The drive back to Smallville began quietly. Martha easily convinced Clark to sit in the back seat with Rory in an effort to get them to get aquatinted. Until they reached the outskirts of Metropolis the back seat remained silent, but then with the help of the "start-talking-or-it's- embarrassing-story-time" look from his mom, Clark built up the guts to start a conversation.

* Ok you can do this, talk to her about something you know * he thought to himself. * God! What do you know?! * He racked his brain, then the answer came to him. "So, um, what books did you bring?" he asked in his usual soft-spoken way.

"Huh? What I'm sorry, I was kinda off in space." Rory said bringing the blush back to her cheeks.

"Oh it's ok, I just asked what books you brought." He repeated, * she looks cute when she blushes. Whoa where did that come from! I'm supposed to like Lana! *

"Um I brought "Grapes of Wrath", "A Raisin in the Sun", and "The Awakening." Well they're my homework, so I had to bring them. And then I brought some others that I've been working on." She told him.

"You actually have homework over Summer Vacation?! Doesn't that defeat the purpose of a vacation?" he joked.

"I go to a private school. They have really high standards and they think that all summer break is, is a reason to forget what we learned. But it's really not so bad. I mean it's going to get me into Harvard." She rambled and then realized what she was doing and stopped. "Sorry sometimes I get carried away and ramble a little."

"That's ok, I do the same thing." He said, seeing that she was nervous and tying to make her more comfortable. "So Steinbeck, "Grapes of Wrath" is pretty intense."

"Yea it's taken me forever to get into it." She said starting to relax.

"I know it took me three moths to finish. It's like pulling teeth in some places. They sure have you reading a variety of styles though." He continued. School had always come easy to him, and reading had always been a hobby, other than saving the town from various killers. "They've got economic depression, feminist angst, and civil rights. What more could you need?" he said a little more sarcastically than he meant to, but when he saw how Rory reacted he didn't feel so bad.

"I know it's like Chilton is purposely trying to drain all the enjoyment and light out of summer by depressing the heck out of us!" now being in her element she was off. The two sat and talked about various literary works for the remainder of the trip. But before they knew it they began to pull into Smallville.

"Well here it is, don't blink you might miss it." Clark joked as the drove down Main Street. He began pointing out all the different places and telling a little about them. Soon enough though they were out of town and pulling into the Kent driveway.

"Well here we are Home Sweet Home!" Martha said as they began to unload the car. "Come on in sweetie." She said leading the way into the house. "Let me show you around a little." She continued as she led Rory around the house. Finally they made their way back upstairs and into Rory's room for the summer. "Well I'll leave you alone to unpack. I'll be down fixing dinner if you need anything, or Clark is just down the hall."

"Thank you, for everything. This is a really nice thing you did for me and I want you to know that I really appreciate it." She told Martha

"You're very welcome." Martha said as she walked over and hugged Rory. She then left Rory to unpack.

*A/N: I've been toying with the idea for this story for a while and now I have 8 chapters finished. However, If I don't get at least 10 reviews I'm not posting anymore than this. Thanks*