Chapter Text
A/N: Just a little story idea that came to mind recently. Was going to be a oneshot, but I decided to make it more chapter based short story. Enjoy!
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Lois didn't know how she always ended up in these situations with Clark. He was like the annoying itch she couldn't quite scratch or the mosquito she couldn't quite smash. And now, here he was again when she least expected it in Metropolis.
All she wanted was one night to drown her problems away and not think, not have conversations with people she knew. But, no, Clark Kent couldn’t allow her to have that. He always seemed to have a sort of sixth sense for when she was just trying to ignore the world. He’d just show up like a ghost and find someone to bug her.
Sitting at the bar, Lois took another swig of beer and rolled her eyes as the farm boy sat down next to her. Choosing not to acknowledge him, she kept her stare forward casually drinking her beer and giving a slight nod with a tight smile to the bartender. She could feel him audibly sigh and could've sworn she saw him shake his head out of the corner of her eye. Of course, he would make it difficult for her to ignore him, but she really didn't want a Lana-Clark pity party. She was here drowning her own problems away for the night not his. But, when he made another audible sigh as if she couldn't hear the first, she caved as she rolled her eyes again and finally turned her head towards him.
"Is there something bothering you there, Smallville?" Lois asked more than annoyed she was even having to. He was a grown adult in a bar, and he couldn't even just outwardly say why he was being so forlorn.
Clark looked at her with puppy dog eyes, and she almost felt bad for snapping until she remembered he was butting in on her night. "Oh nothing, it's just been a long day-well, week actually- er, maybe month."
Lois knew it had from everything he had chosen to tell her between his "family stuff" which he was always so vague about and his back-and-forth ever revolving relationship with Lana. But, now she had engaged with him, so acknowledge the conversation she must. Instead of delving further into questioning him, she stuck a finger up to the bartender, pointed at her drink, and gestured towards Clark. The bartender nodded at her and went to fetch a beer for Clark before placing it in front of him, much to Clark's shock.
"Oh Lois, I don't know," he bumbled out not really one for drinking.
Lois rolled her eyes giving him a pointed look. "Look here, I am in this bar trying to drown away my troubles. Now, I don't know how you tracked me down in this big old city, but you have, and you're here, and Lois's one rule of complaining while in a bar is that you must drink. So, either put up or shut up, Smallville, got it?" She kept his gaze with her eyebrows raised looking between him and the beer.
She grinned when Clark finally caved and took a big gulp, bigger than she expected. 'Huh, not quite as much pf a boyscout as I thought,’ she observed watching him take the drink. He seemed to have a funny expression on his face which Lois chalked up to inexperience in drinking. "You okay there, Smallville? You took a big swig for a man who rarely drinks."
Clark looked over at her brows furrowed. "Yeah, Lois. I just wasn't expecting the taste is all." He then looked at the bottle and examined it a bit as if looking for something. "You wouldn't happen to know where this was made?"
Lois sighed giving him another pointed look and shrugged. "Honestly? No. I know it's locally made, but I don't usually ask too many questions. I just drink it. So, drink," she ordered lifting it to her lips as he lifted it to his. "Speaking of, how did you find me in all the places there are to drink in Metropolis? Also, what are you doing in Metropolis?" ‘Other than choosing to bug me,’ she thought taking another drink from her beer.
She watched as he fiddled a bit with his sleeve then looked up at her. "Well, I was supposed to go on a date with Lana, but she cancelled at the last minute," he answered sheepishly. He seemed more than disappointed at the first statement having clearly slumped his shoulders. "So, I texted Chloe, and she was also busy but mentioned you were here, so I figured-"
"You'd stick around to bug me," she finished with a sarcastic grin on her face. Inwardly, she couldn't help but feel like third best since it seemed she was his last option, but, she had other things on her mind to think about other than mopey farm boys.
"I mean, I can leave, Lois. I just figured I was already in Metropolis and al,l I might as well make a night of it." She watched as he slumped his shoulders, and Lois could only picture a defeated puppy tucking his tail between his legs. Safe to say, she was starting to feel guilty.
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "No, you can stay. It's not like you're crashing my plans, really." Then she perked up a bit, "Plus, it might be fun to get the ever gallant Clark Kent drunk." Yes, that’s what she’d do. If she had to listen to his brooding, then she could at least have some fun with it.
She could see him visibly relax and even smile a bit shaking his head. "I think it'll take me more than one beer to get me drunk," he said not realizing he just challenged her.
"Challenge accepted," Lois said more than proud of herself and intrigued at the possibility. His face immediately went to a deer in headlights look which she had to suppress a smile from. Leaning on the bar a bit from her chair and standing slightly, she motioned to the bartender, "bartender, give us 2 shots of Jameson." She motioned with her hand 2 before sitting back down.
"Lois, I'm not sure about this," Clark said looking like he wanted to bolt right out the door.
Typical boyscout, farm boy. Him bolting wasn't going to happen on her watch and she pressed her hand on his shoulder forcing him back in the seat. "Come on, Smallville. You wanted to make a night of this, so, here I am making a night. Just relax. Plus, who knows, maybe alcohol will chase the Lana blues away," she finished as the bartender put the shots in front of them. She lifted hers towards Clark waiting for him to pick his up. Hesitantly, he picked it up and clinked glasses with hers. "Salute," she said before downing the drink and making sure Clark quickly followed.
Clark coughed a bit and made a face. "That tastes awful," he finished shaking his head and taking another swig of the beer to wash it down.
"That's the spirit, Smallville! Bartender, keep 'em coming!"
And the night went on like that and continued. Lois ordering shots and Clark taking them reluctantly. As the liquid courage went down, she was surprised at how much Clark started to spill about his relationships and family. If not for her being a bit tipsy herself, she might've felt uncomfortable, but they were both feeling the shots as the night went on.
"That's what I've been saying to you, Small-hick-ville. You can't keep doing this same song and dance with Luana," she furrowed her brows slightly knowing she was slurring her words a little bit. She chuckled slightly and shook her head, "Lana. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Well, I hate to break it to you, farm boy, but you're insane." She laughed a little bit at her own words, finding them more than amusing.
She noticed that Clark was also feeling the booze because he furrowed his brows at her before chuckling and shaking his head. "I guess when you put it that way, it does make me a little crazy," he slurred. He looked confused as if he'd never been drunk before, and Lois almost asked before chalking it up to his typical weirdness.
"Well, whatever you chose to do going forward, just know you got me in your corner. Unless you royally fuck over Lana, in which case, I'll be team Lang all day," she stated a bit louder than she intended. Luckily, the bar she found was pretty empty for a Thursday. "Just be honest, Clarkie boy. Usually, that helps," she finished taking another shot back and prompting him to do the same.
"Honest, yeah," he mumbled downing the shot and looking almost sad Lois noted. There was a big pause in which Clark looked like he was trying to form words and so Lois decided to just keep drinking her beer until Clark spoke up. "You ever have a huge secret that you can't tell anyone even when you want to because it'll put people in danger?" he slurred out.
Lois furrowed her brows a bit giving him an odd look. She took a swig of beer taking the time to mull over her words. "I mean, we all have our secrets, Smallville. Although, you being the grade A ranger you are, I can't imagine you're hiding anything too bad under that hood." She watched as he looked deep in thought. She was starting to feel this was too personal of a territory to be in for someone who very rarely got drunk. No need to end a good night poorly by spilling too much of one’s guts. "I mean, what, you broke the tractor one time and never told your parents," she quipped nudging him slightly with her elbow and chuckling.
Clark looked up at her and relaxed a bit, but she did notice the hesitant chuckle he did following her comment. "Yeah, something like that, Lois," he finished looking down at his drink before taking a drink.
A few hours passed before Lois looked down at her phone at a message from Chloe. It was only then she spotted the time and her eyes nearly bugged out. "Well, it's official, Smallville, we made it to tomorrow," she finished holding her phone up to his face as he squinted to look at the time; 1am. "Come on, you get to walk me back to my hotel as a gentleman should," she said standing up and feeling a little dizzy as she did so. "Woah," she stated grabbing her head a bit. Turns out Smallville could match her better than she thought on this whole booze deal.
"Okay, Lo-lo, I'll make sure you get back safely," he responded slurring his words as he stood up. She could see very clearly the alcohol was affecting his center of gravity as well and she laughed.
"First off," she slurred, "never call me Lo-lo." She shook her head. "Secondly, Clark Kent, you are drunk," she laughed out pointing at him as they made their way out to the Metropolis streets.
He chuckled slightly himself. "No, I'm not," he slurred out as he almost tripped on the cobblestone of the sidewalk.
But he clearly was, and Lois knew it. He was kind of fun to hang out with when he wasn’t brooding and moping around like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. He was always so serious, and she wondered sometimes what made him that way. His mom was super cool and not uptight in the least, and his dad was relatively laid back. So what was it about being a farm boy that would make it seem like his world was always falling apart?
That's when music drifted into the air as they were walking distracting Lois’s brief thoughts as they walked. She looked over at Clark and watched as he smiled and shook his head. "Do you hear that, Lo," he asked clearly not heading her first warning about the nicknames.
"Yeah, Smallville, some people call it music," she said as she almost tripped regretting wearing heels that night as she made her way across the uneven cobblestone.
Clark began to sway slightly to the music under the streetlight giggling a bit as he did so. "Come on and dance with me," he prompted letting the music lead his movements. He gave her a playful grin, and he did a small twirl and gestured her over.
"Smallville, you look ridiculous out here," she said laughing, wishing she had a video camera to film this. But there he sat dancing to the music on the streets without a care in the world. Lois thought this might be the first time she'd ever seen him like this: Carefree and unbothered. Usually, he looked like the weight of the universe was on his shoulders. As if he was responsible for all the bad shit that had ever happened or ever will happen. Seeing him in this foreign state, she decided to indulge him a bit and join in. Hopping and dancing around like two dumb idiots in the middle of the night.
Before long, they were both dancing as the streetlight hit them; laughing at their own stupidity. Neither of them really noticing any pedestrians or any of the cars that might've gone by. She heard him laugh causing her to turn and face him in curiosity. Then, his face grew very serious as he placed his hands on her shoulders to steady himself. "Lois, you're one of my favorite people," he said lowly not breaking eye contact with her for a second. Then, he paused almost as if contemplating his words before putting a finger up to his lips, "But shhh don't tell sober Lois that," he finished as he went back to his dancing.
Lois almost stopped dead in her tracks as he looked intensely into her drunken eyes. She threw him a weird look unsure of how she was supposed to handle this. Watching him start to dance again, she shook her head and chalked it up to Smallville being a drunk dumb idiot. She wasn’t one of his favorite people, and her sober mind knew that. He probably was just riding the high of the alcohol. Although, she couldn't deny the slight butterflies it gave her to hear him say that. She continued on with her dancing with him shaking off the seriousness of the previous moment.
The two continued dancing stupidly without a care in the world in the middle of the night in the streets of Metropolis. Minutes passed which felt like hours to Lois as they pranced around. She was almost sure they were never going to stop; that was until the music faded and the sounds of the city hit their ears. She looked over at Clark and watched as a small pout graced his lips which almost made her laugh.
"Come on, farm boy, let's get me to my hotel," she said grabbing his hand and dragging him along in the streetlight. Unfortunately, she yanked a little harder than expected and could only stare as Clark tumbled forward in his drunken stupor. She watched as he looked around almost confused before he looked at his arm. A small trickle of blood started to trail down his arm as he sat there and stared at it as if it wasn't normal for someone who has just fallen. She walked over rolling her eyes before bending down to help him up. "Come on, Smallville, it's just a small scratch. We'll get you cleaned up once we get to the hotel." She reached into her pocket and extracted a small napkin she’d pocketed from the bar for some reason and handed it to him. “Here, put this on it.”
He reluctantly did as she told as he followed her along the invisible path she was creating. Before long, they were at the hotel and Lois gestured to him to come up. “Let’s get you cleaned up, farm boy,” she joked slightly.
To her surprise, he followed her, but she did hear him mumble out, “If you wanted to get me upstairs, Lois, there are easier ways than pulling me onto the street.” This elicited a slight blush and eye roll from her as she was caught off guard by his comment. Seemed Smallville had a little more bite in him than he’d ever willingly admit. Instead of responding to his drunken comments, she just continued her way up the stairs to her room.
When they got upstairs, Lois grabbed some paper towels from the small kitchenette in her hotel room and wetted it before marching over to a still confused and drunk Clark as she slowly addressed his wound. "Geez, Clark, it's like you've never seen your own blood before," she commented as she gently cleaned the wound. She quickly put some Neosporin on it and a band aid before looking up at him with a confused look. "There, all better. You want me to kiss it too," she sarcastically quipped, waiting for a blush or some reaction. When none came, she sighed and rolled her eyes before lightly kissing his arm. "You happy?" she asked before retreating to the kitchenette area to throw away the trash.
When she came back, she noticed he’d readjusted himself on the couch to be laying down. Clearly he was feeling the tiring effects of the alcohol coursing through his system. So, instead of shoving him out the door, she decided she’d let him stay. Sighing, she went and sifted through her suitcase.
Looking over at the couch, she threw Clark an oversized shirt she was pretty sure was his anyway and threw him a sheet from the bed. "Here you go, Clarkie." Not waiting for a response, she then grabbed her clothes and went into the bathroom to quickly change into her PJs before brushing her teeth and hopping into bed. "Night," she briefly responded noting he was basically falling asleep on the couch already.
She heard him mumble a small “goodnight”. Closing her eyes, she shook her head grinning a bit at how the night turned out before slowly succumbing to sleep herself.
TBC…