Star-Crossed Lovers

A Shoulder to Lean On

Four months later.

Time has separated them for a long while, which allowed each of them to clear their heads from delusional thoughts. Delusional thoughts? They were friends, but not close enough to be 'best friends', nor far enough to be 'just friends', they both wanted to be close, they used to hang out, call each other, share pictures of each other on social media, letting the world know that they enjoy each other's company, that they are good friends, why can't they do the same now?
She's a kind of girl that makes you fall in love with her from the first sight, that can be friends with you from the first meeting, that can be trusted, liked easily, she's very friendly and genuine, but also very fearless and adventurous, and when it comes to her heart, she's very weak.
She went traveling the world with her best friends, Fanta, Carina, Colton, Jarett, Kirkland and some more, she had so much fun, she discovered places, learned new things, she liked living like that, being young wild and free, completely not chained to anything, but when her phone rang with his name popping on it, she wouldn't know what to do.
He spent the hiatus with his family, appreciating every moment with his seven months old daughter and his wife. He loved his wife, he wouldn't lie hiding his love for her, he has always been loyal when it comes to his family, but lately he was thinking about this, about her and himself, how he knew her, how they met, how they built a home together, and most importantly, how she makes him feel. He tried to spend all this time with her in order to discover, more, the way he feels about her. But for some reasons, he wasn't free, he felt his life connected to hers in every single move he did, he felt controlled.

He flew back to Vancouver, getting ready for the first table read of the third season, Stephen was very excited for that day, despite the fact that he was late. He got out of his car, wearing a grey t-shirt that hugged his muscles, a pair of dark jeans and a Nocking Point cap, heading to the building where's the crew reunion. Entering the reading room, he saw the cast rising from their seats greeting him, shouting loudly,
"And here comes the Arrow!" David said smiling, wrapping his huge arms around him, "You've been missed bro!"
"Your HUGS have been missed the most, Dave!" Stephen said laughing, hugging him back as he looked around the room, she was just in front of him, titled on Colton's shoulder, in a black sleeveless shirt and a white short skirt, her long hair curled loosely, no makeup, she looked beautiful. He raised his eyebrows at her and she simply smiled, and as he broke from David she jumped in giving him a tight hug, "Steve! How have you been?"
"I'm fantastic now! I missed you!" He breathed into her bare shoulder, making her spine shiver, she slowly broke the hug, still smiling at him, "I missed you too."
They all sat around the table, Emily sat beside Brandon, Colton was between her and Stephen who sat with David.
Despite the distance between them, Stephen and Emily were exchanging looks from time to time for no specific reason. Reading the script, Stephen was rushing, turning the pages, skipping all the non-related 'Olicity' scenes, Emily was talking to Brandon about their scene as they were reading, making jokes and laughing. For some reasons, Stephen kept his head down, trying to focus on the script when Brandon's rough voice reached him, the voice wasn't the reason that made him turn his head to him, paying more attention, it was the topic. He was talking about his family, about his wife, with a big smile drawn on his face: how they moved together here to Vancouver, how she was excited for him to take the part, how he brought The Atom comics to his kid just to try and make him watch the show... Something moved inside Stephen that made his fists tighten, his blood boil, his pulse fasten as he looked down. He wasn't angry, anger wasn't an easy reaction to escape him, anger wasn't even a quality that anyone had noticed in him, he's always that tender man, that kind man, that mysterious man yet that very transparent man.
He was sad.

Sitting on the stairs of his trailer, Stephen was holding his phone, tapping it on his palm nervously, eyes up gazing the clear blue sky, obviously waiting for something, for some text. He looked back at the screen, only his own message sent. No reply.
Stephen: What is Mavi doing right now?
Ten minutes past. Still no reply. He furiously got up, heading to the set, his mind completely not with him.
He met Emily halfway, they were getting ready to shoot their first scene that only includes both of them outdoors,
"I kinda miss this." Emily said, referring to the work, "those four months have passed very quickly but I missed this."
"I know." He said simply, looking at the blank,  his voice quite and low.
Emily noticed something in his voice that told her it's not the best time to talk to him, his mind wasn't with her and she knew it. She stayed quiet until Glen, the director, approached them to give some instructions about the scene, she was considering him while he was nodding to Glen, she could tell something was bothering him.

After an hour of shooting the crew crowded in the place, she noticed him rushing out of the set and she followed, now that they were done shooting the scene they were still have hours left to get ready to an other.
"Stephen!" She called, they were near his trailer now and the area was empty.
He immediately turned around, his face remained surprised "Emily? What do you want?"
"How rude!" She shouted out, "you have no manners." Approaching him, and he shook his head, slightly smiling.
"Sorry, I'm not exactly... in the mood right now." He said, sighing.
"And that's why I'm here, I thought you needed someone to talk to" she said with a very quiet voice, her hand on his shoulder. "It's been a week since we got back to work and you somehow seem... not you," her eyes fell on the phone he was holding, she looked at him again, her eyes softening "is it about Mavi?"
His jaw clenched by that and he looked at her, his blue eyes hard on her, and she immediately took her hand off his shoulder to scratch her head, "I should shut up."
He sighed again, eyes closed now, "I just need to be by myself, Emily."
She nodded, turned on her heels and walked away, speeding up, before his voice reached her.
"Em!"
She turned her neck to look at him over her shoulder, he was the one approaching her now, eyes on the ground. She turned slowly to face him. He stopped right few feet away, and his eyes came to her, soft and smiling,
"Thank you."
She blinked at him, "for what? I absolutely did nothing!"
He smiled, "No, you did," he leaned closer "you did a lot of things,"
She stood still, waiting for what was coming, he was leaning slowly, dangerously very close she could hear his heart beating. And his lips came to rest on her cheek, placing a tender kiss, his warm breath brushing against her skin, he remained still for seconds before leaning back to face her again,
"Thank you for being you."
She felt her lips curling, her cheeks burning as he smiled at her and tapped her nose playfully.
"Go eat. I'll see you on set." He said as he stepped back.
"Okay." She quietly nodded, turned and started walking. He was just standing there, watching her.
The phone buzzed in his palm. Sighing in relief, he checked it, it was a message from Cassandra.
Cassandra: She's doing fine.
Stephen: FaceTime.
Cassandra: I can't rn. Sorry.
Narrowing his eyes, he read the message twice before he came to a conclusion, knew why she couldn't, he knew where she was and what she was doing at the moment, but decided to pretend like he didn't.
Stephen: Kiss her for me.
He sent the message before locking his phone and entering his trailer.

Throwing his suit jacket on his chair, he grabbed the script for the episode and headed to the living room, he sat on the floor, his back relaxing against the comfortable black couch, his head leaning back as he let out a long, sharp exhale. Seconds later he opened the script to a certain page, and a little smile formed on his lips.
The memory of her scent invaded his senses again, the taste of strawberry, the feeling of full, soft lips pressed against his. He licked his lower lip slightly, closing his eyes to the memory of the sweet sensation.
He will feel those lips pressed against his again.
He opened his eyes suddenly, picked up his phone and started typing, smiling at the screen, he pressed 'send'.
He placed the phone on the floor beside him, the smile never left his face, and he started reading the page.

The phone buzzed on the wooden table, she rushed to pick it up, and she smiled widely as she read the message.
Stephen: And get ready for our next scene ;)
Her fingers hovered on the keyboard, she knew what he was referring to, but she didn't know what to say, with all that she did let him know that she read the message.
Emily: ❤️
She sent him a single emoji. A heart.
"Shit! What's wrong with me!" She let her head fall back as her eye remained closed.
Another buzz made her tremble.
Stephen: ❤️
She blinked once at the screen, then twice, before locking the phone and throwing it beside her.
"I'm overthinking it." She sighed, smiling to herself, she closed her eyes again, and the memory crashed her mind again.
The memory of soft lips pressed against hers.