DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters, they belong to the CW and DC comics. this is just a fanmade story of a couple the author would really want to see ending up together. Just fantasies that I can't keep to myself anymore. no hard feelings.

A/N Hi everyone! So, Felicity's situation, yeah, a lot of you guys guessed it, but it was pretty obvious…BUT! I don't know where I'm going with it yet, it could end up in a lot of different ways, so what I'm gonna do, is let you guys 'vote'. Not exactly on the number but just leave a review with what you think I should do with it, AND A GOOD REASON WHY, and you'll see where our OTP will end up Also, this is the first chapter that I had to change the original series' lines, because otherwise it would just break everybody's heart, and it would be really weird...I'm sure you won't mind Thanks for reading and enjoy! The song for this chapter is Everything Has Changed (Taylor Swift ft. Ed Sheeran) Cover by Alex G and Jon D. oh! And OMG TENTH CHAPTER ALREADY! Thanks so much for all the wonderful reviews and the big support! 3

CHAPTER TEN: KNOW YOU BETTER

Felicity woke up from the sunlight on her skin. She stretched and reached out to look for Oliver, but as her hand hit the soft sheets next to her, reality hit her, like a bitch, right in the face. Memories from the previous night flicker before her eyes, tears welling up. She turns her head and looks at the clock on her bedside table. 3 p.m. She was lucky she had a day off today. She sighed heavily and thinks about Oliver, something she has done a lot lately. She thinks about how he would have been before the island, what could have happened there, how they met, their first night together, the little notebook, the bow and arrow, but mostly just his smile, and his eyes, and the way she knew she loved him. She wanted to give him a second chance, that was for sure. Only 18 hours ago she found out about him, such a short period of time could change so much. She rubs in her eyes, trying not to cry. She quickly gets out of bed and showers for a long time.

Oliver hadn't slept at all that night. Thinking about how he could win Felicity back, earn her trust. He knew he had to tear down his own walls he put up to let her in. He had to open up to her, and only her, he needed her. She was like his heartbeat, he needed her and he knew she needed him too. After a while of staring into oblivion he shook his head and blinked a couple times. He got dressed and headed towards the arrow cave.

When she got out of the shower she decided on a red cardigan and a simple pencil skirt. She pulls her hair back into a ponytail and grabs her glasses. As she walks into the kitchen she feels a little dizzy. She ignores it and pours herself a bowl of cereal, and turns on the news. The news anchor talked about the mysterious disappearance of the Vigilante blood sample and she chuckles softly.

"Oops, Sorry"

She smiles a little and turns back to her cereal. Her stomach cringes and she feels nausea rushing over her. She drops her spoon and sprints for the toilet. She throws up and the nausea is gone again. She rinses her mouth and flushes the toilet. She stares at herself in the mirror, a worried look on her face. She sighs and walks back to the kitchen. The takes the milk carton and looks at the expiration date. Today. Could it? Probably. She gets rid of the bowl of cereal and searches the cupboards for her precious granola bars. She takes the box and puts one in her bag, but as she puts it back, she hesitates and just pours the whole box into her bag. She turns off the TV and puts on her coat, leaving for the Hood cave thingie.

She parks her car in front of the yet to become club. She takes a moment to put on a new layer of lipstick and gets out of her car. She took a deep breath as she typed in the code to unlock the door. She was nervous to see Oliver again. Taking her time to walk down the long stairs, she spots Oliver, training on this kind of dummy-like thing. Bare chested of course. She bites her lip and when she reaches the base of the stairs, Oliver turns around and smiles at her

"Hi" He says, almost delighted.

"Hi" She stutters back.

She walks over to the desk, only several meters away from Oliver. Able to see the sparkle in his eyes, she smiles back at him. She realizes, that just this one thing, ruined what they had, this one 'name'. She takes a deep breath and nods to herself, telling herself to get to know him better, starting now. As Oliver gets back to his training session, Felicity takes a seat behind the desk, not really sure what to do, so she just starts looking for information about Walter, while at the same time, swooning over Oliver, and biting down on granola bars. After an hour or so, Oliver decides it time for a break. He grabs a towel and walks over to Felicity's desk. He spots all of the empty packages and frowns.

"Jeez, cravings much?" He jokes.

Felicity jumps up in surprise and looks at the damage she has done, as quickly as her eyes can count she spots almost eight plastic wrappings. She blushes and looks at Oliver

"uuuhm, I didn't realize I ate that many"

Oliver chuckles and shakes his head. He grabs his water bottle and takes a big gulp. Felicity stares at his abs, marveling. A clank and Diggle walks through the door and down the stairs.

"Evening" He says and nods to the two of them. He looks at Felicity, staring at Oliver and to Oliver, standing there with a thin layer of sweat all over him. She shook his head, he decided to make no comment. The tension between them was so obvious. Felicity felt butterflies in her stomach as she studied Oliver, who had gotten back to his training, this time with a bamboo stick, molesting his equipment. He needed to get all the pain and anger out of his system and Dig understood, so he let him. After a while though, He noticed Oliver was getting hard on himself.

"You might wanna take it easy if you're planning on taking someone off that list of yours tonight"

Oliver stopped and took a deep breath. He took the bamboo stick in his hands and as he broke it he said:

"This is me taking it easy"

Felicity had watched the two men and rolled her eyes, not breaking her tempo of keystrokes per minute.

"So? Who's the unlucky guy tonight?" Dig asked

Oliver pulled on a black shirt and collected his gear.

"Ken Williams. His pyramid schemes stole millions. People didn't just lose their homes, their lives were ruined. Why don't you two call it in early, I'm not expecting much trouble tonight."

As he had been speaking Felicity had pulled up some info on Ken Williams and had noticed that he has a son. Oliver took his bow and quickly got up the stairway. Felicity rushed and locked the door. She bit her lip and waited. When Oliver tried to open the door and it didn't, he tried again and then rushed back down the stairs.

"FELICITY!" He yelled.

She jumped and took a deep breath.

"Did you just.."

"Computer override your lock. Maybe a little." She pressed her lips together and turned in her chair to face Oliver.

"What are you doing?" He had look of incomprehension on his face.

Felicity held out one hand to stop him.

"I pulled up some information about Mr. Williams. Did you know he's a widowed father of a ten year-old boy?"

Oliver shook his head in impatience and sighed audibly. Felicity continued

"I told you, I'm only in this to help Walter, not to be an accessory to orphaning little kids"

"I'm just giving him a warning"

"Has it ever occurred to you, you could do some real good in the city? Beyond just recovering people's stock portfolios and their saving accounts?"

He had to swallow and bended down over Felicity to unlock the door. His face hovered inches away from hers and she could feel his hot breath on her skin. She couldn't move.

"You're not the only one who knows how to reboot my system"

Before he had the chance of getting away she shook her head a little.

"I made a mistake"

"Getting in my way? I don't disagree"

"NO!" she immediately yanked back at him. She stood up, urging him to lean back. Faces inches apart. Dig just stood there and watched. She had fire inside of her.

"Signing on with you. Even provisionally" She finished and walked away. She took her coat and purse and left the building. Feeling angry. She didn't want to leave Oliver like this but he just got under her skin and wouldn't leave it. There was always gonna be a part of her that wanted him. That was undeniable. And she didn't mind, as long as he wasn't such a jerk.

Back inside the cave, Oliver looked at Dig, apparently not really understanding what just had happened. Dig just looked back at him with a look on his face that he could have seen this coming. Dig knew about the relationship they had, and understood that it was hard right now, but he agreed with Felicity, even though she hadn't said it out loud, Oliver was being a complete asshole.

Dig packed his things and left without saying a word, leaving Oliver alone with his thoughts. He deserved it. As the door slammed shut behind Dig, Oliver sighed audibly. He took a moment to pull himself back together. He never wanted to scare Felicity off and it would probably haunt him until he apologized, so he would.

They were driving towards Queen Consolidated and Oliver was nervous. Dig eyed him suspiciously through the rearview mirror but kept his mouth shut. Oliver couldn't stop fiddling with his fingers and was thinking about what he would say to Felicity. After last night, he was sure she had a great effect on him. He was ready to kill Ken Williams, but her words ran through his mind and he decided not to orphan the boy.

The office was quiet, it was like there was nobody there. They walked in silence. Felicity's office was empty. And dark. There was only the sound of the humming of the computers. Oliver sighed.

"Well….maybe we should come back later"

Oliver stood there being very tense, nervous to see her again. Dig rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"No, maybe we should wait, Oliver. This is really serious. What if her next attack of conscience leads her right to the police?"

Oliver shook his head and walked up to the desk. He knew Felicity, even if she was angry at him, would never reveal his secret. She was smarter than that, and he knew she cared about him.

"No, she won't say anything. I know. I had to make the same calculation when you found out about me."

"Hm-hmm, and what would you have done if you were wrong, and I decided to make a call to detective Lance?"

Oliver's head shot up, face straight and tight. He turned around

"I would've put an arrow in you"

"Ha!" Dig snorted, but his smile quickly made place for a kind of worried look. Oliver looked at him, dead serious.

"Really…really? You really would have done that, really?" Dig frowned.

Oliver lifted his shoulders and Felicity walked in. His heart skipped a beat when he saw that adorable ponytail again.

"Hmmm" She paused in front of the two men and then walked past them to sit behind her desk.

"I had a bet going with myself on how quickly you two would visit. Tell me not to reveal your secret. Looks like I won"

She sat down with a victorious smile on her face.

"Actually, Felicity, I was hoping that I could get you to change your mind. I was worked up on adrenaline last night and I didn't exactly put my best foot forward"

Felicity stared at him with her eyebrows raised. This was a lousy apology if you asked her.

"I was hoping you'd give me the opportunity to do that now"

"How about you start with Ken Williams" Their eyes met, and Oliver knew there was no way around it. He had to be honest with her from now on.

"Did he also get to enjoy your adrenaline last night?" She cocked her head to the side and waited for him to come up with a creative answer.

"No, he returned the money that he stole just in time to put his son to bed"

Felicity swallowed and pushed her glasses back. She knew he was truthful just then.

"Like I said Felicity, just a warning…"

She sighed and their little conversation was interrupted by McKenna Hall, talking about the Dodger case on TV.

"At this time we'd like to remind the public that we are coordinating our efforts with Interpol, as the Dodger operates primarily in Europe, and they have advised us to warn the public that he is to be considered armed and extremely dangerous"

Dig interrupted the TV

"You know, I heard about this guy, they call him the dodger because he avoids getting his hands dirty. He uses hostages to do his stealing for him."

"How?" Oliver frowned and looked at Felicity, who was looking at Dig.

"He puts a bomb collar around their necks. Last year, a guy in Madrid didn't steal what the Dodger told him to, and it took his head off, literally"

Felicity's eyes widened

"And now the psycho's in Starling City? It's too bad his name is nod in your notebook" She said teasing but accusingly.

"You know, not all people that I target are on the list. Every once in a while I make an exception. A hostage-taking jewel thief, for example."

His gaze held Felicity's and he narrowed his eyes a little

"So why don't you help us take him down"

Felicity nodded and as her eyes met Oliver's again, he smiled a little and she couldn't help but smile back at him. Just a tiny smile though. They hadn't really talked and Oliver turned to Dig.

"Can you give us a sec?"

Dig nodded and left the office. They both were quiet for a moment, then Oliver took a deep breath and cut to the chase.

"Felicity, I know it's been hard on you, and I know it's a lot to take in, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, I just didn't know how, or when"

She held up one hand to stop him

"I get that, and believe me I'm processing, it just takes some time, I can't just accept all of it and go on with my life, you have to understand that"

"I do, I really do, and I'm sorry for putting you through this, I really care about you and I don't wanna see you get hurt"

As he said that he walked behind her desk and took her hands in his. She stood up, holding a tight grip on his hands.

"I care about you too, so don't ever hide something from me again"

She smiled a little and let go of one of his hands and reached out to cup his face. He smiled back at her. She lowered her hand again and Oliver wrapped his arms around her. They hugged for a long time, Felicity's face hidden in his shirt

"We'll get there " He whispered "One step at the time"

He released her and even though she really wanted to stay right there she let go of him. She nodded slowly and looked at him, a soft smile curling her lips.

"Wanna get lunch and think of an evil masterplan?" He joked

Felicity chuckled and nodded. She took her coat and purse and put her arm through Oliver's outstretched one. She laughed again, it sounding like music in his ears, he was happy he had made her smile again.

When the three of them entered the Big Belly Burger, Dig quickly waved at Carly and they quickly seated at a table. Felicity sat across from Oliver so she could stare at him without it being too obvious, only thing she didn't know, it was always obvious. Dig sat down next to her, so she wouldn't be feeling like this was an interrogation or something. Carly came to take their orders and when she was gone, the conversation quickly changed from hamburgers to how to catch a bomb placing jewel thief.

"So, to catch this guy, we need to either figure out where he is, or where he's going to be"

Felicity chuckled and looked at the two guys

"Is this really how you guys figure out how to get your target? Over burgers and shakes?"

"Sorry it took me so long, I'm waiting on a bunch of particularly rowdy customers"

Carly interrupted with their coffees. Dig followed her eyes to a group of loud teenagers.

"You need me to handle that?"

"I appreciate it, but I'm a pro by now" Carly smiled

"I'll be here if you need me"

Dig smiled back and Carly smiled even wider and then walked off. Felicity stared after her and turned to Dig.

"Girlfriend?"

"No, no that's my sister in law….sort of"

Felicity raised her eyebrows and looked at Oliver

"Carly was married to Dig's brother. And he passed away" He explaned

"Hmm, well, looks like she's hot for you" Felicity nudged him and clicked with her tongue

"Ahh, can we get back to crime fighting, please"

"Actually, Dig, I was thinking, you probably should ask her out"

"Oh really, I'll do just five minutes after you two get back at whatever you were doing"

Felicity snorted and Oliver looked right back at Dig, face straight.

"I don't see you asking Carly out"

He cocked his head to the side, and Felicity just stared from one to the other with wide eyes. Dig pursed his lips and straightened his tie. He got up and walked over to Carly. Felicity smiled after him and turned back to Oliver.

"Felicity, this guy, he's targeting a very specific type of jewel. We figure out why, and that will give us the how to catch him"

"I have an idea" She lifted her head out of her hands and stared into oblivion.

"Hmm-hmm?"

"The detective-lady on TV said they were working with Interpol" She turned back to Oliver

"Yeah" He nodded

"Why don't I work up a little tech, you distract her with a little flirty flirt, slip said tech, on her phone, it'll turn into a micro transmitter, and boom, we'll learn everything she knows"

"Hmm…and you're okay with that?"

"Yes, it's just flirting" She smiled softly and reached across the table to take his hand.

"Dig told me you dated her before the Island, and that she was on the Vertigo case, and that you already saw her at the precinct then, so acting like you would want to see her again doesn't seem that hard, does it, I mean, she knows your back and stuff and she obviously dated you for a reason and please stop me I'm rambling. You get the point."

Oliver laughed and softly squeezed her hand.

"It's not how I typically get my information"

"How do you typically do it?" Felicity raised an eyebrow. Oliver smiled a little crooked

"I find the person" he paused "Then I put the fear of God into them until they talk"

She stared at him with raised eyebrows and a surprised look on her face. Oliver smiled

"But we can try your way"

Felicity snorted and shook her head a little. She smiled slightly and took a sip of her coffee. A wide grinning Oliver in front of her.

I hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review, and follow or favorite! Next chapter by Monday

Love, Carolina