The next time I saw Ollie was when he was getting legally resurrected. In the eyes of the law, my love would alive again making it official that he was really back. I showed up at the Queen's estate to go with them to the courthouse. Ollie seemed more exasperated with me than anything, but he didn't argue with me tagging along.

The worst thing I have ever experienced was seeing Ollie in the courthouse that day. Hearing him talk about the accident and his father's death was just awful. I wished there was some way that I could take his pain away.

We ran into Laurel after the hearing, and she wasn't at all happy to see either of us. As I was trying to cheer Oliver up he was swarmed by the paparazzi. He managed to get away by speeding off in his car leaving both me, and his bodyguard to ride with his mother. I didn't understand him, all I wanted to talk to him. Actually talk, not catch up, or speak about Laurel, but talk about us.

I decided to give Oliver some space, eh had a lot going on. He probably still had to adjust and I was patient. I left him alone until the dedication of the memorial building in his father's name. The Queens were also going to announce that Ollie was going to be taking a leadership position in the family company, I was so proud of him.

I started scanning the crowd looking for Oliver, maybe we could sneak away undetected and finally clear the air about everything. To my surprise I spotted Laurel, I never would have guessed that she would have come to this. I walked over to her seeing as Oliver was nowhere to be found, "Okay, this is a surprise. Did you show up here by mistake?"

"By invitation, Oliver invited me last night." Her words cut through me like a sharpened blade, especially the final two last night. What had they been up to last night?

"Last night?" I repeated dumbly.

"Is that surprise or jealousy, I'm hearing?" It was definitely jealousy but it was so not in the way she thought.

I decided to be as honest with her as possible, "Look, I don't want him to find out anything, okay? Oliver has been through a lot." The last thing that I needed was for Ollie to find out that I had been sleeping with Laurel while he was presumed dead. I was trying to get back to where we were before he was taken from me, not push him even farther away.

Laurel gave me a look that read 'You've got some nerve' before saying, "Tommy, we have all been through a lot."

Before I could respond, Walter began to present the dedication. He didn't get too far into his speech, before Oliver interrupted him. He had two girls on his arms he seemed a little tipsy. I stared at him in shock. Oliver was usually pretty good about drinking before events that were important to his mother.

I looked back to the stage where Thea stood looking mortified by her brother's display. Ollie walked up onto the stage and began to speak; he was, quite frankly, making an ass out of himself. He was turning down the leadership role that his mother so desperately wanted him to take, and embarrassing his family in the process. He was putting on a show, this wasn't genuine, and I cold tell by the way he looked when he mentioned his father's name. Whatever his reason for this was, it had something to do with whatever he was hiding. I just didn't know what that was yet.

Eventually he stumbled off the stage and Laurel and I exchanged knowing glances. She thought that Oliver was just back to his spoiled playboy ways. I knew he was hiding something.

A few days later Oliver called me up and asked me to come check out the space for the new nightclub that he had decided to open. Obviously, I jumped at the chance to see him, so I hastily agreed and got ready in record time.

When I met him at the address, I was surprised to see that Oliver had decided to open his new nightclub in his father's abandoned warehouse in the glades. Normally I would have brought this up, but when Ollie got an idea in his head it was nearly impossible to get it out. It was one of the many things that I loved about him.

"So what do you think?" He asked, "Great spot for a nightclub or what?"

"Sweet," I said looking around the place; it was pretty perfect, despite the location. It was well sized and if anyone could make it look awesome it was Ollie. "Though, I've got to tell you man, if you're thinking about calling it Queens, I don't think you're going to get the clientele that you were hoping for." It was a subtle dig that he undoubtedly didn't care for but he let it slide.

Oliver just pointed out an area as if I hadn't said a word, "Private office."

I chuckled, it was almost as if it was Ollie's way of letting me know we would be having plenty of fun in this club of his, "For the private one on one meetings, I would imagine."

"Hopefully the occasional two on one meetings." He joked lightly and I laughed, playing along as if the idea of him being with someone else when he hadn't even kissed me since he'd been home didn't make me sick to my stomach.

"Man, are you sure that you want to do this?" I asked. Oliver had just came back to civilization after being gone for five years, and just a few days ago made a fool of himself at a corporate event. This was the most ambitious he had wanted to do . . . well ever, "It's not like you have any experience running a . . . well running anything."

Oliver just stared at me. It was the same look he wore during our only fight. When I begged him not to date Laurel Lance all those years ago. He had just given me that look. That expression meant that this was nonnegotiable and that I could either deal with it or leave.

I sighed as I came up with an idea that would both help him with his club and maybe get some alone time in there. "How about tomorrow night, the two of us, we go and scope out the competition? There is a new club opening downtown. It's called Poison, Max Fuller owns it."

Ollie just stared at me clearly growing impatient, "Max Fuller?" I nodded, and he nodded back as if I was some idiot who wasn't getting the big picture, "I slept with his fiancé."

"Yeah before the wedding," I said in recollection. That wasn't a memory I was ever going to forget, Max was pissed to say the least.

His expression didn't change as he continued, "it was at the rehearsal dinner."

I started to laugh again it was so typically Ollie, "The rehearsal dinner is technically before the wedding, right?"

To my relief, Oliver started to laugh along with me as he remembered that night. Suddenly my phone buzzed, "Besides, who stays mad at a castaway," I said glancing at my phone, "Oh damn it, I got to go." Ollie looked slightly disappointed that I had to leave, "Good place," I patted him on the shoulder as I glanced around the warehouse one last time. "See you," I nodded to his security guard on my way out.

Normally I would have just ignored my phone and stayed with Ollie, but lately I felt like I had just been following him around like a puppy, and I wasn't going to just come when he came calling. Ollie wasn't the only one who could play hard to get.

The next evening Oliver and I went to Max Fuller's club as I suggested. Honestly it seemed like a good idea at the start, the club looked cool, and at the least we could get totally wasted, and who knew where the evening would progress. "Oh my, this is going to be killer." I exclaimed as we walked in.

Ollie simply glared at me, "It Max Fuller sees me here, I agree."

I shrugged; I was quite pleased with myself, being able to get Oliver to come here despite clearly not wanting to. It was almost like old times, "Ah, if you want to run a business, you've got to take a few risks."

Then Oliver did the most amazing thing. He told the bouncer not to let Diggle, his security guard, in the club. He had just eliminated the cockblock and it was one more obstacle out of my way. My face must have lit up like the Fourth of July, because Diggle looked annoyed with me, but it didn't matter, Ollie and I would easily be able to sneak away now.

We continued to make our way around the club, when we, much to my displeasure, spotted Laurel. If this was any other night and if I was with any other person then I would have been over the moon to see her, but I had not just gotten rid of one cockblock just to run into another one.

"Oh wow," I said obnoxiously as we walked up to her, "Doesn't you going out and having fun violate some type of law, like the ones that are carved in a stone tablet?"

"That's cute, Tommy," She said not paying much attention to me, all she was concerned about was Oliver, and all he was paying attention to was her. It was like they had forgotten that I was even there.

Then, as if the night weren't going downhill fast enough, Thea decided to come up to Ollie. She was completely wasted, and Oliver was immediately pissed to say the least. I sighed as I ordered two shots- one for Laurel and one for me-as Oliver dealt with her.

I was getting increasingly discouraged. Laurel plus Thea , it was the definition of getting in the way. The two of them were even worse than Diggle, at this rate I was never going to get Ollie to myself.

The real trouble began when Oliver tried to lecture Thea about the company that she kept, things got ugly from there.

"You're one to talk," She slurred drunkenly, "How much do you know about your so called friends over here?"

I immediately started to panic. I had forgotten that Thea knew about what went on between Laurel and I. The last thing that I wanted for Ollie to find out about it this way, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, Thea, maybe you shouldn't-"

"Tommy, I think your BFF has a right to know," she said in a snarky tome. My heart panged. Thea knew about the relationship that Oliver and I used to share, and she was just doing this to hurt us.

"Thea," Oliver warned her, "Let's go."

She simply ignored him, "Well I guess they never told you. They've been screwing when you were gone."

There was a long and awkward silence. Thea looked quite pleased with herself.

My heart began to fall. I had no idea what Ollie was thinking. I didn't know if I could survive him being mad at me, after missing him for all this time, it would be earthshattering. "Look, man, I-"

"Tommy," Oliver said calmly, looking unfazed, "It's okay." He turned his attention back to Thea, who ended up storming off shortly after.

Then as if the evening couldn't get any worse, Max Fuller spotted us. Max had some of his bouncers escort Ollie into some back room. Instinctively I followed not too far behind. When I entered the room I saw them punch Oliver to the ground before picking him up to attempt to do it again.

"Let him go, let him go, let him go," I pleaded trying to get past the bouncers and to Ollie. Finally I just went around them, and got in between Oliver and them, "I said 'Let him go!'"

I tried, unsuccessfully to push them away, as Oliver muttered in my ear, "Told you he was going to be pissed."

I ignored him as I turned my attention to the bouncers, "If you want to get to him then you're going to have to go through me," Ollie seemed amused by that, there were three bouncers and they were all substantially bigger than me. Sure, I could hold my own in a fight, but not against three guys who could squash my like a bug just by looking at me, "Wow," I looked back to Oliver, "They are probably going to go through me."

When the fight broke out I managed to keep one of them away from Ollie, but the other two were beating on him pretty hard. Then, to our luck, Laurel came and saved the day. Using the self-defense that her father had taught her she beat up Max easily and got him to call of his guys. I had never been so happy that her dad was a detective in my life.

After some awkward silence, Ollie finally spoke up, "Laurel, what Thea said-"

"Oliver," she interrupted, her patience clearly running thin, "Tommy, and I don't need your blessing. And I don't need your forgiveness." She stormed away leaving Ollie and I alone. I looked at him waiting to for him to say something, anything to reassure me. He just walked out of the club, with my following close behind.

After that Diggle took us to some burger joint for us to recover. He motioned to an attractive waitress and I gave a small wave, "Wow, that girl is cute-"

"That's my sister-in-law," Diggle shut me up, and Oliver didn't look to pleased about my comment either, so I backtracked.

"-Who I will never speak to or look at . . .ever," I decided that I needed to take a seat and relax, "I'm gonna go grab a booth."

Oliver soon followed me to the booth that I had plopped down on. All I had wanted to do tonight was have a good time with Ollie, and I couldn't even manage to make that happen.

There was so much explaining for me to do, and I began to babble, "Look, man, about Laurel. I was going to tell you. I was just trying to figure out the right way-"

"-to tell someone you slept with their girlfriend, after they went missing and presumed dead. What there's no greeting card for that." He teased me lightly.

I laughed bewildered, was this really about Laurel to him. Didn't he care that I had been in a somewhat meaningful relationship with someone? "Look, It was wrong and I am sorry-"

"Tommy, I was dead," He tried to give me an out, but I felt too guilty and far too neglected not to get some reaction out of him.

"You were with Laurel," and me I thought to myself, "and whether you were dead, or as it turns out alive on a deserted island, you're my friend," and so much more, "and me being with Laurel violated that friendship in about fifty different ways," One of them being that you and I used to be together.

"Thank you," he said calmly, showing no visible reaction, "but it's okay."

I searched his face looking for any sign that he was mad. If he was angry at least then something I did would have gotten a reaction of him. If he was angry with me, at least then ho would be feeling something for me. There was nothing, his face was perfectly still.

"You are being, really chill about this, I-" I began before his phone started to buzz.

Ollie answered the phone, and began speaking Russian, it was such a turn on, before putting the caller on hold. He looked to me, "It's a Russian model, calling me, can I have a minute?"

I laughed even though I felt like the world was shattering around me, "I can see now why you were able to be so chill, enjoy." I couldn't get away from that booth quick enough. It felt like he was doing these things to punish me, how could he not see how much I cared for him. We finally got to talk after all this time, and then he blows me off for some model, who he's undoubtedly just met. I wanted to just break down and cry, but I couldn't let Ollie see how much this was all getting to me, it would only push him away further. I just waited in the car until Oliver and Diggle came back and dropped me off at home.

The rest of the night I couldn't stop thinking about Oliver's lack of reaction to the Laurel thing. I just hoped that he realized that whatever happened between Laurel and I had nothing to do with my feelings for him. When he was on the island, I missed him terribly, and I needed somebody, and Laurel was there feeling the exact same things I was feeling. I just needed to know that he understood that.

After that night, I felt uneasy about the whole thing, and I just wanted to see a friend. I decided to see Laurel, and of course she was doing the one thing she always did, work, so I went to the courthouse.

I saw her walking down the steps, head buried in a file, and probably getting ready to go home for the weekend. "Oh what I shock," I said grasping her attention, "It's Friday night, what are you doing here?"

"Well," she said walking towards me, "I am an attorney, and this is a courthouse. I think the better question is, what are you doing here?"

I decided to get right to the point, "I wanted to talk to you about last night."

"You mean, how I saved your asses?" Laurel smirked, "You're welcome."

I stood up from the bench I had been sitting on, "First of all we shall never ever speak of that ever again. Secondly, I think you know that I meant the other thing."

She closed her eyes as she began to walk past me, "I don't care to talk about that."

"I spoke to Oliver," I said swiftly, and she stopped dead in her tracks, clearly listening to me, "he was surprisingly cool."

Laurel turned to face me, "That's because he knew. Did you see his face, when Thea told him? Tommy, he didn't even blink. Trust me, he knew."

My heart sank. Was it possible that he had known all along? Was that the reason why he had been so distant. "Why didn't he say anything," I said more to myself than to her.

"I don't know," She answered, "maybe because he knows he doesn't have the right to judge me."

Or me, I thought to myself. Ollie didn't have the right to be mad with us. All Laurel and I had done was a far less cruel version of what he had done to us all those years ago. It explained why he was so calm and understanding.

When he was here before the accident, Oliver had chosen to be with other people, like Laurel, while he and I were whatever we were, and as for Laurel, he cheated on her with her own sister! The worst part was that he did these things for no other reason other than for his own benefit. How could he be angry with us for coping, when he had done far worse with no excuse.

Even still, I couldn't help but feel that Oliver, angry or not, still didn't want to be with me anymore. I looked at Laurel, she had become my best friend, and I had been increasingly lonely ever since Ollie's return. I just wanted to be someone who I cared for, and who cared about me, and Laurel didn't seem to be in a hurry to get back with Oliver. There was no reason for the two of us not to try and be together.

"There's a silver lining though," I said walking closer to her, "now that the whole truth and nothing but is out, is there a chance now, for you and me?"

Laurel just looked at me and then her shoes, as if trying to come up with a way to let me down easily, I wasn't about to give her the opportunity with out trying to prove myself first.

"You said you didn't think that I was a one girl type of guy," she wasn't wrong, the only serious thing I had even had was with Ollie, and that definitely was not exclusive, "I'm going to prove you wrong."

Laurel gave me a knowing look, "By dating me?"

"By being better," I answered, "by being someone that you deserve and that you want to be with."

"Well," she sighed looking more understanding, "That is certainly a guy, I'd be interested in meeting."

I smiled widely. It may not have been as successful as I had originally hoped, but things were certainly looking up on the Laurel front, "Good, now how about we start, by getting you the heck out of here. Come on it is Friday night." I held out my arm and she linked hers with mine as we walked out of the courthouse.