o-0-o-0-o Thanks to GoChlollie, Raya and Daniella for the reviews and thanks to the people who alerted and favourited. Hope everyone will enjoy this chapter. Leave me a review and let me know what you think o-0-o-0-o
3 weeks later...
"Okay Clark, we have a car jacking over on Samson Street."
"On my way."
"Bad day for that guy. Now we have a mugging on Halper"
"Got him."
"Nice one. And just around the corner there's a-"
"Done."
"Wow that was fast. Even for you. Okay cowboy, looks like we're all clear on the western front, for now."
"I'm handing over the reigns to Jonn Jones. He's gonna patrol while I'm out of town with Lois."
"Don't worry, I think Metropolis can handle one weekend without the Blur. Now the real question is can The Blur handle two nights with Lois?"
"I think I'm up to the challenge, but I'll have my cell so if anything comes up-"
"Clark, it's one weekend. Enjoy it."
"I heard Bart's in town. You two should hang out."
"Thank you for the not-so-subtle contribution to the Chloe Sullivan charity case, but Lois already made a kind donation in your name. I'm hanging up now."
"Bye Chloe."
"Have fun."
"You too," Clark said.
When Chloe and Clark's exchange ended, Chloe looked beside her at Oliver who was smirking as he drove.
"Are you sure you don't wanna hang out with Bart. He is in town after all," Oliver laughed.
"Nah, the only person I want to be seeing tonight, lucky for you, is yourself," Chloe said with a grin. "MacDougal Inn here we come."
"Sidekick, we're not gonna have to sneak around for two whole days," Oliver laughed.
"I know," Chloe said. "I wonder what we should do with this alone time?" Chloe asked cheekily.
"I'm sure we'll figure something out," Oliver said with a smirk. "We'll be there in a minute."
Chloe and Oliver were going to be alone. They wouldn't have to worry about interruptions or making quick excuses. This was going to be awesome.
o-o-o-o-o-o
After a loud and weird sound that echoed throughout the inn was heard, almost everyone rushed out of their rooms and gathered outside. The Inn's manager assured everyone that everything was fine and the crowd outside began to head back in. Chloe and Oliver had just come out of their room as everyone was heading back in. Everyone had included Lois and Clark.
Lois and Clark, and Chloe and Oliver spotted each other
Oh crap.
"Twist," Lois said.
Oh my freakin' goodness. Lois and Clark now know about me and Ollie. Fab-U-lous. Kill me now!
"Hey," Oliver said.
"Hello, you two," Lois grinned.
Clark and Chloe remained quiet.
Lois didn't take her eyes off of Chloe. "The lady said everything was okay. She said we should all go back to bed. I guess we'll see you guys tomorrow. Goodnight," Lois said with a smirk.
"Goodnight," Oliver said back, trying not to grin.
Chloe and Clark nodded awkwardly at each other. The two pairs headed back to their respective rooms, but before they'd totally left each other, Lois pulled Chloe aside, and before Clark or Oliver could really notice the girls weren't at their sides anymore, Lois smacked Chloe on the butt and whispered "Girl talk. Tomorrow. Have fun tonight."
"Uh, did I miss something?" Oliver asked.
"Not unless Lois smacking me on the ass and telling me we're gonna have a girl talk tomorrow counts," Chloe sighed.
Oliver just laughed as they walked back into their room.
"It's not funny Oliver. Now they know. Now everything's open up for questions and comments... Now they know," She repeated.
"Is it really that bad that they know?" Oliver said. "I mean A.C. and Bart already know."
"A.C. and Bart knew. They might think there isn't anything going on anymore," Chloe said.
"I highly doubt that," Oliver said.
"You're probably right about those two, but this is Lois and Clark," Chloe said.
"Chill Professor, really, it's not that bad," Oliver said with a laugh.
"Yes it is," Chloe said.
"Chloe, you're kinda killing my ego here," Oliver said, feigning hurt. "Are you ashamed of me?" Oliver asked with a grin.
"Oh shut up," Chloe said, rolling her eyes, managing a little laugh. "It's not like that. I just don't want to have to explain stuff to people, you know? Those two are like parts of me and if they ask questions, I have to answer them, and I'm not really ready for that... But whatever," Chloe said, shaking her head. "What's done is done. They know and nothing's gonna change that. We'll just deal with whatever happens."
"See, there you go, Chloe. Brush it off. Go with the flow," Oliver said.
"The way things were flowing before, which I'd very much like to get back to, had us wearing far less than this," Chloe reminded him "and not thinking about anyone else."
"I think we can get right back to that," Oliver laughed, shutting the door behind them.
o-o-o-o-o-o
The next morning...
"How can you be so, ehhh" Lois made a sound, it wasn't really a word, "about this? This
is Chloe and Oliver together, here. Did you know they were dating? No. Of course you didn't. I mean I didn't even know they were dating. We should sit with them," Lois said.
"Or, we can give them some space. Lois, they obviously came out here to escape from everything, kind of like we did," Clark said, not really wanting the awkwardness that he was sure would follow.
Chloe and Oliver walked out of their room and Lois spotted them at the top of the stairs immediately and waved.
"You know what we could do," Oliver said to Chloe. "We could pretend not to see them."
"Aww come on, Ollie, throw up the white flag" Chloe said with a little laugh. "It's Lois. she makes Susan B. Anthony look like a quitter."
And then Chloe and Oliver made their way down the stairs to meet Lois and Clark.
"Hey guys. Come here. Sit with us," Lois said motioning Chloe and Oliver over.
"Quiet weekend at home, huh?" Clark said to Chloe.
"Trust me, we had no idea the two of you would be here," Chloe told him.
"And we had no idea there was even a 'you two', which I think is perfect. I think fate has brought us together," Lois said.
"It was a little less fate actually," Oliver said awkwardly.
"More fame," Chloe said.
"Like fame," Oliver agreed, looking a bit uncomfortable.
"This Inn is so far off the beaten-path that even the society pages couldn't find Star City's most eligible bachelor here," Chloe said.
"You mean ex-bachelor," Lois said with a grin.
"Okay, enough about that," Chloe said, changing the conversation away from herself and Oliver. "How did you guys manage to find the road less travelled?"
"Well, I found a brochure for the Inn at the apartment. I figured Lois wanted to come here," Clark said.
"What brochure?" Lois asked.
"That wasn't Lois' brochure Clark, that was mine," Chloe said, starting to feel annoyed.
Clark looked like he didn't really know what to say, while both Lois and Oliver grinned.
"How was I supposed to know that Oliver was-" Clark started.
"You weren't," Chloe shot back. "That's the point."
Clark turned to Oliver, but Oliver just said, "Oh, don't look at me. I learned a long time ago not to assume what belongs to who in that apartment. You gotta use context clues."
Chloe squirmed a little bit.
"Yeah, speaking of clues," Lois piped in, "let's talk about Mr. Green- in the bedroom- withmy cousin."
"There it is," Oliver said, wanting to sigh.
"Lois, I think they came here for brunch," Clark said, trying to give Lois the hint to drop the subject.
"Good point," Lois said, turning to Chloe. "Look Chloe, there's food," Lois said, getting up and dragging Chloe off to talk.
"Okay look Lois, I know what you're gonna say. With Ollie's less than perfect track record, I should really just cut my losses and-"
"Or I could say that this is one for the win column. I think it's great that you and Oliver are together," Lois said.
"You do?" Chloe asked.
"Yeah and the best part is now we can double-date. How awesome is that?" Lois beamed.
"Oh whoa, whoa Lois. No, no. Before you book us up for the next two months, Oliver and I are not a couple," Chloe said.
"Okay sure," Lois said, folding her arms across her chest. "Then what are you?"
"We're- having fun. And we're not complicating things by using labels and definitions," Chloe insisted.
"This is a relationship Chloe, not a spelling bee," Lois said.
"Look, I'm glad that you have found someone that makes you happy, but we're not all cut out for couple-dom. And with Ollie, I don't have to worry about that, okay? We're no flowers. We're no presents, no pressure. No strings. And with you, we're 'no comment'," Chloe said.
Lois reluctantly zipped her mouth shut which earned her a grin from Chloe.
"Lo, I love you, but you don't have worry about this. Honestly, I like what I've got going on. Don't judge me, okay?"
"Who the hell am I to judge anyone? It's your life babe. I just want you to be happy, you know? And yeah, goes without saying cuz, I love you too."
Back at the table Clark and Oliver sat in silence until Oliver finally broke it. "So... You save any orphans recently, old ladies, maybe? Something like that?"
"I did stop a bank robbery," Clark answered.
"Ah, that's nice. That's fun stuff," Oliver said.
"Thanks. How about you? Anything new?" Clark said, knowing full well there was something new, something he both wanted to know about and not know about all at the same time.
"No. No, no. Just a – well there's a new compound bow I'm trying out. Yeah, it seems pretty good. See how that works..."
Clark couldn't hold it in. He had to say something. "I know it's not my place to say-" he started.
"Then don't say anything," Oliver said.
"But after everything's Chloe's been through I don't wanna see her get hurt," Clark said.
"Well, that's good. You know, she's stronger than you think she is, though- so," Oliver said.
"Yeah, but one of her strengths is giving people what they need and sacrificing what she wants," Clark told him.
"Well, how do you know this isn't what she wants?" Oliver asked.
"Just don't take her for granted," Clark finally said. He was going to try to not judge Chloe and Oliver. If this is what Chloe wanted, then fine- but Clark didn't really believe this is what Chloe truly wanted deep down. He wouldn't judge but he would remind Oliver to treat Chloe well. No one could ask him not to do that. Chloe was his best friend. It was his job.
o-o-o-o-o-o
"I must say, I think your taste in wine is almost as good as your taste in women," Chloe said flirtily, pulling Oliver by the hand into their room.
"Why thank you. You have a little bit of pinot right there, actually," Oliver said, kissing her. "Oh look at that, I got it."
Chloe laughed and as she turned her head, she noticed something on the bed.
"Ummm, unless Christmas came early this year, that better not have my name on it," Chloe said.
"Oh, well, maybe you've just been especially good this year. Maybe a guy shouldn't take someone like you for granted."
"I didn't think you were, Ollie," Chloe said. "Clark said something, didn't he?" Chloe asked.
"It's just a gift," Oliver said.
"No. No, no. No. It's a slippery slope. 'Just because' gifts are never just because. There's always some unspoken part like 'I'm sorry or I feel very strongly about you,' both of which are complicated. Oliver, I wanted to keep things simple, you know? Like with no strings- or ribbons," Chloe said, grabbing a jacket.
"Wait. Where you going?" Oliver asked as Chloe headed for the door.
"I'm going for a walk. When I come back can we just hit the reset button and play our favourite indoor game again?"
Oliver was left a little bit dumbfounded. What the hell just happened here? You scared her off. That's what happened.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"Chloe."
"Clark?"
Oh my God. What the HELL? Where is his shirt?
"What are you doing?" Chloe asked Clark.
"What are you doing?" he asked back
"Where are my clothes?" Chloe asked, in shock.
"I don't know," Clark said, confused.
"What's going on?" Chloe freaked out, heading quickly out of the shower area.
All she remembered was being in the woods, walking and now she was here. How did she end up in the bathroom with Clark? And where was Oliver? She needed to talk to him.
o-o-o-o-o-o
"The truck is still there. At least Lois didn't drive home," Clark said, meeting Chloe outside.
"Oliver's not in our room. We're definitely being roasted, not toasted over a bottle of MacDougal's finest tonight," Chloe said.
"Chloe, what possessed you to come into the bathroom like that?" Clark asked her.
"I don't remember," Chloe said. "I just completely blanked out."
"You don't remember seeing-," Clark said.
"No. God, I definitely don't remember seeing that... Wait a minute. Was I- did you see?"
Clark avoided her gaze for a moment.
"Oh God," Chloe said. "This is our last couple's vacation together. "
"If I don't find Lois, this'll be the last vacation I take with anyone," Clark said.
"Okay, so not that I haven't seen enough of Clark Kent's private- life, tonight-"
"I don't like where this is going," Clark said.
"You took Lois on a romantic getaway to some sort of a bed and breakfast. And while I doubt that the whole breakfast part poses any problems, correct me if I'm wrong, I seem to recall you having some kind of a concern about beds and non-powered-people. And what would happen in the beds with the non-powered people if," Chloe said weirdly.
"Okay, stop," Clark said.
"Thank you."
"My training with Jor-El helped me to manage my powers better... Let's just say that I'm in control- of everything," Clark said and Chloe nodded awkwardly. "But you weren't, when you decided to throw me a surprise party in the shower. And then you passed out only to come to with no memory. What was the last thing you do remember?" Clark asked.
"Oliver and I were having a talk, thanks to someone's overdeveloped protective instincts," Chloe said and Clark knew she was referring to him. He just shrugged it off. That was him. He was protective and she knew it. He always was. "And I decided to go for a walk."
"Where?" Clark asked her.
"Over here," Chloe said, showing him where. "This is the lantern I brought from the Inn. I must have dropped it here," Chloe said.
"Unless something made you drop it," Clark said, walking further into the forest.
They found a body.
"This is so not the weekend I had in mind," Chloe said.
After a minute Clark spoke. "You were out here Chloe. Do you think you could have-"
"Gone Norman Bates?" Chloe finished for him. "Wait a minute. I wasn't the only one out here. There was a - a face, like a phantom."
"What did it looks like?"
"Black, white and weird all over. And since this is where my memory hits a roadblock, I'm guessing that spirit started driving this dune buggy. I must have been possessed," Chloe said.
"Well, you obviously aren't now. But if that spirit is responsible for this murder, we need to find it before it kills again," Clark told her.
o-o-o-o-o-o
"Who told Chloe to go walk in the woods, anyway? Was it Hansel and Gretel, do you suppose?" Oliver asked, following Lois into the woods. She had said she knew where Chloe was and, all he wanted to do right now was talk to Chloe. Little did Oliver know, that this wasn't actually Lois and that Chloe wasn't in the woods anymore.
"It's not much farther."
"Well, I hope she left a trail of bread crumbs 'cause if she didn't, we might never find our way out of here."
"Oh, I'll be leaving these woods. But you won't," she said, shoving Oliver into a tree and then tossing him across the way.
Bad, bad bad.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Back inside the Inn Chloe and Clark were gathering information from the Inn-keeper.
"It's not real."
"You've got a confused co-ed in your living room and a dead body in your yard. Now, we need to hear the rest of Siobhan's story," Clark said.
"You really think a centuries-old spirit has come back for revenge?"
"We've seen weirder things," Chloe told her.
"Okay, Umm, after Siobhan was killed, her soul was sent to the underworld, where she was given great powers."
"What kinds of powers?" Chloe asked.
"Uncommon strength and the ability to slay any man that hears her wail. Superstitious villagers also gave her a new name - the silver banshee," the Innkeeper told them.
"Okay, the last time I checked, the underworld was still underground. So, how is it that this wailing wonder has gotten topside?" Chloe questioned.
"Legend tells of a portal through which her spirit could return to this world. It was said to be a relic created in Siobhan's own image. but after several deaths in the village, Bevan feared that he would soon be silver banshee's next victim. So he conducted an ancient Scottish ritual and covered the relic in Siobhan's spilled blood, sealing the portal shut."
"A relic in her image? Like a statue or an engraving?" Clark asked.
"Or a painting," Chloe said, looking at the Inn's wall.
"There's another portrait painted under this one. Bevan didn't just use blood to paint over his sister's image. He used it to paint his own portrait over hers," Clark said.
"And then Lois must have accidentally opened the portal when she scraped it," Chloe said.
"Chloe, you need to figure out how to close that portal. I'll find out who Siobhan inhabited next," Clark said, heading out.
o-o-o-o-o-o
Back in the woods, possessed Lois/psycho banshee was still tossing Oliver around, and then she spoke.
"I was denied vengeance, just as I was denied power. But now I shall have both."
"I'm all about the girl-power, really, but I gotta honest with you - I don't see you breaking through any glass ceilings with that hair," Oliver said, getting up, just to be brought down again by the sound of her wail.
"Siobhan!" Clark's voice rang out.
"You know who I am," she said.
"And I know your story. But killing men won't make up for what was done to you," Clark told her.
"Maybe not. But it does make me feel better," she answered back, wailing at Clark this time.
o-o-o-o-o-o
Back at the Inn, Chloe was still in her investigative mode. "Tell me you found something."
"How about Bevan's diary?" she said, handing the diary to Chloe.
Chloe took a look and said "I don't suppose you read Gaelic?"
"I may not have believed all the ghost stories, but I'm still a McDougal."
"We banished her soul with blood and flame, then burned her body so her spirit could not walk again" the woman translated.
"Burn her body and burn her blood. I think we close this portal with fire," Chloe concluded, slashing Siobhan's portrait and throwing it into the fire, ridding Clark and Oliver of the Silver Banshee.
o-o-o-o-o-o
Not too long after Chloe burned the portrait, Clark, Lois and Oliver all walked back into the inn. Chloe looked relieved, knowing then that everything worked.
"Everyone's in one piece. Good stuff," Chloe said, noticing Oliver looked a little bit banged up.
"We don't live boring lives," Lois said. "I'm beat. I want pyjamas," Lois said. "We'll see you in the morning. Nighty night guys," Lois said.
"Before I follow her," Clark said to Chloe, "I've gotta say, I wish it was under different circumstances, but tonight was fun, Chloe, aside from the worrying about those two," he said, referring to Lois and Oliver. "Made me think of the Torch days."
Chloe gave Clark a grin. "I agree on all counts."
"Goodnight then you two," Clark said.
"Goodnight."
"You okay?" Chloe asked Oliver as they headed to their room.
"It's been a fun night," Oliver said. "I started to worry a little bit so I went looking for you in the forest with Lois who goes all Terminator-Medusa and I kinda got my ass kicked, but aside from that everything's peachy," Oliver said with a little laugh.
"Hey," Chloe said to him, closing their door.
"Yeah," Ollie responded.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to freak out on you like that before," Chloe said, truly feeling bad for how she acted.
He had caught her very off guard. That stupid little box scared her and she lashed out and was mean to him and he didn't deserve it. She knew he'd agreed to the no-strings thing, but she should have known, since she was the first one to mention no-strings between friends probably wouldn't work all that time ago, that one of them was probably going to do something to break that rule or do something that didn't quite fit with the rule.
"It's alright," Oliver said. "Don't worry about it."
Chloe didn't really think he quite meant it but she didn't push it any further.
"Let's just get some sleep," Oliver said.
"You go ahead. I'll join you in a bit," Chloe told him. "I've kinda got the munchies. I want to see if I can get into the kitchen and find some goodies," Chloe said and Oliver chuckled.
"You sure you don't want to join me on this little escapade?" Chloe said.
"The thought of me and food right now is not appealing," Oliver laughed. "But I send you off with wishes of luck in your quest," he said.
"Okay then," Chloe said. "I'm off to raid the kitchen. If you knock out before I get back, then goodnight."
Chloe didn't have a case of the munchies, she just had a case of being messed up and needing to get away. She'd hurt him earlier today and she knew it. She didn't want to hurt him. And she had apologized and he said it was okay but she didn't think he meant it. He just didn't want to be in conflict with her. Chloe suddenly let out a little laugh. Who the heck ever would have thought that Chloe Sullivan could hurt Oliver Queen, billionaire playboy extraordinaire?
Chloe just sat outside of the room for a little while and when she thought Oliver had fallen asleep she went back inside.
Good, he is asleep.
Chloe quietly threw on some pyjamas and even more quietly got into the bed. She looked over at him for a couple minutes.
"I really am sorry. I must seem like a complete idiot, like really, who gets angry when someone tries to give them a gift? Me. Crazy me, that's who. I don't know if I have it in me to be able to do something besides this whole "no strings" thing. You might not even have meant the gift thing to mean anything, but it scared the crap out of me, Ollie. There's just so much stuff with me. I'm not ready and I don't even know if I'd be able to- to be with you. Oh God, and it's not you that's the problem, it's me. And it's not that I don't care, because I swear, I care about you very much, and it's more than I let on... And I don't even know what the hell I'm saying- which is alright I guess, because you're not awake to hear me sound like a complete idiot. I don't know what I'm going to do with this. I should have ended this last month like I'd told you, and then we wouldn't be here with me being bitchy. I'm really sorry because I've been so selfish. I've seen it for awhile now, this for you is more than just sex and you care, and you're always trying to be there for me.
"You've been good to me, Oliver Queen, and I'm sorry because sometimes I act like this is nothing, but it's not. It was never nothing, I can admit that much to myself now, but I don't know if I'm ready for it to be something, if that even makes sense. There's feelings here, but this is scary and overwhelming- and this past year has been hell and I'm different. I've been trying not to feel too much because I'm kind of broken inside in places. There are broken pieces of me. And feelings and caring at whatnot all had this part in breaking me inside- and I've got to keep what's still in tact inside of me from breaking," Chloe whispered. "Wow, I'm such a wuss," Chloe mumbled. "I can't even say any of this to your face, I have to do it while you're asleep... You should just give up on me. You really should because I don't think I'm worth it, but I guess I'm glad that you haven't given up on me. Maybe I can try, I dunno... So, uh, thanks... Yeah, okay. Sleep time," Chloe said, finally closing her eyes, actually falling asleep fairly quickly.
Only when Oliver was absolutely sure that Chloe was asleep did he open his eyes. He hadn't actually been sleeping. He'd heard her, heard all of that.
"Don't worry, Sidekick. I have no plans to give up on you and I'll try not to freak you out," he whispered to her with a little smile.
o-o-o-o-o-o
Chloe sat outside the Inn holding the box in her hand, the box that held whatever Oliver had got her. She looked at it for a moment or two, fighting with herself. She should try. She said she would try... Okay, she could do this. It was only opening up a box- nothing drastic. Chloe swallowed and began to untie the ribbon. She didn't see Oliver watching her. She didn't know he was there.
He watched her struggling with herself to open the gift and he knew that her even untying the ribbon was a big deal, and that's why it was okay when she couldn't open it up all the way. She tried and that's what really mattered right now. As she began to put it away, Oliver decided to do something, something that he hoped would put her at ease. Sure it would be a lie, but he knew she wouldn't look at that box again anytime in the immediate future, so it would be okay.
"Uhh, it's a spoon," he said and Chloe looked over. "Bought you a spoon, one of those little- people collect them. I thought about getting you uh, some of those little decorative soaps, but ultimately you didn't really need either one of them, did you?"
"Uh, I don't know about that," she said with a little smile, getting up. "I'm more partial to sporks myself, but a girl can never have too many, spoons."
"Yeah, well I never should have wrapped up that Pandora's box to begin with and second guessed or us. From now on I won't," he said. And Chloe realized what he was doing. He was trying not to overwhelm her, and she appreciated it.
Chloe felt like she needed to say something, but she wasn't sure what, so she just said the first thing that came to her head, hoping it might bring a smile to his face. "Maybe we should just say that next time you won't take advice about relationships from Clark Kent."
"You know, speaking of Clark- for future reference, and you know, strictly for environmental purposes- the next time you wanna take a shower with someone, Chloe, you could just ask me," he said.
He was adorable and Chloe smiled sheepishly. So he knows about the shower. Lovely.
"I can't remember blacking out and I wish I could forget waking up," she said.
"Really? Well, it couldn't have been that bad, right?" he said. "I mean, wasn't there a time when you would have given just about anything to stare at that farmer's tan, in all its glory, I'm guessing?"
"That was a long time ago, like in a Smallville far, far away," Chloe said and Oliver just stared at her, seemingly not really buying it.
Well, okay, it wasn't that long ago, though it feels like it now. And yeah, I've downplayed it... He knows I'm not good at this feelings stuff, but I guess I owe him something. I guess I can give him the truth about Clark.
"I mean, okay yeah. I did love Clark, a lot. And I waited years for him to see that- to see me. But even with his X-ray vision, he never did. I think more than that, I just wanted someone who would get me... And as good a friend as Clark is, he's never gonna be that person, which is fine, really. I mean, those wounds healed over a thousand super-saves ago, now there's just scars."
Clark, Clark, Clark. That guy would always mean so much to her, but she had finally understood that they weren't meant to be together. There were ways that only Clark could ever get her, and ways only she could ever get him- romantic partners couldn't get them in that way. Chloe and Clark had something that they'd never share with anyone else, but there was another way, a way that Clark never quite could get her and what was scary was that Chloe was actually pretty sure that Ollie got her in that way. It was scary because she didn't know what she was doing. It was scary because she was still kind of broken. It was scary because she only just realized it as the words "get me" came out of her mouth. It was scary because she didn't even really know if she was ready for anything. She didn't know if she could get away from the "no strings" thing... But she said she'd try, and she would.
"It's Clark's loss," Oliver told her.
Chloe gave a sly smile and then switched things to him. "What about your loss? I'm sure Lois didn't have to drag you into the woods kicking and screaming."
Chloe knew that she didn't necessarily make any sense since she had consistently insisted that this thing was just sex, but sometimes a part of her, a part that was deep down, wondered if he still had feelings for Lois, a part that was a little self-conscious.
"Uh, yeah, that's the funny thing about scars, you know. They're always there," he said and Chloe involuntarily felt a pang of something in he chest.
"It doesn't mean they haven't healed," he said right after and Chloe smiled a little.
"Sometimes they can be kinda cute too, huh," he said with a little nudge, earning him another smile. "You have one in particular that I'm partial-"
And Chloe just cut him off with a kiss.
"Shh," she told playfully him when she broke away.
It was only a minute or two before Lois and Clark were out there also.
"You two are gorgeous together, did you know that?" Lois said in greeting.
"Hello to you too," Chloe said, shaking her head but laughing too.
Something apparently just dawned on Lois all of the sudden. Her jaw dropped a little bit.
"You okay, Lo?" Oliver asked.
"You!" she said in an accusatory tone, but an amused one.
"What about Oliver?" Clark asked, looking confused.
"I told you I knew there had been a guy in the apartment," Lois said, turning to Chloe. "I just had no clue it was you," she said turning back to Oliver. "Wow, you guys are good. It's been a good couple months and no one really found you out."
"Couple months? Excuse me," Clark said.
Chloe looked at him and bit her lip. "Yeah," she said.
"And you didn't tell me?" he asked her, ignoring Lois and Oliver completely. "Chloe, come on. Seriously?"
Chloe grabbed Clark's arm and pulled him over to the other side of the balcony. Lois and Oliver didn't follow, they just sort of watched from where they were. They couldn't hear what Chloe and Clark were saying but they tried to piece together the conversation by deciphering their movement.
"Okay right now I think she's telling him to screw off," Lois said and Oliver laughed.
"And then they'll do the Chloe and Clark thing," Oliver chimed in.
"A little bit of arguing and then peace and love and happiness around the world. I say we get a hug or a cheek kiss- maybe both- in 30, 29, 28..."
"Oh come on, Clark. You know up til this last month we weren't really doing our best bud thing. It's not like you came around for chats," Chloe said.
"Okay, I'll give you that, but what about this past month then? It's been good, Chloe. At least that's what I thought. Have I been wrong?" Clark asked.
"You are not wrong. This month has been good, Clark. You and me are doing better than we have in awhile...Clark, I just- I wasn't ready to tell anyone, okay? It wasn't that I was keeping it from you, but I had no intentions of telling anyone. This was just supposed to be fun, you know, not serious? And I didn't want to have to explain what I was doing or for you to judge me."
"I wouldn't have judged you- at least I would have tried not to. But I guess I can see where you were coming from. I just would want more for you than fun."
"I know that, Clark. And as far as you judging me, I knew it would come from that place. And it's not a bad place at all. There's a wish for happiness for me, and I knew you'd think that this wasn't a good way to be happy. So what I'm saying is that mixed in with me being annoyed, there's still the part that knows you care. That you would have cared- and that means something to me, even if it's all little messed up," Chloe told him.
Clark just shook his head and gave her a bit of a smile and then pulled her in for a hug and then Chloe gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Chloe," Clark said, before they headed back to Lois and Oliver.
"Yeah?"
"I haven't seen much of you two, but from the glimpses I've got here and there, I have to tell you- I don't think you two are just having fun. But I'm shutting up now," Clark said with a lopsided grin.
Oliver and Lois high-fived each other as their commentary basically played out.
"Oliver," Lois said, before Chloe and Clark walked back over.
"Hmm?"
"I don't think you're gonna hurt her and you know I love you, but this is mandatory big cousin protocol- If you hurt her, I'm gonna kick your ass. And you two need to drop this no- strings crap. And then that's it for the Lois commentary. I'll shut my mouth now."
"Lois Lane, ladies and gents," Oliver said with a chuckle.
"Alright, I say it's about time we get the hell out of here," Clark said.
"Sounds good," Lois agreed. "But missy," she said looking at Chloe. "You're mine tonight. So boys, you heard it now- 7 p.m. rolls around and you two go away."
"You two got told," Chloe laughed.
"Yeah, yeah," the guys mumbled.
"See you soon cuz. Later, Ollie" Lois said, dragging Clark to the door.
"How many hours til 7 p.m?" Oliver asked
"Not that many," Chloe said.
"Okay then, I guess we should go if we absolutely have to," Oliver said.
"I saw this shop not far from here I think it was called "Fran's Photos" or something. You wanna check that out with me real quick? Maybe they've got some cute photo albums. I think it's time that I buy some new ones."
"Yeah sure, let's do that. Then you don't have to keep them in that box anymore... Okay, so here's the deal, we go to Fran's but you have to let me help you when you do decide to actually put the photos in the albums, at least with some of them."
"Okay," Chloe said.
"Alright. Fran's Photos, here we come," Oliver said.
o-o-o-o-o-o
"Okay, I think this is enough for now," Chloe said, putting about five albums back on the shelf. She had eight in the little shopping cart
"I'm pretty sure you've got thousands of pictures in that box of yours, Sidekick. This is definitely not enough," Oliver told her.
"Yeah, but I'm not gonna put all the pictures into albums in one sitting," she said, heading to the cash. "And plus, these ones are my favourites. If I pick up anymore I like them all the same, I'm just gonna end up wanting all of them because I can't decide which I like better."
When she got to the cash, she looked behind her and noticed Oliver wasn't there. He must have seen something he wanted, she guessed. She took the photo albums out of the cart and handed them to the cashier and then was about to hand the woman her credit card.
"Hold on, we're not done," Oliver said, coming over, pushing two carts full of photo albums. "These too," he said with a grin, starting to take them out of the cart.
"Ollie, go put them back," Chloe said with a laugh.
"Nope, we're getting them all," he said with a grin.
The woman at the cash smiled. She thought they were adorable. "You really did grab all of them?" the woman asked.
Oliver nodded.
"We just got them in this morning. I counted them all myself. There's 103, if you don't want to take them all out I could just punch one of these in for the other 95."
"Sure, sounds good. We don't need any bags," Oliver said. "We'll just bring the cart to the car."
"Ollie, seriously. Go put them back. I'm good with the 8," Chloe said.
Oliver handed her credit card back to her and gave the woman his instead. "You want them all. You said so. Now you can have them all," Oliver said.
"Okay," Chloe finally said, giving up, laughing a bit. "Thanks."
Oliver smiled. This made him happy. Who would have thought buying photo albums would give a guy so much satisfaction?
Chloe's jaw dropped when the total came up. With the taxes, the bill was approaching $1800. "You're sweet but you're insane and we are never buying photo albums again."
Oliver smirked. Chloe had said we. And right now, that was his favourite word in the world.