It was the Friday before the Fourth of July that Lex was released from the hospital. Clark had been there with one of Lex's cars – a black BMW, dark and sleek and with an understated-but-there presence that oddly reminded Lex of Clark. The cast on his wrist was off, but the one on his leg remained working with the steel rod and pins to prevent damage and further injury to the tibia as the compound fracture healed. As Clark pulled the car around to the hospital entrance, Michelle, one of Lex's nurses, brought Lex down in a wheelchair. Together, Clark and Michelle got Lex situated into the backseat of the BMW. The subsequent ride to the Luthor mansion just outside of Smallville was one continuous silence that neither were quite sure how to break.

The trip seemed over entirely too soon considering that there was so much to say and not a single word had been uttered. Two nurses met them at the edge of the front drive with a wheelchair for Lex. Clark easily helped him out of the car and into the chair. As the nurses took Lex inside, Clark turned to the car to return it to the garage, but, as with Lex, that was already being taken care of. Clark felt unneeded. With the staff hired to attend to Lex while he remained on bed-rest until the leg-cast was off, Clark wasn't sure if there was anything he could offer. He let himself into the house and took the stairs to Lex's bedroom. There, he lingered inside the doorway uncertainly, watching the nurses get Lex comfortably positioned on the bed. "Thank you," Lex said, meeting Clark's eyes, "that's fine. If I need anything, I'll let you know. But, please, excuse us." Lex dismissed his nurses, who each gave Clark a curious glance before exiting, then he gestured for Clark to come to him. He patted the unoccupied side of the king-sized bed. "Sit with me."

Clark moved over to the bed, sinking down onto the mattress hesitantly. "Lex..."

"I always had assumed about you. I was never really sure until that night at the lab," Lex said quietly.

Clark knew this is why they had both been so quiet all day, knowing that, once in the privacy of Lex's home, they'd finally discuss this. "What about that night made you sure?" Clark questioned.

"I'm not...sure. I'm not sure what made me sure," Lex stated satirically, quirking a half-smile. "How the stabilizing chamber for the antidote reached one thousand degrees Kelvin so quickly, while no one was looking. You coming out of that fever...When I left you in that hospital, Clark...I know exactly how you felt when you pulled me from that car – it's what I felt when I walked away from you that day. Not knowing...But there you were, offering yourself for us to test on." Lex shook his head. "And I knew. I just couldn't risk someone finding out about you."

"So, that's why you injected yourself?"

"Yes. Besides, by that point, I'd already been exposed to the virus. Not to mention that the whole situation was my responsibility."

"When were you exposed?" Clark hadn't known that Lex was infected; otherwise, he probably would've made the lab his first stop. This thought made him feel extremely guilty – if he'd gone straight to the lab, he wouldn't have gotten to his parents as soon as he had.

"Earlier that day when we tested the first version of the antidote. My Haz-Mat suit ripped when I was helping to restrain an infected employee. And, obviously, the first trial of the antidote didn't work. I'm not sure if it was the antidote that killed him or the virus."

"And you injected yourself with that second antidote not knowing if...if it would kill you or not? Why, Lex? Why would you do something like that?"

"To protect you," Lex answered, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Protect your secrets."

"I just...After everything we've been through – every reason I've given you to not trust me, or to hate me – you'd still risk your life for me?"

"Clark, I could never hate you. You may have just come to this realization of how you feel for me, but I...I've been in love with you for years."

Clark leaned into Lex, cupping the older man's jaw as they kissed. Slowly at first, just tasting and feeling, then it deepened, passion flowing between them. Clark whimpered slightly when he broke the kiss. His forehead pressed against Lex's, he ran his thumb over the scar on Lex's lip before pressing a soft kiss there. "The meteor shower is when it all began," Clark started quietly, and told Lex his entire life's story. From the crash, being found, the development of his powers, to the day on Loeb Bridge – everything.

Lex looked at Clark, eyes wide with wonder as if suddenly the biggest mystery of his life made sense. "I remember you," he said with awe.

"Remember me?" Clark repeated.

"In the truck. After Jonathan and Martha found you – or you found them. I was sitting in Lionel's lap and you were in your mother's wrapped in a blanket. You reached out-"

Clark reached his right hand up to Lex's forehead, tenderly stroking over his cheek and down his jaw with his fingers. "Like that." A statement, not a question.

"Like that...Do you remember?"

"Vaguely..." A small, sweet smile crossed his lips at the wistful look on Lex's face and he moved closer, moving the pillows that were propping Lex up into a sitting position. "Sleep with me?" he asked, slowly lowering Lex down to the bottom pillow that remained.

Lex pulled Clark into a long, languid kiss before letting the younger man settle beside him. "Of course." After a pause, "I love you, Clark."

"I love you, too, Lex," Clark said, hand reaching up to cover the one resting on Lex's chest, twining their fingers, then pressing a feather-light kiss to juncture of throat and jaw just below Lex's ear.

Clark awoke hours later in the waning sunlight in Lex's bedroom, Lex's body radiating warmth as he continued to sleep beneath the arm holding him protectively close to Clark's own body. After countless minutes of just watching Lex sleep, his chest rising and falling with even breaths, there was knocking at the bedroom door. Startled, Clark quickly scrambled off of the bed and into a nearby chair, effectively jostling Lex awake in the process. He looked at Clark confusedly with heavy-lidded eyes. "There's someone at the door," Clark explained.

Lex yawned, "Oh," as he stretched the best he could. "Afraid to get caught in my bed?" There was a cat-caught-the-canary grin on Lex's face when he asked.

"I wasn't sure if we're ready for people to know yet – about us."

"It's okay, Clark. I-"

Another series of knocks on the door before it opened slightly and the maid's head poked in. "Mr. Luthor?" she questioned quietly.

"Yes, Amelie?"

"Dr. Mierzwiak is here. He wishes to speak to you."

"Thank you, Amelie."

"Do you wish for me to send him in?"

"Not at this moment." Amelie nodded at that, then left the room. "Clark, could you excuse us for a few minutes?"

"Sure. He's just your doctor." He stood from the chair and started to lean down to kiss Lex.

"No. Dr. Mierzwiak will hopefully working on a project for me."

Clark straightened. "Are you sure you're up for business meetings right now?"

"It's hardly a business meeting, Clark. Why don't you head home, have dinner with your parents, and come back here later."

"Are you just trying to get rid of me?" Clark asked with a smile on his face that didn't quite reach his eyes. He was a little hurt by Lex's suggestion but didn't want to show it. Lex noticed anyway.

"Clark...You know I'm not. It's just...It's a work-thing. Something that's still in progress. I'll be funding his research – it's probably something about money, it won't be that interesting to you anyway. Besides, you haven't seen your parents all day. You can come back after dinner and we can watch a movie or something. All right?"

"Okay." Clark grabbed a few of the pillows from the floor that had been on the bed earlier to help prop up Lex again. Adjusting the last one, he bent down for a kiss. "Do you want me to send the doctor in when I go?"

"If you would, please. I'll see you after dinner?"

"Absolutely, Lex."

Clark exited the bedroom, leaving Lex alone. But that only lasted a minute or two before Dr. Mierzwiak quietly entered, a thick manila folder under his arm. "I would stand to introduce myself, but..." Lex gestured to the leg-cast with one hand, then offered it to Dr. Mierzwiak to shake. "It's nice to finally meet you, Dr. Mierzwiak."

"You, too, Mr. Luthor. And, please, call me Howard." He let go of Lex's hand. "I heard about your accident. You look as though you're doing rather well."

"I am, Howard. Please sit, and we can discuss my funding of Lacuna, Inc."

Dr. Mierzwiak took a seat in the chair Clark had recently occupied and opened the manila folder, now in his lap. "Here's a basic overview of the procedure as it is now." He handed Lex a stapled document.

Lex scanned the papers, a look of skepticism on his face. "So, you can remove these 'problem memories' non-surgically?"

"Precisely."

"And this is permanent."

"Yes."

"Have you looked into temporary removal?"

"That's why I responded to your letter, Mr. Luthor. Even with the profit we make from the procedure, it's just enough to maintain the equipment and pay the staff. With your funding, there's no telling where research could take us."

"Do you think it's possible to temporarily remove memories?"

"No. Once we remove them, they're gone – we can't download them to, say, a disk or to the computer. However, I'm fairly certain that we could simply block the memories off. It would be kind of like an amnesia. I think it could even be possible to change the memory, change what happened."

"So, for example, in this testimonial from Joel Barish, he had a girlfriend erased from his memory. Instead of erasing her completely, you could turn their relationship into a simple meeting? He still recognizes her, but just knows her in passing?"

"Yes, I think it's quite probable."

"And reversible?"

"Possibly. We would have to do extensive testing to be sure. But that, I believe, would be in the distant future."

"I'll give you three months in my labs here to see where you get. You will have all of my lab technicians at your disposal. They are the best in their fields. Beyond that, if there is anything else you need, please let me know."

"I'm not sure how far we'll get in three months, but I know that the brilliance of LuthorCorp employees should not be underestimated." He closed the folder and stood, holding his hand out to Lex. "Thank you very much for your time, Mr. Luthor."

"You're welcome, Howard. Lacuna, Inc., is a very worthwhile endeavor," Lex replied, shaking Dr. Mierzwiak's proffered hand.

The Fourth of July fell on a particularly humid Monday. Clark had brought Lex out to the farm, allowing him a little escape from the mansion which, regardless of its vastness, had started to make Lex go a little stir-crazy in the short time during which he'd been home. Clark had driven one of Lex's favorite cars, a less-ostentatious and roomy Mercedes, trying to keep Lex as comfortable as possible, considering that they'd be spending the next hour-and-a-half or so sitting up in the loft.

Clark quite easily lifted Lex from the car and carried him into the barn, despite Lex's protests. "Clark, you really don't – I'm not a damsel in distress for Christ's sake."

"If you were a damsel in distress, Lex, I'd have you thrown over my shoulder."

"No, those were barbarians. And cavemen. And you are neither."

"Well, there's no other way to get you up to the loft. And that's where the best view is." Clark climbed the stairs carefully and let Lex take a seat in his desk chair so he could move the couch in front of the hayloft door. He lifted Lex again and set him down on the couch gently, then moved a wooden crate over so that Lex could keep his casted leg propped up. "We've got the most perfect vantage point for the fireworks compared to anywhere in all of Smallville." He pointed to the southeast. "They get shot off over Morley Reservoir over there."

They sat in a companionable silence, hand in hand even though their skin stuck together, until the first distant bang sounded and color lit up the sky. Lex's hand squeezed Clark's as the next few fireworks went off. "It's amazing," he whispered, looking completely awe-struck.

"Haven't you ever seen a fireworks display?"

"Not since I was a child. And that was orchestrated to Handel's Water Music when my mother and I were in England." His voice was nearly as distant as the detonations of the pyrotechnics.

While Lex continued to watch the fireworks with utter rapture evident on his face, Clark took the time to watch Lex. His mouth hung slightly open, sweat beading on his upper lip and in a couple places across his forehead. Clark noted how Lex's t-shirt clung to his chest, also damp with sweat. He was on his knees between Lex's legs before he even knew what he was doing.

Lex dragged his eyes away from the light display to look at Clark, confusion knitting his pale ginger brows together. "Clark?"

"Shh," Clark murmured against Lex's lips at the same time as his fingers slipped beneath the waistbands of both Lex's loose khaki shorts and boxers.

Lex arched up best he could under Clark's body to allow the younger man to pull the offending garments down, not bothering to unbutton the shorts. The extra tension of the still-fastened clothing sliding over Lex's erection made him hiss in a breath. "Oh, God, Clark..." Lex could feel the desire coiling in the pit of his stomach and Clark hadn't even touched him yet.

Clark looked up at Lex waiting for him to catch his gaze. When their eyes met, the usual bright blue-gray of Lex's were dusky and dark, clearly telling Clark how much he wanted this. He nuzzled the inside of Lex's thigh gently with his nose, breathing in the musky, heady sent of Lex's arousal. "I've wanted this for so long, Lex." An open-mouthed kiss placed to the juncture of hip and groin. "Wanted to taste you..." Breath on oversensitive skin a maddening caress.

And the fireworks Lex saw after that, were behind his closed eyelids.