Here's the next chapter as promise my amigos! Thank you for the lovely reviews left and as always, more would be appreciated. Also, if you have any tips or plot ideas please leave them in a review and you never know… I may use it! (With credit of course, I don't steal :D)
Felicity woke to a wall of solid grey. As she pushed away, she realised that she must have rolled over in the night so she was facing into Oliver's chest. As she tried to roll away from his embrace, her headache made its return with a vengeance. Shooting pains sliced through her temples and she groaned involuntarily. It was then that she realised Oliver was already awake and looking down at her.
He smiled at her. "Headache?" She nodded slowly, immediately regretting it as her head disagreed with the movement.
"You know watching someone whilst they sleep is borderline creepy. No. Wait, screw 'borderline'. Just plain creepy." She smirked.
"Well, I thought I might as well take in the view."
"God, how did you get so many girlfriends with cheesy pickup lines like that?!"
"I think it may have been something to do with the fact that I have 3 Ferraris. You know maybe…"
"Show off much!" Felicity snorted as she slowly pushed herself up, ignoring her pounding head.
She must have been doing a bad job concealing it as Oliver quickly sprung from the bed and walked to the bathroom in 3 long strides. He returned holding a small glass of water and two small pills.
"Here. This will help." She gratefully took the tablets and swallowed them quickly. As she put down the glass on the bedside table, she saw a vaguely familiar duffel bag on the floor in the corner of the room. Following her eye line, Oliver looked over his shoulder and answered the question already brewing on her lips.
"I got Digg to grab a few things from your apartment. There should be a few outfits in there so why don't you get ready? I just need to ring the office to tell them neither of us will be in today…" he was interrupted almost immediately by Felicity who was suddenly standing up.
"We're going into work Oliver! I'm fine! Plus, you have the annual board meeting at three which you can't get out of before you even try to" she added as she saw him opening his mouth to argue.
"Okay but, if I let you go to work, and I'm not saying you are, you're not allowed to leave the building without me or Digg. You also have to tell me if you feel ill in anyway and I'll take you straight home."
Felicity sighed. She knew these terms were the only things that would allow her to go in so she reluctantly agreed.
"You're remarkable you know." Oliver said as he placed his hands on her shoulders.
"Thank you for remarking on it!" She grinned as she remembered the first time that they met. "Now budge, no matter how many Ferraris you have, you are most definitely not watching me get changed!"
Oliver's eyebrow rose slowly as his eyes grew darker. "Are you sure about that?"
Felicity gulped, hoping it wouldn't be as loud as she thought it was.
He chuckled and slowly left the room, gently shutting the door behind him. She muttered silently to herself as she walked over to her bag, cursing his ability to be so smooth. Upon unzipping it and staring inside, Felicity immediately regretted letting Digg choose her clothes. The man was extremely good at beating up baddies, leaving a good few bruises to brag about but, he most definitely didn't understand women's fashion. Luckily however, he had remembered to throw in most of her makeup and hair supplies so she could at least make her head look presentable.
After finally managing to put together a decent outfit, she dashed into the bathroom and set to work on her face. She smothered a generous portion of foundation over her bruise and added extra blusher to stop her from looking so pale. She tried to apply eyeliner but her hands were still too shaky to even attempt it. She swept her hair up into its usual neat ponytail as she walked out of the bathroom, allowing herself to peek at her full reflection in the longer mirror. She was wearing a short pastel pink dress which showed a generous amount of leg (not her choice obviously) paired with some flat black pumps which didn't completely match but would have to do given the circumstance. She flattened down the last creases in her outfit, gave herself a small reassuring smile and slipped out of the enormous room.
The sudden light in the hallway momentarily blinded her but as her eyes became accustomed to the brightness, she saw Oliver's home. The walls were adorned with expensive tapestries and paintings which were most likely originals. She quietly padded along the corridor, mindful that some people were most likely not awake yet. The plan of the house was obviously huge as it took her almost 10 minutes to find the stairs leading to the main entrance area. As she slowly walked down them, trying not to show her awe about the place, she saw Oliver standing in a suit at the base of the stairs, grinning.
"Impressive right? I'm surprised you found your way here actually. Thea and I used to play hide and seek as kids and it always took us ages to find each other because the house was so big." His smile widened at the memory.
It was nice to see him smile so freely. He didn't often drop the mask he wore and show his true emotions. She was about to comment on it when he interrupted her.
"You must be hungry. Come." He took her by her hand and led her to the kitchen. A small woman was leaning over the sink scrubbing furiously at a dish. She turned as she heard them walk in and smiled brightly at them.
"Felicity, this is Raisa, the best sandwich maker in all of Starling City."
"He only says that when he wants something. Honestly, this boy will do anything for his food!" Raisa replied, swatting playfully at his arm before gesturing to a seat at the counter. "Please sit. You haven't had breakfast have you Miss Felicity?"
Shaking her head, she slid onto the stool. Oliver placed a hand on her shoulder causing her to look up at him. The carefree look was gone and an emotionless mask in place.
"I need to sort something at the office, make a few phone calls. Will you be okay here?"
Felicity nodded and watched him leave the room until the sound of Raisa's voice made her turn around.
"He works too hard that boy. Ever since he came back from that island he hasn't been the same. Coming home late and skulking around all secretive. I sometimes wonder what happened to him there…" The smell and hiss of cooking bacon slowly filled the room as she spoke, forcing Felicity to realise how hungry she really was.
Raisa eventually turned around with a huge sandwich stuffed with bacon in her hands. Laying it on the counter in front of her she gave her a warm smile. "You make him smile you know. Not many people can do that."
Felicity thanked her politely, not quite taking in what she had just said. The small woman nodded back and silently left the room. Felicity's stomach grumbled impatiently, the salty smell of bacon taunting it. She took a huge bite out of the sandwich and closed her eyes as the delicious taste caused sensory euphoria. She finished the sandwich in record time, just finishing the last bites as Oliver came back into the room looking tired and worn down.
"What's up?" asked Felicity after she had cleared her mouth of all remaining food.
"Isabel Rochev." He replied shortly as if the name left a bad taste in his mouth. "She was laying into me about missing the meetings yesterday." He ran his hand roughly over his face.
Felicity couldn't help but feel guilty. It was her fault that he wasn't there to do the meetings. "Sorry."
"For what?" Oliver replied, his brows furrowing, genuinely confused.
"If I hadn't broken down yesterday, you would have been at the meetings. And then you wouldn't look as tired as you do now. Not that you look bad tired. You always look good. Not that I notice, or stare. You just look tired and I really need to stop talking in 3… 2… 1…" she rambled, slowly turning a brighter and brighter red as she went on, her head dropping by the end. She thought she was getting better at providing a filter between her brain and her mouth but every now and then, especially when she was tired, it slipped.
"Hey. Stop blaming yourself. Nothing was your fault." He said placing two strong hands on her shoulders and squeezing them once. She looked up at him and gave him a quick sad smile before she pushed herself off the stool.
"Right well there's no point hanging around here, wallowing in self-pity. Let's go to work!" she joked with fake enthusiasm complete with ridiculously cheesy grin. Oliver snorted loudly and followed her out of the kitchen and then out the front door. His hand automatically fell to the small of her back. He felt her tense beneath him but she soon relaxed. Digg was waiting by the open door of the car, fitting very well into his alter ego of the 'Black Driver'. He smiled gently at Felicity, asking her if she was okay. She nodded in response and Oliver was forced to drop his hand as she slid across the backseat of the car. He ducked down after her and the door was closed behind him. He reached across and took her hand in his, giving it a quick squeeze and flashing a reassuring smile at her. She smiled weakly back at him and gave his hand a replying squeeze.
All the way to the office, she didn't move her hand.
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