Thanks, as ever, to Alisha, Beth, Nancy and Queenie!
Last time:
He groaned at the picture on the front. It was a little green man in a space ship hovering over what he thought was supposed to be Mars and said 'Happy Birthday' in big green letters. He opened it and read the type on the inside. 'Hope your birthday is out of this world.'
'I love you,' it read. 'Happy Birthday. I hope we get to spend a lifetime of them together. Lois.'
A piece of paper had fallen out and he opened it.
'I wrote that the other day. I don't get what happened last night and I still feel like you don't trust me for some reason and I don't get it. But I love you. And if it comes down to pushing the issue over some stupid short stories or having you in my life, it's no contest. You win. I love you. I think I've always loved you and I know I always will. Lois.'
He smiled as he carefully put the card back in the envelope.
The warning bell rang and he hurried to get his things together.
"Aren't you going to open mine?" Lana asked, irritated.
He'd forgotten she was there.
"Sorry," he said, slightly chagrinned. "I'll open it later. Thanks."
He slammed his locker shut and headed towards his first class, his step immeasurably lighter than it had been when he'd arrived on campus.
She still loved him.
That was all he needed to know for now.
Chapter 5
"Bye, Mom!" Lois grabbed her backpack and headed out the door.
"Be careful!" she heard her mom call from inside.
"We will!"
She hopped in Clark's truck, tossing her backpack on the floor of the passenger side before sliding across the bench to sit next to him. "Hey," she said, giving him a quick kiss. "Let's go."
Clark laughed and kissed her again. "Big Hill Lake, here we come."
Lois laughed with him. "You sound like we're going on the Oregon Trail or something. It's like ten miles from here and we're not walking the whole trail." It was July and they were going to spend the day at the lake.
"I know, but when was the last time we spent the *whole* day together?"
Lois shrugged. "Never? Well, every day we go to school. I see you first thing there. Most of our classes were together and then you come over to study and sometimes eat dinner."
"Not the same," he said putting his arm around her. "I think 'never' is closer to the right answer. Did you eat breakfast?"
She nodded. "Yep. And you packed a lunch?"
"There's enough in there for dinner, too, probably, if we don't want to go back until later. It doesn't get dark until nine or so and I brought head lamps so even if we are out after dark..."
"We're going to spend eighteen hours together?" Lois suddenly sounded skeptical.
"Hey, if we're going to get married someday..."
"Yeah, I know, but we won't spend 24/7 together will we?"
He shrugged. "Probably not. But if we work together, like we want to, we'll probably spend a lot of time together." He squeezed her shoulders. "Besides, we'll spend the whole time together on our honeymoon, won't we?" he whispered huskily.
Lois blushed. "Somehow I don't think hiking and picnics will be on our agenda."
Clark laughed. "I sure hope not."
"I'm thinking that we should spend our honeymoon chasing drug runners in the Congo so we have a great story to give Perry White." She wasn't sure how she managed to keep a straight face as she said it.
Clark looked crestfallen. "What? Really?"
Lois started to giggle. "No. Not really. I’m thinking somewhere tropical," she said with sigh.
"One of those huts you see on TV, with the fans and all, right on the beach?"
Lois sighed. "Maybe. But it needs air conditioning, I think."
"I'll keep that in mind when I plan our honeymoon."
She raised a brow. "When *you* plan *our* honeymoon?"
"What if I want to surprise you?"
"How will I know what to pack?"
The truck rolled to a stop in the parking lot at Big Hill Lake. Clark put it in park and then turned to Lois. "Do you really think we're going to spend much time outside our room when we *finally* get married?"
Lois blushed again. "I hope not." She kissed him lightly before scooting towards her side of the truck. She grabbed her backpack as she climbed out. "Last one to the lake is a rotten egg."
Clark hurried out his side, locking and shutting the door as he went. He grabbed his heavily laden backpack out of the back of the truck, running to catch up with her as she headed towards the trailhead. He grabbed her around the waist. "Cheater."
"I don't cheat."
"If you say so." He let go of her, grabbing her hand instead. "Lois and Clark's day of fun is now officially underway."
She laughed as they started down the trail.
*****
"How's this?"
Lois looked around and shrugged. "Looks good to me and I'm getting hungry."
"I heard your stomach growling," Clark said, taking his backpack off and setting it next to hers. "You want to set out the blanket and I'll get the food out?"
"Sure."
Clark made sure Lois was busy and not watching him. He pulled the fried chicken and zapped it surreptitiously with his heat vision. His mom had packed it well and it was still fairly warm but a little hotter would be good. She'd known he might not be able to reheat it and had helped him plan accordingly.
Lois flipped open the blanket and took the containers from him.
"This is still almost hot," she said, surprised.
Clark shrugged. "Mom's good."
"I guess. What else is in there?"
"Well, whatever we don't have for lunch is dinner, so we can either eat a little bit of everything and eat a little bit more later or save some of it for later so we're not eating the same things for both. I don't think we should eat the chicken later, though."
Lois nodded. "Chicken now. With..." She took another container. "Is this your Granny's potato salad?"
"Yep."
"Potato salad and watermelon. How's that? We'll save the rest for later."
"Works for me." Clark repacked the rest of the items in the cooler bag and stuck it back in his bag.
"Mom sent lemonade," Lois told him, pulling the big thermos out of her backpack.
"Great."
They spent the next half hour eating and talking before packing back up and starting off down the trail.
By early afternoon, they'd reached their destination. They'd actually hiked to the mid-point of the trail because it had a great view and they'd spent some time sitting there just enjoying it before turning around and heading back towards the trail head.
About an hour's walk from the parking lot, he led Lois off the trail and through a wooded area to a secluded beach where they spread the blanket out again and set their backpacks down to keep it in place.
"Ready for a swim?" Clark asked, sitting on the blanket and taking off his hiking boots and socks.
"More than ready." Lois already had her shoes off and stood, pulling her shirt over her head.
Clark almost did a double take until he realized she'd been wearing her swimsuit underneath it all along. She tugged her shorts down and tossed them all in a pile before quickly reapplying her sun screen.
He didn't think she realized that he was just watching her as she did so. When she was done, she walked down to the lake and slowly waded in. She turned just as he pulled his shirt over his head. She watched him as he walked down to join her.
"What?"
She shook her head. "I just haven't seen you without your shirt on very often," she told him, running her hands up his arms and around his neck. "It's nice."
He laughed. "I'm glad you think so."
She moved away from him. "And don't bother saying something like 'I've never seen you without your shirt on, Lois,' because it's not happening until we're on that gun running assignment."
Clark sighed as he followed her into the water. "You can't blame a guy for thinking it, can you?" He was glad she was wearing her speed swimming suit from when she'd been on the swim team the year before. The full back and high neckline covered much more than most other suits would have. He also knew that her parents wouldn't approve of the swimsuits many of the other girls at school would have worn on a date day and that she didn't see the point of wasting her spending money on another one when she had her swim team suits.
They spent an hour in the water, alternately swimming and sharing long, slow kisses while they talked.
They went back to the beach and stretched out on the blanket to let the sun dry them.
Clark sighed as he wrung his shorts out as best he could.
"Should have worn your swim trunks," Lois told him as she applied sun screen one more time.
"They're not good hiking shorts and I figured these wouldn't be too bad to swim in." Suddenly, he found himself wishing he'd told her the truth months earlier because then he could have dried them off instead of being uncomfortable until the sun took care of it.
She raised a brow at him. "I think they were fine for swimming but they'll take forever to dry."
"I've realized that. Thanks."
He gave up and sat down next to her, putting the unnecessary sunscreen on himself.
They didn't talk much but simply held hands and enjoyed being together until they decided they were ready to eat.
By then, even Clark's shorts were nearly dry.
They munched on ham and turkey sandwiches with fruit salad and brownies for dessert.
"You've been holding out on me, Kent," Lois said as she took her first bite. "You know better than to keep chocolate from me."
"If I'd shown it to you at lunch, you would have eaten them all then," he pointed out.
"I wouldn't recommend trying it again." She popped the rest of her first brownie in her mouth.
"Duly noted."
"What time do we need to leave to hike out of here?" she asked starting on her second one.
"Normally, I think it would take about an hour, but since it'll be getting dark, we probably want to leave an hour and a half or so."
"And you brought head lamps."
Clark nodded, ignoring her glare as he helped himself to another brownie. "Yep. And I've got great night vision. And the moon should be pretty full tonight, so we should be good."
The breeze coming off the lake was turning cooler as the sun went down. They both pulled their shirts on and Lois put her shorts back on as well, nestling in next to him, her head on his chest as they watched the sunset.
"We need to get going," Clark said quietly.
"I don't want to move," Lois murmured, her eyes closed as his hand ran over her back.
"I know."
"I'm already starting to get sore from the hike."
"If we stay here much longer, we'll both be asleep."
"I thought you said we weren't going to sleep together until after we got married," Lois said with a contented sigh.
Clark chuckled lightly. "We still have all our clothes on, don't we? The first time we'll be naked together will be after we get married."
She didn't reply and a few minutes later, they were both asleep.
*****
"Clark! Lois!"
Clark stirred slightly and wondered why it felt like there was a weight on his chest.
"Clark! Lois!"
It sounded like his dad. Why was his dad in his dream?
"Clark! Lois!"
The tone of the voice changed and there was another sound.
A motor.
A motor?
"Clark?"
The weight on his chest shifted and he suddenly remembered that Lois had fallen asleep. He must have, too.
"Hey," he whispered.
They both sat up as a light suddenly shone on them.
"What is that?" Lois murmured.
"I think they're looking for us," he replied.
"Clark! Lois!" It was definitely his dad's voice and it definitely sounded relieved. "Are you okay?"
"We're fine," Clark called, shielding his eyes with his arm. "But could you move that spotlight a bit?"
It dimmed.
"Thanks."
They stood up and quickly repacked their backpacks, holding their shoes and socks as they waded to the boat.
A minute later, they were in the back of the boat.
Jonathan pulled Clark into a fierce hug as Sam did the same with Lois.
The Deputy Sheriff told them all to sit down. They did and were soon on their way back to the dock.
They didn't try to talk over the noise of the boat, but Clark's dad kept a hand on his back the whole time and Sam kept his arm around Lois.
Twenty minutes later, after hugs had been exchanged with their moms too, it was agreed that they would meet at the Kent farm. Lois went to get into Clark's truck but Sam stopped her.
"Lois, I think you better ride with us," he said quietly.
"What?" she asked, surprise showing on her face.
"I'll see you in a few minutes," Clark said quietly. "I don't think this is the time to rock the boat."
Lois nodded. "I know."
She started towards him to give him a quick kiss, but decided better of it and went to get in the back seat of her parents' car.
Clark climbed in his truck and heard his dad as he started it up. "Straight home."
Clark nodded and headed towards home.
He rested his elbow out the window and propped his temple on his fist. Spending the whole day with Lois had been great. He was glad he wasn't with his parents as his face darkened slightly at the memory of some of the kisses they'd shared in the lake.
Holding her while they slept... He didn't remember much, obviously, but what he did was nice.
He pulled into the driveway right after Lois' parents' car did.
He caught her eyes as they got out of the vehicles. She smiled slightly at him as he opened the front door. His parents were right behind them.
Clark leaned against the counter between the living room and the kitchen while Lois sat on the couch with her parents. His parents took other seats around the room.
"Okay, kids," Jonathan said. "Why don't you tell us what happened?"
Lois looked at him and shrugged. "Go ahead."
"I picked Lois up at about 8:30. We went to Big Hill Lake and hiked for about three hours. Ate lunch. Hiked for another half hour or so until we reached the overlook. Hung out there for about half an hour. Hiked about two and a half hours then cut through the woods to that little beach. Went swimming. Laid there for a while until we were nearly dry. Ate dinner. Watched the sunset. We were talking about heading back and fell asleep. That's it."
Sam looked at his daughter. "Lois?"
"Sounds about right to me." She looked at her mom. "Whatever you're thinking, don't. *Nothing* happened except we fell asleep. That's it. I’m sorry we worried you. I know Clark is, too. We didn't mean to, honest."
Sam sighed. "I'm sure you didn't mean to, Princess, but you did."
"It won't happen again," I told him earnestly. "I've *never* brought her home late, ever, and I wouldn’t have this time except we honestly dozed off after a long day of hiking and sun and all that. I swear to you, that's all that happened." Thoughts had been swirling through his head about what they must have thought – even though they were both fully clothed when the boat arrived. He looked Sam in the eye. "I've *never* touched her and I won't. Not until we get married."
"He hasn't, Daddy," Lois said quietly. "Not today. Not ever."
Sam stood and walked towards Clark, stopping a few feet in front of him. "You've never done anything untoward with my daughter?"
Clark stood straight up and held his gaze. "I've kissed her, sir, but that's it. Hugs, holding hands, kissing – nothing more than that."
"You've never wanted to?"
Clark wanted to look at Lois or his parents for some kind of guidance, but he made himself keep looking directly at Sam. "I didn't say that," he said quietly. "I said I never have. I love Lois. I want to marry her and have a family with her, but I promised her on our first date that we wouldn't be together like that unless and until we got married. I meant it then and I mean it now. I can promise you all you want, and I do respect you, but I promised Lois and that's more important to me than any promise I might make to you."
Sam held his eyes for a long moment before nodding. "I believe you. And I don't believe that you two meant to fall asleep out there. I do think that we're going to have a long talk with Lois tomorrow and it might be a few days before you see each other again."
"Yes, sir."
A few minutes later they left. Clark sighed and sat on the couch knowing his parents would want to talk to him.
They surprised him when they stood up. "We'll talk tomorrow," Jonathan said quietly as he and Martha headed for the stairs. "You've had more sleep than any of us."
"I'm sorry," Clark said quietly.
Martha stopped and gave him a hug. "I know, sweetie."
He wrapped his arms around her. "I love you, Mom."
"I love you, too."
He sighed and followed them upstairs.
*****
"Hello?" Clark rolled to the side of his bed and picked up the phone. He wasn't sure where his parents were, but he knew they weren't in the house.
"Hey," Lois said quietly.
"Hey. How much trouble are you in?"
"I’m grounded for a week and grounded from you for two."
"Two weeks?!" he asked incredulous.
"Well, after this phone call, which can't last very long, I'm basically on house arrest until Sunday. After that, I can talk to you for up to half an hour a day, but I can't see you until the next Sunday – and I can't even *think* about sneaking over to Maisie's while you're working."
Clark sighed. "Well, I guess that's the way it is."
"I wish I had summer school this summer now," she told him, resigned. "But since I don't... I guess I get to watch daytime TV or something. They said Abby can come over but no covert trying to contact each other through her or anything. They said that if we really love each other then we can handle two weeks without seeing each other."
"Well, yeah, I'm sure we can. Doesn't mean we *want* to."
"What did your parents say?"
"Nothing yet. We went straight to bed and I haven't seen them yet today."
"Well, hopefully, it's not any worse than mine."
"I hope not." Clark sighed. "I'm going to miss you," he said quietly.
"I know. I'm going to miss you, too."
He grinned suddenly. "I'll write you every day and give them to you later."
Lois laughed. "Okay. I can't imagine anything exciting enough to write about, but I can do that, too."
Clark heard something in the background.
"I gotta go. I love you."
"I love you, too, sweetheart."
"I know."
"I'll talk to you next week."
"Yeah."
"Love you."
"Love you."
Clark hung up and flopped back onto his bed. Two weeks without Lois. Sure, they'd survive, but that didn't mean he was looking forward to it.
"Clark," he heard his mom call as they came in the front door. "Can you come down here?"
He sighed and headed downstairs. A few minutes later, he was sitting on the chair in the living room telling them what Lois' parents had said.
Martha and Jonathan exchanged a look. "Well, that's a bit more strict than what we were thinking. We were thinking grounded except work and only short phone calls for a week, but if that's what her parents said, that's what goes," Martha told him. "And you're still grounded for a week – you can go to work at that's it.
"Yeah, I know. Doesn't mean I like it, but I know," Clark told them. "Maybe Pete'll want to go do something next week," he finished with a sigh.
"It'll be good for you to go out with Pete or Josh or some of the other guys."
"I go out with Pete all the time," he reminded them.
"No," Jonathan said. "You and Lois go out with Pete and Abby. It's not the same."
Clark shrugged. "I know and I'm sure it'll be fine." He sighed. "I'm sorry we worried you guys."
Jonathan sighed. "We were worried, but not too worried, because of, well, you. We were more worried that we'd find you two asleep but without any clothes on or something. We didn't figure either of you were hurt."
Clark sighed. "I've told you guys we're not going to have sex until we get married. I meant what I told Sam last night. I've never touched her."
"We believe you, Clark, but when we get a phone call from Lois' parents at 12:30 in the morning asking if you know where you are..."
He winced. "I'm sure."
"We waited a while longer. We tried to convince them to wait until morning because we thought it was probably something like what happened, but at 2 A.M. we finally called Sheriff Lawson. He knows you two and knows it's not like you two to be late, so he agreed to send out a boat and if they didn't find you, then they'd wait till dawn and start hiking the trail. Sam said he would have done it in their boat, but it's at Parson's Lake so it didn't help any."
Clark groaned. "We were supposed to go to the lake with Lois' parents next weekend and go water skiing. Guess that's not going to happen."
"Guess not," Martha said quietly, "but I'm sure you'll figure something else out to do."
He shrugged. "Yeah. Maybe Maisie'll give me extra hours."
He sighed. It was going to be a long two weeks.
*****
TBC
