Tommy goes along with Oliver's charade. He's been best friends with him for most of his life and even though Oliver has drastically changed from his time on the island, he can still see when he's acting and when he's not. But his best friend gets so much onslaught of questions from his family, friends and the public that he can't bear to be another on the list of people to bring pain to his friend. Instead he plays along. He pretends he believes his best friend is a playboy as he used to be. He pretends he believes his best friend's drunken antics when really he's as sober as one can get. He pretends he believes all those smiles Oliver gives out are real and not calculated. He pretends. He knows this is what Oliver needs. He needs someone who will not bother him. It's not easy. He still lays awake at night remembering the night the two of them got attacked. He was more lucid than Oliver thinks because he knows there was no hooded man, he knows Oliver made it up, and he knows Oliver is that hooded man. It cuts deep inside to know that his friend doesn't trust him enough to tell him but he doesn't open his mouth.
Looking out the window he sees the sun go down. He stands in his secondary apartment, the one Oliver and him used to use for parties or other fun before he disappeared.
"I knew I could find you here." Tommy jumps in surprise when a voice comes from behind him. He turns around to see Oliver standing there in the shadows.
"Old habits I suppose." Tommy says.
"Don't see a party or a woman…"
"No. Not today."
"What's on your mind?" Oliver asks.
"Too many things." Tommy sighs vaguely.
There's a comfortable silence between them as Oliver comes to stand beside Tommy. They look outside to watch the sun set.
"Do you mind if I take a shower here?" Oliver asks.
"Well it is your place too, not just mine, so go ahead."
Tommy gets himself a drink, in need of a 'pick me up'. When he sees the cupboard doesn't have what he was looking for he goes to the room to see if there's some there. Oliver had always kept the alcohol in every room, just in case. When he reaches the open door he notices Oliver with his shirt off inside. However, what strikes him speechless isn't how buff his best friend had gotten but all the scars on his back. He had heard Moira mentioning that Oliver had a of couple scars. However, Tommy had imagined maybe three scratches from falling down a hill or something to that extent. He did not expect a hundred deep wounds that would never leave his body. He lets out the deep breath he was holding and Oliver immediately turns around. Tommy's friend stands there like a statue and Tommy finally takes a step forward. He notices Oliver flinch but continues until he reaches him. They stand an inch away from each other and Tommy slowly reaches out his hand to gently run across one of the scars. His finger is there for only a second before Oliver's hand shoots out to grab his.
"Don't." Oliver says dangerously. Tommy's breathing quickens but he isn't sure if it's because his best friend is on the verge of breaking his arm, because the situation is oddly intimate and he wouldn't mind it continuing, or because he has a desperate need to hurt whoever did all this to Oliver.
They stand there staring into each other's eyes as if they were having a silent conversation. Tommy just wishes he understood what it was they were talking about because it feels like this is the most they have talked since Oliver got back.
Tommy winces when Oliver's grab gets tighter and he must have noticed because he immediately lets go and puts on a shirt. Tommy takes a breath and steps away to pick up a bottle of the strongest alcohol he can find.
"So, um, came to watch the sunset?" Tommy asks unsure where to go with the conversation.
"Well I was thinking of going out to a party, what do you think?" Oliver responds.
Tommy sighs because he knows very well that is not what Oliver wants to do. He's putting up an act, again. Tommy pours himself a drink and gently rubs at his hand.
Tommy shakes his head.
"So…any pretty girls in your life?" Oliver smiles but it's a fake smile.
"Anything to drink? Water?" He asks Oliver.
Oliver's eyebrows shoot up.
"What?" Tommy asks.
"Did Tommy Merlyn offer Oliver Queen water? Not vodka or rum or tequila or whiskey? Water? Something must be up." Oliver laughs.
But that seems to be as far as Tommy is willing to let it go.
"Stop. Just…stop."
Oliver frowns.
"Stop?" Oliver asks.
"This charade Oliver. This is our getaway apartment. This isn't Starling City. This isn't the Queen mansion. This is our getaway apartment. The place where you…hide so you don't have to hide. So don't you dare take out your fake smiles here. Not here. I let you take them out everywhere else. I pretend like I believe them, for you, for the public. But not here Oliver. Why do you think I'm offering you water, hm? I know you haven't gotten drunk a single time since you've been back. I know you. I may not yet understand the new you, but I still know you. I let you pretend to be drunk because you need that. I don't ask questions because that's all you get from everyone. I pretend, for you Oliver, because you are my best friend. I am not asking you to tell me what happened on the island, obviously it's something you need to keep. But don't push me away like this." Tommy bursts and at the end takes a long sip of his drink.
There's a long moment of silence.
"I have underestimated you Tommy." Oliver finally says.
"You always underestimate me Ollie." Tommy laughs and Oliver joins him.
"I have changed." Oliver admits.
"You think? Look. I am fine with the fact that you have changed. We all change, just maybe not as drastically. But you're still Ollie to me and nothing can change that, no amount of fake smiles, no amount of scars, no amount of hoods and arrows. You're Ollie." Tommy smiles but as he looks at Oliver his smile drops because Oliver seems to be in shock.
"Oliver?" Tommy asks a bit concerned at Oliver's silence.
"You know…?" Oliver asks.
"That you're super sober when you're pretending to be drunk, which by the way you should be getting an award for? Maybe you should become an actor…"
"No…about the, um, hood and arrows…" Oliver says uncertainly.
"Oh. Yeah…didn't mean to let that slip…Do you remember that night when we got attacked?" Tommy asks.
"How could I forget it. I thought I had lost you…" Oliver looks down as sadness passes over him which overwhelms Tommy. It is not that he thought his friend doesn't care about him he just never thought what Tommy's death would do to Oliver. He certainly knew what Oliver's death would do to him. He had experienced it once and never wanted to again.
"…I wasn't entirely unconscious…I saw you go after them…I know you made up that hooded man…well, not entirely, but you definitely concealed your part in it." Tommy smiles.
"I don't want anyone to know."
"Don't worry, I won't be telling anyone." Tommy winks and stands closer to Oliver putting a reassuring arm on his shoulder.
"Tommy…I am sorry for what I put you through when I was gone." Oliver says.
"You make it sound like it was your fault. It wasn't your fault. And you came back. That's all that anybody could ask for." Tommy says.
"I heard you…acted out." Oliver says choosing his words carefully.
"I always act out." Tommy says deflecting the true meaning of what Oliver was getting at.
"I mean…you went into some dark things. Drugs. More alcohol than usual. Fights…" Oliver says and Tommy sighs. He didn't want Oliver knowing this but apparently someone had talked. They always do.
"You were gone Oliver. You were dead. You…" Tommy scrunches his hands up into fists and closes his eyes trying to forget that time when Oliver was gone.
Oliver reaches out to gently brush away the single tear that Tommy hadn't even realized went down his face. But Oliver doesn't take his hand away and Tommy leans into his hand.
"I missed you." Tommy says quietly.
"I missed you. More than you can imagine." Oliver replies.
"I really want to kiss you." Oliver says like it's the most normal thing between them. Tommy would to give him kudos for having the confidence to do that but he's too busy being overwhelmed with feelings.
"I really want you to kiss me." Tommy finally says and the moment those words are out of his mouth Oliver takes his face and brings their lips together.
It isn't long before both their shirts are off and Tommy finds himself very gently tracing the scars on Oliver's back. However, this time Oliver doesn't push him away, only keeps on kissing like Tommy is the oxygen he needed when he nearly drowned.