Archive of Our Own

“That’s okay. You and Jimmy have fun. Yeah, I’ll see you guys later.”

Clark hung up the phone. It was Halloween and all of his friends were in relationships, leaving him SOL in the plans department. 

He tried to make the best of the free time before another zoner or meteor freak came along and uprooted their lives once again, catching up on all his farm chores. 

His mom was staying in Topeka for the night so he had the place to himself. He took the opportunity to watch a holiday movie she didn’t like and made some popcorn. As the opening notes of Nightmare Before Christmas played, his phone rang. 

Lois . Why was she calling? Oliver had whisked her away to Star City for the weekend. 

“Lois, is everything okay?” he answered. 

“Smallville, what are you doing right now?” her words were a bit slow and slurred. Was she drunk?

“Uh, nothing. How’s Star City?” 

She snorted. “Ask Ollie. You should come out tonight. Meet me at Joe’s.” Why was she at a bar in Granville? “Listen, they're even playing your song!” He heard the lyrics to “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy” through the phone. Funny . 

“Lois, I don’t thi–”

“What??” she interjected. 

“I can’t exactly get in.”

“So just sneak in. You’re good at that sort of thing. Seemingly…ly,” she slurred. 

Her saying he was good at anything was a rarity. Impressing her in any capacity always filled him with a pride he shoved deep down. Oliver had suggested he had feelings for Lois when they first met, that Clark hid them behind his sarcastic comments about her. But that wasn’t true. Not really. 

Did he get butterflies when she described the fortress as “heaven”? Maybe. 

Did he change the weather just so she would hang out with him and Chloe at the lake? Possibly. 

When he found out her and Oliver were an item, did his heart drop? Sure. 

But that didn’t mean he had feelings for her. They were just friends. And he liked seeing her happy. 

He paused the movie, got in his truck, and headed to Granville. 

After finding a parking space, he super sped in. It wasn’t difficult to spot her, dancing on a table swinging her jacket above her head like a lasso as people stood around and cheered her on. 

“Lois,” he called over the music, walking up to her. 

“Smallville!” she shouted before taking a shot from who he honestly hoped was a stranger. “Happy Halloween!” Everyone in the bar raised their drinks and cheered. 

She placed a hand on Clark’s shoulder and he immediately reached his arms around her to help her down. She felt hot against his hands, even through the fabric of her shirt. She noticed him staring at where his hands rested and dramatically grimaced, causing him to roll his eyes. 

“You need a drink,” she hiccupped. 

He probably did, not that it would do anything. “It’s getting late. Come on, I’ll drive you home.”

She started booing him and her makeshift audience joined in. 

He easily picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, ignoring them as he carried her out the door.

“This isn’t what I had picked in my mind when I,” she hiccuped, “when I called the phone to you.” she was coherent enough for him to get what she meant. 

He placed her down and opened the passenger door. “Get in the truck, Lois.”

“I can’t,” she protested. He hoped she didn’t notice how long his gaze lingered at her chest, studying how her breasts filled out her shirt. They had often openly flirted and checked each other out, but things were different now. She was taken. “My jacket’s still inside.”

In the blink of an eye, he sped back in to grab it from the table. “I’ve got it,” he handed it to her. 

She still didn’t budge. 

“Lois,” he said sternly, leaning closer. He swore he saw her eyes dart to his lips before she turned toward the seat. 

He helped her into the car and circled around to the driver’s side. 

After about ten minutes of her fumbling with the radio, presumably searching for her favorite hair metal station—the same as his dad’s—he pulled her hand away and placed it on her thigh, only lingering a second too long. 

“I thought Oliver—”

“Don’t think Oliver,” she cut him off. He looked over and she looked a little pale, blinking rapidly. 

“Do not throw up in my car,” he warned. 

She scoffed. “Please, it's been only vodka,” she slurred but her voice was confident, “I drank more than this in Moscow at 15. Even out drank the General.” 

He didn’t think that was something to be proud of, but his father had been nothing like General Lane. 

“Not here,” she said when they were nearing the Talon. “Chloe and the photo boy are doing it.”

Now Clark felt like he was gonna puke. 

He kept on driving to the farm. 

*

He filled Lois up a cup of water while she munched on the (now very cold) popcorn he left in the living room. He heard the TV flick back on before Lois said, “I love this movie.” 

He smiled to himself as he joined her on the couch. They watched the whole thing, Lois singing the wrong lyrics to every song. Clark let her, thinking they sounded better that way. 

When it was almost over, she started to doze off, leaning her head on his shoulder. 

“Lois, let’s get you into bed,” he whispered as she stirred, resisting the urge to smell her hair. 

He kept a hand to her back the whole way up—to steady her, of course. 

She sat on his bed and started stripping, he immediately turned around. 

“What,” she said, “it’s nothing you haven’t seen before.”

He blushed at the memory of her fresh out of the shower. 

He tossed one of his t-shirts behind him so she’d have something to sleep in. 

“It’s safe now.” 

He turned around and swallowed at the sight of her in his clothes. 

“Well,” he gulped, “if you’re all set, then I’ll just–” he started to leave. 

“Stay?” she asked softly. So quiet that for a moment he wasn’t sure she said anything, but she continued. “I won’t look,” she got under the covers and faced the window, giving him privacy to change. 

He usually didn’t sleep in a shirt but he put one on for tonight. When he climbed into bed, she rolled over and curled into his side. Before he realized what he was doing, he leaned down to place a kiss on her head. 

Okay, fine. Maybe he had a small, tiny, barely even there, miniscule crush on Lois Lane. 

***

As the weeks went on, Oliver was absent more and more. He knew why, but it wasn’t fair that Lois was caught up in it without knowing—and he didn’t care if that made him sound like a hypocrite. 

Just before Thanksgiving, Lois said her and Ollie weren’t gonna make it. 

“Who’s kidding who here, we had no future. He’s a world renowned billionaire and I’m a nail biting, Talon dwelling tabloid reporter,” she said. 

He hated that she thought so little of herself. She was doing great as a journalist, even though she was developing a habit of landing herself in dangerous situations because of it. Her dedication made Chloe’s look like child’s play, and that was saying something. 

“Lois, I’m sure you’ll find someone who’s better suited for you,” he couldn’t even pretend to be upset at the possibility of her and Oliver breaking up if he tried. 

Lois was important to him. He wasn’t going to just stand by and let Oliver hurt her. 

*

When he got the call saying Lois was in the hospital, he rushed to see her as soon as he could. He was understanding fast that his tiny, little crush on Lois, wasn’t so tiny or little after all. 

He felt the kind of rage he never thought he’d feel toward Oliver when he found out the Green Arrow was who landed Lois in that bed. Beyond that, he hadn’t even gone to check on her himself. But she liked him. He made her happy, at least when he was present and accounted for. So Clark did what he had to do to get Ollie to Thanksgiving, clean and sober. 

It was worth it to see the smile on Lois’ face during dinner. 

***

“Oliver couldn’t have helped with this?” Clark asked as he worked on putting together the new coffee table Lois and Chloe bought. 

“You’re getting beer out of it, oh underage one. And this isn’t exactly Mr. Silver Spoon’s forte,” she joked. “Besides, he’s ‘busy ,’” she made air quotes around Oliver’s explanation. 

His skin started to feel hot and irritated and he felt a flush creep up his neck. This was, what, the 10th, 15th, 20th time over the last two months Lois had called him for something because her boyfriend wasn’t there?

“I’m not just your Oliver substitute,” he bit out before he could think better of it. 

She narrowed her eyes at him defensively. “What does that mean?”

He had been snappier than usual the last few times he’d seen her, not taking her continued relationship with Oliver very well.

He gulped, regretting the obvious jealousy he let slip out. “Nothing.” 

“Good. ‘Cause whatever’s going on with you, you need to get it under control.”

Like always, she was correct. He did need to get this under control. 

***

The next time he saw Lois was in his kitchen, going over the education reform bill his mom was about to officially propose. 

“You’re not just an Oliver substitute,” she said when they had a moment alone. “It’s just…it’s like, all of a sudden I looked up and realized you might be my best friend.”

The best friend part of the statement was both a dagger to his gut and the best thing he had ever heard.

“Turns out I don’t hate being around you,” she added. 

He smiled. “I think you’re mine, too.”

She punched his upper arm and winked as his mom walked back in. 

***

Linda Lake was making Clark’s week hell. She was exposing ‘secrets’ left and right. This was terrible timing, what with Lois being dead set on proving Oliver was Green Arrow. 

The reporter, if you could call her that, was embedding Clark into Lana and Lex’s relationship, which, as much as he had tried to keep Lana away from him, was the last place he wanted to be. 

Lana had accused him months ago of only giving a damn because it was Lex . It took him the summer to realize it, but she was right. He’d always care about her and want her to be safe, but if she started dating anyone else, he really wouldn’t mind. 

The one narrative he could help control right now was Oliver’s. Knowing his secret would only put Lois in more danger, and he’d do anything to stop that. Him and Lois had devised a ‘plan’ to catch Oliver in the act, while Clark and him had come up with their own to counteract it. But when Lois came to see him in the barn, she wanted to call off the whole thing. 

“I think I’m in love with Oliver,” she admitted. 

What? He knew she liked him, but never thought it was this serious. And hearing from the girl you're crushing on that she’s in love with another man isn’t exactly great for the ego. 

“I don’t know how you ever let Lana go if you felt this way because I swear, the guy could tell me he was from Mars right now and I would find a way to dismiss it as an endearing quirk.”

The comment filled him with a stupid mix of hope and relief that wasn’t his to feel. 

He convinced her to go along with their plans as is. 

*

That night, he donned the Green Arrow suit and saved Lois and Jimmy, because of course real bad guys had to make an appearance. . 

“Your secret’s safe with me, Oliver,” she said. And then she kissed him.

She was kissing him— Clark . He should’ve pulled away. He wasn’t pretending to be Oliver, in fact the whole point was to prove he wasn’t Oliver. He should’ve let go of her and stepped back. Waited for Oliver to arrive while standing at least an arm’s length away from her.

But he couldn’t. He kissed Lois back immediately, arms wrapping around her. 

He had been pushing this away as much as he could for so long, and her lips felt even better than he had imagined.

He wasn’t worried he’d hurt her or that his powers would act up. He just felt…amazing. Like all the chaos of the last weeks and months was finally drawing into focus and the only thing that mattered was the connection between them. 

He felt her lips start to pull away and he leaned forward, following them, not wanting this moment to be over. Not wanting this perfect bubble to burst. 

Her forehead creased. “You’re…”

“Hell of a thank you,” he heard Oliver’s voice next to them. 

Lois immediately turned back to him and slapped him. He let her, moving his head with the momentum. 

Before Jimmy’s camera could catch him, he sped away. 

***

“Spill,” Lois said. He quirked his brow at her. He was helping her reorganize her kitchen now that both her and Chloe’s stuff (and quite a bit of Jimmy’s) were taking up space. “What’s bothering you?”

I hate that you know me like that , she had said recently, not understanding what that did for his pride. It was the same for him, though. He didn’t like that there was someone out there who always knew what he was thinking. 

“It’s Lex and Lana,” it wasn’t a total lie. Lana had come to see him in the barn the other day. She was pregnant with Lex’s baby but had begged him to trust her with the truth about him anyway. As much as he had wanted to over the years, he never could. 

His mom had suggested it was because deep down he knew she wasn’t the one. Much like Lois, his mom had a habit of being right, even when he wasn’t ready to admit it. 

He was letting it bother him, more than he knew he should. But the more he thought about it, the worse he felt about where the two of them had ended up. 

“She’s not safe with him,” is what he landed on saying. 

“I’m no fan of Lex, but Lana can handle herself,” Lois handed him a pot to put away. “She seemed to handle you just fine until you screwed things up in typical Smallville fashion.” 

Lois had this way about her, where no matter what he tried to hide, he always ended up spilling his guts to her anyway. 

His biggest secret had been rapidly shifting over the last few months from his true heritage to his feelings for her, his ability to evade her bloodhound nose diminishing more with every passing day. If he exposed one private thing, maybe he could hide the other, throw her off the scent. 

“She was…convinced I had this secret. It sort of grew between us, turned into distance, and I didn’t mean to but I sent her down this dark path.”

“Oh, come on,” she rolled her eyes. “Give Lana some credit. She’s her own person making her own choices. You can’t blame yourself for everything.” 

He let out a humorless laugh. “She blames me. She thinks I…owe her, I guess. Which, I don’t know, maybe I do.” 

“Look Smallville, I like Lana, I really do. But you have got to stop letting this girl walk all over you.” 

“Unlike you,” he held up a custom Whitesnake plate. 

“Please,” she scoffed, taking it from him. “You wouldn’t let me get away with half the things—“ 

“And if I treated you the way Oliver does,” he cut her off, not wanting to follow the train of thought leading to all the things he’d let Lois Lane do, “you’d let it slide?”

Her eyes turned slightly glassy, if he were anyone else he might not have noticed. 

“Ya know, Clark, you can only deflect for so long. One day, you’ll get tired of being so nice . And you’ll snap.” She raised her eyebrows at him, sure of her assessment. 

“I’ll snap?”

She gazed down his body before meeting his eyes again. “Like a twig. I mean, when was the last time you did anything selfish?”

Where to begin? He had messed with time and fate. He had held onto Lana when he knew he couldn’t give her what she needed and vice versa, pushing her into Lex’s waiting arms. 

He developed feelings for Lois even though he knew she’d never feel that way about him. He found excuses for her to stay at the farm late, after her and his mom were done for the evening. He let his eyes fall to her cleavage, her ass, her legs when she wasn’t looking and even sometimes when she was. When she thought he was Oliver, he kissed her, deeply and for too long, because he could. Because he didn’t want to pull away even though he was risking his identity and Oliver’s.

“I can’t, Lois.” All he wanted to do now was kiss her again. She unknowingly admitted he was a good kisser–that he could teach Ollie a thing or two . He wanted to show her just how good he could be. And that was maybe the least nice thing he could think of. 

At least with Lana, interfering with her relationship meant possibly getting her away from Lex. 

Oliver, on the other hand, was a great guy who Lois would be lucky to end up with. Even with the Green Arrow complications, Clark couldn’t think of a reason to insert himself between them other than the mere fact he wanted to. Because he wished he were with her instead. Because he wanted to be the one making her blush, taking her out to dinner, the man on her arm at his mom’s fundraisers and campaign events. 

Because Lois was right, of course. All of last year, he was jealous of any guy she dated. He found things wrong with them, sabotaged them, got in the middle. It didn’t matter who she was with—hero or villain, billionaire or varsity swimmer—he wanted it to be him instead. 

She turned to face him. “Why, ‘cause you’re completely noble and perfect unlike the rest of us mere earthlings?” 

She said it harshly but her mouth was so pretty. It took him a second to register what she said.

Was that what she thought of him?

“It’s not that—“

She cut in, unrelenting as ever. 

“Do something for yourself. Be selfish .”

He huffed out a breath. Her eyes rolled and she kept on. 

“I promise, it’s not gonna kill—“

He gave in. He grabbed the sides of her face and brought his lips to hers. She tasted of coffee and sweetness, just as inviting as the last time. 

Unlike then, though, she didn’t react. She just stood there and let him kiss her. 

“Was that selfish enough for you?” 

He walked out the door before she could answer.

***

“Lois has been avoiding me,” he told Chloe at the Planet. 

“She’s quite the busy girl these days, I’m sure it’s nothing personal,” she offered. 

Clark contemplated coming clean to Chloe. Other than Oliver and a couple of other gifted individuals he had met over the last couple of years, she was the only friend who knew his secret. He couldn’t exactly go to any of them with this particular problem, least of all Oliver.

“I kissed her.”

Chloe stopped typing and looked at him. “Yeah, I know. Jimmy was there. He took some photos, we can even get them framed if you want,” she joked. 

He rolled his eyes. “No. Chloe, I kissed her. Again…as me .”

Chloe’s jaw dropped before she started laughing. 

“She’s basically disappeared, Chloe. This isn’t funny.”

“It’s a little funny,” she argued. “No offense to you, Clark, it’s just that Lois’ typical response to intimacy is usually to blow out of town. But I know your mom needs her on standby for the education bill, hence–”

“Her vanishing from prime time just enough to sidestep me,” he filled in. “I just don’t know what happened. We were talking and then the next thing I knew, I couldn’t stop myself.”

He had only thought about her and her lips since Green Arrow-gate . His whole body ached for her, through to his heart. 

“Right,” Chloe said. “Did we forget about her green leather loving, crossbow enthusiast boyfriend?”

Clark ran his hands over his face. No, he hadn’t forgotten. 

*

“Clark, I’m glad you’re home,” his mom said when he walked through the kitchen door. “Lois and Oliver are coming over for dinner soon. Change into something nice.”

“What?” This was bad. He didn’t know what he’d say to Lois, let alone Lois and Oliver. He was frozen in place. 

While he appreciated Chloe’s ability to keep a secret, he despised how often it bit him in the ass when she kept one for someone else. She couldn’t have warned me? he thought. 

“Is everything okay, sweetheart?”

He gulped. 

“Yeah, yeah, uh, I’ll go change.”

*

He almost couldn’t believe his eyes seeing Lois and Oliver sitting together like this. It had maybe happened three times since they started dating. 

Lois did her best to ignore Clark completely, keeping the conversation with his mom to work and the weather, letting Oliver lead with stories about his fanciful travels. 

Clark found himself missing the usual ribbing he’d get from her on a night like this. Something about his dress shirt not fitting correctly or a joke about the Farmer’s Almanac. 

“More wine?” his mom asked. 

“Oh, I would love some, Martha,” Lois smiled. She had stopped calling her Mrs. K when she started working for her. Clark used to hate it because hearing it felt so right. Now, for the same reason, he loved it. 

“I’ll go,” he and Oliver said at the same time, both moving to get up. 

Lois had said once that the territory he and Ollie fought over wasn’t her. He didn’t want to regress their situation into some kind of childish playground game. After a not at all awkward moment, he sat down, letting Oliver get another bottle from the kitchen.

When he was gone, Lois looked at Clark for the first time that evening, before quickly darting her eyes back to her plate. 

He saw her cheeks heat and her skin flush. 

He absentmindedly rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, feeling uncomfortable himself. Her eyes were on him again, specifically his forearms, and she swallowed. 

He rolled up the other sleeve slower, watching Lois the whole time as his mom updated her on her most recent trek to the capital. 

He had to admit, she put on a good show, but he knew what she was really paying attention to.  

When Oliver returned with the wine, she cleared her throat and caressed his arm. Clark wanted nothing more than to feel her hands on his own bare skin. 

She finished her fresh glass of wine in seconds, and held it out for Oliver to pour another. 

“Thirsty?” Clark couldn’t help but tease.

“Parched.”

He ran his hands through his hair and clenched his jaw, the kind of thing that Lois found attractive—all those hours of being forced to listen to her and Chloe talk about boys finally paying off. 

“How’s Chloe?” his mom asked. “I haven’t seen her in awhile.”

“She’s good. Knee-deep in the journalistic trenches, just how she likes it,” Lois answered. 

“That’s wonderful. We’re so proud of her. And Jimmy, was it?”

“Yes, they’re still together. A little too much if you ask me,” Lois laughed. “She’s basically shacking up with–,” she cut herself off and cleared her throat, looking awkwardly between Clark and his mom. “Um, she’s staying with him…right now. Easier commute for the morning, of course.”

It was Friday, there was no morning commute tomorrow. 

Clark’s eyes bore into hers but she wouldn’t meet them, knowing he’d make the connection. Chloe wasn’t sleeping at the apartment, which meant Oliver could.

“Well that must be nice, to have the Talon to yourself again,” his mom said. 

“Yeah,” her voice squeaked as Oliver’s hand snuck into hers on the table. “It is.”

Clark stretched his foot out, grazing it against Lois’ as Oliver took over the conversation again. He felt pressure and figured she must have stomped on him. He pulled it back and held back a laugh as she shot him a death stare. 

He couldn’t have her in every way he wanted, but he would make sure she knew he was there.

He forced himself not to listen to her pulse. He hoped it was racing as fast as his own. 

*

Clark paced around the barn. Lois and Oliver left an hour ago, and his mind was trapped at the Talon, thinking about how they were spending the night. 

Oliver was probably kissing down her neck, stripping her of her sexy dress that drove him crazy throughout dinner, throwing her on the bed, and making love to her like she was the only woman he had ever wanted. He’d feel her warmth against him all night as she slept soundly, sighing into his chest, while he played with her light brown hair that felt as soft as it looked. 

He clenched his fists. Lois wasn’t his . He had no right to be this jealous or possessive. 

Pull it together, Smallville , he imagined her saying. He needed to. Desperately. 

He thought he could hear the hum of her car and the sound of her footsteps getting closer, willing her to be there. 

None of this was okay. His feelings for her, his desire, the way he acted tonight, and really, the way he acted ever since he met her. 

He turned to pace back towards the steps, but stopped in his tracks. Lois was there. 

He blinked a few times, making sure he wasn’t imagining her. 

“You’re an asshole,” she said. 

His eyes swept over her. She had changed since dinner, now wearing impossibly low jeans, an old band shirt, and a jacket. The same one she wore when he picked her up from Joe’s on Halloween. 

He was still in his fitted dress shirt and, based on her eyes drifting over his pecs and biceps, she appreciated it. 

“I know.” 

She was here. He wasn’t going to mention the Oliver size elephant in the loft. Because she was here . Alone . And frankly, he didn’t care where her boyfriend was. 

“You were way out of line,” she was the one pacing now. 

“I know,” he felt like a broken record, but what else could he say? It’s not like he was sorry. 

“You should never have kissed me. I know I said to be selfish, but come on.”

He let her continue without an interjection. 

“And toying with me all night? That was low even for you. Really, Smallville, didn’t anyone ever teach you not to start something you can’t finish?” She huffed out a breath.

“I didn’t,” he said quietly, a protest he couldn’t hold back. He knew for 100% certain from the moment their lips first met that these feelings weren’t some passing fantasy—some delusion he had held since she brought Kal-El to the hospital two and a half years ago. They weren’t something he was going to simply get over , no matter how much he tried to ignore them. 

He wanted to be with her. Not because of petty jealousies or concern over her well being but because he wanted her . All of her. And he knew he could exceed her expectations. Impress her, just like he always loved to. 

“What?” She stopped walking. 

“I didn’t,” he spoke more confidently. 

For a moment, the world stood still. The air heavy with silence. 

 “Prove it,” she challenged.

He studied her as she licked her lips. Was this really happening?

He needed it to be her choice. Her decision. He needed her to take the final step to officially cross that line that had all but disappeared between them. 

“Get over here.” 

She strode toward him and kissed him fiercely. His arms wrapped around her waist as he moaned into her mouth. 

It was official, going three days without kissing her was too long. If it was up to him, not a single day would pass without their lips touching. 

He moved them back to the couch, sitting on it as she straddled his lap. She rolled her hips against his hardening length, whimpering. He was already addicted to the sound. 

She helped him take off her jacket and his hands went underneath her shirt, her skin hot like the sun. He reached into her bra, massaging her breast before pinching her nipple. 

She winced and he immediately withdrew and pulled back, worried he’d hurt her. 

She reached for his hand, leaning her forehead against his and slowly shaking her head. “Do that again,” she whispered. 

He slowly inched his hand back up and repeated his earlier action at her request. She moaned as she moved her hips. 

He broke away to rid her of her shirt, his lips attaching to her neck when it was gone, moving down to her chest as his hands explored her back, moving lower to squeeze her ass. 

Hers moved from his neck into his hair, pulling at it to bring him back up to her. I could get used to this , he thought as he let her maneuver him how she wanted. 

She had this glimmer in her eyes, the kind she got when she knew she was right about something. Before he could ask her what it was, she kissed him again, licking into his mouth as he groaned. 

She tugged his shirt, untucking and unbuttoning it. 

“This,” she reached for his bare forearm, “was cruel.”

He smirked as her hands explored his chest and stomach, electrifying him. “I did it for you.” 

With his shirt gone, he took off her bra, his mouth moving down her chest to her nipple. He lightly tugged with his teeth, causing her to draw in a breath. 

He was throbbing, and every sound she made, every movement, every touch, turned him on even more. 

He reached a hand between them, cupping her over her jeans, using the heel of his palm to apply pressure in a rubbing motion. 

Lois moaned against his neck, reaching down to undo the closures of his pants as he did the same to hers. 

She reached into his boxers and immediately started stroking, making him hiss. 

He slipped his hand into her jeans, feeling how wet her underwear was. She moved her hips, chasing his touch. He slipped a finger under the damp fabric, feeling around her wet entrance. 

“Smallville,” she whined, biting her lip. 

He removed both of their hands, kissing her as he turned them, laying her against the couch. 

He adjusted himself in his boxers before settling over her. 

He could tell by the texture of her skin she was cold but he had always been a furnace, a benefit to being solar charged, using his body to keep her warm.

Besides, he didn’t want to break whatever spell they were under. If he suggested going back to the Talon, or even trying to make it work in her car, there was a non-zero chance she would run off and the two of them would never speak again. 

He ran his hands over her body as he jutted against her, reveling in the closeness even through the remaining layers of clothing. 

Her hair was a nest and her lips were puffy. He wanted to see her like this every night. 

“You’re beyond sexy,” he whispered in her ear, before sucking just below it, causing her to release a needy sound. 

When he thought he might come from dry humping alone, she said, “I need you inside me.”

He lowered his head to hide his obvious excitement at the words. She needed him. 

They fumbled with their shoes and bottom layers and he went to the desk to grab a condom out of the drawer. 

After he stopped sleeping with Lana, he stashed them there, not wanting to see the reminder of what he couldn’t do anymore in his own bedroom. He had honestly never thought he’d have a need for them again. 

When he turned around, Lois was playing with her nipple with her right hand, the other inching lower as she eyed his cock, hard and heavy, almost painful with arousal. 

He quickly got back to the couch, dropping the condom on her stomach and lifting her left arm above her head against the armrest, causing her breath to catch and her hips to grasp at nothing.

He looked down to her center then back up. “That’s for me,” he said quietly. He slid a finger through her folds, teasing her clit before entering her in a long, languid motion, causing her head to roll back. 

“Clark,” she moaned, her free hand snaking into his hair as she grinded against his hand. 

He found her clit with his thumb and added another finger, her hand moving to claw at his shoulder and bicep. Surely there'd be scratch marks if not for his biology. 

He relished in her roughness, loving how fearless she was. It was intoxicating, and gave him the confidence to keep going, not giving into his concerns about his strength getting away from him, trusting himself like her. 

“Please,” she begged, almost sobbing. He pulled his hand away and kissed her wrist before dropping her arm back down. 

He tore the condom wrapper and rolled it on, lining himself up and sliding through her wetness as her arms wrapped around his neck. 

He looked into her hazel eyes. One last chance to back out, to stop this and go back to normal. Pretend they didn’t know what the other tasted like, sounded like. 

Mercifully, she nodded. 

He entered her slowly, giving both of them time to adjust, feeling her stretch to accommodate him. 

He had done this a couple of times before, but he had only been half of himself then. This was an entirely new experience and there was no one he’d rather share it with than Lois. She was the one person who made him feel normal, even human, without expecting him to be anything other than what he already was. 

Her inner walls felt incredible wrapped around him, he wanted to live in her warmth forever. 

After a few seconds, she wrapped her legs around his waist and he pulled back before thrusting into her, hard. She let out a satisfied sound and he did it again. And again. And again while she rolled her hips up to meet his. 

“Lois,” his entire body tingled as they repeatedly joined. She scratched across his back and he thrust impossibly deeper, picking up the pace. “Fuck,” he muttered right next to her ear. 

Lois smiled and let out a shaky breath. “Fuck, yourself.”

He kissed her, their tongues brushing together as he felt his lower stomach tighten and her walls clench. 

She moaned as her orgasm overtook her, arching her back, the feeling pushing him over the edge as she pulsed around him. 

He kept driving into her as they rode it out, collapsing after he was all spent. 

They kissed lazily for a few moments, not wanting to break apart. When he figured it was time he disposed of the condom, he started to pull out, causing her to lightly wince. 

He came back to the couch and she was caressing her inner thighs, moving to her center and hissing as her fingers brushed over her sensitive clit, feeling herself. 

“Are you okay?” He sat down next to her. 

She bit her lip and looked up to him, nodding. “Just a little sore.”

He brought his own hand down, replacing her fingers with his own. He slid two of them inside and slowly moved them in and out, being extra careful. 

“Clark,” she whispered, eyes fluttering shut. 

“Let me,” he begged. She nodded and leaned back as he massaged her skin and used his fingers to make her come a second time. 

*

He forced her to put on his boxers and at least the t-shirt she arrived in, after she refused to venture into the house or let him get her weather appropriate clothes to sleep in. 

He put his pants on and searched the barn for anything to keep warm in the night, finding a picnic blanket beneath the stairs. 

He laid on the couch, covering as much of Lois with his body and the blanket as he could, trying to keep her warm now that the sweat and adrenaline had ceased. He was too scared to try his heat vision on her, worried he'd accidentally cause a fire. Human solutions would have to suffice. 

He ran his fingers through her hair as her breathing evened out. He hadn’t held her like this since Halloween and he missed it. 

Clark never thought he’d be the kind of guy to sleep with someone else’s girlfriend, but this was Lois. And Lois Lane always seemed to be the one exception to the rules.

There was nowhere on earth he’d rather be than on this couch with her. 

He drifted off easily, feeling at peace for the first time in weeks. 

When he rose with the sun, she was gone. 

***

Clark figured he wouldn’t hear from Lois for at least a week, if her past flight record was anything to go by, so he made a rule that he couldn’t freak out until then. 

But a few days after their barn rendezvous, he got a text from Oliver. 

We have a problem . 

He sped to Oliver’s Metropolis apartment, feeling like he was running towards his own sentencing. 

“Take the scenic route today? Where’s McSpeedy?” Oliver asked when he walked in. 

“You texted me,” he pulled out his phone, “one minute ago.” He really didn’t appreciate that Lois and Oliver shared the same brand of sarcasm. 

“Exactly.”

Clark rolled his eyes. “What’s going on?”

“Lois has a secret.”

“Oh,” Clark’s heart started pounding. “What is it?”

“You,” Oliver crossed his arms. 

His stomach dropped. “What, uh, what do you mean?” He wiped his hands against his jeans. 

“She has a theory that you’re Green Arrow,” Oliver clarified. 

“Me?” He asked. 

Why would she think that? He had been with her countless times when Oliver was out hero-ing . The only reason she’d suspect it was him would be if she knew he was the one…kissing her. 

He ignored the realization that she memorized what his lips felt like in favor of keeping his cool. 

“She told you that?”  

Oliver had been there for their first kiss. Clark didn’t want him coming up with any theories of his own as to how she came to that conclusion. He tried his best to keep his face neutral. 

“No,” Oliver handed him a folder. “This was on the kitchen counter at her apartment.”

He opened it, seeing newspaper clippings of Green Arrow, of his saves in the Torch , of shots Jimmy had gotten of Oliver in costume over the last few months. 

“You stole this?” Lois had a tendency to leave things lying about, her clothes especially, but that didn’t give anyone the right to take them out of her own home. 

“Technically,” Oliver said casually. “She won’t stop digging until she figures it out. Then we’re both in trouble.”

“Are you ever going to stop lying to her?” 

“Are you?” Oliver shot back. 

Clark sighed and held up the folder. “I’m taking this back.”

***

Clark’s suit itched as he waited on the curb. He was filling in as Lois’ escort at a dinner to drum up support for Martha’s bill, at both her and Oliver’s request. He had sent a car to pick up Lois anyway, an apology for his absence he supposed. 

He was just about to give up and join his mom inside when at last the limo pulled up. When Lois stepped out his jaw dropped. She was in a dark purple gown that shone under the streetlights, her hair curled and up. He thought she looked like a princess. 

“What are you doing here?” She rolled her eyes when she saw him. 

“Your boyfriend asked me,” he matched her defensive tone. 

She laughed and walked into the lobby of the five-star hotel, the kind Luthor money gets you. 

“Something funny?” he asked when they got to the elevator. 

He hadn’t seen her since they slept together. It might as well have been a year for how much he missed her. 

“Just ironic. Ready to schmooze some lobbyists?”

*

Inside, Clark spoke to three of his mom’s colleagues and two donors in the same time it took Lois to talk to twenty different people, each one walking away with a brighter smile than they had before. She had a gift, a natural charisma in situations like this that he lacked. 

“Looks like you’re not totally crashing and burning.” 

He was hiding behind a floral arrangement when Lois walked up to him. 

“I’m doing what I can,” he looked to her lips and then back to her eyes as she subconsciously licked them. 

“Come on, we have more work to do,” she said. He rested his hand on her lower back as they made their way around the room. 

She didn’t shirk him off. 

*

At the bar, Lois ordered them both martinis with extra olives. He tried not to gag at the slight burning sensation in his throat. The alcohol wouldn’t affect him but it didn’t mean he always liked the taste. 

“You’ve surprised me, Smallville,” she sipped on her glass, bringing his attention to her lips. 

“How’s that?” He didn’t know if this was a public Clark and Lois moment, or one where they could acknowledge what happened the week before. He hoped for the latter. 

“You have to admit, this isn’t exactly your scene, Farmer John. We’re a long way from tractors. And cows. And hay. And pigs…” she listed off everything you’d find in a children’s book on animal sounds. 

When she was finally finished, he stepped forward so the front of his suit almost brushed against her. Taking a chance, thinking of what Kal might do and say, he leaned down, not far, thanks to her ridiculous heels. 

“Yeah, but,” he whispered in her ear, “if I shoved my hand up your dress, bet I’d find you soaking wet anyway.”

*

She pushed him against the bathroom counter, pulling him down to her by his tie. His hands roamed her body as their tongues danced. 

He picked her up and placed her on the open space next to one of the sinks, hiking her dress up as her thighs bracketed his hips. 

“I missed you,” he said against her mouth as she buried her hands in his hair. He started kissing down her throat as she rubbed herself against him, his hands digging into her thighs, surely leaving bruises. 

“Hard week?” 

He thrust forward to show her just how hard it had been. “You have no idea.”

She reached between them to undo his belt and take out his shirt. 

His hearing kicked in and he listened outside of the door. Someone was coming in.

“Shit,” he muttered. He picked her up and quickly locked them in a stall, lifting her high enough so only his feet could be seen under the door. He mentally kicked himself for forgetting her purse on the counter. 

“Why’d you–”

He used his mouth to silence her just as someone entered. Kissing her quiet. 

They moved in sync, taking their time to avoid making noise. Gradually, their lips parted and he angled his head to deepen it. Their tongues brushed and he felt it down to his toes. 

This wasn’t at all like any kiss they shared before, all hot and desperate. There had always been attraction between them but this was something else, something that couldn’t just be one sided. This was slow, sensual. Meaningful. 

It was like all of time paused around them, how it felt when he was running fast enough to break the sound barrier. 

They broke apart when the man exited, thankfully only there to wash his hands. 

He searched her eyes and saw that she had felt it too. Not just a spark. Not just fireworks. Something a thousand times more powerful. 

She gulped, and without a word reached for the button of his dress pants, continuing where they left off. When she made contact with his aching cock, his rational half suddenly remembered something important. 

“Lois, I don’t have–” protection, he was going to say, but she cut him off. 

“Follow my lead.”

Didn’t he always?

She pulled her underwear to the side and he slid his tip from her throbbing clit down to her entrance. She was so wet he thought he might melt. He kissed her as he thrust forward, muffling both of their groans of pleasure. She immediately started bucking her hips and he met her efforts. 

Gone was the deliberate, soft energy from moments ago. This was fast and urgent. Needy . 

His thrusts seemed to hit deeper every time. She was warm and tight, soft as velvet. He didn’t think he would last long. He moved her hair out of the way with his nose and sucked below her ear, his fingers digging into her as their movements became messier. 

“Baby,” he moaned, letting the pet name slip out on accident as his lower abs started to tighten. She didn’t say anything, but a few seconds later her walls clenched and she was tugging at his hair. 

The sensation of her contracting around his bare skin as she came undone was the best thing he had ever felt. 

“Put me down,” she whispered before kissing him as he followed her instructions. He already missed her heat when her feet landed.   

She immediately sank to her knees and took him in her mouth, sucking in her cheeks as she moved her head. He thought he was losing his mind, his vision going hazy as she worked her magic. 

“Lois, I’m gonna…,” his hands gripped his blazer for dear life. 

She responded by swirling her tongue around his tip before taking him deeper, bringing a hand up to jerk what she couldn’t reach with her lips. 

He had never come so hard, and she took all of it, swallowing every last drop. When he was licked clean, she stood up. He immediately grabbed her face and kissed her hard, tasting himself on her tongue. 

*

By the time they cleaned themselves up, dinner was being served. Their assigned seats were far away from his mother and he was grateful. He didn’t think he could face her with Lois next to him, she’d see guilty written all over him. 

“Thank you,” Lois looked at him shyly. “For being my date tonight.” 

“Anytime,” he meant it. 

Her phone buzzed and she reached into her (thankfully, not stolen) clutch to grab it. She gulped and looked confused. She must have felt his gaze on her ‘cause she turned to him.

“It’s Jimmy,” she explained. “He got a shot of Green Arrow downtown.”

***

Clark strolled into the Daily Planet to meet Chloe for lunch, stopping at the entrance to the bullpen when he saw Lois sitting on top of the desk. 

The two girls were looking through a shoebox.

“Clark, look at this,” Chloe called him over. 

Lois looked up, her face growing pale as their eyes met. 

“Hey, Lois,” he tried to act normal. 

“Smallville,” she glanced at Chloe and then back to him. “Ollie’s in a meeting with Luthorcorp next door.”

“Oh,” he nodded. He assumed that was related more to Green Arrow business than that of Oliver Queen, CEO . 

Chloe looked between them awkwardly, likely remembering that Clark had kissed Lois even though she had the aforementioned boyfriend and Lois had been avoiding him ever since. At least that’s where things stood when they last spoke of it. 

He wasn’t ready for other people to know about him and Lois, not yet. What they had done wasn’t fair or right, he knew that. And revealing it would only hurt the people around him, especially Lois whose reputation could be ruined. She didn’t deserve that. She was a good person, maybe the best he knew. 

“What happened to lunch?” He quickly changed the subject. 

“We will go to lunch,” Chloe started. “But first, Lois brought this box of goodies courtesy of one Martha Kent for a story I’m working on. High school nostalgia and all that jazz.”

Clark peaked into the box, seeing a photo of him, Pete, and Chloe as freshman. 

“Nice haircut,” he joked. 

“Hey, I was a cool teen. Remember these?” She held up his glasses case from the time he was temporarily blinded by kryptonite. 

“You wear glasses?” Lois asked. 

“I wore them,” he corrected quickly, “for like…a second.” She already thought of him as a dork, he didn’t need to give her any proof. 

“You’ve gotta try them on,” Chloe told him. 

“Jimmy’s not here to immortalize this moment, is he?” he asked, already taking out the wire frames and putting them on.

“Let’s have it,” he said, waiting on the inevitable jokes from his two best friends. 

“Nerd,” Lois scoffed, but her demeanor didn’t match her usual teasing. He furrowed his brow.

“Sullivan!” someone called from behind him. 

Chloe bolted out of her chair, but caught Clark’s arm before she passed him. “Do me a favor,” she whispered, “and don’t kiss my cousin while I’m gone.” He made a face at her as she walked away. 

Lois hopped down from the desk and grabbed his hand, pulling him through the copy room and hall. 

“Hi, Lois. It’s nice to see you, too. How have you been?” he asked sarcastically. 

She pushed him into some kind of archives room, small with bins of files lining the walls. 

“Where are we, Lois?” 

“Kiss me.”

“What?” He was honestly stunned. 

“Please,” she begged. “Kiss me.”

Sorry, Chloe, he thought fleetingly. 

He plunged forward, their lips meeting as her hands got lost in his hair. 

“These are so hot,” she whispered. 

He didn’t believe her. “Stop it.” He kissed down her neck. 

“I’m serious,” she breathed out.

“Better than the suit and tie?”

“Don’t know about that,” she reached under his jacket, her hands pulling on his shirt as her head lulled to the side. 

“Maybe I should wear them together.”

“Oh, dear god,” she moaned before crashing their mouths together again, lips parted. 

He had already made peace with the fact he couldn’t have all of her, at least not right now. But after the other night, he had been concerned she was only sleeping with him because she thought he was Green Arrow. It was nice to know his appeal was unrelated to that. 

It was also quite the ego boost. Oliver was 200 feet away, albeit at least 30 stories above them, and she was choosing to make out with him in some dark corner of the Daily Planet. 

She moaned again as his hand came up to her neck. 

“The glasses are really doing it for you, huh?”

“You have no idea,” she captured his lips again. 

Well, he certainly had some idea. 

She moved to rid him of his jacket. 

“Wait, wait, this is unprofessional,” he said, against the wishes of his body. 

“Why, it’s not like we work here.”. 

He loved how right she was. He turned them, pushing her against one of the shelves. 

Something started vibrating and he wasn’t entirely sure it wasn’t one of them. 

“It’s my cell phone,” Lois panted. “Just ignore it.” 

She hissed as he reached into her back pocket. 

“Answer it. What if it’s important?” He held it out as it vibrated in his hand, looking at her expectantly. 

“Okay,” she took it and checked the caller ID. The look on her face let him know exactly who it was. “A little privacy please?” she asked when he hadn’t moved back at all, his arms trapping her. 

“Just pretend I’m not here,” he said, more to her lips than her eyes. 

“I can’t do that,” she brought her hips forward to rub against his erection, making her point. He drew in a breath. She always knew exactly how to push him.  

“Fine. I guess I’ll just have to get used to sharing you.”

Her cheeks reddened and he turned his body, giving her just enough room to move around him. He knew he shouldn’t have said that but found he didn’t regret it. 

He came up behind her, pressing into her back and leaning down to kiss her neck. Her skin warm, feeling dangerously like the comfort of home. 

She sighed into his touch as she stayed on the phone. He brushed her hair back, seeing the fading bruise just behind her ear from their last meeting. He wondered how she explained it away, if it was even noticed. 

She hung up the phone and turned in his arms. 

“Come over later,” she said. “Ten.”

He nodded as she made to leave the room but he grabbed her hand and pulled her pack to him, kissing her deeply. He pushed her against the wall, probably too close to the exit, and parted her lips with his tongue. 

He had to feel her again before they parted ways, had to feel that she wanted him . He knew it was Oliver on the phone and he wanted to erase him and every other man from her mind, at least in the small moments they had alone. 

After a few moments, he gently pushed him off of her. “I have to go. I’ll see you tonight?” 

Of course she would. She could ask to see him on the moon and he would find a way to make it happen. 

***

Clark kissed his way down Lois’ body as the morning light illuminated them.

He had knocked on her door exactly at ten last night, crashing his lips to hers the second it opened. They made love twice in her bed and once in the shower—-which wasn’t the easiest logistics wise but so worth it—-before drifting to sleep. 

She began to stir as he kissed up her inner thigh, bringing her leg over his shoulder and holding on tight. He felt her hand grip his hair and immediately buried his face in her wet heat, he licked from her entrance to her clit and back down before thrusting his tongue inside. She started to moan as her body shifted, her limbs stretching. 

He felt like he had been starving his whole life, and this was his first proper meal. Now that he had a taste, he wanted more. He wanted everything. 

He brought his lips to her clit and sucked, moaning against her as his cock throbbed between his thighs. 

“Clark,” she whined.

Her hips shook as she rode out her climax, his mouth never leaving her. When her breaths calmed, he kissed a trail up her stomach and between her breasts. 

His mouth hovered just above hers, teasing her. He refused to meet her lips, forcing her to tilt her chin upward, their mouths a mere millimeter away when—-

A knock interrupted them. 

Clark rolled his eyes. Chloe had stayed with Jimmy last night, there was no way she’d be back this early. 

Another knock. 

He used his vision to peer through the door. Oliver . 

“Fuck,” Clark whispered. 

Lois bit her lip, making his cock twitch against her thigh. “Don’t say that.”

It had been a fun discovery these last few weeks—-him cursing turned her on. 

“Lois?” Oliver called from the other side of the door. 

Her eyes widened. “Fuck.”

“Don’t say that,” Clark whispered, a cheeky look in his eyes. 

Part of him wanted Oliver to walk in on them. To see her needy and glowing and wrecked and thoroughly fucked . To watch as she was worshipped, loved , by someone who actually made her a priority, not an afterthought. 

He wanted Lois to look at Oliver and see only what he wasn’t. He wasn’t the one who made her heart race with just a look. He wasn’t the one who knew her better than anyone. He wasn’t the one who made her come on his fingers and tongue, around his cock as she screamed his name in ecstasy. Not last night.

The other part of him knew he’d never force that on her. 

He let her push his face away before she rushed out of bed, throwing on random clothes she found and opening the door, just enough so the bed was still hidden. 

“Ollie, what’s up?” 

For as much as he thought himself tough, he folded the second her hand was on the doorknob. 

In a flash, his clothes were on and he leapt out the window, leaving it open to make his escape more believably human. 

***

Clark’s day had been a whirlwind. 

Oliver had assembled some kind of league with AC, Bart, and Victor behind his back—although Clark didn’t exactly have a leg to stand on in that department. They were taking down Lex’s 33.1 facilities around the world. 

“How’s Lois?” AC had asked. He had almost forgotten about their history. 

“Why don’t you ask your new boss?” Clark deflected. 

He ran to the Talon to find Chloe, needing her help. When he walked in, Lois was holding up green lingerie. He could almost feel his pupils dilating. 

“Smallville,” she quickly rolled it up and threw it in the open suitcase next to her, like she’d been caught. Suitcase?

“Lois is jetting off to Monte Carlo with Oliver,” Chloe informed him. 

“Oliver?” 

“Yeah, uh, spontaneous sort of thing,” Lois swallowed. 

“No, Lois, you should, um–”

“Get a new bikini? Good idea, Smallville,” she looked awkwardly between him and Chloe as she grabbed her purse and nearly ran out of the room. 

He tried to stop her, or at least warn her. The image of her in a bikini running through his mind.

He knew Monte Carlo wouldn’t be happening. That he, Oliver, and this motley crew of a ‘league’ had work to do. That Oliver was making false promises again. And no matter how much Lois pretended to be a cynic, she always saw the best in people. So she believed him.

*

After saving Bart and destroying the facility, Clark and Chloe waved Oliver and the rest of the league goodbye. He swore he saw some sparks flying between him and Chloe, but maybe that was just wishful thinking. That Oliver could be interested in someone other than Lois. 

“Brooding all by yourself?” Lois called behind him, interrupting his solitude in the loft. 

He let out a small laugh. “Care to join me? It’s not Monte Carlo, but..”

“That place is overrated anyway,” she lingered at the top of the stairs, not venturing closer to him. “I thought you should know, uh, Ollie and I are through.”

“I’m sorry,” it was a little true. He did feel bad for how things turned out between them, and it wasn’t like Oliver hadn’t become one of his closest friends over the last few months. 

“Ah, don’t be,” she shrugged. “You and I both know it’s been over for a long time.”

He gave her a sad smile. She looked like she was going to leave, but said, “It is him. Isn’t it?”

He looked to the ground and kept his mouth closed, knowing what she was referring to without having to specify.

“He wouldn’t tell me, not directly. But that’s why he left? Why he was…constantly leaving?”

Clark couldn’t say anything. He couldn’t meet her eyes, knowing they’d give away the truth. They always did when she looked into them.

“Forget it, uh, I’ll see ya, Smallville.” She went down the stairs quickly. 

She had to go. And he had to let her. She had a lot to process and if he pushed, asked for more, he risked losing her forever, even as a friend. But her voice rang in his ears. Be selfish.

He couldn’t. It wasn’t smart, it wasn’t the right thing. 

Be selfish . 

He stayed because he had things to do here. There were the phantoms. There was Lex. 

Be selfish.  

And there was Lois. As much as he had tried to fight it and ignore it and hide from it. There was always Lois.

“Lois, wait,” he rushed down the stairs, catching her in the front of the barn. He didn’t stop until his lips were on hers and their bodies were flush against each other. She kissed him back fervently, only pulling away when she needed to take a breath. 

“I don’t want us to be over,” he pleaded, thumbs brushing her cheekbones. 

She smiled, bright like sunshine. 

“Me neither.”

***

“No, it’s a Christmas movie,” Lois said, rocking her hips as she straddled Clark on the couch, Jack Skellington singing on the TV behind them. 

“We watched it on Halloween,” he reminded her, kissing up her neck. Her fingers twisted his hair.

“There’s only one holiday in the title, Clark.”

He flipped them over, thrusting into her hard. “It’s a Halloween movie,” he reiterated. 

“Ya know, Smallville,” she said as snow started to fall outside, “tis’ the season for giving.” He grabbed her wrists and held them above her head. He picked up the pace of his thrusts, making it more difficult for her to get words out. “Getting me a present?”

The truth , he thought, I’m gonna tell you everything . 

“You’ll just have to wait and see,” he kissed her. 

“Not good at the whole patience thing,” she whined as her body writhed beneath him. 

When they were both tired and spent, wrapped in the other’s arms, he understood that at least when it came to Lois, he wasn’t great at it either.