"Damn it, Ollie!"

"I swear, I am literally just button mashing at this point. You're telling me you haven't played this once all those years I was gone so you could beat me, Speedy?"

Oliver laughed as him and Thea were slamming their thumbs against the joystick controllers in a classic bout in Mortal Kombat. It was a little something they both had mentally hoped would re-strengthen their bond as brother and sister.

Thea gazed on at her giant flat screen TV that took up almost an entire wall of the apartment and her character losing in the the second round after she won the first.

"There's not much practice needed when you're doing this!" Thea mocked him by pushing all of the buttons rapidly, ultimately giving her the upper hand and beating her older brother in the second round. "Ha!"

"That's...that was bullshit." Oliver said with a serious tone before bursting out with a laugh. The game paused motioning Oliver to look over at Thea who did it.

"I propose a bet, Ollie. If I win this last round, you have to be answer something for me." Her lips curled into a smirk trying to throw him off his game when really Thea wanted one question answered about Oliver. Truthfully, that is.

Oliver tried to look past her shielded face but only cracked a smile in return. "Deal. But if I win...you have to crown me the king of Mortal Kombat." Thea rolled her eyes and unpaused the game, mumbling a 'deal' under her breath.

'FIGHT!' Thea's TV echoed the room followed by the noises of their fingers smashing into the buttons, desperately trying to one up each other. Both of their character's health bars reached their final marks with both Oliver and Thea shouting playfully until a giant 'FINISH HIM!' flashed on the screen.

"Agh! Son of a bitch." Oliver shook his head no while Thea taunted him with a victory cry before uppercutting his character for the official win. His cheeks blushed a shade of pink, the Arrow defeated by his little sister in a game of Mortal Kombat.

"Thea Queen wins. Flawless victory." She sang out.

"I let you win, Speedy. Come on." Oliver said taking the defeat pretty hard.

"Bullshit, Ollie. We were both a little rusty at this but that doesn't take away that I finally beat you. And now you have to give me the honest truth." Oliver shot his hands up in defeat again wondering what was on Thea's mind that's got her so curious. He would be honest with her about anything except, of course, anything relating to him and The Arrow.

Thea grabbed the remote to the TV and his the mute button on it to eliminate any background noise between them. She fiddled with her fingers and crooked her head to the side, letting her short cut hair cover a portion of her face. "You've been back home for three years now, Ollie, and so much has changed. Granted you're not the same person you once were and neither am I, there's one thing I don't get about you. I mean there are tons of things I don't get about you but one in particular."

Oliver readjusted himself comfortably on the sofa they were sitting on and set the controller on the table in front of them. "And what would that be?"

"You and Laurel." Thea directed immediately. "I remember you two being so in love with each other before the left and now you two seem like ghosts." She laughed out for a second and sent a generous smile his way. "And I always thought you two would get married and everything."

"Some people just..grow apart, Thea." She rolled her eyes at this.

"Again, bullshit. Not you two, Ollie. You and Laurel aren't the kind of people to grow apart from each other." This was the exact opposite of what Oliver thought would be Thea's main concern; his love life with Laurel. "I just don't get it."

Oliver leaned his elbows on his knees and twitched his head from side to side, trying to find some sort of explanation in his head. He and Laurel attempted a few times since he came back alive to rekindle their relationship but there's always something that stops them from doing so. Even their new found closeness since she found out he was the Arrow, he knows it'd be too dangerous to ever be with her or anyone else.

"With me and Laurel, it's just too much history. And most of that history is written with myself before the island, Speedy. I hurt her more times than I can even count and now I just don't think I even deserve her. I ruined every chance with her, especially with Sara." Oliver felt Thea's hand slide between his and her body move towards his on the couch.

"You're not the same Oliver you were before. More mysterious, yes, but I think if you really love somebody, you should be with them or at least try. And not give up on them."

"Can the same be said about you and Roy?" Oliver quirked back at her. Thea rolled her eyes again even though he was right about them.

"Please don't change the couple here. Look..." Thea took a moment to shake off any emotion that came into her head. "We're all we have, Ollie. That's why I'm so adamant on keeping us close together because you are the only family I have left. And I want you to be happy."

Oliver and Thea both took a deep breath as Oliver pulled his sister into a tight hug. "Maybe she's right." He thought to himself. There was one thing they had more in common with each other and it's a complicated relationship situation, thinking about that it made him smile.

"You're right." Oliver finally spoke out making them break away from each other. Thea looked into his eyes and saw a goofy smile flash across his face. "I'm still in love with Laurel. I always was." Oliver's confession brings a smile to Thea's face that excites the both of them.

"Then go get her, Ollie. Go on right now to the DA's office because she should be getting out soon and you tell her exactly what you told me."

Oliver gave her a weird look, grabbed the TV remote, and unmuted the television set. "But...what if I want a rematch?" Thea shook her head slowly from side to side with a smile still smudged on her face.

"Tell you what. If things don't go the way you hope, you can come back here and claim your rematch. But if you don't come back tonight, I'll know why." She stuck her tongue out to her brother which resorted to Oliver throwing a tiny piece of popcorn at her. Oliver got off the couch and grabbed his jacket from the hook by the door.

Thea looked on and grinned while she turned their game off and started to clean up the mess of chips and drinks around the living room. Oliver went to turn the handle to the door until he stopped to look at Thea. He has never felt closer to her than right now and is glad he's allowing himself to open up more to her.

"Hey, Speedy." Oliver called over to her when she got to the sink and rinse off their dishes. Her head whipped around to he brother standing in the door frame. "Call Roy." Thea twirled a lock of her short hair behind her ear and contemplated the idea in her head. Her lips pursed together and gave Oliver a small nod to send him off out the door.

Outside the DA's office, Oliver waited out sitting on a bench rather than going inside to look for Laurel. He thought it would be best not to disturb her at work for personal reasons. In his head, he wondered the various of ways this could play out. He could get rejected, she could feel the same way, or there was a chance he wouldn't take the chance given the life he leads.

One thing Oliver did know was that with Laurel and Thea, he was willing to put his other life on hold for them. His afternoon with his sister went better than he ever could have expected it to be given now he was actually trying to her older brother again. Maybe, Oliver thought, maybe there was a chance of a normal life again beyond the Arrow. Maybe there was the life with Laurel he was always scared to live still waiting for him.

Another part of Oliver thought this was a complete mistake and that he should be more focused on protecting the city than to let his feelings get in the way of that. But this was Laurel Lance, and his heart knew which side to pick every time.

After some time, Oliver looked at his watched and saw that it was getting a little late and there was still no sign of Laurel after a half hour. It would probably be a huge blow to Thea if she saw him back at the apartment in the next twenty minutes.

"Is my eyesight against me today or is Oliver Queen sitting out my work instead of hiding out in a foundry waiting to serve his own justice?" Her voice, no matter where they were, always made his heart burst into fireworks at any given moment. Laurel Lance caught Oliver just in time with a briefcase in her hand with the other full of files clutched to her chest. "And are those sweatpants you're wearing?" She pointed out with a curious smile to her face.

Oliver spun himself around to Laurel and took in the sight of how beautiful she was in his eyes. If only she knew what went on in his mind when she was near him, what she does to his heart. His lips curved into a smile and struggled to think of a smart answer to retaliate.

"I was just, uh,..." Oliver approached her and exercised a small laugh trying to think of some lame excuse like his old self would. "I was just with Thea. We were hanging out for the day." Laurel shot him a genuine smile and motioned for them to walk towards her vehicle.

"And now you're here waiting for me. Is everything okay between you two?"

He turned to her. "Yeah, everything's okay. Better than okay. Things between us have been going great." Oliver stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket and quickly glanced over to his former lover.

"I'm glad. It's been awhile since you two really spent some time together, hasn't it?" Laurel let out a sigh wishing that her and Sara could somewhat re-connect like that. With her being in the League, Sara's never around much in Starling like she wishes she could be.

"It's been well overdue for me to be her big brother but I'm doing what I can." Oliver responded. They reached Laurel's SUV where she unlocked it and stuffed her files and briefcase inside to rid her free of cases for the time being. "But I'm here because I need to speak to you about something important, unrelated to anything to the Arrow."

Laurel held her driver's door to the side and hit the button on the side to unlock the rest of her vehicle before looking back to Oliver. "Whatever it is, you mind coming home with me to talk about it? Between my dad lecturing me more than usual and a busy day, I need to get away from this place for the rest of the day." Without hesitation, Oliver swiftly moved into the passenger side and buckled in.

She noticed that there was something completely off about Oliver not even five minutes after running into him. Laurel could read Oliver like the back of her hand, she just knew when something was troubling him. She eyed him momentarily while getting inside and digging her keys into the ignition slot.

Laurel kept her eye on him the entire ride and stole glances when she could to occasionally find Oliver looking back at her. They would share brief smiles before her eyes narrowed back to the road.

Arriving to Laurel's apartment, both exited the vehicle with Laurel clicking the lock button to her vehicle and leading the way upstairs. Oliver followed right behind her without either of them saying a word to each other. This spelled out a problem in Oliver's mind that somehow there was always tension or something between them that would only make it worse if it were ignored.

Unlocking her apartment, Laurel pushed the door open with Oliver still following her inside as she set her papers down on the table and let out an outstretched groan. "You don't mind if I change out of this real quick?"

Oliver's attention was caught again. "Hmm? No, go ahead. You deserve to feel comfortable in your own home, Laurel." They exchanged light smiles again until he watched her head off into the bedroom and shut the door behind her. He took it upon himself to close up the main door and sitting down on the sofa, patiently waiting for Laurel's return.

A few minutes later, Laurel emerged from her bedroom with a more relaxed look to herself almost shadowing Oliver's choice of clothing; a simple black long sleeved shirt and sweatpants. Her hair fell past her shoulders and already looked like she took it upon herself to have a lazy day.

"Soooo, what's up? What did you want to talk to me about?" Laurel plopped down on the opposite side of her sofa not even bothering with her case files for the moment. Meanwhile, Oliver was caught in a trance and a struggle trying to be his true feelings to light with her. He went to speak until his mouth snapped shut again. "Are you sure everything's okay, Ollie?" Laurel asked, catching sight of his obvious uphill battle with himself.

Oliver took in a deep breath into his chest and let it free contently out of his mouth to flourish his nerves. "I sort of made this promise with Thea before I came to see you. And I'm just having trouble sticking with it right now because it's difficult for me."

Sliding across the sofa to her worry, Laurel wrapped an arm around his shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. To her, Oliver looks to be broken up about something and she just wants to be there to help. Her legs crossed one another and began to rub his shoulder softly.

Laurel's actions calmed Oliver down and her touch felt stress relieving to him. It wasn't necessarily helping his heart rate slow down with how close she was to him. "Oliver whatever it is, I'm here right now for you to explain anything. Let it out, it's okay."

Oliver wiped his face with both of his hands and made his final decision. The longer he keeps his true feelings from Laurel, the more it will mess around with his head and heart locked away on his own personal island.

Oliver turned his head to meet Laurel, not realizing how close she really was that left their lips just inches away. His eyes locked to them for a moment.

"Laurel...this is difficult for me to explain because..." He trembled with his words and thoughts which brought out a small chuckle what he thought should be a simple task. "The reason I'm here, the reason I called the team off for the night, is because I needed to tell you that...I love you, Laurel."

Laurel peered into his eyes and examined his face over and over again looking for an implication of some sorts to why Oliver revealed her to this all of a sudden. But she saw nothing but what looked like actual love mixed with pain in his eyes. Her mouth opened to respond but her mouth soon went dry for words.

"Thea asked me why we haven't tried to work things out once and for all. I couldn't tell her about the Arrow but I told her with everything that's happened between the two of us, it'd be better to not go down that road again. But no matter how many times I deny that, I still want you when I shouldn't." Oliver cupped Laurel's cheek with his hand and began to caress it softly with his thumb while watching as her face stung with different emotions. "Laurel, I'm not perfect and I don't even think I deserve to be with you after everything, but I know deep down that if I had just one chance to do everything over again I wouldn't hesitate to take it. I'd give up being the Arrow for you."

The two formers stared at each other for a good ten seconds both feeling stunned, Oliver surprised all that came out of his mouth. Laurel didn't know what to say before and now doesn't even know to react to Oliver professing his love for her. Even after five years Oliver was gone, Laurel never found a way to completely get over him.

"This is a lot to take in, I know. It's been kept inside me for so long I just couldn't..."

Oliver spoke again but was quickly cut off by Laurel, who had wasted no more time in waiting and crashed her lips to Oliver's for a heated kiss. Oliver caught Laurel in his arms and held her close to his body, returning the kiss without anymore hesitation clouding his mind.

Their lips parted, but the gap was soon closed again by Laurel. Oliver returned the kiss but soon was the one who broke away.

"Laurel..wait. I-"

"Just kiss me, Ollie." She cut him off with.

Their eyes met with lust, Laurel bit her bottom lip, and Oliver capitalized to kiss Laurel again with his tongue slithering past her lips and into her mouth. A small moan escaped Laurel's mouth and into Oliver's, extinguishing a low groan from him.

Oliver felt Laurel's legs rise and wrap around his waist the best they could being stopped by the corner of her sofa. He leaned up to let them fully wrapped around his body and took full advantage of lifting them both off of the couch. Their lips never disconnected once as Oliver held Laurel up. One hand was around her back to keep her steady, his other grabbing her ass. His eyes peaked open to watch where he was going as he carried Laurel into her bedroom.

Laying Laurel gently on her bed, Oliver trailed his kisses from her lips, down her jawline, and ended up latching onto her neck. Her eyes shut and emitted low hums. Oliver smirked and kissed a certain spot on Laurel's neck that tickled, causing her to giggle in response.

"That spot still tickles, you know." Laurel brought back to his unneeded attention.

"I know." He kissed it again to make her laugh again and bring his face up to hers with her fingers.

"Ollie, I'm sure your intentions tonight weren't to make me giggle with that old neck kiss trick." She pecked his lips and pull his shirt up over his head and tossed it onto the floor next to them. His scarred up body presented itself to her that always made her cringe internally from the hell he was put through. "But I love you too. And if everything you told me five minutes ago was true, then I'd like to show you how much."

Oliver played a smirk across his face and hooked his fingers under her shirt and slowly lifted. With each inch of skin he revealed to himself, Oliver softly kissed his way up until her shirt was off completely. Again to his surprise, Laurel Lance bared no bra on, like any girl wants to wear one after coming home to relax.

"Naughty." Oliver whispered and instantly took one of her nipples into his mouth, swirling his tongue around it urging to bring it to its stiffness. Laurel's breathing began getting heavier, looking on to Oliver who was the cause of this event. It also didn't help much that she could feel Oliver start to poke her a little. In response, she bucked her hips up into his the second his mouth rotated to her other nipple to give the same treatment.

Oliver took this as a sign to explore further on Laurel's toned body. He did his best to kiss every spot of skin on her body while traveling south. Her stomach sucked itself when her abs were given the sweetest of kisses but it was only much of a distraction so Oliver could slide her sweatpants down her legs, leaving Laurel in just her black piece of underwear. Laurel could feel herself becoming wet as always when her and Oliver went at it with each other in foreplay.

"More." Laurel gasped out and her wish was Oliver's command at this point. If she blinked, she would've missed it. Oliver tore her underwear down her legs and threw them aside like the rest of their clothing on the floor. Her wet, shaved womanhood presented itself to Oliver and wasted no time to pleasure the woman he loves. His tongue plunged forward past Laurel's wet folds to a familiar taste his old self savored.

Laurel expressed an ever louder gasp than before that transpired in a moan that was music to Oliver's ears and wanted to hear more. He swirled his tongue in circles followed by lapping the entire length of her slit. Laurel wrapped her legs around Oliver's head and rested her feet on his back. She grabbed one of her breasts and diverted her gaze down to Oliver. His tongue then flicked her clit and was devoured in his mouth in a matter of seconds.

"Agh! Oh my god! Ollie..."

His assault never ceased until Laurel's wish was satisfied. Oliver's hands rose and gently nudged away Laurel's hand from her chest to replace with his own. His fingers worked its magic on her erect nipples, threading them within themselves.

"Ollie...shit. I'm so clo-...Agh! Oh my god, oh my god."

Oliver attacked her her clit over and over until her moans got louder and her breath finally hitching. Laurel came quickly and Oliver lapped every single drop until there was no more. Laurel's orgasm left her shaking on her bed with her stomach rising and falling faster than before. He gave her some time to enjoy the final seconds of her ride so he crawled up next to her and caressed her cheek again with his thumb.

"I think I've ever experienced one quite like that before. Holy shit." Laurel and Oliver chuckled to each other. But Laurel wasn't going to just leave Oliver hanging like this. It was her turn to climb onto Oliver's body and spread her kisses down his torso, past all of his cut scars and bruises both present and past.

His breath hitched when her lips connected above his waist. Laurel was persistent and was never to be underestimated, even in the bedroom. Oliver's sweatpants were slowly yanked down by Laurel's eager hands and even did the favor of dropping down his boxers as well. Oliver was shocked. In the past, she always had this thing wear he wore his boxers in front of her because it made her think she was dating a Calvin Klein model.

His length soon presented itself to her, for the most part. It was only semi-erect even with a naked woman in front of him. "Ollie." Laurel playfully said in a shocked tone. "Is there a chill somewhere in the apartment?" Her eyebrow quirked up and giggled to see his face blush a little to his embarrassment. But nevertheless, he laughed along with her.

"It's just, uh, been...a while. Since we, or I, have been in bed with someone." In the midst of the heat, Oliver ran his hand over his face with a smile. The fact that they could hold part of a conversation in bed amused him and helped turn him on a little more.

"Relax." Laurel said softly while taking his shaft in her hand and lightly tugging on it. "This will just take a second." Taking a deep breath to help her nerve wracking dwindle away from feeling rusty on this end, Laurel dropped her head and placed a kiss to the head before she engulfed it fully between her lips. The head was in her mouth with her tongue swirling around it like a lollipop, making Oliver shiver on the bedsheets.

After getting a small taste, Laurel came back off with a small audible pop and shooting a smirk towards Oliver. Before he could say anything, she took him back into her mouth and slowly bobbed her head and lips up down, taking him further along in her mouth. Oliver was so distracted by how amazing her warm mouth felt around him, he didn't feel himself start to grow more making it slightly difficult for her to take more.

Laurel's tongue licked up the underside of his now hardened shaft and convinced her to take him in one more time. She took him as far as she could until her gag reflex kept her to going further down her throat. Laurel rose back up and smiled, looking on at what she saw as an achievement of Oliver gripping the bedsheets.

"Been awhile for that too?"

"You have...no idea." Oliver laughed out and further watched as Laurel climbing on top of him again. He laid back against her pillows and parted his lips when her hands found him again.

"At least you're lasting longer than some times." His tip rubbed against her moist entrance as she sat above him, awaiting for his word to continue on. His hands gripped her waists and pushed her down, allowing Laurel to sink down and be split by his hard self. Slowly, Laurel moaned and inched down until there was no more to take. Oliver tried to hold himself together but the moment he was inside her, he groaned out and held on to Laurel tighter.

As she rose up, Laurel began to take this at a fair pace to ride up and down on his shaft. Her hands fell to his chest to balance herself up to make their hips connect again and again with each other. But Oliver found it hard to keep himself together. At the first chance, he began to buck his hips upward and connect every time Laurel decided to plunge down onto him.

The room soon filled a combination of their moans hitting the walls and Laurel's ass smacking against Oliver's thighs. Oliver grabbed her ass and picked the pace up even quicker, thrusting himself into Laurel again and again with harder force. Her cries were soon heard and could feel her warm walls began to tighten around him.

"Fuck...again, Ollie. More!" Laurel moaned out.

As Laurel came to her second earth shattering orgasm, Oliver thought it was time to take control and flipped her on her back, never once pulling out of her. With his new found position, Oliver took his chances to fully please Laurel like never before. He pulled himself all the way out to the tip and then rammed back into her. Oliver did this a few more times, creating hot, tenser friction between them.

Oliver didn't know how much longer he was going to last with Laurel. He positioned her legs up onto his shoulders so he could go deeper inside her. "Laurel...almost." Oliver groaned out but focused on making himself last as long as he could.

"Don't hold back." Laurel rapidly groaned out quickly. "Just...take me, Ollie."

Oliver closed their gap with a hot kiss to Laurel's lips, letting their tongue battle it out for a few more seconds. Pulling away, Oliver was given an adrenaline to finish, slamming in and out of Laurel as fast as he could. Her legs wrapped around his body and pulled him closer to help. Laurel clung herself to Oliver's body and pulled him on top of her.

After a few hard thrusts, Oliver pushed into Laurel one last time and released a few low groans out of his mouth, swallowed up by Laurel with her lips as he came. He twitched inside her longer than he thought before collapsing himself onto her body. Their sweat covered bodies melded together as one, their breath hitting each other's faces struggling for air. Oliver waited until he was limp to pull out of Laurel and pushed himself alongside her body.

Oliver pulled Laurel on top of him and pressed their lips together for a quick make out session. Laurel moaned out and broke away from it but remained still on him. Their eyes connected and Oliver gave her the same look to when he knew was first in love with her. They both were spent but still had heart shaped eyes towards one another.

"I don't..." Laurel tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and rested her head against Oliver's chest. "...suppose you're heading back to Thea's for the night, are you?"

"Of course not." Oliver presses a soft kiss to the top of her head which made her smile. "I'll see her tomorrow. Right now...I just want to be with you. But I should probably give her a quick call, maybe."

"Go on, I'll be here. But just one more thing." Laurel brought their lips together again for another kiss. "Do not give up being the Arrow for me. I need you, but so does this city." Oliver kissed her lips and gently rolled her onto her mattress so he could find his phone in his pants pocket to call Thea. In the meantime, he found his boxers and slid them back around his waist, hearing a whistle from Laurel behind him.

Oliver dialed her number and waited patiently for Thea to answer. His eyes looked back on the bed where Laurel laid with her eyes closed but a smile across her face. The line rung five times before Thea finally decided to pick up the phone.

"Shhh, it's my brother." Thea whispered to someone before pulling the phone back to her ear. "Ollie? What's up?"

"Hey, Speedy. I just...wanted to let you know that I'll probably see you tomorrow, if not, the next day."

"I take that as things went as smoothly as I thought they would. You're welcome, by the way. Ugh, one sec."

Oliver briefly heard the named 'Roy' being spoken by his sister and smugly grinned. "No, it's fine. I'll leave you two alone. And tell Roy I'll break his hands if he breaks your heart."

"Ollie!"

"Goodnight, Speedy! Love you too." Oliver hung up before Thea could shame him for teasing with the two of them and slipped back into bed with Laurel, who looked almost passed out. He placed a kiss to her forehead and wrapped her arm around his body, both falling asleep contently in each other's arms.