They had ridden for hours. Felicity had long ago given up the pretense that she wasn't enjoying the feeling of holding onto Oliver. The early morning air this time of year was chilly anyhow, but on the bike it was downright frigid. She had at first slid her hands from her innocent placement on his sides to the pockets of his jacket when her fingers lost all feeling. But after the first hour she had given into her desires and cuddled her entire body up to his, her thighs squeezed tightly onto the sides of his. Her head laid onto his back, her eyes closed as she tried to make out his heartbeat over the roar of the engine.

The sun was just making itself known as they pulled off of the highway onto a service road and she reluctantly lifted her head up to take in her surroundings. There were no real landmarks to indicate where they were but she could feel the subtle change in the air. They were definitely near a beach, and were most likely in Coast City.

If the beach was their ultimate destination then she was even more grateful for her outfit of choice. While this time of year was perfect for an empty beach, it wasn't exactly ideal for her trademark short skirts.

They rode for a few more miles on the deserted service road when Oliver slowed and veered onto what turned out to be an extremely long paved driveway. Felicity could tell that their ride was coming to an end so she readjusted herself on the bike, not wanting to have the awkward moment of peeling herself from him once they stopped. Oliver came to a stop in front of what Felicity could only guess was the Queen's version of a beach house.

As Oliver climbed off the bike and pulled his helmet off. He was checking over the bike, making sure everything was secure and Felicity didn't even have her helmet all of the way off before she was questioning him.

"Oliver, how?" She asked, taking in the estate.

He threw a glance at the house, and then took her helmet with one hand and assisted her from the bike with the other.

"Thea." He said simply with a shrug.

Now standing, a little bit shakily Felicity turned to him, and squinted as she pulled her hair down to readjust her ponytail after it had been smooshed in a helmet for hours.

He sighed. "She has money again. Merlyn money, which is even more impressive than Queen money. She is the only one with any real claim to it, since Malcolm is dead on paper. So she is slowly buying back everything that was important to her. The club, and then this. We loved this place when we were kids. It was the one place that Dad would actually relax and not spend the whole time on the phone." He trailed off at that and looked over at her. They had avoided the tension in the air for long enough and now that they had reached their destination it was time for the 'come to Jesus ' talk that neither one of them really wanted to have.

"What are we doing here Oliver?" She asked, walking up the huge wrap around porch and sitting on the steps. She patted the spot next to her, figuring if they weren't looking directly at each other that this would be easier.

He walked closer to her, but chose to instead squat down in front of her, resting the tips of his fingers on the tops of her knees. She flinched and dropped her knees, her feet now splayed out in front of her. His lips thinned and he stood, his hands in his pockets and looked to the sky.

"I wanted you to know that I regretted leaving you every second I was gone." He said to the sky, his voice heavy. "If I had it to do over again I would." She didn't respond, so he looked down at the stairs and then walked to the other side of the wide steps and sat on the same level as her, his back resting against the railing. He faced her, but his eyes watched his boots.

"I have told you I love you as a goodbye too many times and I never want you to have to hear that from me again."

She looked over at him, her eyes pooling. She sniffed, but stayed quiet for once, not really sure what to make of his words. He closed his eyes at the pain in hers and sighed.

"But, I also want you to know that I can't be who you need me to be, not right now." He started and winced when she turned from him, her eyes to the sky. She started biting her lip and he knew he had to get this out before she decided she didn't want to hear anymore.

"The league is going to come after me. They know by now that I'm not dead and they will come at me with everything they have. This isn't just about Sarah anymore, this is so much bigger and they are coming to take all of us down." He stopped as she rose from the porch, her feet moving her faster than he had ever seen her move.

She turned to him, her hands crossed over her chest and the fury on her face made him stop his rise from his seat.

"Oliver, these are all things that you could have told me at home. You didn't need to bring me here. These are things I know. You're the Arrow! There is always someone coming for you 'with everything they've got' this isn't news to me. Why did you bring me here?"

At that he did rise, and he walked over to her and when she didn't back away he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Because I need you to understand. I need you to hear me. When I first decided to come home from the island it was solely because of the mission. I left the island a killer and over time I became something else. Thea, Tommy, Laurel, my Mom...You, you all made me forget what I came back to do and why I needed to do it. The mission changed from vengeance to justice and protection. I stopped being what I needed to be to get the job done. I lost my edge." He could tell that she wanted to interrupt, she had her babble face on and so he rushed to get the rest out before he lost his nerve.

"You were right, when I left to face the league. I couldn't do it, because somewhere along the way I lost what made me a killer and that nearly got me killed. I can't have that happen again. I need to regain that piece of myself and Malcolm can help me to do that. He has managed to never lose that part of himself and I need him to teach me. I need to become what I was, and I can't do that and be the me that you know."

She walked away at that. She walked towards the bike and Oliver knew that she was about to ask him to take her home. So he followed her and with her back still to him he put his hands on her shoulders, like he had done so many nights in the Foundry.

"And I brought you here because I needed to give you what little I can offer to you." He started and he felt her tense beneath his hands. "I can't give you what you deserve, not even close. But what I can give you is a day. One day, and we can spend it however you want. If you want to stay here together, or if you want to be alone, or whatever would help you through the next stage of this mission. Because no matter how much I don't want you around to be a witness to my darkest side, I need you and I can't do this without your help. And I know that asking you to stay is extremely selfish and so I just want you to have a day for you." He finished and left his hands in place and waited.

He waited for what felt like hours, when it was actually only a few minutes. Finally he felt Felicity give a full bodied sigh and she nodded.

"Okay." Was all she said. Her voice was so quiet that if he hadn't been right behind her he never would have heard her.

"Okay?" He asked, a little stunned.

She turned and she had the look on her face that she always wore when using her loud voice. It screamed her determination.

"Yeah, okay. I get one day? I know what I want. I want you. I want one whole day without the The Arrow, or The Hood. One day without the Dark Archer or Arsenal or Digg or The Canary. I want one day where we are just Felicity and Oliver and we love each other and that doesn't cause us pain. I want one day where we love and care about Thea, Roy, Laurel and John and they aren't always in danger. That's what I want." She paced as she made her demands and her hands flailed the whole time as she listed them off. Once she finished she turned to him, her eyes full of question.

Oliver smiled at her and nodded.

"I can do that."

She smiled, a real smile and the first one he had seen outside of his dreams in far too long.

"Okay. So...do you think there are any groceries in this place? Someone didn't give me a chance to get a coffee this morning."