Unravel Me | Arrow [ COMPLETED ]

chapter eleven

Cali blew out a breath and moved so that she was sitting with her back to the arm of the couch. This was, she was facing Walter. "There's been a lot happening," she said. "I just...You know?"

What a pathetic attempt at talking, Cali, great job.

But Walter just smiled wider, as though he understood exactly what she'd been trying to say. "The first time I met you," he began, "I saw you as young and afraid. Your brother introduced us, and you wouldn't shake my hand. Moira, of course, had told me about your situation with Michael and what happened with Thea. I knew that you had been through an ordeal. For a little while, I was sure that you were going to stay this meek little girl forever."

Cali flushed slightly. "But I didn't."

"But you didn't," Walter agreed warmly. "Instead, I watched you grow into a strong young woman who knows her mind and doesn't let her past define her. You've been through a great many things in your life, Cali, and I've seen you come out the other side stronger each time. I have faith that you can come out of this stronger too."

The utter belief in her made Cali's head spin slightly. She could never quite comprehend everybody's faith in her, and to hear Walter say something so touching so easily. Maybe she wasn't as alone as she thought. She and Tommy had made their own second family, and Cali sometimes forgot that she'd let Walter become a part of it.

But her mind still wasn't fully settled. Her doubts about her own emotional state had been somewhat eased, but there was still something else bothering her, a name that wouldn't go away, no matter how much she wanted it to.

She drew her legs up to her chest, cuddling into the blanket. "Oliver is afraid," she murmured.

Walter sighed, something unidentifiable flitting across his face, gone before Cali could understand it. "Yes," Walter said heavily. "Oliver is afraid. He, too, is young, and yet there is an element of age in his face that I don't believe was there before the boat went down."

"I worry about him."

"As we all do." Walter looked to the TV for a moment, swallowing thickly as he tried to put his thoughts in order. Cali let him, picking at the blanket. Finally, Walter said, "I think we all owe it to Oliver to let him figure it out. I have faith that he'll get through this, but it won't be right away. To expect that from him would be almost cruel."

That was a fair point, Cali had to agree, but... "If not now, then when?" She asked helplessly. "How long do we have to wait?"

Walter gave her a grave look. "However long it takes."

But that wasn't fair! Starling City clearly wasn't waiting for Oliver. He didn't have that luxury. Too much was expected of Oliver straight away, and Cali was afraid that it would mean that Oliver would never get through this storm that was following him. Moira had been right, that night before dinner. Oliver had come home to another island, and nobody was letting him swim for safety.

"Right," she muttered to herself. "Okay."

Walter clicked his tongue. "Now, now," he said, a note of warning in his voice. "Let's be fair here. If I recall correctly, you vanished for six months to deal with your trauma." Cali ducked her head, shame bubbling in her stomach. That was true. "Oliver's trauma is...complex. Nobody really understands it except Oliver himself. Give him time, Calissa. He'll come out the other side better for it."

Walter was right. Cali had taken far longer to work through her issues after Michael, and nothing she'd gone through could begin to compare to what Oliver suffered through. Cali had been with Michael for a measly two years. Oliver had been on an island for five. Of course he would need time.