Chapter 31 — I Grieve

Zoey shakes her head. She was sitting next to Oliver on the couch in his Star City penthouse. Max was standing in front of them, a clear garment bag in his hand. The dress was a low cut, spaghetti strap, rainbow-colored dress. "Uncle Max, going to the Gala just seems like an insanely bad idea," she says.

"Look, I can't go," Max replies.

"Why not?"

"I have a personal thing."

"Personal thing?"

Max rolls his eyes. "I have a date. With nice handsome man, who is a doctor."

"Why can't you take your date to the gala?"

"Because it's a first date, Zoey. And this is the perfect way to introduce you two as a married couple to the world."

Oliver frowns. "I'm with Zo on this one, Max. This is a bad idea."

"I wasn't even invited," Zoey points out.

"Well, I was," Max argues. "And if I can't make it, then I'm allowed to have a representative of the company go in my place. You're my representative, Zoey."

Zoey sighs. She didn't think this was a good idea. "Okay," she softly says, giving in. She eyes the dress. "I'm not wearing that."

Max shrugs. He sets the garment bag on the couch. "You don't have if you don't want to. It's Versace. I picked it up in Milan over the summer."

Zoey raises an eyebrow. "You went to Milan while I was in a coma for two months?"

"I was only gone for a week."

Oliver walks into the bedroom of the hotel suite to see Zoey still wearing her bathrobe. He knew that she was still having reservations about attending the gala. He had the same reservations. But he knew Max had a reason. And whether that was having a date or something else, Oliver didn't know. He didn't care. He just knew he needed to be there for Zoey.

He looks between the rainbow dress that he had brought with them and the plain black long-sleeve dress Max had chosen. He sits down next to her. "I think you would look hot in either one, Zoey," he tells her.

Zoey shoots him a skeptical look. "You're just saying that to be nice," she softly replies.

"No. I mean it."

Zoey shakes her head. She stands up and grabs the plain black dress. "I don't like my scar," she begins. "I-I-I hate it. I can't even look at it while I'm in the shower." She turns to him. "Bruce…We tried to be…We tried to have sex before we broke up. And I wasn't comfortable with him seeing or touching my scar. I just don't like it. He left. I guess he slept on the couch because I don't remember him coming back to bed. And-and-and I feel like if I wear the dress that I'd love to wear it would just make this thing way worse."

Oliver stands up. He walks over to her. His hands rest on her hips. "Zo, I think you should wear whatever you're comfortable with."

Zoey moves over to the garment bags. She pulls the one with the black dress in it down. She takes the dress out to reveal a strapless gold dress. She shoots him a smile before grabbing the dress and running into the bathroom. After a few minutes, she walks out wearing the dress. It fit her like a glove and ended above her knees. She wore a pair of strappy gold heels with natural makeup. "What do you think," she nervously asks.

"I think you look gorgeous," Oliver says, walking over to her. The only jewelry she wore was the diamond wedding band he gave her. He presses a soft kiss on her cheek. "We should get going. Otherwise, we're not going at all."

Zoey walks out of the bedroom. Oliver grabs a necklace box out of his suitcase and follows her. She was pulling on her coat. "I think I'm finally ready to go."

Oliver holds up the box. "I got you something," he says, opening the box. Inside sat a simple gold necklace with a single arrow-covered emeralds.

"Ollie, you didn't have to," Zoey tells him.

"I wanted to."

Zoey turns around and lifts her hair. He picks up the necklace and drapes it over her neck before fastening it. She turns back to him and smiles. "I think this whole being married to get the detective you pissed off to leave me alone seems to be working well for us."

"I don't know why you think I pissed off Detective Lance," Oliver lies. Zoey crosses her arms over her chest; she didn't believe him. Oliver rolls his eyes. "Okay, I pissed off Detective Lance."

"Now you have to tell me what you did."

"We should get going. Or we'll be late."

"Then we'll be fashionably late," Zoey amusedly says. "What did you do?"

Oliver lets out an annoyed breath. "I dated his daughter, Laurel, for about a year. It didn't end well."

"What did you do?"

"I slept with his other daughter, Sara."

Zoey frowns. "Wait, you dated one girl, it ended, and slept with…" Her gaze widens and she lightly slaps his arm. "Oliver, what you did was way worse than I what I did."

"We're both good at blowing up relationships with dumb mistakes," Oliver says, placing a hand on her back. "We need to go before we're more than fashionably late."

"I think you should be tested before we do anything physical," Zoey teases as they walk out of the hotel suite.

"I could same the same for you," Oliver counters, grabbing her hand. His thumb runs over the wedding band. "You're the one that fucked Lex."

"At least I don't have any sisters you can fuck."

Zoey sighs and walks out of the ladies' room. So far, Bruce had yet to make an appearance at the gala and for that she was thankful. It was hard enough to deal with the press and other guests who were shocked she had shown up with Oliver. Oliver had been great at dealing with the Wayne Enterprise executives; way better than she ever did.

A hand shoots out and grabs her wrist pulling her into a dark alcove. Lips immediately descend on hers and she instantly recognizes who they belong to. Zoey places a hand on Bruce's chest and pushes him away. "Bruce, stop," Zoey softly tells him.

"How much for the night," Bruce tells her, wrapping his arm around her waist. His hand slides under her dress.

Zoey sighs and shoves his hand away. She could smell the alcohol on his breath. "Bruce, you're drunk."

"Does Oliver know how many other guys you've been fucking," Bruce loudly says, pushing her against the wall. His hand slides under her dress once more.

"Bruce, stop."

"You should let me fuck you like they do. I can push you down and fuck you. I can grab your hair," Bruce says, grabbing a fistful of her hair and pulls her head back, exposing her neck. She blinks back the tears. "This turns you on. You like being fucked like this."

"Bruce, you're hurting me," Zoey whispers. She blinks and the tears slip out.

Bruce is yanked away. A fist hits his face and he falls onto the floor. Oliver places a comforting hand on Zoey's cheek. "Zo, are you okay," Oliver asks, wiping away a tear. She nods. She reaches up and touches the back of her head. It was tender. "We're leaving."

Bruce stands up. He wipes blood from the corner of his mouth. "Wait," he says, walking over to them. He pulls out his wallet and takes out some money. "You forgot something." He shoves the money in the top of her dress.

Zoey blinks back the tears. Oliver takes the money out of her dress. He holds up the money. "We're keeping this," he angrily says. "We're going to leave and you're going to stand there realizing that you let the best thing in your life walk away. Because she's the only reason I'm not kicking your ass into next week."

Oliver places a hand on Zoey's lower back and leads her out of the gala. She wipes the tears off her face. He keeps a protective hand on her until they're seated in the backseat of the SUV. He notices the back of her head seems to be stained with blood. He moves her hair and sees the bloodied spot where some of her hair had been ripped out.

"I don't think you'll need stitches," Oliver softly says.

Zoey's cell phone starts ringing. She pulls it out and sees the 'Chloe' on the screen. "Hi, Chloe," she brightly greets, putting on the face that everything was fine. Then it quickly falls. "What…When…Oh. Okay…I, uh, thank you." Zoey softly closes her phone. She sets it on the seat.

Oliver places a hand on her shoulder. "Zo?"

"Uncle Jonathan had a heart attack," Zoey states. She blinks back the tears. "He had a heart attack. And-and-and he's…he's…"

Oliver pulls her into a tight embrace. He doesn't say anything. He just holds her tight as the sobs rack her body.

Zoey feels numb as she watches the casket with Jonathan Kent lying in it be lowered into the ground. She had felt numb since Chloe's phone call. Martha was standing in between her and Clark. None of them had much to say. Zoey watches as Clark picks up a fistful of dirt and drops it in the grave. She turns and walks away from the grave. Oliver was standing a few feet away. She buries her face in his chest and his arms wrap around her.

A few days later, Zoey finds Oliver packing his suitcase. She closes the door after entering her bedroom. "Where are you going," she softly asks, rubbing her arms. She was wearing an oversized cardigan. Her hair was pulled into a messy ponytail. She was wearing her glasses; contacts hadn't been worn since the funeral.

"I have to head back to Star City," Oliver tells her. "There's some Queen Industries stuff I need to take care of."

"Oh. Do you want me to come with you?"

Oliver cups her cheek. "You need to stay here. Be with your family right now."

Zoey blinks back tears. "Are you sure?"

Oliver softly kisses her. She presses close to him. She didn't want him to leave. She starts to unbutton his jeans. He pulls back. "Zo…" There was something in the way she was looking at him. He presses his lips against hers. They fall onto her bed, next to his suitcase. This was nothing like their time in Monte Carlo. There was nothing romantic about this.

His jeans are around his ankles; her flannel pajama pants land on the ground. Oliver guides his cock into her and she lets out a soft moan. Zoey's hands slide under his henley. Her hands are warm against his skin. Her hand touches the jagged scar on his side. He remembered how he got it: sparring with Malcolm Meryln in Nanda Parbat. The throwing star had sliced him open. It had taken weeks for the cut to heal.

Zoey and Oliver are so caught up in each other that neither of them notices the warm light that emits from her hand or that the jagged scar vanishes. Her hands clutch at his back as her body shudders with pleasure. He covers her mouth with his, swallowing her moan. The last thing either of them needed was for someone in the house to hear them. Oliver comes with a grunt.

"This was not how I pictured our first time," Oliver amusedly says, pulling out of her.

Zoey shoots him a disbelieving look. "We've already had a first time."

"Our first time as a married couple."

Zoey stares at him, then lets out a giggle. She smacks his chest. "Don't tell me I ruined some big romantic thing you were doing."

"Rose petals on the floor. Bear skin rug in front of a roaring fireplace."

Zoey snorts. She curls into his side. He turns and presses a soft kiss to the tip of her nose. "When do you leave," she questions.

Oliver looks at the watch that sits on his wrist. "Driver should be here in about an hour." He places a hand on her cheek. "I'm only a phone call away." Zoey nods and presses a soft kiss to his lips.

Did I dream this belief
Or did I believe this dream?
Now I will find relief
I grieve