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

.... Or Enemies Within

Larry stood at the entrance to the parking lot of the college campus, not having seen Laurent's car anywhere.  He usually picked him up after class, they would usually go to eat, chat shit, talk about their day, their week, their lives.  Laurent wasn't here, but Larry wasn't that worried.  He knew that Laurent would get waylaid at times, having to deal with the occasional legal emergency that might crop up.  But Laurent would call or text him if that was the case, and, today, he hadn't.  Never mind, he's just catch the bus home, it wasn't a problem.  

Laurent had fallen into the routine of picking Larry up from class every Monday and Friday night.  It started out as just a random thing, him literally being in the neighborhood just as Larry's class finished one night, so why would he make Larry catch the bus when he was nearby, it would be no skin off his nose to just swing by and pick him up.  Then, he would make sure he was nearby on those evenings, surprising Larry again.  Invariably they were both hungry, Larry was always hungry, as it seemed exercising his brain to that degree expended a whole bunch of calories.  Then, on following evenings, Larry would look for Laurent's car as a matter of course, expecting him to be there.  Hoping he would be there, his face lighting up when he spotted him.  

So, now it was dinner together every Monday and Friday evening.  Date night, Laurent would call it.  Larry thought it sweet and thoughtful, not sure if he was really ready to be thought of as a couple.  They couldn't be public anyway, and that, for Larry, was a comforting thought.  A failsafe.  If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and all that.  

The bus ride home seemed interminable, and it was unusually hot and tiring, Larry was tired from his mental exertions, and the bus was jam packed.  He was sat next to a young mother and her screaming child, and while he did his best to sympathize and grow the patience needed to smile at her and just deal with her and her child, he got off the bus two stops early, he just couldn't stand it any longer. 

As he walked the few extra blocks home, he couldn't help but reflect on his and Laurent's relationship, such as it was.  They were getting closer, he knew they were, and he liked the feeling.  Of just spending time in this mans company, talking with him about nothing in particular, or putting the world to rights, it didn't matter.  They would cook together, milling around the kitchen, like they'd been together in that space for years.  Enjoying good food, in equally, if not better, company.  Their conversations nearly always ended with Larry telling Laurent, again, how grateful he was for everything he had done for him and Ember.  Laurent would throw him a cheeky wink, telling Larry he could think of a very good way to thank him if he was so inclined.  They usually laughed it off, both knowing that it would happen eventually, but not yet.  Not that night, at least.  

But Larry wanted it to happen, he really did.  With Laurent's personality and confidence, he was so obviously a top, but Larry could equally imagine him being a sweet and considerate lover.  And it was this Laurent that he wanted to make love to him.  But, for Larry, this was a commitment.  It wasn't just sex, nor would he let it be between them.  They already had a bond, a togetherness of sorts, a life.  Larry'd had his fair share of one night stands and sexual encounters in the past, and he was far from naive or innocent when it came to sex.  But with Laurent, it was different, he wanted it to be different, and he was scared.  To cling to hope, there it was again, that word, that feeling, that damned emotion.  To hope Laurent felt as deeply as he did.  To hope he regarded making love to Larry in the same way.  To hope their ... whatever it was, would last more than five minutes.  

As Larry walked through the doors of their apartment building, the usually cheerful and chatty concierge was nowhere to be seen.  He hummed to himself as he rode the elevator, smiling just at the thought of being home.