"Okay. What else did you miss?" Tommy paused with his wrists resting on the table with his fork in his right hand. He tilted his head to the side, slightly squinting into the air as he concentrated harder.

A sweet smile graced my lips. This was the first time in a while I had really seen my brother this happy in a while. He was a rather happy person in general, so it wasn't uncommon. This was a different kind of happiness. This was Tommy having his best friend back. For a year, Tommy lost not only his best friend and his sister. Now, he had both of us back in his life. Joy radiated in his brown eyes.

"Super Bowl winners..." Tommy blurted, determined to tell his best friend about everything he had missed. "Giants, Steelers, Saints, Packers, Giants again."

I cracked a smile before I placed more potatoes in my mouth. Oliver's eyes flickered from Tommy to where I sat beside my brother. He was clearly still occupied with thoughts of what happened earlier.

The friendship the two of us had was different from what it would be now. Five years was a lot of time for two people to change. I knew how much I changed since then, especially with everything I had gone through and what I had my Dad teach me. I was not the same girl I used to be.

Five years alone on an island was sure to change you in ways I wouldn't be able to imagine. The things Oliver must had gone through to stay alive every day must had been intense. There's no way he didn't come off of that island without some baggage in his mind.

"A black president, that's new." Tommy continued with a flick of his hand. "Oh, and 'Lost', they were all dead..." His head tilted to the side as confusion swept over his facial features. His lips pursed and he glanced in my direction beside him. "I think?"

A small giggle slipped off of my lips. That show confused me as much as it confused him. I remembered nights where the two of us would sit on the couch in our apartment to watch that show and try to understand everything.

From my peripheral vision, I could feel Oliver's gaze on me, so strong, like he wanted me to meet his look. I kept my chin directed in my brother's direction, stubbornly. I wasn't ready for all of his questions. What happened to him on that island intrigued me, probably the same amount that it intrigued him to know what happened to me when I was kidnapped.

"What was it like there?" Thea questioned, curiously.

I stopped my hand in mid-air with food on my fork, mouth partially left agape. Everyone's motions froze as they were taken aback by Thea's brave question. Moira sent out a group text strictly telling everyone not to ask Oliver about his time on the island. She thought the whole experience would be too much for him to discuss after just leaving it.

The tension in the dining room grew thicker from the question. There was already an abundance of it in the mansion, but Thea's curiosity took the price to make it worse. Even Raisa, the Queen's maid, had sharply turned her back to the table, not wanting to be a part of the situation.

Oliver hesitated before he chose to answer. "Cold," he answered his sister. The answer was short and left our imaginations to be the ones to figure out the rest.

Tommy placed his hand on my shoulder and broke the silence that fell back upon the table. "Tomorrow, the three of us, we're doing the city. You've got a lot to catch up on."

"Oh, actually," I pressed my lips together while setting my fork down on my nearly empty plate. My eyes darted between Oliver and my brother. "I had plans to have lunch with Dad tomorrow. We have some things to talk about."

Tommy frowned at the news. He seemed to really want to get the original team back together. The three of us used to own Starling City with our partying. You know, after the two accepted the fact that I would always be joining their sides, no matter how much they disapproved at first.

Starling City once gave us the nickname of the Three Musketeers. The boys were the party animals and I was in charge of having a good time while still managing to keep the two of them in line. There used to be several nights when Oliver and Tommy would get themselves in trouble, leaving the paparazzi to have a field day. They were all over the news and newspaper the night day.

"But, I'm sure I can meet up with you guys after." I flashed my brother a smile.

His hand left my shoulder with a swift nod of his head.

"That sounds like a great idea." Moira sipped on her red wine.

"Good. Then I was hoping to swing by the office."

Oliver's words caused a moment of surprise at the other end of the table. Moira nearly choked on her wine, turning it into a very subtle action to avoid causing chaos with her son.

Walter lowered his glass to the table, speaking, "Well, there's plenty of time for all that." He briefly glimpsed at Moira. "Queen Consolidated isn't going anywhere."

"Knowing you," I playfully bumped my elbow against Tommy's. I sent a sly look at Moira, knowing she did not want to talk about their company at this time. A quick change of conversation was exactly what they needed. "I'm sure you'll be playing a party soon for Oliver's return. Chase is going to have his hands full."

Oliver's hand hovered over his water glass. He raised a brow at my words and nonchalantly glanced at me. "Is Chase your boyfriend?"

The thick tension in the room returned. Everyone glimpsed at each other, unsure of the next conversation was going to go. The question was so innocent. Oliver was simply curious, especially after being gone for so many years, he wanted just wanted to catch up.

I picked up my own glass of wine and stopped it in front of my lips, gazing at Oliver over the rim. "Um, actually, Oliver." I casually swirled the wine around in the glass. "He's my bodyguard."

Before he could process what I said, the bowl of fruit in Raisa's grasp nearly tumbled on the table along with herself as she tripped over her own feet. My own reflexes kicked in when I tried to stop her from falling into the table until Oliver beat me to it. His reflexes were just as fast as my own, but he sat closer to her. He used one hand to straighten her back up and held the fruit bowl in the other.

"Oh, I am so sorry, Mr. Oliver." Raisa immediately apologized to him, restoring her balance.

"It's no worry," Oliver responded to her with a kind smile. His warm answer was not surprising, but the way he spoke Russian fluently was.

No one else at the table, aside from Raisa, understood the words that effortlessly flew from his mouth. I stared at Oliver, wide eyed. Five years ago, neither of us knew another language, except for English. I knew for a fact Oliver did not know Russian before. How could he have possibly learned Russian when he had been on that island by himself?

My father had taught me several things over the past four years since I asked him to teach me everything he knew. The Russian language was one of the things he taught me. Dad wanted me to be prepared for anything, to never be scared again, so he taught me everything he knew, including Russian.

"Dude, you speak Russian?" Tommy said in an impressed voice.

"I didn't realize you took Russian at college, Oliver." Walter commented from his seat next to Moira's.

Oliver briskly replied, "I didn't realize you wanted to sleep with my mother, Walter."

The hand around Walter's wine glass tightened as he stared back at Oliver. I pressed my lips together and sat back in my chair. This dinner was full of all kinds of tension tonight. Moira and Walter clearly did not want to discuss their relationship the first day Oliver was officially back home. I gingerly sipped on my wine, eyeing my brother, who had the same awkward look on his face.

Silence filled the dining room. The tension growing stronger than before. Moira and Oliver glared at each other, neither saying a word. The attention shifted to Thea.

She leaned back in her chair, removing her hands from the table, averting her eyes from the intense look from her mother. "I didn't say anything."

"She didn't have to." Oliver reassured their mother.

I sat there as the conversation between the Queen's continued. So far, I learned that Oliver now spoke Russian on an island that shouldn't had granted him that ability and he was more observant. Of course, Moira and Walter weren't exactly subtle over their relationship like they had wanted to be.

"Oliver..." Moira nodded her head in acknowledgement. Her hand reached out for Walter's, who met her in the middle. "Walter and I are married, and I don't want you to think that either of us did anything to disrespect your father."

"We both believed that Robert, like you, was-- well, uh, gone." Walter added with a twinge of sadness heard in his voice.

"It's fine," Oliver swallowed. He gazed at his mother for a second longer, betrayal shining deep within his chocolate brown eyes. This was not something he expected to come home to. He pushed his chair away from the table and stood up. "May I be excused?"

Moira nodded.

"Hey, don't forget about tomorrow, buddy." Tommy reminded him as he grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and began to walk out of the dining room.

Oliver's hand squeezed my brother's shoulder and hovered over mine before he remembered what happened earlier when he tried to touch me. I was prepared to flinch away once his hand touched me, but the action never happened. Luckily, he stopped himself before I hurt him anymore, but knowing I hurt him from not allowing him to touch me in the slightest broke my heart a little.

XXXX

Another update for you guys. Like I said before, I've really been in the mood to write this story.

I have a feeling this is going to be a rough week for me, so don't expect my usually updating every day kind of thing like I've been doing. It's nothing serious, so don't worry about that.

Hensley is kind of getting suspicious of Oliver, especially with how he knows Russian now. She finds that very odd.

Question: I'm not going to straight up tell you who her love interest will eventually be because I never really reveal it right away. But who could you see Hensley with?

So, yeah!