Hello, Arrow fandom. This is my first Arrow fic (don't be scared I have a lot of fics under my belt in other fandoms). This fic isn't much too my taste - too cheesy - but I felt I had to get my first Arrow fic out of the way. Here's to hoping the other ones are a bit better - although I hope it's not THAT bad. Enjoy!

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FELICITY

On a random Thursday night, four years after Felicity first met Oliver Queen, the last name from the book was crossed off. Afterwards, Felicity and Oliver spent the night together, feeling truly free for the first time.

It was only the next morning when she was preparing coffee that it truly hit Felicity: it was over. After all this time, Oliver could finally retire The Hood. They had discussed the possibility of retiring The Hood when it became clear that there wasn't long to go before all the names in the notebook would be crossed off. Oliver and Diggle had been ambivalent at completely finishing their odd crusade but Felicity had been insistent; they had all put their lives on hold to achieve this. It was time to retire. They hadn't needed as much convincing as she would have thought – clearly they were all ready to go back to some kind of normality.

One thing that she hadn't discussed with them was that she also intended to break up with Oliver. While they had made sense and really worked when he was half Oliver Queen and half The Hood, she knew it would be different once he was just Oliver Queen. For one thing, he no longer had an excuse to hide her and she wasn't sure how well she would fit in Oliver Queen's world.

For the last 2 ½ years that they have been dating, only Diggle had known about their relationship. Oliver had been afraid that she would come under suspicion if he ever got caught and it was known that he was dating Felicity. So he claimed to be the playboy he used to be, sleeping at various girls' places while he was generally spending his nights at Felicity's. She thought about the evidence of his presence in her apartment over the years: a sweater hanging on the armchair of her sofa, a Gilligan's Island mug (a joke gift from Thea) on the counter, a toothbrush in the bathroom, a bottle of Armani cologne on the dresser in her bedroom. She would have to box it all up soon.

She felt an arm snake around her waist and warm lips on the crook of her neck. She smiled happily. He felt so good against her. "Good morning," he said softly as he put his other arm around her, hugging her from behind.

She put her arms over his, sighing contentedly. "Good morning."

"You're up early," he noted. She glanced at the kitchen clock – it was 7:20am.

"I have to go to work in 40 minutes," she explained.

Oliver groaned. "Do you have to?"

"Yes," she nodded. "I need to pay rent."

He kissed her neck again, slowly working his way up to her lips and then kissed her deeply. She twisted in his arms to face him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She certainly didn't feel like going to work.

"Blow off work today," Oliver suggested once they parted. "Just for today. I bet you've never missed a day of work in your life. Come on, call in sick." He was smiling at her but did his best to put on the puppy dog eyes.

She sighed. She was really tempted. He was right; she had never missed a day of work. She knew that no one would question her if she called in sick. Oliver could probably feel her resolve weakening because he pressed on, "It's such a gorgeous day. We could go to our cabin by the lake. Just the two of us – no one else. We could spend the weekend there."

She had planned on breaking up with him during the weekend but one more weekend wouldn't make much of a difference and she would have one last weekend with him before it all ends. She smiled at him having made up her mind. "I'll go call the office."

The grin that appeared on Oliver's face when she agreed to his plan made her heart flutter. His eyes were bright with happiness – as if there had been very little in Oliver's life that made him as happy as Felicity agreeing to go away with him for a weekend. She mentally chided herself as she walked away to call work. She couldn't start making herself believe that things were more than what they were. She could be walking on a dangerous path.

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A week later, Felicity still hadn't broken up with Oliver. She found it difficult to end things. Their weekend away had been so perfect and he was acting as if he was completely in love with her. And now he had suggested that he introduced her to his family. She had immediately refused but he had looked so crestfallen when she had rebuffed his proposition that she had relented. So this Friday night, instead of spending it looking at her three monitors trying to track down the latest culprit in Oliver's notebook like she had so many Friday nights before, she was going to have dinner with Moira, Walter and Thea. She wanted to puke.

However, she had nothing to worry about. Dinner went really well. Walter was as nice to her (if not more) as he was at the office, Moira was gracious and courteous and Thea seemed to find Felicity's nervous babbling entertaining – in a good way. Oliver held her hand almost the whole dinner.

So she didn't break up with him.

It went on for three weeks. Three weeks that made her believe that maybe this could work, that maybe he did love her and that really, he wasn't thinking about Laurel anymore. She had been painfully aware in the last four years that for Oliver everything always came back to Laurel. But he hadn't mentioned Laurel once in the last month. His family seemed completely accepting of the fact that Oliver had met someone new, someone important enough to properly introduce her to them, someone who wasn't Laurel.

And then one night, everything changed.

Queen Consolidated was hosting a fundraising event for local organisations that provided aid to the less fortunate of Starling City. Fundraiser meant that the richest of the rich of Starling City were attending. And so were representatives of the local organisations. Felicity had been hesitant when Oliver invited her to the event, but at the same time, if she was going to be a proper Oliver Queen Girlfriend, she would have to get used to attending such events.

It had been awful.

She was so nervous that she was either babbling to an incredibly embarrassing level or she was stone cold silent. Oliver had been at her side the first ten minutes but he was soon obliged to talk to the different guests. He was going to take a senior position at Queen Consolidated. Since he was no longer spending most of his time hunting the depraved of Starling City, Oliver had decided to take on his father's corporate legacy and ensure that Queen Consolidated remained a fair and good company in the city. This ascension to the business world obliged Oliver to network and be his charming self so he could gain some credibility among his peers.

After forty-five minutes, Felicity gave up trying to be Oliver Queen's Girlfriend, got herself a drink and found a corner of the room where she could hide and people-watch. Within seconds, her eyes found her boyfriend, smiling at the people he was speaking to. He seemed completely in his element. Then, someone stepped away from the group and she saw her: Laurel. She seemed just as comfortable as Oliver was. She was conversing with Oliver and another couple whom Felicity had never seen before. She looked beautiful and charming. Nothing like the awkward dimwit Felicity had been not even ten minutes earlier. She watched as Oliver and Laurel looked at each other, smiling, as if they were alone in the room. Her stomach churned unpleasantly and she felt her throat close up. She scanned the room for a door, having a sudden need to escape. There was one to her right that seemed to be leading to a balcony so she swiftly stepped outside. The temperature was a little cold, but Felicity didn't mind. It woke her up from her stupor. She sat on a bench and took a deep breath.

This was exactly what she had wanted to avoid by breaking up with him. She should have listened to herself. She wasn't made to be Oliver Queen's Girlfriend. While it had worked and made sense when he was still The Hood, it really didn't work when he was becoming what he was always meant to be. And hadn't she told herself this from the very beginning, from the very first kiss? Back then, Oliver could have never dated Laurel. He was protecting her; he didn't want her to know about The Hood. He was a nightclub owner. He wasn't ready to take on his father's legacy, wasn't ready to become a husband, father, family man. He was slowly going down that path now. He was ready. And Laurel Lance was the perfect partner for that life. Felicity could clearly see that the young woman had already won most of the people in that room. Felicity, on the other hand, would never fit in.

"Felicity?"

Felicity turned around at the sound of Oliver's voice. She smiled through her tears, didn't bother hiding them. She was ready now. No point hiding her pain.

He sat down next to her and cupped her face with his hand. "What's wrong?" his voice was so worried, so caring, so comforting. It tempted her to avoid breaking up with him but she only needed to briefly close her eyes for the image of Laurel and Oliver looking at each other to regain her resolve. She opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. She didn't know how to do this. What the right words were. How to begin. Finally, she said exactly what she was thinking. "I'm going to miss you," she said softly, almost a whisper.

Oliver chuckled. "Why? Are you going somewhere?" He wrapped his arms around her. Felicity nodded, looking down on the ground. She didn't think she would be able to do this if she looked at him. "Where are you going?" she could hear the confusion in his voice. No wonder. She wished she had given him hints the weeks prior to the end of The Hood. Maybe this would have been easier.

Then again, she cannot imagine any scenario where breaking up with Oliver would be easy.

"Back to my boring life as an IT girl," she told him, hoping he would understand without her having to spell it out for him.

"I know. Soon we're going to work in the same building. We're going to see more of each other, not less. You'll see me so much you'll be sick of me." He was smiling as he said this. She couldn't see it but she could sense it.

"I don't think it'll be a good idea for us to see each other at work after tonight," she said slowly. He was clearly not understanding what she was saying. She wished she could simply say the words without going in such a roundabout way, but the words were stuck in her throat.

"What do you mean?"

This was it. She would have to say it. "I don't think we should be seeing each other anymore." She had said it. It was done. She wished she felt some kind of relief, but all she wanted was to hide in her apartment and cry. For a whole day. Or maybe a year.

"What? What are you talking about?" He sounded completely confused. And hurt. She hated that she was hurting him.

"I think we should break up," she said, her tone clearer this time, more determined. Once it was out there, she felt more confident. This was the right thing to do. Wasn't love supposed to be about letting people go when it was best for them?

She felt his finger under her chin forcing her to look up. Her heart crumbled when she saw his face. His eyes were red with unshed tears. "What did I do? Did you feel neglected tonight?" Felicity shook her head. She was afraid he would come to the truth. She didn't want to talk about it. She didn't want to discuss how inadequate she was for his future life. "I didn't mean to leave you alone so long," he went on. "I have to talk to these people so their opinion of me changes. They need to understand that I am serious and not the fun-time, playboy, nightclub owner anymore. It's temporary, I swear."

"But you'll always be Oliver Queen and that's not for me. It's not the life I want to lead," she explained.

"Then forget Oliver Queen. Let's move to Coast City or Central City. Let's find boring jobs and lead a boring, perfect life together. I don't need to do this." He was pleading. He sounded desperate. She felt her determination falter a little but she knew he was motivated by the idea of loss. He had lost so much in his young life; it was difficult to deal with additional loss. But with time, she knew it would be for the best. If they did as he suggested, he would regret it one day and resent her. Or if she stayed his girlfriend here in Starling City, awkward at dinner parties, always saying the wrong thing instead of being charming like Laurel, he would end up resenting it as well. It couldn't happen. She hated hurting him now but it was better than Oliver resenting her.

"I like living in Starling City. I helped save it," she said with a sad smile. It was true. All these years in that basement – she had helped The Hood save the city. She wouldn't want to leave it.

Oliver looked at her, searching her eyes, her face for an answer she wouldn't give. She knew he might end up despising, or even hating, her. She hated the thought of him thinking so ill of her but it was worth it. He would be happy in the long run and after everything he had gone through, not many people deserved happiness more than Oliver Queen.

She said the one thing she knew would work. "Please, let me go," she whispered.

Oliver tensed, but then relaxed, defeated. He unwrapped his arms around her. He got up and looked down at her. The unshed tears now freely falling down his cheeks. "I'll ask Diggle to take you home."

"Thank you," she said, grateful that he was no longer fighting with her on this.

"Goodbye, Felicity," he said as he walked away.

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End Part 1 of 2