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The Accidental Husband
by Erin Klingler <erinklingler@cableone.net>
Rated:  PG
Submitted: Oct. 2001
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Author's Note: I want to dedicate this story to so many people: 
to Wendy Richards, for beta reading, making many incredibly 
helpful suggestions, and for coming up with such an incredibly 
clever title (don't tell me you thought *I* came up with that 
<g>); to Pam Jernigan, for alerting us on the fanfic list to a 
strange old law in North Carolina where upon this story is 
based, and for giving me tons of wonderful suggestions; to 
Hazel, for suggesting I bring in a couple of characters I never 
would've thought to (no spoilers, but thanks Hazel! ;); to Pat, 
for her editing help :), and to all my incredibly wonderful, 
supportive friends on Zoomway's message boards (the members of 
the 'bubble bath at Clark's place' club <vbg>), who not only 
motivated me to keep working on this, but who kept me honest in 
my story telling and characterizations. I could *never* have 
done this without all you guys! THANKS!

As for the timeframe: This story departs from the first-season 
timeline in that yes, Clark admits to his feelings for Lois in 
the park, and yes, Lois then accepts Lex's proposal. But 
anything in between *or* after those two incidences--including 
the "Lex taking over the Planet and blowing it up" plot line--
never happens in this story.

As usual, any and all feedback welcome!

*****

"Excuse me, I'm WHAT?!" Lois stared at the city clerk on the 
other side of the window in utter disbelief.

"According to my records, you're already married," the clerk 
repeated, more slowly this time.

"I am *not*," Lois insisted adamantly. "I would *know* if I was 
married! You think a woman forgets something like that? Maybe 
*you* would," she spat out, causing the clerk to stiffen 
defensively, "but I certainly wouldn't! I am not married!"

"Yes, you are. It says right here that you are, as of December 
12th, 1993."

"Who does it say I'm married *to*?"

"Umm..." the clerk mumbled as she studied the records one more 
time. "A Mr. Clark Kent."

"WHAT?!" Lois's face went pale. "There's no way that's even 
possible! I'm not married, and certainly not to Clark! Let me 
see that!" She hurried around the edge of the counter and 
pushed through the swinging door to go stand behind the 
startled clerk.

"Miss, you can't come back here," the clerk objected.

But Lois wasn't listening. She stopped beside her and bullied 
her way over to see the screen the clerk was getting her 
information from. There it was. In black and white. Lois Lane 
and Clark Kent had been married on December 12th, 1993.

"How...how is this possible?" she stammered, her voice a 
strangled whisper. "We never got married. We never did. I 
would've remembered something like that." She turned to stare 
at the clerk in confusion. "How could this be possible?"

The clerk's somewhat sympathetic expression started to fade. 
"I'm sorry, Miss, I don't explain 'em. I just read 'em. Now, if 
you honestly don't know, I suggest trying 'records' on the 
third floor. Next!"

As the clerk turned her attention to the next person in line, 
Lois backed away in a daze and pushed unseeingly through the 
swinging door at the end of the counter.

Married. She was married to Clark. How could this be?

Unaware of anything around her, she wandered out of the office 
and stepped out into the hall, where she stopped. She stood 
there in silent disbelief for a moment, then shuffled over to a 
nearby bench in the hall and slumped down onto it.

This couldn't be happening! She was supposed to marry Lex in 
two weeks. Two weeks! How was she supposed to explain this? 
"Oh, by the way, Lex, I have to wrangle myself a quickie 
divorce. From who? Well, Clark, of course. Didn't I mention 
that he and I were married?"

She groaned and slumped over, dropping her head into her hands. 
This was a nightmare! How was she supposed to fix this?

She took a couple of shaky breaths, forcing herself to calm 
down. 'Breathe, Lois. Just relax. This can't be right. This is 
just some ridiculous oversight. There's got to be something you 
can do to prove that this is just all some big mistake!'

After a couple more forced, deep breaths, Lois gathered herself 
together, straightened her shoulders, and jutted out her chin. 
This was all a big mistake. And heads were going to roll around 
these city offices if they didn't fix the problem. And fix it 
*right now.*

And with that, she stood up and headed for the supervisors' 
offices upstairs.

*****

After two hours of battling city workers who knew nothing, 
trying to track down supervisors who didn't seem to exist, and 
working her way through miles of red tape, she was exhausted, 
both mentally and physically.

"It's useless," she grumbled as she left the city offices 
building in disgust. "I can't believe I just wasted an entire 
morning getting the runaround!"

On the short drive to the Planet, however, her exhaustion 
eventually turned to anger as she kept remembering how she'd 
been patronized by everyone she talked to, and belittled by 
stupid city officials. There was nothing she hated more than 
being talked down to, and if that hadn't been enough, how was 
she supposed to explain this to Lex, much less fix this in the 
mere two weeks she had left before her wedding? By the time she 
arrived at the Planet, she had worked herself into a tantrum, 
and was angrier than ever.

When the elevator chimed and the door opened, she stomped out 
of the elevator and down the ramp to the newsroom floor. Her 
coworkers immediately saw the dreaded and all-too-familiar 'Mad 
Dog Lane' look on her face and quickly got out of her way. It 
was an unspoken rule at the Planet. When Lois had that look, 
you'd better run for cover.

She'd barely gotten to the newsroom floor when Clark's uncanny 
sixth sense alerted him to her presence, and he looked up from 
the notes he was reading at his desk, and offered her a 
friendly smile. But when he took in her angry eyes and her 
tightly clenched jaw, his smile quickly faded.

'Uh-oh,' he thought. 'Something is definitely wrong.'

He pushed his chair back from his desk and stood up cautiously. 
They'd only been partners for a few months, but in that time, 
he'd gotten to know her probably better than anybody else ever 
had. Or ever would. And he could tell from the look on her face 
that an approach required caution.

'Especially these days,' he thought dejectedly as he decided 
how to approach her in her obviously agitated state. Their 
relationship had been more than a little strained lately with 
everything that had happened between them in the past couple of 
weeks. Their partnership had never been smooth and trouble-free 
to begin with, since they were both very strong-willed and 
independent people, but when Clark had declared his love for 
her a couple of weeks ago in the park and had been shot down by 
her response of "I'm sorry, but I just don't think of you that 
way," and then heard her acceptance of Lex Luthor's marriage 
proposal...it was no wonder things were strained between them.

But he still cared for her--loved her--in spite of how much it 
had cut him clear to his soul to hear that his feelings for her 
weren't going to be returned, and wanted to be there for her, 
even if he didn't agree with the choices she'd made and the 
path she was taking in her life. And part of being a good 
friend, he realized, meant supporting your friends and being 
there for them, regardless of whether or not you agreed with 
the path in life they'd chosen for themselves.

So, in spite of his wounded pride caused by her outright 
rejection, he took a deep breath and tried to put on his 
"supportive" face as he walked over to her desk where she'd 
just thumped down into her chair. "Lois?" he asked tentatively.

She turned to glare at him. "What?!" she practically shouted.

He cringed. But then he steeled himself and tried again. 
"What's wrong?"

"'What's wrong?'" she echoed, her voice dripping with sarcasm. 
She sputtered angrily for a moment, too emotional to spout out 
her words. Finally, she forced herself to take a deep breath 
and momentarily composed herself enough to speak coherently. 
"Okay, if you really want to know, I'll tell you," she said, 
her anger barely checked. "I've been at City Hall all morning, 
trying to make heads or tails out of this. But now, come to 
think of it, this is probably all your fault!"

Clark stiffened defensively. "*My* fault? What did I do?"

"As if you didn't know!" she shot back. Seeing his confusion, 
she pushed her chair back from her desk and stood up, crossing 
her arms angrily in front of her. Then she forged on, deciding 
to play along for the moment. "This morning, I went down to the 
city offices to get my marriage permit in order, only to find 
out I can't *get* a marriage permit."

Clark's brow furrowed. "Why not?"

"Why not? Why not?! Because they say I'm already married, 
that's why not!"

Her loud, angry voice carried across the newsroom, but she 
didn't seem to notice the large group of coworkers who'd 
stopped to stare at her, suddenly very interested in their 
conversation.

Clark's confusion spread across his face. "Married? What do you 
mean, you're already married? To who?"

"Hah! As if you didn't know. Is there something you should be 
telling me, Clark?"

"Me? What are you talking about? What am I supposed to know 
about it?"

"Because apparently, I'm married to YOU!"

Clark's jaw dropped open, and the newsroom noise suddenly died 
completely. A sea of faces all turned to stare at the pair in 
stunned silence, dying to hear what would come next. But Clark 
didn't notice the onlookers as he continued to stare at Lois's 
flushed, angry face. Looking decidedly pale, he asked in a 
shocked whisper, "To me?"

"Yes, to you. I can't believe you have the gall to stand there 
and pretend you have no idea what's going on, Clark! How could 
you do this? Did you think it would be funny?"

Clark recovered slightly, but still looked a little more shell-
shocked than Lois would've expected him to be if this had, 
indeed, been some sick joke he was playing on her. "Lois, what 
are you talking about?" Clark finally demanded.

Lois threw her hands into the air in exasperation. "You must've 
had some hand in this! You must've done something, *filed* 
something, that makes the city think that we're married!"

"Now, hold on just a second," he objected, trying to make sense 
of this latest news. "*I* didn't have anything to do with this! 
Don't go flying off the handle and blame this on me!"

"Well, then what happened? Why are you and I married?"

Clark shrugged. "Don't ask me, Lois. I'm just as confused as 
you are. Did you check the records at City Hall?"

"Haven't you listened to a word I've said?" Lois demanded, 
stomping her foot in anger. "Didn't I just say that's where 
I've been all morning? All I've been able to find out is that 
the city says we're married. I have no idea how this happened!"

"Well, there's one way to find out," Clark told her. Then he 
turned and yelled, "Jimmy!"

*****

"Okay, guys, I've got it!" Jimmy called out as he stood up from 
his desk and came rushing over to Lois and Clark's desks, where 
they were pouring over notes in an effort to solve the mystery.

Lois leaned back in her chair and gave her eyes a tired rub. 
"What have you got, Jimmy?"

Jimmy perched himself on the corner of her desk and grinned at 
her, then at Clark, who had made his way over to stand next to 
them. "Are you guys ready for this?"

"Yes!" Lois demanded, tired of the whole situation. "Would you 
please just get on with it?!"

Jimmy's grin faded. "Okay, okay." He turned to the top sheet of 
the stack of papers he held in his hand. "I did a little 
digging, and this is what I found. Does December 12th, 1993 
ring a bell?"

Lois rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Jimmy, you know that I 
know it's the date Clark and I were supposedly married. I was 
the one who told you what the city clerk said, remember?"

Jimmy shook his head vigorously, a smile working its way back 
across his face. "No, Lois. Think harder. What *else* rings a 
bell with that date?"

Lois's brow furrowed in concentration. The date *did* kind of 
sound familiar. But why? She glanced up at Clark, but he looked 
as confused as she felt. Finally, she turned back to Jimmy and 
shrugged. "It sounds familiar. Why? What are you getting at?"

Jimmy's grin broadened as he took the paper off the top of the 
stack and waved it in her face. "Does the Lexor hotel ring a 
bell?"

Lois glared at him as she snatched the paper from him, and 
Clark hurried around behind her to read the paper's information 
over her shoulder. They skimmed it together, then Lois glanced 
back up at Jimmy irritably. "This is the invoice when Clark and 
I stayed at the hotel during our stakeout. So?"

"So," Jimmy began, reaching over to point at the names on the 
register, "look at the names."

Lois nodded. "Mr. And Mrs. Kent. Again...so?"

"SO," Jimmy emphasized, milking the drama for all it was worth. 
"According to this," he pulled another paper from his stack and 
handed it to her, "there's an old New Troy law on the books 
that state that if a man and a woman register at a hotel as 
husband and wife, they are then legally and lawfully married." 
Jimmy finished with a magician's flourish and straightened 
proudly, eagerly anticipating their reaction.

He got just what he'd been hoping for. Clark's jaw dropped, and 
Lois went pale. "Wait a minute," Clark interjected. "You mean 
to tell me that just because we registered as husband and wife 
at a hotel on an undercover assignment, that we're--"

"--Married?" Lois finished in a hoarse, shocked whisper.

Jimmy's grin threatened to overtake his face. "Exactly!" He 
looked from Lois to Clark and then back at Lois again. "So you 
realize you guys have blown it by keeping this a secret, you 
know," he told them teasingly. "If we'd have known, we could've 
given you two a really great wedding party, and Clark," he 
elbowed Clark and winked at him, "I could've thrown you one 
heckuva bachelor's party! You know, complete with a stripper, 
and--"

"Jimmy--" Clark began, his tone warning, but it was too late.

Lois jerked up from her chair and shot the young man a look of 
pure daggers. "I'm glad you think this is so funny!" she 
sputtered angrily at Jimmy, whose smile quickly faded. "Do you 
have any idea what this means?! I'm supposed to marry Lex in 
two weeks! *Two weeks!* How am I supposed to explain that I 
can't marry him because I'm married to someone else!"

Tuning out of her little tirade, Clark grimaced. Her wedding. 
Great. As if he needed another reminder about Lois marrying 
Lex. The man was pure evil. He knew it. He just had to figure 
out a way to prove it. But by the time he'd be able to prove 
it, it would be too late. Lois would be married to Lex, and her 
world would crumble down around her. He certainly didn't want 
to see that happen. He loved Lois with all his heart, enough to 
even let her marry someone else, if that's what she wanted to 
do.

But not Lex. He'd do anything to keep her from marrying him. 
He'd even tried to come clean with her and tell her his true 
feelings, but he'd struck out. She'd accepted Lex's proposal 
and hastened on with her wedding preparations. But maybe this 
city clerical error was just the thing. If it were up to him, 
he'd say a silent prayer of thanks for the incompetent workers 
at the city office building and stay technically married to 
her, if it meant it would keep her from marrying Lex.

He tuned back into Lois's rantings just in time to see her 
beginning to descend on Jimmy.

"And do you have any idea how much red tape I'm going to have 
to cut through to get this cleared up?" she was saying. "I 
don't have time for this! I've got invitations to finish, 
caterers to contact, not to mention the fact that I've got 
dress fittings for the next couple of days! How am I supposed 
to find the time to clear up something like this?!"

Clark watched her babble on in her anger, seeing Jimmy slip off 
the corner of her desk and back up as her voice increased in 
volume. Finally, Clark decided to intervene before Jimmy was 
reduced to rubble.

"Okay, Lois, okay," he interrupted, quickly stepping between 
them and putting a hand on her shoulder to try to calm her. "I 
know this isn't the most opportune time to get this news, but 
getting all fired up over this isn't going to make the problem 
go away. I suggest we all just calm down, and see what we can 
do about getting this resolved. Okay?"

Lois met his pleading eyes with her own angry ones, but the 
fire in them slowly died as Clark's soothing effect started to 
take her over. She forced herself to take a deep breath. 
"You're right, Clark." Then she turned to Jimmy. "Sorry," she 
mumbled, "I'm just a little stressed out at the moment."

"No sweat," Jimmy accepted her apology and dared to take a step 
closer. "What can I do to help?"

"The first thing you can do is find out who would do this to 
us!" Lois demanded. "That would be a start."

Jimmy looked from her to Clark, then back again, obviously 
confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, *someone* had to have set us up!" Lois insisted. "Things 
like this just don't happen."

"You're kidding, right?" Clark scoffed. "You haven't heard of 
people's driver's licenses being revoked for no reason? Of 
people's names being accidentally changed on public records? Of 
warrants being put out on people who've never committed a 
crime? These clerical errors happen all the time!"

"Maybe in some cases, but not with something like this!" Lois 
argued. "There is *no* way something like this could've 
happened without someone taking deliberate action somewhere 
along the line. It's not like City Records browses through 
every single hotel registration, looking for couples to 
torment. So how on earth did our hotel registration get sent 
into whatever city office that makes us officially married? 
Someone *had* to have done this. But who? And why?"

Before she could even consider the answers to her own 
questions, Lois closed her eyes and raised her hands to her 
head to massage her pounding temples. "Great. Now I'm getting a 
migraine." Then, under her breath, she muttered miserably, "I 
just can't believe this whole thing is happening."

Worried that she might actually be making herself sick, Clark 
put a hand on her shoulder and tried to guide her down into her 
desk chair. "Here, Lois, why don't you sit down for a minute? 
You look a little pale."

But Lois shook off his hand and opened her eyes, dropping her 
hands back to her sides and visibly trying to regain her 
composure. "Clark, I can't. We don't have time to just sit 
around here. We've got to *do* something."

"Like what?" Jimmy asked sincerely.

"Well, I think the first thing that Lois and I should do," 
Clark stated matter-of-factly, trying to take control of the 
situation, "is to go back down to the city offices and talk to 
someone about this. There's got to be somebody who can 
straighten this out." He turned to Lois. "Are you game?"

With a heavy sigh, she nodded. "Fine, let's go," she mumbled as 
she reached for her satchel and adjusted the strap over her 
shoulder.

As they stepped into the elevator and Clark punched the lobby 
button, he glanced over at her and saw the tension in her face 
and shoulders. He didn't see that this was that big a deal to 
fix, but obviously it was really stressing her out.

His heart going out to her, he sighed and slid his arm around 
her shoulder, giving her a sympathetic squeeze. "Don't worry, 
Lois. We're going to fix this. You'll see."

Feeling a little more heartened by his sympathetic gesture, she 
looked up at him, her frown slowly fading from her face and 
replacing itself with a grateful smile. He really was an 
incredible friend. "Thanks, Clark," she told him sincerely. 
"I'm sorry for flying off the handle back there. It's just that 
I'm worried about getting this all straightened out before my 
wedding, you know?"

Clark stiffened at the mention of her wedding, but forced 
himself to smile. "We'll straighten it out, no problem," he 
told her. But in his heart, he was praying for a miracle. A 
miracle of more city employee incompetence that would take this 
*months* to work out, hence delaying her wedding, maybe even 
canceling it completely.

'Yeah, right, Clark,' he found the little voice inside his head 
retorting. 'Lois has always been stubborn. You've done all you 
can to stop this, and nothing's worked. You're just going to 
have to let things play out and hope for the best.'

With a sigh, he realized the little voice in his head was 
right. All he could do now was hope for the best. If only it 
would be enough....

*****

Perry stood motionless in the doorway of his office with his 
arms folded across his broad chest, watching with curiosity as 
Lois and Clark climbed into the elevator. His eyebrows crawled 
up his forehead as he watched Clark reach up to squeeze Lois's 
shoulder in what looked liked sympathy, and then linger there 
for a few seconds longer than necessary for such a gesture. 
Interesting.

Jimmy passed by his door, and Perry stuck a hand out, motioning 
for him to stop. "Hey, Jimmy." He nodded towards the elevator. 
"What's with Lois and Clark?"

Jimmy's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Lois came stormin' in a while ago in one of her moods, and 
then, after all that yelling, you went to work on something for 
them."

"Oh, that." A broad grin spread across Jimmy's face. 
"Apparently, they're married!"

Perry's eyebrows crawled clear up to his sparse hairline. "Come 
again?"

Jimmy nodded. "Yep. Married. On some technicality, though." He 
quickly explained what they'd discovered. "So, officially, 
whether they meant to be or not, they're married. Isn't that 
hilarious?"

Perry only grunted noncommittally before turning and going into 
his office.

*****

"What do you mean, there's nothing you can do about this?" Lois 
shouted, coming dangerously close to losing her temper at the 
man sitting across the desk from her and Clark.

The man paled a little at her bout of temper, but steeled 
himself before answering. "I'm sympathetic to your situation, I 
really am. But whether someone filed something by mistake, or 
whether it was some cruel, practical joke played on you by 
someone, as you're claiming, there's nothing we can do 
clerically to fix this. The only thing we can do to right this 
is to follow the procedures in place."

"And what exactly *are* those procedures?" Lois demanded, 
ignoring the look Clark threw her, pleading with her to calm 
down.

"Divorce, obviously," the man answered casually. "The best 
thing to do would be to get a lawyer and file for divorce. And 
since you two haven't been living together as a married couple 
or have terms of the divorce to deal with, it shouldn't take 
too long to get it pushed through."

"How long?" Clark asked, posing the question before Lois could.

"Anywhere from six weeks to two months, I would guess."

"Two months!" Lois yelled, causing Clark to flinch. He was 
certain her voice could be heard clear down to the floor below. 
Lois stood silently for a moment, and both men fearfully 
awaited her next outburst. But her voice was surprisingly calm 
when she spoke again. "So that's our only option? Divorce?"

The man nodded. "Afraid so."

Lois looked over at Clark, much of the steam from her tantrum 
dissipating under the weight of the word. Divorce. It was so 
final. 'Wait a minute!' a little voice inside her head 
screamed. 'What are you talking about--final? You and Clark 
were never married! Or at least, you never *knew* you were 
married. It's not like you were married and couldn't make 
things work. This was some cruel joke or even some ridiculous 
clerical error, for crying out loud! Not a failed marriage!'

But still, she couldn't shake the finality of the word. 
Finally, she found her voice and forged on. "Okay, suppose we 
*do* want to file for divorce. What would we need to do?"

"Well," the man hesitated, obviously debating about whether or 
not to speak his next words. After a long, painfully silent 
moment, he forged on. "You'd have to see a marriage guidance 
counselor. It's, um...mandatory in New Troy for all couples 
seeking divorce to see one first." He visibly flinched, as if 
anticipating her next explosion of anger.

He'd anticipated correctly. Lois's anger came rushing back in 
full force. "A marriage guidance counselor! Are you out of your 
mind?!" Lois hollered, standing up from her chair so quickly 
that it nearly toppled it over.

Thinking quickly, Clark reached out and caught the chair before 
it went over backwards. "Lois," he began, trying to quiet her, 
"I think you need to calm down--"

"Calm down?! No, Clark, I'm not going to calm down!" Lois 
exploded. "This whole situation is just ludicrous! Someone--not 
us!--screwed up, and now we're supposed to go see a marriage 
guidance counselor because the city can't fix some stupid 
clerical error? You've got to be kidding! How can you just sit 
there and not be angry about this! Or expect *me* not to be 
angry about this?!"

Clark sighed and glanced skyward, obviously pleading for 
heavenly intervention, or at the very least, the patience to 
ride out her latest, trademark tantrum. But his patience was 
waning, and when he spoke, he had a hard time not arguing back.

"Lois, getting angry and yelling loud enough to be heard clear 
down on the first floor isn't going to accomplish anything!" he 
raised his voice in exasperation, letting a couple of week's 
worth of pent up frustration come flooding to the surface. "You 
always do this, get yourself all worked up over things, and for 
what? Nothing! You just end up causing a scene, scaring off the 
people around you, and making yourself look like a two-year-old 
in a candy store who was told they couldn't have a sucker!"

Startled by his adamant outburst, Lois stared back at him, 
somehow unsurprised to see that he wasn't backing down. He was 
the only one she'd ever known who didn't back down from the 
rage of an infamous 'Mad Dog Lane' tantrum. His gaze leveled on 
hers, and they stood there for a long minute in a silent battle 
of wills, neither of them backing down in the heat of battle.

Uncharacteristically, Lois wavered first. "Well, at least *I* 
feel better after all that yelling," she admitted, her tone a 
little gentler.

Clark's anger vanished completely, and he found a chuckle 
escaping his lips. She was just priceless. He felt the sudden 
urge to grab her and kiss her right then and ther.? Never was 
she more beautiful than when she was flushed, vibrant, and full 
of conviction. But somehow he didn't think that'd be 
appropriate, considering how she didn't see him as more than 
"just a friend," he thought sarcastically.

Their little interaction hadn't gone unnoticed, however. The 
man sitting at his desk continued to watch them in bemusement, 
and, seeing that they were done arguing, he ventured bravely, 
"Are you sure you guys aren't really married? You sure fight 
like you are."

But when that elicited a look of pure fury from Lois, he 
forcibly wiped the smile off his face. "I'm sorry about your 
situation, really, I am," he told them sincerely. "But we do 
have a set way of doing things, and there's not much I can do 
to change them. So why don't you two just go off and talk some 
about this. If you decide to see the counselor, here's a list 
of names for you to contact." He scribbled a few names down, 
then handed the paper to Clark, clearly feeling safer giving it 
to him, considering the circumstances.

"Oh, one more thing," Lois interrupted as Clark hastily took 
the proffered list from the man. "I've been wondering how 
something like this happens. Since this law is so arcane, 
wouldn't it make sense to assume that someone who knew we'd 
checked in as husband and wife would have to deliberately get 
some proof of registration from the hotel and then *bring* it 
into some city records division to get it filed?"

The man nodded. "That makes the most sense. No one here would 
waste their time searching through hotel registries because of 
some old law on the books, and a clerical error seems unlikely, 
since there's quite a bit involved in filing for marriage 
certificates."

Lois shot Clark a triumphant look. Then she turned back to the 
man and asked, "Would there be record of who filed for it? A 
signature on some forms or something?"

"I would think so, though those records would need to be pulled 
from the archives, and it would likely take a month or more to 
get the requested copies."

Clark spotted Lois's returning look of frustration at being 
told the forms weren't readily available, and in order to avoid 
another ugly scene, he quickly butted in. "Thank you for your 
help," he said, holding up the list of marriage counselors he'd 
been given. "Uh...we'll be in touch." Then he quickly placed 
his hand on the small of Lois's back and ushered her out of the 
office.

Once in the hall with the office door shut behind them, Clark 
rolled his eyes at Lois. "Geez, Lois, why does everything have 
to be a battle with you? The man was just trying to help--"

"Help?" Lois argued, though this time, her tone held a lighter 
note to it. "His idea of fixing this is to send us to 
counseling. Counseling! For a couple who isn't even married, 
who isn't even a *couple*! Isn't that extremely off the wall?"

"Well, what do you suggest we do, Lois?" Clark asked. "It's not 
like we have a lot of options. Besides, you know that old 
saying, 'You can't fight city hall?' Well, I propose that we 
don't."

"Don't say 'propose,'" Lois groaned, rolling her eyes. Then she 
sighed. "Fine. Let's arrange to see the counselor. But if I 
*ever* find out who was behind all of this, they're going to 
wish they'd never been born!"

*****

When they stepped back into the newsroom at the Planet a short 
time later, Jimmy intercepted Lois on the way to her desk. 
"Lois, here's a message for you. It's from Lex. He said it's 
important."

"Great," she muttered as she snatched the paper from Jimmy's 
hand. "I'm not ready to talk to him yet. This is an even bigger 
mess than before."

Jimmy glanced at Clark. "It didn't go that great, huh?"

Clark shook his head. "They can't just fix this," he reported. 
"We have to file for a divorce, which could take six weeks or 
more to process. But what's even worse is that before we can do 
that, according to New Troy state law, we have to see a 
marriage guidance counselor before we can file."

The laughter erupted out of Jimmy's mouth before he could stop 
it. "Hey, that's great!" he joked. "It'll be the perfect 
opportunity for you guys to work out some of those issues you 
have." But then when he saw the withering glare Lois shot his 
way, he wiped the smile off his face and stammered, "Or...maybe 
not."

When Lois grabbed her phone and started to punch in a number 
angrily, Jimmy turned to Clark. "She's not taking this well, is 
she?" Jimmy asked, keeping his voice down to a whisper.

Clark shook his head. "No, she's sure not."

"Hey, Jimmy," Lois suddenly called out, holding her hand over 
the phone's mouthpiece. "Would you look into something for me? 
The guy we just talked to at the city office building said it 
could take a couple of months to get us copies of our marriage 
paperwork. See if you can find a way to track them down, would 
you? I'd just love to get my hands on those forms to see them 
for myself."

Jimmy nodded. "You got it."

When Jimmy was gone, Clark sat down at his desk, intending to 
get some work done. But even though he knew he had lots of work 
to catch up on, he found it hard to tear his gaze--and his 
thoughts--away from Lois long enough to do any of it.

He watched as she plopped down angrily in her desk chair, then 
pull open her desk drawer to pull out a notepad and a pencil. 
When she put the pencil to the paper, she pressed down too 
hard, causing the lead in the pencil to break. She let out a 
growl of frustration, then yanked open the desk drawer and 
threw the pencil in viciously. When she pulled out another 
pencil, she glared at it before using it, as if daring it to 
happen again.

Clark started to chuckle. Man, she was incredible. Even angry, 
she was beautiful. She had more passion in her soul than most 
people did in any portion of their body. She was fiery and full 
of life, and he longed to take her in his arms and hold her and 
kiss her every day for the rest of his life.

He sighed. If only they were married for real, and not just 
because of some falsely recorded information filed through City 
Hall. It would be so amazing to be married to her. Nobody knew 
her as well as he did, and rarely did anyone see the many 
different sides to her that she'd shared with him, whether 
she'd meant to or not. To many of her colleagues, she was just 
an incredibly great reporter, but with an attitude that erupted 
all too frequently for their liking. He knew they thought of 
her as volatile, angry...someone never to be crossed. But in 
her, Clark saw so much more. She was definitely someone unique 
and special. She'd been hurt in relationships in her life, so 
naturally she was guarded. But when she let her guard down long 
enough for Clark to get to really know her...that's when he 
knew she was the only woman he'd ever love.

And that's what made this whole situation hurt all the more. He 
longed to be married to her. She saw it as a horribly timed, 
cruel joke. Not a lot of hope there, he thought heavy-
heartedly.

With one last, aching look at Lois as she wrote furiously on 
her notepad, he did his best to force the disappointment from 
his heart and focus on his work.

*****

A short time later, Lois knocked on Perry's door and entered 
without waiting for his response. "Perry, I need to talk to 
you," she said insistently.

Perry smiled patiently. He was used to interruptions from his 
fiery reporter. Gesturing to the couch across from his desk, he 
said, "Sure, Lois. Have a seat."

She did, then hurried on. "Perry, I assume you've heard about 
this marriage fiasco of mine and Clark's, with our stakeout at 
the Lexor hotel." When he nodded, she continued. "Yeah, well, 
according to the person we talked to at the city offices, our 
only option to clear this whole mess up is to file for divorce. 
But since this all happened on a stakeout, can you arrange to 
have one of the Planet lawyers draw up the paperwork? I'm not 
about to find a lawyer of my own and wait weeks to get an 
appointment."

Perry nodded thoughtfully. "I think that can be arranged. Have 
you talked to Clark about this?"

"Talk to him about *what*?" Lois demanded, her voice rising 
dangerously. "We were mysteriously married, and now we have to 
clear this up by filing for divorce. It's cut and dried. I'm 
not about to stay married to my partner, for crying out loud."

Perry held his hands up in front of him acquiescently. "Okay, 
Lois, okay. I was just asking." Then he reached for the phone. 
"Let me see what I can set up."

Two hours later, Lois walked out of her appointment with one of 
the Daily Planet attorneys with the simple divorce papers drawn 
up and signed. She'd been told the next step was to attend the 
state ordered counseling as they waited for the papers to be 
delivered to Clark for him to sign. So, with her head swimming 
with information and a migraine threatening, she hurried back 
to the Planet, eager to push the whole, horrible divorce 
proceedings from her mind. But two minutes after walking off 
the elevator and into the newsroom, she discovered that her 
headaches were just beginning.

Word had gotten around the Planet that she and Clark had been 
married on a technicality, and for the rest of the afternoon, 
coworkers had thrown teasing quips and little digs her way. She 
did her best to grit her teeth and ignore it, but by the time 
Lois got into the elevator to go home for the day, she was 
ready to slug someone. She'd just punched the 'down' button 
when a hand slipped through the closing doors, causing them to 
open back up. She looked up to see Clark standing there, 
smiling gently at her.

"Heading home, too, huh?" he asked, giving her a smile, though 
he could tell from her expression that she wasn't in the mood 
to return one.

She nodded coolly. "Mercifully."

"You've had better days, I bet," Clark surmised 
sympathetically.

Lois's eyes flashed dangerously, and when she answered, it was 
through gritted teeth. "If I hear one more 'Where's your better 
half, Lois?' or 'Did you sign a prenuptial agreement, Lois?', 
I'm going to go ballistic."

"I know what you mean," Clark agreed solemnly. "I've heard them 
all day, too. But you're just taking this too seriously, Lois. 
Don't let them bother you."

She turned to him and gave him a cold stare. "I can't believe 
that you're not taking this *more* seriously, Clark! If you 
want to play this down, fine. But just so you know, this *is* 
serious to me, okay?"

Clark caught the slight waver in her voice at her last few 
words, and he noticed with surprise that she actually had tears 
forming in her eyes. He stared helplessly at her, completely 
unaccustomed to seeing his partner get teary-eyed. He opened 
his mouth to try to respond, but nothing came out. Before he 
could try again, the elevator door opened.

"Oh, just forget it," she mumbled, obviously trying to cover up 
the fact that she was on the verge of tears as she rushed out 
into the lobby.

She'd stormed halfway to the outer doors of the lobby before 
Clark was finally able to force himself into action. This 
wasn't just a matter of her being angry at a day's worth of 
teasing, he decided, or being frustrated over an admittedly 
aggravating development. There was something more here that he 
wasn't seeing. And he wasn't about to let her go without 
finding out what it was.

He rushed after her, finally catching up with her just as she 
reached the door. Quickly, he grabbed her arm and pulled her 
aside. "Lois," he began, the concern for her evident in his 
intense gaze. "What is it? What is it about this whole thing 
that's making you so angry, that's bothering you so much?" He 
swallowed, barely able to get out the next words. "Is it Lex?"

What happened next surprised him even further. Her face started 
to crumple, and she visibly fought to keep her nearly 
overflowing emotions in check. She seemed more vulnerable than 
he'd ever seen her before, and it tore at his heart.

Glancing quickly around at the busy lobby, he realized this was 
no place to have this conversation. There was no way she would 
open up to him with all these people around, threatening to 
overhear something obviously so personal. "Come on," he told 
her, protectively wrapping an arm around her shoulders and 
steering her toward the lobby door. "Let's go someplace where 
we can talk in private."

As she nodded numbly, he steered her toward the parking garage 
and wordlessly took the keys from her before guiding her into 
the passenger seat. Then he climbed into the driver's seat and 
quickly headed out. It was only a matter of minutes before they 
were finally in the privacy of her apartment, and he sat her 
down on her couch before carefully sitting down beside her.

"Okay," he breathed, gently encouraging her to continue their 
conversation. "So, what's going on? Obviously, I'm missing 
something. It's about Lex, isn't it?" Suddenly, a thought 
occurred to him, and instantly, his face paled and he felt sick 
to his stomach. Even though he was afraid of the answer, he 
knew he had to ask the question. "You're not...worried...about 
him getting angry and...hurting you, or anything, are you?"

Lois's eyes widened, and the look of shock at his question 
instantly made him breathe a sigh of relief. "No! Oh, no, it's 
nothing like that. Lex isn't like that. Besides, I haven't even 
told him, yet. Obviously, I'm going to have to," she admitted 
forlornly, "but I guess I just keep hoping that someone is 
going to wake me up and tell me this has all been just a bad 
dream."

"So what's the problem?"

Lois hesitated. "I guess it's just...well...." Her voice 
drifted off, and she dropped her gaze down to her hands, 
refusing to look him in the eye.

He waited patiently for her to reply, but when she remained 
silent, he reached out and gently tipped her chin up with his 
finger so she was forced to meet his concerned gaze. "Lois? 
What is it?"

She took one look at the sympathetic expression on his face and 
her resolve to stay in control of her emotions quickly 
dissipated. A tear slid down her cheek, and then another, and 
another. Embarrassed at crying in front of him, she hastily 
brushed at the wetness on her cheek and cleared her throat 
anxiously.

"I guess it's just the whole idea of being 'divorced.'" She 
made the quotation mark signs with her fingers as she said the 
word. She visibly fought to control her tears, and his heart 
ached for her. He reached for her hand, taking it gently in his 
own and giving it a firm, supportive squeeze. That seemed to 
give her the strength to go on.

"You know what my family life has been like, Clark," she 
confided sadly, "and I swore I'd never make the same mistakes 
they did. But here I am, soon to be considered a 'divorcee,' 
without even ever having been married. I've failed, Clark. 
That's what my records are going to say. That I failed. And I 
failed without even trying, without ever having been married."

Clark felt unbidden tears spring to his own eyes. He'd never 
thought about it that way. With her views of marriage, sure she 
would take this seriously. Her parents' marriage had failed, 
and she was sensitive about it. So he was sure that when--if--
she ever did get married, she'd want to not make a mess or her 
marriage, to make it better than her parents' had been. But 
here she was, her name being tacked on with the 'failed 
marriage' label, without even having given it a try. Now he 
could see how that hurt, see why it was affecting her so much.

"I'm sorry, Lois, I guess I never saw it that way," he offered 
softly, his voice filled with compassion. "But you have to 
realize, this is all just some ridiculous error. I'm not upset 
about it because I see it as such, and not some indication 
about my ability to have a successful marriage. It just doesn't 
mean anything. You have to see that."

She nodded unconvincingly. "I do. But for some reason, that 
logic isn't making me feel any better." She turned and looked 
toward the kitchen, searching for some way to restore her 
emotional control. "Oh, this is ridiculous," she said, steeling 
herself and straightening up. "You're right. You're absolutely 
right. One notation on some stupid piece of paper isn't going 
to define who I am. I guess I'm just being overly emotional 
right now, with the wedding coming up and the stress levels 
running high."


Clark wasn't sure how he was supposed to respond to that, but 
before he could decide, she stood up and paced to the far side 
of her living room, then turned and slowly came back. "I just 
wish I wasn't it this mess. There's no way I'm going to get 
this all fixed in a matter of two weeks."

"Why not just ask Lex to use some pull to fix this?" Clark 
threw out, unable to hide the note of sarcasm that had crept 
into his voice.

Lois looked shocked that he'd even mentioned it. "No!" she 
immediately exclaimed, rushing over to Clark and sitting back 
down beside him. "You wouldn't say anything to him, would you, 
Clark? I mean, I plan to tell him...I just have to figure out 
how to do that gracefully."

Clark rolled his eyes and fought to argue back that he wouldn't 
talk to the man if he were the last person on the earth. But he 
caught himself just in time and shook his head, instead. "No, 
this is your business, Lois. I'll do whatever you need me to do 
to help, but I'm not about to rush over to tell Lex anything. 
Why don't you want to tell him, though?"

Lois looked embarrassed. She dropped her gaze down to her lap, 
and fidgeted with a piece of lint on her pants. "I don't know. 
I guess that I just don't want him thinking there was something 
more between us than friendship. He knows you and I are 
close...you know, with being partners and all. But I can see 
him getting jealous if he thought there was more to our 
relationship than I was telling him. And he'd definitely think 
that if I told him we were actually married!"

Clark was silent for a minute, then Lois groaned and slumped 
forward on the couch, resting her elbows on her knees and 
burying her face in her hands. "Oh, what a mess," she mumbled 
in defeat.

As secretly glad as he was that there was a big wedding hitch, 
Clark would have *never* wished such emotional turmoil on her. 
Sighing deeply, he laid his hand on her back and began to rub 
it gently. "I'm sorry this happened, Lois," he told her 
sincerely. "I wish that things could be different, that you 
weren't having to go through this. Maybe if we went back and 
talked to that guy--"

"Oh, Clark, it's useless," she said dejectedly as she waved off 
his suggestion and sat up a little. "You heard him. 'Policies.' 
Let's just get on with this and see how fast we can get this 
done. As it is, I'm going to have to tell Lex we'll need to 
postpone the wedding until the divorce papers go through. Oh, 
he's just going to *love* that," she muttered, her voice 
dripping with sarcasm.

"Well, for what it's worth, I managed to set up a marriage 
counseling session for us tomorrow night with one of the 
counselors," Clark told her as he followed her outside. "You 
don't have plans already, do you?"

Lois sighed. "I guess not. What time and where? I'll come by 
and pick you up."

"The appointment's at seven."

"Okay," Lois agreed dismally. I'll see you then."

Clark nodded, then stood up and walked with her to the door. 
She opened it for him, but when he started to leave, he turned 
back to her and took in her pallid expression, the deep sadness 
in her eyes, and the tears still lurking in her eyes. 
Immediately, his heart went into his throat. He'd seen her 
violently angry, ecstatically happy, boldly determined...but 
never this completely down and despondent. It unnerved him. She 
just wasn't the type to give up, to call it quits. She was a 
fighter. And to see her standing there, with no sign of fight 
in her eyes, it tore violently at his heart.

Instinctively, he reached out and put a gentle hand to her 
cheek. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?" he asked when 
she finally looked up to meet his concerned gaze.

After a moment, she sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I 
always am, aren't I?" She laughed a humorless laugh. Then, as 
if shooing him out of her apartment before she broke down 
again, she whispered a quick "goodnight" and shut the door 
between them.

A hand clenched around Clark's heart as he stood in the 
deserted hallway, thinking of what she was going through 
emotionally. He knew that some little file in City Hall listing 
them as "divorced" was only a clerical fix to their problem, 
and didn't mean anything. But obviously, Lois felt differently. 
She was taking this personally...and hard.

He quickly racked his brain for a way to help her through this. 
Yes, things had been a little rocky between them lately, but if 
anything, he was her friend, and he wanted her to know that he 
was there for her, no matter what.

But before he could think of what to do, he heard an all-too-
familiar cry for help, and a groan escaped from his lips. 'Talk 
about bad timing,' he muttered to himself. But as he darted 
into the alley behind her building for a quick change and then 
launched himself into the night air, it dawned on him that 
maybe backing away from the situation for a few minutes would 
help him to know what he could do to help her.

He only hoped that something would come to him soon.

*****

It was nearly an hour later by the time Clark finished his 
Superman duties, and after he'd turned a would-be burglar over 
to the police, he rocketed into the night sky--and toward 
Lois's apartment.

He'd been unable to get her off his mind as he darted from one 
rescue to another, trying not to let the vision of her tear-
streaked cheeks and despondent countenance affect him as he did 
his job as Superman. But when almost an hour had passed, his 
concern for her had grown so intense and his stomach so twisted 
up in knots that he just hoped and prayed that no one else 
would cry for help, so he could return to her.

'I don't know why I'm so anguished to see her like this,' he 
thought with a hint of anger. 'She's the one who told me she 
couldn't ever see any future for us romantically, but was 
willing to accept the proposal of a man who she obviously 
doesn't know as well as she thinks she does, and would never 
love her as she deserves to be loved. I should be glad this 
thing happened! It means that I still have a shot at convincing 
her of what a mistake it would be to marry that man.'

But even as those thoughts tumbled around in his mind, he found 
himself feeling incredibly guilty for even having them. While 
it practically killed him to know that she was planning to 
marry Lex, he knew that she had her free agency, and was free 
to choose what she wanted to do with her life. But that still 
didn't stop him from hoping that she'd see Lex for who--and 
what--he really was. He also found himself often hoping beyond 
all hope that *something* would happen to prevent her from 
marrying him. And maybe this was just the thing. But at any 
rate, in spite of feeling secretly glad this latest development 
would postpone the wedding at least a little while, he knew 
that he definitely *didn't* want to see her so miserable and 
unhappy.

'Just be her friend," Clark told himself as he neared her 
apartment. 'I know you're feeling hurt and rejected, but you 
have to push those feelings aside right now and be there for 
her. She needs a friend right now more than anything else in 
the world.'

So, steeling himself and forcing himself to push his own 
feelings aside, he found himself above her apartment in a 
matter of moments. He was about to duck into the alley behind 
her building to change out of his Suit when suddenly, he 
paused.

Maybe it would be a good idea to take a quick peek to see if 
she was decent--or possibly even asleep--before arriving at her 
apartment unannounced. So he cautiously peered into her 
apartment, but what he saw made his heart lurch. He saw that 
she was curled up on her bed in her darkened apartment with a 
box of tissues beside her, looking completely dejected and 
utterly friendless.

There was no way he was going to let her spend her evening like 
this. He couldn't. So he knew he had to go in there and cheer 
her up. But how? She certainly hadn't listened to his reasoning 
before he'd left, so what made him think she would now? No, she 
needed something to distract her, something to draw her out of 
her depression. But what?

Suddenly, inspiration struck. In that instant, he knew the 
perfect thing to do. With a flash of super speed, he turned and 
headed back the way he came.

*****

Lois shifted her position on the bed so she could stare up at 
the darkened ceiling of her bedroom, feeling completely lost 
and alone. She reached for yet another tissue, but her hand met 
with the bottom of the box. With a start, she grabbed the box 
and peered inside, confirming that it was, indeed, empty.

She sat up quickly and saw that dozens of damp, crumpled 
tissues were strewn about her on the bed, and in that moment, 
she realized what a pathetic sight this was.

"What is *with* you, Lois?" she demanded, forcing herself to 
sit up and swing her legs over the edge of the bed. "This is 
completely pathetic! Whatever happened to 'Mad Dog Lane', never 
letting anyone or anything affect you? All this self-pity isn't 
going to make the problem go away. Now get up and clean up this 
mess! Maybe you can think of something to fix all of this if 
you get moving around."

She stood up and started to pick up the tissues littering the 
bed, then quickly threw them into the garbage before running a 
quick hand through her mussed hair and tightening the belt on 
her disheveled robe. Then she walked out of her darkened 
bedroom into the rest of her darkened apartment, and, with a 
disgusted shake of her head, went to turn on some lights.

When she could finally see, she shuffled into the kitchen and 
opened the freezer. Ice cream always cheered her up, she 
rationalized. But her freezer was empty, all except for a tray 
of ice cubes. "Great, no ice cream," she grumbled, slamming the 
door shut.

Letting a little bit of her depression sink back in, she 
shuffled back out of the kitchen and dropped down onto the 
couch. She sat silently, wondering if she had the energy or 
enthusiasm to get dressed and walk down the street to the 
grocery store for some ice cream, or something to munch on. As 
she deliberated, the only sound she could hear was the clock in 
the kitchen ticking away. It suddenly made her realize just how 
lonely she felt.

"Oh, I wish Clark were still here," she whispered sadly as she 
let her head fall back against the couch back.

But then she realized what she'd just said, and it surprised 
her. True, she'd always thought of Clark as a friend. But never 
before had she longed for the company of a guy--even as a 
friend.

'Oh really?' a little voice inside her head challenged. 'And 
exactly how many guys have you had as friends?'

That thought made her smile. It was true. Even thinking clear 
back to her days of college and high school, she realized that 
she'd *never* had a guy as a friend. Obviously, something made 
Clark different from all the other guys she'd known. But what?

With a sigh, Lois realized she was in no mood to answer her 
questions. All she did know was that right now, she felt 
lonely. Lonely and alone. More alone that she'd ever felt in 
her entire life. Realizing that a fresh bout of tears were 
threatening, she sank down onto the couch and dropped her head 
into her hands.

Before she could indulge in another round of self-pity, a knock 
sounded at the door. Startled, she sat up. With a quick glance 
at the clock in her kitchen, she saw that it was nearly ten. 
'Who would be coming by at this hour?' she wondered as she 
pushed herself off the couch and went over to peer through the 
door's peephole.

She was both surprised and thrilled to see Clark standing on 
the other side of the door. Without hesitation, she flung open 
the door and stared at him in shock. "Clark! What are you doing 
here?"

"Well, I figured you were probably still feeling pretty down, 
so I decided to come over to cheer you up." He held up a large, 
flat cardboard box in one hand, and a smaller, plastic box in 
the other. "How does pizza and a video sound?"

Lois looked astonished. "You didn't."

He grinned triumphantly. "I did. I even got your favorite 
pizza: pepperoni, mushroom, and olive."

"Oh, Clark, you are just the best!" Lois gushed as she ushered 
him into her apartment and shut the door behind him. "What 
movie did you get?"

"Oh, I don't know. Some chick flick," Clark shrugged as he 
crossed over to the coffee table and set the boxes down on it. 
"But the video store manager assured me you'd love it."

Lois's heart warmed at the thought of Clark going to so much 
trouble for her. Impulsively, she walked over and gave Clark a 
hug. "I can't believe you went to all this trouble!"

When she pulled back to look up at him, he grinned happily. 
"For you, it's no trouble at all." After a lingering moment of 
bliss in her arms, he stepped back and flipped open the pizza 
box lid. "So, I hope you're hungry, because I got us a large."

Lois laughed as she sat down on the couch and helped herself to 
a piece of pizza. "Mmm, this is great," she mumbled through a 
mouthful.

He smiled as he sat down beside her and reached for a slice. 
"I'm glad you think so."

For the next few minutes, they ate their pizza in silence, but 
something was lingering on Clark's mind. Trying to get up the 
courage to broach the subject, he asked, "So, are you feeling 
any better than when I left?"

Lois shrugged. "A little, I guess."

It was quiet for another long minute before Clark decided to 
just come right out and ask her what was troubling him.

"Lois, can I ask you something?" Clark asked, suddenly focusing 
intently on the piece of pizza he held in his hand.

"Sure, Clark. You can ask me anything."

Clark hesitated, then haltingly began to speak. "Don't you 
think it's kind of strange that you're talking to me about this 
whole marriage thing, and not to Lex? I mean, you're supposed 
to be marrying the guy, but you can't even bring yourself to go 
over there to tell him. Shouldn't that...tell you something?" 
he finished nervously.

His words sat heavily in the air for a long moment, and Lois's 
shell-shocked expression made him wonder if his comment had hit 
home. But before he could press the issue, she waved off his 
question with a wave of her hand.

"Oh, Clark, that's ridiculous," she insisted.

"Is it?" Clark challenged, watching her face carefully. "I'm 
not so sure."

"Of course it's ridiculous," Lois argued, standing up and going 
over to the kitchen garbage to throw away a handful of napkins. 
"I'm not afraid to tell him or anything! I mean, he *is* my 
fiance and everything. I just know that he's an incredibly busy 
man, and I don't want to bother him with this after he's 
already gone to so much trouble to make such special 
arrangements."

Clark followed her and leaned up against the kitchen counter 
with his arms crossed in front of him. "So you're saying that 
you don't want to inconvenience him."

"Exactly!" Lois exclaimed, turning to point a finger at Clark. 
"That's all it is. An inconvenience."

"Your wedding is an inconvenience?" Clark persisted. "Or you're 
an inconvenience?"

That set Lois's blood boiling, and when Clark saw the fire 
flicker back into her eyes, he knew he'd gone too far. "How 
dare you say such a thing!" she growled, stepping closer and 
eyeing him threateningly.

Clark immediately backed off. Lifting his hands up in front of 
him as if to tell her he wanted to peacefully surrender, he 
started to apologize. "I'm sorry, Lois, I didn't mean to put it 
so harshly. It just seems to me that two people who love each 
other enough to get married should feel comfortable enough with 
each other to go to the other person with absolutely 
*anything,* and not feel like it was an 'inconvenience.'"

"I am comfortable with him!" Lois retorted, her voice rising in 
anger.

"Comfortable enough to talk to him about City Hall screwing 
up?" When Lois was once again speechless, he knew that his 
point had hit home. "Look," he began again, this time more 
gently, "I'm not just trying to pick a fight here. I'm just 
wondering...if you're this nervous to talk to him about a 
wedding glitch, albeit a pretty big one, how are you going to 
talk to him about other things that come up in your marriage? 
You can't have a good marriage without open communication, 
Lois. If anything, I've learned that from my parents' marriage 
while growing up."

Lois opened her mouth to argue, but Clark sighed and held up a 
hand. "I'm sorry, Lois, I didn't mean to spoil our evening by 
fighting with you. Will you just do me one favor though? 
Please?" When she nodded silently, he continued. "Will you just 
think about what I said? Just think about it. That's all I'm 
asking."

Lois was about to tell him to forget it, that he knew nothing 
about her and Lex's relationship. But then she saw the sincere 
concern in his eyes, and she felt herself giving in. Clark 
didn't ask her for much, and he *had* been such a great friend 
by going to all the trouble to come back with pizza and a 
video. Granting his request was the least she could do...even 
if he was dead wrong.

"Okay, Clark, fine," she finally said, letting her words come 
out in a breathy rush. "But I'm telling you, you're wrong about 
all of this. Now can we just forget about this? I'd like to 
have another piece of pizza without getting a lecture, if you 
don't mind." But she smiled a little when she said it, and he 
breathed a sigh of relief to see that he hadn't ruined the 
evening.

With their argument forgotten, their comfortable camaraderie 
was quickly restored, and they spent the next two hours eating 
pizza, watching the video, and joking and laughing. As the hour 
grew late and the movie was nearing its end, Lois found it 
natural to let her head fall sleepily against Clark's shoulder 
as she sat next to him on the couch, and it made her realize 
just how much she loved hanging out with Clark. She loved that 
she could just be herself around him, and not worry that he 
might be expecting anything from her. Their friendship was 
unconditional, and she loved that.

When the video finally clicked itself off at one A.M. and 
started to rewind, Lois found herself not wanting their evening 
to end. Suddenly, she realized that Clark had his head resting 
on top of hers, and she couldn't remember when that had 
happened. All she knew was, she'd missed this feeling of 
comfort and security she had with Clark, especially since the 
past few weeks things had been strained between them.

Sleepily, Lois realized how great it felt to be sitting there 
next to him on the couch, his arm draped casually around her 
shoulder, his thigh pressing against hers, and the soft feel of 
his T-shirt beneath her cheek. In fact, being this close to him 
felt almost *too* good....

Thinking quickly, Lois jumped up from the couch and started to 
collect the dirty napkins and put them into the empty cardboard 
pizza box. Clark seemed confused by her sudden surge of action, 
but he stood up and wordlessly helped her straighten the 
cluttered coffee table. When things were thrown away and Clark 
had collected the videotape from the VCR, Lois walked him to 
the door to say goodnight.

"Clark," she began, smiling softly up at him, "I can't thank 
you enough for coming over tonight to cheer me up. You went to 
so much trouble, and I just want you to know that it really 
means a lot to me." Then, much to Clark's surprise, she slipped 
her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek to his chest, 
hugging him for the second time that evening.

Without a moment's hesitation, he put his arms around her and 
hugged her back tightly, savoring the moment. He closed his 
eyes briefly, blissfully inhaling the scent of her shampoo and 
the scents that were just her.

When she stepped back, Clark smiled down at her, feeling warm 
and happy. "You're welcome, Lois. I'm here for you anytime. You 
know that, don't you?"

She smiled gratefully and nodded. "I know. And thanks." Turning 
a bit, Lois reached for the doorknob and pulled open the door. 
"Goodnight, Clark."

"Goodnight, Lois," Clark said as he stepped out into the hall. 
"I'll see you tomorrow."

"It *is* tomorrow," she teased lightly, a smile brightening her 
entire face as she glanced down at her watch pointedly.

He laughed. "So it is. Then I'll see you today."

Lois shook her head, joining in his easy laughter. "Fine, 
whatever."

Clark backed the rest of the way out into the hall, then lifted 
his hand in a little wave. She returned the gesture, then shut 
the door quietly behind him.

Feeling one hundred and ten percent better, Lois walked around 
the apartment and turned off the lights. She even found herself 
humming a little as she headed into her bedroom. As she dressed 
for bed, her thoughts drifted back to the events of the 
evening. She'd certainly surprised herself by snuggling up next 
to Clark, enjoying the feel of his arm draped casually around 
her shoulders, and his head resting against hers. For the first 
time in her life, she realized that she was comfortable enough 
to do that with a guy--albeit a friend, not a boyfriend--
without worrying that she might be leading him on. It just felt 
natural to snuggle up next to him, to enjoy an evening with a 
good friend.

But she still couldn't figure it out. Why was it she felt so 
completely comfortable with Clark? Comfortable enough to even 
confide in him her innermost thoughts and fears, as she had 
earlier when she'd told him about the real reason for being so 
upset about "getting divorced"? She'd certainly never felt 
comfortable enough to do that with anyone else. But for some 
inexplicable reason, she found herself trusting Clark, and 
turning to him in times of need. He was solid, reliable. He 
never betrayed her trust by passing on anything she'd said to 
him in confidence, at least that she knew of, and he was always 
there with one of his broad smiles or a word of encouragement 
just when she needed it. She felt more comfortable with him 
than she ever had with anybody in her entire life. More 
comfortable than she even felt with...

Lex.

A gasp escaped her lips, and a hand flew to her mouth. Had she 
really just thought that? Had she really just insinuated that 
she preferred Clark's company to Lex's?

"Oh, that's ridiculous!" she argued aloud. "You're *marrying* 
Lex. Of course you feel comfortable with him! If you didn't, 
you wouldn't be marrying him."

But suddenly, things didn't seem quite so clear. Did she really 
feel as comfortable with Lex as she did with Clark? Could she 
see herself just hanging out at home with Lex, sharing a pizza 
and watching videos? The thought nearly made her laugh out 
loud. No, she definitely couldn't see herself doing things like 
that with Lex. But there were other things that she and Lex 
liked to do together. He loved to go to the opera, fancy 
parties, charity balls, and she, well...she sort of liked doing 
those things.

'No, you don't,' a little voice inside her head argued. '*When* 
did you start doing those things? When you started dating Lex?'

The thought made her start. Yes, that *was* when she started 
doing those things. But she enjoyed them. Didn't she? It felt 
great to be pampered, to be picked up in a fancy limousine and 
chauffeured around town to dine at elegant restaurants and 
mingle with the rich and famous at balls. But...was it enough? 
Was that enough to share a life, a marriage, with someone?

Suddenly, Clark's words flashed into her mind: "Don't you think 
it's kind of strange that you're talking to me about this whole 
marriage thing, and not to Lex? I mean, you're supposed to be 
marrying the guy, but you can't even bring yourself to go over 
there to tell him. Shouldn't that tell you something?"

His words stung, even now. She had vehemently denied them 
earlier, but somewhere, deep inside, she wondered if they 
bothered her because...maybe, just maybe...they were true?

Lois quickly shook her head. 'No, Clark's wrong,' she told 
herself insistently. 'I can't believe I'm even considering 
this. Just because I was able to talk with Clark about this, 
but not Lex, the man I'm supposed to be able to share 
everything with...that doesn't mean anything. Does it?'

Feeling suddenly confused, Lois paced across her bedroom to the 
window and looked out into the dark night, as if the answers 
were out there for her to see. But somehow, she doubted the 
answers were going to be that easy to find.

*****

By lunchtime the next day, Lois's improved mood from the night 
before had completely disappeared, and she was quickly closing 
in on the international "enough" line. Not only had her 
nervousness continued to increase over how and when to explain 
this all to Lex, but she'd been endlessly tormented with a 
brand new round of "married" remarks by her co-workers, who, 
for whatever reason, had continued to find them funny. And as 
if those weren't bad enough, Ralph had approached her only 
moments before, grinning like a Cheshire cat, asking if he 
could "kiss the bride." If Perry hadn't chosen that exact 
moment to call for Ralph's latest story, Ralph might just have 
*been* the story. In the obituaries.

But it was Cat's thoughtless comment that had stung the most. 
She'd sashayed up to Lois's desk and perched on the corner of 
it while Lois was typing up her latest story in an effort to 
calm down. Then she smirked at Lois, and said, "So, I hear 
you're about to be welcomed into the land of the failed 
marriages. Nice going. Are you going to be getting spousal 
support and everything?"

Lois stiffened. She was used to Cat's sarcastic remarks, and 
usually responded with some biting comment in return. But 
this....

Lois quickly tried to hide the sudden onrush of unexpected 
tears by bending over to pick up a dropped pencil, but not 
before Clark saw how Cat's stinging remark had affected her. 
Quickly pushing back from his desk, he stood up and strolled 
over, scowling at Cat.

"Don't you have some gossip column to write?" he shot at Cat, 
his tone icy cold.

Cat looked surprised by the venomous tone in his voice, and she 
looked sufficiently humbled as she stood up and hurried away. 
As he watched her leave, Clark felt a momentary twinge of guilt 
for speaking so harshly to her, but he loved Lois, and there 
was no way he was going to stand by and let someone hurt her.

When she was gone, Clark turned back and put a gentle hand on 
Lois's shoulder. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly, no longer 
surprised to see tears lurking in his partner's eyes. Lois 
nodded, but he could tell from her expression that Cat's 
comment had hit too close to home. "Don't mind Cat," he told 
her. "She doesn't have a clue what tact is."

"I know," Lois said softly, trying to regain her composure. 
"She's always getting in little digs like that, so I don't know 
why one little dig should suddenly bother me now."

He gave her shoulder a squeeze. "We both know why, Lois."

She looked up and met his gaze, warmed by the sympathetic and 
loving expression she saw there. She let a timid smile curve 
the corners of her mouth. "Thanks, Clark. You're a good 
friend."

He flinched involuntarily at the word "friend," but tried his 
best to hide it by managing a smile. "You're welcome, Lois." He 
paused, then looked thoughtful. "I have an idea. Why don't we 
get out of here and have a little lunch. I'm all but finished 
with my story, and it looks like you are, too. What do you 
say?"

"That sounds great."

She took a moment to put the papers she was working on into a 
pile on the center of her desk, then grabbed her purse and 
stood up. As they walked toward the elevator, the Planet's 
newest copyboy nearly careened into them, and Clark 
instinctively reached out to put a hand on the small of Lois's 
back to steady her. It wasn't until they'd gone all the way up 
the newsroom ramp that he finally dropped his hand from her 
back. They were completely oblivious to the pair of eyes that 
followed their progress all the way into the elevator.

When the elevator doors closed and his famous reporting team 
was out of sight, Perry finally turned away, shaking his head 
in surprised amusement. The funny thing was, with a room full 
of reporters, no one even seemed to notice the seemingly 
insignificant gesture that was indeed *very* significant...at 
least, in *his* eyes.

He chuckled and shook his head. Yep, things were *definitely* 
getting interesting around here.

*****

Lois had never been more glad to see a day end. Her mom had 
left two messages for her, insisting that if Lois didn't call 
her back, she wasn't going to bother making another wedding 
arrangement since this was Lois's wedding, not hers. Lois had 
rolled her eyes at that. That sounded like a typical tantrum of 
her mom's, and there was no way she was in a mood to deal with 
her mom's negativity and accusations that her daughter *must* 
be avoiding her for some reason.

And then Lex had also left yet another message, probably 
assuming that she hadn't gotten his one from the day before. 
But she just couldn't bring herself to call him back...at 
least, not until she felt ready to talk to him. Ever since 
Clark's comments the previous night in her apartment, she had 
to admit that she'd been plagued with fleeting moments of doubt 
about her relationship with Lex. And just when she thought the 
day might be looking up a bit when all the little digs and 
marriage jokes seemed to taper off, Perry immediately heaped 
piles of work on her and Clark, and neither of them had time to 
breathe as they scrambled to finish it all.

When the last of the paperwork was done, Lois heaved a tired 
sigh, closed the file folder with a thump, and leaned back in 
her chair wearily.

"Tired, huh?"

Lois turned to see Clark just finishing up with his own work. 
"Yeah, it's been a long day. I'm looking forward to going home 
and soaking in a hot tub."

Clark cringed. "Umm, I hate to remind you, but we're supposed 
to meet with that counselor tonight at seven, remember?"

"Oh, I forgot," Lois groaned, letting her head fall backwards 
until she could see the ceiling. "Terrific."

Just then she caught sight of Jimmy walking past, and she 
straightened up in her chair. "Jimmy!" He turned and walked 
over to her expectantly. "Did you have any luck tracking down 
that marriage paperwork?"

Jimmy shook his head. "Not yet. I got as far as finding your 
marriage certificate, and it appears to be legit. Both your 
signatures are on it."

Lois raised her eyebrows at Clark. "I didn't sign anything."

"Me either," Clark agreed.

"Hmmm," Lois said thoughtfully. "So obviously somebody went to 
all the trouble to forge our names, which means this person 
either knew somebody on the inside, or is just really great at 
getting around the red tape."

Clark nodded. "Appears to be."

"Well, keep looking, Jimmy," Lois told him with a sigh. "At 
least try to track down the forms that would've been filed. 
There has to be a clerk's signature on them somewhere. Maybe 
that would give us somewhere to start."

"I'll start on that first thing in the morning," Jimmy said 
with a smile. "But right now, I've got a date."

Lois looked surprised. "A date? With who?"

Jimmy's smile deepened. "With this hot new girl I met from down 
in research. " He winked. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck," Clark called after him, clearly amused.

He was several feet away when Lois quickly leaned around the 
top of her desk and called after him, "Just don't register in 
some hotel as husband and wife!"

Jimmy's laughter drifted back to her, and Lois couldn't help 
but smile. A few moments later, she heard Clark close the lid 
of the binder in front of him with a thump, and she looked over 
to see him dropping his pen into his desk drawer.

"I," he told her, "am finally done."

"Probably thought it would never happen, huh?" Lois quipped 
with a tired smile. She glanced at her watch. "Almost six," she 
sighed. "What are you planning on doing between now and our 
counseling session at seven?"

"Well, that really doesn't leave enough time to do much of 
anything," he answered. "Do you want to just go grab a bite and 
then head over there?"

"Sounds fine," Lois replied, trying not to sound as irritable 
as she felt. "Maybe if I get some dinner before we go to meet 
this counselor, she won't think I'm always this irritable."

Clark cocked an eyebrow at her playfully. "What? You mean 
you're not?" But as soon as he said it, he laughed and darted 
away, correctly anticipating her effort to smack his arm.

"Come on," she groaned, rolling her eyes. "Before I show you 
just how irritable I can be."

*****

Lois actually felt her nervousness compounding as she and Clark 
walked up the steps of the New Troy Family Counseling Center 
and entered the building. Most of the adjoining suites were 
dark, but suite 3A's lights still shone clearly through its 
windows. They crossed the lobby to the suite, but Lois paused 
at the door.

Clark could visibly see her stiffen. "Lois? Are you okay?"

Lois shook her head. "Have I ever told you how much I hate 
shrinks?"

"'Shrinks'?" Clark asked, raising his eyebrows. "I'm sure 
they'd prefer to be called 'therapists' or 'counselors.'"

"Whatever," she grumbled irritably. "The point is, all they 
ever do is tell you that your parents are to blame for 
everything that ever went wrong in your life, and then they 
smile and collect their two hundred bucks an hour. What a bunch 
of crap."

Clark couldn't help laughing. "That's pretty harsh, Lois. I'm 
sure there are plenty of counselors out there who are sincerely 
trying to help people. Can't you at least give this one a 
break? She's probably had as long a day as you have, and 
wouldn't appreciate you giving her a hard time."

Lois rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. Like *she's* had to listen 
to all the marriage digs we've had to put up with these past 
two days. All she's had to do is sit in some comfy leather 
chair and pretend to listen while people tell her their 
innermost thoughts."

Clark's eyes pleaded with her. "Lois, please? Can't you at 
least *pretend* to be nice?"

That drew a brief smile out of Lois. "Pretend? Fine. At least 
*that's* something I can manage at the moment."

Clark watched as she pasted a big, false smile on her face and 
straightened up before opening the door herself and going 
through. But Clark could tell by her body language that this 
appointment had disaster written all over it.

'Heaven help me,' he thought, sending up a silent prayer for 
patience as he followed her into the office. He could tell 
already that this wasn't going to be easy.

*****

Clark followed Lois in through the office door, and they were 
immediately greeted by a slender woman with glasses and short, 
curly brown hair who sat at the reception desk. "You must be 
Mr. And Mrs. Kent," she inquired.

Lois's eyes narrowed at the use of the surname and opened her 
mouth to respond, but Clark quickly jabbed her with an elbow to 
remind her to be nice, then smiled back at the woman and 
nodded. "That would be us." But when he felt Lois's angry stare 
on him, he cleared his throat anxiously and added, "Well, so to 
speak."

She smiled kindly. "Fine, fine. I'm Dr. Jenkins." She stood up 
and gestured to a door to their right. "Should we get started?"

She led the way into the office, where a long, leather couch 
and two high-backed leather chairs were situated. Lois glared 
at Clark as if to say, "See? Leather furniture." But he gave 
her a look that clearly pled with her to behave. To her credit, 
she only rolled her eyes as she sat down next to him on the 
couch.

"Well," Dr. Jenkins said with a kind smile as she settled 
herself into the leather chair across from them, "I'm glad this 
could work out. It's the one night a week our clinic stays open 
late. So, Mr. and Mrs. Kent, I understand that you're seeking a 
divorce, and you're here because New Troy law says that you 
can't have one unless you try this first."

Again, Lois cringed at the use of the surname. "You know," she 
said defensively, unable to stay quiet any more. "I'd feel a 
lot more comfortable if you'd just call us by our first names."

If Dr. Jenkins picked up on the tone in her voice, she didn't 
let on. She just smiled acquiescingly and nodded, glancing 
quickly down at her notepad. "That'd be fine, Lois. So," she 
sat back in her chair and looked from one to the other 
expectantly. "You two are partners at the Daily Planet. You 
wouldn't be the first partners to fall in love. But obviously 
something's gone awry if you want to get divorced. And since 
we're all here, why don't we talk for a few minutes and see if 
we can get to the bottom of your troubles?"

Exasperated and finally losing what little control over her 
irritability she had, Lois rolled her eyes and sat forward on 
the couch. "Okay, I'll tell you what, *Dr.* Jenkins," she 
blurted out, eyeing the doctor condescendingly. "I'm not here 
for an earful of psychological mumbo-jumbo. We're here to get 
you to sign us off for counseling time so we can file for 
divorce. So why don't you just sign whatever little paper it is 
you need to sign, and we'll be on our way. That way you're not 
wasting *our* time, and we're not wasting *your* time. I don't 
know about you, but I'm extremely busy, what with all my 
wedding plans to reschedule and all."

Dr. Jenkins's eyes widened in shock and surprise at her 
declaration. It was obvious she wasn't sure if she'd just heard 
right. She stared dumbfoundedly at Lois for a moment, then 
turned to the young man sitting next to her. Considering this 
woman's outburst, she wasn't at all surprised to see this 
handsome young man turning a deep shade of red.

"I'm--I'm sorry," Dr. Jenkins stammered, turning back to Lois, 
"did I just hear you say you were planning a wedding?"

Losing her patience, Lois launched into classic babble mode in 
the blink of an eye. "Yes, that's right. My wedding was 
*supposed* to be in two weeks. Two weeks! But because of all 
this ridiculous red tape about having to go to counseling 
before we can get a divorce, my wedding date's going to have to 
be pushed back. And that means I have to order and send out new 
announcements, reschedule the caterers, call the bakery...the 
list goes on and on. It's giving me a headache just thinking 
about all of it. So why don't you just sign our little paper 
and we'll get out of here."

Dr. Jenkins seemed completely flabbergasted for several 
moments, but then was able to regain her composure. 
Uncomfortably, she cleared her throat. "Um, I see. Well. I 
certainly don't have to ask what--or who--has broken up this 
marriage. Lois, just how long have you been cheating on your 
husband?"

Lois looked shocked and confused for a moment, then a look of 
realization spread across her face. "Oh! No...no, hold on a 
second. I think we've given you the wrong impression. Let me 
clarify."

Dr. Jenkins looked at her sternly and nodded. "Yes, I wish you 
would."

Lois glanced over at Clark, then looked back at the counselor. 
"First of all, *we,*" she gestured at herself and Clark, "were 
never married. Or meant to be, anyway. You see, we were on a 
stakeout at a hotel a while back where we registered as husband 
and wife as a cover. Then, voila! Suddenly, we were 
mysteriously married because of some stupid old law in New Troy 
saying that a couple registered as husband and wife are 
officially and legally married."

Dr. Jenkins let out her breath in a rush and started to 
chuckle, clearly relieved to hear she wasn't dealing with such 
a blatant case of infidelity. "Hmm. Yes, I can see that that 
would cause some confusion. But why didn't you just explain to 
the records department that this was all just a big mistake?"

"Don't you think we've already tried that?!" Lois argued 
angrily. "Everyone we've talked said the only way to clear this 
up was to officially get divorced. Geez, why am I even sitting 
here?!" She shook her head in exasperation and started to stand 
up.

But before she could, Clark quickly reached over and slipped a 
hand onto Lois's forearm, giving it a squeeze. His simple 
gesture spoke volumes, conveying to her through his touch not 
to get worked up about everything all over again. Lois sighed 
in resignation and forced herself to take a deep breath as she 
settled back down on the couch.

Dr. Jenkins had caught the movement of Clark's hand and watched 
curiously as the young man reached for the young woman's arm, 
and was surprised by the almost instantaneous effect it had on 
his fiery companion.

"Oh, I see," Dr. Jenkins remarked. "That does make things a 
little complicated, doesn't it?"

"It's not complicated at all!" Lois began, but Clark quickly 
interrupted her.

"What Lois is trying to say," he interjected, "is that it's 
hard for us to see why the clerk's office can't just help us 
fix the problem without having us go through all of this."

Dr. Jenkins turned to Lois. "*Is* that what you were trying to 
say, Lois?"

Lois looked surprised to be called on. "What?"

"Well, I noticed that Clark interrupted you and told me what it 
was you were trying to say. Was he right?"

Lois looked over at Clark in confusion, then back at Dr. 
Jenkins. "Well, yeah, I guess so. What does that have to do 
with anything?"

Dr. Jenkins smiled insightfully. "It just seems that Clark, 
here, may be a little overzealous about stepping in and 
speaking for you. Does he do that often?"

Clark opened his mouth to deny her accusation, but Lois started 
to laugh. "Yeah, as a matter of fact, he does. But it's not 
like he's being overbearing and wanting to manipulate the 
conversation or anything."

"Really? So what *do* you think he's trying to do?"

Lois thought for a minute. "Maybe to stop me from saying 
something that'll hurt or offend someone. He's a little careful 
that way. He's always doing things like holding doors open for 
people, helping you on with your coat, thinking before he 
speaks, and watching out for people's feelings. I mean, he grew 
up in the Kansas," she said, as if that explained it all. Next 
to her, Clark rolled his eyes.

Dr. Jenkins smiled. "I see. So he's a gentleman?"

Lois nodded and offered a slight smile in return. "Yeah, I 
guess so."

"And you like that? It works for your partnership?"

Lois looked over at Clark, who was waiting expectantly with his 
eyebrows raised. Finally, she nodded and turned back to Dr. 
Jenkins. "Yeah, it does. For whatever reason."

Dr. Jenkins nodded thoughtfully. "Hmm. How many partners have 
you had, Lois?"

Lois seemed offended by the question, but she forced herself to 
remain composed. "You mean permanent partners? Like, for more 
than one story?" When Dr. Jenkins nodded, Lois shrugged 
indifferently. "Well, none, actually."

"Really?" the counselor look surprised. "And why is that?"

"Well," she began hesitantly. "I guess it's because I've been 
hurt in the past by some people I've been partnered with, so I 
learned my lesson. Since then, I've always made it a point to 
work alone. Being partnered up with someone has just never 
worked out before."

"Why not?" Dr. Jenkins continued to prod.

"Oh, um, I don't know," Lois stammered, clearly looking 
uncomfortable at the question. She turned to Clark, silently 
pleading for him to help her out, but he looked just as curious 
to hear her answer as their counselor did.

Finally, Lois continued haltingly, "Well, the people I've been 
partnered with have either stolen my stories and run, or have 
been completely incompetent. And when I try to help them along 
by telling them what they should be doing, they're usually in 
our editor's office before the end of the day, demanding to 
work with someone else."

"Mmm," Dr. Jenkins mumbled noncommittally and nodded. "But 
Clark didn't do that?"

Lois quickly smiled and looked over to catch Clark's eye. 
"Surprisingly, no."

"Why do you think that is?"

Lois paused and licked her lips. "I guess he's more patient 
than the others."

"Patient?"

Lois nodded. "Yeah, I guess. Several months ago, before Clark 
and I were partnered, I would've preferred to work alone. But I 
guess Clark and I just--"

"What?" Dr. Jenkins prompted.

"Well...click, I guess," Lois finally answered. "We seem to 
know what each other is thinking, and our personalities seem to 
really compliment each other's. Clark's calm when I'm wound up, 
or I'm rational when he's not...."

"Hey, when am I not rational?" Clark butted in, a challenging 
smile flickering across his face. "You're always the one wound 
up and I'm always the rational one!"

Lois opened her mouth in indignation, but Dr. Jenkins quickly 
stepped in. "Lois, now hold on. Let's take a moment and step 
back. Is what he's saying really true? And are you just feeling 
a little defensive about it?"

Lois turned back to look at their counselor, then let her 
breath out slowly. "Well, I guess it's true," she admitted 
wryly. "I'm pretty...intense, I guess. And I know I have kind 
of a temper...."

"'Kind of a temper'?" Clark laughed. "That's the understatement 
of the year."

Dr. Jenkins quickly intervened once again as she saw Lois's 
face flush. "Well, what would you call it, Clark?"

Clark grinned as he met Lois's 'I dare you to say it' gaze. But 
he answered evenly, "I'd call it volatile, unpredictable, 
sometimes even intimidating...."

"Intimidating?" Dr. Jenkins asked as she turned to Lois, 
waiting for her to respond.

"Well, yeah, I guess so," Lois admitted sheepishly. "I sort of 
have a history of flying off the handle. I think people at work 
can be a little intimidated by me."

Clark grinned victoriously. "Thank you."

"But I can't help it!" Lois rushed to defend herself. "I get 
fired up about something, and it's nearly impossible for me to 
back down. Especially when I know I'm right."

Dr. Jenkins smiled. "I understand." Then she turned to Clark. 
"Does her temper bother you, Clark?"

His smile softened. "No. No, not really. Unless she lets it get 
her all fired up and causes her to do impetuous things that end 
up getting her into trouble."

Lois's mouth dropped open in indignation. "They do not get me 
into trouble!"

Clark looked incredulous at her denial. "You've got to be 
kidding, Lois! You get into trouble all the time!"

Dr. Jenkins jumped in before Lois could argue further. "Clark, 
it sounds like it bothers you when this happens."

"Of course it bothers me," Clark insisted. "I don't want to see 
her get hurt. Since I've known her, she's been kidnapped, 
thrown out of an airplane, strangled, and shot at. She just 
seems to find trouble wherever she goes."

"I do not!" Lois protested indignantly.

"Yes, you do."

"Do not!"

"Hold it!" Dr. Jenkins held up her hands to ward off yet 
another impending argument. When Lois and Clark stopped their 
arguing and turned to look at her, she smiled and dropped her 
hands into her lap. "Obviously, you two are both very strong-
minded, strong-willed, independent people, which, don't get me 
wrong, are all great qualities to have," she explained. "But 
that also means you both need to learn to compromise, to talk 
through things instead of getting defensive."

As she let that hang out there in the air for a few moments, 
Dr. Jenkins lifted her pencil to her lips thoughtfully. 
Finally, she continued. "Okay, let me ask you this. Clark, how 
do you feel about Lois as a partner, in spite of her temper and 
tendencies to get herself into danger?"

Clark didn't hesitate with his answer. "She's the best. I 
wouldn't want to have any other partner." He glanced over at 
Lois and smiled tenderly. She readily returned his smile.

"And what about as friends?" Dr. Jenkins prodded on.

Clark swallowed. Without realizing it, this counselor was 
suddenly touching on fresh wounds. He cleared his throat a 
little awkwardly, then proceeded. "We're great friends. At 
least...we're still trying to be."

His change in tone piqued Dr. Jenkins's interest. "Trying to 
be?"

Clark glanced over at Lois and caught the hard stare she gave 
him that clearly read 'Don't you dare bring my relationship 
with Lex into this!', but he decided it certainly wasn't going 
to hurt to open this up to someone who might be able to help 
with the situation. Finally, he steeled himself and replied, 
"Yeah, well...up until a couple of days ago, our relationship's 
been a little...strained."

"Oh? And why is that?"

Lois quickly jumped in to try to take the offensive. "Well, you 
have to understand that Clark, here, decided to tell me that 
he's been in love with me for a while now."

"Hmm. And I take it from the tone of your voice that you don't 
reciprocate those feelings?"

Lois immediately opened her mouth to retort, but suddenly, the 
memory of Clark being there for her so much these past few 
days, talking her through her fears of being "divorced," of him 
showing up at her door with a pizza and a video, them snuggling 
on the couch, and the sudden rush of emotions that she found 
stirring in herself from his closeness.... And then the 
memories of the seeds of doubt planted by Clark came rushing 
back to fill her soul, and she found herself feeling confused 
and...well, scared.

"Lois?" she heard Dr. Jenkins prompting, drawing her out of her 
reverie.

Lois shifted in her seat, searching for the right words. But 
before she could try again, Clark spoke up, oblivious to the 
sudden conflict going on inside of her.

"No, she didn't," Clark finally said, not bothering to disguise 
the hurt in his voice.

"But Clark, I--" Lois stammered, not sure what to even say. How 
was she supposed to tell him all that had been going around 
inside of her head these past two days? How was she supposed to 
admit that she *was* wondering if she and Lex were really 
compatible...and if she might, indeed, be beginning to realize 
that the one she really loved might have been the man working 
side by side with her for the past year?

When it seemed Lois didn't know how to respond, Dr. Jenkins 
turned back to Clark. "So what happened then?"

Clark's stomach knotted up at the memory. "She ran off and 
accepted another man's proposal."

"Oh, I see. And how did that make you feel?"

"Angry. Hurt. Like my feelings and opinions don't matter."

"Clark, of course they matter!" Lois interjected.

"Do they?" Clark asked, his eyes flashing. "By the way you were 
treating me and refusing to listen to what I had to say about 
what you were getting into, it sure didn't seem like it."

Lois rolled her eyes and leaned back against the couch. "Here 
we go again. This whole spiel about how my fiance's the root of 
all evil. What is with you and him, Clark? What has he possibly 
done to make you hate him so much?"

For the first time since they'd sat down, Clark appeared at a 
loss for words. He stammered for a few moments, trying to 
explain what he knew without revealing anything about his Super 
identity. Finally, not knowing what else to say, he blurted 
out, "I can't tell you how I know, but just believe me when I 
say that he's not what he appears to be. Besides, the bottom 
line is, he's not good enough for you, Lois!"

"What, and you are?" she shot back. "Is that what you're 
saying? That I should just marry you instead?"

Clark couldn't stop the smile from tugging at the corners of 
his mouth. "Well, technically, Lois, we already *are* married."

Lois's eyes flashed dangerously. "Oh, is that supposed to be 
funny? Some cutting-edge Smallville humor?"

Dr. Jenkins had been sitting back and listening, and, in a 
sense, encouraging their exchange to happen, since she knew 
that once people started being honest and forthcoming about 
their innermost thoughts and feelings, problems had a way of 
working themselves out. But when she saw Lois starting to reach 
what she assumed was a boiling point, she quickly stepped in.

"Okay, you two, let's just calm down. Now Clark." She waited 
until she had the young man's attention. "Let's go back to 
something you just said. You said this man wasn't good enough 
for Lois. Why do you think that? What has this man done to make 
you think he's not good enough for her?"

"Well, for one, he doesn't treat her like she deserves to be 
treated," he exclaimed adamantly. "He wants her to come to work 
for his broadcast station--"

"He didn't say that he 'wants me to,' he just suggested it!" 
Lois objected. But when Dr. Jenkins shot her a look, Lois 
retreated into silence.

Dr. Jenkins nodded at Clark. "Go on."

Clark felt the muscle in his jaw twitch, a sure sign that he 
was getting upset. So he forced himself to take a deep breath 
before continuing. "For one, he doesn't know Lois like I do," 
he began firmly, trying to avoid looking at Lois as he spoke. 
"He might think a job at his broadcast station would be good 
for her, but it wouldn't be. He'd be dragging her away from all 
her friends, from our editor, who I know is like a father to 
her, and taking her away from the thrill of the hunt, which is 
what I know Lois likes best about investigative journalism."

He paused for breath and then rushed on. "And if that weren't 
enough, I hate the way he treats her like she's some prize to 
be won, some pawn in a chess game. Instead of realizing how 
wonderful and truly unique she is, he's just the type of guy 
who'll want her to stand quietly next to him at his precious 
charity balls, hanging on his arm like some Barbie doll trophy! 
And he's always taking her to operas and parties with all his 
famous acquaintances, which I bet she pretends to like, even 
though I'm sure she'd much rather enjoy a night in with a pizza 
and a video, with a man who's willing to listen to her and hold 
her and tell her how much he loves her."

At his words, Lois unintentionally drew in a sharp breath, and 
her heart began to pound. Even though Clark wasn't looking at 
her, she knew exactly who he was talking about. But she was 
sure he had no idea how much his words affected her, caused her 
eyes to tear up and her heart to swell. For a moment, she 
couldn't figure out why his words had affected her so much, 
until....

In that instant, it all became clear. She loved Clark. Had 
probably loved him for a long time now. She loved his patience, 
his kindness, the way he conveyed his love for her in so many 
ways, instead of simply telling her, as Lex did. He always made 
sure to pick her favorite chocolate donut out of the box for 
her in the morning at the Planet before it could be taken by 
someone else, and brought her coffee just the way she liked it. 
'I doubt Lex even knows or cares about how I take my coffee,' 
she realized.

But she knew that what it all boiled down to was this: Lex 
didn't know her like Clark did. In fact, maybe Clark was right. 
Maybe Lex *did* only see her as a prize to be won. At any rate, 
how could she ever be certain that he didn't? He didn't know 
her favorite flavor of ice cream, didn't know just what to say 
to calm her down when she was mad, didn't know just when to 
step in to stop her before she could do something impetuous.... 
Clark, on the other hand, knew *all* those things. He knew her 
inside and out, knew her strengths and her weaknesses, and was 
still her very best friend because--and in spite--of all of 
them. Everything she and Clark had together was exactly what 
she'd always longed for in a marriage. Did she and Lex have any 
of that? Not one little bit.

'Then why on earth are you planning on marrying him?' she asked 
herself bitterly. Clark had been right: Lex was all wrong for 
her. And Clark was all right. Why had she never seen that 
before now?

Lois swallowed noisily as the realization struck her, but 
nobody seemed to notice how pale she'd suddenly gone, and how 
completely silent she'd turned. It was all she could do to tune 
into the conversation when she heard Dr. Jenkins start to 
respond to Clark's statement.

"I see," she was saying to Clark, nodding at him encouragingly. 
"It sounds to me like you know Lois pretty well, as you should, 
with you two having been partners for a long time. So now that 
you've told us what you don't think Lois needs, why don't you 
tell us what you *do* think she needs?"

Clark was quick to respond, obviously not needing to think 
twice before answering. "She deserves to be using her talents, 
digging up the facts and continuing to write stories that make 
the world a better place by putting the criminals she exposes 
behind bars. She needs someone who will support her in what she 
does, not hold her back. She needs someone who will hold her 
when she's sad or scared, or feeling insecure. Someone to 
motivate her when she's discouraged, to convince her that she 
can do anything she puts her mind to, to argue with and 
challenge her. Someone she can come to for advice, or for a 
shoulder to cry on when she's had a bad day. To tell her 'I 
love you' when it feels like the whole world's against her. But 
most of all, she needs someone solid and dependable, who will 
always be there for her, no matter what...through the good 
times and the bad."

Clark's voice drifted off, and it was as if he'd suddenly 
realized how much he'd said. He cleared his throat awkwardly 
and sank back onto the couch, crossing his arms in front of 
him. "Well, anyway...that's the kind of guy I think she needs."

Lois found herself sitting in stunned silence, not sure whether 
to laugh or cry. It had finally happened. She had fallen for 
the Kansas farmboy she'd always convinced herself she'd 
despised. So if she'd finally realized that Clark was the one 
she loved, then why wasn't she throwing her arms around him and 
telling him how she felt? Why was she feeling such a sudden 
feeling of dread? She didn't have to think long to answer her 
own question.

Lex.

How on earth was she supposed to tell him that she didn't love 
him, and that she wanted to break off their engagement, when 
she couldn't even bring herself to tell him what had happened 
the last two days? He was a rich and powerful man, who *always* 
got what he wanted. That much was obvious from his level of 
success. How was he going to take it when she broke the news?

Unable to confront those very thoughts, she leaned forward on 
the couch and buried her face in her hands to hide the tears 
that suddenly threatened to fall. There was no way she was 
going to let either of these people see her cry--especially 
Clark--when she had no idea how she could explain why, exactly, 
she was crying.

As Clark's words faded in the air and silence prevailed, he 
couldn't help looking over as Lois leaned forward and buried 
her face in his hands. His heart sank. What had he just done? 
He'd opened his mouth, intent on just answering their 
counselor's question, but instead had poured out his heart and 
bared his soul. There was no way Lois could miss the fact that 
he was talking about himself in regards to who he thought would 
be her perfect match. But he should've known her well enough by 
now to know that he couldn't take such a bold approach with 
her, especially when it came to relationship issues. She'd 
struggled with so much in regards to those issues in the course 
of her life, and now he was afraid he'd really scared her off. 
And this time, probably for good.

Groaning inwardly at his lack of sensitivity, Clark 
straightened up and was about to apologize to Lois for letting 
so much come flooding out when Dr. Jenkins finally seemed to 
notice Lois's silence.

"Lois?" the counselor spoke gently. "What do you think about 
what Clark just said?"

Lois glanced up and saw Dr. Jenkins regarding her carefully, 
and suddenly, she panicked. The room suddenly seemed to be 
closing in on her, and the air seemed stale. She knew she had 
to get out of there.

"I'm sorry," Lois said abruptly, standing up so quickly that 
she startled both Clark and Dr. Jenkins, "I think I need some 
air." And with that, she bolted for the door and didn't stop 
running until she was outside the building.

Once out in the cool, night air, Lois drew in several deep, 
gulping breaths in an effort to calm herself down. After a 
minute, she lowered herself down onto the cold, cement step on 
shaky legs and closed her eyes. 'What am I supposed to do now?' 
she asked herself, suddenly feeling scared and uncertain about 
everything: her new feelings for Clark, her soon-to-be-broken 
engagement to Lex...her--and Clark's--uncertain future...

"Lois?"

At the sound of Clark's voice, Lois jumped and spun around to 
see that Clark was standing at the top of the steps behind her, 
his brow furrowed and his expression reflecting his concern for 
her. Her heart sank. Never before had she ever been loved by 
anyone so much, or had anyone be so concerned for her, or want 
so much for her to be happy.

And at the moment, in her state of confusion, it made her feel 
miserable.

"Lois, are you okay?" Clark spoke again, coming down the steps 
and sitting cautiously beside her. "What happened in there?" He 
tentatively put a hand on her back in the way he sometimes did 
when she was upset, but this time, Lois jerked away from him as 
if his hand were on fire.

Immediately, she felt guilty for her reaction to his 
sympathetic gesture when she saw how startled and hurt he 
looked. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, cursing 
herself silently. After all those beautiful, incredible things 
Clark had just said about her, this wasn't the way she'd 
intended to treat him.

Forcing herself to calm down, she opened her eyes to see him 
watching her intently. "Clark, I'm sorry," she told him 
quietly. "It's just...I don't know. Maybe I've just had a hard 
day. I guess things have just gotten so complicated lately, and 
I--" She broke off when she realized the tears had returned and 
were starting to course down her cheeks. Instinctively, Clark 
reached out and brushed them away with his fingertips.

Feeling as if this wonderful man were suddenly her lifeline in 
the middle of a raging, dark ocean, Lois closed her eyes and 
leaned into his hand, allowing herself to be comforted by his 
touch.

"What is it, Lois?" he asked quietly, sincerely. "What's 
wrong?"

Lois's heart ached to tell him, to confide in him, but she knew 
she couldn't. Not yet. This was something she had to figure out 
for herself. Pulling away, she brushed the tears from her 
cheeks and stood up, doing her best to compose herself.

"Clark, I'm sorry. I just...I can't talk about this right now. 
I need some time to be alone. Would it be okay if I drove you 
home?"

Clark's face fell. His worst fear had just come true. He'd 
pushed too hard and it had scared her off, and now she was 
running. Dismally, he nodded. "Okay, Lois."

The ride home was uncomfortably silent, but Clark knew better 
than to push any harder by trying to make her talk about what 
had just happened. He hoped that she'd talk about it when she 
was ready, but this time he wasn't so sure she would. He'd 
never seen her looked so scared and panicked before in all the 
time he'd known her.

When they reached his apartment, Clark reached out to open the 
Jeep's passenger door, but then stopped. He turned to see Lois 
sitting stonily behind the wheel, and decided he had to say 
something. Closing his eyes for a brief moment, he hoped for 
inspiration to strike, hoped that he could come up with the 
right words to let her know that everything was going to be all 
right. But when no words magically popped into his mind, he 
swallowed hard and decided to say 
something...*anything*...before he lost her forever.

"Lois," he began tentatively, "I know you don't want to talk 
right now, and I respect that. But I just wanted you to know 
that I meant everything I said tonight--about you and me, 
and...well, about you and Lex. I didn't mean to get so carried 
away and say anything to hurt you, though, or push too hard. I 
hope you know that, and I hope what I said isn't going to ruin 
what we have between us."

He stopped and waited to see what reactions his words might 
have on her, if any, but when her expression remained blank, he 
sighed heavily. "Well, I guess that's all I had to say. But if 
you decide that you *do* want to talk, remember that I'll be 
here for you, night or day. Okay?"

She nodded, and seeing her do that at least made him feel a 
*little* better. Saying a quiet 'goodnight,' he climbed out of 
the car and watched from the curb as she drove away. He felt an 
almost overwhelming sadness as he watched her car disappear out 
of sight, and he hoped, with all his heart, that it didn't mean 
she was also going to disappear out of his life.

*****

As Lois opened the door to her apartment and pulled her key 
from the lock, she wondered in a daze how she'd gotten there--
not just to her apartment, since she hardly remembered the 
drive home in her intense state of preoccupation--but how she'd 
gotten to this point in her life. When had everything become so 
complicated and confusing?

Two days ago, everything had been running smoothly. She'd been 
happily engaged to Metropolis's most eligible bachelor and 
third richest man in the word. She'd been making wedding plans, 
choosing caterers, and helping design the home where she and 
Lex would be living. But then, in one life-altering moment, she 
realized that she'd had everything all wrong. She didn't love 
Lex; didn't want to marry him.

And if that wasn't life-altering enough, she'd come to discover 
that she loved Clark, her partner and best friend. Somehow he 
had managed to sneak his way into her heart without her even 
realizing it.

Until tonight.

'So what am I supposed to do now?' Lois sighed despairingly.

Just a few weeks ago, Clark had bared his soul to her in the 
park, told her that he loved her...*had* loved her for a very 
long time. And she'd responded by telling him that she didn't 
feel the same way, and that she only ever thought of him as a 
friend, devastating him in the process.

But looking back, she wondered how she couldn't see then what 
was painfully clear now: She *did* love him...*had* loved him, 
even back then. She loved him so desperately that the thought 
of not having him in her life actually made her heart ache.

She couldn't help wondering what on earth she'd been thinking 
when she'd rejected Clark, the man whom she obviously had so 
much in common with, and instead accepted Lex's proposal, the 
man whom she had *nothing* in common with. She'd been kidding 
herself all along to think she and Lex were compatible. They 
lived in completely different worlds, enjoyed completely 
different things. Could she imagine hanging out with Lex, 
staying up late into the night to talk and joke with him? Could 
she imagine playing hours of board games with him as she and 
Clark had done during their stakeout in the Honeymoon suite? 
Could she imagine having that same kind of casual, easy 
camaraderie with Lex?

The answer resounded loudly and clearly in her head: Not a 
chance.

Lex was very different from Clark--distant, secretive, private. 
Even with her, his fiancee. She never felt anywhere near the 
same level of comfort around him that she did when she was with 
Clark.

'I should feel more comfortable with Lex, my fiance, than with 
anyone else in the world, but I don't,' she realized. She 
thought about how she often forced herself to think about 
things before saying them out loud to him, worrying about how 
he might react to them, or wondering if it was appropriate to 
talk to him about certain things. But with Clark, it was 
completely different. She felt like she could talk to him about 
absolutely anything, *tell* him absolutely anything. He'd 
always been there for her, as a partner, as a friend.

For an agonizing moment, she imagined how things would be if 
she did marry Lex. Surely, Lex wouldn't want her continually 
hanging around Clark, sharing pizzas and late night videos, 
taking in a movie, or playing a game of chess and talking, like 
they did now. The immense sadness that she felt at losing the 
ability to run to him whenever things got tough or when she 
needed a friend suddenly flooded her soul.

Why hadn't she thought of this before? Why hadn't she realized 
just how badly losing him would hurt? Because when you were 
married, wasn't your husband supposed to be your best friend? 
That's what marriage was all about, wasn't it? Marrying your 
best friend? Could she ever imagine Lex as being her best 
friend?

Lois didn't have to think long to realize that, no, she 
couldn't ever see herself thinking of Lex as her best friend. 
Somehow, that place seemed to be reserved solely for Clark.

But to think of treating Clark as more than just her best 
friend...could she do that? Sure, with their offsetting 
strengths and weaknesses and complimenting personalities, she 
could see what a perfect match they could be. But just because 
they sounded like they'd be a perfect match, were they 
compatible as far as a relationship's intimacy was concerned?

At first, Lois found herself automatically pushing those 
thoughts immediately out of her head, almost as if scolding 
herself subconsciously for thinking about her partner in such a 
way. But then, with a start, she realized she'd been doing that 
for a long time, refusing to let herself think of such things. 
But now, she tried to coax those repressed thoughts and 
feelings to the surface. *Did* she think about Clark that way? 
*Did* he affect her physically?

She closed her eyes and pictured his face before her, letting 
her mind's eye take in his thick, dark hair and luscious brown 
eyes that spoke volumes of the kindness and gentleness that 
lurked in his soul. She let her mind's eye trail lower, and 
took in the little mole above the left side of his lip. She 
could picture his lips, full and inviting, and parting as he 
lowered his face to hers to kiss her. Lois felt her heart 
hammer in her chest and she visualized him coming nearing, 
lowering his lips to hers very slowly, then parting as they 
came within inches of her own....

Suddenly, Lois's eyes flew open. She felt hot and cold at the 
same time, and her hands were shaking and her heart pounding, 
all a testament to how her little visual demonstration was 
affecting her. In that instant, it dawned on her. She *was* 
physical attracted to Clark! Why hadn't she realized it before? 
Had she simply stifled those physical stirrings, afraid of 
where they might lead? That they might cause her to let her 
guard down and potentially be hurt because of them?

She realized that her experience with Claude had caused her to 
suffer a horrible, emotional setback. She'd allowed herself to 
let down her defenses with him, and had been hurt. Certainly, 
it made perfect sense that she'd resolved to never again let 
her guard down emotionally, even for a moment, so she had 
simply refused to even acknowledge that she felt anything for 
Clark other than friendship. But after tonight, there was no 
way she could deny that those feelings existed.

So there it was. Her testament of truth. She loved Clark, *was* 
physically attracted to him, *did* want to be in a relationship 
with him. But now that she was aware of those feelings, what 
was she supposed to do?

She flopped backward on the couch with a groan and closed her 
eyes. 'Great, Lois,' she thought. 'You couldn't have picked a 
worse time to come to this conclusion. What about Lex? You're 
engaged, and supposed to be married in a matter of weeks. How 
are you going to explain all of this to Lex?'

But just the thought of talking about this to Lex made her 
stomach turn. She could just hear how her explanation would go: 
"I'm sorry, Lex, but I just realized tonight that I'm in love 
with my partner--well, actually my husband, since I just barely 
found out I was married to him--so I guess I can't marry you 
after all."

Lois almost laughed out loud at the thought. But then she 
sobered. As funny as it sounded to her, she was sure it wasn't 
going to sound funny to Lex. Regardless, she knew she had to 
tell him, and she had to tell him soon.

'Just do it, Lois,' the voice inside her head ordered. 'Get it 
over with. Now that you know what you want, there's no use in 
pretending you want something else.'

So, before she could lose her nerve, she picked up the phone 
and dialed the number she had committed to memory. Nervously 
chewing on a fingernail, she listened as the phone rang once, 
twice, then three times. Finally, the line picked up and the 
voice of one of Lex's assistants came across the line, asking 
where to direct her call.

Lois swallowed noisily. "Lex, please."

"May I ask who's calling?"

"This is Lois."

"One moment, please," came the response.

As she waited, her stomach churned and twisted. Finally, a 
familiar voice sounded in her ear.

"Lois! How are you?" Lex asked, sounding happy she'd called. 
"I've been trying to get hold of you--"

"I know, Lex, I'm sorry," Lois quickly interjected. "But things 
have been really crazy lately. In fact," she hesitated, then 
steeled herself and rushed on, "there's something I need to 
talk to you about. Can I come over?"

"Of course, Lois. I'll be looking forward to seeing you."

Lois cringed at his enthusiasm, then said a hasty goodbye and 
hung up the phone. When she did, she closed her eyes and let 
out a long, shaky breath. "Come on, Lois, you can do this," she 
told herself with more confidence than she felt. "Just tell him 
it's over between you two, and then get out of there. You don't 
have to debate anything. How you feel is how you feel."

So with that little pep talk to spur herself on, she ran a 
quick brush through her hair, touched up her makeup so he 
wouldn't be able to tell she'd been crying, then headed out the 
door.

*****

On the short drive over to Lex's penthouse, she was a jumble of 
nerves. She had no idea what she was going to tell him, how to 
approach something like this. She briefly rehearsed several 
speeches, but none sounded right to her. How *was* she supposed 
to break it to somebody that she didn't love them?

'What, are you kidding?' the voice in her head immediately 
argued. 'Just look at the great job you did with Clark just a 
few weeks ago. With that kind of previous experience, you 
should be an expert.'

Suddenly, a heavy blanket of guilt encompassed her as she 
remembered Clark's crestfallen expression that day not so long 
ago when he'd told her how he really felt about her, and the 
way he'd looked when she'd told him that she didn't feel that 
way about him. He'd been devastated. Crushed.

At the memory, Lois groaned inwardly. 'How was I supposed to 
know that I was in love with him?' she argued. 'I just hadn't 
realized how much he meant to me, how perfect we were for each 
other.'

Until now...

Taking a deep breath and then releasing it, she tried to dig 
deep to find the courage she was going to need to tell Lex the 
truth: that she didn't love him anymore, and wanted to break 
off their engagement. 'No fancy speeches,' she told herself, 
'no beating around the bush. Just come right out and say it.'

Almost before she was ready, she was in front of Lex's building 
and being escorted up to the penthouse. Then she was led to the 
last room at the end of the long, meticulously decorated hall. 
Opening the double doors wide, Lex's assistant announced her 
arrival.

Lex, who had been standing by the large picture window across 
the room, smiled in delight when he saw her, and crossed the 
room to give her a hug. In the brief moment that she was in 
Lex's arms, she was suddenly surprised to realize that she 
didn't find the comfort or excitement in them that she did even 
a day ago. It was completely different from being in Clark's 
arms, feeling warm, protected and loved. At that moment, she 
would've given anything to be in Clark's arms instead.

Giving herself a mental shake, Lois forced herself to push any 
thoughts of Clark out of her mind. This just wasn't the time or 
the place.

Forcing herself to take control, she stepped out of Lex's arms 
and attempted to smile up at him. But he picked up the strained 
look in her eyes, and his brow furrowed slightly.

"Lois? You said you had something you wanted to talk to me 
about. Is something wrong?"

The butterflies suddenly started fluttering about crazily in 
her stomach, and she turned away from the intensity of his 
gaze. Looking down at the floor, she said, "Something's 
happened that I've been hesitant to tell you."

Reaching out to put a finger under her chin, he tipped her face 
up toward his so she would meet his gaze. "Lois, what is it? 
You can tell me anything, Lois, you know that."

'Do I?' Lois argued silently. But she forced herself to go on, 
trying to remember some of the things she'd rehearsed in the 
car. "Well, um, okay, here's what happened," she began. "I went 
down to City Hall to file for our marriage certificate, and 
they told me..." Her voice suddenly trailed off as she found 
her confidence to tell him wavering.

"What?" he prompted.

She let her breath out in a rush and spoke just as quickly, 
knowing that if she didn't just come right out and say it, she 
might never find the nerve again. "They told me that I couldn't 
apply for a marriage certificate because I was, according to 
their records, already married."

He looked confused and emitted a little laugh. "What?"

She rolled her eyes and nodded. "According to them, Clark and I 
mysteriously became married when we registered at a hotel for a 
stakeout as husband and wife. Apparently, there's some old law 
stating that that's all it takes for a couple to be officially 
married. Who went to all the trouble to file the paperwork, we 
still don't know. This can't simply be some clerical error, 
with all that's involved these days to get a marriage 
certificate."

"Well, Lois, if that's all you're worried about, that's no 
problem," Lex told her in a bold, confident tone as he smiled 
and dismissed the problem with a casual wave of his hand. "I 
have friends in high places. Why don't you just let me make a 
few phone calls, and this will all just disappear. Nothing's 
going to stand in the way of our getting married."

Lois stiffened. "Um, well...that's not all. There's, 
uh...something else I need to tell you."

"Okay," Lex nodded encouragingly, reaching out to rub her arms 
soothingly. "But whatever it is, Lois, it can't be as bad as 
you're making it out to be."

"I don't know about that," she mumbled under her breath, low 
enough that he couldn't make out her words. Then, loud enough 
for him to hear, she said, "Well, this isn't easy for me to 
say..."

When she paused again, Lex let his hands slide down her arms 
and take her hands into his. Lois had to make a conscious 
effort not to flinch and pull away. "Lois?" he prompted gently. 
"What is it?"

Finally, she looked up at him and took a deep breath. It was 
now or never. "Lex," she said, preparing herself for the worst, 
"I want to break off our engagement."

She found herself holding her breath as she watched Lex 
carefully. She was both scared and fascinated as a myriad of 
emotions played across Lex's features: confusion, concern...but 
mostly, he looked simply speechless. Several long, silent 
moments passed when Lex seemed to be waiting for a punch line.

When he finally realized one wasn't coming, he shook his head 
and furrowed his brow in confusion. "Lois, I don't know what's 
happened to bring this on, but--"

"Look, Lex, I'm sorry," she interrupted. "I know this is 
probably out of the blue--"

He pursed his lips characteristically and smiled a little. "You 
could say that," he answered, attempting to lighten the mood.

Unable to stand still under his scrutinizing stare for even a 
moment longer, Lois pulled her hands from his and turned away, 
crossing over to the large picture window and staring out into 
the starless, black, night sky. She wrapped her arms around 
herself as if to protect herself from the storm she was sure 
was approaching.

After what seemed like an eternity, she heard a rustle behind 
her and the sound of approaching footsteps. She closed her eyes 
and steadied herself, taking a long, slow breath while trying 
to draw upon whatever strength she had to get her through this. 
She was so tense that she almost jumped when she felt Lex's 
hands come to rest on her shoulders.

Gently, he turned her around to face him, and she was surprised 
to see that he seemed to have recovered, and was smiling at her 
as one would when trying to reason with a very young, very 
emotional child. "Now Lois, whatever's brought you to this 
decision, whatever you perceive to be wrong between us...it's 
nothing we can't work out if you just explain it to me."

"I'm sorry, Lex, I know this just came out of nowhere," she 
began. "But things have just been so crazy and confusing and 
mixed up these last few days, what with everything going on..."

"Lois." Lex stopped her with a gentle finger on her lips before 
she could try to explain further. "I think you've just hit the 
nail on the head, so to speak." He smiled gently and slipped an 
arm around her shoulders, gently leading her toward the door. 
"I can see that you're obviously very tired and stressed out 
from everything's that's happened these last couple of days, 
and you don't seem to be thinking very clearly. Why don't you 
just go on home and get some sleep. I'm sure that when you've 
had some rest and some time to think things over--"

His patronizing tone made Lois stiffen. Feeling angered, she 
shook off his arm and turned to face him. "No, Lex, you don't 
understand. I *have* had time to think things over, and I've 
come to realize just how wrong we are for each other."

But Lex only smiled, pursed his lips slightly, and confidently 
shook his head. "Wrong for each other? The way I see it, two 
people have never been more *right* for each other."

"Right for each other? Lex, you don't know anything about me!" 
she argued insistantly. "For instance, what's my favorite 
flavor of ice cream?"

Lex shrugged slightly and smiled. "Probably something 
chocolate?"

Lois couldn't help but smile. Okay, he had her there. But then, 
*everybody* knew she loved chocolate.

She tried again. "Alright, then tell me...what's my idea of a 
perfect evening?"

"Ah. That's easy," he answered smugly. "Madame Butterfly at the 
opera house, and then a late dinner at Jean Pierre's."

Lois shook her head pointedly. "No, Lex, that's *your* idea of 
a perfect evening. What would I say if I told you I didn't even 
really *like* going to the opera? That attending balls and hob-
nobbing with your rich and famous colleagues is just not my 
style? That I'd much prefer a quiet evening at home with a 
pizza and a movie?"

Lex started to chuckle. "Pizza and a movie? Come now, Lois. 
You're too good for that. You've made a name for yourself. 
You're talented, you're beautiful, and you have the potential 
to be so much more. You deserve to be with the elite, the 
powerful, with those who have style and class."

Lois shook her head again firmly. "None of that's me, Lex. I 
keep feeling like you want to change me, to make me into 
something I'm not. You just assume that I'm too good to be 
where I am, but I *like* where I am. I *like* what I'm doing. I 
like tracking down leads and digging up things about people 
that no one else knows, exposing the criminal element, and 
seeing that criminals pay for breaking the law. Do you have any 
idea how much satisfaction I get out of that?"

Lex's eyes momentarily flashed, but then he recovered quickly. 
"I know you enjoy that, Lois, but you'll still be able to do 
all that after we're married. In fact, with my wealth, power, 
and inexhaustible source of resources and contacts, you could 
be one of the most powerful people in journalism. I practically 
rule this city already, Lois. And with you and me joining 
forces, our union would make us a force to reckon with."

Lois rolled her eyes briefly. "But see? This is what I'm 
talking about. You see our marriage as having material 
advantages, something to bring you more power and recognition. 
I see marriage as having *emotional* advantages: a best friend 
to share the rest of my life with, someone to love and *be* 
loved by.... I don't want to marry somebody just because it'll 
take me up a rung on the ladder of success."

"Lois, I can't believe you have so little faith in our 
relationship...so little faith in me," Lex responded, giving 
her a slow smile, which she interp