Title: Meant to Be
Category: Smallville
Genre: Romance
Ship: Chloe/Oliver
Rating: PG
Prompt: Love
Word Count: 572
Summary: He knows she's not ready to hear it…
Meant to Be
-Drabble-
He knows she's not ready to hear it. He knows she won't accept it, might even push him away. No strings, no presents, no celebrations or anniversaries. But as time wears on, he knows better. She tells him to be careful or she might start to think he's falling for her. He's got a newsflash for her; it's already happened. Never before in his life could he say he was particularly nervous around women. He'd always had a way with them; he'd been charming from a young age and had only adapted it as he grew. The money and looks helped, he was sure. But Chloe cared little for those; disregarding her use of his funds early on in their relationship. But he feels young and inexperienced around her like he never has before. He doesn't always know what to say, how to approach her, and he doesn't want to push things past her comfort zone until he knows he has to. So he fumbles a bit and he takes her amused smile and he tries to hold his own, but he knows this is new and despite feeling embarrassed, he kind of likes it. Likes that he's different with her, that together they are different.
The fact is he knew this would happen. Just being friends with her had taught him a valuable lesson and getting into any kind of physical relationship was bound to lead to even more. So he let her believe it was all in good fun and maybe in the beginning he'd even convinced himself. But there was little he could do when her smile stirred his stomach or her laugh made his chest ache. He couldn't help himself when he woke in the middle of the night and dragged her petite body back to lay encompassed in his own. If she fit against him just right and she could finish his sentences, then he took it as a sign. She knew him, his secrets and his life, his mistakes and his triumphs, and she neither applauded nor looked down on him for them. She accepted them all as part of him, just as he'd done with her.
From the first moment he laid a finger on her things had changed. From their first kiss, something had sparked. So he let it grow with no expectations and he felt it bloom into something she hadn't wanted or expected. He'd fallen without looking for a net, he'd let go and known that while it might hurt, might even blow up in his face, it was worth it. She was worth it. She hasn't yet, or at least he doesn't think she has. But she will. There was no possible way it could be one-sided. Not with their chemistry and their make-up and the way she fell into his arms as if she knows he'll be there. Not with the way she kisses him, lingers, how she holds him and smiles for him and how her fingers fit into his just right. Not when she reaches for him in the dead-of-night, eyes-closed and says no more than, "Ollie," and expects him to draw her close and warm her, hold her, keep her safe and soothe her back to sleep.
They won't be perfect and the world will not let them live in harmony, but they will grow and they will love. Just as he knows it's meant to be.