WELCOME TO THE OLICITY HOLIDAY GIFT EXCHANGE!

Title: Two Left Feet

Summary: "So… Oliver is teaching you to dance?"

Dedicated as a Secret Santa Present To: HOODSMOAKED! On Tumblr :)For those of you who are olicity-tumblr-people like me, there's a good chance you've heard of this sweet, awesome and wonderful person called Hoodsmoaked (previously known as arganne). Hope you enjoy this!

Prompt Given: Prompt: Felicity agreed to go to Oliver's gala with Barry, but Barry loves ballroom dancing and Felicity is worried because she doesn't know how to dance. Oliver gets Felicity to admit what's wrong, and while he may not be good at modern dance, he knows a thing or two about ballroom. So he teaches her in the days leading up, with some inappropriate remarks from Felicity and a lot of underlying tension. But when those skills get put to use with Barry for most of the gala, Oliver jealously regrets teaching Felicity. Until she asks him to dance with her.

"I was invited… to a work function. It's a party, and I have a plus one. I was thinking that… you would make a really good … plus one."

When she had asked Barry to attend the Queen's Christmas Gala with her, she didn't really expect him to be a dancing fanatic.

Well. Okay. That wouldn't be fair to assume but... with Barry occasionally (and charmingly; she thought with a smile) tripping on air or over his own two feet, she had kinda assumed that he wouldn't be an expert in dancing. Which was great, really, because dancing was not her forte. In fact, her mother had attempted (many times) to enroll her daughter into ballet or tap classes and it took her (purposely) falling on the waxed floor and scraping her knees to get her mother to realize that her daughter was not meant to be a dancer.

So she thought a few dances that involved swaying to the music could work.

Until...

"Is there going to be dancing? I love dancing!"

And from that point on Barry rambled about how he was forced to take ballroom dance classes since he was six because his sister never had a dance partner during class, and he ended up loving it.

Which left her... here. In the Foundry trying to figure out how in the world she was going to manage to NOT step on his feet and make a fool out of herself, even though she was supposed to be tracking Travis Edge's movements.

Maybe she could fake being sick? Well that wasn't fair to Barry; she was the one who invited him. And she really... Really wanted to go with him. For once she didn't have to feel like she had to explain everything she said to anyone, or wonder if he would see her accidentally reveal her geeky side and run away from it, which he wouldn't do because he was also a geek. Which was great.

Except for the fact that she couldn't dance and would make a fool out of herself in front Barry and all of Queen Consolidated.

And Oliver.

Groaning, Felicity rested her head on her desk and hoped for a Christmas miracle. Not that she was Christian but she needed her miracle right now and beggars can't be choosers.

"You okay?"

She jumped out of her seat and almost banged her knee against the computer table.

"Oliver!"

"What's going on?" He walked closer to her and all Felicity could feel was his body heat emanating from his side. She gulped and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

"Didn't anyone tell you not to sneak up on people?" She chastised him, hoping it would distract him from the fact that she was moping over her clumsiness.

"No. Are you okay?"

She sighed, knowing that hoping he hadn't noticed her behavior, but of course he did, because he's Oliver and she has the worst luck.

It didn't help that Oliver had recently been more... attentive to her moods. Which was strange and odd and mostly strange because he was a master at being warped up in his own issues.

"Oh nothing big... You know. It's one of those days", she said, smiling at him but if the look on his face was anything to go by, he wasn't buying it. Speaking of issues, his were infinitely bigger and much worse than her silly problems of not being able to dance.

Oliver frowned and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey..." Did she imagine his voice lowered to a whisper? Of course she did because she should NOT be thinking about this. "You know that if you need to talk..."

Felicity smiled. "I know." He squeezed her shoulder and he was giving her that look and suddenly her traitorous mouth started spilling her secrets.

"I asked Barry to be my plus one for that Christmas gala coming up. Except I didn't plan for the fact that he likes dancing. I mean really, why can't background checks TELL you stuff like that. And I wouldn't be panicking like a chicken with my head cut off if I knew how to dance. Which is the problem. I don't know how to, and I'm going to make a fool out of myself and fall and trip and it'll be up on the Internet for everyone to laugh it, and even if I take it down right away it'll always be there you know? Because nothing leaves the Internet forever, and-"

"Felicity."

She felt the heat on her cheeks as she blushed for talking so much. And in front of Oliver. Who had already seen so many of her rambling moments that she was surprised he didn't tape her mouth shut already.

Risking more embarrassment, Felicity looked up at Oliver and found that he had an indistinguishable look on his face. The hand on her shoulder had tightened before going limp.

He looked like he was looking for the right thing to say, and she felt bad for word vomiting on him. "... I can... teach you."

She raised an eyebrow. "What?"

He sighed and looked down at her pointedly. "To dance. I can teach you how to dance"

Felicity suddenly had the image of the Arrow dancing in a club to bad retro music and she giggled. Oliver looked offended.

"Why are you laughing?"

Felicity tried to hide her smile but couldn't. "I don't know... It just seems weird."

Oliver pursed his lips and went to touch her keyboard before she swatted his hands away. The appalled look he gave her was worth it.

"Don't touch by babies."

Oliver rolled his eyes. "Put on some music then. Classical would be preferred."

Her jaw dropped. "What? Why?"

Turning around, Oliver continued to talk to her while taking off his sweater and leaving himself in a T-shirt and jeans. "Dancing lessons. Get up."

"Now?" She asked, incredulous. He couldn't be serious?

Oliver turned to face her. "I've been forced into professional ballroom classes since I could walk. I know how to dance. Now put on some music and come here, please."

This couldn't be happening. Maybe if she pinched herself, she would wake up.

Ow. Or not.

Oliver was giving her his "Arrow-face" so she rolled her eyes, plugged in her phone to play some soft music that she usually had when she was taking a bath, or reading a good book, not dancing with Oliver Queen. She got up, glancing at her nude flats. "Am I even in the right shoes? Maybe we should do this later—"

"Bring heels tomorrow. Now", he motioned her to come closer to him and Felicity could just imagine a thousand and one ways this could go wrong. "Stand up straight and don't lock your knees. Shoulders back, neck up."

Felicity looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "Oliver, this isn't necessary, it's—"

Oliver glared at her and Felicity bit her lip. She peeked around his shoulder to look for Diggle who wasn't there and therefore couldn't save her from utter embarrassment. "What if Dig comes in and sees us?"

"If it makes you feel better, I'll dance with him too."

Felicity smiled and chuckled under her breath, and noticed Oliver also had a small smile on his face.

"Now, roll your shoulders back, and raise your neck", said Oliver, who placed his hands on her shoulders and motioned for her to relax. He circled around her to place himself behind her, and Felicity gulped as she felt him put his hands on her hip, and the heat of his fingers seeped through her cardigan and jeans. The soft classical music was still playing and all she could focus on was the ground beneath her, until she felt Oliver move to her side and cup her jaw to tilt her head up. "You want your posture to stay straight for standard ballroom techniques." Felicity nodded, but all she could really think of was that hand on her hip.

He came back in front of her and raised her arms. He took his left hand and placed it in hers, while his right hand was under her arm and Felicity gulped when she came face to face with Oliver's chest. This was not fair. This was so not fair.

"Now…" she could feel her breath on his face and his hands on her, slightly brushing her side and she couldn't even look him in the eye, "This is basic waltzing. All you have to do is follow my lead. Keep with the rhythm. I'll tell you how to move, okay?"

His voice was gentle, and she looked up to find Oliver giving her that indistinguishable gaze again. Not knowing what it meant, she nodded, and let Oliver guide her backwards.

"1, 2, 3 and 1, 2 3… Move backwards right… now back left… Keep counting. Stretch your legs a little more. To the side on your right, to the side on your left… Match your footsteps to mine."

Oliver kept repeating the mantra until she started repeating the count out loud, not daring to look at his face because she would die of embarrassment, mostly because the situation hadn't clicked with her. Was Oliver really dancing with her, down in their lair, with a gentleness she didn't know he even possessed?

He twirled her around in his arms and Felicity, not expecting it, tripped over her own two feet. Bracing herself for the impact of the unforgiving cold floor, Felicity groaned, as she knew this would happen.

Expect it didn't. Instead she was pulled up and was pressed flush against Oliver, who had his hands behind her back holding her tightly against him. Felicity tried pushing herself out of his arms but he held onto her tight, and Felicity looked up at him curiously.

"Keep going", he said quietly. Felicity nodded and resumed counting, moving her body backwards to match his movements.

The music ended two minutes later (because yes, she was counting every single second of pure agony), and Felicity quickly rushed to pull herself out of his arms and towards her computer.

"Thanks!" she said haphazardly, running towards her computers and pushing her hair back behind her ear.

Oliver noticed it, recognizing it as a sign of nervousness.

"I'm going on patrol. Bring dancing shoes tomorrow."

Felicity stilled, not knowing if she could take another round of Oliver's hands on her when all she was trying to do was move past her silly crush on him and have a nice night with Barry.

Barry. Who she didn't even remember during that whole encounter. Felicity groaned; she was screwed.

Looking back, she saw Oliver already disappeared.

She sighed. It was going to be a long week.

"Oliver I'm going to be dancing for one night, not competing in some crazy Latin ballroom competition!"

"Felicity, you told me Barry loves to dance. You're really going to take that chance and not be prepared?"

He had a good point and Oliver knew it. Felicity rolled her eyes and cursed his need to be utterly prepared for every single possibility.

During the day, he had texted her to stay in her work clothes since she was wearing a dress anyways, (It'll prepare you for your dress, he said, blah blah blah), and had the gall to buy her dancing shoes because he assumed she wouldn't bring any.

(To be fair, she didn't. But that was because she was not going to subject herself to that kind of torture again.)

Except by the time she got down to the lair Oliver was already waiting for her with that look that told her he was going to be as stubborn as possible tonight.

Felicity tied her hair back into a ponytail and wished she had the comfort of her glasses with her. She didn't have enough time to go back home to change and forgot a spare change of clothes to bring with her. She wouldn't have, except she was too busy waking up late for work since she was having dreams of Oliver's hands all over her.

She sighed again and resigned herself to her fate. Truth is, as much as she knew how bad of an addiction it was to have, she liked dancing with Oliver. And she needed to learn dance anyways. So that she wouldn't make a fool out of herself in front of all her coworkers.

Made sense right?

Felicity walked up to him, noticing his bare arms in the grey T-shirt he was wearing. At least he wasn't staring at her like … like whatever he was staring at her like last night. She hadn't been able to get that look out of her head and she bit her lip, knowing that tonight would be a night filled with dreams of a not-so-distant Oliver Queen.

"Okay. What do I do?" she asked, standing up straight like he instructed last night while waiting for him to put him some music.

"We'll spend an extra day on standard, and then move onto Latin tomorrow", he said with his back to her. Felicity looked around and saw Diggle training in the corner. He waved to her and smiled, and she couldn't help but smile back at him despite her nervousness. It added an extra pound of unease in her stomach, but at least Dig would support her and her lack of grace. Actually the fact that Oliver knew how to dance made sense, because he was as graceful as a cat and quieter than most people she knew. Though she didn't realize that it wasn't a habit that he picked up from the island.

Oliver turned around and walked up to her, and in seconds soft instrumental music that she didn't recognize began playing.

"Put your hand on my right shoulder", he told her quietly. Felicity nodded and gulped before her (slightly shaking) hand reached up and touched his upper arm and could feel the bundle of muscle underneath her fingertips. Gulping, she moved her hand up to his shoulder, where she gripped it and winced, hoping she didn't make her anxiety too obvious.

"Give me your other hand."

She did, and she watched him hold her hand in his. Something about the movement was eerily haunting, and all she could hear was the instrumental tinkling of music in the background and the soft sounds of Dig hitting the punching bag.

"You don't want your arm to be too stiff. Relax it a little."

She heard him speaking and did what he said but something about the moment seemed so… unreal. It just washed over her and suddenly she felt his other hand on her middle back… and moving up her spine to rest against her left shoulder blade, supporting her left arm and back and straightening her body to press her abdomen against his.

Being close to those abs should be a crime. Or written into some fantasy novel somewhere.

"Straighten your posture… good", he commented when she did. Her legs were straight and her abdomen was still pressed against his and their chests were only a few inches away from each other and Oliver kept staring at her with that look.

So she did what she did best when she was nervous. Talked.

"So I was reading up on different types of dancing, and apparently there's two types of dancing: standard and Latin, and the word standard makes so much more sense now that I know what you're referring to. It's composed of the waltz and the Viennese Waltz, and truthfully I couldn't tell the difference between the two when I was looking it up but I guess you have to be a dancer", she rambled and couldn't stop and Oliver was just smiling at her softly and his hands were on her and was this real life? She gulped and her mouth kept moving apparently, "And of course the Tango, and the Foxtrot and the Quickstep, which looks quick and hard, and oh my God that was not meant to sound that dirty—"

"Felicity…" Oliver gave her a pointed look but even she could see the corners of his lips upturned. Well, at least she could make him smile; even if was at the expense of her total and utter failure at being normal. "Why don't we start?"

"Right." She nodded.

His pressed his hand on her back even tighter, and Felicity almost squirmed in his arms and tried not to show her nervousness at being this close to him. He started counting and Felicity followed his lead, keeping an eye on his feet to make sure she wouldn't step on them because really, that was all she needed at this point to make it the perfect night.

Ten minutes of his voice counting numbers into her ear was really the only thing she remembered from that lesson after the night was over and Oliver was on patrol. She couldn't really process anything else and was blankly staring at her computer screen when Dig walked up to her and leaned against her table.

"So… Oliver's teaching you how to dance?"

Felicity pointedly looked at him. "I know you're using a tone. I know it because I use that tone when discussing you and Lyla. Oliver is just teaching me to dance because he took pity on my poor soul when he heard me moping over the fact that I am the clumsiest human alive and Barry will be ashamed at being my date."

Dig smirked, getting a knowing look on his face. "Barry huh? That explains a lot. I hope you two have fun!" He quickly turned around and walked away, and Felicity turned around in her chair, bewildered at his behavior.

"Are you implying something?"

Dig chuckled before telling her that he would never do such a thing. Felicity glared at him to get him to talk, but all he did was smile at her.

"Listen, tomorrow's Lyla's birthday and I'm taking her out for dinner. Will you two be okay without me tomorrow?"

Felicity, not taking any of Diggle's nonsensical tone and words, had already turned around to start up some searches on her computer. "No we'll be fine. Have fun!"

"Oh I know you two will be fine without me here."

Felicity seethed. She could hear the laughter in his voice and she did not approve. Not one bit. "Now you listen here mister—"

She turned around and found that he had already left ninja-style. Hmph. That jerk.

The next day was Latin night, and Felicity had already searched for all the Latin ballroom dance videos for beginners that she could find so that she wouldn't look like a total and utter idiot tomorrow.

But twenty minutes into the lair and with the music already playing in the background, she realized exactly why Oliver postponed Latin dancing to today instead of just teaching her some of the basics yesterday with Dig around.

"Felicity you have to move your hips in rhythm to the music." Oliver told her for the third time.

She glared at him because he was the reason she was in this predicament in the first place. "For the record, that sounded like an innuendo and any unintentionally implied sexual reference that does not come from me is a win in my book. And I can't."

He sighed and walked back to the computer to turn off the music. Felicity frowned, feeling bad that she couldn't even get this basic movement down. Of all the people who could dance, she wasn't expecting Oliver Queen to be amazing at it (which was stupid, because he was a rich kid and every movie's rule was that rich kids had to learn dance. It was practically a lifelong requirement.), yet she couldn't just move her hips to the music.

She just felt stupid doing it. It wasn't her and she wasn't this crazy sexual being that oozed hotness like the man in front of her.

Oliver looked back at her with a curious and amused expression, and it took Felicity all of three seconds to realize that her mouth was a traitor and that she said that out loud. She groaned and dropped down to the floor to sit down, not caring that dirt was getting on her precious yoga pants, and instead hoping the ground would open up and swallow her whole.

Oliver turned around and walked back towards her. She was too busy hiding her face from the world to realize that he had a hand out to help her up.

"C'mon", he said softly, and she realized that she recognized that tone in his voice. He used it every time they were dancing.

Felicity sighed and grabbed his hand to help him pick her up, and in seconds she found herself standing up and only inches away from him.

"Stand straight", he said to her, before spinning her around to face the other side of the room with him still standing behind her. Before she knew it she felt one of his hands resting against her hip and his other hand drifting along the side of her stomach to clutch her waist.

Felicity gulped and realized that there was a distinct lack of music. "Oliver—"

He shushed her. He took a step forward and Felicity could feel his body almost pressed to her back, his hands tightly grasping her hip and her waist and it was all she could do to not run away.

"All you have to do…" he whispered, his head leaning to the side of head to whisper in her ear, "Is listen to the music and let your body follow."

She tried to protest, saying that there was no music to follow and if he could stop whispering in her ear like a lover she would appreciate that, except he start softly pushing her hip to one side, and pressing the hand on her waist in the other direction to keep her swaying side to side, and even with her rapid heartbeat she realized that Oliver was moving behind her and following her steps.

"Move your feet side to side… Step to the left, and let your right foot follow that movement…"

It took her a few seconds to regain her bearings and actually comprehend what he was saying. She stared at the floor to follow the steps his feet took but in reality, all she could think off was her back pressed against his chest and his legs mingled together with hers, and the heat between them being so hot and unbearable and did she mention the hands on her body that belonged to him and did not belong on her? Because right now it seemed like they were glued to her skin.

"Good. Move back to the right. Same movement", he said but even out of it, Felicity recognized that the huskiness in his voice meant that he was just as affected as she was.

The hand on her waist pulled itself down against her side, his fingers tapping her body as he moved down to place the hand on her hip. He kept moving her side to side, and she felt his head near her left arm, until she could feel his forehead pressed against her shoulder. His hand kept moving downwards, his fingers splayed against her leg where his thumb brushed circles on the back of her thigh.

She didn't dare speak, knowing that she would start babbling and say something ridiculously inappropriate about the ridiculously inappropriate position they were in. She gulped, feeling his hands move away from her legs and drift along her body, stopping at her stomach, where he played with the edge of her shirt and she could feel a hint of his fingers touching her bare skin. Pools of heat shot down to her core and he pressed her body closer to his until she was flushed against him. She let her head lean back to rest against his.

He kept them moving, keeping them under the guise of dancing, she could only guess. Except she had no clue as to where he was going with this or what he was doing, and her mind told her she needed to stop this now before they reached a point of no return, and she could have done just that except for the fact that his large hand was splayed against her abdomen and was starting to grip her waist again and his other hand started traveling a little further south, resting against her hip bone and brushing her inner thigh.

Felicity gasped and she could feel Oliver's hold on her tighten, when suddenly they heard the "beeps" of someone entering a code to gain entry into the Foundry, and in seconds Felicity found the strength to push Oliver back and do everything she could to not run to her desk. She grabbed her bag and phone and walked past Oliver and up the stairs, where she greeted a confused Diggle before practically running out of the lair.

She didn't come into the Foundry the next night, claiming illness. She spent the night in bed trying to distract herself with Doctor Who all while listening to the police scanner on the side to make sure Oliver wasn't hurt.

Felicity bit her lip. Oliver wasn't in the Foundry tonight, and by the time she got there (taking her lovely sweet time of course), Diggle had informed her that he had already left for patrol.

She was sort of relieved. Kind of. Part of her wanted nothing more than for him to touch her again, except she knew she really shouldn't let herself get so wrapped up in Oliver Queen. And ugh, not in that way, but she knew what she really meant.

She was going to hide in her room until the party tomorrow night, but she knew that was selfish and foolish. There were missions to prepare for, and she wouldn't be able to rest knowing Oliver was out there without her keeping an eye on him.

If Diggle noticed her quiet behavior, he didn't say anything. Knowing him he probably figured out what the cause of her off mood was and knew better than to remind her that she was an idiot for getting addicted to a touch she wasn't allowed to feel.

She dove into her work, trying not to think of the way his hands would have felt on her bare legs tomorrow if he was dancing with her in her actual dress or the fact that she could feel his stubble against her cheek if he just moved his head a little closer to hers. Her mind was trying to focus on algorithms and logistics but all she could feel was heat and his body pressed against hers.

Felicity pushed herself away from the desk, letting the chair dangle away from the bright screens where she just stared at the Foundry wall aimlessly.

And she forgot about Barry. Often.

Not that she wanted to. He was so sweet, so nice, so safe, and not damaged by events that were out of his control, except all she could think about were moments where Oliver let his walls down for a second to show his compassion, to show he cared, to do little things that he sometimes forgot about but when he didn't forget, when he wasn't worried about other events out of his control, he gave glimpses that he cared. And even though Barry was safe in terms of a healthy relationship… Oliver was the one who really made her feel safe. Like she would stay safe and he would do anything he could to protect her. Flashes of behind held by The Count with the sharp edges of two needles close to her neck echoed in her head, and sad memories of how Oliver broke his vow of not killing to save her…

Even though she didn't want him to. She didn't want to add more guilt to his conscience. Yet the biggest moment was when she felt his hand cupping her face and she couldn't even bear to focus on anyone else but him right then.

Felicity leaned back against her chair and felt her heart grow heavy at it. Sometimes she feared her feelings for Oliver were more than a fleeting crush and the possibility scared her. Because she didn't think he was interested in her.

But then she felt his hands on her again, moving her to imaginary music, and she wondered if she was just telling herself that.

But why now? Why was he showing actual interest now? Showing her that reciprocation from him was possible?

"Barry huh? That explains a lot."

Diggle's words flashed in her mind and Felicity sat up in her chair. No. No way.

He couldn't have been… Jealous?

Oliver? Jealous? Did he even do jealousy anymore? He was the most self-sacrificing person she knew.

Felicity shook her head. She was just imagining things, and all this time contemplating about her imaginary love life could have been spent looking for suspicious criminal activity in the Starling City. She turned back to her desk and starting typing.

Half an hour later, she barely heard Diggle say good night to her. She nodded and continued to work well into another hour, where her mind barely registered the sound of the beeping of the code punched in and the sound of light footsteps walking into the Foundry.

She kept typing for a few more minutes until she felt an added weight on her chair and she froze, knowing who was behind her.

"We need to talk."

Felicity gulped, not really sure if she wanted to have this conversation right now. "About?"

"You know exactly what we need to talk about", he said, the growl in his voice almost rumbling through her.

"Actually—"

"Felicity."

And in that, she heard the slight desperation in his voice. She took a few more shaky breaths before standing up on wobbly legs and leaning against the computer table to balance herself. It took her a few more seconds for her to actually be able to turn around.

Oliver was still dressed in his Arrow outfit, except his hood was down and he had already wiped off the camouflage paint.

He was staring at her again. With those eyes that were darkened and said so much yet said nothing at the same time.

"So? Speak", she said, uncomfortable with the silence, but her intestines suddenly felt like they were twisting inside her and she realized that she didn't want Oliver to say the wrong thing, and he had a great habit of always doing so.

He looked… uncomfortable, like he was at a loss for words. She didn't really blame him. She was fidgeting with her hands and her feet and probably looked like a mess compared to his still body.

"I'm… sorry."

Somehow she knew he would say that. It was about time he would regret proposing this idea to her.

He must have seen the resigned look on her face that told him exactly what she was thinking, because he spoke again to clarify. "For making you uncomfortable. Confusing you and not… Not for the rest." Not the dancing. Not holding you. Just surprising you with someone you might not have been ready for.

Felicity looked up at him with a curious expression and a tilt of her head. "Oliver, why did you offer to teach me dancing?"

His body subtly shifted to a more defensive stance; Felicity knew anyone other than her or Dig wouldn't have noticed the shift in body posture. He seemed to be looking everywhere but her.

"I… don't know."

Felicity watched him soak in discomfort. She bit her lip. She thinks she knows. She had vehemently denied it before but something tells her that her instincts were spot on.

"I think…" she looked up at him, not sure how she should tell him this. Debating on what to do, Felicity grabbed her things with one hand and pressed a few buttons to shut down her computers. When she was finished she walked closer to him, his eyes following her every movement. "I think you do know why…" she gave him a soft smile. "But… maybe you're not ready to admit it yet."

She placed her free hand on his bicep before standing up to press a soft kiss on his jawline, before letting go and whispering happy holidays to him.

Oliver didn't follow her out of the Foundry.

When she entered the ballroom in the Queen Mansion, it was already filled with half of the workers from Queen Consolidated. The Christmas Gala was sort of a tradition for Queen Consolidated, and Oliver knew (or rather, she told him) that was something a lot of the employees enjoyed.

She looked around for Oliver but didn't find sight of him right away. She sighed and walked around, her pink dress bright and standing out in a sea of dark colors. Walking up to her friends from I.T., Felicity stopped to make conversation with them.

She kept an eye on the door and on the stairwell, one for Barry and one for Oliver. Did she just attract guys who were always late?

A few minutes passed before Barry walked in, looking out of place and Felicity smiled and was able to relate to the feeling. She walked towards him and he smiled when he saw her.

"Hey! Sorry I'm late… It's not a great habit to have, I know", Barry said with a sheepish smile. Felicity laughed.

"It's okay… They're starting the next song. Care to dance?" she asked, and the grin on Barry's face grew wider as he took her head and headed to the middle of the dance floor where other couples had already begun dancing.

Felicity prided herself on having the right posture and being in the right hold. She let Barry lead her, taking small steps as to not bump into the other couples, and they waltzed around the dance floor, letting him spin her and smiling with him.

Felicity immediately noticed two things while dancing with Barry. One, Barry didn't have the protective and slightly possessive hold that Oliver Queen did. Barry's hold was light, fun and not as sensual as Oliver's.

And two… Oliver was watching them from his position on the stairs.

She made eye contact with him every time she was facing that part of the room. Her gut squirmed as she realized that Oliver's eyes never left hers.

She gulped and tried to focus on Barry, sweet, funny and endearing Barry who was having a blast dancing with her. She couldn't stop smiling with him, but she also couldn't stop comparing him to Oliver.

She looked at the stairwell again and realized Oliver was gone, and looking around the room she found him by the bar, ordering two shots and keeping an eye on her at the same time.

Barry eventually noticed her odd behavior, and followed her worried and curious glance towards Oliver who had taken two shots and still kept his eyes on Felicity. In an instant the connection clicked.

"Mr. Queen's been staring at you all night, hasn't he?"

Felicity whipped her head towards Barry, who was shyly smiling and sighing almost regretfully, his hands still holding her in a standard position. Felicity frowned, not wanting him to get the wrong idea.

"No, no…" she chuckled, trying to brush it off but couldn't really take away the feeling of anxiousness in her stomach. "Oliver and I aren't—"

Barry smiled, "I know… But it's pretty obvious that he wants to be. And…" Barry looked back at Oliver who had noticed Barry looking at him, before he looked back at Felicity. "I wouldn't really blame you if you did like him back."

Felicity looked at Barry smiling at her under the golden lighting that lit the mansion. Why couldn't she just have the easy route of falling for this not-complicated sweetheart in front of her who wore his heart on his sleeve?

She smiled. "Thank you", she said, wrapping her arms around him to give him a hug that he returned. In the corner of her eye she noticed Oliver downing another shot and knew she had to get over there before he gave himself alcohol poisoning by thinking too much.

With another pat on Barry's shoulder and a quick kiss on the cheek, Felicity walked towards Oliver who was doing his best to act like he wasn't staring at her all night.

She leaned on the bar next to him and nudged his arm with her shoulder. "A week of dance lessons and you won't even ask me to dance tonight of all nights?"

Oliver glanced at her with pursed lips, "You have a perfectly normal date to dance with. That was the purpose of teaching you how to dance."

Felicity turned to face him, leaning an elbow on the bar. "You taught me to dance because you knew how terrified I was of embarrassing myself."

Oliver didn't say anything, just sipped his drink.

"So, I'm done listening to you apologize for things that you shouldn't even be apologizing for." She grabbed his elbow and silently laughed at his look of absolute bewilderment. "We're dancing. Let's go Romeo."

Oliver rolled his eyes but put down his drink and let himself be dragged away to the dance floor. A darker, softer and seductive song began playing and Oliver clenched his teeth, remembering how difficult it was for him to lose control three nights ago when he couldn't keep his hands off Felicity.

She wrapped her arms around Oliver's neck, edging him to hold her when she tapped her fingernails against his skin. She watched his eyes darken a little before he placed his hands on her waist, his hands gripping down on her body before slowly lowering his hands to her hips.

They started just swaying to the music, letting proper technique and hold to be thrown out the window. Felicity gave him a soft smile, before stepping closer to him and feeling the heat that was radiating out of his body. He took notice and lowered his head to press his forehead against hers.

"Last night when I went to talk to you", Oliver said quietly, letting her be the only one who heard his words, "I really was trying to find a way to have on last dance with you."

She frowned, "Last…? I'm not going anywhere Oliver."

His grip on her tightened and Oliver pulled himself back a little. "You seemed happy… with Barry. I didn't want to ruin that."

Felicity had the feeling that Oliver felt like he ruined many things precious to him. She would have to change that.

Clutching a hold onto his suit, she pulled him closer to the stairwell and away from the dance floor, not wanting others to hear their conversation. "Oliver you've had me since you showed up in my office with a laptop and a bad lie. You haven't ruined anything yet and you won't."

Oliver frowned, not sure how she could believe in him so faithfully, but the smile on Felicity's face told him that now wasn't the time for the more pessimistic conversation, so he sighed and changed the topic. "My lies aren't that bad."

She scoffed, "Yeah okay Mr. Sports Bottles."

A chuckle escaped his lips and his arms encircled her waist. "Like you're any better with your evening plans?"

Felicity's jaw dropped in mock surprise as she lightly swatted his arm, "Oh please. That wasn't nearly as bad as some of the crap you fed me."

"I'm pretty sure that made Isabel positively certain that we're sleeping together."

"The whole company thinks we're sleeping together and right now we're not really giving him them any reason to doubt that rumor."

Oliver glanced behind them to notice the not-so-subtle looks of his employees trying to eavesdrop on their conversation. He looked up in annoyance, but stopped and looked down at Felicity.

He pressed his forehead towards her, "I think they're looking at us because we're standing under mistletoe."

Felicity's eyes widened before she looked up to see the little green plant innocently hanging from the ceiling. Of course.

"I mean… unless you don't feel comfortable—"

Felicity rolled her eyes and glared at Oliver to make sure he didn't finish that sentence. "Stop brooding for once and get into the holiday spirit."

Oliver would have glared right back at that, except Felicity tugged his shoulder to pull him forward and cupped the back of his head with her hands to bring him down closer. He smiled and tightened his grip on her hips before kissing her.

The end.

Happy holidays everybody!

And of course, to HoodSmoaked, hope you enjoyed your gift!

Love,
Ivy