Author's Note: Thank you for reading and reviewing! And of course favoriting and following and in general just checking the story out. I had a bit of difficulty with this chapter, but I think it came out well. I guess you guys can let me know if it came out well or not. We have more Sara in this chapter so that's good. I want to finish this by Halloween since the big scene is on Halloween so that's my goal. Let's see if I can do it. Please review!
Thank you to: schrooten5, bellapaige88, Guest, Lightly Salted Pringles, & belairdesi!
Enjoy!
The lady doth protest too much, me thinks
Hamlet By William Shakespeare
Chapter 5 Climax Part Two
"You must be Felicity! I recognize you from your picture."
Felicity blinked rapidly at the smirking blonde in the kitchen. She looked over at Roy who was munching away happily on a plate full of eggs and bacon beaming up at the other blonde.
"I am her – I mean me! I'm Felicity." Felicity stuttered.
Sara laughed and set a plate down beside Roy. "You're cute."
Felicity gave her a small smile, "thanks, I guess. I take it you're Sara?"
"I am. I hope you don't mind, I invaded your kitchen to make breakfast." Sara said waving at the messier than usual kitchen.
"It's no problem, especially when you present us with food." Felicity said looking down at the full plate and hesitating for a split second before taking a seat.
Sara joined her and the three of them tucked into their meals – well Sara and Felicity did since Roy was mostly finished.
"It's nice to finally meet you." Felicity said for lack of anything else to say besides the 'thanks' she'd said after the first bite of food.
"You too. I've heard a lot about you." Sara replied biting off a piece of bacon.
"All good things, I hope."
"Better things than you've heard about me, I'm sure." Sara said ruefully.
Felicity bit her lip and hid her eyes not wanting to give away anything by the expression on her face. She had been told she didn't really have the best poker face and she knew that if Sara caught her eye she'd probably babble out all of the bad things Laurel had said about her.
"It's okay, Felicity, I know my sister isn't happy with me right now." Sara said quietly making her look up.
Sara gave her a pained smile and then went back to her food as Felicity gazed at her with an uncertain expression. "I've had to deal with Laurel's anger for months now…sometimes I don't think she'll ever get over it."
Felicity and Roy exchanged uncomfortable looks.
"Eventually she could. I mean, it's a tough situation, but it can be fixed." Felicity said quietly.
"How?" Sara asked giving her an incredulous look.
Felicity opened her mouth and then closed it at a loss of what to say. "Maybe…Laurel just needs to see how much you really want her forgiveness. Maybe she just needs to see the situation in its entirety."
Sara frowned and took in that answer. "Do you think that would work?"
"I really don't know. I mean, Laurel's hurt and she is probably feeling pretty lost right now after what happened, even if it's been a few months. She's feeling vulnerable and isn't trusting as easily." Felicity rationalized.
"So what you're saying is that I should show Laurel that I'm really sorry?"
"Maybe. It could work."
Sara nodded slowly and Felicity went back to eating her food with Roy stealing pieces of bacon from her plate.
"Okay, well…I think I'm going to find Oliver." Sara exclaimed standing up.
Felicity felt her stomach drop at the name and her head shot up starring at the other woman with wide eyes. "What? Why? What does Oliver have to do with any of this?" she exclaimed her tone lined with panic.
Felicity knew she sounded insane, but she really didn't care. What did Oliver have to do with any of this…apart from the obvious.
She was beginning to like Sara and all the jealous feelings she'd been feeling toward the other girl had been slowly going away.
With her declaration they all seemed to come whizzing back and hit her square in the gut making it difficult to breathe. She suddenly felt insecure and unsure of herself, two things she really didn't like.
Sara stared down at her for a moment a slow smile coming to her lips. "Everything. He has everything to do with it. I'm the reason they aren't together anymore, but maybe if I'm the reason they get back together then maybe my sister will finally be my sister again. I just have to fix what I broke." Sara said logically.
Felicity opened her mouth and then closed it not knowing what to say. Before she could come up with something to deter Sara from finding him, she sauntered out of the apartment in search of the last person Felicity wanted her to talk to.
Felicity cursed internally at what she had just done, she stared down at her breakfast and abruptly didn't feel so hungry anymore. She wasn't sure what had just happened, but one thing she was sure of was that ugly monster they called jealously was swirling around in her belly and she knew this so-called crush she had on Oliver Queen wasn't going away any time soon. She was so screwed, that was another thing she knew. And she really didn't like it.
Not one bit.
Sighing heavily she pushed her breakfast toward Roy who was watching her carefully.
"Why didn't you tell her that, that was a bad idea? That you like him."
"I don't like him." She said quickly.
"Right. You're friends." Roy said rolling his eyes.
She scowled at him, "we are friends. That's it. And Sara probably won't even have to work very hard to get the two of them back together anyway. I think they already got back together."
"Who got back together?" Roy asked picking at her eggs and what was left of her bacon.
"Laurel and Oliver!" Felicity exclaimed in annoyance.
Wasn't he paying attention to the conversation?
She needed someone to vent to and since she couldn't talk to anyone else basically because of obvious reasons talking to Roy would have to suffice. If only he actually listened though instead of eat her breakfast.
Roy scoffed and shook his head. "No way. He's totally into you. Anyone could see it. He was practically drooling all over you last night."
"Roy! He so wasn't! And besides when we were going to bed last night I heard Laurel talking to hi—"
"Listen, if Laurel was smart she wouldn't get back together with some guy who screwed her sister. And she could've been talking to anyone! Just because she was talking to someone on the phone—"
"She mentioned Thea! She said she wouldn't go over to see him because of Thea!" Felicity whispered hurriedly.
She knew how thin the walls were and the last thing she needed was for Laurel to come out of her room and ask them why they were talking about her.
"So? Doesn't Oliver live with someone else?"
"Yeah! Tommy!"
"Well maybe she's dating him."
"Why would she hide it, Roy? That doesn't make sense!" Felicity wailed in exasperation.
"And getting back together with her cheating scum of an ex does?" Roy pointed out.
Felicity bit her lip and debated his words. "I'm friends with both Laurel and Tommy, why wouldn't they tell me?"
Roy shrugged and then smirked, "maybe they are just pretending to be just friends."
"What?"
"Like another couple I know…Felicity and Oliver sitting in a tree K-I-S—"
"Shut it! Or I will murder you and they will never find a body." Felicity snapped loudly cutting him off.
Roy laughed and finished off her food before they left the apartment to start Sibling Weekend.
Oliver was walking around trying to get Thea to agree to one of the exhibits going on around campus. She kept bouncing from one to the other as she read the pamphlets and couldn't seem to make a decision. He was close to calling it a day and just taking Thea to Felicity's to hang out. Even though he didn't like the way that Roy was looking at his baby sister. He could deal with it as long as Felicity was there, although on the other hand Oliver had a feeling they were probably at one of the exhibits already.
Even though he had been crushing on her for longer than he'd admit to anyone he always was surprised to find that he wanted to spend more time alone with her. Granted, if he hung out with her and Roy with Thea they wouldn't technically be alone, but it would be as close to alone as they'd been in awhile – really since Wednesday night – and he missed her.
That was another thing he was surprised about, how easily he missed her when he would see her pretty frequently. He didn't understand any of it, but he knew that the more time he spent with her the more he didn't want to be apart from her. She was like a drug and he needed another fix. He knew it wasn't a good thing, especially with Tommy in the picture, but he couldn't help it. She was so addicting to be around. She made everything seem new and bright and beautiful. Just like her.
He pulled out his phone to text Felicity when he heard his name.
"Oliver! Thea!"
Oliver looked around and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the subject on his mind.
"Hey, Felicity, Roy." Oliver said nodding at the younger man and trying to ignore the way he was staring at Thea.
"What are you guys doing here?" Thea asked smiling at both of them.
"Roy wanted to—" Felicity began, but was cut off by a male voice calling out to them.
"Felicity! Hey! Oliver!" Tommy greeted coming up to them with a wide grin.
Oliver swallowed the annoyance he felt at seeing his best friend crashing the time he could be spending with Felicity and then automatically felt guilty that he didn't want to see the guy he'd been friends with forever.
Felicity is your friend. She's into Tommy. Tommy is your friend.
He repeated the mantra in his head, just like he'd been doing since he came to the realization that he liked Felicity more than just a friend. He wasn't sure what was happening between them, since neither or them seemed to be around one another very often. And neither of them had admitted to dating the other one, but he was sure something was going on. After all Tommy admitted he loved her and they slept together.
He wondered if maybe they were trying to keep their relationship secret for some reason, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out why.
Still, every time he wanted to make a move his mind kept replaying the scene when Tommy told him that he was in love with Felicity. Oliver wasn't going to ruin his best friend's relationship and all he wanted was for Felicity to be happy, even though he didn't think Tommy was good enough for her. So he repeated the mantra to remind himself that he wasn't going to screw their relationship up.
However, much he so desperately wanted to.
"Hey Tommy!" Thea said grinning at him.
Tommy looked around and his eyes landed on Roy who was regarding him with a cool look.
"This is my cousin, Roy." Felicity introduced watching Tommy closely.
"I remember from last year." Tommy said coldly.
Oliver looked between Roy and Tommy then at Felicity wondering what had happened last year. She looked uncomfortable at their glare off and then clapped her hands loudly.
"So! Let's go do something." She said vociferously.
"What happened last year?" Thea asked with interest.
"Nothing!"
"I told Tommy to back off from Felicity." Roy said ignoring Felicity.
Oliver cocked his head to the side and regarded them. Tommy looked smug and Felicity looked uncomfortable. He tried to ignore the jealous feeling roaring in his chest, but it was almost impossible since he wanted to do the same thing; warn Tommy away from Felicity.
Although he already knew he was too late, since they were probably together, or whatever they were to each other.
He still didn't get it.
If Felicity even liked him a inkling of how much he liked her he would've swooped in and taken her off the market.
He didn't really get what Tommy was doing.
"Why?" Thea asked.
"Because Roy likes to pretend he's tougher than he is. It's not a big deal. It was just a…one time thing." Felicity said quickly.
"What happened?" Oliver asked against his better judgment.
Felicity sighed and looked at Tommy with narrowed eyes. "Tommy…broke my trust last year. I was hurt. Roy stepped in to try to play the hero. End of story."
"You broke her trust?" Oliver asked his voice deeper and more demanding than he would've liked.
Four pairs of eyes looked at him curiously at the threatening tone he had taken on. He cleared his throat uncomfortably and rephrased the question again in a lighter voice.
"I—" Tommy began but was cut off by another person joining their little group.
"Hey Oliver!"
Oliver looked towards the familiar voice and felt his stomach drop in discomfort as Sara Lance walked toward him. He glanced over at Felicity to see her reaction, but found her whispering something to Tommy and the hot feeling in his stomach twisted itself causing a prickling throughout his body.
"Sara Lance." Thea greeted stepping forward a polite smile on her face.
"Speedy." Sara said smiling at the younger girl.
Oliver watched as his sister's face formed into annoyance.
"Please, don't call me that."
"Ollie calls you that." Sara pointed out.
"Ollie is my brother." Thea snapped causing a bubble of tension to surround the group.
Sara looked around at the other people in the small group greeting Tommy, Felicity, and Roy. Oliver noticed Tommy gave her an uncomfortable smile and he wondered briefly what that was about.
Then again he was wondering what a lot of the weird behavior going on lately was about.
He was beginning to think there was something in the water that made people act weird at Yale.
"So! What's on the agenda today?" Sara asked eagerly.
"We were just figuring out what exhibit to see." Oliver said when no one said anything.
"Cool. I was wondering if I could tag along with you guys? I tried to talk to Laurel last night but she's…not too happy with me. Still. I kind of left before she woke up this morning so I figured I'd hang out with you guys, if that's okay." Sara said looking around at them.
Oliver glared at his sister when he heard her snort at Sara's request and he plastered on a tight smile, despite the fact he really just wanted to hang out with his sister and Felicity – and he figured Roy too since that seemed inevitable.
"Yeah, sure. Maybe you can help us decide what to do." Oliver said.
"Great! I was thinking the Art History exhibit." Sara said holding up the pamphlet for it.
Thea sighed heavily, "that one sounds boring. Can't we do the Media one? I bet Felicity wants to do the Media one."
Oliver looked over at Felicity who blushed brightly. "No, no. That's fine. I'm fine with whatever one. Art history is fun too! I mean, if everyone else wants to do Art History. The Art History department is supposed to be really amazing anyway so that would be great. I don't know anything about Art History. What do you think, Roy?" Felicity rambled.
Roy smirked and shrugged putting his hands in his hoodie pockets. "They all sound boring, but I agree with Thea. Media would be cool."
"Of course you would agree with Thea." Oliver mumbled.
Tommy smiled mirthfully at him and then checked his phone as if he had somewhere to be.
"Right. Well have fun with that. I have…stuff I have to do." He said backing up slowly.
"Where are you going?" Felicity asked looking over at him with wide eyes.
Oliver frowned wondering where Tommy was going too and why Felicity suddenly looked so anxious about him leaving. Was he that bad to be around? Or could she seriously not be without him for, like an hour.
The familiar stirrings of jealous arose at that thought and he tried to not show his outward displeasure.
He should really ask what was going on between them, at least to make sure Tommy was treating her right.
The truth of the matter was that he hadn't asked before because he really didn't want to know. And even though he still didn't really want to know he needed to make sure that Felicity wasn't being used by his best friend. Even though Tommy claimed to love her Oliver wouldn't believe it until he saw it.
"Just…stuff. I'll see you tonight. Let's have dinner." Tommy called out backing away quicker now.
They watched as he left and then Felicity sighed turning back to the group looking dejected.
"So…what have we decided?" Sara asked when no one made a move to go toward any exhibit.
"Media." Thea and Roy said in unison.
Felicity shrugged looking woebegone and Oliver was concentrating on trying to figure out where the previously bubbly Felicity had gone.
"Media it is." Sara decided.
They turned toward the building and Oliver noticed with disdain that Felicity seemed to have fallen into step with Thea and Roy while leaving him with Sara, which he didn't mind, but he didn't fully understand Felicity's sudden odd behavior.
She had been fine when they'd run into each other, but since Tommy left she seemed to be miserable.
He felt resentful of their relationship yet again and he wondered when they'd finally just admit they were a couple. It was seriously starting to grate on his nerves how close they were. But then again their closeness had aggravated him from the start.
He didn't realize he was staring at Felicity until Sara began to snap her fingers in front of his face to get his attention. When he finally turned to her she gave him an annoyed look as if she'd been talking and he hadn't been listening.
"What?" he asked after trying to recall what she'd been going on about.
She sighed and he looked back toward the three in front talking animatedly about some movie they wanted to see. He tried to hear what they were saying, but Sara began to talk to him again and their words were drowned out.
"…talk to Laurel." Sara finished and looked at him expectantly.
"What?" he asked again trying to keep his attention on Sara, but it seemed almost impossible when he heard Felicity's tinkling laugh or when her ponytail swung with extra vigor. His eyes kept traveling south as well to that deliciously peach shaped ass he so desperately wanted to sink his—
"Oliver, come on! This is serious! I really think we should talk about Laurel." Sara said in agitation.
He sighed and tried to turn his full attention to Sara. He wasn't being fair. He knew that. He really should listen to what she was saying. She seemed upset.
"What about Laurel?" he asked trying to keep his eyes away from Felicity.
"I think you should get back together with her." Sara said.
"What?!" he exclaimed almost laughing until he saw the desperate look on Sara's face.
"Why?" he asked shocked.
"Because! She won't talk to me! She won't forgive me! I really think that if you showed her how much you still cared about her then maybe you guys could talk…clear the air. I could promise never to sleep with you again and then voila! You're together again." Sara said making a huge ta-da gesture.
Oliver blinked trying to take in what she was saying. "So…you want me to get back together with Laurel?"
She shrugged and he watched as she looked over at Felicity who seemed to be telling some story that involved a lot of hand gestures.
"Well…no. I just want her to talk to me again. I don't get her, it's been months. I've apologized. You've apologized. It should be water under the bridge." Sara said sighing heavily and looking upset.
Oliver felt a pang of remorse rush through him at the damage he'd done between Sara and Laurel's relationship.
"Sara…I don't know if it's as easy as that. Even if I wanted to get back together with Laurel and she wanted to get back together with me we don't work together. I think we're done. Permanently." He said glancing over at Felicity to see whether she was paying attention.
"So you don't want to try again? Because I think you should. So does Felicity." Sara said watching him closely.
"What?" he asked surprised.
She nodded slowly watching him through inquisitive eyes. "Well, she didn't say that, exactly. She just said that if I wanted Laurels' forgiveness I'd have to show her that I understood what I did wrong. So I figure if I can get you and Laurel back together then it shows that I appreciate her in my life," Sara paused.
Oliver looked back at Felicity wondering what was going through her head. He felt bewildered about the advice Felicity had given Sara. Did Felicity want him to get back together with Laurel? When they had talked briefly about it she didn't seem like she was that gung-ho for the renewal of their relationship. Had he been reading Felicity all wrong? Was she spying on him for Laurel's benefit and then Laurel decided they should get back together because of…what? He was still the same guy, maybe he studied more thanks to Felicity, but for the most part he hadn't changed.
He was surprised to find that he really didn't want to get back together with Laurel. He had loved her, in his own way for years, but the thought of getting back together with her was not something he wanted to do again. He really was finished. For good. He'd been finished with Laurel, since…well since he started hanging out with Felicity.
"Unless you have your eye on someone else." Sara said slowly bringing him out of his thoughts.
"Someone else?" he asked realizing when he looked back at Sara that she'd caught him staring at Felicity.
"No." he said quickly shaking his head.
"It's okay if you do, Ollie. I made this mess, I should probably fix it." Sara said looking over at Felicity.
Oliver followed her eyes and he winced internally at the strategic look on her face.
"There's no one else." He said quickly.
Sara glanced at him and smirked, "are you sure? Because the nerdy blonde up there seems kinda cute."
"She's…Felicity. Just Felicity."
"And does Just Felicity have a boyfriend? Or a girlfriend?" Sara asked wiggling her eyebrows.
Oliver scowled and looked away and towards the building they'd finally arrived at.
"I don't know. Maybe."
"Maybe?" Sara inquired.
"Just drop it." He said sharply.
Sara put her hands up in surrender and they continued forward into the exhibit.
As the day progressed Oliver found himself growing more and more agitated. Sara seemed to be throwing him knowing looks. Felicity seemed to only talk to Thea and Roy and seemed to try to interact with him as little as possible. He tried not to stare too much at her, but by lunchtime he knew that he was drawing the attention of both Sara and his sister, since they both kept catching him gazing at the bubbly blonde. He was so screwed, he was well aware.
Felicity was in some sort of hell, of that she was sure. The day had gone from bad to worse. It wasn't that she disliked Sara, she liked her fine, it was just that…she felt like the fifth wheel.
And maybe she disliked her a little on principle.
Although the breakfast she'd made was bomb and she seemed nice enough. Being the fifth wheel outweighed that though and so did all the other things, like Oliver and Laurel and maybe how pretty she was as well. The problem was that Sara was bringing out all of her insecurities and she really didn't appreciate it.
After Tommy left she knew that she was going to be the odd man out. That's why she wanted him to stay so badly. Now, she was doomed to either listen to Oliver and Sara flirt throughout the day or listen to Sara vie for her sister. Either option wasn't ideal.
It was made even weirder by the looks she was receiving from Sara, one's of curiosity as if she knew something Felicity didn't.
And to top it all of she wanted to rip her eyes and ears off because she had to listen to Thea and Roy flirt and make moon-eyes at one another.
So yeah, the day could've been definitely better.
As dinnertime approached though the worst moment had yet to occur. Dinner in the cafeteria with Tommy…and somehow he had gotten Laurel to come too.
Felicity almost didn't believe her eyes when she saw them at a table together, one looking somber and the other looking far too perky.
"Hey!" Tommy called out waving them over.
Felicity looked over at Sara and Oliver both of whom looked uneasy by the sudden change in plans.
"I saved you seats." Tommy said smiling at them.
"Tommy…" Felicity said glancing over to the other blonde and Oliver.
"I said we'd have dinner, right." He said gesturing across from him.
Felicity nodded slowly and set her tray down. She nodded for Roy to set his down too and glared when he looked far too gleeful at what was going to occur. Thea sat on Felicity's other side and they watched as Oliver hesitantly sat across from Laurel and Sara on Laurel's other side. The table lapsed into an uncomfortable tense silence.
"So…how did your stuff go?" Felicity asked attempting to break the tense quiet.
"Fine." Tommy said clearing his throat and glancing at Laurel who seemed to be having a staring contest with her food.
"Good. That's good." Felicity said nodding slowly and looked at Roy who seemed to be eating quicker than usual.
"And Laurel—" Felicity began, but was cut off by Sara beginning to speak.
"Laurel, I'm really sorry. For the millionth time." Sara began and Felicity already knew this was about to get vicious.
"I know what I did was wrong, but I would really like to move past this situation," Sara continued boldly. "You can't hate me forever."
Felicity watched as Sara stared at her sister meaningfully and when it seemed like Laurel wasn't going to say anything she finally spoke up.
"You're right. I can't hate you forever. But I can refuse to talk to you." Laurel simpered.
Sara stared at her for a moment and Felicity wondered whether she was going to break out in tears or scream at her. Instead she took a deep breath and plastered on a smile that looked more like a grimace. "If that's what you want."
"It is." Laurel said and then turned to Oliver who had been trying to look as innocent as possible. "This is your fault." She snipped before getting off the bench and stomping her way out of the cafeteria.
The table was silent as they all took in the quick exchange of words that had just taken place. When Felicity met Sara's eyes she noticed they glistened with tears and she felt empathy for the other woman, despite the fact she was supposed to be Laurel's friend.
"I'll just go talk to her." Tommy mumbled before leaving the table.
Felicity frowned momentarily wondering if she should be the one to go talk to her instead of Tommy, but before she could voice her concerns he was lightweight jogging after her.
"I'm not that hungry anymore." Sara said softly and taking her own leave.
Felicity opened her mouth to call her back when Oliver made a move to follow her.
"You know, maybe I should go talk to her. I gave her this stupid advice this morning." Felicity said quietly drawing his attention.
He hesitated looking down at Thea and Roy who were looking up at him with looks of disdain, Thea's more prominent.
"She might need an outside party to put things into perspective." Felicity added when he didn't seem to want to back down.
"Okay." He relented sitting back down.
She smiled encouragingly at him and stood up from her spot. "I'll be back soon and then maybe we can skip the night activity and go to a movie."
"What's supposed to be happening tonight?" Thea asked.
"A seminar on why going to college is a good thing." Felicity deadpanned.
Roy snorted and shook his head. "I'd go see any movie instead of doing that. Including that stupid rom-com one you made me see on Valentine's day that I slept through."
"No rom-com movies tonight. Maybe that Halloween one that just came out." Felicity suggested slowly moving away from the table.
She heard Roy say something, but she couldn't make out the words. Instead she continued forward and ended up outside the cafeteria where Sara seemed to be taking refuge.
She was sitting on the bench clenching her coat to her and looked at the brightly changing leaves with a forlorn expression. Felicity walked loudly up to her to give her the chance to tell her to go away, but when she didn't she slid onto the bench next to her feeling grateful.
They sat in silence for a few minutes until Felicity spoke her voice soothing. "I'm sorry about that."
Sara shrugged and Felicity got the distinct impression that she was attempting to shrug the whole thing off. "I tried to talk to Oliver about talking to her and getting back together, but he wasn't so into the idea."
Felicity couldn't keep the surprise from her tone. "He wasn't? Seriously? I thought—" she cut herself off with a shake of her head.
Sara turned to her with raised eyebrows. "You thought what?"
"Just that…maybe he'd already gotten back together with her." Felicity said almost shyly.
Sara smiled slightly and moved down the bench to get more comfortable. "What gives you that idea?"
"Laurel was on the phone last night…she mentioned feeling uncomfortable about going over to Oliver's because of Thea." Felicity said sheepishly.
Sara nodded slowly. "And you thought it was Oliver?"
"Well I mean who else would it be?"
Sara raised her eyebrows and gave her a pointed look.
"Tommy?" Felicity asked surprised.
"Maybe."
"No way! Why would they keep it a secret?"
"Because maybe Laurel doesn't want to ruin Oliver and Tommy's friendship as much as Oliver ruined Laurel and mine's relationship? Or maybe because Tommy isn't sure how to tell Oliver. I'm sure they have their reasons." Sara rationalized.
Felicity let that sink in and then she blushed realizing she wasn't doing what she had come out here to do.
"I'm sorry. I came out here to make you feel better not to realize that what they say about assuming is totally right. I totally made an ass out of myself." Felicity said wincing internally.
Sara smiled and reached out to squeeze her hand. "It's okay. And it's really Oliver and mine's fault that all of this stuff happened. If we hadn't been so…but it is what it is. If Laurel can't get over it that's not my problem, even though I've apologized many times."
Felicity nodded, "There's nothing you can do if the other person won't listen to you. If it makes you feel any better though, you can spend the rest of the weekend with us. We were planning on going to see a movie tonight. If you wanna come."
Sara grinned, "That sounds nice."
They got up and began to walk back toward the cafeteria.
"You know, Oliver isn't a bad guy." Sara said.
Felicity shot her a weird look, "yeah I know. We're friends."
"I mean…I think he's over Laurel too so if you want to be more than friends I think he's really—"
"Wait! Hold the phone!" Felicity shrieked making a slashing motion and stopping in her tracks. "Oliver and I are totally not happening. I mean we're friends. Only friends. Why does everyone assume we're something more?"
Sara laughed good-naturedly at her. "Because of the way you guys are around each other! I've known Oliver for a long time and I've never seen him act the way he does around you with anyone else. Don't you like him?"
Felicity bit her lip and looked away. "Sara…Oliver and I…we're unthinkable. It's not going to happen. We're way too different. And even if I liked him we wouldn't work out. He's…Oliver Queen Rich Playboy Extraordinaire with a different girl on his arm every week. And I'm just Felicity. Plain Nerdy Felicity."
Sara opened her mouth, but Felicity shook her head sharply.
"Now, let's go figure out what horror film we're going to go see."
"Felicity—"
"Please, Sara, please just leave it alone."
Sara nodded once and then they made their way back to the cafeteria.
After leaving the cafeteria Laurel went back to her apartment so she could have the opportunity to be alone. It wasn't until she was struggling to open the lock on her door did she realize two things. One, she wasn't alone and two, she was crying.
"Laurel," Tommy began tentatively, but one annoyed look from her stopped him in his tracks.
"I don't want to talk about it." She said firmly.
He sighed and braced a hand against the doorframe.
"You can't keep avoiding this forever." He said softly.
She huffed in annoyance and attempted to jam the key into the lock once more.
"You need to forgive her." He soothed.
She scoffed and fix him with a look of pure anger. "Why? She betrayed—"
"She's your sister."
"Sisters are there for each other. They care about each other. Sara doesn't care—"
"Going out on a limb and apologizing really says the opposite, Laurel. She cares and she obviously wants to make it better. Why don't you see that? Why can't you give her a chance?" Tommy demanded to know.
"Because I'm scared okay!" Laurel shouted finally throwing her keys down in frustration.
"Scared?" he asked surprised.
"I'm scared she'll do it again! Or she'll hurt me again! Or betray me! We were so close, Tommy! I never would've thought she could hurt me in the way she did! What if she sleeps with someone else I lo—care about or…what if she takes you away from me?" Laurel whispered feeling the fight drain out of her.
Tommy stared at her for a moment before moving forward and embracing her tightly.
"That's not going to happen. Laurel, I love you and there's nothing that could change that. I've been in love with you for years, and now that I finally have you. I'm not letting go. No matter what," he muttered into her hair. He heard her choke back a sob and sink further into his arms. "Is that why you don't want to tell people we're a couple? You're afraid that I'm going to leave."
Laurel moved away slightly and looked into his eyes. She leaned forward to kiss him instead of answering. When they parted for air she was the first to speak.
"Among other reasons."
Tommy nodded slowly.
"Tommy, after everything with Ollie, I…I don't want you to feel hurt that I didn't say it back. I do care about you I just…" Laurel trailed off as she gnawed on her lip trying to figure out what to say.
Tommy waved his hands at her words. "I didn't tell you so you could respond. I told you because I want you to know I'm not going anywhere."
She nodded slowly the tears still evident in her eyes. They were quiet as they stared at each other in the hallway outside the apartment neither making a move to go in.
"Do you think I should talk to her?" she inquired breaking the silence.
Tommy gave her a smile and nodded. "I think she'd like that a lot."
Laurel shrugged nonchalantly and then bent down to retrieve her fallen keys to allow them inside.
She'd think about it, but what Sara had done still cut her deeply and she wasn't sure if she'd ever look at her sister the same again. But after hearing Tommy's declaration she knew that history wouldn't repeat itself and he was here for the long haul.
Oliver was getting ready for bed that night when Thea came into his room and plopped on the bed a pout present on her face.
"What's up Speedy?" he asked looking up from finishing a 'goodnight' text to Felicity.
"What are you doing?" Thea asked curiously.
"Texting. What does it look like?" Oliver joked lightly.
Thea tilted her head and regarded her older brother. "So when are you going to ask Felicity out?"
Oliver choked on the air he had just breathed in and starting coughing loudly at her question. He clutched at his chest and attempted to regain some breath after his sister's question.
"What?" he gasped.
"Felicity. When are you going to ask her out? I can tell you like her." Thea said bluntly.
Oliver opened his mouth to deny his attraction, but then thought better of it. This was Thea and Thea would not drop a subject until she had her way and her way in this case was to find out what was going on between him and Felicity.
Which sadly was nothing.
"So?" he asked finally.
Thea rolled her eyes and sat up from her slouched position on his bed.
"So…you like her and should ask her out. That's what normal people do."
"We're normal."
"Then ask her out."
Oliver cleared his throat uncomfortably, "I can't."
"Why not? You like her, she totally likes you. Why don't you stop pretending you're only friends and ask her out?" Thea said pointedly.
"Because she's dating Tommy." He said begrudgingly.
Thea blinked once and then raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "You think she's dating Tommy?"
"I know she's dating Tommy."
"How? I haven't even seen them together all weekend."
"Because he told me he loves her and they slept together."
"Are you sure it's Felicity?" Thea said frowning at him.
"Who else could it be? Listen, I'm not going to get in between Felicity and Tommy? If he loves her then…"
"And what about you?" she asked curiously.
"What about me?"
"You're just going to let her go without giving her the option to choose? Why don't you just lay it all out on the table?" Thea said logically.
Oliver let out a bark of laughter and looked at his sister in disbelief. "This isn't an episode of The OC or whatever. This is real life. I can't just tell Felicity 'hey I really like you even though you're dating my best friend.' It doesn't work that way. She's not going to leave Tommy for me."
"How do you know that? Because from what I've seen when you guys interact there's, like, electric chemistry there. You guys give each other these looks—"
"Thea, I'm not going to ruin Felicity's relationship with Tommy."
She raised her eyebrows in surprise and then put her hands up in a surrender motion. "Wow. You have matured."
Oliver frowned unsure how to take his sister's comment. "Why do you say that?"
"Because a year ago you wouldn't have cared, as long as you got what you wanted," Thea paused and got off the bed to walk towards her brother. "Listen, Oliver, I know you think Tommy and Felicity have something going on, but I think you should at least tell Felicity how you feel. If she or he haven't told you that they are officially dating I'm not so sure they are. Just because someone's slept together doesn't mean they're together-together. You of all people should know that."
Oliver stared down at his sister taking in her words. He felt a little embarrassed that he was being told advice from a fourteen year old, but she might have a point neither the less. She gave him a small smile and then kissed him on the cheek before moving toward the door. She paused right before she left and turned to face him.
"Also before you assume anything you should probably find out what really happened. You know what they say about assuming." Thea said winking at her brother before leaving.
Oliver watched her go wondering if maybe she was on to something. He hadn't exactly seen Tommy and Felicity together and neither of them had told him they were together, so maybe he could at least tell her how he felt. He'd never actually had to tell a girl how he felt though, not even Laurel. He and Laurel had just kind of mutually decided to date after making out a few times. There was no talk needed.
But now with Felicity he had to talk about his feelings and see how she felt. He was in a whole new game and he really didn't know how he felt about that, except very nervous. Extremely nervous.
He tried not to think about it as he got into bed and attempted to sleep, but all he could think about was Felicity's disgusted face when he told her how he felt or the rejected feeling he knew he was going to have when she turned him down. He didn't want to admit that for the first time in his life he was afraid of a girl.
The weekend went by far too quickly for Felicity's liking. She's spent a majority of it with Sara – who she found she really liked – Roy, Thea, Oliver, and surprisingly Nyssa who they had ran into while at one of the morning exhibits.
Now that it was late Saturday night Oliver had declared that they needed to have an awesome party to celebrate the end of Sibling Weekend.
After Oliver spent more time than he had to trying to convince her to come to the party she found herself in the middle of a very loud extravaganza feeling completely out of her element.
She had never been a huger partier. She never really understood the appeal of getting so wasted you blacked out and acted like an idiot. She had spent far too much time watching drunk men in casinos to really have any desire to drink too much.
She had, had a pot brownie the first year she was at school at a Frat party, but that had ended in a trip to the hospital due to her nut allergy. So she tended to try to avoid parties, but Oliver wanted her to come so badly and both Thea and Roy had ganged up on her to get her to come too. So here she was sitting on a leather couch with a couple beside her making out like their lives depended on it.
She would've gone to find Roy, but he had sent her a pointed look when he went off after Thea and she seriously didn't want to know what they were up to. She'd go find some other people, but there weren't many people at the party who she knew. So instead of coming out of her shell and meeting new people she sat down on the couch and tentatively drank her room temperature beer pretending she was having a good time.
Honestly, she was really only there because Roy had begged and so did Oliver, which was kinda weird. She didn't think he'd really want to party with her, they weren't that kind of friends. They were more school friends, not party friends, which was probably why she was sitting feeling like an idiot for being here. She'd rather be at home curled up and—
"Felicity, why are you sitting over here all by yourself?" Sara asked plopping down beside her and giving her a pouty look.
"Having fun." Felicity said making a woohoo motion with her hands.
Sara raised an eyebrow and rolled her eyes good heartedly. "Really? Because you're face says otherwise."
"I don't party much." She admitted reluctantly.
Sara shrugged and offered her a little smile. "It's not always fun, but Oliver's are the best, so as someone who really doesn't want to listen to Oliver whine all night about how you aren't having a good time I think you should perk up. For Oliver at least."
Felicity laughed nervously and shook her head. "I don't know why you think Oliver would care about whether or not I'm having fun. I haven't even seen him since I got here. He's probably hooking up with some girl."
Sara raised an eyebrow at her and Felicity ducked her head to hide the flush that was rapidly spreading across her face.
"Not that I care." Felicity added hastily.
Sara smirked, "sure."
Felicity frowned not liking Sara's tone.
"We're just friends."
"You know just because you say that doesn't make it true." Sara sang.
She let out a loud sigh and set her Red Solo cup on the table. "Listen, Sara—"
"No."
"No what?"
"No, I think it's time for you to listen." Sara said setting her own drink down beside Felicity's and turning to her with a meaningful look in her eye.
Felicity shrank back unsure what to do with the look in Sara's eye or the fact that she was telling her that she needed to listen. What did she need to listen to? She wasn't the one mistaken about her relationship with Oliver, not that there was a relationship with Oliver. Her friendship with Oliver, was strictly platonic. No feelings involved except for the platonic ones of course.
Yeah, right Felicity
"Felicity, I haven't known you long, but I can see why everyone likes you so much. I'll admit that I was a bit jealous—"
"You were jealous of me?" Felicity asked incredulously.
Sara nodded sheepishly. "I was jealous of your friendship with Laurel. She talks to you, like we used to talk and now…well you know. Anyway, I like you and I'm going to give you some advice."
"But I didn't ask for any."
"Well I'm telling you anyway."
Felicity sighed and waited for Sara to go on, she seemed to be choosing her words carefully.
"I think you should go for Oliver." Sara said finally and Felicity felt her jaw drop open.
"What did you say?"
"You should go for it with Oliver. I know his track record isn't the best—"
"That's putting it mildly." Felicity mumbled.
"But he's a good guy and he likes you. Like I said the other day and I'll say it again because it's completely true; I've never seen him act around a girl the way he acts around you. I think you would really bring out his best qualities and really make him the best version of himself he can be. He's so…happy and different when he's with you," Sara paused ignoring Felicity shocked expression and continued forward. "And I think he'd be able to open your eyes to so many other opportunities. The way you guys look at each other…it's just so…real. You guys could be really great together if you just opened your eyes and gave each other a chance."
Felicity stared at her, opened her mouth to respond and then closed it not sure what to say.
"I know you're probably hesitating because of Laurel, but you should do what makes you happy, and I think Oliver could be your happiness." Sara said when Felicity didn't say anything.
Felicity nodded slowly unable to think of anything to say to that.
"What do you think?" Sara asked.
"I think…that maybe you've drank a little too much. Oliver doesn't like me. He's way out of my league and probably still in love with Laurel. Besides we're friends and well, honestly it's kinda weird that you're telling me all of this. I would've figured you'd…want to date Oliver or something." Felicity said apologetically.
Sara laughed and looked across the room distractedly. Felicity followed her gaze, but all she saw was a bunch of people in a group. She thought she made out Nyssa, but she wasn't sure.
"Trust me, I'm not really into Oliver anymore." Sara said quietly turning back to Felicity with a slight redness in her cheeks.
If Felicity didn't know any better she would've sworn that Sara was blushing.
"Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that you should give him a chance. I know he likes you. The way he looks at you is straight out of a rom-com."
Felicity laughed, "hopefully the good kind and not the bad."
"Definitely the good kind." Sara said encouragingly.
Felicity looked away and across the room to where Laurel and Tommy were talking quietly.
"I'll think about it." She said finally and Sara nodded happily.
"That's all I ask for."
Then Sara dragged her up and toward the bar so they could have another drink and Felicity allowed her too – because what the hell it was a party after all.
As they were pouring rum into their cokes there was a loud shriek and Thea and Roy came hurrying out of a room from down the hall followed by an angry, seething Oliver. Felicity stared at her cousin unsure what was going on, but when he hurried to her side and Oliver marched right up to them she knew it could only be one thing.
"Do you know what I just saw?" Oliver snarled.
Felicity glanced over at Roy and then Thea taking in their rumpled clothes and guilty expressions.
"Hopefully something PG." She mumbled trying not to laugh at the expression on Oliver's face or the lipstick on Roy's mouth.
"My sister and your cousin! Kissing!" Oliver announced drawing the attention of most of the party.
"Ollie! Please, you're causing a scene." Thea mumbled looking rosy in the cheeks whether it was from making out with Roy or her brother's anger Felicity wasn't sure.
"Oliver…" Felicity said trailing off since she wasn't sure what to say. Should she have Roy apologize? Apologize herself? Or try to calm him down.
She decided to go with the latter, before she could open her mouth though Tommy stepped in and put an arm around her and Oliver.
"Hey, we're all friends here. Just because the kiddies are getting a little frisky doesn't mean we can't have a good time." Tommy placated.
Felicity glanced over at Oliver who only seemed to become even more enraged at Tommy's attempts to calm him down.
"Listen, I'm sorry for Roy's…indiscretions," Felicity turned to Roy who looked sulky and nudged him. "Roy."
He rolled him eyes and looked up at Oliver with a bored expression. "I'm sorry about what you saw with Thea. I'm sure it was uncomfortable."
"And?" Felicity nudged.
"And…" Roy shrugged looking at Felicity.
"It won't happen again." Felicity egged on.
Roy huffed and looked over at Thea who was glaring at her brother.
"I'm sorry, man, I like her. I won't apologize for admitting I like her. At least I'm man enough to tell her." Roy exclaimed causing Felicity to groan.
Felicity looked over at Oliver and instead of looking angrier he looked shocked and uncomfortable as if Roy had called him out on something, but really Felicity didn't understand what he could've said that resonated with the other man.
Thea smiled widely and made a move to walk toward Roy, but Oliver stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.
"Please do not kiss him." He requested.
Thea rolled her eyes and reached out to hug Roy tightly.
Felicity watched with a smile on her face and looked over at Oliver who she found was staring at her with an intense unreadable expression as well. She ducked her head blushing and began to reconsider Sara's words from earlier. Maybe he did like her and maybe Sara was right.
She looked over to Sara to point it out, but found her talking quietly with Laurel in the corner. Her smile widened already knowing that at least some things were working out for the best.
(A/n: Please review! The last two chapters will be up soon!)