Calendar Girl (9/12)

[serafina19]

Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for a couple of original characters, any resemblance to another character is coincidental.

Author Note: So this completely morphed on me today, and now "May" is missing... seriously... I can't find it. Safe to say I have no idea when I'll be updating.

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Banner courtesy of: geek_or_unique


April

All of the things that I thought were so easy
Just got harder and harder each day

April 22

Dropping her bag by the side of her bed, Chloe was quick to fall back on it and enjoy the freedom of being finished. She had just completed her last final exam and coincidentally, her first year of University. She was one step closer to walking through the elevators, through the glass doors; one step closer to living the dream. Or at least it was the dream. Despite her homesickness, Chloe had grown accustomed to California life and while she missed Clark, Lana and her father, having Lois around kept her on her toes and she had developed some potential lifelong friendships along the way. But among those friendships was a giant question mark.

The last time she had seen Oliver was for that stupid gala over a month ago... the last time they spoke would have been her birthday . Between exams and assignments on her end, and jet-setting and long work hours on his, the most communication between them had been exchanging of emails. Yet, for some reason, it had been enough for her. His first email was full of sympathetic emoticons and apologies, which he had chalked up to desperation, but after giving him a really hard time, Chloe just told him not to try so hard. From there, the emails became their escape from their current situations and always brought a smile to her face, until now. Email was nice, the escape had been nice, and because Oliver was graduating in a week, Chloe knew that his work hours were only going to increase from here, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she wanted more.

It wasn't like Clark, who she patiently waited to notice her, but never did. It wasn't like Pete, where looks were exchanged, but at the end of the day, they were better as friends. With Oliver, it was different, making Chloe realize that everyone had been right... there was something there.

Hearing the knock on the door, Chloe quickly shook out of her thoughts and opened it to find Scott on the other side.

"I know I'm early, but I was in the neighbourhood."

Chloe nodded and gestured for him to come in."Come on in. Evie should be here any minute anyway."

"Thanks. So... how does it feel to be finished?" Scott asked as he walked around Chloe and into the room.

"It feels... refreshing to be done in April."

Scott titled his head. "Interesting word choice."

"What word would you use?"

"Awesome," he said with no hesitation.

"Simple, but a little clichéd, don't you think?"

Scott let out a single chuckle as he walked over to the window. "I've had three exams in the past two days... the fact I can make a coherent sentence is impressive enough for me."

"Fair enough," Chloe said with a smile.  After looking back at her pillow, reminding her of what she had been doing, Chloe looked back up at him.  "Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"Nope."

She bit her lip before finding the courage to ask, "You and Evie...how come it took you guys so long? Couldn't you see it?"

"Look cuz, I know I haven't been the subtlest with you two, but you have to see it, don't you?"

Recently, Lois' words had been eating away at Chloe, but they had mostly been whispers... little reminders of what was in front of her. But this time, it boomed out, pointing out how similar the two questions were, and that scared Chloe, but she tried to shrug it off as she awaited for Scott's answer.

"I always could... but it's about timing. Evie had a tough transfer and she needed time to acclimatize because the fallout with her family and friends back in Michigan... and then she had a really tough time holding onto friends here. I figured being her friend would be better because it gave her something stable, someone she could rely on, which was something she didn't have here."

"They're happy... and they started as friends..."

Chloe bit her bottom lip as she fought to get Lois' words out of her mind as she asked, "What about her cousin and uncle?"

"I've seen pictures and heard a couple of stories regarding them... Evie's pretty guarded when it comes to her past and her family, even with me. From what I've gathered, her cousin's a little crazy, but the uncle keeps his head on straight. However, they're often too busy to come visit, which I find strange, but I don't push it because I know it upsets her." Taking a deep breath, Scott continued, "Honestly, I'm just glad that she met you. You have no idea what your friendship means to her... then again... you probably do."

"Her and I have plenty in common."

"Understatement of the century," he said under his breath.

"What?"

At the sound of the door opening, Scott turned his head and smiled. "There's my beautiful girlfriend."

Evie chuckled as she noticed his presence in the room. "Is it wrong that I'm still getting used to you calling me that?"

He walked up to her and kissed her lips softly. "As long as one day you will get used to it."

Evie placed her hand on his cheek before walking around him to unpack her backpack. "I just need a minute. You mind waiting outside?"

"Of course."

Moments after Scott closed the door, Chloe grinned at her roommate. "I don't think you've stopped smiling since Valentine's Day."

Slipping her shirt over her head, Evie said, "It's thanks to you, you know."

"No, this is all you."

"You're the one who convinced me that it was okay to do something for myself, that sometimes it's worth taking the risk to find what makes you truly happy." After doing up the last button of her crimson shirt, Evie turned to face Chloe. "Do I look okay?"

"Go get him."

Evie hugged Chloe and whispered in her ear, "Think about what I said... really think about it." She smiled quickly and left the room before Chloe had a chance to respond,.

Unfortunately for Chloe, that comment only added to the many statements that were haunting her thoughts.  Collapsing back on her bed, Chloe sighed as she closed her eyes, contemplating what she was going to do.

April 28

While the sun slowly set in the background, Chloe, Lois, Evie, and Scott sat amongst the crowd waiting for Oliver to cross the stage and officially graduate.  When his name was called, the crowd gave the stereotypical cheer, Lois stood up and whooped a couple of times, but Chloe just stood and clapped. She figured that he knew how happy she was for him, which was proven when their eyes met, and he smiled back at her.

"Someday... I'll find someone who sees me and I'll know exactly what to look for because he'll look at me the same way Oliver looks at you."

For the first time, Chloe saw it... the way he looked at her was different. For just a couple seconds, it was like the rest of the world didn't matter, and it was just them. But like all moments, they end, and she was brought back to reality with a sigh as he walked across the stage.

As she sat back down, Chloe and noticed that Evie was looking at her, and had likely observed  the whole thing. Giving a slight shrug, Chloe looked back at the stage, but Evie's eyes hadn't left her. "What?" she asked softly.

Evie responded as she normally did. "Nothing."

"Is it ever actually nothing?"

She just smirked at Chloe before looking back towards the stage. "Not usually, but this time... it really is nothing."

"What does that even mean?"

"You opened your eyes a lot earlier than me," Evie replied as she leaned towards Scott, who had draped his arm around her shoulders.

Chloe smiled at them before standing up to slip past Lois and away from the festivities. She needed a moment to collect her thoughts, and she couldn't do that with the constant applause or Lois' commentary on how hot commerce men were.

Meanwhile, Evie's eyes followed her roommate's movements. This had been the first time that Chloe hadn't fought her on implying Oliver was interested in her and vice versa. Instead, Chloe smiled and left, but while that could considered that as a bad thing, Chloe's expression convinced Evie that not only did Chloe see it, but she also looked ready to take that risk.

Turning her head up slightly, she noticed Scott staring down into her eyes. "You think they've figured it out?"

Looking back towards the stage, Evie found Oliver, who had clearly seen Chloe walk away. Eventually, his eyes met hers, so Evie smiled genuinely at him, hoping that would convince him that everything was okay, because even though Chloe wasn't always the easiest person to read, Evie knew it was different this time.  "I think so," she whispered back.

Once the ceremony ended, everyone started filtering out of their seats to find their graduate, but Lois, Evie and Scott stayed seated, waiting for Oliver to finish a couple of standard interviews. Eventually, they noticed him coming towards them, but Evie knew that the person he really wanted to see was across the field.

"Hey guys," Oliver greeted.

"Congrats Queen," Scott said.

"Yes... congratulations that you didn't make a complete fool of yourself and fall down on stage," Lois added.

Evie rolled her eyes before smiling at Oliver, "So how does it feel?"

Oliver thought about his response for a minute, but eventually said, "Like I'm about to start something great."

"Can I quote you on that?" Lois asked.

With a chuckle, Oliver replied, "Sure, why not? Thanks for coming."

Evie said, "You kidding? We wouldn't miss this for the world."

Turning his head towards where Chloe was pacing, Oliver asked, "Is she okay?"

"Yes... I just think she needed to clear her head," Evie quickly said, and then upon noticing the expression on his face, she raised her eyebrows to Scott. They both started to walk away, but Lois was staying put, so Evie began pulling on her arm. "Lois, how about we let them talk?"

"No, I want to - "

Yanking Lois in her direction, Evie said sharply, "Lois... now!"

Oliver mouthed Thank-you to Evie, who just grinned back as Scott was able to get Lois out of the way. After taking a deep breath, he checked his pocket and began to walk towards Chloe. She spotted him eventually, causing him to catch his breath. Chloe always looked beautiful to him, but today, her smile felt that much brighter.

"Hey."

"Hey," she said back.

"How have you been? I haven't seen you in awhile."

"Fine. You?"

"I'm good."

"Glad to hear it."

Oliver rubbed his hand against the back of his neck. "Look, I wanted to apologize in-person for missing your birthday. I wanted to apologize a long time ago, but -"

Chloe interjected, "You're busy, Oliver, I get it. So was I.  The email was more than enough, anyway."

"You wouldn't even have had a party if I didn't insist on it, and then I didn't even show up."

She shook her head before looking back up at him. "It's fine, honest. The fact that you managed to go to school full-time and run a company is pretty incredible."

"I used to be afraid of taking over Queen Industries, letting people down, most of all my parents... but you make me think that I can really do this."  He paused for a moment before continuing, "You have no idea how much it means to me that you believe in me."

Noticing Oliver's changing expression, Chloe raised an eyebrow in concern. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah... I'm just trying to find the courage to say something."

"Okay... you want me to give you a minute?"

"No, thanks though." Taking a couple steps towards her, Oliver said, "Chloe... I'm-" He stopped talking when he heard Chloe's phone ringing.

Chloe pulled the phone out of her pocket and sighed. Of course it was Clark. After burying the phone in her bag, she looked back up at him. "Sorry about that."

"You sure you don't want to answer?"

"It can wait a couple minutes." She looked back up into his eyes and grinned. "You were saying?"

He smiled back at her before opening his mouth to speak when they heard a voice behind them.

"Lois!" They both turned their heads to see Lois running towards them with Evie and Scott in pursuit.

"Chloe? How did Clark get my number?"

Chloe ran her fingers through her hair in frustration, "I don't know, but if this is another tie dilemma... I'm going to..." she immediately looked up to the sky, trying to hold herself together.  It wasn't like she could say I'm going to shove some kryptonite where the sun don't shine in front of everyone. Sighing, she grabbed Lois' phone and left the crowd to get some privacy. "Clark, this better be an emergency."

There was a short pause before Clark spoke. "It's about your dad."

It almost felt like her heart stopped when he said those words. "He's okay, right?"

"Some crazy employee was trying to get back at Lex for firing him, so he blew up one of the Luthorcorp plants. It was after-hours, so no one was supposed to be at the facility, but... apparently your dad was there with a couple of co-workers and never heard the warning."

Chloe repeated, "But he's okay... right?"

"I'm sorry... I couldn't get to him in time." When Chloe didn't say anything back, Clark continued, "I really didn't want to tell you this way, but I didn't want to risk you finding out through the television broadcast."

Even though she didn't know what she was feeling at the moment, Chloe just nodded in an attempt to keep any tears at bay. "Thank you Clark. I guess it's a good thing I'm heading home soon, huh?"

"Do you want me to pick you up earlier?"

"No, I don't want to raise any suspicion. A couple days won't hurt any."

"If you need anything, don't hesitate to call."

"Okay."

"Stay strong Chloe."

"Bye Clark."

Chloe hung up the phone and leaned against a nearby tree. Feeling the tears coming, she slinked down to the ground and covered her eyes. Within seconds, she heard a crowd of people approaching her.

"Just stand back for a minute."

"I'm her cousin; I should be the one..."

"Now's not the time. Lois, Evie knows what she's doing."

Chloe felt Evie's hand on her shoulder before she spoke. "Chloe, are you okay?"

Bringing her head up to show her tears, Evie's eyes widened as she brought her arms around her friend. "Do you need a minute alone?"

"Yeah," Chloe managed.

"Okay, we'll be in the dorm when you're ready okay?"

Chloe just nodded as she watched Evie whispering to Lois, Oliver and Scott.

"I'm not going anywhere," she heard Lois say, but within a minute, she peered over her knees and noticed that everyone was gone.

~0~

After waiting a couple of hours, Oliver was had left the dorm room to head back home. He'd prefer to stay, but he had a lot of work to do. Unlocking the door, Oliver started slipping off his jacket when he noticed that Chloe was sitting on his couch, wiping her eyes free from tears.

"You found me."

Dropping his jacket on a stool, Oliver began to cautiously approach her. Earlier, she had wanted to be alone, but it seemed to him that she needed to talk with someone now. "Not on purpose. Chloe, what are you doing here?"

"I needed some privacy; this was the only place I knew I could get it."

"Do you want to talk?"

Leaning forward, Chloe covered her mouth with her hands. "I don't know. How do you talk about losing someone?"

"What happened?"

"My dad... he's... he's dead."

Oliver sat next to her and wrapped his arm around her. "Lois and Evie are worried sick about you... you should probably call them."

Leaning into him, Chloe stated, "I don't think I could face Lois right now, and as much as I love Evie, if she wanted to, she has a family to go home to... or at least, I think she does. But you've survived without immediate family for years, and I don't know how you do it. Even though my dad was working a lot, just knowing he was there was enough for me."

"What about your mom?"

"She took off when I was little. I doubt I'll ever see her again."

"Well, you'll always have Lois... we had to fight pretty hard to let you be alone. She's brash, but you know that she always has your back."

That brought the first honest smile from Chloe since Clark had told her the news. "Yeah she does."

"I find the only successful method is surrounding yourself with good people. My guardian kept me grounded, strong... with the exception of my time at Excelsior of course. There were things in my life that I wished I could have done differently, but the truth is... you're a lot smarter than I ever was." He stood up to let her have some space. "You'll get through this Chloe. I know you will."

"Wait," Chloe said as she turned around on the couch, "What did you want to tell me?"

"What?"

"We kept getting interrupted and..."

"It's not important now."

"Come on, Ollie... you can tell me."

He sighed before looking into her eyes, "Um...It's a little cheesy, but I wanted to let you know that you're the best friend that I've ever had."

"Thank you, I really appreciate that. And I appreciate you letting me take refuge here."

"You're always welcome here... that's why I gave you that key," Oliver said as he walked towards his office, leaving Chloe alone on the couch.

April 30

Minutes from midnight, Oliver pulled up the departures road and stopped just before the door. "Well... here we are."

Chloe undid her seatbelt and then looked up at him. "Thanks for driving me to the airport, Ollie."

He got out of the car and then opened the back door to grab her bag. "You wouldn't take the jet, so I'm glad to help in this way. Besides, with Lois on assignment, you shouldn't be heading to Smallville alone. You sure that you don't want me to come?"

"Thanks... but I have to do this on my own. I have to face everyone and I can't afford to hide behind you."

Handing her luggage to her, Oliver put his hand on her shoulder. "If you change your mind... I'm a plane ride away."

After nodding, Chloe began to turn it towards the airport."Okay... see you later, Oliver."

Before Chloe had a chance to get anywhere, Oliver grabbed her hand. "Actually...I was hoping to give you something." Once Chloe had turned back around, he reached in his inside coat pocket and pulled out a box. Popping it open, he showed her the heart shaped locket on a gold chain that was inside. "It was supposed to a birthday gift, and then life seemed to get in the way."

After fiddling with the locket for a couple of seconds, he was able to open it. Placing it carefully in her hands, Chloe noticed that inside were pictures of her parents, on one side was a an old picture of Chloe with her mom, and on the other was a picture of her dad. Chloe brought her other hand to her mouth as she looked back up at Oliver with glassy eyes.

Oliver grinned as he noticed her reaction. "I figure that this way, they're always with you."

Chloe closed the locket again and held it out to him. "Do you mind?" She lifted her hair up while Oliver slipped his hands through her arms to do up the clasp. As he stood up straight, Chloe had reached into her pocket and held a chain out to him. "Take it, please."

Oliver obliged and looked at the tags attached to the chain.

"It's my dad's dog tags," Chloe said.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "I didn't realize that he was in the military."

Chloe chuckled. "Early training accident caused an honourable discharge, but Uncle Sam got them made so that he'd always remember his days when he was serving his country."

"Chloe...I can't take this."

Oliver attempted to give it back, but Chloe put her hand up to stop him. "He liked you, and I want you to have it."

He nodded, moving his hands behind his neck to put it on. "You're going to be okay Chloe. You're the strongest person I know."

"I doubt that... but time heals all wounds, right?"

"Eventually," Oliver replied. "But you should go... I don't want you to miss your flight."

Chloe nodded and walked a couple steps away before dropping her bag, turning around to hug him. "Thank you... for everything."

Oliver kissed her forehead as he returned the embrace. "I'm always here for you, whenever you need me."

May