Chapter 06 – Oliver's POV

Oliver didn't like the way things were going. Yes, he was getting better. His leg was hurting less and other wounds were also healing. And they were in Russia, a place where he had best memories with his parents. The Queens used to spend their summer vacation there, when he was little. The time they spent there, got less and less with the time. And after Thea's birth his parents were so busy that they chose to stay home at holidays.

Oliver missed Russia. He loved their mansion there. It was not situated in a big city like Moscow or St. - Petersburg, but in beautiful Russian countryside. The life there was peaceful and serene.

They all settled well in Russia. Thea was so excited that Oliver felt bad for Roy.

What bothered Oliver most was the fact that Felicity was living next door from now on. When he saw her on the plane before, he was stunned. He thought he was ready to face her, but nothing could have prepared him to be blown by her spontaneously bright nature again. She was babbling like a parrot and to say that was the first trait of her that he fell in love was the truth. It felt bad enough that he was the reason for her to be hurt and confused, but seeing her innocent self in its peak was so un-nerving.

Yes, he saw her after their accident. He visited her room at the hospital. But he was very careful to be not seen by her. His visits were restricted to night, when she was asleep. If he was lucky, he would have a few minutes to stare at her. But he always left with the first sign of her being awake.

And he always made sure that her room was sent a beautiful flower bouquet of white lilies which were her favorites.

But he couldn't face her yet. He was not ready. And he couldn't bare the hints of her interest directed at him. He felt like he was mocking her, humiliating her. After all he was her culprit. He was the one who destroyed her well defined life. He was the one who smashed her perfect world. He didn't deserve her attention and he definitely didn't deserve her affection.

Oliver has decided that he would stay away from her as possible.

And there was the huge responsibility of Sara. She was still in coma. Quentin could not come with them to take care of her, so they had to be there for her. She was his friend. He has to be there for her.

They arranged the hospital of nearest city which was one hour away from their home for her stay. She was being treated by the best doctors of Russia. And Oliver had made sure that she was well cared there. Everyday Donna was to visit her and Oliver and Thea planned to visit her twice a week.

Diggle was there to help Oliver with physical therapy. But he was there mostly because he knew that Oliver needed him to be there.

Speak of the devil; Diggle came into Oliver's room after a knock on his door.

"How are you doing, man?" Diggle settled on his widow sill looking outward from the window and asked.

"I'm good." Oliver replied.

Diggle turned his head and gave Oliver a reprimanding glare. "Really?"

Oliver sighed and changed his answer.

"I'm good as I can be at a situation like this, Dig."

Diggle chuckled.

"As in staying in near proximity of the woman who you loved a lot and lost once and getting her undivided attention for once?" He asked.

Oliver was not amused.

"No, as in being in near proximity of the woman who you loved once and destroyed her life totally by killing her husband and her unborn child and getting exposed to her innocent curiosity."

Diggle got up from his seat and came to stand beside Oliver's wheel chair.

"Oliver… you can't think like that. It's self-degrading. You are not to blame for an accident."

"It is from our view Dig. But she will never think about it like that once she got to know about that. She will never forgive me and she will resent me even more if I let her to be close this time."

"Oliver…"

"No. Dig. Please. I don't want to talk about it. But if you can, please tell Thea to stay away from it. The last thing I want her to do is playing matchmaker."

Oliver hated that he couldn't leave the room in a dramatic exit of slamming the door or something like that.

Diggle won't be impressed by a childish act like that anyway.

….

They were all gathered up for dinner. Thea and Donna had decided that they all have to take dinner together until they stayed in Russia. So they could spend some time in each other's company and exchange the daily experiences, like a family. It is going to be a torture. Oliver thought to himself. Felicity will be there and he will have to talk with her and carry out conversations.

But he was a bit happy about it too. At least he will be able to see her. He wanted to see her. To see that she was healing and getting better. To see that she was getting back to her quirky self.

It was a weird situation to be in.

The first dinner was scheduled 10 minutes ago and Oliver was on time surprisingly.

It was Felicity who was late and they waited for her. Thea and Roy were having a cute fight. Probably about his flight home next morning.

Diggle was talking with Donna about Felicity's physical therapy.

Oliver was the only one who was just sitting there. He had adjusted the height of his chair to be in same level with the dinner seats.

He was the first one who noticed Felicity entering the dining room through the door.

She was wearing a comfortable looking yoga pants with a MIT T shirt. She was looking fabulous.

"Oh, there you are Felicity. You are late. Why were you late? Did you settle into your home well?" Thea as always shoot a chain of questions towards Felicity. Felicity looked baffled by her questions. She blinked twice and smiled nervously.

"Whoa.. Is that how others feel when they were confronted by rants filled with questions by me?" She asked earning chuckles from Diggle and Roy.

"She's cute, I can see the appeal." Roy murmured.

"Come here darling. Sit with me. We can start dinner now." Donna beckoned Felicity to her side.

"Hi, everyone. I'm sorry I couldn't be here at time as I was distracted by the wall hangings in the living room, more correctly the big hall that should be the living room." Felicity said as she sat on her chair.

"Yeah. I remember watching them in awe the first time I was here." Roy said.

"You have been here before?" Oliver's sudden question threw Roy in a difficult situation. Everyone knew that Oliver didn't like to be reminded about Roy's intimate relationship with his little sister Thea. Even though Oliver didn't interfere with Thea's affairs he had strongly shown that he didn't approve of Roy until recently.

It was still a bit unsettling for Roy to be on the other end of Oliver's glare.

"We came here on our first anniversary, Ollie." Thea answered not noticing the tight lock of Oliver's jaws.

"Okay, then, let's start the dinner." Donna tried to break the tension in the room and succeeded as Oliver took his glare off of Roy.

They started eating.

"So, Felicity, do you like your new residence?" Thea asked after a while.

"Yes. It's beautiful, Thea. I mean the surrounding is just magical. I loved it. I can't imagine how cool it must be to grow up having a place like this to come in holidays." Felicity said.

"Well. I didn't come here in my childhood much. It was Ollie who practically grew up here. He used to beg mom and dad to visit here in holidays. But mom and dad were very much invested in business and didn't have much time to spend with us then. So we stayed at home. Then Ollie started spending his time out of our home in vacations and I think he must have come here with Tommy once or twice. Haven't you Ollie?" Thea asked.

Oliver grimaced.

"Yeah. We visited here twice. Once me and Tommy alone and once Laurel and Sara along with us. But it was long ago." He replied.

"It must be wonderful for you two, to being in love with two sisters. You could spend your holidays with your family, best friend and your girl all together." Felicity said. Oliver was stunned. Again.

Where did she get the idea that Sara was his girl friend?

"Sara and I…" Oliver was interrupted by Thea.

"They were so annoying. All of them together leaving me alone with maids in the house to have fun and partying." Thea said.

"We couldn't take you with us, Thea. You were barely twelve." Oliver let the interrupted explanation go. Come to think of it, his relationship with Sara was not Felicity's business.

"If I had a home like this, I wouldn't ever think of leaving it ever. Or at least I would have come here every chance I get." Felicity was still in her dreamy state over the house.

"Actually Felicity, I like Starling city more. May be because that's where my life is based on. But I know for a fact that Ollie had planned to spend his vacations here, when he get married." Thea said with a mischievous grin and received a glare from Oliver in return.

"Oh, were you planning your wedding, Oliver? I'm so sorry for what happened. I know this is not the right time or the place. And it is not my fault or yours. But I'm sorry for the accident." Felicity's genuine apology tore Oliver's heart apart.

"I'm sorry too…" he managed to mutter.