Wendy, all I can say is... wow.
Okay, maybe that's not all I can say. Slight exaggeration.
But, seriously, what a wonderful story. At first when I started reading it, I thought that it had been done before. But before I got more than a few paragraphs in, I realized how wrong I was. Lucy pointed out just the right things, and it was hilarious the way she did it. I liked how you built on real events but added "side events" that might have happened offscreen and made perfect sense. It was easy to picture Lois linking her arm in Clark's, or poking him, patting him on the back, or hugging him when she got a strike (what's less imaginable to me is that Lois would stoop to go bowling enough to be good enough to get a strike!).
It made perfect sense to me that Lois would then go and bring up Lucy's conversation to Clark... I think we all do that when we hear that somebody might like us, we want to feel them out and know for sure. And especially after Lois realized that she might have some feelings for Clark herself, it was so right that she'd bring it up, making it seem as if it was ridiculous and she didn't care, but at the same time wanting to use it to find out how he felt. And when he let her know... it was so perfect. They both led each other closer and closer, neither being forced to take a really big step until, in my opinion, they both pretty much knew what the other would say. That seemed more real to me than declarations without any idea of how the other felt. And Clark, taking that last jump, expressed himself beautifully. It's no wonder Lois was quick to give in herself. *happy sigh*
It made so much sense to me that Lois planned, all along, to use Lucy's questioning as a springboard. With Lois's intelligence, and yet inexperience (yes, inexperience, because despite her relationships, I don't think she's ever really had a serious, mature relationship) with men, I could really see her using Lucy's words to speak for herself, to see what Clark felt.
The ending was, of course, perfect, WAFFy, and all things good. And I liked their "favor" to be returned to Lucy... not sure how Lucy will see it, may depend on Jimmy's behavior at dinner. *grin* But either way, I think things will work out wonderfully for our beloved couple. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful story, Wendy, and thank you to Erin for having a birthday! Happy birthday, Erin!
