A shrill blood-curdling scream filled the apartment. Oliver dropped the finance report he was reading, grabbed his bow, and rushed into the living room, ready to fire an arrow at a moment's notice. His heart beat frantically in his ears and panic took over his senses. Oliver's eyes deliberately searched the room for the reasoning behind the scream; he looked to the door first then the window, both were closed as they had been when he came home from the office. He took in the purple nail polish spilled on the coffee table and the popcorn scattered over the living room floor and scanned for an intruder. On the floor in front of the T.V., Felicity sat in her pajamas, eyes wide in disbelief then shock as she looked at him. Oliver followed her previous line of sight to the T.V. where a frustrated man sent objects flying off a metal table and on to the floor with a metallic crash.
"Felicity what—?" Oliver was confused. She seemed to be alright, but her scream kept ringing in his ears.
"They kissed." Her voice was shaky with emotion. Oliver's blood was rushing too fast and his breaths came too quick to adequately categorize the tone of her voice.
"What?" He questioned, his fight or flight instinct prevented him from forming a more intelligent response.
"He kissed her!" She shouted in frustration. Oliver blinked a few times, letting his brain process the information.
"Are you kidding me?" He sighed in frustration and relief. He eased his bowstring back into a resting position then plucked the arrow out with irritation. Registering that there was no intruder, Oliver collapsed onto the couch in relief.
"No I'm not kidding! He kissed her and she kissed him back!" Felicity let out another frustrated huff.
"Who kissed who?"
"Oh my God Oliver! Brandon kissed Emily, but then Stephen walked in and saw them, but they didn't see him, and then he walked out and now he's all frustrated because he lost his chance with Emily but now Brandon is pushing Emily away!" Felicity ended her rant with a whiny sob and threw her hands in the air.
"You are talking about a T.V. show?" He asked in disbelief.
"Yes Oliver, pay attention! And it's not just any T.V. show; it's my favorite T.V. show!" She huffed and pouted. Oliver breathed out a puff of air and tried not to laugh. He held his hands up in surrender when she glared back at him before standing up and trudging into the kitchen to get paper towels. She plopped back into her seat on the floor and began to use nail polish remover to clean up the spilled nail polish.
"So why is it a problem that…Brandon? Kissed Emily?"
"It's a problem because we have been waiting 2 seasons going on 3, that's two complete years of our lives, for Stephen to admit that he loves Emily and he just now admitted it but then he told her he couldn't be with her and now when she's finally starting to move on with Brandon, bam! Stephen comes back to tell Emily he wants to be with her!" Felicity huffed again and Oliver smirked in amusement. He picked up the half full popcorn bowl and settled back into the couch.
"So you're rooting for Stephen and Emily?"
"Yes but I also like Emily and Brandon together."
"So why does that warrant you screaming bloody murder?"
"Because this show is ripping apart my soul, Oliver! First they give me snippets of Stephen and Emily, then they make Stephen date other women while Emily watches, then they finally make Stephen admit that he loves Emily, and then they rip all hope away! Then Emily and Stephen go on a date but the date ends catastrophically and Stephen decides that he can't be with Emily, so Emily walks away and now Emily finally has a real love interest in Brandon, not counting the brief little fling with Grant, who I also ship Emily with, and Stephen is really jealous and he finally decides to do something about it but it's too late because Brandon is kissing her but then Brandon backs away! I cannot take this!" Felicity plopped her head onto a pillow lying next to her. Oliver chuckled at his wife's fanatic monologue, dodging drops of nail polish and nail polish remover as she threw her hands around to emphasize her words. He had no clue how she got so invested in these shows to start "fangirling" he thinks it's called.
"Felicity, you know these are fictional characters right?" He tossed another handful of popcorn in his mouth. She gasped and whipped her head around. If Oliver hadn't feared her before, he definitely feared her now. She glared and tossed a soggy paper towel at him.
"It's not just fiction, Oliver. It's…it's… it's an emotional investment!" Oliver laughed and Felicity got up and sat on his shaking stomach. He laughed more and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Fine you don't believe me? You will watch every episode until you feel the soul binding despair I have felt!" She shouted in good humor. Oliver grabbed her hips and situated her so that she was lying on the couch with her legs across his lap. She grabbed the remote from the side table and logged into their Netflix account, scrolling until she found Bullet season 1. Oliver began massaging her toes and kissed her ankle as Stephen Amell introduced himself as the man who, after 5 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, would repair the damage his father did to the city and find who committed the crime Stephen went to prison for. He enjoyed just relaxing in front of the T.V. with his wife: something they didn't do nearly as much as they should.
Felicity sat at her desk working on the files Oliver would need for his meetings tomorrow. She had told him to go to the Foundry for the night as she could organize minutes easily. Her phone rang and Felicity looked down at the glowing screen. She didn't know whether to be relieved or worried when she saw Oliver's picture and name displayed on her phone.
"Are you ok, did you forget something?" Felicity was answered only by sniffles. "Oliver?" More sniffles over the phone.
"He's dead."
"What?" Felicity began to panic. She shut down her program, hoping autosave had already saved her work or else she would have to start from the middle tomorrow morning. She gathered her things and rushed to the elevator, praying that Diggle and Roy were alright and not the "he" Oliver was talking about.
"Colin. He's dead." Oliver's voice sounded frustrated.
"Colin who?" Felicity was completely confused. She racked her brain for anyone named Colin important enough to make Oliver show emotion.
"Stephen's best friend Colin, Felicity. Why didn't you tell me he dies? I was just starting to like him and then they kill him off and left Stephen with the body. Colin made me like Katie." Oliver sighed frustrated over the phone. The names dawned on Felicity and she didn't know whether to laugh or scream.
"Oliver are you talking about Bullet?" Felicity couldn't even believe she actually uttered that sentence. Then again Oliver was the root of a lot of things she thought she'd never experience.
"Of course I'm talking about Bullet. Why didn't you tell me Colin dies when I told you last night I was starting to like him?" Oliver sounded so much like a disgruntled child Felicity just had to laugh in the elevator.
"Felicity!" Oliver's frustration just made her laugh more.
"I didn't want to spoil the season finale for you." She choked out between fits of giggles.
"Yeah right, you specifically said you wanted me to feel the soul binding despair that you felt. What kind of wife wishes suffering on her husband?" She couldn't tell if he was joking or not and that made the laughter she was trying so hard to control burst out like water rushing from a broken dam. She never thought Oliver would be so upset over a T.V. show, but apparently he could be just as emotionally invested in a character as anyone else.
"If I had known it would upset you so much I would have warned you."
"Liar. I can hear the smile in your voice, Felicity." She snorted and could practically see Oliver's frown deepen.
"I'm sorry honey. How can I make it up to you?"
"I'm not sure yet, but you had better warn me if any other character deaths are coming suddenly."
"Would you like me to warn you before you make the emotional attachment or after?"
"I don't know yet; it depends on who it is." Felicity bit back her smile as she walked out of the elevator and towards her car in the parking garage.
"Ok, I promise I will at least give you some warning." She ended the call and unlocked her car. Settling in and pulling off, Felicity shook her head in amusement; if Oliver was this upset about Colin's death, she couldn't wait to see his reaction to Caity's death.