Arrow: Slade's Return

5

"That's great. I'm glad to hear she's okay. Alright, you too. Ba-bye." Quentin says into his cell. He walks back over to the dinner table where Laurel and Jonas sit. Laurel is looking through a wedding dress catalog and Jonas is flipping through a scrapbook Laurel made of the 'acceptable' flowers for their center pieces. "They found Ashlee." Quentin says. "She's fine." They look up at Quentin, look at each other, sigh and then smile.

"That's great." Laurel says. "I'm glad she's okay."

"Thank God for that." Jonas says. "I don't know what would happen is they lost her."

"They've already lost so much, it would break them." Quentin says in reply to Jonas. "Have you picked out a flower yet?" Quentin asks almost amused.

"How can I when I haven't even seen all the choices?" The dark haired man replies.

"Oh, stop making fun of me!" Laurel says playfully as she slaps Jonas's arm.

"Ouch!"

"That didn't hurt!" They all chuckle. "And hey, there are A LOT of flowers to choose from, not to mention they all have 40 different colors!"

"That doesn't mean you have to consider all 40 colors, Laurel." Jonas says, still criticizing her ability to 'narrow down' the choices.

"I took half of them out yesterday!" Laurel says laughing.

"I think you might want to take another half out." Jonas says. She makes a face at him. The brunette 5' 10" man puts his hands up surrendering. He stands, kisses Laurel on her head and then walks to the kitchen. "Want something to drink?"

"Yes, please."

"Quentin?"

"Ohhh, no." His 'oh' being a sigh. "I have to get going." He stands from his chair and puts on his black coat. "Thank you for dinner."

"Anytime dad." He walks over and kisses Laurel on her head and then opens the door to her apartment.

"Goodnight, Quentin." Jonas says.

"Night, Jonas. Bye, Laurel."

"Bye." Laurel waves. Her father shuts the door behind him. Jonas walks to Laurel with two glasses of red wine in his hands. He tilts his head towards the living room. Laurel stands and follows him to the couch. They sit and Jonas hands Laurel her glass.

"Thank you." Her voice quiet and soft.

"You're welcome." His British accent strong. Laurel folds her legs up onto the couch and leans her head on Jonas's chest. He strokes her head. "Snapdragon."

"What?"

"And Hydrangea." Laurel looks up at him. "Snapdragons and Hydrangeas. For the center pieces." Laurel lifts her head from his warm chest to look at him.

She smiles. "What color Rose are you wearing on your tuxedo?"

"What colors are the Snapdragons and Hydrangeas going to be?"

"Light Pink and Blue."

"Then Light Pink." Jonas smiles. Laurel looks away, imagining walking down the isle, holding Jonas's hands. Telling each other their vows and having their first kiss as husband and wife. He'll look at her with so much love and she'll return the look. It'll be the best day of her life.

"Laurel." Jonas says, breaking Laurel from her daydream. She jerks her head towards him. "Are you okay?" She can see his concern.

"I'm fine." She smiles. "I was just thinking about the wedding." She grabs his free hand. Their fingers interlace. Jonas smiles. A genuine, loving smile. It warms Laurel's heart to know someone loves her as much as she loves them. To know he loves her as much as she loves him.

"Do you want to watch something?" He asks her, turning to the tv. He grabs the remote off the coffee table and sets down his empty glass. Laurel sets down her glass and cuddles into Jonas's chest again as he puts his arm around her.

"Sure." Jonas turns on the tv and flips through channels. "Oooo. Go back." Laurel says as Jonas passes an episode of Grey's Anatomy.

"This one?"

"Yes."

"You like this show?"

"Yes. You don't?"

"I'm not too fond of soaps. Although I do find it amusing how much drama these doctors have in their lives." Laurel giggles.

"They do have a lot of drama, don't they?"

"Are you kidding? They have more drama in one episode then an ordinary person would have in a life time." Jonas says laughing. Laurel laughs with him.

*****

~~~ 9 months ago~~~

"Did I really have to wear a blind fold the whole way?" Laurel asks amused as Jonas helps her out of their car.

"Yes. Now shush up you can take it off soon. Just once we get there."

"Where is 'there', exactly? Oh, wait. That's why I'm blind folded. I'm not supposed to know."

"Not yet, anyway."

They walk for about 20 more feet then stop. "Are we here?" Laurel asks.

"Yes. But don't take your blind hold off yet."

"Whyyyyy?" Laurel complains.

"Because I have to sit you down first." Jonas says. He walks her to a bench nearby and tells her to sit. After they're sitting, he removes the blind fold from Laurel's eyes. They're sitting in a park on the ocean. The grass is green, the water is blue, the sky is clear, and they are shaded by an old oak tree with bright green leaves. It's a beautiful day and it's peaceful.

"It's beautiful." Laurel says taking in the scene.

"Do you like it?" Jonas asks. "I like to come here to think."

"I do. Why did you bring me here?" Laurel asks.

"I've been thinking about this for a long time. Too long, I think." Jonas turns to face her, and she to face him. "Laurel, I have known you for two years but I feel like I've known you my entire life. I've never met anyone as extraordinary as you. You make me laugh and laugh... and laugh." Laurel laughs at that but stops so he can continue.

"And when we met I could tell you were the one for me, which is why I was clumsy and made a fool of myself by spilling my coffee on myself." That makes both of them laugh.

"And I knew I would always love you because you have filled the hole in my heart that had been waiting to be filled for far too long. You brought me up when I was down. You stood beside me every step of the way. You smile at me and I feel like I'm on top of the world." By this point Laurel was in tears.

"You are the most beautiful woman I have every met. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Jonas stands up to kneel on one knee in front of Laurel. He pulls a small black box from his jacket pocket and opens it. It holds a diamond ring.

"Dinah Laurel Lance, will you be my wife?"

"Yes. Of course. Yes!" Laurel kneels on the ground in front of him so they are leveled. She kisses him and then they hug. She's full on crying now. Tears of joy. They break apart to get off the ground and sit on the bench. Jonas takes the ring out and slides it on her right ring finger.

"I didn't actually expect you to say yes." The British man teases.

"I didn't actually expect you to propose to me when you said you had some place to show me." The tall brunette jokes back. She wipes tears from her cheeks. Jonas puts his arm around her and Laurel leans into his shoulder. They sit there watching the water.