Thanks for the great feedback, Beth and Ann!
I'm glad I brought out the loneliness that Clark is feeling so well. It's important to me as in the end I think it will be/is important to Lois. Given how much she suffered due to Clark's lie, it seems like in order to forgive Clark she needs to see that he suffered as well. It makes it clearer that whatever reasons Clark had, however misguided they may have been, they were likely not 100% selfish.
I have actually gotten a fair amount of writing done while I'm away, so hope to post something within a few days of getting home (it still needs a fair amount of polishing and I'm not sure it's finished yet and I'm not sure how much more writing time I'll have) and I have found the solution for the Clark/Charlie, Lois/Lola issue, I think. (I guess you will tell me if I fail.)
Also, you will see the importance of John and where he ends up. I have to say, I haven't mentioned much on this before as up until this week I was intending for Lois to end up with John. I wanted a happy ending, and hadn't yet determined what that would be for Clark, but still thought it was more realistic for Lois to go elsewhere. But now that I'm closer to the end, I've dashed that (as you thought I'd be doing anyway). I hope I've handled the John thing well as I really like him as a character. I haven't written nearly as much about him as I was intending, but he has a very full character in my mind and he's a very good guy.
Ann, I am hoping that it is my slowness in posting (and thus vague memories of earlier chapters) that makes you think that Clark was relatively okay during the years they were apart, as I'm not sure what else to do to make it clear he was not. During those years, up until the time she moved to San Diego, Clark spent most of his free time watching Lois and then once she moved and he didn't know where she was, he spent most of his time looking for her. Overall, he's had a pretty sad existence - just being Superman and trying to learn as much about Lois' life as possible when she won't talk to him.
I have also given a lot of thought to the challenge you gave me awhile ago of explaining why Clark didn't tell Lois he was Superman. I'm not sure I'm going to do this to your liking. I am at a point where I feel like actually a lot of the groundwork has been set and not much more is needed (for me, anyway). But I think it requires remembering that Clark is essentially human. He makes mistakes and is a result of his previous life experiences (he has the same baggage as everyone else).
Well, I'll leave the rest up to my post - I imagine I'm close to the end now - either 2 or 3 chapters left in total. But, then again, I foolishly thought this would only be 3-5 chapters when I started (I know, I was completely delusional to think I could solve this problem that quickly), so perhaps once I start writing the characters will take this someplace different than I'm currently thinking.
