The Maybe Confession
Written by: Juana
Authors Note: This is how I imagined the kiss between Noel and Felicity to take place. I am however a huge fan of a Ben/Felicity coupling. Sorry all you Noel/Felicity fans. I have however been known to change my mind.
Story Summary: Felicity and Noel are on their maybe date at the Lucky Strike. Ben makes some non-sober confessions to Felicity and turns her world upside down.
Disclaimer: All the characters belong to the writers of Felicity. They are not mine…just borrowed for the purpose of this story.
OPENING SCENE: FELICITY AND NOEL ARE SITTING AT A TABLE AT THE “LUCKY STRIKE.” D. J. IS PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND.
NOEL: Nice beat…good rhythm. I’d say it’s time to claim that dance you owe me.
FELICITY: Is that your backwards way of asking me to dance?
NOEL: Backwards, forwards…If you want formal. Formal it is. Felicity would you do me the honor of accompanying me onto the dance floor, to share a dance with me? (bows to Felicity)
FELICITY: (smiles) Better… I would love to.
FELICITY AND NOEL WALK OUT TO DANCE FLOOR. START DANCING TO FAST SONG. NEXT SONG COMES ON AND ITS A SLOW SONG. THEY MOVE UNSURELY TOWARDS EACH OTHER AND START DANCING TO SLOW SONG. BEN WALKS IN.
JULIE: (spots Ben) Ben…hi.
BEN: Hey Julie…are you here by yourself?
JULIE: No, I came with some friends.
BEN: Feel like dancing?
JULIE: (looks towards dance floor) Um…sure.
JULIE AND BEN WALK OUT TO THE DANCE FLOOR AND START SLOW DANCING. BEN AND FELICITY NOTICE EACH OTHER AT THE SAME TIME. BOTH BEN AND FELICITY WIDEN THE SPACE BETWEEN THEIR RESPECTIVE DANCE PARTNERS.
BEN: Felicity…hey. I’m surprised to see you here.
FELICITY: Ben…hi. I um just wanted to get out.
NOEL: (whispers in Felicity’s ear) There’s still a little bit of this song left. Any chance you could…oh I’d don’t know pretend your here with me?
FELICITY: Sure…absolutely. (moves back into Noel’s arms and finishes dance.)
SONG ENDS AND NOELS STEPS ABRUPTLY OUT OF FELICITY’S ARMS AND WALKS BACK TO THE TABLE. FELICITY FOLLOWS.
FELICITY: Noel…wait.
NOEL: (turns back towards Felicity) So just out of curiosity. Did you know that the ever popular Ben Covington was going to be here?
FELICITY: No…well not for sure.
NOEL: Great…that’s just great. Next time you plan to use me to make Ben jealous…could you give me some advance warning…I’ll know my lines better.
FELICITY: I wasn’t using you Noel. I wanted to come here tonight.
NOEL: And now we both know why.
FELICITY: No…Noel I meant I wanted to come here with you tonight.
NOEL: Don’t take this the wrong way Felicity, but I’m beginning to doubt your sincerity where I’m concerned.
BEN WALKS UP TO NOEL AND FELICITY.
BEN: Mind if I sit with you?
INTERCUT: FELICITY/NOEL
FELICITY: Sure. (looks at Noel)
NOEL: Yes. ( looks at Felicity) I mean sure. It’s not like were here on a date or anything even remotely resembling that. I’m going to the bar… (To Felicity) Do you need another drink?
BEN: Yeah…thanks.
NOEL WALKS OVER TO THE BAR. BEN AND FELICITY ARE SITTING AT THE TABLE.
BEN: Am I stepping on some toes here? Your RA seems kinda pissed. You aren’t here on a date are you?
FELICITY: No…it’s nothing like that…actually it’s something like that. We did come here together tonight.
BEN: Maybe I should find another table then.
FELICITY: Yes I think that’s probably the best thing.
BEN: Is that what you want?
FELICITY: No…I mean…yes. I really think that would be better.
BEN: Okay…(gets up from table) I guess I’ll see you Monday.
FELICITY: Sure…Monday.
NOEL WALKS BACK OVER TO TABLE AS BEN IS WALKING AWAY.
NOEL: Was it something I said?
FELICITY: Actually it was something I said…I told him I was on a date…with you.
NOEL: You did?
FELICITY: Yes I did.
NOEL: Well I guess I have to apologize for all the nasty names I called you.
FELICITY: You didn’t call me any names.
NOEL: Well no…not to your face anyway.
NOEL SMILES AND FELICITY LAUGHS. ANOTHER SLOW SONG COMES ON.
NOEL: What do you say we call a truce? Dance?
FELICITY: Truce accepted…and a dance is a definite yes.
NOEL AND FELICITY WALK ON TO DANCE FLOOR AND START SLOW DANCING. BEN WATCHES FROM THE BAR.
NEXT SCENE: NOEL AND FELICITY ARE IN FRONT OF HER DOOR.
NOEL STARTS TO LEAN IN TO KISS HER. FELICITY BACKS UP.
FELICITY: I had a really good time tonight Noel. (extends her hand for him to shake) Thanks.
NOEL TAKES FELICITY’S HAND AND PULLS HER CLOSER AND GIVES HER A KISS.
NOEL: I’m so sorry…I don’t know what came over me.
FELICITY: It’s okay… really…it was nice.
NOEL: Nice? Not exactly what I was shooting for.
FELICITY: I just didn’t expect it…that’s what it is.
NOEL: Felicity are you in any way attracted to me…or am I making a complete moron of myself here?
FELICITY: I like you Noel…I’m just not sure I like you in that way.
NOEL: Is it because of Ben?
FELICITY: Partly…I’m not sure what it is…I’m sorry Noel.(Felicity leans in and gives Noel a soft kiss)
BEN WALKS AROUND CORNER JUST IN TIME TO SEE THIS. HE QUICKLY DUCKS BACK AROUND THE CORNER.
INT. OF FELICITY’S DORM ROOM. THERE IS A KNOCK ON DOOR.
FELICITY: Noel is that you?
BEN: (opens door) No it’s me…Ben. Can I come in?
FELICITY: (surprised) Ben? (sits up in bed) Sure come in.
BEN: Hey.
FELICITY: Is everything okay?
BEN: I’ve had a little too much to drink.
FELICITY: Do you need a place to stay the night again?
BEN: No…I need to talk to you.
FELICITY: To me?…what about?
BEN: About tonight.
FELICITY: What about tonight…did I offend you by asking you to leave?
BEN: Felicity…sshh. I need to talk…you need to listen.
FELICITY: Okay.
BEN: I was watching you with that guy tonight.
FELICITY: Noel?
BEN: Right Noel…I don’t know how to say this.
FELICITY: Say what?
BEN: What I came here to say.
FELICITY: Maybe this isn’t the best time Ben.
BEN: It’s the perfect time…alcohol keeps you honest.
FELICITY: Honest about what?
BEN: I was jealous.
FELICITY: (surprised) Jealous of Noel?
BEN: Yes…I don’t know exactly what this means…but I wanted to be the one dancing with you tonight.
FELICITY: What are you saying Ben?
BEN: I don’t know. You amaze me…everyday you do something that takes a little piece of my heart.
FELICITY: What?
FELICITY SITS DOWN HEAVILY ON HER BED…DIGESTING BEN’S CONFESSION. BEN TRIES TO TAKE A SEAT ON THE BED NEXT TO HER BUT IN HIS DRUNKEN STATE HE MISCALCULATES AND ENDS UP SITTING ON THE FLOOR NEXT TO HER.
BEN: I think about you more every day. (puts hands on Felicity’s legs.) I look forward to seeing you. (rubs Felicity’s leg.)
FELICITY STANDS UP. BEN SHAKILY STANDS UP TOO.
BEN: Dance with me.
FELICITY: I don’t think that’s such a good idea.
BEN: Please.
FELICITY: There’s no music.
BEN: I’ll hum..(starts humming and pulls Felicity into his arms and starts dancing with her.) I like this.
FELICITY: (flustered) Uh huh… Ben I think you need to go.
BEN: I don’t want to go. (pulls Felicity even closer and begins to run his fingers through her hair.)
FELICITY: Ben…I
BEN: (interrupts) sshh…just dance.
BEN AND FELICITY ARE DANCING. BEN LEANS IN AND GIVES HER A PASSIONATE KISS.
NEXT SCENE: JULIE AND FELICITY ARE SITTING AT CAFETERIA TABLE. BEN WALKS UP.
BEN: Hey.
JULIE: Care to join us?
BEN: (looks at Felicity) No…I’ve gotta go.
JULIE: What was that all about?
FELICITY: What do you mean?
JULIE: Ben seemed weird.
FELICITY: I didn’t notice.
EXT. SHOT: BEN’S APARTMENT BUILDING-DAY
FELICITY IS RINGING THE LOFT INTERCOM.
BEN: (over intercom) Yes?
FELICITY: Ben, it’s Felicity. I need to talk to you.
BEN: (hesitates at first) I’ll buzz you up.
BEN MEETS FELICITY AT HIS APARTMENT DOOR.
BEN: What’s up?
FELICITY: It’s about last night.
BEN: Last night?…At Lucky Strike?
FELICITY: After Lucky Strike.
BEN: After?
FELICITY: In my dorm room.
BEN: Your dorm room?
FELICITY: Last night you came to my room.
BEN: I did?
FELICITY: You don’t remember?
BEN: No, I’m sorry… I don’t.
FELICITY: (upset) I see… I have to go.
FELICITY RUNS FOR THE ELEVATOR.
BEN: (Pauses) Felicity…wait.
AFTER A MOMENT OF CONTEMPLATION BEN MAKES A MAD DASH FOR THE ELEVATOR BUT REACHES IT JUST AS THE DOORS ARE CLOSING.
INT: FELICITY’S ROOM-DAY
FELICITY IS SITTING ON HER BED CRYING WHEN THERE IS A KNOCK AT THE DOOR.
FELICITY: (sniffling) I’m busy right now.
NOEL: (opens door) I just wanted to tell you the floor meeting has been moved up from seven o’clock to six.
FELICITY: Okay…thanks.
NOEL: Are you okay?
FELICITY: I’m fine…I just got something in my eye.
NOEL COMES OVER AND SITS ON THE BED BESIDE FELICITY.
NOEL: At the risk of repeating myself…I’m a great listener.
FELICITY: It’s about Ben…are you sure you want to hear this?
NOEL: Ben, huh…big surprise.
FELICITY: I don’t want to hurt your feelings Noel.
NOEL: I’m listening.
FELICITY: Last night after you dropped me off…Ben showed up.
NOEL: He came by your room?
FELICITY: Yes…he had been drinking.
NOEL: Felicity…what did he do to you?
FELICITY: He told me I amazed him…he danced with me and he…kissed me.
NOEL: I see…Then why are you so unhappy?
FELICITY: Today was a completely different story…he doesn’t remember anything he said or did last night.
NOEL: Ouch.
FELICITY: Exactly… last night he was everything I wanted him to be. Today I realize that everything I want him to be… is nothing like he is.
NOEL: Are you going to be okay?
FELICITY: Yeah, I think so…I think I’m going to forgo the meeting tonight…if you don’t mind.
NOEL: Sure…I understand…I’m just a few doors down if you need a friend.
FELICITY: Thanks.
NEXT SCENE: FELICITY IS SITTING IN HER ROOM. RECORDING A TAPE TO SALLY.
FELICITY: Well Sally…Ben finally told me everything I wanted to hear and he was so drunk he doesn’t remember it. I’m hurt and angry…but in a weird way I’m kind of relieved. I went out with my resident advisor Noel last night. I had a good time. He is so sweet. It’s funny Noel and Ben are complete opposites. Yet I think of them both as very important in my life. With Noel I feel secure and comfortable. With Ben I feel, scared and excited. When he kissed me, Ben I mean, I felt it all the way down to my toes. Is that normal? I told you last tape that I wanted to forget about Ben and go on with my life…maybe this incident is the wake-up call I needed.
THERE IS A KNOCK ON THE DOOR.
FELICITY: Just a second. (into recorder) Sally someone is here…so I’ll finish this later. I love you. (Felicity walks over to door and opens it.) Ben…what are you doing here?
BEN: I need to talk to you. I need to straighten some things out.
FELICITY: Are you sober? Or is this another conversation you won’t remember?
BEN: I’m completely sober…but Felicity even when I’m drinking I remember my conversations.
FELICITY: What are you saying?
BEN: I remember last night.
FELICITY: You do?…but you said that you didn’t.
BEN: I lied…I’m sorry…but I had to tell you the truth when you left so upset.
FELICITY: Why did you lie to me?
BEN: It was easier than facing the truth.
FELICITY: Exactly what truth are we talking about?
BEN: What I did…what I said last night.
FELICITY: You regret it.
BEN: Yes…but not for the reasons you think.
FELICITY: What reasons then?
BEN: This is really hard for me. I don’t do emotional well. I guess I have my father to thank for that.
FELICITY: I’m sorry this is uncomfortable for you Ben…but you owe me some sort of explanation.
BEN: I know. Last night the things I said…there true…but there not.
FELICITY: If this explanation is suppose to help me understand…it’s not working.
BEN: Okay here goes. I care about you Felicity…a lot. Maybe more than I realize. But I’m selfish I sometimes do or say things…out of place. I revealed things to you that gave you the illusion of hope. I thought if I pretended not to remember that then we could go back to where we were before.
FELICITY: Back to friends?
BEN: Yes. I know it’s cruel of me. But I can’t move forward with you. I’m not ready. But I don’t want to lose what we had. You’ve always been this girl that I wanted to know better. I use to watch you and wonder what you were like. You’re nothing like I imagined you were…Your much more…your incredible. Okay…I’m rambling.
FELICITY: What do you want me to say Ben? I can’t forget about last night…You said things to me….
BEN: I know. I've thought of nothing else since you left my apartment.
FELICITY: You hurt me Ben…you’re making it hard to move on.
BEN: Again… I know…but in a strange way…I think that’s what I wanted to do. I can’t commit to you…but I didn’t want you committing to someone else.
FELICITY: You can’t have it both ways Ben. I understand that you want to be friends. We can do that. I can’t put my life on hold though. I used to think I could.
BEN: Is it because of Noel?
FELICITY: No…I can’t put my life on hold because it’s not fair to me.
BEN: So were friends?
FELICITY: Right, friends.
BEN: (hugs Felicity) Thanks.
BEN STARTS TO WALK AWAY. WALKS BACK AND GIVES FELICITY A KISS, HANDS HER A NOTE.
BEN: This is for you…it pretty much says the same thing…but in case you want some memento of my heartfelt apology…well anyway you keep it.
BEN WALKS OUT. FELICITY SITS ON BED AND STARTS TO OPEN LETTER. THERE IS A KNOCK ON HER DOOR.
FELICITY: Come in.
NOEL: Forgive the intrusion. (hands notes to Felicity) Meeting notes for you…So how are you?
FELICITY: I’m fine. I was just getting ready to finish a recording to Sally and then I was going to call it a night.
NOEL: Okay…this may be none of my business…but I saw him leave. Is everything okay?
FELICITY: Things are fine. We worked out some kinks in our friendship. That’s all.
NOEL: Good. Like I said it’s none of my business.
FELICITY: I appreciate the concern.
NOEL: Just doing my job. How lousy of an RA would I be if I showed no concern?
FELICITY: Really lousy.
NOEL: I’m fairly transparent aren’t I?
FELICITY: It will be our little secret. Night Noel.
NOEL: Goodnight Felicity.
NOEL WALKS OUT. FELICITY OPENS NOTE AND STARTS TO READ. TURNS ON TAPE RECORDER.
FELICITY: Sally, things have done a complete about face in the last hour. Ben stopped by. That was the knock at my door. He admitted to remembering everything. He lied to avoid facing me with the truth. I guess I should be mad at him, but who am I to fault someone for having feelings they don’t know how to deal with. He wrote me a letter. I’m going to read it to you. Felicity, I am writing this down, just in case you don’t give me the opportunity to straighten things out face to face. I was a complete jerk to you today. I pretended to not remember what a fool I made of myself last night. I remember everything. I hope you don’t hate me for lying. So far you and your friendship are the best part of college. Last night when I came to your room, my intentions were nothing but good. I wanted to tell you everything that was in my heart. I know now that the timing was all wrong. The things I said were…well as true as I can offer right now. but I’m not prepared to act on them and that makes telling you how I felt wrong. I can’t make you any promises and I know that sucks. I care about you Felicity. I just need to find out who I am before I involve anyone else in my sorry, pathetic life. I regret giving you hope that we would be together. I hope I haven’t completely extinguished our friendship. It means…well a lot to me. I know you owe me nothing, but if you could find some way to get past my selfish acts. I would love to continue our friendship. Please give this some time and consideration. Your friend, Ben. So what do you think Sally? I would say college is definitely looking up. Well I’m kind of tired so I’m calling it a night. Send me your reply soon. Love, Felicity.
NEXT DAY: BEN IS SITTING AT CAFETERIA TABLE WITH JULIE. NOEL IS SITTING AT TABLE BY HIMSELF. FELICITY WALKS IN LOOKS BOTH DIRECTIONS AND GOES OVER TOWARDS BEN.
FELICITY: I just wanted to say hi. (walks over to Noel’s table and sits with him.)
SALLY: (VO) Felicity, I got back to you as soon as I got your tape. Sounds like things are looking up with Ben. But my money is still on the other guy Noel. I know I’ve never met him, but any guy who goes out of his way to comfort a girl, he’s head over heels for, but he knows is head over heels for someone else, is okay in my book. Honestly though, Ben seems like a nice guy too, a little confused maybe, but aren’t all men at some point in their lives. I’m proud of how much of your life is truly yours now. Don’t let the men problems change that in any way, because your right smack dab at the center of the rest of your life. Men will come and go, but you will always be there. I have a group meeting tonight, learning how to cope with the loss of a loved one. So I’m going to make this tape a short one and hope my advice is timely. Life is meant to be lived. Don’t be disappointed by the things you don’t have, remember the ones that you do.