AN: Thanks for all of the lovely reviews and continued support, guys. You don't know how much it means to me when I see my inbox full after posting a new chapter.
And thanks for all of the great suggestions, I was able to pull together a new chapter from them.
Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow. Obviously.
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You're Banging My Bedroom Wall
XX. Creepy
Felicity glared at Sara over the top of her mug. "I know what you did," she hissed across the table at her where they sat next to the window of their favorite coffee shop. "What you're doing."
Sara smiled shamelessly and bit into the sugar cookie on her plate. "What can I say—I guess I'm a hopeless romantic just like my mom."
She rolled her eyes and slammed her mug down on the table, not caring that some of the coffee sloshed out onto the table. "The card said that 'a little birdy' told him about my thing about flowers." Felicity pointed an accusing finger at the canary pendant hanging around her best friend's neck. "Only you and my mom know that—and I highly doubt Oliver would track down my mother in Vegas when my best friend is right here in Starling." She took a long pull from her mug before carefully putting it back down on the table. "How long?" she asked.
Grinning, Sara pushed her half eaten cookie aside and carefully folded her hands in front of her. "Since the day after that shitty dinner I dragged you to," she revealed.
Felicity shook her head in disbelief. "And I bet that you were tipping Oliver off about where I was, whether it was the grocery store, the gym, the rec center when I was helping you with your classes." A sharp gasp flew from her mouth as a sudden thought hit her. "You told him we were at Big Belly Burger! What the fuck, Sara!"
She shrugged, sipping at her black coffee. "You like him, he likes you—and I just want to see you guys together. I know you think he'll break your heart and that makes you hesitant for good reason considering his past, but bottom-line he's making an effort to win you over. And he's working really hard to do that, Felicity." Sara carefully leaned across the table and placed a hand over hers. "You and Oliver are both miserable right now. Every time you dodge him, Oliver's first response is to call me and he sounds lost every time. When you didn't come back the other day, he freaked." Her hand tightened over hers and Felicity looked up to meet her gaze. "I know his past scares you, but give him a chance."
Felicity nodded and a silence drifted over them as they finished their coffee.
She thought about what Sara had just told her and decided that she would stop trying to avoid Oliver. If they happen to cross paths, she wasn't going to run and hide from him. It only made the situation worse anyway—for both of them it seemed.
So caught up in her thoughts, Felicity failed to notice as Roy approached their table, chair noisily scraping against the floor as he pulled it out, and flinched violently at the sound, letting out a small yelp.
"Whoa, Blondie!" Roy exclaimed, eyeing her in concern. "It's just me."
"You scared the shit out of me!" Felicity stared at him with wide eyes, hand pressed over her racing heart. Loud laughter came from across the table and she glared at Sara. "Shut up! That wasn't funny," she snapped.
Sara wiped at the tears streaming down her face and shook her head. "You should have seen your face, Felicity," she laughed.
Felicity rolled her eyes at her and turned to Roy as he sat down, pulling out his textbook and binder full of notes. "You're late," she told him as the waitress placed a large mug of coffee down on the table in front of him.
He nodded, shrugging out of his jacket. "I know. There's construction going on near campus and it's a nightmare dealing with the traffic at this time of day," he sighed, grabbing his pencil and calculator from his bag.
"When's your exam?"
Roy flipped open his textbook. "First thing Monday morning. And I'm going to need all of the help I can get."
Sara frowned at them, glancing at Roy's stuff. "Then why am I here if Felicity's the one helping you study?"
"Because the last time Blondie helped me study before an exam I freaked out on her and she used her loud voice on me. You're here to make sure something like that doesn't happen, Lance."
She looked between them dubiously, but nodded anyway.
Felicity pulled the statistics textbook closer to her and made to say something, but paused at the sound of a knock on the glass window beside her. Slowly, she turned to look and felt anger burn in her chest.
It was Ray Palmer.
What the hell was he doing here?
And how did he even find her in the first place?
Ray grinned salaciously at her from the other side of the glass and Felicity forced herself not to grimace as her skin crawled at the sight of him. He gestured that he was going to come in and she groaned in horror, burying her head in her hands.
"Who the fuck was that?" Sara hissed across the table to her, eyeing the man who had just walked in.
Felicity groaned. There was just no escaping this guy. "Ray Palmer," she moaned.
Sara gasped in shock. "No way! That's Ray Palmer?" She angrily shook her head and slammed her hand down against the table. "That motherfucker! I have half a mind to kick his fucking ass right here in this coffee shop!"
"No, don't! We need him to finish the project at work," Felicity hissed back. "If the project wasn't so important, I'd have kicked his ass myself already. At the meeting today Sawyer was ready to wrap his hands around Palmer's neck and strangle him just for the way he was eyeing me and the girls."
"Wait," Roy interjected. "Who the hell is Ray Palmer and what has he done?"
Felicity glanced over his head in Palmer's direction before looking at him. "He's the guy QC brought in to help us finish this big project that could potentially make the company a lot of money. Two days ago he tried to pull some shit with me and attempted to lure me out to the parking garage alone with him."
He stared at her slack jawed. "The dude sounds like a total creeper that needs his nose bashed in," he told her.
"Felicity."
She sighed and turned to look at Palmer, giving him a forced smile. "Ray, what a surprise. What are you doing here?"
Leering at her, he pointed at her phone where it lay on the table. "I pinged your phone and thought I'd come join you," he said.
Felicity blinked, dazed. What. He did what now? "Y-you pinged my phone?" She felt so violated now.
He nodded. "Yeah. How else was I supposed to find you?"
Sara took that as her cue and stuck her hand out. "Sara Lance, Felicity's best friend," she told him, tightly squeezing Palmer's hand in her own until she was sure the bones painfully ground against one another as she gave him an overly friendly smile.
"Ray Palmer," he squeaked, quickly snatching his hand back. "Lance? I think I've heard that name before somewhere."
"Well, my dad is the police captain and my sister Laurel is the assistant district attorney—maybe you've heard or seen them on the news." She shot him a smile, enjoying the sudden discomfort that crossed his face.
"Maybe," he agreed stiffly, turning his attention to Roy. "And you are?"
Roy glanced at Felicity in concern before turning his glare on Palmer. "Roy Smoak, Felicity's brother," he said, ignoring the shocked looks both women were suddenly giving him. He gave the older man a dark, borderline evil smile. "It was nice meeting you, Ray, but I have an exam in a few days that the girls agreed to help me study for," he dismissed him.
Palmer stared at Roy through narrowed eyes before slowly nodding. "Yeah, then I'll leave you guys to it," he said slowly. His gaze shifted to Felicity again, sleazy grin back in place. "I'll see you tomorrow, Felicity."
She nodded and gave him yet another forced smile.
After he was gone Felicity banged her head down on the table and groaned. "We need to find a new coffee house."
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Ray's a real creeper isn't he?
Keep those suggestions coming, guys! They really helped with writing this chapter :)
And ICYMI I updated Death in the Family a few days ago too.
