Chapter Text
Graduation can't come soon enough, Felicity thought to herself. College has to be better than this. She fell backward onto her bed, going over the night in her mind. Why she ever considered going to prom seemed like a mystery. It felt like a good idea at the time. It was an invaluable teenage rite of passage, and the dress her mom had sent her was truly beautiful, champagne with a beaded bodice and soft pink satin layers that peekabooed through the flowy gauze skirt. Holt had taken her to the salon to get her hair and makeup done, and by the time they were finished her hair was transformed into shiny, soft-looking waves, and her acne was almost completely disguised. If only her braces had come off by that point, she could almost pass for cute. It didn't matter, she was still her, and Oliver and his brethren were still them, and although there were no Carrie level shenanigans, they still couldn't bear the idea of letting her make it through the night unscathed. Nobody talked to her unless it was to give her some backhanded compliment about her "off the rack" number, and going stag meant sitting alone at her table all night long with only a cup of watery punch for company. She wasn't sure what she expected but it would have been nice to go one night without feeling like Fuglicity.
"Psst, hey, Felicity," She turned her head toward the window, and her body stiffened in shock at the sight of who stood at her balcony. He was a mess, his bowtie undone and hanging limply around his unbuttoned collar, his prom king crown sitting askew on his cowlicky hair.
"Hey, let me in," Oliver continued, knocking softly.
"Oliver," she said, getting up from her bed and scrambling to the window. She put one hand on the lock but didn't turn it. "What the hell are you doing here? Are you crazy?"
"Let me in," he slurred his words as he spoke, and suddenly his random appearance made sense.
"Let me in," he repeated. "Please Felicity."
The last time he used her real name it was to threaten her into stealing tests for him, and she in no way expected this time to end any differently.
"Go home Oliver, you're obviously very drunk."
"Come on Felicity," he urged. "I need to talk to you and I'm not leaving until you let me in."
"Okay, fine but five minutes and we're done," She said, turning the lock and opening the window.
"How did you even get up here?" she asked, stepping aside and letting him stumble in with a thud.
"Wow, I am really... really drunk."
"Yeah no kidding, now what do you want?"
"I got this in the mail today," he said, righting himself and reaching into his inner jacket pocket, guessing wrong the first time and reaching into the other one. He pulled out a folded and wrinkled sheet of paper. He unfolded it and smoothed it against his body a few times before reading.
"Dear Mr. Queen, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Princeton University for the 2004 fall semester"
A lump formed in her throat at the words, Princeton, the same college that rejected her took Oliver Queen, the goddamned legacy. She'd gotten into MIT which was solidly in her top five, but still, it stung, especially since he in no way deserved it.
"Congratulations," she said with a bit of a chill in her voice.
"I don't deserve this," He said as if reading her mind. "The only reason Princeton wants anything to do with me is because of who my parents are."
"Well I hardly run the place Oliver. They rejected me."
"There's no way I'm going to make it in this place," he continued "You should be going, you're so smart, you're like the smartest person ever and they wouldn't let you in. How great can Princeton be anyway if they won't let you in?"
"Oliver-
"You should come with me," he said. "I owe you that much right? You can come with me to Princeton and you can live in my dorm and go to class and everything. You'll be so much happier there Felicity, they aren't all bastards like me, they'd actually appreciate you."
"Oliver, where is all of this coming from?" Felicity said, softening a bit.
"I'm scared Felicity, I'm really scared. My mom is counting on me to become the man my father was, but I'm never going to be that man, I'm... I'm nothing."
"Oliver, you aren't nothing okay," Felicity said. she didn't know why she felt the need to console him, she hated him, and his sob story did nothing to change that, still, he looked so wounded, so scared. "You're smart, you're really really smart, you just never cared enough to do anything with it."
"I should go to China," he continued as if he didn't hear her. "I've always wanted to, maybe open up my own Wuquan, but they'd never go for some gwai lo Kung Fu teacher would they?"
"Oliver, pleas-
"I guess I just don't fit in anywhere, huh? I mean, I fit in at Starling prep, I was king there," He chuckled, pointing up toward his awkwardly sitting crown. " But that's all gone isn't it?"
"Oli-
She doesn't get a chance to finish before he grabs her face, kissing her sloppily. It only lasts a second before she pushes him away and slaps him across the face, knocking the crown off of his head.
"Oh what," He says, a hand on his red cheek. "I can't kiss you? You think you're better than me?"
"Oliver," she says, shaking her head in pity. "I know I'm better than you."
"You know what," he says, bending down to pick up his crown. "I think you're right."
And with that, he was gone.
****
"The secret to a happy marriage is...
'Poopy diapers?' eww, someone was clearly looking to get rid of that one.
'The Reverand Dr. Martin Luther King Jr,' history would suggest otherwise.
'Road head,' okay, that one's just accurate.
'Friction,' Also accurate
'A homoerotic volleyball montage,' well, works for us Bear."
Iris sets the cards out in front of her, thinking hard.
"Okay who said Domestic violence?"
"Yo, right here!" Cisco says excitedly.
"So dark I love it," Iris says, handing him the black card.
"Dammit he's killing us," Felicity says. "I really thought I had that one."
"Yeah, how does homoerotic volleyball montage lose? that works for everything," Ronnie complains.
"Oh don't be such a sore loser," Caitlin says, ruffling her fiance's hair.
"If I didn't know any better I'd think you two were in cahoots with each other," Wally says, pointing between Cisco and Iris.
"Hey, I can't help that he rocks at this game," Iris says innocently. "He's kicking my ass too how do you explain that?"
"And watch you win the next one, I see you sis, that's alright though, games just beginning," Wally says, narrowing his eyes.
"This is what I get for going for a younger guy," Linda says, rolling her eyes. "So needlessly competitive. It's only a game."
Oh how I've missed Cards Against Humanity Wednesdays, Felicity thinks to herself as they continue to argue playfully among themselves, and the gradual addition of Ronnie, Cisco, Iris, Iris's brother Wally and Wally's girlfriend Linda has made it all the more lively. The only thing missing is Oliver, unfortunately he can't make the trip to Central City nearly as much as she does since being hired by Starlabs to help reconfigure their entire system. Taking a sabbatical from work is hard, being away from her boyfriend is harder.
"So Felicity, how's the famous boyfriend?" Caitlin says as she replenishes her seven card deck, snapping Felicity back into the conversation.
"He's good," Felicity says. "He's just really busy with the Martial arts studio he's opening with Sensei Digg, and with me going back and forth all of the time I think he gets a bit lonely."
"I can imagine," Barry says. "But the new and improved Star Labs is almost up and running, soon you'll be back home for good."
"Yeah, but I'm going to miss hanging out like this," Felicity says.
"Well I hope you won't be a stranger, maid of honor," Caitlin says.
She and Caitlin haven't been close like this in as long as she can remember, and she's been making a secret vow to not let things get as detached as they were before. If she has to kidnap her she'll make sure she comes to Starling City Comic con next month to join their Walking Dead group.
"You can rest assured that I won't be a stranger, but you better not bail on con again this time, we need our Carol, you don't want your gray pixie wig to go to waste do you?"
"I wouldn't dream of it Beth," She says warmly.
"Okay can you guys cut it out with the fangirl Thelma and Louise shtick, I've got a game to win," Wally says, reminding Felicity of how impatient an age 23 is.
"Okay, my turn" Barry says, pulling the black card. "Blank, it's what's for dinner."
"Oliver-" Iris says, seemingly startled.
"Kind of a weird choice babe, is that even a card?" He says, peeking over at her deck.
"No, I mean it's Oliver," Iris says, pointing at the door. Felicity turns her head to see him standing there, a familiarly suave smile on his face, a 24 pack of IPA under his arm.
"Sorry, I know I should have knocked but I know you usually leave the door unlocked on Cards against Humanity Wednesdays.
"Oh my god, Oliver," Felicity says, frantically throwing down her card and scrambling up to greet him with a tight hug. "You jerk, why didn't you tell me you were coming?"
"Well, I wanted to surprise you," he says with a shrug.
"You guys, can you give us just a minute?" Felicity says, taking the beer away from Oliver and setting it on the table near the door. "Come on," she says, grabbing his hand and leading him out the door.
He doesn't have the time to respond as she pushes him against the wall and kisses him hard.
"God I missed you," she exhales as she come up for air.
"I missed you too, why do you think I'm here?" Oliver says. "But I have a few nights off so I thought I'd spend them with you, and you know, the Central City brigade."
"I'm so glad you did,you have no idea, you're better than a sight for sore eyes, you're Visine babe."
"You too, I really needed to see your face after that Job interview with Nyssa. My balls still haven't come back down"
"Oh God, are you actually going to hire her?" Felicity said, her nose wrinkling in amusement.
"Well I kind of have to, she's easily the best person for the Job."
"Well, I'm sure Sensei Digg and Roy will protect you," She says in reference to Roy's new position as assistant manager at the Lian Yu Martial Arts school, set to open any day now.
"Oh, and speaking of Roy, Him and Thea are here too. I tried to get them to stay put but Thea didn't have any classes and Roy's off work, and you know, they've never seen Central City. I hope that's okay, they should be over with some Big Belly Burger for everyone in a few minutes."
"Are you kidding? If they come with Big Belly Burger Barry might never let them leave."
"Well, just thought I'd check."
She kisses him again, unable to do it enough. "You know, I was just thinking about our first kiss," she continues as she pulls away.
"Yeah, at that convention, you really caught me off guard."
"No, the other one, after prom."
He furrows his brow in confusion, clearly at a loss for what she could be referring to.
"Oh my god!" he says, the light finally coming on. "I haven't thought about that in years."
"Me neither, but the other night I was thinking about you and it just popped into my head like it had never left."
"Well, it certainly wasn't my finest hour."
"Actually, back then, it kind of was. It was the first time I think I ever saw the real Oliver," she explains. "And I blew him off."
"I deserved it."
"Yeah, but you needed someone to talk to and I was too blinded by my extreme hatred of you to listen. Just think, how different things could have turned out if I would have sat you down that night and just let you say what you needed to say?"
"I probably wouldn't have even remembered the next day," Oliver admits, shaking his head. "You did the right thing Felicity, I needed to take a long hard look at myself over the years that followed, and everything, Princeton, Tommy, China, Thea, Laurel... Isobel. All of the betrayals, all of the failures, all of the tears, they made me stronger, they made me... me. And they led me back to you Felicity, so in a way, it wasn't all for nothing."
She kisses him again, tenderly and slowly, letting him wrap his strong arms around her.
"I love you Oliver Queen," She whispers against his mouth.
"I love you too Fel-
"Guys, get your asses in here!" Cisco shouts, interrupting him. "It's Felicity's turn!"
"Come on, With your help I know I can beat that smug bastard," Felicity says, taking his hand giddily and leading him inside. Eleven years ago she never pictured herself this way, with a life, friends, utterly in love with Oliver Queen, and loved back in return. But she hardly saw the use in questioning it anymore, because Oliver was right. Everything they have been through together, and separately has led them to this place.
That's all folks!