Chapter Text
There she was. Lost, alone and freezing. This was supposed to be just a short trip up the mountain to bring Iris her wedding dress. Why oh why had her best friend insisted on a Christmas wedding at a mountain lodge? It would make pretty pictures, but at what price. And why the hell had she offered to bring it up to the venue, anyway? Because she was a good friend, of course, Felicity thought to herself. She was a good friend for doing this, but god damnit this was not what she had expected the small favor to her best friend to turn into. Felicity had not expected nor intended to get her mini cooper stuck in the snow on a private road. The gps on her phone had been wonky, the reception fading the further she drove, which was why she had ended up there in the first place. She was supposed to be home in front of her TV with a hot cup of cocoa by now. But here she was wearing just her workout clothes, not at all decked out or prepared for a trek through the snowstorm currently coming down from the heavens above.
With no reception, no food and no warm clothes, she didn’t know what to do. She rested her head on the steering wheel, taking slow breaths. She was shivering, her breath forming clouds. Glancing over her shoulder at the wedding dress in the backseat. Stupid ugly powder puff.
“So? What do you think?” Iris asked from behind her as Felicity was looking around the opulently decorated bridal salon. So much gold, so much white and so much sparkle. It almost hurt her eyes.
Felicity turned around on her heel to look at her best friend in her wedding dress for the first time. It was… well, something…
“Oh, Iris…” She started, unsure of what to say. “You look…”
“Like meringue exploded.” Iris exclaimed, look of horror on her face. “I’m a giant powder puff!” She cried out, covering her mouth with her hands
Felicity hurried over to her, tugging at the dress in an attempt to make it look no so… so much. “It’s not that bad, we can make it work.”
“All the women in Barry’s family have worn it, and I am going to wear it!” Iris demanded, stomping her foot on the little podium. She was determined to wear it, that was obvious.
Felicity chuckled. “Okay, okay bridezilla, we’ll make sure you look beautiful on your big day.”
“It’s a beautiful love tradition.” Iris muttered. Felicity wasn’t sure who she was trying to convince, her or herself.
Iris huffed, -frack she must’ve said that out loud- but ignored Felicity’s comment. “My cousin has been asking about you.”
Felicity made a face. “The weatherman? Forecast says cloudy with a chance of rain, no thanks.”
“Okay, fair point. What about Ray? You two still..” Iris didn’t even get to finish her sentence that’s how quickly Felicity veto’d that possible date to the wedding.
“No, no way. That did not end well, I’m not going there again.” Felicity shook her head. “Besides, I’m married to my job and we're very happy together.” She shrugged with a cheeky smirk.
Iris groaned and rolled her eyes. “I don’t know why you still work at Queen Consolidated, they greatly underappreciate your great mind. You’re an MIT graduate for Pete’s sake.”
Once again, Felicity shrugged. “Well, it pays the bills, plus there aren’t really any exiting IT-jobs on the market anyway.”
“I’m a journalist, don’t talk to me about lack of job opportunities, Smoak.” Iris shook her head.
Felicity gave up on attempting to make her best friend look better in the horrible dress, it was no use. It was the dress that was ugly, definitely not Iris. Somehow Iris still looked amazing in that 80’s cake topper.
“Oh no! A smudge! No, no, no!” Iris cried out in horror.
That’s when, after Iris’ major freak-out over her schedule –she did not have time to pick up the dress again- Felicity had promised to pick up the dress after her spin class and vowed to keep it safe. Look at her now.
Sorry Iris, it might be a love tradition, but this was for survival.
Getting out of the car, she pulled open the back door and pulled out the dress, teeth clattering while she tried to pull it on. It took a few tries, she got stuck in the poofy sleeves and the skirt was so large she almost tripped over it. With a sigh, she locked her car and followed the private road in an attempt to find someone, anyone who could help her get to the . Or at least give her some shelter.
The road was slippery, she’d been walking for a while and semi-managed to stay on her feet. She was so cold, arms clasped around herself to preserve warmth as best as she could. She thought she heard a dog barking in the distance and turned around a little too quickly. She slipped, headfirst into the ditch. She yelped as she tumbled down the hill. She hit her head as he rolled down and everything went black.
Muted footsteps in the snow took him further into the woods. The downfall crunched under his boots with each step he took. Hunter ran around the forest chasing his own tail, catching snowflakes with his mouth. Oliver picked up a few pieces of wood that would do well in the fireplace when it became unusually quiet around him. Hunter’s happy barking was gone and the dog had disappeared from sight. Oliver squinted, peering into the distance, but the heavy snowfall prevented him from looking very far. With a huff, he took the wood cuttings under his arm and followed the German Shepard’s paw prints further into the forest.
“Hunter!” He called out. “C’mere boy!”
No sign of the dog and Oliver started to get worried but continued on his trek through the snow.
Relief washed over him when Hunter came sprinting over, barking up at him before running back in the direction he had come from. Oliver frowned, dropped his firewood and ran after his dog.
He came to a halt in a little clearing where Hunter was sniffling around something in the snow. When he stepped closer, he saw her, a blonde girl in a wedding dress lying in the snow. She couldn’t have been there for too long because the downfall barely covered her, but she was unconscious and there was no doubt she was probably freezing.
Without a second thought, Oliver walked over to the snow bride and checked her pulse. She was still alive, but hypothermia was a real concern. He picked her up, ironically, bridal style and carried her back to his cabin. To warmth and safety.
Slowly, she drifted back into consciousness. It wasn’t like she expected, cold and dark. Instead she was warm and lying on something soft. It was nice. As the fuzziness wore off, she carefully opened her eyes. What greeted her was even more unexpected. A beautiful stranger smiling down at her surrounded by a halo like an angel. Wait, was she dead?
Mr. Handsome chuckled. “No, you’re not dead, fortunately for me, because your body in my cabin would’ve been really hard to explain to the cops.”
She smiled. “He’s funny, too.” He smiled back at her. “Hi.” She murmured.
“You nearly died in a snowstorm and all you got is hi?” Mr. Handsome said.
He helped her sit up and that’s when she first got a good look at him. He was not a stranger, at all. She knew him. He didn’t know her, but she definitely knew him. She worked for his family company. The prodigal son who refused the Chief executive position when his father passed away in favor of… well she wasn’t sure what he was up to these days but his family was famous. Really famous. And filthy rich. Felicity swallowed hard.
When he looked at her with confusion on his face she realized that her little epiphany didn’t go unnoticed.
“I’m sorry what did you just say?”
He let out an amused scoff. “I said, judging by your outfit and lack of groom, you don’t seem to be having a great day.” He said, gesturing at Iris’ torn up and stained love tradition.
“Oh frack, Iris is going to kill me.” Felicity muttered. “Thankfully, not my dress. Or maybe that’s even weirder, I don’t know but you don’t have a runaway bride on your hands.”
“Wow, slow down.” He chuckled.
Taking a deep breath, she explained what had happened. “So, other than my workout clothes, it was the only thing in my car that I could use to stay warm. I didn’t know how far I was going to have to walk to find help. I must seem crazy but I was out of options.”
“You don’t seem crazy to me.” He said with the sweetest smile on his face. Felicity could feel her heart melting a little as she stared into those beautiful blue eyes.
“What’s your name?” He asked.
“Felicity. Felicity Smoak.” She said, holding out her hand.
“I’m Oliver.” He said, shaking her hand. God, his hand was so warm, she never wanted to let go.
“Just Oliver?” Felicity asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Just Oliver.” He confirmed. “And this,” He reached over to pet the dog that was lying on the carpet. “This is Hunter.”
Felicity smiled, reaching over to run her fingers through the dog’s soft fur. “Hi Hunter.”
“He’s the one that found you.” Oliver explained.
“Well thank you for saving my life, Hunter.” She cooed at the dog, who was clearly enjoying the attention.
As the dog settled his head in her lap, she spotted the phone on a side table and turned back to Oliver. “Just Oliver, do you think I could borrow your phone?”
He pursed his lips and looked away for a moment. “Well, you could, but it’s not going to do you any good. The landline is currently down and there’s no cell reception in this place. With this storm, no one’s going anywhere tonight.” He said, apologetically.
“That’s too bad.” She sighed.
With a smile, he stood up and walked over to a dresser and pulled out some stuff. “Well, I don’t think we’re exactly the same size, but…” He held up the softest and warmest looking checkered shirt she’d ever seen. “Voila, the latest in lady lumberjack couture.”
Felicity laughed. “I have never been so happy to see flannel.”
After she got changed in the small cabin bathroom, Felicity hung the mostly destroyed wedding dress over the shower curtain rod. She better start thinking of a solution or her best friend would be getting married in torn up rags. And she would probably no longer have a best friend at all. Or be invited to the wedding. She swallowed hard and took a deep breath. That was a problem she would solve tomorrow. She looked in the mirror once more, checking if she didn’t look too disheveled, and stepped out of the bathroom.
She rounded to corner into the small kitchen to find Oliver pouring two cups of tea. When she walked in, he looked up and smiled at her. Felicity suddenly felt very warm inside.
“I hope you like chamomile.” He said, walking over and handing her one of the steaming cups.
“Yes, thank you. Anything warm is perfect.” Felicity smiled, taking a tentative sip of her tea.
There was a beat of silence between them as they looked at one another. Blue on blue for just a moment before Felicity blinked and blushingly looked away.
“So, the guestroom is over there, and we’ll take care of your car in the morning.” Oliver said, gesturing at one of the doors across the hall.
Felicity smiled, following him back into the living room. “Thank you.”
Looking around the room, the little trinkets and family photos stood out to her. She never knew how important family was to him, she only ever read about his billionaire playboy antics in the gossip rags she secretly read at the hairdressers. There was this whole other side to Oliver she never knew about, and she was kind of eager to find out. Mysteries needed to be solved.
“You have a lovely home, is it just you?” She asked, running her fingers across the piano.
“And Hunter.” Oliver shrugged. “And, uh, now you.” He smiled.
Felicity blushed a little and took another sip of her tea.
“Actually this is the caretaker’s cabin for a bigger estate. Have you heard of the Queen family?”
With motivations unbeknownst to her, Felicity played along and pretended not to know exactly who he was. “Queen. Yeah that name sounds familiar.”
“Robert Queen founded Queen Consolidated in Starling City, and was a two term Mayor before he passed.”
“Yes.” Felicity nodded eagerly. “That’s it, I remember.”
“Well, this was his retreat.” Oliver said from the doorway while Felicity looked around. He watched her move around the space with amusement in his eyes. She was enjoying it a little too much.
“But, now this is the caretaker’s cabin?” She asked.
“That’s right. The estate’s a half mile up the road.” Oliver explained, nodding his head.
“So, that makes you?” Felicity tried to prompt as walked over to him, single eyebrow raised.
Oliver let out an amused laugh. “Your caretaker for the evening.” He said, clinking their mugs.
“Alright then, Mr. Caretaker.” She chuckled, taking another sip of her tea.
Her eye fell on a package of files on the dining table. Graphs, equity balance sheets, blueprints and investment budgets, but not for Queen Consolidated.
“What’s this?” She asked, taking a closer look.
“Uhh that’s nothing.” Oliver said, following her gaze and quickly moving to get his files out of sight. He closed the folder and took it under his arm to put it away.
“Huh, nothing looks a whole lot like a business proposal.” Felicity chuckled, tilting her head to the side.
A soft smile upturned Oliver’s lips before he stepped into his bedroom. “Goodnight, Felicity.” He said, closing the door behind him.