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“Okay, we just have to not over think this,” Felicity says, twisting her hands together anxiously. “Are we over thinking this?”
“No,” Tommy says at the exact moment that Oliver says, “yes.” Felicity looks back and forth between the two men before her eyes finally settle on the one who has been her best friend for almost five years. Tommy gives her a reassuring smile and nods once, spurring Felicity to continue talking.
“Okay, so, simple, right? We met through Tommy. Which isn't even a lie, perfect. We've been together for..,” she trails off looking between the two again, unsure what a proper amount of time is to justify bringing her new boyfriend to a family function.
“Four months,” Tommy offers and Felicity nods. Oliver is rolling his shoulders and looking entirely uninterested in the cover story. Felicity frowns at him and snaps her fingers in front of his face.
“Pay attention,” she snaps, “you have to know this stuff, too!” Oliver sighs and crosses his arms over his chest, raising an eyebrow.
“I'm already regretting agreeing to this stupid plan,” he grumbles. “You know there's nothing wrong with being single, right?” Felicity heaves a sigh and gives Tommy a pleading look. She's definitely starting to regret this plan, too. Oliver's not doing a very good job of coming off likable and she's beginning to worry she won't be able to fake being in love with this asshole.
“Yes, I know that, but trying tell that to my mother, my grandmother, my aunt, and my two married younger cousins!” As she speaks, she ticks the individuals off on her fingers until she's waving five fingers in his face. His eyes cross slightly as he focuses on her hand before uncrossing his arms to bat it out of his field of vision.
“Guys, relax,” Tommy interjects, taking Felicity's hand and giving it a firm squeeze in reassurance. Oliver glances down at their combined hands before narrowing his eyes at Tommy.
“Why aren't you pretending to be her boyfriend anyway?” Tommy shrugs as Felicity sighs, Oliver already getting on her nerves. This was definitely a terrible idea. No going back now, though. The taxi would be here any minute to take the three of them to her mother's house and then the hotel somewhere out in the country for the family reunion.
“We've been friends for so long, it'd be a harder sell, you know? Too many questions of 'when we realized' and 'who made the first move'. People are less likely to ask that stuff of a stranger or over analyze the answers they get,” Tommy explains. “Plus, it would make the breakup much more difficult.” Felicity nods in agreement, though Oliver doesn't seem entirely satisfied, and pulls her hand from Tommy's to smooth over her ponytail. She reaches up onto her tip toes, searching for the bright yellow car she'd given a very specific time of twelve minutes ago.
“But don't worry, buddy,” Tommy continues, reaching towards Oliver this time and dropping his hand on the other man's shoulder. “I'll be with you two the whole time.” Felicity drops back onto her heels and scoffs, rolling her eyes at him.
“Please, you'll be with us right up until Laurel shows up and you know it.” Instead of denying it, Tommy just grins at her and bumps her shoulder with his own. Felicity can't help but smile back.
“Who's Laurel?” Oliver asks, brow furrowing as he watches the exchange.
“A friend of my family. I've know her forever and Tommy, here, has been drooling over her since he met her three years ago,” Felicity explains.
“I don't drool,” Tommy insists, but gets a faraway look as he continues to Oliver. “She's awesome, man. I mean, gorgeous, obviously, but so much more than that. She's just..” He trails off and Felicity rolls her eyes good naturedly. She's known Laurel practically her whole life and, yeah, she's pretty much the whole package. Smart, gorgeous, funny. She'd be perfect for Tommy if he'd stop acting like the asshole of his youth around her.
“Alright, lover boy, so what do you say? Will this year be the year you finally make your move or am I going to have to listen to you complain about missing your shot for another year?” She asks, spotting the cab coming around the corner towards the greyhound stop where they were waiting. She nudges Tommy to get him and Oliver moving towards the curb before their cab gets stolen.
“I don't know,” Tommy hesitates. “Maybe she's just out of my league.” Felicity rolls her eyes again as the cab driver gets out to help get their bags into the trunk. Oliver lifts Felicity's suitcase from her and helps the man load the trunk.
“Just make up your mind, Tommy. It's not like she's just going to wait around for you, especially if she has no idea who she's waiting for.” Tommy sighs but nods before walking around the cab to put his own suitcase inside. Oliver comes back around as Tommy does and opens the door for Felicity. She eyes him for a moment before sliding in, offering a quiet thank you.
It's been about a month and a half since the first time she met Oliver Queen. He had returned home from five year tour of Europe a few months prior and, honestly, she was not extremely impressed. Tommy was her best friend, though, so she'd planned to make an effort to like or at least tolerate his other best friend. Even if he was a rich, pompous jackass who could get just about anything he wanted with a well aimed smile or a well placed bill.
Tommy slides into the cab from the opposite side and Oliver sits upfront in the passenger seat. The majority of the ride is quiet and tense and Felicity spends it getting more and more anxious. She never should have agreed to this plan. Who goes along with stupid ideas they make while drinking with their friend? God, she's going to throw up. They can still call it off. Just say Oliver is a friend of Tommy's they invited along. Except then everyone would want to know what happened the boyfriend she said she was bringing..
The nausea must be showing on her face because Tommy reaches over and places his hand on her forearm.
“Hey, Smoak,” he says gently, “it's gonna be fine, I promise. I'll make sure everything goes smoothly.” The cab pulls up in front of her mother's little house and Felicity has no choice but to trust him. She forces and smile and nods once before sliding out of the car.
“You guys stay out here and get the bags out to switch cars,” she says, bending back down to stick her head in the car. “This will go faster if I just go in by myself.” She pushes the door closed without waiting for a response and heads up the walkway to the front door, stopping right in front of it to smooth out her ponytail and her pea coat. She pushes the door open and steps inside the old familiar house.
“Mom?” She calls out, grabbing her mom's car keys off the hook by the door and heading towards the stairs. She places her booted foot on the bottom step but hesitates, calling out again.
“In here, sorry!” She hears her mother's voice, sounding harried, come from the direction of the kitchen. She pivots and heads through the doorway to the right of the staircase, leading down a hallway, before reaching the kitchen. Turning into the kitchen, she finds Donna Smoak bent in front of the fridge, hurriedly returning items to the shelves.
“What are you doing?” Felicity asks, her brows furrowing. Her mother stands, holding up a Ziploc bag of what appears to be apple slices.
“Snacks!” She smiles brightly and Felicity can't help but let out a laugh.
“Mom, you know I'm twenty-five, right?” Donna rolls her eyes, turning back to the counter and dropping the bag of fruit in her purse, kicking the fridge door shut with the toe of her boot.
“Maybe they're for me,” she insists and Felicity sighs, leaning against the doorway.
“Alright, well, just hurry up, okay? The guys are waiting outside. Where's your suitcase?” Donna motions vaguely towards the living room down the hall and Felicity turns and heads in that direction, finding her mother's suitcase unzipped and laying on the couch. Groaning, she tosses the items surrounding it that appear to have been meant for the large black suitcase into it and zips it up.
“I'm taking it out to the car, okay? I have your keys. Hurry up,” Felicity calls receiving a non-committal shout from her mother. Felicity tugs the suitcase up from the couch and finds it to be heavier than expected. Grunting a little at the weight, she drags it down the hall and out to the front door. When she reaches the porch, she finds Oliver hurrying up the walkway towards her, already reaching out for the suitcase. She considers insisting that she can manage it on her own but since her mother has apparently taken to lugging bricks around and Oliver's arms are much more defined muscle-wise, she thinks better of it. She lets him take the suitcase from her and watches as he lifts it with ease. She raises an eyebrow wondering just how much muscle is being concealed by his gray sweater. She pushes the thought aside as she hears her mother coming down the hall behind her, and turns to face her.
“Is that the boyfriend?” Donna asks and Felicity just nods, turning to head down the porch steps back toward the car in the driveway. Taking a deep breath, she stops next to Oliver as Tommy closes the trunk of her mother's car. Her mother manages to be only a few steps behind her after closing and locking the front door. Felicity starts as Oliver's hand slips into hers but quickly recovers herself before her mother can notice. Luckily, the woman in question has been derailed by Tommy.
“Ms. Smoak, you look younger every time I see you,” Tommy schmoozes earning and eye roll from both Smoak women.
“Oh, Tommy, flattery will get you everywhere,” Donna teases with a wag of her finger before honing in on Oliver and Felicity. “So, this must be the mysterious boyfriend I've heard not nearly enough about.” Felicity tightens her grip subconsciously on Oliver's hand.
“Mom, this is Oliver.” Oliver tugs his hand from Felicity's grasp to shake her mother's hand.
“Nice to meet you, Ms. Smoak,” he says with a charming grin. “I've heard so much about you.” Her mother shakes Oliver's hand but eyes him warily.
“All terrible, I'm sure,” she jokes, her expression turning pleasant and Oliver lets out a surprised chuckle at her response.
“Of course not!” He smiles easily, leaning back on his heels before motioning to the cab. “Shall we get going?” Felicity nods vigorously as her mother agrees. Oliver leads Donna around the back of the car, opening the driver's door for her. Felicity quickly tugs her own door open and slides into the backseat while he's distracted. She's not sure she can take anymore Gentleman Oliver today. Tommy climbs into the passenger seat and, after a minute, Oliver gets in on the other side of her. Felicity folds her hands together in her lap to avoid having to take Oliver's again.
Out of a big pile of bad ideas involving this weekend, Felicity quickly realizes bringing Tommy along was probably the only good decision she'd made. He keeps the car's atmosphere light and mostly focused on him and her mother for the majority of the nearly hour long ride. Well , she thinks as she realizes she hadn't paid for the cab fair, bringing Tommy and letting him foot the transportation bill. Originally, he'd wanted to fly to suburban Oregon from Starling City but Felicity's fear of heights and planes had quickly nixed that idea. The grayhound had been about a three hour ride from Starling City to Hillsboro and it would take another nearly three and half hours to drive to Florence, OR. All in all, it will round out to nearly eight hours on the road and Felicity's knees begin to hurt just thinking about it.
Felicity had spent the night before packing and getting increasingly nervous about the trip and had barely gotten any sleep when her alarm started going off disgustingly early. Part of her wanted to spend the three plus hours getting a little sleep but she was nervous to leave Oliver practically alone with her mother. Her phone buzzes in her pocket and she pulls it out, expecting it to be work telling her the company had officially caught fire without her there to unblock the porn and ask the execs to “try turning in off and back on”. She's surprised, however, to find a text from Tommy.
You look terrible. Sleep. I'll handle your mom.
She catches his eye in the rear view mirror and gives him a glare but decides to trust him. Shifting a little, she gets comfortable and lets her mind wander until she drifts off.
On the list of ways she's been woken up in her life, having her cheek gently caressed by Oliver Queen while he murmurs at her to wake up is definitely not the worst way. But it is definitely mildly disorienting to wake up from a surprisingly deep sleep in a car that is not yours to a man you barely know stroking your cheek and gently coaxing you into consciousness. Not nearly as disorienting as when that same near stranger bends even closer after you've opened your eyes and gently kisses your lips. And then comes the chorus of “aww”s that she knows distinctly to be her mother and her aunt. Oliver pulls back and winks at her like the plan is working.
Well, shit, Felicity mentally scolds herself, maybe you should have discussed kissing in public with him. This was going to be harder than she thought. Ignoring the fact that her lips are definitely tingling like some stereotypical literary damsel, Felicity straightens herself and smooths her hands over her ponytail before letting Oliver help her out of her mother's car. She straightens, tugging at the bottom of her pea coat before turning to her aunt.
“Aunt Lynn,” she smiles, greeting her aunt with a hug. “How are you?”
“Oh, I'm lovely, dear,” her aunt smiles, her eyes flicking pointedly towards Oliver a few steps behind Felicity. “I'm much more interested in how you've been.” Felicity gives her aunt an unamused look before turning half towards Oliver.
“Aunt Lynn, have you met my boyfriend Oliver?” She asks, motioning between the two. “Oliver, my aunt Lynn.” Oliver steps up, holding his hand out to the woman who shakes it firmly. Felicity looks around where they've parked in front of the hotel.
“Where is everyone?” She asks, turning back toward her aunt and mother.
“Inside,” Lynn tells her, hooking a thumb back towards the hotel. “Everyone is getting ready for dinner.” Felicity nods, holding back a sigh. Dinner. Where she'll have to introduce her new boyfriend to everyone. Yay. The hotel's automatic doors slide open and Tommy comes sauntering out, looking relaxed and ready for a weekend away and not the most nerve wracking weekend of Felicity's life. He holds up three key card envelopes, fanning them out with his fingers like a deck of cards.
“Here we go!” He calls, strolling up to them. He checks the numbers on them before doling them out. He hands one to Felicity's mother and one to Felicity. She quickly realizes her envelope is the only one with two cards. She clears her throat and tries to sound casual.
“Uh, Tommy, don't you think you and Oliver should share a room?” Tommy gives her a look while her mother scoffs and smirks at her.
“Felicity, as you like to remind me, you're twenty-five. I think it's okay if you share a room with your boyfriend of – what did you say, Oliver? - four months?” Felicity nods numbly to confirm this and stares down at the key cards.
“Great,” she murmurs. Ignoring her discomfort, Tommy leads everyone inside after all their bags are retrieved from the trunk. Felicity rolls her purple suitcase towards the building with one hand while Oliver slips his into her other. And it's incredibly fifth grade of her that she has to keep herself from blushing. Donna's room is on the floor above Felicity, Oliver, and Tommy, on the same floor as Lynn and her husband. The three step off the elevator first and Felicity tugs her hand from Oliver's as soon as the doors close. Tommy got the room across from them and he slides his key card in, shooting a grin in their direction.
“Have fun, kids. See you at dinner!” Oliver and Felicity both watch him move happily into the room, closing the door behind him. Felicity raises an eyebrow.
“What the hell was that about?” She asks as Oliver slips his key card into their door.
“It's Tommy,” he shrugs, by way of explanation and, yeah, Felicity has to give him that one. Until she steps into the room and realizes exactly why he was looking like the cat who caught the canary.
“That bastard,” she growls, earning her an amused look from Oliver. He moves forward and drops his suitcase on the only bed in the room. Apparently, Tommy had thought it would be a good laugh to get them a room with one double bed.
“This is very Tommy, too,” he comments but Felicity continues to grumble to herself as she drags her own suitcase up onto the foot of the bed. Oliver drops heavily on the bed very suddenly and Felicity shuts up, looking up towards him. He looks harried and she feels bad for dragging him into this. But she doesn't expect what comes out of his mouth.
“He's different,” he says and it take her a moment to realize he means Tommy.
“People change,” she shrugs. “Five years is a long time.” Oliver nods silently and Felicity sits on the bed next to him.
“It's just there are all these things that are the same but different. Like you guys. Tommy never had friends that were girls.” Felicity laughs at this and nods.
“Yeah, I think I was the first, to be honest. He tried to turn on the charm when we met and I told him off. I think he's been afraid to try anything since then,” she says with a wink that brings out a small smile from Oliver.
“I think he's better, you know? I mean, I love Tommy, he's like a brother. But I think he's a better person now,” he continues quietly and Felicity nods.
“Maybe he's just growing up,” she suggests and Oliver looks away, focusing on the wall opposite them.
“I think growing up has just made me worse.” She's surprised at how serious he's become so quickly and doesn't really have an answer, anyway to reassure this guy she'd pretty much chocked up to being a dick that he isn't exactly that. Fortunately, she doesn't have to. Like a switch flips, he turns back and smiles at her, all charm and falsity.
“We should get ready for dinner.” She nods, a little struck by the change. “What kind of dinner is this, should I dress up?” Felicity has to physically shake herself out of her own head and turn to him. She takes in his gray sweater and dark blue jeans and shakes her head.
“Uh, no, you're fine,” she jolts, “not, like, fine fine! Just what you're wearing is fine. Not that you aren't fine- I mean, I'm not looking but you'd have to be blind not to realize how hot you are..” She groans and presses a hand to her forehead as he chuckles. She stands, avoiding his eye, and moves to her suitcase, unzipping it and pulling out the dress she'd packed on top exactly for this occasion. Digging a little deeper, she finds her brush and makeup bag.
“I, on the other hand, do have to change.” She heads for the bathroom and changes into the simple, pale blue, open back cocktail dress. Pulling the ponytail out of her hair, she brushes the curls out and studies them in the mirror for a minute before deciding just to pin them to one side. She goes with her light pink lipstick and some eyeliner, trying to keep it mostly simple. She finishes up and heads back into the bedroom to find Oliver sitting at the end of the bed next to her open suitcase watching the local news.
“You ready?” She asks, moving to her suitcase to find the clutch she'd packed for her phone, card key, and lipstick. She pulls it out and fills it before slipping on her heels. Oliver clears his throat behind her and she turns to find him standing now, watching her. She raises an eyebrow, about to ask if he's alright, but he beats her to it.
“You look great,” he says in a rush and she's swear he's blushing. She runs a hand self consciously through her curls.
“Oh, thanks.” She offers him a smile before turning back to her suitcase and slipping a pair of dangling, leaf earring into her earlobes. When she turns back, she surprised to find Oliver reaching towards her. He touches the industrial bar in her cartilage, exposed by her pinned back hair, lightly. She remembers that she has an arrow piercing through it. She doesn't move or breathe until his hand drops.
“Sorry, I noticed it earlier,” he explains. “It's cool.” She chuckles at the wording and nods, thanking him again. She leads the way out of the hotel and he tugs the door shut before holding his arm out to her.
“Shall we?” She laughs at the gesture and slips her arm through his, nodding.
“We shall.” They walk arm and arm to the elevators and even manage to start trading stories about Tommy, interacting for the first time without the other man present. Oliver tells her about the time they got themselves banned from three clubs in one night. Felicity tells him about the first time he met Laurel and became so flustered he fell right into a fountain and that they hadn't been allowed to stay at that hotel again.
When they reach the lobby, Felicity is grasping at Oliver's arm, bent at the waist in laughter and he's watching her in amusement. The doors open and they earn more than a few looks from the other customers in the lobby but Felicity is too busy trying to make sure her tears don't ruin her makeup as she imagines a drunk Tommy doing the worm on a concrete club floor to care. Once she's calmed down, and they've exited the elevator, she spots Tommy and Laurel across the lobby and heads for them. Laurel spots her first and abruptly stops mid-sentence.
“Felicity!” She calls with a wide smile, reaching toward Felicity as she and Oliver draw near. Felicity grins back and lets herself be pulled into a hug. When she pulls away, Laurel holds her at an arms length and looks her up and down.
“You look amazing,” she says definitively, like it's a fact, and Felicity rolls her eyes.
“You always say that,” she smirks, crossing her arms over her chest.
“You always look amazing,” Laurel challenges and Felicity gives in shaking her head and laughing.
“Same to you, Laurel.” She suddenly remembers Oliver and steps back to take his arm again. “This is my boyfriend Oliver.” The word rolls off her tongue easily this time but she doesn't have time to stop and analyze that, even when she notices Tommy giving her an odd look.
“Yes!” Laurel exclaims, turning her hundred watt smile on Oliver. “Tommy's friend. I've heard so much about you.”
“Uh-oh,” Oliver jokes with a grin but, remembering their previous conversation in the room, Felicity tries to decipher if it's genuine or not. Before she can decide, Laurel is motioning toward a hallway that leads away from the lobby and in the opposite direction of the first floor rooms.
“They rented out a banquet hall for dinner, like it's prom or something,” she jokes and Felicity shakes her head, letting herself and Oliver be led in that direction but, remembering her beef with Tommy, hangs back to walk beside him as Laurel and Oliver chit chat.
“You're a dead man, Merlyn,” she says in the most lethal whisper she can manage.
“I have no idea what you're talking about, Smoak,” he whispers back with an innocent smile.
“Sleep with one eye open, if you think I don't have tricks for unlocking your hotel door, you're in for a surprise,” she warns.
“Duly noted.” He gives her a jaunty half salute before picking up the pace to catch up with Oliver, steering him into the banquet hall. Laurel hangs back and hooks her arm through Felicity's.
“You sure know how to pick them,” she murmurs, watching Oliver and Tommy retreat.
“Are we talking about Oliver or Tommy?” Felicity asks in amusement.
“Both?” Laurel grins and Felicity laughs.
Dinner on the first night is a relatively busy affair and Felicity is so busy introducing Oliver to people there's no real time for them to ask any questions about their relationship past how they met and how long they'd been together. She's beginning to wonder what she was so worried about as she watches Oliver small talk with her uncle when the dancing starts up. Suddenly, Oliver is standing and holding his hand out to her.
“Would you like to dance?” He asks and she's so surprised it takes her a minute to answer, well aware that the entire table is watching them now. She nods eventually, placing her hand in his and letting him pull her from her seat and out onto the dance floor. He moves his free hand to her lower back and she feels it hover there for a minute as he tries to decide between putting it on her bare skin or nearly on her butt. He lands in the middle, his thumb and forefinger resting on the bare skin of her back. She fights back a shiver at the warm touch and places her own hand on his shoulder. They mostly just sway to the music filling the hall for a few minutes. Felicity spots Tommy and Laurel across the space cleared for dancing over Oliver's shoulder. She gives Tommy a raised eyebrow look and he shakes his head at her with a smile. Oliver raises an eyebrow at her and she juts her chin in the direction of Tommy and Laurel. Oliver looks over his shoulder and turns back to her with a smirk, shaking his head.
“So,” she starts in a teasing tone, “you're really selling this whole relationship. I almost believe you like me.” He stares at her for a minute.
“You're an easy person to like,” he tells her quietly and she doesn't really have a response to that. Before she can think of something, he's glancing over her shoulder.
“Your mom's watching us,” he tells her and Felicity groans and drops her head.
“I kind of figured she'd be the toughest sell of the bunch,” she sighs, turning her eyes back up to Oliver and finding him much closer than he'd been before. “What are you doing?” She whispers and he gives her a small, honest smile.
“Selling it.” He closes the distance and kisses her. It's much more than the first little brush of his lips she'd gotten in the car, and her hand is moving of its own accord, wrapping around the back of his neck and pulling his head down more firmly. When he pulls back, he's smirking and she's regretting every decision that has led her to this point.
“What?” She snaps in a whisper. “Like, your the only who can sell it?” Something flashes in his eyes and he's quickly pulling back from her, into a more appropriate dancing distance and she kind of regrets snapping at him even if she isn't sure why he's reacting like this. His hand drops from her back and a chill breaks out over her bare skin.
“It's getting kind of late, don't you think?” He asks and she starts to shake her head but he continues. “I'm pretty tired. I think I'll head back upstairs.”
“What are talking about? You have to say goodnight. What am I supposed to tell people?” She asks, looking around to make sure no one seems interested in their little spat.
“Just tell them I have jet lag.”
“That's planes!”
“Well, tell them I have whatever the car equivalent of jet lag is, then.” He turns and heads out of the banquet hall, cutting a beeline between the tables and chairs spread about the room. She stares after him for a minute before turning and heading back to their table. She's reaching for her purse when her mother comes up to her.
“Where was Oliver off to?” She asks and then notices Felicity gathering up her things. “Is everything alright?”
“Yeah, he's just tired. All the traveling must have gotten to him. I'm gonna make sure he's alright, do you mind saying our goodnights for us if anyone asks?” Donna nods and Felicity heads out of the banquet hall, taking the same streamline route Oliver had. She makes it to the elevator bank just as the doors are nearly closed and she only catches a glimpse of Oliver before he's heading up towards their room. Groaning, she begins prodding the up button incessantly, earning her a glare from the concierge. The second elevator finally arrives as Oliver's elevator reaches their floor and Felicity steps inside, hitting their floor and the door close button in quick succession. She storms into their room to find him pulling his sweater over his head. She forces herself not to stop and focus on that though or her anger will be beaten out by her faulty brain-to-mouth filter.
“What the hell was that about?” Oliver tosses his sweater on the bed and turns to her.
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
“Like hell!” He rolls his eyes and turns back away from her, undoing his belt. “Can you stop undressing while I'm yelling at you?!” He tosses the belt on the bed and turns back to her, crossing his arms. Felicity groans in frustration and tosses her clutch past him onto the bed.
“It was your fake kiss but you get to be all pissy with me for calling it what it was?” She nearly shouts before remembering they probably have neighbors and, while it's not really late yet, she's not a fan of airing her dirty laundry for strangers.
“Maybe it wasn't a fake kiss,” he counters and she rolls her eyes, crossing her own arms.
“Oh, please, Oliver. If it's done for my mother's sake, it's a fake kiss.”
“Well, maybe it wasn't for your mother's sake. Maybe it was for mine.” She stares at him.
“I don't understand.” This time he groans, running one hand through his short hair.
“Your mom was watching us dancing but it was just an excuse to kiss you.” She's quiet for a moment as she processes that.
“Why?” She asks finally, her arms falling limp at her side and he drops down on to the edge of the bed, sighing.
“I know you think I'm an asshole,” he says and she starts to deny it but decides if he's being honest, she owes him the same thing. “But before we met, Tommy talked non-stop about this amazing girl he'd met while I was away. He talked about you constantly, so many of his new stories involved you, and I thought there was no way he was actually friends with someone that.. remarkable.” He looks up, locks eyes with her. “And I was right.” Felicity frowns.
“Am I supposed to be flattered?” He chuckles despite himself and shakes his head.
“I met you and I realized his stories didn't do you any justice. You're amazing, Felicity. And – God, I sound like a girl here but I was so immediately taken with you.” Felicity has to look away this time, unable to take the honesty in his eyes. “And I know you think I'm the worlds biggest jerk and I know I'd be wasting my time trying to change your mind but..” He shrugs and Felicity turns back to him as the silence descends over them. After a moment, she takes a few steps towards him until she's right in front of him.
“How about this,” she begins and he looks back up at her, “we start over. You try to be more who you are now and I'll try not to judge a book by it's albeit extremely douchey cover.” She smirks and he grins up at her nodding before holding his hand out.
“Felicity Smoak, right?” He asks, with a smile. “Hi, I'm Oliver Queen.”