be us against the world - t - olicity - part 6 [c]
title: we keep all our promises (be us against the world)
category: arrow
genre: drama/romance
chapter rating: pg-13/teen
overall rating: nc-17/explicit
inspiration: gif (source)
word count: 12,189
summary: [au - no island] Oliver Queen has no idea what he's doing with his life, but when his father gives him an ultimatum, he has to figure it out. After meeting Felicity Smoak, he finds himself on a new path and his eyes are opened to what happiness really means and how finding it takes more courage than he ever thought he had.
[Return.]
It was two in the morning and they were half-way through Two Towers when she fell asleep with her head pillowed on his shoulder. She'd spent much of the movies filling him in on character backgrounds and the differences between the novel and the movie adaptations. Apparently, she was a big Tolkien fan and had read the books numerous times, even offering to let him borrow both The Lord of the Rings series and The Hobbit. All of them sat stacked on the coffee table, the spines cracked and the covers well-worn from numerous reads.
Oliver slipped the blanket off from the back of the couch and tucked it in around her while he finished the movie. Arms crossed comfortably over his chest, he absently played with a tendril of her hair, twisting it around his finger. She smelled like peaches; he knew from using her shower that it was her body wash, but it carried his mind elsewhere. Some days were harder than others; some days he looked at her and got completely distracted by just how pretty she was. Other days he thought he was getting used to it, adapting to how her whole face lit up when she smiled or how her eyes seemed to get brighter when she laughed. But then something would happen, her head would fall back and he'd notice how long her neck was. Or she'd say something, shaking her head in her excitement, and he'd be helpless to how cheeks seemed to pop when she smiled. Felicity was pretty in a way that was distracting. Everything about her was distracting to him. Her voice and her laughs, of which she had many, and the fire in her eyes when she got really worked up about something.
There were facets about her that he was still learning and exploring. She wasn't perfect. She was nosy and stubborn and he'd never met anyone more arrogant about their skills with a computer. She could be bossy and she was always sure she was right, never mind that she usually was, and she had a Loud Voice that could rival even his mother's on a bad day. So he knew she was flawed, just like he knew he would never be anywhere near perfect, but he still liked those things about her. He liked how she always stood up for herself and that she was proud of how smart she was and that she'd fight him until the bitter end. It helped that she was even more beautiful when she was angry.
He used to think something similar about Laurel. Until anger turned into disappointment and sometimes pity and, more recently, just a general feeling of having become resigned. Laurel's expectations of him had been on a downward spiral for some time now; if the pattern kept up, he was pretty sure she'd be well into resentment soon. The thing was, he loved Laurel. He did. He just wasn't in love with her anymore. The passion that had once been between them had dulled over the years, and, while he knew that happened in relationships, he felt like they'd fallen into a rut they would never get out of. She had her life, with her school and becoming a lawyer and he had his, chasing impossible dreams of running a club with Tommy. Those two lives didn't completely fit together, not like they once had, or like he thought they once had.
He wasn't unaware that Laurel had always kind of frowned upon his way of living. She loved him despite how he was, partying instead of working or achieving much of anything. But he didn't fit the mold of the man she wanted in her life, and her frequent pushing for him to try harder often led to them fighting and then breaking up and a few weeks of one-night stands until she took him back. It was a cycle he was tired of, only he hadn't realized he was tired until Felicity walked into his life and called him pathetic for not just owning up to what he really wanted in his life, and what he didn't want.
He realized suddenly that her advice was still true, and he wasn't following it.
Things had changed a lot in the time since he'd met Felicity. He had changed a lot. And not entirely in ways that everyone wanted him to. He didn't party as much; in fact, he hadn't been to a club for anything but scoping out the competition since that last bender. He had given shadowing his father a chance and subsequently decided it was not for him. He frequently walked a dog and volunteered at a shelter; neither of which were things he'd ever considered doing before. He'd moved out of his parents' home and was staying in Tommy's spare room. He had little to no money except for what his mother deemed fit to give him or Tommy lent him. He was shopping a club around with anybody would listen. And despite how a lot of these decisions didn't end up resulting in the perfect life he once envisioned, he was happy with them.
He was happy that he didn't have to go to QC every morning and sit in on long, boring meetings. Instead, he picked up Jasper and they tripped around the park for a few hours. He worked on his business proposal and he did research and he looked for new people for them to pitch it to. He stopped in at the shelter to see if they needed an extra hand anywhere.
He was happy that when he went home at night, it wasn't to a house filled with parents who were disappointed in every decision he made, or reluctant to believe that he could accomplish what he had set out to do. They wanted him to grow up, and the first step to that was independence.
He was happy that, while he didn't have an endless bank account, he still had food, he had a roof over his head, and when Felicity offered to pay for a movie or buy his lunch, she didn't look exasperated or tired with having to pick up his slack.
He was happy that the two closest people in his life supported him. Tommy, despite rejection after rejection, joined him in finding the next mark, the next possible investor. And Felicity kept an open mind, encouraging him to do whatever made him happy, to drive toward his dream instead of settling for what worked or what fit or what his father wanted him to.
But he was doing one thing wrong and even though he knew it, that cowardly part of him still kept him from fixing it.
Oliver adopted Jasper on a Tuesday.
Tommy came home to find her sitting on his couch, gnawing on a toy bone. She barked at him so loudly he shrieked like a little girl. Oliver fell over laughing.
Felicity wasn't surprised.
"You're a big softie," she told him, taking a seat in the arm chair, Jasper's head resting in her lap as she looked to be pet.
"Not sure anybody's ever said that to me before," Oliver remarked, brow furrowed.
"Maybe you spend your time with the wrong people."
"I resent that," Tommy shouted from the kitchen.
"Eavesdropping is rude," she sing-songed back.
"You're… rude…"
Oliver snorted before turning his attention back to Felicity. "I thought about what you said, about her having a family, but… I wanna be her family." He shrugged, leaning back in his seat and patting the spot beside him to call Jasper over. "It's probably going to be a little cramped in the apartment for her, but after I get the club going and we start bringing in revenue, we'll get a place of our own." He hugged an arm around her and squeezed.
Happily, Jasper turned her head up and licked his face.
He grinned down at her before looking over at Felicity, who was smiling at him sweetly. She nodded at him, giving her small sign of approval, and he scratched behind Jasper's ear and settled comfortably with her against him.
Tommy came out then, with a bowl of popcorn and three bottles of beer.
They turned on The Fellowship of the Ring since, apparently, Tommy too needed to be educated, and settled back for a marathon.
This felt right, Oliver thought.
He had his dog, his best friend, and his…. Felicity.
They found an investor for their club in Mason Brookwell, a wealthy business associate of his fathers who had built his empire on supporting local businesses and building them up. He clapped at the end of their presentation and, with very little fanfare, cut them a blank check and told them to put in what they thought worked to get it started. He wanted a share in the company, but he wasn't greedy, and that's what had them signing the dotted line.
They kept their composure until they left the office and then they were hugging each other.
Tommy reached over and gripped Oliver's head tight before he slapped his shoulders. "Can you believe this? Huh?" he asked excitedly.
He shook his head, grinning so wide his cheeks hurt. "We're opening a club."
"That's right!" Tommy yanked him in for another hug. "Me and you, buddy. Business owners."
Nothing sounded as close to freedom as that.
Oliver and Tommy took Felicity out to celebrate. Dinner and dancing at the finest establishment in the city. Table Salt sat the three of them and, though Felicity tried to keep them from spending too much money on her, Oliver ordered their best bottle of wine.
"You'll love it," he promised her.
"Oliver that's way more than you need to pay," she told him, shaking her head.
"You're worth every dime," he said, reaching across the table to cover her hand with his.
"And now we have more dimes than we know what to do with," Tommy piped up cheerfully.
Felicity tore her gaze away from his to look at Tommy, her brow raised. "I think you know exactly what to do with them. Buy the land first, get permits for building, and start there."
The wine arrived then and they were each poured a glass.
Tommy raised his in cheers. "To Sapphire."
They clinked their glasses in answer and when Oliver looked across the table at Felicity, her eyes shone the exact color he expected for the occasion.
"You're happy," he said, his hand still tangled with hers.
"Ecstatic," she answered. "And really, really proud."
He squeezed her fingers in his. "Me too."
Dinner was a happy affair; expensive appetizers came and went, with dinner left unfinished and packed up for later. Felicity begged off dancing for another night since she was so stuffed and while Oliver offered to see her home, Tommy said he wasn't done for the night, and hugged them each goodbye before hitting the club scene for his own celebration.
Felicity's apartment was quiet and he briefly found himself missing how Jasper immediately greeted him when he came home. But he walked further inside as she kicked off her heels, dropping her another three inches.
Catching his amused smile, she raised a brow. "What?"
"You're just… very small."
"Are you kidding?" She pressed a hand to her stomach. "I don't think I've ever eaten so much in my life."
He shook his head. "You're beautiful."
Her head tipped to the side, staring up at him with that unconvinced look of hers.
He copied her, grinning all the while.
"Okay, if you say so," she murmured before turning to walk away.
He caught her hand and tugged her back.
Her head tipped up to look at him, brow furrowed curiously.
Deciding not to overthink it, he merely pulled her closer, an arm sliding around her waist while he raised her hand, and then he moved into a simple two-step. Slowly, her hand raised to rest on his shoulder. "We don't have any music," she whispered, as if worried she'd somehow interrupt the moment.
"I promised dancing," he said, his lips brushing the shell of ear.
His fingers were settled low on her back, hovering near the tail of the zipper, thumb rubbing side to side over the butter soft fabric. Gradually, they moved closer together, their fronts pressed so close that he could feel the rise and fall of her chest. He wondered if her heart was beating as quickly as his. Her fingers slipped in between the spaces of his and curled down. He wondered if she pressed hard enough, her prints, unique to all others, might permanently etch themselves into his skin, a reminder of her that would never leave.
Every breath he took was filled with the faint scent of peaches and the perfume she'd dabbed on her neck. He searched it out, burying his face at her shoulder and, without giving it much thought and acting purely on instinct, he pressed a delicate kiss to her neck, where her pulse was beating a quick song. His lips dragged up to behind her ear and his teeth found the lobe, tugging gently. Her hand squeezed around his and he answered it with the pressure of his own before he let his lips whisper over her cheek, finding the corner of her eye and the arch of her brow, the center of her forehead and the tip of her nose. He hovered over her lips, staring down at her closed eyes, counting her eyelashes. God, she was so beautiful…
When she opened her eyes to meet his, he slanted his mouth over hers. Breathing out every bit of anticipation and breathing in every inch of satisfaction. Her lips were soft and warm and they slanted over his, again and again, finding that impossibly perfect fit. Her hand released his, reaching up to curl around his neck, fingers buried in his hair. He sighed into her mouth, his tongue curling around hers and stroking, lashing the back of her teeth before he nipped her bottom lip and licked the sting away. He wrapped his arm around her and lifted her, his hand sliding down to cup beneath her thigh, hiking it around his hip while his fingers teased the underside. He held her against him as their mouths moved, reaching and searching and meeting. When she broke away from his lips, it was only to kiss down his face and suck a hot, wet path over his neck, her fingers diligently working the buttons of his shirt free, pink painted nails lightly scratching his chest.
His hands slid under the hem of her purple dress and dragged it up to her waist, squeezing and kneading her thighs, his thumbs stroking over the cheeks of her ass, making her squirm and press against him, her legs tightening around his waist. God, she felt good. He fingers flexed up, reaching for the strings over her hips, eager to peel the black fabric down and off her, to bury his finger to the hilt inside her.
Her teeth scraped over his collar bone and he hissed a breath between his teeth. She stretched back up and found his mouth, sucking his top lip between hers. He slid a hand up her back, burying it beneath her hair and stroking his fingers down the nape of her neck. Their kisses slowed down then, each panting against each other, eyes meeting. She was so beautiful; an aroused flush tinted her cheeks, her pupils blown wide, and he could already imagine it…
He could imagine waking up in the morning to her smiling at him, rolling over to kiss him, her blonde curls in disarray around her shoulders. He could see himself convincing her to spend a few more minutes just lying in bed, even though she had to get to work and she knew he'd make her late, again. And then Jasper would be there, pushing her way in between them, demanding attention, and Felicity would linger, her head on his shoulder and his chin balanced atop her hair. They'd pet Jasper and argue over who should make coffee and when she finally dragged herself out of reach and got ready for work, she'd come back for a kiss and tell him to get some sleep because she knew he was working late at the club. He'd try to convince her back into bed and she'd laugh and let him think he won but just as soon as he eased back to the pillows, she'd step out of reach, blow him a kiss goodbye and leave for work. And he would love it. He would love her.
His phone rang, like a death knell from his pants pocket, and it hit him like a blow to the gut.
Laurel.
He didn't even have to look at the call display to know.
"What?" Felicity asked, tipping her head, her nose brushing his. "Do you need to get that?"
He did. He did need to get that and he needed to slide his hands out from beneath her dress and he needed to apologize to her and to Laurel and beg for forgiveness. Because he might've just fucked up the best thing to come into his life because he was too eager to remember that he was still in a relationship. And he could lie. Blatantly or by omission. He could turn his phone off and take Felicity back into her room and fuck her until they were both completely and utterly satisfied, and then he could go over to Laurel's and gently break up with her, and neither would be the wiser.
But he didn't.
He slowly put Felicity down until her feet landed on the floor and then he took a step back and he told her, honestly, "I made a mistake tonight, because the person phoning me right now is my girlfriend."
Her face fell abruptly and she took a quick step back.
He held his hands up. "Listen, I… I know how this looks. But I need you to know that I've been with Laurel for three years. We break up a lot; I mean, the epitome of off and on. And I've made mistakes, I've cheated on her a lot, and she knows that. I- I screwed up all the time and I figured she'd always forgive me anyway, so what did it matter. But this… This is not one of those times. On the surface, yes, it might look that way, but… What happened tonight, you and me, it was different."
Her brow furrowed. "Why are you telling me this?'
He laughed emptily. "Because I've wanted to break up with her for a very long time and I should have. When I realized how I felt about you and how distant I was becoming from her, I should've broken up with her. But you were right, when you met me. I-I'm a coward and when things get difficult, I avoid them. I didn't want to deal with what was going on with Laurel. I didn't want to add that to the sky-high pile of failures I've already got behind me. I just, at first I guess I thought it would go away."
Felicity shook her head. "That what would go away?"
"How I feel when I look at you! How… my stomach twists up when you smile and how my heart actually jumps because I've made you happy. I… I fall asleep thinking of you, hoping I dream about you, and I wake up wishing you were beside me. And I keep trying to find excuses to be around you and even when I don't have them, I know that when things go wrong, somehow I'm going to wind up here. Because you… you are the only thing that makes sense in my life. You're the only person that I've ever felt like I can be myself around…"
His eyes burned then and he felt a hitch bite at his throat. "I have never known anyone who actually believed that I was enough and then I met you. I met you and even knowing what a complete asshole I was, you still told me that I should do what makes me happy. When everybody but Tommy thought I would fail at everything I tried, you were the only one to tell me that I could do this, I could open this club. You believed in me and you pushed me and you have never… You never look disappointed in me."
He shook his head, his teeth clenched. "Until five minutes ago when I made the worst mistake of my life and I jumped the gun on what I know is going to be the most important relationship I will ever have. So, I am asking you to please not give up on me. Because this… this thing with Laurel, it's over, I know it's over, I just need to pull the plug. And when I do, I want to know that I haven't completely ruined what you and I have because, even if you can't love me, I… I need you in my life."
She stared up at him, tears brimming in her eyes.
He stared at her searchingly. "Felicity…"
Swallowing tightly, she hugged her arms around herself. "I think you should go."
He shook his head, stepping toward her, and cupped her face, rubbing his thumbs over her cheeks to swipe away that tears that tripped and fell. "Please, don't give up on me. Please. Not you."
"Oliver…" She pressed a hand to his chest to push him back. "You need to talk to Laurel… I don't know what's going to happen to us, but you need to talk to Laurel."
He let out a heavy breath and stared down at her. "Okay…" He licked his lips and stepped back. "I'm going to fix this."
She let out a faint smile, but he felt it like a knife through his chest.
"I promise," he whispered, before he turned and walked out of her apartment.
He heard the door close behind him and hoped it wasn't final.
[Next: Part Seven.]
Author's Note: So, I wasn't going to put this out until tomorrow, but a pretty amazing thing happened where Celina Jade (the awesome actress who plays Shado on Arrow) read at least the first chapter of this story and quoted/rec'd it, not once, but twice, which is pretty much the coolest thing to ever happen to me. So, that's pretty awesome.
I also have a really busy week coming up, so I wasn't sure if I'd be able to update, so I'm kind of glad I'm getting this out now. I'm editing really late, though, so if you see any errors, let me know and I'll fix them when I get a chance to.
This is one of the big peaks of the story. I recently told a few people to be careful what they wish for in getting a Laurel/Oliver break up and this is why. The very beginning of the next chapter is Oliver and Laurel finally discussing their issues, but, as you can see, what Tommy said has come to fruition. Oliver jumped the gun. He didn't deal with things as he should and now his relationship with Felicity has suffered. I'm curious as to what you think will happen from here. Will she forgive him after he breaks up with Laurel or no?
I want to thank all of you for the amazing reviews I've received for this story. I don't have as much time as I'd like to be able to respond to each of you individually. Although, part of that is because I'm constantly writing the next chapter, so I hope you'll forgive me a bit on that end. I'll also encourage you to find me on Tumblr, where I'm far more accessible and happy to discuss plots and stories and characters. I've really loved writing this story and it's grown to mean a lot to me. There's still a lot to come and I'm very glad you've all enjoyed it and thankful for your encouragement.
Big thanks to: sandy1024, lionhearted_21, calliope1975, moonstar_sfu, phoenix_173, and purple_moon123
So, thank you for reading and, please, leave a review! This is a pretty big moment and I'm so, so eager to hear what you guys think! Reviews are my lifeblood. They do keep me writing and focused and certainly make me want to update faster.
Thanks so much!
- Lee | Fina