So we meet again and it's a double digit chapter.

I know everyone is impatiently waiting for why they broke up and what happened. Now really if you knew all the answers would you even continue reading the story? Patience everyone. Your answers are coming soon. Of course you know with answers comes a price to pay. Don't stress though, in the end it's all good. I just have to create some drama before that and drag it out to drive you all crazy. What can I say, I'm just mean I guess.

So instead of dragging all this out, and don't doubt me, I can babble about nothing for a long time. I blame years of customer service work and having to listen to people complain about nothing for what seems like forever. Trying to choke yourself with the phone cord or impale yourself with a pen does not work, trust me I've tried. So let's move on and get to this chapter.

Reminder I don't own Arrow or the characters, but I do own all my bad grammar and spelling mistakes. I have no beta so forgive me for my mistakes. Xxoo

Chapter 10

I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues

/h6KYAVn8ons

Oliver sat staring out the window in a daze. Truthfully his mind was stuck on Felicity. Seeing her again brought back memories that he had tried so hard to forget. Who was he trying to fool though, those memories were engrained in his brain and truthfully he didn't want to forget them. He knew he was still in love with her and no matter what his head said, his heart said something different.

He could see the reflection of the lights in his eyes from the various hotels and casinos. Funny the last time he was in Vegas was to visit Felicity's mother and they barely stepped foot into the city. Felicity had shown him the other side of Vegas where she had grown up. It had forever changed Oliver's opinion of the place. In his eyes it was no longer just a place to gamble your fortune away, but a place where a little girl built her first computer and hacked into the MGM grand's security system.

Oliver purposely booked Ceasar's in an effort to avoid Felicity's mother. The last he'd heard she was working at the Venetian and that was crossed off the list. Running into Donna Smoak was more than Oliver was going to be able to handle right now.

"Ollie!" He turned his head and smiled hearing his name called repeatedly. Tommy sauntered over to him. "There will be no pouting at my bachelor party." He pulled him away from the window. He put his arm around his shoulder. "This is my bachelor party and you my friend are single and in Vegas. It's high time you had a "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas experience" and I am going to help you do it." Tommy wiggled his eyebrows as he led him to the rest of the group. Oliver sighed, but joined the group and headed out for the night.

Oliver lost track of the clubs after the fifth one they went to. Part of it was being over tired, but most of it was the amount of alcohol they had drank. He hadn't had this much to drink since he and Tommy turned 21.

When he woke up he was staring up at the ceiling in the middle of a king size bed, he went to turn over he heard breathing. He lifted his head to see dark hair spread across the pillow next to him on the left. He looked to the right and saw a hand on his shoulder. His laid his head back on the pillow and cover his eyes with his hands. Fuck was the only thought in his head. He honestly didn't remember a thing and really just wanted to get up and shower.

Maneuvering out of the bed proved to be a challenge, but Oliver succeeded. He picked up the now empty box of condoms and breathed a sigh of relief as he tossed it in the garbage. He stepped into the shower and let the hot water run over him. He scrubbed with the bar of soap wishing it would wash off what happened last night, whatever that was. If he was lucky those girls would wake up and be gone by the time he got out.

He came out of the bathroom fully dressed to see the brunette zipping her boot up. She looked up at him and smiled. "Kara left. She has an early shift today." She stood up and pulled down her dress to adjust it.

Oliver looked around nervously. "Oh, I uh, I didn't know. I mean I uh."

The girl shook her head. "I'm Gina." She put her hand out for him to shake. "I figure you don't remember my name so I thought I'd break the ice a little."

Oliver shook her hand. "Do you need anything? I mean can I get you anything?"

Gina chuckled. "I just need to use the bathroom before I go." She pointed to where the door was to make sure she was going the right way. Oliver nodded a yes. Gina went in not closing the door all the way behind her. "Oh yeah. Your friend wanted me to tell you they will meet you downstairs in an hour. They wanted to make sure you were done in here. That was bout ten minutes ago so you have some time." She said coming out of the bathroom. "That is unless you want to have a little more fun before you go."

Oliver looked at her trying not to be rude and just say yeah no way now that I'm sober. It was pretty obvious that was how he felt.

Gina shook her head. "Yeah I didn't think so." She walked over and grabbed her purse. "Come on rich boy. Let's get you back to your friends."

They got in the elevator and rode down to the lobby. Oliver stepped out behind her. She turned to face him. "Thank you Oliver. It was fun." She smiled gripping her purse strap.

"Thank you Gina. It was nice meeting you." He said taking her hand.

Gina reached up and put her arm around his neck giving him a kiss. Oliver looked up to see Donna Smoak staring at him with the phone to her ear, her mouth open in aww. Panic set in.

"Donna." Oliver choked out. "What are you doing here?"

Donna shook her head. "Sweetie, I have to go." She said into the phone. "I know. I will. Felicity honey I promise I will call you later. OK. I love you. Bye." She tapped her phone to end the call. "Hello Oliver." She said with a raised eyebrow.

Oliver looked at Gina then back at Donna. "This is not what it looks like."

Donna pursed her lips. "Who am I to judge? What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but in your case it's already on the internet. I hope girlfriend is very forgiving. Have a good day Gina." She said as she started to walk away.

"See ya later Donna." Gina smiled shrugged her shoulders and walked away.

Oliver quickly caught up to Donna. "Donna, you know that wasn't what it looks like. I was just, that was just. It's Tommy's bachelor party."

He followed her into the back room where she walked over to a locker. She opened the lock and swung the door open. "Look Oliver, it's none of my business how you spend your nights since you and Felicity aren't together anymore and if you feel like spending it with a stripper that's your choice."

Oliver observed the contents on the inside door of her locker. He immediately caught sight of the picture she had hanging in there. It was of him and Felicity standing in front of the hoover damn, one arm around her shoulder and she was tucked under the other. Both of them smiling happily.

Donna saw what he was looking at. "Heh, it's my favorite picture." She ran her fingertips over it. "You both look so happy. Even though you aren't together anymore I haven't had the heart to take it down."

Oliver looked down. "It is a great picture." Oliver sighed at the memory. "We're trying to be friends yu know."

Donna took a deep breath. "In my experience it doesn't work like that. One person always wants more." She grabbed her bag from the locker and closed the door. "Look Oliver, I'm not going to say anything to Felicity about seeing you. I think it's just best this way. She's been through enough." Donna said taking his hand. "Now, if you'll excuse me I have to go. I need to sleep and then be back here in 8 hours for a high roller banquet."

Oliver shook his head. "Thanks Donna." She leaned over and hugged him.

Donna walked to the door and turned to look at him. "You know Oliver. Sometimes some things just have a way of working themselves out." She smiled and left him standing there.

Oliver walked out the door. He stopped and leaned against the wall looking up at the ceiling to collect his thoughts.

Las Vegas

"See, I told you the next card was a jack of spades." Felicity said with a proud smile. "I grew up here, I know my card games." She hopped off the bar stool and took her place under Oliver's arm as they strolled out of the casino.

Oliver laughed. "Counting cards is illegal." He whispered into her hair.

Felicity chuckled. "I know. It was the head of security that taught me how to do it."

They walked up the strip Felicity showing him all the places she loved as a kid, even where she picked up her first hard drive when she was seven years old.

Felicity took him to her mother's home, she showed him around and when they got to her room Oliver saw the organized shoe boxes filled with computer parts. He looked at the tower in the corner of the room. "It's a server." She blurted out.

Oliver looked at it fascinated by the workmanship. "Felicity, this is amazing. I don't know much about computers, but I've never seen anything like this."

Felicity smiled modestly. "It's really just a simple naz server. It's no big deal."

Oliver walked over to her. "You are too modest." He said as he leaned in to kiss her.

Felicity smiled through the kiss. She quickly turned hearing the front door open. "Felicity!" She heard her mother call.

"Here we go." She whispered as her mother entered the room. "Mom. So good to see you." She said walking over to her mother and hugging her.

Donna hugged her looking up at Oliver. "Hi baby. I didn't interrupt anything did I? I could leave you two alone."

Felicity rolled her eyes. "Mom, please." She said pulling away. "Mom. This is Oliver, Oliver this is my mom."

Oliver walked over to her and took her hand. "Lovely to meet you Ms. Smoak."

"Please call me Donna." She said staring at Oliver. She kept her eyes on him as she turned to Felicity, mouthing the words "Oh my gosh" as she squeezed his bicep. "Oh my you work out."

"Mom." Felicity said rolling her eyes.

Oliver let her go. "Uh yea. I try."

Donna smiled. "Well, whatever you're trying it's working." She turned to Felicity who was giving her the please be quiet look. "Oliver, please come sit down."

Oliver and Felicity followed her to the living room. He looked at Felicity noticing the stressed look on her face. He took her hand in his. He sat down next to Felicity and smiled.

Donna sat down folding her hands. "So Felicity said you own a night club. That's an interesting business. I mean I know a lot of club owners and well a club owner is the last person I'd picture Felicity dating."

"Yes, well my friend Tommy and I own it together. It was actually Felicity that encouraged me to make the investment." Oliver turned to her and smiled. "So far she was right."

Donna sat quietly looking at the way Oliver looked at Felicity. She licked her lips and shook her head. "I see." She smiled. "So what are you two up to tonight?"

Felicity turned to Donna ready to speak when Oliver quickly interrupted her. "I was hoping to take you both to dinner tonight, get to know each other, if you don't mind."

"Um, my mother probably has to work Oliver. Right mom?" Felicity asked trying to be calm.

"Actually I have the night off since I covered Bev's shift earlier this week." She put her hands together with a clap. "Dinner sounds wonderful."

"Great. I already made a reservation at Valentino for 8. Felicity why don't you go shower and get ready since you were saying you wanted to freshen up before your mother got home. I'm sure Donna and I will find something to talk about while you are getting ready." Oliver said tapping her hand.

"Well, Maybe my mom wants to-" Felicity started, but was quickly cut off by donna.

"Yes, honey. You go shower. I'll freshen up when you're done. Now go so Oliver and I can chat dear." Donna waved her hand at Felicity. "Go go go. We'll be fine."

Felicity slowly walked towards her room. She turned back to look at them before she entered her room and shut the door.

Oliver turned to Donna who was standing with her arms folded across her chest. "So, Oliver, tell me how long have you been in love with my daughter?"

Oliver bowed his head. "Is it that obvious?" He smiled looking back up at her.

Donna chuckled. "Honey, if I was legally blind I'd still see it." She put her hands on her thighs and pushed herself up. She headed for the kitchen. "Can I get you a drink?" She got herself a glass and filled it with water, taking a sip as she smiled at Oliver.

Oliver leaned up against the counter. "No, thank you." He folded his arms. "I want you to know that my intentions are good. I love your daughter very much and I would never hurt her."

Donna took another sip of her water. "No one ever intends on hurting the woman they love, sometimes it just happens. It's like just when everything seems so perfect the bubble bursts." She set her glass down on the counter and took a deep breath. "You know Felicity's dad left us when she was seven. One day he just up and left, no explanation, no warning. I never saw it coming." Donna looked down and looked at Oliver in the eyes. "I just want more for her than that. I've read all about you on the internet, all your girlfriends, peeing on a cop. I want you to know, I didn't work crazy shifts waiting tables in heals to help put her through college and be a success to have some man break her heart."

Oliver turned to face her. He set his hand on top of hers. "I want you to know that I plan on being around for a long time. I know what the gossip columns say and I understand that you don't trust me. Hell I wouldn't trust me either, but I have changed. Felicity…she's…she's amazing. I've never met anyone like her and she so smart. So smart. She makes me want to be a better man. Without her I don't know where I'd be. I love her, more than I ever thought was possible. What I'm saying is, I plan on being in this for the long hall and I only hope that I have your blessing."

Donna bit her lip, a tear slipped down her cheek. "Ok Oliver Queen." She wiped her eye. "I believe you." She wiped her eye one more time then pointed a finger at him. "But remember this, I know a Brutus and he looks as scary as his name sounds, and if I find out you hurt my baby girl I will not be afraid to call him and believe me he will make sure you feel every ounce of pain you deserve. Do you understand me?"

Oliver pressed his lips together and shook his head yes. "Loud and clear."

Donna sniffed then straightened up. She set her hand on his bicep again. "Now that we have an understanding let's get ready for dinner."

If anything Oliver had Donna Smoak's approval, well at least he hoped he did at least. Things were better than Oliver could have ever imagined, but it only takes a minute for that to change.

When Oliver got to breakfast he was beyond ready to go home. He'd had enough of Vegas and all the memories it stirred up inside of him. Running into your ex-girlfriends mother when you are trying to get rid of the stripper you can't remember sleeping with the night before are not ideal circumstances. Somehow despite Donna saying wasn't going to say anything to her daughter he knew somehow Felicity would still find out and it bugged the crap out of him.

When he got home that night he set his bag down on the floor and flopped on the bed. He cover his eyes with his hands before sliding them over his face. He sat up and looked at the drawer to his night stand. Sliding over the side of his bed he opened the drawer and reached in pulling out a box. Fingering the box he popped it open and looked at the ring inside.

It was somewhat modest, but that matched Felicity's personality perfectly. A diamond in the center and a triangle diamond on each side. Inside the band engraved a heart with an arrow through it. He didn't have the heart to sell it or return it. Keeping it somehow made sense to him.

Felicity never saw that ring. Maybe if she had things would be different. Maybe if he had just given it to her on that day instead of watching her walk out the door the emptiness he felt wouldn't exist. He snapped the box shut and shifted so his back was up against his headboard with one hand behind his head, the other twirling the box in his hand. It was in that moment that Oliver realized that he needed to start being honest with himself. The truth was he never stopped loving her and was miserable without her. The problem was he had no idea what to do next.

Oliver's eyes were getting heavy. Hopefully a good night's sleep would clear his head.

Ok well, just an FYI for anyone who is still out there reading, the next chapter is going to shed some light on a few things. I promised you all patience would pay off. I keep my promises.

xxoo