Chapter Text
She sighed and rolled her shoulders, shaking her head back and forth slowly to loosen the tightness brought on by staring at a screen. The mission was over and she knew Oliver and Digg would be back soon. In the meantime, she savored the few minutes she had alone to reflect.
Looking around, she was proud of all the changes she had made to the we-don’t-call-it-a-lair in the two months since the Undertaking. She was also proud of all the good they continued to do, as a team, helping the city with its criminal element. Of course, sometimes their not-a-lair was a bit more crowded these days, what with Tommy coming down to hang out, or Laurel stopping in to see her boyfriend.
After Oliver had saved her the night that Malcolm had destroyed The Glades, and she had learned who he really was, Oliver and Laurel had committed to a relationship together. And that didn’t bother Felicity at all. Nope. Not one bit. She was completely happy as his friend, partner in crime fighting, and now Executive Assistant to his CEO. Okay, so she hadn’t originally been so happy at that last change, but she understood his reasoning, and they were making it work. And she was completely, totally, 100% fine with it.
Really.
The beeping of the electronic lock startled her from her thoughts. Turning with a small smile, she expected to see Oliver and Digg descending the stairs. Instead, she was greeted by a grinning Tommy, with a bottle of Pinot Grigio and two glasses in his hands. A wave of happiness accompanied this realization. Felicity was always happy to see Tommy, especially these days. With Oliver busy with Laurel, she could use an extra friend.
“I’d say you deserve a drink after the night I’m sure you’ve had,” he said as he approached her desk, setting down the glasses and starting to pour.
Felicity had been surprised by how easily she’d fallen into friendship with Tommy Merlyn. After the Undertaking, he’d been withdrawn and unpleasant. On more than one occasion, Felicity had found him after hours upstairs, nursing a glass of scotch and looking miserable. She started joining him, making light and easy banter at first, just to draw him out of his shell. Eventually, he’d begun to open up to her, that he was still in love with Laurel and feeling painfully jealous of her relationship with Oliver. Since then, they’d become each other’s shoulder to lean on, knowing sometimes without even asking when the other needed a little cheering up.
It just made sense. Their easy friendship and comfort with one another had become one of the best parts of her day, nearly every day. Always there with a smile, a drink, a laugh. She knew he was hurting, watching Oliver and Laurel together, and she also knew it helped him to focus on other things-- other people-- like her. It was a two-way street, if she ever gave in enough to admit it to herself. Which she didn’t, hardly ever. But Tommy just seemed to know about her feelings for Oliver without them ever talking about it. He didn’t pressure her about it, which she appreciated. And so this unspoken understanding between them had morphed into a solid, strong friendship.
As she sipped her glass of wine and listened to Tommy talk about the drunken antics of clubgoers upstairs, she heard the lock again and briefly glanced up to the stairs. This time she did see Oliver and Digg, and allowed herself a small exhale of relief that they were back home safely. Turning back to Tommy’s story, and her wine, she focused on the easy conversation and the upbeat tone in his voice. She heard Digg call out a greeting to her as he made his way to the bathroom, and she felt rather than saw Oliver set his quiver down before coming up behind her. She tried not to startle as his hand rested lightly on her shoulder. Glancing up at him, she was a bit perturbed to be met with an unreadable expression in his eyes and a tense jaw.
“Everything good here?” he asked her, gruffly. She nodded. What bee had flown into his bonnet? Was he angry with her for some reason?
“All good, I’ll probably head out soon,” she responded, starting the process of shutting down her computers.
As Tommy started to rise and offered to see her home, they once again heard the sound of the electronic lock beeping. Not for the first time, Felicity thought to herself that too many people knew how to get down to their supposedly secret base. This time, the trio watched as Laurel descended the stairs, stopping briefly as her eyes swept over the three of them.
Felicity was still sitting in her chair, Tommy stood next to her with his leg lightly brushing hers, and Oliver stood behind her, his hand still resting on her shoulder. She realized how this might look in the other woman’s eyes. After all, both of them had been or were currently involved with her. Upon Laurel’s hesitation, Felicity stood quickly, stumbling. Both men reached to steady her, but Tommy, thankfully, got to her first. Putting his hands to her waist, he waited as she righted herself, and she murmured a quiet thanks at him, flashing him a quick, appreciative smile.
“Well!” Tommy exclaimed brightly, while he looked between Laurel and Oliver, “I’m going to make sure Ms. Smoak here gets home in one piece.”
Laurel nodded, finishing her descent, and Felicity gathered her things, purposely avoiding looking at Oliver. She could sense Laurel’s displeasure, and she wanted nothing more at that moment than to flee to the safety of her couch. She threw out a muttered goodbye at the couple and headed to the stairs, with Tommy right behind her, hand hovering at the small of her back.
“See you tomorrow morning,” Oliver called, a strange tone in his voice. Felicity didn’t turn towards him, though she wanted to, and instead just nodded quickly as she continued to climb the stairs. She laughed softly as Tommy made a joke about getting the hell out of dodge, and then they were safely on the other side of the door.
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Oliver watched Tommy and Felicity climb the stairs and continued to stare long after they’d disappeared on the other side of the door. He didn’t know what to think of the odd, twisting sensation he felt in his chest whenever he watched the two of them together. He should be happy that Tommy was still talking to him at all, given that he’d basically stolen Laurel right out from underneath him. Still, their friendship had taken a hit and while they were talking, they were far from being the close friends they were before.
And it was just like Felicity to see that Tommy was maybe feeling a little left out and be a friend to him. Oliver knew, logically, that’s what she was doing. Still, coming back from the patrol and seeing the two of them smiling at one another made him want to rush over and separate them.
The fact was, he didn’t have all of Felicity’s attention when Tommy was around. Before the Undertaking, her eyes had always been on him. While he was working out on the salmon ladder or sparring with Diggle, he knew she watched him. Truthfully, he’d always rather enjoyed it. But there’d been a shift between all of them the night of the Undertaking.
Turning his attention away from the stairs and his thoughts about his blonde partner, he looked to Laurel, who was watching him with a crease between her brows.
“Hi,” he said lightly, leaning down to offer her a chaste kiss on her lips. “What’s wrong?”
He watched as Laurel’s eyes darted to the stairs, and then back at him. He knew Laurel wasn’t Felicity’s biggest fan. Or rather, that Laurel wasn’t the biggest fan of his relationship with Felicity. Friendship, he reminded himself. His friendship with Felicity. He understood why; before the island Oliver had never been the sort of man who had women as friends. What he had was a reputation for cheating on his girlfriend. Her hesitance around Felicity made sense, given that history. He’d tried to show her how much he’d changed since those days but Oliver got the feeling that whenever Laurel looked at him, she saw Ollie. The problem was, he wasn’t Ollie anymore.
Oliver watched her shake her head, as if to rid herself of bad thoughts. Only then did she offer him a smile in return.
“Nothing. Want to get changed so we can head out?” she asked, as Diggle returned from the bathroom, dressed back in his street clothes.
“Sure, just give me a few minutes.”
He passed Digg on his way to the back, clapping a hand down on the other man’s shoulder for a minute, nodding his goodnight. As he washed his face and hands, he tried not to dwell on his tumultuous feelings regarding Felicity and Tommy hanging out together. They were just friends, that was all. He pushed away any thought that if there was anyone who was less likely to have a woman as a friend besides himself, it was Tommy Merlyn.
Instead, Oliver focused on Laurel, waiting for him in the other room. Without any more secrets between them, their relationship was supposed to be easy. It was supposed to make sense, and be right. So why couldn’t he get his mind off of a babbling blonde with glasses?
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"Do you want something to drink?" Felicity asked as she entered her darkened apartment with Tommy, switching on the light by the entrance. It wasn’t uncommon for him to come in with her at night to watch TV or talk.
"How about some more wine?" he grumbled.
Felicity knew it had been tough for him to see Laurel and Oliver together, so she took pity and went into the kitchen to grab a bottle of wine and glasses. Coming back out she saw that he had settled on her couch, leaning back and kicking his legs up on the coffee table. He shot her a sly grin as she approached and nudged his feet.
"Hey buddy, feet off the furniture while wearing shoes," she lightly admonished, setting down the glasses and the bottle. He took over from there, all of this a familiar routine between them.
This ritual, this exchange, was one they had gone through countless times over the last couple months. A shared bottle of wine, easy conversation, sometimes a movie or something off her overflowing DVR. Now and then there were also light touches, hands resting on thighs, trailing up arms. It had a mild flirty tone to it, but so far that’s all it was. Two friends, enjoying each other’s company, and the hint of maybe.
The maybe didn’t trouble her as much as probably should have. She knew Tommy’s reputation rivaled that of Oliver’s before the island. But she also knew he’d grown up a lot in the years since those days. He was still charming as hell and Felicity didn’t think she was particularly immune to that charm. Maybe she didn’t want to be immune. Sometimes, she wondered if he’d ever make a move.
Or maybe it’d just been way too long since she’d been on a date.
Tommy handed her a glass as she tucked her feet up under her. After taking a long sip, she focused her attention on his handsome face. The smile he directed at her was a poor attempt to mask the pain she could clearly see behind his eyes.
“You okay?” she asked, giving him the opening to talk about it or not.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he sighed. “Let’s not do this tonight, huh? What do you have for us to watch?”
Accepting that he needed to focus his attention elsewhere, she flipped on the TV and settled on a comedy game show that wouldn’t require them to pay too much attention. She leaned back against the sofa cushions as his arm looped across the back and over her shoulders, pulling her into his side. They stayed there, comfortably, her head resting on his shoulder, his fingers trailing up and down her arm. It was easy, and uncomplicated by deep emotion. It just - was.
And that was more than fine with her.
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Across town, Oliver followed Laurel into her apartment. He had spent the car ride reminding himself that he finally had what he’d wanted since he was first stuck on that god forsaken island. He had Laurel back in his life and back in his bed and he was honoring his father’s last wishes with the best team he could have ever hoped to have.
So then why didn’t he feel as content as he knew he should?
During the ride home, he had held Laurel’s hand and watched her face as she told him about the case she was working on. And yet, he could tell something was off. Not with her, she was doing great and thriving at her new position as an assistant to the District Attorney. No, there was something off between them and he couldn’t quite pin down what it was.
Oliver loved Laurel. He had loved Laurel for as long as he could remember. But since they had gotten back together after the Undertaking, it just felt….forced. Their conversations, more often than not, were stilted. There wasn’t much laughter, or ease. At first he’d thought it was his own lingering issues in the aftermath of his fight with Tommy’s father. Then, he’d worried that maybe she wasn’t as okay as she said she was with him being the Hood. But she’d assured him that she was fine with it and that she was proud of the mission he’d set forth upon. So what was it then?
He found himself, far too often, drifting to thoughts of another. Wondering where she was, who she was with (and trying to ignore the tightening in his chest at the idea that she was with anyone). Lately, he’d even begun to worry that perhaps she was falling for Tommy. They were spending an awful lot of time together. At first he’d been relieved; if she was with Tommy then she wasn’t dating some chump from QC or something. But then he remembered his best friend’s slick and easy charm and he began to worry that the two of them were perhaps getting too close.
Oliver shook his head, ridding himself of that train of thought. He looked up to notice Laurel watching him carefully, and he realized that he was still standing by the open door. He shot her a rueful smile as he closed and locked it.
“Sorry, just, distracted,” he offered, approaching her with a smile.
Putting his hands on her shoulders, he leaned in to kiss her. He felt her give herself into the kiss, winding her arms around his waist. He deepened the contact, and slowly started to guide them backwards towards her bedroom. With this, their physical relationship, he felt comfortable. He knew how to navigate this. This - this was easy, familiar, and didn’t require thought. He allowed his mind to clear as Laurel acquiesced to his unspoken demands, and for now, in these moments, he wasn’t plagued by a litany of emotions - not the least of which was an ever-present sense of unsettlement and guilt.
Later, as he lay awake in her bed with Laurel sleeping next to him, his thoughts ran over the next day. He knew he had a busy day ahead at Queen Consolidated, meetings, conference calls, and paperwork to complete. While he didn’t love being a CEO and the inevitable fakeness that came with it, he was proud of carrying on his family’s legacy. And it didn’t hurt that he had help from a brilliant, loyal woman. As his thoughts turned to her, he found his anxiety ebbing and his heart rate slowing. He also started to feel….wait, was that? Yes. He was excited to get to work tomorrow, to be greeted by her smile and to hand her the cup of coffee he always got for her on the way in. With the promise of seeing Felicity in the morning, he finally drifted off to sleep.