Last Chapter's Song: Weekend - Priory

As always, thank you tdgal1 for just being amazing.


Oliver woke up early in the morning. Well, early for him. He hadn't been able to sleep much since he returned home from the incident at QC. As soon as he walked into his house, his mother had interrogated him with questions on what had happened. While it was awkward to tell her that Felicity Smoak had come running to his side at midnight, it was even more uncomfortable to explain that the police had no intention of looking into the whole ordeal. Really, it wasn't something that Oliver wanted to dwell on, but he did want to know who sent the note. His mother, of course, had become hysterical when she found out that the police weren't going to do anything; and, they didn't even offer to give him protection. He got dressed and hoped he could avoid his mother before he snuck out to see Tommy. Unfortunately, when he came down the large staircase, he was greeted by none other than Moira Queen along with a man who he had never met before.

"Mom, I'm fine. I was just going out to meet Tommy," Oliver assured her before trying to move past the group. While he could stay and deal with his mother, he wasn't in the mood to handle anybody. He just wanted to talk to his friend and get away from what had become his new reality.

"Oliver, I'd like to meet John Diggle," ignoring him, she went ahead and made introductions, "he'll be protecting you until everything is figured out."

"What? Mom, I don't need a bodyguard," he stopped in his tracks and sized up the man. The suit he was wearing didn't quite hide all of his muscles. He had a serious expression on his face and held a very stern stature. The man looked like one of the Men In Black characters straight out of a movie.

"Sweetheart, you really do until this threat is addressed appropriately. I wouldn't be a very good mother if I didn't address your safety," she gave him an encouraging smile.

"John Diggle, nice to meet you," the man introduced himself. He reached out his hand for a greeting.

"I really don't see the need for this. But, if it has to be this way, then he'll have to come to Big Belly for lunch while I meet up with Tommy," Oliver really didn't understand why a body guard was required. It wasn't like there was an immediate threat to his life. Plus, he just wanted to hang out with his friends; not become a typical rich boy.

"I'm sure that can be arranged," Moira smiled, thanked Diggle briefly, then left.

Oliver looked at the body guard named Diggle up and down. He wondered what had made the guy take the position in the first place. He was certainly built to be a bodyguard. If Oliver had to guess, he'd say the man was ex-military. There wasn't any doubt that Diggle could perform his duties, but the idea of having someone follow him around was unsettling. A bodyguard wasn't needed; it was excessive for what had happened. There was a threat, yes; but, it wasn't like anyone had actively tried to kill him. Yet.

"So, Big Belly Burger. My sister-in-law works there," Diggle said. He followed Oliver to the town car and got into the front seat to drive. Oliver would usually take one of his 'babies', however since he had a tail, it seemed more realistic to take the town car instead. He sat in the backseat for a change and put on his seatbelt. The town car wasn't often used by the Queen family since they all had their licenses and didn't frequently use a driver. He was surprised to find that they still owned the car.

"I meet Tommy there for lunch all the time." Oliver figured he may as well talk to the man since it didn't seem like he was going anywhere anytime soon.

"They make a good burger," Diggle drove down the driveway and pulled onto the streets.

"So, what do I call you?" Oliver asked.

"Diggle. Dig for short. Whichever."

"Right. So, how exactly does this work? I mean are you going to follow me into bathrooms and clubs?" Oliver played with the window button and fidgeted with the hem of his shirt. It felt odd to be in a moving vehicle and not operate it. That was something he'd have to get used to.

"I'll stand outside of the bathroom, but I'll be with you just about anywhere else. But, just to make things clear: I'm not your maid. I won't be catering to your every whim. I'm only here to protect you," the man's voice became incredibly serious, but he never broke eye contact with the road.

Oliver really didn't know what to say to that, so he turned to the window, staring at the city around him. As if the threat wasn't bad enough, now he had to deal with a stalker body guard. The police made it very clear that they weren't going to look further into the threat. They were certain it was just another one of Oliver's lovers out for revenge. However, when Walter talked to Oliver about it, he had warned him that the threat may be worse than it seemed. Oliver really didn't know what to make of the whole situation.

Then, Felicity had shown up and it made it just that more confusing. He really didn't want her involved with any of it if there was even the slightest chance of danger. So, he brushed her off as soon as he could in hopes she would just go home. Far, far away from any potential danger. Oliver may not cater to girls, but he didn't want them hurt either. And Felicity, who most certainly was not like any of the other girls, had no business being involved in anything of malice. She was pure, and beautiful inside and out.

The car stopped, alerting him that they had arrived at their destination. Oliver jumped out of the car so fast, that Diggle barely had a chance to take the keys out of the ignition to follow him. When he walked into the diner, he found Tommy already seated and shamelessly flirting with the waitress. He took a seat across from his hopeless friend and let out a long, exasperated sigh.

"Hey, I heard someone finally wanted to take you off the grid," Tommy casually greeted him.

"Why does everyone say that? For once, I'd like someone to not be surprised at the apparent hit on me," Oliver saw his body guard take a seat in the booth next to their table.

"I'd like to be surprised, but with us, it was just a matter of time," Tommy explained.

"Yeah, well, I may have burnt a lot of girls, but none of them seemed crazy enough to try and off me," Oliver waved over the waitress who was doing her hardest to ignore Tommy.

"Dude, did you ever spend enough time with a girl to even know if she was crazy?" Tommy tossed a fry into his mouth, chasing it with a long guzzle of soda.

"Fair enough. Look, can we just not talk about it? I've been doing enough thinking about it to last a lifetime." Oliver ordered his usual meal; a burger with a side of fries.

"Why are you deeply thinking about it? Planning on solving it yourself?" Tommy laughed while checking out the waitress as she walked away from their table.

"No," Oliver said defensively, "I'm thinking about Felicity. She came to QC last night to check on me."

"What?!" Tommy practically joked on his drink, "Seriously, the girls just can't stay away from you."

"It's not like that. I was surprised and happy to see her, but Walter said that I might actually be in danger from this note. So I ended up pushing her away so she wouldn't get hurt." Oliver took a moment to actually realize what he was saying. He knew those were his thoughts on the subject, but to say them aloud to his friend made them so much more real and almost validated his behavior from last night.

"You pushed her away," Tommy looked at Oliver inquisitively and took another bite of his meal.

"Only to protect her. I think. Besides, it's not like she really cared about me. She's a business partner," Oliver defended himself. Though, the excuse fell short on his own ears. Really, he couldn't think of an adequate reason for his behavior. Rationally, he knew that Felicity would be in just as much danger if he had stayed longer or not, but he just needed to get away from her. Maybe he didn't need to be so rude, but he wasn't really thinking at that moment. Everything had become so unbelievably complicated in a relatively short amount of time.

"If she comes running to your side at midnight, she likes you. No business partner of my dad's would come running to his side for the weekly death threats he receives. None that aren't sleeping with him, I mean." Tommy gave Oliver a very pointed look. He eyed the waitress across from them seductively and waggled his eyebrows when she turned to look at the two. Unsurprisingly, he was awarded a disgusted look and a frustrated sigh.

"Whatever, I'm just saying, it's best for all of us I keep my distance and put everything behind me. I'm seeing Laurel anyway," Oliver played with the straw to his drink. He looked over to Dig and found that he had ordered a meal as well and was talking to the poor waitress that Tommy had sexually assaulted with his eyes intently.

"Better for her? Or better for you?" Tommy flashed him a coy smile, "Look, you distance yourself from any girl who could actually mean something. And honestly, I've never seen you react to a girl the way you do with Felicity. Plus, you've never used Laurel as an excuse not to be around another girl. Unless the girl was ugly; and, trust me, Felicity is no where near ugly."

"Didn't I say I didn't want to talk about this?" Oliver angrily splashed some more ketchup in his basket of fries. Tommy held up his hands in mock surrender.

"Fine, fine. We'll talk about something else. Like, why did that guy over there follow you in and is now staring us down?" Tommy pointed over to Dig's direction.

"My mom freaked out and hired me a babysitter. So, he's supposed to follow me around and protect me." Disregarding the idea of a bodyguard, Oliver answered his best friend.

"Protect you from what? The evil note senders?" Tommy joked.

"More likely the person behind the note. But, whatever, it's not like I really need him." Oliver shrugged his shoulders and looked in Dig's direction again. The waitress had come back to his table and the two seemed to exchange some friendly banter.

"Looks like he's having more luck with the ladies than we are," Tommy pointed out.

"That might be his sister-in-law," Oliver concluded.

"Wow. No wonder I wasn't scoring with her," said Tommy.

"Or you just need to up your game," Oliver joked.

Tommy smirked and ate the last bite of his sandwich. Even though Tommy had eaten all his food, Oliver's basket was still somewhat full. So, they threw some more jabs at their romantic endeavors. Then, Oliver and Tommy collectively decided to head back to the Queen's mansion for a movie and maybe a swim in the pool. Of course, as usual, the two planned to go to the club later that night. Even if he wasn't able to confront his problems, Oliver could certainly try to drink his problems away.

Later that night at the club, Oliver and Tommy were sitting in their normal booth in the back enjoying themselves immensely. Oliver had long since ditched his bodyguard at the front door. Much like one would check a coat in before entering an event. While the man was just doing his job, Oliver seriously doubted anyone would actually try to kill him at a crowded nightclub. The place was packed and the music was deafening. While it was quite dark in the club, it was highly populated. Unless he was planning on partying in the back alleyways, Oliver felt he was decently safe from harm. That was until Laurel showed up. With the intent to get drunk, Oliver ordered another round when he saw her walking in their direction.

"What are you doing? Following me?" Oliver slurred. He was tipsy, but he was positive he hadn't alerted her to his whereabouts. If anything, he was more likely to forget about her while drunk.

"No. I just figured this is where you'd be. I wanted to see if you were okay after last night," Laurel sat down beside Oliver and completely invaded his personal space. She snuggled into his shoulder while he anxiously tried to crawl away.

"So you waited 24 hours after the fact?" Oliver took a huge swig of his drink. He tried to move away from Laurel, but every time he moved, Laurel followed.

Honestly, Oliver wasn't really sure why he kept Laurel around. It wasn't anything that she did, it was more about him not being genuinely interested in their relationship anymore. If it took that long for Laurel to even show up or ask how he was doing after his life was threatened, then he wasn't really interested in pretending that everything was okay. Felicity came the minute it happened, and he wasn't even dating her. In fact, he had been quite rude to her. Yet, she still showed up to his rescue. Then, like the horrible person he was, he shoved her away. It was for her safety though, right? That's what he kept telling himself.

"I couldn't find you sooner," Laurel pouted.

"Yes, because my house is so hard to find," Oliver said sardonically. Two could play at that game.

"Well, I just now had a chance to come," she batted her eyes at him.

Oliver really didn't see the point of entertaining the conversation any further. He was running out of energy to put up with her. Instead of validating her blatant lies with a response, he downed his drink and called out to the server for another round. Oliver scanned the room for Tommy in a desperate attempt to look anywhere but in Laurel's direction. If he were being honest with himself, talking to Laurel was becoming a chore. It wasn't like Laurel was actually invested into their relationship. She seemed perfectly happy with her position as a trophy wife. Unfortunately, he wasn't in the position to call her out on the meaningless relationship. So, he was stuck with the fighting and nagging until one of them cried uncle. He was going to need a lot more alcohol if she was going to be staying.

"Look, Ollie, I just want us to go back to normal. Everything was fine with us before you decided to go off and sleep with that blonde slut," Laurel leaned over and played with his hair between her fingers.

"What blonde slut?" Oliver thought for a moment, "You mean Felicity?"

"Sure, whatever her name is. Why couldn't you just stick to your normal tramps?"

Laurel was so close to him she might as well have been sitting on his lap.

Oliver took a moment to actually think before speaking. This was Felicity they were talking about; he needed to proceed with caution. Plus, her last question really got him to think. Why didn't he just go for the regular girl he slept with? Why was Felicity different? He was rendered completely speechless and lost the brain cells he had left every time he was around her. To think that this girl had so much control over him was baffling; he didn't even sleep with her! Oliver was still recovering from his reeling mind when Tommy came over with a new drink concoction in his hand.

"Hello, hello. I have what I like to call: dementia. Because when we think this, no one will remember anything!" Tommy placed a cup in front of each of them, pouring a heavy amount of the purple-ish substance into them.

"Um. Thanks Tommy," Oliver managed to get out, but, it sounded more like a question.

"What are we talking about?" Tommy asked ignoring the questioning looks his two companions were giving the drink. He took a huge gulp of his own and slammed the cup back on the table with gusto.

"Why Ollie decided to sleep with 'Felicity'," Laurel said the name as if it were poison on her tongue.

"Felicity? Oh, Oliver didn't sleep with her," Tommy pointed out after another long gulp of the drink.

"Really? You sleep with everyone so that's hard for me to believe. Why wouldn't you jump at the chance to sleep with her?" Laurel gave Oliver a pointed look. She gently pushed the drink away.

"Probably because Felicity won't let him near her with a ten-foot pole," Tommy laughed while finishing his drink off, going for Laurel's next.

"Not true," Oliver adamantly denied, "she just doesn't want to have sex. Or probably be near me after last night."

"So you have feelings for this girl?" Laurel asked, looking angrier by the minute.

"No. Yes. I don't know. She's just there; and, she makes me confused every time we're together," Oliver stumbled through his explanation.

"You know; I could handle all the side projects because I knew they didn't mean anything. But, I won't stand for you actually caring about another girl the way you're supposed to care about me," Laurel stood up from the booth and collected her belongings. "Once you reevaluate yourself and your decisions, come back to me."

While Oliver didn't want Laurel to stay, he wasn't thrilled at the prospect of having another argument either. So, in choosing the lesser evil, he let her go without a fight. Dealing with Laurel always proved to be taxing, and this night had been even more exhausting than usual. He slouched against the back of the booth in defeat before looking to Tommy as if he held all the answers.

"Look at that! Seems like you need more help in the relationship avenue than I do." Tommy pointed out. With those words of realization, Oliver took his drink of dementia and inhaled it in one go.

By early morning, Oliver and Tommy had drunk countless concoctions and were well past inebriated. That was when he decided calling Laurel was a good idea. When the ninth call told him she wasn't going to be picking up anytime soon; so, he called the next person on his contact list. After three rings, a very groggy voice came on the line, "Oliver? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine! I'm at Poison tonight!" Oliver shouted loudly into the phone. He heard a wince on the other end before the voice continued.

"So, nothing's wrong?" the voice grew from concerned to agitated.

"Other than all the alcohol I've ingested which might lead to alcohol poisoning; nothing that I can think of." Oliver laughed and brought another cup of sludge to his mouth. There was hesitation on the other end of the line.

"Do you know how much sleep I've gotten in the past three days?" the person was definitely angry now.

"No?" Oliver was confused as to what the question meant and why it had been asked.

"I know you don't. Because if you did, you wouldn't be calling me at 2 am," the voice cut him off. "Why are you calling me anyway?"

"I don't know. I just called the people on my contact list. You picked up." He looked at the phone screen. After clearing his eyes and concentrating for a bit, he realized he had called Felicity. At 2 o'clock in the morning.

"So, the lesson learned is don't pick up my phone for you after eleven pm,"she sounded wide awake and serious.

"I guess? I didn't mean to call you. You looked like you needed sleep. But, since I have you on the phone, maybe we could talk?" Oliver smiled.

"Usually I love talking, but it's 2 am. I'm going to pass on the, what I'm sure would be riveting, conversation and go back to sleep," she was just about to hang up when Oliver spoke up again.

"Wait! Maybe I could sing you a song? They've been playing a lot of songs that made me think of you," he smiled a goofy grin and motioned for Tommy to come over. "Tommy! I have Felicity on the phone!" He redirected his attention to the other guy in the club and ineffectively tried to cover the speaker on his phone.

"That's wonderful!" Tommy was genuinely excited, "Maybe you can tell her how you feel now?"

"No man," Oliver slurred back, "I'm gonna sing her a love song. Will you sing with me?"

"Only if you promise not to tell anyone." Tommy sat next to Oliver in their booth and pushed a freshly filled cup in front of his friend.

"I promise; what song should we sing?" Oliver took a swig at the drink while looking at Tommy with anticipation.

"How about that lion song?" Tommy suggested.

"What lion song? You mean the one from Lion King?" Oliver tried to think of all the other love songs that included lions, but failed.

"Exactly! I think it goes: can you feel the love tonight," Tommy had burst into song. Loud enough that Felicity could hear. Oliver joined in quickly and when they got to the second verse, they made up words and disgruntled sounds since they didn't know the correct lyrics. It sounded like a cat had gotten stuck in the dryer. Multiple patrons stopped to look at their performance just because they couldn't believe two people could sing so off key. For some reason, Felicity stayed on the phone, whether it was due to curiosity or blackmail for later, neither party would know. The horrible duet ended dramatically off key, and Oliver asked Felicity how they did with anticipation.

"You did wonderful. Go try out for American Idol or whatever singing competition is out there now. I'm going to bed," Felicity was about to hang up when she heard Oliver's voice come back. It was the soberest he had sounded the whole conversation.

"Wait, Felicity. I chose that song just for you. I may not know if I love you, but I know you're different than any of the other girls I've met. Laurel left me tonight, most likely for good. And I just want you to know; I care about you. I only pushed you away last night because I don't want you to get hurt because of me. But, maybe just being around me will hurt you. I hurt all of the girls that try to get close to me; I don't want to hurt you. I want to love you. So, will you give me a chance?" Oliver's voice became sincerer as he went on. By the end of his declaration, his voice was so quiet that Felicity had to strain her ears to hear him. She took a long moment to digest the words before she responded.

"Oliver, you're drunk and I'm exhausted. Let's just table this conversation until we're both of sound mind." She paused and chose her words carefully. "Goodnight Oliver, I'll see you later." She hung up the phone leaving Oliver with Tommy.

"Dude, that was deep." Tommy pointed out; still slurring his words. Like a bull in a china room, he picked up his mug of the newest concoction and swung it around before moving it to his lips.

"Do you think she'll stay around?" Oliver asked, a look of desperation firmly planted on his face.

"I don't know. But, you gave it your all," Tommy threw back the rest of his drink, "one thing's for sure, if she runs away, it was probably because of our singing."


AN: So, no answers yet. But we have a Diggle!

New Ch every Sunday. and this is X posted on AO3.