"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."

"Deal."

Once I had the dress on, I stared at myself in the mirror, wrinkling my nose. The dress was gorgeous, however, I didn't think it looked right on me. I gathered my dark hair up in a messy bun, curious to know if that would make a difference.

"I give it a three," I called out to Thea before I walked back in my room. I did a small spin for the teenager to get a better look at it.

"I don't think it's your color," Thea sighed. She picked up a new dress. "Okay, try this one."

Fifteen minutes later, I plopped down on my bed, barely missing Thea's dresses she had yet to try on and the pile of discards I went through. Thea had hoped to find a dress that would look perfect on me, but when I tried all of them on, none of them looked how we wanted them to.

"Well, that was a bust," Thea sighed. She picked up a blue, off the shoulder dress from her pile and held it up to her body, checking it out in the mirror of my room. "We can go hit up some stores. We have a few hours before it starts."

My eye caught on a dark blue dress in her pile. I pushed the other dresses off of it to get a better look. I nodded to Thea, "Is that the dress you're wearing?"

She showed off the dress in her hands. "Yeah, I think so."

"So, I can wear this one?" I held up the dark blue dress with small cutouts in the sides.

"Right this way, Miss Merlyn and Miss Queen." The bouncer ushered us inside of the booming venue.

Thea shared a look with me as the two of us walked into the party. The venue was massive and every inch was filled with people dancing or drinking. She wore the blue, off the shoulder dress while I wore the dark blue dress I picked out last minute. We ended up getting ready together at my apartment. Luckily, we wore the same size shoe and didn't have to worry about making a pit stop at Queen Mansion.

"No drinking," I warned Thea. "If Oliver finds out I'm the reason you're here and you get into trouble, I'm never sneaking you into another party again."

Chase kept his distance from the two of us, yet was still close enough if he needed to quickly move in if something happened. A new black tie was wrapped around his neck, a small gift from Thea when she first arrived.

The three of us walked down the long set of stairs that led us to the party downstairs. An escalator was right next to the stairs, but I chose to not take that considering there was a long line for it. Too many girls in high heels that didn't want to risk tumbling down the stairs and risk embarrassing themselves in front of everyone.

My eyes scanned the vast crowd for my brother. His hand raised in the air when he turned around at the bar with a shot glass in one hand. I flashed him a smile, relieved I found him instead of having to search for him. With a small wave, Thea and I parted ways in the crowd. I headed for the bar while she went off to find some of her friends she planned on meeting.

If anyone did try anything on me, I knew I would be able to handle myself, but I couldn't do too much without others raising suspicion of me. This city knew I took boxing lessons, so it wouldn't be surprising if I knocked a guy out if he tried anything.

I squeezed my way through the crowd of people until I reached my brother at the bar. I waved my hand around, gesturing to the party he created. "This is amazing, Tommy." I yelled over the loud dj. "Is Oliver here yet?"

"Not yet," he answered. "I was going to say that you look great, but I feel, like, Chase and I are going to have to keep a close eye on you tonight." As the words left his mouth, a guy passed by us and sent me a quick wink. "Keep walking, pal." Tommy snapped at him.

I patted my brother's shoulder. "You can enjoy the party, Tommy." I glanced over my shoulder at Chase, who moved a tad closer when he saw the guy pass us. "Chase will be on guard on night, like always. You don't have to worry about me."

"I will always worry about you, Hens."

I grabbed the shot glass out of his hand and swallowed it in one gulp. Tequila. I set the glass back on the counter. "Just have fun tonight, Tommy. Oliver's back in our lives. That's a good reason to party." A figure moving down the stairs caught my attention. "Speaking of."

Tommy followed my gaze to see Oliver making his way down down the stairs. His fingers worked together to button up his suit jacket over a white button up shirt. I nodded my head at my brother before he weaved through the throng of people to meet his best friend at the bottom on the stairs.

I grabbed two more shots from the bar before I followed my brother.

Tommy waved his hand in the air toward the female dj, having her shut the music off. "Everybody, hey!" He shouted loud enough for everyone to stop in mid-conversation. He jogged up the few remaining stairs to stand alongside Oliver. "Man of the hour!"

As my brother patted Oliver's chest, the whole party raised their drinks in the air, cheering for Oliver Queen. I stood at the edge of the crowd, smiling up at my brother and Oliver. Tommy was so happy to have Oliver back in our lives.

"And, ladies," Tommy continued to shout. "Please give this man a proper homecoming!"

Oliver walked down the rest of the stairs as 'We Are The Champions' by Queen blared throughout the speakers of the party. Everyone whistled and clapped their hands at Oliver's arrival, even patting him on the back when he passed by them. Oliver smiled when he passed me and then climbed on one of the platforms girls had been using before to dance on.

"Here," I handed the shots to my brother when he chose to stand beside me.

"Thank you very much, everybody!" Oliver yelled to the whole crowd.

"Ollie, Ollie, Ollie, Ollie." Tommy repeated his nickname while holding one of the shots in the air for him to grab.

Oliver spread his arms out wide at the crowd, easily fitting back into his party boy mode, just like how he used to be. The scene fit him well, considering how everyone remembered him as being a party animal five years ago. I could sense something was off, though.

He had been gone for five years, all alone on a deserted island. That was bound to change anyone, so it was odd for me to see Oliver up on the platform and easily sliding back into his old ways. The island must have made him more mature and took the party king out of him.

At least, that's what happened to me after I was kidnapped. I was no longer the girl everyone used to remember me as. I couldn't fall back into my old footsteps because I changed so much. I found it hard to believe that Oliver could do it after being gone for five years.

Oliver grabbed the shot from my brother's hand. Simultaneously, the two took the shot in one gulp. He flashed everyone a large smile before he shouted, "I missed tequila!"

His words sent the whole room into more cheering. The dj hit play on the music, allowing it to switch from Queen to a dance mix. I found myself smiling at everyone who was dancing around me, remembering how carefree I used to be when I didn't have anything to worry about just like them.

While Oliver and Tommy headed for the bar, I let my eyes wander over the rest of the crowd until I spotted Thea with her group of friends. The three of them were casually dancing near each other, yet seemed suspicious when they glanced over their shoulders every so often. Bewildered, I walked over to where Chase was standing and nodded my head over to the youngest Queen.

"Have you noticed Thea acting weirdly?" I asked him, leaning close for him to hear me.

He shook his head. "I haven't really been paying attention to her."

A dark haired guy with a man bun approached the three girls. I expected him to try to flirt with them or try to buy them a drink. I did not expect Thea to hand him some money in exchange for a small bag of drugs.

"I'll be right back," I told to Chase before taking off for Thea. There was no way in hell I was letting her have those in her possession. I grabbed her arm in my hand, tugging her away from her friends. "What the hell do you think you are doing?" I hissed at her.

"Whoa! What is your problem, Hensley?" Thea stumbled after me. She gazed up at me with wide eyes. A faint smell of liquor on her breath. She was too upset with me to notice my other hand sneak into her bag, plucking the little bag from her purse.

Annoyance flooded through my body. I moved the two of us off to the side, away from everyone else. "I didn't bring you here for you to drink and buy drugs," I hissed at her, furiously.

Thea yanked her arm out of my grasp, shooting a dirty look at me. "What I do here is none of your business. I may have talked about wanting you as my sister, but you're not actually my sister. You don't have any control over me."

"You're only seventeen, Thea!"

"Yeah, I'm the same age you were when you would go out and party with Oliver and Tommy. What's the difference?" Thea threw back at me with a sharp attitude.

Over the past year, I learned Thea found a new passion for drinking and that usually ended up with her drinking past her limit. There were nights where I would find her at parties Tommy and I ended up at, and I would find Thea with a drink in her hand. All she needed was one drink in her system to give her an attitude.

I shook my head at her. "I didn't drink back then and I sure as hell didn't do drugs. I brought you here to have a good time, Thea. Oliver would have my head if he found out you've been drinking."

She spread her arms out by her sides. "And this is me having a good time. Don't like it? Not my problem. You're not the first person that's disappointed in me."

Suddenly, Oliver appeared next to us and grabbed onto Thea's arm. "Who let you in here?" He demanded to know.

"Oh, hey, Ollie. This party is sick." Thea giggled. The fit of laughter stopped when she saw the serious expression on his face. Her eyes rolled as she replied, "I believe it was somebody who said, 'Right this way, Miss Merlyn and Miss Queen'."

Oliver sharply snapped his head in my direction, taken aback that I was the reason his younger sister was here at this party.

"Ah yes. Hensley isn't a perfect person either," Thea smirked.

"I brought you here because you promised you wouldn't drink. That was our agreement when you came by my apartment earlier." I placed my hands on my hips, keeping the bag hidden from the two of them. "I regret bringing you already."

Oliver tore his gaze off of me and back on his sister. "You shouldn't be here, Thea."

Thea rolled her eyes at me again. "How many times do I have to remind you that you're not my sister? You have no right to try to control me."

"But I am your brother," Oliver pointed out.

Thea scoffed, "I'm not twelve anymore."

"No, you're seventeen," Oliver stated, just like I did a few minutes ago.

"Ollie, I love you, but you can't come back here and judge me, especially for being just like you," Thea said. She glanced to me. "Neither of you can."

Oliver sighed, understanding what her behavior was all about. "I know that it couldn't have been easy for you when I was away--"

"Away? No, you died," Thea corrected him. "My brother and my father died. I went to your funerals." She waved a hand in my direction beside Oliver. "And you might as well been dead, too."

"Thea--"

"I know--" Oliver and I spoke in unison.

"No, you don't," she snapped, harshly. "Neither of you do. Mom had Walter, Tommy had Hensley for a year, and I had no one. As if it wasn't hard enough with thinking my brother was dead, the day of his funeral, the only other person I truly considered as family, was kidnapped and gone for a whole year."

My heart broke for Thea, knowing she went through so much over the past five years. Ever since I knew the Queen family, Thea thought of me as the older sister she wanted because we clicked so well. She loved how often I used to go over to the Queen Mansion. I even took her on a few shopping trips on the weekends.

"You guys all act, like, it's cool. Let's forget about the last five years. Well, I can't." Thea's facial features hardened as she went into more detail about her feelings. "For me, it's kind of permanently in there, so I'm sorry if I turned out some major disappointment, this me is the best I could do with what I had to work with."

Before she could turn away from us and rejoin her friends, I walked around Oliver and reached for her arm one more time. She whipped around with an angered expression.

"Look, I know you're upset about everything that happened over the past five years," I lowered my voice. "And you have every right to be because you went through hell and back, but you are not the only one that has suffered these past five years. All of us have gone through our own personal hell and you don't see us out in public, making fools of ourselves."

Thea gazed at me for a second, like she was really thinking about what I said. With the alcohol still in her system, she whirled around on her heel to return back to her friends. "Let's bounce."

I shook my head at her retreating figure. I slid the bag between my fingers and tossed it in the closest trash can. With a look over my shoulder, I caught Oliver watching me throw the bag away, like he was confused how I got it out of Thea's bag without her knowing.

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This is a long chapter for you guys. Honestly, I could have made it longer, but I decided to just end it there and write the rest of it in the next chapter. This hit over 3,000 words.

I love writing scenes where Hensley and Thea make comments about wanting to be sisters or saying they aren't because they are actually half sisters, and don't find out about it until later.

You know, I am hella surprised I've been able to balance all of my stories and my new youtube channel. I've been doing pretty well so far.

Also, be patient about their vigilante run-in together. It will happen soon.

Question: What do you think will happen in the next chapter?

So, yeah!