The Guest House

Oliver takes a step back preventing the young man with arms filled with papers from crashing into him, looking around the office he notices the space seems to be small for the amount of people working there, boxes of papers pile up everywhere, the computers are old, the wallpaper is peeling at the corners and one of the windows has a crack as if something was thrown against it, but the space is buzzing with life.

"Ollie?" 

His breath hitches, he knew that at some point he would come face to face with her, his biggest regret, the person he hurt the most. Oliver tried many times to reach out but always hung up the phone without saying anything, he never found the words that would atone for his mistake.

"You do know that you don't become invisible by being immobile right?"

Her hair is lighter and shorter than before but her smile is still the same, he feels a sense of familiarity that is oddly comforting.

"Hi Laurel '' She steps forward while he opens his arms, the awkwardness of the hug serves as a reminder of their complicated history.

"I heard you were back"

"Yeah, a couple of weeks now" Oliver rubs the back of his neck.

Laurel smiles, clearly enjoying his nervousness.

He cleans his throat “I was hoping to steal Thea for lunch. I've barely seen her'' Last friday she bailed on dinner saying Roy was not feeling well, the boyfriend he has yet to meet, according to his parents a little rough around the edges but a good young man.

 She looks back at the conference room, he can see Thea and a group of young people around a big table, she is pointing something at a paper to a colleague.

"They look busy" 

"They are. We have this big case that took a bad turn" She says sorrowfully.

"I don't want to get in the way" He knows how important the work here is.

"I will tell her you came by"

"Thank you, Laurel '' He says, already turning his back to her but stopping on the spot.

"Ollie, everything Ok?"

He takes a deep breath before turning back to her "Laurel...I am sorry for...everything" Laurel's eyebrows rise in surprise "I should have talked to you a long time ago. I wish I did so many things differently...I just...so sorry"

Laurel looks down fiddling with her fingers “I think If you had said those things before…I would not be ready to hear'' She sighs before giving a small struggle "You know, what if and wishes won't change the past, so let's just leave it there. Thank you for saying though, how about a fresh start?"

"I would like that" a weight is lifted from his chest. 

"You know I've been here since four in the morning. I was going to take a little break and go down the street to the deli. Let me buy you a welcome home sandwich"

"You spoil me" He lifts his arm.

Laurel laughs pushing a chair e pulling her purse from under the table and locking her arms onto his "You will also will have to help me bring everyone's orders"

"Gladly, it will be my treat.” His mother told him a lot about the CNRI and something tells Laurel was going to pay out of her own pocket.

"Thank you, Ollie '' She whispers, giving his arm a light squeeze, bringing him closer. He doesn't fight it.

Where is it? Where? Did I leave it at the office? Oliver thinks while closing the passenger door and opening the back, he pushes William's Flash backpack out of the way and finds his briefcase under, letting out a relieved sigh. He would not be surprised if he had lost it, he left the office in such a hurry worried out of his mind, after the school's phone call telling him that William was a victim of the ongoing stomach bug making its way through his class.

"Oliver?"

"Ow '' He slowly pulls his body out of the car, rubbing the spot that made contact with the roof.

Felicity's face twitches in a grimace as if she also felt the pain "I am sorry. I didn't mean to scare you"

"It’s not your fault my mind was" He gestures his hand as if to say far away, closing the door, leaving the briefcase behind. Turning to face her, his breath gets stuck on his throat, she is wearing gym closes, black leggings that hug the curves of her body, a sleeveless black shirt with pink details, the strap of the top she wears underneath is hanging over her shoulder and he fights the urge to reach out and pull back in place or pull more down whatever direction would get his hand to touch her skin.

"How is William?"

Oliver swallows dry "Better, the fever is gone, he stopped throwing up. He is sleeping now. Thanks for talking to him" William was set to make it to their prep session today 'I already lost half of the school day, I need to study' he said, sitting on the floor of the bathroom between pukes. Only after a call from Felicity saying rest was just as important as studying did he settle down.

"Oh, it was nothing. I’m glad that he is feeling better"

"There was a time he listened to me" He says with a chuckle and a little twitch of jealousy, he thought was imperceptible but by the way her smile fell she saw right through him.

But quickly the corners of her mouth rise up in a sympathetic smile "I am a novelty, like a shiny new toy. Soon he will find me just as boring as all the other adults. Not that you are a boring person" She bites her lips, something he noticed she does when a babble is about to take over and he wants nothing more than to reach over and free her lip. Hearing her talk is right there with William's laugh on his top favorite things in the world.

Oliver usually hangs out at the guest house with her and William, not because he doesn't trust her or because he is afraid William will misbehave, he just enjoys watching them work together. He even learned a thing or two about math and about her too, like the fact she is a disaster in the kitchen, so he makes sure to always bring a snack that the three of them share talking about their day.

"I doubt that Felicity, you are remarkable"

"Thank you for remark on it" 

Their eyes lock, the air gets heavy, their rapid breath matches. Felicity is the first to break, pushing her glasses up "I was...I am gonna go now. I am going on a walk. I worked from home today and had a big belly for lunch, again. Now I am feeling guilty, so I thought a little exercise couldn't hurt. I saw you and just wanted to know how you were doing, William, how William is doing. So I am gonna go now. Bye"

Oliver watches as she quickly turns and starts to walk away. William is better, sleeping, he feels his pocket checking if his phone is there "Can I join you?"

She turns back a half smile playing on the corner of her mouth.

"I love this place" They walked for a while in silence, they passed the tall trees that opened up to a small patch of wildflowers.

Oliver knows this is Raisa's doing, his mother maintains a perfectly curated garden closer to the house but the housekeeper has always loved wild flowers, he remembers coming to plant  seedlings here with her when he was little.

"It's so beautiful," Felicity continues. He notices the way a couple of locks had fallen from her ponytail beautifully framing her face, her cheeks red from the walk, the joy in her face is infectious."I should have known right?" She sits on a rock and offers him her water bottle.

He hesitates for a second before sitting beside her "Know what?"

"The house, this place, the price...was too good to be true. I should had know there was a catch"

Oliver snorts "I still can't believe my sister did that. Thea is” he stops talking, he is not sure if he knows who his sister is anymore.

“Thea is an amazing young woman”

He nods, thanking for her words, there is a solidarity in her face he thinks he doesn't deserve. “We used to be so close, even after I moved. So when she pulled away and I thought it was a phase, what young girl busy with figuring out life without the big brother looking over her shoulder…But now I am here and we still don’t even talk to each other, she shuts me down every time“ It hurts how she seems to have a great relationship with everybody else but him and adding salt to the wound his parents refuse to tell him more about that goddam accident “I just…I want to get passed this, I just don’t know how. How we just move on and go back to what it was before”

"Maybe you're not supposed to just move on...You know someone that I loved k" She takes her eyes out of his, looking at the flowers again, pain all over on her face "hurt himself and I was left with all the things I wish I said to him. And for a while I had trouble dealing with all these unsaid things. I dyed my hair, changed my clothes, and pretended that it never happened, that everything was fine but It wasn’t…My mom kept trying to make me open up and one day I think I was just tired of her nagging to be honest” Felicity chuckles “I let it all out, all those things I didn’t say....And hearing myself I accepted that he made a choice and though I wish I could, I couldn't change it. But you know all those things I wish I said, those will stay with me forever” She gives him a reassuring smile “Thea is here, you can talk to her. Don’t give up, fight, not for the relationship you had but for the people two you are now” 

Maybe it is because Felicity exhales this outright sense of trust or because listening from someone who went through something so painful and still remains a bright, kind and happy person gives him hope. The tightness he felt in his chest loosen a little bit.

"Thank you" he wants to add, for the words, for trusting him with this memory, for being a friend to Thea, for easy his worries, for being amazing with William, for making Starling fell like home again, just for being her "And I am sorry about your...someone" He reaches for her hand giving a squeeze.

"Thank you" she whispers, tuning her palm up and intertwining their fingers, tears in her eyes.

"So" He starts trying to lift her mood, but still not ready to let her hand or her go "Felicity Codebreaker, but actually your middle name is Megan, Smoak, tell me more about you"

"There is not much to tell"

Oliver raises an eyebrow, doubting that.

"What you want to know?" She gives in.

He holds himself not to say everything "What brought you to Starling?"

"Oh you know the same old story. Girl says no to a proposal, quits her job, moves to the first city she lands her eyes on the train departure board" Felicity struggles.

Oliver snorts "I am going to need so much more"

"After MIT, I went to work for Star Labs"

"The particle accelerator?" He has seen how intelligent she is but every new thing he learns about her makes William's first assessment of her being a genius spot on.

"Yes that one hmm I was dating this guy Ray"

"Please don't say Palmer" He never liked that guy.

She laughs "One of Queen Consolidation biggest competitors? Yeah, that Ray...We were together for a long time and he proposed and I knew that it was the logical next step for us. I was going to say yes but I open my mouth and a no came out"

"Ouch, poor guy" He may not like Ray but he can imagine a no from Felicity would be soul devastating.

"Don't feel that bad he realized later he only proposed because he thought it was what he was supposed to do. We still are good friends"

Oliver is back at not liking the guy without guilt whatsoever.

"The next day I didn't feel like going to work. I went to the train station, one was about to leave for Starling…I spent the whole day walking around the city. It was liberating, I started to take account of what else in my life I was doing out of thinking I had to. At the end of the day I was home and I missed Starling or maybe it was the way I felt here. So me, a woman of science for the first time in my life, followed my heart" Her face turns into a cringe "That sounded corny, I sound like my mom"

"She sounds smart"

"Can't quite figure out texting but she is, she is the best. Speaking of mothers, yours accused me of being a corporate spy for Ray" She laughs at the memory.

"She had you checked out?" Oliver sighs "Sorry about her"

"Don't be, I was a stranger in her house. And after the initial mess, they opened their home to me, made me feel welcome....When I told your parents about Smoak Tech, they gave me all kinds of business tips. I tried to resist at first but your mother is a difficult person to say no" Oliver snorts "They introduced me to everyone, people looking to invest, lawyers, possible business partners. I couldn't have taken Smoak Tech out of the paper so fast without them"

"I heard about Smoak Tech all the way in San Francisco, you are making quite the impression with your security program"

Felicity blushes, she is proud of her work but still has a hard time with the attention of having her own company "Enough about me. Your turn, how do you find coming back home?"

"Weird"

She raises an eyebrow asking for more.

"Good weird? I was a different person when I left and I don't know why but I was expecting this place, these people to be frozen just as I left them. Figuring out how I fit into all this has been....weird but good for the most part. William although he misses his mom it's like this has always been his home"

"The distance must be hard on him. He said his love for academics came a hundred percent from her"

Oliver snorts "He is not lying. It was her idea, you know? To move back, her mom had a healthy scare last year and she hated not being here. We were all set and she got this amazing proposal to cover for a colleague in Europe. She would be traveling a lot so we decided it would be best for William to continue with the plan, once it is finished she will join us. You should have seen them, they spent days with a calendar marking the holidays he could visit her, that she could come, he chose all the museums he wanted to see on school break" He says fondly at the memory.

Felicity pulls her hand to her lap and immediately Oliver misses her touch.

"The distance must be just as hard for you too"

Oliver nods.

"But you know long distances work. It makes the heart grow fonder" She says with a humorless laugh.

"What?" He asks, confused.

"You see time will fly by it. Son you two will be together again”

"Together? Sam and I are not together, we never were. I mean we were at some point, we did have William of course, but we were never a couple. We are two people raising a child, not having an intimate relationship. I mean raising a child together did bring us closer. We have a close relationship but not that close"

"Normally, I am the one speaking in fragment sentences" 

Oliver breathes out with a chuckle "I do miss her. In San Francisco it was just the three of us, she is one of my best friends that happens to be the mother of my son"

"Oh"

"Speaking of him. I should head back to check on him"

"Of course. Send my best for him please"

Oliver gets up, leaving the water bottle on the spot he was sitting. He does not want to leave her just yet "Do you want to come with me? He will love to see you" He smiles when she nods and gets up.

"So Thea told me something once....it's true that you peed in a police car?"

He groans embarrassed, he is going to kill his sister.

Oliver throws his head back laughing, his mom and Felicity are telling about the time they went to a restaurant Tommy invested in, that served molecular gastronomy and the food was as horrible as overpriced and apparently Tommy only found out right there at the table with them. 

He regrets thinking it was too soon to leave William alone and saying no when Tommy invited him to Verdant, another investment of his. He found out later, Verdant was the place Sara took Felicity the day after they met and he would give anything to be there that night.

Felling William’s laugh, he tightens his arm around the boy’s shoulder, his son is not much for cuddling these days but after he hugged Felicity, he went straight to his father's arms and Oliver will enjoy it while Will won't regain his full strength to think he is too cool for it.

Felicity giggles beside him, their legs touching, making it hard paying attention to his Mother imitating Tommy's reaction.

"What 's so funny?"

"Aunt Thea" William jumps from the sofa straight to her arms.

"Hey kiddo, are you feeling better?"

"I am. Who is that?"

Oliver turns his head to see Laurel walking further in the room and gets up nervously.

"Hi" She says embarrassed "I hope you don't mind, Thea said William wasn't feeling good, so I thought I could bring so comfort food" She lifts the box in her hands "Cheesecake from"

"Jitters" Oliver finishes her sentence "My favorite"

Laurel smiles bright and looks at William.

"Buddy that is Laurel, she is one of my...oldest friends"

Laurel gives William a little wave who frowns "Do you mean ex girlfriend? Mom said you had a lot of those"

Thea snorts, Moira brings a hand to her mouth covering her laugh.

Felicity clears her throat bringing the attention of the room to her "S-Sorry, I am just gonna go"

"Hi Felicity, didn't expect you to be here but stay, I brought enough" Laurel says sweetly.

"Thank you but I am starting a diet. I spend way too much time sitting and eating take out" She says awkwardly, already heading towards the patio door.

"Felicity! I thought I heard your voice, I was about to call you" Robert walks into the room "Laurel?" He looks at Moira then back at her "Good to see you" He gives her a kiss on the cheek then hugs Thea whispering something on her ear "Will" He lifts his hand and receives and enthusiastic hive five, before bring his hand to William's forehead checking if the boy still has a fever.

"Hey Will, Lets show Laurel where the plates are"

The three of them leave the room as Moira asks "What's wrong Robert?"

"We suffered another attack on our servers, they got in this time" He rubs his eyes "I am heading back to QC now. Felicity, I know we have a meeting next week for you to present Archer to the board, but could you act as a consultant for now? The IT team said they have it handled but there is a message"

"Brother eye?" Felicity asks, the group has been attacking all the major companies in the country.

Robert locks his jaw, nodding.

"What can I do dad?" 

"For now, stay with William but clear your schedule for tomorrow I want you and Walter ready to act on what Felicity report is"

“I'm coming with you" Moira says "Time to put pressure on the board, I know who are the ones reluctant to change our security protocols but it's clear we need it" She kisses Oliver on the cheek before leaving the room.

"I will just go change and pick up some things" Felicity says before leaving too.

"I will call if something comes up" Robert patches him on the shoulder and follows Moira.

Oliver is left alone feeling a little lost, like he should be going with them, that he should be doing more.

"Ollie?" Laurel says from the door that leads to the kitchen "Are you coming?" She lifts a fork "I don't think William and Thea are inclined to save you a piece"

Oliver sighs, nodding, there is nothing else he can do but fight them for his share.