Hey guys, I know it's been a long time, and I wish I could use school as my only excuse, but I can't, but I will say writer's block has been a pain. But clearly, I got through it because I am posting this. I hope you enjoy it and please let me know what you think!
Previously on When Ghosts Come Back to Haunt:
"BECAUSE YOU'RE ALL DEAD"
"What?" Moira asks stunned.
Oliver's eyes bulge, realizing what he just said.
"What do you mean dead?" Laurel almost screeches.
"I-" Oliver stutters trying to find a way to recover from this disaster. "No… well yes."
"Well which is it Ollie, yes or no?" Tommy demands.
"Oliver? What's with all the yelling?" Felicity asks tiredly while rubbing her eyes, as she enters the room.
The moment he hears the familiar voice that saves him from trouble, he turns and sends her an SOS.
Seeing the tension in his posture and face, she immediately meets his eyes and sees the look of someone who has just screwed up.
"What's wrong?"
All while the husband and wife share a silent conversation through the language of their eyes, everything begins to make sense to Laurel.
"Now everything makes sense. The reason why I'm not here is because I'm not alive. Which means that, you" she says pointing to Felicity, "are my sloppy seconds."
"What? No" Oliver says immediately. "Ok look, yes you are all… dead."
"But?" Tommy asks.
"But nothing, there's nothing else to tell."
"Well, how about how we kicked the bucket, because I'm still young."
"I-I can't tell you that. It would screw –
"Things up, yeah we got it." Tommy mumbles. "Whatever."
"Tommy where are you going?"
"I need to process my whole demise, considering that I don't actually die late in my 80's from over alcoholism."
"That's not a thing" Felicity says confused.
"Well Felicity, it was a sure plan, so it was going to be a thing." And with that he leaves the room.
Turning back to the three others, he starts to say something, when Laurel holds up her hand.
"Save it. Just save it." And with that she is gone.
"Mom. Dad. Say something, anything, please."
"Well it's not overall surprising, I suppose." Robert mutters under his breath.
"Robert, don't say that" Moira comes to comfort.
"Isn't it Moira, I mean-" And then he abruptly stops when he remembers that they're not the only ones in the room.
Finally meeting Oliver's eyes for the first time, he pats his son's shoulder and says. "Thank you, for telling us." And then leaves the room with Moira following close behind.
"Well, that went well." Felicity says looking over to her confused husband.
A couple days pass, with everyone slowly coming to terms with the truth. They all keep their distance, and Oliver understands, but it slowly kills him inside knowing that he was the one to cause this pain. It almost feels like he has lost them all over again, and he hates it.
Felicity can see the conflict within him, and knows the only way she can help him, is by being ready to be there for him, when he is.
As the days drag on, he sees himself seeing the cement walls of the lair more than the chestnut hardwood floors of his home. He throws himself into finding Slade, with John, Roy and the rest of team Flash.
On the fourth night of silence from his loved ones, he decides to bury himself in what he does best, a good workout.
So right after dinner, he stands up, puts the dishes away and whispers to Felicity.
"I'm gonna go check on the progress. Hold down the fort?"
She softly nods "yeah". And he kisses the top of her head, right before doing the same to his son.
When he leaves, she looks over to her messy little man. "Alright bath time, little boy.
After his bath, she dresses him and tucks him into bed.
"I love you this much" Tommy says holding his arms out as far as he can.
"Well I love you to the stars and back."
"Is that a lot mommy?" her little boy asked her with curious eyes.
"So much."
"Ok, well then I love you more."
"Doubtful" she whispers. "Goodnight Tommy" she says giving him a kiss on the head.
"Goodnight mommy" he says cuddling his teddy bear to his chest.
As she gets up to leave, he calls to her when she gets halfway to the door that is opened slightly.
"Mommy, doesn't daddy love me?
That question stops her in her tracks and turns back to the boy with a quivering lip.
"What? Of course, daddy loves you, why would ask that?" She sits back down on the side of the bed.
"Because he didn't want to play with me today."
"Oh sweetheart" she says bringing her son to her chest and wrapping her arms around his small torso. "Daddy loves you so much, he's just been a little busy lately that's all. But that does not mean he loves you any less. Ok?" she asks pulling him back to meet his crystal blue orbs.
"Ok" he says going back into the hug.
After tucking him back into bed, she turns on the stars above and closes the door to a sliver.
When she's in the hall, she leans against the wall and closes her eyes. Taking deep breaths, she had been so consumed by their uninvited guest, she hadn't even thought, how this would affect her son. Once she's finally calm, she pushes herself off the wall and heads toward her room.
When she walks into the master she finds someone she never thought she'd catch dead in here.
"Laurel? What are you doing in here? This is my room, yours is on the other side of the property."
Ignoring Felicity, Laurel skims her finger over the white marble fire place. "I was just exploring the place. Seeing what my master bedroom would have looked like." Turning to face the woman at the door, she says, "and I must say, I am a little disappointed. I would have imagined the place dawning Gold's and Silver's not black and green."
"Well that's none of your business" she mutters flustered. "What are you doing in here?"
"You know Felicity, I don't like you."
"That makes two of us" she mutters under breath.
"I don't like the fact that you get to have my dream life, that you get to have the love of my life. I tried to understand what Ollie sees in you-"
"Yeah what'd that take, three seconds?"
"But frankly I don't see it. I mean there could not be anybody any more polar opposite to him than you."
"Did you ever stop to think that maybe that's not such a bad thing?"
"No, because it is a bad thing, Ollie needs someone who understands him; someone like him."
"That's funny, he tried that and ended up unhappier than he already was." She says crossing her arms.
Grasping at a comeback, Laurel says the first thing that comes to mind.
"And the way you talk to him, it's borderline abusive."
"Excuse me? If you consider me talking to Oliver like an equal rather than a superior, abuse, then what's marriage? Oh, that's right you never got to that part with him."
Her face scrunches up sourly. "You know I may not have gotten to marriage by the sounds of it, but if I did I would never talk to Oliver the way you do. You pick fights with him, you call him out on his shit."
"And that is why you are not sharing a room with him" she says throwing her hands up. "I call him out on his mistakes because that's what marriage is about, it's about helping your partner see his mistakes and help him grow. Not letting things slide just because we want to make poor Ollie happy. Oliver and I came to an agreement even before our marriage, that we would be open and honest with each other. And so far, it's worked, and I really don't see it failing any time soon."
"You don't know Oliver like I do. Ollie and I's relationship, we're perfect for each other, practically soulmates. We have been since the moment we laid eyes on each other the first morning of kindergarten. We were high school sweethearts. Each other's first kisses."
"Well sometimes, those relationships don't last."
"No. You don't understand; this relationship was destined to be. I had everything planned to a t. I was supposed to become Mrs. Queen."
"Oh, my apologies, I didn't know that when one 'soulmate' asked the other to move in together, that soulmate B would hop on a boat the first chance he got with her sister."
"What?" Laurel asks confused.
"Never mind. My point is, if you were the love of Oliver's life, he would have done anything and everything to be faithful to you. But he didn't, and he wasn't."
Feeling the venom course through her veins at the statement, Laurel spats out.
"You don't deserve this life. This was all supposed to be mine. That little boy that clings to you was supposed to cling to me."
At that accusation, Felicity knows that she went too far.
"Don't you talk about my son."
"Or what? What are you gonna to do? We all know your WEAK." She seethes.
The slap comes out of nowhere, but its powerful. Not giving Laurel anytime to backfire with threats and remarks, Felicity continues. She was done keeping her mouth shut around 'Gorgeous Laurel'.
"You do not get to come into MY home and threaten what's mine. You can bitch all you want, but that's not going to change anything. Oliver chose me and there is not a day that goes by that he regrets that. Listen to the words coming out of my mouth Laurel, 'he doesn't want to be with you."
"That's bullshit-"
"He didn't then and he sure as hell doesn't now."
"That isn't true, I know him and I have loved him, he would never do this to me."
Seeing the denial in her eyes, the blonde takes the last step that will make her see the reality before her.
"Laurel listen to yourself, you defend him over and over again, and for what? He cheated on you not once, not twice but ALL the time. If Oliver ever did that to me, he knows that I would drop him so quickly he wouldn't know what hit him. If he ever did that to me he knows that I would NEVER forgive him. The difference between you and me, is that I know what I'm worth. And I know when to let go, and when to hold on. Our love is powerful, it's one of the rare one's. I am not just his wife, I hold several titles to that man, but the most important one is, I am his partner. I stand beside him through the brightest of days, but specifically the darkest of nights. So, if it's a competition that you want, the truth is, I won."
Letting the last word hang in the air, Felicity holds her ground. Even with her tired body protesting, she holds firm because in that moment she would do everything in her power to defend her man.
"I'm assuming you know your way out."
With pursed lips, Laurel walks past her. When she reaches the doorway, Felicity turns back to her.
"Oh, and Laurel, if you ever doubt Oliver's love for me, just remember who got the class ring and who got the wedding ring.
Felicity is laying under the covers reading an article on her tablet, when Oliver finally enters the bedroom.
"Hey" he says leaning against the doorframe.
Looking up from the screen, she gives him a soft tired smile. "Hey. Did I miss something, was there a lead?"
Pushing off the frame, he goes over to the bed. "Yeah, but it wasn't much of anything."
Cocking her head to the side, she says, "You still should have told me."
"I didn't want to worry you unless it was something, which it wasn't. I also wanted Tommy to at least have one parent tuck him in."
"Yeah" she sighs.
Getting up he changes. "You ok? You look even more stressed than before I left."
"I'm fine, just a lot went down between the hour you left and now."
Climbing in bed with her, he gives her his full attention. "Like what?"
She turns her tablet off and puts it back on her night stand. "Like Tommy asking me if you still love him."
"What? Why did he ask that? He knows I love him. Right?"
Grabbing both his hands in hers, she says, "Yes, yes he does. Of course, he does, it's just I guess he had asked you earlier to play and you may have unknowingly brushed him off."
Closing his eyes, guilt paints his face.
"But I told him that you've just been busy, and that you love him more than anything."
"I feel awful. I never wanted to be That dad."
"What dad?"
"The dad that makes you question whether he likes you or not."
"Oliver, he's 3, he's at that age where when he gets knocked down, he gets back up. He's going to wake up in the morning and probably forget the whole thing ever happened."
"I know, but still, he's right Felicity, I haven't been there for him. Not like I should be."
His eyes immediately grow sadder. Knowing the look in his eyes she kneels in front of him the best she can and cups his face with her hands.
"Hey, don't go there. Ok, yeah, you've been a little busy with your family coming back from the dead, and Slade coming back to enact his revenge. But don't you dare for a second think that that makes you a terrible father. I will tell you what a terrible father is. A terrible father abandons you and never comes to find you. A terrible father makes you kill someone under the influence for their benefit. Shall I continue?"
He shakes his head silently.
"Oliver, you are the best father I could have ever asked for, for our children. Your gentle and loving and in Tommy's short three years, you have taught him so much. He knows that he's loved and that he's safe, and he also knows what it means to be a hero. Our son is incredible because of you."
"Not true, he wouldn't be who he is without you either."
"I suppose I had something to do with it. I mean I did give birth to him and all."
"Thank you."
"Your welcome."
He brings his hand to cup her cheek and kisses her tenderly, and slides them back under the covers. Felicity turns and shuts off her light and goes back to staring at each other.
"I love you" she whispers.
"I love you too."
She snuggles into his embrace, with her mind going a mile a minute, over everything that went down with Laurel. Resting her chin on his chest she finally says the only thing she wants to acknowledge from the whole confrontation. The only thing that matters in the end.
"Oliver?"
"Hmm?"
"Thank you for choosing me."
"There's no one I'd rather choose to love with all my heart." He says sleepily.
And they both fall into the abyss of sleep.
So here it is, the battle I have been waiting forever to write. I know it may have seemed like Felicity may have gone down to Laurel's level a couple times, but I just wanted to express everything that I imagine could've gone down. The whole part about Felicity 'abusing' Oliver, came from inspiration on Tumblr. Someone had said that Felicity 'abuses him verbally', and I wanted to address my feelings on that through this, and I hope they were settled. Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed this and let me know what other things you guys would like to see in this story.
