"Where are you going?"
Oliver stopped fussing with his shirt long enough to meet his son's eyes in the mirror.
"Uh." He turned around, trying to tamp down his grin as William sat down on the edge of the bed. "Dinner. With Felicity."
It had been so long—too long—since he'd been out to dinner with her, but now here they were. About to go on their first real date since they rekindled things between them. He fought hard to suppress his giddiness, but he knew it was a losing battle.
Fortunately for Oliver, his son seemed just as taken with Felicity. He grinned, bouncing a little as he said, "Can I come?"
Oliver laughed, walking over to tussle William's hair. "Not this time, buddy. It's…" This time he didn't even bother trying to hide his grin. "It's kind of a date."
William looked slightly disappointed, but nodded understandingly.
"You could help me pick out my tie though," Oliver said, nodding towards his closet. "It's been awhile since I've been on a date. Kind of want to impress her."
As happy as Oliver was to be dating Felicity again, it was nothing compared to what he felt when his son smiled up at him before rushing off to pick out a tie. In the six months since William had come to live with him, Oliver had seen him smile only a handful of times. And most of them had been within the past week, a happy side effect of Felicity agreeing to tutor him in math. It wasn't like Oliver could blame the kid. He'd gone nearly five years without truly smiling, until he'd met her.
William took his time, running his fingers along the silk, turning back to look at what Oliver was wearing, trying to match the colors. Eventually he made his choice, walking back over to hand Oliver a soft, gray tie he'd purchased a few weeks ago. It would go nicely with his suit and he tousled William's hair one more time before slipping the tie on.
"Will you teach me to do that?" William said, watching Oliver's movements in the mirror.
"Do what, bud?" he asked, straightening the knot.
"Tie a tie."
Oliver turned around, completely caught off guard by the question. William shrugged, his cheeks flushing just slightly as he looked down at his shoes.
"Mom," he said, stumbling only just slightly over the word, "always used to buy me clip ons if I had to dress up, but I like the real ones better."
Oliver swallowed, his heart clenching in his chest. "Yeah," he said, proud of the way his voice only sounded a little choked up. "Of course."
William nodded, his lips turning up slightly at the corners. Oliver knew it was still hard for him to talk about his mother, but he couldn't help but think that they were making progress.
"We'll go shopping this weekend," he said, dropping a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Maybe we can convince Felicity to go out to dinner with us so we have an excuse to dress up."
His son's blinding smile nearly brough tears to his eyes.