Hello, everyone! I'm back again with another installment of Anything For Love! How ya doing? :) If you've been reading this from the beginning, you might have noticed a bit of a change. I've been thinking about it since I posted the last chapter and I finally came to a decision. I'm lowering the rating from M to T. Originally, when I began writing this, I was going to use it to challenge myself. I'm not exactly comfortable with writing those romantic M scenes so I thought this would be my chance to do so. However, the more I thought about it and the more story I continued to write, I came to the conclusion that while those kinds of scenes would be a good challenge for me, I found that they don't really fit in well with the rest of the story. Theme-wise anyway. Perhaps once the story is finished, I can post bonus scenes in the M category so I can still get my challenge. How does that sound to everyone?

And what kind of feelings are you getting about Isla? Does she worry you or do you just flat-out hate her? Let me know! ;)

Okay, talking too much. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

3 Linny


Anything For Love

Chapter Three

She chose a restaurant with an outside patio. It was a beautiful, warm day and the breeze was just cool enough for it to not be completely unpleasant as they sat under the shade of an umbrella. The food was delicious too.

"I'm glad we could do this," she told him once they were finished eating. Sitting back in her seat, she took a sip from her glass of iced tea.

"Me too," he grinned as he finished off his last piece of his lemon-baked chicken. He hadn't realized just how hungry he'd been. It had been a while since he'd enjoyed a proper meal like this. It was tough being broke. "So, tell me about yourself. What have you been up to?"

She lifted one shoulder in a shrug, giving Oliver a glimpse of the girl he'd met five years before. Insecure. Uncertain. "There really isn't much to tell."

He shook his head. "I don't believe that." During the meal, he'd tried again to press her for information about the last time he'd seen her, but she'd shied away from that topic just like he used to do about his time on Lian Yu. He knew it was best not to push, though. He had the feeling that she would tell him in time. Now that he knew she was okay, he wasn't going to let her just fade away. He was going to take care of her like he'd promised all those years ago. "You're the CEO of your own tech company. How did that happen?"

She furrowed her brows in confusion. She hadn't told him that. "How did you know that?"

He shrugged, but avoided eye contact for a few beats. "I may have Googled you while I was in the shower," he said in an off-handed manner. "It's just a habit. Good business practices and all that. It's helps to eye up the competition."

She arched an eyebrow in question. "So... I'm competition, now?"

He rolled his eyes at the way he'd put his foot in his mouth. It was unusual of him. Usually that was Felicity's area of expertise. "That's not what I meant." He realized he'd been laughing at himself and he appreciated just how good that felt. The last few months—or rather, the last year—had been much too heavy for his liking.

Avoiding conversation for a moment, he took a sip from his water. He then looked at their surroundings. The streets were quite crowded this time of day, people coming and going in a bustle that had—until recently—become quite unusual for Starling City. He was beginning to think that the city was beginning to recover. After Malcolm Merlyn's attack, and the Mirakuru army, it deserved it.

Content to see that things were slowly returning to the way they'd been, he returned his attention back to Isla. "What?" he asked, when he realized she was staring at him, her brows furrowed together as she regarded him.

She waited a beat before shaking her head. "Nothing. You just seem... different, is all."

"Well, I am different." He'd implied to make those words sound differently, as if his experiences had made him cold and hard. It was almost as if he was trying to warn her away from him.

But, from the way she tilted her head slightly as she continued to study him, she didn't see him that way at all. "No. There's a light in your eyes I never got to see before."

"You're seeing things. I'm the same person you met five years ago. Only now, I've ended up losing my family's company and everything they owned because I was too distracted by my own agenda." His eyes immediately turned ice cold, his fingers wrapping tightly around his serving knife.

Nodding, she leaned forward, elbow on the table, her chin resting in her palm. "I heard," she scowled. "You know, I never did like that bitch, Isabel Rochev," she growled in contempt. "She tried to take over StewartTech last year before coming to Starling City."

"Tried?" He released his hold on the knife and it clattered down onto the table top. Isabel was lucky she was dead or else he would have hunted her down and put an arrow through her. No one would blame him.

"Our investors really believe in what we're doing and the board refused her multiple offers once they saw what we had in store for the future. They knew Isabel would turn it into something that was just like every other company in this country. She was not a happy camper when she lost, let me tell you."

A grin twitched at the corner of his mouth. "I bet that was a sight to see."

"I was highly entertained. Especially after she made the moves on Rick. And was shot down." Her smile was a bit triumphant and her eyes sparkled with an evil glee.

"Yeah... I was wondering when we were going to address the elephant in the room. When do I get to meet him?"

Her grin faded, only to be replaced with a heavy frown. At least, that's what it had looked like for the split second it had taken for it to change only to be replaced with her usual nonchalant expression. "Unfortunately, he's away at the moment. In Europe. I came to Starling on my own."

"Too bad. It would be an honor to meet the man who saved you."

She smiled reflectively as her right hand lifted to play with the delicate white gold chain hanging around her neck. Something was hanging on it, but it dipped too low inside her dress that Oliver couldn't see what it was. "We both know that title belongs to someone else."

He shook his head. "I only did what anyone else would have done."

"But, no one else did. And I never got to thank you properly."

He frowned. "I don't really deserve thanks. I slipped up. When Anatoly told me that you were gone... that they'd taken you..."

She shook her head. "I thought we weren't going to talk about this." She winced slightly and her voice was filled with a hint of pain.

"I can't help but feel guilty."

"Well, don't," she barked at him. Her tone was cold as she'd retreated into herself. Oliver was briefly gifted with a glance at the tough-as-nails CEO he'd read about. "It happened and there's nothing you could have done to prevent it. And besides, something good did come of it. I met Rick."

He opened his mouth to say something more, ask so many questions, but her expression was telling him that the subject was closed. Was this how he acted when Felicity and Digg asked him questions about the five years he'd been away?

"Well, that's enough talk about me. Tell me about you. Is there anyone special in your life now?" There was the sheen of tears sparkling in her eyes, but they'd disappeared with a few quick blinks.

Choosing the let the previous topic go, he began to shake his head. It was his usual automatic response to that question. But this time, he'd paused when he thought of Felicity. Special was a word that just seem to describe that woman in the most accurate way.

"It's... complicated."

"Ooh. Sounds juicy. Tell me about her." She gave a little, excited wiggle in her seat, giving Oliver a glimpse of the woman who was hidden under all of the darkness in her life. He wanted to see more of that. He just wished he could help break down those walls. "It's that girl... Laurel, wasn't it?"

Like Felicity had done for him. Oh, of course they weren't all down, but there was definitely a big gaping hole where she'd broken through his defenses. Her and that ponytail of hers. He didn't usually allow him the luxury of thinking about her. It only brought pain and anguish when he thought of all the things he couldn't be for her. But then he would feel the way she affected him on an emotional level and consider giving into the urge of putting everything on the back-burner just to be with her.

When he'd told her that he loved her to only fool Slade, he knew he'd been lying. He did. He loved the way her eyes lit up whenever he entered the room. He loved the way her mind and her mouth were continuously at odds with with another to the point that she babbled on end. He even loved the way she stood up to him without fear of reprisal. But the one thing he loved most about her was that she could always find a way to make him smile without even trying.

Shaking his head, he reached for his water glass. "It's not Laurel." It was suddenly beginning to feel a bit warm to him. "And there's not much to tell."

She scoffed at him with a roll of her eyes. "Yeah, like I believe that. You're still a terrible liar."

"So people keep telling me," he muttered through pursed lips. Yes, he could lie to bad guys without batting an eye, but when it came to people he cared about, he was as transparent as the glass in his hand.

"So, what makes it so complicated?"

He rolled his eyes. She just wasn't going to let this go, was she? "Lots of things."

Sitting back in her chair, she fixed a knowing gaze and shook her head at him. But what else should she have expected. As long as she'd known him, Oliver Queen had always been strong-willed, brave, and a little bit self-deprecating. It was beginning to look like that hadn't changed. And this conversation was getting them nowhere.

She took another sip of her iced tea and sat back in her seat again, folding her hands across her stomach. "I doesn't have to be as complicated as you say it is, you know."

Oh, how he wished that were true. "So, what kind of business brings you to Starling?"

She chuckled. "Same old Oliver. Master at changing the subject."

He shrugged nonchalantly, but it was obvious the conversation had been putting a strain on him. "Just curious. After all, we didn't just get together so we could talk about my love life... or lack thereof."

She supposed she could accept that. After all, he wasn't pressing on things she didn't want to talk about. "StewartTech has a subsidiary here in Starling. I came to check up on things, as a CEO is likely to do."

"Is that all?" While he completely understood that aspect of her business, he had the feeling there was something more to her visit.

She shook her head. "No. I'm also here on a recruitment mission. We are looking to add to our personnel and while River City is quickly becoming a technical hub, I heard Starling was the place to start looking."

The expression on his face was disbelieving for a second. "So, you flew three-thousand miles to recruit new hires?"

"Something like that," was her evasive answer.

Oliver shifted in his seat as he noticed a cloud of something akin to worry pass over her features. There was another reason for her visit and it seemed like she was less than willing to tell him. The hair on the back of his neck stood at attention as he reached across the table. He took hold of one of her hands, giving in a gentle squeeze. It took her two beats too long before she looked up at him again. "Is everything alright? Are you in some kind of trouble?"

Her gaze softened at the tenderness she saw in her eyes and she allowed the hint of a smile to show. Her back and shoulders were still rigid, though. "It's nothing I can't handle, Oliver."

He didn't like the sound of that. "I can help."

"Oh, I'm certain of that. But, I can take care of myself." She mimicked his movement, but inside of going for his hand, she reached for his cheek. Cupping it tenderly, she brushed her thumb against the bristles of his stubble. "But thank you for being so concerned." Getting up from her seat, she leaned over and placed a kiss on his opposite cheek.

"Isla..." he started but she wouldn't let him continue.

"I have to go. Thanks for today. It was great seeing you again." She reached into her purse and threw some money down to pay the bill.

This wasn't right. She was in trouble; he just knew it. And he could help her if she would just let him. He reached for her again, his fingers making contact with the leather cuff bracelet she wore on her left wrist that he knew was hiding a very distinct tattoo. "Isla," he protested.

She kissed his cheek again, making sure to look him in the eye. "Don't let your fears win, Oliver. Whatever is making you hold back, sometimes it's just better to let love win."

He shook his head, still studying her. "I never said that I loved her."

The broad smile and familiar twinkle in her eye returned for an instant. "You didn't have to."

With that, she left him sitting in his seat, staring after her as she hurried to the awaiting car. The driver said nothing as he opened the door for her. She began to climb in, but paused and looked back at Oliver. His heart clenched in pain for her as he saw the familiar sheen of tears running down her cheeks.