Just a question: Would anyone be willing to beta a chapter of To Prove Oneself? I love my beta, but I know she's busy atm and I don't want to give her more to do.
Just by staring at her notes, Felicity could feel time running out. Even now she had three different subjects in front of her; biology, chemistry, and history. These weren't the only subjects of course, but she could only handle so much. Each of the books were open to some page and spread across her bed along with her notes. She was madly switching between taxonomy, compounds, and the start of World War I when she felt him.
Oliver was standing in the doorway, watching his girlfriend searching through her notes, trying to find some specific tidbit of information. The stress and tension were practically radiating off of her, but he still recognized when she'd realized he had arrived. He started towards her, when she jumped up off her bed and practically threw herself in his arms. He held on to her, savoring the moment since it wouldn't last long. Usually finals week kept Felicity relatively distant, but every once in a while she would do something like this in which she usually ended up crying while he held her.
He could tell when the crying started; he could feel the consistent little drops, slowly soaking his shirt. He held her for another moment before pulling back just slightly (he'd learned the hard way about actually stepping back from her when she was like this), and met her eyes.
"Hey, it's okay." He spoke softly, but she started shaking her head and backed away from him.
"No it won't be okay. I'm going to fail something and then I'll never get into MIT because my GPA will go to shit and…" She broke off when he wrapped his arms around her again.
"Baby, you are the smartest person I know. You'll ace everything. You always do." He gave her a little smile. "Do you want me to stay?" Felicity bit her lip and nodded. Oliver wasted no time in walking over to her bed and sitting down before opening his arms for her to come and sit against him. She settled in and snuggled up to him, pressing her face into this shoulder for just a moment before turning back to work.
The information wasn't any easier to grasp, and it only got harder a few minutes later when she felt Oliver's hands rest on her shoulders and gently start rubbing them. It was just a comforting touch at first, until he started working his thumbs against her neck, forcing the muscles to relax just a little. She could feel his hot breath on the back of her neck and the combination of everything had her completely distracted from school and instead focused on keeping quiet, instead of releasing the moan that wanted out. Eventually she did let it out though, and turned bright red of course, and she heard Oliver chuckle behind her.
"I was wondering how long you were going to be able to stay quiet."
She expected more, but he didn't try. He went back to playing with her hair, and every so often gently rubbing her shoulders again. She worked for another 15 minutes before she decided to take a study break; she turned herself in Oliver's arms, so that she was now straddling his lap and grabbed his face in her hands. Oliver had opened his mouth to say something, but he could see the look in her eyes, so he didn't bother. Instead he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him as she kissed from his mouth, to his jaw, and then down his neck. He could feel her lips moving against his shoulder and he was confused. He pulled her head away so he could look her in the eye again.
"What were you whispering there?" She blushed. He smiled.
"Nothing." He gently pushed her chin up to look her in the eye.
"I don't believe that for a second." He could see Felicity retreating. "Hey, hey." He brought her attention back to him. "Baby, if you don't want to tell me, then don't. I won't mind."
"I know." He saw her take a deep breath and knew that she was going to tell him anyway.
She pulled her face away from his grasp and started an intense stare-down with the floor.
"I said I love you." She mumbled. Oliver froze. He thought he'd heard what she said, but he wasn't sure if he could believe it.
"I didn't quite hear that." She pressed her head against his shoulder and groaned. He decided to put her out of her misery and take a leap of faith.
"I love you too." She didn't say anything at first, and he tensed, wondering if he'd heard it wrong. But then she sighed.
"Thank god." She looked up at him, a smile on her face. "You know, even with finals this week…I think telling you that might have been the biggest stressor." He smiled again, and leaned down until his forehead was resting against hers.
"Glad I could help you relax." He murmured before he pressed his lips to hers, holding her tightly against him.
Needless to say, studying was done for the night.
