In the Key of Love
Chapter 3: The Tutorial
A/N: Really sorry that this post has taken longer than I intended. But it's here now, so... :-)
Summary: Oliver and Felicity are becoming really good friends. They strike a deal that benefits them both.
Felicity knows it's none of her business, and she shouldn't pry, but she just can't help it.
Choir practice has been over ten minutes ago, and everyone else has gone. Normally, she isn't too far behind most of the singers who leave as soon as Mr. Diggle dismisses the choir. However, she notices that their choir director lingered and has been speaking quite seriously with Oliver right by the grand piano for several minutes already. She wonders what it's all about, because Oliver's body language and facial expression seemed off. So, she lingers, too, offering to put away choir pieces and music stands – which really isn't her job, to the relief of the person in charge - because she wants to be there for Oliver. She's not one to eavesdrop, but this time around, she thinks it's justified because she really just wants to support her friend.
Friends. Yes, that's what she and Oliver have become in the past weeks. Things between them have shifted since their private rehearsal in the Queen mansion. They've spent more time together on campus in the last couple of weeks. They're more comfortable with each other, and they've actually found that they enjoy each other's company. On a few occasions, they've run into each other in between classes and have had lunch or coffee either in the College of Business cafeteria or in the café in the Institute of Computer Sciences. As expected, music and their love for it has forged their connection. Making music together in the choir, as well as during their spare time for hanging out, is something that they both look forward to almost every day.
Diggle walks out of the choir room, saying 'good night' to them both, reminding them to make sure to lock up properly before they leave. Oliver picks up his things and offers to carry Felicity's, too. She thanks him but tells him that she can manage.
When they exit the building, Felicity thinks twice before she asks curiously, "So… what was that all about?"
"What?"
"You and Dig."
"Oh, that…"
"You in trouble?" she asks again. She knows she's treading on thin ice, but she wants to test their friendship anyway. She wonders if they've reached that level of friendship where Oliver feels comfortable enough to open up to her about what's bothering him.
"No. Not yet," he answers tentatively.
"Mm-hmm…" Felicity notices how his thumb rubs against his forefinger, and makes a mental note of his anxious tell. "Can I help?"
Oliver suddenly stops walking, seemingly deep in thought. His head hangs low, and Felicity thinks that if she is reading him right, he looks much too timid to admit that he needs her help. "Is it about choir?" she asks again.
"Sssort of…" he replies. He finally looks up at her and scratches the back of his head. "Mr. Diggle… Dig says the dean of Business called him earlier to remind him about my status. Dean says I need to pass all my classes and make at least a B minus on all my business courses, or else, I'm out of the choir, ergo, out of the university… again," he explains. Worry is evident on his face and tone of voice and in the way the muscles on his (impressive) torso tense up.
"I see," Felicity responds. "And how is that working out for you? Midterms are coming up."
"Not so good, actually. There's this accounting course that's driving me nuts. Mr. Welling isn't making much sense in Philosophy class, and I haven't passed a single quiz in Advanced Algebra, which I've already flunked twice before," Oliver replies in an agitated tone of voice.
"So, you are in trouble."
She isn't judging him. He knows she's only teasing, but it doesn't soften the blow that much. He's clearly ashamed that he has just admitted defeat to the one person he's been trying to impress since day one.
Oliver turns and resumes walking, but he remains silent until they reach the parking area of the building, where they usually go their separate ways. He walks Felicity to her mini Cooper, which she bought secondhand from the money she saved up from working odd, free lance IT jobs since she was in high school.
Before she opens the door of her car, Felicity looks him in the eye and smiles. "Tomorrow night. Six o'clock. Main Library. Don't be late."
"What?" Oliver isn't sure what she means.
"We are going to study together, you and I. By the time I'm done with you, you are going to score higher than a B minus on all your courses this semester, including Algebra," she tells him confidently, tapping his chest with her painted fingers.
"You're going to tutor me?" he says. It isn't really a question, more of a delightful realization.
Felicity nods her head repeatedly. She notices the smile beginning to form on his face and smiles sweetly at him.
"How much will it cost?" he asks shyly.
"Oliver! We're friends."
He grins back at her, happy that she actually verbalized the current state of their relationship. He wants them to be so much more than friends, but if that's what she wants them to be at the moment, he isn't going to complain. Being friends with Felicity Smoak is so much better than being just a casual acquaintance.
"Okay, but… How can I show that I appreciate everything?" he asks again.
Felicity is quiet for a while, but when she finally speaks, her answer surprises him so pleasantly that his heart skips a beat.
"The guitar," she tells him. "Teach me how to play. We can tutor each other. That okay?" She smiles again, and even in the dim light of the parking area, he thinks that her eyes gleam like a pretty angel's in the dreamy moonlight.
"Deal," Oliver replies, offering her a handshake. He is more than satisfied with this arrangement. He'd do anything just to spend more time with Felicity, but this time, it was going to practically benefit them both.
That night, Oliver goes to bed anticipating the next day – the first day of their tutorials. He's never been so excited about studying.
The first tutorial in the main library of Starling City University goes very well. Oliver passes his test the following day in Advanced Algebra, and for the first time since his Philosophy class started that semester, he finally understands the difference between a fallacy and a bias. Felicity, on the other hand, learns how to properly strum and pluck the strings of Oliver's guitar, and by the end of the week, she's learned how to play a few basic chords in the keys of E minor and D major. She has been diligently practicing on the guitar that he'd lent her, determined to make good on Oliver's challenge that she be able to play a simple song in D major by the time he takes his midterm exams, which Felicity made him promise to pass.
The week after midterms, Felicity is in the choir room killing time. Truth be told, she's actually anxiously waiting for Oliver to arrive with good news. Midterm exam results were released online earlier that day. She could have easily hacked into the university's system and found out whether or not he passed his exams, but she does not want to intrude, much less break the law in doing so. So, she waits for him to tell her, which is a pretty good reason to see him before practice starts.
Felicity hears the door open and turns to find Oliver looking disheveled, haggard, and… Is he drunk?!
She's alarmed, that's for sure. Rehearsal would be starting in about ten minutes, and soon the other members of the choir would begin to trickle into the room. She wishes she's wrong, but who is she kidding? She meets him at the grand piano as he puts down his things on the floor.
"Oliver? Is everything okay?" she asks him, even though she could already sniff the smell of alcohol from less than two feet away.
"I don't know." Oliver does not look at her. Clearly, he is agitated and ashamed that she's seeing him this way. He isn't expecting her to be in the choir room early, waiting for him.
"What do you mean you don't know?" she asks him again, feeling the tension building up in the air. "Are you drunk?"
He doesn't answer. He just pulls out the music sheets from his knapsack and sets them on the piano. He is drunk. The notes on the page look like they're dancing the Cuban mambo. He sits down and places his trembling hands on the keyboard, without even looking at her.
"Oliver, talk to me!" she demands. "Dig's gonna be here any minute. If he finds you like this, he's gonna-"
"He's gonna what? Throw me out?" he interrupts her angrily. Looking up at her for the first time, his face shows how upset he really is. "What difference does it make? I'm gonna be kicked out of choir and business school anyway!"
Felicity gasps, her lips quivering. Oliver has never yelled at her before; she certainly hasn't seen him angry and upset yet, and the alcohol in his system isn't helping. She does not know how to handle the frustration she's now feeling. The frustration that comes from the inference that he must have failed his exams and that she must have failed him too. The frustration that he apparently deals with failure by drinking, and not just so early in the day, but also just before choir practice when he is expected to be sober and focused. Most of all, she's frustrated that she had no idea how to help him without being yelled at.
Tears are quickly flooding her eyes. Before they fall and he sees them, she darts across the room with her things and dashes out the door. For the first time since she joined the choir in her freshman year, Felicity Smoak is absent from rehearsal.
And Mr. Diggle has to send Oliver home early and rehearse the choir without an accompanist that night.
A/N: So, about that cliffhanger... I'll try my best to post sooner so that the angst does not last too long. :-) What do you think will happen next? Thoughts?
