A/N: Sorry for the delay in updates for this story, my life has basically gone spiraling out of control as of late and I haven't been able to devote the time I want to work on my fanfiction. That being said, however, I have started working on this story once again so hopefully, the muse will stay with me and I'll be able to get a few more chapters written for you all.

If you are interested in hanging out with me on places other than where you read this story, search my penname on most social media sites and you will find something that you can follow along with!

Let me know what you think!

Love always,
~starr

"You've got to be kidding me," Oliver grumbled, looking at his phone in disbelief for a few moments before flipping it face down on the table and sliding it off to the side. He propped his elbows on the table and cradled his face in his hands as he took a deep breath.

"What's wrong?" Felicity asked, reaching for her purse and extracting her phone. Flashing across the top of her screen was a notification, the latest edition of the Sentinel had been released. When she clicked over to the website, she noticed the first headline and closed the browser immediately, and threw her phone back into her purse. "I really hate that guy."

"You aren't alone in those sentiments," Oliver laughed, shaking his head as he lifted it from his hands. "I can't believe someone actually told him that they saw a blonde getting into the limo. You're lucky they didn't recognize you."

"Why do you say that?" she asked, quirking brow as she reached for her coffee cup and lifted it to her lips.

"I just thought that you'd rather have the byline for an article regarding Oliver Queen and not be in the headline," he replied, smiling softly as his eyes met hers over her coffee cup.

Felicity thought about it for a minute as she enjoyed a sip of her coffee, slowly nodding her head as she lowered the cup back to the table. "I mean, that would be the ideal situation, but I definitely wouldn't mind sharing the headlines with you."

As the words left her lips, her mind finally registered the exact words that had just come out of her mouth. Her jaw dropped as she covered her face with her hands as she spoke. She could feel her cheeks flushing with color. One day she'd figure out how to stop her mouth from speaking before her mind had a chance to figure out what she was going to say.

After a few moments of self-loathing, Felicity peeked at Oliver between her fingers that were still covering her face and noticed him sitting there smiling. She wasn't sure whether she should be upset with him for smiling at her embarrassment or happy at the fact that he seemed to look past her incoherent babbling of an apology and making an idiot of herself.

Finally, she lowered her hands from her face and took a deep breath. One of these days, she'd get over the intense case of the babbles she caught every time she interacted with someone she felt even remotely attracted to. This whole going red in the face thing was getting old quick, and she'd give anything to make it stop.

"I can't believe you're laughing at me," she said calmly, shaking her head as she laid her arms on the table. She was trying her best to be disappointed in him, but she knew in all reality that she couldn't be upset with him. She would have acted in much a similar way had the situation been reversed.

"You can't? I thought that out of everyone here; you'd be the only one that understood why I was laughing," Oliver replied, fighting the urge to chuckle at her frustration. "This isn't exactly the first time that you've been so flustered around me that you've caught a case of the babbling mouth."

Felicity opened and closed her mouth a few times as she thought about her response and started to speak after a few moments only to cut herself off again. He wasn't wrong. She was always putting her foot in her mouth and saying things that she didn't need to be saying or saying something completely inappropriate, but why did it matter now? It was something she had been doing her entire life. Why was she embarrassed for being so flustered in front of Oliver Queen? As soon as the question passed her mind, the answer started flashing in her mind like a bright neon sign.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," she mumbled, hanging her head forward as she brought her fingers to her temples. Slowly she started rubbing small circles as she pushed aside the realization she had just made. Now was not exactly the time to tell the man she had been finally able to get an interview with that she was starting to think of him in more romantic ways.

This was going to be a long evening, especially with Chase coming after her in his articles. They needed to come up with a game plan.

"Felicity," Oliver said softly, reaching his hand across the table and placing it on hers as it sat there. He watched as she tilted her head up slightly to look up at him under her brow. She looked upset, but he wasn't sure why. "Are you mad at me?"

She shook her head. There was no telling what words would come out of her mouth if she tried to say something right now. Non-verbal cues were the way to go at the moment. If she admitted anything more to him right now, all she would be doing was setting Adrian Chase up with more ammunition for his stupid tabloid articles. She hated seeing his name in the bylines, but what she hated, even more, was seeing her name mentioned in the headlines. He was making money off of torturing her.

"Then who are you mad at?" Oliver asked, observing her. He didn't know what was wrong. They had joked about her rambling abilities before, so why was now any different? Nothing out of the ordinary had been said. It must have been a thought that had crossed through her mind. One that she probably wasn't ready to talk about just yet. There was no denying that he could relate to that. Ever since the two of them had met for coffee that first day, his mind flooded with thoughts, he wasn't quite ready to talk about yet. Someday soon, however, they would have to talk about everything.

"I'm upset with myself," she finally whispered after what seemed like an eternity of silence. "I talk to people all the time and run interviews with hundreds of people. Some of them are even way more attractive than you are, and I don't flounder over my words, but the second I have to sit down and talk with you, I become this childish little school girl. It doesn't make any sense."

"Yes, but personally I think it's adorable how flustered you get when you're talking to me. I've noticed it happening a lot, and then your face flushes to this bright shade of red. You nervously tuck a few strands of hair behind your ears, and you adjust your glasses five or six times," Oliver replied, squeezing her hand gently before bulling it back across the table to rest in his lap. "I'm actually quite flattered that you get flustered talking to me. If you didn't, I'm not entirely sure what I'd think."

"Why is that?" she asked, fidgeting with the ends of her hair nervously as she waited for his answer. She was still in shock at everything he had admitted in that short sentence and just how closely he paid attention to her when she was talking to him. Most men wouldn't even have noticed the color that her cheeks turned when she embarrassed or what actions she does when she is. As she thought about it for a few brief moments, she realized that none of the previous men she had felt interested in would have noticed the pale pink color that graced her cheeks when she was embarrassed.

Oliver looked at her and smiled, quirking his brow slightly as he chuckled. "That's a story for another time. A time after Chase's short-lived career has come to an end."

"Short-lived? He appears to be at the top of his game right now, and nothing is stopping him," Felicity replied.

"Just trust me on this one," he replied. "I've seen enough tabloid reporters careers start and come to an abrupt end. Once the rumor mill they were working at runs dry, they really don't have much of a career waiting behind them."

"What if they move onto another mill?"

"In my experience, there's never one that hasn't been tapped by a new up and coming reporter."