entitled: Waiting
pairing: Oliver/Felicity
summary: "Sometimes, when you've waited for so long, you forget what you've been waiting for." Highschool!AU.
rating: T
disclaimer: I do not own Arrow.

i. things he'll never say

"I see the way you look at him."

Tommy stared at her intently, letting his words linger between them as they waited for Oliver and Laurel to climb up the treehouse.

"It's the way I wish you looked at me."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Felicity had pounced on him.

"Oh, shut up, Merlyn!" Felicity tried to hide her embarrassment by strangling him. She always had an odd way of expressing herself.

They rolled along the wooden boards till Laurel popped her head up the opening side. When she saw them, Felicity pushed Tommy off her, but it was too late. "I knew it!" Laurel exclaimed, "I knew you guys had a thing!" She finished climbing inside and pulled Oliver in behind her.

"What happened?" Oliver asked, looking from Felicity to Tommy and back. "What's going on?"

Before Felicity could stop Laurel, the older Lance screamed, "Tommy and Felicity are dating! Finally! God, they only waited till like, senior year!" Then Laurel was clapping and making kissy-faces at Tommy who grinned and tried to hold Felicity's hand.

Felicity pushed him away and started laughing.

Laurel glanced over at Oliver hoping he would join in on the teasing, but the heir to Queen Consolidated was quiet. He was smiling, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"Alright, stop messing around," Oliver said, "And let's get to work on this prank."

Once they had hashed out the final details, Tommy gave Laurel a ride home. Felicity lingered in the treehouse for a while longer, making use of the remaining sunlight and jotting down extra notes. She was intently working out a budget for supplies. Oliver said he'd wait for her to finish and he could walk her back home.

As she was pressing in numbers on her calculator, Oliver asked casually, "Are you and Tommy together? Like, for real?"

Felicity glanced up. "Are you seriously asking me that?" she questioned, tucking a loose strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "This is Tommy we're talking about. He's not really a one-girl kind-of-guy."

"But he could be," Oliver countered. "He could be if you asked him to be."

"Which I won't be doing, Oliver, because we're not interested in each other. Like that, I mean."

Lately, this has been their only conversation. They had stopped mapping out pranks they could pull. They had stopped arguing over the best superheroes and racing to school on their bikes even though Oliver had a sports car and Felicity had a fall-apart pick-up truck. They had stopped talking normally.

These days, it's been short conversations about college and their families. Sometimes Oliver would rant about Laurel and show Felicity the texts Sara was sending him. But mostly, it's been about Tommy and his maybe-feelings for her, and she had to confirm again and again that nothing was going on.

"We're just close, Oliver. We're like siblings."

Felicity finished the last calculation and was ready to get out of there. She started packing up her stuff.

"He would hate it if he heard you say that," Oliver remarked.

"Yeah well, maybe I'll give it a shot," Felicity said.

"What?"

Felicity shrugged. "I mean, the guy is heir to a million-dollar corporation, so maybe I haven't considered that fully, and maybe I should probably date someone because prom is right around the corner and—"

Felicity stopped because Oliver was angry. His fists were clenched and his eyes were narrowed. Perhaps she probably shouldn't have said what she had. It made her sound like she was ready to use Tommy for his money, which was not what she was trying to get at.

Felicity just wanted Oliver and her to be normal again. She felt like he was trying to push Tommy and her together, he and Laurel both, and she was getting tired of it.

"I was only kidding, Oliver," she said in exasperated apology. "If you and Laurel seriously think Tommy and I should be together, I'll give it a shot. We'll go on a date or something. Maybe he'll even let me hack into Merlyn Global Group instead of buying me flowers."

Felicity finished gathering her things and was ready to leave. She preferred it if Oliver doesn't walk her home because there's this heaviness between them that weighs down on her. Felicity can only hope they get it resolved before Tommy and Laurel start to notice.

Oliver made no move to follow her out, so Felicity started her descent down. Just as she's about to dip out of sight, she heard him.

His voice was low, but it was clear.

"I think I like you, Felicity."

And then she was gone because there was a time when she wanted to hear those words, but that time has long passed.

tbc.