Oliver Queen.
He'd been a thorn in her side for almost two years. Ever since she started at Starling Preparatory Academy on Bright Futures scholarship.
She rolled her eyes as he threw back his head in laughter, his beautiful blue eyes sparkling. Wait what? No, nope she did not think his eyes were beautiful and she sure and heck didn't believe that she could get lost in the ocean that was those eyes. Just those thoughts made her ears burn in anger and she had to keep from stomping her foot. She may be 16 and in the 12th grade but she did not have to act like a child. It was bad enough that Tommy Merlyn always patted her on the head and called her 'little one.'
When she had first started school she had been mostly left alone until the hellions that were Merlyn and Queen entered her life. She was relentlessly teased after she was on their radar.
Little girl, four eyes, (seriously how original?)bug eyes, Gidget (half girl-half midget) nerd, brainiac, crow head, (because of her dyed hair.)
Honestly it could've way worse but she sensed that they held back. She had no idea why. She liked to believe that it was all an act, that they were just trying to be 'those guys'. The typical high school teases. But Oliver Queen leaned in close to the brunette that was hanging on his arm and whispered something in her ear that made her flip her hair over her shoulder and press her body up against his. Her hope deflated like a balloon. Playboy. That's all he was. She grabbed her history book and slammed her locker shut before storming down the hall. She didn't stop to think about why Oliver Queen made her so mad.
And she didn't turn around to see Oliver staring after her, a unreadable expression on his face.
—-
"Smoaky!" She groaned.
"Merlyn, what did I tell you about calling me that?"
"I recall you telling me not too a few times," Tommy replied with a smirk.
"32 times if you want to be exact," Oliver spoke up from his side.
"What are you even doing in here?" She questioned from her place on the bleachers.
Tommy wiggled his eyebrows. "Girls have swimming for gym today, do you really need to ask?"
Her anger sparked. "You're a pig, an absolute, perverted, misogynistic pig." She slammed the book she had been reading shut and stood up from the bleachers intending to storm away. But she should have knew it wouldn't be that easy.
Tommy trailed after her. "Why aren't you swimming?" She ignored him and kept walking. "What? You don't know how?" She picked up her pace.
"Come on Smoaky, don't be like that," he pushed her shoulder lightly and much to her dismay and as cliché as it sounded her foot hit a water patch on the tile floor. Why oh why had she been walking so close to the pools edge?
Neither Tommy nor Oliver had fast enough reflexes to grab her so she barely had time to gasp before her body when tumbling into the pool, her arms and legs flailing. At at the 15 foot deep end too. Her luck couldn't get worse.
Her clothes started to pull her too the bottom and she kicked her legs trying to reach the top. Her air started to run out and her vision started to go fuzzy. There was reason she didn't participate in the swim classes. When she was 8 she had nearly drowned and that had scarred her. 7 years hadn't done anything to the unexplained panic she felt when she thought about that day and how her oxygen had ran out when she was feet from the surface. She had barely known how to swim then and after it happened she had no desire to learn. So she pushed it into her dark box at the back of her mind and filed it away near her daddy issues and her irrational fear of kangaroos.
This is it, she thought. This was where her life ended and all because that fool Merlyn had pushed her into a pool. She hoped he felt miserable and at least was man enough to pay for her hated the thought of her Mom going into even more debt to pay for it. Were her thoughts supposed to be this logical and morbid in a situation like this? Was she seriously thinking about their debt when she was DROWNING?! She really needed to get a life. Oh wait...she was drowning so that probably wouldn't be happening.
Exhaustion took over and her legs stopped kicking. She closed her eyes and hoped it was as peaceful of a death as everyone said it was. But death never came. A arm wrapped around her ribs, dangerously close to the underside of her breast and started pulling her to the surface. Her lungs felt like they were going to burst and just when she thought she was going to become unconscious her head broke the surface. She tried to suck in a breath but all she managed to do was choke. She was pulled from the water by two sets of arms and laid down on the tile floor. Someone turned her over and hit her on the back.
"Breathe Felicity!" The familiar voice said a hit of panic lacing his tone. "Felicity! Please! Breath Dam-" His words cut off when water went spurting from her lungs and she starting coughing. She managed to suck in short breaths between coughs. Her ribs ached, her lungs were still burning and her throat felt like she had swallowed glass. A moment later her back was lifted and someone arms were wrapped around her, raising her body from the floor. She opened her eyes from her coughing fit to meet the blue eyes she both abhorred and loved at the same time.
"Oliver," she croaked.
He visibly sighed and ran his hands through her wet hair. His head hanging slightly. "Thank God."
Oliver's warm body pressed into hers and she couldn't help but think how wonderful he felt. She had a feeling it had nothing to do with her drop in body temperature either. She shook her head violently and pulled away from him. A look flashed in his face that if he had been anyone else she would've called disappointment. But at what? Surely not her pulling away from him. She coughed again wrapping her arms around her aching ribs.
"Felicity. I am so sorry," Tommy said sincerely. His face clouded with remorse and she knew he meant it. Didn't mean that she didn't want to hack into every single one of his bank accounts and make some serious donations.
Oliver jumped up and ran towards Tommy who started to back away with his hands raised. "What were you thinking!" Oliver threw a punch which Tommy dodged. Tommy started backing up in her direction. Oliver shoved a finger into his chest. "You could've killed her you idiot!"
"I said I was sorry," Tommy whined. Oliver gripped the front of his shirt and she knew this time he wouldn't miss when he through a punch. That spurred her to stand up on shaky legs and make her way over to them. Sure she wanted Tommy Merlyn to get a good old fashioned shiner but Oliver was big. 6′1 and all muscle. She was one hundred percent sure that if Oliver succeeded in placing his fist in Merlyn's face he would get more than just a black eye, more like a busted lip, a broken nose and some missing teeth.
And as much as she wanted to just let him do it she couldn't. She was not that kind of person. She grabbed Oliver bicep and his head swung to look at her.
"Stop," she said but it came out barely above a whisper. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Stop, it won't change what happened." Oliver's eyes softened and he let go off Tommy's shirtfront, the tension that was radiating from his body started to drain away. She coughed again and a little more water came up. She covered her mouth.
"We should take you to the nurse, or the hospital." said Oliver. She shook her head. No way was she making her mother pay that huge copay.
"I'll go to the nurse." She said flatly as she started in that direction, her clothes dripping on the floor. She blinked a few times before she realized she could see so she must not have lost her contacts. Tommy grabbed her arm to help her but she shook him off. "I think you've done enough for today." She spat.
"I'm sorry Smoaky." She turned fiery eyes on him.
"Don't call me that!" She roared making both Oliver and Tommy flinch."Just leave me alone!"
She marched from the room drawing curious stares and muffled laughs the whole way to the nurses office which only made her anger boil she had another issue to add to her dark box. She wondered if it was really possible for her to hate someone. She never would have thought so before but the rocky feeling in her gut sure felt like something and it wasn't water.
Two weeks passed and Tommy kept apologizing. Oliver was nowhere in sight during any of his regularly scheduled pleading sessions. She wondered why that was.
"Tommy! Stop. You're only making me angrier by bringing it up again and again. Just let it go." She said as she grabbed three books from her locker which he quickly grabbed from her. "Really? You're going to carry my books?" She asked incredulously with a raised brow. "You do realize what that would look like right?"
He shrugged nonchalantly. "I nearly killed you Smo-" He cut off as she sent him a glare. "I nearly killed you...Felicity and for that I will grovel at your feet until I earn your forgiveness." She rolled her eyes. "What? You don't think I'll do it?" She shook head and he dropped the pile of books he was holding to the floor, making a loud thud echo down the corridor. He dropped to his knees and took one of her hands in his.
"Felicity, dear, beautiful, crow headed Felicity." She huffed but he only smirked. "I am truly sorry and I promise that in turn for your forgiveness I will never call you Smoaky ever again." His eyes conveyed his honesty. She held her breath and just stared down at him. "Please! Please!," He begged. She noticed people were starting to stare. She would make him sweat a little more but she would just be embarrassing herself. She sighed.
"Get up Merlyn, you're forgiven." She said reluctantly.
"Really!" His voice raised with hope.
"Yep, as much as I want to drain your bank account, you're forgiven."
He smiled and kissed her hand. "Thank you!" He jumped to his feet and started kissing her face muttering 'thank you' in between light friendly pecks. She pushed on his chest and couldn't keep the laugh that rang out.
"Okay, Okay, enough of that." She said still chuckling. If there was one thing she could call Tommy it would be persistent. He gave her a final kiss on her cheek and a smile stretched her face at his antics.
It was then she caught Oliver staring at them over Tommy's shoulder. His face looked stormy, and dare she call it, jealous? No way. Tommy followed her gaze and a moment later Oliver turned on his heel and went the opposite direction, stomping down the hall and out of sight. What was that about?
Tommy appeared unbothered by the exchange and he leaned down and retrieved their books from the floor. "I'm still carrying your books though."
The bell rang and she walked alongside him on the way to her class in silence, her thoughts on the blonde haired, blue eyed boy who had always been hard on her and why he had went the opposite direction when his next class was in the room next to hers? And why did she know that? She mentally shook her head and took her books from Tommy when she reached the entryway of her classroom.
"So what do you say? Want to get some Big Belly Burger after school?"
"Tommy..."
"It's not a date, even though I don't know why you wouldn't want to go out with a devilishly handsome billionaire like me."
She tilted her head. "You almost killed me Tommy." She stated lightly and without heat.
He lifted a shoulder. "Minor issue. Nothing a night with me wouldn't fix."
"Tommy!" She gasped as she slapped his arm. He just smirked.
"Ms. Smoak. Can you continue what I'm sure is an invigorating conversation after class?" Professor Diggle asked from the entryway.
"I'm sorry Mr. Diggle." She said before glancing at Tommy and hurrying towards the classroom door.
"So is that a yes to burgers?" Tommy called after her. "Purely platonic circumstances," he said with a smile.
"Sure," she said before slipping inside the room and into her seat avoiding the knowing glare of the teacher. She smiled the rest of the class.
Her and Tommy met at Big Belly and she was surprised at how great a time she had. There was nothing between either of them and that suited them just fine. He made her laugh and she made him think about things deeper than he ever considered. It was truly platonic and it was the beginning of a budding friendship. Never in a million years would she have thought she'd become friends with none other than Thomas Meryln.
"I misjudged you," she said one day, a week later when they had met again.
"You're not the only one," he said before sipping on his chocolate shake, his straw sucking at air on the bottom of the glass. He looked at the empty glass sadly causing her to laugh.
"Just order another one," she told him. A second later he reached a hand across the table and snatched her glass. "Thomas Merlyn! You give me my shake back right now!"
"Or what?" He challenged.
"I'll uh...I'll..." she snapped her fingers. "I revoke my forgiveness." He groaned.
"Are you going to hold that over my head for the rest of our lives?"
"Yep," she said popping the P while crossing her took a final pull of her milkshake before sliding it across the table. "Hey! You're getting me another one!"
This was the scene Oliver walked up on. His slid into the booth next to Tommy slamming him against the wall. The broody anger look on his face making the smile on her face die.
"So...Thomas." He sneered. "This is where you've been the past two weeks."
Tommy smiled a little hesitantly. "It wasn't like it was a big secret." Tommy stated easily. Oliver hand rested on the table and she noticed that he was rubbing his thumb and his forefinger together. "Well I guess we're not as good as friends as I thought since you're keeping your new relationship from me."
Oliver and Tommy just stared at each other neither blinking, the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
She pressed a button on the side of her phone making it chirp. "Oh would you look at that?" She said while glancing at her empty phone screen. "Mom needs me home early, neighbors cat is missing." Did she really just use that excuse? She nearly placed her palm on her face from her own stupidity and internally cringed as she climbed from the booth. "See you Monday," she directed at Tommy. She peeked at Oliver who was fiddling with his hands on the table top. "Oliver." She said simply as acknowledgement that he was there.
"Felicity," he said tightly avoiding her eyes.
She strode from the restaurant her mind going over what had just happened. What was up with Oliver? He had always teased her, tugged her ponytail as he walked by, blew hot breath on her face on the days she wore glasses causing her to temporarily be blind from the fogged lenses. He had called her names and been light heart-ed about it. He had never avoided her eyes and he never called her by her first name. But he had been doing a lot of that lately. She found herself missing the carefree attitude and teasing. She would rather have that side of him rather than the the cold and moody side she was on the receiving end of now.
She hoped that the weekend would give him a break and that he would be back to normal by Monday.
She couldn't have been more wrong.
She had a free period due to a teacher being out sick and a substitute not being found on short notice. Most of the other students went out to the courtyard and some to the library, probably to make out in the stacks. Something she had never done. She didn't see the appeal pf kissing with the strong possibly of getting caught at any moment. She instead used her time to prepare for her next class. She made her walk across campus to her locker and just as she was walking down the hall another figure appeared at the other end and was striding towards her quickly. It only took her a second to realize it was Oliver.
"Oliver what are you doing out of class?" She asked when he got closer to her. His eyebrows were drawn together and his forehead was uncharacteristically wrinkled. "What's wrong?" She said her voice filled with concern.
"What's wrong it that you've been spending all your time with my best friend." He said with his fingers doing that twitchy thing again. She stepped back.
"I'm sorry, I'm not trying to steal him from you. He's not just yours you know. He can be friends with other people." She said stiffly. "You don't have to be a jerk about it. You can have your best friend back if we can be done with this whole hot and cold routine."
"That's what you think?" He asked his voice strained. "That I'm mad at you for 'stealing my best friend?'"
"Well aren't you?"She accused him. He smiled a shook his head.
"That's not the reason Felicity,"he said while moving closer to her. She stepped away until her back hit the lockers. His hands reached up to cup her face, holding her like she was the most precious thing in the world. Her breath ran out and this time it wasn't because she was drowning. It was because Oliver Queen was looking at her like he was in the darkness and she was the sun.
"Then what is it?" She whispered as she searched his eyes and his cornflower blue eyes bore into hers for a heated moment before they dipped to her lips and up again. "Oliver?" She asked when he didn't answer.
"Felicity." He replied. His lips drawing out the syllables in a way that made her want to melt into a puddle on the floor. His lips touched hers then, light as a feather at first, testing the waters then her fingers snaked into his hair and his arms wrapped around her back pulling her into his body and lifting her feet from the floor. How fitting, she thought. His head tilted to deepen the kiss and his lips roved over hers like he had been deprived of touch his whole life. She wound her arms around his neck and kissed him back with equal fervor.
She had never felt anything like it. It was like her body was a live wire, the slightest touch capable of sending her up in flames. Their bodies fit together like they were made for one another and their lips moved in unison like they had been doing for years. His hand roved under her shirt and the small of her back and just the touch of his skin against the sensitive skin of her back made a new wave of heat crash over her.
Could he be the whole reason she existed? It wasn't logical. No one knew after a first kiss and certainly not when they were sixteen years old. Did they? Was he just a teenage dream? He pulled back way too soon but the need for air overruled desire.
"That's why Felicity." She stared at him, wondering if it went as deep for him as it did her. His fingers grasped a piece of hair and stroked it behind her ear. "The first day I met you, you bumped into me in the hall and all of our books scattered together. When we were both picking them up, your hand touched mine, you looked up at me and smiled and right then I knew."
"What did you know?" She asked softly.
"That you were my destiny." He said his mouth stretching into a smile. Her smiled grew slowly until it practically stretched off her face.
"Why now? Why tease me all that time?"
"I didn't know how to talk to you. You were way out of my league." She scoffed at that. "I mean it," he said and it made her freeze. "I'm sorry for the way I acted. When you almost died, I nearly lost it, I thought I had lost you, My heart stopped beating and all I could think was that I have never told you how I felt. That I never got to know you as well as I wanted too. And then next thing I know I see Tommy kissing you and you're spending all your time with him and jealously reared it's ugly head. I reacted badly, I know that, but if you'll just give me a chance I'll do anything to fix it." He pleaded, his eyes never leaving hers.
Her only answer was to pull him down for another kiss. A few long moments later he pulled back just enough to speak, their lips still touching.
"So that's a yes?" He whispered. She laughed and pulled his lips back to hers and when her nails ran through his scalp and he groaned she knew then, just like she had knew years ago but had denied so strongly.
He was her destiny.
How did she know this at sixteen? She didn't know, maybe never would, but she knew deep inside they were made for each other, that she would love him until she was way past seventy, and even when her memory faded, that his hand would hold hers when they were too weak to hold each others bodies.
His forehead rested against hers and she closed her eyes to savor the moment.
He was it for her. She must have said it out loud because he pulled back.
"Glad I'm not the only one.." he trailed off before kissing her again.
Neither of them knew that around the corner Tommy was standing with a huge grin splitting his face. His plan had worked. All his best friend needed was a little push and a healthy dose of jealousy to finally get his head out of his colon. He was man enough to admit that it hadn't gone completely according to plan. He had never intended on almost killing Felicity but regardless it had worked.
What was a minor detail in a even bigger story?
Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak were meant to be and he would spend the rest of his days with quiet pride in his heart that he had been the one to put the idiots together. No, he would never tell them.
Catching them making out in the stacks was enough.
Watching Oliver's mouth drop open when she dyed her hair blonde was enough.
Seeing their relationship grow stronger over the years was enough.
Watching them hug each other when they graduated college was enough.
Seeing them make vows ten years later, was enough.
Being named Godfather of their first child, was enough.
Watching Oliver's look of amazement every time he became a dad again was enough.
Watching them grow old together was enough.
And one day when he was sitting next to Oliver on a porch watching both of their grandchildren run around the yard together while Felicity called for them to stop tearing up her petunias, Oliver spoke up.
"Thank you Tommy," he said while staring at his wife who stared back at him, hands on her hips and a beaming smile only for her husband.
He only smiled in answer.
It was more than enough.