Oliver and Chloe were stuck arranging the flowers in the small, ornate church. Every now and then he'd glance sideways from his task to watch his wife, at peace to have once again at his side after too many days of being without. Her presence was a saving grace here in this city where darkness always seemed to cling to him whenever he entered into his borders, a darkness that didn't cower unless it was in contact with the bright light that was Mrs. Chloe Sullivan-Queen.

In his returned state of peace, he joked dryly, "Who knew tying the knot could be so much work? You got to remind to thank Zatanna for making our nuptials so hassle-free."

"I don't know, I would have liked to remember some of the details of our wedding."

"Well, considering the other details of that night, all I really need is a marriage license." By then he had completed his task and turned to face Chloe. She smiled up at him with a glow of happiness that soothed the still raging parts of him.

For a moment they just stared into one another's eyes, a silent agreement passing between them. It was the agreement that they belonged together; that they made each other happier and better people. In that brief, peaceful second, they acknowledge that what the two of them had was something unbeatable. As man and wife they were unbreakable, traditional or not.

So Oliver was a little caught off guard when Chloe wondered inthat voice of hers that was all at once strong, but shaken with small cracks of insecurity. "If Zatanna hadn't put you under that spell would you still have, umm…"

"Gone through with it?" There wasn't doubt as he immediately with, "yeah. It's the best decision I don't remember making." He almost wanted to inform her that he had been having thoughts of making her his wife before Zatanna ever spelled them to do so, but he was wary of ruining the surprise that he was planning for after Clark and Lois had hitched themselves.

The adorable smile that Chloe gifted him with was more than enough to show Oliver that she felt the same. Of course she did. Because no matter how they had gotten there, they belonged together, exactly where they were.

Not that Oliver was thinking of allowing them to stay exactly as they were. After all, he had already promised his team that they would soon be invited to a more public ceremony. He just had to wait for Clark and Lois to have their big day and to bask in the joy of being Mr. and Mrs. Kent. Then he would ease Chloe into the idea of having a more formal union that their friends and family could witness.

He already had plans for the ceremony, something still intimate and small, in which they would enjoy good company and good food. There would a wide range of music that would play in the background so he could pull Chloe up to her feet whenever he felt the desire and dance gracefully among the crowd, smiling as she laughed at his amusing antics. The ceremony would be in Star City, of course, in the place where Oliver and Chloe had already begun starting a new life together.

His phone vibrated urgently against his leg and he was forced to pause in his musings to see who needed him: Tess Mercer. A part of him knew he couldn't bring himself to do so. Instead, he closed the call and pocketed the phone. As he continued on feeling numb, distantly justified his uncharacteristic behavior.

If there was trouble, the entire Justice League was on alert. They were there to save the day so that Clark and Lois could get married, and so that Oliver and Chloe could be by their side to celebrate what needed to be their happiest day. For just one day, Oliver convinced himself despite the nagging sensation in his gut, his mission wasn't to be a hero, his mission was to be the best man.

The nasty churning at the bottom of his stomach remained. But he did his best to ignore it, concentrating instead of keeping the rings safe, texting Chloe so as to make sure Lois wasn't backing out, calling everyone else to make sure everything set, and then going to find Clark.

The mere thought of seeing Clark gave Oliver a migraine, a part of his subconscious warning him that something was wrong, and that Clark needed to know about what it was. However, even Oliver couldn't guess what was causing the internal panic, and he scoffed away his instincts.

He searched the Daily Planet, viewed the camera on his phone of the Watchtower, went back to the church, and then visited the Kent farm. There was no sign of Clark. When he texted the news to Chloe, she just teased, "I'm pretty sure it's the best man's job to get the groom to the wedding."

He figured he deserved that after his similar remark to her that morning, but he still urged, "Besides Lois, you know him better than anyone. Where do you think he'd have gone?"

"I'm not sure, but give yourself credit Ollie. You know him too."

To his surprise, when he disconnected the call, he did have an idea of where Clark would be. For on one of his happiest days of his life, Oliver knew where he himself would have gone, and he began to suspect his friend may share that trait.

"What is it about the happiest day of your life that makes it so sad?" he wondered out loud when he reached the graveyard, seeing Clark stand before his father's grave. '

He was disappointed, but not altogether shocked when Clark shared his doubts about the decision to marry Lois. With a sense of defeat clear in his dark eyes, Clark confessed, "I thought Lois was my future. I thought she was my new life and my destiny, but what if she's part of the memories I need to leave behind. What if heroes aren't destined to love?"

Oliver was tempted to call 'bullshit', but he managed to reign himself in. This was no time for his usual dark and dry banter. This was a time to be serious, to convince Clark that he deserved this piece of happiness for himself and no one else (expect Lois), and to share the wisdom that Oliver had been able to procure over the last year and a half - a wisdom he would hold over Clark at a later date. Oliver had to let the other man know that love was the best reason to continue on with the future...while still accepting the past that had brought him to where he was, and to whom it had brought him to.

For it had been his past (both that of Oliver Queen and Green Arrow) that had brought him to Chloe. Without that essential part of himself, he would never have had her by his side as he did now.

In much the same way, all that Clark had been had brought him to Lois, and it was through that that would create their future. A future that was actually worth living for.

It was a beautiful thing, Oliver thought in a not so rare moment of romantic notions, especially when he stood off to the side on the altar of the church, watching Clark and Lois walk down the aisle hand in hand.

Clark stood confidently at the other end of the church, a complete shift in mood from when Oliver had found him when in the graveyard. Lois was absolutely gorgeous, even more so than usual. Love and happiness radiated from her entire being and that joy consumed the church.

Across from him, Chloe was smiling, caught up in the beauty of the ceremony. Not necessarily in the ceremony itself, but in what it represented: love, trust, commitment, a promise being made between two people that would only serve to strengthen the already unshakeable bond of soul mates.

Soon Clark and Lois reached the altar, standing in front of gathered loved ones but only having attention to one another. They said their vows, tears gleaming in their eyes, as well as many in the crowd, and the pastor called for the rings.

Oliver reached for the rings to present them to amazing couple, but suddenly it was as if Oliver was a thousands of miles away. The second he touched the box that the rings were being held in, the darkness consumed him. It didn't matter that only moments before he'd been filled with nothing but content, nor that his bright light was a mere five feet away. All that was left of him was darkness.