Updated A/N: So originally I was just going to post this first one-shot, but I got such lovely feedback that I decided to start adding the other "first kiss" scenarios I came up with and this became a little collection.

The Worth of a Kiss

Arrow Christmas Ficlet

In the end, really, it was all Thea's fault.

When Oliver had asked his sister about holding the Queen Consolidated Holiday Party at Verdant his sister had easily agreed, with one condition. She wanted to dovetail the event with a fundraiser for a teen center in the Glades.

In Felicity's opinion, Thea's idea for that fundraiser was as diabolical as it was simple.

When they arrived at the club they discovered that Thea had hung what felt like about a thousand sprigs of mistletoe across the ceiling, and any time she caught a couple under it she (and inevitably the crowd around them) demanded a kiss. The gentleman in question then had to donate $20 or the "value of the kiss" to Thea's charity. She called it "Merry Kiss-Mas."

Seriously, no guy could refuse without looking like a major jerk, and none of the donations had been less than fifty bucks. Thea had stopped the pounding holiday music at one point to declare that a man had just donated $500 after kissing his wife - "A hundred dollars for every year of happiness." Felicity had to admit, that one had made her a little misty.

She had done her very best to avoid both the mistletoe and most of the party, thinking how odd it was to see the club filled with office workers instead of socialites. Under normal circumstances, the chance to drink the Queen's expensive champagne and eat the oddly beautiful little food might have been fun. However, after their particularly grueling week in Arrow-land the flashing red and green lights and oddly techno holiday carols were driving her a little crazy.

She saw Oliver, with a fake smile barely hiding his own exhaustion, stuck in a conversation with the head of accounting.

"Excuse me," she said, in her best official assistant voice. "I need to speak with Mr. Queen for a moment."

"Thanks for the save," he said in her ear as she pulled him away. "I stopped listening five minutes ago."

"No problem," she said, speaking loudly to be heard over the music. "Do you think anyone would notice if we just snuck out of this thing?"

He gave her a flat smile. "Not feeling the holiday spirit? he asked.

"I'm just so tired," she said, unable to even pretend to smile. She usually did her best to hide her fatigue from Oliver and Digg. What they did was difficult. There was no point in whining about it.

A concerned look flashed across his face briefly. "Of course. Why don't you head home?" Then he paused, his frown deepening. "Wait, how are you getting home?"

"Cab," she said quickly. Until that moment she'd forgotten they'd come straight from the office with Digg. However, there were usually cabs around Verdant, so she wasn't too worried.

He nodded. "I'll walk you out."

"You don't…" she protested.

He ignored her, grabbing her elbow and steering her toward the door. She was a little distracted by the feel of his fingers on her skin, and the way he pressed close to her as they made their way through the crowd.

Then, five feet from the door Thea pounced on them. "Merry Kiss-Mas!" she declared, pointing to the ceiling.

Felicity felt Oliver go completely still as she looked up. She was positive Thea had moved this particular bit of annoying foliage at some point during the evening, because Felicity hadn't remembered there being one right in front of the door. She also couldn't believe that Mister-Razor-Sharp-Instincts-Queen would have missed it so easily either.

"Thea," Oliver said, putting on his stern face. "I'm her boss, so I'm not sure it's appropriate to…"

"Oh hell, Ollie." Thea said, her face irritated. "Just kiss the girl and donate some money. It's not that complicated."

Several people around them were looking their way, and one brave, and mostly likely inebriated person said. "Come on, Mr. Queen." Felicity wondered if that guy would have a job on Monday.

Felicity looked at Oliver. He clenched his teeth and shook his head as if in disbelief. Then he said, "Fine." It sounded like the word had been ground out of him.

Before Felicity could decide how she felt about his attitude, he turned around to face her, his hand curling around her bare upper arm. In a voice so quiet she figured only she could hear he said. "Is this…?"

Feeling a bit deer-in-headlights, Felicity managed to nod, and his lips came down on hers. It was brief, only the barest moment of pressure, but she felt a jolt of heat shoot through her. She was acutely aware of the way his fingers tightened gently on her arm, his thumb brushing across her skin even as he pulled back and looked at his sister.

"Happy?" he asked Thea with a pasted-on smile.

Thea grinned and nodded, pulling a pad of paper and a pen out of the pocket of her spangled red skinny jeans. "And how much will you be donating, Mr. Queen?"

"Five thousand dollars," he said his voice carefully nonchalant.

Thea laughed as Felicity gasped. Looking back down at Felicity, Oliver winked. "It's for a good cause," he said, loudly enough for everyone to hear. The crowd around them let out an appreciative cheer.

Then he turned back to Thea. "Can I finish walking her out now?"

"Be my guest," Thea said, still sounding amused.

As Felicity and Oliver made their way out of the noisy club and on to the cold and quiet street, the silence that fell was an uneasy one. Oliver's smile had disappeared and as he raised his arm to hail an empty cab Felicity tried to find something to say. Of course with her that inevitably led to having too much to say. "You don't have to worry about this, Oliver. I know that was just for your sister's benefit and I know that you have lots of money so it doesn't really mean that much, though I'm not saying five-thousand dollars isn't…"

"Felicity," Oliver said sounding slightly strangled. She stopped talking. He opened the door of the cab, and she climbed inside, feeling more awkward than ever.

However, when she looked up to tell him good night, she saw that he had leaned over the open door and was looking down at her. His eyebrows were lowered and he looked upset, but his voice was soft. "I hope you know you're worth a lot more than that to me." Before she could respond he stepped back and closed the door.

In a daze Felicity gave her address to the cab driver, feeling the warmth of the kiss, and his words, all the way home.

A/N: This came out of a writing exercise I in which I was trying to think of a number of possible situations that might lead to a first kiss between the characters in a story I was working on. Naturally, my brain then drifted to Oliver and Felicity and for the fun of it I wrote several "first kiss" scenarios for them as well. This was the most complete and canon compliant of the bunch, so I decided to share. Merry Christmas!