Chapter 1: Old faces and new places.

Metropolis was a very busy city for most of the year, but when it came to the Summer holiday, the word 'busy' did not cover the hub and chaos of the city.

Chloe Sullivan made her way through the crowded streets to a café, where she was meeting two of her friends: Kara Kent and Lex Luthor. Kara and Lex were both two years older than Chloe, 26; Lex was a billionaire and Kara was a police officer. Chloe worked as a journalist at 'The Daily Planet', where she had worked for the past five years, after having an internship in her last year of university. Chloe, like Kara, was originally from Smallville, but she had moved to Metropolis to attend Metropolis University, from which she had graduated three years previously. Chloe's friends, Clark and Lana Kent had also attended that university, but they were also two years her senior and lived in Smallville.

As Chloe entered the café, she saw Kara and Lex and went to join them, though she felt as if she were intruding; Kara and Lex had always had a connection between them, one which Chloe nor Clark could describe. "Kara was just telling me that she broke up with that photographer." Lex informed Chloe, with a slight smile.

Chloe sat down and stared at her friend. "The one who worked at 'The Planet', Jimmy, right? Why, I thought you liked him?"

Kara sighed and rolled her head from side to side; she was a very dreamy person. "I guess, he and I just weren't right for each other. Besides, I didn't love him and he didn't love me, so what's the point?" She smiled and added, "I'm sure that my Mr. Right will be coming along very soon-sorry, Chloe, now I'm sounding like you." Out of all of their friends, it was Chloe who knew what she wanted to do with her life: she wanted to be a famous, good journalist, then she wanted to marry, settle down and have three children-she had even picked out the ideal names for her children and all of her friends knew it.

In response to Kara's remark, Lex added, smiling at Chloe, "I don't think that's a bad thing-knowing what you want, I mean, Look at me: I'm the Chair CEO of LuthorCorp, I business which I share with both of my parents and I have no idea what I want to do with my life, so having a bit of direction isn't a bad thing." He and Chloe had known each other since Chloe had been 16; both she and Kara had met him because he had been Clark's friend.

"Thanks, Lex, but I don't think I'm ever going to get what I want, considering I've never had a boyfriend."

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Kara's brother, Clark, and his wife, Lana. Chloe and Kara stood up and embraced the two new-comers. When they had been greeted by them, Lex stepped forward and hugged Clark and Lana. The two of them had been together since they had been 16 and they loved each other very much.

As they sat down, Kara asked her brother, "What brings you guys here?"

Clark and Lana shared a smile, before the latter replied, "Well, we have decided to move to Metropolis. That's why we're moving now, so the boys can get settled in the new school year."

"What do Lewis and Matthew think about that?" inquired Lex. Lewis and Matthew were Clark and Lana's 5-year-old sons and they were all very fond of them; Lewis was named after Lana's dad, who had died when she had been 3, as her mum had.

Clark sat down next to his friend and replied, "They're thrilled. They're still with Mum and Dad at the moment, until we get settled in. We're taking a house near to why you guys all live."

"Clark, Lana? What are you two doing here?" Clark turned around to see his friend, Oliver Queen, walking over to them. The two friends embraced, then Oliver sat down next to Chloe and asked, "What are you guys doing here?"

"We're moving here," replied Lana, "the boys are excited about being closer to their godfather."

Clark had met Oliver Queen at university. Oliver was the head of Queen Industries and he had inherited following his 21st birthday, after both he, Clark and Lana had graduated from Metropolis University. After this, Oliver had stayed in Metropolis, but he and Clark had remained good friends and he was the godfather of Clark and Lana's sons and he saw them regularly. Like Clark, Lana and Lex he was 26. He was friends with Chloe and Kara. He and Lex were civil with each other, but there was obviously some unpleasant history between the two of them.

The T.V in the café was turned on and it showed an interview which Lex had done a couple of weeks ago; Queen Industries and LuthorCorp were rivals and one of the advantages LuthorCorp had was that Lex, his father, mother, stepmother and half-sister were all willing to speak about their personal lives and about their past, whereas Oliver did never spoke about that.

The interview, a woman named Tilly Glen, asked Lex the first question, "So, Lex, tell me about where you were born, your childhood, your parents, anything?" As that question was asked on TV, Lex made eye contact with Oliver and smirked at him, before turning his attention back to the TV. Oliver just rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath.

On TV, Lex replied, "Well, I was born in Metropolis. My father, Lionel, had married my mother, Lillian, about a year before my birth and I guess they were ready for a child. I was cared for by a nanny, who's now my step mum and I was very fond of her, as well as my own parents. My father would always take me on business trips and my mother would always find time for me and I always had Pamela. When I was 9, I was blessed with a baby brother, but sadly, he passed away and my mother became very ill, mentally, so Pamela was mostly in charge of my care." He smiled at the camera before continuing, "When I was 12, my mother discovered that my father and Pamela had been having an affair for the past 12 years and they got divorced and shortly after this, my father married Pam. I attended Excelsior Prep, a boarding school, but I saw my parents very often."

"What can you tell us about your half-sister, Lex?"

"My sister, Tess, was born months after me; after my birth, my father and Pamela began their affair. I never met Tess until I was 20 and I believe that she believed that her father had abandoned her and her mother before her birth. We've met and we have a very good relationship and that relationship is easier, considering her mother is now married to my father."

The interview continued in such a way and both Chloe and Clark could tell that Lex's smug attitude was annoying Oliver every single second. When it was over, addressing Lex, he asked, "How can you be so blesse about the fact that your father cheated on his wife, your mother?" There was a cutting tone to his voice which the others did not like and they were worried about how Lex was going to respond.

Before he could, however, a young woman with dark hair walked over to the group and addressed, "Chloe. Chlo, I'm so glad that I've found you!" Chloe's cousin, Lois Lane, pulled her into a tight hug, but Chloe felt her body stiffen as Lois noticed Clark; she had met Clark when she had been 16 and since then, she had had very strong feelings for him. Clark had had feelings for her also, but he had been dating Lana and had never thought of Lois in that way, as they had always been great friends. Lois had managed not to attend Clark and Lana's wedding, by claiming that she had to study, which had been a lie, but one which she had willingly told.

The two cousins parted and Lois sat down next to Clark. "Lois, aren't you supposed to be getting married soon?" Oliver asked; he had known Chloe and Lois since they had been 16.

Lois shrugged. "Well, yeah, A.C and I are supposed to be getting married. I mean, we asked me a year ago and I said 'yes', but I've had a change of heart, so I left him."

"Does A.C know?" Chloe asked; she knew that Lois's fiancée loved Lois very much and she did not want to see him hurt.

"Yeah, he knows. We talked about it last night and then I told him that I needed space...and that I couldn't marry him, or be with him, for that matter."

Frowning, her cousin asked, "Lois, I thought you loved him. What happened?"

For a second, Lois's eyes fell on Clark and their eyes met. This exchange was not missed by Lana, who had known of Lois's feelings for her husband for years. Lois tore her eyes away from Clark, hoping that no-one had noticed, but everyone had, but Clark. "Well, I realised that I don't want to spend the rest of my life with him. I need to call my dad and tell him. I was thinking of going to stay with Lucy in France, but I thought I'd come here first."

"Lois, we'd be happy to have you here in Metropolis, with us." Clark smiled, addressing Lois directly. When she looked confused, he added, "Lana and I are moving in Metropolis, with the boys."

"Wow, I thought you'd never leave Smallville." Lois then turned her attention to Lex, whom she had never met before. "I feel as if I know you somehow, but I don't know how."

Lex smiled, then replied, "I'm Lex Luthor. My father, mother and I run LuthorCorp."

An awkward silence followed and Oliver gave Chloe a look, showing that he wanted an explanation and that reminded her that he had not been with them in Smallville, so he did not know the history between Clark and Lois, as she knew that Clark would not have told him.

Sensing the tension, Kara sprang up and took Lois by the arm. "Lois, how about I take you up to Chloe's flat and we can help you settle in and the others can help?" Chloe handed her the keys and they left followed by Clark, Lex and Lana.

As soon as the door was closed, Oliver inquired, "So, what's the story behind that? Your cousin didn't marry her fiancée because of Clark, but he's married? Clark and I have been friends for years, how come he's never mentioned that he and Lois dated?"

"Because they didn't." Chloe took a sip of her coffee, before explaining. "When Lois and I were 16, Lois moved to Smallville and lived with me and my dad. She met Clark and she fancied him, but he was with Lana. Clark had feelings for her, too, we all knew it-even Lana-, but he saw Lois as a friend and never considered that maybe she could be anything more. When Lois and I were in our last year of school, Clark and Lana got married-I went and so did you, but Lois couldn't, because it was too painful-she still hadn't got over Clark. Then, she went to university in Gotham and dated Arthur; he was her first boyfriend and I think a reason why their relationship progressed so quickly was that she wanted desperately, to get over Clark and move on with her life. We all knew that Clark felt the same way, but he never occurred to him."

After being silent for a moment, Oliver asked, "Does Clark know? About Lois's feelings for him?"

Chloe shrugged. "If he thought about it, maybe, but I don't think he's ever given it a second thought and now she's back and she'll be staying here for a while." A smile spread across Chloe's face and, teasingly, she remarked, "You like Lois, don't you? Why don't you ask her out?"

Her friend shook his head and chuckled slightly. "No. No, she's only just ended her relationship with her fiancée and they may still get back together. Besides," he added, "I would never stand in the way of a chance for something to happen between her and Clark."

"Nothing is ever going to happen between them: Clark's with Lana, and they love each other."

Shaking his head, Oliver retorted, "How many people stay with their first love? Think about it, Chloe, not that many."

"I wouldn't know; I've never had a boyfriend." Chloe whispered, as she looked down at her hands. Oliver sighed, rubbed her shoulders affectionately, then left the café and went to Chloe's flat-or what was now Chloe and Lois's flat.

Half an hour later, most of Lois's stuff was unpacked into what had formally been Chloe's spare room and before that, it had been Kara's room, when she had lived there. They were now having lunch at the table, apart from Lois, who was trying to contact her father, General Sam Lane.

Finally, she managed to get through to his mobile phone. "Daddy? Daddy, listen, I left A.C….. I left him because he isn't the person with whom I want to spend my life and I have to trust my gut. I'm with Chloe and, yes, I'll get a job. Don't worry about me. Ok. Bye, Daddy." She hung up, then collapsed onto the sofa next to her cousin. Chloe put her arms around her and asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Like crap." Lois replied, as she stood up and asked, "Can I have some of this food?"

Chloe laughed and replied, "Lois, you live here now, of course, you can have the food which is on the table."

Lois helped herself, then asked, "So, Clark, Lana, what do you guys do for a living now?"

Clark smiled, glad that Lois seemed a bit more like her old self. "Well, I'm a journalist and Lana works for the Isis Foundation, part-time, because of the boys."

"Who's going to take care of the farm whilst you're here?"

Smiling, Lana replied, "Well, Clark's mum and dad still live in Smallville, so they can take care of the farm, obviously." Lana's voice was quite cutting and the tension in the room increased.

Clark sighed and, feeling incredibly awkward, asked, "Hey, Lois, how about I show you around our new house? And, Oliver, you haven't seen it yet, so you can come too."

Knowing that Clark was doing this in order to get away from his wife, who was in a very strange mood, Oliver nodded and grabbed his coat.

As soon as the door to the flat, was closed, Kara asked, "Lana, are you ok? You seem a little…on edge?"

Lana rubbed his temples. "Yes, I am. I'm sorry. I guess, moving is very stressful."

"So, it wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that Lois is back?" Kara asked, her eyes connecting with her sister-in-laws for the first time. Lex stood up and walked into the kitchen; he didn't know Lana very well and did not want to be involved in this conversation.

Lana stared at Kara, then at Chloe, then asked, in a very false voice, "Why would Lois being here bother me?" When neither of them gave her an answer, she sighed. "Do you think I'm jealous of her? Why would I be? I'm married to Clark! I'm wit Clark. I've been with him for ten years-she has never been with him and there's no way that Clark would ever feel that way about her!"

Deciding to voice her opinion, Chloe asked, "Lana, I know that you're not that naïve. At school, you must have seen the way that Lois and Clark acted around each other and that was both of them. Both of them."

Standing up, Lana whispered, "Clark is my husband and he means more to me than you know. He would never betray me and there's no way that he will ever fall for Lois!" With that, she walked away. Once out of the sight of Chloe and Kara, tears fell from her eyes and she cried; she knew that what Chloe and Kara had said about Lois and Clark was true and the idea terrified her.

Cark, Oliver and Lois entered Clark and Lana's new home and Lois instantly went upstairs to look at the bedrooms. Whilst she was doing this, Clark led his friend into the kitchen and fired up the kettle. "So, do you know what's wrong with Lana?" Clark asked.

Oliver frowned. "Why are you asking me, she's your wife?"

"You have more experience with women." replied Clark, smiling slightly.

Shaking his head, Oliver chuckled. "Clark. I've only ever had one girlfriend and…that didn't end well. If you think there's something wrong with Lana, ask her tonight and see what she says." He paused, then asked, "Were she and Lois friends at high school?"

Pouring out three cups of coffee, Clark answered. "No, they weren't. Lana never really liked Lois, for some reason."

Oliver raised his eyebrows, but made no comment; he knew why Lana hadn't and didn't like Lois, but his friend obviously had no idea.

Just then, Lois entered the room. "Wow, Smallville, you've made me coffee. Lana has trained you well." She held the cup of coffee in her hands. Her eyes met with Clark's and for a couple of seconds, their eyes were locked together, until Oliver cleared his throat. Even if the two of them did not know, he could tell that they still had feelings for each other-he just wished that Clark could work them out.