A/N: My friend, Amber, challenged me to include as many of the Chlollie mementos? as I could. ie: The queen chess piece, the roses from Valentine's Day, the satellite, the spoon from McDougal Inn, and the green leather jacket. Did I miss something?
Anyhow, I wrote this before the piece about Chloe's green leather jacket, so sorry if that portion seems a bit repetitious.
Disclaimer: I have come to understand that I could never afford to own Smallville or DC comics, so not even gonna try.
Unwritten Letter to the Queen of his Heart
I want to let you in on a little secret, Clark. I'm not who you think I am. In fact, my disguise is so thin, I'm surprised you haven't seen right through me. I'm the girl of your dreams masquerading as your best friend. Sometimes I want to rip off this façade like I did at the Spring Formal, but I can't because you'll get scared and run away again. So I decided that it's better to live with the lie than expose my true feelings. My dad told me there are two types of girls: the ones you grow out of, and the ones you grow into. I really hope I'm the latter. I may not be the one you love today, but I'll let you go for now, hoping one day you'll fly back to me. Because I think you're worth the wait.
His brown orbs drifted from the wrinkled sheet of paper and towards the petite blonde who had written this letter many years ago. The scars of her unrequited love may have healed over a thousand super saves ago, but he still couldn't help the melancholy and sympathy that arose when he read over her thoughts. There was something tragically beautiful about unrequited love. There was something tragically beautiful about this letter. Chloe really had a way with words. Her eloquence drew in the reader so much that the emotions clinging to her sentences became palpable. No wonder she was initially drawn towards a profession where writing was a necessity; a required skill.
Of course, her love was no longer one sided and no longer was her heart reserved just for Clark. Instead, he was left with the mere label of a best friend, a best friend that was somehow different from the role Oliver occupied. Chloe Sullivan had stationed Clark Kent as more of an older brother figure.
Oliver slipped his free hand into the pocket of his trousers, fingering the item within, just as Chloe turned in his direction. She sent him a tiny smile, setting down the jar of sugar upon the countertop with a light clang. She must have felt the presence of his lingering eyes. After all, they had failed to drift from her profile. But that was beside the point. Her smile had him intrigued. It was so different from the emotions coating the sentences of her letter to her high school crush. There was no sadness, no hiding behind pretenses. Instead, the smile she gave him was one of pure love.
Chloe didn't hold his gaze for long. The smile didn't last long either. Instead, her curiosity caught sight of the item that held his original attention. The letter. Her letter. Not his. Oliver swallowed; dropping the item he had been squeezing in the confines of his pocket and hastily tucking the letter from her sight.
"What do you got there, Romeo?" she asked with blatant curiosity.
"Uh…nothing," he lied, crumpling the letter into a ball with his arms tucked behind him. He sent her an awkward smile, his cheeks taking on a rosy tincture.
Chloe shrugged off the oddity of his behavior, even if she had been experiencing it over the past few days. There were moments when he would reach into the pocket of his pants, or the pockets of his blazer, and then come out with nothing. It was almost as if he was going to…Mentally, she shook her head. That was just not a possibility, and no way would she even allow her brain to go there. She was sure it would pass, whatever it was that was plaguing his mind.
A short yawn flew from her lips as she shoved a spoon into the foaming ceramic mug placed before her. She paused a moment, covering her mouth with her hand, before stirring the steaming beverage while Oliver's gaze drifted to the windows of the Talon Apartment.
Just beyond the glassy walls, Smallville was under the spell of a light drizzle, the droplets of which clung to the windows like a string of translucent pearls. He wondered if Metropolis was under the same spell. He didn't ponder over the thoughts of the weather much longer, not when the elegantly crafted handle of the spoon in Chloe's coffee mug stole his attention. Oliver frowned. "Chloe!" he shrieked, forgetting about the letter he had initially been reading-or was it prying?
"What?" she asked, sounding annoyed. His sudden outburst had caused her caffeine-rich beverage to spill over. With a sigh, she grabbed a napkin, instantly dabbing away at the mess. At least, most of her freshly brewed coffee remained within the confines of her favorite yellow mug, the one adorning Clark's family crest-his Kryptonian family crest.
"That spoon is a collector's item," he stated, walking towards her, and liberating the silverware from its current environment.
Chloe's frown only deepened. "Ollie, it's just a spoon."
He snorted. That so called just-a-spoon was a part of their relationship. However, he instead went with, "Yeah, well, how many of your spoons say McDougal Inn on them?" As predicted, she sent him playful roll of the eyes. Still, it was sweet of her to take the so called collector's item from his hand and wipe away any excess coffee with a napkin.
"I'll find a special place for this." Her green orbs drifted over the clock tacked against the wall. She had a meeting with a group of clients at the Isis Foundation in a couple of hours, and one she was not looking forward to. Raging teenage hormones were enough to induce a headache, and adding meteor powered abilities to mix made the situation even less appealing. "Oh, Ollie, you've got a board meeting in fifteen, you better go."
His eyes drifted from the clock and back to her. "There is no way I'm going to make it to Metropolis in fifteen minutes."
"Your alter ego should be telling you that nothing is impossible," Chloe pointed out, grabbing another spoon from the drawer and dropping it into her ceramic mug, "Besides, give me a minute and I can have your newest employee have you in that board room before you can say the word, Impulse."
The taller blonde chuckled before lifting the tie hanging around his neck like a scarf. "What was I thinking when I hired him?"
"That he needed a stable job, one that would keep him under the radar, but God help you."
"Bart's not so bad. He's only an intern. How much trouble could he possibly cause?"
Chloe laughed, lifting her mug towards her lips. Oliver knew exactly how much trouble Bart could be. She'd love to watch the entire situation play out. If she was lucky enough to finish with her clients earlier than planned, then she could speed over to Watchtower and do a little spying on Queen Industries. She did have her own personal satellite after all.
Chloe set down her mug after taking a small sip because it looked as if Oliver was getting no where fast with the tie. Grabbing the accessory from him, she successfully began knotting the item. "Through the course of life, how many times have you had to do this on your own?"
"More times than I can count," he answered, gazing at her with a mock-grin.
She shook her head, running her hand down the length of his tie to smooth out any kinks. "Now you look more like the head of the company your father bestowed upon you." She smiled satisfactorily as she brought her hand to his cheek.
"And to think all I ever wanted to do was look like Oliver Queen," he chuckled, slipping an arm around her waist. He felt her stand on the tip of her toes before leaning close to peck his lips.
"Now I've really got to make that call to Bart." She slipped from his hold, grabbing her cup of coffee in the process as she made her way towards the desk where her cell phone lay. Picking it up, she turned in Oliver's direction. "Thanks for staying with me, by the way. It gets lonely without Lois."
He had to smile at her innocence. Shaking his head, he said, "I can imagine why, with the way Lois talks…"
"Without a breath," Chloe interjected.
"…Without a breath," Oliver repeated, "…it's bound to get spooky with all the silence." Although next time she was staying at his penthouse; he couldn't have any more close calls with meetings. The board members' patience made snails look fast.
"Well, I'm sure the General is enjoying her company. It was long overdue anyhow."
"So is the old man going to make it down for the big day?"
"Please," Chloe began, pausing to take another sip of her favorite beverage, "he wouldn't miss it for the world."
"And how about the younger Miss. Lane?"
Before Chloe could tell Oliver about Lucy, the doorknob rattled, indicating that Bart had arrived.
"I'm here, Boss Man," his voice muffled through the door.
"Duty calls," Chloe stated with a sigh, "Knock em dead, Mr. Queen."
He walked towards her, grabbing the green leather jacket that was strewn across a chair in the process. He always did think green suited her rather well. For one thing, it enticed the green of her irises. Therefore, when her birthday rolled around-the one where Zatanna meddled-he knew that this particular article of clothing would make for the perfect gift. And it had to have been, she'd worn it since. He couldn't recall catching her with Tales of the Weird and Unexplained often.
"Good luck to you as well, Miss. Sullivan," he stated, dropping the jacket in her arms as he leaned towards her.
She smiled against his lips before pulling away. "Plans for dinner?"
"I was thinking Tai food and a movie?"
"Sounds perfect," she stated before responding to another kiss. The door rattled again, their lips just millimeters from one another. Honestly, Chloe had forgotten all about Bart.
"Yo, Boss Man, let me in. I have to see Licious before I head off to Snoozeville."
Chloe chuckled. Oliver looked rather annoyed.
"I guess I should go," he said, turning the handle with a bit of force.
Chloe watched him slip through the door and shut it behind him, never giving Bart the chance to even catch a glimpse of her. She chuckled as Bart's disappointed voice carried through the door.
"That is so unfair!"
"She's my girlfriend!"
"…but…"
She didn't catch the rest of his sentence; the whoosh of air informed her that the two had left. Chloe shook her head. She could always count on Bart or Oliver to make her laugh. Her eyes fell to the green jacket in her arms. Who would have thought that Oliver's gift, back when they were nothing more than mutual friends, would have become one of her favorite articles of clothing?
She slipped the jacket over her coral colored top and was just about to grab today's mail when something else caught her attention. So this was the reason behind Oliver acting so secretive, Chloe thought as she bent down and picked the crumbled ball of paper off the floor. She unraveled the lavender sheet, her eyes glossing over the words. She remembered reading this letter to Clark. She remembered how heartbroken she was when he uttered Lana's name instead of hers, and she remembered when Jimmy found it.
After showing the letter to Clark, he'd crumpled it, but she fished it out of the waste paper basket. Part of her wanted to hold on to this piece of history. She had moved on, but for some reason, she wanted the reminder of how stupid she'd been to think that Clark could ever love her in more than a familial sense. He was her best friend, heck, he was like her brother, and as far as she was concerned, that line was never going to blur into something else, and she was 100 percent okay with that.
But why had Oliver bothered to read it? He knew where she stood with Clark. He was nothing more than her first love, albeit unrequited. Oliver, however, was her love, now, and forever, so he had no reason to worry.
A/N: This fic will be presented in 3 or 4 chapters, and I'll update as soon as I can, so tell me what you guys thought!