THANK YOU so much for reading, reviewing, following, favouriting, etc.: YOU ARE ALL SO AWESOME! I truly appreciate the time you take to do all that (I CAN NEVER SAY THIS ENOUGH).
There are three more chapters to go before the epilogue (four if I decide to include a Flommy wedding chapter or leave it as a separate piece and write it as a one-shot later on-we shall see). :)
Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Arrow, its characters, and everything that relates to it and to them belong to their rightful owners.
Chapter 25: Let's Not Wait Till the Water Runs Dry
For Laurel and Oliver, the days that followed were frustratingly painful. They spent a good portion of those days arguing anytime they were alone in the same room. She had called him every sort of foul name she could think of and he still did not back down.
Even though they went to bed angry these past few nights, they always woke up connected in some sort of way. Whether it was their fingers interlocked tightly together or their arms and legs in a tangled mess, their bodies always naturally gravitated toward each other.
Oliver was sitting on the edge of a long table in his lair, still wearing his Arrow costume. He, Diggle, Roy, and Sara had stopped a group of ruthless bank robbers just two hours prior. Sara, Diggle, Roy, and Felicity had already left, but he had stayed. He knew that once he returned home, he would have to face Laurel, and he would have to be on the receiving end of her scorching wrath for what felt like the hundredth time this week.
Sitting with his head in his hands, he could hear the clink and clank of heels as she walked down the stairs.
"Did you come down here to yell me at again?" Oliver angrily said once she had made her way over to him. She looked quite sophisticated in a beautiful red blouse, tucked into a beige lace pencil skirt.
When his gaze met hers, he saw that her eyes were glistening with unshed tears. He was surprised when she walked a few steps forward and then snuggled into his arms. He reacted immediately, holding her tightly.
"Laurel, are you okay?" Oliver whispered into her hair.
She pulled away slightly so that she could look into his eyes. His heart broke once he saw the tears painfully fall from her eyes. "I don't want to fight anymore." She connected her forehead to his.
"I still haven't changed my mind." Oliver said, softly wiping away a few stray tears with his thumb.
She disconnected their foreheads, her hands playing with the zipper of his jacket. She shifted her gaze to a spot just below his shoulder, her tear-filled eyes refusing to meet his.
"Baby, what's wrong?" He could see it on her face. She looked utterly tired. She had buried herself in her work these past few days, relentlessly working to rebuild CNRI. That was usually what she always did when things got too complicated or stressful. Also, Tommy and Felicity's wedding was just a week away, so she had spent a lot of time helping Thea and Felicity plan the perfect wedding. These past few days had left her completely exhausted, nevertheless.
She fell back into his arms. He immediately wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her tightly against his body. "You're going to have to change your mind because I'm going through with this whether you like it or not."
"Laurel…" He let out an agitated breath and closed his eyes out of frustration.
"No, you're going to have to deal with it." She softly cried into his neck.
"I can't lose you." Oliver said, his voice firm and angry.
"And I can't lose you!" Laurel shot back. She tilted her head slightly and glared at him. "You think I'm okay with you being the Arrow? Waiting for you every night kills me, I can't sleep unless I'm safely wrapped in yours arms, but I understand why you do it." She sighed before continuing. "Oliver, I support and respect the choice you've made, as much as it terrifies me." She lovingly kissed his cheek and smiled. "I need you to support and respect my decision too."
"Nothing I do or say will change your mind?"
She raised an eyebrow. "The only thing that will stop me is an arrow through the heart." He reached for her wrist, his fingers gently playing with her arrow bracelet.
"Your sexy, stubborn ass will be the death of me." Oliver sighed. She gave him a bright smile and kissed him tenderly.
"You know, we could train together." She wrapped her hands around his neck. "You can teach me how to do that." She turned to glance at the salmon ladder.
He gave her a wicked grin before giving her a hard kiss on the lips. "I'm never going to be okay with this."
"Well, Queen, you have no choice but to deal with it." Oliver simply sighed out of frustration. There was no way he was ever going to get her to change her mind. Unfortunately, as painful as it would be, he would have to suck it up and deal with it. Nevertheless, this would only make him even more overprotective of her.
He connected his forehead to hers as he held her. They stayed like that for a long moment, simply getting lost in each other.
She took a heavy sigh and he immediately knew something was off. "Baby, are you okay?"
"Yes." Laurel replied as she pulled the zipper of his jacket down all the way, slipping her hands underneath the leathery fabric. He shivered once her delicate fingers traced the puckered lines that graced his chest.
"Laurel…What's going on?" He could hear the pain in her voice. Something else was bothering her.
"Joanna called me this morning."
"How has she been? Does she want to help you with CNRI?"
"No, she has her own law firm now. She was calling to invite me to her baby shower." A fresh set of tears fell from her eyes. He held her impossibly closer. Her lips trembled as she gazed into his eyes. "I'm happy for her Ollie…She should get pregnant, Felicity and Tommy should get pregnant…" She paused for a brief second before continuing. "Just like we should be getting pregnant…Why can't it that be easy for us to have a baby?"
"Laurel…" He connected his forehead to hers, gazing deeply into her wet eyes. "There are other options. There's adoption, surrogacy…"
She cried harder. "So another woman can feel our baby kick or hear our baby's heartbeat for the first time? I'm not okay with that, Oliver. I want us to be the ones to experience that…All of that…Why can't we have that?" She knew she had to accept the fact that she could not have kids of her own, but that did not mean she was okay with it. She would never be okay with it. "It isn't fair." It broke his heart to hear her say that. He knew that this was something that would never go away. It would continue to plague her heart for as long as she lived.
"I love you. Don't you dare ever forget that." Oliver reminded her, his voice firm and deep. " I. Love. You." He gazed into her devastated eyes for a long moment. He had nothing else to say to her. Really, what else could he say?
She gave him a sad smile. "Oliver, I love you...So much…Please don't ever doubt my love for you. All I need is you…All I'll ever need is your love…There will always be this whole in my heart where our baby used to be though. That probably won't go away. I guess I have to accept things for what they are." She took a deep sigh before continuing. "There will be moments, like the one today, when I'll cry because I'll be reminded of what we've lost and what we can't have."
"And in those moments, I'll be there, doing this…" He grinned and then started to kiss her tears away. "And I'll wrap you into my arms and never let you go." He let her head go so that he could pull her deeper into his arms. He placed a gentle kiss on her head before tucking it in the crook of his neck.
She continued to cry softly into his neck as he held her. "Laurel, you're my whole world." Oliver whispered into her hair.
She shifted her head slightly so that she could gaze into his eyes. "And you're my whole world, don't you ever forget that…" She brought her hand up to trace the curve his cheek. His heart squeezed once he saw her smile. He gave her a gorgeous smile back, giving her that illegal smile that made her weak in the knees. That damn illegal smile of his. It hooked her every time.
A long moment of silence descended into lair before she broke it. "Are you excited for coffee with my dad tomorrow?" Laurel said as a fearful look appeared on his face. "Didn't think so." She softly laughed.
He spent a long moment simply looking into her beautiful eyes that were swollen and bloodshot from crying. No matter how furious he got and no matter how much they argued, all she had to do was smile or laugh. She could make the darkness disappear with just one glowing smile and with the sound of her laughter.
"I've missed you." Laurel said her voice barely above a whisper. She gave him a sexy smile before she shifted her legs slightly so that she could straddle his lap, grounding her hips against his.
His hands got lost in her soft and loose auburn brown curls as he held her head. He let out a soft moan and closed his eyes once she started a wet trail of kisses along his jaw, continuing her way down. His entire body heated up with desire in her embrace. His hands went to her hips, pushing her pencil skirt up. Her entire body tingled.
She stopped once she could feel his hands move up to her back, his fingers sensually digging their way up and down. "Did you just unhook my bra?" She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Yes." Oliver huskily replied, a smug smirk on his face. She gave him a hard and quick kiss before giving him a saucy smile that took his breath away. Her lips kissed their way up all the way to his ear.
She nibbled on his ear lobe, making his entire body shiver. "You know, for the past year and a half, I've had this recurring dream where I'm being thoroughly fucked by the vigilante, who now calls himself the Arrow." Laurel whispered, her lips firmly pressed against his ear.
That was it. Nothing turned him on more than hearing his sweet and innocent Laurel talk dirty. He pressed her even tighter against his body and captured her lips in hot and dirty kiss that turned her knees to jelly.
Oliver and Quentin were sitting at table by the window at Le Brie, a small and elegant Parisian style café. Since it was still early morning, there was only one elderly couple sitting at a table in the corner sharing a large butter croissant.
"This summer weather is quite nice." Oliver said, trying his best to start some sort of dialogue. Quentin had spent the last half hour simply glaring at Oliver, giving him insipid one-word answers whenever Oliver tried to ask him any questions.
"I don't like you." Quentin finally said. He knotted his fingers together and let his arms rest on the table.
"I know, Sir." Oliver simply said.
"I hate that you and my daughter are..." He sighed and closed his eyes for a brief moment before continuing. "I just hate it."
"I…" Oliver paused to gather his thoughts. "I love your daughter very much." He really was not sure what to say.
"Listen to me, Queen, if you hurt my daughter again, I'll bury you alive. I hate that you are…" He really could not say the word 'together'. "But my daughter, for the first time in years, is acting like herself." Quentin took a heavy sigh before continuing. "When we thought that you and Sara had died, I lost her. I didn't just lose Sara, I lost Laurel too. I was drowning in my own ocean of hell, so I couldn't see it then. For years, she put on a brave mask and became my rock. Without Laurel, I wouldn't be sitting here today."
Quentin sadly closed his eyes for a long moment as he remembered those dark days. "Those months before she left for New York, I knew something was wrong with her. Something had broken inside her and she became distant. She seemed so lost and I thought that I'd never get her back. I thought I'd never get my bubbly, full of life daughter back."
"I'm truly sorry for all the pain I've caused you and your family." Oliver sincerely said. He watched as Quentin nervously ran a hand through his thinning hair. They stayed silent for a long minute before the older man spoke again.
"These past few weeks, I've seen my daughter smile, I've heard her laugh, I've seen that beautiful sparkle in her eyes...There was a time when I thought I'd never see a genuine smile on her face or hear her laugh or see that beautiful sparkling light in her eyes, and that was brutally agonizing. You can only imagine how much pain that brought me. You've made my daughter smile and laugh, Queen, and for that, I will forever be thankful to you." A single tear fell from Quentin eyes. "Thank you for bringing my daughter back…Thank you for saving her…Every time…" He saw a grateful smile form on the older man's face. He paused for a brief moment before revealing what Oliver and Felicity always fearfully wondered. "Your secret is safe with me." Oliver was speechless. He really was not sure what to do or say.
"Queen, this conversation never happened. As far as my daughter knows, I still hate you, this morning didn't change that." Oliver nodded in agreement. Did this mean that he really did not hate him but wanted Laurel to believe that he still did? Oliver really was not sure what he meant, regardless, this early morning meeting was a massive step forward for him and Quentin.
"So, what movie are we watching tonight?" Laurel said, holding a large bowl of popcorn and collapsing onto the couch beside Felicity. She placed the large bowl of popcorn on the coffee table in front of them. They were sitting in the living room of Felicity and Tommy's apartment along with Sara, enjoying a desperately needed girls' night.
Sara and Felicity simply gave her no response. "Okay, what is up with the two of you? Why do you keep looking at me like that? With strange smirks?"
"Felicity was sifting through camera footage earlier, at Verdant…" Sara stopped to turn her body so that she could look at Felicity and then at Laurel. She was trying really hard to maintain a straight face. "You and Oliver are basically Internet porn now." Sara laughed at the horrified look that immediately formed on Laurel's face.
Laurel's jaw dropped and her face turned a faint shade of pink. "I'm such an idiot." She should have known better. "I'm going to kill Oliver. Felicity, please fix this!" Laurel wailed as she buried her head in Felicity's shoulder.
"Don't worry, it was destroyed immediately. Sara's just teasing you." Felicity reassured her, resting her head caringly on Laurel's.
"Please tell me no one else saw it."
"Just us…" Sara paused for a brief second, a wicked grin blossoming on her face. "And Diggle…"
Laurel let out an embarrassed groan, burying her head deeper into Felicity's shoulder. Sara simply laughed at her sister.
"Sara, stop. Don't worry, I immediately stopped it before it got to the racy parts." Felicity said, trying really hard to suppress her laughter.
"At least the basement is more discreet than upstairs behind the bar." Sara's teasingly revealed, bumping her shoulder with Felicity's. Laurel immediately looked at Sara and then at Felicity.
"You didn't!" Laurel lifted her head and then playfully poked Felicity's arm. Felicity's cheeks immediately turned beet red.
"I caught them butt-naked behind the bar one morning...Like mid act." Sara informed Laurel.
"You promised you wouldn't say anything!" Felicity said, burying her head in her hands. Sara simply continued to laugh as she reached for the giant bowl of popcorn.
They spent a long moment simply laughing, almost missing the knock on the door. "Thea's here. I'll get that." Laurel said as she quickly got off the couch.
"Wait, before you answer that. Felicity and I want you to talk to Oliver." Sara whispered, quickly standing on her feet.
"Yeah, you have to convince Oliver to tell her about that other job of his." Felicity added, looking up at Laurel.
The knocks started to become louder. "Oliver doesn't want to put her in any danger, and I too am not okay with her knowing." Laurel replied as she started to make her way to the door.
"We'll protect her. We can't let this destroy her relationship with Roy. She's already sensing that he's hiding something from her." Sara said, her voice barely above whisper.
Laurel pressed her lips together and sighed before placing her hand on the doorknob. "Fine, I'll talk to him." A few seconds later, she opened the door to a very agitated Thea who quickly walked past Laurel, ignoring her completely. "Hello, Thea, please come in." Laurel sarcastically said.
"Okay, so tomorrow we're meeting with the caterer to confirm the final details and to give her the final guest count, and I'm going to need your toast and Oliver's for both the rehearsal dinner and the reception…" She paused and turned to look at Laurel. "And we need to have a final fitting for you; I've already scheduled it for Wednesday." She turned back around to look at Felicity. She quickly returned her attention back onto the Ipad that was in her hands.
"Thea, no wedding planning tonight! This is a much-needed girls' night, remember?" Laurel reminded her as she shut the door behind her and then locked it. She walked over to Thea, forcefully pulling the Ipad from her reluctant hands.
"She's getting married in a week you nimrods! Why is no one taking this seriously?" Thea snapped, placing her hands on her hips.
"I told you we shouldn't have invited her." Felicity angrily whispered to Sara, crossing her arms over her chest and sighing out of frustration.
"I can hear you!" Thea shot Felicity a death glare.
"Okay, why don't we just sit right here on the couch and relax." Laurel said as she placed the Ipad on a nearby end table and then wrapped an arm around Thea, guiding her to the couch. Thea reluctantly plopped down on the couch, sitting next to Felicity. "Felicity made banana cream pie."
Thea's eyes immediately lit up. "And those are the magic words." Thea said, glaring at Felicity.
Felicity simply stuck her tongue out at her.
"I'll go get the pie." Sara happily said, walking out of the living and into the kitchen.
"I'll get the plates." Laurel quickly suggested, following her sister.
Sara quickly reached into a drawer to pull out a knife. She immediately started to cut the pie that was sitting on the counter.
"I think we should stay in here for a little bit. I don't want to get in the middle of another argument with those two." Laurel teasingly said as she reached into an overhead cupboard to pull out four dessert plates. Sara simply continued to cut the pie, giving Laurel no response.
"Sara, are you okay?" Laurel quickly placed the plates on the counter and walked a few steps forward to stand in front of Sara. She immediately reached for her wrist. "Sara…"
"Sorry…" Sara started to say, her voice trembling. "I just…These past few years have been hellish…I don't want to wake up and have this all be a dream. I'd never thought that I'd be released and…" Her emotions completely took over. Laurel immediately wrapped her arms around her sister, pulling her into a warm embrace.
"Sara, this is not a dream. This is real." Laurel whispered in her ear as she held her tightly. "You're home, Sara-Bear." Laurel pulled away slightly so that she could cup her head in her hands. Laurel gave her a reassuring smile and a quick kiss on the forehead before pulling her back into her arms.
A few minutes later, they could hear Thea and Felicity arguing loudly, pulling them out of their sisterly moment. "Here we go again." Sara groaned as she gave her sister a tight squeeze before pulling away from her embrace. "I'll take Thea."
"And I'll take Felicity." Laurel nodded as she grabbed the dessert plates and forks and then walked out of the kitchen. Sara grabbed the knife and the pie and quickly followed her sister.
They spent the rest of the night laughing and talking as they watched Breakfast at Tiffany's and My Fair Lady, eating banana cream pie and all sorts of delicious foods. Moments like these made life beautiful. They had all been deprived of these simple moments for the longest time, so it was nice to finally be able to enjoy the simple things in life again.