Code Black // Arrow

06 | Oliver

When I returned to Starling City, there was a reason I never went back to Queen Mansion. The idea of returning back to the place I was kidnapped terrified me. I never wanted to revisit that place or even step foot in Oliver's bedroom again. The place where I was taken for a year from my family and put through absolute hell.

Yet, here I stood in front of Queen Mansion with a feeling of dread building in the pit of my stomach. My fearful eyes bored into the front doors of the mansion, feet planted to the cobbled driveway, unable to move in either direction. I couldn't bring myself to walk up to the wooden doors.

Tommy gently set his hand on my shoulders. His body angled towards my own body instead of facing the mansion. "Hensley, you don't have to do this." My brother's voice was soft and filled with concern.

I uneasily breathed out, willing myself not to let the tears building in my eyes spill over. Last night, Tommy announced we would be joining the Queen's for dinner for their first dinner together as a family and, of course, we were invited. Moira always considered Tommy and I as family.

"Hensley?" Tommy tried to break through my wall of fear.

"I'll have to face this mansion eventually. Why not today?" I whispered to him, afraid to speak any louder. I turned my head toward my brother, weakly smiling. My emotions shined truly on my facial features, knowing Tommy had been by my side through everything, especially since I returned home. "Besides, Oliver's alive. That's one good thing about this place now. Maybe I can make that good outweigh the rest of the bad."

"I'll be by your side the entire time." Tommy promised to me. He lightly squeezed my shoulder in comfort.

I nodded at him. I wrapped my right hand around his bicep, allowing him to lead me up to the door. Tommy opened the door, not bothering to knock and he leaned against the door frame instead of stepping inside when he saw who was standing at the table in the foyer.

My hand covered my mouth, taken aback. Oliver Queen, the guy who used to be one of my best friends, stood in the center of the foyer with a picture frame in his hand. His back was to us, but that was enough to see how much he had changed since the last time I saw him. His hair was shorter, a darker shade of blonde now. Oliver no longer looked like the player he used to be five years ago. He looked grown.

Five years was more than enough time for someone to change completely. I, of all people, understood that. Oliver would not be the same person he was before the boating accident. He was abandoned on an island for five years on his own. There was no chance that Oliver hadn't become a different person.

He wore a dark sweater with a white collared shirt poking out from the neck and sleeves. His shoulders were broader, built with muscle that he hadn't had before. I blinked my eyes several times to make sure I wasn't imagining things.

Oliver was alive.

My eyes flitted to the stairs and I felt my hand fall from Tommy's arm, emotions filing back inside of my body. My blood ran cold. I stopped in the doorway of the mansion, nervously swallowing. Goosebumps formed down my arms and spine.

"What did I tell you?" Tommy announced our arrival, a grin sat on his face as he focused on his best friend. For a brief minute, he became overwhelmed with joy to notice my sudden downfall. "Yachts suck."

An amused chuckle came from Oliver as he turned around. The smile on his lips turned broader when he saw the two of us in the entrance way of the mansion. "Tommy and Hensley Merlyn." Oliver stated.

Tommy strolled forward, wrapping his arms around Oliver in a hug. "I missed you, buddy."

I remained frozen in the doorway. My shoes felt, like, they had lead filled into them and my legs were made of jelly. No matter how hard I tried, I could not pull my eyes away from the wooden stairs that lead upstairs. Knowing Oliver's bedroom was right up them forced all of the memories of that night to be brought back up.