#warms my heart so so much that Donna is such a good and supportive mom SPECIFICALLY to her trans daughter

[nat-20s]

So I had assumed that Rose Noble choose her name from lingering subconscious memories a LA the metacrisis but in the giggle novelisation it says that Donna named her daughter after Rose Tyler which is to say. I'm very 🥹🥺😭❣️ about Rose asking her mom to help her pick out her new name

#doctor who #donna noble #rose noble #warms my heart so so much that Donna is such a good and supportive mom SPECIFICALLY to her trans daughter #and that Donna would personally kill you for being transphobic #theres also a moment from the giggle novelisation #where it talks about her striding about somewhere head held high and determined and essentially #not willing to take anyone's shit and how it's like how she walked with rose #to school on her first day of being rose #and im like OHHHHHH 🥺🥺🥺🥺

[lydias--stiles]

juke | human au | title: fearless // taylor swift

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As they were walking up the front lawn of her childhood home, nerves wrecked her body. Even her hand, snug in Luke's, felt clammy and sweaty and suffocating. God, this was such a mistake — going home, not him. He didn't even realise what he had gotten himself into by falling for the youngest darling of the matriarch.

Or rather, she shouldn't have fallen head over heels for the swoon-worthy Luke Patterson, but she never really stood a chance.

But everything had happened so fast! One second banter easily flowed between them, warm and easy flirtatiousness without consequences, the next she was at IKEA helping him pick out a bookshelf while he somehow knew whenever she needed pizza and a good cuddle. They were very much in a committed relationship, something the Molina women very much frowned upon.

It wasn't as if they were all deeply scared of love and relationships, but the Molina family was a matriarchy. All women raised families on their own, no man to help. Divorced, cheated on, died, a donor, infertile and therefore adopting children — men were of zero priority.

So, coming home with her boyfriend whom she deeply loved? Definitely a risk. She was surprised he was still standing, that she hadn't scared him enough yet.

Spinning on her heels in front of the door, she shot him an anxious smile. "Are you... sure you wanna do this? We're, like, really intense."

Luke smiled, tender. "Do I wanna meet the family of my girlfriend? 'Course I do." When her expression didn't change, he added, "Jules, just 'cause they all did the 'no guy' thing, doesn't mean you have to follow that, right? And I'm not scared."

Oh, God. His courage was as admirable as it was stupid.

She chuckled, antsy. "You haven't met my mom though."

His smile widened as he dipped down to kiss her, gently, hands caressing her cheeks. For a moment, stress fled her system.

But then the door flew open.

"There you are!" Mom exclaimed, a glass of red wine in one hand and music booming over her shoulder. "And is this the boy toy?"

"Mom!" Julie grumbled, embarrassed to be caught kissing (God, she's twenty-three!) as well as putting Luke in a bad position.

First impression of him: seeing him kiss her beloved daughter on the doorstep. Great.

"Hi," Luke said, dazzling her with a smile while he stuck his hand out. "I'm Luke. And I'm, uh, older? So..."

"Meh," Rose trailed, lamely shaking his hand. "Still a boy toy. Anyway, come in! Food's warm!"

Following her mom inside, Luke shot her a strange look, like it was only registering now all her tall tales were, well, true. Shrugging with a sheepish grin, she placed their shoes and jackets in the wall closet and then made the agonising trek to the loud, jumbled chatter.

As expected, all the California-based Molina women were present. Which meant ten, including her, all staring at Luke like he was a weird specimen. Her hand squeezed his beneath the table in support, and he was finally squeezing back just as tightly.

Was it bad she felt some sick pleasure he understood how fucked he was? Probably. It seemed warranted.

When everyone had their plates filled, the interrogation began.

"So, Luke, how old are you?" Victoria asked.

"Twenty-five."

"Going around town with a twenty-three year old?" She sniffed. "Interesting..."

"Do you have any siblings?" Donna inquiried.

A wry grin ticked up his lips, sensing the irony of the situation. "I, uh, I'm an only child, actually. Mostly raised by my dad, 'cause my mom worked long hours."

Shoving a fork of meatloaf in her mouth, Julie withheld a guttural wince at his words. Luke Patterson was the poster child of everything the Molina's didn't like and she brought him in their cave.

"What do you do for a living?" Abuela croaked, peering intensely.

His smile didn't falter, but instead widened. "I'm in a band, but I also bartend a couple of nights a week."

"A band, huh?" Mom leaned forward, intrigued. "Has Julie told you I used to be in a band?"

"How can I not, mom?" Rolling her eyes, Julie added, "You'd tell him anyway..."

"I was in The Petal Pushers, the best protest punk-rock feminist group of the 90s." Her fist punched in the air as she spoke and Julie could imagine the fingerless leather gloves and purple streaks as she did. "What kinda... band do you have?"

Her endearing Luke didn't read the warning signs humble himself, so he enthusiastically perched himself at the end of his chair as he said, "Punk-rock too, actually! Yeah, we're really killing it right now at all the clubs."

She smirked. "I'm sure you do."

"What are your plans with Julie?" Elena asked, one of her cousins.

Both her and Luke froze at that. Shit. That... was not something they've discussed. A relationship of seven months was still pretty fresh, not ready for a confrontational talk about futures and plans.

He scraped his throat, briefly let his gaze flicker to her, and then uttered, "I'm, uh, a one day at a time kinda guy."

Julie cringed, not hiding it this time. To her, it was an alright, albeit lame answer. But to her family? Horrible. So, so horrible. Gah, she had to put an end to this!

Abuela scoffed, nearly choking on her hard seltzer. "One day? At a time? What is this, the 70s? My little girl deserves more than carpe diem!"

Mimi hissed. "Wrong, wrong answer, boy toy."

The questions kept shooting at lightning speed, each one more outrageous than the other, while Julie's grip on her fork tightened and tightened in anger.

"How many times a week do you shower?"

"What's your least favourite colour?"

"Do you pick up women? Is that how you make extra money?"

"What's your view on children?"

"Can you handle spice?"

"How did you even find our darling, huh? Did you lure her into that bar of yours?"

"Is Luke short for Lukas, or Lucrative?"

"Alright, enough!" Julie screamed, standing up with a stomp of the foot.

A hush crossed the table, aghast and surprised, her mother perpetually amused as always (too many in drugs in the 90s, she presumed) while Abuela feigned to be sleeping. 'Resting her eyes' would likely be the excuse.

"This is insane! Stop acting like this and start treating Luke with a little respect!"

From the corner of her eye, she vaguely noted he was staring at her, gobsmacked. He did well, given the circumstances, but she couldn't just idly sit there and let him take all this shit.

Mom puffed, leaning back in her chair. "We haven't been disrespectful, Julie."

"You have, mom! Can't I just have a boyfriend without—"

"We've invited him," she interrupted. "That's enough of a courtesy."

And before Julie could fire back, furious beyond belief, Rose added, "You know how the Molina cookie crumbles, honey. No men stay. Not for long, anyway."

That smug response made her explode. "Mom! Can you just for once—?!"

"I love her though," Luke quipped, shy.

The fight halted instantly, all ten women gawking at him like he just spoke a new language.

And he did, to Julie at least. Luke loved her? Even after all of this? She obviously knew he wasn't impartial to her, those seven months equalling tenderness and partnership like nothing she's ever experienced before, but... love? He was in love with her?

How could she abide by the 'Molina Women Rule!' rules when he confessed that, no hesitation or stutter heard?

And so, Julie's heart melted. "You love me?"

"Of course, I do," he whispered. "Why else would I be here?"

Elena nodded, sympathetic. "Good point."

Unable to stop her smile from becoming a dazzling, lovesick beam, she repeated his words with as much conviction as she could muster. "I love you too, Luke."

Abuela shot up from her sleep with a cough and a snicker. "Yeah, right."

Mom waved her glass around, congratulating them. For the first time tonight, her tone held kindness instead of poorly veiled contempt. "That's very sweet, Luke. Tell me in seven more months how you're feeling then."

Though Julie couldn't expect her to suddenly change her ways. Damn.

Mimi scowled. "We're letting 'I'm a one day at a time kinda guy' slide?"

Disgruntled chatter rose again, and that was her cue to go. Tapping Luke's shoulder, she mouthed home — something she hadn't done before and wasn't sure which apartment she meant either, but it left flutters in her chest regardless — and he nodded in understanding.

Oh, God. He loved her. That still hadn't set in.

"And if you'll excuse us, me and Luke are going," Julie continued. "Thanks for dinner, mom."

The woman laughed, baring all her teeth. She clearly had a fun time. "See you at Victoria's birthday, mi amor. And Luke? Who knows!"

He forced a chuckle at her remark. Awkwardly bouncing on his heels, he waved at all the ladies. "It was really cool to meet you all. Now– now I know why Julie's so incredible. So... thanks." A true smile appeared. "This was great."

No one said anything after that. Abuela gurgled her drink and her cousins prodded at their leftovers, mom peering at her like she was trying to find something. Sometimes, Julie and Rose were so alike, and other times, they were complete strangers. She liked that. It kept dinners like these exciting, she supposed. Mom seemed to think the same.

They bid goodbye one last time with a kiss on the cheek, and then they hurried out the door. A giggling breath left as the cool wind hit her skin. Luke was buzzing with adrenaline, unable to keep his limbs still.

Clambering in her car, the comforting quietude wrapped around them as the doors slammed shut. A beat passed. No one spoke.

"What the fuck," he whispered, horrified. "What the fuck. What the fuck did just happen? What the fuck—"

Julie squealed. "You love me!"

"That's what you got from that?!"

"Of course!" Her arms curled around him, teasing. "You love me!"

"That shouldn't be the most surprising thing tonight, Jules," he grumbled, though a playful shimmer sparked within his beautiful eyes. "I thought I was, y'know, obvious."

She shrugged, bashful. "It's always nice to hear, no?"

"Oh, man," he sighed, eyes flickering across her face as though he couldn't decide what to focus on, as though she was indescribably stunning. Her heart swelled tenfold at the thought. "I love you, Julie. So fucking much. Even with your crazy family."

Laughing, she reached forward and kissed his lips, fingers pressing in his neck and their silly grins preventing them from deepening the warm touch.

"Let's go," he mumbled, noses nudging, eyes hooded and pouring with the love she somehow hadn't noticed before. "Before they're ready for round two."

But before he could move away, she kissed him again, better this time, and cherished his sigh when they slowly seperated.

"I love you too," she whispered. "Like, a lot."

He grinned, breathless. "Good to know."

Victoria's birthday was four months later, and Luke attended as well. And also for Mimi and Elena and mom and Abuela and Donna and every other Molina member. And when Julie got surprised with a 24th birthday party, she figured out Luke and mom combined their powers to host it.

Molina women were independant and lived life by their own rules... which included Julie.

Loving Luke Patterson unconditionally probably made her the most unique Molina of all.

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

@bluefirewrites @blush-and-books @ourstarscollided @thedeathdeelers @pink-flame @constantly-singing @willexx @unsaid-emily

#juke #jatp fanfiction #julie and the phantoms #otp: i think we make each other better #how niche can I go?? *spins the wheel*

[megastarstriker]

✯𝒞𝒽𝓇𝒾𝓈𝓉𝓂𝒶𝓈 𝒲𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒴𝑜𝓊✯

✮*•̩̩͙✧•̩̩͙*˚✧*˚　 ˚*✧˚*•̩̩͙✧•̩̩͙*˚✮

NIKKI SIXX  X  READER

˚*✧˚*•̩̩͙✧•̩̩͙*˚✮       ˚*✧˚*•̩̩͙✧•̩̩͙*˚✮

Requested:

Contains: FLUFF 

𝙋𝙖𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜: Nikki Sixx  x Female Reader

𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩:

𝙏𝙖𝙜𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩: @metalheartofgold, @ginny-rose-sixx, @xxqueencolourxx​, @littlemisscare-all​,

💕MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! LOVE YOU GUYS AND LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANNA GET TAGGED TOO💕

Keys:

(Y/N) - Your Name

(L/N) - Last Name

(D/N) - Daughter’s Name

============================

“Dada.....”, The little 3 year old baby girl that I held in my arms babbled as she looked at her father over my shoulder with her cute curious eyes who was already walking towards me with a small smile on his face, looking at the small child as he looked at her excited (E/C) eyes with his warm hazel ones. 

“I’m here, sweetie....”, He murmured softly as he kissed the girl sweetly on the forehead making her giggle and coo happily at her father,” Good morning.”

“Good morning,...Nik...”, I said as I leaned into Nikki’s touch as he wrapped his arm with security and warmth around me and the little bundle of joy that was right next to us.

“Morning, beautiful.....”, He whispered in my ear kissing my forehead and then my cheek, only then to plant his warm and slightly chapped lips unto mine. The kiss was short but despite that it had a burning taste of passion in it that I couldn’t describe but either way... I loved it. 

The embrace was then interrupted by a small barking sound from the floor, as I felt a tug on my nightgown. I then departed my eyes from Nikki to see two small set of brown eyes looking at me energetically as the small pup wagged its tail with joy as he looked at the baby with wonderment. 

“And you too, bud....”, He said with a laugh as he picked up the dog from the ground, making the dog yap at him and his tail wag with speed. I giggled at how cute the two of them were as I then looked at (D/N) tiny form as she leaned gently into my shoulder giggling at the pup that was in Nikki’s hands. 

---------------------------------

‘Buddy was new to the family once (D/N) was born. It wasn’t just an early Christmas present but it was also something that Nikki and I talked about when she was born. I thought about what it would be like if we did have a pet and if it would be nice that our daughter got to play with it. Nikki of course agreed same going for me as we both had our fair share of love for animals especially dogs. And he couldn’t say not to his newborn daughter too. We wanted to buy and get a pup especially for her, but I then heard about an option for adopting one from one of my closest friends. I overhead from her that these pups were homeless or abandoned and needed homes, as well as it would be an amazing idea to have one. It wouldn’t just be a good decision but rather an amazing way to spread awareness about these animals who need love and attention. Thinking about that made me think of Nikki and his past. It always left me thinking that Nikki deserved better. A better family to have raised him, a better childhood, and a better life. Nikki of course was happy now and would always remind me that I was always there for him and that things have changed now because of me and the people that supported him aka the crue as well as other people and to not worry about the things that happened to him in the past, because he already has his two most greatest things: His Band and His Family. But those exact same thoughts made me wonder. 

“Those animals deserve the exact same thing.

Love, attention, and a Family.”

Not Hatred, Loneliness, and Abandonment.

Just Like Nikki needed it and has it now.

As I rethought the decision in my mind, I smiled as I then went and talked it over with Nikki about adopting a pet. He of course was shocked to see me talk about my reasons for it especially since he was mainly the reason for it. Of course after finishing he gave me a strong embrace and a kiss, and accepted on a adoption for a pet. Afterwards, He told me that I had such a heart of gold and teased me about it for the rest of the day......

---------------------------------------------------------

‘Ughh’, I thought in my head as I groaned at Nikki’s teasing remarks that day, as I saw him play with ‘Buddy’, as well as (D/N) joining him in the floor of the living room. ‘What a dork.’ I smiled with a blush as I looked at them as I went to the kitchen to start on breakfast, as a few moments later my two devilish angels a.k.a Nikki and (D/N) decided on wanting to join in and help me with it.  

  But at least he’s my dork.

8 hours later

“Mommy.”, (D/N) asked me as she tugged on my party dress I picked out for the dinner party  looking at me with cute baby doll eyes.

“Yes sweetie”, I said softly as I picked her up gently looking at her as I awaited for her response.

“When are my aunties and uncles going to come.”, She said her eyes a bit sad as she looked down, as she already had her clothes ready for the Christmas dinner party we were holding at our place. 

“Oh, honey...”, I started to say my heart breaking at her expression she gave me, “Your aunts and uncles will come....Even some of the kids too so you can all play....There are just running a bit late....But don’t worry....Okay.”

“Really?”, She said as she had hopeful eyes gleaming, rubbing her eyes.

“Yeah, princess.”, Nikki said as he appeared next to me, wearing his formal wear, looking as handsome as always, taking (D/N) in his arms and hugged her, “Everything will be ok.”

Then as soon as he said that a door ringing was hear from the front door.

“Speaking of the devil.”, I muttered jokingly to Nikki as he chuckled rolling his eyes a bit playfully as he patted my shoulder as he gently put (D/N) on the floor next to Buddy who was now wagging his tail in excitement. 

“I’ll get it.”, He told me as he went over to the door opening to reveal...

You guessed it.

The breathing, living, and rocking crue....

Standing at our door...

My Parents , my friends along with their husbands and daughters , and.....

My brother!

Looking at him standing there I was shocked.

“Surprise!”, He said as he had his arms out ready to hug me and a huge smile on his face.

“(B/N)!”, I said with wide eyes open as I hugged him tightly a happy smile reaching its way on my face, deep down believing this was all a dream. 

“ In the flesh.”, He said with a chuckle as he broke free from the heartwarming embrace. 

“But- How.....”, I asked him still amazed at him standing here in front of me, “I thought you couldn’t come because of your job.”

“Well..., let’s just say a little someone gave me a nice talk through the phone and told me to come here and meet you as a surprise.”, He said as he looked at me trailing off a bit.

“When I mean a ‘little someone’ I mean Nikki.”, He then said as he gestured towards him who was busy welcoming Tommy, Vince, and Mick, “And when I mean a nice talk, I mean he was going to beat and murder my ass if I didn’t come here.”

“Oh no....”, I said as I felt a bit guilty thinking that he came here because of Nikki’s threat., “Didn’t Nikki really force you to come here-”

“No no no, He didn’t....”, He said as he understood what I was trying to say, “I mean a bit but, no. Don’t blame him for anything though, I only came here because of you and about what Nikki said when he called me up.”

“What did he say?”, I asked him as I quirked an eyebrow.

“Well, He told me about how much you missed having me visit for the holidays and well that he wanted to change that by bringing me here....”, He started to say as he stood in front of me, “.......And then he told me about how you were incredibly special to him and lovey dovey stuff as he liked to put it.”

I gasped hearing this..

Did Nikki really just..?...

“But that’s all I can say for now......”, He finished as he then gave a smile, “Other than that I am happy to see you and mom and dad again here together. I know I haven’t been the best bro for not coming for the holidays, but I guess I feel happy now that  I’m here. Huh? Now that I’m thinking about it, I feel like with Nikki being around with you its a miracle for him.... He really cares about you, I can tell......”

Still a bit taken aback by all of this information, I saw as I small girl and a woman came walking beside my brother.

“Oh yeah, I didn’t came here alone of course.”, He said as she then said a small ‘hello’, sending me a welcoming smile holding her daughter in her arms.

“I guess I already told you about them in a few occasions over the phone, but this is my wife Donna, and this little munchkin over here is my daughter Annie.”, He introduced as they both said hi, Donna shaking my hand as she said it was nice to meet me, her daughter giving me a shy wave as to say hello to me.

“Its Nice to meet you too,” I said with a warm welcome as I told them to go ahead and make themselves comfortable at home. 

I then said hello to my parents and my friends who brought over their husbands and daughters...

And of course couldn’t forget about the jolly ol’ crue....

“Hey Tommy, Vince!”, I greeted as I then walked over to them both as they enveloped me in a warm friendly hug.

They both said hello to me before releasing me from the hug, I was about to greet Mick only to find he wasn’t there. 

“Where’s Mick?”, I asked as I tried looking for him around where I stood.

“Mick is with Nikki in the kitchen talking about something... code word ‘ private’....”, Tommy said as he held out the quotation marks in the air whispering the word to me. 

“And He doesn’t want us in on listening to their small chat, thinking we are gonna gossip about it to the fellas around here......so yeah here we are.... trying but also not trying to ‘eavesdrop’ on them.....”, Vince continued as he rolled his eyes a bit. 

I giggled at them both as I shook my head, “Well good luck with that. ”

After a couple of minutes of introduction with everyone including Mick who came out with Nikki after their so called ‘private conversation’ , we all went to the dining room, Me and Nikki being the last ones as he looked to me.

“So your brother came.”, Nikki commented as he stood beside me. 

“Yeah, I noticed.” I said as I tried to play along with his game although already knowing it was his idea all along for him to come here,” I’m really happy he came.”

“Um, I sort of called him to come here. I know how much he means to you as family.”, Nikki said nervously as he looked at me coughing a bit.

Damn it why did he have to be so cute!

“So yeah....”, He said with a chuckle ,” I’m gonna go and head over-”

I cut off his sentence with a warm kiss as I gripped his coat.

He was shocked but slowly kissed me back.

I then pulled away with a sigh.

“I know you called him over and why. He told me everything”, I said with a smile as I noticed him look a bit surprised to hear me say this.

“What you did was really sweet and the best gift I could have from you, I love you.”, I said as I hugged him tightly, not wanting to ever let go from him.

Before long he hugged me back, saying those same words.

“I love you too, Merry Christmas baby.....”

------------------------------------------------------------

{AUTHORS NOTE}:

Hey Guys and Merry Christmas to everyone who is reading this or not!!!!

Hope you guys have an amazing holiday whether it is with your family or friends or whoever you celebrate and however you do it!!

🖤I HOPE ANYONE THAT’S READING LIKED IT AS WEll AND LOVE YOU.🖤

IF ANY ONE WANTS TO ASK ME FOR SOMETHING TO WRITE WITH THE MEMBERS OF  MOTLEY CRUE OR THE DIRT VERSION OF IT.  HERE’S THE LIST FOR ANYONE THAT WANTS TO REQUEST SOMETHING FROM ME.

{ REQUEST LIST }

💗{LIKE OR REBLOG TO SAVE}💗

#nikki sixx x reader #nikki sixx #motley crue #motley crue fanfic #motley crue oneshot #nikki sixx x reader oneshot

[zeppelin-and-unicorns]

Black Peonies preview

A/N: This is the first chapter of the J/H soulmate AU fanfic I’ve been working on for a really long time. I do not plan on posting it on AO3 or ff.net for now, because I have yet to finish writing the last couple of chapters.

That being said, I hope you enjoy this sneak peek.

Trigger Warning: Explicit child abuse

Chapter one:

January, 1970

Steven Hyde walked through the dark streets of Point Place alone. Mr. Forman’s brother from Chicago got hurt, and the whole Forman clan went to see him for the weekend, which means that Hyde had nowhere to go.

He stayed with Kelso and Donna for a big chunk of the day, but Bob doesn’t like when Donna has boys over after it was dark out, so he and Kelso had to take off.

He walked Kelso to his home, because Hyde was not in a hurry to get to his own house. It was a Saturday, and Edna tends to go a little crazy on Saturdays, that’s why he would often sleep over at the Forman’s.

He was lucky Bob and Midge made them snacks too, because Edna rarely buys any food for the weekends. She tends to spend the little money they have on booze and drugs.

He spent as much time as possible walking around, trying to avoid going home to Edna, but there wasn’t much he could do, it was very cold outside, and he didn’t have a nice jacket to keep him warm, he needed to go home. It was trashy, but at least there was heat. He hoped Edna would be passed out by now, but he doubted, it was still early.

The minute he reached his block, he sighed. He could already hear the sounds of beer bottles clinking and the voices of his mom’s stoner friends, she definitely was not asleep, crap.

Someone threw a beer bottle at his direction, and the glass shattered all over the shitty pavement. He glanced at the direction the bottle came from, and saw his mother’s laughing figure sitting on the porch. Fucking fantastic.

“Home already, kiddo?” She asked, slurring with her words and blowing the smoke from the cigarette in her hand.

“It’s cold” He shrugged, and tried to get inside the house before his mother would start with her usual drunken ramblings, that usually ended up with her blaming him for her shitty life.

His mother grabbed his arm to stop him and he sighed in frustration.

“You couldn’t have stayed with your friend today?” She asked bitterly

“He’s outta town with his folks” He answered, hoping she would drop it and let him go to his room.

“It wasn’t enough for you to ruin my career, now you have to ruin my weekend too?” She said, puffing out another cloud of smoke

“Believe me, I wouldn’t be here if I had somewhere else to go” Hyde answered 

“Aren’t you a smartass?” Edna taunted him, and laughed slyly.

“I want to go inside, it’s cold” Hyde said simply, if he learned something from all of his 11 miserable years with Edna, is that there was no use in arguing with her.

“I know something that will warm you up in a second” She slurred out and laughed, forcefully grabbing his right hand on her bony fingers and putting out her cigarette on his skin.

He felt his skin burning and tried to pull his hand off her tight grip, the pain brought tears into his eyes and it was almost unbearable. But she held on tighter, pressing the burnt stub onto his skin as she laughed.

"Tears?" Edna mocked at the sight of Hyde's teary eyes "Aren't you supposed to be a tough guy?"

He held himself back. He wanted to tell her to fuck off so badly, but he knew better. If he did, he would have to spend the night wandering the streets, and he wasn't in the mood to freeze to death.

She flicked the bud onto the snow, and finally let go of his hand. The pain didn't go away though, in fact, it got worse. He thanked a God he wasn't so sure he believed in for making Wisconsin winters so cold. He would be able to hide the burn by wearing gloves and ease the pain by shoving his hand onto the snow that probably accumulated by his bedroom's dingy window.

Hyde glanced one last time at his stoned and drunk pathetic excuse of a mother and headed inside the house, holding his right hand on his left one.

Sometimes he wished the soulmate thing wasn't real. He doesn't like the thought of an innocent girl suffering all the pain his mother puts him through.

But he knew better, the universe never cared about his wishes, otherwise he would have a different mother. He just hoped that the girl who had the bad luck of being his soulmate had a strong support system or whatever, because his shitty reality isn't changing anytime soon.

Meanwhile, in Point Place's community theater…

10 year old Jackie anxiously tried to peek through the closed blinds, today was probably one of the most exciting days of her life, she was about to play on her first piano recital ever! She was trying her hardest to not be nervous, because she’s a Burkhart, and Burkhart’s excel on absolutely everything they do – according to her mother. She practiced every day for hours, she wanted to be perfect, because both of her parents promised they’d watch her play today.

“Miss Burkhart, it’s almost time, are you ready?”

“Yes I am, Mrs. Crawford! I have my sheet here with me – even though I don’t need it, just as a precaution” Jackie said excitedly, and her music teacher smiled

“You’re going to do great, Jackie” She said with a small smile “Go wait over there, you’re up next” 

Jackie nodded and went to wait where her teacher indicated. Her heart was beating so fast, and she couldn’t keep the smile off her face. She couldn’t wait to be praised by her parents.

They already missed her dance recital, and neither of them were there when she won the trophy for “Prettiest Ballerina”, but they promised they would attend her piano recital, that’s why she decided she would play one of the hardest songs, so she could impress them.

She knew none of her colleagues had the ability to play this song; most of them were playing “Fur Elise” or “Ode to Joy”. She wanted to be the best, so she chose “Clair de Lune” by Debussy, one of her father’s favorites songs. He likes to listen to it when he’s smoking his cigars, so she made sure to learn just to make him proud.

When she heard Mrs. Crawford calling her name, she’d put on her stage smile, the one her mother taught her so long ago. When she entered the stage, she glanced at the audience, trying to find the familiar faces of her parents. She didn’t see either of them, and she had to repress the urge to cry.

They bailed on her, again. They promised they would make it!

She took a deep breath and saw Martina’s familiar face. She was giving her a sad smile, and Jackie sighed. She likes Martina, but she would never fill the hole left by her mother. It’s not like Martina wants to be there anyways, she only went because she’s paid to do so.

Jackie quickly forced a smile and went to sit at the piano bench. If her parents didn’t want to be there, that’s their loss. There was a good amount of LOPP’s mothers there, she hoped they would tell her mother later how she played beautifully, and her mother better feel bad.

She stretched her fingers the way Mrs. Crawford taught her, and placed the music sheet on its proper place. The second her fingers touched the piano keys, she felt herself relaxing a bit, and when she started to play, she genuinely smiled. The first couple of minutes of the song went smoothly, some people even clapped when she mastered the transition from the slow part of the song to the slightly faster one.

Then she stopped playing, and not because the song was over.

Out of nowhere, she felt a blinding pain on her hand. She whimpered in pain and held her right hand with her left one, tears involuntarily falling from her eyes.

Mrs. Crawford quickly ran to see what was going on with her best student, and she sighed when she saw a black peony forming on the girl’s hand. 

“It’s burning, Mrs. Crawford” Jackie cried, and the older woman placed her hand on her shoulder.

“I know honey, you know what that means, right?” She said, and Jackie nodded.

That means that her soulmate was hurting. Again.

Last week Jackie got a new flower on her shoulder, and the week before that, she felt like someone was slapping her on her face.

Thank God that bruises on the face don’t leave flower marks, otherwise people would see her as a freak, because she feels like she’s being slapped or punched on at least once a week.

Mrs. Crawford guided her out of the stage, and made her sit on a small bench near the dressing rooms. Jackie carefully rubbed her hand, the pain was starting to subside a little, the black peony marking the exact place where it was hurting.

“Do you want to go back and start again, Jackie?” The woman gently asked, and Jackie shook her head.

All she wanted to do was go back home and pray for her soulmate to get the help he needs. She doesn’t know why he gets hurt so often, but she wanted it to stop. For both of their sakes.

#jackie x hyde #jackie and hyde #soulmate AU #black peonies #fanfic #zenmasters #that 70s show #that '70s show

[hope-for-olicity]

Leaves of Change 9/31

Felicity Smoak returns to her small hometown of Silver Lake just in time for the Harvest Fest, she came home to get grounding and figure out what she wants to do next the last thing she expected was that she’d want to stay.

Happy Belated Birthday to my dear friend @stephswims! This one is for you! Thanks so much to @mel-loves-all for the truly stunning edit. Also full disclosure, I’m Canadian so Thanksgiving will be October.

Each chapter will follow a Fictober prompt, I can’t guarantee that I’ll post daily like last year but I will post regularly. I hope you enjoy. This and all other chapters of the story are also available on AO3.

9. “There is a certain taste to it.”

Felicity had come to the cafe early at her friend’s request. The coffee shop wasn’t even opened when Felicity arrived, she’d tapped on the door to get Caitlin to let her in.

Caitlin opened the door, greeting Felicity with a “spill girl. I need to know all,” before looking at Felicity’s outfit, sighing loudly, “those AREN’T the same clothes you had on yesterday. Where did that oversized coat come from? Are you wearing Oliver’s coat?”

Felicity smiled. “Caffeinate me and you will learn all.”

Caitlin quickly poured a cup of freshly brewed coffee. Felicity could not stop herself from sighing with joy at her first sip of coffee.

Caitlin drummed her fingers on the counter waiting for Felicity to tell her all about her date with Oliver Queen. “Well?”

“There is a certain taste to it.” Felicity sighed.

“Felicity! I know how you feel about coffee, particularly my coffee but I want the details on Oliver, you know your date?!”

“I was talking about my date.” Felicity blushed. “There is a certain taste to the most delightful kiss EVER. And if you tell him I said that I will kill you. Remember, I know where you sleep.”

“So the kissing was good?! I knew it! He looks like a good kisser and when we were in high school….but that was a long time ago and he seems to have become a one-woman man. You are the first woman he’s courted in quite some time.”  

“Courted? Caitlin, it was a date - doesn’t courting mean multiple dates, like more than one?”

“You mean you don’t think it will happen again? How did things end last night? What happened besides the kissing?” Caitlin was bubbling over with excitement.

“Well, my head is still spinning from the kissing. There was also a really cool band and the food was good. Plus, it was nice just to sit by the fire. Cozy, you know? And this,” Felicity looked down at the coat she was wearing, “is Oliver’s coat.”

“Aww, Felicity Smoak you are making my heart melt. When do you see him again?”

“I don’t know...truthfully, I keep doubting if I should be doing this at all. I’m leaving. But then he kissed me…” Felicity sighed.

“And you like him.” Caitlin prompted.

Felicity nodded. “I do and I was starting to doubt if I would like someone again. Like maybe I was broken in that regard. So liking him at least confirms I can. So that’s good…” Felicity looked away realizing she had revealed more of herself than intended.

Caitlin from behind the counter to give her friend a big hug. “It hurts me to think you thought that of yourself. I’m glad you figured out it wasn’t true. Oliver is one lucky guy.”

~~~~~

Oliver spent the morning with his mother and sister. They did a once a month brunch at his mother’s and the women in his life were showing a great deal of interest regarding his relationship with Felicity. So far, he managed to keep his answers minimal.

“Well, you are just going to have to find a way to keep her here. I know her mother would love it and she’s had her experience in the big city, it’s time to settle down.” Moria took a sip of her coffee.

“Woah, did you really just say that? It’s 2019 Mom! Felicity does not need to settle down. If she wants to focus on her career that it is her choice and I support her fully. I don’t expect her to give up her life to be with me, nor should I.” Oliver felt steam coming out of his ears. He knew he might be overreacting a little, but no, Felicity deserved whatever future she wanted. “Besides, she may never want to settle down as you call it.” Oliver stood thinking he should just get out of here.

“Okay, let’s all take a step back.” Thea, ever the peacemaker stepped in.  She turned to her mother. “Oliver is right, whether Felicity settles down or not is completely her choice.” She then turned to her brother, “your defence of her only makes me hope she stays more! I get it, you don’t want to pressure her. But the fact that you want to put her needs before your own, shows just how much you care. Mom may have phrased it poorly but she just hopes things work out with the two of you. Team Olicity all the way!”

“Thea, it was one kiss! Let’s not overreact. This could be a…” Oliver motioned with his hands.

“Fling?” Thea finished for him.

Oliver nodded.

“Maybe for her but THIS is not a fling for you. Oliver, I know you. I’ve seen you with your flings, remember. Felicity Smoak is not a fling for you. You have heart eyes!!”

“Okay, I appreciate your support,” Oliver looked at his mother and sister, “but I need you to back off. Felicity and I went on one sort of date. The last thing I want to do is scare her off before she agrees to a second. If you leave me alone, I promise I will update you on anything I think you need to know.” Oliver felt like he was being reasonable. “Agreed?”

“Agreed,” Thea nodded, “but..”

Oliver cut her off, “no buts, she two should simply agree.”

“Agreed.” Moria nodded. “Oliver, I really am happy for you. Let me know if you want me to help in any way.”

“Thank you but it won’t be necessary. Now I need to go home and do some work.” Oliver began walking to do the door.

“Go Jets!” Thea yelled out behind him. They all knew there would be some football watching as well.

~~~~~

Felicity arrived home from her chat with Caitlin to face her mother. She could see her mother also wanted an update by the way she bounced to greet her when she walked in the door.

“I promise to fill you in, I’m just starving.”

“Good, I just popped a pizza into the oven. I figured we could eat it while we watched the game.” Donna smiled as she took Felicity’s coat. “Oliver’s?”

“Yes, I don’t have a warm coat here.” Felicity walked away from her mother before facing any more questions.

The timer went off as Felicity entered the kitchen/living area of her mother’s place. 

“I’ll get that hun, you just get us set up with pillows and blankets. I have high hopes for our Jets today.”

Felicity chuckled. “You always have high hopes, Mom. But today might be our day.”  Watching football games with her Mom was something she missed when she moved away. By living in New York she was able to send home lots of Jets gear.  They usually texted during the games when she lived away but now, they were watching them together.

Felicity set up their comfy area. “I’ll grab us some Diet Cokes and we are ready for kick-off.”

They had just settled in, the Jets won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. They were kicking off the ball when her mother turned to her. “So, were the kisses good enough to stay?”

“Mom! It was one night!”

“I know but you can’t blame a mother for hoping.”

What Felicity didn’t say was even without the kisses she couldn’t deny that she starting to look for a reason to stay.

Thanks so much for reading! Tagging a few people. Please let me know if you would like to be tagged or untagged.

@memcjo @stephswims @it-was-a-red-heeler @cruzrogue @mel-loves-all @tdgal1 @vaelisamaza @onceuponarrow @msbeccieboo @lucyyh @julieofrandomfandoms @morganashimi83

#Leaves of Change #olicity fanfiction #alternate universe #MyFanfic #fictober19 #yes I know I'm wicked behind

[zen3to5]

J/H 7-01: Time is On My Side

Here we go - home stretch. In this timeline, Season 7 is the last.

We're starting out simple - a basic continuity correction to wrap up Jackie living in the hotel and Pam living with Bob. As always with the partial scripts, *** separate scenes, and context should be clear for those who have seen the episodes (but just in case - these are rewrites/replacements for every scene relating to the Bob/Pam/Midge triangle.) And, this being the first episode of a season, I couldn't resist imagining another new set of opening credits (though realistically, this may have been saved for Episode 2, to save the surprise of Donna's hair.)

FF.Net AO3

***

MAIN TITLES   INT. VISTA CRUISER – NIGHT   A) The gang out on the road. Eric drives, with Donna next to him and Hyde in the passenger’s seat. Behind him sits Jackie, then Fez, then Kelso.   THEME SONG: Hangin’ out...   B) Donna drives, with Eric next to her, his arm around the back of her seat. Hyde and Jackie sit together behind the passenger’s seat, Hyde’s arm around Jackie.   THEME SONG: Down the street...   C) Kelso drives, with Fez next to him and Hyde in the passenger’s seat.   THEME SONG: The same old thing...   D) Red drives, with Eric next to him and Kitty in the passenger’s seat, holding Schatzi. Behind her sits Hyde, then Bob, then Donna.   THEME SONG: We did last week...   E) Fez drives, with Jackie next to him and Hyde in the passenger’s seat. Behind him sits Eric, then Donna, then Kelso. Jackie leans into Fez as the gang sing along.   THEME SONG: Not a thing to do...   F) Red drives, with his arm around Kitty next to him. Bob sits behind the passenger’s seat, smiling and looking out the window as he sings along.   THEME SONG: But talk to you...   G) Jackie drives, with Hyde next to her and Kelso in the passenger’s seat. Behind him sits Fez, then Donna, then Eric.   THEME SONG: We’re all alright!   H) Eric drives, with Donna next to him and Hyde in the passenger’s seat. Behind him sits Jackie, then Fez, then Kelso.   THEME SONG: We’re all alright!   I) The creators’ license plate, a 1978 sticker in the corner.   HYDE (v.o.): Hello, Wisconsin!

***   INT. FORMAN KITCHEN – DAY   KITTY makes sandwiches on the stovetop. JACKIE watches from her perch on the island. RED roots around in the fridge.   ERIC enters through the patio door and strolls over to Kitty.   ERIC: Hello.   He picks up a sandwich, but Red crosses to him before he can take a bite.   RED: Oh-ho, what are you doing with that sandwich? I thought that we established that you needed a plan.   ERIC: Oh, I've got a plan. Donna is gonna work full-time at the radio station and rededicate herself to feminism.   KITTY: (scoffs) Feminists. Equal pay's fine, but put a little lipstick on.   Jackie nods in agreement.   ERIC: Whatever. (to Red) Anyway, that's the plan. We came up with it this morning.   RED: That's Donna's plan. What's your plan?   ERIC: My plan... is to support Donna's plan. Thought you had me there, didn't you?   Red snatches the sandwich from his hands.   RED: Get out.   ERIC: Fine. But know this - I will have my fried chicken.   JACKIE: And maybe while you’re getting it, you can find an outfit that doesn’t make you look like a dweeb. (Eric glares at her) Sorry - bigger dweeb.   Eric looks ready to retort, but instead turns heel and exits into the living room.   Jackie hops off the island and helps herself to a sandwich, ignoring Red’s glare.   RED: You know, Jackie, Steven’s downstairs. You could go eat with him. Or you could go back to your hotel, where I don’t have to pay for the food. (Jackie doesn’t move) What I’m saying is – you get out too.   JACKIE: But I had to help Donna with her hair, and my mom’s having lunch over here with Bob and she asked me to join them. And, I don’t like being in the hotel when Steven isn’t working but the bellboy from New Jersey is. He’s like Fez, but he has keys to everywhere.   KITTY: Bob’s bringing Pam? I thought he and Midge were coming over. Oh, is he still trying to date them both like some kind of gigolo?   JACKIE: (nods) It’s like Three’s Company gone wrong, except only one of them’s good-looking.   BOB and MIDGE enter through the patio door.   BOB: Hey, everybody, I think you know my date and former wife Midge.   MIDGE: Bob, they know me. (to Red & Kitty) It's me. Midge!   KITTY: So, does this mean you two are back together?   BOB: Well, we've been talking things over, and we're pretty close to working things out.   PAM stomps in through the patio door.   PAM: What is going on here?   BOB: Pam!   MIDGE: (grabs Bob’s arm) Back off! He's mine!   PAM: (to Bob) That is not what you said to me in bed last night.   MIDGE: (to Pam) Well, you should have heard what he said to me last night in the hot tub.   PAM: (to Bob) You told me that you got up to get an ice cream cone   BOB: (to Pam) I don't know why you're upset. I wasn't gone that long.   JACKIE: (beat) So... who’s hungry?   Her interjection does nothing to ease the tension. Pam and Midge both glower at Bob, who looks back and forth between them.   ***   INT. FORMAN LIVING ROOM – DAY   The aftermath of lunch. Red sits in his chair, and Kitty and Jackie sit on the couch, all of them watching Midge and Pam continue to pressure Bob.   PAM: All right, Bob, this situation with the three of us in the same house clearly isn’t working.   RED: For example – you can’t even have this fight over there.   BOB: (to Pam & Midge) Look, I don’t think it’s that bad. I mean, I’ve tried a lot of things over the years with the ladies - hot tubs, wife swapping, drug use, jogging. All things considered, things are going pretty well.   MIDGE: They’re not going well for me, Bob.   PAM: (to Midge) There, you see? We have something we agree on. (to Bob) Now, you decide right now whether you want to throw away everything we’ve worked for together over the last few months.   JACKIE: I thought the whole point of you living with the Pinciottis was to work on yourself so we could go home.   PAM: Yeah, sure, whatever.   She waves off Jackie’s remark, her eyes never leaving Bob. Jackie and Kitty share a look, and Red rolls his eyes, as the ladies keep staring down a sweating Bob.   ***   INT. FORMAN LIVING ROOM – EVENING   It’s just Pam left who’s imposing on the Formans. She paces up and down, while Red still sits in his chair and Kitty still sits on the couch.   PAM: (to Kitty) Thank you so much for hearing me out about Bob. It’s so warm and friendly. You simply must teach me how to be like that.   KITTY: Well, Pamala, I would just hate to see you throw the last few months away.   PAM: I know I was living there to work on myself. But Bob is such a sweet guy and I really love him.   RED: Are you kidding? If Bob’s eyes ever go, you’d be dating Mr. Magoo.   PAM: (beat) Well... he’s still rich, isn’t he?   KITTY: (to Pam) I think what my husband is trying to say is that now that Midge is back, that shattered family has a chance to reunite. Donna needs her mother, and Jackie needs a home, not a hotel room. And I think if you step aside and let Bob and Midge get back together, it will really show Jackie that you’ve learned to put family needs ahead of your own, and then you two can go home as mother and daughter.   RED: What my wife’s trying to say is: you should leave and take the loud one with you.   Pam looks confused; Kitty, irritated.   ***   INT. PINCIOTTI KITCHEN – EVENING   Eric and DONNA are at the kitchen table, with a first aid kit between them. Jackie watches from the island as Donna patches up a scrape on Eric’s forehead.   ERIC: You know what? Falling off that water tower was a sign. The minute I stopped working hard, I accomplished exactly what I needed to do. (holds up ring) I found the ring.   JACKIE: And if you're gonna land on a diamond, it's best to land on the smallest one ever made.   ERIC: Well, I'm afraid your schoolyard insults have no power here, child. (stands) I'm a whole new me. Tougher, braver and LOUDER! I'm gonna tell my dad what's what and get my gosh-darn fried chicken.   He exits out into the backyard.   Pam enters, suitcase in hand.   JACKIE: Mom, where are you going?   PAM: Well, I’ve been doing some thinking, and I’ve realized that I don’t belong here anymore. I’m heading back home.   DONNA: Wait – you’re leaving?   PAM: I just finished talking it over with Bob, and we agree that it’s for the best. (offers Donna her hand) Goodbye, Donna. I know we haven’t become the best of friends –   DONNA: We haven’t become any kind of friends.   PAM: (beat) And I’m sure those boyish manners will serve you well in radio. And I’m glad your mother’s home for you.   Despite the earlier insult, Donna does shake Pam’s hand. Jackie’s hand goes to her heart at the “mother” line.   PAM (cont’d): (to Jackie) And, honey... well, I won’t deny, it’s a little scary, being on my own, but... well, if you ever feel ready to come home, I’ll be waiting for you.   JACKIE: (beat) You know what? I think I am ready. Mom, I would love to come home with you.   She hops off the island and embraces her mom.   PAM: Oh, I’m so happy to hear you say that, honey. You're the only one who can explain things to the maid.

#z's fics #that 70s show #zenmasters #jackie x hyde #zen3to5+ #fan fiction #fan script

[smkkbert]

Mothers know best

Summary: Since they have been kids, they have been best friends. Since they have been friends, their mothers wanted them to be together. After coming back from the east coast, Felicity takes over a position at Queen Consolidated, the company her best friend will soon take over from his father. Their mothers still push for them to be together, and they seem closer to that goal than ever because wedding bells are ringing. The only problem is that they both plan to get married to someone else.

Rating: Explicit

Previous chapters: 1  2  3  4 

Chapter 5 of 22: Wabi-Sabi

= Finding beauty in the imperfections of life and accepting peacefully the natural cycle of growth and decay (Japanese)

 Cocking her head, Felicity looked herself up and down in the mirror. Her fingers played with the ruffles of her white top briefly before she stroked them down to the silver pencil skirt that fitted around her hips smoothly. Thanks to the hair and make-up artist who had had worked her magic on her, Felicity couldn’t deny that she looked stunning even if she’d try to.

Taking in a deep breath, she put on a smile and watched the reflection of it thoroughly. Over the last days that she had done her best to train her smile, she hadn’t been able to bring it to perfection yet. She was sure that, after two glasses of champagne, nobody would see the tension beneath it though.

“You can do this,” Felicity whispered to herself, trying to calm her down. “This is going to be great.”

She didn’t really believe herself, so her words only made her shake her head. Releasing a deep sigh, Felicity turned around and walked over to the bed. She sat down on the edge of the mattress and grabbed her shoes from where she had placed them on the soft carpet.

Slipping into the silver strap high heels, Felicity wondered once more how she was going to get through night. Formal events just weren’t where she felt comfortable. She knew it was crazy to agree on becoming Junior CEO which basically meant taking on a representative task when she wasn’t feeling comfortable around it. Feeling comfortable at a formal event that was all about tech was just so much easier.

Felicity sighed once more. She was probably the only woman who’d rather spend an entire evening talking about work than talking about her upcoming wedding. She just wasn’t good at talking about herself or her feelings.

Once the straps of her shoes were fastened, Felicity lifted her gaze. The door to the en-suite bathroom had been left ajar, allowing her to watch Carter. He was standing in front of the mirror in his black suit pants, a simple white shirt and bow tie as he was applying some gel to his hair. He didn’t look nervous at all, but Felicity wasn’t surprised about it. Carter had grown up with events like these.

Thinking her own thoughts through, Felicity frowned. She had basically grown up with events like these too. Whenever there had been a fancy party at the Queen Mansion, Donna had been invited, so she had taken Felicity with her. She and Oliver had always snuck upstairs at the first opportunity given to watch movies or do whatever else. They had never been there for long.

When Carter noticed her gaze on him, he winked at her in the mirror. Felicity just smiled to herself and cocked her head, watching Carter even more thoroughly.

Soon, Felicity puckered her lips and got up from the bed. She walked over to Carter and wrapped her arms around him from behind, resting both of her hands on top of his heart. She wanted to lean her face against his shoulder blade and close her eyes for a moment, but she didn’t want to ruin his shirt.

“Are you okay?” Carter asked her and stroked a hand over the back of hers. “Are you nervous?”

“Terribly,” Felicity replied honestly. “Is that bad?”

“Of course not.” Carter lifted one of her hands to his lips and kissed it. “I know events like this make you nervous. Just pretend it’s work.”

“I can hardly talk about computers whenever someone asks me about our wedding.”

Carter tugged at Felicity’s hand until she loosened her arms around his chest and stepped around him. Carter wrapped his arms around her waist loosely, holding her to his front. His body was warm, making Felicity feel a little warmer instantly, just like the smile that was on his lips when he tugged a strand of her hair behind her ear made her feel warmer too.

“Whenever you are asked about our wedding,” Carter said with soft voice, “you tell them that we don’t want to rush anything because you have an exciting new job to look forward to. That’s the perfect opportunity to turn the conversation and make it about work.”

Felicity couldn’t contain a smile at how sweet Carter was. She was sure that a lot of men wouldn’t be happy if their fiancée had trouble making an evening, their engagement party in particular, about their love. Carter wasn’t like that though. He just wanted her to feel okay despite being out of her comfort zone.

At the same time, Felicity wondered if he really felt as okay about that as he was trying to make her believe. She’d understand if he actually did have trouble with her inability to feel comfortable about this engagement party.

“Can I ask you something?”

Carter perked up his eyebrows in surprise. “Yes, of course. What’s going on?”

Felicity pursed her lips briefly, unsure how to address her thoughts. Carter made it easy for her though. He stroked his fingertips over her cheek gently, casting her an encouraging smile.

“Are you really okay with waiting?” she asked him with low voice. “Oliver and McKenna are doing thing so quickly, so I was wondering if that was what you’d actually want too, you know? I don’t want you to feel like I am buying time or anything. I just… want to take things slow if that makes sense.”

Carter smiled, taking all her doubt about his honesty away. As much as she was sure that Carter knew how to smile even when he wasn’t feeling like it at all, she knew his smile right now was honest. He meant it.

“I think I ambushed you enough as it is,” Carter said and rested his forehead against hers, “didn’t I?”

Felicity smiled, thinking back to his proposal. She had anticipated a lot of things to happen that night, but she really hadn’t thought that he would propose to her. He had kind of ambushed her with it.

“I just don’t want you to know that I really want this. I want to get married to you.”

“I know,” Carter assured her, his warm hand rubbing up and down her back. “Don’t worry about that.”

Carter angled his head down slightly and brushed his lips against Felicity’s. She straightened up onto the tip of her toes to press herself more against him and deepen the kiss. A sigh fell from her lips, and she could feel Carter tightening his arms around her in response.

When their lips parted, Felicity sank back down onto her heels and smiled even more. She moved her hands from the back of Carter’s elbows up his arms to his shoulders and wrapped her arms around the back of his neck loosely.

“Thank you for understanding,” she said, almost whispering the words. “It means the world to me.”

“Don’t worry.” Carter winked. “I think we actually feel the same way about when it comes to this.“

“You want to wait too?”

“I think I do.” Carter nodded slowly. “We are in no hurry. Are we?”

Felicity smiled. “No, we aren’t.”

They had their entire life still ahead of them. Knowing that they wanted to spend their lives together was an important step. Getting married instantly wasn’t necessary to make their plan happen. As long as they were together, they were already spending their lives together and living up to the promise they had given to each other when Felicity had accepted his proposal.

There was no hurry to make it official and put a ring on it when they both knew what they wanted.

“Besides, I have the slight hope that, if we are waiting a little with getting married,” Carter added after a moment, “maybe your mother will actually like me rather than throwing daggers at me with her eyes when she leads you down the aisle.”

Felicity felt torn between chuckling and frowning for her moment. Whoever saw her mother would think that she was incapable of looking daggers at anyone. They didn’t know how wrong that impression was. Beneath the Barbie-like appearance, her mother was a headstrong and fierce woman.

“My mother does like you.” Felicity smiled with a glimpse of amusement shining through. “She just doesn’t know it yet.”

Carter chuckled. “Apparently, she doesn’t. Otherwise, she’d be very good at hiding it.”

Felicity smiled, grateful that Carter wasn’t making a big deal out of it. He wasn’t making a big deal out of anything. He made it so wonderfully easy to be with him that Felicity was surprised he had been single for so long.

“My mom always thinks that she has to protect me,” Felicity explained to him, releasing a low sigh. “She basically raised me all on her own. I mean she had Moira’s and Robert’s support, but she was the one ultimately responsible for me. After my dad left us, she just didn’t want my heart to be broken ever again.”

Donna had been burnt by falling for a handsome and talented man. Felicity wasn’t surprised that her alarm bells had started ringing the moment Felicity had introduced her to Carter. He probably reminded her a lot of Noah Kuttler. Felicity knew that Carter and her dad couldn’t be any more different than they were.

“I know that being left by your dad was hard. If you want to talk about it-“

“I don’t actually,” Felicity said maybe a little too quickly. “Sorry.”

Carter nodded his head and tightened his arms around her waist yet again. He was completely focused on her when he said, “You have no reason to be sorry. I just want you to know that I am here whenever you feel like you want to talk about it or if you just need someone to hold you. I can guarantee you that I have no intention on breaking your heart, and I will prove that to your mother too.”

“I know you will.”

Felicity pushed herself up onto the tip of her toes and brushed her lips against Carter’s once more. He opened his lips and so did Felicity. His tongue slipped into her mouth, stroking against hers. Felicity sighed contently and tightened her arms around his neck to get even closer to him.

As their lips parted, Felicity released another long sigh and scrunched up her nose.

“I really don’t want to go to that party.” Groaning, Felicity let her head fall forward against Oliver’s chest. “I am almost sure my mother organized glitter bombs and pink feathers and God knows what else.”

Carter chuckled. “Really? I am pretty sure Mrs. Queen has stopped her from doing so.”

Felicity released a hum, partly agreeing with Carter. If someone was able to keep her mother’s style in check, it was probably Moira. She preferred a much more conservative style.

“Still,” Felicity said eventually, angling her head back to look at Carter again. “I’d rather stay here and… I don’t know.”

Carter puckered his lips and pushed his tongue into his cheek. His eyes drifted down from Felicity’s eyes over her chin and breasts to where their bodies were pressed together. Slowly, he started stepping forward, prompting Felicity to take some steps back until her back was pressed against the frame of the door.

Felicity perked up her eyebrows and smiled when she saw the glimpse of desire in Carter’s eyes.

“You don’t know?” he asked and lowered his lips to kiss the edge of her jar. “I know what we could or should do.”

Carter pressed his body a little bit more against hers. With the way his hips rubbed against hers, there was no doubt about how he would like to spend the night. The wiggle of his eyebrows only made it even clearer.

Felicity chuckled. “I think our mothers will kill us if we don’t get there in time.”

Donna had called Felicity at least ten times today to make sure she really was going to show up on time. Felicity had no idea why her mother had felt the need to remind her of that. Unlike Oliver, who had probably never been on time for anything in his entire life, Felicity usually made sure that she wasn’t let anyone wait too long.

As much as Felicity would like to stay home, she was sure that her mother would never forgive her if she did. She had put a lot of thought and energy into planning this evening after all. Even if she was suspicious of Carter, she was happy that her only daughter still believed in love enough to give it a try it seemed.

Carter chuckled. “You are probably right.”

With a kiss to her cheek, he stepped away from Felicity and went over to the chair in the corner of the bedroom. He grabbed the jacket of his suit from the back of the chair in the corner of the room and slipped into it.

“Besides,” he said, when he turned back around to her, “I am sure Oliver would probably kill me too.”

Felicity frowned slightly. “Why?”

Chuckling, Carter sat down on the chair and slipped into his shoes. While he was tying the laces, he looked at Felicity with perked up eyebrows.

“You really want to tell me that you haven’t noticed yet how protective he is of you?”

Felicity bit down on her bottom lip. She wasn’t sure if Carter knew that never mind why Oliver was and probably would never be a fan of him. His dislike for her fiancé was probably the very reason why Oliver always seemed to keep an eye on them because he hadn’t been like when she had been with Cooper. At least Felicity couldn’t remember it.

Carter was looking at her thoroughly it seemed, waiting for her to answer. Felicity shrugged her shoulders.

“We are just very close, you know?” Felicity asked. “We didn’t exactly grow up as siblings, but we were almost like raised to become best friends. We spent almost our entire childhood and youth together. We are just very important to each other.”

Carter looked at her for a moment longer, his eyes almost narrowed a little on her. He didn’t really look like he didn’t believe her, but something about her answer seemed to keep his thoughts occupied.

Soon, Carter was smiling at her though. He got up from the chair and strolled over towards Felicity slowly. He put his hands to her hips and pulled her close until their bodies were pressed together once more. The soft smile on her lips made Felicity smile immediately too.

“If he’s important to him, then I will put him on my list of people I will do my best to become friends with too,” Carter told her. “Everyone who is important to you, is important to me.”

Felicity’s smile grew even wider. She felt her heart warming at his words. She knew for the rest of her life, Carter would always do everything he could to make sure she’d be happy.

Leaning against Carter’s chest, she wrapped her arms around his neck and nuzzled Carter’s nose. When Carter tried to kiss her, Felicity moved away from him teasingly. He tried it again, and Felicity avoided his lips playfully once more. Carter chuckled, perking up his eyebrows.

Cocking her head slightly, Felicity grinned. She let her hands stroke over Carter’s broad shoulders before she moved them down the front of his chest. Her fingers played with the topmost bottom of his shirt.

“Maybe,” she said slowly, “it wouldn’t be so bad to be a little late to our engagement party after all.”

“Oh, really?” Carter asked. A wide grin spread on his face. “And what else do you have in mind?”

Without looking away from him, Felicity started unbuttoning his shirt. Carter nodded his head slightly, obviously appreciating what she was doing. He stayed silent until Felicity had reached the last button of his shirt.

“I like this plan,” he said eventually while Felicity was tugging the hem of his shirt out from the waistband of his pants. “I like it very much.”

“Yeah?”

Chuckling, Carter turned Felicity, so her back was directed towards the bed. With one firm movement, he pushed her onto the bed and climbed onto the mattress after her.

“Yeah, very, very much really actually.”

A moment later, his lips were on hers, claiming them. His hands roamed over her body, stroking over her soft curves and pulling at her clothes. His body moved against hers, trying to feel every inch of her.

For a split second, Felicity remembered that maybe this wasn’t the best idea given that her hair and make-up had been done by a professional and they were certainly going to destroy it. The thought of her mother’s reaction to their undeterrable delay crossed her mind too. Felicity pushed every thought away and focused solely on this – Carter and her.

* * *

“But you have to have some plans in mind.”

Felicity pressed her lips together and rolled them slightly into her mouth. She had lost count of how many people had looked at her with this incredulous expression in their eyes whenever she had said that she hadn’t even spent one thought on the wedding planning yet.

“Nothing that’s ready to be talked about,” Felicity replied evasively and quickly took some sips of her champagne. “If you excuse me now, I still have a lot of guests to say hi to.”

“Yes, of course. We will surely get the chance to talk a little bit more later, Felicity.”

With a polite smile and the thought that she would avoid Janice’s friends as much as possible for the rest of the evening, Felicity turned around and walked away from them.

The setting of the party was a lot nicer than Felicity had feared it would be. It seemed like Carter had been right, and Moira had actually kept her mother in check. Warm lights as well as pink and white roses were giving the room a wonderful atmosphere. She actually liked it.

Strolling through the spacious salon of the Queen Mansion, Felicity looked around the many people her mother and Moira had invited. Most of them seemed to be people of Starling City’s upper class and with that, friends of Moira and Robert. Some of the faces were remotely familiar from the nights she and Oliver had sat in the staircase and watched the party that had been happening here in the salon.

The memory made Felicity smile, and she instinctively looked through the open doors into the foyer. She could almost see herself and Oliver as kids, crouching on the staircase in the half-dark. They had made up stories about the people they had seen downstairs here, vowing to each other that they would never become like that.

That hadn’t worked out so well for them it seemed Felicity thought with a shake of her head. She looked around once more, trying to find Oliver, but he was nowhere to be seen. Maybe his parents’ friends had already killed him with boredom.

Felicity’s eyes landed on Robert though. He was standing close to the fireplace with two couples, a glass of champagne in his hands. His eyes locked on hers, and he rolled his eyes slightly. Felicity grinned. She knew how little Robert liked these occasions either. He had actually joined her and Oliver on the staircase more than once in their childhood.

Biting down on her bottom lip, Felicity took a brief look around to make sure nobody was watching her. Maybe she could sneak out without anyone seeing her and enjoy a moment of quiet. Indeed, it seemed like nobody was paying attention to her right now, so Felicity turned around quickly. And ran right into her mother.

“Mom.”

“There you are,” Donna said and hooked her arm under Felicity’s, leading her away from the doors. “How do you like your party?”

“It’s wonderful,” Felicity replied. “Even though it might not be exactly my kind of party.”

It would have been even less her kind of party if Donna had been allowed to live out her dreams of pink. Thanks Moira, all the pink in the room was focused in the color of Donna’s dress.

“Oh, I know.” Donna chuckled. “It’s not exactly Oliver’s kind of party either, but you two have to leave Moira and me at least some joy now that you have once and for all destroyed out hope that you two will ever get married.”

Felicity rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t contain a chuckle. She had already wondered when her mother was going to bring this up. Felicity doubted that she would get over this any time soon.

“You do know that Carter thinks you have something against him, right?” Felicity asked her mother, perking up her eyebrows.

“I don’t have anything against Carter.”

“Anything other than the fact that he’s not Oliver you mean.”

Donna smiled to herself, casting Felicity a brief look, but she didn’t answer. She didn’t need to. Felicity could see right through her mother’s smile. The fact that he wasn’t Oliver really was the only fault she had found in Carter so far.

“I do like Carter,” Donna admitted eventually. “And I will get over my destroyed dreams of your and Oliver being together.”

Felicity perked up an eyebrow. “You will?”

Donna’s smile widened to a grin. Felicity was almost sure that her mother would only wait for the day she and Oliver both got divorced, so her and Moira’s dream could be revived again.

She would never give up.

“Now, do you have a minute for me to introduce you to-“

“Donna,” Robert said softly as he stepped towards the two of them. “Can I borrow you for a second? My good friend Frank Chen just told me something about a Jewish tradition that I can’t quite believe, so I thought I’d ask an expert.”

“Oh, of course.” Donna turned to Felicity and squeezed her hand. “I will introduce you later.”

With a hand on the small of her back, Robert led Donna away from Felicity. Turning his head back over his shoulder, he winked at Felicity though. She smiled in response, mouthing a soundless, “Thank you.”

Of course Robert had her back. He had always had her back.

Using the opportunity before anyone else could approach her and keep her back, Felicity quickly walked back towards the terrace doors. With one hand already wrapped around the handle, she made sure nobody was watching her, and she stepped outside quickly.

Closing the door behind her, she took a step aside. She leaned back against the cold wall where nobody could see her. With closed eyes, she released a long breath of relief.

Finally, some quiet.

“Well, well, escaping your own engagement party, Ms. Smoak?”

Felicity blinked through one eye. She grinned when she saw Oliver. It was already dark outside, but the light that came from inside the mansion was shining right onto his face. He was leaning back against the balustrade, an empty glass of champagne in his hand. There was an amused grin on his face as he watched Felicity.

“You should be hiding,” Felicity told him as a grin spread on her lips too, “because if we get caught out here because of you, I swear to God that I will kill you.”

Oliver chuckled and turned his eyes towards the glassy terrace doors for a moment. Puckering his lips, he shook his head then.

“Don’t worry about it.” Oliver shrugged his shoulders. “Nobody is paying attention to what is happening outside.”

Trusting his words, Felicity shot a look inside too and figured that Oliver was right. Everyone was busy talking and laughing and having fun. Nobody was paying attention to what was happening outside. There was no reason to hide. At least not yet.

“Come here now,” Oliver said, beckoning her to come to him with a nod of his head. “If it makes you feel better, we can even step over into the shadows.”

Felicity only hesitated a moment before she hurried over to where Oliver was standing. Without stopping, she grabbed his hand and pulled him into the shadows though. Now that she had finally escaped the party, she wouldn’t risk being called back in anytime soon.

“How long have you already been here?” Felicity asked when they were safe in the shadows. “And how dare you escape that party without me?”

“I wanted to take you with me, but you were so busy chatting with you mother-in-law’s friends that I didn’t dare interrupting you.”

The wide grin on Oliver’s face made her hum sarcastically. She let go of his hand and punched his shoulder playfully. It only made Oliver chuckle though, so she rolled her eyes.

“I hate you.”

“No, you don’t.”

Felicity grumbled. “Maybe I don’t.”

Oliver’s grin widened even more, making Felicity roll her eyes yet again. Crossing her arms in front of her chest, she rubbed her hands up and down her forearms in a weak try to make herself feel a little warmer. For the end of September, it was incredibly cold tonight.

With one last glance towards Oliver, she turned away from him and looked into the sky. There was no a single cloud there today, allowing her to look into the dark sky with its thousands of stars. It was beautiful, the most beautiful night she had seen in a long time. Maybe it was even the only night she had really consciously seen in a long time.

When a soft fabric was put over her shoulders, Felicity turned her head around to see that Oliver had slipped out of the jacket of his suits, revealing his suspenders, and put it over her shoulders. Stepping so close behind her that his chest pressed to her back, he wrapped his arms around her caged her in the warmth of his body. Felicity leaned back against him with a sigh.

“Thank you.”

“Of course.” She could hear the smile in his voice. “I wouldn’t want you to freeze to death.”

Resting her head back against Oliver’s shoulder, Felicity closed her eyes for a moment. She could just fall asleep like this. If the long sigh that Oliver released when he rested his chin on top of Felicity’s head was any indication, he felt the same way.

“How are the chances that we can spend the rest of the night here like this instead going back inside?” Felicity asked with a sigh. “Because I really have no interest in going back in there.”

“I fear that, once our mothers notice that we are here, they will call us back in there,” Oliver said and his tiredness was now shining through. “Chances are bad.”

Felicity groaned. Thinking about going back in there and getting those judging looks because she hadn’t made any plans for her wedding yet and wasn’t even considering making any plans anytime soon made her want to run away right now.

“You know what I could really use right now?”

“The ability to make yourself invisible?”

Felicity chuckled. “Yes, that too, but a Big Belly Burger would do it too for now.”

As if her stomach had just waited for the right time, it growled loudly. She had wanted to eat a sandwich before coming here, but her spontaneous quickie with Carter had gotten in the way of it. She hadn’t wanted to make their guests wait any longer, so she had come here with an empty stomach. With the canapés that were offered here, Felicity hadn’t been able to still her hunger yet.

When Oliver suddenly lifted his head from the top of hers and pulled away slightly, Felicity turned around to him. She frowned, watching the expression on his face.

“What?”

“Well, let’s do that,” he said. “Let’s go to Big Belly’s and grab some burgers.”

Felicity stared at him with the same disbelief she had been at the receiving end of most of the night so far. As tempting as it was to just say yes and run away with him into the night, or their most favorite restaurant actually, something held her back. Unlike Oliver, she couldn’t just ignore all rules of good behavior.

“This is our party,” she told him. “We can’t leave.”

“Wrong.” Oliver turned her around at her shoulders, so they were facing each other. “This is our party, so we can do whatever the hell we want.”

Felicity felt the corner of her lips twitching slightly. Sometimes, it felt like Oliver was the little devil on her shoulder, whispering forbidden ideas into her ear.

“It wouldn’t be fair to McKenna and Carter though.”

Oliver cocked his head at her slightly. When Felicity, despite how much she wanted to give in, continued to hold his gaze though, he looked into the living room. Felicity followed his gaze to see Carter and McKenna at different sides of the room, both talking to some people. They looked happy and not the least bit stressed, almost like they actually enjoyed the party.

“Honestly, Felicity, they are supposed to become our better halves soon,” Oliver said. “Let’s let the worse halves leave.”

Felicity chuckled. “Aren’t we supposed to be their better halves too?”

“Pssst.” Oliver put his hand onto her lips, hushing her. “Don’t apply logic to my justification, or we have to actually stay here after all.”

Felicity grinned at his words, but the grin faded quickly when she turned her gaze towards the living room once more. She looked at Carter. Though he seemed to have no trouble talking to the people there, Felicity felt bad at the thought of leaving him behind here. He was nothing but sweet to her. He always had her back and never pushed her out of her comfort zone. She should be able to do this for him.

On the other hand, Carter would probably understand that she had to catch her breath.

“Okay, let’s go.”

Oliver perked up his eyebrows, obviously taking aback by her answer. “Really?”

“Yes, really.” Felicity nodded and quickly grabbed Oliver’s hand. “Let’s go before we get caught.”

They hurried down the stones that led into the garden. Hidden in the shadows of the night, they walked towards the high iron fence that enclosed the entire property. Holding onto the grids of the fence, Felicity lifted her foot and Oliver pushed his hands beneath it, helping her up until she could make it over the fence. He easily climbed over it himself then and jumped down, landing right next to her on the sidewalk behind the garden.

Hand in hand, they hurried to the next busier street where they caught a cab that took them right towards Big Belly’s.

Barely fifteen minutes after they had made their plans, they were already sitting in one of the booths over French Fries and burgers. They were probably a little bit overdressed, but neither of them cared. There was no way anyone could feel uncomfortable at Big Belly’s.

Biting into her Chili Cheese Burger, Felicity squinted and released a long hum. If Big Belly Burgers weren’t the best food that had ever been invented, Felicity didn’t know either.

“If there is one thing I missed while you were living your life everyone in the world but here with me,” Oliver said, a little bit of a reproach sounding through his voice, “it was eating Big Belly Burgers with you.”

Felicity chuckled and wiped her paper napkin over her lips as she was sure that there was chili sauce all over them.

“You just have to stop surrounding yourself with women that think salad is the only food that exists for girls.”

Oliver grinned. “Still, no other person, woman or man, that I have met has the ability to devour a burger the way you do.”

Felicity shrugged her shoulders and lifted her burger to her lips once more. “Those are freaks.”

She took an extra-large bite of her burger and hummed particularly loudly, just for Oliver. He seemed to know that she was doing it just for him because he chuckled and shook his head.

Felicity couldn’t count how many times she and Oliver had been at Big Belly’s in their youth. Once Oliver had gotten his license, he had picked her up at home at least every other Saturday night and they had snuck here. Before Oliver had had a license, he had just picked her up with his bicycle which, admittedly, had had just as much fun to it. Maybe even more.

The corners of Felicity’s lips twitched as she thought about that one night, she had slept so deeply that she hadn’t woken up from any of the twenty messages Oliver had sent her. It had been raining terribly, but Oliver had climbed the trellis to her window and knocked at the windowpane until she had woken up and opened it to him. When he had tried to climb into her room, he had slipped though and had almost fallen into her room. Felicity had tried to catch him, but he had just taking her down onto the floor with her. He had landed on top of her, and they had both started laughing. The noises had eventually brought her mother into the scene.

Thinking about it now, Felicity was still surprised that her mother hadn’t pulled out a camera and taken photos of them. Unlike most mothers, she hadn’t told Oliver to get out of the house and never sneak into it in the dark of the night again. Instead, she had told them to do whatever they wanted and added, already halfway out of the room, that there were condoms in the bathroom.

Felicity couldn’t contain a chuckle. When she lifted her gaze towards Oliver, intending to remind him of that night, she noticed that his gaze was on her already though. He was staring at her finger, or her engagement ring to be more exact.

As soon as he noticed her staring, he lifted his gaze to her eyes though. There was not the least bit of embarrassment or shame in her face for being caught staring at her. There was nothing they had to be ashamed of in front of each other. They knew each other too long for embarrassment to still have a place between them.

“Is it weird for you?” Oliver asked. “The thought of getting married?”

“Is it weird for you?” Felicity asked back immediately.

Oliver shook his head slightly. “I asked first.”

Felicity sucked in a deep breath, thinking her answer through. Oliver was too important to her to just give him a standard answer. She wanted to be honest with him since he was the only person, she had always been honest with.

“I never thought I’d get married,” she replied honestly and lowered her gaze to her engagement ring too. It still felt weird wearing it, like a foreign object you wanted to get rid of until you remembered what it was. “After the way my father left my mom and me, it just feels weird to link myself to a man like that. It’s scary.”

The thought that she would be left alone the way her mother had been left alone scared her. Felicity knew she’d do anything possible to keep her independency even once they had gotten married. She’d keep working hard to stay employable and to always be able to afford a place to live for herself as well as the kids she might one day have.

“If it calms you down a little,” Oliver said and cleared his voice as he seemed to have real trouble saying this, “Carter seems really into you. I mean that guy can barely keep his hands to himself when it comes to you. He always has to have one hand on your hip or your shoulder or the small of your back. What is that?”

Felicity chuckled to herself, shaking her head. She’d probably say it was love if it didn’t sound so terribly corny.

“But for the record,” Oliver added after a moment, “if he breaks your heart, I will break his neck. And I will enjoy it.”

Felicity smiled. There was no denying that Oliver was protective of her. They had met at a time when Felicity had been the most vulnerable. He had seen and helped her to come back to herself again. She wasn’t the least bit surprised that he was holding a protecting hand over her.

“Thank you,” she whispered, “but I don’t think that will be necessary. Carter doesn’t seem to be the least bit interested in breaking my heart. I am actually pretty sure that he told me that earlier tonight.”

Oliver rolled his eyes. “Of course he did.”

Felicity barely contained a chuckle. She had known already that Oliver’s dislike of Carter was part of the reason why he was so protective of her now. She didn’t doubt that there was a tiny part of him that wanted Carter to hurt her, just so he would be right. He would never admit it and he probably felt really bad about it as it was, but Felicity really believed this.

“Carter is a really good guy,” Felicity assured him, “even if you don’t want to see that.”

Oliver pushed some French Fries into his mouth before he released a sigh. He folded his forearms on the edge of the tabletop and leaned forward, looking at Felicity intently.

“Give me some time,” he asked with gentle voice. “I will learn to live with him.”

Felicity chuckled, reaching out her hand and putting it over Oliver’s. “Don’t worry. I will get married to him. You don’t have to do that.”

Snorting lowly, Oliver shook his head. With a sigh, he turned his hand and laced his fingers through hers then. He watched their entwined fingers for a moment before he lifted his gaze towards Felicity again.

“I don’t have to get married to Carter. Luckily.” Oliver grinned, making Felicity chuckle. “But I want you in my life. If that meant that I have to endure Carter, I will take it.”

Felicity smiled. She wanted Oliver in her life too. Even if he hadn’t chosen to get married to McKenna, who was certainly the nicest of all the girlfriends he had had, Felicity knew that she would have endured whatever woman he could have probably chosen too. Oliver was her best friend. He was the most important person in her life. She couldn’t lose him, no matter what or who she had to endure with him.

“I know I couldn’t have a better best friend,” Felicity said with a smile. “And I know you are doing the best you can to accept Carter.”

“I’d do anything for you.”

Felicity smiled. “And I’d do anything for you.”

No other words were needed as everything that was important had been said already. Everything else that was important was showing in the expression in their eyes. They knew each other long enough to know what they were saying with their eyes.

Felicity might still be scared about getting married, but she knew that, as long as she had Oliver, she would always have a shoulder to lean on. She was safe as long as she had him.

* * *

“If anyone should ask,” Oliver whispered into her ear, “we have just been upstairs for a moment because you needed to freshen up yourself and I showed you where to do it.”

Felicity frowned, looking back at him over her shoulder. “I have basically been grown up here. Why would you need to show me a bathroom?”

Oliver pinched her side, making Felicity slap his hand away.

“Stop trying to make sense out of this,” Oliver whispered. “Nobody will ask if we tell them that. If they do, you just invent some other lie.”

Felicity groaned. “But I'm so bad at lying.”

When Felicity leaned forwards once more, looking into the living room, Oliver leaned over her from behind her. He didn’t seem to find anything or anyone that hinted that someone might have noticed that they had been missing for the past two hours. Putting his hand to her back, he pushed her forward into the room and followed right after her.

Felicity held her breath. She almost waited for everyone to suddenly fall quiet and turn around to them. In those corny movies she liked to watch at least once in a while, that was surely what would happen.

It really looked like nobody had missed them.

That impression lasted exactly three seconds. As soon as Robert stepped towards them with slightly perked up eyebrows and puckered lips, Felicity knew that she had been terribly wrong.

“Your mothers were looking for you,” he said with quiet voice. “They almost thought you had eloped together.”

“I guess they have been delighted?”

Felicity groaned, unsure if it was because they had been gotten caught sneaking away after all or because their mothers had used that to revive their old hopes once more. Like there was even a remote chance that she and Oliver would ever be together!

“If you think that your mother's won’t kill you when you two, for whatever reason, decide to get married after all and don’t invite them to the wedding, you are crazy.”

Shaking her head with a sigh, Felicity lowered her gaze to her feet. Their mothers would never give up, no matter how much they were vowing to be better. They might have stopped to be so obvious about it, but they still kept the idea of Oliver and Felicity getting together one day deep in their hearts.

When Felicity lifted her gaze, she saw that Robert was looking back and forth between her and Oliver. His eyes lingered a little longer on Oliver, who was looking back at his father with an unreadable expression. Felicity frowned slightly. Before she got a chance at finding out what silent conversation they were having there, Robert noticed her interest though.

“So,” he asked, clearing his throat, “where have you two been?”

“Grabbing some burgers and milkshakes. We just needed a little break from all of this.,” Felicity replied though it almost sounded like a question. She shrugged her shoulders. “We are sorry-“

“Maybe you are.”

“-that we left here,” Felicity said, nudging Oliver’s ribs with her elbow. “We know it was planned differently and-“

When Robert lifted his hands with a shake of his head, Felicity stopped. She pulled her bottom lip between her front teeth and looked at him.

“You don’t have to justify yourself.” Robert’s eyes found something behind them. “At least not to me.”

Oliver and Felicity turned their heads back over their shoulders to look at what Robert had seen behind them. When Felicity saw McKenna approaching them, a slightly angry expression in her eyes, she shot Robert another brief glance. He flashed her a smile and left them alone.

“Where have you been?” McKenna hissed with low voice, trying to hide her anger behind a smile. “You’ve been away for more than two hours.”

Oliver pursed his lips and reached out his hands for McKenna’s shoulders, but she took a small step back. Her eyes were sparkling with anger now, leaving no doubt that she was really pissed that she had been left alone at their engagement party.

“I am sorry,” Oliver said soothingly. “Events like these just aren’t for me and-“

“I understand that, Ollie,” McKenna replied firmly though her voice was still lowered to a whisper. “I really understand that, but this is our engagement party. I could have needed you here because your mother introduced me to a bunch of her friends, and I feel like I would maybe recognize two of them now. I would have really appreciated if you would have been here.”

“I know, and I am sorry. I-“

“Your apologies do not help me right now.”

Oliver made a new attempt at reaching out for McKenna, but she avoided his touch. With a sigh of annoyance, she crossed her arms in front of her chest. Oliver took in a deep breath and his chest tensed slightly, the usual reaction when he wasn’t feeling quite comfortable.

Felicity realized that she probably shouldn’t be here right now. This was something that was just between Oliver and McKenna. She had her own conversation like this to go through she guessed.

“I will“ – Felicity cleared her throat and pointed her thumb back over her shoulder, already taking the first steps backwards, while Oliver and McKenna stared at her – “go to find Carter. Or something.”

She quickly turned around on her heels and tried to get as far away from them as possible. Since the party for Oliver’s seventeenth birthday, when he had broken up with whatever cheerleader he had dated at that time right in front of her, she had sworn never to get anywhere near a relationship talk of Oliver and his girlfriend. She had barely ever felt more uncomfortable than she had felt during that time.

When she was at the other side of the room, Felicity shot a look back over her shoulder. McKenna and Oliver were still standing where she had left them. They still looked tense.

With a long sigh, Felicity turned her back towards them once more. She guessed it was time for her to face this kind of conversation too. She’d need a glass of champagne first though.

“Looking for some drink to spend you some courage?”

Felicity looked at the glass of champagne in front of her for a moment before she lifted her gaze to Carter, who was holding it out for her.

“Hi,” she said, sounding almost a little bit breathless.

“Hi.” Carter grinned and moved the glass back and forth in front of her eyes. “Champagne?”

Felicity nodded her head. Without taking her eyes off Carter, she took the glass from his hands. Carter raised his glass to her. They clinked their glasses and took some sips. Their eyes stayed on each other.

They lowered their glasses, but their eyes still stayed locked. They both still stayed quiet. Felicity bit down on her bottom lip. It made Carter perk up his eyebrows.

“I am sorry, okay?” Felicity said with a sigh. “I shouldn’t have left. I just needed a break, and I-“

Carter reached out his hand and wrapped his fingers around her wrist. Felicity fell silent, just looking at Carter.

“I was betting with myself whether or not you would make it through this party without hiding or running away.”

Felicity puckered her lips, cocking her head. “Did you win?”

“I did indeed.”

Carter wrapped an arm around Felicity’s waist and pulled her against him. His lips brushed against hers in a gentle kiss. The smile she had almost tasted on his lips was still there when they pulled apart.

“I am really sorry,” Felicity repeated in a whisper. “I will make up for it somehow.”

“You don’t have to,” Carter replied, shaking his head. “I understand why you would need a break from this.”

“Even though it’s our engagement party?”

“Even though it’s our engagement party,” Carter replied without any hesitation. “You needed the break.”

Felicity smiled, unable to contain it. Her heart warmed, just seeing the loving way Carter looked at her and knowing how much he just wanted her to be happy and give her what she really needed.

“You are perfect, you know that?”

Carter smiled and brushed his fingertips against her chin. “Kind of, yes.”

He leaned into kiss her once more, but before their lips touched, someone snuck the glass of champagne from her hands and released a deep sigh.

“Okay, McKenna really is pissed at me now.”

At Oliver’s voice, Felicity quickly pulled back. She shot him a brief glance, watching him downing the champagne he had just stolen from her in one go. She quickly looked back at Carter apologetically though and though he smiled there was a low sigh falling from his lips.

“Sorry.”

Oliver shook his head. “I convinced you to leave with me, so I am the one who should be sorry. I hope you two are not in trouble?”

“Nope,” Felicity replied, looking back at Carter once more. “We aren’t.”

“Good.” Oliver nodded his head. “I guess you might be the greater couple then.”

“Oh, we surely are.” Felicity grinned at Oliver. “What else did you expect?”

Oliver released a sound that was a mixture of a hum and a groan. He rolled his eyes slightly, but he was grinning back at her nonetheless.

There were no words needed for the both of them to know that they didn’t regret their little trip today. It might have not been the right thing to do given they had missed their own engagement party and it might have gotten Oliver into some trouble with McKenna, but they still knew it had been the right thing to do. They wouldn’t have stood through this if it hadn’t been for the little break they had taken.

When loud laughter attracted their attention, Felicity and Oliver broke their intense eye contact. Felicity looked to where her mother was standing with some other women, laughing and having fun, only briefly. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Carter’s face and it made her turn her gaze towards him.

There was a small crease between his eyebrows as he was looking back and forth between Oliver and her. The expression in his eyes was unreadable. Felicity doubted that she had ever seen it before.

As soon as Carter noticed her gaze on his face, he quickly put on a smile though. Stepping forward, he put a hand to her back and brushed his lips against her forehead.

“I will talk to some more of our guests.”

When Carter pulled away, Felicity laced her fingers through his. “I am coming with you.”

“You’re sure?”

“I had my break. Now I can continue fighting my way through this party.” Felicity smiled at him. “Besides, it will be much easier with you by my side.”

She smiled at Carter for a moment before she turned to Oliver. She didn’t have to voice her question for him to know what she wanted to ask him. With a soft smile, he nodded his head.

“Go and enjoy the party,” he said. “I will try to make up to McKenna in the meantime.”

Felicity smiled. “Thank you and good luck.”

While Oliver was walking past her, he winked at her, making her smile, before she leaned against Carter’s arm and looked at him.

“Ready for the fight?” he asked.

She probably wasn’t because there wasn’t a break that could possibly be long enough for her to save enough energy, but she nodded her head nonetheless.

“Absolutely.”

* * *

@fannaz @promiseyoullbepatientwithme @bytemegeekette @felicity-said-just-in-case @phanseptiic @orangeisorange @mspotatohead14 @whentheheavenfades @emmaamelia95 @smoakingskye @seaolicity @ourwritinginvein @1022bridgetp @felicityqueenforever @leagueofolicity17 @yryssss @myhauntedblacksoul @sherlock44 @sinceriouslybea @arrowsalways @olivyflavescentdeer @olicitys-castle @ofnothingcharming @vaelisamaza @smoakedandcharmed @alexisa1206 @mysaudadespt2 @florence-bubbles @addictiontelly @queens-of-arrows @memcjo @hysterical-for-joshifer @oswinelevenforever @olicitylovemaking @bandanab310 @mymusiclove101 @lynslogic @scarletqueen23 @olicityshipper19 @alex-wesley @arrows-4ever @unabashedlynerdypatrol @louehmysoul @ligiapimenta @chattyyana @charlie-leau @coal000 @samcrowleys @ishippolivia @julianegomesqueen @malafle @miriam1779 @charlinert @melaux @ontheolicityship @myshipperlife @wrightainsley @lexi9515 @ladygreenwood @multi-fandom-crazy-fangirl @morinamel @mje-thomas @kebarry @canadianheartgirl @nannett2307 @almondblossomme @paarti12 @kathrynelizabeth89 @imdfabulous @cutearrowgirl @mrt2501 @mecha1330 @arsipaci14 @mzminx @salasvia @brandis91 @cainc3 @morganmiguess @pr0fessi0nal-fangurl @iamisalima @nessafrancis-blog @jonhdiggle @niki-is-amazing @universed-posts @hopeful-warrior @senoritaswiftie @bellemmie @green-arrows-of-karamel @iheartarrow @olicityovereverything @oliverfel4 @navyaarsha @fandoms-breathe-life @simone4mcswarek @olicity-in-the-heart @fullychippedcreation @geemarie @everything-but-normal-cat @myarroworld @tjmartinez @pleasantfanandstudent @itsmagnoliagirl @j69confessional2 @scentedcolorpirate @icanica74 @javinancupil @tjmartinez98 @certainmentalityface @tatianadamaceno @ryelew @wildwillowzepplin @missafairy @letsplaymurde-r @lipizette @positivepiper @nuttymilkshakehologram @laksagirl @turnupthemusicandscream @pumpernickle93 @onceuponanolicity @1106angel @jaspertown @fadinglands @morganashimi83 @mochababychristy @omglovechrissie @mariejr88-blog @thetaufactor @onceuponanolicity @speakandseethetruth @bri206 @aglasgo @thats0klaroline @geemarie @pineprincess @nerdgirljen @peterpanslostgirl666 @eternal-olicity14 @allyouhadtodowas-stay-stay-stay @lovelycssefan @tsseract @flowerandsunshine @dcnmarvelgamergeek @blondeeoneexox @monetsmark @soaring-cities @bb-olicity @mashamarty @rulerofsilence @erika-amber @felicity087 @i-claim-only-emily @pattid1 @westallenandolicityshipper @babyolicityandwestallen @nothingmorethanmyotps @kayleenyc @tonto16 @olicityfluv @olicitea1990 @olicity5ever @haahaaa2408 @pattid1 @faegal04 @24karatgem @wrldtravler @readerkas@valery6488 @lemmyeatspeaches @24karatgem

(If you want to be tagged or untagged, just let me know. :))

#arrow #olicity #olicity fic #olicity fanfic #mothers know best

[filipfuckingtelford]

Opposites attract... Worlds collide. Part one.

Chibs x Reader

What if there was another sheriff in Charming? 

Y/N always knew she’d be a cop. All her family was about it. Her father, her brothers, even her mom was an officer. There was no other way for her in life. And god knows she loved her job. Charming was a great place, she knew for sure, it would be dangerous, unpredictable... And definetely not boring. This MC, Sons, those guys were rough and when Y/N became sheriff here, things got worse. She knew she should do something about it. 

Y/N saw them only couple of times. She knew no one got close enough to them, only Unser could combine his job with this friendship. But Y/N was determined to do what she had to, everything to keep people in her town safe. She knew it’s better to talk to their president, Jax Teller, to offer him a deal, but... Something, one might call it intuition, told her it won’t work. Then she thought about this Scott, Chibs, this man was much more reasonable than the others. And... even though Y/N would never admit it, she just wanted to get in touch with him. 

Finally she was there, at the TM, right in time to see Chibs sitting alone at the picnic table. She made her way across the parking towards him and sat next to him, lightening her cigarette. His surprized look made her smile, but she took a deep breath and glanced at him serious. 

- I’d like to discuss a deal. I think you guys and me could work together. 

- Work together? I donna think so - Chibs smirked, watching her carefully. Of course they didn’t want any cop to poke and pry here. But she had to try.

- Yeah, I know what you think, but listen... Chibs... I know you guys don’t want any innocent people to get hurt because of your business, right? You’ve been protecting this town for so long. And I want nothing more than to help you. 

She took a pull at her cigarette, keep looking at him, waiting for his reaction and... admiring him. Hell, she’d never saw such a handsome man. His dark eyes, his smirk and those scars... And he looked damn good in this leather. 

- Well... Maybe, just maybe, you’re right. But it’s not my decision to make, okay? You should talk to Jax. 

- I know, but I think he won’t listen. And you... You could convince him. Tell him I’ll come back in the evening to talk to all of you. No gun, no phone, alone. 

By the look he gave her, she knew he’s impressed. Yeah, she was risking everything, even her life. But it was the only way to prove she’s not an enemy for the club. 

Y/N stood up and smiled - See ya... - She headed back to her car, feeling his glance on herself. And she could swear he was looking at her ass. 

As she promised, she came back in the evening. Y/N took her old car, left her phone and her gun at home. Wearing only tight jeans and top, she entered the clubhouse and felt dozen of eyes watching her suspicious. Yet she was ready to it... What surprised her was supportive smile Chibs gave her.

- Tell us what you want. And make sure to be convincing. 

As she expected, Jax wasn’t happy about her being here. And Y/N couldn’t help but look at Chibs, expressing her gratitude. 

- All I really want is to keep people away from trouble. - She started, keeping an eye contact with Jax - And I know you guys are the same. That’s what I offer. I’ve got feds in my office and I’ll be informing you if they start something against you. And... In exchange all I want is to know where would it be dangerous... I’ll be able to block the area, say for “under construction” and keep people away from there. I don’t ask what will happen. Just where and when. And you will always know when feds are after you and would be able to get ready... 

There was silence for several moments and Y/N couldn’t stop herself from exchanging glances with Chibs. The more she was around him, the more she wanted him... It was all wrong, but she couldn’t help it. 

 - We need time to discuss it. To vote. -  Jax stated finally -  We’ll inform you about our decision. Now go.

Y/N smiled and headed outside. It all was much better than she thought. At least for now she won. And she knew for sure, she got his attention. 

Next evening as she got back home, late as usual, she knew there was someone in her house. Pulling out her gun, Y/N silently entered her living room and turned the lights on, ready for anything... Except for this. 

- I thought it wouldda be nice to let ya know, Y/N, yar offer’s accepted. 

Thick scottish accent and the heavy scent of leather and whiskey made her heart melt. There he was, sitting on her couch, sipping scotch. Smile on his face, warm glimpses in his eyes... She couldn’t stop admiring him. 

- And for that purpose you broke in to my place? Maybe you’ll at least offer me some scotch as well? 

Y/N smirked, approaching him slowly. She put her gun on the table and took her jacket off, her eyes fixed on him. The way he looked at her... Lust in his eyes made her blood boil. 

- I’ve gotta better offer for ya, lassie... 

Chibs stood up and pulled her to himself. His lips were soft and his scent made her knees weak as she allowd him to kiss her, to take her to bedroom and get rid off her clothes. She couldn’t resist, couldn’t protest even though she knew it won’t work. If it won’t last, at least she needed him now, in her bed. Needed to feel him as close as possible. 

Chibs was everything she ever wanted. Possesive and rough, ripping her clothes off, pushing her to bed, he was at the same time so gentle and caring. His hands felt so right on her skin, his hard breath and loud groans mixed with her own moans as he was taking her, leaving his marks all over her body... She wanted nothing more than to belong to him. Deside burning inside of them, air boiling around.

As they were enjoying each other, it seemed there’s no world outside. Only this room, two of them, their bodies connected with infinite, pure pleasure. 

I’ll be posting part two tomorrow. Hope you enjoy it.

#sons of anarchy #chibs #chibs telford #chibs imagine #chibs x reader #soa imagine #soa

[phantumpoftheopera]

Some words in memory of my grandmother

Born on March 7, 1929, my grandmother Helen, known to her loved ones as Nanny, was the eldest daughter of 7 children. What that meant, being born as the oldest girl in a large family at the start of the Great Depression and growing up and entering her teenage years during World War II, was that most of the household responsibilities fell to her. Her daily chores included getting her younger siblings ready for school and taking care of the chickens before she was allowed to prepare for school, herself. As she grew older, she was forced to get a job to help support the family, but relied on her father and brother to see her to and from work. She would go to school all day and then go to work at a local drug store, often getting off work late in the night, waiting for one of them to pick her up. Still, she received top grades in school, despite having to work much harder than some of her classmates.

One time, she got off work late at night and waited outside the store for her brother, as usual. Hours passed, and he never showed up. She didn’t know what to do. Nobody had a telephone and she was miles from home in the middle of the night. As she began to cry, a police officer drove by, stopping next to her, and asking her if she needed a ride home. She got in the car with him and on the way home they passed the scene of a car accident. A car had crashed into a gas pump; fortunately, the driver was not injured, but had been taken to the hospital, the officer told her. Nanny was horrified to realize that it was the family car, the one her brother had been driving on his way to pick her up. As it turned out, he had been drinking (a common occurrence for both him and their father) and was lucky to be alive. This kind of thing unfortunately happened more than once, and despite her older brother’s drinking problems, he was still the most-loved child in the family.

As Nanny graduated high school, she was expected to work even more, while still taking care of her younger siblings. She had received a full scholarship to college and planned to become a nurse, but her parents would not help her pay for transportation or release her from her chores, so she sadly had to abandon her dream. She would be lucky to make $15 in a week, $12 of which she was required to give to her mother for groceries. The remaining money was often spent on cigarettes for her father or brother, who never paid her back. If she had any money left that her family did not take from her, she sometimes went to the movie theater between work shifts. She loved to tell me about going to see movies and paying just fifty cents for a ticket.

The war had just ended and Nanny’s high school sweetheart, Donald, or as my family called him, Pappy, came home. Standing at a diminutive five feet four inches tall, he was a good three inches shorter than Nanny, but had enough personality to make up for it. They were married shortly after he arrived home, moving into a small cottage behind Nanny’s parents’ house that they were allowed to live in as long as they fixed it up. Nanny and Pappy put all their money and energy into renovating the little house, but when they were finished, they couldn’t enjoy it for long. Her older brother had also decided to get married, so Nanny and Pappy were forced out so they could move in. Instead, they rented a series of houses for many years as they started to have children, first my aunt Sandra, then my aunts Sharon, Donna, Diane, my uncle Donald Jr., and finally, my mother, Sheila.

They both loved their children dearly and their children loved them in return, but Pappy loved other things as well: Alcohol and women. Nanny was forced to work for Giant Foods and save money in an account she kept hidden from Pappy, because otherwise he would spend everything they had on whiskey and beer after work. Sometimes he wouldn’t even go to work at all because he was still drunk from the night before. And on multiple occasions he didn’t come home. Nanny knew where he was, of course. She knew he was seeing another woman and as much as it hurt her to know that, she stayed with him because he was a good father to the kids and she knew she couldn’t support them alone.

Things did eventually start to unravel at one point, when my mom was a teenager, and Pappy took her with him during a camping trip. He met up with a strange lady my mom had never seen before, and my mom, becoming suspicious, talked to Nanny about it later. Nanny confronted him finally, telling him that she had let it slide for long enough, but now that the kids were suspicious, he needed to stop or she would leave. Amazingly, he did stop, although the drinking continued.

Eventually, Nanny saved enough money to afford the down payment on a house, using money from the secret account Pappy never knew about. She hadn’t originally planned on using it to buy a house, but was saving it in case she ever needed to leave him. She never regretted her choice to stay with him, because shortly after they bought their house, Nanny was diagnosed with a brain tumor. While she recovered from an operation to remove it, Pappy vowed to stop drinking, and amazingly, he did. The operation left her with facial nerve damage to her left eye and ear, but she survived. They lived the next 8 years together peacefully, saving enough to buy a vacation house in North Carolina, as well. The entire family often visited the beach house and life was finally good. With all her children grown and many of them having children of their own, Nanny’s house was full of life and full of people.

Unfortunately, the good times didn’t last long. On November 12, 1988, just two months after I was born, Pappy had a heart attack at the beach house and died. Over the next few years, Nanny and my aunts and uncle worked on preparing to sell the beach house, since it carried too many sad memories. Nanny continued living in the house they had bought together for five years, until my aunt Sharon had a house built with an in-law unit for her to live. Eventually, she sold that house, and Nanny moved into my uncle’s basement, until she grew tired of living under someone else’s roof and rented her own apartment instead, where she lived until passing away a week ago.

Nanny’s house was always warm and inviting, but also immaculately clean. That’s the first thing anyone ever noticed when walking in. She hated clutter and was constantly cleaning. As her health started to fail after a series of strokes, she was no longer able to do all the things she used to do and a housekeeper was employed to clean the apartment once a month. She could no longer drive, so she depended on her niece to pick up groceries for her. My aunts would take turns doing her laundry. She found it frustrating to rely on others, but she also knew her limits. She was determined to maintain as much independence as possible and refused to be placed in a nursing home, and she never was, even when doctors recommended it. She was nothing if not stubbornly independent, until the end.

She loved Judge Judy and NASCAR. She hated listening to the other ladies in her building gossip, but she secretly loved to engage in it herself. When she was younger, she loved baking and interior decorating. She rarely used curse words and when she did she would immediately cover her mouth and say “oops.” She never wore makeup but she was still pretty vain. She hated getting pictures taken after her botched surgery left her with nerve damage, although she became less concerned about her disfiguration as time went on. She was always willing to help family, even when she had little herself. She would always listen to my problems, never belittling me or treating them as insignificant. She understood me better than anyone else in my family. She was the first family member I came out to, and only told me that she wanted me to be happy. She was the only person in my family who supported my decision to go to grad school and didn’t treat it like a waste of money or tell me I couldn’t do it. She always kept my favorite foods in her refrigerator, because she knew I was struggling and couldn’t always afford food, myself. She never let me leave without taking some home. And when we went to lunch, she insisted on paying, often snatching up the bill before anyone else could. If we tried to slip money into her purse to pay her back, she always found it and slipped it right back in our own somehow.

I could say so much about my grandmother, but thinking about how she isn’t here anymore and how I can’t listen to her stories and talk to her about the latest political scandals hurts too much. She was amazing, just the most wonderful person I have ever known, and the kind of person I aspire to be: the kind of person who never gives up and is always willing to help others, even when she has very little to offer. She was a wonderful woman and I miss her dearly.

[ellebeebee]

No Pain

Jaal visits with Forta while he recovers from the coma.  Character study sort of, since I’m trying out Forta’s POV.

1929 words, Male Ryder|Scott Ryder/Jaal, teen rating

AO3

-

No pain, no gain.

That’s the motto of every gym rat ever, the phrase so worn and abused and sucked of all its bite that it rolls off the tongue with a stink of sarcasm, an air of snide irony. It’s the truth, everyone knows it, but it has so much of the truth it seems like ‘the sky is blue’ or ‘water is wet.’ Shocker, stop the presses.

You wanna drop the irony? Get into the science of it. ATP, glycolysis, hypertrophy, anabolism. All of the stuff that Forta only passingly gets; he had left that to all his trainers. He didn’t need all the latin pre- and suffixes in the world to understand the feeling of that burning deep beneath his skin, pervading the inner depths of his flesh the day after a really good workout. You destroy the older, weaker muscle to build it anew. Burn away the hesitations, the inadequacies, and the laziness to forge yourself bigger and better.

Every session you push yourself further than the last, you hurt more than you’ve ever hurt before, and your body accepts it all, takes in the fire to build itself anew.

And you’ve gotta push yourself, like really push yourself. Up the weights or the reps a little each time. Failure. That’s what you want. You want to go so far that your body fails and your form gets ugly. You can’t know you’re burning away the old self until you work to failure.

That is, of course, if you’re healthy. If you’re fit for real training, not this physical therapy crap.

Forta wheezed, sweat dripping into his eyelashes and black eyes glaring at the physical therapist telling him to stop.

“I can keep going,” he said.

His treadmill was set to a snail crawl. This was an exaggeration, but he’s annoyed. He’s annoyed that they’re weighting his workouts with cardio, like he’s some damn treadmill bunny. He’s annoyed that even this pace was wearing him down like this.

The therapist, used to him by now, just tapped on the machine’s panel himself. The broad black ribbon silently slowed down. He’d been signed on to the Initiative to help with cryo rehabilitation, never thinking his old experience with biotiball teams would become useful like this.

“I’ve told you before, Ryder. This isn’t the weight room and I’m not your spotter. You’re not working to failure, you’re working to health.”

Forta took the offered towel with a little unnecessary snap. He furiously rubbed at his face.

“Yeah, I know,” he said.

The therapist folded his arms across his chest, datapad tucked underneath an armpit. He cocked a brow at him.

“Didn’t you do all this before? With the shoulder injury?”

Forta shrugged. “Yeah, but that was just the shoulder. I mean, I get it, you know? I have to heal. But I’ve never felt this weak before. Shit, have you seen my numbers pre-ice nap? I’ve lost like a quarter of my mass–”

“Now you’re just being a prima donna. Fishing for compliments.”

Forta turned to him then, still giving the short and damp stubble on his head a towel-down. He gave his therapist The Smirk and The Wink.

“Then compliment me. It’s good for my mental health.”

The therapist’s face just became even more dry. “Knock it off. You’ve atrophied an exact nine point three percent. Which is incredible considering the length of your coma. Your previous level of fitness and SAM’s assistance has been a big factor in getting you up again, but even so you’ve made a mountain of progress at a very fast rate. Put some trust in this process, okay?”

Forta looked away, frowning.

The therapist watched him for a long moment. He sighed.

“Look, Ryder,” he said and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “I get it. You’re used to a high level of physical ability. But your life’s changed now. You know how to fight for the gain, right? You know the sort of mental strength it takes to push to failure, day after day. Well now your failure is lower. It’s the same thing on a different scale. You know how to do this. So do it.”

Forta snorted, shook his head. He stepped off the treadmill and waved.

“Thanks, coach,” he smiled.

The therapist rolled his eyes and watched him walk away.

“Don’t forget your appointment with Carlyle later! I know the Tempest is docking soon, but I’m sure the Pathfinder can wait.”

Forta just gave a backward wave in response.

He did understand. And he would do the work, but this just all fucking sucked. It wasn’t like the shoulder injury when he was sixteen; at least then the rest of his body had been just as responsive and looked the same. Now he felt like some lost ghost trapped in alien hardware.

He left the main physical therapy room in the Hyperion’s med bay, and had to sit down in the showers because he was too winded to wash off just yet.

Pathetic.

He sat for a long time there, making himself breath and recover. His elbows rested on his knees. He looked down at himself, the Initiative branded shorts limp on his wasted thighs. Chicken legs. Worse, vat-cloned synth meat, all flabby and strung out thin. The long period of inertness had wrecked the color of his skin, dark gold and freckled and coppery with tan gone to pastiness, his dark leg hair sticking out like dead grass in dead soil. Blegh.

The shower drained him enough to retreat to his hospital bed for a nap, waking up only when Dr. Carlyle came by and prodded and poked him with questions and scans and whatever. The exam finished, Forta watched Carlyle’s retreat from med bay with warnings about resting, his sister was coming here to visit, staying in bed, blah blah blah.

Forta tossed off his covers, shoved his feet into flip-flops and bolted (correction: geriatric shuffled) out of the Hyperion med bay.

-

He had to rest when he reached the gardened section of the Nexus docks, with all the benches. He sat down and tried not to be too obvious about the wheezing and the sweating and the shaking. He slung his legs out to try and relieve some of the muscle spasms.

“Pardon– oh. Forta Ryder.”

He looked up. It was that angara attached to the Tempest. He’d flung his legs out right when he’d been trying to pass by.

He grinned to cover the discomfort in his legs. “Hey, Jaal– you can just call me Forta, by the way. You guys enjoying shore leave?”

“I would not exactly call it ‘leave’,” he said.

He stood there, the dappled and pleasantly warm artificial light of the area flickering over the curious plums and roses of the his skin, all smooth over curving ridges and… neck flaps. Jowls? Flesh mane! Something. Forta’s vantage on the bench gave him a good view of Jaal’s form: the bulky and powerful chest, the supportive waist as a turian would say, and the elegant turn to those generous, thick legs. They were turian and quarian-shaped, those legs, but turians were all about Spartan asceticism and quarians were sort of compact and slender. Not generous and well-fed and full like this, with a butt almost as nice Forta’s own.

Or well. As it used to be. His butt dimples weren’t as cute as before, and yes, he had checked.

“Take a seat, you’re making my neck hurt,” Forta said, smiling.

Jaal obeyed. He sat at the bench across from him.

“We’re here for only a refuel and resupply,” Jaal said.

“I know,” Forta said. “One night only.”

“Your sister went to go visit you.”

“Yeah, I was hoping to catch her here. Change of scenery. Hospital visits kinda suck in a way, you know? Oh well.”

Not really ‘oh well,’ because he would rather go back and meet her, but he didn’t quite have the strength again to shuffle back onto the tram. So here he was, killing time and grinning so no one noticed how tired he felt.

“So, sailor,” Forta grinned, settling back with his arms draped over the bench’s back. “I take it you’re not breaking hearts tonight down at the Vortex?”

Jaal shifted. “No. I was actually at the Cultural Center– If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you a question.”

“Oh, me?” he said. “Uh. Sure.”

“Your names,” Jaal said. “You and your sister. She says they are from plays. What was it– Hamlet and The Tempest. Our ship is also the Tempest. Is it common for humans to name ships and children alike?”

He laughed a little. “Oh. No. Although, a lot of people name boats and stuff after people. The Jaundiced Janice or whatever. Mom named me and Mira. Forta’s from Fortinbras, Mira’s from Miranda.”

“I’ve seen the elcor Hamlet. It was excellent, but I don’t recall a… ‘Fortinbras.’”

“Yeah, he’s cut out a lot,” Forta said. “Umm. How do I put it? It wasn’t about the big characters or anything. Mom explained it best, but basically Fortinbras and Miranda were both characters that sort of fell into good luck. They didn’t suffer a ton or whatever for their good endings. I guess that’s kind of what she hoped for us in life.”

“Hmm,” Jaal hummed.

His voice thrummed, even across the distance they sat at. It was a bit mesmerizing, really. Not exactly like the layered vibrations of a turian, but deep and rumbly. Nice.

He cleared his throat, mindful of the blue eyes studying him. “Which is funny, really, because Mom was always pretty masochistic when it came to her work. Always working late, always pushing herself. I don’t know. I mean, that’s life, right? You don’t just get all the nice parts. You have to hurt, too.”

Jaal hummed again, apparently considering his words. “I think it is a loving sentiment. To want your children to live easily. I think she gave you those names as a gift of love.”

Forta licked his lips, a little tripped up. He didn’t know what to say to that. The guy was right, and it was what he himself had always felt deep down, but… Damn. Gut punch, jeeze.

And delivered at a real convenient time too, when he was aching to suffer, to get back to form. To get back to the field, to explore, to just freaking help. Here he was, sitting on his ass when things needed to get done and his sister and everyone from the Milky Way were out there doing it for him. Not that he’d expect to do it all, but something, shit.

He cleared his throat. “Okay, my turn.”

Jaal cocked his head. “A question? Go ahead.”

“Your body,” Forta said, grinning just enough not to be rude but definitely enough to give doubt. “Are all angara shaped like you? Or do you have to work for it? What’s your workout schedule like? You seem pretty ripped.”

Jaal’s eyes shot down to himself, roving over his own torso and limbs. “A rip? Where?”

“Oh, sorry. Idiom. You look really fit.”

“Oh. I don’t think I’m abnormal. Especially in the Resistance. You have to be able to fight well, and a well-cared for body is absolutely essential.”

“So the Resistance is full of people that look like you?” Forta said.

Jaal met his gaze. Forta willed the splay of freckles across his nose to full-powered prettiness. No wink, though. Let’s not be too hasty here.

“Not exactly,” Jaal rumbled.

Forta laughed. “Good to know.”

#mass effect andromeda #me:a #fanfiction #scott ryder #jaal ama darav #my writing #eee tinkering with a pairing with these two #ive been waiting for an announcement about dlc because i have an idea about a quarian #but im getting impatient and the bi jaal fix inspired me so here this is

[hope-for-olicity]

When a King is Really a Queen 4/4

Oliver Queen writes romantic suspense novels under the name Olivia King on his way to reveal his true identity he meets one of Olivia King’s biggest fans, Felicity Smoak, and she is not very happy.

This is based on the Hallmark Movie “A Novel Romance.”  I’m writing as a bit of a love letter to all the amazing romance writers that bring me happy. I so hope you enjoy!

Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to read this story! I greatly appreciate. I hope you all enjoy the conclusion! Also available on AO3.

Thanks especially to @almondblossomme for proofing, supporting and suggesting!

                                                      Chapter 4

Felicity woke up the next morning to her phone buzzing. She grabbed it and groaned “I’m not ready to talk yet Oliver.”

“Oliver? Who’s Oliver? This sounds very promising!” Donna could barely keep the excitement out of her voice.

“Mom! Sorry...I was….dreaming. What time is it?” Felicity turned to look at her alarm clock and jumped. “Oh my God Mom! I’m totally late! I forgot to set my alarm.”

“Well, it’s a good thing I called then.”

“Yes, thank goodness!”

“I just wanted to call and thank you for the advice. Quentin and I talked and turned out that he found out from the doctor that he has a heart condition and it kind of freaked him out and he started thinking that it would be better for me if I didn’t get attached to him. As if I wasn’t already attached?”

“So, you are all good?” Felicity was standing in front of her closet trying to decide what to wear.

“Yes, honey all good now. How about you?”

“I’m okay. Sorry Mom, I’m just feeling a little frazzled. I’m running late and we are hosting an Olivia King event at our store today…”

“Olivia King! Oh, you must be so excited! She’s your favourite.”

“Yes, very exciting.” Felicity said dryly, she really wanted to tell her Mom but she just couldn’t yet.

“Ok hun. Good luck and give me a ring later to tell me how it all went.”

“Will do. I’m glad things worked out. Take Care. Love you. Bye”

“Love you. Bye.”

Felicity threw her phone on the bed and quickly ran to the bathroom to begin getting ready.

*****

“Oh, Oliver thank God you are here!” Thea walked into the dinette where Oliver was finishing his breakfast.

“I am here. What’s going on?” He smiled at his sister.

“What’s going on? So silly Oliver. How was your date with Felicity? Did you manage to woo her away from the other guy?”

“We didn’t talk about the other guy actually. But she could start being serious with him if she likes. She ended our date early when I came clean about being Olivia King.” Oliver couldn’t hide the disappointment from his voice.

“Oh Oliver, I’m so sorry.”

“I am too.”

“So, you are just giving up? I thought you really liked her.”

“I have to respect her wishes” he said solemnly

“And what exactly are her wishes? What did she say?”

“She was shocked. She said she was sorry too and left saying she would see me today.”

“Oh, Ollie I’m so sorry.”

“Thanks, but really it’s my own fault.”

“Well, yes.  But we all make mistakes. If you really care for her, you have to try. Maybe try to talk to her after the event?”

“I’ll try but I’m not feeling overly optimistic. She looked so sad and hurt. Thea and I did that.”

“Well Mom and I will be there for you today, no matter what happens.”

“Thanks Speedy, that means a lot.”

*****

Caitlin had not lied, when Felicity arrived at Happily Ever After some of the shelving had been moved and chairs had been put out for the event. She looked at the podium where Oliver would stand. She wondered how the big reveal would go over.

Truthfully, if she had not met Oliver beforehand she would have been pleased as punch to discover Olivia King was a man. She loved the idea of a man writing romance and he wrote it so well. She really had had no inkling that Olivia King was a man.

“Hey you. Feeling any better today?” Caitlin handed Felicity a coffee.

“Thanks so much for this.” she held up the coffee cup, “it really helps.”

“Have you decided what to do?”

“I have.” Honestly, she hadn’t realized she had until Caitlin asked.

“And…”

“And I’m going to forgive him. He didn’t lie to be malicious and I believe he’s sincerely sorry. So, I’ll forgive him. But that doesn’t stop the fact that I feel foolish and I am still hurt.”

“It will just take time.”

“Exactly. You know me so well Caitlin. Thank you so much for helping with my mini freak-out last night. I’m lucky to have you as my friend.”

“Anytime! Now let me catch you up on everything here.  The event starts at five, the Queens will arrive around four thirty, Moira says there is plenty of buzz around town so we are expecting a crowd. The caterers will drop off the finger foods and coffee around four fifteen. I think we are all set.”

“Is there anything I can do now?”

“Sure, there is a box of pamphlets for Oliver’s publishing company in a box at the cash, they can be put on the chairs and some on a table.”

“Sounds great. I’ll get right on it!”

“Felicity, you don’t have to fake your enthusiasm of me.”

“I’m going with fake it till you make it today and I’m sure this coffee will go a long way to getting me there.”

*****

Felicity was just settling things with the caterer when the Queens arrived. Caitlin walked up to her, “Do you want me to handle all this?”

“No,” Felicity shook her head. “I’d like to talk to Oliver now. Get it out of the way.”

Felicity walked across the room to greet the Queens, she was glad she had worn her heels today, the click they made gave her confidence she didn’t have at the moment.

“Felicity,” Moira gave her a warm smile. “That pink dress looks lovely on you.”

“Thank you, Moira. And thank you so much for your help with this event. The place looks great thanks to all your efforts last night. Sorry, I wasn’t here to help.”

“No worries, darling, Caitlin and I handled it all. Felicity, I don’t believe you met my daughter Thea,” Moira turned to Thea, “Thea, this Felicity Smoak she owns this lovely store with her friend Caitlin Snow.”

“It’s so nice to meet you Felicity, I’ve heard nothing but good things.” Thea smiled at Felicity.

Oliver must not have told her, was all Felicity could think. Thea moved a little to the right to reveal her brother. “Oliver,” Felicity tried to smile and ended up nodding.

“Felicity,” he nodded in return.

“Thea why don’t you come with me and I’ll introduce you to Caitlin.” Moira guided Thea away.

Felicity was about to speak, when Oliver cut her off. “We don’t need to talk, if you don’t want to - I mean I understand if you are still mad.”

“Oliver how about we step outside for a moment. It’s getting rather stuffy in here with all the people. I could use some air.”

“Sure.” He walked over to the door and opened it for her.

They were both silent for a moment.

“Oliver, I want you to know I forgive you.”

“Oh, thank goodness. I am so very sorry Felicity. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make it up to you.”

“Thank you. I’m just going to need some time. Right now, I still feel foolish and a little hurt.”

“Of course. I am so sorry that I am the cause. I will give you all the time you need. I just hope someday you will reach out again.”

“I don’t want to make a promise I can’t keep Oliver. Besides you just met me, I’m sure I’ll be easy to forget.”

“Felicity, I will not forget you. I knew from the first moment I saw you on the plane you were someone special. I have the butterflies too and there is definitely sparkage. I will wait until you are ready.”

Felicity was shocked. She really didn’t know what to say. Suddenly the store door opened and Caitlin stuck her head out. “Hey guys it’s about time to get this show on the road. The crowds are getting restless. Felicity and I will do a welcome and then we will ask you to speak.”

“Sounds great,” Oliver said as he and Felicity followed Caitlin inside.

Oliver watched Caitlin and Felicity stand at the podium and welcome everyone to their store. He was so glad this was the chosen store. He liked the fact that his books were being sold here. He noticed Felicity began to speak on her own so he paid special attention.

“As many of you know Olivia King is my favourite author, I know I’ve recommended her books to you on numerous occasions.” Some in the audience laughed. “Well, today it is my distinct pleasure to introduce you to Olivia King although it turns out Olivia King is a pen name, let me introduce my, I mean Oliver Queen to fill you in.”

The audience clapped loudly as Oliver Queen was a bit of a local celebrity in his own right.

“Thank you. Thank you very much and I’d like to thank Caitlin and Felicity for hosting this event. I’m sure you are all wondering what I’m doing up here.  Well there is no easy way to do this so I’m just going to say it - I’m Olivia King.”

There was stunned silence for a moment before the murmurs of people expressing their shock.

“I realize this may come as a surprise but I want to be honest.” He looked around the room and was relieved to see the friendly faces of John and Lyla in the audience. “I’ve always wanted to be a writer and when I discovered my mother’s novels as a teen, I knew this was what I wanted to write. But I also wanted to know if I was any good. I didn’t want people to buy my books because my name was Queen. So, I changed it to King.”

Oliver noticed his audience was listening intently, they had not stormed out. Good sign, right?  “I also wanted to take this opportunity to apologize for what happened in my last book.” The audience began to clap.

Once the applause died down “I can only promise that it will be fixed in the next book.” Even more applause. “Okay, thank you all so much for coming. I’d be happy to sign your books if you like, the line forms right next to Caitlin and Felicity. Thanks so much for coming and understanding.”

Oliver felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. His secret was out and they didn’t hate him. Now he just had to hope the press showed the same understanding, he had not missed the reporters in the audience and he knew his publisher had released a press release during his speech.

He looked over at Felicity, he just hoped she could move passed the lie.

“Oliver!” Oliver turned to see John and Lyla heading towards him.

John clapped his hand on Oliver’s shoulder, “Good job up there man! I think they will still buy your books!”

“Thanks! I have to say I’m relieved.”

“I’m relieved too Oliver, so glad you are going to fix this Julia mess!” Lyla said.

“I am. Good to see you Lyla!” And Oliver pulled her in for a hug.

“You are still coming to our place from here right?”

“Yes! Can’t wait for barbecue and the chance to hang out with the digglets.” Oliver smiled.

John in a little closer “So was that THE Felicity.”

Oliver nodded.

“We will talk about that later.” John smiled approvingly.

“Oliver I am so proud of you!” Moira appeared with Thea by her side.

“Thanks Mom. And thanks for all your support. Both Felicity and Caitlin mentioned what a help you were.”

“Oh it was nothing.” Moira brushed off the praise.

“I’m so proud of you big brother!” Thea leaned in to give Oliver a hug. “And you better fix whatever the hell is going on with Julia!”

Oliver stepped back “I will I promise. Looks like there is a line of people waiting to meet me,” Oliver smiled and then looked over at John and Lyla “See you in a bit. The store closes at six so I shouldn’t be too late.”

*****

Oliver discovered fairly quickly that he loved meeting his readers! They had so many interesting questions about his favourite thing to talk about his books. It was so nice to hear what they liked and what they didn’t like.

The time went by quickly and soon the line was done and it was time to leave. Oliver stood and looked around for Felicity.

“She’s near the door saying goodbye to one of our regular customers.” Caitlin looked at him as though she was judging him. Oliver knew then that she was of course, Team Felicity.

“I didn’t mean to hurt her you know. I really do like her. If only I had a do-over.”

“I know you like her. And she really likes you and it’s been a long time since I’ve seen Felicity this excited which is why I’m going to cut you some slack. You aren’t the first man to lie to Felicity, her ex did a real number on her. And she still thinks she should have seen it coming. So while lies are bad for everyone, Felicity takes them especially hard.”

“Thanks for telling me. She asked for space so I’m going to try to respect that. Wait for her to reach out to me. Do you have any other ideas?”

“No, I think you are doing the right thing. I really hope she comes around to you. You seem like a really nice guy.”

“Thanks Caitlin and it’s nice to officially meet you,” he held out his hand “I’m Oliver Queen.”

Caitlin shook his hand, “that’s right we haven’t been introduced yet!”

Felicity walked back toward them. “Did I miss something?”

“No, Oliver and I were just introducing ourselves!” Caitlin laughed.

“I’m so sorry! I meant to introduce you two.” Felicity looked at the both of them.

“No harm done. We are now acquainted. I should be off but I want to thank the both of you for pulling off a truly amazing event. I can only hope it attracts people to your store.”

“Thank you.” Felicity blushed and thought remember he hurt you, ignore the butterflies.

“Well, I’m off.” He looked at both Caitlin and Felicity, “I’ll be in town for a couple of more days if you need to get in touch with me and my number stays the same once I go to New York, you know in case you need to talk to me about anything.”

He waits for a minute, when Felicity says nothing he turns away.

*****

Oliver can smell the barbecue and hear children laughing as he heads towards John and Lyla’s backyard.

“Hey everyone, sorry I’m late.”

“No problem man, just getting things on the grill now.” John gives Oliver a welcome smile.

“Lyla is inside just finishing up the salads.”

“Sounds great!” Oliver tries to sound enthusiastic but he’s still disappointed about how things went with Felicity.

“So, dare I ask, where is Felicity? I kind of thought she might come with you.”

“She only found out about me being Olivia King last night and she is still processing. I hurt her John and I feel awful about it. I would give anything to turn back time and tell her right away on that plane.”

“Give her time, she will forgive you.” He handed Oliver a beer from the cooler next to him.

“Oh, we talked today and she said she forgave me. Which I am very grateful for but she still needs some time. I’m going to respect her wishes.”

“That sounds like the right call. And it sounds like you really care about her. So she is definitely worth the wait.”

“Worth the wait? Johnny, you better not be talking about my dinner! You should know by now that you don’t keep a pregnant woman waiting.” Lyla smiled and walked over to give Oliver a hug. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

“I just go here.” Oliver hugged her back. “How much longer until this one comes?”

“Maybe one more month, I’m ready for it to be now.” Lyla smiled.

“Lyla’s been having a lot of lower back pain with this one. So, I think she’s just about done,” John rubbed his wife’s lower back.

“So, no Felicity?” Lyla asked.

“You told her?”

“We’re married. You know I tell her everything.” John smiled.

“He’d better. I have met Felicity before. I go to her store to buy your books actually, she seems very nice. She’s also a contributor to Smart Bitches Trashy Novels website”

“Of course she is,” Oliver couldn’t help but smile at that. “She is amazing and I hope one day she’ll let me have another chance.”

“I hope so too Oliver. Please tell me you told her before today?”

“Yes, last night at dinner but she was blindsided. We talked today and she forgave my lie but says she needs time.”

“Well then time is what you give her.” Lyla gave Oliver a reassuring smile. “So on to my pressing problems are you going to fix this crap you pulled with Julia?”

“Definitely. I think I’m just as upset as my readers. I’ve already begun working on the next book. I’m actually heading back to New York City tomorrow.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear it Oliver and I’m really proud of you for telling the truth to Felicity and to your readers today.” Lyla smiled

“I agree with Lyla that was a huge step. And with that I’m happy to say it’s time to eat!” John looked at his children further in the backyard “Come on guys let’s go eat!”

*****

Two Months Later

Oliver arrived back in Star City with a finished manuscript. He planned to turn in what he considered to be his final copy to his editor when he went back to New York after New Year’s.

As he came out of baggage claim he was happy to see his Mom and Thea waiting to greet him. His mother hugged him “So glad to have you home!”

They made their way back to Oliver’s family home. He had just finished unpacking when Thea stuck her head in the doorway. “Hey Ollie, it’s nice to have you home.”

“Thanks Thea. It’s good to be here. Do you know what time dinner is? I wanted to run a quick errand.”

“Please tell me that errand has something to do with Felicity Smoak because she’s totally been all mopey face since you left.”

“Felicity’s been all mopey face? How would you know that?” but Oliver could not hide the interest in his voice.

“Mom and I go to the store quite regularly now. And she always tries to put on a big smile when she sees us but really, it’s fake. Whatever you did to her needs to be fixed Oliver.” Thea said seriously.

“I hurt her Speedy and she asked for time and I’ve waited for her to reach out.”

“But? Please tell me you were about to say ‘but.’ I need you to say ‘but!’”

“But…” He smiled at his sister. “I’m tired of waiting so I’m going to bring her a peace offering. It’s Christmas and I’m hoping that will work to my advantage.”

“Oh Ollie I love it! Can you tell what the peace offering is?”

“Nope. That’s between Felicity and I.”

“Ollie!”

“Maybe I’ll tell you later,” he winked. “So, do I have time to go before dinner?”

“Even if you didn’t, I’d make sure dinner is delayed for you! Go Now! Go do the peace offering thing!!!!”

*****

Felicity and Caitlin were looking at their projected numbers for the store. They really were doing better than last year at this top.

“We were so lucky to get that Olivia King event.” Caitlin reminisced.

“Yes, we were.” She knew where Caitlin was going with this and did not want to go there again.

No, she had not contacted Oliver. The longer she had waited the more it seemed impossible. She still liked him but by now she was sure he’d moved onto to some New York socialite. She had waited too long. Her fear of being hurt overrode her chance for happiness. Not every man was Cooper. Why couldn’t she remember that?

“You know he might…” Caitlin stopped when they heard the bell for the door opening.

“Saved by the bell, literally” Felicity said under her breathe. She turns to greet their new customer and is stopped in tracks. There, in the flesh was Oliver Queen.

Oliver had thought about calling or texting first but he was afraid she would ignore him. He felt he had been patient but he needed to remind her that he was there and he was still very interested.

They both stood there looking at each other for minute before Caitlin rushed out from behind the counter. “Oliver! So nice to see you! I’m just heading out for the night, Felicity is closing, I’m sure she can help you find what you need.”

Caitlin rushed past Oliver, neither Felicity nor Oliver had broken eye contact.

“Night,” Caitlin called as she dashed out the door.

Oliver finally broke the silence. “Hey.”

Felicity licked her lips, his eyes darted to watch, “You came back.” She sounded almost surprised. “I mean, of course I knew you’d come back to Star City your family lives here, but you came back here, to the store, to my store, where you knew I’d be, to see me, please stop me!” She looked at him desperately.

He quickly walked forward until they were only separated by inches. He gently placed his hands on her shoulders.

She felt immediately calmed. How could this man make her heart race one minute and calm her the next?

“Felicity, I know I was supposed to wait for you to contact me but since I was in town, I thought I’d take the chance.”

When she said nothing, he decided it would be best for him to keep talking. “I brought you something. I wanted to get your opinion. If you have time of course.” He took the messenger bag he’d been carrying off his shoulder and took out a leather case, he offered it to her. Felicity took it.

“What is it?” Her heart was racing. All she could think was he came back. He came back and he might like me. It might not be too late!

“It’s the manuscript for my next book. I’m giving it to my editor in the New Year. But I was wondering if you could read it first? I need to know if I fixed it. I tried my best to due Julia justice. But I wanted you to read it as I value your opinion as an expert in the field. You know the field of romance and of course the field of being a woman and being a brave, smart woman like Julia.” He looked down sheepishly. “Now I’m rambling.”

Felicity looked down at the manuscript  in her hands. “You are trusting me with this?”

“Of course. I can also send you an electronic version if you prefer but I thought for this conversation it might help to have something tangible to hold.”

“Oliver. Wow. I’m overwhelmed.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do this.  I just thought maybe you would like to and I would really like to get an opinion of a reader, the publisher led me astray the last time. And….”

“And?”

“And I really wanted to see you. I miss you Felicity. I know we don’t know each other well but there is something about you. I’m so sorry, that I lied and hurt you. I promise not to lie again.”

“Oliver, you know I’ve forgiven you for that lie. Honestly, I’m surprised you remembered me. I thought with all the sights and sounds of New York, you would forget the lady who works in a bookstore in the small city.

“Never.”

“Never?”

“Never. So, would you be up for reading the manuscript? Feel free to make notes on that, it’s your copy.” He looked at her hopefully.

“Of course! I would be honoured. I’m flattered that you would ask.” She couldn’t be sure but it looked like Oliver Queen might be blushing.

“Please, keep in mind this is a first draft so don’t judge me too harshly for my spelling or grammar mistakes...I’m not perfect.” His voice got lower as he finished speaking.

“I promise not to judge you. I will start reading tonight. I can’t lie I’m more than a little excited. It’s the perfect Hanukkah gift!”

“Hanukkah! So, you are Jewish.” Oliver looked pleased.

Felicity was a little confused by his reaction. “Is that a problem?”

“No, no absolutely not. It’s just I’m really glad I didn’t say it was a Christmas gift, I wanted this to go well. Did it go well?” he asks timidly.

“This went very well Oliver.”

“Okay then.” Oliver smiles. “I’ll leave you to your reading.”

“I will text you as soon as I finish. Would you like to meet to discuss? Is your number still the same?”

As if Oliver would change his number! He’d been waiting for her to call for months! “Yes, my number is the same. I look forward to hearing your thoughts. Thanks again.” He turned and walked toward the door. He stopped in front of the door and looked back “Good night and Happy Hanukkah!”

*****

Felicity stayed up all night reading and continued at work the next day. She really couldn’t put Oliver’s book down. It was magnificent. It consumed her.

She sighed as she read the perfect ending and was just putting the pages back in the leather case when Caitlin came up behind her, “So?”

“Oh Caitlin! It was so wonderful! He fixed it and made it even better! I thought he might say it was a dream but no, he took a different route. I don’t  want to spoil it for you or break Oliver’s confidence so I can’t say more except, except this might be better than any other book I’ve read.” Tears of joy were in Felicity’s eyes.

“Wow. Are you sure? I mean you are a pretty well-read person. I mean you said nothing would ever beat Persuasion, you know because that letter that Captain Frederick Wentworth wrote saying how he waited for Anne Elliot.” They both sigh. “So this is quite the declaration.”

“Yes, and I meant it! I have to call Oliver!”

“Yes, do that and tell him you’ll see him tonight.”

Felicity looked confused. “Tonight? I was going to see where he was and go see him NOW.”

“Trust me Felicity you need some sleep. Go home sleep then meet Oliver. Trust me, your thoughts will be much more coherent after some sleep.”

Felicity’s first thought was to disagree but then she yawned. “Okay. I’ll text and ask him to meet me for dinner.”

“Excellent plan!”

Felicity hugged Caitlin. “I’m so lucky to have you in my life!”

“I know! Aren’t you?” She winked.

Felicity was about to open the door to leave when she heard Caitlin, “wait! Wear that new green dress you bought. You will look smashing!”

“Always looking out for me! Thanks so much!!”

******

Oliver felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He was surprised he had just left his Mom’s place to meet John and Lyla and their new baby. He only gave Felicity his book yesterday. He looked down surprised to see Felicity’s text.

Felicity: Dinner tonight?

Oliver: Yes

Felicity: Let’s give Verona’s a do over. I’ll make the reservation for 7?

Oliver: I would love a do over. See you there.

Felicity doubled checked her alarm clock was set and snuggled into the blankets to catch up on some sleep.

*****

Felicity arrived at the restaurant first. She looked around at all the lovely holiday decorations as she waited for the hostess. She smiled she really did like the wallpaper here.

“You are admiring the wallpaper again, aren’t you?” Oliver had come up behind her.

“Well, it really is nice wallpaper.”

“It’s nice to see and you look amazing.”

Felicity blushed.

“It’s okay that I said that right?” Oliver really did not want to do anything to ruin his do over.

“Yes, and thank you. It’s good to see you.”

The hostess arrived and sat them at the same table as last time.

“I swear I didn’t request this but I’m glad. I really do want a do over Oliver. I’m even going to order the same thing as I really wanted it and well…”

“Yeah, we didn’t get to eat,” Oliver said looking down.

Felicity reached across the table and lifted his chin. “Hey, that’s not going to happen this time. I want to talk about your book but first there is something I need to tell you about me. I don’t trust easily. I had a couple of bad experiences and my last boyfriend lied a lot. I know you aren’t him, Oliver. I even understand why you didn’t tell me and you apologized.”

Oliver opened his mouth to speak and Felicity touched his hand.

“No, please let me finish. I accepted your apology months ago and I meant it but I was too chicken to call you once the hurt had worn off. So, I want to apologize to you now, for not calling and doubting that you really wanted me to. You did want me to call, right?” Felicity asked, suddenly a little panicked.

Oliver held her hand in his, “Yes, I wanted you to call. But there is no need to apologize to me. How about we move on to what I hope, fingers crossed is a happier topic - my book.”

The server arrived just at that moment to take their orders, “Saved by the bell,” Oliver joked.

Oliver gave their order the same as their last visit and they both watched the server walk away.

“So….” Oliver was nervous. What if she didn’t like it? What if he didn’t fix Julia?

“I don’t think it would be an understatement to say YOU DID IT OLIVER! You fixed it and in the most genius way! She was playing her awful husband to bring him down - so, so, awesome and I love that we didn’t know her plan at first but you thought maybe...the suspense was killing me!”

“Really?”

“Really, I started reading it when I went home last night and didn’t stop until I finished this morning! I wanted to come see you right away but Caitlin insisted I sleep so I could form coherent thoughts and you know, not looked crazed and bug eyed.”

“I wish I could have seen you when you finished reading! I can’t believe you stayed up all night! You didn’t have to do that! There was no rush.”

“Oliver, I couldn’t put it down. I loved everything about it. Julia was brilliant and going undercover having her own bookstore, and the little girl calling her a princess!”

“So, you don’t mind that I used that?”

“Absolutely not! It was like I was in your book! I was in a book! Do you realize how amazing that is for a reader? Oliver everyone is going to love this! Don’t change a thing! I’m so proud of you!”

Oliver flushed with embarrassment. “It’s okay if you have some criticism you know. I can take it.”

“But I don’t! I am being honest. When I finished reading I told Caitlin I loved it more than Persuasion - and Persuasion is my favourite book of all time.” Felicity was practically beaming with excitement.

“Persuasion? By Jane Austen?”

Felicity nods emphatically.

“Wow. I really don’t know what to say.”

“Ask me what I love most about Persuasion.” She looks at him pleadingly.

“What do you love most about Persuasion?” He asks tentatively.

“He waited for her. I always thought that was the most romantic thing. And Oliver Queen you waited for me and this is by far is the closest my real life has come to being like a novel.”

“I’ll always wait for you Felicity. You are worth waiting for.”

At that moment, their food arrived. Once they finished eating Felicity suggested they go for a walk. She truly did not want the evening to end.

As they walked past the stores decorated for the holidays, Felicity couldn’t resist saying “I’d really like to see more of you, perhaps you would be willing to see me when you visit Star City? And maybe I could visit you in New York?” This was probably the boldest question she had ever asked but she couldn’t resist.

Oliver smiled “Or maybe I could move to Star City and we could visit New York together?” He said with hope in his voice.

“Yes, that sounds perfect!” she was so excited. She took hand. “Oliver?”

“Yes?”

“I’m so very glad that the King was really a Queen. Like what I did there?” she smiled.

Oliver laughed for a moment and then stopped. He stepped in front of Felicity and caressed her cheek with his hand. “Just to be clear, this Queen really likes a certain Princess.”  And with that he captured her mouth in what he was sure was an epic romance novel kiss - at least the way he wrote them.

And of course they lived happily ever after!

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