The Announcement

Chapter 5

Chloe stared out the driver's side window for several minutes taking slow deep breaths. She needed to calm down before she would feel safe continuing on to the Talon, but that was easier said then done.

Oliver was back and even just seeing him for the few seconds she had still managed to rock her to her core. O f course it didn't help that she had just sent the previous hour going through a box containing mementos of some of the best times they had ever had together.

She had no idea how she had found the strength to leave him standing there considering that the second she had seen him her legs felt like they had turned to jelly. She silently chastised herself for letting him still have that effect on her after everything that had happened between the two of them.

She lowered her gaze down to the diamond she now wore on her left ring finger and felt a sudden wave of guilt. She was getting married to someone else in two months, it wasn't right that he could still make her feel this way. But she knew she couldn't help it. He was Ollie, and she knew now that no matter how much time passed he would still have the ability to make her weak in the knees. But she also knew that it wouldn't change anything, she could never be with him again, he would always just be the one who got away.

Chloe chuckled bitterly at the thought, if someone had asked her a few years back that Oliver Queen would be the one to fall into that category, she would have laughed in their face.

Then that night at Watchtower had happened and she was changed forever.

None of that mattered now though, she was marrying Jake. He was her future, and Ollie was her past now.

She shook her head as she put the car back in drive, pulled back onto the road and continued her trip to the Talon. She pushed her foot down harder on the gas pedal, she knew how fast she was going was breaking the speed limit but she couldn't seem to make herself care enough to slow down, she was desperate to put as much distance between herself and the Kent farm as possible, and as much distance between her and Oliver as possible.

Several times she had to fight the urge to pull a U-turn and go right back there and ask him what the hell he was doing there. Ask him why he thought he could just walk back into her life with a lame wave and a "hey sidekick, can we talk, Please?" and expect her to just run into his arms and say "oh sure Ollie."

She couldn't believe that he was actually back.

It had been over a year since she had actually talked to him in anything other then the few emails they had exchanged right after she moved back to Metropolis, and even those had been solely business related.

Nine months since that horrible day when she had made the mistake of flying to Star City only to find him 'working his way through his pain' the Oliver Queen way, and sent him a final email telling him she was resigning as Watchtower

In all the months since then she had never heard from him and now the day after her wedding announcement showed up in the paper he showed up back in Kansas.

"He is such a jack ass." she growled under her breath just as she pulled up outside the Talon.

She parked in a spot right in front and headed in. Once inside she walked straight to the counter.

"Chloe!" the young girl taking orders exclaimed, "would you like your usual?"

"Of course Emily, thanks," Chloe said smiling brightly reaching inside her pocket and pulling out a five dollar bill and handing it to the girl who quickly rung up her order and handed Chloe her change.

Once the girls back was turned she placed the money in the tip jar by the register and waited for her order.

A few minutes later she returned and set down a large latte and a chocolate chip muffin, which Chloe eagerly scooped up, if there was one thing she missed about Smallville it was the Talon and its delectable lattes and muffins. She lifted the cup to her nose and inhaled deeply.

"Hey Chloe," Emily said hesitantly.

"Yeah?" she asked before taking a slow sip from the cup.

"You had a visitor earlier today."

"I did, huh?" she asked knowing instantly who it had been.

"Um yeah… he was tall, blond, and…" Emily's voice trailed off.

"Incredibly hot," Chloe said finishing her thought.

"Exactly." she said blushing slightly.

"What did you tell him?"

"Just that you didn't live here anymore, and that you had moved to Metropolis with your fiancée."

"Good." Chloe answered pursing her lips.

"I hope I didn't say anything I wasn't supposed to." Emily said clearly worried she had crossed some kind of line.

"Oh no it's fine Emily," Chloe said reaching over the counter and placing her hand on the girls arm. She cleared her throat and pulled her hand back. "Um… Rebecca called and said that the new owner already rented out the apartment and I needed to pick up the last of my stuff."

"Oh yeah," Emily said clearly pleased with the change in subject, "there's still a few boxes upstairs."

"Right," Chloe answered turning and heading toward the stairs.

"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?"

Oliver looked down at the bracelet. His hand was still clenched firmly around it. Lois's question kept repeating over and over in his head. There was no way he could handle Chloe marrying another man. Just the thought of her in a beautiful white dress and walking down the isle toward someone else made his chest tighten.

"Of course I can't Lois, you know that, but what do you suggest I do?"

"Fight for her Ollie," she replied sternly, "fight for a second chance."

"Lois, I don't think I deserve one."

He watched as her eyes widened then narrowed just a quickly, "and what about what she deserves?" she took a step toward him, "doesn't Chloe deserve the chance to be happy?"

"More then anybody I've ever known." he responded quietly looking to his feet, "but all I'm going to end up doing is complicating her life, I should just walk away and let her find whatever happiness she can with this guy."

Lois threw her arms up in exasperation, "Have you even been listening to me Ollie?" She took a deep breath then stepped toward him and rested her hand on his upper arm, "she will never be really happy with this guy because she will never love him the way that she loves you."

"I get what you're saying Lois, I really do but maybe what Chloe deserves more then anything is a chance at a normal life with a normal man." he said.

"Oliver Queen." she said in a tone that reminded him of being scolded as a small child, "you should know better then anyone that Chloe is not meant to end up with some normal man." she said with a twinge of disgust. "She's seen and experienced too much for that. She needs to be with someone extraordinary. She needs to be with you."

Oliver sat for a moment completely silent. Chloe Sullivan was the most amazing woman he had ever known, and she was never meant to live a mundane life, she would never truly be happy with that kind of life.

Chloe thrived in the adventures she had as Watchtower. That's the existence she was supposed to have. They were supposed to fight injustice side by side, but if she married David Jacob Winston there would be no chance of her ever coming back to him or to that life, and the thought of that made his stomach fall to his feet.

He knew Lois was right, he just hoped he could make Chloe see that too.

"Well if I'm going to have a chance you're going to have to tell me everything you know about my competition." he said with a weak smile.

Lois smiled brightly at him, "now that's the Ollie I know and love," she said leaning over and pulling him into a tight hug. She pulled back and smiled at him again, "and trust me on one thing, this guy is nowhere near competition for you." She stepped away from him and made her way back toward the living room, "Why don't we sit back down?" she suggested.

Oliver nodded and followed.

"So what do I need to know?" he asked once they were both sitting.

"I just… he just… it's just… I really hate that guy." she finally let out throwing her arms up.

"Wow, what did this guy do to incur the wrath of Lois Lane?" he asked as he chuckled lightly. When they had been together years ago Lois's straight to the point attitude had amused him to no end, and apparently it still did.

"Well for starters, he's your typical spoiled, overindulged, rich guy." she said with a scowl.

Oliver was slightly taken aback by that, "you do realize that I'm not exactly living in a cardboard box, right?"

"Well yeah, but you are nothing like this guy, Ollie, you would give away everything you have it meant helping someone in need. But this guy he has this whole 'I'm entitled to whatever I want' just because he comes from a family with a lot of money." He recognized the signs of a full on Lois rant coming as she started to pace the room. "And don't even get me started on his family, I mean his parents act like she's not good enough to marry into his family, and do you know what he says when they treat her like that," she asked stopping for a moment to look his way, "do you?" Oliver shook his head. "Nothing. He says nothing just lets them treat her however they want.

Oliver shook his head again, he had no idea how anyone could possibly think someone as amazing as Chloe wasn't good enough. She was amazing, and it sickened him that there were actually people out there that didn't realize that.

Oliver listened as Lois continued to rant about the man her cousin was about to marry.

His gaze drifted down to the small green bracelet and smiled at the fact that Lois had told him Chloe still wore it everyday. After everything she still kept the promise she had made to him the day he had given it to her…

Oliver sat on his couch in his Star City apartment as he read over the latest financial reports that Queen Industries CFO had just faxed over to him. He settled back slightly trying to get more comfortable only to hit his elbow on one of the halfway unpacked boxes that now littered every available surface around him.

Chloe had made the move a few weeks before but league business had kept her so busy that she had just gotten around to unpacking that day. He had offered several times already to help her, but had quickly withdrawn the offer when she threatened to break his arm if he messed with her 'system' he had chuckled at that until he looked into her eyes and realized there was a pretty decent chance that she wasn't kidding.

Suddenly, Chloe came rushing into the room and started, rummaging through the boxes on the coffee table in front of him. He couldn't help but smile as a stray lock of hair fell in her face and she blew it away.

"Problem Sidekick?" he asked once he managed to straighten his lips into a firm line.

"Good guess Ollie." she snapped.

"Well what is it," he pushed.

"I lost something."

"Oh no, does that mean that the Sullivan System has a flaw in it?" he teased with a smirk which quickly faded when she looked up at him with a withering glare. He cleared his throat, "do you want some help finding whatever it is?" he asked cautiously.

"No." she said firmly as she moved to look through the boxes that were sitting beside him on the couch.

"Okay fine," he responded holding a hand up in surrender.

He looked back down at his paper pretending to read them, but what he was really doing was secretly enjoying the show in front of him. Chloe moved from box to box rifling through them and letting out a small growl after each one proved not to be holding whatever she was looking for.

"Found it," she said finally as she stood it front of him holding up the object that had been eluding her for over half an hour now. The tension that had been surrounding her just moments before had seemed to evaporate, and the smile she wore lit up the whole room.

His eyes widened, "the spoon from the McDougal Inn, that's what you've been looking for?"

"Yeah." she answered simply as she headed back toward the bedroom.

Oliver quickly jumped from the couch and followed after her. "Chloe, you just spent half an hour going crazy looking for a trinket that I bought for you in the gift shop of a bed and breakfast?"

She gawked at him, "Oliver it is not just 'a trinket' it's special to me." she explained as she crossed the room and gently placed it in the top drawer of her bedside table, "and where you got it doesn't matter, it's what it represents."

He stared into her eyes for a moment then quickly crossed the room and pulled her tightly into his arms in a tight embrace.

"What was that for?" she asked when he finally released her.

"You're just the most amazing woman." he said as he pulled her to him again.

That night Chloe and Oliver lay in bed. Her back was pressed firmly against his chest as he softly rubbed his fingertips up and down the length of her arm. He waited until he heard her breathing become heavy then removed his hand from her and leaned back. He felt around the top of his nightstand until he found what he was looking for. He then reached back around her and slid the bracelet over her hand and onto her wrist.

Oliver felt her shift beneath him and knew instantly that he had woken her back up. She lifted her hand slightly and when she saw the bracelet she turned to him her eyes questioning what it was doing there.

This was why he had waited until she was asleep, even though they had moved past the 'no strings, no ribbons' stage in there relationship she still didn't like him giving her unnecessary gifts. "Do you like it?" he asked nervously.

"It's beautiful," she answered softly as she admired it.

"It was my mom's."

Chloe looked back toward him clearly shocked but said nothing so he continued, "My dad gave it to her on their first anniversary."

"Ollie…" she said her voice barely above a whisper.

"She would have loved you; you're just so much like her."

Chloe looked at him as a few tears started to fall down her slightly flushed cheeks. "Will you please keep it?"

She leaned up and pressed her lips to his, "I'll wear it everyday," she told him when she pulled back.

He smiled brightly at her and kissed her again…

Oliver couldn't stop the smile from spreading across his lips at the memory. He looked back up at Lois who was still ranting about David Jacob Young.

It was that moment that he knew exactly what he had to do to get Chloe back.

A/N

Okay couple of things, first I'm sorry I took so long to get this posted I ran into the worst case of writer's block. I'm really not thrilled with it but this was the best of the 5 different versions I wrote, Scary right? Lol. Also I know I said Clark would be in this chapter but I was having a lot of trouble writing the scene between him and Oliver, I think it will be in the next chapter.

Thank you so much to everyone who has sent reviews I really appreciate them they keep me motivated so please keep them coming!