She Belongs With Him
An: I do not own Arrow
Summary: After Roy leaves, Ray analysis Felicity's actions and comes to a very painful conclusion.
When he saw her at work that morning, he thought it was strange that she would be at Palmer Technologies while Oliver and Roy were in jail. A part of him hoped that she was choosing this work over that work. As it turned out, Oliver was out of jail, he didn't think there was ever a moment in the day where she didn't know where he was, and Diggle and herself had a plan for Roy. There was nothing that Team Arrow needed at that moment so she diligently chose that time to catch up on her work at Palmer Technologies. How she balanced both of her jobs amazed him. He remembered when he had gotten so focused on solving the flight issue with his suit, he had disappeared for a week and it had been her that had to remind him that he did have a company to run.
He had foolishly gone and mentioned the 'I love you' situation and then went on to babble about emotions and nano-tech. He could see she was uncomfortable with the discussion and she hadn't even sought to reassure him that she at least felt something for him. She just sat there and stared. He couldn't even get an 'I like you Ray' out of her. That was one of the biggest clues that maybe, he and Felicity were not meant to be a couple.
The next big indicator was that she couldn't kiss him in front of her team. She had even pulled away from him to turn to Oliver. It was his reaction she was most concerned with, not her boyfriend's. She hadn't even glanced at Diggle to see if he was uncomfortable. It reminded him of the time three weeks before when Oliver first came into the lab. Felicity had taken a noticeable step away from him when Oliver interrupted them.
It really registered when they were saying goodbye to Roy. The whole way out of the city she was nervous about how mad Oliver was at her and Diggle and if he would forgive them for not letting him in on the plan. If Oliver could finally accept that sometimes it was ok to step back and accept help from others. After Roy had left, she had held on to Oliver's arm, the same way she holds on to his. Her primary concern was to offer Oliver comfort but he shouldn't be surprised at that. Ever since he had met her she had had another 'job' to go to. Team Arrow had always been her priority. Oliver had always been her priority. The tears she had shed were over him. He knew she funnelled most of her salary into Team Arrow and he was fairly sure Oliver had no clue how much she really invested into the team.
He's now driving towards his apartment and Felicity's babbling away about rebuilding a new hideout and a fern. In fact, now that he pays attention she seems most concerned about this fern that she and Oliver had been taking care of together. His heart clenches painfully as it finally catches up to what his brain has been trying to tell him. Felicity is in love with Oliver. When he had first asked her if she had feelings for Oliver she had answered yes in a rather breathless tone but then she seemed to realise what she said and backtracked trying to explain that had been before. He now realised that she had been lying to herself. Her first answer was the most honest answer and it was the primary reason why she couldn't tell him that she loved him.
It confused him though because Oliver clearly loves her and he had told him that Felicity chose him but why would she chose him if she loves another. That did not make sense. Felicity did not strike him as the type of woman to just willingly dismiss her love with one man for a more beneficial relationship with another man. No the problem had to be Oliver then. He did have a tendency to sacrifice things for his cause. Maybe he had sacrificed his relationship with Felicity. He was certainly ready to blow all their plans out of the water and go after Felicity in the power station.
Maybe this was a good thing. It was less than a year after Anna's death and he shouldn't really be in love with another woman. Perhaps he was projecting some of his feelings for Anna on to Felicity. There were many similarities between the two women and maybe he was holding on to Felicity to avoid the utter loneliness he had felt since Anna died. When Felicity was around he didn't have to think about Anna, he didn't have to be reminded that she was gone and he had failed to protect her. He would never kiss her again, never hold her hand, never take her to dinner and never make any ostentatious gesture like buying out a restaurant for her. Anna had loved that, Felicity not so much.
There was one thing Ray was sure of; the bond between Oliver and Felicity ran very deep. He was sure if Felicity ever asked Oliver to do something ridiculous like wear a clown costume he would do it because it was Felicity asking. Ray realised that it was time to talk to Felicity seriously about their relationship. He knew she would object but the truth of the matter was that Felicity Smoak could never belong with anyone other than Oliver Queen.