Unknown Caller

-3-

Just as Larry had predicted, the anonymous calls ended after Laurent changed his number and things went back to normal for a while.

They spent some time at home with their mom and then Larry took an overnight flight to New York for a business appointment while Laurent made an appearance at a Fashion Show in Paris. 

In between work, they both got some much-needed quality time with their family, taking their mom out for dinner, getting their hair done by their sister, and spending the weekends with their daughters. It was good. They were good. And yet somehow, Laurent still couldn't quite shake the feeling that something was off. It felt as though he was being watched and it made Laurent's skin crawl as if ants had started building a colony inside of him. He knew that chances were high he was just being paranoid and yet Laurent decided to be extra careful of his surroundings for a little while.

He started picking Maelina up semi-regularly from school. Usually, he only did it when he had her for a whole weekend but now he made it a habit, every second day at first until he eventually offered to get her with the car every day. He wasn't sure, why he was extra nervous about Maelina. Call it fatherly instinct or common sense but Laurent figured that if someone had it out for him, an easy way to get to him was certainly through his daughter. Besides, Maelina had been with him on the day the strange calls had started, so that didn't really help to soothe his nerves. He couldn't shake the feeling that he had been watched by someone when he picked up that anonymous call and the thought of someone stalking him while he was with his daughter drove him fucking crazy.

Her mother Michelle thought it was some kind of belated wake-up call about becoming a more present role in Maelina's life. And he felt like a bastard, knowing the true reason for his sudden change of mind when Maelina came running into his arms every day after school, beaming from ear to ear and looking at him like he had hung the moon and stars. 

Laurent didn't tell Michelle about the strange calls. He didn't want to worry her. In fact, he didn't tell anyone at all, telling himself that nothing was going to happen as long as he knew about it and kept an eye out for a potential threat. He would protect everyone in his family as he had always done.

And so Laurent started going about his daily routines like a person in a witness protection program. He wore darker clothes and sunshades, even indoors. He kept his hair in twists or cornrows only, not wanting to add any extra size to his tall body. He always checked his surroundings, no matter where he was. He bought an expensive alarm system for their new home. And an extra one for their mom, having it installed on a day where she was out of town. 

While the rest of his family didn't see the difference in his behavior, it only took Larry about four or five days to figure out something was wrong.

"You still getting those calls?" Larry cornered him in their home on a Monday night, after Laurent had returned from an afternoon in the basketball court. 

Laurent was sweaty and feeling a little dizzy because he hadn't eaten anything all night and the last thing he wanted to do was explain to Larry that he had barely gotten any sleep at all, laying up at night worrying about Larry having safely returned from the fucking club. Or that he had followed him with the car one night, just to reassure himself that Larry was okay. Or that he had put a GPS tracking app on his phone like a fucking creep because the idea of someone watching Larry from the shadows with bad intentions was so terrifying that Laurent couldn't bear to think about it.

"Why did you open the window blinds?" Laurent asked instead of answering Larry's question, slightly ticked off by his brother's careless nature. By how reckless he was in general, even if he had no idea what was going on.

Laurent made to cross the room, meaning to pull the curtains, but Larry snatched his wrist, stopping his advance. Laurent looked up to meet his brother's steel gaze, a little taken aback by the intensity in Larry's eyes. "You've been acting strange all week. I thought you were working up the courage to tell me what's going on in your own time, but you're taking your sweet-ass time, so I'll cut this short."

"Larry—"

"Why the sunglasses and black clothing? And why have you started parking the car in the garage instead of the driveway?"

Laurent snapped his mouth shut and averted Larry's eyes, his eyes hammering away in his chest. Fuck Larry for knowing him so well. For noticing little shit that nobody else would ever pick up on. Fuck him for never letting anything slide, for always calling Laurent out on his bullshit, no matter how small or insignificant the lie was. It was like they had this unspoken rule of 'no secrets' between them. Larry was all fired up because he saw it as a disrespect toward himself that Laurent would even try to keep something hidden from him. And he was right. 

Laurent took a slow, unsteady breath and held it for a second before slowly meeting Larry's gaze again. He held it for a moment and allowed his emotions to run freely between them, pouring out his worry and his fear, and the whole crap he had tried to handle by himself for the past week. He removed every barrier between them, just letting their connection take over. 

Larry blinked, a little overwhelmed by the force of it, his fingers easing from around Laurent's wrist as he swallowed.

"Lau... it was just a stupid prank, okay? Why didn't you tell me it was this bad? We could have gone to the police or--"

"And then what? They would think I'm crazy. Even you think I am."

"I never said that."

"You don't have to say it, I can see it in the way you look at me."

Larry's nostrils flared, his eyes narrowing. "Laurent, you were following me with your car earlier this week. And you've used face ID to access my phone. I don't think you're crazy, but I wanna know what happened that got you so spooked! I have a right to know if something serious is going on. So you need to fucking tell me, alright? Did they call you again?"

"No, okay? No, they didn't. Not since I got the new phone. But I feel like..."

"Like what?" Larry's expression and voice softened. He grabbed the front of Laurent's shirt loosely like a child that held on to their parent's pants, his eyes swimming with nothing but worry and love and endless trust and it was almost too much for him to take.

Laurent looked away and shook his head, a sudden lump in his throat.

Larry waited for him to gather his bearings, but he soon seemed to realize that Laurent wasn't going to offer anything else up for the moment. He let go of Laurent's shirt with a sigh and washed a hand over his tired features. "Okay, what now? You wanna go to the police? File a report? It's probably not going to do much, but maybe it will make you feel better."

Laurent shook his head. After a moment of consideration, he sent a hesitant look at Larry, cheeks heating up a bit in embarrassment.

"What?" Larry frowned. "Tell me what I can do..."

"Stay here tonight?" Laurent asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

He knew that Larry had made plans to go to the club tonight and it felt ridiculous to ask him to cancel his plans just to be with him. But the idea of Larry being out of his sight for so long with no means to contact him made Laurent sick. "I'll try to forget about it. I'm sorry I followed you... just please stay here tonight?"

"Lau, what the hell..." Larry shook his head, huffing out a breath. "Of course, I'll stay."

"But Kapela asked you to—"

"I don't care, I'll tell him I can't come."

Laurent offered up a tentative smile, trying to hide how relieved he was to hear it. Larry grabbed his shoulder and squeezed it firmly. "Tomorrow we go to the police, ok? Just in case. Maybe they can send someone to patrol the neighborhood or something. Or maybe they can retrace the call. Do you still have your old phone?"

Laurent nodded shakily.

"Okay, so we do that first. Now go take a shower. I'll make dinner."

Laurent nodded again and then took off toward the staircase. He stopped in the doorway, turning his head slightly to send a glance back over his shoulder. "Merci."

Larry was half hidden in the fridge but even without seeing his face, Laurent could feel the love and reassurance. "Laurent, I swear to god. Go take your shower. I can smell you from here."

Laurent smiled and trudged up the stairs, feeling as though the weight in his chest had been lifted. He knew how to read between the lines of what Larry was saying. Loud and clear.

'Always.'