A/N: Hey you all! I'm so excited and overwhelmed by the response this fic is getting… I can barely believe that it's reached the incredible amount of 400 reviews, 225 favorites and 500 followers! THANK YOU VERY MUCH! And thanks also to my beta, luvtheheaven, because without her amazing work this fic wouldn't be what it is.

Brief note about this chapter: I imagined it with an "aggressive" Thea and a nervous-babbling-Felicity, trying to deny the obvious (that she loves Oliver) until she doesn't have any other option rather than admit it. The truth is that sometimes you don't write what you had imagined. So yeah, I planned that, but I wrote this. I hope you like it, especially because I know that some of you were eager to read this particular chapter.

Enjoy it and don't forget, when you're bored, take some paper and your favorite pen and enjoy writing!

Chapter 26. The Talk

Thea and Felicity were in the hospital's cafeteria, sitting at one of the most remote tables, trying to go unnoticed as they ate the sandwiches they had bought in silence. They weren't very tasty, but they were better than nothing.

Thea broke the silence with a question. "How long have you and my brother been dating?"

When Felicity heard that, she couldn't help but moan in disgust. "Oh Thea, you too? I'm not dating your brother, okay? As I said before, we're just friends; good friends without any kind of romantic relationship."

"Yes, of course. You can deny it all you want, but no one will believe you."

"But it's the truth!" Felicity exclaimed, frustrated. "We're just friends," she repeated.

"Oliver's face didn't say that," Thea said with conviction.

"Huh?"

"Earlier, in the room, when you said that you're not together, it looked like someone had stabbed Oliver. Those words really hurt him, Felicity."

"You're wrong."

"I saw the pain in his eyes."

"Because he's just been shot, maybe?! Thea, look, I know what everyone thinks, okay? I'm well aware, but please! Believe me when I tell you that your brother and I are not together."

"Okay..." Thea said, now understanding that this wouldn't be a successful way to get an admission from Felicity.

After that, they continued eating, returning to silence once again, finishing their sandwiches and enjoying the chocolate candies they had also bought from a vending machine.

"Felicity?" Thea said unsteadily after a while. Addressing the 'love-issue' directly didn't work, so she was going to try another way.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Uh, well, I've never been very good at this, but... Thanks."

If it wasn't for the seriousness of the situation, Thea would have laughed at Felicity's look of surprise.

"Thanks? Why are you thanking me?"

"For everything you do for my brother."

"Thea," Felicity groaned, realizing that she had been wrong in thinking that the young Queen would let her go so easily.

"No, listen to me, please. I... I don't know what happened to him on that island, and I think that I'll never know. But it's okay, I guess. But what I do know is that the island changed him. Before that, Ollie was happy. He was always laughing and joking. When he returned, he was no longer that person. Now he's serious, reserved and restrained. He barely smiles, and I haven't heard him laugh even once since his return. He chuckles, yeah, but he never laughs. He even lies about what happened." At this point, Felicity frowned with curiosity and concern. "He says he was alone, but that's impossible! I've seen his scars, I've heard him muttering in dreams names I'd never heard before... I know he's been trying not to worry us, but I couldn't help but be concerned. "

Felicity stayed silent, not wanting to push her. She could see how much Thea needed to talk with someone who could understand her. And Felicity could give her that. Thea drew a long sigh before continuing.

"Shortly after he came back, I was really upset with him because he didn't want to tell me anything about what had happened to him, and yet he wanted me to tell him what I was doing, where I went... He was judging me for doing the same things he'd done before! So one day I took him to his grave and explained that during those five years I would talk to 'him' and that I felt closer to him when he was 'dead' than I was feeling with him back. I told him that he had to talk to someone, that he had to let someone in. And you know what? At first I thought my advice fell on deaf ears, but over time I realized I was wrong. Consciously or unconsciously, he was letting someone in. He was letting you in." Thea was aware that Felicity wasn't the only one. She knew there was Diggle too, who had already proved that he was much more than just Oliver's bodyguard. She also was not forgetting Laurel - and Tommy, up until he died tragically. But Thea didn't mention any of them because she wanted the other girl to understand her point. "As first, I got jealous because I thought that he should let me in rather than someone who he barely knew. I didn't tell him how I was feeling, of course, but I kinda acted like a bitch. At some point, I learned to accept it. I could see that he was changing. He was less grumpy and more relaxed. It took me some time to notice, but that change started with you."

Felicity, strange as it might seem, was speechless. Thea had just proven to Felicity how wrong she had been about the younger girl. She had thought that Thea hadn't noticed the changes in Oliver, but the brunette was more perceptive than she had shown.

As Felicity wasn't saying anything, Thea decided to keep talking. "I admit that at first I thought you were just another conquest for Ollie, although it caught my attention, as he'd never been interested before in the 'sexy librarian' look." Felicity choked at that. She couldn't remember the last time someone had called her 'sexy'. "What? I didn't say anything you didn't know.

"The fact is that I realized he was spending more and more time with you, and some of his excuses were... really stupid. Then there's the fact that he returns after five months, and the first thing he does is promote you. And no, I don't think it was coincidence. I'm sure that you had something to do with his return. Am I wrong?" Seeing the blonde just shrug, Thea went on. "And then, what happened today... Ollie, in a bank? He might be a gentleman now, I don't know, but there is nothing he hates more than waiting, so believe me when I tell you that it's not something he would do for just anyone. And did you see how he calmed down when you told him that he could sleep and then caressed him? Maybe he hasn't realized it yet, I don't know... But he loves you."

The words that Oliver had been about to tell to Felicity as he was losing all of that blood in the bank went through her mind at that moment. He was going to tell her he loved her, and at that moment she had believed it, but now that the shock had passed, Felicity couldn't help but think that it had been just a moment of weakness, of being afraid of dying alone. Felicity wished with all her heart that Oliver really would love her, but she was sure that there was no place in his heart for the IT girl.

"You're wrong, Thea. Oliver doesn't love me. You yourself said it, I'm not his type. Plus he has never given me any indication that he could have any feelings for me."

"Jeez, Felicity! You're more obtuse than my brother!"

"I know you want your brother to be happy Thea. I want that too. And I know that someday he will find the perfect woman for him, but that's not me."

Thea moaned desperately before continuing, "Look, Felicity, like it or not, whatever there is between you two is not just friendship. You love him as much as he loves you. And if you don't believe me, why don't we just ask him?"

Before Felicity could react, Thea got up and took the blonde's hand so that she would follow her.

"What are you doing, Thea? Thea? Thea!"

The young Queen didn't answer. She just kept guiding her through the corridors towards Oliver's room.

A/N 2:Thanks for reading! And please don't forget to leave me reviews so that I'll know what you think. Thank you very much!

Dear guests! I know that sometimes I forget to thank you. This isn't one of those times:

Laura: Thank you very much for letting a review!

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