This is based off a small little moment in Instinct. If you haven't seen you it, you won't get it. And if you have, you still might not. So Tess gets a green dress from Ollie and he asks her meet him at the Ace of Clubs but she refuses. What are Ollie's thoughts about this? I'm Tollie fan so this is heavily Tollie -influenced but there's a twist at the end, for all you DC fans. And please review! Even if you HATE Tollie...and I'm actually hoping that, just perhaps, one of my stories will convert someone to the Tollie ship... Maybe, just maybe.

He couldn't say he was surprised.

No, that she would blow him off was completely expected.

What was surprising, however, was the reaction it caused in him. Not heartache, exactly, but not apathy either. Grunting, he swirled his drink around, absent mindedly staring out the window of his clock tower residence. Without meaning to, he conjured up an image of her face as he remembered it, wiped clean of all that make-up she now seemed insistent upon wearing. Deciding that remaining on his couch was pointless, he sprung up, heading toward his closet. He flipped through his wardrobe, attempting to look for something he could wear out on the town. All the shirts blended together until his fingers finally touched one, hanging in the back of his closet. When he spotted it, the white cotton standing in stark contrast to the black blazer beside it, he started. Of course, he knew it had been there but he always put it out of his mind, always told himself he'd throw it away. Later.

Always later, when it came to her.

Tell her she wasn't the reason you left - later.

Tell her that you really had loved her - later.

Throw away the shirt she gave you - later.

A deep groan exited his lips as he stood, frozen before the shirt, remembering the last time he had worn it. The two of them had been out, enjoying the dining of a fine establishment, of his choice.

"Why must you always pick these fancy places?" she asked, tucking one strand of red hair behind her ear, eyes furtively glancing around, obviously feeling out of place.

"Because, my Mercy, you deserve nothing less," he replied, reaching across the table to squeeze her hand with his.

"Ollie," she sighed, attempting, but failing, to hide the blush rising to her cheeks. "You know I just like being with you. You don't have to pay so much… All I really want is you." When she squeezed his hand back, he felt his heart constrict in his chest. He knew a lot of people claimed that the only reason the two had ended up together was because of their shared experience on the island. But that didn't explain why they had stayed together. That was another matter altogether.

"And all I want is you Tess."

Tears blurred his vision and he tore the shirt out of his closet, ripping it to shreds with his bare hands. It wouldn't do to become nostalgic over a relationship that ended years before.

No matter if she still held some sway over his heart - but not enough to cause heartahce, not at all.

Clutching the torn pieces of fabric, he marched to the trash bin that was hiding in the corner of the room. He tossed in the pieces then stalked to his desk, where he grasped at the small slip of paper that Tess had had delivered to his apartment earlier in the day.

Mr. Queen - I don't know what you meant by sending me a gift but do not think that your wealth could ever convince me to revive any sentiments of the past. Those days are long over. I hope you realize this.

Tess Mercer

In moments, the note was merely confetti, floating to the ground.

Surprised? No, certainly not.

After his departure, how could he expect anything less than utter rejection?

The sun shone down on the couple as they walked through the park, hand in hand. She smiled up at him, a smile full of happiness and love. Grinning back at her, he tightened his hold around her waist, swallowing down the regret rising. He was doing the right thing. At least, he hoped so.

"Today was…" Tess paused, the fingers of one hand playing with the buttons on his shirt. "pretty amazing. You sure know how to treat a girl right."

The guilty lump would not dissolve. "You're a pretty amazing girl Mercy," he responded, somehow sounding completely like himself.

Pleased with his answer, she rested her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes, trusting him completely to guide her.

It was hard to traverse the rest of the park, hard not to stumble and show her just how untrustworthy he could be. When they reached the sidewalk, he stopped, suddenly overcome with emotion, and pulled her toward him, pressing his face into her hair. "I love you," he whispered, splaying his fingers on her back. "Whatever happens, remember that."

"Oliver, what's wrong?" she asked in alarm, wrestling against his hold and losing. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine," he replied, finally loosening his hold. He leaned back and drank in every detail of her face with his eyes. "I just…love you so much."

The soft smile on her face revealed how she felt but she still told him, in hushed tones, "I love you too Oliver Queen."

But Green Arrow had taken priority over Tess Mercer and he had left her that night, heading to Star City. He had tried hard not to look back but he had. Repeatedly.

And suddenly Tess Mercer was back in his life, back but altered in a way that Oliver didn't like. His mission as Green Arrow was to stop corruption and bring about justice. Yet he couldn't help but wonder if it would be so wrong to make his mission as Oliver Queen resurrecting the Tess Mercer he had loved all those years ago. And if he did, could he guarantee that that woman even existed anymore?

Sighing, he turned from the position in which his feet had been planted and stumbled back across his apartment. He downed his neglected drink, allowing the contents of the glass to burn down his throat and settle in his stomach.

Face set, he determined, as he set the glass down, that he would let go of Tess Mercer, as he had done in those years previously, and move on with his life.

Before he could move or think beyond that thought, his phone rang. He bounded across the room and answered it.

"Hey there," came a familiar voice on the other end.

Mildly shocked to be hearing her voice, he responded, "Hey yourself. Why are you calling? Is everything okay?"

"Can't I just call you to chat?"

"Dinah…" he warned.

"Everything's fine, Mr. Queen. Don't you worry you're pretty little head about it. I just heard some news about you being completely wasted at some high class event and called to get the real scoop."

"Well," he said, plopping into a chair. "It's a long story… But…did you just call me pretty?"

Suddenly, keeping his resolution, to let go of Tess Mercer, didn't seem so hard…

End.