The Starling City Stars, in their first finals appearance in 10 years, were set to play hockey's reigning four-year champions – the Gotham City Knights in Game 7 of the championship series. The much-anticipated away game was to be televised live via pay-per-view, so Oliver, knowing that most of his friends supported the local underdogs, rescheduled the opening gala of the newly-minted Queen Incorporated to an earlier time, just so that everybody could gather round his new penthouse to watch the deciding match of the hockey finals.
So here they were, in his living room, freshly arrived from the corporate event, dressed in what Thea called their best fancy fancy, waiting as Cisco reconfigured his top-of-the-line home entertainment system for what the engineer promised to be the 'whole rink-side seat experience'.
The extensive peaceful lull they were having lately had made him more prone to introspection. He often found himself reviewing the highlights of his life, and in all his years since the island, he had never imagined that he would see this day – a day where he felt he was doing things right and where he was finally at home with his friends, with the people who mattered to him.
Tommy and Laurel were talking by the fireplace. Thea and Roy were busy behind the bar mixing drinks. Barry and Caitlin were in front of his flat screen, fidgeting with wires to help Cisco with the sound system. Diggle was emerging from the kitchen, bearing two huge bowls of chips and salsa. Even Lyla, who kept kissing him and hugging him too enthusiastically for Digg's comfort when he extended his invitation to her, was right alongside her husband, bringing a giant tub of popcorn in one hand, and holding a big bag of Skittles in the other. Who knew that Lyla Diggle used to captain an underground A.R.G.U.S. hockey fantasy league team – one of the winningest of all-time? How she did that under Amanda Waller's nose, he did not particularly want to know, but he was glad she was here all the same.
And Felicity was –
Wait, where did she go?
He knew she drove over with their Central City friends. He'd seen her with Caitlin just a few minutes ago and he'd overheard her on her phone, ordering a truckload of pizza with extra toppings on the side.
Felicity has quickly become his touchstone, his talisman, his safe harbor – and that feeling of safety has made him forego his keen awareness and that was what had him putting on the brakes every time he had gotten too close to the edge. In the beginning, he'd promised Diggle that he would protect her, but without his vigilance, his presence in her life would always be a constant threat to her. So he pushed her away and ran and hid from his feelings, making them both suffer for his inability to risk the uncertainty of a doomed future with someone he could really care about and his reluctance to sacrifice the only constant in his dark, violent life – his damned mission. But he should've known then that all his efforts were futile, because despite his very best efforts not to, he, Oliver Jonas Queen, had inevitably and irrevocably fallen in love with one Felicity Meghan Smoak.
And now, with the Arrow being out of commission for the foreseeable future, and without the impetus of a company to save, he had seen less and less of her in the past few weeks. He'd felt the distance between them steadily growing, and he'd increasingly felt adrift, missing her soothing chatter, her awkward and revealing babbles, and the comfort of her strongly held belief in him. He'd secretly begun to fear that he had finally pushed her far enough away this time, for her to ever return willingly to his side.
And then he'd heard Ned Foster, QI's reinstated COO, saying that Lucius Fox had begun taking an active interest in her work, even going as far as amiably ambushing her with an open invitation to Wayne Tech whenever she felt inclined. "We'd hate to lose the VP of our most profitable division." The balding executive said to the small group they were entertaining at the gala, just before he pointedly looked at Oliver, "Maybe, someone should finally do something about it."
That mild gibe may have earned polite, teasing laughter from those who had been with QC, now QI, long enough to be familiar with the undying rumors surrounding Oliver and Felicity but for Oliver, all he felt through his tight answering smile was cold, absolute dread – followed almost instantly by wild, irrepressible panic. Could he have lost her already?
So he had sought her out, after telling that crowd that he just might and kept her perennially in his line of sight. And because he couldn't really help it, he found himself attached to her side a few times, playing the attentive host, refilling her drink, steering her towards people she would enjoy meeting and away from encounters they would normally elude. He did all that even when she had been adamant that they go to the gala separately and talk to different people so as to avoid intensifying the gossip she had hoped to dismiss.
And despite her skittishness around him lately, it was only when he had wrangled repeated assurances from her (and Barry, and from Caitlin and Cisco, who were both spending some down time away from Star Labs) confirming her presence at his place tonight, that he gave her the space he'd promised and allowed some of his anxiety to dissipate enough for him to enjoy the company of his other friends and colleagues.
But now that she was gone from his immediate vision again, the dread and panic returned.
She must be here somewhere. So he went about searching his whole house for the one person who has come to matter to him the most.
Felicity usually considered herself a glass half-full kind of girl who can roll with the punches, but seeing everyone around her breaking-off in pairs, was just a little bit too much.
Tommy, who mysteriously appeared on the Foundry's doorstep apparently alive but questionably well a few months back, and Laurel, who had seemingly sobered up the instant after that, were making small talk and clapping some serious heart eyes at each other, like the intervening two years and Sara's death at the hands of his father had never happened. Thea and Roy were all touchy-feely, obviously back together despite Roy's recent run-in with the cops. Digg and Lyla, who were enjoying a rare night away from baby duty, made themselves comfortable on one end of the monolithic custom leather couch Thea insisted Oliver had to have, while Barry and Caitlin sat on the other end, making adorable conversation with talking hands and wires. Heck, even Cisco was having a little too much fun reconfiguring his new babies – Oliver's premium 3D audio speakers – to his liking.
Despite being surrounded by her closest and dearest friends, Felicity was feeling a little left out – no, wait – a lot left out. So, after calling the pizza place and placing (mostly Barry's) order, she left the living room in search of a little solitude.
He found her in the kitchen, facing the fridge, snacking on the box of exotic chocolate truffles she bought for him as a housewarming present and downing what looks to be half of one of the bottles of red wine Tommy gave him a couple of days ago. She was sitting on the floor against the center island, barefoot, her red dress fiery against the fridge's faint glow. The whole scene looked fetching, he thought.
"I knew it!"
"Jeez! Seriously, Oliver?" She startled, not able to hide the disdain she had for his 'ninja skills' and his knack for catching her unawares. And because he had the audacity to continue smiling remorselessly at her, she offered the chocolate covered morsels she had accidentally dropped on the floor in his latest attempt to scare her half to death. "Want some?"
"Sure, wouldn't dream of letting it go to waste," he said, without missing a beat, as he slumped down beside her, loosening his tie before sliding it entirely off his neck.
Felicity took one of the fallen, yet entirely edible chocolate nibbles and shoved it, almost angrily, into his ready mouth.
"These are really good," he said as the dark chocolate hit his tongue.
"What did I tell you?" She replied as she chucked another one, this time from the box, into her own mouth and washed it down with the fine Bordeaux she's been swigging freely since she'd escape all the affection in the living room. "Who's left with everybody outside?"
"Everybody else…" he returned glibly.
"That's terrible. You're the host. You shouldn't be leaving them," Felicity chastised, not really wanting to be near the cause of her most recent and not-so-recent vexation.
"Well, my house, my rules. And what's so wrong with checking on my chocolate and my wine in my kitchen? I had a feeling someone was sneaking in to steal them," Oliver admonished impishly, right back at her.
Truth was nobody could tell him where she went. He was just about to impatiently kick down doors and clear all the rooms in his top-floor apartment when he decided he needed a drink of ice-cold water to calm himself the heck down.
Felicity giggled, unable to check her mirth at his banter. She remembered teasing him a few days back, about his non-existent sweet tooth and his aversion to all things chocolate, then testily telling him to live a little and have a taste of the exotic confection she had spent a lot of time tracking down and an obscene amount of money on, or else, she would gladly steal back her gift and bring a certain, very costly bottle of red wine home with her right then.
Oliver smiled wistfully at the same memory. Not wanting her to leave, he took a hesitant bite off the chocolate truffle she offered right from her fingers, only to look sheepishly at her a while later, because he'd really liked it – the chocolate, he clarified, as he kept his own positive reaction to the stunned but wanting look on her face as his lips brushed her fingers, to himself.
"Well, I guess you caught your thief red-handed," she conceded cheerily, breaking him effectively from his reverie.
Oliver chuckled at her alcohol-induced amusement. "I won't press charges if you pour me some of that and hand me another one of those," he declared as he pointed to the bottle of wine then the box of truffles with one hand, while he unbuttoned his collar with the other. He saw her quietly contemplating the movement of his fingers so he undid a few more buttons to give her a peek at his chest. He knew she liked seeing him shirtless. He was prepared to play as dirty as it gets.
Felicity, who was halfway drunk and rightfully mortified at her compulsive fascination with his body, shifted too swiftly on her side to reach for another wine glass on the counter. She tried to recover but she'd lost her balance anyway and clumsily fell and ended up straddling Oliver's lap.
"Sorry, I might have had just a little bit too much in me," Felicity tittered as she held her thumb and forefinger a small ways away from each other.
"Yeah, I think you should ease up on the red," he said as he reached out a steadying hand on her waist. The warmth of his touch on her side led to the belated realization of their precarious position, causing more blood to leave her already addled brain and to pool in other, now needier parts of her body.
"I guess so," she hiccupped, her nervous giggles suddenly replaced with a bashful smile.
What is the matter with me? Felicity thought to herself. Five minutes ago, she was mentally running down her exit strategies – Kord Industries (No – Torched that option down after too many sick days spent helping Oliver), Palmer Industries (Nope, too awkward – next please), Star Labs (Hmmm, Maybe – if Oliver hadn't said Dr. Wells was iffy), Wayne Tech (Yeeesss, if only for the toys and Lucius Fox's generosity! But could she handle another mask, though? She was fairly certain that beneath all that charm and playboy swagger, Bruce Wayne was Batman), Stark Industries (Another mask but maybe, just maybe, if she played her cards right she'll get to lay eyes on Captain Americahhh! So, definitely, a YES!), Global Dynamics (Another possibility since those are her peeps and Fargo is an old friend- she'll fit right in, she knows how to keep a secret), and then there was always get a cat and die lonely.
After so many years of feeling like a yo-yo ball on a fraying string, she had just about had it with Oliver and his obsessive need to be alone, especially during the times when he really shouldn't be. Oh, these were the good days – Oliver smiling more often, a little less burdened by the cares of the world, openly teasing her, flirting with her, unwittingly keeping her close, drawing her right back to the edge, making it so very easy for her to fall for him – again. But she couldn't help thinking about what would happen when the hits start coming.
She'd barely survived him letting her go the first time, citing himself as a constant threat to her safety following their one and only, literally explosive, date. Then he'd gone and put himself between two megalomaniacs who were messing with Tommy and Thea, and had gotten himself thrown from a mountain in the process. Most people would think once was enough but no. Turns out, Oliver was an overachiever in this aspect. After his return to Starling, barely alive, he'd gone back to the bellies of both beasts because he just had to end it all for Tommy and their sister. And he'd risked not only his life – he was willing to sacrifice his soul. Between all that and the next, she couldn't believe how she'd managed to survive, with any semblance of a heart left.
She had tried to be content without him, tried so hard to be truly happy with Ray, she really did, but despite her best efforts, she couldn't really get far away enough from Oliver to forget him. Deciding that she was done with carrying all this baggage, she was thinking of putting some much needed distance between them, now that the city and everybody else seemed at a better place. That was the only way she'd survive with most of her remaining heart intact.
And she'd thought her mind was pretty much made up, but now, all that stubborn, pig-headed, frustratingly honorable man had to do was pull off his tie all sexy and smiley and flirty like that and open a few buttons of his shirt and –
Felicity was stopped from her internal rambling by the shock of his warm lips on hers.
And it sobered her up just about as quickly as Laurel had gone cold turkey upon Tommy's return.
Moments passed with neither of them making a move. Then he heard her sigh. Thinking that she was thinking the kiss was a mistake, Oliver was already on the defensive when she touched his lips with her fingers, tracing every curve on his sensual mouth. The simple gesture caught him off guard. She was stalling. He didn't want to give her time to think too much because he didn't want them to stop but he also knew that if she continued to touch him the way she was touching him now, he will be making the monumental mistake of deciding for her.
Determined to win her over, he held her wrist firmly and kissed her fingers, gently at first, tracing each of their contours with his tongue. Then he took her forefinger into his mouth and lightly nibbled on it. Tasting chocolate and feeling her shiver, he did it again to the rest of her fingers before he continued to assault her heightened senses by nipping his teeth gently against her palm and brushing his tongue softly on her sensitized skin. Dazed and confused, Felicity wrapped her other arm around him and buried her face in the curve of his neck, afraid to make him stop but equally afraid to surrender.
Oliver felt her hesitation but he was not yet ready to give up. Realizing that an honest conversation, not seduction, was the best way to keep her from bolting, he stopped kissing her palm, and cradled her closer to him instead by resting both of his hands on the swell of her hips.
"Talk to me, Felicity," Oliver coaxed.
Felicity straightened and met his eyes.
"We've been here before, Oliver," she huffed. "What if another big bad comes our way – which knowing you and our luck and not really knowing the real outcome of the Ra's vs Merlyn showdown, is pretty inevitable, by the way – what would you do then? Push me away – again? Go one-on-one with bad-ass assassins alone and get yourself killed – again? Go undercover without really telling anyone and almost get yourself turned into an evil minion – again?" Her words left her mouth faster and faster as she ranted against the unshed tears blurring her eyes.
Faced with the mortal fear of losing her, he decided that tonight was the night he was laying it all out, he was making a go at it – taking a stab at finally living.
"I don't know what the future holds, Felicity." Oliver said quietly, trying to temper her justified anger as he lifted her chin up to meet her eyes. "But what I do know is that I will never have a chance to stand for or against it without you, right there, by my side… that I'm tired of fighting us, fighting this, that I'm sorry for fighting you, hurting you… that I want to be the man you deserve," he paused, swallowing the lump he suddenly found at his throat, "And that I'm really scared that I've finally pushed you too hard to never ever get that chance."
She held her breath, astonished at his confession.
"Please don't make the same mistake I did. Don't run," he pleaded, his blue eyes solemn. "Let me be with you, Felicity."
His words were her undoing. Fueled by her desire and helpless to stop it, Felicity closed her eyes and touched her forehead to his as her fingers caressed the shadow that was forming on his jaw. Acknowledging her defeat, she kissed him slowly, reveling at the touch of his lips on hers. She deepened the kiss and flicked her tongue hotly between his lips, hoping for his full cooperation. Surprisingly pleased, Oliver rewarded her boldness by opening his mouth on hers – giving her all the access she seemed to need.
She felt him tighten his grip around her as she tentatively touched the roof of his mouth with her tongue. Emboldened by his response, she tipped his jaw a little and began to feather her tongue against his palate.
Oliver's restraint broke at the artful assault. He cradled her face in his hands as he wrested control, shifting his mouth sideways and plundering hers with a hunger he had never known possible. Felicity moaned into his mouth as his tongue rasped against hers, oblivious to the fact that he had already shifted her squarely on top of him, lifting the hem of her dress with questing fingers. Goosebumps erupted all over her body as she shuddered at the feeling of his warm, ardent hands caressing her bare thighs. Driven by her reaction, Oliver tightened his grip on her, forcing her to become fully aware of her very insistent effect on him. He began to move his hips sensually against hers as he alternated small nips and wet kisses down her neck and shoulder.
"Oliver, please" she whimpered brokenly against him as she felt herself starting to match his sinuous movements.
"Please what, Felicity?"
"F–"
"Ollie, pizza's here! Can you break a –" Thea shouted then sputtered as she barged into the kitchen. "Oh. My. God!" She paused for a split second, taking in Felicity and her brother's heated embrace, then, "It's finally happening!" She screamed giddily as she left.
Thwarted by the unwelcome disturbance, they stiffened against each other for a beat before they finally fell over themselves, chuckling hysterically at his sister's parting quip.
As their hilarity died down, Oliver hugged her closer and planted a kiss on her right temple.
"You're not going home," he pronounced.
"Really, I'm not?" Felicity asked distractedly, noticing the mess they'd apparently made, and beginning to clean up.
"Yes, you aren't. We're nowhere near done. You're staying," he grumbled as he shifted her to his side.
"I am?" She asked, somewhat dazedly, realizing belatedly what he really meant. She fought valiantly to stop herself from blushing but failed miserably.
"Yes, babe, you are," Oliver smirked, noticing the rosy flush that was blooming on her cheeks as he took the wine bottle from her and helped her stand.
Before she could even fully get her feet beneath her, he'd handily swept her up and sat her on the kitchen counter, planting himself solidly between her legs. "Now, wait here while I kick them all out," he bade as he gave her another brief kiss on the lips.
"Yeah, well, that's not happening!" She chided, feeling more like herself, as she gripped both of his arms to stop him from what she thought was a very hot – but also, very stupid thing to do.
"Fe-li-ci-ty…"He groaned while exasperatedly burying his face on her shoulder.
"Nope. Nu-uh!" She said, playfully carding her fingers through his hair in a soothing gesture. "I want you, Oliver Queen, but," she paused as she cradled his face and leveled his eyes on hers, "But I love you more than enough to not want to imagine what your undead best friend, your arrow-wielding mini-me, your metahuman speedster groupie, your ex-Special Forces brother-from-another-mother and most importantly, what said brother's very invested, kick-ass, bazooka-wielding, ex-A.R.G.U.S. agent wife would do to you if you do not let them finish watching the game you relentlessly invited them to see on your, and I quote '110-inch Ultra HD flat screen TV, in real time, as it happens, without any commercial breaks!'"
He huffed a little petulantly even after feeling his heart stutter at what he believed to be, an unwitting declaration of her love, "I don't care what they do to me." But I wanna do you, his eyes seemed to say. NOW.
"But I do… care," she said breathily, almost failing to ignore the unspoken desire in his eyes. "So, we will behave ourselves," she says, collecting herself, as she placed an apologetic kiss on the vee of his neck and did up a couple of buttons on his shirt. "Then, the minute – no, the second – the game's over, I promise to boot them all out. With my Loud Voice." She assured him while swiping some leftover lipstick from his lips. "Think you could do that?" She wiggled her eyebrows at him with a small hopeful smile.
She saw him close his eyes, take a deep, edifying breath and exhale.
"If it's you asking," Oliver surrendered with a reverent smile on his face before placing a small kiss on her forehead and finally helping her down from the kitchen counter. After steadying her while she strapped her shoes back on, he took her hand and threaded his fingers with hers as they quietly made their way out to their waiting friends – their family.
Together.
Finally.
I originally planned this to be a one-shot but I had so much fun writing this, I can be persuaded to write a follow-up. Tell me if you like the idea. Don't forget to leave your reviews and comments! Kisses!