She hit the mat hard, her cheek making contact before the rest of her body dropped. Cringing from the pain that was surging through her body, Josie rolled onto her back, trying to hold back any sort of painful sounding noise threatening to leave her mouth. When her eyes reopened, she found an outstretched hand waiting for her to take it. Sighing, she slipped her hand into his, letting Diggle hoist her back up to her feet.

"Now the problem with that move was you didn't have your feet apart. In order to keep up in a fight, you need balance." He moved towards her, raising her hands up to defensively block blows to her face, as his foot kicked at her heels, forcing them to spread apart more. She felt a sudden déjà vu from this. "Okay, try again." He said as he made his way back to being in front of her. He kept moving backwards, giving himself space before he took off straight for her.

Josie backed up a little while John was in full sprint, she thought of what her attacked was going to be. As he was barreling forward, she stepped back last second, and he barreled past her. As he was passing, she brought her elbow down onto his back, causing him to stumble. He twisted back around after he caught his footing, and she held her hands up once again to wait for his next attack. He threw out a right hook which she ducked from, then a fake left jab which she fell for, and he finished her off with a kick to the stomach, sending her backwards before she fell on her bottom.

She pounded her fists to the ground, screaming with her mouth closed. They had been going at this for a few hours, and this was one of the plenty of times where she ended up in this position.

John chuckled as he made his way over to her. She sat in dejection on the mat, not even bothering to get up. He extended his hand for her to take once again, and she took it firmly. Just as he was about to haul her up, she used all of her might to yank at his arm. While he was stumbling forwards, she reached out with her free arm and wrapped it around his neck before throwing her weight back and pinning the both of them to the mat. He laid on top of her with one of her arms around his neck, the other pinning his arm behind his back, her legs wrapped around his legs so he cant move them.

The only situation was that he still had one more hand available. He used it to try to get her arm off from around his neck, but when it didn't work he used it to grab her hair and yank on it. She let out a squeal and her grip around his neck loosened. He threw his head back, and hit her hard on the nose. That's when she completely released him as well as scream out.

"Shit!" Diggle exclaimed as he flipped over to face her. Both her hands were covering her nose, blood seeping onto them. He reached out to move her hands but she pulled back from him. "Let me look." He demanded in an urgent tone, and she finally obliged, dropping her hands. Her nose looked fine, there was just blood coming from the nostrils. "Nothing is broken, just bleeding. Probably will bruise the next couple of days." He handed her his sweat towel from his back pocket which she reluctantly took, wiping away the crimson liquid, only to end up wincing from the pain. Diggle crouched down in front of her as he took the towel, adding some water from his water bottle to it and moved to dab at the blood, which was coming off easier. "I'm sorry." He muttered. "I got caught up in the moment."

Josie ducked her head, lightly chuckling. "So did I." She returned, looking back up to her. The two laughed half-heartedly as they tried to catch their breath from their training.

He reached out and patted her knee, as he finished cleaning her up. "I think that's enough for today. I'll admit, you've definitely got some moves for only working on self-defense for a couple of weeks." John said as he stood back up, helping Josie up as well. She went to grab her own towel and water bottle, wiping off her own sweat before practically chugging down the water.

"I had a friend who taught self-defense classes. Went to a couple of them for free." She said as she put down her things before going back to mat to help Diggle fold it up and put it back into the corner of the gym room. "Soon enough, you'll be the one who's falling on their ass all the time." She matter-of-factly said with a cheeky smirk.

John raised a skeptical brow as he turned to her. "Is that so?" He asked, and her smirk only grew wider.

"I actually ordered a punching bag to work on when I have free time and we aren't meeting. We use to have one when I was younger because my father use to box, and Colton wanted to learn because he wanted to be just like my father, but after he got badly injured and broke his wrist in a fight, my mom told him to quit and got rid of the bag. I was lucky to watch in with the sessions and still remember some of the moves." She softly chuckled as she and Diggle were leaving the gym and heading to the foyer of the mansion. "Actually, after boxing, Colton went back to playing golf. Which I thought was hilarious because of how entirely different the two sports were." Diggle nodded along with a smile, noticing how this was the first time she brought her brother up in a conversation since they first met.

"He sounded like a curious kid. Wanting to try out everything." John remarked as the two stopped before the large wooden front doors.

Josie blew out a quiet breath, bobbing her head a little. "Yeah he was, and he did." She muttered, not wanting to think anymore of Colton. "Well, I'll see you on Wednesday for the next session. Hopefully you don't try to break my nose next time."

John laughed, patting her shoulder before giving it a light squeeze. "I promise as long as you try not to choke me next time."

"Will do." She said with a playful salute. John returned it before leaving. "I need a really, really, REALLY long bath." She stressed out before heading to her bedroom, massaging her back.

…

She moved as quickly as her aching body could allow her to. She sprinted down the hiking path in the woods, as she went to nock another arrow with her right hand and immediately released it, letting it fly towards the target hanging from a branch in a tree. She kept up her pace as she strung up another one, sending it out to another targeted tree a little ways off the path. Josie continued with this, running while shooting, for about another mile or so.

She was determined to improve her skills, and the first thing to do was to set up random targets in the woods and practice her archery while running. Because what she was planning on doing was going to require a ton of that.

After finishing her run, she turned around and walked back up the trail, retrieving her arrows and seeing how well she was hitting her targets. About a fourth of them she didn't even get the target, and the others were either on the tree or about the third ring out. The only target she hit bulls-eye was the one tree that was about forty feet off the trail. So long range was the best she could do at the moment.

Sighing, she placed all the arrows back into her sheath, and headed back for her car. Josie kept thinking about how she could use her archery to help people. That she could be like the Hood but be there to save the citizens of Starling instead of going after the big corporate bosses that are corrupting the city. Be there for the people who find themselves in the same situation the Colton and she faced, but make sure they don't have the same fate her brother had. She wanted to take down the mindless criminals that commit petty crimes, and turn them in, or at least do something to them so they never try to rob or kill or something along those lines ever again.

When she made it to her car, her phone was going off. She placed her bow and arrows back into its case before taking the call. "Hello?" She asked, resting the phone on her shoulder as she locked the case and closed her trunk.

Josie was confronted with a proper British accent, who seemed to immediately get to the point. "Hello Ms. Wayland, this is Marie Houston from Nyguen and Mashio here in Hong Kong. We are representatives of clients who have invested with Wayland Trades. I'm just calling to inform you that we received your message of you tracking down a woman named Sara Lance, and we have consulted with one of our clients who have residency on the island of Tiantáng, where the woman in the photo you had sent us was believed to be." The woman paused, catching her breath while Josie was at a loss for any. Her heart was pounding, and her brain was racing a mile a minute without really thinking of anything. This could be it. This woman could be the one to confirm to her that Sara is still alive.

"What did they have to say?" She desperately asked as she leaned against her car, trying to breathe normally.

"He reported to us that the woman in the photo is not the same woman you are looking for. According to him, her name was Jennifer Langley and she happens to be a resident in Starling City, where we know you are located." Josie closed her eyes, as the breath she had just regained deflated from her body. She slowly began to push off the car, as she headed towards the driver's seat.

It took her a few moments, but she finally composed herself and replied. "T-thank you for looking into this. I really appreciate it. I apologize for taking time out of your work schedule to do this. Thank you again." And with that she hung up, not even waiting for a response. She plopped down in her seat, numbly staring out the window.

In a fit of anger and frustration and sadness, she chucked her phone at the passenger door, as it bounced off the window and fell onto the seat. She clutched onto the steering wheel before letting out a stressful scream, as she rocked her body furiously back and forth. Josie then started pounding on the wheel, before completely giving up and falling back into her seat. Silently, she cried, her arms shielding her face. "She's gone, she gone, she's gone…" She muttered in a cracked voice, shaking her head.

It must have been an hour of her just sitting in her car, crying out every last tear she had been holding back for her best friend, but Josie eventually composed herself. Now all she was doing was sitting up straight, her hands limply on the wheel as her eyes were cast out to the woods, staring at nothing in particular. Her mind, however, was thinking of the last conversation she had with her best friend.

"I just don't get it." Josie whined as she munched away at the bowl of buttery popcorn that was settled on her lap. Her head was resting on Sara's lap, her dull green eyes fixated on the television screen before the two of them, playing a rerun episode of "Friends", where in this episode Chandler was confessing that he loved Monica to everyone else.

Sara, however, was only interested in the phone that was practically pressed against her face. She was holding it so close to her, her bright blue eyes reading the most recent text message she had received. Her phone had been constantly buzzing throughout the night. If Josie were to ask her best friend what colored shirt Chandler was wearing without letting Sara look at the screen, the dirty blonde girl would have no clue. "What?" Sara mindlessly responded, as she typed away a reply.

Josie shook her head she her attention went back to the TV. "Why cant Roland do something like this? Why cant he just man up and see that I'm looking for a serious relationship, not to just play around? I need a guy like Chandler who only seeks for a committing relationship, not someone who wants to occasionally get into my pants." The light blonde cried out, shoving another handful of popcorn into her mouth.

Sara finally pulled away from her phone as she stared down at her best friend with a confused expression. "Why are you so needy for a relationship? Why cant you just live in the moment and have fun with what the two of you are sharing?"

Josie squinted up at her friend with a frown. "When did you suddenly become such a pot-head hippy? 'Live in the moment'" She mocked, using her hands to create air quotes. "Besides, aren't you the one who always looks for true love with every guy you're with? Not just some meaningless animal sex?"

Sara sighed, as she rolled her eyes. "As a matter-of-fact, I am in love with a guy. Right now it's just playing around and a lot of flirting, but I know that when I give it enough time, he'll finally come around and start a real relationship with me. See, that's what you need to do. Just give Roland some time, he'll see that he needs you more than just as a little play toy. Then he'll be crawling to you, confessing that he loves you." She proudly stated, giving Josie a cocky look.

Josie shook her head with great ferocity as she sat up, placing the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table as she turned to her best friend. "Wait, wait, wait. Hold on. Since when were you 'in love'? And how come I never knew about this until now?" Josie asked in a playfully hurt tone, when in reality she was completely shocked and slightly feeling betrayed that Sara never told her anything. "How long have you seen this guy?"

Sara smirked as her phone buzzed again. The two of them glanced down at the phone, before returning eye contact. "I've known him for a while, it was just recently that we started…seeing each other." She giggled gleefully as she picked up her phone to reply.

"Who is he? Anyone I know?" Josie happily asked, watching her friend bite down on her bottom lip as she was texting back to this mysterious guy. Sara's smile faded from her face for a moment.

"No." She replied too quickly, as she shook her head hard, her hair flying in front of her face. Josie's sly smirk grew wider.

"Awe, come on, Sara. Who is it? Is it Bryan or Wyatt? Is it that guy from Big Belly Burgers? The one with the eagle tattoo on his left arm?" She begged, her eyes never training from her friend.

"No. No. You don't know him." Sara harshly snapped at Josie, who held up her hands in a surrendering way. Her eyes, although, never trained from the phone. In a quick movement, the bright blonde snatched the phone from Sara, as she stumbled off the couch and backed away from the other blonde. "Jo, give it back!" Sara yelled, as she tried to push herself up from the couch.

Josie bounced on her feet, chuckling playfully. "It's your ex, Phillip, isn't it? You two having secret rendezvous?" The blonde asked, as her eyes glanced down at the phone, reading the name. To her surprise Ollie stared back at her. She hated herself for intruding, but Josie continued to read the message. She couldn't get through the first sentence of what he was planning 'to do' to Sara without wanting to gag. Sara finally got to her feet, as she yanked the phone out of Josie's hands. The nineteen year old brought her hand up to her eyes, pinching them shut.

The two stood quietly in Josie's bedroom as they avoided each other's gazes. It was a long period of silence before Sara broke it. "I'm gonna go."

"No. No." Demanded Josie as she raided an accusing finger, "Sara how could you?" She pleaded in a scornful tone. "How could you do this to Laurel? I-I mean how long has this been going on?" Sara didn't bother to answer, she just looked down at her feet stolidly. Josie moved towards her friend. "I think we both know the kind of person Ollie is, Sara. He's just a playboy looking to fool around. He's never going to commit. That's just who he is, and we both know this-this thing you two have is just going to end with you heartbroken and him moving on to the next girl."

Sara's jaw was clenched, her hands balled into fists. "That's not true! He loves me, and I love him! And there is nothing you can say or do that will stop me from seeing him. He already told me he was going to break it off with Laurel." Her eyes were welling up with tears, and she angrily stared down her friend. "Why cant you just be happy for me? Why cant you just be happy that I found someone?" She gravely asked.

"Sara, you're cheating with your sister's boyfriend! When she finds out, she's going to hate you." Josie was finding herself crying too. She was crying in frustration and feeling personally hurt as well. Sara knew how Josie felt about cheating, she knew she could never tolerate it after what her mother did. "How can I be happy for you when I know that this is just going to ruin your life? You of all people know that I cant stand cheaters! My own best friend."

Sara softly whimpered, her bottom lip quivering as her blurry blue eyes glanced over Josie's angry face. "Fine. Fine, then, if you cant be there for me than I…I guess you don't really care about our friendship." Sara furiously wiped away her tears as she went for the door. She opened it up, but stopped as she looked back to Josie. "Don't bother telling Laurel, by tomorrow Oliver will end it and the two of us will be heading to China on his yacht."

Josie's mouth was agape at all of the sudden truth being revealed. Her hands raked through her hair as she paced back and forth. "Don't go." Josie quickly strode towards Sara, her eyes wide in bewilderment. She saw now that she was an accomplice to these cheaters. "Be the better man Sara and don't go. At least wait until he breaks up with Laurel. Let some time settle between the two before you jump right into that relationship." On instinct, she grabbed a hold of her best friend's shoulders, shaking her a little. "Sara, y-" But the other blonde shoved Josie off of her.

"Just stop." With that, Sara slammed the door shut, the sound echoing off the walls in Josie's room.

The blonde stood staring at the door, as tears continued to flee from her eyes. She turned off the TV right as Monica and Chandler were admitting they loved each other to Ross. And oh the irony she felt as she shut off the TV before throwing the remote across the room. It smashed against the wall. Josie sunk down to the ground, placing her palms over her eyes as she wept loudly.

When the news came that the Queen's Gambit sank just a day later, Josie had only wished that she could have at least said one last good-bye to her best friend. That's probably why she held out so much hope that Sara was still alive, because she thought it was maybe fate giving her a chance to do so. To see her friend, even if it was going to be one last time.

Reaching up, Josie pulled down the sun visor, where a picture of her and Sara was pinned onto. "I'm sorry." She whispered, her green eyes roaming over the picture of the two of them leaning against each other, smiling widely. There was no doubt she missed her best friend.

…

A few hours later, when the sun was settled in the middle of the sky, Josie received a call from Laurel, asking her to come down to the CNRI because there was something important she needed to tell her. The blonde took her time, though. She didn't rush herself in anyway to get to the Glades. By the time she got there, she noticed Dinah's rental car parked outside the DA office. When she got inside, she saw Quentin and Dinah standing side by side as they faced their daughter.

Josie headed towards the family. "Hey." She softly spoke, giving Laurel a quick hug. "I-uh…I have something to tell you." She solemnly said as she faced Mr. and Mrs. Lance.

"I do as well." Laurel piped in. "I wanted to do some research myself on the evidence you gather on Sara. So I called a friend of mine from law school who works at the Chinese embassy and…" She paused to collect herself, taking a deep breath. "The photo of the girl. I found her." Her eyes never faltered from her parents, and Josie could feel her heart sink again. Laurel had found the same woman that she found.

The three were suddenly interrupted as a woman with long, dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. She had bangs like Sara use to that almost fall into her eyes, and a structured face like Sara. "I'm sorry, could I borrow your phone?" She asked Laurel, "I promised to call my husband before dinner. My phone's dead." She kindly stated.

"Jen, these are my parents and my friend, Josie." Quentin and Dinah both had swiveled around to face the young woman, both of them slouching as their hope they held out for was slowly fleeting away the longer they looked at her. Jennifer Langley extended her hand out to the three of them, shaking hands with each one. Josie glanced over to Dinah, who she could see had tears threatening to pool in her eyes. Laurel had grabbed the photos of her desk, showing them to the group. "I just told Jen about this photograph that popped up in this case that I am working on."

Quentin in a last resort turned to the girl, tucking his hands into his pockets. "Is that you in that picture?" He asked, looking for any sort of sliver of hope there might be that Jen isn't that girl in the picture.

"Yeah. I spent six months on an island off the coast of China. That was taken at a small fishing village called Zhengjiu. It's mandarin for-"

"Salvation." Dinah replied, as she clutched the photos tightly in her hands, pressing them against her chest. She began to daze, her eyes looking anywhere but at the woman who reminded her too much of her daughter. Josie noticed tears were nearly ready to fall from her eyes.

The woman glanced uncomfortably at the others before settling on the older woman. "Are you alright, Mrs. Lance?" She worriedly asked.

"Yes…I-uh…it's just that…you remind me of someone I use to know." She squeaked out in a cracking voice before brushing past the woman in a quick pace. The four of them awkwardly stood in the middle of the room. From behind them a door slammed shut. With that, Josie finalized that there was no hope that Sara was still alive.

…

Laurel, Quentin and Josie had decided to get lunch. It was eerie and silent as the three just sat collecting their thoughts. Apparently Dinah had a flight back to Central City that night, so Josie asked to go back to Laurel's so she could say good-bye.

When they entered the apartment, they saw Dinah rushing around gathering papers off the wall and kitchen table. Quentin was the first to approach her. "What are you doing?" He questioned, sternly watching his ex-wife.

"So that's not Sara in the photo, but she's still out there, Quentin, and I'm going to find her." Dinah snapped, as she neatly tucked the papers into her accordion organizer. Quentin sighed as he pinched his eyes shut. His jaw was slack, and he couldn't bring himself to observe Dinah anymore. "Look, I understand now that none of you have the stomach to continue looking for her, and that's fine. I-I'm sorry I involved you three."

By then her ex-husband had enough. He stepped forward, his face scrunched up in disdain. "You know that I would cross to Hell and back to bring her home, but I can't-" He shouted, his finger jabbing at the air, "cause she's gone, Di." He cholerically insinuated to her.

"No." Dinah meekly replied, shaking her head in denial.

Josie and Laurel were only watching on the sidelines, the two huddling together. "You've got to let go of this now." Quentin demanded. All the while Laurel seemed to have caught onto something, as she headed towards the photos, her eyes pinpointed onto something.

"No! I cant. I wont." Dinah shouted back angrily as she now shoved the papers into the organizer.

Laurel had broken the tension between her parents. Only to create more tension between everyone. "How did you know Sara had her hat with her when she went onto the boat?" Dinah slowly stood up, her eyes shifting to the photo, but never falling onto any of them. She turned her back on them as she went back to her wall of evidence and investigation. "You were so sure that the girl in the photo was Sara, not because she was American, but because of her hat." Everyone stopped to think about, even if it were just for a second. All eyes were on Laurel now. "Her Starling City Rockets hat that dad bought her and Jo. Mom, how did you know that she took her hat with her on the Queen's Gambit with Oliver?"

Josie felt her gut shriveling up, as she too began to feel guilty. Not for the hat, but because she knew that Sara was going onto the Gambit. That she and Dinah both knew Sara was leaving and neither of them could stop her. Dinah ducked her head, a hand pressed against her mouth. "I saw her." She admitted.

The three of them all glanced at one another, but training their eyes back onto Dinah. "What do you mean?" Quentin asked, as they looked deeper into the truth.

"I came home early that day. And I saw her. Sara. I saw her put that hat into her bag. She was packing."

"You knew she was going?"

Dinah turned around, tears now slipping down her cheeks, her eyes fixated on her daughter. "I told her not to go. I told her not to do this to you, Laurel. But she said that she was-"

"In love." Josie and Dinah spoke simultaneously, and now everyone was looking at her. Josie wiped away at her eyes, where she was evidently crying again. "I found out the night before. She told me that she loved Oliver, and that he was going to break up with you the next day. I tried to tell her not to go, but she was relentless." She said, letting the truth all spill out. Before Laurel could say anything, her mother spoke back up again.

"She said that she needed to follow her heart, even if nobody thought that it was right. Just like I told her…" Dinah's eyes moved to her ex-husband's. "Just like I told her I once did." Quentin exhaled loudly, as he covered his face with his hand, hiding his own tears. "So…I let her go. I-I killed her." Realization had hit her, and suddenly Dinah was breaking down into fitful sobs. "I killed my daughter. I killed her. I'm so sorry, Quentin." Without giving it a second thought, Lance strode to Dinah, pulling her to his chest as he cradled her.

Josie averted her eyes, feeling like this was too much for her. When she looked to her best friend, she saw Laurel's bottom lip quivering, and the desperation in her eyes. "I'm sorry." The blonde cried out, and the brunette took her into her arms, stroking her friend's hair.

"It's not your fault. It's not your fault." Laurel repeated into Josie's hair, as the entire family wept for their lost family member. As they grieved together.

…

After everyone calmed down, Quentin had decided to turn in for the night. Dinah went to finish packing, and Laurel and Josie retreated to the couch where they watched the news about a boy named Roy Harper-who Laurel confided in Josie was Thea's bad-boy boyfriend-being captured by the Savior, or the man who was kidnapping and killing people who did wrong to the Glades. Luckily, the kid was saved by the Vigilante, but not much else was reported due to the camera being cut off.

Laurel turned off the TV, as the two girls sat quietly in her living room, their attention focused onto nothing. Dinah entered the room with her suitcase trailing her. "I've got to get going to the airport. I got redeye to Central City. I should be home in a flash." Josie stood up first, as she carefully walked to her practically second mom.

Without speaking, she wrapped her delicate arms around the older woman. Dinah quickly reacted, her own arms tightly slither around Josie's back, holding her close to her chest. "Thank you for giving us some sort of hope." The blonde uttered out. They pulled away, and Josie held onto Dinah's hands, giving them a light squeeze. "We need to get together again. I'll come visit you up there."

Dinah had a smile spread across her red lips, as she nodded. "Of course. Please do." They bid a last good-bye, both glancing back to Laurel to see if she too would get up and say anything to her mom. Dinah decided that she wasn't, and opened the door, nearly about to leave before she hear her name being called from her daughter.

"Mom." The brunette reached out, grabbing a hold of Dinah's hand. "Call me some time. I'll come up with Josie to see you."

Dinah's brows furrowed in surprise. "You would?" She asked.

Laurel sheepishly smiled. "Of course I would, you're my mother." Dinah only responded by giving Laurel a hug, glad to be holding her daughter.

"I love you so much." She murmured into Laurel's ear, and Josie felt her air supply cutting off. She had never gotten these moments. She never got to be held tightly and told she was loved very much by her mom. She never got to have such bonding moments with either of her parents really. She didn't really see how much paternal love she was left out of.

…

The two decided the only way to end this entire day of tears and yelling was to drink it away. They opted to go hard and take some shots down at Verdant. Knowing how smashed they were going to get, they called a cab.

The trip was quick and the fare was cheap. Josie and Laurel slid out of the car, heading up the stairs towards the club, but not without the blonde catching sight of something. She saw tall, lean, and dirty blonde walking away from the club with his hands in his suit pockets. "Jo?" Laurel inquired, watching her preoccupied friend.

"I-I'll meet you in there. Go find Tommy." The blonde waved her off, and Laurel merely shrugged, heading on forward without her drinking buddy.

Josie hopped down the stairs, fast walking after Oliver. "Ollie?" She called out, and she saw him go rigged. He spun around, facing her with his usual poker-face.

"Hi." He said a little too loud. Josie frowned softly as she walked to him, meeting him halfway.

Josie rolled her lips in, tilting her head to the side. "You okay?"

It was his turn to furrow his thick brows and frown softly. "Fine. Why do you ask?"

Her shoulders rose and fell as her mouth formed a tight line. "You just seemed tense. Didn't know if something was bothering you."

He glanced down at his feet, smiling to himself. "Thanks for checking, but no, I'm-I'm alright." He ended with a sigh. Obviously he was lying, but she didn't even bother to pester him. All she really wanted was to drink till she forgot about the last few weeks. "What are you-uh-what are you doing here?" He now asked.

"It's been a long week for me. Laurel's mom came into town. She was dead set on the idea that Sara was still alive. For a while she had me believing too. I tried to help her track her down, but we only got dead ends." She blew out a breath she had been holding in. "Laurel and I decided we needed a few drinks to just forget about all of it." Oliver only nodded, as silence fell over the two of them. It was comfortable silence, though. Where no one needs to feel obligated to keep up a conversation. Josie, however, began to speak her thoughts out loud. "It was nice, though. It felt like I had a mom again. You know? Just someone to be there to hug me, to comfort me…it's been a while since I've had that." She trailed off, her eyes zoning out.

"I get it." Oliver replied and she shook off her spacing out, her gaze falling onto him. "To have someone you've been craving come back into your life. It does feel nice to know that they'll be there for you." He had a small smile on his face, and she couldn't help but return it.

Josie surveyed him. She was still taken back by how different he was. His hair being shorter, him having a little stubble, being so build and nicely dressed. That he was more tame, that he was mature and understanding. Yet he was still the same guy who wore a fake smile in public and a genuine one with friends and family. He was still the same guy that when someone was seeking it, he would comfort them. He was still Ollie. But in a way he was also Oliver Queen, who turned out to be alive after being marooned on an island for five years.

"You've changed." She slipped out.

His face contorted, as he cocked his head. "What do you mean? In a good way I'm hoping."

She giggled, bobbing her head. "Yes, it's good. It's…nice. You're more grown up, and it really suits you." Her smile shrunk, as she felt herself blushing a little at the way he was watching her. How he took into account all of the little quirks she had, how he seemed so interested in what she had to say. "I like it." She said almost inaudibly.

"I like it too." He responded, as he found himself stepping close to her.

Josie continued to observe his features. She like the way the green lights from the club reflected off his eyes, making them even more aqua colored than they were. She was a very observant person, and could also see how close he was moving towards her. All she really would have to do is raise up on her toes, and she could have her lips touching his.

But she took into consideration that he had just gotten out of a relationship, and right now was not the time for either of them to be toying with each other's emotions. So Josie stepped back, shutting her eyes as a small part of her yelled at her for doing to. It yelled that she could make a move, that she should just kiss him and get it over with. "I-I should probably go inside." She spoke finally, jerking a thumb back towards the doors leading into the club.

"Yeah, you should probably do that." He mumbled out, as he ran a hand through his short hair. She gave a faint grin, bidding him a good-night before heading back towards the club. "J-Josie." He called out to her, and she whirled back around to face him. "Do you, uh, do you want to get dinner or just get some coffee some time?" He asked. It was the way he asked, though. Nervously almost.

"Ollie, what's wrong?" She returned, walking back to him.

His tucked his hands back into his pockets, bouncing a little on the balls of his feet, thinking of what to say. In the end, he just dropped his shoulders, peering down at her. "I don't want to be on an island anymore."

"You want to rekindle the flame?" She asked, referring to their talk from about a month or so ago, a wide goofy smile moving across her face.

He chuckled softly, nodding. "In a way, yes." Her hand shot out, as it settled on his arm. She was just going to give it a squeeze of reassurance, but she found herself moving closer. They were back to where they were before, so close she just needed to get on her toes and she could do it. She could kiss him.

She was unsure. Josie had no clue that if she did she would possibly be wrecking the friendship they had just mended. It was when his eyelids drooped, his gaze fixated on her own lips that she thought 'to hell with it' getting up on her toes, her other arm sliding up to the back of his head as she brought his lips down to hers. She expected him to be shocked and not react, but the moment his soft lips were crashing against hers, the both of them were melting into the kiss, as if they had shared so many of them together before. His hands lifted up, cupping her face as he tilted her head a little to deepen it. That blonde stubble of his scratching against her skin, in a good way. Their lips moved together in sync, and when they pulled away, they both felt hunger for more.

Well, at least that's what Josie thought their first kiss would be like. Instead, she shook of that fantasy of her just having her way and kissing him in front of everyone, and instead gave a weak smile. "Dinner sounds great." Was all that was exchanged, and then she was turning once again away from him. She mentally noted to take one extra shot for that little imaginary kiss.

Kind of slow, I know. I try to make these chapters eventful, but it's hard when Season 1 was not that great compared to the other seasons. I promise it will pick up though since I'm nearing towards the finale.

Just want to say that Josie will be taking a little trip out of town next chapter. Goodbye Starling City, Hello Central City.

Did I get you guys with the kiss fantasy, or did you see it coming?

Anyway, if you are new to the story and you like it, please follow and favorite. And if you are feeling generous and want to let me know what you think of this story, please leave a review. Love you guys!