Thank you for all the wonderful feedback! Here's a second part that takes place around the same time. There will be other stories in this 'universe' but since I can't create a series here on , they'll be posted separately. Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss Oliver and Felicity's other adventures.
Felicity is pretty smart.
Actually she's really smart. Like, for real, really smart.
She's only five and she knows how to read chapter books. That's pretty darn important. And she's teaching herself how to take apart the old computer her mom brought home from work last month. She's pretty close to finished, too. Her mom has no idea where Felicity learned these things, but Felicity swears on her most prized possession - her stuffed dog Bruno - that it all just comes to her, the computers just make sense in her head in a way nothing else does.
So anyways. She knows stuff. She's a smart cookie.
Which is why this whole Slade Wilson business has been bothering her since it started. it just doesn't make sense.
If he bothered everyone equally, she'd get it. Then he'd just be a bully. Which is a bad thing to be, especially when you're only five, but Felicity mostly understands about bullies.
But Slade doesn't spread his bully-ness around equally. Sure, he makes snarky comments to lots of kids in their class. He does it pretty quietly so she doesn't think Mrs. Hawthorne realizes. The other kids seem to brush it off and continue with their lives.
However, Slade seems to have a special little place for Oliver Queen. And not the good kind of special place, like Felicity's super secret reading spot. He goes out of his way to do things that he knows will hurt or bother Oliver.
Like, she knows that Oliver really cares about his friends Laurel and Tommy. They've known each other since they were babies and their parents are all friends too. She knows that Slade knows that too, so he goes out of his way to needle Laurel until she's upset. He bothers Tommy until Tommy snaps at him and gets into trouble for shouting in class.
Slade never seems to do anything in particular to Oliver, but she can tell that Oliver is bothered anyways. He always has this sad look in his eyes now, one that Felicity really wants to help him get rid of, but she's much better at fixing computers than she is people so she keeps her distance.
Until one day, Slade seems to think that if he goes after her, Oliver will get just as upset.
She doesn't know where he got that idea. Oliver is her friend, sure, but everyone is friends in kindergarten, and it's not like they play together every day or anything. They sometimes sit at the same table at lunch, but really, there's only so many tables to choose from in their classroom. Felicity is not someone Oliver will get upset about, and that's definitely okay because she doesn't want to be another reason Oliver gets sad eyes.
Felicity is on her own, as usual, nestled amongst the comfy pillows and under the big hanging leaf that signifies the reading corner. She's reading a new Nancy Drew chapter book - although she guesses she can't really count it as new, since they were published in the 1930's, but it's new to her, and she thinks that Nancy is pretty awesome. She solves all her own mysteries and she's basically a kid, just like Felicity. Felicity thinks maybe she'll grow up to be a Nancy Drew detective one day, only with more computers to help her, instead of the silly friends Nancy keeps around.
She's totally engrossed in the story when a body flops down beside her. She can see out of the corner of her eye that it's Slade and so she doesn't acknowledge him, keeping her focus on the book in her hands.
He's still for a few moments and she mentally crosses her fingers that what all the teachers told her was true: if you ignore bullies, they'll get bored and move on. But then he's wiggling his body even closer, his shoulder touching hers and it makes her feel icky and uncomfortable, so she wiggles away.
"What are you reading?" His voice is low and he's leaning close to her, closer than she'd like.
Felicity leans away, giving him an unimpressed look over the top of the book. "Nancy Drew. Can you please move over, you're too close to me," she adds, never one to back down from a fight.
Slade ignores her and smirks, making Felicity wrinkle her nose. "Felicity," he says, drawing out the syllables of her name in a way she doesn't really like. Sometimes Oliver does that, but when he does it, it sounds so nice and warm, like a fuzzy blanket. When Slade does it, it's like the scritch-scratch of nails on a chalkboard. "Nancy Drew, hm? That's funny. Doesn't Nancy live with her dad?"
Not sure where he's going with that random comment, she just nods. There's nothing wrong with what he's said, but Felicity knows that there's something else coming. Across the classroom she can see Oliver and Tommy, both bent over the tower they're constructed from the big wooden blocks. Slade follows her eyes, then snorts under his breath, shaking his head. Felicity snaps her eyes back to focus on Slade, giving him her best 'you aren't bothering me at all' look.
He leans closer, like he's going to tell her a secret. Felicity freezes. "Do you ever wonder why your dad didn't want to stick around and do his job?" Slade asks, his whisper sneaking past her stern exterior and into the cracks of her heart. "Was it something you did, something he didn't want to deal with for the next eighteen years?"
Felicity stares at her classmate. He looks at her like he's just asked her if it's sunny outside. She can feel the tears building up in her eyes and he just evenly meets her gaze as though he hasn't just said the one thing that can make Felicity cry in an instant.
Slade opens his mouth to say probably another nasty thing about her family, but Felicity leaps to her feet, tears spilling onto her cheeks as she takes off for somewhere that is nowhere near Slade Wilson, leaving her book behind. She's not really paying attention to where she's going and doesn't stop until she hears a loud "Hey!"
She's run right through the block centre, knocking down the tower that Oliver and Tommy had been working so hard to build.
"Watch where you're going, Felicity!" Tommy shouts, drawing all the fallen pieces close to him, as though someone else is going to sneak up and snatch them away. "We worked so hard on that forever."
Felicity looks at the ground and mumbles an apology. She knows Oliver is looking at her. He seems to be weirdly in tune with what she's feeling. He always seems to know when she's upset or angry. She quickly turns away because she does not want to tell Oliver Queen and his perfect family about her own messed up problems and how Slade Wilson can make her so upset with only a few words.
"Hey, Felicity. Wait!" Oliver is following her, and eventually there's nowhere to go. Their classroom is only so big. Felicity turns around, presses her back against the wall, and slides down until she's sitting. She draws her knees to her chest and wraps her arms around her legs. She can still see Slade watching her from across the room; he's turning her Nancy Drew book over and over in his hands. Turning her eyes to the side she lays her cheek on her knee, letting out a sigh.
Oliver slides down beside her, careful not to get too close. Somehow he knows to do that. He looks concerned, which makes sense because she's definitely crying.
"Felicity, are you okay? What happened?" His voice is soft and even though she's a tough girl she wishes she could snuggle in closer. Oliver looks like he'd be snuggly. Like a big teddy bear. "Did Slade say something to you?"
She squeezes her eyes shut for a moment, takes a shaky breath, and then meets Oliver's gaze. "Yeah, he just- well…" For as kind as he's been to her, Felicity doesn't really know Oliver that well, so she doesn't really want to get into her really, super personal thoughts and feelings just yet. "He's just not very nice, Oliver. I've tried to be friendly, to include him in stuff and it doesn't help anything."
Her tears have stopped but she wipes a hand over her cheeks. Oliver watches her, that sad look that she really really doesn't like in his eyes.
"I think it's my fault," he says quietly, after a minute. "I'm sorry."
"Oliver, how can it be your fault?" she asks, lifting her head from her knees to stare at him incredulously. "He's mean, he probably doesn't like that he had to move across the planet to go to school at Starling Elementary, that's it."
Oliver shakes his head. "No, it's more than that," he insists. "He doesn't like me. I don't know what it is, but I look at him and I can tell. It's something in his eyes. And he knows that I, uh, that you're my friend, and now he's going to try and make me mad by making you sad." He meets her eyes and looks so sure of himself that Felicity can't help but believe him.
"I don't like it when you cry," he adds quietly, looking down at his hands.
Felicity feels a fluttering in her tummy and her heart gives an extra little thump at Oliver's quiet admission. She reaches out and covers his hand with hers, giving his fingers a little squeeze.
Boys are gross, but Oliver looks like he could use some cheering up too. "Well, Oliver Queen, I don't really like crying either," she informs him, wiping her eyes one more time. "Let's do something that is much more fun than sitting in the corner feeling sad."
"Do you want to help Tommy and I rebuild our tower?" he asks, not letting go of her hand. "I don't really need the help, but Tommy is not the greatest tower builder." He whispers the last part like it's a secret and Felicity giggles, looking over at where Tommy is pouting over a small pile of blocks.
She nods and Oliver scrambles to his feet, pulling Felicity along with him and leading her over to the blocks.
Later, when she's in the bath, her mom sits on the floor beside the tub as Felicity piles bubbles on her chin like an old man. She tells her mom all about her day. Her mom looks pretty upset when she repeats what Slade said to her, but she gets a soft look in her eyes when Felicity tells her about Oliver's kind words and how he helped to cheer her up. She's not sure what her mom is thinking, but Donna Smoak won't say a word, even when Felicity badgers her until bedtime.
"Don't worry, baby girl. You are so smart, and beautiful, and kind. Oliver Queen sees that in you and soon this Slade nonsense will stop because he'll see the same thing. If he doesn't he definitely isn't worth your time or your tears." Her mom presses a kiss to her forehead, tucks the comforter tightly around Felicity and turns out the light. "I love you. Sleep tight."
"I love you too. Night mom," Felicity says, the last word coming out as a yawn.
Her mom shuts the door halfway, the way Felicity likes it, and she snuggles down into bed, closing her eyes. Bruno is tucked under her arm, her pillow smells like comforting lavender, and her mom's perfume lingers in the air - everything is in it's place.
The last thing she sees before slumber takes her is a pair of blue eyes smiling at her.