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"Hold the door!"
Clark spun around and saw Lois a few feet away, carrying two brown boxes in her arms. Immediately, he made his way to her.
"Lois, let me help you with those."
"I'm fine," she protested, but he took them anyway and began to head into the house, her at his heels.
He found an empty spot by the stairs to set the boxes down. "What is this stuff?"
"Well," she explained, "this was all that could be salvaged from the explosion. Very few of those are clothes, may I add. I am lucky I have enough clean underwear to last me through the week." He raised an eyebrow and she smirked. "Mind out of the gutter, Smallville."
"I don't know what you're talking about," he tried, but her expression didn't change so he just grinned and shrugged. "So, do you want to start unpacking? I can help."
"Oh, no, no, no, no," Lois said immediately. "It is a temporary spot for stuff that will be here ... temporarily."
"Lois ..."
"Temporary," Lois emphasized. "Just until I find another apartment."
This was a familiar argument, since he had made the original offer for her to stay with him after the explosion. He was very open about the fact that he would be happy for them to live together but she was still hesitant about it.
"Whatever you say, Lois," Clark replied, unable to hide the amusement from his tone.
Her eyes narrowed. "Don't humor me, Clark. I mean it. Besides, with us working together too, it's better to have our separate spaces ... that way we avoid moving too fast."
Moving too fast ... if she thought living together was moving too fast, he wondered what she would think about the fact he had already asked and received her father's blessings to propose, and the ring that was currently hidden in his sock drawer. Best not to bring that up.
"It is a little funny though," Clark pointed out, "that you were fine moving in when we were barely friends and now that we're together, you're running in the opposite direction whenever I mention it."
"Different circumstances," Lois said, hands wringing together. "It means a little more that our toothbrushes are in the same place now."
"Well, for what it's worth, I'm willing to wait for you to get comfortable to ... well, put your toothbrush next to mine on a more permanent basis," Clark assured her.
He was rewarded with a bright smile and kiss for his admission, and it wasn't even a lie. When he told Lois he would wait to be with her forever, well, he meant that. She was more than worth the wait. Especially since he had so recently come close to losing her again.
"So since we're not unpacking," Clark said, "is there anything I can help with?"
"Unless you can make a list of all the things I lost, unfortunately no," Lois said, rolling her eyes. "I am on my own here. I never thought I would dread shopping but I really do. Not to mention that I'm going to actually have to use that check I know my dad left you."
"He just wanted to help," Clark tried, hoping she wasn't upset that the General had gone through Clark.
"And he knew I wouldn't accept it from him," Lois said, sighing. "I know. The heartfelt stuff never comes easy ... for either of us, but on a practical sense, I do appreciate it. Even if it hurts my pride a little."
"There's nothing wrong with needing help," he reminded her.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Lois said reluctantly. "Easier said than done though."
"True," Clark agreed. If he was honest with himself, it hadn't ever really been easy for him to do so either, but she was definitely one of the reasons it was easier for him to reach out these days. The main one really. "Speaking of help, I may not be able to write your list, but I can carry a few shopping bags if you want some company."
Her expression and smile turned cheeky. "Hoping to help me pick out some new underwear? Maybe get a sneak peak?"
Once upon a time, he would've blushed, but now he just grinned, completely unapologetic. "Well, if you're offering ..."
"We'll see how lucky you are," Lois said, with a wink, and his grin widened. She suddenly frowned. "It'll be easier to replace than all my costumes. Can't find those at the local Spirit Halloween."
Clark easily recalled the collection she had built up, and considering he barely knew where she found them all, he wasn't certain how she would go about getting new ones either. "I'm sure you'll find it," he said, trying to instill confidence in his voice.
"Some things are irreplaceable," Lois said wistfully.
Trying to make her smile, he asked, "Like the star spangled bikini? I am going to miss that one ... didn't really appreciate it the last time I saw you in it."
Not that seeing her in it hadn't had an impact; denying that she was a beautiful woman was basically impossible, no matter how much he tried to, and keeping himself ... contained had been a struggle, even when he had insisted (and believed) he wasn't interested in her like that.
But his comment worked. Her smile returned, and she wrapped arms around his neck, lips curving into a smirk. "Oh is that so? I bet you wouldn't turn down that lap dance now ..."
Clark settled his hands on her hips and tilted his head. "Again, if you're offering ..."
She laughed and he couldn't resist kissing her once more. Not that she was complaining, responding immediately, as they lost themselves in each other easily, everything else left behind forgotten for the time being.
Necessity did bring the subject back eventually, and Clark ended up going shopping with her. He rarely went for himself, and it wasn't on his list of ideal ways to spend the day, but he would do anything to support Lois. And it wasn't so bad, even if his primary role was indeed holding her bags and following her around (losing her in a store, even with his powers, he found, was remarkably easy).
At one point, they dropped some of the bags in the car and then took a coffee break, sitting in front of a fountain. Even Lois, with her endless energy, was worn out by all the stuff she had to replace, but she did perk up when he briefly left and returned with a cinnamon roll.
"Extra frosting?" she asked.
"Please," Clark scoffed, "as if I would forget."
"You're a good man, Clark Kent," Lois said, mock seriously, leaning forward to kiss his cheek, making him smile. Softening, she added, "Thank you, for today."
"Anytime, Lois," Clark replied sincerely. They exchanged smiles and relaxed for a bit. At one point, Lois seemed distracted and Clark followed her gaze to the window of a men's store, where they were advertising some sort of flannel sale. She caught him looking and lifted a shoulder.
"I don't think you need anything there," Clark said, puzzled.
"No," Lois agreed. "Though a few of your shirts that I ... borrowed ..."
"You mean stole," Clark corrected, chuckling.
"Borrowed," Lois insisted. "A few of those might have ended up in the explosion too. I should replace them for you."
"Lois, I can't even remember which ones you have," Clark responded. "Don't get me wrong, I knew every time you came and left, I was missing some shirts, but I barely wear them nowadays anyway. No big deal."
To his surprise, she didn't look reassured, her face slightly falling before a more forced smile replaced it. "Yeah, no big deal." She got to her feet, and Clark wondered what he said wrong. "All right, let's get the rest of this over with."
"Lois? Are you okay?"
"Of course, Smallville," Lois said lightly, but it sounded off. "The sooner we finish, the sooner we can move on. Time to test how many bags you can carry at once!"
Then she was off again, and he had no choice, but to follow her. Outwardly, she was as cheerful as before, but he could sense that something was off and he didn't need to be a mind reader to know that he was at fault. But he wasn't sure why what he had said had upset her so much.
Until a day later, when he found her looking at an old picture of his parents and him. He was wearing one of the shirts that he was certain had gone missing when Lois left, and he guessed it was gone for good now.
"You know," Lois remarked, without even looking at him. "I think that was the first one I took from you ... I ran out of clean clothes and it was just there."
"When you ambushed me in the bathroom and then cheerfully caused my mom to freak out?" Clark recalled, with an easy smile. "I remember."
"Yeah," Lois said, eyes still glued to the photo. "At least we can laugh about it now."
"True, it's a nice memory," Clark agreed.
"Yeah, a nice memory." And there was that look on her face again, the wistful one when she claimed that some things were irreplaceable.
And then it clicked. Because he had just dismissed it just some shirts, but for Lois, it was more than that. It was the memories. Whether good, bad, or more embarrassing, she had attached certain ones to them, and his shirts, which he had never thought of as anything special, were special to her. And they were now gone.
Sure, he could buy her more shirts from the store, but it wouldn't be the same.
But maybe there was still something he could do. It would just take a little digging, but it was the least of what he would do for her. Ten minutes later, he discovered what he was searching for, and it took another twenty to put his plan in motion. Soon enough, he found her again, a medium box in his arms.
"What do you got there, Clark?" Lois asked, confused. "Are you planning to move?"
Clark let out a small laugh and shook his head. "No, these are for you."
"For me?" she repeated, as he set it down in front of her. "What is it? Too big for jewelry."
"Just open it," he said, nudging it.
"All right," Lois said, visibly curious, as she lifted the boxes lid open and then her eyes slightly widened. Her hand went into the box and pulled out one of the contents, a dark red checkered plaid shirt. "Clark ..."
"I can't replace what you lost," Clark said. "But well, I still have these shirts that I never wear so I figured you can keep them. Maybe they don't have the same memories attached but we can create some new one-"
And that was all he got out, before her lips were on his, effectively cutting him off. When they parted, she was beaming.
"Thank you," she said softly. "I know they're just shirts ..."
"If they're important to you, they're important to me," Clark told her. "I know it may not be the same since you didn't have to steal these ..."
"Whatever, Smallville, you know you like it," Lois joked.
"There's no denying that," Clark countered.
"So," she said, waving the shirt. "I'm going go try this on ... and maybe you can come ... take it off. Make some new memories right away." She spun around headed for the stairs.
And Clark wasn't an idiot. He was definitely not turning that offer down.
Or any that came in the future.
Because he would do anything for Lois.
Now and as long as he lived.