Chapter Text
Grabbing the last of the boxes, Oliver headed up to his new apartment in a suburb of Las Vegas. He was moving here to get away from it all. He needed to escape the pressures of family, expectations, and media scrutiny. He planned this for 6 months, only letting the few he trusted know of his intentions. He wanted to know what it was like to be anonymous, having dreamed of it since his college days. This should be good, he thought; sort of like hitting the reset button. He wondered how people would respond to him if he didn’t have the baggage of Oliver Queen.
Taking the last flight of stairs to his 3rd floor apartment, he passes Sara who’s on her way to the truck. “These are the last of the boxes, Sara, but make sure the truck is locked.”
“Are you sure you don’t need help with those? Those are two big boxes.” She said as she met him on the stairs.
“No, I got it. What do you want for dinner? I was thinking Italian.”
“Nah, I’m not much for Italian anymore”, Sara said as she scrunched up her face.
“I thought everyone liked Italian”, came from a third voice at the top of the stairs. Oliver could really see anything over the boxes he was holding but Sara could. She waved hello and headed for the truck. Oliver, noticing her leaving, headed to the top of the steps. With little effort, he placed the boxes down and prepared to meet his new neighbor.
“Hi, I’m Jonas Daniels. And you are?” But there was no response from his neighbor, at least not immediately. It was like she was lost in thought. He did notice that she was cute. She was wearing a purple shirt that hung off of one shoulder, black leggings, and some Doc Martins. Her hair was black with purple highlights and her nails and lips were black. He would say she was Goth but she really didn’t look committed to it. Almost like she was starting to rehab from that phase in her life.
Oh frack! I was not prepared for this. I should’ve just kept peeking out of my peephole.
“But then how would we have ever met had you stayed locked away in your apartment?” It was then that Felicity realized she said that last part out loud. She placed her hand on her forehead out of embarrassment and closed her eyes. She could feel his eyes looking through her. She slowly opened her eyes to look at him. He was giving her the warmest smile and she began to blush immediately. He had the bluest eyes she’d ever seen, his hair was long and tied back into a ponytail, and he had a medium length beard that looked well groomed. He looked like he was chiseled from marble and should be in a museum somewhere.
“I’m so sorry! Sometimes my mouth and brain work independent of each other which always leads to my embarrassment. I’m Felicity…Felicity Smoak, and I live across the hall from you. I heard the noise and noticed you moving in. I was surprised to see someone closer to my age as the residents of this building are older. Thus making it one of the quietest buildings to live in…except when I start to babble…which I’m doing now…and will stop doing.” Once again she closed her eyes in embarrassment, but she heard him start to chuckle which made her start to chuckle.
“Oh Felicity, you are quite the charmer. Never change! Like I said, my name’s Jonas and the woman you saw me with was Sara.”
“Is that your girlfriend? Not that I’m prying or anything. It’s just someone as handsome as you generally isn’t single…Frack!”
Oliver couldn’t help but burst out laughing at this point. "Like I said, never change Felicity! But no, she's not my Girlfriend. She's a friend from back home. She has a steady girlfriend, I am single however." Sara comes back upstairs from the truck. "Sara, I'd like to introduce you to Felicity. She lives across the hall."
"Nice to meet you Felicity. Don't let this one get you into trouble while he's here. He's known for that!" Sara flashes Oliver a devilish grin. All he could do was shake his head amusingly.
"Oh don't worry, the only trouble I ever get in is when my brain to mouth filter fails to work! Anyway, I'll let you two finish unpacking and maybe I'll see you around. I'm just waiting for my boyfriend."
"You two live together? Must be serious, can't wait to meet him", Oliver said while flashing her a friendly smile.
"No, we don't live together but it is pretty serious. We've been together for almost 3 years. He lives in Boston and is just visiting. I'm actually about to take him to the airport now, if he ever shows up." Felicity looks around briefly.
"Oh, that's too bad! I was going to invite you two over for some dinner and a movie but since he's leaving...oh well, you can still come if you're not too busy. We'd love to have you over and witness some more of that wonderful brain to mouth filter malfunction", Oliver said while unable to contain his chuckling.
Just then, they heard someone coming up the stairs. "There he is! Cooper, I'd like for you to meet my new neighbor Jonas and his friend Sara." Cooper barely glances at Oliver and locks eyes with Sara. Sara makes her patented disgusted face that Oliver notices but Felicity doesn't. Cooper finally mumbles out, "Hey" before he heads straight into Felicity's apartment. Dammit Cooper! Why must you always make me look bad! Felicity, looking out of sorts, said, "Sorry about that. He's been having a tough morning. So, I will be free tonight so I'll stop by. I'll bring some wine. What time?" Felicity is hoping that the quick subject change will erase the memory of Cooper's complete lack of etiquette.
Oliver flashes her a very warm smile, gently places his hand on her shoulder and says, "Hey, don't worry about that. At least I know my neighbor's friendly. And 7 should be good. We'll order dinner when you get here. Of course we'll be leaning on your expertise on what's good since we're not from around here ."
"Sounds like a plan. I will see you two later and welcome to Vegas!" Felicity turns on her heels and heads into her apartment. Oliver and Sara pick up the boxes and do the same.
"So Ollie, you told her you name was Jonas. You're really going to go through with this "Secret Identity" aren't you?"
"Yes, and remember to call me Jonas while she's here. I don't want anybody knowing that I'm here. Also, what was that look you gave the very chatty Cooper?"
"That jerk spent 10 minutes hitting on me at the truck, all the while his girlfriend is up here waiting to take him to the airport. Luckily, Felicity had you to keep her company. And then he comes up, barely acknowledge's us and doesn't say anything to her. She looked like she was going to explode, but you being your charming self seemed to diffuse that. I swear you men are such assholes sometimes."
Oliver let out a deep breath. "Lucky for him, he's leaving. But let's finish unpacking so I can set up my entertainment center."