Oliver watched as Felicity walked out the door with Diggle behind her. He wanted to go after her so bad, but he knew she needed time. She didn't understand how important he was to her and what she did, protecting him before herself, really hit home with him. She was willing to give her life up for him and no woman had ever been willing to do that.

After an intense workout with the training dummy, Oliver decided to call it a night. He took the long way home to check on Felicity at her apartment. He had to know she was safe.

He climbed the fire escape to her apartment and made sure he wasn't visible as he looked inside. He saw her coming out of her bathroom and his jaw hit the floor. She was in a white robe that went to her mid-thigh and the sight of her made his pants tighter.

He watched as she got into her bed and immediately fell asleep. He smiled at how beautiful she was. He just stood there and watched her for a few more minutes before going home.

Oliver pulled up to his house twenty minutes later more confused than ever. His feelings for Felicity were growing and they terrified him. He'd already put her in danger more times than he would like and he knew the more people who knew how he felt about her, the more danger she would be in.

Just like that, he knew what he had to do.

Oliver woke up the next morning feeling like absolute crap. He had made his decision last night about Felicity, but going through with it was a different story. Deep down, he knew he was making the right decision, but he also knew it was going to hurt like hell. It didn't matter though. He had to keep her safe, no matter what.

When he got to the office an hour later, he prepared himself for what was about to happen. The elevator dinged on his floor and he froze in place. Could he really do this? He took a deep breath and stepped out of the elevator. He immediately saw Felicity at her desk. She looked stunning, as always, and it took all he had to not turn around and go straight home.

She moved her eyes to look at him as he was walking toward her and he could see she was still hurting from their fight last night. She didn't smile at him, and that made what he was about to do even harder. He would miss that smile.

"Good morning, Ms. Smoak." Oliver said, not chancing looking right at her. He knew if he did, he would stop and apologize. He had no control when it came to her.

He could visibly see the disappointment in her eyes for half a second before she replied with a curt, "Mr. Queen."

He walked into his office and reminded himself, as he would often throughout the day, that he was doing the right thing. Every time she came into his office and only talked about company related topics, he wanted to apologize. When he saw her leave for lunch without telling him, he almost ran after her. When she left at the end of the day, he almost called for her and begged for forgiveness. But he knew this is what had to be done. He knew this was the only way to keep her safe.

Oliver didn't go to the foundry that night, or the rest of the week. He couldn't handle seeing Felicity seemingly unaffected by what had happened between them. While they were at work, she avoided him. In meetings, she sat as far away from him as she could get. It broke his heart every single time, but he reminded himself it was the right thing to do. They were pushing each other away, but at least she was safe.

It was Saturday afternoon and Oliver was at home, trying to clean up. While he had managed to save Queen Consolidated, he had sold the mansion because it was too much for just him. With Thea gone and his mother dead, he downgraded to a small one bedroom apartment. It was just enough for him and he enjoyed being able to call it his.

He was in the middle of doing the dishes when he heard a knock on the door. He was immediately alert, because the only people who know where he lived were Diggle and Felicity. Since Felicity wasn't talking to him, he knew it couldn't be her. That only left Diggle, so that worried Oliver. Had something happened to Felicity?

Oliver opened the door and found his "bodyguard" leaning against the door frame. He looked pissed and Oliver recoiled at the look on his face.

Diggle walked right past him and went to the living room. He sat on the couch and motioned for Oliver to join him. Oliver made himself comfortable in the chair across from Diggle and waited. He knew when Diggle had something to say.

"Oliver, what is going on with you and Felicity? You haven't been to the foundry all week. Every time I ask Felicity what's going on, she just shrugs like she doesn't know. The Felicity I know would never be impassive when it came to you, so I know something is going on."

Oliver opened his mouth to deny it when Diggle put his hand up and said, "Don't even attempt to deny it. I'm no idiot and if you lie, I'll know. So make this easier on all of us and come out with it."

Oliver took a deep breath and told Diggle everything. He told him they hadn't really talked in almost a week unless it was about QC. He told him about his decision to push her away to keep her safe. And, he told him he loved her. Oliver expected Diggle to have a surprised look on his face or something, but he didn't. Diggle simply remained quiet as Oliver came clean.

When Oliver finished, Diggle looked at him and said, "Are you kidding me, man? You're just now realizing you love her? Give me a break! Anyone with two eyes could see you two love each other!"

To say Oliver was shocked at what Diggle had said would be an understatement. He thought he had done so well at hiding how he felt about Felicity, but apparently he hadn't. Even more of a reason to keep his distance. If Diggle could see it, so could their enemies. Felicity loved him? Oliver knew she liked him, but love?

Diggle took a deep breath and stood up. He looked at Oliver and said, "Look, I know you love this girl and you know you love this girl. I'm pretty sure everyone knows you love her. But does she know? You pushing her away won't help anything. She chose this life for herself, and nothing you say or do will change that. You need to decide if you're going to be happy with her, or if you're going to be miserable without her. Either way, she will be in danger. Nothing is guaranteed in this life and you need to see that. Look at me and Lyla. We were married, got divorced, and now we're having a kid! We both know something could happen to either of us because we serve our country, but that's not our entire life. We have each other and we're going to have this baby and raise it as best we can. We could all die tomorrow, man. Do you really want to let time pass you by without telling Felicity how you feel?"

Diggle looked at him one final time before he left. When Diggle closed the door, Oliver was left in his apartment to be consumed by his thoughts. Could he be with Felicity? What if she got hurt because of him? What if she got killed?! But, what if she didn't? He could protect her. He knew he could. She had called him a hero and he knew he could be her hero. He could have everything he ever wanted with her.

Oliver looked at the clock to see it was just past 10:00. He couldn't wait until morning to tell her how he felt. He had to go to her tonight before he lost his nerve.

He threw on his jacket and locked up his apartment in record time. He drove to Felicity's apartment, getting there in 10 minutes, when it usually took at least 15.

It was safe to say he didn't abide by all the traffic laws on the way there.

He ran up to her apartment and knocked on her door before he thought twice about it. He heard the locks on her door turning and the anticipation was killing him.

What he didn't expect, however, was who answered the door.

Barry.