A/N: Well... this took a long time to write... As you can all see, my laptop is now fixed, and they managed to save a lot of my data, including all my fanfictions! Yay!

As for this chapter, I know it took a long time to write, and I really don't have an excuse except writer's block. I just couldn't get back into this story, even after I'd written the first two chapters. And the worst thing is that I still can't promise regular updates... I'm also working on two Merlin fics, and I'm rewriting a Percy Jackson fic, and completely ignoring my Criminal Minds fic... I'm one of those people who just can't help themselves when they come up with new ideas, I have to write them all and I always post them... Anyway, this chapter, at least, is done, so enjoy!

Chapter 3:

Felicity POV

Felicity looked herself over in the mirror. Was she nervous? Absolutely. Was she going to fake an illness to get out of this? She wasn't sure yet.

God what was she doing? Oliver probably barely remembered her, let alone wanting her to be at his party. Why had she let Tommy talk her into this? She smoothed out some non-existent wrinkles on her blue dress and fixed her already perfect hair. A glance at the clock revealed that she was already seriously late, and not in the fashionable way, either.

Sighing, she grabbed her purse and her coat and took the elevator down to the ground floor. Her Volkswagen was parked just around the corner, so she hurried over, hoping she'd still be able to find a parking spot.

About 15 minutes later, she stood in front of the entrance, steeling herself to go inside. It was crowded, to say the least, and she had no idea if anyone she knew was inside. Except Tommy, of course. God, she should have made one of her friends come over so she wouldn't have to face this alone. Taking a deep breath, she went inside.

The music was loud, but the song that was currently playing was one Felicity actually liked, so there was that at least. As she squeezed herself through the crowd to get to the bar, she wondered what she was doing here. She wasn't even –

"Felicity!" a voice shouted over the music. She turned to see Thea Queen grinning at her, a glass of champagne in her hand.

"Thea, it's good to see you," she said, though she frowned at the glass.

The younger Queen had the decency to look mildly sheepish, and leaned in for a hug. "I wasn't sure you'd come!" And gone was the guilt.

Felicity shrugged, smiling. "Can I have that?" she asked, and took the glass out of Thea's hand without waiting for a reply. Thea rolled her eyes, but didn't seem overly bothered by the not-so-subtle attempt at keeping her from drinking. Felicity downed the glass – and immediately winced. It might have been champagne at one point, but there was definitely something stronger mixed in with it now.

"So, how's work?" Thea asked dutifully, even as she smiled coyly at a guy at the bar.

Felicity barely contained a groan. She was going to have to work a little harder to keep Thea from her alcohol. "It's fine. My superior is still an incompetent jerk, but I managed to prevent the system-wide shutdown he almost caused."

The cute guy from the bar sauntered over – though Felicity wasn't entirely sure how he managed that with a thick crown like this – and offered Thea a glass of… something pink. Thea smiled again, before turning her attention back to Felicity. "You should tell Walter about him. QC would be a lot more effective if we didn't have idiots like him as department heads. I could put in a good word," she suggested.

The guy seemed completely unbothered by Thea ignoring him, and began dancing with another girl, though his eyes remained on the brunette. Felicity made a mental note to remind the guy that this was Thea Queen, and thus underage. "Yeah, no thanks," she said in response to Thea's suggestion. While her boss was an ass, he had 3 kids to support, and Felicity didn't really want the added responsibility of being a department head. Even though it'd be nice to actually get paid for all the extra work she was putting in.

Thea shrugged. "Your loss. I'll talk to you later, okay?" And without waiting for a reply, promptly turned to the cute guy and started dancing with him. Weird. Thea had seemed lucid enough, and Felicity didn't think she'd had that much to drink yet…

Felicity pushed it from her mind. Talking to Thea about not drinking alcohol was far more efficient if done when she was suffering from a hangover.

All of a sudden, the music stopped, and Felicity could hear someone shouting on the stairs near the entrance. "Man of the hour!" It was Tommy.

Not even hearing the cheers that went up at that statement, Felicity's eyes fixed on the person standing next to Tommy. Oliver looked… good. He was grinning as Tommy thumped him on the back. He looked older too, but she supposed that was normal, seeing as he'd been 17 when she'd last seen him. And he hadn't just been marooned on a deserted island for 5 years either. Frowning, Felicity noticed that his grin wasn't very genuine, and she vaguely wondered how Tommy couldn't see that. Then she mentally smacked herself. It had been 9 years, what did she know about his smiles anymore?

Tommy had said something else, but Felicity hadn't been able to catch it, as the DJ started playing 'We are the champions' and Tommy led his best friend over to a small stage. Felicity was standing right by it, and took a step back, hoping Oliver wouldn't see her. This wasn't exactly how she'd imagined their reunion. Not that she'd spent a lot of time imagining anything about Oliver, or, well… okay, maybe she had, but that was private and completely beside the point.

Downing his shot glass, he just shouted, "I miss tequila!" and then the music went came back on and people cheered. Felicity tried to tell herself she didn't know him anymore, that she didn't know his expressions, but looking at him now, she knew he was wearing his mask again. It was the same party-boy persona he'd used when she'd first met him, and it hadn't been him back then, and it wasn't him now.

She got jostled by a couple of women who joined Tommy as Oliver got off the stage. Irritated, she turned around, intent on making her way back to the bar and getting another drink. That proved difficult, though, as the bar was swamped with people wanted to get even more drunk than they already were.

She shouldn't have come. Her feet were already started to hurt, she kept getting crowded and there were too many people in here. Felicity sighed. She was going home, Tommy could complain about it in the morning.

So, of course, she walked straight into someone. "I'm so sorry, I didn't–" the words died on her tongue as she stared up into very familiar eyes. "Oliver," she breathed.

"Felicity?" he asked, frowning at her.

Oh god. Panic clawed at Felicity's insides, but she was frozen, unable to look away from his face.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. A tiny smile was pulling at the corner of his mouth, and all Felicity could think was that it was the first genuine expression she'd seen on his face all evening.

"Uhm… kind of a long story," she said eventually. She was still feeling a little flustered, but at least she wasn't a statue anymore.

"Let's talk somewhere more quiet," he said, putting a gentle hand on her elbow. Great, now how was she supposed to focus?

He led her to the lobby of the building, where the music wasn't quite as loud. A huge luminescent globe was floating there, and Felicity idly wondered if it was suspended by a really thin cord or something. She hoped it wouldn't fall down, it looked kind of heavy.

"How long have you been in town?" Oliver asked, shaking her from her thoughts. Right, uncomfortable conversation ahead. She had to pay attention.

"Uhm. A few years. I, uhm… I work for QC," she admitted. Now that she was focused on him again, she couldn't look away. The lines of his face were harder now, which was to be expected if someone lived on a deserted island for five years, but there was something cold in his eyes too, something that hadn't been there before. The scruff suited him, though.

Oliver smiled, amused. Oh crap, she'd said that last bit out loud hadn't she? "Thanks. So I take it you went to MIT?"

"You remember that?" she asked, surprised. It was something she'd mentioned offhand to him maybe once or twice 9 years ago.

His smile turned a little sheepish. "Yeah, for some reason it stuck."

"All that tutoring and that was what stuck?" she teased. Felicity realized that she'd relaxed. Talking to Oliver felt as natural as ever, even though they had some less than pleasant memories and 9 years of ignoring each other between them.

"What can I say? Thick skull," he replied.

Felicity laughed. "No kidding. I think I consciously blocked out how many times I had to explain basic math to you."

He smiled, and this time it was completely genuine. Nothing fake or half-hearted about it. "How are you, Felicity?" he asked, and she could tell that he really wanted to know.

She shrugged. "I'm okay. I mean, my supervisor at work can be an ass, but I've already vented at Thea about that," she said.

"Thea?" Oliver asked, confused. "How do you know Thea?"

"Uhm…" she said, intelligently. "Tommy introduced us after you'd… you know, died," she explained awkwardly.

Oliver frowned. "I didn't know you knew Tommy."

And the tension was creeping back into Felicity's shoulders. Shit. "I… I met him at your birthday party. He said you made bad decisions but that you cared about me," she said quickly. Crap, she hadn't meant to say that.

Oliver looked angry, but she didn't think it was directed at her. "Don't be angry with Tommy, I asked him years ago not to tell you," she said, stepping closer to him.

"Why?" Was that actual hurt she heard in his voice? It couldn't be…

"Because you hurt me, Oliver. And Tommy suggested giving you time, so I did, even though I was giving myself time too, and then I went to MIT, and then that whole – never mind. But then I look at a TV, and suddenly, you're not there anymore. I wanted to give you time, and then you… you died," she babbled. "And obviously you're not dead, but I didn't know that, and I thought I'd lost my chance, so when I graduated and I had to pick a place to work… It sounds stupid, but I thought working at QC could… I don't even know." Felicity put a hand on her stomach, trying to get her slightly erratic breathing back under control. She surprised to find she felt… upset. Which was ridiculous, because she'd gotten over all this ages ago.

Oliver was looking at her with a soft expression she didn't recognize. "I'm sorry I hurt you, Felicity. Tommy's right, I make stupid decisions sometimes."

If she hadn't been looking at him so intently, she wouldn't have seen the slight change in his face. Suddenly, his eyes hardened, and he sort of a sad edge to them. "But that wasn't one of them. You're trying to see the best in me, Felicity, but this is just who I am," he said.

"That is bullshit," she said, finding her own resolve building as she watched him retreat behind his walls again. "Look, I don't know what happened to you on that island, and I barely know what was going on with you before that, but I know you. You can fool the entire world, you can even fool yourself, but you're a better person than you allow yourself to be, Oliver, and you can't fool me." She looked him square in the eyes, and she could tell he hadn't expected her to react like that. No doubt he'd thought she'd be hurt and she'd leave. Well, though luck for him. "You may have changed, but you're still the same guy who tried to protect me from kidnappers while struggling with a severe concussion. All you're doing by pretending otherwise is hurting the people around you."

Oliver opened his mouth to say something, but his phone beeped. He glanced at it quickly before slipping it back into his pocket. "You're wrong," he said softly. "I'm not the same man I was before." He gazed at her for another moment before taking a step back. "Enjoy the rest of the party," he said with a fake smile. "I know I will." And then he turned around and walked away.

Felicity sighed and rubbed her forehead. Okay, now she was definitely going home. Tommy could interrogate her about this later. For now, all she wanted was a glass of wine, cuddling with her cat in her comfy PJs while watching David Tennant running circles around a couple of Daleks.

A/N: Ah, Doctor Who... I love that Felicity is such a geek. Anyway, what are your thoughts on this chapter? They saw each other! Albeit briefly. Still. I know a lot of you asked me not to let Oliver get off easy, and I won't, but right now they have to figure out how to talk to each other first, before actually getting through their issues.

Please, tell me what you thought!

Review reply:

MellarkHall: Don't worry, this won't be as slow burn as the last one, but it will still take some time. I'm so glad you liked it, and I hope you're still with me :)

Edit: I added something in that last sentence. Kudos to the readers who're rereading this and spotted the change!