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Part 15

Part 16

Lois looked stunned. More than stunned. In shock. Had she completely forgotten about Clark in the presence of his tights wearing alter-ego? Were they boyfriend and girlfriend? Or were they just dating, but not exclusive? “Did I misunderstand? Is Clark not your boyfriend?” he asked, feeling like he was standing on the edge of lover’s leap, his life hanging on her answer. Oh, God, had Lois fallen for Superman?

But Lois continued to stare at him, dazed and confused. Then her eyes hardened into slits, her tongue slid across her front teeth and her voice grew cold and thunderous. “That remains to be seen.” Then she stomped off down the beach, her whole continence stormy. She was angrier at Clark than she was this morning. She was livid.

Yep. No doubt about it. Clark Kent was back in the doghouse, his conscience informed him.

He jogged to catch up with her. “Sometimes it helps to talk about it. Do you want to tell me what’s wrong?” he asked hopefully.

“You want to know what’s wrong with Clark Kent?” she scoffed, rolling her eyes. “You!”

“Pardon?” Superman inquired floating backwards in front of her as she continued to stomp down the beach. “Me?”

“Yes, you, Superman!” she snapped. “Clark is bound and determined to lie to me about everything that has to do with you.”

Superman gulped. “Does he? I wonder why?”

Lois came to a sudden halt. “Why? Why? He’s your friend why don’t you ask him?” She turned around and started marching back the way they had come.

Superman zipped around to the front of Lois again. “My friend?”

She glared at him. “You going to deny that you know him? Well, don’t even try it! Because he knows everything about you.”

“He does?” he stammered.

“Don’t play idiot with me, Superman! Clark practically told me that you had saved me when I fell into the street. ‘A mysterious hero who flew me home and put me on my bed.’ Sound familiar? Why do you think I believed him to be my hero?”

Oh, darn. He had said that, hadn’t he? That was before he had decided to come out of hiding.

“And if he’s lied to me about you,” Lois continued, she was still moving at a brisk pace. “What else has he been lying to me about? Maybe he has girlfriends all over town for all I know.” She stopped abruptly again and patted Superman’s cheek. “Even you, wholesome cowboy, had lipstick on your cheek when you visited me after the press conference earlier. Are you hiding another life as well or is what I see what I get with you too?”

His hand automatically went to his cheek. “I got kissed when I saved someone from being mugged. It was nothing,” he explained.

“I bet it wasn’t ‘nothing’ to your girlfriend,” hollered Lois, storming off.

She was really mad. Maybe he should let her stomp around the beach until she cooled off.

“I don’t have…” a girlfriend, he started to say, but that wasn’t really true. Lois was his girlfriend, at least he wanted her to be. At least, he hoped she still would be.

Lois stopped several paces ahead of him, her hands in fists. She didn’t turn around, her spine stiff and her voice rough, “You don’t have a girlfriend, Superman? How convenient for you. Maybe I’ll dump Clark and the two of you can hit the town together, trolling for women.”

Oh, that went badly, Flyboy. Get yourself out of that one.

Clark swallowed. Not knowing exactly what to say. He didn’t want to lie to Lois, but also didn’t want to talk to her about his – Superman’s – private life. Why couldn’t they stick to safe topics? Like why he was on Earth? Not that he knew the full answer to that question either. He knew as much as she did. What were his super powers? How fast could he fly? What did he want to accomplish here on Earth? Anything that wasn’t about his private life.

Lois stormed off again and this time he let her go. He knew he was going to have to tell her something to get himself out of this hole. For some reason he felt he had fallen deeper than he had been earlier.

Superman sat down under the shade of a gnarled and water-warped tree and stared out at the ocean, wondering what he should do. He loved Lois. He knew that for sure now. But it was way too early in their relationship to reveal all his secrets to her. On the other hand, if he kept on this road of deception and omission, there wouldn’t be a relationship left – if he hadn’t ruined that chance already.

Just like you to screw up love within twenty-four hours, Kent.

Clark knew he probably shouldn’t have let that wave hit her. But she really needed to cool off, flirting the way she had with Superman. His green-eyed monster had just taken over and held him back from reacting in time. He sighed and then scoffed at himself with a shake of his head. Jealous of Superman! He was out of control.

You got your punishment though, didn’t you, Kent? That dress was practically see-through when wet.

Clark remembered. There wasn’t any way he could forget how that thin material clung tight to her body like a second skin. It made his blue suit seem positively baggy in comparison. He gulped.

But it sure did cool her off!

Oh yeah. No forgetting that or how angry it had made her. Clark heard her heart beat coming closer before he drew his gaze away from the water and back on to the most beautiful woman he had ever met.

Lois stopped next to him, crossing her arms and waiting. After neither one of them spoke, she finally asked, “What?”

“Are you really going to break up with Clark because of me?” He gazed up at her with his entire heart.

Lois pressed her lips together, staring at him. Then she said, “If I break up with Clark, it will because he lied to me about you. Not because of you.”

If, not when. Clark’s heart started to beat again. Slowly, unsurely, and in-sync with hers.

“Clark doesn’t want to lie to you. He was trying to protect me.”

“I thought you were invincible,” she stated, brow raised and her arms still crossed.

A slight hint of a smile brushed his lips. “Nobody’s invincible, Lois. I may be invulnerable, but certainly not invincible.”

“What’s the difference?” she asked.

“Invincible mean I can’t lose. Invulnerable means nothing can hurt me,” he said casually as if he had such a frank open conversation about his abilities every day. It felt good to admit these things to Lois. It felt like he was finally telling her the truth.

That’s because you are finally telling her the truth, Kent.

Lois sat down next to him, covering her bent knees with her skirt. “I don’t think you’re invulnerable either. My argument with Clark seems to have hurt you a lot. Some ‘Superman’ you are,” she teased, elbowing him gently.

“Hey, that was your name for me. I didn’t choose it,” he reminded her.

“What does Clark call you?” she asked. “Maybe I’ll call you that instead.”

Yeah, Flyboy, what does Clark call you? Oh, yeah. Me, myself and I.

“My birth parents named me Kal-El.” He spelt it.

Nice bend around the truth there, Kent.

Lois’s brow furrowed as she studied him. He wondered again what she was thinking. “Have you known Clark long?” she asked grudgingly.

“Since we were kids,” Superman admitted. “When I first developed my abilities.”

Her jaw dropped. “He’s been protecting you… hiding you for that long?”

Superman shrugged. “I guess so. We look out for each other.”

“Kind of like brothers?” she inquired as she drew in a breath, her eyes going wide for a moment.

He shrugged again.

No, not like brothers. Like a huge secret you couldn’t share with anyone else.

“So you’re impervious to harm. What does that mean exactly?”

“Well, take that mugger I mentioned earlier, he shot me three times and I was able to catch the bullets and turn them to dust.”

“No?” she gasped.

Clark nodded.

Lois leaned against him. “In that case, I think the name ‘Superman’ fits you just fine. Wow!” She was quiet for a minute. “Thank you for saving me, by the way.”

He smiled, his heart feeling like it was floating. Lois didn’t sound mad at him any longer. “You’re welcome. Anytime.” He winked at her with a nudge. “Just don’t make a habit out of it.”

“Deal.” She laughed. “No more running into traffic.”

He liked how quickly her mood had changed. One moment she had been yelling at him and the next she had been teasing and laughing with him. He wondered what he had said to change her mind about him. But he wasn’t about to go stick his red boot in his mouth and ask.

She turned and faced him, legs crossed. “Do you have other cool tricks?”

Clark raised an eyebrow at her terminology. “Dogs do ‘tricks’, Lois. I have abilities.”

“Sor-ry,” she replied with a playful sour look to let him know she was saying it in jest.

He thought about this for a moment thinking of the best way he could explain what he could do.

Lois tilted her head and batted her eyelashes. “Please.”

He smiled at her, tempted to kiss that slight pout off her lips.

You aren’t allowed to kiss Lois, Flyboy. She’s Clark’s girlfriend, he reminded himself.

“Perhaps I could show you. Please keep in mind it’s been a few years since I’ve tried this and the sand here has some shells and rocks in it and isn’t the cleanest sample, so it might not turn out.”

Lois rubbed her hands in anticipation and grinned. He loved that she seemed excited about learning more about him instead of being scared.

Clark zipped up and down the beach until he found the perfect little black stone in just the right size and shape. He returned to the tree where Lois sat and smiled nervously at her. “OK. Here goes nothing.”

“Can you walk me though what you’re doing, in case you move too fast for me to see?” she asked, gazing up straight into his eyes.

“Sure. First I’m going to melt the sand with my heat vision.”

Her jaw dropped as she stared at him, but didn’t say anything.

Clark concentrated on a spot of empty sand several meters away from the tree and Lois until the sand was so hot it melted into liquid glass.

“Now I’m going to pick up and shape the liquid glass as I cool it with my cooling breath,” he explained with a quick glance back at her to catch her reaction to his words.

Her eyes went wide as she swallowed. Still she didn’t speak.

Clark’s hands moved quickly though he kept them slow enough for her to watch the slow, steady progression from sand to liquid glass to sculpture come to shape before her very eyes. When he finished, he dipped the completed object into the sea and then returned to Lois, his crude fish with a black eye outstretched in his hands as a gift to her.

Lois carefully reached out to touch it, but before her fingers met the animal, she stopped. “Is it cool enough for me to hold it?”

“It should be, but just in case…” Clark blew softly on the sculpture and then handed a very frosty fish to her.

Lois took the fish but then almost dropped it. “It’s freezing!” she announced.

Clark had caught the fish and handed it back to her. “The sun will warm it up soon enough.”

Lois caressed the fish in her hands and then gazed at Clark with a look of admiration he had never before seen from her.

He swallowed at the depth of her praise.

“It’s beautiful, Kal. Thank you.”

Clark’s heart doubled its already quick beat at her casual use of his Kryptonian name. It was almost intimate, but it was definitely said with friendship in mind. He loved Lois more. How? He did not know. But every time he thought he could not possibly love this woman more, she showed him a new part of herself and he just did. She had accepted and befriended the Kal-El side of him, simply and without fear. He was the luckiest man in the universe.

Until she finds out you’ve been lying to her. Then you’ll be dog food.

“I’ll treasure this forever. You’re quite the artist,” she continued, a sweet smile brushing her lips.

“My Mom always encouraged me in the arts,” he replied and then kicked himself. Lois was now going to ask him about his mother.

But she didn’t. She was still mesmerized by his crude fish.

“I bet she did,” she murmured, letting him know she was still paying attention. Then she glanced over to him. He was drawn to her. Instinctually he leaned closer about to kiss her when she turned away. “Clark would love this beach.” Her voice was rough and full of the emotion he felt. She stood up and started walking again. He followed, making sure he kept ample distance between them.

Stupid mistake, Flyboy. You don’t want her to dump Clark for you!

Lois turned around and smiled playfully at him. “You’ve got to bring me and Clark back here someday.” She sighed. “Or maybe that other beach you mentioned.”

“Langosta,” he murmured. Lois was thinking of a future date with Clark? Good news. Good news indeed!

She walked backwards down the beach as she talked with him. A wicked grin danced on her lips as she winked at him, “Don’t tell Clark, but I can so see us skinny-dipping at a deserted beach like this. Making love on the sand.” She closed her eyes and moaned a little. “Well, not right on the sand, definitely on a blanket – otherwise too gritty.”

Superman’s jaw dropped as he stared dumbly at her. She imagined making love to him? He swallowed.

No, you idiot, with her boyfriend, Clark. Fly away now! This instant, before you try to kiss her again.

This time Clark listened to the advice from inside him. Lois was less than a dot below him when he heard her yelling at him.

“I told you not to tell Clark!” Then Lois laughed.

Clark stopped mid-air and laughed himself. She thought he was rushing off to tell Clark?

Tempting. Very tempting.

Oh, if she only knew the truth…

Lois would dump you faster than… He couldn’t think of an apt analogy.... A speeding train perhaps? Anyway, pretty darn quick.

Clark rushed up to the Arctic to do twenty laps by his favorite iceberg. Yep, definitely a little cottage, right here, with a couple of changes of clothes for after his icy swims. Lois had just told Superman she wanted to swim naked with Clark? To make love to Clark? His supposed best friend? Had she bonded that well with Superman already? Or was she just teasing him? Could Lois possibly know that he Superman was also Clark?

Nah. She couldn’t possibly know that. His disguise was perfect. She had never seen him without his glasses. She hadn’t once addressed Superman as Clark. Always Superman or Kal. She had even told him when she had answered the door, she had been expecting Clark. No, she didn’t know. She was just confiding in a new friend how much she wanted her boyfriend. A new friend she had almost kissed.

Don’t go there. You almost kissed her. She turned away.

Lois turned away from the kiss and then starting talking about making love to Clark. Was that her way of telling Superman that she and Clark were very serious, so to keep his hands and lips off her? Especially if he respected his friendship with Clark? Yes, that must be why she told Superman about wanting to make love with Clark. Not because she could possibly actually want to… Oh, that would be heavenly though, wouldn’t it? Mmmm. Making love to Lois on the beach. The sun, the surf, the sand… Forget the beach. Making love to Lois ANYWHERE. He grinned and did another twenty laps. He really needed to get Lois back to Metropolis so she could kiss her boyfriend again. Correction, so her boyfriend could kiss her again.

Zipping back down to Costa Rica, he spun into his Clark clothes long enough to pick up a couple of frozen treats in the small beach town of Tamarindo, before returning to Lois on their beach.

***

Lois waded in the surf up to her knees, keeping a close eye on the waves as she waited for Superman to return. She needed to cool off. She couldn’t believe she told Clark’s twin brother that she wanted to make love to Clark. Her face flushed with heat again.

I keep telling you, Clark doesn’t have a brother.

Of course, Kal-El was Clark’s twin. It was the only reasonable explanation. Clark couldn’t possibly think she was stupid enough to believe he was two people, could he? No, the only logical solution to why Kal looked exactly like Clark was that he was his twin brother.

Even though Clark told you that he had always wanted a sibling. That’s when you offered him Lucy, free of charge. Remember?

Yes, Lois remembered that conversation. But Clark had always lied about everything to do with Kal-El, to protect his brother from the cruelty of us humans. Kal was sweet and kind and funny with a wicked sense of humor, yet fragile. He loved his brother so much that Kal even went into a funk when he thought Lois would break up with Clark because of him. That was loyalty.

That was a man worried you were going to break up with him. Because Clark is Superman!

No, absolutely not. Clark couldn’t be Superman because then that would mean he had been lying to her, keeping stuff from her after she had told him specifically not to. And then it would mean that Lois would have to break up with Clark – even though she really didn’t want to – because she couldn’t let someone else decide her destiny. She had to be in control of her life. She had to know that what happened to her was her decision and not God’s or fate’s or destiny’s. Hers! Lois Lane’s!

But she admitted that she was attracted to Kal and knew he was attracted to her. She had been drawn to him, like a moth to a flame.

That’s why you almost kissed him. Deep inside you know Kal-El is Clark!

Lois secretly hoped that Kal would bring Clark to her and prove to her crazy mind that she was right. She was starting to miss Clark. Go into withdrawal from his addicting kisses. Perhaps that was why she was tempted to kiss Kal, because he looked like Clark.

You’ve been hanging out with Clark all afternoon, her inner voice reminded her.

Lois heard a soft thump on the sand behind her and then Kal spoke, “Lois, I’ve brought you something.”

She dropped her skirt and turned around in a rush, her heart pounding in anticipation, “Clark!” But he wasn’t there. Only Kal holding a cup of something out to her. She sighed. “Sorry, Kal. I thought you went to get Clark,” she murmured, approaching him and taking the cup. It was a snow cone of sorts. “What’s the creamy stuff?”

“Sweetened condensed milk.”

Lois raised a skeptical eyebrow at that interesting concoction, then shrugged, digging in. It was sinfully delicious and refreshingly cool. “Thank you,” she finally remembered to say after several mouthfuls.

“You’re welcome,” he replied, eating from his own dish.

Lois reached out and touched his arm. “I don’t want you to think I’m ungrateful or that I don’t like your company, but I miss Clark,” she confessed to him. “We had a date tonight – or at least I still hope we do. I’m so ashamed at the way I treated him this morning.”

“Nothing more than he deserved,” Kal mumbled.

He’s got that right.

“Oh, no! Clark was protecting you. I understand that now. I admire him for it. He’s a good friend to you.” Lois beamed at him, but Kal’s returned smile didn’t match hers. It seemed unsure.

“I only wish he had felt like he could have trusted me with his secret, your secret, before it blew up in his face this morning,” she continued after another bite of her snow cone.

Kal gulped. “Clark trusts you, Lois.”

“No, he doesn’t. But I’ll prove myself trustworthy, somehow.” She took a couple more bites as she thought. “Oh! I’ve got it. Why don’t I write an article about you for the Smallville Post? I know it’s not the Metropolis Star, but I’m sure I could get them to publish it – maybe even get it in tomorrow’s paper. We could have it say whatever you want it to say…” Lois smiled at him as she stuck another spoonful of creamy icy dessert into her mouth.

Superman looked thunderous. “Was this why you showed up at the press conference? Is that why you agreed to meet me? For an exclusive?”

Lois’s heart crashed. “No! Of course not, Kal. I was thinking only of you… and Clark. He could help me write it. We could share the byline and he’d finally be a real reporter. Just like he always dreamed of being.”

Kal stared at her; the storm dissipating. “You heard that?” he finally stammered.

See, I told you. They’re the same man.

“Were you there – in the back of the truck – when Clark drove me home that night?” Lois gasped.

With a sigh, Kal warily tugged his ear.

“Right. Super hearing. I forgot about that.” She shot him a grin, teasing. “I’ll have to watch what I say from now on.”

Kal grimaced. “I don’t listen in on all your conversations, Lois.”

Lois’s smile faded as her brow rose. “Only some of them? What does Clark think about that? Listening in on his private conversations with me?”

He shrugged. “Clark’s used to it. We don’t keep secrets from one another.”

How can they, Lois? Clark is Kal!

Lois’s eyes went wide. “You’re not going to tell him what I said about making love to him, are you?” She switched her snow cone to the other hand, placing the colder hand to her flushed face.

Kal smiled naughtily at her. “He feels the same way about you.”

Did Clark just tell you he wanted to make love to you, too? Hot stuff!

Lois gulped. “Really?”

Kal’s naughty smile disappeared as his face turned serious. “But know that Clark doesn’t rush into intimate relationships, Lois. He needs to be sure about a woman before allowing the kind of commitment that comes with that kind of intimacy. Clark was burned by love before so he’s extra cautious.”

Poor Clark.

“Oh, poor Clark.” Lois looked sadly at Kal. “Thank you for telling me. I won’t pressure him to…” She tilted her head and studied Kal. “You aren’t just telling me this so I won’t make love to Clark, are you? There wouldn’t be an ulterior motive for you to come between Clark and me, is there? Mr. Honesty?”

Oh, course not. Hello? Anyone home, Lois? Kal is Clark!

Kal swallowed. “I hope I never come between Clark and one of his girlfriends.”

Lois’s brows shot up as she stepped towards him. “Girlfriends? Are you telling me there are other women in Clark’s life besides me? Is that why you are trying to warn me away from him? Why you are telling me not to rush into bed with him?”

Kal took a step back. “No! Absolutely not. Hypothetical future girlfriends.”

“Oh! So you’re saying there’s no future for me and Clark? That I should give him up now? To save myself the heartache that is sure to come if I stay with Clark?”

“No! No! No! Don’t do that. Clark loves you.” Kal dropped his snow cone and took hold of her arms gently with both of his hands. “He wants nothing more than to spend the rest of his life proving to you that he’s worthy of your love, but…” Kal’s voice faded and he stood there staring at her without another word.

Clark loves you? stammered her inner voice in shock. Clark loves you enough to spend the rest of his life with you? Clark wants to marry you?

Lois’s knees felt weak. Good thing Kal already held on to her arms so she wouldn’t sink down to the sand. She swallowed, staring at Kal, waiting for him to continue.

His wide eyes told her he wanted to do anything but go on.

“Oh, no. You can’t stop there, Kal. The cat’s out of the bag now. But what?” She waved him on.

“I should take you back to Metropolis,” he mumbled, letting go of Lois’s arms.

Her knees gave out completely and he caught her a fraction of a second later, keeping her upright. “Kal, please. But what?”

He glanced away and whispered, “But he knows you’re going to leave him someday for someone else.”

Martha! snarled her inner voice. She didn’t!

Lois felt the muscles start to work in her legs again. “Did Clark’s mother tell him…” She gulped as her eyes widened as she stared at Kal. “… or you what I told her? Does Clark know about what that man from the future told me? Do you?”

Same thing, isn’t it, deary?

Kal shook his head. “No, not the specifics. Clark just overheard his Mom telling his Dad that you know who you’re going to marry.”

Lois shrugged off Kal’s hands from her arms. “No. I. Don’t. Know. Who. I’m. Going. To. Marry. Because I haven’t made that decision yet. Me, myself and I will determine who I will marry. Not fate. Not God. Not destiny. And certainly not some time-traveling dimension-hopping lunatic from the future. But I can tell you this one thing for certain. It isn’t the man Tempus told me it would be!”

You just told Clark you weren’t going to marry him.

No, I just told Kal I wasn’t going to marry him.

Same difference because they are the same man.

Oh, shut up!

Lois marched back to the weathered tree and sat down on one of its gnarled braches to put on her sandals. She picked up her glass fish and put it in her other pocket from the seashell. Then she stomped back across the sand to Kal and crossed her arms. “Take me home. I have a boyfriend whose probably worried sick about me and whom I would very much like to kiss. Maybe I’ll even make love to him tonight. Who knows? My decision. Not yours. Mine!”

He gulped. “All I was trying to say was not to rush into anything. That’s all.”

Lois glared at him. “Maybe I’ll just run off and marry Clark and live happily ever after with him, whether you like it or not.” She harrumphed.

Kal’s face lit up with genuine happiness. “I would like nothing more, Lois. Honestly.”

See, I told you. Clark Kent.

“Unless,” he continued reluctantly. “…you were marrying him just to spite that man from the future. Please promise me that you won’t do that to Clark. Only tell him you love him, if you truly love him. Only make love to him when it’s making love. Only agree to marry him when you are absolutely sure no other man will do. Please can you promise me that, Lois? That’s all I ask.”

Clark Kent. Clark Kent. Clark Kent, sang her inner voice.

Lois looked at this man in front of her. What had she done? Gone was the strong self-confident man with his shoulders back and head held high, who knew he could do anything. She missed that man. She had crushed the spirit of that man and all that remained was super-mush-man. Unconfident. Worried. Practically groveling for her not to break Clark’s heart.

Lois took a deep breath and exhaled all of her pent up anger. She needed to fix this mess she had created. Reaching up she caressed his cheek. “I’m sorry, Kal. You’re absolutely right. You are a good friend to Clark. He’s lucky to have you in his life. Defending him against crazy women like me.” She dropped her hand and started to walk down the beach again. “I’m so sorry. I warned Clark this morning that I say things in anger that I don’t really mean.” She sighed. “Now I’ve gone and demonstrated just that. Yes, I like Clark. I like him very much. The way I feel when he kisses me – like I’m floating and I never want to stop – I sometimes wonder if I like him too much and that scares me. But I don’t know if I want to marry him or anyone else for that matter. When I moved to Metropolis getting married was the last thing on my mind. But now – since Tempus predicted my future – it’s all I can think about. It’s frustrating and debilitating to think I’m making decisions in my life because of that lunatic. I feel like I have no control over my future anymore. Do you know what that’s like?”

She turned around and realized that Kal hadn’t followed her like she thought he had. He was still back down the beach where she had caressed his cheek. She raised a brow and crooked her finger for him to join her.

He shook his head. “I can hear you just fine from here, Lois.”

Lois snapped her fingers and pointed next to her. “Get your cute, tights-wearing butt over here,” she demanded.

Kal shook his head again.

“What? Do you think I’m going to slug you?” she asked, getting peeved again. Then they caught each other’s eyes and they both laughed.

He moved closer. “I’m sorry, Lois.”

“I’m sorry too, Kal. I like you and I would like for us to be friends,” she said, gazing at him, but there was something more than friendship in the gaze he returned.

That’s because it’s Clark looking at you, you fool, her exasperated inner voice muttered. Clark Kent who loves you and wants to marry you.

“I like you too, Lois.” Kal moved even closer to her.

Lois put a hand on his chest. “I’m Clark’s girlfriend, Kal. And he’s your best friend,” she murmured. There was something about Superman that drew her in and attracted her like no other man. Then she acknowledged it must be because he looked like Clark.

He is Clark, Lois’s inner voice was losing energy, losing force.

Lois smiled at Kal, a longing tugging at her heart. “You look too much like him,” she whispered.

He seemed startled by this admission. “I do?”

Lois laughed. “Don’t look in the mirror much, do you, Kal?”

Kal went to step closer to her. “Lois, I...”

Lois pushed him gently away with her hand. “Go get your trash, Kal, and then it’s time to take me home.”

Kal exhaled and then nodded. “It’s better this way,” he murmured.

“Please, don’t,” she whispered. “My life is complicated enough as it is. I want us to be friends, Kal, but if you can’t accept that…” Her voice faded. She couldn’t come between two brothers. Between Kal and Clark. She wouldn’t do that to Clark… to either of them.

They aren’t brothers! They are the same person!

“I want to be your friend, too, Lois,” he responded softly, leaning his head against hers.

Lois wrapped her arms around his neck and Kal scooped her up into his arms, stopping only to pick up his snow cone cup from down the beach, before heading up into blue of the sky.

“So, did you tell me everything about yourself?” she asked.

“A man has to have some secrets, otherwise where’s the mystery, the allure?” he said mocking her.

“I meant all about your abilities.” she corrected, trying hard not to laugh through her pressed lips.

“Speed, flying, strength, heat vision, super hearing, cooling breath, invulnerability.” He thought for a moment. “Did I mention I have x-ray vision?”

Lois gulped. “No.” Then she bubbled with laughter. “Although after that wave soaked me I doubt there’s much of my body you haven’t seen already.”

Kal grinned, naughtily. “Nope.”

She slapped him gently on the shoulder with one hand, not wanting to let go enough to give him a proper slug.

He looked at her as if he was tempted to kiss her again and at this distance or at this height there wouldn’t be much she could do to stop him. She was completely at his mercy.

Lois swallowed. “I like you, Kal,” she said, her voice rougher than she wished. “I really think we could be friends, but you’re going to have to stop looking at me with such smoldering desire.”

He silently raised an eyebrow as if questioning her word choice.

“I like Clark. I’m with Clark. I’m not going to cheat on Clark, especially with you. I would never do that to him.” Lois’s voice was low, but she knew with his enhancements he could hear her just fine.

The question is, though, Lois, whether you’re speaking to him or to yourself? Admit it, you’re attracted to this Buns of Steel side of Clark and you know it.

Lois tried not to think about that as they descended into Metropolis. Evening had come to their fair city while they had been at the beach, but cooler temperatures had not come with it. Kal landed gently by the pool, which surprisingly was still deserted. He set down her legs and for a moment Lois kept her arms around his neck.

“Thank you, Superman,” she murmured. Then taking a deep breath, she let go and stepped away. “Don’t be a stranger.”

Superman smiled at her and then took off like a rocket into the sky. Lois shaded her eyes, searching for him.

“Lois,” a voice from behind her called. Turning around, she saw Clark coming towards her from the direction of the parking garage. Despite the heat, he was dressed in a long sleeved shirt and jeans.

See, they can’t be the same man, Lois told her mind. Kal went that way and Clark came from the other direction.

Super speed, sighed her inner voice.

“Was that just Superman?” Clark asked her.

You’re kidding me, right?

Lois laughed, shaking her head. “I know, Clark.”

He swallowed, his eyes wide and questioning. “Know what, Lois?”

She closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around his neck, whispering in his ear, “I know you know Kal, Clark. He told me everything. You can stop lying to me now.”

Clark’s arms encircled her waist. “I can?”

“You better if you want to keep dating me,” she murmured, pressing her lips against his.

He willingly accepted the kiss and deepened it as if he had been thinking about nothing else the entire day.

She ran her fingers through his hair, holding onto his head, pulling her body closer. “Clark,” she murmured. She had missed him. “Aren’t you hot in those clothes?”

“Mmmmm.”

She wanted nothing more than to get out of this dress and float in the cool water of the pool naked with this man. She desired nothing more than to feel her body pressed up against his; the water making sure that their kisses didn’t overheat them. She wanted to feel his skin against hers, to run her fingers over his muscles, his body.

His kisses burned through her, melting her inner core and causing an eruption of passion inside her that made her feel as if she could spend decades making love to this man and it still wouldn’t be quenched. “Oh, Clark.”

Just one question, Lois, that has been nagging me. How is it possible for Kal to be from another planet with super powers and yet at the same time have a human twin brother Clark who is without super powers?

Lois pushed herself away and stared at Clark. Her breath was rough and her heart was racing. She wanted to make love to this man, she realized as she stared at him. Make love. She was in love with him. In love with Clark Kent. In love with Superman. Superman was Kal-El and Kal-El was Clark Kent.

I’m going to the chapel and I’m… gonna to get married. I’m going to the chapel and I’m… gonna get married, sang her inner voice. Going… to the chapel… of love.

Lois started to shake her head. “No. No. No. I can’t do this. I like you too much. I want you too much.” She stared him straight into his eyes. “That’s why I can never see you again.” She turned and ran into her apartment, slamming the door.

She leaned against the inside of her front door, trying to catch her breath, and looked at the mess that had once been her apartment. A scream burst out from inside of her.

*** End of Part 16 ***

Part 17

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Chapel of Love performed by The Dixie Cups, written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and Phil Spector

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