A/N: Thanks for all the love, you guys are amazing as always. Hope you enjoy this one too!

Disclaimer: CW & DC own it all. I'm just taking inspiration and showing them love.

The combination of jetlag and embarrassment meant that it took Oliver a second to process what had just transpired. He had just met his girlfriend's mother while making out with said girlfriend. He cleared his throat and straightened his jacket before turning and address the unexpected company.

"Mrs Smoak, I've heard so much about you. I'm really sorry about that. Felicity didn't mention that you were coming to town." He shook the embarrassed yet bemused woman's hand.

"In my defense neither did you." Felicity added retrieving her abandoned gifts in the door way. "What are you doing here anyways? The itinerary says you're supposed to be flying to Australia right now doesn't it?" She glanced at the calendar on her fridge. She had color coded locations and time zones where Oliver was supposed to be every day he was gone. It was the safest way to know when she could call him, or when she could work on the lair without fear of him calling her.

"We had to postpone Melbourne until Tuesday so Walter put me on a plane back here for a quick visit." He leaned on the door way to the kitchen. "Apparently he is as good at reading my faces as you are." Felicity smiled, and reminded herself to thank Walter, repeatedly.

"That's how I ended up here too. Well, not your step-father, but realizing you kids were not having a good time of it." Denise commented. "Felicity sounded a little down when I called her yesterday so I hopped a bus and came to town." Denise saw how Oliver's eyes kept drifting towards her daughter, who was arranging the roses in a suitable vase, and checked off a few extra approval points. "Although now I feel bad, you obviously had other ideas than a meet the parent night."

"It's fine. In fact, I have an idea. Why don't we have dinner tomorrow at my place?"

"But your mom's there Oliver."

"Yes she is Felicity. That's why they call it house arrest." He teased. "We'll have dinner with my mother, Thea and Roy. Actually why not make it the whole group? I can call Tommy, Laurel, Diggle and Carly too."

"I- Well, If you think you're up for it. Mom?" Felicity turned to her mother psychically asking for an escape route.

"It sounds like a lovely idea. I've wanted to meet some of these new friends of yours." Felicity put on a fake smile before turning back to Oliver.

"Then it looks like we're in."

"Great. I will let you ladies get back to your evening. I think I'll go let Raisa know what she's in for tomorrow." He turned to Denise. "I had hoped I was over my phase of making horrible first impressions."

"You showed up at my daughter's front door with wine and roses to sweep her off her feet. Awkward, maybe, horrible, no." Denise joked. "Good night Oliver." Felicity decided to walk him down to the car.

"Well we're even now. I spilled coffee on an antique table cloth when I met your mother, you had your tongue down my throat when you met mine." Oliver laughed.

"We are quite a pair aren't we?" He slid an arm around her waist and she did the same, leaning against him slightly as they walked. "I missed you."

"I missed you too. The surprise was great. It's just, well obviously it couldn't work out because this is me we're talking about and I have a master's degree in Murphy's Law." They reached the front stoop and he leaned against the railing pulling her into an embrace. Felicity inhaled deeply " I missed that smell." He chuckled.

"What smell?"

" The Oliver smell." She nuzzled into his chest again " It's soapy, a little cologne and a bit of leather, though not as much as before obviously." They both knew what she was alluding to, but tonight was not the night to fight about it. He lifted her chin and kissed her slowly. They melted into the feeling they had missed for the past few weeks. He hugged her one more time before hailing a cab and heading back inside.

When Felicity re-entered the apartment she found her mother doing dishes. " I thought I said no cleaning."

"I can't work your DVD player and I didn't want to stare out the window for fear of seeing a repeat of what happened at the front door. Therefore, I was cleaning." Felicity had to admit this was an acceptable argument but made her mother abandon her post anyways. "Oliver seems nice, I can see why you fell for him so fast."

"We got together after knowing each other six months, that's hardly lightning speed."

"I could tell before that." Denise bragged. "As soon as you told me you were working overtime at his club I knew you were keeping something from your old mother." Felicity felt a pang of guilt. There were a lot of things she didn't tell her mother.

They had been very close when she was a child and in her early teen years. Then Felicity discovered her passion for computers and technology. That focus reminded Denise a lot of her ex husband, who had left the family when Felicity was three. She pleaded with her daughter that her social issues would disappear if she would 'just be normal'. The struggle between passion and popularity put a strain on their relationship for years. When Felicity first moved to Starling City the phone calls were brief, just long enough to verify she was alive. But time and distance worked their magic and the calls became more frequent. Denise visited a few times and began to see her daughter's interests as the things that gave her strength and made her special. They were building a new relationship, closer and more equal than before.

" Well it's not like I ever expected anything to come of it. So there wasn't a point in really talking about it." Felicity covered. "Lots of people find Oliver attractive. I've already had several friends offer to be next in line if I ever break up with him. It's kind of disturbing actually. Am I supposed to take that as a compliment?" Denise shrugged. Felicity sighed. "He's got his issues and I've got mine. I guess we just lucked out that our baggage is a matching set." Denise smiled and kissed her daughter on the forehead.

"Come on. Let's go watch whatever it is you are trying to get me addicted to this month." She grabbed the bag of chips from the counter. " It was the new Sherlock Holmes right?"

" Right, but not the movies. The TV show." Felicity followed with the bottle of wine and two glasses.

"So the one where Watson is a girl?"

"No, the other one."

"There's another one?"

"Just trust me Mom, you'll love it."