Chapter Text
“I have frozen 6 portions of chicken and silver beet lasagna. That is sitting on the top shelf of your freezer on the right. The beef lasagna is on the other side. They are all labeled. Your sugar free muesli bars are in the compartment with all the baked goods.”
Oliver has his head in her freezer and is meticulously stacking and restacking things, all while knowing that in a few days (if not just by tomorrow) Felicity was going to have everything haphazardly stashed like a game of Tetris. It never failed to frustrate him how his (well her) pristine freezer was always a jumbled mess no matter how often he attended to it.
He consoled himself in the fact that she at least let him pick out his dream refrigerator for her apartment. Felicity had signed a lucrative new deal with Nike and make up brand Shiseido. She had thrown herself into programming during the off-season and was now also making money on the side anonymously selling simple games on the Apple Store. She could easily afford the near new two-bedroom apartment located three blocks from MIT.
There was no need to live the dorm life or to contend with dorm mates much to Oliver’s delight. He mostly got Felicity all to himself during his weekly visits and there were no oddball individuals to deal with.
“Are you planning to go anywhere tonight after you drop me off at the airport? Because if you aren’t I’m going to thaw out this container of beef stew that I made for you. You may as well eat it for dinner. I’m sorry Felicity but I just don’t trust you with my Pyrex. You know how distracted you can be when you’ve got coding on your mind. I can see you rearranging my freezer and my Pyrex crashing to the ground.”
Oliver casts her a suspicious look before turning his attention to the freezer again.
Felicity rolls her eyes and marches up to him, yanking him away from the freezer with a huff of annoyance. What business did he have to show up almost every week, fuss over her, cook for her, moon at her with his stupid heart eyes only to kiss her on the forehead at the airport before flying back to Starling again. It was the most aggravating thing and she was beginning to question her sanity for putting up with it. He loved her. That much she was confident about and that was the only reason why she was putting up with his special brand of nonsense.
Every visit they’d have a conversation where he would casually ask her if she’d met anyone nice only to then stare at her tragically while clenching his fists whenever she showed the slightest bit of interest in another guy. Not that anyone could compare to the ridiculously good looking dumb boof head who was hopelessly devoted to her but Felicity liked to rattle him all the same and sometimes when she was feeling especially vexed by him would drop in an embellished detailed or two just to gauge his reaction. To her credit she always stopped whenever Oliver started to look especially tragic.
“You’re going to miss your flight,” she grumbles in frustration, pushing him along to her guestroom (aka Oliver’s bedroom whenever he stayed). “Go change your clothes and no I do not need beef stew. I have a date after I drop you off.”
That had the desired effect all right. Oliver immediately freezes and turns around to gaze at her, tragic heart eyes ablaze. If she weren’t already in love with him she would remove herself from this situation once and for all. She was usually very good at compartmentalising and doing what needed to be done. Unfortunately she was in love with this idiot. This meant she was stuck in this seemingly never-ending dance with him. She could do worse she supposed. Every time she got angry with him for embarking on this unilateral decision about their relationship without any regard for her thoughts or what she wanted, she was pulled back by the fact that he was completely and utterly devoted to her.
In some ways Felicity understood that despite everything Oliver loved to preach about her being free to live her life untethered to him, this was a journey of personal growth for him as much as it was for her. He’d grown from being a thoughtless playboy into a decent human being. And then he’d met Felicity who was many years younger than him and with completely different life experiences. She frightened him.
It had occurred to Felicity that Oliver probably didn’t quite know how to process or act on his feelings for her and the one thing she could do for him now was give him time.
“It’s a study date,” she adds not having the heart to rattle his chains any further.
“But one day it might not be,” he gazing at her intently as he strokes one of her curls.
“And whose fault would that be?” Felicity’s voice is soft but there is a steely determination in her gaze. She hadn’t said it in so many words but this was a gentle warning, a nudge to remind him that they couldn’t remain like this forever.
“I’m turning 20 this year Oliver. I’m thriving at MIT and juggling all my endorsement gigs. Coach Fei thinks I should try for a quad flip in addition to the quad salchow and toeloop, which I can fully rotate now. I have lived and been able to experience more things that many people have ever dreamed of so maybe, just maybe you need to come to terms that I’m not some fragile ice princess, big bad Oliver Queen is going to ruin.”
Oliver looks like a kicked puppy right now and she hates that she’s the one who has caused it but at the same time there was only so much patience she could exercise with him.
Having made her point and unable to stand that devastated look on his face any longer, Felicity stands up on her tippy toes to give him a peck on the cheek.
“Come on, stop looking like someone aimed a puck at your family jewels. I haven’t given up on you yet.”
Deliberating ignoring the pained expression on his face, Felicity ducks behind Oliver and uses both arms to push him towards her guest room.
***
“So…I’ll see you next week?” Oliver farewells her at the boarding gate, a fond smile on his face as he bids her their usual goodbye.
“I’ve got to take a quick trip to Tokyo next week to shoot a new campaign for Shiseido. I hate to admit it but I am enjoying this modelling gig. They don’t force the cute blonde Disney princess persona on me because it kinda clashes with their products so I love all the looks they chose for me. I’ll call you when I get back?”
Oliver’s first instinct is to inhale deeply like he’d suddenly been punched in the gut by some invisible force. They’d missed weekends together before but Felicity always gave him plenty of warning in advance. She didn’t mention anything this time. Either didn’t want to or worse, didn’t bother to remember. Whilst she may not have kissed any boys (that he knew of) she was growing and flourishing on her own. Living a successful life that didn’t have to necessarily include him in it. An uncomfortable thought crept into the back of his mind. What if he had made a terrible mistake and ruined everything by not taking his chance to have Felicity grow with him but instead forcing her to evolve on her own.
As if she could read his mind, Felicity offers him a comforting smile before launching up to give him a tight hug.
“I’ll call you when I get back. We’ll see each other as soon as we’re both available,” she reassures him.
Oliver nods silently and hugs her tighter.
***
I haven’t given up on you yet.
Felicity’s words echo over and over again in Oliver’s mind. So much so that he’s barely paying any attention to his friends. Feeling guilty about how much he’d neglected them of late and trying to distract himself from obsessing over Felicity, Oliver had agreed to dinner with Sara, Tommy and Laurel. The only problem being that his heart and mind were elsewhere with a certain ferocious blonde and he could barely concentrate on the conversation that was happening before him.
Felicity’s words were a warning. A kind warning but a warning nevertheless that he needed to get his act together. He had gone into this with every intention of gallantly waiting on the sides while she lived her life and experienced all the things that your average 19 year old should experience.
He was wrong on two counts however. Felicity Smoak in all her brilliant, talented and fearless glory was anything but average. Secondly he, Oliver Queen, could not stomach the thought of her living a life without him like he had insisted upon. He didn’t want her to kiss any boys. He wanted to punch all the boys she might kiss even if they didn’t exist yet.
“Earth to Ollie. Ollie why would you agree to come out if you can’t even pretend to be interested in catching up with us.” Sara’s indignant voice jolts him from his depressing thoughts.
He suddenly spies that Laurel and Tommy are no long there and looks at their empty chairs in alarm.
“They’ve gone to speak to some friends they spotted on the other side of the restaurant. You didn’t even notice did you?” Sara is now glaring at him, looking extremely annoyed.
“What gives Ollie? Between training and taking off most weekends we barely even see you anymore.”
“Sorry,” Oliver mumbles sullenly and Sara thinks she hears a bunch of mumbles followed by a grunt and the word “stuff.”
“Ollie if you’re having girl problems with Felicity Smoak it might be a good idea to use your words rather than mumble about “stuff”. I read somewhere that she’s an actual genius. Your chances will diminish further if she finds you incoherent.”
Sara’s tone is light and teasing, obviously intended to lift Oliver out of his mood however all it manages to do is elicit a hostile glare from him.
Fortunately an alert goes off on both their phones and they both check it right away. Oliver because it might be a text from Felicity, Sara because she was feeling annoyed about being at the brunt of Ollie’s rudeness through no fault of her own. May as well ignore him and check her notifications.
“Is this why you are in such a foul mood? Because Felicity took off this weekend and you can’t chase her around?”
Sara waves a picture of Felicity in front of his nose. It was an Instagram update from her, a preliminary shot from her campaign. She was wearing a red beret with one shoulder bare while the rest of her body was strategically covered with what looked like a red silk sheet. Her lips were bright red and although she was styled to look like a seductress, there was the trademark sunshine and rainbows Felicity Smoak smile beaming at him.
“God she’s hot,” Sara sighs staring appreciatively at the picture. “She’s one of those dangerous types. Alluring but cute as a button, which makes her even more out of reach. What happened Ollie? I thought you were making progress with her. There are hundreds of social media pics captured by fans of you two together.”
He hadn’t told anyone bar Coach Diggle (who had given him his very best Boy you are too stupid to live look) about his self-imposed saga with Felicity so naturally Sara thought he was some perve biding his time to chase after Felicity.
“It’s complicated,” he says rubbing his face and momentarily looks away.
“Whatever it is I’m sure it will work out,” Sara reassures him. “You’re a decent guy. Felicity could do worse.”
As a friendly gesture Sara places her hand on top of his and gives him a comforting pat. It was then that Oliver notices a few other patrons taking a snap of him and Sara with their mobile phones.
Felicity. Felicity was going to see these pictures and assume he’d gone on a date with his ex for…reasons. She was going think that he either lapsed back into who he was years ago or that he didn’t care anymore. He had done nothing wrong here. He needed to get rid of those photos.
“I saw two people taking photos of us. I need to get those pictures deleted,” he mutters, glaring at the offenders who had now packed their phones away and were back to enjoying their meals.
“Ollie are you insane or on drugs? Stop freaking the crap out and tell me what is going on.”
***
“Oh Ollie,” Sara shakes her head in disbelief after he gives her a five minute run down of his self inflicted saga with Felicity.
“You’re really stupid,” Sara cocks her head to one side, still staring at him as if to ask herself whether such a silly person really existed.
“After Worlds it would have been a perfect time to tell her how to you feel. She wanted you to tell her how you feel but you went off on some dumbass tangent instead and told her to live her life and kiss other boys. Now you’re jealous and freaking out that she might move on and kiss other boys because you won’t move forward.”
“I wanted her to be free and live her life untethered to me. There was no mention of kissing other boys. Why does everyone jump to that conclusion?” Oliver snaps wishing he could somehow undo everything and turn time back to that night after the Worlds Banquet.
“Well would kissing a girl be satisfactory for you?” Sara teases. She had no sympathy for drama llama Ollie and really wanted to needle him further. Poor Felicity Smoak. She was obviously in love with Ollie to put up with his nonsense.
“How about I fly over next weekend, flirt with Felicity shamelessly and see if she wants to get a little crazy in college. That is what you wanted right? For her to really live and do crazy teenage things?”
“Don’t you dare,” Oliver hisses at Sara looking bewildered, not having a clue that his friend was just goading him.
“But that’s what you wanted,” Sara insists brightly with a smirk on her face. “I don’t mind. It would be an honour. Felicity is gorgeous.”
She scrolls through her phone and waves a series of photos of Felicity in Oliver’s face. Oliver looks positively scandalized when he realises they are all shots of Felicity during her performances or practice and all taken at an angle that showcased her delectable derriere.
“Why the hell have you got only photos of her…butt,” Oliver says with much hostility in his voice. “Why would you save these kinds if pictures of her?”
“She’s a looker,” Sara shrugs not feeling the least bit guilty about it. She didn’t bother telling Ollie it was someone else’s collection she found on a blog, not her own and that she was simply using it to rouse him up.
“You stay away from her,” Oliver warns Sara darkly and is about to say something else but fortunately Laurel and Tommy return to the table.
Sara simply smirks and laughs.
***
Felicity thinks she hears her phone but there is a part of her that wants to convince herself she’s dreaming so she can resume her peaceful slumber.
You are the dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen her ringtone for Oliver (it was a slightly bitter joke on her part, one needed a bit of humour to deal with the Oliver situation) blares out again and this time there is no mistaking that Oliver is Face Timing her at goodness knows what time from the other side of the world.
“Hello,” Felicity mumbles sleepily yawning at the phone.
“Felicity, I know you’re sleeping but I had to call in case you see it in the morning,” came Oliver’s somewhat frantic voice and expression.
“See what?” Felicity yawns lazily. Photo shoots were tiring and she was enjoying her fluffy as a cloud bed in the Shangri La. She simply had no energy to be as worked up as Oliver.
“Pictures of me and Sara my ex. We went out to a group dinner; the other two friends stepped away. I was telling Sara how much I missed you and someone took a picture of us. I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.”
There he was looking frantic again.
“Oh is that all?” Felicity mumbles carelessly. “Yes. Got it. Dinner with ex. Nothing going on. You ok or can I go back to bed now? I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Can I see you next week?”
“Course you can. I have almost run out of food.”
Felicity’s snuggling down and giving him a very sleepy, dreamy smile. Oliver can’t help but beam at her dotingly despite the state of panic he was in a few minutes ago.
“You’re not angry?” he asks hopefully.
“Not angry. Just sleepy. You are a silly man but I know you’re devoted to me,” Felicity sighs happily and gives him a sleepy smile before nodding off.
“Love you,” Oliver whispers at her sleeping form before he hangs up.
***
Oliver hastily pays the cab driver and practically bolts out of the cab as it pulls up to Felicity’s Boston skating club. Picking up his luggage with one arm as if it weighed nothing, he sprints into the rink, almost crashing into the electronic gates, which felt like they were taking an eternity to open after he scanned his access pass.
Once inside however he slows down, almost to a prowl as he quietly creeps towards the bleachers, making sure to keep himself hidden from Felicity’s line of sight.
Pulling out his skates, Oliver jams them onto his feet as quickly as he can. If he doesn’t find Felicity and tell her soon, he might just chicken out. Actually there was no chickening out at this juncture, no turning back. He’d completely uprooted his life. However he did know that the sooner he saw Felicity, the faster he could put a stop to the irrational fear that he was too late and that she’d already moved on.
“No more jumps for the rest of the afternoon Felicity. I want you to do a series of one-footed turns across the ice like I showed you. Then I want you to twizzle back. Then change directions and repeat it again. After that I want you to see how long you can hold your Charlotte spiral for without losing your balance,” Coach Fei’s voice could be heard, albeit a bit muffled from Felicity’s tablet.
“But Coach,” Felicity protests from a distance. “I haven’t practiced any jumps today.”
“There will always be plenty of time for jumps. There are no competitions right now. I want you to stop jumping for the next few days and keep doing what I tell you,” came Coach Fei’s serene reply.
“But,” Felicity is about to protest again only to be interrupted.
“Did you not express a wish to attain better ice coverage? Did you not tell me you do not wish to be known as a jumping bean? The jumps have never been a problem and you can jump to your heart’s content another day. Listen to me Felicity. Do not obsess over the jumps.”
Felicity nods and signs off with Coach Fei before she proceeds to move across the ice as he instructed.
Damn she’s fast, Oliver thinks to himself. He had learnt a great deal about figure skating in the course of his friendship with Felicity and he could tell how much lighter and airier her movements were compared to before, despite putting on more muscle to perform those quads she was so obsessed with.
Oliver watches and waits quietly until Felicity finishes her practice and skates to the boards for a drink. Without thinking he pops up and waves at her enthusiastically.
“FELICITY,” he practically shouts, causing her to slide forward a bit in surprise.
“Oliver! What are you doing here? Aren’t I supposed to pick you up on Friday?” He’s completely caught her by surprise but the big, beautiful smile on Felicity’s face that tells him exactly how she feels about seeing him.
“I did it! I signed a contract with the Boston Bruins. I’m moving here next season to be with you because I love you. I love you so much and I’m sorry I was so stupid before. I don’t want you to kiss anyone, only me and I just want to share my life with you and for us to be happy together because I love you.”
He pulls her in for a crushing hug which Felicity returns, albeit more tentatively than he anticipates.
“Felicity is everything ok?” he pulls his head back to get a good look at her face, despite still holding her against him.
She was looking…spirited.
He had only seen this look on her face once, captured on televised footage during her Grand Prix final skate two years ago. Felicity had crashed and burned through her short program and the next day started her free program with what Thea deemed “fierce face.”
Yup this is definitely fierce face staring at him right now. Oliver gulps and swallows.
“Let me get this straight. You, Oliver Queen, decided you couldn’t be with me because I had to be free as you put it but you would always pine for me. Unilateral decision which you refused to really discuss with me. Then you seemingly had some revelation on your own, signed a contract with a new team so you could move here to be with me. Another unilateral decision which you never discussed with me. So am I supposed to be ever so grateful that you have come to your senses? I’m just supposed to accept this new decision of yours? What happens when you decide to make another decision on your own Oliver?”
She’s untangled herself from him now, hands on her hips, and cheeks crimson. Her eyes were bluer than he’d ever seen and they were flashing dangerously.
Well that went down like a tonne of bricks. Felicity certainly brought up some very valid points that he hadn’t even stopped to think about, having been so caught up in the thrill of finally getting to be with her.
“I…you’re right. I am so sorry Felicity. I’m a jerk. I was wrong and I’m sorry. I should never have undermined you like that. Goes against everything I’ve been saying I wanted for you. You weren’t free. I took away your ability to make a choice when I decided I couldn’t be with you. One thing that has never changed is that I love you. That’s all I have to offer for now. I can work on everything else but please know that I love you. And I hope that you love me too.”
“I do,” Felicity huffs with annoyance, although her body relaxes a little. “I do love you very much.”
“Please give me another chance?” Oliver pleads, this time knowing when to seize his chance.
Felicity lets out a sigh and gives him a long, scrutinising look. Then her face morphs into an impish grin.
“If you can catch me within five minutes of that clock up there, I will have you.”
She laughs at his stunned expression before skating away at top speed. Two can play this game Oliver thinks to himself as he glides after her.
***
It wasn’t until three minutes and fifty seconds into their chase that it occurred to Oliver this was no playful hijinks on Felicity’s part. Felicity was…fast. Extremely fast much to his dismay. Her ice coverage was insane and the speeds that she managed to attain were no laughing matter. At least not when his happiness depended on it.
The last straw came when she had the audacity to tease him by throwing in a Charlotte spiral, which she held for several seconds before grinning wickedly at him and zooming off again. It was then that Oliver decided he needed to use whatever wits he possessed.
Clutching his sides dramatically, Oliver throws himself onto the ice and starts to howl in pain.
“Oliver,” Felicity shouts when she sees him double over and skates over to him, concern written all over her face. “Oliver what happened?”
“Gotcha,” Oliver shouts gleefully, getting up and wrapping both of his arms around her waist. “You said I had to catch you in five minutes, you didn’t specify how.”
Felicity tries to half-heartedly wriggle out of his grip but he manages to scoop her neatly up into his arms.
“Definitely caught you now,” he says, nuzzling her cheek.
“You cheated,” Felicity pouts poking him in the chest.
“I used my brains. You should be proud,” he tells her shamelessly as he skates around swinging her in his arms. “I’m never letting you go now that I’ve caught you.”
“I’ve done just about every turn, spin and jump there is on ice but I’ve never been carried around on it before. I like it here in your arms,” Felicity beams at him and winds her arms around his neck.
“I love you,” he whispers before leaning down to kiss her softly on the lips.