Straight Shot ➳ Oliver Queen

31. Alone Together

C H A P T E R   T H I R T Y - O N E

ALONE TOGETHER

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A/N: I'm officially on summer break! Hopefully, this will mean more frequent updates and maybe even some new stories!!! Thoughts? Also, this story is liked ranked 1st in Arrow fanfictions...? That's insane! You guys are awesome!

Oliver's POV:

"I'd ask how you got in here, but... the Starling City vigilante comes and goes as he pleases, doesn't he?" I heard Helena's mellow voice from behind me. I felt the floating steam drifting from the bathroom where she was standing. She had just gotten out of the shower and I could see her in the reflection in front of me, wet hair and dressed in a silk robe. I faced away from her, a somber expression on my face.

"How'd you know?" I questioned softly. She had somehow discovered I was the vigilante, but I wasn't surprised. Helena was a vigilante, herself. She was bound to discover it.

"I saw you fight." She said. I slowly turned around to see her stepping forward, her hands crossed over her chest. "And I saw your eyes." I examined Helena and her long, dark hair. "That island changed you in ways that only someone like me can understand."

"No." I denied, shaking my head. "What you're doing right now... it's not justice. It's revenge." I commentated. Helena was targeting men that worked for her father to avenge the murder of her fiance. She was reckless, blinded by hatred.

"Sometimes, revenge is justice." She said after a momentary pause. She spoke so calmly, yet her words were parlayed so masterfully. "Can you stand there and tell me honestly– truly– that you've never wanted revenge? Being trapped on that island, your father's death... the woman you love being with someone else?" Helena said and I tilted my head to the side, confused. "I saw how your face fell when you saw Karter and that newspaper guy at her birthday party. You were hurt. I could see it in your eyes. You're telling me that not a single part of you wanted to take him out right then and there?" Helena tested.

I looked into her serious eyes. She was waiting for me to respond.

"I don't do what I do because of Karter."

"No. You do it for Karter. To protect her." She reasoned, stepping even closer so there were only a couple feet of distance between the two of us. "You and I... we're the same. We both know how it feels– that gut-wrenching feeling– of losing the one person you love. So why is your vendetta more valid than mine when your love is still alive?" She persecuted, her words becoming more adamant. "We're the same."

"No. We're not." I shook my head, but Helena wasn't easily convinced.

"We are. Hiding in plain sight. Concealing our anger with smiles and lies. Tell me that that wasn't exactly how you felt seeing Karter and her date together. Or Karter or Tommy? Your best friend?"

I turned away from Helena, afraid her dark brown eyes were about to coax me into a full-fledged confession. Helena was right. When Tommy and Karter were together, there was a piece of me that was so angry– even jealous– of Tommy. But then seeing Karter and her date at her party... it was a different feeling. It was an overwhelming feeling of helplessness. When Karter was dating Tommy, I had the comfort of knowing that they were both parts of my life and that even if they were dating, Karter would still be there.

But with Josh Nolan, I didn't know him. I didn't trust him. I could lose Karter completely and I wouldn't be able to do a single thing about it.

All I knew is how I felt when I was hidden behind the hood and Karter said she wasn't alone. The jacket draped over the couch– it was the one Nolan had been wearing earlier that evening. It was Nolan in her bed, and even though she was standing in the living room wearing my hoodie, it was Nolan's jeans on the floor.