OMG thanks for the nice reviews and for following my new story
Thanks to Niagaraweasel , for translate. You`re simply the best ;)
Felicity lay on the bed in her motel room. Three days ago she had arrived in the small town and since then she had been to one bar after the other, trying to numb her pain with alcohol. She hadn't so much as touched her phone in all that time, not caring about anything anymore.
Her nightmares had returned and she woke up drenched in sweat every night. It was always the same dream, the one she had had when she was a child.
"No, Steve, let her go, please!" her mother cried, placing herself protectively in front of the little girl standing before her father with big, tear-filled eyes, while he raised his hand to hit her. Andrea Smoak shielded her daughter with her body, so that he hit her instead, the power behind it sending her to the floor, while Felicity cried out for her mother.
That was the last memory Felicity had of her father. After that night he had disappeared and left Andrea alone with her 3-year-old daughter.
Felicity moved restlessly on the bed. Memories flashed like lightning before her eyes and suddenly she was no longer three, but ten years old.
"Mom, I'm home! I got an A for my science project and Mrs. Williams thinks I can jump two whole grades! Mom?" She ran into the living room and found her mother asleep on the couch, a bottle of vodka on the floor beside her. The cheapest kind, since they couldn't afford anything else. "Oh, Mom…" Felicity sighed. She walked over to her mother, grabbed a blanket and covered her with it. Then she looked around and began to clean up the flat.
Like every day in the last five years since the police had called with the news that her father had killed two people during a robbery, nothing had been the same. The situation had thrown her mother completely for a loop. They lived in a small town, where everybody knew everybody else and her mom just couldn't deal with all the whispers going around, so she drowned all of her sorrow in alcohol. Felicity had no friends, the other kids picked on her, calling her the daughter of a murderer and a drunk, so she concentrated on learning. She wanted to have a better life than her family, far away from Coast City.
Felicity shot up in bed, gasping for breath. Her eyes automatically went to the bottle of vodka on the nightstand. She grabbed it and took a big gulp. She was no better than her mother. She had always sworn to herself that she would never be like her and yet here she was, sitting in a seedy little motel for the last three days, drowning her sorrow and frustration just like her. Felicity started to cry hard as she took another swallow.
For the last three days Oliver had been completely beside himself. Felicity was gone; after her message he had gone to her house, shocked to see that some of her clothes were missing, together with her toothbrush and some other things from her bathroom. She had disabled her GPS and turned off her phone. Oliver and Diggle had done all they could think of to find her, but she wasn't with her mother or with Barry Allan. And Felicity didn't have any other friends.
Oliver had called every hotel and motel in and around Starling City, every hospital and holiday flat, but nothing. Felicity had apparently vanished without a trace.
As a last resort, Diggle had asked Lyla to search for Felicity's car. He was just as worried about their IT girl as Oliver. Felicity was like a sister for him and he had learned about her story a long time ago. When they had rebuilt the basement of Verdant after the earthquake in the Glades she had told him, because he had wondered, why no one had called Felicity to see if she was okay.
Oliver's phone rang. It was Diggle. "Oliver, Lyla found her car."
"Where is she?" the billionaire asked, his heart beating faster.
"She's in Williamscoast, about 250 miles from Starling City," Diggle answered.
"We'd never have found her there. Thanks, Diggle. I'm on my way right now."
"You want me to come with you?"
"No. This is all my fault, John, and I have to try and fix it myself. Thanks for your help and please tell Lyla I owe her."
"Oliver, you're like my brother and Felicity is like my little sister. You don't owe anything to me or Lyla. Just bring her home and this time tell her what you feel for her."
"I will, John. Thanks." Oliver ended the call, grabbed his leather jacket and left the lair.
The billionaire went back to the Queen mansion and packed a couple of things before he climbed into his sports car. He hadn't even taken it out of the garage since his return from the island, but now he needed the speed to clear his head and to reach Felicity as quickly as possible.
When Felicity woke up, night had fallen over the small town of Williamscoast, but for her the day was only starting. Her head was pounding so she took the box of aspirin from her nightstand, popped out one of the pills and washed it down with another swallow of vodka. Then she went into the bathroom, jumped into the shower and dressed in a short, skin-tight red dress.
Dressed up to the nines she left the motel and went down the road to one of the bars that had become her second home during the last three days. Like every evening, a number of regulars sat at the bar, mixed with a few tourists, who had stopped in town for the night. And just like the last few evenings, a few men and women went up to the small stage and tried their hand – or rather their voice – at karaoke.
Felicity had been watching for the last three nights, but tonight she had decided to give it a go herself. She climbed onto the stage with a glass of whiskey in her hand.
At that moment Oliver walked into the bar. He had broken every speed record on the way and the rush of speed had skyrocketed his adrenaline level. He looked around, but couldn't find Felicity – until the sound of her voice drew his eyes to the stage.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Felicity Smoak and I have been a guest in your beautiful city for a few days now, although to be honest, it reminds me more of a small town, but that's beside the point now. As I said, I came here a few days ago and every night I heard another one of you on this stage. So I thought, now it's my turn. You know, I ended up here because I just couldn't stand to stay in the city where I lived. The man I love and for whom I would give my life, loves another, my mother hates me and that's why I've been sitting here for the last three days, trying to drown my sorrows. Wow, apparently even whiskey can't make me stop rambling. I'm sorry. I should stop now and just start to sing. So, cue music."
The music started and Felicity began to sing.
Turn down the lights, turn down the bed
Turn down these voices inside my head
Lay down with me, tell me no lies
Just hold me close, don't patronize - don't patronize me
Cause I can't make you love me if you don't
You can't make your heart feel something it won't
Here in the dark, in these final hours
I will lay down my heart and I'll feel the power
But you won't, no you won't
'Cause I can't make you love me, if you don't
Felicity had to swallow hard, tears pooling in her eyes, before she could sing the second verse.
Oliver's heart was breaking. How could he have been so stupid to hurt this woman so much….
I'll close my eyes, then I won't see
The love you don't feel when you're holding me
Morning will come and I'll do what's right
Just give me till then to give up this fight
And I will give up this fight
Cause I can't make you love me if you don't
You can't make your heart feel something it won't
Here in the dark, in these lonely hours
I will lay down my heart and I'll feel the power
But you won't, no you won't
'Cause I can't make you love me, if you don't
The song ended, but Felicity still kept her eyes closed. The audience in the bar was absolutely silent. Only when Felicity opened her eyes again did they start to applaud and cheer. Felicity took a deep breath and thanked them before she placed the mic back on the stand, finished her whiskey in one big gulp and left the stage.