Les Belles: Growing Pains

Chapter One

The young man sat in his armchair, head in his hands, as he stared at the cellphone laying on the table beside him. A red haired woman came around on his other side, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"You'll be alright, Theo," she said. "The doctors caught it early and your parents already found a donor. You'll be okay."

"Yeah, I know," Theo responded, even though her words rang hollow. There was only one person who had been able to truly calm his bouts of anxiety from day one, but he had a feeling that a phone call from across the world wouldn't be enough this time. He knew it was selfish to call her back home. He knew it was probably stupid to even try. She hated it here. She hated their parents and she hated the house they grew up in and she hated this town. And with good reason, too. He didn't blame his older sister for taking off and running the first chance she got, even if it hurt. Even if he felt like he could never have her back.

But... The last words that she ever said to him in person were, "you'll always be my little brother. And I'll always be here if you need me. For you and Heather. But only for you." And his sister had never once broken a promise. Why start now?

He felt his fingers reaching towards the phone.

The woman beside him noticed the movement. "You're going to call her, aren't you?" she asked.

He picked up the device and let the screen wash light onto his pale face. "No, I'm going to ask her to come home."

***

"I don't know about this, Lux," Blaise said as he sat across from her, sipping his coffee and staring into the crowd passing them cheerfully. The streets of Paris weren't nearly as crowded as they were in the summer, when tourists came by the hundreds. Lux could pick out who was a native to the city and who was just visiting with a simple sidelong glance, a skill she forced herself to pick up as Paris' leading private detective. Blaise made a face at a teenager sneaking pictures of the two of them from another table. They had just finished a case last week that made the front page. The press surge would die down in a few weeks, just in time for Lux and Blaise to put another criminal in jail or expose another affair.

Blaise had been her partner in crime for as long as she could remember. They met in college, when Lux came to France for the first time to study criminology and forensic science. They soon got into trouble together and worked side by side ever since. It felt like just yesterday that they had stolen each other's hearts and decided to take things to a more romantic level, but it had been almost exactly five years. It was long enough for them to move in together, start a private eye agency together, and adopt a runaway foster child they had met working on a case and bring her into their home. It had been quite a ride, and sometimes Lux found herself having whiplash.

"Listen, you know I don't want to go either," Lux answered. "But if Theo is sick, then I've got to be there for him. It's not his fault our parents were dicks."

An old couple sitting next to them looked over at her darkly. Lux ignored them.

"Plus, I haven't seen Heather since I was sixteen," Lux continued. "She should be getting ready to go off to college now." Lux paused. "Maybe I was an ass for leaving."

The old couple sent Lux another glare. Lux resisted the urge to flip them off. The cross necklace around the woman's neck was giving her serious flashbacks.

"You weren't an ass," Blaise corrected. "They were abusive pricks. If my dad was still alive, you think I'd be visiting him?" He rubbed the back of his neck. The shirt he was wearing barely exposed the scars on his shoulders. Lux knew the imprints of Blaise's abusive father like the back of her hand. Just as he knew the psychological brainwashing Lux was still working through every day.

He look her hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it. Lux cradled his cheek between her fingers.

"I'll go with you," he offered.

Lux gave him a sad smile. "What about Jade? Who'll take care of her?"

"We'll take her with us," he replied. Lux shook her head.

"I don't want her to meet them," she said. Blaise intertwined his fingers in hers. 

"Oh come on. She has you to protect her," he winked. "And I'll distract them with my irresistible charm and my dashing good looks if need be." Lux sighed and leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest. Blaise copied her and pouted.

"I'm not letting you do this alone," he said sternly. Lux huffed. Blaise didn't ask for much. He rarely asked for anything from her, really, besides a clear head when she had a gun in her hands and the promise to try before giving up. But this she could tell he would not budge on. 

Under the awning of the cafe on that late fall day, Lux felt as if she were eighteen again as Blaise's dark eyes burned into her light ones, back when they first told each other that they would never let each other be alone again, ever. Blaise cocked his head to the side and smiled like a devilish puppy, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking of. Lux rolled her eyes and gave in.

"Fine, but we have to wrap up all the cases we have right now," Lux said, making Blaise sit up straight. "I don't want any loose ends before we leave for New York."
Blaise gave a triumphant smirk. "Consider it done, Luxie. I'll work overtime all night long."

Lux leaned across the table and planted a kiss on his mouth. It didn't last for long. They were smiling too much to keep it going. She had to give it to Blaise. He did know how to make her smile.

When they pulled apart, Blaise started to play with the flyaways around her face. "No matter what happens," Blaise said. "No matter what we find out or what we see when we meet your parents, Jade and I will always love you. Always. No matter what. We're your family, and nothing about your past can change that."

Lux sighed. "You always know the right thing to say, Blaise Renaud."

Blaise snorted. "Really? I feel like I'm always royally fucking up."
The old couple turned around and gasped. Lux and Blaise chuckled.

"Sorry, sorry." Blaise flashed them a winning smile before standing up. Lux followed. Soon they were half-running through the streets of Paris again, arm in arm, giggling all the way home.