And just like that, any hope he might have had curled up and died a slow death. He couldn't explain it and now he wasn't sure he wanted to. How she had different memories than he did. How entire months of their lives had been removed. Excised as if they weren't of any consequence.
If he were a different man, he might not tell her. He might let her think that they were still in the honeymoon phase of their relationship, when they thought they'd left the Arrow and all of its shackles behind. He might want to forget what had transpired between then and now.
But could he do that to Felicity? He'd promised her no more lies and even if she didn't remember the promise, he did. And there were the practical reasons. If other people showed up and remembered what had happened, she would have hard questions for him.
"That seems like a lifetime ago," he said softly. "But for me, it's been almost nine months." Did that mean that they'd been told the truth? Maybe, maybe not. He preferred to think not. But something was still wrong. Maybe he'd have another talk and get Barry's opinion on it. His was more the time travel and alternate realities existence.
But first he had to figure out what he was going to say to Felicity. He almost started a half dozen times, but really, he wasn't sure how to tell her. Ray, her back, his son, the breakup, Laurel. All of it. But especially their breakup. He'd barely managed the lost hope the first time and he wasn't sure he could bear it a second.
"There are things I need to tell you about what happened, but I need to do it in my own time." He needed to prepare himself for the fallout while he was already busy adjusting to this place. "And until I do, it's not fair to you for us to be together."
He took a breath. "I'm not even sure it's safe for anyone to be together in this place. There's too much about it I don't know." While the last was true, it was a bit of a copout, to give her a good reason that didn't involve his cowardice. He could face a lot of things, up to and including death, but this was harder than all of it.
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If he were a different man, he might not tell her. He might let her think that they were still in the honeymoon phase of their relationship, when they thought they'd left the Arrow and all of its shackles behind. He might want to forget what had transpired between then and now.
But could he do that to Felicity? He'd promised her no more lies and even if she didn't remember the promise, he did. And there were the practical reasons. If other people showed up and remembered what had happened, she would have hard questions for him.
"That seems like a lifetime ago," he said softly. "But for me, it's been almost nine months." Did that mean that they'd been told the truth? Maybe, maybe not. He preferred to think not. But something was still wrong. Maybe he'd have another talk and get Barry's opinion on it. His was more the time travel and alternate realities existence.
But first he had to figure out what he was going to say to Felicity. He almost started a half dozen times, but really, he wasn't sure how to tell her. Ray, her back, his son, the breakup, Laurel. All of it. But especially their breakup. He'd barely managed the lost hope the first time and he wasn't sure he could bear it a second.
"There are things I need to tell you about what happened, but I need to do it in my own time." He needed to prepare himself for the fallout while he was already busy adjusting to this place. "And until I do, it's not fair to you for us to be together."
He took a breath. "I'm not even sure it's safe for anyone to be together in this place. There's too much about it I don't know." While the last was true, it was a bit of a copout, to give her a good reason that didn't involve his cowardice. He could face a lot of things, up to and including death, but this was harder than all of it.