Brave New World: Arrow

Chapter 17

"I can't believe we're actually doing this." Laurel said to Oliver with a smile.

"What, looking to move out of our parents' houses? Honestly, we've waited too long to do it." Oliver said with a smile of his own.

"You know what I mean. Actually looking for a place together. Last time I suggested we do that." Laurel said.

"I know, this whole adventure started." Oliver said.

"Then I guess in a way, I'm the one who's really responsible for you becoming the man you are today, since if I hadn't had pressured you to move in, you never would've gone on the Gambit and become the man you are today." Laurel said and Oliver chuckled.

"I guess in a way you are. But this time, I'm actually ready to take that step, not to mention, those party days are long behind me." Oliver said and Laurel said.

"You mean aside from parties you have to go to as either member of the Queen Family for your company or as the mayor right?" Laurel asked, since she knew that her boyfriend was still planning on running for mayor.

"Of course. I mean those wild crazy parties that always left me with a hangover and sometimes in bed with a woman I didn't remember or you." Oliver said.

"Yeah, honestly, I still can't believe I never got pregnant considering how many times that happened." Laurel said.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Oliver said.

"You thinking of William again?" Laurel asked him, realizing that comment might have been a bit insensitive.

"I can't help it. There's nothing I want more than to go see him and be a part of his life, though I know that he's better off without me in it." Oliver said.

"If you were still the same man you were when he was conceived, I'd agree with that, but now, you couldn't be more wrong Ollie. Your son needs you." Laurel said, even though she knew it was futile, since she, Thea and Felicity had been trying to get Oliver to go see his son for months with no luck.

"No he doesn't. Because the second I go to my son, the second any of my countless enemies will try to use him against me. It's already happened too many times. The best thing I can do for him is to stay out of his life and hope that no one ever finds out about him." Oliver said, making it clear that he didn't want to discuss it anymore and Laurel, knowing that this conversation was over, so she dropped it for now.

"Anyways, we're here." Oliver said as he pulled into the lot of the apartment building of the penthouse they were looking at.

"Well, the building certainly looks nice on the outside." Laurel said.

"Yeah, but I think we both know that looks can be deceiving, let's check out the actual place." Oliver said and Laurel nodded as they got out of the car and headed into the building, where they found the realtor waiting for them.

"Mr. Queen, Ms. Lance, glad to see you both." the realtor said.

"Thank you Ms. Jennings, why don't you show us the penthouse." Oliver said and Ms. Jennings nodded as she led to the elevators.

"Since the previous owners were very protective of their privacy they had this elevator put in as the sole means of getting in or out of the penthouse, so it's the only one with access to the penthouse and will only work with a special keycard. Like this." Ms. Jennings said as she pulled out said card and slid it into the slot above the buttons, which then glowed, signalling that the elevator was now working as she pushed the up button, causing the door to open and the three of them stepped in it.

"Welcome to the penthouse." Ms. Jennings said as the elevator doors opened and Oliver and Laurel were both impressed by what they saw.

"Wow, and here I thought those pictures we saw in the ad were just photoshopped." Laurel said and Ms. Jennings smiled.

"No, if anything, we toned them down because we thought that otherwise, it might look too expensive. The previous owners really went all out on renovating this place. Not that it really mattered since they ended up moving to Midway since they deemed it safer." Ms. Jennings said.

"Well, one of the perks of being a Queen is that money isn't really a problem." Oliver said, very glad that in this universe, his family had been able to retain it's fortune, something he was sure would continue since Felicity was in charge of the company and if her past track record was any indication, she'd lead the company to greatness.

"Which is why I was very excited when I got your call saying that you were interested in this place. Honestly, the price is so high I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever be able to sell it." Ms. Jennings said.

"Hold on, the deal isn't done yet. Why don't you give us a tour, since I'm not letting Oliver write a check for anything until we've seen every bit of it." Laurel said and Ms. Jennings nodded.

"Of course. Follow me. Let's start here with the living room." Ms. Jennings said as she led them from the foyer into the very spacious living room.

"This place looks bigger than my dad's entire apartment." Laurel said and Ms. Jennings smiled.

"Well, considering who you're dating, I'd say you should've been expecting a place like this." Jennings said and Laurel was beginning to get the idea that this woman was one of those people who thought that she was only dating Oliver for his money, when that had never been the case. She was with Oliver because she loved him and always had.

Oliver, sensing a potential fight, immediately moved on.

"This looks more than large enough for our needs, if we get this place, would we be allowed to renovate it further?" Oliver asked, since he was already planning on having Felicity and Cisco upgrade the security system to keep people like Slade Wilson out.

"Of course. As you can see, there's plenty of room for any furniture you want in here, along with a bar area in case you two ever want to throw any cocktail parties." Ms. Jennings said and Laurel calmed down, glad her boyfriend had diffused the situation before she'd said something she'd regret, or probably wouldn't, but might cost them this very swanky penthouse, since she had to admit, she could see herself living here.

"Nice, what else is on this floor?" Oliver asked.

"The kitchen is right over there, which would allow for perfect line of sight for any future little ones you two might have." Ms. Jennings said.

"Let's not go crazy." Laurel said, since while she did want to have kids with Oliver eventually, she knew that they weren't ready for that yet. At least newborns.

"Right, also on this floor is a half bathroom, laundry room and 3 additional rooms that you can make whatever you want. As you can also see, this penthouse also comes with it's own balcony." Ms. Jennings said, pointing out to the couple.

"It's a nice view." Oliver admitted.

"What about upstairs?" Laurel asked as they followed the realtor through the house.

"There are a total of 5 rooms upstairs, including the master bedroom and three additional bedrooms, all of which have en suite bathrooms, along with an additional full bathroom in the hall." Ms. Jennings said as she showed them upstairs.

"Could we have a few minutes to discuss this?" Oliver asked after the tour was complete and Ms. Jennings nodded as she left them alone.

"I have to admit, while this place does seem a bit extravagant, it is nice and it certainly seems like the kind of place that would be home to the future mayor of Star City." Laurel said.

"Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves on that." Oliver said, since while he was planning on running for mayor, he didn't want word to get out about it yet, since he was trying to catch Slade off guard, which would not be easy.

"Whatever, but still, I think that one of those extra rooms would be perfect for me to turn into a home office." Laurel said and Oliver nodded.

"I was thinking we could turn another one into a den or something and then use the last one for storage." Oliver said.

"So we're definitely getting this place?" Laurel asked and Oliver nodded.

"Once we close the deal though, we'll need to have Cisco or Felicity upgrade the security system to something a little more secure." Oliver said and Laurel nodded her agreement as they walked back over to the realtor.

"We'd like to make an offer." Oliver said and Ms. Jennings grinned as they began to discuss the terms of the deal.