Bonding. With speedstergrl5

[dl_greenarrow]

Oliver had the chicken already marinating in barbecue sauce by the time Mia got home from school, and he'd changed out of his suit and into a pair of sweatpants and a white t-shirt, ready for training. He heard the turning of a key in the front door and grinned a little, pulling a couple of bottles of water from the fridge and greeting Mia in the

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[speedstergrl5]

Mia paused when she saw Oliver already waiting for her and smiled slightly. It had been a long day and she was looking forward to having some quality time with Oliver.

She dropped her bag and and sighed lightly. "Long, how was your day?"

[dl_greenarrow]

He grimaced a little. "Also long," he admitted with a slight shrug. "But not necessarily bad."

He moved forward and handed her a bottle of the cold water. "What made your day long?"

[speedstergrl5]

She took the offered bottle of water avoiding eye contact with him as she opened it and spoke while shrugging."Ian and I sort of had a misunderstanding and there was a pop quiz today that I'm pretty sure I did bad on."

Then of course there was the fact that she couldn't gget her stupid nightmare out of her head, but that wasn't exactly something she wanted to get into at the moment.

[dl_greenarrow]

He watched her for a moment, concern in his eyes. "Did you sort things out with Ian?" he asked quietly.

[dl_greenarrow]

"We talked a little today," he confessed. "On Facebook. About video games of all things." A smirk touched his mouth and he glanced at her again while they headed toward the park.

"He seems like he's an okay guy." He reached out and touched her arm, pausing in his tracks. "And I trust your judgment."

[speedstergrl5]

She glanced up, face softening. "Thank you..." She let out a slight breath and gave him a small smile. "He really is a good guy...you know he actually reminds me a little of you."

A grin touched her lips as she continued walking again.

[dl_greenarrow]

He blinked at that, raising his eyebrows, suddenly worried for a whole new reason. He followed her, rubbing the back of his neck. "As long as he's good to you, I'm fine with it," he told her as they walked.

[speedstergrl5]

She nodded sending a smile over her shoulder as he caught up with her. "He is...he's my best friend aside from Carly I mean. It's funny though, because when I first met him I couldn't stand him."

She chuckled lightly feeling the weight of the day rolling off her shoulders as she talked to Oliver.

[dl_greenarrow]

"I used to be," he admitted. "At least somewhat. But uh--you know, things changed. I had a nasty wake-up call. Made me re-evaluate my life and realize I wasn't the person I wanted to be. And then some other things happened and..." He hesitated. "I kinda backslid. Chloe saved my life--physically and otherwise."

He drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "So I get what you're saying about Ian."

His expression softened at her admission. "I'm really glad you like her. I have it on good authority that she thinks pretty highly of you." He nudged her arm gently.

[speedstergrl5]

Mia frowned slightly, but didn't push for more information, noticing how he'd hesitated when he spoke and then smiled when he nudged her. "I'm glad...I'll admit I was slightly worried I might get in the way."

She glanced down at the water bottle in her hand, not looking at him. "I can see how much she means to you...and I get why you picked her."

[dl_greenarrow]

"Well, you don't need to worry about that anymore. You're not in anyone's way, Kiddo," he told her honestly, watching her for a moment.

"I think the three of us fit together pretty well."

[speedstergrl5]

She studied his face for a second before grinning, "I think so too..." She picked up her pace slightly as she shot him a sideways glance, not sure she wanted an answer to her next question. "So...what else did you and Ian talk about?"

[speedstergrl5]

She chuckled lightly rolling her eyes in good humor. "Oh yeah? Or maybe you were just hoping that was the case." She teased him lightly.

"But seriously, she already has a ton of points in my book because I can see how happy you guys are together and two...she brought you back to Star City..." Her voice trailed off slightly embarrassed by her admission, her eyes glancing forward once again.

[dl_greenarrow]

He grinned at the teasing. "No, I definitely knew," he teased back, his expression softening at her words. "I'm sorry I didn't visit more often between when you came out here and I did. Things in Metropolis were...a little crazy." He let out a breath. "But I'm glad I'm here. I'm glad we're all together now."

[speedstergrl5]

She shrugged slightly. "It's okay. I know you were busy, and I'm glad too." She tilted her head slightly, "So where do we go from here? How does this whole family thing work? Do we have rules?"

[dl_greenarrow]

He chuckled a little at that. "Honestly, this is pretty new to me, too. Why don't we figure out a good time for all three of us to sit down together and discuss that?" he suggested. "That way no one gets left out and we all have a say."

[speedstergrl5]

She could feel her eyes burn slightly at his admission and she glanced down, not wanting him to see the emotion on her face. His words warmed her heart as a hint of relief settled over her.

Mia knew Oliver wasn't like everyone else, but she guessed in the back of her mind somewhere deep down she still had an overwhelming fear of abandonment...like if she said or did the wrong thing, this family that was being built up around her more everyday might crumble down and that was the last thing she wanted.

Mia hadn't realized she needed his reassurance until that moment. "Thank you...I don't think you know how much that means to me...especially that you trust my decisions and instincts...I just wish I did a little more. I haven't always made the best choices...and...I'm scared of making the wrong one."

[dl_greenarrow]

He hesitantly reached out and gave her arm a gentle squeeze. He suspected that she needed the reassurance as much, if not more than Chloe had. More than he had needed it. All three of them had a lot of issues about family--more specifically lack there of. And maybe that's what was going to make them stronger in the long run. Because they all understood what it was like to be abandoned by their actual families--however intentional or unintentional the abandonment was.

"You will, with time. But everyone makes mistakes and messes up. God knows I have, Mia. I'm scared of screwing up, too. But...that's how we learn, I guess." He offered her a gentle smile. "And we'll be there to help each other up when we do screw-up."

Because that's what families were for, at least in his mind.

[speedstergrl5]

Mia reached out impulsively pulling Oliver into a hug. Since she ran away from home she'd always been the girl who looked out for herself, didn't let anyone in and was wary of men as a whole. But somewhere over the past seven months that had changed.

Not exponentially, but definitely with Oliver. She trusted him and for her that was big a big deal. He's the only person who's ever cared about just for the sake of caring. Without expecting anything in return.

It wasn't something she was used to, but it was definitely something she didn't want to give up. Most kids her age wanted nothing to do with their familes, but not her. A family...a real one, what Oliver was offering her, was something she's always wanted and never thought she'd get.

Her voice was soft and she couldn't exactly hide the tears in her eyes even though she tried. "Thank you...I know I don't say it a lot, and I know I'm not always an open book, but...just thanks Oliver...for everything."

[dl_greenarrow]

He was a little caught off guard by the hug, but he wrapped his arms around her in return, hugging her back gently and closing his eyes. "You are very welcome," he whispered. "And I'm not always an open book either. But I do think we'll figure it all out, even if it takes some time."