I know this is jumping forward a bit, like something should've gone before it, but I tried to write the third chapter of Equipoise a bunch of different times and nothing else felt right. So I'm really going to need feedback for this one, because I'm not sure why my mind was so insistent on doing it this was.

Also, what do you think? Feliciroy, Roylicity, Sharper, or Hark?

No way did this really happen, Felicity thought as she examined her sore, aching body in her bathroom mirror. A few raised red lines marked her thighs and waist, but the love bites and hickeys were more intriguing. She counted two pairs of crescent-shaped bruises: one on her shoulder and the other on her inner thigh. The hickeys were more numerous and ranged from her neck down to her thighs. Her favorite—uh, the most fascinating one—was the little suction bruise on the inside of her hipbone. She remembered every moan he wrung from her as he worked at her skin. Actually, she remembered just about everything that happened last night. It seemed it hadn't taken much wine for her to sleep with Roy Harper.

Oliver was totally to blame. Her relationship with Roy had been really healthy until the idiot playboy billionaire decided to get back with Laurel again. Stupidest thing he could do, really; they were so toxic and doomed. So when Felicity found out, she was upset. Very upset. Watch-TV-while-eating-ice-cream-and-sipping-red-wi ne upset. She even put on her outfit of indifference (ratty old sweatpants and baggy MIT shirt), which meant she had no desire to see the outside world. Then the doorbell rang, and she foolishly thought that Oliver had come to his senses. But no. It was Roy.

Roy was her buddy. He wasn't as cool as Diggle, and he was kind of annoying and liked to pick on her, but they had been getting close since he joined the team. When he wasn't teasing her, he was being a total sweetheart. He made her laugh and told her she was pretty. And it made her feel special that he'd share this fluffy-kitten vulnerability with her, since he was usually all smartass and tough with everyone else. He'd become the Derek Morgan to her Penelope Garcia, and the thought always made her blush.

So when he'd shown up to make her feel better, she was happy about it. He listened and gave her a hug and was very understanding, because anyone who knows Oliver knows how dumb he is. They shared her pint of Ben & Jerry's Karamel Sutra (Funny, she thought that'd be the closest thing she'd have to sex that night.) and passed the bottle of wine back and forth. She realized too late that he probably wasn't old enough to drink, so she didn't stop him. He could either walk home or sleep on her couch. Big deal.

When tears began running down her face, he kissed her. Surely it wasn't a real kiss; just a comforting one. A kiss to remind her she wasn't an ugly, unwanted, invisible freak with no sex appeal. It worked well, as did the one that immediately followed. And the one after that. Then suddenly Roy seemed a little too sexy. For his shirt, specifically. So she took it off of him. Being shirtless must have been really fun, because he took off hers too so she could join in on the excitement. And it was really fun. Groping and being groped was even more fun. Also, tongues are underappreciated. They can do so many wonderful things.

At one point the shenanigans were moved to the bedroom, and most of Felicity's memory of that was a hot, sweaty blur; only the naughty little wounds gave her any degree of clarity when it came to remembering that part. She did recall other small things though, like purring when he whispered in her ear or screaming his name when he hit just the right spot.

Felicity blushed and watched the color rise in her cheeks as she continued to stare at herself in the mirror. She looked so absolutely sexed. The tousled hair, the multiple love marks, the plumped-up lips from all that kissing…

This was so bad. Like, really super awful. What has she done? Could they even work together after this? Would Roy even be able to look at her after this? He's as out of her league as Oliver. He might be disgusted with himself! And how old was he again? Was she a cradle-robbing cougar? Just how illegal is underage drinking? Shaking her head, she chose to leave the bathroom and bravely face her fate.

Roy was just as sexy and adorable and asleep as he had been before she'd retreated to the bathroom. Why did he have to have that face? It wasn't fair. Those cheekbones. UGH.

She walked slowly over to the bed, then suddenly felt very uncomfortable with being naked. But she didn't have time to find clothes because he was waking up. So she snatched her pillow and covered herself with it, hugging it to her chest.

He looked at her blearily, and she waved. Then he got the biggest, cutest smile on his face. "Good morning, Rapunzel."

Hmm. Not quite what she expected. "You seem… pleased."

Roy took a moment to stretch before replying. "Bit of a hangover, but yeah, I'd say I'm pleased. You?"

"Same. About the hangover, I mean. Just a headache, really."

Pouting, he propped himself up on his elbows. "You're not happy about last night?"

She laughed. "I'm surprised you are. It was… um… Well, it doesn't matter because we shouldn't have done it. For like, a million reasons."

He cocked an eyebrow, and it was so sexy she had to clutch the pillow tighter. "Am I still dating Thea?"

"No, but—"

"Are you with anyone?"

"No—"

"So we weren't cheating, then. I don't see the problem."

"Seriously?" Felicity chewed her lip, afraid to ask her question. "How old are you, exactly? It never really comes up and Oliver doesn't seem to care."

"Nineteen and a half."

Felicity's jaw dropped. "Nineteen!?"

"And a half. I'm legal, aren't I?"
"Barely!"

Roy rolled his eyes in annoyance but he still looked amused. "So what if you're a few years older than me?"

"I'm twenty-seven, Roy. I'm eight years older than you."

He didn't even blink. "Seven and a half, actually. What else you got?"

Ah. So he really didn't care. "This could interfere with work."

"Yeah, but it won't."

"Why are you okay with this?" she whined.

That finally got a reaction. He shifted towards her then got on his knees so they were eye level. She blushed like crazy when she made the mistake of looking down.

"Damn, you're cute when you blush." he commented, his hands on her hips. The tender contact made her swallow hard and shakily push her glasses up the bridge of her nose. Younger or not, he was clearly the dominant one. "You're the only one I can be vulnerable around, or haven't you noticed? I've always had to be tough and keep my guard up, even with Thea. She understood me, I mean she's got family issues and a criminal record like me, but I didn't think I could show any weakness. Other than like, manly weakness, you know? I mean she'd never catch me quoting Disney or being a goofball. But then I met you. You're such a dork. And you blush a lot and you're shy." He pulled her fractionally closer. "I like it,"

The pillow was the only thing between them, and she had half a mind to throw it aside and get closer. "You just called me a dork."

"Mm-hmm," he responded, his thumbs rubbing circles on her skin. "You're also really sexy."

She giggled and he tried to wrestle the pillow away from her. When he succeeded, he yanked her into an embrace and their bodies met with a soft smack. Her arms were crushed between them, which made her feel even more at his mercy.

"Roy, please stop seducing me." she said weakly.

His hand slid down to her lower back. "Why, is it working?"

Felicity gulped. "We've already done a lot to jeopardize our friendship. Don't you think we should stop before we make things any worse?"

He frowned. "What are you talking about? We're great together; it's been obvious for months now. How are we jeopardizing anything?"

She bit her lip. "Well, we're kinda crossing the Rubicon with this whole, um… being-naked-and-having-sex thing. What if you change your mind later?"

A muscle twitched in his jaw as he clenched his teeth. "You think I'm gonna get bored of you or something?"

"Can you blame me? Look at you, Roy! You're like, really hot. I mean really hot. Like the-sun-is-an-ice-cube-compared-to-you hot. Humanity would suffer a traumatic loss if you never procreated. Is that a vivid enough picture for you? Does that make you understand that you're out of my league?"

He might not have heard it all, because he started laughing after the ice cube thing. "Yeah, I'll admit that I'm pretty sexy—"

"You're a Greek god."

"—but I still totally want you. And once we find some more condoms, I'll prove it to you."

She smiled coyly. "I'm going to need a lot of convincing."

He liked the sound of that. Just when he was about to kiss her, there was a knock at the apartment door.

"One second," Felicity said as she wriggled from his grasp. Roy collapsed on the bed in aggravation as she slipped on her fluffy pink robe and hurried to the door.

At least it wasn't Oliver or Diggle. Boy, wouldn't that have been awkward. It was her next-door neighbor Mrs. Chalupnik, her graying hair still in curlers. The older woman was usually nice albeit rough around the edges, but you didn't want to tick her off. She was very vocal about her pet peeves.

"Felicity, you clearly got some action last night and I'm very happy for you, but learn to scream into a pillow, okay? I think you and your gentleman caller kept up half the building last night with your raucous lovemaking. Roy, is it? It sounds like you were screaming that. Anyway, if you'd do something to muffle the sound of your carnal throes, we'd all appreciate it."

Felicity didn't think it was possible, but she'd never felt so awkward in her entire life. "I am so, so sorry, Mrs. Chalupnik. I promise I'll be more considerate—"

"Hey," Roy came out of the bedroom, half-dressed in his jeans and shoes. And he also had a few hickeys Felicity hadn't noticed until now, which was super. He saw Mrs. Chalupnik and got only slightly embarrassed. "Felicity, I just got called into work and I can't find my shirt."

By "work" he probably meant vigilante stuff. Great; that means she was probably going to get called in too. "It might be hiding under a throw pillow on the couch."

When he went to check, she turned back to her neighbor. Poor, poor Mrs. Chalupnik; it looked like she was having a heart attack.

"Oh, sweet lord," she said softly, gawking at Roy and putting a hand on Felicity's forearm. "Where did you find that? Is he a gigolo?"

"Mrs. Chalupnik, I did not hire a prostitute." she answered quietly.

She wasn't listening, though. "That must be nice to wake up to on a Saturday morning."

Well, she wasn't wrong. They both observed as he found his shirt and was finally ready to go. He waved goodbye to Paperweight then kissed Felicity before squeezing past the two women and hurrying down the hall.

"What a stallion," commented Mrs. Chalupnik, pulling at the collar of her housecoat as she watched him go. "Or is he more of a colt? How old is he?"

Felicity looked down and picked an imaginary ball of fuzz off the collar of her robe. "Nineteen and a half."

Her neighbor cackled. "Holy statutory, Batman! Did you seduce him by baking him some chocolate chip cookies? Kid's not even old enough to drink."

Felicity winced. "He is legal, though."

"Be a damn shame if he wasn't." She patted Felicity on the shoulder. "If you were my daughter, I'd be proud as hell. My late husband—rest his soul—had never been a looker. And I ain't ever bedded anyone as fine as that in my day."

"That's a lovely story." This bonding was slightly uncomfortable.

"But you should be careful, sweetheart," she warned, heading back to her apartment. "Check your wallet and jewelry box. Them strippers are shifty."

"He's not a stripper!" she contradicted a little too loudly. Mr. Flanagan was leaving his apartment to walk his Maltese and looked eager to escape the hallway.

"Fine, then." Mrs. Chalupnik was now standing by her door. "Is he a porn star? Maybe he's a porn star. Anyway, best of luck with your boytoy. I hope you get to tap that ass again."

"Great, thanks," At least she meant well. "I desperately need to go take a shower now." Then Felicity quickly closed the door before her neighbor could say anything else that was wildly inappropriate.