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Can't dance, won't dance. Chapter 3

"Felicity. You really are remarkable." Oliver looked down at his dance partner. She had come into his life unexpectedly but now she was such an important part of his life, he couldn't imagine it without her. She accepted him for all his good and bad points and travelled across the world to drag his sorry ass back to Starling City. Few people realized that she was actually such a complex person but he knew she was certainly one of the most compassionate people he had ever met.

When Tommy died, Oliver felt he needed to pay penance for his death. Diggle tried to tell him that he couldn't be responsible for everything that happened but Oliver wasn't in the frame of mind to listen. He thought where better to pay penance but on an island that meant purgatory. When he was there, he almost tried to convince himself that the last year didn't happen and that he was meant to rot on this island forever. He remembered Laurel once saying that she wished he had rotted for more than five years for the death of her sister. Maybe she was right.

Felicity had tormented Diggle to bring Oliver back. When she located him on Lian Yu, her heart broke. She knew why he had gone back. She remembered hearing over the comm after Tommy died that Oliver wished it could have been him that died. She knew he felt this was the only life he deserved. It wasn't easy to convince Dig to bring her along but his resolve broke at her constant pestering. She made a good point that if something went wrong, nobody would ever know what happened to him. She told him Carly would think he just disappeared one day and that bringing her along would be prudent.

The parachute jump was bile inducing and Felicity was delighted when her feet touched land. As Diggle and Felicity trekked through the island, Felicity couldn't help but wonder how Oliver survived here for so long. When she stepped on a landmine, she had a clichéd life flashing in front of her eyes moment but it gave her a certain clarity. Even if she were to die today because of this landmine, she would not change a thing. She had done her best to help the people of her city and that was a worthwhile pursuit.

Her heart jumped in her chest when she heard his voice again from the trees. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing she missed him but she really did. He directed Diggle to move back and she knew what he was planning. Oliver swung down and grabbed her, pulling her from the landmine's danger zone. Felicity's head rang from the explosion but she wasn't too dazed to enjoy the feel of a topless Oliver pressed up against her. Her hand nervously kneaded the flesh on the back of his neck, as if she was trying to make sure he was real. "You're all sweaty." Wow is that the only thing her brain could come up with? She could kick herself.

"You shouldn't have come," Oliver looked over to Diggle, rubbing debris from his clothes. Oliver put a hand out to help Felicity up but she ignored it and jumped up to face him. Even a foot smaller than him, she stood steadily toe to toe with him, anger painted across her face.

In other circumstances Oliver felt he could have laughed at the cute look of defiance across her face. Her hands were on her hips and her eyes were narrowed behind her glasses. Before he knew what was happening, her hand slapped across his face. Oliver didn't know if it stung so much because he wasn't expecting it or if Diggle had been working on her upper arm strength. Either way he instinctively put his hand to his jaw to rub it while he watched her hop on the spot a little shaking her hand. "Wow your jaw is hard?"

Oliver was going to react when she threw both her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. "Sorry. I needed to get that out of my system. I'm just so glad you're ok." A smile tugged at his lips as this woman who came to this godforsaken island to get him. How could he really say no?

Oliver watched Felicity's face with something he couldn't read in her eyes as she was about to respond to his remark. Suddenly he felt a hand on his arm. A surge of frustration came over him. He looked around to see the older gentleman they been talking to earlier standing there.

"I wonder would your lady friend do me the honor of this dance?" He seemed like a genuine, kindly old man but Oliver couldn't help but feel like he wanted to scream at him to go away. He was enjoying the feel of Felicity in his arms. He didn't have a clear handle on his emotions but he knew something was changing within in.

Oliver managed to hide the fury in him. He looked between a disappointed looking Felicity and the older man and answered, "Em. Sure. No problem." Oliver reluctantly let go of her, his hands feeling bereft without her in them. "If you don't mind?" This question was aimed at Felicity.

Felicity really couldn't come up with any excuse why this man couldn't cut in so she just shook her head. "Of course not," she lied.

Oliver reluctantly walked away from the dance floor. He swears he could feel her eyes on him as he went. He walked over to Diggle. "I'm just going for a minute of air. Can you interrupt them soon with a work call or something?"

Diggle eyed him curiously. He had watched his two friends on the dance floor and didn't quite know how he felt. He did think the pair danced around some emotions they had for each other. It was obvious that Felicity had an attraction to Oliver but recently he was seeing something in Oliver that lead him to believe there might be some reciprocation. However the three of them were a team and a relationship would really complicate things. "Sure. I'll give it a dance or two and make an excuse. Save her from dancing with the old man all night."

Diggle watched as Oliver walked to the doors that lead out to the balcony. It was a cool night and not many people were going out on this balcony when another one at the other side of the room had a heater on it.

Oliver found himself alone out there. He walked over to the railing and leaned out, looking out over a park. He could see his breath tonight, a sure sign winter was coming in on them. When he heard the quiet creak of the door opening behind him, he spun in anticipation hoping it was Felicity. Closing the door behind herself was Laurel. She turned to look at him.

"Hey Ollie." She gave him a tight smile.

"Hey Laurel. Good to see you." Oliver was using his best fake voice right then.

Laurel walked over to look out over the ledge of the balcony until the two of them stood side by side in the crisp night air. "So that girl who works with you…"

Oliver didn't let her finish the question. "Felicity? Yeah I dragged the poor girl here tonight. You know it being a Queen Consolidated sponsored event."

"So you two aren't dating then?" Laurel asked.

Oliver didn't know why it stung him so much to answer but he added. "No. We're not." A knot in his stomach was telling him that maybe he would have liked if he could answer that question differently.

"You know I want to see you happy Ollie." Laurel hugged her arms around herself, trying to protect against the cold.

Oliver turned his head to look at her. "Thank you Laurel."

"It's just… Well I have rarely seen you looking so carefree as I did when you were on the dance floor earlier. She brings out a nice side in you." Laurel met his eyes.

Oliver didn't know quite how to respond. She was right. Felicity was this fantastic and, dare he admit, sexy woman who knew him totally and brought light into his life. What was so wrong with admitting that? He knew that he needed to be sure though before he messed things up for their team.

"Well I'm just looking at this from an outside perspective but sometimes you can't see it yourself so… Just be happy Ollie." Laurel put her hand lightly on top of his.

A voice behind them startled Oliver from his thoughts. "Oh sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt. I'll leave you guys to it." Oliver flinched as he thought he saw hurt in Felicity's eyes as she turned to head back into the ballroom. They hadn't heard her come out. Oliver knew what the situation must look like with Laurel's hand on his.

Thankfully it was Laurel that spoke as he didn't trust his own voice right now. "No you're not interrupting. I was just saying goodbye to Ollie. I'm about to head home. You stay. Please." Laurel walked towards the door that Felicity held open and when she was close to Felicity she looked at her and smiled. "Nice to meet you again."

Laurel left the balcony, closing the door behind her. Oliver shifted from one foot to the other on one side of the balcony while Felicity stood in the dim light near the door. Neither of them spoke for a moment, Felicity looked intently down at her shoes. "Diggle saved me. I don't think I could survive getting me toes stood on any longer."

A smile crept across Oliver's face. For somebody who is usually so confident and brave, he felt apprehensive right now. He had to know if there was something really between them. When he spoke, his voice was low. "Will you stand over here?" Oliver was pointing to a spot a few feet in front of him. She couldn't see the look on his face as he was more in the shadows that she was.

Felicity's brows furrowed as she walked to where he pointed. "Right here?" she said, pointing to the ground beneath her.

"Yup there is good." Oliver's voice was flat, as if he was trying to hide something.

"Why this exact spot Oliver?" Felicity asked bemused. "Have you a hidden camera and this is actually where a trap door is and you're going to put a video up on youtube of me falling through and it'll be a fantastic prank," she joked. "Or is this Arrow related business?" she whispered, "and you're going to rappel me down another building because that wouldn't be ideal in this outfit but I suppose is there ever an ideal outfit for that kind of thing." She stopped talking when Oliver took a step closer to her so that he was standing only inches from her.

Felicity's breathing deepened at their closeness. Slowly as if mulling over what he wanted to do, Oliver lightly put one hand on her upper arm. Her skin was cool beneath his fingers. Even in the cold air, Felicity began to feel heated. She watched Oliver's breath in the air in front of them moving a fast as hers. It took an amount of bravery to look up at him. When she did, he was staring down at her with a dark look in his eyes. Was that lust she was seeing in his eyes? Surely not! Felicity thought that he never seemed to display any romantic feelings for her. But then again Oliver was king of hiding his feelings. She looked up through hooded lids at him.

The hand that he had on her lightly stroked her skin now, sending tingles down every nerve. "I just wanted to check something with you?" Oliver's voice was low and breathy now.

"Yeah?" Felicity's voice was barely audible now as he moved his hand from her arm up her shoulder to her neck and then to her face, his thumb lightly stroking her cheek.

Oliver's eye's flicked quickly between her eyes and her lips. Oliver's lust increased when he saw her bite her lower lip. "Yeah," was all he managed to say before dipping his head downwards. Their foreheads almost touched and their lips were millimeters from each other. Their exhaled breathes mixed between them and Felicity shivered in anticipation. Oliver looked once more to her eyes, almost asking permission before he placed his lips on hers.

He saw Felicity's eyes flick shut and followed suit so that he could fully savor this feeling. Her lips were soft and he could taste the wine from them. They stayed in this chaste kiss for a few seconds before Oliver's second hand joined his first to cup her face in his hands. Their lips parted only briefly as he positioned himself to slant his lips fully against hers. She turned her head slightly to allow him better position as he deepened the kiss, sucking her lower lip between his. He thought he heard a soft whimper escape her. That sound was enough to give him courage to explore her mouth further.

Oliver's hands moved down her face and neck, brushing down her arms until his hands met hers. He squeezed her fingers in his as he changed to sucking her upper lip. He felt her fingers untangle from his to touch his shirt, running her fingers from his stomach right up to his chest. When they reached the top of his collar, she ran her fingers around the skin of his neck to link them behind his head. He took the opportunity of the slight change in position to move his hands to her hips and then worked his way around her back. He pulled her closer into him as his tongue sought access to her mouth. Felicity gasped slightly and allowed him to explore her. His hands were kneading the material of her dress at her low back and she felt on fire.

Felicity's nails lightly scraped the hair on the back of his head, sending jolts of pleasure through Oliver. The pair moved their mouths in sync and both their hands pulled and tugged to get as close to each other as they could. Oliver's hand was moving up her back to the patch of exposed skin where her dressed ended and he took pleasure in rubbing the now goose-pimpled skin under his fingers. The arm that was still around her waist pulled her up and into him. Oliver felt like he wanted every free inch of him to be touching her. If he was uncertain how he felt before, he certainly wasn't now. Desire built rapidly in him. Their lips furiously battled with each other until they suddenly heard the clearing of a throat behind them. The pulled apart slightly, gasping for breath.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but it's throwing out time and you two might not have noticed but they're turning the lights off and chucking us out." Oliver saw Diggle standing sheepishly in the door but his voice had a hint of amusement. Felicity quickly pulled out of their embrace, as if he hadn't just seen them passionately kissing. She flew over to the edge of the balcony and leaned her arms on the rails. The cold metal of the barrier helped to try to quell the fire inside her right now.

"Thank Diggle. We'll be right in." Oliver's voice was gravelly as he spoke.

Felicity heard the door close behind Diggle. She kept looking intently over the edge of the balcony until she felt a pair of strong arms come around her from behind. They settled on her stomach and she felt his breath on her neck. He was inches for her ear and his breath was warm and intoxicating. "So I was thinking that maybe we could do this again? Maybe Saturday night?"

A smile grew on her face. Was Oliver Queen asking her out on a date? She turned her head enough so that she could look him in the eyes. The moonlight was glinting off his darkened eyes. "I'd like that."

"Me too. Maybe some time we might even have another dance."

"I though you didn't dance?" Felicity asked playfully.

"For you, I'd make an exception." Oliver dropped his head to the crook of her neck and placed a hot kiss over her collar-bone. They would have a lot of things they needed to figure out but for now, Felicity and Oliver were perfectly content to take each day as it came.