Chapter 8

Felicity had certainly had bad days before – bad days, bad weeks, an occasional bad month, and even a difficult year or two. Even combined, they were nothing in comparison to the week – actually, the month - she was having. And her entire day had been hell since the moment she woke up.

First she was mugged, resulting in her sprained ankle followed by self-defense lessons with both Diggle and Oliver. Next her apartment building was targeted by a known sex offender and his gang of thieves, and Oliver decided to move in with her. Now that threat was gone because Campos was dead. And he was dead because Oliver had killed him in order to protect her.

She didn't know how she should feel about that. Should she be happy that he was dead? She couldn't deny she felt safer given what Oliver had told her, but she wasn't happy because she hated being the reason Oliver felt it was necessary to kill someone.

On top of all that, she'd been dating again. She'd also been dealing with her hopeless attraction to Oliver. And just when she was beginning to think she had a handle on her not so little crush, he kissed her.

She'd lain awake for hours last night wondering what had possessed him to do it. He said they had both wondered about it, and she couldn't deny she had thought about it before. She was, however, surprised to learn he'd ever thought of her that way. Felicity had turned both the kiss and his words over and over in her head the night before. As far as she was concerned, it boiled down to three things – proximity, availability and curiosity.

Since McKenna's departure from Star City, Oliver had pulled away from social activities. He trained, he worked, and he spent time with his family. He didn't date, and as far as she knew, there were no women he'd been seeing on even a casual basis. He'd been more social with both her and Diggle lately, but since their interactions always took place in what she considered a work environment, she hadn't given it much thought.

She was thinking about it now, though, and the facts were simple. She was single and so was he. They were healthy adults who'd been spending a lot of time together. Simply put, proximity and availability led to curiosity. For her it might be a bit more complex than that, but she didn't think that was the case with Oliver.

It wasn't surprising that she'd slept so badly, tossing and turning until her alarm blared just as she was finally drifting off. Then at work she'd had to train a new guy whose social skills were so lacking that she knew he'd end up being worthless as an IT liaison to other departments. It wasn't technically her job to deal with small computer issues, but she was the one ultimately called when department heads or executives didn't understand one of her co-workers. She'd left work in a bad mood that had only gotten worse after what she would describe as the date from hell. In fact, all of her dates lately had been nothing but bust after bust – either she wasn't into them or they weren't that into her.

Gerwin had just confused her since he kept asking her out while showing only a lukewarm interest in her. Before Gerwin there had been Scott, a single dad who'd clearly been looking for a new wife and mommy for his two-year-old twin boys. They both realized quickly that wasn't going to work when he'd brought the twins on their date and one of them proceeded to throw up on her, triggering her own gag reflex.

This week she'd finally met Mike, an officer with the Starling City Police Department. On paper he'd looked pretty damn good. A stint in the army had led to him completing his degree in criminal justice and joining the police department with an eye on making detective later. He was twenty-eight, never married, and no children – essentially free and clear, something she'd discovered was hard to find these days. She'd ditched one of her dates early on after realizing he had four kids with three different women, only one of whom he'd actually married.

Her coffee date with Mike had gone so well that she'd decided to follow up with dinner. She'd almost cancelled considering the way her day had been on a downhill slide, but then she'd thought that a night out might cheer her up and make her forget things like Oliver and the unresolved sexual tension that was plaguing her. She should have gone with her first instinct.

Felicity pulled into the parking lot of Verdant and parked in the back. She entered through the employees' entrance and headed straight for the basement. It was Thursday night – Ladies' Night at Verdant, and the place was packed. She assumed that Oliver would be busy with managerial duties, and she was hoping to finish up her work that evening without another run-in. She'd have to face him eventually, but she wasn't ready for that yet.

When she walked down the stairs, she saw that instead of being upstairs in the club, Oliver was training in all his shirtless, sweaty glory. He was on the salmon ladder, something that had held her mesmerized attention more than once on nights just like this. Not in the mood, she turned on her heel and marched back up the stairs and headed straight for the bar.

Sliding onto an empty stool, she got the bartender's attention and ordered one of the house specials she'd taste tested the previous weekend. Sipping the drink, Felicity pulled out her phone and texted Lindsay.

I am so over dating.

Her friend was covering a benefit in Coast City, so she probably wouldn't get the message until later. But she knew that Lindsay would call her as soon as she could; meanwhile, there was alcohol. She drained her glass and slid it across the bar.

"Do you have something stronger?"

Within minutes, the bartender slid another glass in front of her. The color was also green, but one sip was enough to tell her it wasn't the ladies' night special. "What is it?"

"Tokyo Tea," the bartender replied. "Stronger but still smooth if you mix it right. Hey, don't you work for the boss? I've seen you here before."

Felicity took another sip. "I designed the website for the club and set up the Internet router here. I'm Felicity."

"Dave," the bartender replied. "Let me know when you need another one."

Felicity was on her second Tokyo Tea when she felt a hand on her leg. "Hey beautiful. Can I buy you a drink?"

She rolled her eyes and held up her glass as she pushed his hand away. "Not interested."

His hand was back almost immediately. "Hey, I'm a nice guy. You don't have to be rude."

Seriously? "Yeah because nice guys feel a girl up before getting her name," she retorted, shoving his hand off. When he grabbed her arm, she jerked back. And then he was off the bar stool and looking up at her from the floor, a surprised expression on his face.

A dark haired woman stood over him, arms crossed. "When a girl says she's not interested, you should move on Trey."

The guy's face twisted into a sneer. He stood up and went for the brunette, only to find himself in the floor again. "I can do this all night," the woman said with a smile. "Or you can get up and leave on your own before the bouncers throw you out."

Trey stood up and straightened his jacket. "You always were a bitch. Some things don't change."

"Since you were always a handsy little perv, I guess that's true," the brunette replied. "The door is that way."

Felicity saw Dave signaling to someone across the room, and suddenly Tommy was there. "Problem?"

Felicity's rescuer nodded to Trey. "New victim, same old tricks." She gestured to Felicity, and Tommy's eyes widened in surprise.

"Felicity?"

Felicity waved, beginning to feel a little self-conscious. She watched as Tommy and one of the bouncers herded Trey towards the exit before turning back to the dark haired woman. "Thanks. You're really good at knocking a guy on his ass, by the way."

The woman slid onto the stool beside Felicity. "My dad's a cop, so I learned early. You know Tommy?"

"Yeah. Oliver – Mr. Queen - hired me to set up the Internet router here and design the website for the club. I'm Felicity."

The other woman held out her hand. "Laurel. Nice to meet you."

Felicity shook her hand and said, "I should buy you a drink for getting rid of that jerk. How do you know him anyway?"

"We used to have mutual friends who ran in the same circles," Laurel replied. "He was always a douche. And if you're serious about the drink, I'll have one of the specials while I'm waiting for my boyfriend. Is that what you have?"

Felicity shook her head. "Tokyo Tea – I needed something stronger. It's been a bad week." She got Dave's attention and ordered their drinks. She was starting to feel pleasantly buzzed and more relaxed than she'd felt in a long time. "Actually, it's been a bad month."

"I've had a few of those. If you think it will help, feel free to vent," Laurel said, accepting her drink from Dave.

"I don't even know where to start." Felicity took a drink. "Have you ever had a friend that you were attracted to but it was totally one sided?"

"Haven't we all?"

"And I don't date much because of my work, and the fact that sometimes I feel like I've cornered the market on socially awkward," Felicity continued. "And then there's my friend, and he's – wow – and I thought I should probably get back out there and do something about my dry spell. But dating is seriously hard work – and depressing and frustrating and lately, not much fun at all. And isn't that supposed to be the point of dating? To have fun? At this point, I'd settle for a fling."

"I did that – the fling thing," Laurel told her. "Same reasons, really – my work takes up so much time that I didn't have time for conventional dating. And I had this friend who was available."

"How did that work out?"

"Surprisingly well. We're living together now." Laurel eyed Felicity as she sipped her drink. "So your bad month is due to a series of bad dates?"

"That, and I was mugged last month. Then the thieves broke into my building and attacked one of my neighbors, and it probably would have been me except that my friend insisted on installing a security system after I was mugged."

"Sounds like a good friend," the other woman pointed out. "Is this the same friend who…?"

Felicity nodded. "But it's not like that. Or at least it wasn't until this week. It's still not, really. I blame it on proximity, availability, and curiosity." Her head was starting to feel a little muddled, and she wondered if that made sense. Judging by the other woman's confused expression, she guessed not. "He kissed me last night. But he works a lot too, and he recently broke up with someone and I'm basically the only girl who's been around, so…"

"Proximity, availability and curiosity," Laurel answered. "So why not just satisfy the curiosity?"

Felicity reached for the new drink Dave put in front of her. He was very in tune with her alcohol needs – she reminded herself to tip him well. "Because the fallout would be big – not just big. Ginormous. Technically he's my boss, and I like my job." Both of them, she thought, though she couldn't say that. "So I started dating again, and it has been a disaster."

"What's been a disaster?" Tommy appeared at Laurel's elbow.

"Felicity's dating life," Laurel replied. She leaned up and kissed him. "So did Trey go quietly?"

"More or less – he's on the persona non grata list now." Tommy glanced at Felicity a bit warily.

Felicity knew she was staring, but she couldn't help it. Because she'd just realized that Laurel was the Laurel – Oliver's ex and Tommy's girlfriend. That Laurel. And she'd just been sitting here talking about how she was lusting after Oliver. Shit.

Okay, calm down, she told herself. It's not like you named him. You said he was a friend. A friend who's technically your boss. Shit. She took a large gulp of her drink. She was going to need a lot more alcohol.

Oliver was not in the mood to play host to Verdant's crowd that night. Felicity had failed to show up, leading him to wonder if it was because of what had happened between them. He didn't have the best track record with women, but his relationship with Felicity was important to him, and the idea that his actions might have messed that up bothered him more than he wanted to admit.

He circled the edge of the bar and stopped when he heard Felicity's voice. She was sitting on a bar stool beside Laurel and Tommy, and she was talking. A lot.

"So there was the guy looking for a mommy more than a girlfriend, and since I don't handle bodily fluids well, that was over before it got started. Who brings their kids on a first date? Then Gerwin, who apparently had no interest in me as a female – four dates and nothing. And that leads us to tonight and Mike, one of Starling City's finest. I really thought it was going well until he told me that he had a confession to make about his weekend job. Something about the way he said it just made me think male stripper because he was kind of nervous."

Laurel leaned in. "Wait – is this Mike Shannon? Please tell me he's not a stripper."

"No – it's so much worse than that. He's an Elvis impersonator." Felicity chugged the remains of her drink and signaled for another one.

Oliver figured she'd probably already had one too many. Tommy obviously thought so too because he caught Dave's eye and made a gesture indicating he should go light on the alcohol.

Laurel laughed. "Are you serious?"

"Is there even a market for that? I mean, this isn't Vegas," Tommy commented in amusement.

"Exactly what I asked him after my stunned silence," Felicity replied. "But he works surrounding cities too, and he says the money is good. He's saving for a house – admirable, I know. But what am I supposed to tell people? I don't think I can say 'My boyfriend is a part time Elvis impersonator' with a straight face. Although my aunt would probably love it since her house has more Elvis memorabilia than Graceland."

"You just… have to hang in there," Laurel said encouragingly. Her expression was both amused and sympathetic.

"My best friend says the same thing but seriously – the only person who's gotten to third base with me in the last couple of years is my gynecologist. It's sad."

Tommy's brows flew up at that, and Laurel raised a hand to cover her mouth, disguising her laugh as a cough.

Oliver figured it was a good time to interrupt. "Felicity?"

Felicity jumped, and then her back stiffened as she turned carefully to look at him, weaving slightly on her stool. "I really wish you would stop sneaking up on me like that."

He picked up her glass and took a sip. Tokyo Tea. He looked at Dave. "How many of these has she had?"

Felicity snatched her glass back. "That's my business, not yours. And I've had a bad day."

"I heard," he said, raising a brow. "Elvis impersonator, huh? Felicity, I really think you need to reconsider online dating. I don't think it's safe."

"If there was such a thing as death by embarrassment, you'd have a point. He sang tonight – in the restaurant. The people sitting in the booth behind us heard him say he was an Elvis impersonator and asked about hiring him for a birthday party. It was like an impromptu audition." Felicity drained the glass. "My personal life sucks beyond the telling of it right now. But at least I have my career."

"Your job at Queen Industries is safe," he reassured her. "But I think I should get you home."

"I can get home," she protested, standing up. She immediately sat again, holding the edge of the bar. "Or maybe not."

"Where are your keys?" Oliver asked.

Felicity dug around in her purse, coming up empty. "In my car?"

Oliver shook his head. "It's okay – I have spares to your car and your apartment." He saw that Laurel was staring at them, a look of dawning comprehension on her face.

"So you two are…"

"We're friends," Felicity hurried to explain. She pulled out her wallet but Oliver stopped her.

"You don't have to pay here."

"Oh – you know you could have told me that before now." Felicity picked up her bag and grasped Oliver's arm for balance. "Thanks for your help earlier, Laurel. It was nice to meet you."

"You too," Laurel murmured, her expression still curious as she looked between them.

"Help?" Oliver asked

"Our old friend Trey struck again, but it was taken care of," Tommy said.

Oliver tensed, looking at Felicity. "Are you alright?"

"Fine – Laurel knocked him on his ass – twice. I want to learn to do that," she replied with a sudden yawn.

Oliver put his arm around her and looked back at Tommy. "I don't want him back in here."

"Already handled."

He nodded, said goodnight and gently guided Felicity out the door to his car.

Felicity yawned again as he helped her into the passenger seat. "Wait – I have to work tomorrow. I need my car."

"I'll have Diggle pick you up in the morning," Oliver answered. "But you might want to consider taking the morning off because your head will probably be killing you."

"I wish," she said sleepily. "Too much to do. And I'm having lunch with Lindsay and Tyler."

"Who's Tyler?"

"My Tyler from university," she mumbled, yawning again. She was asleep moments later.

Oliver drove to Felicity's in silence, wondering what that meant. It sounded like Tyler was someone she knew well from her time at university – a friend, or maybe an ex-boyfriend. She'd called him her Tyler.

Ten minutes later he pulled into Felicity's parking space and carried her inside. She made a small sound of protest at first but allowed it – probably because walking under her own steam would have been difficult and she knew it. She was asleep again by the time he unlocked her door and carried her to her bedroom.

He gently placed her on the bed, pulling her shoes off before going into the kitchen. He got a bottle of water out of her refrigerator and located a bottle of aspirin in her bathroom. Then he sat on the edge of the bed and shook her awake.

Felicity opened her eyes with a grumpy expression. "What?"

"You need to drink some water before you sleep," Oliver told her. "Here, sit up."

She grumbled a little but followed his instructions, drinking the entire bottle of water while he sat beside her. He handed her a couple of tablets and she took them.

Oliver went back to the kitchen for more water, returning to find her in the bathroom. When she emerged, she'd washed her face, removed her contact lenses, and changed into sleep shorts and a T-shirt.

She crawled back into the bed and accepted the water, sipping it slowly. "You can go now – I feel better."

Oliver sighed. "Should we talk about last night?"

"No."

She looked mortified by the very idea, which told him they should definitely talk about it. "I'm not going to apologize for kissing you because I'm not sorry I did it. But if I've made you feel uncomfortable around me now then I am sorry about that."

Felicity opened her mouth, closed it, and then said, "You can't just… say things like that, or do things like that. I know I'm the only woman around lately that you're not related to, but I'm not going to be used like that. And I'm not going to be a stand-in because you can't have Laurel."

"Is that what you think?" Oliver asked, surprised.

She was squeezing the water bottle now, her eyes downcast. "I don't know what to think since you're not exactly the easiest person to read."

He reached out and put his hand over hers. "You're not a stand-in. I wouldn't do that."

"Not intentionally, maybe, but…"

"No." Oliver put his hand under her chin and tilted her face up, forcing her to look at him. "Laurel is with Tommy now and I've accepted that. They're happy, and she's better off with him. I've accepted that too."

"None of which means you don't still love her," Felicity pointed out.

He remained silent because she had a point. Truthfully, he wasn't sure what his feelings for Laurel were now.

"Either way," she continued, "you can't just kiss me out of some weird, misplaced curiosity."

Oliver didn't think it was weird or misplaced at all, but since Felicity was clearly upset about it, he said, "I'm sorry that I made things awkward between us then. That wasn't what I wanted."

"Then what did you want?"

"I don't know," he admitted.

She shook her head. "That's why it can't happen again, Oliver." She settled back against her pillows and closed her eyes. She looked exhausted, and he suddenly felt guilty.

He stood up and left, setting her alarm and locking the door behind him

Felicity sat in the booth at the Big Belly Burger and waited for Lindsay and Tyler to arrive. Her morning had been trying to say the least; she had a hangover, her first in years, though not as bad as it would have been if Oliver hadn't made her drink water and take some aspirin before going to bed. She had a feeling that she'd feel better after a big, juicy burger though. One thing she remembered from university was that fast food was the best cure for a hangover.

She was looking at the menu when she heard a throat clear. She glanced up to find Oliver standing beside her booth. "Oh. Hi."

"Hi," he said. "Can I join you?"

She nodded and he slid into the seat across from her. "I'm just waiting for Lindsay and Tyler. But you can join us if you want to. Is Diggle here?"

"In the back talking to Carly," Oliver replied. "How are you feeling today?"

"All things considered, not bad. I'm sorry about last night. It's a little embarrassing." More than a little, actually, but she was trying to let it go along with the awkwardness between them.

"You don't have to be embarrassed. Everyone's entitled to a bad night – you've seen enough of mine." He picked up his menu. "So, no to the Elvis impersonator?"

Felicity giggled. "You had to be there – he was singing 'Hound Dog' in the middle of Tony's," she said, referring to a popular pizzeria in town.

"Who was singing?" Diggle sat next to Oliver.

"My date – cop by day, Elvis impersonator on the weekends," she explained.

"So that's why you got all liquored up last night. Dave thought you were hilarious," Diggle replied with a grin.

Felicity flushed as she tried to remember everything she'd said the night before. She was pretty sure she'd made a joke about her sex life and her gynecologist at some point – God, how mortifying. She'd have to avoid the bar completely for a while and hope Tommy's memory was short when it came to her rambling. She glanced at Oliver, wondering if he'd heard that part.

Oliver smiled at her. "You've had more bad dates lately than you've told us about. Like the guy bringing his kids, one of whom threw up on you?"

She held up a cautioning hand. "No talk of vomit while I'm hung over – seriously not cool."

Oliver started to say something but was interrupted by the arrival of Lindsay and Tyler. Felicity stood up to greet them, hugging her friend before turning to Tyler. "I think you got taller."

Tyler Manning was a good foot taller than her at six feet five inches, but his height wasn't as intimidating as it could have been simply because he looked so friendly. With dark brown hair and black eyes, his heritage from his Italian mother was evident. And then there was the dimple in his cheek, almost always on display since he smiled so often. Tall, dark and handsome at its best paired with a friendly demeanor and good manners – it was really no wonder that her crush had persisted as long as it had.

"Felicity Smoak!" Tyler grinned, and when she held out a hand, he shook his head. "Come here."

He hugged her, and she was relieved to feel absolutely nothing more than friendly feelings. It was hard to imagine now that she'd been so head over heels for him just a few years ago. She pulled back and saw that both Oliver and Diggle were standing now, waiting for an introduction.

"Oh – sorry. Lindsay, you remember Oliver, and this is his bodyguard, John Diggle. Guys, this is Tyler Manning."

The men shook hands, and Tyler said, "Oliver Queen, right? I heard about your return on the news. Craziest story of the year – glad you made it home though. What a miracle."

Oliver smiled, but Felicity recognized it as the empty sort he pasted on for the media whenever the subject of his return from the dead came up. "And one of the first things I did was to catch up on the basketball world. Your stats are impressive."

Carly appeared from the back and settled them at a bigger booth, thrilled to have two celebrities in her diner. It didn't go unnoticed either, and a few of Tyler's fans approached their booth shyly for autographs and photos.

Somehow Felicity ended up between Oliver and Tyler in the round booth. It was overwhelming and made her feel a bit claustrophobic as the two men talked.

"So how did you meet Felicity?" Oliver was asking as one of the waitresses delivered their food to the table.

"Felicity was assigned as my tutor – without her I might not have graduated."

"He's exaggerating," Felicity said.

Tyler nudged her shoulder. "Really? Do you not remember my grades that semester? Your help kept me from being benched, and as far as I'm concerned, that saved my pro career. If I'd been benched, the scouts would have bypassed me."

She rolled her eyes. "Not forever."

"Always with the false modesty – except where her computers were concerned," Tyler joked. "So you ready to hit the Starling City nightlife tonight, Smoak?"

Felicity grimaced. What she really wanted was to sleep tonight, but she knew Lindsay would never let her get away with that. "Where are we going?"

"Just to a friend's party – well, friend of a friend, actually."

"Take the afternoon off, Felicity," Oliver suggested. "You've put in enough overtime lately to justify it."

Maybe she had, but her supervisor wouldn't like it. But then he took time off just the previous week, citing overtime. "Okay, I will."

"Hey, why don't you join us," Tyler offered, speaking to Oliver and Diggle.

"Where's the party?" Oliver asked.

"Up in the hills. It's at a winery, I think."

"Starlight Estate," Oliver said. "I know it."

"Cool – so you in?"

"Sure, but only if you agree to visit my club tomorrow night. You can bring the team, and I'll reserve the VIP area for you."

"I heard you opened up a nightclub in the Glades," Tyler said. "How's that going?"

"Number one nightclub in Starling City," Lindsay told him. "And I've been dying to get in there."

"Sounds like a plan, then." Tyler looked over at Felicity. "You know, I don't remember you being this quiet a few years ago."

Felicity looked up from her burger to find all of them now looking at her. Actually, Lindsay was looking at both her and Oliver. Not for the first time, she cursed her best friend's intuition that seemed to pick up on the slightest of shifts in mood and manner. She didn't think they were acting any differently than usual, but based on the way Lindsay was watching them, she knew something was up.

"I'm hungry," she said. "And tired. I worked late last night."

"It's funny because you look like you're hung over," Lindsay surmised shrewdly. "Where did you go after your date crashed and burned?"

"We had a problem with the security system last night," Oliver explained smoothly. "She had to come down and work on it for a few hours."

Lindsay raised a brow but didn't say anything; however, Felicity knew she'd be fielding some questions later because she didn't look like she believed either of them. They finished lunch and left the diner. Oliver and Diggle headed back to Verdant, Lindsay went to work, and Felicity dropped Tyler at his hotel before calling the office to explain her absence.

When she got home, she went to her closet and started thinking about what to wear. Thirty minutes later she was unhappy with every one of her options. If she was going to have to spend the next two nights out in Oliver's company, bravely pushing through this newfound awkwardness between them, she was damn well going to look good doing it.

Grabbing her bag and an energy drink from the fridge, she decided to see what new arrivals her two favorite stores had gotten in. She could probably find something within a couple of hours, and she'd still have time for a nap before putting her game face on. It was going to be a long weekend.

A/N: I'm later posting this than I intended, so sorry about that! I've had a lot going on lately. No beta and I admit that I wrote this chapter in one go with minimal editing. I usually take a bit more time with it, but I didn't want hold off on posting any longer. So if you see any heinous errors, please let me know!

I also want to take a moment to thank you guys for being such fantastic reviewers. All of the comments, faves and follows brighten my day because I like knowing I've written something that so many of you find entertaining. I've responded to most of the reviews from the last two chapters, and I'll respond to the remaining ones this week. Thanks a lot for reading, and I'll update again soon!

Up Next: Felicity and Tyler get closer at the party, and Oliver finds he is really not happy about it when they leave together. Will it be enough to push him into acting on his attraction at Verdant? Stay tuned to find out! :)