What just happened? That was the first thought that occurred to Oliver Queen as he walked away from the gorgeous blonde who had held his attention since she showed up at Verdant that night. He spotted her as soon as she entered the bar and he hadn't been able to keep his eyes off of her. From bright blue eyes to legs that seemed to go on for days, he was completely enraptured with her. When he had seen the man that she was talking to get a bit too close and saw she was uncomfortable, he was headed across the dance floor before he could think twice about it.
Now, here he was, unable to stop thinking about her in the basement under Verdant that he liked to call his "man cave". Okay, he didn't actually call it that, but that's what Thea, his sister, called it when he showed her everything he had down here. It was basically one big open space with training mats, an archery wall for target practice, a salmon ladder, and lots of other workout equipment he had collected over the years. Ever since his dad died of a heart attack when Oliver was sixteen, Oliver began working out in an attempt to control the anger he felt for having to grow up so fast. It had been just over a decade since his father passed away and it had worked so far.
"Oliver? Oliver! Are you down here?" Oliver heard his best friend, Tommy, calling for him.
"Yeah, I'm down here!" Oliver called up to Tommy so he could hear him. With the thump of the music from the club, it was a small miracle he heard Tommy at all.
Tommy came down the stairs as Oliver stood from the couch against the wall and they met at the bottom of the stairs. Tommy was smiling wide and Oliver knew his best friend was up to something.
"So… Who was that hot blonde you were talking to and did you get her number?" Tommy was grinning at this point and Oliver rolled his eyes at him. Did he ever mind his own damn business?
Oliver took a deep breath before responding with a shake of his head and turned away from Tommy to leave. "It's been a long night. I'm gonna head out."
"Come on, Oliver! Don't be like that. I was just messing with you. Let's go get some food. I'm starving. My treat." Tommy said, following Oliver up the stairs.
"Well, I can't argue with that." Oliver replied, releasing a breath in relief that Tommy let it go.
Now if only Oliver could let it go, too. But he couldn't help but feel there was something different. Like he had made the biggest mistake of his life walking away from her.
When Oliver got home later that night, the heavy feeling he had since walking away from the woman in the club hadn't faded and had actually gotten worse. Maybe I'm getting sick, he tried convincing himself.
After his shower, as he was pulling his sweatpants on and his mind was already on his big, comfy bed and the soundless sleep he was going to be getting for the next eight or so hours, he saw it. A small, green arrow was now on the right side of his torso, just above his hipbone. This was it. This was his soulmate mark.
Oliver Queen knew all about soulmate marks. It was impossible not to. As sure as the sky is blue, once you touched your soulmate, you got matching marks. Oliver never really gave it much thought; he figured he would be one of those people who never settled down. After his dad died, he saw how hard his mom had taken it. People who have lost their soulmate say it's more than just the mark that bound you to that person fading away – it's like losing your heart. His mom was no different. He watched as his mom struggled to function every single day after his dad died. He watched as she checked out of his life and his sister's life because she couldn't deal with the pain that came with losing your soulmate. That lasted for six years before she started to be even a shadow of herself again. Oliver realized then that he never wanted to go through that. To give yourself to someone so completely was never appealing to Oliver and he could never see himself doing that. Ever.
But now, seeing the small green arrow – which was ironic, since he liked archery but he had no idea why it was green, of all colors – on his torso affected him in a surprising way. He realized he no longer looked forward to his big, empty bed. He no longer looked forward to falling asleep by himself and waking up alone. He wanted this. He wanted someone he could share his life with. He wanted someone he could come home to and confide in. He wanted a soulmate.
As that realization dawned on him, so did another: Who the hell had he touched that made his mark appear?
