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When the Kents' car rolled into the driveway just before dinnertime, Pete was waiting. He had been passing the last hour by shooting baskets by himself, which he noted was significantly less fun than shooting baskets with Clark. He had worried briefly that being there when they arrived might appear strange, but he had spent the weekend worrying and thinking about his best friend. If Clark didn't want to talk to him, he would go, but he wanted Clark and his parents to see that making things right was a priority for him.

Clark took his time getting out of the car, his eyes moving from Pete to his parents. The Kents stood protectively behind their son, and although Clark did appear more relaxed and stable than he had the last time Pete had talked to him, the way his parents watched him told Pete that there had been and might still be a legitimate reason for their seemingly excessive concern.

Taking a deep breath, Pete pasted a grin onto his face and approached the family. "Hey, Clark. I heard you were coming back today, and I wanted to be here to make sure everything's okay. You've been a hard man to catch last week at school."

Relief flooded through Pete when the Kents smiled at him, just as friendly as they had ever been.

"That's very nice of you, Pete. We haven't seen much of you lately." Martha gave Clark a small nudge forward. "You boys go ahead and catch up with each other. Jonathan and I will see about some dinner. Clark, is pizza good?"

Clark nodded. "Pizza sounds great. How about it, Pete? You want to stay for dinner?"

Reassured that his friend was still interested in remaining his friend, Pete agreed with a smile. "Since when do I need to be asked if I want to have dinner at the Kent farm?"

Jonathan took Clark's suitcase. "You and Pete can entertain yourselves until the pizza gets here. You can unpack later."

After Jonathan and Martha went into the house, Clark and Pete stood awkwardly for about thirty seconds, and then both started talking at the same time. After two false starts, Clark finally convinced Pete to go first.

"Man, I don't even know what to say except that I'm sorry. I didn't know about Lana dissing you at the party. I didn't even know you were there. Why didn't you say something?"

Clark sighed heavily. "I should have. I didn't mean to ignore you and Chloe, but I just didn't feel like talking or eating or - or anything, really. I'm not trying to excuse what I did, I'm just explaining it."

"You don't have to. I can't believe I blew up at you like I did. I'm glad you told me your secret, and if keeping it is hard, it's only because it gets frustrating to see Lana hurting you over and over again when I know exactly why you're acting the way you are. Don't you ever regret telling me, Clark."

"I don't regret it. I know I can trust you, Pete. After this weekend, I think everything's going to be okay."

"What did you guys do? Did you have fun?"

Clark laughed. "Well, we went fishing, hiking, played games ... those parts were fun. Other than that, I guess the most important thing I figured out is that my parents deserve an award for raising me and staying sane."

Sympathetically, Pete thumped his best friend on the back. "Rough time?"

"Yeah. The whole thing with Lex and the - the electrocution and the kryptonite gave me some killer nightmares."

Pete passed the basketball he had been holding to Clark. "You want to talk about it?"

Looking around to make sure no one but Pete was there to see him, Clark sprang into the air at superspeed, dunking the ball. He hung on the rim for a moment before letting go and passing the ball to Pete. "Maybe later. For now, all I'm saying is that my parents are awesome."

Pete shot a flawless basket from the three-point line and tossed the ball back to Clark. "Three points for me, one for you. Too bad super-aim isn't one of your abilities. When it comes to basketball, you're all flash and no substance, my friend."

Clark grinned. "Is it weird that I feel the most normal around the one guy who knows I'm not?"

"I've been razzing you since second grade. I'm not going to quit just because it turns out you could have been kicking my butt all that time."

"So, are we cool?"

"You know it."

"Thanks."

Hesitating for a moment, Clark finally managed to ask the question he wasn't sure he wanted an answer to. "Have you seen Lana?"

Pete nodded.

"And?"

"And she's still pretty mixed up about everything. You probably shouldn't try to talk to her."

Clark sighed heavily. "That bad?"

"Well, I think Chloe might have been exaggerating when she used the words 'harbinger of the apocalypse' to describe how Lana feels about you right now. You know how Chloe likes to exaggerate sometimes."

Wincing slightly, Clark shook his head. "Well, if she wants me to stay away, then I will. Only, this time I won't stay away from you and Chloe too. I, Clark Kent, promise to be a better friend."

Pete laughed. Clark had definitely benefited from the weekend trip. Last week, he would never have been able to adopt a sense of humor about the Lana situation. "Same here. Man, that must have been some weekend you had. Last week, me and Chloe were worried you were seriously depressed."

"I was. I'm telling you, Pete. My parents are awesome."