It was a relatively quiet week in Starling City. So far the Arrow only made a few appearances, mostly to stop petty thugs and criminals. Diggle had gone home for the night to be with Lyla, and Roy took over Oliver's patrol for the rest of the night. Oliver took advantage of the stillness to sharpen his arrows, letting the hum of the grindstone settle his mind in meditation.

There were too many horrible experiences during the 5 years he was away. One of the very few positive things he learned how to do was meditate. He vividly remembered kneeling with Shado, emptying his mind of his thoughts and worries, and engaging his 5 senses to the environment around him. He would listen to the rustle of leaves in the wind, the cacophony of nighttime wildlife, the flickering of the fire, each of Shado's inhales and exhales, coupled with his own. He would feel the earth beneath his shins, below his feet, Shado's fingers holding his, the heat of the fire beside them, the wind on his face, ruffling his hair. He would smell the fragrant burning wood, the smoke from the fire, the abundance of green vegetation, Shado's subtle scent of earth and sweat and…something else, something intoxicating. His eyes would be closed, but he would notice each and every phantom light behind his eyelids, tracing each pattern. He would taste the air as he breathed, the flavor of smoke and earth.

It was usually at this point that his mind would inevitably wander to remember Shado's various flavors. He would remember the flavor of her lips, her tongue, taking on whatever they had eaten for dinner. He would remember the taste of her sweat on her body, earthy but pleasant. His saliva glands would wake up at the memory of her flavor, clean and tangy, as he brought her skillfully to orgasm. More often than not, their mutual meditation would end with them making love by the fire.

Oliver paused his task of sharpening arrows and shook himself from his thoughts. That was the first time he thought about Shado without the burden of guilt and shame, but with heat and nostalgia instead. Hmm, he hummed internally. I wonder if that means something.

"Everything okay?" Felicity asked, breaking through his thoughts. Oliver turned in his seat to look at his partner. She had stopped whatever she was doing, and was currently looking at him with concern.

The corners of Oliver's lips ticked upward, feeling a warm sensation in his chest at the fact that Felicity always noticed the state of his emotions.

"Yeah," Oliver replied, reassuring Felicity that he was in a good mood. Felicity returned his smile with one of her own. The warm sensation intensified. "I was just thinking."

Felicity tilted her head and regarded him curiously. "About what?"

Oliver hesitated. He wanted to tell her about his little epiphany, except he wasn't sure he had the words yet to adequately explain.

Felicity must have sensed his reluctance, as she backpedaled. "I'm sorry," she blurted, "you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. But, I'm here if you want to talk…if you want to tell me about your day." She followed this up with a little lopsided smile.

Oliver huffed a laugh. "Thank you," he said with a lopsided smile of his own. "I do want to tell you, but I have to do a little more thinking first."

Felicity smiled brightly and nodded. "Okay." She turned back to her computers.

Oliver's gaze lingered on his beautiful partner. She had decided to leave her hair down today, which always pleased him. She always looked softer with her hair down, more feminine. She was wearing one of his favorite dresses on her, the one that crisscrossed in the back and showed off a significant amount of skin that threw off his equilibrium. The last time she wore this dress, she had worn a pair of knee-high boots, which had adorned her legs gorgeously. Today she went with a pair of dark heels, which only succeeded in making her legs look like they went on for days. His eyes took in those gorgeous legs, toned yet soft calf muscles, the likely sensitive valley of the back of her knee, and a teasing hint of thigh. More than anything he wanted to walk over to her, squat beside her and touch the hem of her dress, to move it upwards to see more of her thigh…

Oliver slammed his eyes shut and quietly took a deep breath. He turned back to the grindstone abruptly and shook his head a little. Woah, there, he chastised himself. Rein it in.

He picked up another arrowhead and continued his task. He stilled his mind and let his senses take over. He concentrated on the vibration in his fingers, the smell of grinding metal, the hum of the grindstone. Further out in his awareness he heard the click-clack of Felicity's fingers flying over her keyboard, and the occasional tapping of her feet. If he stretched his sense of smell further he could just barely smell Felicity's perfume, a heady mix of berries, vanilla, and something floral.

As he meditated, his mind wandered to his partner…his friend…again. He imagined that it was Felicity kneeling with him in meditation. He imagined holding her hands. He imagined feeling his knees against hers. He imagined leaning forward to touch his forehead against hers, their breath mingling together.

His heart clenched at the picture his mind created. God, he wanted Felicity so much. He wanted to correct her misconception that he had lied about the 'I love you.' He knew that on some level, he had hurt her, and he wanted nothing more than to make it up to her. He thought about how he could possibly begin to make amends.

He could always tell her he wasn't lying, but he wasn't sure he was ready for that. He couldn't take it if she doubted him. He had to show her, instead.

I could woo her, his mind provided, the thought seemingly coming from nowhere. Now, that was something. Before Slade, before Merlyn, he felt it was safer for Felicity to be as far away from him, emotionally speaking, as possible. Not only was their life fraught with danger, he knew that he was damaged goods, and there was no way he could give her the kind of relationship she deserved. Now, though…

He thought about his epiphany. Did the fact that he could think about Shado without pain mean he was healing, somehow? Was he ready to leave some of the darkness behind, and step towards the light? The light that mostly came from Felicity? He thought about Sara's words to him, that he needed someone who could harness the light inside him. Could he let go of his past and let Felicity lead him forward, to a happier future?

He thought about their nighttime activities. As of late, things were quieting down. Crime was at an all-time low, and the people of Starling City felt safer than they had in years. Officially, he was no longer a hunted man by the SCPD. Captain Lance had called off the manhunt, and the Arrow could do what he does without fear of imprisonment. He tentatively felt safe…safer…than he had in a while. He didn't think he could ultimately trust this feeling to last too long, since he was always going to have enemies, but for the first time in a long time, he had hope.

Enough hope, maybe, to go after something he had been denying himself for too long. Hope enough to pursue something more with Felicity. Hope enough to act on his feelings for his intelligent, beautiful, talented partner. He knew that once he started, he would never be able to go back to how it was, but he thought it might be worth it. What he and Felicity had, he couldn't name, but he knew it was significant. Important. A very tiny voice in his mind whispered that it could be a forever kind of thing, but he brushed that thought off as quickly as it came. That was definitely not something he could handle right now.

Before he could change his mind, he stopped the grindstone and put down the arrowhead. He got up from his seat and walked over to Felicity's desk. Leaning back against her desk, facing away from the computers, he crossed his arms to contain his sudden bout of nervousness and looked down at his partner.

Her fingers paused in her work and she looked up at him in surprise. "Oliver!" she yelped. "I didn't even hear you walking this way, give a girl some warning!"

Oliver smiled. "Sorry," he apologized, not really meaning it.

Felicity gave a little laugh. "No you're not," she deduced correctly.

It was Oliver's turn to laugh. "No, I'm not."

Her fingers did a few more things on the keyboard, and then she turned her chair towards him and gave him her full attention. "What's up?"

Oliver tightened his arms across his chest. His heartbeat picked up and he suddenly felt like running away, but he had made a decision and he was going to follow through. "So," he started, "I was thinking." He paused before continuing, gathering his courage.

One of Felicity's eyebrows arched. "I know," she said wryly. "You said so."

Oliver shook his head, smiling. "That's not what I meant. Um…" He took a deep breath, trying to calm his erratic heartbeat.

Felicity's other eyebrow joined the first. "So, you were thinking…" she supplied, trying to be helpful.

"Right, so I was thinking…" God, why was this so hard? "You should have dinner." What?

Felicity blinked. "What?"

Oliver slammed his eyes shut. Idiot! "With me!" he blurted. He let out a tense breath. "You should have dinner with me. I mean, I would like to, dinner sometime…" Jesus, get a grip! "Would you like…I would like to take you to dinner. With me." God, is this how she felt when she babbled?

Felicity slowly smiled, then pressed her lips together. She looked like she was trying to contain laughter. "Dinner?" she asked, her voice quavering just a little. "You mean, like a date?"

Oliver looked down at his feet and smiled from ear to ear. "You'd think I'd be better at this," he murmured to himself. Of course, Felicity didn't miss his remark. He responded to her question. "Yes, like a date."

The silence between them stretched out a bit, right up to the edge of discomfort. He didn't dare look at Felicity just then, not wanting to see any hint of rejection or doubt in her eyes. He was very relieved, however, when he heard her response.

"I would like that," she said softly.

He finally looked at her. He took in her soft smile and the sparkle of happiness in her eyes. That warm feeling in his chest from earlier came back with a vengeance. That he was the cause of that look on her face gave him an incredible sense of joy. "Tomorrow night," he decided. "We'll take the night off, let Dig and Roy handle things here. I'll pick you up at 7."

Her smile turned into a grin. "Okay," she said happily. "Should I dress up?"

"Definitely," he replied. He was looking forward to see what she would come up with. She was always beautiful, but a dressed up Felicity was truly a sight to behold.

He gently put a hand on her shoulder. "You should head home for tonight. I'll cover Roy."

She gazed into his eyes a little longer, silently thanking him for taking this momentous step. She nodded, and then packed up her things. "Call me if you need me for anything," she said, leveling a gaze at him.

He nodded his agreement, and then contentedly watched her as she went home for the night.