Lex's POV:

'That was real smooth,' I thought as I walked into the library of my castle. 'Just go and alienate the only friend you have'.

I wished that I could take away the words I had said to Clark. I should have just told the whole truth. Told him exactly what it was like to be the son of a billionaire. The son of a man that didn't care about you unless it benefitted him. The son of a man who sent me here hoping that I would fail.

Sure Clark would have felt sorry for me. Felt bad because he had a great father. Jonathan Kent loved his son unconditionally. He loved Clark even if he didn't do exactly what he wanted him to do. Clark's continued friendship with me was proof of that.

I knew Jonathan Kent hated my family. Hated me. Hated the friendship I had with his son. But he hadn't forced Clark to write me off. Hadn't stopped loving him because he was friends with me. And that hadn't stopped Jonathan Kent from helping me out after the incident at the plant a few days ago. After my father had nearly gotten me killed.

Yeah Clark would have felt sorry for me. I could see the look he would have given me in my mind. Still, that look would have been nothing compared to what I saw when my father looked at me.

The look that said I was a disappointment. The look of contempt that said he hated the fact that I was his only son. The look I had grown up seeing everyday.

He use to scold me for being scared of things. For being scared of the dark. Being scared of flying. Scold me for being weak, which is how he explained my asthma. I could still hear his voice saying it was all in my head as I struggled to draw in a breath feeling like I was being suffocated. And after the asthma went away he had found something else to torment me about.

Yes, kids had tormented me about the loss of my hair but nothing they said could ever have hurt as much as the taunting that came from my father about it. He had grown his hair longer after the meteor strike and kept it long. It was his way of rubbing it in that he still had hair. That he wasn't a freak.

And then Julian had been born. I remember the look of joy on my father's face as he held my baby brother in his arms. Julian was another chance for him. Another chance for him to have a son worthy of him.

I'll never forget the day of Julian's funeral. My dad had looked up from the small coffin in front of him and looked at him. His look said it all. He wished it had been me that had died and not Julian.

Maybe it would have been better if Earl had killed me in the plant that day. I knew my father wouldn't miss me other than the fact that he would have failed to keep the Luthor line going. Although truthfully, he probably had at least one or two illegitimate children. He wouldn't have his convenient PR tool to turn to whenever he needed to boost the public's image of him

Truth was I could have died then and not many would have mourned my death. Clark would have and maybe Nell Potter, but that's about it.

I grabbed a nearby statue and flung it as hard as I could against the far wall of the room. It shattered against the wall, the pieces falling to the floor. The only satisfication that came from the act thought was knowing that the statue had been one of my grandfather's favorites and therefore special to my father.

Oh well. He'd just have to by a new one if he wanted that particular statue hanging around anymore.

Clark's POV:

"That looks very nice Clark," Lana said from her spot beside me as I finished writing the x in Lex's name on the cake my mom had baked and I had decorated.

"Thanks," I said setting the tube of icing down on the counter. "Now I just have to hope that our guest of honor shows up tonight," I told her softly. My parents and Nell were in the living room chatting and I didn't want them to over hear. I hadn't mentioned my conversation with Lex earlier to them.

"Clark what happened?"

"I confronted him about last night, about why he didn't tell me the whole truth about why he didn't tell me what the party was about and it didn't go to well."

"Did you to have a fight?"

"It wouldn't call it a fight exactly," I told her searching for another word to describe the conversation I had with Lex. Nothing came to mind. It wasn't really a misunderstanding either because I think we both understood perfectly what the other one was saying. I was upset because he hadn't been entirely truthful with me and he was upset with me because he felt that I was prying into something that I shouldn't be prying into.

I could understand that perfectly. I mean I did have my secret that I kept from him.

"Well did he say he wasn't coming?" Lana asked me.

"No, he said he'd be here."

"Then relax Clark. Lex might try to get around the whole truth sometimes but when he says he'll do something I've never seen him not do it."

Lana had a point.

I heard the doorbell ring. I looked up at the clock. It was six-twenty. It was probably the Sullivans.

"Clark can you get that please?" my Mom called from the living room.

"Sure Mom," I called out and headed for the front door. I opened the door to find the Chloe and he Dad standing there.

"Hi Chloe, Hi Mr. Sullivan, come on in," I said stepping aside so that they could come into the house.

"I'm sorry to say Amber couldn't make it. She slipped on a step early today and twisted her ankle," Mr. Sullivan told me as he and Chloe took off their coats.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I hope she feels better soon."

"The doctor said she would be off the crutches in a couple of days."

"That's good to hear," I told him. "My parents and Miss Potter are in the living room," I told him taking his coat.

As he headed into the living room I hung the coat up and then turned to take Chloe's coat and noticed the package in her hand.

"I thought we all decided no gifts," I said as I took her coat.

None of us had been able to figure out what to get Lex. I mean what did you get somebody who either had everything or if he didn't have it could easily buy it.

"I know we did but then Lana and I got this idea earlier today after you and Lex left the Beanery and we just couldn't resist."

"What is it?"

"You'll have to wait until Lex opens it," Lana told me.

"So where can I put it Clark?" Chloe I asked. "I figured I'd wait until its just the four of us to give it to him."

"Go put it in the guest room," I told her pointing in that direction. I was tempted to use my x-ray vision to see what it was but I held myself back. I'd just wait until Lex opened it.

I wandered into the dining room and started straighten silverware that really didn't need to be straightened. My mom and Nell had set the table while I had decorated the cake.

"Clark will you relax," Lana said. I hadn't realized that she had followed me into the dining room although I should have expected it. "Lex doesn't come over here expecting things to be fancy and perfect. He comes over here for the same reason I do."

"And what's that."

"Because everything is simple and homey. You feel safe when your in this house."

"That's a very sweet thing to say Lana," my mom said. "Thank-you."

"You're welcome Mrs. Kent," Lana told her looking a little embarrassed at having been overheard.

"The cake ready?" Mom asked me.

"Yeah," I told her. I looked at the clock on the wall. It read six-thirty five. "Of course if Lex doesn't show up it won't really matter."

"Clark, he'll show up." Lana said.

"He's only five minutes late Clark," Mom told me still not knowing anything about what had gone on between the two of us. But my Mom knew me too well. "Clark did something happen between the two of you."

I nodded my head. There was no denying anything with my mother. She saw right through it every time.

"I said some things that upset him," I told her still not wanting to go into it.

"Did you to have a fight?"

"Not really," I told her.

"Clark, I'm sure he'll show up," Mom told me. As if on cue we heard a car door shut outside. "I bet that's him now," she said.

I gave her a smile as I headed for the door. Sometimes I wondered how she did things like that.

I stepped out on the porch as everyone gathered around just out of sight of the front door. As I stepped out onto the front porch to meet Lex he was just approaching the bottom of the steps.

"Do your parents have company Clark?" he asked me indicating the extra two cars in the driveway. "If this is a bad night I can go."

"No, its fine," I told him. "Come on in."

I held the door open for him as he came up the porch steps. I could tell by the look he gave me as he walked by that he was trying to figure out what was going on. I followed him inside. No sooner had he stepped inside the house did he stop in his tracks.

"Happy Birthday!" everyone in the house yelled. I saw colorful confetti floating in the air around Lex, some of it landing on his shoulder.

Looking over his shoulder to see Chloe and Lana now wearing silly party hats. Lana held a bag of more confetti but by the amount that was now on the floor I knew she hadn't been the only one that had thrown it.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist," Lana said with an impish smile as she noticed me taking in the bag of confetti.

"This is quite a surprise,"Lex said. For once, I don't think Lex had any idea what to say.

"Well, I don't know about anyone else but I'm getting hungry, not to mention the homemade cake waiting for dessert," my Dad said, "So why don't we move the celebration into the dining room.

Leave it to Dad to keep things going.

Mr. Sullivan reached out to shake Lex's hand saying another Happy Birthday to him before following my parents into the living room. Then Nell came up and gave him a hug.

"It's good to see you genuinely happy for a change," she whispered to him. I felt guilty even though I hadn't been trying to eavesdrop.

"Thank-you," he told her.

The two of them walked arm and arm into the dinning room and I followed them.

"Nice job," my mom whispered to me as I walked past her.

"Clark, about earlier," Lex said later that night. The two of us were sitting out on the steps of the front porch. Mr. Sullivan and Nell had gone home but Chloe and Lana were still here. Lex had offered to give them both a ride home later on. The two girls had just disappeared inside, probably to retrieve the gift from the guest room.

"It's okay," I told him cutting him off before he could say anything else. "I shouldn't have pried like I did. We don't have to know everything about each other to be friends."

"Are you trying to tell me something Clark?"

"I uh.." I stumbled over what to say.

"Relax, I'm just messing with you again," he told me looking over at me.

I just shook my head. It was times like these that I wasn't sure what to make of Lex.

"Clark thanks for tonight."

"Sorry, it wasn't anything special. You didn't exactly give me a lot of time to plan."

"Nonsense," Lex told me. "This was very special to me. It was the best birthday party I've ever had. One that I didn't feel the necessity to try and hide during. It could've done without the confetti though."

"I had nothing to do with that," I said.

"Well, at least I didn't have to worry about getting out of my hair," he said with a wry smile on his face.

I couldn't help but last as we heard the door open behind us. Lana and Chloe came out and squeezed by me to sit on the step below us.

"Happy Birthday Lex," Lana said handing him the gift Chloe had brought over with her. "This is from Chloe and me."

I could see the surprise on his face as he took the gift from Lana. It was clearly the last thing he expected. Lana and Chloe had huge smiles on their faces. I was even more curious as to what was in the package.

Lex unwrapped the gift to reveal a picture in a frame. I looked at it and realized that it must have been a picture that Chloe had taken at some point. The picture showed Lex and I standing in the loft of my barn side by side. Both of us were smiling.

"I figured the one thing your mansion was missing was some photographs," Lana said softly.

"Don't you like it?" Chloe asked when Lex didn't say anything. I could hear a tinge of disappointment in her voice.

"I love it. I . ." Lex said his voice thick with emotion.

"Great picture Chloe," I said. "Especially if you cover up this half of the picture," I said reaching over and putting my hand over the half of the picture with Lex in it.

"Keep dreaming Kent," Lex said elbowing me in the side.

"Nice picture Chloe," I heard my Mom say from behind us. I hadn't even heard her come out.

"Thanks Mrs. Kent," Chloe said.

"How about you kids getting together so I can get a picture of all of you?" my Mom asked. I looked back to see that my Mom was holding her camera.

The four of us got up and moved so that we were directly under the porch light. Lex and I stood side by side with the two girls in front of us. Before my Mom snapped the picture I threw an arm around Lex's shoulders.

I didn't care what anyone else said. Yeah, we might make a strange pair but Lex was my friend. I knew I would be framing another picture for Lex once my Mom got the film developed.