Chapter Text
“I can’t believe you made me take a break from studying just to go to a basketball game.” Felicity whined, as she shuffled into one of the two open court side seats.
Sara smoothed out her Starling City University Archers t-shirt and shook her head at her friend. “Ok, Lis, you do realize that if the Archers win this game, they are a shoo-in for the tourney. It’s kind of a big game. And Laurel scored us these amazing seats.” Sara pointed at the shiny basketball court just inches away from them.
“Tourney?” Felicity raised her eyebrows in question.
“As in Tournament. You know, the big dance? The Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight, Final Four?” Sara stared at her blonde friend in disappointment and confusion. Felicity just shrugged her shoulders and sat down on the folding chair. “How do you not know any of this?”
“Sara, I grew up in Vegas with just me and my mom. Who is a cocktail waitress and the closest thing to sports that either of us were into was figure skating.” Felicity tried to get comfortable in the folding chair and frowned. “Why don’t we at least have comfortable seats?”
“Oh my gosh, Lissy.” Sara groaned. “If the game is as awesome as it’s supposed to, it won’t matter. We will be too excited and barely even sitting.” Sara looked around and finally spotted her sister. Laurel was decked out in a short, green, shimmering skirt and a white and green cropped top. She matched all the other cheerleaders, but was clearly the head cheerleader. “Laurel just started dating one of the guards on the team.” Sara explained as she and Felicity watched Laurel chat up a dark haired guy, wearing the same warm-ups as the rest of the team.
“And that’s how we got these seats.” Felicity deduced.
“Yup.” Sara replied, but her gaze was focused on a dark haired cheerleader, who was smiling seductively back at her.
“Are you going to finally introduce me to the girl you have been kicking me out of our dorm room for?” Felicity teased, a genuine smile on her face at seeing her roommate of the past two years so smitten.
“Yeah, maybe. But you can’t tell Laurel. I still haven’t come out to my family yet.” Sara explained turning to Felicity with a look of shame and worry on her face.
Felicity gave her friend’s hand a quick squeeze in understanding. “Don’t worry, Sara. I’d never tell. I know you aren’t ready yet.” Before Felicity could continue, a ball bounced over towards them, landing right in Felicity’s lap. Felicity let out a yelp in surprise and stared at the ball in shock and confusion.
“Hey, would you mind tossing that back?” A deep voice called out from the court.
Felicity looked up and locked eyes with the most gorgeous man she had ever seen. He was clearly a member of the SCU Archers, evident by his warm-ups. “Uh.” Felicity remained speechless as she just took in his scruffy jaw, his steel blue eyes and his warm smile. Her eyes roamed in the short time that she was staring at him to take in his muscular build and how he would probably be at least half a foot taller than her.
“Felicity.” Sara hissed, grabbing the ball from Felicity’s lap. “Sorry, Ollie. It’s her first time at a game.” Sara tossed the ball back to Ollie.
“Well, I will try my best to make your first time enjoyable, Felicity.” Ollie replied, sending a wink at the frozen blonde before turning back to the court to finish warm ups.
“Uh.” Felicity shut her eyes tightly and buried her face in her hands. “Ollie, as in Oliver Queen?” Felicity’s voice was muffled by her hands, but Sara understood her nonetheless.
“Yeah.” Sara laughed, reaching a hand over to rub Felicity’s back. “I’m sure you aren’t the first girl to clam up in his presence.” When Felicity removed her hands to glare at her friend, Sara just shrugged. “How did you even recognize him, with that rock you live under?”
“You can’t live in Starling City without knowing who Oliver Queen is.” Felicity explained. Both ladies turned to watch the team continue their warm up. “On the plus side, at least I didn’t launch into one of my innuendo filled rambles.”
“But they are usually so cute. I bet Ollie would think they were cute, too.” Sara batted her eyelashes at Felicity who laughed good naturedly.
The first half of the game was intense, as the University of Central City were definitely giving the Archers a run for their money. Felicity refused to admit that not only was she having fun with Sara, she was actually getting into the game. And if she was cheering louder when Oliver scored, she would never tell. Felicity was impressed with Oliver’s abilities on the court and how hard he seemed to work. She had only heard rumors about how he grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth. He was the golden boy of Starling City, along with Laurel’s new boyfriend, Oliver’s best friend, Tommy Merlyn. Felicity had never paid much attention to Oliver and Tommy, because she had assumed they got to college on their dad’s money and were just here to screw around. Watching the two guys play, Felicity decided that maybe all her assumptions were wrong. She was disappointed when Sara explained that for the second half of the game, Oliver and crew would be scoring on the other side of the court. She tried to hide her disappointment, but Sara read her face like an open book. It made Sara smile that Felicity not only was enjoying herself, but was also developing a small crush on her old friend.
The second half started off with a bang, as the Archers came out fired up. They increased their five point halftime lead to a seventeen point lead, with Oliver scoring eight of those points. Sara looked over at Felicity, who had jumped out of her seat when Oliver sank his forth three pointer of the game. “Does this mean that you will come with me to more games?”
Felicity sat down, her face flushed form screaming and cheering, her hair no long contained by the neat ponytail it started off in. “I might consider it.” She replied, grinning. Sara quirked a singular eyebrow at her roomie and Felicity’s face broke into a delirious smile. “Ok, so I will totally come with you again. Well, not come, like that kind of come. Because we aren’t those kind of friends. But come, like attend. I will attend another game with you, Sara Lance.” Felicity’s voice trailed off as her inappropriate ramble took a life of its own.
“You can come with me, anywhere, anytime, Lissy.” Sara winked and turned back to the game.
They watched as one of the Archer’s missed a long two pointer and a UCC player got the rebound. He passed the ball to a teammate who took off down the court, only Oliver keeping pace with him. As they approached the basket, Oliver went up to block the shot. He cleanly blocked the shot, but the player from UCC pushed into Oliver as they were both up in the air. The force of his opponent, combined with momentum sent Oliver flying into the first row of seats. More specifically, Oliver knocked in Felicity, causing her chair to fold in on itself and them both to crash to the ground. Oliver landed on top of Felicity with a hard grunt. Felicity smacked the back of her head on the hard court. The ref blew the whistle and the player form UCC was issued a foul for the play. Oliver Lifted himself off of Felicity, to a standing position. “You ok, Felicity?” Oliver reached down and pulled Felicity up by her hands.
“Mmm, yeah. I think so.” Felicity stumbled slightly on her feet, as her head began to spin.
Oliver shifted his hands to her waist to hold her steady. “Are you sure? You look kind of pale.”
Felicity wished that her head would stop spinning and her stomach would stop rolling, because she really wanted to enjoy having Oliver’s hands holding her waist. She could feel the heat radiating off his body and the glistening of sweat on his toned arms. Felicity blinked rapidly as her stomach took a particularly hard roll. “I think I hit my head. Hard.” She reached a hand up to rub the tender spot on the back of her head.
Oliver glanced back at the court, where his presence was requested. “Sara, get her to the medical station. She might have a concussion. Take care of yourself, Felicity.” Oliver sent the banged up girl a sweet smile and jogged back to where his team was.
“Come on, Lissy. Let’s get your head checked out.” Sara guided Felicity into the aisle, where a security guard met them and took them to the medical station.
Felicity was checked out and diagnosed with a mild concussion. The doctor made Felicity lay down for the duration of the game, so Felicity forced Sara to go back at watch the rest of the game. Felicity watched the game on one of the monitors, while laying back on a cot. The Archers continued to add to their lead and ended up winning the game by almost thirty points. She figured it would take a while for Sara to make it back to her, especially since the crowd was rowdy after such an important win. So Felicity wasn’t surprised when nearly fifteen minutes after the game was over, a knock roused Felicity from the light sleep she had fallen into. Felicity opened her eyes and immediately woke up as she took in Oliver, leaning up against the wall, sweaty and still in his uniform. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
Felicity slowly sat up and gave Oliver a small smile. “It’s ok. I don’t think I’m supposed to be sleeping too deeply right now, anyways.”
Felicity noticed that Oliver was rubbing his thumb along his pointer finger and his voice seemed to waiver a bit, almost like he was nervous. “I just wanted to check in on you. And apologize for knocking you down.”
“You can run into me anytime.” Felicity mumbled to herself, but by Oliver’s soft chuckle, she determined that she actually spoke it out loud. “It’s ok. I’ve never had a concussion before. You were my first. And by first, I don’t mean like first sexual partner. Because I have had sex before. So you wouldn’t be my first. Not that I am assuming you want to sleep with me. Oh god.” Felicity groaned and waited for Oliver to bolt out the door.
Instead, he smiled genuinely and took a couple of steps further into the room. “You are something else, Felicity.” He sat down on the side of the bed and offered his hand. “And since we weren’t officially introduced, I’m Oliver Queen.”
Felicity slipped her hand into Oliver’s and couldn’t hold back the shiver she felt when their hands touched. “Felicity Smoak.”
“Well, Felicity Smoak, as someone who has some experience with concussions, I’d like to leave you my number. So you can call me, if you need anything.”
Felicity let her eyes drift across Oliver’s handsome face, taking in the crinkling around his eyes and the charming smile he was giving her. “Ok, that sounds good.”
Felicity handed Oliver phone and watched him as he not only put his number in her phone, but took a quick selfie to add to his contact info. Then he called his phone from Felicity’s and winked at her. “This way, I can call you to check on you.”
Felicity nodded and opened her mouth to reply when Sara flitted into the room. “Lissy, how are you feeling?” Sara looked at Oliver and back to Felicity. “Hey Ollie.”
“Sara, Hey. I was just heading back to the locker rooms. I gave Felicity my number, so if she needs anything, make sure she calls me.” Oliver stood up and handed Felicity her phone back. “I’ll see you later, Felicity. Sara.”
“Bye, Oliver.” Felicity gave a little wave and smiled brightly as Oliver disappeared from sight.
And that was how Felicity Smoak became a basketball fan.