A/N: So chapters 4-6 (which will likely be the last one, though there *may* be a chapter 7) have been written for a few days. I'm just spacing out the posting so I don't overload anyone. I've spent the last few days either working on my two AUs, one of which (Broken) was posted yesterday, or reading more of the incredibly amazing Olicity fics here on the site. What I've discovered is that great minds think quite a bit alike. LOL I've noticed several similarities between what I had already written and what I was now reading in other people's stories. I'm addressing it publicly because I don't want anyone thinking I plagiarized from them, even with something as simple as a very specific word choice here and there. (I used the word "churlish" in chapter 6, though it's now been replaced, and then a day later read another fic with it-really? It's not like it's a super commonly-used word and here I managed to inadvertently duplicate it.) I am very frequently inspired by the brilliance of other writers, and I've been amazed at the talent in the Arrow fandom. However, I've never been inspired to swipe anyone else's work, so please forgive me if you read something in the remainder of this series that you recognize from your own stories. Any similarities to another author's work are unintentional and purely coincidental. And now, on with the show! (You can thank me later.)

A month later they were once again curled up together on her couch watching some random movie-he wasn't sure which one because he wasn't really watching-her head on his chest and his arm across her shoulders, his fingers idly playing with the hair that was trailing over her arm, when the call came in. Her phone lit up on the coffee table and began buzzing, dancing all over the worn surface. She frowned and reached over to end the call, but then her eyes widened and she grabbed for the phone, jumping off the couch and hurrying back to her room. Oliver watched her go, his eyes showing his concern.

It didn't take long for her to come back, her eyes shining. "He's awake!" she said joyfully, and Oliver looked at her in confusion. "Barry," she clarified as she headed for the coat closet, grabbing her jacket and slipping on a pair of shoes. "Cisco said he came out of his coma a few hours ago. They had to do a bunch of tests and Cisco wanted to make sure that everything was okay before he called me. He asked for me. Barry, I mean. Not Cisco, obviously, because he knew how to get in touch with me when he needed me. 'He' meaning Cisco. Pronouns are so confusing when you have more than one person you're using the same pronoun for. There should be pronouns for multiple people, like, 'He One' and 'He Two'."

"Felicity," he interrupted her, his fake smile in place to cover the uncomfortable sensation in his gut. She looked at him questioningly. "Go." She nodded, sliding her purse and keys off the kitchen counter.

"Make yourself at home. I mean, you are home. But don't feel weird about being here when I'm not. Mi casa es su casa. Wait, did you take Spanish? I mean, I know you took Spanish but you flunked out of it, but maybe you learned Spanish on the island? I don't even know what language they speak there. Now that I think about it it's probably Chinese because it's close to China. I wonder what dialect they use. Mandarin?"

"Felicity!"

She paused and did a quick 1-2-3 while breathing in, then did the same breathing out. "I'm nervous, Oliver. I don't even know what I'm going to find when I get there. He's okay physically, as far as Cisco knows, but he was struck by lightning. What if he's not the same person? What if he's not the friend I remember?"

Oliver pulled her in for a quick hug. "It's going to be okay, Felicity," he promised her. "If he's changed, your friendship will adapt."

She gave him a grateful smile. "Thank you, Oliver." She opened the door and paused, turning back with her hand still on the knob. "I don't know how long I'll be. Don't wait up for me, okay?"

He ignored the twisting in his stomach at her words and shook his head. "I can't promise anything. You know I don't sleep much anyway, and it'll be even harder with you not here."

Her eyes softened and his breath caught at the emotions simmering under the surface. "Then I'll try to be back as soon as I can so you can get some sleep tonight."

He wanted to be generous and tell her, 'Take your time, don't worry about me,' but he was selfish. He'd had her pretty much all to himself for the last month and he didn't want to share her with anyone, especially not Barry. Instead, he simply told her, "Be safe."

Felicity nodded, and then she was gone.

Oliver blew out a breath as he looked around. He'd never been left alone in her apartment before. What the hell was he going to do to pass the time until she returned to him?

It was almost one in the morning when Felicity finally got back, opening the door quietly and tiptoeing in just in case he'd been wrong and had managed to fall asleep. She relaxed when she heard the shower running, shaking her head bemusedly. She'd bet anything it wasn't the first shower he'd taken to occupy his time since she'd left, because she couldn't imagine him just settling in on the couch and finishing up the movie she was pretty sure he hadn't been paying attention to anyway.

The shower turned off and she sank down on the couch, waiting for him to leave the bathroom so she could tease him about his undoubtedly restless evening. The door swung wide and she opened her mouth to start in on him when he walked out, and her heart stopped.

Obviously not realizing she was home, Oliver had opted not to wrap a towel around himself before crossing the living room to the spare room. Felicity's throat and mouth went dry as she took in the sight of his muscular form from top to bottom. She'd seen him near-naked plenty of times, but something about the whole, er, package being unwrapped and left for her admiring gaze to devour was intoxicating. Despite the beauty that was his chest and arms, Felicity had seen them so many times that her attention was diverted to his lower half. His legs were sleekly muscled, his calves toned and his thighs hard. Her heart was beating erratically and she blushed like a schoolgirl as her eyes were magnetically drawn to the tops of his thighs, and she swallowed thickly past the desire that had bloomed in what seemed to be pretty much every part of her.

She knew it wasn't right to be looking at him when he didn't know she was there, and she tried to force herself to look away. Thankfully it only took him a few strides to make it to the bedroom, but then he turned his back on her. She peeked over the top of the couch to admire his firm ass, which looked like a sculptor had spent some loving time on it. Felicity had no qualms about admitting that she would like to do the same.

The light in the spare room came on and Felicity quickly scrunched further down into the couch, doing her best to be absolutely silent. She flipped onto her side, facing away from the bathroom, and closed her eyes as Oliver came back into the living room. She heard his intake of breath when he saw her. She felt him lift the blanket from the back of the couch and begin to cover her with it, so she rolled slightly onto her back and looked up at him. He was wearing a pair of sweatpants now and she could see his hair was still glistening with droplets of water. He smiled softly down at her and her heart caught, then eased into a steadier rhythm.

"I didn't wake you up, did I?" he asked quietly as he sank onto the couch beside her.

"Not at all," she reassured him as she pulled herself into a sitting position. He idly lifted her feet and laid her legs across his lap so that he could scoot closer to her. His hand felt heavy and warm on her knee. "I got home and heard you in the shower, so I laid down and closed my eyes for a few while I waited." She felt a teeny bit guilty over her white lie, but she wasn't about to admit she'd had her eyes wide open when he left the bathroom.

Oliver nodded absently as he started rubbing her feet, and she nearly groaned out loud. "How's Barry?" he asked after a moment. He didn't really want to hear her talk about him, but he knew he needed to ask anyway.

She smiled. "He's as good as can be expected. He was so happy to see me."

His hands stilled at her admission. "Of course he was."

Felicity shook her head. "It's not like that, Oliver. Iris was there, too. It was obvious to everyone but her that he's in love with her. He couldn't keep his eyes off her the whole time she was in the room. Pretty much the only time he looked directly at me was when I first got there, and when she left to give us a few minutes together."

Oliver couldn't believe the younger man's idiocy. "How he could look at anyone else with you in the room is beyond me," he murmured, and Felicity froze.

"I knew, even before the coma, how he felt about her," she said slowly. "Yeah, there was a little bit of interest on both of our parts, but we both knew it was never going to go anywhere. Neither one of us was really ready to take that step." What she didn't say was that they both loved someone else and they each understood that about the other. "We were friends, though, and I've missed him."

After Felicity's confession, Oliver was a little more willing to be magnanimous where the other man was concerned. "Then I'm even more glad that he's awake and seems to be doing okay," he said sincerely.

She nodded, then yawned. She glanced at the clock and her eyes widened when she realized it was almost one-thirty. "We should be in bed!"

Oliver smothered a laugh and she reddened. "We should," he agreed, and Felicity swore his voice was a little deeper than it had been a moment ago. He moved her legs gently to the side and stood, reaching for her hand to pull her up off the couch. He tugged her a little more closely to him than was necessary and bent his head to press a kiss to her temple. "Good night, Felicity."

"Good night, Oliver," she said faintly. "Sleep well."

Oliver's eyes twinkled as he smiled down at her. "I will, now that you're home." He squeezed her hand and then dropped it, going to what had become his room and turning off the light.

Felicity inhaled sharply and shook her head, wondering if she would ever understand the man. Deciding that no one would really ever understand Oliver Queen, she headed for her own bedroom and slipped under the covers. It was a long time before she finally fell asleep.

A/N 2: Once again, much love for the reviews. They're gold.