You And Me - A Collection of Les Twins One Shots

Special

Their birthday has always been special to Larry.

It is easily his favorite day of the year, better than all the other holidays and birthdays combined. He can't even really say why, it's just the fact that it's a celebration of them and their togetherness, maybe.

This year is extra special for several reasons.

It's not so much the number, 34 is not an age to get especially excited about.

But the past year hadn't exactly been easy on them and it's almost a relief now that it's over.

It feels like yesterday that Larry was in a bar with a whole bunch of people he pretended to be excited about when the only person he had wanted by his side was thousands of kilometers away. It had been the second birthday they had ever spent apart from each other after Guadeloupe and somehow this one had hurt worse, possibly because this time, it was by choice.

Larry had called Laurent in the morning and Laurent hadn't even picked up and that had set the tone for the rest of the day. Never before, not once in their life, had Larry not congratulated his brother on his birthday, but that one missed call had hurt so badly that Larry had skillfully ignored Laurent's messages for the rest of the day. He'd fallen asleep with his phone clutched in his hand and with a gaping hole in his heart where Laurent should have been.

This leads to the second reason why this year is special... Larry has made no plans whatsoever. Not with friends, not with family, not with, well - he's single now, so not with anyone 'special' either. They are in New York City for a project so they can't be with their mom like usually, bringing the whole family together in her house.

Today is just for them. They have nowhere to be. Not even a dinner reservation. Eleni is in Greece sorting out a family thing. Their friends keep bombarding them with messages, inviting them to different locations but Larry knows they won't go anywhere today.

It's a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence and Larry feels oddly sentimental about it.

He gets up a little earlier that day than he usually would, smiling sleepily at his phone as he browses through all the birthday wishes. Usually, he'd probably go for a quick jog or something, get some fresh air, maybe a light snack to get himself started. 

But today, Larry just strolls into the kitchen of their apartment and screens the fridge for something to eat. They don't have a whole lot, just a half-finished carton of eggs, some milk, a box of cereal, and a few styrofoam cups of Thai Food from the takeout they got the night before. So Larry makes a trip to the nearest corner store and buys a bunch of stuff. He gets mostly fruit. But also some toast, ham, more eggs, and a few cartons of fruit juice. By the end of his shopping spree, he's juggling a load of groceries in his arms and paying almost fifty bucks.

Larry makes breakfast. And not just any breakfast. He cracks eggs into a pan and waits for them to sizzle. He burns the toast, but that's okay because they also have waffles. He makes tea because Laurent doesn't drink coffee. He cuts the fruit like their mom used to do when they were children. He decorates the table. Or at least puts down plates and cutlery which is odd because he doesn't remember having ever sat down for a proper meal at the immensely large dinner table they have owned for three years now. They usually just order something and eat it on the couch.

By the time he's finished with breakfast, Laurent has been lured out of bed by the unmistakable ruckus Larry has caused with pans and plates and cutlery. 

"What are you doing?" Laurent frowns at him, rubbing at his eyes like a three-year-old after a nap. His braids are tied into a sloppy bun and he's only in his boxers and socks, looking at the food at the table like it's a foreign concept.