Destiny Rewritten

Chapter 2

The next morning Oliver came downstairs for breakfast to find another old face waiting for him.

"Tommy Merlyn." Oliver said with a grin as he hugged his best friend.

"Oliver Queen. What did I tell you man. Yachts suck." Tommy said and Oliver laughed.

"True. But anyways, what brings you here?" Oliver asked.

"My best friend came back from the dead and your mom's 24 hour ban on anyone besides family visiting you expired." Tommy said.

"You wouldn't let anyone else into the mansion for a whole day?" Oliver asked his mom.

"That was more to keep people like Sara's father out, since he's going to be furious." Moira said.

"It's no so much Quentin Lance I'm afraid of as much as I am his daughter." Oliver said.

"Yeah, I'm surprised that Laurel hasn't stormed up here to kill you yet." Tommy said.

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna wait for her to come to me, instead of going to her." Oliver said.

"Probably a smart move." Walter said.

"So, Oliver, any plans now that you're back?" Moira asked.

"I think I'm gonna start looking for my own place. I love you mom, but I think it's time I left the nest." Oliver said and he could tell his mother was actually a bit relieved to hear that.

"I see you found some maturity on the island." Moira said and Oliver nodded.

"Yeah, I did. And I also realized that I don't want to work with the company. I don't have the background for it. Queen Consolidated needs someone who is passionate about the business to run it and that isn't me." Oliver said, taking Moira aback.

"Are you sure about this Oliver?" Moira asked and Oliver nodded.

"I never really expressed much interest in working with Queen Consolidated before. That hasn't changed." Oliver said and Moira nodded, knowing that he was right.

"So, you want to hit the town?" Tommy asked.

"Maybe later. I just got home, not interested in getting into anymore trouble quite yet." Oliver said and Tommy looked slightly disappointed.

"I promise, once things have calmed down a bit, we'll hit the town." Oliver promised and Tommy sighed.

"Let me know when." Tommy said.

"Will do." Oliver said as Tommy headed out and Oliver was surprised at who came in as he left.

"Laurel." Oliver said.

"I'm kind of surprised you didn't come to see me at work." Laurel said and Oliver had to admit, she looked even more beautiful then he remembered, since Black Siren was not his Laurel.

"I didn't know what to say. There's no apology I can give that can truly make up for what I did. I honestly thought that I was the last person you'd want to see." Oliver said and Walter and Moira took that as their cue to leave.

"You're right, there's nothing you can say or do that make up for what you did. But you can start by answering a question." Laurel said.

"Shoot." Oliver said.

"Why did you do it? Dad has many theories and I have a few of my own, but I'd like to know what possible reason you could've had for taking Sara on that boat." Laurel said.

"I did it because I wasn't ready for what you wanted and you couldn't see that. I was a lot of things, but at least I was never delusional about our relationship. You might have been ready for the next stage Laurel, but I wasn't. I'm not trying to shift the blame to you, I take full responsibility for my own choices, but anyone else could've seen that I wasn't ready to move in together yet. Did I want that eventually, yes I did, but you were pushing for too much too soon." Oliver said, honestly wishing he'd given her this speech the first time around.

"You took my sister on that boat because you weren't ready to commit like I was?" Laurel asked.

"Yes. I'm sorry Laurel, but I couldn't tell you know, so instead I sabotaged our relationship in the worse way I could think of. I'm sorry for that and I am sorry for what happened to Sara. And I have to live with that guilt for the rest of my life. Along with everything else I've suffered for the past 5 years." Oliver said, taking Laurel aback as she start to feel to her anger at him, anger that she'd been harboring for 5 years, start to fade away slowly, while it was still there, she was beginning to realize that maybe Oliver had suffered enough for what he did. He clearly wasn't the same man who she'd kissed goodbye on the Star City docks 5 years ago.

"What happened to you?" Laurel asked.

"Hell. That island is called purgatory for a reason Laurel. I had to change to survive." Oliver said as Laurel cautiously approached him, still not ready to forgive him yet, but maybe she could start to heal.

"Is there anything left of the man I knew?" Laurel asked.

"Some parts. Just not sure if they were the good ones." Oliver said.

"There were good parts?" Laurel asked and they both laughed.

"I really am sorry about Sara. If I could trade places with her, I would." Oliver said, despite knowing that Sara was alive and well in Nanda Parbat and he was already trying to figure out how to lure her back to the city.

"I know. Even from only one conversation with you, I can tell you're a different person. Maybe even better than you were before. But I guess only time will tell if that's true." Laurel said.

"Can you do me a favor and try to convince your dad not to shoot me." Oliver said.

"I will if you answer one more question." Laurel said.

"What is it?" Oliver asked.

"Is there any chance Sara could've survived?" Laurel asked and Oliver sighed, deciding he was going to break his promise to Sara.

"I don't know." Oliver said.

"What?" Laurel asked.

"Sara and I were separated in the accident. It was dark and the water was everywhere, I thought she was dead, but then again, I thought the same thing about myself and yet here I am." Oliver said.

"So, there's a chance she's alive?" Laurel asked.

"I doubt it. Even if she did survive initial accident, she would've drifting out at sea." Oliver said regretfully.

"I'll see you around Oliver." Laurel said, walking away from him.

"That went better than I thought it would." Oliver said as his mother entered the room.

"How did you think it would go?" Moira asked.

"She'd inflict some kind of bodily harm on me." Oliver said and Moira nodded.

"Fair point." Moira sighed.

"Now I'm gonna go do some apartment hunting." Oliver said.

"Let me know if you need any help." Moira said.

"Will do, but mom, when I get back, we need to talk about Thea." Oliver said as he headed out himself.