This is completely not what I had in mind when I started this, but it kind of took on a life of it's own and ran rampant. Sorry about that. Basically it's the 'meeting as kids and kind of loving each other and then meeting again 20 years later and kind of loving each other all over again' trope. Basically this idea came from a book I read a while back, about kids who make an instant love connection when they meet... It's very cute, and apparently it does happen so I couldn't resist using it here a little.
Some notes before you read-
Kid Felicity is based on my four year old cousin, who is just about the most adorably precocious little person I've ever met.
There are several modern pop culture references in the childhood part, so I'm gonna say that since this is an AU, they're children around now and the 18 years later is 18 years in the future. Simply because I wanted to keep the Iron Man line ;)
Ok so obviously there's no island or Thea in this universe. And Robert died when Oliver was much younger (you'll discover that in the second part) But anyway, my theory is that those factors would effect Oliver's character. Which is why he's not the total pre-island douche bag he is in the show. Also it's my AU and he can't be douche for the sake of this story- writers convenience and everything.
OK I think that's everything! Let me know what you think!
Oliver huffed angrily as he struggled to tie the little bow tie his mother had given him.
"Stupid thing." He grumbled, glaring at the haphazard knot and shrugging in defeat.
"Are you ready Ollie?" His mother walked in to his room and pursed her lips when her eyes fell on his messy hair and disastrous tie. "Come here." She fixed the bow at his neck, and seemed to produce a comb out of nowhere before proceeding to rake it painfully through his hair.
"Mom stop it, it's fine." He pulled himself out of her reach with a scowl.
"Oliver this is an important night for your father. You need to be on your best behavior."
"I know."
He looked at his reflection in the mirror. He thought he looked like one of the penguins from Happy Feet. In his opinion, seven year olds should not be forced to spend evenings in penguin suits. They should be allowed to wear Iron Man suits instead. Sadly, his mother had not agreed when he'd suggested that be his formal wear for this evening.
"Mr. Smoak is bringing his daughter along. You can play with her."
Oliver wrinkled his nose at the thought.
"How old is she?"
"Just turned four, I think." He shook his head at his mom's offered hand and followed her out of his room as she continued talking. "Her name is Felicity." She turned back to fix him with a hard stare. "If you're very, very nice to her, you can ask Raisa to fix you both some ice cream when she gets here."
Oliver wasn't oblivious to the concept of bribery. In fact, it was one of the first things he'd taught himself. Well, blackmail too. So, he only had to consider for a moment before deciding that hanging out with a stupid little girl was worth it if he got one of Raisa's special ice cream sundaes.
"Okay." He conceded.
His mother smiled indulgently and led him down the grand staircase towards the crowds of grown ups exchanging pointless small talk. His father was nowhere in sight, but that was hardly a surprise. Despite having gone on and on about how important it was for Oliver to be there to 'present a wholesome family image to the investors' his father was unlikely to even acknowledge that he was there.
The scowl that had briefly lifted from his face at the mention of ice cream, settled itself firmly back over his features and he sighed dramatically as he trudged through the gathering.
"Oliver darling, come here." He followed his mother's voice to where she was talking to a stout man he recognized as Mr. Smoak, one of his fathers partners at the company.
"Oliver! Good God you're getting big!" Mr. Smoak bellowed.
Oliver smiled politely and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Of course he was getting big. It was called growing up, all children did it, it was kind of a thing.
Instead, his eyes settled on a flash of pink beside the man's chubby legs. He walked around behind Mr. Smoak, watching in amusement as the small girl quickly mimicked his actions, circling her father's legs so that he could barely catch a glimpse of her.
"Oh Felicity, don't be shy." His mother was saying, "I've promised Oliver ice cream. Would you like to go with him and get some?"
A small face peeked out at that, large blue eyes settling on him hesitantly.
"Mint choc chip?" She asked, her hands still fisted in Mr. Smoak's suit pants.
"Mint choc chip's my favorite too." Oliver spoke for the first time, watching in interest as she relaxed a little, dropping her hands to her sides and stepping out completely from behind her father.
She was very short for a four year old, he noticed. She was wearing a ruffled pink dress that looked kind of like something Cinderella threw up, and she had long blonde hair that curled prettily around her shoulders. She was cute, in a fluffy kitten kind of way.
"You can come with me if you want. Raisa lets me put as many extra chocolate chips on as I want and if I ask in Russian she might give us sauce as well." Oliver said, his mouth starting to water at the thought.
Felicity's face broke into a wide smile, and she nodded excitedly. She ran towards him and held her hand out expectantly. He frowned, confused for a second before he realized what she wanted. He hesitated, but eventually reached out and grabbed her hand in his.
"I'll show you the way." He said proudly, starting to lead her off towards the kitchen.
"Oliver you need to look after Felicity okay? Don't let her go wondering off by herself." His mom called after them.
He nodded, "Okay." He called over his shoulder as he tugged the little girl towards their waiting ice cream.
"Oliver's a funny name." She piped up suddenly.
He turned to frown at her. "No it isn't." He said defensively.
"Yes it is."
"Why?"
She crinkled her forehead together as she thought. "Well it's like someone said olive and then forgot what they meant to say next. Olive…errr."
To his dismay, Oliver couldn't think of a good response to that, but luckily, they reached the kitchen and Raisa pounced on them before he had to.
"Let me guess, you two are after some ice cream?" Raisa asked with a smile.
Felicity nodded enthusiastically.
Raisa chuckled, petting his hair briefly before going to open the freezer.
"We have strawberry, cookie dough-"
"Felicity wants mint choc chip, same as me." Oliver cut in quickly. "With extra choc chips and sauce."
"Is that so? What do you say then?" Raisa asked, an eyebrow raised expectantly.
"Пожалуйста."
She smiled indulgently at him and went to fetch the ingredients. Oliver grinned proudly at the impressed look on Felicity's face.
Five minutes later, they were seated side by side at the breakfast bar, while Raisa placed two enormous bowls of minty chocolate goodness in front of them.
"For you Кузнечик. And for your lovely guest, enjoy Cолнышко." *
Oliver grinned and thanked her quickly. Felicity looked up at the older woman before leaning in close to Oliver. "How do you say thank you in her language?" She whispered.
He was happy she'd asked something he knew the answer to. He thought it might have been quite embarrassing if he didn't know what to tell her.
"Cпасибо." He whispered back.
She turned to Raisa and blushed prettily before saying the word quickly and surprisingly accurately for having just learned it.
Raisa gave her a huge smile and ruffled her hair before leaving them alone in the kitchen. Felicity looked pleased with herself for a second, but quickly grabbed her spoon and dove into her ice cream.
"Felicity's a funny name too you know." Oliver said after a minute.
Felicity didn't even pause in her effort to inhale her sundae. "No it's not. Felicity's a word, it means happiness. Oliver isn't a word." She said around a mouthful.
Oliver sighed; she had him there.
A little bit of ice cream dripped down her chin and he laughed at her, watching in interest as she blushed again. She seemed to do that a lot.
"After this we could play hide and seek." She suggested suddenly.
He frowned, usually hide and seek was his favorite game, but he couldn't play it with her.
"No. You're not meant to leave my sight. We can play something else." He said decisively.
"Like what?"
He thought for a second. "My favorite thing to do at parties is hide behind things and when people come past, I jump out and see if I can get them to spill their drink on themselves! We could do that."
She frowned at him, and he wondered if she was going to tell him that that was mean. But it only took a second for her frown to melt into a grin.
"Okay."
The evening passed quickly, full of games and laughter. They got on like a house on fire, despite the age difference. And although Felicity managed to keep up with him fairly well, he found himself happy to slow down a little for her. Not minding when he had to wait for her to catch up, or take time out of a game to explain the rules to her. He laughed more that evening than he had ever since the time his friend Tommy accidentally ate mouse poo.
But sadly, all too soon, Mr. Smoak was telling Felicity that it was time to go home.
Her bottom lip quivered and her eyes swam with tears at that news, and Oliver, on impulse, reached over and petted her head comfortingly. She looked up at him, her wide eyes heartbreakingly sad.
"I want to stay here with Oliver." She mumbled, reaching her small hand out towards his, much like she had done earlier in the evening. He took it gently in his own and squeezed it reassuringly.
"I'm sure we can play again soon." He said, looking up to her father for confirmation.
Mr. Smoak nodded. "Yes of course. Felicity you can come visit Oliver again whenever you want, okay?"
She brightened up then, and let go of Oliver's hand, allowing her father to pull her away.
"See you soon Oliver." She called.
"Wait!" He ran after them and stopped awkwardly in front of Felicity. "Take this." And, in a gesture he'd seen grown ups do in the past; he pulled his suit jacket off and tucked it around her shoulders. "It's cold outside." He explained shyly.
"Thank you." She slipped her arms through the sleeves, laughing at how long they were on her.
"Come on honey." Mr. Smoak said and Oliver took a step back, letting them go.
"Bye Felicity." He said, waving at her departing back.
She twisted around to look at him, a big smile lighting up her face.
"Bye Oliver."
Eighteen years later
Oliver leant against the bar; drink in hand, watching as Starling City's finest engaged in idle gossip and ill-disguised power plays. He hated this side of his life, the fake smiles and ulterior motives, the God-awful parties. If he had his way, he'd be spending his Saturday night in good company, with takeout pizza and a few beers instead of all dressed up and trying to keep the wolf from the door with tiny little 'amuse-bouches' that were barely the size of a single grape.
This whole scene made his stomach turn.
His father's last words, spoken to a sobbing fifteen-year-old Oliver sitting on the side of his hospital bed, had hit him hard, and he'd never really been able to fake it in these sort of situations since. 'Focus on what's right. What feels right.' His father had said. And this had never felt right; throwing money around just to show that you have it, smiling at people's faces just to turn and bitch about them a second later, keeping your opinions to yourself for fear of offending someone 'important'. He knew he had to be there to demonstrate to the world that the Queen family was still an integral part of Queen industries, and that it hadn't secretly become Steele Consolidated as the rumor mill suggested. But that didn't mean he had to play the game.
He grabbed the bottle of champagne that he'd been working on, and headed towards the veranda. He let himself out of the stuffy ballroom and into the chilly night air, closing the door firmly behind him, satisfied that no one seemed to have noticed his escape. He sighed and loosened his tie, undoing his top button before heading further out onto the patio.
He was about to sit down against the wall and get started on his champagne, when a flash of pink caught his eye. He turned to the left and widened his eyes when he realized that he wasn't alone. A girl was sitting on the very edge of the veranda, her legs dangling over the edge, her heels sitting beside her on the stone floor. She was wearing a long fuchsia dress that was rippling in the light breeze; her blonde locks dancing with it. She hadn't noticed him, she was lost in her own thoughts, her eyes fixed ahead of her, unfocused. He watched her for a second, transfixed by her quiet tranquility, before snapping himself out of it and strolling towards her.
He settled himself down next to her, watching in amusement as she jumped in surprise and turned to stare up at him. She was beautiful.
"Hi?" She mumbled.
"Hi."
She crinkled her brow at him, whether in confusion or exasperation, he wasn't sure, but something about the gesture was achingly familiar and he found himself searching his mind for where he might have met her before. She was stunning, all long legs and soft curves, and that sort 'gorgeous without even realizing it' thing that seemed to come hand in hand with the lingering innocence that surrounded her. He was sure he would have remembered meeting her, if he had done so already.
She was still looking at him questioningly, and he realized that he was probably freaking her out a little, a strange man sitting himself down next to her on a dark patio.
"I guess I'm not the only one in need of refuge from the party." He said, hoping to show her that he didn't intend on kidnapping her or anything.
She sighed and looked over her shoulder to where the flickering lights of the gala were filtering through the large bay windows behind them.
"Yeah, I hate these things." Her voice was soft, almost a whisper, but again came the feeling that he'd heard it before, something tugging at the back of his consciousness.
He shook his head slightly and looked at her through narrowed eyes. Had they run into each other at one of these parties before? He surely would've remembered that. Were they at college together? There were always a lot of girls around in those days, but she looked to be a few years younger than him, so that wouldn't work; that ruled out school as well. Or was he just imagining it?
He took a swig of champagne and held the bottle out to her in a silent offering. She shook her head, smiling her thanks. He was sure he'd seen that smile before.
He sighed, giving in and blurting out the question before he could talk himself out of it.
"I'm sorry… Do we know each other? You seem very familiar." He said, watching her reaction carefully.
She stared at him, her pretty blue eyes traveling over his face, her forehead pulling together in concentration.
"I don't think so." She shrugged. "Maybe we ran into each other at one of these things before?" She suggested and he nodded absently. It was possible, he supposed.
"Oh! Sorry. Felicity Smoak." She said quickly gesturing to herself with a cute wave of her hand.
He stilled. He knew that name. And now as he was looking at her, he realized he knew exactly who she was.
Felicity Smoak. Felicity Smoak. The little girl he'd sort of accidentally fallen in love with when he was seven years old. He'd been teased about that night for years afterwards, his mother telling the story of the time he wrapped his jacket around a little four year old girl, to anyone who'd listen. He remembered the night fairly clearly, the ice cream, the games, her ruffled pink dress, a remarkably similar shade to the one she was wearing now in fact. He'd asked about her every day for a month, hoping she'd come over to play again. He'd been horribly disappointed when he'd learnt that her father had relocated them to Coast City.
And now here she was, all grown up, and yet kind of exactly the same. Except all... sexy.
"Felicity."
He hadn't realized he'd said it aloud until he caught the funny look she was giving him.
"Sorry. I…" He broke off, finding that he was kind of at a loss for words. "We do know each other." He managed to get out, after a moment.
She looked confused.
"Really? Are you sure, because I'm usually pretty good with- Oh god, you're not the guy from my 21st birthday party are you? Because all I remember from that night is that I kissed someone and that they were male. Well I also kissed my friend Karen later on that night but…That's beside the point." She cut herself off and took a deep breath as though centering her thoughts.
He found himself grinning at her little ramble, she was cute when she spoke, very animated, full of life.
"No, I wasn't at your birthday party, although now I kind of wish I was."
She blushed prettily and he had a sudden vision of her doing the exact same thing all those years before.
"We played together once when we were kids, a long time ago." He mimicked the wavy hand gesture thing she'd done earlier as he introduced himself "Oliver Queen."
She grinned at him then, her eyes lighting up and her nose wrinkling adorably.
"Oliver!"
"You remember?"
She nodded and he could easily see the excitement on her face. It made in his chest lurch unexpectedly.
"Well... I mostly remember my dad telling me the story… But I remember the ice cream! To this day that was the best ice cream sundae I have ever had."
He was grinning with her then, feeling lighter than he had in a long time.
"Oh and the jacket of course. I remember the jacket." Her voice took on a softer tone then, and her eyes shifted to something else, something that made his already jumpy chest jump even higher.
"Yeah, apparently that was one of my finer moments." He murmured.
"It was definitely a great moment." She agreed. "In fact, I'm pretty sure I still have the jacket."
She turned to face him in her excitement, pulling her legs up and tucking them under her. He was struck again by how beautiful she was, all shiny eyes and alabaster skin.
"You still have it?" He asked, surprised.
"I think it's in the attic at my dad's house in Coast City, with all my childhood stuff. I remember being reluctant to get rid of it…"
He wasn't sure why that knowledge made him so happy, but it did.
"Are you here with your dad?" He asked.
"Yeah. Well I mean, I live here now, in Starling City… And my dad's only in town for a couple of nights and apparently he had to come to this thing, so I decided to come with him so we could spend some time together." She rolled her eyes, gesturing around them at the empty patio. "You see how well that worked out."
He nodded, he remembered those days with his own father.
"So what has Oliver Queen hiding out here?" She asked.
He snorted quietly. "I think I'd rather have my teeth removed with pliers than spend more than an hour at one of these benefits." He said dryly.
She laughed. "They are a bit ridiculous." She agreed. "And what's with the tiny food? It's like, 'here have a little taste of something just to make you realize how hungry you are, but that's it'."
He grinned when she spoke the exact thoughts he'd been having earlier.
"Not a fan of the amuse bouches?" He asked lightly, a teasing lilt to his voice.
"I don't find them amusing." She chuckled at her own joke, and he laughed with her. Wondering how someone could be so sexy and so adorable at the same time. He didn't think he'd ever come across that combination before.
"So what have you been up to, in the last... However many years?" She asked after a moment.
He hesitated before answering, wondering if what he was about to do was the right thing. It felt right.
"Maybe we can catch up on those missing…" He did quick calculation "Eighteen years over dinner." He said, watching for her reaction.
She smiled.
"Considering the fact that neither of us want to be here, and the people we came with clearly haven't come looking for us… That sounds like fun." She said. "Nothing fancy though, I've had my fill of fancy for one evening.I would kill for a burger right now." She groaned. "I literally haven't eaten all day, I really wouldn't be surprised if I passed out."
She seemed to have a habit of rambling a little, but to his surprise, he realized that it was just another thing about her that he seemed to find endearing.
He tried to curb his excitement as he jumped to his feet; there was really no reason for him to be getting all worked up over going to dinner with a girl.
But she wasn't just a girl, she was the girl, the though flitted unbidden through his head. But he forced it away and tried to stay focused on the present. He should at least wait until they'd been on one date before deciding he was in love with her all over again.
"Burgers it is then." He said, holding a hand out to her and helping her to her feet. She was still tiny, barely reaching his shoulder. He'd never specifically had a thing for height difference, but with her, he rather loved it. It was like she was something precious and fragile he had to protect. He remembered feeling like that when he was a kid too.
"Sounds perfect." She agreed, standing barely a foot in front of him, heels in hand; dimples and rosy cheeks, and pink lipstick. Looking very very kissable. He resisted the urge, and held out his arm for her to hold while she slipped her heels back on. They gave her an extra lift, but she still stood several inches shorter than him.
"Okay, I'm ready." She said triumphantly when she was done.
He smiled and gently brushed a hand down her arm to take her elbow. He noticed the goosebumps across her skin and smiled to himself as he had an idea.
He shrugged out of his jacket, watching as her eyes widened in surprise, and then tucked it carefully over her shoulders, sweeping her golden hair out from underneath.
"Take this. It's cold outside." He said quietly, mimicking his childhood words.
She beamed up at him and his chest lurched yet again. He wondered if that was going to be a constant thing when he was with her. He hoped she'd be around long enough for him to find out.
"Thank you." She whispered.
He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and couldn't resist the urge to lightly trail his fingertips down her cheek. Smiling at her flushed face, he dropped his hand to wrap around hers, entwining their fingers naturally, as though they'd done it a hundred times before.
"Let's go." He grinned. "Those burgers aren't going to eat themselves.
* Raisa calls Oliver 'grasshopper' and Felicity 'sunshine'. They're both things my nanny used to say to me in Russian. However it's been a long time since I wrote any Russian, so the spelling is probably wrong, sorry!
