FREE FLYING HEARTS -- A collection of short stories from Tonig73

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Warning  --  bxb

Larry lay snuggled into Laurent's chest, his ear pressed hard against it's warmth.

"I can hear your heart beat."  He gazed up at Laurent in absolute amazement.  "I can hear your heart beat, Lau !"  Laurent laughed, pressing a tender kiss to Larry's temple, letting his lips linger there for a few seconds, enjoying the softness and warmth of Larry's skin.  Larry's skin.  Laurent was equally as amazed at their situation right now.  They were together, and would be, forever.  His lips stretched into a smile against Larry's forehead just at the thought.

"Well, I hope so, 'cos if you couldn't, it'd mean I was dead, probably."  Laurent smiled down at him, "and we just got here.  I don't want either of us to be dead just yet."  Talking of death no longer frightened him, when the time came he would not be scared of it, he was sure.  What he was scared of now though, was one of them dying before the other, and having to spend the rest of their time alone, after having had an amazing life together.  Laurent sighed deeply, but that was a long time off, he told himself, a looooong  time off. 

They lay ensconced in Laurent's bed, in his beautiful home on the outskirts of Paris.  It was peaceful and quiet, surrounded by green fields and large swaying trees, and that peace and tranquility permeated through the house, and into the bedroom, and through their constantly touching bodies.  Neither of them had been so at peace, so content before.  Holding each other now, just feeling one another's warm skin under their roaming hands, feeling each other's breath fanning over that warm skin, hearing and feeling each other's heartbeat in the near silence, was all they wanted, all they needed.  Whatever else might happen to them, individually or as a couple, this, right here, right now, this moment.  This was home. 

Laurent had rearranged or cancelled all his work for the next 10 days or so, he needed to be with Larry.  They needed to be with each other, to connect, and reconnect, again.  They knew each other well from a professional standpoint, Larry certainly knowing a lot more about Laurent than an assistant probably should.  And yet, he loved him in spite of that, in spite of his past, his conquests, his ruthless reputation, his darkness.  He loved him, maybe, because of that too.  Because he knew the kind of person Laurent really was, and Melody had told him as much too.  That before things went south, Laurent was the perfect child, loving and kind and sweet, with a heart as big as all get out.  But then, Laurent had hidden, buried it so deeply, he hadn't been able to reach his true self any more, but Larry could.  And when he brought Laurent's heart out from the dark into the daylight again, kicking and screaming, he dusted it off, polished it up, and claimed it as his own.  Laurent's heart belonged to him.  End of.

That day, in Laurent's room at Heavenly Bodies, they had gazed at each other, and talked, and kissed.  Larry had recounted what had happened in Heaven, and how and why, Karen had done what she had done.  That he had been so miserable without Laurent, she took pity on him.

For the next 3 days, they did 4 things.  They made love, slept, ate and talked, and usually in that order.  Very rarely leaving their bed, they ordered food to be delivered, and ate it while watching T.V., or got snacky things from the fridge, and complained about crumbs in the sheets, pretend fighting about it, which usually led to other things.  The more they made love, and talked, the more they fell in love with one another, if that were even possible.  The more they knew then, that the other was the one they were supposed to live their lives with.  It was because of Laurent, that Larry had a "life" at all.  Laurent still felt guilty, that he was the reason Larry had fallen from grace, was now a fallen angel, and that didn't sit well with him.

"No.  No, no, no .... "  Larry got in Laurent's face, seeing the sorrow in his eyes.  "Here," he told him, shoving his fingers in Laurent's chest, "Here is where I'm supposed to be.  And we will have forever up there, don't worry."  Laurent frowned,