Malevolence

~16~

The bruises on Laurent's torso aren't the only ones that had developed while he was recovering.

Larry hadn't noticed it at first. Just like the others, it started off light and barely noticeable. It took hours for it to fully develop into the dark blob that it is now, and even though the size of it is nothing compared to how large and nasty the bruises on his chest are, seeing this one hurts Larry more than all the other ones combined. It sits right below Laurent's cheekbone, peeking out from the shadow underneath it. It's ugly, a patch of red and purple and green skin that only makes Laurent look more abused than he already did, if that was even possible.

And it's there because Larry hit him.

He put that bruise there, along with every other injury his brother had sustained. Whoever had attacked Laurent, whoever had beaten him and slit his wrists, they were only able to do it because of Larry. He's the reason his brother almost died.

And the only thing that almost hurts worse than knowing that, is not knowing what Laurent is going to do about it when he finally wakes up.

From the moment Larry had entered the hospital, all he'd wanted was to see Laurent awake. It's disturbing to see his brother so lifeless and still, and he'd been longing to make things right with his twin since their blowup fight in the hotel room. He hates knowing that the last thing Laurent remembers of him is the hurtful words that he'd flung his way, the pain that Larry knows he felt when Larry had kicked him out. He wants nothing more than to apologize for that, and to ease the burning guilt that he's had dense in his chest since that night.

Now though, he's just scared.

He's never been scared of Laurent. He's never been afraid to speak to him, or see him. He's never even really been afraid of angering him, because they fight so much that Laurent's default state is pretty much mad at Larry. On the rare occasions that their fights had gotten bad, Larry had never felt like he was in any real danger of losing his twin. It was just the cycle they went through- they're just as passionate in their love for each other as they are in their anger for each other, and Larry had grown used to that dynamic when he was a child.

But now, for the first time in his life, Larry is genuinely terrified of Laurent hating him.

He wouldn't blame him if he did. What he did... letting a girl come between them, letting that same girl hurt his brother right under his nose...it's unforgivable, and he's not sure if even someone with a heart as big as Laurent's could move past it. He knows that he himself wouldn't be able to.

God, he fucked up.

He wishes Eleni were still here. He wishes someone was with him, someone who could help him face the devastation that he knows is approaching, but after attempting to comfort Larry for nearly three hours she'd left to go back to the police department. He thinks she'd mentioned something about bringing the police to Larry's hotel room and seeing if they could find anything there, but he hadn't really listened. Destiny was the least of his problems now, because even though just thinking of her sends jolts of indescribable pain through him, it's nothing compared to what he feels for his brother. The guilt, the pain, the fear, the anticipation. It's all too much, and it's only getting worse with time, because Larry can tell that Laurent's getting close to waking up again. He rolls around more often, mumbles in his sleep and flexes his stiff muscles frequently now, and Larry can sense that his brother is almost ready to return to the realm of the living again.

He feels like he's waiting for the apocalypse, like he's huddled down in a bunker waiting for the bombs to go off, not sure if he'll even survive the blast. He can't lose his brother.... he just can't. That's the one thing that has never and will never change in life, and if he does....if Laurent is that angry with him, if he hates him that much, then Larry will spend the rest of his life trying to make it up to him.