Code Black // Arrow

10 | Party

"Okay, so I have five dresses for you and five for me picked out." Thea Queen strutted into my apartment living room. Five clothing hangers hung from each of her arms with dresses covered in plastic sheets to keep them from getting dirty. She stepped right in front of the wide television screen, blocking my view of the news.

"Thea," I exclaimed at her sudden appearance. I let the remote fall onto the couch. "What are you doing here?"

She rolled her eyes. "Chase let me in. Tonight's Tommy's party for Oliver, which means both of us need to look hot." The dresses on her arms wiggled in the air for emphasis. "Now, let's try these babies on."

I slowly pushed myself up from the couch. "Are you allowed to go?"

"Oliver is not the boss of me--"

"I meant, did Tommy put you on the list?" I stopped her before she could get a slight attitude about her brother.

Her head tilted to the side, smiling at me. "Well, I figured if I walked in with you, they wouldn't question anything. Knowing Ollie, he probably told Tommy not to put me on the list."

I chuckled, "Oh, so, that's why you are here." I grabbed the five dresses she had mentioned were mine off of her arm. My body swiveled around on my feet and I led her to the stairs of the apartment. "You just wanted to use me to get inside," I jokingly teased her.

"It sounds mean when you put it that way," Thea commented, following behind me. "My main reason for being here is that I can't do this kind of thing with Ollie and my mom isn't as fun as you to play dress up with."

I laughed and climbed up the stairs, effortlessly holding the dresses in the air. Tommy's room was the first door on the right while mine was on the left. My door was open and I wandered right inside. Thea walked in behind me, eyes moving around my grey bedroom walls. I dropped the dresses on my bed.

"Are you saying I'm, like, the older sister you never got?"

"Yes," Thea dragged the word out. "That's exactly what you are." She laid the dresses out beside the ones I set down. "Although, I don't really mind that you aren't my sister because your brother has gotten kind of hot over the years."

"Thea, gross!" I grabbed a pillow off of my bed and whacked her with it. My lip curled in disgust.

She threw her head back in laughter. "What? It's true!"

I shook my head at her. "Okay, we are not having this discussion." I waved a hand at the dresses on my bed. "Which one am I trying on first?"

Thea instantly ceased her laughter and turned serious. She picked up a short, bright red dress with a halter top line. "This is one of my favorites." She held it out for me to grab. "It's a mix of being classy and standing out at the same time to gain every guy's attention."

"That's the last thing I want," I reminded her.

Thea stepped close to me, gently grabbing my arms in her hands once she made sure I wouldn't flinch away from her. "Hensley, nothing is going to happen to you tonight, okay? Tommy has put a lot of security detail on the venue and Chase will be by your side the entire time, like he always is. You can't let your fear of what happened ruin your life forever."

I stared down at her with a small smile. In a way, I knew she was right and I had become more confident over the years. Only a Tommy and Dad knew about what happened when I was kidnapped, all the things they did to me. No one else knew about everything that went down in that year. The whole city of Starling City knew I was put into sex trafficking, but they didn't know how intense it got.

"Fine," I gave into her. I spun on my heel, walking to the bathroom connected to my room. "I can't guarantee I will like it, though. And you are only allowed to come as long as you promise to drink."