An: I do not own Arrow. Thank you to the guests for their reviews.

May

May 1st found Oliver settling in his new office as Vice-President of Queen Consolidated. He wore a brand new grey suit. His mother had had all of his suits remade for his new physique. Oliver looked out the large glass window to the city before him. It felt like he was looking at Starling City with fresh eyes. His father had been right. There had been a lot that he needed to learn. One of the things he needed to understand was people. People were what made things work, were what gave cities their life. QC would be no where without the employees to run it. He wouldn't have his life style if the accountants didn't do their job, if HR didn't hire people, if IT didn't keep the computers running. If he had started working as the spoil brat that he was, he would have failed miserably, just like he knew he would have but his father had taken the time to make sure Oliver was fully equipped for the business world before he threw him into it.

His day was filled with reacquainting himself with the heads of departments. He had met them before at various Queen functions but he didn't really know them. Now he had to work with them for the company so he needed to get to know them. Bob had taught him to know your employees and your customers.

He scheduled his last meeting of the day with the Head of the new cyber security department. Oliver couldn't control the brilliant smile that occupied his face when he quietly snuck into her office. She was glued to the computer screen, a red pen between her red painted lips.

"Felicity Smoak," he said startling her. "I'm Oliver Queen,"

A coy smile broke out on her face, "I know who you are Mr. Queen,"

"Mr. Queen is my father," he responded.

"This could get confusing because I'm quite sure my boyfriend is also Mr. Queen?" she said tilting her head to the side cutely.

"Really," Oliver said sitting on the edge of her desk.

"Yes and I'm waiting for him to take me home,"

"It would be terribly remiss of me to keep such a beautiful woman waiting then," he said rising and offering her his hand, "Shall we?"

"We shall," she said taking his hand in hers.

The few employees that were still there were shocked to see that the new department head leaving with Oliver Queen, their hands linked firmly together. Oliver got into his sleek BMW, to take Felicity to her first meal at Tablesalt. He was very much looking forward to spoiling his girlfriend with everything her heart desired.

May - 2

By the next day, it was on the cover of every gossip magazine that Oliver Queen had returned and he was dating Felicity Smoak. All sorts of rumours started to fly. Investigative reporters started looking into how and where they met. By the end of the week they had found Off the Beaten Track. Bob had threatened a few of them with his shotgun. The reporters were quite intrigued to find Tommy Merlyn at the bar, running a whole page about the former playboy's fall from grace.

Cooper came forward from jail as an inside source about them, relating how Oliver ruthlessly set out to steal Felicity away from him and lured her with promises of wealth. He claimed Felicity's mother, Donna Smoak, was a gold digger and encouraged her daughter towards Queen. He also had the gall to say that the charges against him were fake and that he was being framed by the Queens. Oliver wished that he had broken Cooper's jaw so he couldn't sprout such none-sense, insulting the memory of Donna Smoak. He immediately issued a press release countering all of Cooper's claims. He didn't pull any punches when it came to defending the character of Donna Smoak.

They mostly ignored all of the rumours. They avoided the paparazzi, Diggle was quite good at intimidating them when he crossed his hands in front of his chest. Lyla too was good at getting them to leave Felicity alone. Her time shouting orders in the military came quite in handy when she 'spoke' with photographers. A few members of staff had questioned Felicity's qualifications to hold her position but that soon disappeared as they realised Felicity was more than qualified for the post.

May-3

After being dragged through the city with Felicity and Thea, they found a high rise loft that they both liked. It had a fire place like Felicity had envisioned and ceiling to floor glass windows so they could look out at the city. The kitchen was well equipped and spacious which was something that was important to Oliver. They brought the old furniture from the Mansion to furnish the loft. Felicity refused to allow him to buy new stuff from the stuff from the Mansion was only two years old and probably had never been used. She did allow him to buy them a beautiful king size bed. Felicity teased him when he didn't choose the queen size bed.

Thea would be going to Stanford University in August. She had decided to stay closer to home. He suspected Roy might have been part of the reason she didn't want to go out to the east coast like she had always claimed she wanted to do. She was splitting her time between their loft, the Mansion and the apartment in Las Vegas. She had taken Roy out to meet Tommy, as his best friend had complained bitterly that he hadn't gotten to meet the leading man in Thea's life yet. Never mind that Moira and Robert hadn't met him yet either, Tommy still believed he was next in line to screen him.

May-4

Oliver's phone was ringing. He recognised it as Tommy's number. Felicity warned him that he would call today. Her alerts had indicated that the electricity bill had not been paid yet. Oliver picked up the phone.

"Tommy what a surprise!" Oliver said.

"Oliver there's no electricity!" Tommy said in a panic.

"Oh, maybe there's an outage,"

"I thought so too at first but then the neighbour's radio is playing. My apartment is the only one with no power! What do I do?"

"Gee, maybe pay the bill Tommy,"

"The bill?"

"Yes the electricity bill that would have arrived a few days ago in the mailbox. You have been checking the mailbox right?"

"Uhh hold on," Tommy said.

He heard Tommy curse as he ran into the sofa. The door opened and there were footsteps.

"Aha!" He heard Tommy say, "there's a mailbox."

Oliver slapped his forehead, "Tommy, Felicity told you three times there was a mailbox."

"So how do I pay the bill again?" he asked Oliver.

"Read the bill and follow the instructions on it," Oliver said before hanging up.

He wasn't that bad was he?

May -5

It was Felicity's birthday and he was taking her out to an Italian restaurant. She wore a beautiful red dress that his mother had bought for her. He had been surprised when he came home and found not only himself with a brand new wardrobe but Felicity as well. His mother had even matched some her outfits to his suits. When his mother went shopping she always came home with something for him, Thea and Tommy, now Felicity had been added to the list. Felicity was going crazy trying to figure out how to repay his mother for all the new clothes.

The hostess welcomed them and seated them at a private table at the back.

"Your mother comes here all the time?" Felicity asked looking around.

"Yes, she's rather fond of the salmon tartar but everything on the menu is good, particularly the soufflé. I think I'll try and cook that next. I hear they can be challenging," Oliver said.

"I'm sure you'll get it on the first try," she said looking down at the menu in her hand, "Everything on here sounds so delicious,"

"Do you want me to order for you? I know exactly what you should start with. We can sample the rest of the menu on other dates,"

"Order away Mr. Queen," she said winking at him.

"Ok," he said. He summoned a waiter and told him to go ahead with the menu he had ordered in advance.

"You're well prepared," Felicity said.

"I am," he agreed, "I wanted to get your first birthday we celebrate as a couple right,"

She smiled, "it's perfect so far,"

"Good, I got a gift for you,"

"Oliver I told you, you didn't have to," Felicity said.

"Well it's sort of for both of us. When I was thinking about what I wanted to do with my life if I didn't join QC for another two years, I thought about doing something in real estate. I thought about that rat trap I had been living in and thought maybe I could buy it and fix it up for those living there. I bought it last week and I also bought this," Oliver said sliding an envelope across the table to her.

"Oliver you didn't?" Felicity said.

Oliver smiled at her.

"You purchased my apartment building," she said surprised.

"I wanted you to have a place to return to in Las Vegas. I know you don't want the whole building so I'm giving you your apartment. I'm going to use the profits from your building to help subsidise some of the costs to repair the other building. I'm still researching some business models before I formally set up the holding company to manage all the renovations but I hope to start by the summer."

"Have I told you today how much I love you?" Felicity asked.

"Not since we left the loft half-an-hour ago," Oliver replied cheekily.

"I will never get tired of saying it, I love you Oliver Jonas Queen," she said reaching out for his hand.

"And I love you Felicity Meghan Smoak," he replied squeezing her hand in his. If they weren't in a fancy restaurant he would have pulled her across the table, straight into his lap and kissed her senseless.

May-6

Oliver considered himself a very lucky man. Shado's twin sister, Mei, practiced as a doctor in Starling City. Their father, Yao Fei, ran a martial arts studio in the city but he split his time evenly between his daughters. When Yao Fei wasn't there, he had two other trainers, Maseo and his wife Tatsu teaching students. Oliver was keen to take his self defence lessons much further so he joined them. He regularly came home with bruises. Felicity would fill the tub with hot water and soothing bath oils and he would relax in the tub while she soothed away his aches for him.

He was learning two types of martial arts and archery. Yao Fei insisted that he learned how to use a bow and arrow first before any other type of weapon. After he mastered that, then could move on to sword fighting with Tatsu. Oliver hadn't expected to enjoy archery so much but there was something relaxing in pulling the bow back and releasing the arrow, watching it fly through air to the target, or in the case of his first few shots, wide of the target.

May-7

It was his birthday. He was supposed to meet Felicity in her office at five o'clock. She had been planning something for his birthday with Thea. He knew Tommy was in on the plans but the last time he spoke to him he said he couldn't get the time off to come across because of the bar. The old Ollie wouldn't have understood but the new Oliver did. Sometimes, you just couldn't afford to do what you wanted to do. Earlier in the week it had been reported that the club Verdant had been rented out by the Queen family to celebrate his birthday. He figured they were going to do something very over the top for him. He would have been fine with a simple family gathering. He arrived at her office to find her busy behind her computer. She gave him an apologetic look and told him she would be half an hour more. He shrugged his shoulders. He liked watching her work. He was in no hurry to go to any club.

Forty minutes later they were standing outside their loft, while Felicity opened the door. It was dark inside, as Oliver was about to reach to flick the lights on, they came on, on their own and a loud chorus of surprise was yelled! Oliver jumped and many camera flashes went off.

A pair of hands wrapped around him from behind, "I thought you would want to celebrate your birthday with your family, extended family and some of your new friends," Felicity said resting her head against his back.

His father, mother, Walter and Bob were close to the kitchen. Alice, Samantha, Thea, and Sara were in corner snickering. Tommy and Laurel were behind a make shift bar. Carl, who was responsible for the music, seemed to be getting the stink eye from Slade for some pop song he was playing. Shado, Mei and Yao Fei were standing with him. Diggle, Lyla, Maseo and Tatsu were in their own little group. Everyone he trusted was in this room.

He turned around to face his girlfriend, "but the club?"

"Was a decoy we leaked to the papers to keep you off our trail,"

"Yao Fei would like your thinking," Oliver smiled, proud of his girl.

"I know," she beamed, "he complimented me on it when I invited him to your celebration party. But let's not be rude, you have many guests to greet," she said patting his back encouragingly.

He decided to start with his parents, Walter and Bob. His parents hugged him, Walter and Bob chose to shake his hand.

"You better like the food. I slaved away in this fancy kitchen of yours to cook everything I knew you liked, included plenty of portions of my wings," Bob said.

"You didn't have to," Oliver said.

"I did. Felicity paid me handsomely to cook for you and I get to enjoy the party. We all came across here on that private jet of yours. That's a nice way to travel," Bob said. After catching up a bit he moved to the next group.

Thea, Samantha and Alice had decorated the loft. William was sleeping upstairs in a guest bedroom. The four month old had somehow gotten into all the streamers and created a huge mess. They were supposed to be ready for five but they had to make Felicity delay him because of that hiccup. Thea was also peeved that Roy was late. She figured her boyfriend was freaking out about meeting their parents. She had already sent him 10 messages. He promised he was on his way.

Tommy was handling the bar, serving plenty of Green Arrows for the party. Laurel was helping him. Tommy had taken the opportunity to visit his father earlier in the day. If Tommy didn't screw up anything in the next three months, then his father was willing to let him work at Merlyn Global in October. If after the six month probationary period at the company, Tommy was doing well, he would restore access to his son's trust fund. Tommy was very much looking forward to that again.

By the time he made it to Slade, his group had merged with Diggle's group and they were discussing marriage and children. Maseo and Tatsu had a four year old son they had left at the baby sitters. Slade and Shado were trying to get pregnant and Diggle and Lyla were contemplating adding to their family. It was a discussion he wasn't ready to get dragged into yet. Things were great with Felicity but they weren't at the marriage stage yet. They needed a little bit more time in Starling before they reached there. On June would mark a year since he met Felicity. He was planning a weekend retreat to a vineyard to mark the important milestone. Mei, being single, was just nodding her head at the conversation. She looked bored. After a few quick hellos to everyone, he extricated her planning on taking her to the single ladies section. He introduced her to Samantha and Alice. His sister had joined their parents with Roy. Felicity seemed to be hovering on the edges to make sure the introduction went well. Thea was nervously fidgeting with her hair.

Oliver decided to head over and show his support for Roy.

"Roy," he said as he reached over, shaking his hand firmly, "thank you for coming,"

"Shouldn't I be wishing you Happy Birthday and thanking you for inviting me?" Roy asked.

"Technically, the thanks go to Felicity but she knew exactly who I would want here," he said to him.

"Oliver you knew about Roy?" his mother asked him.

"Yes I met him at Christmas," Oliver said.

"This has been going on since Christmas?" Robert commented surprised.

"Yes perhaps you had Diggle watching the wrong child," Oliver said. He may have grown and matured but he couldn't help but sneak that one in there.

"And you didn't tell us?" his mother asked him.

"Wasn't my secret to tell," he answered simply.

His parents looked like they were ready to grill Thea, so Oliver did what big brothers are supposed to do and bailed his sister out, excusing them to go request a few older songs from Carl.

This was the first birthday that he didn't drink himself into oblivion and wake up the next morning in a stranger's bed. He had spent all night catching up with friends, laughing and truly enjoying the conversation. His biggest surprise was how much William had grown in the two weeks they were gone. He wondered what Samantha was feeding him. It wasn't until everyone had left, in the wee hours of the morning, that he was finally able to hold on to Felicity. She had been the perfect hostess last night, moving between the guests and making sure everyone was comfortable. She had even found time to freshen up and change into a black cocktail dress with cut-outs in the side. The sight of so much skin had been teasing him the whole night.

"Are you ready for your final birthday present?" she purred.

"There's more?" he asked.

She smiled coyly, "just a little something I picked up a Victoria's Secret for us,"

"I like that sound of that," Oliver said, "should I wait here while you slip into it,"

"It's already on, you just have to unwrap the packaging,"

Oliver didn't need to be told twice as he picked her up bridal style, took the steps two at a time and placed her on the bed to carefully unwrap his last gift.

May-8

At the end of May, Oliver felt they were truly settled into their new life. Las Vegas seemed so long ago. Every Sunday, there was a family lunch rotated between the Queen Mansion and the loft. Felicity had insisted that Moira didn't have to host all of them and as Oliver and her had their own place they could host them as well. He found family dinners in the loft were cozier; they were also the ones that Roy could come to since the loft was much closer to the Glades than the Mansion. It was also more neutral territory.

His parents had been harping on Roy's lack of education so Felicity offered to help him study for his GED. After that he could go to a community college or learn a trade. Tommy had told him there was always a need for bartenders. Thea's hopes for Roy were a little higher than that though.

A salmon ladder had moved into their apartment and Oliver was trying to convince Felicity to put a stripper pole in their bedroom. Pole dancing was supposed to be a very good form of exercise. If she could enjoy watching him, he thought he should get some similar entertainment. She told him he would have to be satisfied with her execution of downward dog. He wasn't giving up hope though. Maybe next year he would convince her to get it for his birthday.

He had finished a full month of working for QC and it was much better than he ever would have thought. It was challenging and meaningful though he didn't understand what the purpose of meetings was other than to waste ones time. For the first time, Oliver found himself looking forward to the day that his father would hand him the reigns to the company.