Ok sorry this took so long. I restarted this story three times. I still don't think it's as good as the first chapter but it had to happen. I have some ideas for the next couple chapters and I'll try not to take so long next time. Reviews are love.

Disclaimer: if I owned Arrow I wouldn't be a teenager writing fanfic now would I?

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The dinner had been going great. Moira was sure she had already landed the investors and they hadn't even ordered yet.

Every time one of them asked Oliver a question about his time on the island, she could deflect it before he even had to answer.

Then Moira and Thea went to the washroom.

"So kid, is it true you weren't actually alone on that island?" The question caught Oliver off guard and he found himself wishing he were a better liar.

"I prefer not to talk about my time away." He tried to sound nonchalant but everyone could hear the ever so slight hint of panic in his voice.

"You know what's funny," one of the men began, "You always say 'my time away'. Never, 'my time on the island'. Makes you wonder how much you were actually on the island."

Oliver's panic went from 1-100 within moments. Logically, he was aware that there was no way this man knew he had been off the island for part of the time he was away, but some part of his mind whispered otherwise.

The man was just very observant and it had only been a statement, not an accusation. But in Oliver's head all he could think is that somehow this man knew about his time with ARGUS, and at any second he could tell everyone at the table.

He managed to steel his face for the time being, as he replied, "Where else would I have been? In case you haven't heard that island doesn't exactly let you come and go as you please."

Oliver was completely emotionless and it left the other people at the table unsure how to act.

However they weren't stunned for long. "So if you were alone on the island the whole time how did you get so many scars?"

Oliver really didn't want the world to know he was tortured, but he also knew that he was a very bad liar. He gripped the table cloth as his breathing quickened.

"As I already said, I prefer not to discuss my time on the island." He managed to get the sentence out through gritted teeth and hoped it sounded less strained than he felt.

"Ah, so now it's 'on the island'" one of the investors smirked. All of them seemed completely oblivious to Oliver's extreme discomfort.

"Hey, maybe some of his scars really are self-inflicted." Oliver closed his eyes and took a moment to reel in his anger.

"There were many wild animals on the island and in the water that surrounded it. There's also the fact that I fell down a cliff multiple times and didn't exactly have polysporin and sterile gauze to prevent scarring."

All of the things he said were true, which is why he could say them so easily. Technically he wasn't lying. Even if he had omitted the real source of most of his scars.

"You seeing a therapist? I mean, you must have horrible survivors guilt. Especially for that girl you brought along. Wasn't she your girlfriends sister? So you cheated on your girlfriend, with her sister, then got said sister killed while you survived. You must have one very pissed off ex!"

This time Oliver couldn't even answer. His mind was everywhere but in that restaurant.

Sara drowning as she screamed his name. Laurel wishing he was dead.

Oliver could no longer breath. He screwed his eyes shut and tried desperately not to gasp for air. It was at this moment that Moira and Thea came back from the washroom.

Immediately they could tell something was off just from the air of hostility surrounding the table. As they grew closer they caught part of the conversation.

"...you're dad too! Did you even bother to look for him once you got on the lifeboat?"

BANG. The captain fell over the side of the life raft. Dad? BANG. No!

Thea and Moira shared a glance before quickening their pace. When they reached the table Thea went straight to her brother and attempted to comfort him. Moira returned to stand at her place at the head of the table.

"What is going on here!" Her voice was much too loud for such a nice restaurant, but she never had been the best at controlling her anger when it came to her children.

"Come on, we were just talking to the kid." The men in question all nodded in agreement.

"Oh really? Then would someone care to explain why my son is in the middle of a full blown panic attack?"

The table turned their attention to where Thea was crouched next to her brother, rubbing soothing circles in his back and speaking in a calming tone, "you're ok Ollie. It's Thea. You're in Starling. You're not on the island anymore. You're safe."

However none of this was registering with Oliver. His mind was in a different time on a different continent and there was nothing anyone could do to bring him back for the time being.

Sara. Dad. Yao Fei. Shado. Slade. Sara. Dad. Yao Fei. Shado. Slade. Sara.

He screwed his eyes shut and fought not to gasp for air as he felt his throat constricting more and more by the second.

"Time to choose Oliver. Who lives and who dies."

The investors had gone silent as they could hear a faint mumble. "No. No. Please don't. Stop. Shado no. Please god no."

A single tear ran down Oliver's cheek as he relieved the worst moment of his life.

Sara. Shado. Sara. Shado. No. It should be him. Not them. Never them.

"What the hell did you guys say to him?" Moira was absolutely fuming and everyone couldn't help but whither under her furious gaze.

"W-we just asked him about the island. B-barely anything really."

Moira just glared harder. "Did you think about the fact that he has PTSD? Did you even consider that maybe talking about the island might upset him?"

The men in question chose to look anywhere but at Moira.

Meanwhile Thea could hear Oliver's breathing start to even out. Slowly her voice started flooding his ears. At first muffled and far away, but quickly getting clearer. Like resurfacing from deep water.

"Hey, Ollie. It's Thea. Deep breaths, ok? In and out. In and out."

Oliver did his best to focus on his sister and copy her breathing and after a tense couple seconds, he hesitantly opened his eyes.

"Oliver honey, are you ok?" He nodded firmly, not trusting his voice quite yet.

When the investors finally worked up the courage to look at him, they were shocked to find his face completely void of emotion. He wiped the tear stain off his cheek and you could barely tell he was still recovering from a panic attack.

He cleared his voice before announcing, "I'm going to head home if that's alright. Thank you for…" he trailed off, stopping himself from giving the automatic reply of, "the delicious meal" or "a lovely evening." After a moment of debate he continued.

"Thank you for considering investing in Queen Consolidated." His voice was completely back to normal, false arrogance and all.

He rose and exited the restaurant in one swift movement, leaving the table in utter silence for a full two minutes before it was interrupted by their waiter.

"Are we ready to order or do we need a couple more minutes?" He was met with stunned silence. "I'll come back."

Throughout the rest of the dinner conversation was much more strained, but luckily everyone had the common sense not to bring up what had happened with Oliver.

In the end Moira landed the investors for QC's Applied Sciences division and even managed to get a few extra pity dollars.

By the time the Queen women arrived back home Oliver was passed out on the couch with the news still on. Moira grabbed the remote and shut off the TV while Thea grabbed a blanket to throw over Ollie. They shared a look before sighing and retreating to their respective bedrooms.

Oliver smiled softly to himself as he drifted off to sleep with only one thought on his mind, "Thank god for family."