Chapter 4
So things were going well with the two of them and they've been dating for a while now and things were getting serious, which only meant that they couldn't keep it a secret anymore. And the problem with that was that eventually they would have to tell Tommy. And knowing him he wouldn't take the news very well.
Her suspicion about her brother not taking it well was a bit of an understatement. She remembered every detail of how it all happened….
They were having dinner like they normally do every weekend they make it a point to be together and make it 'family Sunday dinner'. They were talking about their day and then the topic of relationships came up and he talked about he had been dating Laurel and how things were getting serious between the two of them and how he wanted Felicity and them to have dinner together soon.
"You remember Laurel right? She went to school with us in high school."
"Uh, yeah I think I do. But she was a grade ahead of me so I don't really think our paths crossed that much. But I do remember her being in cheerleading, and a lot more school activities."
"She was, and very popular like your big older brother was."
"Whatever, Tommy. Besides we didn't spend a lot of time together in high school. You were always the popular one, you and Oliver and whichever girl you had that week."
"Yeah, those were the days. You know I never thought I'd say I'd be a one woman kind of guy, but things have changed and it's different now."
"That's not a bad thing you know, it just proves that you're growing up we both are."
"When did you get so insightful Lis?"
"Things change and so do people, it's just a part of life."
"Lis?"
"Yeah?"
"Who's the guy?"
"Hmm….what guy? I don't know what you're talking about." She said flustered.
"You can't fool me Lis, I know you too well. So spill it who's the mystery guy in Felicity Merlyn's life?"
"Tommy…"
"You can tell me these things Lis, I think we're both adults here and honestly it can't be that bad can it?"
"I don't know about that."
"Is it that Barry kid that was here? Because he's not that bad Lis, and sure you can do better than him but if he makes you happy then that's all that matters."
"It's not Barry."
"Okay, then do I know him or is it someone new that you met when you were away?"
"Uh, you see… you do know him Tommy…. It's just I think you wouldn't exactly approve of who it is."
"Honestly, Lis who can you say it is that I wouldn't like? I trust your judgment and as long as it's anyone other than you know, then were good."
She went silent as she waited for him to put the pieces together.
"Wait a sec. You're not are you? Please tell me that you are NOT with him Felicity!?"
"Tommy, it's not like that and you know that. You know how I feel about him!"
"I can't… I honestly can't deal with this right now. I need a drink." He walks over to the bar and pours himself a cup of whiskey.
"Tommy…. Can we at least talk about this?"
"I cannot believe that the two of you would keep this from me!"
"We knew how you would react and wanted to wait for the right time!"
"Well there is no right time is there. How long?"
"We've been together for a couple weeks, so a little over a month now.
"A month!? Great my sister and supposed to be best friend have been lying to me for a month now!"
"Tommy, I'm so sorry for lying to you. But I'm not going to apologize for being with him, he makes me happy and that's all that should matter!"
He poured himself another drink and said
"You know it would if it were any other guy but him Lis! He's never been with a girl for longer than a week and we'll see how long this thing last! Just don't expect me to pick up the pieces when he breaks your heart and trust me he will, just ask all the other girls he's been with!"
"Thomas Merlyn!" She said as tears started to run down her face.
And with that she grabbed her coat and keys and left with the slam of the living room door.
He turned around and watched her leave and he knew he shouldn't have said those things but he did and sure he felt guilty but he was only trying to protect her from her being hurt.
She drove off from her house not really sure where she was going until she was at a stop light waiting for it to turn green. She had, had it with her brother and knew she had to get out of the house and away from him. She needed time to think. She thought about going over to see Caitlin because she was still in town and had always helped her with her guy troubles. But then she remembered that she hadn't told Oliver about everything that had happened and she needed to warn him. She grabbed her purse and reached for her phone and was about to call him when out of nowhere there was these bright lights and it seemed as if it were headed in her direction and all she could do was scream.
It was after midnight when he heard his phone ring.
"Hello?"
"Hello, is this Thomas Merlyn?"
"Yes it is, who is this?"
"I'm a nurse here at Starling General and we have a Felicity Merlyn here. You were listed as her emergency contact."
"Oh my God! That's my sister, what happened?"
"We can explain everything to you when you get here sir."
"I'm on my way!"
He arrived at the hospital and went to the front desk to get some answers.
"Hello, I'm Tommy Merlyn they called about my sister Felicity Merlyn. Can you tell me where she is and what happened to her?"
"Mr. Merlyn, it seems as if your sister was involved in a car accident and we suspect it was a drunk driver. She's in critical condition and there working on her in ICU it should be a while, so why don't you take a seat in the waiting room area and the doctor will be with you shortly."
Tommy headed to the waiting area unable to sit and just paced the area waiting for news on his sister.
Half an hour had passed and he was just getting more anxious waiting with every minute that passed by. That's when he heard his phone ringing.
"Hey, Tommy man have you heard from Felicity? I tried calling her but she didn't answer I'm starting to get worried."
"Oliver?" Was all he managed to say before completely coming undone.
"Tommy, what's wrong? You're freaking me out what happened!?"
"It's…its Felicity man. It's really bad!"
"What happened to Felicity!? Where are you?"
"I'm at Starling General."
"I'm on my way!"
Oliver's POV
He called Felicity like he normally does. They always call each other to tell each other goodnight except this time she didn't answer he kept calling and it would go to voicemail each time. He was getting worried now so he decided to call Tommy and see if he knew where she was.
When he finally picked up the phone he could hear him but it he didn't sound right. Then he heard him say his name and then sobbing afterwards. Which only made Oliver more worried because why was Tommy crying uncontrollably over the phone?
"Tommy! What's wrong?"
"It's… its Felicity man. It's really bad!"
He felt his heart sink and he was already getting dressed to meet him wherever he was.
"What happened to Felicity!? Where are you?"
"I'm at Starling General."
"I'm on my way!" He said as he rushed out the door and sped towards the hospital.
Oliver had arrived at the hospital and saw Tommy in the waiting area talking to a doctor.
"Tommy."
"Oliver!?"
"Hey how is she? What did the doctor say?"
"Um… he said that she lost a lot of blood. She hit her head pretty hard and along with that she has two broken ribs, and some cuts and bruises. They were able to give her a blood transfusion and they had to operate on her to get some of the glass that was stuck in here."
"They said she should be getting out of surgery and into her own room in a couple of hours."
"Do they know who did it?"
"It was some drunk driver who fled the scene. The police are looking for him now and captain lance assured me that their doing everything they can to catch the guy."
"When they find this guy that did this to my sister Ollie, I swear I'm going to make them pay!"
"I'll be right there behind you buddy."
"Ollie, I have to tell you something."
"What is it?"
"This… all of this… it's all my fault!"
"What do you mean?"
"We argued, and she stormed out of the house. If it weren't for me she wouldn't be here right now!"
"Whoa, back up. What did you argue about?"
"We argued about her new boyfriend. At first I thought it was that Barry kid, but I was wrong."
"That's when I put it together and figured it out, you two have been spending so much time together and I should've known something was up with you two."
"You know?"
"Yes I know, Oliver! And out of all people my sister? Why would you choose her when there are so many other girls out there?"
"I know I shouldn't have especially with her being your sister, and I tried to fight it but I couldn't. Felicity, she's not like any of the other girls she's different. She's smart, mature, she makes me laugh; she's one of a kind. And she chose me, a long time ago… before I even knew."
"I've never seen you talk about anyone like that before. I guess she was right?"
"About what?"
"She said you'd changed that you weren't the same old 'Ollie Queen' the guy who could have any girl he wanted only to dump them after a couple dates."
"She changed me, in a good way. I feel like I could be so much more when I'm with her, she makes me happy. That's part of the reason why I love her."
"I'm sorry, you what?"
"I love her, Tommy. I haven't even told her yet, what if I never get the chance to?"
"You really love her, don't you? This isn't just another girl to you?"
"No, no it isn't. And if she gets through this I'm going to tell her that."
It was a couple hours until Felicity was out of surgery and move into a private room.
They took turns sitting with her, both of them unable to sleep that night.
When morning came Oliver brought some coffee from the cafeteria and gave Tommy one.
"You should go home man, take a shower eat something and I'll call you if anything changes Tommy."
"Are you sure? I don't want to leave her alone."
"She won't be, I'll be here with her until you get back."
"Okay, thanks man."
Tommy left the room and Oliver sat next to Felicity and grabbed her hand in his.
"Felicity. If you can hear me, you have to fight, fight to get back to me and everyone that cares about you. We need you… I need you. So please come back to us. I love you." He said solemnly trying to hold back his tears but was unable to as a few escaped his eyes.
He put his head on the bed closing his eyes for a minute, still holding her hand in his.
(A couple hours later)
Her head was pounding, it hurt so much. She wanted to open her eyes but couldn't it took her a while to finally blink them open taking in her surroundings. She tried to pull her hand so she could check her head but found that it was intertwined with someone's. Not just any someone's either, this felt familiar like she's felt this before. She moved her head slowly and looked down to see a sleeping Oliver holding her hand. She was so confused as to where she was and couldn't remember what happened. And why was she in a hospital?
She moved her other hand gently placed it on his head and softly ran her fingers through it. She could hear him humming himself awake and she squeezed his hand. It must've worked because he was awake now and he rubbed his eyes and looked at her.
"Felicity?"
"Oliver, what happened?" She said a little hoarse.
"Felicity, you're awake!"
"Mm-hmm."
He placed his hand on her cheek and she leaned into it. He moved in carefully and gently kissed her lips.
"Mm, that was nice."
"Nice?"
"Yep. Now do you want to tell me what it was for?"
"I just needed to feel you Felicity, I was so scared that I almost lost you."
She moved her hand to cup his cheek and said
"I'm here, I'm not going anywhere."
"Do you promise?"
"I promise."
"Good."
"I should go get the doctor."
"Okay."
He was back with doctor and waited to the side while he checked her.
"Ms. Merlyn, aside from your injuries I say you're doing well."
"When can I go home doctor?"
"We need to keep you another 48 hours and then we'll check your results and if everything goes well then we can release you as long as there's someone to take care you while you fully recover."
"Now is there anything else I can get you? Are you in any pain?"
"My head is killing me and my side is starting to hurt."
"Okay, I'll send a nurse in with some pain medication."
"Thank you, doctor."
"Oliver?"
"I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere."
"Good."
"So do you want to fill me in on everything that happened, everything seems so blurry."
"You were in a car accident."
"I don't remember that part. What else?"
"You were driving and mustn't have been thinking straight because of the fight you had just had with Tommy."
"Wait I remember! I was arguing with him about my relationship and then he found out about you and he said some things and I stormed out of the house and drove off. I was at a stop light when I reached for my phone to call and warn you then everything is blank after that."
"That's pretty much what happened."
"So where is he, where's my brother?"
"He went home to change. I told him to eat, shower and maybe get some rest. I told him I'd call him when you woke up."
He was about to call him when the nurse walked in with the pain medicine.
"I hate needles." She murmured as the nurse approached.
"Don't look at it, just focus on me."
"See that didn't hurt did it?"
"What hurt? Is it over?"
"Yep, you see I told you it would work."
"Yeah, I feel it staring to kick in."
"Oliver?"
"Yeah?"
"Can you, would you…"
"Would I what Felicity?"
"Can you get into bed with me?"
He raised his eyebrows and smirked at her.
"Not what I meant!" She could feel herself start to blush.
"I meant can you lay in bed with me while I fall asleep?"
"Are you sure that's a good idea? I don't want to hurt you."
"You could never hurt me Oliver, and besides this beds big."
He moved into the bed and wrapped his arms carefully around her feeling grateful that she was there in his arms.
It had been two weeks since she left the hospital and being at home was so frustrating, now that she and Tommy made up and she finally forgave him after explaining to him that he wasn't entirely at fault for what had happened to her. He was doing everything that he could do to make it up to her which meant that he spent more time at home with her and helped with any little thing that she needed. Even though she told him it wasn't necessary and that she was perfectly capable of taking care herself. Even her friends weren't that bad. Although she did have to convince them that she was okay and it was alright for them to go back home since they had already exceeded their time off. With a last goodbye to them she promised that she would go and visit whenever she could.
She finally had had enough of it and decided to tell him that he was relieved of nursing duty, and to go out and have fun, to take some time to himself. He protested at first explaining how she would be alone and if something were to happen he wouldn't be there for her. So she compromised with him and told him that she would call someone to pick her up and would be in perfectly good hands.
Tommy left and Felicity called the one person she knew would be more than willing to take care of her for the day.
"Ah, this is nice. Much better than being cooped up at home with a smothering brother."
"It can't be that bad can it? You know he means well, it's just his way of showing that he cares."
"I know, it's just nice being here with you. I missed you." She said as she scooted closer to him.
"I missed you too."
"Careful, I don't want you to pop your stitches."
"Oliver, there fine. See?" She said as she moved her top up a bit so he could see the healing scars she would have.
"Felicity…" He placed his hand carefully on her stomach tracing the lines that she had from where they had to remove the glass.
"I'm getting them off soon, they look like there healing."
"I almost lost you, you know."
"Oliver… I'm here, I'm not going anywhere."
"When you were in the hospital and I saw you in your room, you looked so fragile like you could break and go at any moment. All I could think of was how much you meant to me and if I ever got the chance again I would tell you…"
"Tell me what?"
"I'd tell you how incredible you are, how strong and remarkable you are and how lucky I am to have you in my life. And if you were to wake up and get better then I would tell you how you make me feel. I feel like I'm a better person when I'm with you, you make everything better. I'd tell you that you're different from anyone that I'd met and been with. Being with you is something different it's something that I've never felt towards any other woman I've dated. And when I saw you in the hospital… it scared me Felicity. Because I knew at that moment that I couldn't lose you, it would hurt too much. Because Felicity, I love you. I can't pinpoint the exact moment that it happened because there were so many moments that when I was with you I can't help but be happy because your there with me. We can be doing anything whether it's us on a date or just lying in bed with you in my arms, that's enough for me. I could do that for the rest of my life and I'd die a happy man. Because Felicity Merlyn I am irrevocably, uncontrollably in love with you."
Her eyes widened at the words he had just said. She could feel the tears starting to form in her eyes, but they weren't sad tears they were happy tears because , in front of her was this amazing man that had just said the words that she's known about him for the longest time but was too afraid to say out loud.
But now that he had said it she could say it back because she wasn't afraid anymore. She knew how she felt about him for a long time now. She was just too afraid to admit it. But here he was pouring out his heart to her and telling her how he feels about her, now was her chance to tell him hers.
"Felicity…? You don't have to tell me it back. I didn't tell you this so you would feel guilty into telling me the same thing. You can tell me when you're ready whenever you want..."
He was cut off when she leaned in and kissed him.
"I thought I was the only one that babbled in this relationship?"
"Well, I was just nervous."
"Oliver… I want to say something."
"Felicity, you don't have to."
"I want to."
"Okay."
"I want to say that being with you is only something I've dreamed of, literally and I know that might sound weird but, I've always had this attraction to you ever since we were little. I just thought you'd never see me the same way. So I tucked away those dreams and thoughts and I grew up and moved on with my life. I thought those feeling s for you were gone but when I saw you again, I knew that they never really went away. Because you were my first crush Oliver and I know I dated guys but, I could never figure out what was missing in those relationships until now… because the truth of it is I gave away my heart a long time ago whether the guy knew it or not and I never really got it back. And maybe that's why I could never bring myself to say those three little words back to anyone I've been with. Until now, until the moment that I came back and saw you again and then we started dating and everything changed. I love being with you too, and it sort of scares me too Oliver. Because I was never that girl who would get so wrapped up in a guy that she would lose herself in him and I don't want to be . But when I'm with you it's different because I feel like we can find ourselves in one other. We bring out the best in each other and that's how it should be… when you love someone. Because Oliver Queen I love you, I always have and I always will." Some tears escaped her on the last part.
"Felicity." He wiped away her tears with his thumb and cupped her face with his other hand as he leaned in for a kiss.
"I love you so much; I know it took a lot for you to tell me that. And I want you to know that I'm not going anywhere, and I want to prove to you that I'm worth the risk."
She nodded and leaned against his chest, wrapping her arms around him.
He kissed her forehead and sighed and they stayed like that for a while.
"I feel like I can stay here forever. It's so comfortable in your bed."
"You could you know."
"Could what?"
"Stay, here with me."
"Like stay the night? I could I just have to text Tommy and let him know, he'll worry if I don't check in with him."
"Well, yeah you can stay the night but that's not exactly what I meant."
"What did you mean, I'm not following."
"I mean that you can stay the night and the one after that and the next…"
"Wait, are you saying what I think you're saying?"
"That depends."
"On what?"
"On whether you think it's a good idea or that I'm totally crazy for thinking it?"
"Both."
"So…?"
"Yes."
"Yes?"
"Uh-huh."
"Yes, to what exactly?"
"Oliver."
"Fe-li-city?"
"I love it when you say my name like that."
"Don't change the subject."
"I'm not, you're the one who's not understanding my answer mister." She said as she poked his chest.
"Can you repeat your answer?"
"Fine! Oliver Queen, yes I will move in with you!"
"So Yes!?"
"Yes! What part of that wasn't clear?" She said sarcastically.
He was about to say something but she cut him off.
"On one condition, though."
"Which one?"
"You have to do something, because I'm not going to tell him."
"Tell who exactly?"
"You are going to have to tell my brother."
"Oh…that."
"Yeah, that. Well good luck with that."
She squirmed away from him and got up slowly.
"Where you going?"
"Well you see my incredible boyfriend / roommate now as incredible as he is. Seems to have forgotten how late it is and that people need to eat. His girlfriend being one of them, so I figured we stay in and I'd order us some Chinese food while we watch a movie?"
"Well I'm sure your incredible boyfriend/roommate just lost track of time because his girlfriend can be very distracting you know. But I'm sure he would love to some food and to watch a movie with you too."
"Good." She kissed his lips lightly and grabbed her phone to order.
"So tonight I say we enjoy it because tomorrow we're going to have to break the news to your brother."
"Yeah, good luck with that again."
"You're something else Ms. Merlyn."
"So I've been told."
"You want to know something?"
"What?"
"You're totally worth it."
"Well, in that case…maybe we can tell him together?"
"You'd do that for me?"
"No."
"No?"
"I'd do it for us."
That time he kissed her and felt like it was only the beginning with her.