bruno14: She isn't going to just show up, she is going to be an important character in this story… Thank god Barry is more stubborn, otherwise he would give up a long time ago… They now will have more and more scenes together so they could move to another stage of their relationship ;) and I hope you will like all of them as well… That's not my case, I think I would side with Oliver in almost everything, because I have a soft spot for him :D. And so does Barry but he isn't aware of that yet :)… Yes, poor Cisco, but he's a tough guy, he can take whatever the life throws at him. But who knows maybe he and Oliver will happen to be friends in the future. One can only guess :). Enjoy the new chapter.

And Oliver really did go to sleep. As soon as he opened the door and made his way into his room he immediately fell on the bed and closed his tired eyes. He didn't even bother to take some clothes off, he was that tired. And after a moment he fell asleep, which led him into a world of dreams.

Oliver once again found himself in the middle of that vast desert. Once again there was nothing to spot, only sand and stones were ruling the place. There was no other sign of life, just him. And when his eyes adopted to the strong light he spotted the guide, sitting on a stone right in front of him. And of course he was in Barry's form. There was no way he would have it otherwise.

"Oh god, it's you again," Oliver murmured annoyed that he was once again having this stupid dream.

"Gee, thanks, you really know how to cheer up someone," the guide replied with Barry's voice.

"I don't want to be here, so don't expect me to fall into your arms."

"But it's still better than nightmares, isn't it?" the guide asked cocking his head.

"Being stuck here in a middle of nowhere with the most annoying person? Seems like a nightmare to me," Oliver smirked.

"Ouch, you are hurting my feelings, Oliver," the guide replied faking an offended voice.

"That's nothing comparing to you not letting me sleep at night," Oliver barked.

"You think that's my fault?"

"Doesn't matter what I think because you are going to do everything in your power to change my mind, aren't you?" Oliver snorted.

"This might surprise you, but I'm not so thrilled about being here either. And it's not my fault we're here. This is all on you," the guide stated waving with his hands towards the desert.

"And what isn't my fault, exactly?"

"Do you remember what we talked about when we were here the last time?" the guide asked ignoring the question.

"With the perfect detail," Oliver sighed.

"Then why does it seem to me you're trying to forget that?"

"What do you want from me?" Oliver frowned.

"The truth maybe. Why have you been avoiding him?"

"You know why."

"Yes, I know, but the question is – do you know that too? Because if you do, then say it and finally admit the truth. You'll see it can make you feel better," the guide stated and waited for the answer, but nothing came from Oliver's mouth. It was dry for any kind of words and his mind was no better. Thoughts completely shaken and flipped. His own brain felt like a maze from which there was no escape. And he was stuck there, searching for a way out, rejecting the thought there was none. Because sometimes it felt like he was getting somewhere. Every time he had been working on something, it felt like there was nothing wrong with him. He was still stuck in that maze, but in these moments he didn't mind. But when he was alone, everything changed. Every time he'd found himself thinking about the things which had happened to him, he was once again lost, desperately in need of help even though there was none. But every time he thought he'd already lost all hope, a light found its way to him in the form of his loved ones. So when he was with Felicity, Harry or Sara, this light was shining brightly for him, showing him the right way how to get out of that maze. However, he'd never managed to get there on time before the light completely faded out and he once again found himself in darkness.

But recently he'd managed to notice something strange. There was another kind of light which was trying to reach him and show him the way out and for some reason it was different, new. And it appeared every time when he was talking with Barry. That brunet had somehow managed to get under his skin and continued to reach his heart. And although Barry's presence had been sometimes even bigger help than Felicity's, Oliver refused to let that happen, because he didn't wish another person being so close to him. He already had enough and he'd already lost enough of them. Even though he didn't wish anything more than just finally get out of that stupid maze, he couldn't take such risks so he would end up hurt once again. And because of this, he was completely torn.

"Has it ever occurred to you that maybe Barry isn't the one at fault? That maybe I am?" Oliver whispered barely audible for the guide to hear, but the guide refused to let such a precious information slipped through his ears.

"Talking with people has never been easy for me, because most of my encounters were tied with mocking and violence. I had Harry, Felicity and then also Sara, but clearly that wasn't enough. The truth is I don't like the person I'm now, because I've become them, the people I hated most in my life and it's difficult to come back from that. And sometimes I manage to convince myself that acting like this is better, because this way people would leave me alone and I wouldn't come to care for them. And that's why I keep my distance from him. Because of all the people I've met he is the fastest in reaching me and that makes him dangerous. I can't have any more people I care about, because I don't think I would survive all that pain if they decided to leave me. Look what Sara's leave did to me. I almost died and I don't think I could take it next time. So no, I can't be friends with him."

"I think you should give Barry some credit. He's different from everyone you've met, he understands what you've been through and how you feel. Of all the people he is the one who would least likely leave you. Just give him a reason to stay."

"That's easier said than done."

"Look, Ollie, has it ever occurred to you that maybe you're not the only one who is afraid right now? That maybe he is too? Because he is, trust me I can tell, but instead of backing down he fights back, because he thinks it's worth the risks, because he thinks you're worth the risks. Doesn't he deserve the same?" Oliver stayed quiet for a moment, not making any eye contact with the guide. Why was he always so paranoid? Why was trusting other people for him so difficult? All Barry had been trying to do was just help him with kind words, with comforting touch contacts and all Oliver had been trying to do was just push him away. Because he believed the brunet would leave him one day. But what if he was wrong? What if Barry could never do that? There was a possibility he would stay and be the pillar Oliver needed to lean on. In that case pushing him away would jeopardize that kind of friendship. Although he didn't believe in himself, Barry did. The brunet believed Oliver was worth the risks, so the least Oliver could do was to believe that Barry was the same. Someone so stubborn had to be worth the risks.

"I think I know what I'm gonna do," he said, determined.

"Finally! But I hope you mean it seriously this time because if not remember, I'll find you," the guide in Barry's form smirked pointing his two fingers at his hazel-green eyes and then at Oliver's blue ones. Oliver slightly chuckled at that but regained his sad gaze soon after that.

"Will the nightmares ever stop?" he asked hiding the fact he was desperate, but failing miserably. The guide stood up and came closer to the blond, placing his hand gently on one of Oliver's shoulders.

"I believe someone once told you that you were unique and that you had the strength to conquer the world," the guide spoke softly.

"Someone did, but it was a long time ago," Oliver replied.

"Doesn't mean it stopped being true. And I believe that if someone is capable of conquering the world, stopping the nightmares from coming is no obstacle," the guide smiled warmly and slightly squeezed Oliver's shoulder. Oliver smiled at him sheepishly and soon after that he woke up.

When Barry came home from work he immediately headed towards Oliver's room. A wide smile appeared on his face as soon as he spotted the blond sleeping on the bed, as peaceful as when he'd been recovering from the wounds. But this time it was different at some point. It felt different, more real. And a small feeling of pride that Oliver had listened to him at last was growing inside Barry's heart, warming every inch of his body. And tomorrow Oliver would wake up and he would be once again back to normal, which was everything Barry wanted right now.

The next day Oliver found himself in Jitters, observing the building just to find one blonde girl with glasses with terrible taste in dressing, or so he thought. He'd always found her outfits impractical and unnecessary, but he'd never told her that. And he definitely wasn't going to tell her now, because that would immediately destroy his already small chances of getting her forgiveness.

As soon as he spotted her sitting at their spot, his self-confidence slightly returned, because they'd been always coming to Jitters together almost every morning and they'd always chosen the same table. The fact Felicity was at the same spot meant a lot and put his stressed mind at ease. Their friendship was still strong and could be saved. However, all this confidence vanished as soon as Felicity spotted him and gave him a death glare. Yet he still didn't flinch and sat down to face her directedly regardless.

"Um, can we talk?" he asked a little nervous. Felicity didn't even look at him, she just continued pretending she was reading some magazine, which was a ridiculous cover, because Oliver knew her better than almost anyone. She would always choose playing with her babies as she would call them. Reading a regular magazine was hardly an option for her.

"That depends if you have more insults to say to me. Or did you come here to tell me how much sorry you are that you can't allow yourself to feel anything?" she asked irritated.

"Actually I came here to apologize for the way I'd acted yesterday and also for the words I'd said. I wasn't myself and I understand how hard it must've been for you. I've been giving you a hard time, which wasn't right from me. I'm sorry," Oliver said sincerely, keeping his eyes on hers the whole time. She closed the magazine and looked at the man in front of her.

"Did you have another dream?" she asked suspiciously.

"You could say that," Oliver grinned.

"And will you ever be able to figure out on your own you're being a dick? Without any dreams?"

"No promises, but here's hoping," Oliver chuckled and Felicity smiled at him.

"So are we good?" Oliver asked.

"We're good, but next time you'll be treating me like this you will suffer," she threatened him with a smirk.

"Duly noted." After that Oliver turned on his laptop just to check a few things. Although he'd always been pointing out Felicity's obsession with tech, he was the one who couldn't imagine living without it in Felicity's eyes.

After a little moment the door of Jitters opened, the bell rang and Oliver noticed how Felicity smiled and slightly waved towards that direction. His heart quickened at the realization he already knew perfectly who was there behind him. However, he refused to turn around or to give Felicity any hint that he was aware of that. But he couldn't avoid that fact when the blonde was constantly watching him, her mouth hiding behind a cup of coffee.

"Felicity, this is me noticing you're staring," he spoke up without even looking at her, lifting one of his eyebrows.

"But you aren't even looking at me," she snorted, sipping from her coffee.

"It isn't obviously needed because I was right," he replied, lifting his head to meet her with a smirk on his face. Felicity just glared at him.

"I was just wondering. Barry mentioned you've been avoiding him. Why is that?" Oliver just sighed and without saying anything, continued to stare at her.

"Okay, you don't like people, bad question," she sighed annoyed.

"Not true," Oliver whispered roughly.

"Then what is it?"

"I thought that it would be better like this."

"And now?"

"And now I'm not so sure."

"Then do something about it."

"You're gonna hock me about this until I say yes, aren't you?" he grinned. She smiled and nodded proudly.

"I'm a hocker." After that Oliver sighed deeply, closed his laptop and headed towards the brunet who was at the bar buying himself a coffee.

As soon as Barry got the coffee and payed for it, he turned around to find himself once again bumping into someone. Thankfully, this time the person before him had such good reflexes that they managed to catch the cup without causing any damage. Barry stopped breathing and when he looked at the man in front of him, he was stunned. Oliver was now so close to him, closer than ever before, which caused his heart to beat again quickly pumping the blood into his brain.

"Careful, I heard you don't have much luck when it comes to coffees," Oliver smiled slightly and handed him the coffee. Barry rolled his eyes, remembering his first and then second encounter with Wells, who had had to have a great amount of fun saying that to Oliver. But right now, Barry didn't find it funny at all. He started to blush awkwardly which didn't escape Oliver's attention.

"And did Wells also mention that he was the one who had bumped into me the second time?" Barry protested trying so hard to cover his flushed cheeks, but it was pointless. His head was literally on fire, which meant, Oliver must have noticed even though he was very thorough in hiding it.

"He didn't need to. I kind of figured from the way he was talking about it. It was obvious," Oliver replied, struggling to get to the real point of this conversation and this Barry noticed. So he tried very hard to take over the talking until Oliver would be ready to say his part.

"You look better, by the way, much better," he pointed out.

"I feel much better, thanks to you."

"Just doing my job," Barry smirked.

"Yeah, about that, I need to tell you something," Oliver sighed straightening his chest, looking directedly at the brunet.

"Is everything okay?" Barry asked, worried whether Oliver was going to kick him out or maybe do something even worse.

"It's just…. I wanna be honest with you, Barry. I've been avoiding you."

"Yeah, I kind of figured," Barry smiled weakly.

"I wasn't very subtle about it."

"Subtle? You? No, not even a little bit," Barry nodded and they both chuckled slightly.

"But there was a reason behind it all."

"I just don't get it, Oliver. On that rooftop we were talking like normal people do and when we came down, you just snapped."

"I guess I'm not a normal person or maybe we should've stayed on that rooftop."

"Talk to me. What went wrong?"

"On that rooftop living with you seemed like something which could really help me, to become the person everyone wants me to be, but as soon as we got back to the apartment, I just remembered the last time I'd lived with someone. I thought about Sara and how she told me her story and instead of comforting her and being there for her I shouted at her, kicked her out of the apartment and never saw her again. I thought about Harry and how he asked me to behave nicely during one of his most important nights. He was supposed to earn a few more sponsors for his project, but that didn't happen because I got drunk and ruined everything. Moving out from his house was the next thing I did, when I got back my sobriety. And then I thought about my parents and sister, which also hadn't gone well for me. I was there lying in my bed thinking about all this and I realized that no matter how hard I tried, there was no way for me to fully move on from that. And after what Felicity told me yesterday I still think there is none, because she was right. All my life everyone wanted me to be perfect in some way, my parents, Harry and Felicity, but I can't really change who I am. Losing so much changed me in so many ways that my head hurts every time I think about it. And there is no reversing it, even though I would want that. I've learned that hiding and ignoring my emotions is always the better option and after time it happened to be natural for me. And you asked what's wrong with me, that's what's wrong, because that Oliver Queen, whom everyone wants so much, who cares deeply and shows it every time is no longer here, never was in fact. And I can't change who I am, not now and not ever. And the reason I've been avoiding you is that you're just another person who is going to try to bring that Oliver back and I wanted to prevent that from happening. Because it's pointless. It's never going to work," Oliver said and Barry just looked at him with a non-believing look, frowning. There was no way Barry would let Oliver give up so easily. Barry believed that there was a way and it wasn't honestly only for Oliver to decide whether this was possible or not. Whether Barry would leave him alone or not was entirely up to him and he wasn't planning to do that.

"I think you're full of crap," Barry replied honestly, which kept Oliver stunned. He wanted to protest, but stopped himself, thinking that maybe letting Barry say what he wanted to say would be the best idea right now.

"Look, you've convinced yourself that everything you've been through took away your humanity. But I think it's because of your humanity that you made it through. You may have lost too much, but you've found much more. You've got Doctor Wells who loves you as his own son and Felicity who cares about you deeply. You wouldn't have found those people, much less accomplished your every success to help people all around the world, if you didn't have a light inside of you," Barry said sincerely, meaning every word. Oliver felt horrible, because he wanted to protest, his brain couldn't take that as an acceptable answer. That statement was hard to believe in his eyes. But in the same time he wanted to believe it, that he still had a hope at redemption, which caused him to be completely torn. His head hurt, his breath felt heavy and finding words was never more difficult.

"And yesterday only proved it," Barry continued. "Because yes, Cisco screwed up a little and after that you weren't exactly an angel to him, but we both know that wasn't really the reason. You lost control because you're suffering. I can see that, because I was the same like you and you know who help me? People who are close to me. Yes, maybe they couldn't fully understand the pain I was bearing, but they still kept trying and that's what mattered. They really helped, which means that people like that could help you too and believe me, the more close friends you have, which you fully trust, the less the pain hurts. And it's never late to find people like that. You are saying that who you are is the real you and that it is locked, but honestly let me be the judge of that. And when I come to the same conclusion, I will let you be, but for now, let me try," Barry smiled warmly, which caused Oliver another feeling of loving warmth. His face also didn't end up without a smile.

"But you have to keep trying too. For example stop being like this, because this guy is a douche." Oliver chuckled at that, which caused Barry's heart to melt. Hearing Oliver laugh was one of the most beautiful sounds for him to hear and he wanted nothing more than just hear it again.

"And be the real Oliver Queen, who I know is there."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I saw it multiple times, when you were with Felicity, on that rooftop or when Charlie told me what you did. It's really there, Ollie, we just need keep digging a little more to fully uncover it." It was… confusing for Oliver. When he looked at Barry's hazel green eyes, he didn't see any sham, just truth, sincerity and light. Barry had multiple reasons to be mean, ignorant towards Oliver, but instead of that, Barry was kind, encouraging and he kept believing that Oliver could do better. People had happened to be like Barry before but for Oliver it was different now. Because with Barry, Oliver believed that he could do better too. The brunet made him smile many times and helped him to hold on to his humanity. Barry was his light and he didn't give a damn that they barely knew each other and their relationship was… complicated, Oliver was not blind nor stupid. He was aware of the fact he cared about what the brunet thought of him. The first time they'd met, Oliver rarely payed any attention to the brunet, but now on the second thought, when he looked at him for the second time thoroughly, he felt different. Back then, he was wrong, he made mistakes, but Barry still believed there was a way for redemption. Thanks to that not only Oliver began to believe it too, he began to want to find it more than anything. And all of that happened just because the brunet walked into his life and refused to leave it. Oliver wanted to be a better person, Barry made him a better person, so there was no reason why he shouldn't take this chance.

"And if you ever doubt it, just remember you too have a heart, which is beating strongly for everyone who is willing to listen," Barry smiled and slowly placed his palm on Oliver's chest, smiling at the feeling of the steady beat. After that he gently touched Oliver's hand and placed it at the same place, holding it there so the blond would feel it and Oliver did. And he never thought that this feeling would be so unforgettably amazing. He felt alive and finally it wasn't just about surviving, it was about living and believing in the impossible, because that was yet another thing Barry was doing to him – he made him believe in the impossible. And the world was immediately a brighter and better place when someone was looking at it through dreamer's eyes.

"Thanks, Barry," he smiled warmly.

"You're welcome," Barry returned that smile and they both headed towards Felicity who certainly hadn't been watching them the whole time, wishing she could hear them.

"So does that mean I will finally get your number?" Barry asked.

"Nope," Oliver replied mildly, but Barry could hear the playing hint in his voice.

"Oh, come on! We live together now so I need it more than ever. What if I forget the keys? How will I contact you?" Barry argued, but couldn't fool anyone, especially not Oliver fucking Queen. The blond knew precisely that Barry wanted his number just to get more chances at teasing him and being the annoying fuck he was through texting and calling. That was the last thing Oliver wanted and although Barry's words had been the biggest salvation for him, he really didn't wish to get attached so quickly. And after all he needed some time just for himself so he hoped Barry would grant him that without asking stupid questions. And if not, this was going to be a hard couple of months for him. Although he managed to catch how Barry had been pointing out them living together quite often. He didn't hold back so it almost seemed that Barry didn't mind their current situation, maybe the brunet even enjoyed it, but Oliver couldn't tell for sure. Barry wasn't an open book in everything so sometimes (pretty often) Oliver found it difficult to make any conclusions. But it still meant something to him, something good. However, teasing Barry seemed like the best option.

"I would welcome something like that. I would get rid of you for at least some time," Oliver smirked and Barry just frowned, pretending to be offended.

"Now that was just mean," he stated.

"Well I'm after all a mean person." No, you're not. You're one of the nicest person I've met. I know that for sure, Barry thought.

"Don't worry, Barry, I'll give you his number," Felicity smiled.

"What kind of a best friend are you?" Oliver asked horrified by the fact she was siding with Barry.

"The one you don't deserve, clearly, but believe me, you will once thank me for it, because you will be the one texting and calling him." At least she was right in one thing – he didn't deserve her.

"Yeah, the probability that would happen is like 13,93%," Oliver snorted.

"Still better than nothing," Barry smiled and Oliver couldn't find any words to say on this matter, so the three of them just headed towards STAR Labs talking like real friends. And suddenly the light in Oliver's maze was stronger than ever. Barry's presence made sure of that. And because of that the idea of him getting out didn't seem so surreal anymore.

Looks like even a stubborn ass can be broken when you fight them with even more stubbornness :). I enjoyed writing this greatly and I can't wait to see how Oliver will get out of his maze.