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My first encounter with Oliver Queen wasn't as memorable as he had hoped it was.
I was in the middle of a day of work when he walked in with a few friends. I served them their meal, barely catching onto Oliver's... attempts at flirting.
It was ridiculous and it made me laugh more than it had flattered me.
But I was dumb and young, so when I found his phone number scribbled on a napkin and stuck in the check presenter, I gave it a shot.
I ended up at a bar that was far too expensive for my taste. Oliver and I sat in the corner and spent most of the nice just talking about anything. Looking back on it now, I could see that it was mostly Oliver talking about himself. I was just happy to listen because I wasn't aware of how strange that was.
The rest of the relationship was history.
It wasn't healthy. I knew that, just not while I was in it.
Oliver was.... for lack of a better term... obsessed with himself. He loved to show off his money. He would party and drag his friends along with him everywhere. We rarely got a night to ourselves. We were constantly surrounded by people that would listen to him talk and talk just so they could get free stuff from him. That included the girls that seemed to sit a little too close.
It just never felt like I was in a relationship with him unless it was convenient to him.
I dealt with a lot of guilt when Oliver went missing.
I had felt like an asshole for complaining about our relationship now that he was gone. I felt like I didn't deserve to be upset with how he treated me anymore.
I did a lot of work.
I accepted that I could grieve him and miss him, but that didn't change what he did. No matter what happened to him, it didn't excuse him mistreating me. I wasn't responsible for his behavior. He was. I had to accept all of that. And I did, or I was getting to that point. I was getting to the point where I felt completely fine with being on my own.
And then, Oliver was found.
I saw the coverage on the news. I was hoping the entire family would kind of forget that I existed. Thea didn't. She called me.
So, for the first time in years, I found myself walking up to the front door of the Queen residence.
I knocked on the door and stepped back.
I yelled when someone came running out the door and hugging me.
"I missed you," Thea shouted as she tightened her hold on me.
"Please tell me you didn't do this to the mailman when he showed up," I joked.
She stepped back, "Sorry."
"It's fine," I said. "How are you?"
"Fine," she shrugged. "Bit overwhelmed."
"I'd expect that," I nodded.
"Umm," Thea pointed back over her shoulder. "Oliver is waiting for you in the sitting room."
"Okay," I replied quietly. A familiar sinking feeling took over my stomach. "I'll see you later."
"Good luck," she said as I walked past her into the main room.
Oliver saw me as soon as I walked in. He quickly stood up from the couch and grinned at me.
"Hey," he said quietly.
"Hi," I replied awkwardly.
He only took a moment before running over and pulling me into a hug. I let out a sigh and closed my eyes. I slowly hugged him back. I wasn't going to lie. I had missed the soft moments.
"I missed you so much," he muttered into my ear before stepping back. "How've you been?"
"Well," I shrugged, "I did a lot of work over the last couple of years. Work on myself."
"That's good," he nodded. "I'm happy for you."
"Thanks," I replied.
"Can we sit," he asked. "I have something important to talk to you about."
I paused for a moment before finally letting out a quiet sigh, "Sure."
As I walked to the couch, I finally noticed the other man standing in the room. I stopped for a moment.
"Umm, hi," I said, waving at him. He grinned and nodded.
"This is John Diggle," Oliver explained. "My mother hired him when I got back."
"Oh," I muttered. "Nice to meet you."
"You too," John replied. "Oliver talks about you a lot."
"Alright," Oliver said. "Diggle, will you give us the room?"
"Are you going to sneak out the window?"
"What," I asked, looking at Oliver. "Why would you-"
"He doesn't like having a bodyguard."
"Never really did," I shrugged.
"Diggle," Oliver jumped in.
The bodyguard nodded before walking out of the room and closing the door.
I finally walked over to the couch and sat next to Oliver. He seemed nervous. That was strange. He had never been super nervous before. Even when he wasn't confident, he was good at faking it around people.
"Listen," Oliver started and stopped. He closed his eyes for a moment, pulling his thoughts together.
"What is it," I asked.
"I missed you, a lot," he explained. "But... I know that I was an asshole when I was with you."
I blinked at him a few times, "I wasn't gonna mention it."
"Yeah," he muttered. "I just... I want to apologize. I'm so sorry for how I treated you. It was awful. I know that."
"Umm... well... thank you for saying that," I replied.
He grinned at me.
We sat in silence for a while. I looked away from him, instead opting to stare at a pattern on the carpet. I didn't know what else to say or do. It was a conversation that I never expected to have.
"(Y/n)," I looked back over at him when he said my name. "Could we... Could we try this again?"
I completely froze up.
"I know that I wasn't good to you," he continued. "I was an absolute ass. But I want to be better. I think I can be. I just... I don't want to lose you completely. Please."
"Oliver," I sighed. I closed my eyes and looked down for a moment. "I... I don't know."
Oliver nodded, "You can decide how fast or slow we go forward. You decide when we're done. If I start being awful, then leave."
I felt like I was going to throw up. Not because I was disgusted at the idea, but because I was completely caught off-guard. I never thought I was going to have this conversation. I never thought I would have to consider this.
"We can start with one date," he offered. "Just dinner?"
I took a deep breath, trying to relax.
"Okay," I said.
My mouth was just a few seconds ahead of my brain. Still, I wasn't unhappy. I grinned at him. He smiled back at me.
"One chance," I clarified.
"Thank you," he reached over and grabbed my hand. "I'll call you with the details."
I nodded before standing up, letting his hand fall from mine, "I'll await your call."
"Okay," he excitedly nodded before standing up. "Can I walk you out?"
I nodded.
We walked back out to the front door slowly. I was about to walk out when Oliver said my name to stop me. I turned around for a moment. He leaned over and kissed my cheek. It was only for a matter of seconds before he stepped back.
He looked down for a moment, blushing a little. I grinned at him.
"Bye, Oli."
"Bye," he waved as I finally made it out of the house.
To whatever power there was controlling the world, please let this dinner go well. Please.