Chapter 12: 10 ♢ Scorpion

"Let me in!" Oliver shouted at the security guard outside the Hampton hotel. "Do you know how I am?!"

The buff security guard shrugged apathetically at him. "You're not on the list."

"I'M HER FRIEND."

"You're not on the list."

"I will pay you to let me in. Two grand? Five grand? Ten grand?"

"You're not on the list."

Oliver was angry. No. He was furious. He had never been refused entry anywhere before. Every door he walked by was open for him, both literally and figuratively.

"I said I will pay you!"

"Sir, you're clearly drunk. And your name specifically was blacklisted just this morning. So, I'm sorry but you can't come in." The security guard crossed his arms and puffed out his chest.

Madeline Lockhart had been invited to his engagement party. She came and she made a scene, even though Oliver didn't want her there. But he didn't kick her out nor did he bar her from entry.

Oliver huffed and pointed his finger at the man. "You're going to be very sorry."

He wasn't even that drunk. He only had a few glasses of bourbon. And maybe a few lines of coke. But that was it! He looked at his Rolex and groaned when he saw what time it was. Half eleven. It was late. Nora would probably be leaving very soon. Unless she was staying at the hotel? His head hurt. He didn't know what to do.

"Hello?"

Oliver looked around to find the source of the voice before realising it was coming from his phone. It was Nora. He had called her without realising it. And she had answered for the first time in weeks.

"Come outside." He meant to pose it as a question but he didn't want to give her that option. Because if she had the choice she probably wouldn't meet him.

"Huh?"

"They won't let me in and I need to see you. Please come outside, Nor."

He could hear her sigh before she hung up abruptly. He stared at his phone in confusion before trying to call her again. No answer. Was she coming? Should he wait for her?

He closed his eyes and imagined her face, her smile, her eyes. Everything about her was beautiful, like a porcelain doll. He loved her so much. Charlie didn't understand. Spencer didn't understand. Madeline didn't understand. No one understood the love between them. It was like a thick rope tying them together.

How could Charlie think that he had moved on? Nora was the only person for him. Being with Charlie made him feel euphoric but being with Nora made him feel safe and loved. She would catch him when he ultimately fell. Because Oliver always fell. However, he still wanted to remain friends with Charlie. He only hoped that he wasn't still angry at him.

Suddenly the doors swung open and a girl emerged from the bright light into the dark night.

"Nor..." Oliver breathed.

Her eyes widened at the sight of him. She looked so beautiful. Even the tears strolling down her face were a work of art. Not that he liked to see her cry. It was just...a common sight.

Nora was a summer's day. She was warm and her love hugged him like rays of sun. He couldn't describe it but Nora was everything to him. She was the love of his life.

Nora took a deep breath in and the determined look on her face made Oliver nervous.

"I only came out here to tell you to give up, Oliver," Her voice cracked before she continued. "I can't do this with you anymore. I don't want to be with you. Why can't you understand that?"

She didn't mean that. Nora was fickle, always changing her mind. She didn't know what she was saying half the time.

"Dance with me."

One dance would change everything. He just needed her to give him a chance. Under the moonlight, as a soft melody resonated from inside.

"I-I can't-"

"Please, Nora."

He extended his hand to her and she took it hesitantly. He pulled her closer to him and she seemed to instinctively rest her head on his chest.

"I love you so much. I hope you know that."

"Don't ruin this," She pleaded quietly. "Let's just finish this dance and part ways."

"I'm so sorry for what I've done," He continued, ignoring her pleas. "I need you to forgive me. I'm so sorry...Why won't you look at me, Nor?"

She shook her head and let go of him before turning around to walk back in. No. She couldn't leave him. Not again. He reached out to hold her back but as soon as his hand made contact with her skin she yelped.

Oliver was quiet for a moment as he tried to figure out why she looked so alarmed. Oh.

She was scared of him.

The thought of Nora being scared of him broke his heart. What had he done to make her so fearful? No, no, it wasn't meant to be like that. She wasn't meant to come meet him out of fear.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you.... I would never hurt you Nora. Ever."

"You were going to.... on that night."

Oliver sat down on the cement steps and shook his head. No. He could never hurt her. She was talking about the night of their breakup but what she needed to know was that that wasn't him. He was high and stupid. What he did when he was high shouldn't have been held against him. It wasn't fair. His eyes welled up at the thought of Nora being scared of him. He didn't want that.

"I still love you," Nora suddenly sighed, burying her head in her hands. "But I also fear you, Ol. I dread seeing you because I never know whether you're sober or not. You're unreliable and..."

Oliver's hand reached out to squeeze hers.

"I've changed Nora. I promise you. And once this merger in my father's company is complete I'll be free to go to therapy. We can go together. I just... I don't want to see the love between us going to waste. We make each other happy and we will never find better fits for ourselves than each other."

Oliver would never meet anyone like Nora. Ever. She was perfect for him. The perfect fit.

"I..."

"Follow your heart, Nora."

Slowly, Oliver leaned in, trusting her love for him. Her lips were soft against his and his heart could finally beat properly when their lips met. She could fix him.

Suddenly she jumped back, placing her hand over her mouth.

"What's wrong?"

She stood up frantically. "This was a mistake. Stay away from me, Oliver Scott."

No. No. No. No.

"You're depriving yourself of happiness of Nor. We're right for each other."

She shook her head and ran back into the hotel, leaving him outside in the drizzling rain.

"Nora!"

He tried to run after her but the security guard stepped in front of the door as soon as he spotted him.

"Let me in! I'm clearly with her!"

Oliver swore he could see the security guard smirk before he repeated what he had been saying the whole night.

"You're not on the list."

♢ ♢ ♢

Oliver rubbed his hands together. He had been outside for the past hour and it was getting cold. Nora was in there somewhere, probably falling in love with someone else. But no one knew her like he did. He was the only guy right for her.

No. This couldn't be it. He had to do something. Oliver sighed and walked up to the door. The security guard immediately got back into position and crossed his arms.

"You're not on-"

"I'm not on the list, I know!" Oliver sighed before taking out a cheque book. Everyone had a price. Even the ones that thought they didn't. "Ten thousand dollars if you just turn a blind eye while I sneak inside."

"You're not on the-"

"Twenty thousand-"

"You're not on the-"

"FIFTY THOUSAND! I can't go higher because that's the limit for my cheques. Fifty thousand dollars. And," Oliver slipped off his watch. "This. It's worth at least another forty thousand."

The security guard paused. "You're not.... ninety thousand dollars?"

Oliver nodded, suppressing a smile. He handed him the slip of paper and took off his watch, plopping it into his hand.

"All that to just turn a blind eye. Emergency phone call. Or a bathroom break. No one will know."

The security guy nodded before subtly walking away, leaving the door unguarded. Oliver practically sprinted inside, scared the guard would change his mind. He made a beeline to the reception.

"Hello. Welcome to The Hampton Hotel. How can I help you?"

"My wife is staying in one of your rooms but her phone died before she could tell me which one."

"Okay! I'll just need her name?"

"Nora. Nora Lawrence."

"I have to call her because of the hotels regulations-"

"No! Don't!"

She would probably escape before Oliver could get to her if she found out he had gotten in.

The receptionist paused as his hand hovered over the phone. "Sir... I have to call her..."

"You can't. It's a surprise! I'm here as a surprise! I was meant to be in Florida but I got an early flight."

"Oh...uh..."

"It's our anniversary! I just wanted to surprise her."

"I'm not sure..."

"Please."

The receptionist nodded slowly before putting down the phone and smiling. "Okay. She's staying in room 'sixteen B'."

Oliver thanked her graciously before slipping her a hundred dollar bill from his pocket. "Thank you."

Oliver slicked his hair back with his hand and pulled at his face during the elevator ride up. He dug into his pockets for gum but came up empty-handed.

"Shit," He cursed to himself, smelling his breath. Hopefully Nora wouldn't be able to smell the alcohol.

His heart pounded as he knocked on the door and he prayed for the first time in years that she would answer. And the minute she opened the door, he knew he still had a chance with her.

"W-what are you doing here?"

And he wouldn't blow this final chance.

"What are you doing?" She asked as he got down on both knees.

"I can't leave if you don't forgive me Nora."

"You hurt me. I can't..." She whispered unconvincingly.

"Please, Nor."

Nora knelt beside him much to his surprise. And dismay.

"No, Nora, stand up-"

"I fucking hate you, you know that?" She cried, as tears fell from her eyes.

Both of them knew that wasn't true.

"You can't. You know you can't. There is nothing but love between us, Nor. Do the right thing. Be happy."

Nora wasn't allowing herself to be happy. She was bringing herself down with petty grudges when the fact was they were perfect for each other. He trusted her to make the right choice.

And she did. She kissed him through her salty tears as he shut the door behind him.

"I love you Nor. So much." He whispered as knotted her fingers in his hair.

However, she ignored him and on her face was a twisted expression of sadness, pain and relief. It was paradoxical but instead of questioning it, Oliver continued to kiss her like there was no tomorrow.

♡♡♡

"You can't leave! How can you just leave me again? Can you stop and breathe for a second? What's wrong!?"

Oliver's forehead wrinkled in confusion as Nora rushed to pack her bag. She had woken him up in the early morning with her frantic panicking before spurting some bullshit about having to leave.

"I hate what I become when I'm around you. This was all a mistake. I have a boyfriend, Ol!"

A boyfriend? That couldn't be true. They loved each other too much. She hardly moved on so easily. No. It was nonsense. She had to be lying. What if she wasn't? Oh god. Had she really moved on?

"Does he make you happy like I do?" He found himself blurting.

Nora scoffed and opened the door. "You don't make me happy."

And with that, she ran out of the room and slammed the door shut behind her.

Oliver would have chased after her if it weren't for the pain in his chest. How could she have a boyfriend? He had felt guilty for sleeping with Charlie but she didn't seem to feel any remorse for seeing someone else. What if she loved him more than Oliver? No. That wasn't possible.

And how could she say he didn't make her happy!? What about all the gifts and trips and kisses? What about their jokes and banter? What about their after-sex pillow talk? Nonsense. Nonsense. Nonsense. She was talking nonsense.

No one could replicate what they had. Their relationship was irreplaceable.

God, his head hurt. He needed a fix. He left his stash in Vegas and his dealer was out of lived all the way across New York so, unfortunately, there was only one person he could ask for coke urgently. And that person wasn't talking to him. Oliver sighed and swallowed his pride before calling him.

Unsurprisingly, there was no answer. He just had to ask him the old fashioned way. Sending him dozens of texts until he either complied or blocked Oliver's number. Hopefully he'd go with the first option. Oliver really needed a fix.

♢ ♢ ♢

"Good morning, Mr Scott," The doorman greeted as Oliver entered his building.

He nodded back at him.

"There's a man here that wanted to drop off a package for you. I let him up. His name is Charlie Kingsley," He said, reading off from a piece of paper.

Charlie came? Oliver sprinted up to his apartment, not bothering to respond to the doorman. The elevator was agonisingly slow but eventually he landed straight into his apartment.

He didn't have to look for Charlie. He was standing at the console table beside the elevator staring at a photo in a frame.

Oliver's heart did something funny when he saw him.

"Hi...." He said, softly.

Charlie nearly dropped the frame and quickly turned around. "Shit. I didn't think you'd be here."

Oliver shrugged as his eyes landed on the brown paper bag behind Charlie with a yellow post-it note stuck onto it.

"Did you bring me cocaine?"

Charlie shook his head. "It's just a t-shirt and some rings you forgot in Vegas."

"Oh."

Charlie bit his lip. "Did you...uh... meet Nora?" he asked in a restrained tone.

"Yeah. I did...."

"Anything....happen?"

"We slept together."

The tension got even more intense between them. Charlie was clearly unimpressed.

"Oh?"

"Yeah..."

Charlie nodded and rolled his eyes before making his way to the elevator.

"Wait." Oliver reached out to hold Charlie's hand before giving him a knowing look. "Stay."

Something changed in Vegas. Their entire dynamic became different. Every touch, every lingering look, everything either of them did meant something. And, right then, Oliver wanted nothing more than to kiss him.

Charlie looked down at his hand before whipping it out of Oliver's grip. "I don't want to."

"Charlie-"

"Look. I'm happy you and Nora are back together. But you're not going to cheat on her again. It's not right."

"We're not back together. Not yet anyway."

Charlie shrugged. "Doesn't matter. You're in love with her and you'll always be in love with her. And after what you said to me in Vegas, I don't think I want to be friends with you anymore. I don't need this."

"What? Stop being dramatic. I obviously didn't mean it." Oliver tried to hold his hand again but Charlie shook him off yet again.

"Dramatic?! Ugh, you're such a dick. And stop holding my hand!"

"You're proving my point! You're making a big deal out of nothing."

Charlie scoffed and pressed the elevator button. "You and I both know that us sleeping together was a mistake. What would Spencer say? What would Nora say? It's not right. And you love Nora so go be with her because you're clearly not ready to move on."

"It's just casual sex!"

"It's wrong!"

"Oh, don't act all self-righteous around me."

"Self-righteous? What are you talking about? How am I acting self-righteous?"

"You think you're better than me-"

"What?"

"But the truth is you're a dealer! You don't care about all the addictions you've created. And you only deal because you have nothing else to do. Because your life is going no where."

Charlie took a few seconds to reply as the regret set in within Oliver. Nothing he said made sense. He was just trying to hurt Charlie and he didn't know why. Was his ego that fragile that Charlie's rejection made him lash out like that?

"Oliver.... just don't fucking call me again. Asshole."

And with that Charlie trudged into the elevator, glaring at Oliver as the door slid shut.

Oliver's blood was boiling as he angrily ran his fingers through his hair. He wasn't even angry at Charlie. He was angry at himself.

"Why? Why? Why would you do that?" He said to himself, clenching his eyes shut. He just lost the only person he had left.

He walked over to the table to read the sticky note Charlie had left him.

'STOP ASKING ME FOR DRUGS. YOU'RE KILLING YOURSELF'

Oliver sunk onto the floor and buried his face in his hands. He fucked everything up. And the withdrawal wasn't helping at all. His brain felt like it was melting into a jumbled puddle of thoughts. He needed something. Anything.

Would Charlie speak to him again? Oh how he wished he could turn back time and spend another day with him.

There had to be some cocaine somewhere in the apartment. He struggled to stand up and staggered to the sofa where he threw off the cushions. There had to be a baggie somewhere.

He didn't understand why Charlie was so hurt by the idea of him being in love with Nora. It wasn't new news. Did he expect that night in Vegas to change everything?

His study. Even though it was finally cleaned up, he messed it up again looking for drugs. There had to be some. He pulled the drawers out completely and spilled them onto the ground, rummaging through the files and papers for a hidden stash.

Deep down, he knew exactly why he hurt Charlie, why he said all of those terrible things. It was a truth he didn't want to admit. He liked him. He liked Charlie. But he couldn't accept that. Liking him would be a betrayal to Nora. She wouldn't want him to move on. He couldn't like anyone else as long as he was in love with her. And soon she would be back in his arms and everything would be alright.

His fingers fumbled over a small box that he opened to reveal a few bags of coke. Eureka.

As he poured some out onto the back of his hand, he forced himself to stop thinking about Charlie and to start thinking about how epic it would be when he and Nora got back together.

He would never let her go again.

♢ ♢ ♢

There's a super interesting story behind the title of this chapter!

Credit to Wikipedia:

>

This fable really reminds me of Oliver because I feel he has this inherent ability to hurt those around them. He can't help it, it's in his nature. I don't believe he's vicious or evil in anyway- just lost.

Love,

-hexed