Here goes nothing...
Thanks Kathy!
Last time
Clark tightened his arms slightly around her waist as his mom walked over to the booth. She studied everything carefully before finally sweet talking Pop Pop into giving her a few extra points so that she could get a Superman doll.
"Good choice," Lois told her.
The crowd dissipated but Clark left his arms around Lois until she pulled away from him.
"Don’t read anything into that, Lane, or anything into the rest of the day while you're pretending to be my new boyfriend."
*~*24*~*
Clark left his arm around her, she was glad for that.
She wasn't crazy about his whole macho 'up the lady to decide' thing but Dan was worse. At least Clark was probably *trying* to be a gentleman and all that, but she could have taken care of herself when Dan said it in the first place – she didn't need Clark to do it for her. Could Dan really not get the hint? It had been a *year*. She and Josh had gone out a few times, but she was pretty sure that he and her cousin, Kara, were getting fairly serious. She didn't think anyone else knew that yet, though.
"I don't want to deal with Dan," she told Clark. "So you're being my boyfriend for the day."
He nodded. "Okay. So why'd you let my mom pick?"
She rested her head against his shoulder as her arm wound around his waist. "Seemed like the thing to do. And besides, the look on your face when she picked Superman was priceless."
He groaned. "I can't believe she did that. No, I can. It's a mom thing to do. Subtle."
"Funny."
"Right. Funny."
She relaxed against him and decided that, just for today, she'd pretend it was real. She wasn't sure what she was going to do about Metropolis and Clark Lane or if he was really interested in more – no matter what his kisses might have said the night before.
She was going to do something she'd never really done before – live in the moment. Not worry about the next day or the day after or the day after that. Just be with Clark, pretend it was real and go from there.
"You do realize that means you're going to have to kiss me a *lot* today?" he whispered in her ear. "That we might need to duck into an alley to make out and maybe be a bit late getting back here for the dance tonight."
His husky voice sent shivers up and down her spine. "I'll suffer through somehow," she told him. "But now, you're going to win me a prize." She pointed to the strongman bell. "Let's see how close you can get to Superman." She handed a ticket to the vendor. "Let's go."
She watched the play of his muscles underneath his shirt and, for a minute, she wished he was wearing the black polo shirt he'd worn the night before – the one that had made him look *incredible*.
He hoisted the hammer over his head and brought it down sending the ball into the air.
But not high enough.
Clark dug a ticket out of his pocket. "Let me try that again." This time he was closer to the top.
"One more," she said, handing one more ticket over.
She watched as Clark took a deep breath and tried one more time.
This time the bell rung.
She laughed and threw her arms around him again.
"Superman's on his way back," he whispered in her ear.
She pulled away from him, still suspended in mid-air. "What?"
He grinned – that illegal grin. "Not completely, yet, but coming."
She closed her eyes and rested her forehead against his. "I'm so glad," she whispered.
"Take your pick, LoLo."
She turned to glare at the vendor. "Don't push it, Justin. I can still take you down and you know it."
He held out two options – a Superman doll like the one Ellen had chosen and a black and white teddy bear, just like the one she'd always wanted someone to win for her at the baseball toss off.
She glanced at Clark, at his resigned look, and grabbed for the bear. "I think I'll name him Clarkie." She planted another quick kiss on a surprised Clark. She threw a glance over her shoulder as she walked away. "And sleep with him every night after you go back to Metropolis."
Live in the moment. That's what she was going to do.
Before she knew it his arms were around her, pulling her back towards him. "I told you my grandpa has plenty of room for you. Or if you want to stay in Metropolis itself, you can always bunk with me," he practically growled into her ear.
"Why, Mr. Lane, I can't believe you'd even *suggest* such a thing!"
He turned her in his arms, bringing one hand to cradle her face. "Well, you *are* my wife, are you not?" he said softly, looking deep into her eyes.
There was no pretence there. She realized that. He was joking about the wife thing, of course, but the feelings she saw reflected in his eyes...
Reflected...
A reflection of what she was afraid to let herself feel.
His lips were on hers, soft, undemanding, but with underlying passion. She could feel it there, in his kiss, that he wanted more. He wanted to kiss her like he had the night before, but they were in public.
The kiss ended and she rested her head against his chest as he held her for a long moment.
'In the absence of the House of Ra, you have my blessing.'
The words repeated in her head again. Did it mean what she was starting to let herself hope it meant? That since Clark's birth Kryptonian chick wife wasn't around, she was an acceptable alternative?
"Come back to Metropolis with me," he said, interrupting her thoughts. "I don't know what's going to happen with this, with *us*, but I know you belong at a world class paper like the Daily Planet. Nothing against Smallville's paper, but you're a world class reporter, destined for reporting greatness and I have every intention of riding your coattails to a Pulitzer."
She laughed and moved back slightly to look up at him. "You'll have to pull your own weight, Lane. No riding coattails around here. Speaking of..." She moved out of his arms, grabbing his hand and dragging him towards a more secluded location. "You're feeling better? Really?"
He nodded. "Not super, yet, but much better. I could feel my strength coming back at the bell thing. My hearing is better and I just *feel* better."
"Can you do any of your buzz-buzz eye stuff?" she asked.
"My what?" he asked back, an eyebrow raised.
"I know you can do stuff with your eyes. Can you do any of it?"
He tipped his glasses down and glanced around. "No. Not yet. A little bit but not really." He leaned in to kiss her again, lightly. "So whaddya say? Come to Metropolis with me."
*****
TBC
