--7--
Oliver had to think fast to insure he beat Chloe to the apartment. Using the zipline, he came in through the window of the guest room after landing on several neighboring roof tops. As quickly as possible he rushed to his own room, ripped off the costume and shoved it under the bed before throwing on his pajama pants and rushing from the room to the kitchen, just as Chloe was stepping off the lift.
When she saw him there she jumped anxiously, clearly having thought he would still be asleep.
Come on, Sidekick. Remember me. Realize it was me, he pleaded silently with her, his chest rising up and down from the adrenaline.
Chloe opened her mouth several times as though to speak, but none of her attempts were successful. Finally, Oliver realized he was going to have to keep up the charade a while longer. She didn't remember him. He comforted himself with the fact that for a moment down on the ground, she had looked as though she remembered Arrow...at least on some level.
"What happened to you?" he asked her, and Chloe saw the anxiety in his eyes. "I was about to call the police."
"I'm so sorry. I didn't think you'd notice I'd left."
Oliver crossed the room to her, wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on the top of her head. "I knew the moment you were gone, Chloe. You scared the life out of me."
He sounded like he had when she was in the hospital, Chloe noted. Guilt coursed through her at the realization of how much fear she'd caused him. "I'm so sorry," she repeated earnestly. "I just had to get out of here."
"What happened?" he asked her quietly, his hands threading into her hair as he held her head to his chest.
"I couldn't sleep. I felt like I was losing my mind and then I realized I'd already lost it and I just had to get out. I didn't mean to scare anyone, and I was going to come back."
"Chloe, do you have any idea--" Oliver stopped himself. He wasn't going to guilt trip her anymore. He couldn't tell her that he'd envisioned having lost her, that he thought she'd been taken from right under his nose when he was supposed to be protecting her. "Please don't do it again."
"I won't," she whispered.
Oliver tipped her head up to make her look him in the eye. "I can't lose you, Chloe. I just can't. You've got to come back to me, remember me."
Before Oliver knew what he was doing, he leaned in and kissed her. He felt her sharp intake of breath and the way her body went rigid with shock, but in the next moment she kissed him back, her hands rising to his chest and slowly moving around his neck. Oliver moved his lips almost desperately against hers, releasing all the fear she'd put him through. She'd said a moment ago that she was going to come back. At least that meant she hadn't been running away from him. She'd just needed to clear her head.
Suddenly Chloe pulled away. She looked frightened.
"Chloe--"
His eyes were pleading with her, but Chloe didn't know what to say. Was Dinah right? Was she or had she been in love with Oliver? It was starting to feel like it, but it only terrified her all the more. How could she be in love with someone she didn't remember?
She shook here head, backing away from him. Her eyes darted away. "I'm sorry I scared you," she said before fleeing the room, leaving Oliver to wonder what had just happened.
Chloe walked in a daze to her room, shut the door behind her and leaned against it, her eyes closed as she drank in the fresh air in her room--Oliver had apparently opened the window, though she couldn't imagine why.
What just happened? she asked herself silently. She knew what Dinah had told her, but...it was just too difficult to wrap her mind around, at least not in its current condition. Although, Chloe couldn't really imagine that even with her full memory she would believe it. He was worked up, she told herself. I scared him half to death and he just got caught up. We both got carried away.
She shook her head wearily, scared of how much she wanted run back out there after him, not even noticing that this new development had successfully shoved all thoughts of the Green Arrow to the back of her mind. Instead of giving into her impulse she pulled herself over to bed, knowing that she was now thoroughly exhausted, more than enough to sleep for an eon. She shivered, pulling the covers more tightly around her. She should have closed the window, but now she was too tired and too comfortable to get out of bed to shut it.
When Chloe drifted into sleep, she dreamt of a barren, snowy wasteland and a castle made of ice, which slowly turned into a fortress, consisting of giant spears of ice. She suddenly saw herself, making her way toward it, struggling to stay warm.
And then Clark was there, picking her up from the ground where she was fighting not to freeze to death. And Clark raced her to a hospital...brought her there on foot.
Chloe shot up in bed, gasping for air. "Clark!" she whispered. She reached for her phone and called Clark for confirmation of what she'd just remembered.
Meanwhile, Oliver had been having a dream of his own, more heated than Chloe's and much more restless. He nearly knocked her over when she unceremoniously shook him awake.
"Holy--what's going on?" He swallowed tightly, realizing what he'd been dreaming about. Even with her memory, Chloe would kill him if she knew. He suppressed a small smirk--or was it more of a nervous laugh?--and focused on calming himself down.
Chloe was positively mirthful. "I remember high school!"
"What?" he stared at her.
"Everything up until sometime around graduation. And I vaguely remember my first day of class at MetU."
Chloe was practically floating she was so happy and relieved. She'd entirely forgotten what had happened before she fell asleep until she noticed the look in Oliver's eyes.
He sat up in bed and embraced her happily.
"That's fantastic, Sidekick. You remember everything?"
Chloe nodded, pulling away from him slightly. "Four years back in only a few hours."
"What do you remember about Clark?"
Chloe's knee-jerk reaction was to lie, but on the phone a moment ago Clark had told her that Oliver knew, and it was safe to talk to him about it.
"I remember everything. Krypton included."
The immense relief on Oliver's face warmed her to the core. He was genuinely happy for her. Her conversation with Clark had been strained. He'd confirmed everything, but she could tell there was a part of him that hadn't wanted her to remember. She just didn't understand why. Did he not like having her in on his secret? Or was it more about what Oliver had told her before--that Clark was guilty about pulling her into his world. She remembered every life threatening situation she'd been through in high school, and she had to admit, it didn't seem likely that the pattern had broken later on. Clark had had a habit of blaming himself. Was that why he had sounded sorry she remembered? Because he didn't want her to remember all the horrible things he felt guilty over? She closed her eyes banishing the thought for the moment. She just wanted to be happy she remembered for now.
"What are you thinking about?" Oliver asked.
Chloe opened her eyes to find him studying her. "That you should put a shirt on," she joked.
He raised an eyebrow, and, even though he knew she was kidding, he got up to find a T-shirt. Pulling it over his head, he said, "What are you really thinking about?"
Chloe breathed a small sigh of relief as all that muscle vanished from her sight. It was easier to look at him and concentrate when he was properly clothed. "I was wondering why Clark is sorry I remember his secret."
"Because he wants you to live a so-called normal life, even if it isn't what you want."
"How do you know what I want?" Chloe asked automatically.
"Do we have to go over that again?" he asked her, a smile tugging the corner of his lips as he sat back down on the bed. "Let's put it this way. Are you sorry you remember?"
"No."
"Of course not. Because you need to know what's really going on around you. You don't like walking around with blinders on, pretending there's nothing more serious in the world than global warming."
Chloe nodded, surprised by how accurately he'd described it.
Oliver couldn't stop himself. "Do--"
"No, Oliver. I'm sorry. I still don't remember you. Almost nothing after high school. But it will come back, right? This much did."
Oliver nodded. He had to believe that. She had to remember him and soon. He looked at her now, the way her eyes kept darting nervously to the door, as though she were regretting coming into his bedroom--for obvious reasons. He hated this. He needed her back 100% herself. After she'd left him earlier, he'd realized the truth. It was as though a thunderbolt had struck him...or maybe like being hit by one of his own arrows. He was desperate to get her back, his Chloe. She was his. He knew it now. He had been thinking of her as belonging to him for ages without consciously realizing it. Why else would he take it so hard that she didn't remember him? Everyone else missed her, but no one was as upset or frustrated as he was.
"Chloe, about...earlier."
Chloe stood up, edging toward the door. "It's okay. You got carried away. We both did."
He started to get up as well. "That's not--"
"You don't have to make excuses for me, Oliver. It's okay."
"Chloe, would you--"
"Goodnight, Oliver," she said as she left the room, closing the door firmly after her.
Oliver was lost. That was all there was to it. He could only explain the fact that she had just bolted from him as quickly as possible by assuming that she regretted what had happened.
The real question was whether she would still regret it if she remembered him. Was she pushing him away purely because she felt she didn't know him? Or was it a more deep-rooted conviction that she didn't want him that way?
"God, Chloe," he muttered shaking his head dismally. "You'd better get your memory back soon, so we can legitimately talk about this." He collapsed back on his bed again and prepared himself to not get any sleep the rest of the night.