Home: An Arrow Fanfic

Chapter 4

Ordinary. I'm ordinary and Oliver Queen is attracted to the extraordinary. The thought was a little depressing.

When the doorbell chimed Felicity jumped. Trying to calm her frayed nerves, she looked into the mirror one last time and tucked a strand of hair back into her ponytail.

Standing in her doorway was Oliver as she'd seen him a few hours before - designer jeans, boots and a casual cashmere sweater under a black coat to stave off the winter chill.

Her heart lodged in her throat. "H-Hi.."

Oliver gave her one of his heart stopping smiles. "Sorry for bothering you so late."

Felicity showed him in. "That's okay. I'm almost done." She extended her arm to one of the bright yellow couches. "Please, have a seat." She closed the door behind her.

"Can I get you anything? I don't have any island teas with amazing healing properties that are almost unheard of," she teased, "but I do have regular or decaf?"

Oliver laughed. "Regular is fine."

Felicity bumped into him as he shrugged out of his coat. "Sorry. Not exactly a mansion by your standards. This room is probably the size of your bathroom." She gestured to nothing in particular. "Not that I think about your bathroom. I mean, I'm just comparing it for size…"

He laughed while looking around. He thought her home reflected her personality. There was a lot of colour, but not in a garish or tacky kind of way. The yellow couches were balanced by white walls and wooden floors. Pink and purple pillows and throws were scattered around with fresh flowers on the coffee table in the centre of the room. There were also all kinds of little gadgets lying around, most of them small and obscure. Oliver decided it was cheerful and quirky. Like Felicity.

"I like it. It reminds me of you."

She looked at him in surprise. "Small, cheesy and mismatched?"

Oliver raised an eyebrow in amusement. "I meant charming, warm and inviting."

She rolled her eyes but didn't comment as she moved to make the tea.

Settled on the couch moments later, they sipped in companionable silence.

"Why's this mission retrieve so important?" she asked curling her legs up under her.

Oliver wrapped his fingers around the mug, feeling the warmth seep into his skin. "Thea's paper. She's not doing too well in her environmental studies class. This assignment is her last ditch attempt to prove to her teacher that she's not incapable."

"Ah." Felicity nodded. "So Oliver to the rescue."

He looked at her through narrowed eyes. "You make me sound overprotective."

"You know that you are. But it's not a criticism. Thea's lucky to have a brother who'd do anything for her," she said, her eyes cast downward.

"You don't have any brothers or sisters?"

She shook her head. "Uh, no. I was adopted as a baby and raised by an old couple who couldn't conceive. They died a few years back. I never had any siblings."

She looked vulnerable sitting alone on the couch. Oliver felt a strange need to comfort her. He shoved it back down. "I'm sorry."

She shrugged, feigning indifference. "They were good people and they cared about me. I was lucky."

Oliver leaned forward, his voice soft and measured. "You don't have to pretend with me, Felicity."

She looked at him, startled, her eyes luminescent pools that reached down and touched him in places he thought he'd closed off a long time ago. The feeling made him uncomfortable. "I-I wasn't pretending. They were good to me. They're just gone now and there's no one else."

"You're not alone."

She looked over at him quizzically. "You know something that I don't?"

"You have me." It was out before he could stop it. He didn't know why he said it, or even what he meant by it. What was supposed to be friendly and reassuring came out sounding intimate and personal.

Amazed, Oliver watched as colour swept up her neck and bloomed in her cheeks, her eyes widening in surprise. That's the second time today. It had been a long time since he'd been around women who blushed. He was surprised by how attractive he found it – how attractive he found her.

Halting his train of thought immediately, he stood up. So did she.

"I didn't mean-" Oliver started.

"I know," she interjected before he could finish. She looked mortified.

Oliver was irritated with himself. He'd clearly embarrassed her which had not been his intention. At that point, he didn't know what his intention had been. How did this even happen?

She picked up the laptop on the coffee table and briefly examined the screen. "All done," she said desperately.

"There was a … uh… virus on the machine which I removed. Thea should be able to log on normally. I bypassed her password… you should really tell her to use something more complex…I mean, it wasn't difficult to crack… took me mere seconds actually. You know… because passwords are my thing…code breaker is my middle name – well, actually, its Megan but-"

"Thank you."

She stopped talking and moved a hand to her hair self-consciously. Fascinated, he watched a golden lock fall across her forehead. He wanted to touch it to feel if it was as soft as it looked. I need to get out of here.

Felicity gave him a tense smile. "You're welcome."

What is wrong with me? He wondered as he climbing into his car. Felicity was his friend. His partner. He needed to keep things in perspective.

Running a hand over his face, he blamed the aberration on a lack of sleep, and firmly put it from his mind. He didn't want or need any more entanglements. His life was complicated enough without thoughts of a blushing Felicity Smoak.