By the time Oliver arrived at Emma and Felicity's apartment, he had 4 missed calls; two from his mother, one from Thea and one from Tommy. He put his phone away as he knocked on the door.

Emma opened the door without even looking at who it was. She frowned upon seeing Oliver on the other side.

"If you've come here to tell me off or lecture me, spare me, I'm not in the mood"!

She was pissed off, hurt and sad. All the adrenaline had worn off and she was left with a bouquet of emotions and it was creating a firework inside of her, she wanted to explode.

Oliver looked at her. She was wearing a spaghetti strap black top and a pair of casual jeans. Even though he had seen her an hour earlier in that tight-fitting dress, this was how he preferred seeing her, just enough to show her beautiful curves and the leave the rest to be imagined.

As he said nothing, Emma simply shook her head and walked away.

He slowly walked in, he knew he was walking on egg shells. The territory was mined and he needed to be careful, but again when it came to her, he couldn't help but put his foot in his mouth.

"You could have gotten killed"!

She turned around in a flash and marched towards him with her palm open. Her palm hit his chest as she pushed him backwards toward the door.

"You think I don't know that? You really think I did this for fun? That I have some kind of death wish"?

She kept pushing him but he held on.

"Then why did you do it"?

"Because of you! Because everything these past months has been about you. How you trailed into my life and left a mark. How I can't spend one single day wondering what it would be like to be in your arms, if only you'd let your guard down. Because when I'm with you I feel complete. Because, if something had happened to you, if you had died, I WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN THE SAME, I WOULD BE LOST"!

She gave him another angry shove and this time he took a step back. Tears of anger and pain were strolling down her face. He gently took a step towards her and she turned her face away. He softly took her face in his hands and gently forced her to look at him.

"And I would have been lost if something had happened to you"! He suddenly felt a heavy weight float away from him. There,… she had succeeded. She had just managed to tear down the wall in its entirety. He was free, his heart was free, it was wide-open and ready. And he was going to embrace it.

She blinked a couple of times as he started talking again.

"Don't you understand? I needed for you to be safe, to be protected from those who would want to do me harm. The Arrow has a dark side, like I said that place is lonely and I want to preserve you from that".

She placed her hand over his, that was still laying on her cheek.

"I get that, I do, but I want you to know that I fell in love with Oliver Queen, not the Arrow".

He was startled by what she said. She had fallen in love with who he was, not what he was. To her being the Arrow didn't matter. She had come to save him, Oliver Queen, not the Arrow that night. She had been able to dissociate the two, what John or Felicity had never done. To them, Oliver and the Arrow were one. The Arrow was strong, determined, unbreakable, but she had seen the vulnerable, shattered and true man that he was. And that was who she was in love with, him, no one else but him just standing there in front of her.

"I don't want anyone to hurt you".

One last tear trickled down her face. "The only person who can hurt me Oliver…. Is you".

"I don't want to hurt you".

"Then don't".

He removed his hands from her face and her heart sank. In a heartbeat, he pulled her into his muscular arms and kissed her gently. She followed his lead and kissed him back. As their kiss got more and more intense, he backed up and without losing her touch, closed the door. He swept her up and took her into his arms as he led her to the bedroom.

Their lovemaking had been gentle and long as they discovered every inch of their bodies over and over again, until they fell asleep in each other's arms, where both felt they had always belonged!