Lois lay in Clark's arms, nuzzling up to his chest. "That was amazing." She whispered happily.

"I know, in fact, better than I could ever imagine it could be." Clark kissed her forehead. "I love you, Lois Lane."

"Don't you mean Lana Lang?" Lois laughed.

Clark just looked at her and smiled. "Don't Lois. I really do not need any more confusion in my life. In the past week, I have fallen in love with someone who I thought was my girlfriend, told you my secret, proposed to you and now I am pretending to be engaged."

"Don't you mean, Lana." She laughed.

"Please let's have a quiet week, and spend time getting to know each other a little better." Clark suggested.

"After the past few hours I would say that we are quite well acquainted with each other." She replied.

"You could say that, but we have never dated." Clark explained.

"Ok then. What do you want to do about this engagement?" Lois looked at her ring.

"We will keep up the pretence. To be honest I am not ready to get married to anyone and I only proposed to 'Lana' out of desperation to keep her."

"So I don't have to give you an answer then." She jokingly relaxed.

"No, I will let you off for a while yet. I am pleased that you know my secret. That is why my relationship with Lana was doomed. There will be no lies between us." He smiled.

"I thought you were on your way to Hong Kong to propose to Lana."

"I probably would be if I had not spent the past week falling in love with you. I should have realised that you were different people."

Lois smiled. "It is so weird with all the things that have been going on. As soon as I became Lana and spent time as your girlfriend, I was so jealous of her. I wanted to be with you properly but I did not think it would ever happen."

"Well it has and I could not be happier. I just hope your father sees it that way. He seems to have you set up with someone else."

There was suddenly a banging on the door. Clark looked through the door. "It's Lucy."

Lois put on her robe and went to answer it. "Hi sis."

Lucy looked at Lois. "Do you know it has taken you four hours to go and get Clark's stuff. He must be unpacked by now."

"We got a little distracted." Lois admitted.

Lucy marched in and noticed Clark was still in bed. "I bet you did. Daddy is meeting us for lunch at 2pm in the town square. "

Lois led Lucy through to the adjoining sitting room whilst Clark got ready. "Luce, how is he taking me and Clark?"

"Not too well. I think your fiancé is going to have to pass some serious tests before he will warm to him." Lucy smiled.

"I love Clark and so will daddy." Lois said confidentally.

"Lo, didn't you say that about your last boyfriend." She laughed.

"Maybe I did but this is different. I feel a bit sorry for Mitch to be caught up in all of this."

"Let me take care of Mitch. He is so cute." Lucy gushed.

"Oh my god, you like him, don't you."

"Yes, but please don't tell daddy." Lucy begged.

Lois laughed and nodded. "What is all the laughing about?" Clark grinned as he came into the room.

"Nothing, just girl talk." Lucy covered up.

The three of them headed off to a coffee shop to meet Sam and Mitch. "Fancy a beer Clark. You are over the legal age here." Sam ordered them all a beer.

"So Lois, did you get Clark settled in." Her father asked.

"Yes daddy. Thanks for letting him stay in my room." She smiled at him.

"I would not normally allow it but since you are engaged I will accept it. So when did you two get engaged?"

"Last week." Lois shouted out and at the same time, Clark announced. "A month ago."

Sam looked at them suspiciously. "It must have been memorable if you can't remember when."

"Where did you propose Clark?" Lucy asked.

Lois got annoyed. "What is this? - The Spanish Inquisition. I am starving. Can we order please?"

"I am not interested in my daughter's life. Is that a crime?" Sam replied.

"I suppose not. And for the record, he proposed to me in the countryside during a walk."

Clark nodded hoping he would not be asked to delve into further details. They would have to get their stories straight later.

"I think I surprised her."

"So when is the wedding?" Sam probed further.

"Daddy, we are only young and are planning on a long engagement." Lois explained.

"Yes, you are a little young to settle down. You don't even know what you want to do with your lives yet. One more question – you're not pregnant, are you?"

Lois stood up. "Daddy, that is enough. No I am not and even if I was it is none of your business."

"Lo, sit down. I needed to know that you two were getting married for the right reasons. I am protective of my daughter, Clark. I hope you understand that."

"Of course I do Sir. I would expect nothing else." Clark smiled back.

They spent hours eating their lunch and chatting. Sam made an announcement. "I am meeting an old friend from NATO this evening so you are going to have to entertain yourselves."

Lucy smiled. "Let's go nightclubbing. Mitch, are you interested?"

Mitch looked at Sam for permission. Sam nodded that he could go. "I would love to."

Lois got excited. "Yeah we would love that."

Clark just agreed although nightclubs were not exactly his scene. He didn't care as long as he was with Lois...

Lucky for Lois, they made it back to their room before six, giving her the obligatory four hours to get ready before they met Mitch and Lucy at 10 pm. In Europe things seemed to start so much later than in the US.

In a small town like Smallville, the only place to hang out apart from the Talon was the local bar. It was normally full of local man whinging about their lives whilst downing beer by the barrel full. If a woman was to walk into one of those places, the owner of the bar would usually assign the most annoying man with the worst body odour problem to chat them up, making them leave within minutes.

This would be a totally different experience and for once it would be legal, much to the chagrin of Lois who liked to see if she could pass for an over 21 year old with forged ID. She joked that she would be setting up illegal gambling dens when she started Met U after the summer. Clark was not too upset he would be going to a different university because he could be to see Lois in seconds.

By 9pm Lois had been in the bathroom for two hours, she soon appeared in the most gorgeous little black dress which showed off every curve in her body.

"You look beautiful. Pity you took so long getting ready or I wouldn't hesitate in getting that dress off you in seconds." Clark looked at her longingly.

"Whoa there!" she said as he started approaching but then her expression changed to a mischievous one. "Who said the dress needs to come off?"

Lucy gave them such a look when they turned up 20 minutes late. "I won't bother asking where you two have been."

Clark smirked. "Well Lucy you know how long Lois takes to get ready."

Mitch laughed and gestured for Lucy to take him arm. They all headed off to the nearest bar. Lois had promised she would not get too drunk, but Clark told her she should enjoy herself and that he would look after her.

Within an hour Lois was tipsy and that was enough to make her to make her a little overbearing for Clark's comfort. She kept running her hand up his leg under the table. He kept removing her hand but it always found its way back.

"So Clark, how are you coping with our father." Lucy asked.

Clark looked at her. "I appreciate your dad's heart is in the right place but he can be a little stuffy and overbearing at times. How do manage Mitch?"

"I admire General Lane more than anyone I know but I agree completely with what you say."

"So are you going to take the risk with my sister. She thinks you are very cute." Lois said, obvious her inhibitions had gone out of the window with the last few tequilas.

Lucy glared at her. "Lois, can I talk to you." She got up and grabbed her arm pulling her to the toilet.

She pushed a drunk Lois against the wall. "What was that all about?"

"Well you were never going to tell him." Lois slurred.

Clark and Mitch were left laughing. "I hope if you and Lucy do get together you have a strong constitution. Dating a Lane is not the most straightforward thing ever."

"I like Lucy a lot and even her dad does not put me off. Clark, I should not be telling you this but the General is testing you. "

"I'm sure I can put up with his tests for a few days." Clark laughed.

Mitch's expression was serious. "You don't understand. He is flying in someone called Lana Lang tomorrow. The General rang her and asked if she would come to Geneva. He found out that you two were together in Smallville, and he cannot work out how you are engaged to Lois already."

Clark was horrified. "Oh god. This is going to be a disaster. Thanks for the warning."

Clark could not get his mind off Lana coming. How desperate was the General to split him and Lois up. Lois was getting annoyed that Clark seemed to be preoccupied all of a sudden so she dragged him on a dance floor. He was not the most accomplished dancer but that did not bother Lois. She was too busy laughing at the group of older British women dancing around a handbag.

Lois shouted out with excitement when she turned around to see her sister and Mitch making out on the dancefloor. "Woo...way to go sis." She shouted out across the dance floor.

Clark knew it was time to take Lois home and now wished he had told her to go easy on her intake. He had never seen a fully drunk Lois. Mitch and Lucy stayed back. It was obvious from the ride back in the taxi that Lois had plans and was not going to take no for an answer.

These plans never came to fruition as Lois passed out on the bed the moment she walked through the door.

Meanwhile Lana was midway through her flight. She had been shocked when she had got the call from Sam Lane to tell her that Clark was on a trip with the Lanes and that she should join them because he knew how close she was to Clark. He would pay for her flight and hotel.

This was the perfect opportunity to sort things out with him. She lay back in her seat and thought about all the things she needed to say to Clark. If their relationship was to move forward she needed to lay all her cards on the table.

Clark had not slept well, he kept tossing and turning and his situation was not helped by Lois's constant trips to bathroom to expel the contents of her stomach, in fact he wondered how she had anything left to throw up. He turned over to see Lois was fast asleep.

He checked flights from Hong Kong on his phone and noticed there was one landing at 7am so he decided to speed to the airport. He needed to get Lana on side to maintain Lois and his cover, although he knew that would not be easy.

The plane landed on time so he waited at the departures exit. Lana had been gone a few weeks but lately he had realised how little he had missed her. Lois had turned everything he ever believed about his future on it's head and made him happier than he could ever imagine he could be. He did not want to jeopardise what they had together and he was not about to let some four star General do it either.

Lana was one of the first off. He could not believe it when he saw her. She looked so different, her face betrayed her confidence and serenity. She saw him instantly, making her smile and walk up to give him a hug.

"Clark, I did not think you would come and meet me." She said, a little awkwardness evident in her voice. "You have caught me off guard. Can we grab a coffee?"

"Yeah ok." Clark said puzzled by her last comment and noticing she was texting someone.

They went to grab a drink.

"So how are you? I must admit I was a little surprised to hear you were holidaying with the Lane clan." Lana smiled.

"About that Lana. There is something I need to say."

"Before you do I have some things to say." She asked his permission to continue.

Clark nodded and sat back to listen.

"Ok, I just wanted to tell you what I am feeling. Smallville holds painful memories for me and the latest meteor shower just compounded them. I needed to run away, to find out what I wanted from my life. I know that may sound selfish but for us to have pursued a relationship in the emotional turmoil I was in, would have led to more heartache down the road."

Clark listened intently.

She continued. "I have only been in Hong Kong for two weeks but that short time has changed my life. I now know what I want in life and that life is not...in Smallville or with you. I recognise now that our relationship was doomed from the start, but that is not to say I regret any part of our time together. This is not personal against you, but we were not meant to be. You are very special man and you will meet someone who makes you happy." Lana had tears in her eyes.

He reached out for her hand. "You are completely right Lana. I know that now."

"I don't how to say this but I have met someone." Lana looked guilty.

"Who is he?" Clark asked in an interested manner.

"He is called Simon Forster. His father runs the insurance company that Dean works at. We have only been dating a week but I have fallen hard. We have so much in common."

Clark smiled. "I am happy for you Lana and hope you find what you are looking for. He sounds nice."
Lana's face lit up. "Well you can find out. He came with me; in fact he is making a business call in the departures."

"You mean the General paid for him as well."

"No, of course not. Simon's mom lives in London, so we were planning to visit her anyway so Geneva was a perfect stopover. I am still puzzled as to why Sam Lane invited me across. Why does he care about your love life all of a sudden?"

"It is complicated. He does not know I am meeting you here. I am pretending that I am Lois's fiancé because her father is trying to fix her up with someone else."

Lana could not help but laugh. "Are you sure there is not more to it than that? I always told Chloe there was something between you and Lois."

"I do love her and we are a couple, but definitely not engaged. Lois went a little over the top when she told her father about us." Clark did not want to go into all the detail of the body swap.

"I see and I bet her dad invited me here to blow you two apart."

"Something like that. I know he does it for Lois but he can be a bit of an ass." Clark laughed. "any chance of help covering."

Lana smiled at him. "Of course, I will fill Simon in on it. We haven't got long. We are meeting General Lane at breakfast at 9.30am. Why don't you head back and we will meet you at the hotel."

Clark took the offer and pretended to head for the train before running back to the hotel room. Lois was still out of it, although she was moaning something about having a raging headache. Clark cuddled up to her and thought about the events of the past hour. This was going to be fun to explain to Lois when she eventually woke up.

There was no chance. There was a knock at the door at 9am sharp. It was a Lucy who was wearing dark glasses.

"Clark, where is Lois? We need to be down to breakfast in 30 minutes. There is someone daddy wants us all to meet."

Clark sighed. "I will try and wake her up but I would not be hopeful."

He shut the door and walked over to the bed. "Lois, your dad wants us down to breakfast in half an hour. I will put the shower on for you."

Lois staggered to the shower via the toilet. "This is not the best time for daddy to want us to meet someone. It must be this friend of his."

"Lois, we need to talk." He said whilst she was in the shower.

Lois shouted back, holding her head. "Smallville, if it involves talking in full sentences it will have to wait until later. I feel like I have been hit by a truck."

"Ok, you will find out soon enough." He whispered under his breath so she would not hear...

Lois was not in a good mood. She had been awoken from her slumber by her father's demands and she was going to make sure that he knew that.

"So what is this all about?" Lois asked as they headed down in the lift.

"I was going to tell you but we don't have time now. Just sit and enjoy the show. Don't get too involved."

"I trust you Clark and you have got me intrigued now."

"Prepare yourself for a shock but just go with the flow please." He begged her knowing she would freak when she saw Lana at the breakfast table.

Sam saw Lois approaching the table with dark glasses. "Not you too, Lo. Your sister looks like she has been to hell and back. At least Mitch and Clark look as though they did not go overboard last night.

Clark sat down after he had helped Lois into her seat. There was no sign of Lana or Simon.

"So who is this mystery guest?"

"Wait and see. I hope you are not too annoyed when you find out. Lois, to be honest there is something not right between you and Clark and I need to know what."

Lois looked at her dad with a puzzled look. Clark leant over and whispered. "Lois, trust me..."

Sam suddenly looked over Lois and Clark. "Oh, here she is now."

Lois turned around, but kept her composure even though she was shocked. "Lana..." she got up and hugged her as did Clark.

"Ms Lang, please have a seat."

Lana did. "I must admit General Lane but I am shocked as to why you invited me over to Geneva."

"I need to know that my daughter is not making the biggest mistake of her life. Guess you don't know about the engagement of Lois and Clark."

Lana looked composed. "Yes I do. Clark rang and told me last week. I remember telling him when Lois first appeared in town that there was something between them."

Lois could not believe what she was hearing but just smiled and nodded as Clark had instructed her.

"But I thought you and Clark had just broken up."

"No it was over a year ago, just before I headed to Paris. I am so happy that Lois and Clark have found each other. In fact this is the perfect opportunity to introduce them to my new boyfriend."

Simon approached the table. He extended his hand to Clark, Lois and then the rest of the table. "I hope Lana has not embarrassed me too much." He joked to lighten the mood.

Clark moved over to let him sit in the middle of Lana and him. "You wouldn't believe it. It is nice to meet you."

Lois looked across at her father with seething anger. "Dad, next time you want to screw up my relationship, why don't you have the guts to try and do it yourself?"

Sam stood up to answer his daughter but it was too late, she got up and left. Clark went after her, but there was no stopping her. She ran into their room, picked up her phone and started packing. Within five minutes she had her and Clark's return flight booked back to Kansas.

"Lois, I am sorry for not telling you but I did try."

She looked at him. "Clark, this has nothing to do with Lana being here although I wouldn't mind being filled in on how you knew at some point. This is totally about me and my father. He has tried to control my life for too long and it is time I made a stand against it."

Sam knocked on the door. Clark went to answer it. "Sam, you can't see her. You have hurt her and that bothers me. We are flying back to the US in two hours. I hope you are pleased with what you have achieved. I love Lois so why did you bring back an ex-girlfriend in the hope of splitting us up." He asked angrily.

Sam was taken aback by Clark's confidence. It rendered him almost speechless. "Please let me talk to her." He begged.

"No, I won't."

Clark and Lois caught a taxi to the airport. Clark's tirade at Sam had obviously worked because no-one had tried to stop them.

"We must ring Lana when we get back and apologise for our abrupt exit." Lois said.

"Don't worry, she texted to say she understood and would keep in touch. She was going to London with Simon anyway."

"He seems nice."

"He does. I am pleased we can come out of all of this as friends. Last thing I wanted was Lana to be bitter towards us." Clark explained.

Later that day they landed in Metropolis. Clark ran them back to the farm. His parents were shocked to see them as Clark had texted to say he would be staying in Geneva for a week.

"Hi.." Martha got up and hugged them.

"Hi mom." Clark was glad to be back especially with Lois in tow.

Jonathan smiled. "Nice to see you, although we thought you would be back later in the week. What happened?"

"My dad decided to bring Lana to Geneva for a fun packed reunion and things did not go to plan." Lois replied.

"Lana?" Martha repeated.

"It's ok mom. Lana is staying in Hong Kong. She has met someone else and seems really happy." Clark explained.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Martha asked Lois.

"No not yet, but do you mind if I crash here. I cannot face going back to the Talon tonight."

"I will take the sofa." Clark piped up.

"We know you will." Jonathan replied, leaving no doubt that room sharing was for Lois and Clark was not up for discussion.

Lois headed up to bed, leaving Clark and his parents to talk.

"I am sorry I took off without telling you. I needed to tell Lois how I felt."

"I know this is a bad time Clark but we could not help but notice a ring on Lois's left hand and it looked suspiciously like an engagement ring."

"I can explain..." Clark gulped.

"It is a bit complicated." Clark tried to come up with an answer.

"How, either you are engaged or you're not." Jonathan asked impatiently.

"Lois told her dad that she was engaged to me to get him off her back because he was trying to set her up with someone. Now it has all gone pear shaped. I cannot believe he flew Lana from Hong Kong to split Lois and me up."

"It does seem a bit extreme." Martha commented. "He has always had trouble differentiating his family life from his military career from what Lois tells me."

"Yeah definitely. Anyway Lois and I are not engaged." Clark announced. "But we are together."

"Thank goodness for that. You are a bit young for that." Jonathan explained. "I hate to bring this up but can we have a talk tomorrow."

Clark looked embarrassed. "What about?"

"Stuff.."

"Oh I see." Clark replied.

His parents soon headed to bed and it did not take long for Clark's superhearing to pick up the sobs coming from Lois. He sped upstairs and climbed in bed alongside her.

Next morning, he headed down before his parents were up. He was not in the mood for a lecture especially knowing he was going to get a talk about being careful.

Clark headed out to the barn to see his dad. "Hi dad, can we get the talk over and done with."

Jonathan looked at his son and smiled. "Have a seat." He patted a bale of hay for Clark to sit on. "Ok I know you and Lois have just got together so this won't be an issue yet, but it will be one day. We don't know what effects your powers will have any relationship you may have with an earth woman."

Clark smirked. "You mean sex between an alien and a human."

His dad laughed. "Well said. Yes that is what I mean. You need to take your time to make sure things will be ok." His dad was getting more tongue tied by the moment making Clark feel really uncomfortable for him.

"Look dad I have three words to say – stable door and bolted."

It took a few seconds to work out what Clark meant but once it sunk in, he could not hide his shock. "Just how serious are you?"

"I love her, dad and you need to trust we are both responsible to make the right decisions." Clark said in a really grown up manner.

He smiled and patted his son on the back. "I do trust you, Clark and I have to say your mother and I love Lois as if she was our own daughter."

"Thanks dad."

"Mind you, no funny business under our roof...period."

"Got it dad, loud and clear." Clark grinned.

"Not while we are in the house anyway." His dad went on to say.
Lois approached them. "Am I disturbing things?"

"No, definitely not." Jonathan said. "We were finished talking." He left them to talk.

"Hi Lo." He got up and hugged her. "How are you doing?"

"Ok I guess." She looked upset. "Daddy has just been on the phone. He could not stop apologising and says he could tell by our reactions yesterday that we are serious about each other. He wants to pay for an engagement party."

"What did you tell him?" Clark asked wondering how she explained away the fact that they were not officially engaged.

"I told him I would ring him when we got something organised. Apparently he has his hands full now Lucy and Mitch have gone public with their relationship."

"So why don't we plan a party?"

"What for?"

"An engagement?"

She looked at the ring and reluctantly took it off and handed it back to Clark. "Here you go!"

"Thanks." He took it and without warning he sunk on to one of his knees. "Lois Lane, I love you more than anything in the world. Will you marry me? ."

She looked at him and was about to tell him to get back on his feet and to quit joking around but she looked into his eyes and saw he was being sincere.

"Clark, are you doing this for my father?"

"No, for me and you. I think your hand looks odd without the ring. No seriously I want to marry you, maybe not this year or next but at some point when we feel ready." He pleaded with her.

Her expression changed from one of shock to one of excitement. "Yes I will marry you." She shrieked as he jumped to his feet, grabbed her and swung her around.

When he had finally let her go, she turned to him. "Haven't you just told your parents we are not engaged. Better go and tell them that there has been a major change of plan."

"One thing...when we have the party, can we get Zatanna to do the entertainment?" Clark laughed

Lois giggled and wondered where she would be if Zatanna had not put her in Lana's body. It was amazing how seeing things through someone else's eyes could give you a whole new perspective...

THE END