Chapter 4

It was a few days later and Oliver hadn't seen Felicity since he had asked her to the charity ball. Her excuse was that QC was having the annual software update, which was legitimate, but Oliver thought it might be something he did. Diggle and Roy refused to comment on it, so Oliver was left with no one to talk to, which in turn made him think of Tommy.

He had distanced himself from his best friend, their last meeting ending with a shouting match resulting in Oliver being kicked out of the hospital room. Tommy had said not to come back, but they both knew what it was like to lose a best friend supposedly forever. The main thing that Oliver had learnt from the island was that friends and family were irreplaceable. With no place left to turn Oliver decided to visit the hospital. He wouldn't give up on his and Tommy's friendship.

He hesitated outside Tommy's open door but eventually knocked.

"Yes?" Tommy asked icily.

"I…can we talk? Please?"

Tommy sighed. "If we must."

Oliver entered and closed the door.

It was hours later when all that was needed to be said was said. They weren't back to the way it had been, but there was a possibility that they could be in time. They had too many years of friendship to throw it all away, but it would never be like before the island.

"You're an idiot, by the way," Tommy said afterwards.

"So I've been told. Any particular reason?"

"Felicity Smoak."

"What about her?" Oliver asked cautiously.

"Did you know that she comes in here at least once a week since I got here, and more recently four or five times a week?"

"I knew she had visited, but not that often," Oliver said, shocked.

"She offered me a simple friendship, you know. Someone to talk to about everything, no judgement, no opinion. I thought she was here on your behalf but I realised after a while she was just that kind of person. And you, Oliver Queen are an idiot. Who asks a girl out only to imply she was the next best option because your ex was busy?"

"What? I didn't do that. Besides, everyone knows that Laurel and I are over."

"Everyone, really?"

"Yes!"

"Oh, so obviously you told Felicity then. Because you wouldn't want to leave something that important unsaid."

Oliver was silent.

"You're an idiot, Oliver. You don't deserve her."

"I know."

Felicity frowned at the knock on the door. It was the night of the charity ball, but Oliver wasn't due to pick her up for another fifteen minutes.

She had sensed that Oliver wanted to talk to her about something, but the last week had been hectic with QC, Verdant and the Hood all having some form of emergency back-to-back. They had been lucky to get the night off.

Felicity slowly made her way over to the door. She was in heels and didn't want to trip, not after all the work she had put into her outfit. She was going out with Oliver Queen after all. She had decided on wearing an old but fashionable dress she had bought for a friend's wedding; it was dark blue, high at the neck but low at the back and fell to the floor in a simple silhouette. Her hair had been difficult but eventually she had gotten into a twist at the back of her head. The strands of hair that fell out around her face looked good enough that no one would realise that it wasn't intentional.

Reaching the door she looked through the peephole and wasn't that surprised to see Oliver standing on her doorstep. Stepping back she let him in and closed the door behind him.

"Hey," he said.

"Er, hi. You're a little early, not that it's a bad thing, much better than being late." She coughed. "Do you want to sit down? I just have to add a thing or two before I'm ready."

"Felicity…"

She turned to face a nervous Oliver. He was wearing a fitted tuxedo and held his body confidently, but his eyes were darting all over the room. Finally he steeled himself and met Felicity's eyes.

She watched him relax and blushed slightly when he looked over her dress. Automatically she went to adjust her glasses for something to do with her hands, but realised that she wasn't wearing them. Oliver took that opportunity to take her hand.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm actually quite bad at asking girls out. They usually asked me," he admitted sheepishly.

"Oliver, you don't have to…"

"Laurel and I have been over for a while now. I should have made that clear before I asked you on a date. You weren't a second choice." He smiled and squeezed her hand. "I'm sorry that it took so long for me to figure out how I feel about you."

Felicity smiled softly, shocked by what Oliver was implying. "You don't have to apologise, Oliver, but thank you."

He shook his head. "You deserve a lot more than an apology. I," he cleared his throat, "I got you something. It's not much but I thought of you when I saw it." He pulled a black velvet box out of his jacket and handed it over.

Shocked, Felicity took the box and tentatively opened it. Inside was a pair of expensive earrings. They looked to Felicity like something from the 1920s, the silver at the top entwining with the bright blue sapphires at the bottom. They were classic, yet quirky, elegant but bright.

She was speechless for a moment. It was too much and Oliver had said it wasn't at all. She had half a mind to refuse the gift, but Oliver would take it personally.

Standing on her toes she gave a surprised Oliver a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, they are gorgeous."

She was rewarded with a small blush on Oliver's cheeks as she excused herself to finish getting ready. She switched her old earrings out for Oliver's gift and grabbed her bag for the night. Taking a last look at herself in the mirror she made the conscious decision to not think about the fact that Oliver Queen was taking her out, that there would be paparazzi, that she was wearing a fortune in jewellery and she would have to meet people that defined their lives by the amount of money in their bank account. Taking a breath she returned to her front room where Oliver was waiting.

"Ready?" he asked.

She nodded and they left, Felicity locking her door.

Oliver took her hand as they headed downstairs to where Diggle would be waiting.

"You look beautiful, by the way," Oliver said.

"So do you. I mean not beautiful, because you are but that would be weird calling you that, so I mean handsome." Oliver chuckled. "Please tell me you have a plan to stop me embarrassing myself in front of all the rich people."

"It's not embarrassing, it's endearing. Everyone will love you, Felicity, trust me."

"I always do."