AN: So this story has an original character's character death (not sure of the proper wording) from a terminal illness. If that is a trigger for you then I don't recommend reading. I also wrote this in the airport on my iphone so if you see any typos please let me know.

Thank you all so much for your reviews, feedback, favs, and all. You are all amazing and I am so grateful you have all taken the time to read and review (in some form)! Thank you!

Not Alone

The funeral was nice, classy yet intimate, Oliver thought to himself as he tugged on his black suit jacket. Granted the reason it was so intimate was because only twenty people came to pay their respects, him, Diggle, and Roy included. Apparently the mother of Felicity Smoak didn't call for a large crowd of mourners who were shocked at the sudden loss.

Roy and Diggle stood over in the corner of the living room with an old photo album in between them while smiling and laughing. Once they arrived at her mother's house, after the funeral, Felicity had disappeared into the guest bedroom to get out of her black dress. He assumed that the dress wouldn't be making it back to Starling City and would most likely end up in a trash pile somewhere or, like the suit he wore that day of his mother's funeral, a pile of ashes.

She hadn't been happy that the men arrived on her doorstep that morning. She specifically told them not to and warned them that if any of them came they risked leaving Starling unprotected. Oliver didn't want to tell her that two of the Felicity Smoak fan club members were watching over the city so that the members of team arrow could attend: Detective Lance and the newly enhanced Barry Allen. He had a feeling that their gestures would only increase her apparent guilt.

When Felicity got the phone call she had been at work at Kord Industries, a job he wasn't entirely thrilled that she took. She began working in their IT department not long after they returned from Lian Yu. They had had a meeting with Ted Kord, CEO of Kord Industries, about possibly working together to save what was left of Queen Consolidated when Felicity caught Ted's eye. While she did turn him down for a date, she couldn't turn down the job offer when she was without a job.

Oliver couldn't deny the small twinge of relief that she called him when the hospice nurse had phoned Felicity to tell her that her mother had passed. He remembered stepping out of yet another meeting with lawyers only to be greeted by her hollow voice, which was a sound he hoped he didn't ever hear again. She explained that she hadn't even known that her mother was sick. Felicity knew that she had been having more doctors' appointments but didn't think that her mother was dying.

She didn't cry, or express any emotion really, but only looked at him, Diggle, and Roy with a blank expression. The words she used left Oliver concerned; saying that heading back to plan the funeral was the least she could do. He knew Felicity well enough to know that she was putting all the unnecessary blame on herself. There was nothing she could have done to prevent her mother's illness, but he knew that she was still blaming herself.

"Hey" he heard Diggle as Felicity began to walk into the room in a pair of sweatpants and an old high school t-shirt. "You hungry? Roy and I were thinking of going to get something to eat."

Felicity shook her head and frowned a little deeper.

"I guess I should have had food after the funeral huh? I didn't even think about people wanting to eat." She looked between the men. "God everyone must think I'm completely useless. Food after funerals is a tradition, right?"

"Hey." Oliver placed a hand on her shoulder while Roy and Diggle flanked him with shaking heads, the album now forgotten on the coffee table. "No one thinks that."

"You sure?" Felicity asked in a small, not like Felicity, voice. "I mean I can look through the cabinets now and see-"

Oliver placed his other hand on Felicity's other shoulder and bent his knees to place him at her eye level.

"Dig and Roy can go out. It's fine." Oliver glanced over his shoulder at the two other men and nodded for them to continue with their plan to go and get food.

Dig nodded back and guided Roy out of the house. As the door shut behind them Felicity sighed and turned so that his hands fell to his sides.

"I wish you didn't do that. I could have found something to make." She told him as she moved to sit on the couch behind him.

"Dig and Roy could use the fresh air. And you could use a break." Oliver turned to look at her.

"What do you mean?" She asked as she pulled on the loose strings of the throw pillow she was holding to her chest.

"I think you know what I mean." He continued when she didn't look up. "You haven't said anything about what happened since you got the call."

"What am I supposed to say, Oliver?" She asked, still not looking up.

"Whatever you want to say, scream, throw things, use your loud voice. Just something so we know you're feeling it." He sat next to her. "Trust me. Holding it all in like this won't help you heal."

"Oliver" she finally looked up to him. He could see the desperation on her face to hold it all in.

"Felicity." He reached out to grab her hands which held on tight around the pillow.

"I wasn't here, Oliver, when she needed me." She told him with a frown and watery eyes. "I wasn't here. I was too focused on getting out and not ending up like her…She always supported me and how do I repay her? I couldn't even be bothered to know that my mother was sick enough to need hospice care."

"There was no way for you to have known that she was as sick as she was." Oliver moved closer to her, angling his body so he was facing her completely. "You said it yourself that she never told you how bad it was."

"But I'm her daughter." Felicity objected. "I should have known and I should have been here with her. She was alone and I should have been here." Felicity sobbed as Oliver wrapped an arm around her to pull her into his arms.

"Hey, it's ok to cry." He let his lips graze the top of her head while Felicity cried. "Maybe you're right but all these what if's and should haves won't change the most important thing." He told her in a soothing tone while he trailed his hand in circles on her back.

"What's that?" She mumbled into his white dress shirt.

Oliver pulled away so that he could look into her eyes while he spoke.

"Your mother loved you and she was so proud of you." He let a small smile grace his lips while Felicity continued to fight the tears that were rolling down her cheeks.

"How do you know that?" She asked as she brought a hand up to swipe at the tears.

"Look around you, Felicity." He gestured to the walls around them. "This whole house is like a shrine to you. Roy and Dig even found this album with these newspaper clippings and awards that you got from high school and MIT… Whether you were here or not your mother loved you just like you loved her."

"But-"

"No. Come here." He halted her as he brought a hand up to cup her cheek. "I may not have met her but I know that no parent would want their child to feel guilty for living their life."

"How do I do this?" She asked. "Live in a world without my mom."

"I'm still not sure. But each day you wake up, take a deep breath, and know that no matter what you are loved. And you still have us." He ran a hand over her head. "And when the pain gets too much, tell me. I'm not going anywhere."

AN: Let me know what you think!