Felicity was staring at Oliver as he made his way over to the couch to join her. She wasn't sure what was about to happen and why he was there, but she knew it required her undivided attention. He had shown up to her apartment late, and Oliver wouldn't do that for something that wasn't important. While he had interrupted her date with Barry, she knew the moment she saw Barry they would never be anything more than friends. Her heart beat for Oliver, and seeing Barry reminded her of that. Not once did her pulse race for him like it did for Oliver. All seeing him did was remind her how much she loved another man.

Her plan to get over him had failed. Miserably.

When Oliver sat down to join her, he turned his body in her direction and smiled a nervous smile. He cleared his throat before he looked her in her eyes and began talking.

"Felicity, I need to know what's going on with you and Barry before I can tell you why I'm here."

She saw him shift uncomfortably and knew he wouldn't ask unless he actually needed to know. She took a deep breath and said, "There's nothing going on with me and Barry. We're just friends."

"Then why was he here so late?" Oliver asked her, and she saw how nervous he was waiting for her answer.

Felicity looked around her apartment wondering how she was going to word this. She knew if she said one wrong thing he would shut down again.

"We just had dinner and watched a movie. I hadn't seen him in a long time and we were catching up. There's nothing going on between us." She looked at him and waited for his reaction. He would either shut down or finally open up to her, and she really hoped it was the latter of the two.

He seemed to really think about his next sentence. He was silent for a minute before he looked at her and she saw his eyes soften. He stood up and walked to her end of the couch, putting his hand out for her to take. She didn't hesitate as she took it and he pulled her off the couch in one fluid motion.

They were only inches apart as Oliver towered over her. She didn't feel intimidated until she looked up at him and saw the look in his eyes. He had so many emotions in there and she couldn't possibly name all of them, but there was one emotion she recognized that made her heart skip a beat. She immediately knew that look because she too had that look when she thought of him.

Love.

She watched as he lifted his hand to cup her cheek and let his eyes flick to her lips for just a moment before meeting hers again. She felt the electricity shoot through her the moment he touched her and her eyes automatically closed shut. The feelings flowing through her were almost too much. Was this happening?

"Felicity." She heard Oliver whisper her name and it had never sounded sweeter. She opened her eyes to see him smiling down at her and smiled back shyly.

"Oliver." She breathed, not sure it was even loud enough for him to hear.

They stood there, toe to toe, looking into each other's eyes for what seemed like hours yet only seconds. Time seemed to be non-existent when Oliver was looking at her. She wasn't sure if she remembered to breathe while they stood there, but her heart sure remembered to beat. She thought it would beat right out of her chest.

She saw Oliver's smile transform into a grin as she brought her hand to his shoulder. She wasn't sure she would be able to keep standing without his support. He moved his hand to her forehead where she had some stray strands of hair and he pushed them out of the way of her face.

The gesture was so intimate that Felicity's knees immediately got weak. She fell against Oliver and he was quick to put his arms around her waist and hold her up while she waited for her knees to start working again. She looked up at him again and their faces were so close that their noses were almost touching.

She saw the moment he decided to close the distance. His eyes flicked to her lips for just a moment before raising to her eyes yet again and she knew he would do it this time.

He lowered his head to hers and she closed her eyes. Was this finally about to happen?

The moment his lips touched hers, she latched her arms around his neck and held on for dear life. He still had his arms wrapped around her waist and he tightened his grip on her as he deepened the kiss. The moment his tongue passed her lips, she felt like she was in heaven. The passion she felt from him caused her to moan into his mouth and she felt his growl against her mouth before she heard it.

At least he was affected by this as much as she was.

They stood there, for how long she didn't know, and just explored each other. She felt the muscles in his back as they kissed and she thought about his time on the salmon ladder. She always wondered what they would feel like under her touch and now she knew. She needed to get a better imagination, because the reality of feeling him was ten times better than she had imagined. She felt the muscles in his arms around her entire body and she loved it. He was like a drug that she hoped she could be addicted to forever.

They broke apart only because they needed to breathe. He rested his forehead against hers and she never wanted him to move. When she opened her eyes, she saw him staring back at her with the biggest grin she had ever seen on his face.

Her emotions overwhelmed her and she stepped back so she could think straight. She knew being that close to him would cause her brain to turn into mush and she needed to know where this was going. She couldn't question this anymore.

"Oliver, what are we doing?" She asked him, taking another step back and sitting on the couch. She put her elbows on her knees and let her head rest in her hands. If she looked at him, she would've told him to forget about what she had said and started kissing him again. But she knew they had to have this talk and in order to do that, she needed a clear head.

She felt Oliver sit next to her and his fingers found her chin, raising her head to look at him. He stared at her and she saw his eyes searching her face. She didn't know what he was searching for, but whatever it was, he must've found it. He took her hands in his and looked her in the eyes as he said his next words, never wavering.

"I love you, Felicity." Her breath caught and she immediately felt tears forming in her eyes. How long had she waited to hear that without the threat of the world ending? "I have tried to push you away and keep my distance, but I can't anymore. You're it for me. I know things have been difficult between us lately, but I can't keep lying to myself or to you. I can't promise it won't be hard, because it will be, but I want this. I want us. I want to wake up every single day next to you and I want to go to sleep every single night with you by my side. You were never just some IT girl to me, Felicity. You've always been more. You were the first person that saw me as a hero and when everyone else didn't believe in me, you did. I love you."

Felicity stared at him as the tears fell down her cheeks.

He loved her.

He wanted to be with her.

She saw Oliver raise his hand to her cheek and she closed her eyes as he wiped her tears away. He kept her face in his hand and smiled adoringly at her. Would she ever get used to this? She doubted it.

"Oliver…" Felicity started, ready to say it back. He had to know she loved him too, right? "I-"

Felicity was interrupted at a loud crashing noise from her kitchen. Oliver was on his feet and shoving Felicity behind him before Felicity could even process what was happening. She knew when the intruder had made his way into the living room because Oliver's breath caught in his throat as he saw who it was.

"Nice to see you again, Oliver."

Felicity knew that voice.

She had been trying to forget about it ever since the night he had a blade to her neck all those months ago.

Slade.