I know it's been a while since I posted a new chapter in this story. But I got a prompt from Scotsfangirl, asking me to write one based on one of her favorite songs. So, here's my rendition of 'message to my girl' by Spit Enz.

Scotsfangirl, this is my take, I hope it lives up to your expectations.

Oliver had never been one to care much about feelings that were not his own. When he was younger - before the island - the only feeling he was interested in was the one he felt in his loins. He didn't really care about the feelings of others, especially when they revolved around thins like commitment and fidelity and god forbid love.

On the island he learned to care, for other people other than himself. And it had only led to heartbreak and bloodshed. So he kept his emotions close to him again. Because it was a weakness other people would take advantage of. It were feelings that got people killed.

After he came back, he tried to keep everybody at bay. Because if he allowed himself to feel for people again, he would get them hurt, and eventually killed. It was what he had learned on the island, and what he knew to be true.

But slowly, people chipped away his resolve. His baby sister, so conflicted and in need of guidance and love. His mother, needing support and understanding, even when the things she did were to awful to deserve them. Laurel, who needed closure and apologies for Sara, who needed to see he had changed.

But he didn't want love in his life, although now it was for very different reasons than it was before the island. That's why he had started something with Helena, McKenna and even Sara. He didn't really love them in the way they deserved. They were just alike in some ways, and that had made it easier to handle the pain.

But if he was completely honest with himself, he did love. His sister and mother of course, because they were his family, the only he had left. Even Laurel and Sara, as childhood friends. He had loved Tommy. And again the island rules had come to bite him in the ass. He really loved Tommy, his brother in all the ways that mattered, and he had died. Just like Yao Fei. Just like Shado. Just like the friend he had in Slade.

But the love that scared him the most. Would cause him the most pain if he lost it, was neither of those people. It was the shining star that was Felicity. His girl Wednesday. He had tried time and time again to push her away. Sometimes literally, most times figuratively. If he lost her, he would lose all the light that he found. Because nobody could deny the light Felicity brought into the lives of the people around her.

It was better to stay detached and aloof. Sometimes even breaking her heart, even though it broke his as well. Because of the life I lead, I just think it's better not to be with somebody I could really care about. He'd felt like the world's biggest asshole when he said that, seeing he hurt he put on her clearly in those blue eyes. But it was for the best. Because love killed, and he would be damned if he let his love for her be the thing that killed her.

There are times though, especially when they are in the foundry together, Digg nowhere in sight that he can't keep the want at bay. Because he wanted her, with all his being. Times he wants to whisper in her ear, just how much she means to him, how much he wants her. But he doesn't. He just punches the dummies some more, until his hands hurt as much as his heart. Because at least then, he had other pain to focus on.

He didn't know when it had changed. Was it after Sara had taken off. Before Roy went all super-crazy on them. Or maybe in the aftermath of the mess Slade and Isabel had left him, and his family. Whatever it might have been, Oliver had lost his will to fight. Felicity made him better, and it was time he allowed her to. Time he shook off the grip the island still had on him. Love was not the thing that killed. It was the excuse some people used to justify killing. And that, he came to understand, was an enormous difference.

It was time he told her how he felt, because she deserved it. And he finally believed he deserved it to.

She didn't believe him at first. Wouldn't allow herself to believe it. She'd dreamt of the moment for so long. He'd said it every day for a week, before she decided to maybe believe him. But she had made him work for it. You can't just ignore somebody's feelings for the better part of two years and then expect it to be all forgotten when you finally say 'I love you'. Out of the blue. While on mission. That was just not the way the cookie crumbled.

She had allowed him to take her on a date. And when that went well, and she noticed he was serious about them. He was really trying. They started slow, both trying to figure out how they fit together as more than friends. Making the conscious decision to keep what was happening between themselves, until they figured it out. Whatever it was.

He still couldn't believe he got to wake up with her every morning. Her head on his chest and his arms wrapped around her waist. She'd gotten him to sleep, really sleep. If she was with him, there was no reason to be worried or panicked, because his most important, most valuable asset, was right there with him, in bed. In their bed.

He tried to show her every day how much she meant to him. And the day they came out as a couple was wonderful. He could share his love with the world. Even though he was scared to death, because Oliver Queen himself had almost as much enemies as 'Green Arrow' did.

And when he finally really made her his, he'd told her that even though he was terrified of what the future would bring, he would never ever take those words back. They needed to be heard, because they were the only truth that really mattered.

He ended his vows with the words he'd always said to her. At first purely as IT, then as a friend, but really always as his soulmate.

I hid my feelings so long, buried my head in the sand. Ignoring what was so clear in front of me. There is nothing I need more than your eyes, your hands, and your love. And this is my message to you, and the rest of the world. You will always be my girl.

You know the drill, I live for the comments you drop down below.
And please, if you have an idea for a story, a song you love PM me and let me know, because, you all know by now I aim to please!

Love, Ellen