Title: Ask Me Again
Rating: T
Genre: Romance
Pairing: Chloe/Oliver
Summary: Oliver makes a proposal Chloe can't refuse anymore.
Ask Me Later
1/1
Oliver entered his apartment with a smile as he heard Chloe moving around in the kitchen. No doubt she already had the coffee out and was making a large pot. The rest of the League would be by in the next half hour or so for business. He shrugged his suit coat off and draped it over his desk before walking off toward the kitchen, kicking his shoes off as he went. It'd been a long day and despite wanting to rest, he knew it was about to get longer.
He was glad he got home when he did though, because the conversation he wanted to have with Chloe was better done in privacy. He'd given her a future to think over and she'd been avoiding answering him for the last few days. He didn't want to wait though; he knew what her answer should be, he just didn't know what it would be. She could be stubborn, even if she knew it was right.
Four years she'd been playing their unofficial Watchtower whenever time, work, and the world permitted. And when she wasn't, she was just as adept as getting into trouble. He couldn't count how many times he'd found her tied up, on the verge of being killed, or escaping with a bullet wound that, yes, would heal, but didn't hurt any less. She admitted her powers to him three and a half years ago, and then to the rest of the League six months after. And she'd been shocked to find them all so accepting. But she was their Watchtower, his Sidekick, and there was nothing she could do or be that would ever make them turn their backs on her.
When he'd told her that the future could be different than the one she thought she'd have, she hadn't exactly jumped in glee. She had a lot of worries; Clark and Lois being the main two. And he wanted to say that he understood, but he really just wanted to give her everything and he felt like she was holding back when she could have so much more. The world in the palm of her hand; but she refused it still. So busy thinking of everyone else, she wasn't thinking of her own happiness. Her own future that could involve so much more than just being Superman's sidekick and hidden away in Lois' shadow. She no longer had her work at the Daily Planet and though she wanted to be an investigative reporter, she often walked away from those scoops to help them bring down the worst of evil around the world.
As he entered the kitchen, she was pouring cream into her favorite green mug. She looked up, a grin tugging at her mouth. "Well if it isn't my knight in tight green leather," she greeted.
He smiled back, walking over to take his already-made coffee from next to hers. She always anticipated his arrival. He turned his eyes toward her inquisitively. "Have you thought over my proposal?"
She sighed, walking to the table to take a seat. Looking up at him, she shook her head while stirring her coffee in a nervous habit of hers. "I'm just not sure, Oliver."
He sat down next to her, their arms touching. "Can't avoid the inevitable, Sidekick."
Her mouth quirked in a smile. "Oh really?"
He nodded, turning toward her. She met his eyes, her brow lifted in humor. "Some things are just mean to be."
She let her gaze fall, but he could see the blush lingering on her cheeks. "You're getting a little soft, aren't you, Ol?"
He reached out, trailing his fingertip over her cheek and running it around the shell of her ear. "What do you want, Chloe?" As she opened her mouth, he interrupted, already seeing that look in her eyes. "Not what you think you should want, or what others want for you. Don't think about what Clark would want or what Lois would decide. This is your life and I want your answer."
She looked up at him, her mouth pursed. "It's never that easy."
"It is," he said with a slight chuckle. "I'm asking you to think of yourself, for once. You spend your whole life thinking of others and now is when you get to make a decision concerning only you."
"It doesn't only concern me. It concerns everyone. Clark needs me; Lois needs me-"
"I need you," he told her, his voice low.
She turned her head toward him. "What you want sounds beautiful and honestly, it's so hard to say no. Traveling the world, moving to Star City permanently, being with you and the League officially..."
"You could've had it years ago. This could've happened years ago," he assured, shaking his head slowly.
"It was too soon," she murmured, eyes falling to her coffee.
"It's been three and a half years, Chloe," he disagreed, frowning. "I asked you six months in."
"Yes, and after six months how could you know?" she said, voice raising with disbelief.
"You doubt me?" he asked, lifting a brow.
She turned her eyes away.
"You think I'll change my mind later?"
"It's such a big decision."
"And it's one that I made three and a half years ago. One that I've been trying to convince you of since." He reached out, fingers clasping around her chin and turning her head back. "Think of your life now and the one you wanted and ask yourself which one you really want to live."
She stared at him, eyes glazed with tears she refused to cry. "You're asking me to give up my life."
"I'm asking you to live your life. A better one that you thought you were destined for. I'm asking you to live it with me and the guys and become who you were always meant to be." He shook his head. "You can avoid it for however long, but eventually you're going to have to admit that you weren't meant to be an underappreciated reporter in the basement. You weren't meant to stand in the shadow of Lois and Superman. You were meant to be at the forefront, at my side, not behind me, but with me. You were meant to be so much more than what you have now, Sidekick." He shook his head, frowning. His hand spread along her cheek, thumb stroking her skin delicately.
She lifted her hand, covering his, fingers falling between his. Her eyes fell shut and she sighed. "Ask me again."
His brows lifted. "Really?"
She nodded, her mouth quirking with a slight smile. "Ask me again."
His eyes thinned. "I dunno, Sidekick. I'm feeling a little rough from all of your rejections, here."
She rolled her eyes. "Just ask me."
He crossed his arms. "I'm not feeling the love here. How do I know you're not just baiting me?"
"Oliver..." she groaned.
"Can you blame me?"
She sighed, lifting a shoulder. "What? Big bad Oliver Queen isn't used to hearing no?" she teased.
He suppressed his smile. "Admittedly, no." He chuckled arrogantly, eyes boring into her. "Even you are usually pretty agreeable. Just the other morning-"
She leaned back into her chair, shaking her head. "My answer is changing by the second."
"All right, all right," he said, standing from his chair with a grin. He took her hand, brow still lifted with uncertainty.
She smiled, squeezing his hand. "Ask me again," she told him, soft, sweet, and encouraging.
Taking a deep breath, he fell to one knee. "Despite having done this at least twelve times, I'm still going the romantic route," he told her. He noticed her teeth bite down on her lower lip, but this time it wasn't with anxiousness like all the times before. He swallowed tightly, thumb stroking her palm. "Wow, this never gets easier," he admitted quietly.
She chuckled softly and he felt slightly uplifted.
He turned his gaze up to catch her vibrant green eyes. "I've been in love with you for almost four years and I can't remember a day where I didn't want to wake up and see you next to me. You said six months was too soon and I accepted that, even though I knew that in another six months I'd ask again and hope the answer was different. I knew what I wanted then and I still know. I've never stopped wanting this and I'm never going to."
He smiled as her breath stuttered and she bit down harder on her lip; she always did that when she was getting emotional. "You're my best friend, my partner, my inspiration, and... my hero." He nodded slowly, as if to further prove to her how he felt. "I can't imagine spending my life with anybody else and I don't want to." He shook his head. "I don't know how many times I've asked, but if you say no, I know that I'll continue to keep asking." He smiled gently, squeezing her hand as she blinked away her tears. "You're worth it and I know eventually..." he grinned, "I'm going to wear you down."
She laughed, sniffling.
"So..." He cleared his throat, feeling a little hopeful and a little worried and a lot nostalgic. "Will you marry me?" And everything that comes with it? Watchtower; full time. Travel the world at his side, leave behind Metropolis and the title of Superman's sidekick. Allow herself to flourish on her own; without Lois or The Daily Planet. To move on to greater things, accept that the life she wanted wasn't what she'd live, but it didn't have to mean she couldn't still experience the world to its fullest.
She stared down at him, a tear slipping down her cheek before she nodded, letting her lower lip free of its confines. "Yes," she whispered.
He grinned, wide and thankful and excited. Instead of standing up, he tugged her off of her chair until she was sitting in his lap. He slid down to the floor, no longer kneeling, and hugged her. Her arms wrapped tight around his neck, her face buried in his shoulder as she cried happily, hands stroking up his neck and into his hair.
"You promise you're not going to change your mind?" he asked, slightly worried. He wanted her to be sure; he wanted her to want it as much as he did.
She shook her head, tugging away from him only slightly until she was looking up at him. "Ask me again tomorrow and my answer will still be the same." She brought her hands around to cup his face and smoothed her thumbs over the plains of his cheeks. "Ask me again the day before we get married, and I'll still say yes." She licked her lips. "I never wanted to marry anyone else; I just wanted to be sure that you really wanted this."
"And the first twelve or so times didn't show that?" he asked, slightly confused.
She let her eyes fall. "What we do, who we are, that's not easy. I wanted to know that you loved me, and not just the idea behind me. Watchtower, knower of all secrets..." She lifted her eyes to him quickly before diverting them. "And I know I've been difficult on the subject but... These things I was feeling..." She shook her head. "They've never happened so fast, they've never been so strong. I just... I wanted to be sure it wasn't a side effect; that it was real."
"It's very real," he assured, lifting his hand to brush her hair off her face and draw her eyes back to him. "I love you." He smiled slowly before leaning forward to kiss her forehead. "And I'm going to love you fifty years from now."
She sighed, eyes falling shut as she leaned into him. "I love you, too." She smirked mischievously. "And really, fifty years? You'll be like eighty!"
"And still just as handsome," he replied arrogantly, lifting a brow.
She laughed, shaking her head at him.
He leaned forward, capturing her grinning mouth in a deep kiss. Caught by surprise, she gasped into the kiss before meeting him just as strongly. Her arms wrapped around his neck while her body turned to meet his. Teeth gnashed, lips bruised, tongues tangled. He felt a warmth fill him from head to toe and when her body leaned into him, he slid back until he was lying on the floor. Her hands slid down from his neck, skimming along his biceps before smoothing down his chest on either side of her. Their frenzied breath mingled in between the slant of their mouths. His hands slid up her back, bunching her shirt up into his palms. Her thighs parted, legs falling to either side of his hips.
"Dude! The floor too?" Bart's loud exclamation interrupted them. "Must you christen everything?"
Chloe broke apart from his mouth, panting and grinned up at the short League member. "Yes," she told him blunt and easy. "You know you're favorite chair?" she asked with a mischievous glint in her eye.
"LA LA LA LAAA!" he yelled loudly, plugging his ears. "I CAN'T HEAR YOUR LIES!"
She laughed, letting her head fall against Oliver's chest.
"Not to interrupt, but I thought we had a meeting today," Victor said, lifting a brow as he leaned against the counter.
"We do," Oliver replied, his hands running up and down Chloe's back absently. "Where's AC?"
"On his way." Victor shrugged. "Did you know about his plan to steal all of the fish from the market just to get back at them?"
Chloe sat up, legs still straddling Oliver as he laid on the floor. "Yeah, he told me last week."
"And you didn't talk him out of it?" Victor shook his head slowly.
Oliver found either of Chloe's hands and played with her fingers on top of his chest, listening to their conversation with half a mind. Her ring was sitting on her Watchtower station, right next to a picture of them, open and waiting for her to finally accept. It was the perfect fit for her slim finger, he knew. The first time he proposed, he'd slipped it right onto her hand and waited for her to wake up, all the while tracing her every curve with his forefinger. Sleepily, she'd reached out to run her hand through his hair, just like always, which is when she found the glinting diamond winking up at her. She'd told him it was too early and he'd accepted that she might have reservations, even if he didn't. Six months later, he asked again. The answer was still the same, and so he asked a few months after, and then again and again and again. Her answer was always that she wasn't sure. Never no, but never yes. And while he disagreed that it was too early or that neither of them were ready, he knew that he couldn't make the decision for her.
There was a content feeling now that her answer was yes. He didn't feel like he was just waiting for the moment where her answer would be a firm no. As if all of her uncertainty was leading up to the moment where she'd tell him that they weren't right for each other and it was time to stop what she might consider a charade. For three and a half years, he was enraptured by her; her spirit and her loyalty and her insight to the world around her. How easily she got along with the League guys and how confident she could be as Watchtower. How beautiful and tender she could be in the early morning or how sleepy but sensual she was at night. He loved every inch of her; even her insane knack for getting intro trouble. The curiosity of hers that always seemed to draw her into the worst places possible and the most inopportune times... They were all part of her, and he'd long ago accepted it.
"Earth to Ollie," Bart said, snapping his fingers above the man's face.
Oliver looked over at him, brows furrowed.
"As gross as it is to watch you moon over Chloelicious, I have a hot date tonight and so we need to get this meeting started!" He grinned, hopping up onto the cupboard and clapping his hands.
"Butt off the counters!" Chloe told him, shaking her head with a frown. "People eat there."
"And people sit in my favorite chair!" he told her, pouting as he crossed his arms. "Like me! I sit there! So you have to stop doing that in my special chair! You don't see me-"
"I'm not sure I want you to finish that sentence," Chloe interrupted, eyes thinned with suspicion.
He grinned at her, winking as he shrugged.
"AC arrived yet?" Oliver wondered.
"Yeah, like ten minutes ago." Bart looked amused. "Pretty sure you were admiring Chloelicious' fingers." He wiggled his eyebrows.
Chloe slapped his dangling leg and motioned for him to hop off the counter. With a frown, he jumped down from the counters and sat down on a stool.
"She finally say yes?" Victor wondered.
"You make it sound like it's been completely illogical for me to wait," Chloe grumbled.
"Dude, it's been, like what? Four years?" Bart shook his head, rolling his eyes. "You knew you were gonna say yes, so say it already!"
She sighed. "Three and a half and I might remind you that the first time he asked-"
"You'd only been dating for six months," AC, Victor and Bart interrupted in monotone to mock her. "We know!"
Her lips thinned as she glared at them.
"We're just saying," AC said, coming around the island to lean against the counter next to them. "We all knew what was coming, you knew you'd eventually yes, and Oliver was never going to give up." He shrugged, taking a gulp from the large jug of Sunny D in his hands.
"Hey, hey, hey, that's public juice!" Chloe said, waving her hands at him in annoyance. "Use a glass!"
"See, you're already acting like an irritating wife!" Bart exclaimed, amused. When she turned to glare at him, he lifted his hands in surrender. "I mean an irritated wife, you could never be irritating!"
She rolled her eyes, sighing.
"As amusing as this is, I also have a date tonight," Victor said, raising his brows at the four.
Chloe slowly rose from the floor while Oliver sat up and climbed onto his feet, smiling slightly as Chloe brushed off the back of his jeans of any floor junk.
"So, you never really answered our question," Bart said, quirking a brow. "She say yes or you still riding the unmarried train?"
Oliver smirked. "I'm happily engaged."
"Sweet!" Bart grinned. "Hey, this means you're officially stuck with us!"
"Nice bro!" AC told him, reaching out clap his shoulder.
"Congratulations," Victor agreed. "And, finally!"
Chloe put her hands on her hips, making a face at them all before walking into the main room. "Come on, let's get to work. I too have a date tonight."
"First I heard about it," Oliver mumbled, walking in after her.
"Yeah, well, I wasn't planning on being proposed to today and was going to pull a Monica and Chandler on you later. Looks like I can call the restaurant and tell them to cancel booking the whole place for privacy." She lifted a shoulder as she grabbed the remote up from her desk and pointed it at the overhead.
Grinning, Oliver stepped up behind her, his arms wrapping around her waist. "You were planning on proposing to me, Sidekick?" he asked, low against her ear.
She turned her up to him, her mouth twisted with a smile. "Couldn't avoid the inevitable forever, could I?" She tipped her head so it leaned against his shoulder. "Figured I'd take the initiative this time." She lifted a brow. "Course you almost blew my cover earlier and I couldn't exactly say no to that proposal of yours." She smiled softly.
God, he loved her. He kissed her, slow and deep.
She'd finally said yes; of all the questions in all the world, her answer to this one was his favorite.
Author's Note: I'd update more regularly except we're having a flying ant problem, so being around the computer is full of paranoia on my part. I hate bugs! Bleck! I'm nearly done the next chapter to The Matchmaker and I've gotten deep into Avenging Chloe, If I Should Die, and Amorous. Hope you liked this! Reviews are sustenance, readers! Luv yas, Fina!