A/N: Written for a friend on tumblr. And the part in italics came from her. Hope you enjoy!
Save Tonight
All day her phone kept buzzing. She would look at it and smile, type something out, before her attention would return to Oliver and Diggle. Neither of them knew why, and whenever they would ask she would change subjects on them.
"Why does your phone keep going off Felicity?" Oliver asked later that night after training. Felicity looked at the clock and saw that it was after midnight finally.
"It's all my family and friends wishing me a happy birthday. Something I hoped you two would have remembered before now. But I understand, Diggle you have been busy with Lyla and the baby, and Oliver you've been busy trying to regain your company, it's alright. Well it's late guys and I'm tired. Night." She told the two before leaving the foundry.
Oliver met Diggle's eyes as Felicity left— a silent plea between the pair of them that the other had somehow not forgotten. Oliver always had the ability to think quick on his feet, and he used this to his advantage now.
"Can you stall her?" Oliver asked. "Five minutes, that's all I need."
Diggle nodded, grabbing his jacket and heading for the stairs, taking them two at a time. Oliver was quick on his heels, although they went separate directions once they reached the top. Oliver went to the left, toward the store room, where a certain bottle of wine had been sitting in an unmarked box for the last couple of years, waiting for the perfect moment. Oliver had to admit that if there was one, this was probably it.
He tucked the bottle of wine into the passenger seat of his Porsche and sped off, taking roads far too fast. He knew that if Diggle was able to hold her up for a few moments he would have no trouble getting back to her house before she got there, and he was right. He parked up the road a ways, in the opposite direction from where Felicity would come from. When her headlights turned onto the dark road, he wasn't sure why his heart leapt in his chest, or why his hands felt clammy. He hadn't thought the plan through any further than this. He had no idea what he was going to do now that he was here.
It was true that things had been off between them for a while now. Ever since their date. No, he thought. Further back than that… since the night in the mansion when he'd told her that he loved her. Neither of them had discussed what it meant after that. Even on their one and only date it was a taboo topic. But now Felicity was with Ray, and Oliver was nothing more than a bystander in her personal life. Maybe that was why he felt so anxious.
She walked up the sidewalk after parking the car. She had a brown paper bag in one hand, but she was directly in front of him before she noticed him.
"I have pepper spray in my purse," she said, voice low.
Oliver stood. "Felicity it's me," he answered.
"I know," she said, a hint of amusement in her voice. "And pepper spray is the least of what you deserve for not only forgetting my birthday, but showing up at my house at almost 1:00 in the morning."
Oliver held out the bottle of wine. "I'm sorry I forgot."
"Is that a 1982 Lafite Rothschild?" Felicity asked, her voice piqued.
Oliver cleared his throat. "I was… saving it… for a rainy day."
She shook her head. "I really couldn't."
He stepped toward her, his face suddenly illuminated by the street light down by the road. "You can," he said, his eyes and voice soft. Another step closer. "And you will."
Felicity gulped at their closeness. It was the most time they'd spent in the same place at the same time completely alone in several months. She took the bottle of wine from him and bit her bottom lip before replying. "This… isn't the kind of wine you drink alone."
This time it was Oliver's turn to gulp, his adam's apple bobbing before he nodded his head, once. Felicity unlocked the door, flipping on the light in the entrance way and set down the paper bag and the bottle of wine as she kicked out of her shoes and shrugged out of her jacket. It wasn't the first time Oliver had been inside her house, but it felt different now, more intimate with just the single light on, the darkness closing them in on three sides.
He was beginning to regret this decision; the memories that their closeness pulled to the front of his mind. Like their first and only shared kiss, his lips pressed to hers as she lay nearly lifeless and covered in blood in the lair. He hadn't been able to stop himself then, when he thought he was losing her for good. And now, feelings were resurfacing— feelings that he wasn't sure he'd be able to keep in check considering the late hour and the dimmed lights and the potential intoxication.
"What's in the bag?" Oliver asked, closing and locking the door behind him. He didn't mean it to be presumptuous, but the hollow click of the deadbolt seemed to echo between them.
"A pint of mint chip," Felicity answered, turning back to meet his eyes with a sad smile. "Ray's out of town on business and I figured it would be an appropriate celebration."
Oliver leaned against the door. The air between them was thick with electricity and he wasn't sure if he wanted it to be a one sided feeling, or if he hoped she felt it too.
"Do you want me to put it in the freezer?"
"I got it," she said, picking up the bag and padding out to the kitchen. "You can grab the wine though," she called over her shoulder.
Oliver felt his stomach flip flop again. He grabbed the wine bottle and headed for the kitchen behind her. The light filtered through the darkened hallway behind him, until Felicity found the switch in the kitchen and flipped it on. She handed him a corkscrew and a decanter, and then pulled out two spoons. Instead of sticking the ice cream in the freezer, she removed the lid and headed to the living room. Oliver poured the wine into the decanter and then followed her with it and two glasses.
He found her seated on the couch with her legs tucked up under her, her fingers flying through her hair as she wound the blonde curls into a neat bun at the back of her head. She picked up a remote, but instead of turning on the tv, she clicked on the stereo system and found the track she wanted.
The easy melody filtered through the silence between them, and it wasn't long before Oliver recognized the tune. Save Tonight by Eagle Eye Cherry. You and me and a bottle of wine he thought the words couldn't be much more fitting.
"Don't laugh," Felicity said with a sheepish smile. "It's been my favorite song for as long as I can remember. It always helps me unwind and relax after a stressful day." She dipped her spoon into the pint of Mint Chip and dug out a sizable bite. "This does the trick too," she said, sticking the spoon in her mouth.
She handed Oliver the other spoon and offered him the pint. He took a small bite, recalling a conversation with Laurel when he'd first returned back from the island. Something about thinking about doing one thing with her on the island… sharing ice cream. In his dreams on the island, this is how things always were with Laurel. Easy when they clearly should have been difficult and complicated and messy.
But that's not how they ever turned out in real life. There was only one woman that Oliver had found that ease with. And she was sitting across from him at one in the morning listening to her favorite song and eating icecream for her birthday. He hadn't realized it, not fully anyway, until the night he'd told her he loved her. It was like he didn't realize how true the words were until they'd escaped his lips. And how they'd even gotten out in the first place he had no idea. It hadn't been part of the plan. But standing there in the empty corridor, knowing that he was possibly leading both of them to their deaths, all he knew was that he had to tell her, no matter what the repercussions.
"Are the flowers from Ray?" Oliver asked, not sure why he was so interested in knowing, but unable to stop himself just the same.
Felicity shook her head. "My dad actually…" she rolled her eyes. "It's literally the only time I hear from him. I should start sending him back a thank you card 'thanks for letting me know you're still alive.'" She quirked a brow at him, as if to gauge his reaction to her plan.
Oliver smiled, tilting his head to take her in from a different angle. He hadn't realized how much he'd missed this side of her these last few months. Yes, he knew something was off between them, and he knew he didn't like it… but he didn't realize how much he'd needed this part of her until it was staring him in the face again.
When the room fell into darkness, neither move for the briefest instant. But the CD continued to play, so they knew the power hadn't gone out completely.
"That stupid light burns out all the time," Felicity huffed. "Want to light those candles and I'll see if I've got a replacement bulb?"
Oliver fumbled around on the coffee table. He knew he'd seen the candles and matches earlier. He found them and lit the pillar candles, the room taking on a warm yellow-orange glow.
"So it looks like we're stuck with candles," Felicity said, re-emerging from the kitchen a few moments later, an empty light bulb box in one hand. "Guess who hasn't made it to the store yet to pick up new ones?"
"It's fine," he answered, feeling that electric twinge course through him again as she sat back down beside him.
"Oliver?" she questioned after a moment of silence had passed between them.
"Hmm?"
"Why did you really come here tonight?"
He met her eyes in a steadying gaze. It was a loaded question to be certain, but he didn't know what answer she was looking for. "I felt terrible for forgetting," he answered, raking his fingers through his hair. "I just wanted you to know that you deserve to have the best birthday."
Felicity seemed to approve of that answer, because she dug back into the Mint Chip and began regaling him with stories of her childhood birthday parties. Like the time her mother couldn't get off work and a six year old Felicity and ten of her closest friends were treated to an all-you-can-eat buffet at the Bellagio. Oliver countered with a tale of a fifth grade party at a hockey rink (which Oliver had begged for) ending up in a trip to the emergency room with a nearly severed finger.
"Looks like you've been getting yourself injured for far too many years," Felicity stated. The words held more weight and double meanings than perhaps initially intended, although they had nearly polished off the bottle of wine with nothing more in their stomachs than some ice cream, so he couldn't be sure.
Oliver cleared his throat and nodded. Somehow, the CD had found it's way back to Felicity's favorite track, and Save Tonight once again filtered through the room.
They weren't sure if it was the song or the wine or the soft candle glow, but somehow they had ended up in the middle of her living room floor, holding each other close as they swayed gently as the melody floated through the air. Both knew in the morning when the spell was broken, that things would have to go back to the way they were. But right then, in that moment, with the warm yellow orange glow basking them both in its light, with two hearts beating as one, they realized that some moments changed things forever. And this just may be one of those moment.
When the song was over, Felicity lifted her head from Oliver's shoulder, and he stared down into her eyes. He found himself wanting to kiss her, and nearly doing so.
"Oliver, will you stay with me tonight?' she asked, tears brimming in her eyes. "I just… I don't want to be alone tonight."
He knew that he would regret it. He knew that every moment they spent together would be ingrained in his mind only to repeat over and over every time he saw her with Ray. But he couldn't bring himself to deny her this one request. And so he stayed. He told himself this would help him get over her. Even when all they did was lay in bed beside each other and sleep, that it would be enough to let her go for good. He told himself it would be easier to see her the following day, to watch her with Ray, to watch her with anyone other than himself. But if there was one thing Oliver knew about himself, it was that he never was a good liar.
And so, when she curled up into him, with her head on his chest, he forced himself to remember every detail of it. He remembered the way her head instinctively found that spot right over his heart, he remembered the smell of her shampoo and the way the moonlight made her blonde curls glow. He memorized the feel of her skin on his and the quiet contented sighs she made right before she fell asleep.
The morning came before Oliver found sleep. He couldn't bring himself to lose a single second of their time together. And when he tore himself from her bed, it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to do.
Felicity woke with a slightly fuzzy head and an unclear recollection of what had transpired the night before. Had she really dreamed that Oliver had spent the night with her? That she'd fallen asleep on his chest? That they'd danced and drank red wine and had eaten ice cream to celebrate her birthday? She found a bottle of water on the bedside table that she hadn't remembered putting there, and she'd swallowed a large gulp before noticing the slip of paper that was underneath it. Simply stated, the note read Save Tonight -O