Notes:
Here's the next one, as always I love hope you guys like it and I love to hear your thoughts.
Hello, it's me I was wondering if after all these years you'd like to meet It's so typical of me to talk about myself, I'm sorry
Thea walked into her room after another exhausting day at school. Her mood perked up the moment she saw the light blue envelope with her name, in by now very familiar letters on it, on her pillow. She dropped her bag, squealed before rushing to the bed and picking it up excitedly. Raisa hadn't said anything about a new letter this morning. She dropped onto her bed and opened it, looking at the rather small card inside. This was it? She hadn't gotten a letter in ages and now all she got was a lousy postcard?
She took it out of the envelope and was confused by the design for a minute.
A cartoon mouse with a sombrero on? Why would he... she was still trying to figure out what had gone on in his mind when buying it when she noticed the text written on it:
"Hi Amigo. Long time no see." - Speedy Gonzales.
She felt really stupid right now. Of course, leave it to Ollie to... wait... long time no see...
Thea flipped the card over in record time, her eyes flying over the brief text in her brother's familiar scrip.
Speedy,
I miss you every day and I think it's way past time to do something about it.
I'm not sure if you already have plans or not, but I'll be in the park by the Rockets Stadium on Sunday afternoon. I hope you can make it because I'd love to see you.
Love, Ollie.
Thea reread the small text at least five times before the words registered in her mind.
Ollie was here? Ollie was in Starling? And he wanted to see her? Well, of course she'd be there. She didn't have any plans, but even if she did, she'd cancel them for her brother, whom she hadn't seen in five long years. And she still wasn't sure she understood why.
Her parents had tried to explain it to her when she was younger. It had made no sense to her. Then Tommy had tried to explain it to her, but his explanation had made even less sense and she didn't understand why the two friends had a fight because Ollie wanted to travel a bit longer before coming home. And then he had broken up with Laurel out of the blue and no one seemed to understand anything anymore and in the end all she'd known was that everyone was mad at Ollie and her big brother wasn't coming home.
She'd been devastated and had hurt so badly and she didn't know what any of this had to do with her and why she couldn't see him, either. She wasn't mad at him. She'd done nothing to him. She didn't care if he traveled a little longer before coming home, so why was she being punished, too? Why was he angry at her, too?
It had been several weeks after her mom and dad had disowned Ollie; she hadn't been sure what it meant. She'd heard the term around her parents' friends several times while growing up, but she hadn't been completely sure, so she'd gone and asked Tommy. He had looked at her sadly before saying: "Speedy, it means that officially, in the eyes of the law, Oliver isn't a part of your family anymore and because of that, has no right to your parents' money." He had looked so crushed, and she'd understood why once he had explained it to her. It made no sense to her. She knew her parents wanted Ollie to come back home too, so why would they say he wasn't a part of their family anymore? Why would they do that? So, he was in China and had no money to live or book a flight to come home? She knew their parents loved them dearly and only wanted the best for them, but how was that the best for Ollie? How was Ollie not being able to buy food and believing they didn't want him to be a part of their family anymore, going to convince him to come back home? Her parents' logic had made absolutely no sense to her, and she just hadn't been able to understand why they had been doing what they were doing.
She'd been so angry at her parents after that and had refused to talk to them. And then one day Raisa had asked her to join her in the kitchen, while her dad had still been at work and her mom had been at a meeting for some charity event she was planning. Thea had simply assumed she'd get some cookies sneaked in before dinner, as their Russian maid had taken up to doing ever since Ollie had fallen out with their parents. The last thing she had expected was for Raisa to hand her a plain, white envelope with just her name on it. The handwriting had been familiar to her, but she hadn't been able to place it. She had just looked at Raisa, confused, but the maid had just smiled at her softly and told her to go ahead and open it.
The contend of the envelope had been a four-page long double-sided letter in her brother's familiar handwriting. He had explained to her what was going on, well part of it in a way that finally made her understand everything a bit better. Ollie had always been able to do that. He'd also told her to not blame their parents for their actions, that it was his choice and that he wouldn't have made a different one and still not come home even if they hadn't cut him off. He had explained that this was something he had to do, that it was the road he had to take. That he couldn't come home right now because being home made him feel like he was suffocating, and he felt for the first time in years like he could breathe again. He assured her it had absolutely nothing to do with her. That he loved and missed her dearly and how sorry he was to cause her pain and not be able to be with her. That it was complicated, and he hoped his words would at least help her understand why he was doing what he was doing right now. He had also asked her to not mention this letter to anyone because he wasn't ready to deal with them right now. Just as he had promised, he'd stay in touch and keep sending letters for her and Raisa would give them to her. That it was their little secret, just like the small pieces of chocolate Raise would let them eat right before dinner.
He had kept his promise and sent her letters more or less regularly; she knew he was leaving a lot out in them, but at the same time he was sharing a lot too and she knew he was happy and that was all that mattered in the end. He'd go into great detail describing the countries he was in, the people who lived there, the animals, the plants, the differences and similarities to their home and the jobs he'd work to support the life he had chosen. She sometimes worried about him, that he might be lonely, being all by himself for such a long time. He did share details about people he met too, but they were always changing, and she felt really sad that he didn't have a constant companion with him
And she'd done what he had asked her to and never told anyone about the letters she kept in a special, locked box right under her bed.
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Thea couldn't remember the last time she had been as excited and terrified at the same time. She wasn't sure why; it was just Ollie, her big bro, but she hadn't seen him in five years and a part of her wondered if she was even going to recognize him, or he she. What if they would both be waiting around for the other, not realizing they were standing right beside each other? She looked at Mr. Diggle next to her for a moment, unsure. He just gave her an encouraging smile.
"Everything alright, Miss Queen?" Of course, he had no idea why they were here, who she was about to meet. And what was going on in her head.
"Everything's fine, Mr. Diggle, thank you. I'm just a bit nervous. I'm meeting someone I haven't seen in years. I guess I'm scared. What if they aren't who they used to be? What if they've changed and I no longer recognize them?" She couldn't help herself, she needed to share her thoughts with someone, even if she wasn't elaborating further and she liked her bodyguard, he had become a sort of confidante to her during the last four years that he had been her constant companion, at least more or less, there had been longer periods of times when Mr. Diggle hadn't been around and Rob had taken over his duties, her dad would never give her a clear answer as to where Mr. Diggle was. He'd just tell her he had other obligations on top of ensuring her safety. Every time Mr. Diggle had returned, she'd asked him about those other duties of his, but he never divulged anything, just telling her it was nothing she needed to worry about. And proceed to ask her about Rob and how he had fared during his absence. Rob was alright, a bit of a stickler to the rules and very boring, easy to mess with though, so that usually led to some amusement for herself but she was always relieved and grateful whenever Mr. Diggle returned. She liked him and his dry sense of humor and stories from his time in the army or his nephew more. And he was easy to talk to and was always ready and willing to give her some piece of wisdom or advice, just like Raisa.
"That is a natural reaction and I am sure they have changed just as you have, but that doesn't need to be a bad thing. You can't find out whether they have or not while standing next to the car, though. You won't find out until you meet them." He was right, of course he was. She gave her bodyguard a grateful smile, thanked him and asked him to stay by the car, something he was doing reluctantly after she had assured him she wasn't going too far and she had known the person she was meeting pretty much her entire life.
Thea squared her shoulders and strode purposely towards the entrance to the park Ollie had asked her to join him at. She stepped through the gate, her worry and insecurities returning, wondering once again if she'd recognize her brother when all of her worries were taken from her as soon as she saw the man standing by a bench just inside the park. He was watching the entrance and had a look of anxiety on his face, which gave her the impression his thoughts were along the same line as hers.
"Hey sis." His face lit up the moment his eyes landed on her, and that was all that it took. She sped up until she was running towards him, jumping into his open arms without a moment's hesitation, feeling his arms close around her and pulling her close and into a tight embrace, while she was holding on to him just as tightly.
"I knew it. I knew you were going to come home one day. I missed you so much!" God, she had missed this the way she felt when she was wrapped in his arms. So safe, loved and protected. She had missed him so much!
"You were with me the whole time." They stayed like that for a long time until her brother slowly pulled away, but not before affectionately kissing her forehead, like he always used to do before… before he had chosen to walk out of her life. It was only after that she finally took in his appearance and noticed just how much he had changed on the outside. His hair was a lot shorter, but she liked it. He was also a lot more muscular than he had been when he had left home, and he looked healthier, but most significant was the way he was dressed. She took note of the washed-out jeans, with dirt spots on them, and the plain off the racks t-shirt that had some stains on it. Thea understood the cheap clothes. He didn't have a lot of money, she had gathered this out of his letters, not the stains though. Why would he walk around in dirty clothes instead of having them cleaned? They never wore stained clothes. This was very worrisome, and she wondered if he needed some money to get them cleaned. She'd be happy to give him some, and she wondered how she should bring it up.
"How are you, Thea?" Oliver's question took her focus away from the state of his clothes and back to his face. He had a soft look on it and was looking at her intently. The question broke the sort of tension that had taken place after their initial hug and she began to tell him about the latest events in her life while they started to walk along the dirt path, talking and stopped at a bench to sit down when she was telling him about the trouble her friend Margo had been getting into lately and how worried she was about her. Ollie was listening intently, and she could almost see the wheels turning inside of his head. It made her wonder what he was thinking about.
"There's a coffeeshop close by, why don't we grab something to drink and come back here after?" She was surprised by the change of subject and Oliver not sharing his thoughts on Margo's out of character behavior. But a Frappuccino did sound nice, so they got back up and walked towards the direction her brother had pointed out. Mostly in silence.
They had sat back down on the bench near the playground, once they had gotten their drinks, and it was only then that she circled back to the conversation they've had at this spot before Ollie had suggested they get something to drink.
"What do you think is going on with Margo?" Her brother was just about to reply to her question when she suddenly heard a little girl's voice yelling at the top of her lungs, it seemed: "Daddy! Daddy! Get me down! I'm stuck on the castle roof and I gotta go pee, really, really, bad!" She turned towards Ollie to comment, pretty amused by the kid's antics, when she saw her brother turn towards the playground at the words before jumping up from the bench they were sitting on and running towards the high tower that was connected to the castle and had several slides go down and a little girl standing on the roof.
"Hurry daddy!" She watched him climb up to the top and the little girl who had stood on top of it, almost lunge at him, wrapping her little arms around his neck, holding on tightly while he was getting back down again and carrying her towards the public restrooms, only to change course midway and walk towards a big tree by the swings. He detangled the girl from around him, set her on her feet, helped her pull her pants down before picking her up in a way that made it possible for her to pee without getting herself wet.
Thea registered a woman laughing in the background while she was watching her brother help the little girl pee.
The most surprising thing about all of that was that it looked almost practiced and that her brother seemed to know exactly how to hold the girl up, so she could pee without getting either of them or her clothes wet, that was not an easy task. She remembered Sara doing that with some of the younger kids she'd used to babysit before she left for college.
He put her on her feet again when she was done and helped her get properly dressed once more. Before she ran off back the way they'd come from. Ollie following her close behind.
What the actual fuck?!
She watched the little girl climb up the ladder to one of the slides and going down it, jumping off at the bottom and speeding back to the ladder, repeating the action. Ollie walked past the slides and stopped next to a woman with a baby on her hips. Watching the little girl going up and down the slide. Thea contemplated for a moment what she should do, if she should stay here and wait for her brother to return, or if she should follow him and find out what was going on.
He had never mentioned anything about a kid in all of his letters. And not during the long conversation they've been having, before they got interrupted by the little girl. Well, he hadn't really talked about himself and his life much or at all yet. They had mostly talked about her and she had missed talking to him and asking him for advice so much and even though so many years had passed; he was still just Ollie and talking to and sharing her troubles with him came naturally.
She waited another couple of minutes before slowly walking towards the playground, using the same path Ollie had while rushing to get his kid off of the roof. Maybe he was dating a woman who had a kid, and it wasn't actually his? He would've told her if he had a kid, right? Sure, she'd known that he was probably leaving a lot of his life out of his letters, but he wouldn't have left that out, would he?
"We're going to be fucked when she hits her teens, aren't we?" She was close enough to her brother now to clearly hear the words he spoke to the woman beside him.
"For sure." Her voice was familiar, very familiar, but she couldn't place it right now. Too distracted by Ollie taking a baby from the woman's arms, who was still mostly obstructed by her brother's body. Thea turned her head towards the slides again just in time to watch the little girl zipping down it yet again. She seemed to like speed.
"Since you're here and the one who's requested, mind if I go pee really quick before you head back to Thea? Would make it a lot easier than having to take them both with me." The woman stepped forward and turned so she was facing Ollie and her mouth dropped open at the very pregnant appearance of no other than Sara fucking Lance! Another person she'd missed dearly over the years, ever since she had decided to move to Europe. She had wanted to go visit her every time she and her parents had been in Europe, but both of them had always plenty of reasons why she couldn't.
"Of course." Ollie bent down and gave her a peck on the lips before slapping her ass when she walked off. Sara turned her head back at him, shaking it laughing. Her brother was just smirking and winking at her.
Ollie had never once mentioned Sara. Sara had never once mentioned Ollie. And neither of them had ever mentioned any kids. What the hell was going on here and why hadn't they told her?
Notes:
Sorry for the sort of cliffhanger, but the chapter was getting too long and I needed to break it somewhere.
Thea is going to be different than she was in Arrow season one. She still has both of her parents, Ollie didn't die and stayed in contact with her, sort of and Robert has learned his lesson when it comes to raising his kids and is trying to do better with Thea. So Thea might probably be one of the biggest changes when it comes to the characters, well, her and Quentin.
Yes, Oliver does usually put on clean clothes in the morning, it is not his fault his kids are responsible for them being stained within less than an hour of putting them on, lol.
Chapter title is from the song "Hello" by Adele.
