A/N: Hello my little cheese-smeared nachos! Hope you had a lovely weekend. As previously stated I worked, so yeah, Aunty Lou is tired and her house is a complete tip. I wish some of the freeloaders around here would actually help with the housework instead of creating more.

Hank has these moments of coming over all artistic and wants to let his creative juices flow… well, let's just say that ISN'T a figure of speech when it comes to him. Ugh… they just don't make cleaning products to get monkey juice off walls, that's all I'm saying… or out of llama fur.

But anyways, none of that has anything to do with this chapter. A chapter where Olicity finally get to have a few, still moments alone together. I know you're all looking forward to that. I just want to remind you that this story still has a little while to go by way of a warning for those expecting everything to come out in the wash sooner rather than later. That being said, my fervent hope remains that you'll enjoy all the little steps closer to Olicity getting that first date of theirs. At least they're in the same town now, right? That's got to count for something.

And seeing as that is the case once more, just a heads up that I intend to ease back a little on the posting pedal. You've had daily updates for a while now and I'll most likely slow down a bit now. I'll see how I go in just giving myself a bit of breathing room with the posting. So yeah, not sure when the next chapter will be but hopefully it won't be that far away.

And without further ado, the chapter…

CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT

Oliver took a deep breath and willed himself to calm down. It had been a long, distracted day which he'd spent trying to focus on the multi-billion dollar deals being made when all he could really think about was Felicity. The meeting had dragged on and on as details were hashed out and now it almost five o'clock and Oliver was finally back in the office. He walked into the file room, knowing he'd find Felicity there. She was there, sitting on the floor, shoeless and painstakingly putting all the files back in order. They were stacks of them all laid out neatly in alphabetical order with over half the room cleared. She looked up as he walked in. "I come bearing gifts of contrition." Oliver held out the paper cup holder he was hanging onto with two Styrofoam cups in it. "Refreshments."

Felicity smiled. "You brought me green tea?"

Oliver put down the tray and shrugged out of his coat before picking up the tray again and taking a seat on the ground beside her. "I was going to get you green tea but then I remembered the state of this room and thought you'd need something more fortifying. I know you're on a health kick and everything, but I really felt like this situation called for coffee."

Felicity looked suddenly emotional, like he'd just offered her his kidney or something. She grabbed his arm. "I have never felt closer to another human being than I do to you right now," she said unsteadily, looking very relieved.

Oliver knew she was talking about the coffee but her declaration still made his heart skip a beat.

Felicity blushed, removing her hand from his arm. "Sorry," she said awkwardly, "don't know why I said that." She wrinkled her nose adorably. "I'm just pretty excited about the coffee."

"So I see," said Oliver handing it over to her.

Felicity avoided his gaze, taking a sip of her coffee as Oliver moved so his back was against the wall like Felicity's.

Felicity gave an uneven sigh. "I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too," said Oliver quickly, turning to look at her and then he saw that Felicity had the coffee cup up to her cheek, nuzzling it and realized she was talking to the coffee. Damn it!

She looked a little taken aback at his declaration. "I missed you as well," said Felicity unsteadily.

"More or less than the coffee?" asked Oliver only half-joking.

"I was apart from the coffee for longer—"

Great, he didn't even rate above a caffeinated beverage. He shouldn't have opened that Pandora's box. Oliver felt his morale dwindling.

"But I missed you more, Oliver," said Felicity quietly. She gave him a little smile. "Of course I did. You're this huge part of my world."

Okay, that was more like it. Oliver was heartened by Felicity's reassurance. "I'm glad," he said sincerely. "You had me worried there for a minute."

"You don't have to worry about me," said Felicity, going back to sipping her coffee and avoiding looking at him.

"I can't help it," said Oliver, watching her profile carefully. "A lot has happened to you recently, Felicity. I just need to know you're okay."

"I'm okay," said Felicity easily. She threw him a quick glance. "How are you feeling?"

"Relieved you're back where you belong." Okay, he'd definitely said that aloud. Oliver waited nervously for her response.

Felicity gave a little laugh. "Yeah, there is no doubt I'm needed around these parts." She looked around the room. "Talk about opening the floodgates of chaos. Here's hoping there isn't this kind of mess at the lair." Felicity suddenly frowned. "Nobody touched my chair, did they? While I was gone."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean they didn't adjust it or anything, right?" asked Felicity in concern. "It took me days to get that chair at the perfect height and angle for me to sit at."

"Is that a big deal?" asked Oliver uncertainly.

"Of course it is. I sit at that desk a lot and I had it perfectly set up so that I didn't get any back or neck strain. It literally took me hours to find that perfect sweet spot."

Uh oh.

Felicity gave him a sharp look. "No one has been messing with my chair, have they?"

Oliver panicked. "I think Diggle may have done something to it," he lied. Oliver couldn't be responsible for messing up something else Felicity had taken so long to get just right. "He's a lot taller than you, you know."

"But you've all got your own chairs," said Felicity in exasperation. "Why mess with mine?"

"Maybe Digg didn't know you had your seat set up just so." Oliver pulled a face. "And maybe you should write a list of things you don't want us touching next time you go away." Oliver prayed that wasn't going to be for a long time now.

Felicity shook her head. "Boy, I leave you two alone for five minutes and it's anarchy city."

"You probably shouldn't leave us again then… ever."

Felicity looked suddenly worried. "I'm sorry I was gone for so long, Oliver. I know that must have been inconvenient for you."

That wasn't the word he would have chosen. "It was your mom, Felicity," he said quietly. "I wouldn't have wanted you anywhere else but with her." He watched her face cloud over. "Everything is alright with her, isn't it?"

Felicity put a valiant smile on her face. "Yes, she's doing well and has a really good mindset about the rehab stuff. She took a few steps on the first day, so that was encouraging."

"That's great she's so motivated," said Oliver warmly.

"I think she's trying to impress the physiotherapist," said Felicity wryly. "He's very cute."

Oliver tried not to let his immediate jealousy register on his face. "You think he's cute?" he asked, trying to sound casual about the whole thing.

"I think he's too young for her," grimaced Felicity. "But Mom will be Mom, so what are you gonna do, right?"

That hadn't answered his question but Oliver tried to tell himself there were a couple of states between Felicity and this no name guy. It made him feel slightly better.

Felicity looked down at her coffee cup, swirling it and then sent him a quick look. "You know, I was really fortunate to get Mom into that rehab center. It's just lucky her insurance covered it."

"That was lucky," agreed Oliver.

"I didn't realize how lucky we were until I reread Mom's insurance policy and saw she wasn't covered for rehabilitation costs," continued on Felicity calmly. "But yet we still had a place at rehab, fully paid for, with all the care she could possibly need." She was looking directly at him now. "What are the odds of something like that happening?"

Oliver feigned continuing ignorance. "Like you said, sometimes you just get lucky."

"And sometimes when you hack into the rehab centers computer you find out that all of my mother's medical expenses were paid for by an Adam Green. Which oddly enough is the exact same pseudonym name you use when you want to do something anonymously."

Oliver just looked back at her, still not admitting to anything. "Wow, that is a coincidence."

Felicity tilted her head. "Oliver."

"Felicity."

"You paid for my mother's medical expenses," she said softly.

He shrugged, not wanting her to make a big deal out of it. "We have a really comprehensive medical plan here at Queen Consolidated."

"It's too much," said Felicity emotionally.

"How is making sure your mother, the woman who raised you single handedly, is given the best possible care she can be get, too much?" he argued.

"I'm going to have to pay you back, you realize that, don't you?"

"You'll do no such thing," said Oliver firmly. "You always take such good care of me, here at the office, out on the street and everywhere else in between. Let me take care of you and your mother for a change. I couldn't do much for you while you were going through all this stuff with your mom. Let me do this, Felicity, please."

She swallowed hard, blinking back tears. "Thank you, Oliver. You don't know what this means to me."

"I know that I'd do anything to have a second chance at saving my mom," said Oliver unsteadily, "but it's too late for us. I'm just glad it wasn't too late for you and your mother."

Felicity bit her bottom lip and gave a watery smile. "I thought I was going to lose her."

Oliver reached out and took her hand, squeezing it tightly. "But you didn't and that's the important thing." Her hand felt small and warm in his. Oliver resisted the urge to kiss the soft skin on the back of her hand. Baby steps, don't rush this, he reminded himself.

Felicity squeezed his hand back and nodded, hastily wiping away a tear from behind her glasses. "Sorry," she said with an embarrassed little laugh, "I'm kind of emotional these days."

"Don't apologize, you have every right to be after all that you've been through these last few weeks with the stress and everything." Okay, this was it. "And I know I was a big part of that stress." Oliver's expression became full of contrition. "Felicity, I'm so sorry for everything I put you through after I was poisoned."

"It wasn't your fault, Oliver. Like you said, you were poisoned and not in your right mind."

"I scared you," he said darkly. "All I can think about is your face out on that mountain. How you said my name and looked so afraid—" He stopped abruptly, still finding it hard to talk about. "I hate knowing I did that to you."

Felicity gave him a sympathetic look. "You didn't, Oliver, the toxin in your system did all that. It was you who saved me." Her expression became pained. "But please, don't ever throw yourself off a cliff for me again. I died a thousand deaths thinking that you'd killed yourself to protect me." There were fresh tears in her eyes.

"I'd do anything to protect you, Felicity," said Oliver earnestly. "And I'd do that again if it meant saving your life."

Felicity closed her eyes and didn't look particularly happy to hear that. "Let's hope it never comes down to something like that again because I don't want that, Oliver." She took a deep breath and put a resolute smile to her lips. "I'm just glad that you're feeling better and everything can go back to normal now."

"Normal?"

"Yes, you know, the way they use to be."

He watched her expression carefully. "Is that what you want?"

"Of course. Don't you?"

"I want you to feel safe around me again, Felicity," he said slowly, choosing his words carefully, "but I feel like there are other things we should really discuss."

Felicity's screwed her face up. "Oliver, I think we can both agree that things were said and done at the cabin that neither one of us really wanted to have happen."

Oliver's brow furrowed. "Like what exactly?"

"Like some unintentional nudity and talk about butts and ducks and saying things to one another that well, weren't exactly accurate."

Oliver tensed. "What things?"

Felicity looked stressed at being cornered this way. "You know, stuff. Like… like you thinking I was pregnant." She looked unhappy. "I just want you to know that I was just a bit bloated that day and the shirt I was wearing made me look puffier than I really was and—"

"Felicity, that had nothing to do with it and you didn't look bloated," said Oliver unevenly. "I had this dream. A dream where we were together and you were having my baby and it was so real and I just woke up… confused… I guess."

She blinked. "Oh."

"But everything is really clear to me now," he rushed to assure her, keeping a tight hold of her hand. "It's like I came out of that toxic fog and could see things exactly as they were, as they always were but I'd been too blind or stubborn before to be really honest about it."

"That's great, Oliver," said Felicity emotionally. "I'm really happy for you. I can't imagine how horrible that whole ordeal must have been for you. I know how important control is to you. It must have been so hard to feel it slipping away from you."

"What was hard was coming out of that and knowing I'd put people's lives I really cared about in danger," said Oliver earnestly, keeping very direct eye contact with her. "I just want to make everything right again, Felicity and I haven't been able to do that with you so far away and now that you're home, I need to make sure you understand everything."

"I understand completely, Oliver." Suddenly she let go of his hand and was smiling at him brightly. "Like I said, you don't have to worry about me. Everything is going to go back to the way it was."

"No, that isn't—"

Felicity looked at her watch. "Boy, look at the time. I'd better get going. I'm going to be late." She gave a light little laugh. "I'm turning into you."

Oliver blinked, turned around by Felicity's sudden change in mood. He thought they were getting somewhere with their honest talk but now all Felicity seemed to want to do was leave. "Late for what?"

"I've got a date."

The roaring sound was back in Oliver's ears. "You've got a what?"

"Date," said Felicity easily, standing up.

Oliver scrambled to his feet, unable to believe what he'd just heard. "How can you have a date? You've only been back in town for five minutes."

"I met him on the plane last night," said Felicity blithely as she walked out into the corridor and down to her desk outside his office. "We got to talking and one thing led to another and then Tim invited me to try out that new French restaurant on the Northside with him."

"And you said yes?" asked Oliver in disbelief. How could this be happening? Oliver wasn't prepared for this at all.

Felicity collected her coat and handbag. "Sure, why not?" She shrugged. "He seemed like a nice guy."

"But you don't know anything about him," protested Oliver, watching her walk back around from behind her desk to come and stand in front of him.

"That's kind of the point of the date," said Felicity calmly. "To find out things about him."

Oliver was just stunned. He couldn't wrap his head around the fact Felicity was actually contemplating a date with another man after all that they'd been through. This was totally unacceptable.

Felicity gave him a very sweet smile. "Thank you for everything you've done for me and my mom, Oliver. You'll never know what that means to me." And then she was reaching out and hugging him.

Oliver lost the capacity for further speech the moment Felicity wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his. It was like Oliver was finally able to breathe again. He returned the hug, dropping his head down so that their cheeks were touching and time stood still. But he didn't want her gratitude. He wanted so much more from Felicity. Oliver finally found his voice. "I just want you to be happy, Felicity," he rasped, finding he was still reeling from her abrupt reappearance in his life.

"And I want the same for you, Oliver." She broke the hug and smiled up at him. "You should give Miranda a call and see if she's busy tonight. I know today must have been a drag for you. You deserve a little fun."

Oliver looked at her blankly. "Miranda?"

"You two looked like you were having a good time at the charity gala," said Felicity brightly, putting on her coat. "You should see if she's free for dinner tonight." She brushed her ponytail free of her coat. "Unless you've already made plans with her, of course."

Oliver didn't know what the hell Felicity was talking about. "Wh-what?"

"I saw you and her together on one of those celebrity gossip sites," said Felicity breezily. "You two looked good together." She strung her bag over her shoulder.

"No-no… it wasn't like that," stuttered Oliver, completely caught off by this turn of events. "We're not… I'm not—" but Felicity was already at the elevator.

She turned and gave him a little wave. "See you tomorrow and have fun." And then Felicity was gone.

Oliver just stood there, frozen to the spot and not understanding what the hell had just happened…

A/N: Okay, place your bets – who thinks Felicity's date is going to go smoothly? Who thinks there is a chance her date might find himself involved in an arrow-related incident? Who thinks Felicity is just bluffing about having a date altogether? Who thinks Oliver is going to ask Miranda out to prove a point? Who thinks baby hedgehogs are made when angels fart? All bets have to be made in Botswanan pulas – sorry for any inconvenience.