CHAPTER ELEVEN: CUT YOUR TEETH
Didn't I warn you not to?
Didn't I warn you good?
Maybe we couldn't help it
Maybe we never should

Didn't I say it slowly?
Didn't I make it clear?
Is it unfair to ask you
Why it is you're still here?

You cut your teeth on the lack of answers, and you
Come back home and it don't feel the same
Well I bled words onto a page for you
And you never knew my name

Didn't I make it harder?
Didn't I leave you there?
Was it too much to ask you
Why it is you still care?

You cut your teeth on the lack of answers, and you
Come back home and it don't feel the same
Well I bled words onto a page for you
And you never knew my name

Come, go, break your bones
They cut you up and never let go
Swing low, play your show
Call your mother, say "take me home"
Lie, smile, don't say no
Another man down if you let them know

The last few weeks had been tough. Felicity had been trying to avoid Oliver as often as she could without making it weird. They hadn't talked about what had happened on new year's eve, and honestly, she didn't want to talk about it. Talking about it meant it was real. Talking about it meant she would have to think about what it had meant. If it meant anything and how this changed their relationship. She wasn't ready for an answer to any of these questions because if it hadn't meant anything, why did she, every time she thought about his lips pressed to hers get all tingly inside. And she knew that if it meant Oliver had feelings for her beyond friendship, it would destroy their relationship. She was in love with someone else and already, when they hadn't even brought that one mind-blowing kiss up in nearly two months, their friendship was strained. But then again, not having talked about it with Oliver might also have been the reason things were so awkward between them.

Even though she was trying to avoid contact, she couldn't help desperately wanting to talk to him. She dialled his number several times, never pressing the call button. Well, sometimes she did, but she had always managed to end the call before he picked up.

Her conversations with Ronnie hadn't been better. She hated lying to him, but even he could see something was on her mind. He'd ask her about it but she would just shake her head and divert the subject. Her palms got sweaty every time she was going to see him, or he would come visit her. She didn't know how long she could hide it from him anymore. She didn't want to hurt him, but then again, she couldn't live like this either.

Felicity was so confused and she didn't know what to do anymore. She needed some advice, and she needed it soon.

That's how she found herself overthinking the whole situation once again at one of her sleepovers with Charlotte and Sara. They had rented a suite in one of the nicest hotels in Starling just because they could, spent the night doing their nails, playing drinking games in their pjs and eating the ridiculously expensive pizza the hotel offered. Not that they'd regretted it. It was the best pizza they ever had. They had gone to sleep with a light buzz, the three of them curled up in the king-size bed in the master bedroom.

Felicity was the first one to wake up. She sat up, scrunching up her face, pressing her hand against her forehead, trying to ease the headache that was welling up. She glanced over at Sara, who was lying in the middle, head buried in the pillow, arms wrapped around it. And then at Charlotte, whose head had fallen sideways while she slept on her back, hands tucked underneath her pillow. She was smiling in her sleep. At least she was dreaming about happy things, Felicity thought. As quietly as she could, she slipped from underneath the covers, grabbed a pair of fuzzy socks and left the room to make some coffee and order breakfast.

Less than half an hour later, the room filled itself with the smell of bacon, eggs and coffee. Felicity rolled the little food tray into the bedroom, carefully waking up her two friends. Charlotte groaned at the massive hangover she was experiencing and sighed in relief as Felicity handed her aspirin, a glass of water and the special strawberry gum she liked to get the taste out of her mouth. Sara was surprisingly okay, considering that she had been the one to drink the most. She sat up against the headboard, gratefully accepting the cup of coffee Felicity offered her. They had breakfast in bed and snuggled together to watch a movie after. Felicity convinced them to watch Clueless, one of her favorite chick-flicks, but halfway through, she pressed pause, much to the annoyance of both Sara and Charlotte.

"I'm sorry, I can't do this anymore. I can't keep this to myself anymore. I have to tell you guys something." She said, her voice desperate.

Sara and Charlotte exchanged a look and frowned. The seriousness of the situation hitting home.

"Please don't tell me you're pregnant." Sara said, eyes wide with concern, placing her hands on Felicity's shoulders.

Felicity's eyes widened in surprise, a horrified look across her face. "What? No! Sara!"

"Oh thank god. I'm not ready to be an aunt." Sara sighed in relief and fell backwards against the pillows.

"Jesus Christ, Sara. Let the girl confess already!" Charlotte said, scooting closer to Felicity and putting a hand on her shoulder.

"What's up? What's on your mind?" She said softly, a sweet smile on her face.

Felicity took a deep breath and licked her lips, looking from Charlotte to Sara, who was sitting back up.

"Oliver and I kissed." She blurted out before she could change her mind. She put a hand over her mouth immediately after the words had tripped from her lips, already wondering if this had been a good idea.

"Finally!" Sara squealed, throwing her hands in the air.

"Sara I have a boyfriend!" She said, desperately keeping her voice from breaking and tears from spilling across her cheeks.

"When was this?" Charlotte frowned and looked Felicity in the eye, demanding an answer.

Felicity let her shoulders slump and looked at her friend. "New Year's Eve. We had been drinking and I said something about not getting a midnight kiss this year and then he kissed me. And I… I didn't stop him."

"Do you have feelings for Oliver?!" Sara said, eyes going wide, a hand reaching out for Felicity's knee.

Felicity threw her hands up in desperation. "I don't know. There's definitely something there, but ever since it happened, things have been so weird between us. And I love Ronnie."

"Does he know?" Charlotte asked quietly.

"No." She shook her head. "It would break him." Felicity hid her face in her hands out of desperation. She should have told her friends way sooner, but she just hadn't known how.

"Are you going to tell him?" Sara asked, crossing her arms over her chest. All of her jokes were pushed to the side the second she realized how much Felicity was suffering over this. A worried frown on her face, she bit her lower lip and tried as hard as she could not to be even a little happy Oliver and Felicity had lip-locked.

Felicity sighed and shook her head. "I don't know. Things have been good between us and I just know that telling him is going to destroy that. I don't wanna lose him."

Charlotte huffed a strand of hair out of her face and looked down at her hands. "And I thought Max and I had relationship troubles." She said quietly, putting an arm around Felicity.

"It's a risk to tell him, but if he finds out on his own, things are going to be way worse." Sara said.

"If you tell him that you were both drunk and it didn't mean anything…then maybe.."

"But that's just it. What if it did mean something?"

"Do you want it to mean something?" Sara pressed.

Felicity let go of the tears she had been holding back and fell into Sara's arms.

"I just don't know what to do. Everything in my life is falling apart. My friendship with Oliver is completely ruined. I have no idea what I wanna do after graduation. My dad keeps pressuring me about joining the company and Ronnie is going to break up with me. And don't even try to tell me he won't because he will if I tell him Oliver and I kissed." Felicity sobbed.

Sara patted her friends back and ran a hand over her hair. She met Charlotte's gaze over Felicity's shoulder. Charlotte bit her lip and lifted her shoulders. She didn't know what to do either. They let Felicity cry for a moment, until she pulled herself back together.

"Hey. You will always have us." Charlotte said, a comforting smile on her face.

Felicity sighed heavily and returned the favor with the tiniest of smiles. her eyes were red and puffy. She started wiping at them furiously and bit her bottom lip.

"Besides. You don't have to have it all figured out yet."

"You guys do. You know what you wanna do with your lives. I mean, Charlotte, you wanna be a doctor, for crying out loud." She smiled proudly at her friend, but the smile didn't completely reach her eyes, the sadness still in them. Felicity looked over at Sara.

"And you, Art History. That's just so cool and grown-up."

Sara chuckled. "We are going to help you find something you love, you know. That's what friends are for."

"And we're always here if you need to rant about everything shitty your father has said or done, you know that." Charlotte added.

Felicity smiled a little.

"But you are going to have to figure out what you're going to do about Ronnie and Oliver. I mean, sure, we can give you advice, but you probably won't listen to it anyway." Sara said, chuckling softly as she tried to lighten the mood a little.

"Felicity, I think you should tell him." Charlotte spoke softly, putting a hand on Felicity's upper arm.

"You really think so?" She asked, tucking her bottom lip between her teeth.

Charlotte nodded."I am nearly positive that he will get angry at first, and things will be tough between you two." She said, a soft smile on her face as she took Felicity's hand.

"But, if he really loves you, he will get over it." Sara finished, taking Felicity's other hand, softly running her thumb over her knuckles.

"Okay." Felicity said, nodding. "I'll tell him."

She sniffled and looked from one to the other. "I don't know what I would do without you two."

She pulled them in for a hug, one that lasted for a long while as they drew strength and comfort from each other. Sara was the first to break the silence.

"Now that we're confessing stuff, I have to tell you guys something too."

They pulled out of their threeway-hug but never let go completely, holding on to each other's hands instead. Felicity and Charlotte stared at Sara in anticipation. Sara just smiled and shrugged.

"I met someone." She smiled and looked down at her hands.

"That's great, Sara! What's his name?" Charlotte asked, scooting closer, a bright smile on her face, reaching from ear to ear.

Sara chuckled and shook her head. "Well, her name is Anne. She studies Psychology at SCU, she loves dogs, is really into yoga and is a complete dork when it comes to TV-shows."

She would never forget the surprise written all over her friends faces. Felicity closed her mouth when she realized it was hanging open. Sara started laughing and Charlotte shook her head in confusion.

"Wait what?" She said.

"Really?" Felicity asked, a soft smile on her face.

Sara smiled proudly and nodded. "Yeah. We met at the coffee-shop. She was always there when I was on my shift and one day I just wrote my number on her cup and now were texting and we went out for coffee once."

"I didn't realize you were into girls." Charlotte said.

Sara shrugged. "Neither did I. It just kind of happened, I guess."

"I'm happy for you, Sara." Felicity said, softly squeezing Sara's hand.

Charlotte nodded in agreement. "Me too, you deserve it."

"Thanks." Sara smiled and let out a puff of air in relief. "And thank you for being so cool about this. You're the first people I told, and I didn't really know how you guys would react. I mean, some people can be really opposed to this kind of stuff and I'm just really glad that you two are not."

"Oh, Sara. We could never hate you. You're our best friend, always have been, always will be. You don't have to worry we are going to reject you because of your sexuality." Felicity said calmly. Charlotte nodded and smiled brightly at Sara.

Sara sighed again and smiled at the both of them. "Thank you." She whispered when she pulled the two of them back into a hug. Felicity ran a hand over Sara's hair as Charlotte rubbed her back.

"Always." Charlotte murmured.

"Now can we please go back to watching that ridiculous movie?" Sara asked, pulling out the hug and shaking off her nerves.

"Hey! It's a classic!" Felicity said, putting a hand over her heart.

Sara chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Whatever, let's just watch it."

The three girls laughed in unison and got comfortable against the pillows, wrapping themselves in the comforters, each with a nice hot cup of coffee. The rest of the day was spent in bed and later in the hotel-spa, so they could concentrate on getting happy and relaxed instead of constantly worrying about things that were out of their hands so they could enjoy the day to the fullest. Felicity had made the decision to tell Ronnie what had happened between her and Oliver. She hated lying to him so she vowed to herself that she wouldn't do it again. Even if that meant confessing that she might have feelings for Oliver. How hard it would be, she didn't know, but he deserved the truth.

So, a week later, she was on a train to Central City to talk to Ronnie. She got to his dorm room after she dropped off her stuff at the hotel she was staying in. If things would go well, she figured she could take him there and they would have some privacy, not having to worry about his roommate getting home early.

She knocked on his door and waited, tucking her bottom lip between her teeth. To say she was nervous was a big understatement. She had to take deep breaths to stop herself from shaking and crumbling into a puddle onto the floor. She was about to change her mind when the door swung open, a smiling Ronnie standing in the opening, wearing the plaid shirt she loved on him.

"Felicity! You're here!" he beamed, lunging forward, wrapping his arms around her waist, lifting her off the ground and twirling her around.

The warm welcome soothed her nerves a little and she smiled warmly at him.

"Hello to you too." She chuckled, as he pressed a chaste kiss on her lips.

He put her back on her feet and smiled at her. "I've missed you."

"It's only been a few weeks." She said, quirking up her eyebrow.

"Yeah, but still." He shrugged and kissed her temple.

They walked into his room. It was dark, the shutters were halfway closed, only letting a little light fill the room. There were some desk lights that were burning, but the main light was off. But what surprised Felicity most was that there was a girl in his room. Long reddish brown hair and a sweet face smiled at her.

"Felicity, This is Caitlin. We're working on a project about particle acceleration together."

"Hi." Felicity said with a little wave of her hand. He turned to the girl whose name was apparently Caitlin.

"Cait, this is Felicity, my girlfriend." Caitlin smiled and reached out her hand.

"Lovely to meet you, Ronnie has told me all about you."

Felicity smiled and shook Caitlin's offered hand.

"Oh, has he?" She turned to playfully glare at Ronnie.

Caitlin chuckled. "Don't worry, he only ever talks about how wonderful you are."

Felicity smiled and nudged Ronnie in the ribs.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, but unfortunately, I have a date with my physics book. There's a big test tomorrow."

Felicity smiled and nodded. "Likewise. And good luck."

"Thank you." Caitlin said, before she turned to Ronnie. "I'll talk to you later."

Ronnie nodded. "Later."

And with that, she was gone, closed the door behind her. Ronnie turned to Felicity and put his hands on her waist, pulling her against him.

"So what was it you wanted to talk about. You sounded pretty distressed over the phone.

Felicity nodded and gestured to the bed. "Can we sit?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever you need." He said, taking her hands in his as they sat down on one of the most uncomfortable mattresses Felicity had ever sat on.

"I really don't know how to tell you this, you see, I didn't want this to happen, but it did, and I can't change that."

"You're not pregnant, are you?" Ronnie asked suddenly.

"What?! NO! Why does everyone immediately think that! That's ridiculous".

"Oh thank god!" Ronnie exhaled in relief, chuckling to himself.

Felicity rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Ronnie, I'm being serious here. I need to tell you something and it's already hard as it is. Please."

"I'm sorry. This isn't funny. You can tell me."

"Promise me you won't be mad? That you'll think about it from my point of view and know that it was an honest mistake and I'm not planning on letting it happen again."

"Felicity….You know that's unreasonable." She did know that, but she was just hoping she could use the 'you promised' card if he got mad at her.

She sighed and closed her eyes.

"Oliver and I kissed." The room fell silent except for the buzzing of the computer.

"What?!" Ronnie said. He swallowed hard, and she could hear his breathing speeding up.

She didn't respond, she tried to focus on keeping herself calm, so that she wouldn't say anything stupid.

"When?" He asked, running a hand over his face.

Felicity closed her eyes and swallowed. She could feel the tears stinging behind her eyes and she realized what a huge mistake this had been. But she couldn't turn back now, she could just try to get out of here with as much dignity as she had left.

"Felicity answer me. Please." Ronnie begged.

"New Year's Eve." She said, her voice breaking.

"Oh my god." Ronnie exhaled heavily and stood up, running his hands over his face again as he started pacing across the room.

"All this time." He muttered to himself, covering his mouth with one hand, the other finding his hip.

"All this time and you didn't tell me?!" He snapped, his hands moved into his hair. He kicked the bathroom door in frustration. Felicity jumped, allowing the first tear to slip out of the corner of her eye.

"That was only a couple of days after we…"

Felicity's hands clasped together. "I never…." She started, voice breaking, violent sobs running through her body.

"I never wanted this to happen. We were drinking and I… we…"

"Do you have feelings for him?" Ronnie asked quietly.

Felicity wiped furiously at her cheeks and fell silent, except for the quiet sobs she tried so desperately to hide, but couldn't. A full minute, or maybe two passed. Ronnie kicked the door again. Felicity not answering him was just as much an answer. He needed to know, but he didn't want to. And it didn't hurt any less.

"Felicity." He turned around to look at the broken girl sitting on his bed. "Please leave."

Her head shot up, cheeks red, eyes puffy. She started shaking her head, slowly at first, begging him not to do this.

"Ronnie please. Please don't do this. I love you. I'm so sorry."

"What do you want me to say Felicity?! I asked you 6 months ago if you had feelings for Oliver and you lied to me. Straight to my face!"

"I didn't! It doesn't matter if I feel anything for Oliver. I wanna be with you. I'm in love with you, Ronnie."

He ran his hands over his face and exhaled loudly. "Please. Just leave. I can't do this right now."

Wiping away the tears that were still streaming down her cheeks, Felicity grabbed her bag and stood up, slowly moving towards the door. Her bottom lip started trembling and she closed her eyes once her hand was on the doorknob, silent tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes.

"Is it over?" She asked, looking up at Ronnie, hopefulness in her eyes.

"I think maybe it is." He said, gaze averted as he leaned against the door.

She sniffled and nodded slowly. "I'm so sorry."

"Me too."

And that was it. Felicity lowered her head, reaching behind, grasping the clasp of the necklace Ronnie had given her. She took it off and put it in on the small dresser next to the door. She didn't want maybes. She wanted a decision. So she made it. This was the end of their relationship.

"Goodbye, Ronnie." She whispered, not waiting for an answer before stepping out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Oliver was surprised when he received her call to say the least. They hadn't spoken for almost two weeks, which was a new record. He was well aware of how awkward things had been between them, but he never regretted kissing her. Never for a second. Felicity however, he wasn't sure. It must have been hard, because of her relationship with Ronnie. He didn't know if she told him about the kiss, but he knew her well enough to know that the guilt would be eating at her. It was around 11:30 pm when his phone had chimed.

"Ol'ver!" She slurred. Her voice was muffled by the loud music playing in the background. Oliver sat up a little straighter on the couch in his apartment.

"Felicity?! Where are you? Are you okay?"

"No. I'm not 'kay, please come pick me up." She begged, her voice breaking. She didn't need to ask him twice.

"I will, I promise. Where are you?"

"I don't know, at some club…"

"What does it look like, describe it for me."

She took a deep stammering breath. "Everything is pink, and it's so loud, people are dancing really weird."

At least she was still lucid enough to describe what the club looked like because he knew exactly where she was.

"Alright. Stay where you are, I'm on my way." He said as he pulled his arm through the sleeve of his jacket and stepped outside, slamming the door behind him in his hurry.

"Please hurry, Oliver. I'm scared."

"Felicity, listen to me carefully. Don't drink anything, take a few deep breaths and stay calm. I'll be there in 30 minutes okay?"

"Okay." She murmured.

It took him about twenty minutes to get from his apartment off-campus to the city's nightlife district. He parked his car on the curb right in front of the club Felicity had described. It was probably the most obnoxious club he had ever been in, lots of neon color and glow in the dark body paint. He hated it here. His friends from college had dragged him to it once for what they had called a 'rave'. Oliver had gotten sick after someone had put something in his drink and he had vowed to never go there again. But, for Felicity, he would do anything. And he was pretty sure something similar to what had happened to him that night had happened to her.

He got past the bouncer without any problems and moved through the club to find his best friend with her hands covering her face, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees, sitting on a bright pink fluffy couch in a corner. There were streaks of pink, green, blue and orange glow in the dark paint covering her arms and clothes. She looked like a mess. Oliver pushed his way through the crowd. He got to his knees in front of her, pulling her hands away from her face. She had definitely been crying.

Placing his hands on either side of her face, he looked into her eyes. Her pupils were slightly dilated and he could feel her heart racing at the pulse point on her neck. She was definitelyhigh on XTC.

"Ol'ver " She moaned as she reached for his shirt and started sobbing. He wrapped his arms around her shaking body.

"What happened? Why are you in Central?" He asked loud enough so she could hear him above the screaming music.

"I told Ronnie." She sobbed.

That was all the explanation Oliver needed. He knew exactly what she had told Ronnie and he knew exactly how it had ended. Not good. He would have to avoid the department of engineering for a while. Not that he really came near those nerds anyway. He pulled Felicity's arm around his shoulders to help her up.

"Come on. We're getting out of here."

Felicity mewled in agreement, letting Oliver support her weight. He moved them to the exit and out into the cool March air. Felicity suddenly let go of him, taking a few steps into an alley and hurled. Oliver was by her side instantly, holding back her hair and wrapping an arm around her waist to hold her up. He was kind of glad that she had thrown up, because most of the drugs and alcohol must have gotten out of her system that way. Fat ugly tears were streaming down her face once she stood back up. He leaned her against the cool brick of the building, a few paces away from the mess she'd made.

She moaned softly when he took her face between his hands. Her eyes fell shut. Her already rapid breathing fastened and she started shaking even more violently before hurling once again.

"What is happening to me?" She cried, leaning forward, snaking her arms around him underneath the warmth of his leather jacket.

"I think someone drugged your drink." Oliver said, softly running his fingers through her hair, trying to sooth her. He could feel his t-shirt getting wet from her tears. He kissed the top of her head and stepped away, taking her face in his hands again so he could look at her. She was a complete mess to say the least. Mascara running down her cheeks, smudges of glow in the dark paint on her chin, forehead and in her hair. And that was just her face. She was also missing an earring, and her outfit was all kinds of disheveled.

"Ronnie broke up with me." She said it as if she realized it for the first time that night. Her eyes went wide and her bottom lip started trembling. Oliver ran his thumb over her cheek.

"I know…I know…Come on, we're gonna get out of here okay?" He jerked his head in the direction of his car. She nodded slowly, letting go of him and taking a deep breath, straightening her back before a violent shiver ran through her. The gentleman that he was, Oliver immediately shrugged out of his jacket and draped it over her shoulders.

"Thank you." She whispered, throat so dry there was almost nothing to hear.

He pulled an arm around her and guided her to the car. He still had to support most of her weight. Her knees were wobbly and she kept tripping in her heels. They made it to the car in one piece. He helped her inside, fastening her seatbelt for her. She was too disoriented to do it herself. She stared out in the distance, so distance and non-responding that it was almost scary. Oliver got into the driver's seat and brought the car to life. She jumped up, suddenly wide-awake, eyes wide, gasping for air.

"Hey, hey. It's just the engine." He put a hand on her knee, trying to calm her down but things only got worse from there. She stared at him in shock, and then her expression turned into one of rage.

"You!" She screamed. "You! It's all your fault!" Angry tears fell down her cheeks as she yelled at him, hands balling up in fists.

Oliver stared at her in horror. He didn't know what to do. He knew one of the side-effects of XTC was mood-swings but he had never experienced them like this.

"You kissed me and ruined my relationship! You did it on purpose!" She yelled, tripping over her own words and grabbing the sleeve of his shirt.

"Stop it." He growled. It would be of no use for him to get angry at her. He would probably only make it worse.

"You are the reason he broke up with me! You ruined my life, you bastard!" She screamed between her sobs.

"Felicity! STOP! That's enough!" He yelled. Her eyes went wide, but it worked, she fell silent, except for the sobs that still ran through her body.

"Listen to me. I kissed you because I love you. Not because I wanted to hurt you, or because I wanted to 'ruin' your relationship."

Felicity crossed her arms over her chest. Her breathing slowed a little, her gaze softening.

"You love me?" She whispered. Her hands fell into her lap and she averted her gaze.

"Yeah. I do." He reached out and took one of her hands in his, softly stroking his thumb across her knuckles. She started crying again and he couldn't help but wonder how she could have any tears left.

"Now can we please go home?" He begged, squeezing her hand.

She nodded and wiped at her cheeks with the back of her hand.

"Promise you won't yell at me anymore?"

"Promise." She said, nodding again, a tiny hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

Oliver sighed in relief and let go of her hand, placing it back on the steering wheel. He pulled out of the parking spot and drove them through the city. Felicity was silent while they drove, apart from the occasional left-over sob that shook her frame. Oliver took her to his place so he could keep an eye on her instead of taking her back to her hotel and leaving her all alone. He figured it would be better for her to have him near. Plus, he didn't know what hotel she was staying in. He didn't even know she was in Central City until an hour ago.

When they got to his apartment twenty minutes later Felicity had fallen asleep. She must have been exhausted from all the crying. Oliver carried her inside with some help from the doorman to unlock his door and put her to bed in the got rid of her shoes and dirty clothes, putting her in one of his t-shirts. He would have liked to undress her under different circumstances but this was hardly the time to think about that. He stayed by her side for an hour until she stopped tossing and turning. Kissing her forehead he walked to his own bedroom, crashing onto his bed, too exhausted to put on pajama's, hopelessly wondering about what she would remember of their conversation.

The smell of waffles and coffee awoke her to following morning, a pounding headache behind her eyes. She groaned in relief as she saw the aspirin and the glass of water on the bedside table. She quickly downed the medicine and tried to get to her feet. She didn't remember much of the previous night, but as she looked around she realized she must have ended up at Oliver's place instead of her hotel. Since that wasn't her original plan and she had such a terrible hangover things must have gone south with Ronnie. She swallowed hard as she shuffled through the hall towards the kitchen. She wasn't going to think about that too much right now.

"Good morning." Oliver said, smiling softly at her when she walked into the kitchen.

"Mornin' What did I do last night?" She said, pushing her hand against her forehead.

Oliver smirked and chuckled. "What do you remember?"

"I remember why I was drinking, but after that…it's pretty much blank. How did I even end up here?"

"You called me. You were crying and asked me to come pick you up from literally the worst club you could have picked out in the entire city."

She groaned and pulled herself onto one of the bar stools. "Really? It was that bad?"

"Yeah. But hey, at least we can have a normal conversation again without you avoiding me every chance you get. That's something right?"

Felicity looked down at her hands and pressed her lips together.

"I'm sorry, Oliver. It's just that….after New Year's Eve…"

"It's okay, you don't have to apologize."

"Actually, I should, because I kind of blamed you for what happened, for putting me in that position with Ronnie, but I realize now that it was just as much me as it was you."

She stared him dead in the eyes as she spoke and he couldn't shake the feeling that there was a deeper meaning behind what she was saying. That there was a possibility she did remember what he had told her last night and that maybe, just maybe, she reciprocated those feelings.

"Apology accepted." He said softly, handing her a steaming hot cup of coffee.

She smiled brightly at him, folding her hands around her cup. "Thanks. For everything."