Disembarking a private plane was three million times nicer than disembarking a commercial flight, if you were to ask Felicity.

No lines of people cramming into the aisles, waiting turns to grab their carry ons. No crowded jetway connecting them to the loud, even more crowded terminal. Instead, as soon as the plane came to a stop on the tarmac, a crew pushed a rolling staircase right to the door for them. The flight attendants waved them a friendly goodbye, and their luggage was already being transferred to a sleek black town car by the time they walked down the stairs to the tarmac. Such a seemingly small thing, but it felt luxurious to Felicity, who'd only ever traveled commercially.

A tall man in a tailored suit stood beside the car, a small smirk tugging on his lips when he saw them.

"John!" Oliver walked over and the man opened his massive arms for a hug. Seriously, his biceps were like the size of bowling balls.

Felicity waited awkwardly as they patted each other on the back a few times and said hello. This man, John, was clearly Oliver's driver, but they acted more like friends.

If Felicity had been caught off guard by Oliver talking so warmly about his housekeeper, she wasn't this time. Despite his clear immaturity, Oliver seemed like a good guy who cared for the people close to him. It didn't matter if they were employees, he treated them like equals. A newfound respect settled into place at the discovery.

"Who's your friend?" John asked with a kind smile in her direction.

"This is Felicity Smoak." Oliver placed a hand on her elbow to encourage her closer. "Felicity, this is John Diggle, head of security for my family and one of my closest friends." Oliver turned back to John. "Felicity's here to help me get Mom off my back."

Felicity's mouth fell open at him telling his head of security the truth about their relationship, or lack thereof, but John seemed to take it in stride. Though she supposed earning the title of one of Oliver's closest friends must have required him to participate in at least a few of Oliver's hairbrained schemes.

John huffed a laugh, rolling his eyes.

"You really think pretending you have a girlfriend is going to fix things?" He shook his head. "I heard your parents talking the other day and—no offense to you, Miss Smoak—but it's going to take more than a pretty girl and a few promises to save you this time."

"None taken," she said automatically. "And you can call me Felicity."

John smiled, but Oliver was already shaking his head.

"What did they say?" he asked, but didn't wait for John to answer. "Mom was mad I broke up with Laurel, because she's worried I'm out on the East coast partying and sleeping around and never going to class. As long as she sees I'm in a serious relationship she won't worry too much about it. And she'll like Felicity just as much as she liked Laurel. Right?"

Felicity nearly rolled her eyes at Oliver's logic. She got not wanting to conform to your parents' wishes, but this was taking it to a whole other level. There was a brief pause in the conversation and her eyes widened, realizing both men were watching her for a reply.

"What? Oh, yeah. That's what I'm here for. To convince your mother that I'm whipping you into shape."

"Exactly," he said with a grin. "And the best part is, Mom can't keep tabs on me through Felicity the way she used to with Laurel."

John didn't even look like he tried to hold back his eye roll. "That's because you're not actually dating Felicity. You don't think your mom's going to be suspicious when she never sees this girl again?"

"So maybe… Maybe she can guest star in a couple of FaceTime calls after this." He glanced over at Felicity who gave him a small shrug. That seemed easy and unobtrusive enough to her. "The point is, she can be exactly what Mom wants her to be and that," he said, with a smug smile, "will get her to ease up a little about my trust fund."

John shook his head. "I don't know, man. I just think this is an awfully elaborate charade to go through when you could just, I don't know, go to class on occasion. Be a little more responsible."

Oliver's face fell, just a little, but he shook it off with a carefree grin. "Nah, this seems way easier."

With a hand on Felicity's elbow, Oliver guided her to the car, apparently done with his conversation with John. She didn't know why—she didn't know him well enough to know why—but she got the impression that John telling him to be more responsible had upset him more than he was letting on.

###

The trip to Oliver's home took them straight through the heart of Starling City and Felicity took it all in with wide eyes.

In reality, it was no different than Boston—tall skyscrapers and lots of stores and people bustling to and fro—but there was something about this place. Maybe it was just the Christmas spirit and the festive garlands and lights hanging up in some of the window displays, or maybe it was the light snow that had started to fall at some point after they'd entered the city, but it still made Felicity feel like she was someplace special. Not to mention all of the major tech firms she could see, towering over the rest of the city skyline. Queen Consolidated stood tall in the middle of them all, but there was also Merlyn Global, Kord Industries, Wayne Tech. The kind of companies she would love to hack into and see what they had up their sleeves. Not that she ever would, but it was fun to imagine.

Oliver didn't bother her much as they drove, mostly texting, but occasionally he pointed out a sight or two.

With traffic it took them a little while to get out of the city, but soon enough the skyscrapers gave way to smaller buildings and strip malls, which in turn gave way to residential neighborhoods. Eventually, they found themselves on a long, winding road, surrounded by tall, narrow trees covered in a dusting of snow that gave Felicity the impression of being in a winter wonderland. Boston didn't have trees like this, not any parts she'd been to anyway, and Las Vegas certainly didn't.

It took almost twenty minutes before John turned the town car into a long driveway. So long, in fact, that at first Felicity thought it was just another road. But then the trees gave way to what could only be described as manicured grounds and her breath caught in her throat as the Queen mansion came into view.

It looked like a castle. That was all Felicity could think as they approached the stone building.

Battlements—she could thank her history elective for knowing what those even were—decorated the massive front entrance. To both sides of the entrance the house looked less castle-like and more like a really large mansion. Her mouth was undoubtedly hanging open, but she couldn't help herself. With the snow falling, it looked like she'd just entered into her very own cheesy Christmas movie, where girls like her landed in a fish out of water situation, only for a handsome prince to fall in love with her. The whole thing was… surreal.

Oliver laughed, and Felicity spun to see him watching her. "Well, I promise not to fall in love with you if that helps."

It took her a moment to realize she'd been speaking out loud and then a blush rushed up her neck and across her cheeks. Mostly out of embarrassment at not being able to control her tongue. She'd accidentally said far worse than saying a guy's house looked like the set of a cheesy movie.

"You grew up here?" she asked as John pulled the car around a large center garden and under a carriage porch to protect them against the light dusting of snow.

"Yeah. I guess it is kind of a lot, but it's home." He pushed his door open and climbed out before ducking back in to look at her. "C'mon, I'll give you the tour."

The tour, however, was postponed by a small girl bursting through the front door and launching herself at Oliver as he rounded the back of the car. Felicity climbed out of the backseat, watching with fascination as Oliver interacted with what had to be his little sister.

"Ollie! I missed you," the girl said, wrapping her arms around his waist. "I never see you anymore."

"That's 'cause I'm in college, Speedy," Oliver said, hugging her back. "It's not so easy to come home whenever I want."

The girl pulled back giving him a sharp look. "It would be easier if you hadn't gone to college on the other side of the country."

Oliver sighed, as if they'd had this fight before, then placed a hand on her shoulder. "I missed you, Speedy."

The girl didn't seem pleased exactly, but she let his answer stand, eyes finding their way over to Felicity. They widened, taking her in, then her lips twisted into what could only be described as the face of a twelve year old girl teasing her brother. "Oooh, is this your new girlfriend?"

Oliver rolled his eyes. "Thea, this is Felicity. Felicity, this my sister Thea. She's a pathological liar and you should ignore anything and everything she tells you about me."

"Hey! No, I'm not!" Thea cried, offended, and Felicity couldn't help but laugh. She'd seen a few different versions of Oliver at this point, but the version currently teasing his little sister might be her favorite yet.

"Don't worry," she said, stepping closer to the siblings and leaning into Thea conspiratorially. "I don't ever believe a word out of his mouth."

Now it was Oliver's turn to be offended, but he didn't get more than a faux glare in before the front door was opening again and a polished middle aged woman in a sleek wool dress was stepping over the threshold.

"Oliver, sweetheart," the woman greeted with a warm smile. Felicity didn't need to hear Oliver's soft reply of, "Mom," to know this woman was Oliver's mother. The two embraced and Felicity felt nerves bubble up that weren't present when she was meeting Thea.

As she pulled back, Mrs. Queen's eyes found her, narrowing as they analyzed her from head to toe. She'd never felt more judged in her life. Mentally, she pictured her outfit—black skinny jeans and a sweater, her brand new fuschia coat topping it off—and hoped she hadn't made a mistake making Oliver take her to the mall for new clothes. Would she feel like her heart was about to beat out of her chest if she'd just let her ego take the hit and allowed him to buy her that stupid, incredible three hundred dollar sweater?

"Mom, this is Felicity," Oliver said, moving to stand beside her. "My girlfriend. Felicity, this is my mom."

"Please, call me Moira," she said, reaching a hand out. Felicity took it cautiously, not liking the shrewd look in the woman's eye.

Moira Queen was not a woman to be trifled with. Felicity understood that instinctually.

"Moira," she said, hoping she sounded meeting-your-boyfriend's-parents-for-the-first-time nervous and not I'm-helping-your-son-pull-one-over-on-you nervous. "Thank you for having me."

"Oh." The woman waved her off. "Of course, dear. If you're that important to my son then I wouldn't have it any other way."

Felicity forced a smile.

"Now come inside, it's freezing out here and we'll all catch cold." She ushered them inside, Felicity leading the way with Oliver close by her side.

Footsteps echoing on polished marble floors, they stepped into the foyer. It was decorated in rich wood tones and the staircase, twisting up on either side of the entryway, dominated the room. It was a subtle, yet impressive display of wealth. Nothing like the flashy casinos Felicity had practically grown up in. She wasn't used to places like this, or to people eyeing her the way Moira Queen was.

"Relax," Oliver said softly, leaning down to whisper in her ear. "My mom isn't going to bite."

She wasn't so sure, but she tried to relax a little, allowing some of the tension to drain out of her shoulders.

John followed them inside, hauling her suitcases in from the car, and before she could even say thank you another man appeared, carrying them up the twisting staircase and out of view.

"Raisa is preparing some of your favorites for lunch, Oliver. Do you have any dietary restrictions, dear?"

"Oh!" Felicity spun to see Moira watching her with a raised brow. "Um… I have a nut allergy."

She nodded minutely. "I'll let the staff know."

The idea of staff sort of blew Felicity's mind. She had grown up in a world where she was the staff. Donna Smoak had worked as a cocktail waitress Felicity's whole life, waiting on wealthy men and women who were used to having their every whim catered to. And Felicity had been taking shifts at Murphy's ever since her freshman year. It felt odd that she might be on the other side of that power dynamic, even just temporarily.

"I've had your room prepared for the two of you. I'm sure you'll want to freshen up a little after your flight."

"Thanks, Mom." Oliver grinned, leaning in to press a kiss to her cheek. "We'll be back down in time for lunch."

With a hand on her back—a hand she tried very hard not to visibly flinch away from—Oliver ushered Felicity toward the stairs and away from his mother and sister, the latter of which was currently wiggling her eyebrows in their direction. Felicity ignored her and leaned in, whispering to Oliver.

"Of course your mom has no problem with you sharing a bed with a strange woman."

His hand slipped around the side of her hip, giving her a little squeeze. "You're supposed to be my girlfriend, Felicity. My mom has no delusions about what that implies."

With a pointed look down at his hand—which he quickly let fall to his side—she said, "As long as you have no delusions as to what that implies."

"Don't worry. I'd like to keep all my fingers exactly where they are."

With that, he hurried up the stairs. She followed after him, trying very hard to hide her smirk.

###

"This is your room?"

Felicity twirled around, taking in his bedroom. Her pink—or was it purple?—coat swirled around her legs, making her look like a little kid playing ballerina. It was surprisingly cute.

"This is bigger than my mom's whole apartment!" she went on, peeking into the bathroom before heading towards the large bay window overlooking the gardens.

Oliver wasn't so privileged that he didn't realize he was… well, privileged. He knew he'd grown up differently than most people. Hell, he used to practically live at Laurel's apartment in high school and her place was only slightly bigger than his room, so he got what she was saying. But it was still sobering, seeing this house, his whole life, through Felicity's eyes.

Currently, she was wistfully eyeballing his bed and, somehow, he just knew that if he wasn't here she'd have already jumped head first into its fluffy down comforter.

"You can take the bed," he assured her. "I'll sleep on the chaise."

Felicity turned to him, before spinning to see the leather upholstered chaise lounge sitting near the fireplace.

"Oh my god." She walked over, smoothing her hand over the curved back. "I've always wanted one of these. When I was a kid," she said, gesticulating in his direction as she spoke, "there was one like this in the lobby of the Grand where my mom worked. I would do my homework there and pretend I was fancy." She laughed at the memory, her face lighting in a way that looked good on her. "It wasn't as nice as this one, though. And for a while it had this weird stain that now that I think about it…" She cringed, her nose wrinkling up in disgust. "I'd rather not think about it. Anyway, I can sleep here if you want."

"Absolutely not." Oliver shook his head. "I may not be the best boyfriend—even a fake one—but you are not sleeping on a chair for the next ten days."

"Good." She faced him fully, a sheepish grin on her face. "'Cause I really wanted to sleep in the bed, but it felt rude not to at least offer."

He snorted, rolling his eyes. "Don't worry, it's all yours. I'm actually gonna take a quick shower, then I'll give you the tour." He gestured to her bags that the staff had left on a rack near one of the dressers. "If you want to unpack you can use that dresser. I don't think there's much in it."

She nodded, sitting on the end of the bed and running her hands along the comforter. "Thanks."

He smiled, then slipped off into the bathroom, pleased with how his plan was coming together.

###

When Oliver got out of the shower it was to a string of texts from Tommy letting him know he was on his way over for lunch.

He smiled, tucking his phone into the pocket of his jeans and stepping out into the bedroom to see Felicity sitting at the foot of his bed. She had taken her coat off and when she saw him, she hopped up off the bed, her face scrunching up a little.

"Would you mind if I take a quick shower too? I know you wanted to show me around—"

"It's fine." He waved her off. "Actually, Tommy is on his way now, so I'll just meet you downstairs, okay?"

"Sure," she said, grabbing a pile of clothes from the top of the dresser and scooting passed him into the en suite.

The house was quiet as he headed downstairs and he figured his mom was probably off organizing lunch or one of her holiday events. Moira Queen's Christmas party was one of the must attend social gatherings of the year. At least, that's what the local gossip sites said. Personally, Oliver thought they were boring, stuffy affairs, but then again the average age at those things was probably twice his. If his mom didn't consider his presence mandatory he wouldn't even go.

As he rounded the landing of the stairs he noticed a woman with her back to him. His steps faltered as he recognized the long, brown hair and slender build. She must have heard him because she turned suddenly, brown eyes going wide as she spotted him.

"Ollie!"

It took him a moment too long to respond.

"Laurel. Hey."

Laurel shifted, her dark hair falling over her shoulders. She was wearing a puffy red winter coat he recognized with blue skinny jeans. She looked just as beautiful as she'd always been, but her features were sharper than usual. As if her anger towards him was manifesting physically.

And she was angry. Oliver had no doubt about that. Her brown eyes simmered as she watched him descend the remaining steps and make his way towards her.

"How are you?"

Her jaw tensed. "Fine. I'm just here to drop this off for Thea." She lifted her arms and the white and red gift wrapped box she carried caught his attention.

"Oh." He wasn't sure what else to say so he went with politeness. "That's really nice of you to get her something, considering..."

Her eyes narrowed and an irritated huff escaped her. "I'm not going to completely cut ties to your little sister just because I hate you. She doesn't deserve that."

Oliver nodded awkwardly. Of course, she would keep in contact with Thea. Thea loved her, and Laurel wasn't the kind of person who'd throw that back in the girl's face just because her brother was a jerk. She was too good a person for that. She'd probably rip his head off if he said any of that to her, though. Instead, he shifted his weight to his back foot, eyes dropping to the tiled floor.

The moment dragged out, tension sizzling between them. And not the good kind. Eventually Laurel held out the box, which he accepted awkwardly, before turning so she was half facing the door.

"I should get—"

"Oliver, oh my god. This house is so—"

He turned to see Felicity skipping down the staircase to his right. She'd changed after her shower and was now wearing a blouse he recognized from their shopping spree in Boston. Whatever she'd been about to say faded, along with her enthusiasm, as she noticed Laurel standing beside him. She must have recognized the tension between them because she became noticeably unsure of herself, and Felicity was almost never unsure as far as he could tell.

"Am I interrupting something?" she asked, one hand on the banister as she turned the corner of the stairs. "I'm totally interrupting something, aren't I?"

After a quick glance at Laurel, who was watching Felicity with a narrowed gaze, he turned back to her. "No, no. Felicity, this is Laurel."

Understanding bloomed on Felicity's face, and she took a step closer, shooting Laurel an awkward wave. "Hi."

"Laurel, this is Felicity." He hesitated, but one look at Laurel told him it was pointless. She'd already put the pieces together. "My girlfriend."

Laurel nodded, eyes still narrowed as she turned back to him. "Just make sure Thea gets that," she said, coldly, and turned for the door.

He watched her go, gift box held in one hand, and a strange feeling making its way through his chest. Regret, maybe? He wasn't sure, but it was uncomfortable and he tried to shake it off before turning to Felicity.

She was watching him with a neutral expression. "So that was Laurel?"

He sighed, reaching up to scratch his forehead. "That was Laurel. She was dropping off a Christmas present for Thea."

Felicity nodded. "That was nice of her."

"Don't start." Placing Laurel's gift beside a vase of red flowers on the credenza, he turned back in time to catch her shrugging innocently.

"Start what?"

"Felicity, our plan is working. Don't rock the boat."

"We just got here," she scoffed. "It's yet to be seen if it's working. And I'm just saying. Before I left, Cooper kept showing up at my dorm unannounced—"

"Cooper?"

"My boyfriend."

"You have a boyfriend?" That was news to him.

"Ex-boyfriend," she corrected herself with a wave of her hand. "He's kind of an ass. But he was so not happy when he found out I left for break with you."

"Okay… What's your point?"

"Just that" —she shrugged again— "in my experience, exes only show up when they don't want to be exes anymore."

"Laurel broke up with me."

"Maybe she's changed her mind. God only knows why," she added with a teasing roll of her eyes.

Before Oliver could respond, the front door opened and a loud whoop echoed through the foyer, bouncing off the marble and down the hall.

"Ollie!"

Then his best friend and partner in crime was crashing into him. He grabbed him back, both in greeting and to keep his balance.

"Tommy." He chuckled, giving him a rough pat on the back. "Long time, no see."

"Yeah, remind me why you wanted to go to a school on the other side of the country?"

Tommy pulled back, a wide grin dominating his face. His dark hair was styled up and back in the same way he'd been wearing it since high school. He was wearing a gray peacoat over black slacks instead of his usual jeans, but all in all, Tommy Merlyn was exactly as Oliver remembered him.

"I'd already been kicked out of all the rest?" Oliver teased and Tommy laughed, before his dark eyes settled over Oliver's shoulder.

On Felicity.

"Hello," Tommy drawled, a sly look on his face as he took a step in her direction. "I'm Tommy Merlyn. Oliver's best friend. And you must be the delightful girlfriend he's been telling me so much about."

He wiggled his eyebrows playfully and Felicity snorted.

"I'm sure he has." She threw a wink towards Oliver, or tried to. It was more of a blink than anything, but Oliver smiled back, taking it for the conspiratorial gesture it was.

Tommy opened his mouth, undoubtedly to flirt with Felicity some more, when the clack of heels echoed down the hall. His mother entered the foyer, her eyebrows pulling up when she found them all standing around.

"I was just about to get you for lunch," she said, stepping closer. "Tommy. It's so nice to see you. How's your father?"

"Moira!" Tommy grinned, leaning in to politely kiss her on the cheek. "A pleasure, as always."

The two walked away towards the dining room as Tommy told Moira his father was away on business.

Malcolm Merlyn was always away on business, it seemed, which was why Tommy had spent so much time at the Queen's when they were kids. It was also the reason Tommy never had to deal with mandatory parties and threats of having his trust fund cut off.

Sometimes Oliver really envied him.

"So that's Tommy," Felicity said, pulling him from his thoughts. She was thoughtfully staring off in the direction the two had disappeared.

"That's Tommy. Come on. Let's eat."

He held out his right elbow for her and she looked down at it for a long moment before glancing back up at him with raised brows. She did, however, take hold of his arm and allow him to lead her into the dining room.