Ok let me start by saying that you write well and the characters sound like Lois and Clark.
I am however very confused by what is going on so I am going off on a
blue jaunt...
It had been as if he had remembered something unpleasant, something that had destroyed every spark of hope.
It seems to me that this 'Verse is a variant of the canonVerse but we have time travel or precognition. Somehow Clark knew that Lois would turn him down with
"I do love you, but only as a friend"
and follow it up with
"if you were just an ordinary man leading an ordinary life, I'd love you just the same. Can't you believe that?"
He clearly thinks keeping his distance is what is best for Lois.
Now what about Lois's dreams? They appear to me to be seepage from the future of the canonVerse. Somehow this Lois is picking up memories of a future Lois in the canonVerse.
As I said a
blue jaunt, so now am I inside solid rock or out in the open air?