Chemistry

A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update this. RL has been horribly hectic, and writer's block did set in. But here's the next chapter, and I hope you like it. Thank you for continuing to read this. :-)

Summary: Unable to avoid a cast and crew party, Felicity finds herself in a bit of an awkward situation with Oliver.

Chapter Two

Loud. Too loud. That was Felicity's first impression of the party. She had arrived just ten minutes ago, and already her head was beginning to throb in pain. The music of the live band blasted from the speakers inside the music bar and lounge that the producers had rented out for the party that night.

This was the first one of its kind that the cast and crew had thrown and invited her to, which she actually consented to attend. She hadn't gone to the previous ones even though the friends she'd made among the cast and crew members had tried different ways to get her to come. It wasn't because she hated parties – excessively loud music, yes, but not parties per se. It wasn't because she didn't like their company. Truth be told, it was because she had been trying to avoid Oliver Queen.

It had already been tricky – dodging his attempts at any kind of conversation alone with her, whether on set and off-camera in between takes, or before and after a shoot. In a more casual and less professional setting like parties, she knew that he'd be harder to avoid. And boy, did she feel the need to avoid him. Constantly.

Felicity did not hate him. It wasn't that. It was because she knew her own heart. Oliver was a wonderful guy in a million different ways, and it was all too easy to lose herself in him, so to speak. Being around Oliver too much wasn't really going to help her move on. If she hadn't been able to get over him in the last three years when they'd been thousands of miles apart, how on earth was she going to get over him when she had to see him almost every day?

Telling herself not to stare at the man she'd loved for years, whenever he wasn't looking, was harder than learning her lines and committing them to memory before each shoot. She'd be lying if she said that Oliver hadn't become even more handsome and attractive, more thoughtful and charming, since they broke up and parted ways in Starling three years ago. Since her first day on set – and they'd been filming for months now, more than halfway through the first season – Oliver had been helping her fit right back into her acting shoes. Once he had even remarked that she still had it in her after all these years, referring to her innate talent as an actress; she hadn't been able to keep herself from blushing in front of Director Lyla and some crew members.

Then there was another time when they had to shoot a scene where he was supposed to help her mount a horse. Because of the long, thick, ruffled skirt of her costume, Felicity had lost her balance and had fallen off the saddle, straight into Oliver's robust, muscular arms. Cradled there, close to his chest, sparks had definitely flown as their gazes locked affectionately for a moment, before she finally whispered, quite involuntarily, "Thank you." It hadn't been part of the script, but the director for that episode had loved it instantly and decided to use that clip instead of the fourth take where she finally succeeded in mounting the horse with ease.

Felicity knew what Oliver had been trying to do on numerous occasions. But she wasn't ready for it, even if he was simply trying to rekindle a friendship outside what was supposed to be a platonic, professional relationship. How could she be? She was the one that had broken up with him three years ago. He was the one who had begged her to stay, who had needed a better explanation than just her having to take care of an ailing mother. She knew that he deserved to know the deeper reason why she had walked away, but she wasn't ready for that kind of vulnerability. Not yet, at least. So, she avoided informal gatherings of cast and crew where Oliver might find an opportunity to be alone with her and confront her about the past or get her to open up about it.

However, Felicity could not avoid this event. The executive producers of the show headed by Malcolm Merlyn, who was directly accountable to the top bosses of the network, had asked her to come and join everyone in celebrating the fact that When Home Calls the Heart was just renewed for a second season the day before. Malcolm had specifically told her not to skip this particular party because he was going to make an important announcement, so here she was, making the most of the slightly secluded booth in the corner of the room filled with cast and crew members. Hopefully, no one would bother her there, especially not one Oliver Queen.

"Hi! May I join you?"

She heard a familiar voice calling out from behind her. Despite her burgeoning headache, she recognized whose voice it was. Tough break. Rolling her eyes and sighing heavily, she looked up at Oliver and replied, "I guess so." There was no point in trying to avoid him now.

He slid into the booth, sitting on the velvet-upholstered, cushioned seat in front of her. Placing two goblet-shaped glasses of red wine on the table, he flashed a winsome smile that reached his ears. "You looked bored. I thought this would cheer you up," he said to her, pushing one of the glasses towards her. "Lafite Rothschild, 1982. I couldn't believe they had one."

Felicity looked him in the eye and studied the expression in them. When she was sure that he wasn't merely teasing, she gave him a shy smile in return. "Thanks," she said.

Oliver shrugged, the expression on his face almost affectionately boyish, but she could see in his eyes that there was so much more he was trying to hold back, and she almost pitied him for having to try so hard on account of her.

"You remembered," she remarked. It was the best she could offer for now.

"Felicity, when it comes to you, I remember a lot of things," Oliver told her. The earnestness in his voice was evident. His words could have come across as too forward, but they didn't. They only caused some beautiful memories to resurface, stirring up some beautiful feelings from deep down inside her.

"Oliver…"

"Felicity, please…" He pleaded with her to give him this chance, hoping that she'd finally give in. "I've been trying… for months… to reach out. I know you've been avoiding me, but I… Can we at least talk?"

She bit her lip and considered carefully what he was asking of her. It had been a few months. If she wasn't ready to have the talk, they could at least have a talk. What harm was there in that? After all, they weren't strangers, and they did work together, almost every day. She couldn't avoid him forever, right?

Taking a deep breath, she replied, "Alright, let's. Just, please don't talk about… us… or about before. I'm not saying never. To the talk, I mean. I'm just not there yet."

Oliver smiled. "I understand. Take your time. I'm not going anywhere."

Felicity nodded, thanking him for respecting her wishes. Changing the topic, she asked, "What do you want to talk about?"

"Well, for starters, how's your mom?"

"Oh, she's fine, I guess, for the most part. She's halfway through her chemo sessions now." Felicity watched him nod, showing sympathy and an eagerness to keep listening. "She's losing her beautiful hair, you know. It's killing me to see her this way. I know she's trying her best to appear strong and cheerful, and she still is, mind you. I'm the one that can't keep it together whenever we talk or video chat. I miss her so much. I really wish I was back in Vegas to be with her, but I gotta keep working to pay for the doctors and the treatments."

Oliver wasn't thrilled at the sad news, and his heart ached seeing the only woman he'd ever truly loved in pain. But he felt so privileged that, although they were no longer in a committed relationship and were barely even friends at the moment, Felicity was opening up to him like she had when they'd been together. Whether she realized this or not, he thought that this was a breakthrough, a movement in the right direction. If she only knew how much he'd begun pining for her the day she appeared on set to shoot their first scene. For him, it was as if the three years of them apart hadn't passed by. Felicity wasn't ready to talk about them, but listening to her bare her heart about how much she's struggling over her mom's condition? It told him volumes about how deep their relationship had been before it had ended in Starling a few years back.

Or had it?

They talked for another half hour, and Oliver would have told her more about how his career in show business had taken off since they last saw each other, but Malcolm Merlyn's voice on the microphone demanded everyone's attention. They left their booth and went closer towards where Malcolm stood on the stage where the live band was.

"Hey, everybody! Y'all havin' a good time?" Malcolm yelled, raising a champagne flute in the air.

Everyone applauded and cheered.

"Well, I'm glad you are! Everyone's been working so hard these past few months, so we thought that we all needed a night like this. Right?"

Yells, more cheers, and whistles were heard. Oliver and Felicity clapped, too.

They shared a glance as well, smiling at their producer's words. They had been working hard for months to make the new TV series a success. And even now that they were just halfway through Season 1, their ratings were skyrocketing. Entertainment news and columns had been attributing this phenomenon to several factors, among which were the impressive plot twists drawn up by the writers, as well as the superb acting of the cast. Nevertheless, the most unexpected yet impressive catalyst for the show's current success was the undeniable on-screen chemistry of the lead male character, Stephen Sully, a former Mountie in the Canadian western frontier played by Oliver, with a very minor (and transient) character on the show, Ms. Emily Thatcher, a visiting female doctor from Boston in search of significance and identity played by Felicity. Apparently, television analysts have observed that this OTP, which avid fans have been "shipping," was responsible for the rising popularity of the show among prime time and online viewers.

On-screen chemistry. Ha! Felicity found it ridiculous and hilarious, doubting that an unknown guest star like her (and she really didn't feel like a "star" just yet) had that much of an effect on the success of the show thus far. She was more "in denial" than being reasonable though. Cast and crew members had, on more than a few occasions, remarked that Oliver and she were great together in front of the camera, but she pretended either not to hear those comments or ignore them altogether.

Felicity was a bit uncomfortable that Oliver was much more open to the idea of fans shipping them. In fact, he was convinced that there did exist a unique yet powerful kind of connection between them – on and off screen. Hence, for him, it wasn't far-fetched for viewers to recognize their chemistry and appreciate it for what it was. They had never really talked about it – considering that they haven't really talked all that much except for what was necessary for the job – but they were not oblivious to the fact that everyone else in the cast and crew had been talking about it every now and then. The casting director, Tommy Merlyn, who happened to have become close friends with Oliver, had bragged more than once about how he had made the decision of a lifetime in casting Ms. Smoak to play the role of Emily Thatcher. Tommy had teased his best friend more than once, and seeing how Oliver was still enamored by his ex-girlfriend, there had been no resistance from him.

Malcolm continued his speech, thanking the men and women who make the show possible for the time and effort they'd been putting in, and congratulating everybody for the news that they were being renewed for another season. But Mr. Merlyn had one more trick up his sleeve. When he came down from the stage, he approached Oliver and Felicity to break exciting news to them.

Felicity could not believe her ears when the executive producer informed them that Felicity was going to be a series regular starting Season 2, that the producers and the writers have recognized the potential of her character becoming one of the leads, and that interesting story lines and arcs were now in the works for her character, Emily Thatcher, especially as it relates with Oliver Queen's character, Mr. Sully. Felicity was shocked and too busy processing what Malcolm had just announced for her mind to register the congratulatory compliments being afforded her by cast and crew members alike.

When the excitement died down and everyone went back to their own little private conversations, Oliver placed his hand on her shoulder and said to her, "Congratulations. Proud of you."

"Oliver… I… I don't know what to say," was her response.

"Say that you're happy," he told her. "I know I am."

Felicity could not utter a word. She was much too overwhelmed and confused about how she felt. Of course, there was a part of her that felt happy and proud of what she had accomplished in such a short time, yet there was also a part of her that was wary of this new development. From the looks of it, the producers had swallowed the bait of the OTP shipped by the show's fans. She was being groomed to be Oliver's leading lady and love interest, and she wasn't sure whether or not her heart could handle something like that.

A/N: I'd appreciate your comments on this one. Thanks!