Felicity really loves Christmas Oliver. She's not sure if the holiday season has always been his favorite or if it was his years away that gave him an appreciation for it – she suspects it's a combination of the two – but there's just something about this time of year that allows him to let go and relax, be it ever so marginally. It makes him…happy. Or his version of happy anyway, which still has a lot of maiming others but not quite as much brooding. Regardless of what form it took though, a happy Oliver meant a happy Felicity.

Plus, the man is seriously great at giving presents.

It's not so much because of the money. Actually, his more extravagant gifts usually only make her feel uncomfortable. It's more the thought and time he obviously spends picking out the exact perfect thing that's so unbelievably touching. Even before they started dating, he was never the kind of person to give her a candle or some lotion and call it job well done. But, given both how observant and deliberate he is, that particular side of him probably shouldn't have been as much of a shock to her as it was the first time he revealed it.

It was the first fall after she became an official part of team, after they had failed to fully stop the Undertaking, after Tommy's death. The summer before had been rough. Oliver had completely withdrawn from her and Diggle. He wouldn't answer their phone calls. He rarely ever showed up to the club, above or below ground. It was like he wanted to disappear, and then one day he did, leaving behind a check for an exorbitant amount of money attached to a quickly scrawled note in lieu of an actual goodbye.

She worried about him every day he was gone. He hadn't taken his phone with him, but she tried to track him as best she could through airline passenger records and his credit card activity. It worked for a while, but eventually he fell off the grid and she had no way of knowing where he was or if he was even still alive. Even now, thinking about it made her want to throw up.

With no other way to stay connected to him, she took the money he left her and used it to repair their headquarters. She felt squicky spending it on herself, but more than that she needed to do something to convince herself he was coming back. She didn't realize how dependent she had become on him and Dig and the work they all did together to brighten up her boring life until it was all gone. After exploding arrows and swinging across elevator shafts, takeout and clearing off her DVR didn't hold the same appeal it once had. She wasn't ready to admit it was over. She wasn't ready to never see him again. So, instead, she planned and oversaw the reconstruction of their badly damaged home and waited. Until, one day, she didn't have to wait anymore.

As far as she knew, he never spoke a word about where he went or what he had done, but when he returned he seemed more determined than ever to help Starling City. Only not as the Hood. The fact that his best friend had died thinking he was a murderer had shaken Oliver to the core. He didn't want to be that person anymore. He wanted to be better. For Tommy. So, while he still felt a responsibility to right his family's wrongs, he now sought to do so from the QC boardroom not Verdant's basement.

It had taken a long time for her and Diggle (mostly her) to convince him that he could do both, should do both, but eventually he saw how much Starling City needed a symbol, something to rally around amidst the destruction of their lives, and agreed to don the hood once more. This time as the hero she always knew he could be. She couldn't have been more proud of him or pleased for herself. She had really missed the family the three of them had created.

It surprised her how quickly things went back to normal. She was expecting some adjustment time. Trusting one another again, relearning that shorthand that comes from spending most of your time with a person, she thought that would take a while to get back, but they picked up their old habits again almost immediately. Which on that night meant she was waiting on a decryption program she was running to finish while watching Oliver and Diggle do their shirtless thing.

Thanksgiving was a week away and Diggle asked her what her plans were.

"It falls on the second night of Hanukkah this year," she said. "So, I'll probably be eating latkes rather than turkey. Which is more than okay with me. My grandmother makes the best latkes. I've had dreams about them before they're so good. And I'm pretty sure she laces the applesauce with crack."

He chuckled as he moved to deflect an incoming blow from Oliver.

"I'm just sad that my brother isn't going to be there. He doesn't really like to come back to Starling City if he can help it." She paused to think. "Wow, it's been over a year since I've last seen him in person. He was supposed to come down from Seattle next week, but he called last night and said he's not going to be able to make it. So it'll just be me and Gram again this year."

"So you and your brother aren't close," Oliver asked.

"Actually, we are. l mean, you know how it is, growing up we hated each other. Or maybe you don't. Thea is so much younger than you, I bet there wasn't a whole lot of sibling rivalry there. But we used to fight like wild animals. After our parents died and we had to move in with Gram, though, we got over that real quickly. Now we're best friends. I can't imagine life without him."

She regretted the words as soon as she said them. Everything seemed to pause, magnifying her mistake. She quickly opened her mouth, hoping to make it better but knowing, even as she did it, she was only going to say something to make it worse. And it was already so, so bad. Thankfully, Diggle stopped her.

"What else besides the illegal latkes are you looking forward to?"

She took the way out gratefully and began to regale her boys with tales of Hanukkahs past.

The next week she was in her cubicle shutting down her computer while pulling on her coat. She was supposed to have left half an hour ago – actually she wasn't even supposed to be there at all – and if she didn't leave now, she was going to be really late and then Gram would have light the menorah by herself and – she really needed to get out of there. She turned off her monitor, grabbed her purse from where it lived in her bottom desk drawer and spun around to walk out slamming right into a very solid body.

"Oliver! What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing. I'm pretty sure I gave everyone the rest of the week off."

"You did. I'm not really here."

He held up his phone. "The app you installed says differently."

"Yeah, I know. It's just, I was trying to log on to my work email at home but it kept acting up. Then I started thinking 'well, what if somebody is expecting something important today?' Although who really does important business when the office is basically shut down? But what if someone was and they couldn't because the server was messed up, you know? So, I came in to check on things. Then I figured, as long as I was here, I might as well catch up on some of the work I left waiting for Monday and that was four hours ago and now it's almost sundown and if I don't get to Gram's house soon, she's going to give me that wounded puppy look and I really don't think I can take that!"

Oliver looked down at her with a bemused smile. "Come on. I'll walk you out."

"You never did answer my question," she said as they stepped off the elevator into the parking garage. "Why are you here?"

"To see you. I came to give you your Hanukkah gift."

She noticed he was carrying a small, impeccably wrapped package. "You really didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to. It's what you're supposed do this time of year. Besides, you're not going to want to say no to this," he said, handing her the present.

She looked at him skeptically, but took the offering anyway. She studied it for a moment before opening it. It almost felt like a CD, but who bought CDs anymore?

Oliver Queen did, apparently.

"You got me the new Fleet Foxes album?! But it doesn't come out until Tuesday! How did you get it?"

"I have my ways."

"I've been waiting two and a half years for this," she said as they walked up to her car. "Thank you!"

He opened her car door for her. "You're welcome. Now go see your grandmother. I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah. Goodnight, Oliver," she said, slipping behind the wheel.

"Goodnight, Felicity."

'Later' as it turned out was the very next day. She was sitting upside down on her couch eating yogurt and listening to her new CD when he knocked on the door.

"Hey. Did you need something? Because I'm going to have to head out to Gram's in a few hours, so I'm not sure I can get to whatever it is until tomorrow."

"No, it's not – I told you to take the holiday off, Felicity. I meant it. I just came by to give you your next gift." He held out a pound of what appeared to be very good quality coffee beans.

"My next gift?"

"For the second night."

"Oliver, that's sweet, but it's not how Hanukkah works. It's not Christmas for Jewish people. The gifts we give are trinkets really. The album was more than enough."

"I'm aware. Humor me."

The look in his eye told her she wasn't going to win this one, and besides, she didn't particularly want to say no to the coffee. The dark roasted, shade grown deliciousness was calling to her. So, she just sighed with exaggerated resignation and took the bag from him.

"Goyim," she joked. "What are you gonna do?"

And that was pretty much how it went for the next five days. He gave her an umbrella printed with a map of Middle Earth on Friday. Saturday, it was chocolate covered cherries; Sunday, an Amazon gift card. On Monday, he had salmon rolls from Toro delivered to her desk for lunch, and Tuesday brought a new, limited-edition keyboard cover for her Surface. It was weird, but she supposed this was part of having a rich friend. Sometimes you had to indulge their flights of fancy.

At least this quirk wasn't felonious.

She even started to dig it a little. I mean, who doesn't like getting great gifts? So, when she saw him walking toward her building as she came home on Wednesday for a quick change, she couldn't help but smile a little wider.

"So, what is it today? The newest season of Game of Thrones? A sonic screwdriver?"

"A what?"

"Never mind. It's not important."

He shook his head, clearly confused but writing it off as yet another thing he no longer understood about the world. "It's not from a hardware store, but I hope you'll still like it."

She took the envelope he was dangling in front of her face and opened it. Inside was an airline voucher.

"I don't understand. What is this?"

"It's for a trip to Seattle," he said. "To visit your brother."

She was stunned. That was not what she was expecting.

"I would have booked a ticket, but I didn't know when the best time for you to take time off would be," he said, suddenly sounding very unsure of himself. It seemed her silence was making him nervous. "That should be enough to cover it, though."

She looked at the amount. It was more than enough. She could probably even fly first class. She had never flown first class before. Still...

"I can't accept this. It's too generous."

"Yes, you can."

"I'm so incredibly touched by the gesture, Oliver, but I really can't," she insisted. "It's too much."

"Felicity, if this past year has been good for anything at all, it's taught me that you never know how much time you have with the people you love. You can't take any of it for granted. Go see your brother. That's what matters. Not some debt you feel you'll owe me if you take this. You won't. Gifts aren't supposed to come with strings."

"Oliver…"

She didn't know what to do. It felt wrong to accept such a generous present, especially when he had already given her so much, but it seemed very important to him that she take this, too. She looked up at him. So lost. So broken. In his own emotionally-stunted way, he was trying to make sure she didn't have to ever feel the same way. He was an idiot but at least his heart was in the right place.

"Thank you."

He nodded his acceptance and walked away leaving her there to think about what had just happened. This had turned out to be one hell of a Hanukkah.

It wasn't until she walked into her apartment and noticed the umbrella he gave her lying on her entry table that everything clicked into place. Salmon, cherries, Fleet Foxes…it was a theme. He planned a Seattle-themed Hanukkah. She shook her head. Every time she thought she had him almost figured out, he went and did something that made her have to start all over again.

After that year, his Hanukkah gifts followed the same pattern. Seven smaller presents hinting at a larger present he gave her on the eighth night. Guessing the theme became a game. It was almost as much fun as the gifts themselves. Sometimes more.

In the four years since they had finally stopped fighting their feelings for each other, his themes had only gotten more personal and meaningful. Her favorite was last year when he gave her a bottle of wine for them to share each night culminating in the Laffite Rothschild he had promised her years ago.

She's pretty sure tonight is going to top them all, though.

For the last seven nights Oliver has given her jewelry – nothing fancy, things she can actually wear to the office – but every night she's become more and more convinced that it means tonight her present's going to be an engagement ring.

It's late when they finally make it home from Gram's. It seems recently her grandmother wants to spend more and more time with her and is more and more reluctant to see her leave. She really doesn't want to think about what that means.

When they walk in the door, she heads to their bedroom right away to get rid of her shoes while Oliver takes off his suit jacket and drapes it across the back of the couch before plopping down.

"Thanks for letting us stay so late tonight," she says as she emerges from the bedroom and sits beside him. Her feet gloriously free from their cute but painful prisons. "I really hate to leave her when she gets like that."

"Not a problem. I like Gram. Besides, now you owe me."

"Oh, I do, huh?"

"Yeah. You have to return the favor at Christmas Eve dinner. You, me, Thea and my mom. All night."

She laughs. "If I thought for half a second that you were serious about that..."

Moira Queen had been cleared of all charges stemming from her involvement in the Undertaking ages ago, but as far as the majority of Starling City was concerned, including her own daughter, she was still public enemy number one. Oliver was a tad more forgiving. No matter how often she tried to explain, he'd never be able to understand why she had done what she had done, but he had already lost so much, he couldn't lose his mom, too. So, he did what he had to keep that connection attached.

Still, Thea wouldn't have any of it. Christmas Eve was the only time he could manage to get both women in the same room together. And even then it was only for a few hours. As far as Felicity was concerned, that was a few hours too many, but even though he would, and did, gladly spend lots of stress-free time with them both separately, it was still so important to him to have that one dinner together every year. So, she swallowed her opinion and endured the awkwardness for his sake. As much as the time meant to him though, even he wouldn't want to prolong it.

"Yeah, that was a bad bluff."

"It was weak even for you. And you once tried to tell me you stored an energy drink in a syringe so that's saying something."

"Keep talking like that and I might just take your gift back."

"Shutting up."

She makes a locking gesture at the side of her mouth and he laughs. There's never going to be a time where she ever gets tired of his laugh. He doesn't do it nearly often enough.

"Ok then," he says. He reaches for his suit jacket and retrieves a small wrapped box from the breast pocket. "I guess I won't return it."

Her heart is in her throat as he hands it to her. It's exactly ring box sized. Oh lord. She thought knowing this was coming would make it less nerve wracking but she was so, so wrong. It is terrifying. And wonderful. Terrifyingly wonderful.

She tries to tamp down her excitement as she unwraps it. There's still a chance she could be wrong. It could be any number of things. A pair of earrings, a pendant necklace, a...toe ring?

Oh.

She wasn't wrong.

Inside the box is an obscenely beautiful filigree platinum and diamond eternity band.

"Does this mean what I think it means?"

"If you think it means I'm asking you to marry me then yes."

So this is what dying feels like. Good to know.

"Felicity, I...I'm not good at this. I don't do speeches well. But I do love you. So much. And I have for so long. I honestly have no idea what I'd do without you, but I know it wouldn't be anything good. You're the one who keeps me sane, keeps me grounded. You're the love of my life. And I want to spend the rest of it proving that to you. If you'll let me."

Did he really think there was a chance she'd say no?

"I don't know. That wasn't so bad. As far as speeches go."

"Is that a yes?"

If the way he was looking at her right now – with that adorable, heartbreaking look of guarded hope – was anything to go by then, yeah, he did think rejection was an option. The stupid, stupid, gorgeous, magnificent idiot.

She launches herself at him.

When she finally pulls back there's a huge smile on both their faces. "Of course it's a yes! Did you really think it wouldn't be?"

"I..." He clears his throat and takes the ring out of its box to place on her finger. It's a little loose but not too bad.

"It was my great-grandmother's," he says. "My grandfather, her son, left it to me when he died. I took Thea ring shopping with me a few months ago, but she kept yammering about blood diamonds and how you wouldn't appreciate a giant solitaire anyway. That it would only get in your way when you typed and annoy you. She said you'd like this, but we can always get another one if you don't."

"Don't you dare. I love it. It's breathtaking. And Thea's right. A big rock would've been the worst. I'd have to keep taking it off to get any serious work done. I don't want to ever take this ring off."

"Good."

She smiles up at her fiancé. Her fiancé! Oh, that felt nice.

"I love you, Oliver."

Then he's smiling back and kissing her and lifting her up to take her back to the bedroom. This really has been the best Hanukkah, but what is she possibly going to get him for Christmas now?

Happy Holidays? I know. It's July. But I have a semi-regular Arrow watching date this summer with some friends of mine and last week we got through "Year's End." I love that Oliver tried to take a break at Christmas and enjoy his family. I'm with Diggle, he more than deserved it. And I want it to be a yearly thing. So, that's how this started. Me hoping Oliver gets to keep loving the holidays. Then the sizzle reel and the other news from Comic Con happened as I was writing it and, well, I hope you guys like it. Let me know!