Chapter Text
When he didn’t get a hold of her using her cell number, and when he drove by her house and saw no lights were on, he figured she was probably at school, working on the Torch. And when he walked down the hall and was greeted by the sight of a light coming from the Torch office, he knew he’d been right. Smiling, he made his way down the corridor, footsteps echoing in the otherwise quiet building.
Chloe stilled completely when she heard footsteps, her eyes widening a little and she carefully made her way over to the door, poking her head out slowly then taking a deep breath and relaxing when she saw him. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”
He arched his eyebrows. “Of course not.”
“Good.” She reached for his hand and pulled him into the office quickly. “What are you doing here?”
“I missed you,” he told her, arching his eyebrows, following her into the office.
Chloe smiled at him and leaned in, kissing him softly. “I had to put the paper to bed, I’m almost done, though.”
He kissed her back without hesitation, then grinned. “Are you going to put me to bed next?” he teased.
“Somehow, I don’t think the Luthors would appreciate finding me in your room,” she said, squinting at him. “I do have a story to share with you, though,” she told him secretly, arching her eyebrows and grinning.
“Touche,” he said, nodding and then arching his eyebrow again. “What story?”
“You know Mary Ann? Her mom’s name is Rebecca, I think, she works at the mansion?” Chloe asked, leaning back against her desk and watching him.
He cocked his head to the side. “Yeah. What about her?”
“Well, apparently she’s telling everyone who wants to hear that she has proof that the mansion is haunted,” Chloe told him, cocking her head. “Care to comment?”
“Not until I hear more. What proof does she have?” he asked curiously, moving over to sit on her desk.
“Well, apparently she was with her mom at the mansion before the Luthors came back, she was helping her with the downstairs, I don’t know specifically where since I was overhearing this whole thing, and she heard weird noises. She went to investigate it down the hall and she swears she saw a red headed girl in white, and when she saw Mary Ann, she screamed loudly and disappeared.” Chloe held his gaze. “Have you seen anything weird while you were there?”
He pursed his lips, shaking his head. “Not that I can think of. I mean, except those weird sounds we heard in the basement.”
“That’s what I was thinking of too,” she said, cocking her head. “Any idea when the Luthors will be out of town again so we can explore?”
“Probably not until the next federal holiday,” he admitted, sighing a little and looking down.
“Hopefully there will be a fundraiser or something before then,” she told Oliver. “Anyway, she probably just wants attention, but I might come talk to her about it. I’m also thinking of asking Lex.”
He smirked faintly at that. “Yeah. Good luck with that,” he said wryly.
“He has no idea I know about the Torch, he doesn’t hate me yet,” Chloe reminded him.
“Doesn’t mean he’s going to be helpful, either,” he said with a shrug.
“No, it doesn’t,” she agreed, shrugging back. “And while I believe in a lot of things, ghosts seem a little far fetched.”
“You don’t think it’s Moaning Myrtle?” he asked, widening his eyes and smirking.
“You let me know if you feel like you have someone watching you bathe,” she said, smirking right back at him.
“Feel like or want someone to?” he teased.
Chloe squinted at that. “Is the your answer positive to either one of those?”
“Maybe to the latter. You know, if you were offering...” He flashed her a grin.
“I don’t know,” she said, pushing herself off the desk. “I don’t know how much fun that’d be. Watching, I mean.”
He cocked his head to the side. “You’re always welcome to join me. Strictly for environmental purposes, of course. Conserving water and everything.”
Chloe laughed, her face getting warm despite herself. The idea of him seeing her naked was way too embarrassing. “Of course.”
He couldn’t help but smile when she blushed and he moved over to her, wrapping his arms around her and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “So how much do you have left to do on the paper tonight? Need any help?”
She hugged him back and shook her head. “I’m pretty much done, I just need to drop it off at the printer when I leave,” she told him, looking up at him, her eyes bright.
“Want some company?” he asked hopefully, not ready to go back to the mansion yet.
“Yeah,” she told him quietly. “We don’t have to leave now, they close at four and won’t get this printed until tomorrow morning anyway, so it doesn’t matter when I drop it off as long as it’s tonight.”
He studied her. “Does that mean we have the whole school to ourselves?” A grin began to form on his face once more.
“It does.” She grinned at the look on his face. “Not as exciting as a whole mansion but...”
He smirked. “That depends on how you define exciting.”
“You seem to have a good idea of what you want this definition to be,” she said, squinting at him.
“You know I’m a bit of a trouble-maker, right?”
“I don’t think a bit quite covers it.” She straightened, a mischievous look on her face. “So, what trouble are we making?”
“I thought we could cause some trouble for Rod Pierce and a couple of those douchewads.” He smirked.
“Oh.” She tried not to sound disappointed, making out in the pool was probably not very practical, anyway. “Like what?”
He cocked his head to the side, studying her. “What do you have in mind?”
“I stay by myself at school all the time, you know?” She said, shrugging. There was no way she’d suggest that to him, they hadn’t done much yet and he had way more experience than she did. “It’s not as exciting for me, so you can pick.”
“Well, we don’t have to stay here. We can just go walk around under the stars,” he suggested, arching his eyebrows.
“Under the stars?” She grinned, teasing. “Is that one of those romantic things you told me about?”
“Yeah.” He grinned back. “Something like that.”
“Okay,” she said, squinting at him. “Give me thirty seconds to save this and shut down.”
“I’m counting.” His voice was teasing, and he leaned back against the wall by the door.
“Go ahead.” She grinned, taking a deep breath and focusing as she saved the layout on a floppy disk, then tested it quickly to make sure it was there before shutting down the computer. “Did I lie?” She asked as she turned to face him again.
“No, you were right at thirty seconds,” he joked, glancing down at his wrist where no watch was.
“Oh, good.” She threw everything in her purse then pulled it over her head as she picked up her key. “Let’s go, then.”
He smiled, holding his hand out to her and leading her out of the office.
“So where are we going, exactly?” She asked, linking her fingers through his and smiling up at him after she had locked the door to the Torch.
“Nowhere specific,” he said with a slight shrug. “It’s a nice night. Cold, but not windy. Figured we could just walk.”
“Okay.” She smiled softly as they made their way downstairs. “Glad you came by.”
“Yeah?” He glanced at her sideways.
“Yeah,” she said sincerely and shrugged. “I’d just go home and text you otherwise.”
He smiled faintly, squeezing her hand. “Got it.”
She squeezed his hand back and took a deep breath once they got outside. It was a nice night, chilly but not too cold and no wind was definitely a plus.
“So...there’s something we should probably talk about,” he said hesitantly as they walked through the parking lot.
Her stomach tightened instantly at his tone and she frowned as she turned to look at him. “What?”
“No, no, it’s nothing bad,” he said quickly, picking up on her tone.
“Oh,” she said quietly, taking a deep breath and straightening a little. “Okay, but what is it?”
“There’s...a dance coming up. A Valentine’s Day thing.” He chewed the inside of his cheek.
“Oh, right.” She blinked a couple of times then frowned a little, shaking her head in confusion. “But we can’t go.”
“Right,” he said immediately. “I mean, it would be impossible.”
“Everyone would know,” she muttered, her face falling a little as she realized she finally had someone who really wanted to go to a dance with her and she couldn’t go with him.
“Yeah. And that would be bad.” He didn’t sound convinced.
Chloe looked down and nodded a little, squeezing his hand.
Oliver sighed, pursing his lips as he fell silent.
She tugged on his hand as she stopped walking and stepped in front of him. “I wanna go,” she whispered. “I’ve never been to one of those with someone who really wanted to go with me. But...”
“But if Lionel finds out, we’re sunk,” he finished, nodding as he stopped, gazing at her. “I know, Chloe.”
Chewing on her bottom lip, she nodded a little. “It’s just a day,” she said quietly, trying to convince herself as well as he. “We’ll go to a dance, eventually. After you graduate.”
He tried to smile at that, but didn’t quite manage it. “Does it ever make you wish...”
“What?” She asked quietly, reaching for his other hand too as she shifted closer.
He looked away. “I don’t know, that I was someone else. Someone with fewer complications.”
“No,” she said instantly, sincerely as she squeezed his hands in her. “No, you wouldn’t be you.”
Oliver drew in a breath and looked back at her, sadness etched into his features. “No, but you wouldn’t have to hide this part of your life, either. And your dad wouldn’t have gotten into trouble.”
“I feel bad about dad,” she admitted then shrugged a little. “But I don’t mind hiding, it beats the alternative,” she said quietly, trying for a smile.
He swallowed hard, nodding even as his chest tightened. “Yeah.”
Chloe took a deep breath then stepped closer and pressed her lips to his, her own chest tight. She wished she knew how to go to the dance and keep this a secret but the dance was only one night.
He kissed her back, lifting a hand to her cheek and then leaning his forehead against hers. Then he sighed softly. “Come on,” he murmured. “Let’s keep walking.” He didn’t want to go back to the mansion and deal with Lex and Lionel.
She nodded a little then let go of one of his hands and stepped to his side again. “Doesn’t mean we can’t hang out,” she said quietly, glancing at him. “The whole town will be deserted with everyone at the dance.”
He smiled faintly. “Good point,” he agreed, nodding and squeezing her hand.
Chloe smiled softly at that and nodded, holding her head up as she tried to convince herself that that was almost as good.