Disclaimer: I do not own nor make any profit off of Arrow. It belongs to The CW, DC Comics, etc.

A/N: An AU story set during 1x09: Year's End. It was meant for Christmas, but things went sideways and it wasn't until this week that I actually put it down. Thanks to stygian-omada-fan for sensible words when I was feeling overly sensitive. 3 Also posted on my Arrow tumblr blog: Hoodsmoaked.

I don't even know where this has all come from in this chapter, but here it is anyway! :P It's a whole lot more involved than I originally thought it would be, and a lot more AU than I expected. But I love it anyway. :)

Chapter 2: Sore Spots


Drinks flowed freely and food disappeared like free pens in an insurance office while Oliver stood watching and waiting for his chosen guests to arrive at the Queen family mansion, fidgeting but barely with his red tie and gray suit jacket whenever feelings of discomfort arose.

Moira and Walter stood on tense tenterhooks the likes of which Oliver hadn't seen since Walter's business trip to Australia. Thea seemed happy enough at the outset, but he wondered how that would last. She was notoriously dramatic about family events.

After barely escaping the new archer's trap, Oliver wondered why he didn't feel more disturbed by the distance with his family, but he supposed that was the point. Keep them away, save them the pain of his other life. Save himself the pain of watching someone else he loved die.

Catching Diggle's heavy yet subtle expression across the way, Oliver knew he'd gone down too dark a path with his thoughts and it had to be showing on his face. Popping his shoulders back, Oliver took a deep breath and set the thoughts aside – for the present.

Instead, Oliver let his mind wander to the IT expert whose office he frequented. According to Oliver's disapproving bodyguard, Felicity had not shown up for the party since it began – something the former solider seemed to think was a good thing. In his words, Oliver's nightly activities already put enough danger in Felicity Smoak's environment. All the same, Diggle had promised to watch vigilantly for the girl Oliver so abruptly invited to his family home for a party celebrating a holiday she didn't even follow. For that, Oliver at least owed Felicity companionship with the one person she really knew at the celebration.

At the opposite side of the room, Tommy Merlyn finally slipped in as though he wasn't sure he should have come, his dark ensemble of black and charcoal brightened by the vivid red dress Laurel Lance wore as she walked in on his arm.

Tommy and Laurel exchanged awkward expressions as Oliver approached, something he regretted, but didn't know how to fix.

"So glad that… both of you could make it," Oliver greeted them both with a smile made of steel.

A split second of hesitation passed and then Tommy leaned forward, offering, "Merry Christmas, pal."

"Merry Christmas," Oliver returned, embracing his best friend firmly in spite of the discomfiture.

As they pulled away, Oliver felt the pressure to likewise hug his former girlfriend. While it seemed logical to also embrace Laurel, the history, pain, and anger between them welled up like a physical barrier despite any progress they made in apologies and forgiveness. Regardless, Oliver leaned forward with a light arm over the undaunted lawyer's bicep and a quiet, "Merry Christmas."

"Hi," Laurel matched him for quietude, her breath of a response just as awkward as the way her head turned almost opposite of Oliver's own.

They pulled apart with uncomfortable written all over them, a wordless pause carving even deeper into the climate of their broken relationship.

"So how long do you guys think it'll be 'til this isn't so weird?" Tommy, of course, broke the strange silence with his casual willingness to embrace a bad situation. "You know, the… the three of us?"

Realizing he had to bridge the gap, Oliver forced himself to sound as positive and upbeat as he knew how, "Oh, it's not weird at all."

Given a sliver of silence, the three of them all began to emit the same disconcerted laugh. Laurel looked down at the ground a moment, then took a breath.

Just as she opened her mouth to speak, Oliver's eyes found a sight he had begun to believe he'd never see that evening. Laurel's brief first words washed over and through Oliver, not holding his attention like the measure of appreciation he now felt.

"Excuse me a minute," the billionaire said hastily and distractedly to his two friends, barely catching their startled and confused gazes as he moved slowly out towards the doorway and Tommy stepped back beside Laurel.

There in the next room, hesitating in such an atypical environment, Felicity Smoak stood out like a rare gem caught in a display of plastic beads – not to mention walking with the most awkwardly comical gait Oliver had seen her use to date. Decked out in a long-sleeved velvet dress with a micro-sized slit just above the knee and golden accessories of a metallic belt, disc earrings, and an envelope clutch, the blonde looked incredibly festive for the Christmas season.

Two things, however, stood out as distinctly intriguing about Felicity's outfit; not for their seasonal flavor, but for their significance.

Around her neck, the IT expert wore a gold and diamond snowflake pendant. Actually having to cough and swallow a laugh at the sight, Oliver appreciated her sense of humor. But the most startling part of her outfit was the deep, rich green tone of her knee-length velvet dress and sky-high suede pumps.

Oliver quickly decided Felicity had no real idea who had been coming to her for help all this time, but the irony did not escape the billionaire in the slightest, even putting a genuine smile, however small, on his handsome face.

Two sets of clear blue eyes caught even as Oliver heard Tommy double-checking that his best friend was all right. Felicity hesitated but a moment, then seemed to make up her mind about something and headed in a direct path towards Oliver. The vigilante met her in the doorway, extending a hand to catch hers in greeting.

"You look very nice," Oliver spoke first, tilting his head in subtle curiosity as he took note of the blonde's thick, curling ponytail enhanced by braiding around the crown of her head. Makeup also took an enhanced note compared to normal, lips stained in a plum tinted by red and eyes shadowed with a light smoky look and a tinge of gold sparkle at the corners. "I didn't think you were coming."

Pulling in her vivid lips awkwardly, Felicity just shrugged. "I thought about it when I saw the house. Or, well, palace, really. This place is huuuge."

"It is a mansion," Oliver responded lightly, inciting Felicity to scoff aloud.

"Soooo, where is all this snow I've been promised?" the blonde inquired with a quiet sense of playfulness.

"Oh, it's just waiting for the right moment," Oliver repressed a smile, lips tight from the posturing. At least his plans wouldn't go to waste now.

"Hmmm," Felicity hummed doubtfully. "I still say you can't promise the weather."

"Maybe, maybe not," the billionaire teased dryly. "You'll see."

"I'm holding you to that," Felicity poked his shoulder demandingly, to which Oliver just smiled slightly.

"Oliver?" Tommy called to the man in question, Laurel joining him in approaching Oliver where he had stopped in the doorway. "You okay, man?"

"I'm fine," Oliver answered immediately, brows furrowing minutely. "I just saw Felicity waiting in the other room and wanted to greet her."

"Who?" Laurel asked, facial features expressing a bout of confusion and doubt Oliver felt was a bit unwarranted. He hadn't whispered, after all.

"Did we used to know a Felicity?" Tommy wondered slowly, mind plainly working over their past history to see if he or Oliver had ever dated, slept with, or wronged a blonde named Felicity.

"I doubt it," Felicity spoke up for herself, offering that same manic little wave she had given Oliver at the Holiday staff party.

"This is Felicity Smoak," Oliver introduced the blonde with a mild smile at her consistency. "She's been a really big help for me while I try to understand the changes in technology. Computers have certainly gotten stranger and stranger in my absence."

"Uh, they've gotten better and better, actually," Felicity disagreed with that same silly face she had given him when she mentioned the bullet holes in Lawton's laptop with such casual aplomb.

"Well, you know them far better than anyone I know," Oliver countered with a tilt of his head in deference of her expertise.

"Oh, thanks," Felicity smile broadly at his backhanded compliment, teeth gleaming in the warm lights.

"Where did you two meet?" Laurel inquired, a stringent quality to her tone Oliver could have done without. He had been glad for Tommy bringing her in spite of any awkwardness, but when Oliver realized Laurel's presence at his best friend's side, he had expected she was there as a friend, not as a lawyer on duty.

"Felicity came highly recommended at Queen Consolidated," Oliver explained easily. He was starting to think the lie became better each time he told it. "I practically ruined my laptop and she helped me get some stuff off before it died completely."

"He spilled a latte on it," Felicity added to the explanation, rather more helpfully than Oliver thought possible, even with the amused grin stuck on her features.

"I didn't know you liked… lattes… Oliver?" Laurel remarked, expression quizzical but firm.

"Tastes can change," Oliver remarked immediately. And indeed they did change after five years away from everything and everyone he knew and loved. Granted, he had no real taste for flavored coffees or anything sweet, but Laurel didn't know that.

"You spit it out on the keyboard, didn't you?" Tommy started grinning broadly, a laugh beginning to bubble up from his chest. No doubt he envisioned Oliver testing out a latte on a dare or to impress a girl, as he used to, and making a very public scene of disgust for its flavor.

"First tastes are so chaotic," Felicity commented with a nod of knowing frustration. Oliver could feel the sarcasm rolling off of her small body in waves.

"Well, Oliver's coffee adventures aside," Tommy spoke up again, stretching a hand towards the blonde, "It's great to meet you, Felicity. Any friend of Oliver's, you know?"

The dark-haired billionaire winked teasingly at the blonde, bringing a small giggle from her at his charming humor.

"Thank you," Felicity responded, smile stuck on her face in spite of the odd atmosphere that still remained between Laurel, Tommy, and Oliver.

"Yes, it's nice to meet you," Laurel added with a slight smile, nodding once towards Felicity.

"Miss Smoak?"

Each one of them turned at the sound of Walter Steele's surprised exclamation. Oliver's stepfather looked pleased but startled by Felicity's presence in the mansion. Pursing his lips curiously, Oliver wondered just how Walter and Felicity knew each other. Walter had no real reason to attend anyone in the IT department – not that Oliver knew of, anyway.

"Mr. Steele!" Felicity greeted the CFO of Queen Consolidated with a deeply-buried manic streak Oliver took keen notice of.

"How nice to see you here," Walter responded with a delicately hidden awkwardness Oliver only noticed because of his five year stint away from Starling City.

"Oliver invited me," Felicity explained abruptly. "At the staff party. The one he talked to you about changing around. You know, for people who don't celebrate—Oh!"

Oliver tried to quell her words with his eyes before Felicity went into too much detail, but between three people who knew him well enough to see his obvious attempt, it didn't get far. Stuck in the very recognition she had not wanted when Oliver brought it up, the babbling blonde fell silent, lips taught between her teeth.

"You knew about that?" Walter asked, puzzled.

"I just randomly brought it up," Oliver cut in for Felicity's sake, hoping to cut off anymore tangents that might lead to the types of conversations he had had with the brilliant woman during the fulfillment of some of his 'requests' in the IT department. "We chatted while she helped me find a tech gift for Mister Diggle – a small thank you for his services this season."

Felicity looked as though she wanted to chew her lip off, but she gladly nodded along with Oliver's boldfaced lie. Ironically, it was one of his better ones.

Perhaps it was just with Felicity he couldn't lie; maybe she had a built-in sense of when people were lying to her? Oliver wasn't sure, but he let out the tiniest sigh of relief when everyone accepted the story at face value.

"That's nice of you, Ollie," Laurel told him with surprise, tilting her head slightly back to gauge this new nuance of her ex.

"I'm glad he spoke up about it, actually," said Walter with a short laugh, putting a hand on Oliver's shoulder. "Our employees deserve to be treated fairly in every way… You're a good man, Oliver."

"Yeah, buddy, you're turning into a regular good Samaritan," Tommy complimented his best friend, offering a clap on the back as affirmation of his support.

Affecting a laugh at the undue praise, Oliver noted from the corner of his eye as his mother distractedly met the same boy Thea had spoken to at Big Belly Burger. A bouquet of flowers passed from Shane's hand to Moira's with the typical potential-date-material flare – which was to say none.

Moira handed her flowers over to a maid as Thea and her 'friend' chatted with the Queen matriarch. It didn't look like the younger man did anything other than pay the occasional compliment of some kind, often leaving their mother to fake a small, indulging laugh while Thea smiled amusedly.

Oliver didn't much like Shane.

Turning by chance to catch Felicity's inquisitive blue eyes behind her glasses, Oliver realized his feelings towards his sister's date probably dominated his transparent expression. Breathing in deep, the vigilante pushed the sensation away and refocused on the conversation at hand just as Walter chose to leave them.

"Mister Merlyn, Miss Lance, good to see you again," Walter greeted the pair with a warm smile. "Miss Smoak, do enjoy the party. I'll see you later, Oliver."

"Of course, Walter," Oliver nodded once in acknowledgment as his stepfather headed in Moira Queen's general direction.

"Well, why don't we get some drinks?" Tommy mentioned to Laurel for Oliver and Felicity's sakes.

"Yeah, that sounds good," Laurel concurred, smile still a bit forced, but accepting. Oliver had the strangest feeling her evening wasn't going quite the way she expected.

"Yeah, I'll catch you guys when I give the toast," Oliver nodded his agreement, smiling for effect.

"It was nice to meet you, Felicity," Laurel said farewell to the IT expert.

"Don't let this guy get you in too much trouble, okay?" Tommy told the blonde with a little grin. Oliver nearly rolled his eyes as the joke.

"Um, sure thing," Felicity agreed with a firm upswing of her arm, fist clenched playfully.

Laughing more genuinely at the gesture, the pair took off into the crowd arm-in-arm to find their beverages.

In the absence of so much chatter, Felicity and Oliver both turned silent and awkward, not for the first time in their acquaintance. Searching for topics of conversation was neither Oliver's forte nor his preference, but he felt Felicity deserved that much.

"Are you hungry?" Oliver found himself asking, a sense of foolishness enveloping him as he repeated the ridiculous question in his mind.

"I… actually am," Felicity confirmed, surprise blooming into being on her face. "Huh, I didn't even realize it."

Exhaling the briefest puff of a laugh, Oliver tapped her shoulder with a single finger. "Then follow me."

Humored by his sly lead, Felicity allowed the billionaire to pull her forward by the elbow to the central table that had replaced the living room suite.

"I don't think we'll have any trouble finding something to eat," Oliver remarked with the pretense of a concentrated frown.

Felicity failed to reply, but her long-suffering eye roll said all Oliver needed to know about her feelings on that comment.

They went quiet in a heartbeat, each picking out foods from the enormous spread before them. Diverse tastes decorated Felicity's plate, each pick from the pile standing testament to her wide palette. By contrast, Oliver stuck to simple, bland foods; despite his return to the world and the variety of foods he had eaten since coming home, Oliver found it difficult to eat many different tastes all in the same short time frame.

"This is a very big selection of food," Felicity mock-whispered to Oliver, leaning towards him playfully as she spoke.

"Then we won't have to worry about choices, will we?" Oliver murmured in a similarly low tone.

"Well, I won't," Felicity commented more normally, "but you don't seem to like anything with flavor. Just look at that sad, sad little plate in your hands…"

Faking a sigh of utter despair, Felicity shook her head at Oliver's food options.

"I'm not big on flavorful food items," Oliver responded simply, struck once again by Felicity's incredible, formidable intuition.

"Hmm," Felicity nodded her understanding, shrugging and turning to her plate again with a touch of awkwardness.

The crowd around them moved in a mass of murmuring and the occasional quiet laugh to break the monotony. Oliver tried to think of what to say, but he had long ago grown weary with conversation. Action had become his stigma, his sign. He had no backup of topics and jokes and memories with which to brighten the moment. He wasn't like Tommy, no matter how much he sometimes wished he could have his best friend's optimism.

Exhaling quietly to relieve the pressure of his thoughts, Oliver turned to watch Felicity enjoy her food without a care who saw her. Halfway turned towards the blonde, Oliver's blue gaze fell upon his mother and sister who, unfortunately, had both begun to move towards them – the former with a steely, suspicious look in her eye that Oliver knew he could not avoid.

Bracing himself, Oliver warned Felicity under his breath, "Mother and sister."

"What?" Felicity turned to him, startled, still chewing a tea sandwich, but Oliver had no time to clarify.

"Mom, Thea," Oliver greeted mother and daughter with another of his false smiles, this one hopefully not as pronounced as it felt.

"Oliver," Moira met her son perfunctorily, but her eyes immediately locked on Felicity's blond ponytail as it swung around with the IT expert's swirl to face the Queen women.

"Nice party, Ollie," Thea remarked, her subtle sarcasm all too evident when matched by her crossed arms and tilted face.

"Where's Shane?" Oliver asked his little sister, his tone all business and curiosity, but Thea's rising shoulders proved she knew the same detrimental sarcasm filled his question.

"He's around," Thea snapped back sharply, but said no more. Felicity's side-eyed expression and Moira's disapproval told Oliver just how awkward the situation would become if he didn't stop now, so he let Thea's defiant evasion go for the time being.

Staring a moment longer at the youngest Queen's expression, Oliver turned to his mother. "I'm glad so many people were willing to come tonight."

"Yes, I agree," Moira retorted more strongly than suited her personality, her full range of faux enthusiasm muted heavily by the sarcasm buried therein. "There are so many… unexpected guests."

While Oliver's mother had always been direct in the superiority of the wealthy, this snotty cynicism didn't suit the circumstances at all.

"Mom," the billionaire affected a shark-like smile of his own as he commented disbelievingly, "And here I thought sarcasm was Thea's most prominent character trait."

Silence engulfed the four of them, shock waves rolling off of Moira and Thea Queen's frozen faces. Felicity looked like her night had gone the worst possible way she could have imagined, her hard swallow snapping something in Oliver's hard stance. The former castaway didn't even know what got into him; he'd never been so bold with his mother before.

Thea scoffed as if she had expected her brother to finally do something even more selfish and insensitive, stalking away with a disgusted expression.

"There's no need to be rude, Oliver," Moira informed him with narrowed eyes. "I only wanted to ask who your guest is."

"Then you need only have asked outright, Mom," Oliver couldn't help himself from reacting rather viscerally a second time as his mother spit out 'guest' as though it was a dirty word. Felicity was honorable, very independent, honest, and self-respecting; Oliver didn't want anyone thinking she was his plaything or that she would put herself up for the highest bidder. "I've come to Felicity for help several times since coming home and we became friends."

Felicity looked like she wanted to say something, but Moira cut into Oliver before she could do so, "Friends… Really. That's a very blasé term to use, don't you think, Oliver?"

Felicity finally caught the real, underlying point of Moira's game of words, at last making her voice known.

"Oh. Oh no! We are not seeing each other! No, no, no, I just help him with technology," Felicity began to laugh, that off-color chuckle at the back of her throat as she spewed correction after awkward correction, "which is a lot…"

The words still came off sounding like an insinuation and the IT expert add rapidly, "Because he's… not so good at technology. He's, he's not good at anything, really…"

Moira Queen lifted one eyebrow in doubtful offense at her son being described as having no talents, despite her current distaste with his attitude.

"Which iiiis… not an insult!" Felicity moved to fix her unending parade of sore spots.

The Queen matriarch did not look impressed.

"I'm sure there are plenty of other things you're good at," Felicity smiled up at Oliver in acknowledgment, lips stretching awkwardly over her teeth before she realized just what she'd said. With an even bigger grin borne of disbelief, the blonde added hastily, "Like throwing parties!"

Impossibly excitable in the wake of her foot-in-mouth syndrome and the embarrassment that came along with it, Felicity gestured with her manic little fingers at the festive Christmas decorations all around them.

Oliver nearly swallowed his tongue to stop an unexpected bark of laughter from escaping his throat.

"I see," Moira said simply, firmly blank towards the blonde IT specialist.

Oliver breathed deep to avoid lashing out again and causing even more of a scene. Walter was beginning to look worried where he stood in conversation with a banker from Starling National. Across the room, Tommy and Laurel stared in well-buried shock at the obvious discord in the Queen family.

"Oliver, I believe it's about time for tonight's speech," Moira spoke to her son with the same empty authority, her move to now ignore Felicity's presence not sitting well with Oliver, but he didn't know what to say without driving further suspicion in his mother's mind and more arguments between them all. At this point, he doubted he could convince her that he wasn't sleeping with Felicity.

Felicity pursed her lips in an instant feeling of dismissal, her shoulders slowly lowering with disappointment. Oliver hated the expression in her clear blue eyes. It felt rude to gloss over Felicity's immense skillset and personal integrity in such a way, but Oliver could hardly reveal it without also revealing his other identity.

An inspiration hit the billionaire, however, his earlier plans for the evening coming back to mind. He couldn't believe he almost forgot about them, turning to Felicity with a lighter air than just a second prior. Oliver ignored the tension of his family and offered an escape route from his mother, "She's right. I do have a speech planned. Why don't you come with me, Felicity? It won't take me long."

"Okay," Felicity straightened up with jolt of relief.

"Come on," Oliver murmured more quietly, reaching for the Felicity's velvet-covered elbow and leading her around to the large bay window facing over the front of the house. Along the way, Oliver set down his plate on the corner of the table and picked up a glass of champagne. Felicity matched his actions, but stood slightly back as Oliver made his way onto the small wooden platform they have brought in for the evening.

Tapping his champagne glass loudly, Oliver grasped everyone's attention within moments, every eye turning to his place at the forefront of the room.

"Hi," Oliver began simply, drawing a fair few chuckles for his anticlimactic greeting. "I'm glad you could all joins us to celebrate this Christmas season!"

Everyone applauded until Oliver gestured for calm and continued, "It's been five years since the last Queen Christmas party. That's a long time to go without celebrating something."

Many in the crowd laughed at his remarks, and Oliver tried not to judge them for it. They didn't know he really meant every word. For his family, Tommy, and Laurel, who had all gathered together far at the back of the room, there was no humor. Their drawn expressions, even mixed with a remaining distaste for Oliver's words moments before, told Oliver that something clicked in their minds – something he guessed they never thought about before. One more tiny piece to Oliver's puzzle.

Felicity, standing so much nearer, expressed ten times as much emotion in her blue eyes behind those glasses. Something sad and something logical combined to form a sense of realization Oliver hadn't expected to see from the blonde.

But then he should have known better. It was Felicity Smoak, after all.

"So tonight, I want to say thank you," Oliver went on with his speech, pushing onward with unexpected sentiment, "Thank you for helping me celebrate family, friends, and coming home. I missed every person in my family and each of the friends I left behind."

Struck by his own truth, by the friends he had indeed left behind in the broad ocean, on Lian Yu, aboard the Amazo, in Hong Kong, in Russia… Oliver took a deep breath to push past and finish his work.

"I have also made new friends since returning home. One very remarkable friend," Oliver started again, eyeing Felicity without any compunction; he pleasantly noted her immediate understanding and the pink flush that adorned her cheeks, "once complimented me on my… fascinating acquaintances."

Felicity blushed more deeply, reminded of her faux pas at the holiday staff party a few days earlier.

"I agree with that," Oliver affected a smile. "I do have a very fascinating set of people surrounding me. People with a sense of understanding… compassion… and generosity. I've come to know people who are patient and enduring of my actions, even when I'm not the easiest person to get along with. Those things are very hard to find these days."

With their angry meeting still close to the chest, Oliver's family didn't look happy by the subtle dig, but there was a sense of slight embarrassment in his mother and sister.

Felicity caught Oliver's eye with one of her 'I always know you're lying' faces Oliver usually felt a little guilty seeing himself put there. Half-laughing at the thought of Diggle and Felicity giving him those expectant, knowing looks when he said something altogether ridiculous to avoid telling them the truth, Oliver realized he hadn't been describing his family at all.

The two people who were pushing his crusade forward, however unknowingly on Felicity's part, had to be two of the most patient, enduring, understanding, generous human beings he knew. He lied or omitted whenever he talked to them, however necessary he felt that was. Yet somehow, both of them still helped him. They still responded when he needed help.

"It's that knowledge," Oliver spoke again, "of my friends' patience and generosity… that pushes me to my next announcement…"

The audience in the living space and beyond into the hallway and foyer stood waiting pensively for Oliver to drop the ball on his seemingly big news.

"I have a surprise for all of you!" the billionaire finally answered the tension with an even more affected broad smile, throwing his arms out as if to encompass the entire crowd. "Now, if you will all take a glass of champagne and a napkin, I would like to invite all of you to join us in the ballroom."

A hushed, shocked murmuring spread through the crowd at this unexpected offering, and the odd accompaniment of a napkin to Oliver's request. It took a moment for people to believe what Oliver even said, so he added helpfully, "Yes, I'm serious, please grab a glass and a napkin – napkins are essential, ladies and gentlemen! – and our staff will guide you to the ballroom."

At last dispersing, the guests more happily made their way around for a drink and a napkin, many chuckling over the latter item's odd inclusion.

Moira, Thea, and Laurel all stared at Oliver as if he had sprouted ten heads, but Walter chuckled slightly along with Tommy and guided the three ladies – and Shane, unfortunately – out of the quickly-emptying room. The two men had come to share the viewpoint of 'live and let live' where Oliver was concerned, something he appreciated at times.

Diggle merely rolled his eyes at Oliver's theatrics, although an amused smile did flit across his mouth as he headed after the Queen entourage at the end of the crowd.

"Oliver?" Felicity's quiet, surprised voice reached the billionaire, bringing him around to face the IT expert as he stepped down from the platform. "What is going on?"

"Come on, it'll be fun," Oliver encouraged the blonde, a more genuine smile eclipsing his features as he grabbed a napkin for both of them. Reaching out, the billionaire once more took Felicity's elbow and led her through the house for his grand plan.


A/N: Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed Chapter 1: Bits & Pieces!