Hey guys! Here's part 7!
Sorry again for the delay - the last two weeks have been more crazy than I thought they'd be and then found out that one of my students is planning on cheating on his final tomorrow and i have to work out a way to catch him doing it. *sigh*. Joy.
Because of all that's going on, the next part likely won't get up until next week.
Anyway - here it is. Comments appreciated.
CM
*****
From Part 6:
Rachel sat on the table in front of Lois and took the ice cream from her. She held Lois' hands in her own. "Honey, I know."
"Know what?"
"I know about you and Clark, and I know you know I was with him tonight."
*****
Part 7
*****
"What?"
"We went out for dinner last night and he told me about you, but I didn't know it was *you*, the whole last name thing. And then you saw me over at his place tonight."
Lois nodded sadly. "It's over. Any hope I had for the two of us is gone. It's obvious he's ready to move on, and..." She smiled at her old friend. "... I can't think of anyone better for him."
"But, Lois, he's still in love with you."
"Then why..."
"Because he thought you were with someone else. But I can tell. I was hoping, that in time, I could help him get over whoever it was, but knowing it's you and how much you obviously still love him..." Rachel took a deep breath, knowing she had to do what she was about to, no matter how much it hurt. "I can't stand in the way."
"That's nice of you, Rachel, but how can you be sure?"
"He kissed me."
"I know." Lois looked at her hands. "I didn't mean to spy on you, really."
"I know." Rachel smiled. "A woman can tell though. When he kissed me, I could tell that he was thinking of someone else."
Lois thought about it for a minute. "Are you sure?"
Rachel nodded. "I'm sure."
Lois grinned a bit. "He's a good kisser, isn't he?"
Rachel laughed. "Definitely. He doesn't have a brother does he?"
Lois laughed a bit herself. "No, he was adopted actually." A light bulb went off. "You know what? I ran into an old friend, Joe, earlier today. You'd love him!"
"Really?"
"Yeah, he was a football player in high school, we dated a bit but never really clicked. He's moving to New York next month and is in town scouting out some places to live and stuff. Maybe you could show him around?"
Rachel smiled. "Maybe. But, um, let me talk to Clark first?"
Lois nodded. "Sure."
Rachel gave her a hug. "Thanks, Lois. You know, I've really missed you."
"I've missed you too, RaeRae."
*****
Clark flew out of New York and finally settled on an iceberg in the middle of the North Atlantic.
Glad he was impervious to the cold, he knew he'd be sitting there until sunlight rose over the near-freezing ocean.
He was a swirling turmoil of emotion. He'd had a wonderful time with Rachel and the kiss had been very nice.
He forced himself to admit that that was all it was... very nice.
Not earth-shattering like when he'd kissed Lois.
And now to find out that she was still in love with him... Well, it was a sticky situation.
Rachel... What did he feel for her? He'd only known her for about 36 hours, but they had a good time together. He'd had a lot of fun the last two evenings, more fun that he'd had in a long time – except he was always thinking about Lois.
And there was the rub. He still loved Lois. Having seen her - even as Superman - and held her in his arms - though she didn't know who it really was. When she'd touched him, he felt like his skin was on fire, even through the suit.
So what was he going to do?
He did what he used to do – when he was trying to decide what to do or where to go. Make a list of the pros and cons of staying in New York, even though he knew now that there was no future for him with Rachel – at least for now - and trying to move on or going to Lois and seeing what would happen there.
A little bit of heat vision and there were two headings melted into the ice – New York and Lois.
Under Lois went things like stubborn, pig-headed, in constant need of saving, occasionally selfish, and all of the other things he found annoying or irritating about her.
When it came to writing under New York, he could only think of one thing:
No Loim.
He shook his head and burned a hole where that had been and wrote under it, more carefully:
No Lois.
It took several hours of to get to that point but he finally knew the only thing he could really do was end things with Rachel and try to find his way back to Lois.
*****
"Clark, we need to talk." Rachel sat down next to him on the orange couch in Central Perk.
Clark sighed. "You're right. We do."
"Clark..."
"Rachel..."
They spoke at the same time.
Rachel tucked a strand of hair behind one ear. "Let me go first." When Clark nodded, she took a deep breath and started in. "Things aren't going to work out with us, Clark. You're still in love with Lois and I know that's where you really want to be."
Clark nodded, amazed that she could read him so well. "You're right. And I'm sorry."
"What do you have to be sorry for?" Rachel looked genuinely puzzled.
"For not realizing it sooner."
Rachel sighed. "Clark, we've known each other for like three days. And unless I'm very mistaken, you haven't dated anyone else, so how could you know for sure that you weren't ready to move on?"
Clark sighed too and then nodded. "You're right and you're being really cool about this."
"I know." Rachel grinned at him.
"I really did have a good time with you the last couple of days, but I really do still love Lois."
"I know. And she's already offered to set me up with someone else so..."
"She has?" Clark's eyes narrowed a bit. "How do you know Lois?"
Rachel cleared her throat just a bit. "We were, uh, sorority sisters in college. She's in town looking for you."
Clark eyed her quizzically. "Why didn't you mention that before? When we talked about her the other night?"
"Well, she used her mom's maiden name in college – something about a big blowout with her dad."
He nodded slowly. "Yeah, Lois and her dad haven't been on the best of terms for a long time."
"And I haven't talked to her in years so I had no idea what her real name is."
"How do you know she's in town then?"
Rachel took a deep breath – time to come totally clean. "She stayed at my apartment last night. And she already knew about us seeing each other."
"How on earth...? One of your friends?" Wait! Lois had been staying in the next building over when he saw her as Superman the night before. Did that mean...
"No. See, um, I live right across the street from you."
Clark raised an eyebrow at her. "Really?"
Rachel nodded. "We can see into your apartment from our window.
A thought suddenly occurred to him. "Do you spy one me?" He prayed they hadn't seen anything they shouldn't. He'd been much more careful here than he'd ever been in Metropolis. The apartment was just too easy to see in – and he knew that. But how could he not have realized that there were people who could see him, and possibly spy? Good thing Diana Stride wasn't around anymore! And to think he moved the couch so he could work on his laptop and get sun at the same time!
Rachel hung her head guiltily. "Only sometimes, when we're down a bit and we think that watching a good looking guy could cheer us up. And, uh, she, uh, saw us kiss last night."
Clark winced, less worried about his secret and more worried about Lois. "She did?"
"Yeah."
Clark took a deep breath before asking his next question. He already knew how she was – he'd seen her, but he had to ask anyway. "How is she?"
"I think she's okay. We talked last night and I told her I thought you were still in love with her and we agreed that I could talk to you first. She'll be here in a few minutes."
"She will?" Clark couldn't help but be a bit excited. He was going to see Lois again and maybe they could start all over.
A familiar voice interrupted them. "Rachel, I need to talk to you."
Rachel looked annoyed at the interference. "What, Ross? I’m in the middle of something here."
Clark smiled at her. "It's okay, Rachel. Go ahead."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Go ahead, but I'd like to talk to you later."
"Definitely." Rachel smiled softly at him.
Ross led Rachel to one of the tall tables and sat down across from her. "I talked to Emily last night and she wants to work things out."
"That's great, Ross!"
"The thing is..." Ross took a deep breath. "I have to move to London."
"Ross..."
He cut her off. "No, really, you're obviously moving on, and I do love her and I want to work things out, so I'm going. I quit my job and I leave on Monday."
Rachel had tried to interrupt him and tell him that things between her and Clark were going no where, but he hadn't given her the opportunity. "Monday? That's fast."
"Yeah, but it's really what I want."
"Then, good. Go." Rachel was surprised that she wasn't more upset about his leaving, but dating Clark, even for a couple of days was enough for her to realize that she didn't want to be with Ross. Maybe she had once, but not anymore.
Maybe she'd outgrown him. Whatever it was, she was ready to move on and she was glad he was too. And maybe being thousands of miles away would make it possible for both of them to really do so. Lois had told her all about this Joe guy late the night before and he sounded really wonderful. Maybe she could find someone new.
"Anyway, I wanted you to know first. Everyone else is going to be in your apartment in a few minutes and I'm going to tell them all then."
"They'll be sorry to see you leave."
"I know, but I think it's for the best." Ross stood up. "I better go, but I just wanted to tell you first. And, uh, good luck with hot shorts guy."
"His name is Clark."
"Whatever. I hope you're happy."
"I will be." So what if it wouldn't be with Clark? Ross didn't want to listen to her so she'd just let him believe what he wanted.
Ross looked at her for a minute and then turned and walked out, holding the door for a woman who entered.
Clark knew she was there even before he heard her voice.
"Clark!"
He heard the slight crack in her voice and stood to find her launching herself into his arms.
He gladly wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in the base of her neck. He breathed in her scent, taking in every little nuance of her being.
"Oh, Clark." Her voice was barely a whisper. "I have missed you so much!"
"I've missed you too, Lois."
"You have some explaining to do..."
"I know."
"... but you could tell me you were Superman and that's why you left and I wouldn’t care!"
*****
TBC
