AN: Someone asked me to clarify so I've gone back and amended the description. This story is going to be Olicity eventually. However, it will not be Anti-Laurel.
Disclaimer: Not mine, just borrowing the characters.
"You're sure you're ok with this?" Oliver asked. "I can figure out another way."
"Nope. This is the best way. I mean, if you ditched your roommate after a single day that wouldn't exactly help the whole 'Oliver isn't a flakey playboy' thing we're trying to pull here." Felicity nodded before pausing. "Not that you have to pretend not to be flakey. Because you aren't. They just don't know that yet." She sighed. Oliver gave her a reassuring half smile. Laurel just observed. She was still getting used to the vibe of Oliver and Felicity's friendship. They appeared completely comfortable with each other, and yet skittish. It almost seemed like they were worried that one wrong move would blow the whole thing up.
"So what time are you done for the day?" She asked Felicity hoping to break the tension. " I can go make sure Oliver is packed and the guys can help him bring his stuff over."
"Five, well maybe say five-thirty so I can actually get home. I mean-"
"Five Thirty it is." Oliver cut her off. "Thanks." He and Laurel made their way to the front of the lobby while she started to slowly move back into the employees only section of the office.
Felicity waited until her friends had rounded the corner before picking up the pace and almost running back to the IT department. She dropped her purse on her chair, slowed her pace to a determined walk and made her way to the office down the hall.
"Carol? You have a minute?" She asked. A serious looking Hispanic woman glanced up for her computer monitor and observed the nervous young woman in front of her. Just when Felicity was about to give up on the whole thing and go sit back down, her new boss spoke.
"It's rarely a minute with you Ms Smoak. What can I do for you?"
"Well I know usually there is a 3 month probationary period where I'm not allowed to really take any days off without a doctor's note or something, but I'm really hoping you can over look that considering I have technically been a Queen Consolidated employee for 5 years."
"Are you trying to ask me for time off."
"Yes"
"When"
"Right now"
"No I mean when do you need it?"
"Right now, today, the rest of the day" Felicity bit her lip as Carol's expression grew more stern.
"Ms Smoak, when you reapplied for this position it was made perfectly clear to you that spotty attendance would no longer be tolerated."
"I understand, but-"
" Your, personal, relationship with Mr Queen does not buy you special privileges." Felicity wasn't sure exactly how she managed to not roll her eyes at the implication she had heard a million times since her random promotion the year before. It was probably because Carol as a boss was almost as terrifying as any criminal. Except with Carol, she didn't have her friends backing her up with bows and sniper rifles.
"I'm not," She decided not to try to explain and to stick with the facts. " I have had an issue come up at home that requires immediate attention and since I live alone, well for the next eight hours I live alone, there is no one else who can do it."
"What kind of situation?" Carol asked skeptically. "Flood, burglary, fire?"
"Asking someone to move in and them saying yes when you didn't think in a million years they would so you never bothered making room for their stuff and they arrive tonight." A second stare down commenced. "Have I said please yet? Because if I didn't I meant to." Carol smirked.
"This is your get out of jail free card Felicity. I hope it was worth it."
"Managing not to embarrass myself is always worth it. And rarely happens. Thank you." Felicity left quickly before her boss could change her mind. She had 8 hours.
The house wasn't dirty as much as it was messy. The impulsive side of her that lead to Felicity saying whatever was on her mind also lead to an impressive number of unfinished projects. She supposed her schedule didn't help that either. How was she supposed to dedicate herself to learning Spanish when she had to set phone reminders to make sure she ate. With some help from her expert Tetris skills, she managed to get her books and DVD's back on the shelves. The Laundry machine ran all day to get through the piles that had amassed in the hallway and the clean clothes, which had been living on the guest bed, were now back in the closet where they belonged. The whole process was so simple and made her feel so much better about her abilities to be a functioning adult that Felicity chastised herself for not doing it sooner.
The knock on the door jolted her out of her post cleaning haze. She opened it to find Oliver, John and Roy crowded onto her tiny porch. Diggle and Roy were each holding a handle of the green metal army chest while Oliver had his duffle bag over his shoulder and three bags of Big Belly Burger.
" I've been told if you aren't paying them, you feed the people who help you move." Oliver offered the bags to Felicity.
" Usually there is beer" Roy grumbled.
"Usually everyone is legal age." Diggle reminded him. Oliver arched an eyebrow in the youngest team member's direction. Roy rolled his eyes.
"So where's this going?" He asked Felicity.
" Oh! Um, up the stairs, second door on the left. the one without my stuff in it or a toilet." She cleared off some space on the dining table and dropped the food bags. Oliver stepped through the door slowly and looked around.
"It's nice." He offered. Felicity moved from the table nestled next to the staircase, through the living room back towards the kitchen.
" It has it's issues, not much different from the owner." She said returning with a stack of dishes topped with four cans of soda " But, it's home." He dropped his bag and took the four wobbly cans from the top of the stack. " Thanks" He placed them on the table. Felicity was starting to put the various meals on plates when he touched her shoulder to get her attention. When she turned to look up at him, Oliver had a million things he wanted to say, but settled on two words.
"Thank You."