The next three days passed slowly. Ray hovered around me. Buying this and that, asking if I was hungry, checking on me while I slept. I knew he was worried. He hadn't asked me any specifics yet. I think he's waiting for me to divulge them when I'm ready. Which was one nice thing at last. I didn't even know where to start. How do you tell your only brother that you were sold repeatedly to horrible men, and all the horrible things you did to survive there? I was scared that if I told him, it would break him. I also knew he would never stop looking at me the way he does now.

I couldn't handle any of that. Not now. So for now, I just focused on the task at hand. Ray had told me last night that a girl he's "sort of dating" wants him to be her date to a friend's party, and now I'm going to be the third wheel. Ray asked me too many times to count if I was sure I wanted to come; if I was sure I could handle it.

I told him yes, that I was excited to socialize again. But on the inside, I was terrified. I didn't want Ray's friends to look at me like the crazy girl. I knew he hadn't told them anything about me, and neither had Felicity. I wasn't actually sure what he had told Felicity about me, but I was sure it wasn't a lot.

Ray bought me clothes (too many clothes) to wear to the party tonight. I wanted something that was definitely going to cover up any wounds and scars, so I decided on black jeans, a simple white shirt, and a denim jacket. I wore my hair down, and tried to cover up the marks on my neck. I was coming up with some cover stories to tell his friends when Ray knocked on the door.

"Come in!"

"Hey Benny. Wow, you look great! Uh, I have a present for you." I turned to pull the box out of his hands. I noticed he was wearing a suit, jacket and all, but no tie. He must really like this girl. Or was it a fancy party, and I'm just grossly underdressed? I opened the box, and pulled out a pair of beautiful knee-high boots.

"Oh Ray. They're perfect! Thank you."

"And they're faux-leather, man-made. I double-checked with the company. No animals were harmed, promise." I smiled up at this man who loved me unconditionally, and reached up to hug his neck. He seemed pleased with my response.

"Well, there's some socks in there too. So whenever you're ready, we can leave." Ray smiled and closed the door behind him. Always so observant and conscientious of my privacy. I laced up the boots, and looked at my reflection in the mirror. I didn't look too bad. Maybe a little paler than I should be. Bumps and bruises here and there. But the worst of it was covered by my pants and jacket, so flipping off the light, I left the room, closing the door behind me.

"Ready?" Ray was waiting by the front door. In his hand were a bundle of lilies, and a small gift-wrapped box. Was I supposed to have gotten a present?

"Ready." I guess it was too late now.

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Felicity was busying herself, organizing napkins, stringing lights along the windows, setting up Thea's apartment for her party in an hour. They had set it up to be a surprise, but Felicity was pretty sure Thea knew what was going on. Felicity nervously chewed on her fingernails. She had told Oliver Ray would be coming, but not that he was bringing his sister. Everyone else who was coming was part of Team Arrow, and Ray even knew Oliver was in fact the Arrow, but she hadn't told him that either. She debated telling him, but since he wasn't here yet she wouldn't worry about that yet.

She did, however, worry about Ray's mysterious sister. Would she like Felicity? If she didn't, would Ray not want anything to do with Felicity anymore? She hoped Bennett would like her, and that she would like Bennett. But other than the fact that Ray had assumed his sister dead, she knew nothing else about her.

Felicity straightened the place settings one more time, then went into the bathroom to check her makeup. She smoothed out the creases in her pink dress. She must have tried on every single dress she owned. She was so nervous about seeing Ray and his sister, and also how the whole night would play out. Would it be akward with Ray and Oliver? Would it be weird that everyone knew about the Arrow, except Bennett, and except that no one else knew Ray knew?

She started sweating and fanned herself with the towel.

"Just calm down, Felicity, everything's going to be fine. Everyone will get along. No one's gonna punch anyone. Fine. Everything. Will. Be. Fine." Just then the doorbell rang, and Felicity went to answer the door. Dig and Roy showed up, thank God, with the cake. She took the cake and carefully put it into the double door fridge.

A few minutes later, Oliver arrived with Maseo.

"Oliver! Hey, uh, come in. Hey Maseo."

"Felicity."

"Did you bring the ice?" Oliver held up two bags of ice in his hand.

"Oh, haha, there it is. Yay ice."

"Yup. Are you okay?

"What? Why?" Felicity nervously pulled on a piece of loose hair. "I mean, yeah yeah, everything's great. Just setting up before Thea gets here." Felicity quickly busied herself in the kitchen then. Pretending to clean the wine glasses, even though they were already clean. She felt relieved when Oliver went to talk with Ray. She debated, again, if she should mention Bennett coming. She had just worked up the courage to tell him, when the doorbell rang.

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"You look great Bennett. Stop worrying."

"I know, but do you think I was supposed to dress up more? Maybe I should have worn a dress. Should we stop somewhere so I can get more flowers for Thea?"

"Oh, um, actually I got these for Felicity. Is that weird? Should I give them to Thea instead?"

I almost thought I saw Ray blush. I was so excited to meet Felicity. She must be great if Ray was this taken with her. He was like a boy in grade school all over again.

"Oh, no that's really, really sweet of you. She'll love them. Will you just say whatever you got Thea is from both of us? I know I don't know her or anything, but since I'm coming to her party I feel like I should have brought something. Wait, I know! Can we stop really quick at the nearest store?"

Half an hour later, we got back in the car and headed for Thea's apartment. Ray kept checking his watch, and I knew he was nervous about being late. But we made it right on time. We buzzed ourselves up to her apartment, and rang the doorbell. I did a few last second checks and tried to brush my tangled hair with my fingers, being sure to do my best to cover to bruises on my neck.

Just then, a gorgeous blonde opened the door. As soon as she looked at Ray, I knew this was Felicity. I glanced at Ray and saw the same puppy dog look in his eyes.

"Felicity, these are for you, actually." He handed her the flowers, and she took them gratefully. It was so sweet I felt like I was about to get a toothache. Just then she shifted her attention to me.

"Oh! Felicity, this is Bennett. Bennett, Felicity."

"Hi, it's nice to finally meet you, Felicity."

"Likewise. Wow. You're like, really pretty. Ray, you didn't tell me she was pretty. Come in, welcome!" I knew I would like Felicity then. She was so bubbly and honest. Pretty much the opposite of me, but perfect for Ray.

She stepped aside and we walked into a cavern of a room. Ray barely even seemed fazed by its luxurious feel, and I wondered if he had been here before. This place must cost a fortune. I noticed someone had decorated with balloons, streamers, and those little Christmas lights you put on the tree. It was amazing. I could sense Felicity waiting for our reaction, and I knew then that she was the one that put them up.

"It's beautiful, Felicity, really."

"Aww, thanks guys. It really didn't take that long. I should put these in some water."

After my initial shock of the place wore off, I was alerted to the presence of other people in the room. Over in the living area, there were three men looking over at us.

"Hey everybody. How's it going?" Ray obviously knew these people.

"Hi Ray. Waiting for the beer to arrive. And I guess Thea." A dark guy in a leather jacket walked up to me then.

"Hi, I'm John Diggle, but you can just call me Diggle."

"Bennett. Nice to meet you." I tentatively shook his outstretched hand.

"Oh, I'm so sorry I'm terrible. Diggle, Maseo, (a slight pause) Oliver, this is Bennett. My sister." I glanced sideways at Ray when he was introducing me. I could tell he didn't like the last guy very much. And upon closer inspection I was pretty sure I didn't either. He looked at me, no, scrutinized me with his blue eyes. The other guy, Maseo, I think, shook my hand as well.

"Pleasure." I noticed his arts darting to my neck and the few scars on my face, probably the fading bruise under my eye, too, but he was so quick I wouldn't have even noticed if I hadn't been waiting for it. He moved gracefully, I wondered what he did for a living.

Oliver came to shake my hand as well, but didn't say anything to me, simply smiled a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

Just then another guy, slightly younger, came downstairs, requesting someone to come help him with Thea's present. Oliver and Diggle went to help him, while Ray went to help Felicity in the kitchen.

I awkwardly hung around with Maseo, but when I saw him looking at my neck again, I walked over to the window to see the view. It was, not surprisingly, spectacular. I wondered how someone as young as Thea could afford a place like this. I know Ray had told me her family was wealthy. But she and Oliver had lost their parents recently, so maybe this is how she spent her inheritance.

A loud noise from the kitchen startled me, and I found myself holding onto the couch for support as my ears rung. I could feel my heart beat pick up, and the noise in my ear become louder, and somewhere far away my brain registered that Felicity had broken a vase, and that was the noise that hard startled me. But the current part of my brain was trying to conjure up a memory. When glass had broken after my head hit the window of the back window in a van, and my hands were bound and my feet were bound, and I couldn't see or hear anything then either. I smelled gasoline and smoke, and the sound of a woman crying, screaming, begging for help. But then I realized that that woman was me. I was screaming. The taste of blood in my mouth as I registered that my head was bleeding, dripping into my nose and mouth, blinding me.

" Bennett? Benny? Hey, Benny. Ben…Bennett!" I had to blink a few times before I saw his face. I was back in Thea's living room, and I knew that I wasn't in the car anymore, but I still found myself lifting a hand to my head, to the scar that was now there just under my hairline, to make sure there wasn't any blood still oozing out.

"Hey, you okay? Can you hear me?" Ray was holding me by my shoulders, reaching a hand to cover mine on my forehead.

"Yeah, sorry. I'm sorry I just got startled. You know how I am." I conjured up the best smile I could and tried to clear my throat, the lingering taste of copper and gasoline still present. "Could I get some water, actually? Please." Ray went back into the kitchen to get a glass, and I noticed Felicity looking from me to Ray, then back to me, mouth hanging slightly open. I groaned internally, as I realized that the guys from upstairs had come down, I assumed after hearing the noise, and were also glancing in my direction. Oliver, however, wasn't just glancing. He was actually glaring at me.

Just then a feeling welled up inside of me, and I used every ounce of mental strength I had to tuck it back into its place. I had to suck it up and try and enjoy the party, for Ray. And Felicity. But the feeling, the need to run away, far away, was eating at me. Another feeling, one that made my hands sweat and my throat dry up, also clawed its way into my mind. I took the glass Ray offered me, and took slow, methodical swallows, trying to think of anything else.

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