HEAL

16 -- LARRY, CHARLOTTE, CHARLIE

"No sweetie, like this"  Laurent was showing Larry one of their dance moves again, fine tuning their routine.  The benefit for the Day Centre was tomorrow, and it was sold out.  The Twins themselves had contributed to that, and Laurent, if not Larry felt the pressure. He knew people weren't expecting them to perform like they used to, but they expected something halfway decent.  

"Hit the second beat, not the first. Pah - PAH - pa - dat - dat".  Larry nodded, getting it now.  He executed the move perfectly, exactly as Laurent had, going through it again together, both of them happy now.  To Laurent, it was a fairly simple routine, not just so that Larry could keep up, but so that he could accomplish it easily, thus giving him more self confidence too.  His brain and his legs were still trying their best to communicate with one another, and it was getting better the more consistent practice his body gave his brain.  

"Go over it again, Lar, I'll be right back, I'll get us some water."  Laurent jumped down from the stage, heading to the few tables in the far corner of the large hall, arriving at the hatch that served the cafe'.

"Two waters, please." 

"No problem.  How's it coming Laurent ?"  The girl smiled over at the stage where Larry was practicing. "How's he doing ?"  Laurent sighed at the sight of his brother, his back to everyone, head down, his tongue escaping his lips in concentration.  He went over the same few steps every few seconds, his arms akimbo, twists flying as he spun around, all the while concentrating on his feet.  Laurent smiled at him now too, he couldn't help it.  Larry had come so far.  SO far.  

From the yellow/green/purple lump of flesh that greeted him when he first laid eyes on him in the hospital, being kept alive by a ventilator, his brain activity minimal.  Covered in dried blood and bruises and stitches and bandages.  He remembered vividly the night Larry woke up and uttered his name, his eyes scared and searching for him, like it was yesterday.  It still sent his heart tumbling in his chest at the memory.  All his rehab, both physical and psychological, how grueling it was, for him, but especially for Larry.  Laurent remembered what a fighter Larry was, that it seemed important for him to not give up, to never give up.  To get better for himself as well as for Laurent.  How they had navigated that particularly messy minefield that was their past relationship, and Larry's memory of it. 

It had been a couple of weeks since their visit to the house, how Larry had remembered everything, really remembered them being together, complete with flashing lights, feelings, emotions, the whole shit show.  The ensuing meltdown.  Things weren't quite back to the way they should be, not how Laurent thought they should be at least, but they were getting there.  Paying attention to what he had said that day, Laurent was very attentive and protective of Larry now, like he needed him more somehow, not that he hadn't before.  That he was expecting Laurent to demonstrate the truth he told him that day.  That he loved him, and wanted them to be together.  And, apart from the physical side of things, that's what he did.  They were joined at the hip again, and he was loving every minute. 

Marcus had taken a back seat in Laurent's sporty, but not quite so fast these days, little number for the time being.  He and Laurent still talked, went for coffee occasionally, but he did not come to the apartment anymore.  There was no way Laurent was going to risk upsetting Larry any more than was necessary.  Even when Larry went back to New Horizons to visit with Maddie and the staff there, Laurent had made sure it was on a day when Marcus wasn't working.  Their relationship, or what ever it was was, was dying a death, he thought, and though he was sad about it for some reason, he realised that maybe it was inevitable.  As a gesture of good faith and friendship, he had called it, Marcus had invited Laurent to his apartment for dinner, and he had accepted in the spirit with which it was offered.  And, to his surprise, he had a good time.  The evening held echoes of the beginning of their relationship, they talked and laughed, a lot, found stimulating and intelligent conversation.  Marcus was a good cook, and the food was amazing.  When Marcus was giving rather than taking, Laurent realised, he seemed to be a decent guy.  And, falling for the nostalgia that the evening presented them with, they shared a few sweet, chaste kisses, at Laurent's insistence, surprisingly.  Why couldn't they be like this all the time, he wondered.  The more Marcus gave, the more Laurent wanted to give him in return.  The more Marcus wanted, the less Laurent felt inclined to give.  Huh.  Human nature he supposed.