A/N: The plot bunny has struck again. I just started watching season one so of course a story idea comes to mind! I hope you all enjoy it!

A/N2: Thank you sparkyCSI for all the help on this!

A/N3: I own nothing but my characters and plot...

Hearing the loud knocks on her closed bedroom door, Evelyn jumped in surprise as her twin brother and his best friend rushed through the door without waiting for her to tell them that it was okay to enter. If graduation wasn't so close and if she wasn't still waiting on an acceptance letter to Harvard, she would think of seriously harming the two of them, or at least her brother. Leaving Starling City for a school on the opposite coast had things she couldn't have at home. She would no longer be under her father's thumb and that was something she couldn't wait for.

"Hey Ev," Tommy smiled at his twin sister who was younger than him by mere minutes. "Think you could lend Oliver here a hand? We might have done something stupid-"

"Might have?" Evelyn asked, keeping her annoyance in check. "How often do you barge in here when you don't do something stupid?"

"Oh come on big sister-"

Glaring at her brother she knew that just because was older than him didn't mean she always acted like it. Tommy had the tendency to bring out the fun in everything. At times that was a great thing, but she was trying to be serious and he was not helping her keep a level head. But when it came to Oliver and Tommy, she was rarely able to keep her head on straight.

"Tommy-"

"Evelyn," Oliver Queen spoke up finally as he sat down on her large bed. "I could really use your help."

"Do either of you ever think about what your actions do to other people? I have enough to worry about without you guys adding to it. She let out a long sigh as she ran her hand through her long thick brown locks.

Finally taking her eyes off her brother, she looked at his best friend and saw how bad he looked. This wasn't the first time they came to her when they wanted to avoid going to the hospital or letting any of their parents know what they had been up to. Unfortunately for Oliver it was going to be hard to hide the black eye and the cuts on his face. She could see the blood seeping through his shirt and knew it was worse than he wanted to admit to. Bruises and black eyes they could deal with, but when blood was involved it was a fact that they would seek her out no matter where she was.

"Oliver, you are going to bleed all over my bed and you both know that if I'm caught treating you in my home there is a chance I won't even be able to get into any type of medical school."

For the last four year she had been volunteering at the clinic her mother had set up in the Glades. She wanted to have something good to put on her application in hopes that it would set her above the rest of the people applying.

"You mean this?" Tommy asked showing her the letter in his hand.

Seeing the familiar Harvard logo on the large envelope, her eyes went wide. Evelyn had been waiting for weeks for that letter and her brother had it? Why would Tommy keep something like that from her?

"Where did you get that?" Evelyn asked as she started for him and reached for the letter. "Give it to me Tommy."

"No, no, no," Tommy smiled his most charming smile he could muster onto his face. "You fix Ollie over there up and then you can have this letter that has been collecting dust at Merlyn Global."

"At the office?" Evelyn questioned him, ignoring that he told her to fix his friend up first. "Why would it be there?"

"Nope, not saying anything until you start to fix up Oliver," Tommy said with a half smile on his face. "Please."

With a sigh, she went into her private bathroom and got out the first aid kit that she had frequently used to patch the pair up on different occasions. Heading towards the side of the bed that Oliver was on, she placed the kit on the bedside table before taking another glance at Oliver. "You need to take off your shirt."

"Is that really necessary?" Tommy questioned from across the room.

"Do you want my help or not?" Evelyn asked, snapping at her twin. "I'm helping him so neither of you get in trouble for lying about where you were supposed to be. Now tell me why my letter was at Merlyn Global."

Setting himself at his twin sister's desk for her homework, he picked up the picture that held just one person inside of it. Their mother. Tommy and Evelyn had only been seven years old when she had been murdered. It was still unsolved. Setting the picture frame down, he turned and looked as his sister was checking Oliver's wounds.

"I went to the office to let him know you would be late and that I wouldn't be there for dinner since I was going to the Queen's for dinner."

"I didn't volunteer tonight."

"It isn't like he needed to know that, Ev," Tommy said shaking his head as he watched as she went back to making sure his best friend would be alright. "He left the office for some meeting and I saw the Harvard logo. It had been there for awhile."

"How long is awhile?" she asked, curiously.

"Long enough to gather dust on it. I'm sure that it came to the house when you were at the clinic and he took it to the office to make sure you wouldn't see it."

"He doesn't want me to leave Starling." Evelyn said as she looked at her twin for a moment.

Tommy didn't have to say anything for her to know it was true. It was written all over his face. She shouldn't have been surprised, but she had hoped that her father would have been supportive of her going to college and then starting her own career. It seemed that he still wanted to control things for her and even her brother, but she wasn't going to allow that to happen.

Looking at Oliver's face, she gave him half a smile before speaking. "This is going to sting a bit, but you should know the drill by now."

Hearing the sharp intake of breath from Oliver, made her smile a little larger. "So what did you do this time?"

"What makes you think that I did something?" Oliver asked her, trying not to wince as she pressed a cotton ball with hydrogen peroxide just above his eyebrow. She had cleaned up the blood around the wound, but it had started to bleed again when she began to clean it.

"You can never walk away from a fight or an argument. Especially when you've had a few drinks in you," Evelyn told him honestly. "So who was it this time?"

"Devon Ward." Tommy said speaking up from his seat across the room.

Oliver didn't need to have his eyes on Evelyn to see her tense up at the name. "What did he say?"

"I didn't hear it but it must have been bad since Ollie over there took the first swing and punched him right in the nose. Actually by doing that he probably made his nose better."

Moving around so that her back was now to her brother, she lowered her voice so Tommy wasn't able to hear her. "What did he say Oliver?"

"It doesn't matter," he said shaking his head. "It's done and over with."

"It matters to me," she said softly as she looked him in the eyes. "Please."

"He was gloating that he was going to take your virginity next weekend. I couldn't let him get away with saying that about you."

"Thank you," she said. "But next time don't lower yourself to his level. I broke things off with him two weeks ago. So there is no worries about what he wants to happen."

"I would still do it," Oliver said. "You don't deserve someone like him saying that stuff."

"Because I'm a girl?" Evelyn asked. "Or because you think you need to protect me?"

"Because you are important to me."

Nodding her head, she gave him a half smile that didn't even come close to reaching her eyes. Backing away she gathered her supplies and went into the bathroom to clean what she could and to throw away what needed to be tossed. Taking a deep breath, she shook her head. Turning on the water from the sink, she washed Oliver's blood from her hands before walking out into her room.

"Take some aspirin before bed. It should help with your discomfort," she said looking at Oliver and then held her hand out to Tommy who was still holding the envelope that would determine her future. Was it going to be here in Starling while under her father's thumb or would she be able to make her mother proud and become a doctor and save people? "I helped Oliver now give me the damn letter."

Snatching the letter out of her brother's hand, she looked over it without opening it. She just stared at the Harvard logo. This is what she had spent years preparing for. Getting away from her father and Starling City and learning how to save the lives of people who need help was what she wanted to do. In her mind it would make her mother proud of her. What if the letter inside was nothing but a rejection letter? How would she be able to look at herself in the mirror knowing that she wasn't good enough to get into Harvard?

Taking a deep breath, she flipped the letter over and carefully opened it up. Biting down on her lip, she opened it up so she could read what it had to say. Her eyes went over the words three times before it finally sunk in.

"Well?" Tommy asked, breaking the silence in the room. "What does it say?"

Throwing her arms around her brother's neck, she let the tears fall down her face freely as she whispered the words that didn't feel real to her. "I got in."

Music pounding through the speakers, Evelyn Merlyn looked at the people gathered at the Queen residence for the last minute party that Oliver and Tommy had thrown for her. She was leaving in just two days to get settled and learn her was around the Harvard campus and she was more than ready to leave Starling. That didn't mean she wasn't going to miss everyone. The most important people in her life would be in Starling. Laurel, her best friend would be here. She wished she could take her with because it would mean she had someone to be there with her when she started to feel alone. But that just wasn't going to happen. If she was honest the one that she would miss the most would be her twin brother. This would be the first time that they would be living apart for a long time and there was no doubt in her mind that leaving Tommy in Starling was the hardest thing she would do.

Seeing her brother over by the makeshift bar, she smiled to herself as she walked over to him. Leaning close to his ear, she spoke so he could hear her. "How many have you had so far?"

Looking at his sister, he finished off the cup before setting it down and pouring something else into it. Standing close to her, he had to speak up to be heard over the music that was pounding through the speakers. "Does it matter? I'll drink whatever I want or how much I want."

Grabbing his arm so he couldn't turn his back to her, she looked into his eyes with a mixture of hurt and confusion. "What is wrong with you? Did someone turn you down for a date?"

"No. I just don't need you trying to be Mom. You aren't her!"

Evelyn was taken aback by the words that came out of her brother's mouth, but she wouldn't let him know it. "I wasn't trying to be her Tommy. What's the matter with you?"

"Nothing. Shouldn't you be in bed since your flight leaves so early tomorrow and your not taking the jet so don't you need to be at the airport earlier?"

"I've done worse on less sleep. Are you going to tell me who put the stick up your ass or are you just going to act like this for the rest of the night?"

"Why are you acting the way you are? Don't make this about me, Evie."

"How can I not? Look at you, sulking at a party that was not my idea. It was all you and Oliver!"

"I am not sulking. Good night, Evie. Have a safe flight tomorrow."

"Tommy, please don't walk away from me!"

Chuckling to himself, Tommy ignored her and walked away. Evelyn took a deep breath and tried to keep her watering eyes in check, but it was of no use. The words that her brother spoke to her had been painful to hear and she didn't know why he even said them. It just didn't make sense.

Letting the tears fall down her cheeks, she wiped them away as quickly as she could. The last thing she wanted was for someone to see her crying at a party that was supposed to be a celebration of her leaving Starling.

"Evelyn?" hearing the familiar voice from behind her, she didn't move. Looking at the path that Tommy had left by. When she felt a hand on her shoulder, she finally looked at the person that had called her name. It was Oliver, the one person that would have to watch out for her brother while she was gone. "Are you having…are you crying?"

"I'm fine," she said, putting a fake smile on her face. "Thank you for the last minute send off. Not sure how you pulled it off, but it was very nice Oliver."

"Why are you really crying?"

Letting out a loud sigh, she took the drink out of his hand and took a large swig of it before doing it again. "Tommy and I just had a fight and I'm really sure what it was really about."

"It couldn't have been that bad," Oliver said swinging his arm over her shoulders. "It is probably just a little fight, just like how me and Laurel fight, except you two are related."

Trying to keep the laugh in, she just shook her head at him as he took his cup back. "You know Oliver, I'm really going to miss you. Probably more than I actually realize."

"It won't be the same without you around here," Oliver told her. "And I just don't mean that since you won't be here to patch me and Tommy up if we get into trouble."

"I think you mean when."

Laughing, Oliver put the cup on the table before placing his hands on the sides of her face and really looked into her eyes. "Make sure you come home once in awhile."

"No promises," she said with a small smile upon her face. "But you can always come visit me."

Leaning down, Oliver captured her lips with his own before pulling her even closer to him. In all the years that he had been friends with the Merlyn family, not once had he ever made a move on Evelyn. It had mainly been because of his friendship with Tommy, but Oliver couldn't think about that at the moment. All he could think about was Evelyn opening her mouth so he could deepen their kiss. When they finally broke apart, she looked at him confused. "Laurel-"

"We aren't together."

Looking into his eyes, she felt him lace their fingers before he started walking towards the staircase that would lead up to the bedrooms.

A/N: Let me know what you think!