The Way We Talk

Family (Little Talks #24)

Prompt:  "Who do you think you are?"

Since Sara's return to Starling City, Laurel has become acquainted with the idea of her sister dropping in for absolutely no reason, and usually without using the front door.  Because of that, she's not really surprised when she returns to the door of her apartment and hears movement from the inside.  She enters as normally as possible—still wary of an unwelcome intruder—but she's surprised when the first person she sees isn't Sara.  She looks as though she's meant to be there, as non-threatening as one can be when wearing a wicked biker jacket and being about the same age as Thea, especially when she's all attitude and wears her hair that short.  She walks through the apartment as if she owns it, and that rubs Laurel a little raw.

She clears her throat, and the girl stops, mid-step.  "Who do you think you are?" Laurel demands, hand on her hip.  She has the decency to look a little sheepish—as she should—and something about her looks oddly familiar...

It clicks when Sara comes around the corner, from the living area.  "Sorry, Laurel," she says, not looking very sorry at all.  That she says it with a smile only emphasizes that point.  "This is my friend Sin—more of a little sister, actually."  Something passes between the two that indicates a shared joke.  "Sin, this is Laurel, my older sister."

Sin does a little shrug, like she's uncomfortable but trying to play it cool.  "Sorry about crashing your place," she replies, sounding street savvy and used to the kind of life that Thea's hoodlum, Roy, lives.  "Sara said it was cool for me to hang around."  There's an awkward pause before she adds, "I was just looking for the bathroom."

Laurel bites down on every angry retort she can thinks of, trying to keep calm for Sara's sake.  This girl is obviously important to her, but that doesn't mean she has the right to be so impertinent.  Sara flashes her a you-better-sell-this-now look, and so Laurel puts on her best fake smile before assuring her guest, "No, that's fine.  I was just a little surprised—Sara doesn't usually bring company.  And the bathroom's just down the hall, to your left."  Sin takes the hint and heads in that direction, leaving Laurel to round on her sister.

"Do you want to tell me what that was?" she demands, careful to keep her voice down so that Sin won't hear.  "Why are you bringing random people here now?"  She thought Sara respected her more than that, and she doesn't quite appreciate that someone of dubious background knows where she lives now.

Sara shakes her head, frowning more than usual.  "Sin's not just anyone," she says, her tone betraying sincerity and fondness.  "She's a friend, actually.  She's been helping me since I got into the city, and, not that she'll tell you, but she really doesn't have anywhere else to go."  She pauses, giving Laurel her best puppy-dog eyes, even though Laurel can tell she's not really trying to lay on the guilt—that's part of Sara's charm.  "She's a lot like me, like how I was when I got back into the city.  I couldn't stand to see her alone like that."  Though it sounds like the truth, Laurel knows Sara enough to know there's something else to the story.  Even knowing that, she doesn't pry.

"You took her in," Laurel says, surprised by the conclusion.  Sara never did let people in easily, and she hasn't quite been as willing to trust since the whole island ordeal—Oliver Queen clearly was not the only person to be changed by the castaway experience.

To her surprise, Sara shakes her head.  "Not exactly," she admits, cryptic as always.  "Sin and I, we... we look out for each other.  We have since the moment I met her.  I made a promise, Laurel, and I'm going to keep it."  The determination in her voice is a rarity; Sara was never the focused, driven sister.  Sara raises an eyebrow, continuing finally, "Believe it or not, she's a lot smarter than me and you, and she's almost fearless, Laurel."  The admiration is heavy in her voice, but it changes as she shrugs.  "Someone has to look out for her—might as well be me."

Laurel thinks it through slowly.  It's obvious that Sin—whoever she is—is incredibly important to Sara.  She isn't just bringing a friend over; she's offering Laurel an olive branch, trying to bring her into all the things she's missed in the past six years.  This is Sara opening up ever so slightly, and Laurel would be a fool not to take the opportunity.

The smile is genuine this time as she responds, "Any friend of yours is a friend of mine."  She's surprised that she means it, and is rewarded by a very genuine smile on Sara's face.

After all, that's what it means to be family.