A/N Thanks for your patience! Chapter 24 is half in the can and should be up tomorrow/ monday. I'm really excited to get the next,and probably last phase of the story started. One more grand arc to line us up with season 2 then head off into the sunset... at least for awhile.

Disclaimer: It all belongs to Cw/DC.

"So humour me Oliver," Denise asked when they were all seated and eating. " How do you all know each other?"

"Well, Tommy and I have been friends since before we could walk. We met up with Laurel in high school."

"Except back then she had terrible taste." Tommy joked.

"Watch it Merlyn" Laurel warned half-heartedly. Felicity leaned over and filled her mom in on the joke quietly while everyone laughed.

"And then I initially hired Mr Diggle to keep an eye on Oliver when he first came home." Moira continued. " He and Oliver hit it off, well I wouldn't say immediately, but soon enough."

"He quit, but came back after I agreed to stop being a pain." Oliver explained.

" Hm, you're still a pain. But I've got Felicity on my side so now you're an outnumbered pain." John replied.

"Not too bad of a team are we?" Felicity smiled. Diggle winked at her since he had just taken a bite of the roast Raisa prepared.

Shortly after her uncomfortable dinner with Tommy, Felicity had approached Diggle with her concerns about the city and Oliver. He agreed to help make the argument but pointed out, as Tommy had, that unless he decided to take up the hood again, this was all useless. Felicity's plan was simple: Fix up the lair, show Oliver exactly how they could fix the city, then back to business as usual. She refused to acknowledge the idea that he may say no.

"What about Roy? How did you meet Thea?" Carly asked. The quiet young man at the end of the table looked a little concerned. Luckily Thea had her brother's talent of rescuing awkward conversations.

"I met Roy when I was doing my internship at CNRI." Laurel choked on her water a little. Thea shot her a look. "Right Laurel?

"Yep, I was there" The lawyer managed.

"Oh, were you interning as well Roy?" Moira asked in her best mother voice.

"Um, no." He answered. "I was working on some financial aid." Thea and Laurel both managed a half poker face.

"Well, I'd like to make a toast." Moira raised her glass. "First, to Oliver. Thank you for the lovely surprise of both your visit and this dinner. It has been lovely seeing everyone and hearing more laughter in the house. So , to Oliver." The group joined in as he made a little joking bow in his seat. "And secondly, to Felicity." The blond's head whipped around and she looked surprised. "I know, we haven't gotten to know each other very well yet, but I would like to. You've brought out a side of Oliver that those of us who knew him before the island weren't sure we would see again. So to Felicity." Her dinner companions toasted her as Oliver slid his hand over hers and gave it a squeeze.

The next day, Oliver and Felicity drove Denise to the bus station. Oliver had offered to hire a car to take her home but Denise had refused blaming the fact that her ticket was non refundable.

"Ok but text me the minute you get home." Felicity demanded as she hugged her mother. Denise nodded and approached the reserved man next to her daughter.

"I'm a hugger Oliver Queen, you better get used to it." She said before she approached. Her chuckled and hugged her. She took the opportunity to whisper parting instructions in his ear. "Look after my baby girl."

" Yes ma'am." He answered. They waited until the bus pulled away before leaving the platform.

The couple made their way back to Oliver's place so he could pack. They were going to go to dinner, then spend the evening at Felicity's. Diggle was supposed to pick him up early the next morning to make his flight to Melbourne.

Oliver sorted his clothes and looked over to his bed. Felicity was sitting there happily working on her tablet. He smiled. Nothing this year had turned out the way he expected, but this was the best thing to come out of it. Once his bag was packed he had an idea. He walked over to Felicity and tapped her on the shoulder. She was startled and gave him a slightly annoyed look. " You can't accuse me of sneaking up on you when I've been in the same room the whole time."

" I know. But seriously I'm going to buy you a bell or something." She retorted. " All done?" He nodded. " So are we leaving?"

" Not just yet." Oliver took the tablet out of her hands and put it down on the bed. "Let's go for a walk." He took her by the hand and the headed outside.

Oliver had realized that he had never taken Felicity around the property. She didn't know all the little nooks and crannies. She didn't know about the bushes that he and Tommy had convinced Thea were haunted. She hadn't seen the part of the yard his Dad had flattened out so they could play baseball. They walked around and he told her all those stories and a few others. They eventually ended up on a footbridge looking over a small pond.

"I want to be as comfortable here as we are at your apartment." He summed up "It was a good place to grow up. It still looks like it always did, but something's missing. I need to fix a lot of things first but maybe someday..." He drifted off and just held her hand tighter.

Felicity hugged his arm and thought about what he was trying to say. She wondered if her grand plan would help him fix what was broken, or make everything worse.