Prompt: Childhood Memories (part 1)

Pairing: N/A / Fandom: Arrow

Oliver walked into the living room to find Thea sitting there watching some Christmas show he had never heard about.

- "Can't sleep?"

- "Nope. You?" – Thea answered, looking up to her big brother and smiled.

- "Nope."

Oliver sat down by her side on the couch and tried make some sense of the show. He gave up after a few minutes. Turning towards Thea, he just stared at her, waiting for her to notice him.

- "You're creeping me out, Oli." – she said, her eyes never leaving the tv. He was relentless. Oliver knew that, eventually, Thea would give up on ignoring him. – "Okay, I'll bite. What?"

- "Nothing." – Oliver turned to the tv and pretended to watch the show. This was something they used to do when they were kids to mess with each other. Just stare at the other and then pretend nothing was going on. It drove them crazy, but it was so much fun to do, that they still did it all the time.

- "Oh, no. Nope. We're not doing that. We're not little kids anymore, Oli."

- "I don't know what you're talking about, speedy."

- "Right, like I'm gonna believe that." – Thea said, glaring at her brother.

Oliver turned, once more, towards Thea and glared back at her. It soon turned into a staring contest, none of them willing to break eye contact first. They were both stubborn, it ran in the family, and they had been doing that for years, so it was a safe bet that they were both determined not to lose.

It took about 10 minutes, before they burst out laughing, to the point they could barely breathe.

- "God, I don't remember the last time I laughed this hard." – Thea said, still catching her breath.

- "Me neither. Remember when we did this at one of dad's business dinners? He got so pissed at us, but in the end it actually helped." – Oliver replied, laughing again.

- "If I remember correctly, you were the one who started that one too. I thought we were gonna be grounded for life, after that one."

- "I'll be right back." – Oliver said, before leaving the room. Thea knew he was up to something, just by the grin on his lips.

Returning shortly after, Oliver sat down by her side, his legs crisscrossed in front of him, hiding something behind his back.

- "Remember this?" – He said, showing her two candy canes. Thea smiled big. She remembered.

When they were little, as soon as December started, there was always candy canes spread around the house and decorating the tree. Everyday, after school, they would grab two, sit on the couch and would challenge each other, seeing who could eat the candy cane the fastest, just by licking it. Thea would cheat every once in a while, mostly because she knew Oliver would win if she didn't.

- "Really? You wanna go there?" – She asked, a glimmer of mischief in her eyes.

- "Let's go, speedy. Or you're too afraid you're gonna lose?"

- "Oh, it's on. Whoever wins, has to buy dinner. Deal?"

- "Deal." – Oliver answered, getting ready to start. Counting down from three with his fingers, they started licking the candy cane as quickly as they both could. Oliver could tell that Thea was determined to not let him win, but so was he.

Looking back, this had to be one of his favorite childhood memories. Candy cane competitions, staring contests, snowball fights, making snow angels, those were his favorite memories. Memories of when their life was simple and free of all the craziness that seemed to rule their lives now.

Oliver was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't realized that Thea was about to win. By the time he noticed it was too late. She had finished her candy cane.

- "Ah, ah. I won. Finally."

- "Yeah, yeah. I bet you cheated."

- "You're a sore loser, Oliver Queen. Now, where are you taking me to dinner tomorrow?"

Thea had a smug look on her face and was laughing and dancing. Oliver couldn't help but laugh as well, seeing his baby sister doing her "winner dance" and taunting him. Thea had become a beautiful and strong young woman, but seeing her like this, acting like the kid he remembered from before the wreckage, was a more than welcomed sight.

It was memories like this, and of them as little kids, that kept him going on the island, making him determined to return home, at any cost. The little kids are now long gone but the memories they made, those, well, those would last forever.