Felicity woke at the sound of thunder and blinked her eyes open, she was facing the panoramic windows with a view over the large estate and the rain was pouring outside. She saw a flash of light and a set of thunder followed three seconds later, she glanced over at the clock on her nightstand and sighed, it was no more than two in the morning. She turned around and reached out a hand to the empty space next to her, it wasn't unusual for her husband to stay up late but she wasn't a big fan of thunderstorms and she really wanted to cuddle up to him and feel his strong arms wrap around her in a protective cocoon.
Another flash of light and thunder had her sitting up and glancing around the room, there was no sign he'd even been there since this morning, she pulled back the covers and slipped her legs over the edge of the bed and onto the new parquet floor. The floor was cold under the soles of her feet and she shivered a little at the cold breeze that slipped in between the cracks of the window, she walked over to the door and grabbed her black silk robe, wrapping it around herself before opening the door and stepping into the dark hallway. The entire house was quiet; everyone had gone to sleep hours ago except for the men who was the designated night watchers. She could hear voices coming from down stairs and she knew they were probably alternating between playing poker and patrolling the grounds, all though she hoped they were allowed to stay inside tonight, she would hate for any of them to get sick.
She walked to the end of the hall and padded down the stairs, the only other thing that seemed to help except for her husband was hot chocolate and since he obviously wasn't home yet, she'd make herself a cup.
She didn't meet anyone on her way to the kitchen and she was glad because except for her silk robe she wasn't wearing much else.
"Mrs. Queen!" their resident housekeeper Raisa stood up with a tray of what smelled like fresh bread and put it on the counter.
"Raisa, you should be sleeping" she scolded softly and took a seat by the kitchen counter.
"Oh no, this storm is no good for my sleep. Too much noise" the older women shook her head and Felicity smiled, guess she wasn't the only one who didn't like thunderstorms.
"That makes two of us" Raisa smiled and poured Felicity a cup of what smelled suspiciously like hot chocolate and put in on the counter in front of her.
"You know me too well" she smiled and reached out to squeeze Raisas hand.
"I had a feeling you would come" she winked and Felicity lifted the cup to her mouth and blew on it softly, she almost burned herself as another sound of thunder verberated through the walls and she jumped with the cup in her hand.
"Careful Mrs. Queen!" Felicity laughed nervously and took a deep breath.
"Mr. Queen not come home yet?" Felicity sighed and shook her head.
"I don't know, he might be in his office" she shrugged and took a sip of the cocoa, even if he was in his office she wasn't scared enough to go search him out, he probably had important business to tend to.
"He should be with his wife when she is scared" Raisa tssked, causing Felicity to laugh.
"You should tell him that sometime" she grinned and Raisa opened her mouth to reply but closed it and smiled just as Felicity felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her from behind.
"She already has" Oliver murmured and placed a soft kiss on her shoulder where her robe had fallen down.
"Good" she stated and winked at Raisa who shook her head with a soft smile and turned her back to them, turning to pack the bread in bags and sliding them into the freezer.
"I will go sleep now, goodnight Mr. and Mrs. Queen" she said matter of fact and took her departure.
"I just got back and you weren't in bed," he murmured and leaned against the counter next to her, watching her with a soft expression and folded arms.
"The storm woke me and you weren't there, so I settled for the next best thing" she lifted her cup of steaming hot cocoa and he smiled as he took it out of her hands and stole a sip.
"Hey!" she protested and reached for the cup, nearly falling of the bar stool in the process, if he hadn't reached out to steady her she would have.
"Haven't anyone ever told you not to become between a women and her chocolate" she said with narrowed eyes and he rolled his eyes before handing her back the cup and leaning in to kiss her.
"I'd much prefer that to be "don't come between a man and his wife"" she laughed and put down the half-empty cup, sliding off the bar stool to stand in front of him. It was in moments like these she became incredibly aware of just how big of a man he really was, she had to stand on her toes to be able to kiss him unless she was wearing heels, and even then she only reached him to his chin.
"I missed you today" she sighed and wrapped her arms around his middle, leaning her head against his chest.
"Let's go to bed" he murmured and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her even closer.
"Lead the way Mr. Queen" she grinned up at him and she unwrapped herself and he took her hand about to lead her out of the kitchen. It wasn't until she stepped back that his hand in hers froze and she looked up at him in confusion, he was looking down at her with hard eyes and she frowned, was he mad at her.
"What are you wearing?" she looked down at herself and up at him again, she couldn't see what the big deal was.
"My robe" he ground his jaw and looked over her shoulder as if scanning the surroundings for anyone else.
"And not much else" he said stiffly and she wanted to roll her eyes, he wanted to have this discussion again? At two in the morning when they were just about to head up to bed, and how had he not seen what she was wearing before now?
"Do we really have to do this now Oliver, I'm tired, it's been a long day and I just want to fall asleep in your arms. Is that too much to ask?" She could see he was trying very hard not to say anything that might result in an argument and she decided that just this time she'd fold before they reached that point.
"I'm sorry, okay? I promise next time I wake up in the middle of the night I'll put on more clothes before strolling through the house." He swallowed hard and nodded, he was obviously not okay, but he wasn't going to start something.
"Now could you please take me to bed Oliver?" She yelped as he swung her up into his arms and she wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"I am perfectly capable of walking you know," she murmured and he just shook his head wordlessly.
"Not tonight you aren't" she wasn't going to argue because she very much liked it in his arms. She leaned her head against his shoulder as he carried through the house and up the stairs, thankfully they didn't run into anyone on their way to their room, she thought that might finally make him snap.
He didn't put her down until they were inside the room and when he did he put her down gently on the bed. She scooted to the edge and slid of her robe, tossing it over a chair in the corner of the room before she crawled back up the bed and slid under the covers. She watched him as he undressed, her eyes following his every movement from unbuttoning his shirt to stepping out of his pants, when it came to her husband their were to things she was absolutely sure of; he was the most beautiful man she had ever seen and she loved him so much it hurt sometimes.
He caught her looking and halted in the movement of folding his shirt, looking at her questioningly.
"What?" she smiled softly and shook her head.
"Nothing, I just… You know I love you, right?" he continued folding up his clothes and put them on his dresser before he joined her in the bed and opened his arm for her as an open invitation for her to snuggle into him.
"It wasn't always like that" he stated quietly and she looked up at him, his eyes were dark and full of emotion and she was taken back to the very first time they met, when neither of them could seem to stand each other.
"Felicity, it's not like I'm asking you to kill someone. I just want you to come to this club with me, after everything with Nyssa I could really use a night out." Felicity had been planning on a quiet night with a nice home-cooked meal, a couple of hours of lounging in front of the TV with her favourite ice cream, catching up on large amounts of missed TV-shows. Now her best friend Sara had just broken up with her girlfriend and was in desperate need of some girl time that included drinking away all her sorrows with her best friend and sister at her sisters boyfriend's nightclub.
"Why can't you just go with Laurel? You know I'm not really the partying type, and a club like Verdant is definitely not my kind of scene."
"How do you know, you've never even been there?! And going out with just Laurel would precede the point, she is happily in love and I don't need to see that right now. I need to be with someone as miserably single as me." Felicity snorted and rolled her eyes.
"Thanks for that" she muttered and turned off the stove before she'd even gotten to the cooking, she already knew she was going to cave, if only because it was Sara.
"You know what I mean. Come on, it's Friday and you need to loosen up a bit. I hate to tell you this Smoke, but ever since you started working at QC you've become boring." Felicity narrowed her eyes at the phone and stomped into her bedroom, flipping through the dresses in her wardrobe.
"I'll show you boring," she muttered and she could hear the grin in Sara's voice when she replied.
"That's the spirit! I'll come by your place in an hour and then we can catch a cab to Laurels, her ridiculously rich boyfriend is sending a limo" she sing-songed and Felicity shook her head. Since when did she go clubbing, and arrive in a limo no less.
"Fine, I'll see you then." She hung up the phone and bit her lip as she flipped through her dresses, she didn't exactly have anyone that would fit in a nightclub, she could always go for the little black dress, at least she had that.
Felicity smiled at the memory and kissed his bare chest.
"I didn't even want to go to Verdant that night, that was all Sara" she murmured and closed her eyes, letting the steady beat of his heart lull her into a sleepy haze.
"Thank god for Sara" he murmured quietly and let his fingers drift along her spine, she could tell his mind was somewhere else but if he wanted to talk about it he always did so she wasn't going to pry.
"Mhm, thank god for Sara" she murmured half a sleep and let herself succumb to sleep.