A/N: I'm going to just unapologetically tell you guys that I screamed at the top of my lungs "NOOOOOOOOO!" and bawled my eyes out during 3x15. I'm not going to spoil it for you if you haven't seen the episode yet, but for those of you who have seen it know what I'm talking about :'(

Now I have an even bigger reason to hate Ray Palmer and add him to the list of people that I would like to bash over the head with a board because they're adding/causing trouble for everyone else (i.e. Harrison Wells and General Eiling).

Enough of my rambling and back to the story…

Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow, but right now I really wish I did.

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You're Banging My Bedroom Wall

XXII. Stalker

Felicity woke with an extra spring in her step that morning that was reflected in the wide grin on her face as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail and grabbed her keys from her purse as she quickly made her way out of her apartment.

She'd had a great week with Oliver ever since he showed up at Queen Consolidated. They'd gone out to dinner one night at a little hole in the wall Italian place that she'd been dying to try with Sara for weeks and all they did was talk about everything and nothing. Another night they went out to the movies and ended up spending the entire hour and a half whispering in the back of the theater, making fun of the characters and pointing out almost every goof that they spotted on the screen. And then yesterday he pulled her out of work a couple hours early and against her better judgment she let him. Oliver took her to the park near their apartment building in Lamb Valley and they had a picnic underneath a large oak tree. Afterward, they spent the rest of the afternoon wandering aimlessly around the park, enjoying the cool fall weather, and before they knew it night had snuck up on them and they spent a few hours stargazing before eventually walking home.

But the best part of their date was when they got to her door and Oliver gently cupped her face in both of his strong hands and kissed her. It was a slow passionate kiss that made her toes curl and her fingers to grab desperately at his shirt before they eventually pulled apart.

Her grin threatened to split her face in half at the memory and she quickly exited her apartment before quickly rapping her knuckles against Oliver's door. Almost immediately the door swung open and there he was.

"Hey," he grinned.

"Hi," she sighed back, letting her eyes wander appreciatively over his tall frame. Felicity met his gaze again and grinned when she saw humor dancing in those beautiful blue orbs of his and knew that she's been caught ogling him. "Ready?" she asked.

Oliver nodded, stepping out into the hall with her. "Ready," he agreed, turning to lock his door and pocketing his keys.

Once they got outside, Felicity and Oliver started on their newly minted morning ritual. Since the day after he came to see her at Queen Consolidated, Oliver had taken to joining her on her morning runs and this Saturday was no different. They started off at a steady pace that kept them side by side, but once they got to the last turn back to their building Felicity shot Oliver a playful grin. "Catch me if you can, Oliver," she taunted before sprinting off down the sidewalk.

She heard him laugh behind her and call out, "Oh, I will, Felicity! You'll see!"

The smile on Felicity's face fell as she rounded the corner to their apartment and she quickly skidded to a stop. Parked against the curb in front of the building was a sleek dark blue sedan and standing next to it was the unmistakable tall figure of Ray Palmer.

She scowled and watched him as he kept glancing between the door to her building and his watch. Just seeing him standing there, lurking outside her home like the creeper he was, made her skin crawl and her blood boil at the same time. On top of that, it was causing her to flash back to college when she had that lacrosse player stalking her.

And that was not a good memory at all.

That fucker had spent almost every night for three weeks sitting in the nondescript gray sedan he drove in front of the apartment she had shared with two other girls. One of those girls was convinced that he was there for her while the other just flat out didn't care. Felicity threatened to call the cops on him multiple times but that didn't seem to do anything. It wasn't until her delusional roommate was attacked by Felicity's stalker for being "the wrong one" to talk to him one night that they finally called the police. He was carted off in the back of a cruiser and never seen again fortunately.

With the way things were looking at QC and how Carrie was basically looking for blood when it came to him, it looked like something like that was going to happen to Palmer sooner rather than later.

Strong, familiar arms wrapped around her waist just then and she relaxed into his warmth, the tension rolling away at his touch.

"See? I told you I'd catch you," he murmured softly against her ear and pulling her tight against his chest and lifting her up off the ground, the smile obvious in his voice.

Felicity laughed halfheartedly and continued to watch Palmer "That you did," she agreed.

Oliver placed her back on her feet and turned her to face him. Concerned blue eyes searched her face and he frowned in confusion. "What's wrong?" he asked, pulling her close.

She sighed and loosely wrapped her arms around his waist. "Remember how I told you about the guy that Applied Sciences and IT brought in to help with the project I'm working on?"

He nodded slowly, brow furrowing in confusion. "Yeah, the one Carrie flipped out on when I picked you up yesterday. What about him? He didn't try anything with you again did he?"

"Not yet," she sighed, hooking a thumb over her shoulder. Oliver frowned at her and looked in the direction she was pointing. Felicity watched his expression carefully and could pinpoint the exact moment he spotted Palmer. The soft blue his eyes usually were seemed to freeze over and turn dark while of the corners of his mouth turned down slightly in a frown.

His arms tightened around her waist and his jaw clenched before relaxing again. "What did you say his name was again?"

"Ray Palmer," she told him.

"Palmer…" he repeated, frowning thoughtfully. "I think I went to high school with him. He scared the shit out of a lot of the girls even back then." They stood there for a few minutes longer before Oliver pulled her tight against his side and tugged her along with him down the sidewalk. "Come on, let's go see what he wants."

As they approached their building, Felicity slipped her hand into Oliver's. He glanced down at her and shot her a quick grin just as they stopped a few feet away from Palmer. Felicity eyed him disdainfully. A part of her wanted to take up Sara's offer to have her father arrest him, but another knew that they still needed the bastard until the unveiling of the project in a few days. But it didn't change the fact that she really, really, really wanted to kill him or maybe just settle for kicking his ass herself.

"Felicity," Palmer greeted her with a smarmy smile, eyes flicking over her in a way that made her skin crawl. His leering gaze zeroed in on the hand clasped with Oliver's and for a second she could have sworn she saw cold fury in the man's eyes mixed with some crazy. She blinked and the look was replaced with a cocky smile.

"Ray," she forced out, keeping her voice even.

His head tilted to the side as he appraised them and Felicity definitely knew she saw crazy in his eyes this time. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?"

Felicity clutched tightly at Oliver's hand and quickly glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He gave her an easygoing smile that immediately calmed her nerves and held his free hand out to shake Palmer's. "Oliver Queen."

Recognition flashed in Palmer's eyes. "Ray Palmer," he returned, shaking Oliver's hand. "You're Robert Queen's son, right?" Oliver nodded tersely but didn't say anything.

Knowing that she wasn't going to like the answer she was going to get, Felicity bit the bullet and asked anyway. "Ray, how did you know where I lived?"

"I've been following you home from Queen Consolidated since Monday," he told her, yet again acting like this was normal. "I got worried when I didn't see you leave and I saw your car still parked in the garage last night."

"You've been following me home?" she spit out, feeling all of the blood drain from her face. The unveiling of the project couldn't come any sooner.

Oliver pulled her to stand behind him and Felicity buried her face gratefully into his back. She didn't think she could continue looking at Palmer without wanting to either throw up or scream. "I think it's time for you to go, Ray," he ground out, glaring at the other man. "If I find you outside our building or anywhere near my girlfriend again, I'm going to make you wish I called the cops."

Felicity peaked over Oliver's shoulder and saw that Palmer's gaze had narrowed as he looked between the two of them. "He's your boyfriend?" The crazy look returned when he caught her looking at him. "Fine. I know when I'm not wanted. But I'll see you on Monday, Felicity." And with that he turned on his heel and got into his car before tearing off down the road like a madman.

Oliver gathered Felicity in his arms and pulled her close, pressing a kiss on her head. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "I just wish that he could take a hint. If he wasn't important at work, he probably would have gotten thrown out of QC already. And Carrie's gunning to kill him because of the way he keeps bothering two of the techs in Applied Sciences and me and one of the guys in our department."

They slowly made their way into the building and as they waited for the elevator a smile curled at her mouth. She tipped her head up to look at him and grinned. "So I'm your girlfriend? Don't you think that's a little early?"

His eyes softened and he reached up to brush a wayward strand of hair that had escaped her ponytail away from her face. "Maybe not now, but hopefully later on," he murmured, pressing his lips to hers in what was supposed to be a chaste kiss that quickly escalated as they stood there.

The doors to the elevator opened just then and they heard a loud groan of annoyance. "Oh come on! Why does this keep happening to me!"

They pulled apart and Felicity grinned impishly at Roy as he stepped out of the elevator. "Sorry."

He shoved his hands into the pockets of his hoodie and shook his head. "No you're not, Blondie," he yelled over his shoulder as he made his way out of the building. "And I'll see you at work tonight, Oliver."

Felicity grinned at Oliver and pulled him onto the elevator with her. "Come on, handsome."

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So, Palmer's a creepy bastard, huh? Don't worry, he'll only be around for a couple more chapters before he gets smote off the face of the earth :)

ICYMI I updated Death in the Family a while back, so you should check that out. I dropped a lot of hints about stuff that happened in the past so you should read that.