Unravel Me | Arrow [ COMPLETED ]

chapter thirty five

AUTHOR NOTE: Trigger Warning for canon typical gun violence and confronting mentions of miscarriage. Viewer discretion is advised.

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"It feels like there's oceans

Between me and you once again

We hide our emotions

Under the surface and tryin' to pretend"

SEAFRET - 'Oceans'

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Busy people brushed past her impatiently as though she were a stubborn stone in a quick-flowing river, but Cali ignored them in favour of staring up at the name plastered across the skyscraper. She'd not been to Merlyn Global since she'd threatened to kill Malcolm in his office. Sweat made her palms tacky and disgusting; she wiped them on her jeans absently. Ten minutes had already slid by, she only had another fifteen before her lunch break ended and she had to return to the library.

And yet, she found that she couldn't quite take that first step inside.

She would do it eventually, had to do it, both for herself and for Tommy, but even the possibility of running into her father turned her feet to stone and sent chills skittering across the skin of her arms.

"Keep staring at the sky and the sun'll make you blind," a voice said dryly from behind her.

Cali relaxed into a smile, dropping her gaze and spinning around to face Tommy. "And miss out on seeing your ugly face? Not likely."

Tommy snorted, slinging an arm around her shoulders and tugging her close. "So what's up?" He asked as they strolled down the street. "We don't start back up with Miko lunch dates until next week, and you didn't make an appointment to see me, so-"

"I have to make an appointment to come see you now?" Cali interrupted, raising an eyebrow.

"You know exactly what I mean, stop being a bitch on purpose."

Cali wrinkled her nose, but some of the weight had lifted off her shoulders so she let it slide.

It was nice, actually, to be in his presence without the weight of Oliver piled on top of them. Things had been strained between literally everyone after the incident at the club, and Cali had grown tired of lying to Thea when she asked if Cali knew why Oliver was so upset lately.

She kept her silence partly at Tommy's request, but also partly because Oliver had isolated himself from her long before the fight he had with Tommy, withdrawn and absent from her life since she'd asked him if he could bear to share her. She should've known, should've seen it coming really, but Janet had been so convincing that Cali had slipped and let herself hope.

A foolish mistake, clearly. Because while her relationship with Janet was slowly and steadily climbing back to where it had once been, her relationship with Oliver was crumbling away faster and faster.

She sighed and wrapped her arm around Tommy's waist, matching her footsteps to his. "Just wanted to check in with you," she said, enjoying the warm sun on her face. "Make sure Malcolm hadn't, like, brainwashed you or something."

"I don't think he loves me enough to try to brainwash me," Tommy said thoughtfully. "I'm pretty sure his fatherly affections reach as far as getting me a job, and that's it."