A/N: Thank you as always for the great reviews :), the follows the favourites etc. I'm still carrying on strong with a chapter a day so here's the latest one, as always it's nice to know what you think or if you have any questions/comment etc. There is a scene in this similar to a promo released (I'm not spoiling anything because it is different) but I did write that before the promo was released which made me chuckle, anyway getting side tracked again. I hope you enjoy this chapter :).

Oliver went all out for the evening; he ordered food from all different restaurants. He wanted to give Felicity the send off she deserved, especially after what he did last time, not saying goodbye at all. Plus it was a joint venture for Sara too, who was also leaving the next day.

Everyone was slumped around the living room; some sat on chairs, others on the floor, with plates and food on every available surface. The conversations came naturally, everyone was smiling. Oliver looked around the room, he'd never wished for one moment to last forever till now.

He stared at everyone around him. Lyla and Diggle snuggled together on the sofa, chatting to Sara who was crouched on the floor in front of them. Thea and Roy were sat on the floor next to each other, chatting to Laurel who was in a chair at the side. Tommy was sitting on her chair arm, facing Felicity who was sat on the floor both fully engaged in conversation. This happy bubble was all Oliver ever wanted, the people he loved and cared for happy, enjoying themselves and safe

"It's nice to see you happy" he turned to see Sara, who was now talking to him as Diggle and Lyla chatted among themselves

"It's nice to see everyone else happy" she laughed

"Why can't you be happy Ollie?" He rolled his eyes at her

"Because nothing lasts forever..."

"Yes that's why you enjoy it whilst you can" she smiled winking

"Anyway you're heading back to work, everything okay there?"

"Yes, I bring a bad guy like Slade in; it gives me more leeway" she joked "but not all my family know..."

"I won't say anything Sara, that's your secret to tell"

"Thank you" she leant over giving him a quick hug "I've been meaning to ask, how'd you know about me anyway?" He grinned

"I saw you in Russia, when I was in hiding. I recognised you taking down an opponent of Anatoli; he told me you were a MI6 agent... I didn't tell him who you were, and that was before the mask" she frowned

"You were there? That was one of my first jobs"

"Yes, I tried to find you but I couldn't risk the triad coming for my family here..." She nodded in understanding

"You've been through so much, you deserve to be happy too" she looked over in Felicitys direction and he followed her gaze

"Sometimes Sara we have to let go of what makes us happy so they can be happier"

"That's so selfless"

"I've spent enough time being selfish, it's the least she deserves, to be happy"

"But Ollie..."

"Yes" he turned to look at her

"What happens if she's happy here?" She raised an eyebrow "look at her around everyone, part of the team, part of the family, part of your life"

"Doesn't matter Sara, she's told me she's happy with Daniel, she's moving in with him"

"Oh..." She gave him a sympathetic smile "well at least someone's getting a happy ending" he nodded "thanks for being here for me Ollie"

"Same to you too Sara" they smiled softly. The evening was drawing to a close, especially when Walter came in from work and joined them too.

It was getting to the end when everyone found themselves in the entry way. Oliver was holding Felicitys suitcase, ready to drive her to her flat. She made her way down the line of people

"Miss Smoak you have been an asset to our company and if you ever want to return you will be welcomed"

"Thank you Mr Steele" she smiled, he leant in and hugged her

"No thank you Felicity" she blushed moving on. Thea jumped into her arms tears falling

"Hey I'm not going forever, I can come back, and you can call all the time"
"I know... It's just you brought my Ollie back. You have been more like a sister to me"

"I know, you're like my sister too Thea but you'll be okay. Though seriously I am a phone call away, you can call me whenever about anything, okay?" She nodded. Felicity gave her a tight squeeze then let her go turning to Roy

"You take care of her okay?"

"Yes ma'am" he said nodding wrapping an arm around Thea. Next she came to Sara

"Thanks for saving me, for saving all of us and him" She nodded at Oliver "seriously Felicity, you are more amazing than you give yourself credit for" she pulled her in for a hug

"Thanks Sara, you are marvellous too" she chuckled

"Take care of all of these for me"

"I'll try, a bit hard not living here though" Sara smiled

"I think maybe, maybe you need to really listen to your heart" she whispered in her ear pulling away, Felicity frowned in confusion "goodbye Felicity"

"Goodbye Sara" Next she was embraced by Laurel and Tommy

"Take care of yourself Smoaky and you best stay in touch!" He grinned

"What he means is we'll miss you. Thank you Felicity for changing these two guys into real men"

"They already were there, they just needed a little guidance to get them out" she winked and Laurel laughed

"Seriously though, I'm glad to call you a friend. You've helped so much and I know my dad cares about you too" Felicity was forcing tears down

"Thank you, say bye to him for me too" Laurel nodded

"Of course" she leant in hugging her "take care of yourself and visit us!"

"I will" she smiled as Tommy pulled her in for a one armed squeeze

"I am going to miss you Smoak" he said with a tinge of sadness

"I'll miss you too" she pulled back "thank you for being there for me" she smiled at him then spoke to them both "please take care of Oliver for me" her eyes glistening with tears

"We promise" Laurel smiled

"He's not the same without you Felicity but we'll look after him" Tommy grinned

"Thank you" she moved on to Diggle who automatically pulled her into a hug

"I am going to miss you girl" he said softly. She pulled back tears spilling over "hey. I am always going to be here for you, no matter what. So you best stay in touch, our babies going to need her godmother around" Felicitys eyes flew open as she stared between Lyla and Dig

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Yes of course we are Felicity" Lyla said hugging her tightly "you looked after my man, kept him safe and that means the world to me. So who better a godmother than you" she released her and this time she couldn't stop the tears

"That's if you want to of course? I mean you are Jewish so we aren't sure how it works" Diggle asked wrapping an arm round her shoulders

"I'd be honoured. We'll figure it out, thank you both so much" she wiped her tears away on the back of her hand

"I love you Dig"

"I love you too sweetheart" She leaned up pulling him into another hug and whispered in his ear

"Please take care of him for me and if he needs me let me know..."

"Felicity, of course I will" and then they let go "but he's never going to not need you, you know that right?" She frowned

"He's a grown man Dig, he'll be fine without me" she smiled "plus I don't mean that much to him" Diggle raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms "what?" She said

"Nothing" he shook his head in disbelief "just take care of yourself, okay?"

"Yes and you too" they had one last hug before Felicity turned to Oliver who held the door open. They walked to the car and Oliver helped her in, and then placed her suitcase in the boot. Everyone stood together waving and shouting their goodbyes as Oliver slowly pulled off

"When are they going to start seeing what we all see?" Roy said as the car pulled out the gates, everyone turned to him "oh please you all see it, those two are meant for each other" they all laughed

"Well this is one thing we can't force" Tommy said "we'll just have to hope they figure it out before it's too late" they all nodded in agreement.

They drove in silence. He carried her suitcase to her flat, she opened the door and they stepped in, all in complete silence

"So..." Oliver said placing the suitcase down, looking at her bare flat, mostly boxed up

"Thank you for tonight, for the proper send off" he ran his hand across the back of his neck sighing

"It's the least I could do after last time" He took a step closer to her "thank you"

"For what?" She frowned looking up at him

"For everything..."

"You have to stop thanking me for everything; you need to believe in what you do"

"I do because of you... Most people fail to see the real me but you, you do... You saw the potential in me"

"I still do" she said smiling

"I... I'll miss you" he felt the lump in his throat and closed his eyes briefly to hold back the tears

"I'll miss you too Oliver. I'll miss all of it. If I could stay I would" his eyes flew open and she could see them glistening with held back tears and saw the puzzlement on his face "Daniel makes me happy, and we both deserve to be happy, don't we?" He nodded, and a tear escaped. She put her hand up brushing away the tear with her thumb but leaving her hand on his cheek "you deserve to be happy Oliver. Promise me, promise me you'll carry on being the hero, the better man you are and promise me Oliver, you'll be happy... You deserve a happy ending more than anyone" he stared into her blue eyes behind her signature glasses; she believed he deserved love, happiness and joy. He loved her so much. His heart was pounding and his eyes flickered to her lips then back to her eyes.

He leant forward and Felicity wrapped her arms around his neck turning her head to rest on his shoulder. His arms wrapped round her waist pulling her in tight. He squeezed, turning his head to smell her hair. Trying hard to remember the feeling of holding the woman he loved in his arms. They never moved only squeezing tighter

"I promise" Oliver finally said sounding deflated; she turned her head to face him pulling back a little to look at his face. They were only inches apart

"Good" she smiled wide and he returned it; he could see the tears forming in her eyes. Neither wanted to let go. Felicity knew as soon as she let go, the home she'd built with these people, the life she leads would be no more, and as much as she thought about how happy Daniel made her something in her chest ached.

Oliver was fighting hard to remain in control. Every part of him was saying to never let go, to kiss her and to not stop. He knew this was his only chance to say it, knew he needed to, without agenda just needed to

"What I'm about to say is because I'll never get to say it again, and I won't ever say it again... There are no hidden intentions. Only that I need to say it, just once... If that's okay?" She looked at him, then in his eyes. Her heart was hammering in her chest. She knew he was about to say it, a part of her wanted to never know but another part wanted the closure of it, to finally hear it. She nodded then turned her head, not able to look at him. Oliver let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding, he leant close to her ear and whispered so only she could hear

"I love you" he closed his eyes as his heart thumped. Felicitys own heart pounded harder, she smiled sadly realising she couldn't say it back. She was with Daniel. But she wouldn't take this moment from Oliver, he needed to say this and he needed to be able to feel love.

She squeezed tighter. She couldn't help the tears from flowing now. She felt the loss of something that never even began. All the, what ifs and could haves, all those moments together as friends, as partners but never as anything more. She was crying for the life she was losing, and her heart ached. Why? Why was she so sad when she was starting a new life?

Oliver pulled back slightly releasing the hold on her and her arms dropped from his neck. He put his hands either side of her face using his thumbs to wipe away the tears. She gave him a watery smile and he returned it his eyes still glistening with unshed tears. Her hands wrapped around his wrists feeling his pulse, letting it calm her and ground her. He leant forward placing his lips to her forehead, giving her a tender kiss. She felt the shiver travel all the way down her spine, and he felt electricity pass between them.

He pulled back slowly, as she let go of his hands, and he her face. They stared into each other's eyes. Oliver looked over her trying to remember everything about her, knowing he would never really forget. He smiled genuinely at her, and she returned it

"Sweet dreams, travel safe" he said heading to the door, she followed as he opened it and stepped out

"Goodnight Oliver" she finally spoke as he headed down the corridor, he span around

"Goodbye Felicity" he waved. He turned quickly forcing himself to leave whilst he still could

"Goodbye" she said closing the door. As it shut she looked around at her apartment and decided to throw herself in to packing up more stuff.

At 9am all of Felicitys possessions were boxed up ready to leave. There was a slight tap on her door; she opened it to find a delivery man. He handed her a package, passing her the machine to sign then left. She looked at the package confused. She hadn't ordered anything. She slowly opened it to find a white box wrapped with a green bow. She laughed, this had to be Oliver.

She slowly pulled the bow opened and lifted the lid. She cautiously pulled back the wrapping paper and pulled out the gift. She turned it around. It was a large photo-frame, the word Family beautifully crafted into the frame in silver. The frame itself was emerald green, hence the words stuck out even more. She looked at the photo. It was from the previous night, all of the group together smiling. She forced her tears down then saw the note sticking out. She placed the photo down and grabbed it

Felicity,
I hope you like the present. We couldn't let you go without a leaving gift. This is from all of us because well you are and always will be family, and I don't want you to ever forget that you are always a part of our lives... The girls helped with the design, but obviously I chose the colour. Anyway I wish you all the best in the future. I hope you have an amazing life, one day you get married, you have children, a family, and that you have a life full of joy, happiness and love. And you die a happy old lady because you deserve nothing but the best.
You're always a part of the team
Love forever and always
Oliver x

She stared in disbelief at the note. Oliver Queen loved her, he loved her enough to let her be happy with someone else, to wish her a happy future, to let her make her own choices. She stood there just staring between the photo and the note. There was another tap on the door which brought her out of her thoughts. She placed the note back in the box. She opened the door not even thinking who it could be

"Hey" she blinked at Daniels emerald eyes staring at her

"Hi..." She frowned "I thought you were at work"

"I took some time off to help you move" he smiled at her then leant forward giving her a quick peck on the lips. She stood there dumb founded as he walked in. She closed the door behind him

"I thought the delivery guys were coming later..."

"They are but I thought I'd help you pack but you seem to have that pretty much covered" he looked around him at the boxes sprawled around

"Yes I kinda just blitzed through it but seeing as you're here do you want to go get breakfast?" She smiled now trying to push the thoughts of Olivers letter away

"Of course!"

"I'll just grab my coat" she walked off into the bedroom grabbing her coat from the chair. She looked around for a second. She was leaving her home, she was leaving her family and she couldn't shake this nagging feeling as if something wasn't quite right.

She walked back into the other room, as she made her way to Daniel she saw him reading the note from Oliver the picture now stood up. He turned to look at her with a blank expression

"I can explain…" he looked at the letter then her then the photo

"What's to explain Fliss?"

"It was a gift… for leaving"

"I gathered that much" he smiled sadly

"I just-"

"You don't need to explain, I know" she frowned

"You know?"

"Oliver loves you… he's in love with you" she froze. Her expression must have conveyed her mixed emotions. Daniel laughed nervously "the night you got injured, he told me as much. He… he said it didn't matter, that he couldn't be with you, that I made you happy… that he needed you to be happy and safe which meant being with me, by making you hate him" she frowned unsure what to say "But that's the thing isn't it?"

"What?"

"He pushed you away, and you still came back. You still couldn't leave him because you can't hate him… no matter what he does you just can't…"

"I don't understand Daniel" she frowned

"This picture" he pointed to the group "I haven't seen you smile like that since the attack"

"I'm sorry" was all she could find

"Don't apologise for being happy Fliss, these are your family, this is your home" he pointed around the room "I can't take you away from all of this, from him"

"You aren't taking me away… I'm choosing to leave" she stepped forward

"I need you to think about this Felicity, really think don't just answer" she nodded "you make me happy, and I know I do you… but happiness isn't everything, not in a relationship, so I'm going to ask these questions and I want you to really think about them okay?"

"Daniel-"

"Please Felicity" she nodded him to continue "Do you really want to live with me, in Gotham?" she opened her mouth then closed it as he continued "and do you love me? Or are you in love with Oliver?" Felicitys mouth flew open in shock. She stood there her brain and heart stood still. Neither of them moved and Daniel could see her trying to figure it all out.

Her brain kicked in first, and started working in over drive; did she want to live in Gotham? Did she love Daniel? Could she give up all of her stuff? Why was this, such a hard decision? Why was her heart hammering so hard, Could she love Oliver? She stared into Daniels emerald eyes feeling the familiar sense of safety washing over her and then it hit her. She started laughing hysterically

"Fliss are you okay?" Daniel asked. She merely nodded

"Sorry" she got out between laughs. She had finally realised she was in love with Oliver bloody Queen. She had a lovely gentleman, someone who cared about her, someone who could have made her happy, right in front of her but all she wanted was Oliver. All she needed was Oliver.

He infuriated her at times, made her so mad but here she was looking into the emerald eyes of her boyfriend and all she could think about was how the colour reminded her of him. The safety she felt in Olivers arms, with Oliver by her side. She hadn't used her head at all; instead for once she was listening to her heart. But then it hit her again she had to let Daniel go.

"I am so sorry" she started and his head dropped

"Don't apologise, I should have known. You bring out the best in each other"

"No, you made me feel wanted… and I will never forget that, I am truly sorry but I do love Oliver" she grimaced at the end as it came out as a whisper, he looked at her sadly "and thank you for finally making me see it"

"It was my pleasure" he said softly "I'll go…"

"I am sorry Dan, I truly am… I've been so blind which is saying something considering I have glasses to help me with my sight-"

"Felicity, stop! It's okay, I should have seen this coming and I'm not going to get in the way. I should go" Daniel walked to the door

"Dan please let me explain…"

"There is nothing to explain, you love Oliver, and you chose Oliver"

"Can we be friends?" he sighed as he opened the door

"I, I need time Felicity… I want you to be happy, I really do but I was falling for you" her eyes shot wide, instantly she felt guilty

"I…I…"

"There really is nothing to say Felicity" he gave her a half hearted smile "I just need time" she nodded the tears and guilt building "Goodbye" he smiled sadly closing the door silently. She stood staring at the door, coat still in hand. Her life in the past 48 hours had completely thrown her. Oliver had told her he loved her, and then admitted to the world they weren't sleeping together. She had a goodbye "party", a mix of emotions at leaving and then the previous night with Oliver. Then the gift and now Daniel making her realise she loved Oliver. And now she was stood in her living room alone. Everything hit her all at once and she crumbled to the floor unable to stop the tears.

She didn't know how long she was there, but all she knew was she was being pulled into someone's lap, arms wrapping round her. She hit their chest hard. She recognised the smell, the feel, the touch. Oliver. She wrapped her arms around his neck

"Hey, hey" he said quietly "it's okay…"

"I know it is…" she replied not looking at him. He pulled her chin up, so blue eyes met blue and he frowned "Why are you here?"

"Daniel called me… said that you needed someone…" she nodded in understanding. She felt guilty about Daniel but here in Olivers arms she knew, knew she'd never make another choice again only Oliver

"We broke up" She felt Oliver stiffen

"What?" he said looking at her face

"I'm not going to Gotham, I'm not leaving Starling. I'm staying right here with my family…" she pointed to the photo on the counter "if they still want me?" she sound defeated now

"Always" he replied "your job at QC is yours and you are the heart of the team" she smiled a little nodding as he squeezed tighter. He wasn't going to ask her about the break up. Clearly whatever Daniel had said had hurt her from having found her on the floor in tears. But a part of him was so happy to have her stay, to keep her close. He knew they would never be together because he would destroy her, or worse get her killed. So he'd just have this, her friendship and her partnership.

Felicity could tell Oliver wanted to know about the break up but she wasn't ready to admit she loved him, just yet. She'd tell him soon, but right now she just needed him here as a friend. Though she also knew she had a bigger problem, which was trying to convince Oliver they could work. That there love was enough, although that would wait because right now was all that mattered.

After a several minutes they both got up. Oliver spent the whole day helping Felicity unpack everything. They ate takeout and watched trashy TV, they avoided anything that lead to romance or Daniel, even avoiding any other small contact. Felicity placed the photo-frame by her bed, as a reminder everyday she woke up that she had people who loved her, who mattered.

After an exhausting day Felicity fell asleep on the couch. Oliver picked her up and placed her in bed, he placed a gentle kiss on her temple as she snuggled in the sheets

"I love you Felicity Meghan Smoak…" he said gently "and I will always be here for you but we can't ever be together" he let a tear roll down his cheek as he stood up and walked away, leaving Felicity to rest and headed home.

Felicity wasn't as deep in sleep as Oliver thought, as a tear rolled down her cheek as he walked away. She knew this was not going to be easy, but now she knew it was going to be near impossible. But she wasn't giving up, not now.