Title: Don't You Forget About Me
Author: QueencestQueen
Pairings: Oliver/Thea (aka Queencest and/or Tholiver)
Rating: PG-13 (or T, depending on the rating system)
Summary: Oliver spent a great deal of time on the island thinking about his life before. All of his wrongs and his few and far between moments of doing right. Most of all though, he thought about the people that he'd left behind.
Dedicated to: solarfirethe3rd, who gave me the following prompt, "Oliver always loved Thea. Just before he left, he kissed her, but she didn't return his feelings. 5 years later, Oliver comes home and Thea falls in love with him." It's not an exact match to the prompt, but I hope you still like it anyway!
Notes/Warnings:
- A prequel to What I Feel is the Only Truth for Me.
- Title taken from the song, "Don't You (Forget About Me)" the version done by Leelou.
Disclaimer:
All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of this author. This author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Oliver spent a great deal of time on the island thinking about his life before. All of his wrongs and his few and far between moments of doing right. Most of all though, he thought about the people that he'd left behind.
Was Laurel doing okay? Had she survived the news that Sara had been on the Gambit with him? They'd both been lost and betrayed her. Hurting Laurel, and Sara as well, was one of his biggest regrets. He should have manned up and told Laurel that it just wasn't working. He should have faced the consequences and tears head on, but he hadn't. He took the coward's way out: not so subtly cheating on her. Doing so with Sara, who he also liked and thought was beautiful, had simply ensured that Laurel would never think of forgiving his transgression. He should never have done it; never should have hurt the sisters like that.
Then there were his musings on his mother. Was she okay? Was she keeping an eye on the search for them? She'd lost both her husband and her son in a single moment. He had no doubt that she was in pain. Then, as the days turned into months and months into years, he wondered was she remembering Thea?
God, he'd hoped that she was! Thea...Thea had such a soft heart; she felt every emotional pain so acutely that he didn't need to wonder if she was okay. He knew that she was not. She was no doubt struggling with the loss of their father and himself. Was she taking care of herself? Not crying too much and remembering to eat? Then, as with their mother, when it became clear that getting home was not simply a matter of a lucky rescue, he began to wonder about the little aspects of her life. Was she enjoying or completely hating high school? He liked to imagine that Thea was enjoying it, top of the social pyramid and a decent student. Did she still struggle in science like she had as a kid? Had she been on her first date yet? He doubted that a girl as vibrant and beguiling as his Speedy would go unnoticed by the male population. Yet, the thought made his heart squeeze painfully. He'd always thought he'd have been there for her first date, to scare and intimidate the unworthy guy into treating his sister with respect...and bringing her home by her curfew, of course. He'd missed that. He'd missed so much of her life; it made him lose hope of ever getting home. What would he find if he did? One pissed off ex-girlfriend, a mother changed by circumstance and a sister who learned long ago how to live without him.
In his darker moments when his mind suffered from such negativity, Oliver looked at the photo of Laurel that had survived the sinking. It was funny though, the more that time passed, the picture inspired less thoughts about Laurel. He'd burned that bridge beyond repair and, despite hating his childish actions, he found that he didn't regret letting that romantic relationship go. It had felt hollow, false somehow. Laurel was a lovely person: strong-willed, smart, beautiful and Oliver really liked her, but he didn't love her. Not like she deserved. It hadn't made any sense. On paper, Laurel was everything he wanted, but it hadn't worked.
Oliver kept and looked at that picture, because it reminded him of happier times. It reminded him of watching his mother and father bicker playfully over Saturday family dinners. Looking at the photograph he remembered parting with Tommy and just enjoying the comforting certainty of having a lifelong best friend. He remembered weekend long beach trips with Tommy, Laurel, and Sara that usually ended with them all in various states of being hungover and more than a tad sunburned.
His favorite and most often triggered memories were the ones of Thea. Sometimes it was just the little things. Like how when she was six, she'd refused to eat out of anything other than a single purple bowl. How she used to have to use one of those motion sickness patches whenever they would be in the car for more than an hour and it would knock her out so much that she'd spend the whole car ride with her head in Oliver's lap. He used to grumble under his breath when she'd done that, but he'd never meant it nor had he ever attempted to move her. Other times it was the bigger memories that sucked him in.
Oliver was startled awake as his bedroom door squeaked. His eyes opened to find his room still draped in the darkness of night. It only took a few seconds for him to feel tiny hands shaking him awake. "Ollie?" came the whispered question and the 16-year-old boy turned on his side to face his sister as soon as the tearful tone registered in his sleepy mind.
"Thea?" He asked, propping himself up on his elbow, "What's wrong?" She should be in bed, dreaming of reindeers and sugarplums. She should not be kneeling on his bedroom floor in her purple flower pajama set with tears drying on her cheeks.
"I-I-saw," she started to say, hiccupping a little. He flipped the covers over, scooted back on his mattress to make room for her and held his arms out. She climbed up, was under the covers, and in his arms within seconds. She buried her face into his chest for a minute as her back shook with small hiccups and a stream of tears. Her head lifted from his chest to say, "I saw Daddy and Mommy…"
Oliver froze. Oh God, what had she seen? She was only six! Much too young to even know that sex is a thing, much less to see her parents…doing that. He pulled a face at the thought; he was 16 and even he wasn't old enough to see their parents…doing that. Yuck.
"I saw Daddy and Mommy…putting presents under the tree, Ollie!" She exclaimed before burying her face in his chest again with renewed sorrow. He knew it was wrong to be relieved when Thea was so upset, but he was. Explaining and comforting his little sister about Santa would be so much easier than dealing with the confusing issue of sex.
"Oh," he said, placing a kiss into her hair, "I'm sorry, Speedy."
She sniffled and tipped her head back slightly to look up into his face, "Santa's a lie, isn't he?"
He hesitated a few moments, trying to figure out what to tell his younger sister, "No, not a lie. Santa's an idea, really."
"An idea?" Thea echoed, her sadness giving way to natural curiosity.
"Yeah," he said with a small smile, "Think about it. Santa's a guy who is selfless, who spreads cheer and joy to the children of the world. Do you understand what I'm saying, Thea?"
She laid her head upon his chest again, nodding sleepily. "Yup, but Ollie?"
"Hmm?"
"Why did you all lie to me about Santa being a real person, instead of just an idea?"
That was quite the question. "Because it's just how things are done. It's the quickest way to give the lessons of Christmas to you kids, you know?"
"You kids?" She echoed with a giggle, "You're not such a grown up yet, Ollie!" She reminded him, pulling up a corner of the Ninja Turtle sheet on his bed as proof.
"Go to sleep, Speedy." He chided, cuddling her close as sleep once more claimed him.
He'd thought that his parents were going to be mad that he'd taken that particular conversation from them, but as it turns out they were happy not to have to deal with the tears. His father had actually pulled him aside to compliment him on the explanation he'd given his little sister. He'd said that Oliver was a great big brother. It was a happy memory for him, being the person that Thea had come to with her problems was something he'd always taken great pride in.
Then there was, of course, that moment the night before he left on the Gambit. Despite himself, he found that he kept thinking over and over it.
"Ollie?" Oliver looked up from the book at the sound and turned to look at his 12-year-old sister where she lay next to him on his bed. She was surrounded in a semi-circle by her homework for the night, pencil tip tapping against the paper; a clear sign that she was nervous. "You're a guy, right?" Thea asked, shifting her weight to her hip so that she was facing him.
He chuckled, setting the book upside down and sliding it away. "Last time I checked, yeah."
Thea hesitated for a second or two before she continued, "…And you've kissed a lot of girls, right?"
"Speedy," He said softly, "where are you going with this?"
The younger girl sighed and sat up, folding her legs Indian-style. She kept her green gaze locked on the headboard as she explained, "Megan told Janice that Andrew told her that Jason and Scott told him that Brad's gonna kiss me tomorrow." By the time she finished parroting back what she'd been told, her cheeks were red with embarrassment. It was cute.
"Okay." He said, dragging out the first syllable as his mind raced for a reason behind their conversation. "And that's making you nervous because…?" The question faded away into silence and that was when he realized. "Thea, you've been kissed before, right?" The blush grew brighter. "How is that possible? I mean, you're 12."
"Yes, Ollie, I know." She said, hanging her head so that her hair hid her face from view. "It's not like…no one's ever tried, I just wanted my first kiss to be with someone who cared about me."
Oliver frowned a little; his protective older brother instincts kicking in. "And this Brad guy, he cares about you?"
Thea shook her head slightly, "No. But I'm sick of being the girl that doesn't have that story. I like Brad well enough; he's nice to me, like all the time."
"Well enough? Well then." Oliver huffed, displeased that his Thea was thinking about abandoning her standards and settling for mediocre at best. "Thea, you can't just-"
"I'm not." Thea interrupted turning so that she was facing him instead of the headboard. She pushed her hair back behind her ears, gazing straight at him with a determined look upon her features. "I don't want to be a bad kisser. Brad might tell everyone if I am; it's just what guys do." She looked at him pointedly and, when Oliver didn't take the hint, she huffed indignantly. "I need you to kiss me, Ollie."
"What?" He asked, sitting up in surprise.
"I need you to kiss me." She repeated, uncrossing her legs and folding them under her so she could lean forward into his space. "You can teach me to kiss." He opened his mouth and she held up her hand to stop him from interrupting, "Plus," She said firmly, "who loves me better then you? No one."
His mouth clicked shut. That made sense… in an odd way. Then, before he realized what was happening, Oliver was saying, "Okay."
She grinned brightly, "Yay!"
He smiled a little at her enthusiasm, "Firstly, don't put so much pressure on yourself, Speedy. A kiss is just a kiss; not something you need to stress about, okay?" Her eyes were just a little too wide as she nodded eagerly. Taking in every word he said like a good little student. "Second, and this is something I've had women use over and over again on me, you'll lean in slightly like you're going to do the kissing, yeah? Then you pause, three or four inches from his mouth, make him come to you." His lips quirked as he looked at her eager face. How had she gone 12 years without being kissed? "Try it."
Thea nodded again, fists clenching against her thighs as she leaned forward like instructed and paused. It was a little awkward, but he attributed it to her nerves and his being aware that the move was coming. "Okay, now," he whispered, "on the off chance he doesn't give in and kiss you, you'll want to lean in and make sure your top lip touches his first and then your bottom lip."
This time, he didn't have to tell her to try it; this time, Thea took the initiative herself. She bridged the few remaining inches between them and then her top lip landed on his, quickly followed by her bottom lip. It wasn't the smoothest executed kiss he'd ever had, but it still made his heartbeat skip. He knew he should interrupt to tell her how to improve, but he didn't want to. This was, after all, technically her very first kiss. It should be worth remembering. He leaned into the kiss just a little bit more into it to increase the touch of their lips ever so slightly. He didn't break it until he felt Thea's mouth opened under his; alarms rang loud in his head, telling him that Thea was too young for that. He pulled away slowly, his eyes opening as he did so. He was oddly pleased to discover that Thea still had her eyes closed and a happy look upon her features.
"There," he said clearing his throat as he did so, "now you've had your first kiss and you know what to do tomorrow." Her eyes opened and she seemed slightly confused, like how one looks upon waking first thing in the morning. "Just don't…" He trailed off and her look of happy sleepiness morphed into worry, "Don't open your mouth in the kiss tomorrow, okay? That's a different type of kissing altogether and you don't need to be doing that on your second kiss ever."
She bit her lip, but nodded her agreement. "I might need just a little more practice, though." She giggled a little as soon as the words were out of her mouth. He smiled and leaned into her personal space again.
It was after thinking about that particular moment in time, half asleep and with exhausted eyes, that Oliver saw how alike Laurel and Thea were. Sure Laurel was older, but they both had brunette hair, lighter eyes, and even slightly similar face shapes. It wasn't just their shared features that connected them, though. Laurel and Thea were both strong, vivacious, independent females. The more he thought about it the more he realized that all of his exes bore a striking resemblance either physically or personality wise to Thea. At first, he was really freaked out by this revelation, but then the more he thought about it, the more sense it started to make. Thea had loved him unconditionally and had looked at him as if he was the reason that the very stars existed. Who wouldn't search for a soulmate who looked at them like that? It made sense.
Or, at least it had, until he returned home. His little sister, his Speedy, was not so little anymore. She was a grown-up woman; a fiercely independent, stubborn, frustrating, enigma of a woman. Yet, she still looked at him, as though he was the reason the stars shone every night. It didn't take long for him to start noticing her and to notice her noticing him. Looks that should have been just quick glances were becoming long looks. Touches that should have been simply brushes became lingering and sometimes even brazen. Any chance to touch or look was taken by the both of them. He could feel the change coming; it was simply a matter of when.
A/N: Every time I think I'm done with this series, you lovely people keep dragging me in! :P The next one shot will be a sequel to "You're my Present This Year."