Summary: Felicity finally confronts Oliver regarding the scene in the mansion during "Unthinkable" episode 23, season 2 of Arrow, and how he could have used her as bait to rescue Laurel.

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters owned by CW, etc. No copyright infringement intended.

It had been a tense two weeks since their return from Lian Vu after imprisoning Slade. At least, that tension was noted by Diggle. His two teammates acted like they were totally oblivious to it. Diggle wondered when, if ever, they would finally acknowledge the feelings they had for each other.

Felicity had indeed noted that things were not as relaxed between her and Oliver since "that night." She continually debated with herself as to what she should do about it, if anything. Whatever she did, whatever she brought up, could change the dynamic between them forever. And it may not be so good.

However, it came to a boiling point within her after an extremely stressful night. One in which gunfire was heard, crashes boomed in her ear, and then the comms went dead. Nothing new, it occasionally happened, but Felicity had not dealt with her feelings of almost losing Oliver "that" night. Which caused her to finally confront Oliver with an especially troubling question that she had.

She waited impatiently while Oliver changed out of his suit before she brought up 'the issue'. Hearing his approach, she forced herself to remain seated until he was within touching distance. She then whirled her chair in a half circle as Oliver walked by, and grabbed his forearm.

"So, for the past year, I have had to fight you every time I volunteered to go out in the field, but you did not have any qualms about using me as bait to rescue Laurel?"

Oliver looked at Felicity in amazement. "Where is this coming from? I needed your help to defeat Slade and save the city, not just to rescue Laurel."

"Why didn't you tell me the plan before we entered the mansion that night? I feel like you were using me to save your soul mate."

"Laurel is not my soul mate. We are not together any more, you know that."

"Do I? How many times this year have you dropped everything to come to Laurel's aid? And I am not only talking about the time you were not there to assist Diggle with Deadshot."

Oliver thought over her words. Could Felicity have a point? Did he really put Laurel's needs above everyone else's?

"I have to think that over, but I really want to address the fact that you think I used you, that I would value Laurel more than you. That I would use you so cavalierly in order to beat Slade."

Felicity shook her head. "It's okay, Oliver. I know she is your first love, and that you have known her for over half your life." Breathing a deep sigh, she picked at an imaginary bit of dust off her skirt. "But that does not allow you to use my feelings against me in order to save her," she said in a noticeably lower tone.

"What? What feelings?"

Felicity rolled her eyes at the seemingly clueless man in front of her. "Don't deny knowing I have a crush on you. I don't even know why I am saying that aloud, except that we need to clear the air." Felicity stood up and walked towards Oliver. "You hurt me. I actually thought, for a second, that you returned my feelings. That this remarkable man finally was admitting to loving me like I loved him. And then it was all torn to bits when I realized that it was only a sham."

Oliver walked away from Felicity, back towards her, and scrubbed his face with his hands. He could not believe how screwed up his life suddenly became. He knew that, despite everything in the past five years, he could still be like that thoughtless kid that climbed aboard the Queen's Gambit six years ago. Even though he had been getting better, he occasionally found himself falling into his old habits of using people, of exploiting their weaknesses for his advantage. And now he had done that to the best person he had ever known.

"Felicity, I am so sorry. The thing is….I don't think I could have gone through with the plan if I had told you beforehand. I barely got through it as it was." Head down, looking at his shuffling feet, he continued. " I was not even going to say 'I love you'. That was not part of my plan. But….but, I was so afraid that something was going to happen to one or all of us, that…..that I needed to let you know how I really felt about you in case something happened."

Felicity went to Oliver, and gently brought his face up so that she could look into his amazingly blue eyes. "What? Are you saying what I think you are saying?"

Oliver took a deep breathe, drinking in the sight of the amazingly beautiful woman in front of him. "Yes, I finally am saying that I love you, and I never want us to be apart. It has been very difficult for me to realize the fact that bad things could happen to one or both of us even if we were not together. So I would rather be with you than without you."

"So who gets to tell Diggle?" Felicity asked before capturing his lips in a kiss.

The end.

AN: Hope you enjoyed it! Please leave a review if you like! Thanks!