Breathe

Shatter together

Thea was grateful for the frantic knocking on their front door. It gave her an excuse to leave the living room and its solemn atmosphere after Sara’s announcement.

It also snapped her from her thoughts on how all of this was her fault.

She was the reason that Sara was killed in the first place. She played a huge part in her resurrection and was responsible for the blonde suffering from the same blood lust she did. She knew firsthand what the Lazarus Pit did to people, and she still subjected Sara to the same hell she was currently living. She brought this on her friend.

She was the one who damned Sara.

A woman that she had cherished and looked up to for as long as she could remember. Someone she considered a sister, who had been a part of her life from the moment she was born.

Sara had always been kind, fun and wild. The older woman had never treated her as a child, had included her in some of the mischief the blonde had gotten into in her younger years. She had hung out with her when Ollie, Tommy and Laurel excluded them both because they were younger than them. Those were just some of the numerous reasons the younger Lance sister used to be her favorite babysitter and person to spend time with.

And now Sara wanted to leave again… only days after they finally gotten her back… again… because of her. Because she was Sara’s murderer and Sara’s blood lust was demanding her death… but Sara refused to give in to her cravings and that was why she was leaving again.

To protect Thea from herself. To keep her safe. 

Thea got up from her seat to let whoever was disturbing them at this time of the evening in and give the two sisters a moment alone at the same time. She didn’t know what or better who she had expected when she opened the front door, but her big brother was pretty much the last person.

“Ollie?” At least tonight. Wasn’t he supposed to have dinner with Felicity and her mom? Why was he showing up now, tonight, when he was supposed to be somewhere else when he hadn’t before?

Honestly, she had been surprised when Oliver hadn’t shown up the day after Sara’s soul was returned to her.

She had expected him to come by and check on Sara days ago. Thea knew what the blonde meant to him. Just how much he had missed her. She would never forget their time on Lian Yu, the way he had been calling out for Sara in his sleep. She still had nightmares about it some times. The guilt nearly crushing her. She had caused her brother that pain. She had ignored his calls when he needed her the most.

After Sara’s dead.

Ollie was always there for her when she needed him and the one time that he had needed her and actually reached out to her she had let him down. She would never be able to forgive herself for that. For any of it. What she couldn’t understand is why Ollie, or Laurel, or Quentin and especially Sara didn’t hate her. How they managed to forgive her when she was incapable of forgiving herself. 

“What are you doing here?” She grew concerned after she had stepped aside to let him enter (which he usually did right away) and when she didn’t get a reaction from him after asking a question.

“What’s wrong?” She asked after she finally noticed his distressed appearance. Still no reaction, which was the reason she grabbed his arm, pulled him into the apartment and closed the door behind him.

He was starting to scare her.

He had moved inside when she made him, but stopped moving the moment she let go of his arm. Standing just inside, not seeming to hear her. She had never seen Oliver like this. His face was pale, and there was a thin sheen of sweat covering it. She noticed that his hands were shaking at his sides. He looked completely lost, and his breathing seemed shallow. For a moment she thought he would finally say something, but no words came out. She kept on trying to get him to talk to her and tell her what was wrong or how she could help. But he didn’t even seem to notice her. It almost seemed that he was looking straight through her, his mind a million miles away.

“Oliver are you okay?” Thea was relieved when Laurel showed up, hoping that her friend would know what to do. Laurel always seemed to know just what to do. No matter the situation. She tended to keep a clear head and focus on solving the problem.

Oliver’s eyes shifted to Laurel, and he looked confused for a moment.

“I…” her brother tried to talk again but still seemed unable to get the words out. Laurel was still talking to him and she slowly started to be just as worried and at a loss of what to do to help Thea’s distressed brother as her.

Oliver then suddenly turned his head towards the living room while the shaking in his hands seemed to increase and his shallow breathing to stop altogether.

She was really freaking out now!

“Ollie, what is it?” Sara’s voice was calm and soothing as she slowly stepped into the foyer. Both Thea and Laurel watched the small woman approach Oliver. Every one of her moves seemed calm and calculated as she carefully approached her distressed brother. It reminded her of someone approaching a wounded animal.

Thea noticed how her brother’s eyes were fixed on the blonde until Sara’s hands slowly touched his cheeks and his eyes closed while his face took on the most peaceful expression she had ever seen on him. 

“Ollie breathe, you need to breathe.” 

The tiny brunette watched fascinated as Oliver’s whole being seemed to completely relax and all the tension drain from his body. The next thing she registered was Oliver having pulled Sara in a bone crushing embrace in what seemed to be the blink of an eye. Whispering her name repeatedly. Oliver’s face was hidden in Sara’s blonde hair, but she noticed how his shoulders started to shake and his voice took on a choked quality… was Oliver crying?

She started to feel slightly uncomfortable as if she were intruding and she looked towards Laurel. The older woman seemed to think along those same lines because she slightly nodded at her questioning look before picking up her keys and motioning towards the front door behind Oliver. Thea was just about to move past the two blondes in their tight embrace when she heard Sara’s broken “Ollie…” right before she collapsed sobbing in the tall man’s arms.

A shiver ran down her back. She didn’t know what to do or how to process the scene she just witnessed and looked helplessly towards Laurel as the two of them moved outside.

Oliver and Sara were two of the strongest people she knew. They never lost their cool or control over their emotions. They rarely showed their feelings and never fell apart. At least not in front of people. And seeing them completely shatter together chilled her to the core.

She also knew that what she and Laurel just witnessed was private and that neither one of the pair would’ve wanted them to see them this vulnerable. They were both very private people who didn’t like to show any weaknesses.

“C’mon Thea let’s go grab a cup of coffee.” Laurel’s idea sounded fantastic. She needed to get some distance to deal with what she just saw. And maybe talking to Laurel about it over a cup of coffee was just the way to do that. She speared one last glance towards the now closed front door before joining Laurel on her way to the elevator.