Chapter 2

Felicity plastered on a fake smile when everyone at the Queen mansion jumped out and yelled surprise, rolling her eyes at the thought of Oliver throwing her a surprise party that she obviously knew about. The man in question came downstairs in that moment, gracing her with a huge grin and giving her a hug. She closed her eyes at the feel of being in his strong arms, but all good things must come to an end as he soon released her.

"Happy Birthday, Felicity, so, what do you think? I hope I didn't go too overboard."

She glanced around at her surroundings, the place honestly looked like a circus threw up, laughing when she caught sight of the piñata in the distance. "It's perfect."

He was pleased for that, pecking her on the cheek. "Glad you approve, I got all your favorite foods. Oh, wait until you see the cake, every inch is covered in chocolate."

After talking for a bit, Oliver went to mingle with a few of the other guests, leaving her by the buffet table. It was enough food to feed an army. She took a sip of her punch, smiling when Barry headed over to her.

"Wow, he really went all out, didn't he? I'm actually surprised he invited me, we don't know each other that well."

Felicity shrugged. "He knows you're my friend, although I see a few people that I'm not even familiar with. That's Oliver for you, always the popular one." She saw Oliver flirting with Iris West and wondered if she would be his next flavor of the week. It was awful of her to think that about her best friend, but he had basically always had a girl at his side for as long as she could remember. Felicity was the only one he never looked at as someone other than a friend. And once you were stuck in the friend zone, that was pretty much all you were going to get. Hell, it was most likely even worse than that, he probably saw her as a sister. Nothing she did could ever change that, no matter how much she wanted to. Felicity wasn't a virgin because she hadn't had opportunities, she'd had plenty, but she just couldn't see her first time being with any of those guys. She wanted it to be special, with someone she truly loved, even though she gave Caitlin a different story. Unfortunately, there was only one guy who held that title. It was definitely time to get drunk.

Oliver helped a giggling Felicity up to his room once everyone left, placing her on his bed and making sure she didn't fall off. "Okay, I think you need to get some rest."

She shook her head. "Not sleepy, I was just having some fun."

"You were about to give the entire room a striptease. I've seen you have a few drinks before, but you've never gotten that carried away."

"I'm twenty-one now, isn't that what you're supposed to do? I'm so tired of living this sheltered life, never doing anything fun because I'm afraid people wouldn't approve. You go crazy all the time and never care what anyone thinks. What's so wrong with me loosening up a bit?" she wondered.

Oliver sat down next to her. "There's nothing wrong with that, but I know from experience it usually leads to nothing good. Get some sleep, you'll feel like hell in the morning."

Felicity groaned, starting to sober up a bit. "Did I really almost take off my clothes?"

He smiled. "You only got as far as your pants, I carried you up here before anything else could come off."

"God, that's so humiliating. I may never leave this room again."

"I wouldn't mind having a roommate," Oliver told her, only partly serious.

She decided to change the subject. "I saw you with Iris, is that a thing now?"

He shrugged. "We agreed to do something this weekend, but I doubt anything will come from it. She just wouldn't leave me alone until I gave in."

"I know how awful that must have been for you. She's such a huge fangirl, it must be such a burden to be so loved and adored."

"If it's with the right person, I would have no complaints."

"And just who is the right person for Oliver Queen?" Felicity asked, really curious about his answer. "You've been with all kinds of girls, I'm starting to think you don't even have a preference. Have you ever been in love before, or is that too foreign an emotion for you?"

Oliver was stunned. "Where is this coming from? I think being drunk has turned you bitter, you should probably lay off for a while."

Felicity felt tears in her eyes, not about to give in until she was alone. "Could you please leave now? You're right, I need some sleep."

Oliver figured it would be best to do as she said, the last thing he wanted was to get into an argument with her. This wasn't the time or place. He got up to leave, turning one last time when she spoke again.

"Thanks for the party."

He smiled, leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

Oliver took a sip of his coffee the next morning, smirking when a bedraggled Felicity entered the kitchen. "How are you feeling?"

She took a seat across from him, closing her eyes and waiting for the room to stop spinning. "At one point, I think I turned completely inside out."

"You want some breakfast? I have eggs and bacon."

Felicity covered her mouth at just the thought of food. "I think I'll pass. Did I say anything embarrassing last night? I vaguely remember going up to your room, but it's all a blur after that."

Oliver shook his head, taking his plate over to the sink. "No, you just went right to sleep."

She sighed in relief, placing her head down on the table. "I'm so not going to work today. I think I'll just die right here, sorry I didn't help with the clean up."

"It was your party, I didn't expect you to. Don't worry about it, I'm just glad you had fun."

She laughed. "And no one got arrested like on your birthday, wait, no one got arrested, right?"

He chuckled. "There were no arrests, I kept it somewhat clean this time."

"That's good to know, did you have plans today?"

"Just going to a ball game with Diggle and Roy, then to dinner with Iris. I couldn't get out of it."

Felicity nodded, remembering something about the two of them flirting last night. Iris was really pretty, she was surprised that Oliver would want to get out of it.

"I should probably get dressed now, you can stay here until you start to feel better. If you wanted to talk, you know I'm always here for you. You don't usually drink like that, so I can't help but think that something is wrong. We always tell each other everything."

She smiled sadly. "Things change, but I promise you that I'm fine. If something serious was going on, you would be the first person I'd tell." Felicity lost her smile when he walked away. There was definitely something she wanted to talk to him about, but didn't know how to bring it up without ruining their friendship.