The Ghost of Past Girlfriends
A/N: I don't own Arrow. I forgot to put this disclaimer on my other stories . Just a little one-shot that I typed up today while working on my other stories. Enjoy.
Felicity was seated at her computers in the Foundry listening to the argument that broke out over the coms between Laurel and Oliver. There was a hostage situation and they needed to get to the hostages but they disagreed over how to breach the warehouse. Diggle and Felicity had of course sided with Oliver, they always did, the original team Arrow stuck together stronger than Krazy Glue. Ted would forever support Laurel, he was sleeping with her at the moment and Thea tended to support her fellow woman in the field as well. That always left Ray as the logical balance between the sides. This time he sided with Oliver. Felicity was thankful that they could finally move forward and do what they were supposed to be doing, saving people, the inner team drama was beginning to become too much and she realised that they all needed to sit down and discuss the issues that kept arising over and over.
The breach was successful and the team was back in the lair within an hour. Everyone had gone back to being friends, chatting happily as if they hadn't just had a major disagreement. Felicity would force them to discuss this soon, but not tonight, everyone was tired. They showered and changed and headed home while Felicity waited for Oliver who was always the last one to emerge as he always gave the others a chance to go before him.
"You ready?" He asked her softly.
Felicity smiled at her boyfriend. "Yes, let's go." She said lopping an arm through his as they exited the lair.
The drive home had been unusually silent. Oliver had been asking her to formally go on a date to a restaurant but they hadn't been to a restaurant since that disastrous first date. Most of the team thought she was afraid of a repeat but her reasoning had more to do with her insecurities over Laurel and his previous ex-girlfriends. Since Laurel joined the team, she had heard a lot more details about what Oliver was like before the island and all of the dates he had taken Laurel on. The woman had talked at length about all the fabulous restaurants in the city and which ones were the most romantic. Felicity felt as if there wasn't a restaurant in Starling City that they hadn't gone to together. Gorgeous Laurel was someone she felt could never compare to. Laurel had been and would always be, his first love. In some ways, she could see them reconnecting now that they worked on the team together and it scared her. She didn't want to lose him. In the last two weeks they had been talking quietly all the time and it was beginning to seriously unsettle her.
She and Oliver had been together almost a year now and he had been living with her in their apartment for 9 months. She loved it when it was just the two of them. She loved doing chores around the house with him, he would move the heavy furniture while she cleaned underneath. They were the perfect team. When she cooked, he did the dishes, when he tried to cook, she would do the dishes, everything was so much easier when they worked together. He also opened up to her during chore time. When they were doing their laundry, he told her about Hong Kong and his first experience with laundry. When she had the vacuum cleaner out, he told her about the first time he had to use one and how he couldn't even figure out how to turn it on. They were now broaching the topic of why he joined the Bratva and learned Russian.
She also loved lying on the couch and resting her head on his chest while they watched movies. He had never really been into television before since he was either fighting for his life on an island or busy partying into the wee hours of the morning. She had introduced him to all her favourite sci-fi shows and he dutifully followed the shows with her, making sure that the latest episodes were always ready for them to watch. Couch time was also the place she explained the technical aspects of her job or how the ATOM suit worked to Oliver. She knew Ray and Barry had tried but he just didn't seem to understand them, he only ever seemed to understand her explanations.
"So are we going to that restaurant tomorrow?" Oliver asked hopefully breaking her out of her thoughts.
"Can't we just do Big Belly Burger tomorrow or Thai takeout?" She asked. Big Belly Burger and Thai takeout was more their thing. It was who they were as a couple now, not big fancy restaurants where she would be put on display in front of all the upper echelons of society. She knew that she was being ridiculous that she didn't have to compete with Laurel, Sara, Shado, Helena or whatever Russian girlfriend he had, because she was sure there was at least one Russian girlfriend. All that mattered was supposed to be the here and now, especially since with the lives they lived; it could be cut short at any moment.
She saw Oliver's jaw tense and she wondered if this was becoming an issue between them. She didn't want it to be an issue. They rarely ever fought about anything. They had become very good at compromising and Felicity was sensing she needed to compromise on this. If he wanted to go to the fancy restaurant, then she would just have to suck it up, put on a nice dress and go with him.
"Ok, we'll do Thai." Oliver conceded before she could.
Felicity let out a sigh of relief and thanked him. When they had first moved into together, they had a serious talk about relationships. She had acknowledged his terrible history with relationships but she told him for theirs to work, they had to actively nurture it. She also asked him not to cheat on her. If he wanted to leave, be a man and tell her and she would let him go. She would never hold him to her against his will. Maybe that was what he was trying to do, break it to her gently that he wanted to leave.
Going into this relationship she knew almost all the bad points about Oliver, which was weird because usually when one started a relationship you only saw the good and discovered the bad afterwards. Felicity knew the worst Oliver had to offer. She had seen him charm women, but she had never been the one he wanted to charm. She went into the relationship knowing exactly what to expect from him. She did get one curve ball though, in the form of Connor Hawke, Oliver's 8 year old son that lived in Central City. That had been a bit difficult to accept but she did accept it and she enjoyed every time Connor had come to visit.
Their sex life was great. Oliver was a very physical man; he could never keep his hands off of her for long once they were alone. She was definitely not as experienced as him and she wondered if she was keeping him satisfied now. Maybe she wasn't adventurous enough. Maybe she was too nerdy, not the vixen he wanted her to be. All these thoughts were giving her a headache and as soon as she arrived home she headed straight to the bathroom for a nice hot shower and then bed.
She vaguely registered when Oliver joined her and how he wrapped her up in his arms and buried his face in her neck. Her body automatically responded by snuggling closer to him and she knew he would soon fall asleep next to her.
The next day, Oliver watched from the training mats as Ray and Barry were discussing something technical with Felicity. She was arguing with them, trying to get her point across and prove she was right. She was completely in her element, something he would never understand. It bothered him that he couldn't understand this part of her life. It bothered him that these men, even though they were his friends now, could talk to her in a way he couldn't. She would grasp concepts so quickly, figure out puzzles and put together all the missing pieces of a mission before anyone else. He was always catching up to her intellectually, yet unlike most men it didn't intimidate him. In a weird way, it challenged him to be better, to be the man that she deserved.
He knew he had to protect her from all those that would seek to take advantage of her brilliance. It had already happened with Cooper Seldon. Oliver checked the tracer on him regularly to make sure he was far away from Felicity as possible. ARGUS was also expressing an interest in borrowing her for a few missions but he had Layla blocking those requests for him. Nobody wanted to see Felicity working with them.
She was all light, while he was all darkness. Of course she always liked to dispute that. Everyone told him he had light inside of him he just needed to believe. The only time he felt the light was when he was cuddled up on the couch with her. She was such a sneaky little vixen, she had gotten him caught up in most of the shows that she watched and he had become as addicted if not more so than she was. If only Tommy could see him now, totally whipped, snuggling on the couch with his girl.
Barry soon came over to Oliver, "Let's go patrol." He told him, in other words Barry wanted to talk to him outside immediately.
Oliver nodded and they used the alleyway exit.
"So, I came all the way up here and the rest of the team is coming tomorrow for the big surprise party and there is no engagement ring on her finger yet?" Barry asked.
"I haven't gotten around to asking her yet." Oliver answered tensely.
Barry looked at him strangely, "You know she'll say yes right, probably before you could even bend on one knee, she'll say yes and then start off babbling."
"That's not it. I want to do it right. Take her to dinner, get down on one knee and ask her but she's refusing to go to dinner. Laurel has tried to talk up some of the restaurants to see which one Felicity would like best but it didn't work." Oliver sighed frustrated.
"Then change the plan. Felicity isn't going to care that you didn't do it at dinner, she's only going to care that the man she loves is asking her to marry him."
The door opened behind them causing them to pause the conversation.
"It's just me. What's the plan for Felicity tonight" Dig said crossing his large arms over his chest.
Oliver gave him a look. Everyone had been so pushy since they found out he was going to ask her. There was not a day that went by in the last week that he didn't have at least ten text messages about the subject. Hell, even Waller had asked him about it.
"Oliver you need to ask her tonight. All this planning with Laurel for the fancy dinner plans and the big surprise engagement party has upset her. She's seen you two talking and now she's very worried she's losing you." Diggle said. He could see the suspicious looks Felicity kept sending Laurel over the last week.
Oliver's eyes widened in shock, had he really caused her to doubt him?
"Ok, you guys patrol, I'm going to head home early with Felicity."
He made his way inside and approached Felicity by her computers.
"Hey, I'm thinking, let's go pick up that Thai food and tuck in early tonight. We could use the extra rest and with Barry here, we aren't really needed." He said smoothly.
Felicity looked up at him surprised for a moment but then nodded. "I can monitor the team remotely from home" she said as she gathered her purse and headed for the exit with him. She noticed everyone watching her anxiously as she left.
On the way to the restaurant Felicity placed the order and they only had to wait five minutes when they got there to collect the food. The silence in the car unnerved Oliver. Diggle was right, Felicity suspected something and it wasn't good. She was staring out the window and looked tense. He wondered why he hadn't noticed before and he realised he had been so focused on getting the proposal right he had not been paying attention to her in the present.
As soon as he arrived, he grabbed the food and headed inside. He wanted to at least make a nice romantic setting to propose. Maybe place a few candles around the living room and turn the lights off while they ate. They always had wine so that wouldn't be a problem. He felt her come into the kitchen behind him and he tried to use his body to hide the ring that he had retrieved from the top cupboard. He knew it was safe in there because if Felicity ever needed anything from that cupboard she would always ask him to get it for her since he was much taller than her.
"Are you breaking up with me?" Felicity suddenly blurted out.
"What?" Oliver asked spinning around to face her.
"I've seen you with Laurel. I've seen you talking and you looked happy, very happy. Not that you are not happy now, at least I don't think you're unhappy but if you want to go..." she was suddenly stopped by his lips on hers. As soon as she started babbling he needed her to know how he felt and having never been good with words, he thought expressing his feelings by giving her the most blind blowing kiss he had ever given her might work. When he broke off, her eyes were half closed and she was panting.
"Do you like it?" he asked,
"That was the best kiss ever!" Felicity answered breathlessly,
Oliver smirked, "Not the kiss,"
He was holding both her hands in his and he brought it up between them. His eyes pointed down to her hands, specifically her left ring finger where he had placed the ring he had spent six weeks making. He had gone to a gemmologist and picked out a pink princess cut diamond. She always liked bright colours and he thought the gem would match her perfectly. He then sourced some platinum and moulded it into the shape of a ring and created a setting on top for the diamond. It was a very simple design but one he had spent hours working on.
"Oliver, I love it! Does this mean?" she looked at him hopefully.
He smiled. "I made it myself, Felicity Meghan Smoak, will you marry me?"
Felicity nodded her head up and down furiously. For someone who suffered from babbling, she suddenly couldn't find any words and it was her turn to return the mind blowing kiss, which Oliver appreciated very much. Sometime during the night, they managed to eat dinner and he had explained to her that Laurel had been helping him plan an elaborate dinner for the proposal and that was why he was so happy. He had originally asked Thea but her plans were so ostentatious, he thought it better to go with Laurel's suggestion. He apologised profusely if he gave her the impression that Laurel meant more than a friend to him. He had looked her deep in her eyes and told her that no one that he had ever known, had ever made him or could ever make him feel what he felt for her. She was his, and he was hers and that was how it would be for the rest of their lives.
Early the next morning, a thoroughly satisfied Oliver sent a quick message to the Arrow and Flash teams, 'Break out the Champagne, the party is on!'
The End.