He thought a lot about what Mom had said as he weighed the pros and cons of asking Lois out.

Was he more afraid of a relationship with her failing or succeeding? If it failed, would they be able to go back to being the friends they were before their feelings started to change? And would they want to?

If it succeeded, what would that mean for their future? Did it necessarily mean that there would be a future or would their relationship with each other just be a way to heal from their previous heartbreaks, before they moved on? The idea of that made his heart hurt.

With Lois such a part of his life again, her initial presence after she'd found him a lifeline, he couldn't imagine her not being part of it.

He'd held her in his arms and kissed her and felt his heart race at her willing response. He'd taken her into his bed for a night and wakened to find her snuggled trustingly in his arms. He'd fed her and comforted her, only to have her repay him with sarcasm and constantly challenging him, daring him.

But he'd never admit to her that he liked it when she did.

"Smallville, you'd better not be up there sulking." He heard her voice and smiled as Lois came into view at the top of the loft stairs.

"I'm not sulking Lois, just thinking."

"About what?" She walked over to the couch and plopped down next to him before she looked around. "It's been awhile since I've been up here."

"Me too." Clark admitted with a nod.

"So why are you up here and what are you thinking about?" She asked him and the look on her face told him she had no clue as to what he was about to ask her.

"I was thinking about what you would say if I asked you out."

"Asked me out." She swallowed nervously. "You mean like a date."

"Something like that."

"Well it's either a date or it isn't." Lois frowned. "Which is it?"

Clark could feel his heart begin to flutter and his hands started to shake as he tried to stay calm. He looked into her eyes and could see the hesitance in them as he took a breath; she knew. "Lois, would you go out with me?"

His request got her off the couch and she started to pace. "You're serious."

This wasn't exactly how he pictured it going. He never deluded himself into thinking she would smile at him sweetly and say 'yes', but it felt so much like they were going back to square one and the night she'd come out to the farm for Valentine's Day dinner.

"It doesn't have to be anything big like going out to dinner; we could just go to a movie." She was going to say no, he just knew it. "Or if that's too much, I can meet you in Metropolis for lunch."

"Where we would go Dutch?" She stopped pacing and when she faced him, continued to frown.

"If we go Dutch, it's not a date." He frowned back at her. "The whole point is that we spend some time together, off the farm, where we act like civilized people who happen to like each other and I pay for your meal."

"Why can't we just do something here, like we've been doing?" She asked and he could see that she really was nervous. "I'm comfortable here and I like it here. And I can kiss you here."

Was she hiding whatever it was that they had? Was she hiding from whatever it was that they had?

"Are you saying that you don't have a problem being with me and kissing me, here; where no one can see us. But you won't go out with me in public?"

"That's not fair!" She began to pace again. "It's not that I don't want to be seen with you. It's just that if I agree to go out with you on a date, whatever it might be, you're not safe anymore."

"I'm not safe?" What in the heck was she talking about?

"It means that you wouldn't just be my friend anymore, you'd be a guy I might consider dating."

He shouldn't have smiled. "Does that mean you're considering it?"

"Considering it?" She frowned at him and then put her hands on her hips. "I've only started to wonder if you were ever going to ask."

"You know, you could have asked if you wanted to go out with me that much." His smile became a grin.

"Oh please." Lois smiled at him then. "Why would I do that and miss the opportunity to see you fall all over yourself trying to get up the nerve to ask me out on a date."

"So what exactly would I have to do to get you to go out with me?" He asked with some trepidation, not having a clue as to what she would say.

"Kiss me and we'll talk about it." Her answer was straightforward, as if he expected anything less.

"That's coercion and maybe even blackmail." He stood up and reached for her, something that was becoming second nature. And to his delight, she put her arms around his neck as he pulled her close.

"Whatever." She tipped her face up in invitation and he only managed to brush his lips against hers when he heard Jimmy Olsen.

"Clark, are you here?"

He let out a frustrated sigh as she pulled out of his arms and backed away. And then he panicked when she headed for the stairs. Please don't leave. "Lois."

"Yes." She started down the stairs as he saw Jimmy walked toward them.

"What?" Did she just say yes to a date, with him? His heart was beating a mile a minute and all he knew was that he had to stop her from leaving. So he followed her down the stairs and tried to catch up, nearly knocking Jimmy down.

"Hey CK, you have a minute?"

"I'll be right back." He kept moving forward.

She can't leave.

He walked out of the barn and realized immediately that she hadn't gotten to her car. And when he turned around, found her leaning against the wall with her eyes closed. Her arms were around his neck as soon as he reached her and she didn't give him the chance to get his arms around her waist before her lips were on his; warm, soft and insisting that he kiss her.

He pulled her against his chest and kissed her back, still not quite believing that she'd accepted a date with him. "You'll really go out with me?" And he kissed her again before she could give him an answer, so she just nodded.

"Clark?" He heard Jimmy's voice closing in. He had to get rid of him because Clark didn't want her to leave.

"I have to go." She gave him a gentle shove and he backed away as she made a beeline for her car.

"Please don't leave." He pleaded with her quietly as he followed her.

She shook her head and was trying to catch her breath as she got in and closed the door.

"Lois." He was practically begging. "Please."

Who was he kidding, he was begging.

She reached out to him and he saw her glance toward the barn and promptly pulled her hand back inside. "Come to the Talon about seven. We'll watch a movie and talk about where you're going to take me on our date."

"You really mean it?" He hadn't been hearing things.

"How can I say no to those baby blues?" She cracked a smile at him as she started her car and turned it around to head down the lane toward the main road.

"I didn't interrupt anything, did I?" Clark heard Jimmy come up behind him as he tried to hold on to the sensation of Lois's lips on his.

He shook his head as he watched her car turn onto the main road and disappear. "Lois has been playing mother hen since she found me in the caves and feels like she needs to check up on me all the time."

"Chloe's still not talking to you?"

Clark shook his head again. "I've tried to talk to her, but she won't open her door or answer her cell."

"That's because she thinks you chose Lana over her." Jimmy was repeating something Clark had already heard, repeatedly; that he'd gone after Lana instead of going to his friend's aid.

"She was my girlfriend." He couldn't take his eyes off the empty road.

"But Chloe's your best friend; she was in trouble and she needed you." Jimmy's voice was beginning to sound annoyed. "I came to you for help and you blew me off."

"Chloe broke the law." Clark glanced at him. "How was I supposed to help her?"

"By being her friend." He frowned. "And standing by her."

"She should have asked you to help her." Clark pointed out the obvious and deflected the comment.

Jimmy stood back, almost as though he'd been punched in the gut and his face paled.

Nice going; he didn't deserve that.

"She always goes to you for help." He sighed. "You're her hero."

"And you're the one who should be her hero, not me." Clark told him.

"Clark, what's going on?" Jimmy asked him and grabbed his arm to turn him around. "I'm trying to talk to you and it feels like you're not here."

I'm not; I'm standing over by the barn kissing Lois.

"So what brings you out here?"

"I came to see if you would try and talk to Chloe again. She won't admit it, but I know she misses you."

"Jimmy, I've already tried and I don't know what else to do." He sighed. "She's mad at me and I can't change that."

"She's going to talk to Lois about doing a movie night at their place tonight." Jimmy told him and Clark closed his eyes in frustration. "And I'd like you to be there."

Of course he would.

"If it were any other night." He started and Jimmy laughed.

"Why, you have a hot date with a cow?"

He's been hanging around Lois too much; and the thought of her made Clark smile. "What time do you want me to be there?"

"If you'd come over about six-thirty and keep Lois from burning the pizzas, Chloe and I will be there at seven with the movies."

A half-hour was better than nothing, so Clark agreed.

"Great! I'll see you then." He looked relieved and walked to his car. "Thanks CK."

Clark knew he needed to call Lois as he watched Jimmy drive away. He walked to the house and couldn't help but hope that this wouldn't become a habit.

oooooo

"So much for a movie and discussing a date." Lois quipped and she flushed as she stood at her door a couple of hour later.

He wished she'd do that more often.

"We can talk about it before Jimmy and Chloe get here." He suggested. "And if she leaves once she sees me it won't matter, will it?"

"Jimmy and I have tried to talk to her, but she's being stubborn." She frowned as she stepped aside and let him in.

"I wonder what side of the family she gets that from." He grinned at her.

"Very funny." She said to him as she walked to the kitchenette and he watched her go. "Smallville, are you checking me out?"

How did she know that?

"Of course not." Clark fibbed and she laughed.

"Uh-huh."

"Lois." He frowned with embarrassment that he'd been caught and she turned around, with a smile on her face.

"I wasn't objecting." Her face flushed again. "If I were I would have said 'Eww, Smallville'."

"Which you have said, by the way." He reminded her.

"And at the time, I meant it." She leveled a look at him.

"At the time?" Clark teased her and then caught her eye. "I've been thinking about what we could do on a date and I wondered what you would think about going to the county fair?"

Her eyebrows went up in surprise. "The county fair?"

"Well, where else would a Kansas farm boy take a girl on their first date?"

"The Lowell County Fair." She said as she folded her arms across her chest.

"So, do you think it's a good idea, bad idea?" He asked and then smiled again. "Or we could sit in a dark movie theater and I could kiss you."

"Hmm." She seemed to be pondering her choices as she approached him. "Making myself sick on cotton candy or necking in a dark theater."

"A movie it is." He nodded and thought the issue was settled.

"Will there be corn dogs?"

"At the movie?" Clark was confused when she rolled her eyes at him.

"No, at the fair."

"Probably." He was still confused.

"Throw some mustard on that puppy and you've got a date." Lois laughed again. "I've never been to a county fair."

"If I'd known sooner that all it would take for you to go out with me would be mustard on a corn dog, I would have asked sooner." Clark laughed in relief and just as he reached for her, the front door opened.

"Figures." Lois smiled at him and turned around to hide the blush that was beginning to stain her cheeks. "My cousin and her timing."

Clark sighed and steeled himself for the less than warm welcome he knew was coming. "Lo, we're back." He heard Chloe's voice and turned around.

"And we've got company." Lois threw over her shoulder, not yet ready to turn around.

"Was this your idea?" She didn't look happy to see him as Chloe directed her question to Lois.

"It was mine." Jimmy stepped forward. "I thought it would give you a chance to talk."

She glanced at Clark and her expression was unreadable and he knew she was still hurt. "I thought we were going to watch a movie."

Chloe wasn't going to talk to him and he was feeling very unwelcome, so he looked at Jimmy and shrugged before he glanced at Lois. "I think I'd better go." And he walked to the door.

"Smallville, hold it. You're not going anywhere." Clark stopped at the sound of her voice and turned back to face her.

He wasn't going to let Chloe feel uncomfortable in her own home. "I think I should." And again started for the door.

"Chlo, tell him he can stay." Lois appealed to her cousin. "I can't seem to pry him off that farm these days and you aren't helping."

There was silence as he opened the door and stepped out.

"Nice going, cuz." He heard just before he closed it behind him. He started down the stairs as the door opened and when he stopped and looked up he saw Lois following him; her purse slung over her shoulder "She's being unreasonable."

"She's hurt."

"She's supposed to be your best friend." Lois wouldn't accept his defense as they walked down the stairs together. "So have you eaten yet?"

"Not since lunch because I thought I'd be having pizza for dinner." He sighed and was surprised when he felt Lois slip her hand into his and hold it firmly.

"She'll come around. Just give her some time." She tried to reassure him. "She misses having you around and she's just too stubborn to admit it."

She'd told him that earlier and wished he could believe it.

"Since we're both missing out on pizza, let's walk over to Gino's for a slice and then we can go back to the farm and watch a movie." Lois smiled at him.

"You can't seem to pry me off the farm and yet I can't seem to keep you away." He smiled back. "How is that?"

"Because you can't live without me." She leaned up and gave him a quick kiss before she walked through the main door. "I hope you changed your mother's bed, because you've got a houseguest tonight."

He stood and watched her walk outside and smiled.

As if he ever had any say in the matter.