When Felicity woke up she found Oliver next to her so he must have eventually come back to bed, she just had no idea when. She quietly slipped out of bed and lightly walked downstairs. She walked onto the back porch to watch the deer wander through the backyard. The view of the mountain range was gorgeous. Aspen trees cocooned the house and there was little underbrush due to the dense canopy. Deer and rabbits skittered through the wilderness like it was a live action Disney movie. There were no sounds but the rustle of leaves and the slight chirping of birds. She sighed deeply and made a decision. She quietly mumbled to herself, "All this relaxation is not for me" and with that she went inside.
She quickly changed into jeans and a simple sweater with her red winter boots and matching ski jacket. She then grabbed the car keys off the hook by the backdoor and headed for the closest town. Felicity needed WiFi and she needed it NOW.
The closest town was perhaps thirty miles away and three blocks long with the requisite coffee shop, diner, outdoor supply store, upscale restaurant, and a couple of boutique clothing stores, a town that was built to accommodate wealthy tourists. She pulled the Land Rover into a parking space in front of the coffee shop, which displayed a "Free Wifi" sign in the front window. She checked her cell phone and saw that it had enough charge and coverage that she could make a call. She scrolled through her contacts and hit "Diggle".
Within seconds the familiar tenor tones of Diggle came through the phone,
"Felicity! How's it going?"
"It's going fine Digg. The solitude is starting to make me crazy though. I need something electronic. I drove into town for Wifi – I'm in withdrawal"
Diggle let out a short chuckle, "That's my girl"
"Any news?"
Diggle's voice grew serious, "Well yeah. If you have Wifi we could use some help on a couple of things. We're not getting anything official on Ray, and Lyla is being tight lipped so could you work some back channel magic for me on that?"
"Yep. Anything else?"
"Yeah, and this is the bigger issue. A lot of the local gangs are starting to run a bit scared and there are rumblings that Damien Darhk is going to be making a play for Starling City – We have nothing on this guy – we don't even know what he looks like and with Ra's so eager to take him out I'd like to have a head start before he actually shows up."
"Got it. Okay, give me sometime and I'll send you what I find."
"Does Oliver know you've got Wifi?"
Felicity let the phone fall silent for a moment, and she carefully said, "Noooooo, he's sleeping." She quickly followed up with "But Digg I'm dying. I can't do crossword puzzles any more."
Diggle just laughed, "sure thing Felicity. Don't ruin your alone time by doing these searches, we can live without it."
Felicity hung up, took a big breath and grabbed her tablet from her bag and headed into the coffee shop. She ordered a tall latte with cinnamon and grabbed a small table in the corner. The coffee shop was bustling with a mix of mountain hippies, wealthy families here to ski and retired locals. Felicity breathed in the smell of coffee and let out a quite purr as her tablet connected to the internet. Finally. Her fingers quickly flew over the keyboard and she felt a sense of calmness – something she really hadn't felt in days.
Oliver awoke to the sound of car tires crunching on the gravel driveway. He rolled over and felt the empty space where Felicity had been. He didn't get out of bed. Instead he lay still in the bed pretending to still be asleep.
Two hours later Felicity quietly opened the back door, replacing the keys on the hook. She gently walked down the hall and into the family room cautiously looking for Oliver. All was quiet. Felicity took off her ski coat and hung it in the coat closet, leaving her boots underneath. She tucked her tablet and cell phone under the couch. She grabbed the book of crossword puzzles and curled up on the couch hoping that when Oliver woke up he would not be suspicious.
Oliver waited quietly for ten minutes and got out of bed and slipped on his grey flannel pants, tied a knot and skipped the shirt. He walked down the stairs slowly. Felicity looked up and smiled, "hey, good morning. Well, it's really afternoon. I guess you finally fell asleep huh?"
He continued down the stairs and took his place on the couch next to her. "yep"
Felicity felt nervous but she figured that was just her imagination. Surely he didn't suspect anything – how would he even know. She gave him a warm smile and returned to her crossword puzzle.
Oliver waited patiently; he didn't like the idea of the two of them keeping secrets. "You want to tell me where you went this morning?" and he looked pointedly at Felicity with his arms crossed.
Felicity swallowed hard and put her crossword puzzle down. She hesitated- she thought about lying but knew how bad she was at it and figured he would find out eventually. She took a deep breath and blurted out the truth, "I went into town because I needed Wifi! You don't understand Oliver. I..I just can't live without my computers I'm going crazy in this cabin. And besides, you were sleeping and I didn't think it would harm anything so I made a quick call to Diggle and helped him with a couple of small things – I mean really small things. Like no biggie right? But I can't live without technology Oliver, I just can't and you need to know this about me. You need to understand what this means to me. It's just…" And Oliver placed his hand on Felicity's shoulders calming her down, indicating that she had said enough.
A warm smile spread on his face and he quietly said, "You mean that you snuck out of the house to call Diggle, check on Starling City and surf the web and you were afraid I would be angry?" Felicity just nodded silently.
Oliver sighed, "I owe you an apology." Felicity was confused and her eyebrows knitted together unsure of what he was talking about. "I dragged you up to this mountain, away from your job and your friends just because I needed to get away. I didn't think about what you needed. I'm sorry Felicity. I won't do that again. Of course you need Wifi – I've been selfish my whole life and I'm sorry that I'm not better about thinking of you."
Felicity didn't say anything but just leaned forward, stroked his face gently and kissed him, "I love you."
Oliver smiled, pressed his forehead to hers and said, "I love you too." He pulled back taking her hands in his, "and I have a surprise for you."
Felicity's eyebrows shot up and she adjusted her glasses, "you do?"
"Yes, I do. I stayed up last night thinking about all the things you said and I realized that my life has been on hold for too long. I need to let the past be the past. So.." and with that he stood up, "I was wondering if you would be willing to go on a second date with me?"
Felicity giggled and blushed slightly, "a second date?"
Oliver grabbed Felicity's hands and pulled her up to stand next to him, "Yes. Our first date was blown up – as you know – and if I had been smarter I would have asked you out on a second date, but I didn't. Our relationship has developed all backwards and upside down but I intend to fix some of that – starting tonight. I'd like to take you out to dinner."
