Thank you so much for the reviews, favs and follows so far! Every time I get a little email notification from ff it makes my day so much better. This chapter is a little shorter than the other two and not as free of conflict... but I hope you enjoy it anyway! I leave you with a cliff-hanger but I promise, don't worry tooooo much about it ;) I hope to get the next chapter up this weekend as I've already started writing it but please bear with me; inspiration is hit and miss with me and that's why I never make any promises to upload. Please feel free to leave a review if you want to! xo Lauren. PS. ONE WEEK UNTIL THE NEW SEASON?! WHO ELSE IS ALSO VERY VERY EXCITED?

"Home, sweet home,"

Dropping their bags on the floor in the foyer, Oliver and Felicity let themselves into their new home, one they'd purchased together before they left for their vacation but had not really had the time to actually live in yet.

"I had Thea and your mom unpack a few things whilst we were away... surprise," Oliver continued, noticing the confused and shocked expression on Felicity's face as she took in her surroundings.

"Unpack a few things? It looks like they've done a little more than that, Oliver," Felicity laughed, gesturing first to the freshly painted staircase and then to the framed photographs on the walls that neither she or Oliver had even thought about printing in the few days before their vacation. They didn't have many pictures together at all yet, so most of the photographs were family ones, and then just one of Oliver and Felicity, one Oliver had sent to Thea of the two of them with their arms around in each other, soaking wet and hysterical with laughter after a failed attempt at surfing lessons on the first week of their trip.

"Okay, I may have given them slightly more detailed instructions of what to do whilst we're away," Oliver replied sheepishly, "I just wanted everything to be perfect when we got home, that's all,"

Felicity gave Oliver's chest a mini punch.

"You are honestly the most adorable person I've ever met," she teased.

"I try my best,"

"You don't. And that's what makes you even more adorable,"

"Shut up," Oliver laughed.

"Wait. Oh my gosh, is Oliver Queen blushing?"

"I hate you so much,"

"He is! Oliver Queen IS blushing! The geeky blonde strikes again!"

"Felicity... remember how ticklish a certain part of your body is?"

"Tickle me all you want, you're still adorable and you still blushed so I still win," Felicity giggled, a triumphant smile on her face.

"Okay, fine, you win. I'm adorable,"

"And you blushed,"

"I did not blush,"

Felicity shrugged her shoulders and gave Oliver a 'sure, whatever' look. Tying her hair up in her trademark ponytail she leaned down to pick up her suitcase.

"I guess these suitcases are the only unpacking we have to do then?" she smiled.

"Yes. Besides, we have other important things to sort out anyway," Oliver added.

"Like?"

"Like deciding which side of the bed is mine and which is yours,"

"Oooh, the serious stuff,"

Oliver chuckled and picked his own suitcase up, then followed Felicity upstairs to their bedroom.

"Okay, how are we going to do this?"

Oliver and Felicity stood at the end of their bed, eyeing up each side for the pros and cons.

"Well an arm wrestle is out of the question I think because as much as I've always wondered what it would be like to be left handed, I prefer to keep my options open. In fact, on second thought, any kind of physical challenge is out of the question I think,"

"That's a fair point. Although I'm sure there's one physical activity you don't oppose to that I'm sure we could form a challenge out of," Oliver smirked, raising his eyebrow suggestively.

Felicity rolled her eyes.

"You're setting yourself up to fail, pretty boy,"

"Try me,"

"Are you serious? Because if you are, you can wipe that arrogant smile off of your face and get down on your knees to surrender,"

"I was hoping you'd be the one on your knees," Oliver grinned.

"Okay, I set myself up for that one," Felicity laughed, rolling her eyes again.

"Seriously though, name your challenge,"

Felicity thought for a moment.

"Oliver, as much as I'd like to have a battle of wills with you until you give up and can't help but let me win, considering how high the stakes are, I think I'll leave any nakedness out of this. Just because it wouldn't be fair on you, of course," Felicity smiled sweetly, "Because you'd definitely lose..." she added quietly, confidently clicking her tongue.

"Okay so if no nakedness and no physical exertion are your conditions then my conditions are no words with more than 4 syllables and absolutely no computers," Oliver laughed.

"Close your eyes and count to ten. I'm going to hide and if you find me in five minutes then you win. If you don't, I win,"

"You're challenging me to hide and seek?"

"I'm very good at hide and seek,"

There wasn't a hint of humour on Felicity's face, and her deadpan expression was one of the cutest things Oliver had ever seen. Chuckling as he closed his eyes, Oliver began to count and Felicity's giddy squeak as she ran out of the bedroom practically made him weak at the knees. Considering the little amount of time they'd spent in their house thus far, Oliver knew Felicity had a good chance of winning and as competitive as he was, he was glad for that; he was going to let her win anyway, no matter how they ultimately challenged each other. Realising he was still standing in the bedroom with a goofy smile on his face, having stopped counting the second Felicity left the room because he was too immersed in how darling she was, Oliver decided ten seconds was well over and called,

"Ready or not, here I come!"

Standing in the doorway of the bedroom, he held his breath and listened intently, hoping to hear even the slightest sound that would give him an inclination as to where Felicity was hiding. Hearing nothing but silence, Oliver exited the room and headed across the hall.

Felicity had just crammed herself into a corner of the dining room behind a large indoor plant when she heard Oliver yell the six words every child knows. Giggling softly to herself at how precious he sounded, Felicity tucked herself into a smaller ball and closed her eyes; it was an automatic response whenever she had to hide and be quiet, as though closing her eyes made her invisible, and she'd done it ever since she was a child. She was giddy with excitement at their silly game and it filled her with utter delight to see Oliver smiling at her with such a sincere and childish grin when she'd suggested it. Oliver perpetually had his guard up, and besides Thea who knew her brother inside out, it seemed Felicity was the only one he trusted enough to let it down for the majority of the time they were together. Being out with Oliver and seeing how easily he could intimidate people was almost humorous to Felicity because the Oliver she knew was one of the warmest and sweetest people she'd ever known. Whilst it would probably unnerve even the most fearless of person to know the true volume and nature of Oliver's past, Felicity felt strangely comforted by it; she knew he could and would always protect her, no matter what that meant. Of course, she never forgot how strong and powerful he was and the things he had done over the last three years as The Arrow would terrify her if she let herself think about them for too long, but deep down, everything Oliver did, she knew he did for the greater good and that same goodness was the epitome of his being. Besides, for every person The Arrow had hurt or even killed, he'd saved hundreds, maybe thousands more, and Felicity was one of those people in fact; he'd saved her physically and otherwise on many occasions and she knew he always would.

Felicity interrupted her own internal monologue and took out her phone to check the time. It had been over 10 minutes now since Oliver set off to look for her and her butt was becoming uncomfortably numb on the hardwood floor. She had a feeling Oliver was letting her win; there was no way someone who hunted criminals all over the city on a daily basis wouldn't have found her yet. She was annoyed, only because her initial idea was to let him win anyway. Peeking out from behind the plant, Felicity looked around for any signs that Oliver was, or had been, near. Seeing and sensing nothing she leaned back against the wall again, shuffling slightly to find a more comfortable position. Her grumbling stomach disrupted the silence and Felicity realised she hadn't eaten since breakfast that morning before boarding the plane home. Guessing Oliver could leave her at least another 15 minutes before he "found" her, Felicity smiled as an idea popped into her head.

Oliver had searched the entire of the upstairs of the house, minus the attic because there's no way Felicity could have climbed up there in the little time she had. It was silly but it left Oliver on edge not knowing where she was, even if they were just playing a game, because as safe as he'd made sure the house was when they'd purchased it, they hadn't lived there long enough for him to be one hundred percent sure. While Felicity was the smartest woman he'd ever met, she also had a way of getting herself into trouble without realising and although he'd been helping her learn a few methods of self defense, he still worried about her. Especially since their relationship had gone public and most of the world knew Felicity Smoak was Oliver Queen's everything; it made her perfect bait for anyone who happened to know Oliver's hidden identity. No matter what was going on in Oliver's life, he would do anything to protect her and it put him in a very vulnerable position sometimes, but it was a position he simply couldn't avoid. Not counting his sister, Felicity was the only person in the world he simply couldn't bear to lose. Just thinking about something bad happening to her made Oliver's heart race and he was about to dash downstairs calling her name when a knock on the front door startled him and made the hair on the back of his neck raise. Anxiety and adrenaline surged through his body as he crept down the stairs, taking them two at a time but making barely any sound. Every muscle in his body was tensed as he reached the door and peering through the peephole, Oliver was surprised to see a young looking boy in a red and blue uniform holding two square boxes standing on the doorstep. Cautiously, Oliver opened the door halfway.

"Good evening, sir. I have two, large double cheese pizzas for Miss Felicity Smoak?"

"I don't think we ordered pizza... who sent you?" Oliver snapped, still suspicious and completely on guard. The fake pizza delivery was the oldest trick in the book in his eyes.

"Um... I'm from Piquant Pizza, sir. It's a few blocks away. We specialise in serving high quality pizzas in-" the delivery boy stuttered an explanation but was cut off before he could finish.

"Bullshit! I asked you who sent you!" Oliver growled, taking a step towards the boy.

"Hi, sorry, the pizza is mine!"

Felicity was suddenly in front of Oliver, smiling apologetically at the delivery boy.

"Felicity?!" Oliver tried to take her hand and pull her back but Felicity snatched it away.

"Oliver, it's fine! I got hungry whilst I was hiding from you and- wait!" she turned quickly back to the delivery boy, "That really isn't what it sounds like, we were just playing hide and seek because we were trying to decide who gets to sleep on which side of the bed and- we just moved in and to settle the debate of who gets which side we decided to play hide and seek and- Okay I'm babbling and I am going to stop in 3, 2, 1... hi, I'm Felicity Smoak and I've ordered pizza from you, please ignore my boyfriend's anxiety, he's a really lovely person usually, I promise,"

Felicity handed over two $20 bills and took the pizzas from an equally terrified and confused looking delivery boy. Taking Oliver's hand, she smiled reassuringly at him.

"Keep the change, and you have yourself a wonderful night," she added before dragging Oliver back into the house and closing the door behind them.

"Felicity, what the hell was that?!" Oliver whispered angrily, not sure if the delivery boy had left yet.

"I ordered pizza, Oliver! You were taking forever to find me so I ordered pizza! I was hungry! So I ordered pizza!" Felicity yelled back, heading stormily towards the kitchen.

"You can't just do that!"

"Do what?! Order pizza to my own house?! Well if that's the case then I think I'll just move back into my apartment, thank you very much,"

"Felicity, you don't unders-"

"No, Oliver, don't you dare tell me that I don't understand. I do understand, okay? I know it's a dangerous world out there and I should be terrified of everything just because you are but I'm sorry, I refuse to live my life that way! You always told me not to let anything get in the way of being happy, so forgive me for wanting to live somewhat normally and order a godforsaken pizza every now and then!"

"I just want to protect you," Oliver replied, now more heartbroken than angry seeing how upset Felicity was getting.

"I know, and I love you for it. But you can't freak out whenever anyone comes near me because if nothing else, that's one way to gain yourself a lot of enemies, and I'm not sure you need anymore. And it's also one way to make me hate you; I've come this far in life completely on my own and I know I would rather learn how to do that all over again than be stuck in a relationship with someone who always wants me in their sight. I'm sorry, Oliver, I know life hasn't been easy for you and it's messed you up big time and I wish more than anything that I could take that away from you, but the way you're acting right now is neither cute nor acceptable. It's simply too much and if I'm honest, you're scaring me a little. So if you don't mind I need to not be here right now and I'm going to go upstairs and run a bubble bath and eat my pizza whilst watching reruns of Sex and the City. Don't worry, I'll check that the windows and doors are locked before I get in and put myself in any unnecessary danger," Felicity snapped sarcastically, charging past Oliver towards the stairs.

Oliver started to call after her but quickly decided against it; he'd only make things worse.

Frustrated with no one but himself, Oliver headed downstairs to the basement to work out, slamming the door loudly as he did so.