The Starling Saviour

Chapter 83

You always know when some momentous day has arrived. It could be from the butterflies in your stomach, or the strange sensation you feel in anticipation of that one moment that makes it such a memorable affair. Most of the time, you know what is going to happen; perhaps it's a concert to see your favourite band, or a visit to somewhere you've longed to go to for forever. But sometimes, you don't know what will happen to you, and you still feel that thing. Maybe you will meet the love of your life, or are spontaneously whisked away to somewhere beautiful.

My day was no ordinary one, and I could sense that something was coming. I didn't know it yet, for I was too wrapped up in feeling angry and sorry for myself after Tommy and I had witnessed something we really wished we hadn't. That betrayal was what started the whole occasion, and unfortunately, it all went downhill from there.

'How could they do this?' Tommy wallowed as we drowned our sorrows with a measure of scotch, talking about what we had seen the for the first time, in Tommy's office the following day. 'After everything, after we wanted to go in there and sort things out with Laurel, and then maybe Oliver, they were just sleeping with each other behind our backs?'

'I told her not to get back with Oliver, you know,' I started to sob, shaking my head. 'I warned her. And yet she goes running to him, even after he cheated on her and brought her sister on that boat to die!'

'Why are you crying?' Tommy asked me, taking the glass from my trembling hand so I wouldn't drop it.

'It's just... This might sound stupid, but I feel betrayed,' I told Tommy sheepishly. 'I know we didn't want to be friends with Oliver, but it feels like a real stab in the back to see them together. And I'm angry, I guess, because I know that Oliver uses women like Laurel.'

'Oh, I'm angry at Oliver too,' Tommy agreed, but instead of rage, all I could see was... Jealously in Tommy's eyes, envious of something, someone.

'Are you jealous of Oliver?' I questioned Tommy, scared to hear the truth. 'Do you still have feelings for Laurel?'

'In all honesty, I am,' Tommy took his anger down a notch, becoming more serious. 'But not romantically, trust me, I would never want to be with her like that. I just feel like Oliver has taken Laurel's friendship away from me, and you, so they can be together forever. It's always been Laurel and Oliver, everyone else just there when they're having relationship problems. But, on the bright side, it has always been me and you, too.'

'Come to think about it, it actually has,' I grinned as Tommy grew closer to me, his hands resting on my shoulders.

'I love you, Aria Coleman,' he smiled, kissing me slowly, as if we had all the time in the world, the both of us truly inseparable.

'I love you too, Tommy,' I responded with everything I could muster. 'I really, really do, and I don't want to ever leave you, from this room, from this moment. I have had problem upon problem for ten, long years, but finally, everything is perfect. You are all I need, everyone else are unimportant now. I found it so hard to trust people, to have a good relationship with anyone, even before the island. I didn't choose to come to this country, and I haven't told anyone this, but I often longed to go back to my family and my home, instead of being in Starling or Central City. Now, though, I'm glad I went through all of those dark times and that I have memories I wish I don't, because we are finally here, happy.'

'What happened to you, that made you not able to go back home?' Tommy looked worried for me, something I had tried not to let happen, but my monologue had fulfilled that prophecy. 'I thought you liked it here, before the island.'