This is the first completed fic in the ‘Anthology’ series, a collection of stories inspired by Bryan Adams songs. For more info, check out the feedback thread!****
He was stunned. Had he missed something? Had there been a crazy timewarp where she said she’d had a horrible date and he’d been plunked back into time just as she announced she never wanted to see him again? At least then he could understand her promptly slamming the door in his face.
“Lois?”
He raised a hand to knock on the door before pausing and reaching for his glasses to check on her instead. He hesitated again, just before his x-ray vision kicked in, weighing his choices, and then pushed his glasses back up, resisting the urge to invade her privacy so fully. Instead, he concentrated on his hearing. Her heartbeat - the one he could pick out of a crowd - was pounding in his ears. He tried a little less focus and his heart sank when he heard her sobbing.
“Lois?” He called out a little louder. “ Is everything ok?”
He quietly chastised himself. What a dumb thing to ask. He wouldn’t be standing in the corridor with Lois crying on the other side of the closed door if everything was fine.
“I’m sorry.” He had to have done something to upset her so much and he could hear the sobs turning into great gulps of air. He’d never heard Lois cry this hard before.
“Please,” he begged softly knowing she was still in the living room and not wanting her nosy neighbour to open their door.
Actually, screw that. The woman of his dreams, the love of his life, who seemingly had a fantastic time on their date tonight was now crying her heart out on the other side of the door. He wanted to hold her and try to fix whatever was wrong.
He knocked a little bolder.
“Lois. Please, let's talk this out.”
Another, sharper knock, and he could hear her approaching the door.
“I don’t want to wake your neighbours,” he added, hoping it would convince her.
He heard the slide of the security chain and stepped back as she opened the door. He realized too late that she’d just added the chain and the door had been unlocked. He could have opened the door if he’d thought about it.
She didn’t say anything as she peered at him through the small opening in the door and Clark had to resist placing his hand on the door.
“Lois,” he said, lowering his voice. “I don’t know what I did to upset you but please, could you tell me?”
The door closed and his heart fell for a brief moment before he heard the security chain slide, this time to open the door. When the door opened, he stepped in, yearning to reach for her and hold her.
“I’ll be right back,” she mumbled as she fled in the direction of the bathroom.
In the distance, he heard the sound of a siren and promptly forced his hearing range to remain only within the confines of the apartment. He did not need any distractions right now. Unless an asteroid was about to fall on the Earth, he was otherwise occupied. He sat on the couch and stared at the coffee table in an effort not to accidentally hear anything outside of this room.
Lois returned shortly, changed out of her evening wear and into sweat pants and a sweater. Clark noticed she’d wiped her makeup off but her eyes were still red and her face a little splotchy. He stood as she entered the living room. She stopped on the other side of the coffee table, staying on her feet, her arms crossed.
“Clark, it’s nothing you did.”
While that was a relief to hear, it still left the unanswered question of what exactly about tonight had upset her.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Look, Clark. Tonight was great. Amazing.”
He wanted to ask questions, probe for an answer, but restrained himself, moving every so slowly towards her.
But she held up a hand to forestall him, “Have you thought about where we go from here?”
He nodded, but didn’t say anything. He’d spent far too long dreaming about where they would take their relationship and was sure he’d scare her away if he verbalized his desires and dreams.
“What if it doesn’t work?” Lois whispered.
He had slowly crossed half of the distance that had been between them and he longed to rush the last half and embrace her, assure her that they would be perfect together.
“What if it does?” He asked in a hushed tone, trying to match her own.
Her gaze moved from the floor to focus on his face.
“Lois, there will never be another tonight. This is our moment.”
“But what if it isn’t?”
“What do we have to lose?” He asked gently as he stopped just in front of her, realizing that her arms weren’t crossed in defiance, but in fear.
“Everything,” she whispered.
“If you’re going to take that chance, shouldn’t you know what exactly it is you’re saying no to?”
Clark took a gamble and reached up, gently cradling her elbows in his hands. He expected her to tense up or flinch out of his touch, but she didn’t.
“What are you suggesting?”
“This,” he said as he leaned in to kiss her.
The first kiss was chaste, he barely brushed her lips, but when she didn’t push him away, he lingered for another, then another kiss. His mind barely functioning, he just registered that her arms had fallen by her side and he slipped one hand to her waist to pull her a little closer.
“What did you say?” She gasped between kisses.
“Huh?”
“What did you say about tonight?”
“Oh?” He had to try to remember what he had been saying before. “This is our moment?”
“No, the other thing.”
“There will never be another tonight?”
“I think I’d like a repeat.”
Clark laughed and his heart soared. There wouldn’t be another night quite like tonight, but hopefully there would be many more together.
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