This place was ridiculous. It was dark and the fog machine was making her cough, and the fake, spooky laughs were really grating on her nerves. She wouldn't be in this mess if she hadn't decided to tag along with Barry and Caitlin. They had the brilliant idea to go to the haunted house that the local high school was throwing and Felicity didn't know until they were already halfway there. So here she was, waiting in a ridiculously long line, to voluntarily go into a place that would undoubtedly scare the hell out of her.

"Oh come on Lissy! Cheer up! This place is going to be epic! They've been working on this haunted house for weeks. Cisco helped with some of engineering and he said he was impressed with how spooky it turned out." Barry laughed at the face she made and put his arm around Caitlin's shoulders. In addition to being the awkward third wheel, she was pretending to be bored when in reality she was scared out of her freaking mind.

Felicity hated being scared. She avoids scary movies like the plague and if someone sneaks up on her, she can't be held responsible for any bodily harm she inflicts. Halloween is her least favorite day of the year. People dressing up in freaky outfits and purposefully trying to scare other people is not her definition of fun. So when Barry and Caitlin knocked on her door, dressed as Superman and, of all things, a fairy goddess, she'd felt a sense of dread pooling in her stomach.

After they commented on her lack of Halloween costume, they had forcibly dragged her out of her house and into their car. "You guys, I think this counts as kidnapping." She had huffed from the backseat or Barry's car.

Caitlin had looked back at her and smiled, "Lis, we just want to take you out for some fun. Let's grab some free candy and go to the Halloween festival at the high school."

And that was how she ended up waiting 45 minutes in a line to go into a haunted house she didn't even want to go in. She didn't tell Barry and Caitlin that she was scared out of her mind right now. They would laugh and they were honestly just trying to cheer her up. She'd had a rough couple of days and she had been feeling down lately, and they were just trying to be good friends. Keeping that in mind, she kept her mouth shut and watched as they both laughed at the group of teenagers walking by who had just come out of the haunted house. The group of teens were laughing and commenting on how scared they had just been.

Felicity had no idea how people could laugh after being scared. The best she could do was put on a brave face and try not to cry.

She and her friends were inching towards the entrance of the haunted house and she could feel her anxiety increasing.

"You guys, I'm actually feeling pretty tired. Maybe we should just go back to my place and watch some movies instead?" She tried to keep her voice steady as she talked to her friends. They didn't need to know how affected she was by this stupid place.

"Oh come on Lis! We've been standing here forever and look! We're almost at the front. I promise, we can leave after we walk through this place." Barry talked excitedly and started flailing his hands around. Caitlin glanced at her and leaned in to whisper, "Are you okay? If you're scared, we can leave. Barry will be fine."

Felicity saw how excited Barry was and she didn't want to ruin their fun. "No Cait, I'm fine. But we're going for ice cream after and then we're holing up at my place and watching movies until we fall asleep." She tried for a calm and joking tone and apparently it worked because Caitlin laughed and nodded.

The guy at the front signaled for them to move up and Barry handed him their tickets. In a bored voice the worker said, "Okay guys, follow the arrows through the house and please do not touch the actors. Have fun." His tone didn't sound like he actually cared if they had fun or not. Felicity was about to ask if the actors were allowed to touch them when the guy turned away from her and started talking to the next group of people. Barry tugged her arm and they walked into the dark, foggy house.

Somehow, Felicity was pushed to the back of the group. She was right on top of Caitlin, who was hiding behind Barry's back. Through the darkness, she saw cobwebs hanging from the ceiling and fake blood on the walls. Written on the wall, in blood, there were messy letters spelling out "BEWARE" and "TURN BACK WHILE YOU STILL CAN." That was comforting.

Barry looked back at them and said, "See guys? This place isn't too ba- AAHH!" His startled scream caused both Caitlin and Felicity to yell. When she looked over, she saw a beaten up and bloodied zombie reaching from around the corner towards Barry. His makeup was incredible. It actually looked like his flesh was decaying. Felicity looked away and her group moved forward.

She kept her eyed on the ground. She could hear the creepy music playing and maniacal laughter pierced her ears.

There was a lot of fog in this room and she dared to look up. Creepily dressed children were all around. Oh god, was this a child's psych ward? The children's clothes were torn and dirty. Some were rocking back and forth on the ground, while others were screaming. One was walking her way and kept repeating, "Please help me! Please, get me out of here!" The little girl's hair was up in haphazard pig tails and her white dress had blood all down the front. She was so focused on the little girl walking her way that she didn't see the small boy pop up in front her and scream in her face. Felicity screamed and jumped away. The little boy started laughing crazily and she ran to catch up to Caitlin.

How many rooms were in this place? Her fingers grasped Caitlin's shirt and she vowed to never let go. She shuffled into the next room and she could feel the blood draining from her face. This room was a morgue. It was dimly lit and there were bodies lying on the tables. One was cut open and looked like it was in the middle of an autopsy. Its ribcage was split open and there was blood everywhere. How did they manage to make everything look so real? The other body was lying still on another table. It had an ax protruding from its stomach and blood was dripping off the table. Felicity hid her face behind her hands. There were drawers that pulled out and Felicity knew that that was where they put the other dead bodies, she watched CSI, so she knows that inside those drawers. She thought that that would be the perfect place for someone to hide and jump out and scare her. She gingerly inched past the drawers and was so focused on that, she didn't see the man with the split rib cage pop up and scream at her. She shrieked and felt her knees go weak. Her heart was beating too fast and she could feel tears pooling in her eyes. She wanted out.

She pushed Caitlin and ushered Barry to move faster. The quicker they walked, the faster they'd get out of here. She kept her head down and one hand held protectively in front of her face while the other clutched the back of Caitlin's shirt. Through each room they passed, Felicity felt her blood pressure rising and her ability to hold back tears decreasing. There were rooms full of zombies, a crazy man being electrocuted alive, bodies hanging from the ceilings, and people with chainsaws creeping after her. She couldn't take it much longer.

She felt a tear roll down her cheek. Traitor.

She saw people exiting the house in front of her and she breathed a sigh of relief. Thank god, there was an exit in sight. She was so eager to be outside that she didn't see the giant man jump out at her from behind the corner. She screamed and, without her permission, her hand struck out and connected with the man's face. He grunted and fell back. She cradled her hand to her chest because, oh my god that hurt so much more than she thought it would.

The guy she had just assaulted was staring at her from the ground and was holding a hand up to his nose. She could see blood covering his face and her already frazzled nerves didn't help her at all. This was too much. She burst into tears.

"Oh my god, are you okay? Your face is bleeding right now, of course you're not okay. I can't believe I just did that, I've never hit anyone before in my whole life! Well actually that's a lie, but that one guy just couldn't keep his hands to himself and he wouldn't listen to me so I punched him in the face… but he totally deserved it. Not that you deserved this. Well, you probably shouldn't be trying to scare people but this is a haunted house so I guess that's why you're here and…" She trailed off when the guy just continued to stare at her. She wiped her hands over her face and tried to stop the tears.

Oh no, was he mad at her? He had every right to be, but she hoped he wasn't. She offered her hand to help him off the floor and he took it. Once he was standing, she got a good look at him. He was huge. At least 6 foot and he loomed over her. His muscles were giant and his arms were bigger than her head. He had short blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes that were currently scrunched up in pain. He looked over at her and opened his mouth to say, "You pack a mean right hook."

His voice was deep and it made her feel funny. She felt Caitlin and Barry step up beside her and take in the situation.

Barry started laughing. Uncontrollably. This was so not the time. "Lis, did you punch this guy in the face? Holy shit, you're my hero!" She blushed and the guy glared at him.

"I didn't mean to! He scared me and I couldn't stop myself!" She shifted her eyes back to the man. "Oh my god, you're still bleeding. I saw a paramedic tent set up outside. I'll take you to it." She heard Caitlin tell her she'd wait for her at the car and she vaguely nodded in her direction.

The guy was quiet and Felicity started to feel uncomfortable which was never a good thing because then she started to talk. A lot. "I don't know if I've said this already but I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to ruin your face. Not that it's ruined! I'm sure it looks great, just like the rest of you. Oh God, please ignore that. Why were you in there anyway? Did you volunteer?" She covered up her obvious fumble with some questions, hoping to distract the man. When she glanced up at him, she saw his lips twitch up into an almost-smile.

He took pity on her and said, "My sister, Thea, is a senior here and she forced me to volunteer." He said. It was a little muffled because his had was still covering his bleeding nose.

"Oh no, you were just trying to be a good brother and help your sister out and I attacked you," Felicity ducked her head down. They were approaching the medical tent and people started to take notice of them. Someone came over and lead the man towards the makeshift evaluation table. He sat down and the paramedic gingerly lifted his hand away from his nose and took a look. After a quick evaluation, he gave the man a sympathetic look, "It looks like your nose might be broken. It doesn't need to be set, but it's going to be pretty tender and will bruise." The paramedic cleaned his nose up, gave him some instructions, and then walked away to throw out the bloody gauze.

"I'm so sorry. I can't believe I broke your nose. Can I do anything?" Felicity walked towards him and stared into his eyes. She was right before, his face was beautiful, even with the rapidly growing bruise around his eyes and nose. He had a strong jaw line and a scruffy beard.

He looked down at her and she felt her heart start to beat fast. "Actually, there is something."

"Anything! Name it."

"Doc said I shouldn't be alone cause I might pass out. My sister has to stay until the festival is over and we both rode together. Wanna grab some cotton candy with me until she's done." He smirked down at her.

Okay. Hold on. Was the guy she just physically attacked asking to go buy cotton candy with her? And hang out? Was this a date? What just happened? She gaped up at him and stuttered, "Y-yeah sure. Let's go," There was no way this was real.

"I'm Oliver by the way. Thanks for getting me out of there. I hate haunted houses."

"I'm Felicity. Anytime you need someone to punch you in the face, I'm your girl. Wait, that sounded weird, but you know what I meant."

He started laughing and led her towards the cotton candy vendor. Tonight wasn't so bad.