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fandomweekly2020-12-05 07:16 pm
iluvroadrunner6) wrote in fandomweekly2020-12-05 07:16 pm
Entry tags:
[#076] You Say Goodbye but Do You Really Know it's Over (Arrow)
Theme Prompt: 076 – Closed Doors
Title: You Say Goodbye, but Do You Really Know It’s Over
Fandom: DCTV (Arrow)
Rating/Warnings: PG-13 | Spoilers through S6
Bonus: Yes.
Word Count: 887
Summary: Three times Oliver Queen stood in front of Laurel Lance’s door.
He’s turned this moment over in his head repeatedly for the last five years, trying to figure out what he might say or do. Seeing Laurel again is the scariest thing to face, knowing all the ways he’s hurt her and all the things he has to make up to her. Taking a deep breath, he stairs down the closed door in front of him, now thinking of all the ways this could go wrong, and he thinks that maybe he should do this another way. Perhaps he should step back, let Tommy ease her into things.
Maybe, somehow, that would be better.
Still, he knows he needs to do this on his own. He needs to make sure that Laurel knows that he means what he says, and hiding behind their mutual best friend isn’t going to get him very far. Taking a deep breath, he raises his hand and knocks lightly on the door.
Footsteps sound from within, and not long after, the door opens. Laurel’s head appears in the doorway, and she stares him down, almost as though she’s stunned to see him. Her hand tightens on the door, and he knows what’s going to happen.
“Wait, Laurel, please don’t …”
SLAM!
He closes his eyes as the wooden frame rattles with the force of it. “ … Slam the door.” He pauses, taking a long deep breath, before trying again. He lifts his hand again, forming the fist, and for a moment, he considers walking away, but he can’t. That would be the easy way out, taken by the man he used to be, and he needs to make this right. He knows what his life without Laurel Lance is like. He doesn’t want to have to live it for the rest of his life.
He knocks again. He waits for the inevitable shout telling him to go away. But after a few moments of patient waiting, Laurel opens the door, something akin to a scowl on her face.
“Can we talk?” he asks, his voice low and patient. “Please?”
Laurel huffs again, not saying anything, but eventually, she steps to the side, gesturing for him to come into the apartment. Probably so she’s not yelling at him in the hallway.
That doesn’t matter. As long as Laurel doesn’t stop talking to him entirely, he can make it work.
- - - - - -
The closed door looms over him like Schrodinger’s cat.
The moment he opens that door, she’s truly going to be gone. He’ll walk into her apartment and see that Laurel isn’t there. For this moment, this brief in-between, Laurel is both alive and dead, here and gone, and there’s the most momentary flicker of hope that when he opens the door, she’ll be there to greet him with a smile.
Except she won’t.
Oliver’s never been one to linger in false hopes, but after everyone that she’s lost, this pillar crumbling knocked down feels especially difficult. Laurel Lance was one of the people in his life who have always been there. Even when she hated him, even in the moments where she was angry with him, she was still there. It was something he could fix.
Oliver is powerful, but he can’t raise the dead. No matter how much he may wish he could.
Taking a deep breath, he reaches for the doorknob and slides his copy of her key into the deadbolt. There’s a dry click as the lock opens, and he opens the door to silence.
Laurel Lance is dead. Unfortunately, she’s not coming back.
- - - - - -
This moment isn’t the first time he’s hesitated in front of Laurel Lance’s apartment door. He doesn’t think it will be the last either, given what he’s about to do, but he needs a moment to compose himself. To take a breath, and not come at this from a place of anger. It’s all he feels, anger bubbling in the pit of his stomach that this imposter could go and think she could take his Laurel’s place.
From a place of strategy, he could appreciate it. If the world thinks this Laurel is their Laurel Lance, returned from the dead, she’ll be protected. She’ll be safe. It’s smart, even if it makes him even angrier than he was before.
But there’s also a part of him that wants to give her a chance. That thinks that maybe if she can change, he can regain something that he’s lost. Perhaps he feels like he needs to give it to someone else after all he did to change.
He doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to love her the way he loved Laurel. But he would rather count her as a friend than a foe.
He raises his hand and knocks on the door. Footsteps shuffle from within, and then the door opens, revealing Laurel. He doesn’t smile, can’t really, but he manages to force out the words before he can overthink it.
“Can we talk?”
Laurel shrugs before taking a step back and gesturing for him to come inside. “Be my guest.”
He takes a step forward, crossing the threshold for the first time since Laurel died. It doesn’t feel right, being here without her, but it still feels like a step in the right direction.
Title: You Say Goodbye, but Do You Really Know It’s Over
Fandom: DCTV (Arrow)
Rating/Warnings: PG-13 | Spoilers through S6
Bonus: Yes.
Word Count: 887
Summary: Three times Oliver Queen stood in front of Laurel Lance’s door.
He’s turned this moment over in his head repeatedly for the last five years, trying to figure out what he might say or do. Seeing Laurel again is the scariest thing to face, knowing all the ways he’s hurt her and all the things he has to make up to her. Taking a deep breath, he stairs down the closed door in front of him, now thinking of all the ways this could go wrong, and he thinks that maybe he should do this another way. Perhaps he should step back, let Tommy ease her into things.
Maybe, somehow, that would be better.
Still, he knows he needs to do this on his own. He needs to make sure that Laurel knows that he means what he says, and hiding behind their mutual best friend isn’t going to get him very far. Taking a deep breath, he raises his hand and knocks lightly on the door.
Footsteps sound from within, and not long after, the door opens. Laurel’s head appears in the doorway, and she stares him down, almost as though she’s stunned to see him. Her hand tightens on the door, and he knows what’s going to happen.
“Wait, Laurel, please don’t …”
SLAM!
He closes his eyes as the wooden frame rattles with the force of it. “ … Slam the door.” He pauses, taking a long deep breath, before trying again. He lifts his hand again, forming the fist, and for a moment, he considers walking away, but he can’t. That would be the easy way out, taken by the man he used to be, and he needs to make this right. He knows what his life without Laurel Lance is like. He doesn’t want to have to live it for the rest of his life.
He knocks again. He waits for the inevitable shout telling him to go away. But after a few moments of patient waiting, Laurel opens the door, something akin to a scowl on her face.
“Can we talk?” he asks, his voice low and patient. “Please?”
Laurel huffs again, not saying anything, but eventually, she steps to the side, gesturing for him to come into the apartment. Probably so she’s not yelling at him in the hallway.
That doesn’t matter. As long as Laurel doesn’t stop talking to him entirely, he can make it work.
The closed door looms over him like Schrodinger’s cat.
The moment he opens that door, she’s truly going to be gone. He’ll walk into her apartment and see that Laurel isn’t there. For this moment, this brief in-between, Laurel is both alive and dead, here and gone, and there’s the most momentary flicker of hope that when he opens the door, she’ll be there to greet him with a smile.
Except she won’t.
Oliver’s never been one to linger in false hopes, but after everyone that she’s lost, this pillar crumbling knocked down feels especially difficult. Laurel Lance was one of the people in his life who have always been there. Even when she hated him, even in the moments where she was angry with him, she was still there. It was something he could fix.
Oliver is powerful, but he can’t raise the dead. No matter how much he may wish he could.
Taking a deep breath, he reaches for the doorknob and slides his copy of her key into the deadbolt. There’s a dry click as the lock opens, and he opens the door to silence.
Laurel Lance is dead. Unfortunately, she’s not coming back.
This moment isn’t the first time he’s hesitated in front of Laurel Lance’s apartment door. He doesn’t think it will be the last either, given what he’s about to do, but he needs a moment to compose himself. To take a breath, and not come at this from a place of anger. It’s all he feels, anger bubbling in the pit of his stomach that this imposter could go and think she could take his Laurel’s place.
From a place of strategy, he could appreciate it. If the world thinks this Laurel is their Laurel Lance, returned from the dead, she’ll be protected. She’ll be safe. It’s smart, even if it makes him even angrier than he was before.
But there’s also a part of him that wants to give her a chance. That thinks that maybe if she can change, he can regain something that he’s lost. Perhaps he feels like he needs to give it to someone else after all he did to change.
He doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to love her the way he loved Laurel. But he would rather count her as a friend than a foe.
He raises his hand and knocks on the door. Footsteps shuffle from within, and then the door opens, revealing Laurel. He doesn’t smile, can’t really, but he manages to force out the words before he can overthink it.
“Can we talk?”
Laurel shrugs before taking a step back and gesturing for him to come inside. “Be my guest.”
He takes a step forward, crossing the threshold for the first time since Laurel died. It doesn’t feel right, being here without her, but it still feels like a step in the right direction.
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