A/N: I just want to apologise for not getting this up yesterday, I had a work meeting and lets just say I didn't have the time. Also next week I am on vacation so you'll get chapter 5 this Sunday :)... now as usual thanks to all of you! and especially fangirlfromthenorthcountry because Felicity's backstory is all her :)... so Enjoy!


"And cut," Malcolm bellowed as Felicity stood from her computer.

Curtis stared at her with a small frown. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeh I'm fine," she responded instantly, smiling despite how she really felt. He gave her a sad smile without saying another word.

"Wrap for lunch guys," Sara shouted as the masses seemed to slowly disperse. Felicity could feel eyes on her. She knew it would be like this after everything, all those whispers and rumours. She sighed as she slowly walked back to her trailer. She was so wrapped up in her own mind she never noticed anyone until she collided fully into a mass, sending herself and whoever the person was possessions hurtling to the floor. She landed with a thud, but quickly rushed to her knees scrambling to pick up the other person's stuff.

"I'm so sorry, I really need to pay more atte-"

"Felicity," Oliver's voice cut through as he placed a hand on her shoulder. He knelt down beside her as she was frantically rushing to pick up the books, prospectuses of colleges and business schools.

"Sorry, I'm..." She fumbled as she tried to pile them and quickly his hands covered hers stopping her dead.

"Hey it's fine," he said it so softly but she couldn't look at him. She felt his hand squeezing hers softly as he ever so gently stood up, he offered her his hand helping her up before he scooped up his books.

"Thanks," she said still not looking at him directly. "Going back to school?" she asked trying to engage in conversation.

"Well... I..." He sighed but she could feel him staring at her. "How about we get lunch?"

"I don't feel like eating in the hall to be honest. I kind of want to be alone," she responded looking at her feet.

"How about I be alone with you?" She looked up then completely shocked and confused by his behaviour. She expected to see sympathy, some form of cockiness but all she saw was understanding and concern.

"What do you want Oliver?"

"To make sure my frien- coworker is okay," he answered with a small shrug.

"You've not been this bothered so far, so what changed?" she asked bluntly.

"How about we go to my trailer? I'll order us food and we can talk, start over?" She stared at him for awhile trying to figure out his ulterior motive, but she was tired of pretending she was fine, and tired of the paparazzi with their never ending stories.

"Okay."

"Okay?" he asked with genuine surprise.

"Don't make me change my mind Mr Queen," she answered trying to joke.

"Well right this way Miss Smoak," he said ushering her towards his trailer.


Oliver opened the door for her to step in, it was almost identical to hers but with a few more possessions thrown around. She frowned noting how manly the space seemed before she thought of something, well someone else.

"Laurel? Won't she kind of go, well, crazy if she finds me in here? Not like we're doing anything because FYI we are not," Felicity rambled in one breathe as Oliver smiled.

"Laurel... isn't here and she won't be turning up anytime soon. Like I said Felicity I want to start over." He placed his books down on the counter picking up various articles of clothing from around the space. "Is there anything in particular you wanna eat?"

"Big Belly burger would be nice but that's doubtful."

He laughed then as he smiled. "Next time I'll make sure we have that, I'll order whatever there is any dietary needs or-"

"No nuts, I'm allergic."

"Got it." He nodded, still picking up clothing. "You make yourself at home, I'll just put these away and order." She nodded as she sheepishly moved to sit on the couch. Oliver quickly turned the TV on as he rushed into the back room, a small bedroom of sorts.

Felicity glanced around the space more properly, there were no photos or homely decorations. There seemed to be a lot of promotional pieces hanging around but nothing personal.

The TV voices caught her attention. "So Gem, the latest scandal in the celebrity world is that of Miss Felicity Smoak, or should we be saying her Miss Felicity Kuttler."

"It transpired last week that Miss Smoak is in fact the daughter of Donna Kuttler, world famed actress, who went into retirement and disappeared after her husband, and Miss Smoaks father, swindled thousands of dollars from the studios back in the day."

"So the question is why did Miss Smoak keep all this a secret? Was it to protect herself? Was it that she wanted to succeed in a world without her mother's influence? Or was it fear of judgement with her father?"

"The truth is we truly don't know, with Miss Smoak currently busy filming she has yet to even release a statement about it all."

"So naturally we're all left to speculate-" Suddenly the screen went blank and Felicity blinked fighting back the tears.

She looked up to see Oliver stood there the remote in hand as he stared at her. "I'm sorry I forgot that was the last show they had on," he mumbled.

"It's fine," she responded shifting awkwardly. "Don't you have to film later?"

"No, they're filming Roy's big scenes today."

"Oh, well why are you onset?"

He ran a hand at the back of his neck as he sat on the opposite end of the sofa. "I... I like to connect to the role, watch how things go... Contrary to popular belief here I like to get to know my coworkers."

"Is that why Diggle speaks highly of you?" Felicity asked.

"He... he's known me for years. He's a friend, a really good close friend in this world. You look like you could use one."

"I'm fine, nothing a little makeup can't cover." She gestured to her face trying to make light of the situation.

"You don't have to pretend with me," he whispered. "I understand."

"You understand what exactly? What it's like to grow up without your dad because he valued money over his family? What it was like to hide our identity because the paparazzi never left my mom alone when my dad was arrested? Or is it that you just know what it's like to be all over the news?" She snapped unable to help herself.

He shot his hands up in defence. "Hey, I... I'm just trying to help."

"Help or take advantage?" she asked genuinely confused.

He sighed heavily. "Felicity, I'm... I wouldn't take advantage of anyone, especially not you." She frowned then unsure what he meant when there was a knock at the door. Oliver gave an exasperated sigh as he went over to it. He returned quickly with two cartons of food; he handed her one with a napkin and fork before he took his seat again.


They sat in silence. Felicity barely touched her food merely pushing it around the container, her mind was too distracted to focus on eating. It wasn't until she heard Oliver's cough that she realised she'd been staring at her food for a long time.

"I know you have no reason to trust me, and I haven't exactly been the best coworker, but I'd like to change that," he spoke softly. "I don't want you to think you have to go through all of this alone, and I know you probably aren't but I am always here to talk to." Felicity just stared at him blankly unsure if to fully trust the man she could see, he wasn't like the man everyone else including herself had seen before.

"I just... You're... You but not you..."

He huffed out a small laugh at her random sentence. "There is more to me, as I suspect there is with everyone, than I let people see." She merely nodded as silence fell once more. She could feel Oliver's nervous energy as he shifted around. "I might not understand exactly what you went through Felicity but I... My parents own a company, a big one."

"Queen Consolidated," she supplied easily from memory.

"Yeh." He ran a hand nervously at the back of his neck. "Well my parents obsession was the business, they wanted me to get a business degree and take over when they retired. It was expected." Felicity nodded as Oliver sat there nervously. "I never used to see my parents, they worked all hours and then when I did see them it was at galas and big events." He sighed heavily not looking at her. "My parents were right there but it felt like they never were, so I acted out. I dropped out of every college, I never got the degree and now they're pushing me into doing it again." He gestured towards the books on the counter. "I don't want that, I never have..."

"How'd you get into acting then?" Felicity mused out loud. "Sorry that was really nosey."

"No, no it's fine. I used to mess around with a lot of the drama students."

"By students you mean the females."

"Yeh," he said sheepishly. "But I enjoyed it, some of them managed to convince me to go to this amateur dramatics place. I really enjoyed it, but there was no way I could tell my parents, I was already all over the press as the billionaire playboy bad boy. So nobody took it seriously apart from Diggle, he saw potential when he taught a class and since then he's helped me."

"And your parents?"

"Kicked me out and cut me off. We still talk, I still see my baby sister Thea and go to meals, attend a few important events but mainly we live separate lives."

"I'm sorry," Felicity responded staring at him.

He frowned. "You have nothing to be sorry about, it was just how it was."

"No I get that, I'm sorry for snapping."

"I'm used to it," he joked. "I've not exactly gave you the best impression or really anyone on this set but I want to change that."

She nodded. "Okay."

"You're gonna give me a second chance that easily?"

"You just shared a part of your life with me, you haven't exactly been in the press for anything too bad in awhile like you said. So you're worthy of a second chance in my eyes."

"Thank you." His smile engulfed his face, his eyes sparkled, and he just looked truly happy. So despite it all Felicity found herself smiling back, maybe he truly could be the friend Diggle saw.

"I guess you already know my story," she said gesturing to the TV.

"It's been on a lot but I guess I learnt a long time ago the press don't know it all."

"They're right," she answered. "10 years ago, my dad was caught having embezzled thousands of dollars from the studio in which he worked in the tech department. He was married to my mother who is Donna Kuttler, she... she was hounded by press we both were, so she retired, my dad went to prison and we disappeared to retain our privacy, we travelled a lot."

"Must have been hard."

"Yeh I was 12, but I didn't tell people because I was scared, I just... Me and mum changed to her maiden name, so we became Smoaks. I didn't want mums influence to affect people's decisions. I wanted to go out there as just plain old Felicity. Just like you wanted to."
He reached over and placed his hand over hers. "I get it. So why don't we show the world plain old Felicity?"

"Huh?" She pulled away from his touch instantly missing his warmth.

"Social media these days can be a great tool to connect to people that matter quickly."

"I know that, I've also seen your facebook page. Doesn't that get managed?"

"Sometimes, depends how busy I am, but if I want to say something important I put it out there and with facebook live now, it's even better."

"So basically you think I should post this on facebook?"

"You have facebook right?"

"Yes, but my manager tends to deal with that."

"Well I suggest we hash out a statement here and contact your agent."

"You'd help me do that?" She was still in wonder at this sudden change in him.

"I told you I'm trying to start again, and I mean it," he said tenderly.

"Okay." She nodded in agreement.


Felicity was sat in her trailer, she didn't much feel like dealing with the press just yet. Her and Oliver had come up with a statement, they recorded it themselves, and then sent it to Ray so he could give the approval to post it. She felt she had intruded on Oliver too much so she left for her trailer where she'd fallen asleep. She opened her eyes rubbing them softly noting how the sky had started to darken. She stood up finally changing out her character's outfit into a comfortable dress and flats as she changed her contacts for her glasses. There was a gentle tap on her door so she made her way over pulling it open.

She blinked a couple of times at Oliver stood there in a pair of jeans and a white dress shirt. His features seemed to be illuminated in the dwindling light but she shook her head pushing away the thoughts of how handsome he looked.

"Have you seen the news? Or heard from Ray?"

"I fell asleep, I haven't..." She turned back inside grabbing her phone to see several missed calls from Ray, her mother and various other people. She sighed. "What happened?"

"He posted the video." Oliver smiled. "And the press seemed to be quite impressed." He stepped into the space with her, showing her his phone.

"Miss Smoak clearly knows how to utilise her time and social media by releasing her own video statement on the scandal surrounding her," the presenter said.

"The video can be found on her facebook page, so what do you think Gem?"

"She apologised for not replying sooner and even apologised for keeping it all private. She said she wanted to keep her mother's work separate to her own and wanted to live out of her shadow. She even stated that she never mentioned her father because he had not been a part of her life for 10 years now, and that he hurt a lot of people, but mostly she said she'd like to move forward in her career, and put the past behind her where it belonged."

"So what does that mean?"

"I like Miss Smoak, and I think that she was trying to find a way to get her perspective across in a genuine unfiltered way, which a journalist couldn't twist. I feel that this young woman deserves praise and mostly her privacy on these matters to be respected." Oliver turned his phone away smiling at her.

"So?" he asked a little nervously.

"Thank you!" She didn't even think as she pushed onto her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck. She could smell his cologne and feel his arms band around her middle until it hit her how close they were. She pulled away in a flash, her cheeks burning slightly as she stood looking at him. "Thank you, seriously I hope that at least calms the press down."

"My pleasure." He said softly. "I was wondering if you would like to accompany me and the rest of the cast to a local place. Just for food, drink and a good time, I spoke with Malcolm who agreed we all deserved a little break tonight."

"Well if the boss agrees, I can't possibly say no." She smiled warmly.

"Good," He responded stepping out. "Want to share a car?" She nodded as she grabbed her purse and phone, sending a quick message to both her mother and Ray.


When they got to the place, the paparazzi were waiting having followed the other cast members. But oddly Felicity wasn't fazed it felt kind of natural to be sat beside Oliver, who was instantly out the car and opening the door for her. He kept his distance making sure to not touch her in any intimate place that the press my misinterpret, but she couldn't help but smile as they walked inside. It seemed like a studio space that someone had decorated for them. The tables were set out and a bar, plus a mini stage with a DJ and dance floor. The rest of the cast and many crew were sat chatting with drinks in hand.

"Can I get you a drink?" Oliver asked.

"Red wine." She nodded enthusiastically as she walked over to join the group.

"Felicity!" Curtis shouted waving.

"We saved you a seat," Roy added pointing between the pair. She nodded smiling as she joined them.

She noticed Diggle sat opposite with a woman tucked into his side. "Felicity this is my wife Lyla, Lyla this is Felicity."

"Nice to meet you, I've heard wonderful things about you," Lyla said shaking her hand.

"Wow, thanks. I think your husband is the wonderful one, he's done nothing but help me to fit in here."

"That sounds like my Johnny," She said softly placing a kiss to his lips.

"I see the press seem to finally be on your side," Sara spoke as she sat on the table beside them.

"That's thanks to Oliver." All of them looked a little stunned. "Yeh he also arranged all this." She gestured around.

"I guess you're a good influence on him then," Diggle said smiling at her.

"Yep." Sara beamed.

Just then a glass of red wine was placed before her. She glanced up to see Oliver leaning over her. "Thank you," she answered.

"No problem." He scooted between the two tables sitting beside Diggle, opposite her.

"So what is all this about then Ollie?" Sara asked leaning over to him.

Oliver stood up, tapping his beer bottle. "I just wanted to do this as a little thank you for working so hard and for putting up with me." The group laughed a little. "I know I'm not always the easiest person to get on with, but I wanted to take the time to say I appreciate everyone of you and as a lead actor I want to be able to get to know you all a little better. So enjoy, this evening is on me." The group cheered and whooped as an array of waiters appeared. They were all carrying a silver platter and placed them in front of everyone before they all pulled the lids off to reveal a Big Belly Burger deluxe, fries and shake. Felicity couldn't help but laugh. She stared at Oliver once again thanking him. He nodded smiling as the group tucked into their meals, and had the best start to an amazing evening.