A/N: Once again it has been far too long since I have written. I apologize, but life's been keeping me busy. Thank you so much for bearing with me and reading my story and thank you soo much for all of the wonderful comments you have written! There is still more story to come! Without further delay, I give you chapter 12!

The weeks passed quickly. Oliver stayed with her, leaving now and then to attend to business—both corporate and heroic business. Felicity didn't argue when he returned, or when she woke to find him sleeping in the chair beside her. She didn't like it, but she didn't argue.

The visits had continued. Now and then Sara, Diggle, or Roy were absent due to 'heroic' emergencies, but Thea came by every day. Felicity had grown fond of Oliver's sister during that time; she was always happy and could talk for hours on end. Felicity had noticed that Thea seemed to be much more at ease when there were less people around. In fact, when it was just the two of them, Thea was her usual bubbly, chatty self. When the others were around however, she'd go quiet, hang her head, and eventually, leave the room to take a walk through the halls.

"You can go home tomorrow! Aren't you excited? And you can basically almost walk all by yourself again!" Thea was saying as they made their way back to the room. They were taking their daily little stroll around the hospital and Felicity noticed, with a triumphant imaginary fist pump in the air, that she wasn't even really leaning on Thea that much anymore.

"You don't know how excited I am…I've been cooped up in this white-walled place for too long."

Thea giggled. "It will be nice to be in a normal house again. You know, this will be great! I'll visit you all the time now, not just in hospital visiting hours. Don't worry though, I won't bother you too much."

Felicity smiled, "You could never bother me Thea. Really."

She saw Thea nod out of the corner of her eye. They walked in silence for a few moments and then, just as they were about to enter the room Thea stopped and turned. "Good. I'm glad because we'll be so much closer now, so I'll be in your room most of the time! It will be like having a sister!"

Felicity nodded and stepped into the room where Oliver, Sara, and Roy sat. She let go of Thea, now confident in her ability to make it to the bed on her own. And she would have made it, she would have if Thea's words didn't register with her suddenly. She turned swiftly on her heel to face Thea once more, eyes wide with realization and anger, but she lost her balance and her 'what?' was lost in her yelp as she fell forward.

She waited for the cold, white ground, but Oliver's arm snaked around her waist at the last moment and pulled her up against his chest. Felicity let out a breath of relief and was about to thank Oliver when she recalled the reason she'd almost fallen. "What do you mean we'll be closer now and you'll be in my room?"

Thea, whose hand was clamped over her mouth, and whose eyes were still wide, blinked a few times in confusion. Oliver understood immediately what had happened however, because he tensed and sighed. She turned in his arms and leveled him with a glare.

"Ollie didn't tell you?" Thea asked.

"No. Ollie didn't tell me."

Oliver sighed again making it clear to Felicity that he hadn't planned to tell her until the following day. She shook her head defiantly, her curls bouncing this way and that. Oliver did not release her from his hold, nor did he look apologetic; he stared at her with hard, determined eyes. She ceased her movements, her eyes now mirroring his.

The silence stretched on uncomfortably. Eventually, Roy cleared his throat and muttered something about visiting hours being over. He said a quick 'goodbye,' glancing uncomfortably at Felicity who was still in Oliver's arms. Sara quickly followed Roy, a small secretive smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Thea moved into the room, wanting to say a proper 'goodbye' to Felicity, but thought better of it as she and Oliver continued to glare at each other. With one last glance in their direction, she let Roy drag her out of the room.

Thea glanced over at Sara as they walked through the halls, her small secretive smile was still perfectly in place and it confused Thea. Didn't it bother Sara that Oliver was so obviously attracted to Felicity? Sure, they had broken up, but it had only been a few weeks. If she and Roy had broken up and he had moved on so quickly, it would definitely have upset her.

The cold air thrust her out of her thoughts and she suppressed a shiver. The sky was pitch black and clear; there wasn't a star, or cloud in sight. Looking at her watch, she saw that it was quite early: 8:15 PM. She considered going straight home, but decided that she would drive by the Verdant first. It was Friday night and the club would be packed. It was her club after all.

"I'll see ya Thea," Roy said, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek.

"Aren't you coming with me?" Thea asked as the town car pulled up in front of them.

"Nah, sorry. I'm tired, so I'm heading home. Sara's going to see Sin, so she'll drop me home; it's on the way anyway." Roy ran his hand through his hair and then quickly moved it to cover his yawn.

"Oh…" Thea glanced at Sara, who simply smiled.

"He's right. It's on my way, so I'll take him." She hugged Thea briefly and then stepped back, heading down the steps towards the parking lot.

"You're heading home right?" Roy asked.

"Yeah."

"Alright. Have a good night." With that, he kissed her briefly on the lips and then turned to follow the blond.

She watched them disappear into the dark. Sara's car was parked all the way in the back of the parking lot. Even after Thea could no longer see them, she stared in the direction of the car. It had happened once before, when Sara had taken Roy home. Time and time again, she would return from her hallway strolls with Felicity to find them talking just as old friends. She should have been used to it by now, but she wasn't. Perhaps that's the reason she had lied when Roy had asked her if she was heading home. As childish as it sounded, she wanted to have a secret of her own. Of course it held no real value because she owned the club and she was often there to oversee things, but it was a secret nonetheless.

She stared into the darkness, waiting for that small pang of pleasure that comes with keeping a secret or telling a white lie, but it didn't come. Instead, she felt a pang of despair and hurt. Once again she felt alone. She'd been feeling it ever since she began visiting Felicity. She had hoped that they would tell her something—explain something. With every day that passed, it had become clearer that they didn't intend to tell her anything and as much as she tried to tell herself otherwise, at the end of the day, it hurt more than she could describe. Thea blinked back a few tears. She'd learned the hard way that ignorance really was bliss.

"Felicity," Oliver said in a warning tone. He'd known that this would happen. He'd known as soon as the decision had been made that they would argue about it, but he didn't want to argue about it. For once he wanted Felicity to shed her stubbornness and accept his offer without argument.

Her blue orbs bore into his. Her face was set in an expression of both utter concentration and anger. Her rosy lips were slightly pouted, as the lips of a child are when they are angry. She looked almost comical. If he hadn't been waiting for her to begin her rant, he would have given her an amused smile and shaken his head.

"Your house? You want me to stay at your house?" Her hands were flat against his chest and she pressed her index fingers into his shirt with every word that she emphasized. "I suppose you think that that is something you have to do. I suppose you were not even planning on consulting me. I suppose you simply planned to have Diggle pull up to your house tomorrow and then perhaps explain yourself. I suppose you planned to say something like: 'Oh, by the way, you're staying at my house until I feel that you're fully recovered.' I suppose you expected me to be fine with it and—"

"No. I expected this," Oliver said matter-of-factly.

Felicity blinked a few times and Oliver bit the inside of his lip to keep from smiling at her wide-eyed expression. It was clear to him that his interruption had caught Felicity slightly off guard and deflated her anger slightly.

She let out a sigh of frustration and he could feel her warm breath on seep through his shirt. He should have noticed then how close he held her. He should have noticed that he'd been holding her for far too long, but he was awaiting her response, so he noticed nothing.

"Oliver I am not staying at your house," she said in an exasperated tone.

"Felicity, you're not one-hundred-percent yet. You're still leaning on Thea or me when we walk you through the halls. You can't go home." He'd spoken softly, needing her to understand and unwilling to argue. He was right and even she had to admit it.

"I'll get a cane," she said as she rested her head against his chest in defeat. He chuckled. She was so stubborn, but miraculously he'd won this one without much effort. "I'm serious Oliver," she mumbled into his chest, "I'll get a cane."

He chuckled again. Perhaps it was the simplicity of the moment, or the fact that it was in no way enlaced with tension. Perhaps it was the fact that he'd been holding her too long, or the fact that he could smell her strawberry scented hair and feel her warmth seep through his shirt. Perhaps he'd spent too many nights imagining how much worse the situation could have been. Perhaps he'd spent too many nights trying to think of things he could say to her that would make her leave and live a normal life, or the unbearable pain that gripped his chest as he imagined life without her. Perhaps it was a combination of all of the above because in that moment the three words he'd locked up in some remote corner of his mind escaped. I love her, he thought to himself.

And because his rational part of his mind had not caught up to the present moment, he buried his face in her hair and planted a kiss on the crown of her head. Some part of him expected her to tense up, or untangle herself from his embrace, but she did not.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," a voice said from the door.

It was like being thrown into ice-cold water. His head shot up, his eyes wide, his arms released their hold on her waist. His took hold of her forearm to steady her.

"I'm terribly sorry, but it's time for Felicity to take her medicine," the raven-haired nurse said, gesturing to the tray that she held.

"Thank you," he heard Felicity say.

She'd turned to face the nurse and, for the moment, he was glad of that. He wordlessly helped Felicity to the bed, avoiding eye contact with both her and the nurse. Once she was comfortable and the nurse began bustling around the room— pouring water, asking Felicity if she had any pain, checking her chart— Oliver said something about needing to make a phone call and made for the entrance of the hospital.

He inhaled the cold outside air fervently, needing it to clear his thoughts. It suddenly became clear that he'd been holding Felicity too long, that she'd been pressed up against him, that he'd admitted to himself that he loved her. He'd foolishly let his guard down. His emotions had overpowered him and his selfish side had won. There was no turning back.

A sense of relief washed over him. He had finally admitted it to himself. I love her, he thought again with a small smile. He knew the fight was far from over. He would fight himself much longer than this because he wanted the best for her and that wasn't him, but at least he'd finally allowed himself to think those three words.

The music still pounded and the people still danced with the same amount of energy they had exhibited upon her arrival, but that energy wasn't contagious and Thea was exhausted. She stifled another yawn as she looked through the various events that the Verdant had coming up. Her eyes no longer focused however, so with a particularly long yawn, she closed the file and shut down the computer.

Grabbing her purse and shrugging on her coat, she looked around the office once more before calling her driver and turning off the lights. It took her a few minutes to get through the throng of people, but she finally made it out. She passed dozens of cars that circled the parking lot in search for a space and dozens of people waiting in line to get in.

Turning the corner of the building she saw the car waiting for her and smiled. She walked more quickly and sighed contently when she finally sat down in the back of the car. As the driver made for the sparsely used back entrance of the parking lot, her heavy eye-lids began to close of their own accord when something caught her eye. A lone car was parked near the basement entrance. As she strained her eyes to get a better look, her brows drew together in confusion. It was Sara's car.

"…and so the princess was saved by the brave knight," she said. She received a giggle as a response.

He smiled to himself, loosening his tie and rolling up his sleeves. He'd known that she would be here. The door of the room was slightly ajar and he could feel the cold air escaping the room. Slowly, he nudged the door open.

She lay on the bed between his sleeping son and his giggling daughter. A large book was propped up on her lap and his daughter pointed at some picture or other with her tiny index finger. He watched silently from the door as Felicity giggled. "Yes, it is a silly-looking dragon isn't it?" she was saying. "It's time to go to bed now sweetheart."

The tiny girl with the blond curls crossed her arms and pouted her tiny lips, her blue eyes wide. He bit back a laugh, it was the look she used whenever she wanted to persuade them of anything. It was so darn cute that it actually worked most of the time. That look is going to be the death of me, he thought to himself in amusement.

Felicity smiled down at the girl, shaking her head slowly from side to side. "It works better on your father sweetheart. It's time to go to bed." The girl groaned indignantly. "Shhh, your brother is asleep," Felicity said softly. "Come now, let's go to your room."

Oliver watched as his daughter pouted her lip one more time in an attempt to persuade her mother to let her stay up later, but Felicity shook her head, a small amused smile playing on her lips. Letting out a small whimper, the girl gave up and hopped off of the bed. As she walked around it, she caught sight of him and Oliver quickly put his finger to his lips, signaling for her to remain quiet. The girl flashed him a dazzling smile and ran wordlessly to him.

He stepped away from the door and into the hallway crouching down to catch her in his arms and embrace her. She laughed her musical little laugh and hugged him in return. Over her shoulder he saw Felicity gently pull up the blankets to cover their son before turning off the lights and closing the door behind her. Oliver stood, hoisting up his little princess as he did.

Felicity smiled and shook her head slightly as their daughter began to tell him all about her day at school. "Really? You painted a flower?" He said as he took a step towards Felicity and kissed her softly. His little princess prattled on about her day as they walked her to her room and put her to bed.

He woke knowing that the tiny girl would be gone, that the young sleeping boy would be gone, that Felicity would just be his friend, but even so he did not open his eyes just yet, for he replayed it all again and again, selfishly committing it all to memory.

A/N: And there you have it. I hope you liked the chapter! Let me know what you think! :)