Title: She Said Maybe
Rating: K+
A/N: After writer's block kicking my ass for like... two years, I'm finally back with a new schmoopy drabble for my OTP! It was inspired by the Steam Powered Giraffe song, "She Said Maybe".
The first time Ray asks her out, Felicity doesn't give him a straight answer. She's still not sure how she feels about him and doesn't want to jump into anything while she's still hung up on Oliver.
What surprises her is that Ray is okay with her non-committal "maybe." Any other guy she's ever known would take it as outright rejection but Ray just smiles at her and tells her to let him know by Friday and if he doesn't hear anything, no hard feelings.
She's on the fence about it all the way up until Friday and she finally makes her decision after Oliver pushes her away yet again and makes her feel awful.
She marches over to Ray's office at 3:30 in the afternoon—an hour and a half before work officially ends—and takes a deep breath before blurting out, "Yes, I would love to go out for dinner with you, Dr. Palmer...?" She internally cringes but she's also not quite sure how to address him. For all intents and purposes, he's her boss, but he doesn't act like it and she's only one position below him in the company.
Ray's eyes widen slightly as her words sink in and then he clears his throat and says, "Great! I'll, uh, I'll pick you up at eight... Ms. Smoak?"
She smiles back shyly. "Sounds good to me."
Six months later, as they're cuddling in bed together and doing a Star Wars movie marathon while eating junk food, Felicity thinks that saying "maybe" to Ray Palmer was the best decision she's ever made.
He untangles himself from the blankets to get the next DVD and notices Felicity looking at him. "Do I have something on my face?"
She laughs softly, "No, I just... I really love you, Ray."
He smiles back sweetly and leans in to kiss her. "I love you too, Felicity."
