The Announcement

Chapter 4

Chloe and Lois sat in the kitchen the contents of her "Ollie box", as Lois was now calling it, were spread out on the top of the island in the center of the room. Lois had said that she had read some article in a woman's magazine that said the best way to fully move on from heartbreak was to confront the memories of your failed relationship head on, so the two of them had proceeded to empty out everything from the box one by one while Chloe explained what they were.

The first thing she pulled out was the white queen chess piece he had given her after the whole situation with Roulette. He sat across from her telling her that she had saved him, and that no one understood him like she did. He had been more humble and genuine in that moment then she had ever seen him.

She'd be lying if she said she hadn't always been attracted to Oliver on some level, who wouldn't be, but that had been the first time he had really made her feel like there was a swarm of butterflies doing the conga in her stomach. Of course the next day Lois had come to her and confided in her how Oliver had said that her cousin was the best thing in his life. It had hurt, but she was used to being passed over, so she pushed away the butterflies and went back to business as usual.

Lois wouldn't meet her eyes as she told her the last part, so she placed the chess piece on the island and ventured on.

The next thing she pulled out was a single green feather; she had taken it off of one of the arrows from their first target practice. She wore a small smile as she remembered what happened at Watchtower that night. She had expected to spend the night alone and lost in her own little virtual world.

Instead she had found Oliver.

Oliver, archery, and scotch. Apparently the combination of the three had been her Achilles heel, because within fifteen minutes of them starting to 'practice'; sensible and logical Chloe had left the building, and left in her wake was the Chloe who had felt nothing more amazing then what Oliver was doing to her as she straddled him on the couch.

Lois listened intently to Chloe as she told her what had happened that night; she shook her head and fought back a smirk at the sight of her cousin pouting because Chloe refused to share the 'really naughty details'.

That had been the night that everything had changed for them. The night that they had started their whole friends with benefits arrangement. She had to laugh. She had been so stupid to think that she could actually have any kind of relationship with Oliver Queen and not fall head over heels for him.

She then told Lois about the time Oliver ended up finding the feather in her nightstand as they were packing up her room for the move to Star City. She had blushed furiously when she told him where and when she got it. But her embarrassment had quickly faded when she looked at him and saw the smile on his face as he told her he always knew he wasn't the only one who fell on their first night together.

Lois smiled at her as she finished her story and placed the feather beside the chess piece.

The next thing she pulled out was a small silver spoon, with the emblem from the McDougal Inn. That weekend was supposed to be a weekend full of lots of indoor games and no strings, instead it ended up being the first time she started to think that Oliver's feelings for her had changed.

Friends with benefits don't feel jealousy and it was obvious by the way he had reacted to the news of her possessed self trying to join Clark in the shower that that was exactly what he was feeling.

The way he had looked at her on the last day after they both admitted to being over their old loves had surprised her. It was not just a look of desire and lust like she had seen from him in the past. This look was one of admiration, and longing, it was something she tried to ignore for months after she saw it and realized what it meant. But what she tried to ignore even more was the fact that deep down she knew she was feeling everything he was.

She set the spoon down.

She continued on pulling out the mementos one by one.

A single red rose from the gorgeous flower arrangement he had sent her that first Valentine's Day.

Then a book of Shakespearean sonnets that he had given to her on their first anniversary.

A movie stub from the first time her had convinced her to let him actually take her out on 'a real date' instead of just staying locked inside the clock tower, naked in his bed.

But the hardest things to see were the photos, the two of them smiling, and laughing during everyday moments and also the monumental moments throughout their relationship.

The two of them in Paris, the trip had been the last birthday of hers they had spent together.

There was one of the two of them kissing under the mistletoe, it was their first Christmas together and Mrs. Kent had come in from Washington D.C. and invited the whole league to dinner.

There were so many pictures and they flooded her with so many memories.

When she finally reached the last photo she placed them on the counter with the other items and brushed away the tears that had started to fall.

Lois stared at her wide eyed, "I'm sorry Chlo, maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

"No it was," she said with a small sniff, "confront the past to put it behind you." she gave her cousin a weak smile.

"Well is that all that everything?"

"Yes," she answered, she raised her right hand and subconsciously brushed her finger tips over the bracelet on her left wrist.

The quick moment didn't go unnoticed by Lois, who walked over to her, grabbed her hand and lifted it so she could get a better look, it was the beautiful jade bangle Chloe wore everyday, "Is this from him?" she asked shocked.

Chloe didn't answer just looked to the floor.

She felt a sudden surge of relief when her phone started to ring and moved quickly to answer it.

"Oh no you don't, call whoever it is back," she said not letting go of her baby cousin's hand, "now answer the question."

"Fine! Yes it's from Oliver, but before you go all pseudo shrink on me just hear me out."

"Okay." Lois said releasing Chloe's hand and crossing her arms over her chest as she fought back a knowing smirk.

"It's really beautiful." she said in almost a whisper. When she looked up at her cousin she spoke again, "it has nothing to do with him, I just really like it," her voice was louder this time and she tried to make her voice sound as certain as possible, but even in her own ears she fell short.

Her phone started ringing for a second time and again when she tried to move toward it Lois stopped her, "Chloe you cannot marry, David Jacob Winston."

"Of course I can," she replied stubbornly. "This," she lifted her hand and shook it vigorously so the bracelet moved back and forth on her wrist, "doesn't mean anything," she watched Lois as the obvious disbelief crossed her face, "you don't believe me here watch," she slipped it off and pushed it into her cousin's hand. "See," she said, "no big deal."

"Now hold on, the fact that you've been wearing it every…" she was interrupted by a loud knocking at the front door, "just a minute let me get that," she said shoving the bracelets in her pocket and walking toward the front of the house as she passed the threshold of the kitchen Chloe's phone began to ring for a third time, "and answer the damn phone already," she called out over her shoulder.

She pulled her phone from her pocket and pressed Talk, "Hello?"

"Hey Chloe, its Rebecca… from the Talon," she added quickly.

"Yeah I know, what's up?"

"The new owner asked me to call to let you know that he just rented out your apartment, and he wanted you to come pick up the last of your stuff."

"Oh right, wow that was fast." she commented.

"I was kinda surprised too." she chuckled.

"Okay well I'm already in town so give me about half an hour and I'll come pick everything up."

"All right, thanks Chloe."

"No problem." she hung up the phone. "Hey Lo, I've gotta go into town. That was the manager from the Talon apparently the new owner already rented out the apartment and I've got to get the last of my things. Could I bribe you into going along for the…" she stopped mid sentence when she saw him standing in the doorway. Her heart started pounding and she felt like her legs had turned to Jelly.

"Hey Sidekick," he said lamely lifting his hand and waving weakly at her.

The sound of his voice after all these months still sent chills down her, and her heart was beating so fast she swore she could feel the pulses all through her body.

"Can we talk? Please?" he asked her.

She could hear the pleading in his voice, and she had to fight the urge to give into him.

"Actually, I was just on my way out." Chloe replied stiffly she made her way over to Lois and gave her a quick hug, "Call me later she told her cousin." She turned on her heal and made her way out the back door not even looking at him.

She walked around the house until she reached her car and jumped in quickly. She shoved her key in the ignition, and pulled out. She made her way down the Kent drive much faster then normal. Her heart was still pounding as she glanced in her rearview mirror and saw the look of pain on his face as he watched her drive away.

When she had made it a few miles down the main road that led to town and she knew there was plenty of distance between the two of them she pulled to the side of the road to try and slow her breathing.

Oliver was back, and there was no doubt in her mind why.

"Well are you gonna come in or not?" Lois asked shooting him a small smile.

"Uh… yeah," he said stepping past her and glancing around the Kent home, "wow this place is exactly the same," he noted.

Lois chuckled lightly, "yeah I'm convinced Clark is scared of any kind of change."

Oliver gave her a halfhearted smile at her joke, which was all he could muster. "So what do we need to catch up on?" he asked.

"I think you already know." she said pointedly.

"Yeah I do," he admitted.

She smiled at him and made her way to the living room with him following closely behind; when she sat on the couch he did the same and kept his eyes locked on hers. He noticed the way the corners of her mouth twisted up slightly at the corners. He knew that look. That was the look Lois got when one of her crazy plans fell into place. It only took a moment for him to realize why she was so smug.

"You know when I found that copy of the Daily Planet on my kitchen table folded open to her wedding announcement I figured someone in the league was responsible."

"Well they may not have been responsible, but one of them did lend a hand."

"Bart?" he guessed.

Lois shook her head, "nope."

"Well who else… you don't mean… Clark had a hand in this?" he asked shocked.

This time she nodded.

"But Clark hates me. He came to Star City a few months after Chloe left and told me I had hurt her enough and I better stay away from Metropolis."

"Ollie, that's because we had just watched Chloe cry her eyes out for days over what happened when she came back to Star City to see you. You know how overprotective he can be when it comes to her."

"Lois, she never came to see me, in fact I haven't seen Chloe in over a year."

"Oh my god," she said clamping her hand over her mouth.

"Lois," he said in a warning tone, "what aren't you telling me."

"Shit. Chloe made us promise that no one, especially you, would ever find out, I just figured with the way Clark sped out of here that day he wasn't thinking about that."

"Okay so what didn't he tell me?" he asked impatiently.

Lois took a deep breath, "she's gonna kill me for this, but if you want any chance of getting her back you're going to need to know all the facts." She leaned back in her seat, "about nine months ago Chloe flew out to Star City to see you, she wanted to work things out."

"Lois she never came to see me, I think I would remember if she had."

"Not if when she came to see you, you were too preoccupied to notice."

"Preoccupied?" He stared at her for a minute confused by what she meant, but then it hit him. It hit him like the three ton truck she had used in her scheme to save his life just over three years ago. He opened his mouth to speak but no words would come out. He knew she had to have seen the articles in the tabloids about his totally fucked up way of dealing with his pain over losing her to someone else, but he had no idea she had tried to come back to him.

She wanted to try and fix things and ended up finding him in bed with someone else. He knew Chloe there was no way she would be able to get over that. She would never forgive him.

"I'm guessing by the look on your face you know what I'm talking about."

Oliver responded with one quick nod of his head. "She came back to me." he stated not quite believing it. "So you and Clark know all this and you actually still want to help me?"

"We just want her to be happy, and we both know that she won't be if she marries this guy."

"Lets just pretend for a second that you guys are right, that she won't be happy with this guy, what makes you think that after everything that's happened she'll want to be with me again?"

"Simple," she said, "Chloe's still in love with you."

"Lois, I spent months trying to break down Chloe's walls. I made her let me in. I selfishly asked her to move away from her friends and her family to be with me, and then I ignored her. I knew how lonely she was and I did nothing to make it better." He rubbed his hands over his face, "and even after all that she still wanted to give me a second chance but when she came to me she saw me having sex with someone else, trust me when I say I know Chloe, she does not love me after that."

"Ollie, I'm not gonna lie you did hurt her, but believe me when I say she does still love you."

"How can you be so sure?"

He saw her eyes dart toward the kitchen for just a second then back to him. He knew there was something she was trying to decide if she should tell him.

"What is it Lois?" he asked turning to look toward the kitchen for a moment then back at her.

There's something you should see" she said standing from the couch and walking to the kitchen.

Oliver stood and followed her. When he entered the kitchen his jaw dropped. On the island in the middle of the room were things from his relationship with Chloe, "Where did you get all this?" he asked picking up the small spoon.

"Chloe brought it over here today; she wanted me to help her get rid of it all."

"So you're telling me that her wanting to get rid of every reminder of our time together means she still loves me?"

"Wow, you really are clueless aren't you?"

He scowled at her waited for her to continue.

"Why did she keep it all? Why did she need my help to try and find the strength to get rid of it all?" she reached inside her pocket and pulled out the bracelets and held it up, "and why has my cousin worn this every day since she left you?"

Oliver reached out and took it from her, "this was my mother's" he said quietly, "My father gave it to her on their first anniversary." he studied the object in his hand, "she once told me that it was the best gift he had ever given her. That's just how she was. What mattered to her was what a gift represented, not the cost."

"And you gave it to Chloe?"

"My mom would have loved her, it seemed right for her to have it."

Lois nodded, "and now if you don't find a way to get her back then in two months she's going to marry someone else, can you live with that?"

No he couldn't.

A/N Thanks for reading! I hope everyone liked it!

Next chapter: Find out why Lois dislikes Jacob so much. Lots of Oliver, Lois, and Clark.

On a side note if I was supposed to send you a preview to the sequel to The Wager and you didn't get it it's because you have your PM feature blocked.