Tales of Emerald Steel

In love with your roommate 4

Oliver was meditating on the roof of the house, a place he had learn to appreciate for its peacefulness. From here, he could see almost all the college's grounds and the forest around it. In a way, it reminded him of when he and Slade meditated on top of the temple on Lian Yu's mountain.

The old man had taught him meditation to help control his panic attacks. And so far if he did at least a five minutes of simple breathing exercises per day, no other attacks had ever came back to haunt him.

It also made all his senses sharper, which was why he was perfectly aware that Kara had been looking at him from the window he used to access the roof.

He had been tempted to break his meditation and ask her what was on her mind, but since she hadn't said anything yet, he figured that he might as well wait.

And it wasn't like her presence unnerved him. On the contrary, feeling her near him had always been able to help him keep his emotions in check. She had that strange yet calming effect on him.

"I always wondered how you could stay so still for so long" she initiated the conversation "I can barely stay seated more than 20 minutes"

He chuckled but didn't move "Years of practice"

"And it helps you calm down?"

He opened his eyes and turned his head toward the window. She was simply seated there, knees under her chin with her arms around them. In the sunset's lights, her beautiful blond hair shined like golden gold and her eyes were simply mesmerizing.

"In a way. Back on the island, Slade told me to use it and look back at my day. What lesson I had learned, what mistake I had done, what good decisions I had made. Now, I mostly do it out of habit, but since I didn't have any panic attacks since I've been doing it, I keep at it."

Kara nodded and looked back on the sinking sun "I guess than it's the same than Alex. After her workout, she usually sits on the ground and simply relax"

"I've tried doing martial arts, but it's unrealistic. They have too many rules, to standardized stances and strikes." he shook his head, leaning back, letting the cold breeze relax the musculs of his shirtless chest.  "In the real world, they are no such things. You take a shot where you can, you strikes where it hurts, and you stop the fighting as soon as possible"

"You don't talk about the island much. It must have been horrible"

"At first. My dad was gone. Laurel was gone. The crew member that had rescued me had tried to kill me to keep the more water for him..."

Kara nodded, knowing he didn't really want to talk about it "I guess we all have our trauma"

"We do. But you and Barry are the only ones that are able to be the bubbly, happy go lucky, persons that I know. I'm grumpy, brooding, cold,-"

"Caring, protective, reassuring" she had, preventing him from going on with his flaws. She knew almost all of them, and yet still loved them

Oliver looked at her and met the most loving eyes he had seen in a very long time. Her beautiful blue orbs were not filled with lust or envy, but with compassion, warmth and... Love.

He stood up and walked toward her, not once breaking eyes contact with her. Once by her side, he kneeled down to her side and brought his hand to her cheek.

She couldn't help herself but lean into him, once again feeling more safe than ever. But this time, the calming effect he usually also had on her wasn't there. This time, her heart was beating like crazy, the love that she knew had shown through her eyes being only a part of what she really wanted to tell him.

And she would, she decided. She opened her eyes only to meet the very intense and beautifully loving glare her was giving her. She brought her hand to the back of his head and pulled him to her.

When their lips met, both felt a fire exploded in their head, in their stomach, in their heart.

Their hearts had been shattered by loss and betrayal, by the Laurel's disapearance and the realisation that Mike had only seen her as yet another trophy.

And yet, in that moment, with that kiss, both of them felt like the pieces were starting to mend. But they still needed to breath and had to break the kiss.

They looked at each other intensely, both of them a little surprised by what seemed to have happened on its own.

"Kara, I-"

"Shhhh-" she cut him, placing a finger on his lips "Don't talk, let's just live the moment, okay? We can always speak tomorrow"

He grinned at her and placed a kiss on her lips, the one on her cheek, one on her jawline

"Oliver" she said, shivering under his touch

Afraid he might had triggered a memory, he pulled back and silently asked if everything was alright.

"You saved me from him" she nodded "Now please, wash him off. Make me yours for tonight"

A loving smile appeared on his lips "And if tonight is not enough?"

"All the bett-" she tried to answered before he crashed his lips on hers.

She didn't know how, but Oliver managed to bring her inside, close the window and bring her to the corridor. By that point, she had straddled him, kissing him intensely as he crashed in the wall.

"Yours?... Or mine!" he asked between kisses as he had started assaulting her neck again

"Yours!... Barry might... Hear us... In mine."

"Too bad, I wanted to make everyone know that you're mine" he smirked evilly

Silently apologizing to Barry in advance, she smiled at Oliver boldness. "Mine then"

Oliver was a little surprised by her change of mind but didn't argue, happy to get back to their roommate for the time that Kara had been gone and Barry had taken that opportunity to bang her brain out of Iris

"I'll make sure your voice keeps him awake" he growled in her ear as he closed the door with his feet.

And just like Oliver had predicted, this would be the most arkward and uncomfortable night of all of Barry nights. Ever.