CHAPTER 3: LEARNING TO TRUST


OOOOO

"Got your text," Felicity said, strolling up behind Tommy. Seeing him turn and smile at her in greeting she continued, "I must admit, when you said you needed to talk; this wasn't exactly the type of place I was thinking of." Scrunching up her nose in confusion, she stops beside him to take in the modest building in front of them.

"Come on Smoak, let me show you something," Tommy teasingly spouted, already walking towards the entrance of the building backwards, hands stuffed into the pockets of his pants while inclining his head for her to follow him.

As Felicity walked briskly to catch up to Tommy, she could only wonder why Tommy had brought her to the Starling City Aquarium. She could name five or six places off the top of her head that would be considered natural places to meet up. From Big Belly to Starbucks, even Verdant, but here? This was definitely different. Not that she knew what was considered normal in Tommy Merlyn standards. She and Tommy hadn't exactly spent a lot of time together since meeting; to be fair, they've only had a handful of conversations personally since they met in Verdant's basement. They've only tentatively delved into this odd, banter-filled friendship outside of their respective time from the club. One maintaining the public's checks and balances of the everyday nightlife, and the other running a crime-fighting organization by night and IT guru by day. Observing that Tommy is patiently holding the door open for her in mild amusement, Felicity can tell he's noticed her internal quandary. Shaking herself out of her reverie of thoughts, she smirks politely at him as she crosses the threshold of the Aquarium entrance, "Such a gentleman. You are just full of surprises today, aren't you?"

"You haven't seen anything yet," he naturally flirts back, leaning down to whisper in her ear. Snagging Felicity's hand, Tommy starts to pull her into a more remote section of the Aquarium.

After walking down a few hallways, and through a couple of rooms, they reach a small alcove entrance that's blocked off with an 'Under Construction' sign. Tommy makes a move with his right hand to raise the rope, so they can go under it, but Felicity stops him.

"Tommy, what are you doing?" Felicity hisses at him, taking her hand and pulling it out of his grasp. "It's blocked off, we have no idea what they're doing in their or if it's safe – not to mention we will most likely be caught and kicked out, which may be normal for you under certain circumstances….." She trails off as Tommy leans over to put an index finger over her lips, making a 'shushing' noise in the process.

"Easy Felicity. It's okay, I promise. You just have to trust me," Tommy calmly says. Holding out his hand for her to take, a very serious expression creeps over his features as most of the amusement has left his face.

Wordlessly, she shifts her purse onto her other shoulder and places her hand in his. Tommy's never given her a reason not to trust him, and even with their new found friendship she can feel that this is something important to him, whatever it is that he needs to speak with her about. In for a penny, in for a pound as they say. They duck under the rope and round the corner that leads them into a breathtaking view. Cavern walls are filled with dim lighting; but in the main portion on the alcove most of the illumination in the room comes from the glass walls that reach up above them creating their ceiling, the teal blue water floods the area with beautiful reflections and lighting. In the center of the room there is one lone wooden bench, worn and weathered, but somehow fits among the beauty of the room. Circling the small, yet spacious area, Felicity sits down on the bench awed by the simplicity and peace of the room. Shifting to look at Tommy, she can see through the low lighting how he's drawn in to himself, staring absently at the schools of fish floating all around them.

"Tommy, what is this place to you?" Felicity hesitantly asks; she stands up from the bench to walk over to him and places a comforting hand on his arm.

For several moments, there's nothing but silence and the flickering reflections of the water bouncing off of the walls of the room. When Tommy doesn't respond, seemingly lost in thought and staring straight ahead, Felicity starts to become concerned and worried. She gently squeezes his arm to let him know that she's here for him. That in one small gesture she meant what she told him when they first met – that she would be here for him, if he needed to talk. Suddenly, Felicity feels him sigh and slacken his body.

"My mother used to bring me here, before she…," Tommy whispers to her, emotion clogging up his voice. Inside the small cavern, the whisper sounds like a strike of lightning hitting, bouncing off the walls surrounding them. Turning his head to Felicity, he smiles tightly at her, "This place is where I can step away from the world a bit. I don't have to be Tommy Merlyn public figure, the golden boy, the dutiful boyfriend, best friend to a vigilante, here I can just come and be – "

"Yourself," she speaks kindly to him. Knowingly. "This is your safe haven, a little piece of the world where no one can get to you."

"Yeah," he breathes, a look of relief flooding the features of his face.

"It's beautiful here Tommy. I may never have met her, but this; this makes perfect sense to me. A reflection of her soul in the breathtaking space, of cherished memories. I can see why you come here," Felicity sincerely says, letting go of his arm; she crosses her arms in front of her taking in the serenity of the closed off aquarium. Walking over to a section of the glass where more fish have gathered, she contemplates the enormity of what Tommy has just shared with her. "So, did you and Oliver ever –"

"No," Tommy quickly shutting down her question. He walks over to her and leans against the glass where she's standing, raising his eyebrows at her.

"You never brought…what about Laurel?" Felicity jumps back in after being cut off.

"No Felicity. Laurel hasn't been here either," he states; hand coming up to rub the back of his neck.

"Has…anyone?" Felicity tentatively questions. Her eyes are growing wide now at the potential implication of his answer, nervousness creeping into her system and anxiety of just how much Tommy Merlyn is willing to trust her in such a small period of time.

"Just you," Tommy admits.

"Just me," she says; disbelief coloring her voice. "But, of all the people to share this part of you with, why me?"

The silence between them is deafening. Staring at each other in trepidation, anxiety, confusion and something else indefinable, Tommy is the first to break eye contact between them.

"I don't know," Tommy says, swallowing thickly, you can hear the question in his own answer, slight creases forming around his eyes as he turns to answer her.

Felicity is more than slightly awed by Tommy Merlyn right now. He is nothing like she ever expected him to be, and yet at the same time; she's seeing what's only reflected back in her own soul. Perhaps that is the real answer to their friendship. They don't have to vocally acknowledge what they both see in each other that connects them together. They've figured out what makes the other tick without looking at the schematics. They just know. Making an unconscious move towards him, she stops short when the shrill of a cell phone echoes through the alcove. Surprised at the unexpected noise, Felicity straights up to dig through her bag for her phone, where she is promptly planning on murdering whoever is on the other end. "Sorry," she says exasperated at Tommy, while continuing to rifle through her belongings. Triumphantly she holds up her hand with her phone in the other, "Ha!" Looking to see who the caller is, her good mood leaves her as quickly as it came.

"It's Oliver isn't it?" Tommy heaves a long drawn out sigh, walking over the bench he sits down with his shoulders slumped slightly, propping his chin on his hands. "You need to take that, I get it," he says, a hint of sadness crawling into the inflection of his words.

Staring at her phone, and then back at Tommy, Felicity doesn't even hesitate as she takes her phone and flips the sound to vibrate before throwing her phone back in her purse and strides over to Tommy to join him on the bench.

"Wait. Did you just ignore Oliver?" Tommy turns his upper torso towards Felicity, a huff of laughter in disbelief expelling from his chest.

"Yes. That was Oliver, and yes I did ignore him. Why are you surprised?" Felicity laughs out, tilting her head to the side in question.

Well. Because -," Tommy sputters out. Because no one ever ignores Oliver Queen. They just don't. It's universally known, when Oliver Queen calls, everyone drops everything. Hell, he's been guilty of it himself. Best friend in life and all that. "If he's calling you, it's probably important and related to, what you all do," he resigns himself in saying, waving his hands around in random gesture.

"Contrary to popular belief, I don't enjoy him monopolizing all of my time. I'm not answering him, because he knows better. I already had this conversation with him earlier that I would be busy this afternoon because I was spending it with a friend. A friend who needs me. He is aware, and I guarantee you, it's nothing that can't wait until later. He can wait," Felicity speaks sincerely, passionately to him. She reaches up to softly touch Tommy's shoulder, trying to convey the importance of what's she's trying to get across to him. "He can wait."

Felicity's heart breaks just a bit as she witnesses just how much her words have affected him. Tommy's face is littered with emotion, jaw slackened; and she can swear she can see the beginnings of tears shining in his eyes, but before she can respond to his silent outpour of emotion, Felicity suddenly finds herself with an armful of Tommy Merlyn.

After her initial surprise of being drawn into this very unplanned removal of personal space, Felicity barely hesitates as she gives back as much as she can to him. Burying her head in his chest as Tommy lays his cheek on top of her head, they just hold each other. After several long minutes, Felicity feels Tommy gently release her, brushing his nose against the top of her head, before clearing his throat and sitting back minutely.

"Felicity Smoak. Thank you," Tommy ducks his head down to look Felicity directly in the eye, keeping his hands on her upper arms as he gently speaks to her.

"So. Now that we've hit our emotional quota of the day, what it is that you needed to talk with me about Merlyn?" Felicity smiles brightly at him, relaxing as she discovers they've crossed another milestone in their friendship, one that she is certainly not unhappy about. She's glad that's she's able to provide this little piece of reassurance to him, because he deserves it, and she'll be damned if he ever thinks otherwise again.

"Later. I have plans for you Smoak. Big plans," Tommy says, standing up with a bright smile stretching across his face. "Now what do you say I show you around the rest of this place?" A cocky grin in place now as he does a light-hearted spin, while holding his arms out before clapping his hands together.

"I'm not sure I could say no if I wanted to," Felicity playfully banters back in a slightly exasperated manner. Standing up, she and Tommy make their way out, laughter echoing behind them.

OOOOO

Seeing the light return to Tommy's eyes, made her chest constrict in ways she never knew could occur. Listening to Tommy and watching the expressions on his face as they walked through the aquarium, sharing stories of when he was little. How his nearly gave his mother a heart attack as he snuck away to try and play into the shark tank.

But the best moment in her opinion, was at the end of their afternoon as they said their goodbyes, Felicity saw the one thing she had always wanted to see from Tommy shine through his eyes.

Hope.


This chapter just spiraled out of control. No idea what happened guys!

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