Disclaimer: Arrow does not belong to me and the idea I got from a tumblr post. I'm merely responsible for it's elaboration and the order of words it was manifested in.

The first time she said it it was an accident. The words just casually slipped out of her mouth.

"Felicity, can you check it out?"

"As you wish."

They were three simple, mundane words that she had probably used as an answer to this kind of question a thousand times. And yet, this particular moment her brain decided these exact words had a completely different meaning in a movie she hadn't watched in ages but was appropriate for her situation. Simply because brains do that type of funny thing sometimes. Or maybe it was just her brain. It didn't matter. The decision was made and there was nothing left except to stare at Oliver with a weird mix of adoration and realization.

The next time she said it on purpose.

"Felicity, can you run the finances on Jacob Avery?"

"As you wish."

Either Oliver hadn't seen the the movie or just didn't realize what she was doing, yet even after a week or so his only reaction was a frown whenever she answered like that. So, she kept doing it.

"Felicity, can you do this?"

"As you wish."

"Felicity, can you do that?"

"As you wish."

It felt great expressing her feelings like that. Oliver had been driving her insane with his maybe's and his almost's. It hurt her and sometimes she just wanted to grab him by the shoulders, shake him and scream, "I love you and I want to be with you and you're a bloody idiot!"

But, Felicity also knew Oliver and if there was something she shouldn't do if she wanted her answer it was that. Instead she decided to give him time. And then, maybe one day, when they were both in a retirement home playing Bingo with Diggle and Leyla, he would tell her he had found a middle ground between Arrow and Oliver Queen and wanted to be with her.

Okay, that was probably too much time. For now, she had her As-you-wish's and her obvious staring at him and, for now, she would be content with that. Somehow.

So, she continued as before, annoying and confusing him and everyone around them.

Diggle was the first to figure it out, mostly because Diggle was always the first to figure her out. To him she was an open book.

Oliver had asked her to do something, she responded as usually and Diggle leaned down to ask, "The Princess Bride?"

She shrugged and gave him an innocent smile. Diggle walked away shaking his head, yet he didn't tell Oliver and she was grateful for that. Felicity hadn't realized it at the beginning but the whole thing was embarrassing. If they got together and she would tell him it would be dismissed as a cute and typically Felicity-like thing to do.

Should he find out prior to that? Awkward.

Now, Westley and Buttercup hadn't been together either when he started doing it, more importantly, had somehow found together because of it. But, it was a story and it was romantic and it was Westley's idea. It also wasn't a plan. He just said one thing, meaning another. Felicity on the other hand was copying a stupid movie.

At some point she just kept saying it out of principle. Because Oliver was almost expecting her to say it whenever he asked something that started with "Felicity, can you….?"

She tried to mix other answers into their conversations, to back out somehow without him noticing. It had become a reflex, however, and no matter how hard she tried the words always made their way over her treacherous tongue.

Only how considerably she had overused it she realized when Oliver limped into the Foundry one night, more red than green. The leg of his pants was ripped open to the knee on one side, the other side was missing a big chunk. The jacket was shredded, the hood down. She helped him onto the table.

"Oh God, what happened?"

"Guard dogs," he got out between clenched teeth. "Among other things. A gun too I think but I'm not so sure at this point."

She nodded and scrambled for their first aid kit. Since Diggle and Roy had left early -it was supposed to be an easy patrol mission- it fell to her to patch him up.

"Get out of the jacket," she said as she pulled open the kit beside him.

"Can I get some painkillers first?," he asked.

"As you wish."

Felicity stared at him, realization dawning in her eyes, he stared back incredulously and she handed him the pills, glad to leave his sight to get him water.

If her life had been a romantic comedy the audience would have laughed at how inappropriate and misplaced her answer was. What the audience of romantic comedies forgot was the humiliation and the blushing and the stammering that came with those kind of lines.

Felicity decided the fasted way out of the situation was silently performing the task, which she did. The only noise that pierced through their bubble of stunned and ashamed silence was Oliver grunting in pain as the alcohol soaked needle went in and out of his skin. She only had to stitch him up in two places, the rest she cleaned and covered in stripes of adhesive tape. After getting him into whole clothes she helped him up the stairs and into her car. No one argued about her driving him home.

Oliver was the one who burst the bubble of silence. They were parked in front of the loft, Felicity was unbuckling to aid him again, when he asked her most dreaded question.

"Why do you keep saying that?"

She took a deep breath. "It's a joke. From a movie, The Princess Bride. I thought it was funny for a while but it really isn't anymore and I'm really sorry. It was the wrong thing to say."

He nodded and put on his thinking face, lips pressed together, eyes hard and focused onto something in the distance. Or maybe he was just in pain from that many stairs. Both were more than logical. Felicity herself was visibly winded when they reached Oliver's landing and disposed him on the first occasion, the couch.

"Do you need anything right now? Should I stop at the club and tell Thea so she can close up early and take care of you?"

It was only nine but all she wanted was to climb into bed, close her eyes, hide under the covers and pretend tonight never happened.

"Actually you could stay and maybe watch the movie with me. I want to get that joke of yours," he answered.

It occurred to Felicity that she might have to move to the moon or, at least, play sick for the next days. Or weeks.

She yawned extensively. "I'd love to but I'm getting tired. I should go home and get some sleep. Long day tomorrow."

He tucked her down beside him and there she sat, rigid and awkward, wishing to be anywhere else than here.

"If you fall asleep during the movie I'll wake you up after it's over." He paused. "So, is it on Netflix? Netflix is great."

It wasn't but as it turned out Thea owned a digital copy of it. Oliver leaned back comfortably and started the movie, while Felicity sought the edge of her seat. Did he even realize what he was doing?

Familiar pictures flashed over the screen, an old video game, a mother taking care of her sick kid, the loving grandfather with his book. The narration of the actual story began and the only comfort to her was that it would soon be over. The famous and, until recently, quite epic line was delivered at the very beginning of the narrative.

When it came she glanced over at Oliver who wasn't even paying attention to her. He looked at the TV set like it had revealed the secret of the Universe to him. Maybe it had.

She felt her face and neck flush with embarrassment. Yawning she got up again. "I really should get going."

His head whipped around as if he hadn't noticed she was there before. Maybe he was high on pain medicine and wouldn't remember a thing that had happened.

He took her hand as she attempted to leave. "Fe-li-city. Stay."

She stared at him, trying her best not to let the deer-in-headlights show. This was it. He wouldn't be angry or anything. He would simply tell her that they would never work, that he had realized it now and that he was sorry. The thought had something freeing.

"You know I'm an idiot sometimes, right?," he asked. "Occasionally a huge idiot even."

She nodded perplexed. What was his point?

He pulled her down again, closer this time. Felicity could feel his breath on her cheek. This was all wrong.

"That was quite clever," he went on, indicating the movie with a nod of his head.

Clever? It had been foolish and stupid and absolutely embarrassing. She hadn't thought it through, because sometimes her brain didn't think and now he sat here telling her it was clever?

He looked at her, considering something as it seemed , although the determination of his next actions made it look like he was giving her time to comprehend what he said. If he had it wasn't enough time for she was still as confused when he kissed her.

Oliver caught her off guard, her brain malfunctioning while her body responded appropriately. She recovered from the shock of his lips on hers, something she had hoped for but subconsciously deemed impossible and kissed him back actively. Her hands wound around his neck, hands grazing his hair. He pulled away softly.

His whole face lit up when he smiled at her. His eyes sparkled with amusement and something else, something she couldn't quite identify but knew she definitely liked.

"Felicity." His voice was light, a mere whisper whose exhale she could feel against her ear. "Kiss me again."

It wasn't exactly a question yet she answered it all the same.

"As you wish."

His chuckle slowly drowned in her mouth. That was the last time she meant the words like that.