Oh Love

Voila anon ! I just did

A/N : Whoa guys , you're not completely over me and this story right ? Cause I swear I've been trying to write and with all the assignments I've had and upcoming exams and then this damned writer's block being a bitch ...

Anyways , I hope you enjoy this for the both of us.

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Laurent flashed me another of his grins before sliding past me and into the apartment. I swallowed nervously and closed the door, turning to look at him and finding him shrugging out of his jacket and throwing it on the couch over the shopping bag he previously held between his fingers. He stretched, as he always did, twisting slightly before sitting beside his belongings, his eyes lifting to look at me before he casually tapped the space beside him on the couch. I pouted slightly and made my way to the couch, slowly sitting beside him, careful not to look at him. Of course I was curious as to why 'we needed to talk'; was he here on behalf of his twin? I wouldn't be surprised if he was; he was all about Larry and his feelings when he wanted to be.

  I froze when his arm stretched out behind me and he pulled me to his body, his hand resting on my shoulder. His usual scent would be soothing, but now it only made me nauseous and even more anxious. His silence stretched on for a while as his index finger twisted in my shirt sleeve and chest rising and falling as his breathing slowed slightly. I opened my mouth to say something, but stopped when he cleared his throat, shutting it instantly and adjusting against his side, my eyes still focused ahead of me.

"Who that new guy?" he asked, causing my head to whip around to look at him. His expression was neutral; almost too calm as he observed his bracelets on his wrists. "Come on Jojo, you not talk to me all night?" he asked when he finally looked at me with a smirk.

"How...?" I started, instantly feeling sick.

"A fan send me the picture on Instagram." he informed with a twist of his mouth and a single nod. He must've caught the color draining from my face because he released a low chuckle, shaking my shoulder before continuing. "I find it on Larry phone and delete it, no worry. But the fan send me saying that you a dirty whore for cheat on my brother." he said, causing me to frown. Me? Cheat? Dirty whore? I couldn't believe it. "So who he is?" he asked again.

"He's um..." I started , failing to continue thanks to the dryness that rested in my throat.

"No tell me he a friend cause I know is more than that." He said with a smirk with only increased my uneasiness.

"He's just.." I said with a sigh, " My boyfriend." I exhaled nervously,dropping  my gaze from his face to my lap.

"Damn." Laurent chuckled. "Larry gonna be pissed." He commented, causing me to look up at him with pleading eyes. The last thing I needed was Laurent being the one to deliver the news. "I not gonna tell him, Jobug." He said, cupping my shoulder soothingly as he fought a smile. "I just say the truth, no?"

"It's his fault." I muttered.

"That's true." Laurent agreed with a slow nod. "And he know it too."

"Is this when I prepare myself to listen to you vouch for your brother?" I asked with a roll of my eyes.

"Hell no!" He scoffed, "Larry deserve all this."

"I beg your pardon?" I asked in shock. This was not what I expected to hear.

"I not here for tell you to take my brother back." He said with a shake of his head. "I not here for tell you he miserable without you and he need you and you belong." He continued, "Nope! I here for you. You like my little sister, Jo, I have to know you okay too."

"But, he's your twin." I stated, frowning afterwards when he laughed loudly.

"That not mean he right for what he do and I not gonna pretend he is."

"Oh." Was all I could manage to choke out as a reply, my eyes back on my lap.

"So this new guy." He said after a short period of silence. "He treat you good?"

I responded with a nod, my furrowed brows directed at my lap as I tried to wrap my head around the fact that Laurent did not come here to defend his brother. A  part of me wanted to hear how miserable he was and how much he needed me. I wanted to hear that he sent Laurent as means of convincing me to take him back, and since that wasn't the case, my shoulders slumped in disappointment.

"Joanna?" Laurent's voice brought me from my thoughts and made me look up at the confusion that rested on his face. "What you think about?"

"Larry." It made no sense to lie, especially to Laurent.

"You miss him, yes?"

"I do." I frowned. "Unfortunately."

"Yea, he miss you too."

"How'd you come here without him?"

"I never tell him where I going." He said with a mischievous smirk.

"Oh, rebel." I replied with a smile of my own.

"I come because I miss you too." He said next, causing my smile to widen. "This thing is with you and my brother, you know? Not you, him and me. You not have to hate me too."

"I could never hate you, Laurent." I assured, leaning in to press a kiss to his cheek and leaning back to see him beaming.

"Good!" He exclaimed. "And, I get you something." He informed, picking up the shopping bag he had rested beside him and handing it to me.

I smiled as I took it from him, immediately ducking my hand in to retrieve my gift. I pulled out a white T-shirt, unfolding it to see a big smiling ladybug on the front, giggles falling from my mouth the longer I stared at it.

"It make me think of you." Laurent said, contributing his own laughter. "Turn it around."

And I did, my giggles morphing into full on laughter once I saw the red letters spelling out  'Jo-Bug' on the back.

"Oh my God." I said breathlessly between laughs.

"You like?"

"I love!" I corrected, turning to hug him. "Thank you. You always know how to cheer me up." I praised, burying my face in the crook of his neck as his arms tightened around me.

  -

I smiled at my reflection as I stared at my new shirt courtesy of Laurent before bundling my curls into a ponytail. I somehow got Ashley, along with the help of Jonah, to convince me to visit Imani in rehab. I was even hoping that maybe the shirt would lighten whatever mood she would be in as soon as she saw me, considering Laurent could always cheer her up as well. I sighed for the umpteenth time  since actually deciding to tag along before brushing the stubborn strands into place. Something inside me cause me to feel ill about the idea of seeing Imani; and it wasn't just because she was in rehab. I had an odd feeling that the day was not going to end well, but of course this feeling wouldn't have been enough to convince Ashley that I shouldn't be going to see her. The vibration of my phone against the countertop caused me to look down at the lit screen, groaning lowly when Ashley's name presented itself.

"I'm  guessing you're downstairs." I sighed, staring sadly at my reflection.

"Hurry up! Imani can't  wait to see you."

"Wait, you told her?" I asked in panic.  

"Just hurry up!" she yelled again, hanging up immediately after.

I don't  exactly know how I got into Imani’s  car as fast as I did, but next thing I know, she's ordering me to buckle  up as we cruised  down the street. I picked nervously at my  nails and chewed on my lip as I listened  to Ashley's low humming. A part of me wanted her to reenact thr conversation she had with Imani about seeing me; every facial expression, sigh or giggle. But the other part of me preferred I  stay in the dark just in case Imani ended up chaging her mind.  

"So..." Ashley stopped her humming to drawl causing me to look over at her. "Confession." she added, clearing her throat nervously. "About Imani wanting to see you."

"Jesus Christ." I muttered, running my hands over my hair. "You lied didn't  you?"

"I did." she said softly, keeping her eyes on the road. "But before you lose your shit, hear me out." she added quickly. "She hasn't asked for you but I can tell she's upset about  something and I can bet it's..."

"I can bet you're  full of shit." I spat angrily, my burning gaze stuck on the side  of her face.

"Come on Joanna, this is your best friend we're  talking about." she chuckled  humorlessly, as if mocking my apprehension. "She can't  stay mad at you for doing  something that was for her own well being."

"You've met Imani right?" I asked. "She sure as hell can,"

"She misses you." she pressed  as if i hadn't said what I said.  

"I bet you $100 she doesn't. " I muttered,  sinking into my seat with folded arms and my narrowed gaze now on the road before us.

  -

  I couldn't  control the pace of my heart as I walked up the stairs of the rehabilitation institute. I looked over at Ashley who walked beside me, glancing about the place with a nagging sense of ease causing me to roll my eyes. The only good that could come of this was the $100 she was sure to give me at the end of this day. I  scoffed lowly when she opened  the door for me, rolling my eyes again when I caught her grin before stopping immediately to take the place in. There  was no doubt that this place was designed by a professional, everything from the carpet to the lights that hung from the ceiling completely aesthetically pleasing.

"Its eggshell and maroon." Ashley said softly beside me, causing me to look at her with an arched brow. "Andrea made me know that the colors in this room are eggshell and maroon and not white and red." she said with  a roll of her eyes.

"Andrea?" I asked, taking another glance around the room before looking back at Ashley to catch the jerk of her chin towards an elderly woman perched behind the front desk. "Oh." was all I could said, a quick nod following suit.

"Come on, she's  always back here." she said, taking off to the left towards a hallway of more 'eggshell'.

I followed after a deep breath, my index busy scraping at the cuticle of thumb. My eyes stayed glued to the Ashley's ponytail as it swung at the back of her neck as I tried to regulate my breathing and soon enough I found myself walking into a bright room, the walls still coated with the light and dark complimenting colors. My squinted eyes searched the room as I mechanically followed behind Ashley and eventually ended up almost knocking her to the ground when zi blindly connected to her back.

I didn't  expect the giggle that followed, my eyes landing on Imani who stood before Ashley who thankfully regained her balance without help of the grip I had intended--but failed--to have on her arms in order to help her.

"Forever clumsy." Imani said, her eyes on me and the corner of her lips perked up in a small smile.

"Hi." I said softly with furrowed brows.

"Hi there."  she replied, eyes bright as her arms crossed at her chest.

"Um..." I sounded, looking away.

"That's  $100." Ashley said proudly, a grin on her lips when I glanced at her.

"What are  you talking about?" Imani asked.

"Joanna didn't think..."

"Nothing." I interjected, "Nothing at all." I added with an uncomfortable chuckle.

"I'm  gonna leave you too alone." Ashley said with an even wider grin.

"Where you going." I asked, hearing Imani’s  voice mingle with mine.

"Chill with Andrea, I guess." she shrugged.  "I still don't know what kind of wood her desk is." she rolled her eyes, pecking Imani’s cheek before stalking off.

I glanced back at Imani in time to catch the ghost of the smile she wore earlier,  her formerly bright eyes dimming as she looked from where Imani had disappeared in the hall to where I stood. For a moment I thought she would burst into a slew of curse words, releasing the suppressed rage  she had held in for so long, but instead she brought a hand up to her mouth, her eyes blinking back tears and before I could understand what was happening, my arms were wrapped around her as she cried against my shoulder.

"Imani..." I started, rubbing at her back, ready to console her. Ready to tell her that I understood why she was so mad and needed time. Ready to tell her how much I missed her. To hear how well her programmes were going; how bored she was within these walls and how much she had grown to hate eggshell and marron. I was ready to plan a day of shopping and pigging out when she finally got out; one we would end discussing how full of shit Larry was and how much she liked jonah on my couch. I almost smiled at the possibility but was silenced when she choked on her next word.

"I have AIDS." she blurted out softly, a low sob falling out after the words.

A/N : You guys still like me , or are you as over me as I am ?

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"Babe, get off your phone" Jonah whined with a mouthful of carrot sticks.

"Mmm?" I sounded, looking up at him before slapping his hand away from the bowl of carrot sticks I had intended to grate in order to make carrot cake. "Stop eating the carrots!"

"You have more than enough." he chuckled, reaching for more before earning another slap. "Ow!" he yelped, hugging his hand to his chest dramatically, “Should’ve left you alone." he mumbled, moving away from me. "What were you doing anyways? More texts from Ashley?" he asked, taking a seat across from me at the breakfast bar.

 ”Oh, yea.” I lied.

Truthfully, I was scoping out instagram, like I did every half hour that I could, to see if there was evidence that Larry somehow saw the photo of me and Jonah, or if he posted any other candids of me. I had only heard from Ashley once when she told me that Imani was doing fine in rehab, after thanking me again, of course, and since then it had just fallen silent.

"She’s excited for Imani." I continued, giving a convincing smile before tucking the phone in my back pocket and returning to the carrots.

 ”That’s great babe.” he replied, smiling his dimpled smile before his dark eyes fell to the movement of my hands. “You gonna go visit her?”

"Probably the worst idea ever." I replied with a quick shrug, immediately pouting at the fact that I was the last person Imani would want to visit her.

"She can’t stay mad at you forever, Anna." he said matter-of-factly, making me scowl involuntarily at the name ‘Anna’ he decided to pick up last night while we were on the phone.

"We’ll see." I sighed. "Meanwhile! Can’t you help me with these?"

"I could." he said with a smirk.

"But?" I asked, frowning at him when he shrugged in response. I rolled my eyes at him, pulling away from his already outstretched hands and keeping my eyes on my task at hand.

"Alright, baby, I’ll help." he said, getting up from his seat to come behind me, placing a swift kiss on my neck before lifting me by the waist and setting me aside, mirroring my grin as he took over the grating.

I slapped his back playfully, giggling at his girlish squeal as I quickly made my way to the bathroom, tugging the phone from my back pocket as soon as I locked the door. I chewed on my lip as I quickly opened Instagram, finding a mention waiting causing my heart to skip a beat.

"Fuck." I sighed loudly when I found a whole argument situated under the photo of me in the kitchen. "Jesus Christ." I damn near yelled as I read the heated debate.

Some fans went back and forth, debating that we were still together while others informed that they had seen a picture of Jonah and I kissing. If there was a time to finally have an issue with their fans, it was now. Fire coursed through my veins as my anger grew. I remembered Larry almost never reading the comments under his posts, but the way fate had been dealing with me, who knew what was to happen next. I tapped angrily at my screen, reporting each comment I found that only made me swallow any curse words I wanted to yell. I couldn’t believe all this was happening to me. To be completely cliché and overly dramatic, I wanted to crawl under a rock.

     I dropped the hand with the phone to my side once I was done, jumping when I heard Jonah call my name.

"Coming!" I replied in a yell, muttering angrily before looking up at my reflection. I shook my stale curls before placing them in a ponytail and washing my face as means of calming down. I couldn’t go back to Jonah fuming the way I was. Though he couldn’t read me as well as Larry, he wasn’t blind. And it was hard to control my scowl at the moment.

"Baby, I don’t know what to do now!" Jonah yelled to me, causing a smile to break through.

"I’m coming! Just don’t hurt yourself!" I giggled as I responded.

"Whatever!" I heard him reply with a tone of mock hurt. Suddenly I didn’t need to fake the smile.

I exited the bathroom, phone back in its place in my pocket, and made my way over to Jonah who stared down at his finished work of shredded carrots. He looked up at me with a proud grin, lifting his shoulders and pushing out his chest as he mimicked a super hero pose causing me to giggle.

"I did good." he said when his shoulders dropped, his eyes back on the orange strings piled atop each other in the bowl.

"Yes you did." I grinned, circling him to place a kiss on his cheek.

He turned to face me, dropping his hands to my waist and pulling me to his hard body. His head dipped and suddenly his lips were on mine for a gentle kiss. His eyes searched my face when he pulled back, and I bit down on my lip at the sudden intensity that rested in his gaze.

"Everything okay?” he asked, his thumb creating circles against the skin of my cheek.

“Yea, of course.” I said as convincingly as I could as I brought my hands to hold onto his wrists. “Just gotta finish this cake.” I added, pecking his lips before pulling from his hold and grabbing the bowl of shredded carrots.

“What is this for again?” he asked, coming up behind me from where I stood beside the stove where the bowl of batter sat.

“Just because.” I replied with a shrug as I emptied the shreds into the bowl.

“Just because?” he repeated, wrapping his arms around my waist and landing his chin on my shoulder as he peered at the task. “I remember you telling me you bake when something is bothering you.” He said, placing a chaste kiss on my neck when I stiffened and my hands faltered in their movement.

“Did I?” I asked after clearing my throat.

“Mhm.” He hummed, adding another kiss to a placement higher than the first. “Sure you don’t wanna talk about it?”

And just what would I say? ‘Oh, Jonah, it’s nothing, I’m just paranoid that my ex boyfriend will either post another photo of me online or see the ones of us kissing at the bowling alley. Normal day.’. I rolled my eyes at the thought and did another shrug, biting down at my lip as I refused to say anything else in case my voice decided to give me away.

“You don’t need to worry about Imani, babe.” He said in a deep sigh, “She’s getting better and in no time, you two will be inseparable again.” He assured confidently. Oh, how clueless he was; but I decided to feed into it.

Truthfully, I had accepted for a while now that it was best not to dwell on the possible impending destruction of my and Imani’s friendship. Top priority at the moment was to ensure that she got the treatment she needed and would come out stronger and disciplined.  Of course that didn’t stop me from being sad about it sometimes, but it wasn’t as overwhelming as the constant nagging feeling to check Instagram or text Grace asking if there was anything new on Tumblr. But of course I couldn’t tell him this, so instead I leaned into him with faux gratitude for his ‘soothing’ words and turned slightly to press a kiss to his cheek.

“Thanks.” I smiled. “But can you really complain that you’re getting cake?” I asked, reaching for the cinnamon.

“I didn’t say I was complaining.” He grinned, dipping his finger into the batter before running off, yelping when my foot connected with his ass, “So aggressive!” he yelled as he dramatically limped to the couch.

“So greedy!” I returned, rolling my eyes as I giggled and dashed cinnamon into the bowl.

-

I stared at the empty baking pan that once held carrot cake as I nibbled on the plastic fork I had used to eat my 6th slice not so long ago. I had sent Jonah on his way with half about 2hrs ago, and now it was done. I sighed inwardly, belching immediately before rubbing at my stomach. I felt gross and in serious need of some water. I got up and waddled my way to the fridge, still clutching my bulging food belly and took out a bottle of water, taking light sips as I tried to wash the shredded pieces of carrots down my throat. I picked up the baking pan and dropped it in the sink, turning on the pipe and focusing on the running water as it filled the pan quickly. A knock at my door caused me to groan loudly as I glanced at the clock. It was after 8; sure it wasn’t late, but did I really need for someone to see me in the state I was. I frowned down at the food belly and placed the barely gulped down water onto the counter before making my way to the door. I inhaled, belching lowly again and rolling my eyes at my grossness before gathering myself and opening the door. I froze when my eyes landed on Laurent, his shades clutched in one hand and a shopping bag in the other. His smile would usually be infectious, but this time it only made me wonder if his twin was on his way up. I didn’t even know they would be in Washington, unless they came here for…me.