They arrived in New York the night before the concert. The sky was just beginning to fade into a deeper shade of blue as the bus began to navigate through the city streets instead of the freeway. Felicity was spread out across the couch, her feet pressed against the edge, bending her knees. Thea was sitting on the floor beside the couch, her head resting against Felicity's legs as she flipped through a magazine.

"At least we have the hotel tonight and tomorrow," Thea said, her head turning to the side to look at Oliver. "It's nonstop driving and shows for the next week right?"

"Yeah," Oliver responded, looking up from his phone to to frown at Thea. "Should be nice and fun. Tommy really spread the stops out for this tour."

"Lots of time for us to finish Dawson's Creek," Thea joked, smiling brightly at her brother. "Maybe Felicity will even be able to memorize the dictionary by then and actually give you a run for your money in Scrabble."

"Shut up," Felicity muttered, her hand brushing against Thea's hair as she half-heartedly shoved at it. "I don't think I'm making the mistake of betting against your brother again."

"She's just upset that I beat her at Uno last night," Oliver said, his features brightening as he looked at Thea. "She now has the pleasure of doing at least three rounds of my laundry."

"I wouldn't say it's a pleasure," Felicity said quickly, her words overlapping with Oliver's, as she leaned her head back over the edge of the couch to glare at him.

"I'm sure I could find a fan out there somewhere that would find it pleasurable."

Felicity made a gagging sound as she shook her head. "There's something so wrong about that."

"You sure you don't want to try and finish the game? You never know, you might win," Oliver teased, tilting his head down at the unfinished Scrabble game in front of him.

Felicity rolled her eyes, sitting up on the couch as she stuck her tongue out at Oliver childishly. "We both know I'm not making a comeback."

"Sore loser."

"I'm still not convinced you aren't peeking at the tiles when you pull them out," Felicity accused, her eyes narrowing in exaggerated judgment.

"Yeah, cause you aren't watching me like a hawk every time I put my hand in the bag."

Felicity tried to stop her brain from thinking of other places she wouldn't mind watching Oliver's hands go. But, judging by the smirk that spread over Oliver's face as he looked at her, she wasn't very successful at it. "It is statistically impossible that I would draw the z and x every single time we play Oliver."

"It might be impossible, but that doesn't seem to change the fact that it's what keeps happening."

"You lost a bet on Uno," Thea interrupted, moving forward from the couch to turn around and look at Felicity. "Uno," Thea repeated in disbelief, her face scrunched down in confusion. "How do you even bet on Uno?"

"It was three am," Felicity argued, ignoring Thea's question. "I can't be trusted for the decisions I make after midnight, let alone three hours later."

"The first time I met you was after midnight," Oliver pointed out.

"Exactly my point. I agreed to Tommy's plan after midnight." Felicity sat up, shaking her head at Oliver. "Horrible decision making skills," she teased.

Felicity's phone buzzed against her side as Thea finished standing, stretching her arms behind her back. Picking up the phone, Felicity quickly read the text message from Tommy.

T: You guys here yet?

The bus began to slow down before Felicity could ask Thea or Oliver how long they thought it would be until they were at the hotel.

F: Perfect timing. Just got here.

T: I have the keys to the rooms. Will you or Thea meet me in the lobby?

Felicity frowned at the message, glancing briefly at Oliver being responding.

F: That your way of seeing you don't want to see Oliver?

T: Yes.

F: Tommy.

Felicity stared at her phone for a few more moments waiting for Tommy to respond. Realizing that he wasn't going to, Felicity sighed, standing up and glancing at Thea and Oliver.

"I'm going to go get the keys from Tommy. I'll be back to get my stuff. Would you guys mind staying here? Not that I don't trust-"

"Tommy doesn't want to see me," Oliver interrupted, his eyes cast down at the table.

"Yeah," Felicity responded, slowly, as she looked at him.

"Figures." Oliver looked back up, his hands raising to rest behind his head. "I need a drink."

"Ollie" Thea exclaimed, her head leaning down as she looked at her brother.

"I said I need one, not that I'm going to get one."

"Right," Felicity said, "Well, how about you don't do that, and I'll go talk to Tommy."

Thea nodded at Felicity reassuringly as Oliver gave her a half smile, his face harder to decipher. Felicity walked toward the door of the bus, giving a awkward half wave to Thea and Oliver before opening it and walking out onto the street.

Felicity paused after the door to the bus shut, standing on the last step before the street. She quickly typed another message to Tommy.

F: I'm on my way.

The initial shock of going from a secluded bus to the busy outside world took her breath away as her eyes tried to adjust to the sudden brightness. Thea swore that eventually it was something she would get used to, Felicity wasn't sure that she would. She closed her eyes briefly, controlling her breathing to follow a pattern of deep and slow inhales and long, overdrawn exhales as she let her senses take in the noise of other people walking around her, the warmth of the sunshine on her face.

She continued the process for a few moments, before shoving her phone into her sweater pocket. She pushed off the final step, landing onto the pavement with a slight bounce before she darted across the street to the hotel.

Felicity saw Tommy as soon as she walked into the hotel lobby. He was leaning back against one of the white pillars that squared in the front desk. Felicity stopped in front of him, shaking her head slightly as she watched him pull the keys from his pocket.

"Really?" she asked, her head tilting as Tommy held the keys out to her.

Tommy didn't say anything as he handed Felicity the keys to the rooms. Felicity stared at him as he returned his hand to his pocket, leaning his head further back against the pillar.

Felicity rolled her eyes at the over exaggerated movements Tommy was making. "How long do you actually think you can keep this up?" she asked, placing the cards into her jacket.

"Rooms 407 through 409," Tommy said, ignoring Felicity's question.

Felicity pushed her tongue against her lips, shaking her head at him. "I'm being serious, Tommy."

"How much longer do we have on this tour, " Tommy deadpanned, the smile on his face void of any humor.

"Tommy." Felicity repeated, her hands resting against her hips as she sighed. "We aren't going to make it through the rest of this tour if everyone keeps avoiding this."

Tommy didn't respond as he looked at Felicity. He shook his head in frustration as she continued to just stare at him, her eyes narrowed and knowing.

"We've made it through worse," he answered, finally, his voice strained as he looked away from Felicity.

"You call this making it?" Felicity asked, shaking her head in disappointment. "Tommy, I don't think Laurel and Roy have had a conversation with Oliver since I've been here. You guys aren't making it. You're failing."

"We aren't-?"

"This is going to be the last tour Tommy," Felicity interrupted. "If things don't change, this is it."

"What, are you psychic now?" Tommy questioned, his voice bitter, his ears reddening at the truth of her words.

Felicity's eyes narrowed more in his direction. "I think he's trying. I get that he's probably tried before and this sounds like a broken record to you. To all of you. And that I don't have that history with him, that knowledge that he's going to just go back to… that," Felicity emphasised the last word, her nose crinkling as she tried to think of a better word. "But if you're really that done, be done. Stop dragging it out. Leave-"

"You're making it sound like I'm breaking up with him."

Felicity raised her eyebrow. "Aren't you?"

Tommy removed his hands from his pockets, pushing back against the pillar, stepping closer to Felicity as he nodded. "Band meeting then. Before the show tomorrow. Tell Oliver?"

"If I say no, will you?"

Tommy didn't answer right away, instead he reached forward, squeezing Felicity's shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Felicity pulled herself up to sit on the counter space farthest from the actual furniture in the room, watching as Roy and Laurel entered the room and the confused glances they were shooting at Tommy as they noticed Oliver. Felicity hadn't planned on coming down for the meeting, even though Tommy had included her in on the group text message about the meeting. It had seemed too personal to her, for her to actually be sitting in the room, even if it was set up for recording anyway.

Then Oliver had showed up at her room before nine am with coffee and a hopeful smile asking if she was ready to go down and face the music with him. She wasn't sure there was any universe in which she would have been able to tell him no with that face.

"Anybody want to tell me why you are having an emergency meeting? Or are we just going to sit here with a cryptic text message as a starting point?" Laurel questioned, as she sat down on the couch in the backstage room, placing her coffee down on the table next to her. "And why is Oliver here?"

"I'm pretty," Oliver paused, sighing heavily before continuing, "Pretty sure I'm still a part of the group, Laurel."

"That's questionable," Roy stated, his words sharp as he sat down next to Laurel, legs stretched in front of him. "When's the last time you showed up, hell Oliver, when's the last time you even knew about a band meeting?"

"You guys have band meetings without me?" Oliver asked, directing his question at Tommy, eyes widening in surprise.

Tommy sighed, pressing his fingers against his temple, attempting to push away the oncoming headache, before nodding toward Oliver. "Yeah man, we do."

Oliver looked down at the floor, his stomach tightening at the confirmation from Tommy. "Look, I know I haven't been the most active member or," Oliver paused, visibly struggling with what he was trying to say, "or even a good friend for that matter, but I'm trying and-"

"Trying?" Roy interrupted, his eyebrows raised as he looked at Oliver. "You've been trying? You've either been drunk, in jail, or off 'recuperating' at one of daddy's properties since this tour started Oliver. You want us to sit here and listen to you talk about how this is you actually fucking trying?" He paused, scoffing as he shook his head as he looked over at Tommy. "And you really called this meeting expecting us to listen to this bullshit?"

Tommy looked down at the ground, paying close attention to the way the cement was cracked in certain places, the dirt that was lined up against the edge of the wall. He could feel the three of them looking at him, waiting for him to respond. He could even feel Felicity specifically looking at anything but him, and he could hear her. Felicity's voice had been repeating in his head for over twelve hours: last tour, break up.

"You guys ready to be done?" Tommy asked softly, his eyes still glued to the floor. "Cancel the rest of the shows, go our separate ways?"

Tommy waited for somebody to reply, bending his right knee and placing his foot flat against the wall behind him, he rocked back and forth for a moment before he pushed himself forward and moved toward the center of the room.

"Felicity pointed out yesterday that it's what's going to happen," Tommy continued. "We aren't making it, we aren't going to make it, if we can't figure out how to move beyond our past. And I get it, I completely get if you guys don't want to." He paused, looking at Roy and Laurel, hoping that they could see that he meant every word of what he was saying. "But I need to know. There's no point in dragging this out."

Felicity watched from where she was as Roy and Laurel looked at each other. It was hard to tell what either of them was thinking or to guess what they were going to say. Oliver's face was, maybe for the first time, the easiest to read. It was clear that he was terrified that this was it, that Laurel and Roy were one decision away from ending everything.

"We don't," Laurel started, her eyes not leaving Roy's, "we don't want that." Laurel looked away from Roy, her gaze moving steadily between Tommy and Oliver. "But I don't know how we are supposed to go back to what we were either."

"We don't," Oliver said with ease. "I don't want things to go back to the way they were. I want to move forward."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Roy asked.

"Slowly," Oliver offered, shrugging slightly. "One choice at a time."

"But this is it Ollie," Laurel said with a sigh. "One chance."

Oliver nodded. "I know."

"So," Roy began in a questioning tone, "Are we supposed to hug now? Or are we free to go?"

"Free to go," Tommy replied, reaching behind his head to scratch behind his ear. "We could all go get food?"

"Yeah," Laurel agreed. "Food sounds good."

"Is it weird that I'm nervous," Oliver asked as Felicity secured his microphone wire against his chest, her hands lingering against his skin longer than was really necessary.

"Hmm," she asked, pulling her hands back as she looked up at him.

"I'm nervous."

"To go on stage?"

"Yeah."

Felicity narrowed her eyes, shaking her head slightly in disbelief as Oliver finished zipping his green jacket. "Little weird. You have been doing this for how long?"

"Half of the audience is probably only here to see if I'm going to get arrested again."

"Less than half."

Oliver raised his eyebrow questioningly at Felicity's statement. "You seem pretty positive of that."

"Oh. There was a survey. Less than half. The majority seem to think you'll be on your best behavior at this show and that the one in Chicago toward the end of the tour is when you'll slip up again."

Oliver pursed his lips. "Forget I brought it up."

"Hey," Felicity started, her hand squeezing against his bicep. "You're going to do great. I'm excited to see if you actually remember the words to these songs."

Laughing, Oliver smiled down at her. "I have the really hard ones written on the back of my hand. Don't tell anyone."

"I'm serious though, you'll be wonderful." Felicity gave him another smile, her hand awkwardly dropping from his arm. "You should probably get out there."

"Right," Oliver said slowly, gazing down at her.

Felicity fought the urge to give away her nerves by pulling her bottom lip through her teeth, or to fiddle with the edges of her hair as Oliver continued to stand in front of her, doing nothing more than look at her. He reached out finally, slowly, his hand enclosing hers, still at first before squeezing softly.

"Thank you," he said after what felt like an inordinate amount of time had passed.

Felicity nodded, squeezing his hand in return, hoping that the confusion she was feeling over why he was thanking her wasn't written on her face. Whatever his reasons were for thanking her weren't what Felicity wanted to focus on.

Not that she was actually certain what part of the moment she wanted to focus on.

Oliver didn't say anything after that. He simply let go of her hand and walked out of the room and down the hall until he disappeared from her vision.

Felicity let out a breath as she moved toward the area of the room where the video monitors were set up. She chose to ignore how shaky her breath was, and how her body felt warmer and looser than it should, focusing instead on adjusting the angles of the cameras that were placed around the venue.

She continued to make small adjustments to the equipment as the show went on. The concert itself, from what Felicity could see and hear from the monitors in front of her, was going incredibly smoothly. The nerves Oliver had displayed before going on stage hadn't disappeared as soon as he stepped out in front of the crowd, but Felicity could see a significant improvement as the band continued to play. Overall, everything seemed to be more in sync. They were all playing with each other, instead of against each other.

It was hard in the beginning for Felicity to put together the band she had seen playing, with the band that managed to sell millions of albums and headline sold out concerts. But the band that she was currently seeing, they looked like the band they must have been in the past. The kind of band that was capable of achieving greatness.

"Hey Felicity," John's voice came over the radio, pulling Felicity away from the screens she was watching and to the little yellow box blinking red.

She pressed down on the button to the side, waiting for the quick beep before responding.

"What's up?"

"Oliver's dad just showed up. I need you to go tell Tommy."

Felicity's eyes narrowed in confusion, her breath hitching in pause. There was something about John's tone that set her on edge, something he was trying to convey to her that she felt like she was missing.

"Okay?"

"It's… complicated," John replied, the end of his sentence coming out through more of a sigh. "Tommy's going to want to know. We don't need a repeat of last week's show."

Felicity nodded to herself, forgetting momentarily that John couldn't actually see the movement. "Complicated. Got it."

She stood up, taking one last glance at the monitor, focusing on the peaceful features of Oliver's face as he sang. "I'll go let him know," Felicity added, clipping the radio back onto her pants before leaving the room.

Felicity made her way through the hallways of the venue, mentally bracing herself for the sound that was going to escape as soon as she opened the door to the crowd. She pushed against the door, flinching slightly at the immediate flood of noises and smells as she began to scan the room for Tommy. She found him with ease, at a table toward the very back of the room next to the bar. For a moment she was thankful that he seemed to be a creature of habit when it came to where he preferred to sit during the shows.

For the majority of the shows, Felicity had stayed behind the scenes. Watching them from monitors, making sure that she was getting the right views and movement, that the focus was where she needed it to be later on. She had only been out on the floor and with the crowds for a few concerts overall. But at that moment, the vibe felt different than the rest.

The crowd's energy was up, the feeling of belonging amongst them infectious as she made her way back toward Tommy. She felt hands brush against her waist and shoulders as she continued to walk through the crowd, lyrics coming from every direction as they all sang along with Oliver. It was hard not to get swept up in it all, to forget about why she was going to where she was going, and join in with them. She found that she wanted to stop, to scream along with them to songs she wasn't even sure she knew the right lyrics too.

The song ended as she finally made it over to Tommy. He smiled up at her as he clapped along with the rest of the crowd. Felicity had a feeling, judging by the gleam in his eyes, that he was barely containing the urge to join in on the hollering and whooping as well.

"They are killing it," he said as she sat down next to him, dipping his head closer to her ear as the crowd grew louder. "Whatever you did at that cabin, thank you."

Felicity pursed her lips, her head turning to place her lips next to his ear. "I didn't do anything. It was all Oliver. Maybe Thea."

Tommy disagreed, his eyes giving away the disbelief he felt. "You aren't giving yourself enough credit. Thea has been having the same conversation with him for two years. He didn't seem interested in hearing it before."

The unsaid 'you' hung between the two of them as Felicity reached across him to reach for his drink. She smelled the liquid, her nose turning up at the sharp smell of whiskey. "I don't think you are giving him enough credit," she shot back, her eyebrows lifting up as she tipped the glass back against her lips, the alcohol burning as she swallowed it.

The band began playing again, pulling Felicity's attention from Tommy back to the stage. She recognized the song after the first few chords, it was one from their first album. It hadn't been a big hit for the radio, but she remembered the underground popularity of it among their fans. It had been a near constant cover song at every party she had attended the year it came out. The opening notes constantly being strummed by whoever had a guitar until someone would start singing along, everyone else compelled to join in eventually.

The buildup of the song was amazing. The drums beat steadily in the background, Laurel playing the bass notes in such a steady and fierce momentum. Oliver was standing on the edge of the stage, spotlight on him, highlighting the way his face was glistening from the water and sweat. He was simply staring out into the crowd, his face almost emotionless, except for this heavy presence of peace coming from him. Felicity felt her heart stutter as Oliver finally began to sing, the words flowing out of him in a way that she wasn't familiar with, but in a way that pulled right at her.

Nodding along with the beat, Felicity began singing softly under her breath, feeling just as caught up in the moment as the rest of the crowd. She closed her eyes, letting the sound of Oliver's voice wash over her, the sound of the music vibrate throughout her body.

"I thought you weren't a fan," Tommy asked in amusement as Felicity stopped singing.

Felicity felt her face heat up, as she broke her gaze from the stage. "I wasn't," she answered immediately, almost defensively. "I mean, maybe I was? Before. I don't—" she paused, shaking her head at how awkward she sounded in this conversation. "It doesn't really matter."

Tommy didn't say anything, a knowing look crossing his face. "Why'd you come back here, anyway? The monitor giving you problems again?"

"Oh no, the monitor's fine." She paused, waiting for the crowd to calm down some as the band finished the last few notes of the song. She could barely hear Oliver thank the crowd for the show over the noise of the cheering. She scooted her chair closer to Tommy, her lips brushing against his ear as she tried to gauge how loudly she needed to speak so that he could hear her, but not deafen him.

"John radioed me. I guess Oliver's dad is here. He wanted me to tell you."

Tommy pulled back, his eyes widening as he stood up. He appeared to be getting ready to move through the crowd, back toward the room Felicity had left before he paused, turning and focusing back on the stage. Felicity followed his gaze, an uneasy feeling settling into her stomach at Tommy's reaction. They watched silently as Oliver held his hand up against the spot light, smiling widely as he told the crowd goodnight.

Felicity pulled her bottom lip through her teeth as Oliver walked off of the stage, turning her head back toward Tommy to ask what was going on.

But when she did, she found that he was already gone.