A huge thank you to Carol, Beth, and Kelly!

From Chapter 7

After we cleared the table, we moved to the living room. For awhile, we sat around and talked – Chad and I on Clark's couch and Clark and Rachel huddled together on Clark's big comfy chair. Then Rachel admitted she had a weakness for board games.

“No, no board games,” Clark said.

“Why not?” Rachel asked, turning to look at him with puppy dog eyes.

“Because I have neighbors and I don't see us being able to play any games where you and Lois don't start shouting at each other. You're both too competitive for your own good.”

“I'm not competitive,” I said.

“You're not?” Chad asked me with his eyebrows raised.

“I am,” Rachel admitted. “But I can be quiet, Clark. Really.”

Clark finally relented and we agreed to play Taboo. Clark and Chad decided we should play boys vs. girls so there would be less reason for Rachel and me to argue. No one won in the end, though. Chad and I left right after Clark's upstairs neighbors came down to ask us to keep it down. But it wasn't my fault that Rachel used one of the taboo words. Was I supposed to keep quiet about that?


Chapter 8

December 1993

It was a slow news week and Clark and I were each sitting at our desks working on pieces that may make the front page today, but on a normal day, would be lucky to show up on page ten. I finished mine and sat back. I had another piece, same type of unimportant drivel, waiting for me to start, but that one wasn't due until tomorrow, so I had no motivation to work on it.

“Want to grab a coffee?” Clark asked from behind me.

I turned around and flashed him a bright smile. “That sounds fantastic!”

“Are you as bored as I am?” I asked as we walked to the elevator.

“Worse. The slow news week is related to a drop in crime, and that's great, don't get me wrong, but it means both my jobs are slow,” Clark said with a wink.

“Yeah, I bet you do more patrols when things here are slow, don't you?” I realized.

Clark shrugged. “If I have the time…”

“You're a good person, Clark,” I said putting a hand on his arm. “I mean it,” I said when I saw the look he gave me. “Even with what you can do, not everyone would use it the way you do.”

“Thank you, Lois,” Clark said quietly.

We each ordered our coffee and then I grabbed us a table in the crowded shop while Clark waited for them to be ready. Clark had found this place during one of his rescues. It was a little further than the coffee cart downstairs, of course, but it was just around the block from the Planet and featured plush seats. I thought it was some lame attempt to look like the coffee house from Friends but then decided I didn't care. It was comfortable.

“Here you go,” Clark said, sitting down.

“Thanks,” I said taking a sip of my mocha.

“So, how's Chad holding up?” Clark asked.

Chad's grandmother had passed away a couple of weeks ago. It was the same grandmother he had stayed with before college to help her look after his grandfather. They had always been close, but Chad living with them for a year certainly made them closer, so Chad had taken it pretty hard. To be honest, I was pretty upset by it, too. Mom and Dad didn't talk to their parents, so Lucy and I never really knew our grandparents. I had gotten to know Chad's grandparents fairly well when Chad was living with them as I visited him there for breaks. They even let me stay for the three weeks during winter break.

Then, when they decided to move back to Metropolis to be closer to family, we had seen them often. So, both his grandfather's death while we were in college, and now his grandmother's death were hard on both of us.

Clark had been great when it happened. He covered for me at work, but also showed up with a bunch of dinners pre-made for the week so we could deal with all the family coming in without having to worry about cooking (or in my case, ordering in).

“I think he's starting to get used to it,” I said in response to Clark's question. “It's weird to know we'll never see her again, but she lived a good, full life. I think she was ready even if we weren't.”

Clark nodded. “It was that way when my grandparents died, too,” he said.

“Oh,” I said as I remembered. “I didn't tell you the most annoying part.”

“The most annoying part about Chad's grandmother dying?” Clark asked with his eyebrows raised.

“Okay, fine . The second most annoying part. No, it is the most annoying. Her dying was painful, not annoying,” I said.

“Fair enough,” Clark said with a smile and I knew he thought I was being strange.

“Chad's always wanted to learn how to play piano,” I told him. “His grandparents had one and his grandmother said she'd give it to him when he was a teenager.”

“Okay,” Clark said, clearly not seeing where this was going.

“So, at the last minute she changed her mind and told him he couldn't have it until she died,” I explained.

“Did she use it?” Clark asked.

“No, it was sort of an engagement gift. They got engaged during the Depression and his grandfather couldn't afford a ring. Then years later when he could afford it, she said she'd always wanted a piano and would prefer that to a ring.

“So, when Chad wanted it and she no longer used it, she was happy it was going to get some use, but his grandfather was a little upset as it was a gift for his wife.”

“Makes sense,” Clark said.

“Right. So, now we've inherited this piano. No one's used it since Chad's father was forced to take lessons as a kid, so it's been about forty years. The thing is in miserable shape. I mean, it looks okay, but most of the keys don't work. It needs a lot of work to be useable. And to make it worse, we have to get it into our small apartment.

“We estimated that between moving it and fixing it up, the piano he inherited is going to cost us $3,000-5,000. You know you can buy a new piano for $2,000!”

“But Chad wants this one,” Clark guessed. When I nodded, he smiled. “It was like his grandmother's engagement ring. It sort of makes sense, doesn't it?”

“It completely makes sense,” I groused. “That doesn't make it any less annoying.”

Clark laughed at me. “You're such a sentimentalist.”

“Thanks,” I smirked. “I try.”

“Maybe I could… no, forget I said anything,” Clark said.

“What?”

“I was going to offer to move it using Superman, but I'm not sure. It's a piano. I could definitely lift it and carry it, but I think it probably needs to stay flat or something and I can't guarantee that.”

I nodded, “Thanks for trying,” I smiled at him.

“I could help Chad fix it up, though. I know some pointers and the parts for that kind of thing are cheap. It's the labor that's expensive.”

Trust Clark to know how to fix a piano. The man had more irrelevant knowledge in his head than an encyclopedia. He was kind of useful to have around like that.

“Oh, hey. I almost forgot. Chad wanted me to invite you over to dinner tonight. Sort of as a thank you for all the meals you made for us the last couple of weeks,” I said.

“It wasn't a problem. I enjoy cooking and I figured you guys could use the help,” Clark said. “But I don't turn down evenings with friends,” he grinned at me.

“Great,” I said. “I'll give Chad a call when we get back to the newsroom.” I glanced at my watch. “I think he's probably still sleeping now.”

“Is he back on ER duty?” Clark asked.

“Just for last night. Some nasty virus is making the rounds of the hospital and four of the doctors called in sick,” I explained. “I think it was good, though. It reminded Chad that while he likes it in the ER, the hours are not for him. Except for middle of the night phone calls, pediatrics has pretty good hours.”

Clark shook his head, “But it must be so disheartening to deal with all those sick kids.”

I nodded my head in agreement. “Chad really likes it, though. He says children make much better patients than adults and they're more appreciative when he makes them feel better.”

Clark smiled at that as he stood up. “Back to the drudgery?”

With a grimace, I followed him out.

************************

“Hi, Chad,” Clark said as he came in. They were definitely feeling more comfortable with each other and I was hoping that this night would solidify that. My plan was to talk to Clark tomorrow about telling Chad his secret. I had wanted to do that today and get Clark to come clean tonight, but for some reason I hadn't had the nerve to ask. Partly, I knew I was being selfish. On the other hand, I was sure Clark understood – it's not good to have secrets in a marriage.

“What can I help with?” Clark asked as we gathered in the kitchen.

“Nothing,” Chad insisted. “Really. Tonight, please relax. You've done so much for us over the past couple of weeks…”

“It wasn't a problem,” Clark said. “You needed help. It wasn't a big deal.”

Chad turned to me. “You see, that's what people in small towns are like.”

“You mean they let themselves be used?” I asked, grinning at Clark lest he think I meant it.

“So, when's the next time you're going to see Rachel?” I asked Clark. He had gone home for Thanksgiving and it sounded like they had spent most of the long weekend together, but he hadn't talked about her coming for another visit and I wasn't sure what their plans were for Christmas.

“Well, I'm going home for Christmas so I'll see her then. I've talked to Perry about taking off between Christmas and New Year's, too, so I can spend it with her. He agreed as long as I agreed to write some stuff up while I'm gone. Has he talked about this with you yet?” Clark asked me.

“No.” I had no idea what he was talking about.

“Well, Perry said you might enjoy that for a short time. Sort of job-share rather than a partnership. You'll do the investigating, send me your notes, and I'll write up the stories under the Andrews/Kent byline. Just for the week,” Clark explained.

“No writing for a week. I would love that!” I said. I liked to write, but sometimes it felt like I was locked in the newsroom writing up news while it was happening.

Clark laughed. “That's what Perry said. So, I'll be home for like a week and a half. And then Rachel is planning to come back here at the end of January.”

“Any idea what you're going to do when she's here?” Chad asked. “It's not the best time for someone who likes to be outside.”

Clark smiled. “No, but neither is Kansas. So, I think it may actually be a good time for her to visit. There's more indoor stuff to do here, so maybe she won't feel quite so stir-crazy.”

Clark and I started setting the table while Chad put the finishing touches on dinner. As I came back into the living room area with the forks, I saw Clark's head tilt in a familiar way. “Do you need to go?” I whispered. So far, surprisingly, Clark had yet to have to run out on plans with us. I knew that when he was out, he tended to only go to big calls for help and would skip things he might otherwise help with like traffic accidents.

Clark nodded. “Sorry, but I do.” He headed into the kitchen. “I'm so sorry, Chad, but I need to run out for a minute. I just remembered that I… left my oven on.”

Chad looked up in surprise, but Clark had headed for the door before he had a chance to respond.

“Does he do that often?” Chad asked me.

“All the time,” I said. It was the truth. Or sort of. Clark certainly ran off all the time, although he didn't usually give me a lame excuse when he did.

“Isn't it going to take him twenty minutes to get home and back? We could have driven him,” Chad said.

“I told you. Clark is a little weird,” I smiled as I picked a carrot out of the salad.

************************

“I'm so sorry,” Clark said when he passed by my desk the next morning.

I nodded. I didn't want to talk about it now. The truth was that I understood. I had seen the news report and could see how Clark had felt he had to help at the hostage situation and how he might have thought it would be easy to do. LNN, of course, reported on the fact that things were not as easy as Clark might have thought. I really did understand, and of course, no one could really expect him to break away to make a phone call and break his dinner plans.

Still, this was precisely why I wanted to tell Chad. He was visibly annoyed at Clark last night, and I didn't know what to say. Whereas… well, I was annoyed at Clark, too, but I was annoyed as I felt like I wanted to explain Clark's absence to my husband and couldn't, rather than being annoyed because Clark seemed like a flake.

I wanted to cover for him – tell Chad that Clark had run across the hostage situation and stopped to get the story for the Planet, but how could I? Chad was home and knew that the phone had not rung.

“Lois?” Clark asked softly. “I really am sorry.”

“I know,” I told him. “I just… let's not talk about it now, okay? Can we go out for lunch?”

“Yeah,” Clark said and I softened slightly when I took in his body language as he walked to his desk. He was hunched over and it was clear that he felt badly. Still, I knew without a doubt now that I needed to talk to him about telling Chad. I couldn't do this secret thing anymore.

I sat quietly at my desk typing, but I have to admit being angry at Clark, or not angry so much as annoyed, was distracting. I'm not sure why, but it bothered me. I felt like we had developed a good working relationship very quickly and at this point, he was also my closest friend aside from Chad, and so I didn't like feeling like we were arguing, even if we weren't really.

“May I please speak to Dr. Andrews?” I heard Clark behind me. I smiled. Chad was at the hospital today, so I guess Clark looked up the number and was calling to apologize. Okay, maybe I could forgive him.

“Chad?” I heard Clark say and I shamelessly eavesdropped. “I just… I just wanted to apologize for last night. I'm sure I looked like the biggest flake… Yeah, I ran into the hostage situation on my way back and I know I should have called, but I got caught up in what I was doing.”

I was actually pretty impressed. For the most part, he was telling the truth, even if Chad had no idea what it was Clark was really doing at the hostage situation.

“Are you free tonight?” I heard Clark ask. “No, I'd like to take you and Lois to dinner to make it up to you… No, I haven't asked Lois,” I heard Clark chuckle slightly. “Yeah, you could say that.” I shook my head. I was sure Chad had guessed that I was giving Clark the cold shoulder. Sometimes I wondered if we'd known each other too long – he knew way too much about me. On the other hand, sometimes that was nice. Like when all I wanted to do was curl up on the couch with the latest episode of The Ivory Tower and a tub of ice cream. It was nice to have someone around who was happy to supply the ice cream and a spoon.

“Tomorrow sounds great,” Clark said. “Yeah, I'll ask her at lunch. I think she's decided she'll talk to me again then.” I laughed. I couldn't help it.

“Okay, see you tomorrow,” Clark said before he hung up the phone.

“Maybe sooner than lunch?” Clark called to me.

I turned around. “Dinner tomorrow sounds good. And treating us is a really nice touch, Clark.”

“I really am sorry, Lois,” he said.

“I know,” I told him and I did. It was all over his face.

************************

“So,” I said as we sat down. “Maybe it's time to tell Chad?”

Clark looked up at me in surprise.

“What?” I asked him. “You don't agree.”

“I just… didn't expect you to bring it up, I guess,” Clark said.

“Okay, so what do you think?”

Clark sighed, “He's your husband. You shouldn't be keeping secrets from him for me.”

“That's not quite the response I was hoping for,” I told him. “You know Chad. You two are friends now. What are you waiting for?”

“This isn't something I tell all my friends,” Clark pointed out.

“You told me.”

Clark sighed again. “I know, but honestly, I'm not sure why. I don't mean that in a bad way. Just that I don't know why I felt comfortable telling you when I've never felt that way about anyone else.”

I smiled cheekily, “Well, I am a very understanding person.” Clark laughed, so I continued. “Chad's understanding, too.”

“I'm sure he is and I mean it, Lois. If you want me to tell him, I will, but…”

“But you're not ready yet?” I asked, feeling a sigh coming on. How much longer did I need to keep this from Chad? No matter what Clark said, I didn't feel right telling Chad this secret if Clark wasn't comfortable with it. But I also didn't feel right keeping it from Chad. I wished he would just be comfortable all ready so I wouldn't have to deal with it.

“I'm not,” Clark said softly. “I'm sorry.”

I nodded my head. “Can we make a time to re-evaluate?” I asked, afraid that if I let this go, I would eternally be keeping a secret from Chad.

“That seems more than fair,” Clark said. “How about next week?”

“Sounds good,” I said, although I didn't really mean it. It sounded okay – better than no date or six months from now would have been. But I was ready to end this now.