Ollie's got cold. Sniffle Sniffle. I wonder how many women would kill to play nurse with him. I know I would, *Rubs hands together gleefully in anticipation*

Chapter Eight; The Pleasure Drive

Oliver woke to find a missing warmth. He lifted himself to his elbows from un-recallable dreams to scan the room. No sound of running water, so she wasn't in the shower either. His head felt clotted and heavy, his eyes ached and he couldn't move faster than a shuffle. He caught a glimpse of the clock. 11am? That can't be right. He never woke that late. He threw back the duvet then immediately regretted it, the air swept bitterly icy across his arms and legs. He pushed himself from the bed, against all pleading requests from his brain, and left, if only to use the bathroom and scrounge for some miracle medicine. With the comforter thrown across his top half, not bothering to change from his boxers for sleeping, he plodded heavily down the stairs, ungraceful and bunged up, sniffles accompanying him where he went. He paused by the kitchen door, a small voice stopping him from entering. He hugged the wall for support and hung his head around.

There she was, his angel, covered only in a pale pyjama set standing on her tiptoes atop a chair, rummaging through cupboards. He smiled, watching her move her body and lips to a beat only she could hear. IPod was plugged in and she was singing along quietly. Clark had brought her purse over, since it had survived the fire, and honest to god, Ollie had never seen a grown woman look quite so relived as Chloe did when she knew all her electricals still lived. PDA, iPod, Mobile, taser gun… those sorts of things. Not wanting to cause a fuss or disturb her happiness he shuffled past the kitchen, still sniffling, and snuggle don the sofa. Though, it wasn't very manly to refer to it was snuggling, he certainly wouldn't, it was more of a 'knee hugging' for warmth purposes. Coughing fits followed and only those told Chloe he was awake. As if on a perfectly timed cue she brought in a tray of food.

"Chloe, I'm not eating all that." he argued when she sat it in front of him, his voice scratching against his throat as he forced it out. She smiled and pulled out her earphones, removing the heavy beat of the music she had been lost to.

"I brought you some nice drugs, water, freshly squeezed orange juice, coffee, toast and healthy porridge. And don't look at me like that; you were the one who bought it. But if nothing tickles your fancy, I can whip you up something else. We have eggs if you want an omelette." She continued to buzz around doing nothing Ollie could see, but she was busy fluttering by as he groaned and coughed his lungs raw again. A hand swept past him eyes and rested on his forehead.

"Chloe. I'm fine. It's just a cold."

"Oliver Queen. You are burning up. So that means I'll be ringing around all your appointments to cancel them today and you'll be following my orders, starting with eating and drinking, and ending with bed rest." He glared at her.

"This is really sweet and everything, but the board of directors meets today and I can't miss." There was more to his argument but his voice was fading, replaced by brutal coughs. She simply raised her eyebrows to state her point.

"What's the number?" she only asked, her hand outstretched and waiting.

"Chloe I'm going into work, this is stupid. I may be late, but I can still make my meetings." He shoved the tray from his reach, chucking the pills into his mouth and chasing them down with gulps of water. He made to stand, but he felt a thousand years old, battling with gravity simply to remain vertical.

"No. What's stupid is your stubborn male pride. Everyone has sick days, even billionaire part time vigilantes. I'm sure Tess can hold fort at Queen Industries and Luthorcorp. And Clark will take care of the city. Please, just admit you're ill and go back to bed." His growl was lost under the shooting pain across his lungs but he sluggishly pulled the try of food back across and bit into a slice of toast, not leaving Chloe's eyes to show his displeasure of the action. The toast was fine, fantastic even, and still warm. But the loss of victory to a woman half his size stung something terrible.

"I don't stay in bed all day Chloe. You can cancel my meetings, but I have a video conference at 4 that I cannot miss." She smiled, warming his heart.

"It's all about compromise." She settled down into a chair opposite him. "And Dr Emil is coming over later, to check that dust is out of your system. If you're good, maybe he'll give you some even better drugs." She winked, patronising him. He rolled his eyes and bit into the next slice of toast.

She grabbed the book she had started the day before and immersed herself into 'The life and death of a halo spy'. The title sucked, but the plot was interesting. Ollie watched with curiosity after polishing off the toast and somehow tasty porridge. He waited, watching for the right moment, and 20 minutes later it came. Her eyes bulged and her face shot red. He laughed and she almost jumped out of her skin.

"You know, for a second I thought you were a boring guy who read boring books… clearly I misjudged you." He chuckled again, only a few coughs this time but a lot less wheezy. He had been expecting her reaction and knew exactly where she was. It was where Grant Halo, the spy, finally found his target, but instead of a death match, they ended up in a graphic, well described, sex scene.

"How can you read this?" she asked again, the blush still evident on her face. Oh the things he could teach her, he mused, if she blushed at this, it thrilled him to see how she would to others. "It's practically pornography." He laughed again.

"This has far more taste. If you had the guts to read it to the end, you'd see." he taunted. She took the bait, but tugged on the line a little harder that even the fisherman expected. Setting her back straight she picked up the book again, and moved to sit almost on top of Ollie, flipping back to her page, allowing him a perfect view over her shoulder of the words.

12 pages she mused internally. This man had filled 12 whole pages with sex. Either he was a literary genius or severely deprived. Though she doubted that… if he could write like that… maybe he was retelling his own events, if so, she'd kill to spend one night with him. She was wet, just reading about it. Every flush and caress she felt as her own. If Ollie hadn't been there grounding her, maybe, just maybe, she would have ended as happily as the female spy did.

He had to be genius she concluded; no other author could drag you to almost orgasm from words on a page.

She wondered how Ollie could read this and remain unaffected, or maybe he was somehow immune. As the smut drew to a close she shifted and leaned back against him, cooling off on his suddenly freezing skin. He wrapped his arms tighter around her.

"So?" he asked, a cheeky grin playing on his lips.

"So…"

"Have I lost you to Grant?" he laughed, pulling the soft comforter around them both.

"I was Grant's all along, I just didn't know it… sorry" He smirked. "But now that you've had your bedtime story I'm kicking you upstairs buster. I promise to wake you before your conference call." she swore and pulled him to his feet. She set the alarm for 3:00 to give him time for Emil to check him out and a shower if he wanted before he had to meet with big business people. She tucked him in, humouring his childish side. He took hold of her wrist as she made to leave.

"Where do you think you're going? Baby likes to sleep with his pretty dolly." He pulled her back down but she broke free, easy when the giant is full of flu.

"This baby however, is going to infect pretty little dolly if she stays around for too long, and dolly has a target over her head so can't be dragged down." She left him, saying no more and flicking the light off.

Emil and Bart came over together. Bart with the files Dinah and Victor had collected and Emil with his medical kit. Bart shared a recount of what happened when Chloe lost audio, while Emil explained what this creeps 'Cloud Nine' gas actually was. Unexpectedly the evil genius had spoken the truth and the nerve gas left the body completely in a matter of hours with no adverse effects. It did lower the immune system though and Ollie was not the only one with cold this morning. But it wouldn't be serious and would be out of the body quickly.

At 2:59 she walked into Ollie's room and flipped on the light, letting it bathe the room. The alarm sounded perfectly in time. Ollie rolled over, slapped it off then curled back up.

"Com'on billionaire boy, you got work to do."

"Urgh, I can't breathe, let alone think." She laughed silently and went over to the sound system bringing some dance song to life. Ollie rolled onto his back.

"Chloe, what the hell?"

"You told me to get you up. Video conference, ring any bells?" He grunted and threw back the covers making a beeline to the shower. "Emil dropped you off some tablets too." she added and he groaned in acknowledgement. She tidied back the duvet and went back downstairs to make his second breakfast. He slumped down 10 minutes later, but avoided the kitchen and picked up the phone.

"I hope you're not cancelling because you have flu" she sing-songed and brought him coffee and two small white tablets.

"Chloe, phone them and cancel."

"Oh, you were doing so well this morning, what happened?" she babied.

"Listen." He breathed in; it was raspy and very unhealthy. She ducked out the room, the came back, producing a blue jar. She handed it to Ollie. He opened the lid, sniffed, the held it at arms length.

"What is that?" She rolled her eyes.

"It's not poison so don't look at me like that. It's a herbal cream for clearing your sinuses. You were the one that bought it."

"I did?"

"It was in your cabinet."

"The maids shop around very once in a while." he explained. "What do I do with it?" She rolled her eyes yet again.

"Seriously? Are you four?" she jibed and took the tub from him, reading out loud. "Take a small amount and rub across chest to help clear breathing. For other uses rub onto a pillow or tissue." She looked back up at him, the jar extended out again. He didn't move.

"Ollie. I swear it's not poison."

"I know… But it smells awful." She sighed and stood before him square on.

"Loose the shirt" she instructed.

"Chloe if you wanted to see me naked. Just ask." He had no idea how much that idea stuck with her. Instead she just frowned and tugged at the hem helping pull it off him. "You know, this remains me of when Isabella-"

"I don't want to know. Just stand still and don't look at me like I'm naked for god's sake." She rubbed the cream across her hands then placing them on Ollie's chest. He had no idea how much she had wanted to do this. In different circumstances she would take her time to explore every inch of his perfection. His nipples practically cried out to her, begging for her to lean those few inches closer and take one between her teeth.

"You know Isabella-" She scraped him with a nail. "-ow, that hurt. What was that for? Isabella would never do that." he teased to which she just scowled at him then carried on. "Never pegged you for jealous Chloe."

"Oh Ollie. God Ollie. Yes. Yes. Oh God. Please Yes. Ollie I love you so much." she quoted in deadpan. "Does that make you feel better?"

"Maybe. Try again. Once more…with feeling" he jibed and she pushed him back into the couch, shirt thrown aimlessly at him. He plucked it from the air skilfully.

"See, you're feeling better already." she noted and stalked out.

Oliver made the conference call in his little office study area, leaving her alone with another book he had recommended, this time, one with a little less sex. He came out what seemed like hours later and sighed tiredly. Chloe had done some thinking in his absence, inspired by the ninja book she was now on. She could sense a theme in his literature. Ollie slouched on the couch, reading over her shoulder again.

"It's a good book that one" he noted sniffling. She nodded.

"Hence the tatty spine and dog eared corners." She saved her place and set the book down. She visibly turned her whole body on the couch, her legs tucked under her and body facing him. "Ollie can I ask you a favour?" He mirrored her pose and sighed.

"Fine, but at least wait to ask me for sex when I feel better." She didn't hit him, he froze from shock. "Oh, you're serious. What's up?"

"Before you shoot me down, at least let me tell you my reasons. And remembering I can hide the medicine from you would also work in your favour."

"Wow, you're evil when you want something. Fine, I'll keep an open mind." She wriggled and changed her legs around then stared him dead in the eye.

"I want you to teach me to fight." He blinked twice.

"No" She slapped him on his shoulder. "Ow! Woman, that's abuse!"

"You said you'd hear me out and keep an open mind. I don't want to kill people with my bare hands Ollie. Just self defence. I'm not going to stay cooped up in here living in fear that I'm going to be snatched at any given second. Just a few moves so I can have a chance to run away." He paused in thought the replied the same.

"No"

"Why not?"

"Well you're tiny. I can teach you to flip a man over your shoulder for grabbing your ass, but he'd have to be a gnome for it to work. And before you hit me again, you know I'll keep you safe. There's nothing to worry about."

"I'm not going to stay barnacled to you while he's still around. Take last time, you all thought I was safe and I got attacked at Isis. Face it Ollie, you can't have a double identity and keep me safe at the same time."

"Then I'll give up Green Arrow. Or my work. Whichever you want. Both if need be."

"That's just stupid, why won't you teach me?"

"Because you'll get hurt."

"That's precisely why I need to learn." She ran her fingers through her hair. "Ollie, I know you're concerned, but I won't be hand-to-handing it with them for longer than necessary. I'm not aiming to decapitate someone with one blow. Just self defence. Please." He shook his head vehemently. "Fine I'll ask Dinah. Or Bart. He'll teach me anything if I rub up against him enough" she snapped.

"Chloe, wait"

"Ollie, just… I'll be back later." She walked, controlled, to the door and left without slamming it shut. To which she was proud.

Oliver pulled out his phone, coughing as he dialled.

"Bart, keep Chloe safe, she's on her way out of my apartment. And no matter what she does don't promise her anything." He hung up without waiting for an answer.

Bart lurked in the shadows following her as soon as she had stepped out. But it seemed Oliver had also called Dinah and she was also expecting her when she arrived; inviting her in for hot chocolate. It was no coffee, but it sated her chocolate craving.

"Ollie said there was no way I could teach you anything that would resemble fighting. Personally I think he just likes the thought of being your knight in shining leather. If you can defend yourself you wouldn't need to live with him anymore and he'd loose all chance of romancing you."

"Since when did Ollie give you the guided tour of his inner workings?" Chloe had walked off the majority of her tension and anger and didn't really expect Dinah to agree anyway. Of course Ollie would have forbid her, but she was a friendly face and would give her perspective. Also, she could bitch about Ollie if she fancied it.

"He's male. Males always have the same thing on their mind. And that's surprisingly not sex. Though they do think about that a lot more than we're led to believe. But more to the point. Despite however many men deny it, they all will act selfishly to benefit themselves. They have this drive where they simply ask the same question over and over 'what do I get from this action?'" Chloe rose her eyebrows questionably. "Don't look at me like that. It's some psychological pleasure drive. Think about it. A guy sees a fatty chocolate cake. He doesn't think calories, he thinks 'how awesome would this taste?' and bases the decision to eat some on his answer. The guys at the gym are the same, except they think 'Exercising= abs. Abs= girls. Girls=naked sweaty sex which makes man happy.'" She imitated a cave man for her male thought stream. Chloe laughed. "So we look at Ollie. Ollie plays vigilante because he feels good when he saves someone. He works out so he can save people and so he can maintain that super hot bod to keep the flocking females running in his direction so he can have a good, primal, primitive fucking with them"

"Dinah!"

"Sorry. I forgot about your sensitive ears." She rolled her eyes at Chloe. "But it's all a selfish instinct. Or so I've read. But you learning to fight wouldn't benefit him. For starters you aren't sleeping with him, so him rolling you around and meshing your sweaty bodies together is just taunting him with something he can't have. Seconds, you wouldn't need him around so much so he'd feel his ego deflate and his masculinity stripped bare. Lastly, the longer you rely on him, the longer he can play hero in your drama, and the more saves he gets, the closer you two grow, therefore the more chance you have for falling for that walking sex god and throwing yourself into bed with him." Dinah sighed and dropped onto the sofa. "So I suppose really… it does all come down to sex." she concluded.

"So if I was to sleep with him, he would teach me to fight." Chloe summarised.

"In theory I suppose, yeah. But it has been brought to my attention that men do have deeper cognitive processes than just sex and pleasure. Bart did agree that you could get a man to agree to anything with his cock in your hand, but also stated that men also have bellies. Big rumbling bellies that need feeding and huge ego's that need constantly stroking."

"So I lay on thick with the compliments, cook for him, and take advantage of us sharing a bed?" Chloe asked in confirmation. Dinah nodded.

"I'm guessing so. And if that doesn't work you could always turn to a back-up plan. Blackmail, threats, bullying and tearing out his heart with your fingernails. Figuratively of course. You could even cyber attack him with a virus for porn sights and steal all his money. Wow, you could really go to town with him couldn't you…" Dinah's mind drifted.

"Right…"

The conversation flowed into easier topics and Chloe melted back to her usual self, listening to Dinah's relationship problems. Finally she knew she needed to go back. Ollie was already ill, and him worrying about her wouldn't help his recovery. Besides Dinah had given her enough to think about for now. Which is what she desperately hoped her brain would start on anytime now, instead of the description Dinah gave her of a past boyfriend in love with piercings, Chloe had a lovely visual of the piercing Dinah been most interested in, all Chloe could think was that it had to hurt.

It had been a total of 2 hours since she walked out the door and it had been pissing it down for the last one. So without an umbrella she ended up being carried at super speed by Bart and her left side was drenched while her right stayed dry, cuddled next to him. But he was no Oliver.

"Thanks Bart. You sure you don't want to come in?" she asked at the door.

"Nah. Dinah's expecting me back." He took off and Chloe blinked off some more dots of rain. Was something going on between Bart and Dinah?

A towel wrapped around her and Oliver pulled her fully inside shutting the door behind her.

"I suppose I should pray you also don't get flu now." he joked and rubbed her shoulders.

"Unlike some people I do know my own limits and besides I never get flu. All these Brainiac bugs keep me healthy, and they repair tissue quite fast too." She nudged the towel from her shoulder, sliding her top to the side to show Ollie the pink line where only 3 days ago a gash had resided.

"I still don't like you having Brainiac in you."

"Nothing I can do about, except be thankful I don't have to cover up everyday. You can hardly see them anymore. This one's the last to go." She stroked a finger down the pink line, Ollie's eyes following then continuing down her cleavage after she had stopped. "I'm dying for some coffee though." She laughed and took Ollie's hand, dragging him with her as she perched on the kitchen counter while the kettle boiled. She snuggled against him, away from the cool air.

"Hey, your fever is gone." she commented and wrapped her hands round his head, feeling his normal temperature skin. He beamed.

"And I feel better, the gooey stuff really works. And best yet… if you get cold. I get to rub it on your chest."

"So close to decent. Yet so very far."

"Does it help if I say I'm kidding?"

"We both know you can't mean it. And besides, I feel like I'm not wanted then." She pouted and wound her fingers with his.

"Well if you ever feel that way, you know I'll always be first in line to strip you. Speaking of… didn't you make a point before about not sitting in wet clothes?" He eyed up and down her wet clothes pointedly. Maybe lingering a little longer over certain areas, but Chloe didn't mind at all. She had done the same on previous occasions.

"Oliver Queen. That is most improper. I suggest coffee then straight to bed"

"But I'm not tired." he whined, letting his immaturity take over control.

"Yes you are. Or at least I am, and you make a nice hot water bottle." She grinned. She took down two mugs and spooned the coffee and poured milk into each. When filled with boiling water she passed one to Ollie, the other she rested on her lap, still sitting on the counter.

"You know. Some women sleep with hot water bottles in weird places."

"In your dreams Ollie." she hissed but smiled around her mug. If his body was any indicator, she knew somehow, sometime, he would have imagined himself in place of a hot water bottle, nuzzled between her legs.

Like any good coffee addict she downed the cup in less than two minutes and placed it into the sink. Ollie wasn't far behind, thought he might not be quite the addict she was, he had more than enough experience for the both of them with drinking. She hopped down from the counter and sauntered out the kitchen. Ollie followed, staring at her ass sinfully, entertaining thoughts in his head.

As she pushed open the bedroom door she wandered through picking up a towel and some more pyjamas from her closet. She had so many new ones and couldn't wait to try them all. Tonight, a green silky nighty that cut off above the knee. It might technically be classed as lingerie, and she might have picked it especially to tease Ollie and so she could feel his hands wander in the night, the rough pads of his fingers drifting to caress her thighs. But, it did look adorable.

"Enjoy your shower." he purred unintentionally and she felt herself melt, his gaze on her ass as she bent for her shampoo.

"Ollie, stop staring at my ass and go back to bed." He chuckled, caught red handed and slid into his pyjama pants while she showered. He was waiting when she re-appeared, tauntingly dressed to kill. Without a care she didn't hesitate to accept his invitation to rest her head in the crook of his shoulder. He wrapped his free arm around her, smelling the shampoo only she could pull off and closing his eyes, more than happy to fall asleep like that forever.

I'm having a thought here…

A lot of my chapters are going to start with waking up and end with going to sleep together all lovey dovey…I'll try mix it up, but I want to it show the type of days that they have. A chapter a day kind of thing… I don't know. We'll have to see what happens…

Anyway…yeah, I think this is my favourite chapter so far. It's so bubbly and makes me smile whenever I read it. I love it. I know I'm meant to be un-sure about my work and have zero self confidence, which let me tell you 98% of the time I do, but this chapter is one of the 2% that makes me all gooey on the inside because I adore it. I can only hope you all do too.

Thanks for reading so far. Don't let me lose you now. (If I am losing you please tell me why. I don't wanna lose my darlings)