Felicity Smoak and Curious Case of Tequila
"I never said that," Oliver protested. Felicity scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Yes, you did. That night in your office, I know there were plenty of them with Isabel scolding you," he winced at the reminder of Isabel, he didn't like remembering how obtuse he'd been back then in regards to his feelings for Felicity, luckily she had missed it continued on. "But Roy indicated he had information for you and I broke into your conversation. I used the pretext of you having plans that evening with Mr. Harper. I'm hundred percent sure Isabel didn't buy it and you said –"
"We are going to have to work on your excuses," he supplied, recalling the evening she was referencing. It had been the one before they left for Russia and Oliver hated thinking about that trip. Recollecting the look of shocked hurt on Felicity's face after he opened his hotel room door to find her about to knock and Isabel had sauntered out, dress not completely zipped, stating that Felicity's services shouldn't be required that evening. Remembering that always twisted his gut and made his heart ache.
If anyone would ask when he fell in love with Felicity, Oliver wasn't sure he could pinpoint an exact moment. The truth was he'd been slowly falling in love with her from the moment they met; but it was that night in Russia, feeling her disappointment and desperately wishing he could erase the last hour of his life more than anything else in the world. That was when he had finally acknowledged that he had more than friendly feelings for her. It had taken him months to accept that fact and by then he'd been involved with Sara because while they were complicated individuals, there was nothing truly complicated about them being together.
Oliver couldn't help but be grateful that Felicity was oblivious to his inner turmoil, as she rolled on, sipping from her third margarita. Red wine she could nip at non-stop for days with little to no effect, but a little bit of tequila in her system and Felicity's inhibitions lowered. Quickly. There had been karaoke in Texas, swiping a pack of gum from a gas station in Kentucky, skinny dipping in a lake in Pennsylvania, and now rambling about his horrible excuses at bar in Massachusetts.
"To recap," she hiccupped, "I spilled a latte on it along with a bad neighborhood – when you just met me! Granted Dig laid the MySpace reference on me, but your surprise about Derek Reston having worked at the steel factory, you so could have covered that better. And I have yet to meet that buddy Steve of yours who is so into archery or that other rich, bored friend who used military-grade cryptographic security protocols for a scavenger hunt. Though I am pretty sure the lamest excuse you used was when you gave me syringe and told me it was because you ran out of sports bottles. Dig didn't even try to work with that one, he just walked away."
With each more outlandish excuse she reminded him of Oliver felt the tension ease and humor infuse his body. He knew this was leading somewhere; Felicity on tequila always did, as she insisted on doing something she'd never had before when she drank the strong liquor. He was grinning at her when he asked, "Do you want me to apologize for those truly horrible excuses?"
Her unfocused, slightly glassy blue eyes finally settled on him. She titled her head, like she did that first day in her office, and smiled at him sheepishly. "Nope," she answered, popping the 'p'. "I love every ridiculous line you fed me, Oliver."
He huffed out a laugh and cupped her around the waist, pulling her closer to him. The noise of bar around them faded as he lost himself in the presence of the remarkable woman next to him. "I said something similar to Dig once," she confided, leaning closer to him. "Pointed out your preposterous explanations and told him that I may be blonde but, I'm not that blonde."
"Because you dye it," he teased.
She attempted to glare at him in her inebriated state, but wasn't able to pull it off. She looked more adorable than angry. "Watch it Queen," she warned. If she hadn't slurred the words he might have taken her seriously. Might have. Still he forced the smile from his face so Felicity would know he taking her seriously, well at least trying to anyhow.
"Good," she nodded. "Now, choose one."
"What?"
"Choose one of those feeble excuses and lay it on me," she instructed.
Oliver quirked a brow, but he was too fascinated by her and where this may be going not do as she asked. "My coffee shop is in a bad neighborhood."
Felicity snorted, and full belly laughed followed it. The sound of her laughter rang out through the bar; bring the attention of people closest to their table on them. "How … can … you … still … say … that … with … a straight … face?" she asked, though her peals of laughter which were slowly dying down.
He shrugged his shoulders, and her wide smile managed to spread even more, delight shining through every aspect of her face. "Again."
"Felicity," he sighed.
"I didn't mean to laugh, I wanted …"
"You wanted to what?"
"To call you on it. I kept promising myself that next time you came to me with a crazy request and obvious lie as to why you needed something done I would, but you'd look at me with that face" she said cupping his cheek, "and those muscles," her eyes drifted down over his body, "and well, you're just too pretty and I'm weak."
When her gaze met his again he reminded her, "You have though. Maybe not on those clearly pathetic excuses, but you have called me out on numerous things over the years." Oliver purred the words, remembering how Felicity standing up to him always caused things to flare between them. "In fact," he leaned in close to whisper into her ear, "I wouldn't mind rewriting how one of those times ended."
Desire flooded her eyes, turning them lavender. "Oh really?" she asked, before licking her lips. Unable to resist, Oliver leaned in and melded his mouth against hers. Their tongues tangled in a languorously but intense kiss, as they leaned into each other. When his lungs were all but screaming for air he pulled back just enough to rest his forehead against hers as they both gulped in air.
"Really," he answered when he managed to catch his breath.
"Can it be the time I locked you in and you told me that I wasn't the only one who knew how to reboot your system?"
Oliver let out a strangled breath. It still caught him off guard, the various sides of the woman in his arms: adorable nerd, bombshell beauty, bitch with wifi, and now flirtatious minx. He knew without a doubt that he was the luckiest man alive being able to love and be loved by her. The grin that spread across his face was lecherous and reminiscent of his Ollie Queen days, but that was all right, because Felicity loved every side of him. "Oh, absolutely."