A/N: So… I took a bit longer than expected. Sorry.
Love you all, thanks for all replies and messages!
Chapter Eight
X
The next morning, Felicity all but ran to the shop in her normal getup. Her heels clacked a steady rhythm on the pavement and occasionally, she bumped against someone's elbow. With no time to waste, though, she threw a 'sorry' over her shoulder and continued on. When she finally spotted the shop, she broke out into a run.
Felicity dashed into the shop and towards the counter, where she stopped.
No Moira; good.
Breathing heavily, she dumped her bag on the counter. She checked her watch. Ten minutes late. Shit. She was never late.
She looked around and took in the state of the shop.
Behind the doors to the kitchen she could hear Moira humming songs and in front of her, Diggle was getting the shop ready to open. The sign of the shop hadn't been turned to 'open' yet, and judging by the buzzing sound, Diggle had just hooked up the coffee machine.
Her coat joined her bag on the counter with a loud thump, after which Diggle turned around. He was wearing the trademark white apron of Beans Consolidated with his nametag, which after all these years still read "Hello, my name is Just Digg".
She grunted at him when he waved at her.
"Someone's in a mood," Diggle observed, one eyebrow raised.
Felicity grabbed an apron from the drawer behind the counter and snorted.
"Don't you start," she warned, pointing at him.
Without another word, she went to the coat rack for personnel near the bathroom and left her coat and bag there. Still panting from her last mad dash, she glanced around. She hadn't missed morning rush, thankfully. Nor did it look like Moira had noticed her not clocking in. Thank god.
When she felt like she had recuperated from her morning jog, she returned to the counter, ready to be social again. Without another word, Diggle put down a damping mug of coffee on the counter next to her. She took it and eyed it warily. Diggle ducked his chin and gave her a look.
"You act like I would poison you."
Felicity's eyes narrowed as she swirled the coffee around in the mug.
"You would," she deadpanned.
Diggle threw up a hand.
"Alcohol doesn't count," he replied.
Felicity snorted. She sipped her coffee. Ah- no vanilla.
"It doesn't feel like that the day after."
He didn't reply to that, but instead flashed her a sneaky grin while he turned around to raise his cutting board and pile ingredients into the blender.
Rolling her eyes, Felicity turned to her actual job. She walked to the front door and turned the sign. On her way back, she pulled all the chairs from the table and by the time she was done, the regular guests had filed in and Diggle had already brought them their orders.
Back at the counter, Felicity punched her number up on the cash register to sign in and looked around the shop. No hands in the air, yet.
Bored, she took another sip of coffee, hoping it was still warm. She made a face and put the cup down.
Soon after, Diggle returned and flipped the switch on the blender to finish the milkshake. The sound that came from the blender was deafening and though Felicity had heard it a thousand times, she ducked her head when it started. Grimacing, she tried to focus on something else than the grating sound. She looked around and, ultimately, took a step back and gazed up. The chalkboards with the menu could really do with a new chalk job. Plus, the weekly brew had to change.
Deciding that would be the job of the day, Felicity looked at the boards in thought.
"I say it's time for the MonDay After Special- with mocha instead of chocolate milk," Diggle said -mostly screamed- from where he was standing. "Which reminds me, how was your date?"
Felicity stared up at the menu boards with a pensive look on her face. Tilting her head this way and that, she thought of how to present a new weekly special.
When she didn't answer him, Diggle snapped his fingers next to her head. She jumped and glowered at him.
"Could you not do that," she snapped, just as the blender turned off.
The harsh sound of her own voice surprised her. Felicity whipped her head around to look at the customers. None had reacted. Well, Anatoli was grinning at them, but he was always grinning at them. Meanwhile, Diggle poured the shake into a large jug.
"Can't promise that. I said, how did your date go?"
A groan.
"Can you and Norah not just be complete opposites? For once? …Why do you think I'm late?!"
"She forced you to tell her everything."
Her look was one of exasperation, his was unrelenting. She sighed.
"At least wait until after I've finished an actual cup of coffee," she asked, pouring some new coffee into her mug.
At that, he cracked.
"Fine, you finish that and deal with Anatoli and then we'll talk."
Grateful for the respite, she nodded and cupped the warm mug her hands. Waving to Anatoli, she turned on the espresso machine and got a cup ready. Knyazev lowered his hand and winked at her, but she didn't return the favour. The memory of his serious face telling her he wanted to go on a date with her first swam to the surface of her mind. She stared at the machine in front of her as she remembered the conversation. Then, it had all seemed like such nonsense. Now, it was disconcerting how right Anatoli had been about Oliver. Actually, he had a knack for being right all around.
When the machine in front of her made a sound, the blonde calmly placed the cup on its tray and let the machine pour the espresso. The sound was familiar and the smell made her close her eyes for a second. As she did so, she wondered how Anatoli had known. About her, about Oliver. That it could work.
When the machine was done, she took the cup, grabbed a saucer from her right and walked over to Anatoli.
"Good morning. An espresso for you," she said, offering him the drink.
His keen eyes were trained on her face while he plucked the cup and saucer from her hands.
"You're smiling," he observed.
It was true. She hadn't even noticed. Her hand came up to touch the corner of her mouth.
"You say it like it's a bad thing," Miss Rochev complained from the table behind him, butting in on their conversation.
Felicity wondered if Thea would have glared at the woman. She should, too, really, now that she knew what the Rochev family had done to Oliver. But this woman on her own could hardly be the cause for all of that.
"You've been on the date, haven't you," the man continued.
Her face slackened. She sputtered, but then gave in.
"I have," she said, lowering her head a bit as she said it.
The man pressed his lips together for a millisecond, then looked up at her face again. Tentatively, he put his hand on her shoulder and when she looked at him, a broad smile broke out onto his face.
"Oliver had the same smile on his face when I he walked in this morning," he told her softly. Then, he continued in a loud voice. "I hope you'll be happy together."
When his words got through to her, Felicity's own smile widened. Without thinking about it, she leaned forward and pecked the old man's cheek. She stood right back up after.
"Thank you, Anatoli," she said.
The man beamed up at her and lifted his espresso cup.
"No, thank you," he told her.
Winking at the man, she turned around, intending to make her way back to the counter.
Upon seeing Diggle standing there and watching her with a raised eyebrow, however, she made a beeline to the entrance of the bookcase maze with a mischievous grin. Diggle raised both eyebrows at her back, unimpressed with her avoiding strategy, and shrugged before going back to making the shakes for the day.
It was a small place, she could only avoid him for so long.
X
X
X
As soon as she was out of sight, the blonde waitress stopped walking. She leaned against a bookcase and kicked out her foot toward the bookcase in front of her. She couldn't reach it. Her chin moved up as she stared at the rows of books in front of her.
The smile that had adorned her face earlier, still hadn't left. Not that she could help it. She was just… happy. More so than she had been, for a long time.
She heard steps in the hallway and glanced at her left. When she saw a familiar pair of blue eyes come into view, she beamed at the man.
"Hey," she spoke.
"Hello, employee that is not doing her job," Oliver answered.
He wore a dark green shirt, jeans and a disarming smile that had her wondering how she would ever be able to do any work here again. Wordlessly, she reached out a hand to the man and he took it, standing next to her and leaning against the bookcase as well.
"I have reasons," Felicity offered, kicking at the air in front of her again. "Mainly Norah."
Chuckling, he wound their fingers together as they looked at the bookcase in front of them.
"Thea made me spell out every detail of the date," he answered with a smile. He glanced at her. "I left a few parts out."
Felicity grinned. Her pulse sped up at the thought of those parts, but she couldn't help but tease him.
"Not the part where I thought you would murder me, I take it?"
"What, and leave out the best thing?"
His smile had turned into a grin, now. Turning away, Felicity shook her head at the comment and a laugh escaped her mouth. When Oliver chuckled, she looked back up. His blue orbs were watching her intently. He was silent for some time, then opened his mouth.
"So, when are we going again?"
Felicity smiled at the question and leaned her head against the bookcase as she looked at the man in front of her.
"But we've already had the best take-out in town," she teased.
"I'm sure you know a few others that will do," he noted.
She grinned. It was true, after all.
A shrug followed.
"We could order Thai and watch movies at my place, tonight," she offered.
Fuck being too eager. She was eager.
An irresistible smile found its way onto his face, one that went all the way to his eyes. His hand came up to stroke her cheek slowly.
"I'd love to."
Her own right hand came up to scratch at the stubble on his jaw in reciprocation. Oliver did nothing but stare at her, the look in his eyes echoing hers. His blue eyes stared longingly at her, like stars, pinpricks that led her to him when she stood on tiptoes and closed the space between them.
She kissed him languidly, taking her time to show her love and appreciation for him. Her hand moved from his cheek to his hip and she slowly guided Oliver closer towards her. Oliver made a small sound and put his other hand on her face, too. Then, he pulled his lips from hers.
"We should get to work," he urged and kissed her jaw, cheek, the bow of her lips.
"Work can wait," Felicity answered, smiling at his butterfly kisses.
Oliver didn't argue and caught her lips in his again, this time intensifying the kiss by pushing her against the bookcase behind her. She idly wondered about bruises tomorrow, but then he bit on her lip and she gasped.
As Oliver's tongue entered her mouth, she scratched his back. When she moaned as their tongues touched, he smirked into the kiss. He let her explore his mouth for a while, before he took over and kissed her back harder, winning the fight.
Not that Felicity necessarily cared.
She ached for him. No, where he touched her, fire licked her insides and the feeling was far too arousing to stop him. His hands where nowhere and everywhere all at once, their kiss one of need and passion.
When they broke apart for a change of pace, Oliver's hands were on her sides and started stroking the area of her ribs just beneath her breasts and she mewled in recognition.
Oliver laughed against her temple, then leaned down to kiss it.
He left butterfly kisses all over the right side of her face on his way down to her neck. When he had finally reached it, he started kissing beneath her ear and scratching the area with his teeth. In response, Felicity pushed her body against his, panting.
Her insides were slowly becoming lava, a swirling mess of emotions and heat that was threatening to explode. She slipped her hands under his shirt and touched his bare back enthusiastically, smelling his scent of cedar and honey all around her.
He started sucking on the area and she moaned into his ear softly. The combination of his hand moving up and down her sides, her ribs, and the smell of him on her was too much. She hitched up her leg and tried to clench it around him, but failed. Oliver's hand came down to pull her leg back up and hold it in place as he reached up to kiss her again.
When he had somehow hooked her knee around his hip, he moved his hand up and down her leg slowly. His fingers trailed over it teasingly and she was reduced to a craving she had now started to associate with this man alone. She had no idea what was up and what was down anymore as his hands stroked her and slowly moved closer to the edge of her dress, caressing the skin under it teasingly. Similarly, her own hands stroked the area of his hips under his shirt. She dipped her thumbs under his waistline teasingly.
She moaned softly when Oliver's hand slipped to the inside of her thigh with slow motions and broke away from the kiss.
Their breaths mingled together and their eyes were glued to one another. The hazy look in her eyes made Oliver lean in once again to kiss her slowly as he pushed up the fabric of her dress more.
Felicity moved her hands to his head when there was a sudden, strange sound.
Both stopped their administrations and looked at one another, alarmed.
Then, the sound came again.
Felicity moved her head back, her face one of concentration. Oliver, too, craned his head to listen. Then, there it was again. The sound of the door opening and closing. Laughter, somewhere along the lines, and loud conversation. She looked back at Oliver. Loud footsteps and clacking heels. Faintly, in the background, Diggle's voice told people to have a seat in the maze somewhere.
Felicity's eyes widened.
She untangled herself from Oliver, smoothing down her apron and dress. In a flash, she pulled down Oliver's shirt to get it straight and ruffled through his hair. She tried to make it seem less in disarray, but only succeeded in making it even worse. He pulled down her apron as she fixed his hair.
Then, there was the sound of footsteps and three old ladies appeared in the maze, looking at them. Felicity pulled her hands from Oliver's head with the speed of lightning, flushing instantly.
The ladies narrowed their eyes at both of them.
Oliver had tousled hair, a crinkled shirt, red lips and low riding jeans. Felicity's lipstick had smudged a bit and most of her hair was not in the ponytail anymore.
Nonetheless, they both stood there, motionless and rigid, as the women giggled and continued on their way.
They stayed like that until the elderly ladies were out of sight.
Felicity stared at the ground and only broke away from it when Oliver craned his head to look after them. When he looked back and their eyes met, both of them broke out into unreserved laughter.
As she laughed, Felicity leaned back against the bookcase for support. Oliver's laughter was more of a loud chuckle, and he watched her as he continued laughing. The blonde in front of him doubled over and held onto a shelf as she laughed. Long past the moment he had stopped laughing, she was heaving and giggling and he was watching her with a broad smile.
When she finally stopped, he reached out and rubbed the smudge of lipstick from her face. Smiling broadly, she redid her ponytail and smoothed down Oliver's hair more. When they were done, both were still smiling.
"You know, I only got out of my room to get a cup of coffee," Oliver remarked.
Another peal of laughter made Felicity bend over, but this time she recovered quickly. With a blush adorning her cheeks, she turned back to him. He was grinning stupidly.
"I guess somewhere along the way, I got side-tracked," he continued.
She smiled.
"I can't imagine where," she replied.
Oliver shook his head and leaned over to kiss her cheek. When he had done so, he started walking away.
"I should really go get that coffee; I haven't had any, this morning."
Reaching out with her hand, she pushed against his chest before he had left. She winked at him as she stepped past him.
"Get to work, I'll get you a coffee."
Oliver's jaw slackened and he stared at Felicity as she slowly walked backwards. It took her a second to understand why he was making the face.
When she finally realized what she'd just said, she didn't even want to take it back. In fact, she smiled wider. Oliver kept on staring at her. She rolled her eyes at him.
"What, now I can't do my job anymore?"
Then, his eyes narrowed in response.
"Will it include vanilla syrup?"
Felicity chortled at the thought, but shook her head and turned around to walk away from him at a normal pace. She winked at him when she turned the corner.
"I think I can keep myself from adding it, this one time."
X
X
X
Later on, in the afternoon, Thea and Roy joined Diggle and Felicity to hear about the date. In fact, though Thea could recite their date word for word (at least, Oliver's recollection of it), she still wanted to hear Felicity's version. So, after Felicity had been promised less shifts that week and one Moira-free shift, even, she told them. Thea gushed about it and asked questions for a good half an hour until Roy butted in to make her stop.
"Shut it, Thea. Let her be amazed on her own."
Thea narrowed her eyes at him. Roy gestured at Felicity, who was sipping her coffee and absent-mindedly writing a post-it for herself to bring her laptop tomorrow in order to finish the last of the digitalization project.
"She's working, let her be."
The look in Thea's eyes softened and she nodded, reaching out to touch Felicity's arm. The blonde in front of her peeked back at her.
"Sorry, Fay," she said. It was an old nickname. Felicity stood up straight and shrugged. Thea leaned over the counter and hugged her. "For what it's worth, I'm happy to have you in the family. I think you're perfect for each other."
Roy snorted and saved Felicity the burden of answering that one.
"Perfect isn't the word I'd use," he remarked when Felicity peered at him from behind Thea. He started grinning. "But it will definitely liven up the place."
Felicity reached around to cuff him on the head.
"Ouch," Roy cried out. He rubbed the back of his head. "Careful with the merchandise!"
Diggle rolled his eyes at the words and pushed Roy and Thea towards the tables before Felicity could.
"Alright, alright. Thea, go get yourself and the merchandise a seat and let us work, now."
Grinning and a tiny bit embarrassed, Thea and Roy glanced back as they walked over to the bookcase maze to get themselves a table. Felicity shook her head at the two. Diggle, however, ignored their looks.
Not that he was really irritated. He'd been just as interested in the story as Thea was, but just let Thea ask all the necessary questions. Now that Thea and Roy had asked the most important ones, though, he seemed to be satisfied and left Felicity alone for most of the day.
It was only when Felicity had started adding Christmas decorations to the chalkboards with the help of their small ladder, that he said something about it. As Felicity drew a candy cane on the board, his words reached her. He hadn't turned around, hadn't budged an inch and was even working on a coffee for Sin when he asked her.
"So?"
Sighing, she let her hands drop next to her body and turned to him whilst on the ladder.
"So what, Digg," she asked, knowing full well what he meant.
"You know what I mean."
He poured some cherry syrup into the coffee while she stared at him. Not even so much as a glance at her.
"You first," she retorted.
There was silence for a while. She moved back around and drew a gingerbread man on the chalkboard. Diggle served some guests their drinks. Roy came up to get a rag to clean up a spilled drink. Then, out of nowhere, Diggle continued their conversation.
"Lyla and I are thinking of dating again."
Felicity's jaw dropped and she slid down the ladder in order to talk to him without having to yell.
"What?! And you didn't tell me?"
Okay, maybe with the yelling, but without the height difference.
Diggle shrugged, adding whipped cream to a coffee and not looking at her.
"You were on a date when she mentioned it on the phone."
"Wait, you guys call one another?"
There was one more cherry than usual on top of the whipped cream when Diggle was done with the Sweet Daydream special. He looked up at Felicity, eyebrows knitted together in thought.
"We didn't, before. But we had fun when we learned about the cocktails. So she called and asked if it was a good idea to go on a date because it felt right to her."
Felicity smiled and slapped her hand on the counter.
"I knew it!"
A snort from her side made her look at Diggle again. Self-consciously, she pulled her hand back from the counter.
"We're not together yet," he reminded her as he reached past her to get a tray. "We have to go on an actual date, first."
For a moment, Felicity stared at him. Then, she switched to a serious look and nodded.
"And she has to care about your soldier-past," she added in a solemn, low voice.
"I'm not easy to live with," he agreed, nodding.
"And she needs to be able to deal with the nightmares," she rattled on.
"Yes- well – wait- they aren't that bad."
"Oh, and don't forget the job as a barista, that one isn't too impressive either," she pointed out, imitating his voice.
Diggle was giving her a look, now. She knew all the words to the monologue, and he knew it.
"And the flat. It's not in the best state, is it."
"That is it," Diggle thundered. "I'm never getting drunk around you again."
With a grin, Felicity slid the laden tray from under his nose and darted around the counter top. From the other side, she answered him.
"Now where have I heard that before."
When he sighed dramatically, trying to keep a smile off his face, she turned around and brought the customers their coffee. She did another round in the bookcase maze straight after and when she got back, she bumped her shoulder against Diggle's. He grunted at the move, but then bumped his shoulder back against hers.
Like a machine, they started working on new orders together and almost forgot the conversation. Felicity made three new Cinnamon Delights, countless black coffees and one White Night special while Diggle delivered them. It was only when he was back and she had climbed on the ladder again, that Diggle seemed to have remembered.
"So," he asked, again.
Felicity groaned.
"So, what, Diggle?"
"So, what's the verdict," he questioned her.
Pursing her lips together, she focused on finishing the bow she was drawing. When Diggle didn't say anything after that, she knew he was staring at her. She pulled down her hand and leaned on the ladder to look down.
Beneath her, Diggle's unwavering eyes followed her every move. With a soft exhale, she looked at her hands and then at the piece of chalk in her hands. She remembered the date the night before and her encounter with Oliver that morning. And tonight, there'd be a repeat of it all. She couldn't help but smile at the prospect.
Looking back at Diggle, she wondered, really wondered, what the verdict was. Positive, of course. But what else was there to say?
Suddenly, she realized what the answer was to Diggle's question.
"I think I can finally talk to my mother and not feel like a failure when I hang up," she told Diggle quietly.
He beamed up at her.
"That good, huh?"
Felicity looked at the chalkboard above her with a small smile.
"He wants to meet Norah," she answered, not looking at Diggle.
A low whistle reached her ears.
"Does he even know what he's saying?"
Felicity grinned at that and Diggle chuckled, as well. Their gazes met and Felicity felt something warm wrap around her. It was odd, but somewhere along the way she had forgotten that Diggle knew both of them, was a part of both their worlds. The fact that he was happy for the both of them, meant something. Something more than Thea being happy.
"I'm thinking of asking Norah to go easy on him," she confided in Diggle.
Diggle snorted and she couldn't help but agree.
"Is that in terms of death wishes, harsh language or protectiveness," he asked her.
Felicity didn't answer. Instead, she leaned forwards on the ladder and smiled at Diggle.
"You'll come with, won't you," she asked.
Another chuckle came from the dark man.
"You know I would never miss that show," he chastised her, then turned serious again. "But you know I can't deflect all the blows."
"It'll be fine," she assured him. "It's just fun to have you there, too."
Diggle turned away after that, waving at Anatoli since his hand was up in the air. Felicity smiled at Diggle's words, gazing at where she thought the administration office was located.
Her heart warmed at the thought of those blue eyes and the way Oliver tilted his head when he was paying attention to something that was being said.
She remembered his witty, quick responses to her words and shook her head with a grin.
"Besides, I think he can take a few hits," she muttered.
Absent-mindedly, she wondered if she should bring him another coffee.
The End
A/N: FINALLY. THIS FELT LIKE GIVING BIRTH.
Hope you liked it. It was a bit sappy and weird, but I loved going on this adventure. Hope you liked going along for the ride!
Please, please review and tell me what you thought!