This is just super:
How could he refute her words when he’d asked himself those very same questions? Every time he hadn’t been completely honest with her, it had hurt. For a man with moral beliefs as strong as his, it’d been a continuing incongruity. He believed and fought for truth, yet lied to the woman he said was his whole life. And she was right; he had been deceiving her all along. The worst part was that, if he told her his worst fear, the one thing that had always made him keep Clark and Superman as two different people in her eyes, she’d be infuriated. Worse, she’d be greatly offended. With no effort, he could hear her saying that she couldn’t believe he thought she was that shallow; that he should have known better. It didn’t matter whether she really believed it or not; if she deep down realized there was some truth in it, she’d still choose to look offended. She was too proud. How could he then confess that his secret had been kept that way because he wanted her to love HIM, Clark, the man in the business suit, the man without powers... the ordinary man? Mostly after he himself had accepted that there was not two, but only one person. Hadn’t he convinced himself that Clark Kent didn’t fade away when he wore the suit? That the powers were as much a part of his regular life as they were of his heroic acts? Why wasn’t it the same where Lois was concerned?
Finally, in a mere whisper, he said the scary words, “I wanted you to notice me. It’s not a matter of pride; I needed to feel that you could learn to value in me, your partner, all the great things you admire in Superman. Without forgetting my many flaws, and realizing that there are good things in me; that I have a lot to offer, if only you would let me. I needed you to see the real me. The man behind... the man inside the suit... But without being dazzled by the halo of perfection you seem to perceive when you face the hero.”
Scared, she realized it was so easy to just lose herself in his softness, in the tenderness his voice bore, in his care. SO many feelings she’d never known. It felt like standing on a cliff, staring at the darkness below, suspecting there was something good awaiting, but also aware of the chances of it being an illusion. He could be lying; she’d been there before, and she had vowed to never return. She had thought he could be different and in just a few hours the image she’d built up of him had fallen apart. Was she willing to forget? Was it something she could do?
Clark's thoughts - Lois accusations really hit him because he has known them beforehand and struggled with them. And then he tells her his greatest fears - I believe Lois is going to remember his words and understand how much courage it took to show himself vulnerable. The perfect image of standing on the cliff - I hope she remembers the many times that she *has* fallen - and Superman *has* caught her. Now she must let herself fall emotonally - and trust that Clark will catch her.
