Life Outside the Arrow
Summary: There were those few moments where Oliver didn't need to act as CEO or save the city and in those rare moments, he somehow always managed to bump into Felicity and get a glimpse into what her life is like outside of what they do.
The first time Oliver bumped into Felicity on their rare days off, he is at the park. He's wandering around lost in thought before he heard her laughter. Looking over to his left, he spots the small stage that is used for productions in the park. Walking closer, he sees Felicity standing in front of the stage while a small group of children stand on it.
"Alright, let's try this again," Felicity says. She raises her left hand and music floats from the speakers. Oliver watches in awe as the children begin to sing, following along to whatever Felicity is instructing him to do. It suddenly occurred to Oliver that he had never seen Felicity outside of work, and that included her work for the arrow. He had also never seen her in such casual clothing. Felicity, still with her back to him, was standing there in a pair of jeans and a black singlet. Her hair was piled messily on top of her head and there were no signs of technology near her hands. It was very casual and so very different to what he was used to seeing her in. As he continued to watch, a smile threatened to make its way across his face as he saw Felicity bump hips with a man who walked past her.
"Keep that up and I'll tell mom," the man said. Felicity turned to him and grinned.
"What's the point in doing this with my brother if I can't annoy you like sisters are supposed to?" Felicity shot back.
"To be fair, you pushed me into doing this. Threatened me actually."
"You're the one that put the idea out in the first place! Now make yourself useful and stop distracting me," Felicity said, turning back to the kids on stage.
Oliver didn't know how long he had been standing there but suddenly everyone was finishing for the afternoon. He watched as Felicity instructed the kids on what they had to do before one of the kids spotted him. The little girl immediately tugged on Felicity's arm.
"Felicity?"
"Yes Kate?" Felicity asked, crouching down to be at her eye level. Kate pointed a finger in Oliver's direction and a small onset of panic crept in as he realised he couldn't leave without her knowing he was there.
"Why is that man staring at us?"
"What?" Felicity said, standing up and turning to look in the direction Kate was pointing at. A look of surprised crossed her face as she recognised Oliver standing there. "Oh he's just a friend on mine," she managed to answer. Turning back to the kids, she clapped her hands in front of her. "Okay, that's enough for today. Remember to keep practicing your songs and tell your parents to bring your costumes in next week alright?"
"Bye Felicity!" the kids screamed out once they were dismissed. Felicity waved and brought her gaze over to Oliver's once more. She mouthed one minute before heading towards her brother.
"Ready to leave?" he asked.
"Actually," Felicity started and her brother narrowed his eyes.
"Does this have anything to do with a certain billionaire waiting over there?"
"Look, I'm as surprised as you are to see him here and I've never actually seen him outside of work so I want to know what he's doing here and-" Felicity was cut off as her brother placed a hand over her mouth.
"Don't worry, I get it," he said. "I know you both don't have very many friends apart from each other. I'll tell mom you'll be late."
"Thank you Drew," Felicity said with a grateful smile. Grabbing her things, she pressed a kiss to Drew's cheek before walking towards Oliver.
Oliver smiled as Felicity made her way over to him.
"Hi," he said once she was close enough.
"Hi," Felicity replied with a bright smile. "What are you doing here?"
Oliver laughed at Felicity's antics, cutting straight to the point.
"I was just taking a walk when I happened upon here. I heard your voice and decided to stick around to see what you were up to," Oliver answered.
"You were just taking a walk?" Felicity teased as the two began to move down the path.
"It's been known to happen every once in a while," Oliver stated in the same tone as Felicity.
"Is this a trick or are you actually having a bit of fun right now?" Felicity questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Is it such a surprise?"
"Well yes, considering you are usually all broody and growly and," Felicity made hand gestures to get her point across and Oliver couldn't help but laugh. "Not that I don't think you can have fun or be happy because I'm sure you can. It's just that I've never really seen it and I would like to one day and I don't mean you have to be with me to have fun. You can have fun with whoever you want to because it's totally up to you and you really need to stop me," Felicity continued to ramble until Oliver placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I haven't had a lot of chances to just have fun in life ever since I got back so I'm a little bit rusty," Oliver said softly and Felicity gazed up at him.
"Well you've come to the right place," Felicity said and she hesitated a moment before looping her arm through Oliver's. "I always know how to have fun and you Mr Queen, are going to have fun today. Today we aren't a CEO or an EA. We're just going to be Oliver and Felicity, two friends having a good time alright?"
"Sounds like a plan," Oliver said with a smile. Felicity returned the smile and didn't remove her arm as she lead them to the centre of the park.
Time passed by very quickly as Oliver and Felicity kept themselves amused. Felicity and Oliver spent the afternoon talking and laughing. Oliver hadn't felt this lighthearted in a long time and he found that he missed it. Currently, he and Felicity were standing on the shore of the lake in the middle of the park racing boats. Felicity, Oliver found, was quite competitive when he suggested a race. His antics to distract her had failed and Felicity had stepped away from him to ensure he couldn't make her lose once again. His attempts had all been for nothing though as Felicity had won by a mile.
"Take that!" Felicity yelled, pumping her fist in the air.
"Remind me not to get on your bad side," Oliver said. He placed the two boats and controllers back at the hut and Felicity announced it was time to get some food.
They found a small cafe and sat down at a setting outside.
"I can't believe how hungry I am," Felicity said.
"Thank you Felicity," Oliver said. Felicity tilted her head.
"What for?"
"For today. I forgot that I could have fun and you've shown me today that it's possible for me."
"Everyone deserves to have fun Oliver. Even you," Felicity said softly, reaching out and placing her hand atop of his. Their waiter arrived at that moment and topic moved onwards to lighter things after their orders had been given.
"This is nice," Felicity said quietly after a silence had settled between them.
"What is?" Oliver asked.
"This," Felicity said after a pause. "Doing things with you outside of work." Oliver watched a small flush began to flood Felicity's cheeks. She sighed before looking up at him. "I don't have many friends around that I can do this sort of thing with," she admitted.
"Me either," Oliver said quickly. "It is nice."
"I know you said thank you for today, but Oliver, thank you for being my friend," Felicity said and Oliver could see and feel the weight from her words. It was his turn now to reach out and place his hand on hers. No words were said and Felicity squirmed a little at the silence, and decided to break it the only way she knew how.
"So is this the point where we start making pinky promises and friendship bracelets for one another?" she asked and Oliver's laughter told her that her words had the desired effect.
"As long as it's green," he said with a wink and Felicity placed a finger on her chin.
"Be careful Queen, there are many different shades of green I could choose from here,"
"I trust you," Oliver said with a wink and Felicity smirked at him.
"Alright then."
Two weeks later, Oliver watched as Felicity walked into the lair with a grin on her face.
"What's got you so happy?" he asked. Felicity came to a stop in front of him and held out her hand. Sitting her palm was a fluro green friendship bracelet.
"I warned you," Felicity said, dropping it into his hand and walking away.
So this is a new little project that I hope you will like :) I'm not sure how long it's going to be yet but the rest shall come along every now again around my assignments and exams.
Enjoy.