Happy New Years all! I am so glad that so many of you guys are enjoying this! Thank you for the reviews/favourites etc (and reviews/kudo on AO3), please keep them coming coz they make me want to write more :D

Just an FYI – I am trying to move this part of the story along quickly coz most of what I have planned happens after Oliver comes back from the island so im sorry if this feels rushed but I keep wanting to write the 'after' chapters because I have what I hope turns out to be an awesome idea!

Chapter 4 – When I Was Your Man

"Yes Oliver, I am going to come past in about half an hour…No I'm just dropping something off for your dad…I have things I have to do tonight. Not all of us in the world get given everything they want without working for it…" Felicity laughed as she heard a groan from Oliver but then he muttered something along the lines of I won't be here anyway… Felicity laughed, shaking her head.

Swinging her front door open quickly, Felicity stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening and her mouth dropping at the person who was standing in front of her. "Ah Oliver…I gotta go…" She quickly hung up the phone, not even waiting for his reply.

Felicity stood shocked, her mouth dropping open as the woman standing across from her bounced up and down, a high-pitched squeal coming from her lips. Sudden she was wrapped in a hug, Felicity's whole body doing ridged in the hug, "My beautiful girl…" One hand still on the door knob and the other raised with her phone held tightly in shock.

"Mum?" Felicity couldn't have looked anymore shocked than she had in that moment and she was thankful her mother didn't really pay that much attention to her because she didn't even notice the look on her face. "What are you doing here?"

Taking a step away from her mother Felicity waited for an explanation. "I came to see you…" But Felicity could only furrow her brow, her mind not grasping any real understanding of what was happening right now. "Are you going out?" Her mother looked down at Felicity's clothing, bag and shoes, blinking expectantly.

"Uh…Yes, yeah…I have to drop something off at my bosses house quickly before I go out to do some shopping…" But that only caused her mother's face to light up suddenly.

"Oh! I could come with you and we could have dinner after!" She suddenly turned on her heals and was headed back out the door towards the street, her small luggage being left standing in Felicity's doorway, abandoned. Oh, this is so not good.

Groaning Felicity followed her mother out the door, closing it gently before finding her standing by her car, waiting, giddily for Felicity to drive them to their first stop.

Felicity's mother reacted to the Queen Mansion the same way Felicity had the first time she arrived, her eyes lighting up like a Christmas tree, her body almost vibrating with excitement. "Oh honey…where are we?" But it didn't take long for Felicity to drown out her mother's words…Oliver's bike was by the front door. Oh god, he said he wasn't going to be there.

Stopping the car, Felicity and her mother pushed her way through the front door, "Ok, mum…just come…stay right here…I'll be back in one minute…" She took her mother by her hand and motioned for her to stand by the opening towards the side living area. Vaguely Felicity heard a resounding "oh ok" come from her mother before she moved from the entrance, intent on making her way to Robert's office before heading out, hopefully no one would notice her or her mother.

She was two steps up the stair case when she heard her name, she stopped, groaning. "Hey Oliver…I was just dropping his off to your dad - coz he is my boss - and he needs them and so I'm here - which you can already tell coz you are talking to me." She motioned to the files under her arm. Oliver just nodded; he already knew she was coming over.

Oliver looked up at Felicity, he stood a few steps below her, "Yes, I got that one already…I ah…"

"Hey Ollie, did you want to…" Suddenly another voice found its way into their little bubble, "I'm sorry…who are you?" The woman standing next to Felicity blinked up at Felicity, her hand coming to wrap around Oliver's arm, holding him tightly.

Felicity smiled, she knew who this was, she'd seen her before. She watched as Oliver turned to speak, his mouth open but she cut him off, "Nobody." This caught Oliver's attention, he turned quickly to look back at Felicity confused, his brow furrowing. Didn't they have this conversation about Felicity being nothing? "…I mean, I'm not nobody, I'm someone obviously and so are you…you're Laurel right?" She glanced at Oliver smiling slightly before turning back to Laurel, "…that Laurel…gorgeous Laurel…" She trailed off towards the end of her ramble. Shaking her head, Felicity tried again, "I'm Thea's tutor."

God, he hated when she referred to herself like that, she was more than just Thea's tutor, they'd had that conversation already. Smirking at her, Oliver turned towards Laurel, "This is Felicity, she's a good friend. And yes, she is Thea's tutor but she also works at QC. She is here dropping off something for my father…" He nodded down towards the folder in her hands, Felicity vaguely aware that Laurel was smiling kindly back at her.

"Ah yes…I told your father I would drop these off…so…" She rocked a little on her heals, feeling a little awkward before she reached out to hand them to Oliver instead of take them upstairs to his office like he had asked, "Can you please let your dad know that I will set up an appointment with him on Monday to go through these on Thursday…" Just as Oliver reached out to take them Robert's voice found the small group.

Coming around the corner of the living rooms, Robert took the files from Felicity, "Why wait until Thursday. Stay for dinner and we can discuss this after…" They were suddenly joined by Thea and Moira, oh this is getting out of hand…Felicity thought suddenly, remembering her mother in the other room.

"Oh hon, have you seen this place?" Felicity's mother's voice suddenly echoed through the hall, everyone turning around to look at where it came from, their eyebrows raised at the woman standing in sky-high heels, tight jeans and a low-cut top.

Felicity let her eye slip shut for a moment, Oliver's voice catching her attention, the question in his voice one of shock, each of the letters of the word spoken on their own. "Hello?" The rest of the Queen's turned as well, a little shocked to have someone in their house they didn't know about.

"Hi…" her mother breathed out as she looked back at him. Felicity reached out for her mother, moving to stand by her side, someone who looked like a deer in headlights at the group staring at her. Oliver looked towards Felicity with a raised eyebrow, she didn't even dare to look at his parents. "Please tell me this is your friend…"

"No." was her reply, a little too quickly, Oliver tilting his head ever so slightly at her reply, not sure how to take the knock, he went to speak but he was cut off. Inwardly groaning, Felicity motioned to the people around her, "Mum…this is Oliver Queen, his parents Moira and Robert, Thea his sister and his girlfriend Laurel…" This is not what she wanted right now. She wanted to keep her family and her friends separate.

Oliver's eyebrow raised a little more, the word 'mum' mimed on his lips as the group turned towards her mother. "This is my mother Donna…" Everyone greeted Donna with smiles and handshakes and light conversation but Oliver couldn't take his eyes off Felicity, her face was stoic, tight, not even a glimpse of excitement.

"Please…you have to stay for dinner now…" That snapped Felicity's eyes away from Oliver, blinking she was greeted by Moira, "Felicity, please, you and your mother must stay for dinner." And with that, the group was moved from the staircase to the dining room but Felicity and Oliver stayed behind.

Felicity just watched her mother go, really, really worried about how this night was going to go. Her mother was no subtle or quiet, Felicity could only imagine how this night was going to go. "So…mum…" Oliver had taken a step towards her but the glare that Felicity gave Oliver stopped him in his tracks. Laughing gently, he motioned towards the dining room, "Come on…"

He turned on his heels, leaving Felicity on her own for a moment before she hurried off after him, needing to find her mother. And she found her easily, already seated at the table, Laurel on one side of her, Oliver next to Laurel. The only spare seats were next either side of Thea. Felicity had to make the choice, sit opposite Oliver or opposite her mother. But it seemed the choice was made for her when Tommy Merlyn decided to come rushing in behind her. "Sorry I'm late!" He briefly stopped top kiss Felicity on the cheek, something he had done once or twice when it was clear he wasn't thinking. He moved towards Moira to do the same, Laurel and Thea also. He sat down opposite Felicity's mother, a sudden strange look on his face.

"Ah Felicity hon…how many billionaires do you know?" was all her mother could say as Felicity's cheeks reddened, her eyes closing for a moment.

She moved slowly towards the taken, taking her seat opposite Oliver. "Mum, this is Tommy Merlyn. Tommy, my mum Donna…" there was a shake of the hand over the table from the two and thankfully food was not far off.

"So Donna, tell us…what was Felicity like as a kid? I'm sure she drove you and her father crazy!" Tommy laughed, beer to his lips, missing the glance between Donna, Felicity and Oliver. But once silence fell over the table, Tommy looked up to find the three looking at each other.

Felicity cleared her throat and sat up a little straighter, "Ah, actually it was just my mum and I. Dad left when I was 7. I didn't really know him…" Felicity still smiled; it wasn't Tommy's fault he asked, she had never told him about her family. Shaking her head at him knowing he was going to start to apologise, "Please, its ok Tommy, you didn't know."

He just nodded, feeling a little embarrassed about the line of questioning he had brought up but Moira decided that it was the right time to jump in to help him out. "You raised Felicity on your own? You've done an incredible job; Felicity is a wonderful young lady."

Donna smiled back at Moira, sitting around the Queen table, she must have felt a little uncomfortable during dinner but this helped to settled the nerves. "Oh, she was pretty easy really. There was some really long 60-hour weeks in 6 inch heals for tips. But it all helped me to raise this genius child. We are very lucky that she was able to get a full scholarship to MIT though…" Donna looked over at Felicity who was just smiling at her mother, it wasn't often that she spoke about those times but it was nice to hear her mother call her a genius.

"Well you have done an incredible job. Felicity is really an amazingly smart young lady." Robert sipped from his wine glass, smiling back at Felicity who blushed.

"Oh, that doesn't mean that she wasn't a handful, she built her first computer at 7 and I remember coming home from work one morning and there were computer parts everywhere, she'd been up so late over night that she'd even fall asleep in the mess." Donna laughed, remembering what it was like to have found her daughter laying in the mess of computer parts.

The rest of the table laughed along with her, the conversation falling easily, Felicity smiled to herself, thankful that dinner was going as well as it could. She glanced over at Oliver who just smiled at her, he knew it was hard for her to talk about her father, he wanted to show her that it was ok.

"So hon, you never told me how you ended up working for the Queens…" Donna looked towards her daughter, waiting expectantly but it wasn't Felicity who answered. It was Robert.

"Well my VP knows some of the lecturers at MIT and when I mentioned to him that my daughter needed a little more help at school, he said he was going to see if there was anyone around that might be able to help." Robert lifted his wine glass to Felicity, "And so Felicity came by one night as an introduction and Thea loved her and it just stuck. We then decided that Felicity needed more of a challenge than MIT could give – so we offered her a 2 year internship at QC which will then hopefully turn into full time employment after she graduates." Donna smiled brightly at Robert.

Finally hating being the centre of attention, Felicity turned to someone that wasn't her, "Laurel, Oliver tells me that you are almost graduating with a Law degree. That's amazing, congratulations." Laurel blinked at Felicity, suddenly shocked at any form of conversation from the younger girl to herself.

Laurel glanced over to Oliver, finding him smiling gently back at her, "Oh thank you. Yes, I graduate at the end of the school year. I am looking forward to getting into the work." Laurel smiled widely back at Felicity, something changing between them, almost as though Laurel didn't see Felicity as a threat anymore.

"Oliver, what do you have planned for the rest of the school year?" Donna's questions settled the group, each of them looking towards Oliver expectantly, Felicity could see the battle that was raging behind his eyes. Clearing his throat and leaning forward against the table he thought for a moment, wanting to choose his words carefully.

"Well you could always go back to college and finish up your credits Ollie, I mean it's what you are meant to do anyway." Laurel spoke directly to him; it was obvious that that statement was something that she had wanted to say for a long time.

Oliver cleared his throat once again, not liking that the conversation was turning to his future. "Yes son, once you finish your college credits – assuming you don't drop out of another college – you can come and take a position at QC, carry on where you should be." Ah Robert Queen, of course he had to jump into this conversation.

"Well, I don't know if I want to go to QC dad. Tommy and I have been talking and we-"

"Oh Oliver of course you will go to QC, what else would you do? You can't continue to throw your life away with drinking and partying forever…" Moira decided to jump in now, this was quickly becoming a family conversation but it was not just family with in the room.

"Yeah Ollie, you could come and finish up with me, we could get a place close to campus and finish out the school year together." And now there was talk of moving in together, what was happening? Quickly Oliver grabbed for his glass of wine, emptying it quickly before reaching for the bottle and repeating the process once more.

It was only after the second consecutive glass that he looked towards his dad. "And what if that's not my plan dad? What if I QC isn't in my future? I'm sorry but you know I've never wanted to go there and college clearly isn't something that agrees with me-"

"But partying does? Come on Oliver, I think it's time for you to grow up"

Now this was just embarrassing. It wasn't the first time this conversation had been had but it usually didn't include Laurel – who was taking his father's side – and Felicity and her mother weren't usually there either. "Tommy and I have been talking and we want to open a club in the Glades. I think we can really give it a shot." He looked towards Tommy who until this moment had his head down. Thankfully he looked up with a small nod to Oliver, at least someone was in his corner.

But a snort came from his father. "What would you know about running a club?"

Laurel turned to Oliver, "Ollie I still think that finishing college would be better for you. It's what you should do."

But Oliver snapped, "How would you know what is best for? None of you have asked what I actually want out of life." He was eyeing off with Laurel, not bothering to look at his father.

"Enough Oliver, you need to grow up and do what you are told." And that seemed to be the end of that conversation. Oliver set his jaw tightly, he looked like a caged lion but he wasn't going to give his father the satisfaction of him storming off like a child. Instead he reached for the wine, emptying his glass once more and refilling it again.

He could not even look at Felicity, he didn't want to see the disapproving look on her face but what he didn't see was just the pure understanding that her eyes held for him. She knew him better than anyone, she was the only one who had asked him what he wanted.

Dinner continued on, settling back into happier conversation, Donna being the loudest of the group, Thea laughing along with whatever she felt needed to be laughed at, Laurel joining in but Felicity stayed as quiet as she could, Oliver occasionally glancing over to her, giving her a light smile, reassuring her that it was all going to be ok. He had set himself back into his chair, another glass of wine in his hand, they watched either other, trying to give as much support as they could in the situation they found themselves in.

Oliver groaned as he rolled over, his head hurt, his back hurt and his body felt heavy. Opening his eyes, he found that he was not in his bedroom, not in a room he recognised at least, he was naked, that much he could tell. He was lying face down on the bed underneath him. But this wasn't Laurel's bed and it was not Laurel's bedroom.

Where was he and what happened?

"Ollie why don't you go back to class and finish out the credits. It would be best for you to do that." Laurel looked over at Oliver as he lay on the couch. He sighed, they had already had this conversation a few nights before at dinner, it was not something he wanted to rehash with Laurel.

Groaning, Oliver rolled off the couch to sit up, "Laurel I told you, I don't want to go back to college, I don't want to finish out the school and I don't want to go and work at QC. I just – I need to find something for myself." He had really hoped that she would be supportive of his wants and needs, granted he knew he didn't really have a leg to stand on when it came to her support, Lord knows he had cheated on her enough times to have lost that support long ago.

But Laurel sighed, "Really though Ollie, a club? Don't you think it's time that you and Tommy give up on that idea? Your dad is right, what do you know about running a club?" She placed her hand on his arm, trying to get his attention. "You have a place at QC and you have a place with me. Why can't you see that?"

He blinked back at her, he was 22 years old and she was planning his entire future, a future he didn't have a say in. He loved Laurel; Oliver knew that but there was something about this conversation that sounded like it was the end of everything. Everything seemed to final to her. Final was not something that he was interested in at his age.

Looking over at Laurel he suddenly noticed a few things, there was magazines around her room, they looked a lot like wedding magazines, invites to family events on her fridge, an invite for her and Oliver to a family wedding as well as an invite for her and Oliver to their friends house warming – the two had moved in together. Everything that a couple should have been doing but none of it was what he wanted to be doing.

Standing suddenly, he moved past her, "I need to go, I'm supposed to meet Tommy tonight." And with that he was gone, he needed air, he needed to breath. In the last 3 days, he had been attacked from all sides about how he should be living his life, what he should be doing and who he should be. He needed to get out.

Oliver tried to roll over, but the weight on his back was enough to hold him there and so instead he slowly turned his head as much as he could, trying to get a glimpse of the woman – yes he could tell woman by the feel of her naked body against his naked back – what was holding him down.

The first thing he noticed was that there was blonde hair, it was soft and wavy, covering the girls face. A small mumble coming from her lips and a kiss placed against his back, which tightened instantly.

This was not Laurel, her hair was not that light and she was not that small, he could tell the girls height by the weight on his back and it did not match Laurel Lance.

This was very, very bad.

Dropping his face back into the pillow below him, Oliver tried to remember what the hell had happened last night and how he ended up in a hotel room with someone who wasn't Laurel.

"Oliver…"

Her voice was soft to his ears but his heart stopped instantly when he recognised it. Oh, this was very, very, very bad.

Standing outside on the street of the hotel, Oliver looked around, he was ashamed of what had just happened and he didn't know what to do about it. He looked down at the blonde in front of him, trying to gauge her stance. Sighing he dropped his head, "Look, I'm sorry – what happened last night-"

"Ollie?"

The sound of his name caught his attention, the muscles in Oliver's back tightening instantly, oh, this was not good. Slowly he turned around and came face to face with Laurel, a slight smile on her lips. But it faded instantly when she noticed the flash of blonde hair behind him.

Taking a small step to the side, Oliver closed his eyes, waiting for the onslaught he was deservedly going to get. It was as if the whole world fell away around them, it was just the three of them – Oliver, his girlfriend and the girl who was going to bring it all crashing down around him.

He had wanted to hurt Laurel like this? Of course not. He had been trying his hardest the last 8 months – he had stopped going out with Tommy and if he did, he would still drink but he would always end up with Laurel. She had been the only girl he had slept with in that time, he really wanted to do right by her but that was gone now.

This was the first time she had actually caught him doing something like this, sure she knew about indiscretions, for some reason choosing not to say anything to him and forgiving him about it all but this was different. He wasn't an idiot.

Were the conversations he had with his family and Laurel over the last few days reason enough for him to have gone out and gotten drunk enough to not remember how he ended up at the hotel with someone who was supposed to be his friend?

Of course, not.

He knew that, of course he knew that. But he had been so overwhelmed by everything that nothing else mattered but his need to forget and to have a bit of fun. That's what he had wanted when he had left Laurel's the night before. He just wanted to go out and have a bit of fun.

This was very, very bad.

It was 8am in the morning and Oliver was found standing outside a hotel with someone who wasn't his girlfriend. It wouldn't take a genius to work out what was happening. Laurel was anything but stupid though.

As if in slow motion, Laurel leaned over the side of Oliver to see was sheepishly standing behind him.

"Sara?"

Laurel's voice was soft, her eyes momentarily betraying herself with realisation of what was going on between her sister and her boyfriend.

Oliver swallowed – he honestly had no idea what he was going to do about this. He really had tried to do the right thing by Laurel, he wanted to do the right thing but it had blown up in his face and he knew it. "Laurel-"

He knew he shouldn't have spoken; knew she would be furious and heartbroken. But for some reason he still hadn't expected the connection of Laurel's hand across his face. The stinging pain on cheek was not enough to even cover the pain that he saw in her eyes as the tears already started to fall.

She's slapped him, the crack of the slap echoing through his ears. He wanted to call for her, desperate for her to stop and to hear him out but he couldn't bring himself to say or do anything. The only movement he could do was to bring his hand to his reddening cheek, feeling his own tear slipping from his eyes.

"Sara? As in Sara Lance? The sister of the girl you supposedly love?" Felicity physically stepped away from Oliver, her hands shaking as she realised what he was saying. There were things that Felicity could handle when it came to Oliver and his tendencies - usually the fact that she knew that he was cheating on Laurel was the one borderline - but to find out that he had slept with Laurel's sister was beyond anything.

Oliver watched for a moment as she looked him in the eyes, her eyes darkening as she regarded him but then she was retreating from him, something that she never did. No matter what he told her, Felicity had always thought better of him. But the look in her eyes before she walked away from him told him that he had lost a part of her in that moment.

He took in her back, the movement of her arms as she walked away, her shoulders slumping as the emotions got the better of her. What the hell did he do? He had hurt Laurel, hurt Sara, hurt himself and disappointed Felicity.

What had he become?

Yeah Oliver slipped – but he was trying so hard! Any love? :D