Chapter 3
Lois and Chloe burst into the dining room just in time to see Oliver fists clenching as he moved toward Clark. Lois grabbed onto Clark’s arm inserting her body between the two men as she spoke in an authoritative voice.
“Smallville try to remember Oliver is your friend.”
Clark snorted.
“Some friend, he’s using Chloe!”
Oliver lurched forward and Chloe pushed against his chest, her voice low and controlled.
“Ollie don’t just calm down a minute okay?”
She sighed and turned to face Lois a frown covering her face as she glanced between their testosterone filled counter parts.
“You two need to cut it out or we’re going to get thrown out. Look.”
She motioned toward a lady who was giving them a worried look. The tension in Oliver’s shoulders eased, but didn’t dissipate as he nodded and grumbled a soft ‘sorry.’ They all plastered smiles on their faces and waved at her.
The woman frowned, but moved back toward the front desk. Lois patted Clark’s arm and nodded toward the table.
“Come on guys we’re all mature adults. Let’s start over, sit down, and have some brunch.”
She grinned and the guys sighed before nodding. They moved to take their seats at the table when Lois promptly sat next to Chloe leaving the seat next to Clark open. Oliver glared at her before walking around the small table and sitting next to Clark.
Clark glanced at Chloe as she situated herself in the seat.
“Quiet weekend at home huh?”
Chloe reluctantly met his eyes and could see the disapproval on his face.
“Trust me we had no idea the two of you would be here.”
Lois could see the situation starting to sour. She had no clue what was going on with Clark and Chloe these days, but their friendship certainly wasn’t what it used to be. She chimed into the conversation hoping to keep things up beat.
“And we had no idea there was even a you two, which I think is perfect. I think fate has brought us together.”
Oliver winced slightly. This really wasn’t what he needed right now. He was pissed and uncomfortable, plus he’d just gotten Chloe to open herself up to him more. The last thing he needed was Lois freaking her out by talking about fate and things like that.
“Well s’a…its a little less fate actually…”
Chloe caught the hesitation in Oliver’s voice and she couldn’t help the tinge of pain she felt in her heart. She recovered quickly though and the mask of ambivalence was back in place.
“More fame.”
Oliver nodded.
“I like fame.”
She glanced between her cousin and Clark giving them a tight smile as she spoke.
“This inn is so far off the beaten path that even the society pages couldn’t find Star City’s most eligible bachelor here.”
Lois leaned on the table and grinned at her cousin.
“You mean ex-bachelor.”
“Okay enough about that. How did you guys manage to find the road less traveled?”
Clark watched Chloe carefully as he spoke.
“Well I found the brochure to the inn at the apartment and I figured Lois wanted to come here.”
Confusion settled on Lois’s face as she looked at Clark.
“What brochure?”
Clark opened his mouth, but Chloe cut him off.
“That wasn’t Lois’s brochure Clark…that was mine.”
Clark glanced between Lois and Chloe before his eyes settled on Oliver whose mouth had just morphed into a smirk. His gaze hardened on the green archer before he turned his attention to Lois.
“How was I supposed to know that Oliver was…”
“You weren’t. That’s the point.”
Clark swallowed hard. Wonderful now Chloe was giving him an attitude. He sighed and turned his head toward Oliver who raised an eyebrow.
“Well don’t look at me. I learned a long time ago not to assume what belongs to who in that apartment. You gotta use context clues, but then again that would require you actually taking the time to know the people around you so…”
Clark’s eye twitched, brows creasing as he opened his mouth to tell Oliver exactly what he could do with his comment, but Lois was quicker.
“Speaking of clues. Lets talk about Mr. Green in the bedroom with my cousin.”
Oliver sat up straighter a pained look on his face, voice higher than normal.
“There it is…”
Clark made a face.
“Lois how can you joke about this? Seriously? You actually think it’s a good idea for Chloe and Oliver to…do whatever it is they’re doing?”
Lois scowled at Clark’s reaction to the relationship between her ex and her cousin. She had no clue why he was so vehemently against it. She shifted her eyes briefly in their direction before leaning towards Clark and speaking softly.
“What’s your problem Smallville?”
He shoved his hand in their direction.
“This is my problem. You of all people should know how Oliver is with woman Lois. Do you really want Chloe to be just another notch on his belt?”
The anger in Clark’s voice startled Lois making her lean back in her seat abruptly. Before anyone else could say anything Clark winced at the sound of Oliver’s chair scraping back as he pushed away from the table. Chloe could see the unrestrained anger on his face as he stood, his voice low but hard.
“I don’t know where you get off being angry at me Clark, but I did not come all the way out here to listen to you bitch about how I’m using your supposed best friend. Take a look around you. Chloe hasn’t been your best friend for a long time now.”
Clark stood, clenching his jaw.
“Well maybe if you weren’t always around things would go back to normal. Besides you’re not fooling anyone with this Oliver. I know why you’re with Chloe and it’s not going to work. Lois and I are together now. Things between the two of you are over. You need to stop trying to get her back.”
A soft gasp at the table had them turning to face Chloe. She met Oliver’s eyes and he could see the hurt in them. All of her old insecurities came bubbling to the surface as she watched the guilt creep onto Oliver’s face.
She let out a light chuckle and Oliver saw the shutter’s coming down as he swore to himself.
“So you’ve been trying to get back together with Lois?”
Oliver shook his head and reached over to her as she stood. She jerked her arm away from him.
“No, Chloe. I mean yea, but not since we started this. I swear. I wouldn’t do that to you.”
“Whatever Oliver it doesn’t matter.”
She motioned between them.
“This thing…it’s all casual remember? No attachments. You’re free to do whatever you want.”
She walked away and as he watched her leave the dining room he turned to Clark. There was a hint of a threat in his voice as he spoke.
“Do you know how long it took me to convince her to come here with me? How long I’ve worked at getting her to open up to me? Trust me? If you just ruined this relationship for me Clark I swear you’ll be sorry.”
They watched as he stormed out of the dining room in pursuit of Chloe. Clark turned to Lois and she crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head at him before getting up and walking away from him.
“Lois…”
“Nope. You blew this one Smallville and you better fix it or this is going to be one boring weekend for you.”
Clark sighed as Lois disappeared down the hall. How did he always manage to get himself into these situations?
Lois and Chloe burst into the dining room just in time to see Oliver fists clenching as he moved toward Clark. Lois grabbed onto Clark’s arm inserting her body between the two men as she spoke in an authoritative voice.
“Smallville try to remember Oliver is your friend.”
Clark snorted.
“Some friend, he’s using Chloe!”
Oliver lurched forward and Chloe pushed against his chest, her voice low and controlled.
“Ollie don’t just calm down a minute okay?”
She sighed and turned to face Lois a frown covering her face as she glanced between their testosterone filled counter parts.
“You two need to cut it out or we’re going to get thrown out. Look.”
She motioned toward a lady who was giving them a worried look. The tension in Oliver’s shoulders eased, but didn’t dissipate as he nodded and grumbled a soft ‘sorry.’ They all plastered smiles on their faces and waved at her.
The woman frowned, but moved back toward the front desk. Lois patted Clark’s arm and nodded toward the table.
“Come on guys we’re all mature adults. Let’s start over, sit down, and have some brunch.”
She grinned and the guys sighed before nodding. They moved to take their seats at the table when Lois promptly sat next to Chloe leaving the seat next to Clark open. Oliver glared at her before walking around the small table and sitting next to Clark.
Clark glanced at Chloe as she situated herself in the seat.
“Quiet weekend at home huh?”
Chloe reluctantly met his eyes and could see the disapproval on his face.
“Trust me we had no idea the two of you would be here.”
Lois could see the situation starting to sour. She had no clue what was going on with Clark and Chloe these days, but their friendship certainly wasn’t what it used to be. She chimed into the conversation hoping to keep things up beat.
“And we had no idea there was even a you two, which I think is perfect. I think fate has brought us together.”
Oliver winced slightly. This really wasn’t what he needed right now. He was pissed and uncomfortable, plus he’d just gotten Chloe to open herself up to him more. The last thing he needed was Lois freaking her out by talking about fate and things like that.
“Well s’a…its a little less fate actually…”
Chloe caught the hesitation in Oliver’s voice and she couldn’t help the tinge of pain she felt in her heart. She recovered quickly though and the mask of ambivalence was back in place.
“More fame.”
Oliver nodded.
“I like fame.”
She glanced between her cousin and Clark giving them a tight smile as she spoke.
“This inn is so far off the beaten path that even the society pages couldn’t find Star City’s most eligible bachelor here.”
Lois leaned on the table and grinned at her cousin.
“You mean ex-bachelor.”
“Okay enough about that. How did you guys manage to find the road less traveled?”
Clark watched Chloe carefully as he spoke.
“Well I found the brochure to the inn at the apartment and I figured Lois wanted to come here.”
Confusion settled on Lois’s face as she looked at Clark.
“What brochure?”
Clark opened his mouth, but Chloe cut him off.
“That wasn’t Lois’s brochure Clark…that was mine.”
Clark glanced between Lois and Chloe before his eyes settled on Oliver whose mouth had just morphed into a smirk. His gaze hardened on the green archer before he turned his attention to Lois.
“How was I supposed to know that Oliver was…”
“You weren’t. That’s the point.”
Clark swallowed hard. Wonderful now Chloe was giving him an attitude. He sighed and turned his head toward Oliver who raised an eyebrow.
“Well don’t look at me. I learned a long time ago not to assume what belongs to who in that apartment. You gotta use context clues, but then again that would require you actually taking the time to know the people around you so…”
Clark’s eye twitched, brows creasing as he opened his mouth to tell Oliver exactly what he could do with his comment, but Lois was quicker.
“Speaking of clues. Lets talk about Mr. Green in the bedroom with my cousin.”
Oliver sat up straighter a pained look on his face, voice higher than normal.
“There it is…”
Clark made a face.
“Lois how can you joke about this? Seriously? You actually think it’s a good idea for Chloe and Oliver to…do whatever it is they’re doing?”
Lois scowled at Clark’s reaction to the relationship between her ex and her cousin. She had no clue why he was so vehemently against it. She shifted her eyes briefly in their direction before leaning towards Clark and speaking softly.
“What’s your problem Smallville?”
He shoved his hand in their direction.
“This is my problem. You of all people should know how Oliver is with woman Lois. Do you really want Chloe to be just another notch on his belt?”
The anger in Clark’s voice startled Lois making her lean back in her seat abruptly. Before anyone else could say anything Clark winced at the sound of Oliver’s chair scraping back as he pushed away from the table. Chloe could see the unrestrained anger on his face as he stood, his voice low but hard.
“I don’t know where you get off being angry at me Clark, but I did not come all the way out here to listen to you bitch about how I’m using your supposed best friend. Take a look around you. Chloe hasn’t been your best friend for a long time now.”
Clark stood, clenching his jaw.
“Well maybe if you weren’t always around things would go back to normal. Besides you’re not fooling anyone with this Oliver. I know why you’re with Chloe and it’s not going to work. Lois and I are together now. Things between the two of you are over. You need to stop trying to get her back.”
A soft gasp at the table had them turning to face Chloe. She met Oliver’s eyes and he could see the hurt in them. All of her old insecurities came bubbling to the surface as she watched the guilt creep onto Oliver’s face.
She let out a light chuckle and Oliver saw the shutter’s coming down as he swore to himself.
“So you’ve been trying to get back together with Lois?”
Oliver shook his head and reached over to her as she stood. She jerked her arm away from him.
“No, Chloe. I mean yea, but not since we started this. I swear. I wouldn’t do that to you.”
“Whatever Oliver it doesn’t matter.”
She motioned between them.
“This thing…it’s all casual remember? No attachments. You’re free to do whatever you want.”
She walked away and as he watched her leave the dining room he turned to Clark. There was a hint of a threat in his voice as he spoke.
“Do you know how long it took me to convince her to come here with me? How long I’ve worked at getting her to open up to me? Trust me? If you just ruined this relationship for me Clark I swear you’ll be sorry.”
They watched as he stormed out of the dining room in pursuit of Chloe. Clark turned to Lois and she crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head at him before getting up and walking away from him.
“Lois…”
“Nope. You blew this one Smallville and you better fix it or this is going to be one boring weekend for you.”
Clark sighed as Lois disappeared down the hall. How did he always manage to get himself into these situations?
Dammit Clark!!!!!
ReplyDeleteStupid Clark messing everything up...
ReplyDeleteLooking forward tot he next chapter!
Well crap Clark. Looking forward to more.
ReplyDeleteGood grief and here I thought he couldn't get more overbearing and out of touch than he already was. Yay Lois for finally calling him on it and standing up for both her cousin and Oliver. She knows Oliver all right. And I think she knows that Oliver would never hurt Chloe intentionally, and he certainly would never use her. :P Crazy alien.
ReplyDelete