She takes the box from him, suddenly aware of the tension radiating off him.

"What's wrong?"

A grin tugs at the corner of his mouth, never failing to be amazed at how she read him so well.

"Nothing," he lies, sort of anyway. He wanted her to have this. And as he handed it to her, he realizes suddenly that it doesn't matter. It belongs to her. In his heart, he believes that.

But it also occurrs to him, as he looks at her fingers gently grasping the box, that should anything…happen, well, he had put himself in the position of possibly having a very long talk with her tonight.

A talk he knew they had to have. And one, he thought, with a touch of surprise, that he'd never really willingly had with anyone. Everyone else who knew about his secret, they knew because they had found out by accident. They had caught him doing something. Or they had been so suspicious they just kept searching until they figured it out. He had just filled in the blanks after the fact.

But with her, he knew without a doubt, he wanted to be the one to tell her before she found out from anyone else, or before she caught him using his abilities in any way.

Or before that bracelet hit her wrist.

It's at that moment that he reaches over and takes the box from her, receiving a startled look in response.

"Oh, what? So now it's not for me?"

"It is. It's just that…we need to talk first."

Taking a deep breath, he sets the box down on the table in front of them, then leans back, his body turned slightly towards hers.

"You know, you always screw up my best laid plans, Lois. Make me rethink the way I'm planning on doing something."

"It's a gift," she says. "Planning is overrated anyway, sometimes you just gotta dive in and see if you can handle the current."

"You taught me that, you know. And while, I don't always agree that it's the best option," he pauses, looking pointedly at her, amusement in his eyes as he is clearly thinking of her "do first, think later" attitude in life, particularly in her job, which often gets her into trouble, "I know I tend to overthink things. So, here goes. I'm diving in."

She gives him a slightly confused look. "Okay."

Clark clears this throat, shifting slightly, and Lois picks up on his nervous energy, suddenly feeling a tad nervous herself.

"I, um…well, I'm not from around here."

"Smallville isn't that far away," she responds, her confusion growing.

"I'm not from Smallville, at least not originally."

"Yeah, I know you were adopted."

"There's more to it than that. My parents, my adoptive parents, they found me in Smallville."

"They found you? I don't get it…what were you like left on their doorstep or something?"

"Not exactly."

"Then what?"

"If you stop with the questions, maybe I could tell you," he says, a hint of both frustration and admiration in his voice. She wasn't Mad Dog Lane for nothing.

"Well, Clark, you're being awfully cryptic, and you know me well enough to know that I'm not just going to sit here while you skirt around whatever you have to tell me…spit it out or I'm just gonna…"

"Lois!"

Seeing immediately the look in his eyes, that whatever he was going to tell her was extremely important to him, to them, she snapped her mouth shut. She raised her hand in a motion for him to continue.

He roughly runs his hand through his hair, collecting himself a bit before continuing.

"They didn't find me on their doorstep. They found me…in a cornfield."

As the words hit her, he could see her eyes widen slightly. It was almost amusing to see the light go on suddenly as a connection was made and she bit her lip, trying valiantly to keep it from coming out of her mouth, wanting to let him continue.

"Yeah…just like you did."

"That's an…interesting coincidence," she chimes in, unable to help herself, eliciting a small smile from Clark. "Sorry. You really can't expect me to sit here and not say a word, Smallville. But I'll try to keep the interruptions to a minimum, okay?"

"You? Yeah, right," he says, chuckling for a brief moment. It was a welcome moment, because even though Lois had no idea what he was going to tell her, she sensed the gravity of it, could see it in his eyes. She decides to try and be patient, feeling his hesitation. He needed a moment, she could see that. Not that it wasn't driving her crazy.

After a minute or two of silence, Lois gently reaches over and grazes her fingertips against his cheek.

"Clark…whatever you have to tell me, it'll be okay."

He closes his eyes momentarily at her touch before continuing.

"My parents, the Kents, they found me on the day of the first meteor shower. Their truck…Dad had lost control of it …they got caught driving during the shower…and they went off the road. And they found me."

"Why were you, a little boy, in a cornfield by yourself to begin with, let alone during a meteor shower?"

"I wasn't there before the meteor shower," he responds, looking directly into her eyes as he continues. "My ship, my spaceship landed there during the meteor shower."