Disclaimer - I do not own Arrow

Oliver Queen sat in the back of his Bentley doubting himself for possibly the hundredth time this morning. Why was he even doing this? Not that he had a choice now, considering they were almost at their destination and he had already rescheduled his morning meetings until later today to do this.

But this was certainly not how he had intended to spend his morning.

He looked down at the purse in his lap, moving his hand away from its current resting place on the backseat leather and moved it to trace a finger over the simple black satin. It was certainly not anything Thea would even consider accessorizing with, but then again when did Thea know the meaning of 'less is more'? His sister loved everything sparkly and gaudy and while she always pulled it off with pure Queen style he never saw the appeal when the women around him wore such flashy items.

He looked up from the purse and allowed his gaze to drift outside; his mind wondering to last night and how it had all begun.

Throughout their whole life, any good story of his began with Tommy roping him into doing one thing or another. Tonight was just an example of that. They had entered the club with the practiced ease that could only be accomplished by those of their wealth and experience for the club scene, quickly taking stock of their surroundings and the atmosphere before heading over to the VIP section that would be theirs for the night.

He let his gaze slide over the bodies moving on the dance floor as he passed them, watching as they moved to the rhythm of the music. This is where he used to belong. Him and Tommy would spend hours, days, weeks on end in places just like this one, catching the next thrill to pass the time by.

He didn't feel like he belonged here anymore. His days of partying had dwindled drastically ever since his father's tragic death and he had been forced into the role of CEO for Queen Consolidated. It wasn't that he had never wanted the position, no he did, and his whole life was shaped around the knowledge that he would someday become the head of Thea's and his legacy. But with his father's sudden death he was thrown into the deep end with no time to breathe or get himself together and prepare for all the responsibility that fell onto his shoulders.

And he had to pick up the pieces of not only the company, but also his family. His mother had taken the death of her husband badly, withdrawing into herself and refusing to talk to anybody, including her family. While it pained him to see her go through that, he knew she just needed time to heal. His sister on the other hand, using the absence of any real parental figure, channeled the pain of losing her father into rebelling. From mixing with the wrong people to drinking and doing drugs, he had lost count of the amount of times he had to pick her up from either the police precinct or from the pavement out the front of one nightclub or another. Nothing he had done or said helped and it wasn't until a couple of months ago that progress could be seen. His little baby sister was coming back to him, more so every day, and he couldn't have been more proud of her.

So without any real excuse to reject Tommy in being his wingman, he found himself at a VIP table of Verdant, Tommy's new favorite nightclub. Particularly after Tommy had threatened to expose a couple of secrets he knew about him to certain tabloids that would pay a lot of money for any juicy gossip relating to Oliver Queen. Oliver knew that Tommy would never actually follow through with said threats, God knew Oliver had a few up his sleeve against Tommy, but if he was willing to bring out the big guns Oliver knew he was getting desperate.

And the man had been like a brother to him from the age of four.

Not that Tommy needed a wingman, between his money and his looks woman were drawn to him left right and center. Being the heir to a billion dollar company allowed Tommy Merlyn the freedom to go about his life any way he saw fit. Even if that way involved alcohol, debauchery and women.

So Oliver had gone and suited up in his Armani best to spend some time with his best friend, with the knowledge that any night with him was bound to be huge.

If only he could have guessed how important the night would end up being.

The car had parked outside a rendered two-story townhouse and he looked over with mild interest at the colorful rose bushes thriving at the front of the decked porch. He couldn't help but think that they matched the woman that had caught his eye yesterday perfectly.

With a deep breath, convincing himself that he hadn't come all this way for nothing, he opened the car door and walked up her steps to the front door. Without giving himself another chance to back out he reached his arm up and knocked using the heavy brass knob attached to the middle of the red door.

What he didn't expect was the door to be opened and to be greeted by not the woman he had spent last night with but a small little boy, who was still in his pajamas, and had a head full of curly blonde locks. The boy didn't say anything, just gazed up at him with big blue doe eyes, and those eyes left no doubt in Oliver's mind whether this child was hers or not.

"Um, hi, is your mother home?" He softened his tone automatically, so as not to scare the little one in front of him.

"Yes, but I'm not really allowed to open the door to strangers, and I don't know you. Who are you?"

Oliver had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep himself from chuckling at boy and his bluntness. He really was too adorable.

"My name is Oliver, and you really shouldn't have opened the door. Why don't you close it and go get your mother so she can open it with you?"

"That would be great advise if this little squirt ever actually listened. Is there anything I can help you with…?"

Oliver looked towards the direction of the new voice and was soon faced with a shirtless man who came to lean on the door frame and ruffled the boy's hair as he spoke.

Oliver stood confused as he looked over at the man. He had clearly just gotten out of bed, as he was still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, also the whole shirtless thing was a dead giveaway. So who was this? It couldn't be her boyfriend could it? Because she certainly didn't give off the impression that she was in any sort of relationship last night, not that it would have stopped him but he could usually tell those kinds of things. And the fact that she wasn't at home last night didn't seem to be an issue for the man in front of him.

So who was he?

It came as no surprise that from the moment they entered the club women flocked to them, only seeing the dollar signs that either came with the recognition of their faces and names, or just the gold-diggers that could size a man up by his clothes alone.

Neither Tommy nor him had ever had a problem with that, they were both too used to it to care and smart enough not to get attached to any of them. It made it easier and less complicated because you couldn't emotionally hurt a woman who was trying to use you for your money.

So they had moved to their VIP table for the night, Tommy taking care to flirt with and tip the scantily dressed waitress before she left to go fetch their drinks. He watched the crowd on the dance floor below, pushing back his alcohol in the hopes of it making his tiredness go away, being absolutely drained from work that week. Giving up on the crowd as it failed to hold his interest, he let his gaze rove over the other people in the VIP section, only to land on a group of rowdy females in what seemed to be the middle of a bachelorette party.

Tommy, noticing his distraction, followed his gaze and instantly zeroed in on the unsuspecting girls.

"My man, this is why I keep you. Now lets introduce ourselves and find us some ladies".

Having complimented Oliver on his choice of prey, Tommy waved over the waitress and ordered a round of shots to be delivered to the girl's table with the message that it was from them.

Oliver just shook his head at his friend's antics, already long acquainted with the ways of Tommy Merlyn.

He slid his gaze over to the group again, looking over the six females. They were all beautiful in their own way but he was struck with how different each and every one of them seemed. From the fiery redhead, the leather clad blonde and a very professional looking brunette they all had a certain beauty about them.

But his eyes had landed on the splash of color in their midst. The girl had a hot pink dress on that seemed almost fluorescent under the lights of the club. Her black heels accentuated her long legs but what caught his attention the most was the golden locks that cascaded down her back in a carefully tangled mess.

His attention was ripped away from the woman when Tommy commented on liking the one in leather. And also the one that looked like a naughty schoolteacher apparently. Again he shook his head at his best friend. He had never had a type, or moreover, female was Tommy's type. Whether they looked like a schoolteacher (or actually were a school teacher if history was anything to go by) or a leather clad huntress he would be into them.

Oliver on the other hand only had eyes for one girl in the group. And suddenly, as if sensing his gaze on her she looked up and met his eyes, holding his gaze captive and he was shocked at the shiver that ran down his spine from a look alone. He watched the trail of a blush wash over her face and she smiled shyly at him before breaking their gaze to look back at her friends again.

And he felt the strangest need to have her attention on him again.

Yes they had met at a club but in all the time he had spent with her, and admittedly it hadn't been that long, he never got the impression that she had a boyfriend or a husband. Or whoever that man was in front of him.

He was about to say that he had the wrong house so as not to cause trouble for her in the instance that the man was her partner, more trouble than he cared to deal with anyway, only to be cut off by the sound of her voice as she walked down the steps, her heels clambering on the wooden stairs in her obvious rush.

"Roy! I'm going to work, they called me in, some IT emergency or other. On a Saturday for crying out loud, who do they think I am? And I'm running so very late already. Argh. Can you take Emmett to the…" she trailed off just when she reached the bottom step, frozen on the spot, her hand still under her hair that she was in the process of setting free from her overcoat she had just put on.

"Oliver…what..."

And of course now of all days she loses her ability to speak. No way was he actually here in front of her. Except that he was, with a mixture of confusion and amusement on that ridiculously handsome face. And of course he didn't look any worse for wear after last night while she looked like something the cat had dragged in. She could barely get an outfit together this morning for work after the steaming hot shower she had taken when she had come home.

Last night was, to say the least, mind-blowing.

She was in the process of getting dressed for her friend Lyla's bachelorette party when the girls had invaded her bedroom, no longer happy to just wait in the lounge room downstairs as asked, and all but crawled onto her bed. Not that she minded, she loved these girls, but six girls sharing one mirror was never a good idea. At least all of them where given the opportunity to dress up at their own places in their own time, unlike her who had to stay back later at work to fix a security breach in their mainframe system.

So here she was, standing in the middle of her walk in robe listening to the girls chatter away, trying to decide on whether to go with comfort or looks. From the sounds of their conversation she was so glad that Roy had decided to take Emmett out to the movies, his little ears didn't need to hear half of what they were discussing and she felt that she would never be comfortable enough explaining some things to him. With a smile to herself she thought that she would leave all the hard 'birds and the bees' conversations up to Roy to deal with.

"Felicity, hurry up! Your getting in between me and my alcohol and you know perfectly well that's never a good place to be!" She heard Bianca holler at her before throwing caution to the wind and picking out the fluorescent pink dress that she had bought a year ago but had never been brave enough to wear. Don't get her wrong, she loved her bright colors, but this color was deadly.

Deciding not to think about it too much, and before she changed her mind or Bianca dragged her out to the club naked, she shucked on the dress choosing black simple but extremely high stilettoes and a black clutch to complete the look.

She stepped out into her room to be greeted by wolf whistles.

"Girl you look hot! We are so getting you laid tonight!" Lyla said over the cheers of the other girls, not giving Felicity a chance to get over her embarrassment.

Laurel just shook her head at the bride-to-be as she met Felicity's gaze, smiling at her both in understanding and pity, before coming to her rescue. "Lyla this night is about you!"

Lyla waved her off with a hand in the other woman's face. "Exactly, I've got my dream man, it's time we set Felicity up with hers!"

"I haven't even met your one!" said an affronted Sara who was sitting on the floor at the foot of the bed.

Lyla's romantic sigh caused most of them to either snort or sigh as she looked towards Sara, "Dig's always too busy with his security firm. I barely get to see him and I'm getting married to him, but argh when I do see him he's…!" the wagging of her eyebrows left no doubt in any of their minds as to what she was refereeing to.

"Okay! Before we get too much information about the life and times of John, I think we should concentrate on tonight ladies!" Felicity said while she watched Jen run out of the room at her words, only to run back in seconds later but this time with a large box tied with ribbons in tow.

"Okay ladies, so for now we have a party, but considering we're at the start of a bachelorette party we need props, sooo…"

And with the big reveal movements of her hands she opened the box as all the girls huddled to get a closer look only to start laughing at the sight of what was inside. Because inside was a pile of white lace garters, carefully placed around a red one that was obviously Lyla's.

"Now ladies, you all have to wear one, even Felicity and Laurel! And of course Lyla you get a matching red sash to wear as well, we'll see how many free drinks that will get you" Jen continued to explain with a wink.

Felicity was thankful that the length of her dress would cover the offending garment if it was placed high enough on her thigh, an advantage that Bianca didn't have in her barely there mini red skirt. Not that she seemed to mind in the least as Felicity heard her say something or other about using it as a 'mating call' to the males that would be around her tonight.

Once they had gotten to the nightclub they were instantly ushered into the pre booked VIP section and Felicity was grateful for the comfortable booth they were given as she thought of the rest her feet would need later on in the night with the heels she had on. They were sexy, sleek, daring and she absolutely loved them but they were not made to be worn hours on end.

A round of drinks were ordered almost instantaneously as they did what they did best since their college days, sat, drunk and enjoyed each other's company. They were all different, both in appearance and in personalities but she wouldn't change any one of them for anything. She had known each of the girls for years, some for more than a decade, and while they had had their ups and down she knew she would do anything for each of them and they would certainly return the favor.

It wasn't until much later that her eyes met the strangers from across the VIP section.

She had felt a gaze on her and her eyes had seemed to be drawn in his direction. And it may or may not have been the alcohol talking but he looked entirely too lickable for his own good. His blue eyes almost pierced her with their intense gaze and she felt like she was going to drown in them.

A squeal from her right brought her out of the haze that was caused by those blue depths and she turned her head back to the girls, giving herself a little shake to snap out of it. There was absolutely no way someone like him would be interested in her anyway.

Oh she was pretty, she knew that, she had the whole skinny blonde thing happening for her, but nobody had ever stopped talking when she walked into a room like they did for Bianca with her mane of fiery red hair and winning smile. No one ever flocked to her side like they did to Laurel and Jennifer, the only two brunettes at their table and both absolutely stunning in their own right. And she was fine with that, really she was.

She forced those thoughts to the back of her mind, willing herself to enjoy the night that had just begun, only to be completely interrupted in her thought process when squeals and giggles came from the direction of Sara and Bianca at the tray of shots that had been brought to their table, only to be increased in volume when the waitress confirmed that they were from the two guys that sat across from them on the other side of the VIP section.

All six heads swiveled to their direction and Felicity once again met the blue gaze of the stranger, only to have her attention caught by the brunette man that was now standing up at his side to make his way over to them, but not before looking back and making sure that the blonde that was still seated followed him. She watched as he stood with a long-suffering sigh but didn't miss the hint of amusement that played in his eyes as he followed his friend to their table.

"Ladies, I couldn't possibly pass up an opportunity to introduce myself to a bunch of knockouts all at one table, tonight seems to be my lucky night".

His voice was silky and flirty but Felicity relaxed at the hint of humor in his tone, knowing that it was all in good fun. She watched as the reactions of her friends varied, Laurel rolling her eyes at his words, Bianca laughing her usual haughty laugh that she got when around cute guys she was interested in, Lyla waving him over to sit by her side.

"Well come on then handsome don't be shy now that you're here! I'm getting married tomorrow and this might be the last time I get to be in club to set my bombshell friends up!"

He kicked his head back in laughter at her words and introduced himself as Tommy and his friend as Oliver, who was still standing idly next to their table.

Lyla, without a second thought, reached over for Tommy's hand and dragged him to sit in between herself and Sara, who Felicity noticed was getting more and more withdrawn by the second. And Sara was never withdrawn. She rocked the hell out of the leather pants she was wearing and never cared about what people thought of her. The girl had the confidence that could only be rivaled by that of Bianca, who was a loose cannon in her own right. Felicity couldn't begin to guess why this guy was suddenly having this kind of an effect on her, particularly when he didn't even know what was happening on his left with Lyla keeping him preoccupied to his right for now.

Dragging her eyes from Sara, she let her gaze drift to Jen who had her hand out to Oliver, making him sit between her and Felicity. He couldn't help but notice him sitting closer to her than to Jen and the way the contact from the graze of his shoulder on hers made sparks fly up her arm. By the sound of the hitch in his breathing she wasn't the only one affected.

From then on the drinks flowed, all put onto what seemed to be Tommy's unlimited credit card by the looks of things as round after round was ordered without a second thought and before the girls even had a chance to open their mouths to ask. Oliver for his part contributed very little to the conversation, content to just sit there and allow Tommy to take the reigns on the conversation.

When the girls stood up to dance, so did the boys and Felicity couldn't help but feel the stab of jealousy when she saw Jen take Oliver's hand in hers and drag him behind her towards the dance floor ahead of the pack. Admittedly, there was six of them and only two guys, one of the girls was bound to be interested in a man that was as attractive as he was. Statistically speaking. Lost in her thoughts she missed the way his eyes glanced back at her even though he was being pulled into the direction of the dance floor.

Bianca had long ago taken Tommy for herself but Felicity hadn't stopped surreptitiously stealing glances in Sara's direction the whole night, watching her move further and further away from the couple. She knew she had to drag her to the bathroom later on in the night and demand an explanation but for now she wanted her friend to enjoy herself.

So she reached for her hand pulling both Sara and Lyla in the direction of the dance floor, the crowd parting for their little procession until they where in the middle of the moving pack. Once joined by Laurel, the three of them started twisting and twirling around a happy but fairly tipsy at this point Lyla, all three women wanting to make the bride to be's night as special and fun as possible.

Okay so here he was, in front of her, but why?

She couldn't stop her eyes from traveling up his body, thoughts flooding her mind as to exactly what she had done with him last night, only to have her gaze stop at her clutch that was held firmly in his grip. She didn't even bother fighting down a grin.

Realizing that they still had an audience, she nodded for Oliver to wait and kneeled down to her son's eye level.

"Emmett can you be a good boy and help mommy this morning? Go eat your breakfast for me real quick please?" her heart swelled, as it usually did when she was with her son, as he nodded and leaned up to give her nose a kiss before scurrying away into the direction of the kitchen.

Now that the little kid was sorted she turned to the big kid, praying that Roy hadn't seen her clutch in Oliver's hand. By the sly grin on his face she had ran out of luck and he had.

"Can you give me a minute?" she directed at Roy, knowing it was hopeless but wanting him to give him the chance all the same.

"Why would I miss this show Liss?"

Oliver looked on confused as she physically pushed Roy into the same direction Emmett had gone, "Roy Harper, go help your nephew with his breakfast or so help me God I will ruin you".

She turned back to Oliver before he had a chance to mask a look of relief on his face and she couldn't help but wonder why he was relieved.

"So that's your brother?" Ahhh, that's why. She guessed that she could understand that, no one wants to deal with your one-night stands better halves.

"Yes unfortunately. I love him to death but something I get the urge to…" she trailed off, letting her actions of choking speak for themselves. That earned her a chuckle from him and she wondered what it would feel like to hear that sound everyday. Instantly pushing that thought far into the back of her mind she tried to get back to the matter at hand. "So…"

"Ah, yes. You left your purse at my apartment and I figured considering it has your phone and everything in it that you would definitely need it. So I found your ID that has your address on it and decided to drop it in before work, so…"

What is wrong with him? He never babbles.

But the smile that graced her faced was worth all the babbling nervousness that seemed to consume him when she was around.

He passed the clutch onto her with a silent nod, opening his mouth to say something else only to be interrupted by the sound of his driver beeping his horn.

"I have to go". He said it but he made no motion to actually leave.

"Thank you for the purse Oliver, and well, for everything else. Hope you have a good day". She had let him off the hook. Surely a man like him didn't need some whiny and needy girl chasing after him with all sorts of demands. She knew what last night was about for him and while maybe she wanted just a little bit more she knew that wasn't practical. And she was nothing if not practical.

He smiled at her in amazement and relief, "Felicity, you are remarkable".

"Thank you for remarking on it".

She didn't miss the way his eyes seemed to heatedly rove over her body, as if he knew what was under those clothes – which he obviously did – and liked what he saw. With a parting nod to her he turned and without a backwards glance ran down her porch steps and jumped into the back seat of his car.

The heat from that last gaze almost scorched her from the inside out and she couldn't help but let her mind drift back to the remainder of last night.

These heels were made to be admired not to be danced in, she thought as she made her way back into the VIP section of the club, bypassing their empty table completely and moving towards the restrooms, Sara, Jen, Laurel and a swaying Lyla at her heels. As soon as she walked inside she made sure that all the stalls where empty, thanking the club owner in her head for having the foresight and being considerate enough to give the VIP's their own private bathrooms, before she rounded on Sara.

"Okay, what is going on with you tonight?"

"Nothing Felicity don't worry about it, I'm fine".

"Don't you nothing me Sara Lance, something is going on between you and Tommy ever since he introduced himself so spill, what happened?"

The girls watched as Sara sighed, sinking in her stance before their eyes as she looked anywhere except their faces.

"Two weeks ago I slept with a guy Liss. It was great, amazing actually, I got up the next morning, left his place and haven't thought of him since. Didn't even cross my mind. Until I look up and there he is, all perfectly charming in front of me tonight. And you know what the worst part is? He doesn't even remember me. I'm that girl, the one that doesn't get remembered, the one that leaves in the morning to never return after a good night, but one that isn't even worth remembering the next morning apparently. I'm that girl, always have and always will be".

Laurel moved in to step next to her sister, slinging her arm across Sara's back and pushing her head down onto her shoulder.

"Sara but that's the way that you always wanted it isn't it? You never wanted to know them, who they were, heck you didn't even want to know their names!"

She said with a smile that finally got a hint of amusement out of the distressed blonde.

"Now that you know that you want more, you can have more yeah?"

"Yeah" Sara whispered in return.

"Good. Now lets go find you that more!" Felicity spoke, trying to get another smile of out the blonde Lance sister.

Jen took the opportunity to speak up for the first time since coming into the bathroom with the others. "So what do you plan to do with Oliver then tonight Liss?"

Felicity couldn't help the blush that was slowly creeping up her face, giving her nerves away to the girls. "Nothing Jen, he seems to be more into you than he is me, he's all yours for the night", she was so proud of the way she had managed to keep her voice steady as she talked.

"Pfft! That man hasn't looked away from you the whole night, including while dancing with me, so lets say I may or may not have asked a few questions about you while we danced, or as I like to call it, did a little bit of recon," she said with a sly grin to the other girls in the bathroom.

"You didn't! What did you say?! Argh Jen! Why?" She knew that Jen always had good intentions, and she loved her dearly for it, but why!?

"Please Liss, that man is pure sex on a stick. Go home with him tonight. Trust me, you deserve a night out. You never go out, I love Emmett with all my heart and he's a great kid but as he gets older you're not getting any younger."

Laurel stepped in, willing to diffuse the situation before Felicity got the wrong message from what Jen was saying. "She's right Felicity, she's just not putting it into the right words," she flashed Jen a glare but continued, "You're a young and beautiful woman and we love you, but you've been putting your life on hold and you can't do that, especially after what happened with Barry, enough time has passed."

Sarah jumped in at this, "They're both right. Start living your life sweetie. Tonight. Starting with that man candy that I'm sure will live up to everything that package promises to be."

Felicity was on the verge of tears. She knew she deserved to have fun, she knew that, but between her job and Emmett she didn't have time for a love life. It had been inexistent since Barry. So what exactly was holding her back?

She was cut off from her musing by the sound of a forgotten Lyla vomiting into the toilet and all three rushed to her aide, Sara reaching her first and pulling her hair back for her and holding it.

"So I guess its home time then?" Sara questioned the girls as she turned back around to them.

The mumbled 'yes' that came from the bathroom stall made all of them break out in a fit of giggles knowing that they all now had the perfect blackmail material against the bride to be.

They made their way back to the table, noticing only Tommy and Bianca, who was practically sitting on top of him, at the table. Felicity scanned the crowd for Oliver, but without finding him she quickly turned back to the table.

"Looks like we're going to have to go Tommy," she heard Bianca whisper into Tommy's ear and she moved her eyes in the direction of Sara who was pointedly ignoring the whole exchange before her.

She felt his presence before she saw him, his scent washing over her, and he stood close enough to her back that she felt the heat radiating off him. They all made their way outside, with unsteady movements from Lyla and loud protests from Tommy at them leaving so early. Oliver's hand had not left the small of her back as he led her through the crowd and she felt it scorching her skin through the thin material of her dress.

When they had eventually reached the street entrance Felicity automatically recoiled into Oliver, seeking out his warmth. She swore that man could be her own personal furnace. Hearing him chuckle behind her made her realize she had said her thoughts out loud.

She felt his arm wrap around her waist and pull her into his side more firmly, although the gentleness with which he handled her surprised her.

"Oliver…"

She didn't know what she had planned on saying but she loved the way his name rolled off her tongue, and from the growl that she felt vibrate in his chest he liked hearing her say it.

"Come home with me tonight."

And she didn't have to guess what for. The way the heat in his gaze held her eyes and his hand pushed her even closer into his body gave him away.

And she really didn't care. She wanted this, wanted him. He obviously wasn't looking for anything serious so it wouldn't be complicated tomorrow. There would be no awkward mornings. No heartbreaking breakups. So she threw caution to the wind for once in her life.

"Okay".

That 'Okay' ended up leading her into one hell of a night.

She closed her heavy wooden door once the car was out of sight and wondered whether she would see him again.

Oliver.

She blushed to the tips of her roots when she realized with a satisfied smile that she didn't even know his last name.

So this is the big multi chapter fic i was talking about. There is a lot more of it to come so I do very much hope you like it so far!

Love to all - Stace XX