To Dance with a Prince

Untitled Part 17

Oliver walked over to Felicity who stood wringing her hands, her nerves on edge. They were about to meet with the media and announce their relationship and the thought of being in the public eye scared her a little, no it scared her a lot. She was always the one that sat at the back of the class, wanting to go unnoticed. However, with the mind that she had it had never taken long for the teacher and classmates to notice her, and that is when the teasing began. She had endured it at a young age, as she was always the smartest kid in the classroom. Teachers loved her, but the other kids had ridiculed her, so she had taken to trying to go unnoticed, and it had followed her for most of her life, until now.

Oliver took her hands in his and rubbed them as she looked up at him.

"Everything is going to be ok Felicity. The media is going to love you. They just need to know your boundaries and that I won't stand for them treating you with anything but respect." He pulled her closer and she sighed.

"It's just I am so use to being the girl in the background. The one hardly noticed. Now I am going to be in the spotlight. Everyone is going to know me as the Prince's girlfriend."

Oliver lifted her chin with his finger so her eyes could meet his and he said confidently, unwaveringly, "You will never just be the Prince's girlfriend." He leaned down and kissed her before he took her hand.

"Let's go." He led her down the hall to the PR office and they waited before walking out to the podium. Felicity fidgeted by his side and he squeezed her hand before he turned to the media, his eyes turning from loving to serious.

"Thank you all for coming today. There are a couple of things I want to address and I felt this was the easiest way to do it. The first is I would like to introduce you to Felicity Smoak." He pulled her hand until she was standing by his side. "I am sure most of you have seen us together quite a bit lately, and we wanted to let you know that Miss Smoak and I are officially dating. With that being said, there was an incident recently where she was accused of cheating on me by certain members of the media. Miss Smoak has recently received security and that is the man that she has been seen with around town. He will be by her side any time I am not." He squeezed her hand again. "From this day forward, I am asking for each of you to treat Miss Smoak with the same respect you would treat any member of the royal family. Any disrespect towards her will be considered disrespect toward me and my family and will not be tolerated. As a thank you for taking time to come today we would like to open the floor up for a few questions."

The media went into a frenzy raising their hands and Oliver called on the first person, who rose and immediately asked.

"Prince Oliver, where did you and Felicity meet?"

Oliver smiled and said, "We met at the Palace Garden Party last month."

Another raised their hand and Oliver pointed for them to ask their question. "The name Smoak is not a common name. Where is she from?"

Oliver looked at Felicity to see if she wanted to answer, however she seemed content to let him speak and so he turned back with a patient smile. "Miss Smoak moved here from America not too long ago. She was looking for a change and fell in love with our city. So, she decided to stay."

Another person raised their hand, and he called on them. This went on for another ten minutes before he finally called an end to the questions. He thanked them all and explained that they would be available for more pictures at the ball.

He pulled Felicity to his side so the media could take some pictures before he took her hand and led her back into the palace. She immediately released his hand and walked over to the window, breathing heavily, and she turned and slid down, sitting against the wall. Oliver could tell she was spiraling, a panic attack not far away and he quickly moved to her side, took her in his arms and pressed her cheek to his chest as he spoke to her softly, gently.