A/N: My apologies for the delay on this. I had a busy summer—I'm a foster mom now!

I'd like to finish this story. It's my first, and the one that is closest to my heart.

Chapter 6 - June

It took some time and effort, but Martha convinced Jonathan that their family needed some time away from home. It wasn't easy for her to explain why, but she just had a gut instinct that they all needed a change of pace.

She presented the idea to the kids, and Lex immediately asked if his money could be used to cover the cost of the vacation, including the farm hands that would take care of things in their absence. Martha and Jonathan allowed Lex to argue his case before agreeing, so that he could feel like he had convinced them, but they had already decided in advance that if Lex offered, they'd allow it. Heavens knew he needed to feel like he was contributing something, after having fallen so far.

A few days after Clark's high school graduation, they packed up the truck with their old camping gear and made the trek up to the Rocky Mountains.

Clark was mostly quiet on the drive—he'd celebrated his graduation with friends from school, but Martha knew it wore on him to know that his friends were all off to college and jobs, while he would be back on the farm. But Lex seemed more relaxed on the drive, joining in his parents' conversation from time to time. Martha suspected part of it was the fact that he'd been allowed to pay for the trip, and part of it the fact that Shelby was sitting on his lap, happily sticking her head out of the window, tongue flapping in the wind.

Martha breathed in the fresh mountain air as they all climbed out of the truck. The campground was clean enough, and the mountains surrounding them were covered in trees. She could see a lake far below them, and snowy caps far above them. Trees sheltered their camp ground, and a fire pit sat waiting for s'mores and dinners wrapped in aluminum fire. The air was warm and smelled fresh, but it wasn't too hot.

But most importantly, she could see a short hiking trail in the hills beside them, all of which was visible from the logs beside their tent.

Her plan was coming together.

Lex had travelled the world in his lifetime, but he had never experienced a vacation like this before. When he had travelled, the point had been to experience the best. The best of food, drink, amenities, and admittedly, women.

But here in the mountains, their standards of living were much lower than the way they lived on the farm. The only thing that was better was the view—it took his breath away.

It was more than that, though. The Kents seemed to be here just to spend time with each other. The closest Lex had come to that was when he'd whisked a girl away to some European country to impress her, but even then, the sightseeing had been little more than foreplay to sleeping with each other.

This felt more like the way the Kents did Thanksgiving and Christmas. Or at least, it felt like that's what they were aiming for. His parents were almost enjoying themselves, but Lex could tell there was an edge to their smiles, a bit of discomfort. Meanwhile, Clark seemed to be putting on a face. He was polite, but he was obviously uncomfortable. The only one who seemed truly at ease was Shelby.

On the first morning after sleeping in tents, after a breakfast of eggs and bacon that Lex had helped to make, his mom looked at him and at Clark, and said, "Why don't you two go for a walk?"

"Just the two of us?" Clark said.

"See that trail?"

She pointed up toward the hills, and Clark nodded.

"Your father and I can see it, too. Go."

Lex winced. He knew what his mom was trying to do. The two of them hadn't truly had a moment alone together all year, and she was probably hoping that, without his parents listening in, Lex might say something that would fix his broken relationship with Clark. Lex just couldn't imagine what he could say.

Unless his mom wanted him to explain to Clark why he'd taken his heart cells.

He couldn't think of any other explanation, but he couldn't do it. Lex cleared his throat. "Mom . . ."

"Go." She patted his back. "Your father and I will take care of dishes."

Lex glanced toward Shelby, but she was very happy sniffling at the leftover scraps of bacon, so he figured he'd let her be. He looked toward Clark, who gave him a smile in return, but Lex knew him well enough to know that wasn't his real smile.

Come to think of it, it wasn't a fake smile, either. He was fidgeting with his pockets, which Lex had never seen him do. He was nervous.

Maybe their mom thought Clark had something to say to Lex.

Lex set his plate down on the picnic table, and he waited for Clark to join him. Then they both made their way toward the trail.

It was quiet on their trek uphill. It was just as well—it was steep enough for Lex that he was feeling a little out of breath, even though he knew Clark wouldn't be feeling it at all.

When they reached the highest point in the trail, Lex stood out by the edge, looking out over the valley. Their parents looked to be the size of ants, running their dishes under the stream near their campsite. Greenery covered a good portion of the mountains; Lex could see snow in the distance, high above them.

"It's beautiful," he said.

Clark came to stand beside him, a couple of feet. He kept his voice low. "Lex, I did some research."

Lex raised his eyebrows and looked over at his brother. "Oh?"

"Uh, Chloe helped me. I read about all the treatments you discovered with my blood."

Lex held his breath.

"Y-you saved a lot of lives."

Lex couldn't imagine where this was going. His jaw tightened. "I made a lot of money."

"Not anymore. You released the patents. And you already gave up all the money."

Lex paced a couple of steps. "Clark—"

"I got to know that other side of you. Before you . . ."

Lex stopped and looked up at Clark. "You want to know how many people your heart cells saved?"

"Chloe and I couldn't find anything about it. It's as if that research never saved anyone."

"No one at all."

Clark's face fell.

Lex knew what Clark was doing. He was grasping for reasons to trust his brother. Lex had worked hard to look good on paper, but that wasn't going to be enough. Lex couldn't imagine what would be enough.

Lex took a step closer. "But I swear to you, I had a good reason to do what I did."

"What reason?"

"If that's what it would take to fix this, I'll tell you."

"Wait. Really?"

Lex still believed the false hope wasn't worth it, despite all of his parents' lessons on hope. But he could also understand where Clark stood. He'd spent so long trusting and looking up to Lex, believing the light was more powerful than the darkness. He'd gotten to know the dark side on its own, and he'd fallen under its spell, even knowing it could hurt him. Then he'd been betrayed in the worst way, in his most vulnerable hour. It was easier to pour out forgiveness when the motivation was life and death. It was harder to maintain that when he had to work side by side with the man who had traumatized him.

"Yes," Lex said. "If you knew the reason . . . it would give you peace about me."

Clark looked down, appearing to be deep in thought. Then he blinked a couple of times, and he looked up, meeting Lex's eyes.

"You said you were hiding it from me to protect me."

"Yes."

"That's the truth?"

"Of course."

"And . . . do I need to know your secret?"

Lex gave Clark a curious look. "I guess not."

"And if I ever do need to know, you'll tell me?"

Lex felt the air rush out of his lungs. He recognized the line of questions. He'd asked the same thing about Clark's secret, before he knew it. "Of course."

Clark held his gaze. "Okay. I'm trusting you."

There was no hesitation in his voice. No brave face, no facade. There were tears in Clark's eyes, trembling in his voice, and Lex's eyes stung. "If you ask, I'll tell you the truth."

"I know you will."

The warmth of peace and forgiveness flooded through Lex. He couldn't help it, he looked away. Clark stepped closer and wrapped an arm around Lex, and Lex leaned in, allowing himself to receive it.

Lex sucked in his breath as they let go. "Clark, I've been thinking about something."

"Yeah?"

"I think you should go to college."

Clark gave him a look. "Even if I could afford it, I'm a little past the application deadline."

"Not for all schools. And money shouldn't be an issue."

"You think our parents would use your money?"

"I can talk to them. They used it to pay for this trip."

Clark rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't even know what I'd study."

"Most freshmen go in undeclared."

"Did you?"

"Not exactly. But I also never finished."

Clark frowned. "I'll think about it."

Lex smiled.