5 Years
The warm breeze drifted past Felicity, blonde tendrils of hair tickling her cheeks. The sun was warm on her bare thigh, compounded by the weight of Oliver's hand resting just above her knee.
Felicity stared out at the water flying by in shades of blue and green and couldn't help but chuckle, thinking back to how they had made it to this moment in time.
"What's so funny?"
"Oh you know…it's almost five years to the day that we ran off and got married like the lunatics that we were. And here we are, going for a Sunday drive in the very same Porsche that we ran out of town in." Felicity said in disbelief.
"Tomorrow. Five years tomorrow." Oliver affirmed.
"Is that why you wanted to go for a drive? To reminisce?" Felicity asked skeptically.
"Sure. Maybe. Why not?" Oliver shrugged his shoulder in response, attempting to cover up the small smile trying to creep up his face.
"So…" Felicity prodded impatiently.
"Sooo…what?" Oliver asked.
"What are you really up to?" Felicity asked, her head tilted like she did so many years ago in the I.T. office.
"Alright fine. Maybe I am up to something, but you don't get to know yet." Oliver said teasingly.
Felicity huffed and pushed her back against the seat, her eyes drifting off to the horizon where the sun still had a little ways to go before it disappeared.
"Don't get saucey with me Ms. Smoak. Patience is a virtue, or so I'm told." Oliver scolded, using her maiden name.
"Oh please, like you were patient enough not to propose to me all of two days after we defeated the league? We hadn't even been on a second date." Felicity said rolling her eyes.
"Well, like Diggle once told me, it's about finding someone that's already the right fit. You were the right fit. I knew it, you knew it, Diggle knew it, hell I'm pretty sure all of Starling City knew it." Oliver said exasperated.
Felicity brought her hand up to Oliver's hairline and let her fingers cord through his hair, her diamond and emerald encrusted wedding set catching the light, matching the glistening sea. She couldn't help but think back to how dark those days had been. Their lives had been upended, multiple times. Somehow though, she and Oliver had gone through the fire together, and had come out molded together, stronger than steel.
She had no doubt in her mind at that point that they could make it. She just couldn't believe that Oliver had come to that same conclusion, but it seemed that as soon as he accepted the fact that he was worthy of love, and not just any love, but her love, he couldn't waste another day not having her in his life permanently. Felicity leaned her head against the headrest as her hand trailed down his arm to meet the hand resting on her thigh. She squeezed his hand and closed her eyes, thinking back to the day he proposed.
The sun had barely risen over Starling City as Oliver pulled Felicity by the hand into the now closed down Verdant. Stopping in the middle of the empty club floor, he grabbed Felicity's hands and stared into her eyes.
"Oliver, what are we doing here? What couldn't wait until I got a few more hours of sleep? You know we did just defeat a super villain. I think even you're entitled to sleep in the next day. Not that we were getting much sleeping done…"
Oliver huffed out a small laugh, quirking his head slightly. He would never tire of her verbal bluntness.
"Felicity, I'm going to ask you some questions, and I want you to answer me truthfully and honestly." He commanded, his voice sounding determined.
"O..kay," was all Felicity could think to say.
"Alright. Do you love me? Not just love me, but are you in love with me?" Oliver asked, staring into her eyes while his thumbs ran over her hands.
"Of course I'm in love with! This better not be you trying to pull away from us again. I swear to God Oliver, if…" Felicity answered, her temperament starting to sour.
"Oh no. No, not at all. Just answer the questions okay?" He reassured her urgently, wanting to move on to the rest of his questions. When she nodded her head in the affirmative, he continued his interrogation.
"Do you think there's any point in dating? I mean, remember what you said on our first disastrous date? Shouldn't we just skip all of the possible disastrous dates and commit to each other? You already know me better than anyone else, even myself, and I like to think I know you just as well."
"Of course you know me better than anybody else. You're the first person that ever saw me, saw past the babbling I.T. girl. I don't see any reason why we shouldn't just go ahead and throw on the boyfriend/girlfriend label, even though that does sound a bit immature now that I'm saying it out loud. The point is, yes, we're committed to each other." Felicity answered, her eyes imploring his, trying to figure out what he was getting at. He should know by now that he was it for her, that there would never be a choice to make.
"That's good to know." Oliver said with smile, watching her realize that she had said the last bit aloud.
"And now knowing that, do you think there's a single obstacle that we couldn't overcome?" Oliver continued, his hands starting to run up and down her arms, as if he was keeping them from doing something else.
"Oliver, what is this about?" Felicity asked, concerned that he was about to drop a bomb on them.
"Just answer the question, please." Oliver commanded.
"Well, no, I think we've been through so much. We've relied on each other as friends, as partners, now lovers. We have a strong foundation, a foundation that could weather any storm."
Oliver breathed deeply, relieved to know that she had just as much faith in their relationship as he did.
"Okay then, I just have one more question." He said, his hands dropping to his sides, his fingers instantly rolling together.
Felicity watched as everything about his demeanor changed, from the shy smile on his face, to the way his shoulders almost folded in, and the slight dip his chin took. Before she could question his sudden change, he cut her off with a whispered question that flew out of his mouth so fast she almost didn't hear it.
"Marry me?"
But she did hear it.
"Wha…huh…did you just say 'Marry me'?"
Regaining a bit of self-control, he grasped her hands again, holding them together as he dipped down on one knee.
Felicity gasped, her hand flying out of his grasp to cover her mouth in shock.
"Will you, Felicity Smoak, marry me? I know I'm in love you. I know that I'm already committed to us. I know that we can make it through whatever the universe throws at us, and I know for certain that at some point a few weeks from now, a few months, maybe a few years from now, that I will be right here, asking you to marry me. I don't want to wait that long, not even a few weeks Felicity." Oliver finished, his voice choked as he looked up into her wide eyes, already shining with tears.
Felicity couldn't believe what she was hearing, but at the same time it made so much sense. She knew, deep down in her bones, that Oliver Queen was the love of her life.
"Yes." She said firmly, her head nodding vigorously as tears started streaming down her cheeks.
Oliver immediately jumped to his feet, pulling her in to a tight embrace, tilting her head back to meet her in a long and searing kiss. Her feet left the ground as he lifted her up, spinning them around as they kissed.
"Felicity, yoohoo, Felicity? Where'd you go?" Oliver asked, shaking her hand a bit.
"Huh, what'd you say?" Felicity asked dreamily. Oliver laughed, shaking his head a bit.
"I said we're almost there. What were you thinking about?" He looked at her curiously, his eyes peeking out over the top of his sunglasses as he looked down at her.
"Oh, just the day you proposed, the day we got married. I still can't believe we ran off to the courthouse. I didn't think Thea would ever forgive us for not having a ceremony or a reception." Felicity answered, her head shaking in disbelief as she watched the sky turn darker shades of orange, to pink, ending in purple.
"Yea, she was pretty pissed." Oliver said, slowing the convertible down to a lower speed as he started to pull off onto the parking bank that lined the shores of the beach.
That's when Felicity saw a white billowing tent in the distance, not far from the water's edge. She could see bamboo torches, their flames flickering in the wind. And people. There were at least twenty people under the tent.
"Oliver…" Felicity started.
"It's a good thing Thea likes to hold grudges, because she helped me plan our wedding reception, five years in the making." Oliver said sheepishly.
"Oh my god, Oliver. Are you serious? For our anniversary?" Felicity all but squealed, her hand clutching his to her heart.
"Yea, I couldn't think of anything that you needed or wanted. I know there isn't anything that I could buy that would show you how much I love you, how much more I love you, even five years later. At least this way I could make up for rushing us through things and making you miss out on the big white wedding." Oliver said guiltily.
"Oliver Queen, you listen to me." Felicity demanded as she grabbed his head between her hands to force him to look in her eyes.
"I wouldn't change a thing. There's not a moment or decision that I regret. We have our happy story." Felicity managed to get out without crying.
Oliver reached up, his fingers caressing her cheek, brushing the wild tendrils of hair behind her ear.
"Felicity…" He paused, clearing his throat. "You were always my happy story, starting with your first babble."
She crashed her lips over his, her arms folding around his neck. She was so happy in this moment, right here. That moment didn't last.
"Ewww! Momma! Papa! Kisses are gwoss. Yuck" Thomas Queen whined from the backseat.
Oliver and Felicity laughed as they broke apart, looking back at the blue-eyed and dark haired toddler.
"You know, if you're anything like your Uncle Tommy that's in heaven, you won't be thinking that in about eight years." Oliver told little Tommy thoughtfully.
Felicity promptly slapped his arm.
"Oliver, not only do I refuse to think about how fast eight years is going to pass us by if five years is any indication, but I refuse to imagine my little boy falling in love with anyone yet. I'm going to be the only woman in his life, for as long as I can."
Oliver barked out a laugh, opening his door to get out of the Porsche.
"I only hope and pray he finds someone and loves someone as much as I love you." He said seriously as he started to unbuckle Tommy from his car seat. She walked around to meet him on the other side of the car, each of them holding one of Tommy's hands.
"So Mrs. Queen, let's go celebrate our marriage." Oliver said, pulling them in the direction of the party tent.
"I'd like that very much."
And the Queen family walked off into the sunset, celebrating life.