Lois couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this nervous. If she thought her conversation on the phone with Martha had been scary, it didn’t hold a candle to the idea of inviting Clark to spend Christmas at her family cabin in the mountains. What had she been thinking? She might as well propose on the first date! This was way too intimate. He’d never say yes.
Oh God, what if he did say yes? She wasn’t sure which was the more terrifying option. Her nerves were made even worse by the fact that she knew Martha Kent had yet to call her son and tell him that they were not able to have him over for Christmas dinner.
She’d been waiting for that phone call to come all morning. Lois Lane had never been good at waiting.
Eventually, his extension rang just after they finished their lunch, and Lois knew it was Martha by the tone of his voice and the smile on his face. She loved seeing him interact with his parents.
She felt a slight twinge of guilt as that warm smile faltered ever so slightly as he spoke on the phone. Martha must have told him. Was this a good idea after all? She suddenly wasn’t so sure.
Nevertheless, he hung up the phone and Lois knew it was now or never. She strolled casually over to his desk and tried to look interested, but not too curious.
“Something wrong?”
“Yeah…kinda,” Clark said, sounding slightly bewildered. He ran a hand through his unruly dark locks and Lois resisted the urge to reach out and smooth them back down for him.
“That was my Mom,” he continued, still sounding slightly stunned. “She and my Dad are going to Nashville for Christmas. Apparently they won the trip in some radio contest. So I guess I won’t be going to their place for Christmas dinner.”
Lois fought the urge to roll her eyes. A radio contest for Christmas in Nashville? Looks like lame excuses ran in the family.
“Oh, Clark, that’s too bad,” Lois said, hoping she sounded appropriately sympathetic. “I know how much you look forward to Christmas dinner with your folks.”
“Yeah,” he said and his shoulders slumped. Lois felt her heart wrench and suddenly felt like an awful person for putting him through this. Still, Martha had done her part so she couldn’t falter now.
“Well…I don’t know if you have somewhere else to go, but if you don’t…” she let the phrase hang in the air until she was sure she had his attention. He looked at her, his face suddenly changing from dejected to interested. Which made her go from confident to terrified all over again.
“Yes?”
“Well, it’s just that my family has this cabin upstate at Riverview Ski Lodge and I was thinking since I would be on my own that I would go up there for Christmas.” He suddenly looked VERY interested, and Lois felt her nervousness increase even further. She had no idea why. After all, with the look he was giving her, she was all but certain he would say yes.
“It’s nothing special,” she continued, fiddling with a post-it note that was suddenly the most fascinating thing in the world. “It’s a two bedroom cabin and the skiing is very nice. I thought…well, if you don’t want to be alone, that is…unless you have other plans. I don’t mean to assume…”
“Are you asking to spend Christmas with you at your family’s cabin?” She could swear she heard his voice waver ever so slightly and she watched him tug nervously at his tie.
“Only if you want to,” she replied quickly. “I mean if you wanted to be alone, I would completely…”
“Yes!” he blurted. Their eyes met and both of them laughed. “Yes of course, I would. I would love that. Thank you.”
“It’s nothing,” Lois said, scuffing her shoe gently against the floor. “After all your plans got cancelled. It was the least I could do.”
“I really appreciate it,” he said, his voice deepening in a way that made her weak. “Really.”
“What are friends for?” She asked, hoping he couldn’t see the blush that was forcing its way up her cheeks. “It’s a few hour’s drive, so I will pick you up first thing on Christmas Eve day.”
“Sure,” he said, a great big grin covering his entire face. “Sounds good.”
****
Lois got out of the Jeep and allowed herself a long, luxurious stretch. While she loved coming to this cabin to get away from it all, she hated being stuck in the car. Well, usually she hated it.
This time the company had been far better than her tape deck or FM radio options. She and Clark had spent the entire ride talking about every topic under the sun in a way they didn't get to do very often.
She couldn't remember a time when she'd laughed so much. She even let him take control of the radio -- something she usually never allowed.
But the best part was how happy and relaxed Clark seemed. She'd expected him to still be a bit upset about his parents cancelling dinner but she'd swear he seemed almost happy they had.
He'd even flirted with her in a way that was obvious even to her, who usually missed such things.
She watched as he stepped out of the passenger side and pretended to stretch as well. She fought the urge to scoff. Soon she would confess her secret and he would no longer have to put on these little displays on her behalf.
Technically, they wouldn't even have to do the long car ride though for some reason the thought of that disappointed her.
What was wrong with her?
She looked over and saw he was looking at the cabin and taking it all in. It was small, but inside it was cozy and warm.
A thrill ran through her as she snuck a glance at her partner. He looked just as nervous as she felt which was comforting.
"Well this is it," she said, her voice sounding artificially cheerful in her ears. "Welcome to Chez Lane."
"It looks great," he answered as he grabbed the bags and followed her inside.
The inside was rustic but comfortable. Lois waved her hand around the living area like a game show hostess.
"This is the living room," she said, running her hand along the dark green sofa in the centre of the room. There were two comfortable looking chairs on either side that matched and they faced the fireplace which was the focal point of the room. A plush deep red throw rug was placed in front of the fireplace. She suddenly wondered what it would be like to kiss him on that rug in front of a roaring fire.
Nope. Nope. Not going there. Moving on.
She headed into the kitchen, pointing out the major appliances and where the mugs and dishes were. They had stopped at a grocery store to stock up on the drive up, and Clark had insisted on buying all the groceries since she’d been kind enough to invite him. She had let him, preferring instead to find a coffee shop to get some coffees and other snacks for the car. She noticed that Clark had already begun unpacking things and putting them away in their appropriate locations.
"You're handy to have around the house," she joked as he finished what he was doing and flashed her that gorgeous smile.
"Does that mean you'll keep me?" He asked, his tone light, but the expression on his face told a different story. There it was again…the flirting. Lois swallowed heavily and tried to remember what words sounded like.
"I'll consider it," she managed back. Her hands were shaking ever so slightly and she found herself trying to think of what to do with them as she spoke her next words. "The uh...bedrooms are this way."
They left the kitchen and crossed though the living room once again which had a small hallway attached on the left side. Two doors faced each other, on either side of the hallway and Lois opened the one door with Clark close behind.
“This is the guest room,” she said as she entered. Her next sentence died on her lips as she took in the state of the room. It had been a few years since she’d visited, but she hadn’t remembered the guest room being left in such a state.
It was filled with boxes, furniture and other junk items. The bed was entirely covered in chairs and tables to the point where she could barely see the mattress. The rest of the room was not much better. She felt Clark bump into her from behind – a side effect of the fact that neither one of them could get any further into the room.
“Uhh, Lois? If this is the bedroom, shouldn’t I be able to see a bed?”
She cringed as she realized that he was right. It suddenly hit her that she had told Lucy a year or two ago that she was free to use this room to store a few things if she needed to since the guest bedroom was almost never used. It hadn’t occurred to her that Lucy’s things would still be here.
“I’m so sorry, Clark!” She exclaimed, trying to think of a way to fix things. She knew that Clark could use his powers to move the stuff in the room in a heartbeat. It wouldn’t be difficult for him at all, but that would mean both telling him she knew his secret right now as well as finding somewhere else to put all this junk. “This is all Lucy’s stuff. I thought she’d moved it, but apparently she hadn’t.”
“It’s totally fine, Lois,” Clark said with that easy going tone of voice she knew so well. “The couch looked comfortable enough. I can sleep there.”
It was a logical solution. Reasonable, even. And it wasn’t like they hadn’t been in this situation before. When they had shared a hotel room in the Lexor hotel, they had agreed to take turns for the bed. Poor Clark had never gotten his turn, and she remembered how uncomfortable he’d been on the couch.
Now, here he was offering to take the couch again while she slept in a comfortable bed. It didn’t seem fair – especially when it had been Lois who had manipulated him into being here for Christmas in the first place.
“You’re my guest, Clark,” Lois said with a sigh. “You take the bed. I will be happy enough on the couch.”
“You were nice enough to invite me last minute,” Clark argued, “I can’t make you sleep on the couch. I’m not even supposed to be here.”
It’s a big bed. Why don’t we share?
Okay, where did that come from? She was NOT going to think about that possibility. Nope. Not happening. Especially since, if she was honest with herself, she had already fantasized about this very scenario many times before. Okay, maybe not this exact scenario, but close enough.
“How about we flip a coin for it later?” She suggested, not wanting to go back and forth like this all day. Especially when there were so many other fun things they could be doing. “You’re here for two nights so we can always take turns.”
He looked like he was about to argue, but then thought against it. She smiled a small, satisfactory smile. After all, she was Lois Lane. Her stubbornness was legendary. She’d never been entirely certain what would happen if her stubbornness went up against his politeness in a test of wills, but there was always a first time for everything.
“Okay, we’ll talk about it later,” he agreed. Then, with that settled, he gave her a grin. “So what should we do?”
Lois relaxed and described all the different activities available at the adjacent lodge. Many of them were outdoor sports like skiing and sledding.
“It all sounds pretty good,” Clark said. “Should we start with some skiing and go from there?”
Lois nodded and went to the closet to dig out her skis. Clark had brough his with him so he went to retrieve them from the jeep. Despite the issue of there only being one bed, things were starting to look up.
