Hi Sara!
And thank you to KathyB, who is my official (she doesn't know it's official) summary writer!
Lois holds grudges and Clark makes excuses, two indisputable facts.
I’m so flashing to Game of Thrones with the grudges-holding by perky women.
But when the two collide, will they find their way through to the other side?
Can Clark excuse himself out of the grudge?
Maybe you think I don't notice, that I don't catalog these excuses of yours. Okay, so I don't catalog them or even write them down.
She could do a spreadsheet, color code them, calculate statistics, and extrapolate patterns.
I hold grudges, Clark. You should know this already. Do you take that into account when you're planning your escape from me and spinning up your next lie?
Does he bring food and chocolate when he returns?
Do you realize the wrath you’re risking?
Do you realize that it’s impossible to hold a grudge against you?
Awwww
except for the part where you run away from me when I'm trying to let you in.
He’s scared of crossing the intimacy threshold.
She trusts him even though he lies and she knows he does.
LOIS: Why do you think I’m so ticked off?
I'm not sure where it came from or when it snuck up on me, because it definitely snuck up on me.
Awwww…just like Lois snuck up on Lex.
I definitely wasn't attracted to you when we were sprayed with that pheromone perfume.
Gaawww she’s such a contradiction on herself
And definitely not, because you didn't seem to be attracted in return.
Is that an incorrect comma?
(Asks someone who places commas when ever it is allowed by grammar rules. It just felt strange here from the speech pattern and the conveyed intention)
definitely wasn't aroused and confused after that kiss in the honeymoon suite. That was just for cover. Nothing significant about that.
Yes. Uh-huh. Oh, you mean the kiss on the show, not the one that was written about elsewhere. Yes, that, too.
I definitely didn't think about you before the ceremony or say your name with mine like they belonged together.
Um…what about that CCTV video with audio I have sitting here?
I didn't know. I didn't know then that it wasn't real, that you were still alive.
You really snuck that revelation in there!
But...there it is. Just sitting there staring at me, staring up at me from your kitchen table with the rest of your mail, asking me why you abandoned it instead of putting it in the fridge. How should I know? You abandon me all the time, and I never know why.
But she doesn't look altogether surprised to see me in my apartment wearing a cape.
She figured out Superman is Clark’s special friend.
The importance and weight of the choice hangs heavy in my chest and my throat as I think of what I can possibly say.
“Want some cheese? It's from Clark’s latest Cheese of the Month delivery.”
Why did I wave? Why can't I breathe?
He's royalty, they wave to the common people. And the breathing, hmmm … Lois’s presence sucks all the air out of the room?
"I opened your cheese," she says quietly, almost apologetically.
Duh! That's why he can't breathe.
Or does she want to talk about cheese? I don't want to talk about cheese.
Oh, so cute!
Is she talking to Superman or Clark? "Are you hungry?" I move toward the kitchen almost automatically. I don't know what to do, but I can make her food. "I can make you a quesadilla, some queso flamea—"
He should pretend to be Clark and that Lois has known for a long time.
She trails off, her eyes focusing intently on the box the cheese had come in.
Trying to put her feelings in a box?
My breath catches again as I watch her stand and come to wrap her arms around me.
Maybe she’s wearing a locket with green kryptonite.
I hate him and I love him. He hurts me and he heals me. He's such a contradiction, but I can't think beyond the basics—that I am hurting and I need him to hold me.
also dysfunctional codependency?
Make it better, Clark. Fix it. Don't be sorry. Fix it."
kiss her to make the bad memories go away?
"I mean...can you change, please?" I gesture at his suit, the bold red and blue too loud to bear right now.
and I long to be back in his arms. I can't figure out how to get back there, though. My heart is in my throat, terrified that there isn't a way back.
awwww
Even though he lied. Even though he made a horrifically painful mistake. Even though he was the one who hurt me.
Oh that’s going to be fun when he breaks you with her for her own good.
I raise my head up to look at him. "You said something about quesadillas?" The End
awwwwwwwww
End Notes: For decades, I avoided the fate that apparently befalls all FoLC fanfic authors: I was hit with my first TOGOM story. Quite unexpectedly. I just meant to write about the Cheese of the Month...but turns out that excuse was used just the week after TOGOM, so I managed to run headlong into Angstville. And here we are.
Huh, true. Hmm…I haven’t yet. Then again, I may have done one or two evil endings so does anyone *really* want *me* to take a shot at TOGoM? Aaaanyhow, this was a fun tale with great prose!
Michael
