Let me carry your story in my heart

Lauliver, "Would it be too sappy to say I wished for you?"

"Would it be too sappy to say I wished for you?"

Laurel smiles, a smile Oliver came to know very, very well throughout his life. That sad, wistful smile accompanied by her hand reaching up to his jaw.

"I know you did."

It's strange. He can't feel her, not really. They're dead, so they have no physical touch. But he can feel her warmth. He can feel the calm he always had around her, even in their worst moments.

"Why didn't you go?"

She sighs, "Because you wouldn't be there." She says, "And I told you before, you were the love of my life."

Lauliver, "Can we try this again?"

"Can we try this again?"

Laurel knows Oliver tends to leave her speechless often. But usually it's the frustrating kind of speechless. The kind where she can't decide which version of six different ways of calling him an idiot will most effectively pull his head out of his ass. The kind where he's just told her he's going out into the field alone and it such an atrociously bad idea that she can't even process his line of thinking. Really, his leaving her speechless almost always comes hand-in-hand with his being an idiot.

Not... this.

Not an apology. Not a year and a half after she last told him she loves him, after she told him to make things right with Felicity, and he never did.

Not... She never expected to hear him tell her he still loves her, not in this way.

She nods, and she feels like there are tears in her eyes.

"Yeah."

18+24, Lauliver?

18. Circus AU

24. Soulmate AU

Oliver and Laurel have been performing together in the Starling Circus for years. They're daredevils, and while they're always mixing up the act their signature is a bow and arrow. They started with the simple Oliver shooting the apple off Laurel's head while blindfolded. Gradually they've moved up over the years; incorporating flaming arrows, Laurel jumping from platforms and Oliver shooting an arrow with a rope for her to grab onto. They train for hours every day, have for years.

But, accidents happen.

It's during a show, because of course it is. Oliver is shooting with his feet, not his hands, and Laurel is standing against a wall fifty feet away; a target swinging back and forth in front of her. The first two arrows Oliver shoots the bullseye, but on the third he misses.

The arrow goes right through Laurel's chest.

The whole circus goes silent, but the thing is, soulmates aren't able to kill one another. That shot should've killed her instantly, but instead Laurel reaches up and is able to pull the arrow from her chest. The wound heals right over.

Suddenly, their entire partnership has shifted.

Laurel/Oliver, "If you start singing, I'm breaking up with you."

“If you start singing, I’m breaking up with you.”

Laurel rolls her eyes at him but closes her mouth, and then in a surprising move she chooses not to berate him. Instead she props her elbow on the edge of the passenger side window and rests her head in her hand, ignoring him.

Not ideal, but he can live with it.

B,B,B Be careful making wishes in the... dark, dark.

The words come fast over the car radio. Ever since Fall Out Boy got back together Laurel finds it hilarious, and teases that he is somehow responsible for it, just because he’d asked her (hopefully) if they were still popular during one of their first conversations after he’d come back.

“So light ‘em up, up, up. Light ‘em up, up, up.” She started to mutter in tune with the song, and he glares at her from the side of his eye.

Of course, that only encourages her and the next thing he knows she is screaming (badly, but he’ll never tell her) along to the chorus and keeping impressive time with the rest of the lyrics.

If he joins her on the next chorus, he’ll deny it all later.

Laurel/Oliver Cooking Competition AU?

1. Laurel and Oliver were partners a long time ago. Oliver inherited Verdant, an upscale restaurant, from his parents and since he and Laurel were dating at the time he took ownership, and she is the one with a business degree, he signed her on as his partner. Unfortunately Oliver’s immaturity eventually led not only to them breaking up, but Verdant failing.

2. Oliver is in the competition after completing culinary school. He wants to use the prize money to reopen Verdant. Laurel is competing because while she was Oliver’s partner she realized how much she loved owning a restaurant. She loved the challenges, how close the staff can get, and she wants to open her own place with a more family style feel. She’s been saving up, but the prize money would put her over the amount she needs.

3. When Laurel doesn’t get sent home in the first two weeks Oliver corners her in the dorms and demands to know why she’s on this show, of all competition shows she could’ve gone on, especially considering she isn’t even a chef. Laurel tells him she’s applied for other shows, but this was the only one to let her on.

4. Viewers start picking up on the tension between Oliver and Laurel and they become a ship, Sara and Thea spend a lot of time monitoring the internet and the popularity of the ship tag for their siblings. They have mixed feelings about it.

5. Laurel ends up placing fourth in the total competition, Oliver ends up winning. He approaches Laurel later about restarting their partnership, saying she’s always been the one with the vision, and that’s why he knew he had to learn to cook. Otherwise, he’d be useless to Verdant.

Lauliver+ "Do you really think we can make this work?"

“Do you really think we can make this work?”

Honestly? He’s less than confident. They’ve tried to be together so many times before and somehow they always manage to get in their own ways. Be it his cheating, or his insistence on keeping her at arms length. Or be it her stubbornness, or their differing views. It has never worked before.

He takes a half step even closer to her, his hands ghosting over her waist and his forehead pressing lightly to hers. She doesn’t back away, and her eyes flutter closed for a breath before she looks up at him through her lashes.

“I don’t know.” He tells her her honestly, and the hitch of her breath is audible. “But I want to.”

She nods against him, and then her hands are up and holding onto the back of his neck.

She presses a soft, chaste kiss to his lips. When she pulls away it’s a disappointment, but she doesn’t move away from him.

“Me too.”