Chapter Text
"Do you think this is such a good idea, Laurel?" Oliver asked, "I mean if we both show up unannounced he might think we're ganging up on him."
"Ollie, we are ganging up on him," Laurel replied as she snapped her seat belt into place and turned to look at him, "he has to talk to us. I understand him not wanting to after the Undertaking, because he knows what we did but he finally started talking to us then Slade and his minions decided to destroy everything. He's pissed at you for getting me involved but once you explain that it wasn't like that, that Slade knew about me from the island and that's why he took me then he'll understand."
Oliver just looked at her, not convinced that this was a good idea. He loved Tommy and wanted his best friend back but since he saved his life that night, he was civil. Oliver tried many times to start a conversation and Tommy would just walk away. Felicity felt bad about it and talked to him, she let Oliver know that Tommy was grateful to him for saving his life but he couldn't get past the lies Oliver had told since he'd returned from the island.
"Laurel--"
"Ollie, I want him back. He knows what we did and as much as I've tried to explain that it was nothing, he still doesn't talk to me or you. What we did was a mistake and we both know it, I love him and we all have too much of a history to just throw it away. It's been long enough, he needs to listen to us, now drive." She demanded as she turned to face the windshield.
Oliver shook his head and started the car, driving towards Tommy's penthouse. As much as he was dreading this, he was kind of happy that Laurel called him this morning with this plan. He wanted his best friend back, his brother, the only other person besides Digg and Felicity that understood him. They drove in silence and parked on the street. The doorman remembered them and let them up and the rode the elevator in silence, both of them trying to figure out what to say to him.
The elevator dinged and they exited, headed to Tommy's door. "You sure about this?" Oliver asked, Laurel nodded and rang the doorbell.
"Make it stop, please make it stop." Felicity mumbled as she buried her head under the pillows as bells sounded.
"Mmmmhhhhhmmmm," Tommy replied as he hit the alarm clock, the bells kept ringing.
"Tommy, make. it. stop." Felicity enunciated each word as they both heard the knocking start.
"Damn, somebody's at the door." He lifted his head, it felt like a ton of bricks and he fell back on the pillow.
Felicity just mumbled something and burrowed her head further into the pillows and comforter. He rolled out of bed and he hand braces the wall until he is stable enough to walk. He heads to the door in nothing but his tux bottoms from last night, no shirt, no shoes, hair sticking up every where and lipstick on his jaw.
"I'm coming, I'm coming, stop with the noise already." He said as he walked to the door. He unlocked it, jerking it open and this is not what he was wanting to see on a Sunday morning.
12 hours earlier
"Tommy, where are you?" Felicity asked, worry in her voice. She was leaving the foundry, it was midnight and as soon as she had started her car, Tommy had called.
"The hotel bar."
"What are you doing at a hotel bar?"
"That benefit gala was tonight and all they had was champagne and I needed something stronger than that, hence, the hotel bar. But said hotel bar is closing and I need a way to get home, can you come get me?"
"Of course, tell me which one." Felicity said as she put her car into gear.
She drove up to Tommy's building and pulled into the garage. Parking her car in his spot, she came around and helped him out. "Smoak, you should really think about getting a bigger car." He said looking at her Mini-Cooper like it had personally offended him.
She laughed at that, "Really? It fits me just fine." She told him as she shut and locked the doors. "Can you walk or do you need help?"
"No, I'm good but you are coming up with me, right?" He stopped suddenly , asking her.
"I told you that I'd make sure that you got home safe and since you are technically not home yet, then yes, I'm coming up." They made it to the elevator, up to his floor and into his apartment with no issues. He made a beeline for the bar and grabbed the whiskey.
"Tommy, don't you think you might have had enough?" She asked with concern as she walked to him.
"No, I can still remember and I don't want to and you're," He motioned to her with the bottle, "going to join me."
"Tommy, I really don't drink."
"Smoak, I've seen you put away an entire bottle of red by yourself so don't play with me. Come sit." He replied grinning.
"Okay, I'll drink with you on one condition," She argued as she maneuvered him to the couch, "you have to talk to me."
"I am talking to you." He dragged out the last word, looking up at her from the couch.
"No, Merlyn, I mean it. You can't keep doing this to yourself. I know they hurt you but this isn't healthy, so if you're willing to talk, honestly talk it out, I'll stay."
"He hurt you too, you willing to talk about that." He snapped at her.
She ignored the tone but answered his question, "If it'll get you talking and off this self destructive path then yes, I'll discuss it."
He eyes got big because this was the first time since their friendship started that she was willing to tell him anything. He knew she didn't talk about Ollie because he didn't but he now considers her his best friend. A woman who he knows is in love with his former best friend, who slept with his girlfriend's sister, then his ex-girlfriend, then the sister again after she came back from the dead. Hell, come to think of it, she might the drink more than him.
"Sit." He patted the cushion beside him.
"What about glasses?"
"Nope, doesn't work that way, broken hearts don't drink from a glass, it's straight from the bottle."
"Well, my heart isn't broken," She sighed when he gave her a you've-got-to-be-kidding-me look, "bruised maybe but not broken. We were never a thing Tommy, he could be with whomever he wanted, I'm just his IT girl."
Tommy slid sideways on the leather sofa to get a better look at her, she truly believes what she's saying. How does she not notice the way Ollie looks at her? The few times he's been around the two of them he feels like he's intruding on something personal. If he can see it and he's pissed at the guy right now, how is she unaware?
"You really believe that don't you?"
"Tommy, part of the reason you're sitting here getting drunk is because Oliver and Laurel slept together. He will always chose her." She said quietly, taking the bottle from him and drinking. She coughed, her eyes watering and she handed the bottle back.
He nodded, and took a drink and they just sat on the couch for hours talking, passing the bottle back and forth when he noticed her eyes drooping. "Hey," He nudged he elbow where it rest on the back of the couch, "come on, I got a spare bedroom you can crash in and then in the morning we can go to that bagel place you like for hangover food."
"Tommy Merlyn, you got me drunk." She said with a smile as he helped her stand and walk down the hall.
"I know, did it help?"
"Actually, talking with you did help. What about you?" She asked when he walked her to the bed.
"You know what Smoak?, you and Jack Daniel's are good therapy."
She smiled at that saying, "Well, at least I came before the whiskey." She kissed his jaw as she fell back on the bed, he took the comforter and pulled it around her. She flipped to her side, "Good night Tommy."
"Night, Felicity." Tommy walked from the room and into his. As he entered the bathroom, he remembered how he and Felicity had become friends. She came to visit him everyday while he was in the hospital. He hadn't wanted to see Ollie, even though he saved his life and to be honest, he thought that Ollie had sent her to talk to him. She only brought him up once and when he'd told her that he was appreciative that Ollie had saved him, he didn't want to see him. After that, she never mentioned him again. She let him know what was going on out in the world, brought him newspapers and magazines, played cards with him or just sat quietly as he tried to figure out what he was going to do with his life now. He had his trust fund, something his mother had started when he was a baby so that wouldn't be touched by the lawsuits that were hitting the company. He also had Verdant, he wasn't sure if he wanted to keep that or not since the basement was occupied. When he was released from the hospital, she was the one he called and asked to take him home. She had fussed over him once they got here and made sure that before she left, he had a fully stocked fridge and Netflix. he considered her his closest friend and he understood Ollie's need to have her around. She has such a bright personality and it infects everything. He smiled at that, she was a happy virus, he'd have to tell her that in the morning, she'd laugh at that.
"Tommy?"
He stuck his head out of the bathroom and looked at Felicity who was fidgeting in the doorway, "Felicity? Is everything okay?" He asked as he moved closer to her.
"My dress keeps getting tangled around my knees, do you have something I can wear?"
He chuckles and motions with his head to a door, "There's the closet, get whatever you want." She walks in the closet and he walks back into the bathroom. After removing his shirt and socks and washing his face, he flips the switch off and heads into the bedroom. Felicity has donned one of his dress shirts and is currently face down on the bed.
"Felicity?" She mumbles something but doesn't move.
He picks her up, moving her up the bed and covers her up. The closet light is still on and her dress is lying in a fushia puddle on the floor. He picks it up and hangs it so it won't wrinkle. He shuts off the lights and crawls in beside Felicity.
"What are you two doing here?" Tommy asks as he rubs the back of his neck. Laurel and Oliver look at him and then each other. He looks disheveled and hung over, tux pants unbuttoned, no shirt, no socks, bed head and lipstick on his jaw. Oliver wants to leave, Tommy probably has a woman here but Laurel doesn't budge when he pulls her elbow.
Laurel doesn't answer, she walks past him into the penthouse, stopping when she sees high heels on the floor beside the couch. Oliver looks at Tommy with a question in his eyes and Tommy just moves to the side to let him come in. As Tommy shuts the door, the thought goes through his mind that at least he didn't barge in like Laurel did.
"Since I wasn't answered the first time, I'll ask again, what are you two doing here?" He asked, still standing by the door. Laurel was closer to the living room and Ollie was standing halfway between them.
"I, we," Laurel said, motioning to her and Ollie, "came to talk to you. We understand your need to process but we would like for you to have all the information and then if you still don't want us in your life, we won't bother you again." He looked over at Ollie who just nodded.
"Alright, tell me whatever it is that you want me to know." He said not moving from his spot by the door.
Laurel looked at Ollie, who gave a quick shake of his head, and started, "I know what happened between me and Ollie before the Undertaking was wrong and we both feel guilty about it. It's not because you found out, it's because it meant nothing and we realized that it was mistake and we didn't want to hurt you. It wasn't love, it was comfort, the feel of something familiar and then you almost died but you wouldn't see either one of us. You banned us from the hospital and wouldn't let us help you. You barely spoke to me and when anything went beyond small talk, you'd walk away. You finally began speaking to me again when Slade's wrath came crashing down and you shut yourself off again. Tommy, all we want is a second chance to be in your life."
Ollie looked at him, "Really Tommy, that's all we want. Slade knew about Laurel because I had her picture with me on the island and I trusted him and talked a lot about her. That's how he knew her, please, whatever questions that you have, we are more than willing to answer."
Tommy nodded but made no move to sit. "Tommy, can we at least sit down?" Laurel snapped. Oliver's head jerked around to look at her, this was her idea and she was being bitchy. He knew that Tommy had lipstick on his jaw but given what they were here to seek forgiveness for, she needed to be nicer.
He motioned to the dining room table that was behind Oliver, and she huffed over and sat down. Ollie sat down beside her and Tommy plopped in the first chair he pulled out. They sat there staring at one another until Tommy said, "You guys were the ones to interrupt my Sunday so either speak or leave."
Laurel scoots back so quickly in her chair that it slams to the floor. Tommy winced at the sound and then Laurel started yelling, "Can you at least try Tommy? We just want you back in our lives and I know that we screwed up but it's like you don't even want to listen! You have every right to treat us like this but we're basically groveling and are trying to find a way to make things better and you're acting like it's a burden! I don't understand why--"
"Tommy?" They heard a soft female voice say.
Oliver froze he knew that voice, he looked around to find her and saw the shoes by the couch, the empty bottle of Jack on the loveseat and glancing down the hall, he saw her in nothing but one of Tommy's dress shirts. He barely heard Laurel's gasp through the blood rushing in his ears or notice when she slumped against the table. He saw Tommy move towards her and by the time he reached her, she was standing at the edge of the hallway, one more step would have her in the living room.
"Oh. my. god. that's bright," She murmured, closing her eyes with her hand covering them to block the sun coming in from the floor to ceiling windows, "what's with the yelling?"
"I got ambushed this morning." He replied and stepped aside for her to see who was sitting at the dining room table.
"What do you mean ambu--oh, hi," She stared at Oliver and Laurel with big eyes and then looked over at Tommy, "you okay?" She asked, as she rubbed a hand back and forth on his arm.
"Not really, but if I hear them out, they said they'll leave me alone to think about it." He told her, rubbing his hand over his face.
She pulled his hand down and took it in hers, "I know that you have been avoiding this but it might be a good thing to hear them out. At least then, you'll have all the facts and if you still choose to cut them from your life," She risked a glance over at Oliver and Laurel, he was statue still, staring at the two of them and she thought there might be actual steam coming out of Laurel's ears, "you'll know the real reasons you did it."
"Will you stay with me?" He asked.
She smiled, "As soon as you get me ibuprofen and maybe some sunglasses I will." He tightened his grip on her hand, he hadn't known how much he needed her for this.
"Check the medicine cabinet in my bedroom and I'll deal with the light." She nodded and walked back up the hallway while he went to the coffee table and picked up an electronic pad. He punched a few buttons and tinted shaded came over the windows, still leaving light but blocking out the glare.
Oliver watched their interaction and didn't know what to think. He knew that they knew each other and that she'd visited him in the hospital but he hadn't realized that their relationship had come to this. He knew that he'd never forget how she looked in Tommy's dress shirt, all wrinkled from sleeping with Tommy. His hands clenched into fists as he tried calming himself down, he knew he was jealous and he had no right to be and as he opened his eyes he noticed that Laurel was crying.
"Laurel? You have to pull yourself together. You're the one who wanted to do this and you refused to call first. Suck it up, we may not get another chance." He whispered to her.
"I know but her? Her? Why her?" She heard Tommy in the living room and quickly wiped her eyes.
Felicity walked back into the living room and noticed that Oliver and Laurel had their heads together talking quietly. She shook her head thinking to herself that it would always be that way, it would always be her over anyone else. Tommy noticed too and walked over, taking Felicity's hand in his. She squeezed it and together walked to the table and sat down.
Oliver glanced over at her and she spoke to both him and Laurel. Laurel immediately tensed up when she did and he noticed Tommy shift a little closer to Felicity. "So, what is it that you have to talk to me about?" Tommy asked in their general direction.