Song- Good Grief by Bastille
~two days earlier~
The darkness gave way to the gloomy morning light, and the rays of light shining through the curtains eventually woke Lucy from a deep sleep. She sat up in a bed that had become increasingly familiar, as she slept there most nights since she had left Star City.
She reached over to the nightstand and grabbed her phone, planning on staying in bed and browsing twitter, but that was slashed as she saw her notifications.
Two Missed Calls: Oli
Missed Call: Digg
Text: Roy: L call O pls
Lucy groaned and threw her phone across the small studio apartment, thankfully it landed on the couch so she wouldn't have to replace another one. She knew she couldn't afford to buy a fourth phone. The guy next to her rolled over and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"You okay babe?" He asked, sleepily.
"What have I told you about calling me that?" She asked, angrily, brushing his hand off of her.
Lucy was never a morning person, but between the unwanted attempted conversation earlier and Brad's unsolicited pet names, she was even grumpier than usual. She was thankful that Brad was letting her stay with him, but the studio apartment was getting cramped, and Brad was getting clingy.
It wasn't completely his fault though. Lucy had been alluding to the possibility of a more committed relationship as a way to secure her living arrangements but had no plans to actually follow through with that. But sleeping with someone who wasn't unattractive or bad in bed to maintain a place to sleep wasn't the worst thing she'd ever done.
"Sorry, I'm just grumpy, I didn't sleep well." She covered up the blatant annoyance of her morning with basic excuses. She never considered Brad to be anything but somewhat of a pawn in her overall escape plan, but his bed was comfy. She laid back down and covered herself with the dark grey duvet all the way up to her chin.
"It's okay Luce, I know you're not a morning person, and you did tell me to chill with the pet names." He said, retreating from her harsh aura.
Lucy was trying to fall back asleep when she heard the vibrations of her phone coming from the couch. She felt Brad leave the bed and in seconds the vibrations were getting closer as he brought her phone to her. She snatched the phone out of his hand and read the caller ID.
Roy
She clicked decline and shut her eyes again, only for the vibrations to return seconds later.
Roy
She groaned and begrudgingly answered.
"What?" She mumbled.
"Why haven't you been returning any of our calls L? Even if you aren't returning Oliver's or mine, you always answer Digg." He ranted into her ears. She could hear her friend starting to work himself up.
"Roy, calm down. I'm fine. I just need alone time. I told you all that." She assured.
"I am calm. Where even are you? You're not at your apartment or anywhere in Star City, we've all looked. We're all worried, especially Oliver." He sounded exasperated and sleep deprived. Lucy felt bad that she was probably the cause.
She'd been gone a week and didn't tell anyone she was leaving the city, because she didn't know she was going to. The press had been changing their minds on vigilantism since Oliver started running around with grease paint on his face, and they never made up their minds. They'd been especially vicious lately due to a slight uptick in Lucy's violence. She'd had a hard time controlling her anger when it came to the scum she was cleaning off the streets.
The papers had practically put a bounty on the Nightingale's head, she had no choice but to retreat to Central City to calm down for a bit. She did, however, leave without telling anyone.
"Central City."
"Central City?! That's 600 miles from here! What the hell L? How did you even get there?" Roy yelled, losing his temper.
"I took a bus. And you need to calm down."
"I AM PERFECTLY GODDAMN CALM LUSCINIA!"
"You don't sound calm." She retorted, she knew she shouldn't agitate him anymore but she couldn't help it. Getting Roy worked up was a specialty of hers, one everyone, especially Thea, hated. She just knew how to get under his skin.
"I swear to god L if you don't get back here I'm going to lose my shit." He took a deep breath, trying not to let her get to him.
"Counter offer; I'll stay here and take care of myself but I'll text you twice a day to tell you I'm alive."
"I can't promise that..." He trailed. She sighed, she knew what that meant.
"He's already on his way here isn't he?"
"He traced the call, sorry."
"No, you're not."
"You're right. Anyways, twice a day okay? Don't make me worry any more than I am already." He pleaded.
"I promise Roy. Love you kiddo, gotta go." She didn't wait for a response before hanging up. She turned to Brad who was making cereal, trying to act like he hadn't heard the entire conversation.
"You can ask me." She said getting up. She waited for his reply as she looked for the only pair of jeans she brought with her. She had gotten completely dressed before he said a word.
"Worried boyfriend?" She laughed.
"No, just worried friends. But I can see where you'd be confused." Lucy couldn't see, but Brad smiled a little at the thought that he had confirmed that she was single. "Listen, one of said friends is coming to see me this afternoon, so I'll have to go out."
"Okay, cool. If you don't have plans tomorrow, I'd like to take you to see S.T.A.R. Labs." He said hopefully.
"Yeah, sure." She said, not really paying attention. She was too worried about her impending meeting with Oliver. 600 miles seemed far, but Oli would make it in a couple of hours. She shot him a text.
Lucy: I know you're on your way- meet me at a place called CC Jitters.
Seconds later a text came in.
Text: Oli: I will be there in 3 hours and 12 minutes.
She was dreading this.
Lucy: You shouldn't text and drive.
She got no response. Either he had taken her advice or he was pissed. Or both.
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It was almost 1:30 and Lucy sat with a mug of hot chocolate at a high-top table in the small coffee shop. Exactly 3 hours and 11 minutes had passed since Oliver had texted her and she knew he wouldn't be late. Less than a minutes later a tired looking Oli walked through the door.
He ignored the cheerful welcome of the barista and walked straight up to Lucy. Without saying a word he embraced her. She hesitated only a second before returning the hug. She was savoring the calm before the storm. She had asked him to meet in a public place because she knew he wouldn't cause a scene.
"Are you okay?" He asked, his words muffled by her hair.
"Yeah, of course." He leaned away and looked at her like a disappointed father.
"I thought you were dead." He said in a hushed tone.
"Sorry I broke curfew dad." She said lightly, Oli almost cracked a smile.
"Can we go outside to talk?" Here it comes, Lucy thought, she was in for it.
"Are you going to yell at me?" She asked.
"No." She nodded and walked out with him, they were silent until they reached the alleyway.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Oli asked, his voice raised.
"Hey! You said you weren't going to yell!" Lucy yelled.
"I am not yelling I am raising my voice in concern for your well-being!" He yelled back.
Lucy just looked at him. Waiting for him to realize the hypocrisy of his statement. Oli looked at his feet.
"I'm sorry, you just can't up and leave the city without so much as a word to anyone. We spent days looking for you, calling you, tracking you, but you decided to get on a bus and travel 3 and a half hours-"
"It was 5 hours if you paid attention to traffic laws" She interjected.
"Fine, 5 hours, to what? "Be alone"? You could've at least called!" His voice raised again. Oliver couldn't help but see Thea when he looked at Lucy. They were practically the same age and both made terrible decisions. The only difference was that Lucy already knew how to fight and didn't let Oliver stop her, so instead, he trained her to keep her safe.
"You wouldn't have left me alone if I had asked you too. This was the first week in years that I've been able to just live without thinking about the Nightingale."
"You want out?" He questioned.
"Of course not, I can't stop now, it's too important, but I needed some time, the press is on my ass and if I didn't calm down they'd turn against me for good. Besides, I knew if I called you'd just come down here and drag me back, and you can't even say that's not true because here you are." She rambled on and Oliver just listened.
"I'm not going to drag you back." He said firmly. Lucy stared at him incredulously.
"You're not?" She asked skeptically.
"No. You're an adult, I'm not going to drag you back as I would have a few years ago. And if some sabbatical in Central City is what you think is best for you then fine. But you have to call every day or I'm driving down here again and then I will drag you back"
"Okay, I'll call every day. I can do that." She said, still not trusting that he was actually letting her stay.
"Will you try and stay out of trouble while you're here?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Where are you staying, do you need money for a hotel?" He inquired, but Lucy didn't necessarily want to tell him that she was sleeping with a guy to stay in his apartment because his bed was comfy.
"I have enough to cover my hotel. I'll be fine." He sighed and pulled out his wallet. He pulled 5 one hundred dollar bills out and handed them to her. "Okay, now this looks like a drug deal." She laughed.
"Just in case. I don't want you going hungry and I don't know how long you'll be here. If you need any more just tell me and I'll have Felicity wire you some money." Lucy shook her head.
"I can take care of myself Oli, but thank you." She hugged the muscled man. "Please drive safely on your way back. Remember, it should take you 5 hours, not 3." Oliver chuckled and nodded, hugging the small girl back.
"No promises." And with that, he left the alley and Lucy was alone.
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Lucy was exhausted, all she wanted to do was go back to Brad's and sleep until he got home. When he did he'd probably want to make dinner or do something. She situated herself before exiting the alleyway and made her way towards the apartment building.
There weren't many people around as it was 3 pm on a Tuesday and most people were at work. She passed coffee shops and over-priced artisanal stores selling stupid unnecessary things. She had passed a couple of homeless people, giving each of them some change, and so far had pet 3 dogs. Her walk "home" had been peaceful until a guy walking out of a pizza place ran straight into her.
"What the hell?! Do you not know how to watch where you're walking?!" She yelled. The boy was startled and started rambling off apologies. His short black hair messy and falling in front of his face. He bent down to pick up the 2 large pizza boxes that had fallen when he collided with Lucy.
"I- uh- I'm so sorry." The boy mumbled. She continued to complain about the situation. "Are you alright?" He asked her, avoiding her gaze.
"I'm fine, I was fine, until now. Just please get out of my way." She whined. Lucy looked around waiting for the guy to move but when she looked back he was gone. Nowhere to be found. It was almost like he was never there.
She brushed it off and continued walking, reaching the building within a few minutes. Slightly irritated, she used the spare key Brad had given her and made her way to the bed, not bothering to even take her sneakers off, and fell asleep.
~
Hello, my loves! I have finally conquered my writer's block thanks to @bellerose12
I hope you like it and I will have my next chapter up as soon as I actually have the energy to write it!
xoxo- Del