And here is the highly anticipated update! It's been about a year or so, huh? This has been in my documents for so long, and i finally got around to finishing it off, and even began writing the next chapter.

Enjoy!

The hard part the next morning was waking up in a different room. Josie sat up slightly, only to wince at the pounding and stinging feeling in her head. Her fingertips lightly brushed over her temple, as they touch a ragged gash that had been stitched up. She decided to try and ignore the pain by taking in her surroundings. The bedroom she was in had lavender walls, with no decorations on them. Her bed sheets were white, and the room reeked of Febreze. She shifted slowly out from under the comforter, and draped one sore leg out of the bed. Another followed, and she slumped up right, her head spinning.

Glancing over at the nightstand, she saw a glass of water and two aspirins that she did not notice before. Underneath the pills was a note.

Josie,

Hope these will help with your head. When you feel suitable, come down stairs for something to eat. We're plenty stocked with food. Sorry if the place is a mess, the twins had a slumber party yesterday.

-Mom

Everything from last night was a blur for her. From the robber, to the Hood saving her, then police arriving, and by the time someone had come to take her home, Josie was long gone into unconsciousness. Now she was at her mother's house, creating a diversion plan to get out of there without running into her mother, step-father, or half siblings. Sighing in frustration, Josie stood up, facing the closet that had mirror doors. She looked exhausted. Dark rings had formed underneath her eyes, the gash looking worse than it feels. She had a few cuts on her face, and bruises that mottled her skin, starting from her neck, then running down her arms.

She realized that her apparel was different. She wore matching flannel pajamas that fit her just right. She was about the same size as her mother, and seeing herself in her mother's clothes made her blood boil.

Scavenging for her actual clothes, Josie turned up empty handed. Her mother must have washed them. She had reached defeat. The blonde was going to have to face her sometime anyway. Might as well do it sooner rather than later.

Taking her time down the carpeted stairs, Josie entered into the foyer of the house. It was a neat room, white carpet, tan walls, and a few tables with loads of picture frames. She decided against glancing at each one. Instead she ventured further into the house, maneuvering blindly to the kitchen. Finally making it to her destination, Josie was presented not her mother, but her step father, Michael Truman, whom she resented maybe even more than her mother.

He stood in front of the island, bent over it, glaring at his laptop, his back turned to the blonde. His flaming red hair was slicked back, and his pale hands were skidding across the keyboard. He wore a dark cashmere sweater and dark wash jeans, topping off his outfit with slippers. Josie rolled her dull green eyes.

Clearing her throat a little, the older man jumped a little from his spot, and spun around to face her. A small smile perched onto his very red lips. "Josie! You're up, finally. Your mother and I were afraid you weren't going to wake up!" He chuckled softly. She only stared at him. The chuckling stopped, and he shifted uncomfortably in his place. "Well, uh, your mother is picking up the twins right now, seeing that their school day is over now." Once again her eyes glared right at him, practically looking right through him.

She studied his face, he wasn't gorgeous, but slightly handsome. His face was the a diamond shape, and clear, not a single freckle on it. His eyes were a chocolate brown, and his nose was sharp, a perfect forty-five degree angle. He resembled a little like Crispin Glover.

"Where are my clothes?" She questioned flatly.

He appeared baffled that she actually spoke. "In the wash at the moment. They still need to get dried." She bit down on the inside of her cheek, and exhaled deeply. Great, she thought bitterly, more time to spend with them.

Just then, as if perfect timing, she could hear a car pulling into the garage. Let the party begin. Seconds later, the six-year-old twin girls came bursting into the house. Their red hair flowing behind their heads as the two girls rushed straight to the kitchen, only to stop once they caught sight of Josie. They had only seen their half sister twice before, and she would not be surprised if they did not recognize her. But she guessed they did the moment the two girls hurled themselves around the blonde's waist, clinging tightly.

"Josie!" They cheered in unison. She placed a fake smile on her lips, and wrapped her arms around their heads. Her mother soon entered the room, and Josie could hear her catch her breath once she saw what was in front of her.

"Wait! Hold that pose, girls!" She began to quickly rummage through her purse and grab her phone, about to take a picture. "Smile!" She quipped. The twins gave cheeky grins, but Josie stared right at the phone, the corners of her mouth barely moving up. Her mother, Corrine, took the picture, and smiled at the results.

The twins scurried to the refrigerator, grabbing themselves a snack before heading off into the living room to watch television. Michael gave Corrine a kiss on the cheek, before taking the keys out of her hand. "I need to make a quick stop down at the office, but then I'll get the groceries." She smiled and nodded, as he glanced over at Josie with a wide grin, and then was out the door in a flash.

"Well its good to see you're up!" Chirped her mother. The older woman placed her purse on the granite countertop of the island, before filling herself a glass of water. "Sorry I wasn't here when you did get up though."

Josie did not reply. She did not want to.

"Well do I get a hug, or are you just going to keep staring at me?" Still the blonde did nothing but stand where she was, her small arms crossed over her chest. They played staring contest until Corrine could not take it anymore. "Fine. But there is not reason that you should be acting this way."

Josie raised her brows, pursing her lips. She then narrowed her dull green eyes. "Really? You think that I would forgive you?" She hissed.

"It was a long time ago, Jo. The divorce happened, I've started a new life." she exhaled, knowing she was going no where with this argument.

Josie approached her mother, getting up close to her face. Her mother was just about a two inches taller to Josie's five-three height. They both shared the same light blonde hair, but her mother had aqua blue eyes like Colton's. Josie's nostrils flared once she caught the scent of her mother's overpowering perfume. "No matter how hard you try to be hospitable to me, I will never see you like a mother ever again. Maybe you did start a fresh, new life, but just know that you left behind the first one, banged up and torn, for us to deal with." Her eyes racked over her mother's appearance. "You disgust me." Josie let that last sentence sink in before she stalked past her mother, who was trembling in her place.

Finally, she had done it. She had said what was needed to be said.

...

The clanking of a spoon against a ceramic bowl was the only sound to occasionally ring out. It was common most mornings anyway. Josie, age ten, sat with Colton and their mother at the large dining table, all having a silent breakfast on a Sunday morning.

They heard rapid stomping, and then Jonathan Wayland was rushing into the kitchen. His briefcase clutched in his left hand, a crisp dark gray suit with a crimson red tie for an outfit. He grabbed himself two pieces of bacon and toast, before bustling into the dining room. He kissed Josie on the top of her head, ruffled Colton's hair, then quickly pecked Corrine on the lips before calling out one last good-bye, then heading out to the garage.

He was constantly working, no matter what day of the week it was. Josie always thought back then that that was the reason her mother dazed with remorse at the door that led to the garage every time her husband left for work. That she saw him less and less because of his exaggerated hours of working. Colton knew the real reason.

Once he caught the look on her face, he sighed. "Josie, go get ready for church."

"Colton, we still have about an hour left." She whined back, glancing over at the grandfather clock.

"You can watch some T.V. afterwards. But go get ready." His tone was serious, his eyes would drift back and fourth between his younger sister and mother. The ten year old girl did as she was told, slipping out from her chair, and heading out of the dining room. Before she could even reach the stairs, she could faintly hear her brother's angry voice.

"…This has to stop." There was a pause. "I can't stand to see you always so weak and guilty every time you look at him. Either you end it now, or let it keep going until this all blows up in your face." He hissed. Josie could softly hear her mother's whimper from crying.

"I cant…" Her faltering voice trailed.

"You will." He was becoming louder. "You've already gotten this far. End it now, let everything be less messy."

"But Jo-"

"Josie won't understand very well at this young of an age. But if you let this drag on, then when she finds out, she'll hate you."

"Do you?" She sounded so small, insecure.

"Hate you? At this moment, yes. What would you expect? You're seeing another man behind my father's back." Pause. "But once things get settled, the tension is gone, I'll still be by your side."

Josie could hear his chair being pushed back, and she quickly tried to sprint up the stairs, but was unsuccessful. Once she was almost to the top, he entered the room.

"Jo?" His voice was soft, worried.

She turned to face him, tears soaking her round cheeks, her small eyes rimmed red. She heard. She understood. And that was when she started to hate her mother.

This secret continued for another four years, until Corrine and Michael were caught by paparazzi, and the scandal went viral. She admitted the truth, Jonathan divorced her, and she married Michael a few months later.

During the divorce, her parents agreed upon 50-50 custody of the children. Her mother decided to sue her ex-husband for being unwilling to let her see the children on the rightful days she had(which was a complete lie, if anything, they saw her more than Jonathan). During the hearings, Corrine also brought up alimony and child support lawsuits. In the end, she inherited a grand amount of money, but her father was able to gain full custody of Josie and Colton, for they chose to be with him. Outside the court, her parents would find themselves at each other's throats, yelling and screaming about how ungrateful each were to each other. The fights usually took place at the mansion, and plenty of things were thrown and smashed. Josie and Colton would find themselves escaping the disaster that had erupted in there, evading to either Oliver's or Tommy's.

And every time since the brutal divorce, when Josie saw her mother in person, it was an accident. At the store, or coming and leaving Colton's apartment, out during dinner.

But one thing was for sure; she was never going to forget the pain her mother put her family through.

...

Josie had gotten her father's chauffer to take her back to her apartment. All she wanted to do was just resort herself to her couch, with a fuzzy blanket, and a box of chocolate, while she rotted her brain to sappy chick flicks. But a few pieces of chocolate was not going to settle her appetite. She felt a wild craving for Chinese, and there was only one place in Midtown to get it.

So after walking down to the Jade Dragon, quickly padding inside to collect the food she ordered, she was now ready to fulfill her night of loneliness. That was, until she caught sight of Tommy, sitting by himself at a table for two. On the table sat a mauve looking fish that was definitely not edible. His eyes were glancing around the restaurant, and once those blue orbs landed on her, she could not hide her wide smile.

"Did Laurel stand you up? Or…" She asked teasingly once she was close enough to his table.

He returned with a humorless laugh. "No one stands me up." He said proudly. She cocked her head, a brow raised. "But actually my date is in the bathroom." There was a beat of silence where Tommy sat studying her face. "What's with the-?" He asked gesturing to the few cuts on her face.

She simply waved off the question was shrug and went on with, "So you're seeing another woman?" She curiously questioned, anger slightly building up if she found out she caught him.

"No." He left it at that, then changed the subject. "What did you get?" His finger pointed to the white to-go bag.

"House Special Fried Rice." She quickly answered. She slipped into the chair across from him. "So, who is this secret person you're on a rendezvous with?"

Tommy snorted, before breaking out into a laugh. She chuckled along with him. "I'm sorry." He waved his hand in front of him, "it's just funny once you figure out who the mysterious someone is." Now she was very interested.

"Sorry I took so long, urinals backed up, and-" The voice from behind Josie trailed off, and she knew that Oliver's gaze was held onto the back of her head. The blonde watched Tommy, her mouth opening as her lips cracked into another smile. She understood what Tommy meant, and it actually was funny.

"You set yourself up for that one, Wayland." Tommy remarked, and the blonde shook her head as she stood up from Oliver's seat. She finally faced him, and swallowed the dryness in her throat away.

"Well thank you for the talk, Tommy, and it was good to see you, Oliver."

"Actually," Oliver piped, as he raised his hand towards the waitress, mouthing 'check', "we were just leaving." Tommy glanced between the two, then formed a 'okay' frown. Oliver shifted his gaze back to his best friend. "I actually found a few problems with the club website, and I'm sorry to have to cut this short."

"All good." The brunette's blue eyes flickered to Josie. "Do you mind if I take you home?"

"No I don't mind." She grinned at him.

"Great. Oh I need to mention, Oliver picked me up…so I'll just have to walk you home."

"Do you think you can handle the exercise, Merlyn?"

Tommy cracked his whimsical, white smile, before rolling his eyes. He gave her a light shove forward, and she stumbled a little before halting in her tracks, causing him to run into her. He gave an 'oomph' sound, before placing his large, thick hand at the small of her back, and leading her before him. "You're going to be the death of me, Wayland."

She snickered, and he returned with a soft chuckle. God did he love this girl.

...

The two were making their way through Chinatown, soaking up the lights, stores, and people around them. The chatter between the two was casual, she asked about him and Laurel, he asked about school. They were reminiscing on a memory of a Christmas party from two years back that the Wayland's were hosting, and how Colton kept saying he was going to propose to his girlfriend at the time, but he was completely hammered. "And remember when he was walking down the stairs, but stumbled and tried grabbing onto the railing but it had the decorations on it so he just took it all with him while he fell?" Tommy had pointed out, and Josie was clutching her waist as she bellowed out her obnoxious laugh that Tommy was finding to be surprisingly cute. She use to cover it up, but lately she's been becoming more herself than she use to be.

Her laugh was real, her smiles were wider, she's lightened up on her makeup. She was becoming more of the young Josie everyone was use to. At the same time though, she was more mature than she had ever been. She's dressing like an adult, becoming more independent and she holds herself together pretty well. And it was definitely a good thing for her. After Colton died, she was a mess. She couldn't go anywhere without someone, she never showed any emotion, she rarely spoke. She was hollow and dependent. She was lost.

It's been about a year, a few more months until his anniversary, and she's completely different. Like he thought, she was practically herself again, and he loved it. Tommy watched as she straightened up and wiped away any small tears that wanted to escape her eyes because she was laughing so hard. Her hair was tied back, she wore just a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt he was sure was Colton's, and a simple pair of sneakers, and he swore she was more beautiful than ever. And he was also sure she couldn't see it. He wanted to smack himself for thinking anything of her other than that she was practically a sister to him. He reminded himself that he loved Laurel, that she was beautiful as well, that she was his smart, funny, beautiful girlfriend and Josie was his sister.

However, all of the lightness between the two dissipated the moment a man shoved into Josie and nearly knocked her over. He came from behind without warning, and continued on as if nothing happened. Tommy felt his teeth clenching as he started marching towards the asshole to yell at him. Before he knew it, though, she was beating him to it. "Hey asshole!" She yelled, and the guy turned around just as she shoved him backwards. The guy stumbled, losing his footing and fell into a stand of postcards and other little trinkets that were placed outside a store.

Tommy quickly rushed to her and took her hand before the two sprinted away chuckling like rebellious teenage idiots. They turned the corner and found themselves just half a block away from her apartment. They both glanced at each other before erupting into more laughter. "Are you crazy?" Tommy asked while the two were still trying to catch their breath.

Josie shrug smiling widely at him. "It was a heat of a moment thing. I just wish I had done that yesterday."

"What do you mean?" He asked as the two started moving again. He realized that they hadn't let go of holding hands, but neither tried to pull away.

She glanced down at their hands, biting her lip. "I almost got mugged and shot last night. That's how I got these," she said pointing at the cut on her temple, cheek and chin, "I felt so defenseless and hopeless. I tried looking for my pepper spray but I think I had it in a different purse. Before the guy could even shoot, the vigilante saved me."

Tommy halted in his tracks facing her with a wide open mouth. "I knew I should have taken you home!" He was yelling more towards himself. "Did the Hood kill the guy?"

"No. He shot him in the hand with an arrow and knocked him out. He told me that I needed to be protected, he said my name too."

Tommy pulled her a little closer towards him. He didn't know what to say about that. He knew that the vigilante was a killer, and he was nervous for Josie's safety. He already lost one of them, he didn't want to lose the other. Finally he wrapped her in a hug. "Maybe you should think about getting a bodyguard." Josie chuckled against him but he pulled away to hold her at arms length. "I'm serious. When Oliver first got back, we were ambushed. These three guys sedated us and all I remembered was waking up to find them dead and Oliver saying that the Hood came and saved him. But Jo, he killed those men. The vigilante is not a good person, and besides him there are people out there targeting us. The only way we can ensure our protection is to get a bodyguard." He smiled warmly as her eyes softened with understanding. Maybe having a bodyguard could have helped Colton. Could have saved him. "And don't worry, I know a good man that might be willing to do it."

They had finally made it to her apartment complex, the two stood outside the doors. "I'm sorry about last night. It really turned into a shitstorm, and I feel like I was part of the reason." Josie said as she glanced up at him with those green eyes.

"No. It was all my father. I promise you have nothing to worry about."

"I want to make it up to you. Why don't you join me? I know I'm not going to be able to eat all of this myself," she said as she held up the bag of takeout, "and all I'm gonna do is binge on some cheesy movies. I'd like it if you joined me, it would be a nice bonding moment. We haven't done anything together since I've gotten back." She was pleading, her lower lip pouting.

Tommy gazed up at her apartment complex thinking. "Laurel doesn't get home for another two hours or so. I guess I could. On one condition." She smiled that large, white smile.

"Anything."

"You have to tell me what hell is going on between you and Ollie." Her eyes widened and she rolled in her lips. Something she does when she's nervous or embarrassed.

"You noticed?" She asked in a meek tone.

He chuckled lightly. "I think everyone can see it. You two are just so uncomfortable when you're in the same room." He was urging her into the building while he listened to her explain the whole ordeal. She started with when she got home, and by the time she reached what happened at the Jade Dragon, the two had situated themselves on her couch, boxes of Chinese food in hand, and snuggled near each other under blankets. They soon began to watch the movies, commentating through their picking of cheesy eighties rom-coms. Soon enough, the two had fallen asleep, her head resting on his shoulder, her legs over his lap. His head on top of hers, one arm around her back, the other on her legs.

And at around midnight, Oliver went to check on Josie, which was sort of becoming part of a routine for him; when he came across his two best friends wrapped around each other, fast asleep, he didn't know what to come of it. Instead he left feeling slightly angry, and somewhat jealous. All he could think about was how he kind of wished he took her home instead of Tommy.

What did you think? Do you guys see where I'm going with this? I know it's Oliver/OC, but who doesnt love a little bit of Tommy drama?

Anyway, favorite, follow and review! They all mean the world to me! And if I get a good enough feedback, I might just update the next chapter sooner than I usually would!