Thanks again to Beth and Queenie who have helped with various parts of this. And to Queenie for putting up with my not taking her suggestion in IRC today
. Yes, this is done, but well, Backwards II isn't...
Last timeHe leaned over just enough to kiss her forehead. "Sleep well."
"Night, night. Sleep tight. Don't let the bedbugs bite," Lois told him with a yawn.
"You have bedbugs?"
She shook her head slightly as her eyes fluttered shut. "No bedbug would dare come within a mile of Martha Kent's house."
Clark pressed his lips lightly against her forehead again before he settled in.
This time, he fell asleep immediately.
*~*18*~*Lois woke to find someone looking at her.
"What?" she asked with a yawn. "Do I really look that bad?"
Clark shook his head slightly against the pillow. "You look great."
She reached out to gently touch his face below his eye. "You look horrible."
He laughed lightly. "Thanks."
"What time is it anyway?"
"Almost noon."
Lois sat straight up. "What?" She swung her feet over. "Check-in is at three and we've got to move your dad's stuff in here and get all the sheets and everything changed and the rooms cleaned up and..." She turned to see him still lying there. "What?"
He smiled at her. "Nothing, but Dad moved his stuff in here earlier and went to Kansas City to meet Mom. Your mom's been working for a while on the other rooms..."
"And you've just been lying there watching me?" she asked him.
He shrugged. "We're on our honeymoon, right?"
"What?"
"Well, this is the second night we've slept in the same bed and this here is Lowell County, right?" he drawled.
Lois rolled her eyes. "Clark, I promise you, if we were to end up on a honeymoon together, we'd be doing much more interesting things."
"I'd hope so," Clark told her with a grin.
She rolled her eyes again. "Regardless, we both need to get dressed and I need to see what Mom needs help with and the Corn Festival starts tonight and you need to get some sun. And at some point we have to go see Dan."
"He stopped by, too," Clark told her, swinging his legs over the other side of the bed.
"What?"
"I heard them talking downstairs."
She groaned. "Does he know we were in here together?"
Clark shrugged. "Not a clue. I was only half awake. But why would it matter? You two have been over for a year, right?"
Lois nodded. "Yeah. I'm just not sure I want it all over Smallville that I'm sleeping with the out-of-towner."
"So come to Metropolis with me. Let's get up and dressed and all that and then write the story with me and tell your folks you're coming to Metropolis."
She sighed. "I'll meet you downstairs in a few minutes."
Lois managed to avoid her mom as she headed to her room, changing as quickly as her injuries would allow. When she was dressed, she headed to the kitchen for a cup of coffee and something to eat.
"There's breakfast in the warmer for both of you."
She turned to see her mom standing against the counter.
"Thanks."
"Bad dreams?" Martha asked softly.
Lois nodded. "I didn't want to bother any of you. Clark wasn't asleep anyway so we talked for a bit and..." She shrugged.
"As bad as the ones after Lex?"
"Worse," Lois whispered. "I'd loved him, but he was a drug-dealer who threw himself off the top of a six story building to avoid being caught by the cops. This time..." She paused taking a long sip of coffee before continuing. "It was Clark. I couldn't save him and the world was taunting me, berating me, blaming me because I couldn't save Superman but all I could see was that I'd lost Clark."
"Oh, honey." Martha's arms were around her as tears fell. "You really like him, don't you?"
Lois nodded against her mom. They stood there for a long moment before they both pulled back. Lois was eating when Clark finally walked into the kitchen.
"I talked to Perry," he told them. "He's holding space for tomorrow's morning edition."
"That's great," Martha said, handing him a plate.
"He's even going to give it the Lane and Kent byline if you still want to help write it."
Lois looked up as he sat down. "Lane and Kent? Really?"
Clark nodded.
"I don’t think so. Try Kent and Lane."
"It's my paper," he countered.
"It's my town. You would have been stuck in that van far earlier without me," Lois reminded him.
"You wouldn't have a story if it wasn't for me."
"Sure I would. I was already starting to dig into what was really going on at the Irigs before you ever showed up, Cityboy."
Clark sighed. "We'll see. How's that?" He grinned suddenly. "Besides, shouldn't it be Lane and Kent-Lane?"
"Why on earth – or Krypton – would it be Kent-Lane?"
Clark winked at Martha. "We *are* married now, after all."
Lois rolled her eyes as Martha laughed. Lois stood and took her plate to the sink. "Go get a suntan, Superman. I've got work to do."
Four hours later, Lois sank to her bed, exhausted again – still? She wasn't sure. She'd helped Clark write the story – which had gone very well, much better than she'd expected – helped get the rooms ready and guests checked in as they arrived, made another triple batch of cookies in between and surreptitiously ogled a sunbathing Clark when she could.
She laid there for a few minutes before getting up to get ready for the evening. She was tucking her shirt in when there was a knock on the door.
"Come in," she called.
The door opened and Clark was standing there with his suitcase. "Um, I know we haven't officially decided where I'm bunking yet, but can I stash my bag in here and you can help me figure out what the heck I'm supposed to wear to a Corn Festival?"
Lois nodded and he set the bag on her bed.
"I don't suppose you have another shirt with you? Like that flannel you wore the other day?"
"I have a black collared shirt and a blue dress shirt, two pairs of Dockers and a couple pairs of jeans."
Lois sighed. "Open the bag and let's see what we can find." She waited for him to unzip it before rummaging around. She set the Dockers and nicer shirts to the side. She pulled the blue jeans out and set them on the bed. "What about this?" She held up a faded denim shirt.
Clark took it from her and held it up for inspection. "I don't even remember *owning* this, much less packing it."
"Well, it and a pair of jeans will work tomorrow. Tonight, wear a pair of jeans and the black shirt, untucked please – it's got an untuckable hem so it'll be okay. Tomorrow night..." She sighed. "I'll see if I can find Josh and get you a shirt of his to wear for tomorrow night."
"What's tomorrow night?"
"The dance."
"Will you save me a dance?"
Lois looked at him with a raised brow. "You know how to Tush Push, Lane?"
Clark shrugged. "A friend of mine thought it would be a great way to meet girls."
"Did you?"
He grinned. "Define girls. I think they were all there looking for guys."
"Did they find them?"
"Define guys. I think Joe and I were the only two non-nerds there and I'm not entirely certain we fit in the non-nerd category."
"Oh, you're definitely not a nerd," Lois muttered under her breath.
"What?"
*****
TBC
