Proven with a Kiss

By Tracey <supertlc19@aol.com>

Rated: G

Submitted: November 2002

This one's for a group of RR writers on IRC, as payment for that one night that I ran away before it was my turn to write <g>. I promised a WAFFy vignette, so I decided to finish a story that had been hiding on my hard drive for the longest time. Also, this goes out to my awesome friend Elena, whom I had the privilege of meeting in October. She was so sweet and paid for dinner even when I begged her not to, so here's my way of saying thanks.

All the characters in this story are the property of DC Comics and/or Warner Bros, and no copyright infringement is intended.

Thanks to Helene for beta reading several beginning pages of this (way back when <g>) -- your comments were *so* appreciated and very helpful! Thanks!

~~~ Proven With A Kiss ~~~

"I don't get it. I mean, Dr. Friedman said that it should only work if you're already physically attracted to the person, and then it just overrides your normal restraint." Walking out of Star Labs with her partner by her side, Lois Lane creased her brow as she thought about what Dr. Friedman had told them about the pheromone compound that Miranda had sprayed on the newsroom -- a compound which had made everyone at the Daily Planet fall crazily in love and was also responsible for her virtual leap-off-the-cliff-of- sanity, single-minded pursuit of Clark Kent.

"Right," Clark concurred. "There has to be some kind of animal magnetism there to begin with. All this substance does is inhibit that part of the brain which acts as an intellectual defense mechanism, leaving the person helpless to control themselves." He was rambling off the facts that Dr. Friedman had given them at breakneck speed, apparently oblivious to the implications of what he was saying.

Lois, on the other hand, couldn't stop thinking about the meaning behind his words. She ground to a halt on the sidewalk. "But that would mean that I found you ... " As she looked at him, she trailed off, unable even to voice the word that would complete her sentence. She was ... she found him ...

Attractive.

The word hung mid-air between them, and he leaned his body towards hers, a goofy grin on his face. He had her. And worse, he *knew* that he had her. The proof was in the perfume, so to speak. No matter how much she might vehemently deny it, she obviously found Clark Kent very attractive. It was a proven, scientific fact at this point, and there was nothing she could say to dispute it.

The thought terrified her. This whole situation terrified her. She needed to redirect this conversation, and fast. "Clark, you were sprayed. How come you didn't fall for me?" There, that was better. Make him think about himself. Turn the conversation back to him. That was safer. And besides, she was really curious about why he hadn't jumped on her the second he'd seen her, the way that she had with him.

"I guess I'm just not attracted to you, Lois," came his infuriatingly casual reply.

Her eyes snapped up to meet his. Oh, how dare he even try to make that case! She wasn't blind, for heaven's sake! She'd seen the way he looked at her sometimes when he thought she wasn't watching. And even though it was embarrassing to think about, she very clearly remembered the look in his eyes when he'd seen her in her 'Dance of the Seven Veils' costume last night.

And she absolutely remembered this morning when he'd grabbed her by the waist and hauled her against him, telling her that if she still wanted him, he was hers! There wasn't a doubt in her mind that he was attracted to her as well.

"Liar!" she gasped, her voice telling him very clearly that she knew he wasn't telling her the truth. "You are so attracted to me!"

He shrugged off her comment, a wide and oh-so-irritating smile on his face. "Guess not."

He was *enjoying* this! That was what made her madder than anything else. He obviously liked seeing her humiliated like this! After all her talk this year about him being just a hack from Nowheresville, he probably figured that she was getting her just desserts for treating him like a hired hand when they'd first become partners.

Frustrated, the searing retort she was digging for eluded her, which only served to infuriate her further. "Guess so!" she finally managed to respond. But as soon as the words left her mouth, she winced inwardly. 'What a snappy come back there, Lois,' she groaned to herself. 'You sound like a child!' She picked up the pace as she walked, eager to get to the Jeep as quickly as possible.

Still grinning like a little kid, he fell in step beside her. "Guess not," he said again, obviously deciding he liked this little game that they were playing.

Well, she didn't, that was for sure. She wished she could just ignore him, but something inside her would not let him get the last word. "Guess so!" She practically ran towards the Jeep, hoping that he would leave it there.

But he didn't. "Sure, Lois, whatever you say," he drawled as he rounded the corner of the front of the Jeep, heading toward the passenger door.

Lois had just opened the driver's side door when his low, patronizing remark found its way to her ears, and she stopped short. Oh, there was no way she was going to let him get away with that! Lois Lane was not about to take that from anyone, let alone Clark Kent, country boy extraordinaire. He was in for it now.

She didn't say anything until they'd settled into their respective seats in the Jeep. A strange silence fell across the interior of the vehicle, but still she waited, deep in thought. She wanted to make him sweat a little bit... and prove her previous point at the same time. And there was only one way to do that...

Clark Kent was a goner, and he didn't even know it yet. In a sudden shift of mood, she almost giggled.

"Uh, Lois?" Clark asked, a bit hesitant. At the sound of his voice, she turned slightly to face him.

"Yes, Clark?" She studied him carefully, mapping out her plan in her mind.

"You're okay, right? I mean, I was just teasing out there, you know that. I didn't mean to make you mad. You are okay, aren't you?" Now he sounded a little anxious. Well, good, that was what was supposed to happen. Still, she watched him, taking in every plane and angle of his face.

Now that she thought about it, she supposed that it wasn't too farfetched that she could find him attractive, she thought with an interested tilt to her head. Behind his glasses, his eyes were a warm, earthy brown, and that wavy, dark hair looked soft as it fell across the top of his forehead. She could definitely imagine threading her fingers through it, if only to see if it really was as silky as it looked. The line of his jaw was strong, and she followed it with her eyes until she reached the bow of his lips. Her breath hitched in her throat and her heart gave a strange flutter as she examined the two full, pink lines of his mouth.

Stamping down on that very odd reaction, she immediately brought her gaze back up. She could see him glancing around, almost nervously now. Well, he should be nervous, she thought with a slow, satisfied smile. Lois Lane was in control of the situation now, and this Kansas country boy didn't have a chance.

"Uh, Lois, are you going to start the engine?"

Instead of answering him right away, she took a long look at the keys in her hand, doing some last minute internal debating. It might not be the ideal way, but she was going to prove him wrong. And if this was what it took, then so be it.

After a moment, she stretched her arm out and laid the keys on the dashboard and turned her body more fully to face him. "Actually, no, Clark," she said slowly. "I was thinking of starting something else first."

And before he had time to figure out what she meant, she took a quick breath and reached out, wrapping two slender hands around his head and pulling a very surprised Clark Kent to her. She slanted her lips firmly across his, catching his muffled "Lo -- " with a quick tug of his bottom lip into her mouth.

He didn't make another sound or protest after that. Lois would have smiled smugly if her lips hadn't been otherwise engaged at the moment. She noticed that he seemed to immediately surrender to her, his mouth fusing itself to hers over and over again. 'Not attracted to me, my foot,' she thought with an inward, satisfied grin. Who did he think he was kidding? Clark Kent was like putty in her hands.

Speaking of hands, she realized belatedly that his had come up to cradle her face. She could feel the warm skin of his palms pressed against her cheeks and his thumbs gently sweeping across her cheekbones. She couldn't help it; she shivered at the tender touch.

He must have sensed her reaction, because at that exact moment, he took the kiss deeper, and before she knew it, she'd allowed him to coax her mouth open wider. At the first inquisitive nudge of his tongue against her bottom lip, every nerve ending in her came alive, and she felt her body dissolve into the amazing rush of sensation that swept through her. Every instinct she possessed was urging her to surrender to this powerful connection that had suddenly developed between them.

But wait, wasn't she the one supposedly in control of this kiss?

'Oh, this hadn't been in the plan,' she thought dizzily, feeling her restraint slipping through her fingers. *He* was the one that was supposed to melt helplessly into *her* kiss, and then she would break away, victorious and denouncing his claim that he didn't find her attractive. She'd never thought about the kiss affecting her as much as this one was! But somewhere along the way, this kiss had shifted from a reckless attempt to prove he was attracted to her into a much more sensual, thrilling experience that only proved that... oh, she didn't want to think about what it might prove!

Her breath clenched in her throat, rough and ragged, and with a flash of panic, she realized just how involved this kiss had become. She had to stop it, right now.

Tearing her mouth from his, she forced her eyes open -- only to find herself staring directly into his passion- clouded ones. His face was an endearing mixture of eagerness, confusion, and wonderment. She knew that the only look on her face was one of pure terror. How could she have let this happen? Nothing had turned out the way it was supposed to!

"Lois?" His careful, but still husky, whisper broke their silence. "Do you want to tell me what that was all about?"

Embarrassed, she pulled herself back into her own seat, conscious now that she had been leaning quite far over the center console. Well, the only way to salvage this situation -- and their friendship, quite probably -- was to play this whole thing off like it had gone exactly as planned and show him that kiss hadn't bothered her in the least.

"So, Kent, you were saying? Something about how you weren't attracted to me, I think?" She tried desperately to look superior, like she'd just proven some great point, but her voice, darn it all, trembled even as she spoke, a definite after-effect of that devastating kiss. She swallowed hard, and even though she tried, she couldn't look him in the eye. If she did, she was sure he'd see right through her bravado. He'd see very quickly that she was bluffing.

"What? You just did that to prove that I was attracted to you?"

'Right words, but wrong tone of voice,' Lois thought as she watched him. Instead of the awe she'd wanted to hear in his voice -- acknowledging how incredibly clever she was to find this way to make him admit his attraction for her -- there was a skeptical edge to it. He clearly wasn't buying her nonchalant act.

Still, Lois Lane was not one to give up so easily. Pasting that haughty expression directly on her face again, she tilted her chin up in the air. "Yes, that's right," she said firmly. "And because you kissed me back -- pretty enthusiastically, mind you -- you obviously find me very attractive as well," she concluded, as if he needed her to explain things further.

Clark just looked at her for a moment before he began to chuckle. "You really are crazy, you know that? I can't believe you did that just because you couldn't take the fact that I wasn't attracted to you."

Her mouth hung open, stunned at his reaction. He was *laughing* at her now! Did this man have no sense whatsoever? He'd been her partner for months now, and he had yet to learn that he couldn't laugh at Lois and live to tell about it? How was that possible?

Dumbstruck, she replayed his last sentence in her head. Even after that kiss, he still wasn't agreeing that he found her attractive? "How many times do I have to kiss you before you finally admit it?" she practically shouted at him, beyond frustrated. She waved an agitated hand in the space between their bodies. "For Pete's sake, Clark, amazing kisses like that don't happen every day! People don't kiss like that unless they are *incredibly*, utterly and totally, tear-each-other's-clothes-off attracted to one another!"

At that moment, a complete silence fell between them, and even the sounds of the world outside -- people bustling in the streets, the roar of the car engines as they whizzed past -- faded and became muted in the wake of her outburst. Neither partner moved as the meaning of her words descended upon them and lingered in the tiny interior of the Jeep -- a space that suddenly seemed more confined than before, filled now with the tension of confession. It *had* been an incredible kiss. She'd spoken the words, given them life and made them real.

And there was no backing away from them now. Oh, how that thought terrified her. She wanted to throw the door open and run away -- anything to get out of this Jeep and away from him. She wasn't ready to confront these kinds of feelings for Clark. She'd hidden them behind a tough-as- nails exterior from the moment she'd begun working with him, vowing never to get involved with another co-worker, no matter how handsome and sweetly na�ve he was. She wasn't ready then, and she wasn't ready now.

Lois reached for the keys on the dash, intending to start up Jeep and make a mad dash for the Daily Planet. Maybe Clark would understand, and he'd never mention this incident again. Maybe they could go back to being just partners and friends, and they could forget that this whole thing ever happened...

She should have known better. Her movement towards the keys seemed to jar him into motion, and the shocked look on his face finally fled. He brought his arm up as well, placing his hand on her wrist to stop her action. At his touch, she dropped the keys back onto the gray surface.

She faced him again. "Clark, please ... "

"You're right, you know," he began, effectively silencing her. She just stared at him. He kept hold of her hand as he continued. "What you said, Lois. You were right."

"What?" she asked in a squeaky voice.

He sighed and let go of her hand. It was suddenly as if all the air in the Jeep had rushed out, replaced by a vulnerable atmosphere that knocked down both of their defenses. His earlier laughter and her earlier frustration just a memory now, they both seemed to realize that they were dealing with something much more serious -- something that had the potential to destroy the solid friendship they'd built over the past couple of months.

"You were right," he said again, his voice soft. "That was an amazing kiss... " He trailed off, then lifted his eyes and melded his gaze with hers. " ... and I am so attracted to you," he finished in hoarse whisper that left no doubt that he was telling the truth.

She sucked in a quick breath, stunned more by the intensity in his eyes than the power of his words. Her mouth formed a quiet "Oh," but she was at a loss for other words that would be appropriate for the situation.

This wasn't right! She *should* have been gloating. He'd just admitted that he was attracted to her -- therefore, admitting that she was right. He'd said the words, plain as day. She should be elated, triumphant. She should be reveling in her victory. But instead, she was just ...

Amazed.

Scared.

He'd completely floored her with his words. There was something in the air, something unspoken, that assured her, too, that this was no passing attraction. Clark Kent wasn't the type of guy to go around kissing his partner and telling her that she was attractive if he didn't really mean it.

"Oh," she murmured again, clearing her throat nervously. She didn't know what else to say. This situation didn't resemble any that she'd ever been in. It wasn't everyday that you kissed your partner while sitting in your car, and he kissed you back with a tender passion that stirred your soul and then admitted point blank that he was attracted to you.

It wasn't everyday that your life suddenly turned on a dime and left you hanging there, dangling helplessly above it all and trying desperately to make some sense of the situation.

She buried her head in her hands, mumbling to herself. "Somebody tell me this is not happening."

==========

"Somebody tell me this is not happening."

The words weren't said loudly, but Clark heard them clearly enough. She was sitting there wishing the whole thing had never happened, and he couldn't help but agree with her. He should have never said that he was attracted to her. He'd probably just blown any chance that she'd ever even look at him again, let alone consider him a friend.

But then again, this thing wasn't totally his fault! Lois was the one who'd grabbed him and kissed him, and she shouldn't have done that, either. Well, not that she *shouldn't* have exactly ... in fact, if Clark was truthful with himself, he was awfully glad that she had. He'd lost himself in those few precious moments when her lips had been touching his.

But with that unexpected kiss had come unexpected consequences.

He wasn't quite sure how they'd arrived at this juncture anyway. The past few days had been a blur, swinging wildly between the horribly ironic and the slightly insane, mixed with some of the usual pesky havoc a criminal mind could wreak on the city of Metropolis.

Miranda's love potion had turned half the city into mindless love slaves, disrupting relationships and making people fall hopelessly for friends, bosses, co-workers, even the random person walking down the street. In his case, Lois had taken him as the object of her affection, and all sorts of chaos had ensued: Lois jumping into his arms at work, sitting on his lap, knocking on his door at midnight, even going so far as to perform the Dance of the Seven Veils for him. Boy, that night had been torture in the truest sense of the word. Lois had thrown herself at him, begging him for his love -- something he'd longed to give her from the moment he'd met her -- and none of it was real.

Horribly ironic, indeed.

But today, Dr. Friedman had given him a bit of hope. The pheromone compound, he'd said, did not have the power to *create* desires; it merely stole a person's inhibitions and gave free rein to desires that already existed. Clearly stated, Lois Lane did indeed want him, if not on a purely conscious level yet, at least to some extent in her own subconscious.

And while that knowledge had given him a reason to hope that sometime in the future Lois would see him as more than a friend, Lois had obviously been distressed by the doctor's findings. So distressed, in fact, that she'd immediately -- in a move that he'd recognized for what it was -- turned the conversation towards him: why hadn't *he* fallen for *her*?

Barring certain answers such as 'Well, gee, Lois, I guess the pheromone compound wasn't designed to affect Superman,' he'd been unsure what to say to her. The fact of the matter was that he had been hard-pressed to keep his hands off her during the past two days. He'd wanted to give in to her advances so many times, and he almost had this morning when she'd stumbled sleepily from his bed. If the effects of the perfume hadn't worn off when they did ... well, he was just glad that he wasn't dealing with that situation right now.

So when she'd asked him, he'd decided the best way to deal with her question was just to lighten the situation, teasing her with a reply of "I guess I'm just not attracted to you, Lois." He'd thought that it was a pretty laughable statement. She'd seen it for the joke it was, too, but still, he'd kept up his nonchalant act.

But he'd pushed too far, and then Lois, being her usual reckless self, had kissed him to prove that he was lying about being attracted to her.

And well, suffice it to say that she had proven her point - - and then some.

Clark glanced over at his partner, watching as her dark hair hung like a curtain down around her bent head. Clearly, what had happened between them wasn't something she was prepared to deal with, but then again, neither was he. Life didn't seem to care, though, if you were prepared to deal with certain situations. Things happened, and you had to choose the best way to handle them.

Leaning over, he took his hand and swept her hair away from her head, only to reveal a slender hand still obscuring her face from view. "Hey," he whispered, and then he gently pried her fingers from where they had been covering her closed eyes.

She allowed him to touch her, but never looked at him. Almost immediately she straightened, sitting up and clasping one hand firmly to the steering wheel. "Can we just wait until we get back to the Planet to deal with this, Clark?" she asked, and her voice was almost too calm. The way in which she asked her question didn't require a response, and she didn't give him a chance to give one. As she spoke, the other hand reached out, nabbed the keys from the dashboard and then thrust them into the ignition. The Jeep roared to life and had whipped out of the parking spot before Clark even had a chance to sit back up in his seat.

She seemed to think that the farther and faster they drove down the road, the more distant the memory of the kiss would become as well. He could see it in her eyes; she was wishing she could just drive until they both forgot about it, until they left it behind them and it lost itself among the loose gravel pavement and spinning rubber tires of the Jeep.

Between them, a silence stretched and wiggled its way into the crevices of their minds, creating a tense atmosphere that even surpassed the one they'd left behind in the parking spot across from Star Labs. It stayed that way throughout the remainder of the ride to the Planet, but Clark had no solution. Not once did she glance his way; it was like he wasn't even there.

So instead of trying to force the issue, he found the window to be a lovely traveling companion, and he stared at the passing city landscape for most of the ride, planning what he was going to say to her once they got back to the office.

When they finally pulled into the Planet, Lois put the brakes on slowly, pulling into a space and shifting the gear into 'park.' She turned the key, killing the engine, and started to reach for the door handle.

Knowing that if they didn't talk right now, they probably never would, Clark put his hand out and touched her arm. "Lois."

She heaved a sigh. "Clark, we really have to get back to work."

"I know, but this is important, Lois. I think we can spare five minutes," he said. "So about what happened -- "

"Look, Clark, we kissed," she cut in. "It's not a big deal. In fact, it's not like we haven't done it before -- Trask's plane, remember? We should just do what we did after that was over -- just forget about it. You and I both know that nothing can happen between us. We're partners at work, and there's no room for anything but a professional relationship there.

"We work very well together, but that would change if we let this ... whatever it is ... attraction," she hurried over the word, "interfere with our professionalism. In our line of work, it's important that we keep a clear head at all times, and getting involved with each other in any way would compromise our performance as reporters. I know that, and you know that, too."

He saw her glance his way, probably expecting him to say something, but he didn't. With an interested tilt to his head, he watched her, the corners of his mouth just slightly upturned.

She kept going. "I know it was crazy of me to kiss you today, and I'm sorry about that. I guess I didn't think things all the way through, but -- well, you know me, that's my Achilles heel, not thinking things through -- but I just wanted to prove ... well, never mind that, anyway. It's over now, and I'm glad that we've discussed it, so at least we know we're on the same page when it comes to -- "

And then he'd heard enough. He stopped her mid-sentence, leaning over and closing his lips gently over hers, surprising her as she had surprised him earlier. Turnabout was fair play, after all. He felt her startled intake of breath as it raced a chilly path across his bottom lip, making it tingle. Moving his mouth over hers, he molded and warmed both sets of lips, rubbing them slowly against each other. He'd deliberately chosen a languid pace, distinguishing this kiss from the first they'd shared and reassuring her without words that she could break away at any time.

It hadn't been his plan to kiss her, but after watching her for the past few minutes, he'd had to. She was just so cute when she babbled, going on and on about nothing and everything. Though he secretly loved listening to her rationalize every move she made, enough had been enough. Maybe everything she'd been saying -- all those reasons why they shouldn't get involved with each other -- maybe they were all perfectly logical, perfectly sensible reasons that he should agree with, too. Maybe he should have just nodded, letting them both forget about the whole thing, and gone back into work with her. Maybe he should have promised to use his head and approach the situation wisely and realistically. In fact, maybe they both should just move on with their lives and never give this day a second thought.

'Maybe not,' his heart had piped up as he'd sat there, watching her. That was why he'd kissed her. He'd followed his heart instead of his head, and a soft, slow kiss was where his heart had led him. A kiss that she had made no attempt to pull away from ... a kiss that she was responding to at this very moment.

Finally, Clark eased back slightly, their faces only inches apart, the only sound in the Jeep the combined shudder of their breathing. He was expecting her to yell at him, but to his surprise, when she opened her eyes, there was the faintest trace of wetness gathered at their corners.

Confused, he searched her eyes. "Lois? What is it? What's wrong?"

==========

Lois Lane did not cry. Well, at least not in front of other people -- especially not in front of her partner -- and not after she'd just received the sweetest, most incredible kiss of her life.

He was still looking at her, waiting for an answer to his question. The only problem was, though, she didn't know what to say to him. There was no way that she could tell him what she was really feeling right now. She'd given him this great speech about how the right course of action for them was to just ignore whatever there was between them. Attraction was just one of those crazy things in life; it struck at the oddest times, but it would fade. It always did, and it wasn't worth losing a friendship over.

She'd believed herself, too. That was the funny thing. She'd actually believed what she was telling him, believed that it was the best thing to do in order to save their working relationship.

And then, without warning, he'd kissed her.

She supposed that it'd be hypocritical for her to be upset with him. She'd done the same thing to him not even a half hour ago. Yet she wanted to be. She wanted to rail him for doing what he did, to yell at him and make him see what he'd done to her.

For with that kiss, he'd made her aware.

There would be no more chalking it up to elaborate ruses or escape plans or even to pheromone compounds. With that kiss, she'd felt so much more than just a passing attraction for him. Maybe it was the soft touch that had undone her. He'd allowed her an out if she wanted it, an escape if it became too much for her. It was almost as if he'd wanted to show her how it could be between them, if she'd only forget for a moment the rules of partnership and the constraints of friendship.

For those several moments in time, however, she hadn't wanted an out. She'd only wanted more. And for the first time in her life, Lois Lane had realized that the man kissing her could very well be the one to give her that illusive 'more' that she'd always secretly wished for.

He could give her love.

It was that thought that had brought tears to the corners of her eyes. Tears that were still there now, even as they spoke. "Oh, Clark," she finally murmured. "I don't know how to handle this."

"Handle what?" he asked gently.

"This. Us. Whatever's happening," she mumbled disjointedly. "It's strong, though, Clark. It's really strong."

"Yeah," he whispered in agreement. He seemed to know what she was talking about. "Look, Lois, if it helps any, I'm worried, too, about where this is taking us. But you know what? We're going to be okay."

She looked up and met his eyes skeptically. "We are?"

"We are," he said firmly and without hesitation.

"How do you know?"

"Because I know. I know that no matter what happens, you will always be a part of my life. Whatever the role -- you see, that doesn't matter. I know that you'll always be there." Clark reached over, taking her hand and wrapping it in his. "Can you say the same about me?"

She didn't even have to think about her answer. "Of course."

"Then that's good enough for now. That's the most important thing," he told her, giving her a small smile.

Lois found herself returning his smile, amazed at how quickly he could calm her with just a few simple words. She'd been ready to run for the nearest exit, but he'd taken a potentially disastrous situation and made it not quite so scary. But there was one thing that still bothered her. "But things between us changed today, Clark. We can't just act like it never happened."

"And I don't want to act like that," he said quickly, obviously not wanting her to get the wrong idea. "I want us to use what we have today as a starting point. You know what I mean?" At her nod, he continued. "I think it would be great if we could talk about things a little more -- maybe at dinner on Friday night? I mean, if you want to, that is," he added hastily, and Lois didn't miss the nervousness in his voice.

She fingered the hem of her suit jacket lightly. "Dinner ... you mean like a date? A real date?"

"Like a real date," he affirmed. "But Lois, listen, we don't have to put a label on it. All that added pressure of a 'first date,'" he emphasized the phrase with a wave of his hand, "isn't what I want us to concentrate on. I want us just to go out, spend some time with each other and have fun. I want to get to know you better than I do right now." His voice softened. "And then we'll see what happens from there, okay?"

It sounded wonderful. She felt her face break into a wide smile. Spending time with someone who was quite probably the best friend she had, getting to know him better, finding out all sorts of things about him that no one else in world knew ... she wanted that. She ducked her head and bit at her lower lip, completely unable to believe the turn of events that the day had taken. "Okay."

His face split on a smile to match hers. "Great. I can't wait."

"Me either." Lois had a feeling that Friday night was going to be one of the best dates she'd ever been on. Suddenly she was quite glad that Miranda had chosen the Daily Planet to test her little perfume -- if she hadn't, who knew how long it would have taken the Planet's top two reporters to admit that there was something more than friendship between them? Sure, how much more was a question yet to be answered, but Lois wasn't worried about that. Clark had assured her that they would work through whatever came and that they would be fine. She believed him, and that was all that mattered.

"Thank you, Clark," she said suddenly.

"For what?"

"For nothing ... and for everything. For just being a wonderful person." She watched his cheeks color slightly, and he looked so cute that she leaned over and kissed him. She was sure that she aimed for his cheek, but somewhere along the way her lips decided on a different course. Before she knew it, they were locked in another enthusiastic kiss.

She broke it breathlessly a few moments later. "You know what, Clark?"

"What?" His voice held the same raspy quality as her own.

"We really have to try this kissing thing sometime when we're not cramped in the front seat of the car." Lois laughed as she pulled back, her eyes dancing. "It's kinda hard to move around in here."

Clark grinned along with her. "Yeah, I'd say that we should definitely look into that." He paused for a moment, looking as if he were thinking about something important. But when he spoke again, there was a twinkle in his eye. "So I guess by now you don't have any doubts that I'm attracted to you, do you?"

Lois shook her head, giggling slightly as she remembered their conversation. "Nope. I proved it with a kiss." A thought struck her as she replayed what he'd said to her, and she smiled again, sly and knowing. "Do you have any doubts that I'm attracted to you?"

He grinned back, catching her drift, and pretended to think for a moment. "Hmm. Maybe," he said slowly, then gave her a wink. "I think you might have to prove it to me."

And so, with a kiss, she did just that.

========== The End

Tracey <supertlc19@aol.com> October 2002

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