Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Arrow. Characters, places, etc. (i.e. everything) belongs to Warner Bros. and DC Comics.

Chapter I

"Mr. Queen, this is ridiculous."

"Oliver or Ollie, Felicity. Mr. Queen was my father."

"I'm really very uncomfortable with this," Felicity told him, nervously drumming her fingers on her favorite clutch purse, "Is this façade really necessary. I mean, not that I'm not flattered – I am – I just think someone else would be more suitable for this role."

Oliver tilted his head to the side as he stared at her with those hard green eyes, which just added to her nerves. "There's no one better," he assured her, adding a dashing smile to try and ease her fears. "Just relax. You'll be fine."

Felicity took a breath and bit her tongue to keep herself from babbling. She didn't belong in this world, she thought – not for the first time in her still young life. With every day that passed, she felt more and more that she was living in some odd dream that she would soon wake up from.

Not too soon, she quietly hoped, glancing at the city's recently returned bad-boy-turned-vigilante from the corner of her eye. He seemed to be getting worse at keeping that secret, though, which was why she was here. In the expensive car. On her way to…

Well, it was one of the reasons. His breakup with Detective McKenna Hall was another. With that ending three months ago, and her being Quentin Lance's partner in the vigilante investigation, this latest incident did not help. So he told a lie that wasn't a lie. Not entirely, anyway.

He had been at Verdant and he had been with her for most of the night, and she and Tommy Merlyn hesitantly backed him up (Okay. Tommy had no problem with it, but lying to the police was not something she was very comfortable with. At all.) Of course, in her uneasy state, she'd begun to babble, which caused Oliver to try and quietly calm her by setting his hand on hers, which caught his ex-girlfriend's attention, and the immediate question of, "So, you two were…together?"

"Yes." Oh, how she wished she had paid more attention to the meaning behind the question faster. Of course, this brought on a round of shocked looks from everyone in the room, while she was the odd person out, still focused on trying to keep herself from getting caught in a semi-almost-not really-but lie.

Oliver had gotten over it first, pasted on a smile and explained shortly, "It's very new. We were hoping to keep it quiet for some time. You know how the press and paparazzi can be."

It hadn't clicked in her mind until Detective Lance narrowed his eyes at Oliver and directed a warning at the blonde tech guru, "You really think it's a good idea to be dating your boss, Miss Smoak?"

"I…" Oh God, she thought, glancing at Oliver while trying to hide her confusion. Luckily, the Detective seemed to have gone into some sort of zone before she could make a bigger fool of herself. Sort of.

"What am I saying? You'd clearly know better than me. You are the literal genius in the room." The agitated veteran cop ran his tongue over his teeth as he got to his feet. "You're free to go," he called over his shoulder, stomping out of the room. McKenna had followed him out of the interrogation room almost step for step, and understandably so.

Felicity turned to Oliver as he got to his feet. "What just happened?"

He held out his hand and helped her up, glancing at Tommy and Diggle as they left the room. Once she was to her feet, he set his hand at the small of her back and guided the confused computer genius out of the room. "You just told them we were dating," he whispered very matter of fact as they entered the bullpen.

"What?" Crap on a hat, she hoped she wasn't visibly panicking in that moment. "What are we going to do?"

"We'll figure it out later. Smile for the cameras right now."

"What cameras?"

The dozens of cameras that had been sitting outside of Starling City Police Headquarters, taking pictures, filming them, and shouting out questions about their new…"romance".

Somehow, between that moment and this one, Oliver had convinced her to keep this charade up. Which was why she was riding in the back of a town car that probably cost what she made in a year. Or twenty.

"Ready?" She looked up to see Diggle had stopped the car in front of the Merlyn Concert Hall. The paparazzi were primed for the couple's first public appearance, for what reason, she didn't know.

Yes, he was Oliver Queen but she…she was Felicity Smoak.

"I can't do this. I can't. This is…it's too much. Oh God! I think I'm going to throw up. Then stop breathing. Because…because you can't throw up without breathing right? Then again, when you throw up you are-"

Oliver took her hands in one of his large one and tilted her chin with his free hand, forcing her eyes to meet his. "Everything's going to be okay," he assured her calmly, "I'm right here with you. Just keep holding my hand and I'll make sure everything will be fine."

Felicity smiled and grasped his hand tightly.

She trusted him, she remembered as someone pulled his door open and bright lights began to shine inside the car. That was how he convinced her. He spoke and she believed him because she wanted to. No matter how bad the lie, she wanted to believe him, because…

Okay, so she still hadn't figured out the 'Why?' yet, but she knew how she felt. Sort of.

Sighing as he led her out of the car, her free hand immediately went up to shade her eyes from the lights flashing and glaring down at her, trying her best to smile and enjoy the ride. They walked toward the entrance at a pace too slow for Felicity's liking as she stayed close to Ollie's side, clutching his left arm like it was her lifeline.

As they made it through the entrance hall, Oliver whispered in her ear, "It's okay now. We're inside."

Looking around, she did not feel okay. She felt the opposite of okay. Everyone was watching them, judging them. Her, really.

Suddenly, she felt warm lips touch her cheek, taking her by surprise and forcing her blue eyes back towards the handsome billionaire holding her hand. He smiled at her shock. "You look beautiful. Don't worry we won't be here long. I promise."

She smiled in return, white teeth breaking through red lips, and squeezed his hand. "Before the intermission?"

"Long before. Dig and I already have a plan to get us kicked out."

Her eyes narrowed at his words. "Kicked out? I don't want to get booted for good, Ollie. I do come here for concerts that don't involve photog's and the rich and fabulous."

"It's just for the night. I'm going to get a phone call, it'll annoy some of the older members of the audience, and the usher escorts us out. Free and clear and no wanted posters to worry about."

"…I prefer being on the other side of these ridiculous situations."

He smiled. "Live a little."

A/N: I'm a little rusty, and not very good at romance fics, but this idea just wouldn't leave me alone.

This story will follow Felicity and Ollie's relationship as it evolves from attraction into love. I have a few chapters written up already, so I'll be posting maybe once or twice a week. Not sure if I really have the characters down yet, but I'm really just going where they take me. This is my first foray into the world of Arrow (though I am a fan of the comic version), so I hope you all enjoy it.

Thanks for reading! Please review!