This fic is written for Olicity Holidays Fic Exchange for the lovely ithinkimightveinhaledyou and a prompt given by her.
A special thanks to Sara who had to listen to my endless monologues about writing this, and to Tajana who told me what Christmas is like and gave me a very good line to use. This's a Christmas fic -obviously- that's made up of shameless fluff, so I hope you all like it!
I don't own Oliver and Felicity Queen.
There was something special about Christmas mornings that Felicity, despite not having a huge experience with Christmas, could feel simmering in the air. A sense of anticipation and a bubbling excitement that coiled in her stomach and made her feet itch to get out of bed and under the ridiculously huge tree that her boyfriend brought home.
For most of her life, Felicity's experience with Christmas had been limited to the exchange of the phrase "Merry Christmas" between herself and her fellow coworkers. It never went beyond that and she never thought it would; after all, what business could she possibly have celebrating a holiday that wasn't hers. It was simple logic. Or so she thought.
The first time Felicity celebrated Christmas took place three years ago. It was her very first Christmas as Oliver Queen's girlfriend and due to a mixture of her boyfriend's insistence and his endearing hopeful smiles she had agreed to celebrating Christmas with him that year and every year since.
On her very first Christmas, Oliver had done a book-perfect job of introducing her to the holiday. He started the occasion with gingerbread cookies and cheesy movies on Christmas eve, then made sure that she woke up to presents under their tree the next morning. He even helped her decorating said tree with minimal protest.
The next Christmas went similarly, where Oliver woke her up at 8 AM sharp and insisted that gift opening had to be the first thing on their to-do list. Therefore, Felicity had come to see Christmas in a certain light and had an understanding of its traditions. The traditions of a Christmas morning, as far as she and Oliver were concerned, went something like this: they wake up at 8 and share a kiss that's usually interrupted by smiling lips and a whispered Merry Christmas, then they race to the absurdly huge tree to open their gifts. Then they spend the best part of the day cuddling on the couch while wolfing down a week's worth of cookies and watching whatever the channels offered.
To Felicity, this was about as perfect as any holiday can get and she had long ago decided that she wouldn't change a thing about their little Christmas routine, so, you could imagine her surprise when this Christmas went a little bit differently.
For starters, this year's Christmas Eve carried a pleasant surprise with it; one that hadn't presented itself for quite sometime. On Christmas Eve, just as Felicity and Oliver started their third movie of the night, the first ghost of a snowflake fell. It had been years since Starling City had seen snow on Christmas, and the couple hadn't even noticed the fluffy goodness until it was coating the ground like sugar powder.
Felicity had jumped up and down in excitement when she saw the swirling snowflakes and Oliver had grinned widely at her. Part of his grin directed at the snow, and the other at Felicity's reaction to it.
You'd think you've never seen snow before, Oliver had teased. I distinctly remember it snowing when we last visited Russia.
To which Felicity had shrugged and continued to watch the falling white with a big smile. And that was the very first change in Felicity's Christmas. A change that she thought to be the only and the best. She was wrong on both accounts.
The next morning brought another alteration to Felicity's premade vision of a Christmas morning. Instead of being woken up to present opening and hot chocolate, she was woken up to hungry lips and the searing heat of hands caressing her skin. It came as a surprise albeit a pleasant one. She wasn't complaining. Soon, her ugly sweater –a Christmas tradition according to Oliver- was no longer needed to keep her warm and the cold fingers of the weather couldn't touch her anymore.
"What was that about?" Felicity murmured almost sleepily. Morning sex was great but Christmas morning sex, she decided, was by far the absolute best. "Not that I'm complaining or anything, mind you."
"Do I need a reason?" Oliver asked with raised eyebrows. His eyes showed innocence and the hint of confusion but Felicity knew better than to fall for one of his "innocent" looks. Actually, she knew him well enough to detect the trace of nervousness in his voice. It was faint but it was there.
"Nope," she returned playfully. "Definitely no reason whatsoever needed. I was just wondering what happened to 'presents come first' "
"So what you're trying to say is that I'm not enough of a present for you?" Oliver poked her in the side, which caused her to squirm away. Holding out a finger to stop him –this could turn into a full-fledged tickle war otherwise- she grinned and shook her head.
"I was promised fandom merch, and despite your awesome… everything–" she made a motioning gesture at Oliver's naked body. "I'd still like to get that thank you very much."
"Patience, grasshopper," Oliver had smiled and drew her back into his arms. Tucking her head under his chin, Oliver took a deep breath as if preparing for battle and started talking in a soft murmur against her hair. "I wasn't sure how to do this but I knew that I wanted it to be today. Remember what I told you that very first Christmas we celebrated together?" Felicity nodded reluctantly. "I told you that my father, bad as he was at taking his own advice, had taught me that Christmas is about loving others. About remembering the good memories and making new ones with the people who matter to you and being grateful for having them that it's about never letting those people go."
Felicity remembered all that. Of course she did. Oliver never mentioned his dad, and when he did she listened intently and took the rare stories to heart. She remembers because she had cried when Oliver confessed that, for years, his only "loved ones" had been his mother and sister but then he met her and she had managed to fall into that category as well. In so many words, that was the first time Oliver had confessed to loving her.
Once he stopped talking, Oliver pulled back and sat up in bed which caused Felicity to do the same. She bit her lip at the loss of his warmth and made up for it by clutching the bed sheets closer to her skin. Outside their window, snow continued to fall.
"Oliver," she said softly. "I don't understand, what brought this on?"
"It's a Christmas morning, Felicity and I've waited long enough for the perfect timing. I think this is it," Oliver planted a feather light kiss against Felicity's temple then got out of bed. "Give me a second."
Felicity sat up straighter with raised eyebrows. Her curiosity was getting the best of her and she tried to peek at where Oliver stood, retrieving something from their closet. The only thing that kept her in bed was the freezing temperature and the sight of Oliver pulling on green pajama bottoms with tiny reindeers dotting them.
"Nice pants," she giggled, her curiosity and bubbling nervousness at Oliver's strange behavior momentarily forgotten. Oliver only shook his head then walked back to her. Standing at the edge of the bed, he extended his arm with his palm held up until she placed her hand in his.
Pulling her gently, until she sat on the edge of the mattress and her feet dangled to touch the freezing floor, Oliver took a tentative step back and went down on one knee.
"Oliver?" Felicity's eyes widened in utter disbelief. Every movie proposal she had ever watched flashed before her eyes and her mind told her that yes, that's the usual stance. Her heart started doing funny things just then. Like trying to escape her ribcage. And her stomach decided to join the festivities by swooping low to her feet.
"Felicity," Oliver's tone was one of conviction but his eyes held a trace of fear. Felicity had the urge to smooth down his hair and kiss his check but his gaze, and the fact that her limps had turned into jell-o, kept her in place. "We have been through.. hell , together. The day I told you who I am, was the day you saved my life for the first time, and you continued saving me ever since. I lost count of how many times you have pulled me back from the edge or patched me up, both physically and emotionally. For the longest time you were my best friend and the best thing about this –this entire thing, this secret. Sometimes I wonder if everything I go through is worth it but then I remember that if it weren't for this, I wouldn't have met you, and –" Oliver took a deep breath then rubbed a hand to the back of his neck. Felicity, whose hands were shaking, itched to take his hand again. "What I'm trying to say is that you make everything worth it. I look at you, and all the loss and pain that brought me here finally make sense. They were changing me and reshaping me into becoming someone else and that someone could become something ugly and dark if it weren't for you, and after everything we've been through together.. I know that I want to go through everything else with you."
Now his left hand reached out to grasp hers and his right one went into his pocket. He looked at Felicity hopefully as if willing her to understand his next words.
"You once told me that life has both good and bad in it, and that we have to go through both. Well I want to do that, with you. Both the good and the bad. I want you in my bed at every Christmas morning, and I want my family to include more than Mom and Thea and you, because you've been my family all along, but I also want more –" Felicity's breath caught at his words. "And I want it all, family and Christmas and an entire life –with you."
Oliver finally pulled his hand out of his pocket and in it sat a green velvety box with a red bow on top. "Here's your first present," he whispered as he pulled his left hand out of hers and slowly opened the box. Inside the box sat one of the most beautiful rings, Felicity had ever seen.
"So," Oliver smiled tentatively. "Felicity Smoak, will you marry me?"
If you had told Felicity a few years ago that Oliver Queen, CEO by day and the vigilante by night, is going to propose to her on a Christmas morning while wearing silly PJs, she would have started laughing. As it is she had to resist the urge to laugh hysterically right now or just get up and dance.
"Yes," Felicity breathed, then more certainly. "yes, yes, yes." And Oliver's blinding smile in response matched all the Christmas lights they had hung up around the house.
Oliver slipped the ring around her ring finger and it was then that her eyes blurred with tears. His arms came around her waist, bed sheets and all, and he hugged her close to him with his face buried in her neck.
"Happy crying, and a Christmas Morning proposal." Felicity laughed. "We're turning into one of those movies you hate so much."
"I don't really hate them," Oliver grinned as he wiped a stray tear. "I think a happy ending is in order every now and then." His eyes turned soft as she smiled at him –her face felt like splitting- and he pulled her up as he stood. "Come on, put that ugly sweater back on. We have presents to open and friends to call."
"Did Diggle know you were doing this today?" Felicity pointed at her right hand, indicating the ring with a smile that wouldn't go away.
"No, I didn't tell him," Oliver handed her the sweater then smirked. "But you can invite him over and tell him all about it while you braid each other's hair."
"Cute," Felicity, fully clothed now, caught her fiancé's hand and led him out of their bedroom. "but you'll do the telling because I may do something stupid like crying again," she sighed when he chuckled. "I'll tell Thea and your mom though."
"Or," Oliver suggested as he made his way to a gingerbread cookie platter and handed her one. "We could wait until dinner tonight and tell them all at once."
"A dinner for family and friends with good news and a movie," Felicity cupped Oliver's face in both hands, the ring's silver band pressing against her finger, and stole a quick kiss that tasted of cookies. "I'm all in."
"Presents now?" Oliver asked but didn't wait for an answer or follow through on his words. Instead, he leaned down for another, much longer kiss and Felicity's thoughts of closed presents and frozen feet melted away like snowflakes on a sunny day.
Felicity silently mused that Christmas managed to make everything warmer even when it's bellow zero outside and so, despite the cold and her wiggling her frozen toes, Felicity's insides warmed up as she smiled into Oliver's kiss.
A/N: I hope that I made a good secret Santa and that my prompt giver likes her present.
Happy holidays and thanks for reading!
Reviews would be most appreciated.