Chapter Text
CHAPTER 5
The following morning, Felicity woke up with her head on Oliver’s chest. The feeling of him stroking her hair rose her to consciousness, but she decided to wait a few minutes before opening her eyes. She knew that, as soon as she did so, she would have to face everything that was going on between them. She has been trying to avoid it for months, but this time, she wasn’t going to escape that conversation.
Felicity was torn between moving and enjoying the quiet of the moment, and ultimately, she decided to hide her face a little more, right until Oliver stopped moving.
“Looks like someone has woken up,” Oliver said in a husky voice.
“Hmm” was the only sound she made. Oliver put some distance between them in order to look at her.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning,” he replied.
The two of them were looking at each other’s eyes in complete silence. Neither of them knew what to say. Felicity was aware that she hasn’t been at her best last night. The frustration she has felt hadn’t let her think straight. However, the only thing she knew was that she needed Oliver.
“Thanks” Felicity whispered, breaking the silence. Oliver smiled and got slightly closer to caress her face gently.
“There’s nothing to thank me for.”
“There is,” she said. “You came to help me even though the only thing I did was treating you badly. I even own you an apology.”
“Hey,” he said. “Don’t worry. There are lots of things we need to figure out but, how about we have breakfast first and then, we’ll talk?”
Felicity smiled.
“I’ll agree to breakfast only if I can have one of your chocolate-chip pancakes with vanilla ice cream.”
“Looks like someone woke up starving” Oliver teased her. Instead of saying anything, Felicity just hit his arm softly.
***
Oliver was making the last pancakes when he felt Felicity’s arms hugging him from behind, her head leaning to the side in order to see how the cooking was going.
“Smells delicious,” she said. Having Felicity hugging him and seeing how natural the whole scene looked to him put a smile on Oliver’s face. On the other hand, Felicity felt relaxed, like she was doing something she really wanted to do for a long time.
The blonde girl let him finish and saw him putting the last pancake on one of the plates. Oliver moved towards the table with their dishes while Felicity followed him. Then he turned around to look at her and put his arms around her waist. She looked different that morning. More relaxed.
“Oh, bad news,” he suddenly said. ‘There’s no vanilla ice cream left”. Seeing Felicity's exaggerated pout, he added: “I promise to have some in the freezer next time.”
“Next time,” she repeated. They hadn’t discussed where their situation was headed yet, but Oliver didn’t want today to be the last time he made her breakfast.
“Well, only if you want to.”
“That belongs to the conversation we should have but…” she hesitated. “It will have to wait until I inhale these pancakes.”
The two of them ate in silence, except for Felicity’s remarks on how delicious the food was.
When they finished, Oliver put their empty plates in the dishwasher, while Felicity was waiting for him on the couch, checking her phone. There was a text from Cooper, but she didn’t open it. She just deleted it because she knew he had probably tried to justify what happened. Then she blocked and deleted his phone number, not wanting to be bothered by him anymore. She felt the need to send him some virus damaging his phone, but then she thought it wasn’t worth it. Cooper belonged to her past and it hadn’t been a good idea to let him back into her life. She had done so because she had been afraid and frustrated since the first time she slept with Oliver.
“Hey” Oliver said once he had finished and joined her on the couch. “Is there something wrong?” he added when he saw the way she was staring at her phone.
“I got a text from Cooper.” Oliver was about to say something but she kept talking. “I deleted it before I even read it. I’m not interested in hearing what he has to say. I’ve had enough. I’ve blocked his number so he won’t bother me anymore and, if he does, I’ll just send a little present to his devices.”
“So I should be thankful I haven’t received any of those presents of yours, even when you hated me.”
“I would be lying if I said I didn’t think about it, to be honest. But you hadn’t made me angry enough to reach that point. It’s not like I always think of sending viruses to the people I don’t get along with, it’s just right now…”
“Felicity, I was just teasing you” Oliver said, trying to stop her babbling.
Felicity just stood there quietly and looked at him. They needed to talk about them, but none of them knew how to start that conversation. They had so many things to say, so many things to clarify, that it was going to be hard to find a way to start talking about something that might not end well. Neither of them knew if there was going to be a good ending or a bad one. Everything was confused, even when Felicity asked him to show her the person he really was.
“I…” the two of them said at the same time. They smiled at their exchange like they were two silly teenagers.
“You can go first” Oliver said.
“Does it sound stupid if I say that I don’t know what to say? I mean… There are many things to talk about but I just don’t know how to start.” Oliver shook his head as a reply to her question but he kept listening. “I should probably start by saying I’m sorry for running away from everything. For not wanting to talk about it before”.
“I shouldn’t have pushed it that much either. I should have respected your decision of not wanting to discuss it…” he said, trying to apologize too. That hadn’t been the best decision he had ever made either.
“Well… Right now, I’m thinking that we should have had this conversation the first time we slept together. It might have saved us a lot of time.”
“That night, neither of us was thinking straight. It might have ended in nothing or worse, you might have hated me even more.”
“I guess you’re right. That day, I just lost control and let myself go … I was so angry at you but, if I think about it, you didn’t really do anything. We probably just waited to have an excuse for it to happen” Felicity admitted.
“I think we just did what we wanted to do” he said to which she nodded.
“That day everything changed to me. I was so mad at myself because I let loose while I was supposed to hate you, not want you.”
“Why was it that important to hate me?” Oliver asked curiously.
“It’s not that I just chose to hate you, it’s just… It was just easy to do so. That was way easier than to accept that…” Felicity stopped herself from finishing that sentence because she wasn’t sure if she was ready to share it.
“Easier than to accept what?” he said really wanting to hear how that ended.
Felicity just closed her eyes and gulped.
“It was easier than to accept the fact that my true feelings were different. That, deep down inside me, I was attracted to the guy I disliked the most” she finally said.
Oliver kept looking at her for any sign of a lie. He wanted to hear her say those things for a long time, but he didn’t really expect her to share it with him at that moment. He felt relieved though because he wasn’t the only one who was experiencing those feelings. When the two of them first slept together, he thought they were just attracted to each other. However, as time progressed he started to really pay attention to her and that feeling grew into something more. Their exchanges after that night made him think that nothing would happen, so her words gave him the relief he didn’t know he wanted.
“It hasn’t been easy to me either” he said. “I mean, I was confused about how to feel about it. We had some interesting interactions and having that changed was… weird. I mean, I thought you really hated me.”
“I don’t hate you. It’s been a while since I stopped feeling that way. I think I was just blinded by my own pride” she said. “Right now, I can’t tell how I feel because I honestly don’t know.”
Oliver looked at her and reach her face with one of his hands to caress her skin. “I don’t know how I feel either. This is new to me. It’s not just attraction, I have never felt this way” he said. “At this moment, the only thing I know is that there’s something about you. Something special that makes me believe that it’s worth to try.”
Felicity bit her lower lip at hearing him say those things and got a bit closer to him. She knew he was right.
“I didn’t know Oliver Queen had a cheesy side” she joked.
“I didn’t know either” he said. They both laughed.
“If that’s true, then I think we are on the same page,” she said. “I want to know more about the true Oliver… The truth is that I want to know you. I feel like I haven’t really done that before. I created this image of you that made me hate you… I am sorry”.
Oliver just smiled and raised an eyebrow.
“To be fair, our first interactions didn’t really help. You were a bit of a jerk” she said.
“I know. I’m sorry for being an asshole back then…” he apologized and took her hands on his. “I’m also sorry that our friendship didn’t work either… If things have been different, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
“Can I ask you something?” Felicity asked. He nodded. “I guess you don’t remember it but, long ago, I had this very important presentation across the city and you offered to take me. At the end, you didn’t show up. Why?”
Oliver remembered that day clearly. Although their ‘friendship’ back then had its bumps, that was the day she started to look at him with such a sour expression. The day she stopped trying to befriend him and act like he was nothing to her. From that day onwards, the only interactions she was willing to have with him were to argue about petty stuff.
“I remember” he said.
Felicity was surprised to hear that. Although it was an important event to her, she thought it didn’t have the same meaning to him.
“Oh” she said. “Can I know why you didn’t show up?”
“That day” he started. “I was ready to pick you up. I didn’t forget. An hour before our meeting time, I thought that I could pick you up 30 minutes earlier so we could have something to eat, to calm your nerves. As I was leaving my apartment, my parents showed up. Our relationship isn’t that good. For as long as I remember, they have been telling me what to do, how to behave, and reminding me what a disappointment I was to them. They came in and didn’t try to listen to me when I said I had something important to do and I couldn’t stay… They didn’t care. They thought I was just making up an excuse. I tried. I really tried to tell them that I would be back as soon as I could but… they didn’t let me go.”
“I don’t get it… Your excuse for not showing up is that your parents were in your apartment?” she asked while separating her hands from his.
“It’s not an excuse, Felicity. You may not know about it, but my parents have been trying to control my life for as long as I can remember. It’s not that simple…”
“I’m sorry… I didn’t know… What happened afterwards?” she said, contrite to have judged him.
“They said they had come to visit some friends, who had a daughter. They were going on and on about how I should go on a date with that girl. That it would help our company and God knows what. The truth is I disconnected halfway through it. I refused. I didn’t want to commit to anyone back then and let alone with someone I didn’t even know. They didn’t stop and no matter what I said, they ignored it. At some point, I realized I didn’t have a choice…”
Felicity had always thought that her relationship with her mom was too complicated but it looked like Oliver had it worse.
“I ended up having lunch with those people and I was forced to walk around the city with that girl. She didn’t seem that interested either, but it looked like she was having the same problem as me. When I was able to tell her about my friend who had that important presentation, our parents met with us and everything got too complicated… The moment we were finally able to escape from our parents, that girl told me to go to see you and apologize in person while letting you know what happened. That’s what I did. I waited outside your apartment until you finally come back. I tried to explain myself to you but you didn’t let me. I didn’t try later either because I thought that I deserve the hostility. I am so sorry.”
Felicity didn’t know what to say. There was a part of her that didn’t fully believe him. She knew that those thoughts came from the image she had of Oliver. On the other hand, she had said she wanted to know the real Oliver, so she said the only thing that came to her mind.
“Thanks” she said looking at his eyes.
“For what?” he asked confused. “I don’t deserve it.”
“Thanks for telling me”, she paused for a second before continuing. “I am sorry for not letting you tell me. I was really angry and stress out so I didn’t want to listen to you. That and the fact that I saw that girl in your car… I guess my head created its own version of the story…”
“My reputation is not the best either, so I don’t blame you for reaching that conclusion. It was my own fault so I didn’t insist either. I always thought I deserved your anger.”
“No…” she said. This time, she reached for one of Oliver’s hands. “I am sorry.”
one of them said anything after that. They were both lost in thoughts, not knowing how to proceed. Oliver didn’t know how to act. He had never felt the warmth he was feeling at the moment and wasn’t sure what to say or do. He didn’t want to mess things up. On the other hand, Felicity was confused. The rational part of her wanted to run away and not to face what was happening, while her heart was telling her the opposite.
Finally, Felicity made up her mind. Not letting his hand go, she rested her head on Oliver’s shoulder. In response, he gave her a tender kiss on her head. It was incredible how good it felt for both of them. It felt natural. It felt right. They didn’t need to share their thoughts aloud for them to know how the other was feeling.
“Tell me something I don’t know. about you. Something about the real Oliver” Felicity said, breaking the silence.
“I’m not really good at talking about myself” he said. “I don’t even know if there is something good I could tell you… which is bad if I want you to realize I’m not an horrible person.”
“I don’t think you are a horrible person, Oliver. Even when I tried to hate you, I didn’t do it because I thought you were a horrible person. It was just because I didn’t like your attitude.” He looked at her, waiting for Felicity to explain herself. “To me, it looks like the only thing you care about are parties and sleeping around with some girl… How much truth is in that?”
Oliver entwined their hands before answering her question.
“I act like that to protect myself. As I mentioned, my relationship with my parents has never been good. I have never done anything well enough for them to be okay with it. We have never had a conversation that didn’t lead to an argument. Me fooling around was something I did to feel like I was in control of something in my life. I kept doing that because I feared to have something meaningful with any girl, probably because I have never felt loved by the people who are supposed to protect me. It was my way of running away from my problems, I don’t know any better.”
“Oliver”, Felicity said moving her head from his shoulder to look at him. “I am not the best person to talk about parents… I mean, my father left when I was 7 and my mom… Well, she’s my mom. But... there is always another way. You just have to find a healthier one.”
“It’s really complicated trying to do so when, every time I try, I have my mom reminding me that I am not good at it. She wants me to graduate and work at our company but… I don’t want that.”
“And what does Oliver Queen want?”
“I don’t know…” he replied. “Maybe setting up my own business without my parents’ help. I want to do something that could help people… I just don’t know how.”
“Well, that’s a start. A really nice start” Felicity said, smiling. “I have also always dreamt of setting up my own business. Who knows? Maybe we can become partners and start a company together.”
“That sounds good” he said with a small laugh. “In fact, I think it sounds like a really great idea. But a genius like you deserves a more intelligent partner.”
“Hey, don’t underestimate yourself” she said. “I am sure you have some good ideas to offer. Oliver, don’t let your parents get into your head. They might think you are not doing things right, that you are disappointing them, but that’s not true. You are the only one who should control your own life. You are the only one who knows how to make things right.”
“You know… it’s really easy to talk to you” he said, making her blush and bow her head so she could avoid eye contact. “I have never been good at sharing my feelings, not even with Tommy or Sara, but with you… I feel like I don’t have to think about what to say. Things just come to me easily. You are special.”
Felicity was feeling like she was about to melt like an ice cream. When she was finally able to look at his eyes, she closed the distance between them. It was a tender kiss. It was sweet, slow. Oliver let her hand go and put his arms around her in order to get her closer to him. Felicity moved to sit on top of him and got even closer than before while deepening their kiss, using her tongue. The girl got her arms around his neck and stroked his hair with her hands. That kiss was different than the one they had shared before. That kiss was the beginning of something. Something they still had to discover.
After a few minutes, they ended the kiss to catch some air. The two of them put their foreheads together and started laughing like two teenagers after their first kiss.
“What was that for?” Oliver asked while still trying to keep her close. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“I just wanted to do it” she said. Felicity didn’t know how to answer that question. She just wanted to kiss him and she did.
“So…”
“I don’t know” she said timidly. “Right now, the only thing I know is that I don’t wanna keep running away from you. I’m still afraid, though. I am scared that something might go wrong and I might get hurt again.”
“I feel the same way. I have never been with anyone more than one night so I’m afraid… I’m always scared that I might do something and mess up the few good things I have in my life” he confessed. “Felicity, I may not fully understand what I feel towards you, but I want you to know that you are important to me. I don’t want to lose you. I want to do my best to figure out what is going on between us. I want you to be able to tell me about your bad days, even when I might not be able to understand everything. This is the first time I have felt like I can talk and listen to someone for hours, and I want to keep doing those things with you. I think I just want to be with you in any way you want me.”
Felicity was really surprised to hear him say those words.
“I think this has been the closest thing to a confession I have ever done in my life” he said. “I understand if it’s too much for you right now, but I just wanted you to know…”
After hearing Oliver’s words, Felicity didn’t really know what to say. Deep down, she knew she wanted the same thing. She didn’t have the right words though. So she did the only thing that came to her mind: she kissed him. It was slow and soft. She was so overwhelmed by what she was feeling that she couldn’t help but tear up a little, a single drop running down her face. She just couldn’t believe how long she had tried to run away from him, from what she had been feeling. At that moment, there was no point to deny her feelings. There were too many things she still needed to learn about him, but she would do her best to get to know him better.
Even without words, Oliver knew that kiss was the answer to his confession. He was relieved to see that both of them were willing to let their feelings grow even more.
Still kissing, Oliver put his hands around her hip and pull her closer. He wanted to feel her but it wasn’t enough. He got lost in how amazing her mouth felt. It tasted like coffee with a hint of chocolate from the pancakes they had just eaten. He made a groan and then moved his mouth down her neck. She gasped when she felt his warm hand go under her shirt and touch her skin. It made her want his mouth even more so she made him kiss her mouth one more time. That time she felt thousands of butterflies inside her, making her shudder.
Felicity took off the shirt he was wearing and started to move her fingers gently over his chest while leaving a trail of small kisses at the same time. Oliver looked at her fascinated. In that moment, he felt like the luckiest man in the world. But then, a thought came into his mind, which made him consider what to do next.
“Felicity, wait” Oliver said, making her stop and look at him.
“I’m sorry… I thought we-” she tried to say.
“Don’t get me wrong” he started. “I want this as much as you do, but… I want to do it right this time… I want our next time to be special, different.”
The girl looked at him with a confused expression.
“I want to take you out for dinner” he said.
“Oliver Queen, are you asking me out on a date?” she asked with a mischievous smile.
“Only if you want to” he replied nervously. When it came to Felicity, he didn’t know why but he felt insecure.
“I want to.” she said with a big smile.
Who would have thought that, Oliver Queen, the guy she thought she hated, would ask her out and that she would say yes?
Oliver smiled and gave her a small kiss on the lips.
The two of them spent the day together, trying to get to know each other even more. Oliver told her stories about Thea and how his parents wanted her to study abroad just because they didn’t want her to end up like him. He also told her about some of his adventures with Tommy from their high school days, at least not the too embarrassing ones. Felicity told him about how much she looked forward to finally finish her studies but how uneasy she felt at the same time. She also told him about her insecurities and her fear of failing, even though her IQ was higher than the average and she got the chance to start her studies way sooner than what was expected.
It was incredible to see that, even though the two of them hung out together for years, there were lots of things they didn’t know about the other. After the hours they has spent talking about their past, Felicity felt she finally grasped to see a part of the true Oliver. She realized that she had got to a point where, due to the image she had created of him, no matter what he might have done or not, it could only confirm what a terrible person he thought he was. When the truth was it only helped her not see his good points.
Besides spending their time talking, the two of them also spend a lot of time making out. It seemed that they had created a little bubble that neither of them wanted to break. When they were alone, everything seemed easy. After their arguments, their insecurities regarding their feelings, their past interaction, it seemed they could finally start something new.
***
When Felicity finally got home after her day with Oliver, she couldn’t help but smile. She couldn’t believe she had been running away from something that could make her feel this good. Oliver made her feel great, special, desired. She has never felt that way before so everything was new to her. It was different.
“Please, tell that the smile on your face is not thanks to Cooper” a voice said when Felicity got inside her apartment. “If it is, I don’t think I will understand it, no matter what you tell me.”
“A smile?” the blonde asked, surprised. She hasn’t even noticed she was smiling like a silly girl in love. Wait, in love? Wasn’t it a bit too soon to even consider feeling that way? However, if she was totally honest with herself, -she could see herself falling for Oliver eventually. Especially after what has just happened since last night.
“You came in with a face that says you had a great night AND a great morning” Iris said, leaving her book aside to get closer to her roommate. “I thought you would have dinner with him. I didn’t think you would spend the day with him. Felicity, we’ve been through this. This is what I meant when I told you I didn’t want you to go out with him. What did he say for you to fall for his game?”
“Iris, Iris, IRIS” Felicity said, raising her voice to make her stop. “What I had with Cooper is over. That idiot doesn’t deserve my time.”
“Then?” Iris asked, confused. “Did you meet someone new? I thought you didn’t do one-night stands.”
“And I still don’t” said the blonde while approaching the couch and crashing on it. “Do you remember when I mentioned some mysterious guy?” Iris nodded and sat next to her. “Let’s just say I called him last night after catching Cooper flirting with another girl.” The soon-to-be journalist was about to say something but Felicity continued. “Don’t worry about it, I put him back in his place. That’s not important though… The thing is, after calling him, my mysterious guy came to pick me up. We spent the night together and… Before you even ask about it, no, we didn’t sleep together. We just slept and, well… We spent the day together.”
“Wow” Iris said surprised. “That sounds really nice, but, hey! You can’t just say something like that and not give me more details!”
“To be honest… There aren’t many things left to say… We just talked and… we decided we’re going to explore this ‘whatever’ thing that is going on between us.”
“I just can’t believe that yesterday you were so reluctant to talk about him and right now you are dating the guy.”
“Well.. We are not dating yet” Felicity said, blushing. “We haven’t really put any label to what we are right now. I want to know where this is heading first. We’ll talk about it when it’s time.”
“Well, labels or not, to me it looks like you’re dating the guy and I think it’s wonderful. Although I still don’t know who that person is and I’m dying to learn his name!”
“About that… It’s a long story.” Felicity and Oliver have agreed that, for the time being, they would only tell their best friends, Iris and Tommy. It would be easier that way. They would still wait to tell the others, at least until they knew where their relationship headed.
“Wait, are you finally going to tell me who the guy is?” Iris asked, enthusiastic. n those moment, she reminded Felicity so much of her own mother. She didn’t really know if she liked it or not. “Does he go to your college? What does he study? Does he work? How did you meet him?”
“Calm down, please” Felicity replied with a smile, while trying to get her friend to breathe. “Before I even say anything else, we have decided to not tell anyone, t least until we figured out if it’s going to work or not. So… We agreed to only tell our best friends and, you, my friend, are one of them.”
“What an honor!” Iris said, amused. “I promise I won’t say a word, so, please, tell me who is that mysterious person! At least tell me his name!”
Felicity gulped before talking.
“Everything started back during Spring break. One day, this guy and I were arguing and the next thing I knew, we were kissing. That kiss led to make out. And that led to angry sex. Afterward, we didn’t really talk about what has happened. He tried but I ignored him. Then… It happened again. We didn’t talk about it either, well, at least until today. Since the first time, I tried to run away from it and deny the way I was feeling…”
“Felicity…” after hearing her roommate explain herself, Iris had a tiny idea of the guy’s identity, but, if she was honest with herself, she thought it was a bit unlikely. “I don’t understand. Why were you trying to deny yourself something that apparently made you feel happy?”
“I did because I was supposed to hate this guy and just the fact that he could make me feel something for him seemed unreal. Like I wasn’t in control of my own person. In a way, I tried to deny it because I wasn’t able to control myself.”
“Oh, my God!” Iris shouted when her theory was confirmed. “It’s Oliver!” It wasn’t a question but an affirmation. When Felicity heard his name, she blushed and nodded. “You and Oliver… But… How? I mean, I know how, but… How did you…? I thought you… This is really confusing.”
“It just happened. When I realized, it was already too late, I had feelings for him.”
“This is still a bit confusing, but I can’t help but feel excited. My best friend with my boyfriend’s best friend!”
“It’s still confusing for me too. The whole time, I kept lying to myself, trying to deny my own feelings. I still don’t know if we are going to work out, but I want to try. I want to be with him without thinking if it’s going to work or not.”
“Oliver is a good guy. I’ve always told you, you just had to get to know him.”
Thinking about it, Felicity smiled. “He really is.”
***
Their first date wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. They didn’t need dinner with candles or anything like that for it to be special. Everything was new to Oliver. He had never taken a girl to date before, but he wanted to do it right. He didn’t want to mess things up with Felicity. He cared about her too much for that to happen. Oliver knew that Felicity wasn’t the kind of girl to get impressed by a fancy restaurant or any other similar cliché, so he thought that taking her to the Big Belly Burger and a movie was a good idea for their first date. It turned out to be the right choice when he learned that it was one of Felicity’s favorite places (he also learned how Felicity looked when she inhaled a double cheeseburger).
Although none of them knew how to continue after that, they knew they wanted to keep seeing each other. At first, they thought that it would be better for them to keep their relationship a secret to their friends (except for Tommy and Iris) until they were sure everything would work out. When the two of them understood that there was no hesitation between them, they decided to explain everything to the rest of their friends. There was no point at keeping it a secret when they weren’t doing anything wrong.
When Oliver and Felicity told the news to their friends, no one was surprised to see them ending up together. Sara joked about always knowing all that hate was just unsolved sexual tension. It seemed like the only ones surprised about Felicity and Oliver being a couple were themselves.
As time progressed, they continued to grow closer and learn more about each other.
Felicity told Oliver that despite the multiple companies which offered her an internship, she wasn’t sure which one to choose. All of them looked like the best option out of the other ones, but at the same time, none of them was enough. She didn’t want to get stuck working as an IT girl, but at the moment it was her only option. At least until she was able the gain some experience and graduate. When she first started at MIT, she always thought she would return to Vegas to be closer to her mom but, after her years away from living independently, she realized she didn’t want to go back (at least not permanently).
On the other hand, Oliver wasn’t sure of what to do. Apart of him wanted to go back to Starling City after his graduation. Although he liked the city because it was the place he had grown up and where his sister was, the simple thought of having his parents there to control his life wasn’t very appealing, starting with the fact they wanted him to work at the family’s company. If there were two things Oliver had learned since he started dating Felicity, it was t how to be more confident about himself and that, even when the idea of having his life figured out was a bit tempting, taking a risk wasn’t a bad idea.
***
Months went by and the couple started to face its future. At first, both of them had some doubts about which path to take but, at the end, they chose a destination that was good for the two of them: Central City. While Felicity accepted an internship at Star Labs, which was the best option out of the ones she was offered, Oliver got a job in a company at the same city, which surprised their friends and upsetting his parents. He ended up taking that job instead of going back to Starling City after talking with Felicity. His decision hadn’t been an easy one and he wouldn’t have his parents’ support, but he knew for sure that he didn’t want to be anyone puppet anymore. He didn’t have a great position, but at least, it was something he had chosen on his own and it would help him to get closer to his goal.
As years passed, the two of them decided to move in together and try their best to keep fighting for their dreams together. When Felicity was done with her internship at Star Labs, she was offered a position there, while Oliver was able to be promoted a couple of times. Although their situation wasn’t always perfect, thanks to each other’s support, they were able to keep going.
After Felicity had experience enough to start thinking about new projects, she considered different options to develop on her own. She had some ideas in her head, but no matter what she decided to do, she knew that she would need the help of others, she couldn’t do it alone. At some point, Felicity was offered the chance to develop her own projects inside Star Labs as long as they had a share of the benefits but, even when she wanted to agree, she wasn’t sure what to do. After talking to Oliver, she understood that, if she really wanted to have her own company, she couldn’t accept Star Labs’ offer.
It was at that moment that Felicity thought it was time for her to set up her own business. Thanks to her friends and Oliver’s support, she and some colleagues decided to open Smoak Tech. She didn’t do the setting up by herself, but she was the main coordinator and founder of the company. There, many different projects had been held and they all had multiple purposes. Some of the most outstanding projects they have worked on were bio-stimulant implants, which offered a cure to paralysis.
On the other hand, Oliver had it a bit more difficult due to the fact he didn’t know what to do afterward. Even when he has started to get some great position in the companies he was working at, thanks to all the effort he had put, he also wanted to start his own business. He just didn’t know what kind of business he should handle. There was not anything that attracted his attention. At the same moment, he was supporting Felicity to leave Star Labs, she did the same and encouraged him to take a break from big corporations.
Oliver decided to quit his current job and started looking for a different position that wasn’t part of a big company. It was at that time that Nicholas, a friend of theirs and the owner of a big restaurant in Central City, asked him to temporarily substitute for his manager, absent for a few months after an accident. Although he was a bit hesitant at first, as he had never done something like that, Oliver took the job because it was meant to be temporary. What he didn’t expect was for him to actually be really good at it. It was a bit complicated at the beginning (of course), but he kept on getting better and finding out how everything worked. The fact that he had always been interested in cooking and learned how to prepare every dish (thanks to the restaurant’s chef) made him have some pretty good standards. After a few months, when the manager came back, Oliver thanked them all for the experience and figured out what kind of business he wanted to have: a restaurant.
Even when Oliver had some doubts, he started to gather information and courage. Felicity had been by his side supporting and encouraging him. After getting the place, a good chef and some employees, the opening day of ‘Green Arrow Restaurant’ arrived and it was a huge success. Oliver invited all the people who had helped him throughout the years, from their friends to the whole staff of Nicholas’ restaurant. He also invited his parents, and even if Oliver wasn’t really sure they would attend, they did come to the opening. They seemed surprised to see their son was doing well without them controlling every aspect of his life. The restaurant’s success was so important they decided to open a few more in different cities, beginning with Starling City.
Although they had really busy schedules, Oliver and Felicity remained together, supporting and loving each other. At some point, the two of them decided to move in together to an apartment at the city center which was close to their jobs.
“So after what happened at the Bad Wolf Bay… Is Rose really gone? I don’t really mind Martha, but they are talking a huge lot about Rose” Oliver asked while they were having a Doctor Who marathon.
“Well… She’s trapped in a parallel universe and it’s not like she can travel back and forward freely” Felicity replied. “But I can’t tell you anything you just have to watch it yourself!”
“Are parallel universes always that complicated?”
“Wow, another tricky question” she said nervously. “While some people like Cisco, you know, my co-worker, defends the existence of them and that it could be easy to travel through them with some special device, some people think it’s impossible, so… You never know, maybe we’ll meet a version of ourselves who are astronauts or superheroes, or maybe we won’t.”
“Superheroes, huh?” Oliver said.
“Can you imagine that?” she asked jokingly. “Sounds impossible, right?”
“Hey! I could be a great superhero!”
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. You could be a great superhero” Felicity said. “Now, could we focus on the show? If you don’t pay attention you are going to ask me why the Doctor tried to leave without the Captain.”
“Fine” Oliver answered. He tried to focus on the talk between the Doctor and Captain Jack while thinking how similar the latter looked like Tommy’s father, but then he turned to his girlfriend and lost himself.
Who would have thought that they would end up like that when they first met?
“You are not paying attention, aren’t you?” Felicity said, noticing Oliver’s eyes on her but still looking at the TV.
“It just seems impossible” he said.
“What does?” the girl asked, pausing the show and turning around to look at him.
“Us” he said. “Could you imagine we would end up like this? When we first met, I mean.”
“Considering how much I hated the idea of even talking to you back then, I would have thought you were a fool” she said. “Although, sometimes I still think I hate you when you leave me without my favorite dessert.”
He rolled his eyes but put his arms around her. He couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have her in his life. He wouldn’t change it for the world.
“I love you, Felicity” Oliver said.
“I love you too, Oliver” she replied. The two of them shared a short kiss. “Now, can we watch the show?”
“Sure” he said, smiling. A few seconds passed before he opened his mouth again. “So… Why did the Doctor try to leave with the captain?”
“I knew it!” Felicity said, rolling her eyes.