I've been sitting on this for the past three years but I've never really been satisfied with it. And then a lot of things happened in my life that left me depressed and unmoored, the culmination of which was my father's passing not even a month ago. That really put a damper on my writing. I never felt like I was in the right headspace to write with the humor I had planned to use in this trilogy. Add to that the more recent announcement that Arrow was ending after a shortened S8 and that EmBett wouldn't even be staying on for it… The long and short of it is that I was just in dire need of a pick me up so I willed myself to get back on this horse and re-write this monster. I am glad to announce that I have finally banged out three chapters non-stop (which you'll get throughout the day after I give each a spit-polish). I started Finally as a gift to myself and am now following it up with the sequel that has been sooooo long in coming. It's hard to believe that it has been a over 3 years since I posted Finally and I never did expect the tremendous response I got for it (which was also my first ever contribution to fan fiction). Thank you to all of you who are still here with me after all these years. I hope you like this! XOXO

The Starling City Stars were set to face their rivals, the Gotham City Knights in a game that was billed to be the greatest of the season openers of this year's Super Hockey League. The rematch was 18 months in the making as Gotham's perennial contenders failed to capitalize on its early success in the last regular season to make the play-offs for the first time in 20 years. Now, the two-time defending Champions face off with a never-before-as-hungry team as newly drafted rookie Ryan Hayes and returning legend Kevin McDonagh suit up for their first outing together for Gotham City's storied blade runners.

Oliver Jonas Queen was going to have to miss all that, because right now he was sitting alone in a darkened penthouse suite that he would've liked to call theirs but couldn't.

How was this his life?

He sighed because he knew the answer.

He had been without Felicity for three months, 13 hours, 8 minutes and 5 seconds and it was because of him that everything had gone sideways.

Three Months Ago

They had just come back from the Annual Children's Charity Fund Gala and to say that all was not well between them was an understatement. He just had the two shittiest weeks of his life, ever, and that counted even those he'd spent on the island.

He'd been back from Central City for a week now. A week. And Felicity had been – and still was – avoiding him. He didn't know why, really, but he felt like everything was slipping away. It was like trying to hold water in the palm of his hand. And then he got a call this afternoon – on the landline Felicity insisted they get for the loft. And then his whole world just began to collapse on him. And then add to add how nonchalantly she acted all throughout the evening. He was trying too hard not to lash out but he couldn't help himself.

"Has the past eight months meant nothing to you?" he asked. Her ring had been burning a hole in his pocket, but the call he took that morning was throwing him for a loop.

"What the hell are you talking about, Oliver?" Felicity asked with a note of irritation in her voice.

He probably deserved that. He'd been an ass all evening. But he needed an explanation from her, too. So he pushed. "I took a call this afternoon. I didn't want to believe at first… I wasn't expecting it, I guess. But it's true isn't it?" he asked as he was met with Felicity's still confused frown.

He was being overly cryptic and Felicity was getting more pissed by the minute.

"Mike called. Remember Mike? Your former building super? He told me that renovations on A partment 6 had to be put on hold because of a ventilation issue. Guess what he told me when I asked him how any of it was your concern, being a former tenant?" Oliver asked as he stopped pacing and stared angrily at her. "He said that as far as he knew, you still owned the god-damned place!" He bellowed as angry tears built up in his eyes, not exactly caring as Felicity flinched at the volume of his voice.

There it is. He said to himself as he saw understanding dawn on her face.

"Oliver, it's… it's not –" Felicity said as she started towards him.

"Don't!" He warned her with his index finger. There was no telling what he would do when he got his hands on her in his current state of mind. He didn't know if he wanted to shake her and show her just how betrayed he felt that she had kept this from him, kneel in front of her and beg her not to leave him or take her against the god-damned wall to claim her as his – only his.

"Whatever it is you're thinking, please Oliver, it's not it. It's not the reason –"

"Why you kept your apartment even after moving in with me, and didn't even bother to tell me about it?"

"I'm so sorry, Oliver, I never meant –"

"For me to find out?" He spat as he interrupted her yet again. He lashed out because he didn't want to hear her say that she was leaving him. He can't.

"Aren't you even going to let me explain?" Felicity sighed as her heart recalled the pain and confusion she felt at his own betrayal. Tears began to cloud her eyes at his silence, but even then she demanded, "So, that's it? I don't even deserve the benefit of the doubt?"

Felicity's outburst took the wind out of his anger. "Felicity…" he said as he realized that he had gone too far.

"You don't get to Felicity me. You don't," Felicity snapped at him. It was her turn to be angry now. "I guess, I shouldn't have given you a pass then, when you lied to me, when you told me that you were on your way back to the hotel from our Central City offices when I saw you leaving a woman's house with my own eyes. Or when I decided to give you some space to process and some time before I asked you to explain to me why her kid happens to share half of his DNA with you," she said as she angrily advanced on him and poked her finger at his chest every time she wanted to drive home a point.

Oliver was dumbfounded. His trip to Central City was anything but uneventful. He had a son – a son he didn't even know existed and his son's mother, Samantha wouldn't even let him see his kid unless he promised that no one – not his son, not Felicity – would ever know about it. He had begged – yes, begged – Samantha not to ask the impossible of him. But she had.

And he chose to get to know his son.

"You were in Central City?" he asked, his voice now barely above a whisper, as the gravity of their situation had dawned upon him. Everything was falling apart.

"That– That's what you got from all that? Unbelievable," Felicity muttered as she shook her head. "You were always so convinced that I always had one foot out the door, Oliver. That may have been true once but if there was anything the past eight months have taught me, is that you're worth staying for, you're worth it. I want to show you just how much but I don't even stand a chance when you won't let me," she said as she stalked out of their apartment.

Oliver sighed at the memory. She had left for Gotham shortly after that.

And he didn't even know if he could ever get her back.

Please feel free to let me know what you think. I think the muse is hungry for it, now that she let loose on me.