Queen Gym
An: I do not own Arrow. This story was specifically written for Snowgirl01, who asked for a romance story. Here it is. I hope you like it.
Summary: After Felicity complains she's putting on weight, Oliver decides to use that bit of information as a strategy to prove to Felicity that he is worthy of her. Follow Oliver's plan as he hopes to woo back Felicity. Olicity. For Snowgirl01.
The early morning air was cool as he walked along the pavement. With both Thea and John taking time off to deal with their darkness, that left Oliver with a lot of time to himself. He decided to take the opportunity to formulate a plan to earn Felicity's trust again. Women usually fell into his lap. Felicity was no exception. She fell in love with him while they worked closely together in the Arrow Cave. All he had to do was ask and she was his. That wasn't the case anymore. He was about to embark upon something he had never done before. He was going to woo her the old fashion way. It wasn't about getting her to fall in love with him. She had never fallen out of love. They still loved each other. She made her reasons clear when she walked out. He was going to show her those reasons were no longer valid. He was going to prove he deserved her and the first part of his plan started today.
He entered the front of the building and made his way towards the elevator. A few seconds later he was on her floor and walking towards the door to the loft. He took a second to compose himself and knocked on the door. His heart was hammering against his ribcage and it wasn't because of the exercise, it was because he was nervous. He lifted his hand and knocked on the door. He waited a minute for a response and as expected she didn't answer. He pulled out his phone and called her.
S-2
Felicity was in the middle of a particularly steamy dream where Oliver was about to satisfy her burning need when a ringing noise interrupted them. It took her a few seconds to come out of the dream and realize it was her phone ringing. It was still dark outside so whoever was bothering her this early may end up on the receiving end of her loud voice. She rolled over and picked up the phone off her bedside table. The caller ID indicated it was Oliver calling her. Images of his naked body flashed through her mind and she was thankful he wasn't there to see her reaction.
"What's wrong?" she asked. He would only be calling her at that hour if something is wrong.
"Come and open the door for me," he said.
"You're here?" Felicity asked.
"Yes in front your door," he said.
She pulled her tablet off the bedside table and pulled up the security feed for the camera she had installed outside the main door to the loft. Too many people had broken in over the last year and she had decided to improve the security system significantly. Sure enough, there he stood with his sexy self.
"Oliver what do you want?"
"I thought we could go for a run together" he said to her.
Felicity spluttered, "Oliver, my bed is warm and cozy. Why should I get up to go for a run when you know I can't keep up with you?"
"Because you want to fit into your dresses again. I overheard you telling Curtis that some of your dresses didn't fit. Don't worry about the pace. We'll start off with a walk. Do you really want to replace your entire wardrobe with bigger dresses?" he asked.
"I'll be down in 10 minutes," Felicity said.
She isn't sure how she managed to drag herself out of bed, put on exercise clothes and look presentable but she did. When she opened the door he was smiling widely at her. He kept his word and stuck to her pace. They walked 2 miles to a nearby park. He allowed her to pause for a little while before they walked the two miles back. It was as they were beginning their walk back to the loft that Oliver started talking.
"You know I don't think I even realized how much my life was going to change when I got to the island. I thought I could find someone, tell them I'm Oliver Queen and get whisked away back home," he said.
Felicity nearly tripped.
"Are you alright," he asked her putting his large hand on her arm to steady her.
"Yeah, I must have tripped over a crack or something," she said looking down at the ground, "An invisible crack or invisible object. It could be entirely possible. We've seen many weird things. I mean a magic hot tub, an ugly idol…"
Oliver laughed, "its ok Felicity. I caught you off guard. I thought it would be good to finally open up about the island to someone I trust. I was hoping that I could tell you a little bit as we walked."
Felicity placed her hand on his forearm, "You know you can tell me anything Oliver."
"I know."
S-3
They had been running, well speed walking, he was still working on getting Felicity up to a run, for three weeks when he decided to start varying their routine. They had arrived at the park, which signaled that it was time for them to head back to the loft but he stopped her from turning around.
"Drop and give me fifty," Oliver said to her.
Felicity looked at him as if he had grown a second head, "Drop what? Give you fifty of what?"
"Drop," Oliver said dropping down into a plank position on the grass. "And give me fifty," Oliver said doing a push up.
Felicity burst into laughter. Oliver jumped to his feet, "Felicity you are the one that wants to shed the extra pounds and be healthy. Pushups are a great way of gaining upper body strength."
"Oliver this is not a gym. I agreed to walking," Felicity told him.
"Felicity, trust me on this. We can start small. Five pushups, please," he said using a face he was sure she couldn't resist.
She reluctantly bent over to attempt a push-up and Oliver had to correct her form right away. Based on the dismal display Oliver realized that he indeed had a lot of work cut out for him.
S-4
It was the third day she was attempting to do push-ups and it wasn't getting any easier. Other morning workout enthusiasts watched her and laughed as they passed by. It was getting very annoying, particularly the two brunettes that would give Oliver the once over and then give her a look that clearly questioned what a fine man like him was doing with a woman who could barely do a push-up. She was seriously thinking of pulling their pictures from the security camera system in the park, running facial recognition on them and then tanking their credit scores. They were like the mean girls in high school.
She was struggling to push herself back up on the fourth pushup when the girls approached, this time they stopped to talk to Oliver.
"Mayor Queen, if you're looking for more people to join your morning gym, we would be more than happy to join. I think you'll find that we are much more capable than your current student," the tallest said handing Oliver a piece of paper.
The shorter brunette batted her eyes at him and pulled a marker she had tucked away in her sports bra. She proceeded to write her number on Oliver's exposed bicep. "Call me, I think you'll enjoy working out with me," she winked and then both girls went on their way.
Felicity stared incredulously at them. How dare they hit on Oliver in front of her? Sure they weren't together anymore but they were friends and he was obviously here with her and not them. Oliver was looking at the number curiously on his arm.
"Do you need help wiping that off?" Felicity asked getting up off the ground. She would be more than happy to take it off by any means necessary.
"Felicity it's been years since I was laid," Oliver said casually.
"Oliver, we broke up about five months ago and the way I remember it, the night time activity that involved just the two of us pretty much happened every night and extended into the morning and occasionally would occur at lunch times in your campaign office," Felicity said with a crinkle in her eyebrows.
Oliver stepped forward, his blue eyes boring into hers, he reached a hand up and moved a strand of a blonde hair behind her ear, "You were never just a lay. You are so much more than that to me. You also owe me one more pushup. On the ground," he said.
Felicity screwed her face up in disgust.
"Today would be great Felicity," Oliver said.
She grumbled under her breath as she got into the correct position to execute her last pushup.
S-5
Felicity moved one computer tower from one side of the room to the other. Usually she would have to get Oliver or Diggle to help her but she found after a month of exercising with Oliver she was able to lift heavier things on her own. The elevator pinged open and Felicity grabbed an explosive arrow head that was nearby. She wasn't expecting anyone. She knew Oliver was at a meeting with the councilmen at the moment so it definitely wasn't him.
"Relax it's just me," Lyla said. "I know you haven't seen much of me lately."
"Lyla!" Felicity said with a smile, "It's nice to see you. Please tell me there's nothing wrong?"
"Johnny asked me to check in with you guys to make sure you were ok," she told her.
"We're fine. We almost got the lair back to full functionality. I even upgraded my processors again. The streets are quiet these days so Oliver has mainly trained in the night."
Felicity owed a lot to Lyla. Her return to her position as CEO of Palmer Technologies was because of Lyla. The board had hired Sydney Palmer to replace her, hoping that the fact that he was Ray Palmer's brother would improve the outlook for the company. Felicity didn't take the news lying down. She decided to fight the decision. Lyla decided to intervene since a search of Sydney revealed he had some unsavory connections to a military resistance group in Kasnia. Lyla threatened to arrest the board and the top management on the suspicion of terrorist activity if they didn't rehire Felicity. Based on Felicity's work in preventing the end of the world, Lyla was easily able to prove to her superiors that based on the military contracts and the cutting edge technology that Palmer Technologies worked on, it was in the Government's best interest for someone like Felicity to run the company vs. someone with suspicious ties to a foreign enemy. When Felicity did eventually get back into her office, she discovered the Sydney Palmer took the old OMAC designs the QC's applied sciences had been working on and gave it to scientists in Kasnia.
"Speaking of Oliver, how are things between the two you?" Lyla asked curiously. John was very concerned that it was just Felicity and Oliver together every night in the lair. He figured something was bound to happen whether good or bad.
Felicity blushed, "They're good."
"That face tells me there's more to the story," Lyla prodded.
"I don't know Lyla. When I found out about William, I was so hurt and angry and the thought of ever forgiving Oliver and getting back to together with him was unappealing. I was so sure it wasn't possible."
"But now?" Lyla asked.
"But now I want to jump his bones every time I see him and I see him a lot now. I think it's ten times worse now that I know exactly what I'm missing out on."
"Time heals all wounds," Lyla said sagely.
"I think it's more than just time. Oliver is really making an effort to show me he's changed. Do you know we run every morning?"
Lyla snorted, "I think everyone in Star City knows that. It's been reported several times. Queen Gym they are calling it."
"Every day either during or after the run, he'll tell me a little bit about the island. We are about half way through his second year. I think it's helped me understand him a little bit better. Understand why he repeats some of his mistakes."
"You were already the person that knew him best," Lyla commented.
"Oliver is a very complicated man," Felicity said.
"It certainly explains why he seems a lot lighter. You're helping him face his past. You're helping heal."
"I'm just being a good friend," Felicity said minimizing what was going on between them.
"Do you think it's time to forgive him and get back together with him?" Lyla suggested hopefully.
"I want to but I sense that Oliver has this long term plan for us. It feels like he's courting me but we're not at that stage of the courtship yet."
"Oliver's gone very old fashioned."
Felicity gave her a wry smile. Oliver was certainly putting in the effort. "How is John doing?"
Lyla laughed, "We both know you are monitoring his unit Felicity. He said thanks for that assist last week."
"He didn't expect that he could fly half way around the world into a war zone and I wouldn't keep track of his unit!" Felicity replied crossly.
"No he didn't. He knows you guys have his back even when he is thousands of miles away."
"Good but how is he really? I know he's physically safe but I haven't talked to him."
"He's fallen back into the old military routine. I don't think he's really come to terms with what he did yet."
Sadness fell over Felicity.
"Don't worry. We are all going to get through this," Lyla insisted.
S-6
Oliver stood in front of the podium giving his formal acceptance speech now that he had officially been appointed Mayor after the elections. He was pleased to see Felicity was there but there was something very off. He could see it in her eyes. Ten minutes after he finished his speech he caught sight of her leaving. He immediately moved to intercept.
"Felicity!" he called out as she was retrieving her coat from the coat room.
"Oliver," she responded softly.
"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked placing both of his hands on her upper arms. His thumbs automatically started rubbing circles. She was going to tell him it was nothing but he fixed her with a stern look.
"Tomorrow is the memorial for those that died in Havenrock. It would be exactly three months since the bomb fell," Felicity said unable to keep eye contact with Oliver.
Oliver exhaled. Felicity had made a choice to send the missile there instead of Monument Point where millions would have died. He pulled her into his arms and held her close. He felt the wetness on his shirt and he knew she was crying.
"Come let me take you home," Oliver said rubbing her back soothingly.
"No," she said stepping away and wiping her face. "You have a responsibility here tonight."
"My responsibility is finished. I'm sworn in. I can say I need an early start tomorrow and excuse myself. Wait here. If you're not here when I get back I'm coming to the loft," he said seriously.
Felicity nodded. It was the quickest goodbye he had ever said. She was there waiting, with her coat tugged tightly about her. His heart ached at the thought of the pain she was going through.
He held his hand out to her and she willingly took it, threading her fingers through his.
"I think I feel like Big Belly Burger," he told her.
"I thought you banned me from eating there?" she challenged.
"I did but I'm allowed to take you there. Think of it as a reward for being able to do 10 pushups now," he said.
She rolled her eyes at him and he sensed her mood shift a little. He would cheer her up tonight and then keep a close eye on her over the next few days to make sure she was coping well.
S-7
Oliver had really pushed the pace of the run today. Felicity was lagging way behind but it was necessary to motivate her. When they reached the loft he got in the elevator and stopped it on the second floor. He blocked the doors, with a chair he had brought in earlier, to keep the elevator on that floor. He then ran back downstairs and met her in the lobby.
"It's not working," he said to her when she came in panting.
"You can't be serious," Felicity said bending over. Her breathing was fast and sweat was pouring off her flushed face.
"It looks like it's the stairs for us," he said.
"The stairs?" Felicity repeated horrified.
"Come on the stairs," he encouraged.
Felicity grudgingly walked over the stairwell and slowly started to climb the stairs ahead of Oliver, giving him a great view of her rear end. He made a quick detour on the second floor to release the elevator and then joined her in the stair well again. By the time they made it to the front door she was leaning heavily against it.
"I feel like I'm dying," she wailed.
Oliver gave her a stern look, "I've seen you when you were dying and trust me this is far from it."
Felicity looked away guiltily. She hadn't meant to remind him of the limo. She had heard how crazy he went. The elevator pinged open and a neighbour came out.
"Oh look its working again," Oliver commented.
Felicity narrowed her eyes at him, "You disappeared on the second floor for a bit," she said accusingly before she hit him on his bicep.
"Ow that really hurts," Oliver said.
"Good, you're the one that's been training me. That was very mean," Felicity said pointing at the elevator. She had figured out what he did but he wasn't surprised. She was his genius after all.
Her anger gave her a second wind and she marched into the loft, Oliver following behind her.
"So are you going to tell me how you got out of Hong Kong?" Felicity asked sensing that they were very near the end of his third year.
"I was actually thinking we could do it tonight over dinner. It's been a long time since I cooked for you and I thought I could pick up a roast and make you dinner here," Oliver said casually.
Even though he had been building up to this moment over the last few months, he was still nervous.
"Yes," Felicity said with a smile, not even taking any time to think about it.
"Yes?" he repeated. Even though it was the answer he really wanted he had half prepared himself for Felicity to say no.
"I want dinner at seven o'clock sharp so you better make sure you're here before then to start cooking," she told him sternly.
"I'll be here by six," he told her with a goofy grin before walking over to the door.
"See you at six Oliver," she said as she closed the door behind him.
S-8
Felicity had rushed home early from work to bath and change into something nicer for Oliver. She pulled out her sexiest pair of lingerie just in case they ended up naked tonight. She was dressed up in a tight fitting pastel blue dress that hugged her curves and gave her cleavage a boost when there was a knock on her door at 6:15pm, he was late as usual. Felicity smoothed down her dress and walked over the door.
"Hello Oliver," she said as she opened it.
He stood there in stunned silence and Felicity knew she had achieved her goal. He hadn't dressed up. He was in black slacks and deep green buttoned down shirt. It didn't bother Felicity. Oliver looked good in whatever he wore.
He started dinner and she listened intently to what he said about Hong Kong. It was difficult for him to get through the end. She realized he blamed himself for what happened to Tatsu's son. She wanted to say something but she knew from prior experience, if she interrupted him, he wouldn't finish telling her what he had decided to tell her.
Soon dinner was on the table and she found herself telling Oliver all about her day and her latest battle with the board. He listened and offered advice. When the meal was finished she offered to wash up but he insisted that they retire to the couch first because he had a nice dessert he wanted her to try. She sank into the comfort of the couch and the exhaustion of the day caught up with her. Oliver had really pushed her hard that morning. She thought she would close her eyes for a few seconds. The next thing she knew her alarm was going off and it was time for her morning run with Oliver. She was still in her dress but Oliver had moved her to her bad before he left. She couldn't believe she had fallen asleep on their first date! She supposed it was still better than their real first date. She was going to have to find a way to make this up to him.
S-9
It was a very slow night. Not a single report on the police scanner. Usually on nights like this he would train and maybe do the salmon ladder to rile Felicity up a bit but tonight his body didn't feel for any of those activities. Oddly, he felt like sparing. He hadn't had anybody to spar with in months. An idea occurred to him. He picked up the escrima sticks and threw one towards Felicity, "Catch."
Felicity caught it with a bewildered expression on her face.
"I'm adjusting your exercise routine," he said.
"Has the Queen gym added workouts with escrima sticks?" she asked studying the stick in her hand intently.
"I was thinking we could spar a bit," he said innocently.
"No thanks Oliver. You know I'm no match for you," Felicity said.
"I was thinking more along the lines of me teaching you defend yourself with the stick. I notice you have a habit of hitting the bad guys over the head with them. I thought you could add a few more moves to your repertoire," he told her.
She looked like she was going to disagree but she changed her mind at the last second. Oliver could literally see the light bulb go off in her head and he knew she was up to something. She jumped up from her seat, kicked off her heels and walked towards him.
"I hope you don't mind me still in a skirt. If the point is for me to be able to defend myself, I should be able to defend myself in the normal attire that I wear," Felicity said. "Now how do I stand?"she asked arranging her stance in a position that would cause her to topple over easily.
Oliver gulped. Felicity's skirt today was already on the short side, "You need to move your feet a little wider?"
""Like this?" she asked innocently hiking her skirt up a little further to move her feet wider a part.
Oliver swallowed. She was now in the perfect stance. She was playing with him and definitely winning. Oliver had to use every ounce of control to remember what he wanted to show her after the correct fighting stance. He slowly swung his stick at her and showed her how to block a few moves. They went through the moves slowly and Oliver did his best to ignore her toned thighs. He picked up the pace slightly and her skirt rode higher with the faster movements. He then lightly tapped her on her ass with a move he hadn't showed her yet.
"Hey that's cheating!" Felicity protested.
"Tell that to the bad guy after they've restrained you. You need to be prepared for anything. You have no idea the level of training the person attacking you has. You can only be prepared to act when they come at you. That's all for tonight," Oliver said walking back to the wall that housed the escrima sticks.
Felicity fell in to line next to him. She placed her stick on the wall and Oliver could see her chewing on her bottom lip. She was debating what to do next.
"You know these training sessions always leave me with a difficult itch to scratch," Felicity said boldly. "I keep hoping that my instructor would scratch it but he doesn't seem to want to go there." Then she perked up, "But the good news is there might be a guy who would scratch that itch for me."
Something inside of Oliver snapped. The thought of another man laying a single finger on Felicity drove him crazy. He had no recollection of actually moving but he had Felicity pinned against the wall next to the sticks. He crashed his mouth against hers and kissed her passionately. It was only when her hands rubbed against the front of his pants that he returned to his senses and pulled way. He hadn't meant to lost control like that.
"Felicity you control me. You know I'm a man that likes to be in control but whenever you are in the room I respond like a god damn puppy," he said angry at himself for letting his primal desires take over.
Felicity walked away with a satisfied smirk on her face. "Tomorrow night, my place, I ordered Korean," she said in a sultry tone.
Oliver's heart leapt. Korean was the first meal they ordered on their extended road trip. They had taken it back to their hotel room to enjoy together as their first meal as a couple. Somehow they never managed to get around to eating the meal preferring instead to enjoy each other.
S-10
Oliver stood outside Felicity's door. This was the moment he had been working towards and he prayed he didn't screw it up. The door opened before he knocked and Felicity stood there in a tight fitting red dress that stopped at her mid thigh.
"Are you going to stand there all day or are you going to come inside?" Felicity asked exasperated.
"How did you know I was out here?" he asked.
"The monitors inside showed you just standing there trying to knock but you kept putting your hand down. I thought I would put you out of your misery. Are those for me?" Felicity asked looking at the dozen red roses in his hand.
"Yes," he said handing it to her.
"Come on in Oliver," Felicity said taking the roses and putting it in a vase she had already prepared for him. She had the TV on the security cameras and he could see that she did indeed have a camera pointed at the front entrance.
"Do you want a drink or do you want to talk on the couch or should we start dinner?" Felicity asked chewing on her bottom lip. She was just as nervous as he was.
"How about a drink on the couch," Oliver suggested.
"Great, I'll get your whiskey," she said.
"How are you so sure I want a whiskey?" he teased.
She looked at him, studying him carefully, "You want a whiskey."
He nodded. He took a seat on the couch and watched her move around the kitchen. Soon she returned with his drink and a glass of red wine for herself. She sat beside him.
"You would think we've done this before we shouldn't be so nervous. We've seen each other naked," she babbled.
"Felicity," Oliver said reaching for her hand. "It's good that we are both nervous. We know what this means for us. We understand the ramifications of this dinner and I hope it means we both want this."
"Oh I most definitely want this. In fact, I have a little confession to make," Felicity said.
Oliver face was open as he nodded for her to continue.
"I might have had Curtis move the boxes you had in storage back in here," she admitted. "I hope that was ok. I realize it is a bit hypocritical of me. I broke up with you because I said you didn't know how to include people and here I am unilaterally making the decision to move you into the loft but Oliver we are going glacially slow."
"Felicity," Olive said.
"No Oliver, let me finish," she felt him tense and she squeezed his hand. "Relax. This isn't bad. I think I gave up on us too easy. When I got into a relationship with you, I knew exactly who I was dating and I should have expected that there would be times when your flaws got the better of you. I accepted you as you were. The truth is Oliver, you've ruined me for other men. I'm incapable of loving someone else. I tried before with Ray but the minute he saw us together he knew you were the one I truly loved. I want to be with you Oliver. I want to work at our relationship and if it takes us the rest of our lives to get it right, I'm willing to try."
Oliver leaned forward and kissed her. It was a good five minutes before they pulled apart. "Are we going to get to the food this time?" he asked.
"Maybe after," Felicity said pulling him towards her again.
An: I would like to thank everyone for reading the stories in one shot week. I was able to cut in half the amount of unfinished one shots on my computer. Now I have to do the same to the longer stories. I'm probably going to do another one shot week near the end of July to deal with the other stories.