Chapter title: Quod cito acquiritur cito perit
A/N: Once again, thank you for all your kind comments! They always brighten up my weekend. Keep 'em coming ;)
So in this chapter we got: Fluff? Check. Inappropriate rambling? Check. Angst? Check. Flommy friendship? Check. Cliffhanger? Check. We also got quite a few time jumps that I usually try to avoid but seemed necessary in this chapter. Quite a few of you asked for some fluffy moments and more Olicity dialogue. I'm pretty sure that if I write Oliver any fluffier I'll starting puking rainbows.
Just as an FYI, per suggestion, I'll be changing the overall story rating to M some time during the week, so either make sure you get the alerts for the new update or set your story filters accordingly ;)
Happy reading! Hope y'all have a fantastic weekend ahead of you!
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Oliver was sitting in his office, staring out the window into the cloudy sky over Starling City. Usually, June tended to bring better weather, but today, it had been murky the whole time. A gray, cloudy day that seemed to drag on forever. But there was also a silver lining to all this. Or maybe rather a blonde lining. Tonight after work, he would have his date night with Felicity.
Last night, he'd reluctantly agreed to her adamant choice to go into the office today, despite the security threat. He had Diggle and his men on high alert, even going so far as posting a bodyguard on the IT floor. That had been his condition last night and to his surprise she'd quickly agreed to it. That gave him hope. It showed him that she was trying just as much as he was. Both of them compromising instead of picking a fight again. It was definitely a step in the right direction.
Of course, there'd been an awkward moment when she'd emerged from the bathroom after getting ready for bed last night. He'd been propped up against the headboard, pretending to read a book while she cautiously made her way over to his bed. His freaking bed. He'd tried hard to remember if he'd ever shared his bed or any bed for that matter with a woman in a platonic way. He'd come up with nothing.
With a profound blush on her cheeks that made him smile, she'd quickly gotten under the covers on what she had claimed as her side of the bed. Absentmindedly, he'd wondered if she'd changed the bandage on her leg. He'd been itching to ask to take a look at it to make sure it wasn't infected or anything but feared that it would look too suspicious. He still wasn't sure how much she remembered of what had happened.
With a sigh he ran a hand through his hair, glancing at the clock on his computer screen. It was almost 6. Almost time to go home. Almost time for his date with Felicity. He felt a tingling sensation all over his body and with a frown he realized that he was... nervous. And that was utterly ridiculous, wasn't it? He was going on a date with a woman he was already married to. It shouldn't be a big deal. Except, it was. It was a huge deal. It might well be a make or break moment in their relationship. This date could mean the difference between fighting for the rest of his life or actually trying to find happiness with her. It meant everything.
He was just turning off his computer, getting ready to pick her up in the IT department when his phone started ringing, her name flashing across the screen.
With a smile he picked up, "Hey, you ready to leave? I was about to come pick you up." Okay, so maybe he sounded like a lovesick teenager before his first date. So what?
There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Felicity?" he asked, concern immediately taking over his body.
"Yeah, sorry," she finally answered and took a deep breath. "I... I won't be able to make it tonight." She paused for a second and Oliver could basically hear the wheels turning in her head. "Which sounds really weird because we were going to do this at home. And by this I mean have dinner, not something..." She let out a frustrated sigh.
His heart sank just a little bit. "You're canceling? Did I..." He trailed off, racking his brain to find a reason for her to cancel their date so short notice.
"No, no, no," she quickly interjected. "This has nothing to do with you. Some idiot manged to download a major virus into the QC system and now my whole department is clocking overtime to try and contain the damage just because some asshat wanted to look at celebrity nude photos." She let out another exasperated sigh. "I was really looking forward to tonight, but my boss is on vacation, so right now I'm the head of the department and I can't just leave. I'm sorry."
He nodded slowly, swallowing his disappointment. "Yeah, no, that's... I understand." More or less.
"Oliver," she breathed out. "This is really not how I saw tonight going. I hope you know that."
He closed his eyes. "I have some paperwork to finish. How about I check up on you when I'm done?" Great, now he was lying and grasping at straws at the same time.
"That's really sweet," she said and he could hear the smile in her voice.
"But..." he prompted.
"But you should head home. This could be an all-nighter for me."
He clenched his jaw. "Who's the guy who downloaded the virus?" he bit out.
His angry tone was met by an amused chuckle. "Unless the virus turns out to have caused serious problems you're not going to fire him. Plus, I've already read him the riot act. Believe me, he won't even dare to think about looking at those photos on his home computer."
That's my girl, he thought proudly, a big grin forming on his lips.
"Fine," he gave in. "How many others are there with you and can we get more to speed this up?"
She huffed out a laugh. "It's all hands on deck. I got a ton of IT specialists working on it and even more coming in. We'll get on top of this as quickly as possible. Rain check on our date?"
"Yeah, how about tomorrow?" He asked without missing a beat, hating how desperate he sounded, but he really wanted this. Wanted to have a real date with her that both of them actually wanted to be on without being forced by their obligations. Just be Oliver and Felicity for one night, leave everything else behind.
"Tomorrow's Tuesday."
"So?"
"So that's Tommy Tuesday," she explained cautiously.
"Tommy Tuesday? Are you kidding me? Tommy Tuesday?" he questioned incredulously.
"Oliver, I really gotta go. Just talk to him and see what he has planned and if he's willing to give it up." someone called her name loudly in the background. "Shit," she cursed. "Talk to you later, Oliver."
Before he could say anything, she'd already hung up. He plopped back down into his chair and couldn't deny the feeling of utter disappointment that was settling in. He hadn't quite realized how much he was looking forward to tonight until it had been ripped from his grasp. It stung a little that she'd chosen work over spending time with him and yet, deep down he knew that he couldn't fault her for doing her job.
He brought up his phone and quickly dialed his best friend's number. Maybe he could at least convince him of ditching tomorrow night's plans.
"Dude, what's up? Nervous about your date tonight?" Came Tommy's chipper voice over the phone.
"Uh, actually that's not going to happen tonight."
"Wait, what? I swear if this is one of your games and you just wanted to hurt Felicity, I will cause you bodily harm," Tommy exclaimed furiously before muttering under his breath, "Not sure I'd survive that endeavor but whatever."
Oliver let out a chuckle. "She canceled on me, man. Not the other way around. She's tied up here at work, so..."
"I'm sorry, Ollie, that sucks. And sorry for jumping to conclusions."
"Yes, it does suck. But that's actually why I'm calling. I suggested just moving the date to tomorrow but apparently you have dibs on Tuesdays. Any chance you'll let me enjoy a night with my wife instead?" Oliver asked hopefully, ignoring the fact that he'd turned into a pining teenager again.
After a long pause Tommy answered slowly, "If it were any other Tuesday night I would have gladly relinquished Tommy Tuesdays to you, but tomorrow is something I've been planning to surprise her with ever since I got to know her. Can't you just move your date to Wednesday? Or pull her from her work stuff and surprise her with dinner?" He paused for a second. "Yeah, no, on second thought don't do that. She'd kill you if you tore her away from her beloved computers."
"So that's a definite 'no' for tomorrow?"
"Yes, that's a no. I really don't mean to rain on your parade but Felicity and I have been talking about this concert for months now and she was so bummed when she couldn't get any tickets and..."
"It's fine, Tommy," Oliver interrupted his friend. "I'll think of something else."
They bid their goodbyes and Oliver leaned back in his chair, trying and failing to ignore the stabbing pain in his heart. Was it really too much to ask for a night alone with his wife? He got that he couldn't blame either one of them for having plans that didn't include him. Felicity and Tommy's friendship had come as quick and easy as her hatred for him. He'd always marveled at how they were around each other. There was a certain lightness to their constant teasing and bantering that he longed for
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- March 2013 -
Oliver leaned back against the wall of the mansion's ball room, cradling a tumbler of whiskey in one hand. The room was filled with Starling's elite. Everybody who is anybody had been basically willing to saw off one of their limbs to get an invitation to Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak's engagement party. Despite it only being March, it was already deemed to be one of two party's that year that you simply couldn't miss. The second one would be their wedding.
He hated all this pretentious glad-handing with people he didn't even know. They all expected to see his reformed playboy persona, the one that was taking on responsibilities in his family's company, and finally taking life more seriously. While that was of course closer to the truth than the playboy he used to be, it still meant putting on a mask. And it was exhausting.
His gaze swept over the room until his eyes caught on a blood red dress. Felicity. She was standing on the far side of the room, talking to Thea and Laurel. He sighed. That was probably a disaster waiting to happen.
Tommy stepped up to the trio and whispered something in Laurel's ear who rolled her eyes in response but nodded mutely. He grabbed Felicity's hand and dragged her towards the door, ignoring her surprised protests. Oliver narrowed his eyes. What was going on? A glance at his sister and Laurel showed him that they weren't even fazed by this. Whatever the hell this was.
He was surprised to even see Tommy here. Finding out about Oliver's secret very recently had put a strain on their friendship that he wasn't sure they could recover from. His best friend had avoided him at all costs, even considering not working at Verdant anymore.
He downed his whiskey and followed his best friend and fiance quietly. They were heading towards the kitchen, apparently not noticing that they were being followed. Once in the kitchen, he saw Tommy hop onto the counter and drop a grape in his mouth, before Oliver sought cover behind the door.
"what do you want, Tommy? I have guests to get back to," Felicity said exasperatedly.
"Well, I'm one of your guests and I wanna get to know you. Tell me something about yourself, Felicity Smoak," Tommy replied in a chipper tone."I find it suspicious that I haven't yet met the woman that my best friend will marry in two months. Why do you think that is?"
"Because your best friend's secretive and has shitty manners?" she deadpanned without missing a beat.
Tommy chuckled in response. "That goes without saying, but it doesn't explain this. Are you pregnant?"
"Wh.. What?" she spluttered
He sighed. "I feel like there's more to this whole story than Oliver has told me. Before he... went away, he was rash and impulsive and I might have expected a sudden marriage back then, but now? Ever since coming back, he's changed. Marrying you after knowing you for five minutes doesn't match his recent behavior. So my question is: are you pregnant?"
She'd obviously recovered from her initial shock because she laughed at his question this time. "That would require us having sex first, so no, I'm not pregnant."
There was a short pause before Tommy asked, "Wait, you haven't slept with him yet? You're seriously marrying a man without... testing the goods? Is this some religious thing? Because let me just tell you that you do not look like a virgin."
"I am actually."
What?
"What? Shut the front door," Tommy expressed his surprise.
"Sheesh, calm down, Merlyn, I was just kidding," she said with a laugh. "I am a Virgo though, that's close enough, right?
Tommy let out a groan. "You're devious, Smoak. The spawn of evil."
"I'm not going to argue with that."
"So I'm guessing you won't tell me anything?
"Nope," she said, popping the 'p'. "It's not my place to tell you." She paused for a second and when she spoke again her tone was teasing. "So did you enjoy the German beer?"
"German beer? You mean the gigantic shipment of beer we got at the club even though we definitely didn't order?" he questioned. "No way. No fucking way. That was you? That whole week of shit happening to Oliver, That was you?!"
"Maybe," she answered and God, what he would give to see her face right then. When he'd confronted her during their first date she'd worn such a smug grin and it had been so fucking sexy that he'd wanted to wipe it away and kiss those lush lips.
"I'm not sure if I should be impressed or terrified," Tommy exclaimed and let out a disbelieving laugh before sobering, "You were really hard on him."
"Yeah, because he was being a dick," she argued. "He deserved it.."
There was another pause. "I like you, Smoak, and I think you'll be good for him," Tommy finally said seriously.
Oh?
"Why is that?"
"He's... going through some stuff right now and he needs someone in his life to... guide him. And you're not taking any of his shit. That's good. I think that's exactly what he needs. Someone who's not afraid to stand up to him and tell him how it is even if he has a different opinion," his best friend said cautiously.
"I'll believe when I see it," she trailed off for a second. "This was fun and all Tommy, but I really do have guests to get back to, so if you'll excuse me."
"Hey, Smoak?" he called after her, and Oliver retreated further into the shadows as she stopped right next to where he was hidden. "Can you get me out of a parking ticket?"
Her only reply was a bark of laughter.
He waited until Tommy left, too, and stepped out of his hiding place. Why the hell was she nice to every single person in his life with the only exception being, well, him? They'd gone on a few more public dates and had some more meetings with their lawyers to hash out the details of their prenup and some other contracts within the two companies since their first date. Every time they were in public, she was charming and funny and so goddamn sexy. He was pretty sure her skirts were getting shorter and shorter with every date they went on, driving him mad with lust for her. But as soon as they were alone in a room or out of earshot of anyone who cared, she was as feisty and belligerent as ever. Tommy was definitely right in his assessment of her. She didn't take any of his shit and always expressed her opinion, no matter how different they were from his. He wasn't used to that, and more than once she'd left him speechless with her sheer determination.
He was sure that the tension between them would boil over at some point, changing their relationship, even though he wasn't sure if would get better or worse. The only thing he was sure of was that she liked the teasing and fighting between them. There was always that spark of something in her eyes when she stood her ground against him. That fierceness and resoluteness mixed with just a trace of lust and passion.
He couldn't deny feeling the same way. She brought out a rawness in him that he loved and hated at the same time. While all the sexually charged emotions between them were fun and all he also had to admit that he was jealous of the easy going relationships she had so quickly formed with everybody around him. Would he ever have that with her?
- End of flashback -
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He pulled himself out of the memory. He loved his best friend and he was glad that they'd gotten past their differences about his nightly activities, but it had always bugged him a little bit how easily Tommy's friendship with Felicity had come along while he could barely talk to her for more than one minute before getting his balls served on a platter.
But he was intent on changing that. On Changing the way she saw him. Their date was the first step to that. So he figured that basically he had two options: wait until Wednesday for his date with Felicity, or don't wait and possibly risk her wrath tonight.
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He was leaned over the little table in the sitting area of his office, putting the finishing touches to the set up when he heard someone knock on the glass door.
"Hi, I'm Felicity, I was called up to fix your computer prob-..." He turned around to face her with a mischievous grin. "O.. Oliver? What's going on?"
He slowly walked over to her, took the tablet from her hands to place it on his desk before taking one of her hands in his, never breaking eye contact.
The confused frown on her forehead deepened when he slowly pulled her over to the sitting area. "Oliver, what are you... Oh," she breathed out when he stepped a little to the side so she could see what he'd set up.
He'd arranged the food he'd had delivered from Tablesalt all over the glass coffee table. Since he hadn't been sure what she liked he'd just told the chef to give him samples of everything. And Chef Mario definitely had delivered, just the smell alone of the various dishes was to die for. There was a bottle of red wine along with glasses, and even some candles strewn in between the different delicacies.
He led her around the couch, pulling her down to sit next to him. "I thought you probably haven't eaten yet and that you might need a break from all the computer stuff."
She opened and closed her mouth before huffing out a breath of air. "You ordered the pizzas for the IT department that arrived just now," she said and shook her head. "Look, this is... incredibly sweet of you, but I really have to go back."
Like so many times when she was concerned, he failed to contain his reaction and he stared down at his feet so she couldn't see the disappointment in his eyes. Tommy had been right, nothing could get in between her and her work. "I'm sorry. I didn't really think this through. I didn't want to wait until Wednesday for our date and I guess I kinda jumped the gun on this," he mumbled.
Warm fingers found their way to cup his scruffy cheeks, making him look up. "Stop moping around. I'll have dinner with you right now, but I can't stay too long, okay?" She asked softly and damnit he couldn't help but smile at her.
"I'm not moping around," he said, faux anger in his voice.
She patted his cheek lightly before turning towards the food. "Whatever you say, Mopey."
Oliver just shook his head in defeat. She could call him whatever she wanted as long as she had dinner with him. God, he was so fucking whipped.
"Wine?" he asked as he watched her bite enthusiastically into a piece of focaccia. She nodded and shot him a small smile.
For a while, they ate in a surprisingly comfortable silence that was only interrupted by Felicity's appreciative moans and whispered "oh my God"'s whenever she tried a new dish. Oliver had his hands full with not thinking about the other appreciative moans he'd heard from her, willing himself to keep his mid focused on the here and now.
"This food is amazing," Felicity finally broke the silence, looking up at him. "What?" she asked with a coy smile.
"I was assuming as much, just judging by your... enthusiasm," he replied and took a sip of his wine.
She socked him in the shoulder lightly. "Shut up. You ordered this orgasmic food, so don't complain."
"Orgasmic food," he repeated, barely able to contain his laughter. "I'm pretty sure that if food is getting you anywhere close to an orgasm, there's something seriously going wrong in your life," he mused with a lopsided grin on his lips.
"Well... it's been a while, so how about you let me have my blissful happy ending with that tiramisu I spotted on the far end of the table?" she replied playfully.
He shook his head in amusement. "You know, I could always help out with that," he said, slowly running his fingers up her arm.
A bark of laughter was not what he expected. "Oh, I have absolutely no doubt about that," she quipped.
Of course, she would shoot down his offer. Not that he'd been serious.
Okay, fine, he'd been a little serious. Or at least not opposed to the possibility of scratching her itch. But at the same time, he knew that they weren't ready to take that step yet, despite the very tangible sexual attraction between them. He wanted to do this right. Needed to do this right. So getting to know her better was the first thing on his agenda.
"So how do you wanna do this?" She questioned and successfully pulled him out of his thoughts.
"I... do what?" he asked, dumbfounded. Was she talking about...?
"Really?" she arched her eye brow. "Of course your mind just went there. You're a guy after all. I meant the date. How do you wanna do this? The food is great and don't get me started on the wine, but I'll have to leave in," she glanced at her watch, "20 or so minutes, so you should really start bringing your A-game, otherwise I'd have to be inclined to think that all those stories about your irresistible charm are just made up." Her tone was sweet and playful and at the same time challenging, and God help him, he wanted to kiss that smug grin off her face.
He shook his head again, mirroring her laughter. "Can you blame me? You look amazing and for once you're not trying to bite my head off," he lifted his hands defensively in front of him.
"Fair enough. So what's your go-to line on a first date?"
"I won't even try that on you. It wouldn't work anyway," he admitted and then sobered, taking her hand in his. "How about we aim for the truth instead?" She nodded mutely. "I want you to know that I'm serious about this. I really want get to know you better, not just because of our situation, but because from what I've seen and what others have told me about you I can tell that you're a remarkable woman and I want to get to know the side of you that isn't eternally pissed at me."
He saw her searching his eyes could practically hear the wheels churning in her head, trying to discern if he was being honest. After a second she swallowed and squeezed his hand. "Okay," she whispered.
"Okay," he repeated, a smile forming on his lips.
"But," she started and bit her lip. "I need some rules for this, for us, if we're really going to try this."
He nodded slowly, drawing his eyebrows together. "Yeah, we can have a rules if you want. What do you have in mind?"
"I know that we had an agreement to see other people, but..."
"That won't be a problem," he quickly cut in, taking her other hand in his, too. "There's never been anyone else."
She sucked in a breath before finding her voice again. "Oh, that... I didn't think..."
He silenced her by tugging on her hands, intertwining their fingers. "What else?"
"I want you to be honest with me," she said with new found strength. "You can tell me if you don't want to talk about something, but please don't lie to me."
Oh boy.
He couldn't say 'no' to her. Not now. Not when they were finally making progress. But he knew he'd be walking a very thin line with all of his Hood stuff going on. Maybe he should just tell her now.
Her phone beeped and after a quick glance at the screen she said, "I have to go back, they're wondering what's taking me so long" She sighed and moved to get up. "How do you feel about dessert in bed?"
He suppressed a groan. What was with this woman and dropping suggestions like that right and left? "That's the best kind," he replied hoarsely while he let himself be pulled over to the door, never breaking eye contact. Walking backwards, she slowly led him towards the elevators, tablet in one hand, her small fingers steadily clutching his.
"Well, that was fun," he said when they finally reached the bank of elevators. "Wanna do it again some time?"
"Mh, you mean go on a second date with you?" she asked, pretending to think about it. "I'll have to check my schedule."
He huffed out a laugh. "You do that and let me know."
The elevator pinged behind her and the doors slid open, but she made no move to step into it, looking up at him with her big blue eyes. "Are you going to kiss me?" she asked, tilting her head slightly to the side in question, a sheepish smile playing on her lips.
For the first time in what felt like forever he tore his gaze away from her eyes and lowered it to her lips. He wanted to kiss her. More than anything.
He leaned down, his lips hovering over hers, their hot breaths mingling. At the last possible moment he turned his head and kissed her cheek, keeping his lips locked with her soft skin for a few long seconds. When he pulled away, her eyes were closed, a happy smile illuminating her face.
She stepped inside the elevator, her fingers reluctant to let go of his. "Good choice, Mr Queen," she whispered just before the doors closed.
He let out a breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Their impromptu date had gone well. Sure, it had been way too short, but he was glad that they'd had a chance to talk a little bit. Tonight, he'd learned something new about Felicity. Behind all the sass and snark and the confident demeanor, was a young woman that was scared of being hurt. By him and his actions.
He couldn't really fault her for thinking about that. His reputation from before the island was still infamous in Starling City. Some people weren't buying the story about him coming home a changed man. Instead, some tabloids still managed to dig up stories about his less than stellar adolescent years or simply made up rumors about him. Rumors that had clearly found their way into Felicity's head if her two conditions for their budding relationship were anything to go by. He hadn't missed her surprised look when he'd told her that he hadn't been with other women since they'd started their arrangement. Her surprise had stung, but more than that it had solidified his suspicion that in reality she was insecure.
He felt something rise in his chest. He wanted to take those insecurities away from her, make sure that she never doubted him and his intentions when it came to her. He wanted to make her feel loved and cherished. And damn, he wanted to be the man to make her feel that way.
In that moment he knew he had to tell her about The Hood. He had to tell her soon.
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Oliver didn't see her until the next morning. Well, technically he did see her tiptoeing through the darkness when she got home around 2 in the morning, but he'd decided that he would have looked like a creepy lurker if he'd given any indication that he'd waited up for her.
Last night, he'd wanted to stay at the office until she was ready to go home, but eventually, after receiving some very adamant text messages from her to go home, he'd left and gone to the foundry to work out before finally going back to the mansion.
When he woke up, he felt a wave of disappointment wash over him. Everything was like the morning before. She was tangled in the blanket on her side of the bed. He'd actually hoped that their date had maybe prompted her to seek him out during the night, but it hadn't. One thing he knew for sure though was that sleeping next to her had a profound impact on his sleeping habits. Initially, he'd been reluctant to share a bed with her, not only for the obvious reason of their physical attraction for each other but more importantly because he was a restless sleeper, barely managed to get more than 4 or 5 hours of sleep per night, and he was still haunted by nightmares that had him waking up screaming and thrashing.
But with Felicity next to him, he found that he could still sleep like a normal person. In the two nights he'd shared his bed with her, he'd slept more soundly than ever, feeling a sense of calm and serenity that he'd never experienced before. What really surprised him was that he felt safe.
A groan from the other side made him focus on the disheveled shock of blonde hair next to him. "Please tell me it's in the middle of the night and I have still a few hours to sleep," she said, her voice a little hoarse from the disuse.
He couldn't help but chuckle. "Sorry to disappoint, but it's 7.30."
Her curses were muffled by her pillow before she untangled herself from the sheets and sat up. "Can we close the company for today?" she asked with a half smile on her lips as she turned around to look at him.
This was quite possibly the sexiest look on her. Like, ever. No make up, hair in a complete disarray, her cheeks tinted with a light blush, her eyes big and disorientated, her voice all husky and sexy, wearing his t-shirt, definitely not wearing a bra. What he would give to be able to just lean over and kiss her right now.
"Not sure about closing the whole company, but you could come in late," he suggested. "You deserve it after last night. Did you fix the problem?"
"Yeah, we did. I'm seriously reconsidering your offer to fire the culprit, his computer was riddled with different viruses that I tracked back to a multitude of porn sites. Now I know more than I ever wanted about this guy's sexual preferences and believe me when I say that it wasn't the fun kind of kink," she replied with a yawn and ran a hand over her face.
"Now you have me concerned about what kind of employees we have at QC," he chuckled. "And just so we're clear: what's the fun kind of kink?" he added with a lazy smile. A split second later, he was whacked in the chest with her pillow.
She ignored his protest and shot him a salacious grin, her gaze drifting appreciatively over his bare chest. "If you're a good boy, I might just tell you one day."
This woman would be his demise. He was just about to retort something when the door swung open. "Good morning, darlings. Hope I'm not interrupting anything," Grammy exclaimed cheerily.
Oliver suppressed an annoyed groan. Of course she was interrupting. Someone always was. For once, he just wanted an uninterrupted moment with his wife. Was that too much to ask for?
"You're up early. What's up, Grammy?" Felicity asked and got up from the bed.
"I wanted to have breakfast with you two. I don't get to see nearly enough of you with you being at work all day, so I thought breakfast would be perfect."
Felicity turned to look at him and he gave her an almost imperceptible nod in confirmation. "Okay, we'll be down in 30?"
"Perfect," Grammy clapped her hands together and turned to close the door. "That gives you more than enough time for a quickie or two."
The door shut close and Felicity and Oliver were left in a stunned silence. When she finally faced him again, her lips were pursed. "How about we just ignore that?"
"Why? Not a fan of quickies?" He asked, arching an eye brow challengingly.
For a few seconds she just stared at him, the corners of her mouth twitching traitorously before she managed to school her features. "No, actually. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a quick, dirty fuck as much as the next girl, but in the end slow and passionate wins the race every time," she said, her eyes gliding slowly over his body and suddenly a devious smile formed on her lips. "You might wanna take care of that before we go downstairs." She nodded towards his crotch and winked at him before she disappeared into the bathroom.
His eyes dropped down to his lap and sure enough he was sporting a raging hard-on. Great, once again he'd turned into a hormonal teenager who couldn't control his reaction just because she decided to plant various, very graphic mental images into his brain.
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Since he didn't have to go into the office until lunch, he'd gone downstairs wearing sweatpants and a hoodie, while Felicity was still roaming around the closet and bathroom, getting ready for work. He should've waited for her to be done. He realized that as soon as he entered the dining room, and his grandma regarded him with a dirty look and off-handedly said, "That was quick," while sipping her coffee like she hadn't just commented on her grandsons sex life.
Oliver sat through five agonizing minutes of being questioned by his grandmother ("how was it?"), poked fun at by his sister ("yeah, Ollie, tell us everything about it") while his mother and Walter just sat there mutely shaking their heads, apparently ignoring the whole thing.
When Felicity walked in, he jumped up from his seat and raced over to her, dipping his head to press a quick kiss to her cheek. "Please don't ever leave me alone with these people again."
She just shot him a smile and patted his cheek. "They're not that bad."
Famous last words.
She had exactly ten seconds in which she sat down in the chair next to him, greedily taking a sip of her coffee, before Grammy turned towards her.
"You look tired, my dear. Rough night?" she questioned innocently.
Felicity groaned. "Don't even get me started. I'm exhausted. I love what I do, but last night was a stretch even for me."
Oliver's head shot up, wildly looking around the room, meeting four pairs of wide eyes. But Felicity was completely oblivious to the reaction as she calmly buttered her toast and continued. "Everything hurts. My back hurts, my neck hurts, God, my fingers hurt. Actually, I think I might have pulled a muscle from all the exertion."
She took a bite of her toast and continued, "I've seen and done a lot of things in my life, especially in college but I mean, talk about Trojan horse, just the sheer size of that thing was unbelievable. If I hadn't been so exhausted I would've nailed the man to the wall for how much he screwed me with it." She finally looked up. "What?" she asked, drawing her eye brows together in confusion at the disbelieving looks everyone was giving her. "What did I say?"
Grammy clapped her hands together in excitement. "I see my work here is done. Thea, be a dear and help me find wallpaper patterns on that laptop thingy of yours. I'm guessing we should get started on the nursery."
She left the room with a shell-shocked Thea in tow, and Felicity finally turned her confused gaze to Oliver. "What nursery? What's going on?"
"We'll leave you to it," Walter said graciously and led Moira out of the room, leaving Oliver and Felicity alone in the dining room.
"Oliver?"
Like a band-aid, he thought to himself, just rip it off.
"They thought you were talking about sex."
Her face fell. "What? Why would they think that? I was talking about last night's disaster at the office."
"Yeah, I know that, but Grammy was pestering me about the quickie she proposed we should have earlier. And you kinda played right into her hand with your recollection of last night..."
"Oh my God," she exclaimed, her eyes widening. "Oh my God. We have to tell them that... that was not what I was talking about."
Oliver laid his hand on hers. "Pretty sure that's not going to help right now."
"Oh God, I used the words 'horse' and 'size' in the same sentence while they were assuming I was talking about sex... with you."
He couldn't hide the smug grin. "Well, at least you painted the right picture."
She slapped him in the chest. "Oliver."
He just put his hands up in defeat and laughed. "Sorry, couldn't resist." His phone buzzed in his pocket. "Digg's here to take you to work. Come on, I'll show you out," he said and took her hand in his to pull her towards he door, grabbing her duffle bag on the way that she'd deposited there earlier.
"I can't believe you didn't stop me," she grumbled and was opening the front door to leave, but Oliver tugged on her fingers lightly, stopping her from leaving. She turned to face him with a questioning look.
"Stop by my office before you leave tonight?" he asked, sheepishly looking down to where he was running small circles with his thumb over the back of her hand, and then up again into her blue orbs.
She gave him a full blown smile that made his stomach flip and stepped on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek. "You're so cute when you get all mushy."
"Is that a yes?" he called after her, but Diggle shut the car door behind her before he got an answer.
He had to wait for his answer for nine hours. As it was nearing six, she walked into his office with her duffle bag thrown over her shoulder. She'd already changed out of her work clothes and into dark blue skinny jeans and a formfitting black v-neck shirt.
"Tommy said to keep it casual," she said and walked towards where he was seated at his desk. "You think this is too casual?"
"Nah, this is perfect," he replied and got up from his chair to stand in front of her, staring into her eyes. God, she was beautiful.
"Can you take my duffle bag home with you when you leave later?" she asked, giving him a warm smile.
"What do I get in return?" he retorted, placing his hands on either side of her waist, drawing her closer to him.
"I can think of a few things."
He hummed in anticipation. "Do tell, Mrs. Queen."
She bit her bottom lip. "I believe I still owe you a home-cooked meal. How about," she began and wrapped her arms around his waist, stepping completely into his embrace. "Tomorrow night, you, me, home-made pizza, and no interruptions."
"That sounds fantastic, but..."
"But what" she questioned with raised eyebrows.
"But I don't know if I can wait that long."
"What do you have in mind, Mr. Queen?"
"That tiramisu is still waiting to be eaten in bed, and you mentioned that your neck hurts. So tonight after you come home," He leaned down so that his lips were just skimming over her ear, his voice dropping to a whisper. "I could give you a massage. I've been told that I have very talented hands that could work out your kinks. And just in case the tiramisu doesn't quite do it for you, I'd be happy to give you that happy ending."
With a sense of pride and accomplishment he felt her shiver against him. "That sounds..."
"I totally just walked into a thing, didn't I?" came Tommy's amused voice from the door. "Hate to break this up, guys, but we gotta get going if we want to make it in time, Lis."
Oliver held her tighter for a moment. "Don't take too long," he whispered in her ear and pressed a kiss to her jaw and then her cheek and stepped away from her before he could decide to take her home with him right then.
"See you later," she said, smiling at him brightly while gathering her things and stepping through the doorway.
Yeah, it would be a long few hours.
⁂ ⁂ ⁂
He'd been right, waiting those few hours for her return seemed to stretch on forever. He'd almost bumped his fist into the air in victory when he'd received her text ten minutes ago.
Leaving now, should be home in 20. Hope your hands are warmed up. See you soon. F.
He was balancing a bottle of wine, glasses, and a plate with tiramisu back to his... their room when his phone started ringing in his pocket. He cursed and quickened his step, depositing everything on his bedside table while fishing out his phone. Her name flashed across his screen and while trying to fight off a smile he vaguely noted that he'd have to take a picture of her.
"Hey, are you here already?" he asked cheerfully.
But all he could hear was a grunt on the other end of the line. A distinctly male grunt. "Oliver," sounded the hoarse voice of his best friend.
"Tommy? What are you doing with Felicity's phone?" There was a sinking feeling in his stomach. Something was wrong. He could sense it. "What's going on?"
Tommy let out a violent cough. "They came out of nowhere, just ran us off the road. I tried to fight them off, Ollie, I swear, but there were too many. They killed the driver and the bodyguard."
"What happened to Felicity?" he asked, an icy sensation of dread washing over his body.
"I'm so sorry man. They took her," he let out a ragged breath. "They took Felicity."
⁂ ⁂ ⁂
A/N: Yeah, so that just happened.
I wanna know what you guys think! #WhoTookFelicityQueen? Any character (good and bad) from the show (S1-3) is fair game. So who do you think is responsible and why? Or am I being sneaky and will introduce an Original Baddie?
Title translation: What is quickly gained is quickly lost.