A/N: hi guys, i just wanna say im sooooooooo sorry for anyone who read my "first" edition of this story. i was unaware until just a few moments ago that my story was, well, not my story. at least not the story i wrote. sorry also for the huge font, im still working out technical stuff. i am re uploading the ACTUAL story now. please read on and enjoy.
p.s. please comment and let me know if i should continue! i love hearing feedback!
Chapter 1 - The Storm
"Hey sorry Oliver but Laurel said she was gonna bring a friend last minute, so it's not gonna be just you me and Laurel." Tommy's voice came through the phone to Oliver's receiving ear.
"It's fine Tommy, it's not the end of the world. It'll be fun. What's her name?" Oliver inquired, sitting down on a wooden stool with a cup of coffee in his hand.
"Felicity." Was Tommy's short answer.
"Cool. See you guys later. Should I bring anything in particular?"
"Just your handsome self." Tommy said the following in a whisper for he knew Laurel was in his presence, "You may want to bring some headphones though, the girls tend to talk... A lot."
"Haha alright. See you later." Oliver said with a chuckle.
"Oh! One more thing, we were wondering if you could pick up Felicity from her place. I'll text you the address." Tommy said slightly hesitant.
"Sure." Was the final word before Oliver hung up. Almost immediately afterward a text from Tommy revealed her address and what she looked like because of a photo Tommy also sent him.
Felicity was a blonde haired, blue eyed woman with glasses that made her features pop. She was smiling and the little squint in her eyes made Oliver smile. He turned off his phone and finished up his coffee before heading upstairs.
Oliver walked into his room and started to undress. He put on a red plaid shirt and some jeans. He looked in his mirror and realized he looked like a weird lumberjack. He took off his clothes again, and again, and again until he decided on a plain white t-shirt and some cargo pants. He went back downstairs and slipped on his fluorescent green Nikes, grabbed his camel back, and made for the door.
Oliver pulled up in front of an apartment building and parked. He walked up the front steps, into the lobby, into the elevator, and up to the sixth floor. He walked down a hallway to apartment 8A. He knocked on the door and waited. He heard soft padding of feet towards the door and it swung open. Felicity was standing in front of him with her hair in her hands being pulled into a pony tail.
"Hi you must be Oliver. I'm Felicity, well you probably already knew that since you're picking me up and everything and now you know where I live so... I'm gonna stop before I start. Come in, I just need to put my shoes on and get a few other things then we can go." She turned her back and walked into a small kitchen. Oliver followed closing the door. He placed himself on her forest green couch and watched her rush around for about two minutes before they were out the door and in the elevator.
Oliver looked down and noticed her shoes, fluorescent pink Nikes identical to his own, but pink.
"Nice shoes." He mumbled under a chuckle. Felicity looked down and blushed. She looked towards his own and blushed even more.
"You're a green guy?" She asked.
"Yes." Was the smiling answer.
Felicity smiled and laughed. The elevator doors opened and the made their way to Oliver's car.
"Don't you ever listen to music?" Felicity asked.
Oliver smiled. "I do believe it or not." He turned on the radio. "Geronimo" by Sheppard came on and Felicity blushed, again.
Felicity blinked then started to sing along to the song to which Oliver replied with a mixture of laughter and song.
They pulled into a dusty parking lot where they could see the trail they would be hiking on. Laurel and Tommy weren't there yet so Oliver called Tommy to see how far away they were.
"Dude traffic's a bitch." Was the first thing Oliver heard when Tommy picked up the phone.
"Yup pretty much." Oliver replied smugly.
"We are at least a half hour away. Go on ahead on the trail. If we haven't caught up with you guys by the time you get to the willow tree, wait for us there." Tommy said very orderly. Almost as if Laurel was telling him exactly what to say.
"Looks like they're not gonna be here for a while. They said to just go ahead and if they haven't caught up to us by the time we reach the willow, we'll just wait there." Oliver said to Felicity after he hung up on Tommy.
They started down the trail and after about twenty minutes, the sky darkened from its earlier cloudless sky.
"Signs are showing its gonna rain soon." Felicity said. Oliver looked up.
"Yeah. It pours hard in this area too." Oliver pulled out his phone to call Tommy. "Hey Tommy, looks like we're in for some rain at the trail. If you aren't here yet, just head back home. Felicity and I will be fine."
"Ok Oliver. Maybe you guys will wanna come over and watch a movie after you get home? At least by that time it will be around eight." Tommy replied sullenly.
"Sounds good. See you then." He hung up then turned to a slightly frightened Felicity. "It's too late to turn back now. We should take refuge under the willow. It's just up ahead. Once the clouds clear, we can head back. Oh and Tommy invited us to watch a movie at his place with him and Laurel later tonight after this all blows over." Felicity merely nodded, gulped, and continued onward.
They reached the willow not a moment too soon. After they had sat down, the rain started to come down, gently at first but hard after a little while.
Felicity reached into her bag and pulled out a flashlight and an apple. "Get some sleep. You look exhausted I can tell. I'll wake you up if the storm clears while you're asleep." She said leaning against the tree and taking a bite of the apple.
Being that he was indeed exhausted from being at the gym for an extended amount of time this morning, Oliver took her offer and fell asleep.
"Oh my God! Oliver get up get up!" Oliver snapped up to see a dead snake next to Felicity's body. She was lifting up her shirt and examining a bite. Oliver was terrified. He looked at the snake to identify what kind it was, it was a rattle snake. Without a word, Oliver swooped down and started to suck out the venom from Felicity's exposed middle side. Felicity watched in horror, panting as some of the pain went away. Oliver's face became visible again and he spat out the venom and blood he had in his mouth. He went down once more to ensure he got every single drop of venom out of the wound. Now it was swollen and red, blood still poured out of it. Oliver quickly took off his shirt and ripped off a small piece of it. He took the small piece and soaked it in the rain. He lightly pressed it against the wound and told Felicity to hold it there. He wrapped the rest of his shirt around her small waist so it could apply constant pressure.
"Thank you." Felicity said starting to cry. She hugged Oliver and he hugged her right back. Felicity felt so warm in his embrace. He somehow moved them so she was sitting on his lap, curled up in his arms and he was holding her leaning against the tree.
"It's ok. You'll be fine now. The storm will pass in time and this will all be over." They stayed there until they both fell asleep.
When Oliver woke, Felicity was asleep and peaceful. He gently laid her down on the ground and inspected her wound. The bite was no longer visible nor bleeding but it was swollen. He removed his shirt from her waist and tossed the, now dry, bloody small piece in his backpack and put back on his non-bloodied shirt only to realize the hole he'd ripped was in the middle of the chest area. He took it off and stuffed it with the small piece in his backpack.
He looked around him and saw that the rain had stopped. He checked his phone, it was 6:27.
"Hey Felicity." Oliver spoke softly into the sleeping blondes ear. She fluttered her eyes open and then bolted up and instant regret washed all over her face. She fell back down into her sleeping position holding her swollen injury. "Hey hey hey, take it easy. The rain stopped. We can go home." Felicity looked relieved. Oliver put on both of their backpacks and helped Felicity stand up.
When they reached the car, Oliver said, "Do you want me to take you home?" Felicity shook her head.
"No I wanna actually get some fun out of this trip. Let's stick to the plan and go to Tommy's." Oliver smiled at her endurance.
"Hey! You made it! Cool. Um Oliver, dude, where is your shirt." At this remark Laurel noticed Felicity's shirt was hiked up a bit. She went to examine it and saw the swell.
"Oliver I swear to God do you hit on EVERY women you come in contact with?" Laurel said rolling her eyes. She didn't notice Felicity wince slightly in pain at the touch.
"Laurel that's not a hickey it's a-" Oliver tried to stop Laurel from going further but he was cut off.
"Of course you try to defend yourself. I bet there wasn't even a storm in the mountains at all. You just wanted to be alone with one of my best friends."
Now that Laurel seemed to be finished Oliver took the chance to blurt out, "It's a swollen rattle snake bite Laurel." This caught her attention and a shocked look. "It's shaped like that because I had to suck out the venom." Laurel was aghast. She hugged Felicity and apologized for embarrassing her like that and promised to make it up to her by watching one of her favorite movies, "The Princess Bride".
"I'll get you a shirt bud." Tommy said with a slap to Oliver's shoulder.
"You forgot to explain the shirtless part." Laurel smirked and raised an eyebrow.
"Covering up the wound. Once it stopped bleeding I took it off. If you want to keep it as a dried blood souvenir it's in my backpack." Oliver said sarcastically. Both women laughed.
Tommy and Laurel snuggled together on the couch leaving their guests to sit together on the love seat. They were pretty much forced to snuggle if they wanted to fit.
About three quarters of the way through the movie, Felicity finally fell asleep. Once the movie was over, Oliver carried her to his car, drove her to her apartment, found her key in her bag, got her in her apartment, put her in her bed after putting a very big band-aid on her wound, removed her glasses, and finally kissed her ever so lightly on the head, he left to his own home.