a/n: Thank you again to all the followers and reviewers. I apologize for the delay in posting but as happens to many, life throws in a few roadblocks. This chapter is a little shorter, setting up the next big scene. I'm hoping to have the next chapter done for tomorrow morning. Or if I'm really lucky, later tonight (my time) :D Until then, enjoy.

Oliver met Diggle at the car after breakfast with his family. "Where are we headed this morning?" the bodyguard asked.

"To Verdant," he replied. "And Dig, I want you to cover my back this morning." Oliver's eyes met the brown ones watching him in the mirror.

"Now why would I need to do that at the Arrow Cave?" Diggle raised his eyebrow at his younger comrade.

Oliver turned, looking out the window. "I did something really stupid," he confessed.

"You usually stay pretty calm and collected. Unless it involves a certain blonde." Diggle paused. "This is about Felicity isn't it?"

Blue eyes glared at him in the mirror. "Just drive! And be ready for anything."

"Oliver, what did you do? Felicity isn't exactly a volcano. If you think she's going to erupt, I think you might be mistaken." Diggle tried to reason with him.

"Really, Dig. Do you know any girl who will leave a personstanding after discovering he had read her diary?" Oliver argued.

Diggle abruptly pulled the car over to the side of the road and put it in park. He turned around to stare at his charge. "You read her diary?" he asked in disbelief.

"More like I watched it…." Oliver's voice faded into an awkward silence.

"Watched it?" his partner prodded, frowning.

"Yes, watched it. She keeps a video log as a diary. I stumbled on it last night. When I came back from my interrupted mission, I startled her and she was very quick to cover up what she had been working on. So when she left in a rush, I decided to find out what our IT girl was hiding. Turns out she was looking at some of those video logs. So I copied them and took them home to watch," he confessed.

"Was it worth the trouble? You know she's going to notice that you were in her files. She is our tech expert. It's just a matter of when she discovers what you've been up to." Diggle reasoned.

"I know, I just wanted to get to know her better. She really is observant. She knew long before we told her that I was the Hood, or at least highly suspected it based on what's in her logs. But no, it definitely wasn't worth what might happen." He took a deep breath. I only hope she doesn't decide to leave permenantly this time. "The biggest question is do I wait for the blowup or confess to her now?" Oliver asked.

"Confessing may help your case more than waiting for her to discover it. But you may not have a chance. It's Saturday. She may already be at the club doing research, which means you'd better be ready to duck when you walk in." Diggle turned back around in the driver's seat. Pulling the black Audi into the traffic he headed towards the Glades.

As the car crept along in the morning rush, Oliver watched the next log on his smartphone. "Felicity's Log – Stardate 2013.037. What am I getting myself into? One of my puzzles has been solved. I don't know what happened to Mr. Steele but I know I will be helping to find him. Leaving work tonight, I had the biggest shock of my life. I left after security started to empty the building because of the attack on Mrs. Queen. I got into my car, only to hear my name being called by the Hood, who turned out to be Oliver. He was bleeding and I wanted to take him to the hospital but he made me promise to take him to his father's old factory. There I had to get Diggle's help to carry him into the basement. They had the equipment of an entire emergency ward in there, all for one man. He scared me more than once when those machines beeped that awful, haunting flatline sound. But he stuck around. To be shot by your own mother, what a shock that's going to be. But even more so why was he attacking his own mother?"

Oliver's thoughts were interrupted, as Diggle opened his car door. "The coast is clear, for now. Felicity's car isn't here yet," he commented.

Oliver took out his phone after his morning workout. Felicity still hadn't arrived at the lair and he was getting impatient. Pulling out his phone, he dialed Felicity's number.

"Hello?" A sleepy voice answered.

"Felicity, it's Oliver," he said. "Did I wake you up?"

"Yeah, but it's okay. It's time I got up anyway. It's eleven o'clock. What do you need?" her soft voice asked.

Why would Felicity be sleeping in? She is usually an early bird on the weekends. Unless her coffee and crepes turned into something more. Pausing a moment, he responded, "Nothing urgent. I was just wondering if you'd like to meet for lunch. Maybe the Big Belly Burger?"

"That sounds fantastic. I could definitely use a greasy meal right about now. What time would you like to meet?" She questioned.

"I'll pick you up at twelve. Does that give you enough time?" he replied.

"No problem. That will be perfect. Just text and I'll come down to meet you."

"See you then Felicity." Oliver hung up the phone.

"So you bit the bullet?" John asked him quietly.

"I figure if I tell her in a public place there might be less of a scene." Oliver explained, looking somewhat perplexed. He wasn't really sure how Felicity would react. After all, she wasn't at all like the other women he dated.

"Well, if you're meeting her in an hour, you'd better hit the shower, man," his confidante suggested with a grin. "She is used to seeing you all sweaty, but dining together that way may be a little much, and certainly not going to help your case!"