You And Me - A Collection of Les Twins One Shots

Leave

These walls have been their run-down little cocoon throughout the past fifteen years. The only home they'd ever known. Their sanctuary. And Laurent thanked them silently.

His eyes wandered around, drifting over every rugged surface, their bunk bed, the dog-eared posters on the wall. His hands felt the warmth of the sun that had fallen into their childhood room. He ran them over the bed, over their small desk, over their closet. One last time before his departure tomorrow.

"What are you doing?" Larry asked, walking up behind him.

"Packing," Laurent admitted in a whisper. He didn't turn around, afraid of what he'd find in Larry's expression. Instead, he kept his back turned toward his twin as he picked a stack of cleanly folded T-shirts and put them inside his suitcase. He grabbed a pair jeans next but they never made it inside when Larry yanked them out of his hold.

Laurent looked up then, and the shiny-eyed mix of accusation and fear on his brother's face was every bit as bad as he'd expected it to be.

"No!" Larry protested. "You promised me."

"Larry..." Laurent's eyes flicked down to the ground. "Mami said—"

"I don't care! I don't care what she said! You promised me—" his voice wavered and cracked and Laurent's hand shot out on mere instinct, fingers tangling in Larry's shirt.

Larry shoved him hard, causing him to stumble. He tossed Laurent's jeans to the ground and turned toward the suitcase.

"Larry..."

Larry pulled the shirts back out of Laurent's suitcase, moving back toward their closet and Laurent's heart broke a little as he tried to hold his twin back by the shoulder.

"Get off me!" Larry cursed at him, hellbent on getting his clothes back where they belonged. "They can't make you leave if you don't let them! You said you wouldn't leave. You said—"

"Larry, please—" Laurent wrapped his arms around a struggling Larry, trying to calm him down, trying to do anything to stop him. Larry's elbow caught him in his ribs but even so he managed to wrestle them both halfway to the ground. They were both panting, both struggling, both a growling knot of limbs on the floor and then Laurent somehow managed to gain the upper hand, forcing Larry's wrists above his head as he looked down with tears of guilt in his eyes.

"Larry stop! This is going to happen, whether we want to or not!"

They barely had enough money to get by and their mother had just spent about a month's worth of salary on a ticket to Guadeloupe. Laurent knew no matter what they said or what sort of stunt they pulled, their mother was hellbent on doing this. She wouldn't allow them to weasel their way out of this. Not this time.

"I'll come with you."

"Larry."

"We'll buy a second ticket. Someone can lend us the money for it," Larry begged and whatever else Laurent wanted to say withered and died on his tongue. The whole reason for them to be in this situation in the first place, was to split them up and they both knew it. Their mother had said something about school programs and 'foreign cultures' but they both knew what this was really about. Larry's lips twisted, his eyes filling with tears. "Don't go."

Laurent's heart broke at that. He pressed his lips together and loosened his hold on his brother's wrists, gently - lovingly - swiping his thumbs across Larry's pulse point. He tried to memorize the soft feel of his brother's skin, the timbre of his voice, the rhythm of his heart. Those things would be getting him through the next twelve months.

"I don't want to." Laurent croaked. "I'm so sorry."

"You've known. You've known the whole time and you didn't say a word."

"Larry—"

"You're such a damn liar. Get off me!" Larry let out a furious growl and toppled them both over so that he was free. Laurent flopped back onto the ground with a sharp gasp and then Larry was already halfway out of the room, slamming the door closed on his way out.

Larry didn't come back until the next morning. By the time the first rays of sunshine trickled into their room from outside, the bed dipped under the familiar weight of his brother's body. He didn't say anything, just crawled into bed behind him, under his blanket, slotting his chest to Laurent's back like he hadn't just spent nearly eight hours of their last day together shagging some girl or spending time with their friends instead of with him.

"What if you like it there and you don't come back?"

"Of course I'll come back."

Larry pressed his mouth to Laurent's shoulder blade. He breathed in deeply and Laurent closed his eyes at the hot puffs of air against his pulse point. He tried not to notice the dampness there.

"What if they're not nice to you?"

"They're family."

"Dad was family too."

Laurent tensed and turned around slowly, shifting on the bed until they were face to face. Larry's eyes were puffy and blood-shot and suddenly Laurent felt stupid for being bitter about Larry's absence. After all, Laurent had known all along how serious their mom was being about separating them. He had spent the past four months mentally preparing himself for this moment. Larry had only just realized it today. And it was killing him.

"What if you like it better there?"

Laurent thought it was a joke until he saw the pinched look on Larry's face, the way he tried to avoid eye contact. Larry's voice was so soft he could barely hear it. Larry sniffed, his eyes still averted. "Mami said they have a nice house there... and a big garden and a dog. You'll go to school with our cousins."

"Not all of them live there anymore."

"Some do. Two of them are about the same age as us," Larry wagered softly. "It will be like having a new family."

"I don't need a new family. I've got you right here." Laurent took his brother's face into his hands until Larry's eyes met his. "You really think I'd just replace you?"

That shut Larry up effectively. 

His only response was a shaky inhale.

"I'll miss you so much," Laurent admitted in a whisper and that was what broke Larry. 

Before he knew it, a choked-off sob escaped him and he buried himself in Laurent's chest.

Laurent wrapped his arms around his shoulders. "It's just one year. I'll be back in no time."

"Swear to me," Larry hiccuped. "Swear that you'll come back."

Laurent sighed, rubbing his hand up and down the length of Larry's back. "I swear."

"On my life."

Laurent sighed. "I swear on your life."

Larry nodded, finally at ease. He settled back against Laurent's chest, seemingly worn out from all the crying he had done. "Lau?"

"Yes?"

"I'll miss you too."