o-0-o-0-o Chapter 7 is here. Thanks to the people who have favourite and alerted and thanks to Raya, Naleylover23xo, whatweareafraidof, blue red wing and katibous for reviewing. Hope everyone will enjoy the chapter. Leave me a review and let me know what you think o-0-o-0-o

"Listen, I know what I did was wrong. I don't blame you for being angry with me. I hated it when you said it, but you're right, essentially I did steal from you, but that's not how it was meant to be, okay. I hated that you said I had used you for your money," Chloe said. "That money wasn't for me. That money I took from you was to get stuff that can keep everyone safe."

"But why didn't you just ask me for the money?" Oliver asked her.

"There's a bunch of reasons. One, would you really have forked over the money if I told you I wanted to buy Kryptonite weapons? I don't think so, because you would have stuck with the 'these are weapons that can kill Clark' attitude for awhile and then the offer would have passed us by. Another reason, don't you think I felt a bit bad about what I was doing? I know I flipped out on you yesterday when you said that I had bought weapons to kill Clark- I flipped out because it was like you were accusing me of trying to kill my best friend, and I would never do that and it brought back memories from- never mind- but I if you think that I didn't feel bad about buying stuff that could kill him, you'd be wrong. I was kind of ashamed. I also did think about telling you and asking you- there was a moment that I thought I could get you to see the logic behind it, but then I knew you'd probably want to tell Clark and I didn't want to risk the chance of him somehow letting it slip to the other Kandorians that we had Kryptonite weapons. And I've got this thing about doing everything myself," Chloe sighed.

"Probably the biggest reason, though, is because I hate asking you for anything. And those weapons weren't for me, but it would still be asking you for something."

"You never ask me for anything," Oliver said.

"I know I don't and there's always been a reason for that, and my reason for it is what made your comment about using you sting even more... You're filthy rich, Oliver. You and I are both well aware of it. I knew it from the first day I met you. I knew it when I started working with you on occasion. I knew it when we became friends. I knew it when you asked me to be Watchtower as a full-time gig. And I knew it when I started sleeping with you. Who you are has always been very obvious to me. I've never really wanted to or felt completely comfortable asking you for things because I never wanted you to think for a second that you being loaded was my motivation for having anything to do with you, in any context. I never wanted you to think that I work with you because you've got so much money," Chloe said, taking a deep breath.

"Sometimes it felt paranoid on my part, but I was always sure that you'd probably had people use you or get close to you in hopes of getting close to your money, and I just never wanted you to even think that that was a possibility from me. I don't like asking you for stuff...Us being friends has never been about you being rich. It's about having things in common and enjoying being around you. My being Watchtower for you and the team has never been about money for me. I believe in what you guys do, and honestly I'm just really proud to work with you guys. From really early on you made me feel good, Oliver. You calling me in for Watchtower jobs here and there and then full-time has made me feel like I've made some kind of difference for the good, you know, by helping you while you're trying to help others and keep them safe... So I'm sure you can see why you basically saying that I was using you for your money hurt me... So really, I am sorry for how I went about doing things, I was wrong. And I`m sorry for hitting you, but I`m not sorry for being angry with you over what you said. I`ve had a little bit of time to cool off so I know you didn`t mean for the things you said to come out the way they did- but they had hurt. The stuff about Clark and using you for your money- well I just thought you knew me better than that," Chloe finished.

"I do know you better than that, Chloe, and that's why I felt like crap afterwards. I'm sorry too... Chloe, are you sure you're okay now? You scared me a bit yesterday, I wanted to call you and make sure everything was okay, but I was also sure that you absolutely meant it when you said you didn't want to hear from me."

"I'm okay. It's definitely good you didn't call me yesterday, it probably wouldn't have been pretty. It wasn't just you that got to me yesterday, it was just like everything that's wrong came crashing down and I had a bit of a freak out," She told him, not really wanting to say what she was saying, but also wanting to be honest with him. "It was just like everything was closing in on me and it was just too much for me yesterday. My life sometimes is just- I couldn't get my head clear, I just couldn't stop thinking. So when I got home, I locked the door and I got drunk, hoping to forget everything for awhile."

"It must have been really bad for you if you just wanted to get drunk so you could give yourself a break from thinking," Oliver said quietly.

"If you're gonna ask if anything happened when I got drunk, like if I left the house and did something stupid, the answer is no. I guess Lois didn't end up going away after all. I assume she took the alcohol away from me, because I was asleep in her lap this morning. She took care of me last night, so everything's okay," Chloe said.

"I'm glad she was there," Oliver said.

"I've got my apology out and I think we've cleared the air, but we can't keep doing this," Chloe said, pointing from herself to him. "This thing we started, I think it's gotta stop," Chloe said, not looking at him.

Oliver was quiet for a moment before finally asking, "Do you hate me, Chloe?"

"No, Ollie," Chloe answered gently. "Why would you ask me that?"

"It's my fault Jimmy's dead and maybe you're finally realizing that. Maybe you're finally putting the blame in the right place and deciding to get rid of me, too. Is that what's going on?" Oliver asked with a sigh.

Why is everyone bringing up Jimmy dying all the time? Why do I keep having to have these conversations? They're not easy to have, and if I answer him honestly, I'm going to make him feel bad and with my stupid crazy emotions, I might end up crying... Oh man- we're really going to have this conversation.

Chloe took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm doing this honesty thing today, so I'm gonna say what I'm gonna say, but I'm gonna ask you not to bring this up anymore after I finish saying what I have to, okay? Please."

Oliver just nodded, looking a bit worried.

"I don't blame you for Jimmy dying. After the funeral though, when you and Dinah and Bart just vanished, after awhile, for a small amount of time, I was mad at you guys, but mostly I was mad at you," Chloe said, taking another deep breath. "Clark had left too, my husband just died and there was no one here with me. I felt scared and alone and I didn't know where Lois was either- I couldn't find her anywhere," Chloe said, cursing herself inwardly, feeling tears coming on.

"Clark not being here was the biggest blow because he's my best friend, but at least he had said goodbye. For all that it did to break my already broken heart- at least he had said goodbye to me, and even though I didn't see him, I knew he was around keeping Metropolis safe. He was feeling guilty over what happened to Jimmy, and he left, but at least he didn't just vanish off the grid. At least he was doing something productive. For a little while, and really it was only a little while, I'd think about you and Dinah and Bart being gone, you know, and as far as I knew you were doing nothing productive, you weren't helping anyone- and this is still when I was really wallowing in my own grief and guilt.

"Anyway, sometimes I'd think about you guys, but especially you, because we were closer, and I'd think 'If only they'd left me and Davis alone, if only they'd never tracked us down and brought us back here, none of this would have happened. If only Oliver didn't think he knew everything and just forgot about us, we never would have come back and Jimmy would still be here. And Davis wouldn't have flipped out when he heard me say that I only thought I had loved him but what it really had been was me trying to save him- and he wouldn't have killed Jimmy and tried to kill me, and Davis wouldn't be dead either.' And I remember thinking that maybe I wouldn't be drowning with guilt, but that was only for a few days, Ollie," Chloe said, before turning away from him so she could blink away the tears that were forming in her eyes.

"But I never specifically blamed you for what happened to Jimmy, because even in those few days where I dumped different kinds of blame on you, it always really came back to me and my choices. I got Jimmy killed and I know that wherever he is now, he blames me for his murder. He haunts me. He's in my dreams a lot and Davis too," Chloe had never intended to say these things out loud, but it was like after she and Clark had that moment of honesty earlier in the day, she had to just be honest and say what was true.

"He blames me in my dreams and he hates me in my dreams, and he throws it on my face that I never really loved him or that I never loved him enough... I blame me, and he blames me. So no, I don't hate you, and I don't blame you either. I pulled out all the stops to get you straightened out again, remember? If I hated you and blamed you, I don't think I would have worked so hard to take you out of your downward spiral those months back... Oliver, please, after today, don't bring up Jimmy dying anymore. Please," She whispered the last word, angrily wiping away the tear that escaped from her eye. She needed to leave. She hadn't expected this to happen. She didn't want him to see her like this. "Ollie, I gotta go. I'll see you later," she mumbled.

Oliver's heart was suddenly breaking for Chloe. He reached out and grabbed her arm gently.

"Come here," he said, folding her into his arms and hugging her. "Listen to me, okay," he whispered. "Jimmy's death is not your fault. Do you understand me? And if you insist on taking blame for it, you need to shell out the blame to everyone who deserves some. Davis is the one who did this, alright? Me and Clark could have done things differently, but especially me. Donot put this all on you. I didn't see it then, but you really were trying to do the right thing. You were trying to do the right thing, and you know what, maybe it turned out horribly, but you were probably the bravest one out of all of us, Chloe. And listen to me about Jimmy. He and I weren't exactly super close, but I got to know him and one thing I know for sure is that even as you guys were doing the whole divorce thing, he loved you. He really did," Oliver said.

"I know he loved me, and that's one of the things that just makes it more horrible," Chloe said quietly.

"He doesn't blame you, Chloe. Even after you left with Davis, he wasn't angry with you, he was just worried about you. All he wanted was for you to be safe. Yeah, I'm sure he didn't want to die, but you know what? I'm telling you that he never regretted loving you, not for a minute. And yeah, maybe you didn't love him enough. Maybe you should have loved him more. Maybe you shouldn't have married him in the first place. There's a whole bunch of maybes that could be 100 percent true, but they don't matter, Chloe. I know that maybe he wanted more from you than you gave him, but I also know that he wouldn't have traded having been loved by you, in any way for anything. He was a lucky man while he was alive, Chloe. His life was too short, for sure, but you loved him and he knew that you did- even if it wasn't enough. And being loved by you in anyway was something important to him. That last year sucked for him, but before that, he'd had time with you. He got to be with you. He was happy, Chloe. Don't think that you never made him happy because you did. And Jimmy Olsen, while he was alive and when it was alright, was a lucky man, Chloe. He was a lucky guy to have been loved by you," Oliver said gently.

"Ollie, you don't need to try to make me feel better," Chloe said, clearly crying.

"I do need to make you feel better because you're just wrong. Jimmy, the real Jimmy, wouldn't blame you for this. This is you blaming yourself, Chloe. I think you expect him to blame you and it's just killing you. But he doesn't blame you and I guarantee he wouldn't want you beating yourself up constantly. He wouldn't want you sad and crying. Jimmy would want you to be happy. That man loved you, Chloe- he would never wish any pain on you. He wouldn't want you to keep living with all this pain and regret and guilt. Please believe that. You have to know that. I don't think you need to be forgiven because this isn't your fault, but if his forgiveness is what you need, anyone who knew Jimmy would know that he forgives you," Oliver said, finally letting her go.

Chloe just stared at him silently for a moment. She didn't know what to say and she wasn't even quite sure what she was thinking.

"Oliver, can I just lie down in one of the rooms for like half an hour, please," Chloe said quietly after a moment. "I'd go back to the apartment but I can't face Lois just yet, but I feel absolutely drained right now and I just need to lie down," Chloe said, wiping her eyes for what seemed to be like the millionth time that day.

"Yeah, no prob. Just one thing, though- you have to talk to me later, okay? Not about this Jimmy stuff- I promised you I wouldn't bring that up anymore and I won't," Oliver said.

Chloe nodded. "Okay... Thanks," Chloe said, still quiet, turning to leave to get to a bed to lie down on.

o-o-o-o-o-o-

Chloe hadn't felt like she had, both yesterday and today, in a long time- or ever actually. She felt so drained and so tired. She felt like she needed rest. She needed to be lying down. Her freak out yesterday and all the emotion of today just seemed to be taking its toll on her and it was weird. She felt like a wimp at the moment. She needed to just close her eyes for a little bit as she replayed Oliver's words in her mind. He was only trying to make her feel better, poor guy, Chloe thought as she drifted off into a light sleep.

Oliver sat on his sofa while Chloe drifted off to sleep in the other room. Oliver knew, he just knew that Chloe would not be as honest with him again as she had just been- at least not for awhile. The past couple days had just been kicking Chloe's ass physically and emotionally and she couldn't keep everything inside, so she had finally just let it all spill out. He knew everything she had said to him recently was not easy for her and he kept berating himself for bringing up something that made her cry.

He knew that she was embarrassed about breaking down in front of him and he knew she was not going to bring it up again. He shook thoughts of that off and he switched his mind to what he was going to talk to her about when she woke up. She had said she wanted to end things with him which was not sitting well with him. He knew it wasn't all up to him since there were two people involved, but he wasn't letting her go and he'd just have to find a way to convince her that she didn't really want their "thing" to be over either.

Things were never fully calm and sometimes they'd drive each other nuts, but this "hookup" kept him on his toes. He was sure that he felt more for her than she did for him. He wasn't sure exactly when it happened, but somewhere along the way he started to fall for her and that wasn't supposed to happen in this arrangement of theirs. He could be wrong, but he really did believe she had started to feel a little something extra for him too, and he wondered if that was part of the reason why she had said that they needed to end things, so that she wouldn't have to go there, so things wouldn't get complicated.

He was giving himself a headache trying to figure out what was in Chloe's mind and time had flown by quickly because before he knew it he heard a door open and saw Chloe approaching.

"Hey," he said. "Feel better?"

"Yeah, I'm feeling okay," Chloe said, looking at the clock. "What the hell?" Chloe said.

"It's been two hours. I slept for two hours. Hey, I'm sorry. Did you have any plans or anything- I hope my stupid sleeping didn't just screw up your schedule or something."

"It's been two hours, wow. I didn't even notice," Oliver chuckled. "I didn't have any plans for the afternoon, so don't worry about it."

"So, you said before that we needed to talk," Chloe said quietly, not knowing if she had it in her to have another conversation today.

"You said you wanted to end this, and I want to know why," Oliver said plainly.

"Straight to the point," Chloe said with a bit of a laugh. "We just shouldn't be doing this, Ollie. It's not right. This has never been right. Friends shouldn't do what we've been doing. And dare I say it, I think Oliver Queen might be ready to move past his casual sex phase and back into potential for a real relationship land. Ollie, there's a woman out there waiting for you- and look at you- you're back on track. Your head is back in the game, you're in control of your life and I'm proud of you. Take the next step, go out and find the perfect woman. Go out and find someone who makes you happy. Go out and just grab every bit of happiness you can. Go and grab every good thing that's in your grasp. Forget about this thing- go and do something good for yourself- breakaway" Chloe told him, feeling a strange rush of emotions.

"With the exception of the past couple days, you can't deny that we've been having fun," Oliver told her.

"You're right. I can't deny it, and I won't. It has been fun," Chloe told him with a smile. "Sneaky fun, but fun for sure."

"Then seriously, why would you want to end it?" Oliver said.

"Ollie, did you not listen to anything I just said?" Chloe sighed.

"Oh I listened. I heard something about me being ready to settle down or something and going off to find some mystery woman who's going to be great for me. You said something about going to get some happiness and whatnot. Chloe, I'm gonna break it to you right now. You're pretty much a genius, but I think you're a bit off this time. I'm not looking to go off and find someone to play Happy House with. And the proud of me comment- honestly, thank you for saying that. It means a lot coming from you, especially considering you are the only reason that there's any part of me to be proud of."

"Oliver-" Chloe started.

"No, it's true, Chloe. You straightened me out. You got my head clear. You made me remember what I'm here for. I'm not going to forget that whole Roulette thing... Anyway, back to your 'let's end this' speech, what's up with the "breakaway" comment? You're making it sound like I'm some kind of miserable prisoner or something. I like what we've got, Chloe. I don't get you," Oliver said.

"I'm trying to be a good friend to you, Ollie. You should breakaway. Maybe it's a stupid word choice, how about I just say distance yourself? You should distance yourself a bit from me, not the work or friends part, but the other part... Ollie, I'm not the same person I used to be. I'm definitely not the same girl I was when I first met you and I'm not even the same person that I was when I officially became Watchtower. Sometimes I'm mean. I'm a more cold person that I ever was and I'm just harder in general. I can see that in myself and as your friend, I should push you away from stuff like that- so I should push you away from me, especially since you're back on track. You're a good guy Ollie, you shouldn't be mixed up with someone like me" Chloe said.

"Sure, sometimes you can be mean, but I'm man enough to admit that it's usually my own fault when you are. And this business about you being cold and hard, well, I don't remember things that way at all," Oliver said voice getting lower, brushing his fingers across her skin.

Chloe bit her lip. "Oliver, stop," she said.

Oliver smirked. "Stop what?"

"I'm trying to do you a favour here," Chloe said, breath catching a little bit. All he was doing was grazing his fingers ever so lightly across her skin and it was driving her nuts.

"I don't want any favours from you, then," Oliver said. "See, I was right. I knew I didn't remember any cold and hard Chloe. All I remember is this warm and soft one," he said, his skin still in contact with hers. "I don't want to go out and look for some woman to play house with, Sidekick," he told her. "Maybe it's wrong, Chloe, but I like my life. I like what I do. I like that I work with you. I like that I'm friends with you and I really like that I get to have sex with you," he said and Chloe couldn't help but laugh a little bit. "Listen, sleeping with someone and actually wanting to see them again, actually wanting to have a conversation with them, while not entirely an alien concept for me, is something more foreign to me than not. I've got that with you, Professor. So really, if this is about you trying to be a good friend and you thinking about my happiness, then the thing to do, as long as you want the same thing I do of course, is to take back your 'ending things' comment and for us to keep going the way we have been... So Sullivan, what do you say?" Oliver asked, whispering in her ear, making Chloe bite her lip again.

"Don't say that I didn't try to do the right thing. I gave you your out. You're a stubborn man, Queen, but if you're so gung-ho about keeping our little arrangement going, I guess I can't convince you otherwise," she answered.

"You know you want me," Oliver teased and Chloe didn't answer. Oliver knew she was starting to think again. "Hey, Chloe," he said softly, getting her attention.

She looked at him.

"We're not hurting anybody, Sidekick. We're having fun. We're not doing anything wrong. We're just making each other happy and having some fun in a more often than not crappy world. You're allowed to laugh and smile. You're allowed to be happy, Chloe."

Chloe looked at him for a moment, thinking. Maybe Jimmy does forgive me. I asked for a sign when I was at the cemetery And then I got Clark and we actually had a breakthrough today, and then the conversation before with Ollie, with him saying all that he did and then I actually had a dreamless sleep... Chloe took a deep breath, looked down and nodded her head as she rambled on inside her head. Maybe She had gotten her signs.

"Okay," Chloe said quietly, finally. "I guess we can let the fun continue," she told him, meeting his eyes again.

"I was hoping you'd say that," Oliver said, flashing Chloe a grin. "It just so happens that it's a slow day at the office and well a slow day at the other office too," Oliver said referring to Queen Industries and to the team's work. "I've got nowhere I need to be and I happen to know that you took the day off from work, too."

"Are you trying to ask me something, Ollie?" Chloe asked with a smile.

What Oliver really wanted to do was have a whole lot of sex with her, and though he could tell part of her wanted that too, he could still see the other part- the part that just made an important big decision- one that wasn't easy, the one that wouldn't let anything happen between them today. He was pretty sure she'd just finally come to believe that maybe Jimmy really didn't blame her, that maybe she didn't need to stay closed off and guilty all the time. He knew though, if the first thing she did after coming to that realization was have sex with him, he just knew that somehow Chloe would blame herself or feel guilty about it. And he didn't want that. Chloe had had enough of that. So Oliver got himself under control.

"Wanna hang out with me, Professor?"

"I'd like that," she told him with a smile.