She's just far better than me so don't bother I'm tired of this triangle

Oliver

Oliver stepped through the Lance's entrance door, just to be greeted by the sight of Sara turning towards him.

The next thing he knew Sara was in his arms, one of her hands holding on to his neck and the other one around his bicep while they were passionately kissing. This was not what he had expected. Sara was not what he had expected. Not that he minded the greeting or the blonde's presence, but he was actually here because he thought Laurel was home and he wanted to surprise her.

So this was a very unexpected turn of events. But then again, everything since the younger Lance sister's nineteenth birthday was an unexpected event.

Her birthday, or more accurately the night leading up to her birthday, had been when everything had changed between them, at least in a way. It had been the first time since the start of their physical involvement that they had been neither drunk nor high.

It had been the first time that they had no excuse as to what they were doing.

Before that, they always did. No matter how lame it was. They could blame it on the alcohol or the drugs.

But not anymore.

And definitely not right now. Which brought him back to the present and the question of why Sara was home and Laurel wasn't.

Wasn't Sara supposed to be in dance class?

And Laurel should be home, according to Tommy, who had run into her earlier today.

Where was the rest of the Lance family?

"Mom and dad took Laurel out to dinner, to celebrate her latest academic achievement. I happily passed." Sara answered his questions before he could ask them once they came up for air for good after quite some time.

"Aren't you supposed to be in dance class?" He realized the almost accusatory note in his voice too late and Sara was already looking at him in a unique mix of bewilderment, anger and, what he was pretty sure was, hurt.

"Sorry for disappointing you with my presence. It was cancelled this week, not that I told my parents that, I was glad to have an excuse to not go to dinner and listen to how proud they are of Laurel..." She pushed herself away from him and took a couple of steps back before turning around and leaving the room and him, leaving him standing there with suddenly empty arms, looking like an idiot.

Still trying to figure out what exactly happened.

"Laurel should be back in two to three hours. Feel free to let yourself out." She called out while looking at him over her shoulder before turning back around and climbing the stairs.

"Sara... wait! I didn't... that's not... I didn't mean for it to sound the way it did. I just thought Laurel was here and didn't expect you to be home..." He tried to explain and get out of the situation he somehow managed to get himself into but it didn't take him long to once again realize that his choice in words might not have been the best. He hated how Sara somehow managed to do that. How she turned him into a babbling idiot, who was incapable of smooth-talking or lying to her.

"Fuck you, Oliver! I'm sorry you came here looking for Laurel and all you got was the disappointment that is me." Sara was whirled towards him on the stairs, glaring daggers at him. Oliver, she had just called him Oliver. She never called him by his full name, not until she wanted to make a point or was really mad.

"That's not... dammit! You know I didn't mean it like that, Pretty Bird." He tried to get out of the hot seat by using the endearment, a tactic that usually worked.

"Don't you Pretty Bird me, Oliver Jonas! And what are you still doing here? I'm obviously not who you're here to see and perfect Laurel is not here, so get the hell out and leave me the fuck alone! I'm so fucking tired of this shit! I'm not just… fuck! Just go." Sara's anger lost steam towards the end and turned into something else entirely, when she swallowed hard and bit her lip, before turning back around and climbing the rest of the stairs. He watched her disappear down the hall and listened to the sound of her bedroom door closing behind her.

He was still standing at the bottom of the stairs, feeling like a heel not knowing what he was supposed to do.

Should he leave like she asked him to?

Should he follow her and try to fix what he just fucked up?

Should he wait here until she calmed down?

He didn't know.

He always knew what to do when he fucked up with Laurel. It was simple, always the same song and dance. He apologized, bought her some flowers and jewellery, maybe some chocolates, took her out to a nice dinner,… easy, simple, almost routine by now.

But Sara, Sara was an entirely different story.

The one time he had bought her a beautiful, very expensive bouquet to apologize, she threw the flowers back in his face, telling him he must be confused which Lance he was dealing with and he could go fuck himself if he thought buying her useless stuff would make things right.

Oliver contemplated for another minute before climbing the stairs himself, walking down the corridor and stopping in front of Sara's closed door. Wondering whether he should knock or just walk in. He decided to just walk in and avoid another "fuck you" from her side of the door.

"Sara. Look. I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything the way it came out. You know that. You know I'm always happy to see you and spend time with you. C'mon Pretty Bird, please forgive me." Words, she valued honesty, he hoped it worked.

"I'm just so sick and tired of always being compared to Laurel and coming up lacking. I'm not her, Ollie. I'll never be her, I can't be her. If that's who you're looking for, if you come to me because you miss her… stop. I'm not your answer. I can't be a stand in for Laurel, because I can't be Laurel." The blonde had sat up on her bed and was looking straight at him, he could see the traces of the tears that she must have cried in the time it took him to decide to come after her and boy was he glad he did.

"That's not… Sara. I'm not with you because Laurel's away at college to have you as a stand in. I'm with you because you are you. And I like being with you. I like your company. Me being with you has nothing to do with Laurel at all. And I don't think that you're lacking anything at all. You're perfect the way you are. My Pretty Bird." He couldn't believe that she thought that. How could she think that? They've known each other for fourteen years, they've been friends for fourteen years. Why would she think like that? Did he give her that impression? Did he make her feel like she needed to be more like Laurel?

The fact that Sara was so very different from Laurel was the reason he was drawn to her. He could be himself with her. She didn't expect anything from him. She didn't expect him to be anything but himself. And that was why he kept on coming back to her. Why he just couldn't quit her. No matter how often he tried.

She was an addict and she was his drug.

He had moved towards her bed and sat down next to her during his speech. He lifted his hand to brush some of her hair behind her ear, before placing his hand on her cheek. Watching her intently and noticing when she glanced at her lap for a moment and bit her lip again.

"Sara…" he cleared his throat when he noticed the lump in it that kept him from finishing the sentence he had started, noticing that he had no idea what he was going to say besides her name. He focused on watching her face, trying to gather his thoughts when Sara suddenly raised her eyes again and looked him straight in the eyes. It only took a second before his lips were on hers and they were kissing softly. They parted just to look at each other again.

"Sara…" this time he never got to finish because the woman in question grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him towards her, crushing her lips to his in a passionate kiss. Moving backwards on her bed, all the while holding on to his shirt to ensure that he was following her. She let go of the front just to grip the hem and pull it over his head. Before kissing him again.

Oliver took hold of her tights and pulled her into his lap doing with her shirt what she had done with his…

The two blondes were sitting in the living room watching TV as if nothing had happened by the time the rest of the Lance family returned home from dinner. Sara excused herself shortly thereafter going to her room while Laurel happily took over her sister's place on the couch next to him. Oliver had to concentrate really hard to keep himself from staring after Sara and watching her walk away.

He put a smile on his face and reminded himself that the reason he had come here was to see and spend time with Laurel, which was what he ended up doing until Laurel's dad kicked him out, telling him it was late and that he should get home.