Thriving

Mr. Diggle's Replacement

Hours and hours later, Oliver finally returned to the Queen Mansion. Yet, instead of heading straight toward his worried family, he made a beeline toward the stairs.

If only he could've made it up to his room before Laurel came into the foyer. "Where were you?" she asked.

Oliver turned around, exhausted. "What?" He sighed. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard about the shooting and I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"You did?"

"Yeah." Laurel nodded. "I knocked on the door, and I found a family terrified for you. They had no idea where you were."

Oliver walked down to the last step, leaning against the wooden pillar at the base of the staircase. "Oh."

"Oliver, are you so self-centered that you don't think that people who care about you are gonna wonder about where you are after you all got shot at?" Laurel questioned.

"You're right."

"I made peace with your selfishness a long time ago. But Moira, Thea, Walter, and Amber they don't deserve that. They deserve better. Someone who doesn't care only about himself." Laurel said before walking toward the front door.

"Laurel." Oliver paused, choosing his words carefully. "Thank you for coming."

"I care about the lives of other people, Oliver. Maybe you should try it sometime." Laurel turned and left.

"Damn." Jessica's voice sounded from behind Oliver. "That was brutal."

"Whatever you're going to say, just don't." Oliver turned toward Jessica. "I've already been taken to the woodshed twice tonight."

"What, you think I'm gonna chew you out too?"

"It's kind of your thing."

Jessica shrugged. "Normally, yes. But, I'm feeling nice tonight."

"You know how to be nice?" Oliver teased.

"Shut up." Jessica rolled her eyes. "Look, I understand more than anyone in this house that sometimes, in the midst of a chaotic mess, crap happens. You get turned around in the crowd, you lose your phone, it gets broken, it dies... virtually anything can happen. But you still need a way to contact your family. I, for example, always keep a burner phone on me as a backup."

There was a moment of silence before Oliver decided to respond. "I thought you hated me."

"I never hated you, Oliver. I... I was just scared of losing Amber." Jessica explained. "I thought you were gonna come in and demand full custody and that I wouldn't see her anymore. Lucky for me, you turned out to be an idiot and not an ass."

Oliver chuckled. "There it is."

"I don't do sentiment. I kinda had to throw in that last sentence." Jessica cracked a smile.

"I wouldn't do that, though." Oliver turned serious. "You mean a lot to Amber and I wouldn't do anything to interfere with that."

"Thanks," Jessica said. Another silence fell between the two, only this time it felt more awkward. "So." Jessica cleared her throat. "Look into that burner phone idea."

"I will."

"Great." Jessica gave an awkward thumbs-up before finally leaving.

* * *

For the first time in a while, Jessica was called away to a crime scene and unable to drive Amber to school. So, for the first time ever, Amber needed to ask for a ride from her father and his bodyguard, Diggle.