Reaching Out. With chloeas.

[olliequeen]

Oliver glanced at Chloe sideways as he sat behind the wheel of his little orange sports car as he drove them to the airport. The jet was leaving in a half-hour for Snowmass, Colorado. He was anxious to get out of Kansas, and not just because he was feeling restless, but because he truly thought it would do Chloe some good to get out of there for awhile, as well.

"Wanna listen to Christmas music?" he asked, reaching toward the radio.

Comments

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

"Sure," she told him with a soft smile, she knew Oliver was excited about their trip, but she couldn't help feeling a little anxious about leaving everything behind, even if it was just for three days, she couldn't help thinking something would happen while they were gone.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He turned the radio on low and then put his gloved-hand back on the steering wheel. He drew in a breath and let it out slowly, staring at the road ahead. He was quiet for a moment. "I know you're not really that excited about this, Chloe," he murmured. "And that's okay. You've been through a lot." He glanced at her quickly once more.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

Pursing her lips together, she shook her head, turning to look at him, "it's not that, Ollie," she smiled a little, "I think it will be nice and I'm glad you came up with this whole thing," her smile widened a little more and she looked at him, "I just... keep expecting something to happen, either to stop us from going or to make us come back. It's just how things normally go..." It had happened at the spring formal, at her high school graduation, at her wedding, it usually happened to things she was looking forward to.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He was quiet for a moment. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I've taken every precaution I could think of to make sure that doesn't happen."

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

Oliver smiled, pleased that he'd seemingly distracted her from negative thoughts at least for the time being. "So how do you feel about skiing?" he asked with a grin. His arm was out of the sling and Dr. Hamilton had cleared him for light physical activity. Which didn't include patrolling, but he wasn't going to be in Metropolis for that anyway.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

Chloe shrugged a shoulder and pursed her lips together, "I'll try everything once, but we both know I'm not very good at that kind of thing."

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

"I don't know. You've been doing really well with the training the last few weeks." He smiled. "I think you might surprise yourself, Chloe."

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

"I don't know. I think all the planning and research must get mentally taxing," he said, glancing at her sideways.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

"Sure," she agreed, shrugging a shoulder, "but if I'm not focused, I can take a break and have some coffee and I don't have to worry about falling off of the top of a building if I'm tired."

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He arched an eyebrow. "I've never fallen off the top of a building."

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He was faintly surprised when she moved closer to him, but it certainly didn't bother him. When she leaned her head against his shoulder, he smiled a bit and kept his arm around her, sensing that she found comfort in it. That gave him pause. He wasn't exactly known to be a comforting sort of person. But for whatever reason, it seemed to come naturally with Chloe these days. Maybe it was because he could see past the working facade she always seemed to have in place. Underneath that, he could see the sadness and loneliness in her eyes and it dawned on him that maybe he was drawn to her because he'd felt the same way for so long.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

They were silent for a long moment while the plane took off and even a while after that, Chloe hadn't really realized she was half laying on him, it had just felt comfortable and... warm, but she didn't want to make him uncomfortable so she sat up, but didn't move away.

"What are we doing when we get there?"

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He glanced at her sideways, reluctantly pulling his arm away from her. The last thing he wanted was to make her uncomfortable.

A faint smile tugged at his lips. "You want an itinerary?"

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

His own grin widened and he nodded a little. "Stick with me. You'll get to see all the cool places, Sidekick."

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

"What is in your list of 'cool places'?" She asked curiously.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He relaxed back into the seat, resting his elbow on the back of it and propping his head up on one hand. "Egypt. New Zealand. Australia. Monaco." He smiled softly. "Ireland's beautiful. I think you'd like it there." He paused. "You have ancestors from there, right?" he asked.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

"I would have," he said with a slight nod. "But it's better this way. I think we both needed the break from Metropolis. Especially now."

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

She relaxed a little and nodded, "as much as I don't want to be away from the Watchtower, I agree." Her voice was quiet but she kept her eyes on him, she knew Clark and Lois would probably have a happier Christmas without her around to make things uncomfortable, and they deserved to.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

Oliver studied her for a moment. His reasons for wanting to take her out of Metropolis for the holiday had nothing to do with Clark or Lois. He just wanted to get her away from the stress, away from the memories, away from all the pain, even if it was only for a few days. "Good," he said softly, wanting to hug her again, but refraining because he didn't want to make her uncomfortable.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

"About the same as usual," he confessed. "Although I think we finally cleared the air about a few things. At least, as much as we possibly can."

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

Pursing her lips, she nodded a little, "that's good, I think, what did she say?"

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He was silent for a moment. "That apologies meant nothing and I couldn't change anything. Which I already knew." He shrugged a little. "And frankly I'm tired of apologizing."

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

"I had help," she reminded him quietly, eyes on his as she spoke.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

Oliver nodded slightly and hesitated a moment before pulling her into his arms and hugging her. "I know." He closed his eyes for a moment. "And I'll always be here for you, whenever you need help. No matter what."

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

Chloe paused for a second then wrapped her arms around him tightly, nodding, "I know," she said quietly, closing her eyes too, "thank you."