Chapter Text
Oliver had picked up a copy of the Torch early that morning, unable to contain a smirk as he read the headline on the front page: Footballs Players Admit to Using Meteor-Rock Based Steroids to Enhance Game Performance. He was looking forward to seeing Chloe, because he imagined she was probably in a good mood since she’d gotten her story, and partially thanks to him. Not that he was going to insinuate that she owed him anything. He was just hoping she would give him a chance.
He was halfway down the hall when he paused outside the Torch’s office, eyes widening when he saw the broken glass from the door’s window shattered on the floor. The door itself was cracked open.
Chloe tensed when she heard the door and turned around quickly, then paused when she saw it was him and let out her breath, “hey.”
He looked around, stunned by the amount of damage to the office. Every computer was broken, keyboards and monitors smashed. Her Wall of Weird had a huge red “x” through it that looked like it had been done with spray paint. Papers and pictures were torn and scattered all over the place. “What the hell happened?”
“The article happened,” she said, trying for a smirk, “I guess I hit a nerve.”
“Those football douches did all this?” His eyes were still wide.
“That’s my best guess,” she said, holding her breath then pointing at the words on the wall, ‘lying whore.' “They seem angry.”
His eyes narrowed at the graffiti and he shook his head. “What a bunch of shit.”
“Welcome to Smallville, where everything is handled with violence.” She said, then sighed quietly.
He frowned, shaking his head. “This isn’t the first time it’s happened?”
“To this level, yes,” she told him, then shrugged, “I’ve received a lot of threats before, but nothing like this.”
“Are you all right?” He looked at her with worried brown eyes.
“Yeah,” she nodded a little, straightening, “just trying to decide how to break the news to the principle.”
“This isn’t your fault.”
“I guess I didn’t consider the consequences,” she told him, “it might shut down the paper for the whole year.”
“You think so?” His frown deepened.
“If the school budget can’t fix it,” she nodded, “the money always goes to football anyway.”
He rubbed the back of his neck, looking uncomfortable. “Do you want some help cleaning this place up?”
Chloe hesitated then shook her head, “I’ll just lock it up and come back after school, don’t want to give them the satisfaction.”
“All right.” His voice dropped a little. “Sorry this happened.”
“Not your fault,” she told him, picking up her purse then heading for the door.
“I know. That doesn’t make it suck any less.”
“I wanted to expose them,” she said, turning to look at him again, “this just proves even more that it’s the truth.”
“Which we already knew,” he murmured, watching as she locked the door.
“We did,” she said, “but even with all the evidence, a lot of people will still believe them.”
He sighed softly, shaking his head a little. “Then you’ve done all you can do.”
“Thank you for all your help,” she said sincerely, noticing that he seemed upset about this too.
“You’re welcome,” he told her just as sincerely.
Chloe smiled a little. “I guess I’ll see you later.”
“Yeah. In bio,” he agreed, gazing at her for a moment.
“Yeah,” she nodded, holding her breath.
He nodded, too, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. “Okay. See you.” He reluctantly moved around her and headed toward his class.
She watched him for a moment then took a deep breath and started toward the principal’s office. That was going to be a fun conversation.
* * *
The next afternoon after school, Oliver found himself driving to the Talon. He hadn’t seen Chloe much the last couple days, and he couldn’t seem to stop thinking about her. He had no idea where she lived, and sure, he could have asked Clark, but he’d barely seen him either. And no way was he asking Lex. So he figured his best bet was the place that had the best coffee in town. He climbed out of his car and headed inside, glancing around, not terribly surprised to see her sitting alone in the corner.
He made his way to the counter, ordered a coffee and an iced tea, and then moved to sit down across from her, setting the coffee in front of her.
Chloe looked up from her laptop and arched her eyebrows, half expecting to see Lana or Clark there, but definitely not Oliver. As far as she knew, he didn’t ever come to the Talon. “Hi.” She greeted, frowning a little.
“Your words say hi, but the frown on your face doesn’t indicate you’re happy to see me,” he told her.
“No,” she shook her head, closing her laptop, “just surprised.”
“Good surprise or just...surprised surprise?”
She hesitated then smiled, shrugging, “you seem to have brought me coffee, it can’t be a bad surprise.”
“I even got sugar and cream in it this time,” he told her with a small smile.
“Thank you,” she said, arching her eyebrows once again in surprise, “how did you know?”
“I paid attention,” he admitted, shrugging.
She paused at that, looking at him for a moment then pulling the coffee cup closer to herself, “thanks.”
“Sure.” He watched her back for a few seconds. “So how are things going?”
“Okay,” she breathed, sitting back against her chair. “You?”
“Kinda bored,” he confessed, taking a drink of his iced tea.
“Yeah, I know the feeling,” she sighed a little, “what do you normally do after school? When you don’t have detention, that is,” she said, teasing a little.
One corner of his mouth tugged upwards into a smirk. “I don’t know. I mean it’s been so long since I haven’t had detention...”
“I guess that’s what you get for behaving, boredom,” she told him, smirking back.
“See, now you understand why I spend so much of my free time in detention.”
“Oh, I do,” she nodded, “it’s Smallville.”
“So what about you? Ever had detention, Chloe?” Now there was a hint of teasing to his voice.
“Me?” She blinked innocently, shaking her head, “I would never do something that could land me in detention.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Never?”
She grinned a little and shook her head, but didn’t say anything.
“Huh.” He grinned back involuntarily, leaning his elbows on the table, his eyes bright.
She leaned forward, shrugging, “I don’t usually get caught,” she said, grinning a little.
He laughed softly at that admission. “And I bet when you do, you can generally talk your way right out of it.”
Chloe considered that for a moment, then nodded, “I guess so... can’t really think of a situation where I had to though.”
“Not even a speeding ticket?” His eyes widened a little in feigned surprise.
She laughed at that, “have you seen what I used drive? I couldn’t get a speeding ticket if I wanted to until very recently.”
“But now it’s a possibility.” He grinned again, raising his eyebrows.
“It is, but not likely I will be the one the cops will pay attention to with Lex around,” she teased.
“Well, now Lex has a little competition in that arena.” He winked at her, sitting back in his chair and taking a drink of his tea.
“So you drive like he does?” She asked, watching him.
“Once in awhile we actually do have something in common.” He shrugged.
Chloe watched him for a moment, “I think you have more in common than you’re willing to admit,” she said, “and I mean that as a compliment.”
He paused at that. “Like what?” He shook his head.
She hesitated at that, then shrugged, “similar lifestyles and background.”
“We both come from money.” He shrugged, too, looking down at the table. “That’s about the only similarity I see, personally.”
Chloe nodded a little, “I think it’s too bad you two don’t get along.”
“I don’t think that’s ever going to happen,” he admitted.
“On your part, or on his part?” She asked, because as far as she could tell, Lex seemed to want to make sure of that more than Oliver.
Oliver pursed his lips. “Probably both.”
Her eyes narrowed a little at that, mostly with curiosity, “what happened?”
He looked away for a moment. “I wasn’t exactly nice to him when we were in school together before.”
“Was it all on you?” She asked, lowering her voice.
He rubbed a hand over his face. “Me and my friends. Yeah.”
“And Lex just let you?” She frowned, “doesn’t sound like him.”
“He was...” He considered his words for a long moment. “Small for his age. An easy target.” He glanced up at her. “And he didn’t have a lot of friends.”
“Oh,” she nodded a little, pursing her lips together. She was pretty convinced that Lex’s story about the murder hadn’t been entirely accurate but Oliver seemed to feel guilty. She couldn’t help but wonder what had really happened.
“So, like I said. I don’t think there’s much chance we’ll ever be friends.”
“Yeah,” she nodded, glancing at him, “I guess some things you can’t get over.”
“Exactly,” he said quietly, looking away.
She watched him closely for a moment, “so what are you doing today?”
“No plans,” he admitted.
Chloe cocked her head at that and nodded, “I was hoping you could help me figure out what normal people do after school...”
He glanced up at her, arching his eyebrows.
“What?” She asked, frowning a little.
“I did mention that mostly I just get into trouble, right?”
“Well, that’s better than being bored?” She said with a shrug.
He smirked faintly at that, nodding in agreement, and rising to his feet. “Come on.”
“Where are we going?” She asked, a little confused.
“We’re gonna go have some fun.”
“Okay,” Chloe cocked her head, even as she stood up too, “I didn’t mean you had to entertain me.”
“If I’m entertaining both of us, that’s okay though, right?”
She considered him for a moment then nodded, “for now, I guess I need to find out what your actual plan is first...”
“Maybe it’s a surprise,” he told her, arching his eyebrows.
Her eyes narrowed a little at that, but she reached for her laptop and slid it inside her bag, “I’ll let you get away with it this time, just goes to show how bored I am.”
“Well, deep down, we both know you’re dying to know what I have in store for you,” he teased.
“And you’re hoping it will be a good surprise,” she smirked, sliding her bag over her shoulder.
“It will be.” There was more than a hint of confidence in his voice. “Do you have a curfew?” he questioned as he headed toward the door.
She grinned a little at that then shook her head, “not really.”
“Excellent.” He grinned back at her and held the door open, making his way to his car. “Hop in.”
She eyed his car for a second, then made her way inside, “let’s see if you’re as bad as Lex,” she said, pulling on the seat belt.
Oliver smirked at that, fastening his own seat belt after he climbed behind the wheel. Then he started the engine and zoomed out of the parking space and down the street.
She set her things on the floor and arched her eyebrows, “so can you tell me now where we’re going?”
“Nope.” He grinned again, pressing a little harder on the gas pedal as he sped them out of Smallville.
“Okay, I believe you’re just as bad as Lex, you can slow down.” She said, arching her eyebrows.
He chuckled softly at her comment, slowing down just a little, but still keeping the car above the speed limit.
“Thanks,” she said sarcastically, “how long is the drive?”
“Awhile,” he admitted, glancing at her sideways.
Her eyes narrowed a little, “not informative enough, give me something to work with.”
“You’ll enjoy yourself?”
“Promises...” she said, “for all I know, you’re kidnapping me right now.”
Oliver rolled his eyes. “Okay, first off, you did get into my car with absolutely no coercion,” he pointed out. “Secondly, you said you wanted me to show you what normal people do after school.”
“Ha,” she shook her head, “I said I was hoping you could give me ideas, I never asked you to show me.”
“Do you want me to turn around?”
“Now I’m too curious to see what you’re planning,” she said, arching her eyebrows.
He smirked at that. “That’s what I thought.”
“So you’re playing to my weakness...” she said, smirking a little.
“I have no idea what you’re saying,” he responded with feigned innocence.
“Uh huh, just like you have no idea you’re way above the speed limit, right?”
“I’m not sure I’d say twenty miles is way above the speed limit. Maybe forty or fifty would be...”
“As long as you don’t get pulled over and delay my finding out where we’re headed.” She said, leaning back against the seat.
He laughed and concentrated on the road once more.
* * *
Chloe figured out where they were going about halfway through the trip, considering that the only destination after Grandville was Metropolis on that road. But she still didn’t know the specifics of where they were going.
She looked out the window as Oliver drove them through downtown Metropolis, “you better not be taking me to see the sharks.”
He snorted, glancing at her sideways. “I’m not really into football,” he reminded her.
“I know,” she grinned a little, “just warning you.”
“How do you feel about music?” he questioned, arching his eyebrows.
“I like it a lot better than football...” she said, arching her eyebrows back.
“Oh, good.” He grinned.
“Is there a concert I haven’t heard about?” She asked, watching him closely.
“No, not a concert,” he admitted, nodding toward a sign up ahead that read Club Xanadu.
Chloe arched her eyebrows as she looked at the sign, “we’re going dancing?” She asked, glancing at him again.
“It’s the newest club in the city. Just opened last weekend,” he told her.
“I heard,” she said, glancing at him, “my cousin has been trying to get in since.”
“Why don’t you call her?” he suggested.
“She would love that,” she told him, “but the general is back in town and he heard about her missing the first week of school, he’s not exactly happy with her.”
“The general?” he echoed.
“Her dad,” she grinned, “he’s in the military.”
“Oh.” He grimaced a little. “Sounds like a fun guy.”
“He is, if you like rules and curfews,” Chloe said, arching her eyebrows.
“Not so much,” he responded.
“Yeah I don’t think you two would get along,” she said, smiling a little, “but he’s not that bad.”
“Are you and your cousin close?”
“Yeah,” she nodded, “we kinda grew up together, until Dad and I moved to Smallville, anyway.”
He wondered what that had been like, growing up around family. “Sounds nice.”
“It wasn’t too bad,” she nodded, “so can you just get us in? No fake IDs required?”
“No fake IDs required,” he assured her.
“Nice,” she nodded, then ran her fingers through her hair, pausing as she looked down her clothes. She was definitely not dressed for the occasion.
He glanced at her, as well. “Don’t worry. You’re fine.”
She looked over at him, surprised he was able to read her that easily, “don’t have much of a choice, anyway, right?”
“Well, there are some shops up the street,” he offered, smiling a little. “If you’d feel more comfortable.”
Chloe cocked her head at him, “right.”
“Up to you.”
“I think I can handle one night of being under-dressed, besides, this isn’t Pretty Woman.” She told him.
He blinked at that. “I wasn’t suggesting it was.”
“Oh, I didn’t mean the prostitute part,” she said, pausing.
His eyes widened ever-so-slightly at that. “Then what did you mean...?”
“The whole shopping part...” she said, uncomfortably, then shook her head, “we should go in.”
“Wait, so your friends aren’t allowed to buy you gifts?” he asked uncertainly. “Like, not even for birthdays and Christmas?”
Chloe glanced over at him again, “this isn’t the same thing, besides, you already drove us all the way over here because I was bored.”
“Maybe I wanted to,” Oliver responded, pulling the car into a parking place.
“And you just decided to drag me along?” She asked.
“I didn’t see you protesting.”
“I’m not saying I’m protesting,” she said with a shrug.
“What are you saying?” he asked, honestly feeling more than a tad confused.
“That you don’t have to give me any other presents when you already volunteered to help with my boredom.” She sighed a little, “should we go in?” She said again.
“Yeah, let’s get going,” he agreed, reluctantly opening his car door.
Chloe pulled her phone out of her purse, hesitating before removing her jacket, at least this wasn’t the worst choice of tops she could have made. Then got out of the car too.
He met her at the front of the car, smiling at her and offering her his arm. “Ready?”
“Yeah,” she said, smiling back at him and taking his arm.
* * *
Hours later, Oliver and Chloe made their way out of the club, both a little more buzzed than two underage teens should have been. Raking a hand through his hair, he flashed her a bright smile. “See? That was fun, right?”
“Yeah,” she grinned, feeling probably more relaxed than she should, “thanks for bringing me.”
“My pleasure,” he said honestly, twirling her around on the sidewalk.
Chloe laughed as she turned to face him, shaking her head a little.
His eyes were bright as he laughed, too. “I had fun, too.”
She smiled up at him and nodded a little, “good,” she said, “much better than Smallville, isn’t it?”
“Way better,” he agreed without hesitation. “We should do this more often.”
“That’d be fun,” she nodded, “also better than any high school party we could go to.”
“Definitely.” He smiled once more. “What now, though? I think we’re both a little too drunk to drive.”
“There’s a diner we can go to,” she said, pursing her lips together and looking to one side, then to the other then back and pointing, “that way.”
“Diner it is.” He draped his arm around her shoulders, tugging her close to his side.
Chloe leaned into him a little, “have you spent a lot of time here?”
“Nope, not at all, really. One weekend when Lionel and Lex came to get me.”
“Do you know anyone here?” She asked, cocking her head to look up at him.
“Just you,” he admitted. “But my name opens a lot of doors.” As she’d been witness to earlier that evening when they’d gotten into the club.
“Really? I hadn’t noticed,” she smirked.
He smirked back. “Sometimes being infamous doesn’t totally suck.”
“I bet there’s a lot about it that doesn’t suck,” she shrugged, looking up at him.
“You’d be surprised.”
“Tell me?” She asked curiously, watching him as they walked.
“Expectations, to begin with. Everyone who knew your parents expects you to be just like them because you share their last name and some DNA. And it’s not that they weren’t good people or anything. I mean, they definitely were.” His parents had been all about doing charity work in addition to running Queen Industries. And they’d been very modest about their contributions. Humble, even. “It’s just I barely knew them and people still think I need to be an exact copy, you know?”
“Yeah,” her face fell a little and she nodded, “that must be hard on you, especially.”
“And then, I’m always in the news. Even for stupid things that don’t really matter at all. Like, can you believe I made the headlines once because there was a rip in my shirt sleeve?” He shook his head. “I can’t even make this stuff up.”
“Oh, I believe you, I read entertainment news every now and then,” she said, shaking her head.
“And then there’s the people who think they know you because they’ve read all the stuff that’s been written about you, or seen all the videos. It’s really kind of sucky. Makes it hard to get to know someone for real.”
“Because they expect you to be all the things they read about,” she nodded, pursing her lips together as she watched him.
“Right. And they’re not generally willing to get to know you as an actual person because it might go against something they’ve seen or heard or read.”
“So do you have any close friends?” She asked with a frown.
“Used to. Haven’t seen ‘em in years though,” he admitted with a shrug.
“Why not?” She asked quietly, feeling bad for him, more than she already did.
“Well, when Dr. Swann pulled me out of Excelsior, we just didn’t really stay in touch. I mean, I was across the country.” He pursed his lips.
“Who is that?” She frowned once more, she didn’t think she had heard about that person.
“My guardian.” He paused, glancing at her. “I mean, the one before Lionel took me in.”
“So you weren’t living with him like you are with Lionel?”
“Well, I was. Before and after Excelsior. Until Lionel.”
“And where is he now?” She asked, turning around a corner.
“Dead,” he answered, not looking at her as they walked toward the diner. “Car accident.”
“Oh,” her face fell at that, “I’m sorry, Oliver.”
He shrugged a little. “Just one of those things, right?”
“Doesn’t seem fair...” she told him, looking away.
“I think that’s just life.”
She hesitated then wrapped her arm around him too, “maybe you can at least have some friends now,” she said, smiling a little, “and I don’t mean jocks and cheerleaders, you can’t trust them.”
“Oh, I don’t,” he admitted without hesitation, looking down at her as they paused outside the diner.
“At least you know that, that’s a good start.” She said, looking up at him.
“I’m sure there’s a lot I don’t know about you,” he told her, lifting a hand to her cheek and gently tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.
She cocked her head a little and nodded, “but you should know I’m not going to backstab you like they would.”
“No?” His voice dropped a little as he met her eyes.
She shook her head, looking up at him and arching her eyebrows a little.
“Good to know,” he whispered, dropping his head a little and brushing his nose lightly over hers before kissing her softly on the corner of her mouth.
Chloe held her breath for a second then turned her head, kissing him full on the lips, but just as softly, her heart beating fast.
He returned the kiss without hesitation, letting his fingers ghost over her cheek.
She leaned into his touch and lifted a hand to his side, deepening the kiss just a little. She had been wanting to kiss him all night, she just didn’t think he’d want to, much less try for it.
After a long moment, Oliver rested his forehead against hers, holding his breath as he pulled away to look at her.
She looked up at him and smiled, her face growing warm.
He smiled back, reaching down and taking her hand, lacing their fingers together. “Come on,” he murmured.
She nodded a little and smiled more, “yeah, are you hungry?”
“Yeah, I am. How about you?”
“Yeah, and thirsty,” she admitted.
“Let me guess. Coffee,” he teased, leading her inside the diner.
“I don’t think I like being that predictable,” she said, grinning up at him.
He grinned back, his eyes bright as he squeezed her hand lightly. He was starting to think that moving to Kansas wasn’t so bad after all.