It was a quiet evening in a life that had turned darker. The happiness that two people once shared had outgrown itself and become something else.
Dinah waited outside of her old house with a suitcase next to her. This place was once her home, it kept inside all the love and imperfections that she so cherished. It hurt to see it - it hurt to see what she had left behind.
She took few breath before opening the front door.
Past the kitchen, through the halls and into the bedroom. The same old way, but a different life.
"I've waited for you," he said and looked at her with tired eyes. He was sitting in the bed they once shared together. It all seemed bittersweet to Dinah – to see them both where they once stood, but this time they felt like they were stranger.
"Oliver?" she asked and stopped at her steps. She leaned into the door post and looked at his miserable being.
"I haven't left the house in days. I've just waited for you. I knew you'd come back, you had to," he said and stood up. He didn't come closer to her. He wanted to touch her but knew that she would only back away.
Flashbacks of their fearless argument came to him. They were both furious and couldn't even remember why. All the screaming would have eventually woken the dead, if she wouldn't have stopped it. Those angry words and empty threats weren't the worst part, no, the worst was the pressing silence. They looked at each others for minutes and tried to figure out how much there was still love left. The ones that they had taken under their wing and trained them, were already gone. Nothing remained but an empty house and two people that had turned from passionate lovers to strangers.
He remembered the way the door slammed after her. She had told him that this was enough and that she was done. He had snorted at her, because those were just few words she'd say but never mean. But when she didn't come back, he found himself missing her more than he could bare. He flinched at every sound that their home let out, but no one of those sounds weren't made by her. She wasn't taking a shower, cooking a quick meal. She wasn't kissing him or even screaming at him. She wasn't there anymore. He regretted every mistake he'd ever made. Being without her seemed to be excruciating and he couldn't stand it, so he just waited. He waited in their bedroom, waited for her to come back. And until then, he didn't let go of the hope. All he ever did was love her, she can't leave him because he loves her. That doesn't make any sense.
"Why are you here?" she asked.
He cracked a smile, like what he was about to say was an plainly obvious, "I'm here for you. I've been waiting for you, thinking about you, missing you... You name it, I've done it, prettybird."
"Please don't call me that anymore, Oliver," she said and shook her head, "It's not the same anymore. I'm just here to get few of my things and then I'll be gone."
He sighed and sat back on the bed. He hid his face in his hands and it seemed like he was bathing in self-loathing.
"I'm so sorry, Dinah. I am so sorry. I've said it thousand times. How many more until I forgive me?" he said and looked at her. His eyes were begging and bleeding to have her back.
"We've been through this so many times. It's not about the cheating or the killing or the fact that I went through something horrible," she explained. She was tired of talking about the fact that they weren't together anymore.
"Then what do I have to do to get you back? What do I need to say? Tell me and I will do it! Whatever you want, prettybird!" he stood up and walked to her. He was close enough to touch, but still resisted his urges.
"I'm not your prettybird anymore, Oliver," Dinah said and turned away from his begging gaze. Without fully admitting it to herself, it did hurt to see him this way, afterall, this was the man she had loved for so long – and still did.
"Dinah... Please," he said and this time, he put his hands on her shoulders, "I love you... I – I need you."
"Oliver... Don't do this," she said but it was too late, his lips were on hers. The kiss felt bittersweet and somewhat cruel. She wanted to subsite her feelings towards him, but this wasn't helping. His dying hope came back to life. Maybe there still was a chance, maybe there was love inside of their hearts.
Dinah pushed him away, "No! Oliver! Stay away!"
He took a step back, "I'm sorry, I just..."
"This isn't the deal anymore! You can't just say pretty things and make up for what you've done! You cheated on me and you killled someone! That is never acceptable! You can't do anything to make this better!" she raised her voice.
"Dinah! Cut me some slack here! I made mistakes but I never stopped loving you! I crossed the line but God dammit, I stayed with you when you were at your worst! I got you out of the place that took the part out of you that I loved, the part that had a warm heart and understanding! Those people were animals, brutal saveges and they deserved what they got! And I took a life, yeah, but I'd do it again! Justice isn't always there to serve us, so we gotta make it ourselves!" he said and then stopped. He felt like he was crossing a line.
She felt rage coursing through her veins.
"How dare you! How you dare to say those things to me? I fight for justice and I thought you did too! I loved you because I thought you were a good man! And I am not with you anymore! We are not together anymore! You and this house and this marriage represents everything I don't wanna remember! I want to be a different person, a better one! How could I be with you? You killed someone! God, Oliver! Why can't you just understand!" she screamed and held back her tears. "I am not the same person I was before. This is not what I want anymore."
He took a breath and wiped his face with his hands, "Is there someone else? Is that the reason you don't want me anymore?"
"No, Oliver... There's no one else," she said and suddenly felt so tired.
"So you just don't love me anymore? Is that it?" he asked and a part of him felt absolutely terrified that she would say yes and wreck his heart and mind.
Salty, burning tears started to fell down her cheeks, "No. That's not it at all. I do love you, Oliver and I propably never stop loving you, but I have to go."
"No, Dinah! You can't leave me this way! This isn't right! If you love me, doesn't mean that we deserve another chance?" he said and grabbed her arm, "I love you, Dinah! Why can't you believe me?"
She didn't say anything, instead she went to her closet and took out her clothes. Quietly she placed them on the bed, folded them and then put them in the suitcase she had with her.
Oliver was still waiting for his answer and got tired of waiting. "Are you giving up on me?"
Dinah still refused to answer. She closed up her suitcase and sighed.
"I need you. Please say something," he asked inpatiently.
"I have a question for you," she faced him and looked him straight in the eyes.
"Go ahead," he said.
"How much do you love me, Oliver?" she asked.
He furrowed his brows, "You know how much I love you. I've stayed with you for this long. Isn't that something? We've gotten through a lot and had some great se-" he stopped because her lips weren't turning into a suggestive smile, "I mean... I married you. I don't do it because I like the fishnets that you wear with your custume," he said and rubbed his chin, "That's a lot to me."
"Oliver... Do you love me enough to let me go?" she asked and felt the tears fell down her cheeks again.
"I -" he stuttered, "That's a trick question! I love you lots but I don't wanna let you go!"
"But Oliver... I do love you that much," she sniffed, "I have a always had a feeling that you want to be alone. I mean, you didn't even wanna join the Justice League the first place..."
"I stayed because I saw you! I thought you'd be worthy of justice! I mean the purpose is good, there's nothing wrong with that. Still I could have left at anytime, but instead of that, I fell in love! You can't blame me for that!" he defended himself.
"Yes, you joined because you saw me, but what if you wouldn't have? What then? Would justice been a good enough reason to stay?" Dinah asked.
"I don't know! You can if all you like, but what's the good with that? What happened already! Let's live in the present, shall we?" Oliver protested.
"Fine, if you want to live in the present, I give you present! Here!" she took her wedding ring from her finger and placed it on the nightstand, "There is your present, Oliver! Happy?"
He looked at the ring and then her. Something inside of him broke. He couldn't say a word. All he could do was to stare at the love of his life and think about their promises, vows and love she had just gave up by giving him back her ring.
"I am sorry, Oliver, but you gotta understand. I love you and I always will, but after all this, it's time to let go. Face it, what we have isn't enough to cover the blood in your hands. I made mistakes too, I admit it, but I don't wanna point fingers at anyone anymore. I'm too tired to fight for nothing."
"Dinah," he started but couldn't go any further. He sat down on the bed and felt like someone had just punched him in the stomach and shot a painful arrow through his heart.
She sat next to him, "This is hard, I know, but we have to do this, this is the best for all," she said and dried her tears, "But however, I am thankful for you. You saved me and held me when I most needed it. You were my rock and my trust. And God, Oliver, I love you so much, but what we have now, isn't enough to hold us together anymore."
Oliver Queen, a man with so many words, was speechless.
"We had our run and it was good, it was really good, but all good must come to an end, even this," Dinah said and left her lipstick mark on his cheek, "Goodbye, Queen."
She took her suitcase, gave him one last look and left the bedroom.
Oliver slowly turned to look at the door that the love of his life walked through. He stood up, took few steps, but stopped. He lost the small spark of hope inside of him. Everything seemed to be meaningless now. No Dinah, no marriage, no love, nothing... What was this life going to be like? A bitter one, stained with the blood that didn't wash off? Was this inevitable? Or did she just love him enough to let him go?
"Dinah," he whispered at the emptiness and the trace of her sweet perfume, "I won't forget you, prettybird."
Hello, we meet again, people! I haven't written anything in a long while, but during that time I've had few ideas and I sorta got really into all and everything Justice League.
As just read, this is about my precious babies, Oliver and Dinah. I wrote this in few hours, because inspiration took over me. I think this is AU, because their break up wasn't anything like this. I just wanted to bring out the hopelessness and the fact that they are too tired to fight anymore.
Hope you enjoyed!
- L
