You Are the Reason

Please Don't Hate Me

Thea woke up, she rubbed her sore eyes and looked at the alarm clock. The clock read back at her: 7:15. Groaning she pulled her head back under the covers and grabbed her phone, checking for new messages. Of course there were messages, but none were the one she wanted.

It had been three days since Tommy had abruptly ended their relationship, and three days since she had spoken to Oliver. She could not believe that her brother had played such a huge role in this, she would have expected it from her mother, but never in a million years Oliver. Glad for it being the weekend, she stayed in bed for another hour.

Her mother had not came to check on her so much, especially after Walter's short noticed business trip. Oliver had tried many times to talk to her, but Thea hardly came out of her room. All of a sudden a thought ran through her head. A relationship is never easy, and has many ups and downs, but she needed to be ready to fight for it.

Thea pulled herself out of bed and went to take a shower. She didn't try calling Tommy, for she knew that he would never answer. So she had to go to the source, a place she knew she would find answers.

—

"Please tell me this is a nightmare and I am about to wake up?" Laurel asked, sarcastically. "How can Stagg Industries pull out completely? They're our largest donor."

"It's like they say," Johanna begun. "'It's the economy stupid.'"

"No, it's the stupid economy." Laurel corrected. "Okay without Stagg how long can CNRI keep the doors open?" Laurel asked.

"Uh, depends." Johanna stated sarcastically. "What time you got?"

"I have fiesta time." Tommy said from behind them.

Both girls turned, slightly shocked to see Tommy there. His eyes were slightly red and that concerned both of them.

"Or is it Siesta time?" He asked. "Which one means a party and which one means a nap?"

"Tommy, as much as I would love to relive Intro to Spanish with you, today is not a good day." Laurel said as Johanna waved and walked away.

"Yah, you and me both." Tommy mumbled, but Laurel caught it. "Well of course not, working in this tiny brick office." He opted to say to her instead. "It's intolerable. Now, you know where is a spectacular place to spend the day? Coast City."

"Here's what I am thinking." Tommy told her. "Sunset flight on my private plane..."

Laurel's eyes snapped up to his. The other day he was done with pinning after her and head over heels for Thea, and that is when it hit her. Something happened between the two of them, and whatever it was, was not good.

"...Dinner at Broome's, I'll have you home by midnight." Tommy continued. "Or maybe in the morning. Hmm?" He asked her.

"What is this?" She asked shocked.

"This is what we talked about." He stated following her. "This is you getting to know the really me."

"I am pretty sure that there is only one person who knows that person." She said. "Thea."

She saw the look of hurt on his face at the mention of her.

"Tommy so you don't misunderstand." She switched the topic, not liking the amount of pain the previous comment had made. "CNRI just lost its largest single donor. Which means that all the hard work and sacrifices that I have made to help this legal clinic survive, it may have been for nothing."

"Maybe another time." He persisted.

She looked at him, truly concerned.

"Yah?" He said as he backed away.