Summary: Tommy's been struggling with the jealousy that comes with the certainty that Oliver and Laurel are still attracted to each other. What he's not expecting to hear is that it was never just Laurel that Oliver was in love with. Which opens up a whole new can of worms for Tommy and offers Laurel a rather appealing option of not having to choose between the two men she's in love with... if she can get over her feelings of guilt regarding Sara and her father enough to accept the possibility of her own happiness.

Notes: For the Multiamory March prompt - Confusion

Unexpected

After the disastrous double date with Oliver and Helena - a mobster's daughter, Ollie? Really? - Tommy managed to mend things with Laurel pretty quickly. Admitting to his insecurities wasn't easy, but Laurel forgives him for it.

He's also well aware that if he accuses her of still being in love with Oliver again, despite it being true, that he's going to be out on his ass and minus a girlfriend faster than he can blink. If he hopes for becoming drawer material sometime soon, then he needs to learn to accept that no matter what Laurel's feelings for Oliver were... she'd chosen Tommy and that meant something.

That... doesn't make it any easier to go to Oliver and explain his situation at having been cut off by his father. Oliver, of course, offers to share his own trust fund.

Tommy can't say he isn't tempted. He's enjoyed the billionaire son's life; coasting by without a job and partying it up every night. But... the kind of man Laurel deserves is the kind of man who does more than just coast through life. So he swallows his pride and asks for a job from his best friend.

"Well, it just so happens that I have an opening for a general manager," Oliver replied with a grin. "I think you'd be a great fit. Besides... whenever we used to talk about running a nightclub, it was us running it together. Not just me. So having you as part of this feels right."

Tommy grinned, feeling for a moment the rush of all those plans they used to make. They'd practically planned out their whole lives together and it makes Tommy acutely aware of the distance between them... and his own contributions to that distance.

"So, uh, how are things with Helena?" Tommy regretted asking when Oliver winced.

"She's still hung up on her dead fiancé," Oliver admitted. "Going on a double date with my very much alive ex-girlfriend was, uh, not the smartest move. Which I was aware of when the idea was first floated, but in my defense... I panicked."

Tommy snorted in amusement. "Sorry, it's not funny."

"It's a little funny."

"A little." They grinned at each other.

Then Oliver's all too rare real smile slid away. "She broke up with me."

"Can I confess... I didn't like her," Tommy grimaced as Oliver gave him a startled look. "Sorry, just... she seemed really... brittle. I guess. Which, having a dead fiancé would explain some of that, but... I'm not saying being a mobster's daughter automatically makes her a bad person. But I got bad vibes off her; totally put me on edge. Which on top of my financial worries and how pissed off I am at my dad and... I'm a little jealous over the connection you and Laurel still share... I wasn't behaving at my best. I'm sorry about that."

"It's... it's fine, really. I..." Oliver heaved a sigh. "I'm not saying it isn't awkward for all of us. You and me and Laurel. But, I mean it when I say I'm happy for you two. The two of you are my best friends and I want you both to be happy more than anything."

"Even... at your own expense?" Tommy knows he shouldn't ask that question, but it slips out anyway. "You still love her."

Oliver pursed his lips and closed his eyes. "Sometimes I think being in love with Laurel kept me from going crazy while I was gone," he finally admitted. "I knew she wouldn't want anything to do with me if I ever got to go home, but I... it wasn't just her."

"What do you mean?" Tommy prompted when Oliver went too quiet, too still.

"I had a lot of time for soul searching while I was away. Cliched, I know, but... it's a cliche for a reason, I guess. I... wasn't just in love with Laurel, Tommy." Oliver opened his eyes and... there's an unexpected honesty there that makes Tommy's mouth go oddly dry. "I was in love with you, too."

"Oliver, don't joke," Tommy said automatically. It was an out, if Oliver would take it.

But he doesn't. "I'm not joking. It'd be easier if I were. Knowing the two people I love the most are happiest... without me. But honestly, being your friend - being her friend? That's more than I really deserve. I really hope telling you this hasn't... hasn't screwed up our friendship. But, uh... if you decide you don't want that general manager job after all... I'll get it. I took a weird situation. Made it weirder."

"Oliver..." Tommy has no idea what to even say. His best friend - his male best friend - is in love with him.

Oliver's phone buzzed. He checked the screen and heaved a sigh. "I've gotta go."

Tommy let him leave without a word.

He needed to talk to Laurel.


"He said that," Laurel said, clearly startled. "Like... Oliver actually used his words and said he was in love with you."

"Yes, Laurel. He said... that." Tommy waved his hands expressively. "My best friend is in love with both of us. Holy shit."

"Tommy..."

"I mean... I didn't even know he was bi." Was Tommy panicking? Yes. Yes he was. "Laurel, he never said anything to even hint at being bi before this..."

"Yeah, he totally did," Laurel corrected, sounding amused. "How many times did he make 'do the butts match' jokes about Bruce Wayne and Batman?"

Tommy went silent and contemplated that question. Idly turned it around in his mind while the panic he felt receded to a low buzz. "Um... a few."

"A lot." Laurel snickered. "I wouldn't have guessed, but there are totally things he's said or done in the past that make way more sense knowing he's bi. Or pan. I'm guessing he didn't actually say what he ids as?" She paused and then glanced sideways at Tommy, "so if you didn't notice he liked guys until now, I guess that means you two never, like... made out or anything? Never practiced kissing together as teens?"

Tommy opened his mouth to deny it. And then remembered a drunken night when Oliver was eighteen and Tommy was seventeen, when Tommy had been the one to drunkenly declare that he wanted to know if there was any difference between kissing boys and kissing girls and Oliver, giggly and toasting Tommy's 'scientific endeavors' with the beer they'd snuck from Robert's 'secret' stash, had obliged Tommy with a kiss. That became a lot of kisses and a little groping too. And in the morning, embarrassed and overcome by the certainty that they absolutely, positively were not at all gay... they'd promised never to speak of it again.

"Oh my god," Laurel's eyes went wide and she grinned with delight. "You did. Did you make out with Oliver before I did?"

"No!" Tommy blushed. "Maybe. When did you two first kiss again?"

"Prom night, though I broke up with him a few weeks later." Laurel shrugged and Tommy winced. Not like he he didn't already know all the details of Laurel's on-again, off-again relationship with Ollie over the years.

But it had never occurred to him that he'd actually kissed Oliver first. Until now. "It was a few weeks before my eighteenth birthday. Oliver and I had raided his dad's beer stash and, uh... things had a way of not seeming so weird or complicated when we were drunk..."

"Did you two have sex?" Laurel asked, eyes going wide and the grin on her face telling her boyfriend that she was enjoying this way too much.

"No," Tommy squeaked. He did remember teen him being really turned on by it all and... maybe it might've gone that far, but... "we fell asleep before doing much more than getting our shirts off," he admitted, blushing at the memory. "In the morning, after worshipping the porcelain god -"

"Puking your guts out in the toilet," Laurel amended, still sounding far too amused at Tommy's expense.

"- we made a pact to pretend our hot and heavy little make out session never happened. And there was never a repeat performance."

"Hot and heavy, huh?" Laurel smirked.

Tommy heaved a sigh. "You're imagining us making out now, aren't you?"

"Two hottest guys I know and one of them is in love with the other? You bet I'm imagining it. So... what about you?"

"What about me?" Tommy's voice squeaked hilariously again. Because he was definitely not imagining what making out with Oliver would be like now that they were both twenty-seven. Not at all. Certainly not wondering if Ollie's lips would be soft or chapped or what it would feel like to have Oliver's muscular arms pinning him down. That was Tommy's story and he was sticking too it, even as a flush crawled up the back of his neck to say otherwise.

"Are you bi?"

"I..." Tommy hesitated. Twenty-four hours ago he'd have said 'no.' He'd have proclaimed his straightness without needing even a second thought about it. "I don't know," he finally admitted. Because... Laurel was safe and wouldn't judge him for it.

"Do you want to figure that out?" Laurel asked, kissing his cheek.

"Well now that it's a question... yeah. I want to know the answer. I just... I'm in love with you, Laurel. I don't want figuring out if I'm bi or not to be... a problem. For us."

"It won't be. I promise, Tommy. I'm not going to think you love me less just because you're bi." She hesitated and then said, "I trust you not to cheat on me. And, negative stereotypes aside, being bi doesn't make a person more promiscuous or more likely to cheat. So I'm not worried." Laurel smirked, adding, "this could even be very fun for us. In bed. If you don't mind entertaining the idea of a little... role play? Maybe some toys?"

Was... Laurel offering to peg Tommy? He'd never done that before. Having something in his ass wasn't automatically gay but it was stigmatized as being close enough that Tommy had never wanted to risk rumors getting back to his father; Malcolm Merlyn wouldn't tolerate a queer son. But considering he'd practically disowned Tommy already, what was he going to do if Tommy came out as bi? Cut him off again?

A little breathless, Tommy asked, "what kind of toys are we talking about here?"


Tommy groaned and rolled over onto his back to get out of the wet spot on the bed. Laurel had definitely decided to have fun with Tommy's agreement to the role playing and the toys. Not that they'd worked up to the toys, yet, and Tommy wasn't entirely sure if this counted as role play. She'd been fingering him and told him to imagine it was Oliver's cock instead of her fingers and...

And Tommy had made a mortifying noise before coming a little, uh... early.

"Mmm, you're going to love it once I get the vibrator in you if that's any indication," Laurel teased, clambering back on top of Tommy and kissing him, hard.

"That was, uh..." Tommy trailed off, too flustered to finish his sentence.

"Enlightening?" Laurel smirked.

"Yeah. That's, uh, one way to put it." Tommy pulled Laurel into another kiss and, god, her body felt so good against his own. While enjoying being fingered by his girlfriend was not inherently gay in any way, shape, or form... his reaction to the idea of Oliver fucking him was definitely a little gay. Lit up his brain with pleasure and punched his orgasm right out of him. Which had been amazing. "Okay, so I might be a little bi."

"Which might also explain why you're extra sensitive about Oliver and me," Laurel observed, sitting up and straddling Tommy's waist, running her hands down his chest. "If you're attracted to him too. Maybe a little in love with both of us and not wanting to be the one left out again."

"Please don't try to psychoanalyze me right after sex. You just rebooted my brain, Laurel. Not everything has finished loading yet." Though... Tommy couldn't help but think Laurel was right. He was, maybe, a little in love with Oliver too.

And Tommy had no idea how he was going to look Oliver in the eye the next time they saw each other. "Want me to return the favor? You could sit on my face and put my mouth to good use."

Laurel smirked. "Absolutely. I do enjoy that talented tongue of yours."


Tommy sighed and slumped onto his bed. He missed his big, spacious apartment. The one he had now fit his limited budget since his dad cut him off. But, uh, it was tiny and cramped and he much preferred spending time in Laurel's apartment. Preferably in her bed, curled up next to her. Sex or no sex, sleeping with Laurel made him feel quite peaceful.

Like he really was going to manage to make it without running back to his dad the way Malcolm Merlyn clearly intended. Finally bring his son to heel.

But it was Christmas time now and Laurel... like every year, she was mourning Sara's loss. Christmas was Sara's birthday and that made it time for Laurel and Quentin to... act like her sister had died all over again. And Tommy sort of got it.

The thing is... how was Laurel ever going to move on from her sister's death - how was she going to stop mourning - if she didn't at least try to start making new memories?

And he... okay, so he'd been paying just a little more attention to guys lately. But while he seemed a little more appreciative of another's guy's aesthetics now that he... was letting himself notice that guys could be pretty or handsome or whatever... but it didn't really feel like he found any of them attractive. Which made him question if he was really bi. And then he'd tell himself he was in love with Laurel and with any luck he'd be spending the rest of his life with her so it didn't matter if he was really bi. Then he'd think about the last time he had sex with her and what she'd said to make him orgasm and...

His mind would wander. Would fantasize a little what it'd be like to have sex with Oliver while Laurel watched. Or maybe she'd be calling the shots, telling them what to do. What it'd be like having sex with both of them, to go down on Laurel while Oliver got off watching Tommy face first between Laurel's legs or... or what it'd be like to watch Oliver and Laurel together in the sheets and... what it might be like if it was just him and Oliver while maybe Laurel was running late from work. An almost domestic little fantasy where Laurel came home after and teased them about not waiting for her and Tommy being too fucked out to do more than watch Oliver take care of their... to watch his husband take care of their wife.

And, okay, Tommy was definitely bi when it came to Oliver. And a romantic at heart, given how much he loved that domestic little fantasy the most.

But the whole thing was just so confusing and he certainly couldn't talk to Oliver about any of this. But with Laurel having basically made herself off limits for the next two weeks...

Of course Oliver was having a Christmas Party in the midst of this. And Tommy was going to start work at the club after the new year, helping to get it into shape. None of which he'd manage well, or at all, if he couldn't look Ollie in the face without turning a bright, telling red. And he couldn't skip the party without insulting Ollie, who had sounded desperate to bring a little cheer back into Thea, Moira, and Walter's lives.

Tommy was fucked. Without actually being fucked. Not fun.

There came a knocking at his door and Tommy reluctantly rolled out of bed and crossed his studio apartment. He opened the door and... Laurel was standing there. Holding a pizza box and an uncertain smile. "Hey, Tommy."

"Hi, Laurel. Is that a mushroom and olive pizza?" He asked, holding the door open wider so she could come in.

She grinned impishly, seeming relieved by her welcome. "Might be," she teased.

"I didn't think I'd get to see you until almost New Years Eve." Tommy shut the door behind Laurel while she put the pizza box on his tiny kitchenette counter.

"Yeah, well, I... I missed you. And I thought about you said about life just being moments. Good and bad and... I realized I want all the moments with you I can get. And that means... I have to let the past start being the past and let myself think about the future I want. With you. And I guess that starts with this moment. You and me and a... a Mario's pizza." Laurel tugged Tommy close, kissing him softly.

"Even though your dad hates me?" Tommy asked quietly when he pulled away. He knew that was something that had been weighing on her mind.

"Dad... has to get over himself. I can't live my life based on what he wants for me." Laurel wound her arms around Tommy's shoulders. "And I don't want to define my life by my grief for Sara either. Help me create some good moments for my life going forward?"

"Absolutely." He grinned and kissed the tip of her nose. "Starting with helping you eat that pizza." He paused a beat. "Oliver's throwing a Christmas Party in a few days. I'm fairly certain it's going to be a disaster."

"Then I guess I'd better go with you and watch the train wreck."

"Thank you."


And wow is that Christmas Party ever a disaster. Tommy blushes beet red every time he's left alone with Oliver which makes Oliver nervous. Thea is pretty clearly only interested in screwing the boy toy she had as her date, which Tommy and and Laurel cheerfully cock block for a good forty-five minutes between them before Thea escapes upstairs while they're both distracted. Oliver goes up five minutes later, though, which signals all hell very quietly breaking loose. And through all of this Walter and Moira are too distracted by whatever relationship drama they're experiencing to notice any of this going on.

Thea's adorable little boyfriend takes off - disheveled looking - like someone (Oliver) lit a fire under his ass, which has Tommy and Laurel snickering to themselves. It's less funny when Oliver comes back downstairs, followed by Dig, and disappears into the kitchen. And then doesn't come back. Thea comes down with a brittle smile on her face and clearly looking to bitch out Oliver. When he's nowhere to be found, she starts to look worried. Which makes Tommy worried. And Laurel seems worried too.

And then the call comes in. Oliver wiped out on the highway after getting cut off in traffic by a semi. On that stupid bike of his...

Party's over.

Tommy and Laurel go to the hospital with the Steele-Queen family. (Or was it Queen-Steele? Honestly, it had been three, going on four years of Moira and Walter's marriage and Tommy had never been quite sure which order to put their names in.) They sit in the waiting room together, waiting for their turn to see Oliver. It's too late for visitors, but at Moira and Walter's insistence the staff turn a blind eye to them going back after Thea and Dig leave the room.

Ollie is out of it, dazed from his concussion and a little high on what are, no doubt, some good pain meds. So his smiles for Tommy and Laurel are... a little dopey. But also big and pleased they're there and... and Tommy manages to hold it together until he and Laurel go back outside.

"We almost lost him again tonight," Tommy choked out. "I can't... I can't go through that again."

"Neither can I," Laurel replied, as they clung to each other tightly.

Tommy sleeps in Laurel's bed that night, each of them curled tightly around each other. And in the morning, as they sip coffee and munch on Pillsbury croissants with strawberry and apricot jam for breakfast, the two of them come to a conclusion.

They don't want to waste a moment their time with Oliver any more than they do with each other.

"We're going to have to seduce him," Laurel concluded. "Are we agreed?"

Tommy nodded. "We are agreed."