"Clark?" She simply could not believe it. Standing in the door of my office was her best friend who had gone AWOL four years ago in the summer before their junior year of high school. "Clark, you're back. Where have you been? Oh my gosh!"

Chloe jumped up from her desk at the Daily Planet and embraced him. "What happened?" she demanded, pulling away to look him in the face.

The first thing that she noticed was that he looked older, but still quite young and there was a quality of almost sadness upon his face. "It's a long story," he said simply.

"I have nothing to do for the rest of the afternoon," she pointed out.

"Aren't you working?"

"I'm off in five. Quitting now won't kill anyone."

He shrugged. "Alright, but don't put yourself out on my account."

"Clark, what is wrong with you? You've been gone for almost four years and you act like it's a chore for me to take off five minutes of work to talk to you?" she said incuriously, her face alight in a smile.

"It's been a long time, Chloe. I can never be sure what's changed and what hasn't," he shot back with a wry smile.

"Have you been to see Lana and-"

"No, not yet."

Chloe froze. He didn't know. The look on his face told her that much. Anxiously she swallowed and tried to regroup the pieces of her mind that had been blown to bits when Clark had walked in. "How about your parents?"

"No."

"Lex?"

"No."

"Anyone?"

"You're the first one I came to see, Chloe."

She nodded. "Alright." Her tone became more serious. "Really, Clark, where have you been all this time?"

"The first summer I was here in Metropolis. Then I went overseas to Europe and even a little of Asia. Italy was especially nice."

"You just upped and left for no reason?" she asked, her jaw dropping.

"I had my reasons, Chloe."

Holding out her hands wide for emphasis she demanded, "Like what?"

His expression turned to one of pain. "It was my fault that my mother lost the baby."

"What? Clark, you can't blame yourself for that! I'm sure whatever happened was an accident."

Clark nodded, his lips drawn thin and his expression very much mirroring one of a man who was trying desperately hard not to cry-a man who had carried pain and guilt with him for far too long. "If it hadn't been for Lex my parents would have lost the farm because of me."

"They were in debt way before you left."

"I slept with Lana and I knew that if I didn't leave I'd hurt her even more then I would if I left."

"I don't think that's true, Clark. She still loves you, even now."

"She's not married?"

"No, in fact she's living in Smallville in the apartment above the talon, although she's practically at your parent's-your house-every day."

Clark ran a hand over his hair and sighed. "I thought she'd be married."

Chloe's eyes widened even further as comprehension dawned on her. "Is that why you stayed away this long-because you were hoping she'd be unavailable to you when you got back?"

He shoved his hands into his pockets and nodded. "I would have thought that she'd have moved on. I don't trust myself to see her again and not try to rekindle something. I can't do that. My secrets will tear her apart."

"Actaully, Clark, I don't think you have to worry about that."

"Yes I do. My secrets are-look, I just can't."

"What, your secrets along the lines of being an alien, having x-ray and heat vision, speed, and strength? I'm curious, Clark, can you do anything else yet?"

Clark's jaw practically hit the ground. "How did you know?"

"Let's just say that all the people who were close to you got a very big hint."

"What?" He shook his head. "Who else knows?"

"Lana and Lex."

"This isn't possible. Lana maybe, but I think my dad would have taken a shotgun to Lex before he let him find out."

"Let's just say some things have changed. If it makes you feel any better it was your parents who told them."

Clark raised an eyebrow. "No way! They'd never do that."

"Never apparently just got shorter."

"What happened that would possibly convince my father and mother to tell all of you my secret?"

Chloe put her hands on her hips and pursed her lips. "I think that it's time you took a long overdo trip to Smallville."