Runaway

Felicity was woken up by the sound of birds singing. Sunshine peeked through her window, giving a slightly warm feeling on her cheek. Felicity groaned. She did not want to wake up yet. But she had to. As her hand found her glasses, she slowly got up and walked over to her bathroom. She put her glasses on and looked at herself in the mirror. She never really liked looking in the mirror, especially now. Her hair was a mess and she had puffy eyes. She hadn't slept that well, although it had been a week since Slade was 'defeated' and locked up on the 'hellish' Island, as Oliver had always called it. Just hearing Slade's name would already make her shiver. But besides Slade, deep down in her heart she knew that Slade was not the only reason she wasn't able to sleep that well.

I love you

These three particular words were haunting her ever since the day Oliver had dragged her into the old Queen mansion. He had insisted that she stayed there until he had defeated Slade. Little did she know he only tried to get Slade's attention so that he would actually kidnap Felicity, the woman Oliver "loved", and she would be able to inject Slade with the Mirakuru cure.

"He shouldn't have said 'I love you' though" she whispered to herself.

During that moment in the mansion, Felicity had thought that he had meant every single word he had spoken to her, that he truly cared about her the same as she cared about him. But as soon as she felt the Mirakuru cure pressed in her hand, she realized he was doing the unthinkable and it was all just part of a plan.

Felicity shook her head, trying to get rid of that memory. She hated it. She looked herself in the eyes again and sighed. She turned around and slammed the bathroom door shut behind her.

"Good morning, Felicity" Oliver said, when he heard her stumble down the stairs. He turned around to see a very tired Felicity.

"You seem.." He paused. He didn't quite know what to say to her, he really didn't want to hurt her feelings.

"Exhausted? Grumpy? Terrible? Yes. I know Oliver." Felicity spoke and she threw herself into her chair. She sighed and closed her eyes.

"That was not what I wanted to say.. but you do look tired. Did you get enough sleep last night?" Oliver asked as he placed his hand on her bare shoulder. She still had her eyes closed. Oliver just examined her. She was wearing a purple mini dress and black high heels. Her legs looked so smooth and it felt good touching her shoulder. Her tiny body made her so vulnerable and only he and Diggle knew what kind of a strong woman was hidden in that tiny body. She may not be the strongest, but she sure as hell was the cleverest and the most down to earth person he had ever met.

Suddenly Felicity opened her eyes and caught him staring at her. It gave her an awkward feeling, so she shrugged her shoulders which automatically removed his hand from her.

Oliver frowned. She had never done that before.

"I'm fine, Oliver. I was up all night doing paperwork for QC. I didn't sleep until 4 am." Felicity turned her back to him and she then started doing things on her computer. Oliver loved it when she was busy doing stuff on her computer. Stuff he sometimes didn't understand. That was the main reason she was a part of the team. She was his IT girl and he couldn't have wished for a better one. He smiled.

"Good morning Felicity, Oliver." Diggle spoke as he walked down the stairs, smiling.

Felicity turned around and smiled. "Good morning Diggle."

Oliver looked at Felicity, he was confused.

How can she get rid of her bad mood so quickly?

"Oliver?" Diggle said.

Oliver turned around to face Diggle.

"Sorry. Good morning. I was distracted"

"What are we doing today?" Diggle asked as he leaned against a desk. "Since Slade has been gone, it's been quite.. serene in Starling City. We could volunteer though, help the city get back up on its feet. Little bit of charity work?" Diggle joked and laughed.

"I will leave that up to QC. Now that I have my company back, I'm willing to invest in some great things for this city. It's what my mother would have wanted.." Oliver gave a sort of sad smile and Diggle just looked at him.

Felicity bit her lip. Sometimes she would forget that Moira was killed. She never had liked the woman though and Moira had made it quite clear that she had never liked Felicity either. But even though Felicity had disliked the woman, she couldn't stand the pain in Oliver's eyes as soon as he started talking about her. He truly missed her and she knew Oliver felt responsible for his mother's death. Felicity had told him several times that it truly wasn't his fault, but as stubborn as he was, he didn't want to believe her.

"Good thing, Oliver. Moira would be proud." Felicity finally said, showing him respect. He thanked her by giving her a genuine smile.

"Anyway, I don't think there's anything we can do today. As you said Diggle, it's been very serene. You know what? I'll give you a day off and why don't we grab some dinner tonight? Just the three of us?"

"I'm in." Diggle responded.

"Team Arrow?" Felicity said silently. "Just the three of us?"

Even though Felicity loved Sara and Roy and she had accepted them in the team, she sometimes still felt like a third wheel spinning round and round, not knowing what to do in some situations. Felicity knew she couldn't fight well and she knew she wasn't the strongest. She had always been jealous of Sara. Sara had a perfect body, a perfect face and she could fight like the best. Felicity told herself not to be jealous of Roy, cause he used to be injected with the Mirakuru. But even without the Mirakuru rushing through his veins.. he was still a pretty good fighter.

Yes. Felicity needed this. Just a dinner with the original team. She had missed that.

She looked up at Oliver, waiting for a response and so he gave it. He looked her in the eyes and whispered:

"Team Arrow."

She lightly smiled back.

"Felicity! Wait up!"

It was Diggle.

"What's wrong Diggle?" Felicity cocked her head to the right and crossed her arms. She hopped from one foot onto the other, trying to keep herself warm. She actually didn't quite understand why she mostly wore skirts and dresses even when it froze outside. It wasn't that cold today, but still.

"I was about to ask you that same question. You have been very distant toward Oliver lately. What is bothering you?" Diggle wanted to give Felicity his jacket, but she resisted by shaking her head no.

"I just.. " She paused for a second and swallowed before continuing, ".. I just hate the fact that he told me 'I love you' when he didn't even mean it. I was just part of his plan.. "

"A plan you came up with…"

Felicity looked down at her heels. "I know.. but still.. I really thought he meant it."

Felicity's voice sounded shaky and Diggle pulled her in for a hug.

"I know.." he whispered. "It was wrong for him to take advantage of you like this, especially because he knows how you feel about him.. but he truly did do the unthinkable."

Diggle looked down at Felicity and she just laughed.

"True that Diggle. I should really stop trying to act clever and come up with clever ideas which aren't even clever ideas in the end.." She let go of Diggle and shoved some hair out of her face.

"Felicity.. you cannot stop trying to act clever.. because you ARE clever. And your idea of doing the unthinkable was beyond clever.. but Oliver was in such an Arrow mode that he didn't re-think before he told you he loved you." He paused. "You know Oliver.. he never wants to hurt your feelings and when he does, he's stubborn enough to not apologize or even give in... You are having dinner with us tonight, aren't you?" Diggle gave Felicity a concerned look.

"Yes, of course. I wouldn't want to miss it."

"Good. Then see what happens tonight. He truly cares about you, Felicity. Let him prove that once again." Diggle smiled and walked away, only to turn around one more time to wave goodbye and say: "See you tonight."

Felicity watched him walk away.

Diggle was right. Oliver never wants to hurt me, he only wants to protect me. We'll see how dinner goes.

Felicity opened the door of the driver's seat of her car, threw her bag on the backseat, got in herself and drove off.