An: I do not own Arrow.
July
Having successfully completed one month of employment, Oliver decided to send his father a text message and let him know that he had found steady employment. He toiled over the message for an hour. He wanted it to be perfect. It needed to show him that despite what his father thought, he could make it on his own. Oliver was convinced that he already knew the things his father was trying to teach him. He knew the value of money and that there were people who worked hard for it. There was no point to this challenge other than earning two more years of freedom.
His father responded immediately telling him that he was pleased that he found a job and that Oliver had managed to stay out of the news headlines. He again reminded him of the terms of the deal. His father also told him that now that he had a job he could pay his phone bill himself. The bill was sent via e-mail and Oliver's jaw hit the floor. His bill was more than he had earned in June. He needed to cut severely back on his phone usage.
To make matters worse, his eager landlord had slid the electric and water bill under his door for the month of June. How the hell did the landlord even know what the bill was so soon? His landlord didn't look like someone he could ask for a little more time to pay the bill. He would pay those first and then start paying a little bit towards his phone bill. Hopefully his father wouldn't cut his service since his phone was the only form of contact he had with his mother and Thea.
Jul -2
When he arrived at work, Bob told him he was off probation. That was good news. Oliver had proved that he could be trusted particularly when he had put money from his tips back into the register to cover what Carl took. That had impressed Bob. The old man had seen everything from the kitchen. Bob had explained that he owed Carl's grandfather his life. The man's last dying wish was that he took care of Carl. He needed to honour that especially in light of Bob being estranged from his own children. He felt he needed to do right by someone else. Bob was grateful that Oliver had respected that Carl was around for a reason and hadn't made a scene about the boy yet.
Jul-3
The good thing about working in a sports bar was that Oliver could keep up with all the teams that he followed. He and Tommy would usually bet on the outcomes of matches. He hadn't made a bet with Tommy since April. He couldn't afford it. In fact, he needed to cut back on his phone usage. The hours spent talking about Tommy's latest wild adventure was the first thing on the list to stop. The roaming costs were killing him. He should probably get a cheap local phone so that he could give that number out to persons at the bar in case of emergencies.
Jul-4
The Independence Day Holiday was the first time Oliver had truly seen the bar packed. It was a busy night but despite the hectic work, he hadn't missed the way several men leered at Felicity after she arrived. When she offered to give him a hand behind the bar, he didn't hesitate in pulling her behind the counter with him. Both Diggle and Bob nodded in approval. She was safer there away from any possible advances from the drunks. Diggle had already had to escort five men out for rowdy behaviour.
Oliver found it was easy to work with Felicity. They fell into a natural rhythm with each other. They didn't need to speak, the other automatically understanding what the other needed with just a look or hand gesture. To date it had been the most fun he'd had behind the bar. He strangely found himself wanting to work more with her. The bar had become his space, his territory and he didn't like anyone else in his area but for some odd reason she was different. It was a curious sensation to actually want to work more with someone but he was not ready to examine that yet so he tucked that emotion away for introspection at a later date.
At the end of the night Felicity was watching Diggle intently.
"What's wrong?" he asked, "You're doing that crinkly thing with your eyebrows,"
"Oh its nothing just it can't have been easy for him," she said nodding at Diggle.
"What do you mean?" Oliver asked.
"Haven't you noticed? Loud noises set him on edge. Every time a firework went off while he was at the door he cringed. Sometimes his hand would automatically go to his side as if he were reaching for a weapon. He's very uncomfortable when the bar's crowded too. I don't know why he took this job."
"He probably really needed a job," Oliver said. He could relate to that now.
"Maybe but it still must be tough," Felicity said.
It was the first time Oliver stopped to think what Diggle might have gone through when he was at war. What the man might have seen or had to do to survive and how that might have changed him. How it might make Diggle view the world now.
They went until 3:00am that night, even though Oliver stopped serving alcohol at 2:00am. Everyone was just happy. Oliver checked his phone and realised he had no service. A simple message on his phone indicated he needed to pay his bill before service would be restored. He couldn't believe his father had his phone cut for non payment! It was a good thing he had earned extra tips that night. By next week he should have enough funds to pay off the bill. He realised he would have to come up with a story for his mother, Thea and Tommy for why he was out of contact for a week.
Jul-5
It was a week after the holiday when things at the bar would take a turn for the worse. Felicity had an IT emergency at one of the hotels so she was going to be a little late picking Donna up. Oliver told Bob that he would keep Donna company and close up so the older man could get some sleep. With nothing to do, Donna turned on one of her favourite songs from the juke box.
"You sure I can't coax you to dance with me?" she asked winking at him.
"It's quite alright you go ahead," Oliver said, dancing had never been his thing.
It amazed him how something as simple as a song could make her so happy. He had been keeping an eye on the door waiting for Felicity when he thought he heard Donna call out to him. He turned around just in time to see her hit a chair before she collapsed on the ground unconscious. He immediately dialled 911 while he rushed over to her side. The operator asked him to check her for a pulse. He was relieved when he found one. He remained on the line with the operator until the paramedics arrived. As soon as they came through the door, he used Donna's phone to call Felicity since he still hadn't purchased a local bill or paid off his phone bill. He was thankful Donna didn't know much about phones and never kept hers locked.
"I'm almost there mom," she answered right away.
"Felicity, its Oliver, your mom just collapsed. They're taking her to the hospital now."
The line went dead and when he tried calling Felicity back she didn't answer. He had never felt so worried about anyone in his life before. He managed to close up the bar in record time and then run the remaining blocks to the hospital. When he arrived he was out of breath but the panic he had been feeling disappeared slightly when he saw Felicity pacing in the waiting room.
"How is she?" he asked her.
"I don't know, they haven't told me anything yet. What happened at the bar?" Felicity asked worriedly.
Oliver placed both hands on her shoulders to steady her. He looked deep into her blue eyes, "your mom collapsed at the bar but the paramedics said she was stable."
"Do you think it's the cancer? That it's come back?" she asked fearfully.
"I don't know. The bar has been very busy. It's the summer. Perhaps she's just over worked a bit," Oliver suggested. He slung his arm around her shoulder and guided her to the nearest chair.
After a while, a doctor came out. He indicated Donna was awake and they could go in and see her. They weren't sure what had happened yet but they were going to keep her over night and monitor her. The next day, Oliver paid off his phone bill and purchased a cheap local phone.
Jul-6
After a week of testing, the results were bad. The cancer had returned in a very aggressive form, spreading to her lymph nodes and liver. They gave her three months to live. Felicity was devastated by the news. She wanted to get a second opinion and take her mother to a cancer expert in New York. Donna let Felicity e-mail her tests results and case history to the expert. The prognosis was the same. Felicity had the tests redone with no change in the final results before sending the results to three other experts before she accepted the prognosis. Donna decided that she wanted to enjoy her last months. She didn't want to go through Chemo therapy again to extend her life span by a few months. No she was going to enjoy the little bit of life she had left.
She convinced Bob that she wanted to work until she couldn't work anymore. She loved the bar and the people there. The bar opened late enough to allow her to do whatever she wanted in the morning so every day before the bar opened, she would do something with Felicity first and then come to work. Some days they would include Bob, other days he or Diggle would join them.
Jul- 7
It was near the end of July when Oliver heard a knock at his apartment door. Nobody ever bothered him before. He cautiously opened the door and found Felicity standing there with burgers.
"I know I said I would pick up you up after lunch to get your laundry done but I thought we could just have lunch together here and then go. Of course by together, I don't mean together together, I just mean together as two people in the same room," She babbled. "I'm shutting up now,"
Felicity had given him a drop home a few times, plus she had dragged his apartment number out of him so it should not surprise him to see her standing there yet he was. In his stupor, she slipped past him into his apartment. He saw her take note of the sleeping bag on the floor and the two suitcases in the corner, the only objects in the tiny apartment. Oliver was embarrassed. He didn't want her to know how he had been living. To make matters worse, the creatures in the roof started running around and his neighbour decided to scream at them.
"Pack your bags, you're not staying here a moment longer," Felicity insisted.
"Felicity," Oliver said.
"No," Felicity said, shaking her head from side to side, her blonde pony tail swinging behind her head. "This is a death trap Oliver. You see that mold on the ceiling," she commented pointing at the mold he had never noticed, "It's not healthy for you. I can't leave here knowing you're living like this."
"Where do you expect me to go?" he asked. He had been looking at other apartments but even with his job, the furnished apartments were too expensive. There were no unfurnished apartments in good neighbourhoods available.
"Home with me, you can sleep in my bed" realising that didn't sound too good she expounded, "what I meant was that I can share with my mom and you can use my room. I spend most of my nights monitoring her anyway. It can just be till you find a new place of your own but you are NOT staying here Mister."
Oliver heavily protested. Felicity crossed her hands in front of her chest, "Don't make me, make you," she threatened.
Oliver nearly laughed. Felicity was physically small compared to him. The image in his head of her trying to drag him out of the apartment kicking and screaming was hilarious but he knew Felicity and she didn't issue idle threats. If she thought she could make him go, then she could make him go. There was no point arguing with her. Forty minutes later he found himself standing in her room.
It was a small room with a twin bed. The only other furnishings in the room were a dresser where he assumed Felicity kept her clothes and a simple desk that had computer parts sprawled across it. There were no dolls or pictures of boy bands on the wall but there was a poster from an old Robin Hood movie. There was one bathroom in the apartment that he would have to share with the girls.
When Donna saw Oliver with his bags, she raised a questioning eyebrow. Felicity told her mom that he was moving in temporarily. Donna smiled, "great there's some heavy stuff I need moved." She said no other words about his sudden appearance in their apartment. Oliver offered to pay rent until he found a better place to live but Felicity refused to accept his help. Donna eventually came up with a compromise, she told him to cook for them. Oliver had no idea how to cook so Donna told him to ask Bob. That led to Bob teaching Oliver how to cook every Thursday morning at the bar.
Jul-8
The first cooking lesson with Bob found him being assaulted with a frying pan after he said it was a pot. The old man had a mean swing.
"If you thought laundry was complicated, you might be biting off more than you can chew with this!" Bob commented.
"Maybe but I made a deal with Donna and Felicity so I have to learn how to cook," Oliver responded.
Bob made him take out every cooking device in the kitchen in an effort to teach him what was what. After that was done and Oliver sort of remembered what everything was, Bob taught him to cook scramble eggs in the frying pan. After he mastered scrambling eggs, he then went on to other versions of eggs, culminating in making the perfect omelet.
Donna was more than willing to give him feedback every morning when cooked breakfast for them. She was looking forward to Oliver learning to do lunch and dinner. She had asked Bob to teach Oliver how to cook Chicken Cordon Bleu. It was one of the meals she used to serve at the bar in her old job to some of the customers. It was something that smelled good but she couldn't afford to order herself.
Jul- 9
Living with Felicity and Donna was much easier than he thought it would be. He had learnt early to get coffee in Felicity's system as soon as she woke up to avoid her loud voice in the morning and do not eat her ice cream. He also learned not to hog the hot water on the first day but who could blame him, he had been living the last two months without it. When Felicity had to physically go into work in the mornings instead of working on her computer system or tablet, it left him alone with Donna. It was interesting to hear her stories about working as a single mother. Occasionally she would mention Felicity's father.
One benefit of living there was the access to a TV again. Sure there were the ones at the bar but he was busy working and couldn't watch them. He had found a TV programme one day that had been showing different tricks bartenders did. He set it to record on the DVR and started trying to execute some of the moves he saw on the show. He had a few ideas on how to improve his service to his customers.
There were however three downsides to living with them though. One, he didn't feel comfortable bringing a girl home or going to a girls place. He would never disrespect Donna or Felicity by bringing a one night stand into their home. He didn't want that, they had taken him in and showed him only kindness. Two, he had to squeeze his tall frame into a small mini cooper every night and three, he heard a lot more about that dick named Cooper than was good for his sanity.
He was now a quarter of the way through his challenge and all things considered, he thought things were going very well with the minor exception of Donna's illness.