Title: Bridge to Nowhere - Chapter 9

Author: Poetess

Pairing : Chloe/Oliver

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: Season 9, Pandora

Summary: Takes place immediately after Pandora. After Chloe finds out about the future she starts to question everything about her life and work with the JL/Clark…and whether any of it really matters.

"I said we weren't finished."

Oliver pushed open the door of the rooftop patio, his eyes zeroing in on the blonde staring back at him.

Chloe heaved a frustrated sigh, her own eyes pleading with him to leave her alone. In response Oliver let the door shut behind him, making it clear that he wasn't going anywhere until they had this out.

Chloe turned back around, letting her head drop in her hands. She could feel the edges of her headache pulling behind her eyes, threatening to come back in full force.

"Oliver I don't have the energy to do this right now…please just leave it alone."

Chloe shut her eyes again, expecting him to respond with a resounding "hell no!" But instead she was met with nothing; the silence filling the empty space around them. She stared out into the dark night sky trying to wish the whole damn situation away; trying to wish HIM away.

Oliver was complicating things, crossing boundaries and blurring the line between where she wanted to be and where she needed to be. She needed to be alone. She needed to get away from Clark, the League and all the madness that came along with it. But in her heart she knew what she wanted…she wanted to be with him.

Walking into Martha's townhouse this afternoon and seeing him standing there had opened up something inside her. Until that moment she hadn't realized how Oliver Queen had become so much a part of her life; how much she depended on him; how much she needed him. In the midst of her crisis of faith, she had conveniently tucked her feelings for him deep down, content to dismiss the ache in her heart over his absence as if it didn't mean anything.

But looking into his eyes, seeing the anger and the hurt she had caused him by leaving Metropolis, she couldn't hide from her feelings anymore. Maybe she had denied her feelings all along, knowing that for people like her and Oliver, love was a liability; something to be feared and avoided at all costs. She had certainly had her fair share of heart break with Clark, Jimmy and Davis to know that. And maybe her friendship with Oliver was too precious and something she was unwilling to risk, for what…love?

Love had kicked her in the ass time and time again. Love had left her literally scarred and broken. Love had left her alone. And for her to lose the one person she could rely on, the one person who would never leave her…it just wasn't worth it.

Oliver stood by the door, unsure of what to do as he stared at Chloe's unmoving form.

He had found sleep impossible as he lay in bed in Martha's guest room. He had stopped himself several times from getting up and charging into Chloe's room, demanding that she end the charade of her attempt at a so-called normal life and come back to Metropolis with him. But every time he found himself reaching for the door, the memory of her face flashed in his mind. He saw the fear. He saw the pain. He saw the regret in her eyes over the life that she never had and would never have.

Was he being selfish in coming here? Would she be better off being left alone not having to deal with the craziness of his world? Didn't she of all people deserve some semblance of a normal, happy existence, however long it would last?

Oliver went back and forth, one minute convincing himself that he should leave, and the next minute quickly arguing that any kind of life without Chloe in it wouldn't be much of a life at all. So when he heard the sound of her door opening and the gentle pad of footsteps up to the roof, he had followed her, intent on settling things once and for all.

Oliver took in a deep breath, trying to give himself the strength and courage to face her.

The gravel crunched under his feet as he slowly made his way over to her, each step seemingly harder to take than the one previous. Oliver finally found himself standing in front of the young woman who had come to mean so much to him and who had thoroughly changed his life in the short time he had known her.

Oliver looked down at her. She looked so small and so fragile, as if the slightest gust of wind could shatter her into a million pieces. His heart seemed to tighten in his chest at the sight of her.

"Chloe, I…" he found it difficult to speak, as a lump quickly began to form in his throat.

"Don't Oliver…just don't" Chloe interrupted as she shook her head, her eyes still closed refusing to face him.

Oliver kneeled down in front of her. He reached out and gently wrenched her hands away from her face. He wrapped his own hands around hers and slowly guided them down, placing them flat against his chest.

Chloe screwed her eyes shut even tighter trying to ignore the shivers threatening to shoot down her spine as she felt the beat of his heart thrum strong and steady beneath her hands.

"You're not supposed to be here. You can't be here Oliver. I left for a reason and no matter what you think you can't change anything anymore than I can. I've finally accepted things for what they are. And I don't…" she hesitated unsure of whether to continue. But she realized he had hear it.

"I don't need to add you or anyone else to the list of people I leave behind" she admitted truthfully.

She tried desperately to pull away, but Oliver's strong grasp held them firmly in place.

"Chloe I won't pretend to know what you're going through. And I would never presume to tell you how to live your life. God knows I'm no shining example of how a person should be" he chuckled slightly at his own self mocking.

"I can only tell you what I know. I know that you are an amazing person. I know that you give and give without a thought to what you will ever get back. I know that you of all people deserve to be happy. But I also know that life is cruel and sometimes unbending and it fucking hurts you in places you didn't even know existed. My own personal field trip into hell is a testament to that."

He swallowed hard as the memories of that dark and painful time in his life came flooding back to him.

"But I also know that for as many times as life seemingly knocks you on your ass, it can also give you the strength to get back up again and keep moving…or at least bless you with people who believe in you enough so that you can."

At his words, Chloe opened her eyes and lifted her gaze to meet his, unable to keep the tears from sliding down her cheeks.

"You believed in me Chloe. You fought for me. You saved me in every way a person could be saved and gave me back the one thing I had thought was lost forever…"

Chloe couldn't stop her tears now even if she wanted to. His words, so honest and so vulnerable left her mind reeling and almost made her question whether this was all just a dream and at any moment reality would come crashing down on her and she would wake up alone in her bed.

"You gave me hope Chloe. You gave me hope that all things just and right in this world would prevail; that the cruel and evil things that we face in life are meant to make us stronger and teach us that there ARE things worth fighting for."

Oliver finally let go of her hands and brought his own hands up to cup her cheeks, his thumbs swiping away the never-ending stream of tears.

"And I'll be damned if I let you go without a fight" he whispered fiercely as he brought his face down, his lips hovering just above hers.

Oliver let his eyes slide shut aching to close the gap that separated their lips. But he didn't. He knew she had to meet him half way; that she had to believe in him and take the leap of faith knowing that he would be there on the other side to catch her.

He could feel her body humming with electricity beneath his as she let out a series of shaky breaths that seemed to mingle with his own. Every second that ticked by felt like an eternity as he waited for something to happen.

It was her move.

Chloe watched him now, his eyes closed and his lips trembling from a mixture of anticipation and fear. Her heart was pounding furiously and her head was buzzing away at the raw honesty of his words, his heart laid out for her to see, leaving her nowhere to hide.

She wanted so badly to just give in, lose herself in the sea of his comforting words, let go of all the pain that weighed down on her like an anchor around her neck. Her salvation seemed just within her grasp. All she needed to do was lean in and let go.

Chloe closed her eyes and a scene flashed before her.

She saw herself standing on the ledge of the Watchtower's roof. Below her loomed the dark streets of a destroyed Metropolis, her dead body lying broken on the ground. She turned around to see a familiar figure clad in green leather watching her and waiting. She looked back and forth between him and the street below her, not sure whether to step down towards him or jump off. In her heart one option terrified her just as much as the other one. She felt her knees go weak beneath her as she stumbled almost losing her balance as she looked back at him, his eyes never leaving hers. She closed her eyes and swallowed hard, feeling the air around her disappear.

"I love you" she heard a voice whisper gently in her ear.

Chloe opened her eyes finding herself in the here and now and saw the face of the man before her; the man who would never leave, who would fight for her, who believed in her…who would love her no matter what.

And suddenly she realized it was enough. She could face whatever the future brought forth, whatever fear and uncertainty it held. And that her life, no matter how long it would turn out to be, and her heart were worth the risk.

"I love you too" she echoed as she leaned in and finally let go.

A/N: Dear readers you've been awesome in your support and reviews and I hope I didn't let you down. Please comment away and help me pass the time till the new episodes (and hopefully uber Chlollie-ness) return in a few weeks.