I am so incredibly sorry that it has taken me this long to update but the uni semester started back and I have been swamped with upcoming assignments. But never fear, the chapter is here.

Chapter 10 - Hiking Trip

"You know, when I said that I wanted to escape the city for a while, this isn't exactly what I had in mind," Oliver said as he helped Felicity climb over a fallen log. Felicity grinned as she took his hand and jumped down.

"Oh please. Don't put any of the blame on me. You are equally as responsible."

"How is that?"

"You told me to pick somewhere quiet and relaxing and away from everything else," Felicity explained as she brushed her hair out of her face. The two were currently hiking along a trail in the national park towards a lookout where a storm was approaching.

"This isn't what I meant," Oliver said under his breath. Felicity paused as she heard his words and her eyes widened in horror.

"I've made a huge mistake haven't I?"

Oliver frowned as he looked at Felicity but quickly saw where her thoughts had gone. In two quick strides he was in front of her, one of his hands coming up to cup her cheek.

"No you haven't," Oliver said firmly. "Felicity look at me,"

Felicity looked up at Oliver, working hard to keep her lip from trembling. She knew that Oliver had parts of the island he had yet to place behind him and she was mortified with herself for completely overlooking this fact.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Felicity said, her voice wavering with unshed tears. Oliver wiped them away with his thumb and angled her head to meet his gaze.

"You did nothing wrong okay? My attitude has nothing to do with my past on that island."

"Then what's wrong?" Felicity tentatively asked.

"When I suggested that we get away for a while, my mind was thinking somewhere outside of Starling City. We could have gotten as far away from here as we could. I was hoping for a few thousand miles away instead of a few hundred."

"And that's it? That's all that's bothering you?"

Oliver smiled at Felicity's worry and dipped his head to brush his lips against hers.

"I promise," Oliver whispered as they parted. Felicity searched his eyes, seemingly looking to make sure he was telling her the truth and smiled when she was happy with what she found. "Now, let's get to that look-out and watch this storm roll in. Apparently you were excited about this."

Felicity laughed and nodded her head, taking his hand and leading him down the track again. Oliver shook his head and laughed quietly to himself.

They made it to the lookout just as the darkening grey clouds were appearing on the horizon. Oliver sat down on the bench and took a sip of water while Felicity leant on the railing, completely enthralled by the sight in front of her.

Oliver watched her for a moment before standing up and coming to stand behind her. His arms snaked around her waist and Felicity automatically leant back into him.

"I always wanted to do this as a kid," Felicity murmured after a minute of silence. "We never got to go to the beach because mom was always working but I never stopped hoping that one day I would do it."

"Is it everything you dreamt it would be?" Oliver asked as he rested his chin on her shoulder. Felicity smiled and placed her hands atop Oliver's.

"It's better," she said quietly, like it was a closely guarded secret. Oliver tightened his arms around her waist in response and the two took a moment to watch the clouds quickly rolling in.

There was a sudden drop in the temperature as the storm got closer and Felicity shuffled around in his arms to bury her face in his chest.

"Can you smell the rain?"

"I can smell more of a strawberry scent," Oliver said with a grin, deeply inhaling the scent of her shampoo. Felicity giggled and poked his stomach. A loud and sudden crack of thunder had them both jumping. The rain followed quickly after that.

Felicity leant back and tilted her head towards the sky, allowing the rain to fall on her face.

"Dance with me," Oliver said. Felicity smiled at the familiar words and nodded her head as she looked up at him. Oliver grabbed one of her hands and held it over his heart while they slowly began to sway. Felicity sighed in contentment and brought her hand up to play with the hair at the nape of his neck. The rain steadily became heavier but neither paid it any notice.

Eventually, Felicity began to shiver and the storm was at a distance that Oliver felt was close enough.

"If I promise you hot chocolate and a movie, will you agree to head back to the car?"

Felicity lifted her head and looked out once more to the incoming storm before nodding her head.

"Make it an iced chocolate and you have yourself a deal."

Oliver agreed and leaned down to kiss her. Felicity smiled into the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck to prevent him from pulling away. Oliver in turn tightened his arms around her waist and lifted her up so that Felicity's feet were no longer touching the ground.

"This would be the part where you dip me backwards," Felicity said with a cheeky grin as her feet touched the ground.

"Is that so?" Oliver questioned and before Felicity could utter an answer, Oliver had stepped forward and bent over, dipping Felicity. Felicity squealed in surprise and held on tightly to him.

"You enjoyed that didn't you?" Felicity asked with narrowed eyes. Oliver grinned and kissed her quickly before straightening them both up.

"Did you not say that I should dip you? I was just obeying orders," Oliver said with a shrug.

"I never took you as a person to obey orders," Felicity said with a laugh. "Now come on, walking back to the car is going to be a nightmare."

"It's just mud Felicity," Oliver stated. Felicity quirked an eyebrow as she wiggled out of his embrace. Oliver's eyes followed her carefully, knowing her well enough to see that she was planning something.

"Felicity," Oliver warned as he watched her bend down and pick up a handful of mud.

"Just mud right?" she said before throwing the handful with precise aim to hit him on the side of his neck. The wide grin adorning Felicity's face was enough to make him retaliate. Felicity laughed as she ran to take cover behind some trees and grabbed another handful of mud.

For the next ten minutes, the two were at war with each other and hearing Oliver's laugh was enough to make Felicity keep going. When she eventually noticed that it was too quiet, Felicity was on alert. She crept around the tree's trying to find Oliver and used the stealth moves Digg had taught her to make sure she kept silent.

All of a sudden, Felicity was grabbed from behind and she felt mud being smothered into her hair. Felicity screamed and tried to get away but Oliver's hold was too tight.

"Seriously?" Felicity asked, throwing an elbow into his stomach. Oliver let out a grunt and released her.

"You never set any rules."

"I should have," Felicity mumbled as she scrapes off as much of the mud as she can.

"I think it suits you," Oliver said with a laugh. Felicity shakes her head and tries to hide her smile but fails.

"Come on mud boy. You're carrying me back to the car after that."

Oliver merely crouches down in front of her and allows Felicity to hop onto his back.

"Giddy up horsie," Felicity said and blushes crimson when Oliver turns his head to look at her. "Sorry, caught up in the moment."

"You are something else Felicity Smoak."

"And you love me for it," Felicity says and both freeze at the statement. While their relationship had been moving along smoothly, Oliver still had several doubts. There was a part of him that believed he didn't deserve Felicity's love and Felicity had assured him that there was no rush. She knew how he felt and she would wait until he was ready to voice it to her.

"Felicity," Oliver started and Felicity stopped him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that and make you feel like I've put pressure on you. I'm not going to hide how I feel from you and that's fine with me Oliver. I told you that I would wait for you."

"You're remarkable,"

"Thank you for remarking on it," Felicity said softly. She leaned forward and pressed a kiss just under his ear.

Slowly, so as not to lose his footing, Oliver made his way back down the path with Felicity on his back. They made idle talk, neither bring up their feelings. Oliver knew that there weren't enough words to describe how thankful he was to have Felicity in his life. He didn't know anyone who would be willing to wait as he came to terms with how he was feeling. He knew that she was important to him and that there was no one else he would want to spend his life with but putting all of that into words was no easy task, especially given his past and Felicity had been nothing but accommodating. He knew that he owed it to her to be honest with how he was feeling but Oliver didn't want to speak too soon just for Felicity's sake.

"You're thinking too hard," Felicity said, cutting into his train of thought. "And I know exactly what's bothering you."

Oliver allowed Felicity to slide down as he came to a stop in front of their car. Felicity came to stand in front of him and placed her hand over his heart.

"When you're ready," she whispered and gave him a watery smile. Oliver's heart constricted as he saw what she had been doing so well to keep from him. As Felicity turned around to walk towards the car, Oliver reached out and grabbed her wrist. He spun her into him and placed his other hand on the back of her head as he ducked down to kiss her. Felicity gasped in surprise and brought her other hand up to rest on his chest. Oliver pulled back slightly and kept his forehead leaning against hers.

"I know that this isn't what you envisioned and I'm sorry that I'm making you wait but I don't want to say something just yet until I know my heart is completely behind it. I care for you, more than I've ever cared for anybody and because of that I don't want to rush anything. I want to get this right. I will say it one day because that is what you deserve. You deserve everything you want and more and I want to be the one to give that to you."

"You're worth the wait Oliver." Felicity whispered, her eyes glittering with unshed tears. Oliver nodded and together they walked to the car with the promise of ice chocolates and movies.

I hope that was to your satisfaction :)