Notes:

Haven't update this in a while so I hope you'll like this new chapter. Is anyone even still interested in this story? Not that it really matters, just curious I guess...

Sorry I've been sort of MIA lately but life's still crazy.


Those were the days when we were young and wasted It's alright, the best nights of our lives aren't gone they're somewhere in the air

He was very surprised when Oliver showed up at the café alone. He had almost expected him to bring Sara and the kids along. In the three weeks since they'd been back, they had appeared to be a package deal no matter the activity, but that seemed to actually not be true unless today was an exception.

The relief he felt at this revelation made him feel slightly guilty, but he had missed his best friend and spending time with just him, without his wife. This brought on another wave of guilt. He loved Sara, he really did. She'd always been like a little sister to him, but... it was different now. Spending time with both of them now differed greatly from how it had been before, plus it hadn't been like Sara had always been around before, there had been plenty of times it had just been him and Ollie while Sara had been off doing her own thing. Now her own thing appeared to be intrinsically interwoven with Oliver, which was weird. Sara used to be the most independent out of the four of them and now it almost looked like she had completely given up her independence for co-dependency with her husband. And if it wasn't still very weird to think of Oliver as a husband, Sara's no less. And that was so unlike Sara, it was actually a bit disturbing.

Well, to be fair, he had spent that one time with Ollie without her, but their son had been there too and had demanded a lot of Oliver's attention. Obviously, and rightfully so. He was just a baby and needed to be taken care of. He just missed how it used to be just the two of them, and Ollie's undivided attention would be solely focused on him. It had always been one of Oliver's traits and qualities he cherished most. He'd been almost the only person who'd put their entire focus just on him, and made him feel like the most important, or one of the most important, people in his life. It had been the thing he had missed the most after Ollie had left. There hadn't really been anyone to put his needs and feelings above theirs, not like Ollie had always done. He had always been there right at his side, dropped everything and anyone if he'd needed him and that had just disappeared from one day to the next and it had hurt so much. The loss had been immediate and crushing and it had felt like he had lost his entire support system with one stupid phone call.

That had been one reason he'd never tried to reconcile at the start, because he'd felt like Ollie didn't care about him anymore, and once he had tried to reach out, the number had been disconnected. He had felt abandoned, and he knew how stupid and silly it was, he'd been twenty-two and Ollie hadn't been his parent and he'd never looked at him as such but still, after his mom had died and his dad had changed so much because of it, Ollie had always been there, he'd been his safe haven, his refuge from the storm, the one constant in his life. The person he could count on and trust with anything and everything. His brother in every meaning of the word except for blood. And learning now that Sara had played an enormous part in Ollie not coming back home and the ending of their friendship as far as he had known back then, while seeing how much closer they had grown, obviously they were married and had created their own family, while he had been left behind by both of them, made him a little resentful towards them but especially Sara, because a part of him felt like she had taken Ollie from him and he felt horrible about that, but he couldn't help it. He had missed her a lot, and he was so grateful to have her back but at the same time it didn't really feel like he had Sara back because Sara had changed so much, even more so than Oliver and he wasn't sure what to do with her now.

How to interact with the person she had become.

And maybe that would change if he got the chance to just talk to her, and learn about her life and the things that had led to her changing so much. Talk, like really talk to her like they used to before, but so far that hadn't happened and honestly the thought freaked him out a bit, because Sara was pregnant, and it was a constant reminder that she was a mom now. That the party girl he used to know was now a homemaker, and this was just too much for him to process right now. Especially in combination with the knowledge of just how young Sara still was and how much younger she'd been when she'd become a mom for the first time. It was too much and too overwhelming for him. So he was sort of kinda avoiding her a little. It made him feel like an ass, but he just couldn't deal with that on top of dealing with Oliver being a dad now and having yet another baby in like two months. It was all too much, and he needed to prioritize. And Ollie had always been priority number one for him, just like he used to be for Ollie too. Except for Thea, obviously. A position Sara now held, with their kids, of course, which made complete sense. Of course, she and their family should be Ollie's number one priority, but he just missed his best friend and hanging out with him so fucking much.

They'd all spent time together two to three times a week ever since their first run in, which had been nice, but he still felt like Ollie and he hadn't really reconnected because they never got the chance to really talk, not with everyone else around and especially not with his kids there. He felt really bad and guilty about his thoughts, but he was still trying to get used to Ollie and Sara being an item and them having children. They had changed so much from the people they were before they had left that it took some time getting used to and the entire situation was rather overwhelming. Which made this a nice, unexpected turn of events. This he could work with. This was familiar.

"Tommy, hey. Sorry I'm late. Dropping Sara and the kids off at the park took longer than expected." His friend looked at him apologetically and patted him on the shoulder before sitting down on the chair across from him.

The apology surprised him a bit. He honestly hadn't expected Oliver to be on time. Being fashionably late, or more, had always been his best friend's thing. Used to drive Moira up the wall and annoy Robert to no end. Which had been part of Ollie's reason to attend everything a little late, at least at the beginning, at some point it had just become habit and he'd been sure his best friend wouldn't have been able to be on time if he'd wanted to. And now that it also involved getting two small children ready, he honestly wouldn't ever expect him to be on time. Couldn't even imagine how that would be possible, especially after meeting his children. Those two were more than just a handful.

"It's all good. Don't worry about it. Haven't been here that long either." It was true. He'd run into McKenna, and they spent some time catching up. She'd mentioned that she might swing by the café later on to say hi to Oliver, whom she hadn't seen in even longer than the rest of them.

McKenna had been one of only a few people who had sort of made their inner circle, and she and Ollie had always gotten on great. So he totally got that she wanted to come say hi, after learning that he was back in town. And he was sure Ollie would be happy to see her.

"How are Sara and the kids?" The question was added almost as an afterthought and felt weird in his mouth and part of him simply asked it because he felt it was expected and the polite thing to do, not that he didn't care about them or wanted to know how they were. He just kinda liked the thought of Ollie's family not being the focus of today, as it had been so much during their previous encounters.

"Good. They're good. Benji didn't have the best night and Ellie's been a little difficult this morning and Sara's a bit sleep deprived, struggling to get comfortable laying down because of the baby, but that's nothing unusual. How are you?" Oliver laughed and winked at him at the end, giving him the impression he purposely went into more detail than necessary while still keeping it short, especially if this was normal, to let him know what a normal day in his life looked like. But he could be wrong.

"Good, I'm good. Things with…" He stopped himself before elaborating, still unsure whether or not to share his current family issues with Oliver or not. Part of him wanted to, but at the same time… something kept him from sharing. From letting Ollie know just how fucked up things between his dad and him had become during the last five years. The man he once considered his brother looked at him expectantly, and he wasn't sure how to proceed.

"Things with dad are a bit complicated right now but we're here to talk business so… let's not get distracted with personal bullshit. Your club, you got a name for it?" It was a copout even if it was true. They had decided to meet up to talk more about the plans Ollie had for the club he wanted to open and to give him some more information, which would be helpful and make it easier for him to actually pitch the club to potential investors.

"Verdant." The name surprised him and wasn't at all what he had expected. And it didn't come even close to any of the ideas they've had when they'd joked about opening a club one day back when they were clubbing together. Which seemed to be something that was entirely of the past now. He'd hinted at wanting to throw his best friend a welcome home party, but that idea had been shot down by Oliver almost immediately. He'd been a bit hurt at the reaction. The knowledge that Ollie was going to open a club of his own made the response even stranger. He pushed the thought and feelings accompanying it away. It was done. No big deal. And nothing personal. At least he tried to convince himself of that.

"Why?" He put his focus back on their conversation and his curiosity about the unusual name.

"Why not? No, just joking, because the grass is always greener on the other side." Oliver winked at him with a conspiratorial grin which almost bordered on naughty. As if he were implying his club was going to be the other woman enticing his potential customers to an illicit love affair, which would mean he wanted his club to be the option everyone was wondering about or wanting to go to while being at another place. That was actually pretty smart and could be used for marketing. He'd already had a couple of ideas on how to promote it with that thought in mind.

"Clever. Marketing should be a breeze." He grinned back. It was a lot more imaginative than Max's 'Poison', which was seriously so on the nose and pretty lame as far as names for clubs were concerned.

"Thanks, took me a long time to come up with it." Oliver almost seemed reluctant and sheepish to admit that. He wasn't sure why. It made sense. And it was a name he'd never thought of himself but was brilliant, really.

"All good things take time, right? Speaking of clubs and names, Max Fuller is opening one in a couple of days, named it 'Poison'. Can you say lame? He should've spent some extra time thinking about the name." Tommy wasn't sure why it was so important to him to reassure Oliver, but it just felt like it was very significant, so he did. He also produced a piece of information he wasn't sure his friend was aware of yet. It might be critical. Having Max Fuller as a rival could make the entire thing more difficult for Oliver. Knowing who your rivals are played a big part in the business world.

"Oh, I didn't know that. Name's pretty lame, but I'm sure Max knows how to draw a crowd." Oliver looked contemplative while processing the new piece of information he'd gained. And he wasn't wrong. Everyone was buzzing about the new club that was opening soon. Especially opening night itself. Everyone who was anyone or wanted to pretend to be seemed to be aware of it and excited to be there.

They spent the next couple of hours talking about Oliver's vision for the club, why he had decided to open one in the first place which had led to him sharing how he would often work in clubs and bars while they had travelled and how this had led to him getting just as much insight in the behind the scene as he had gained of the club scene during all their years being customers. This just cemented his belief that he could easily find some investors for Verdant. Oliver really knew what he was talking about, and he had done his research and put a lot of time and energy into it. His work experience also made a big difference. It showed persistence and that he actually understood the business side of it. He also found out that this was something he had worked towards for years. And it was very important to him. He felt honored to be allowed to be a part of it and help him bring it to life. Even if all he was currently able to do was pitch it to Starling City's upper echelon, he wished he could just give Ollie the money he needed, but things with his dad were too strained for him to do that.

They were sort of interrupted, though there wasn't that much more they could discuss at this stage of the endeavor, by McKenna showing up. The conversation then shifted towards work and what they've been up to the last five years, which was nice. Oliver shared little more than he'd already before, though, and he wondered about that. Ollie excused himself when his cell phone suddenly rang, interrupting their conversation about the crime rate in the Glades, and stepped away from the table for a moment. Both McKenna and he watched him walk towards the back to gain some kind of privacy.

"Sorry about that. Sara just wanted to know what the plan was. The kids are starting to get cranky from hunger and cold." He returned not too long after, sitting back down. So he assumed whatever Ollie's plans were, they didn't involve leaving. It was sometime later, while the conversation was flowing nicely again when they were once more interrupted, this time by a little blonde, colorfully dressed tornado who ran right across the room towards them, nearly tripping a waitress while squealing an excited "Daddy!" Oliver got up just in time to catch the little girl who was barreling into him at full speed. He looked from Oliver and Eloise to the direction the girl had come from and saw Sara with Benjamin on her hip looking a little tense and irritated, profusely apologizing to the waitress and trying to help her pick up the sugar packages she'd dropped while avoiding a collision with the four-year-old, a feat that looked rather difficult while heavily pregnant and with a baby on her arm, a baby that constantly tried to grab at the sugar packages too.

"Hi princess, I missed you!" Ollie had picked her up and was now peppering her face with kisses, making the little girl giggle in delight.

"I missed you too, daddy, so much!" She opened her arms as wide as she could to show him just how much she'd missed him, and it was very sweet. Tommy had to admit as far as kids went, Eloise was pretty cool.

It didn't take long for Sara to join them and her and McKenna exchanging hellos and other pleasantries, while Sara handed the baby over to Oliver too and letting herself drop into his chair, looking exhausted. Oliver didn't miss a beat and went to organizing more chairs for him and Eloise and a highchair for Benjamin. Not that it looked like they would've been needed since both kids refused to get off his lap and sit on their own chairs. Once they had ordered the food and the kids were occupied eating, or sort of eating in Benjamin's case, the adults got the chance to talk again, with Eloise piping up from time to time. The two women got along great, which wasn't that surprising, they always had even though they've never been much more than acquaintances as far as he knew, it had always been fun when they were brought together, and the possibilities for mischief had been endless.

Sara seemed very impressed with McKenna's career choice and progression, and Mac, in return, seemed in awe of Sara's life as a full-time mom. Laurel joined them a short while later. She had texted after she got off of work and he'd let her know they were still at the café and that she should join them. It was nice. Almost like old times, except Laurel and McKenna never really hung out back then. They had only started a while back once they sort of connected through their respective work. Laurel hadn't been much into partying and they had mostly hung out with McKenna while partying, and it was also likely that Oliver had kept the two women apart on purpose. Possibly. He knew for a fact that his best friend and the detective had hooked up on several occasions; he wasn't entirely sure if Laurel was aware of it and whether he'd actually cheated on Laurel with McKenna or if it had been during an off phase in their relationship, not that it mattered. It had been years ago and so much had changed that he doubted anyone cared anymore. But he could be wrong. So far, the atmosphere had been nice and friendly and everyone was getting along great. The conversation turned towards the club again at some point and he wasn't sure why, but an idea struck him, and he felt the need to share.

"We could scope out the competition by checking out Poison at the opening. It is the newest club in Starling and, like you said, Max knows how to draw a crowd, and everyone is excited about it. Could help with Verdant." And yes, there might be a small part of him that just really wanted to go out with his best friend again like they used to, but he did mean it. Poison was the place to be right now, and getting a feel of it could be very helpful in the process of building Verdant.

"You want us to crash Max Fuller's club opening?" The idea was met with differing degrees of disbelief, while his best friend seemed somewhere between seriously contemplating it, incredulity and amusement. McKenna looked highly entertained at the thought and was just shaking her head, grinning, while Laurel looked confused and a bit lost. Right, she was never actually told why they stopped hanging out with Max. Or more like Max stopped hanging out with them. Sara, on the other hand, looked at him as if he had lost his fucking mind. Which, fair enough, it might not have been his best idea, but it wasn't his worst either. It had been a good six, if not more, years ago. What were the chances that Max was still holding a grudge?

And even if he did, it was a club that was going to be packed with people. It should be no issue for them to avoid the owner on the opening night.


Notes:

For some reason my muse is currently on a Tommy trip and only channeling him in any verse he's alive so not sure what's going on there but I am a slave to my muse and I follow where she leads...

As always I would love to hear your thoughts and I hope I got Tommy right. I still worry a lot while writing him because he is so precious and I love him so much and only want to do him justice.

And yes, I did put Sara, McKenna and Laurel on the same table, lol. McKenna is awesome and very underrated character if you'd ask me and I just had to bring her in because I can and I find the thought of having her around Oliver, Sara, Tommy and Laurel highly amusing. She might also be a bad influence on Eloise, maybe... potentially... or not... we'll see but Sara seriously needs a girl friend. And McKenna is the perfect candidate for that.

Chapter title is from the song "Best Nights Of Our Lives" by Tom MacDonald, Nova Rockafeller & Brandon Hart.