Connected Lives (a Les Twins FanFiction)

Chapter 21

Larry looked unsure which surprised her. "I don't know Thea, there's nobody here with Lau and..." he stopped.

"I'm not a baby Larry! I don't need someone with me all the fucking time. Go for a fucking walk," he said with finality, a slight edge to his words. "Wait, where's my phone?"

Larry gave his brother a hard, calculating look, as if trying to verify that he was sane enough to make decisions and be left to his own devices. Finally he tossed Laurent his phone from one of the chairs. Lau gave him a quick thank you and plugged in his earbuds. When Larry didn't move he mimicked shoving him until he and Thea were out the door.

"How are you Larry?" Thea asked, concern coloring her words. He hated seeing that worry etched on her perfect face.

"I'm good." He felt her look over to him but he kept walking. "Tired, I'm tired. Ready to be home for a while."

"Yes, I'm ready for you to be home."

He thought she sounded pretty distracted but he felt really good, happy even, about what she said. It sounded right. He didn't even try to hide the small grin that played on his lips. He wanted to be touching her, holding her hand, putting his arm around her, something. He felt jittery, hyper, in that way that gave him an urgent need to act but made him unable to, which only made him feel more manic. When Thea said his name he almost jumped out of his skin. Bro, you gotta get a fucking grip. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and looked over to Thea. She was staring at him but looked away quickly when his eyes met hers.

They walked on silently a bit longer before Thea spoke up again. "Remember you said we were going to take a walk so I could tell you about the night we found Lau?" She spoke clearly, if somewhat haltingly, but kept her eyes forward.

"Why are you not comfortable with me anymore? You always seem nervous and shy. Did I do something wrong Thea?"

"I could ask the same to you, you know," she mused quietly as they meandered along. "But no Larry, you've not done anything wrong. No. I'm just beyond exhausted, I have not had any real chance to rest. There's been a lot of managing to do since everything happened you know. I wanted to make sure you guys had everything you might need, and I needed to deal with clients, coordinate stuff, make..." she cut herself off abruptly. "I apologize, that's enough of me whining."

"I'll make it up to you. Me not being grateful for what you've done for us." He stopped her when she started to protest. "No, no, I will," he grinned at her, "so what are we walking for again?"

"When we found Lau."

"That's right. You knew something was wrong before I told you."

"Yes, I did. I..."

"Did Lau text you? Or Gabi or something?" He tried to sound relaxed but he knew his clenched jaw and his angry eyes would read differently. The thought of Lau being in so much trouble and not calling him made Larry's blood boil. So when Thea gave him a simple "No" in response he felt confused and irritated. He stopped and reached out, grabbing her arm and bringing her back a few steps to face him. He saw no shyness or nerves now. Her skin was hot beneath the palm of his hand and it had him feeling a bit high for a second. "No?"

"I got an Instagram message from someone telling me to go check on him. It was about two minutes before you came running into the room."

Larry stood up straight, his hand falling from her arm to hang limply at his side. He looked at her with what could only be called his "what-da-fuck" face. Disbelief cut with half-moments of manic laughter permeated his words. "What the fuck Thea? You sound crazy!"

"I completely agree Larry," she replied, her eyes never leaving his. "But I'm telling to the truth, that's how I knew. The message said they knew he was in his apartment and in trouble. They asked that I at least check on him."

Larry clasped his hands behind his neck and tilted his head back. He did not have a faintest idea what was wrong with Thea but something snapped and he raise his voice at her, "That is insane Thea! Shit like that doesn't happen!"

Thea guffawed. "That coming from the man who can speak to his twin through ESP and heal him with his spirit? Yeah, okay Larry."

He opened his mouth to protest but closed it again, instead giving a little sideways nod in acknowledgment. "Okay, so you have a point there. So who was this psycho person?"

She gave him a funny look. "Psycho? Why would you think that?"

"What do you mean? You know those people who read minds and tell the future and shit like that."

"Psychics!" She burst out laughing, "Not psychos! Oh god Larry, oh, I can't breathe, I can't..." It was one of those times when you start laughing and can't stop, the kind of laugh born from too much stress, too much seriousness, sparked by some silly not-that-funny thing. And it felt so good. Thea's laughter brought color to her chooks and made her eyes shine. The way it made her voice breathless and hoarse on the high notes was sexy as hell Larry thought. Finally the levity was contagious enough that he found himself smiling, teeth showing and all, and laughing as he spoke.

"Don't laugh at my English Thea!" But instead of stopping, she doubled over, laughing so hard it hurt. She held one arm across her waist as she bent over and she put her other hand against Larry's stomach, just below his ribs, to support herself. He instantly envisioned pulling her against him, kissing her deeply, running his lips down her perfect neck, stripping her shirt off to reveal her perfect boobs, hearing her moan as... Whoa! What the fuck! You need to chill! He shook his head trying to clear it. What were they talking about? Oh, right, psychos. "Thea, Th...oh my god Thea!" He laughed when he looked down and saw her wiping tears from her eyes, he mascara now smeared everywhere. He thought it was completely adorable. When she finally managed to compose herself, she stood and started to pull her hand away. He didn't want her to stop touching him. So he pulled her hand to his chest, covering it with his hands and pressing it against himself. Her eyes met his, carrying a question, but saturated with delight.

"So," he leaned toward her and spoke intimately, "what about the psycho?"

Doubt crept to the edges of her eyes and he felt the pulse in her fingertips. She reached up and put her free hand on his arm. "Don't let go of my hand, I like it there. Okay?" He pressed a little harder and nodded. "Her name is Sarah Ember. At least that is what she goes by. Her real name is Sarah Josephine Moore. She is an American and was at her home in the States when she sent the message to me." She paused for a long time.

"Is that all?" Larry asked, confused. She shook her head.

"No. I met her today."

That news really did shock him speechless. "How...uh, I don't get how..."

"She arrived in Paris a few days ago. I brought her here."

"You what!" He started to let go of her hand.

"You promised you wouldn't let go Larry." He took a deep breath, wrapping her hand in his again. "I want you and Lau to meet her."

Larry was highly sceptical and more than a little pissed about all of this. But he also had deep trust in Thea, more than she probably realized. And, right now, the psycho mystery woman who couldn't remember her own name ran a distant second to his first priority: getting Lau out of here and back home.