ARROW FANFICTION
(Set after 3.01, pretending that Thea didn't leave Starling City)
"Oliver?" Thea noticed her brother flinch at her words, finally acknowledging her presence. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," he muttered. Thea wasn't convinced. He'd hardly been in a great mood recently, what with their mother's death and losing Queen Consolidated, but this was a new low for him. Something must have happened, Thea was sure of it.
"Seriously, tell me what's wrong. And don't lie and say nothing." When she received no response, she resorted to guessing what, or more likely who, was responsible for her brother's mood, "Is it Laurel?" Oliver's lack of reaction led Thea to continue, "Me?" Again, he remained stoic, "Mom? Diggle? Felicity?" Noticing a twitch in Oliver's stony face at the mention of Felicity and the flash of hurt in his eyes, Thea assumed she'd hit the nail on the head.
Standing up, Oliver left his sister's side and began pacing, "Drop it, Thea." Undeterred, Thea stood directly in front of him, halting his path.
"No, you're not getting away that easy. What happened? What did she do?"
"Nothing. She didn't do anything," Thea could tell Oliver was telling the truth now. Sighing, she pulled him to sit back down with her.
"So, what did you do?" She noticed his hesitation, but pressed on regardless, "Clearly you did something. So what is it?"
"I ruined it." Suddenly, all Oliver's walls dropped and Thea could see the unguarded hurt in his expression, "We had a chance. But then I ruined it. She deserves to be happy, safe, and I can't give her that."
"So, what, you just let her go?" Thea realised that she didn't know everything that was going on, but she knew enough, "Have you maybe considered that she can decide for herself. And, I may not know her very well, but I'm pretty sure she knows what makes her happy. And anyone with eyes can see that you make her happy. Regardless of whether you think you deserve her or not. That's not your choice to make."
A look of realisation crossed Oliver's face, and Thea rejoiced at the thought that she actually managed to get through to her brother. Suddenly, he leapt up, grabbing his coat and heading to the door.
"Where are you going?" Thea called out to her brother. Picking up a bottle of wine that seemingly had more significance than she was aware of, Oliver smirked, his sudden mood swing giving her whiplash.
"Felicity's. I owe her a bottle of wine." And with that, he was gone, leaving Thea shocked that he actually took her advice. She only hoped he wasn't too late. She'd quite like to get to know the girl who can shake her brother up so much.