Author: Some1FoundMe
Title: Love Like This
Summary: **Post Season 3** Oliver and Felicity's lives have been blended in a way that they haven't been willing to share with anyone else and even a month after returning to Starling City, things haven't exactly gone back to normal.
A/N: Um, can't say I have a clue where the heck this came from. Like it literally just popped into my head and I say down and wrote it. So here you go, a cute, fluffy little one-shot that I actually kind of love.
Love Like This
She's standing in front of the wall in the master bedroom of their newly acquired condo examining three squares of paint, head cocked to the side in contemplation.
"Saratoga Springs, Comet or In Your Eyes?"
He steps up behind her, arms circling her slim waist, and rests his head on her shoulder. She presses her cheek to his as they stare at the color swatches for a long, silent moment.
"The third one," he decides, nuzzling his rough jaw along the smooth skin of her throat. She squirms in his arms but he simply tightens his hold, drawing her closer.
They've been home for less than a month now, back in Starling City, their day-to-day slowly returning to normal. Normal for Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak, however, wouldn't be considered normal to most people.
With Ray's disappearance and an admittedly distracted slip-up on Felicity's part prior to leaving the city, she's been saddled with the responsibility of being the acting CEO of Palmer Technologies. And she's taken to it with more grace and strength than he'd thought possible. He's seen firsthand how solid her will is, how quickly and efficiently she can take on any task put in front of her. And she's tackled her new post with the same fire that she tackles everything else.
And then there's the night-time aspect of their lives. The team of vigilantes that they (inadvertently) have created over the course of the last three years. Laurel and Thea, Digg - even though they're barely speaking - and their friends in Central City. What was once his mission, to save the city, has become a mission spearheaded by the people he least expected to be involved. The same people he'd been determined to protect when he'd returned home.
"Are you sure?"
Her question pulls him from his ruminations and he slides his hands across her smooth belly, settling them on her hips as he straightens behind her. She leans her full weight against him.
"I like it. It reminds me of that little beach house that we stayed at on the Gulf."
She turns to him with a soft grin, pushing up on her toes to kiss him quickly.
"Perfect. One room down, three to go. I mean, we've got the spare bedroom / guestroom and the dining room and the living room. Thank god the kitchen was completely updated by the previous owners because, let me tell you, that is not a project I want to tackle."
As she steps out of his hold, she slips her hand into his and leads him into the next room.
Their condo is the perfect size for the two of them. Enough space that they're not bumping into one another at every turn but not so big that it doesn't feel like home. It had been a mutual decision, one they'd barely discussed, buying a home together and he'd known the moment they'd stepped through the front door of this particular unit that it was theirs.
"Dry Sage, Pine Grove or Tea Light?"
They stand side by side this time and as he stares hard at the three choices on the wall of this room, an image appears uninvited in his mind. An image of a crib against the wall, a colorful mobile overhead, an overstuffed rocking chair tucked into the corner. He sees a light color on the walls, neutral and soft, and he swears for just a moment he can hear the cry of a baby echoing around him.
"Oliver?"
He blinks the image away and shrugs.
"Tea Light, I think. The others are … they're too dark."
She casts a suspicious glance at him from the corner of her eye.
It isn't the first time thoughts of a life with her – of their future – have made their way into his head. It isn't the first time he's imagined what the years ahead will bring them. He isn't afraid of it anymore. He's not afraid to accept – and admit – that a family with her is something that he wants. Just how much he isn't quite ready to share, but they've had more than one conversation about what they want out of their life together.
"We have time, you know," she says softly, essentially reading his mind, "And it's just paint. It isn't like we won't be able to change it when the time comes."
He squeezes her hand, "I know."
"But Tea Light is nice. I like it. Now, enough decision making for one evening."
He lets her lead him into their bright, airy kitchen and when she takes a seat at the island, he knows she expects him to make dinner for her. And he does, of course, because he doesn't mind. She's worked a long day at the office and they've still got to get to the foundry at some point in the next few hours. Taking time out of his (rather) boring day to make dinner for the woman he loves isn't a problem.
She speaks up a few minutes later.
"You know we'll have to tell them eventually."
He gives the mushroom, onion and asparagus mixture a quick stir in the sauté pan and lifts his eyes to find her watching him. He smirks, stepping away from the oven to lift her wineglass to his lips.
"Let them figure it out on their own," he shrugs.
Felicity rolls her eyes.
"Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if Thea already knows. She picks things up pretty quickly, in case you haven't noticed. If she's at all figured out how to use my programs, we're in trouble."
He lays his hand over hers where it rests on the smooth granite.
"Does it matter? You're right, we'd have to tell them eventually. So what if she's already figured it out? And if she has, why hasn't she said anything?"
Her brow quirks and she takes her glass of merlot back.
"How would you handle it if she ran off and got married and didn't tell you? What would you do if she and Roy took a ridiculously long –albeit magical – road trip and came home hitched? Oh, and all the while, you've known because you ran a computer search and found the marriage license? Which, I know, is highly unlikely because you and computers… well, we both know how that goes. But still? Would you confront her or would you let her stew and worry about how she was going to tell you?"
He opens his mouth to reply but she cuts him off.
"I don't even know why I asked that! Of course you'd confront her! You probably would've been waiting for Roy with an extra pointy arrow aimed at his heart," she shakes her head, "But that isn't Thea's style. I think she's just waiting for us to come to her."
"I knew there was a reason I liked you."
Felicity nearly falls off of her barstool as she spins around at the sound of his sister's voice.
He isn't exactly surprised to see her or to find that the deadbolt on the front door hadn't deterred her from entering. He is slightly surprised by the carefree grin on her face as she looks back and forth between the two of them.
"Thea, I – we – "
His little sister laughs, sliding onto the stool beside his wife, and pours herself a glass of wine.
"No need for an explanation. Look, I get it. And – honestly – I was a little pissed that I found out via a records search that my brother got married, but after I took a minute to think about it, I get it."
He glances at Felicity who shoots him a look of concern and bewilderment.
Thea shrugs, "You almost lost him. You thought you had, twice. And all of a sudden you had this chance at happily ever after and… and you took it. Can't say that I blame you."
A smirk tugs at his lips as he rounds the island and pulls his sister into a quick hug.
"I've missed you, Speedy."
He knows that she understands, knows that she knows that he doesn't mean he's missed her physically, but that he's missed the connection that used to exist between them.
"I've missed you, too, big brother."
While he returns to the stove to finish their dinner, he listens to his sister and his wife laughing over stories from their trip, sharing details of some of the places they visited and for the first time, he realizes that the weight he's felt all of these years has slowly begun to recede. It had started with her, with that first moment in her office all those years ago, and as their lives merged and their worlds blended into one another, that weight has only been lightened further. He knows it won't be long before it no longer exists. Before he can live his life a man free of guilt.