Twist of Fate 4/?
Feb. 14th, 2011 12:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
luminare91Title: Twist of Fate
Summary: Oliver finds himself at Smallville High where he meets Chloe and discovers the world of Meta-humans. But will his newfound happiness be threatened by the presence of an old enemy?
Rating: PG-13 (Mostly for mild language and violence in later chapters. I don't see it going any further, but if it does, the rating will change accordingly.)
Warning: This is mostly AU. I plan to work in as much from the series as I can, but the timeline is completely mine and character ages have been changed as I see fit. Oliver's only a year older than Chloe in this. She already knows about Clark's powers. And Lois is living with Chloe.
Relationships: Chlollie, Clois (just a teeny-tiny bit)
Previous Chapters: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3
Banner by![[info]](https://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=1)
552158
Author's Note: This chapter is really long. It kinda mutated on me. Thanks to all who have reviewed. It's really inspiring.
Chapter 4
Oliver stood awkwardly in the middle of the Torch. He’d been looking for Chloe. They hadn’t spoken since meeting at the Talon four days before, except for that one text. He’d tried calling three times, but it went straight to voicemail. Normally, he would have thought that he was getting the brush off. But considering she’d given him her number and not the other way around, that was unlikely. Plus, she just didn’t seem to be the type of person to brush someone off like.
He wandered over to a bulletin board that occupied one wall. It was covered in newspaper clippings, articles, and pictures, including one of a man with three fingers on one hand and five on the other. Just by glancing at everything, it seemed the Chloe had linked everything to a meteor shower that had hit the town years ago.
“I see you found my Wall of Weird,” she said from behind him.
Grinning sheepishly, he turned to face her. She was bent over the computer, her back to him, typing out an e-mail. “Sorry. I was looking for you and it piqued my interest. I tried calling but I didn’t get an answer, so I thought I’d stop by.”
“No worries. I just hope you don’t run screaming in the other direction now that you know how crazy I am.”
He turned back to the bulletin board. “I’ll admit, it does seem a little out there.”
“Well, maybe it is,” she admitted, coming to stand beside him. “But if you ask me, things have been weird in Smallville ever since the meteor shower. I’m kind of obsessed with the theory. Almost every edition of the Torch has some kind of editorial about my suspicions. Which is half the reason I have to be sure to print sports stuff. Otherwise, I’d probably be expelled.”
“I wonder why?” Oliver chuckled.
She elbowed him lightly in the ribs. “So why were you looking for me, anyway?”
“Well you weren’t answering your phone, so I thought...I’d...what happened?”
For the first time since she’d entered the room, Oliver got a good look at her face. The left side of her forehead was bruised, as were her temple and cheek. The discoloring on her cheek was mostly hidden by makeup and she’d swept her bangs across her forehead in an attempt to hide the livid bruise.
“I fell,” she said unconvincingly.
Oliver crossed his arms and glared at her. “Chloe, I’ve gotten into enough fights to know that someone hit you on the head with something. There is no way you could have gotten that kind of bruise by falling down. What happened?”
“It’s...” she hesitated, searching for the right word before finally coming up with, “complicated.”
“There’s nothing complicated about it,” Oliver said testily. “Someone did a number on you. The next time that happens, you could be seriously hurt. Now are you going to tell me what happened?”
Sighing, she collapsed in a nearby chair. “I can’t. And it’s not for the reasons you think,” she added, glaring at him. “I’m not being abused or anything. I just accidentally found myself on the wrong end of a crazy person a couple of days ago. He was an old friend who was in an accident. It left him mentally incapacitated. Because I was the only one to e-mail him while he was in recovery, he kinda had a thing for me.”
“A thing for you?” he deadpanned.
Heat rose to her cheeks. “Yes. A thing. Anyway, when I told him I wasn’t interested, he kinda went berserk. He may have hit me with a horseshoe. But Clark grabbed him and he’s in a mental facility now, so everything’s fine,” she finished with forced cheerfulness.
Oliver ran a hand over his face and collapsed in a chair opposite Chloe. “And the fact that he could have seriously harmed you doesn’t bother you at all?”
“Not really,” Chloe shrugged. “I mean, being an investigative reporter is my life’s ambition and it’s not exactly the safest of professions. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve almost been caught snooping around Luthorcorp. But I’m still here, and I’m in one piece, and that is good enough for me.”
“Luthorcorp!” he choked out. “You’ve been snooping around Luthorcorp!”
Her gaze became defiant. “Lionel Luthor is no saint and I have evidence that he’s engaged in some very questionable business practices. One of these days, I’ll expose him.”
“You do realize that you’re playing with fire, right?” he asked weakly. It was becoming abundantly clear the longer he spent time around Chloe Sullivan that she was like no girl he’d ever met. He already knew that she had the uncanny ability to see through his act. But now he knew that she was selfless, determined, and could care less about her own well being. The problem was he knew just how dangerous the Luthors were. He admired what she was doing, trying to unmask Lionel for the sadistic monster he was. But after what he had seen Lex do at Excelsior he knew that he and his father were capable of anything. Part of him was proud to know that he’d met someone who was willing to stand up to people like the Luthors, but he was also worried that it was going to get her into trouble and the thought she might get hurt caused his chest to tighten slightly.
Chloe’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not going to warn me about getting burned, are you?”
Oliver shook his head. “No. I wouldn’t presume to tell you what to do. Just please be careful. I’m sure you get people telling you that all the time, but so far you’re my only friend here and it would really suck if you got thrown in jail or died or something.”
The very real sadness in his voice surprised Chloe. She met his eyes and saw the briefest flash of vulnerability. It suddenly occurred to her that he’d grown up without any family and the playboy lifestyle he’d cultivated was just a front to hide that loneliness.
She sighed in mock exasperation. “Because you asked so nicely, I’ll try to avoid life threatening situations for at least the next week, but no guarantees.”
If only he knew how insignificant that promise was. Being best friends with Clark was dangerous. She found herself up against meteor freaks or people who wanted to use the meteor infected for their own ends. Even before she knew Clark’s secret, her insatiable curiosity had nearly gotten her killed on more than one occasion. There had been that time the deranged police officer with a hero complex had kidnapped and buried her alive just so that he could rescue her. And the time the football coach had tried to incinerate her because she’d figured out that he was scaring his players into cheating so that he could win some stupid game. Trouble just followed her around.
The tone of her voice was enough to tell Oliver that she was making an empty promise. But the look in her eyes spoke louder. There was something she was keeping back, something important. Somehow he knew that she didn’t go looking for trouble, that it just found her. Having had his fair share of injuries, Oliver knew what kind of strength it took to shake off an injury like that. It was definitely official. She was like no one he had ever met.
He grinned. “Well I was coming to ask why you were ignoring me, but now that I know that you weren’t, I was wondering if you’d heard about the bonfire tonight.”
“Sorry about that. My phone got lost in the chaos the other day. I should have a new one by the end of the week. And yes,” she said, arching an eyebrow. “I’ve heard about the bonfire. Half the school’s going. Why?”
“Well, like I said, you’re practically the only person I know and you’re definitely my only friend, so I was wondering if you’d go with me. Not as a date or anything” he added quickly, rubbing his neck in embarrassment. “Just as friends. Nothing’s worse than standing in the corner by yourself.”
Chloe’s soft laugh stopped his rambling. “Yes, I’ll go with you.”
“Awesome! So I’ll pick you up at eight?”
She laughed again. “Isn’t that kind of a date thing?”
“No, it’s a friend thing,” he said slowly, as though speaking to a child. “That way you don’t have to drive, and since I don’t really know where I’m going, you can boss me around and give me directions.”
Still chuckling, Chloe grabbed a piece of paper off her desk and wrote down her address and directions from the school. “This is my home number,” she said, pointing at numbers on the bottom of the page. “Call when you get there and I’ll come out, otherwise you’ll be facing the Inquisition, Lois-style. And believe me, you don’t want to experience that.”
“Thanks for the warning,” he said, taking the paper. He tore off the bottom half and wrote down his number, handing it to her. “This way you can call me if something happens.”
“Will do.” She glanced at the clock. “I actually have to go. I was just supposed to be grabbing my bag. My dad’s waiting. So I’ll see you tonight.”
“See you then.”
Chloe gave him one last smile before leaving the room.
Oliver followed her out, locking the door behind him and found himself face to face with Lex.
“Look at you,” Lex sneered. “Going into the lion’s den. I didn’t think you had it in you. What’d she have to do to get you in there?”
Growling, Oliver rounded on Lex, a fierce protective urge surging over him out of nowhere. “Chloe is ten times the human you’ll ever be Lex. I’m lucky that she’s willing to be around me. You’ll never know what that feels like. You sank into darkness a long time ago.”
“I’m not the only one,” Lex hissed. “What do you think she’ll say when she finds out what you’ve done? You embraced that darkness right alongside me and you know it. It was in you longer than it was ever in me. You can keep stringing her along, pretending that you’re some kind of saint, but we both know you’ll never be more than the heartless playboy who uses people and throws them away.”
A cold smile pulled at Lex’s lips at the sight of Oliver’s tense jaw. “See you at the bonfire.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
“What are you getting all dressed up for?” Lois demanded.
Chloe shot a glare at her cousin. It was marred slightly by the fact that she was pulling a shirt over her head. “I’m going to the bonfire. And this isn’t dressed up. This is just dressed. I wear this to school every day.”
“Chloe, Chloe, Chloe,” Lois sighed, shaking her head. “You’re changing clothes at a quarter to eight. You’re dressing up. And badly. I have just the thing.”
“Lois, I am not wearing your clothes,” Chloe said firmly. “It’s not happening.”
“Trust me cuz, you won’t regret it.” Lois tossed a emerald green wrap top across the room as she spoke. “You’ve spent way too much time pining over Smallville. It’s time to move on and a little harmless flirting is just the ticket. If you end up getting some, well that’s just a bonus.”
“There is no way in hell that I’m getting laid tonight, so get that thought out of your head,” Chloe snapped. “I’ll wear your damn shirt, but that’s it.”
“If you say so, Chlo,” Lois smirked.
Chloe was spared answering by the sound of the telephone. She snatched the cordless handset off the bed before Lois could.
“Hello?”
“Chloe? it’s Oliver.”
“Hey!
"Are you ready.”
“Yep.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Of course.”
She could practically hear the smile in his voice as he answered. “Lois is in the room, isn’t she?”
“Who’s on the phone?” Lois shouted.
Chloe massaged her forehead. “How could you tell?”
“I have a sixth sense for these things,” he laughed. “I’m parked across the street.”
“All right. I’ll meet you there soon.”
“See you in a minute, Chloe.”
She rolled her eyes. “Bye.”
The moment she pressed the “End” button, Lois advanced on her. “You’re meeting someone, aren’t you?”
Dodging her cousin, Chloe grabbed her jacket off the back of the chair. “Yeah, Clark and Pete. We’re totally gonna have a threesome in the Kent’s barn after the bonfire.”
“Way to go cuz!”
“Goodnight, Lois.”
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t--”
Chloe shut the front door on the rest of her cousin’s sentence. The temperature had dropped since school had ended and she was glad of the jacket. It was easy to spot Oliver’s car. The black SUV was the only vehicle parked in the street. He caught sight of her as she crossed the street and grinned. She hurried over and hopped in.
“Sorry about all that,” she said, gesturing toward the house. “Lois doesn’t believe it’s possible for people of the opposite sex to just be friends. If she finds out about this, I’ll be suffering through her not-so-subtle sexual innuendos about us for the rest of my life.”
“Lois does seem the type,” Oliver chuckled. “So where am I going?”
Chloe gave him the directions, then leaned back against the seat, examining him out of the corner of her eye. She’d have to be blind not to notice that he was incredibly hot. But now it was almost painfully obvious. He’d traded in the t-shirt and washed out jeans he’d been wearing to school for a pair of dark jeans, a navy blue, button down shirt and a leather jacket. She wouldn’t be surprised if the moment they got to the bonfire they were swamped by girls wanting to talk to him. The small, but vocal, part of her that was incredibly insecure, whispered that she’d end up by herself while he made out with someone. She quickly silenced the voice and resumed her sly examination. The only thing wrong with him was that he looked slightly uneasy.
“Everything okay?” she asked, breaking the silence.
Oliver glance over at her and smiled. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Just checking,” she shrugged. “You’re pretty quiet.”
“I’m just trying to make sure we don’t get lost. I am pretty new to town,” he reminded her.
“Then I’ll let you concentrate.”
Great, Oliver groaned to himself. We’ve been gone all of five minutes and I’m already lying to her.
The truth was, he couldn’t get what Lex had said out of his head. Oliver knew in his gut that what he said was true. If Chloe was willing to risk her life to out the Luthors, then there was no doubt she was a good person. He’d seen that in the way she’d read him the first day, in the way she’d tried to defend him from her own family, in the way she’d tried to reassure him of her safety when it was clear she was regularly in danger. She may not know it, but after seeing her Wall of Weird, he’d found as many back issues of the Torch online as he could and read every one of her articles. If she wasn’t writing about the meteor infected and the weird goings on in Smallville, she was championing some cause or another. But most convincing was the gut feeling he had the Chloe Sullivan was just good to the core. He was almost positive that when she found out what he’d done, she’d smack him across the face and tell him to leave her the hell alone.
Lex is going to tell her, he realized. That’s what he meant. Well, he won’t get the chance. Even if it means she’ll never speak to me again, I’ll tell her myself. He sighed softly and shook his head. How the hell did this happen? I barely know her and I’m worried about what she thinks of me.
“Turn here,” Chloe instructed, interrupting his thoughts. Just in time, he saw the narrow dirt drive. If it hadn’t been for her timely interjection, he definitely would have missed it.
A few minutes later, they were at the bonfire. At least two dozen cars were already parked in the neighboring field. Oliver parked and climbed out, hurrying over to the passenger side to offer Chloe a hand. For the first time he noticed what she was wearing.
He’d noticed from the beginning that she was attractive, but now he wanted to upgrade that to downright sexy. Her curves were all natural and perfectly accented by her emerald top. The dark green contrasted nicely with her pale skin and made her eyes, also a deep, almost mesmerizing green, sparkle.
Mentally slapping himself, Oliver offered her his arm. “Shall we?”
With a giggle she accepted and allowed him to pull her toward the crackling blaze. “You know it’s not too late to ditch,” she whispered. “Smallville parties are really boring. At least that’s what Lois says. She actually went to parties in Metropolis before the General sent her here, so she would probably know.”
“I think I’ll manage,” Oliver murmured in reply.
“If you say so,” she shrugged. “Do you want to find someplace to sit or go mingle--”
“Oliver!”
Chloe sighed resignedly as Veronica Morgan, a senior and a cheerleader, waved excitedly and hurried toward them. Conscious of the fact that Oliver still held her arm and that she was standing extremely close to him because of that, Chloe attempted to free herself and put some distance between them. But Oliver snaked his arm around her waist, trapping her against his side.
“What are you doing?” Chloe hissed at him.
He didn’t answer. Veronica stopped in front of them. She was beaming at Oliver and completely ignoring Chloe.
“Hey Ollie,” Veronica said, her voice low. “I haven’t seen you in forever. What do you say we sneak off and find someplace a little more private. Away from prying eyes and all.”
“You know normally I’d love to, but,” his arm tightened around Chloe’s waist as he spoke and he pulled her forward so that she was slightly more visible. “I’m here with someone.”
Barely sparing Chloe a glance, Veronica moved closer to Oliver and whispered in his ear. “Come on. You know the only reason you brought her was out of pity. The poor thing couldn’t get a date if he was hogtied and forced to. Besides, there’s no way she can give you the fun I can. So ditch her and come with me. I’ll make it worth your while.”
Chloe, hearing every word, stiffened. She knew it was too good to be true. Pulling away from Oliver, she hurried across the clearing toward the other side of the bonfire.
“Oh, look at that,” Veronica purred. “All alone with me.”
Her hands found their way to Oliver’s sides. He grabbed her wrists gently, but firmly and pushed her away. “Not gonna happen,” he hissed. “Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s someone I need to go find.”
Oliver wove his way through the crowd to the opposite side of the bonfire. Only a handful of people were scattered around that area, mostly talking quietly amongst themselves. Chloe was sitting on a log in front of the blazing fire. The flickering light gave her face an almost haunted look. She didn’t notice Oliver’s approach. In fact, she seemed oblivious to everything around her. He stopped at the end of the log and cleared his throat. She tensed just slightly, but turned to look at him.
He gestured at the log. “Mind if I join you?”
“It’s a free country,” she managed with a lopsided grin. This was the part where he asked if she could get another ride home. She quickly schooled her features so that they wouldn’t betray the emotion she was feeling. She barely knew the guy and already it felt like it had when Clark used to ditch her for Lana or one of his alien emergencies before she knew his secret.
Oliver gazed at her intently, trying to read her. But he was coming up blank. He scooted a little closer, turning his body so that he was more or less facing her. “Why’d you run off?” he asked softly.
Pain flickered across her features for the briefest moment before she covered it with a smile. “Figured you wouldn’t want me cramping your style. You can go if you want to. I borrowed my Dad’s phone just in case. Clark or Pete can come pick me up.”
He gaped at her. She thought he was going to leave her and go off with some girl who just wanted to get in his pants. He would have been offended if he hadn’t caught the resignation in her eyes. She was used to coming second.
Oliver moved to kneel in front of her and placed her hands on her shoulders, trying to get her to look at him. “I asked you to come tonight because I wanted to hang out with someone who could care less about my reputation,” he said softly. “I want to get to know you better and vice versa. Now, I don’t know what’s happened in the past to make you think that someone could just up and leave you on your own like that, but I’m not going to do it. Got it?”
Nodding, Chloe smiled sheepishly. “Got it. Have I mentioned that I have an insecure streak a mile wide and that I tend to jump to conclusions?”
“No,” he chuckled. “You didn’t. I wouldn’t have pegged you for being insecure though.”
Only when it comes to relationships, she thought ruefully, but she didn’t say anything. Instead she just smiled conspiratorially and said, “We all have our secrets, don’t we?”
“If only you knew,” Oliver replied solemnly.
Chloe frowned and shifted closer, laying a hand his arm. “I know we don’t know each other very well, but I’ve been told I’m a very good listener. If you ever want to talk about whatever’s bothering you, you can always talk to me.”
“How do you do that?” Oliver asked, shaking his head.
“Do what?”
“Read me like that?” He shook head head and moved to sit on the log again. “No one ever has. Ask anyone who’s met me. They’d say that I’m a carefree playboy, a little bit of jerk and self-centered. But it’s all an act and it didn’t fool you.”
Chloe blushed. “I’ve never told anyone this, but I used to have a major crush on my best friend. But he was too busy falling all over someone else. I got really good at pretending everything was all right. No one ever had a clue how much I was hurting. I guess, because I was hiding for so long, that I got pretty good at recognizing the signs in someone else. Hiding like that, being two different people, it isn’t fun.”
He sighed shakily. “What I’m going to tell you is something I haven’t told anyone. But, I think we have a chance to be friends and I don’t want you to find this out from someone else.”
His words faltered.
Chloe squeezed his hand more tightly. “Whatever it is, it can’t be that bad. Just tell me.”
“It’s bad,” Oliver murmured. For a long moment he didn’t speak and when he did, it was to their joined hands. “When my parents’ died, it left this void inside me. I didn’t have anyone. My guardian barely saw me. I spent most of my time either at boarding school or at the mansion with a nanny. By the time they put me in Excelsior, I was a bitter jerk and I took it out on Lex.”
“Lex?” Chloe repeated softly. “What does he have to do with this?”
“My friends and I, we were bullies,” Oliver admitted quietly, his voice filled with pain and remorse. "Lex and his friend Duncan were our favorite targets. We were horrible.” He paused again and closed his eyes.
“They caught us stealing a test. Duncan wanted to turn us in, but Lex, even then, he wanted power. He tried to blackmail us into being his friend, but Duncan wouldn’t go along with it it. Lex snapped. He beat Duncan to a bloody pulp before I managed to pull him off. Duncan was just trying to get away from us, but he stumbled into the street and got hit by the car. He died of traumatic brain injuries.”
“But it wasn’t your fault,” Chloe whispered. She gently place her free hand on his shoulder. “You didn’t kill him.”
“I as good as did,” Oliver said bitterly. “If I hadn’t been such a jackass to them, Lex wouldn’t have tried to buy our friendship and Duncan wouldn’t have had to take the moral high ground. I may not have pushed him out in front of that car, but I’m part of reason he’s dead.
“After that, I pushed everyone away. I didn’t let anyone get close to me. I accepted the role of playboy, because that’s all I’ll ever be. I’ve been with more girls than I care to remember and I was an ass to all of them. I’ve barely been here a month and I’m already doing the same thing, mostly to rub in it Lex’s face. And don’t tell me that’s going to come back to bite me in the ass, because I already know that. He’s been wanting to get back at me for years, and I didn’t want him to use you to do it.”
Her forehead furrowed. “How would he do that? Lex and I barely speak. We despise each other.”
“Chloe, you’re the first person I’ve actually talked to in a long time. Lex has always been good at manipulating people and he’ll do just that. That’s why I had to tell you all of this,” he admitted. “I think I was already planning to, at some point. But something he said to me made me realize that he was going to tell you. And believe me, if he’d told you, I’d come out looking even more like the devil.”
Impulsively, Chloe wrapped her around around his chest. “I learned a long time ago not to listen to anything to Lex says. I’m really glad you trusted me enough to tell me. I know that couldn’t have been easy.”
“I’m surprised you took it so well,” he said sheepishly, returning the hug.
“Oliver, you’re hardly the first person to screw up or the first person to lash out because they were in pain.” She tightened her grip on him.
“Thank you” he whispered. “For everything.”
“That’s what friends are for,” she murmured in return, beginning to pull away.
Oliver bent and kissed her lightly on the cheek. She blushed. “What was that for?”
He shrugged. “Just for being you.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Whatever you say Romeo. But just for the record, I am completely immune to your charms, so keep them to yourself.”
“All right,” he laughed. “Duly noted. What do you say we get out here and grab some pizza?”
Chloe never gave him an answer. She slumped forward, falling a heap beside the fire. At that moment, something collided with the back of his skull and everything went black.
Chapter 5
Summary: Oliver finds himself at Smallville High where he meets Chloe and discovers the world of Meta-humans. But will his newfound happiness be threatened by the presence of an old enemy?
Rating: PG-13 (Mostly for mild language and violence in later chapters. I don't see it going any further, but if it does, the rating will change accordingly.)
Warning: This is mostly AU. I plan to work in as much from the series as I can, but the timeline is completely mine and character ages have been changed as I see fit. Oliver's only a year older than Chloe in this. She already knows about Clark's powers. And Lois is living with Chloe.
Relationships: Chlollie, Clois (just a teeny-tiny bit)
Previous Chapters: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3
Banner by
552158 Author's Note: This chapter is really long. It kinda mutated on me. Thanks to all who have reviewed. It's really inspiring.
Chapter 4
Oliver stood awkwardly in the middle of the Torch. He’d been looking for Chloe. They hadn’t spoken since meeting at the Talon four days before, except for that one text. He’d tried calling three times, but it went straight to voicemail. Normally, he would have thought that he was getting the brush off. But considering she’d given him her number and not the other way around, that was unlikely. Plus, she just didn’t seem to be the type of person to brush someone off like.
He wandered over to a bulletin board that occupied one wall. It was covered in newspaper clippings, articles, and pictures, including one of a man with three fingers on one hand and five on the other. Just by glancing at everything, it seemed the Chloe had linked everything to a meteor shower that had hit the town years ago.
“I see you found my Wall of Weird,” she said from behind him.
Grinning sheepishly, he turned to face her. She was bent over the computer, her back to him, typing out an e-mail. “Sorry. I was looking for you and it piqued my interest. I tried calling but I didn’t get an answer, so I thought I’d stop by.”
“No worries. I just hope you don’t run screaming in the other direction now that you know how crazy I am.”
He turned back to the bulletin board. “I’ll admit, it does seem a little out there.”
“Well, maybe it is,” she admitted, coming to stand beside him. “But if you ask me, things have been weird in Smallville ever since the meteor shower. I’m kind of obsessed with the theory. Almost every edition of the Torch has some kind of editorial about my suspicions. Which is half the reason I have to be sure to print sports stuff. Otherwise, I’d probably be expelled.”
“I wonder why?” Oliver chuckled.
She elbowed him lightly in the ribs. “So why were you looking for me, anyway?”
“Well you weren’t answering your phone, so I thought...I’d...what happened?”
For the first time since she’d entered the room, Oliver got a good look at her face. The left side of her forehead was bruised, as were her temple and cheek. The discoloring on her cheek was mostly hidden by makeup and she’d swept her bangs across her forehead in an attempt to hide the livid bruise.
“I fell,” she said unconvincingly.
Oliver crossed his arms and glared at her. “Chloe, I’ve gotten into enough fights to know that someone hit you on the head with something. There is no way you could have gotten that kind of bruise by falling down. What happened?”
“It’s...” she hesitated, searching for the right word before finally coming up with, “complicated.”
“There’s nothing complicated about it,” Oliver said testily. “Someone did a number on you. The next time that happens, you could be seriously hurt. Now are you going to tell me what happened?”
Sighing, she collapsed in a nearby chair. “I can’t. And it’s not for the reasons you think,” she added, glaring at him. “I’m not being abused or anything. I just accidentally found myself on the wrong end of a crazy person a couple of days ago. He was an old friend who was in an accident. It left him mentally incapacitated. Because I was the only one to e-mail him while he was in recovery, he kinda had a thing for me.”
“A thing for you?” he deadpanned.
Heat rose to her cheeks. “Yes. A thing. Anyway, when I told him I wasn’t interested, he kinda went berserk. He may have hit me with a horseshoe. But Clark grabbed him and he’s in a mental facility now, so everything’s fine,” she finished with forced cheerfulness.
Oliver ran a hand over his face and collapsed in a chair opposite Chloe. “And the fact that he could have seriously harmed you doesn’t bother you at all?”
“Not really,” Chloe shrugged. “I mean, being an investigative reporter is my life’s ambition and it’s not exactly the safest of professions. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve almost been caught snooping around Luthorcorp. But I’m still here, and I’m in one piece, and that is good enough for me.”
“Luthorcorp!” he choked out. “You’ve been snooping around Luthorcorp!”
Her gaze became defiant. “Lionel Luthor is no saint and I have evidence that he’s engaged in some very questionable business practices. One of these days, I’ll expose him.”
“You do realize that you’re playing with fire, right?” he asked weakly. It was becoming abundantly clear the longer he spent time around Chloe Sullivan that she was like no girl he’d ever met. He already knew that she had the uncanny ability to see through his act. But now he knew that she was selfless, determined, and could care less about her own well being. The problem was he knew just how dangerous the Luthors were. He admired what she was doing, trying to unmask Lionel for the sadistic monster he was. But after what he had seen Lex do at Excelsior he knew that he and his father were capable of anything. Part of him was proud to know that he’d met someone who was willing to stand up to people like the Luthors, but he was also worried that it was going to get her into trouble and the thought she might get hurt caused his chest to tighten slightly.
Chloe’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not going to warn me about getting burned, are you?”
Oliver shook his head. “No. I wouldn’t presume to tell you what to do. Just please be careful. I’m sure you get people telling you that all the time, but so far you’re my only friend here and it would really suck if you got thrown in jail or died or something.”
The very real sadness in his voice surprised Chloe. She met his eyes and saw the briefest flash of vulnerability. It suddenly occurred to her that he’d grown up without any family and the playboy lifestyle he’d cultivated was just a front to hide that loneliness.
She sighed in mock exasperation. “Because you asked so nicely, I’ll try to avoid life threatening situations for at least the next week, but no guarantees.”
If only he knew how insignificant that promise was. Being best friends with Clark was dangerous. She found herself up against meteor freaks or people who wanted to use the meteor infected for their own ends. Even before she knew Clark’s secret, her insatiable curiosity had nearly gotten her killed on more than one occasion. There had been that time the deranged police officer with a hero complex had kidnapped and buried her alive just so that he could rescue her. And the time the football coach had tried to incinerate her because she’d figured out that he was scaring his players into cheating so that he could win some stupid game. Trouble just followed her around.
The tone of her voice was enough to tell Oliver that she was making an empty promise. But the look in her eyes spoke louder. There was something she was keeping back, something important. Somehow he knew that she didn’t go looking for trouble, that it just found her. Having had his fair share of injuries, Oliver knew what kind of strength it took to shake off an injury like that. It was definitely official. She was like no one he had ever met.
“That’s the best you’re gonna give me, isn’t it?” Oliver asked, breaking the silence that had fallen between them.
“Unfortunately,” Chloe said ruefully. “So why were you looking for me?”He grinned. “Well I was coming to ask why you were ignoring me, but now that I know that you weren’t, I was wondering if you’d heard about the bonfire tonight.”
“Sorry about that. My phone got lost in the chaos the other day. I should have a new one by the end of the week. And yes,” she said, arching an eyebrow. “I’ve heard about the bonfire. Half the school’s going. Why?”
“Well, like I said, you’re practically the only person I know and you’re definitely my only friend, so I was wondering if you’d go with me. Not as a date or anything” he added quickly, rubbing his neck in embarrassment. “Just as friends. Nothing’s worse than standing in the corner by yourself.”
Chloe’s soft laugh stopped his rambling. “Yes, I’ll go with you.”
“Awesome! So I’ll pick you up at eight?”
She laughed again. “Isn’t that kind of a date thing?”
“No, it’s a friend thing,” he said slowly, as though speaking to a child. “That way you don’t have to drive, and since I don’t really know where I’m going, you can boss me around and give me directions.”
Still chuckling, Chloe grabbed a piece of paper off her desk and wrote down her address and directions from the school. “This is my home number,” she said, pointing at numbers on the bottom of the page. “Call when you get there and I’ll come out, otherwise you’ll be facing the Inquisition, Lois-style. And believe me, you don’t want to experience that.”
“Thanks for the warning,” he said, taking the paper. He tore off the bottom half and wrote down his number, handing it to her. “This way you can call me if something happens.”
“Will do.” She glanced at the clock. “I actually have to go. I was just supposed to be grabbing my bag. My dad’s waiting. So I’ll see you tonight.”
“See you then.”
Chloe gave him one last smile before leaving the room.
Oliver followed her out, locking the door behind him and found himself face to face with Lex.
“Look at you,” Lex sneered. “Going into the lion’s den. I didn’t think you had it in you. What’d she have to do to get you in there?”
Growling, Oliver rounded on Lex, a fierce protective urge surging over him out of nowhere. “Chloe is ten times the human you’ll ever be Lex. I’m lucky that she’s willing to be around me. You’ll never know what that feels like. You sank into darkness a long time ago.”
“I’m not the only one,” Lex hissed. “What do you think she’ll say when she finds out what you’ve done? You embraced that darkness right alongside me and you know it. It was in you longer than it was ever in me. You can keep stringing her along, pretending that you’re some kind of saint, but we both know you’ll never be more than the heartless playboy who uses people and throws them away.”
A cold smile pulled at Lex’s lips at the sight of Oliver’s tense jaw. “See you at the bonfire.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
“What are you getting all dressed up for?” Lois demanded.
Chloe shot a glare at her cousin. It was marred slightly by the fact that she was pulling a shirt over her head. “I’m going to the bonfire. And this isn’t dressed up. This is just dressed. I wear this to school every day.”
“Chloe, Chloe, Chloe,” Lois sighed, shaking her head. “You’re changing clothes at a quarter to eight. You’re dressing up. And badly. I have just the thing.”
“Lois, I am not wearing your clothes,” Chloe said firmly. “It’s not happening.”
“Trust me cuz, you won’t regret it.” Lois tossed a emerald green wrap top across the room as she spoke. “You’ve spent way too much time pining over Smallville. It’s time to move on and a little harmless flirting is just the ticket. If you end up getting some, well that’s just a bonus.”
“There is no way in hell that I’m getting laid tonight, so get that thought out of your head,” Chloe snapped. “I’ll wear your damn shirt, but that’s it.”
“If you say so, Chlo,” Lois smirked.
Chloe was spared answering by the sound of the telephone. She snatched the cordless handset off the bed before Lois could.
“Hello?”
“Chloe? it’s Oliver.”
“Hey!
"Are you ready.”
“Yep.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Of course.”
She could practically hear the smile in his voice as he answered. “Lois is in the room, isn’t she?”
“Who’s on the phone?” Lois shouted.
Chloe massaged her forehead. “How could you tell?”
“I have a sixth sense for these things,” he laughed. “I’m parked across the street.”
“All right. I’ll meet you there soon.”
“See you in a minute, Chloe.”
She rolled her eyes. “Bye.”
The moment she pressed the “End” button, Lois advanced on her. “You’re meeting someone, aren’t you?”
Dodging her cousin, Chloe grabbed her jacket off the back of the chair. “Yeah, Clark and Pete. We’re totally gonna have a threesome in the Kent’s barn after the bonfire.”
“Way to go cuz!”
“Goodnight, Lois.”
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t--”
Chloe shut the front door on the rest of her cousin’s sentence. The temperature had dropped since school had ended and she was glad of the jacket. It was easy to spot Oliver’s car. The black SUV was the only vehicle parked in the street. He caught sight of her as she crossed the street and grinned. She hurried over and hopped in.
“Sorry about all that,” she said, gesturing toward the house. “Lois doesn’t believe it’s possible for people of the opposite sex to just be friends. If she finds out about this, I’ll be suffering through her not-so-subtle sexual innuendos about us for the rest of my life.”
“Lois does seem the type,” Oliver chuckled. “So where am I going?”
Chloe gave him the directions, then leaned back against the seat, examining him out of the corner of her eye. She’d have to be blind not to notice that he was incredibly hot. But now it was almost painfully obvious. He’d traded in the t-shirt and washed out jeans he’d been wearing to school for a pair of dark jeans, a navy blue, button down shirt and a leather jacket. She wouldn’t be surprised if the moment they got to the bonfire they were swamped by girls wanting to talk to him. The small, but vocal, part of her that was incredibly insecure, whispered that she’d end up by herself while he made out with someone. She quickly silenced the voice and resumed her sly examination. The only thing wrong with him was that he looked slightly uneasy.
“Everything okay?” she asked, breaking the silence.
Oliver glance over at her and smiled. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Just checking,” she shrugged. “You’re pretty quiet.”
“I’m just trying to make sure we don’t get lost. I am pretty new to town,” he reminded her.
“Then I’ll let you concentrate.”
Great, Oliver groaned to himself. We’ve been gone all of five minutes and I’m already lying to her.
The truth was, he couldn’t get what Lex had said out of his head. Oliver knew in his gut that what he said was true. If Chloe was willing to risk her life to out the Luthors, then there was no doubt she was a good person. He’d seen that in the way she’d read him the first day, in the way she’d tried to defend him from her own family, in the way she’d tried to reassure him of her safety when it was clear she was regularly in danger. She may not know it, but after seeing her Wall of Weird, he’d found as many back issues of the Torch online as he could and read every one of her articles. If she wasn’t writing about the meteor infected and the weird goings on in Smallville, she was championing some cause or another. But most convincing was the gut feeling he had the Chloe Sullivan was just good to the core. He was almost positive that when she found out what he’d done, she’d smack him across the face and tell him to leave her the hell alone.
Lex is going to tell her, he realized. That’s what he meant. Well, he won’t get the chance. Even if it means she’ll never speak to me again, I’ll tell her myself. He sighed softly and shook his head. How the hell did this happen? I barely know her and I’m worried about what she thinks of me.
“Turn here,” Chloe instructed, interrupting his thoughts. Just in time, he saw the narrow dirt drive. If it hadn’t been for her timely interjection, he definitely would have missed it.
A few minutes later, they were at the bonfire. At least two dozen cars were already parked in the neighboring field. Oliver parked and climbed out, hurrying over to the passenger side to offer Chloe a hand. For the first time he noticed what she was wearing.
He’d noticed from the beginning that she was attractive, but now he wanted to upgrade that to downright sexy. Her curves were all natural and perfectly accented by her emerald top. The dark green contrasted nicely with her pale skin and made her eyes, also a deep, almost mesmerizing green, sparkle.
Mentally slapping himself, Oliver offered her his arm. “Shall we?”
With a giggle she accepted and allowed him to pull her toward the crackling blaze. “You know it’s not too late to ditch,” she whispered. “Smallville parties are really boring. At least that’s what Lois says. She actually went to parties in Metropolis before the General sent her here, so she would probably know.”
“I think I’ll manage,” Oliver murmured in reply.
“If you say so,” she shrugged. “Do you want to find someplace to sit or go mingle--”
“Oliver!”
Chloe sighed resignedly as Veronica Morgan, a senior and a cheerleader, waved excitedly and hurried toward them. Conscious of the fact that Oliver still held her arm and that she was standing extremely close to him because of that, Chloe attempted to free herself and put some distance between them. But Oliver snaked his arm around her waist, trapping her against his side.
“What are you doing?” Chloe hissed at him.
He didn’t answer. Veronica stopped in front of them. She was beaming at Oliver and completely ignoring Chloe.
“Hey Ollie,” Veronica said, her voice low. “I haven’t seen you in forever. What do you say we sneak off and find someplace a little more private. Away from prying eyes and all.”
“You know normally I’d love to, but,” his arm tightened around Chloe’s waist as he spoke and he pulled her forward so that she was slightly more visible. “I’m here with someone.”
Barely sparing Chloe a glance, Veronica moved closer to Oliver and whispered in his ear. “Come on. You know the only reason you brought her was out of pity. The poor thing couldn’t get a date if he was hogtied and forced to. Besides, there’s no way she can give you the fun I can. So ditch her and come with me. I’ll make it worth your while.”
Chloe, hearing every word, stiffened. She knew it was too good to be true. Pulling away from Oliver, she hurried across the clearing toward the other side of the bonfire.
“Oh, look at that,” Veronica purred. “All alone with me.”
Her hands found their way to Oliver’s sides. He grabbed her wrists gently, but firmly and pushed her away. “Not gonna happen,” he hissed. “Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s someone I need to go find.”
Oliver wove his way through the crowd to the opposite side of the bonfire. Only a handful of people were scattered around that area, mostly talking quietly amongst themselves. Chloe was sitting on a log in front of the blazing fire. The flickering light gave her face an almost haunted look. She didn’t notice Oliver’s approach. In fact, she seemed oblivious to everything around her. He stopped at the end of the log and cleared his throat. She tensed just slightly, but turned to look at him.
He gestured at the log. “Mind if I join you?”
“It’s a free country,” she managed with a lopsided grin. This was the part where he asked if she could get another ride home. She quickly schooled her features so that they wouldn’t betray the emotion she was feeling. She barely knew the guy and already it felt like it had when Clark used to ditch her for Lana or one of his alien emergencies before she knew his secret.
Oliver gazed at her intently, trying to read her. But he was coming up blank. He scooted a little closer, turning his body so that he was more or less facing her. “Why’d you run off?” he asked softly.
Pain flickered across her features for the briefest moment before she covered it with a smile. “Figured you wouldn’t want me cramping your style. You can go if you want to. I borrowed my Dad’s phone just in case. Clark or Pete can come pick me up.”
He gaped at her. She thought he was going to leave her and go off with some girl who just wanted to get in his pants. He would have been offended if he hadn’t caught the resignation in her eyes. She was used to coming second.
Oliver moved to kneel in front of her and placed her hands on her shoulders, trying to get her to look at him. “I asked you to come tonight because I wanted to hang out with someone who could care less about my reputation,” he said softly. “I want to get to know you better and vice versa. Now, I don’t know what’s happened in the past to make you think that someone could just up and leave you on your own like that, but I’m not going to do it. Got it?”
Nodding, Chloe smiled sheepishly. “Got it. Have I mentioned that I have an insecure streak a mile wide and that I tend to jump to conclusions?”
“No,” he chuckled. “You didn’t. I wouldn’t have pegged you for being insecure though.”
Only when it comes to relationships, she thought ruefully, but she didn’t say anything. Instead she just smiled conspiratorially and said, “We all have our secrets, don’t we?”
“If only you knew,” Oliver replied solemnly.
Chloe frowned and shifted closer, laying a hand his arm. “I know we don’t know each other very well, but I’ve been told I’m a very good listener. If you ever want to talk about whatever’s bothering you, you can always talk to me.”
“How do you do that?” Oliver asked, shaking his head.
“Do what?”
“Read me like that?” He shook head head and moved to sit on the log again. “No one ever has. Ask anyone who’s met me. They’d say that I’m a carefree playboy, a little bit of jerk and self-centered. But it’s all an act and it didn’t fool you.”
Chloe blushed. “I’ve never told anyone this, but I used to have a major crush on my best friend. But he was too busy falling all over someone else. I got really good at pretending everything was all right. No one ever had a clue how much I was hurting. I guess, because I was hiding for so long, that I got pretty good at recognizing the signs in someone else. Hiding like that, being two different people, it isn’t fun.”
“Definitely not,” Oliver agreed. “There was actually something I was hoping to talk to you about. But I wasn’t sure how to bring it up, because it’s not exactly the kind of thing you’d usually talk about at a bonfire.”
“Who cares? You can tell me.” Her hand found his and she gripped it gently.He sighed shakily. “What I’m going to tell you is something I haven’t told anyone. But, I think we have a chance to be friends and I don’t want you to find this out from someone else.”
His words faltered.
Chloe squeezed his hand more tightly. “Whatever it is, it can’t be that bad. Just tell me.”
“It’s bad,” Oliver murmured. For a long moment he didn’t speak and when he did, it was to their joined hands. “When my parents’ died, it left this void inside me. I didn’t have anyone. My guardian barely saw me. I spent most of my time either at boarding school or at the mansion with a nanny. By the time they put me in Excelsior, I was a bitter jerk and I took it out on Lex.”
“Lex?” Chloe repeated softly. “What does he have to do with this?”
“My friends and I, we were bullies,” Oliver admitted quietly, his voice filled with pain and remorse. "Lex and his friend Duncan were our favorite targets. We were horrible.” He paused again and closed his eyes.
“They caught us stealing a test. Duncan wanted to turn us in, but Lex, even then, he wanted power. He tried to blackmail us into being his friend, but Duncan wouldn’t go along with it it. Lex snapped. He beat Duncan to a bloody pulp before I managed to pull him off. Duncan was just trying to get away from us, but he stumbled into the street and got hit by the car. He died of traumatic brain injuries.”
“But it wasn’t your fault,” Chloe whispered. She gently place her free hand on his shoulder. “You didn’t kill him.”
“I as good as did,” Oliver said bitterly. “If I hadn’t been such a jackass to them, Lex wouldn’t have tried to buy our friendship and Duncan wouldn’t have had to take the moral high ground. I may not have pushed him out in front of that car, but I’m part of reason he’s dead.
“After that, I pushed everyone away. I didn’t let anyone get close to me. I accepted the role of playboy, because that’s all I’ll ever be. I’ve been with more girls than I care to remember and I was an ass to all of them. I’ve barely been here a month and I’m already doing the same thing, mostly to rub in it Lex’s face. And don’t tell me that’s going to come back to bite me in the ass, because I already know that. He’s been wanting to get back at me for years, and I didn’t want him to use you to do it.”
Her forehead furrowed. “How would he do that? Lex and I barely speak. We despise each other.”
“Chloe, you’re the first person I’ve actually talked to in a long time. Lex has always been good at manipulating people and he’ll do just that. That’s why I had to tell you all of this,” he admitted. “I think I was already planning to, at some point. But something he said to me made me realize that he was going to tell you. And believe me, if he’d told you, I’d come out looking even more like the devil.”
Impulsively, Chloe wrapped her around around his chest. “I learned a long time ago not to listen to anything to Lex says. I’m really glad you trusted me enough to tell me. I know that couldn’t have been easy.”
“I’m surprised you took it so well,” he said sheepishly, returning the hug.
“Oliver, you’re hardly the first person to screw up or the first person to lash out because they were in pain.” She tightened her grip on him.
“Thank you” he whispered. “For everything.”
“That’s what friends are for,” she murmured in return, beginning to pull away.
Oliver bent and kissed her lightly on the cheek. She blushed. “What was that for?”
He shrugged. “Just for being you.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Whatever you say Romeo. But just for the record, I am completely immune to your charms, so keep them to yourself.”
“All right,” he laughed. “Duly noted. What do you say we get out here and grab some pizza?”
Chloe never gave him an answer. She slumped forward, falling a heap beside the fire. At that moment, something collided with the back of his skull and everything went black.
Chapter 5
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no subject
Date: 2011-02-14 07:33 pm (UTC)i really enjoyed this chapter, especially the talk they shared, i think you handled it very well!
you are on fire with this story! can't wait for the next part
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Date: 2011-02-14 09:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-14 07:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-14 09:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-14 08:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-14 09:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-14 08:36 pm (UTC)Great chapter, you are doing a awesome job with the characters, especially Chloe is spot on, I keep seing her wonderful bright smile and quick movement and witt from the early seasons. Your version of Oliver is also very close to what I've imagined him to be in highschool, kudos..:))
EDIT: Also a *high five* to
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Date: 2011-02-14 08:51 pm (UTC)But I do agree, she is indeed an evil woman for leaving us.... hm.I wanna knoooooooooow.
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Date: 2011-02-14 09:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-14 09:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-14 10:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-14 10:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 04:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 03:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 05:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 03:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 12:07 pm (UTC)Now I need to find out what happened to them - darn, always these cliffhangers :)
no subject
Date: 2011-02-15 03:28 pm (UTC)and i will admit that i got a bit of guilty pleasure with the cliff-hanger :P