Author's Note: Sorry for not updating sooner. I really had a hard time deciding how I wanted this chapter to go. It could have gone a few ways, but I wanted it to be less angsty. So here's the newest chapter. Slight warning for strong language from our resident smartass, Roy Harper. Hope you enjoy the fluffy, slightly sad/angry contents. And please, don't forget to leave a review! They keep me going!

The sun was bright, shimmering and bouncing off the roiling water of the pool as Oliver swam laps. Felicity lounged at the pool's edge, sprawled out on a towel with a book resting before her precariously close to the edge. Every few paragraphs she'd look up, admiring Oliver's carefree demeanor. She knew it wasn't real. She knew deep down he was on fire, punishing himself for his mother's death. But there were moments she swore she saw true peacefulness in his eyes.

Her back was heating up, the skin hidden beneath sheer lace clearly tanning. The back of her legs felt the same, and the phone in the back left pocket of her shorts felt heavy. For days she'd received texts and calls from Diggle, all of which she ignored. The voicemails were another story. She couldn't keep herself away from them. Each one was more heart wrenching than the next, and the last one she had listened to made her tear up. She never let Oliver know about them. She kept him out of the loop as much as she could.

Roy had sent a few, but it didn't take long for him to lose patience and send one hateful text that still made Felicity feel guilty.

You know what, fuck you Felicity! You're not the only one in love with a Queen.

I probably deserve that, Felicity thought. She had requested that Roy keep an eye on Thea after Moira's death, knowing that the Master would be plotting to rid Oliver of his little sister next. At first Roy had been eager to protect her, even enlisting Sin's help. But that last text told her that Roy was losing faith and hope without his mentor there to guide him.

She shook herself out of her guiltiness and looked up to find Oliver watching her, his chin resting on the edge by her book. "Where were you just then?" he asked, blinking away a few drops of water from his lashes.

She faked a smile. "Just enjoying the day," she said, hoping her lie was convincing.

Clearly it wasn't. "Your face tells a different story, Felicity."

She sighed. "No, really," she said, injecting as much cheer as she could into her voice. "This is a beautiful day. I'm here catching some sun and I'm able to watch the most gorgeous guy alive swim laps and occasionally admire me. I've got it made!"

Oliver chuckled halfheartedly, then leaned forward a bit, letting his lips linger against hers. Felicity closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation. After a few moments, she pushed him away. "You're getting my book wet!"

"It already looks pretty damaged. What's a few soaked pages?"

She reached a hand into the water and splashed him. "Go back to your laps!"

He listened, sinking below the choppy water and torpedoing toward the opposite end of the pool.

She dove back into her book, enjoying the escape it gave her. As she turned the page, her phone began to buzz. The twentieth time that afternoon. Her guilt came back in waves and forced her to her feet. "Oliver," she called. He stopped his lap and raised an eyebrow. "I'm getting some tea from the house." He nodded and continued his progress.

She walked away into the trees surrounding the sunny poolside. She leaned against one pine and dug the phone out of the pocket. The ID on the screen read: John Diggle

She answered. "Hello?"

"Felicity, this has to stop," Digg chided, his voice full of anger and annoyance. "I know you're trying to care for him. But this will not help. You're throwing all of the work on us and we can't do it all."

"I know..."

"Felicity, he can't protect Thea if he's pretending there's no threat."

John's words sunk in and triggered the fullness of her fault. Tears sprang to her eyes with newfound fury, falling down her cheeks and splattering her chest. "Digg, I'm so sorry. I just don't know what to do."

"You have to convince him to come back to the foundry. We need you to be here if another clue comes in. If we can track it-"

"I know, Digg. I know," Felicity murmured, wiping at her eyes. "I'll try."

"Felicity, if you love Oliver, you can't just try. You have to succeed."

She nodded, hoping the gesture would give her greater courage. "We'll be there later tonight, I promise you."

Diggle hung up without another word and Felicity walked toward the mansion, trying to remember what she told Oliver she would be getting.

Oliver broke the surface of the water to find Felicity standing by a patio table. She held up a glass of fresh iced tea, signaling for him to join her. As he slowly floated toward her, he admired her. The white jean shorts hugged her thighs, reminding him of the smoothness of her skin and the warmth they possessed. Her loose floral tank top fluttered in the breeze as she poured a second glass of tea, revealing the skin of her belly. He tried to keep her naked body from his mind, but it was his new favorite thing, beside kissing her.

He pulled himself out of the water and grabbed a towel, patting away the water before wrapping it around his lower half. He collapsed into the chair beside her and rested his head on her shoulder. How is she even here with me?

She handed him a glass and he took it gratefully, taking a large gulp. He glanced at her and discovered her brows furrowed and eyes distant. "What's wrong?" he asked, sitting up straight, his usual tenseness returning.

"We can't keep doing this," she said, her voice shaky.

"Doing what?"

"This." She waved her hands about vaguely, allowing the gesture to encompass both of them and the estate. "We can't keep pretending like we're not in danger or that the world outside this place doesn't exist." He attempted to speak but she placed a finger to his lips and shushed him. "It does exist. And we have to get back to work."

He nodded sadly. I'm a fool to believe that I can ignore everything.

He pushed his chair closer to hers and kissed her lightly on the cheek, smiling at the contact in spite of the inevitable return to darkness and danger. "Can it wait a few more hours?"

"Oliver-"

It was his turn to shush her. He brought his lips to hers, crushing her words easily. He took the cup from her hands and placed it on the table before pulling her into his lap. "I want to enjoy you a bit more before we go back to reality."

Leaving the pitcher of tea alone on the table, Oliver carried Felicity all the way back to the mansion, stopping occasionally to let loose a flurry of kisses along her neck. She giggled in spite of herself. Once they were in the mansion, he didn't take the trip up the stairs. He rushed to the nearest room: the library. He shifted her in his arms until her legs were wrapped around him and their lips were locked. He didn't bother to close and bolt the door; no one would bother them there, as all the cleaning had been done that morning.

He pushed her up against the towering shelf, kissing along her jaw and letting her grip his neck with biting nails. With her braced against the shelf, he let his hands wander down to her loose shirt, burrowing his fingers beneath the fabric to rest on her warm bare skin. She traced a scar on his chest and nibbled on his ear, once again giggling. But when his hand came up to her breast, she stopped him.

"Oliver," she whispered breathlessly.

"Yeah?" he replied, trying to wriggle his fingers out from her grasp.

"As much as I love this... and I seriously do," she took a breath, closing her eyes. "I mean, who wouldn't like to have sex in a library. It is sexy and nerdy and everything I've ever imagined. And this is the library to do it in... god. Ugh. We can't."

He placed a hand on her cheek and she leaned into it instinctively, as she'd done so many times before. "Why can't we?"

"We really need to get to the foundry."

"But," Oliver mumbled pitifully, then he sighed with a nod. He moved away from the shelf and let his arms fall, guiding her to the floor. "You're right," he admitted, then added with a playful wink: "Sadly."

"Oh, believe me, we will reconvene as soon as life deems it appropriate!"

They pushed open the door to the lair, hands full of Big Belly Burger bags and a drink carrier with fattening shakes. Felicity hoped this would ease the tension, but as soon as they came to the bottom stair, she knew nothing would help.

Diggle was at the computers, face in his hands, breathing in deeply. One monitor was running security diagnostics, one had local news and the other was scanning police chatter. Roy was at the sparring mats, beating his fists into a punching bag, making it swing back and forth. His eyes were wide with rage and the back of his shirt was drenched in sweat.

"How are things looking?" Oliver asked, dropping the food onto the table. Felicity followed, carefully setting the drink carrier down.

Diggle rubbed at his eyes and turned his chair slowly. His face was unreadable, but Felicity knew beneath the calm exterior, he was ready to burst. "Things have been quiet. Not even a bank robbery. And no new clues."

"Well, that's good," Felicity said as cheerfully as possible. "And I see you've been running diagnostics the way I showed you." She leaned forward, hands braced against the desk as she watched the code scroll and the news anchors babble about Moira.

"Yeah," Digg said. Then he leaned in and whispered: "Thank you for coming back. I understand how hard it is to leave the love bubble."

She grinned. "Incredibly hard," she admitted, then stood straight. "We brought Big Belly Burger. Figured you'd need some greasy sustenance."

From the sparring mats, Roy laughed sarcastically. "Right, because junk food makes everything better after you leave all the work to half the team so you can spend a week fucking."

"Roy..." Oliver growled out in warning. His stance changed from nervous to defensive as he watch Roy make his way around the salmon ladder and into the circle. "Don't..."

"No, Oliver! You don't get to act like what you did was okay."

"Nothing happened, Roy," Felicity said, her voice going shrill with growing panic. Roy's and Oliver's postures spoke of potential fights and gruesome wounds. "The Master didn't send any clues, no major crimes needed fighting. Everything was fine. We're back now."

"Well, I'm not in the mood for a team reunion if it is filled with buddy-buddy bonding and milkshakes, all right?" With one punch to the food-covered table, Roy rushed up the stairs and out the door.

For a moment, Felicity thought she would leave it alone. Let him be alone. But then her anger bubbled up suddenly, catching her by surprise. And before she knew it, she was following Roy out into an alley behind Verdant. The sky had darkened. The alley was flooded with green neon light from Verdant mixed with the red emergency lights from the surrounding warehouses. It made the situation feel dangerous. She took a breath and then stood her ground.

"Roy!"

He stopped and slowly turned, his jaw clenched tight and his hands balled into fists. "What?"

"I'm sorry!"

He shook his head. "No. An apology won't cut it."

"Nothing happened while we were gone!"

"That's not the point, Felicity."

She looked down, finding her heels covered with scuff marks. "Talk to me."

For a long time they just stared at one another, both unwilling to move or speak. But then he stepped closer, bringing his intensity into her space and sucking out any confidence she possessed. "Felicity, you guys are the only family I got. And I know Oliver just lost his mother, and he's lost other people too. But if I lose you guys – if I lose Thea or Sin- I have no idea what I'll do."

"That's not gonna happen, Roy."

"Oh really? Did you expect Moira Queen to bite the dust? This guy is insane, and I can't be the only one out there keeping an eye out. We need you two. And I know, you're in love with him. But I'm in love with someone too..."

And with one last glance up at her, Roy walked away. Felicity watched him leave, wondering how long it would take for him to come back.

Oliver watched Felicity follow Roy, unwilling to stop her. She needs to mend bridges the same way I do... Oliver turned to John to find him grinning. Well, that's unexpected...

"Enjoy your lover's tryst?" Diggle asked, his grin widening into a smile.

"Digg-"

"No, seriously, Oliver. I understand it. I might not like that you neglected the mission, but really, it's nice to know there's a human being beneath all of that angst and brooding."

Oliver chuckled, digging out a french fry from the back. He stuffed it in his mouth, savoring the saltiness. "Well," he murmured between bites. "Well, we're back. And we're not going to disappear again."

After a moment of silence, John Diggle stood and made his way over to the table. He took one of the shakes and sipped it. Licking his lips, he nodded. "Good."