A/N: Wow, the response has been fantastic! It really means a lot, thank you!
I know there are many blanks to fill, like where certain characters are and Oliver's side of their relationship… and it will all be explained eventually. For now we have some insight into his thoughts now and a glimpse of the past.
Oliver in the island is the same cannon as the show. Also I'll be following the plot of the first few episodes of season one for now, except the Laurel factor.
Hope you like it! I really love hearing your predictions and doubts. Please, keep them coming :)
CENTER OF ATTENTION
But I'll take my time if you want to
And I'll give you what ever you need
And I'll wait a lifetime to give it to you
Give in to you
It had taken four days. It was a mere four days after that QC party, after she had last seen those blue eyes again.
After spending five years trying to rid Oliver Queen from her memory it had all fallen apart with just one look, one short exchange. After that night she had rushed home, fighting to keep her feelings at check. Oliver Queen had changed, but the effect he had on her hadn't. The pain and anger that had bottled up inside when he was pronounced dead had burst out and it had taken everything in her not to lash out on him.
After all what was she but just another notch in his belt. At first it had been enough, his intensity and expert touch taking her by storm. But quickly it had turned into much more, at least for her. She had to remind herself that all he knew about him was a lie. That the man that was on the news made much more sense with the Oliver Queen she had met that night at the bar.
Still there was that damn voicemail. The words echoed in her head, the pleading tone, asking her to hold on.
Felicity sunk into her chair trying to refocus on work, shaking that thought away. There was nothing to hold onto.
A knock on the door startled her, almost falling from the chair entirely.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you"
She looked up and met those eyes, the ones she was trying to forget. There was a small smile on his face as she sat back straight, playing it cool.
"It's ok. I spaced out."
An awkward silence stretched between them as she avoided meeting his eye, instead focusing on the beat-up laptop he had in his hands.
"What's that?"
"The reason I came by. I knew you were great with gadgets and stuff and thought you could help". She eyed him questionably; surprised he even remembered that much about her. "It's my laptop. I spilled a latte on it and was wondering if anything could be recovered."
She took the battered computer from him and chuckled under her breath at its appearance.
"Really? Cause these look like bullet holes."
Oliver shrugged it off, throwing a feeble excuse about his coffee shop being on a bad neighborhood and flashing a charming smile.
He was playing the playboy card, one that had worked all too well years ago, but this Felicity wouldn't fall for that. Instead she focused on the laptop, cringing at how destroyed it looked. Manhandled computers were her kryptonite. Oliver eyed her as she worked; deeply thankful she hadn't call on his lie.
A few minutes passed in silence until she stopped working, a deep furrow appearing between her brows.
"How did you know where to find me?"
Oliver froze unsure of how to answer her without making her mad. It seemed like his brain malfunctioned whenever he was around her, as he proved with his latte excuse.
"Back then we didn't tell each other much. You didn't even knew my last name".
From his silence she got her answer.
"You knew who I was?"
Oliver smiled sheepishly.
"I'm sorry. My family's security detail found out about us and insisted on a background check. They said it was a standard procedure. I couldn't say no."
"And you didn't think I should know that?" He simply gave her a pointed look, knowing mumbling another apology wasn't going to help much. She huffed at his silence, "of course, I shouldn't be surprised; you and your secrets."
He was slightly hurt at her words, though he couldn't deny it; she wasn't wrong. He was keeping more from her than ever before, half his life now being lived in the shadows. He wished he could let her in but he was still figuring it out all himself, still testing the waters with her, to see if she was who he remembered. She was even better.
He had been drawn to her back then. First by her looks, then her wit and tenderness had latched onto his heart, though at the time he hadn't known how to handle it. It wasn't until everything was lost, in the solitude of the island, that he really thought about them. Back then he had been a man of action, the few words he spat out were mostly lies to get what he wanted; except with her.
From the moment they met she never asked anything from him. Not his motives, his money, fame, not even his name. She didn't expect anything in return nor had a secret agenda. Felicity Smoak was only interested in him, and that had been a refreshing change in a world where everyone tried to pick him apart.
Over their few weeks together he had ached for more, running away from Laurel's side, feeling smothered and craving the easiness of his thing with Felicity. It wasn't really a relationship, really. Neither had labeled it but in many ways the level of intimacy they had shared topped many of his previous partners. He had told her about his family, even the dark parts hardly anyone knew. She had been open, inviting, not judgmental and wiser beyond her years. Felicity Smoak was something else and he knew he didn't deserve her, not then and not now.
"Oliver…" she said hesitantly, drawing his attention. "I'll work on it… Are you okay?"
She couldn't help herself. Even through the anger and dark place having Oliver back in her life meant she wasn't blind to the broken man that stood before her. One moment he was fake smiling the next he was deep in thought, worried lines on his forehead, the confidence that defined him before now simply an act.
Oliver pondered her question for moment, his rehearsed answer of 'I'm fine' dying on his lips. He didn't want to lie to her, no more than he did his family but, unlike them, he didn't want her to think of him as he was before the island. The shell of a man that came back wasn't enough either, but he was intent on apologizing and letting her know she wasn't just a few heated nights in his memory.
"No. But I will be" blue eyes met; no mask in place, letting her see a glimpse of the real him.
She gave him a slight nod, appreciating his honesty. Oliver hesitated, wishing to stay with her but sensing her discomfort. He couldn't rush this, no matter how bad he wanted to. With one final smile he turned around and walked away, leaving a confused Felicity behind.
Once again she slumped back in her seat, his laptop pressed against her chest. This Oliver seemed like an opposite to the boy she remembered; cautious, apologetic, guarded, remorseful. As much as she wanted she couldn't drive him away, she was equally captivated and curious about him, wanting to peel off the layers that seemed to cover this new self.
Yet she couldn't get too close. She knew how easy and oh so wonderful it was to fall for Oliver Queen, but also how devastating hitting the ground had been; those memories as clear in her mind as their happy ones.
No, she would let him come closer, hear him out. They were adults now, after all. She would be civil and read him out, secretly seeking the part of Oliver she had heard on that damn message.
Forgiveness didn't come easy for her, but forgetting was ever harder.
