"Movie night! " Felicity declares as soon as he opens the door to his apartment. She's holding a box set of some TV show he's never seen in his life; her hair and coat are a little bit damp from the rain. Her glasses are foggy and she looks a bit funny but still kinda sexy and nope... He is so not going there. He needs a date and soon. Very very soon. He snaps out of his mental monologue as she pushes through him inside, takes off her coat and throws it onto the couch. She then marches straight into the kitchen and Oliver follows her obediently. He likes the way she acts in his flat. Like she's at home, like she belongs here and for a split of a second he starts to wonder that maybe she does but his train of thought is soon swallowed by Felicity's babbling:

"I have the best caramel popcorn and I also brought some chocolate cause who doesn't love chocolate? Crazy people that's who I'm telling you." she turns around and smiles her heart warming smile. "I know you watch what you put into your body but this is chocolate and popcorn so that's kind of an offer you cannot refuse" She smirks at him, and Oliver notices that the corner of her glasses is still a bit foggy which makes her eyes look funny but beautiful nonetheless so he stares at her for a moment. Oliver doesn't care what anybody says – that smile and those eyes could end wars. He's sure of that. "So you gonna start the movie or what?" Felicity extends the DVDs to him looking expectantly. He takes them from her and reads the title.

"Doctor who?" he frowns "I swear to god, Felicity, I'm not watching another sci-fi movie with you and that's final" he stomps his foot and feels a bit like an idiot or a little kid because seriously what grown man stomps his foot to get his point across? Well apparently he does but a man's got to stand his ground, right? He knows he will end up watching whatever Felicity will tell him to watch because that woman is so persuasive she could sell anything. She looks at him amusement in her eyes, the corner of her lips quirked. Damn she knows that. She is evil, cute and evil. Deadly combination.

"Oh, you won't? Is that so?" an evil glee flashes in her eyes and Oliver can already see himself watching that stupid TV show. "Oliver Queen!" she exclaims "Are you freaking pouting?" she laughs whole heartedly and his cheeks flush. Seriously? Flushing? Did he just lose all control of his body? Maybe he is some kind of a 'Freaky Friday' situation where he's a teenager again who gets all rosy faced when a girl teases him. That would certainly explain a lot. Seriously, what the hell? He hasn't flushed since 6th grade cause he is who he is and no girl in the history of ever made him feel embarrassed so he just rolls his eyes to hide his own surprise and says:

"No. I'm not" but even he knows that sounds weak so Felicity chuckles as he lets out an exasperated sigh. "If you tell someone I will deny it with all my might" He sees that she is trying her best to keep a straight face and not to crack up. Maybe he enjoys being the reason for that a little bit too much but who cares? He's happy and most importantly she is too so he pretends to be all annoyed and broody and huffs out:

"Fine. I will start the movie but..." he raises his finger threateningly to show he means business "next time I'm picking the movie and you can't say anything bad about it!"

"Oh my god!" Felicity cries out dramatically "I'm not watching Fast and The Furious again! That movie sucks!"

"Take that back!" Oliver gives her a horrified look like she just grew a second head and she rolls her eyes at him. He can play this game too.

"You do realize that that movie makes no sense! It defies the laws of physics and as someone with a background of science education I find that offensive. It's basically a big fuck you to physics. That movie is flipping off science." she looks at him with a raised eyebrow and Oliver can't help but feel the rightness of this. He would gladly spend the rest of his life arguing about movies and music and just being here with her. Not that he will ever admit that. Like ever. Nope.

"Oh yeah? And a movie about..." he looks and the box set again and reads "an alien travelling around the galaxy saving planets makes sense for you as 'someone with scientific background'?" he says mockingly. "Also, in a police box? Are you serious?" he looks at her in disbelief. She is so weird sometimes and he can't really pin point the moment in his life when he started thinking of 'weird' as a good personality trait but well that happened and he can't stop himself from thinking of it as endearing. Not that he is even going to try.

"Hey! We are not alone in the universe. If you think we are, mister, then you are pretty self centred. What do you know? Maybe there actually is a sexy Doctor travelling around the galaxy saving everybody? The universe is infinite!" she crosses her arms over her chest, daring him to say something against that and Oliver knows better. He knows how passionate Felicity gets about her shows so he just smiles smugly at her and says:

"Okay. Just please when some dude asks you to get into a box and travel around the universe with him. Don't. Even if he offers free wi-fi or chocolate" he smirks and Felicity sticks her tongue out.

"Very mature" he remarks and ducks down just in time to avoid being hit by the spoon she throws at him. He walks out of the kitchen laughing and it is lightest he felt since he came back. He feels like all the weight has been lifted from him, like he can handle all the burdens of his crusade as long as he has her. He doesn't want to think why she is the only person to make him feel that way so he just pushes that thought to the back of his mind under the pile of things labelled 'better not start picking at'. He flops onto the couch and hits the play button on the remote. Kind of a catchy tune starts playing (he will never admit that because he knows she will start the whole 'I told you so talk') and soon Felicity falls beside him, he throws his arm around her and covers them with a duvet. They watch the series in silence, sharing popcorn and eating chocolate which damn he really really missed. Sometimes Felicity makes a snide comment about something that's happening on the screen or she just laughs at some line and Oliver wants to stop this moment and just sit like that forever. He misses half the show because he is too busy observing her expressions, the way she laughs and how she gets so emotionally invested in the show she's probably seen hundreds of times before. He can tell she knows every line by heart but still keeps on watching. In the middle of the fifth episode Felicity starts to drift asleep so Oliver picks her up and carries her to his bed. He watches her sleep for a few minutes in a totally not creepy way. He is no Twilight vampire, okay? He watches her just cause he cares not because he is a freaky lurker. Suddenly it dawns on him that if he would ever lose this blond girl lying in his bed, curled up into a ball he would die. He could handle a lot and losing her is not one of those things. He goes back to the living room lies down on the couch and stares at the ceiling for a while trying to figure out when did he get so attached to the nerdy IT girl? The answer is simple: the moment she agreed to help him while he was bleeding on her backseat. He smiles at the memory of Felicity's fear for his life and the way she wasn't surprised, well not really surprised that he is the vigilante. He loves her for thinking he could be so good and selfless and try to free the city from criminals when everyone else thinks of him poorly. Probably poorly isn't even a strong enough word and he knows, he deserves that but Felicity saw through all the crap, through his rich bad boy facade. She saw him for who he was when no one else could and that's probably why she found a special place inside his heart when he thought he wouldn't be able to let anyone else in. He loves the fact she didn't dismiss him as the least likely candidate to be the vigilante. He thinks how beautiful she is and suddenly realizes that it's just a bonus because for the first time in his life he doesn't care how a girl looks like because what matters is WHO she is and even though it sounds lame her brain and her heart are the things that matter. He drifts off to sleep before he can even register the fact he used the word 'love'.

Oliver is awaken by the smell of bacon and as soon as he opens his eyes he realizes he drooled all over the sofa. Which... Gross. He sits up and stretches out his limbs yawning. He cracks his neck feeling well rested which is weird since he slept on the sofa. He drags himself to the kitchen where Felicity is humming under her breath while making toast.

"Morning" he says, his voice deep and low from sleep and Felicity whistles.

"Oh wow! Not that you haven't heard that from every girl who slept in your bed before but damn that voice is like sex. Oh shit. Tell me I didn't say that out loud. Please tell me I didn't say that out loud." She looks flustered and embarrassed so Oliver offers apologetically:

"You didn't say that out loud?" she groans and rubs her eyes under her glasses

"Mind to mouth filter - nonexistent." she sighs and Oliver smirks happy to know he is not the only one being able to make an asshat of himself even though she does that in the cutest way while he well not so much. Felicity notices that he is rubbing his neck and smiles looking uncomfortable:

"Sorry I passed out and you had to sleep on the couch. You should have let me take the couch." She smiles at him and Oliver has an urge to fall into his bed where Felicity lay and just wrap himself in those sheets. Which - what the fuck? Is he a dog? Seriously. This woman.

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm a gentleman. I would never let you sleep on that devils invention that is my couch" she giggles at that and Oliver would like that sound to be his alarm clock so that he would be waiting forward to being awaken by the heavenly sounds that is Felicity's giggle.

"Well I made you a 'thank you' breakfast. Scrambled eggs with bacon and coffee." 'she cracks a smile at him "Your favourite."

"How did you know?" he sits down at the table staring at the most appetizing looking eggs he's ever seen.

"You told me before."

"You remembered?" he can't hide his surprise because no one – not even his mom remembered such small details about him, especially after five years.

"Of course I did. That's what friends do" she smiles at him and says "Well, I gotta run, cause I have to go to the office fix some computers, scowl at some idiots who were born in stone age and can't even figure out how a computer looks like let alone turn one on. See you." She waves and walks out the door. Oliver waves back.

"Friends" he mutters testing the word on his lips. "A couple" he feels taken aback when he realizes he likes the sound of the latter way better. He doesn't finish eating his breakfast because he feels like his stomach is in knots; he picks up his phone and calls Diggle:

"Diggle, I think it's time we crossed another name of that list" he hears Diggle sigh at the other end of the phone.

"Okay, Oliver. You sound weird though. Is everything alright?" He knows Diggle's just worried about him but he doesn't need that now because he is not okay. Far from it actually so he snaps.

"Yeah everything is fine" and hangs up. He doesn't want to think about Felicity right now and he can't deal with his feelings especially since they are one sided so he does what he can do best. Puts on the Green Hood.

He drives to the warehouse way above the speed limit but he doesn't care. Speeding through Starling city streets helps him to calm down and it's what he actually needs. The piece, the solitude, the landscape of the city disappearing in the rear view mirror. He needs to gain control over his feelings, he has to. She doesn't deserve that. She deserves better, she deserves someone who is worthy of her, someone who will make her happy. He truly believes that but he doesn't understand why his heart sinks to the pit of his stomach or why his chest feels so tight just from the thought of Felicity with someone else. He punches the steering wheel and puts his foot on the accelerator harder. He hates feeling like this, he hates that a one simple girl became his whole world and he is too damn selfish to let her go. He wants to be with her even if it's just as a friend. A simple girl who turned out to be the best thing in his entire life. The car comes into a halt in front of the warehouse and he jumps out of the car, walking in his 'secret batman cave' as Felicity likes to call it. He smiles at that. Just the thought of her makes him happy, makes him feel whole and fuck the universe for being so cruel and making him fall for someone who is way too good for him. He walks in, mumbles 'hey' to Diggle and turns his dad's notebook without another word. He flips through the pages and finally decides on a name:

"Thomas Braden. He is a congressman and the head of a human trafficking net that is based in Starling city. In the last few years they have sold hundreds of girls to brothels. He is the lowest of the low. I think we have..." he is suddenly interrupted by Diggle who looks really concerned:

"Oliver, what the hell are you thinking? We decided a few weeks ago that we won't be able to take him alone. That we need help. You told me yourself that going after him alone would be a suicide mission."

"Diggle, I don't care. He is poisoning this city and I will either take him out or die trying" he sounds harsher then he intended to but he sees Diggle's face soften "Listen, I'm not stupid. He is going to visit his family so he won't have a lot of guards around him. I'm not suicidal I know what I'm doing. Trust me."

"Okay, Oliver. You know that I trust you. I trust you with my life I'm just not sure I trust you with yours. You seem off today. Do we need to talk about it?" Diggles voice is concerned and he looks at him with worry in his eyes. Oliver forces a smile

"I'm fine. Really" he tries to sound as convincing as he can but he sees that he hasn't fooled Diggle

"Fine. I know you're lying. Just remember that whatever it is and if you don't think you can talk to me about it you have Felicity. She cares about you as much as I do" his voice is warm and reassuring. Oliver swallows a lump in his throat and says

"I know she does and I know you do too." He squeezes Diggle's shoulder not sure whether he's trying to reassure him or himself.

Everything doesn't go fine. It seems like Oliver has underestimated the guards that were there. He didn't expect them to have semi automatic guns, that's for sure. He is good with the arrows but they can't really protect against bullets coming directly at him. He barely managed to escape and he is dragging himself down the pavement struggling to stay upright. His arm is bleeding really badly and his calf was grazed by a ricocheting bullet which makes it even harder to walk. He is no doctor but he must have lost a lot of blood and he knows he doesn't have long before he passes out. He tries to reach Diggle again but there is no signal. He feels panic rising in his chest and he realizes that no matter how many times he tried to convince himself he's not afraid of death, he is. He doesn't want to go, at least not like this – all alone, on the pavement in the middle of the street. After a few minutes he realizes he's standing in front of Felicity's apartment. He praises the gods that she lives on the first floor; he fishes her spare key from under the rug in front of the door. He struggles a bit with the lock but finally manages to get in. He can hear her laughing and it suddenly feels like a small part of his pain was taken away, it feels like everything will be okay. He is bleeding in her apartment and he is about to lose consciousness but he knows she will save him, she always does. Suddenly he hears a male voice calling out to her to get the glasses for wine and Oliver feels like all the air was sucked out of his chest. His vision starts to blur and everything goes black before he collapses he manages to grit out

"Felicity." And the world goes dark.