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Language:
English
Series:
Part 1 of chasing cars
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Published:
2014-08-05
Completed:
2015-08-20
Words:
9,136
Chapters:
16/16
Comments:
175
Kudos:
814
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33
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29,819

just forget the world (lie with me)

Chapter 16: babysitting

Summary:

Alternate Universe - High School

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“Speedy, no!” Oliver sighs exasperatedly and races to catch up to his six-year-old sister. Grabbing her before she steps off the footpath and into incoming traffic, he heaves her upside down as she squeals out a laugh.

“Ollie! Put me down!”

The little rugrat is going to ruin his chance to prove to his parents that he’s responsible. “Nope.” He turns her right side up and flips her over a shoulder.

Ollie!” She giggles loudly, and the spring wind picks up her laughter and washes it down the streets of downtown.

A couple strolling by in the opposite direction watches them with small smiles on their faces.

They’re almost at the ice cream store that Thea is making him take her to (the little brat is drunk on the power she knows she has over him now that he wants a car) when she gasps and hits him on the ass. Oliver stops walking in surprise.

“Books!” she squeaks, tugging on the bottom of his t-shirt. “Ollie, can we go in?”

He hesitates, glancing at the sign above the book store they’ve stopped in front of, and Thea only latches on tighter to the idea.

“Please? Please, please, please?”

“Fine.” At her squirming and sounds of delight, he smiles. He turns back toward the door then freezes at the person he sees through the window.

Felicity Smoak is sitting behind the counter with her nose buried in a book.

Shit.

 

~&~

 

Felicity lifts her head at the sound of the bell above the door and readies a welcoming smile. It gets caught on her face, however, when she sees Oliver Queen—looking as nervous as she suddenly feels. She wasn’t expecting to see him.

A gasp below draws her attention to a mini female version of him, eyes wide and mouth open in awe. “So many books,” she murmurs reverently.

Felicity laughs under her breath, charmed by the adulation on her little face. It warms her that the little girl seems to have taken an interest in the wonderful world of fiction. “Hello. Can I help you with anything?”

“Oh, no—” Oliver begins, only to be interrupted by the girl booming an enthusiastic, “Yes!” as she approaches the counter.

She curves her pink-painted fingers and sets her nose over the counter, eyes crinkling with a hidden smile.

Felicity bookmarks the page of her book and sets it aside before crossing her arms on the counter and setting her chin atop them. “Hi.”

“Hi,” she says on a giggle.

“I’m Felicity. What’s your name?”

“Thea Dearden Queen.”

“Thea, what can I do for you?”

“Where are all the Dr. Seuss books?”

“Ah, a fellow Dr. Seuss fan.” Felicity nods in approval, sitting up in her seat as Oliver approaches.

Thea seems excited that they share an interest and they discuss which book is their favourite. (Felicity’s is Oh, The Places You’ll Go! and Thea’s is Horton Hears a Who!)

Felicity offers to show her where the books are, but after describing that the store has signs that direct people to their desired genres, Thea refuses the offer and goes off in search for her books.

Oliver smiles indulgently as he steps up. “My sister’s been reading everything she can get her eyes on lately.”

“I think it’s cute.”

He leans his elbows on the counter between them, and when she sits up straighter, they’re face-to-face and eye-level to each other. “It stops being cute when you’re late to school and she makes the driver slow down to read the billboards.” He rolls his eyes, but he doesn’t hide very well the affection in his voice.

Felicity laughs and a smile blossoms on his face. Then, because she can’t help herself, she teases him with a coy, “It’s nice to see you in more than a thong this time.”

Two weeks ago, she walked into one of Starling Prep’s ladies room during her free period when he jumped out of a stall and scared her to death. A strange welcome on her first day.

“Yeah, uh.” He coughs, a hand coming up to scratch along his smooth jawline. “I’m sorry about that. It was a dare, and I thought you were someone else.”

Felicity raises her eyebrows. She can’t decide whether or not she wants to know who, exactly, Oliver thought she was. Instead, she settles on, “I’m sorry I punched you in the face.”

He smiles slightly and touches his nose with a finger. “It’s fine. It stopped bleeding after ten minutes.”

After the initial shock of the events, Felicity’s profuse apologies and Oliver’s mutter that he should see the school nurse (and his insistence he should go alone), she sought out her new and first friend Laurel. She told her about what happened, describing in detail exactly what he looked like in the green thong, and they giggled about it for the rest of the day.

 

~&~

 

Oliver’s been avoiding her for the last two weeks out of embarrassment. Mostly about her catching him in a thong. They share one class together, English Lit, but he times it so that he gets to class as soon as the bell rings and leaves as soon as Mr. Steele dismisses them.

When he’s not avoiding her, he’s watching her from afar during lunch. She hangs out with Laurel Lance, Joanna de la Vega and McKenna Hall. Most times, when he glances over across the cafeteria, she’s smiling or mid-laugh, or her mouth is moving quickly as she talks animatedly with her friends.

The store bell above the door rings, and Oliver looks over his shoulder in case it’s Thea trying to pull a fast one on him, but it’s a hipster guy he’s never seen before come in.

“Hi!” Felicity greets enthusiastically and Oliver whips his head back around to watch her face. It’s a little pinched to accommodate her big grin. She tells the hipster that some book just came in yesterday, then the guy says something about wanting to see her face and good timing, which draws a husky laugh from her.

Oliver narrows his eyes a little, but keeps quiet and continues watching her.

She tucks a blonde curl behind her ear and he just now notices that she looks different with her hair down. Starling Prep’s school uniform policy makes female students tie their hair up when the length reaches past their shoulders, so he’s never seen her with her hair in anything but a neat ponytail.

It’s curlier than it usually is in school, but he still thinks she looks pretty—they frame her face nicely—but maybe even prettier because the tossed-look reflects her carefree personality.

The guy finally goes off to find his book and Felicity returns her attention to Oliver. “So is this how you spend your weekends?” she asks. “Babysitting your sister and taking her around the city?”

He wants to say yes and impress her with how good of a brother he is, but a bigger part of him doesn’t want to lie to her. “No. It’s part of a deal I made with my parents. If I can take care of her all day without Thea getting into trouble then they’ll let me get my driver’s license.”

“And how’s it going so far?”

“There was a close call just outside the store when she got away from me. Don’t be fooled by the little legs, she’s quick. It’s why her nickname’s Speedy.”

Felicity tilts her head as her eyes stray to the direction Thea went. “Does the nickname apply to her reading?”

Are his ears deceiving him or is Felicity flirting with him? He answers carefully, “She’s read Dr. Seuss before so she’s pretty much got them memorised, but Fox in Socks always trips her up. We might be here for a while because she doesn’t give up easy.”

Make yourselves heard!” she exclaims, and he recognises it as a line in the book. “So come on, now, and try!

 

 

 

Oliver laughs and straightens to his full height, and Felicity smiles in return.

It’s a nice sound. It’s also nice to see him not wound up so tight. She’s noticed his behaviour since the little incident, and had hoped to run into him to apologise again about what happened. From how highly Laurel speaks of him, Felicity was hoping that they could look past their awkward first meeting and become friends. But she quickly caught onto his intention to avoid her.

Part of her was upset that he would go out of his way to avoid her, but another part understands that it’s not exactly easy to go up to the person with whom you first met while in a thong and proceeded to get hit in the face.

“Ollie!” Thea races over to them, clutching a copy of The Lorax Pop-Up!. “Can I please, please get this?”

Oliver takes it from her outstretched hands and skims the cover. “Sure.”

Thea pumps her fist and starts chattering about how cool it is. Then, as he hands Felicity the book to ring up, Thea begins asking Felicity if she’s read this one before.

“I have,” Felicity confirms with a chuckle, placing the book in the cotton bag.

Oliver passes her a fifty dollar note as Thea takes the bag and hooks it over her shoulder. “F’licity, we’re gonna get ice cream now, do you wanna come?”

“Oh no, I can’t.” Felicity shakes her head and frowns. She flicks her eyes to gauge Oliver’s reaction as she hands him the change. Her heart rate picks up and she has difficulty determining whether it’s because their hands brush or because she spots his own frown. “I have to finish my shift.”

“So, um,” he begins, a hand coming up to rub the back of his neck. “What about after?”

Licking her lips, she tries to play it casual and shrugs. “What do you have in mind?”

He mirrors her shrug and casts a glance down to Thea, whose eyes are a little squinty, like she’s thinking long and hard. “Well, we have first editions of every Dr. Seuss’ books in our library.”

“Yeah,” Thea agrees. “You can come to our house and we can read them together.”

Identical hopeful expressions blink back at her, and even if Felicity wanted to, she would have found it difficult to say no. Smiling, she nods once. “I’d love to.”

“Great.” He grins. “I’ll text you the address.”

They exchange phone numbers before he clasps Thea’s hand in his and they make their way to the door. As the bell chimes above them, Oliver looks back at her one last time and waves.

Biting her lip to tamper her smile, Felicity waves back.

Just four more hours.

Notes:

smoakd prompted: babysitting

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