All About Us (LT One shot books)

Laurent's 5 Rules

Laurent Rule №1. Do not pay attention.

These are pretty stupid 5 rules that won't work with any other person for sure. But they worked great with Larry. Starting in high school, Laurent gradually formed certain rules in himself to protect himself from Larry's empty drama. For a while, Laurent thought he wasn't being fair to Larry if he applied these rules.

The first rule was almost always saved, Laurent used it most often. It worked beautifully because of Larry's ever-changing mood and emotions. Laurent did not pay attention if Larry scattered clothes or shoes everywhere. Laurent just rolled his eyes and stepped over the discarded piece of clothing. When Larry cools down, he will pick everything up and put it in its place.

Over time, as they got older, they began to make friends around the world. But friends from other countries and friends from his native France still did not understand how to react to the overwhelmed Larry. Especially when something pissed him off at the supermarket and when he came home he almost threw food bags. Roy and John froze in the kitchen aisle, afraid to move, while Laurent gracefully slid past their frozen bodies and began to unpack food bags while listening to Larry screaming in anger. And there was even more amazement on the faces of his friends when Larry, having finished talking, abruptly turned on his heels and headed to his room to change.

Melissa had the same amount, not understanding Larry's behavior. She still couldn't find the right balance to channel Larry's anger the other way. Laurent just chuckled as he took a bite of the apple. He sat relaxed on the huge couch and watched Larry toss the stuff Melissa had bought with his credit card. If it was a normal day, Larry wouldn't have even noticed, but today, to Melissa's bad luck, the people the twins were negotiating with turned out to be complete asses and Larry couldn't tell them about it.

When dishes broke in the house or some items broke, Laurent simply bought new ones or took out something from stocks. Laurent never made tragedy or drama out of Larry's behavior, just ignoring it. Even to the fountain of joy. In this mood, Larry was even worse than when he was angry. Happy Larry wanted to drown everyone around him in his happiness, and Laurent, anticipating Larry's mood, always disappeared on time under the pretext of strong employment. In this mood, Larry could buy new furniture, clothes, the entire range of a couple of sports shoe stores, or a car, there it will fall like cards. To be more precise, when Larry was in this mood, Laurent simply set a limit on all payment cards.

Laurent Rule №2. Pay no attention to his personal life.

This rule appeared as one of the last but eventually became the second in a row. And in recent years, it only concerned Melissa. Laurent never said anything bad about the girl, his knitted eyebrows or grin do not count. Laurent never told Larry that Melisa was a bad idea. He rather watched how far she would go. The credit card Larry gave her is unlimited. She was unlimited until Laurent set a rather small limit on her (by the standards of Melissa), but when the girl complained to Larry, he did not fix anything and advised her to deal with Laurent herself. Melissa almost choked with anger, but she didn't say anything to Laurent. But other than that, he didn't interfere, letting Larry do whatever he wanted with his life.

Laurent's Rule №3. Live your own life.

Larry had moments when the connection with the twin scared the hell out of him, and then he disappeared from Laurent's field of vision. For many years, Laurent was offended by such behavior of the twins, but when he accidentally read one very interesting article in a psychology magazine (thanks to his mother), he radically changed his behavior. He also let go of his reins and just moved on. At first, it was new acquaintances, then traveling to friends in different countries, and finally, now these are some kind of solo projects. Nothing serious, just killing time while Larry goes wild.

Since Laurent introduced this rule into his life, Larry began to disappear less often and for shorter periods. When he did not find hundreds of missed calls on his phone, a huge number of voices, and unread messages, it hurt his pride. Checking his Instagram, Larry saw that his brother's life was moving on without him. And Larry was scared the hell out of it. Laurent's behavior brought Larry back to his senses almost instantly.

Laurent's Rule №4. Don't demand public affection from Larry.

This rule was formed back in high school when they were often hurt for their close relationship. Larry was hurt more than Laurent, they fought a lot. Larry increasingly became withdrawn and withdrawn, not only at school but also at home. He began to get sick more often. And then Laurent suggested that he and his friends at school would be more serious, they would not hug or hold hands so often, but at home, they would behave as they wanted. As they got older, Larry became more confident in himself, and more and more he felt inside himself how much he did not care about anyone's opinion. He began to hug his brother or cling to him at especially emotional moments. But still, most of their affection was behind closed doors. Where Larry felt safe.

Laurent's Rule №5. Don't listen to what Larry says.

This rule was formed most recently, and Laurent used it very rarely. Such moments arose not often but were always the most painful. They're twins. They went through many quarrels with each other, even fought several times, although it was very stupid. And they could say anything to each other. And this is the weakest part of Laurent. Larry could be very cruel to the twins at times. Sometimes he forgot that Laurent had feelings. Larr never wanted to offend Laurent, it just so happened that a stupid quarrel with Laurent, because Larry was brought to the handle by other people, turned into a real nightmare with rather offensive words. But Larry regretted his words at the same moment. More often than not, because of the overwhelming guilt towards the twin, Larry would go out for a walk, only to return a few hours later with Laurent's favorite food and bear hugs, which his twin loves so much. This rule was more difficult for Laurent than the previous ones, but it helped more than the others. He never listened to what Larry said about him, he looked into his eyes, at his body language, and his nervously trembling hands and eyes wide with shock from his own words. " Never listen to Larry" has recently become Laurent's motto.