what does home look like? - t - olicity - part two [b]
title: what does home look like? (I've only seen shadows of it in my dreams)
category: arrow
genre: family/romance
ship: felicity/oliver
chapter rating: pg-13/teen
overall rating: nc-17/explicit
prompt: ooh ooh felicity as lance's step-daughter, growing up with laurel and sara, in love with oliver! - anonymous
word count: 6,903
summary: (au) For most of her life, Felicity Smoak grew up with her father in Coast City, only visiting her mother Dinah and the Lance family in the summers. But when her father drops her off for an unexpected visit and doesn't come back, Felicity is forced to figure out what 'family' really means. And, in the meantime, falling in love with the local billionaire can't hurt, right?
[return.]
Laurel and Sara left at eleven. Felicity took some time to tidy up around the apartment, even though it was pretty much immaculate, and did a little of her of the homework she'd had emailed to her to pass the time. She felt nervous. She liked Oliver. She'd liked boys before, of course, but this felt different. He was different. He was so… focused. Whenever they were together, she felt like she was the center of his attention. Oh, that seemed kind of selfish. It was just… the way he talked to her and listened to her, it was like he refused to let anything else interrupt or enter the bubble that formed around them. Like he blocked out the rest of the world so he could hear what she was saying, even if it was a pointless five-minute ramble about absolutely nothing important.
She'd never really felt like that before. Overlooked and ignored were better adjectives for how she generally felt. It wasn't her mother's fault. Felicity lived a completely separate life from her and often kept the worst details from Dinah. Sometimes she wasn't sure why she did it. A last ditch effort to keep Tony from getting in trouble? A misplaced desperation not to look pathetic in comparison to the rest of her family? She wasn't sure. All she knew was that her home life was pretty, well, sad. She loved Tony. He was… dad. But their living conditions were kind of dismal and food was scarce and she always felt like she was cleaning up after him. She wasn't the center of his world, just the cleaning crew after he'd demolished what little he had in the world. When it came to her sisters and mom, she kind of felt like she didn't get to spend enough time with them to make any real impression. She came and went before anything got a chance to really bond them together. Maybe that was just on her side though?
She knew they loved her. She never questioned that. And even Tony loved her in his own way. But this felt good. To be independent and exploring something with Oliver that was at her own pace, however fast or slow she wanted that to be. There was an expiration date, of course. She wouldn't be in Starling City forever. But it could be fun while it lasted. She could enjoy this feeling for as long as she had it, so why not?
Oliver showed up just after one with a box of Orville Redenbacher and a pack of red vines.
Quentin took it upon himself to clean his guns in the living room while she and Oliver sat beside each other to watch the movie.
From what she could tell, he was enjoying it. Felicity split her attention between watching the movie and his face, trying to gauge his enthusiasm level. Every once in a while, his mouth would twitch, and she took it as a sign that he'd caught her staring. So, she'd turn back around and watch the screen for a while, until eventually something big was about to happen, and she'd look back to see how he'd react.
He'd snuck an arm around her early on, first with the excuse that he was going to feed her popcorn from the bowl in her lap, but when he rubbed a whole handful on her mouth just to bug her, she banned him from feeding her anymore. "Spoilsport," he sighed, but left his arm around her shoulders.
They were a little over an hour in when he asked, "There's a book, too?"
"Three," she told him, nodding. "Just like there'll be three movies. And The Hobbit, but that's not part of this series. There's an animated version though."
"Do you have the books?"
"Mm-hmm." She nodded, plucking a red vine from the bag on his leg and biting off the end. "Not here, though. Back home."
"Huh…" He frowned thoughtfully. "Maybe I'll pick them up downtown before I head home."
She smiled. "Yeah?"
He looked over at her, his gaze falling to her lips. "Yeah."
Quentin cleared his throat, drawing their attention. "So, Oliver… You're seventeen."
"I am."
Her step-father raised an eyebrow. "Any plans for your future?"
Oliver shrugged, settling back against the couch, his hand cupping and squeezing her shoulder. "College and then, I don't know, I guess I'll get a job at QC and shadow my dad for a while."
"QC?" Felicity asked, brow furrowed.
"Queen Consolidated," he explained. "My dad's the CEO."
"Right, you mentioned that, I guess I just didn't think about how… big that was." Her eyes darted away as she bit her lip.
"So you wanna go into business?" Quentin asked, eyebrow raised. "You see yourself calling the shots in some big office?"
Oliver frowned. "I wouldn't say it was my first thought, but it's what my dad's expecting, so…"
Quentin's eyes narrowed. "You always do what's expected of you?"
His mouth turned up in what could only be described as a smirk. "No, sir. Not generally."
The front door swung open then and Felicity was relieved to see Laurel walking down the hall, a few shopping bags hanging from her fingers. She frowned, however, when Sara wasn't pulling up the rear. Then again, it wasn't uncommon for Sara to go her own way whenever she felt like it. Still, the tension between Quentin and Oliver would probably lighten a whole lot more if Sara were around to distract her dad.
"Laurel, hey…" Felicity paused the movie. "We're watching Fellowship of the Ring, if you're interested…"
Laurel pushed her sunglasses up into her hair as she tossed her car keys into a dish and started pulling off her jacket. "Lord of the Rings? Again? Between you and dad, I'll have that movie memor…" She paused as she spotted Oliver on the couch. "Ollie!" she said, her voice pitched a little higher and her eyes wide. "What… What are you doing here?"
He half-smiled and pointed a thumb to the TV. "Movie." He turned to Felicity then. "I'm counting this as our second date, just so you know."
Felicity rolled her eyes. "Last night you said frozen yogurt was our second date."
He grinned. "You're right, this is our third." With that, he leaned over and pressed a sloppy kiss against her cheek.
Felicity laughed, ducking her head, but stopped when she noticed the overwhelming tension otherwise. When she looked up, she found her step-dad glaring a hole into Oliver's head and her sister looking confused and… hurt?
But then Laurel turned on her heel and said, "I just remembered I was supposed to study at Tamara's house. I'll be back for dinner." And then she was gone, sweeping out of the apartment as quickly as she'd arrived.
Felicity's brows furrowed and she looked back at Oliver. "You know my sister?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I've met her a few times… Usually at one of Tommy's parties."
She hummed, wondering what Laurel's issue was, but then Oliver grabbed up the remote. "This was just getting good," he said, hitting play. "What are the chances you know Elvish?"
She felt her cheeks darken with the force of her blush but raised her chin defiantly.
He grinned. "I might need a tutor." He looked over at her, brow raised. "Interested?"
Quentin sighed loudly in the background.
Felicity smothered a smile by resting her head on Oliver's shoulder. His arm wrapped around her a little tighter and she happily forgot all about Laurel to enjoy the movie. Although, it was kind of hard to pay much attention to even Aragorn's good looks when she had Oliver beside her.
The memory of an awesome "third" date would soon be ruined, however, when Laurel refused to say one word to her for the next week.
Felicity had to admit, she didn't actually notice Laurel was ignoring her at first. She was a little busy. She'd had boyfriends in the past, but things with Oliver were different. For example, he wanted to hang out every day and he always found something new for them to do. Her previous relationships had been a lot more open-ended. They hung out at school and went out a few nights of the week, usually down to the only burger joint in town. There was a distinct lack of passion in those relationships. No desire pushing them to want to be together as often as possible. She never really missed her boyfriends when they weren't around, though she was content when they were. She was happy with her life, independent and happy to stay that way. She had her friends, and they always came first. But, she'd liked being held and making out and having that hand to grab when she felt like it.
With Oliver, she always felt like it. She looked forward to their next chance to be together which, if it were up to Oliver, would be always.
On Sunday, he showed up at her apartment with the first Lord of the Rings book and asked her if she wanted to read it together, which didn't mean reading out loud so much as cuddling up on the couch together and silently reading each page at the same time. Sometimes she finished first and she'd turn her head to find his brow furrowed as he tried to catch up. Other times he'd finish first and try to distract her by kissing her face.
"Hey, I'm almost done," she laughed, closing her eyes as he pressed kisses down her cheek. "S-Stop!"
"Not my fault you're a slow reader," he told her, nuzzling her nose with his.
Suffice it to say, it took a lot longer to read than it probably should have. Of course, they didn't get anywhere near finished before reading dissolved into making out, the book lost to the cushions of the couch. They were only broken up when Sara decided to throw herself over the back of the couch and land on them.
"Sar-a!" Felicity complained.
Her sister laughed, her head thrown back in amusement. "Dinner's ready," she said as explanation before hopping off them. Turning back, she added, "And you're welcome, by the way. If dad walked in one that, Ollie would have an extra hole somewhere in his body…" With that, she winked, and turned on her heel to walk back to the kitchen.
Oliver buried his face at her shoulder and nipped her neck. "Might be worth getting shot."
Felicity rolled her eyes, even as she bit her lip to keep from smiling. "Come on…" She climbed over him and grabbed his hand to drag him with her. "You need to make a good impression on my step-dad, and we should probably start with getting that lipstick off you."
He grinned as he followed her toward the bathroom, and pressed up behind her, arms wrapped around her waist. "I don't know. I think it's my color…"
She'd by lying if she said she didn't add more lipstick to that entirely too handsome face before she got to cleaning it off.
On Monday, they took a walk through the park. She bought ice cream for them and then sat on a fountain as he deliberated on what he wanted to wish for with the remaining change. She licked at her mint chocolate chip cone while he flicked a quarter in the air and caught it, over and over.
"Your ice cream's melting," she told him.
In answer, he leaned over and licked a strip off of hers.
"Hey!" She yanked her cone out of reach from him, but he only laughed, licking the green ice cream from his lips cheerfully. "What do you think, Felicity? What should I wish for? I'm pretty set financially, I've got a gorgeous girlfriend, the best friend a guy could want… What's left?"
She paused for a moment, caught up with the 'g' word (girlfriend, not gorgeous, although that seemed a little generous to her thinking), but he didn't seem to catch it.
Oliver flipped the coin again and turned to grin at her. "How about…" He nodded. "Got it." And with that, he tossed the coin over his shoulder to sink down to the bottom of the fountain.
"You know, some poor homeless person is probably just going to gather up that change and buy something to eat, right? This fountain, probably put here by the city and holding absolutely no magical powers whatsoever, is not going to grant your greatest desire…" She shook her head, licking her ice cream.
Oliver slung an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. "What if my wish was for a homeless guy to get a sandwich? Then my wish would have come true."
She laughed, helpless against her smile. "You're a dork."
"Thank you." He leaned over to kiss her. "You taste good."
"I bet you'd taste better if you ate your ice cream," she said, nodding at the melting scoop of double chocolate chunk.
He shook his head, his nose brushing hers. "Yours tastes better." He ducked down for another kiss and she had to admit, he didn't taste bad at all.
On Wednesday, Oliver took her to laser tag, which she won, no matter how many times he said different.
Thursday, they went to see Two Towers, which, unsurprisingly, he loved, even if he did complain that the wait for Return of the King was already too long, exactly fifteen minutes after leaving the theater.
Friday night, he hung out with her and Sara while their mom and Quentin went on their mandatory date night. They ordered in Chinese food and watched movies while Sara talked on the phone to various friends and frequently teased Felicity for being so cheesy with her boyfriend. And there was the 'b' word, which she had yet to use but Oliver didn't seem to so much as blink at. She was pretty sure they should actually have that conversation, but it seemed pretty cut and dry. It wasn't that she didn't want him to be her boyfriend, she did. She just wasn't sure how that was going to work in the long-term. That was another thing… On Saturday, they talked about her dad.
"So he left?"
She nodded, sitting on her bed (or, well, the guest bed that was currently being used by her). "About three weeks ago… He just… I don't know. He said he had to do something and he'd be back in a week and then… nothing."
"What'd he have to do?"
She glanced at her bedroom door, which was cracked open, because Quentin had made it clear that she absolutely was not allowed to have Oliver in her room with the door closed. "Uh…" She hopped off her bed and moved to the door, leaning out to see if anybody was listening.
Just as she was about to close it, she felt Oliver pressed up behind her. "Is this a top secret thing?" he whispered against her ear. "Should we have codenames?"
Felicity rolled her eyes and stepped back. Nobody was close enough to hear, so she decided it'd be okay to tell him. Taking his hand, she dragged him back to her bed and hopped up, patting the space beside her.
Sitting down as requested, he cocked his head. "So?"
"My dad…" She frowned. Where to start? "He gambles. And I don't just mean he drops by the casino and loses a twenty here or there. I mean, he bets on horses and sports games and he sometimes plays poker where the stakes are entirely too high for him to afford…" She glanced at him, feeling a wave of shame. "Anyway, he does this sometimes. Loses too much and then has to find a way to pay it back. So, he does, it just… It's not easy and it takes a little time and sometimes the bookies get impatient. And when they're impatient, they're rough. They… They've never hurt me, but… there's a first time for everything. So, I think he just thought it'd be easier if I was here. What are the odds they'd try something if I was living with a cop, right?" She sighed. "Anyway, it was only supposed to be a week. He'd make up the money, pay them back, and we'd go back to business as usual."
Oliver was quiet for a moment before he asked, "He told you that? About the bookies?"
She shook her head. "No. I've just… I know the signs. He had a black eye, his hand was bandaged up. Usually, he tells me to go stay at one of my friends' houses, so him bringing me out here means it's probably serious… But I know him. He'll figure it out. He'll fix it."
Oliver was staring at her, and she was staring at the pattern on her comforter.
"Hey…"
Slowly, she raised her head to see him.
"That sucks… This stuff with your dad, it sucks. And I know you want him to come back and to fix all of this, but… What if you're better off here?"
Her brow furrowed. "He's not a bad guy," she defended. "He makes mistakes and he doesn't always think things through, but… He's my dad."
Oliver glanced away for a moment, but eventually he nodded. "Okay." He pulled her into his side and hugged her, pressing a kiss to her hair. Felicity wrapped her arms around his waist and sighed.
She'd never told anyone but Jenn and Kelsey about her dad's gambling. She'd always been afraid of how others might judge her or what they might do if they found out things at home weren't exactly the safest environment. Her dad used to tell her when she was a kid that CPS might take her if the wrong people found out. It used to scare her; the idea that these strangers might swoop in and take her from the only home she really knew. He didn't tell her she'd probably be put with her mom, so she always just assumed she'd be put into a foster home, far away from her family and her friends. As she grew up, that fear still lingered, so she learned how to act like things were normal. She got really good at taking care of herself and not letting on that things were tough at home. But it felt good to finally be honest with someone, even if she wasn't ready to admit that her dad had some serious faults when it came to parenting.
She pressed a little closer to Oliver's chest and appreciated how his arms tightened around her. He was a pretty good boyfriend considering they'd only been together a week.
[Next: Chapter Three.]
author's note: Can I just begin this by saying "WOW!" I can't believe the response I got to this story. I'm overwhelmed and overjoyed and so, so excited that you're all so enthusiastic about this story!
There are so many dynamics to explore, between sisters and daughter-father and mother-daughter and then the relationship between Felicity and Oliver. I've mentioned to a few other people that it's a bit of a likeness to Dinah/Quentin in that it's somewhat of a whirlwind, and that's evidenced a few times in this chapter as Oliver is jumping in with both feet. He likes her, he's not holding back, he's invested. Felicity is a little more aware of how reality plays a part and how different their worlds are and the fact that she's supposed to go back to Central City; in fact, she's overdue to.
We'll be seeing more of the Felicity/Laurel dynamic soon, too. I do want to preface that with the fact that Laurel and Felicity have tension that has nothing to do with Oliver. There's a some deeper issues going on that will be explored, so it's not simply because of a boy. There's some sibling rivalry and the like to come.
Anyway, I'm quite happy to post this much earlier than I usually would. I generally prefer to wait up to a week, but the response was just so phenomenal that I couldn't help myself. You guys are insanely awesome!
Finally, Felicity's date outfit is up on my Polyvore! So, check it out!
Thank you so much for reading, please do leave a review, they keep me writing and eager to post (and early too, as we can see, hah)
- Lee | Fina