Title: I Got You
Category: Smallville
Rating: T
Genre: Angst/Friendship
Pairing: Chloe/Oliver
Prompt: #024 - Tears
Word Count: 709
Summary: She had shed all too many tears in her lifetime…
I Got You
She had shed all too many tears in her lifetime. They poured silently, ran quietly, drowned her in their soundless, endless fall. She felt broken, alone, empty, and all the same she was angry. At him, herself, all of them. She wanted to point a finger at one certain person but couldn't decide who. Jimmy? Clark? Lois? Oliver? They played their parts, some more than others, but in the end the shame felt more her own than theirs. And now here she was, without any of them, and nothing but her regrets to keep her company.
There was knock, a phone ringing, but she ignored it, she didn't move or answer or reply. She let it continue, watched the sun rise and fall, wondered if heaven was real in her most philosophical of moments. She was sure she stunk, a shower not high on her list, and her stomach was tight with hunger pains and yet she resisted. Her eyes were dry now, caked with exhaustion and screaming for elusive slumber. She'd cried herself to sleep off and on only to wake in a panic, eyes wide and searching for danger. Davis lurking in the darkness, Jimmy asking her why, how she could do this to him. But even as she meant to force them away only to find herself alone, she rather wished they were there, even angry and vengeful as they might be. At least then there was someone there, someone to place the blame or accept it from.
The days melted into one and before she knew it, she couldn't tell night from day, Monday from Friday, or anything in between. There was a shadow at the window and for one startling moment she hoped it was a burglar and upon seeing her he might simply end her misery. As soon as the thought entered her mind, she called herself a coward for even thinking it and immediately disliked the very idea that she could so easily give up. Was it easy though? Really? After all that had happened, all she'd seen and done, could she really say the journey here was easy?
No.
Never.
The window rose and a leg appeared but all thoughts of death or murder or redemption soon fled. Green leather lined the second leg that appeared and the long body that followed. He stood in full Arrow regalia and while she wanted nothing more than to roll over, away from him, she couldn't muster the energy. She didn't ask why he was there, didn't ream him out for the clichéd use of her window. Instead, she simply turned her gaze away and ignored the intrusion.
Not one to be overlooked, he sighed. Without reason or explanation, he crawled into bed next to her, lifted her prone body up and placed it on the other side of her bed as easily as if she weighed nothing at all. And then, with all the gentleness of someone who cared, he cradled her close and rocked her. "I got you," he said against her hair and though she meant to yell at him, to scream that he had no right, instead she breathed a sigh of relief. Her eyes fell closed, a few stray tears escaping, and then she relaxed, let herself warm in his embrace. She would cry and she would rail against him tomorrow, but for now… For now, she would let herself be held and healed and she would appreciate it while she could, while she let herself.
He wouldn't leave in the morning, wouldn't give his excuses or blame himself like Clark would. He would be there, he would accept her anger and hatred, take it as she blamed it all on him and refused her own part played. And then he'd pick her back up as she fell apart once more, willing to put her back together until she was able to do it herself. It wasn't pity or guilt that kept him, she knew. Because while she'd been fighting her own fight and hiding her secrets as he too had his own, a friendship and trust had built. It may be a little worse for wear and they were nowhere near best friends, but… it was a start.