The last thing I expected was to go out on another date with Charles Baizen, especially after what happened last time. But, when Tommy had asked me to double it with him and Laurel cause he didn't have the money since our father cut him off completely, I didn't really have a choice. Dad had taken all of it back, the trust funds, the stock portfolio's, everything until Tommy was completely broke.
When I had confronted him about it, seeing as he didn't touch my trust fund, he said it was cause Tommy was almost thirty years old and never given an ounce of responsibility while I was only 25 and managed to move up to a higher position than guys who've been in the force for way longer than I had.
Which, I found completely unfair - it wasn't Tommy's fault Dad coddled him for 20 something years.
I was going to ask Oliver if he wanted to come originally, that's why I had been down in the bunker earlier today. But, there was no getting through to him when it came to Helena.
"You know, I was surprised to hear from you again." Chuck began as we made our way down the sidewalk from where the valet took his car, to the restaurant. "Especially after what happened with Oliver."
"Yeah, well, Oliver and I aren't speaking right now, so..." I trailed off, smiling tightly. I really didn't want to talk about it, especially with Chuck.
Charles held the door open for me and I stepped inside, my eyes immediately finding Tommy and Laurel - the former gesturing to the bar while Laurel looked less than pleased with their current situation.
"Hey, look, it's Harley," Tommy clapped, hurrying over to me and placing his hands on my shoulders as he greeted me with a kiss on the cheek. "Where have you been?"
"Sorry, Charles spent a good thirty minutes just touching up his hair." I rolled my eyes just before Laurel and Chuck joined us. "Why don't I go get our table." I smiled at Laurel and she looked relieved at my words. "Tommy?"
My brother followed me as I made my way over to the blonde hostess, "you brought Chuck Baizen? The man's a gigantic ass."
"So, I've been told," I smiled tightly before turning to the hostess. "Hi, I'm Harleen Merlyn, I need a table for four."
"Okay, we'll let you know when a table's ready-"
"No, no," I cut her off, slipping a large bill out of my clutch and sliding it to her with a winning smile. "I really need a table for four."
She smirked, taking the bill and looking between the two of us. "I'll see what I can do." I mouthed a 'thank you' as she headed off to go clear a table for us.
I turned to Tommy to see him watching the blonde go with narrowed eyes, "God, I miss being able to do that."
I laughed at that, looping my arms around his one arm as I led him back over to where our dates were, "anyway, I was going to ask Oliver, but he's been kind of busy with this girl he's been seeing." Tommy looked at me curiously, obviously not knowing about any girl. "Yeah, she's not good news and I tried to tell him that, and he shut me down. But, you know, it's fine, cause he has no problem telling me what he thinks of my boyfriends, so..."
"So, you asked Chuck to get back at him." Tommy finished for me.
My eyes snapped to him, "what? No." I denied instantly. "I asked Chuck because he was the only guy I could find for a last minute double date." Tommy let out a silent 'ah' like he didn't believe me, but I didn't get to say anything because another couple decided to join us then.
"Hey!" Tommy and I had just reached where Chuck and Laurel were standing when Oliver Queen's voice reached my ears. I turned to see him walking over to us, a hand resting comfortably on Helena's back. "Tommy, Laurel. This is Helena. And obviously, you remember Harley and... Chuck..." Oliver smiled tightly at the boy and my date tossed him a cheeky smirk as he draped an arm around my waist.
Oliver cleared his throat, his attention shifting to me, "you look beautiful, Angel."
I looked down at my pink dress and white flats before smiling back at Oliver, "thanks, Casanova."
"Ms. Merlyn your table's ready."
I turned to see the hostess from earlier with a couple of menus in her hands and I heard Laurel let out a soft 'finally'. My eyes flicked from her to Oliver and Helena, "hey, why don't you guys join us," I offered and immediately Oliver, Tommy, and Chuck all started to protest. "I'd love to get to know your new girlfriend, Ollie."
Like she could see the 'fuck you' in my eyes, Helena tossed me a fake smile, "likewise."
"That's... that's fine. It'll be great." Oliver told the hostess to change his table to one for six people and slid her some money. We were quickly seated and started off with some drinks - Oliver had ordered the Champagne and I was sipping casually on it as we all shared stories.
"I had forgotten that you filled your parents pool with beer," Oliver laughed from where he was sitting between Helena and I. Chuck was on the other side of me between Laurel and I while Tommy was sitting between his girlfriend and Helena. "How many kegs did that take."
"Roughly a thousand or so."
"Whatever, dad was so pissed I thought he might actually drown you in it." I tossed Tommy a pointed look over my Champagne glass.
"Yeah, but death by beer, there are worse ways to go," Tommy shrugged. "Right, Helena?"
"Well, there are no good ways to die." She countered, and silence fell over us. she must've realized the mood change cause she turned to me with that same fake smile, "So, uh, how did you and Chuck, meet?"
"Uh, Highschool, we dated for almost three years." I told her and I felt Chuck lay a hand on my thigh under the table and I had to stop myself from smacking his hand away. Oliver and Helena would definitely notice that and I definitely didn't want that.
Helena frowned curiously, "why'd you break up?"
My eyes flickered to Oliver's then and I could see that same look in his eyes that he had when he confronted Chuck outside of Russo's the other night. I cleared my throat, "it was just our time."
I watched Helena uncomfortably look between the five of us, "you all seem to have a lot of history."
"A little too much," Charles commented and I took that time to nudge his hand away, and he just brought it up onto the table to grab his glass.
"So, hows the night club coming along?" Laurel was the one to ask, successfully changing the subject. Tommy's eyes snapped to Laurel then and I frowned at that.
"Slower than I thought, I've been busy." Oliver admitted. I scoffed softly at that, yeah, busy letting your girlfriend start Mafia war in Starling City.
Luckily, Laurel continued before Oliver could say anything about it. "Well, then you must be happy to have the extra help."
Oliver frowned at that, "what do you mean?" Laurel opened her mouth, looking confused, but Tommy spoke up before she could say anything.
"Laurel, I'm sure Oliver doesn't want to talk about work right now." My eyes darted ebtween the two of them, obviously I missed something.
"You didn't ask him?" Laurel whispered.
Oliver looked just as confused as I felt in that moment, "ask him what?"
"Tommy wanted to..." Laurel trailed off with a sigh. "Tommy said he was going to ask you about working with you at your night club"
"Really?" Oliver chuckled.
My eyes narrowed at his reaction, what was so wrong with that, "What's so funny about that?" I asked, feeling defensive. Why couldn't anyone take Tommy seriously? I mean, before the Island him and Oliver were basically the same person, and everyone seemed to be able to take Oliver seriously, just fine.
Oliver must've realized his mistake cause he instantly wiped the grin off his face, "Sorry, I just didn't think he wanted any responsibility at all."
Tommy scoffed, "yeah, no, who would believe that."
"You've always wanted to go into business with Tommy," I told him, shifting a little closer to Oliver in my chair. "Don't you remember when we went to Aspen and you wanted to open a Ski Lodge."
"The only thing I remember about Aspen was your father being furious we shared a room with one bed." Oliver smirked, and I felt his hand rest against my knee under the table.
I narrowed my eyes at him, smirking slightly as I remembered that day. There had been a mix up in our rooms and his and Tommy's room had accidentally been booked as a single bed like mine, but Oliver felt more comfortable squeezing into a bed with me than he did with Tommy. Of course, my father did not like that at all.
"Wait, you two dated?" Helena asked, gesturing between Oliver and I.
My eyes widened slightly and Oliver jerked his hand back like I had suddenly combusted into flames. "No, no, no, we've just known each other forever since him and Tommy are like best friends."
Helena shifted in her seat, obviously uncomfortable, "You're into your best friends, little sister?"
Oliver opened his mouth, to say what exactly, I had no idea since Chuck beat him to it. "His whole life," he nodded. "Even when she was dating me and he was dating Laurel." He gestured to Laurel with his glass like this evening couldn't get any worse.
Oliver cleared his throat, desperately trying to change the subject. "Tommy, you working for me that could be... fun."
"Yeah, I feel so good... I'm just gonna step outside." he rolled his eyes, tossing his napkin down and stalking out of the restaurant. I bit my lip, watching him go.
Laurel got up before I could, "I should probably go check on him. Helena, it was very nice to meet you."
She left, leaving the four of us alone in an awkward silence that Chuck broke, "And then there were four."
"I should go." Helena mumbled, getting up and storming off much like Tommy had a few moments before her.
"Helena." Oliver was quick to chase after her and I watched him go, shaking my head slightly. That whole thing just spelled trouble.
"So, I was thinking the steak."
I looked over at Chuck, scoffing softly at that dumb smirk on his lip. I quickly threw down two hundreds to cover the champagne, whatever Chuck decided to order after I left, and the tip, before hurrying off in the direction Oliver had gone.
I found them just outside on one of the back walkways, "so, making me have dinner with the love of your life, was what, Oliver?" I stopped at that, ducking back behind the wall so they couldn't see me. "I saw the way you looked at her, that kind of love doesn't die. You love her, Oliver, and you always will." Oliver didn't say anything, and I could hear Helena scoff.
I slowly peeked around the corner to see her try and stalk off, but Oliver quickly caught her arm, "Don't," she wrenched from his grip. "Don't touch me. I am done talking," and with that she stalked off.
I waited a moment, my eyes taking in the backside of Oliver as she stood there, watching her go. "Oliver..." I finally made my presence known, slowly coming out from behind the wall.
He turned to look at me, running a hand down his chin, "I don't need the 'I told you so', Harley. I know you were right."
"I wasn't going to say that..." I crossed my arms, taking a few steps closer to him. "I didn't say all those things to hurt you, Oliver. I said them because I care about you. If I really believed that you could save Helena I wouldn't stand in your way, cause I just want you to be happy, Ollie. But, you can't save her."
"I know," he finally admitted, and I smiled sadly at the look on his face. "It's just... I'm living this double life and to do that I am taking all these people that I love and I'm putting them at arms length. I am giving up a lot, so maybe... maybe I thought the universe owed me one."
"Well, I'm no expert..." I can to a stop just in front of him, tilting my head to look up at him. "But, the best way to love someone isn't to change them, it's to help them reveal the greatest version of themselves."
"Maybe..." Oliver sunk his hands into his suit pockets, looking up at the darkened sky. "I just can't tell which hurts worse; this or getting shot with a Curare laced bullet."
"The bullets got my vote," I teased, earning a soft chuckle from Oliver. "You opened up Ollie, took a risk with your heart. The Oliver I knew five years ago, never would've been able to do that." Oliver's eyes fell back down to meet mine and I smiled at him. "And, when you finally do meet that right person, I think you'll be ready for her now."
"Maybe..." he turned and held out an arm to me and I smirked, lacing my arm through his and letting him lead me to his motorcycle. My eyes darted up to look at his side profile as we walked, and I was finally starting to notice just how truly different he was from the boy I grew up with.