Six Days until Christmas…

Oliver padded out into the living room barefoot, rubbing his eyes. It was just before dawn. Last night with Chloe was kind of a pretty blur, and he'd nearly convinced himself that kissing her had been a dream, until he saw the six foot spruce sitting the place of honor Chloe had chosen for it, it's lights still hanging helplessly from the middle branches. Grinning, Oliver walked over to the tree and plugged in the lights, looping the green wire through the branches until he was finished and the tree was sparkling with tiny white lights. Standing back, he surveyed his handiwork, remembering the years his father insisted on putting lights on the massive tree they'd always had in their den. His mother's professional decorators handled the ones in the living room and foyer, even stringing miles of ribbon and garland in the dining room in preparation for the party his parents gave every year for their friends and employees of Queen Industries. But the den tree always was the family tree, and Oliver frowned thoughtfully, recalling the carefully packed ornaments and handmade things that had not seen a Christmas since his parents died. He made a mental note to have those boxes shipped to Metropolis immediately. The scent of pine made Oliver smile, and he ran a hand along a sprig, releasing the scent more. Pine brought back memories of the winter house in the mountains were Oliver remembered spending holidays too, skiing all day and then sitting by the fire while his mother told him stories of her childhood in New England, and his father read to them out of whatever book he was reading himself. At Christmas it was always Dickens. Oliver wondered what his parents would have thought of Chloe. They'd have wholeheartedly approved of her, no doubt, unlike his other choices lately…Lois would have rubbed his sophisticated and gentle mother completely the wrong way. Oliver shook his head and went back into his room to get dressed for the gym. Christmas or not, there was still the day to day of running Queen Industries to deal with. And it meant starting early. Especially if he wanted to be available later for more Christmas spirit lessons with Chloe.

It wasn't much later, when Chloe sat up and grinned in her newly refinished dorm room alone. The timer on her coffee pot had gone off, and the scent of fresh coffee was just what she needed to get her eyes open. Soon enough, she'd have to repack everything and go back down to Smallville until after Christmas break, but being in her own bed was great after weeks on Lois' couch. Lois. Chloe sat up more and brought a hand to her mouth, remembering Oliver's lips on hers and how warm he had been with his arms around her as they sat on the ice at the Plaza Square rink. That kiss was on the Sullivan list of best kisses ever, Chloe couldn't help but grin, but the realization of something else took the urge to giggle away. She had broken girl rule number one, kissing a cousin/sister/friend's ex. And a freshly minted ex, too. Chloe groaned, falling back on the pillows. Lois was going to be pissed. And, sure enough, as if on cue, the phone rang.

"Hey, cousin!" Lois said brightly. "Guess where I am?"

"Spain, Switzerland, Japan?" Chloe asked hopefully. "The North Pole?"

"Nope, guess again." Lois laughed. "Forget it, because you'll never guess…."

"Oh, my God." Chloe sat up, her heart racing. "You're still in Metropolis."

"Yeah, imagine? The General's leave got cancelled and Lucy is in Greece, so, I'm still here, for the moment. Anyway, I wanted to tell you first…I ended it with Oliver last night." Lois said, and Chloe could detect a note of smug satisfaction in her cousin's tone.

"Really? Why?" Chloe got out of bed, and poured herself a cup of coffee. Caffeine might make the palpitations stop, but at least Chloe would be wide awake when Lois killed her.

"Well, for starters, he and I are just too busy. And, call me crazy, rich billionaires aren't my type." Lois said. "I'm not sure what my type IS exactly, but Oliver isn't it."

"No magic." Chloe muttered, and Lois laughed.

"Yeah. That's it. Grandmother Sullivan used to say that all the time, remember? Magic moments just happen. Couldn't help them, but you'd know when they did." Lois sighed. "Well, what about you? How's the photographer?"

"I don't know." Chloe replied, stirring cream into her coffee. "He's in Minnesota with his high school sweetheart."

"Oh, so we're single at the same time!" Lois clapped her hands. "I call New Year's Eve! We can go out dancing…."

"Um, Lois…about that. It sounds great, but I'll have to get back to you on that. Listen I'm glad you called because I wanted to talk to you..." Chloe began, and Lois interrupted her.

"Look, Chloe, I have to go, but why don't we get together and have lunch when I get back? I want to talk to you about something too. I'm just getting on a flight to Gotham City for a story. A reliable source told me that a human sized bat is flying around at night there…" Lois' voice was determined. "Story or not, I'll be back for Christmas at the Kents. Bye, cuz! Stay out of trouble!"

"Have fun." Chloe hung up and laughed. Human sized bats in Gotham City? Of course it was the kind of story the Inquisitor was interested in. She sipped her coffee and thought. Lois broke up with Oliver over lack of chemistry? It seemed hard to believe. Setting her mug down, Chloe started getting ready for her day at the Daily Planet. When she saw Oliver tonight, she'd have to make sure that they were on the same page about last night. Without thinking, Chloe grabbed her deep green jacket and a white blouse to wear with her jeans and boots. Green was Christmas-y, Chloe thought, ignoring the fact that the jacket was the exact mossy shade of Oliver's eyes.

"So, let me get this straight," Oliver said later, as Chloe dug through a pile of vintage scarves in a vintage store in downtown Metropolis. "Yesterday didn't happen?"

"Well, it did." Chloe looked up at Oliver. "But the kissing part didn't. Call it a mass hallucination or something."

"And why am I doing that?" Oliver picked up a scarf and dropped it, watching it float like a parachute back to the top of the pile. "Because of Lois?"

"Right." Chloe nodded, and then, a triumphant smile brightened her face. "Aha! This will be perfect for Mrs. Kent." She brandished the silk scarf in the air. "One more gift down. What are you giving Martha?"

"Aside from the campaign funds, you mean?" Oliver shrugged, seemingly bored. "I don't know. I'll send flowers before Christmas Day, and bring wine with me, I guess." Noting Chloe's expression, Oliver frowned. "No good?"

"Come on, Oliver…"Chloe rolled her eyes. "You are so bad at this."

"I guess I'm just not feeling the Christmas spirit today." Oliver said lazily, as they walked to the counter to pay for Chloe's find, toying with different items as they passed the displays. "I was just told I hallucinated one of the best kisses of my life. It's a shock. I may never ice skate again."

Chloe sighed, and turned to him. "It was a great moment for me too, Oliver, truly." She smiled sadly. "I just don't want Lois to be upset. You guys just ended things and I don't want there to be any weirdness."

"Oh, good, because pretending last night didn't happen isn't weird at all." Oliver replied archly. "It's perfectly normal."

Chloe took her bag from the clerk and frowned pleasantly at Oliver. "It is weird, isn't it?"

"No." Oliver nodded though and Chloe laughed. "Not weird at all. Okay, Miss Christmas, what now?"

"Um, well, I've still got shopping to do.." They walked out of the store and onto the busy sidewalk and started down the street, stopping to look in an antique store window. A black velvet tray of jewelry sat under the right lights, sparkling to tempt shoppers. All sorts of beautiful things sat on the tray, but one in particular caught Oliver's attention immediately.

"See that?" Oliver pointed to a unique pin, an elegant white gold arrow, set with diamonds and emeralds. "That's an archery trophy."

"Really?" Chloe looked down at it and then smiled at Oliver. "Kind of pretty for a man."

"No, Archery was a woman's sport too, at the turn of the century, still is as a matter of fact. My grandmother had one of these that her mother won at some society tournament. I think it's locked in a safe deposit box or something now." Snow had started to fall again, and Oliver reached out to brush a stray flake from Chloe's cheek. "Neat to see one again. My Gran' wore hers every day."

Chloe looked up at him as his fingers left her cheek and smiled. They stood there, eyes locked for a moment and then Chloe blinked, breaking the mood. "We should go. I still have to find something for Clark."

"A life maybe." Oliver snarked, as Chloe cuffed him on the arm lightly. "It's true. I'm sorry, Chloe, I like the guy. He's great, super, even. But he needs to have some fun. Lighten up a little."

"He's got a lot on his mind." Chloe defended Clark loyally, and Oliver nodded. "You should understand that."

"I do." Oliver took Chloe's hand in his as they walked across the street. "Which is why I'm here with you now, and not elsewhere. You have to step back from things sometimes." They stopped in front of a music store and looked in the window. "How about piano lessons?"

"For Clark?" Chloe laughed. "I'd pay money to see that."

Oliver grinned. "Hmm…parting with the intern dollars to watch Clark pound out "Chopsticks"? Doesn't really seem worth it. " They walked down the block and Oliver spotted an antique and out of print bookstore. "Oh, this is perfect, come on.." He towed Chloe inside, and soon located what he was looking for. "He'll love this."

"Les Miserables? In French? Oliver…"Chloe shook her head, taking the book away from him. "Clark doesn't understand French."

"He will when I give him the language course for his Christmas present." Oliver took the book back. "The book is from you. I think he'll find lots to identify with in this book." Oliver handed it to the man behind the counter. Chloe shook her head and held out her hand for the book. "I know I do."

"Clark will read this in five seconds if you buy it for him in English. In French..."

"Days." Oliver waved the clerk away imperiously and shook his head. "I'm good at gifts, Chloe. I promise."

"Football tickets for Clark." Chloe insisted, and Oliver sighed, giving in, but paid for the book anyway. "Who is that for?"

"Me." Oliver took the bag with the book in it and tucked it under his arm. "My copy is in Star City. Clark can borrow it after he finishes his French class."

"Don't send him to language school, Oliver..it's too much." Chloe tugged on Oliver's arm as they walked out of the store, and he swung it up and over, resting it on her shoulders. "Please."

"Okay, compromise." Oliver nodded, liking how Chloe had instinctively moved closer to him. "You give him the language tapes and I'll buy him tickets to a Sharks game."

"Deal." Chloe grinned, looping her arm around his waist casually. "Now what?"

"I don't know, Miss Christmas." Oliver laughed. "I'm your project, remember?"

"Right." Chloe nodded. "Okay. There's a snowman building contest in Centennial Park tonight. We can make it there if we hurry."

"In the meadow, we can build a snowman?" Oliver chanted, and Chloe laughed. "As long as we're done with shopping. I'm shopped out."

"I think we'll just watch the competition this year. Don't want you to hurt yourself the first Christmas out." Chloe decided and then sniffed the air. "I'm hungry, too."

Oliver looked at his watch. "This, I can do." He took out his phone and pressed one number. "I'm good at this."

"What are you doing?" Chloe asked, craning her neck to see what number he was calling.

"Quiet." Oliver held her tight."Philippe? It's Oliver Queen. Is my table free? Great. Two. I'll be there in a half hour. Thanks." He closed his phone. "The Publican House on Centennial Park is holding a table."

"The Publican House?" Chloe gaped, and Oliver laughed out loud at her expression. "I'm not dressed for that place!"

"It doesn't matter." Oliver shrugged, as if his own jeans and boots were an Armani suit and the finest shoes. "It's just a place to eat. But the windows look down on the Cow Meadow and Tony's Pizza here doesn't. And my table is right in the middle of the windows. Great view." Oliver nodded expectantly, waiting for Chloe to pick up on his thought. She eyed him suspiciously and then it dawned on her.

"Where the snow sculpture competition is. You, Oliver Queen, are a genius." Chloe reached up and kissed him lightly on the lips. She backed away, her bottom lip caught between her teeth and her eyes wide. Oliver blinked and raised an eyebrow at her, his gloved hand going to his mouth for a second and then he pointed at Chloe then at himself, as if trying to figure out what happened, a smile glinting in his eyes.

"Did that happen? Or did I dream that too?" Oliver asked, teasing and Chloe grinned. "I have to keep track, because I think I'm losing my mind. All these kisses that aren't happening..."

"That happened." Chloe's smile was soft and her eyes glowed. "And this too.." She kissed him again, on the corner of Boynton Street and Second Avenue, as the traffic whizzed by and the Salvation Army bell chimed behind them. Christmas music poured out from the pizzeria and Oliver grinned as he pulled Chloe closer, not caring that all of Downtown Metropolis was watching him kiss her, or that he'd be up for hours and hours after he dropped her off at her dorm, patrolling in the snow but thinking about how great she smelled and how soft her hair was. Some things were worth making the sacrifice for, and Oliver wouldn't have it any other way.

"I don't want a lot this Christmas, there is just one thing I need..

I don't care about the presents, underneath the Christmas tree..

I just want you for my own, more than you could ever know,

Make my wish come true...baby, all I want for Christmas is you..."

All I Want For Christmas - Mariah Carey