An Affair to Remember
Rating: M
Characters: Oliver Queen, Felicity Smoak, Laurel Lance, Tommy Merlyn, Roy Harper, John Diggle, Slade Wilson, Thea Queen, Curtis Holt, Barry Allen, Cisco Ramon, Catlin Snow, Ray Palmer, Sara Lance, Nyssa al Ghul, Helena Bertinelli, Robert and Moira Queen, Noah Kuttler and Donna Smoak.
Summary: AU. After almost a year of being officially 'on', Oliver and Laurel break-up…again. After a few too many commiseratory drinks with Tommy and Diggle, a plan is formed and Felicity Smoak is given an offer she can't refuse. The condition: she has to pretend to be his girlfriend in order to win his ex back. (Rating is for frequent swearing, no lemons)
Author's Note: Important things in the closing notes on this one, please read them.
"Come on, girl, what's going on?" The voice of Curtis came through her phone.
"I'd know what they were saying of you'd shut up." Felicity chided.
The blonde stood in the hall at the foot of the stairs, one ear pressed against the door to the living room, listening to her parent's conversation. Sure, most people would consider eavesdropping on their parents a questionable thing to do, but Felicity was determined to hear their discussion.
"Donna, I'm hardly comfortable leaving her alone for two weeks, she's hardly old enough." Noah, Felicity's stubbornly overprotective father, stated.
Felicity had to fight the urge to roll her eyes at his comments. Her father was a caring man, he did everything he could for her and her mother, but sometimes he could be a little overbearing. As a result, Felicity was hardly ever allowed to spend more than a day or two unsupervised, despite being more than capable of taking care of herself.
"She's seventeen, dear, 'Lissy is more than mature enough to look after herself." Donna retorted.
"But if anything happens to her…"
"She'll be fine." Donna cut over her husband. "She hardly adopted your rebellious streak, we both remember what you were like back during our collage days."
Felicity couldn't hear her father's response to that, whatever it was it had been begrudgingly mumbled under his breath. As stubborn as her father was, nobody could win an argument with Donna Smoak. Yep, she had even insisted on keeping her own name when they had married.
"Then it's settled, Felicity stays here, we'd better start packing if we're planning on getting on that plane tomorrow."
That was all the blonde needed to hear. With a smile brighter than she could have possibly imagined, Felicity ran back to her room, taking the stairs two at a time. Once she was safely in her room, the door shut behind her, she raised the phone back to her ear.
"Two sweet-sweet parent free weeks!" Felicity squealed down the phone.
"Oh, hell yes! Girl, you know what this means." It was hardly a question when Curtis spoke.
"Party! Party! Party!" The two friends sang at the same time, each performing a small victory dance as they did.
"You always do get the best ideas, 'Lissy." Curtis' smile was practically audible. "Where are your folks going anyway?"
"Some company retreat in France. The Queen's invited them." Felicity replied absentmindedly, taking a seat at the vanity which was placed before her bedroom window.
Her father was a reasonably close friend of Robert Queen, it was hardly a surprise given the line of work they were both in. When Felicity's parents had moved to Starling City, the reason for the move begin Donna's pregnancy, her father had started a reasonably small IT firm. The man was a genius with computers, his talent far beyond anyone else, so the company had grown with him in charge.
It hit a snowball effect when 'Smoak Technologies', which had been named for his then-unborn daughter (Donna had insisted that her daughter would take her last name), received the contract to re-design Queen Consolidated's cyber-security. Her father was by no means rich, especially by Starling City's standards, but he made more than enough money for the family of three to be contended in any of their endeavours.
In the midst of that, Noah Kuttler and Robert Queen had become friends, though how was beyond Felicity's understanding, the two men were nothing alike. Through that friendship came the endless invites to charity galas and company retreats, all of which Felicity refused to attend, if there was anything she hated above all else it was schmoozing.
"Well, whatever they're doing, it means we can throw a killer party." Curtis replied. "We're gonna get some serious credit for this."
Curtis had a point. If the two of them could plan and throw a decent party, it would do some serious wonders for their reputation at 'Starling Academy'. Sure, they weren't unpopular but they weren't particularly high up on the pecking order either. If there was a party to be thrown it was at the hands of Oliver Queen or Tommy Merlyn, the two 'billion-heirs' of Starling City. Felicity herself had never so much as had a conversation with either of that duo, they were a grade above her and so they never moved in the same circles.
Felicity, and the rest of her group of friends, had never so much as seen an invite to one of those parties…okay, so maybe they were kinda unpopular, but Felicity was hardly going to admit that easily.
"'Lissy!?" A shrill voice suddenly cut into her ears.
"Curtis, I gotta go, mom's calling." Felicity stood and turned to face the door. "Get onto the gang and start making some plans."
With that, Felicity ended the call, tossing her phone onto her bed before practically skipping down the stairs. One thought kept looping through Felicity's mind as she headed to talk to her parents:
This is going to be the best week ever.
Karma, of course, had different plans.
XXX
Oliver hated the elite restaurants that Starling City housed.
As someone who had been raised eating in the most expensive of locals, that might have seemed like a laughable statement but it was true. Oliver spent far too much time sitting around and schmoozing with Starling City's One Percenters in those venues for them to hold any more appeal to him. It was always an amusing thought, but Oliver was never happier with restaurant food than when he and Tommy had discovered Big Belly Burger.
Impatiently, Oliver began drumming his fingers on the table, glancing to the hostess' desk every few moments. In between those glances, he was observing the other occupants of the restaurant, there were a handful of business dinners and more than a few couples enjoying a romantic evening of their own. That thought made Oliver glance back down to his watch.
9:25
It was ironic given the way the Starling City gossip columns presented him, but more often than not it was Laurel who was late in attendance for their dates. All things considered, that was a relatively new habit of hers, but that night should have been different, for both of them. It was their one year anniversary.
Of course, it wasn't strictly a year since the couple started dating. Oliver and Laurel had been on and off since their mid-teens but, a year ago, he had made a promise to put a real effort into their relationship. That revelation had more than disappointed the gossip columns, practically as soon as he and Tommy had started hitting the club scene, they had stopped again.
"Sorry I'm late." Laurel's voice dragged Oliver back into reality.
A smile creeping over his face, he got to his feet, waiting for her to cross the rest of the distance to their table. Oliver took in her appearance immediately; the knee-length black dress, the diamond necklace he had bought her for her birthday, and her hair framing her face in loose curls.
"It's alright." Oliver answered once she had approached, pressing a brief kiss to her lips before they both took a seat.
Once they were both seated, Oliver watched on as Laurel slowly looked around the room, taking in their surroundings. It was one of the small things that always got to Oliver, one of those problems with being; you always had to spend as much as possible on any given occasion. No matter how much Laurel insisted that she didn't care about the money, there was always a vague hint of disappointment in her eyes if she thought Oliver wasn't giving her the best of the best.
He supposed that was because, when they were first an item, he had equated displaying his affections for Laurel to spending an extraordinary amount of money on her. It seemed that had stuck, and Laurel herself now believed that if their dates were not at high-class restaurants then Oliver's affection for her were on the wane.
"You've seriously outdone yourself on this one," Laurel began, indicating vaguely at the restaurant. "After our last date, I'm impressed."
"Come on, Laurel, it's hardly my fault that they thought I was making reservations for July next year."
In fairness, it was slightly his fault. Oliver had called one of the most in-demand restaurants in Starling and had made a reservation for a week from his call. Apparently, they were that in demand they had just assumed that he was making plans that far in advance. Regardless, given Laurel's reaction at the time, Oliver had passed the blame wholly onto the restaurant.
He was Oliver Queen, they really should have made an exception in their bookings for him.
"Chill out, Ollie." Laurel threw him a smile that Oliver knew was forced. "I was just teasing. You used to be so much more laid back about this stuff."
'Funny, that changed right about when we started dating'. The voice in Oliver's head spoke up.
Oliver practically had to shake his head to put those thoughts aside, mentally slapping himself for so much as thinking something so hurtful. Sure, things between Laurel and himself had become a lot tenser in the last few weeks; they had argued a little more, hardly went out together unless it was for QC related events, Laurel had given up pushing the moving in idea, and to top it all off, they hadn't had sex for a week. Though Oliver was hoping the simple fact that it was their one year anniversary would resolve that last issue.
Despite Oliver thinking that he had done a pretty good job of masking his annoyance at her comment, Laurel seemed to have picked up on it, given the awkward silence that had befallen the couple. In an attempt to distract from the uncomfortable atmosphere, Oliver looked across the room and made a loose wave at the waiters he had spoken to before Laurel's arrival, and not thirty-seconds later the man returned, placing a bottle of red wine on the table.
Sure, he and Laurel were two years beneath the legal drinking age, but he was Oliver Queen…and he ate at that restaurant a fair amount. Okay, so maybe the real reason he got away with drinking at restaurants was because he was an extremely generous tipper, and that was common knowledge in the Starling City circuit.
Picking up the bottle, Oliver reached across the table and began to fill Laurel's glass. That was when he noticed it. Laurel was a surprisingly easy person to read, or maybe it was simply because Oliver knew her so well. Her eyes kept flicking to different things around the room, pretty much anywhere that wasn't him, and her fingers were nervously drumming against her legs.
'This is bad', the voice in his head returned.
'It's probably nothing, Quentin being a jerk again or something', Oliver answered it.
'Remember the last time this happened? When she got super drunk and kissed a guy at that party?'
'We weren't even dating then, and there's nothing wrong.'
'Dude, are you seriously going to argue with your subconscious?'
"Ollie, we need to talk." Laurel wrenched him from his trance.
"About what?" Oliver asked, attempting to act as though he wasn't already panicking.
"It's…well…" Laurel stumbled a little, clearing her throat. "Ollie, I just…you're a great guy, and we've shared so much over the years."
"But?" Oliver questioned.
Whatever suspicions the voice in his head had were certainly conformed by Laurel's words. There was something bad, something that was a little more serious than he had anticipated.
"But," Laurel began. "I think we…I think it would be for the best if we…take some time apart."
What?
Oliver was beyond words, completely unable to process what Laurel had just said. He couldn't understand it, simply replaying Laurel's words over and over in disbelief. It connected with his mind as if he had just been slapped, his girlfriend had just declared that she wanted to break-up. Laurel, who had talked about them moving in together, who had professed to being in love with him, had just suggested they break-up, one their one year anniversary of all times!
"Why?" Oliver questioned, but gave her no time to answer. "I mean, things have been good with us, haven't they?"
Sure, things had been a little bit distant with them in the last few weeks, but it hadn't been anything that serious. Sure, they'd bickered a little more, but that was hardly a surprise, they had been pretty stressed over finals. The lack of public outings wasn't anything new either, they went through phases. Whatever issues had been between them, Oliver had figured that they'd have been able to handle it.
"Things were good, Oliver, but," Laurel struggled. "Well, we're both headed to collage soon, and…we'll be away from each other…"
Laurel left it unsaid but the insinuation was there. She worried that Oliver's wandering eyes would get worse if they were apart, that he would slip back into his old habits. He would be lying if he said that particular thought hadn't already occurred, but Oliver had made a promise to himself that he wouldn't…indulge.
"Plenty of couple survive the long-distance thing." Oliver tried.
"There's something else." Laurel spoke softly, suddenly finding the table particularly interesting. "I…met someone."
"You met someone?!" Oliver yelled, jumping to his feet. "The fuck does that mean?"
Oliver hardly noticed the way the rest of the restaurants occupants turned to himself and Laurel in that moment, nor did he noticed the shocked gasps the emitted from the elite of Starling City at the same time. It was no surprise that every person in the room knew who he was, he was, after all, the son of Robert and Moira Queen, perhaps the two most influential people in Starling. The downside of that fact, as Oliver would soon find out, was that his parents would be aware of the incident before he even made it back to the Queen Estate.
"Ollie," Laurel whispered. "Keep your voice down."
"Keep my voice down?" Oliver asked in outrage, leaning forward a little, his clenched fists resting on the table. "You tell me that you're breaking up with me because you've been cheating on me, and you want me to keep my voice down?"
"I did not cheat on you." Laurel retorted in anger, standing from her chair to face Oliver, her voice raised to match his.
"What would you call it then?" Oliver snapped.
"Meeting someone who I actually connect with."
He'd be lying if he said that comment hadn't hurt but Oliver did his best to ignore it.
"I don't believe this." His voice was a little tamer, finally realising how much of a spectacle they had caused.
"I am sorry, Oliver." Laurel tried, reaching out to his hands which were still balled in fists on the table.
As soon as Oliver felt her touch he recoiled, as if he had been burnt by the contact.
"Don't." Oliver's voice took a harsher edge than he expected. "Don't say that like it actually means anything."
"What am I supposed to say, Ollie?!"
Oliver let out an exasperated sigh. "Go to hell, Laurel." With that Oliver walked past Laurel and stormed out of the restaurant, leaving her to stew in her obvious guilt.
XXX
"Shake it off, man." Tommy clapped Oliver on the back, sliding another shot along the bar and into the hands of his best friend. "You got dumped, it happens, but you are Oliver Queen and there are plenty of attractive women in this club."
The moment he had left the restaurant Oliver had called both Tommy and Diggle, the former had suggested meeting at a club to help Oliver drown at his sorrows. As much as Diggle wasn't the biggest fan of hitting the club scene and getting drunk, he relented for Oliver's sake.
The three friends were now sat at the bar of some club that Tommy had picked out for them, music blaring in their ears and smoke lightly clouding their vision. Naturally, Tommy had insisted that they go straight on the shots, and Oliver had eagerly agreed. A few more later, Oliver had finally begun to open up to his friends.
"It's not that easy, Tommy." Oliver stated, downing the shit he had been given, not even able to taste it. "I loved her. I can't just get over her with a one night stand."
"Actually, you can." Tommy smirked, ordering another round of shots for them.
When the colourful plastic glasses were placed on the table, Diggle declined his, pushing it across to Tommy. Being significantly older than both Tommy and Oliver, Diggle was already of the legal drinking age and was far more aware of where to draw the line. Granted, he had only taken two so far, but by the looks of it, someone would have to carry the two billion-heirs home.
"I'm not you, Tommy." Oliver snapped after downing the shot. "Don't even try and compare our romantic lives, you're never with a girl longer than two weeks before you ditch her."
Despite what people thought, Oliver really wasn't that much of a playboy. Sure, he had slept around a little before he and Laurel had become serious, but it had always been on the understanding that it was a one-time thing. He had a rule to avoid sleeping with the same woman more than once. When he dated someone, he was serious.
"I'll have you know that…wait a minute," Tommy paused, seemingly lost in thought. "You might actually be onto something there."
Oliver and Diggle shared a brief look, one that said they both knew Tommy wasn't being sarcastic. Apparently, he really hadn't noticed his horrendous track record with women. Tommy wasn't anywhere as close to…chivalrous…as Oliver was, he slept with any girl he chose and damned the consequences. Even if his potential partner was obviously in the pursuit of a relationship, Tommy wouldn't discourage them.
"Don't go expecting to win any boyfriend of the year awards, Merlyn." Diggle remarked dryly, patting Tommy on the shoulder.
The three fell into a brief silence, the bartender placing more shots in front on Oliver and Tommy.
"I just don't know how I'm going to fix this." Oliver practically whispered, taking the shot straight after.
"Fix it?" Diggle and Tommy asked simultaneously, with matching incredulous expressions.
"I've gotta win Laurel back, figure out what I did wrong." Oliver clarified.
It was Diggle and Tommy's turn to share a look. They were both clearly a little shocked at his statement, more at the idea that Oliver thought the break-up was his fault than the fact that he wanted to patch things up.
"You didn't do a damn thing wrong, man, it was all on her." Diggle assured him, though Oliver didn't look convinced.
"Digg's got a point, Ollie." Tommy added. "You and Laurel have been over for a while and we all know it."
Oliver bit his lip lightly to avoid snapping at Tommy for that comment. As much as he hated to admit it, Tommy had a point. All those little things over the last few weeks had been building up to that night, even if he hadn't wanted to see it at the time. Still, it wasn't exactly what he was hoping to hear from the two of them.
"Great support guys, glad to know I've got such good friends." Oliver bit out.
"We're not friends, Ollie, we're brothers. Sometimes that means giving you the brutal truth." On seeing the face Oliver was pulling, Tommy continued, putting an arm around Oliver's shoulders. "But if you really want Laurel back then…" Tommy caught Diggle's eyes then, the older man giving him a look that was begging him not to finish that sentence. "We'll help you get her back."
"Thanks, Tommy." Oliver managed a weak smile. "Now we just need to…"
"I already have a plan." Tommy cut him off with a smug grin, signalling for three more shots.
Regrettably, Diggle accepted the shot he was given. He already knew that whatever Tommy's plan was would need a little lubrication in order to help him agree to it. He was particularly surprised that Tommy had agreed to help Oliver win Laurel back, for as long as he had known the duo, Diggle had also known the crush Tommy harboured for Laurel. Of course, Tommy held Oliver's friendship in far too high regard to have ever made a play, but Diggle had been certain that Tommy would have taken the break-up to his advantage.
Knocking back the shot, Oliver turned to look at Tommy. "Let's hear it."
Any other day of the week, Oliver would never have taken dating advice from Tommy, but he was seriously desperate.
"You get yourself another girl." Tommy stated proudly, though he quickly continued when he was the look on Oliver's face. "Just listen a minute. It's all about jealously, Laurel breaks up with you but sees you entering the scene with a brand-new hottie, what happens then?"
At the questioning looks Tommy received from both his friends he let out a dramatic sigh. "She freaks, man. Gets all possessive and shit. Trust me, it works."
Oliver gave up and let his head collide with the bar, if that was the greatest plan Tommy could come up with, he was in serious trouble.
"This is the big idea? Pretend to be interested in another woman?" Diggle questioned apprehensively.
"Yep. It works too, used that trick myself a few times." Tommy let out a contented sigh at that. "Damn, I am good."
"You know, Oliver." Diggle spoke, watching as his friend plucked himself up from the bar. "It's not actually the worst plan in the world."
That was a total lie. Diggle really wasn't sure he could come up with a worse plan even if he tried, but he knew Oliver and Tommy too well. Any kind of plan they would come up with would undoubtedly involve Oliver hooking up with another woman, and well…so long as the girl Oliver chose knew the whole thing was for show, she wouldn't get her heart broken.
"You both actually think this is going to work?"
"Oh yeah." Tommy grinned. "We gotta find you a girl first. Know any hot chicks looking for a few weeks of heaven with the one-and-only Oliver Queen?"
"If you hadn't noticed, I've been off the market for a year or so, I haven't exactly got girls queuing up like you do, Tommy." Oliver smirked.
"We all know that'll change the second the break-up hits the gossip columns." Diggle remarked, a light smile on his lips.
With a sigh, Oliver ran a hand though his hair. He honestly wasn't sure why he would ever agree to such an insane plan.
There was no way it would ever work.
Author's Note: Thanks for reading all. Got a few little things about this story I wanna explain now, I'd advise reading this.
A lot of the characters are going to be pretty OOC in this fic. Mainly it's Felicity, I kinda figured that, with Noah actually being around and the Smoak family having a decent situation her character would have developed differently. So for the most part, Felicity is going to be less awkward geek and more…'I'm sexy and I know it', you'll figure out what I mean soon enough.
Laurel is going to be a little bit more…evil in this as well. I don't hate on Laurel at all, in fact, if we're talking comics I ship Ollie and Dinah all the way, but for the purpose of the story I have to trash her character a little, Arrow just made me love Olicity too much.
Digg doesn't join the army either, if that wasn't already obvious.
I won't be picking this up properly for a few more weeks, at least not until 'If You Believed in Me' is finished. The good thing is, I know exactly where this story is going to end, hell I've already written the Epilogue, so it won't be too much of a challenge to write.
Think that's all from me, but please, please, please, leave a review. It really helps to know you guys' impressions when I start a new story, it helps to know if it's actually worth writing.
Thanks for reading.
JRW..