Believe (Olivarry AU) [Book 1]

v. no sleep

"And even if somebody else has it much worse, that doesn't really change the fact that you have what you have. Good and bad."
-Stephen Chbosky
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"OLLIE? OLLIE! COME ON
wake up!"

"Huh?" Oliver questioned, rubbing his eyes in confusion.

"I said wake up, stupid."
"Thea?" Oliver asked once he opened his eyes and saw his sister.

"Yeah, it's me. Now get your butt up. We have apartment shopping to do." Thea said, pulling his arm to try to get him up.
"Okay, okay. I'm up." Oliver said, moving to stand up.

"How long was I out?" Oliver asked, stretching his arms out due to the slightly uncomfortable couch.
"About 2 hours. It's like 7:30pm now." Benjamin said, coming out of nowhere.
"Oh, okay. Let's go." Oliver said, putting on his shoes and grabbing his jacket.

~~~

The siblings sat down down at a table at Jitters with a hot coffee each.
"So, what are you looking for exactly?" Thea asked Oliver, speaking of his living situation.

"Something decent. I don't want anything fancy." Oliver said.
"Ollie, if this is about money, you don't have to worry. Mom and dad—" Thea started.

"I know they do, Speedy. I just don't wanna have to bum off of them. I lived in a freaking mansion my whole life. I just want to make my own hard-earned money." Oliver explained, "That's why I got a job. I also wanted to help people."

"I get that, Ollie. It's your choice." Thea said, holding her hands up in surrender.
"Thank you, Thea."

~~~

"Hey, guys. Either of you need a refill?"

"I would like one. Thanks Iris." Oliver smiled.
"I'm good." Thea smiled.

"It's not a problem." Iris smiled before walking away with Oliver's cup.

"How do you know her?" Thea asked curiously.
"She's Ben's girlfriend." Oliver said, looking down at the list of apartment options on Thea's laptop.

"Ben? Benjamin Porter got her?" Thea asked in shock.
"It's not that crazy, Thea." Oliver said, looking at his sister.

"Ollie, yes it is. She seems so sweet and Ben is so... rude." Thea said, drinking some
of her drink.
"He was rude. He's changed, though." Oliver said, looking over at Iris, "I can tell, they're good for each other."

"Here you go, Oliver." Iris said, setting down the freshly-made cup of coffee.
"Thank you." Oliver smiled, "How've you been today?"

"I've been good. Today has actually gone by quick. How about yourself?" Iris asked nicely.
"Mine was good." Oliver nodded.

"Oh, how'd that date go? I remember you mentioned something to Ben." Iris asked, curiously, but not in a nosy way.
"It didn't happen, but it will be happening tomorrow night." Oliver smiled.

"Oh, okay. I hope that goes well for you." Iris smiled, "I gotta get back to work. I'll see you around."
"Thanks, see you." Oliver smiled back as Iris walked away.

"A date? With who?" Thea asked nosily.
"Someone from work." Oliver said, sort of dismissing it and getting back to apartment shopping.

"A fellow detective?" Thea asked.
"No." Oliver replied.
Thea gasped and whispered, "Is he one of those nerdy guys? I forgot what they're
officially called."

"He's a CSI, and him and Iris are best friends, and also Joe told me Barry is like a son to him." Oliver explained.
"Oooo.... his name is Barry." Thea said, grinning.
"I didn't mean for his name to slip..." Oliver muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's fine, Ollie. I'm not gonna tell anyone." Thea assured him.

~~~

The next day (Friday)

"Benny. Get up." Oliver said, shaking his friend's shoulder.
"You're up early. I thought I would always be up first." Benjamin stretched his body while still laying down under the covers.

"I got like no sleep, slept for maybe four hours, probably because of that nap yesterday." Oliver shrugged, walking out of the room.

"You're gonna be exhausted later, man!" Benjamin yelled after him.
Oliver laughed, knowing Benjamin was right.

~~~

"Good morning." Joe greeted, looking up at Oliver. "You look tired."
"Do I really?" Oliver asked, setting his coffee down on his desk.

"Yeah, did you sleep?" Joe asked, taking his legs off the desk where they propped up.
"I did. Not a lot, though." Oliver said, sitting down and ran his hands down his face.

"You okay, Oliver?" Oliver heard a confused person call over to him.
"Huh? Oh, hey Barry." Oliver said, noticing him walk up and hand Joe a cup of coffee.

"Hi... so are you gonna answer my question?" Barry asked, walking closer to sit on top of Oliver's desk, seeing as Joe walked away to speak to Captain Singh.
"Oh, yeah. I'm good." Oliver said, picking up his coffee to drink some of the hot liquid.

"Are you sure? You look tired." Barry said, playing with a file in his hands.
"I'm good, seriously." Oliver said, looking Barry in the eyes.
"What's that?" He asked, pointing to the file.

"Information on that murder from yesterday. I was gonna hand it to Joe but he walked away, so you can take it." Barry shrugged, holding the file out for Oliver to take.

"Victim's name was Gwen Irving, age 22. Married to Preston Irving. Former employee of Star Labs." He read aloud, letting out a 'hmph' at the last part.
"What about that piece of hair you found? There's nothing about it in here." Oliver asked Barry.

"It's in there." Barry said, getting up to stand behind Oliver's chair to show he where the information was located on the paper.
"Right there." He pointed.

"So, it was just cat hair?" Oliver asked, turning around in his chair to face Barry.
"Yeah, I really thought it was human hair. It's really freaking frustrating." Barry sighed.

"Hey, you still got something on that bullet, and that helps better than nothing." Oliver said, standing up. "Come on, we gotta go give this stuff to Singh."

The two boys walked side by side over to where Captain Singh and Detective West
were speaking.
"Allen. Do you have the report I asked for?" Singh asked upon seeing him walk up.

"Here you go." Oliver said, giving it over to him.
"Thank you, Queen." Singh said, taking the file from Oliver and opened it up.

"West and Queen, you guys know the drill. Go talk to the victim's family and figure out details." Singh ordered the partners.
"Yes, sir." Oliver said, Joe nodding, agreeing with what he said.

"See you later, Barry." Oliver waved,
walking away.
"Bye." Barry waved to the two.