Chapter Text
“Been hoping that you’d drop in…..I’ll hold your hands they’re just like ice.”
Felicity paused her fingers over her keyboard as a male’s voice filtered through the walls of her apartment. Pressing her ear against the wall she realized it was coming from the newly occupied apartment to the left of hers. She found herself humming along to his rendition of Baby It’s Cold Outside, which she had to admit was a fitting choice for the current weather. When she peered out the window, she saw that the snow that had been dumping on the city since she got home from work wasn’t showing any signs of letting up.
“I’ve got to get home,” she sung softly as she typed out a string of code.
“But baby you’ll freeze out there.”
“Say, lend me your coat…”
“It’s up to your knees out there.”
“You’ve really been grand…”
Her voice was louder than she intended and she was met by silence on the other side of the wall as the music was paused. She bit her lip as she wondered what his reaction was to finding out there was someone listening in on him.
A few seconds ticked by awkwardly before the music started playing again.
“I thrill when you touch my hand…”
She smiled, “But don’t you see…”
“How can you do this to me?”
They finished out the song, ending with an in sync, “Baby it’s cold outside,” and she waited to hear what song would play next.
What she was not expecting was a soft knock on her door.
Hopping up from her chair in surprise, she ran over and peered through the peep hole.
Oh wow.
She had seen him in passing a few times while he was moving in, but she had forgotten how hot her new neighbor was.
Although how you could possibly forget that face is beyond me.
Turning to the little mirror she had in her entryway, she checked to make sure she didn’t have any lipstick on her teeth or coffee on her shirt from her mad dash through the snow with her sloshing to-go cup. When she determined that she was presentable looking, she unlocked the door and opened it.
“Umm… hi,” she greeted him awkwardly.
“Hi. I’m Oliver, I just moved in next door,” he gestured to the direction of his apartment.
“You have a really nice voice,” she blurted out.
A smile spread across his face, “I was going to say the same thing about you, uh…?”
“Felicity,” she introduced herself. “Felicity Smoak.”
“It’s good to meet you Felicity.”
“Likewise. It’s always good to know who your neighbors are in case you need someone to water your plants or check on your cat when you go on vacation… although you don’t really seem like a cat person. Unless you are. I don’t think there really should be a stereotype for what kind of people have certain types of pets. You could have a cat if you want.” Amusement lit up his face and blushed, “Sorry… you did not come over here to hear me babble and it will stop in 3… 2… 1.”
“I actually came to invite you over for dinner.”
She tilted her head in surprise, “What?”
“I uhh… I was making chicken cordon bleu and I think I’m going to have more than I can eat by myself.”
“Well you might want some leftovers in case we get snowed in,” she pointed out.
His face fell and she quickly backtracked, “But you know, I was probably going to be out of luck for dinner, since I don’t think any take out places are delivering in this weather. Do I have to put shoes on?”
He looked down and she wiggled her snowflake-printed-sock covered toes.
“No, you don’t have to put shoes on,” he answered, his smile returning.
“Okay then I’m in. But let me at least contribute some wine.” She backed into her apartment before turning into her kitchen to grab a bottle. A brief thought that she was about to be taken hostage flitted through her mind, but she wanted to believe that you could still trust your neighbors. Especially cute ones who sang duets with you through the walls and then invited you over for dinner, just like in the movies.
When she returned to the entryway, Oliver was leaning against the doorframe waiting for her and she took note of how cuddly he looked in his gray sweater.
“So how long have you lived in this building?” he asked as he led her into his place.
“Three-ish years. So if you need any scoop on the other neighbors, I’m your girl,” she replied, looking around at the apartment that was laid out very similarly but could not have been decorated more differently. “Not like your girl, girl, but—oh you know what I mean,” she waved a hand dismissively and continued her survey of his living space.
She liked bright colors and patterns and weird knick-knacks, whereas the few pieces of furniture he had were simple and masculine. Cardboard boxes were still pushed up against a few walls like he hadn’t quite finished unpacking everything yet.
“Sorry for the mess,” he apologized. “Maybe if the city gets shut down tomorrow with this snow I’ll finally have time to finish unpacking. Help yourself to a seat wherever…”
“I haven’t seen this much snow since I left Massachusetts,” she remarked, settling into a leather chair. “I’m not sure the municipal department is going to know what to do with it, so it’s certainly plausible we’ll be snowed in.”
A timer dinged and he excused himself into the kitchen to finish preparing dinner, leaving her to watch the snow continue to fall outside his windows.
“So I warned him, if I had to remove a virus from his computer again, I was going to call his mother and tell her in detail about her son’s very bizarre tastes in porn right before he was due to fly home for Thanksgiving. That is what my job has come to, threatening the interns to keep them from imploding our system,” she concluded, eliciting a laugh from him as they sat on the floor after dinner playing a game of Scrabble that neither of them were really paying much attention to. She was feeling very warm and floaty and she wasn’t sure how much of it was attributed to the bottle of wine they had finished off or how much she was enjoying his company. “What did you say your job was again?”
“I was recruited by the police department here to coordinate their tactical training.”
“Oohh,” she reached out and poked his arm. “No wonder you’re so muscle-y.” He coughed self-consciously and she scrunched up her nose in embarrassment, “Sorry.”
“It’s okay, it’s uhh—it’s your turn,” he gestured to the game board.
“Oh right, uh… let’s see…” she looked down at her letters and tried to focus on forming a word instead of Oliver’s eyes on her. When she laid her word down and fished for replacement tiles, she found that the bag was empty, “I guess we’re on the final round.”
She wasn’t sure if she should leave once they were finished, if she would be overstaying her welcome if she lingered just a little longer. As they tallied up their final scores, determining that she had won, and removed the tiles from the board, she asked if he was going to spend any time with family for the upcoming holidays.
“I think I’m going to fly home; Christmas is a pretty big deal at my house and I would be in trouble if I missed out on it. What about you?”
“I sort of have a… complicated relationship with my parents and, well I’m Jewish, so I’ll just be lighting my menorah by myself this year. But it’s okay. Also there’s this amazing hole-in-the-wall restaurant down the street that’s owned by a Jewish family and they have a special menu during Hanukkah, so I’m always well fed.”
“That’s good.”
“Yeah.” She stood up and brushed her hands on her jeans, “Anyway, thanks again for dinner. It was great to finally meet you.”
He stood up and stepped a little closer to her, a teasing glint in his eyes, “Thanks for accompanying me on our duet.”
She shrugged, “I couldn’t just leave you hanging. Obviously my vocals are far superior to… what version were you listening to?”
“Kelly Clarkson’s,” he supplied.
“Oh no, I can’t even joke about that then,” she laughed. “That would be blasphemous.”
He shook his head in amusement and she noticed he closed just a little bit more of the distance between them.
“I had a really nice time tonight Felicity,” he remarked, taking his time with each syllable of her name, and she found herself staring at his mouth.
What were we doing playing Scrabble again?
She bit her lip and just looked up at him for a second before whispering, “Is this the part where you ask me to stay?”
And… you just said that out loud.
If a hole could just open up in the floor and swallow her that would be great. Clearly it had been a long time since she went on her last date if she was gunning for a sleepover.
Wait, did this even qualify as a date?
He exhaled and shook his head, “I don’t think that would be a very good idea.”
She swallowed, “Yeah, I mean it’s certainly cold outside and snowing, but that’s not really a problem because I’m right next door so I just have to walk like two feet down an indoor hallway so…”
He took her hand in his, “So you should come over for breakfast tomorrow. If we get that snow day.”
“What are you making?” she asked, keeping her eyes glued to their hands.
“Whatever you want.” His fingers brushed across the delicate skin of the inside of her wrist and she felt some of her embarrassment fade as goosebumps spread up her arm and she met his eyes again.
Well he’s not looking at you like you’re crazy, so maybe you didn’t completely misread the signals he was sending.
“Okay, I’m in.” She replied before slipping her fingers out of his and turning to head for the door. “I like pancakes,” she tossed over her shoulder.
He grinned, “Who doesn’t?”