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Part 1/1

Eight minutes. Eight minutes of awkwardness. Eight minutes of saying ‘Happy New Year’ to those around her. After eight minutes of looking around for the only man she wanted to see, she couldn’t find him. He had been at the party earlier in the night. No matter how many times their eyes had met throughout the night, they couldn’t catch a break and talk.

Now, Lois tightened her black coat as she opened the front door of Perry’s house, ready to leave. It was filled with roughly fifty of Perry and Alice’s close friends. Yet, the one person Lois wanted to kiss at midnight was nowhere to be seen. Though she didn’t want to think it, he must have left without even saying goodbye. Lois walked down the sidewalk toward her car, wetting her lips and trying not to cry. She hugged herself tighter, tucking her ungloved hands under her arms.

“Lois, you’re not leaving, are you?” Her breath caught when she heard his voice behind her.

Lois turned around to see his dashing dark eyes looking down at her. There he was, the man whom she really wanted to be with at midnight. He was holding a bag of ice in each arm.

“Where were you?” Lois asked with a nervous smile.

Clark smiled and held up the two bags higher and said, “I noticed Perry was almost out of ice, so I volunteered to go get some. I guess I was gone longer than I thought. Where are you going?”

“Home,” Lois answered, putting her hand on his forearm and staring somewhere over his shoulder, too nervous to meet his eyes.

“Don’t do that. Come back into the party for a bit. Have a drink with me, then we can leave together,” Clark suggested with a wistful tone.

“Okay, just one drink,” Lois smiled.

He followed her back toward Perry’s front door. As she went up the two steps, she turned around right before the door so she was facing him again.

“Clark, I have something to tell you,” she said alluringly, her pupils appearing larger as she tuned out the noise inside the house. She covered his cheek with her cold hand and leaned down toward him. “Happy New Year.”

Lois’ lips parted slightly, then smiled as she kissed him. She realized he felt warm compared to the temperature. It was a kiss full of promises. Clark Kent was her partner, her best friend, and the one person who always had her back. This past year, she had been to hell and back. The one person who had made it easier was the man standing before her. They had spent Christmas Eve together, and it had been the best Christmas she ever had because of him. Now, here she was, kissing him while he held two bags of ice in his hands outside in the cold. He kissed her back, his arms trying to go around her waist but not quite able to given the bags of ice. She shivered from the feel of the ice as the bags brushed against her in his attempt to hold her. Clark pulled back, and the large smile across his face told her everything she needed to know.

“Happy New Year, Lois,” he whispered, and then he watched as she gave him a smile before she turned around and opened the door.

Clark shook his head in wonder at the woman who held his heart. This year would be their year, he just knew it. He hadn’t meant to run off earlier without saying something to her. But after leaving Perry’s party, he’d had to stop a mudslide in the Blue Ridge Mountains before it got out of control. Clark knew that by the end of the next year, he would have to tell Lois the truth. First, however, he was going to have that drink with her and enjoy the rest of the evening.

THE END

Read the next story in the series: “New Year’s Eve Season 3.”