Drabble 73 | You've Got Me

[sanalayla]

A/N: Completely AU fic at this point. I didn't know that Lois was going to sneak into the Fortress all by herself. I figured Clark would take her. Little did I know.

 You're stuck on me
and my laughing eyes
I can't pretend though
I try to hide, I like you
I like you.

“So, what are we going to do tonight?” Clark asked, as he walked into my apartment. As usual, he had a gift in his hand. This time, it was chocolates.

My gaze narrowed on the writing on the box and I saw that it was from Belgium. And, by that, I didn’t mean that he’d just bought Belgian chocolates at a local store. Nope, that meant he’d made a pit stop in Belgium just before he came to my apartment.

As he handed me the box, I opened my mouth to protest the gesture, but he cut me off before I could. With a kiss. A very nice kiss that was clearly designed to make me forget what I was going to say to him. Like I'm that easy. Well, I probably am, but he doesn't need to know that.

Letting out a slight laugh, I broke away from him and stepped back. Pushing him slightly, I said, “Don’t try to distract me. We had a deal. No gifts.”

Clark raised a brow, a smile playing around his lips. “We had no such deal. You came up with the deal; I ignored you.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at that. It was totally the kind of thing I’d say, which told me that he’d been around me for way too long. With a grin, I took the box from his hand and opened it. Scanning the selection, I took one out and popped it into my mouth. When I glanced back up at him, I saw that he was staring at me intently.

Feeling a little self-conscious, I touched my lips. “What? Do I have chocolate on my face?”

Clark cleared his throat. “No. I….” He paused and then said, a bit awkwardly. “You look nice. I’m glad you like the present, even though it goes against your rules.”

With a slight nod, I looked down, blushing slightly. Yes, those pesky little rules that Clark was so adamantly opposed to. When I’d found out that he was the Blur, I’d established what I considered to be standard dating protocol. When I was dating Oliver, I’d been very clear that I had no intention of taking advantage of being a billionaire’s girlfriend.

I figured the same sort of idea applied to dating a super-powered hero. While it was great he was capable of getting me roses from England and fresh éclairs from Paris, I wasn’t really convinced that it was a great idea for me to start expecting it.

Even though I really did think it was the sweetest thing in the world that he ignored me and did it anyway. Not that he needed to know that. Of course.

So, to him, I just said, in a brisk voice, “I think I’m going to have to write those rules down for you, Smallville. Maybe even get them framed.”

“Rules are meant to be broken.” Clark stepped a little closer to me, bridging the distance between us. He slid the box of chocolates out of my suddenly limp hand and tossed it onto the counter behind me. Slowly, he tucked a few strands of hair behind my ear. “Or so you keep telling me.”

I think I felt my heart skip a beat,
I'm standing here and I can hardly breathe.
You got me,
Yeah, you got me.

Suddenly feeling like all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room, I tried to take a deep breath and control my pulse rate. Something that is no easy feat when a girl has Clark Kent invading her personal space. First of all, he’s about 6’4” and then there’s the fact that he’s gorgeous. Jet black hair; green eyes that turn to dark blue when he’s mad – or turned on, depending on what’s going on with us at the time; and the most perfect bone structure. I have seen women look at me with such envy when I walk down the street with him, that I’m surprised that I’m still standing to talk about it.

And he smells wonderful. I’m not sure why, exactly, but he has this special scent that is all his – it reminds you of lemons, the woods, and sunny summer day. All in one. I’ve checked out his aftershave and it’s not because of that, so I have yet to figure out if it’s a Kryptonian thing or a Clark Kent thing that he smells amazing all the time. But, I’ve decided not to question it and just consider myself lucky.

“Lois?” Clearly confused by the stretch of silence between us, Clark gazed down at me with a puzzled frown.

“Yeah?” Blinking slightly, I tried to remember what we’d been talking about before my mind had wandered in the direction of his body. At the thought, my mind wandered some more and I started to focus on how nicely he filled out his black t-shirt. The shirt was made out of a fine, soft cotton. Almost of its own accord, my hand reached out to touch his arm.

He glanced down at my hand and then back up towards me. My cheeks heated up and I snatched it back. “Um… rules? Yes. Well.” I stepped back and my back hit the counter. “Rules are meant to be broken when they’re not mine. I mean, obviously, Smallville.”

There we go, I’d gotten control of myself again. Back to being Lois Lane. And not a weird girl who has to go around stroking her boyfriend’s shirts – while he’s still in them.

Clark, for his part, seemed to seriously consider that for a moment. And then, answered, smoothly, “All right, then.” Not waiting for me to respond – not I had a response – he changed the subject. “So, what are we doing tonight?”

“No idea,” I replied, airily. “It’s your turn to decide. Remember?”

We’d decided, awhile back, that we’d take turns deciding what our dates were going to be like, because I like the element of surprise. Not just surprising Clark, but having him surprise me.

And, honestly, Clark came up with some awesome dates (I’m sure it helped that gravity wasn’t a big deal to him, but I have to give him credit for being very original). There was the time he’d set-up midnight picnic right in the cornfields where we’d first met. We’d spent the whole night talking while he pointed out the various stars and planets in the galaxy.

He’d talked about his home planet and how much he wished he could see it in the night sky. Afterwards, he’d taken me for a short flight and I’ll never forget how beautiful the night sky looked as he guided me through the clouds, holding me close to him. It was one of the best nights of my life.

The way you take my hand is just so sweet
And that crooked smile of yours
it knocks me off my feet

Clark seemed to be biting the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling, and he nodded. “Yeah. True.” He took a couple of steps back and held out his hand to me. “So, let’s go.”

Surprised that he’d come up with something so quickly, I just glanced down at his hand and didn’t take it. “What are we doing?”

Laughing at the suspicious look on my face, he grabbed my hand. “It’s a surprise. I knew it was my turn.” Giving me that half-smile that I’d dubbed the famous Kent grin a long time ago, he said, teasingly, “I was just testing you. To see if you remembered it was my turn.”

Raising a brow, I kept silent, as I allowed him to guide me through the apartment. I stopped walking when I saw that he wasn’t leading me to the front door, like I’d expected. Instead, he was taking me back towards my bedroom. That was unexpected.

Oh, I just can't get enough,
How much do I need to fill me up?
It feels so good it must be love,
It's everything that I've been dreaming of.

After I’d found out he was the Blur, we’d agreed to go back to taking things slow (to learn how to be in a relationship with all our cards on the table, so to speak). It had been mainly my idea, because I wasn’t sure we were ready to go back to where we’d been before all the dual identity stuff had come up.

In a way, I had kind of thought we should start all over again. With a clean slate. Clark wasn’t exactly sold on the idea, but he’d agreed. (I suspect he was so relieved I wasn’t breaking up with him that – in that moment – I could have asked for anything and he would have agreed.)

It had been two months since we’d struck that deal and this was the first time he’d made a move towards my bedroom in that time. So, this was definitely a bit random. Not that I was necessarily against it. There’s no denying that I created the going slow rule because I was afraid of getting hurt. But I’m not an idiot. I know full well that Clark’s hot. And, more importantly, my body is aware he’s hot. Which would probably explain my compelling urge to stroke his shirt at the most inopportune times.

I give up. I give in. I let go. Let's begin.
Cause no matter what I do,
My heart is filled with you.

“Ah….” I stopped right outside my bedroom and then gave him a mischievous look. “This is where your surprise is? I’m… intrigued.” I purposefully let the last part come out as a slow drawl.

There were basically two ways Clark could respond to that. Either he was going to blush and stammer. Or he was going to give me one of those looks that led to a marathon make-out session. My body was really hoping he’d choose the latter option. My brain was hoping he'd choose the former.

Being Clark, he surprised me once again and did neither. Instead, he rolled his eyes and let go of my hand. Heading towards the back of my room, he said, “Your surprise isn’t in here. But you need to get stuff from your closet for your surprise.”

This time I wasn’t just intrigued for the sake of getting a reaction out of him. My curiosity piqued, I stepped into my room and watched Clark open my closet doors and start digging around way in the back. After a few minutes, he emerged with my winter coat and my snow boots. My brows rose as he tossed them onto my bed and then went back in to grab a scarf, a hat, and gloves.

Finally, I broke the silence. “Clark. Not to be Captain Obvious, but its ninety degrees out. And you want me to dress up like an Eskimo?”

Casting an amused look my way, he shut my closet doors. “Pretty much.”

While I do love surprises, I’m not going to pretend that I’m good at waiting for them. So, my immediate response was to cross my arms and say, in a challenging voice, “Tell me why and I’ll do it.”

Clark stuck his hands in his pockets and stared me down. “Trust me. You’ll thank me later.”

I knew from the stubborn set of his lips and the way he was looking at me that he wasn’t going to back down. Letting out a sigh, as I rolled my eyes, I traipsed over to the bed, kicking off my high heels as I did so. Sitting down the bed, I yanked on the knee-high snow boots and then pulled on the coat over my short evening dress. After completing the ensemble with the hat, gloves and scarf, I felt like it was a thousand degrees in the room.

Casting him a baleful look, I said, “This better be worth it.”

“Oh, it will be.” His eyes sparkling mischievously, he reached out to grab my gloved hand and then tugged me closer to him.

Before I could think, he’d slid his arm around my waist and picked me up. “Hold on,” Clark ordered.

I tightened my hold around his neck, closing my eyes and bracing myself for the force of super-speed. A couple of minutes later, I opened my eyes and saw that we were high in the clouds. The warm night air was cooler at this height, but it was still pretty hot. When I pointed this out to Clark, he told me to just wait. And, then, he increased his speed and shot up higher in the sky. At that point, I held on tighter and decided that conversation was pretty much impossible. Instead, I just snuggled in closer to him and closed my eyes, just enjoying being with him. Our lives were so busy, it was rare we just got a chance to be with each other like this.

I can't imagine what it'd be like
Living each day in this life, without you.
Without you.

After about ten minutes of flying (I guessed; I wasn’t really in a position to check my watch), I noticed that air around me was a lot colder. In fact, it was starting to feel downright frigid. My nose felt cold and my eyes had started to water. By the time Clark finally started to descend, I was freezing. And incredibly thankful that he’d made me put on my coat. In fact, I was starting to think I should have yanked on some jeans, too, while I was at it.

When Clark finally came down, we were in the middle of a large expanse of white snow. Without giving me a chance to even blink, he super-sped somewhere and when we finally stopped, I opened my eyes and saw that we were standing inside an ice palace.

I blinked several times and then let him set me down, so I was standing on my own. I swayed a bit, as I usually do after Clark’s taken me for a particularly long flight. Turning slowly, I took in my surrounding and revised my original assessment. The palace wasn’t made of ice. It was made of crystals. Millions and millions of crystals. Some large; some small and all scattered haphazardly around at various angles.

“Clark.” My voice came out a bit breathless. “Where are we?”

Watching me intently, he said, “We’re in my…. Fortress.”

Startled, I slid an amused look his way. “Your fortress? You have a fortress?” Glancing around, I guessed, “In Antarctica?”

“In the Arctic,” Clark corrected. With some hesitation, he added, “Do you like it?”

“Like it?” I repeated, in an incredulous voice. I gave him a full fledged grin. “It’s amazing!”

Letting out what seemed like a sigh of relief, Clark took my hand again and started leading me around. “This is actually a part of my home planet.”

As I followed him through his tour, he began telling me the history about the place. How it all started with one crystal. And he went through all the various things that had happened there, including my cousin being possessed by some robot from the future and – amazingly – my own plane crash that happened several years ago.

“So, this was the place I thought was heaven?” I interrupted, looking at him in amazement. “This was where the plane crashed?”

Clark paused uncomfortably. “Yes. My mom asked Jor-el to help you both and he – somehow – managed to get you to safety.”

I had to take a minute to let everything sink in. Slowly, I shed my coat and other outerwear. The place was a lot warmer than I had originally thought. It must have been heated somehow. I glanced over at Clark, who was watching me in still silence. I could tell that my reaction to everything was important to him.

One look from you, I know you understand.
This mess we're in you know is just so out of hand.

“So, all those times you used to disappear last year; you were here?” I asked him.

“Yes.” Clark nodded. “I was training.”

Looking around, I ran a finger along the edge of one of the crystals. “Must be lonely. It’s quiet up here.”

Being a person who thrives on energy and chaos, my favorite place in the world is the bullpen of Daily Planet. The controlled chaos, the hum and buzz of people around me; I soak it in and become stronger for it. This fortress seemed like a great place to visit, but not that great of a place to work or spend a long period of time.

Clark smiled. “Well, I do call it the Fortress of Solitude for a reason.”

I raised a brow. “Isn’t that what your dad called your loft?” Looking around, I started to laugh. “So, I thought you out-grew the loft, but basically you just upgraded so you could mope in style?”

“I don’t mope up here,” Clark negated, immediately, with a quick shake of his head. “I come up here to think, to learn, to… just find some peace from all the sounds out there.” His expression grew more serious as he explained, “This is the only place in the world where I can’t hear people talking… calling for help. So, I come up here when I need silence.”

His super-hearing. Right, that made sense. I nodded, because I understood what he was saying. It hadn’t ever really occurred to me before, but it must be exhausting for him to have to constantly work to tune out the thousands of people and sounds around him all the time. And he was always so alert, ready to jump to save someone at the merest hint of a cry for help.

I walked closer to him and put my hand on his chest, looking up at him. “I get it. I’m glad you have this place. The loft was due for an upgrade.”

Clark burst out laughing in response to that. “Thanks.”

Swallowing a bit, I looked around again and asked him the question that I was a bit hesitant to put into words. “But why you’d bring me here? If you want silence, I’m not sure I’m the right person to be hanging out here.” I said the last part in a teasing voice, but I fully meant it.

“True.” Clark didn’t even bother to pretend I was wrong. “I brought you here for two reasons.”

He paused and gazed down at me with an indefinable look on his face that made me hold my breath.

I hope we always feel this way,
I know we will.
And in my heart I know that
you'll always stay

“One, I miss you when I’m up here.” Clark clasped my hand, which still covered his chest. I could feel his heart beating under my palm, the warmth from his body enveloping me, as it usually did. He always generated a ton of heat. Something to do with his metabolism. “Two, I….” Clark stopped and swallowed. “When you found out I was the Blur, I promised you and myself that I’d let you into every corner of my life. And… this is a huge part of my life.”

Touched by that, I bit my lower lip as I thought about what he’d just said. Absurd though it was, my mind focused on his first reason more than the second. “You miss me when you’re up here?” I hated that my voice came out tentative and a bit doubtful, but I couldn’t help it.

I’m a super-confident person in all aspects of my life, except for my love life. It’s the one arena in which I can’t help but doubt myself. Add in the fact that my boyfriend is the most powerful person in the universe and I’m sure you can understand why I have difficulty assuming anything when it comes to Clark. It’s not exactly easy being Clark Kent’s girlfriend. He doesn’t help matters by being the most opaque person in the world when it comes to his feelings.

Clark, however, wasn’t thinking of all of this, because he just looked puzzled. “Of course I do.”

There were a millions ways I could respond to that. I decided to just accept it at face value. “Thank you,” I answered, simply.

“Lois….” Clark stared down at me searchingly for a second. Then, he seemed to come to some sort of decision. “I… I miss you every second of every day that I’m not with you. I don’t even think about it, anymore. It’s like… I breathe and I miss you. It’s just there… a part of me.”

Oh, I just can't get enough,
How much do I need to fill me up?

Blinking up at him in silence for a minute, I tried to figure out what to say to that. “Smallville.” His nickname came out a bit unsteadily from my lips. “I….” My voice trailed off, because I didn’t exactly know how to finish the sentence.

Clark didn’t seem to need me to finish, because he continued. Gently, he cupped my face and rubbed his thumb across my lips. “Lois. I love you.”

If he’d said that in an effort to get me to say something, he’d failed. If anything, it made me even more frozen and tongue-tied.

I’d guessed, of course, that he loved me, but to hear it from his lips was just a whole other thing. And it wasn’t like I was expecting it to come out that night (I’d always figured there would be candlelight involved, soft lighting, and maybe some music during a nice dinner). I hadn’t expected him to just say it when we were standing in a house made of crystals from his home planet in the middle of the Arctic, of all places. Leave it to Clark to take my expectations and toss them out the window.

It feels so good it must be love,
It's everything that I've been dreaming of.

“I love you,” Clark repeated, firmly, when he didn’t get a response from me. “And I can’t imagine life without you. And I wanted to show you that I’ll take this slow, but I’m doing it right this time. I want you to know that you’re part of everything I do and that --.”

I give up. I give in. I let go. Let's begin.

I cut him off at that point. Standing on tip-toe, I threw my arms around him and kissed him. I poured what seemed like years of frustration into the kiss. All the pent-up emotion, the hours wondering what the hell was going on, the days when I had no clue what he was thinking, and all the months that I’d loved him and had been unable to express it.

Clark was stunned for a second, but then his arms went around me and he lifted me off my feet to kiss me properly. He was tentative, at first, but then he was matching me, emotion for emotion. His kiss quickly became hard and demanding, his tongue sweeping over my lips as he sought access. I let him in and he tightened his hold on me in response.

After a long moment, he finally broke away; probably to let me breathe. Admittedly, I needed the oxygen.

Taking a few fortifying breaths, I finally said, “I love you.” I waited for the panic attack that usually accompanied those words when I’d said them out loud before. No such attack came.

Cause no matter what I do,
My heart is filled with you.

Clark stared down at me for a long moment, his hands still spanning my waist. With a slight smile, he asked, “No more taking it slow?”

Meeting his gaze, I answered with a smile of my own and shook my head.

“In that case.” He swept a few strands of hair away from my face and then traced a line down the curve of my jaw and past my throat down to my collarbone. He left a trail of sparks over my skin wherever he had touched. “Lois… I want you.”

Closing my eyes for a moment at the raw need and desire that threaded his voice, I opened them and then slid my hand up over his shoulder and then pulled him down for a kiss.

Breaking away after a second, I said, simply, “You’ve got me.”

You got me. You got me.

_____________
Lyrics: "You Got Me" by Colbie Cailat