Chapter 16: The Real Proposal Saturday afternoon found Clark taking a walk down the streets of Metropolis. He needed a distraction from the pain, the loneliness. She’d been gone less than a day, but it felt like half his soul was missing. He’d felt this way before, when she left for Coast City, but the intensity was razor sharp now. He guessed that was due to the change in their relationship. He’d felt this loss every time he went home alone since that change.
Wandering aimlessly he found himself outside a particular shop he’d visited a few weeks ago. Stopping, he turned and looked in the window.
It set off thoughts of The Pact. He wondered about Lois’ statement of not focussing on the engagement. It felt like ‘one step backwards’.
But she never said it was actually off. And now we are ‘together’. The happiness he felt when he thought about Lois was overwhelming. He tried not to let the feeling of ‘one step backwards’ take hold. In fact, if it was ‘one step backwards’ then they’d actually taken two, maybe three, steps forwards - of a different kind, and wasn’t that an overall ‘win’?
So why do I still feel like it’s a backwards step? Pushing his hands further into his pockets he flicked his eyes to the doorway and wondered whether to go inside.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Lois arrived back in Metropolis late Monday afternoon. Flight delays had started her tapping her foot waiting at the departure gate from Gotham and constantly approaching the boarding desk only to be given a frosty look by the tall, stern, greying gentleman who was waiting patiently.
She’d glanced at her watch after landing, checking the time and, as she called for a cab, she’d seriously considered going straight home. But there was enough of the afternoon left to still make it to the office and plan a serious article.
Plus, she smiled to herself,
you missed him. There’s no need to even deny it any longer. When she finally exited the elevator she realised her palms were sweating and her heart was pounding. She approached her desk only to see Clark so focussed on his computer screen that he was oblivious to her entrance.
“I guess even super-hearing shuts off when you’re fully engaged in work,
Flyboy?” she whispered. He turned and shot up from his seat.
“Lois!” came as a growl from his throat. He took her hand and dragged her to the conference room. The door was barely shut behind them when she found herself pressed against it. Clark’s hands were on her shoulders and his head was less than an inch from hers. “I missed you.” He reached up a hand and tenderly pushed a lock of hair behind her ear.
Her shocked features softened into a smile but she couldn’t speak, afraid of her voice failing her. Instead she showed him her reply in her eyes. He lowered his lips and brushed gently across hers. Lois snaked her arms up and around his neck drawing him closer. I missed you so much, Clark, she thought to herself as she kissed him back gently.
Clark tightened his hold on Lois, his heart soaring at the feeling of her in his arms once more. He deepened the kiss and one arm travelled down to the small of her back. Clark felt the moment that Lois lost her balance and leaned her back against the door again when her legs gave out. As he pressed her against the door, the kiss, which had been sweet and gentle, turned hot and needy.
She's back. My other half. She’s here. Finally finding some control he pulled away and they gazed into each other’s eyes, dreamily. A shy smile crept onto Lois’ face and she glanced away momentarily.
A little cough loosened her vocal chords. “So, I guess that’s ‘hello’ out of the way.”
Clark laughed.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Later that evening Clark saw Lois home. He helped her with her weekend bag and she invited him in. For some reason an awkwardness came over them. It was actually the first time they’d been alone in this manner since the confessions.
Clark wondered if
this was the time, but when he was called away before they had chance to become comfortable he knew it wasn’t.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Tuesday saw both of them out of the office on stories. Lois tried to call Clark when she finally made it home. Turning on the TV while dialling his number she hung up and dropped to the couch when she saw the news reporting a disaster in Mexico.
Clark’s not home, Lois, she told herself, disappointed.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Wednesday lunchtime Lois was fully engrossed in an article on the crime rate in Gotham when Clark touched her shoulder and she jumped in shock.
“How about we take a walk in the park, Lois?”
She looked up and gave him a bright smile. “I love that idea, Clark.”
As they walked hand in hand down the path Lois began to glance up at Clark surreptitiously. He was acting a little odd. He also kept taking a deep breath and coughing, as if he were about to say something. But he never did. Strangely, Lois found the silence quite comforting. Unusual for her, but with Clark, she could be herself, and she could be at peace.
Clark bought Lois a hotdog and they sat on a bench looking out over the lake while eating.
Why am I finding it so hard? He rested his hand on his thigh and the box in his pocket poked at his wrist.
Clark, you worried about this too much before and there was no reason to. She went through with The Pact. And that was before you both knew that you felt the same way about each other. He turned to look at her. She was taking a bite of her hotdog. He watched as she stood and meandered down to the edge of the lake. She glanced down at her hand and then casually tossed the last, small piece into the water. She quickly stumbled backwards, but laughed when it was pounced upon by various ducks.
Clark smiled when he noticed her happiness. He followed the line of her gaze to notice her watching the boats out on the lake. He hoped he was interpreting her dreamy look correctly. Fingering the box in his pocket he made a decision then and a weight left his shoulders.
Lois turned back to look at Clark still sitting on the bench. Her happiness bubbled over into her laugh but it faded when she took in the intense look on his face. Striding over to him she sat back down.
“Everything all right, Clark?”
He smiled and the deep thoughts which must have been bothering him fled. “Perfect, Lois.”
They stood and he took her hand in his. As they walked along their clasped hands swung a little.
“Spend the day with me on Saturday, Lois,” asked Clark.
She stopped and glanced up at him. “Of course.” Tilting her head, she squinted a little. “What are you planning, Kent?” she asked, warily.
“Nothing, Lois. I, uh, ...”
“Come on, spill. Are you gonna take me to the Three Ring Circus?” she said brightly, excited.
“Let’s just say that there will be a ring involved.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Saturday morning saw Clark standing at Lois’ apartment door. He was so glad he’d made the sudden decision to put this off till Saturday. Every time he’d tried for a moment alone with Lois there had been an interruption. If he hadn’t already known that he was waiting for today his frustration would have grown to immense proportions.
Knocking on her door he quickly listened in to see if she was actually up, or anywhere near the door. When his superhearing picked up soft moaning from a distance he sighed.
She’s not even out of bed. A shuffling noise eventually made its way towards the door and when it opened a crack he was met with the most beautiful sight ever. Lois was wearing flannel pyjamas, bunny slippers graced her feet, and her hair had a knot the size of Alaska making it stick up at the back. Clark’s heart skipped a beat.
“Morning beautiful,” he said and smiled. “I brought breakfast.” He held up a bag.
“Clark!” she blinked. The lethargy infused in her muscles vanished and she suddenly felt full of energy. “Breakfast!” She opened the door the rest of the way and dived for the bag.
“Sorry I wasn’t up,” she mumbled as she turned away, and began opening the brown bag, pulling out a Danish pastry. “Late night stakeout with Jimmy,” she explained. Glancing back over her shoulder she saw Clark holding up a steaming coffee. “Boy am I so glad you brought that.” She grabbed the coffee from Clark and devoured the food and drink with her eyes for a moment, before dropping herself to the couch and eating.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It was quite late morning before they finally made it back to the park.
“The park?” Lois asked Clark, a frown on her face.
“I know we came here for lunch on Wednesday but I wanted to show you something.” He took her hand and walked her round the lake. At the boat house he stopped. “Would you like a float on the lake?”
Her eyes widened and she stared at him, a smile slowly growing across her face.
As Clark rowed them across the lake, Lois leaned back her head and let the sun shine down on her face.
I never thought I’d enjoy something as simple as this soooo much. Bringing her head back she looked at Clark.
Somehow, I see the world through his eyes now. The beauty of the simplest things. “I ... um. Would you ... I brought a picnic, Lois,” he eventually said after stumbling over his sentence. “We can have it when we get back to shore if you are hungry.”
“Sound’s lovely, Clark.” She grinned, but he didn’t notice. He was glancing off to the right. Lois turned to look.
“Hey, watch where you’re rowing, buddy,” she shouted out but it was too late. Another boat was heading straight for them at quite a speed. Clark pulled on his oars with extra strength. Not enough to seem out of the ordinary, but enough to move their position suddenly. It wasn’t enough, though, and the two boats still clipped each other.
Lois gripped either side of the boat to help stay steady.
“You stupid idiot,” came a shout from behind and Lois turned to see the other rower standing in his boat and gesturing at Clark.
Clark stood, himself, and turned to address the other man. “I’m sorry, sir. I did try to get out of your way. Maybe if you’d been looking where ...”
“Looking where I was going! Is that what you were going to say?”
Clark held out his arm peacefully. “I just think you should calm down, sir.”
“If anyone needed to look, it was you. Four eyes.”
Lois saw Clark’s calm demeanour change in a moment. He stiffened. “Now look here ...” but he never got a chance to say any more as the other man lifted his oar and pushed against their boat, sending it rocking. Lois watched in horror as Clark wobbled and then toppled over the side.
“Clark!” she shouted, grabbing the edge of the boat and looking over. He came to the surface, spluttering and climbed back into the boat ungainly. Turning back to the other boat Lois saw that it was already drifting away. She whipped her head round to Clark. “Why did you let him get away with that? You didn’t need to fall in the water.”
“It’s okay, Lois. Any normal man would not have held his balance. It's okay. It's just part of who ‘this’ Clark Kent is." he paused. "Sometimes." He looked away, shyly, then looked back. "Anyway. He didn’t get away without punishment.” Clark raised his eyebrows and peered over the top of his glasses.
“What did you do?” she asked with a little laugh.
“Look down.”
“Down,” she wrinkled her brow. “The boat is full of water. So what? It’s had this inch of water in it since we set off.”
“Lois, I burnt a hole in the bottom of his shoe.” Clark reached out and took hold of the oars and began rowing them back to the shore. Lois felt a small smile trying to get out but she steadfastly refused to give in. But as time went on she kept imagining the rude, aggressive man noticing the wet, squishy feeling in his shoe and the smile came ... then grew ... until she was eventually laughing out loud. Clark raised his eyebrows and grinned at her.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Clark was sitting on the picnic blanket nibbling a sandwich. He knew the moment was coming up. Lois was leaning back against a tree trunk, Double Fudge Crunch bar in hand. “So,
Flyboy. What’s up next?”
Resting back on his elbows he allowed himself to stare at her for a few moments before answering. She had her eyes closed and her head was resting back. She looked at peace. Something he’d never seen before with Lois Lane.
It’s time. “Um, I guess that’s up to you Lois. You see ...” he coughed. “I, well ...”
“Lois!” came a shrill, high voice from behind. He whipped his head round to see Suzie running towards them.
Lois opened her eyes suddenly and blinked at the bright sun.
“Hey, Suzie,” she replied, lifting her hand to shield her eyes. Clark felt his heart crash again.
First the belligerent rower, now Suzie. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Clark walked hand in hand with Lois. After Suzie had finally wandered away Clark had packed away the picnic and suggested a walk around the lake. It was mid afternoon and the sun was still high in the sky. Lois unclasped her hand from his for a moment and took off her jacket. Clark stopped and turned to her. He took her jacket from her and tossed it to the grass just off to his left.
Taking both her hands in his he walked her backwards a few steps until they were stood in the shade of a large tree, laden with pink blossom.
He kept hold of her hands and brought them between their two bodies. Quickly glancing around to make sure there were going to be no further interruptions from maniac pedestrians or work colleagues he then turned back and smiled at Lois.
“Lois, I asked you to spend today with me for a reason.”
“Of course, Clark,” she said, as if it were an unnecessary comment.
“No ... I mean ... yes. I asked you because I want to spend time with you, of course. But there is another reason.”
“Oh!” She looked a little surprised.
He looked up and let out a quick puff of air causing the tree branches to shake. Lois let go of his hands and laughed delightedly when the pink blossoms began raining down all around her. As she tried to catch them Clark slipped his hand into his pocket and then dropped to one knee.
Lois looked back and took in the sight in less than a second. Her mouth dropped open ever so slightly.
“I want to make it official and I want you to know that I’m asking this question, not because of a pact we made eight years ago, but because I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
He lifted his hand and opened a small black box revealing a dazzling solitaire, diamond engagement ring.
“Lois Lane. Will you marry me?”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
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