It's what I wanted Clark to do, too. In fact, as I read these sections, I wondered if you had looked into the future and seen Elisabeth's comments re touching and talking.
Unfortunately, however much Lois protests that she loves Clark, I don't believe her. "Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things; believes all things; hopes all things; endures all things." She may be in love with him, but I don't think she loves him. Her focus is so totally on herself--how she feels, what she needs and wants--that there's no room to love anyone else.
Once again, Carol, I'm making these suggestions for your rewrite, not to have you stop and change things now. Keep writing!
