Chloe turned off the faucet and pulled the wet rubber gloves from her fingers with only a slight degree of difficulty. She turned on the dishwasher, wiped down the countertops then ventured out into the living room to see what else needed to be done. "Oliver?" She called out when she didn't see him. The tree lights were twinkling but they didn't allow her to see far into the room. The fire was still going strong in the fireplace but that too let off only a small amount of light. "The dishes are done." She called out, a yawn distorting the end of the sentence. "The kitchens' clean, and I'm exhausted." He didn't answer her still and she could see no sign of him.

He'd been put in charge of cleaning up the living room and from the amount of glasses, empty beer cans and wadded up napkins lying around, he hadn't gotten very far. "I swear to God Oliver if you're asleep I'm going to kill you." She grumbled walking around the couch, only to trip on his feet and land heavily on top of him.

"Ouch." Chloe complained into his neck.

"Sorry." He mumbled, his voice as tired as hers.

She lifted herself up so that she was staring down at him. "What the hell Oliver?"

"I was getting a beer bottle that rolled under the couch, and I looked up for some reason and I noticed…" He pointed up. "There is a canapé stuck to the ceiling." There was a note of hysteria in his voice as his hand fell back down to his side. Chloe rolled off him and onto her back to stare up, sure enough, hanging precariously, stuck to the ceiling was indeed one of the potato blinis with smoked salmon and caviar.

Chloe couldn't help it as the laughter bubbled up and then came out in a very undignified burst. It didn't matter though because soon Oliver had followed suit and they couldn't have stopped if they'd tried.

They'd been up for almost forty eight hours straight at this point. A last minute trip to Istanbul a few days before Christmas to check out a lab had gotten them back in town only two hours before Oliver's annual Christmas Eve bash. It was two in the morning now and it was definitely catching up to them. The guys had all ventured off to guest rooms and passed out much much earlier, as they were not required to host and mingle for the party goers. Technically neither was Chloe but a previous attempt at sneaking out the door at half past eight was thwarted by Oliver with a grab for her wrist and an urgently whispered, "If you so much as think of leaving me here to deal with all of this myself I will take back every piece of computing equipment I've ever given you and that includes your precious laptop".

Needless to say she diligently stuck to his side for the rest of the party. And because that's just the type of person she was, she couldn't leave him to clean up the mess himself. "They're twenty foot ceilings." Oliver complained. "How did it even get up there?"

Chloe turned her head to face him, her laughter dying as she caught her breath. "Oliver I found a pair of frilly pink underwear stuffed in the bottom of your dishwasher, I'm currently worried I'll never be able to eat in your kitchen again and you're worried about one canapé?"

"It's on the ceiling." He turned to her and said it more slowly this time as if that would help her understand the extreme gravity of this situation. "How am I even supposed to get it down? Do they make ladders that tall?" He whispered to himself and Chloe realized it was entirely possible that on top of the sleep deprivation he was a little drunk.

Chloe just smiled and pulled herself to her feet. She grabbed a wadded up napkin off the coffee table, looked up at the canapé, took aim and threw it. It sailed a few feet in the air and then fell back down, barely making it over Chloe's head.

"It was to light." Oliver pulled himself to his feet and grabbed a pillow off the couch, tossing it above his head. It went substantially higher than the wadded up napkin but still not high enough.

Chloe reached over for her own pillow and instead, came back with a pair of boxers in her hand that had a big bow right on the crotch. "Seriously, was everyone just having sex at this party in plain sight and if so how did I miss it and how do they not miss their underwear?"

"Those could be mine." Oliver pointed out.

"You would never be this cheesy." Chloe pointed to the bow that she supposed indicated that the contents of the boxers were in some way a present for some lucky girl to "unwrap". "Besides, you don't wear boxer's. You wear boxer briefs."

"How do you know that?" Oliver asked her surprised.

"I've tended to a lot of your battle wounds Oliver. Sometimes that requires me to have you pantsless." She reminded him.

"Have you seen me…you know…" He motioned to his body.

"What?" Chloe asked confused.

"Naked?" He almost blushed when he said it and Chloe found that to be ridiculously endearing.

"Thankfully that has yet to be necessary." She rolled her eyes, the snark in her tone helping only slightly to ease the heat she could feel rising in her face at the image of Oliver completely naked. She discarded the boxers to grab a pillow. They tried with the pillows for a few more minutes before realizing they weren't going to make it all the way to the ceiling either. Chloe dropped her pillow to the ground and sighed.

"Well." Oliver groaned, giving up on his pillow as well. "We've got to give you something to look forward to."

"Ok." Chloe glared, picking up the boxers and tossing them in his face. "I take it back, you are that cheesy." She stopped with a sudden thought then put a hand on Oliver's shoulder, leaned down, slipped off one of her shoes and threw it over her head.

"Oh that's a good idea." Oliver smiled. "Give me your other shoe."

"You have two of your own shoes, use one of them."

"But you already have one shoe off and yours are less expensive."

She turned and looked at him, raising one eyebrow. "Wanna bet." She smiled but slipped her other shoe off and tossed it to him anyway.

"Your shoes cost more than five hundred dollars?" Oliver asked astonished as he tossed the strappy sandal in the air. Chloe just snorted and that's when Oliver noticed the red sole on the bottom of the shoe. Even as a guy he knew what that meant. "I'm paying you too much."

"It's my one vice." She shrugged.

"Lie." Oliver called her out. "You once told me that coffee was your one vice, and another time that tech was your one vice."

"Well coffee costs five bucks a cup and you buy me all my tech so it's my one expensive vice." Chloe joked.

They threw the shoes for a few more minutes until Oliver reared back and just let it rip. They both stared in astonishment at the ceiling, where an inch from the canapé the heel of Chloe's shoe managed to stick itself through the drywall and stay there. "Huh." Oliver said.

"You're so buying me another pair of those." Chloe told him.

"Technically, I bought the first pair." Oliver reminded her.

"Well this is true." Chloe shrugged and then collapsed on the couch in a heap.

"The impact didn't even shake it a bit." Oliver shook his head in astonishment as he sat down next to Chloe.

"Which is making me regret the four that I scarfed down earlier." Chloe laughed and held her stomach. "Did the caterers put glue in that thing?" Chloe played with the strap on her remaining shoe for a while, just sitting next to Oliver, enjoying the warmth of the fire. "I should probably get going." Chloe grunted but made no move to leave her comfortably warm spot on the couch.

"Sleep in the guest room." Oliver looked up in the direction of the second floor. "That is if there are any left."

Chloe shook her head. "I really can't stay."

"But it's cold outside." Oliver pointed out to her.

"I've got to go." Chloe insisted.

"It's cold outside." Oliver said again but Chloe didn't waver. He pulled himself up and walked to the bookshelf grabbing a bottle "Look, I've got a fire and one last bottle of Comtes Rose. That a $300 champagne and it's going to go to waste." He shook the bottle at her hopefully and she smiled.

"Maybe just a half a drink more." Chloe shrugged.

"You put on some music, I'll find us some glasses." Oliver walked to the kitchen as Chloe pulled herself to the stereo. She found Oliver's Christmas playlist and hit shuffle then settled back in the couch, taking over the spot Oliver had been in before because it was closer to the fire and warmer. She curled her feet under her and sighed contentedly. Her eyes drifted closed and her breathing started to even out and she was just on the verge of falling asleep when she was jarred awake by Oliver plopping down next to her. "I could find any glasses."

"There are stacks of them on the bar in the kitchen." Chloe opened her eyes to look at him. "I know, I washed them all."

"Ok, I didn't feel like carrying them in here." Oliver shrugged. "It's just us, I think we can get away with drinking from the bottle." To illustrate his point he took a long swig and then passed it to Chloe who looked at it dubiously.

"You're not sick are you?" Chloe tentatively reached out and took the bottle from him.

"Are you afraid of my cooties?" Oliver teased her.

"No." Chloe scoffed. "I'm afraid of your disgusting dirty nasty exotic boy germs." Chloe said pointedly before taking a long drink from the bottle. "You should be too. I'm insufferable when sick."

"Somehow I don't find that hard to believe." Oliver took the bottle back and sipped again as Chloe elbowed him in the stomach. "You took my spot."

"It was warmer than my spot." Chloe smiled at him and he smiled back and suddenly the entire room felt…hotter. "I really should go." Chloe swallowed breaking Oliver's gaze.

"Ten more minutes." He coughed. "Then I'll drive you home."

"You don't have to do that." Chloe shook her head. "I'll walk."

"You only have one shoe." Oliver pointed out.

"Oh right." Chloe frowned looking down at her stocking clad feet.

"And no coat." He reminded her. They'd come straight to Oliver's from the airport and she'd sent Bart to her house to pick up the dress and the shoes but didn't think to ask him to get her coat. "I don't really need a coat." She shrugged.

"Look out the window at the storm." Oliver nodded behind her and she turned around. At some point in the evening it had started snowing, hard.

"Well maybe just a half a drink more." Chloe grabbed the bottle of champagne back and took a long gulp.

"I don't think Metropolis has ever had such a blizzard before." Oliver pointed out. "There's no way I can send you out in that."

"I can't have you drive me though. You've been drinking." Chloe reminded him. "Drinking and snow is not a good combination. I'll just catch a cab."

"No cabs to be had out there I bet." Oliver sighed contently and leaned further back into the sofa. "Besides, you go out in that and you will catch something. Imagine my lifelong sorrow if you caught pneumonia and died."

"I didn't know you cared." Chloe leaned her head against the back of the sofa and smiled at him.

"Of course I care." Oliver reached out a hand to brush back a stray curl that managed to escape from Chloe's complicated up do. His hand froze on her cheek. "With the fire reflected in them, your eyes are like starlight now." He said entranced.

He's going to kiss me. The thought popped into Chloe's head unbidden but as soon as she thought it she knew it was true. They'd sort of been dancing around this strange flirtation for a few months now. It started one evening over the comms during a mission, bantering back and forth which was really quite normal but then Oliver had changed the rules and continued it when he'd gotten home.

Since then Chloe knew they had been balancing on that fine line between just friends and something more. Both of them were too scared to make that final jump however, worried about what it would do to their relationship, what it would do to the team. "I ought to say no to you." Chloe mumbled and then realized she said it out loud.

It didn't faze Oliver though. "Mind if I move in closer?"

Chloe just smiled. "At least I'm gonna say that I tried." She whispered, his lips so very closer to hers now.

"What's the sense in hurting my pride?" He mumbled before kissing her softly. When he pulled away it took Chloe a minute to open her eyes.

"I really can't stay." She said, preempting any offer Oliver might make.

"But it's cold outside." He gave her the excuse before kissing her again.

"Lois is waiting for me." Chloe mumbled against his lips. "And if I don't come home then there's bound to be talk tomorrow, especially if I stay here."

"Say you were exhausted, you fell asleep, it happens." Oliver had moved to the corner of her mouth now, slowly making his way across to her neck.

"At the least they'll be plenty implied." Chloe said but her resolve was wavering. She pulled away and grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at her. "I really can't stay." He just smiled and tilted his head, grabbing her hand and intertwining their fingers. He placed a velvet soft kiss to her knuckles and she melted. "Screw it, Lois will understand. It is cold outside." She mumbled before leaning forward to kiss him again.

After a few minutes of soft, lazy kisses Chloe found herself lying across Oliver's chest on the couch, his hand rubbing up and down her back, lulling her to sleep. If they stayed there much longer, there was no way she would make it to the bedroom. The music had turned itself off at this point and somewhere in the distance she heard church bells ring out the hour. "Merry Christmas." Oliver whispered in her ear as he placed a feather light kiss to her temple. His voice rumbled through his chest and the vibrations just slid Chloe further toward sleep.

"Mebrry Chripbnass." Chloe mumbled sleepily into Oliver's chest but he understood the gist of it.

Chloe could feel sleep, it was right around the corner, it was close enough to touch, and that's when they heard the crash. They both scrambled to sit up and looked over the back of the couch to see Chloe's shoe standing up perfectly straight in the middle of the floor. It must have fallen out of the ceiling.

"Hey looks like I don't have to buy you a new pair after all." Oliver smiled. A second later, with a surprisingly loud sucking noise the canapé followed the shoe to the ground, landing inside of it and sliding down the sole to settle in the toe of the shoe, spilling caviar and smashing cream cheese and salmon right into the leather. Chloe turned and glared at him. "So size five?"

"Five and half." She smirked and kissed his nose before pulling herself to her feet.

"Wait, where are you going?" He asked staring after her. His eyelids were drooping with too much champagne and the desperate desire for sleep and his hair was deliciously tousled and Chloe sent a silent thanks to God or Santa or whoever was responsible for bringing him into her life.

"I'd rather not sleep on the couch all night." She said reaching out for his hand and pulled him to his feet. "Come on, be a gentleman and take a girl to bed."

"Oh if I'm taking you to bed, the last thing I plan on being is a gentleman." Oliver said as she dragged him across the room to the stairs.

"That's pretty big talk coming from a man who can barely stand up on his own two feet at the moment." Chloe laughed as Oliver leaned heavily on the banister, pulling himself toward the bedroom.

"Oh, for what I'm planning I don't need to be able to stand." Oliver smirked and then stopped in the doorway, a slow easy smile growing on his face. "Although that can be fun too." He winked and Chloe laughed but blushed none the less.

"Let's take this one step a time Casanova." Chloe pulled him in the room and shoved him to the mattress, pulling off his shoes and then his pants.

"I like it when you take charge." Oliver looked at her through heavily lidded eyes, grabbing her arms and pulling her down on top of him and kissing her softly. "Are you going to stay?" He asked, hope and fear in his voice.

"Yeah I'm gonna stay." Chloe nodded. "But as effortlessly as I make this seem, this dress is not exactly the most comfortable thing to wear."

"Top drawer." Oliver yawned and Chloe rolled off of him, grabbing a t-shirt from the top drawer and slipping out of her dress.

She slid herself under the covers and snuggled down into the pillow. Oliver rolled over, sliding his hand under the edge of her shirt, his cold fingers settling on her hips and sending shivers down her spine. With his eyes still closed he sought out her mouth and attempted to devour her. He was so tired but Chloe understood how he felt because she felt the same way. They'd wasted so much time not doing this and she was so scared that she was going to wake up and find that none of this had really happened. Chloe laughed and pulled away. "We've both been awake for two days." She rested her forehead against his. "I'll still be here tomorrow." She reassured him.

"Promise?" Oliver whispered.

"I'm not going anywhere." She said softly then smiled. "Besides, it's cold outside."


Author's Note: This story was inspired by the song "Baby It's Cold Outside". Some of the dialogue was taken directly from the lyrics some was adapted from the lyrics. For those of you not familiar with the song here are the complete lyrics: (There are many versions out there, my favorite is the one with Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong)

I really can't stay - Baby it's cold outside
I've got to go away - Baby it's cold outside
This evening has been - Been hoping that you'd drop in
So very nice - I'll hold your hands, they're just like ice
My mother will start to worry - Beautiful, what's your hurry
My father will be pacing the floor - Listen to the fireplace roar
So really I'd better scurry - Beautiful, please don't hurry
Well Maybe just a half a drink more - Put some music on while I pour

The neighbors might think - Baby, it's bad out there
Say, what's in this drink - No cabs to be had out there
I wish I knew how - Your eyes are like starlight now
To break this spell - I'll take your hat, your hair looks swell
I ought to say no, no, no, sir - Mind if I move a little closer
At least I'm gonna say that I tried - What's the sense in hurting my pride
I really can't stay - Baby don't hold out
Ahh, but it's cold outside

C'mon baby

I simply must go - Baby, it's cold outside
The answer is no - Ooh baby, it's cold outside
This welcome has been - I'm lucky that you dropped in
So nice and warm -- Look out the window at that storm
My sister will be suspicious - Man, your lips look so delicious
My brother will be there at the door - Waves upon a tropical shore
My maiden aunt's mind is vicious - Gosh your lips look delicious
Well maybe just a half a drink more - Never such a blizzard before

I've got to go home - Oh, baby, you'll freeze out there
Say, lend me your comb - It's up to your knees out there
You've really been grand - Your eyes are like starlight now
But don't you see - How can you do this thing to me
There's bound to be talk tomorrow - Making my life long sorrow
At least there will be plenty implied - If you caught pneumonia and died
I really can't stay - Get over that old out
Ahh, but it's cold outside

Baby it's cold outside