Felicity Smoak didn't know what made someone a soulmate. She had people over the years tell her it was someone who made you happy and you could get along with. These were the people who had gotten their soulmate mark at a young age. She had others tell her a soulmate was someone who balanced you well. That's what her mother told her right before her dad ran out on them and her mark disappeared when he did. Then her best friend, Sin, told her a soulmate was someone who shared your interests and just understood you. Sin still hadn't gotten her soulmate mark, but that sounded as good a reason as any. Felicity knew one thing for sure: she didn't have a soulmate. She was twenty-five years old and no mark had appeared. She thought maybe it would when she had met her ex-boyfriend, Cooper, in college, but nothing ever appeared and, eventually, they couldn't ignore the fact that they just weren't "it" for each other. Felicity was sure there was no one out there who was "it" for her.
You knew someone was your soulmate because you had the exact same mark located in the exact same spot on your body. The only catch was that you had to touch before the mark would appear. It didn't even have to be a deliberate touch – like a hug or a handshake – but you could be walking past someone and your shoulders brush for a fraction of a second and the mark could appear without either of you noticing until it was too late. She had heard stories like that; stories where people would get home one day and notice they had a mark that wasn't there when they woke up and never know who they touched and carried that same mark. Those were the people that spent forever searching. Felicity refused to be one of those people.
When she was a child, her mom told her all about the love she had with Felicity's dad, Damien. Donna told Felicity that when they met, a small 'D' had appeared on the inner of each other's wrist and both of them knew they had met their soulmate. She told Felicity it would happen to her one day, when she was older, and Felicity couldn't wait to have her own soulmate fairy tale. But after her dad left, Felicity knew that's all it was – a fairy tale.
"Felicity!" Felicity was broken out of her daydream by her best friend, Sin, snapping her fingers in front of her face. Had she zoned out again?
"Yes. You did zone out again. Thanks for that, by the way." Sin said. Felicity cringed and shot her an apologetic look before she dug her fork into her pasta and refocused on her best friend.
"Sorry. What were you saying?" Felicity asked her, trying and failing to gracefully eat her chicken alfredo. The stuff was impossible to eat without making a mess.
Sin took a deep breath, feigning irritation, and said, "As I was saying, I think we need to go out. Actually, scratch that. I think you need to go out." Felicity opened her mouth to interrupt but Sin knew her too well and held her hand up before she could get a word in. "And no, Netflix and Orange Is the New Black at my apartment doesn't count as "going out". This Friday, you and I are going out." Sin finished, leaving no room for argument as she stood up, grabbed her bag, and left with a wave over her shoulder.
"Damn her." Felicity muttered to an empty apartment. Sin knew Felicity hated going out, but her friend was hard-headed and she would never take no for an answer. Maybe I can fake being sick, Felicity thought as she finished her dinner and headed to bed. There was no way she was leaving her couch this weekend.
"Can I buy you a drink?" Felicity heard for the third time in the less than ten minutes since she had walked into Verdant. Why did I let Sin talk me into this? Sin hadn't actually talked her into going to the new club in the Glades. What actually happened was Sin showed up precisely at seven when Felicity got home from work and, before she could change into sweatpants and a ratty t-shirt, Sin was shoving her into her room and refusing to let her out until she was in "proper club attire". Felicity would've stayed in her room and waited her out if it hadn't been for the fact that Sin was threatening to throw a party at Felicity's apartment if she didn't change and Felicity definitely didn't want that. So… here she was in a club at nine o'clock on a Friday night, sitting at the bar cradling a glass of wine while her best friend danced with no care in the world.
"Uh, no thank you. I'm good." Felicity politely replied, gesturing to her damn near full glass of wine.
"You sure, sweet cheeks? We could do some shots." He said, getting close enough that she could smell the bourbon on his breath and see the glazed over look in his eyes.
Felicity leaned back in her stool and said in a much firmer tone, "I'm sure."
The man stalked off after a murmured "bitch" and a look of disgust and Felicity couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Pig."
"I must say I agree." A deep voice said from behind her and Felicity whipped her head around. Her eyes met a pair of bright blue eyes and her breath caught in her throat. She felt a shiver run down her spine and Felicity almost fell off of her barstool. In fact, she would've if it weren't for the arm that banded around her waist and basically picked her up off of the stool almost as fast as she had lost her balance on the stool.
What is wrong with me? Felicity thought as she straightened and stepped out of his hold, feeling slightly disappointed that he didn't try to hold on but grateful he knew not to push his luck.
"Uh… Th-thank you." Felicity somehow stuttered out after she regained her footing and tugged the hem of her dress down from where it had bunched up while she was sitting.
The man smiled and Felicity thought she might actually faint. "It's not a problem. I just wanted to make sure you were okay and that guy-" the man gestured to the asshole that had just disappeared through the crowd "-hadn't bothered you."
Felicity blushed and locked a strand of hair behind her ear before meeting his electric blue eyes and replied with a small, "I'm fine. Thank you."
The man nodded and Felicity expected him to walk off and go back to his group but, instead, he nodded to her drink while making eye contact with the bartender and there was a fresh one in front of her in seconds.
"My treat." He said before smiling at her one last time and walking away.
Felicity stared after where he had gone long after he had been swallowed up by the crowd.
"Well, that was fun!" Sin exclaimed as they made their way to Sin's apartment. She lived one block from the club so they were going to stay at her place instead of driving all the way back to downtown for Felicity's townhouse. They had just left the club and Felicity's feet were killing her, she was exhausted, and she just wanted to lie down with her real soulmate: Netflix.
"I'm not sure 'fun' would be the correct word, but it was alright." Felicity replied as they passed Big Belly Burger. If it wasn't two in the morning, Felicity would've stopped for a burger and milkshake, but they had closed an hour ago and Felicity's stomach rumbled. She really hoped Sin had something to eat at her place.
"Oh, come on, Felicity. I saw you talking to that guy. You were practically drooling over him after he walked away. Did you get his number?" Sin asked as they made it to her apartment building. Felicity shook her head, both as an answer and out of annoyance, as they made it into Sin's apartment and she took her heels off.
If I could never wear heels again, it would be too soon. Felicity thought as she rubbed her sore feet and dropped her shoes by the door before heading to Sin's room and grabbing one of Sin's t-shirts and shorts. They had been friends for so long and shared so many clothes, these could've originally been Felicity's for all she knew. When she went to the bathroom, Felicity rubbed all of her makeup off before hopping in the shower and showering so quickly, she probably set some kind of world record. She was exhausted and all she wanted to do was curl up on the couch and fall asleep to mindless late night television.
Felicity was pulling on the t-shirt when she saw it. Just above her hipbone on her right side was a small, green mark. At a closer look, Felicity identified it as an arrow. It was no bigger than Felicity's pinky, but it was there. And it hadn't been there when she was getting ready to go out after work.
"Shit."