A/N: Okay, so it's been a while, sorry about that! I've been caught up in my various other fics and school and a new job and stuff... Anyway, I won't keep you very much longer, just know that I have loved all the wonderful reviews and that your support really does make me write more!

Edit: I added a little bit in the middle of this chapter to make sense of a scene that's coming in chapter 8. Just a heads up for the people who are confused about the sudden appearance of Felicity's cat.

Chapter 6:

Previously:

"So…" she said, to fill the silence. "How are you?"

"I'm sorry," Oliver said.

Felicity blinked. "Um, what?" She had no idea what he was even talking about and the non sequitur was a bit puzzling. Usually, she was the one not making sense.

"I'm sorry. For everything. For what I said all those years ago, and for what I said at the party last week... You were right. I do push people away."

Felicity opened her mouth she really had no clue what to say to that. Maybe Oliver had changed.

"I… What happened to me on that island…" Oliver trailed off, turning to face the kitchen island and leaning his elbows on it, almost like he needed the support. "Thea thinks I should talk about it, but…"

Felicity sighed. While she couldn't even imagine what he'd gone through, she did have an idea of what he was trying to say. "I understand," she said. "I can just tell Thea that we talked, and she'll stop bothering you. Well, she'll bother you less. I hope."

Oliver smiled; an easy, honest smile. "I had no idea you two were so close," he remarked.

When the coffee machine dinged, Felicity went and grabbed his cup and handed it to him. "Well, it kind of started when we were in Gotham. The Disney marathon, remember? We started hanging out when I moved here." She paused thinking of the first time they'd spent time together. "It was all Tommy's fault, really. He'd invited me for a celebratory drink and brought Thea along."

"He brought Thea for a drink?" Oliver said, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, it was more of a celebratory coffee at 3 in the afternoon, and we got her a hot chocolate. Anyway, that was 3 years ago, and we've been going out for lunch or going to the movies ever since. She's a nice kid."

Oliver looked thoughtful as he sipped his coffee, and Felicity took the opportunity to go sit down in the living room. "Is that weird for you? It's weird, isn't it?" Felicity asked, feeling a little uncomfortable again.

"A little," he admitted, sitting down on the opposite end of the couch. "But I'm glad she had someone to talk to."

They lapsed into a slightly uncomfortable silence as they sipped their coffee. A noise from her bedroom made Oliver tense. He looked ready to jump up and attack an army or something.

"Ignore that, it's just my cat," she said, waving away his concern.

It took a second, but then Oliver relaxed again and looked back at her. "I didn't know you had a cat," he commented.

"I do. He's a bit shy of new people, but he's a sweetheart. His name's Byte," she said proudly.

Oliver raised an eyebrow. "Bite? As in… to bite?" he asked gingerly.

Felicity just sighed and rolled her eyes. Everyone always got his name wrong, the poor thing. "No, Byte, as in a byte of storage on a computer," she explained.

"Ah," Oliver said, articulate as always. Suddenly, the image of Byte curled up on Oliver's chest popped into Felicity's head, and the blonde had to quickly take a sip from her drink and hope that Oliver hadn't noticed her blush.

"So… how was your visit to QC?" she asked, hoping to distract him and fill the somewhat awkward silence that had fallen.

Oliver shrugged. "It's not that different than I remember… Mom and Walter want me to take over the company," he said tensely. He kept his eyes on his cup and Felicity knew that this was one of the safer topics he needed to talk about.

"And you don't want that?" she asked.

Oliver grimaced at his cup. Felicity hoped it wasn't because of the Firefly print on the side. "Yeah, I never figured you for that kind of life… But you know they can't make you do anything, right?" Oliver shot her an inscrutable look. "If you don't want to do it, then don't. No offense to your family, but if they want to force you to do something that will make you unhappy, they're kind of being asses. And I just realized that that was totally offensive, and I'm sorry, I'm sure Moira is wonderful person once you get to know her, but she's a little intimidating, you know? And Walter is nice, and he's a good boss, but he still has that British stiff upper lip thing going on, and-"

"Felicity," Oliver interrupted.

For a brief second, she thought he'd be annoyed, like most people were when she started rambling, but he was grinning at her. "You're something, you know," he said, still smiling at her.

Felicity blinked. "Uhm… Thanks?" Was that supposed to be a compliment?

"I have to admit, I wasn't expecting to feel better after talking to you, and I almost didn't come, but… I do. Feel better, I mean. Thank you," he said sincerely.

Feeling heat rush to her cheeks, and Felicity tried her best to hide it. "Well, you're welcome," she said. "I told Thea that I didn't really know you well enough anymore for this kind of conversation, but I guess I did okay, didn't I?" she said cheekily, turning back to face him.

Oliver quirked an eyebrow at her. "I think you know me better than anyone." He said it in such a matter-of-fact way, like it was as normal as saying the sky was blue, that Felicity blushed again.

She laughed a little awkwardly to sidestep the intimate turn the conversation had taken, and put her now lukewarm mug on the coffee table. "Oh, I don't know about that. I don't even know your favorite color."

Mirth sparkled in his eyes - God, how much of a cliche was that? - as he mirrored her position; one arm slung over the back of the couch and one leg resting on its pillows, facing her. "What's your favorite color?" he asked curiously.

"Green," she replied immediately. "But not like an ugly green, more of a deep, forest-y green, you know? Oh, and blue." Felicity shut her mouth, feeling another babble session coming on. Instead, she pulled out her necklace and started fiddling with it, as she always did when she was nervous or bored.

Oliver's eyes were immediately drawn to it, shock evident on his features. "You still have it…" he whispered.

It took Felicity a moment to figure out what he meant, but a glance down at the motherboard necklace she almost always wore made her realize. "Oh, this? Yeah, I hardly ever take it off," she said, shrugging.

"Felicity, I gave that to you in high school," he said, sounding almost… awed? "I never would have guessed that you…"

Not knowing what to say to that, Felicity squirmed in her seat, glancing around to find a different topic of conversation. Her eye fell on the green rug underneath the coffee table - forest green, of course. "What's your favorite color?"

Oliver was still looking at her necklace, but looked up at her question. Slowly, a grin spread over his face. "Green," he replied.

"Faker, I chose that one already," she teased, glaring jokingly at him.

"Oh, and you have a monopoly on that color as your favorite?"

"I absolutely do!"

"Well, then I pick blue," he said, clearly holding back laughter. Felicity hadn't seen him this cheerful in almost a decade, and it was great. She just wanted to make sure that his mask stayed off, at least for a little while.

"I picked that one, too, you can't choose blue," she protested.

"You picked green first! By definition, you can only have one favorite color!" he said, grinning widely.

"Fine," she conceded with mock resignation. "But I pick cats as my favorite pets!"

"That's okay, I'm a dog person."

That's when Felicity started laughing in earnest.

/*/

They kept talking for what seemed like hours, migrating from each other's favorites - Felicity's favorite type of food was Italian, Oliver's was Mediterranean - to the people in each other's lives - Felicity mentioned Katie and the sparse contact she still had with Dylan and Lettie, Oliver grew a little tense and said that Tommy was still his best friend. He did mention Laurel; that they'd had a bad break up, and that Laurel now blamed him for Sara's death, even though she'd been marginally okay with them dating before the boat went down.

It was obvious to Felicity that Oliver blamed himself for Sara's death, as well, but she wisely kept her mouth shut. Still, one part of that blame game could be resolved.

"You should make things right with Laurel. I'm sure that if you just talk to her, she'll see that it wasn't your fault. And maybe once you've convinced her of that, I can get it through that thick skull of yours that Sara dying wasn't on you," she said, smiling softly at him.

Oliver retreated back behind his mask, and Felicity's smile melted off her face. Before he could offer up an excuse, though, she went on; "Laurel is just angry at the situation in general, not you. And she'll feel much better once she's forgiven you and has had time to grieve properly, without anger getting in the way… You'd be helping her with this, Oliver, not just yourself," she reasoned.

A tiny crack appeared in the mask, and Felicity knew she was getting through. "Just try. For her."

He nodded, and they moved on from the subject. Oliver mentioned that he and Laurel - and later Sarah, too - would often get a tub of ice cream and eat it straight from the container. Felicity asked if there was any other way you were supposed to eat ice cream.

"But, hey, you can use that as a way to break the ice. No pun intended. Okay, so it was slightly intended, I like puns, sue me," she said.

Oliver smiled crookedly, and Felicity decided that it was her second favourite Oliver smile. Not that she was keeping a list or anything.

"You're really not going to let this go, are you?" he asked rhetorically. She shook her head anyway. He sighed resignedly. "Fine." And then he got up and went to get his coat.

"Where are you going?" Felicity asked, and desperately hoped she didn't sound as dissapointed out loud as she did in her head.

"To Laurel's. Might as well get it out of the way."

Pushing the little stab of jealousy to the back of her mind, Felicity smiled at him and joined him by the door. "I know it's ridiculous to say this, and it probably makes no difference at all, but… I'm proud of you, Oliver," she said.

He just looked at her for a moment, and for once, Felicity didn't feel awkward, just happy. "It does matter," he replied softly.

And then he was out the door, and she was alone in her apartment again.

/*/

"I thought you were going to talk to him!"

Felicity looked up from her desk, surprised. She'd planned to meet Tommy for lunch, but it seemed Thea had invited herself along. They were currently standing in Felicity's office, while the latter quickly saved her work. If she knew Thea and Tommy, this would probably distract her from work anyway.

"Uhm. I did," she replied. Then she got suspicious. "Why, what happened?"

Tommy sighed. "Oliver fucked up, majorly."

Felicity's eyebrows flew up. "What did he do?"

"He embarrassed mom and Walter, not to mention himself. He showed up drunk at the opening of dad's applied sciences center, and announced loudly and in a totally rude way that there was no way he was going to take over the company," Thea explained angrily, crossing her arms and plopping down into the only remaining chair.

Felicity didn't really know what to say, so she offered Tommy her chair and leaned on her desk instead. "I don't understand. I know he didn't want to take the job, but this is a little extreme…" she said eventually.

"Wait, you knew?" Thea demanded, now glaring at the blonde.

"That's not what she said, Speedy," Tommy interrupted.

"Don't call me that!" Thea snapped.

Before this could turn into an actual shouting match, Felicity intervened. "I only knew that he wasn't happy that his mom was pressuring him to take the job. He told me that he's not like his father, and he has no desire to be. Besides, Walter's been running the company perfectly… It's just not who he is," she said.

Thea rolled her eyes and crossed her arms stubbornly, but Tommy threw her a curious look.

"Look, I'll see if he'll talk to me again, okay? But I can't promise that he'll agree to meet, let alone listen to me," Felicity said.

Thea made a non-comitant sound, but she seemed somewhat mollified. Tommy just shrugged. "Whatever you say, Smoaky. Now, let's go, I'm starving!"

Felicity rolled her eyes, but gathered her stuff anyway. "Unless I suddenly start resembling a bear, I'll kindly ask you never, ever to call me 'Smoaky' again."

Tommy grinned as he preceded the girls out of the office. "Aww, but it's so cute!" he protested teasingly.

The blonde glared at him. "May I remind you that I can send a hundred pron magazines to your dad's office in your name? Or make it seem like you're involved with the Russian mob? I could make you disappear with a few keystrokes, Merlyn, remember that."

Tommy paled slightly as he watched Felicity walk away. Thea smirked. "She's kidding, right?" he asked, only slightly panicked. "Right?" His voice was rising in pitch, which only made Thea smirk wider as she followed her blonde friend down the hall, leaving Tommy Merlyn trailing behind them uncertainly.

Good to know I still have it, Felicity thought, a touch gleefully.

A/N: I keep forgetting how young Thea is here, she's still in high school. How weird is that?

I wrote this chapter in 2 or 3 sessions, so if it feels like the tone of the chapter moves around, it's mostly because of that. Sorry! I hope you liked the conversation Oliver and Felicity had, it was a lot of fun to write, and I cannot wait until I get to the episode where Felicity joins the team. I might even have her join up earlier, who knows?

Anyway, please let me know what you think, and review!