Never a Bride-14/?
Author: BlueSuede
Title: Never a Bride
Rating: NC17
Genre: Romance/Humor
Pairings/Characters: primarily Chloe/Oliver
Summary: When a newspaper prints a false engagement announcement for Oliver Queen and Chloe Sullivan, and all their friends are thrilled, Chloe and Oliver decide to stage a fake engagement and breakup to prove to their friends how wrong they are for one another. Because, they will break up, won't they?
Warnings: completely Alternate Universe; also, sexual content and occasional language
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dandiandi22
As usual, I appreciate the patience in waiting for this chapter. Remember that you can follow my twitter to hear the occasional update on how progress is coming. I nearly always put out at least one tweet when I'm working on a chapter, and it's another way I notify people when the new chapter is up. Please check there before you send me "reviews" with the command to update the story.
As some of you know I have moved to NYC with my new job. And I'm slightly homeless, so it's been a stressful time. (I say "slightly" because I have not yet slept on a bench in Central Park.) Other than that, I'm thrilled to be here, and I've enjoyed talking to some of you in between chapters. Even now, the chlollie community is one of the most wonderful ones I have found to be part of. Thanks everyone!
Love,
Blue
First Chapter
Previous (Chapter 13)
Next (Chapter 15)
-14-
"Hi, honey," Moira Sullivan said, squeezing her daughter tightly. "How are you, sweetie? You look a bit peaky. Are you feeling well?"
"Where's Oliver today?" Gabe asked, pulling out Chloe's chair for her so she could sit down.
"He's working, Dad, and I'm fine, Mom," Chloe said simply.
"Well, I'm sure he's under a lot of pressure now that Robert's made that announcement about him taking over the company."
Chloe's mind flickered to the the night of the engagement party, of sleeping in Oliver's arms and creeping out of the room the next morning while he was still asleep. "He's under a lot of stress," was her only reply.
"This is just so odd," Moira commented, looking around the room. "Did we really need to be so isolated?"
Chloe just looked at her menu. "I usually request a private room for lunch so people don't bother me."
"You forget what a big shot our little girl is," Gabe teased his wife.
Chloe sighed, looking exhausted. "Normally it's only a minor problem. I'm an editor. It's not like I'm a real celebrity. But now that I'm engaged to Oliver it's gotten a lot worse. People are always trying to catch me doing something indiscreet, or they're trying to get photos of me with Oliver. Either way, it's been getting worse." She took a sip of her water, looking vaguely weary. She and Oliver hadn't really talked for about a week now. When she'd slipped out of bed the other morning, she'd disappeared to work before he was up. They hadn't talked about it. Things had gone back to normal for a while, with them hanging out in the evenings and talking about what was going on at work, enjoying having company at night, although back to sleeping in their own separate beds. But they hadn't seen much of one another for the past few days. Work was crazy and having her parents in town for this long was really throwing Chloe's schedule off. Gabe and Moira didn't understand how far in advance she usually scheduled something like a lunch date.
"That's right, a friend of mine at work said some tabloid is offering 2 million dollars to anyone who can get a photograph of you two kissing."
"Gabe," Moira scolded. "Don't tell her that! Can't you see how upset she is?"
Chloe looked up at her mother, confused. "I'm not upset. Who says I'm upset?"
Moira covered her daughter's hand across the table. "I'm sorry, dear. I just mean you look out of sorts. Is work stressful? Is everything okay with you and Oliver?"
"I-" Chloe hesitated. Here was a ready made moment to hint that things had taken a downward turn with Oliver, but at the moment she was thinking about kissing Oliver the other night. A two million dollar kiss, apparently. The opportunity passed Chloe by without her realizing it. "We're fine. Things are fine. I'm just tired. We're coming out with a double-issue this fall, and one of my go-to designers is on some sort of creative strike…I'm not really sure what it's about. Artists are touchy," she shook her head dismissively.
"I'm sure it will come together, honey," Gabe said, pausing when a waiter entered to take their beverage requests.
"Speaking of the fall, though," Moira piped up the next moment, "We were discussing things with the Queens, and Laura agreed to let you two spend Thanksgiving with us and Christmas here. I figured you wouldn't mind since you're not usually home for Christmas anyway."
Chloe didn't miss the accusing note in her mother's voice. She looked at Moira affectionately. "You know how it is, Mom. The Christmas season is a really busy time for me. I can't afford to vanish off the face of the earth."
"I would hardly call 'Smallville' vanishing off the face of the earth," Moira sniffed.
"Wouldn't you?" Gabe joked, winking at Chloe, who chuckled.
"Well all I know is I want my daughter and her fiance home for at least one holiday!" Moira pressed on. "We don't see nearly enough of you, and I want to get to know my future son-in-law. He seems like such a nice boy."
Chloe snorted into her water, laughing a little. "Yep, Oliver's a real angel," she joked.
Moira chuckled. "Well, he seems like a gentleman anyway."
Chloe thought this might be taking it a bit far, but she didn't feel it would be prudent to argue.
"I like him for you," Gabe said, leaning back in his chair. "I spoke to him for a little while the other day. He seems surprisingly down-to-earth for someone who's grown up in the spotlight like he has. And I like the way he talks about you."
Chloe raised her eyebrows curiously. "What do you mean?"
"You picked a good one, Chloe. He really respects you. He talks about you like you're his equal. I like that."
Chloe wasn't quite sure how to respond to this.
"I want you both for Thanksgiving, Chloe-Ann," Moira interjected, a bit of a sing-song tone in her voice. "No ifs, ands, or buts."
Chloe drank more water, her face feeling warm for some reason.
"Edward! I need to know what my November schedule looks like."
Edward jumped, looking guilty. Chloe didn't notice. Bypassing him for her desk, she sat down and started pulling up her afternoon appointments on her computer.
"N-November?" Edward asked distractedly. "Right, okay!"
"Oh and Edward! Send Mia in here. I want to talk to her about the fundraiser tomorrow night. I think it would be good for her to help you with some of the prep. Have you helped her find an evening dress for next month, by the way?"
"Wedding dress? I mean, evening dress! Yes, of course, I'm on it!"
Chloe looked up in time to see him vanishing from the room and frowned. "What was that about?" she mouthed, momentarily concerned.
She was almost immediately diverted by an e-mail from Vera Wang, hinting dramatically that it was high-time Chloe looked at wedding dresses, followed by an almost identical one from Laura Queen. Chloe thought briefly of lunch with her parents, unconsciously sucking on the cap of a pen. She would have to talk to Oliver about the holidays. They were sinking ever deeper into this lie, and it needed to be discussed.
Outside, unbeknownst to Chloe, Edward and Mia were in frantic discussion, far removed from the perked ears of Vivian and Louise.
"You've got to hide it!" Edward said urgently.
"Hide it?" Mia whispered, incredulous. "How on earth am I going to hide it?"
"Well I was going to and then she walked in!"
"Where do you want me to put it?" Mia's tone was one of utter disbelief.
"Up your skirt for all I care, woman! You've got to get it out of there before she sees!"
"Are you sure it's that big of a deal? I mean it was years ago."
"Trust me. You didn't know her back then. It's a big deal." And before Mia could protest or otherwise question Edward's sanity, he was shoving her towards the door. "Go! She'll be wondering what's taking so long!" with which remark he unceremoniously forced her threw the door and let it close behind her.
Oblivious, Chloe looked up from the notes in front of her. "Oh hi, Mia. Give me just a sec…. How are you doing today?"
"I-Good," Mia said too loudly. Her eyes darted nervously to a stack of mail in Chloe's in-tray. Chloe was already looking at her computer again, rapidly typing an e-mail to a well-known artistic photographer who was promising her an exclusive interview. Mia edged slowly toward the inbox, trying not to draw too much attention to herself. She glanced at Chloe. Chloe was frowning at the computer, muttering under her breath as she reread a line in the photographer's e-mail. She wasn't paying any attention at all to Mia. Slowly, very carefully, Mia leaned over to see the stack of mail in the tray. She didn't see what she was looking for. Instead of trying to surreptitiously rifle through it, she quietly lifted the stack and started to hide it behind her back. She was about to say that Chloe looked busy, when Chloe hit send with an air of finality and looked up to talk to Mia. She saw the papers in Mia's hands. "Oh good! Is that the mail? Late today, isn't it?" she added, taking it from Mia's reluctant hands, before she could come up with any excuse to delay Chloe.
"So I wanted to talk to you about the fundraiser tomorrow night," Chloe said, thumbing through the mail as she spoke. She glanced at a Thank You note from Katherine and Victor for the wedding gift with a smile. "You're really not going to be doing much. I want you to have fun, I just want you to shadow Edward for the first half of the evening, so you can see what goes into it from our end." She tossed aside a letter from Bruce Wayne to read later. "I've already told him that you'll be helping. Since I'm going as a representative of the company instead of just as a private donor, there's a lot of background details that go on to make sure everything goes smoothly." There was a newsletter from the Star City Metropolitan Opera. She set that in a stack in case there was anything in it she wanted to mark on her schedule. "Anyway, it will be a longer day for you both than usual. So you can both leave ear-" she stopped, staring at a pale yellow envelope, all of the blood draining from her face, the second syllable of "early" lost on her tongue.
Mia watched her nervously.
"Mia?" Chloe said, after what felt like an eternity.
"Yes?"
Chloe stood up from her desk, looking around her in a daze. "I'm-I'm going home."
"What?" This was unheard of behavior. Chloe did not simply leave early. Especially when she had taken extra time away from the office to see her parents that afternoon. She had appointments!
"I'm leaving," Chloe repeated, looking for her purse and coat.
"I-are you okay?"
Chloe seemed not to hear her.
Oliver rubbed a hand across his face. It had been a slow, boring day at his father's office. People were sucking up to him more than ever now that his father was retiring, and it was annoying. He was crossing his fingers that Chloe would be home at a reasonable hour tonight. He'd actually been looking forward to seeing her. One thing he liked about Chloe was that she talked to him like he was any other person, no hidden agendas, no seductions…she didn't want anything from him. It was refreshing to say the least.
His hopes weren't high, though. She'd been getting in later and later these days, and he knew that big fundraiser was tomorrow night, so she'd probably be up to all hours preparing for it as if she were the one hosting it.
That in mind, Oliver was understandably surprised to find himself tripping over Chloe's coat, purse, and shoes lying in the middle of his floor when he opened the door. It was as if she had dropped them on the threshold and forgotten all about them.
Frowning, he picked them up and moved them aside, still more surprised when he felt Chloe's phone vibrating in the purse. It was typically super-glued to her hand, especially this early in the evening. Wondering how angry she would be if she found out, he carefully poked around in her purse until he found the object buzzing frantically. It stopped and he saw that she had 12 missed calls. Before he could see who they were all from, Edward's name flashed across the screen as he attempted to reach her again.
Going with an instinct, Oliver answered the phone. "Hello?" he said curiously.
"Oh thank God! Mr. Queen!" Edward's voiced gushed from the other end. "She's with you? We've been absolutely beside ourselves. Is she okay?"
Oliver's frown deepened. Eyeing the coat and shoes, he said, "Yeah, she's with me. She's home."
"How's she taking it?"
He was going to ask how she was taking what, but it felt strangely invasive. Something personal was obviously going on, and he wasn't sure Chloe would be comfortable knowing he was gossiping about her with her personal assistant. "She's taking it okay, Edward. Thanks for checking in."
Edward breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm just glad she's got you right now. I can't imagine how she'd be feeling if she were alone right now. Honestly, I probably assumed that she'd take this a lot harder than she really did. We just got scared when she left the office unannounced. All right, well, take care of her. I've got evening wear to shop for. I'll see you tomorrow night, I'm sure. Bye!" He hung up, leaving Oliver more confused than ever.
For starters, it had occurred to Oliver for the first time that he would be expected to attend this fundraiser as Chloe's date. Obviously, this hadn't occurred to Chloe either, because she hadn't broached the subject once.
Then there was the matter of her leaving work early and unplanned. The idea was totally unprecedented in the time that he had known her. Time off? Sure, as long as she could plan it weeks in advance. Preferably months. And hadn't she had to schedule a last minute lunch with her parents today? That had probably run over.
And what was it she was taking hard, that Oliver was supposedly making easier for her? Had her parents upset her? Was it work-related? Or something else altogether?
Well, he decided, there was only one way to find out.
"Chloe?" he called, hoping she wouldn't be too unhappy to see him. There was no answer. He walked down the hall toward the guest room, thinking perhaps she hadn't been feeling well and had gone to sleep in there. But as he got closer, he heard noise coming from the room and then a loud smash of broken glass. Chloe let out a startled yell and it suddenly became evident that whatever she was doing, she was crying.
Oliver rushed to the door and swung it open, scared that she'd hurt herself somehow. What he found was possibly the most shocking development of all. Chloe was in her business attire, but somewhat haphazardly. The top few buttons of her silk purple blouse were hanging open undone, revealing the lace of a wireless bra. Her hair was a mess and there was a run in her stockings and more importantly, there were streaks of mascara smeared across her face from crying. Her hand was bleeding from the broken glass and on the floor was a bottle of cheap wine, broken into several large pieces, a pool of cabernet surrounding them like blood.
In one movement, Oliver was at Chloe's side. He steered her away from the glass and set her on the bed, where she didn't move, quietly sobbing and clearly in shock from hurting her hand, which she simply held aloft and stared at, as though unsure as to how it was bleeding.
He dashed to the kitchen for several dishrags, one of which he used to pick up the glass, and the rest he threw on the floor to soak up the wine. Then he ran to the master bathroom off of his room and rummaged in the linen closet until he found the first-aid kit. When he reached Chloe again, she was exactly as he had left her, reminding him of a small-child who had hurt herself playing outside. As he approached her, he caught the strong smell of wine coming from her in waves. Evidently that had not been the first bottle.
"Here," he said kindly, "let me see your hand." He took her small hand in his large ones with surprising gentility, kneeling down in front of her, and Chloe stared at their hands, transfixed, still shaking from crying so hard. Delicately, he removed a couple of small pieces of glass and set them aside to throw away. Then he took a small alcohol wipe out of the first aid kit and gently dabbed at the wound. She let out a pained cry when it burned, cringing and trying to pull her hand away, but Oliver held it firmly. "It's okay," he reassured her. "It's okay, I've got you. Just a little bit more." He finished cleaning the gash and set the alcohol wipe with the bits of glass. Then he pulled out several pads of gauze, which he pressed into her hand until he stopped seeing blood seep through to the top layer. He felt Chloe's hand begin to stop shaking, and her breathing changed as he continued to put pressure on the cut. He hoped that meant she was calming down. His own pulse was racing with concern. Finally, he took out a roll of bandage tape and began to wrap her hand, securing the gauze in place for the time being. He looked up at her from the floor, not realizing he hadn't released her hand. "There. No big deal. Now what on earth is going on, Chloe? Are you all right?"
Chloe opened her mouth to say something but all she could manage was a drunken little sob of exhaustion. She tried again and couldn't do it. Finally, she handed Oliver a yellow card that had been in her good hand. He hadn't even noticed it until now, he'd been so anxious.
He looked down at it and saw that it was a wedding invitation.
Jimmy Olsen and Kara Ellis
Would like to Cordially Invite You and Guest
To Celebrate Their Wedding
Oliver didn't read the information on the time and place. He was trying to understand what about a wedding invitation would upset Chloe to this extent. Before he could ask, though, she let out a very pitiful sounding hiccup and said, "They're getting married! Isn't it charming? Married! I mean, they've only been together for years now. It's about time, isn't it?"
Oliver wasn't sure how to respond to this, but he suddenly recalled that Chloe had told him, that first night at the beginning of all this mess, when they'd gotten to know each other over several bottles of vodka, that she had an ex-boyfriend named Jimmy.
So she's still hung up on him? he thought with a surge of heat. Was that what this was about? She'd never gotten over her first boyfriend and now she was a complete wreck because he was getting married to someone else. He felt angry, although he couldn't exactly peg what was making him angry. He didn't like the idea that she was this upset over another man getting married. Who was this guy, anyway? It wasn't anyone Oliver had ever heard of, so he probably wasn't a socialite. He was probably just some twit she'd dated in college who hadn't known when he had a good thing going for him. And now he was marrying some poor-man's Chloe. And may they be miserable-ever-after, he concluded spitefully.
But something else nagged in the back of his head. Suddenly he remembered what it was: Lois, standing in the hallway of a hotel, telling him to talk to Chloe about her past. He realized that there was more to this than he was grasping.
"I don't understand," he said slowly, watching her steadily. "Jimmy…he's your ex?"
It hadn't helped anything. She started crying afresh and wrenched her hand from his so she could bury her face in both of hers.
Not liking this one bit, Oliver stood up. "Okay," he said. "Kitchen, now." Without warning, he swept her easily into his arms and, sidestepping the first aid kit materials on the floor, carried her into the kitchen, where he gently set her down on the counter. Then he went about getting her a large glass of water and rummaging in the fridge for something for her to eat. He found some left-over rotisserie chicken and brought it to her with the water.
She ignored the chicken at first but after guzzling the entire glass of water-which he promptly refilled, she started to pick at it forlornly. After another glass of water, he tried again. "So tell me what happened," he said, gazing at her in earnest, encouraging her to confide in him.
The food and water seemed to have calmed her, and she took a long, ragged breath to steady herself. "Jimmy and I met in high school the summer before senior year. And then we met again in college and all the feelings of summer romance came rushing right back. We dated for most of college. It was…" she struggled for the right word, "serious. We talked about getting married after graduation. I was expecting a proposal soon. He was my first real love."
She stopped, taking another large gulp of water before plowing ahead with her story.
"But he wasn't as happy as I was. He didn't like how ambitious I was and…and I…neglected him." Oliver could tell it was incredibly painful for her to admit to this. "I was so busy with extra course loads and internships and part-time jobs-I was already working for Whistle back then-that I had less and less time to spend with him. And he was such a nice guy and so good and sweet and so much better than me and it wasn't fair to him.
"And then Clark's cousin came along. Kara. And I knew she was smitten with Jimmy but I thought it was a harmless crush and I trusted him so I never worried about it."
She didn't have to continue. Oliver could see where this was headed, but she just kept going, the words coming out in a rush of emotion.
"At first it wasn't anything real. They were just spending time together. It made me uncomfortable but I reminded myself that my best friend was Clark. He was allowed to have female friends. I'll never know if they actually did anything. I don't want to know. But I suspect…I'm sure…after a certain point, it was more than just spending time together." She closed her eyes as though repressing the horror of all the little clues that had hinted at it-ruffled hair, incorrectly buttoned shirts, guilty expressions. "They didn't keep it up long. She's not really a bad person and he's definitely not. So he left me for her." She paused, the tragedy of it hitting her for what might well have been the first time. "And he broke my heart!" she wrenched out in a high voice, sobbing dryly and clutching at Oliver who already had his arms wrapped around her. "And now they've actually had the nerve to invite me to their wedding, like it's not a kick in the face!" she whined into his shoulder. "I have to go and watch them get married! Because if I don't go everyone will talk and everyone will know that he hurt me, and I'll be causing a big scene just by not being there!"
Oliver rocked her gently as she continued to hide her misery in his shoulder, rubbing her back soothingly. "It's okay, Chlo."
"But it's not okay!" she said abruptly, pushing away from him with hysteria in her eyes. "I've dated one person since Jimmy Olsen, and it was a complete fiasco! He was…it was…" she changed courses, unable to finish her sentence, "And now I'll have to go to their wedding, single and pathetic and miserable for everyone to see."
Tempted though he was to ask about this second "fiasco" boyfriend, Oliver addressed the more pressing issue. "Woah, woah, woah! You are hardly single and pathetic and miserable! Damn, Sullivan! I mean, what am I? Chopped liver?"
Chloe laughed bitterly at his obvious joke. "Oh, come off it, Oliver. We can't possibly keep this up until next spring. It would be ludicrous. I was going to call you today to discuss breaking things off before Thanksgiving. I don't want my parents to get too attached to you and then have it be really hard on them when we split. I'm sure it will be hard enough on both our parents as it is."
Oliver wasn't sure what to say. He hadn't anticipated this development. Before Thanksgiving? That could mean any week now. Once upon a time, he would have been relieved to get his life back. Now he found himself already mourning the absence of Chloe in his life. It was nice coming home to find her here, eating breakfast with her, having someone around who could handle herself in the many social circles he moved throughout. He had grown to enjoy her company and her friendship, and he wasn't sure how he would have handled the news of his father's retirement without her, even if he had suspected that she'd been avoiding him for a couple of days after they'd shared a bed together.
Pushing these selfish thoughts away, he again turned his attention back to her. "Chloe, with or without me, you are a completely incredible woman. Everyone in this city who knows you respects you. And your friends love the hell out of you. The people who work for you are convinced they have the best jobs in the world-which I can tell you, is a completely remarkable accomplishment. You're formidable and incredibly attractive. Men drool over you all the time and you don't even notice it-"
She snorted and Oliver knew she didn't believe him. He rolled his eyes.
"Seriously, Sullivan. Do you know how many guys have been asking me if you have a sister or a friend for them? Or better yet if they can have your number when I screw it up? And what about Harvey Dent? Don't think he won't be calling you when this is all over between us!" He said it encouragingly, trying not to think about the fact that that idea annoyed him on a very deep level. He'd wondered more than once what she had told Dent to explain her sudden engagement.
"Don't be ridiculous," Chloe shook her head. "Harvey was just a good friend anyway. I haven't dated anyone in years. I haven't had sex in years," she moaned miserably, dropping her head back and looking at the ceiling.
Oliver just stared. He knew it had been a while, but…no. Surely not. "What are you talking about?"
"It's been years. And it suuuucks," she groaned, now flopping her head forward again in a petulant manner.
"Hold on a second. I don't believe that. A woman like you?"
"In case you haven't noticed, Queen, I've never exactly been a hot commodity."
Oliver shook his head. "No way. You had to have had offers. If you haven't had sex in years, then it was definitely by choice."
A strange look passed over Chloe's face and she looked at Oliver. She opened her mouth to try to explain but her head was spinning from all the wine she'd had, and now she was tired, too. It was making her vision foggy.
"Of course I've had offers. I just…have issues." He stared at her blankly, so she elaborated. "Trust issues."
Oliver frowned. It wasn't that he didn't understand this to a degree. He completely respected anyone's right to say no or to choose to wait for sex. But there was something about the way she said it that bothered him, it was more than just dealing with someone cheating on her. So he asked. "What do you mean?"
"The whole Davis thing freaked me out," she confessed, drunkenly forgetting that Oliver still didn't know what that meant. "I just…ever since then I just haven't been…I can't…I don't do relationships."
Oliver was getting exhausted trying to follow. Was her being upset about Jimmy or about this Davis guy? "What happened with Davis?" he asked. Clearly there was something connected there.
Chloe's entire postured changed, arms crossing and curling into herself. "I wanna go to bed," she said, "I don't want to talk about this any more."
"What did he do to you?" Oliver asked, protective instincts flaring. He didn't mean to ask it. As upset as she was, she clearly needed to go to bed and get a good night's sleep, and he had no business not letting her. But he wanted to know what this Davis guy had done to her. She had a victimized look in her eyes that didn't belong in his mentally constructed version of her. Chloe was many things, but victim was definitely not one of them.
Chloe hugged herself tighter, now refusing to meet Oliver's eyes as she spoke in a low, troubled voice, gushing the words that she never would have allowed herself to speak sober. "It started out okay. I met him toward the end of my relationship with Jimmy. I knew he liked me, but he respected my relationship with Jimmy. He never crossed any lines. When things fell apart with Jimmy, I guess I rebounded with him. He was handsome and heroic-a paramedic-and charming. He swept me off my feet and at first it was okay because it was nice being with someone again and not feeling heartbroken. But I was scared of ignoring him the way I'd ignored Jimmy. So I let him talk me out of a lot of things. I started spending less time at work and stunted a lot of my progress with the magazine. I did the bare minimum and then came home to him. We moved in together. And then it started getting…it changed. I wasn't just neglecting work. I was avoiding my friends and family. He had a…a jealous side. He especially had issues with Clark and Jimmy. Jimmy still cared about me and he didn't like Davis. Thought he was bad for me. Davis hated that Jimmy and I still talked, and he was convinced that there was something going on with me and Clark. And then he started keeping me from my family…Lois, my parents, even the Kents. I barely left the apartment except to got to classes, and when I graduated, to go to work. He was becoming more and more controlling in every area of our relationship. He never…he didn't hit me, but it was-" she swallowed tightly, "It was definitely abusive. I was made to constantly feel guilty, and I-" she was ripping the words from her throat now, as if they had been wedged there for years. "I wanted to leave him but I was scared. I think he sensed it because he became more and more forceful. Sex became…it was a way of staking ownership." She was trembling again, and Oliver reached for her shoulder, gripping it bracingly, unsure how else to comfort her. "It went on for just over a year before Lois stepped in. She'd suspected something wasn't right for a while, and finally she confronted me. She's always been like a sister to me, so I couldn't lie to her. I told her everything, and she got me out. Used connections from her dad to get Davis arrested. Then ultimately she worked the system so he would be forced to get some help. I asked her once and…I think he turned out okay in the end. He had some issues but he never wanted to be a bad person. As for me…I just…." She let out a deep, shaky breath. "I haven't had a relationship with a man since…any kind of relationship. Part of me has been scared to. Part of me just assumes no one will understand my lifestyle. Jimmy and Davis didn't. Why should anyone else? I'm selfish at the end of the day. I always put my work first."
Oliver was in shock. There were so many things here that he wanted to address. So many things that disturbed and upset him, but this last statement was really too much. "That's ludicrous!" he exclaimed. "You're always taking care of your friends first. Weren't you the person who was furious with me for almost missing AC's wedding? And you hired Mia even though she was probably one of the least qualified candidates you had. And you took off work today just to see your parents even though it was completely inconvenient for you. Good God, Chloe, I've never met anyone as selfless as you!"
Rather than making her smile, being told something so kind and sweet just made Chloe collapse into drunken tears again, and she buried her face in Oliver's chest, clinging to him for dear life.
"Okay, Sullivan," Oliver said softly, rubbing her back as he let her cry it out. "You're okay. You've seen some serious hell in your life. You just need to let it out." He suspected that she had never allowed herself to do this until now. It was probably healthy. He found himself marveling at how this changed his perception of her. He had never seen her so vulnerable or small. She was always confident and self-assured, commanding the entire room. He couldn't imagine someone manipulating her the way this Davis person had. But I'm seeing the end-product, he reminded himself. This is who she became because of that guy. Who knows what she was like back then?
So this was what Lois had meant when she had told Oliver to talk to Chloe about her past. He could see why. That was a lot of baggage Chloe was carrying with her. Two real relationships and the first one had cheated on her and the second abused her. No wonder she was known in the media for keeping to herself and being a so-called 'ice queen.' He'd been wondering about that nickname for some time. At times, it suited her, but among her friends and family, she was the warmest, most genuine person he'd ever met. Her smile alone could light up a room. But those were the people who had earned her trust. To outsiders she was aloof and closed off. It was how she protected herself from the rest of the world. And from me, he added, thinking of how she had been when they first met. No laughter, no smiles, just sharp wit and shut downs. It made his heart sink a little further knowing that he was considered an outsider. He'd love to have that warm smile directed at him sometime.
He held her for a long time while she continued crying, his shirt growing damp from her tears. He didn't care. He would have loved to have gone out and done something proactive to help her, but one didn't exactly punch ex-boyfriends in the face for one's fake-fiance. And how exactly did you protect someone from her past? He couldn't fight ghosts.
Quietly, a small realization was forming in the back of Oliver's mind about the way all this information had hit him, and about his reaction to it. Something had definitely changed between him and Chloe, but he wasn't ready to admit it yet. He didn't have the gumption. So his mind filed it away to think about later, tucking the information into a small corner of Oliver's heart, to be referred to when it became more relevant.
When Chloe at last stilled herself, finally shedding what could only have been the very last of the tears, Oliver carried her to his bathroom. Again he placed her on the counter, then ran a washcloth under hot water before gently wiping away the salt and mascara on her face, placing the cloth over her eyes for a moment to sooth the redness and swelling. Chloe allowed him to coddle her like a child, unable to resist or indeed even be bothered that someone was taking care of her this way. He forced her to drink another cup of water, then retrieved her pajamas and helped her undress. She clung to him for support tiredly and allowed him to carry her over to his bed where he placed her under the sheets. Moments later she felt him join her, pulling her into his chest and wrapping his arm around her securely. Only then did her head stop spinning enough to allow her to go to sleep.
Twice in the night she woke up to be sick, and only vaguely was she aware that he was there, too, holding her hair back, helping her rinse out her mouth with ginger ale and forcing her to drink some of it before sleeping again so she didn't get any more dehydrated.
When Chloe woke up the next morning, though, he wasn't there, and through her throbbing head and churning stomach, she was foggily conscious of being disappointed. She groaned miserably and rolled over.
"Hang on, Edward, I think she's awake," said a voice. The words didn't make sense. Her brain couldn't seem to process who was speaking or what about. "Yeah, yeah that sounds fine." A pause. "Well she's going to have to be okay with it. No don't worry I'll take care of her."
Take care of who? Her? She closed her eyes tightly, irrationally thinking that someone was planning to have her killed off. Good. Maybe then the room would stop spinning.
"Hey, Sunshine," the disembodied voice said, much closer and directed at her now. Chloe whined and hid her face in the pillow, savoring it's cool darkness. "You should have something to eat," the voice encouraged. "And drink." No response. "I've also got pain killers and antacids here," it sang temptingly.
Chloe tilted her head to the side to peer up at the person. It was Oliver, holding a tray of scrambled eggs, toast, water, juice, and yes, pills. She gratefully accepted the tray, too hungover to be embarrassed that she was in his bed.
Wait.
She was in his bed. What was she doing in his bed? And in her pajamas. A brief image of Oliver undressing her on his bathroom counter flashed back to her. Her entire face flooded with color. Apparently she wasn't too hungover to be embarrassed. What had happened last night? Everything was a blank. She remembered coming home with a bag of wine and then very little after the first few bottles. Her hand hurt. She looked down to see it was bandaged. How had that happened? A flash of a broken wine bottle spilling all over the floor came to her and then nothingness again.
And then she remembered the wedding invitation. A blurry image of Oliver walking in on her and discovering the broken bottle came back to her. Her entire body sank into the bed in humiliation. "Oh my God," she groaned. What must he think of her?
He was still watching her. She looked at him nervously, but there was no judgment in his eyes. He was just waiting to make sure she ate the food. "I…don't suppose 'I'm sorry' would do this justice?" she said timidly.
Oliver chuckled. "Sorry for what? Getting drunk?"
"For getting drunk and spilling wine all over your floor and somehow ending up in your bed. And I don't remember much else but I'm assuming it was incredibly unattractive to deal with. I'm so sorry."
She moaned and leaned her head back against the head board.
"Eat something," Oliver said. "And you've got nothing to apologize for. You had a bad day and got drunk. We all do that. But just remember next time you don't have to buy cheap wine, my liquor cabinet is your liquor cabinet," he joked. Chloe didn't looked convinced by his bravado so he repeated himself. "Eat something. You'll feel better."
Humbly, she took a small bite of scrambled eggs and felt them drop into her stomach. Food was good. Sustenance. She ate another bite then reached for the apple juice so she could swallow some aspirin. Then she ate more eggs and a bite of toast.
"So I've been on the phone with your assistant all morning. I told him you'd had a late night and needed to sleep in, but don't worry I convinced him that it had almost nothing to do with you taking off yesterday. You've just been working too hard lately. You're morning appointments were rescheduled, and the last minute dress-fitting is going to happen here instead of at your office. Mia and Edward are handling everything else."
Chloe stared at him with her mouth open. The aspirin wasn't working quickly enough. She couldn't process what he was saying to her. She rubbed her temples and closed her eyes. "Slower and fewer words," she pleaded.
He chuckled again and had a seat in an armchair across from the bed. "Work is taken care of. Dress will be here in two hours."
She nodded her understanding but quickly stopped when that made her head hurt more. "Thank you. What…what happened last night? How did I end up in here?"
Oliver frowned. He hadn't realized she was drunk enough to black out last night. "What do you remember?"
"Bits and pieces…I dropped a bottle of wine. You cleaned it up. I think you made me eat some chicken…and…" her face flushed again when she recalled him undressing her. "That's about it," she rushed on, skipping that detail. What had she been thinking? How could she have behaved that way in someone else's home?
"Ah." Oliver wasn't sure what to say. She didn't remember confiding in him. Should he tell her? Or would she be even more embarrassed that she had told him something so intimate about her past? He was sure she would. So he shrugged. "Sounds like your ex-boyfriend is getting married and you were upset about it. No big deal. We ate in the kitchen and talked about how stupid he is to let someone like you go. You wanted to watch romantic comedies and eat ice cream together but I put my foot down and made you go to bed."
Chloe frowned at him. She sincerely doubted any of that had happened. Except clearly the part where he had helped her go to bed. He looked tired. She remembered throwing up in the night and closed her eyes in shame. He had gotten up and helped her. What had she done to this poor man?
"Listen," he said, "I wanted to talk to you about what we're doing here."
At that, Chloe looked up sharply. He was going to call it quits after this and she didn't blame him. She tried not to think about why she felt so bitterly disappointed that she had managed to ruin her fake-engagement with someone.
"I know you were thinking we should break things off before the holidays, but I was thinking about it all morning, and what's the point of being fake-engaged to a billionaire if you can't bring him to show off at your ex-boyfriend's wedding?"
It took her a moment to understand what he was saying. And then it hit her. "Wait…really? You want to drag it out?"
He shrugged, eyes twinkling. "I don't know about you, but I've actually been having a bit of fun with this, and I personally think that making your ex bitterly regret ever leaving you would be incredibly entertaining."
Chloe couldn't care less about what Jimmy thought of her any more. They were on good enough terms that he had felt the need to invite her to his wedding, obviously. It had been a long time since she had wondered why she and Jimmy hadn't ended up together. She hadn't been right for him, and it was very possible that he hadn't been right for her either. What had upset her yesterday was the conviction that she was going to die alone. The only relationships she'd had since Jimmy were completely unhealthy. Davis, and now a pretend-engagement to Oliver Queen. But what Oliver was offering to do was incredibly kind. She wouldn't have to go to the wedding alone. And even though she wanted to refuse his offer, she couldn't bring herself to do it.
"Are you sure?" she managed to ask. "It's next spring. That's a long time to keep up the charade. And there's the holidays to consider."
Clearly he had expected this suggestion. "Like I said, it's been kind of fun so far. And my parents are in love with you. Which is insane because they never like the women I actually date, by the way. So I figure when we have the eventual break-up, we'll keep it amicable. That way nobody gets too hurt. Besides, I wouldn't mind too much if you stuck around when this is over." He studied her response to his words carefully. "I mean, I'd definitely consider you a friend at this point. I think it would be a shame to lose that."
Chloe nodded. Maybe she was just too hungover to think, but what he was saying sounded good. Oliver was a friend at this point. Definitely. You couldn't go through all this together and not be friends one way or another. She didn't like the idea of him going out of her life completely when they finally ended things. And if she were being honest with herself, she wasn't too eager to end things in the first place. It would be nice having someone around during the holidays. It was usually the loneliest time of year for her. Just having a reason to stave off all the comments on her single status would be a relished improvement on past years.
"Okay," she said. "So we keep it up until after Jimmy and Kara's wedding."
Oliver grinned. "Great. Now you'd better finish up with that and get in the shower. We've got to get ready for this party tonight." He headed towards the door. "I'll get you some coffee when your stomach can handle it."
She nodded and then a second later she called after him. "Wait! What do you mean, 'we' have to get ready?
Previous (Chapter 13)
Next (Chapter 15)
Title: Never a Bride
Rating: NC17
Genre: Romance/Humor
Pairings/Characters: primarily Chloe/Oliver
Summary: When a newspaper prints a false engagement announcement for Oliver Queen and Chloe Sullivan, and all their friends are thrilled, Chloe and Oliver decide to stage a fake engagement and breakup to prove to their friends how wrong they are for one another. Because, they will break up, won't they?
Warnings: completely Alternate Universe; also, sexual content and occasional language
banner by
dandiandi22
As usual, I appreciate the patience in waiting for this chapter. Remember that you can follow my twitter to hear the occasional update on how progress is coming. I nearly always put out at least one tweet when I'm working on a chapter, and it's another way I notify people when the new chapter is up. Please check there before you send me "reviews" with the command to update the story.
As some of you know I have moved to NYC with my new job. And I'm slightly homeless, so it's been a stressful time. (I say "slightly" because I have not yet slept on a bench in Central Park.) Other than that, I'm thrilled to be here, and I've enjoyed talking to some of you in between chapters. Even now, the chlollie community is one of the most wonderful ones I have found to be part of. Thanks everyone!
Love,
Blue
First Chapter
Previous (Chapter 13)
Next (Chapter 15)
-14-
"Hi, honey," Moira Sullivan said, squeezing her daughter tightly. "How are you, sweetie? You look a bit peaky. Are you feeling well?"
"Where's Oliver today?" Gabe asked, pulling out Chloe's chair for her so she could sit down.
"He's working, Dad, and I'm fine, Mom," Chloe said simply.
"Well, I'm sure he's under a lot of pressure now that Robert's made that announcement about him taking over the company."
Chloe's mind flickered to the the night of the engagement party, of sleeping in Oliver's arms and creeping out of the room the next morning while he was still asleep. "He's under a lot of stress," was her only reply.
"This is just so odd," Moira commented, looking around the room. "Did we really need to be so isolated?"
Chloe just looked at her menu. "I usually request a private room for lunch so people don't bother me."
"You forget what a big shot our little girl is," Gabe teased his wife.
Chloe sighed, looking exhausted. "Normally it's only a minor problem. I'm an editor. It's not like I'm a real celebrity. But now that I'm engaged to Oliver it's gotten a lot worse. People are always trying to catch me doing something indiscreet, or they're trying to get photos of me with Oliver. Either way, it's been getting worse." She took a sip of her water, looking vaguely weary. She and Oliver hadn't really talked for about a week now. When she'd slipped out of bed the other morning, she'd disappeared to work before he was up. They hadn't talked about it. Things had gone back to normal for a while, with them hanging out in the evenings and talking about what was going on at work, enjoying having company at night, although back to sleeping in their own separate beds. But they hadn't seen much of one another for the past few days. Work was crazy and having her parents in town for this long was really throwing Chloe's schedule off. Gabe and Moira didn't understand how far in advance she usually scheduled something like a lunch date.
"That's right, a friend of mine at work said some tabloid is offering 2 million dollars to anyone who can get a photograph of you two kissing."
"Gabe," Moira scolded. "Don't tell her that! Can't you see how upset she is?"
Chloe looked up at her mother, confused. "I'm not upset. Who says I'm upset?"
Moira covered her daughter's hand across the table. "I'm sorry, dear. I just mean you look out of sorts. Is work stressful? Is everything okay with you and Oliver?"
"I-" Chloe hesitated. Here was a ready made moment to hint that things had taken a downward turn with Oliver, but at the moment she was thinking about kissing Oliver the other night. A two million dollar kiss, apparently. The opportunity passed Chloe by without her realizing it. "We're fine. Things are fine. I'm just tired. We're coming out with a double-issue this fall, and one of my go-to designers is on some sort of creative strike…I'm not really sure what it's about. Artists are touchy," she shook her head dismissively.
"I'm sure it will come together, honey," Gabe said, pausing when a waiter entered to take their beverage requests.
"Speaking of the fall, though," Moira piped up the next moment, "We were discussing things with the Queens, and Laura agreed to let you two spend Thanksgiving with us and Christmas here. I figured you wouldn't mind since you're not usually home for Christmas anyway."
Chloe didn't miss the accusing note in her mother's voice. She looked at Moira affectionately. "You know how it is, Mom. The Christmas season is a really busy time for me. I can't afford to vanish off the face of the earth."
"I would hardly call 'Smallville' vanishing off the face of the earth," Moira sniffed.
"Wouldn't you?" Gabe joked, winking at Chloe, who chuckled.
"Well all I know is I want my daughter and her fiance home for at least one holiday!" Moira pressed on. "We don't see nearly enough of you, and I want to get to know my future son-in-law. He seems like such a nice boy."
Chloe snorted into her water, laughing a little. "Yep, Oliver's a real angel," she joked.
Moira chuckled. "Well, he seems like a gentleman anyway."
Chloe thought this might be taking it a bit far, but she didn't feel it would be prudent to argue.
"I like him for you," Gabe said, leaning back in his chair. "I spoke to him for a little while the other day. He seems surprisingly down-to-earth for someone who's grown up in the spotlight like he has. And I like the way he talks about you."
Chloe raised her eyebrows curiously. "What do you mean?"
"You picked a good one, Chloe. He really respects you. He talks about you like you're his equal. I like that."
Chloe wasn't quite sure how to respond to this.
"I want you both for Thanksgiving, Chloe-Ann," Moira interjected, a bit of a sing-song tone in her voice. "No ifs, ands, or buts."
Chloe drank more water, her face feeling warm for some reason.
"Edward! I need to know what my November schedule looks like."
Edward jumped, looking guilty. Chloe didn't notice. Bypassing him for her desk, she sat down and started pulling up her afternoon appointments on her computer.
"N-November?" Edward asked distractedly. "Right, okay!"
"Oh and Edward! Send Mia in here. I want to talk to her about the fundraiser tomorrow night. I think it would be good for her to help you with some of the prep. Have you helped her find an evening dress for next month, by the way?"
"Wedding dress? I mean, evening dress! Yes, of course, I'm on it!"
Chloe looked up in time to see him vanishing from the room and frowned. "What was that about?" she mouthed, momentarily concerned.
She was almost immediately diverted by an e-mail from Vera Wang, hinting dramatically that it was high-time Chloe looked at wedding dresses, followed by an almost identical one from Laura Queen. Chloe thought briefly of lunch with her parents, unconsciously sucking on the cap of a pen. She would have to talk to Oliver about the holidays. They were sinking ever deeper into this lie, and it needed to be discussed.
Outside, unbeknownst to Chloe, Edward and Mia were in frantic discussion, far removed from the perked ears of Vivian and Louise.
"You've got to hide it!" Edward said urgently.
"Hide it?" Mia whispered, incredulous. "How on earth am I going to hide it?"
"Well I was going to and then she walked in!"
"Where do you want me to put it?" Mia's tone was one of utter disbelief.
"Up your skirt for all I care, woman! You've got to get it out of there before she sees!"
"Are you sure it's that big of a deal? I mean it was years ago."
"Trust me. You didn't know her back then. It's a big deal." And before Mia could protest or otherwise question Edward's sanity, he was shoving her towards the door. "Go! She'll be wondering what's taking so long!" with which remark he unceremoniously forced her threw the door and let it close behind her.
Oblivious, Chloe looked up from the notes in front of her. "Oh hi, Mia. Give me just a sec…. How are you doing today?"
"I-Good," Mia said too loudly. Her eyes darted nervously to a stack of mail in Chloe's in-tray. Chloe was already looking at her computer again, rapidly typing an e-mail to a well-known artistic photographer who was promising her an exclusive interview. Mia edged slowly toward the inbox, trying not to draw too much attention to herself. She glanced at Chloe. Chloe was frowning at the computer, muttering under her breath as she reread a line in the photographer's e-mail. She wasn't paying any attention at all to Mia. Slowly, very carefully, Mia leaned over to see the stack of mail in the tray. She didn't see what she was looking for. Instead of trying to surreptitiously rifle through it, she quietly lifted the stack and started to hide it behind her back. She was about to say that Chloe looked busy, when Chloe hit send with an air of finality and looked up to talk to Mia. She saw the papers in Mia's hands. "Oh good! Is that the mail? Late today, isn't it?" she added, taking it from Mia's reluctant hands, before she could come up with any excuse to delay Chloe.
"So I wanted to talk to you about the fundraiser tomorrow night," Chloe said, thumbing through the mail as she spoke. She glanced at a Thank You note from Katherine and Victor for the wedding gift with a smile. "You're really not going to be doing much. I want you to have fun, I just want you to shadow Edward for the first half of the evening, so you can see what goes into it from our end." She tossed aside a letter from Bruce Wayne to read later. "I've already told him that you'll be helping. Since I'm going as a representative of the company instead of just as a private donor, there's a lot of background details that go on to make sure everything goes smoothly." There was a newsletter from the Star City Metropolitan Opera. She set that in a stack in case there was anything in it she wanted to mark on her schedule. "Anyway, it will be a longer day for you both than usual. So you can both leave ear-" she stopped, staring at a pale yellow envelope, all of the blood draining from her face, the second syllable of "early" lost on her tongue.
Mia watched her nervously.
"Mia?" Chloe said, after what felt like an eternity.
"Yes?"
Chloe stood up from her desk, looking around her in a daze. "I'm-I'm going home."
"What?" This was unheard of behavior. Chloe did not simply leave early. Especially when she had taken extra time away from the office to see her parents that afternoon. She had appointments!
"I'm leaving," Chloe repeated, looking for her purse and coat.
"I-are you okay?"
Chloe seemed not to hear her.
Oliver rubbed a hand across his face. It had been a slow, boring day at his father's office. People were sucking up to him more than ever now that his father was retiring, and it was annoying. He was crossing his fingers that Chloe would be home at a reasonable hour tonight. He'd actually been looking forward to seeing her. One thing he liked about Chloe was that she talked to him like he was any other person, no hidden agendas, no seductions…she didn't want anything from him. It was refreshing to say the least.
His hopes weren't high, though. She'd been getting in later and later these days, and he knew that big fundraiser was tomorrow night, so she'd probably be up to all hours preparing for it as if she were the one hosting it.
That in mind, Oliver was understandably surprised to find himself tripping over Chloe's coat, purse, and shoes lying in the middle of his floor when he opened the door. It was as if she had dropped them on the threshold and forgotten all about them.
Frowning, he picked them up and moved them aside, still more surprised when he felt Chloe's phone vibrating in the purse. It was typically super-glued to her hand, especially this early in the evening. Wondering how angry she would be if she found out, he carefully poked around in her purse until he found the object buzzing frantically. It stopped and he saw that she had 12 missed calls. Before he could see who they were all from, Edward's name flashed across the screen as he attempted to reach her again.
Going with an instinct, Oliver answered the phone. "Hello?" he said curiously.
"Oh thank God! Mr. Queen!" Edward's voiced gushed from the other end. "She's with you? We've been absolutely beside ourselves. Is she okay?"
Oliver's frown deepened. Eyeing the coat and shoes, he said, "Yeah, she's with me. She's home."
"How's she taking it?"
He was going to ask how she was taking what, but it felt strangely invasive. Something personal was obviously going on, and he wasn't sure Chloe would be comfortable knowing he was gossiping about her with her personal assistant. "She's taking it okay, Edward. Thanks for checking in."
Edward breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm just glad she's got you right now. I can't imagine how she'd be feeling if she were alone right now. Honestly, I probably assumed that she'd take this a lot harder than she really did. We just got scared when she left the office unannounced. All right, well, take care of her. I've got evening wear to shop for. I'll see you tomorrow night, I'm sure. Bye!" He hung up, leaving Oliver more confused than ever.
For starters, it had occurred to Oliver for the first time that he would be expected to attend this fundraiser as Chloe's date. Obviously, this hadn't occurred to Chloe either, because she hadn't broached the subject once.
Then there was the matter of her leaving work early and unplanned. The idea was totally unprecedented in the time that he had known her. Time off? Sure, as long as she could plan it weeks in advance. Preferably months. And hadn't she had to schedule a last minute lunch with her parents today? That had probably run over.
And what was it she was taking hard, that Oliver was supposedly making easier for her? Had her parents upset her? Was it work-related? Or something else altogether?
Well, he decided, there was only one way to find out.
"Chloe?" he called, hoping she wouldn't be too unhappy to see him. There was no answer. He walked down the hall toward the guest room, thinking perhaps she hadn't been feeling well and had gone to sleep in there. But as he got closer, he heard noise coming from the room and then a loud smash of broken glass. Chloe let out a startled yell and it suddenly became evident that whatever she was doing, she was crying.
Oliver rushed to the door and swung it open, scared that she'd hurt herself somehow. What he found was possibly the most shocking development of all. Chloe was in her business attire, but somewhat haphazardly. The top few buttons of her silk purple blouse were hanging open undone, revealing the lace of a wireless bra. Her hair was a mess and there was a run in her stockings and more importantly, there were streaks of mascara smeared across her face from crying. Her hand was bleeding from the broken glass and on the floor was a bottle of cheap wine, broken into several large pieces, a pool of cabernet surrounding them like blood.
In one movement, Oliver was at Chloe's side. He steered her away from the glass and set her on the bed, where she didn't move, quietly sobbing and clearly in shock from hurting her hand, which she simply held aloft and stared at, as though unsure as to how it was bleeding.
He dashed to the kitchen for several dishrags, one of which he used to pick up the glass, and the rest he threw on the floor to soak up the wine. Then he ran to the master bathroom off of his room and rummaged in the linen closet until he found the first-aid kit. When he reached Chloe again, she was exactly as he had left her, reminding him of a small-child who had hurt herself playing outside. As he approached her, he caught the strong smell of wine coming from her in waves. Evidently that had not been the first bottle.
"Here," he said kindly, "let me see your hand." He took her small hand in his large ones with surprising gentility, kneeling down in front of her, and Chloe stared at their hands, transfixed, still shaking from crying so hard. Delicately, he removed a couple of small pieces of glass and set them aside to throw away. Then he took a small alcohol wipe out of the first aid kit and gently dabbed at the wound. She let out a pained cry when it burned, cringing and trying to pull her hand away, but Oliver held it firmly. "It's okay," he reassured her. "It's okay, I've got you. Just a little bit more." He finished cleaning the gash and set the alcohol wipe with the bits of glass. Then he pulled out several pads of gauze, which he pressed into her hand until he stopped seeing blood seep through to the top layer. He felt Chloe's hand begin to stop shaking, and her breathing changed as he continued to put pressure on the cut. He hoped that meant she was calming down. His own pulse was racing with concern. Finally, he took out a roll of bandage tape and began to wrap her hand, securing the gauze in place for the time being. He looked up at her from the floor, not realizing he hadn't released her hand. "There. No big deal. Now what on earth is going on, Chloe? Are you all right?"
Chloe opened her mouth to say something but all she could manage was a drunken little sob of exhaustion. She tried again and couldn't do it. Finally, she handed Oliver a yellow card that had been in her good hand. He hadn't even noticed it until now, he'd been so anxious.
He looked down at it and saw that it was a wedding invitation.
Jimmy Olsen and Kara Ellis
Would like to Cordially Invite You and Guest
To Celebrate Their Wedding
Oliver didn't read the information on the time and place. He was trying to understand what about a wedding invitation would upset Chloe to this extent. Before he could ask, though, she let out a very pitiful sounding hiccup and said, "They're getting married! Isn't it charming? Married! I mean, they've only been together for years now. It's about time, isn't it?"
Oliver wasn't sure how to respond to this, but he suddenly recalled that Chloe had told him, that first night at the beginning of all this mess, when they'd gotten to know each other over several bottles of vodka, that she had an ex-boyfriend named Jimmy.
So she's still hung up on him? he thought with a surge of heat. Was that what this was about? She'd never gotten over her first boyfriend and now she was a complete wreck because he was getting married to someone else. He felt angry, although he couldn't exactly peg what was making him angry. He didn't like the idea that she was this upset over another man getting married. Who was this guy, anyway? It wasn't anyone Oliver had ever heard of, so he probably wasn't a socialite. He was probably just some twit she'd dated in college who hadn't known when he had a good thing going for him. And now he was marrying some poor-man's Chloe. And may they be miserable-ever-after, he concluded spitefully.
But something else nagged in the back of his head. Suddenly he remembered what it was: Lois, standing in the hallway of a hotel, telling him to talk to Chloe about her past. He realized that there was more to this than he was grasping.
"I don't understand," he said slowly, watching her steadily. "Jimmy…he's your ex?"
It hadn't helped anything. She started crying afresh and wrenched her hand from his so she could bury her face in both of hers.
Not liking this one bit, Oliver stood up. "Okay," he said. "Kitchen, now." Without warning, he swept her easily into his arms and, sidestepping the first aid kit materials on the floor, carried her into the kitchen, where he gently set her down on the counter. Then he went about getting her a large glass of water and rummaging in the fridge for something for her to eat. He found some left-over rotisserie chicken and brought it to her with the water.
She ignored the chicken at first but after guzzling the entire glass of water-which he promptly refilled, she started to pick at it forlornly. After another glass of water, he tried again. "So tell me what happened," he said, gazing at her in earnest, encouraging her to confide in him.
The food and water seemed to have calmed her, and she took a long, ragged breath to steady herself. "Jimmy and I met in high school the summer before senior year. And then we met again in college and all the feelings of summer romance came rushing right back. We dated for most of college. It was…" she struggled for the right word, "serious. We talked about getting married after graduation. I was expecting a proposal soon. He was my first real love."
She stopped, taking another large gulp of water before plowing ahead with her story.
"But he wasn't as happy as I was. He didn't like how ambitious I was and…and I…neglected him." Oliver could tell it was incredibly painful for her to admit to this. "I was so busy with extra course loads and internships and part-time jobs-I was already working for Whistle back then-that I had less and less time to spend with him. And he was such a nice guy and so good and sweet and so much better than me and it wasn't fair to him.
"And then Clark's cousin came along. Kara. And I knew she was smitten with Jimmy but I thought it was a harmless crush and I trusted him so I never worried about it."
She didn't have to continue. Oliver could see where this was headed, but she just kept going, the words coming out in a rush of emotion.
"At first it wasn't anything real. They were just spending time together. It made me uncomfortable but I reminded myself that my best friend was Clark. He was allowed to have female friends. I'll never know if they actually did anything. I don't want to know. But I suspect…I'm sure…after a certain point, it was more than just spending time together." She closed her eyes as though repressing the horror of all the little clues that had hinted at it-ruffled hair, incorrectly buttoned shirts, guilty expressions. "They didn't keep it up long. She's not really a bad person and he's definitely not. So he left me for her." She paused, the tragedy of it hitting her for what might well have been the first time. "And he broke my heart!" she wrenched out in a high voice, sobbing dryly and clutching at Oliver who already had his arms wrapped around her. "And now they've actually had the nerve to invite me to their wedding, like it's not a kick in the face!" she whined into his shoulder. "I have to go and watch them get married! Because if I don't go everyone will talk and everyone will know that he hurt me, and I'll be causing a big scene just by not being there!"
Oliver rocked her gently as she continued to hide her misery in his shoulder, rubbing her back soothingly. "It's okay, Chlo."
"But it's not okay!" she said abruptly, pushing away from him with hysteria in her eyes. "I've dated one person since Jimmy Olsen, and it was a complete fiasco! He was…it was…" she changed courses, unable to finish her sentence, "And now I'll have to go to their wedding, single and pathetic and miserable for everyone to see."
Tempted though he was to ask about this second "fiasco" boyfriend, Oliver addressed the more pressing issue. "Woah, woah, woah! You are hardly single and pathetic and miserable! Damn, Sullivan! I mean, what am I? Chopped liver?"
Chloe laughed bitterly at his obvious joke. "Oh, come off it, Oliver. We can't possibly keep this up until next spring. It would be ludicrous. I was going to call you today to discuss breaking things off before Thanksgiving. I don't want my parents to get too attached to you and then have it be really hard on them when we split. I'm sure it will be hard enough on both our parents as it is."
Oliver wasn't sure what to say. He hadn't anticipated this development. Before Thanksgiving? That could mean any week now. Once upon a time, he would have been relieved to get his life back. Now he found himself already mourning the absence of Chloe in his life. It was nice coming home to find her here, eating breakfast with her, having someone around who could handle herself in the many social circles he moved throughout. He had grown to enjoy her company and her friendship, and he wasn't sure how he would have handled the news of his father's retirement without her, even if he had suspected that she'd been avoiding him for a couple of days after they'd shared a bed together.
Pushing these selfish thoughts away, he again turned his attention back to her. "Chloe, with or without me, you are a completely incredible woman. Everyone in this city who knows you respects you. And your friends love the hell out of you. The people who work for you are convinced they have the best jobs in the world-which I can tell you, is a completely remarkable accomplishment. You're formidable and incredibly attractive. Men drool over you all the time and you don't even notice it-"
She snorted and Oliver knew she didn't believe him. He rolled his eyes.
"Seriously, Sullivan. Do you know how many guys have been asking me if you have a sister or a friend for them? Or better yet if they can have your number when I screw it up? And what about Harvey Dent? Don't think he won't be calling you when this is all over between us!" He said it encouragingly, trying not to think about the fact that that idea annoyed him on a very deep level. He'd wondered more than once what she had told Dent to explain her sudden engagement.
"Don't be ridiculous," Chloe shook her head. "Harvey was just a good friend anyway. I haven't dated anyone in years. I haven't had sex in years," she moaned miserably, dropping her head back and looking at the ceiling.
Oliver just stared. He knew it had been a while, but…no. Surely not. "What are you talking about?"
"It's been years. And it suuuucks," she groaned, now flopping her head forward again in a petulant manner.
"Hold on a second. I don't believe that. A woman like you?"
"In case you haven't noticed, Queen, I've never exactly been a hot commodity."
Oliver shook his head. "No way. You had to have had offers. If you haven't had sex in years, then it was definitely by choice."
A strange look passed over Chloe's face and she looked at Oliver. She opened her mouth to try to explain but her head was spinning from all the wine she'd had, and now she was tired, too. It was making her vision foggy.
"Of course I've had offers. I just…have issues." He stared at her blankly, so she elaborated. "Trust issues."
Oliver frowned. It wasn't that he didn't understand this to a degree. He completely respected anyone's right to say no or to choose to wait for sex. But there was something about the way she said it that bothered him, it was more than just dealing with someone cheating on her. So he asked. "What do you mean?"
"The whole Davis thing freaked me out," she confessed, drunkenly forgetting that Oliver still didn't know what that meant. "I just…ever since then I just haven't been…I can't…I don't do relationships."
Oliver was getting exhausted trying to follow. Was her being upset about Jimmy or about this Davis guy? "What happened with Davis?" he asked. Clearly there was something connected there.
Chloe's entire postured changed, arms crossing and curling into herself. "I wanna go to bed," she said, "I don't want to talk about this any more."
"What did he do to you?" Oliver asked, protective instincts flaring. He didn't mean to ask it. As upset as she was, she clearly needed to go to bed and get a good night's sleep, and he had no business not letting her. But he wanted to know what this Davis guy had done to her. She had a victimized look in her eyes that didn't belong in his mentally constructed version of her. Chloe was many things, but victim was definitely not one of them.
Chloe hugged herself tighter, now refusing to meet Oliver's eyes as she spoke in a low, troubled voice, gushing the words that she never would have allowed herself to speak sober. "It started out okay. I met him toward the end of my relationship with Jimmy. I knew he liked me, but he respected my relationship with Jimmy. He never crossed any lines. When things fell apart with Jimmy, I guess I rebounded with him. He was handsome and heroic-a paramedic-and charming. He swept me off my feet and at first it was okay because it was nice being with someone again and not feeling heartbroken. But I was scared of ignoring him the way I'd ignored Jimmy. So I let him talk me out of a lot of things. I started spending less time at work and stunted a lot of my progress with the magazine. I did the bare minimum and then came home to him. We moved in together. And then it started getting…it changed. I wasn't just neglecting work. I was avoiding my friends and family. He had a…a jealous side. He especially had issues with Clark and Jimmy. Jimmy still cared about me and he didn't like Davis. Thought he was bad for me. Davis hated that Jimmy and I still talked, and he was convinced that there was something going on with me and Clark. And then he started keeping me from my family…Lois, my parents, even the Kents. I barely left the apartment except to got to classes, and when I graduated, to go to work. He was becoming more and more controlling in every area of our relationship. He never…he didn't hit me, but it was-" she swallowed tightly, "It was definitely abusive. I was made to constantly feel guilty, and I-" she was ripping the words from her throat now, as if they had been wedged there for years. "I wanted to leave him but I was scared. I think he sensed it because he became more and more forceful. Sex became…it was a way of staking ownership." She was trembling again, and Oliver reached for her shoulder, gripping it bracingly, unsure how else to comfort her. "It went on for just over a year before Lois stepped in. She'd suspected something wasn't right for a while, and finally she confronted me. She's always been like a sister to me, so I couldn't lie to her. I told her everything, and she got me out. Used connections from her dad to get Davis arrested. Then ultimately she worked the system so he would be forced to get some help. I asked her once and…I think he turned out okay in the end. He had some issues but he never wanted to be a bad person. As for me…I just…." She let out a deep, shaky breath. "I haven't had a relationship with a man since…any kind of relationship. Part of me has been scared to. Part of me just assumes no one will understand my lifestyle. Jimmy and Davis didn't. Why should anyone else? I'm selfish at the end of the day. I always put my work first."
Oliver was in shock. There were so many things here that he wanted to address. So many things that disturbed and upset him, but this last statement was really too much. "That's ludicrous!" he exclaimed. "You're always taking care of your friends first. Weren't you the person who was furious with me for almost missing AC's wedding? And you hired Mia even though she was probably one of the least qualified candidates you had. And you took off work today just to see your parents even though it was completely inconvenient for you. Good God, Chloe, I've never met anyone as selfless as you!"
Rather than making her smile, being told something so kind and sweet just made Chloe collapse into drunken tears again, and she buried her face in Oliver's chest, clinging to him for dear life.
"Okay, Sullivan," Oliver said softly, rubbing her back as he let her cry it out. "You're okay. You've seen some serious hell in your life. You just need to let it out." He suspected that she had never allowed herself to do this until now. It was probably healthy. He found himself marveling at how this changed his perception of her. He had never seen her so vulnerable or small. She was always confident and self-assured, commanding the entire room. He couldn't imagine someone manipulating her the way this Davis person had. But I'm seeing the end-product, he reminded himself. This is who she became because of that guy. Who knows what she was like back then?
So this was what Lois had meant when she had told Oliver to talk to Chloe about her past. He could see why. That was a lot of baggage Chloe was carrying with her. Two real relationships and the first one had cheated on her and the second abused her. No wonder she was known in the media for keeping to herself and being a so-called 'ice queen.' He'd been wondering about that nickname for some time. At times, it suited her, but among her friends and family, she was the warmest, most genuine person he'd ever met. Her smile alone could light up a room. But those were the people who had earned her trust. To outsiders she was aloof and closed off. It was how she protected herself from the rest of the world. And from me, he added, thinking of how she had been when they first met. No laughter, no smiles, just sharp wit and shut downs. It made his heart sink a little further knowing that he was considered an outsider. He'd love to have that warm smile directed at him sometime.
He held her for a long time while she continued crying, his shirt growing damp from her tears. He didn't care. He would have loved to have gone out and done something proactive to help her, but one didn't exactly punch ex-boyfriends in the face for one's fake-fiance. And how exactly did you protect someone from her past? He couldn't fight ghosts.
Quietly, a small realization was forming in the back of Oliver's mind about the way all this information had hit him, and about his reaction to it. Something had definitely changed between him and Chloe, but he wasn't ready to admit it yet. He didn't have the gumption. So his mind filed it away to think about later, tucking the information into a small corner of Oliver's heart, to be referred to when it became more relevant.
When Chloe at last stilled herself, finally shedding what could only have been the very last of the tears, Oliver carried her to his bathroom. Again he placed her on the counter, then ran a washcloth under hot water before gently wiping away the salt and mascara on her face, placing the cloth over her eyes for a moment to sooth the redness and swelling. Chloe allowed him to coddle her like a child, unable to resist or indeed even be bothered that someone was taking care of her this way. He forced her to drink another cup of water, then retrieved her pajamas and helped her undress. She clung to him for support tiredly and allowed him to carry her over to his bed where he placed her under the sheets. Moments later she felt him join her, pulling her into his chest and wrapping his arm around her securely. Only then did her head stop spinning enough to allow her to go to sleep.
Twice in the night she woke up to be sick, and only vaguely was she aware that he was there, too, holding her hair back, helping her rinse out her mouth with ginger ale and forcing her to drink some of it before sleeping again so she didn't get any more dehydrated.
When Chloe woke up the next morning, though, he wasn't there, and through her throbbing head and churning stomach, she was foggily conscious of being disappointed. She groaned miserably and rolled over.
"Hang on, Edward, I think she's awake," said a voice. The words didn't make sense. Her brain couldn't seem to process who was speaking or what about. "Yeah, yeah that sounds fine." A pause. "Well she's going to have to be okay with it. No don't worry I'll take care of her."
Take care of who? Her? She closed her eyes tightly, irrationally thinking that someone was planning to have her killed off. Good. Maybe then the room would stop spinning.
"Hey, Sunshine," the disembodied voice said, much closer and directed at her now. Chloe whined and hid her face in the pillow, savoring it's cool darkness. "You should have something to eat," the voice encouraged. "And drink." No response. "I've also got pain killers and antacids here," it sang temptingly.
Chloe tilted her head to the side to peer up at the person. It was Oliver, holding a tray of scrambled eggs, toast, water, juice, and yes, pills. She gratefully accepted the tray, too hungover to be embarrassed that she was in his bed.
Wait.
She was in his bed. What was she doing in his bed? And in her pajamas. A brief image of Oliver undressing her on his bathroom counter flashed back to her. Her entire face flooded with color. Apparently she wasn't too hungover to be embarrassed. What had happened last night? Everything was a blank. She remembered coming home with a bag of wine and then very little after the first few bottles. Her hand hurt. She looked down to see it was bandaged. How had that happened? A flash of a broken wine bottle spilling all over the floor came to her and then nothingness again.
And then she remembered the wedding invitation. A blurry image of Oliver walking in on her and discovering the broken bottle came back to her. Her entire body sank into the bed in humiliation. "Oh my God," she groaned. What must he think of her?
He was still watching her. She looked at him nervously, but there was no judgment in his eyes. He was just waiting to make sure she ate the food. "I…don't suppose 'I'm sorry' would do this justice?" she said timidly.
Oliver chuckled. "Sorry for what? Getting drunk?"
"For getting drunk and spilling wine all over your floor and somehow ending up in your bed. And I don't remember much else but I'm assuming it was incredibly unattractive to deal with. I'm so sorry."
She moaned and leaned her head back against the head board.
"Eat something," Oliver said. "And you've got nothing to apologize for. You had a bad day and got drunk. We all do that. But just remember next time you don't have to buy cheap wine, my liquor cabinet is your liquor cabinet," he joked. Chloe didn't looked convinced by his bravado so he repeated himself. "Eat something. You'll feel better."
Humbly, she took a small bite of scrambled eggs and felt them drop into her stomach. Food was good. Sustenance. She ate another bite then reached for the apple juice so she could swallow some aspirin. Then she ate more eggs and a bite of toast.
"So I've been on the phone with your assistant all morning. I told him you'd had a late night and needed to sleep in, but don't worry I convinced him that it had almost nothing to do with you taking off yesterday. You've just been working too hard lately. You're morning appointments were rescheduled, and the last minute dress-fitting is going to happen here instead of at your office. Mia and Edward are handling everything else."
Chloe stared at him with her mouth open. The aspirin wasn't working quickly enough. She couldn't process what he was saying to her. She rubbed her temples and closed her eyes. "Slower and fewer words," she pleaded.
He chuckled again and had a seat in an armchair across from the bed. "Work is taken care of. Dress will be here in two hours."
She nodded her understanding but quickly stopped when that made her head hurt more. "Thank you. What…what happened last night? How did I end up in here?"
Oliver frowned. He hadn't realized she was drunk enough to black out last night. "What do you remember?"
"Bits and pieces…I dropped a bottle of wine. You cleaned it up. I think you made me eat some chicken…and…" her face flushed again when she recalled him undressing her. "That's about it," she rushed on, skipping that detail. What had she been thinking? How could she have behaved that way in someone else's home?
"Ah." Oliver wasn't sure what to say. She didn't remember confiding in him. Should he tell her? Or would she be even more embarrassed that she had told him something so intimate about her past? He was sure she would. So he shrugged. "Sounds like your ex-boyfriend is getting married and you were upset about it. No big deal. We ate in the kitchen and talked about how stupid he is to let someone like you go. You wanted to watch romantic comedies and eat ice cream together but I put my foot down and made you go to bed."
Chloe frowned at him. She sincerely doubted any of that had happened. Except clearly the part where he had helped her go to bed. He looked tired. She remembered throwing up in the night and closed her eyes in shame. He had gotten up and helped her. What had she done to this poor man?
"Listen," he said, "I wanted to talk to you about what we're doing here."
At that, Chloe looked up sharply. He was going to call it quits after this and she didn't blame him. She tried not to think about why she felt so bitterly disappointed that she had managed to ruin her fake-engagement with someone.
"I know you were thinking we should break things off before the holidays, but I was thinking about it all morning, and what's the point of being fake-engaged to a billionaire if you can't bring him to show off at your ex-boyfriend's wedding?"
It took her a moment to understand what he was saying. And then it hit her. "Wait…really? You want to drag it out?"
He shrugged, eyes twinkling. "I don't know about you, but I've actually been having a bit of fun with this, and I personally think that making your ex bitterly regret ever leaving you would be incredibly entertaining."
Chloe couldn't care less about what Jimmy thought of her any more. They were on good enough terms that he had felt the need to invite her to his wedding, obviously. It had been a long time since she had wondered why she and Jimmy hadn't ended up together. She hadn't been right for him, and it was very possible that he hadn't been right for her either. What had upset her yesterday was the conviction that she was going to die alone. The only relationships she'd had since Jimmy were completely unhealthy. Davis, and now a pretend-engagement to Oliver Queen. But what Oliver was offering to do was incredibly kind. She wouldn't have to go to the wedding alone. And even though she wanted to refuse his offer, she couldn't bring herself to do it.
"Are you sure?" she managed to ask. "It's next spring. That's a long time to keep up the charade. And there's the holidays to consider."
Clearly he had expected this suggestion. "Like I said, it's been kind of fun so far. And my parents are in love with you. Which is insane because they never like the women I actually date, by the way. So I figure when we have the eventual break-up, we'll keep it amicable. That way nobody gets too hurt. Besides, I wouldn't mind too much if you stuck around when this is over." He studied her response to his words carefully. "I mean, I'd definitely consider you a friend at this point. I think it would be a shame to lose that."
Chloe nodded. Maybe she was just too hungover to think, but what he was saying sounded good. Oliver was a friend at this point. Definitely. You couldn't go through all this together and not be friends one way or another. She didn't like the idea of him going out of her life completely when they finally ended things. And if she were being honest with herself, she wasn't too eager to end things in the first place. It would be nice having someone around during the holidays. It was usually the loneliest time of year for her. Just having a reason to stave off all the comments on her single status would be a relished improvement on past years.
"Okay," she said. "So we keep it up until after Jimmy and Kara's wedding."
Oliver grinned. "Great. Now you'd better finish up with that and get in the shower. We've got to get ready for this party tonight." He headed towards the door. "I'll get you some coffee when your stomach can handle it."
She nodded and then a second later she called after him. "Wait! What do you mean, 'we' have to get ready?
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