"They took the wrong woman," he said, the words threatening to catch in his throat.
No matter how many times Oliver rehearsed the words in his head, the actual moment threatened to steal his breath away. Yes, he was a tough exterior man, but looking into Felicity's innocent eyes as he spoke the words, made his heart clench in his chest.
This wasn't how he pictured it. The dim light of the Queen's former mation played off her face in just the right way, making him have doubts.
Oliver tried not to gasp as he spoke again. "I love you."
There the words he tried to refuse he believed deep down, were now floating between them. They seemed like three easy words, but Oliver knew the truth behind them. He was the only one that knew that truth.
Whatever lies he told himself, these were the words he'd been dying to say to her for months. He just never seemed to have the courage. To think, the Arrow didn't have courage in the face of an IT girl.
And once again he was using her to bait a dangerous man. It seemed Oliver would never learn his lesson when it came to putting others in danger.
Oliver hated the ends he would use to exact revenge, but he knew it was necessary. There was no other way to win when it came to Slade.
Her eyes flashed with hopefulness, but they were quick to fall back to pure understanding. Felicity knew her part in this plan but Oliver knew part of her would still hold onto hope that he was sincere.
Oliver prepared her on the way to the mansion, but oven all that preparation couldn't dash her innocent hopes. He would always be the source of her pain. It always seemed he was the reason for pain for those he loved most.
That is why he needed to push her away, no matter what his true feelings for her were. Oliver couldn't live with himself if his life and choices were the reason.
But wasn't he asking her to do just that with this plan?
"I need you to understand," Oliver continued his voice harsh with the pain he knew that he was causing all of them.
Dig had been right when he warned Oliver about playing with Felicity's feelings.
Still his need to capture Slade and make him pay outweighed the pain Oliver saw in her eyes.
No matter how much he tried to reason this away, Oliver loved her with a fire that scared him sometimes.
It was a different kind of burn than the one he felt to stop injustice. This fire made him want to put away his bow forever. That was the most frightening feeling in his world.
It didn't matter how many foes he faced, no fear compared to the one he felt when he looked into Felicity's eyes.
Oliver said little more as he gripped her arm and turned to leave. His job now was to make sure that Slade paid and Felicity was safe. Her safety was now squarely on his shoulders.
Oliver choked down the emotions that threatened to overwhelm him as his hand pulled the handle of the large door.
He may have always been a screw up, but this was his chance to do right by the city and especially by Felicity.
Oliver wasn't going to mess this up.
