Cure: Chapter Eight (8/?)
Banner created by: alxnhnt22
Summary: Chloe is trying to find a doctor to help her with her meteor infection and a playboy-like Oliver Queen is trying to find a a physician for his Green Arrow wounds. They begin a sexual relationship, which becomes a problem once Ollie's softer side develops.
Chapter Eight
She was joking wasn’t she?
“Yeah, I’ll call you”, he said, letting it slide.
“I’m not kidding.”
This was why he didn’t open up to people.
“What?”
She adjusted the laptop bag. “I can’t do this.”
She walked out of the door, but that wasn’t a good enough explanation for him. He didn’t care if he made a scene as old people were eating breakfast.
“That’s bullshit”, he said. “What happened to things being simple?”
She turned around. “That’s my point. It’s supposed to be simple. But here, we are, talking, and sure, it’s in some B&B. It’s an emotional toothbrush, and I can’t do that.”
“It can’t be simple if you keep making it seem so rigid. You want to give me a reason why we can’t actually be friends?”
“We are friends”, she insisted.
“No, because friends talk about their life, and they don’t freak out about it afterwards.”
She let out a laugh. “I am not freaking out.”
Bull. “Oh really?”
“It’s just as well, then”, she said. “Look, I just can’t, okay? It's like an emotional peanut allergy. I become a weird version of myself, swell up, and my throat just stops working. I just can't.”
He wanted to stop her, but she had run away before he could. And on the way out, she shot him a look that clearly told him not to follow her.
"I'm actually allergic to peanuts, you know!" He called out after her.
His first instinct was to go to Emil and ask him what was going on with her, but he had a feeling that the doctor would just spout some more “she has a textbook personality” crap.
***
“Look, if you’re serious about pursuing this deal, then you have to go to Japan, meet with the clients, and pitch a better deal than the Luthors. It’s the only way to do it”, the vice-president said. “Make sure that you sign a contract with them right then and there.”
It made sense for Oliver to take a trip and negotiate a deal with the Japanese, but he just didn’t want to run off to another continent without having a good name established in Metropolis. He had work to do as the Green Arrow. And there was still Chloe to think about- he didn’t want to just run off without saying anything.
“I just got here, Matt. There’s still some work that I have to oversee before running around halfway across the world for one almost client. We can do better. If we want to expand our clientele in Asia, then we need to get a team over there for at least a couple of months, and we can’t do that unless we get a longer list. It’s a waste of time otherwise.”
“That’s exactly what one of the Luthors would say.”
The guy was trying to bait him, and normally, it would work. But Oliver looked at the clock and saw that they had been talking about this for an hour and a half already.
He wasn’t making any progress here, but he had a feeling that he could figure this all out, the Japanese and Chloe, if he just got out of the office and stopped letting Matt try and control him.
He sat up from his desk, grabbed his keys and put on his coat. “Then shave my head and give me a name that starts with an L. I’m making the right call. Good to see you.”
The drive to Smallville was a lot more relaxing than Oliver thought that it would be. He spoke to one of the baristas in the building- Chloe wasn’t here yet.
Oliver drove to Smallville. He spoke to one of the baristas inside- Chloe wasn’t here yet. He had a feeling that she would probably turn around if she saw him through a window if she was walking around outside, so instead of having a seat and enjoying the warmth, he walked out the door and sat down outside near the door.
He waited for four hours before the woman came outside and offered him a cup of coffee.
“On the house”, she said. “It’s cold out here.”
He wanted to protest, or to pay for it, but she had already left. It really was cold out here- he would have had a lot easier of a time doing this if they were all just in Star City.
The woman came back an hour later with an insulated pot, and another hour later, with an electric blanket that she plugged in. He gave her his thanks before she went back inside, and kept waiting.
Oliver ignored business calls and texts from his assistants. He just waited outside of the coffee shop in a pressed suit and poured himself cup after cup of coffee. He could see why living here was good for Chloe. The coffee was supposed to be the best in town, and even though Smallville was very small, the coffee lived up to its name.
He would probably have better luck waiting inside of his toasty car. But then there was the chance that he could fall asleep and miss her, and even though it was freezing outside, the cold did help him stay awake.
He was getting restless waiting here. Chloe was purposefully ignoring him, he knew that. Oliver knew that he was wasting his time here. He should probably stop ignoring the texts and check his email. Maybe return some phone calls.
He should get in his gear, go back to Metropolis, and actually do something that would have an impact on the world later. And even if he just didn’t give a damn about the world, he could always pick up some random woman at a bar or a club to help him forget why he was here.
He had a feeling that Emil was wrong. That he wasn’t just waiting here because she rejected him. It was something else, and Oliver couldn’t put a finger on it. Or a word, for that matter.
He did notice that the barista was incredibly nice to him. Fed him and kept him topped off in coffee. She kept him fuelled for the night before closing the shop.
The barista returned an hour after the sunrise. “I guess she’s still not back yet.”
Oliver knew that if he kept up with the small-talk, he could sleep with the barista if he wanted to. She liked him enough, and she wasn’t incredibly horrible looking. She wasn’t a minor and she wasn’t old.
But it was kind of suspicious, how nice she was being to him. Probably a nice check with a lot of zeroes.
And normally, he would. But he would rather receive a nice signed business contract with the Japanese. Oliver would love to frame the thing and dance around with the contract in front of the Luthors.
Would the business contract or saving the world stop any of them from thinking that Oliver was a murderer? That he was responsible for the death of a young boy?
This is about having an hour or two’s release from the pain that is being you.
“Why are you so nice to me?” He asked the woman. “You don’t even know me.”
She shrugged as she unlocked the door. “Chloe’s been a customer here for a long time. She probably keeps us in business. Any friend of hers is okay with me.”
The woman opened the door and started her day. He just focused his attention on the passing people, trying to see if Chloe was among them.
Time passed, and he swore that he could have counted to infinity, the amount of times he saw that windmill go around. But he finally saw her at 6 in the evening, looking pretty much as tired and dead as he did.
Oliver stood up before walking around a little bit to get some of the circulation back in his legs. She was surprised to see him, he could read that much on her face.
“How long have you been waiting there?” she asked
“Almost two days.” He checked his watch. “Ah, actually, a little more than two days. So, how have you been?”
“Had to take an unexpected trip somewhere”, she said, looking at him intently in silence for a moment. “Two days?”
He nodded.
“And you haven’t left once?”
“Peed a little in that cornfield, keeping an eye on the entrance the whole time.”
She looked down for a second, her hands in her pockets. “When you end it, I get to hate you”, she said softly. “I get to be emotional, I get to be so angry that I shoot darts at a picture of your face that I find in the papers, and I reserve the right to get drunk with my cousin and tell her mean lies or embarrassing stories about you. And not say which one is real or not.”
He wanted to say something back, but couldn’t think of anything. All of that time waiting for her to show up, and he never rehearsed anything. All he wanted to do was make sure that he saw her again.
He needed to say something back. She was waiting for him to say something back. “Okay.”
“You don’t get to meet my friends or family, and you don’t get to have sex with any random women you find on the street. We won’t double date with other couples we find, or go to any parties together. You don’t get to move in to my apartment, and you don’t get to instigate those conversations about marriage and kids. Whatever this is, it is. And when it’s over, I get to be mad, understand?”
“Are you done?” He asked
“Yes.”
“Can I say something?”
She nodded silently, still looking down at her shoes.
“Would you look at me?” He asked, tilting her chin up with a finger
She took a deep breath, giving him a slightly annoyed, stubborn look.
“You don’t get to block me out.” He told her
“I won’t be able to answer everything. Sometimes, it’s not my place.”
He assumed that it meant that she wouldn’t tell him that Clark Kent was The Red-Blue Blur. He understood.
Oliver understood a little too well. Because if she knew what Clark did on his spare time, and so adamantly protected him by closing people out, then there was the chance that she would understand that he had his own night-time gig as well.
“There are some questions I can’t answer myself”, he told her.
She looked at him. “No, it goes beyond some little identity crises”, she said. “It’s complicated.” She took another deep breath. “See, this is the problem- I can’t even explain what realm of complicated it is without going into it.”
Identity crisis? That was sort of close. If he squinted, maybe the problem could seem normal.
“Like if you explain one thing, you’d have to give someone a crash course on your life?”
“Yes!” She exclaimed. “Almost just like that.”
“Then let’s just say that we don’t want to give a crash course when it comes up. So where, were you, anyway?”
She let out a laugh. “Trust me, you don’t want to know.”
She opened the door to the Talon, and they walked upstairs to her apartment. Oliver unplugged the electric blanket, picked up the thermos and gave it back to the barista, thanking her before heading upstairs and catching up to Chloe.
He saw her as she opened the door to her apartment. She looked at him.
“Two days, huh?” She asked
He nodded.
“Why am I pissed off at you already?” She asked as she took off her coat, and then three more layers of shirts and two pants.
She was still wearing pants and a t-shirt. Where the hell was she?
He ignored it and kissed her instead of asking questions, or telling her that it was probably because she didn’t expect to see him there.
He most likely ruined any plans that she had of ending whatever they were doing. He took off his own coat and she loosened his tie. She didn’t remove it, and gave the tie a little tug, pulling him closer to her.
“Have I mentioned how much I like seeing you in a suit?” She mumbled
“You’re tired, aren’t you?” He asked, pulling away.
“Exhausted, but I still want you.”
“Me too”, he said, pulling off tie. “And I think that I finally know just how much coffee you drink a day.”
“So I’m exhausted, and you’re jacked up on caffeine. What are we going to do?”
“How many more layers of clothing do you have on?” he asked
“The necessities”, she said as she unbuttoned his shirt, starting at the collar and working her way down. “Ask me where I went, and I’ll ask you how you got the stitches on your leg.” She kissed his neck before focusing on the buttons.
“Sky-diving gone wrong”, he managed to say.
She reached her hands behind her own back before pulling her shirt and bra off at the same time. Well, that was unexpected.
She climbed on top of him, pushed his shirt off of his shoulder, and pressed herself against his chest. She kissed his jaw and worked up to his ear.
She nibbled on his earlobe before he heard the whispering, clear as day. “Can’t lie to a liar, Ollie.”