Disclaimer: Arrow does not belong me. All rights belong to DC Comics, The CW, and those persons associated in the creation of the show and comics.

A/N: Based on an AU prompt I discovered on tumblr: "I think you're cute so I started walking my dog at the same time you go running". This was fun to write and it became quite a monster compared to how is started in my head! A HUGE shout-out to arrow-through-my-writers-block (tumblr) for beta-ing for me, she is amazing and I can't thank her enough . I hope you all enjoy!

The Benefits of Early Mornings

"Ugh. Really, Sparky?" Felicity groaned into her pillow. "I thought we agreed on 7."

The answering growl and short bark told her that he really didn't care what time it was.

Heaving a deep sigh, Felicity rolled to sit at the edge of her bed and grabbed her phone. She scowled at the brightly lit numbers that read 6:03am. It is way too early to be awake, but I guess when you gotta go…

"Alright, Sparky. Let's head outside."

The corgi gave a quick happy spin in response before rushing out of the bedroom. Shuffling to the front door, Felicity grabbed the leash hanging on the wall and hooked it on to his collar. Once outside and standing in the small section of grass in front of her townhouse, she found the morning to be uncomfortably damp. The fresh dew soaked through her fuzzy slippers and the bottom of her pajama pants, but Felicity barely registered the wet seeping into her clothes. Shoulders slumped and eyes half open, she figured she looked like a hung-over college student, but who was there to impress at this hour?

Patiently waiting for Sparky to finish his business, Felicity became lost in her thoughts until the steady sound of shoes meeting pavement broke through her reverie. Her gaze rose in the direction of the sound and found quite the sight.

Oh wow…

Dripping with sweat, a man – a few years older than herself, she gathered – was out for a morning jog. The soft grey shirt he was wearing clung to his torso, hinting at the defined hills and valleys that lay beneath, and his biceps flexed with every pump of his arms. Now, this was a sight worth waking up at 6am for. This may even be better than coffee.

But it wasn't only Felicity's attention the runner had grabbed. Sparky's sudden stream of high-pitched barks had Felicity scrambling to gather more of the leash in her hands, so he couldn't get more than a foot or two from her person.

When she looked back to the runner, she found that Sparky's ungodly baying had brought the man's attention to the two of them, and as his eyes lifted to Felicity's the corners of his mouth ticked upward into a small smile. With a slight nod in greeting and amusement alight in his eyes, the man kept right on jogging, never faltering in step or stride.

Felicity continued to stare after the running man until the sun's rays finally broke over the tops of the buildings and streaked right across her face. However, the interruption was a welcome one as she realized just how ridiculous she must have appeared. Bed head, in an old MIT sweatshirt, pajama pants that sported binary code, and eyes wide in wonder; she must have looked like an electrocuted owl. I'm surprised he managed to not laugh in my face.

Sighing in resignation at her horrid luck, Felicity whistled to Sparky and the two headed back inside. The time for coffee and a shower had come, and she definitely needed to clear her mind of this morning's encounter if she wanted to function at work today. It's not like she'd see the Adonis again anyway, her impersonation of a hot mess probably made sure of that.

.o.0.o.

The following morning, Sparky was kind enough to keep to their 7am schedule; however, her idiot supervisor had other ideas. Frantic texts had woken her around quarter to six that morning from the man who was supposed to be leagues ahead of her in technical knowledge, but the truth of the matter was she could run circles around anyone in that IT department. So, once again, instead of getting another hour of sleep before she had to start getting ready for work, Felicity was curled up in a chair, sipping coffee, as she directed her supervisor through the issue with their server.

Warmth seeped throughout Felicity's body as she savored the coffee in her hands, waiting for the next text to come through. All was silent until the steady sound she encountered yesterday morning wafted in through the open window beside her. Sitting up to peer outside, Felicity quickly glanced at the time on her phone before watching Adonis sprint by her house once again. As she followed his path with her eyes, she was able to admire his backside and almost immediately her gaze landed on his ass.

Good lord.

His shorts might not have been skin tight, but the visible outline gave Felicity enough information to imagine the dimples she'd find hidden beneath those clothes; the tight firmness she'd feel beneath her hands. Felicity groaned. This man was entirely too good-looking; it should be considered a crime. A buzzing sound snapped Felicity out of her daydreaming as her phone lit up with a new text. Glaring at her phone, she didn't pick it up right away, and turned her attention once more to the still and silent morning outside her window. Maybe waking up early wasn't such a bad thing after all.

Oh the third morning, Felicity woke to the sound of her alarm. Five minutes 'til six, she slipped out of bed, swapped her pajama bottoms for yoga pants, and brushed out her hair before pulling it up into a ponytail. Slipping into her MIT sweatshirt, she called out for Sparky and they quickly headed down the steps to their small section of grass. Felicity took a few deep breaths to calm her racing heart, and mentally scolded herself for how giddy she was feeling.

Acting as natural as possible, Felicity checked her phone every few minutes until around 6:10am she heard his pounding footsteps once more. She tightened her hold on Sparky's leash and kept her head lowered until she could school the smile on her face. Finally looking in his direction, she found he was already staring at her. The same smile and laughing eyes greeted her and he acknowledged her with a quick nod as before. This time she returned it with a nod of her own and a smile matching his. Neither paid any attention to the corgi yapping by her feet. He continued passed and Felicity once again continued to watch as he jogged away from her. Biting her lip to keep the threatening smile from breaking out across her face, Felicity shook her head and gave a small tug to Sparky's leash before heading back inside. Yep, mornings may just be her new favorite time of day.

.o.0.o.

Multiple mornings came and went without a single change in their routine. Felicity and Sparky waited in their little rectangle of grass for Adonis run by, a smile, a nod, and everyone ignoring the barking dog. It was simple, uncomplicated, and Felicity got to admire an incredibly attractive man for a few minutes every morning. Everything was going smoothly, until it wasn't… She would forever blame her boss and his inane ability to always bother her at the worst times imaginable.

About a week after their first meeting, Felicity and Sparky were "waiting" in their usual spot when her phone buzzed from inside her sweatshirt pocket. It was her supervisor again, this time a problem with the firewall. And a pretty serious problem at that. So, her mind zeroed in on the issue and everything else became white noise. She missed the pounding feet that always alerted her to his presence, as well as Sparky's usual cacophony. Thus, she forgot to hold Sparky back like she normally did and that's when everything started to go down hill.

Felicity's attention was abruptly interrupted when she became cognizant of being propelled forward and crashing head first into a solid mass. She felt Sparky's leash wrapping around her legs as well as those of the unfortunate individual she had collided with. Suddenly, gravity was taking over and they were falling, a tangled mass of limbs.

The pair landed with a solid "Oof!" and Felicity on top. Pushing herself up, she immediately connected with the crystal blue gaze of Adonis himself. Her mouth opened and closed a few times before words started spilling out.

"Oh, wow. You're… really sweaty." Those were the first words she uttered as her hands flexed on top of his pecks. Adonis' eyes crinkled in the corners, and his face lit up with a full-blown smile. JFC, this was not normal! Normal people do not look like their life is a photo-shoot. It wasn't until Sparky's continued barking broke through her captivated haze that she came back to her senses.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry." Felicity began again with renewed effort in freeing themselves. "Sparky!" she snapped at the corgi. "Knock it off!"

Duly chastised, Sparky became silent and sat down, waiting for his owner's next request. Untangling the leash from around their legs, Felicity scooted off of Adonis and sat next to him.

"You're not hurt are you?"

"No," Adonis laughed as he sat up himself. "More amused than anything. No harm, no foul."

"I'm sorry," Felicity apologized again. "I was a little distracted this morning and didn't have a proper hold on him."

"I noticed." After a pause and a deep breath, he continued. "Well, since we're actually saying words to one another, I guess we should be properly introduced. Hi, I'm Oliver. Oliver Queen."

He held out his hand and Felicity accepted it readily. "Felicity. Smoak."

"It's nice to finally meet you. And this," Oliver pointed to the corgi sitting beside them. "You said was Sparky?"

She giggled. "Yep, this little troublemaker is Sparky. When he was a puppy he had a penchant for chewing on electric cords. Sparks may have been involved one time, and thus the name Sparky was born."

Oliver smiled at the dog as he held out a hand for Sparky to sniff. It didn't take long for the corgi to start licking his hand and trying to jump all over him.

"Come here you." Felicity snatched Sparky into her arms, cuddling him close, and kissing him behind the ear. All Oliver could do was smile at the sight.

"Well," Felicity sighed. "I should let you go, you probably have things to do, and I have places to be."

Standing up quickly and brushing himself off, Oliver held out a hand to help her up. Grasping it tightly, Felicity shivered at the electrical tingle that shot up her arm. Her eyes immediately found Oliver's and she swore they had become a deeper, stormy blue. "As I said before, it's been a pleasure to meet you Felicity Smoak."

"You too," came her breathy reply. She cleared her throat before continuing. "Enjoy the rest of your run, Oliver."

With a final nod of his head and another brilliant smile, Oliver turned around and jogged away from her. Felicity would forever blame her boss for this moment, but maybe… maybe that wasn't such a bad thing.

.o.0.o.

After their official meeting, their mornings consisted of more than just a small smile and a nod. Now they waved, and shared a verbal greeting that was usually followed by – as Felicity dubbed it - Oliver Queen's "all-American boy" smile. Felicity was becoming addicted to that smile, for it never failed to make her morning, brighten her day, and make her completely weak in the knees. Part of her rolled her eyes at how head-over-heels she felt, but when it came to Oliver Queen it was very hard to fight that reaction.

One morning, Oliver decided to throw in a game-changer. Felicity began their greeting with her customary wave, but before her hand could fall back to her side, Oliver quickened his stride and smacked his hand straight into hers. Startled by the abrupt hive-five, Felicity's eyes widened and her mouth popped open in shock. Her stunned gazed followed him as he continued his jog, never missing a step. Oliver's only reply was to throw a wink over his shoulder before facing front once more.

However, the following morning Felicity came prepared. Watching as Oliver rounded the corner of her block, she threw him a quick wave before holding her hand up high – signaling that she wanted another high-five. Grinning broadly at Felicity's excited display, Oliver held his hand out to return the gesture. Their hands connected perfectly, but as the moment passed Felicity's hand continued to follow through and arced downward until her palm connected solidly with the center of Oliver's right butt cheek. Felicity managed to turn just in time and watch Oliver trip on air and stumble a few steps before righting himself. He turned to face her, jaw hanging open in astonishment. Felicity simply threw his wink back at him. Shaking his head in amusement and wonder, Oliver picked up his jog and continued on as if nothing had happened.

Smirking in victory, Felicity's good mood suddenly took a dive as her brain finally registered as to what she had just done. Oh god… Why did she have to go and do that!? Oliver probably thought she was such a creep now. Frack, frack, frack, FRACK! She sighed, resigned that this good thing they had going might be well and truly done. At least it was fun while it lasted.

When 6am rolled around again, Felicity and Sparky kept with their routine; however, for the first time in two weeks Felicity didn't keep watch for Oliver. Once Sparky had finished his business, Felicity turned to head back inside, but the sound of those steady footfalls made her stop in her tracks. Head snapping in the direction of the sound, she did a double take when she came face-to-face with a very shirtless Oliver Queen. Praise Google. Every daydream she ever had about his naked torso was sorely lacking, because no one could imagine this perfection. It looked as if he had been sculpted out of fine marble. Seriously, did someone just spray him with a mister, because this is just rude.

Felicity tried to look away, show some sense of propriety, but his abs were truly mesmerizing. When she was finally able to drag her eyes away from his glistening six-pack, she braved a look at Oliver. The smirk he wore said it all. No words or greetings were necessary this morning. Oliver Queen had won this battle of wills, but if a shirtless Oliver was losing, then Felicity Smoak gladly accepted defeat.

.o.0.o.

The first morning where Felicity and Sparky weren't waiting to greet him made Oliver pause with a slight sinking feeling in his stomach. Stopping at the bottom step outside of her townhouse, Oliver contemplated whether or not he should go knock on her door. There was really no reason for him to worry, she could just be running late, or maybe there was an emergency at work. A hundred different explanations ran through his head, so Oliver chalked up his anxiety as nonsense and continued on with his jog. But half way down the other end of her block, the nagging feeling refused to leave Oliver alone. Making a U-turn, he raced up to her front door and knocked. Blowing out a deep breath, Oliver rubbed the back of his neck and wondered what the heck he was doing.

A few minutes passed before the door cracked open and a weary looking Felicity poked her head out.

"Hey, Oliver," came her scratchy greeting before a coughing fit wracked her body.

Immediately, Oliver's forehead wrinkled in concern. "Hey, are you ok?"

Felicity blew her nose before answering his question. "I'm sorry we weren't out to greet you this morning, but I caught a nasty bug from one of my co-workers."

"Do you need anything? Where's Sparky?"

Felicity smiled appreciatively at his concern. "He's out back. I have a small fenced in yard. And no, I should be good, but thank you for the offer."

"Ok… Well, feel better, Felicity," Oliver sounded small and sad.

"Thank you, Oliver. We'll see you in a few days."

With a small wave goodbye, Felicity shut the door. Hearing the lock slip into place, Oliver made his way back down the steps, and after a moment of thought took off with a new destination in mind.

Twenty minutes later, more knocking had Felicity shuffling to her front door once again. Oliver stood there with a big smile, holding out a large brown paper bag.

Gazing at him in confusion, Oliver answered her unspoken question. "Starling City's miracle cure for colds: chicken noodle soup and homemade vanilla ice cream from Dino's. Their soup is the best and they use stelle pasta, you know, the little stars. And I thought ice cream would sooth your throat. Sorry, I didn't know what flavor you like, so I figured plain vanilla was the safest bet."

Felicity listened to his babble in shock. "Oliver, it's like 6:45 in the morning. Were they even open? How did you get this?"

He shrugged, "My family knows the owners, I just begged Mama Dino for some food."

Felicity's lips formed a small pout. Again, she was touched by his thoughtfulness and wondered what she had done to deserve it. "Thank you, Oliver. This was very sweet of you."

Oliver rewarded her with his patented grin, happy that he could aid in her recovery. "No problem at all. Well, I'll let you get some rest. Take care, Felicity."

With a final wink in farewell, Oliver jogged down her step and back out into the morning.

Shutting her door, Felicity moved into the kitchen to unload her bag of goodies. Inside she found two containers and a note. Pulling the note out she read:

Felicity,

The container holding the soup is microwaveable if you need to heat it up. Below is the number for Dino's delivery if you need refills, just tell them to put it on my tab. And if you need anything, please don't hesitate to call.

Feel better soon,

Oliver

Below his signature, she found two numbers, the first for Dino's delivery service, and the second Oliver's personal phone number. Holy. Shit. Oliver Queen gave her his number.

A few hours later, after eating the soup for lunch, Felicity decided to text Oliver a thank you.

F: Thank you again for the soup. It was delicious and I'm feeling better already! Now, let's see what kind of miracles this ice cream can conjure up!

Five minutes of going back and forth about whether or not to actually send the text, Felicity finally bit the bullet and sent the message on its way. Then spent the immediate minutes following that text staring at her phone, willing it to light up with a response. And to her surprise, it did.

O: Of course. And that ice cream will have you back on your feet in no time. I promise ;). Remember, you can text or call if you need anything. Now, rest and get better, because my morning jogs will be less exciting without you there!

The grin that crept across her face threatened to split it in two. Setting her phone down on the coffee table in front of her, Felicity curled up on the couch with Sparky at her feet and queued up Netflix. She wanted to get better as quickly as possible too.

.o.0.o.

Two weeks after Felicity and Sparky had returned to their morning routine, and copious texts between himself and Felicity, Oliver decided that another game-changer was due. Rounding the block, he found Felicity and Sparky waiting for him, as always. As he got closer to the pair, he slowed his run until he was stopped just in front of Felicity. Sparky immediately started jumping at Oliver's legs, begging for attention. Quickly scratching the corgi behind the ears, Oliver turned his full attention to Felicity.

Her brows knit together in confusion as she felt the nervousness rolling off of him. "Hey, Oliver. What's up?"

He cleared his throat. "So, I… ugh… I was wondering if maybe you'd like to go to dinner with me?"

"Like a date date?" came her immediate and shocked reply.

"A date date?"

"Yeah, like platonic versus non-platonic."

"Non-platonic?" Oliver's eyebrows shot up to his hairline.

Felicity was quick to explain. "Oh, you know. Non-platonic being where you go to dinner and learn about the other person and hope that a possible relationship might come out of the evening, versus platonic which is more your typical lunch between friends and that's all. So, that's why I'm asking for clarification because I don't want to be presumptuous and assume one over the other. And I'm good with either! In case you were wondering, but I wouldn't know because I'm still talking. Well, babbling. And I should probably stop. Shutting up in 3… 2… 1."

The flush that stole across Felicity's face only added to the hilarity of the moment and Oliver had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. She was hands-down the most adorable woman he had ever met and that was one of the many reasons why he wanted this. To learn everything there was to know about Felicity Smoak.

Resting his hands on her shoulders, he replied. "Yes, Felicity, a date date."

"Oh." Her hand rose to adjust her glasses. "Then, yes. Yes, I would like to go to dinner with you."

The grin on Oliver's face grew. "How does 7:30 tonight sound?"

"Perfect."

"Perfect," he echoed with a whisper. "Have a good day, Felicity."

And before he even realized what he was doing, Oliver leaned down and kissed Felicity lightly on the cheek before picking up his jog and sprinting down the block.

Felicity turned and watched him go, only remembering to breath once he disappeared around the corner.

A/N: Thank you for reading! Please leave a review if you enjoyed the story, I'd love to hear what you think. Until next time!

-RedPens&GreenArrows