–21– [Epilogue]

oliverq how'd it go?

sidekick101 haven't told her yet

sidekick101 just like I hadn't told her 5 seconds ago

oliverq get on that, woman

oliverq I need you

sidekick101 you need a support group. now leave me alone. she's here.

Lois took up her barstool beside Chloe and looked seriously at her cousin. "Did you order drinks?"

Chloe nodded.

"Okay. Explain to me where you were all morning. We were supposed to wallow in pathetic girliness. Why don't you look like you're wallowing?" She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Oh…you didn't. Chloe! YOU DON'T SLEEP WITH THE GUY YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BREAK UP WITH!"

Bobby, who had just arrived with Chloe and Lois's drinks in both hands, raised an eyebrow. "O…kay. I'm just going to leave and come back later."

Chloe buried her face in her hands. "Lois. What did we talk about? No making public announcements about my sex life."

"I don't care! What were you thinking? Last night you said you absolutely had to end it!"

"Is it safe?" Bobby called from the other end of the bar, after sliding someone a Tom Collins.

Chloe waved him over. He grinned as he returned to them and handed them their respective drinks. "Lane, sometimes I wonder why I let you in my bar."

"Because you love my cousin and we're a package set."

"Fair point."

Chloe rolled her eyes and sipped her drink.

"So I take it things worked out with Queen?" he asked, leaning on the counter to chat with them since he had a spare moment, pressing his lips together in an amused expression.

Chloe smirked in answer.

"I don't get it. Last night–"

"Last night I thought we had no future together."

"And today?" Bobby asked curiously.

"Today things are different."

"Yeah," Lois hissed. "Today you've done the sideways macarena with him."

Bobby raised his eyebrows. "The sideways macarena?" he echoed. "Lane…you're so weird."

Chloe chuckled. "You're not used to it yet?"

"Would you please explain to me what happened that changed everything?" Lois demanded impatiently. "I just don't get it. I mean, you're not that girl. I've met those girls. You're not going to get in bed with a guy you were about to break up with."

Bobby gave Chloe a look. "She has a point, Sullivan. What changed your mind?"

Chloe smiled demurely and took another sip of her drink before answering. "You guys remember that guy I was texting all the time a while back?"

Lois's eyes widened and Chloe shot her a discreet warning look.

"Tom Hanks?" Bobby asked, using the nickname he had granted Oliver in reference to You Got Mail.

Chloe nodded. "Mmhmm."

"What about him?" Lois asked slowly.

"Same guy."

Both of them stared at her.

"Same guy as who?" Lois asked in disbelief.

"I mean my internet guy was Oliver Queen. But you can't tell anyone, okay?" she warned them both.

Lois was sitting in silent shock, putting two and two together and coming up with green leather.

Bobby just laughed. "You're kidding me! Oliver Queen was Tom Hanks?"

Chloe nodded. "Crazy, isn't it?" she asked, smiling inwardly. Bobby would never know just how crazy. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out in front of them.

oliverq have you told her now?

Chloe laughed mildly.

sidekick101 yep. taking it surprisingly well

"Is that him?" Bobby asked, watching her dancing eyes as she texted her response.

She nodded. "Yep."

"I can't believe you met Oliver Queen on the internet," he shook his head. "That's got to be the weirdest thing ever."

"You're telling me," Chloe said.

"So I don't get it. Why were you going to break up with him and how did you find out?"

"Well, I sort of realized it before he told me, and I thought he was never going to tell me. Honesty is kind of a thing for me," she said by way of explanation.

Bobby shrugged. "Understandable."

"Anyway, he ended up telling me and then…well, as Lois put it, 'sideways macarena.'"

The mention of Lois brought the pair's attention back to the brunette. She was sitting with wide eyes, fingertips pressed to her lips as if to stop herself from saying whatever she was thinking.

Bobby cocked a brow and her silence. "This has never happened before, has it?"

"It hasn't," Chloe sighed. "Do we need to leave, Lo?"

Lo, wide-eyed, nodded.

Bobby looked confused. "Why do I get the feeling she knows something else about this situation?"

Chloe smirked knowingly at him. "Because she does." She pulled out her wallet to pay for the drinks, but Bobby waved her off.

"This time it's on the house. Bring your boyfriend around next time," he winked at her.

Chloe leaned across the bar and kissed him on the cheek. "You're a gem, Bobby."

"Yeah, yeah, get outa here."

"Come on, Lo. We'll go unscramble your brain," she said kindly, guiding Lois–who was still covering her mouth–toward the door.

She pulled out her phone.

sidekick101 I'll be all yours in 20

oliverq score.

"So you told her," Hal said with a pleased grin, leaning forward to clink his beer bottle with Oliver's.

"Yep," Oliver nodded.

"And?"

"She took it surprisingly well," Oliver grumbled.

"Told ya," Hal mocked.

Oliver sighed and gave in. "All right, all right. I admit it. You were right."

His phone buzzed again and Oliver saw that Chloe was on her way over.

"That her?" Hal asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yep," Oliver smirked.

"What's she up to?"

"Hanging out with her cousin."

"Nice. So you two gonna come out and visit me in Coast City?"

"Sounds good," Oliver agreed.

"I love being right."

"Shut up."

At that moment, Chloe walked in, having just stepped off the lift in the other room. She walked up quietly behind Hal, who was obliviously taking a swig of his beer. She swatted the back of his head soundly.

Hal nearly spit his beer back in the bottle. "Ungh! What the–" He raised an eyebrow when Chloe took a seat on the couch beside Oliver. "What was that for?" he asked.

"For messing with my head," she said, eyes twinkling.

"Maybe. But I still helped."

Chloe sighed. "Fine. You helped."

"See?" Hal said to Oliver, leaning back and resting his head on his hands. "I love being right."