POPPY
For the second night in a row, I’ve fallen asleep on a couch cuddling Oliver Fletcher.
I could get used to this.
We get ready quickly when my alarm goes off, and too soon, we’re at the train station in Cleveland. It’s still cloaked in night when we arrive. It’s barely five in the morning, and after the week I’ve had, I should be exhausted. But leaning against Oliver while he buys our tickets, it’s impossible to feel anything but happy. Even the pale fluorescent lights buzzing above us seem cheery, and the frowning faces of fellow travelers are just smiles waiting to happen (in fairness, I always think that).
The platform is surprisingly busy, with commuters and travelers huddled in their large winter coats, their breath fogging in the pre-dawn air.
He pulls out his phone to pay from his electronic wallet, and aBeyond Justicenotification pops up on the top of the screen. He swipes it away, but not before I can read it.
GreenArrow11—You have 2 new notifications
Shock spreads through my veins like ice, freezing me in place.
GreenArrow11.
Arrow is …
Oliver is …
I feel like I can’t breathe, can’t think. My pulse has stopped entirely.
Oliver is Arrow?
I’m still staring at his phone—practically panting—when Scottie’s words from last night come to mind.
“Have you noticed Fletch’s phone case? Look closer, will you?”
He’s tucking it into his back pocket now, and I can see the vibrant green with the arrow symbol I’ve overlooked since Denver.
Scottie knew. That’s why she laughed when she heard my nickname: Gracie Lou.
That’s why she said she’d see me again.
My hands tighten around his arm involuntarily as Oliver takes the tickets.
He turns and looks at me. “You okay?”
I want to burst out laughing. Now that I know both versions of this man, Arrow turning me down makes so much more sense. The fact that he asked for a couple of days coincides perfectly with us growing closer in real life. And heishard in person, especially at first, just as he’s always said. But he sold himself short, because he’s incredible, too. He has so much warmth beneath that frosty shell, and the way he cares about me …
No one has ever made me feel as cared for as Oliver has in only a few short days.
Him turning me down online is a green flag in real life. So I smile with my whole heart. “I’m good.”
“Here,” he says, directing us to a bench on the platform. My crutches click and echo with every step. When we sit, he pulls my leg up on his. “How’s the pain this morning?” he asks, and that wording makes me swoon. He’s acknowledging the pain, not trying to dismiss or erase it.
“None right now,” I say.
He puts his arm around me, kissing my temple, and I feel like this secret—thisrevelation—is going to burst out of me. With my cheek nestled in his neck, I can feel the beating of his heart.
A heart that feels like it belongs to me.
Over Oliver’s pulse against my ears, I hear another sound quickly growing louder—the rumble of the approaching train.
I can’t believe Oliver is Arrow, yet it feels perfect. Fitting in every way.
I fell for him online and again in person.
