Passion Leaves a Trace: Ghost in Your Mind (1/1)
Author: serafina19
Title: Passion Leaves a Trace: Ghost in Your Mind
Series Summary: It started as a simple arrangement, but with their knowledge and understanding of each other, it left a trace of something more to come, something to build beyond what they expected.
Segment Summary: Clark and Lois finding out was the last thing Chloe wanted, but that leads to a series of events that allow her to realize that it’s alright to let someone in, even in the smallest form.
Series Rating: PG-13 Segment Rating: PG
Series Timeline: Conspiracy-Fortune Segment Timeline: Escape
Thanks to: aradira for the banner.
Prologue
This Night
Ghost in Your Mind
And I wanted to believe you the lies that I could see through
But I never got between you and the ghost in your mind
It’s there in your eyes, there in your voice but you’re far away
And with one word, what was supposed to be a ‘relaxing’ weekend changed dramatically into Chloe’s worst nightmare. Going back into their room, Oliver noticed how her expression had completely fallen, as even though Clark had practically forced Lois to let them sleep in peace, their secret was out there.
After he had opened the door, he had watched her enter silently and slip into the bed they had only vacated minutes ago in a much better mood. “They’re not going to get this,” Chloe said as the door clicked shut.
“Who cares?” Oliver replied, probably more nonchalantly than he should because he was more than used to getting caught in a situation like this. It was usually more public, with someone he didn’t care about too much, but the messaging never changed. “If they want to judge us, then let them. Nothing we’re going to say is going to change their mind.”
That was nice in theory, but Chloe narrowed her eyes at him in disbelief as she remained sitting on the edge of the mattress while Oliver had walked around the bed to his side and lied down almost immediately. “This is Clark and Lois we’re talking about. You want to let them judge us?” She knew them enough to know this was never going to die, and even if they just played along, they were never going to live it down.
But Oliver meant what he said, which is why he could confidently say, “Sort of.” Noting the curiosity in her eyes, he turned towards her. “The last time I tried to stop Clark from doing something wasn’t my proudest moment and I know better than to piss Lois off. Let’s face it, the truth is the best thing we have going for us.”
“Or we could stop,” Chloe said softly, finally lying down on the mattress, her body turned to face him.
“We tried that remember?” Chuckling as he turned on his back, he made sure to add, “If memory serves, it didn’t last.”
In other words, apparently she couldn’t handle it. But two could play at that game. “Why did you kiss me?”
Oliver glanced in her direction. “Uh, I don’t think I was the one who initiated that.” Was he thinking about it, sure, but even Chloe knew that there wasn't much chance that he could initiate anything with her.
Propping herself up on her elbow, Chloe looked at him skeptically. “Come on Ollie, the arrow tutorial, ‘that’s when you let go’... I know you well enough to know that -”
“You needed to have some fun. That was my only intention.”
“Right,” Chloe replied, clearly unconvinced, and with that the aim for the night was gone from their minds as they lay in bed, him staring at the ceiling, her turned on her side, facing away from him.
She wasn't embarrassed; it was just that... this was their little secret. In a twisted way, that was part of the appeal. She didn't have to explain her decision to anyone, so there were no misunderstandings to clarify. It was hard enough getting away from Lois ten minutes ago, but thankfully the guys stepped in, knowing that the middle of the night wasn't the time to discuss this. Unfortunately, there was no getting away from it in the morning.
Turning her head over her shoulder, she noticed Oliver looking at her. His stare didn't even waver as she turned on her other side, knowing that there was no point in hiding that she was curious what he was thinking.
"It could be worse," he whispered, knowing that wasn't what he wanted to say. In a weird way, he was glad they knew. Not that he was overly looking forward to their reactions, but this way, they could get it all over with. Their explanations with them were wearing thin and Oliver was pretty sure that if they would have found out soon enough anyway.
"Just because it could be worse, doesn't make it desirable."
"Maybe not, no." Oliver tried to shrug, as Chloe had a point, but then again, so did he. "But you were just telling me how Lois was suspicious of you seeing someone and cancelling set-ups."
"She didn't believe me," Chloe lied, although she wasn't exactly sure why she lied. "Besides, this isn't...seeing someone. At least not in the traditional sense."
"You don't have to pull out the dictionary Chloe, I get it."
"Do you?" With an unexpected smile, Chloe was quick to point out, "All I'm saying is that you mock Clark for five dozen roses and then you pull out that bouquet for -"
"That was from the league,” Oliver interjected. “Bart dropped them off remember?” Slowly, the realization came across in her features. “He must have lost the card en route, but we all wanted you to feel special on Valentine’s Day.” The fact that he was the one to initiate it because he was out of town… well… that was a detail Oliver had no intention of revealing any time soon.
She was just teasing him, but now, she felt like she was trying to find a problem in their arrangement, which wasn't exactly fair to Oliver. “For the record…it was a nice gesture.” The flowers brought a sense of life to Watchtower and Chloe remembered that she often smiled whenever she saw them.
So she sat herself up on the bed, moving her body towards Oliver's. “And I’ve been thinking…”
“Yes?”
Now hovering over him, she lowered her head down to settle within inches of his. “Lois and Clark… they’re not here right now, so there’s no reason for them to ruin the whole night.”
Wrapping his arms around her back, Oliver smiled. “I like the way you think.”
~0~
“Really?” Chloe asked with a light laugh as they exited their room, one that was quickly quashed when she fully exited the room. “Ohhh God.”
Oliver looked out towards the main area and saw Clark and Lois eating breakfast, explaining the sudden change in mood. After a few rounds, they had almost forgotten the reason they were avoiding leaving their room, but there was no running from it now. Of course, that didn't stop Oliver from saying, "You know what we could do? We could pretend not to see them."
Her eyes on the other couple, Chloe knew better, especially after Lois began to wave at them emphatically. “Oh come on Ollie, throw the white flag, it’s Lois. She makes Susan B. Anthony look like a quitter.”
That was true, but that wasn’t what mattered here. By saying that, Chloe showed that she was at least open enough to face them, which was an important step in the right direction. No matter how painfully awkward this brunch was going to be.
~0~
After seeing the door slam behind her, Oliver was tempted to slam something else against a wall. He wondered how he could be so stupid, thinking that a gift would be a good idea, thinking that letting Clark lecture him about something like this was a good idea. It wasn’t like he would ever understand what they were doing. Even if he didn’t, Oliver couldn’t believe the best he could to prove that was through a stupid spoon.
He knew that Chloe would never find out what his pathetic attempt at a gift was, but even if she did open it, it wouldn’t have fixed anything because of its lack of personal touch. Chloe lived on coffee and muffins and she wasn’t the type of person who appreciated decorative spoons… not that Oliver understood their appeal either.
But that wasn’t the point. What mattered was that with Chloe, everything has to be well-thought out, but this was nothing close to that. She was willing to reset, but was she willing to trust that Oliver would stick to the plan… even when he knew that he didn’t want to stick to the plan?
Glancing at the old clock in the room, Oliver realized that Chloe had been gone a long time and realized that maybe they needed to talk about this more than he thought. He opened the door and headed down the hallway, hoping that a spoon wasn’t about to completely ruin what they had built so far.
~0~
This was not the night Chloe had in mind, but at least Oliver was going to be okay, cuts and bumps aside. They traded light stories for awhile, eventually leading to him convincing her that he didn’t have a concussion so he could sleep tonight. However, while he was out like a light, Chloe couldn’t bring herself to sleep just yet.
For now, the most comforting thing for her was that he was okay and that he wasn’t completely mad at her for what happened earlier. Because in the grand scheme of things, the fact that this whole thing was started by a present seemed pretty crazy to her.
As time went by, Chloe slept on and off during the night, but as the sun rose, she knew that she wasn’t going to get much more. She carefully moved his arm away from her body and got out of bed to get dressed, not overly caring if Oliver got up. However, when he didn’t, Chloe realized that she could probably use some fresh air, but unlike last night, she would stick to the Inn’s grounds this time and not the woods. On her way to the door, she picked out the familiar box, knowing that this was something she had to face while she was more level-headed.
~0~
Waking up, Oliver realized that he was alone in the room, which was probably best because he could return the gift that had caused all of the mess from last night. His face had received quite the gash last night, and while it would heal in time, Oliver wanted to ensure that he could fix this whole gift debacle before it was too late.
However, after he zipped up his bag, ready to go, Oliver realized that the box in question was gone. Oliver knew it was there when he set his head down on the pillow last night, but now it appeared that Chloe had taken it. Which could mean… a lot of things.
At this rate, Oliver didn’t like a lot of the options. No matter what happened, it seemed like trouble could always find them and while this weekend was supposed to be about slowing life down, that clearly wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.
That’s why he decided it was time to at least face the music. Whatever happened today would happen, so he picked up his bag and left the room. He looked around for a few minutes with no success, but as he peeked outside, something caught his eye.
It actually wasn’t just Chloe in this case, but rather the box she was holding. She turned it a few times in her hand, played with the ribbon, but Oliver knew that as curious as she was, that box was never going to be opened. Suddenly, he realized that was okay, so he announced his presence.
Here goes nothing.
~0~
It felt nice. There, she thought it.
It felt nice sitting here, kissing him, noticing the way he grinned at her as she pulled away. It was a nice change of pace just enjoying the moment, instead of worrying about the consequence.
“Careful, there may be people looking,” he teased, watching her roll her eyes at him.
“I prefer that than you going into detail about my... scar... in public. Besides, we did sign in as a couple, so no one’s going to blink.” Grinning, he moved his head closer, but Chloe was quick to put a finger over his lips. “But don’t push it.”
She pushed herself from the ledge, ready to pack up her things and put this weekend behind her, but his voice interrupted her progress. “To answer your question… although we’ve come a long way, Lois didn’t get me either.” Oliver watched as she turned her head over her shoulder before she turned fully.
He hadn’t left his seat just yet, his fingers drumming on the cobblestone as the words sunk in. She gave him a quizzical look, but he didn’t feel like pressing the subject further, especially after he glanced down and noticed something in her hand. “Do you want me to return that before we check out?”
Initially, the question only further confused Chloe, but she had forgotten that she was still holding onto the MacDougal Inn box. After thinking about it for a minute, Chloe clutched the package a little tighter. “No, I’ll handle it.”
Oliver stood up. “You sure?”
“Yeah,” Chloe replied. “I’ll meet you at the car.”
He gave her a slow nod and walked past her to pick up his bag and carry on. Chloe was packed for the most part, so it wouldn't take her long to finish, but Chloe realized that she was still contemplating the gift in her hands.
She thought about the conversation they had a few night’s back, about how sometimes a gift can really be about simpler feelings like “thinking about you” and “you deserve flowers on Valentine’s Day.” That night, she had thanked him for roses, despite her skeptic nature, yet somehow it was a spoon that sent off hundreds of alarm bells.
Maybe she was overthinking this just a little, as this was Oliver Queen after all. After she opened the door to the room, she placed the box down to finish the rest of her packing, but she paused once she was finished, figuring it was best to bury the gift somewhere and never think about it again. It wasn’t as if Oliver was going to miss the money he spent on it anyway.
So she sat on the bed, looking over the simple packaging as it sat on the bedside table. Sure, this was something small, but it would only escalate from here. It was supposed to be no strings, no ribbons.
But then she considered all of the things Oliver had done for her with his money. Phones, gadgets, Watchtower.
That’s work, Chloe reminded herself. This is...a spoon.
Bowing her head, Chloe kept herself from rolling her eyes as she couldn’t believe how touchy she was being about this subject. The facts were that Oliver had a moment of weakness and let Clark get to him. He apologized and even offered to return it.
So what was the problem?
“You have to let someone in, Chloe. Whether it’s Lois, Clark, heck maybe it’s Bart. But you’ve got to trust someone.”
He never expected her to trust him, hence why this relationship worked for him, but he was still her friend and he was still going to try and earn her trust back. Even if this was a misguided attempt, Oliver was just trying to do something nice, something that even a friend would do. So maybe instead of berating him for a simple gesture, maybe just once... she could let him in a little. Her walls were strong enough for that.
Before Chloe had a chance to second-guess herself, she pulled back at the ribbon, opening the box for good. Her fingers ran down the base of the spoon and suddenly, she couldn’t help but chuckle. As she packed it up with the rest of her stuff, Chloe had a feeling this was going to be something they’d laugh about years from now.
~0~
Pulling up to a stop in front of Watchtower, Oliver turned off the ignition and stared ahead. “So...not the weekend we had in mind.”
“Not even close,” Chloe agreed, shaking her head. Lois and Clark, screaming banshee, those things didn’t exactly make for a relaxing weekend. Not to mention that they were supposed to spend the whole weekend together and in the end, she spent as much time at night with Clark as she did with Oliver. “But I’m used to the fact that normal is never going to be a part of my equation.”
Oliver laughed as he glanced towards her. “No, I suppose you’re right.” After a grin, he waited for Chloe to open the door to leave. He could see her thinking, but for some reason, she wasn’t moving.
“Hey Ollie,” she finally said, looking back to grasp her seatbelt. “I’ve been thinking that I’m in need of a shower.” Clicking the seatbelt into place, she smiled at him. “Is there any way that I could borrow yours?”
Watching the glint in her eye as she remained in her seat, Oliver turned the key in the ignition. “Strictly for environmental purposes?”
“Of course.” Chloe’s grin widened. “Saving energy is important.”
“In that case, I think I can make that work.”
~End~
Coming Soon: A Day Alone
Sera’s Scribbles: So to the people I replied in comments to say that Chapter 13 of LYR was going to be updated this weekend.... that still may happen, but I had to get this up because I meant to get this up in July (of course that was before I realized LYR would take all of my writing time).
.
Title: Passion Leaves a Trace: Ghost in Your Mind
Series Summary: It started as a simple arrangement, but with their knowledge and understanding of each other, it left a trace of something more to come, something to build beyond what they expected.
Segment Summary: Clark and Lois finding out was the last thing Chloe wanted, but that leads to a series of events that allow her to realize that it’s alright to let someone in, even in the smallest form.
Series Rating: PG-13 Segment Rating: PG
Series Timeline: Conspiracy-Fortune Segment Timeline: Escape
Thanks to: aradira for the banner.
Prologue
This Night
Ghost in Your Mind
And I wanted to believe you the lies that I could see through
But I never got between you and the ghost in your mind
It’s there in your eyes, there in your voice but you’re far away
And with one word, what was supposed to be a ‘relaxing’ weekend changed dramatically into Chloe’s worst nightmare. Going back into their room, Oliver noticed how her expression had completely fallen, as even though Clark had practically forced Lois to let them sleep in peace, their secret was out there.
After he had opened the door, he had watched her enter silently and slip into the bed they had only vacated minutes ago in a much better mood. “They’re not going to get this,” Chloe said as the door clicked shut.
“Who cares?” Oliver replied, probably more nonchalantly than he should because he was more than used to getting caught in a situation like this. It was usually more public, with someone he didn’t care about too much, but the messaging never changed. “If they want to judge us, then let them. Nothing we’re going to say is going to change their mind.”
That was nice in theory, but Chloe narrowed her eyes at him in disbelief as she remained sitting on the edge of the mattress while Oliver had walked around the bed to his side and lied down almost immediately. “This is Clark and Lois we’re talking about. You want to let them judge us?” She knew them enough to know this was never going to die, and even if they just played along, they were never going to live it down.
But Oliver meant what he said, which is why he could confidently say, “Sort of.” Noting the curiosity in her eyes, he turned towards her. “The last time I tried to stop Clark from doing something wasn’t my proudest moment and I know better than to piss Lois off. Let’s face it, the truth is the best thing we have going for us.”
“Or we could stop,” Chloe said softly, finally lying down on the mattress, her body turned to face him.
“We tried that remember?” Chuckling as he turned on his back, he made sure to add, “If memory serves, it didn’t last.”
In other words, apparently she couldn’t handle it. But two could play at that game. “Why did you kiss me?”
Oliver glanced in her direction. “Uh, I don’t think I was the one who initiated that.” Was he thinking about it, sure, but even Chloe knew that there wasn't much chance that he could initiate anything with her.
Propping herself up on her elbow, Chloe looked at him skeptically. “Come on Ollie, the arrow tutorial, ‘that’s when you let go’... I know you well enough to know that -”
“You needed to have some fun. That was my only intention.”
“Right,” Chloe replied, clearly unconvinced, and with that the aim for the night was gone from their minds as they lay in bed, him staring at the ceiling, her turned on her side, facing away from him.
She wasn't embarrassed; it was just that... this was their little secret. In a twisted way, that was part of the appeal. She didn't have to explain her decision to anyone, so there were no misunderstandings to clarify. It was hard enough getting away from Lois ten minutes ago, but thankfully the guys stepped in, knowing that the middle of the night wasn't the time to discuss this. Unfortunately, there was no getting away from it in the morning.
Turning her head over her shoulder, she noticed Oliver looking at her. His stare didn't even waver as she turned on her other side, knowing that there was no point in hiding that she was curious what he was thinking.
"It could be worse," he whispered, knowing that wasn't what he wanted to say. In a weird way, he was glad they knew. Not that he was overly looking forward to their reactions, but this way, they could get it all over with. Their explanations with them were wearing thin and Oliver was pretty sure that if they would have found out soon enough anyway.
"Just because it could be worse, doesn't make it desirable."
"Maybe not, no." Oliver tried to shrug, as Chloe had a point, but then again, so did he. "But you were just telling me how Lois was suspicious of you seeing someone and cancelling set-ups."
"She didn't believe me," Chloe lied, although she wasn't exactly sure why she lied. "Besides, this isn't...seeing someone. At least not in the traditional sense."
"You don't have to pull out the dictionary Chloe, I get it."
"Do you?" With an unexpected smile, Chloe was quick to point out, "All I'm saying is that you mock Clark for five dozen roses and then you pull out that bouquet for -"
"That was from the league,” Oliver interjected. “Bart dropped them off remember?” Slowly, the realization came across in her features. “He must have lost the card en route, but we all wanted you to feel special on Valentine’s Day.” The fact that he was the one to initiate it because he was out of town… well… that was a detail Oliver had no intention of revealing any time soon.
She was just teasing him, but now, she felt like she was trying to find a problem in their arrangement, which wasn't exactly fair to Oliver. “For the record…it was a nice gesture.” The flowers brought a sense of life to Watchtower and Chloe remembered that she often smiled whenever she saw them.
So she sat herself up on the bed, moving her body towards Oliver's. “And I’ve been thinking…”
“Yes?”
Now hovering over him, she lowered her head down to settle within inches of his. “Lois and Clark… they’re not here right now, so there’s no reason for them to ruin the whole night.”
Wrapping his arms around her back, Oliver smiled. “I like the way you think.”
~0~
“Really?” Chloe asked with a light laugh as they exited their room, one that was quickly quashed when she fully exited the room. “Ohhh God.”
Oliver looked out towards the main area and saw Clark and Lois eating breakfast, explaining the sudden change in mood. After a few rounds, they had almost forgotten the reason they were avoiding leaving their room, but there was no running from it now. Of course, that didn't stop Oliver from saying, "You know what we could do? We could pretend not to see them."
Her eyes on the other couple, Chloe knew better, especially after Lois began to wave at them emphatically. “Oh come on Ollie, throw the white flag, it’s Lois. She makes Susan B. Anthony look like a quitter.”
That was true, but that wasn’t what mattered here. By saying that, Chloe showed that she was at least open enough to face them, which was an important step in the right direction. No matter how painfully awkward this brunch was going to be.
~0~
After seeing the door slam behind her, Oliver was tempted to slam something else against a wall. He wondered how he could be so stupid, thinking that a gift would be a good idea, thinking that letting Clark lecture him about something like this was a good idea. It wasn’t like he would ever understand what they were doing. Even if he didn’t, Oliver couldn’t believe the best he could to prove that was through a stupid spoon.
He knew that Chloe would never find out what his pathetic attempt at a gift was, but even if she did open it, it wouldn’t have fixed anything because of its lack of personal touch. Chloe lived on coffee and muffins and she wasn’t the type of person who appreciated decorative spoons… not that Oliver understood their appeal either.
But that wasn’t the point. What mattered was that with Chloe, everything has to be well-thought out, but this was nothing close to that. She was willing to reset, but was she willing to trust that Oliver would stick to the plan… even when he knew that he didn’t want to stick to the plan?
Glancing at the old clock in the room, Oliver realized that Chloe had been gone a long time and realized that maybe they needed to talk about this more than he thought. He opened the door and headed down the hallway, hoping that a spoon wasn’t about to completely ruin what they had built so far.
~0~
This was not the night Chloe had in mind, but at least Oliver was going to be okay, cuts and bumps aside. They traded light stories for awhile, eventually leading to him convincing her that he didn’t have a concussion so he could sleep tonight. However, while he was out like a light, Chloe couldn’t bring herself to sleep just yet.
For now, the most comforting thing for her was that he was okay and that he wasn’t completely mad at her for what happened earlier. Because in the grand scheme of things, the fact that this whole thing was started by a present seemed pretty crazy to her.
As time went by, Chloe slept on and off during the night, but as the sun rose, she knew that she wasn’t going to get much more. She carefully moved his arm away from her body and got out of bed to get dressed, not overly caring if Oliver got up. However, when he didn’t, Chloe realized that she could probably use some fresh air, but unlike last night, she would stick to the Inn’s grounds this time and not the woods. On her way to the door, she picked out the familiar box, knowing that this was something she had to face while she was more level-headed.
~0~
Waking up, Oliver realized that he was alone in the room, which was probably best because he could return the gift that had caused all of the mess from last night. His face had received quite the gash last night, and while it would heal in time, Oliver wanted to ensure that he could fix this whole gift debacle before it was too late.
However, after he zipped up his bag, ready to go, Oliver realized that the box in question was gone. Oliver knew it was there when he set his head down on the pillow last night, but now it appeared that Chloe had taken it. Which could mean… a lot of things.
At this rate, Oliver didn’t like a lot of the options. No matter what happened, it seemed like trouble could always find them and while this weekend was supposed to be about slowing life down, that clearly wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.
That’s why he decided it was time to at least face the music. Whatever happened today would happen, so he picked up his bag and left the room. He looked around for a few minutes with no success, but as he peeked outside, something caught his eye.
It actually wasn’t just Chloe in this case, but rather the box she was holding. She turned it a few times in her hand, played with the ribbon, but Oliver knew that as curious as she was, that box was never going to be opened. Suddenly, he realized that was okay, so he announced his presence.
Here goes nothing.
~0~
It felt nice. There, she thought it.
It felt nice sitting here, kissing him, noticing the way he grinned at her as she pulled away. It was a nice change of pace just enjoying the moment, instead of worrying about the consequence.
“Careful, there may be people looking,” he teased, watching her roll her eyes at him.
“I prefer that than you going into detail about my... scar... in public. Besides, we did sign in as a couple, so no one’s going to blink.” Grinning, he moved his head closer, but Chloe was quick to put a finger over his lips. “But don’t push it.”
She pushed herself from the ledge, ready to pack up her things and put this weekend behind her, but his voice interrupted her progress. “To answer your question… although we’ve come a long way, Lois didn’t get me either.” Oliver watched as she turned her head over her shoulder before she turned fully.
He hadn’t left his seat just yet, his fingers drumming on the cobblestone as the words sunk in. She gave him a quizzical look, but he didn’t feel like pressing the subject further, especially after he glanced down and noticed something in her hand. “Do you want me to return that before we check out?”
Initially, the question only further confused Chloe, but she had forgotten that she was still holding onto the MacDougal Inn box. After thinking about it for a minute, Chloe clutched the package a little tighter. “No, I’ll handle it.”
Oliver stood up. “You sure?”
“Yeah,” Chloe replied. “I’ll meet you at the car.”
He gave her a slow nod and walked past her to pick up his bag and carry on. Chloe was packed for the most part, so it wouldn't take her long to finish, but Chloe realized that she was still contemplating the gift in her hands.
She thought about the conversation they had a few night’s back, about how sometimes a gift can really be about simpler feelings like “thinking about you” and “you deserve flowers on Valentine’s Day.” That night, she had thanked him for roses, despite her skeptic nature, yet somehow it was a spoon that sent off hundreds of alarm bells.
Maybe she was overthinking this just a little, as this was Oliver Queen after all. After she opened the door to the room, she placed the box down to finish the rest of her packing, but she paused once she was finished, figuring it was best to bury the gift somewhere and never think about it again. It wasn’t as if Oliver was going to miss the money he spent on it anyway.
So she sat on the bed, looking over the simple packaging as it sat on the bedside table. Sure, this was something small, but it would only escalate from here. It was supposed to be no strings, no ribbons.
But then she considered all of the things Oliver had done for her with his money. Phones, gadgets, Watchtower.
That’s work, Chloe reminded herself. This is...a spoon.
Bowing her head, Chloe kept herself from rolling her eyes as she couldn’t believe how touchy she was being about this subject. The facts were that Oliver had a moment of weakness and let Clark get to him. He apologized and even offered to return it.
So what was the problem?
“You have to let someone in, Chloe. Whether it’s Lois, Clark, heck maybe it’s Bart. But you’ve got to trust someone.”
He never expected her to trust him, hence why this relationship worked for him, but he was still her friend and he was still going to try and earn her trust back. Even if this was a misguided attempt, Oliver was just trying to do something nice, something that even a friend would do. So maybe instead of berating him for a simple gesture, maybe just once... she could let him in a little. Her walls were strong enough for that.
Before Chloe had a chance to second-guess herself, she pulled back at the ribbon, opening the box for good. Her fingers ran down the base of the spoon and suddenly, she couldn’t help but chuckle. As she packed it up with the rest of her stuff, Chloe had a feeling this was going to be something they’d laugh about years from now.
~0~
Pulling up to a stop in front of Watchtower, Oliver turned off the ignition and stared ahead. “So...not the weekend we had in mind.”
“Not even close,” Chloe agreed, shaking her head. Lois and Clark, screaming banshee, those things didn’t exactly make for a relaxing weekend. Not to mention that they were supposed to spend the whole weekend together and in the end, she spent as much time at night with Clark as she did with Oliver. “But I’m used to the fact that normal is never going to be a part of my equation.”
Oliver laughed as he glanced towards her. “No, I suppose you’re right.” After a grin, he waited for Chloe to open the door to leave. He could see her thinking, but for some reason, she wasn’t moving.
“Hey Ollie,” she finally said, looking back to grasp her seatbelt. “I’ve been thinking that I’m in need of a shower.” Clicking the seatbelt into place, she smiled at him. “Is there any way that I could borrow yours?”
Watching the glint in her eye as she remained in her seat, Oliver turned the key in the ignition. “Strictly for environmental purposes?”
“Of course.” Chloe’s grin widened. “Saving energy is important.”
“In that case, I think I can make that work.”
~End~
Coming Soon: A Day Alone
Sera’s Scribbles: So to the people I replied in comments to say that Chapter 13 of LYR was going to be updated this weekend.... that still may happen, but I had to get this up because I meant to get this up in July (of course that was before I realized LYR would take all of my writing time).
.