Never Again Chapter 9
Post 2x09 "Three Ghosts"
(Let's say this took place after Christmas, before New Year)

Disclaimer: Arrow, not mine.

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Oliver knew he would have to double his routine workout for this. The amount of sugar, artificial and what not, in these super delicious cookies, was off the roof.

However, the damage was already done. One hesitant bite days ago and he was hooked. He was now down to the very last piece, which meant that nine were already down the hatch.

Nine cookies equaled to eighteen workout sessions. He was not exaggerating things. He was very particular in what he put inside his body. One cannot expect to leap from building to building by stuffing one's mouth with these should-be-illegal cookies without some repercussions afterwards. In his case, a butt load of workouts. He also didn't want to have to procure another set of his Arrow outfit. He could just imagine what Diggle would have said to that!

His line of thoughts was temporarily distracted with a little smile. Oliver remembered a moment, felt like ages ago, when Felicity blurted out an "I noticed" which she completed with her trademark lost-in-la-la-land looks, in response to his statement of being particular about the things he put inside his body.

Like clockwork, a familiar ache came knocking.

Oliver took a deep breath to try to diminish the sudden tightness in his chest. It happened a lot these days. He didn't know whether it was induced by the holidays or the upcoming New Year, but he got whiplash, from smile to cringe, every time he remembered a little tidbits of the things that had come to pass.

This ache, he reckoned, was induced with the acknowledgement that he was missing that kind of moments with Felicity.

In the past, she was like an open book, whether she wanted to or not. Her ramblings tended to give the truth away. No matter how fast she reined it in, her ramblings let out the thought she was thinking at that moment, no filter on sight. Most of those happened due to his close proximity.

He remembered the moment when it all changed, when Felicity became more guarded in her reactions around him, in her reactions toward him.

It was like a filter had set in. She reined herself faster than before. He could almost see the brief period, in which she analyzed her string of thoughts and changed it into a different response.

The change was subtle. Other people might not notice it. After all, she still let loose lots of inappropriate things to say in inopportune moments, like that time with his mother after her indictment.

But for Oliver, there was something missing.

His wrongfully-executed decision in Russia had elicited a need for precaution on her side; Precaution from him.

He breathed deeply again to ward off another case of tightness in his chest. This was becoming annoying. A physical ache he could handle. He knew his threshold of pain, he had dealt with most injuries but a shot to the head, and he survived them all. Just his luck that the one pain he could not survive was the one he inflicted on himself, by taking things for granted; took her for granted.

Oliver diverted his attention to the last gingerbread cookie he was holding, trying to savor the moment before that first bite. It was by far the cutest gingerbread cookie he had ever seen (he sent a brief prayer for no one living to ever know that he used the word "cutest" to describe a cookie). He blamed Felicity for that.

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He was walking her home that night after the surprisingly delightful Christmas party at the Starling City Children Hospital. She argued that it was just a short trip from the car to the lobby and up to her apartment; there was no way any mischief could have happened to her. But he insisted and she gave up.

He found himself distracted by the smooth expanse of the back of her skin in contrast to the red dress she was wearing. It was the second red dress he saw her in. The first red dress she wore on their mission, he was more focused on being worried for her safety to really see how the color brought out a certain glow to her skin.

This time around, he had the time to really appreciate the beauty that was Felicity Smoak.

The dress was accentuated with a little sleek bow under the small of her back. Like a Christmas present waiting to be opened. Oliver found it difficult not to reach out and tug it open, to see whether the bow was just a decoration or the thing that kept the dress together.

His control had never been so tested before. But he knew he had a long way to go before he could be like that with her. He needed to break through her carefully-constructed wall toward him first. To show her that he would never again take her for granted.

That's why he tried to include himself inside her world persistently. Started with the lunch they had together with the IT Department and his seriously-so-not-smooth invitation to the Christmas party. He made a mental note to channel his inner Oliver Queen more, because it turn out that now Felicity had the power to reduce him to a blithering idiot.

So distracted was he with her back, that he had failed to notice that Felicity had opened the door to her apartment, called for him to wait up, walked in, grabbed something from the coffee table and turned to face him with a startled amusement on her face after seeing that not only had he followed her inside her apartment without being invited, he was also standing so close to her personal space.

Oliver was equally astounded that he had kept on following her without realizing it. Again, it was proven that the hold she had over him was stronger than before.

He didn't know what to say, so he just looked at her like nothing was wrong. Never mind the surprised look on his face previously and the state of him standing so close to her.

Apparently Felicity found this amusing and she smiled at him while shaking her head. She then extended her hand and entrusted him with a box shaped like a gingerbread man with a softly spoken "Happy Christmas".

"I really don't know what to give the man who could have everything he wanted," she started. "But then I remember our line of work and how hectic and gloomy everything has been these past months. I always found comfort in cookies, as long as they're free of nuts, that is. I'm a bit of a cookie monster," she explained with the smile more pronounced on her face.

"I have a feeling that something is coming our way," Felicity continued with softer voice. "So when you feel that you wanted comfort, and you don't know who to talk to. Because, let's admit it, you are no sharer, that's for sure. I just..., I just wanted to give you a time out."

She took the box back from Oliver and hoisted it upon his face. "See how cute this is? Inside you will find ten delicious individually wrapped cookies shaped exactly like the box. At first I bought it because of the box. It's the gingerbread man from Shrek. And he was a cutie! The gingerbread man, not Shrek!" She flustered.

"Anyway, after I tasted it, I went back and bought another box for you. Okay, maybe not just one. I bought two more. A girl got to have a spare, you know. Sooo, anytime you're feeling gloomy, just open the box, have a bite and just enjoy. Life's more tolerable with cookies."

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He was dumbfounded then. He was dumbfounded now. A connection was just made; Felicity was on her well-deserved holiday after that night. He was down to the very last piece of his batch. He consumed one cookie every day since he got them. It was no coincidence that today was also the tenth day of her leave.

He needed comfort for the day he didn't spend with her.

Felicity Smoak was very much like the gingerbread cookie he was holding, only backwards. He had to give out twice, if not triple the effort to be able to win her, to consume her. But like the cookies he had come to cherish, she was worth the effort.

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Would love to hear your review on this chapter. I was aiming for a little fluff.
Hopefully this chapter and the previous one would still line up with the next episode. If not, then I'm in deep sh*t.

Thanks to Olicity Lover for reviewing all of my chapters. I was dumbfounded (like Oliver) after reading all of your reviews. Reviews made my day; truly made my day!

Thanks to all of you who have reviewed, favorited and followed this story.
Happy New Year to all. Cherish your loved ones. Embrace your families. Be grateful for your friends. And just live your life to the fullest!