The calm after the storm
Diggle was observing, worriedly, from the first floor's window, the blonde woman pacing in the back yard.
He heard steps behind him and another person joined him in front of the window.
"Shouldn't the bride be away from the groom before the wedding?" he asked and Lyla laughed.
"Well, we followed the rules the first time and see where they got us…" she chuckled. "What are you watching?"
"Felicity." Diggle replied, pointing towards the blonde.
"Should I be worried?" Lyla teased and Diggle kissed her hair and sighed.
"All of us should be worried…" he confessed.
Lyla followed the line of his eyes. Felicity was no longer pacing, she was now sitting in a small bench, with her long light pink dress pooling around her. Her head was down, her curly hair hiding her expression from the couple.
"Do you think he will come?" Lyla asked, noticing the way Felicity's hands fisted the dress.
"He better do, he is the best man!" Diggle replied.
"It's good that you have Roy…" Lyla chuckled and Diggle shook his head.
"He will come. Roy knows that and I know that as well." Diggle stated, without any shadow of a doubt.
"And Felicity?" Lyla asked, seeing the woman rose and enter the house.
"She knows… and she is scared… Oliver just returned two weeks ago, there's a lot of unresolved things between them… When he gave himself to the League to save her, it broke something inside of her… It was not like when he broke his vow to save her from the Count, he literally gave his life and his freedom for her… And that does something to a person…" Diggle whispered, recalling the way Felicity shouted for Oliver to stop, to not go with Ra's al Ghul, that she would get a way for everything to be different… And how he looked at her, with his eyes shining with love and how he closed the distance between them, how the assassin that was holding her let her go and how she surrounded his neck with her arms, kissing him.
"Don't you dare think this is a goodbye kiss! You will be back to return this to me!" she had said, taking her industrial piercing and putting it inside Oliver's hands. She kissed his chest where she knew his heart was and when he stepped back from their embrace, she fell to her knees, punching the snow, while Oliver walked away from her.
"At least ARGUS served for something, right?" Lyla joked and Diggle smiled at her. He would forever be in debt with the organization, not because Lyla was commanding it, but because it saved both his best friends.
John heard a vintage clock Felicity had in her hallway chime and he smiled at Lyla.
"Time to go!" he said with a smile and she grabbed his hand to guide him downstairs.
Their wedding was something small, private, in Felicity's backyard nonetheless (since she was the only one with a townhouse and not an apartment), with only their baby daughter in Felicity's arms, Roy, looking uncomfortable in a suit and Carly and A.J. smiling at the couple. Lyla pinched John's arm and nodded towards the altar, where another man, in a pristine black tux was waiting for the couple with a smile.
"I told you he would come…" Diggle whispered and Lyla smiled at him, while walking towards the judge that would officiate the ceremony.
Oliver kissed Lyla on the cheek and hugged Diggle, making the man choke a bit with emotion. The brother he feared never seeing again was here, by his side, in one of the most important days of his life. John felt blessed like never before, except in the day of Sara's birth. He had lost his real brother once, he couldn't fathom losing another one.
After the ceremony, Felicity made sure everyone would be comfortable seated, with her renowned dishes for special occasions making their appearance. She wanted to do everything, expelling anyone that would try to help her. This is, until she felt a presence behind her, when she was taking out the desserts. She turned around, to see Oliver against the threshold of the kitchen and she swallowed. It was the first time they were together since his return from Nanda Parbat and she was at lost of what to say or do.
"May I?" he asked, pointing towards the dishes and Felicity nodded silently. He grabbed the big bowl of chocolate mousse and the dish with panna cotta, touching her fingers softly under the glass. Felicity shivered and Oliver sighed. He could still feel her arms around his neck after they had him back, her lips in his lips, in his jaw, how he wanted to hold her and never let go. He could recall the way they had fall asleep that night, still completely dressed, too spent to do anything else and how he started recoiling into himself after that night, keeping away from everyone around him, even her.
"Thank you…" Felicity whispered and Oliver felt his mouth water with the desire of taking hold of her lips, but the noise behind him woke him up and he turned around, trying to school his features and not drop the sweets on the floor.
It was hell.
That was the only way Felicity could describe the feeling of having him so close and so far away at the same time. It was like when he came back from the island, when they started working together…
He was closed in himself, afraid of touching her or letting her touch him… But his eyes, it was like they were begging her for her to save him, for her to bring him into the shore one more time.
And she wanted to do it, so bad.
His absence told her more about her feelings than his presence. When he walked away, it was like something just ripped her heart in half, it was like she could feel it bleed through the shreds. She had never felt like this, not even when she thought that Cooper was dead. Like her own soul was ripped and stepped on.
She knew she loved him before. It was obvious, since not even with Ray's attentions and gifts she could stop thinking about Oliver, wondering how he could have acted if he just let himself be happy, remembering the way his hands felt against her cheeks and how warm his lips were.
And that's when a hand appeared in her field of vision.
She looked up, her eyes widening when she saw Oliver's hopeful expression. There it was again, that expression that told her I love you, don't give up on me…
And she wouldn't. Never.
"You are beautiful…" he whispered. "Like a goddess from an ancient myth…" Oliver stuttered and Felicity noticed his blush. "I mean, that dress is really amazing on you…"
"Thank you, Oliver…" Felicity whispered, feeling his breath on her lips when he sighed.
"I'm sorry…" he said suddenly and Felicity looked up at him, waiting for him to say more. "I'm sorry for making you suffer, I'm sorry for letting you go in that hospital, I'm sorry for not acting sooner, for letting Palmer even touch you, I'm sorry for all the tears you shed because of me, I'm sorry for the pain I made you feel, I'm sorry for running away from you after my return, I'm sorry for being an imbecile and for wasting time that we might not have. I want you, Felicity Smoak. I want all the time I can have with you and while I was away, I would find myself, when it was hard to be there, imagining a future where we could all be together, where we could receive Diggle and Lyla in our own home, how it would feel to wake up beside you every morning, to kiss you when I wanted to, to do normal stuff like shopping or vacuum cleaning or have a cat or a dog… I want all of it, Felicity! I don't want to die in a cave, I don't want to die with the feeling I didn't live because I was afraid. I want to dream and love and live with you!" Oliver stuttered, his chest moving quickly like he had just run a marathon.
They had stopped without realizing and were in the middle of the dance floor, having their confession.
"I'm tired of goodbye kisses! I told you that when you… went away… I want kisses that mean hello and see you soon and I did it, because I felt like it… I want a life, not promises. Can you do that, Oliver? Can you live, really live with me? Can you share with me your fears and your ghosts? Can you cry with me? Can you hug me and say everything is alright? Can I hug and say that everything is alright? Can I protect you when you are scared? Can we share our burdens? Can we love each other without fear that one will go away?" Felicity asked and Oliver grabbed her hands.
"Yes." He said, and put her piercing inside her open palm. "I can."
"Good, because I can do it too!" she replied, and grabbing his neck she pulled him down and kissed him, like they had never kissed before.
There was no salty taste from their tears, there was no bitter feeling because of things unsaid, there was no goodbye hanging between them, no fear, no disappointment, no fear.
Just love. Pure unaltered love.
"I love you…" Oliver whispered.
Felicity looked at him, his blue eyes shining with happiness.
"You, Oliver Queen, are the love of my life." She breathed into his lips, before claiming them once again, under the clapping sound of their friends and the giggles of baby Sara.
Finally, the storm ended.