Explanation with dl_greenarrow

[chloeas]

Chloe, Mia and Lois had had a great time shopping and although they hadn't managed to buy any Christmas gifts and she was nowhere closer to figuring out what to get Ollie, she had gotten herself some more pregnancy-friendly clothes, dresses and flat shoes as well as some leggings that she could wear when her jeans stopped fitting her completely and

Comments

[dl_greenarrow]

He winced a little, quickly dumping the ice pack into the bathroom sink. "Hey," he called back. "How was shopping?"

[chloeas]

"Hey," she said, smiling at him as she started toward their bedroom, "it was good, not very productive, but it was nice."

[dl_greenarrow]

"Well, we could always hop on the jet and fly to New York. They have some pretty good shopping places."

[chloeas]

"Maybe eventually, it's too cold up there rig--" Chloe stilled when she saw the bruise on his face the instant her eyes fell on him and she dropped the bags to the floor, "what happened?"

[dl_greenarrow]

Oliver winced involuntarily at her reaction. "Okay, first off, I'm fine. It's not a big deal. I swear."

[chloeas]

"What happened?" She asked again, her eyes widening as she lifted a hand to his chin so she could turn his face toward the light and take a better look at the bruise, it looked fresh and her heart sank, "did they find us? Are they back?"

[dl_greenarrow]

"No," he said immediately, reaching out and resting his hands on her shoulders. "It was stupid." He blew out a breath and looked down for a moment. "Mike and I went out for a few drinks while you were shopping. We sort of...got into a bit of a bar fight." He winced.

[chloeas]

Chloe stilled, blinking a couple of times as her fear turned into confusion, "a bar fight?"

[dl_greenarrow]

Oliver blew out a breath, nodding a little. "Like I said, it was stupid."

[chloeas]

"What," she shook her head, trying to clear her confusion, she was exhausted so it was harder than usual, "why?"

[dl_greenarrow]

He pursed his lips for a moment, then rubbed the back of his neck. "We hustled a couple of guys at pool. They weren't very happy about it so they jumped us in the parking lot."

[chloeas]

All she could do was stare at him for a moment, she blinked and shook her head a little, "did anyone recognize you?" She asked rubbing a hand over her face.

[dl_greenarrow]

"I think they had a general idea of who I was, but no one called me by name." He watched her for a moment.

[chloeas]

She took a deep breath and looked at him again, "why were you there? This isn't like you, Oliver."

Even as she spoke the words, it all clicked and her eyes widened a little, except, it was like him, like he used to be, before...

[dl_greenarrow]

"I know," he said with a soft sigh, shrugging a little. "I think we just needed some guy time, you know? And neither one of us is really into sports so..."

[chloeas]

Her eyes teared up a little as she looked down, shaking her head, "you're not... happy." She whispered suddenly then looked up at him with big eyes and took a step back.

"That's what you do when things aren't going your way, you get drunk, you start fights," she took a deep breath.