This is my first english story, so I hope it won't be a mayor disaster... It's a short story, five chapters tops. Hope you'll like it!

See you soon!

P.S.: Thanks a lot to youfixmybrokenwings for being my beta and correct all my mistakes! You're amaizing!

PART I

He leaned out the window and lit a cigarette. He puffed and let the smoke out slowly.

Looked down the street.

He was in that town again, at home again… His home.

He didn't know what it was that had brought him back after so many years away, but… on second thoughts, he couldn't say why he went away either. He just... The people had begun to be overwhelming, everything was too monotonous. He wasn't born to live there, as opposed to most of his colleagues, friends and acquaintances. He needed to travel and see the world, live in other cities, try new things… So, one morning, without giving it a thought, he'd packed his bags and left. Leaving behind all that once mattered…abandoned her too.

He thought of her…her sweet smile, her kisses, so warm sometimes and so passionate others… What had become of her life? During the last seven years he had been unable to stop thinking about her, needing her…but he surely had realized that too late.

He didn't know if she was the real reason he had returned, or if he was simply tired of being always alone, but it was clear that now he was here again, he would try with all his strength to get her back. Whatever the cost was. He was going to get her.

"Oliver, honey, you know I don't like you to smoke."

He put out the cigarette against the windowsill and said, "I'm not a kid anymore, mom."

She smiled and brushed the hair from his forehead with her fingers. "I know."

Oliver turned away from the window, smiling. "I'm already presentable, Mom?"

She smiled. "Don't be silly." She came closer and hugged him. "I'm so glad you're here again, my beautiful boy."

"Well… I needed mommy's pampering."

When he put on his coat, Moira asked, "Are you going out?"

"I want to see the boys…" he said, uncertainly.

Moira looked at him seriously for a few seconds. "Don't do it."

"Do what?" he asked, not understanding.

"I'm not stupid, Oliver. You came back for her, didn't you?" He didn't answer. "Don't do this."

"It's my life, okay?" he said, running his hands over his face. "Please, stay away from this."

Before he had time to turn the doorknob, Moira spoke again. "She's getting married."

He froze at that moment.

He couldn't move a single muscle of his body. That was the last thing he could have imagined… But what was he expecting? He dumped her without any explanation. Just called her one day and said he was leaving. It was logical that she hadn't waited for him to come back. But for some stupid reason he had clung to the silly idea that she wouldn't forget him, much less fall in love with someone else.

He threw his head back and took a deep breath. He was going to stop that wedding by any means.

"The wedding is in five days."

"We will see." he said, shutting the door with a bang.

Felicity sighed in relief as the priest in charge of the ceremony entered the sacristy, leaving her alone. This was going to be the wedding of the year, at least in this town. Everything was ready: the catering, the invitations, the flowers, the church, and she had just talked to the priest to finalize the last things.

She frowned when she saw her cousin, Roy, run in the church…he was supposed to be helping Laurel at home.

"Laurel is having a panic attack, Felicity."

"What? Why? What happened?"

"I don't know! I'm not sure… I left her alone with Thea for a moment, and when she left and I came back to the room, she was pale…" he took a deep breath to catch air. "And then she began to shake and moan… I don't know what happened, Felicity, but…it looks bad."

"Is your girlfriend an idiot or what? What the hell did she tell her?"

"She didn't want to tell me…"

They ran home. She had no idea of what could have happened to her sister. Well, step-sister. Laurel, Sara and she had met when they were teenagers. Their parents had met by coincidence and it had been like magic. Love at first sight.

At first, coexistence wasn't easy, but they gradually found their way. Laurel was very excited about the wedding so she did not understand what could have happened. Was this wedding nerves? She had only five days as a bachelorette…that had to alter her in some way…all brides suffered a crisis before the big day, right?

Luckily, they lived two houses away from the parish church so in a couple of minutes they were already climbing the stairs to the top floor, searching for her sister. They opened the door and stood looking at her. She was sitting on the bed, it was obvious she had been crying and she looked frightened.

"Hey gorgeous," Felicity said, kneeling beside her. "What's going on?"

"He's back," Laurel said with a faraway look.

Felicity raised her eyebrows, not understanding. "Who?"

Laurel looked at her. "Him! He's back, Felicity!"

Roy, who looked from the door, asked, "Who do you mean?"

"Ollie!" She hugged Felicity and began to cry. "Why did he come back now? He has no right to do this…"

Felicity was stunned. Has he come back? Laurel was right, he had no right to break into her life after he abandoned her that way. Her sister was happy now. She was in love with Tommy. She was getting married in a few days… It was all set! But Oliver Queen always had to stick his nose where no one wanted him, and now he had come to endanger her sister's happiness again.

Felicity took her face in her hands and made her look at her. "Hey, hey, listen to me. Everything's gonna be fine, okay? This guy is not going to crash the wedding."

Laurel sniffed tears. "What happens if that's what he wants? What if I see him and feel something?"

"I don't want to be a killjoy, but I believe that if he has come back now, he's after you, Laurel." Roy spoke from the door again.

Felicity looked at him sternly. "You're not helping!"

He shrugged. "Well... it's the truth… Why else would he come back?"

Felicity turned back to Laurel. "Don't worry, it's been too long… and you've forgotten him, right?"

Laurel nodded. She didn't look completely sure. "I guess…"

"You guess?! You're getting married, Laurel! You have to be sure of your feelings!" Laurel stood up and began pacing around the room, Felicity followed her. "Tell me something. Do you love Tommy?"

"I do… very, very much."

"As much or more than you loved Oliver?"

"That was different… Oliver was my first love, my first everything…it was special…" She sat back on the bed. "But with Tommy I'm safe, I know I'll always be good with him."

"That's not a reason to marry him," Roy jabbed.

"Roy!"

"I know, Roy, I know… What I mean is that when I think about my life, my future… The one that I see is Tommy, not Ollie. The one I want to spend the rest of my life and start a family with is Tommy!"

Felicity smiled hugely. "That's it then! It doesn't matter if Oliver has returned."

"You think?" Laurel asked doubtfully. Felicity nodded.

"You'll know when you see him again, you won't feel anything."

Roy looked out the window. "Well, you'll be able to find out right now… he's coming."

Laurel's face turned panicked. "What?!"

"He's passing the garden," Felicity said, peering through the window too.

"I don't want to see him. Help me, please!" her sister begged.

"What do you want me to do?" Felicity asked, without ideas.

Laurel passed a hand over her forehead with frustration. "I don't know…! Distract him, tell him I'm not here… whatever. But I'm not ready to see him yet."

"But… why me?! We never got along. I don't like him, Laurel!" She looked at Roy. "You go."

"Oh, no, no… I'm not good with lies. I get nervous and I end up messing everything up. Plus, he's still holding a grudge against me for being with his sister...!"

Felicity frowned. "Well, it's clear that I have to take care of everything around here!"

Nerves took control of him. He felt his hand trembling when he knocked. He had no idea what he would find. Seven years was too long. When he was 20 he was immature and irresponsible, and now he had to face the consequences of his actions, because he was convinced that Laurel did not even forgive him yet. Still, he crossed his fingers, hoping that at least she might let him explain.

The door opened and he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

Felicity.

This was going to be harder than he thought. It would be better to be kind, it would be worth it if in the end he could get her to take him to Laurel.

"Felicity!" he exclaimed with a smile. "How're you doing? It's been a long time since we saw each other." He looked her up and down. "You look pretty."

Felicity answered, with a permanently furrowed brow. "What are you doing here, Queenie?"

Oliver closed his eyes again. Clearly being nice with that girl wouldn't work. "Can I come in?"

Felicity opened the door to let him in and led him into the living room. Oliver found that gesture ridiculous, he knew that house almost as well as his own. No need for anyone to guide him.

"You should know that you're not welcome."

Oliver decided to ignore that comment and go straight to the point. "Is Laurel at home?"

"She is...but she doesn't want to see you" she said, walking around and examining him.

"I'd prefer to hear that from her, not you," he replied to the uncomfortable recognition she just made.

"She has more important things to do than come down here to talk to you," she answered as she continued her examination. "For example," she looked at his face, stressing the words, "get married."

Oliver sat comfortably in an armchair. "I disagree with you on that...also," he put his feet on the coffee table, "I'm in no hurry, one day she will have to come down and see me."

"Your feet!" she scolded, giving them a kick. "You're not at home, Queenie." she admonished as she sat in an armchair in front of him."It doesn't matter how long you wait, you won't be able to change my sister's feelings."

"We'll see," he challenged her. "When I want something, I always succeed."

"Are you willing to ruin her wedding?" Felicity was incredulous.

Oliver shrugged. "I came because I wanted to make things right with her, didn't even know she was getting married...I found that out about half an hour ago." He stared at her. "But that's not going to change my plans."

"You're out of your mind! It's been seven years!"

After a while in silence, Oliver spoke up again. "Are you going to call her or do I have to go up myself?"

"If you dare approach those stairs I'll punch you."

Oliver looked at her. Once, he had come to hate her as much as he had loved her sister. When he and Laurel started dating at 15 years old, Felicity and Sara had been 13...at that time she was only the nuisance of his girlfriend's little sister. More than one evening they'd had to take them with them by imposition of their parents. That had pissed him off. Two years passed and Felicity grew, she was no longer with them and tried to avoid him at all costs...they'd both tried not to cross paths with each other. They just tolerated the other because of Laurel, but nothing more. In his opinion, Felicity was always too sharp and rude, very wild and even rebellious. Unlike her sister, who was gentle and kind to everyone, she knew what she wanted and never caused trouble to her parents. Disappointments were Felicity's job, she was an expert on them.

Come to think calmly, it wasn't exactly hate that they felt for each other. They were just two very different people. Or maybe really equal? He did not know the reason, but the truth was that he and Felicity had never got along.

"Tell me something…you don't like me, do you?" he asked curiously.

"Not a bit. I never did," she replied solemnly.

Oliver rolled his eyes and got up to leave, he was convinced that that day he wouldn't get to see Laurel, so he had nothing to do there. Before leaving the house he turned around to look at her one last time.

"I never liked you either."

Felicity stood behind him and shrugged.

"Who asked?"

"Well...just so you know."

Felicity really didn't care what he thought about her. She had always tried to get along with Oliver but only because of her sister, so now that Laurel didn't care about him anymore she did not have to strive for him like her.

When she kept looking at him, Oliver asked, "Would you mind telling me why you are looking at me like that all the time?"

"Like what?"

"Like you're subjecting me to a third grade... You're making me nervous."

"It's nothing...just watching how you've changed." Her tone became somewhat joking. "You're not that skinny boy that left town at 20 years old."

"I'm sorry, Felicity, but I have to say that you're still the baby of 18 I left here... I mean, I think you're still looking the same as you did when you were 15."

It was a lie, obviously. Starting with her style: she was no longer dressed as a Goth, no black hair streaked with colour; and that body definitely wasn't a 15 year old girl's body. He just wanted to pinch her. But Felicity looked at him indifferently and shrugged again. That pissed him off even more. What was wrong with her? Was she going to ignore everything he said? He really wanted to bother her, but it seemed that everything he said didn't matter to her.

"You don't care about anything, do you?"

"You can only be offended by someone you care about."

Oliver closed his eyes and turned away, if he continued spending much time with her, this would end badly. Things could have changed a lot in those years, but where Felicity and he were concerned, everything was still the same. They could not be together more than half an hour without either of the two suffering a nervous breakdown.

He walked to his house and soon realised that he was not alone.

"Where are you going?"

Felicity looked at him as if the answer was obvious.

"With you."

"What? Have you gone crazy?"

"Not at all. The crazy one here is you." Oliver frowned. "Or do you think I'm going to let you go so easily when you want to ruin my sister's wedding?"

"What do you think you can do to stop me?"

"You see, Queenie. There's 5 days left until the ceremony. In those five days you can do a lot of nonsense, and I'm going to make sure that does not happen. "

"And can you tell me how, bright spark?"

"I'll be your shadow. So you better be patient because during the rest of the week I'll be glued to your ass," she turned around to face Oliver, "Which certainly is not bad. "

He always knew that girl had something wrong in her head, but it was obvious that the years had not solved her problem: it was even worse. He look at her seriously and she smiled triumphantly. Oliver snorted and walked with Felicity beside him. These were going to be the worst five days of his entire life.