The Guest House

"Baby girl, do you really need to go back?" Donna pouts, leaning on the door frame.

"To the place where I live? To my company? Yeah, I think I have to '' Felicity laughs while putting the rest of her clothes in the suitcase.

"Well, I don't like it…you could stay a couple more days?" Donna tries to give her daughter the best puppy eyes she can master.

"Mom, I told you that William has his big competition tomorrow, and I promised I would be there. Also, Ray called, he is in Starling, and I promised him dinner tonight. Don't make that face, I already got you tickets to come to Starling on your birthday. Tommy insists that we celebrate at Verdant"

Donna grins. She loves visiting Starling, that place made her daughter flourish, and for a while back then, she thought she would never see Felicity smile again, but that city gave Felicity the fresh start she needed. But a thought makes her smile fall "Is that why you are so glum? Because at William's competition, will it be impossible to avoid Oliver?"

"I am not avoiding Oliver" Felicity says, avoiding her mother’s eyes.

Donna tips her head to the side, not buying her words, she knew the moment she opened her door, what was the reason for this surprise visit.

Felicity’s shoulders drop, pressing her lips before saying "I need to rip off the band-aid. I was the one who totally misread our relationship… It was silly, I just never felt that, at peace around someone, spending time with Oliver and William felt right. I don't want to lose that. I will just have to get over it, I don't want to lose his friendship"

"I think you are making a mistake, for what you told me, you didn't even give him the opportunity to have a say in this” Taking Felicity’s face in her hands, she carefully chooses her next words, one wrong word and her daughter will close her heart again ”Honey… After Cooper’s death, I watched you build this big wall around you, if no one sees you, no one can leave you” Donna feels her heart tighten, Cooper was not the first time her baby had her heart broken, but Noah is better forgotten and she prays her love is enough for Felicity to know how much she is wanted "…. But Hon, you shine bright, there is no wall big enough that can hide you“ Only once did she meet Oliver, and it only took her five seconds to notice what he felt, but she can’t force her daughter to accept she deserves to be happy, she can only hope.

Felicity processes her mom's words, wishing she saw the things like her mom did, that she was courageous like her too.

"You owe it to yourself to be truthful, and on the off chance of me being wrong, you won’t live thinking about what ifs. It will hurt for a while, but you will be fine. You are the bravest person I know, you can do this... But if it is worth something tells me you have a winning hand"

Felicity squints her eyes "That is Vegas talking"

Donna giggles "Oh, you know the tools of the trade"

“You know mom, the brave thing, I think I got that from you”

Donna throws her arms around her daughter “That and great legs for short dresses” She says while tightening her arms, while Felicity does the same, laughing.

"I called her, she won’t come for breakfast. She said she has to go to the office early, and will meet us at Will's school"

Oliver stops behind the glass door, hearing his mother out on the patio.

"It's been three weeks since Felicity set foot in this house." Roberts adds.

Maybe you can talk to him." Moira pleads. 

"Me? You are the one who has a whole speech prepared, and though I agree with you, I don't think I can put it in words as well as you, darling"

"It can't be me, if I say anything, Oliver will be mad. He is going to think I am trying to control his life again, he will actually listen if it comes from you" 

His mother's sad voice makes him feel guilty and confused, ever since Thea's accident came to light their relationship improved a great deal. He loves having her fully back in his life. Making his presence known he takes a step out "What you want to say to me mom?"

"Oliver, where are Samantha and William? Breakfast is ready" She gestures to the beautiful set up across the table.

"They are still getting ready. We have enough time for you to tell me what's on your mind" He says, sitting directly in front of his mom.

Robert pulls his phone out of the pocket of his jacket, Moira looks at him, shaking her head "It's Walter, he knows what today is, he wouldn't call if it were not important"

"Traitor '' Moira mutters and Robert winks at her.

"Mom?" Oliver raises an impatient eyebrow.

Moira takes a deep breath "What I am about to say, it's only as a mother who is worried, I am in no way I am trying to dictate your life"

"Mom I know! Just say whatever is on your mind"

"I think you are making a mistake"

Oliver frowns "What?"

"With Laurel. I adore her, but nothing good will come from revisiting the past" Moira stares at him, apprehensive.

Oliver snorts, and she frowns "I agree with you, that would be a mistake. There is nothing going on with Laurel and me, we are working on being friends"

Moira lets out a deep breath of relief, placing her hand over her chest "Oh, good! Everyone can see that you and Felicity are a perfect match. I was afraid you were drawn in by nostalgia and would miss out your chance with her"

“There’s nothing going on with Felicity and me either" Once Felicity, when they were watching a random tv show, corrected the character, saying the heart is a muscle, it can't break, it can only be crushed. He didn't understand at the time but now he does, he feels it in his chest, his, is crushed without her.

"Why? It's clear as day that you have fallen for her"

Oliver looks over his mother's shoulder to the guest house, he does not even have the energy to deny "I can't risk losing her friendship... I can’t do that to William, he would be devastated if I did something that pushed her out of his life" He can’t hurt his son…he can’t hurt her.

"Oliver, If you think she would ever let anything between you two get in the way of her relationship with William, you don't know her as well as I thought" Moira looks at his sad countenance, seeing the actual reason, the one he may even be hiding from himself  “You are afraid” He casts his eyes down “I was afraid once too…. I wasn’t in your life anymore, Thea was pushing me away, your dad….we were barely talking to each other” She takes a deep breath “Then I realized that if I wanted better, I wanted more. I needed to let the people I love close and allow you to have a voice. When I started to listen, everything changed”

“Mom,” he says softly. She lifts her hand, asking for him to allow her to finish.

Their situation is not the same, but maybe her son won’t fall as low as she did before realizing his mistake. “I knew that there was a chance I would never be able to fix it. I was terrified of that, but I tried, I said what was in my heart and listened…it may be an oversimplification of what happened, but I took a chance and never being happier”

Before Oliver even had the chance to process his mother’s words, Thea walks out "Dad said we are having an intervention, to help Ollie take his head out of his ass" She says, kissing Moira on the cheek, who tries to hide her laugh, and sits by Oliver’s side, showing him her tongue, bringing a small smile out of him.

“There was this picture on a gossip site this morning” Oliver cringes “Of her and Ray, they looked….cozy” His face contorts into a frown in disgust.

Thea’s loud laugh interrupts him “Come on Ollie you grew up with that stuff. You know better,  that'' she makes a dramatic pause to add ar quotes “ ‘Romantic dinner’ was a friendly meal. I was having a date with Roy last night at the same restaurant. We stopped at their table to say hi to Felicity, Ray and Anna, his girlfriend, who was cut from the picture” 

Oliver feels his cheek warming up, he was stalking her social media like he did every day, more so since she left for Vegas. He didn’t even know she was back, and that picture has been eating him up.

Moira places her hand over his but turns her head to watch her husband step out.

“Son,” Robert says, pulling a chair “Sometimes it is that simple, tell people what you feel"

"And hope?" He asks more to himself than to his family, it sounds so simple but why can he do that?

"You look nervous." Samantha says, reaching behind Oliver to pick up water from the table.

"God, I think I am more anxious than William" Oliver rubs the tip of his finger together, an old nervous tick, looking at his son not far, surrounded by his family, the Claytons, Roy, Tommy Diggle, Lyla and baby Sara "How was the tour?" As soon as they stepped foot on the school, Will had dragged Samantha away.

"Oh, he showed me everything, including his favorite spot in the library. I liked school, but I don't think I ever liked it that much"

Oliver snorts "I don't think anyone has ever liked school as much as our son does"

"Look how happy he is that everyone came to see him...That's what I wanted" Oliver didn’t see at first, but she was right, coming home was the best thing they could do for their family “We have a village now, he deserves that" Samantha smiles, touched by how things turned out exactly as she had dreamed "Oh, who is that?"

Oliver looks at William, waving excitedly at Felicity, looking gorgeous as ever in a purple dress with a teasing cut out on her chest. One of his favorites, the ponytail, tells him she came from the office. He feared she would not show up, but he should know better, she would not go back on her word to Will.

"Felicity" her name comes out as a sigh.

"Oh, The Felicity Smoak, you know I googled her, and the pictures don't do her justice, she is way more beautiful in person"

"You google her?" His tone is more sharp than he intended.

"Of course I did. Don't judge me, at least I was not as invasive as you are when you run background checks on my boyfriends. I wanted to know more about her, you never let any woman get that close to William"

"Sam" he starts to talk.

"Oliver" She says, shaking her head "Sometimes you are a bit much, but I won't hold it against you for looking out after our son and, in your own way, looking a little after me, and I hope you will extend me the same courtesy"

Oliver nods "Never. But you should know, me and Felicity,we're just friends"

"I know, Will said something about you screwing up and everyone being sad" He stays silent, just watching Felicity talking to an enthusiast, William, who takes the rubik's cube out of his pocket. He spent the whole morning working on it, and it seems to work wonders on William's anxiety.

Samantha takes a deep breath. For a long time, she has watched Oliver do this, and she needs to say something "We made a mistake a long time ago, and I know it seems unfair that we got something so amazing out of it" She will never forget how they hurt Laurel, but with time, she did let go of the guilty, to be the mother William deserved, she needed to focus on looking forward, not back. "But you need to move on, Ollie. You need to stop punishing the reckless boy you were. You are a good man who deserves to be happy” 

She watches the logging look on his face for a second and patches his arms before walking towards the group.

Oliver stays glued to the spot, this is it, the feeling in the pit of his stomach he couldn’t name, but Samantha just did, it was not fear of rejection. It was fear of life, of destiny, God, whatever you want to call, he does not deserve Felicity, a man like him cannot have it all. 

He rubs the tips of his fingers together, but he wants her, there is no denying it anymore; he never felt a love like this and is tired of fighting. Naming it, somehow frees him, he holds himself from running towards her, taking her in his arms and never letting it go. Oliver wants to fix it, fix himself to be worthy of her. A tap on the microphone silences the room, but now is not the time he walks to William hugging the boy, wishing good luck.

The group finds it their seat, and his heart falls when she finds a seat far away from him.