CHAPTER FOUR

Over the next few weeks Oliver and Felicity settled into a comfortable routine. Felicity would get up, go to work, then return home. They would have dinner together every night and then she would hide herself away in her study working on decoding the important data. The past weeks had been stressful, to say the least. After cracking some of the data and discovering that a shipment of humans would be arriving in Starling, Felicity had alerted both Oliver and Anatoly, neither who were too shocked by the revelation. (It was a well known fact that the Triad were viciously into human trafficking, one area which the Bratva, or at least the branch Felicity was involved in stayed well clear of). By the end of Felicity's revelation both Oliver and Anatoly had come to a mutual understanding and had set off to begin to make arrangements for an intervention. Oliver taking charge of the ground work whilst Anatoly hid behind the walls of his own home, something he had been doing more and more frequently as of late.

It had surprised Felicity how nervous she was when Oliver had left her that evening to go to the docks. Even though she had direct contact with him at all times through her new and updated comm system she couldn't help shake off the dreaded feeling in the pit of her stomach. She knew she was nervous, all her usual signs were there, babbling, biting her lower lip insistently and her fingers drumming unnecessarily on her keyboard. What would she do if something happened to him? Thea would never forgive her, it would all be her fault if something happened too as she was the reason that Oliver was now heavily involved with the Bratva... And... and how would she cope? She was only beginning to come to turns with their relationship. She enjoyed spending time with him, having dinner with him, waking up with him every morning...

Ever since their press announcement they had begun to increase the time they spent together. She always looked forward to him visiting her at work for a lunch or coffee break. And she thought it was mutual, their enjoyment. They had had a previous discussion about the couple of times they had met before his parents death and their engagement, not that they ever discussed that kiss. She never really understood why Oliver never approached her after that... The more time they spent together now the more she suspected that maybe he had felt the same way as her. That he had felt the sexual tension between them all those months ago. It seemed, however, that they had a mutual understanding between the two of them that they wouldn't discuss it now, their lives were already difficult enough as it was. But over the last few weeks Felicity's feelings had continued to develop. She longed to spend all her evenings with Oliver, just enjoying his company, sharing some wine or ice cream. And that was exactly what she hoped they would do when he came back that evening.

Thankfully, the mission in the docks had been a fairly easy one, they had taken the Triad by surprise, that was evident enough by the small amount of men that the Triad had out in the field. Even after Oliver had announced that the field was clear and he was heading home Felicity couldn't help but still feel anxious in the pit of her stomach. She had spent the whole hour, waiting for him to come home safe in the bathroom, attempting to calm herself down. She wasn't used to feeling like that. Whenever Anatoly or Roy went out on a mission she was worried, yes, but the feeling of dread and what if the mission went south and they were killed... She had definitely never really considered that.

After calming herself down slightly, she managed to emerge from the bathroom and poured a large glass of wine, downing it quickly before re-filling her glass. It was only when she hear the creak of their front door and Oliver's loud footsteps that she could let out a large sigh, her eyes locking with his as soon as she saw him lingering in the doorway. She wasn't sure if it was a mixture of exhaustion, or panic or the fact that she hadn't eaten all day which lead her to run at him and fling herself towards him, her arms locking around his neck as she buried her face in his t-shirt, taking another deep sigh, inhaling his scent, which recently had become a massive comfort to her. It took him a moment before his arms banded around her, pulling her closer to him as his hands found her back, rubbing soothing circles. The pause in his actions made it obvious that she had taken him by surprise, but at least he hadn't pushed her away.

It was a long while until they parted slightly awkwardly. Felicity making an excuse about needing to go and check something on her computer. She never saw him that night when she went to bed and not the next morning either. He was up and away before even she rose, something that had been happening more and more frequently over the last week. She knew Oliver was disappearing somewhere, that much was obvious to her.

It was later than normal when she arrived home from an exhausting shift at work and she was all ready to get a large glass of red wine, have a takeout with Oliver, then sit at her computer to get some more of that data analysed.

"Is Oliver here?" asked Felicity as she shrugged off her coat hanging it on the stairs before pushing her heels off, wiggling her toes in an attempt to regain some of the feelings in her feet.

"He was earlier... But I believe he went out about an hour ago."

"Oh he said he'd be home when I got back..." Felicity replied, her brow furrowing in confusion.

Where was Oliver? She had grown accustomed to his friendly smile and a nice meal together, sometimes with a quiet and extremely moody Thea sitting next to them (that part she didn't enjoy as much, but she was his sister so she just had to deal with that...).

Felicity left Diggle in the hall and made her way to the kitchen towards that new bottle of wine that had her name written all over it. No way was she going to wait for Oliver to come home to open it. If he wanted some of this delicious red wine then he better hurry up and join her! It was only after she sat down on the stool at the breakfast bar with her glass that she noticed a hastily written note next to their fruit bowl.

Just had to run out for a moment. Hopefully I will be back before you get home from work but if not be ready for seven, it's about time I took you out for dinner. O x

Seven?! She turned round quickly glancing at the clock on the cooker, almost falling off her stool when realising the time was 18:45. Regaining her balance quickly she picked up her phone dialling Oliver. There was no way in hell that she was going to be ready or even look acceptable for a... a meal... or could she even call it a date...? with Oliver?

Scrambling off her stool her phone still ringing, Felicity bounded up the stairs flinging the bedroom door open in a hasty attempt to speed up her getting ready process. Her phone rang off as she wandered into her bathroom. Giving up on calling him she sent him a quick text asking him to call her back immediately before turning the shower on preparing to have one of the fastest showers of her life.

After her shower she was surprised to see that Oliver still hadn't been in touch with her. Attempting to remedy that she redialled him, frowning when it went straight to voice mail. She could feel her concerning rising slightly at his lack of contact. Where was he? This wasn't Oliver... They were both aware of the danger which the other faced because of the Triad and both kept tabs on each other whenever they were apart. It was only the other week that Oliver had burst into her office, concern written all over her face because she wasn't answering her phone. They had had stern, very loud words after that. Both agreeing to have their phones constantly on loud. So why wasn't he answering now?

By the time it reached quarter past seven, Felicity was ready to go and she decided to go and find Diggle to get him on the case. Deciding that she should at least try one last time she picked up her phone, dialling his number and holding it against her ear with her shoulder. It almost rang off again but she was surprised to hear an angsty Oliver on the other end.

"What?!" he snarled, his breathing heavy as if he was running or just recovering from a rather fast sprint. She was startled by the loud angry voice in her ear causing her to jump, her phone slipping to the floor.

"Oh frack!" She cried, picking up the phone immediately. "Oliver?!

"Felicity?" His voice softened on the other side but she could still her him panting. "Oh shit... I'm sorry Felicity... I'll be there as soon as I can..."

"Are you alright?! You sound out of breath?! I've been trying to call you for ages!" She exclaimed, narrowing her eyes as she tried to work out what exactly he was doing.

"Sorry... I've just had a few things to-" he stopped speaking immediately as another voice floated through the phone, somebody was speaking to Oliver. The deep, low voice definitely belonged to a man. "One moment Felicity..."

And then there was shuffling, his hand over the receiver preventing her from hearing what he was discussing, with this deep, low voice. She could make out a few words, "Bratva"... "triad"... "data... "Anatoly" and she heard her name in amongst the words too. What an earth was he doing talking about all that to someone else...? She knew it wasn't her father his voice was of a lower pitch on the phone, and definitely not her mother or Thea or even Roy. They were all having dinner together something which Diggle had been harping on about when he was driving her home. She then heard (well what she presumed) was a car door slamming.

"Hey... Sorry about that Felicity, I'll be back in ten minutes. Are you still ready to go out?"

"Oliver? What's going on? Are you okay? I've been trying to phone you for over half an hour and you weren't answering!" Her voice was frantic as she ran her fingers through her hair, ignoring his questions. She couldn't cope with all these secrets, she needed to know what was going on. What was he doing?

"Hey, I'm alright Felicity," he replied softly turning the engine on, beginning to drive home. "I'll explain when I get back, just... just be ready for going out for dinner..."

She took a deep breath, listening to him breathing for a moment. Realistically, she knew that whatever Oliver was going to say to her was either going to be a lie or an abstract version of the truth. All she really wanted was there to be nothing between them at all, no lies, not anything. Their relationship was already full of lies that the least she thought they could be was be truthful to one another.

"Okay... I'll see you when you get back..." She murmured.

Oliver hung up first allowing her to stare at herself in her vanity mirror, pausing in thought. She didn't want to have an argument with Oliver, but she had that feeling that if they did truly explore what he was doing then there would be shouting, and words thrown haphazardly at each other which neither really meant.

And what would happen if they did argue? If it caused a devastating split in their relationship? How would she explain that to her parents? And Thea? An argument between the two of them would affect everyone and make this whole arrangement even more complicated than before, if that was even possible. To be honest that funny feeling in the pit of her stomach every time she saw or thought of Oliver was beginning to make their relationship extremely complex, but she knew now wasn't the time to investigate that either.

She was jolted out of her thoughts as a loud beep signalled a new message on her phone from an unknown number.

'Your fiancée is getting up to something in his spare time. I've been following Oliver for weeks now, he isn't the man who you think he is... You are far too trusting of him Felicity, be careful x'

She narrowed her eyes in thought. What was going on? Was someone following Oliver? Did they know about their relationship status?

Pondering for a moment, she thought would it be sensible to reply. She couldn't speak to Dig, or Anatoly and if Oliver was up to something then she couldn't mention this to him either... This person knew both Oliver and her...

"Hey Felicity!" called Oliver as he entered their room behind her jolting her out of her thoughts.

He chuckled at her jumping, before their eyes met in the mirror. Putting the text out of her mind for just now she let out a small smile as she took in his own happy face and ruffled henley. He really was too good looking for his own good.

"You look amazing...!"

His eyes never left hers as he approached her slowly, his arms resting on her shoulders as he bent down to kiss her hair which she had left elegantly in loose waves. She relaxed slightly as he rubbed his thumbs at the base of her neck.

How did he know that was exactly what she needed at the moment? For him to calm her down and allow her to not think about the text, that was something that she would focus on tomorrow, tonight she would hopefully enjoy their evening, as long as he didn't start an argument.

"I called the restaurant and changed our meal to later, I just need to get changed and then we can head there..."

"Sounds good," she smiled happily her left hand squeezing his and her eyes lingered on him as he turned to go and get changed.

They would have their talk later, it would seem.

Within half an hour they were speeding down the road in Oliver's Porsche, his hand resting on the gear stick as Felicity fidgeted with her skirt pulling it down making sure that it was sitting nicely. She was nervous, that much was obvious. How were they going to cope with a romantic meal just the two of them? She loved spending time with Oliver, but she hadn't been seen with him out in public for months, and never had they even been to a restaurant just the two of them. He could obviously feel her nerves radiating off her and his hand found its way onto her knee giving it a comforting squeeze. She smiled, and let out a shaky breath, her mind wandering back to where an earth Oliver was earlier that evening.

"So are you going to tell me where you were earlier?" She asked raising an eyebrow at him questionably and turning her head to look at him as he lifted his hand off her knee to change gears. She could see him gulp uneasily, and he continued to look forward, watching where he was driving and not looking at her.

"I... I just had a few things to check... To do with all the work I have been doing with Anatoly..."

"That's funny, Anatoly, didn't say that you were out on business when I spoke to him earlier..." She replied carefully as he continued to drive, his hands tightening slightly on the steering wheel which was the only sign of his slight distress at her questioning.

"I just had a thought, which I needed to explore before speaking to Anatoly about it..." He looked at her in an attempt to prove that he wasn't lying. She knew he wasn't telling the truth, but it seemed he wasn't telling her an outright lie either. "When I know more... You will be the first to know... I promise..."

She sighed, slightly unhappy with his answer but she knew right now she wasn't going to get any further. She needed to wait for him to tell her more.

Then he was cutting out the engine signalling their arrival at the restaurant. Oliver leaped out of the car and was opening her door before she was even ready, giving her his hand to help her out of the car.

"Thanks," she smiled, her clutch under her left arm as his hand lingered on her back his thumb brushing the cut out sections of the red dress which her mother had been so adamant for her to wear at the press conference. "The Olive Garden?! I haven't been here in ages and you know how much I love Italian..."

"And that's why I chose it..." he chucked as he guided her inside, the waiter at the front immediately guiding them to a table for two at the back of the restaurant which had a lovely view across the river. He helped her into her chair and sat down in his own happily.

"Can we get a bottle of your finest red wine please?" He asked the waiter, his best playboy smile on his lips.

"A man after my own heart..." She smiled warmly her hand resting on his as she pulled her chair in further, trying to edge a bit closer to him.

"Well it would rude not to get any," he chucked, his fingers entwining with hers after he sat his menu down, already having decided what to eat.

"I love Italian so much," moaned Felicity as she thought of pasta and pizza, oh there was always so much to chose from...

"I remembered..." He laughed, leaning back slightly. "I think that was one of the things that you were craving when I first met you, which was why I thought our first proper date should definitely be an Italian!"

"Oh god," she grimaced slightly at the memory of how her wine had loosened her tongue slightly and how the posh canopies had done nothing to quench her hunger. She had longer for a large pasta dish, or pizza, even a burger really. "I can't believe you remember that!"

"Well I remember a lot when it comes to you Felicity..." They were interrupted, unfortunately by their wine arriving and then the waiter took their orders. "You look beautiful tonight, by the way..."

Felicity blushed slightly, squeezing his hand slightly in appreciation.

"Thanks..." She smiled secretively, she could feel her cheeks and ears reddening at his remarks. "I knew you liked this dress after my mum tried to get me to wear it for the press conference... And well I just thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to wear it..."

"Yes... Red definitely does suit you..." His eyes lingered on her hers, before swooping down to admire her red dress further. "How was your day at work today?"

"Stressfully, I've run into a major problem with the prototype and Curtis has been continuing to up his game in arranging for me to meet investors who are interested in it... I seriously am running out of time to do... well everything... And with all the work that I still need to do on your data, I just wish that everything would slow down a little bit... My mom isn't helping either, she is going on and on about the wedding and how I need to be more involved, but I have literally no time for planning! That's why I asked my mom to be in charge!"

She took a deep breath as she finished brushing a couple of blondes stands behind her ear.

"Ah I wouldn't worry about the wedding Felicity, we still have weeks til then and as with your prototype why don't you either employ or promote someone to speak to the investors, or maybe wait a little longer before you release it? To give you more time to work on it? I don't want you to over work yourself Felicity..."

The waiter returned again, a large plate of seafood linguine for her and a meat feast pasta dish for him. She thought carefully at his words, maybe he was right and she was doing to much...

"The prototype is going to have to wait until a while after the wedding anyway... Especially because I have decided that I am going to work harder on cracking more of the data, I've been putting it off too much... But Curtis is a lifesaver I honestly don't know what I would do without him!"

"I know he is Felicity but every night for the last few weeks you have been working on either your prototype or the data... I just don't want you to be too harsh on yourself..."

"But if I don't then... Then we both know that something else will happen... They are murdering people Oliver, and I don't want what happened to your parents to happen to anyone else..."

"You're remarkable, Felicity," he paused for a moment, his eyes filling up with what seemed like love and adoration all for her.

"Well... I guess thank you for remarking on it..." She smiled as she saw him rub his eyes a little, he was touched by her thoughts and still upset about his parents. "Oliver... How are you really coping...?"

He swallowed his mouthful of pasta and their eyes met, the tension between them obvious, but they were in their own little world oblivious to the other couples in the restaurant who were watching them. They had been the talk of Starling since the press conference and it seemed that almost everyone at the restaurant was intrigued by their relationship.

"Better than I was... You honestly don't know how much you have helped me Felicity..."

"Oliver, I have hardly done anything-"

"Don't say that, you know it isn't true... Felicity you have done so much more than I deserve..."

"Stop being silly... you are a good man Oliver... You just need to believe it. And maybe in the past you have got caught up in some bad things and done some things which you regret but... well, so have I and you just need to accept that those things make you, well you..."

"You're too good for me Felicity," her name danced on his tongue as he gave her a smile which he seemed to reserve solely for her. "But there are still some things that I need to sort out, I think we both do..."

She nodded her head in agreement. They both had a lot to work out.

For the rest of their meal their conversations took a lighter note, each of them learning more about the other. Both sharing childhood stories which had them both in fits of laughter, at one point Felicity had tears rolling down her face and Oliver was bent double from laughing. When the waiter had approached them and asked if they would be having pudding it was inevitable that they would say yes. It was Felicity who insisted on them sharing, exclaiming that there was no way that she could fit a whole dish of brownies and mint chocolate chip ice cream in her belly. Oliver moved his chair closer to her, so they could share the dish more easily but Felicity was sure that the way his hand had found her thigh extremely quickly and the way he was stroking her bare skin that he had other intensions by moving closer to her.

In the end Felicity ate most of it, well all the ice cream of course and the majority of the brownie, but Oliver didn't really seem to mind, he was too happy to just be with her, in her presence and enjoying time with her.

It was almost midnight by the time they decided to leave the restaurant and head home. They were both silent in the car, content with the way that their night had gone. It still surprised Felicity with how comfortable they had become with each other. Why had she been worried about how their meal would go? It seemed silly now it was over. They never struggled for conversation and well she was glad that they could enjoy an evening together, just the two of them. She hoped that it was a glimpse of how their married life would be. Maybe they could actually make this work? Properly?

She gazed up at him as he held out his hand helping her out of the car and across the chuckies and into the house. It was dark and silent, Thea perhaps in her bed. They lazily walked into the kitchen as he turned on the lights whilst she slipped off her coat and her heels dropping dramatically down in size.

"Thanks Oliver, I'm really glad we did that... I... I had an amazing time," she smiled up at him shyly, trying to show how happy she was with how their night had turned out in her smile.

"You're welcome," he smiled warmly his fingers interlocking with hers and his other hand pulling her into his embrace.

"Amazing food, fantastic wine and great company! What more could a girl ask for," she asked saucily as she looked up at him, the wine loosening her tongue a little.

"Felicity..."

He chuckled, his eyes dipping down to watch her tongue slip out and lick her lips. His eyes darkened a shade and his hand wandered down her back, one resting on her bare skin, the other moving down, further than he had ever done before. She would be lying if she said she didn't want him, right then. All she needed was his lips against hers, she could feel him, every aspect of him flushed up against her, yet it wasn't really enough... she needed more of him.

"Oliver..." She moaned biting her lip as her left hand came up to stroke the back of his neck just below his hair line. And then he was moving his lips moving towards hers, pausing slightly in an attempt to seek her permission and she accepted it, stretched her neck up slightly and finally they were reunited.

This kiss wasn't anything like their first one all those months ago. This one was soft at first in contrast to their first one which was fast and bruising. Their lips dancing together, and it took her a few moments to bravely run her tongue against his lips seeking entrance which he granted her immediately. Her fingers running through his hair as she stretched up on to her tip toes not wanting to break this blissful feeling. His hands pulling her even closer if that was possible, one resting on her ass. She let out a breathy moan as his teeth lipped her slightly before their tongues were battling again.

"Oh god. Do you really have to do that right here?" drawled Thea, rolling her eyes as she wandered passed the startled Felicity and Oliver who had abruptly parted, both confused at what an earth was happening. "I have to be here in this room every day and I eat here and the last thing I want to see his my brother making out, with well you..."

"Thea..." Oliver warned as he watched her saunter to the fridge and grab the orange juice.

"It's disgusting. The pair of you are so sappy and it's just wrong Ollie... Everything about this is so goddam horrible..." Thea's voice was still low but Felicity could hear the crack in. She wasn't coping and with everything that had happened to her in the last couple of months it isn't surprising.

"Thea that's enough." barked Oliver, not impressed with her tone of what she was saying at all. Or the fact that she had interrupted his kiss with Felicity.

"Oliver, it's fine..." whispered Felicity as she squeezed Oliver's hand... "I'm just going to go up stairs... So the two of you can talk..."

She quickly pulled herself out of Oliver's arms and looked at Thea hunched over the cupboard. She lingered for a moment, wondering if it was better if she stayed for this but she knew that they needed to talk alone. Wandering up the stairs and into their bedroom she could hear them, Thea was shouting and Oliver was giving it back, just as good as he was getting.

She was interrupted from getting changed by her phone ringing, the loud nature of it scaring her slightly, she was really getting far too jumpy for her own good. Fumbling in her bag for her phone, she noticed the same number which had text her earlier that day. Before really considering what to do she accepted the call, hoping that now, maybe she would get some answers.

"Hello?" asked Felicity uncertainly into her phone.

"Why aren't you answering my texts Felicity?" emerged a voice that she knew all too well.

"Sara?!" she asked shocked. It was Sara who was following Oliver?! One of Anatoly's informants?

"Are you alone?"

"Wait? Yes I am Sara... What the hell is going on...?"

"Yes who else do you think would be given the bloody awful task of following Ollie?!" she chuckled down the phone. "I thought it was best that I spoke to you before I reported to Anatoly, I think I at least owe you that..." "I should have guessed that! Oh this is so Anatoly! He is so predictable. Don't report anything to him Sara this is just unbelievable... I'll meet with you to discuss everything and maybe you will understand better what is going on..."

"Felicity... Oliver is still in contact with the Triad..."

Felicity paused for a moment taking in what Sara had just said. Because what an earth did she mean?

END CHAPTER