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They almost didn’t make it. The girls would have killed Barry if they had missed the plane. But, as usual, he made it just in time. “Well thank God,” said Caitlin, standing up from her seat next to Ronnie and putting her hands on her hips. “This neck pillow only lasts so long before it deflates,” she continued, gesturing to the inflatable around her neck.
“Sorry,” Barry replied, rubbing the back of his head. “Caught a guy this morning.”
“Ugh, you sound just like Oliver,” came a voice from behind Caitlin. Felicity Smoak was sitting next to Iris, nose still in her tablet.
“Hey!” exclaimed Oliver, turning to look at her. He was sitting directly behind Felicity, the back of his chair touching the back of hers.
“She’s got you there, Oliver,” stated Diggle, who was sitting between Oliver and Roy.
Oliver turned back to Diggle to give him a look, before he was interrupted by the loudspeaker announcing that the group’s flight was now boarding.
“Next stop: St. Lucia!” Felicity exclaimed. She got up from her chair, brushed invisible crumbs from her skirt, and wiggled around in what looked like a dance of excitement.
One by one, the group began standing and lining up to get on the plane. Oliver, who had a duffel bag slung over his shoulder, came up to stand behind Felicity on line, his bag slightly shouldering Barry out of the way. “--Hey!”
Oliver ignored him, continuing to look at Felicity with some confusion. “Felicity… why do you look so short?” Felicity turned around to look at him with surprised look on her face.
“Well we’re going on vacation, FINALLY. Why in the world would I be wearing heels?” she replied, looking down at her feet. Oliver’s eyes followed her movements. Cute toes, he thought. Then he flinched. God, did I really just think of her toes as cute?
Felicity, who was unaware of Oliver’s drifting thoughts, continued speaking. “--I mean, of course I COULD be wearing heels, but really what’s the point? Who would I be trying to impress? NOT that I was trying to impress anyone before, that is not what I meant--”
“Felicity,” Oliver interrupted, putting a hand on her bare upper arm, “I get what you mean.” He smiled down at her, the angle greater due to her lack of heels.
It might have been seconds or minutes before Caitlin, who was standing directly behind Oliver, gave his back a gentle shove. “Come on, lovebirds,” she said, “Let’s get a move on.”
“We’re not--” Felicity started to respond.
“Yeah, yeah.” Caitlin, rolled her small luggage around the pair, leaving just them and Roy still on the line.
Felicity glanced back up at Oliver quickly before looking towards the flight attendants. “Come on.”
And when Roy made the mistake of trying to sit next to Felicity on the plane, Oliver gave him a hard look. Roy quickly sat next to Barry after that.
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The afternoon of their first full day finds the group at the top of a way too tall tree in the rainforest part of the island. The adrenaline junky superheroes found the morning on the beach to be too quiet for them and lasted an hour before they insisted on doing something later in the day. Ronnie had suggested kayaking, but Felicity, Digg, and Roy were quick to shoot that idea down on behalf of Oliver with a synchronized, "No boats!"
They had debated between horseback riding and venturing into the forest, finally coming to a decision when Barry insisted the girls should experience zip lining. And no, Felicity’s experiences on zip lines when running from the villain of the week did not count.
Caitlin and Ronnie had opted to go off on their own, and Iris took off as soon as she could get her harness fastened, with Barry racing off after her.
Roy was stepping into his harness while Felicity looked skeptically at the wire they were about to hurtle down. She turned back to Digg and Oliver saying, "You know what, guys? I think I’m good. I've gotten enough heights through our evening activities. I'm going to go ahead and sit this one out. No way do I need to go sliding down that wire with just these thin straps supporting me."
Before she could move back toward the ladder, Digg looked at Oliver over her head, a twinkle in his eye, and offered, "You could always ride with me, Felicity. I would never let you fall."
She didn't even have a chance to consider his offer before Oliver had gently grasped her elbow and guided her toward the harness he had prepared. "Felicity, you were never going alone. It will be just like always, just without a bad guy chasing us."
Roy rolls his eyes as he jumps off the ledge and goes flying, laughing and shouting over his shoulder, "Yeah, like he'd ever let you ride this perfectly safe contraption by yourself, Felicity."
Oliver finished buckling them in and muttered, "Kid better start running as soon as his feet hit the ground."
Felicity smacks him on the shoulder and tells him, “Let this one go, Oliver. He’s not wrong about your overprotective tendencies.”
He doesn’t even dignify this with a response, because they are not getting into a discussion over the ways he keeps her safe right now. So instead he scoops her up, steps off the ledge, and gets an extra thrill out of the small yelp that escapes her and the way her arms wrap around his neck.
The yelp quickly turns to soft chuckles as they fly down the line with her practically sitting in his lap. The wind rushes around them and Oliver doesn’t bother to hold back his grin, choosing to enjoy this moment with her pressed against him and happy.
When they hit the ground, they’re both grinning and slow to pull apart. The moment is broken by Digg coming down the line next to them and Felicity finally removes herself from his side. She quickly takes off to join the others, but not before Oliver hears her muttering to herself “Fun ride, but it’s really not the same without bullets flying at us.”
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A few days into their vacation, while the men decided to get some training in, since superheroes can’t take a full vacation, the girls headed down to the pool. They had no such compunctions about spending the week relaxing with a drink in hand. Taking up three chairs right in front of the large pool, they took off their cover-ups and began the difficult process of relaxing and tanning.
They had spent their first few days with the group doing activities like the zip lining, going horseback riding, exploring St. Lucia outside of their hotel, and eating at local restaurants. Suffice it to say, the girls insisted on today being a calm day.
When the bartender came to take their drink orders, Iris spoke up. “Pina Coladas, please, and keep them coming!” The bartender nodded and moved off towards the open bar area by the pool.
Felicity sighed in pleasure. “Thank algebra this hotel is all-inclusive,” she said, tipping her head back into the sunshine.
A few minutes later, the bartender returned with their drinks. “Thank you, Linus,” said Caitlin.
He stared at her for a second, mumbling, “my name is Paul,” before wandering off.
“Mmm,” Felicity said, sipping from her drink, “this is so much better than the enormous amounts of coffee my body absorbs when I’m trying to break into something. And by ‘break,’ I mean ‘hack,’ obviously.”
“This is so much better than the copious amounts of coffee my body absorbs while making sure Barry doesn’t kill himself in the field,” responded Caitlin.
“This is so much better than the enormous amounts of coffee AND CRONUTS my body absorbs while looking for a story to write about,” was Iris’ answer.
The girls continued to chat for a few minutes before relaxing back into their lounge chairs and tanning in silence.
A few hours later, Felicity and Iris were startled out of a nap by a shout of excitement, followed by what sounded like a small herd of elephants. Barry, Ronnie, Oliver, Diggle, and Roy had finished their workouts and were walking towards the pool in shirts, swim-shorts, and sunglasses.
Barry, naturally, arrived near the girls first. “What’s up, ladies,” he said, before sidling by Iris’ chair and stealing her Pina Colada, quickly taking a sip. Iris lifted slightly from the lounge chair and stole it back from him. “Get your own, buddy.”
By then, Roy had taken off his shirt, dropping it at the foot of Caitlin’s chair and had begun to apply sunscreen to his body. “Felicity, help me out?” Roy sat on Felicity’s lounge chair with his back to her while Felicity began the oh-so-difficult process of applying sunblock to muscular back.
The rest of the men began to follow suit, with Iris applying insane amounts of sunblock to Barry’s back. “Iris, don’t you think that’s enough?” asked Caitlin, who was helping Ronnie with his back.
“God no. Have you seen Barry’s pale white skin? He’ll burn in three minutes. Trust me, we’ve been through this before. One word: lobster.”
“Cait, I need the same amount as speedy over there,” interrupted Diggle.
“What, why?”
“Because I’m too pretty to get a sunburn and I don’t intend on changing that anytime soon.”
Felicity had been avoiding looking at a shirtless Oliver, who by then had dropped his shirt at the foot of Felicity’s lounge chair. Ultimately, she turned her head and did what she always did when his shirt was off: admire his insane body. Did the sun get hotter by a few degrees just now? She felt herself redden a bit.
Not to be outdone, Oliver smirked at Felicity while doing some admiring of his own through the cover of his sunglasses. He stepped closer to her, looking down. “My turn?”
Without waiting for a response, Oliver sat down on Felicity’s chair and waited for her to begin. Felicity mentally slapped herself a couple of times before reaching for the sunblock and beginning application. Her mind and heart were racing.
Oliver, on the other hand, fell into a complete silence while Felicity got to work. It felt good to have her touch him. Calm. All was right with the world. After a few moments, Felicity’s hands brushed his lower back and Oliver’s hand instinctively grabbed her thigh.
The air thickened. Still, neither one of them said anything. When Felicity finished, she cleared her throat. “What exactly are you guys doing here by the pool? I thought you’d be practicing your parkour somewhere,” she joked.
Oliver turned his head and squinted a smile at her before responding. “We’re going to play some volleyball in the pool. Cool down a bit.”
“So after working out for a couple of hours, you’re all,” and here Felicity lifted her hands to imitate quotation marks, “‘cooling down’ by working out some more?”
Oliver winked at her. He squeezed her thigh, which his hand was still resting on, before getting up and joining the rest of the men in the pool.
Due to the uneven number of guys, Barry cajoled Iris into playing with them on his team.
After about 20 minutes of watching them play a ferocious game of volleyball (Oliver was not the only competitive person), Felicity and Caitlin decided to cool off by taking a dip in the water.
Seeing her girls in the pool, Iris called for a break and swam over to them. After a few minutes of chatter, Caitlin encouraged her to return to the game. “Go on back, Iris.”
“Yes,” Felicity added. “We only meant to come in for a few minutes to cool off. I need to go back to reading this awesome new tech article released today by Scientific American .”
Caitlin exited the pool while Felicity chatted with Iris for a bit longer. “Iris,” Barry yelled. “Come back, we’re not done playing!” The rest of the group began hollering at her to return to the game.
“Alright, alright, keep your pants on, ladies.”
While Iris swam her way back to her position, Oliver turned to look toward Felicity, in time to see her exit the pool.
Fuck. Felicity was an attractive woman, Oliver knew this. He felt that tightening in his gut whenever she wore a skirt or a dress with heels. He felt it so often that it had become part of him. It had become part of his relationship with her. But this … his breath caught.
Felicity had a spectacular ass on a regular day. But in a two piece swimsuit, wet, with all that skin, he suddenly felt parched. And the only way to quench his thirst was to touch. With his hands, with his mouth, with his everything.
Then, he felt a sharp pain on the side of his head, as the the volleyball hit him on the right side of his head. He caught the ball before it fell into the water.
“Hey Oliver, we’re over HERE,” called Diggle teasingly.
Oliver gave Diggle a one finger salute before turning back to look at Felicity, who by then had turned to look at him. He swallowed. The front of her was just as tempting as the back.
He couldn’t hide the way he was looking at her, not even with his sunglasses. He begrudgingly turned back to the game, promising himself one thing.
Soon.
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The group is having dinner together on their fourth night when suddenly an overenthusiastic announcer is calling for tonight’s competing couples to please come up and prepare to play. When two of the names he calls out are Felicity and Oliver their heads pop up in unison and they proceed look around the table accusingly, because clearly this is someone’s idea of a bad joke.
The culprit is quickly identified as Roy, who isn’t even
trying
to hide the glee on his face. Oliver is glaring at him and Felicity is opening her mouth to start what is sure to be one hell of a ramble when Iris scoffs and mutters not-so-under her breath to Barry, “Those two win a couple’s competition? That’d be like you and I playing. And we’d definitely beat them.”
What started as a joke is suddenly a competition. It’s Starling City versus Central. It’s Team Flash vs. Team Arrow and all bets are off as the two non-couples make their way to the stage.
It’s not long before the contestants are all assembled on the small stage in the center of the dining area. The cheesy announcer man is back and the games are about to begin. “The first event is a test of the body ! Each couple will receive a coconut, which they will place on the floor between them. The objective is to get your coconut from the ground, all the way up to your mouths, without using your hands. The first 2 couples to achieve this will move on to our second round and have the chance to go for that nice and cozy private cabana with champagne service. Are we ready ?”
All four couples quickly begin to move the coconut up their bodies and Barry might have super speed, but it’s of no use to him here. He can’t stop his innate clumsiness from coming through and costing he and Iris the win as their coconut goes rolling off the stage.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the stage, Oliver and Felicity are working like the well-oiled machine they are. Caitlin can’t take her eyes off the way Oliver lifts as Felicity dips or Felicity twists just as Oliver bends. Their coconut is quickly traveling up their bodies when Caitlin slaps Ronnie’s arm and exclaims, “Wait, did you see that? Did Oliver Queen just shimmy to move that coconut past her chest?”
One final twist of Oliver's head while grasping the coconut between his chin and chest and Felicity is there to catch it with her mouth and hold it steady while he joins her in a kiss through the fruit. Their eyes are locked on each other and they’re both breathing a little heavier than they should be, so they almost miss hearing themselves declared the winners.
Barry slapping Oliver on the back as he exits the stage jolts them back to the present and Oliver grabs the coconut before it hits the ground. They make their way back to their table when the announcer calls a five minute break before the second round begins.
Digg gives Oliver a knowing look over his glass as he says, “Nice moves you have there, Oliver.” When Oliver simply glares at him he can’t resist adding on a, “You too, Felicity.” This gets him a much more satisfying result when she blushes and chokes on her water.
She begins to stammer out a response but is distracted when Caitlin pulls her down to whisper in her ear, "You know - I used to blush just like that when Ronnie and I were first getting 'close'.”
Felicity has just enough time to chuckle and nod her head before they're being called back to the stage. She snags a roll to snack on as they walk away from the table, both shaking their heads as their friends cheer and laugh behind them.
To begin the second game, Oliver and Felicity, along with the other remaining couple, are placed into chairs with their back’s to each other and are each handed some paper and a pen. “The rules are simple, folks. Each couple will be asked a series of questions. One will write down their answer, the other will write down how they think their partner will answer. The couple that gets the most answers correct will be crowned tonight’s winners and receive the complimentary champagne service and private beach cabana!”
Just as they’re getting settled, the announcer begins the game. “Alright, let’s get this show on the road! Question number one. What is his favorite color?”
Oliver diligently writes down his answer, while Felicity holds the pen to her mouth, smiling to herself as she writes down her response.
“Alright, Oliver, what is your favorite color?” asks the host. Oliver raises his paper, revealing the word, “RED,” written in large block letters.
“Felicity? Your answer, please.”
Felicity has a smirk on her face as she raises her own paper, her curling script spelling out, “GREEN.”
“Oh, Interesting! We have opposing answers from couple number one!” stated the announcer.
Disappointed sentiments and “oh no’s” echo throughout the audience, with the exception of their friends, who immediately erupted into laughter after Oliver and Felicity revealed their cards. They may not understand the significance of “red”, but all are surprised and amused that Oliver’s favorite color did not say “green.”
While the other couple reveals their answers Oliver mutters, “Green, Felicity? A little on the nose, don’t you think?”
She whispers back, “Red, Oliver? Why red?”
He bumps his shoulder back into hers and murmurs, “I think you know why.”
They’re both briefly lost in time, soft smiles on their faces, as they recall a night that seems so long ago. The host returns to center stage and brings them back to present by calling for round two, “Okay, for this question why don’t we let the ladies answer? Gentlemen, you’re going to guess this time, and experience tells me you want to guess well.” He winks at the audience before turning to face the contestants. “Ladies, please write down your favorite memory.”
Felicity quickly scribbles her answer, filling the page as she writes, “Our first date. The beginning, at least.” She completes her answer with a winking face and re-crosses her legs, confident his answer will match hers this time around.
The host begins with the other couple this time, and while she wrote “our wedding day”, he wrote “my proposal” The audience groans as the announcer reads the answers and calls out, “Close, but no cigar, my friends! Let’s see how couple number one did this time!”
Felicity gives her answer, and when Oliver holds up his paper showing, “The date, before...” the host is quick to say “Hmm. Sounds like there’s a story here, but I think we can all agree the answers match up, so this point goes to couple number one! It’s all tied up and time for our third question, which will be the final unless we need a tie-breaking round. Men, it’s back to you.” Papers are crumpled and tossed to the side as he reads out the final question, “What is your favorite kind of food?”
Felicity feels Olivers shoulders shake slightly as he chuckles and writes his answer. There’s not a doubt in her mind that they have this one, and when the announcer comes back to them neither hesitate in raising their papers, both revealing, “Anything but Italian!”
The room cheers, with the exception of the table at the back filled with their friends, who groan to themselves. The host laughs and sounds skeptical as he says, “Can’t say we’ve ever had an answer like that before, but since they do in fact match up, that’s one more point for couple number one! Couple number two, if you miss this the game is over. If you get it right we’ll have one more round.”
When their answers are revealed to not match up, Oliver and Felicity are announced as the winners. They both get up from their chairs with slightly smug smiles on their faces and Oliver throws his arm over Felicity's shoulder.
The celebratory applause is broken by a loud shout from Roy in the back, “They’re not even a real couple!”
His holler is followed by a chant, which the rest of the table is quick to join, “Dis-qual-if-y! Dis-qual-if-y!”
Oliver narrows his eyes at Roy before looking back at Felicity, only to find her mouth pursed in an adorable pout. He grabs Felicity by her waist and pulls her in, giving her no time to react before pressing his mouth to hers. Neither heard the room applaud, their table whoop and holler, or the host call out, “They sure look like a couple to me!”
When they finally pull apart they stare into each other’s eyes for a moment before Oliver grasps her hands and pulls her off the stage and toward the exit. As they pass by their friends and he scoops up her sweater they hear Barry say, “So, who wants to let me crash tonight? Because it looks like my room will be occupied.”
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It’s late afternoon the next day before anyone hears from either Oliver or Felicity. When they come down to the beach Oliver is sporting a dopey grin and Felicity’s eyes are twinkling as she lifts her sunglasses onto the top of her head. He’s quick to lay out her towel and she grabs them drinks before they sit down, sharing the chair Oliver has prepared to just the right incline. She’s partially in his lap and reclined against him when they finally acknowledge the rest of the group with a casual, “Good morning.”
Roy scoffs, “Morning? I think you mean afternoon . You guys have wasted half of our last day away already!”
Oliver lowers his sunglasses to smile at Felicity when he says, “I can promise you it was not wasted.”
Roy and Barry groan while the girls all giggle together. Digg gives Oliver a stern look over his own glasses, “Information I don’t need, man. Do we need to set up some ground rules or can I trust you two to behave?”
Felicity whips her head around to stare at him and answers, “Oh, we’ll behave when we get back to Starling, but you better believe I’m getting as much out of this last day on vacation as possible before he becomes Mr. Broody Arrow again.”
Oliver gently squeezed his arms around her waist in response.
Barry scoffs and says, “Something tells me the Arrow is about to be a lot less broody, Felicity. And gee, Oliver, I sure hope the criminals of Starling don’t see that grin under your hood.”
They both ignore him, as Felicity stands and holds out a hand to Oliver. She pulls her sunglasses back down over her eyes and tells Barry, “I think I’ll take that grin, and the man attached, with me on a walk down the beach before we go ‘waste some more time.’” With that they’re walking away hand-in-hand and Oliver grins even bigger when she tacks on, “You all enjoy your afternoon!”