THE WARMTH OF HIS EMBRACE
6x23 AU
Continuation of this post
He wakes when she does, the jerk of her body shaking the bed, and him out of his restful slumber. She hasn't had a bad nightmare in a long time, but when she laces her fingers through his and pulls his arm tighter around her waist, he nuzzles the back of her neck.
"Shooting?" he murmurs, knowing that most of her nightmares have been related to that terrible day. As soon as the word is out of his mouth, though, even before she shakes her head, he knows it's wrong.
"You were late," she whispers, her voice shaky and thick with emotion. "But the car wasn't empty, you-"
He presses his mouth to her shoulder as she melts into him. "A dream," he assures her, sliding his other arm beneath her so he can envelop her in his embrace. She feels safe in his arms, he knows, and even though they both know he'd do everything in his power to keep her safe - and she would for him - if today's car accident showed them anything, it was the reminder that they sometimes don't have a say in fate.
It doesn't take long before she turns to face him, and she presses both hands to his cheeks, looks deep in his eyes before leaning forward to kiss him. He doesn't resist when she nudges him to his back, straddling his hips as she does, and his hands fall to her thighs as she begins to rock against him.
"Do you think-" she gasps later, her head against his chest, "it was a stray?"
He chuckles, his own heart racing. He trails his fingers down her spine. "Seemed like it. He didn't have a collar. They'll probably take him to a vet or shelter, scan for a chip, post fliers, all of it."
She hums, but doesn't say anything.
He can almost hear her mind working, and even though there's a part of him that thinks he didn't do a good enough job if her brain is still functioning, he also falls even more in love with her, knowing that she's concerned about an innocent life - even if that life almost ended his.
"If he doesn't have an owner..." she eventually murmurs, her voice trailing off with an unasked question.
He grins and presses his lips to the top of his wife's head. "Gave them my number," he admits. "We'll be the first call."
Oliver returns home after six months in Super Max.
No beta, hope you like :) Also available on AO3.
Felicity said her good nights to William. She was about to tidy up the kitchen when she heard the knock on the door. So odd, she wasn’t expecting anyone. Visitors had to be cleared by ARGUS. Must be Lyla or John, she wiped her hands on the dish towel and walked toward the door.
She stood on her tiptoes, looked through the peephole. She quickly opened the door, throwing herself at her husband.
Oliver wasn’t sure what to expect when he saw Felicity. He knew she was mad. She had every right to be. The last thing he expected was for her to fly into his arms. He pulled her closed. His Felicity, he would never be able to tell her how he missed her.
Oliver didn’t know how long he held his wife on the front step of her townhouse but he could have kept going when Felicity pulled back.
Felicity looked at her beautiful husband’s face. She cupped it in her hands and began to kiss it all over ending with his lips. God, she loved this man. He was a part of her in every way, it was like a missing part of herself had returned.
Oliver would have been content to keep kissing his wife but he wanted more. More than he could do on the front step - it had been six long months. He started to guide her inside. He saw a cherry red couch close by, he angled them there.
As soon as Felicity’s butt hit the couch she broke off the kiss. “No.”
“No?” Oliver was so confused. He could see Felicity’s dilated pupils she was clearly as turned on he was.
“No. No, Oliver Queen we can’t do this. Not after the crap, you pulled.” Felicity jumped up from the couch, hugged her arms around her stomach and faced the window. She needed to get herself under control. She never could resist Oliver, being apart for six months didn’t make that any easier. But they needed to talk damn it.
Felicity got her breathing under control. She slowly turned back to face Oliver. He looked like a lost puppy.
“It’s okay, Felicity. I get it. You want a divorce. What I did. Going to jail without letting you in the decision. Making decisions for you is exactly what I agreed not to do. I fucked up. I don’t deserve you. Do you already have the papers?”
“Papers?” Felicity shakes her head as if to clear the cobwebs. “Oliver, I don’t want a divorce. I love you. I just got you back. But just so you know I’m super pissed. You have a lot of explaining to do.”
Oliver lets out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. “Anything. Felicity, I’ll do anything for you.”
“Except tell me when you agree to go to prison?! That was a low blow but you deserve it. You left William and me alone, Oliver! Alone! Where was I in this decision? Remember I reminded you right before that that we are no longer alone - EVER. We are married. We support each other!!!”
“I just knew…”Oliver’s voice faded away.
Felicity came to stand over him. She looked down at his sad face. “You just knew, what? That I wouldn’t let you give your life up? That I would insist there was another way?”
Oliver nodded. “Felicity it was the only way. Diaz had the city. I couldn’t let him take the city!”
“Oliver, you don’t think I understand? Believe it or not I understand you going to prison may have been the only choice BUT we should have made that decision together.”
“You never would have..”
Felicity cut him off. “Let’s be clear we have no idea what I would have done because YOU never gave me the option.”
“Dad?”
Felicity had been yelling so loud they didn’t hear William come into the room. Felicity’s eyes welled up as she watched father and son reconnect. She knew just how bad they both missed each other.
Felicity walked into the kitchen to continue tidying up. Oliver and William deserved a moment alone. She needed to calm down to get her point across to Oliver.
*****
“You’re home,” William said into Oliver’s ear.
Oliver smiled at his son, who had grown even taller, he must be taller than Felicity now. “Yes, buddy. I’m home. I’m never going to leave you again.”
Oliver watched William put his hand through his hair, it was something he did when he was anxious.
William gave a slight glare. “Please don’t say that. Please don’t make promises you cannot keep. I know you want to be here and will do your best but don’t say you won’t leave because you don’t know.”
“Okay, buddy. I won’t say that. But I can say this is my favourite place to be, with you and Felicity.” Oliver beamed.
William took a seat next to his father on the couch. “She’s pretty pissed, you know?”
“Oh, I know. I deserve every bit of it.” Oliver looked down ashamed of his behaviour.
“Oh, you do. She took good care of me. Made sure I ate healthy food, took me to school, everything. She did it all.” William looked over at Felicity and smiled.
“Healthy food, huh? That doesn’t sound like Felicity.” Oliver joked.
“Well, not at first. At first, she wasn’t doing so good.” William looked pointedly at his father so he knew where the blame for that belonged. “We ate a lot of take-out and mint chocolate chip ice cream but she pulled herself out of it and got help. Raisa began cooking for us full time,even showed Felicity how to make some basic meals.”
Oliver raised an eyebrow.
“Sure, she burned them at first but she got better - WAY BETTER. At cooking and at hiding her pain. But you, you have some major sucking up to do. I have to go to bed now, school tomorrow. Go talk to her. She needs you. You can make her as happy as you made her sad.” William hugged his father. Oliver watched his son head off back to his bedroom.
When did his son get so smart, Felicity must be rubbing off on him.
*****
Oliver found Felicity in the kitchen just as she turned the dishwasher on. The kitchen was dark minus the overnight light from the stove. He knew she was stewing.
“Can I talk now?” Oliver asked hesitantly.
Felicity nodded.
Oliver could see the tears her eyes and tracks that they had already run down her cheeks. He did that. “I’m sorry. Fully and in every way sorry. I will spend the rest of my life making this up to you. I knew the moment my jail cell closed for the first time that I was wrong. That I should have talked to you. That I should have been upfront. My biggest mistakes in life come when I don’t trust you. I was wrong. I am so sorry, Felicity.”
Felicity held on to the counter. Everything in her wanted to rush into Oliver’s arms and forgive him right now. She loved this man with every fibre of her being. But he hurt her so bad. He had no idea. So she stood there and said nothing. Willing herself not to run to him.
“Felicity, I love you. I will always love you. I will wait as long as it takes for you to forgive me. Even if you never forgive me. I’m not going anywhere.” Now that Oliver was here with William and Felicity he knew he could never leave. He had missed them both so much. Not being able to see them while he was in prison was beyond cruel. He stood waiting for Felicity to say something. Quiet Felicity always worried him.
Suddenly she was in his arms again. She embraced him with all the good and light she had in her. “Oliver Queen I love you! I forgive you. I don’t want to spend one more second of my life without you. You are my everything.”
“Are you sure? I mean, I can wait. Sleep on the couch.” Oliver looked at the couch. It was the last thing he wanted to do but she deserved time.
“Oliver I’ve been waiting for you for SIX MONTHS. SIX MONTHS OLIVER! That is a really long time. I want you to come up to OUR bedroom and show me just how sorry you are. REPEATEDLY. Are you up for that?”
Oliver could not stop smiling. He had no idea how he became such a lucky man but he didn’t want to miss one more second with his wife. He took her hand and she led him up the stairs.
