Through the Fire (a Les Twins fanfic)

Chapter 4: Riding Dirty

Larry and Laurent pulled up to Lenox Square Mall in a white Aston Martin.

Laurent got out of the driver's side and handed one of the valet attendants the keys.  He was looking fabulous in designer shades, a furry scarf, and fingerless gloves, and Larry was dressed equally high fashion draped in some kind of fancy blanket shawl he had raided from the costume department at Tyler Perry Studios.

Shauna was elated.  Gabby was horrified.  She had experienced Lau's shady driving skills first hand in Paris and couldn't believe he'd made it off Interstate 400 alive.  Not to mention the fact that he didn't have a license.

"Lau, why are you driving?  You promised—" 

He disarmed her with a slow kiss on the lips.  Gabby blinked rapidly and felt her cheeks warming.  It was a shame that he still had this effect on her.  He had successfully shut her up for now, but she made a mental note that he would definitely be hearing about the subject later.

Laurent grinned and took her hand, leading the way into the mall like a boss with Larry and Shauna following along behind them.

Larry and Laurent went from one high-end store to another until they had collected an armful of bags. 

In the Prada store Laurent picked out a blue satin vest with sequins and fringes for Gabby.

"I don't know if I can pull that off, Lau."  She studied it skeptically, but he insisted.

"You're gonna love it.  Try it on."

A few stores down Larry and Shauna were having a different kind of negotiation.  Larry had found a pair of shoes he liked at Louis Vuitton then moved on to Burberry.

Shauna took a gray animal fur hat off the accessories shelf and modeled it for him. 

"How does this look on me?" She tugged the flaps down over her ears.

Larry checked her out for a second then turned back to the shirts he was sifting through.

"It's okay."

Dissatisfied with his underwhelming response she re-inserted herself into his line of view.

"Well, I love it."  She picked up a big, expensive bottle of perfume, too.  "You'll get these for me, right?"

"Girl, no."  Larry chuckled.  He bet her games probably worked on the scrubs she was used to talking to, but he wasn't them.  He flipped it on her.  "What you gonna buy me?"

"Awwww, c'mon, pleeease!"  Shauna pouted and made a cutesy face.

Larry had to admit she was good.  Unfortunately, the pouty face was a move straight out of his own playbook so he was immune to it.  He reached over her to choose a hat he liked for himself instead.  She blew her breathe out hard in exasperation and went to find her sister.

Gabby came out of the Prada dressing room in the vest.  Laurent was right.  It was to die for and it fit her perfectly.  She whirled in the three-way mirrors.

Jeff, the personal shopping assistant that had been shadowing them around the store, clasped his hands together dramatically.  "I think that's a must have."

Laurent agreed. "I love it. We'll take that and this and these." He waived his hand toward a bunch of other outfits he'd selected.

Jeff almost fainted over the commission he was about to receive.  "Yes, sir!  Excellent choices!  I'll wrap everything up for you right away."

Starbucks was their last stop before they left the mall.  Larry and Laurent were at the register ordering frappuccino's when people noticed them and started crowding around.  One girl asked Larry to autograph her chest.  Another, larger group of fans rushed Laurent for pictures.

"Do you mind?" Laurent held out his bags for Gabby to hold.

"No, not at all, sweety."  She took his stuff and stepped back against the Pottery Barn's sidewall out of view while people flooded him and Larry for nearly an hour.

Afterwards, they were outside the mall waiting for the valet to bring the cars around.  Shauna couldn't help but stare jealously at all the packages Laurent bought for Gabby while the only thing she had was a pair of jeans she'd bought herself from Forever 21.

Larry handed her a Burberry bag.  "Here."

"What's this?"

"The brown one looks better on you."

She reached inside and pulled out the fur hat.  The perfume she'd wanted was buried in tissue paper underneath it.  He must have bought them after she left the store. 

"Thank you, Larry!" she latched onto his arm and got on her tippy toes to peck him on the cheek.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah,"  he playfully shrugged off her affections.

Shauna slipped the hat onto her head and smiled to herself.  I'm breaking him down.