Guys, just want to warn everyone ahead of time prepare for serious laughing as you read especially from the Palmer get together. There will be a lot of characters so bear with me, it's only for this chapter. They are just as silly and crazylily hilarious as Valarie is. :D Anyway enjoy.
(Again I extend my humblest of apologies for any typos!)
~~UPDATE~~
Sorry, I think I warned everyone in my last chapter that I'm at school now, and I'm already plugged with all these tests and AP homework SAT studying, college applying... so again updating will be really slow. A lot of you noticed I'm fast at updating because I literally spent a lot of my vacation doing this story, but for now... I haven't even has time to type the next chapter. I also plan on probably finishing the story and uploading the chapter(s) together. So please bear with me. I really sorry guys :S
She got out of her car and clicked her car remote to lock her car before walking after her friend.
"Ray, wait up." She hollered, she frowned as he noticed him away walking quicker.
"You could at least say hi," She mumbled while walking behind him in her heels. He walked through the glass doors without bothering to hold it open for her.
It slammed shut in front of her.
"Once a jerk always a jerk." She muttered as she pulled the door open. She followed him to the café booth, she crossed her arms as Ray silently made his coffee.
"Why were you walking so fast!"
Ray shrugged and sipped from his cup.
She raised her brow. Ray was never this quiet. He usually would have said a snarky comment back to her.
Ray sipped from his cup again and stared at it as if he had found the secret of cancer in it.
Felicity grinned shyly at Ray who was clearly ignoring her, "Look I know your probably a bit mad about yesterday..."
Ray scoffed, "A bit?"
"Oliver wanted to meet me about something..."
Ray's frown deepened, "And it ended up taking the whole day?"
"…Yes?" She said weakly.
"Have you confessed your love to each other yet?" He asked sarcastically.
Felicity frowned, "Actually. No."
Ray rolled his eyes and sipped his bitter coffee as Felicity pondered. Why didn't Oliver tell her yesterday?
"I mean, we had so much fun yesterday, you'd think he'd have told me by now." She tapped her chin and shrugged, "Maybe it's because I'm still 'dating' you? I don't know..."
Ray shook his head in disbelief, "So let me get this straight, you skipped work and didn't bother notifying me because you were busy on a date for the whole day with Queen."
She blushed, "It wasn't a date. It was a buddy day."
"You're a terrible girlfriend." He said dryly while setting his cup down.
She rolled her eyes, "I said it wasn't a date! Plus we aren't really dating."
Ray turned to leave, "Thankfully."
She frowned as she watched him leave, "What's that supposed to mean? And why are you so grumpy today?"
She paused, "Well, you are usually grouchy a lot…"
He ignored her and left the café booth. Felicity sighed when she looked to her left to see Cindy watching her like a hawk. She rolled her eyes as Cindy motioned for her to come to her front desk. Felicity arched her brow as she walked to her talkative friend.
"Hey Cindy."
Cindy shook her head and laughed, "Girl, I don't know what you and Oliver did yesterday, but Mr. Palmer is pissed."
She sighed, "He'll learn to get over it."
Cindy looked up from what she was writing, "So Oliver and Mr. Palmer really are fighting over you."
"Of course not."
Cindy waved her hand dismissively, "Mmm hmm, sure honey." Cindy laughed, "By the way Oliver has been ogling at you for the past minute."
Felicity raised her brow and turned around to see Oliver a few feet away talking with another staff member. Oliver nodded at the person and glanced at Felicity quickly. She almost shivered when their eyes met. She saw him shake hands with the staff and walk towards her with a handsome smile.
"Oh dear." Felicity said with a gulp.
Cindy clapped giddily, "Girl, watching you three is almost as good as the novellas I watch!"
Felicity ignored Cindy and walked to Oliver with a nervous smile, "Hi."
He smiled back, "Hey. So… on the scale of one to ten, ten being the highest, how mad is Ray?"
She laughed, "Probably 11."
"He's that mad?"
"Oliver. This is Ray we're talking about."
Oliver put a hand on her elbow, "Alright, I'll handle him, come on."
"Good luck with that." She said with a chuckle as they stepped into the elevator.
They entered the office cautiously.
Ray looked up from his laptop and frowned when he saw Oliver and Felicity standing beside each other.
"Sit. Both of you." He commanded.
Oliver and Felicity glanced at each other before sitting in front of Ray who was standing with his arms crossed.
Oliver sighed and placed his palms on the table, "Before you lecture us. I just want you to know I completely understand if you are probably… angry at Felicity and I for…" He glanced at Felicity before clearing his throat, "Being unavailable."
Ray arched his brow with a cold frown as Oliver continued calmly, "We apologize and won't do it again. In fact her and I will work double time today to make up for it right Felicity?"
She nodded politely while biting her lip. From the unmovable scowl on Ray's face she knew he wasn't going to go easy on them.
Ray put both hands on the table and looked to the both of them, "What you two did yesterday was unacceptable. The last time this happened, I fired you Felicity. And Oliver, I don't know what rules you had before me, but as long as I'm CEO, you follow my rules, you don't make your own because you feel like it."
He looked between them, "Am I understood?"
"Yes." Felicity muttered.
Ray narrowed his eyes at Oliver who refused to reply, "You two are grownups so start acting like one. Did you get that Queen?"
Oliver almost laughed, "Walk the talk Ray."
"If you have something to say, say it." Ray replied with a frown.
Oliver arched his brow with a short laugh, "Let's see, it was perfectly fine when there was a meeting in an hours' time and you skipped work with Felicity to go shopping for a personal matter." Oliver stood up and pointed a finger at him before continuing, "Kissing in the office is unprofessional, something you should have been fired for but you did it anyway. Shall I continue?"
"Oliver." Felicity whispered to stop him.
Oliver glanced at Felicity before looking back at Ray, "I'm sorry Felicity, but someone needs to stand up to this jerk."
"Do you want to get fired Queen?" Ray said stepping closer.
Oliver shook his head, "And care to tell me why you left work unannounced for three weeks leaving Felicity to do your work, yet when we skip for one day and you're threatening to fire us?"
He narrowed his eyes at the fact Oliver brought up the weeks he was grieving for Jean.
"I don't need to tell you why I left for those three weeks."
"Of course you don't. With you anything goes." Oliver said with a frown.
"The difference is while you were busy trying to woo my girlfriend, I was gone because I was grieving my late wife." Ray barked back.
The room went silent.
Felicity looked at the two men nervously, and sighed, "Could you two please stop this alpha male bicker. Ray, we said we're sorry. I know you're angry—"
Ray interrupted her with a sarcastic laugh, "Angry? That's what you think I am? You both know my rule about skipping work without a notice in advance. There was a meeting that came up and I needed help and neither of you was around. I'm not furious Felicity. I'm just disappointed, especially with you."
She blinked at his harsh tone; he never called her Felicity unless he was really irritated.
Oliver frowned at the way Ray snapped at her, "Felicity, mind if you leave Ray and I to talk."
She frowned at Ray as she stood up, "Gladly."
After the door shut Oliver turned to Ray with a frown, "You sure know how to talk to your girlfriend don't you."
"What I do with Smoak is none of your business."
Oliver glared at him dead in the eyes, "It is when she's my friend."
Ray arched his brow, "And she's my girlfriend."
Oliver smirked, "And she's her own woman, I gave her a choice and she didn't mind spending the day with me."
Ray sighed, "I'm just going ignore the fact it's obvious that you're still in love with her and cut to the chase. You could have told her you loved her yesterday, and she would have probably dumped me. But you didn't tell her. What angle are you getting at?"
He stared at Ray, "Because that would be too easy. If I'm going to win her back, I'm going to do it the right way."
''''''''''''''''
Felicity sighed as she drove to Ray's house the next Saturday. Now that her friendship was patched up with Oliver's her friendship with Ray was shaky. Right on time for her to spend the whole day with him as they prepared for the Palmer annual get together.
Perfect.
She knocked on his door and looked down at her pink converse as she waited for him to open.
After waiting for five minutes she turned the knob and realized he didn't lock the door. As she stepped into his spacious house she noticed how different the place looked.
"I'm I in the right house?" She murmured to herself.
The place was definitely brighter than the last time she came to his house to comfort him. The windows were wide open with bright sunshine filled the room making the place tangibly happier. Ray had moved around a lot of his furniture. She looked around his sitting room and noted the photographs hung on a massive wall to her right. She walked to it and observed them, it was all the pictures Valarie had taken of them from the beach. She laughed looking at the picture of her stuffing the chocolate in Ray's mouth remembering how cranky he was about it, and one where she was kissing Ray's cheek and his eyes widened in surprise, and the picture of Ray laughing as she shrieked at him for dumping her in the water…
Her smile faded when she saw what looked like a wedding photo at the far side of the wall. It was Ray and Jean under a flowered gazebo. They looked amazing together. Though it was a black and white photo, she could see the emotion from the picture. From the way the shot was taken she guess Valarie probably took the picture of them. Ray's fingers were entwined in Jean's with a proud smile on his face. Jeans black hair was pinned to the side as she gazed back at him with a confident grin. They looked at each other as soulmates.
Now Jean was gone.
She pursed her lips remembering the sinking feeling in her stomach she had when Oliver was unconscious from one of his fights with Solomon Grundy before she had to ask Barry to help her revive him. She remembered the crack in her voice when she called out his name. The quivering of her lips as her fingers touched his cold cheeks but he didn't answer. She shuddered not wanting to dwell on the thought Oliver dying.
She closed her eyes imagining that that was only a glimpse of what Ray had to go through everyday.
"Poor Ray." She whispered to herself.
Footsteps and chatter interrupted her contemplating. She turned to see men in red and black overalls walking around carrying furniture and dozens of large buckets filled with water balloons.
"Hm…" She murmured to herself as she walked away from his sitting room into his kitchen to search for Ray. Empty.
She went to his dining, he wasn't there either. She smiled when she saw a big glass bowl of assorted candy at the middle of the dining table.
"Hersheys!" She exclaimed.
She looked around before grabbing a Hershey from the bowl. She shrugged, no harm done, Ray was a jerk to her anyway. As she peeled opened her chocolate she wondered where Ray was. She accidentally bumped into one of the movers who was holding a bunch water guns in his arms.
"I'm sorry!" She exclaimed as she picked one of the guns he dropped.
"Thanks lady."
She looked up from the water guns he was holding, "Do you know happen to know where Ray is?"
The man turned, "You mean Mr. Palmer? He's in his backyard, I'll show you."
"Thanks." She followed the guy out the backdoor.
She arched her brow his 'backyard' was humongous. There was a long and complex inflatable obstacle course that extended into his pool. There were buckets of water guns and water balloons strategically placed around the the large obstacle course.
"Woah." She said as she passed a giant human sized chest set with inflatable chess pieces.
As she walked around observing the different games around she laughed, the place literally could have been the inflatable version of the Hunger Games.
"Sir, where should we move this?"
She turned and saw Ray on a platform which looked like a fighting ring. He was holding a notepad and a pencil on his ear. He stroked his chin with a frown before jerking his thumb to the right, "Put it by the dunking tank."
She stepped into the ring and noticed he was wearing jeans and a black shirt with The Shins logo on it. She raised her brows. It was the exact band shirt she was wearing.
"No way."
"You've got to be kidding me." Ray said with a frown while looking at her shirt.
She smirked, "You listen to The Shins?"
He went back to scribbling in his notepad, "Occasionally. Yes."
Felicity laughed as she walked beside him, "Who knew."
"Excuse me ma'am." Someone gruffed behind her. She turned around and saw the men holding what looked like sumo wrestling suits.
"Seriously?" She said arching her brow.
"Stay out of their way Smoak," He said as he took her arm and pulled her aside for the movers to set the equipment down.
She rolled her eyes and tugged her arm away from him, "What's with all this stuff"
"The challenges." Ray said while ticking off and item from his list.
"Exactly how many of challenges exactly are there?"
Ray looked through his notebook, "A lot. Basically, this Palmer Dash a battle between all the couples in the family."
"What's the prize?"
"An enormous bowl of candy, and a free dinner for two at a restaurant of the couples choosing."
She laughed, "How do you pay for all this."
"I'm stinking rich." He said simply.
She rolled her eyes, "So what happens if the couple loses?"
Ray shuddered, "I'm not sure, it changes every year, all I know is each time it gets more and more embarrassing. Hopefully they've stopped those foolish face pie smacks they always do."
"Oh wow." Felicity said arching her brow.
He sighed, "I wasn't kidding when I said these Palmer get togethers are exhausting."
"Exhausting? This stuff looks awesome." She said while biting into her half eaten Hershey.
"You stole that from my table, didn't you?" Ray said with a frown as he glanced to her.
"I'm your girlfriend, whatever you own is mine." She said with a smirk while dangling it at his face, "Want some?"
He scrunched his nose and swatted her hand away, "Disgusting."
She narrowed her eyes at him, "You're disgusting."
A smile tugged on his lips as he went out of the fighting ring, "Then why do you like kissing me?"
Felicity frowned, "Shut up Ray."
He rolled his eyes while getting his keys out from his pocket, "We need to go shopping for ingredients for the food."
"Yay." Felicity said dryly while sitting in the car with him.
''''''''''
As they walked together with the trolley Felicity glanced at him, "So what exactly are we cooking?"
"Marconi and Cheese." He replied as they looked for the pasta aisle.
"Boo. That's boring."
"We should keep it simple this year, that way we won't risk winning or losing." he said while skimming through a variety of mac and cheese flavors.
That's strange, she thought knowing that Ray was usually a competitive person. As he picked a box Felicity tugged it away from him.
"Don't you want to win against Valarie this year?"
"I really just want this day to be done and over with." Ray said tugging the box back from her and throwing it in the trolley.
"Let me guess, Jean was good at cooking?" Felicity said arching her brow while taking the box out of the trolley and placing it back on the cart. He nodded.
She sighed before she tapped her chin to think of a better option, she snapped her fingers, "I know what we should do. Lemon Roast chicken!"
"That's complicated and it takes hours to finish."
She shrugged as she picked the ingredients, "But everyone loves chicken."
He arched his brow, "You know I'm terrible at cooking."
She ignored him as she tried to search for spices.
"Do you even know how to roast chicken?" He said while looking at the foreign ingredients she plopped into the cart.
"Nope," She said with a cheesy smile.
"We're going to lose miserably." He muttered as he reluctantly pushed the cart to the cashier.
"And valiantly we shall fall. It is not the prize nor the loss, but the heart in the battlefield that matters." She wisely said.
Ray rolled his eyes as they walked back to his car, "That has to be the most idiotic quote I've ever heard in my life."
"That's because I made it up. And you're such a downer." She said with a smile as he drove.
He rolled his eyes as he stopped at the red light, "Whatever."
'''''''''
After they set everything in the kitchen, Felicity saw her phone ringing, she chuckled at the caller id, "Ray, your sisters calling me."
"Ignore her."
"Why?"
"My family is just as competitive as I am. If we want a chance at winning, she can't know what we're cooking, or she'll make something better."
"Fine, now shoo, I want to talk to Valarie in private," she said while pushing Ray out.
Ray rolled his eyes, "While you two gossip, I'll be in the pantry getting our aprons."
Felicity smirked as she pressed the green icon on her phone to answer the call, "Hey Valarie."
"Hey you! Are you excited for today?"
Felicity smiled at Valarie's happy mood, "From all the stuff that I've seen so far, I'm pumped. You?"
"Of course. I'm excited my husband Brandon and I get to kick everyone's butt this year."
Felicity smiled, she could see some of Ray's competitiveness in his sister already, "So other than Jean not being around…why does Ray hate your family get togethers so much?"
"You know how I'm hyper, fun, awesome and crazy?"
She laughed, "Yes."
"And how Ray's the polar opposite of me."
"Uh huh."
"Well, imagine a whole group of people exactly like me. Even my grandparents. You see, Ray's basically the Donald Duck of the family. Especially since he's a hot shot scientist aka CEO he thinks he's too mature for us."
"I see."
"Yup. So… Felicity… I was just calling to make sure Ray explained our family tradition of the Palmer Dash."
Felicity smiled knowing what Valarie was about to ask, "He did."
"Alright… so, between us girls… what are you two cooking?"
"Uhh.. macaroni and cheese…" She said hesitantly.
"Liar!" She heard Valarie exclaim, "Come on. Tell me pleeaaase. Pretty please? With sprinkles on top?"
Suddenly Felicity's phone was snatched out of her hand by Ray, he put it on speaker, "Nice try Valarie, Smoak isn't saying anything."
"Felicity! What has Ray done to you? You never agree with him!"
Felicity laughed while smiling at Ray, "Maybe we just want to win just as much as you do."
"This is war Ray! You too Felicity, I got my eyes on you both—"
"Game on Valarie." He said with a smirk before cutting the line on Valarie. He handed her apron, "You really suck at lying."
"You've told me that more times than I'd like." She said with a chuckle as she tied the string for her apron and went to the sink to wash her hands. Ray set his tablet on a dock so they could read the ingredients as they cooked. He turned around and rubbed his hands together, "Cooking can't be that bad right?"
Felicity smirked, "Nice apron."
His black apron had a logo of a skull and crossbones with bold text under it which read: CAUTION, MAN COOKING.
He laughed as he went to the sink to wash his hands, "Jean got it for me. I haven't worn this in a long time. The one you're wearing is what she always cooked with by the way."
Felicity looked down at hers which read: BE NICE, OR I'LL POISON YOUR FOOD.
"I have a feeling Jean and I would get along very nicely." She said looking back at Ray.
He turned and smiled, "With the way we bicker all the time, you probably would."
She smiled back before walking to his tablet mounted on a dock on the wall, and searched up for a roast chicken recipe.
Ray looked at the clock, "We need to make sure this chicken takes about 1 or 2 hours to cook because my family is coming by noon."
She nodded and turned back to the tablet, "Alright. First we have to preheat the oven to 425 degrees and remove the chicken giblets from the actual chicken."
Ray blinked, "What are chicken giblets?"
"I don't know, I'm a computer geek, not an anatomist."
He sighed, "Then search it up genius."
She scrunched her nose in disgust before turning to Ray, "According to Wikipeidia it's the heart, liver and gizzard."
She gulped as she looked at the dead chicken, "Ugh. You do that while I chop the ingredients and gather the spices."
Ray frowned and crossed his arms, "Why me, doing the chicken is your idea."
"Uh… I'm Jewish I can't touch dead chicken..." Felicity with a devious smile while chopping the lemons.
"You're Jewish?" Ray said arching his brows.
"Uh huh."
After a minute of glaring at her he realized she was telling the truth. After he took the giblets out he frowned, "Wait a minute! It's pork Jewish people can't touch not chicken. You lied."
Felicity chuckled as she brought the bowl of chopped ingredients, "I guess I don't suck so much at lying now huh. Now stop moping and stuff these in the cavity of the chicken."
He scowled at her before and closed his eyes as he awkwardly stuffed the chicken. She took out an assortment of spices and sprinkled them on top.
"It amazes me how chicken can be so yummy yet look so gross before roasting." Felicity mused after Ray finished the stuffing and placed it in the oven.
"Shut it Smoak. I'm was the one who did most of the work." He retorted while washing his hands of chicken gunk.
"Think of this as is payback for shouting at me at the office."
"You are one evil woman."
She shrugged as she set the timer on the tablet, "So... are you going to tell me why you were in such a bad mood yesterday?"
She turned in surprise to see him staring at her intently with a deep frown, "Ray?". She waved her hands in front of his face, "Earth to Raaaay."
Ray blinked as if out of a trance and smiled as he looked down at her, "You're really short without your heels."
She smiled as she started to walk to the sitting room, "No, you're just freakishly tall."
"Touche Smoak. Touche."
"For a computer geek and a physics protégée, I think we worked well as a team to make that chicken." She said with a smile as she sat on the coach. Ray flopped on the coach opposite her and yawned, "I guess so."
She looked at Ray in pity, "You should take a nap, I'll stay awake for the chicken..." She smiled when she realized Ray already dozed off.
*1 and a half hours later*
Ray woke up from his sleep to hear a shriek in the kitchen.
"Ray!"
"I'm coming." He said lazily. He frowned, Felicity sounded irritated, he rubbed his eyes. He winced as he heard Felicity shout again, why was she so annoying?
"Raymond Palmer you get your butt here right now."
"I said I'm coming!" He growled as he opened the door to his kitchen. First he noticed Felicity's face red from annoyance with her arms crossed, "Look at this!"
He looked to see a perfectly golden and roasted on the kitchen counter. He smiled, "We did it, what's with the long face."
Felicity laughed sarcastically, "It looks perfect on the outside. But I cut it in half and look!" She turned the chicken fully to him, he frowned as she flailed her arms around, "It's literally an ice block!"
Ray poked the large lump of cold flesh in the middle, "Can't we put it back in the oven to leave it to roast?"
"No. The outside will burn."
Ray groaned, "You can't be serious, we have less than two hours left before my family comes…how did this happen?"
"Do I look like Gordon Ramsey to you?" She exclaimed sarcastically. Ray looked at Felicity who was dialing someone on her phone.
He rolled his eyes, "What are you doing?"
"I'm calling a friend." Felicity muttered, as soon as the line picked she ran her hands through her hair, "Hey Diggle, I know you're probably busy now but Ray and I need your advice."
"Uh…Ok, I'm listening."
Felicity put the phone on speaker and explained what was wrong with the chicken. She heard Diggle chuckle loudly after she finished explaining.
"Hold on, this is too funny, I got to tell Lyla this."
Ray glanced at Felicity as they heard Lyla laugh after Diggle explained, he frowned, "We don't get it, what's funny?"
"One of you must have forgotten to preheat the oven, it's one of the first steps of roasting anything."
"You've got to be kidding me." They moaned at the same time.
Felicity blinked irritably at Ray, "We wasted literally two hours cooking that chicken and you didn't even do the first step right?"
Ray shrugged, "I didn't think it was important. See this is why I don't cook."
"Because you don't follow instructions." She said poking her chest.
"You didn't tell me it was important." Ray retorted.
"Mind if you two stop bickering and tell me why you are asking about roasting chicken anyway?"
"Long story short we need it for my family who will be coming in almost an hour now." Rad said dryly.
They heard whispers on the phone.
"Since Lyla doesn't mind, I guess I can help you guys cook something up."
"He makes the best jalapeño burgers ever." They heard Lyla add.
"Thank you." Ray said with a sigh of relief.
"No problem."
Felicity took the phone off speaker, "But Diggle, how will you be able to bring the food if you're busy with the baby."
"You two just worry about yourselves, I'll figure something out."
"You. Are. Amazing." She emphasized.
She heard him laugh.
"If only Oliver could take after you appreciative nature..."
''''''''''''''
At noon the doorbell rang.
"That should be Diggle, I go get it." Felicity hollered to Ray who was upstairs getting something.
Felicity opened the door in surprise to see Oliver with a dazzling smirk while holding two containers of mini burgers. Oh, that Diggle, sneaky sneaky man...
She raised her brow, "Hey Oliver."
"Hi." He said gazing back at her before grinning, "Mind if I come in to drop these?"
She blinked, "Right," she smiled and led him to the kitchen and showed him where to put the food.
Oliver chuckled after setting the food down, "Nice apron."
"Thanks." Felicity said rubbed her neck nervously with a sheepish grin.
He shrugged, "No problem, so I was wondering if you wanted to have another buddy day soon..."
She arched her brows, "How soon?"
"This evening maybe?"
Felicity blinked rapidly before gulping, this was going to be awkward to explain, she knew telling Oliver about the Palmer get together would probably surprise him. "Uh, I'm sorry, I can't today... I'm ...busy..."
Oliver arched his brow, "For the whole day?"
She sighed. Though she would have loved to spend another day with him she couldn't just leave Ray by himself. As she was about to speak Ray walked into the kitchen and frowned at Oliver before glancing at Felicity.
He sighed, "Smoak, what's Queen doing in my kitchen?"
Oliver frowned as Felicity turned to Ray "Be nice, he brought the burgers for us."
Ray slung his arm around her shoulders and smirked at Oliver, "So he's finally useful at something."
Felicity smacked his chest lightly, "Stop it."
Oliver ignored Ray's smug face and glanced at Felicity, "So what are the burgers for anyway?"
Ray laughed, "Didn't Smoak tell you? The food's for my Palmer annual get together."
Oliver creased his brows and frowned, the last time he went to an annual family dinner was when he was considering marrying Laurel…they weren't thinking of getting married… they couldn't…after all they had only been dating for four months…
Oliver frowned at Ray as he twirled his fingers in Felicity's ponytail possessively.
He cleared his throat, "You two seem to be moving a little too quick, I mean…meeting family. Already?"
Felicity looked nervously away from his eyes she said almost like a question, "It's not that big of a deal."
Ray scoffed at Oliver who was still looking at Felicity in disbelief, "Queen, whether Smoak and I are taking things too fast is none of your business. But if you want to join us you can."
Oliver glared at Ray, "No thank you." He walked back to leave, "Bye Felicity."
"Bye Oliver." She whispered.
Ray whistled as he watched Oliver leave, "Who stepped on the Queens toes?"
She turned to Ray, "What was that?"
"I don't know what you're talking about, I was just trying to be polite." Ray said innocently.
Felicity frowned at him, "You can be so rude at times it amazes me how you're still human."
Ray smirked, "Aww now that's an exaggeration… is that supposed to offend me?"
"Seriously Ray?" She said throwing an apron at his face before leaving the kitchen.
He rolled his eyes and followed her to the sitting room, "My family will be coming any minute now, so this really isn't the time to stop talking to me Smoak."
She sighed and looked away. As they sat in silence Ray glanced at Felicity who was nervously and biting her lips.
Then the doorbell rang.
Ray closed his eyes, his family sure did have great timing. As he stood up Ray glanced at Felicity, "What's wrong Smoak?"
She blinked, "Why did I agree to this? What if they hate me? What if we mess up and they figure out we aren't really dating? In fact what if I mess up?"
The doorbell rang repeatedly again.
Ray ignored it and shook her shoulder before she rambled on.
"Smoak!" He said looking at her dead in the eyes.
"What!" She said snapping out of her babbling and staring back at him.
"You were the one who suggested to I do this. There's no going back."
"I know… I just have a bad habit of volunteering for things without thinking of the consequences..."
Ray rolled his eyes, "Even if they hate you it doesn't matter, it's not like we are really dating. We're just doing this so they can get off my case. Right?"
Felicity tucked her stray hair, "I'm sorry, I'm not used to family stuff. I was never really close with any of this is new for me."
Ray tugged his lips into a smile at her nervousness and took her hand, "If I can tolerate you, I'm sure they'll love you."
Felicity chuckled, "I'm going to pretend that wasn't offensive."
He smiled back and patted her cheek, "Now that's the spirit."
When they reached the door, Ray took a deep breath, this was his first time meeting his family without his friends. Felicity squeezed his hands, "We can do this Ray"
"Thank you." He murmured squeezing her hand back.
As he reached for the door knob he scratched his head nervously, "By the way... I just want to warn you my family can be..."
"Crazy? Weird? Hyper? Valarie already told me."
"All of that and worse."
Felicity smiled that Ray was now worried about her meeting his family, "I'm sure they aren't as bad as you."
Ray smirked before opening the door and stepping aside, "If you say so..."
Around fourteen people bustled into the door, some with food in their hands, some with kids, some with boxes, some were kids, and some were teenagers who were glued to their phones.
"Raymond!" "I haven't seen you in so long?" "Nice house" "Why haven't you called me" They all exclaimed at the same time.
"Hi." He said curtly to everyone who was settling down.
Karen grinned as she hugged her son, "What took you so long to open the door?"
"I-"
Felicity laughed, he wasn't even able to finish his sentence as all the family members took turns to hug Ray tightly. She could tell he was uncomfortable knowing he didn't like hugging a lot, but deep down he was probably happy to see them as well even though he was still frowning.
Ray scowled as he was bombarded with hugs from three toddlers who were clutching on to his legs, he hated kids.
"Hey Uncle Waymond." They squealed.
"My ears." Ray said dryly "And it's Raymond, not Waymond."
"Waymond." They repeated. He sighed and tried to peel one of them of his leg, "Let go of me."
Valarie flicked his head, "Stop being such a dork and say hi to Peggy, she hasn't seen you in years."
Felicity saw an eight year old girl run to Ray and hug him, "I missed you so much."
Ray smiled sadly while patting her brown hair, "I missed you too Peggy."
Felicity looked around at everyone chattering almost feeling like an outsider till Karen grinned and pulled her into a hug, "It's so good to see you again Felicity."
Valarie's husband Brandon arched his brow, "Hold up, that's Ray's girlfriend?"
Everyone stopped talking and stared at Felicity, some were in shock, some were murmuring and the kids were giggling.
Ray's grandpa scratched his white hair in disbelief, "How did a pretty girl like her end up with a jerk like him?"
"I know right?" A teenage boy with short black hair said still staring at Felicity.
"Are you sure Ray isn't paying you honey?" Ray's Aunt Suzy mused.
Felicity's face reddened, "Uh.."
Ray groaned as his uncle laughed at him, "Ray couldn't be that desperate."
Ray's father observed Felicity as one would observe a statue, "And she's blonde too."
"That's what we said." Valarie and Karen exclaimed.
Felicity laughed and turned to Ray who was still holding her hand, "This is the third time I've heard that. What do you have against blondes?"
Ray shrugged as he watch the kids walk from his feet to Felicity's.
Felicity looked down and saw two boy's with chocolate brown hair who were probably twins and another girl in blonde curls tugging at her jeans.
Peggy walked over to Felicity with a smile, "What's your name?"
Felicity blushed from all the attention that was now on her, "Felicity. Felicity Smoak."
"Hi Felicity." Everyone chimed.
"Feliwicity." The toddlers repeated. Felicity smiled at their attempt to say her name right.
Valarie held one of the toddlers who were clinging to Felicity's leg and shook her head as they went into the kitchen, "It's hopeless getting them to pronounce your name properly. Alright, I know this is a lot of us but I'll introduce everyone for you. You know Peggy's my daughter. These three toddlers are all the children of my Aunt Suzy and Uncle Simon."
The couple smiled politely at Felicity before setting their food down.
Valairie walked to her husband and handed him one of the toddlers, "This is my husband, Brandon. Brandon, Felicity."
"Welcome to the family." Brandon said giving Felicity a bear hug before setting her down.
Valarie pointed to the elderly couple, "That's our grandma and grandpa. This year for the Palmer Dash they are going to be the game masters. By the way, excuse my grandpa's randomness he thinks he's funny but he's not."
Felicity laughed at the grandpa who scowled at Valarie, the grandma patted his arm and who waved at Felicity. Felicity waved shyly back. Valarie turned to a man who looked like Ray but older and with more salt peppered hair, "This guy's unfortunately my dad. Or you can just call him Peter."
"Stop being modest." Peter said with a deep chuckle before grinned at Felicity and shook her hand, "Pleasure to meet finally meet ya."
Felicity smiled, "You too."
Valarie took Felicity to the three teenagers in the dinning, "That's our nephew Cory. He's a jerk like Ray. And the pretty red haired girl is his girlfriend. Their seniors and the shy guy over there is his brother Derek. He doesn't talk much."
Cory looked up from his phone and scowled at Valarie, "Go away Aunt Valarie."
Valarie stuck her tongue before taking Felicity back to the sitting room, "That's everyone."
Felicity took a deep breath looking at everyone, "Wow. I don't know if I'll be able to remember all these names with mixing anything up."
Valarie smiled, "We'll grown on you."
She grinned back and turned to see Ray sitting between his grandparents and being nagged for not visiting often. She laughed at his grandma who pinched Ray's cheek, "You're still a dork."
"You can say that again." The grandpa said with wagging a finger at Ray who probably wanted to hide under a rock if he could.
''''''''''
Everyone was now seated on the large round table.
Ray's grandpa rubbed his hands, "Alright, now that the kids are distracted with the tv, let's get this Palmer Dash started. Valarie, bring the team head bands."
Felicity glanced at Ray who was muttering to himself, "I can't believe you people still do this."
"Oh hush Raymond." Karen said.
He rolled his eyes as Valarie smiled while handing everyone their personal sweatband, "There are five couples. I made up the names of each of the teams."
Felicity laughed at the name in bold black letters on the white sweatband which read: ATOMIC SMOAK.
"You can't be serious." Ray muttered while putting on his headband as Felicity laughed beside him.
Valarie smirked as she handed everyone palettes of paint. Felicity held up the palette, "What's this for?"
"War paint!" Brandon said with a grin as Valarie smeared to solid lines under his eyes.
Felicity chuckled as she turned to smear some on Ray who was still muttering to himself about how childish everything was. This was definitely going to be an interesting day.
Ray's grandma continued, "Since Felicity is new to this I will explain this as briefly as I can..."
"Try not to bore us to sleep while you're at it." Ray said dryly.
"Young man, would you stop interrupting your grandma, I taught you better than this." Karen corrected. Felicity snickered, Ray scowled at her before turning to his mom.
"Yes Ma..." he said rolling his eyes.
Ray's grandma laughed, "The challenges are mainly separated into two main categories, the brains and the brawns. That way everyone gets an equal chance at winning. Whoever wins the most challenges wins. As we move on to each level the last place team gets kicked out. We'll do the brain challenges first this year."
Felicity arched her brow as everyone on the table groaned while Ray smirked haughtily.
Valarie scowled, "That's not fair grandma, Ray always used to win those, and with Felicity they'll be unstoppable."
His grandma laughed, "Stop being such a spoiled sport. That's why we have the brawn challenges too."
His grandpa stood up, "Now that everyone is clear, I think we can go outside now."
Cory stood up, "Last one there's a rotten egg!" The three teenagers rushed out the door.
"Finally!" Valarie exasperated as she hopped on her husband's back. "Move out of the way losers!" She yelled.
"Beep Beep." Brandon said as they forged ahead past everyone.
"They really take this thing seriously don't they." Felicity said smiling at the animated Palmers who were definitely the opposite of Ray's calm demeanor. He rolled his eyes and took her hand as he motioned to Valarie, "I'm telling you, Valarie is bonkers and her husband's even more for marrying her."
She smiled at the couple, "They're adorable!"
"Adorable and insane." Ray muttered. "Oh hush Ray." She said with a chuckle.
They all reached a platform with two podiums on opposite sides with red buzzers on top. Ray's grandpa held out a hat and fished out a paper before handing it to his wife. Ray's grandmother smirked,
"The first two teams going against each other are The Atomic Smoaks and The Destroyers."
"Woo hoo, destroyin' time!" Howled Brandon, he and Valarie high fived each other.
"Don't count your eggs before they hatch." Ray warned with a weary smile while holding Felicity's hand.
Valarie smirked as they walked on the podium opposite Felicity and Ray, "We've won seven years in a row. You're out of practice."
"Prepare to meet your match. I've got a Smoak." Ray said confidently with his arm around Felicity.
Felicity smiled at him before sticking her tongue at Valarie, "What he said."
Ray's grandmother held up her hand, "Alright, first question, what Shakespeare play contains the famous line, to be or not to be, that is the question?"
Felicity's hand pressed the buzzer long before Brandon, "Hamlet."
Everyone clapped. Brandon and Valarie stepped down the podium for the next team to go.
'''''
Everyone groaned as the next team went on the stadium, so far Felicity and Ray had gotten all the questions correct.
"Last question, True or False, Sir Winston Churchill was awarded a Nobel Prize in Physics."
Ray slammed the buzzer, "Too easy. False."
Felicity smiled as she continued for him, "Too be more specific he won the Literature award."
Ray turned to her and smirked, "In 1953, correct?"
"Totally." She said high fiving him.
"They're good." Peter murmured to Karen as they went down from the podium.
"Nerds!" Valarie hollered while throwing popcorn at them. Felicity laughed and hid behind Ray who caught some before popping them in his mouth, "Thanks sis."
They all moved to the human sized chess piece. Felicity and Ray easily won the challenge as well.
Valarie stuck her tongue at her brother as they all walked to the sumo wrestling podium. "You and Felicity might have won both of the brain challenges but Brandon and I are going to destroy you guys in the brawn ones."
Ray's grandfather crossed a team off the whiteboard, "Suzy and Simon were last in the last challenge so they're out. Now each couple, or team, needs to pick one person to go in the sumo wrestling suit."
Felicity smiled mischievously at Ray. He scowled, "No."
She kissed him on the cheek and grinned, "Now?"
"I hate you." Ray muttered giving up as he stepped into the inflatable suit. She laughed as she helped him put on his helmet and patted the suit, "You can do it!"
"You aren't the one in a sumo suit Smoak." He mumbled.
She continued to laugh while watching Ray waddle angrily while facing Brandon.
"Go hubby!" Valarie cheered as Brandon and Ray somewhat wrestled.
"Woohoo, Go Ray!" Felicity shouted. After ten seconds Ray fell flat on his face, the place erupted of laughter. Felicity and Valarie held each other as they sniggered at Ray, his face was priceless.
The kids who were on the benches giggled, "Uncle Waymond fell down!"
Ray rolled onto his back muttering, "Stupid suit." Felicity walked over to him and helped him up, "Maybe we'll win the next one."
Ray's grandfather whistled for everyone to huddle for the next challenge, "Alright knuckleheads, so Karen and Peter lost this round leaving The Destroyers, The Atomic Smoaks and The Teens. This is how the obstacle course is going to work. Each team may only be allowed one water gun. The goal of the game is not only to prevent the other teams from advancing but to reach the end first."
"Easy." Valarie said with a smug smile with rubbing her hands. The teenagers laughed, "Yup, too easy."
Ray's grandfather rolled his eyes, "There's more. The losing teams and the kids will be throwing water balloons and squirting water at you guys. If you slip off the obstacle course you have to start over. Then first two teams to reach the end of the course which extends into the pool have to battle each other. Now everyone on their marks… go!"
Felicity picked the water gun and squirted it at Valarie and Brandon as Ray went through the inflatable tunnel. After she crawled after him and stood up a water balloon hit her back. Her eyes widened as more were thrown in their direction. Ray glanced at Felicity, "I'll hold the gun, you just focus on getting to the other side."
"Deal." Felicity said giving him the gun as she climbed up the inflatable mountain. More balloons hit her and she was starting to loose grip. "Ray…I'm slipping!"
Ray scowled, "If you dare let go and fall on me Smoak I'll—"
A water balloon hit his leg stopping him from completing his sentence. Ray frowned and squirted the water gun at his dad who was the perpetrator.
"Alright son, I get it! I'll stop throwing the water balloons" His father said after being drenched in water.
Ray smiled up at Smoak, "Keep going." Felicity regained her footing and slid down the long slide into the pool as Ray slid after her.
"Yay! We were the first ones here!" Felicity said hugging Ray. He smirked, "We might actually have a shot at winning this year."
"Not for long suckers!" Valarie hollered before sliding down into the pool after her husband.
The rest of the family all huddled to the pool end of the course to watch the battle.
Ray's grandfather raised his hand in the air, "Time for the Palmer Pool Chicken fight!"
"Fight, fight, fight!" The family chanted.
Ray's grandmother threw two swimming noodles into the pool, "A chicken fight in the pool is like double-decker wrestling. This chicken fight outlaws scratching, hair pulling, punching, biting or other nasty behavior."
"Woohoo!" Brandon howled as he held Valarie onto his shoulders.
"Wait… what?" Felicity exclaimed as Ray did the same to her, she held her noodle nervously.
The whistle sounded and Felicity was still unsure what to do as she tried blocking attacks from Valarie. Ray rolled his eyes, "Could you try to hit her with the noodle Smoak?"
"I'm trying!" She muttered as she ducked a swing from Valarie.
Karen grinned, "Let's spice this game up and throw water balloons at them."
"Woohoo!" Everyone hollered as they flung water balloons in all directions.
As water balloons whizzed past them Felicity eventually fell when one hit the back of her head. She fell into the water from Ray's shoulder and emerged to the top laughing.
"That was fun!" Felicity said as Ray helped her out of the water.
"All is fair in love, war and water wrestling." Valarie said with a smirk. "That's right babe." Brandon said kissing her on the cheek and said, "Up top."
"Booyah!" Valarie said while fist pumping him.
"Idiots." Ray muttered as they all made their way back into the house.
Felicity laughed and poked his arm, "We need a victory handshake."
Ray shuddered, "No way." She smiled, "You're no fun."
After everyone had dried up they all sat at the table for the final round of the Palmer Dash to determine the winner. Ray and Felicity glanced at each other as people ate the burgers. It looked like people liked it.
Valarie smiled, "Everyone better vote for my shepherds pie."
Cory frowned at the empty container which used to have the burgers. "Aw man. The Jalapeno burgers are finished."
Valarie frowned while eating it and glancing at her brother suspiciously, "This is good. Too good. Are you sure you guys made this?
"I'm sorry," Felicity sighed, "We didn't make the Jalapeño burgers, my friend Diggle did it for me."
"Hah!" Valarie said, "Brandon and I win this year, again!"
"Not so fast Valarie," Ray's grandma said, "You aren't the gamemaster."
Felicity and Ray glanced at each other as the elderly couple whispered to each other.
The grandfather placed his hand on the table, "It's decided. Raymond and Felicity win this year's Palmer Dash."
"In your face Valarie." Ray said haughtily. "Yes!" Felicity said throwing a fist in the air, everyone laughed at her. She blushed and put her fist down quickly, "Wow. I still do that."
Ray's grandma smiled mischievously, "But that isn't all. Since you and Felicity cheated you have to take the punishment of the losing team."
Ray frowned, "No…"
"Yes." Everyone on the table said. Karen laughed, "And we won't eat dessert until you and Felicity complete it."
Felicity looked at everyone who was now grinning from cheek to cheek at her and Ray, "Why do I have a feeling this is going to be something embarrassing beyond repair."
Ray groaned as they stood up, "Because it is going to be embarrassing beyond repair."
He frowned at Valarie, "So what's the joke this year? Whoopie pies? Ice bucket challenges?"
Valarie and Brandon brought out a two boxes, "Both of you go change into these."
Felicity sighed and went into the guest room to change. She arched her brow as she looked into the box to see a blue glittery dress. When she took it out she realized it was a princess dress, Elsa's dress from Frozen to be exact. Felicity walked out of the room in the Elsa costume and went to the sitting room where everyone clapped. Her face reddened; now she could see a bit of why Ray was so against these.
"You look awesome Felicity." Valarie said.
Peggy clapped her hands giddily, "I helped mommy chose it."
Felicity scratched her head nervously, "Uh… so what'd you dress Ray in?"
"It's a surprise." Valarie replied with a devious smile.
As Peggy and the toddlers were gushing over Felicity's costume the room went silent as Ray stepped out with a growl. Felicity blinked in disbelief, he was in a feathery yellow chicken suit.
Then room bursted into laughter.
Brandon pointed at Ray while chuckling, "Nice costume bro!"
"Shut up Brandon." Ray said with a scowl.
"Uncle Ray, you look funny." Said one of the giggling toddlers. Felicity and Valarie sniggered so much tears streamed from their faces.
"Stop laughing." He muttered at everyone.
Cory's girlfriend took out her iPhone, "I'm uploading this on Instagram, Queens Consolidated CEO dressed as a chicken..."
"If you dare…" Ray said narrowing his eyes at the teen.
Karen grinned as she linked her arm to Felicity and Ray's, "There's more."
Ray frowned, "What you mean there's more than dressing me in a humiliating chicken suit?
"Oh silly Ray. You really have missed a lot of our get togethers." Karen said with a smirk, "Valarie care to do the honors?"
Felicity turned to see Valarie setting her camera while Brandon tinkered with Ray's speakers.
Valarie smirked, "You two have to dance to a song of the family's choosing. While we are deciding you two decide on your dance moves."
Ray's frown twitched as Valarie and Karen gently pushed Ray and Felicity into the kitchen.
"I hate you." Ray gritted to Valarie.
"Love you too bro." Valarie said with a wink to them before slamming the door shut.
"You just had to be a goody two shoes didn't you Smoak?" Ray said groaning.
"It's not that bad," she mumbled while adjusting the blue cloth.
"I'm dressed in a chicken suit for petes sake!" Ray gritted.
Felicity shrugged, "This wouldn't be happening if you listened to my advice about the chicken."
"This wouldn't be happening if you decided to tell the truth."
"Hey we technically cheated-"
Valarie opened the door and smiled, "Less arguing more dancing!"
Ray crossed his arms, which were chicken wings, "I'm not dancing."
Valarie pouted, "At least for five seconds."
"So what do we do?" Felicity asked arching her brow.
"We'll improvise. And Smoak..."
"Yes."
He put on the chicken head, "I hope you know if I hear even a peep of this at the office you're fired."
She laughed as she took his hand, "I know."
"Let's just get this over with." He mumbled as they walked back into the sitting room which had Gangnam Style blasting from the speakers.
"Dance! Dance! Dance!" The family chanted as Valarie held up the camera to record them.
Felicity laughed before doing the robot dance as Ray rolled his eyes did a quick shimmer of jazz hands.
"Yay!" The family cheered.
After they finished an awkward montage of dances Ray turned, "Can I take this stupid suit off now?"
"Nope, you have to wear it until we all leave." Valarie said with a grin.
"I hate you all." Ray said gloomily while sitting back down at the dinning table as his family laughed.
"I want to dance with Uncle Ray." Peggy begged.
"I'm a bit tired."
"Pleeasse."
"No." Ray said with a scowl to Peggy who sighed.
Felicity light hit Ray's hand with her fork.
"You're mean," she teased as she ate the chocolate cake.
Ray smirked, "I learn from the best."
"So…Felicity, Ray…I'm I hearing wedding bells soon?" Grandpa Ben asked.
Felicity blinked and fork dropped in astonishment. Red rose to her cheeks as she blinked rapidly, "Uh…"
"Grandpa!" Everyone on the table whined.
Grandma sally swatted her husband's arm, "Why do you always have to say the stupidest things."
He shrugged, "Hey, somebody had to ask... it was a joke!"
Felicity looked to Ray whose face was not only just as red as hers, he was choking. She patted his back before he stood up abruptly.
"I'll be in the kitchen." He wheezed.
Felicity blushed even more that all the eyes were on her, "You know what… I'm think I'm going to go check on Ray…"
"Thanks gramps, you scared them off." Valarie said while eating her ice-cream.
Felicity smiled politely at everyone and walked out the room as quickly as she could. She sighed when she entered the kitchen and closed the door to meet Ray sipping a glass of water.
He looked at her with a wry smile, "Remind me to agree with any of you whacky ideas again."
She laughed, "I know. Us. Married. Weird."
Ray smiled, "Agreed."
"You know it's kind of fun. Dating you. Even though it's not entirely real, and even though you are rude, mean, selfish, vindictive, evil, cunning, a jerk and did I mention mean?"
Ray rolled his eyes, "I get it. I'm an idiot, any other additions?"
She paused, "You get jealous really easily."
Ray frowned, "No I don't."
"Then why were you so angry at me yesterday?"
Ray frowned at her, "I wasn't angry at you. I was angry at myself."
Felicity arched her brows, "You're confusing me, why would you be angry at yourself."
"Because it pisses me off I might actually start liking you more than I should. Happy?"
She grinned and stepped close, "You mean more than a friend?"
He looked away and sighed, "Maybe. I don't know."
She arched her brow, "What do you mean by maybe?"
"I don't know if I'm just attracted to you or if I'm actually starting to like you…"
"Me neither." She admitted with a reluctant shrug.
Ray arched his brow, "Really?"
Felicity bit her lip, "I think I kind of like you as in like like you but I still want to be your friend…Did that make sense?"
"No."
"I mean know it's crazy, and—"
Ray took her hand and tugged her to him.
Felicity laughed as he leaned in, "Would you just wait for me to finish my sentence for once?"
He held her face firmly, "Listen Smoak. I'm not guaranteeing I'll fall for you or anything… because I'm not over Jean, and you and Oliver still have your issues…"
"But it's worth a shot?" Felicity whispered. She saw him nod with a small curl on his lips. As they were about to lean in the chicken beak on Ray's head hit her forehead.
"You're such a dork. Tilt you head silly." She said laughing at Ray trying to kiss her without hitting her forehead with the beak.
"Stupid bird suit." Ray muttered.
She smiled, "Stay still." She put one hand on his cheek and used the other to hold up the beak before tiptoeing to his face. Just as their lips almost touched they heard giggles from behind them.
Felicity and Ray stopped and blinked in surprise to see the door wide open with the whole family watching them.
Ray frowned, "Seriously guys?"
"Great, I owe your mom fifty bucks." Ray's dad said with a frown while looking into his wallet.
"I told you." Karen said with a confident grin after taking the money from her husband.
"Why aren't they kissing yet daddy?" Peggy whispered to Brandon.
"Because Ray's a chicken." Brandon said with a smirk.
"You people do realize I can hear you right?" Ray said with a glare.
"He's such a dork." Valaire said with a laugh. "I know right?" Everyone exclaimed.
He looked away from Felicity and scowled at his family who were laughing. "I told you my family's weird."
Felicity placed her hands on Ray's cheek and smiled, "Guess what? You're even weirder than them."
"I'd say the same to you Smoak," He said with a chuckle before kissing her.
"Eww…Uncle Ray is eating Fewicity's face!" Yelled the kids.
"Aww…" Cooed the women as the men clapped.
"Can they stop now? Watching a chicken make out with Queen Elsa makes me want to barf." Cory said dryly. "They're adorable." Cory's girlfriend said with a sigh.
"Are you sure they aren't getting married? Because in my days…" Ray's grandpa asked with arched brows.
"Grandpaaa…" Everyone whined.
"Let's go finish our dessert." Ray murmured after their lips parted.
Felicity looked at their entwined hands with a smile, "Ok."
'''''''
Felicity and Ray walked outside to say good bye to the Palmer family. After they hugged her, Felicity watched as everyone hugged Ray and made him promise to keep in touch with them more often. She smiled glad to know that Ray would at least make an attempt to be more of a son, a brother, a nephew and a Palmer.
Before everyone drove off Peter walked to Felicity and smiled, "The fact you can date my son and keep up with his tantrums means a lot. Thank you Felicity."
"No problem."
"Hey, I heard that." Ray said with a wry grin to his dad. Peter patted Ray's back, "Don't be too hard on her son."
Ray smiled back at his dad and nodded before glancing at Felicity, "I won't if she takes it easy on me."
She smiled, "I won't either."
Peter looked at Felicity and Ray and nodded his head almost as a sign of genuine approval. Karen hugged both of them and patted Ray's face, "Promise you'll keep in touch more often?"
Ray smiled lightly and pecked his moms forehead, "I promise ma."
Karen grinned, "Good boy."
She smiled at Felicity and whispered, "Thank you."
Felicity smiled back as Ray put his arms around her shoulder. Karen winked at them as she left.
"Bye." They said waving at the family who drove away in their different cars.
"I know I said I wanted this day to be over. But I think I actually had fun today." Ray said staring at his family driving away.
She glanced at him with a smirk, "I'm glad you had fun."
"Did you?"
Felicity turned to Ray almost speechless, "I still can't believe this day actually happened.
Ray arched his brow as they walked back into his house, "Still surprised I'm starting to like you?"
She smirked, "No. I mean I never knew I'd live to see the day you'd be cuddled to death by kids, wear an apron, roast a chicken, sumo wrestle and dance to Gangnam Style in a chicken suit."
Ray took off his chicken head and wiggled his brows, "Well now you have."
Felicity laughed, "Even in a chicken suit you're still cocky."
Ray shrugged with a smile, "So what do we do now?
Felicity grinned, "Obstacle course?"
"No."
"Come on."
"No."
"Pleeeease."
Ray rolled his eyes as Felicity tugged his arm to the backyard. They entered the inflatable tunnel and laid down on their backs to look up at the stars.
Ray glanced at Felicity who was still looking up, "Now I need to figure out where to take you for our date."
"We should try Indian." Felicity said glancing at him.
Ray frowned, "I was thinking French."
"No. What about Jamaican? Japanese? Korean?"
"No. No. And no." Ray said.
"Boo. You're a boring boyfriend."
"Hey, I'm the one paying for our date I should decide."
"I'm the one agreeing to go on the date with you, I should decide!"
"We can't even agree on our first date. I told you we make a weird couple." Ray said with a laugh.
"We're...just different." She said with a smile.
"Just so you know I suck at being romantic, so don't expect anything fancy." He said dryly.
She poked his cheek, "Dork."
Ray smirked at her before looking back up, "Jean and I had a similar argument to this. It was about a vacation trip. Jean wanted to go to Brazil and I wanted to go to Paris. But eventually we went to Brazil."
Felicity arched her brow, "Why Paris though?"
Ray shrugged, "I can read and speak French fluently."
"Say something in French."
"Je déteste que je pourrais réellement commencer à vous aimer."
Felicity blinked back at him, "Well, aren't you going to tell me what that means?"
Ray smirked and played with her ponytail, "Nope."
Ray looked at Felicity's furrowed brows and smiled to himself, hopefully she wouldn't find out what he actually said. After they sat up she glanced at Ray who was deep in thought while stroking her hair, "I still don't get how this works. You aren't even my type."
She smiled cheekily at him, "You aren't either."
As they gazed at each other Felicity heard her ringtone. She dug into her bag to see three missed calls from Diggle.
"That's strange," She murmured while she called him back.
"Diggle? What's wrong."
"Hey Felicity, this is Roy."
She furrowed her brows, "Wait why are you with Diggle's phone?"
She heard a pause.
"No time to explain. You need to the lair quickly."
"I'm coming but why?"
Felicity held Ray's arm to steady herself as Roy took a deep sigh before saying,
"It's Oliver…he's been poisoned."
"No." She whispered.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Finally done with this chapter! I think it took me 4 days to write. Sorry it took so long, but luckily I made it long enough that it is like five chapters combined in one.
Thank you for all the wonderful reviews. They always make my day. :) Why are you all so nice? And and there will be 2-4 chapters left of this story, so this will be wrapping up soon. :((( For those asking about how often my updates are, sorry but now that my school is starting this week it won't be as often, but I'll try to update as soon as I can.
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. It's a bit more light from the other ones since this one had so many characters that aren't from Arrow which is usually more dark. Plus I hope everyone remembers this is in the Humor genre, so I think I warned crazy stuff and a bit of instances of OOC's would be happening waaay back when I started this. (I hope.)
Again if you want a warning in advance leave a comment. :|
So... comments on the family get together? Ray being a chicken? Olicity? Oliver being poisoned? Raylicity? Diggle being an awesome cook? Feel free to leave a comment on anything. :D
[BTW: My beautiful francophone people, please correct me if I made a mistake, please. And if you speak English and you really want to know type it in google translate :) ]