brittany2922

Banner by miss_morrygan

Title: Everything Changes With Time…
Author: brittany2922
Summary: 4 years after the events of Lazarus, Chloe Sullivan suddenly comes back to Metropolis. But her relief to be home is short lived when she realizes how long she's been gone and how much has changed…
Characters: Chloe Sullivan, Oliver Queen, Lois Lane, Clark Kent, Dinah Lance, Bart Allen, Victor Stone, Author Curry, John Jones, Perry White
Rating: PG-13 for now
Genre: Angst/Romance
Words:2,305
Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 4

Lois watched the pair through the living room window, her baby cousin and the love of her life, and the whole time her heart was breaking for them. Neither of them spoke, they just sat in silence both their bodies stiff and tense. Chloe never actually turned to look at him, just kept her eyes locked on the outskirts of the Kent property, but Oliver had not stopped staring at her since he'd gotten out of his car.

Her breath caught as she watched Oliver stand and kneel in front of Chloe before lowering his head onto her lap and wrapping his arms tightly around her waist. He rested his hands on the small of her back and pulled her closer to him.

Lois's eyes stayed focused on them, not even looking away when she felt the familiar gust of wind that Clark's super speed always caused hit her back. She didn't speak until she felt his arms wrap around her waist and his chin rest on her shoulder.

"How do you think this is all going to turn out," she asked finally her voice shaky even in her own ears.

"I wish I knew," he admitted, his voice low.

"I don't want her to suffer anymore, Clark. She's been through enough, I mean, God knows what those bastards that had her did, and then she comes home and finds everything about her life has changed," she pulled away from him slightly and leaned to one side hoping to get a better look at Chloe's face.

Her cousin sat nearly completely still the only part of her moving was her lower lip which began to trembled. She pulled it in between her teeth and tugged on it gently. Lois knew Chloe well enough to know that she was trying to stay strong and fight the urge to reach down and touch him.

"I know, we'll help her get through all of this and find out what exactly happened to her, and I promise you Lois, those responsible will pay, but as for the two of them, they need to be the ones to figure this out. We need to just stay out of it as best we can. And be them for them when they need us."

"I know," she leaned her back against his chest and relaxed instantly, "they still love each other."

"Of course they do, but after everything that's happened…"

"There's no way of knowing if they can ever work past it all," she said completing his thought.

"Exactly."

Lois tried to look away but couldn't fear that Chloe might need her made it impossible to do so, so she just continued to watch them through the window. She felt her heart break for them all over again as she watched Chloe finally give in and place her hand on his head and begin to tenderly run her fingers through his hair.

It was when she touched him that Oliver began to cry.

She had seen Oliver cry before, not often, but she had. Even on the few occasions that she had though it had always just been one or two tears that had been wiped away before you ever really saw them.

This was different though, the way he cried now was a mixture of relief and regret. Relief that the love of his life was alive and actually sitting in front of him, and regret that he hadn't waited just a little longer for her return.

His shoulders shook with his sobs, it was then that Lois knew that they were all in trouble, there was no way Oliver would be able to go back to his life in Star City with Dinah and ever be truly happy now that Chloe was back…

Chloe's hands itched to reach put and touch him, to offer him some kind of comfort. She lifted her hand and began to rub her fingers through his hair. It was then that she heard him begin to cry. The sound of his sobs was one of the hardest things she ever had to listen to, the last thing she ever wanted was to be responsible for making Oliver feel like this. She loved him.

While she was gone she had often blocked out the pain being inflicted on her by focusing on what their reunion would be like. This was nothing like what she had imagined. She had always thought that when the two of them were finally reunited they would get their chance to be together for real, no rules about strings and commitment, but that was never going to happen now. He was with someone else, and not just with her, he was married to her. Oliver was married to Dinah. Just the thought of the two of them together made her stomach turn; no nothing was how she had thought it would be.

The silence was becoming too much to bear, but she couldn't bring herself to speak. Talking right now meant that he would move away from her and she would have to hear all about his new life with Dinah. So she ignored the urge to talk and just kept running her hands through his hair reveling in the feel of him for as long as she could.

After several minutes he was the one to finally end the silence. He lifted his head and moved his hands from the small of her back to the sides of her face, "you look the same," he said shakily; "except for the hair." he corrected moving one hand to touch her longer locks.

She tried to speak but no words would come.

"Are you okay?" he asked finally.

She nodded slowly in response.

"God I missed you," he said standing to full height and lifting her into his arms.

Chloe felt a sharp pain in her ribs as he held her, but held back responding to it and just enjoying the feel of his arms around her again after so long, but when he squeezed her tighter she couldn't hold back the small hiss of pain the passed through her lips.

The moment he heard it he pulled back and looked at her, his eyes full of worry and fear, "what's wrong?"

"I'm just a little sore," she admitted once she was finally able to find her voice.

"Where?" he asked his eyes growing wide.

She placed her hand over her injured ribs.

"Can I see?" his hand grasped the bottom of her shirt and he tried to lift it to get a better view of her injuries.

"It's fine really," she pulled away from him and took a step back. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself, and tried her best to ignore the pain that flickered in his eyes at her reaction to him.

"What did you come here?" she asked trying to keep her voice even.

"What do you mean?" he stepped away from her and leaned back against the railing his hands resting on either side of him, "how could I not come?"

"I just figured you had a lot more important responsibilities that you had to worry about now." she tried to keep her eyes from shifting to his left hand and the wedding ring that now resided there but failed.

"Maybe we should talk." he suggested gently when he saw where her gaze landed.

"That's probably a good idea," she agreed.

"Do you wanna go inside?" he asked signaling with his thumb toward the house.

Chloe looked toward the house and saw two pairs of worried eyes staring at them. The moment she looked their way they quickly covered themselves with the sheer window covering.

"Maybe we should go for a walk instead," she suggested.

"Are you sure you're up for that?" he took a small step forward and tried again to look at her injured side.

"I'm fine." she said pulling back quickly and tensing at the sudden shooting pain the swift movement caused, "lets just go." She turned away from him and slowly made her way toward the porch steps as she lowered one foot to the first step she felt his arm wrap around her and pulled her uninjured side against him, her head whipped in his direction her eyebrows raised, "what are you doing?" she asked startled by their closeness.

"Helping you down the stairs." he told her. When they reached the ground he released her.

"Thanks." she said her voice barely above a whisper.

They walked side by side in silence for several minutes the comfort she had felt from his presence not long ago was now replaced by an ache in her chest.

Finally Chloe was able to work up the courage to speak, "so Clark told me you moved back to Star City."

"Uh… yeah," he replied, "I just couldn't stay in Metropolis after… everything."

"Yeah I guess I can understand that." She held her hands in front of her wringing them together nervously, she knew they had to discuss the topic that he seemed as desperate to avoid as she was "he also told me about you and Dinah getting married."

He cleared his throat nervously, "yeah, about a year ago."

"I can't imagine she's too happy that you came here given our history."

"She wasn't thrilled by the idea," he admitted.

"Then maybe you shouldn't have come."

"Chloe, I needed to see you."

There was that word again need so far Lois was the only one who seemed worried about her needs in all of this, "and what about what I need?" she asked fighting back tears. "Do you think this is easy for me? I came back and everything is different. I just need…"she paused knowing that getting what she required from him would probably hurt as much as not getting it.

"What? Tell me what you need Chloe." He said taking a step toward her.

"I need you to stay away from me," she replied firmly. "Go back to Star City. Go back to your wife," her voice cracked on the last word but she mustered all her strength and continued, "that's where you belong now."

"I belong with you."

"Maybe at one point in time you did, but not anymore. You made a commitment to Dinah, you need to honor that."

"Chloe…"

"Please Oliver, you asked me what I needed and this is it."

She watched as a single tear fell down his cheek as he stepped closer to her closing the distance between them, they were only inches apart and her throat clenched when he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. Everything in her was screaming to push him away but the part of her that knew that this would probably be the last time they ever touched refused to let go.

After a moment he pulled back and rested his forehead against hers, "I love you Chloe."

"Oliver…"

"No don't say anything. I just needed to tell you it face to face at least once."

She wanted to say it back to him but she knew that would only make everything harder so she just watched as he turned and walked away from her. As soon as he was far enough away that she was sure that he wouldn't hear she broke down letting the tears fall as she lowered herself to the ground fearing that at any moment her legs would give out from under her.

She had no idea how long she sat there, but the feel of strong arms around her seemed to bring her back to reality. They were the arms of the man who had been her best friend for such a large portion of her life.

"I'm so sorry Chlo, I should have listened to you when you said you weren't ready to see him."

"It's better this way," she said softly. She lifted her hand and began to wipe her cheeks dry, "at least now it's done."

"Do you want me to take you back to the house?" he asked gently.

She nodded and he picked her up and super sped her back to the house.

A/N Okay so I know y'all probably wanna throw stuff at me right now but I promise there's plenty more to come.

Read Chapter 5 HERE!