Long Live Love

'Til Death

"In every battle there comes a time when both sides consider themselves beaten,
then he who continues the attack wins."
-Ulysses S. Grant

In all of her fifteen years of life, Katie doesn't think any moment could compare to the one that she has found herself. Laying on her bed, in her dim lit room, Oliver Queen's arm wrapped around her, while her head rests on his chest. She has absolutely no illusions about the moment. He felt sorry for her, this was pure pity on his part, and she hates it, but there was no amount of pride that would tear her from this moment. For a few brief moments, she found herself pretending. This day wasn't the day she buried her mother. It was just a day, where her and her very good friend, who she happens to have a crush on, is just laying cuddled in her bed.

They were silent because neither had anything that needed to be said, and that was fine. It was perfect actually. Until there was a knock on her door, and both suddenly jumped from the bed to their feet ending up on either side, their eyes on the door as it opened.

"Well there you two are." Jacob said with a slight smile as he looks from Katie to Oliver.

"Sorry, sir we were just—" Oliver soon found himself in a very familiar conversation of having to come up with an excuse when a parent suddenly appears.

"Don't worry Oliver." Jacob said glancing over to his daughter, who turns away from his eyes. "Everyone was leaving and your parents were looking for you, but I knew you'd somehow ended up here."

"Yeah, I should go." Oliver says looking over to Katie. "I'm actually late, I'm supposed to be meeting some friends." Katie glanced over to him with a quirked brow and he opened his mouth to say something, but remembered the parent in the room and soon turned back to him. "So I should get going." he began walking toward the door, but stopped and looked back to Katie.

"Go, your real friends are waiting for you." she said gesturing toward the door.

"Twinkie—"

"It's alright Oliver." Jacob says placing a hand on the young man's shoulder. "Go ahead." Oliver simply sighed, but nodded before finally leaving the room.

"Can you close my door on your way out?" Katie said walking over to sit behind her desk, and flipping open her laptop.

"No." Jacob said and Katie turned to look back at him as he walked over and picked her jacket from the floor before tossing it over to her. "C'mon, I want to take you somewhere." he didn't wait for her to agree or disagree, before turning and heading out the door.

"Where are we going!" she called slipping on her jacket and heading out the door, following behind the man.

Katie wasn't sure what this was supposed to accomplish, but sitting on a park bench in front of a pond just didn't do anything for her.

"How long do we have to sit here?" she asked over to her father who sat beside her just staring out at the water.

"You know I thought I was going to have your mother with me to deal with your angsty teenage years." Jacob said and Katie turned away swallowing the lump in her throat at her father's mention of her mother. "But I don't." he looked over to his daughter and she turned her eyes to him. "Right now and for the next couple of years, it's just going to be you and me. We gotta stick together." Jacob held up his fist and Katie looked over and rolled his eyes. "Don't leave me hanging." Katie let out a snort before finally fist bumping with her dad.

"So why are we here?" Katie asked.

"I brought your mother here one day," he looked over to his daughter and smiled. "When she was pregnant with you actually." he turned back to the water, as the setting sun reflected off of it perfectly. "She was rubbing her belly, when she suddenly just said the name Katherine." he looked back to Katie, bringing an arm around her shoulder and pulling her closer and she simply dropped her head to his shoulder. "This is where it really became just the three of us." Jacob placed a kiss to the top of his daughter's head.