The party became overwhelming after the heated argument with Thea. By then, more people had piled into the venue and the feeling of being surrounded by so many people felt heavy on my shoulders. Chase recognized the slightly panic look in my eyes, locking his hand around my right elbow and led the way to the observatory floor, away from the massive crowd of people.

My forearms were resting on the bar of the railing on the second floor as I peered down at my older brother near the bar, talking to a group of his friends. His eyes would occasionally drift around the room, searching for brunette hair in the throng of people. Even on a night that was supposed to be filled with happiness and joy for the return of Oliver, Tommy's attention was still focused on me, worried about where I might have wandered to at the party.

"Do you want me to get you some water?" Chase sidled up to my side at the railing. His chocolate eyes shined with concern as he gazed down at me.

"No, I should be fine, Chase." I looked back down at the party, noticing Tommy had his phone in his right hand, holding his drink in his left while he typed out a message with his thumb. "I just need to take a breather is all. Thank you, though."

My small shoulder bag vibrated against my hip, signaling a new text message. The purse was just big enough to carry my phone, some money, and a few coupons to my favorite local diner. My fingers fished my phone out of the purse, a smile slid across my lips when I saw it was from Tommy.

Tommy: Where are you?

I texted him two words back in response; look up. Down below, I saw my brother's phone screen light back up with the new message. Only a second passed before Tommy's head snapped up in the air, craning his neck back, eyes scanning the second floor of building until they landed on me. A smile overtook his face once I was spotted, safe and sound with Chase two feet away from me. I wiggled my hands in the air at him, smiling.

His thumb flew across the phone screen, casually sipping from his drink. The group of friends he stood next to easily carried on with their conversation without needing my brother's input.

My phone vibrated for the second time before his next message popped up.

Tommy: Are you okay? Do you want me to come up there?

Me: I'm fine. I just needed to catch my breath. Enjoy the party, Tommy. I'll be back down soon.

Instead of replying, Tommy bobbed his head in the air at me before he easily fell back into the conversation with his friends. I slid my phone back into my purse as I heard two sets of footsteps on the other side of the floor. My head snapped up and I saw Oliver slightly leading the way with Laurel by his side.

"-- I'm sorry about saying that you should have been the one who died," Laurel spoke, softly. Her arms were held down in front of her as she walked beside him, wrapped up in her beige coat. "That was wrong."

They continued to walk through the room, not paying attention to the other party guests on the floor or the fact that Chase and I stood not too far away from them. I remained leaning against the railing, eyes casually peering in their direction, yet not turning my head to show my complete interest in their conversation. Luckily, their voices were loud enough to hear from where we were.

"If I could trade places with her, I would," Oliver responded, earnestly.

Laurel's face filled with guilt as questions began to form in her mind. She took a few steps ahead of him, easily preventing him from walking anymore and bringing him to a slow stop. "About Sarah," Laurel sighed with her back in our direction to face Oliver. "There's something that I've been afraid to ask, but I need to know."

"Okay," Oliver stared back at her.

As if he knew I was eavesdropping, Chase stepped slightly closer to where I stood, angling his head in my direction, making it appear that the two of us were having a quiet conversation, in case either of them chose to look over at us. They wouldn't think I was spying on the two of them. The left side of my lips tugged upward in gratitude.

"When she died," Laurel paused to breathe in deeply. Her head angled to the side as she continued, "Did she suffer?"

Oliver held her gaze and replied, "No." His head shook in the air once.

A small sigh of relief came from Laurel. "I think about her every day."

"Me, too." Oliver glanced down at the floor before he nodded his head and looked her back in the eyes.

I tilted my own head down slightly while I kept my eyes on Oliver. The look in his eyes spoke louder than the soft words that were coming from his mouth. The same look I used to see from him when he would look at Laurel five years ago. Oliver Queen was still in love with Laurel, even after everything that had happened to him. A small smile formed on my lips, but quickly washed away when I remembered how strongly Tommy felt about the blonde. There was a good chance this would not end well if Laurel even had the slightest feelings for Oliver after all this time.

"I guess we still have one thing in common then," Laurel stated. Her chest rose and fell from another deep breath. "I can't believe I'm gonna say this, but...if you need someone to talk to about what happened to you, I'm here."

Before Oliver could reply, his hand lifted his suit jacket away from his chest to reach inside a pocket to pull his cell phone out. Laurel pulled her gaze off of him, choosing to look to the right. If she had turned to the left, she would have instantly spotted Chase and I. Oliver peered down at his phone, instantly forming an annoyed look on his facial features.

Laurel looked back him, asking, "Something wrong?"

The phone was lowered down by his side. "I asked somebody to do something. They didn't do it." Oliver stared back at her, softly saying, "Laurel." A hint of a smile slipped on his lips, only to disappear within two seconds. "You always saw the best in me. Right now, that's what you're doing, looking at me, and you're wondering if that island changed me somehow, if it made me a better person. It didn't."

My eyebrows furrowed together as the words left his mouth. There was no way in hell that the island hadn't changed Oliver in somehow. It was simply impossible. The guy I used to know five years ago was a player and only cared about the party he was going to have. The man that stood in front of Laurel right now was different.

This Oliver was more closed off, despite him trying to act like he wasn't. There was this dark look that shined in his eyes now, one that I recognize all too well, one that showed something inside of him changed while he was gone. For some unknown reason, that would one day become clear to me, Oliver wanted everyone to believe that he was the same kid that he was before he left. Right now, people might believe the act he was playing, but I didn't buy a single second of it.

"Stay away from me. Otherwise, I'm just gonna hurt you again, but this time, it'll be worse." A new look burned in Oliver's eyes as he took a few steps back from Laurel, bringing his whole facade back into place. "Gotta roll." Oliver raised his voice a bit. "I got five years of debauchery to catch up on."

Laurel stared back at him, hurt. She closed the distance between them once he stopped walking. "You know what, Oliver?" Angry, she stood only a couple of inches away from him. "You're wrong. That island did change you. At least, now, you're honest."

Oliver stood there in silence as she walked away from him without even bothering to glance back at him. I watched him remain frozen where he stood, a look of regret written on his face. He peeked in her direction before he began to walk forward in a different direction.

I pushed myself off of the railing with my hands. I easily chased after him in my heels, calling out his name, "Oliver!"

At the sound of his name and my voice, he spun around on his heel, hands adjusting the front of his jacket and his eyes landed right on me. Oliver's head tilted to the side as he asked, "Hensley?" His eyes drifted over my shoulder where Chase stood not too far behind before they flickered by to me. "Are you alright?"

I stormed up to him, eyes softening with every step. "I know what you're doing, Oliver." I folded my arms over my chest, staring up into his ocean blue eyes. "You're throwing up a wall around yourself and pushing everyone you care about away. I know because I did the same thing when I returned back home."

Oliver's remained blank until his eyes softened when he heard the last sentence.

"Look, Ollie, I know that coming back after going through hell is hard, but pushing people away will not only hurt them, but it hurts you as well." I glanced down at the ground, slightly shaking my head. "I know that you aren't the same person you were five years ago and I don't expect you to be. No one will ever be able to understand what you went through on the island."

"Hensley--" Oliver tried to cut me off.

I shook my head and waved my hand in the air at him. "Let me finish, Ollie. You think that if people find out that who you are now, what you saw, and--" I took a deep breath, thinking about everything I had gone through. "-- and what you've done, that they wouldn't see you as how you wanted them to, that they would see you for your mistakes. I can't tell you not to let people in because even I don't do that and it's been four years since I've been back."

Hesitantly, I stepped forward and placed my right hand on his bicep over his jacket. Oliver's eyes widened a tad when he saw my hand touching him, most likely thinking about when I flinched away from him the other day. Touching was okay when I was the one to touch someone else, but if they were to touch me, especially without my permission, I felt too uneasy and uncomfortable, like I wanted to crawl out of my skin.

"All I can ask is that you let someone in if you're going to keep everyone else out." I drawed my hand back to my body. "Just let someone in, Oliver. Trust me, it will make things a bit easier on you. Tommy was there for me when I needed someone, and I'll be here for you if you ever want to talk."

XXXX

I was really in the mood to update this story. I thought of continuing with this chapter, but I decided to just end it here and work on the next chapter within the next couple of days.

Not much really happened in this chapter. It was mainly just having Hensley eavesdrop on Laurel and Oliver's conversation and then talking to him.

Also, I like to imagine Chase to look like Max Irons.

Don't worry. Code Black will have a run in with "the hood" soon. It's coming soon. Just be patient.

Question: When do you think they will run into each other? What do you want to happen when they do?

So, yeah!