Author's note: Hi all, I'm back with a sombre Olicity story. I hope you enjoy it, it's been a very long time since I have written anything so I'm a little rusty. Apologies in advance for that!

15 Years Ago

Felicity Smoak who had been studying for the past ten hours sighed heavily in frustration and dropped her throbbing head onto her arms. Finals were approaching and she was desperate to achieve the grades she required to secure her place in MIT. Deep down, she knew many people didn't believe she had what it took to succeed…not that they'd ever voice these concerns, mind. It was merely etched into their faces whenever she discussed her goals and evident in their polite smiles when they asked whether she had a "backup plan". What they didn't know was the hunger she felt to change her life, the fact that the survival of her family depended on this. She came from a single mum who worked hard to provide what she could, and it was her time to step in and help her with the workload.

Eyes on the prize, Smoak she reminded herself daily. However much to her dismay, as the exams approached, she found herself feeling more and more drained. The long hours she'd spent in the library were finally catching up to her. She sat in the library alone a little past midnight, as she had done many nights prior when the door swung open and a young guy, approximately her age walked in with his hands stuffed into his pockets in order to keep them warm. It was the middle of December and he will have been freezing as he was wearing a mere hoodie. She noted how out of place he looked with his swept over blonde hair and expensive, designer clothing. Wincing at how judgemental she was being, she scolded herself silently and attempted to return to her studies but she found herself unable to stop her eyes from gliding back to him. He was extremely attractive, in a pretty boy fashion and he must have been a year or two older than her. Definitely not from her school though, she would have recognised him. Losing herself in her thoughts, his blue gaze found hers and she blinked away.

Well done, now he thinks you were staring at him! She mused, although technically she had been ogling him. Ignoring what he must have considered to be strange behaviour, he headed towards the back of the library and disappeared out of sight. She smiled to herself mildly, clearly the boy had never set a foot in this library before – he had just ventured to the strangest area of the library. Unless, he was very interested in the reproductive organs of wild animals – but then again, people had tendencies to have odd interests. Returning to the equation at hand, she carried on with the calculations, losing herself in her work instantly. It wasn't until she'd reached the second to last equation that she found herself stumped again. Trying out a solution and getting it wrong, she chewed on her pen vigorous – a terrible habit of hers, before attempting another calculation.

"Dammit!" she snapped under her breath.

"Shh!" came a voice.

"I'm sorry," she replied instantly, her hands flying to her mouth. She had grown acclimated to spending her time alone in the library and had forgotten entirely that she had company.

Her eyes found the young guy who was now sat at a table in front of hers with a mischievous smirk on his lips. She had grown so immersed in her work she hadn't even heard him approaching.

"Relax," he said. "I was only mocking the role of a librarian, I mean isn't that something they'd say?"

"Not that you'd know. I don't suspect you've ever set a mere toe in a library before," she retorted swiftly, which to her surprise earned her a wide smile.

"Touché. Except you don't know me. For all you know I spend the vast majority of my time in a library," he challenged.

"Well do you?" she asked coolly, cocking her head to the side with a raised brow.

"Yes."

"You're a terrible liar," she chuckled with a roll of her eyes.

The grin now reached his eyes, and to her annoyance – all she could think was how much more attractive he was when he smiled. He stood, and she noted how tall he was – something she hadn't paid attention to when he'd first walked in. He must be at least six feet. Sauntering over with confidence and ease, he pulled a chair at her desk and dropped onto it, outstretching a hand out to her.

"I'm Oliver."

Hesitating briefly, she dropped her pen and placed her small hand into his.

"Felicity."

Taking her hand from his, she began to feel uncomfortable and nervous. Was she to now make polite chitchat or should she carry on with her work?

"What are you up to?" he inquired, making the decision a lot easier for her.

"Finals," she sighed tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I think I've reached my breaking point though."

"Anything I can help with?"

"Depends. How good are you with Algebra?"

"I'm excellent," he said to which she perked up with delight.

"Really?"

"No," he laughed. "Sorry, that was a little mean. Maths…hell, school doesn't really agree with me."

"No?" she quipped, curious.

"Nope. Not that it matters, my future is pretty much outlined for me," he explained, a little sadly she thought but then again, she didn't know him to form an accurate conclusion. I mean she had only just met him.

"Outlined by…?"

"My parents want me to take over the family company," he shrugged.

She nodded, glad that her initial assessment of him, albeit stereotypical, seemed fairly accurate. He was from a wealthy family, that much was evident.

"And you don't want it?"

He shrugged.

"How am I supposed to decide what I want to do for the rest of my life at this age?"

In that moment, she felt mild envy. It must be comforting to have the security of your family's wealth to fall back on. She wished she had the luxury and the freedom to be more carefree, and no matter how hard she worked, it still didn't guarantee that she'd turn out successful. Although as she studied his sombre expression, she wondered whether the wealth was all it cracked up to be.

"Is that why you're here tonight? To get some clarity?"

He chuckled at that.

"No. My parents have been away for a week and weren't supposed to be back until tomorrow night, so I threw a house party…"

"Okay…and?"

"Spoiler alert, they came a day earlier. So I figured I should probably hide out here where they'd never think to find me and talk to a pretty girl until they calm down."

She felt the heat rush to her cheeks at the compliment and flushed a deep shade of red. He was smooth, she'd give him that.

For the next couple of hours, she was surprised to find herself drawn to this stranger she'd never met before. They seemed polar opposites and yet they talked with ease about a wide range of things. He was friendly, inquisitive and seemed genuinely interested in what she had to say. He laughed and gently poked fun at her gawkiness while she kept him on his toes with her quick wit. Realising that it was now almost three in the morning, she instructed him to remain silent while she finished off the final question. She was surprised to find that he obeyed instantly, although she could feel his eyes burning a hole into her as she focused on the book in front of her and tried to work out the answer. Struggling to block him out and micro analysing every move she made, she prayed for him to pull out his phone or do something else…anything!

"Am I throwing you off?" he smirked.

Glaring at him, she realised that his intention had been to provoke her this entire time.

"Turn around please."

"Felicity…"

"Turn around!" and with a low chuckle, he threw his arms up in defeat and covered his face.

Grinning to herself gently, she returned to her calculation. She tapped her pen to the side of her mouth and was relieved when she finally figured it out. Writing in her answer, she snapped the notepad shut with a satisfied sigh and collapsed against her char.

"Now, where were we?" he asked leaning onto his elbows.

Chewing on her bottom lip, her eyes found the clock and despite desperately wanting to stay to talk with him – she knew better. She had class in the morning.

"I'm really sorry, but I should be going," she said regrettably as she started shoving her books into her bag.

"Noo," he protested.

"Sorry, but looks like I'll have to leave you here to hide alone. I have class in the morning."

"How are you getting home?" he stood up with her.

"Walking," she shrugged pulling her scarf around her neck, ignoring the way his eyes boggled out of his head. She knew he must have been thinking what kind of parents would allow their teenage daughter to walk home at this hour. The answer to that query was; the kind who worked three jobs including a night shift to provide for their daughter – another reason she had to make it into MIT.

"Walk?!"

"It's Starling City, nothing bad ever happens here," she shrugged. "Besides, I only live ten minutes away."

"No way! Let me drop you off, my car is outside."

Her eyes widened slightly – he had a car?! Although, of course he would. He was a little rich kid.

"No thanks. Stranger danger and all that."

"Oh yeah, because walking at this hour is any better," he exclaimed.

"Good luck with your parents, Oliver. See you soon," she smiled before heading towards the door.

She heard him groan behind her and after a beat, she heard his footsteps follow her. He reached for the door before her, opening it for her and she couldn't help the way she felt an unfamiliar fluttering feeling in her chest. Calm down, he only opened the door for you she scolded herself. Stepping into the cold, December night, her eyes found a black Porsche parked outside the library and found herself subduing an eye roll.

"Bye!" she called back to him before making a beeline for the narrow footpath which would lead her home. Within seconds, she felt him fall into the step beside her.

"Uh…where are you going?"

He gave her a puzzled, and slightly offended look.

"You don't seriously think I'll let you walk home all on your own do you? Jeez, I have a sister."

"What about your car?" she mused feeling slightly guilty.

"It's fine, I'll come back for it." He shrugged. "Seriously, it's fine."

"Thanks," she smiled, the jittery sensation now in the pit of her stomach.

Unbeknownst to her, this night would be the one that would change the course of her life.

Present Day

Ugh, Felicity could not get past her hatred of hospitals. The awful chemical smell that filled the air, the bleak corridors which all looked the same, the lack of colour – it was all draining. It had been a very long time since she had been in Starling General, well, it had been a while since she had been in Starling City, period. This was her first month back after spending many years in New York city and despite the lovely, busy city life – Starling had always felt like home. New York had been a huge chapter in her life and contained some of her deepest, darkest demons as well as some of the highest moments of her life. It was where she truly found herself, she thought. Lost in her own thoughts, she failed to spot the one person she had spent the entire month since returning trying to avoid. Wrapping her grey winter coat around her petite frame, she felt his presence before her eyes found him. Feeling her body rigidify, her wide eyes scanned the room where they came face to face with his startling icy blue eyes. Taking a deep breath, she found herself unable to halt the shiver that ran down her spine – except she wasn't cold, she felt apprehensive…no. Terrified of seeing him, of unearthing everything she had buried long, long ago. Even after all these years, she could still vividly remember the very last time she had laid her eyes on him. Their heated argument, the way she'd screamed that she loathed him and actually meant it. She could remember the palpable tension in the room and the way his eyes had widened momentarily before hardening once the realisation that it was truly over this time settled in. That had been the final nail in the coffin for the both of them. Did she still hate him? Perhaps. It was difficult to tell. She hated the way he'd made her feel and the hold he had over her even to this day. The way she somehow found herself comparing every single man she met to him. He had been a big reason for why she had chosen to move to New York, yet now here they were. After all these years.

He looked even more handsome than she'd remembered, if that was possible. His eyes unreadable as he stalked across the room towards her.

"Felicity," he said, the tone of his voice sounding foreign but so familiar at the same time.

"Oliver," she choked out.

"What are you doing here?" he quizzed, and she hated the way she knew from the furrowing of his brow that he was worried.

"Oh, just visiting," she lied, hoping he wouldn't notice." What about you?"

"They're opening a new wing in the hospital and I uh…"

"Right," she chuckled. Of course, the famous Oliver Queen would be the one to officially open the new Brest Screening department.

"Well, I'll leave you to it."

"Hey," he called after her gently, instinctively reaching for her wrist but then dropping his hand again clearly thinking better of it. "It was good to see you."

"You too," she nodded with a hard swallow. Dipping her head, she quickly slipped past him, praying he hadn't noticed how pale she and frail she looked. The last thing she needed was his pity. Luckily for her, she was all cried out and all that was left was a hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Author's note: Please leave a review & let me know your thoughts and opinions. It's been a very long time and I love hearing from you all! Hope you enjoyed this.