AN: Hi guys! Here's another chapter.Took me a while to write as this is a really long chapter.Please bear with me on this ay.Disclaimer: I definitely don't own Arrow or any of the DC shows.
Felicity (17 years old)
It was safe to say by the time Oliver caught up with Felicity and the gang, Tommy had found out all about Caitlin's walk in on them this morning .Caitlin ran around Tommy, trying to evade Felicity who was chasing her around the kitchen counter.Tommy just looked scarred for life.
Oliver sat on the barstool, with his hands massaging his temple. The commotion in the morning really had given him a headache. "Do we have coffee?" he asked just as Felicity handed him a cup of steaming black coffee.
Before Oliver could ask her if she had added sugar, Felicity said " Yes, two sugars and a bit of milk.I know Queen".
"You're the best Smoak!" he said smiling at her.
Tommy and Caitlin shared a knowing look among themselves. He then cleared his throat trying to get his two best friends' attention.
"What's going on here?" he smirked, signalling the two of them with his finger.
"Nothing!" they said in unison.
" Well, I have to wash my eyes out with bleach now..thanks to your nothings" Caitlin quipped as she covered her eyes.
" Cait! It wasn't like that. We weren't doing anything! We just slept together all night." Felicity said defending herself.
"Smoak, your not helping our case here" Oliver added when he noticed Caitlin's startled reaction.
It took a while for Felicity to catch on her accidental innuendo (again), but when she did, she went into a babbling fit explaining the situation.
" Arghh, get your brains out of the gutter people! Totally not what I meant. We platonically slept on the same bed last night.. thanks to certain two people who slept off on the couch * cough cough*.I thought he was a robber in the morning and accidentally attacked him... that's when you came in Cait.." she said, letting a exasperated sigh.
Caitlin totally understood what had happened, but she continued to press further just to make her roommate flustered.A comeback of some sorts, she told herself in her head.
"Sure, that surely looked platonic the way the two of you were today.Besides,you liked being in control isn't it? " Caitlin said barely hiding her amusement.
"What the ?!?! Cait that was between us! " shrieked smacking Caitlin's arm gently.
Tommy inwardly groaned as the look of disgust showed on his face.Oliver on the other hand, had a smile grow on his face.
"Perfect opportunity to mess with somebody," he thought to himself.
"Yeah, I know what you mean Cait...I barely got enough sleep last night , thanks to her." he said as he winked at Felicity.A wide grin was plastered on his face.Felicity knew that she was in for trouble everytime he had that twinkle in his eye.Damn.
Wait what?!? Queen! Don't you encourage her now.Aren't you on my side?I hate you right now " she said as she poked Oliver on his forearm.
"That's not what you said last night...I remember you said something about me being quite satisfying" he faked whispered barely holding back his laugh.He was in so much trouble he thought. Definitely worth it.
"Oliver Jonas Queen, you didn't just say that! I told you never to speak of that again.Neverrrrrr!" she yelled pretending to strangle his neck.
"Alright ! That's it! Too much information for me! I'm leaving."Tommy got up, the look of disgust showing clearly.
"Tommy! We're joking ...come back here" Oliver followed him, laughing all the way.
At that moment, Felicity looked around at the people in her kitchen.Tommy and Oliver wrestling each other smiling, and to her right; Caitlin smiling ear to ear at her. She knew that instant that this was happiness, that these people here were family, her people.
Intermission
Felicity (19 years old)
They say that time flies when you're having fun.In a blink of an eye, Felicity was in her final year at MIT.Finishing her thesis the year before, she had actually started her double masters in Cyber Security and Computer Science.
She needed to be challenged, to be pushed intellectually.She hated when her mind was idle, her idle mind invited unwanted thoughts.Dark thoughts.
Her classes weren't allowing her to expand her skill set...even though MIT was one of the best universities in the country, she felt like she needed to learn more, to explore and to create. That's when she she started seing Cooper.
Cooper Seldon was always her type.He had been asking her out since the first time he'd laid eyes on her, she turning him down all the time.Something shifted when she saw Tommy and Caitlin, and also how happy Laurel and Oliver were.She finally said yes to a date.The rest was history.
She loved his messy brown hair, his sleepy brown eyes, the sexiest thing of all: his intellect.Felicity felt like she could talk to him about anything ranging from Dr Who to the viability of experimental superconducting computer chips. She could connect to him on a level that she couldn't with her classmates.
He was actively involved in hactivism, or as she explained to Tommy,he was the 'Robin Hood' of hackers. Felicity was really good at coding and creating softwares, hoping one day, her creations may help people.Cooper, on the other hand, showed her a new world, a new exciting world.A world where she could make a difference by doing what she does best; hacking.
Wrapped up in that new world left her very little time for her family and friends.She hadn't much time between classes and Cooper to enjoy hanging out with her gang.
She looked forward to their movie nights twice a month at home during Caitlin's days off from her hospital residency.Tommy and Oliver would drive up to meet them.They four of them would spend the whole night watching movies and consuming an unhealthy amount of junk food.
Intermission
Having stayed up all night developing her pet project aptly named 'Super Virus' , Felicity couldn't keep her eyes open in class.Quickly running through the door when the clock struck 4, she excitedly headed home for a nap before movie night.
The 2 hour nap (or was it the excitement?) she had before dinner had totally rejuvenated her. She sat down on the couch with a big plunk.Nestled next to Caitlin, she leaned across and grabbed the popcorn bowl from Tommy.
"Wherpssss Queenmph?" she asked, mouth full of popcorn.
"Chew, befor you talk Flis," Caitlin said, with a fond smile etched across her face.Times like this she was reminded of her roomate's tender age.
"He's on his way, he got delayed and said he'll drive up on his own.Should be here anytime now" Tommy replied nonchalantly.
The doorbell rang not a while later.Scrambling out of the couch she raced to the door to welcome her best friend.
"It's about time you showed up Queen!Tommy was finishing all the gummy snakes!" Felicity said as she opened the door.Looking behind towards Tommy , she wasn't aware of the extra guest they had.
Oliver cleared his throat trying to get her attention."I hope you dont mind, but i brought Laurel along.We were having dinner the other night and mentioned our movie night.I inviter her along,hope it's alright." he said looking directly at Felicity.
This caught her off guard.She wasn't aware that he was seing Laurel again.Truth be told, she couldn't keep up with their relationship status.Those two have broken up and gotten back together too many times for her to keep track.
Lost in her thoughts, she hadn't realised that they were still standing at the door.Caitlin who had suddenly turned up next to her replied " Hey Laurel! nice to finally meet you... come on in you two ".
Felicity sighed to herself, she wasn't used to change.It was a bit weird for her to accept Laurel into their circle; into their family.However, it was becoming luminous that she was going to be a permanent part of her Queen's life. Her Queen? "Felicity you're going to have to start sharing" she thought to herself as she joined them in the living room.
Intermission
Laurel Lance.It was really hard to dislike her.The woman was the epitome of perfection.Not only was she gorgeous, she was elegant, intelligent, extremely charismatic and even had a heart of gold.Like Felicity said in her mind, a walking perfection.
Although initially she was hesitant on letting Laurel into her circle, she grew fonder of her best friend's girlfriend.She could see why Oliver would be head over heels over her.Laurel was in Yale getting her law degree, something that she was passionate about.Everytime she spoke about protecting the innocent , her eyes lit up.Felicity couldn't find a reason to dislike her.Soon, Laurel was just a good friend to her as the rest of them were.
The five of them fell into a comfortable routine of meeting for movie nights.Sometimes, Felicity did feel like she was the fifth wheel among the couples but she just brushed it off; trying to focus on the fact that she was happy the way she was.
They sat in the living room, trying to fit everyone onto one couch.Tommy had bought the Dvd box set of Friends and they plan to watch 3 seasons over the weekend. Caitlin was highlighting the parallel between the series and them .Felicity was only half listening, her attention was on her phone.
She was smiling away at something Cooper had texted her about ,totally unaware that Tommy was leaning behind her peaking into her screen.
"Your boyfriend Colin couldn't leave you for a moment Flea?" Tommy bent down and stole her phone.He gave her a cheeky smirk as he dangled the phone high above his head.
"Give it back Tom Tom! His name is Cooper.. and his not my boyfriend." A red blush spread across her face and neck as she struggled on her toes to reach her phone.
"Well let's see shall we, what you and you're not my boyfriend Colin were chatting about.I mean it must be pretty important if you're missing out on a Friends marathon"Tommy said pushing her head away.
"Cait! Make him stop pleaseeee" she turned to Cailtin.
"Tommy," Caitlin said sternly with her hands on her hips.
"Fine.Have it ." Tommy said pouting.
"You're *cough cough* whipped *cough*" Oliver added slyly.Tommy threw a pillow at his head.
Intermission
A couple of weeks later, Felicity walked into her living room to find Oliver and Laurel at a heated argument.Clearly, Laurel was mad at him.He stood there, with his head down, tapping his foot away as he listened to her.Not wanting to get into that, Felicity snuck her way into the kitchen.Tommy was there,leaning over the kitchen counter, with a beer.
"Psst, Tom Tom! What's going on outside?" she whispered as she gave him a hug.
Tommy let out a long sigh "Ollie got kicked out of Starling Uni."
"Wait what?!?! That's his third college in 2 years!!." Felicity shrieked.
"Laurel is not too happy about it, I didn't want to pry, I heard something about being a power couple or whatever that was.Boy is in troubleeeee" Tommy chanted as he then took a sip of his drink.
Felicity smacked him at the back of his head.They hid out in the kitchen for a while longer until they heard the apartment door slam...hard.
The both of them peaked into the living room to check if the coast was clear.They found Oliver pouting on his chair (he has a chair?!) throwing a baseball up into the air.
"You alright Queen?" she approached him, putting her hand on his shoulder.
He looked up at her, eyes red, pouting away."Yeah, I'll be fine soon" he grumbled.
Clearing her throat, she approached the elephant in the room cautiously. "Ermmm.. Tommy mentioned something about Starling Uni..." Felicity stopped when she saw that Oliver was giving Tommy a heated glance.
Gulp."I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked" she said as she began to walk away.
"Smoak no.I'm sorry.I was just thinking about how to mention it to you.I know how high your expectations are of me ," he said holding her hand.
"Queen! I only want you to be your best.To put in the effort so that you could show the world what we already know.How talented you are." she added smiling at him.
"I know you mean well Smoak.You all do,Mom, Dad, even Laurel. It's just that I don't feel like I'm suited for college. All I want to do is open up that club Tommy and I been talking about. I'm struggling, ivy league college after ivy league college just because it's a Queen family tradition." Oliver said as he rubbed his face.
"You know what? My dad threatened to cut me of my inheritance.He said I either graduate at the next college or I should come work for him. At Queen Consolidated." he added with a disgusted look.
"Well, why don't you come to MIT? We could study together, and I'll tutor you? And I could show you all the cool places to hang out in! " Felicity became excited.
"Yeah, that'll be awesome.l'll put in a word with father. He's making me follow him to China next week, to meet our Asian investors.I just think its some sort of ploy to get me to work with him.Either way, I'm spending my summer on the Queen's Gambit, miles away from civilization." he said.His pouty demeanour now replaced with a thin smile.
Oliver then invited Tommy, Caitlin and Felicity to follow him to China on the yacht." I'm sure father wouldn't e on...it will be fun" he added.
" I can't Queen.I promised mom I'd spend some time with her this summer. Just the two of us." Felicity replied.
Tommy who had been silent throughout the whole conversation had a sheepish grin on his face. " I uhhh...we...Cailtin and I are headed to Mexico for summer break." he whispered to himself. Felicity noticed the that his face had turned crimson red. "It's so cute to see him like this." she thought to herself.
"Awww...how cute!! Eeee! "Felicity shrieked in excitement.Oliver just patted Tommy on the back giving him a sly grin.
"Well then, I guess I'll be seing you guys a month later? Let's have a Fourth of July barbeque when I'm back." Oliver added.Standing up and smoothening out the wrinkles on his jeans, he explained that he was going to catch up with Laurel.To make up.
As he was heading towards the door, Felicity remembered that she had something for him."Queen! I had made a copy for Tommie's birthday, so I printed one out for you too" she said crinkling her eyebrows as she handed him an envelope.
Oliver opened the brown envelope to find a picture of the the three of them; the one from Felicity's graduation. Felicity had printed it out and the border was engraved with a qoute : Friends are like marshmallows, they stick together .
He was beaming.His smile so bright, it almost, I said almost made Felicity's heart flutter.He engulfed her in a hug, something almost unattural for them to do.They were lost in each other's embrace for a while, before he turned to her and said "I'm going to miss you Smoak. I'll see you real soon alright.You take care kid."
He then put the picture of them carefully in his wallet and left out of the door.
A couple of weeks later,
Felicity laid on her couch, channel surfing as she waited for her Mom to come home from work.She was honestly bored and was looking forward to head out to Mike's for dinner.
She had been texting the gang all summer; getting updates from Caitlin about their trip to Mexico.She even spoke to Oliver when he'd actually set shore in China.He sent her a funny MMS about Chinese takeouts.She missed the gang, and couldn't wait to meet them next week.
A phone call broke her out of her thoughts. Tommy's face popped out on her phone.
"Tom Tom! How's Mexico treating you?!" she asked eagerly as she stood up.
"Flea...turn on the news.Turn on.." Tommy's voice was cracked.
Felicity's heart sank.She had never heard him this dejected.Quickly she switched in the news channel.
Robert Queen, billionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist is suspected to be lost at sea when his family yacht "The Queen's Gambit" sunk in the South China Sea.Along with him was the heir to the Queen Empire, and Starling City heartthrob, Oliver Queen.
"Flis..? Flis are you there?" Tommy's voiced echoed in her ear as she saw a picture of Oliver on Tv.
"I'll see you soon alright." Oliver's voice played in her head as the whole room succumbed into darkness as her head hit the floor.
AN: Omg! It finally happened! I really want to know your thoughts on this chapter.I hope y'all liked it.
Anyways, I wanted to know: Should Sara Lance have been on the Gambit with Oliver? What say you? Pleaseeeee vote.Let me know. Much love to everyone.