Okay, it's about time to post a new part. I need to thank my betareaders.
Italics indicate dreams. I thought I should make that obvious, just in case you'd like to send one of these guys after me
Feedback is very much appreciated.
And now I hope you'll enjoy this part.
TOC From Part 3Walking around a corner, Clark found the way into his bedroom. The sudden prospect of fresh clothes and a bed excited him beyond belief. He opened several drawers of an old armoire at one side of the room and shortly thereafter he was dressed in boxer shorts. Clark had a look at the t-shirt that he had thrown on his bed, but he didn’t feel like he had enough energy to take it on as well. With a sigh he lay down on the bed and closed his eyes. He didn’t really care if Lois came back now or if she stayed away. If only he could sleep this nightmare off. He felt himself drift away slowly and his last conscious thought was the hope that everything was going to be back to normal after a good night’s sleep.
Separate Lives
Part 4Clark didn’t hear Lois return. She hadn’t found anything to bandage his wound with in the whole kitchen. It was strange. She had thought that a man who nearly fainted at the sight of his own blood would have something like that at home. For a bachelor, he was pretty tidy but at the same time very badly organized. Fortunately there was an all-night drug store not far away and as she had heard him taking a shower, Lois had decided to go and get what she needed. It had taken longer than she thought, though. Despite the late hour there had been a considerable number of people in the store.
“Clark?” she asked as she stepped into his living room and closed the door behind her.
The shower wasn’t running anymore, but he didn’t answer her.
“Clark?” she repeated and suddenly her heart raced at the thought of Clark coming from the bathroom in no more than a towel. Lois could feel herself blush at the mental image. She remembered that incident as if it had been yesterday. Even weeks after that morning, she had still been busy justifying her reaction. She had tried to reassure herself that it had been nothing more than the normal response of a woman to such a well-built man. But that just wasn’t true. Clark wasn’t the only man she had seen bare-chested, but she couldn’t remember drooling like that over one of the others.
A soft breathing sound came from his bedroom and Lois found him there, lying on his bed. He hadn’t even bothered to slip under his covers and he was still wearing his glasses. On his left was a blood stained towel that he surely had pressed against his side until his body had gone limp as he had fallen asleep. He looked so peaceful and Lois wasn’t sure whether she dared wake him up. It would be better, she knew. He needed a restful sleep and he wouldn’t get it if he remained lying on his bed like that. Waking him up seemed to be cruel nonetheless.
She couldn’t help but admire his perfect body. His well defined chest and abdomen were rising and falling with every breath he took. For a moment Lois just stared at him, completely in awe. She shook her head in annoyance. Gawking at him like this seemed so shallow. There was so much more to Clark than just his body. In this moment though, an emotion got hold of her, she had thought to be buried deep inside her to never be woken again – desire.
Lois sat down beside him, but he didn’t stir. She reached out to run her hand along his cheek and noticed his beard. It shouldn’t surprise her that he wasn’t shaved. He had been gone for four days and as tired as he was now he certainly hadn’t put any effort in restoring his outer appearance. Though Lois clearly preferred Clark with smooth skin, the beard looked kind of sexy on him. She realized that she had never before seen him unshaven; it was a completely new experience.
It hadn’t even occurred to her to wonder about it. Usually she sooner or later saw a man shave, at least when she was spending as much time with him as with Clark. She had even caught Perry with an electric razor in his office. It sometimes happened that he stayed at the Planet overnight, because he thought that the newspaper couldn’t do without him. Lois had been kind of astonished that Jimmy needed to shave as well, because she sometimes forgot that he wasn’t a kid anymore. She had seen him do that when she had spent a night at his small apartment. But although she had spent several nights with Clark in one hotel room or another she had never seen him with as much as a dark shade on his cheeks.
Clark turned his head to face her and muttered something unintelligible. Slowly, he came to and his eyes fluttered open. He blinked wearily against the light. As he saw her sitting so close, he flinched. Lois was all the more convinced that something bad had happened to him. He refused to talk about it and she wouldn’t force him into it until he had had a bit of sleep. It would be only fair and Lois remembered how patient he always was with her when she was having a bad day.
“Lois?” he asked and sat up, but she softly pushed him back down. “You’re not gone?” He sounded somewhat surprised as if he hadn’t been sure she would return.
He really should know her better than that, Lois mused, not really angry. She *had* put him off occasionally. Did she deserve his mistrust? She should tell him that Dan and Superman were no longer part of her life. Well, she would tell him eventually. But now wasn’t the right moment. Clark needed to sleep.
“I'm sorry I should have told you that I would be gone for some time. I bought bandages,” Lois explained. “You’re either a hero or really stupid, partner,” she teased him. “Didn’t it ever occur to you that you could get hurt?”
He only stared back at her, his mouth open as if he had trouble believing what she had just said. Lois giggled as she watched his surprised expression. He was really cute when he was tired. But that was surely nothing she was ever going to tell him.
“What’s so funny, Lois?” he asked. But Lois chose to ignore his question.
“Come on, let me have a look at that wound of yours,” she ordered. And Clark, who flinched as he shifted his position, obviously decided to obey her instead of starting an argument.
Lois carefully removed the towel and saw with relief that the bleeding had stopped. The way it looked, Clark was going to have a scar along his side. If she had brought him to a hospital, a doctor might have been able to make a few stitches so that, later, only a faint mark would remind him of this night. Maybe it wasn’t too late yet? Lois had no idea how long it was possible to wait until you could not longer stitch a wound. But when she thought about it - she couldn’t move him around. Clark was too heavy for her to force him to go to the hospital and, judging from his earlier reaction, he would hate her for calling an ambulance. And after all, she didn’t mind if he had a scar, she would love him just the same.
“I’ll need to disinfect this,” she gestured vaguely towards his abdomen and unscrewed the top of a bottle of iodine solution. “This might hurt a bit,” she added, sounding much more light-hearted than she felt. She knew it was a torture, but she didn’t want him to get a fever just because he was so stubborn as to refuse to see a doctor tonight.
“Ow!” Clark gasped and rose up as the solution made contact with his injury.
“Grit your teeth and lie still. It was your idea to come home,” Lois ordered mercilessly to keep herself from crying instead.
Clark kind of relaxed, though his expression was still tense. His eyes had become narrow and he breathed in and out slowly, fighting the pain. But he didn’t say anything more. She heard him sigh with relief once she was done with the procedure and started to bandage his wound. A soft moan escaped his lips as her hands made contact with his side unintentionally. But he remained perfectly still and as she finished, Lois bent down to place a kiss on his forehead, rewarding him for being so brave.
“Thanks,” he murmured quietly.
“What for?” she asked and grinned at him. She thought she knew what he meant. Thanks for helping him. But she would so much rather hear something else.
“For kissing me, of course,” he replied and her heart started to race madly. He had said it, he had really said it. “I’m not a masochist, Lois. I know that you did your best to help me. But don’t think I enjoyed it. The other, well…” He ran his hand along her cheek, brushing away a strand of her hair. “That was far better…” His voice trailed off as he closed his eyes again and soon Lois heard his even breathing.
She would have liked to kiss him again, more intensely, with all her heart and body. But she didn’t want to wake him up, not when he looked so peaceful. She took off her shoes and lay down next to him, resting her hand on his chest and breathing in the endearing warmth of his body. She felt his hand on her shoulders, pressing her against him, unconsciously.
<Just another moment,> Lois thought as she closed her eyes. <I’ll enjoy being so close to him just one more moment.>
Tired of the day that lay behind her, Lois drifted off to sleep. And it didn’t take long until she started dreaming.
<<<<>>>>
Lois paced through her apartment, unable to sit still for even a moment. She was nervous as never before. Clark, on the other hand, sat on her sofa like nothing could bother him. Looking over at him put her all the more on edge. How could he be this relaxed, she wondered grumpily and continued her pace. She wished this was already behind her since she didn’t exactly look forward to telling him. Why did she have to make this choice? It had been flattering to be the centre of interest of three men all at the same time. But that wasn’t fair to either of them. Finally, Lois knew which of the three she wanted to share her life with. She had already said goodbye to Dan and it had been easier than she had thought.
Now she needed to tell Superman that there was no future for them. The irony would have made her smile if she hadn’t been so self-conscious. About a year ago it had been him telling her that. And she had believed it at first. But hard as he might have tried to convince her that he wasn’t interested, she had sensed the chemistry between them. He was attracted to her, whatever he might claim otherwise. The smile of the content winner played around Clark’s lips as he watched her thinking about a way to break the news to Superman gently. She couldn’t blame him; Clark had been patiently waiting for her. He had every right to savor his moment of success. Seeing him so happy when she felt like crap annoyed her nonetheless.
A soft swoosh announced Superman’s arrival. The curtains waved in a gust of wind and Lois could hear the faint sound of his boots on the floor. He looked impressive as ever, his arms folded in front of his chest. His expression was serious but not unfriendly. With a nod, he greeted Clark and then faced Lois. Her mouth went dry as Superman smiled at her so warmly that her knees went weak. How was she going to tell him this? And how was she going to explain to Clark that this man had still an effect on her, although she had decided against him?
“You wanted to see me, Lois?” he asked in that low voice that always caused a shiver to run down her spine. She loved to listen to it and, for a moment, she was tempted to remain silent just to hear that wonderfully warm voice again.
“Yes…” she replied weakly, pausing after the first word as if this had already been too much for her. “Superman…” she started once more, but her voice trailed off again as she searched for the right words. “I…I’m in love with Clark,” she suddenly sputtered as if the tension that had build up inside her wanted to get out all at once.
His brows furrowed slightly and he stared at her intensely, like he was trying to find out if she really meant what she had just said. After a moment, Superman started to laugh.
“Good joke,” he said and grinned. “I almost believed you.” Then, he became serious again. “You can’t be in love with him. Honestly, Lois, look at him. Can he take you to the stars? I mean, I can give you the moon if you want it. You don’t want him, Lois. Who is he, compared to me? Just a nerd with glasses!”
“I mean it,” Lois replied and felt a huge lump in her throat. “I love Clark!”
Superman’s expression became stern, unyielding. His brows were once more furrowed and there was something in his eyes that looked like he was willing to kill. She had expected a lot, but not this reaction. It wasn’t like Superman to be this offending. Anxiously, Lois glanced over to Clark who wasn’t quite so relaxed anymore. Anger was written all over his face and instinctively Lois knew that Clark was preparing to fight for her. Aggressively, he approached the Man of Steel. Superman didn’t back away, making it obvious that he wasn’t going to be considerate of the weaker man. Quite the opposite, he smiled self-confidently as if he knew that Clark wouldn’t risk confronting him. Lois wished he were right in that respect. She didn’t want to lose Clark because he fought a battle he couldn’t win. She had never seen Superman this angry. His attitude made her wonder why she had ever fallen for him. She knew that love did not see flaws, but how blind had she been?
While her heart was pounding in her ears she couldn’t help but admire Clark for his courage. It was stupid but also the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her. He straightened and seemed even taller than he already was. Although, compared to the man in the flashy suit, he still looked small. She silently pleaded with Clark not to carry it too far and laid an arm on his shoulder to hold him back. He wasn’t going to survive a confrontation the way Superman looked at him now.
A sudden understanding became visible in the hero’s eyes as he noticed the bond between Lois and Clark. For a moment he froze as if he wasn’t sure whether to admit defeat or whether he was going to take the ultimate step. Lois felt her heart stop at the sight of Superman and Clark. Time went by so slowly that each second seemed to last an eternity. Both men stood still, staring at each other disparagingly like the foes in the showdown of a western movie. Suddenly Superman’s hand darted forward and grabbed Clark’s neck.
“Damn you! You bastard!” he yelled furiously. “She is mine! Mine!” he emphasized. Lois watched Clark struggle against the deathly grip, his body going limp as Superman shook him violently.
“Nooo!” she screamed. To be continued...
