Author's note: Hey, I'm super new to this I've never written anything for others to read, but I ended up extremely into Arrow and the fanfic stories are so amazing that I thought, why not give it a shot! So...there's an amazing song The Gambler by Kenny Rogers. He says you gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, know when to run. This line gave me a story idea that won't leave me alone so here it is. I hope that you enjoy it. This is the first part of chapter 1. I'm not sure how many chapters there will be but I know what I want to happen. All mistakes are mine and I'm so sorry if there are any.

Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own anything. In a perfect world...

Know when to hold 'em

Once more Oliver stood staring at his home from the outside. Lights hung everywhere along the exterior in an effort to illuminate the world, while people leisurely sauntered in and out of the grand mansion. The Queen holiday gala was tonight. Just another party that he'd been forced into throwing by his reputation and name, sometimes he wished that he was never born a Queen. What would that have been like? To never have a grand destiny, never have such novelties as jets and yachts, to never having been shipwrecked, to not have blood stained hands…then he'd imagine how much good he knew he was doing for this city, his city. Working as Arrow with Dig and Felicity was great. He couldn't imagine never knowing them, let alone Tommy, Thea wouldn't be with him had he never been a Queen. That was impossible to think about. So when those moments of doubt would appear they left just as quickly.

As he stood there welcoming guests and loitering, hoping not to be dragged into corporate conversations, he was met by the one visitor that he'd been waiting for all night.

He knew that she would come. She'd tried to get out of it by telling him that she was so awkward in social settings like this, but he refuted her argument stating that he wanted her there. That had been enough. She obviously wasn't expecting that argument and was silenced into acceptance by his look that brokered no hope of her winning.

"Good evening, Ms. Smoak. Glad to see that you could make it."

"Well, I always lounge around my house in sparkling dresses so I figured I'd shake things up and take this one outside."

That elicited a slight smile. "I'm glad to hear you like to shake things up." And that got him a blush on her fair skin. As they walked inside she began to hide her embarrassment. Filling the void with conversation.

"I knew I should've stayed home. I have a jar of marshmallow fluff waiting for me and a carton of ice cream calling my name. I know they'll have a party without me there. Did you ever wonder if stuff really comes to life when you're not around? I mean Toy Story always struck me as believable and it's a known fact that the eyes of pictures follow you when you walk around and…" Oliver was always so entranced with her when she did that. When she didn't realize that she was rambling, but her brain was going a mile a minute, broadcasting her every thought for a not always entertained audience. Whenever she did her nose would scrunch and it was almost like you could see her brain working inside of her head. Her lips moved a mile a minute. Sometimes when she rambled he would pay close attention to her mouth. The bight lipstick would always grab his attention. He'd wondered how she could say so much so quickly. It seemed like she never had enough time to breathe in between words. "Oliver!" He'd been so engrossed thinking about her that he hadn't heard her call him. "Why don't you ever stop me? I swear you think it'd get annoying after the fourth paragraph."

"I could never get annoyed with your rambling. It's part of who you are." It was obvious that she hadn't expected that response. At the revelation he was happy with himself for surprising her, when she was continually surprising him. Surprising him with her strength and genius, with her subtle beauty and golden heart, although he had to admit, even just to himself, he loved her light the most. She was continually pulling him out of the darkness to illuminate his life.

Thanks for your time reading...and hopefully reviewing.