The Announcement

Chapter 1

He leaned against the door frame unable to tear his eyes away from her as she ran from monitor to monitor. He loved watching her when she was like this. Completely focused on the job at hand. So engrossed in what she was doing she hadn't even noticed him.

"Ha!" he heard her say as she ran across the room again a look of pure determination on her face. He knew that look. She was right on the verge of a major breakthrough on whatever problem was taking over her day.

He knew the moment she had figured it out. She didn't say anything or even move from where she was standing, but he saw her whole body relax slightly. It was something that most people wouldn't have even noticed but with all the time he spent working with her he knew her giveaways.

He pushed himself off away from the door and silently made his way over to her. When he reached her he wrapped his arms around her waist, she tensed for just a moment before leaning into him.

"When did you get back?" she asked.

"About an hour ago." He lifted one hand to her neck and brushed the hair away, then lowered his lips to the sensitive spot just below her right ear, "I missed you," he whispered before kissing her neck again.

He felt her turn in his arms. She looked up at him her eyes sparkling, "did you?" she asked placing her hand to his chest.

"You know I did."

Her eyes slid shut as he ran his fingertips over her shoulder and down the length of her arm. When his hand reach hers he started rubbing small circles with the pad of his thumb in the palm of her hand before lifting it to his lips and kissing it softly.

When his lips met her skin her eyes opened and her cheeks turned a slightly darker shade of pink. He loved the fact that after all this time he still was able to have that affect on her.

He laced his fingers through hers and lifted his other hand to tuck a stray curl that had fallen in her face behind her ear then moved his hand to the back of her neck.

"I really missed you too, Ollie."

"Well maybe next time you should just come with me."

"I just might." she told him smiling, "but for tonight why don't you just take me back to your place so I can properly welcome you home?"

Suddenly Chloe disappeared from his arms and everything went black…

She sat beside him, her eyes wide. He had expected this and he was prepared to wait here all night for her response if he had to. What he was asking her to do would be hard for her. He knew that.

If she agreed she would be leaving everyone she cared about. It would be a huge sacrifice. But he'd been thinking about it for awhile now and he couldn't go on like this. So he did the selfish thing and asked.

"Chloe?" he said gently, "can you please tell me what you're thinking?"

She stood up and walked away from him. She stood with her back to him and he was sure she was going to tell him no. That she loved him but it was out of the question.

"We'll have to set up a new base of operations, I'll need someplace close by to work."

"I've already been looking at several possible locations" he told her trying to keep from getting his hopes up yet.

"And I need your guarantee that I can use your jet whenever I need to come back to Metropolis."

"You just say the word."

She turned back toward him slowly and when he saw the look on her face he knew it was a done deal.

"Okay." she told him simply

"Okay?"

"Yes. Okay, I'll do it. I'll move to Star City with you."

She faded away again…

He stepped off the elevator and saw her sitting on his couch her feet tucked up underneath her as she stared blankly out the balcony window, He shifted his gaze to the dining room table where she had spread out a beautiful dinner that was obviously now cold and ruined. He walked closer and saw neither plate was touched.

"Chloe I'm sorry, the meeting ran late." he tried to explain loosening his tie and unbuttoning the top two buttons of his shirt.

"Right, the meeting" she said bitterly.

"Chloe, don't be like this." he said slightly annoyed by the fact that she just expected him to skirt his responsibilities, "I said I'm sorry."

"I know you are Oliver, but I don't know how much more of this I can take. I mean you're the one that convinced me to move out here. You said you wanted me with you but we've barely spent five minutes together in the last two months."

"Chloe this is my job, I can't just drop everything because you decided that all of a sudden you wanted to take a crack at cooking a meal."

He watched her eyes narrow and he knew he had gone too far. He expected her to at least start yelling but she didn't she just stared at him tears falling down her cheeks.

When had she started crying?

She walked toward him but stopped short keeping several feet between him, "I wanted to be with you tonight because it was one year ago today that I moved to Star City with you I kinda thought it was a special day for us. I guess I was wrong."

He watched as she walked down the hall toward their bedroom and away from him.

Again everything shifted and disappeared…

He sat on their bed his hand on his knees and his hands resting on his chin staring at her. She stood in front of him her arms folded over her chest.

"So that's it then?" he asked, "you're leaving me."

"Oliver I'm sorry but I can't take it anymore. I'm so lonely here, and I can't take feeling like this anymore.

His gaze shifted to the pile of boxes stacked in the corner of the bedroom, "When are you leaving?" he asked her trying to keep the sudden urge to walk over to those boxes and kick them across the room under control.

"My flight leaves in two hours."

"Wow you don't waste any time, do you?"

"I'm sorry Ollie," she said walking over to him and bending down so they were eye level. She leaned in and kissed him gently, "I'll love you forever…"

Oliver's eyes shot open. His pulse was racing and his breathing labored. He turned his head to the left and looked at her side of the bed, and felt his stomach tighten. He knew there was no way he was getting back to sleep so he sat up and swung his legs off the bed, and covered his face with his hands trying to calm himself. After a few minutes he stood and headed to the bathroom to take a shower.

Then his eyes landed on the wrinkled article on his night stand and he fell back to the bed. He picked it up and stared at her beautiful face, then looked at the man in the picture with her and his jaw clenched. He couldn't let this happen. He still loved her and until he knew for sure that she didn't feel the same way anymore he was going to fight for her.

He reached over and grabbed his phone quickly dialing and putting it up to his ear. He stood and went to his closet and pulled out his duffel bag before walking over to his dresser and starting to fill it.

"Yes Mr. Queen?"

"I need to get to Metropolis. Right away" he told his pilot.

"Yes sir, I can have us fueled up and cleared for take off in about an hour."

"Perfect, I'm on my way" He hung up the phone and walked back over to his night stand and pulled open the top drawer. His eyes fell on the little velvet box.

He'd had it in his pocket the night he came home to find her already packed and leaving him. So he'd hidden it away for over a year now. He shoved the little box in his bag and headed for the airport, and back to Chloe if she'd have him.

A/N I will be updating The Wager. I'm hoping to have it up by this time tomorrow! Reviews Please!