A/N due to an overwhelmingly amazing response from a few readers, and some unfinished thoughts, I decided to continue this story. Who knows how long. But it's fun to write, and an interesting topic that could really go anywhere sooooo I'm going for it! Thanks for the support. I'm just as proud of this chapter as the first. I'm in the zone. Enjoy. This one has a couple dark moments but it's much lighter over all.

The plan for a fun night out started out well and good, until it was time to leave. Diggle had let Felicity drink it out for a while, hell he needed it too after the night they'd had. He had even expected it to turn sour at some point. No one could hold in all of those emotions for so long and not explode once someone knew, and they were able to freely discuss it. He just didn't expect the level of explosion that was happening.

So here he was, standing in Felicity's living room watching her as she sat on the floor. The room had been destroyed. Luckily, Felicity had been forced to move after her condo was destroyed in Slade's town wide offensive. This new house she was renting was more private, and had anyone been living within 50 yards of her they would have called the cops thinking she was being attacked. Instead, she was the one doing the attacking. Her lamps, her dishes, her furniture, anything she could physically pick up and throw, had been overturned. Diggle just watched on, making sure she didn't drunkenly hurt herself. He had only stopped her once, when she headed over to her TV, she clearly was about to demolish it with the leg of one of her chairs. 'You'll regret that one in the morning, those are expensive.' was all he said to her. He took the leg of the chair out of her hand and she huffed. When he pointed over to a cheap vase on the other side of the room she could throw instead, she was effectively deterred.

He had called Lyla earlier in the night telling her not to wait up, and that he was helping Felicity through something. He'd also told her there was a distinct possibility he would be drunk and sleeping on Felicity's couch, which has since be ripped apart by kitchen shears. He wanted to call Oliver but that was out of the question. Felicity trusted him, and it was her secret to tell. His burden to bear with her now, and he would gladly bear it if it helped her through. He imagined that he would react the same was if he'd gotten the news she'd gotten the previous day.

Felicity had soft tears running down her face now, face buried in her hands as she was in a ball on her floor. Thankfully, Diggle had not tried to touch her or approach her, she was too sensitive after her meltdown. She'd be ok, but needed a few minutes to gather herself back together. She wasn't embarrassed, she was too drunk for that. Felicity trusted Diggle to let her let lose and not judge her. He had proved himself earlier. He loved her, and he wasn't going anywhere. Unfortunately for her, stopping and gathering her thoughts meant her body started to register the alcohol and begin to protest.

Diggle had also expected this.

"John I'm gonna be sick. Can you help me up?" Felicity asked after a deep breath.

Digg immediately walked over and put his hand out for her to take. He wanted to make sure she felt in control of their contact. After everything she'd told him tonight, he never wanted her to feel helpless or afraid again. He also knew he couldn't be overbearing like Oliver would be, she wouldn't have any of that. Digg decided he just needed to be there, and be him, and if she asked for help give it to her.

Felicity took his hand and carefully pulled herself up, after all the alcohol and physical exertion, she was more than just a little wobbly. Upon standing, she took a moment to steady herself, holding on to Digg's arm for support. She closed her eyes for a second, and that was a big mistake. A wave of nausea hit her hard and she ran to the bathroom, dispelling about 5 or 6 whiskey sours. She had lost count at the bar.

Diggle was sitting on the edge of her tub. He had whispered soothing words to her and rubbed her back while she was being sick, but now she was just slumped on the floor against the wall. She was looking thoroughly miserable. Felicity had her cap crumpled in her hands, and was resting her elbows on her knees, face buried in her hands and her cap. Finally, she let out a soft chuckle, catching Diggle's attention.

"Attractive right? I'm sure this is totally how you had planned on your night going when you woke up this morning." She lifted her head up and smiled weakly at Digg. Her pale face still a little bit sweaty. She was smiling but looked so sad. He couldn't help think again like he could read her so much better now that he knew.

"I dream about doing this with you every night." Diggle joked, sensing she had sobered somewhat and wanted to get back to banter. She chuckled lightly again.

"I have to get a shower. I'm gross." She declared, getting up from her spot on the floor. She gave a quick thumb pointing out the door. "Out."

Diggle smiled and kissed her lightly on the top of her head. "I'm next, I hope you didn't kill any clothes that I could borrow for tomorrow."

"I accidentally stole a 2x polar fleece from some guy at a party my freshman year in college and never gave it back. You can borrow that, but I expect you to return my stolen fleece asap. It's my favorite." She pointed out sternly, wagging her finger.

He let out a small laugh at the image of her in a 2x fleece as she shut the door in his face. He stopped laughing as soon as he got back to the living room and saw the mess. He went into the pantry and grabbed her broom and trashbags, immediately starting to clean up. There were some pretty big pieces of broken furniture and glass and he didn't want her to have to deal with it or to hurt herself. He got all the broken glass fairly quickly, and threw the broken furniture outside in the back by her fire pit. May as well make use of the damaged goods. He had a feeling he'd be spending a lot of time out here in the spacious back yard for a while to come.

Diggle got sad again, thinking about everything she was going to have to deal with. He wondered if she'd tell Oliver, or Roy, or anyone else. She'd have to at some point right? Their night job is risky and he would think she would want them to know ahead of time, and not be blindsided if she was wounded in the field. God forbid. He'd have to keep an extra close eye on her. It was a stressful, and delicate situation, and he didn't want to push her. He also didn't want to see her in a position where she could get even more stressed out by being pressured to tell the others while on a mission. Ultimately though, it was her decision. He knew the stigma of this disease, and he didn't want to see her be open with someone, just to have them turn around a treat her differently. She was still Felicity, his big bright, tornado of pink and blue, whirl winding through their lives on a daily basis. Digg also knew what she hadn't said yet. How much she loved Oliver, and how this diagnosis is that much more devastating. She's probably thinking that she could never have a future with anyone, including Oliver. She is definitely worried that he will think differently of her, less of her in some way. If Digg was being honest with himself, he doesn't know how Oliver would react to the news. If he would freak out and start breaking things, scaring her. If he would be sensitive and caring. Or if he would just get all angry and guilty about it and brood for eternity, coddling her all along.

He was broken from his thoughts as Felicity stepped onto the back steps to call to him.

"Everything ok out here?"

"Yup, just taking out your new firewood." He called back turning towards the house.

"You didn't have to clean up, it was my mess. I could have done it." She said tiredly as he walked up to where she was standing on the porch.

"But thank you John, I appreciate it. I'm just…I'm such a mess." She ran her hand through her towel dried wavy Blonde hair and sighed. "Sorry you had to see that, it's not the first outburst, and I'm sure it won't be the last." She admitted. He wasn't surprised.

"Yeah, well, you're not the only one who's destroyed their house. Welcome to what being a guy feels like most of the time." Digg explained truthfully.

"Ew. Don't liken me to your kind." She joked flatly.

"I will. And I'm also disgusting, I'm getting a shower. You should watch some television on the TV that I kindly saved. You're welcome by the way." He called as he was walking into the bathroom.

"Thank you John!" She called after him, walking to her kitchen and trying to find a mug in tact for some coffee. She had thankfully had the clarity of mind earlier to save her two favorite mugs from ultimate destruction. Her Dr. Who Union Jack mug, and her limited edition Uhura/Captain Kirk mug, the latter of which set her back $80 on eBay. She loved the idea of hope those to brought to so many when they aired the first interracial kiss on television. Felicity thought back to simpler times when she was so full of that hope. Hope for the love those two represented, the years of their lives to be lived still. Shaking those thoughts out of her head for now, she opted for the Union Jack mug this time. Mainly because she wanted a secret photo op of Digg with the Star Trek mug later. Always thinking ahead, of course.

When John came back out in his previous jeans and her stolen fleece, she already had a sobering cup of coffee waiting for him. She was sitting on the floor leaning against her destroyed couch drinking her coffee. His was sitting in front of her on the not-broken coffee table. It was only 11 pm and it's not like they had work the next day, so John grabbed the coffee and sat next to her to watch the nightly news.

"Normal people problems." Felicity scoffed, as they watched a story about college kids getting into a drunken bar fight, one of them having accidently broken the front window of a bar. "I bet it was about a stupid girl, who was just playing with both of them anyway. College guys are dumb."

"Tell the audience how you really feel." Diggle joked, trying to cut her bitterness.

"Trust me, I have told them how I really feel. MIT remember? There are 72 schools in the immediate area. EVERY bar was a college bar." Felicity said from experience.

"I didn't think you MIT geeks were big barflies during school. I learn more about Felicity Smoak every day." Diggle chuckled as she nudged him with her elbow.

"If you MUST know, I didn't drink during the school year, only during summer break. After I left home, I stayed in Cambridge, well, just outside of Cambridge cause Cambridge was like…expensive. But a lot of the students stuck around or grew up there, so summers tended to get a little crazy. And that's ALL you're getting!" Felicity scolded.

"Is that where you met that lacrosse player/stalker?" Digg asked, ignoring her last statement.

"Oh my god, don't even get me started on Jerry. He came up to me at a bar once, all dressed up in his $70 polo shirt and Lucky Brand jeans. He used the LAMEST pick up line ever, and thought he was god's gift. My friend Julie and I laughed at his face and he got all huffy. From then on, I guess I was some challenge he needed to conquer. He kept doing all these lame things to try and woo me, like I was some fawning sorority sister making him jump through the totally standard hoops. It took me a year to finally convince him that I just wasn't interested, and kind of thought he was a huge douche. Plus, I didn't date Harvard guys." She rambled.

"Oh REALLY? Harvard guys not good enough for our princess?" Digg joked.

"Did I mention the polo shirt? Do I look like a polo shirt guy type of girl?" Felicity asked mockingly?

"I guess not, I don't know what a polo shirt guy type of girl looks like." Digg responded.

"Laurel Lance." Felicity answered in a hilarious dry tone that made Diggle almost spit out his sip of coffee. When he finally got it down, he choked and laughed along with her. After everything that had happened that night, they were actually having a pretty good time.

While they were at the bar, Felicity had started to get very drunk, and began her downward spiral. When she started rambling some of the details of that night with Vertigo to him, he knew it was time to go. He didn't want her drunkenly talking about it in a crowded bar, and regretting it later. In the taxi on the way home, he had heard a couple of the things Vertigo said to her while they were alone, and Digg was thankfully able to deter her rambling until they got back to her place. That's when it all came out. She had started crying as soon as they got out of the cab, and the second she walked through her door, Felicity began screaming and cursing Vertigo's name. Yelling some things that didn't really make a lot of sense to him, but he was assuming it was answers to Vertigo's sick words. At one point she was yelling at Diggle about Vertigo calling her a dog, and an obedient bitch. He was shocked at some of the words that flew out of her mouth in her rage. But she deserved her time. She deserved for someone to hear her anger out. He was glad she trusted him enough to do so, she clearly needed the catharsis. After everything that he's seen and heard, here was this remarkable woman, sitting next to him with her coffee. Lightly reminiscing about her college years and joking around. Unashamed, unbroken, stronger than ever. Diggle couldn't help thinking she was stronger than all of them combined. She was like a super soldier of mental fortitude. He smiled lightly at the thought as she continued to ramble about her bets with other computer science groups at the other schools, and challenges they would make for each other. About her first college roommate who, after watching too much Buffy, Felicity was convinced she was a demon from hell. He didn't know if she just wasn't tired, or if she was afraid to go to sleep after the intensity of the day, but eventually she looked physically exhausted and he had to put an end to the ramblings.

"Alright Supergirl. It's late, we need to get some sleep if we're going to be any good against these hangovers tomorrow."

"Ugh, it's going to be the worst. Can't we just play hookie?" Felicity begged with doe eyes.

"Felicity, you know it's not a real job right? We don't punch a clock anymore. Not until Queen Consolidated gets back up and running anyway. We can go in or not go in whenever we want." Diggle reminded mockingly.

"Oh, you're totally right." She sighed. "But then Oliver will ask questions and he'll be all suspicious and I'll have to lie and OH MY GOD now you'll have to lie! Oh my god I'm so sorry I put you in that position! PLEASE don't feel like you need to lie for me. Oh my god this is a nightmare!" She had gotten up and started pacing immediately, having not thought about Diggle's position before.

"Felicity, girl. Sit down and relax please. Of all the things you have to worry about in this situation, I am the LAST thing you need to concern yourself with. This is your life, not mine alright? Are we sitting, can we sit back down please?" He assured.

She slowly sat back down and he followed.

"So, have you given any thought to what you're going to do?" He asked, getting serious.

"About what, there are so many topics up in the air you need to be a little more specific." She said with a knowing but sad smile.

"About Oliver." Digg said simply.

Felicity knew what he was talking about. She had avoided this topic all night, with the exception of her crazy person outburst, where she's pretty sure she drunkenly said some things that she'll regret in the morning about her feelings for Oliver. It's not like it was a big secret. Everyone, especially Diggle who could read her like a book, knew how she felt about the man behind the green hood. It was one of the things that was making her new HIV status so difficult for her to accept. She'd never get the big dream. Never get that normal, everyday, happy ending all those people keep talking about. Everything was so complicated before, but now, it's gotten out of control. All the lies swirling around were making her dizzier than the alcohol.

"I don't know yet. It's not like I really had a chance to be with him before, but now it's like…" She just scoffed and rubbed her forehead, the headache already beginning.

"Well you don't have to make any decisions now. Figure it out when you figure it out. It's nobody else's business. I'm just worried about your stress level. I mean I know telling them will be stressful, but you might be relieved to not have to worry about it. I'm sure you'll be taking a lot of meds, that will be tricky to hide." Diggle reminded.

"Damn it. I start tomorrow, I didn't even think about that. It's not like I can casually pop into the bathroom before and after every meal for the rest of my life. I think that would raise a red flag." She said miserably.

"Well you know, I'll cover for you girl, but it's something you have to start thinking about. Do you want to have to hide it all the time? I mean, you could always just take the meds and when they question it tell them to 'buzz off it's none of their business'. I can just imagine Oliver's face. Please warn me if that's your plan so I can take a picture." Diggle said seriously

Felicity let out a single laugh at the thought.

"I don't know, as entertaining as that sounds, I think I have to tell them something. It can be like a 'Tell the truth but maybe not the whole gory detailed truth' situation for now? What do you think?"

"Your life, your choice. That's the motto of this amazingly smart, awesome best friend of mine. I can't tell you what to do, you know where I stand on it. I'm just worried about you. The added stress wouldn't be good for you. That's unfortunately a type of thing we have to worry about now." Diggle got very real, very fast, and left Felicity's head spinning for a second. She looked away towards the large bag on her table from the pharmacy. She had picked up the prescriptions yesterday after lunch, and was to start them ASAP in the morning, as per her doctor's orders. He explained the details of each one, and how it would be tricky at first to get her cocktail perfect. That there would be side effects until the dosages are tweaked just right. That there would still be side effects AFTER the dosages are perfect. She had all these rules to follow, including staying away from stressful situations. Diggle saw her wheels in her head turning hard, and followed her gaze to the large white paper bag.

"Hey, how about we do it?" Diggle said vaguely.

"Do what?" Felicity said as she snapped out of her thoughts, confused.

"How about we play hookie? I'll call Oliver in the morning and tell him that I woke up here and we're both hungover. You work every day there and you deserve a day off to be a drunken heathen." Diggle said.

"But, what about Oliver? He's gonna ask all these questions and I'm not ready for…" She started but was cut off.

"…Yeah yeah yeah, questions, suspicion blah blah blah, I get it. I'll handle it. Don't worry about it. You're going to need at least a day to figure out what havoc those little pills over there are going to wreak on your body anyway. And if you think you're going through that at the lair or by yourself, you're nuts." He said sternly.

"But Lyla…" Felicity started again.

"…Lyla is pregnant, she's not sick, and we don't even live together. She's working anyway. Lyla has made it quite clear that she doesn't need me…and I quote…'Up her ass all the time, checking to make sure she's ok'."

Felicity waited a beat, considering his words carefully. She knew she might get sick and need help, but she also didn't like the idea of being seen like that. Although, he had just seen her screaming obscenities, cutting up her own couch, then puking in the toilet.

Digg noticed her doubting herself.

"Nope, I'm not taking no for an answer. You have the biggest, nerdiest SciFi TV show DVD collection known to man, and I'm sick of you making references that I don't understand. By god, I will get through Series One of the new Dr. Who if it kills me, and then we shall move on to this David Tennant fellow you're always babbling about. If he's not the coolest person I've ever seen on a television screen, I'm going to be so bitter." Diggle said, all the whole taking her chin into his hand and not breaking eye contact.

His serious tone mixed with the ridiculous rant he just went on cracked Felicity completely. Still a little bit drunk, she melted into a fit of giggles, leaning against him for support so she didn't fall over. They laughed for a good few minutes until they finally settled. She had eventually just laid on the floor.

"It feels good to laugh again John." She said, head resting on his leg.

"Yes, I can imagine."

"Tomorrow is going to suck isn't it." She asked, at peace with it for the time being.

"Maybe, maybe not, we'll see" He reassured. "Either way, we'll do it together. Us, and of course the Doctor."

She smiled again and slapped his arm.

"I think I'm in a pretty good place though. I mean. Now." She said gesturing towards her couch.

"I think you'll be alright. Let's go get some sleep, I got the floor, since…you know." Diggle mimicked her jerky couch gesture.

"Well now I feel bad. But honestly, you wouldn't fit into my bed if you tried, it's only a full."

"Oh yeah. I'd have my whole leg hanging off, I'd probably be more comfortable on the floor anyway."

He helped her up, and walked her to her room. Sitting her on the bed, he walked away and came back with a glass of water. He made sure she drank the entire thing before filling it back up and putting the new one on the nightstand. She was already under her covers when he came back in, pillow over her head. She had thrown a pillow on the floor for him and two extra blankets.

He turned off the light and she sighed. "Thank god, it was so bright."

He chuckled and laid down, watching her until he was sure she was asleep and then closed his eyes. All he could do was think about the day. He knew he wasn't going to get much sleep worrying about her all night, but he wanted to make sure he got at least a few hours so he could be fresh the next day if she needed him.