Straight Shot ➳ Oliver Queen

18. Misery Loves Company

C H A P T E R   E I G H T E E N

MISERY LOVES COMPANY

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A/N: Buckle up. Shit's about to get real.

Thea and I lounged on the couch in her bedroom for the next few hours, just talking and catching up. She told me about the cute boys at her school and I told her about my plans for my apartment and my new job at the Starling City Sentinel. The nostalgia of talking with Thea like this was therapeutic. Even with our age gap, and the fact I was friends with her brother before her, we had always been close. I think she saw me as an older sister. She had Oliver, but he wasn't someone she could go to with crushes and, as she used to say, 'girl help'.

I entrusted Thea, as well. I saw her as a younger sister since the only sister I had was older than me. I knew Thea and her mother were distant. I knew the familiar sense of disconnection. My mother had died when I was young, but my stepmother was a... well, I hate to speak ill of the better-off-dead. I knew what it was like not to have someone that they could look up to and get help from. I was that figure to Thea. Moira didn't even know Thea had gotten her period for the first three months.

Around one in the morning, I noticed the time and advised Thea to go to bed since she had school the next morning. I said goodnight to her and left her room, closing the door behind me.

As I stepped into the hallway, I felt my cell phone vibrate in my hand. I took a glance at it, a notification banner lighting the screen.

Tommy Merlyn: Back porch.

"Hey, Katie Cat." Oliver asked. I quickly jumped and locked the phone. I looked up to see Oliver, walking towards me from the opposite end of the hallway. He wasn't dressed in the suit he had been wearing earlier but instead was dressed in a grey v-neck t-shirt and jeans. I took a deep breath in, responding with a hostile expression rather than words. "You're mad at me."

"Not mad. Just... confused. And frustrated, and... you know what? Yeah, Oliver. I am mad at you." I snapped, throwing my hands up in anger.

Oliver nodded as if he had already watched and memorized the scenario, knowing exactly how I would act. "I understand."

"Do you?! Do you understand how goddamn infuriating it is to see someone you love come back from the dead and just... throw away their life? That's what you're doing, Oliver! You came back! You got a second chance, and here you are, being the exact same person you were before! The exact same person you told me you hated being!" I ranted. I realized how harsh my voice was becoming and I took another deep breath. "Do you remember that conversation, Oliver?"

Oliver's head drooped and his line of sight fell to his feet. He nodded slightly.

"We stood out on the balcony of your bedroom. It was dark out and I found you, silently staring at the stars. You told me that you hated who you were and that all you wanted to do was be better. What happened to that?"

Oliver shifted his weight between his feet, slowly looking back up so his cyan eyes were looking into mine. "I guess I underestimated how hard it is to become another person." He answered meekly. He averted his eyes from mine yet again.

"Oliver," I started, gently using my knuckle to bring his gaze back to mine, "You have a heart bigger than your body. Which is really saying something, because seriously, did they have a 24 Hour Fitness on that island or something because you're the size of a semi-truck." This earned a small, muffled chuckle. "Ollie, I've grown up seeing a side of you I wish you would show the world every once in a while."