A/N: It's been a week, and I am still not over 3x01. I keep listening to break-up songs on repeat, particularly "Break Up in a Small Town" by Sam Hunt, and came up with another story for Olicity. (I also got bored in church on Sunday and just started typing. Thank God for the Notes app on the iPhone or I would have been in so much trouble with the other adults). This can be considered part of my last story, Be Careful What You Wish For, but I am going to post it as a stand-alone because I have been asked to turn the other one-shot into a story. I'm just waiting for 3x02 to see if I can pull it off, or if I'll just keep angsting all over the place.

Summary: He had thought that Felicity would walk away from him and Team Arrow after the hospital. Now, a part of him wishes that is what she had done. Instead, she has a front row seat to her moving on. Inspiration from song of the same title by Sam Hunt. Olicity/Raylicity.

Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow. I also do not own the song that this story takes its title from. That belongs to the very talented Sam Hunt, who is the reason why I have been listening to country music radio non-stop for the past month.

…

Break Up in a Small Town

…

Oliver never really thought that the situation in the lair could be any worse than what he had imagined in that hospital hallway several weeks ago. He had been expecting Felicity to walk away. Not just from him, but from Team Arrow as well.

There was a part of him that wishes that she had.

In fact, he was sure that it had been a part of her plan. But then she had received the phone call that had changed every one of their lives. She had then decided to stay, if only long enough to find Sara's killer.

He had thought the his last sight of her would be of that blond ponytail bouncing as she walked away from him with her head held high. Her last words to him were supposed to be her finally calling him on his bullshit and telling him that they were over.

Instead, they sit across the lair from one another, trying to avoid any kind of contact that was not necessary. Any time that they were forced to communicate face-to-face, her words would be directed at his chest or chin. And he would respond to some spot over her shoulder. If they accidentally made contact (and lately, it was always accidental), she would smile at him, but it was a part of the mask that she now wore. It was the exact same smile that she had given the board members or Isabel when she would start tearing her down all those months ago.

It was that indifference that he hated more than anything. He could handle her anger, her pain. His Felicity was supposed to be nothing but babbling and emotions. But she was closed off to him now.

He wanted to take everything back. He wanted to give their relationship the chance that it deserved to have. Their first kiss was not supposed to be their last. But, if someone was able to get to Sara, then Felicity could survive in his world as anything more than his tech support.

Both Dig and Roy had tried to convince him that he was making a mistake. They had seen the difference in his personality and he could not deny that. Even he had seen how much happier he had been these past five months. One (not so) little RPG shouldn't make him throw his life away. And Sara had been encouraging him to go after Felicity too. It would disrespect her memory to ignore that last bit of advice.

He had snapped after they invoked Sara's name, raging at the both of them for trying to make him feel guilty. So they had given up, and nothing had been said since. It did not mean that he never noticed the looks that they exchanged.

But things had become quite awkward in the past couple of days. The guys might not have agreed with his course of action, but they understood where he was coming from. Yet, they cannot even look him in the eye tonight. And Felicity seemed to be even more tense, although he had no idea how that was even possible.

Even the silence in the basement is awkward. His eyes keep sweeping around the room, watching his team as they try their best to ignore his hard stare. Roy is playing with his bow, trying to hit another bull's-eye while Dig is attacking the training dummy with less than his normal concentration. And Felicity is typing away at her computer, inputting the small amount of information that they have on Sara's murder in yet another search program to find something.

She is the one who breaks the silence. With a sigh, she pushes her chair away from the computer and stands up. She turns to him, blue eyes once again focusing on his chest. "I have the programs running, looking for any matches, but it is going to take a while and I have…plans tonight. So I'll see everyone later."

His eyes grow wide as she gathers all of her things. She has never had plans that would take her away from the lair, unless you count her trip to Central City to help Barry with the Clock King. He clenches his fist, wanting to demand that she stay, but he refuses to be more of an asshole than he already has been. She flashes a fake smile toward him before turning a real one on Dig. "Give Lyla and that precious girl of yours my love."

"You know it." He says, giving her a hug. "Be careful."

"And have fun." Roy calls out from the shooting area.

She rolls her eyes at him. "You too, Red." She heads up the stairs, waving at them.

The moment the door clicks into place, the awkward silence settles around them once again, as both guys refuse to make eye contact with him once more. He lets out a huff and slams the arrowhead that he has been working on down on the metal table. "Alright, what the hell is going on?" He is almost positive that he would be hearing crickets if they were outside. "I am not going to freak out just because Felicity has a life outside of the lair…"

They share a look before Diggle turns toward Oliver. He has a look of skepticism on his face. "After your reaction to her helping Barry a week back, I seriously doubt that."

He tenses up, eyes narrowing. "Is she on a date with him now? I thought they didn't work out?!" He ends up growling the last part of the sentence, unable to keep control of his emotions.

"They didn't." Roy mutters, relaxing his arm and turning him. "And I think this counts as freaking out, Oliver."

His eyes drift closed as he registers the emphasis. So she was going out on a date, even if it wasn't with the Flash. Part of him is pissed that she is trying to move on from him. And it is that part that he decides to focus on for a while.

With a snarl, he pushes away from his work station and marches to the case holding his hood. It would be better to channel his anger in something more productive than beating the hell out of Dig and Roy. Or tracking Felicity down and breaking her date's jaw. Neither of his teammates say anything as he heads toward the bathroom to change. He would need to patrol the city on his own, if only to blow off some steam so he doesn't explode at Felicity again.

….

3 Hours Later:

He is still trying to convince himself that it is merely a coincidence that has brought him into this particular part of town tonight. But after circling past her apartment building for the third time, Oliver cannot lie to himself anymore.

He cannot even convince himself that it is solely to make sure that she is safe. He wants to know who she is using to get over him. He wants to know who his competition is. Not that he is even in the running anymore.

A Bentley pulls up in front of her building and he slips into the shadows of the alleyway so that he can still see and hear everything without being discovered himself. The driver side door opens and his blood begins to boil as a familiar figure steps out.

Ray Palmer walks around the front of the car and opens the passenger side door for his date. Oliver loses his ability to breathe as he catches sight of Felicity being helped out of the car. A beautiful blue dress hugs all of her subtle curves, stopping at her knees. Her blond curls are gathered to one side, reminding him of their undercover operation at that casino so many years ago.

She flashes a smile that he hasn't seen in almost a month. But this one hurts the most because it is not for him. At least, not anymore. Instead, it is for Palmer. The man had already taken his company and his family home. Now he was going to take the one thing that he gave a damn about anymore...

"I had a wonderful time tonight, Felicity." He says, shutting the car door before turning to face her.

"Surprisingly enough, I did too." She says with a chuckle. "And you managed to put up with my word vomit all evening, so you get bonus points."

His mouth curves into a smirk that Oliver knows well. He had used the same smirk on girls before Lian Yu. "And what do bonus points get me?"

Even in the darkness, he can tell that she is blushing. Her eyes narrow playfully. "Well, there's now less of a chance of a certain hacker replacing all of your important computer files with the sound of porcupine farts…again."

They both laugh, while Oliver tilts his head in confusion. He had no idea what that was about. Then he realized that they already had inside jokes and his heart breaks a little more.

Ray leans down and brushes his lips against her cheek, effectively cutting off her laughter. She turns her head toward him as he pulls away a bit to look her in the eye. "Goodnight, Felicity. I cannot wait for our next date."

The smile curving her neon pink lips is shy, and one that he had only seen one time, during their only date when he had remembered the color pen she had been chewing on when they met. "Goodnight Ray." She whispers, standing on her tiptoes and pressing her lips against his.

Oliver turns his head, unable to watch the scene play out anymore unable to leave the alley without giving himself away to Felicity. It felt like he had spent an eternity in that alley before he hears the car start up. It idles for a few moments, as if Ray is waiting for Felicity to go inside before he leaves. That theory is proven when Oliver hears the front door of the apartment complex click closed. It is not long before the engine noises fade into the night.

But he stays in the alley. He presses his back against the wall and slides to the ground, his head in his hands. While he had pushed her away, he had never once thought that Felicity would be able to get over him so fast. She had stayed with him through all of his issues with Laurel, Helena, Sara, and Isabel. Now it was his turn to watch her fall for guys like Barry and Ray.

Karma really is a bitch.

It was time for him to get used to seeing her with someone else, because he is the one who let her go. And she should not have to wait on him to get over his split personality issues, no matter how much he loves her and really wants to be with her.

But he would allow himself this one moment to mourn what could have been if he wasn't such an idiot.

…

A/N: This was going to simply be some little 1,000 word prompt, but it turned into this. Hell, it's a whole page longer than the assignment I just turned in for my college class. So, I hope that y'all enjoyed this angst-fest. Maybe tomorrow's episode will give me happy material, but with the subject matter, I doubt it. Any ideas for prompts can be PM'd to me here, or you can message me on Tumblr at little-miss-gambit.

Enjoy,
Dream