Arrow: the Two Archers

Chapter 11: Damaged

However, what he didn't expect was to see Laurel walking in through the front door just as he managed to slip inside under the pretext of checking on the bartenders.

"Laurel? Did we have a legal meeting or something? Because I kinda... have friends over."

Laurel shook her head with a smile.

"No, I just wanted to talk." she said.
"Think you could spare some time away from this inappropriately themed rave for little old me?"

Oliver resisted the urge to get on his knees and thank her profusely for giving him a reason to stay away from the crowd for a bit longer. Instead, he nodded and began leading her upstairs to one of the rooms.

"Huh, I can't even remember the last time I was in this room." she commented as they entered.

"I can. Halloween, 2005. We were getting ready for Tommy's party."

A look of recognition passed through Laurel's face.

"Ah. Yes. I had the terrible idea of wearing those fishnets."

"I thought you looked amazing, if that helps."

At that, Laurel let out a small laugh that made Oliver feel a warmth he hadn't felt in years. It faded a few moments after as she regained her train of thought.

"Listen, I just wanted to apologize for my father's behavior today. During the polygraph."

"You don't have to apologize for him." Oliver replied.
"He has a right to feel any way he wants."

"But that's not fair to you." she argued.
"Yes, maybe you sleeping with Sara and then being presumed dead helped bring all of these issues, these... rifts in my family up to the surface, but they were already there. And you had no part to play in the fights that came afterwards. It's not fair to blame you for any of that when we had just as much of a hand in it if not more. And I don't like that my father keeps doing it. Even if it's his own way of processing this whole mess."

Oliver, much to most people's surprise, could understand the reasoning behind Quentin Lance's hatred of him. Even before he'd pulled that stunt with Sara, Lance already disapproved of his daughter dating an irresponsible billionaire playboy. And then he went and slept with Laurel's sister, which, from what he had gathered so far, led to the fight between the two sisters and eventually escalated into a rift that split the Lance family in two. And Quentin blamed the catalyst for all of that. Oliver understood that. What he didn't understand was why the person who he arguably hurt the most with his actions was here apologizing for her father and somehow trying to reassure him instead of yelling at him to get out of her life forever.

"Laurel, why don't you hate me?" he asked.

She didn't answer right away, locking eyes with him instead. She held his gaze for a few seconds before looking away and taking a deep breath.

"I did." she admitted.
"For a while, I cursed your name, I wished I had never met you, I hated you with almost every fiber of my being. I was in a very dark place, Ollie, and it took a lot for me to climb back out. And even then I still felt this bitterness towards you. But then you came back. And rather than seeing the irresponsible and selfish man I remembered, I saw someone else. Someone who cared about others, who owned up and tried to correct his mistakes. Someone who could be a role model for one of the kindest girls I have ever met. And after what you said today about the scars and the people that tortured you, I realized that while I was going through hell, you were trapped in a hell of your own as well. And you didn't deserve that, you never did."

Oliver was speechless. The man she was describing, it didn't feel like him. He hadn't gained any virtue during his time on the island, quite the opposite. He just knew he had to right the wrongs of his father, and he might as well right some of his own while he was at it. And he definitely couldn't claim credit for Lydia's kind heart. It had been a quality of hers ever since Oliver first met her. If anything, him being around her had only managed to darken a bit of that light within her.