CHAPTER 1

She had said the words that stung him most, "Over." He knew it was, but hearing her say it made him face the truth, they truly were over. A single tear slid down his cheek as he watched her drive away and whispered, "I love you Lana.'

Lana didn't know why she did it, but something made her turn and look at the old barn one last time before she drove away. She felt her heart weighing heavy in her chest as she knew it was the only way to get over him. " I love you Clark," she whispered as she drove away, wiping a tear from her eyes.

Lex was typing on his computer as he heard footsteps enter his study. He looked up as Lana walked over to him and sat on the edge of his desk with a weak smile on her face.

"Is everything ok Lana?" He asked.

"As ok as they could be for the time being," she replied looking into his eyes as she continued, "I just went and seen Clark."

He was hoping Clark's name wasn't going to be brought up, and he hoped where she was going with this wasn't going to leave him upset, "And how did that go?"

"I told him about us. You and me, that is. He took it pretty well, but the hurt in his eyes was… it was hard hurting him." Lana said lowly.

"Lana, he needed to know. He was going to find out one way or another and having you tell him probably would hurt a lot less than if someone like Chloe told him," Lex said as he looked her dead straight in the eyes, Lana was finally his, this was going way better than he could have dreamed. He pulled her into him and gave her a passionate kiss hoping to free her mind of any doubts. Now that he had her, he was going to make sure it stayed that way.

As Lex kissed Lana, an image of Clark kissing her flashed in her mind. Lana kissed him more passionately while she smiled inside.

Clark sat on the couch in the loft, memories flooding his mind. He knew he had to stay away from Lana. It was the only way his heart would heal. Chloe was right, maybe he did need to move on.

As he sat there, he heard a ringing that caused him to cover his ears. He knew what he had to do. Now that he didn't have Lana or his dad, this was the best thing to do.

Martha came home later that night to find Clark wasn't home, but a note in his writing was on the counter. 'Something isn't right', she thought. Her hand began to shake as she unfolded the note and let out a cry as she read it:

Mom,

I love you, you and dad have made me the man I am today and I couldn't thank you more. There are no words to express how much you, my mother, mean to me. You were always there to help me, and protect me as much as possible. I hate to do this to you and I know it will hurt, but it is my time to learn about myself. Jor-El has called me to return to my Fortress of Solitude to continue my training. This is something I have to do to keep me sane. I will return one day, until then… Goodbye.

Love, Clark