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Oliver didn’t like parties. Not anymore. Not since he came back from the island. But they were a necessary evil.
Even though the Glades were still in chaos, even though his mother was in jail, even though everybody hated his family, even though he still carried the weight of the Hood on his shoulders, he still had to sit through this Halloween party. Digg and Felicity convinced him to take the night off. Thea helped. ‘No vigilante business tonight’, Felicity puffed, pointing a finger at his face. ‘We could all use a night off’, Digg shrugged. ‘We used to love our Halloween parties’, Thea smiled. So he caved in.
Thus, he found himself in the club, near the bar, Digg at his side, looking over the crowded place, filled with people dressed in various costumes. Oliver loathed looking at them. Attractive women in slutty costumes, good looking men wearing tight clothes. Every now and then, he’d see someone dressed in something more normal, not so revealing, probably something geeky. He smiled, even though he didn’t recognize the characters.
Thea insisted he wore a costume, but he had just come back for a week, he didn’t have time to shop for one. So when the idea came to mind, he asked for her help. Everyone expected him to wear something that reveals his muscles and fit form, but Oliver was tired of what people expected of him. So he wore a simple black suit, with a black shirt. Thea put makeup on him, a black and white skull painted on half of his face. He liked it a lot, he learned that makeup was an art a long time ago, and he kept smiling all the time his sister was applying it, fussing and barely controlling her excited shrieks. It looked good, and Oliver felt a bit more confident under a mask, even if it was just half his face.
Digg laughed when he saw him, congratulating Thea on her job. He was wearing a simple prisoner costume, a black and white two piece ensemble. It was really unflattering, but Oliver couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped his lips.
Thea, on the other hand, went all out. When he saw her the first time, his jaw dropped and a giant wave on affection washed over him. He expected her to be one of the girls in slutty costumes, but his little sister surprised him. She wore a black corset that continued with a long purple skirt, which stood unmoving on a crinoline, Oliver supposed. It had black tentacles stretching from bottom to top, and her makeup was perfectly scary. She looked absolutely gorgeous. Sexy, but beautiful. ‘Ursula. Of course. You never outgrew your Disney obsession.’, he smiled, as Thea grinned and hugged him.
They got to the club and Oliver was once again impressed by his sister. She didn’t do much decorating, just a spider web here and there, but the whole place was filled with carved pumpkins, the whole club gaining an orange glow. It looked simple, but effective. He made his way to the bar, Diggle at his side, while Thea went to find Roy.
Digg shoved a glass of wine in his hand, so he gave up and started drinking it, talking unimportant topics with his friend. Oliver doesn’t remember what he was saying at the time, but he saw Digg’s eyes move on something behind him for a fraction of a second. Digg seemed to ignore whatever he saw for a few seconds, but when he looked again, he didn’t look away, staring open mouthed at something.
Oliver turned around and followed his gaze to the panel Thea installed for photographers. They were all busy taking frantic pictures of a gorgeous woman. Oliver’s sight involuntary analyzed her from bottom to top.
She was wearing high heeled brown leather boots and a pair of tight leather pants. Oliver blinked as he realized the green color matched his Hood perfectly. The waist of the pants was a bit higher than standards now days, but the leather jacket she wore on top was short, leaving him watching her abdomen. It was firm and looked soft to the touch, and he noticed she had a belly button piercing. Oliver suppressed the want to run his tongue over it. The jacket was long sleeved, also green leather, and the top buttons weren’t closed, forming a generous cleavage. It wasn’t very revealing, but it was effective, because she didn’t wear anything under the jacket. Her nails were painted black and she held a simple black bow in her hands. He could see a couple of fake arrows hanging from her brown belt.
After a few short seconds of staring at her body, understanding that she was dressed as him, dressed at the Hood, after managing to calm down his want and the hot pulse that went down his spine, he finally looked up at her face, suddenly scared of what he’ll see.
He wasn’t expecting to see Felicity.
Felicity, with dark green makeup around her eyes, more than he’s ever seen her wear. It was girly and sparkly, but it was bold and it suited her. Felicity, with her hair braided back, a couple of curled stray locks falling down her shoulders. Felicity, with a green leather hood on her head. Felicity, with her lips painted a dark pink, perfectly applied, perfectly matching her outfit and so perfectly typical for her. Felicity, with a dark look in her eyes, smiling mischievously at the photographers who couldn’t seem to get enough of her. Felicity, swinging her hips while changing her pose. Felicity, lifting the bow and aiming it at the photographers. Felicity, dressed as the Hood. His Felicity.
Diggle’s voice reminded him to breathe again. ‘I can’t believe it.’
Oliver couldn’t speak yet, and he couldn’t tear his eyes away from her. So he just nodded, jaw slack and throat gone dry.
‘Is that Felicity?’, Thea shrieked, coming next to him with Roy on tow. Oliver had a thought, that he missed the past five months, that he didn’t really know what happened with them while he was away, but he couldn’t say anything.
‘Hot damn.’, Thea shook her head. ‘I’ve seen that girl in office wear, old worn pajamas, expensive designer gowns and that… that is…’
‘The best.’, Roy finished for her.
Digg put a comforting hand on his shoulder, reading the questions in his mind, even though he didn’t say them out loud. ‘You really shouldn’t have left, man. While you were gone, these two bonded.’, he said, seriously. ‘Properly bonded. Over drinks, and shopping and Disney marathons.’
‘You should watch your back’, Roy pointed out. ‘They’re dangerous together.’
Oliver tore his eyes away from Felicity to look, incredulously, at Diggle. ‘He’s right. Beware of the wrath of two women who like the same nailpolishes.’
Thea laughed. ‘You’re dicks, both of you. You’re exaggerating. She’s awesome, I’m awesome, we both care for Ollie, of course we bonded.’
Oliver looked at her. ‘Really?’
‘Why does that surprise you?’, she narrowed her eyes.
‘She’s… geeky. And nerdy. And you’re… not.’
Thea slapped his shoulder. ‘Yes, but she’s also a genius and she cares, and she has a big heart and she’s a gorgeous girl with gorgeous taste and she helped me a lot with the club and with the house while you were away and she stayed with me when I needed it and she’s one of my best friends right now. So. Suck it.’
Oliver blinked.
‘She… took care of you?’
Thea’s smile became softer. ‘Yes. They all did’, she said, taking Roy’s hand and nodding at Diggle.
Before he got a chance to answer, Felicity made her way between Thea and Roy, standing right in front of him. His breath catches and he tries not to stare. He fails.
‘Whoa, Speedy’, she smiled, putting her bow on her back and a hand over his sister’s shoulder. ‘The dress is even more amazing with you in it. You look hot!’
‘Thank you. But I think we can all agree you’ve won.’, she says, looking at Roy for confirmation.
‘Totally’, he nods and pulls out a few bills from his pockets.
‘Absolutely.’, Digg agrees.
Felicity narrows his eyes at Olliver. ‘I don’t know, Mr. Queen here looks pretty incredible. I’m pretty sure nobody was expecting…’, she waves a hand absently towards Oliver’s body, stopping at his face. ‘… that. Nobody was expecting a death god.’
Thea shook her head. ‘I agree with you, but he’s just… scary. You… You’re… You’re a statement.’
‘And gorgeous.’, Digg adds.
Felicity smiles at him and blushes a bit.
‘Plus, he wasn’t even here when we started the contest.’, Roy ads.
‘Exactly’, Thea nods. ‘So take the goddamn money, woman.’
‘Okay then’, Felicity laughs, taking the money from Roy and fumbling with them for a bit, looking for pockets that aren’t there, until she puts them in her black bra, puffing annoyance. Thea laughs.
‘Classy.’
‘Shut up.’, Felicity blushes. ‘I only have one pocket and my phone barely fits in it.’
Thea shakes her head and grabs Felicity’s hand. The gesture makes Oliver’s heart skip a beat. ‘You know, Blondie. When you refused to tell me what your costume was, even though you were completely drunk, if I may add, this wasn’t what I was expecting.’
Felicity shrugged.
‘You know people are gonna freak.’, Roy said.
‘Yes’, she agreed. ‘But… people don’t know me. I’m just some blonde chick who’s screwing Oliver Queen.’. She blushed instantly and her eyes grew wide, looking panicked at Oliver, who still couldn’t say anything. ‘No, that’s not what I meant, we’re not sleeping together. That’s just what most people think.’, Felicity shook her head and took a deep breath. ‘I think it’s about time people realized the Hood isn’t the villain in this town. Some of them are already thinking about it, but they need… a push. A lot of pushes. All the pushes they can get.’ She smiled mischievously at Thea. ‘I know I’m not important, but if I get them talking… Plus. This is fun.’
‘Fun?’, Diggle asked a bit annoyed. ‘Don’t get me wrong, you look amazing and I get what you’re saying. But some people might… want to hurt you for being on his side.’, he said slowly, putting a comforting hand on Oliver’s shoulder.
‘I could always get hurt’, she shrugged, looking at the floor, knowing Oliver and Diggle would understand she’s talking about their Lair. ‘But that doesn’t mean I’ll leave.’ Then, Felicity grinned. ‘Plus, I have my boys! To take care of me!’
‘They’re your boys now?’, Thea chuckled.
‘Okay, our boys. I’m willing to share.’, she knocked their shoulders together and Oliver felt like his heart was ready to explode.
Felicity’s eyes went to him, uncertain. ‘Is Oliver okay?’, she fake-whispered to Thea.
‘I think you broke him’, she smiled, softly. The girls had a silent conversation with their eyebrows and it hit Oliver that he’d missed much more this 5 months than in the past 5 years.
When Felicity turned to him, she smiled and bit her lip at the same time. ‘Good broke or bad broke?’
‘You’re beautiful’, was what Oliver manage to say, realizing that those were the first words he’d addressed her tonight, and realizing he sounded a bit out of breath.
Felicity’s eyes grew wide in surprise for half a second, but then she smiled, big and soft and so caring, Oliver couldn’t help returning it.
‘Thank you. You’re not so bad yourself’, she laughed and took the wine glass from his hands, drinking it all in one go.
‘Still classy', Thea laughed. ‘Keep at it, Blondie. Also, you’re so sleeping over tonight.’
‘Of course.’, Felicity smiled, putting the empty glass on the bar and asking for another one.
‘Come on Roy, let’s dance.’, Thea smiled, taking the boy’s hand.
‘Can you even dance in that thing?’, he eyed the dress suspiciously.
Both the girls laughed as the couple made their way to the dance floor. When the three of them were alone, Diggle went to Felicity and hugged her. She hugged back instantly, running her hands over his back.
‘You’re insane’, he said, letting go of her, returning to Oliver’s side.
‘Completely’, she grinned. Then, she turned to Oliver.
‘I really hope you don’t mind.’, her expression turned serious. ‘But there are some things you need to understand, now that you’re back. I know this is a bit crude, but you don’t always want to listen.’
‘I always listen to you.’, he said, surprising himself at how true it felt.
‘Then listen to me now.’ Felicity took a small step forward. ‘Starling City needs its hero right now. And I know you don’t feel like you’re him. I understand that, you’ll never consider yourself a hero. But, if not anything else, you need to fake it.’
Oliver shook his head. ‘Nobody sees the Hood as a hero right now.’
‘Not nobody’, she puffed, annoyed, waving her hands down her body. Oliver’s eyes roamed it once again and he couldn’t take his eyes from her stomach. ‘You’re right, your reputation is a bit dark right now,’, she continued, ‘but we can fix it. You can fix it and you need to fix it and we’re gonna be here to help you. Team Green Arrow against the world.’
Oliver’s eyes snapped to her face. ‘Green Arrow?’
Felicity blushed. Then she shook herself and smiled. ‘I never liked calling you The Hood. The hood doesn’t define you, it’s just a mask. The arrows define you. And the years you’ve spent on the island.’
At Oliver’s confused expression, she added ‘On that island. Covered in trees. Green trees.’
Everybody was silent for a few seconds, until Diggle laughed.
Felicity lightly kicked his shoulder. ‘It was Thea’s idea, really. We were drooling over pictures of him one night and she wondered if the tips of his arrows are painted green, cause the Hood seems quite a fashionable piece of ass.’
She realized what she said a brief second later, and she blushed and her eyes grew wide, but then she puffed and shook her head, staring Oliver down and ignoring Diggle’s laughter.
‘Don’t look at me like that. You know you’re a fine piece of ass.’
Diggle laughed harder.
Oliver just shook his head and took a deep breath. ‘You’re incredible.’
Felicity’s eyes turned soft and her lips curled up. ‘I’m so glad you’re back.’
‘You’re dressed as me.’, Oliver laughed and shook his head.
‘After I had the idea, I couldn’t imagine anything else.’, she sighed. ‘You really need to know that there are some people who have your back, Oliver. Who care about what happens to you.’
‘And who are willing to help you with anything you or the Hood needs.’, Diggle added.
‘Not just us’, Felicity smiled at Diggle. ‘Thea too. Even Roy cares about you. And he adores the Hood. And Walter still loves you as a son. And…’ she laughed. ‘Honestly, since I got out of the car and I got inside the club, 12 different people told me I’m amazing.’
‘That’s because you are’, Oliver said without missing a beat.
Felicity rolled her eyes. ‘Stop complimenting me and focus on the topic at hand. The Hood. The Hood is amazing. And you need to understand that.’
‘I don’t think I can.’
‘But are you willing?’, Digg pushed. ‘It’s a work in progress, we get that. But you have to be willing to hear us out.’
Oliver couldn’t say anything, once again. He knew they cared about him. They came all the way to the island to get him, for christ’s sake. But he didn’t realize how much they cared. And it’s idiotic, that here they are, in the middle of a Halloween party, above their secret high-tech lair, wearing costumes and talking about the importance of their work, of his work. They’re talking about how important he is and for the first time, Oliver sees that. He doesn’t think he’s important to the city, but he knows he’s important to them.
‘I trust you.’, he says, with feeling.
Diggle puts a hand on his shoulder and squeezes a bit. ‘I’m gonna go check on Carly’, he lies and takes off.
When Oliver is left only with Felicity, he can’t take his eyes off her. This impossible thing, beautiful woman, genius person standing in front of him, willing, so willing to fix him. He knew he cared about her, but only now he realizes how much.
‘When did you get a belly button ring?’, is what he says, staring at the simple silver jewelry.
She giggles, and her muscles move, making Oliver’s breath catch. ‘First year of college.’
He takes his eyes off her body and looks to her face. She’s smiling softly, looking at him with big, hopeful eyes.
Felicity bites her lips and throws himself in his arms, wrapping her hands around his neck, careful not to smudge the makeup off his face. She doesn’t say anything; she just hugs him tightly, as Oliver pulls her closer with his hands around her waist. He feels her bow near his hands and he can’t help but smile.
‘Felicity Smoak, you keep surprising me.’
‘Please don’t leave me again’, she says close to his ear. Oliver suspects that wasn’t what she wanted to say, because she tenses and moves to escape his grip. But he doesn’t let her, he just holds her tighter.
‘You’re going to get hurt.’, he says, softly.
‘No’.
‘I’m going to get you hurt.’
‘No’, she says a little louder, with conviction.
Oliver grabs a hold of the bow on her back, pulling it slightly to put her attention on it. ‘You have no idea how much this means to me.’
Felicity pulls back then, but she doesn’t move away. She just drags her hands down her arms, grabbing hold of his right hand and squeezing gently. She looks into his eyes and smiles.
‘Lesson learned?’
Oliver nods. ‘Yeah, I’m starting to.’
‘Good.’, she chuckles. ‘You look so good.’
He doesn’t say anything, just waits for her brain to catch up. He’s expecting a ramble, like she always does when she unconsciously flirts with him. But it doesn’t come. Instead, she runs a hand over his eyebrow, down his cheek, on the part of his face with the makeup. She stops the hand on his neck, thumb pressing gently over his pulse point.
‘It really is an amazing Halloween costume. You should’ve taken the money.’
Oliver’s eyes instantly fall to her cleavage, where he knows she put them. He blushes and looks back up to her face, expecting anger. Instead, he finds her with a smug smile on her face and a flirty twinkle in her eyes. She lets go of him and takes a wine glass off the bar.
Oliver smiles as she drinks half of it. ‘You’ve changed. A bit.’
‘Is that bad?’, she asks, faking innocence and batting her eyelashes, barely holding her laughter in.
In that moment, Oliver decides she likes this Felicity. She’s confident and flirty, even though she’s still the genius friend he already knows. So he just shakes his head and takes the wine from her hands, taking a sip of it.
‘Are you really sleeping over tonight?’
‘Oh yes.’, she grins.
‘Does that happen a lot?’
‘Not so much now, no. It was more often the first month after you left. Digg and I needed to protect her and she was ok with it. I was at the mansion with Thea more than I was home. Sometimes we slept in your bed.’, she smiled. ‘Then we started working on the club, and I started working on the lair and… Are you okay with that?’, she asks, uncertain. ‘That… we’re friends now?’
Oliver shakes his head. ‘You were here when she needed me. I… She needs someone like you in her life. To help keep her on track.’
Felicity smiles. ‘Your sister is one hell of a woman. I have a lot to learn from her.’
Oliver frowns. ‘Thank you.’
‘No, I…’, she starts, but he cuts her off, grabbing her wrist.
‘Thank you for everything, Felicity. You helped me from the very beginning and you continued to help me even when I pushed you away. With Thea, with the club, with the lair, with everything.’
He struggled to search for more words, but she put a hand over his and smiled. ‘I’ve got your back.’
‘Arrow’, she added after a beat, amusement in her eyes.
Oliver takes a deep breath, and bends down to kiss her cheek. When he pulls back, her cheeks are an alarming shade of red, but she doesn’t say anything for a long time.
In the end, she leans forward to say something in his ear.
‘Does this mean you’ll join Thea, Roy and me to the newly tradition of cuddling on your couch and watching a Disney movie after a big party?’
‘Does this mean you’ll sleep in my bed?’, he answers.
She pulls back abruptly, and Oliver can see she’s not breathing. He isn’t either. His eyes skip to her cleavage for a second, but she catches the movement.
Felicity doesn’t say anything, but she does straighten her back and arrange the bow on her back. Then she drags him to the dance floor, where they both find themselves smiling like lunatics, forgetting about anything else in the world for one night.