The slam of the door made Oliver jump. You'd think after so many years on red alert there would be nothing that could catch him off guard, but after hanging up the bow almost five years ago and settling into domestic life he had really relaxed. Starling City had never been safer and everything was uneventful which is really just another word for boring. Oliver didn't need to check what the noise was, he knew it signified the return of his wife, Felicity had just dropped their son Tom off to his first ever sleepover with his favourite/only Aunt Thea and her brand new husband Roy. Bustling into the room as usual she flopped down beside Oliver and snuggled into his chest.

"Gosh that boy has an abnormal amount of energy, wonder where he got that from?" Although Oliver couldn't see her face he could imagine the sneaky smile across his wife's face. That beautiful face that he knew every inch of perfectly, after seven years together there wasn't a single part of her he didn't know and love. Learning about Felicity had been the happiest time in his life, from the second he realised he loved her right up to this second, laying with her in his arms on a Friday evening, she was his greatest triumph and he knew by the way that she looked at him, that he was hers. Oliver's mind began to wander back to that night that it all fell into place. The night he finally realised.

It was the day his mother was acquitted. It was the day she was taken by that vermin Count Vertigo. The day he killed again. The day it was worth it. He had told her that it hadn't been a choice, and that was the truth. He had looked her in the eye, held her hand and told her that she was important to him but it wasn't until he let go and tried to walk away that it all flooded on top of him. It was like something just unlocked in his head and all these blinding clarities came rushing in. She was not only important; she was the most important thing in his life. This little bombshell of a woman, with her flowing blonde hair and her awkward mumblings and her amazing brain, he loved her. Shit. He had paused for just a second at the top of the stairs before turning and sprinting back down toward her, she was still standing where he left her, hugging a blanket around her shoulders, and she looked up at him confused as he made his way to her.

"Oliver, wha..." her words were stifled as he pulled her face up to meet his own, their lips coming together with unnecessary force. A kind of quiet washed over his whole body as his tongue invaded her mouth; he was so completely aware of her, yet so utterly oblivious to anything else. He moved one of his hands from her face and pressed it against the space between her shoulder blades, encouraging her to move closer. The kiss was different to any he had experienced before this; this kiss was the product of months and months of oppressed feelings finally coming to the surface. Oliver had never denied himself of anything before the island, and after the island he was so damaged he couldn't bring himself to feel for anyone, until now. He felt her hands move to his chest to try and push him off her.

"Seriously Oliver, what is this?" she spluttered breathlessly. "I mean don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of the grand romantic gesture, but what is happening, I don't understand? Just last week you told me this couldn't happen, well I guess you didn't say it in so many words but that's what I understood from it and now this. Does this mean I'm not someone you could really care about, or does this mean you've changed your mind about that because I really think that by saying that you were just..." he silenced her with a quick kiss which he quickly learned was the best way to do so and then he placed his hands back on either side of her face.

"Listen to me Felicity Smoak" he searched her eyes as he spoke, and gently curled a stray hair behind her ear.

"You are the best person I know. I love you. I love how you ramble, I love how you refuse to take orders, I love how smart you are, I love how hard you work, I love how you still wince at every tiny bit of violence you see yet you never hesitate to put yourself in the firing line in the name of doing what is right, I love the sound of your voice. I love you and I'm sorry it took me so long to admit that to myself, but now I've said it and I'm not going to stop saying it for as long as you're willing to hear it. I love you, I love you, and I love you." He took a little step backwards and for terrifying second he thought that maybe he had misread the whole situation and she didn't feel the same way. Felicity was standing there, dishevelled hair, lopsided glasses, smudged lipstick and eyes filled with equal measures of confusion and surprise.

"I've got to be honest Mr. Queen" she said quietly and solemnly, "I'm not in the business of becoming involved with my employers." Felicity's eyes fell to the floor and Oliver's hands dropped to his sides. "I'm clearly joking Oliver you fool, of course I love you, I've loved you from the second you walked into my little basement office, I've been waiting for this moment from the beginning, but I gotta admit I never really thought it would come, why would you settle for me when you could have any other woman in the world, really, how ridiculous is that but you really could, you could have anybody, I thought you just saw me as having a schoolgirl crush and I had resigned myself to the fact that I would never have you, but of course, of course I love you, who wouldn't love you, you're you. I mean the real you. Not Oliver Queen heir to Queen Consolidated. Not Oliver Queen, vigilante. You are Oliver Queen, my Oliver Queen." He pressed another kiss to her lips before she could go any further.

"Hey Felicity, my Felicity, let's go home."

"OK my Oliver. Let's go home."