Different

A/N: In this next chapter, Lois and Clark try to sort through the past, but talking was never one of their strong suits. It's time for that to change, wouldn't you agree? I hope you enjoy it. Please read and review. Thanks, everyone!! Read on! :D



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Chapter 7: The Truth is Enough



Previously:



“Clark,” Lois mumbled his name again, as she slowly awakened realizing where she was and who was beside her. She looked to her left and he was staring at her.



Their gazes locked.



~o~o~



Lois was the first to look away unable to look at him any longer. She sat up, pulling the sheet around her, feeling as if it could protect her from ... what she didn't know. She glanced at Clark again and he was still staring at her not saying a word. "Well, aren't you going to say something?" She asked getting impatient with him.



His eyes roamed over her face still not quite believing she was actually there. "I'm still in shock, Lois, seeing you here ... like this."



She shook her head at him. "Now where else would I be? When your Martian friend told me what happened to you, I had to know if you were alright. Are you alright? How are you feeling?" She asked still worried about him.



He looked her in the eye then. "Much better ... now that you're here," Clark couldn't help saying hoping she would get his meaning. He decided to continue. “I … I’m glad you decided to stay and not go to Kenya.”



Lois sighed, understanding what he meant. She looked away again unprepared for the look of ... love on his face. Before the other night in the alley, she would have believed that was what it was, but now, she wasn't so sure. Her mind suddenly remembered what she had said to her therapist ... that it would be so much easier if they were the same person. Well, you got what you wanted Lois. Now what? She rubbed her temples feeling exhausted, not so much her body, but her mind was running in circles. She wished she could just turn it off somehow.



Clark watched her struggle with everything that had happened and he had to make things right between them. If he didn't say or do the right thing now, things would never be the same, but that was the problem. Now that she knew the truth about him, everything would have to change, but he hoped her feelings hadn’t changed. He reached for her hand. She didn't pull away from him. "Lois, I know we need to talk about ... everything, but we don't have to do it right now. Are you hungry, because I am," he said trying to smile.



Lois' stomach answered for her. She also tried to smile. "I guess I am. Where do you keep food around here anyway and I need to freshen up a little."



He pointed to a far wall on the other side of the bedroom. "The bathroom is right around that corner.”



“I know. I managed to find it last night. I’ll be right back,” she announced and left him staring after her.



Clark decided it was time to get out of bed and test his legs. He wobbled just a little as he stood. I could have sworn my powers were back. Lois came back just in time as she put her arm around his waist to steady him. He closed his eyes for a moment and imagined everything was alright between them, that Lois had forgiven him, and they were happy like in his dream of the future.



"You shouldn't get up so fast. Here, lean on me and I'll help you get the food," Lois said, but Clark wasn’t moving. “Are you ready?” She asked wondering what he was thinking. She stared at his face and suddenly had a thought. Is Clark his real name? Of course, silly, that is his name, isn’t it? I wonder.



He stood up a little straighter feeling stronger now that he was out of bed. "I’m ready, Lois. My body is healed, but I guess I'm not one hundred percent, at least not yet," Clark said as he tried to tamp down his feelings of being this close to her again.



"Well, I suppose so, after what you went through," Lois said. She stopped walking after a moment and turned to face him. "Clark, I want to know what happened to you, and I want you to tell me why you wanted me to leave you. I know you didn't mean it."



He touched her cheek. "That was the last thing I wanted. Sending you away was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, but at the time, I thought it was for the best."



She removed his hand from her face, but didn’t let go of it. "Clark, listen to me. Don't you know by now that we're a team, that when we're apart, everything else just doesn't work? We've been apart before, and I ... I don't want us to be apart again, not ever," she said letting him know how she really felt.



"Do you really mean that Lois?" Clark asked daring to hope.



"Of course, I mean it. You don't doubt me, do you?" She smiled then as a ray of hope burst inside her heart.



His eyes roamed over her face again, as he took her face between his palms. "No, Lois, I don't," Clark said as he leaned down to kiss her like he’d wanted to do since the moment he’d awakened and saw her there in his bed.



~o~o~



"Kal-El?" It was his father calling to him at the worst possible time.



Clark closed his eyes and sighed. Now he wants to talk?



"Clark, who was that?" Lois asked looking around.



"It's my father, Lois, my 'other' father," Clark replied.



"Oh," she said not understanding. His name is Kal-El?



"What is it Father?" Clark asked trying hard not to get annoyed.



"Are you recovered from your injuries, Kal-El?" Jor-El asked his son.



"Yes, I'm fine now," Clark said. There was a pause after that response. He turned Lois so they could leave the chamber, but not soon enough.



"Kal-El, I wish to speak with you … when you’re alone," Jor-El said letting them know he couldn’t speak in front of Lois.



Clark felt Lois stiffen beside him. He pulled her closer to his side. "Lois can hear anything you have to say to me Father," he said trying to show Lois his support of her presence there.



"Kal-El, I thought I made myself clear on the matter," Jor-El told his son.



Clark was in no mood for this. "Father, I'll talk to you later," he said turning to leave the chamber a little faster this time.



"Clark or Kal-El or whatever your name is, please slow down," Lois said trying to keep up. They reached a small room and it was obviously a place to eat because there was a table and chairs, but she didn't see any food. There were a number of coolers around.



"You can call me Clark. That’s my name, Lois,” he said getting her food from a cooler. “I don't eat much. My metabolism digests food slower than ... you, so I'm not really hungry," he said as he brought out some fruit, some juices for her and some bread.



"That's fine … Clark. I'll take whatever you have," Lois said. After eating for awhile, she waited for him to tell her about that odd conversation he had with his father. She could see he wasn't going to be forthcoming with any information, but she was determined that they would not fall into their old ways of keeping secrets and not confiding in each other. She wondered if she would have to pry it out of him, but before she could bring it up, he beat her to it.



"I'm sorry about what happened in there Lois. My father and I ... we don't see eye to eye about a lot of things, particularly you ... in my life," he said not looking at her.



"Really, I see now. Is that why you decided to become two different people, why you decided to call me as the Blur, why you pretended you cared about me as Clark, because … because dear old dad didn’t approve of me?” She asked feeling hurt as hope began to wither in her chest.



Clark stared at her shocked. “Of course that wasn’t why I did it,” he said. He took her hand. She tried to pull back, but he held tightly to it. “Please let me explain."



Lois stopped trying to pull her hand back. “Go ahead, I’m listening.”



“Remember what I said in the loft about relationships ending far too soon? It’s because of who and what I am. People have gotten hurt when they have known my secret, Lois. I couldn’t let that happen to you." He squeezed her hand. "Ever since we met in that cornfield all those years ago, I’ve felt a connection to you, and then we became friends, and I cherished our friendship. It meant everything to me. And then last year when you disappeared, I realized how much I needed you in my life, so instead of telling you the truth, I became the Blur. I could call you, watch out for you, and make sure that connection we had would never go away.” He stared at her trying to convey his feelings. “You would never go away.”



Lois listened to every word and her heart wanted to believe him, needed to believe him. She shook her head. “Clark, I don’t know. So much has happened.”



“I know it’s a lot to digest. Just tell me you’ll think about what I said and Lois? If you decide not to give us another chance, I’ll understand. It would kill me to let you go, but …”



“Clark Jerome Kent, I can’t believe what I’m hearing. You would give me up, just like that?” She asked shocked at what he’d just said.



“No, Lois, that’s not what I meant. I want you. I’ll always want you. It’s just …”



“Just what?” She asked crossing her arms. “Was this your father’s idea?”



“My father has nothing to do with this. He doesn’t understand me, has never understood me. It’s the life that I lead, Lois. People close to me, and they get hurt, they disappear … they die.” Clark took a deep breath trying to get control over his emotions. “I don’t want anything to happen to you, Lois. It’s probably better if we …” he couldn’t say it. His heart was breaking again. He stood up then not wanting her to see him like this.



“Clark wait, don’t go,” she said beginning to understand him now. She grabbed his arm to stop him from leaving and looked up into his face. “If you felt this way, then why did you give me those clues, repeating what the Blur had said to me over the phone, and kissing me the way that you did? We could have just gone on like before.” She took his hand then. “You wanted me to know the truth, didn’t you?”



He closed his eyes for a moment and knew he couldn't hold it in any longer. “I … I needed you not to leave me, not to go away. I couldn’t lose you again, I couldn’t. I kept telling myself it was probably for the best, but … my heart wouldn’t listen,” he managed to say, as he touched her cheek and smoothed her hair behind her ear, needing to touch her.



“I’m glad you listened to your heart, Clark. That’s all that matters. You know that, don’t you?" Lois asked coming closer, touching his chest. “Tell me,” she said as she looked up into his face.



He needed to say it so she would believe him. “I love you, Lois.”



She went into his arms then. “I love you too, Clark.”



He pulled back taking her face between his palms and kissed her slanting his mouth against hers pulling her tight against him. They both moaned into each others mouths as their tongues clashed and then accepted the warm intrusions. His kisses wandered across her cheek to her ear and then back to her mouth again. He picked her up and headed back to the bedchamber.



Lois held him tightly around the neck as she kissed his throat, his ear, needing him with a passion she’d never felt before. Her heart soared inside her chest as if it could actually take flight. The feeling was amazing and intoxicating.



As soon as he entered the chamber, he set her down beside the bed and began helping her remove her clothes as she helped him remove his as well. She couldn’t help noticing the bruise on his side. “Does it hurt?” She asked touching it lightly.



“No, it doesn’t hurt,” he said and smiled believing he was finally on the mend.



She raised her hand to push his hair away from his forehead, and then her fingers moved over his face touching his cheek, his nose, his lips. He has no idea how handsome he is. “I’m so glad you told me the truth, Clark. You don’t have any regrets, do you?”



“No regrets,” he said as he picked her up and laid her on the bed and joined her there, as he pulled her into his arms. They both sighed content to be in each other’s arms again.



Clark captured her mouth in a deep kiss, groaning as the pleasure rushed through him when he tasted her tongue, warm and sweet in his mouth. Lois felt desire course through her veins, his passionate kisses were as welcome as a summer rain. She clung to his shoulders pulling him atop her. The feeling of his weight pressing her into the mattress enflamed her, as she arched her hips against his. Her responsive moans and busy hands were making it impossible for him to slow the pace of their lovemaking. Her fingers closed around his hard length and then smoothed over the tip causing him to moan into her mouth. He tried to slow things down a little by kissing his way down her throat and taking a pebbled nibble in his mouth, drawing on the tight bud and flicking his tongue back and forth. His leg slid between hers and she rubbed her moist curls against his thigh, needing the pressure to ease the ache he had created there.



Clark's hands continued to roam over her body, igniting even more moans of pleasure from her. Despite his raging need, he took his time loving her thoroughly, wanting to ready her fully for the moment when he joined their bodies. His mouth slanted against hers again, lips tugging and teasing as he continued to kiss her, that one simple pleasure as essential to his existence as the air he breathed or the sun healing him and restoring his strength.



Lois broke his consuming kiss on a gasp when his fingers thrust smoothly inside her. She opened her eyes to watch her lover pleasuring her and saw the concentration on his face. His breath came in sharp pants against her face. Her hands moved from his shoulders to cradle his face in her hands. "I love you Clark. I'll always love you."



Tears welled in his eyes again. "I love you too, so very much," he said as he withdrew his fingers and positioned himself between her thighs and slowly slid home, and quickly found the rhythm that had her writhing in his arms. She felt so good around him that the pressure began to build almost immediately. He felt her walls grip him, heard her cry his name as she shouted her pleasure and his orgasm rushed to meet him. He buried his face in her neck as he pulsed inside of her.



Clark raised his head to look at her and she was a beautiful sight to behold. Her hair was strewn about the pillow and her eyes were closed as she licked her dry lips. She slowly opened her eyes and gazed at her lover. A shock of damp, ebony hair curled down on his forehead and she reached up to smooth it back again. "Are you ready to tell me everything now?"



Clark smiled as he smoothed her hair away from her face. "Yes, Lois, I’m more than ready."



TBC!



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A/N: Whew, they needed to get that out and so did I! There will be more ‘talking’ ahead as they try to sort through the past six years! I’m not sure where I’ll be taking these guys, but there's no doubt that they need to 'talk.' *smiles* Please leave a review. Thanks for reading! :D