"Ollie?" Thea asked, pulling him away from his thoughts. "Are you alright? You've barely touched your food." For a moment, Oliver had forgotten that he was sitting at the dining room table for family dinner, just like he did every Tuesday. It was a tradition that had been started by their parents, and one that, like most of their family traditions, Thea had insisted on continuing.
"I'm fine," he said. "I've just got a lot on my mind."
"Anything you'd like to share?" Thea asked, offering him a small, encouraging smile.
"Yeah," Oliver said. "But not here. Later though, I promise." Thea nodded and returned her attention to her meal. Oliver did the same, and an easy, comfortable silence settled over the room. Roy didn't offer commentary or any topics of conversation- he rarely did, seeming content to simply enjoy Thea's company- so nothing broke that silence.
The end of dinner found Oliver in the kitchen, up to his wrists in soapy water. He'd volunteered to do the dishes, since Thea had cooked, but truth be told he would have done the same if he'd been the one to make dinner. Carrying out mundane tasks like cooking and cleaning was the only time his mind was quiet. Thea appeared in the edge of his field of his vision, leaning one hip against the counter next to the sink.
"So, what's on your mind?" she asked. "You said you would tell me." Oliver scrubbed a plate while he considered how best to answer.
"I think it's time I moved out," he said, setting the plate in the next sink to be rinsed.
"So soon?" Thea asked. "Ollie, are you sure? You just got back."
"It's been almost a month, Thea," Oliver pointed out. "Besides, I think it'll help. There's too many reminders of the person I used to be here and getting some physical distance might be exactly what I need to start figuring out who I am now." Thea mulled that over, chewing anxiously on her bottom lip.
"Well, far be it for me to interfere with your healing process," she said. "But are you sure you're sure?"
"Yes," Oliver replied. "I am sure that moving out is the best thing for me right now."
"All right then," Thea said. "Just don't ask me for help with apartment hunting. I know about as much about that as you do."
"Which is nothing," Oliver pointed out with a laugh.
"Exactly," Thea said. She flashed him a teasing grin.
"I need to go take care of some wedding stuff with Roy," she said. "I'll see you later. Don't stay up too late."
"You're not my mom, you know," Oliver called after her as she left the kitchen. If she responded, he didn't hear it. He laughed quietly to himself, shaking his head, and went back to what he'd been doing, with only his thoughts for company.
"Wait, you called me wanting to meet up for coffee before work because why?" Felicity asked, sitting across from Oliver in Jitters the next morning.
"I've decided to move out," Oliver said. "Most people are living on their own by the time they're my age. I figured it was time I did the same." He didn't mention the part about wanting to distance himself from his old self.
"And that involves me how?" Felicity asked. Oliver looked down at his hands.
"I need help with apartment hunting," he admitted with a sheepish smile. "I've never done it before."
"I'm not surprised," Felicity said. "You've lived in that big old mansion all your life, haven't you?"
"Give or take a few years here and there," Oliver confirmed.
"Ok, so why do you want my help?" Felicity asked.
"Because I know that you're the kind of person who's empathetic enough to help me with my predicament without making fun of me for being in it in the first place," Oliver explained simply. Felicity laughed.
"Well, you got me there," she said. After a pause, she continued speaking, picking up a new thread of conversation. "I know you tend to be a little old-fashioned, but it actually hurts me in my soul to even think of suggesting that you start with the classifieds. It's like a million times more efficient to use the Internet."
"How so?" Oliver asked.
"Well, here," Felicity said, grabbing her tablet and scooting over to Oliver's side of the table. She was so close that he caught a whiff of her shampoo- something floral, perhaps cherry blossoms. It made his heart race, though he couldn't have said why. "I'll show you. If you were to use the classifieds, you'd have to visit each listing in person, and basically just hope that you find one in your price range that you can at least tolerate living in, right?" She waited for Oliver's nod before she continued. "But if you just go and Google 'apartments in Starling City' you get dozens of websites where you filter your results by stuff like price, or whether utilities are included, or size. And a lot of them include pictures of the interior of the apartments, so you don't have to visit them in person. You wouldn't have to interact with a single human being until you found the place you wanted to rent…" She trailed off, eyeing him suspiciously.
"Okay, you've got a totally blank look on your face," she muttered. "Are you sure you're getting this?"
"Yeah," he assured her. "It's just a lot of information to take in all at once. But I think I've got the gist of it all though. I know where to start, now, at least. Thank you for your help."
"Anytime," Felicity said. She kept her eyes downcast as she moved her chair back to the other side of the table and gathered up her belongings. Oliver couldn't figure out why there was a blush coloring her cheeks pink.
They walked to Queen Consolidated in silence, side by side, Oliver automatically adjusting the length of his strides to match Felicity's. It still amazed him how natural it to him to keep pace with her, the rhythm of his footsteps complimenting hers. They just seemed to...fit. Thea really had been right on the money when she'd pushed them together.
"What's going on?" Felicity asked. "You've got that face you make when you're pondering something." She gestured to her own face in emphasis. Oliver faltered for a moment, caught off guard by the astuteness of the observation.
"I was just thinking that sometimes it feels like we've known each other our whole lives," he said. "We just seem to...fit. Does that make sense?" Felicity nodded.
"Your sister knows you really well," she said, clearly thinking, as Oliver himself had been, about how Thea had brought them together.
"She really does," Oliver agreed. By this time, they had reached their destination. They exchanged greetings with the guy at the security checkpoint, then paused in the lobby, in front of the elevators.
"I guess this is where I leave you," Oliver said with a small smile, well aware that there were eighteen floors between their offices.
"I guess so," Felicity replied. She moved past him to press the button for the next elevator. "You know, I've been meaning to ask- what exactly is your job?"
"Officially?" Oliver asked. "Public relations. Thea thought I'd be good at it." Felicity nodded. She studied him thoughtfully until the elevator arrived, and when the doors slid closed on her, it felt like they were on the cusp of something, though Oliver was at a loss as to what.