Laurel had never been a big fan of sharing her bed. As a child, she'd begrudgingly allowed Sara in after the occasional nightmare, but more often than not she'd retreated to the floor or living room couch at some point. After Oliver's disappearance, she'd never encouraged overnight guests, preferring to either go to their place, like with Tommy, or simply showing them the door, as with the handful of one-night-stands. The few times she'd been unable to avoid it, she gotten little to no sleep and begun the next day in a foul mood.

So, it was with a degree of surprise that when Laurel felt herself emerging into the land of consciousness from a deep and satisfying night of sleep it was to the slightly clingy koala bear hold of Nyssa Raatko. Though the room was mostly cloaked in darkness – Felicity had apparently thought exterior windows were a security issue – her internal clock was relatively certain that it was sometime around her normal waking hour. Laurel lay on her back, just as she'd been when Nyssa had cuddled into her side the night before. Nyssa however, had adjusted her position over the course of hours. One leg stretched along the length of Laurel's, while the other rested across Laurel's hips, effectively pinning her to the bed. Nyssa had shifted closer to the point where her torso rested more on Laurel than on the mattress below. Soft snores rose from Laurel's chest; the area Nyssa was currently using as a pillow. Laurel squeezed the other woman slightly tighter in her embrace and buried her nose in Nyssa's soft dark hair.

Waking up with Nyssa wrapped around her was better than Laurel had any right to expect, and she vowed to make it happen as often as possible for the foreseeable future.

She was just starting to drift off again when Nyssa stretched against her. Snores turned to little snuffles until finally Laurel felt Nyssa still completely. Knowing that Nyssa might bolt, she moved her hand lightly down Nyssa's back before dropping a soft kiss on her head. "Morning."

Nyssa raised her head and blinked at Laurel in the dim light. After a moment she laid it once again against Laurel's breast. "Did you sleep, or have you been laying here awake this whole time?"

Laurel chuckled. "I slept. Very well actually. I told you your snoring was soothing."

Nyssa snorted.

Laurel took a deep breath, not wanting to break the spell of this idyllic moment, but needing to address her comments from the night before. "I want you to be my girlfriend," she began.

Nyssa's body froze at the apparent non sequitur.

"And I was afraid to say that last night. To Felicity or to you. I wanted to share that amazing room that Felicity created for you. I wanted you to want me there. And I was terrified that you didn't." A tear slipped down Laurel's cheek, but she paid it no mind. Thea had told her to tell Nyssa exactly how she felt. She was trying. "I knew before you left, that I had feelings… beyond friendship for you. And I was content to keep them to myself. To be a great friend to you, because you deserve that."

Nyssa took a breath as if to answer, but Laurel pushed on.

"I knew you lied to me when you left," she stated flatly. "But I was too worried that it was because you'd somehow figured out how I felt to call you on it." She swallowed. "And then Merlyn sent the video, and all I could think was that it was my fault. That I had driven you away."

"No!" Nyssa's voice was hard as she shifted her body to hover above Laurel's. "You are not responsible for what happened to me. My hubris and Malcolm Merlyn are the only ones to blame."

Laurel felt new tears sliding down her cheeks into her hair. She raised her hands to cup Nyssa's face. "I'm sorry for what I said about Sara last night. I know what she means to you."

Nyssa smiled sadly before leaning down to place a kiss along Laurel's sternum. She relaxed and sank back down into her former position. "Sara had one mission when she returned to Starling."

"To hunt down Merlyn."

Nyssa nodded. "In return she would win her freedom from the League. Permanently."

Laurel had always suspected this. "She made a deal with your father."

"No. I suggested the deal to him, and he agreed."

Laurel frowned. "But…"

"Sara wanted to return to Starling City. To you and your father. To Oliver. So I helped her, because I loved her, and she deserved to be happy. Even if it wasn't with me."

Laurel had no response for that other than to hold Nyssa tighter.

"I saw her. When Merlyn held me prisoner in Nanda Parbat," Nyssa said after a while. "As well as Oliver and Thea."

Laurel knew that Nyssa had experienced hallucinations due to the drugs and injuries Merlyn had inflicted upon her, but they'd never spoken of them. Numerous questions wanted answers, but Laurel managed to keep silent.

"They called me an idiot, Oliver and Sara. And accused me of wanting to die. But they laughed too, like it was a joke." Nyssa's voice was hollow. "You appeared to me as well."

Laurel tried to hide her shock at that statement. While she knew she had no control over what Nyssa had hallucinated about her, Laurel hoped that it hadn't been equally horrible.

"Perfectly pristine, in your suit and heels." Nyssa moved her hand so that it rested over Laurel's heart. "You cried. You were so sad. And angry. And you called me a coward."

"So I was my usual charming self," Laurel tried to joke, but her voice cracked halfway through.

"You made me think about what might have happened if I had stayed in Starling City. About us. I've been thinking about it ever since."

"About us?" Laurel dared to ask.

"Mmhm," Nyssa agreed, rolling once again to hover over Laurel. "Last night you called me unavailable, and it is true."

Laurel's heart stopped.

"I am unavailable to everyone except you," Nyssa clarified.

Nyssa's kiss landed so gently against Laurel's lips that for a moment she thought she'd imagined it. The second was just as gentle, but lingered. The third found Laurel's bottom lip sucked within Nyssa's mouth and traced by an inquisitive tongue.

She'd imagined this for so long. Nyssa's words. Her body solid and alive above her. Laurel groaned and arched up against Nyssa, hands latching on to trim hips and bringing them down to rest against her own. Lips trailed down her neck, bringing goosebumps in their wake, a moment before a warm hand settled firmly over Laurel's left breast. She had a second or two to appreciate how wonderful it felt before Nyssa rolled away.

"I forgot," Nyssa panted from the other side of the bed. "That you weren't wearing clothes."

Laurel laughed, and reached over to turn on the bedside light. Nyssa's cheeks were flushed and she had a serious case of bedhead. Laurel had never seen her so beautiful. "Are you trying to protect my virtue?" she teased, purposefully letting the blankets stay pooled around her hips.

Whatever Nyssa's reason, her answer was cut off by the firm knock on the bedroom door.

"Seriously?" Laurel groaned, flopping back against the pillows. "If that's Thea, please do me a favor and just kill her."

Nyssa snickered and got out of the bed.

Her hand was already on the doorknob before Laurel realized her intent. "Wait," Laurel said, pulling the covers up to her neck, just as the door was opened.

Oliver stood gaping in the doorway.

Nyssa, also apparently surprised by the identity of their guest, immediately slammed the door in his face.

Laurel and Nyssa just stared at each other.

"Ooops," Nyssa finally commented.

Laurel threw a pillow at her. Which Nyssa promptly ducked.

A significantly quieter knock sounded. "Uh, if you could both come upstairs soon. We have some new intel."

Laurel couldn't recall the last time she'd heard Oliver's voice sound so uncomfortable. "Okay," Laurel shouted at the door. No answer was forthcoming, but the sound of hesitant footsteps retreating followed by the sound of the elevator doors assured them that Oliver had taken his leave. "That could have gone worse," Laurel said, wrapping the sheet around herself.

Nyssa looked sheepish. "I did think it was Thea."

"You could have been naked too." Laurel pulled the door open and walked through the library toward Nyssa's room.

"If I had been naked, I wouldn't have opened the door," Nyssa called out, following.

Laurel stopped and turned, letting the other woman get close enough to touch. "If you had been naked, I wouldn't have let you out of bed." She ran a finger down Nyssa's neck and along her cleavage.

Nyssa's mouth fell open slightly.

Laurel smirked and walked away. "I'm using your shower."