Oliver caught the Princess before she hit the floor and cradled her in his arms only for a moment before he was rudely pushed aside by Slade "Darling? Felicity open your eyes" Slade tried to sound concerned for his wife but Oliver knew better; that this was all for show. Slade ordered a glass of water for the Princess when her eyes fluttered open "here, drink" he said and forced the glass to her lips where she coughed and spluttered on the water
"I'm fine" Felicity sat up and pushed the water and Slade away "I'm fine really, just a little light headed is all"
"You should eat something, Felicity" Oliver said kindly and watched as Slade snapped his head in his direction and snarled
"I'll decide what's good for my wife!"
"Slade!" Felicity took a deep breath and got to her feet "some food would be a good idea, please move" she took a step over to the table again and took a mini quiche between her fingers and put the whole thing in her mouth. Feeling that all the excitement was over, the crowd of people moved away to enjoy the rest of the gala.
Oliver is actually here! Felicity felt the familiar butterflies in her stomach she usually got in his presence and smiled to herself as she ate another quiche despite Slade watching her as he talked to guests. A loving husband would have made sure she was alright, not left her side at all even for a moment…she knew Slade wasn't a loving husband already. Oliver on the other hand was watching her as well but with true concern and love for her. Her heart warmed and felt more alive than she had in days.
Queen Donna came over to her daughter and hugged her tightly asking if she was alright over and over again, asking if she wanted to sit down or have something bigger to eat than just a mini quiche. Felicity let her mother faun over her all the while sneaking glances at Oliver. The Princess silently thanked the Prince but wished she could say more to him without Slade watching.
Queen Donna and the Princess were called to the stage when it was time for their speeches, everyone clapped except for a few of the 'common' people, Felicity took note of them as she took her place at centre of the stage "Ladies and gentlemen! I would like to start by saying thank you for coming and sharing this night with me and my mother" her warm smile faded ever so slightly when she caught sight of Slade giving her a 'look' and corrected herself "and…my loving husband as well. Thank you all for the donations you have made, all of which is going towards those families who have been most effected by the water crisis" applause broke out as Felicity thanked them again and turned to hug her mother and was surprised to see that over her mother shoulder there wasn't Slade walking up to the podium but Oliver.
Felicity and Donna stepped aside clearly confused at what Oliver was doing and noticed when a gentle hush fell over the crowd "Ladies and gentlemen, many of you know me as Prince Oliver of Starling" few people in the crowd nodded while others rolled their eyes disinterested "and I consider Starling and Arkham to be allies, regardless of current events that have taken place" Oliver caught Slade sneering at him and gave a small triumphant smile letting his eyes leave him and settling on Felicity once again "when I found out about the water situation here my heart broke. Arkham has been in trouble before and Starling readily helped then and now, Starling is going to help again. I have arranged for Starling to share our very own water supply with you all until this matter will be resolved" thundering applause took over and Oliver had to shout the last bit of his sentence "I will help you and get to the bottom of this even if it kills me! We're in this together Arkham!"
Felicity couldn't help herself, when Oliver was done talking she raced forward and hugged him tightly, letting fresh tears fall down her face and onto his suit. Oliver held her tightly before quickly and reluctantly letting go "I'm here for you" he whispered into her ear
"I don't know what to say" Felicity wiped away a tear "Oliver I…"
"Yes, yes Darling I think we're all a little speechless at the Princes offer" Slade had appeared next to Queen Donna and was slowly and deliberately clapping his hands "however it is a little unnecessary, don't you think?"
"Unnecessary? I think it's very necessary in these times Slade" Queen Donna said strongly "we need all the help we can get"
"And we will get help Your Majesty" Slade stared at Oliver as he spoke in an annoyed tone about the Prince "from our other allies"
"Well until they can find the time to pitch in why don't we take Oliver up on his offer, we're allies after all and he's here to help" Felicity said boldly and Oliver noticed a tiny flinch from her as Slade reached for her hand and led her away asking to speak in private.
"What is your problem!?" Felicity asked when they were finally away from her guests "Oliver is our ally and if we need him he's going to be here!"
"He was our ally - WAS - and we have others now who can help us. I can't believe that you invited him here!" Slade roared "you're lucky I don't throw him out!"
"We have been in this crisis for ages now and Starling is the only ally that has come forward and offered to help us! Where are these other allies you keep talking about?!" Felicity waited for Slade to yell again, to say that she was stupid and that she had no idea what she was talking about. His voice never came. His open palm did.
Without even batting an eyelash Slade struck Felicity across the face. The slap silenced her before Slade's hand cruelly took hold of her chin and forced her to look at him.
Oliver watched as Slade took Felicity and led her away, everything about Slade screamed possessive and angry, it was the way he held Felicity's wrist in a vice like grip, his eyes and voice that set Oliver on edge. He followed them with Diggle close behind.
Outside the door Oliver couldn't hear much, muffled voices talking about help and allies and then, much to Oliver's horror, the unmistakable sound of a blow. Oliver's blood boiled and every nerve in his body told him to break down the door and kill Slade, it was only when he felt Diggle's hand on his arm that Oliver snapped out of it and realised that he was about to kick down the door.
"I know man, I know" Diggle looked like he was barely containing his own anger as he tried to calm Oliver "there's nothing you can do now"
"I said I would protect her!" Oliver screwed up his hands into fists as Diggle guided him away
"The Arrow said that, Oliver"
"The Arrow and I said that to her and if I can't keep that promise then what am I doing?" Oliver growled as they made their way back to the gala "I'll handle this tonight" he plastered a fake smile on his face as his mother finally caught him "Mother" he hugged her briefly as she kissed his cheek
"Darling, I did say not to do that" Queen Moira looked around at the people eating, drinking and talking "well, what's done is done now" she admitted defeat "I can't tell you how to run your life, let's see how the papers take this"
"Yes, mother. It's done now and we're going to help Arkham, starting now" Oliver said sternly before pulling out his phone and dialling a number from Starling and began a long conversation.
Slade looked into Felicity's eyes as he held her firmly in place "You will listen to me and be a good little wife or your mother will get sick again, is that what you want?"
Felicity's eyes flashed with new determination, felt a fire glow and then burst throughout her entire body as she pushed Slade away roughly "You have hurt my kingdom, turned my people against me and threatened my mothertwice now!" she couldn't stop herself as her voice grew louder "you don't scare me anymore!"
Felicity stormed out of the room and quickly found a waiter and guzzled a whole glass of champagne while looking for Oliver, who was on the phone and walked to him, grabbing another glass of champagne without taking her eyes off of him.
Oliver was stunned when Felicity grabbed his phone with her free hand, skulled her glass whilst hanging up on who he was talking to and, while batting her eyelashes at him, asked him to dance. Oliver knew that Felicity being in this state wasn't the greatest thing, what with her near empty stomach and all, and she wasn't in her right mind to make good decisions. She was hurt, drunk and vulnerable. One side of his mind told him to stop her, take her away from the party and protect her while the other half knew that when they danced, their bodies would be touching and she would be smiling. Hating himself, but only slightly, Oliver took her outstretched hand as she led him to the floor.
Thankfully the music was soft and didn't require any fast moves as Oliver took the Princess in his arms as they began to sway. Oliver could see the flashes from the cameras taking their pictures were being taken but he didn't care right now, all that mattered was Felicity.
"Oliver, thank you so much for your speech and helping my kingdom even though I…have Slade" Felicity held Oliver a little tighter as they swayed
"We're allies Felicity, we're here for each other" Oliver smiled at her kindly even though her eyes were bloodshot with tears "if you need me for anything you can call me"
"And I can call The Arrow too!" Felicity said excitedly "did you know he was here while you were in Paris?"
Oliver exhaled slowly concealing his mild anger "I read something about that while I was gone, yes I remember now"
"I umm…I saw the pictures" Felicity said sadly "you looked like you were…fine"
"Felicity" Oliver discreetly rolled his eyes "can we…not talk about this here? Please?"
"The Arrow was here while you were gone. He took care of a few things while you were in Paris"
Seeing that Felicity wasn't going to let up, Oliver sighed before leading her away from the dance floor and down a hall to an empty room. Oliver led Felicity over to the window seat and sat her down, watching with annoyance as she swayed clearly having drunk more than her fair share of alcohol on an empty stomach. Oliver hated seeing her like this and hated knowing that he was the cause. Slade was hurting her and her kingdom and only The Arrow could properly do anything about it.
"Did you have fun with them?" Felicity's voice broke through his thoughts and Oliver looked down at her, Felicity looked even more broken than before if that were even possible "I saw the girls, they were pretty"
"Felicity…there's something I –"
Felicity quickly cut him off, her pain fuelling her words "Because I was here, home and I got married. I'm happily married!"
"I know and I don't want that to come between us" Oliver took her hand as she continued on as if he hadn't said anything
"Slade is the perfect husband! He is kind, caring, considerate and such a gentle lover!" the sarcasm was pouring out now "he is totally involved in my plans to help my kingdom"
"Felicity why don't we talk about something –"
"And those girls you were with…so happy for you by the way…and The Arrow…The Arrow was here, he saved me time and time again you know!" Felicity pointed accusingly at Oliver now "and you were having fun in Paris! So much fun! While The Arrow…and I…" a strangled sob escaped her throat "we…"
Oliver listened intently and leaned forward to hear more gesturing her to go on
"Oliver I…I haven't been the best wife. Slade isn't who he makes out to be and I'm so miserable" tears fell from her eyes now "and you were so happy being away in Paris with model after leggy model! And The Arrow, he was here for me, he helped me and showed me what a man should be! I…I love him and I still love you and I hate my husband!"
Oliver wrapped his arms around her as she started really sobbing; everything she had been through came to the surface. He had to pretend he was hearing it for the first time as he rubbed her back as she talked and cried for ages into the night; the gala and all the guests completely forgotten. It was only them right now.
Felicity started to talk about The Arrow and all the work he had done for Arkham, how he had been there for her when she needed him and when she found the pictures of Oliver in Paris, she had run to him.
"The Arrow…he…he and I slept together. I cheated on my husband! I'm so confused! Oliver I…I can't do this anymore! I'm done!" she flailed her hands about so wildly that Oliver had no choice but to catch them and pin them to his chest as she became more and more distressed "The Arrow is gone back to Starling, I'm married and alone and I can't be happy!"
"Yes you can!" Oliver said determinedly and made her look at him in the eyes "you deserve to be happy and I'm sorry I was in Paris, I'm sorry that you have had to go through this but did you know I'm happy The Arrow was there for you! You needed comfort from someone you loved and I'm happy it was with him"
Felicity felt love slowly melt into her as she listened to Oliver speak only thr truth.
"The Arrow will be there for you and so will I, I'll help you as much as I can and I'll protect you from Slade because I love you, Felicity" Oliver smiled to himself as he looked up after finally having said it as Oliver and not as The Arrow. He felt giddy and excited, he said it again "I love you Felicity. I love you so much! I'm here for you and my heart is yours" he looked down after his confession expecting to see Felicity smiling, crying with joy? Anything. What he saw though was his Princess leaning against the window seat completely passed out.
Oliver smiled and took off his jacket and covered her with it and, in a moment of sheer boldness, leant forward and ghosted his lips over hers "I'm The Arrow" he whispered "I love you" before kissing her sweetly.
Oliver jumped when he felt Felicity mold her lips to his and kiss him back.
A/N: OH MY GOD! I LOVE THIS CHAPTER! Oliver FINALLY told Felicity! *screaming*
let me know what you guys think!