BEAUTY IS ONLY SKIN DEEP

An arrow fanfic. OLICITY of course! :)

I do not own ARROW. :(

The Queen Mansion. Felicity was on her way there and as she saw the building before her eyes, she felt a shiver down her spine. Felicity had heard the stories from others about Oliver Queen. Before he was marooned on the island, he was the party animal/playboy/ billionaire's son. But after those 5 years, he wasn't that person anymore.

Oliver Queen has been hiding his face since he got back home. There were lots of speculations, but Felicity didn't believe any of them. Why has he been hiding from the world for 9 months? That was the huge question and Felicity was curious about the answer.

Walter Steele had asked her to come over to the mansion. But he was very vague about why she had to be there. All he said was that his stepson needed some help.

"Help with what, Mr. Steele?" Felicity had asked.

"Uhumm… well Oliver asked me if I knew someone who could help him with some computer stuff. You were the first person I thought of." He replied.

Curiosity. That was the reason why she was here in front of the Queen mansion. Felicity didn't know what to expect. She was anxious, excited and a little afraid of what's to come. For a split second, Felicity thought about bailing. But she was already here and had knocked; there was no turning back now.

As her heart pounded against her chest, she saw the door open slowly.

"Hi, Miss Smoak." Walter Steele said, as he smiled at Felicity.

"Hello, Mr. Steele. Is it too late for me to back down?" She asked, while she gulped rather loudly.

Walter laughed and grabbed her hand." Come inside, Felicity. You're hilarious as usual. Come in."

As Felicity walked inside the mansion, she looked around and whistled." This place is really nice."

"Yes, I guess so. Come and take a seat." He replied.

"Thank you. Where is your wife and stepdaughter?" Felicity asked.

"Uhum, well… they are having a spa day." Walter said.

"OK. God, I think I need one of those too. Because these last few months have been so hectic at QC. I need a facial, a pedicure and definitely a massage. Yes, a massage would be great." Felicity said, as her eyes fell shut thinking about how good it would feel to have a massage.

Walter raised an eyebrow and waited. After 3 seconds, Felicity realized where she was and who she was with and what she just said. Her eyes flew open and she turned crimson red.

"Uhumm, sorry Mr. Steele. I'm not saying that you are giving me too much work… or that I cannot handle the job. Cause I can! I definitely can handle the pressure… not that my job comes with a lot of pressure and stress…And uhummm, I'm just gonna stop talking now!" Felicity babbled.

Walter shook his head, as he smiled widely."It's OK, Felicity. Do you want something to drink?"

"No, thank you. I just drank 3 cups of coffee a while ago." Felicity replied.

"OK, so I think my stepson can see you now. Are you ready?"

"Can I ask you something, Mr. Steele?" She said.

"Yes, of course." Walter replied.

"Is it true that your stepson hides from the world, because he had an accident and is blind now?" She whispered.

"No, that rumor is not true." Felicity heard from behind her.

As it dawned on her that Oliver Queen had answered her question, Felicity's eyes fell shut. She covered her face with both her hands and shook her head.

"I'm so sorry for saying that. Well, actually I'm sorry that I got caught whilst saying that." She said in one breath.

Walter chuckled." There are a lot of rumors about Oliver. Now that he's here and you're here, you can ask him yourself. I'll leave you two alone now." He replied and strode out the door.

Felicity panicked and ran after Walter."Wait! Where are you going, Walter? Uhum… I mean Mr. Steele?"

"Well, Oliver has some things to ask you in private. OK, later." He said and disappeared.

"Don't worry, Miss Smoak. I don't bite." She heard a voice say.

Felicity closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath. As she let it out, she turned around. When she saw Oliver Queen's face, her heart dropped. He didn't look like the Oliver Queen of 5 years ago. Of course she had never met him before, but she saw pictures of him in the tabloids. And this version of him differed a lot from that version.

She unconsciously looked at him with her mouth open slightly. What happened to him? No wonder he didn't want the world to see him now. No wonder he hid in this mansion. The world they lived in was harsh and very judgmental. Felicity had an idea how people would react if they saw Oliver Queen now. She didn't blame him tough for wanting to protect himself from the cruel people in Starling City.

"Are you done, Miss Smoak?" Oliver asked.

"What? Done with what?"

"Done with examining every inch of my face? I know I don't look like I used to, but you don't have to be afraid of me." he said.

Felicity shook her head." Mr. Quee…" she began, but he cut her off.

"Call me Oliver, please. My dad was Mr. Queen, not me."

She nodded and narrowed her eyes."OK, Oliver. To be honest, I am not afraid of you. I'm just shocked… uhum, I mean I didn't know what to expect. But I'm not afraid of you." Felicity confessed.

"OK, if that's so then I'm glad. But I have to tell you that you're the first. Because when my mom and my sister saw me like this, they were both a bit scared of me. It took them two days to adjust to my 'new' face." He said.

Felicity's heart bled, as she heard the pain in his voice. Her eyes began to water, but she held them back. As she looked at Oliver Queen, a sudden calmness took over her. Yes, he looked very different and some would say kind of scary, but that didn't scare her. At all. As she observed his face, Felicity looked passed the surface. She looked passed his very imperfect face. Instead, Felicity looked into those blue eyes of him and saw the real Oliver Queen.

"Well, I'm not the kind of person who judges someone solely on their looks." She replied.

A small smile crept on Oliver's face, as he nodded."Well, I'm glad then. And now I know why Walter thought of only you, when I asked him if he knew someone who could help me with something. Someone who I could trust." He said, his voice filled with admiration.

Felicity blushed at the compliment, avoiding Oliver's piercing gaze. She then cleared her throat, as she fixed her glasses and looked up at him."So, are you gonna tell me why I'm here?" She asked.

"Yes, about that. Do you mind coming upstairs with me? I've something to show you and a huge favor to ask you." Oliver said.

"Yeah, of course."

"Wait." He said and turned around to face her. "We should shake hands first." Oliver stated.

"Why?"

"That's what people do, when they first meet right?" he simply said.

"OK." Felicity replied and brought her hands towards his.

As their hands collided, Felicity felt something stir inside of her. While her small hand disappeared in his, she felt an immediate connection with him. Felicity locked eyes with Oliver and in those blue eyes, she saw a good man before her. Huh? She didn't understand it! How could she possibly know what kind of man he was inside? But she just knew. In his eyes, Felicity also saw pain. An unbearable pain that he lived with, so he build a strong wall around him, not letting anyone in. In his eyes Felicity saw a good, but completely broken man.

"Can I have my hand back now?" Oliver asked, as a genuine smile graced his face.

"Uh… yeah, of course." She retorted and pulled her hand back.

"OK, then. Let's go to my library. It's up the stairs." He said.

"Let's go." Felicity replied and followed Oliver.

As she walked behind him, her heart hammered against her rib cage.

'My oh my! What have you gotten yourself into now, Felicity Smoak?' was her last thought before entering the library.

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