Felicity (23 years old)
When the news broke out that posted Oliver had gotten engaged to Laurel, it felt like Felicity had a bullet to her gut. It shocked her that he could jump from leaning on her shoulder last night straight into Laurel's bed on the same day: much less proposing to her on the same night.
Felicity felt unadulterated jealousy and hurt running through her. Oliver's thought process perplexed her, was she the only one who thought that they had a moment the night before? Was it in her head that she finally saw him opening his emotions and insecurities since the Gambit accident? Had she been fabricating all those longing looks and lingering touches he innocently placed on her arms?
Groaning, she pulled herself out of her bed. Almost tripping over the plethora of wine and beer bottles scattered around her bed she caught her reflection in the mirror. Her blond hair was frizzy and and clumps of what looked like potato crisps hung loosely from tear tracks ran down her face and she had weird stains on her clothes from last night.
She walked slowly into her kitchen, it was still dark outside, birds chirping happily: ignorant of her own sorry state. She didn't bother to open the curtains, choosing instead to maneuver her way to the fridge. Kicking away an empty bottle on the floor she reached into the fridge and pulled out a chilled bottle of wine.
She was walking over to her kitchen counter when she kicked the dog bowl. Suddenly, she remembered that it was too quiet. Surely King would have jumped on her by now, or demanded she took him out for his early morning walk. Between her pounding head and her shaking body, she heard no noise from him.
"King" she called out took a sip from the mouth of her wine bottle and moved towards the darkened living room.
"King! " she called out, raising her voice.
She heard a familiar sound as she turned around, a black shadow loomed in front of her and touched her , Felicity screeched and swung the bottle trying to hit the had to admit that she was klutz on a regular day, but being severely hungover (or still drunk?) had only made things worse. Instead of hitting the person trying to attack her, she stumbled backwards towards the wall and fell over her feet. Landing with a heavy 'thud', the wine bottle that she haphazardly swung broke into tiny fragments all over her.
"Crap Flis!" the man perched over her.
When her rapidly beating heart finally stilled, and the haze from the fall finally lifted, Felicity found herself staring at Tommy. She felt a tiny tinge of guilt washing over her; as she had for a minute wished it was another man tending to her wounds right this moment. Oliver.
Tommy moved quickly to remove her from the pieces of glass and wine splattered all over the both of them. He swiftly laced his arms under her shoulder and pulled her up.
"Phommy how comph you're soooo stronghhh" she slurred, trying to stand on her own.
A smile ghosted Tommy's lips just for a second before steadying her. " Hey! There's more to Tommy Merlyn than his good looks and effervescent charm."
Laughing at his own joke he added " I've been lifting weights".
Shaking his head, he caught his blacked out best friend.
A few hours later,
Like a haze being lifted, Felicity woke up feeling dazed but vaguely remember fragments of someone in her living room and being attacked.
Shooting out of bed in attack mode she tried leaping out of her bed in fight mode, before she had the time to notice that she was in bed. The sharp pull of wires hooked onto her hand snapped her back into her headboard. Her hand was neatly wrapped in a bandage and the back of her hand was hooked onto an IV.
Feeling confused, she leaned her head on the headboard. All those heavy feelings were rushing back to her.
Hearing a short knock on the door, she lifted her head up to look at Tommy carrying a tray clad in a black hoodie and her baggy sweatpants.
"Sleeping beauty finally awakens! he called tone was cheery, but Felicity knew him was angry.
He sat the tray of fresh fruit and water on her lap as he took a seat next to her. She looked displeased with her breakfast, especially when she noticed the absence of coffee.
"I'm not really hungry" she told him, pouting slightly.
"Too bad. Eat it." he said in fragments. His gaze uncharacteristically hard.
She shook her head in defiance and placed the food tray by her bed. With the start of a headache, she began to become irritated.
"You can't force me to. Get out! I'm not hungry!" she threw a pillow across the room.
"You're being a brat Flis! You're not five, stop behaving like one! " a riled up Tommy fired back. He stood up forcefully and walked over to the other side of her bed.
"Please leave Tommy, I.. just want to be left alone." she said, her voice quivering slightly.
Felicity fought hard to prevent the tears that threatened to fall. She didn't need anyone's help, she never did. Everyone she's ever loved leaves after all.
She hid her tears by sinking down into the covers, her blonde hair covering her face. She felt a dip on her bed when warm hands pulled her blonde locks away from her face. Tommy's surprisingly calloused fingers silently wiped the tears that were running.
Felicity leaned over and wrapped her free arm around his rested waist and her face on his chest, inhaling the scent of his (her?) sweatshirt.
Slightly chuckling, she looked up at Tommy and said "Did you use my soap? You smell like pumpkin spice ".
"Well it isn't my fault that I had to take a shower here when someone spilt wine and glass all over me." "You could have gotten hurt Flissy, " he softly cooed , petting her back softly.
She leaned into his touch, like a sloth he tried to wrap his arm protectively around his sister, just like how she had the same idea. The pair of them ended up pulling her IV to the ground.
With that loud crash, Tommy jolted up to try to fix it , he said "She's going to kill us".
A couple of hours later,
After having a shower, she had tried to help her friends clean up the mess of a house only to be sent away in a huff with strict instructions to drink her hot chocolate and stay away from her electronics.
Like a kid anxious before the Parent Teacher meeting, she fidgeted around the couch. In the distance, she heard Tommy and his friend laughing. It was nice to see someone happy despite all the gloom going around.
She spotted an old radio clock on her coffee table and decided to have a look inside of it.
"There's a sight I haven't seen in a long time." a tawny haired woman said as she sat on the couch behind her. Felicity instantly laid behind and rested her back on the woman's legs.
That's how Tommy found them, Felicity with a wide smile on her face whilst Caitlin braiding her hair.
He stood by the hallway, glued to the scene which he had dreamt countless of times, too scared to break the bubble that the two most important women in his life were in.
"You can come and sit next to us you know, we won't bite" Caitlin's voice floated across room, as her fingers nimbly weaving in and out of Felicity's blond locks.
Intermission
Monday came too soon for Felicity. Two days of being cooped up at her apartment with Mr and Mrs adorable had managed to distract her from her woes. Although the sting was still real and cut through her whenever she least expected it, Felicity was now a partially functioning organism, so much better than the distasteful state she was on Saturday.
Caitlin and Tommy getting back together has been something she had been wanting for years now The smile both her best friends spotted, managed to overshadow the deep sinking feeling she had in her heart.
Sitting in her office in QC, Felicity recalled a particularly cringy conversation with Tommy about her feelings for Oliver.
She had longggggg honest chat about her drunken state, and finally addressing feelings she's been denying for a long time. Although to her surprise, those feelings weren't a surprise to her best friends who had seen it blooming for years.
"Flis, remember the time in camp Hopeknot when you proclaimed to be Felicity Queen? Yeah, that's when I knew I had to keep an eye in you two! "
" Arghhh! Don't remind me of that! I still get nightmares sometimes about that" Felicity groaned.
Tommy reached over and held her hand.
"Listen, while you were babbling away trying to get that foot out of your mouth, you should have seen his face. The moment you said Felicity Queen, it was like a light bulb went off in his thick head. His eyes bugged out and he just stood there looking at you with this goofy smile." Tommy added smiling at her.
"Please Tommy, that's a silly moment. We were so young then." she said, quickly dismissing him.
"No Flis, stop sweeping your feelings under the rug. I've watched you two numbskulls dance around each other for YEARS now.I honestly thought you two would have figured it all out by now."
"I should be happy that my best friend is getting married, but i can't.I secretly still wish it was my two best friends committing to each other, not someone else." Tommy said, frustratedly combing through his hair.
As much as Tommy tried to convince her, Felicity had decided that she had to move on. She was done being the one who put her feelings out on the line for him. Either Oliver Queen pulled his head out of his ass and address this unspoken for bond they have, or she would forever hold her peace.
Later during that day,
Worn out from a long day of meetings with the board of directors, Felicity headed to the carpark. The staccato sounds her black Jimmy Choo made against the concrete floor were the only noise in the dark night.
Shuddering by a sudden whoosh of wind, her hands shook as she balanced her laptop bag on her shoulders, her empty coffee cup and opening the car door.
Throwing her things onto the passenger seat, Felicity took in a large breath as she leaned against the steering wheel.
Letting out a long sigh, she straightened up her back and turned behind before putting her gear into reverse. As she turned her head, her eyes met with a black figure in her car!
Her eyes widened as she let out an involuntary squeak.
" I'm not going to hurt you, Felicity" the man in the hooded whispered. His deep voice trembled as he clutched his middle.
"Just...just because you work with ...Oliver doesn't mean I can trust you." she said as she took him in.
She immediately knew the man was injured. Even underneath the hood and the heavy eye make up, Felicity couldn't help but stare into the vigilante's ocean blue eyes. She was swept into the intensity of his gaze, how his threatening appearance was only softened by the way his eyes glazed over hers, immediately making her feel secure.
How was it this vigilante who ACTUALLY kills people make her feel so calm ? Felicity thought to herself.
The man in the hooded waited patiently for Felicity to come out of what looked like a serious inner monologue. Only when he let out a small moan in pain that Felicity remembered the direness of the situation.
The Hooded vigilante who Kills people Is in her car! Was she his next target? she thought.
"No, Fe-li-ci-ty. You're not. I need your can trust me" his voice echoed in the car.
Even though the way he said her name, gave her butterflies, she raised her chin up and bravely asked for a reason to trust an unnamed man playing dress up.
"Because you know my name." he said as he lowered his hood.
Felicity let out a cry as she saw the man underneath the hood. She unwittingly held her breath and her hands flew up to cover her mouth.
Oliver Queen was the HOOD.
"Oliver...wow, so much about this just became clear."she said, as a stray tear left her eyes.
Oliver only grunted in response.
"You're bleeding! We ...we need to get you to a hospital!" she said as she turned to move her car out of the carpark.
"No..go to the steel factory in the Glades " he hadn't gone unnoticed by Felicity that he was having a hard time speaking, much less breathing.
"Oliver! You don't need a steel worker, you need a freaKing DOCTOR! You're bleeding out on my backseat! " her voice raised to an unholy pitch.
"Flis, you need to trust me. Promise me you'll take me to my father's steel factory no matter what." he said, reaching for her shoulders.
He was slowly drifting away in her breath had become shallower as his eyes closed.
Felicity bit her lips in an effort to dull out any logical behavior that her mind was telling her to do.
Removing her glasses to wipe her stinging eyes.
"Promise" her voice quivered.
AN: Okie. You guys deserve better. I'm Sorry it's taken me months to an amazing two week holiday, i came back only to have my heart broken. I needed some time to myself to get my mind and heart realigned before I could finish this fic. Btw guys, the next chapter is the penultimate. Hope you're ready for a wild ride!