Disclaimers: I've never read the Green Arrow comics, I'm basing my characterizations here solely on the television show. Speaking of the television show, I don't own it :-( which I am super-sad about. If I did own Arrow, Stephen Amell would be contractually obligated to do yard work around my house whilst wearing the vigilante outfit. Alas, life is full of disappointment.

Author's Note: Here's the conclusion of my little two-shot, hope you enjoy.

"Oliver, they still belong to you"

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Time seemed to still as her words hung in the darkness between them. Oliver swallowed hard, his mind racing to process her words rationally even as his heart threatened to burst from his chest at the swell of emotions crashing across his defenses, dashing them to bits.

Now that she had closed her eyes and jumped, Laurel found herself strangely calm, all of her previous anxiety gone. Oliver hadn't said anything, he hadn't even turned to face her, but she was standing close enough that she could tell he was trembling, even in the darkness. This was the moment in which Laurel knew for certain that she was right about the two of them, they had never truly been over.

"Last night, during the fire, when I realized that you weren't behind me anymore, that you were still inside the building . . ." she began in way of explanation, pausing momentarily as she remembered the way her heart had leapt into her throat, threatening to choke her ". . . I was scared for you in this way that I just wasn't for Tommy, or even for myself" she continued, her voice soft but steady "And I realized that even after all of this time, and all of the pain between us, I still couldn't imagine ever feeling that way about anyone besides you."

Oliver found himself unable to respond, his words dying in his throat before he could give them life. He had messed up so badly in the past, disappointed so many people that he loved, he couldn't stand the thought of hurting Laurel again. A torrent of conflicting emotions raged inside of him, his mind returning to a swirling sea, a sinking yacht and Sarah's voice screaming his name, her arms reaching for him, too far away, the look of terror in her eyes as the sea pulled her under. In his mind's eye it was Laurel he couldn't reach this time, Laurel whom he failed.

"Oliver, look at me" she implored, sensing that he was drifting away into the darkness.

Laurel's voice anchored him to this moment, pulling him back to the present. Finally, he turned to face her head-on for the first time tonight, finding her eyes bright and clear as she met his gaze steadily.

"How did you figure it out?" he asked quietly, using his own voice now.

Laurel could see that Oliver was avoiding the larger issue for the moment, buying time, giving himself a chance to regain his equilibrium. She could hardly blame him, she'd had an entire day to process this new reality and he'd had only five minutes.

Last night she'd felt just the same as he was feeling now, her unexpected emotions hitting her like a ton of bricks - - her fear for Oliver, her inability to commit to Tommy - - the realization that she was still in love with Oliver Queen. That epiphany, and the thought of losing him inside the burning night club had made the entire world start to spin around her as she'd fallen to the ground, surrounded by the flames.

The relief she'd felt when Oliver joined them minutes later, saying he'd gone out the back exit after making sure the rest of the guests and catering crew had escaped unharmed was palpable. She'd been practically catatonic when Tommy had driven her home, lost inside her own head - her feelings for Oliver surprising her more than they really should have, in retrospect.

When she'd told Tommy she "couldn't do this" he hadn't even seemed surprised or angry, just sad. "I get it. I wish you both the best" is all he'd said before kissing her on the cheek and leaving silently. Tommy had seen her reaction back at the club when Oliver was missing, he'd been the one to drag her away from the flames when she'd wanted to run towards them. He didn't need her to spell it out for him.

Intuitively understanding Oliver's need to go slowly, Laurel decided to answer the question he'd actually asked - "how did you figure it out?", rather than the one she knew he wanted to know the answer to "what does this mean?".

"You disappeared inside the building and the vigilante magically appeared two minutes later to save Chief Raines' life?" Laurel began, raising her eyebrows as she teased him a little, trying to ease the tension "Quite the coincidence, I'd say"

"Circumstantial evidence, counselor" he argued, smiling slightly as he recognized her attempt to lighten the mood and tried to go along with it.

"I didn't see it right away" Laurel confessed, shaking her head "I asked The Hood for help looking into Danny's death. And somehow, every time I turned around, there you were - - outside the firehouse, at the benefit" she continued "You were the one who put the pieces together, you were the one who figured out that Garfield Lintz was still alive"

Oliver listened to her explanation, torn between cursing his own stupidity for being discovered, and relief that he no longer needed to lie to Laurel - he'd never been very good at it, she'd always seemed to see right through him.

"Voice distortion or not, did you really think I wouldn't recognize you standing two feet away from me?" she asked, almost as if she'd read his mind "There was always something so familiar that I just couldn't quite put my finger on . . ." she explained, trailing off.

Laurel was silent for a few moments, lost in her own thoughts as she let Oliver process her words. After Tommy had left, she'd spent the rest of the night curled-up on her couch, wrapped in a fleece throw, sobbing her eyes out. She cried for Sarah and Oliver's betrayal, she cried because she'd ultimately lost them both - Oliver had pretty much steered clear of her since his return to Starling City, their occasional interactions leaving her confused as to how he could manage to make her feel so close to him and yet so far away at the exact same time, like he was two different people.

And then, around 4am it had hit her - - he was two different people. Ollie and Tommy had been the first people saved by the vigilante. She was an idiot for not having seen it sooner - - he'd saved her life at the prison, the usually cool and calculating Hood, mercilessly pummeling the man who tried to choke her, but the vigilante had stopped short of killing the guy when she'd asked him to. Knowing it was Oliver changed the way she remembered what she saw that night, and all the nights thereafter, as well. The secrets he was hiding, the polygraph test, the moments of connection between them that he always seemed to pull away from, like he was afraid of her getting too close.

Suddenly, everything had made sense to Laurel. Realizing that she still loved Ollie, and figuring out that he was the vigilante had been two separate and unrelated events. But taken together, like the pieces of a puzzle, they created a complete picture. Now she understood why her heart and her head had seemed to tell her different things, pulling her in seemingly opposite directions.

Finally knowing the truth, all Laurel was left with then was to decide how to deal with it, what did she want? It wasn't that difficult really, now that she understood why Oliver had been so guarded since his return. She would do what she always did - close her eyes and jump, let her feelings control her. She was an all or nothing type of girl, and she wanted it all with Oliver Queen.

"It finally makes sense now" she continued "how distant you've been since you got back, pushing me away, keeping me at arm's length - you've been busy secretly saving the world" she concluded, holding his gaze steadily, daring him to argue.

Oliver swallowed again, struggling to breathe around the lump that had formed in his throat. Laurel was looking at him like she could see straight into his soul, like she knew everything that was inside of him, and he suddenly felt more vulnerable than he ever had before. She was telling him exactly what he wanted to hear - - that she understood who he truly was, that she could live with who he was, and it was too good to be true, too good to believe.

"Tommy . . ." he started, his rational mind conjuring obstacles

"... didn't seem surprised" Laurel explained, interrupting before Oliver could finish " he said that he understood, that he wants us both to be happy."

"It's a lie" Oliver responded, smiling ruefully "It's the same one that I told"

"It isn't the same" Laurel argued "Tommy and I hadn't even gotten started yet"

"What about your father?" Oliver inquired, remembering the contempt Detective Lance had held for him before the island, let alone since.

"He doesn't get a vote in my love-life" Laurel responded glibly, knowing that wasn't what Oliver was getting at.

"That's not what I meant" he clarified "I'm a criminal, he's a cop"

"You're on the same side" Laurel replied with conviction "Whether my father knows it or not"

"You'll have to lie to him" Oliver said sadly "Because of me"

"I can't un-know your secrets Oliver, not now" she answered steadily, her eyes holding his softly "not unless you have an arrow that erases memories?"

"If I did, would you take it?" he couldn't help but ask, needing to know the truth

"No, I wouldn't" she confessed honestly, shaking her head "For the first time since you got back, my world makes sense again"

Historically, Oliver had never won an argument with Laurel, he'd rarely stood a chance. This time, he couldn't help but wonder if he even wanted to win, but something inside of him kept trying anyway.

"I'm a killer Laurel, you said it yourself. You don't want to get mixed up with me" he warned "You're liable to get hurt even worse than before"

Laurel had heard everything that he was saying before - - she'd heard it in her own head, and she had decided that none of it mattered more than the second chance she'd been given to be with Oliver. Taking a step closer and erasing the space that remained between them, she whispered certainly "I know who you are" one hand reaching out to rest itself atop his chest gently while the other trailed it's way upwards.

Oliver's pulse jumped at the contact, the intimate way she was holding his gaze making it impossible for him to turn away.

"You're making this too complicated" she accused, dragging her other hand slowly across his cheek and then overtop his hair, pushing the hood off of his head, leaving her hand resting at the base of his skull "Just tell me that you don't still love me" she suggested.

Oliver couldn't help but lean into her touch as she massaged the base of his skull gently, her fingertips searing patterns into his skin while the weight of her other hand upon his heart seemed to hold him steady, keeping him from flying into pieces at her proximity.

"Tell me that you don't want me" she challenged, standing on her tiptoes to breathe the words directly into his ear.

Her warmth radiated across his entire being, beginning as a soft caress of breath against his cheek and spreading like wildfire until every nerve-ending in his body was tingling.

"Tell me that you don't want me and the conversation will be over" she repeated, leaning backward just a hair so she could look up into his eyes.

As he looked into Laurel's eyes, Oliver couldn't help but remember the sharp pain, the agony spreading throughout his entire body as The Dark Archer's arrows had sliced into his back, the way the fog had surrounded him quickly. His last thought before the darkness consumed him had been of Laurel, what would happen to her, to his family if they lost him again? And he had been afraid, for the first time in five years he had let his fear control him in the weeks that came after.

Now, with Laurel's perceptive gaze bearing down upon him, he wondered if perhaps Diggle had been right after all. Maybe it was better to face death with something to live for? Better for him perhaps, but certainly not better for Laurel, he thought, imagining all the pain he'd already caused her.

"I can't promise that this will end well" Oliver finally whispered, his voice heavy with emotion as tried one last time to dissuade her "I can't promise that I won't get myself killed some day"

"I know that" Laurel responded, unshed tears shining in her eyes "I'm an all or nothing type of girl, Oliver. I've survived your death once already, I could do it again if I have to" she assured him, her voice soft as her fingers began to move gently across his chest, tapping slowly in time with the rhythm of his heartbeat "I just don't want to miss what comes in between now and then" she promised, a stray tear slipping down her cheek as she spoke.

Oliver looked down into her eyes and he was lost, drowning in their liquid depths. Laurel had always been braver than he was. She had been generous outside the firehouse yesterday when she'd said they "spooked each other", she hadn't been the one to get scared. Five years ago he had been the one who got spooked, he was the one who had sabotaged their relationship.

Well, he wasn't that same guy anymore, and he wasn't going to let his fears control him any longer. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he decided to follow Laurel's lead . . . and jump.

"I love you" Oliver finally confessed, closing the space between them as he reached for Laurel, threading his fingers through her hair "I want you" he murmured, pressing his lips to hers.

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The End