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The nerves spiraled through his head like nothing he had ever experienced. He didn’t know what to do. And the last thing he could do was ask either of his parents for advice. Will picked another shirt out of his dresser, looked at it, then tossed it behind him as hard as he could.
“Whoa, kiddo maybe look before you throw stuff huh?”
Will turned to see his dad in the doorway, the shirt in his hands. He groaned, then stuck his hand out for Oliver to toss it back. He put the shirt inside and moved on to the next drawer. “I didn’t know you were standing there.”
“It’s okay.” His dad moved to take a seat on his bed. “So you and Liam are going to the movies tonight?”
“Yep.” Will tried his best to keep his words clear of hesitation. If he acted like everything was normal, then that’s how his dad and Felicity would treat things.
“Just the two of you?”
Though he had been wrong before. “Is this about to be one of those talks that’s gonna scar me for life?”
“Do you need one of those talks?”
“I don’t need any talk, I’m good,” he grabbed for the sweater on his bed, but with his dad watching him he knew things weren’t likely to end at that. “Dad really don’t make this into a big deal.”
“But it is a big deal,” he shrugged with a smile. “Your first date should feel like a big deal.”
“Dad,” he groaned. “Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“The ‘you’re growing up so fast’ face.” Will replied. “I’m already kind of nervous and if you start in on that, I’m not gonna be able to go through with this.”
“I didn’t realize I had that face.”
“Only every single day of my life.”
His dad laughed as he came into the room further, taking a seat at William’s desk. “It’s only because you’re growing up so fast.”
“Dad, come on,” he threw himself back on his bed, and placed a pillow over his head. “This was a mistake. I’m just gonna text him and say I can’t go.”
“Hey, no don’t do that.” Will could hear the chair rolling over, then felt the pillow being lifted off his face. “You deserve to go out and have a nice, normal great first date.”
“See when you say it, it feels cheesy and dumb.”
“Well the best relationships are cheesy and dumb.”
“You do realize that you and Felicity are the exception, not the rule?” he propped himself up on his elbows so he could look at his dad. “What if we hate the movie? What if I spill my drink on him? What if the place gets attacked by some villain of the week? What if we realize we’re better off as friends and this whole thing just ruined that?”
“Okay, okay one crisis at a time,” Oliver smiled at him. “For starters if you both hate the movie, then at least you have something to talk about. Even if one of you hates it. You can still talk about it, sometimes it’s more fun that way. As for the drink, never get a large drink at the movies, you’ll have to use the bathroom halfway through, so get a medium and only fill it halfway, so there’s less to spill.”
“That’s actually good advice.”
His father shook his head. “I’m gonna ignore you being shocked so I can continue. Three, no one’s attacking the movie theater tonight. And even if that was a plan, I already talked Rene and John into patrolling the area for criminal activity. Figured you’d rather it not be me.”
“Thanks Dad,” he took a deep breath and sat up. “But what about the last thing.”
“William you are a wonderful person, and Liam is a good kid too,” Oliver stood, and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I don’t think either of you would have agreed to a date if you didn’t want to see where this would go.”
Will looked away, pulling at the edge of his comforter. He still didn’t think his dad fully got the nerves he was feeling. That it wasn’t just about a first date for him. It was territory he didn’t think he could navigate without some direction. And as much as he loved his father, Oliver Queen really didn’t know what he was doing here.
“Thanks Dad,” he said. Because he didn’t know how to tell his dad, that a first date with a guy you really liked felt complicated in a hundred different ways. It’s not just that he worried he’d lose Liam as a friend.
His family had been so great over the last few months. Everyone accepted his coming out like he knew they would, with love and support. But William wasn’t stupid. He knew how the kids his age could be. Hell he got kicked out of his last school because he let one of them manipulate him into something stupid. He knew how the world worked, how the voices of the hateful overpowered those of the kind. And he knew that somethings were inevitable for him to have to worry about.
“I say wear the blue plaid,” his dad whispered with a wink. “Looks pretty good.”
Yeah his dad was kind of hopeless on the dating advice.
---
His first worry proved right in the first thirty minutes after the previews.
Liam leaned in close to him, and in a low voice said. “I can’t believe anyone thinks this guy can act?”
“Right?” he countered with a sigh, trying to keep his leg from bouncing too much. Being nervous was one thing, but letting Liam know he was nervous? That he might not come back from.
Liam looked around their nearly empty theater, then turned to Will. “Do you wanna maybe go?”
“Go?”
“To the arcade next door,” Liam continued with an earnest smile. “It might be less boring than this?”
On one hand, he had told his parents he and Liam were going to the movies, and leaving could be seen as lying. But on the other hand, the movie was really bad and video games sounded amazing.
“Yeah,” he nodded. “Let’s go.”
He followed Liam out of the movie theater, wishing he could find the nerve to talk about anything at all.But by the time he worked up the courage to say anything, they were standing in line to get tokens.
“So,” he started swallowing down his anxiety. “How’s your mom?”
How’s your mom? He was terrible at this.
Liam smiled though as he shook his head. “Stressed. She thinks your dad is gonna run for mayor again in the next election.”
“Why would that worry her?”
“Because the whole city loves your dad,” he replied. “She’s convinced if he runs, she’ll lose.”
“I don’t think she has anything to worry about,” Will said taking his half of the tokens. “He and Felicity have been really weird lately. They keep talking about focusing on family more. I assume it’s because Aunt Thea is pregnant, so I doubt a return to the mayor’s office is in his future.”
Liam lowered his head. “Just promise me if they do start running against each other, it won’t affect us.”
“It won’t,” Will shook his head. “It couldn’t.”
“Good,” Liam smile. “Now what should we play first?”
Will looked around the arcade, scanning the games where groups of kids around their age seemed to gather. His gaze finally settled on an air hockey table towards the back. He nudged Liam’s side and gestured. “Best to ten?”
“Oh, you’re on.”
Will learned pretty quickly that he actually wasn’t that good at air hockey. Three games in and Liam has slaughtered him each time.
“Alright I give,” he said with a chuckle. “You are clearly better at this than I am.”
Liam laughed as he took the three feet of tickets that had come out of the machine and wrapped it around his shoulders. “I used to come here a lot that’s all.”
“Really? You just scored thirty times in a row,” Will moved along the side of the table until their shoulders touched. “And you’re brushing it off like it was nothing.”
“My dad and I used to come,” he continued as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Before he and my mom divorced, he’d take off work early on Fridays and we’d just come and play for hours. Sometimes we’d talk, but mostly we just hung out. It’s been a while since we had that kind of time.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It is what it is. I mean I got older, he got busier at work. You know it just doesn’t matter as much anymore,” he shrugged, and Will could tell he wanted to drop the subject.
“I mean it matters to you.”
“It’s no big deal Will,” he pushed off the machine and turned to give William a wild grin. “We could play skee ball next?”
Will wanted to continue the night, but he looked down at his watch, the time read 9:20. He groaned. “The movie’s gonna be over soon. I promised my dad we’d be outside the Theater at nine thirty. No later.”
“Of course,” Liam shook his head, then looked around the arcade. “There’s one thing I need to do. But I’ll meet you by the front door in a minute.”
“Lee--”
“I’ll be right back,” he said. “I promise.”
Will made his way to the front entrance and stood outside, waiting for Liam to return. He didn’t know how to judge the success of a first date, but he wasn’t sure that the guy walking off for a couple of minutes by the end of it was good news. Why did he have to ask about Liam’s dad? Of all the things he’s learned about Liam over the last few months, he knew Liam’s dad was a touchy subject. One Lee avoided at most costs. Why did he have to open his mouth?
“Hey.” Liam’s voice startled Will out of his thoughts as he moved over to him.
Will noticed that Liam kept his hands behind his back and his tickets were conveniently gone. He smirked. “Did you really just go back to get a prize?”
Liam gave him a mischievous grin. “Maybe.”
Then he reached over, and took William by the wrist. Liam’s hand deftly maneuvered until Will had a woven suede cord wrapped around his wrist. He could feel Liam’s fingers linger as they skated down his palm.
Will chanced a look down just as Liam had pulled his hand away. On his wrist sat a braided green cord, with a small GA charm embedded in the middle of it. He looked up at Liam who did his best not to look too embarrassed.
“It’s all I could afford with my tickets,” he said sheepishly. “I wanted the kick ass GA action figure. But I would have to play like a thousand more games of air hockey for that, and something tells you’d get a little better at the game by then.”
“It’s,” he struggled to say what he wanted. Perfect? Amazing? “It’s great. Really great.”
“I’m glad,” he said taking in a deep breath. “We should head over. Wouldn’t want you to get grounded again.”
“Haha,” Will rolled his eyes as they started their way over. “Your mom picking you up?”
"Nah, she's out of town overnight at some conference in DC. My dad should be here soon though,” Liam answered, then switched the topic. “I had a great time tonight Will. I really did.”
“Me too,” he replied as they made it back to the front of the theater. “Despite the movie.”
“God that was awful,” Liam laughed, then his face dropped a little. “I’m just happy that you said yes. And that you didn’t change your mind.”
“Why would I have changed my mind?”
Liam gave him a look. The kind of look, William could decipher in seconds. That maybe his fears and doubts from early hadn’t been completely one sided.
“Liam, the world sucks sometimes,” Will said as he looked, the boy in the eyes. “But I wouldn’t want that to ever affect the way I feel about you. I’m happy we went out tonight.”
“Me too.”
“And,” Will said taking a step closer. “We should do it again, and again. And maybe more after that too.”
“You asking me out, Will?”
“I think I am.”
Before Liam could answer, Will saw his father’s car pull up next to the curb.
“I’ll call you later,” Liam said, giving him a grin.
“Look forward to it,” he said as he moved to get into his father’s car.
Will knew he wouldn’t be able to keep the smile off his face the whole way home either.
“Does Liam need a ride?” his dad asked when he buckled. “I don’t mind dropping him off.”
“He said his dad’s on his way,” Will replied, but still he watched Liam in the side mirror as they drove off.
“So how was your date?” Oliver asked, giving Will a look at he said it. “You guys enjoy the movie?”
“Well see the thing is,” he knew he couldn’t lie to his dad. Not if they were gonna keep up this building trust thing between them. So he needed to come clean. “We sort of ditched the movie and went to the arcade instead.”
Oliver rolled his eyes. “We know.”
“You know?”
“I told you Rene and John were gonna be patrolling all night.”
“So they were spying on us?”
“No,” Oliver countered. “They just happened to be doing a sweep down the street when you two walked into the arcade. If they were spying on you I would have called your phone and asked why you weren’t in the movie like you said.”
“Sorry.”
“Next time, maybe text us that you won’t be in the theater the whole time, okay?”
“I will,” he nodded, playing with the cord around his wrist.
“But you guys had a good time?”
Will couldn’t even pretend to contain his happiness. “The best time. I really like him.”
“Good, I’m glad.”
Will looked over, seeing some kind of look cross his dad’s face. “How was your night? Did Felicity make you binge watch more Black Mirror.”
His dad let out a soft chuckle. Then his face changed as he pulled into their parking spot in the garage. “Actually we went to go see Dr. Schwartz.”
“Why?” Will felt a thread of panic at his father’s words. Too many people he cared about were wrapped up in dangerous things. And he couldn’t bare the thought of one of them getting hurt. “Is everyone alright? Do we need to go to the hospital?”
“Everyone is fine,” his dad placed a hand on his shoulder. “That wasn’t meant to scare you. No one is hurt. I swear. Oh man I told Felicity we should do this together.”
“Do what together?”
“Okay, uh, you know how Felicity’s been feeling a little under the weather lately?”
“Yeah she said Alena had a flu bug and brought it to work with her.”
His dad nodded as he took a deep breath. “Right, well it turns out that she doesn’t have the flu. Um actually, she’s pregnant.”
“For real?”
“Looks like,” Oliver said. “Doc said it was too early to tell if it’s a boy or a girl. But Felicity and I wanted to make sure you knew before we told anyone else.”
“Cool.”
“Cool? Is that all you feel?”
“Did you expect something else?”
“We just wanted you to know that this isn’t changing how we feel about you,” his dad looked concerned as he spoke. “I wanted you to know this doesn’t change anything.”
“Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“Did you really think I’d be jealous of a baby?”
“I didn’t want you to get the impression we were having a baby to start a real family,” his dad reiterated. “A lot has changed over the last twelve months. You know Felicity and I got married so quick, and then she moved in, and then the trial happened and I--”
“Went to prison?”
“I haven’t been out long and I know we’re still adjusting to the new normal of our family,” he sighed. “We didn’t plan this, but we’re very happy.”
“Dad, I’m happy too,” he smiled. “I would love a younger sibling.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I mean you were a big brother so it can’t be that hard,” he teased.
His dad shook his head, but he could see the smile there. “Felicity will be glad to hear that. Because she’s just going to tell me ‘I told you so’.”
“You should always listen to Felicity,” Will added as they got out of the car and headed to the elevator.
“Thanks.” But he knew his dad was just happy with the whole thing. “But look we’re not gonna tell anyone for a while. Felicity thinks it might take the attention off your Aunt Thea and Roy, with the baby and their wedding coming up. So this just stays between us for now, alright?”
“Well I don’t believe anyone in our family can actually keep a secret, I’ll try.”
Oliver wrapped his arm around Will, pulling him in for a hug. “I love you, you know that.”
“Love you too Dad.”
When they pulled apart and headed into the apartment William rolled his eyes. His dad meant well no matter what he tried to do and Felicity had taken to parenting him like it was second nature. But he knew over the next several months they would both become panicked weirdos. He sighed as he made his way into his room. His family was growing. He never would have expected life would turn out like this a year ago, or hell even a few months ago.
He pulled out his phone and texted Liam.
Had a great time tonight. Next time we play a game with actual skill though. Talk to you later ;)
He believed things would all turn out the way they were supposed to, even after all the bad things that had happened over the last couple of years. Because they kept getting better. So he wasn’t worried about this baby stuff. He was excited. Maybe things could finally stay normal for a while. Or at least as normal as things could be when your parents and family were all vigilantes.
---
Liam watched as Mr. Queen’s car pulled out of the parking lot, then pulled out his phone. His dad said he’d be there by 9:40. And well Richard Pollard was never known to be punctual, he kind of hoped he hadn’t gone and forgot the whole thing.
He didn’t have any texts or missed called, but that still didn’t mean his dad would remember him either.
Last summer after soccer camp, his father was supposed to pick him up from the school parking lot, but forgot which week Liam was coming home and went to Vegas with his head of human resources instead. After an hour of waiting Liam’s coach had finally called his mom, who wasn’t pleased at all.
Headlights pulled into the parking lot, and Liam looked up to see his dad’s car come to a stop next to the curb.
“Hey kid, I’m not late am I?” Richard called through the open window.
Liam didn’t even try to look at the time. He didn’t want his dad to think he’d been worried he wouldn’t show. So he stood from the bench and climbed into the car. “Nah, the movie just let out a few minutes ago.”
Rich nodded, tuning the radio until some talk radio station played through the sound system. “You like it?”
No the movie was crap, thanks for suggesting it. Is what he wanted to say, but instead he just plastered a smile on his face. “Loved it. But they shouldn’t have crashed that Bugatti in the first ten minutes.”
“That’s my boy,” he chuckled. “What about your date?”
Liam froze, trying not to let his terror show too much. “My what?”
“Come on Liam, I was a 14 year old once. You think I believe you wanted to go to the movies on a Saturday night with your buddies?”
“Dad it wasn’t a--”
“I get it alright,” his dad cut him off. “I know you don’t want to give your old man all the details about the girl you got a thing for.”
“You caught me,” he swallowed his nerves down. “Can we just not talk about it?”
“That bad huh?” his dad laughed. “No one has a good first date, ever. If they tell you they do they’re lying to you. But dating is a practiced art. You’ll get the hang of it eventually.”
He bit his tongue to keep from responding, keeping his attention outside the car. He should just tell him the truth. There was no time like the present right? Just open his mouth and say the words.
Dad, I’m gay.
But he couldn’t. His mom told him his dad would be fine with it. That his father loved him no matter what. But Liam didn’t believe that. When it came to Richard Pollard, there was always a condition to everything. And deep down, Liam was sure if his father knew that he liked guys, Richard would never look at him the same again.
They got to their house soon after and Liam sent out a small thanks to the universe that his father had stopped asking questions.
“You don’t have to tell me about her.”
Apparently he sent that out too soon. “Dad, can we just drop this?”
“I’m just letting you know that if you want to talk about things I’m here okay?” He nudged Liam’s shoulder before he switched the car off and opened his door. “Maybe one day you’ll even tell me her name.”
His father got out of the car and Liam was left sitting there a moment, staring up at his father’s house.
“William,” he whispered to himself and to the man he knew would never hear it. “His name is William.”
He followed his dad into the house, and dropped his phone to the kitchen counter. “Where’s Mac?”
“Uh Drew’s parents invited her to the Cape for the weekend,” his dad shrugged. “Figured she barely ever has a boyfriend for this long, might as well let her take full advantage of it.”
Liam nodded, though he was pretty sure Mac and Drew had broken up two weeks ago. But if their dad didn’t really care why should he?
“I’m gonna go take a shower, then head to bed,” he said as he yawned for emphasis. “I got a history test I need to study for tomorrow.”
“If you have to,” his dad teased. “But make sure you’re done studying by four okay. Claire is coming over to cook us dinner.”
“Claire? What happened to Candy?”
His dad shrugged. “‘C’ names blend together son.”
“Right,” Liam tried to rein in his sarcasm. “See you in the morning.”
---
As Liam made his way upstairs, Richard was just about to grab a beer and head to the living room. But as he crossed the kitchen he heard the faint beep from his son’s phone. He groaned. He told his kid’s a million times not to leave their crap all over the place.
He grabbed the phone, prepared to take it upstairs and leave it on Liam’s bed. And normally he wouldn’t snoop through either of his kid’s things. But when he caught the text that had light up the screen, he couldn’t help but read it.
William:
Had a great time tonight. Next time we play a game with actual skill though. Talk to you later ;)
Richard dropped the phone back to the counter like he’d been burned by it.
He didn’t have time to even think before Liam came rushing back into the room.
“Left my phone,” he said grabbing it and rushing back up the stairs. “Night Dad.”
Night Dad. Like everything was normal, when it reality everything had changed.