Okay so I know this story was originally meant to be a one-shot thing but it's forming into quite a long fic in my head and I'm still not sure how I feel about it. It's just so much fun to explore this side of Felicity and I love connecting the chapters with cute little Olicity moments! This chapter is more of a filler chapter, just so I had something to update, because it would have been super long if I'd joined the next part on as well. Nevertheless, this was fun to write and I hope it's as fun for you to read!

Also I just want to mention that I've moved to archiveofourown (same username as on here: intolauren) and I'll probably post my new fics there rather than starting them on here. I'll still update the ones I'm continuing with that I've already begun here on ff, but I just prefer the layout and format and everything of ao3.

Anyway, as always, please feel free to leave me a review! xo, Lauren.

"Felicity?"

Felicity was halfway between awake and asleep when Oliver's raised whisper interrupted the silence. It had been a long night, a long week in fact, and she was exhausted. Mumbling quietly in response, Felicity felt Oliver shift beside her.

"Okay so I was just thinking about your story, you know, the one you were telling me the other day about Laura and I have a question. Well, another question,"

Opening her eyes, Felicity found Oliver propped up on one elbow, smiling down at her.

This wasn't the first time he'd just happened to have a question about her story with Laura but rather than come out right with his question, Oliver would scoot around it for as long as possible before Felicity practically figured it out on her own. He'd asked her several brief questions that she guessed were leading him up to his actual question, the one he was so skilfully dancing around for reasons she wasn't entirely sure of. It wasn't uncommon for Oliver to just not know how to ask things, but Felicity couldn't understand what was getting him so damn flustered up inside. Which made for his question at this ungodly hour when she'd otherwise have been asleep for hours, rub her slightly the wrong way.

"Can't it wait? I'm really tired," she complained, pulling the quilt up to her chin and closing her eyes again.

"Well, it can, but I really want to ask you now," Oliver replied, pressing a kiss to the end of Felicity's nose.

Forcing her eyes open again with an over exaggerated sigh, Felicity sat up, knowing that while Oliver might not know how to directly ask whatever was bothering him, he certainly wouldn't let it drop. And that when he finally did get around to asking, his question might require her to further elaborate.

"What is so important that you absolutely must ask me now?" she asked, her annoyed tone only half serious.

Oliver shot her a guilty smile before pulling her into his chest. Settling herself against him, Felicity smiled in spite of herself, knowing she'd probably stay awake for days if it was what it took to make Oliver happy.

"Had you ever thought about girls in that way before you met Laura?" he asked after a few moments of comfortable silence.

"Honestly, I hadn't. But then again, I hadn't really thought about anyone in a more-than-friends kind of way, just because when I was younger I had absolutely no self confidence, so in my own opinion, I didn't see the point in letting myself be attracted to anyone. I look back and it seems so pathetic now because there wasn't really that much wrong with me- I mean, I was just a bit geeky, but I still am and somehow I managed to sweep you off of your feet..."

Oliver laughed and squeezed her tightly.

"You did indeed," he chuckled, lacing their fingers together.

Felicity squeezed his hand in response and pressed a chaste kiss against his neck.

"So, if you hadn't thought about anyone in that way, how did you know there was something there with Laura? I mean, obviously at some point in life, no one had had romantic feelings for anyone so that sounds dumb to ask, but I just mean-"

Felicity giggled, her heart melting as it always did whenever Oliver was the one struggling to form coherent sentences. She felt him laugh softly too, his warm breath hitting her back.

"I already told you, Oliver. Laura was my first in a lot of ways. And if you're trying to ask me how I knew I was attracted to her when I'd never been attracted to anyone, much less another girl before, it's the same way you know you're not attracted to guys even though you've never been with one... you just know, you know? That's kind of how sexuality works,"

Wriggling out from his arms, Felicity sat up and leaned back against the headboard. She watched Oliver deep in thought for a few moments.

"Okay, right. That makes sense, actually. I like how you put that," he smiled.

Felicity smiled back, nodding.

"She taught me a lot of things about my sexuality, you know? Believe it or not, I wasn't always this comfortable talking about it. Nor was I always quite so confident in any aspect of sex, actually," she laughed, enjoying that she could practically see Oliver's mind heading straight into the gutter.

"I do find that hard to believe. You've always been so... vocal in the bedroom with me," Oliver smirked.

"You bring out a special sort of confidence in me, Oliver Queen, and you and I both know that," she glared back. "But if you absolutely must tease me, I learned a lot of the things I know from Laura,"

Felicity watched his face, his expression ranging from surprised to curious to downright turned on.

"Are you ever going to elaborate on what happened after your first kiss with her?" he asked, no... pleaded.

"I told you, nothing happened. At least not immediately anyway,"

As much as Felicity had wanted to see Laura the week following their kiss, fate seemed adamant that they were not going to get to talk anytime soon. Laura had gone to class the following morning, something Felicity had not managed to do due to experiencing her first hangover, and must have come home at some point during the morning whilst Felicity was sleeping off her nausea and left a note, explaining briefly that she had to go home for a few days. A "family emergency" was all she had written by way of explanation and it had made Felicity paranoid for three entire days now.

Her mind instinctively thought Laura had run away, had left as quickly as possible to get away from her. She had tormented herself endlessly that she'd said something stupid or been too shy or been a really bad kisser. She worried that Laura had realised she was wrong about her and had foolishly realised after she'd kissed Felicity, rather than before. She'd been a near constant shade of crimson ever since Laura left, silently chastising herself for being so stupid.

Felicity had never been with a girl before, had never been with anyone before, and she didn't know how she was supposed to feel.

For as long as she could remember, Felicity had felt stupid and dirty and ashamed whenever she caught herself thinking about anyone in more than a platonic way. She didn't know why, even to this day, but she guessed it was something to do with protecting herself. Given her mother's track record with men, Felicity just didn't have any reason to believe anyone stuck around very long, so why open herself up to the hurt and disappointment that almost always came with relationships? So to say that her night with Laura had taken her by surprise was the biggest understatement of the year.

Felicity had never questioned her sexuality. In fact, she'd always just tried to tell herself she didn't have one. It was easier to switch off feelings of lust, longing and desire that way. She told herself that she just didn't like people that way... and that was that. Externally anyway. Internally, as much and as viciously as she tried to deny it, she was still a teenage girl with hormones all over the place and boys were everywhere she looked. The ones in her classes everyday were easy to ignore; they were ballsy and arrogant and disgusting, always talking about genitals, being that their own or indeed, those of the opposite sex. They repulsed her, and from what she heard around her classes, they had the same effect on most of the other girls at school too. But those boys weren't the only members of the opposite sex that existed. Felicity read a lot of books, and was subjected to many handsome characters, she passed gorgeous men in the street or saw them on TV, and her brain did a thing every time. That thing ranged from "he's cute", to "I bet he's a good kisser," to "I'd like to have him bend me over a table,". The last thought happened very rarely, and Felicity was glad because she felt like she'd needed a cold shower each time so far. The first time was such an abhorrent shock to her system she actually felt sick for awhile; she hadn't even realised that she knew vocabulary like that.

So while Felicity couldn't completely expel the occasional sexual thought from her mind, those thoughts had always remained strictly on the opposite sex. She had seen a lot of beautiful girls in her life, she envied and admired practically every woman she saw on TV or read about in books, but that was all.

And that was the reason Felicity had never questioned her sexuality, because she had never had reason to do so.

Before now, of course.

Felicity didn't know whether it was Laura or the alcohol or a combination of both that had caused her to act so... uncharacteristically, and it didn't matter how many times she ran through that night in her head, it still wasn't making any sense. It wasn't even the kiss itself that was confusing the crap out of her, well, it was, but it was everything else too; the way she'd opened up to Laura about having never been kissed, the comfort she felt expressing herself around her, the way she'd somehow managed to verbalise how much she admired her, the simple length of the face to face conversation they'd shared. Felicity just didn't open up, about anything, to anyone. It was why she had never had that many friends in school; people weren't always that keen on those that were reluctant to offer comment or opinion on the big stuff, let alone people who were too guarded to even add to a conversation about the latest episode of a popular TV show. Not that Felicity watched much TV growing up, books didn't read themselves, you know?, but that's beside the point. The point was that talking wasn't something Felicity did very often nor was it something she did articulately whenever the occasion arose.

Being with Laura that night had been the most natural and relaxed Felicity had ever felt in her life, and that was perhaps the main reason she couldn't stop thinking about it.

Felicity couldn't wait for Laura to get back so they could talk about what happened. Somewhere deep in her brain, Felicity knew it hadn't been a big deal to Laura; she probably kissed people all the time and didn't think twice about it, but it was a big deal to Felicity, and she knew somehow that Laura would be able to understand that.

It was another two days before Laura came home. Felicity had been swamped with assignments all day that Friday and when she finally finished and dragged herself from the library, it was after 9:30 at night. She hadn't been the only student working late, others will still typing or scribbling away even as she left, but there were considerably less than usual given that it was a Friday evening and most people her age were out drinking and having unprotected sex. The thought made Felicity shudder; it still baffled her that people her own age could be so reckless. She felt like an entirely different species around them sometimes.

Felicity was deep in her own thoughts as she unlocked the door and seeing Laura standing by the window made her jump and a loud squeak escaped her throat. Upon hearing Felicity's less than graceful return, Laura laughed.

"You're back," Felicity smiled, once she had her heart rate back to normal.

"Thank god, I swear, my mom is ten times more irritating now that I know how peaceful life can be when she's not around all the time," Laura smiled back, rolling her eyes.

Felicity smiled again and tried to think of something to say. She felt suddenly too warm in her jacket but the part of her brain that over thought everything kept telling her that it would look suggestive if she took it off now. The same part of her brain that had been telling her for the last 5 days that the reason Laura had left so suddenly was because of her.

"I hope everything was okay," Felicity said softly, moving her hair from around her shoulders to fall down her back, trying to give her quickly warming neck some much needed air.

"Everything was fine," Laura replied, shrugging.

Felicity sensed that it wasn't fine, but she didn't push it. If Laura wanted to tell her, she would, eventually. The silence returned and it was uncomfortable. Felicity had been used to silence between them before that night, the silence that hung around when Felicity was pretending to be asleep or just pretending to be so busy studying that she hadn't noticed Laura come home. That silence was easy because it wasn't laced with apprehension and unanswered questions. This silence was different.

Looking down, Felicity stated to pick at her nail polish, red chips of paint flaking onto the carpet. She was definitely getting far too hot now and if she didn't learn how to ignore the persistent, over-thinking part of her brain, she was probably going pass out.

"Felicity, are you okay? You're like, really red," Laura asked suddenly, her voice thick with concern.

Felicity nodded her head rapidly and fanned her face with her hand, suddenly realising how light-headed she'd become.

"Are you sure?" Laura asked again, raising her eyebrows.

Felicity tried to reply, tried to reassure Laura that she was fine, but her ears started to ring and her stomach clenched with nausea. Wildly reaching her arms out for anything to lean on or steady herself with, embarrassment started to mix with the heat that was rapidly beginning to consume every inch of Felicity's body.

Felicity could hear Laura speaking to her but the ringing in her ears was so loud now that her brain felt like it was going to combust. She squeezed her eyes shut tight and tried not to fall over, and that was the last thing Felicity remembered before her knees buckled and she passed out.

"Why are you laughing?" Felicity snapped, her cheeks crimson just from talking about the memory.

"I'm sorry but you're telling me now that not only have you puked all over your date, you've also passed out on one too?"

Felicity blushed harder and covered her face with her hands, groaning into the warm skin of her palms as Oliver's laugh became hysterical.

"None of this is the slightest bit funny," Felicity said into her hands, trying not to laugh herself.

"You have certainly upped your dating game, Smoak, let me tell you," Oliver replied, darting his fingers into her ribs to tickle her.

Felicity squealed and grabbed his wrists with both hands, trying to push him away.

"Oliver don't, you know I hate that!" she squeaked when he effortlessly freed her grasp and resumed his tickling. "Please can I continue my story?"

Oliver coughed in an attempt to stop his laughter and forced a neutral expression onto his face.

"Sorry, sorry," he said, clasping his hands in his lap. "Please, carry on. I'm desperate to find out what happened after you dramatically lost consciousness," he grinned, unable to keep his expression neutral for long.

"Can I just say, before I continue, that Laura was not my date. She was my friend and my roommate. Just, FYI," Felicity dead-panned, glaring at Oliver.

"Sure. Whatever you say," Oliver replied, snorting.

Felicity slipped her pillow for underneath her and turned to whack Oliver over the head with it.

"I'm serious," she frowned, threatening to smile at any instance thanks to the cute and mock-pained expression on Oliver's face following her thwack with the pillow.

He blinked slowly before holding up his hands.

"Okay fine, sorry. She was your roommate, nothing more, nothing less,"

Felicity stared back at him for at least 30 seconds before his grin crept onto his face again.

"Just your roommate who you made out with every now and then," he muttered, quietly but still loud enough for Felicity to hear.

"God, you are such a... BOY," Felicity groaned, hitting him over the head with her pillow again before laying down and pulling the duvet up over her own head.

She could hear him giggling to himself for a long time before the bed beside her shifted and she felt his arm wind around her.

"Felicity? I really am sorry. I didn't mean to tease you," Oliver whispered.

Felicity grinned to herself under the covers; she wasn't even mad, not really. Oliver was exasperating sometimes when he teased her relentlessly, but she always knew he was kidding and deep down, it always thrilled her to be the reason he smiled and laughed, even if it was at her expense.

Pulling the covers from over her face, she smiled at him, their noses touching now she was outside the duvet.

"I know you're sorry, Oliver, but I also know that you did mean to tease me," she laughed. "I don't exactly help myself, I know that,"

Oliver relaxed beside her and her stomach fluttered as it always did when she realised how easily she could get him to calm down. She felt him laugh softly.

"I love you, you know?" he whispered, pressing a kiss to the end of her nose.

"I love you too," Felicity smiled.

Oliver's eyes fluttered closed before he sleepily whispered,

"Maybe you can just finish your story over breakfast or something,"

Felicity grinned.

"This from the man who was so absolutely desperate to ask me a question earlier!" she giggled, snuggling into Oliver's chest and closing her own eyes.

The last thing she felt before she fell asleep quickly was Oliver's arms tightening around her, his lips pressed to her forehead.