"Let me take you home." Oliver stood in front of Felicity, holding out his hand, and she stood, with his assistance.

"You don't have to do that."

"I came here, looking for you," he said. She stood close to him and didn't pull her hand away. "I wanted to know how your first day back to the office went."

"It was okay," she replied as she started to put her shoe back on.

"You might not want to do that," he cautioned.

"Seems like I should get home before the numbness wears off," she replied, standing on her good foot and gingerly sliding her toes into the other shoe. Oliver steadied her with a hand at her waist.

"Let me drive you," he urged, again.

"I'll accept your help out to my car, but I can handle the drive. I promise to elevate, ice, and stay off it."

Oliver assisted her to the door and outside. Felicity couldn't feel much in the injured area of her foot, but she walked carefully, putting as little weight on it as possible to avoid disturbing the stitches. She drove, barefoot, back to her apartment and was unsurprised that Oliver had taken a shortcut and was waiting for her.

"Can you just not argue with me about this?" he asked, scooping her up into his arms when she hopped from the car to the curb. Felicity put her arms around his neck and held on while he walked to her door. He stood still while she took out her keys, unlocked the door and turned the knob. She had to hold it in the 'turned' position and wait for him to move forward in order to open the door. He kicked the door shut and looked at her. "Where too?" His face was an inch from hers and his gaze dropped to her mouth, briefly before moving back to her eyes.

"Bathroom," she said. "I think I'll take a bath."

"Need help?" he asked, and immediately tried to correct himself. "I mean, do you need me to get you anything, not bathe you."

"I'm usually the one who slips up," she said, smiling. He was close and he smelled so good. Without thinking, she tilted her chin and pressed her lips to his. He started to pull back and she turned her head away. "Sorry."

"Don't be, I was just surprised."

"Me too." When he reached the bathroom, he set her down on the edge of her bath tub.

"Hang on, I'll get you a towel." He was back quickly and brought her towel and her bathrobe. "Have you eaten?"

"No, I think I have leftovers in the fridge."

"I'll make you something while you clean up, so take your time." He turned in the doorway, "Holler if you need me."

She turned on the water and waited while the tub filled.

"Felicity?" She heard Oliver's voice at the door.

"Yeah?"

"You're out of…drinkable milk, I'm just going to run to the store."

"Thanks."

Felicity used a washcloth to scrub the orange sterile soap from the bottom of her foot, giving her injury a wide berth. Sensation had started to come back in the car and she checked under the bandage. The stitches looked neat and intact. After undressing, she managed to get herself into the bathtub and scrubbed at her skin. She thought about the kiss. Oliver was one of the people she cared most about and kissing him had seemed natural, but maybe she wasn't supposed to feel okay with him. She certainly had nightmares in which he was prominently featured.

After soaking for a while, Felicity scooted up onto the edge of the tub and dried herself off with the towel. She could hear noise coming from the kitchen and hobbled, putting her weight on her heel, out to check on his progress. Oliver looked up when she came around the corner. He smiled and pointed to a chair at the island.

"Smells good," she said.

"I grabbed a couple of chicken breasts so you can have leftovers."

"Or you could join me," she said. He paused and looked up. "So I won't feel like a lush when I open some wine."

"Yeah, okay," he said. "If that's what you want."

"I want you," she said nodding, and then added, "-to join me."

Oliver smiled at Felicity's slip, and too out a bottle of white wine from her refrigerator. He opened it and poured them each a glass. She popped a few aspirin to combat the pain she was starting to feel in her foot. He served them each a chicken breast and wrapped the third, placing it in the refrigerator. He served up Caesar salad and sliced pears. They sipped their wine, chatting a little about her work and she asked him to tell her about the piracy.

Oliver started his story about how the Starling City P.D. computer whiz had found the ring leader. Felicity cleared her throat, loudly.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said, coughing. I just had to clear my throat. He continued, punctuated by the occasional cough and had neared the part of the story that involved arrows when Felicity slapped her hand down on the counter. Oliver looked at her, closely and turned on the kitchen light. Her lips were swollen and her face was red. "Did you use my Caesar salad dressing?" she wheezed.

"It was moldy, I just picked up…" he trailed off when he saw her struggling for breath. "Oh, God. Nut allergy." He'd forgotten she was allergic to nuts. "Where's your Epi Pen?"

She pointed to the bathroom and he ran in, looking through her medicine cabinet. He found it and returned to the kitchen. She was on the floor, on hands and knees, gasping. Oliver took it out of the package and pulled the bottom of her bathrobe up and pressed it to her thigh. The auto injector made a snapping sound and she winced. He waited until it had finished and cupped her face, watching her. Her breathing lost the wheezing sound in less than a minute and she began looking normal shortly after that. He picked her up and carried her to the couch.

"I'm okay," she said, sitting up.

"I'm not," he said, aggravated. "I damned near killed you and then had a heart attack." He ran a hand over his short hair. "I can't seem to avoid hurting you." He looked genuinely distressed and Felicity wanted to reach out to him. "I should just go."

"Wait!" she said, swinging her legs around and standing up, quickly. She let out a little noise when she put weight on her recently stitched foot. Oliver reached for her arm to steady her and she gripped his hand. "Oliver, I really need you to stay." She blurted it out quickly and saw the confusion and pain etched in the strong lines of his profile when he turned away. "I need you." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "We need each other."

"I'm sorry," he said, turning and leaving through the front door. Felicity hobbled back to the kitchen and threw away the remains of her dinner. She ordered another auto-injector from her pharmacy's phone menu, washed the dishes carefully, while wearing gloves, and took her wine glass back to the living room. In spite of her hunger, she didn't make herself anything else and decided to finish the bottle of wine. She hadn't needed an epinephrine injection in a long time, it gave her a jittery, nervous feeling.

After finishing the bottle, and two servings of vodka on the rocks, Felicity drifted off on her couch. Around two in the morning, she felt a hand shake her gently awake. The kitchen light was still on and she'd fallen asleep while wearing her glasses. She looked up at Oliver who leaned over her.

"Come on," he said, lifting her into his arms. He brought her to the bathroom and steadied her while she brushed her teeth. He brought her to her bed and left, returning with a glass of water. He waited while she drank it and then patiently brought her back to the bathroom to use the facilities. He got her pajamas and turned around while she changed.

"You've seen me naked," she said, glumly. "I haven't changed since then."

"I just didn't want you to be uncomfortable around me."

"I don't want you to be uncomfortable with me, either." Felicity shuffled around and managed to get herself under her blankets. "Oliver, there are some things I'm trying to work out," she said. Her head ached already, despite the water he'd given her. "You're the only person around here who has any idea how awful I feel."

"You?" He turned around and looked at her. "Why do you feel awful?" He sat on the edge of her bed. "You did everything possible to stop Merlyn. And me."

"That's just it, Oliver, I didn't fight or really try to get away until things almost went too far."

"Almost?" he said softly. "It didn't seem 'Almost' to me."

"We could go into legal definitions, state-by-state, and then the federal level. But I'm going with my perception of events. I'm not a victim. Merlyn tried, by using your body, but he failed because you heard me, you listened, you...cared. Your subconscious mind didn't want to hurt me, no matter what you were feeling." She took off her glasses and set them down on the table beside her bed. "Oliver, I wasn't a victim in that room. I was saved."

"So why the sudden interest in vodka?"

"Do you still dream about the fall?" He felt the weight of her question. "You were saved from dying. Do you still dream about coming close?"

"I don't think I was saved," he said, quietly. "When I dream, I remember the blackness after the fall. I remember the ending of my suffering and making a decision to return to the noise and pain. I remember hearing a voice and pulling myself towards it. It seemed to go on for so long but I opened my eyes and it felt strange to have a body. Especially one as battered as mine."

"A voice?"

"You. I heard your voice in my head and I came back. I don't know if it was a coma from the cold, or shock, or something else. I didn't feel like myself right away," he said, leaning forward and placing a hand on her blanket-covered knee. "I felt like all of me hadn't come back, I didn't feel as human as I had before."

"You didn't feel human?"

"I couldn't figure out if I felt differently or if I just didn't remember what being alive was before the fall." He held her gaze, steadily now. "Not until the night we spent together." He watched her expression, eventually the side of her mouth quirked.

"Kinda makes 'You complete me' sound a bit light."

Oliver laughed softly and Felicity did too.

"You're right," he said, running a hand over her hair. "We do need each other."

"Staying celibate just means Merlyn wins," she said, flippantly. She saw his eyes snap back to hers. "I wasn't implying that I was planning anything tonight," she added. "You're virtue is safe, at least until my body sorts itself out and goes back to its normally scheduled events." He looked a little distressed so she reassured him. "I'm not pregnant, I'm just being cautious. I do want to work my way back to being Felicity the computer genius, not that girl who was attacked."

"I'm sorry if I treated you that way."

"I can't tell you how you should feel about your experience, Oliver." She placed her hand on top of his. "I'm not going to label anything that happened to you. And just because we were…involved before all of this, doesn't mean you have to pick up where we left off. I don't mean to assume that you'll just be hanging around waiting for me-"

Oliver cut off her words by leaning forward and kissing her. His mouth was warm and soft. He applied only a little pressure but Felicity felt the shiver start from her lips and move throughout her whole body. When he pulled back, he looked at her and smiled.

"No matter what else I'm doing, I'm always waiting for you to reach out." He kissed her forehead and picked up the blanket from the edge of her bed. "I'll be on the couch if you need me."