.
During the day, Clark was busy with Superman stuff and he didn't see Lois part of the afternoon. He had to stop a suicide girl who was sad because her boyfriend had cheated on her, and a man who was making a girl his prisoner. These were some of the crazy things about this time of the year.
When he came back to the newsroom it was late and Lois was already going home. "Clark, where have you been? I'm already going home."
"I-I had a few things to do before tonight." Clark knew he had to come up with better excuses but he hated lying to Lois.
"Well, okay." Lois wasn't sure why Clark kept disappearing like that during the day.
"Lois, I'll see you soon."
"Yeah. See you at 7:30." Lois went to the elevator.
***
Lois was trying to decide what she should wear tonight. She had a few dresses lying on the floor and another one on her bed.
She finished her make-up and her hair. Lois was really nervous but she knew she should calm down before Clark's arrival. He couldn't see her nervous. What would he think?
Of course she knew it wasn't a date, but it didn't mean she shouldn't look attractive, right?
Lois went to the living room to wait for Clark.
***
Clark had taken a shower and was now looking for some suit that could be right for the occasion. He tried some different jackets on until he came up with a nice charcoal suit that he thought Lois would like.
He wasn't nervous but he knew he should be careful with Lois tonight. If his suspicions were right and she was really starting to see him as more than a brother, he should try to make her see he loved her and wanted to have a relationship with her. He knew he'd still have the Superman problem because he believed that she was still infatuated with his alter ego even though she wasn't throwing herself at him anymore.
What should he do tonight? Well, he knew it didn't matter if he had or hadn't a plan because the moment his eyes met hers he would forget everything. He wanted to kiss her so much. He remembered some times when his lips had touched hers. It had felt wonderful; it felt like heaven; it felt like coming home. The problem was that every one of their kisses had been faked. When she kissed him on Trask's plane, he thought she really wanted to kiss him at first, but then when she whispered that they should beat Trask's guys he understood she was just playing an act to distract the bad guys. When they kissed when they were in the honeymoon suite it was just to fool the maid and he was the one who kissed her. He had thought a lot about that kiss and he really believed that Lois had responded his kiss even if it was just for a brief time. Well, even though it was just another act, he was willing to change all of that tonight.
Clark looked at the clock; it was time to go. He would go to some place before he went to Lois' apartment though. He was dying to see her. Clark knew she would be beautiful… she always was.
***
Lois was sitting on her couch and trying to relax when she heard a knock at her door. She looked at the mirror one last time and went to answer the door.
"Hi. 7:30," Clark said.
"Hi. You're on time," Lois replied.
They stared at each other for a long time.
"Y-You look amazing, Lois," Clark said, breaking the silence.
"You too. Nice suit. Is it new? I don't think I saw you wearing that at the Planet."
"My mom gave it to me. You know…Christmas present."
"She has a good taste. It looks great on you."
"I like burgundy, do you know?"
"Really? I was thinking what I should wear, and decided burgundy looked fine."
"Everything you wear looks fine on you, Lois."
"Thanks." Lois actually blushed.
Clark had almost forgotten the flowers he had brought to Lois. "Oh, these are for you." He handed her the flowers he had bought before he came there.
She picked up the flowers and put them in a beautiful vase. "Oh, Clark they are beautiful. Thanks but you didn't have to do that. I mean this isn't a date." She wanted to sound like she was joking but actually she sounded disappointed.
"Yellow for friendship," Clark said quickly.
"What?"
"The flowers. Yellow roses mean friendship," Clark explained.
"Oh, I didn't know. Thanks."
They looked at each other and a silence came down over them again.
"Lois?"
"Yeah?"
"Sorry."
"For what?"
"For all this mess I put you in. I didn't want to go to the party and I shouldn't have told Perry about that. I think I put you in an uncomfortable situation. I'm sorry."
"That's okay. I shouldn't lose my mind just because of this. I mean you know I hate this kind of celebration. Everything is so false. I think Valentine's Day is just a day to remind single people that they are alone." As soon as Lois said the last sentence she knew she had made a mistake. She couldn't talk about her feelings and she sounded desperate now.
Clark looked at her and took her hands. "Lois, that's okay. Look, at least you won't spend the day alone," he joked.
"You don't need to feel sorry for me, Kent."
"Hey, I was joking."
"Forget about it. We don't have time. Let's go and get this over with."
"Okay."
Clark thought it was better if he changed the subject.
Lois opened the door and went to the car. Clark just followed her without saying a word.
***
Clark indicated to Lois where the place was. Lois didn't even look at him or talk to him the whole way. She was thinking about why she was doing this. She was upset but it wasn't because of Clark; it was because of herself. She was mad because her feelings were starting to interfere in her work and even in her friendship with Clark. She was mad because it was Valentine's Day and she felt alone and even if she would be spending the night with Clark, it wouldn't be like she was dreaming of. One thing was bothering her though. Why had Clark given her flowers or looked at her in that way…as if he was flirting with her? An annoying little voice came from inside her mind. Well, she supposed he was just being nice, she tried to convince herself.
She looked at him. He was playing with his hands in his lap. He actually looked nervous or maybe he was just sad and hurt because of the way she had treated him at her apartment.
Lois parked the car in front of the club and when Clark was opening the door she called him. "Clark?"
He stopped and looked at her. "Yeah?"
"I'm sorry." She knew she didn't have to say more. One of the best things she liked about Clark was the way he always understood her even when she didn't have much to say.
He just stared at her. She seemed pretty upset but she was looking so beautiful. "You don't have anything to be sorry for, Lois. This isn't a thing I would like to do on Valentine's Day, but it's work and we have to do this. I'm sorry if this upset you." Clark touched her face. "I don't like to see you upset."
Something about the way he was looking at her and touching her was making her heart accelerate. Just when she started to speak, a guy knocked at the window. "Hey you two. You can't even wait for the end of the party for that, huh?" The guy smiled.
"Hey, Richard." Clark said a little disappointed. He opened the door and helped Lois getting out of the car.
Lois looked at Richard. "Good to see you again," she said in a not-so-pleasant voice.
"I'll go inside with you. There are a lot of people who want to see you, Clark and I'm sure they will love Lois too," Richard teased.
Lois and Clark followed him. There were about 60 people there. Richard was taking them to a little group at the bar.
"Hey, guys look who is here," Richard said. "Clark Kent and his date, Lois Lane."
There were three women and two guys there.
"Wow. You're Clark Kent?" One of the ladies said.
"Yeah. Nice to meet you Ms…"
"Smith. Debra Smith. Call me Debra, please."
"Oh, I read your articles. I'm Sharon," the other woman said.
"Yeah, me too. I just didn't realize you two were dating. You had luck, Lois," the other completed.
Lois didn't answer. Obviously, the women were infatuated with him.
"Nice to meet you all," Clark said.
The guys were looking at Lois as if she was some kind of appetizer and it was making Lois uncomfortable.
One of them was pretty drunk already. He walked towards Lois. "Hey babe, why don't you leave this jerk and come with me?" he whispered in Lois' ear.
"Sorry, but she is mine." Clark held her tight and pushed him away.
"Hey." The guy tried to punch Clark, but Richard got in the way. "Stop now or you'll have to go home early, Roy." Richard said.
"Fine," Roy said. "But you'll pay for that, Mr. Kent."
Lois looked at Clark and pulled him. "Excuse us a little, okay?" she said to the group and walked away.
"Clark, what did you do? You know I can take care of myself."
"Lois, that guy could have hurt you and besides I was just acting like a boyfriend."
"Clark, you're not my boyfriend and I'm a big girl. You don't need to do that again." Lois didn't like to be treated that way.
"Oh, you are here," Michael interrupted them.
"Hi," Clark said.
Lois didn't say a word.
"I heard you were here, but I couldn't find you. I have to tell you that Lois is a big hit with the guys. They were saying how lucky you are, Clark."
"Yeah. I'm the luckiest man alive." He smiled and held her tight.
Lois just stared at him. She didn't like that.
"So did you meet at work?" Michael asked him.
"Yeah. Lois and I fell in love with each other the moment our eyes met," Clark grinned. "Tell him, honey. Don't be shy." He was teasing.
She didn't answer. Clark's touch was having an effect on her. She was sad because she knew he was only touching her because he was pretending. It wasn't real for him, but feeling his arms around her was making her shiver. She wanted that and she wanted so much more. This feeling was making her uncomfortable.
"Oh, Clark. I think you should help her get over her shyness, if you know what I mean." The guy winked at Clark.
That was enough, Lois ran away from them with tears in her eyes. <Why am I so stupid? I can't do this anymore.>
Clark gave him some excuse and went after Lois. She was on the balcony and he walked towards her.
"Lois?"
"Go away." She didn't want Clark to see her crying and upset. She never had been that affected before.
He came behind her and put a hand in her shoulder. "Lois, please look at me."
"I can't."
Clark turned her towards him. She looked at the floor. "Look at me," he said one more time.
She didn't answer and he lifted her chin. "You're crying." It wasn't a question.
"I can't do this, Clark. I want to go home."
"What about our article? We just arrived here. Besides don't pay attention to what people say in here. I'm sorry if I treated you wrong, but I needed to do that because of our disguise."
"Disguise? It's all you can think of right now." Lois sounded angry now.
"Why are you so mad, Lois? I can't believe I'm talking to Lois Lane here. She wouldn't be upset just because some people said things to her. What is happening, Lois?"
"I'm tired."
"Of what?"
"Pretending. I can't pretend anymore. I can't pretend I love you. This isn't like things should be," she finished, almost whispering.
Clark didn't understand Lois but she kept talking.
"I'm mad because I hate Valentine's Day. I'm mad because I don't know what's happening with me." She looked at his eyes "I'm mad because of this…" She threw herself at Clark and kissed him passionately. When the kiss ended, she said, "I'm mad because I love you and I can't pretend anymore."
Clark didn't know what to say. He had waited all his life to hear these words from Lois and now he thought he was dreaming. She had been acting strange since yesterday but he never could imagine why. Lois was in love with him and was hurt because she couldn't pretend to be something she wanted to be for real.
But it was real; it was the same way he felt. He looked at her eyes still shining from the tears she had cried. "Lois, I love you. I've been dreaming about this for a long time but I never really thought it could come true until today."
"You dreamed about us?" she asked him, surprised.
"Since the day I met you."
"Oh, Clark."
"Lois, I know this Valentine's Day isn't like I dreamed, but just hearing those words from you makes it perfect. My dream came true."
"Happy Valentine's Day, Clark," she said, smiling, and put her hands around his neck.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Lois. I love you." He put his arms around her waist.
"I love you too," she replied.
They looked at each other's eyes for a moment. Their eyes were showing more love than words could do. Clark leaned forward and kissed her. This time it was a gentle and slow kiss. A kiss that held a promise… a promise of an immortal love; a kiss between soul mates.
THE END