Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Felicity Smoak had always been one of those kids. The kind that got butterflies at the thought of a new school year, who would count her supplies every night for a week before the first day. She loved school, sometimes more than socially acceptable. But it never bothered her when other kids teased her. Because Felicity knew that you didn’t get into MIT by being apathetic towards education. Maybe she was a nerd but she owned it.

“Mom, please stop. I think I know how to unpack my own things,” she pulled the dufflebag from her mom’s hands, setting it down next to the bed.

It’s not like Felicity didn’t love her mother. She did. Donna was the strongest person Felicity had ever known. She had a fierceness and a presence that refreshed any room she entered. But she still had a tendency to turn Felicity at least five shades of red before she ever realized she’d opened her mouth. And Felicity didn’t want her new roommate look at her like she had grown a second head.

God she remembered a couple years back when she had to share a room with McKenna Hall, and Donna tried to introduce herself as Felicity’s sister, even though McKenna had met her the year before at freshman orientation.

“Honey, I know you well enough to know that the rest of those skirts will just sit in that bag until they’re too wrinkled to wear,” Donna replied fixing her with a look.

She bit down on her tongue, trying to be as civil as possible with her mother. But it was harder than it sounded. It’s not like her mom had listened when she said she didn’t need twelve skirts. Hell she didn’t even need five.

Felicity decided to give in. Let the woman unpack the skirts, and then maybe she’d be gone before any damage could really be inflicted. She had to remember to pick her battles, and Donna Smoak and clothing was not one she was willing to deal with today.

But with Donna sorting through her closet, Felicity found herself with very little to do. So she made sure she her mother was sufficiently distracted before she eased off her bed and over to the door, pulling it open slowly.

The hall was full of commotion. Moving day had progressed into it’s full swing, as teens pushed past each other carrying boxes or other variants of containers. A few passed by with waves, nearly dropping their belongings in the process. And she couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled over. She’d missed this. The frantic pulse of dorm life, the rush of new faces mixed in with familiar ones. She’d been a student at Starling Prep since seventh grade, when she’d won the technological scholarship that provided her a full ride to the west coast's most prestigious school. And as much as she did love her mother, for the first time in months Felicity finally felt like she was home.

“Oh no! Everyone know’s where’s there’s Smoak, there must be fire,” came a voice from the end of the hall. And Felicity did nothing to suppress her eye roll as she walked towards the girl.

“You’d think after four years you’d get sick of that joke,” Felicity replied as Sara Lance dodged her way under some seniors carrying a couch, making her way closer. “I mean really, we’re juniors now. We should show a level of maturity.”

“Says the girl with a Hello Kitty laptop sleeve,” Sara retorted, sliding herself up to bump hips with Felicity. “Doesn’t the cute, overly pink cat, mess with the whole Gothlicity look?”

“Someone woke up on the snark side of the bed this morning.” She didn’t let Sara’s comment on her look bother her. Most days Sara found some way to make a joke about Felicity’s proclivity for pitch black hair and even darker eye liner, but there was always a level of lightness to her tone.

“Let’s just say you missed a hell of a Fourth of July party,” Sara blew out a long breath, but didn’t meet Felicity’s eyes.

“School wasn’t even in session yet, who could you have possibly partied with?”

“It was hosted by Moira Queen darling, one makes it worth their time to attend such gatherings.”

“So proper. Come on what did I miss?”

“Let’s just say,” Sara paused, giving a well practiced eye roll. “I am so over boy drama. From this moment on. I’m declaring my life a boy free zone.”

“That bad?”

“Worse.”

Commotion at the end of the hall caught Felicity’s attention, as she looked up to see more of her friends. But Oliver and Tommy seemed frozen in place, as Sara’s older sister stood in front of them. She and Laurel had never been really close, mostly because Felicity had connected with Sara on so many weird levels, that Laurel just didn’t seem to get it most times. Sara teased it was because her sister was a whole two years older than them, but Felicity suspected the older Lance was slightly jealous about how easy her sister could slip into friendships with people.

Felicity didn’t have to see Laurel’s face to know something was wrong. There was a rigidness to the girl’s shoulders that told her enough, and with the way Oliver’s gazed was stuck on the floor, she was able to assess the rest. They were in a sort of standoff of awkwardness, and she could almost feel the waves of emotions from both parties.

“Does that have anything to do with your no boy policy?” Felicity asked pointing to the small group.

Sara hadn’t seen them yet, but when she did she stiffened, locking eyes with Oliver for a fraction of a second before Laurel whipped around zeroing in on them.

“Sara,” she called out, a flash of annoyance on her face. “Dad wants you to come say goodbye.”

Sara huffed, throwing a look back at Felicity. “It’s a good thing she’s off to college, pretty sure she’d stab me in my sleep if she wasn’t.”

Felicity reached out to squeeze Sara’s shoulder.. “You could buck up and talk out your problems?”

“I prefer the avoidance technique, but thanks,” Sara gave her another smirk before she caught up to Laurel, the older girl grabbing her hand and pushing right through Tommy and Oliver, knocking the latter off balance in the process.

While Felicity was focused on the retreating Lance sisters, Oliver’s attention dragged over to her. A smile finally gracing his face when their eyes locked.

“It’s about damn time,” he called out, and Felicity couldn’t help but return the look. Her own face practically splitting from the happiness she felt.

She was on him in seconds, letting his arms lift her into a tight hug, her own wrapping around his neck and pulling him close. Every year brought back this feeling, the complete and earth shaking attention of her life falling back into place. And a large part of that was her friendship with Oliver Queen.

“Well some of us don’t have homes a mile away from school,” she teased. But it was still a long minute before Oliver set her feet back on the ground. He was still focused on her, all tension she’d seen on his face had melted away.

“Hey whenever you need, my casa is your casa,” he replied with a grin.

“I see someone didn’t get a spanish tutor over the summer like he said he would.”

“Who wants to study spanish when you can visit Buenos Aires instead?”

“For the sake of my sanity, I’m going to hope you meant that as a joke.” He gave her a confused look and she couldn’t help but sigh. “You do know that one of the largest native languages of Argentina is spanish right?”

He couldn’t hold a straight face for very long before he started to laugh. “Yes Felicity, I do know that. But your face was a priceless memory I will cherish forever.”

“I hate you,” she said with no malice in her tone at all.

“You love me,” Oliver challenged as he grabbed her arm. Then he was turning with her until her back was against his chest. Oliver’s arms wrapped around her shoulders. “How was your summer?”

“Boring as hell,” she retorted with an eye roll.

She knew if she wanted out of Oliver’s grasp, he’d easily let her go. But she was comfortable where she was. Sure Sara was the first friend Felicity had made when she came to school, but it was Oliver who made it feel like home.

“You know what’s boring as hell,” Tommy said when he finally slid up next to them. “Watching you two act like haven’t seen each other in decades.”

“Someone’s jealous I hugged you first,” Felicity joked.

“As amusing as you two are,” Tommy said, ignoring her comment completely. “I have to go see my father off and get some things done for tonight. You ready Smoak?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” she replied.

“Good because we have much to discuss this year. See you two later,” Tommy waved to them both before he was off.

“What are you doing in the girl's wing anyway?” She asked Oliver as they moved towards her dorm.

Though walking was proving difficult with his arms still surrounding her. He was too tall, and it was almost like she was half dragging him, half getting her feet pulled from underneath her. She was far too versed in the ways of Oliver Queen, to shrug off his clinginess. He was more upset than he would be willing to let slip. But when he was ready to talk she’d be there for him. Like always.

“Thea officially moved from the junior high dorms to the high school dorms this year,” she could hear a bit of mocking in his tone, but it wasn’t lost on her how much his smile grew too. “She conned Tommy and I into helping her move around her stuff.”

“I’m sure that took so much convincing, considering she can basically get you to do anything.”

‘That is not true,” he said with a smile. “Besides, I knew I could sneak off and come see you. Which made lugging ten boxes of clothes worth it.”

They halted when they reached her door, Felicity fumbling for her key.

“Perhaps,” a deep, very male, voice said from just inside her room. Whoever it was sounded like he had the faintest hint of an accent too.

It wasn’t a voice she recognized, so she was wary her mom possibly picked up some single dad and had pulled him into the room for a makeout session. Wouldn’t be the first time . She shuddered, trying to mentally bleach the images from her head. But her movements attracted Oliver’s attention, and he was looking down at her in concern.

But she couldn’t reply as she untangled herself from his arms. Felicity pushed the door open as slow as she could, ready to seal her eyes shut with superglue if her suspicion proved correct.

But instead of her mother in a compromising position, Donna was standing as far on the other side of the room she could, standing to her full height, arms crossed. Felicity knew that look, that was her mother’s patented ‘don’t even try to mess with me’ look. For more than half her adolescence, Felicity watched her mother work hard and strive to give her daughter everything she could. And she never let anyone act like they could walk all over her. Clearly whoever this guy was, he’d said something to deserve the look. And Felicity didn’t even feel sorry for him.

“Hello?” She finally said as she shifted her gaze between her mother and the man in her room.

Donna didn’t look at her, her gaze still burning into the man, but he did shift towards her. A quick smile graced his lips, and Felicity had to bite her tongue to keep from calling bullshit.

She’d grown up in Vegas and, until she was six, with a deadbeat father. She knew the look a man placed on his face when he wanted to be liked. And seven times out of ten, they didn’t mean anything they were about to say.

But instead of speaking he stepped out of the way a little, revealing a slender girl next to him. She didn’t look like she could be any older seventeen with her dark hair loose in waves down to her shoulders, She did look like she had at least a couple inches on Felicity. Not like that was something new. Everyone seemed to be taller than her, with the exception of Sara.

She moved passed the man, who Felicity was just going to assume was the girl’s father, until she stood before Felicity, standing up straighter.

“I’m Nyssa,” she smiled in a way that felt like she was sizing Felicity up. “I’m your new roommate.”

“Felicity,” she replied with a nod. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Nyssa’s eyes flitted up to Oliver, then back to Felicity. “Boyfriend?”

She shook her head, tossing a look at Oliver. This was singlehandedly the weirdest first meeting she had ever had with a roommate, and Oliver seemed just as lost. That was until he actually spoke.

“Hi Nyssa,” he said with a smile, then looked over to her father. “Sir.”

“Ah Oliver Queen, it’s a pleasure to see you, boy.” Nyssa’s dad finally moved from his spot, coming to stand next to his daughter. “How are your parents?”

“Mr. al Ghul, it’s been a while. And they’re well,” Oliver replied, ignoring the confused look Felicity was trying to burn into his cheek. “In fact I believe they have already made their way over to the parents luncheon on the north lawn, the one for new students and incoming freshman.”

“Is your sister a freshman already? Seems like just yesterday she was shooting toy arrows at all the guests during business dinners.”

“A memory I’m sure she’d love everyone to forget,” Oliver grinned, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “She’s very into shedding the childish things of her past.”

Felicity worked herself away from Oliver’s side, coming to stand next to her mother. Donna still wore a look of annoyance, but she seemed just as fascinated by the exchange before her as Felicity was.

“Of course,” he said, before he turned back to Nyssa. “I should see if I can catch up with Robert before my flight out tonight. If you need anything, just call.”

“Goodbye Father,” Nyssa said with a nod, standing up straighter.

Felicity was too invested in the exchange and the formality of it. It felt… cold. Not that she had a scale to judge fatherly relationships, nor should she pass judgement on one, but still she hoped that if her father had been in her life, it would have been better than that.

Nyssa’s father went to leave, turning to wave to the both of them, but quickly retracting the gesture when her mother glared at him. And then he was gone, and Nyssa seemed to relax marginally by his absence. But where she had been holding tension, the girl now looked out of place in her new surroundings.

Oliver didn’t look like he wanted to further any conversation with her new roommate, and Nyssa looked about as eager to continue on as well, so the four of them stood where they were, making no effort to speak.

“So,” Donna said breaking the silence, and gently taking Felicity face in her hands. “You feeling settled in, hon?”

Felicity nodded as she tried to keep her grin from becoming too big. “I’ll be fine Mom, like every year.”

“A mother worries, it’s her right,” she countered as she pulled Felicity into a quick hug. “Okay, I gotta hit the road if I plan on making it back before my shift tomorrow night.”

Felicity wanted to urge her mother to call into work, to take more than eight hours to recover from driving to and from Starling. But she knew the woman well enough to know she’d just brush her daughter off.

When Donna pulled back she turned her gaze to Oliver with a smirk. “You gonna keep her out of trouble?”

“And distract her from keeping me out of trouble? Not a chance,” he joked, before he gave Felicity a smile. “We’ll keep an eye on each other Donna. I promise.”

“Good,” Donna waved goodbye, heading out of the room.

As her mother disappeared, Felicity turned back to Nyssa with a smile. “So how are you liking Starling Prep so far?”

“I’ve only been on campus half an hour,” she replied with a raised brow.

“Right,” Felicity nodded, elbowing Oliver as a chuckle escaped his lips.

He sighed turning to her. “Look I promised Speedy I would put together her bookcase. But I will see you at 11 pm sharp for the thing.”

“Of course,” she said in a whisper. “I would never bail on tradition.”

Oliver pulled her into a quick hug, before he said. “I’m really glad you’re back.”

“That makes two of us.”

When he let go he waved quickly to Nyssa before he too retreated from the room.

Felicity hadn’t noticed, but Nyssa had moved to her bed, settling across it with a book in her hands. “So is Oliver Queen your boyfriend or not?”

“I have no idea what would make you think that,” Felicity said, shrugging out of her jacket and laying it on her own bed. “But no. We’re just friends, best friends.”

Nyssa seemed to ponder on that for a while, watching Felicity carefully. Then she spoke again. “If that’s the story you insist on sticking with, far be it from me to stop you. But for the record, you would convince more people if you stopped smiling any time you spoke of him.”

And before Felicity could interject again, Nyssa had pulled a pair of headphones over her ears, her eyes focusing back on her book.

She didn’t care what the new girl thought. She wasn’t into Oliver. Not like that. She’d seen ‘Oliver the Boyfriend’ in action, and it always seemed to lead to drinks thrown in faces and broken hearts. She prefered her Oliver. The guy who would abandon all his friends just to go build a bookcase for his little sister. She wasn’t planning on losing her Oliver to anything as foolish as feelings.

---

Oliver pulled Tommy back, pushing him against the wall as they heard Coach Wilson’s heavy footsteps around the corner of the Cromwell building.

“I thought you said he’d be patrolling the north side of campus by now,” he hissed at his friend.

Tommy just shrugged. “I’ve never really been good with directions.”

“If we get caught, I’m going to kill you.”

“That’s rude, who would be the best man at your future wedding?”

Oliver refused to reply to him, waiting until their coach walked past where the shrubs hid them against the stone wall, then he pushed himself up on the ledge. Tapping lightly on the window above.

He hoped she hadn’t fallen asleep, but knowing Felicity it was likely. She could fall asleep anywhere, and he knew for a fact that the car ride up from Vegas had to have been a long one. And he felt a pang of regret at the idea of dragging her away. They could do this any night, and Felicity deserved to rest. But he didn’t even have time to think of retreating before her face popped up behind the glass.

It was always a surge of energy when he looked into her eyes. A pulsing, hypnotic, jolt that he found intoxicating long before he really understood what the word meant. Somehow he knew that even if the world fell to pieces around him, he’d be okay if she was there. There was comfort in that, in knowing he had someone forever. No matter what bullshit he pulled, Felicity would always be there for him.

Sure he had his family, and Tommy, but that was different. At least it felt different. Part of him wished he could explain why, while an even larger part hoped he’d never have to find out. Truth had the potential of ruining things. And he’d never want to ruin this.

She pulled the window open with ease, jimming the thing to the right to avoid the inevitable creaking sound that the old thing chorused out. “I said I’d meet you.”

“Thought you could do with an escort,” he replied. “We didn’t wake your roommate did we?”

Nyssa had always been a ‘follow the rules’ type of girl when they were younger. So the last thing he’d want was for the group to get in trouble just because she didn’t condone sneaking out.

Felicity huffed. “She’s been stone cold out for like three hours. Pretty sure a bulldozer couldn’t wake her.”

She smiled at him as she slipped over the window’s edge, sneaking a glance back into her room. She dropped to the ledge next to him, nearly losing her balance. But Oliver’s arms were there, holding her close to him to keep her from falling. Sure it was only a two foot drop, and Tommy stood close in case she needed help, but he couldn’t let her fall, he didn’t want to.

“My hero,” she whispered, as she turned back to slide the window back down.

Oliver jumped from the ledge first, landing softly on the grass below, as he help his hands out for her to grab. She jumped with ease, but stumbled a little when she landed.

“It’s entirely not fair, that you can be like a stealth ninja and I almost land on my ass twice in a minute,” she muttered, and he couldn’t help but laugh.

“It’s what makes you, you,” he teased.

“Okay if you two are done,” Tommy interrupted with a groan. “We have somewhere we need to be.”

Tommy was right of course. The others would be waiting, and they really couldn’t be caught out after dark. The last thing any of them needed on the first night back was to get reprimanded for violating curfew.

So they crept along the side of the building. Oliver took the lead, and he could feel Felicity pressing her palm into his before shifting it so their fingers locked together.

The had just made it to the edge of the forest when the old bunker came into view. Oliver had stumbled upon it back in sixth grade, after a fight with Max Fuller. He hadn’t found a single place at school he could really feel at home in, until he opened the solid door.

Starling Prep had once been an old military academy, started by the town founder General Cromwell Starling III, Oliver learned once he took a look into the library. And according to the book he poured over for three days straight, students had built bunkers all around the campus, and a good half dozen of them had never been found.

He had no clue if the list of missing ones included his bunker, but in the six years he’d been coming here with his friends, not one teacher or faculty member had ever caught them. And for that he could breath easier. He liked having a place he could use as an escape.

It was a whole two years before he told anymore about the bunker. Two years of sneaking off from his friends and hiding in his own spot. And of course the person that changed that was Felicity.

It had been Fuller again. The jerk always found a way to do something obnoxious. And that week it had been picking on the new girl.

Oliver hadn’t been introduced to her yet, he just knew from Laurel that she was Sara’s roommate.

But Max was in the corner of the library, throwing tiny scraps of paper over the computer desks right at the girl.

She was doing her best to ignore him, head buried in her laptop, but he could see her resolve crumbling with each paper that fell atop her head.

He wasn’t sure what came over him, maybe it was the fact that Max Fuller irked every nerve he had, or maybe it was the look of sadness he could see in her eyes as Max continued his assault. But soon Oliver was out of his chair and yanked Max’s arm so hard the boy almost lost his balance.

“Leave her alone,” Oliver hissed just low enough so Max was the only one who heard. “Or you’ll regret it.”

Max backed off, a little too fast for Oliver’s liking but he didn’t have time to think on it before the girl spoke.

“I didn’t need you to defend me,” she said her voice low as she glared at him. But her eyes told him something else, something more.

“Maybe I didn’t do it for you,” he challenged with a smirk. “Max Fuller is a jerk, and someone had to shut him up.”

“I was working on it,” she replied turning back to her computer and continuing typing. Oliver wasn’t sure if she wanted him to stay or not, but he pulled up a chair anyway and looked over what she was doing.

“Is that the student records?” he whispered, checking over his shoulder to make sure no one was looking. “How did you get into those?”

“I have my ways,” her grin was devilish as she eyed him. She clicked on Max’s name, and pulled up his community service record. Each Starling Prep student had to log in a total of 20 hours a semester to remain eligible for sports and other activities. It looked like Max had banked up over a hundred of them from the summer break, and Oliver scoffed. He knew there was no way Max had done any of those volunteer hours, because Max had spent his summer in Hawaii with his father. He’d practically boasted about it over the start of term dinner. His father must have bribed someone into signing off on the hours for him. That ass.

With another few clicks of her keys the girl has wiped the number back down to zero. “Oops,” she said with a giddiness to her tone. “Guess someone’s going to have to give a little before he can return to lacrosse practice.”

“That was brilliant,” Oliver found himself saying as he leaned in closer to the screen, turning a little to face her. “I’m going to make sure I never, ever, get on your bad side.”

“That’s a wise choice, um…”

“Oliver,” he said sticking out his hand for her to shake. “Oliver Queen.”

“Felicity Smoak.” She shook his hand quickly, before she let out a deep breath. “I’m sorry if I sounded ungrateful for the help. I was just trying to get his name so I could get into his records and you sort of interrupted that. But then you told me his name so, really I should thank you.”

“Tell you what,” he smiled, not taking his eyes off her. “You promise never to use your infinite powers on me, and I will consider that your thank you?”

“What makes you think they’re infinite?”

“You’re like 12 and you hacked into the school records,” his kept his voice low. “I think it’s safe to assume that’s not the only trick up your sleeve.”

She opened her mouth like she was about to speak, but instead her eyes widened as she caught sight of something over her shoulder.

“He brought a teacher back didn’t he?” Oliver questioned, not even bothering to look.

She nodded, pursing her lips together. Before Oliver could even think to try and sneak out Felicity closed her laptop and started to sniffle.

“What are you doing?” he looked at her face, tears starting to well in the corners of her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“Just trust me, okay,” she replied, before burying her head in her hands. Oliver reached out to touch her shoulder, though why he wasn’t really sure, and Max walked up with Ms. Mericle by his side.

The teacher took one look at Felicity crying, before she spoke. “Ms. Smoak, dear are you alright?”

Felicity looked up, locking eyes with Max for a second before she let out another sniffle. “I’m fine,” she stuttered out, making sure she didn’t meet anyone’s eyes for too long. “Oliver was comforting me.”

Ms. Mericle turned to Max, as she folded her arms. “Mr. Fuller, did you make another girl cry?”

“What? No,” Max looked between Felicity and Oliver and then back to their teacher. “Ms. Mericle, Oliver’s the one who attacked me. Who knows why she’s crying?”

“And you were an innocent bystander is what you’d like me to believe?” From the look on Ms. Mericle’s face, Oliver knew she wasn’t going to fall for anything Max said after that, and he had to fight to hide his smile.

“You’re coming with me to see Headmaster Steele,” she said, tugging on his shirtsleeve. “Mr. Queen, please see that Ms. Smoak gets back to her dorm room.”

“Yes ma’am,” he said, watching as Max protested being pulled away. When he looked back at Felicity she was drying the last of her tears with a sly grin on her face.

“Thanks for playing along,” she said as she began packing up her stuff. “It’s a lot harder to pull of the helpless girl routine with someone you don’t know being your second. But you did admirably.”

“I guess that’s a compliment,” he replied standing when she did.

“It is,” she smiled at him. “You don’t need to walk me to my dorm, if you need to get back to studying.”

“Actually are you free right now?” He wasn’t sure what came over him but the words were tumbling out before he could stop himself. “I mean I have this place, it’s kind of cool and secret. I can assure you no one resembling Max Fuller has ever step foot in it. If you want I could show you.”

Felicity was watching him carefully, her eyes tracking over him like she was trying to see into his mind. Then she gave him a slow nod. “Okay.”

The second she’d stepped inside, he could see she loved the bunker almost as instantly as he had. And he couldn’t help but grin at that. He’d finally found the right person to share it with.

“Ollie,” Tommy’s voice wrenched him from the memory. And he had to shake his head to clear out the the thoughts of that day four years ago.

“Huh,” he looked at Tommy, and then shifted his gaze to Felicity. She was giving him the same look that she always did. The same one from that day all those years ago.

“Open the door,” Tommy reiterated, pointing to the bunker.

Oliver moved from his friend’s sides, pushing open the strong steel door. He turned back to face them, a smile on his face, as they all entered.

The room was already awash in light. Lanterns scattered around the open space. He was right about the other’s being there already. They were seated on the various pieces of furniture, talking low amongst themselves.

Sara was closest to them, sitting with her roommate Cin on a old vinyl couch they rescued two years ago from an out going senior. They only met each other's gaze for a second but the guilt was already gnawing at him again.

Why had he been so stupid? He had planned out what he was going to say to Laurel. How he wasn’t sure he even wanted to go to college, let alone go to Stanford. How they were moving too fast and he didn’t want to hurt her, but he couldn’t be with her anymore. That’s how it should have happened. Not Laurel walking in two seconds after he kissed her baby sister. Not with Oliver stammering out an apology and calling it a terrible mistake. Even if it was, that hadn’t been fair to Sara. She hadn’t talked to him in two months, and he wasn’t sure she ever would again.

He maneuvered himself through the space, pushing down his feelings as best he could. There was plenty of time to throw himself a guilt party later. Right now they had more important business to attend to. He walked until he was behind a old podium they’d ‘borrowed’ from the east wing. With Tommy and Felicity flanking him he drew in a breath and then looked out at their friends. “Welcome everyone. Let’s begin.”

Chapter Text

The noise level in the bunker kept rising and falling with each new suggestion. Everyone was talking over each other as snacks and drinks were passed around. Felicity loved how it felt just unwinding and reacquainting with friends, but they really were getting nowhere. And it was already closing in on one am.

“Look I just want my veto made clear,” Iris said as she took the twizzlers from Barry. “I don’t think Wally is right for this. Plus my dad has a hard enough time keeping that boy out of trouble, the last thing he needs is the playboy twins as mentors.”

Tommy and Oliver shared a smirk before Oliver spoke to the room. “Look West, you don’t want either of us to mentor your mini me, that’s fine. You can step up and do it.”

“Yes because I have so much free time between the paper, and the yearbook, and the youth center,” she retorted, shooting Felicity an eye roll, which the blonde couldn’t help by smile at.

Felicity stood as she walked to stand closer to Oliver, pushing him slightly off the podium to make room for her own arms. “Or since Roy put Wally up from nomination he can mentor the kid.”

Oliver smirked as he shook his head. “No person can nominate and mentor the same student, rule number seven, created by you I might add.”

“Excuse me for being too tired to recall all the bylaws right now,” she yawned, letting her head fall to Oliver’s shoulder. If it bothered him, he didn’t let it show.

“She’s got a point,” Sara chimed in as she stretched. “It’s late and I really don’t want to fall asleep in Professor Waller’s class tomorrow. So I say one final vote and then we tap initiates tomorrow or the next day.”

Oliver nodded as he stood taller. “Okay let’s vote. First recruit Jesse Wells?”

Hands shot up around the room, and he nodded to Felicity. “Will you mark that down?”

She pointed to her head with a smile. “Steel trap. Wally West?”

Everyone but Iris and Barry raised their hands that time, and Iris groaned. “Fine but you guys will regret it.”

Tommy stepped away from the wall, taking his place on the other side of Oliver. “And finally, Thea Queen. But let’s be real we all know everyone’s voting yes there.”

The room filled with laughter as hands went up for a third time. And Felicity clapped her hands together. “Okay, so that means we have our initiates for the year. They’ll be tapped and then come Friday we’ll bring them in. And I think that means we’re dismissed for the night.”

The rest of the group nodded in agreement, as they all began to stand. Everyone was splitting into two’s, the agreed upon method to returning to campus so late, when Tommy looked over to her and Oliver.

“Like I’m even going to try and split you two up,” he said with a grin. “See you back in the room, Ollie. And try not to get caught on your way.”

Oliver rolled his eyes as he waved Tommy and Ronnie off, before he came to lounge on the couch in front of her. “Finally a moment’s peace.”

“Oh poor baby, is it terrible having friends who actually like to see you,” she teased, poking at his side with her knee.

It had been a bad idea on her part of course. The moment she connected with his ribs a second time, Oliver had grabbed for her waist, pulling her on top of him as he moved his free hand to her exposed side, tickling her.

“Seriously Oliver,” she was laughing, harder than she had in months. More than she remembered she could. It was nice to feel at home. To forget for a few hours the reasons she wanted to run back to this place, back to him.

When he finally let up, she shifted off him. So she was seated just on the edge of the sofa. Her eyes were focused on her hands, letting them run over the frayed holes in her jeans.

“What has you so quiet?” He asked, his hand reaching over to settle on hers. “You can tell me anything you know?”

She shifted a bit more so she could face him, a half smile on her face. “Says the guy who clearly broke up with his girlfriend two months ago and still hasn’t told his best friend.”

Oliver sighed, letting his head fall back. “That doesn’t exactly paint me in the best light.”

“Are you trying to tell me Oliver Queen is human? I think I might die from shock.”

“Ha ha,” he groaned before looking at her again. “I wanted to tell you before now, I did. But you were at that tech camp when it happened, and then we left for Argentina a couple days later, and then I crashed my dad’s new porsche, which resulted in zero phone privileges the whole trip. Plus it’s not something you want to commit to paper. ‘Oliver Queen’s failure to be anything other than a complete and utter dick’.”

“Hey, come on it can’t be that bad.”

“I made out with Sara and Laurel caught us.”

“Ass.”

“Exactly,” he replied shaking his head. “And the worst part was two seconds after she walked in, I told her it meant nothing. That Sara meant nothing. I’m not sure who deserves to burn me at the stake more.”

“Oliver,” she reached to pull his hands from his face.

“Please do not try and console me. I’m a jerk, and I deserve to rot for being a jerk.”

“Wasn’t going to console you,” she replied with a shrug. “You know what you did was wrong. But I’m betting that this self-destructive behavior also had a catalyst. So what happened?”

“Laurel wanted me to apply for early admissions to Stanford. So we could be together next fall. She even took the liberty of starting the paperwork.” He kept his head down, and she could tell he was really starting to process what happened. “I didn’t invite her that night to hurt her. I wanted to tell her that we needed to end things. But instead I got drunk, and Sara sat down next to me. I knew she had a thing for me and I used that. There’s not a bigger ass in the world.”

“I don’t know, I bet my dear ole dad has you beat in that department,” she muttered, as she moved to prop her head on his knees.

“What do you mean?”

She wanted to tell him. She’d been dying to tell him for a month.

“I found his address.”

“Seriously?”

“Yep. Here in Starling, about five miles away, actually.”

Oliver was sitting up then, his eyes never leaving her. “Are you sure?” She gave him a brow raise in reply. “Don’t answer that. So are you going to see him?”

“What would be the point?” she shook her head, her fingers wringing together. “He left. He left me and my mom. And it’s not like I’ve been hiding. I’ve been here. I’ve made the papers for science projects and technology competitions. If he wanted to see me he could. He could come to me.”

She expected him to say something else. To use all the colorful words he had built up on her dad, just to bring a smile to her face. But instead he pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her until she settled on his chest, her ear just above his heart.

“We should get back,” she whispered after a few minutes, even if nothing in her wanted to move from his embrace.

“In a bit,” he said, placing a kiss to her forehead. “I was serious earlier you know, anytime you need somewhere or someone, you can come to me.”

“I know,” she replied letting her eyes fall close. “Thank you.”

---

The first thing Oliver noticed when he woke up was that he was not asleep in his bed. Because if he was he’d be at least 20% more comfortable. But that realization only lasted until he noticed the second thing. Felicity was sleeping right on top of him.

He didn’t want to jolt her awake, remembering the time she’d passed out on his backback one afternoon and nearly took his head off with flailing limbs when he woke her. But he also knew that depending on the time they could be in so much trouble.

He decided to take the gentle approach. Running his fingers along her arm until she seemed to stir.

“Hmm, five more minutes,” she said shaking her head into his shoulder.

“If I let you go back to sleep, we might never get out of here,” he replied pushing her dark locks from her face.

Once her hair was out of the way she reluctantly opened her eyes. He gave her a bright smile, but Felicity didn’t return it. It looked like she was processing things. Like where they were and why they were there. And once things clicked she pushed herself up.

“We fell asleep.”

“Thanks for the current events,” he replied, finally able to reach into his pocket for his phone. He had a few missed text from Tommy, but other than that he was able to breath a sigh of relief. “Relax, it’s only 4:30. But we should get back to the dorms before it gets any later, or well earlier.”

She let out a breath, and smiled at him. “Thank you for letting me pass out on you, and for letting me talk about my dad.”

“Always. Besides I owed you for not hating me.”

“Come on Oliver, I knew you were terrible with girls the first week we met,” she teased, nudging his shoulder. “Or did you forget Hurricane Helena?”

“No but I wish you would.” He returned the smile as he stood, holding out a hand for her. “I mean it though. I don’t want to ever do anything that could make you see me different.”

“Well it’s a good thing I’m your best friend, because there really isn’t anything you could do,” she replied as she took his hand. “You will always be my number one.”

“Promise?” He dropped his voice when they made it outside. He was almost certain no one would be out and about, but he didn’t want to take any chances.

“Promise. But you could maybe do with a little rebuilding of other relationships?”

“You mean Sara.”

“Ding ding, give the boy a prize,” she bumped into his shoulder, and he couldn’t help but grin down to her.

“I’m sure she hates me. And could probably kill me if she wanted to, so for my health I’ll steer clear.”

“Don’t you think that you’d benefit from a little positivity in the world?” she came to a full stop when they reached her building, and Oliver had to pivot so they would stay close. “Karmically speaking.”

“Meaning?”

“You’re always talking about the tailspins your relationships take. Either by your own torpedoes or others. But isn’t there something to be said for giving a little to the universe? You fix a few of your transgressions and maybe the universe takes it easy on you for a semester or two. And hey no crazy exes. It’s really a win.”

“So you’re saying I make this up to Sara, and the cosmos will cut me slack in the romance department?”

“Perhaps. Also you never know what fixing your screw ups and taking some time alone could do for your soul.”

He nodded, feeling a pang deep inside. He wasn’t sure what caused it, but any time he and Felicity talked relationships for too long it happened. Like he was longing for something he couldn’t quite recall or something that always seemed out of reach.

Instead of focusing on it, Oliver shook his head glancing up at Felicity’s window. “Well Rapunzel, I return you to your castle walls. At least until breakfast.”

She rolled her eyes, but the smirk was still there. “Give me a boost?”

“Always.”

He pushed her up onto the ledge, and watched as she lifted the window up and shifted herself inside before he stepped back. He had promised Donna they’d look out for each other. And he really wasn’t ready to go back on that so soon.

“Night Felicity.”

“Good night, Oliver,” she replied in a hushed whisper. “I’ll see you later.”

He waited until she slid the window closed before he turned himself towards his own dorm, Felicity’s words echoing over and over in his head. He would never deny that she was right. And she had a point about making things up to Sara. Hell he’d even try to rectify things with Laurel too, if he was certain that would end in hell fire. Laurel was a bridge he had burned completely, but Sara was still a friendship he could salvage. If for no other reason, he’d do it because Felicity thought he could. With her in his corner he always felt like he could accomplish the impossible. And he didn’t care how long it took, he was going to prove her right and fix things with Sara.

He just had to figure out how.

Chapter Text

“Wakey wakey, Smoak.”

Felicity took her nearest folder and swatted at Sara, eliciting a giggle from her friend. She had been resting between her morning classes and her afternoon ones, but Sara insisted on tormenting her instead.

“Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to poke a sleeping bear?” she groaned, shifting to rest her head on her palm.

Sara paused like she was thinking about it. “Nope.”

“How kind of her.”

“See this is why you should come running with me in the mornings,” Sara said as she took one of Felicity’s fries from her tray. “If you got those endorphins going at 6am, I guarantee you would be wide awake right now.”

“Don’t you know Felicity’s legally bound to her bed until 730 at the latest.”

At the sound of Oliver’s voice Felicity did manage to perk up a little, turning to where he and Thea were walking towards them.

“Ah so that’s what I should have sweetened your coffee with,” Sara muttered, but she didn’t bother turning back to investigate her friends words.

“Hey,” she said as Oliver took the free seat next to her. Thea moved to sit across from them, and she turned to face the younger girl. “How are you enjoying your first week as an upperclassmen?”

“It’s pretty much the same as it was last year,” she pouted. “Except now Ollie can check up on me and my friends.”

“As I already said, I was not checking up on you. I actually had to be in the library.”

“You were in the library,” Sara interjected, with an eyebrow raise. “Voluntarily?”

He looked like he was going to reply, but instead bit it back, focusing his attention back on Felicity. “Did you by chance get that thing done?”

She looked up at him in confusion, not quite sure what he meant. She totally should not have stayed up as late as she had.

When she didn’t reply Oliver, tilted his head towards Thea, causing his sister to give him a weird look, before it clicked for Felicity.

“Frak,” she said, her head already halfway buried in her bag, pulling things out as she dug deeper. “I cannot believe I am such a space case, though not actual space because I never got to go to space camp. Another thing I can add to the long list of ‘reasons my father sucks’. Which would make a great coffee table book. Aha, here it is.”

She pulled the silver envelope from her bag, admiring the calligraphy she had scrawled across the front in dark green. Okay so maybe the reason she was so tired, wasn’t all the reading she tried to get done the night before. But she wanted the invitations to look good. It was the last year Oliver, Tommy, and Ronnie would be present for initiations. And it was the year Thea was finally joining them.

She placed it in the younger Queen’s hands with a smile. “Some mail for you.”

Thea was practically bouncing in her seat before she had the thing in her hands. She was a bright girl, and Felicity was sure she’d known for years about their semi-secret club. Barry had tried several times to get them to call it the Justice League, but Oliver glared at him every time he did. Especially since they weren’t really serving justice on anyone. But regardless, Thea had been itching to join them ever since she came to Starling Prep.

“This is-- Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she squealed as she opened her envelope, reading over the letter carefully. “None of you will regret this.”

“I’m starting to already,” Oliver said, as Felicity slapped her hand into his arm.

“Be nice,” she said, but she knew he was only teasing his sister. Oliver was never happier than when he was making sure Thea was happy. It was one of the things she loved about him.

“You’re taking Hunter’s sociology class this semester right?” Oliver was focused only on her now, while Thea turned to show the invite to the other’s who sat down.

“Yes, I have him next,” she said. She realized then that sleep was probably out of the question, so instead she opted for stealing the Dr. Pepper off Oliver’s tray. Gulping a quarter of it down before he could get out a proper sentence.

“You could have asked you know?” he huffed out a laugh as he shook his head. “I would have just given it to you.”

“Too many steps. We should just skip to the part where you move on and ask me to be your study partner.”

“Am I that transparent?”

“You ask that like transparency is a bad thing,” she teased. “Besides god help the poor fool who decides to slip up this brain trust. They’d rue the day they ever messed with Smoak and Queen.”

“Fair point, but why isn’t it Queen and Smoak?”

“Because Smoak and Queen rolls off the tongue.” she explained with a groan before continuing. “Besides beauty before age.”

“That is not how that saying goes.”

“Oh so is this how our partnership is going to go? You’re just going to argue with everything I say?”

“Anyone ever tell you, you’re cute when you’re tired,” he replied with a smirk.

They didn’t notice how many of their friends had joined them. It took Tommy snapping his fingers between them to break off their stares, shifting focus to the others.

“Seriously you guys, I think I could have lit Sara on fire and you wouldn’t have noticed,” Tommy said, placing his hand on the blonde’s shoulder.

Sara looked at his hand and then his eyes with a glare. “I would love to see you try.”

Luckily Tommy was smart enough to pull back, as he turned his attention back to Felicity. “You hand out the invites?”

Felicity motioned to Thea who had been joined by Jesse, the pair of girls comparing envelopes together. “Does that answer your question, Merlyn?”

“Fine sue me I was not paying attention to the freshman portion of the table,” he countered as the girl's noticed Wally walk over with his on invite in hand. “My question now is, can we move up initiation?”

“Why don’t we give them a few days to bask in the glory,” Oliver said, his gaze fixed on Thea and her friends. “They deserve to feel on top of the world for a bit longer.”

Tommy groaned, but dropped the subject as he turned to Ronnie and Caitlin, asking if Ronnie managed to get a good set of notes from their calculus class.

“The initiation won’t be too hard this year right?” Oliver asked, his voice only inches from her ear. “I mean I know we all do stupid stuff, and I’m kind of the king of that, but the clues are easy enough to follow?”

She figured he’d be worried about Thea, about her adjusting to being around a new set of people, and fitting in with the upperclassmen around her. But Felicity knew Oliver was also looking out for the others as well. Maybe they didn’t have a chance to protect everyone in the school, but the ones they picked to join their group, those were who they could keep eyes on.

“Hey would I ever let Thea or anyone else take on an impossible task?” she nudged him lightly in the ribs before she continued. “I promise initiation will go smoothly as long as they read the clues carefully. I mean we may have to lock Tommy in a room to keep them out of trouble, but I’m not above that.”

“You’re genius is scarily on point, especially for someone who looks like a walking zombie.”

“Thanks for that,” she said, preparing a retort. She was just about to tell him that he was now in charge of their first 3 projects, before Sara grabbed her arm in a near vice grip.

“Who is that?” the blonde hissed, as her eyes darted behind them.

Felicity tried to follow her line of site, but Sara’s fingers dug in a bit harder. “Okay, seriously ow.”

“You can’t just look.”

“Then how am I supposed to know who you’re talking about?”

Sara was pondering that very thought when Oliver leaned into their conversation. “Her name’s Nyssa, and she’s Felicity’s roommate.”

Sara shot him a glare at the interruption, but it only lasted as long as it took for his info to sink in. Her eyes landed back on Felicity. “Wait a second. You got a transfer student as your new roommate, and you didn’t tell me about her?”

“What exactly should I have told you? I don’t know anything about her.”

“You know she looks like that,” Sara gestured, and Felicity finally was able to twist enough to see Nyssa standing in the line for the salad bar. She worn the same uniform they all did. But you could always spot a new student at Starling Prep. They’re hair would stay perfectly pinned back, while their white collared shirt stayed crisp below their forest green blazer, as each pleat of their skirt was ironed to perfection. No one but a new student would waste that much time on clothes they’d only be in for five hours of the day.

“Aww, does Sara have an instant crush?”

“Shut up,” Sara retorted, but her eyes were still tracking Nyssa across the cafeteria. “I’m just admiring the view. Plus I already told you. I’m not dating this semester.”

“You said you were done with boy drama.” She felt the need to clarify that for her friend. Even if it caused Oliver to stiffen next to her. But she’d been around Sara the last time she’d gone on a no dating binge.

It was just at the start of last year when her townie boyfriend Len got locked up for theft. Her no dating rule lasted a good three weeks before she made out with one of Max Fuller’s cronies and  showed up at Felicity’s dorm room at 2 am with old western movies and a tub of store bought cookie dough.

“I love you for looking out for me, but I’m not interested in dating the new girl,” Sara replied as she grabbed her bag from the seat next to her. “I should head out. I need to ask Professor Stein for that list of candidates for that summer internship. Iris is doing the article and she needs it before three.”

“See you later,” Felicity called as Sara waved goodbye to them all. Finally able to turn back to Oliver. She was surprised that his head was buried in his notebook, scribbling furiously on the paper. “Writing the great american novel there?”

He looked up, giving her his secret smile, the one she could never help but return. “I’m working on taking your advice.”

“That’s always a wise idea. But why does it require secret notes?” she asked as she poked the front cover.

“Can’t say yet. Still in the early stages. But I promise when things are more formulated, you will be the first to know.”

He was being secretive sure, but Felicity trusted Oliver enough to give him his space. If he promised to tell her, she knew he would.

She was about to lay her head down again and catch at least a few more minutes of rest, when the sight of Oliver’s watch caught her eye, and she groaned.

“We better head out,” she said as she packed up her bag. “I heard Professor Hunter is a real stickler about being on time.”

---

“What about Carter Bowen?”

Oliver looked up from his history book to glare at Tommy. But his friend just looked amused.

“I wouldn’t wish Carter Bowen on my worst enemy, let alone someone I actually care about,” he said, going back to his homework. Though he couldn’t find it in him to focus on the founding fathers. Not while Tommy was working his way through the names of every male in the student roster.

“Interesting choice of words,” Tommy muttered with a smirk. “But regardless of your feelings towards literally everyone I just named. I still think Felicity’s lonely. And as her friends we should try and set her up with someone.”

“You realize if she knew we were discussing her love life, she’d find a way to make our lives hell?”

“Don’t you want your friend to be happy?”

“Happy, yes. Do I want to pimp her out to the male student body? No. I have a little more self preservation than that.”

He was growing irritated with Tommy’s conversation topic. And he wasn’t really sure why. Ever since Cooper had got himself kicked out last year and dumped her via email, Felicity hadn’t dated anyone. Or at least not anyone she told him about. But just because she didn’t have a boyfriend, it didn’t mean she wanted one. Right? And besides no one Tommy had mentioned came close to the standard of guy Felicity deserved. And he’d be damned if he ever let someone hurt her again.

“Oliver come on. You and I are gonna be gone next year,” Tommy pressed on, spinning around in his desk chair to face his friend. “And yes Felicity is close to everyone in the group, but she’s closest to you. And as her best friend, don’t you owe it to her to let her find someone she’ll be able to lean on next year? You know when she doesn’t have you?”

He didn’t reply to Tommy. He wasn’t sure he had the right response. He wanted to tell his friend he was wrong. That no matter what, Felicity would always have him. But he knew there was truth in Tommy’s words too. The end of the year would approach faster than he’d like it, and then he’d have to leave her, to leave Starling Prep. And sooner than that he was going to have to choose what would come next for him.

He closed his book, giving up on his homework, as he stood from his bed and grabbed his keys. Tommy didn’t ask where he was headed, probably because he already knew.

Oliver only had one place he liked to go when he needed to be alone, one place where he could really think. Yes the bunker had become a hangout for all of them. But hardly anyone used it when they weren’t all together. In fact the only two who used it for it’s quietness were him and Felicity.

Which is why he wasn’t surprised when he found her already there. Her fingers clicking across her keyboard. She looked up at the sound of the door clicking shut, her smile growing when she saw him.

“A friendly face, yay,” she said, setting her laptop on the table next to her. “I have just spent the last hour out hacking this loser in Jersey who claimed he could modify the US Board of Education site to say and I quote ‘school’s for fools’, which is amusing because he actually claimed that spelling fool with a ‘u’ didn’t change the meaning of the word. Why do you look upset?”

She always knew. No matter if he tried to hide it or not, she could always tell when he wasn’t himself. “Future reality setting in.”

“Damn that reality,” she said, patting the seat next to her. “Always comes a-knocking when you don’t want it.”

He took the open spot, letting his head fall back. “What am I going to do? I spent the last three years skating close to expulsion. Barely making C’s. I’m not ready for college. I can barely make it here, there’s no way I’m going to make it somewhere else.”

“Hey, you’re a smart guy.” she placed a hand to his cheek, turning his head so their eyes met. “You are. And if you put half as much energy into giving a damn about school, as you do about pretending like you don’t, then you could do anything.”

“Anything?”

“Yes, anything. I believe in you Oliver Queen,” she said, the firmness in her voice sending warmth through him. “And I always will.”

“What would I do without you?”

“The same thing you do with me, bitch and moan until someone kicks your ass back onto the right track.”

He shook his head, her hand falling from his face gently. “No one could ever do what you do Felicity.”

She smiled, leaning over and placing a kiss to his cheek. Light and over in an instant, but it left a warmth behind that Oliver couldn’t place.

“That the only thing bugging you?” she asked as she settled back against the couch cushions. “You’re brows still look furrowed.”

“It’s just something Tommy said.” He kept his eyes on her, absently rubbing just below where her lips were.

“I would advise you not to take Tommy seriously,” she said with a smile, but Oliver had trouble returning it. His friends words still echoing in his head. “Really Oliver’s what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he said pushing away Tommy’s words. “Nothing could be wrong in here.”

She didn’t look convinced, but that was the thing about their friendship. They knew when to pull back a little. And he could never repay her for that courtesy. He didn’t think he’d be able to give the right words to his feelings anyway.

“Well whatever’s wrong or not wrong,” she said eyeing him closely. “I know just the thing that will fix it.”

“Oh really?”

She nodded as she turned to rummage into her bag, until she smiled and pulled out a bag of peanut M&Ms. “Look the perfect cure for all that ails you.”

He laughed grabbing for the bag. “I can always count on you.”

“Don’t you forget it.”

“That’s not possible,” he replied. And there they sat for the rest of the evening, eating and laughing, like they didn’t have a care in the world. That’s what Felicity was for him, a light that could banish all the negative thoughts he had. And he never wanted to live without it.

Chapter Text

After a couple of days Felicity was finally feeling the balance settle into her semester. Classes were no harder than she’d expect them to be, and she was able to split time between her own homework and studying with Oliver pretty easily.

At first she figured he’d be over his scholastic dilemma by the next morning, but they had studied the last few nights with each other. She hoped for his sake it really would last. Because she really believed that Oliver had the potential to do anything he set his mind to, and she didn’t like seeing him beat himself up over not being the person his parents wanted him to be.

She was getting ready when Nyssa came through the door, books piled high in her arms. She grabbed for the stack, just before it tried to topple right out from under Nyssa’s chin.

“Thank you,” she said with a smile as they set the books on her desk. If Felicity wasn’t mistaken, she was sure it was one of the first smiles her roommate had given her. “I appreciate your kindness.”

“Of course, that’s what roommates are for.” Felicity shrugged, before gesturing to the stack. “Big weekend plans?”

“I like to read,” Nyssa replied focusing her attention on organizing the books into three stacks. “Besides, it isn’t like I know many people here.”

And just like that Felicity’s mood fell. Nyssa was her roommate, and she knew from all those years ago that coming to a new school was terrifying. And making new friends when everyone is already so cliqued up was damn near impossible. Felicity had been lucky then, she had Sara. But Nyssa needed someone too. She had to do something.

“If you don’t mind pushing your reading back a day, you could come out with me and my friends tonight.” Felicity tossed out the suggestion, like it wasn’t that big of a deal. Mostly because she didn’t think Nyssa was the kind of person who would take pity well, but also because she wasn’t sure if Nyssa wanted to be friends with her.

“You don’t have to offer,” Nyssa said, throwing her a suspicious look. But she wasn’t on the defense. “I’m sure your friends do not want me to tag along.”

“Trust me they’d appreciate the new blood,” she smiled remembering when Iris finally dragged Barry and Cisco with her. That had been a fun night. “Besides we’re adding new recruits tonight, so you won’t be in a boat by yourself.”

“New recruits? Exactly what kind of friend group do you have?”

A rhythmic, knock at the door caused them both to pause, turning to stare at the wooden frame. Felicity grinned sending Nyssa a wink. “The best kind.”

When she opened the door Sara was on the other side, her blonde hair tossed in a bun, as she all but dragged her gym bag.

“Is it cool if I leave this here?” Sara said as she hauled it through the door. “I just spent like two hours at the speed bag and my arms are pretty much dead weight.”

“As long as you take it far away before it starts giving my yoga mat dirty looks.”

“Maybe my gym bag would respect your yoga mat more if it wasn’t two years old and still in the package.”

Sara had her there, but Felicity wasn’t one to give up so easily. And she had a secret weapon that Sara wasn’t noticing.

“Sara have you met Nyssa yet?” She smiled when Sara’s eyes light up a fraction.

Her friend gave her a look of amusement before turning to Nyssa. “I haven’t had the pleasure. But you’re in my econ class right?”

“Of course you sit in the back near the window,” Nyssa instantly looked as if she wanted to retract her words. “I mean you’re always there already when I make it to class.”

“I have arabic before and it’s a building over so it’s an easy trek.”

Nyssa gave her a nod, but remained silent after that. And Sara looked like she was at a loss for what to say too. Which left the conversing up to Felicity. It’s a good thing she could do that without issue.

“So I invited Nyssa along tonight, you don’t think the other’s will mind do you?”

“Mind? Maybe,” Sara said shifting her focus back to Felicity, as a grin spread across her face. “But as long as someone sweet talks Oliver I think everyone will get over it quickly.”

Sara had a knowing look in her eyes, one that confused Felicity to know end. And to make matters worse Nyssa seemed to adopt the same one as well.

“Ah so I’m not the only one who sees it,” Nyssa said as she leaned closer to Sara. Closer than Felicity had seen her get to anyone. “Her and Queen have a thing yes?”

“What? Seriously this again? Nyssa, Oliver and I are--”

“Just friends,” Sara and Nyssa chorused, giving each other matching looks of awe.

“Congrats on the insta-bonding, but can we please lay this to rest already,” Felicity groaned as opened the door. “I, Felicity Megan Smoak, just see, Oliver Jonas Queen, as a friend.”

“The lady doth protest too much, methinks,” Sara muttered.

Felicity leveled her with a glare that only made Sara roll her eyes. Sometimes the only way to get Sara to move on was to do it yourself. “We’re going to be late.”

Sara burst into laughter, with pure undiluted, joy radiating through the room. And Felicity noticed how much Nyssa seemed to react to it. Like a moth drawn to a flame, she seemed to lean in closer.

Despite her happiness over Nyssa not feeling left out, Felicity was getting annoyed with the fact that the still hadn’t left. So she decided to take matters into her own hands. Quite literally, considering, she walked around behind them and linked her arms through theirs, dragging them forward towards the door.

She wasn’t going to let their weird notions about her and Oliver, keep the night from proceeding as planned. They had mischief to commence with.

---

Oliver couldn’t help it. He had pulled his phone out no less than ten times in the last three minutes just to check the time. He had wanted to talk to Felicity before the meeting, and tell her about his plan for karmic restitution. A term he could only hope she’d revel in. But of course this had to be the one time she wasn’t early for something.

“You’re early?” Tommy said when he entered the library’s meeting room.

He was never a fan of using places outside the bunker for whole group things. But standing tradition meant new members had to complete initiation before the were allowed in. So every year they booked a study room for initiation night. This was the first year they had to move to the larger meeting room. And Oliver felt a little slice of pride at that. That maybe they were building a legacy that could one day out live them all.

“I was waiting for--” he cut himself off, giving Tommy a grin instead. There wasn’t a thing about his life that Tommy didn’t know, but he wasn’t sure he was ready to tell him what was going on either. Especially not after their conversation the other day.

Truth be told, he had let Tommy’s words sit on him all week, gnawing their way through every moment. Especially the one’s he spent with Felicity.

Felicity who was his best friend. The girl who made calculus sound less like a foreign language. Who never looked at him like he was stupid or useless. The only person he could count on to push him without it ever being too much. He was starting to really understand what Tommy had said to him.

Felicity was the best person he’d ever met, of course he always knew that. But there was something else, something more to it. She deserved to be happy, desperately, deliriously happy. And up until a few nights ago, he never let himself realize that the thing he wanted most in the world, was to be the one who gave her that. As soon as her lips had left his cheek, it was like all the things he knew about them had shifted into another context entirely. He wanted to be the reasons she smiled. He wanted to stay where he was in her life sure, but he also wanted things to be more. He wanted her. For her spirit, and her smarts. He wanted to be with her, for as long as she wanted him there. And that was just about the most intimidating thing he’d come to learn in his life.

“Waiting for who?” Tommy slid into the chair next to him, a knowing grin plastered on his face. “Felicity?”

And Tommy’s glaring commentary on his relationship with Felicity suddenly made so much more sense. Maybe Oliver had just realized how he felt about her, but he had felt this way for a long time. Long enough that his other best friend had taken to turning it into a joke.

“Actually I was waiting for you,” he replied, handing Tommy the note cards for his part of their speech. “No going off script. Last year was a near disaster.”

“Last year was an epic masterpiece,” Tommy countered, giving Oliver a glare as he pushed the cards away. “Also Roy, Jax, and Cin performed brilliantly.”

“They got called in front of the headmaster because you had them drop twelve grapefruits from the top of the science building.”

“And all they got for that was a warning. Steele loved the testing gravity comment.”

“Regardless,” Oliver said trying to hold in his laughter. “This year’s recruits include Speedy. So Felicity and I agreed to have little deviation. You remember we don’t actually want our recruits to get busted right?”

“You two take all the fun out of recruitment.” Tommy reluctantly grabbed the note cards Oliver had placed next to him, and flipped through them. “This is like six pages of Starling Prep history, are you joking?”

Oliver could barely keep a straight face, as he nodded. He knew Tommy would react like this. No one had an aversion to history more than his oldest friend. Which was probably why Felicity had written the cards up this way. Just to see Tommy squirm during the meeting.

“Just so you know I hate you,” he grumbled.

He shifted his chair from Oliver’s just as the door opened. In walked Sara, followed closely by Nyssa, and then Felicity. And Oliver was struck again with the same heart stammering, jolt that he always got looking at her. The one that he was starting to realized had little platonic connotations attached to it.

And of course she was wearing her hair up tonight, with her dark ponytail sweeping across the based of her neck as she walked closer to him. It bounced too, when she hoisted herself up atop the table, her thighs inches from his fingertips.

“Hey,” she said like it was the most casual thing she could do.

And he had to remind himself not to stare too long, and too deep into her blue eyes. He wasn’t even sure how he hadn’t realized the were that blue before.

“Um, hi.” Smooth Queen. Real smooth. He hand started fidgeting next to her, itching to reach out and hold hers. But that would be weird. Right? To just hold her hand where everyone could see them. Though they had done it before. Many times. But now Oliver could tell it would mean more. It would be different. He took to rubbing his fingers together, a habit he’d picked up after being on the archery team for years. Outside of Felicity, it was one of the few things that could calm him down.

He had to look away from her. He had to make himself acknowledge the other’s in the room. Otherwise Felicity would get suspicious.

“Hey Sara.”

She gave him a half nod, which was more than he’d expected. She was still icing him out, and he couldn’t blame her. He’d screwed up with Laurel, with her too. And he had a long way to go before she trusted him again. He was glad she was still coming to meetings though. That their disastrous night hadn’t led her to seek refuge in other friends.

“Um no offense but why is she her?” Tommy asked nodding towards Nyssa.

Oliver had to admit he hadn’t really registered Nyssa’s presence, not when he zeroed in easily on Felicity. Felicity who was giving both of them a sheepish look.

“So I had this idea,” she said as she gave Oliver a smile. “What if we let Nyssa join?”

“Sweet,” Sara said taking a seat across the table. “I vote yes.”

“Wait, I did not come to join your group,” Nyssa insisted as she crossed her arms. “Really I was perfectly fine staying in.”

“She’s just saying that because I was a terrible roommate and hadn’t thought to include her earlier,” Felicity said waving off Nyssa’s comment. “Come on we need more girls anyway.”

“We have plenty of girls,” Tommy replied. But no sooner had he gotten the words out, had Sara reached over and hit him in shoulder. “Ow.”

“Don’t be that kind of guy and you won’t get smacked,” she said giving him a grin. “Besides we all know that’s a bold faced lie.”

Oliver laughed shifting his attention to Felicity fully, her pleading eyes making it so hard for him not to just blurt out a yes. “We can’t just admit a new member without a vote. Also initiation.”

“Initiation,” Tommy parroted as he pushed his chair from Sara’s reach.

“Did you swallow the dialogue from a 80s high school flick?” Sara questioned shooting him a glare. “I vote her into the initiation process. And I’m willing to bet that Cin votes my way too.”

“I also vote yes,” Felicity said as she scooted closer to Oliver. “And I know the bylaws state that if two of the three original members vote yes, then the motion gets passed without a vote from the whole club.”

She had a point. And it’s not like Oliver had anything against Nyssa. True the weren’t very close, but she wasn’t a bad person. In fact he thought she could fit in well with the whole crew. And Sara already seemed taken with her.

“Okay, I vote yes,” Tommy made a sound that quite resembled the cracking of a whip, and Oliver resisted the urge to push him out of his chair. “Felicity and Sara have a point, we’re about inclusion. Giving people who normally would never meet, a chance to be friends. Besides Tommy, she still has to survive initiation.”

“All of you keep using that word,” Nyssa said, crossing her arms in front of her. “What exactly does initiation entail?”

Felicity shot her a devious smile, before she turned to to him. Oliver couldn’t help but match it, as he shook his head. “It will an experience to remember, that’s for sure.”

Chapter Text

“What happen to the whole ‘majority ruling’ crap you pulled on me when I suggested a new recruit last semester,” Cisco called from the end of the table. “This is biased behavior Smoak.”

“Okay Cisco, a. We had a majority vote from the three founding members,” Felicity replied rolling her eyes at her friend. “And b. You wanted to recruit a monkey from Dr. Wells’ science lab.”

“Hey, Grodd could have been a valuable asset to the team.”

“Cisco, enough,” Oliver cut in as he stood next to her. “The decision has been made, now we should move this along. Unless our recruits have any questions.”

Nyssa sat silently next to Sara, with Wally on the other side, and Jesse next to him. It was Thea who spoke up out of them all. And Felicity only wished she had a camera to capture Oliver’s already exasperated face.

“I thought you said you guys hung out in some cool place?” she raised a brow to her brother, and then looked over the group. “Not that a library isn’t cool, but it’s not exactly a Bond-lair either. What’s the deal Ollie?”

“Ah yes the deal,” he turned to Felicity giving her a smile. “Shall we proceed?”

Felicity felt herself move closer to him. Only because he stood at the front of the table. She reminded herself. And she turned to face the table, mostly towards their initiates. “I did not create a key to fit a doorway, but rather I shaped the doorway around the key. Do any of you know where that quote comes from?”

Thea looked at a loss for words, and Nyssa and Wally didn’t seem to be fairing well either. But just as Felicity thought it was time to move on Jesse’s hand went up, a hesitation in her movements, but Felicity recognized the look in her eyes. The look of knowing something others didn’t.

“General Theodore Andrew Starling III, said that on the day Starling Prep, then Starling Military Academy, first opened it’s doors,” she paused as she took a glance at her friends. “He always said he believed that just because the school was meant for learning military strategy, it didn’t mean they had to defer from creative thought.”

“That’s right,” Tommy said, taking over. But unlike her and Oliver he stayed seated. “General Starling believed that the greatest strength troops could have was not losing the things that made them individuals. He didn’t want students to come out of this school like they were molded for the world. He wanted them to mold the world around themselves.”

Oliver stepped up again, sending the four a warm smile. “Starling Military Academy’s doors were only open for less than seven years. Because no branch of the military believed in Starling’s theory. So he took his own advice. And molded the doorways into something else. The school you’re all enrolled in now.”

“Is there going to be a test over this?” Wally asked, a nervous look in his eyes. “I mean is that the initiation?”

It was Felicity’s turn to take over again, and she couldn’t be happier the timing of Wally’s inquiries. “Yes and no. You four pass a statute almost everyday, you passed it this evening when you entered the library.” she paused for effect, leaning in on the table. “Who can tell me who it is?”

“Let me guess General Theodore Starling?” Nyssa eyed her.

“Very good,” she replied with a smirk. “It is a statute of the good ole general. Minus one thing. The original key to the front doors.”

“Legend says it disappears at the end of every school year, only to mysteriously find its way back into Starling’s palm just after the start of term,” Tommy added. “This is the moment you guys get to learn the truth. There are no mysterious forces at play here. Instead it is just a very long, and very elaborate tradition, passed down between friend groups, and legacies, for generations.”

Tommy turned to Oliver, urging him to continue. “Every end of year we hide the key. And now that you guys have been tapped, it’s up to you to find it.”

Felicity pulled an envelope from her bag, setting it on the table. “You will have three clues that will lead you another step closer to finding the key. You can choose to do this journey solo, but remember if that’s the choice you make, and you fail. Then that’s it, you don’t make it in. But if you choose to work as a team, I can promise you, it will be worth it.”

Oliver put a hand over the envelope, sliding it closer to them. “And remember you only have until midnight to complete your mission. So tick tock.”

Jesse and Wally reached for the envelope first, trying their best not to rip it open, as Thea looked over to Nyssa, seemingly uninterested in the clue. “Join forces?”

“That seems like a grand idea,” she replied, and they nodded with each other, before grabbing both Wally and Jesse by the arms, and pulling them from the room.

“And in a shocking turn of events, I think I’m gonna head back to my dorm to study,” Sara announced as she unfolded herself from her chair. The rest of the group had already cleared out, leaving just Felicity, Sara, Oliver, and Tommy. Sara was trying her best to be around Oliver, but it was clear she needed to get away.

“You want company?” Felicity offered, even if she would rather stay and wait with Oliver.

Sara looked at her in amusement, barely holding in an eyeroll. “I’m good, Smoak. See you later.”

Once Sara was gone, Tommy stood. “I think I’m gonna head out for a bit too.”

“No,” Oliver and her chorused together, giving Tommy matching looks.

“What I’m not going to do anything,” he said, looking offended. “I mean if I happen across a recruit, maybe I’ll heckle them. But tell me where the crime is there?”

“Tommy,” Oliver gave their friend a warning look. “I swear if anything bad happens to any of them. I’m holding you responsible.”

Tommy nodded like he didn’t believe him, then left the room as well.

“So should we wait here? I mean who knows how long this will take,” Felicity said, not being able to stop her mouth from moving. “We could go and do something fun.”

“I think sitting and talking with you is very fun,” he countered, before he ducked his head. He shifted around the space until he came to sit next to her on the table top. “Besides, they could finish early.”

“Or they could not finish at all? Don’t you remember poor Roy and Cisco last year. They didn’t even get back until nearly dawn.”

“Have some faith,” he said, leaning in like he was going to nudge her shoulder, but instead he pulled back at the last second. “Besides, I think I am ready to tell you my karmic restoration plans.”

“Ooh, color me intrigued. What did you have in mind?”

“Okay,” he said, twisting to face her. “Sara likes Nyssa.”

Felicity gave him a confused look. “Elaborate.”

“Sara sucks at actually conveying feelings, something we have in common. And I know Nyssa comes off as a badass, but she’s really shy too. So I was thinking we set them up.”

“Already sounds like a recipe for disaster.”

“What why? I thought it was a great idea.”

“Oliver, you can’t just force people to go out.”

“I wouldn’t be forcing them,” he said, resting his hand against her knee. “Sara likes Nyssa, and from what I can see she likes Sara too. So all we would be doing is nudging two people who clearly are attracted to each other, towards each other. Why is that wrong?”

“Because if they really like each other, they should be the ones to get to that point,” she replied shaking her head. “Come on would you really like it if Tommy and I started playing matchmaker for you.”

“You know what to win my argument I’m going to say yes.”

“Really? You’d be totally okay dating somebody we hand picked and then tossed the two of you into situations together? That wouldn’t make you annoyed?”

“No, and you know why?” Oliver paused, making sure their eyes were locked on each other. “Because I trust you. I know that no matter what you come up with you always have my best interest at heart. And that if it was you and Tommy, you’d keep him in line. Because that is who you are Felicity. You’re someone I would trust with the most important things in my life. Because you’ve never let me down.”

The staring felt intense, with a tingling warmth she’d never really felt before, and it took almost all of her to break off eye contact, and take a deep breath. “You really trust me that much?”

Oliver seemed less affected by their staring match, as he leaned back on his hands. “Of course I do. Which is why I brought this idea to you, instead of Tommy. You’re better at the emotional stuff than I am. Plus Sara’s your friend.”

“And she currently hates you.”

“Yes that. But as you pointed out, this isn’t about me. It’s about helping someone I screwed over for them. Sara’s one of my oldest friends, I don’t want her to be unhappy. And I think Nyssa could help with that. But the only way this is gonna work is if you help.”

“Okay,” Felicity said, before she really even processed her reply. “I’ll help.”

“Yeah?”

“What can I say, I’m a sucker for love,” she shrugged, giving him a grin. “Besides you have a point.”

“About Nyssa liking Sara back?”

“Oh, I was talking about the idea that you’d be helpless without me.”

Oliver let out a low laugh. “I’m pretty sure I didn’t say helpless.”

“But it was heavily implied,” she teased.

Oliver sat up then, leaning in close to her, and she couldn’t help but feel the same sensation from earlier creepy along her spine. She wasn’t sure where it was coming from, but she really didn’t want to let it go either.

He brought up his hand, to brush a few fallen strands away from her face, and Felicity found herself holding in a breath. Almost like she wished he wouldn’t pull it back.

But he did, and gave her a smile. “Thank you.”

“What, um.” She wasn’t sure why she was stammering, but she really needed it to stop. “What are friends for, right?”

“Yeah,” he replied. And if Felicity wasn't mistaken she could have sworn she heard a hint of frustration in his voice. But Oliver quickly pushed himself off the table, pivoting until he faced her. He held a hand out to her. “So partners?”

She shook it without hesitation, pushing all the weirdness aside. “Always.”

---

“This is the worst part of initiation,” Oliver groaned slumping back in his chair as he spun it to face Felicity.

She had reworked her hair until it was pinned at the base of her neck with a pencil, and Oliver was trying not to stare. He really was, but damn. He’d known Felicity was beautiful, he’d have to be a complete moron not to see it, but this was a different feeling entirely. And it was starting to freak him out again.

He didn’t want things to change. He wanted to be her best friend. He wanted to look at her and know that his entire life was right where it needed to be. He couldn’t risk losing the one constant he had, just because he’d finally realized they could be something else.

“Well we could have picked a slightly more interesting subject while we wait,” she replied sending him a grin.

“You like math remember.”

“I do like math. Math is my jam. But even a genius needs a break.” She sighed as she closed the book. “I’m done. I cannot look at this book any longer. We need to go and stretch or something.”

“Yeah, maybe we could grab--”

Before he could finish the door to the study room burst open, Tommy was panting and looked at both of them.

A spike of annoyance at his friend hit him first before Oliver looked over. “Yes?”

“You gotta come see this.”

Felicity rolled her eyes, but she was laughing. “What did you do?”

“Why do you two always think I did something?”

“Because we know you,” she retorted, but pushed herself up from the table.

Oliver grabbed their books and headed out behind her and Tommy, waving to the librarian as they left. Somewhere halfway down the hall, he found Felicity slipping her fingers into his locking them together, as she set him a curious smile. He couldn’t help the heart racing feeling when she did.

Tommy took them around the east side of the building, where the statue of General Starling stood, and at first everything appeared normal. But the closer they got was when additional shapes began to come into focus around the good general. The shapes of his sister and her friends.

Thea was perched on Starling’s shoulder, and he could just make out the smile on her face when they came closer, while Jesse and Wally stood leaning against either side of the statue.

“Hey guys,” she whispered. “So what’s this, the earliest anyone’s ever found the key?”

“Just because your up there like some annoying pigeon doesn’t mean we automatically believe you found anything,” Oliver said, but like Thea he tried to keep his voice low. No need for a professor to find them out here like this, even if curfew was still twenty minutes away.

Nyssa was seated at the base of Starling’s feet. She raised an arm and Felicity let out an amused laugh.

“You mean this key?” Nyssa asked, placing it right in the general’s hand. “We thought it best to wait until you arrived before we restored it to its proper place.”

Felicity stepped away from him, as she did her hand fell from his, leaving a cool rush of air where the heat had been. But he didn’t have time to focus on it because she started to speak.

“Congratulations guys,” she said, sticking her hand out to Nyssa. “You’ve done it.”

Thea jumped from her seat, landing in a crouch near Felicity. “And what’s that exactly? Because we just traipsed around in the dark for two hours.”

“You,” Oliver paused as he moved closer. “Worked as a team, you didn’t give up, and found the solution. We only bring together people who can work together. Tommy tell them why?”

He could hear the lazy grin in his friend’s voice as he spoke. “Because another thing Starling admired was the bonds of camaraderie. School sucks, sometimes people also suck. So having a group of people that you can trust, that you know you can go to when anything gets to you, it’s more than just important, it’s essential.”

“You’ve made real friendships here tonight,” Felicity said, turning to address the four of them together. “And as you connect with everyone in the group, hopefully you’ll make more. Years from now, I hope we are all still friends, but even if we don’t talk and don’t see each other often, you’ll still remember this night. Because memories are like keys too. Keys that unlock the roads that lead us forward.”

“You gave us a key to make more memories?” Nyssa questioned meeting his eyes.

“We gave you what was given to us,” he said turning to smile at Felicity and then Tommy. “A chance to not go it alone. Trust me, life is hard enough, but you don’t always have to do it by yourself.”

Oliver watched as Felicity moved until she was between Nyssa and Thea, she threw her arms around them as she smiled. “So welcome to the group guys.”