The Bottom of the Glass--8/13

[bluesuedeshoes]

Author:  BlueSuede
Title:  The Bottom of the Glass
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Angst/Romance/Drama
Pairings:  Chloe/Oliver
Summary: Chloe's meteor powers return with reinforcements. Instead of talking to anyone about it, even Oliver, she finds a different refuge.
Warnings: mild OOC on Chloe's part


Chapter 1

Previous (Chapter 7)
Next (Chapter 9)

-8-

"What did he do?" Oliver demanded when he pulled the bike to a stop in front of Chloe.

She heaved an impatient sigh. "You know, it's funny: he asked the same thing about you."

Oliver looked surprised for a second before he grasped her meaning. He rolled his eyes and handed her a helmet. "Let's go."

"Gladly," Chloe said, climbing on behind him and wrapping her arms around him in relief.

Oliver determined that now was not the time to bring up her delve into the bottle of whiskey at her cousin's the night before. He figured he'd wait until they got back and she had a chance to cool off.

When they did get to Oliver's place, Chloe was still on edge, that much was evident.

"I'm sure you guys will work it out. Clark's nothing if he's not good at talking his way out of trouble," Oliver said, attempting to be supportive.

"I really hate this, you know," she bit out. "I do. I am sick and tired of how Clark-how he just-the way he-"

"Has his head shoved up his ass?" Oliver supplied lightheartedly, sitting down to let her fume.

"Exactly! I mean, when you look at the way he's been treating Lois lately, you'd think that he'd have the decency to realize that he has no right to throw accusations at you!"

"I thought Lois and Clark were doing fine," Oliver ventured, mildly confused.

"Oh please," Chloe scoffed, pacing the floor. "They're both in denial. Clark's been paying Lois less and less attention lately because he's so caught up in all things Kandorian, and Lois is definitely starting to notice. He's constantly spacing out on her, and the double life is definitely taking its toll. Besides, they're never going to have a real relationship if he can't just tell her-"

"Who I am?"

Chloe and Oliver jumped. Clark was frowning in the doorway.

"I told you not to come after me, Clark!" Chloe said irritably.

"Right, well," Oliver said awkwardly as the two stared each other down. "I'll just...go call the guy...because of the-" he looked between them and gave up. "Right. Later." He walked out of the room and shut the door smartly.

Clark and Chloe stared at each other awkwardly. After a few minutes it became evident that Chloe was refusing to speak first, arching her eyebrows daringly at Clark. He sighed.

"Look, Chloe, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruffle-" her eyebrows, if possibly, rose even higher, and Clark cleared his throat, "-to-um-upset you. I shouldn't have just assumed that your relationship with Oliver was on the rocks. As for what's going on between me and Lois, I wish you'd let me deal with that as I see fit." He paused waiting for her response. At length, she nodded.

"Fair enough. Apology accepted."

"Thanks. So, about your meteor power being back," he spoke slowly, as though he were walking on thin ice, knowing that any moment he might say the wrong thing yet again, "you're working on a cure with Hamilton?"

Chloe nodded again. "Yeah. When it came back I freaked out and the first thing I did was call him." She chose the words carefully, knowing it would cause a small sting to Clark's ego that he wasn't the first person she called. "He's taken blood samples and Oliver and I are going to see him again tomorrow. Oliver wants to make sure I'm not lying about it," she said with a light scoff. She could tell that was what it was about, but she couldn't bring herself to be angry with Oliver. In the reversed situation, she'd be doing the same thing.

"How did you find out it was back?"

"I healed a gunshot wound, which brings us to the next point of interest: healing people no longer incapacitates me."

"Does that mean-"

"It can't kill me anymore," Chloe finished for him. She was beginning to get very weary of this conversation. What was this...the fourth time she'd explained this? Well, technically, Emil had explained it to her...

Clark looked confused. "But...I don't understand. How?"

With a deep sigh that she felt right down to her toes, Chloe explained the entire situation to him, everything Hamilton had told her, excluding one vital detail: the fact that her body had become dependent on Kryptonite. For some reason she couldn't verbalize, she just didn't want Clark to know that part.

When she was finished, Clark walked over and hugged her. "Chloe, I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. Why didn't you just call me?"

Chloe tensed under his hug but eventually accepted it, trying to shove away her animosity for the man who was supposed to be her best friend. She couldn't stop the sarcastic remark that slipped past her lips, however. "Call you? Right. Because you give off such an air of welcome lately. All I want to do is spill my guts to you."

Clark let go of her and looked at her seriously. "I probably deserve that, but let's just establish something right now, Chloe: I don't care if we haven't spoken in months. I don't care if we've had the biggest blow out imaginable. I don't care if you start carrying Kryptonite in your purse to ward me off. When it comes to the big stuff, you can always come talk to me Chloe. I know I haven't been there for you lately, and maybe you're right about my needing to find a better balance in my life right now, but you should know that if you need me, I'll be there."

Chloe looked into his eyes, comforted by the fact that something in them reminded her of a Clark Kent she had known over a decade ago, and smiled slightly. "I know, Clark."

"Good. Now, I'm sorry to ditch you but I really have to get back to work before Lois calls in the National Guard. Let me know what Hamilton says tomorrow, okay?"

Chloe nodded her understanding, and before she could blink he was gone.

At which time, Oliver conveniently reappeared. Chloe turned to him with an amused expression on her face.

"Been listening at the key hole?"

Oliver scoffed. "Please, I am so above that. I was holding a glass to the door."

Chloe laughed.

"Well I guess you two are on slightly better terms now," he assessed and Chloe nodded in agreement. "That's good." He paused a moment, trying to determine whether this were the right time. "So I think we should talk about this drinking thing again."

Chloe rolled her eyes and walked over to his couch, hiding the blush on her face. She had just been wishing she had a drink. Dealing with Clark on a regular basis was enough to drive any decent girl to drink, she thought irritably.

Oliver debated telling her that he knew she'd been drinking at Lois's, but he realized there was no good way to tell her that without admitting that Lois had 'snitched' on her. "I'm just concerned that instead of talking to any of your friends or family you decided you'd rather have a glass of bourbon."

Chloe didn't say anything. She felt like a petulant teenager whose parent had caught her drinking underage.

"Chloe?"

"I'm an adult, Oliver. I can drink if I want to."

"Nobody said you couldn't. But that doesn't change the fact that you didn't think you could turn to any of us."

Chloe looked at him, recognizing the hurt in his voice even as he carefully disguised it. She knew him too well to be fooled by the macho facade anymore. "Oliver, I told you, it wasn't that I didn't trust you-"

"You just didn't want to admit what was happening," he finished impatiently, going over to lean against the back of the couch. "Chloe, that really bothers me. You knew you could talk to us but chose not to anyway. What if my trip had lasted longer than a couple of days? Would you still be downing shots at the bar with Brian the bartender-"

"Brent," she corrected irrationally.

"-to keep you company?" he ignored her.

Chloe didn't answer right away. The fact of the matter was that she probably would still be at that bar.

"You can't keep this up, Chloe."

"Keep what up?"

"This isolation thing."

"I'm not isolating myself," she argued.

"Yes, you are. You've been shutting yourself away from civilization little by little, and I didn't realize just how bad it had gotten until you went through a major personal crisis and didn't tell anyone."

Chloe bit her tongue, not sure how to respond. Her impulse was to deny it left and right, but she knew she couldn't. It was true. "What do you want me to say?" she asked finally.

"I want you to say you'll stop, that you're going to stop shutting people out. I want you to tell me you're going to stop keeping me at arms length."

After a long silence Chloe stood up and went for her keys. "I need to think." She was at the door before he grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Where are you going?"

She tugged herself free and walked onto the lift. "Where do you think?" she asked with a mixture of defeat and defiance. The door closed in front of a stunned Oliver.

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Next (Chapter 9)