A/N: Hey Everyone! I'm new to the Arrow fandom and its fanfiction. I've become completely obsessed with Olicity and I got the idea for this fic and it would not leave me alone. So here it is. (Some of you will recognize it if you frequent AO3 because I posted it there, too)
As for updating schedules, I make no guarantees. I'm studying for the bar exam, so my life and schedule are crazy hectic, leading to insane bouts of unpredictability.
Anyway, I don't have a beta, so all mistakes are mine. Let me know if you see glaring issues and for sure let me know if you like it!
Also, I will be posting the pictures that inspired each chapter on my Pinterest account for your viewing pleasure, or if you just need a bit of help with the visual imaginings of this story: /thebookjump1732/picture-perfect
UPDATE: I've adjusted a little bit of formatting but not any content, just FYI. Also, in honor of the MTV Ship of the Year competition, I posted a sneak peek of the next chapter on my Tumblr account where my blog name is TheBookJumper.
Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow or any of its characters. I just like to play with them and put them into amusing situations.
Chapter 1
She's not really sure what prompted her to do it. Okay, that might be a bit of a lie. Sure, she's not completely positive of her reasoning, but she would bet Oliver's fortune that it had quite a bit to do with the four empty bottles of wine littering her countertop and the three other women lounging around her apartment in various states of undress.
Not like that. She was very much into men. There was that one time at MIT junior year, but college was for experimentation, right? Tonight was not a repetition of that night. At all. No – tonight was about spending time with her best friends from MIT, drinking copious amounts of alcohol, and complaining about the perpetual singleness that surrounded their little group.
The Computettes, as they jokingly referred to themselves, were the only four girls in the entire Computer Science program at MIT, so naturally they had gravitated towards one another. While they spanned different years, they had all remained friends post-graduation and made it a point to get together three times a year to catch up. This time, the girls all traveled to Felicity's apartment with their sleeping bags and bottles of wine to spend a weekend hitting the nightlife scene in Starling.
In fact, they had just returned to Felicity's apartment after spending the majority of their night in the VIP lounge at Verdant, courtesy of one Oliver Queen. The Oliver Queen that was Felicity's boss. The Oliver Queen with the perfect abs and the gorgeous baby blues. The Oliver Queen that Felicity was half in love with. Maybe whole in love with. The Oliver Queen that the other girls would just not shut up about.
"God I'd like to get a piece of that."
"Oh, please, Amy. You'd like to get a piece of pretty much any guy with a decent set of equipment." Veronica shot back, rolling her eyes at the redhead's comment.
Amy narrowed her eyes at Veronica, almost menacingly, until she broke into a giggle and responded, "Accurate. Except for the additional requirement that he must also know what he's doing with said equipment. Otherwise, what's the point? If I can't find a serious relationship, I'm at least going to have fun getting into bed with insanely hot men."
"Well, you're not going to have any luck with Oliver Queen on that front, Ames. The only bed that boy will be getting into is Felicity's." Kara grinned and caught Felicity's eye. She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at the blonde.
"Oh no. No, no, no. There will be absolutely no bed time for Oliver. I mean, no time in my bed. Certainly he has a bed time, right? Not that a grown man has a bed time. Or that I would know about it. I'm not his mother. Although, with his mother's involvement in the Glades thing, I bet she has more to worry about than what time Oliver makes it to bed. If he even makes it to his bed rather than whatever gorgeous, model-like woman he meets at the club. Then I'm sure they have a bed time. Only not for sleeping. And – shutting up now." Felicity turned beet red. Even though they were her friends, she still couldn't curb the babbling around them when they brought up a topic that made her nervous.
"Who was closest to 27 seconds in the pool?" Amy questioned Kara and Veronica. Kara raised her hand with a smile and held out her other to grasp the $20 bills being thrust at her. Felicity's brow furrowed in confusion as she looked between all three of her friends.
"When you were talking with Oliver while we waited outside the club to get a taxi, we took a bet on how long the babble would be when we brought up you sleeping with Oliver Queen. I had 28 seconds. Amy guessed 22 and Veronica had 32. I won. Thanks for that, by the way." She put her arm around Felicity's shoulders and kissed her cheek.
"So, when did you start sleeping with him?" Veronica asked while pulling a t-shirt on over her bra. The other girls were all changing out of their club clothes and into their sleepwear while sipping on their glasses of wine, but Felicity's clothing was all in her bedroom, so she had yet to even remove her heels.
She turned a brighter shade of red. "We haven't slept together. We won't sleep together."
"But not because you don't want to, right Lix?" Amy made a show of fanning herself with her hand. "Because damn that boy is fine."
"He's also my boss. And so far out of my league. Like in the mesosphere when I'm in the crust."
"I didn't hear a denial in there, Lix. Just a lot of excuses. And ones that aren't true, at that." Veronica gave her best mom-glare impression. "You are seriously hot. Sizzling. SMOAKING." She dissolved into drunken laughter.
Felicity pursed her lips. "Tell him that. He thinks I'm cute." She spat that last word like it was a curse. She took a long sip of her red wine. "You know what's cute? Bunny rabbits, puppies, babies, little sisters. No one wants to sleep with their little sister. Because, ick, right? I mean, Thea's sweet and all. And actually, Roy totally wants to sleep with her. But that's because she's not his little sister and he doesn't think of her like that. I hope. Because again, ick. UGH – not the point. The point is, Oliver thinks of me as cute. You don't want to rip the clothes off of cute. You want to screw the Victoria's Secret Angels, not the pathetic IT girl that can't stop herself from incessantly babbling about the most embarrassing things."
"I'm sorry, but that man was undressing you in his mind all night tonight. You cannot tell me he doesn't think you're sexy as hell with the way he was looking at you. But, if you think he needs to be told, we'll do that. Or we'll show him." Kara smirked and pretended to twirl a mustache on her face, alluding to her evil plans.
"I don't think I like where this is going."
"Then drink some more wine. Because this is happening." Kara scrambled up onto her feet, pushed her wine glass into Felicity's hands, and ran down the hallway to the spare bedroom where the girls all had their suitcases. When she returned, Felicity downed the rest of the wine from the glass in her hands because Kara was carrying her high-end digital camera.
While all of the girls studied Computer Science in MIT, not all of them had gone onto careers that matched. Amy had paired her Computer Science program with a double-major in Linguistics, and was now developing natural language software for artificial intelligence applications at Apple. She was actually one of the driving forces behind Siri. Veronica was the most recent graduate of MIT and had just accepted a position as part of the website development and cyber security department for Wayne Enterprises.
And Kara. Kara had fought with her parents during her undergraduate to get a double-major in Photography and Computer Science. The compromise was that she had to agree to get her Master's in "something practical" which is how she'd met Felicity in the MIT graduate program for Computer Science. While all four girls were best friends, Felicity and Kara were the closest because they had entered the MIT Master's program at the same time. Instead of pursuing that as a career, Kara had focused on her art. Much to her parents' chagrin, she had done extremely well for herself. She was a rising star in the art world, with most of her photos being urban settings or natural landscapes. Many well-known companies throughout the United States had actually sought her out to take photos for their websites, but she also had many art shows throughout the west coast, where her non-commissioned works sold well, making up the same percentage of her total profit as the commissioned ones. Felicity had actually helped Kara get her first show by hacking an Art Dealer's calendar and setting up a meeting with Kara to discuss showing her work.
All of that is to say, when Kara brings out the camera, she means business.
She gently set the camera down on the dining room table, ventured to Felicity's wine rack to pull out another bottle, and opened it. She went around to each of the four women, pouring more into their glasses, and raised her glass to get everyone's attention.
"I have an announcement to make and I think this is the perfect time to do it. I actually came into Starling a week ago and have been scouting different locations. I finally found the perfect spot for rent here, and I will be opening my own, permanent art gallery and studio over in the North District. I'm not going to move here or anything, I'll still keep my apartment in Coast City, but I will be travelling here a little more when I do certain shows. I've already moved supplies into the studio portion, along with some furniture and backdrops to use for shoots."
At this, the other three girls gave a round of congratulatory squeals and hugs. They all extracted promises for invitations to every show, and they drank their wine in a toast to Kara's continued success.
"But wait! There's more. I'm going to be doing something totally different from my other works. I've wanted to get better at photographing the body for a long time now and that is what I plan on opening my first show in Starling with – a study of the human body." She glanced at Felicity and gave her a mischievous smirk before continuing, "And Felicity is going to be my guinea pig! Starting now."
The smile immediately fell off of Felicity's face as she began shaking her head back and forth, her eyes wide with fear. Completely ignoring the abject terror on Felicity's face, Kara lunged forward, grabbed her hand, and pulled her up. "Thank you for not taking off your heels yet, Lix, this is going to be awesome." With that, Kara grabbed her camera off the table, not letting go of Felicity's hand, and began dragging Felicity with her.
Felicity could do nothing but allow herself to be pulled along through her apartment. Kara began shutting off lights as she went, mumbling to herself about lighting and creating more drama and mystery for what she wanted to do.
She halted Felicity in the hallway, with the other girls trailing behind to watch whatever was about to happen. Felicity looked back at her friends, eyes pleading with them for a little help. Amy shook her head. Veronica took a little more pity on Felicity and softly said, "Look, it's not like anybody has to see these if you don't want. Kara would never show them to anyone if you asked her not to. You might as well let her play around for a bit. Plus, we'll all model for her if that makes you feel better." Seeing some of the tension leave her friend's frame, Veronica added, "Plus, she's wasted. The pictures probably won't even come out very well anyway."
"I HEARD THAT!" Kara yelled as she flicked on the light to the spare bedroom. "My pictures always come out well. Haven't you heard? I'm FAMOUS for them." She adopted a British accent for the word famous making all the girls laugh.
Kara returned to the hallway, leaving the door to the spare bedroom hanging open into the hallway as well. She got down on her knees and looked through her camera lens. She took a few test shots to get all of her settings right for the effect she wanted, then stood up, hugged Felicity and nudged her toward the door. "It's going to be fine. You won't even see your face for what I have planned for you tonight. Just trust me, Lix. Please?"
Felicity looked into the pouting brown eyes of her best friend. Well, her best friend outside of her boys. Her public best friend? That sounded weird. Maybe she'd had a little more wine than she thought. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as she considered the girl before her. Did she trust her? Implicitly. Sighing heavily, she relented. "Fine. But no one sees them unless I approve of it first, deal?"
"Duh."
Kara pulled Felicity a little further from the door, then directed her to stand with her feet shoulder width apart, heels turned in a bit. She did as she was ordered, and Kara sunk to her knees in the hallway. She heard a couple of clicks. Then Kara had her turn to her side, one foot slightly in front of the other. A few more clicks. They went through a few positions. Then, Kara stopped them, looked through the pictures, and made a few noises of dissatisfaction that had Felicity's ears burning in embarrassment.
"Stop it, Lix. It's not you. I just don't like the poses or the way the light's hitting your legs. Your legs look phenomenal tonight, by the way. Let me just try one more thing." Kara came up behind her, positioned her so she was facing the door again, and then bent down to adjust her legs. She had Felicity stand straight up on her right foot with the toe pointed toward the open room, then gently grabbed her left ankle so that it placed slightly behind her right foot, ankles crossed with only her toe touching the ground. Her left leg was slightly bent to accommodate the precarious angle. The heel of her four-inch pumps was lifted another few inches off the ground. Finally, Kara seemed satisfied and told Felicity not to move a muscle.
She bent back down and Felicity heard another round of clicks. There were significantly more this time. Then there was a pause, she could hear Kara mumbling about some adjustments. And then, "OH! Black and white. That's what this needs." A few more clicks.
"Holy shit, Lix. These are hot. I think Amy will agree that they're SMOAKING." Kara showed the series of photos to Veronica and Amy who both proceeded to tell Felicity how incredible her legs looked in the shot.
"I'd do you, and we've already established that I prefer dick."
"Thanks, Amy. I think…"
"It's definitely meant as a compliment, hon. MY TURN!" Amy crawled over in front of Felicity and proceeded to lay down in front of the open door. Kara took turns barking out orders and taking photos of Amy, and then some of Veronica.
After everyone was tired out, the girls returned to the living room. Felicity smiled at the scene the other three girls made clad in t-shirts, tiny shorts, and fun-colored socks all cuddled together on the floor in front of her sofa. She desperately wanted to join in, but first, removal of clubbing gear was mandatory.
"Okay guys, I'm going to change, wash my face, and take out my contacts. You know where my movies are, or how to access Netflix if you want. Find something good to watch, and I'll be back shortly. BUT NO GAME OF THRONES. I'm not caught up yet." Felicity left the groans behind as she went to go get cleaned up.
Twenty minutes later, holding her hair in one hand at the top of her head and using her other to push her glasses back up her nose, Felicity reemerged from her bedroom into the living room to find Doctor Who playing on her big screen with two girls huddled together on her couch. Wait – two? She was down one. She saw a curly mop of red hair belonging to Amy tangling with the beachy waves of brunette hair that belonged to Kara. She was missing Veronica's spiky blonde (natural, unlike Felicity's) head.
"Where's V?"
Kara turned her head to face Felicity while she answered, "Oh, she just went to the 24-hour CVS down the street to grab a few things that we need. You know, like some Gatorades to replenish our electrolytes, the kettle corn stuff she likes to munch on," she trailed off and mumbled out, "andaburnerphone."
"That trick doesn't work on me. Did you forget I'm the queen of fast-talk? What the hell do we need a burner phone for?"
"To be untraceable. Duh. Didn't you get a Master's in Cyber Security along with one in Computer Science?"
"I know that, smart ass. My question is WHY do we need to be untraceable. What are you planning?"
At that, Amy joined in the conversation. "How did the whole photo shoot thing start? You complained that Oliver wouldn't be with you because he saw you as cute, not sexy. That you weren't his type and that he didn't want to rip your clothes off. We're going to fix that."
"Wha – How – Huh?"
A knock sounded on the door and Amy jumped up to let Veronica back into the apartment, leaving Felicity to glare at Kara.
Veronica and Amy came back in and Veronica handed out the different bottles of Gatorade she had grabbed. Then she pulled the new phone out of the bag and opened it.
"Guys – burner phones are awesome these days. I grabbed a Samsung Galaxy because I know how you prefer the Android OS, Lix. Sorry Ames – we all love Siri though. If we could take Siri and stick her into Android, we'd be golden. Anyway. The camera is perfect for what we need. 16 megapixels, decent photo editing software. On a phone camera. This is a far cry from when we used to use burners on campus when we did those crazy pranks. Remember how crappy those phones were compared to the actual plan phones? And it's only been a few years!"
Amy grabbed her computer from under the couch, opened it up, and plugged the phone in. "I'm just going to do a bit of personalization." She did air quotes. It's like when Felicity said she would borrow the FBI's facial recognition software. She began typing quickly onto her keyboard. "And – voila! Now every message will be routed through multiple sources all over the world when sending. I've also updated the encryption on the phone, and the lock screen so that if the wrong password is entered more than three times, the phone becomes a pretty paperweight. Plus, I've upgraded the delete features so that the memory is overwritten four times with blank space when you delete something from the phone."
"Thanks for going through all this trouble, V, but I'm not using this phone to contact Oliver."
All three girls leveled stares at Felicity. "You will." Kara sounded extremely confident.
"No. I won't. Seriously. What does it matter if the phone is untraceable if he sees my face. He's going to know it's me."
"That's kind of the point, babe. You said the problem is he thinks you're cute. Trust me – you send him pics like this, and that's not a problem anymore. Plus, from what we all saw tonight, Oliver's head over heels for you already, so this would just be a push in the right direction. The security measures are so no one else finds out you're sending your boss dirty pictures."
"Guys. No. He doesn't like me like that. I'm not his type. Seriously. He goes for the models. Thin, waif-y types. Stunningly perfect hair, perfect makeup applications. We're friends. Good friends, which is probably what you saw when he looked at me tonight. He cares about me – sure. But trust me, it's all very platonic between us. And that's all it will ever be."
Kara shrugged, willing to compromise a bit to get the ball rolling on this project. "Fine. Then we'll torment him with sexy pictures without him knowing who they are of. We'll be careful to keep all identifying features out of the pictures – no face, lips, hair, industrial piercings – but still send the pictures just to drive him a little crazy. So you can see and know, just for your own peace of mind, that he also finds you sexy. Even if he doesn't know it's you. Deal?"
This is the part she mentioned earlier. The wine making it seem like a good idea. Well, the wine and the shots at Verdant earlier. It would be nice to screw with Oliver a bit. And she knew he wouldn't come to her for help tracking down whoever was sending him dirty pictures. And Kara had a point – it would be nice to know that he found her attractive.
She can't believe she's agreeing to this. "I can't believe I'm agreeing to this. Fine. A few pictures, here and there." Cue the excited squeaks. "We'll have to time delay some of the messages, too, so he'll get them when we're together, effectively ruling me out as a possibility. I never want him to find out about this."
At Felicity's acquiescence, Kara grabbed the computer from Veronica and plugged in her camera. She pulled up the pictures she'd taken earlier that night and smiled at Felicity. She copied one of the pictures onto the phone and attached it to a text message. She grabbed Felicity's phone off the table and pulled up Oliver's contact info, punching it into the recipient line.
"We're starting with this one."
Felicity looked at the picture on the phone's screen. It did look hot. She nodded her consent.
Instead, Kara pushed the phone into Felicity's hands. "You do the honors."
Her hands shook slightly, but she hit the SEND button. The MESSAGE SENT notification popped up on the phone's LED screen. Felicity's stomach dropped.
She stared wide-eyed at her friends, wondering how they could have convinced her to do something this insane. The girls removed the phone from her hands and pulled her to the floor where a pile of pillows and blankets had been set up for their adult sleepover. They all cuddled together on the floor and someone started up Doctor Who again.
Across town, Oliver picked up his phone when it vibrated. He had been trying to sleep on the futon in the lair, but hadn't been able to get his mind to turn off. Visions of Felicity in that tight, electric blue dress she wore out dancing tonight kept flashing through his head. He ran his hand across his face as he remembered how great she smelled and how badly he had wanted to reach out and touch her, pull her body into his and wrap his arms around her while grinding his hips into hers so she could feel what she did to him, how much he wanted her. He thought about the slender curve of her neck, how badly he wanted to lean his head down and run his lips across her pulse point, then bite down and mark her so every man in the club knew to keep his hands off. But she wasn't taken, because he was too much of a stubborn jackass to tell her how he felt. Instead, he just pushed her away and had meaningless sex with people like Isabel, only hurting Felicity more. Hurting her to keep her safe. Always to keep her safe. He had to keep her away from him; it was dangerous to be someone he cared for.
Sighing, he sat up and looked at his phone, noticing a media message from a number he didn't recognize. There was an attachment and he clicked to open it, vowing not to tell Felicity so that he wouldn't get another lecture on the safety of opening things from unknown senders. He could just hear her saying, "That's how you get viruses, Oliver," followed by a 30-second babble about the STDs of the computer world.
He grabbed his water bottle while the message was downloading. The attachment opened. He choked.
