Playing Hookey (Laurel/Tommy)

[Laurel Lance]

Standing at the edge of the board, Laurel looked down into the clear blue-green water beneath her. Taking a few steps back, Laurel rushed at the end of the board, springing off the end as her hands came together and split the water, her body following until she was completely swallowed up by the liquid. Kicking her feet beneath the surface, Laurel held her mouth closed as she moved towards the far end of the pool. Reaching out, Laurel felt her hand brush up against the hard wall as she surfaced, releasing the breath she had been holding and inhaling another. She could feel the burn in her lungs from holding her breath, but it was a good feeling, relaxing. Climbing out of the water, Laurel pushed her hair back and out of her face, walking towards the lawn chair.

Lying down atop the towel that was spread over the soft cushion, Laurel picked up the sunglasses from the nearby table and placed them over her eyes. The sun felt good on her skin, drying up the beads of water that had formed from the pool, allowing the sun to keep her skin a golden tan. The blue bikini didn't hide much, but that was the entire point. Surrounded by grounds on all sides, Laurel didn't need to be in lawyer mood today, even though she should have been at her desk. Even without being due in court, Laurel had things to do, motions to file, paperwork to clear off her constantly over-flowing desk. It had been her intention when she woke up to go to work, until Tommy had called. Somehow he always seemed to have just the right words for Laurel, and the offer of a day off work was tempting. It was true, she didn't have court, so she wasn't going to be penalized for not being present.

Agreeing to come over, Laurel sometimes wondered how she fell into this life. She had her wild days when she was younger, which was probably the side of her that had agreed to this day away from work, though she had matured a lot over the past five years. From graduating law school to landing a job that she loved, even if everyone around her hated the location, Laurel had come a long way. Though not such a long way that she wasn't semi-attached to an attractive billionaire, or rather, a billionaire's son. Laurel had asked Tommy to grab them a drink, though she was suddenly realizing that it had been like a half hour since his disappearance. The house was large, but even Tommy usually moved faster than that. Sighing, Laurel put the thought out of her mind, he'd return, in the meantime, she'd enjoy the sun.

[Tommy Merlyn]

Oh, the joys of being able to convince Laurel Lance to take some time off of work. That was hard enough on its own, but some days it felt like it was harder to convince her to spend that time with him. This was definitely a victory, and as he headed in to get drinks for them, he became preoccupied with his phone. Or rather, the person trying to contact him. He didn't have her name in his phone anymore, out of a show of trust in Laurel's direction.

What was it? Cindy? Cynthia? Something...with a c? An s? Oh well, it didn't matter. He was done with her, he was done with any of these interchangeable women. So why had he spent so much time now having a text conversation with her? He had initially meant to tell her no, to not contact him again, and to explain his situation, but...he couldn't do that. He had entered a conversation and gotten so wrapped up in it that something like half an hour had passed. He put his phone away and grabbed the drinks he was supposed to get.

"Sorry about that," he told her as he went back outside. He sat down at the chair beside her where his shirt was still lying and held out a drink in offer to her.

[Laurel Lance]

Closing her eyes, Laurel was more than willing to let her muscles relax as she sunk comfortably into the lounge on the pool deck. Even if her apartment had a pool, which it didn't, Laurel knew that it would be nothing like this. Probably run-down deck chairs, rotten by the sun and just waiting to fall apart. Laurel didn't live in a bad complex by any means, she paid good money for her place, well, as good as she could afford, but it was certainly no condo on the top floor either.

Turning her head towards Tommy's voice, Laurel moved the sunglasses up to the top of her head, opening her eyes as she smiled at the man. Taking the brand name water bottle from his hand, Laurel broke the seal and spun off the cap, taking a long drink. The chilled liquid on the inside offset the warm heat from the sun, instantly making her feel great. "Did your dad come home? Is everything okay?" It wasn't like Tommy to 'abandon' Laurel when they were together, not that she didn't know her way around the mansion or that she needed to be tethered to Tommy's side, but more that they didn't make the effort to be together just to do their own thing. At one point, Laurel would have never asked Tommy for an explanation, back when they were hardly even friends. They were never close growing up, more like acquaintances, until the last few years as they began growing closer. Laurel had a plethora of friends, Joanna being her best friend, but Tommy had moved up the ranks to a close second. She could tell him anything, even if they weren't officially together. It was a topic that Laurel never planned to broach with Tommy, she had tried to reign in a party guy once and resulted in her sister's death, Laurel never wanted to try that again.

Rolling onto her side, Laurel propped herself up on her elbow, resting her head on her hand. "I have to admit, this isn't the worst idea you've ever had. And it's nice to look at someone who isn't Judge Dawson. I'm not sure how you do it everyday though, I'd be bored after three days." Setting the water bottle onto the small table, Laurel's gaze quickly dashed around. The grounds of the Merlyn estate were always impeccable, almost like magic. No matter the season they seemed to be able to grow flowers in the flower beds, and keep the grass looking pristine. It was a world Laurel couldn't have imagined for herself. "The DA's office made me an offer. Four weeks vacation and a starting bonus. I know my dad had something to do with it, he's so against CNRI." There was a time when Detective Lance had wanted to protect those that needed it most, but that was a time before he found alcohol, a time when their lives were so much happier. Now Laurel found herself battling both with her father and people like Adam Hunt, a leech.

"So what are the plans tonight? Movie? Party? Do our own things?"

[Tommy Merlyn]

She was asking him a number of questions, and he needed to figure out the best way to answer them, and to explain things to her. At one point in his life he may have been happy to juggle women, keep them a secret from each other and all that, but he was so far beyond that now. She didn't need to try anything with him, he was willing to change on his own in order to gain Laurel in his life. He sat on the pool chair beside hers and set his drink on the table next to hers. Unlike her water, he had a little whiskey. He didn't see a problem with that.

"No, dad didn't come home," he told her. He figured that his father was still at the company, not that he minded. He felt better having people around when his father wasn't. He and his father were too distant, and he didn't want an awkward run-in between himself, his guest, and his father (or just guest and father). He also wasn't sure how his father would react to Tommy bringing women over. "Sorry about that wait, though."

He leaned forward and rested his arms on his knees. "I'm glad to know my pool and, well, I hope myself are better than looking at some old judge." He didn't know if Judge Dawson was an old man, or even a man at all, he was just taking an almost stereotypical guess. "Bored after three days though? Then you're not doing it right. It also helps to have companionship of some sort. Like me." He smiled a bit and took a small bit of his whiskey.

He set it back down, "And as for the DA's office, I can't tell you what to do. Hell, I don't even know how good of an experience that would be. The lawyering stuff is...well, not foreign to me, just your end is." He'd had enough run ins with some of his past antics, "If you're happier at CNRI, I'd stay there then, but that's up to you. And tonight? Well, I'm open for anything."

There, he'd hit everything. He looked at his drink and picked it back up. He took another sip, "I was texting another woman for the last half hour." He quickly took a longer drink, "But it's not anything to worry about! We were just talking," he quickly explained.

[Laurel Lance]

Tommy was quick to dodge the question of his most recent actions and Laurel was quick to put it to the back of her mind. He would tell her if something was wrong,  they may not have been the closest growing up, but even then Tommy would have been open if something was actually wrong. "The pool is nice, but that's not why I'm here. I'm surprised you caught me before work though, aren't you usually sleeping? " Tommy was known by the entire city as a hardcore partner, often out all hours of the night. That was how Laurel knew him, though she didn't keep a close watch on his actions when they were together. What Tommy did was his business, unless he did somewhat made the news, but that was rare, he was usually smoother than that. 

"He hates that I work around criminals, and the location. I think he'd really be happiest if I worked as some boring corporate lawyer, but that's not where I'd do the most good. " CNRI was located in the worst part of town, which Laurel actively tried not to bring up around Tommy. His mother was killed in the Glades, Laurel couldn't imagine how he could even drive through that part of town, but it was the area that needed her, needed people who care about the injustice and living conditions. Most people were good people with no money, like her clients against Adam Hunt, he stole their life fortunes and they just wanted justice. 

In Starling, there was always a party or nightclub to hit up, though it wasn't really Laurel's scene if she had to be honest with herself. She was more at ease during cocktail parties or dinner parties, things she had gotten used to since graduating law school. Before Laurel answered Tommy, he told her what he had been doing, talking to some woman. Laurel could feel her heart drop, and she hated herself for it. They weren't in a serious relationship, Laurel wasn't even expected that from Tommy. She had known what it would be from the first night, at a nightclub she couldn't even remember. Laurel didn't want to be alone, after Sara's death, Laurel hated going home to an empty house all the time. Her mother left, her dad was working, and she had all the time in the world to sit around with her thoughts. Laurel hadn't expected to run into Tommy that night, it was chance, and it was shocking to Laurel when she went home with Tommy. Laurel wasn't that  kind of girl, but that night she was. Then it happened again, not on accident, then a few more times. Tommy was fun to be with, he distracted Laurel from thoughts she'd rather not dwell on. 

"You don't owe me any explanation Tommy. It's not like we've ever agreed to be exclusive, we've never even talked about it. And that's okay, I knew how this would be when we started." Sitting up, Laurel's gaze flicked down to her lap, this was exactly what she tried to avoid. The moment where they finally said it out loud and Laurel had to face that eventually Tommy was going to move on.  This wasn't going to last forever, Laurel knew that, and Tommy's distraction by the other person was exactly what Laurel knew would happen. She liked Tommy, they seemed good together, but Laurel wasn't naive anymore, not like she was 5 years ago. 

[Tommy Merlyn]

"I don't care about her at all," Tommy said immediately. Then that sounded wrong, as if they had slept together or something and it had been meaningless to him, "I mean, look. She contacted me, I ended up talking back, that's it. Nothing else. I was just holding a conversation." He reached into his pocket and produced his phone, which he held out to her, "If you want, it's all there. She wanted to come and party with me, I said no." He figured it went without saying that she wanted that to lead to sex, reading between the lines there.

There was no way he was going to do something stupid and possibly lose any chance at being with Laurel. Yes, this was stupid, having held that conversation for so long. Yes, it was stupid to admit it to her that that's what he'd been doing. But it was also honest, and he figured honesty meant a lot right here and now. Her sister hadn't been honest, and neither had Oliver, and now they were both dead.

Tommy wanted to be someone else. He wanted to be someone she could rely on and trust. He wanted to be honest and open about everything he could, and at least make the attempt. Even if it might come back to bite him in the ass, he wanted to take a chance, take a shot in the dark and hope she'd forgive him here, and they could move on. He wanted that more than anything, he just wanted her. Nothing to stand in the way, but he wasn't sure how she'd feel about this.

"And don't worry, I'll block the number," he assured her.

[Laurel Lance]

"You're still talking like you owe me an explanation. I know you don't do relationships, it's okay. I don't need to look in your phone." Reaching towards the phone, Laurel curled Tommy's fingers around his phone. She wasn't going to take it and look through it, she wasn't paranoid or naive or anything on either side. She was realistic, Tommy didn't just have a reputation, Laurel had witnessed it with her own eyes many times when they were younger. It wasn't often that Laurel went out to clubs without Tommy, mostly because she was more likely to be found curled up on her couch, under a blanket watching some cheap movie she rented on the way home from work, but when Laurel did go out, she was never shocked to see Tommy there, talking to gorgeous women when he didn't know she was there.

Pulling her hand back, Laurel pushed herself up to her feet, only to take a step and lower herself next to Tommy. Placing her hand on Tommy's shoulder, Laurel squeezed lightly and smiled to him. "I'm sorry I started all this, I didn't mean to get into this, I just wanted to make sure everything was okay. You can do whatever you want, we never agreed to anything else. That night...I was just looking to not be alone." Looking away from Tommy, Laurel stared off into the distance in front of her, removing her hand from his shoulder. "I didn't know it then, but I'm really glad I ran into you that night. You were there for me when I needed someone the most, you've been there for me a lot and I really appreciate it. I like spending time with you, but I know this is just fun."

Slipping her arm around his, Laurel leaned her head against Tommy's shoulder. "So where's the big party tonight?" She wasn't really in the mood for a party, at least, not a party like Tommy's scene, but Laurel wanted to ease the tension. Maybe a loud party would be the perfect distraction to make them both forget all about this conversation and go back to how they were this morning. Having fun with each other, without forcing themselves to talk seriously. It wasn't ideal for Laurel, but she didn't want to force Tommy away either...not that she had any other sisters for him to go yachting with.

[Tommy Merlyn]

He wasn't expecting her to react like that to all of this, but that was something he loved about her. She was willing to not care about it, to hopefully believe him about how he had explained it. He didn't want to be spending his time with anyone else. There were beautiful women out there that he knew, and a number of them had his phone number and were wanting sex and drinking. He didn't want any of that.

He was done finding random women to sleep with, getting them drunk (and himself too) and then sleeping with them (not that that was supposed to be rapey). He was even losing his interest in having parties to go to, because he would always run into some of those women, and old friends who reminded him of who he had been before spending this time with Laurel, before falling for her. Coming to care about her had changed everything for him, and he didn't want anything other than to be with her, and do whatever he could to make that a reality.

"Honestly? I don't know," he told her. He really didn't. He hadn't pressed for details or anything, and he'd really stopped paying attention to where they could be, because all of that reminded him of things he wanted to move away from. He didn't even want to make this offer, "If you wanted to go, I could find out." He was hoping she wouldn't want to go. He just wanted to spend time alone with her, not at some party.

[Laurel Lance]

"Really?" Laurel had expected Tommy to know exactly where the fun was at, he always knew. The last five years, Tommy had been the go-to guy for parties and other fun spots for the rest of Starling City. At one point it had been his best friend, though Laurel refused to think about him or even speak his name. He was dead and he had betrayed her, he didn't deserve her thoughts.

Letting go of Tommy and sitting up completely to look at him, Laurel's eyebrows wrinkled together out of concern. Tommy just seemed off lately. "You're awake early enough to catch me before work, you're telling me about this woman when normally you would have kept it a secret, and now you don't know what's going on tonight. What's going on Tommy? I know we haven't always been the closest of friends, but if something is on your mind, you can tell me."

Laurel had tried to not care about Tommy's personal life, not get too close to him knowing he would eventually move on, though that didn't exactly work. He had become a larger part of her life in the last few years, as her own family seemed to disappear from her life.

[Tommy Merlyn]

"The only thing on my mind is you." There, he wasn't sure if that was the right thing to say, but it was the best thing that came to his mind, the thing he wanted her to know. He wasn't sure if it was going to be taken in the way he wanted her to take it, but he had said it. "Laurel, all of that stuff is in the past for me. When Oliver died, I kept it all up to try to take my mind off of things, and to try to be the same. But then you and I grew closer and...and I put it all behind me. Or at least I'm trying to."

There, he'd admitted it. That had to do it, she had to get it now, because if she didn't, he had no idea what else to tell her. It was the best he could think to do, although talking about Oliver might not have been the best move, but it had to be done in the context. He wasn't sure what her feelings towards that whole situation were anymore, but he knew for a time she had apparently been torn up over it, over his betrayal and over Sara. Well, based on this conversation he'd know if he should ever bring up Oliver's name again or not...

[Laurel Lance]

Eyebrows wrinkling together again, though this time in confusion, Laurel tilted her head slightly to the side as she looked at Tommy, trying to make sense of him. For as long as she had known him, he had been the same person, and keeping his attention for more than a couple dates was impossible. Not that Laurel had ever tried before, she was always with someone else, but she had witnessed and overheard him talking about women.

With the mention of Oliver's name, Laurel looked away. She hated hearing that name. How the news said it over and over again, every time Queen Consolidated did anything, or whenever Moira Queen donated to charity, that name always came up, as though no one in Starling City had ever heard the biggest news story of their time before. If it had been anyone else, if it had been Joanna talking, Laurel would have snapped at them for even considering mentioning that name, but it was Tommy. Tommy had been his best friend, Laurel couldn't hate Tommy for wanting to remember his best friend, the way she thought constantly about Sara.

"I meant it when I said I'm glad I ran into you. You've been great, I forget all the awful things that have happened the past few years. At least, I don't dwell on them anymore. If you think you're done with everyone else, then let's try us." It was not something Laurel was expecting when she got that phone call this morning, or something she ever expected. Tommy was not a monogamous kind of guy, or he had never been before, but Laurel also knew that he wasn't Oliver. Even if it had been Tommy all along, Laurel somehow knew he wouldn't have left with Sara. Someone else maybe, but not her sister. "I'm sorry about Oliver. I know I'm not the easiest person to talk to about him, but as much as I hate him, he was your best friend."

[Tommy Merlyn]

"Let's try us." Those words brought sheer delight to Tommy. He looked at her with new light in his eyes, with joy coming briefly across his face, but he reined it in. He wanted her to know he was happy, but he didn't want to come off as that joyful, and lose his composure. He feared he might if he didn't try to draw things in.

"Do you really mean that?" he asked her. For some reason he hadn't expected this, not for a while, anyway. He wanted to be with her, he wanted to try with her, but he figured it would take a lot longer. All that time, watching her and Oliver together, he always felt something deep inside of him that wanted something similar. He had chided Oliver before for settling down with a girl instead of having fun while he was still young, but he had always envied that too. And well, nearly thirty was probably a good time to start thinking a bit older.

"Look, you don't have to be sorry. I don't know if I could be, if our situations were reversed. I can't understand your pain," losing his mother at a young age was an entirely different pain. He might be able to relate on some level, but not a good enough one, "but I do understand where you're coming from. I will never fault you for hating him, or speaking your mind about him. He was...was my friend," he was so used to "is", "but it's been five years. I'll always remember him, but it's time to move forward."

[Laurel Lance]

It was a scary situation, actually dating Tommy versus just having fun with him. Laurel had always known she was that kind of girl, constantly in a relationship, but that was exactly what caused her to push Oliver onto a yacht with her sister. Laurel hadn't dated since, just what she had with Tommy, and now that was suddenly going serious. "Yeah." It was scary, but never moving on with their lives was even more scary.

"You're right, it's time to move forward. I always said I'd go to law school, and I did, but I also used it as an excuse to distance myself from everyone. I was so busy studying that I didn't have time, and then I graduated and I still made excuses for not having time. Things have been good with you, so maybe it is time to move forward." Reaching for Tommy's hand, Laurel curled her fingers around his. Looking at Tommy again, Laurel took a deep breath before she smiled at him. Even after he was dead, Oliver was still somehow playing a part in her life, though Laurel tried not to think of it like that.

"Are you sure you're ready for this? There's a lot of cheesy movies on the couch involved and finding bad restaurants by accident and finding the wrong directions to an event."

[Tommy Merlyn]

The idea wasn't frightening to Tommy. He knew what he wanted, and it was Laurel. He was happy with her, happier than he had been in a long time. He was making her happy by hanging out with her, and moving forward should only improve that happiness. He was going to be able to bring her a lot more happiness this way, and that's exactly what it was that he wanted.

When she took his hand, he gave hers a bit of a squeeze and nodded, "I don't know if I'm ready for all of that, but I'll get over it, because at least I'll be with you. That's the part that matters." He gave her a warm smile, "And well, if nothing else, I don't think I'll get us lost." He smiled when he said that, trying to at least contribute something towards her. But he was ready for all of it. For once in his life.

[Laurel Lance]

"I suppose cheesy movies might be a lot more interesting when your couch is actually a home theatre." Laurel didn't want to push Tommy too hard, making light of the seriousness of the conversation. Tommy's family was incredibly wealthy, which usually brought with it the best of the best, though that wasn't why Laurel enjoyed being with Tommy. The quiet nights at her place were some of her favorite, without concern of running into Malcolm, someone that Laurel was hardly comfortable around. Malcolm always seemed so shady, for as long as Laurel could remember. "I guess Starling is only so big, it is kind of hard to get too lost around here."

Turning her body to face Tommy, Laurel brought her leg up onto the chair between them so she could face him completely. "Can I ask you a question?" She wasn't actually planning to let him answer that, but used it more to stall. "I don't want to dwell on this topic because I don't want it to come between us, but it's something I've wanted to ask for a while and I've just been afraid of knowing. Did you know what was going on between Oliver and Sara? Was I the only one too stupid to see what was so painfully obvious?"