A Lauriver future

A\N: This is another Lauriver oneshot, but it's set in the future where William doesn't exist because he didn't cheat on Laurel with Samantha and Oliver never got with Felicity, they're like brother and sister, he's always been in love with Laurel. I've not done a Lauriver oneshot in months, so I hope I do you Angels justice.

He wakes up with a gasp and sweat sticking to him. He had the nightmare again: the one where he watched Fyers kill Laurel in front of him and he couldn't do anything. "No." He breathes when he sees his wife's side of the bed empty and cold. He throws the covers off him and walks out of his bedroom, calling out quietly for his wife.

"Ollie." Comes the soft voice of his wife as he walks into the living room that connects to their kitchen.

Laurel stands where the kitchen and living room meet, holding a bottle in one hand and their daughter on her hip. He releases a breath when he sees his wife alive, holding their daughter.

"Oh thank god." He says quietly. Laurel walks towards him until they're nose to nose, and she kisses him once softly on his lips. "You dreamt that Fyers killed me again, didn't you?" She asks despite knowing the answer. Only she, Tommy, Diggle, Felicity, Sara, Quentin and Roy know everything about what he went through on the island.

His mother and sister only know that he was abused and know that the abuse left permanent scars. He will never tell his mother and sister what he went through on the island for 5 years. He can't tell them.

He nods at his wife, his wife sighs.

"I'll call Dad, he can watch Maddy." She says, Oliver goes to shake his head, not wanting to wake his father-in-law up at 3 in the morning, even though he knows his father-in-law demanded that he be woken up whenever his son-in-law had a nightmare that involved his daughters so his granddaughter can get some sleep while his daughter can comfort her husband without being interrupted by 'the cutest little thing in the world.'

He's handed his daughter as his wife goes to call her father. He carries his 5 month old baby girl over to the couch, stepping over the toys that are scattered across the floor, and holds her close to his chest. Inhaling her baby shampoo.

"Daddy will always keep you safe, so will Mommy and grandpa and aunty Sara, and aunty Thea, and aunty Felicity, and uncle Tommy, and uncle Diggle, and uncle Roy. You have a lot of people to keep you safe, when I can't. I promise you will never have to go through what me, or Mommy, have had to go through." He tells his daughter quietly.

Even though he went through hell and torture those five years, Laurel was in her own hell. His wife spent 5 years simply existing because she knew that he would have wanted her to live. So she finished school, went to Law School and became a lawyer like he would have wanted her to be. She became a lawyer for him, the love of her life.

Then she found out he was alive, had been for 5 years, and had been tortured and had had his trust broken time and time again by people who helped him and who he thought of as his surrogate family.

It took a long time for Laurel, and the rest of their family, to build his trust back up again, and even now there are days where he'll question if their trust is real, something which hurt all of them even though they understand.

The only people's trust he doesn't question are Laurel, Sara, Tommy and Dig's. Because those four people have stood by him through everything; the nightmares, the flashbacks, the anger, everything.

"-kay, Daddy, see you soon. Love you too." Oliver hears his wife's voice, then her footsteps as she enters the living room.

"Dad is coming to get Maddy in half an hour, he was up anyway. Working on a new case." She says, he holds out a hand and she slips her palm into it, wrapping her fingers around his.

"I love you." He whispers, Laurel smiles before bending down and kissing him.

"I love you too." She replies, putting their tangled hands on their daughters back.

"Thank you for never letting me doubt your trust in me." He whispers, Laurel chuckles. "I'll never let you doubt me, Ollie." She replies just as their apartment door opens.

"Laurel, Oliver?" Quentin's voice is soft and quiet as he enters the apartment and comes face to face with the young family.

"Hey, guys." His father-in-law says quietly before he looks at Oliver. "Oliver, you okay, son?" Oliver shrugs.

In the years he's been the Arrow and been back with Lance's oldest daughter, Quentin and himself have developed something of a father-son relationship. "I... I don't know, Quentin. I've been home for years and the island is still affecting me." He growls. Oliver hears his wife sigh quietly. "It's gonna take time, Ollie." She whispers. He nods: he knows this. It's what his therapist says.

Therapy. Oliver snorts internally. It was Laurel, Dig, Tommy and Sara who got to go to therapy after he had a flashback and attacked Laurel which led to him moving into the lair for three months until Tommy and Felicity practically dragged him back to the apartment he shared with his girlfriend.

"Well, I'll take Maddy to my place while Laurel gets you sorted out. Take as much time as you need to, son. We're not going anywhere." Quentin says softly, Oliver nods as Laurel breaks their linked hands from Maddy's back and Oliver hands the sleeping little girl to her grandpa.

"Come on, Mads, let Mommy and Daddy have some time alone, auntie Sara is waiting for you." Quentin says to the baby as he's handed his granddaughter's diaper bag by Laurel. "She's not feeling the best, Daddy, so keep an eye on her." Laurel advises, Quentin chuckles. "Sweetie, I've been through this twice. Maddy is in good hands with me." He reassures the two of them before he leaves the two of them alone.

Laurel Queen-Lance watches as her husband moves around their living room, picking up Maddie's toys and putting them in her toy box without saying a word. She knows the signs of her husband needing space so she leaves the living room and goes into the kitchen and makes them both a cup of coffee.

It's nearing four am, and she knows that neither of them will fall asleep now. Just after she's put the milk back in the fridge, she senses her husband's eyes on her from the kitchen doorway.

"I made you a cup of coffee just how you like it." She says, carrying the two cups past him and into the living room, placing them on the coffee table. She sits on the couch, her legs curled underneath her, a fluffy blanket covering her legs. As she waits for her husband, she switches on the large TV Diggle got them, and flips through the channels and turns on a Disney movie that;s just starting.

Soon enough, the couch shifts with added weight and a strong arm wraps around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him.

"I love you, Laurel Queen-Lance." Ollie says as he presses a kiss to her hair. She smiles. She never tires of him telling her that he loves her.

"I love you too, Oliver Queen." She replies, lifting her head to face him, their lips are inches apart. Oliver kisses her gently.

Oliver smiles as he carries his sleeping daughter to her bedroom, placing her in her crib, smiling when he feels his wife's arms around his waist and her chin on his shoulder, watching their daughter's small chest rising and falling.

"We did good with her, didn't we?" Oliver asks his wife in a whisper. He feels his wife smiling.

"Yeah we did." She confirms, pressing a kiss to his neck, on the scar that nearly ended his life while he was on that island. 

A\N: This Lauriver oneshot is an AU, something that I wanted to happen in cannon. This one is short as it's the first Lauriver oneshot I've done in months.

I hope you Angels enjoy this Lauriver romance oneshot.