The Canary's Lullaby

Prologue

Laurel's heart raced as her eyes darted between the timer on her phone and the test that would determine the course of her life for the next eighteen years. Her knees trembled as she steadied herself on the bathroom stool. "Come on, come on, come on", she whispered frantically; counting down the last ten seconds.

As the timer sounded to the opening of Vanessa Carlton's A Thousand Miles, the nineteen year old brunette was met by two unmistakable pink lines. Her head throbbed from carrying around this suspicion for weeks and worrying about how she would tell her family. How would they react? What would they think of Oliver? It was bad enough the Queens were the most sought after family when the Starling City news was concerned. As she allowed the fountain of tears to trail down the sides of her face, she immediately thought about Oliver. Reckless, adventurous, trust fund prince. The love of her life for half of her life. How would he feel?

Laurel was suddenly brought back to reality as she was startled by a light knock on the door. "Laurel? Is everything okay? You've been in there a while", her younger sister, Sara observed.

"Yeah. I'll be out in a sec" Laurel responded as calmly as she could.

"You've been crying" Sara remarked as she noted the sudden redness in her sister's nose and around her eyes. "Did you and Ollie have a fight?"

"No. We're good. Really good. In fact, I think I'm going to go pay him a visit" Laurel answered. 

"Can I come?" the seventeen year old blonde asked.

"Not this time" Laurel chuckled. "But next time, I promise".

"Alright. Well, tell him I said hi" Sara said as she watched her sister retreat up to the room they shared.

Throwing Oliver's forest green hoodie over her black tank top, Laurel drew in a deep breath. Upon exhaling, she realized she could've confessed to Sara right then. Perhaps as a test run for telling Oliver. She'd confided everything in Sara since day one, but it didn't seem right this time. Not until she knew how Oliver felt. Laurel figured that if anyone deserved to know first, it was him.

Her thumbs hurriedly danced across the solid keyboard on her phone as she formulated her message: we need to talk. Meet at our spot in 10 minutes.

His response came almost immediately after the message was sent: of course. See you then.

"Is Laurel okay, Ollie?" a young voice chimed in from behind the teenage boy. As he turned around, Oliver was met by his 9 year old sister, Thea. The young girl buried her face in the worn out velvet fur of the teddy bear Oliver had given her as a newborn. Her face was flushed with embarrassment at having asked the question.

The young man bent down to meet his sister at eye level. "She will be, Speedy. I'll make sure of it", he replied, placing a gentle kiss on the left temple of her forehead. But truthfully, he wasn't sure if he believed it. At the back of his mind, he couldn't help but think that Laurel was breaking up with him.

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Laurel's teeth chattered against the chill of the February night. She twiddled her gloved thumbs, hoping to steady her heart rate as she waited for Oliver on the Starling Community Park bench; which had been powdered with a light snowfall. She bit down on her dried lower lip as she looked out to the path and anticipated his arrival. Her head spun as she attempted to figure out an opening. Straight to the point or ease him into it? Her palms began to sweat beneath the thick fabric of her winter gloves as she heard his footsteps crunch against the hardening snow.

"Hey, what's up?" Oliver asked, the growing worry evident in his eyes as he appeared in front of her.

"I'm okay. Just... sit" Laurel said, gesturing to the empty spot on the bench.

"You're shivering. Here" he said as he took off the Slytherin scarf she had gifted him for Christmas and wrapped it around her.

"Thanks" she responded as she rested her head in the crook of his shoulder.

"So what's going on? I mean, things sounded pretty urgent in your text message. Are we okay?" Oliver asked.

Laurel closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. He has to know, she thought to herself. Since he already suspected the worst, there was no time to beat around the bush.

"This isn't easy for me to say. So please don't hate me, Ollie" she began.

"I have loved you for half my life. There's nothing you could say that could ever make me hate you" Oliver said, his crystal blue eyes forming a pool of worry as he held her anxious gaze.

"I'm a week late and you know I'm never late. It's a point of pride with me. I took a test and..." she revealed, her voice trailed off as she felt nothing more needed to be said.

"Oh, Laurel" Oliver sighed as he wrapped his arms around her and she burst into tears over his broad shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Ollie. I just don't know what to do" she sobbed. "I know my father would kill you, then me and you again for good measure".

The young man breathed a silent sigh of relief as his fears of losing Laurel were debunked. Cupping a free hand around her face, dismissing a single tear from the corner of her eye, Oliver looked her sternly in the eye and made the promise that altered the course of their lives. "We're going to figure this out. No matter what happens, I will not fail you or this baby".