Author Note: All comments and reviews are appreciated. They are my addiction, so please feed it! I need to know if I am doing things right.

A big thank you to Chloesilvers for being my beta on this project, and to selene2 for my fab banner.

"Oliver, where is she?"

Oliver strode towards the Kryptonian, almost crushing his phone with his anger. "You've got a lot of nerve."

"I was looking for Chloe at the Talon, and I heard your message on their machine. Why is she in Star City? Was she hurt because of you and your missions?"

Clark tried to intimidate Oliver with his immovable stance. Oliver was too angry to even care.

"If you stop with the accusations long enough, maybe I'll explain." Oliver said with a clenched jaw.

"Why is she here?"

"For your information, she lives in Star City now; has been for over a month now. As her 'BFF' you would obviously know that."

"What? I don't have time to listen to this."

Oliver watched as Clark looked to the wall with a constipated look on his face. He knew he was using his super-hearing, intent on doing things his way as usual.

Clark strode from the room towards Chloe's, and Oliver followed closely behind.

"You can't just walk in there!" Oliver yelled after him.

Clark just ignored him and opened the door regardless. Luckily Chloe had just put on a clean tank top, saving her exposure to the entire room.

"Clark!"

Oliver caught up in time to see the look of surprise rather than joy on Chloe's face. There wasn't even a hint of a smile.

"What are you doing here?" She asked as the nurse helped her to get back into bed.

Once she was settled, the nurse left the room, sensing the tension and impending semi-private conversation.

"I was going to ask you the same thing! I went to the Talon to find you, but heard Oliver's phone message about an operation. Why are you in Star City?"

Chloe saw Oliver in the doorway and was glad of his presence. He closed the door before leaning on a nearby locker with his arms folded across his chest. His eyes had yet to leave Clark.

"I think my letters to you and Lois were pretty clear."

Clark appeared confused. "Chlo, I haven't received any letter from you."

His face suddenly brightened as if he had the answer. Clark sat on the edge of the bed so he could be closer to his friend.

"For the past few weeks, Jor-El has been holding me prisoner at the fortress. An imposter has been living my life with Lana – even she couldn't tell the difference. Maybe he read your letter?"

Oliver choked on a laugh. Lana Lang was the most self-involved of Chloe's friends. He was sure that if Chloe had been welcome within fifty yards of the Kent Farm, she would have figured things out.

"Clark, that's awful. I'm so sorry." Chloe held his hand in sympathy.

Oliver could see her face relax. She finally had some relief; a weight seemed to have been lifted from her shoulders. Clark Kent hadn't intentionally ignored her. He would have been there if he could have, but Jor-El had decided to flex his parental muscles.

Oliver began to wonder if he had been wrong about the guy too.

"Is Lana okay?" Chloe asked.

"For the past two weeks we've tried to rebuild our relationship, but it's hard. How could she not tell the difference?"

Oliver noticed the small frown on Chloe's face, and he knew that this wasn't going to be pleasant. He had seen that look on her face on very few occasions, each time the outcome had never been good.

"Two weeks?" She repeated.

"Yeah. It's been awful."

Chloe stiffened and removed her hand from Clark's. "Ollie, could you give us some privacy?"

"Sure. I'll be outside if you need me." As he left the room he knew a storm was brewing and it was about to roll right over Clark. As he shut the door he kept close, wanting to be there if she needed him. Clark had long been Chloe's weakness.

Once the door had closed, Chloe turned her attention back to Clark. "You've been back two weeks, and you've only just realised that I was no longer there?"

He looked back at her with wide eyes, his mouth partially open as he tried to think beyond the warning bells in his head.

"Tell me, were you at the Talon just to visit, or were you just looking for your usual sympathetic ear?"

"It's not like that."

Chloe shook her head in disbelief. Since walking through her door he hadn't once asked why she was in hospital, or even how she was feeling. The fact that she was in Star City and not readily accessible for him had been at the forefront of his mind.

"I'm lying battered and bruised in a hospital bed, yet I already know the latest Clark and Lana saga. You haven't once asked how I am Clark!"

She held a hand up between them to stop the inevitable reply. "This is why I moved to Star City. I'm just not important enough to my loved ones in Metropolis to be spared a thought."

She pinched the bridge of her nose. It was so tiring having to dig up her past disappointments again, especially considering how great things had been for her lately.

"I'm tired of being in one-sided relationships, Clark."

"No! That was Bizzaro. He's ruined everything for me."

Chloe didn't know if she should feel sorry for him. She had enabled his selfish treatment for so long it was almost her fault too. It had to stop, and she needed to be strong enough to enforce the change.

"This isn't a recent thing, it's been happening for years. I'm tired of being the 'go-to' girl. I'm living my life for me now, and I have friends that actually call just to say 'hi'."

Clark looked over his shoulder towards the door. "You mean Oliver?" He made no effort to hide the disbelief in his voice.

"Yes, Oliver is among them. He's been a better friend to me in the past two weeks than you have in the past two years.

Chloe surprised herself. It had been one thing to think it, but telling Clark to his face was something else. There were some things that you just couldn't take back.

"Oliver won't always be there for you. He left Lois, and they loved each other. You can't depend on him; his other life will always come first."

A dull ache formed deep in her chest at his words. Her world would be a lot less shiny without Oliver in it. Would he leave her life just as swiftly?

The door to the room swung open before she could form a response. Oliver marched into the room, eyes blazing with anger.

"It's time for you to leave." He ordered.

Clark ignored the interruption to his conversation with Chloe. "Come home with me. Lana, me, Lois…we'll look after you. You're going to need help while you recover."

She couldn't believe he had chosen to either ignore or repress half of their conversation. Did he assume she would just drop everything? It was then that Chloe realised that two months ago she would have done just that.

"Oliver is taking me home. He and the guys are going to help me until I'm back on my feet. Besides, I'm never going back to stay. Living with Lois was colder than your fortress."

"Lois loves you."

"Lois disowned me. She knows about the accident, but she still cannot be bothered to make sure I'm alright. Maybe you should go home and get your facts in order before you start volunteering others' time."

"Maybe she just needs time."

"Those that really love you stick around when things are tough."

"Like you stuck around?" Clark's voice rose with his temper. "Maybe if you had, Lana wouldn't have been sharing her bed with a monster!"

"That's it, you're gone!" Oliver grabbed the arm of Clark's jacket and pulled. He knew that it was futile trying to physically remove him, but the intent was the same.

"Get your hands off of me!"

A nurse from the corridor stepped into the open doorway. "Is everything okay in here?"

Oliver flashed the woman his trademark smile, clearly turning up the charm. "Everything's fine. My friend here and I were about to leave Chloe so she could get some much needed rest."

The nurse clearly wasn't fooled but let it slide. "I think that's a good idea."

Not one to argue publically, Clark reluctantly followed Oliver out in to the hall and into the waiting room.

Oliver waited for Clark to close the door before he spoke. "Do you even listen to yourself? That is supposedly your best friend down the hall in a hospital bed. She's in bad shape. Feeling vulnerable, and you've just tried to make her feel three inches tall."

"She doesn't understand."

Oliver's jaw set with anger, his body almost shaking with the tension. "No, it's you who doesn't understand Clark." He let out a humourless laugh at the perplexed looking alien "I'm beginning to see why she moved so far away from you."

"You know nothing about the friendship Chloe and I have. She knows she's in the wrong here."

Oliver could tell Clark genuinely believed his words. It was a wonder that Chloe hadn't been driven mad years ago.

"If your girlfriend can't tell the difference between you and some genetic alien freak, blame her – not Chloe. She deserves more from you than that."

Clark's own voice was thick with anger "This isn't the end of the conversation. Tell her I'll visit tomorrow."

His hands were clenched at his sides and Oliver knew that one punch and he would probably land in Chloe's room via five layers of brick.

Instead of throwing a fist, Clark simply walked out of the room and towards the elevator. In the face of such arrogance Oliver couldn't resist having the last word. "I'd call first if I were you!"

Clark didn't acknowledge him, but he knew he had been heard.

Oliver quietly entered Chloe's room and discovered that she was still on her own.

"Is he gone?" Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears as she spoke.

"Yeah, he's gone."

As her tears threatened to spill over he simply say next to her on the bed and hugged her. The genuine comfort was too much and she couldn't help but silently cry. Chloe didn't want him to see her like this, but he was the only one who knew how hard everything had been for her lately.

Oliver simply held her until the tears dried.

"Take me home, Ollie. I need to be around friends right now."

She didn't see his smile as she referred to his place as home.

"I'll talk to your doctor and make it happen. I'll keep my promise."

Oliver relaxed his arms without breaking the embrace. "I should warn you, Clark mentioned seeing you again tomorrow."

"A good night's sleep and a few cups of coffee, and I'll be ready to face anything."

In truth, all she needed was a few more hours like this with Oliver, and everything would feel better. She didn't know how he did it, but he could genuinely brighten her day.

"I'll be there is you need me to."

She smirked, it was almost bitter. "Maybe that's why you're the better friend."

"Well, not to brag or anything, but to prove your point I've got AC smuggling in the good stuff." He said light-heartedly. His smug grin was already appearing as her mood instantly began to brighten.

"Coffee?" She asked with a smile of her own.

Oliver faked his nonchalance well. "I might have mentioned something of the caramel variety."

Chloe groaned with pleasure at the thought. The coffee in this place was awful, and she was beginning to feel twitchy without her regular fix.

"You really are the best." That coffee was going to taste so good. She leant forward and gave Oliver a soft peck on his lips.

As she was thinking to herself about how he always found a way to make her smile, she realised that she had just kissed him; no matter how innocently.

She looked over at him and he was staring back with a slightly shocked look on his face. He must have realised, because he quickly put on his 'charm face', but Chloe still felt the tension in his arms.

"I asked for blueberry muffins too." He closed his eyes and pouted his lips dramatically as if expecting another kiss.

Chloe laughed. It was a move she would expect from Bart, not the ever sophisticated Oliver Queen. Still laughing she cupped his jaw with her hand before planting a kiss on his stubbled cheek.

Oliver opened his eyes and turned to her with a quizzical look on his face. "I did say blueberry muffins, right?"

"Sorry, but coffee trumps blueberry muffins every time." At the look on his face she laughed again. "Oh God…see! I told you that you pouted!"

"I do not pout." He said with all seriousness, his pout still firmly in place.

She rolled her eyes. Sometimes men could be such babies. "Oh for crying out loud…" Chloe leant forward again, planting another small kiss to his lips, hoping to remove the childish expression.

Chloe began to move away, intending to ask if he had stopped sulking; instead she felt his hand bury itself into her hair, pulling her closer to him.

A brief peck on the lips didn't appear to be enough for him. He took the initiative and made more of the simple kiss; he tugged her bottom lip between his own, the brief touch of his tongue had her opening her mouth for more.

Oliver deepened the kiss without hesitation, pouring all of his feelings from the past week into it.

Chloe felt like she was melting - from her lips right down to her toes. His body heat seemed to envelop her, and all she could feel was him; she was happy for it to never end.

'I'm kissing Oliver'. Opportunities like this rarely occurred for people like her, and she was going to make the most of it.

Chloe was going to cement every second of it into her memory. She wanted to remember every little detail – like how soft but firm his lips were; how his hands were rough to the touch, but gentle as they caressed the nape of her neck.

As he slowly pulled his lips from hers, she knew her secret wish had probably jinxed the moment.

Temporarily lost for words, she expected him to use a witty remark to fill the silence, but he didn't. He just gazed at her with his dark eyes and smiled.

"I'll find the doctor and we'll get you out of here."

With a final peck on her cheek, he got up and left the room, leaving her sat there in a state of shock.

She had just spent the past ten minutes making out with Oliver Queen, and her only thought was that she wanted more.