Breakeven (7/9)

[serafina19]

Author: serafina19
Title: Breakeven
Rating: PG-13

Summary:  When Chloe and Oliver’s path unexpectedly cross, they soon realize that letting go of what happened between them is harder than they thought.  Sequel to “In the Grip of a Hurricane.”
Timeline: AU, but I dabble (and mess) with canon events.
Warning:  Coarse language
Thanks to: poetgirl925 who has been an amazing support system on this fic, and kachica for the beautiful banner.

Chapter 1   Chapter 2   Chapter 3    Chapter 4   Chapter 5   Chapter 6
 

Chapter 7

After returning to Kansas, things fell back into a pseudo-sense of normal.  Working at her station, ensuring firewalls were being upheld, writing code. Child's play really, but at least it paid.  An advantage to doing work at her pace was that for eight hours, she could forget.  It didn't matter what name was on the top of her pay cheque, nor did it matter the name of the building.  Whatever happened in Star City was just a passing thing that had run its course.  If nothing else, the headlines on Oliver’s behavior since she concluded her visit two months ago made that clear.

But when she was at home, things were different.  With her friendship with Clark still mending, there were no supersaves that he needed help with, reducing Chloe to sitting at home with a microwave-ready meal and the television.  News was still relatively silent, which almost made her miss the days of running conspiracies.

Lois would suggest going out to see a movie, but Chloe would insist on staying in.  Sure, the photographers finally gave up on her, but it wasn't enough.  Which is why she was on her way to a familiar farm, to see a face she had been avoiding for long enough.

Noticing Clark walking in the barn, she walked towards it slowly, hearing the crunch of the rocks under her feet, still trying to figure out the answers she was looking for. Once inside, she felt herself smirk, as Clark hadn’t noticed her presence yet, which wasn't the norm.  "I keep wondering what would happen if this situation was even remotely normal."  That succeeded in getting his attention, along with a confused reaction, so Chloe started walking up the steps to the loft where Clark was. "Sure, on paper it sounds normal, but when you add all the asterisks... it ends up a pretty muddled story."  

Considering she didn’t lead with a hello, Clark knew she had something on her mind.  Unfortunately, he was still missing the point of what she said.  "What exactly?"

"The fact that I should be cutting you out of my life, moving on from our whole scenario."  Walking past him towards the window of sorts that showed the view of the farm, Chloe rested her hands on the sill.  “For months, I wanted to hate you.  In fact, I should hate you, but I don’t.”

Clark laughed in relief.  “I’m.... glad?”   For weeks, it had been short phone calls, distant texts, the odd visit, but nothing concrete.  Clark wanted to take this voluntary visit as a good sign, but he didn’t want to make any assumptions.  “Chloe, what are you doing here?”

“Trying to find Chloe 1.0.”   It was silly, but before she was fired, things were simpler and it seemed like the world was at her fingertips.  “Back when I had of potential, promise.  Now I just feel... stuck.”

“You miss journalism.”

Chloe rolled her eyes, knowing that she didn’t miss Lex, nor did she miss almost getting caught every few months for a story that just got buried.  If nothing else, the job change was probably helping her blood pressure.

However, she replied, “That’s the thing, I don’t know.” Because with that adrenalin rush came a sense of purpose, a reason to wake up in the morning.  As grateful as she was for her current job, it didn’t force her to have that same kind of ambition.

Knowing Chloe as well as he did, despite the distance, Clark knew the job switch would get to her.  It took her a lot longer to come to this conclusion than he thought, but it seemed like that time was now.  “So the job at Queen Industries isn’t panning out.”

“I can’t say,” Chloe said, shaking her head again.  Testing prominent technology, helping an international company push forward in their markets, those things had benefits too.  Just... different benefits than Chloe was used to.  Moving backwards, she eventually fell back against his couch, leaning her head back against the top cushion.  “Does that make sense?”

To her surprise when she looked down again, she noticed Clark nod.  “You’ve put others above yourself for so long that you don’t know what to do with your life now.”  Sitting next to her, he grabbed her hand reassuringly.  “So my advice is to stick with something that makes you happy.  If anyone deserves it, it’s you.”

For years, she would have overestimated the small token of empathy, but now as Chloe took his hand, she knew the reality of their situation.  And the crazy thing was that she accepted it too.  “You know, I actually missed when things were like this.”  Back when they were simple, for as long ago as it was, the time did exist.

“Chloe, I never meant to hurt you, and you weren’t the only one who took time to figure out what to do.  I should have been honest a long time ago.”

“As hard as it was to admit,” Chloe said, holding back the eye roll this time, “I always knew it wasn’t going to be me, but I couldn’t let it go.”  It took longer than she wanted, but she finally grew up, saw beyond the stupid butterflies and maintained a friendship that she needed right now.

Noticing how Chloe had spaced out a little, Clark broke the silence, ensuring that she knew, “Just know that I’ll always be here for you Chloe, no matter what happens.”

“Thanks,” Chloe said as she got up from the couch.

Confused again, Clark turned his head and asked, “Did that... help at all?”  He wasn't sure how this helped Chloe find what she was looking for, and sure enough, he was right.

“Not really, but it accomplished something else.”  It got all of their crap out in the open, while solidifying their friendship moving forward.  It was a small win in Chloe’s book, but the fact that this facet of her life actually made sense was promising.  “I am grateful for where we are right now, Clark.  Thank you.”

Clark just smiled, so Chloe descended the steps and took her leave.  A lot of words that Clark said rung true.  In fact, she hardly believed that she heard them from Clark.  Maybe in the end, the distance gave them the perspective they needed to move on.

Halfway to her car, she suddenly heard other footsteps on the path, and as she looked up, a familiar smile greeted her, “Chloe.”

“Jimmy.”

Driving to Smallville was just a quick visit on his part, but Jimmy was glad to see Chloe now.  It had been too long since he had seen her, and he hoped that she meant it when she said they could start over.  “How are you?”

“Better,” Chloe replied, for as lost as she felt right now, it beat the pent-up frustration she knew when she last saw Jimmy. “You?”

“Fine, just dropping off a few tools with CK.” 

Her eyes narrowed, as she never pegged Jimmy as an overly handy guy, but things seemed to be changing around her, so she let it pass.  “Well, I’ll let you get to it.”

He let her get a couple steps by him, but Jimmy soon found himself closing his eye before asking,  “You want to get a drink next weekend?”

Chloe was understandably surprised by the offer, but that didn't stop her from saying, “Sure.”  Watching Jimmy turn around, she was quick to add, “But do you mind if we have it at my place?  I could do without the loud music.”

Jimmy nodded. “Yeah, that would work for me.”

 

~0~

Hearing the knock on the door, Chloe quickly checked the clock.  Jimmy was known for being punctual, but this was earlier than she anticipated.  Quickly checking her appearance in the mirror, Chloe headed towards the door, surprised to see someone else at her door.

“Lois?”  And not just her cousin, but her cousin in full-out mission mode.  If the dress she was wearing didn’t sell that point, the way she just assumed that she was invited in did.

Walking straight to her bedroom, Lois asked, “Are you expecting someone else?”

Sighing as she closed her door, she called out, “Yeah actually.”

“Well, whatever it is... it can wait.” Lois poked her head back into the main area, gesturing for Chloe to join her. “We’re going out tonight.”

Pressing her fingers against her forehead, Chloe closed her eyes after she saw her cousin disappear again.  “Lois, I can't just cancel.  I have plans.”  Another sigh later, and Chloe found herself in the doorway of her bedroom, slightly shocked at the way Lois had practically taken apart her closet already.

“Nice try,” Lois replied as she held up a dress in her hands. “Because it’s the perfect night to put on a sexy dress and dance with strangers.”

Entering her bedroom, Chloe was surprised as she held up some of the hangers. Just how many crazy dresses did Lois buy for her that she never intended on wearing?  “I appreciate the effort, but Jimmy’s going to be here any second.” 

“Jimmy?” Lois repeated out of disbelief, causing her to drop the hanger she was holding.  That was a name she hadn’t heard her cousin say in a long time and the last thing she wanted to hear was for Chloe to relapse in a relationship that had run its course.

Chloe saw that reaction coming from a mile away, which is why she never mentioned to Lois that she was meeting him.  Hanging a few of the dresses back up, she admitted, “He asked if we could talk and I’m going to listen.  Just because our relationship didn’t work doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.”

Crossing her arms, Lois waited for her cousin to turn around. “Right.”

The skepticism was duly noted and it was enough for Chloe to finally ask, “Lois, can you tell me what’s going on?”

“Well,” Lois said as she held out a dress over Chloe’s body, but quickly shook her head, “you’ve hardly gone out since Star City and with the recent headlines, I figured that –”

Chloe scoffed as she realized the truth.  “This is about Oliver?  Come on Lois, he’s entitled to live his life however he pleases.”  Grabbing the remainder of the hangers, Chloe hung them up again. “If nothing else, it kills the paparazzi presence at my door, which is a win situation as far as I’m concerned.”

Seeing that, plus her abrupt exit of the bedroom wasn’t the reaction Lois was hoping for, but the one she expected.  That displayed her cousin’s full-blown denial over everything, as the headlines weren’t just nothing.  They almost made Lois want to fly down and give Oliver a piece of her mind.

The playboy image seemed to be full-steam ahead.  Booze, girls and late nights were filling up Oliver's calendar lately and the loving press was there every step of the way.  Not helping him was a date with the troublemaker actress du jour that Lois had heard about just the other day.  If he wanted to take the heat off Chloe, this was the way to do it, as her cousin was right about one thing.  The photographers weren’t around nearly as often, and as of three weeks ago, they stopped caring altogether.

But it wasn’t just the headlines that worried Lois.  Whenever Chloe didn’t think Lois was looking, she’d glance down at her phone and they both knew that she wasn’t looking for Clark number anymore. No matter what Chloe said, Lois knew better.  Despite the limited interaction she had witnessed, she had heard the way Chloe talked to him on the phone, the way Oliver talked about her when he was talking to Lois, not to mention all the precautions he had taken during the photograph kerfuffle.  No matter how much Chloe denied it, it was clear that she liked him.

Unfortunately, if her cousin was going to be naïve about it, there was nothing Lois could do.  Not yet anyway.

“To be clear,” Lois finally said as she rejoined her cousin in the kitchen, “nothing is happening between you and Jimmy?”

“Besides two friends having drinks?  No.” Chloe replied as she pulled a couple bottles out of her liquor cabinet.  “And there’s no reason that you can’t go out and have fun without me.”

“Fine,” Lois said casually, realizing that she didn’t want to be here when Jimmy got here anyway.  “I’ll see you tomorrow."  That gave Lois time to consider how she was going to fix this, because she couldn't stand by anymore and watch them both live in denial.




Chapter 8




Sera’s Scribbles: Not going to lie- I wrote about 70% of this chapter during the last 3 hours with a mix of Keiko’s Chlollie fanvid archive in the background.  People were boo’ing the hiatus, so I wanted to make up for that (even though as far as hiatuses go- this wasn’t really a hiatus).