AN: First Arrow fanfic ever! I love this show so much and I just had to do it. I love the characters, I love the relationship and I love Olicity. I hope you enjoy this little story, and I apologize for maybe too much fluff in the end...but I love me some fluff.

The Mandarin phrase is probably wrong...but I could only use an onlie translator and sadly I don't speak Chinese.

Please not that English isn't my mother tongue and that I make mistakes.

Anyways, have fun and please leave a comment :)

Disclaimer: Yeah...as if I would own anything...

Family

Oliver sat on the floor in his lair, surrounded by darkness, looking straight forward. He wasn't sure what was going on inside of his head, inside of his heart, but he knew that this wasn't what he wanted to accomplish by becoming The Hood. No, that wasn't planned at all.

"Mind if I sit?" He didn't hear her coming. Usually he did. She had that special way of walking that always made a sound no matter how hard she tried to be quiet.

He shook his head and she sat down next to him. "Let me get this straight…." She didn't look at him. "You just killed your best friend's or ex best friend's father with three arrows in the chest because he was a criminal mastermind….lunatic and on the top of that you got your own mother arrested because she was kinda his sidekick…maybe forced sidekick, but a sidekick and I should stop babbling."

If the situation wouldn't have been so absurd, he probably would've laughed. That was what she did to him, why he enjoyed her presence so much. She made him laugh, made him feel human.

"Yes, that's pretty much it." He answered. His voice was calm as always, but she could hear the pain nevertheless.

"That's more screwed up than Spiderman 3…." She said.

He closed his eyes, trying to suppress his tears. "I knew things would go ugly, but…"

She softly put her hand on his arm. "What happened is not your fault." He looked up, searching for her eyes. Those beautiful warm eyes, who never questioned his motives, who never asked the wrong questions and who seemed to understand him, even in his darkest moments. "Malcolm chose to become the villain and your mother made her choice as well. Like you did….you chose to become a hero." She whispered the last words, knowing perfectly he wasn't ready to accept what he had become.

But it was true. Malcolm Merlyn wanted to destroy the Glades, wanted to kill God knows how many innocent people and Oliver stopped him.

"Felicity –" Oliver didn't get to finish whatever he was going to say, the door opened and Diggle walked in, a bottle of scotch and three glasses in his hands. "I thought you would be hiding in here." He handed each of them a glass and let himself down on the floor as well. His leg hurt like hell that damn Merlyn got him with an arrow and if it weren't for his good reflexes, he would probably be dead by now. "Thought we could all need some booze."

They drank in silence. Oliver was thankful for Diggle and Felicity. He originally recruited them because he needed back up to work on the list and save the city, but they had become so much more over the last couple of months. They became equal partners and friends.

"We'll get through this, you know?" Felicity said.

"This time I'm not sure." Oliver said a sad smile on his lips. He survived the island, but he wasn't sure he would survive this.

"We will and we will do it together." She said more firmly this time. "That is what families do."

He stared at her in surprise. Family? Was that what they were slowly becoming?

Oliver continued to be the vigilante. The Undertaking was stopped, but there was still so much going on in the Glades that he couldn't just stop and move on with his life.

The problem was, it was a lot harder to coordinate his secret life with his regular life, whatever that meant anymore.

He needed to manage the club, help Walter at the company, since Moira was still in custody and of course Thea needed him more than ever. She was broken after her mother got arrested and everything about the accident on the Queen's Gambit had came to the light and he promised himself he would do everything to fix her.

Then there was Tommy. He was probably the biggest problem of them all. Tommy understood his father was insane and needed to be stopped. But that didn't mean Tommy wasn't grieving. He couldn't even look at Oliver without hatred in his eyes. He obviously blamed him, thinking he should have dealt with Malcolm differently, even if he deep down inside knew that there was no other way.

Oliver thought Tommy would sell him out to the police immediately, but he never did. He kept quiet. Hating Oliver silently.

"I'm not doing it for you, I do it for Thea, she's been through enough." Was is only explanation and Oliver understood.

Felicity dealt with her own demons. Everytime she ran into Walter at work it pained her to see him so broken. He just got back home, only to have his wife arrested for his own kidnapping. He was such a good man, he didn't deserve all of this.

But it pained her even more to look at Oliver. He was in a bad shape. He didn't really sleep, he barley ate, he was only functioning like a robot.

"I'm worried about him." She said to Diggle, one late afternoon while they were waiting for Oliver at the club.

"Me too…but there is nothing we can do right now." For Diggle Oliver became so much more than his boss or partner. After his apology their friendship changed. Oliver started to open up more about the Island and his struggles to fit into the normal life, Diggle told him more about his brother.

"We can give him a time out…" Felicity said more to herself than to Diggle.

Oliver was the vigilante, the stepson, the brother and the murderer of his best friend's father and he could barley breathe because all the pressure that was on him, but thanks to his friends he had one hour each day that belonged to him.

It was this one special hour early in the morning when the sun wasn't really up and the city was still asleep when Carly would open up the diner earlier to let him, Felicity and John in where he just could be himself and take a break from the world.

"How are you doing, Ollie?" Laurel's hands where firmly around her cup of coffee. She stared into the black liquid, avoiding any eye contact between her and her former lover. Things were still weird between them.

Oliver didn't know how to answer that question. He couldn't say fine because she would never believe that. He couldn't tell her his real feelings either, because she didn't know the other part of him. "I'm dealing…" he answered quickly.

"Your mother asked me to be her lawyer….but I guess you know that already." Laurel's voice was filled with guilt. She knew Moira Queen almost all her life and when she asked her for help she couldn't refuse, but still she felt like she was betraying Oliver.

He just gave her grunt for an answer.

"She wants to testify against everyone who was a part of Mr. Merlyn's plan…she wants to do the right thing." Laurel bit her lower lip and waited for answer.

Oliver stood up and laid some money on the table. "I'll pay for the coffee."

Laurel expected him to be angry or hurt, but she didn't expect him to walk out on her. She grabbed his arm. "Ollie wait, I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry. You do what you think it's right. But she can try as hard as she wants, that doesn't bring my father back or erases Walter's memories of the kidnapping. That doesn't fix Thea." He freed his arm and walked away and somehow he ended up at Diggle 's apartment and they talked all night, or rather Oliver talked and Diggle just listened.

Felicity had a long day at work. She was exhausted and the only thing she wanted was a bubble bath, some ice cream and her new DVD box of Doctor Who.

She opened her apartment door and saw someone sitting in the dark. Her hands were trembling and she shrieked. "Whoever you are I have…pepper spray."

To her surprise the dark figure chuckled. "You have a gun as well because I gave it to you."

She reached for the light switch. "Oliver what are you doing here? You can't just break into my apartment, I could've hurt you!"

She put her hands to her hips and stared at him like an angry teacher who just caught her student cheating on a test.

Oliver smiled innocently and walked towards her. "You can't hurt me, I'm the vigilante, remember? I have these awesome fighting skills and stuff." He laughed, but Felicity could tell it wasn't sincere.

She locked her eyes with him and what she saw shocked her. "Did you cry?" she asked.

He looked away, but this time she wouldn't let him. She reached her hand out and softly touched his cheek, turning his face back to her. "There is a reason for you coming here, let me help you…"

He softly put his hand over hers and leaned into her touch. Under different circumstances Felicity would have blushed. She was not blind, she knew that this man, the vigilante, her boss, her friend was still The Oliver Queen. The man every woman wanted and she couldn't deny that she was attracted to him and that he made her heart beat faster than anything else.

But she didn't feel any kind of sexual tension in this moment, she only felt grief, his grief.

"My mother is leaving the city." He said so quietly and so filled with pain that it broke her heart into pieces.

Without even thinking about it she swung her arms around his neck and hugged him so tightly that she could barley breathe. "It will be alright….okay? I don't know how and I don't know when, but it will be…" she whispered into his neck.

Oliver softly kissed her hair. He didn't know what exactly it was, but from the moment on his mother was released from prison and decided that it would be the best for everyone if she would be gone for a while, he had the strong urge to see Felicity. Over the past couple of months she became his anchor. Diggle became the friend he needed, but Felicity was the one who could calm him down the best. Her presence alone made him feel safer, warmer and less alone in the world.

She was like a ray of sunshine in the darkness his life had become.

"I need you, Felicity." He said.

She softly pulled away, looking back into his eyes. She wasn't sure if that was his pain and fear of losing someone else speaking through him or if that was just Oliver the man speaking to her, Felicity the woman.

The way he looked at her let a billion of butterflies dance inside her stomach, but she tried to push that feeling away. It wasn't the right time to think like that. She constantly had to remind herself that once he was getting better, he would probably go back to Laurel anyways.

"I'm not going anywhere." She replied with a smile. If he could wear a mask, so could she.

She grabbed his hand and pulled him along with her. "Come on I'll cook you something. I bet you haven't eaten again."

Walter wasn't their father, but Oliver appreciated him staying with him and Thea at the Queen Mansion.

He was a good man, in fact probably the best Oliver ever met and he was good for Thea. She loved him and she needed a responsible adult in her life.

Oliver tried his best, but fighting crime at night wasn't exactly something that would be a good example for his little sister.

Secretly Oliver counted the days until Thea's graduation from High School. He hoped she would be accepted into a good college and leave Starling City. It wasn't that he wanted to get rid of her or anything, no he wanted her to forget for a while, to leave the past behind and to heal. She still had a chance of a normal life, she hadn't seen what he had.

"I have to write an essay to get into that freaking college and I'm not good at this stuff…." Thea complained one night during dinner.

Walter looked up from his plate, he was glad they finally were able to have normal conversations again. "I wish I could help you, but I was never good at writing myself." He apologized.

"It's okay, Walter." She looked at Oliver and rolled her eyes. "I don't think it'll do me any good to ask you, right? I'm still trying to figure out how much Dad had to pay a college to accept you."

"Very funny." Oliver grumbled. "I was about to tell you I may know someone who could help you, but forget it."

Thea lightly slapped his arm. "I'll take it back, you're the best big brother I ever had." She winked at him with big eyes and pouted. It was a trick she used on him since she was little.

Oliver chuckled. "My…." He paused for a moment. "My friend Felicity is pretty smart, she can help you." He suddenly felt confused. Why was it so hard to label his relationship with Felicity, they were friends, right?

"That is an excellent idea!" Walter exclaimed, being very fond of Felicity as well. "That girl is smart and beautiful, you should invite her over for dinner some time, Oliver."

Thea glanced at Oliver and smirked knowingly. Being a good sister and sticking her nose in her brother's affairs, she noticed he was spending an awful lot time with a certain IT-Girl.

"Yeah Ollie, invite her over. We can talk about my future, college and stuff. We can also talk about your future…marriage and stuff."

Oliver spit his drink out and looked immediately over his shoulder. Diggle was standing in his usual position at the door, keeping everything in check.

His friend looked as surprised and wide eyed as he was.

"Thea!" Oliver almost shouted. "Felicity and I…we are just….marriage?"

Thea broke out in laughter. Tears were running down her cheeks, her face turned red and she thought she was going to explode. "Your face….why so shocked? Did I hit a nerve?"

Oliver tried to calm his breath. His started at his food. She had a point, he knew she was just teasing him, so why did he feel so…exposed?

When Oliver was stressed he only knew one way to deal with it. Training, training and even more training. And probably scaring some bad guys afterwards.

Oliver was going on for hours and Diggle stopped trying to keep up with him. "Wanna tell me what's bothering you?"

Oliver ignored him, like he always did when he didn't want to talk about a problem.

Diggle sighed. "To bad Felicity can't be here today…" Felicity was out, having dinner with some girlfriends and Diggle was actually glad about it.

Since Thea's teasing a few days ago he just waited for a chance to get Oliver alone. "Something is really missing when she is not around, right?"

Oliver put his arrows aside and glared at his friend. "You wanna say something, just say it."

Diggle chuckled. "Man, I know you've been through a lot lately….I just want you to be happy and if you found something or someone that manages to make you happy….you should tell her…"

Oliver clenched his fists. He knew exactly what Diggle wanted to hear, but before he could admit it to anyone else, he had to admit it to himself first. "I don't know what you are talking about."

"Sure you don't." He was actually amused. "Don't you think I noticed?"

Oliver was tired of this game, but knowing John he was sure he was just getting started. "Noticed what?" He rolled his eyes, he was so annoyed he almost hoped for a robbery or good old-fashioned kidnapping so he could take his frustrations out on someone who deserved it.

"That you brighten up whenever a certain blonde walks into the room. That you have this silly smile on your face whenever that certain blonde starts talking nonsense. That you visit a certain blonde's apartment almost every night – "

"Dig…" Oliver interrupted him. "First, I really don't wanna know why you're so aware of where I spend my free time and second…" he took a deep breath, "She actually dyes her hair."

Diggle was too surprised to actually respond to that last part.

"Listen, I have no idea what to tell you, because I don't know what I feel anymore." Oliver said sincere. "I'm the vigilante, I shouldn't be in a relationship and I am damaged beyond words…I still have nightmares and she has been so great this past few months that I don't want to trouble her even more." It was the closest thing to admitting his feelings he could say.

Diggle nodded. "I understand. But Oliver, you should let her decide if she wants the trouble."

It was Oliver's birthday and great as they were Walter and Thea decided to throw him a party. They invited a few old friends, some co-workers from the company and even Thea's boyfriend, Roy was there.

Walter wanted him to have 'some normality' and Oliver appreciated it, that's why he stayed there and didn't flee the scene the first minute they arrived.

But if he was honest with himself, he hated it. Oliver the party boy died on an island now already six and a half years ago and this Oliver couldn't stand big parties anymore.

He nipped at his drink and wondered where Diggle and Felicity where. It was odd they weren't at the party. Diggle asked to have the day off almost a month ago and he couldn't reach Felicity and it bothered him. It bothered him so much he couldn't really concentrate on any conversation he had that night.

Then there was his mother and Tommy. Moira sent him a birthday card, apologizing again for what she put the family threw and he didn't know how to deal with it. And Tommy, Tommy wasn't speaking to him. He knew he probably didn't deserve better, but it was strange not having him on his birthday party.

"Enjoying the party?" Laurel appeared next to him, looking gorgeous as always.

"Not really." He confessed.

She gave him a sympathetic smile. "Must be hard…your Mom not being here and Tommy…I wish I could help you."

He smiled briefly. "You are here besides everything that happened between us, that means a lot."

Laurel knew he wasn't just taking about Sarah, no he was talking about the love confession he made months ago, the one they never spoke about again.

"Ollie…I've been thinking…" she wasn't sure what exactly she was going to say, she still couldn't trust him completely, but she watched him during the last few months and she was still amazed how much he changed. "Maybe we finally need to let go of the past and look forward."

Oliver blinked. He knew Laurel well enough to understand what she was implying and a few months ago he probably would have dropped the hood to be with her, but he had changed yet again, his feelings have.

"I mean…I don't say let's get back together, but maybe have some dinner and see where we stand." She continued, almost shyly and he hated himself for disappointing her again.

"I'd like to have dinner with you, but…only as friends." For a second he didn't dare to look her into the eyes, he was too afraid hurt her yet again, but he couldn't lie to her. Not this time, she deserved the truth.

"Oh…" was all she managed to answer. She was literally surprised. Not that she wanted him to wait for her for all eternity, but it slightly shocked her that he suddenly wanted to stay in the friend zone.

"A part of me will probably always love you Laurel." He confessed. "But, I think I'm finally ready to move on from what we had…there is so much about me, you don't know. So much I can never explain to you and then there is…" He tried to find the right words to explain to her what was going on inside of him, but he didn't know how.

"Who is she?" Laurel suddenly asked. When Oliver's eyes just grew wide and he even blushed, an image Laurel hadn't seen since they were teenagers, she actually had to laugh. "It's okay, Ollie. I'm not mad or hurt. Surprised, yes…but I'm fine with us being friends."

He was relieved. More than relieved. He couldn't deal with losing Laurel as a friend as well. Not after what happened with Tommy.

"So…who is she, do I know her?" Laurel asked again.

"You met her once at the club. Not that tall, blonde ponytail, glasses, talks too much for her own good…" he explained.

Laurel almost couldn't believe the Oliver she just talked to was the same man she grew up with. The way he spoke about this special woman was so full of emotions and affections that she almost got jealous. Not because she wanted him back, but because she always wanted Oliver to be like this when they were still together.

"I remember. The girl who rebooted your internet…Felicity, right?" she asked.

Oliver nodded. "Yeah and…" he made a decision. "And I'm sorry but I told you and Diggle and I guess Thea kinda knows and I have to tell her before it is all over the newspapers one day."

Oliver left, leaving a confused Laurel behind.

He sneaked away from the party, hoping Thea and Walter would be too busy to notice and made his way to Felicity's apartment, she wasn't there.

He tried Diggle's home, the café and even the company, he couldn't find each of them. The last place he knew where to luck was actually the lair or Arrow Cave as Felicity liked to call it.

So he walked inside, it was dark and his eyes needed to adjust to it when suddenly the light switched on.

"Surprise!" Felicity and Diggle both shouted, the former wearing a sparkling green party hat.

"What….what is going on?" Oliver couldn't believe his own eyes. The lair was decorated with green lights and paper streamer, the table where he usually lay down on was cleaned and a cake was positioned on it and in front of the computer were even two little presents.

"You didn't really think we would forget your birthday man, right?" Diggle said, clapping Oliver's shoulder.

"I….how did you know I would come?" It was the first thing that came to his mind.

Diggle shrugged. "Guess we just know you." He handed him a small gift.

Oliver eyed it suspiciously before opening it. He shook his head and smiled. "An annual ticket for free burgers?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Well…I don't know what to get someone who is so rich that he can buy anything." Diggle tried to defend himself.

Oliver laughed. "It's great, thank you."

Felicity was nervous. It was her turn to give him a gift and she just hoped she picked the right one. She shot Diggle a quick glance, hoping he would understand.

"I have to call Carly, be right back." He said and Felicity felt relieved. It was hard enough for her to be around Oliver lately, let alone surprise him with something that was probably a stupid idea, but she didn't need an audience while making a fool of herself, even if it was Dig.

"I have something for you as well…" she tried to calm down. The past few months were an emotional rollercoaster for her. She always understood why women fell for Oliver Queen. He was handsome, wealthy and charming, but that wasn't the reason she fell for him. She fell for a man that was honest, good hearted, smart, funny and decided that she was the right person to share is fears and hopes with. It weren't the days she watched him train shirtless (even if that helped, just a little bit), no it were the countless nights they would sit on her old couch talking about everything, the nights he opened up and allowed her to see the man behind the hood, behind the former party boy that made her fall in love so deeply, that she barely knew how to function anymore.

So here she was, standing in front of him, handing him a small package. Here goes nothing… She thought and wished she could disappear for a moment, so she didn't have to watch him open the gift.

Oliver took the present carefully out of her hands, their fingers briefly touching, setting his whole body on fire.

"Thanks…" he said and carefully started to open it. What he found inside was nothing he ever expected and he was actually speechless for a while, just staring at it.

It was a simple picture of him, Diggle and Felicity at the diner. Carly took it a few months ago, but he never actually saw it before. Oliver had his arm around Felicity, she was grinning at the camera, while he was actually smiling at her. Diggle sat behind them, a giant burger in his hands, he was obviously surprised by the camera.

The picture was inside a green frame and as Oliver looked closer, there was a small engraving. "Fú dān dú." He read out loud.

"Not alone." Felicity translated, playing nervously with her ponytail. "It is Mandarin for Not alone, which you know of course…because you like the language and I actually don't know if that's even correct, since I just ask the guy who makes my sushi every Wednesday to translate it and he looked at me like –"

Oliver had enough. He grabbed the back of her head, pulled her closer and crashed his lips down on hers.

Felicity closed her eyes and responded the kiss almost immediately.

She felt a rush of adrenalin going through her body, everything was electric, everything was on fire and she felt like the ground would disappear under her feet.

Oliver never experienced anything like that before. Her lips felt so perfect on his, like they always belonged there. He inhaled her warmth, he softness and everything that made her so perfect to him.

When they finally pulled away, both out of breath, they just stared at each other. The world around them had just vanished.

He was no longer the vigilante and she was no longer his It-Girl. They were just Oliver and Felicity.

"Wow…." She said after a while and touched her lips. "That was….wow."

He smiled, that very special sincere smile only she and Diggle are allowed to see. "Couldn't agree more."

He slowly wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer again. She swung her arms around his neck.

"I guess you like the present then." A playful smile covered her lips.

He softly kissed her lips again. "You could say so."

She giggled and captured his lips once again.

Felicity noticed very quickly that kissing Oliver Queen was a dangerous drug. Once you have started, you just couldn't stop. She even dared to say it was far more dangerous than Vertigo and that The Count should have sold Oliver Queen kisses instead.

So when they were 'training' as they called it in the lair she couldn't stop kissing him whenever she had the chance and luckily he didn't mind, because kissing Felicity Smoak became his favorite activity of the day and the night, obviously.

The only one who was slightly getting annoyed was Diggle. "Guys, I'm happy that you're happy, but can't you be happy at home?" He asked, desperately trying to look into the newspaper.

Felicity giggled as Oliver put butterfly kisses down her neck.

Diggle rolled his eyes, they were ignoring him…again. "Will this honeymoon phase never end?" He murmured to himself.

Oliver laughed. "Don't be so grumpy, Dig. You always told me I need more happiness in my life and what could be better than being in love with a beautiful…" he stopped talking and kissed her deeply. "Smart, funny and all in all perfect woman."

Felicity giggled again. "Stop complimenting me all the time….you've already seen me naked, you don't need to woo me over anymore."

"Guys….I don't want to know about that." Diggle said, desperate to get that images out of his mind.

Oliver rolled his eyes and the continued their 'training'. Diggle was only watching with one eye, but the happiness wasn't to overlook.

He would continue complaining, but he wouldn't want it any other way.

Things were changing quickly in Starling City, sometimes so quickly that Oliver didn't even notice it.

When came back from the island, he was a damaged, broken man with a mission. He wanted to make right what is father did to the city and he didn't care about anything else.

He put on a hood at night and a mask at day. He was caught in the middle of a game of lies, betrayal and hurt and thought he deserved it. He thought his burden was his punishment for everything he did wrong before the island, for what he became on the island and for every men he killed when he was back.

That was three years ago.

It was his personal little anniversary and he was actually glad no one else seemed to remember.

Walter was caught up in work as usual, but he seemed happier now. Thea was off to college, studying fashion design and to Oliver's dismay she took that guy with her.

He and Laurel continued their friendship and even if they had their awkward phases, it was better that way.

He finished his cup of coffee and turned on the news. The reporter was recapping the events of the previous night and Oliver smiled.

"And once again a disaster was averted when bomb planter Ryan Connor was finally arrested. He terrorized Starling City and previously four other cities for months and will now finally getting his rightful punishment. The police once again has to thank Starling City's personal guardian, better known as the Green Arrow for capturing that dangerous man."

Oliver turned the TV off. He was still getting used to it. He didn't know when exactly it started that people stopped seeing him as a vigilante and started to call him a hero.

He wasn't exactly comfortable with his new status and the new name, but Felicity decided The Hood or The Vigilante didn't fit a superhero well and decided he would be Green Arrow from now on.

So she hacked into the site of a local newspaper and made the name public. A few days later The Hood was ancient history and everybody cheered for Green Arrow.

Well, everybody apart from Quentin Lance of course who made it his lifelong mission to catch him.

Oliver got his motorcycle and drove to the club. It was still very early, the club wouldn't be open in the next few hours and it wasn't time to hood up yet either, but he felt more home in the old basement of the club than anywhere else.

He walked down the familiar old stairs and immediately heard the familiar noises that made him smile.

When he opened the door he saw Diggle training throwing some knives and Felicity busy on the computer as always.

"Hey man." Diggle greeted him with a brief smile.

Oliver clapped his shoulder before he walked over to Felicity, kissing her on the lips. "You were up early today." He said to her.

She shrugged. "We can't all sleep 'til noon, my dear, dear Hero." She teased.

"Whatever you say." He leaned over her shoulder. "So…does the future Mrs. Queen have a job for me tonight?"

Felicity smiled, glancing at the huge ring on her finger. "Apart from deciding on the flowers for the wedding….there might me this evil mobster with the Sonic haircut…."

Oliver never expected his life to turn out this way. Sure, there were still a lot of problems. His sister, stepfather and Laurel still had no idea about his double life. His mother would eventually return to Starling City and old wounds would be open again. And Tommy was still looking at him like he was his worst enemy whenever they met.

But looking at Diggle and Felicity, looking at his dysfunctional little family, he knew that they would manage whatever was yet to come.