Now I understand why everyone was pissed at me when I hadn't shown up for days. Cause that's what I was feeling right now; pissed.

Lorenzo had gone MIA since the incident three days back. He had ran for his life after asking the date the other day and there were no signs of his existence. By now Neil and I, even Felix had left the hope of completing the shoot before our trip to Hawaii. I wasn't some naive high schooler, nor was I some impassive jerk. After all these months of being friends with his friends, working with him on the project for almost two weeks I figured out there was definitely something up with him.

As much of an ass he might be, I figured he was still a person with some decency who intentionally didn't seem to concern his bothering to others. He wasn't great at blending whatever was up with him, but I noticed he did try and act as if nothing was wrong. I don't know if it was my intuition or something else, but others seemed to be treating him as if everything was normal. Maybe it was, I wasn't there with him since the beginning. But I so wished I was.

So here I was doing what a sane person would do, also because that's what the asshole had done for me, I parked my bike in front of the metallic door caging the white stone-built bungalow. I was let in with my Harley after a minuscule description of myself over the intercom.

My eyes wandered around to the front yard spread around the white stone house. It was lush green, with occasional flowering plants decorating it with hues of crimson and orange. It was a huge house. Unlike the city, everyone here seemed to own big bungalows. It was weird, as to why would a family of three need such a huge one, but I threw that thought away.

I parked my Harley beside Lorenzo's beloved Thar, indicating he was home. There were two other cars in the shed. I took my guess for it to be Renault Alpine, but I wasn't sure, I didn't hold much knowledge about classic cars, but the vehicle was bright and shining. The Bazins sure did have a unique taste in their automobile. But the two exclusive cars weren't what caught my interest, but the motorcycle parked in the corner as if it was supposed to be hidden from any local eyes. After having a close examination from afar, I realised it was a model Kawasaki, beautifully built with magically enchanted materials and machine. It was a Ninja in the shade of lime green, unlike my Harley which was matte black.

Lorenzo Fucking Bazin owned a motorcycle? How dare he fired upon me about my Harley when he himself was an owner of a goddamn Kawasaki?!

The sudden voice from the house made me turn around, a lady, probably in her mid-forties, stood at the door summoning me. Her light brown hair was sacked in a bun, wearing a peach coloured jumpsuit, she really pulled off a 'cool mum' vibe. I walked through the path surrounded by the flourishing patch of greenery, to the wooden door, with few steps to climb up to.

"Bonsoir." I greeted with my minimal knowledge of French.

The lady gave a light laugh, "It's still too early in the morning for a good evening. The phrase you are looking for is Bonjour."

My cheeks heated up with embarrassment. "Bonjour, it is then," I said weakly.

"You are here to meet Enzo, I presume," she said weakly walking me into the living room, the furniture was mostly wooden giving a feel of antiquity to the place. The hues of the room made me feel warm. The sidewall held a fireplace, a real one, unlike the modern electric ones. She stopped in front of the couch, asking me to sit down.

"I must warn you though, the stubborn kid isn't taking any visitors. He hasn't even let me in. Kai tried talking him out but to no avail. He hasn't come down in the past three days." She said as a worried sigh left her throat.

"Chérie, as-tu vu mes lunettes?" A man asked as he walked down the stairs, "Ah, seems like we have a visitor."

"Hello, Mr. Bazin. I'm London."

"London?" Mrs. Bazin asked, as her husband strode downstairs towards our direction. For someone his age, he had maintained a really well physique, I wondered if he was some athlete as well like his son, or the family was merely blessed with remarkable genes. I smiled looking at Mrs. Bazin as she expected some erratic joke over my name, my name wasn't so much usual, sure. But I wanted to know if Lorenzo had mentioned anything about me, as her mum definitely seemed to have heard it before.

"Oh bien bien, I hope you can get him out of his room. He has been going through hard times, but he's too stubborn to listen to his old man." Mr. Bazin said looking at his wife with timid eyes, they looked at each other as though they might have been exchanging their grief. My heart ached looking at them, I couldn't understand which difficult times they were referring to, but it didn't seem sensible just asking them right away.

"But why? What happened?" I asked anyway as worry crept over me, but I hoped beyond hope that it wasn't something serious.

"He has his moments. Especially after detection of his PTSD." A sharp gasp escaped from within me the moment those words were out from Mr. Bazin's mouth.

Both of them looked at me in horror realising I wasn't aware of Lorenzo's condition. Sure, I had my assumptions about something being off with him, but my mind never clouded over the fact he might be suffering the ill effects of some trauma. My head was spinning like some wild tornado, I slumped down on the couch in my haze fate, both the Bazins following suit as they sat on the adjacent sofa.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know," I murmured quietly, not wanting to meet their eyes. But when I looked up finally, they had some subconscious hope held in their eyes, their faces slightly breaking into a gentle smile, which did not reach the eyes of course.

I took this as my cue to ask them further about this newfound knowledge about Lorenzo. "Since w-hen..." My voice fumbled, as I felt a lump rising from the pit of my stomach up till my throat, I tried not to give away myself completely and have a mental breakdown.

"It has been over two years if not less, some huge vehicle rambled over his motorcycle. It was sheer luck, he escaped with just a surgery and a couple of fractures. Those were dark times." Mr. Bazin explained as he caressed his wife's back, keeping her steady from reliving their son's tragic past. I hated my gut to interrogate about this, to watch them suffer having to remember the disaster they had been through, having to watch their only son almost die right in front of their eyes. Not only was that enough, not being able to be of any help as the incident had traumatized him for life. My body spiked up as jitters of hurt and horror crept in on me.

"He does well in blending, I couldn't have figured out if it hadn't been you telling me." I finally met their eyes, they were looking at me a bit disheartened, but I assumed it wasn't good that Lorenzo mostly kept it to himself, I was sure by the look on their faces that they were aware of this.

"He was so much better these past months. But, it's difficult to move on from certain things, even though it's easy said than being done." Mrs. Bazin sniffled melancholy, it was really a lot to take in, me, being an outsider was having difficulty in holding myself together, I wouldn't know what they must be going through. For over two years, that is.

I didn't have any sensible words or comforting even to say it to them. I wasn't good with words, but I was so grateful they felt comfortable telling me about this, about him.

"Thank you- For telling me." I smiled at them, weakly but now knowing about him, I couldn't help myself jolting up from the couch, I had to see him. The least I wanted to know was only if he was okay, just by having a quick glance if they let me if he lets me.

Mrs. Bazin looked at me back with the soft chocolate brown eyes, she shared with Lorenzo, "Thank you, London. For being with him, I hope my son realises that."

In all honesty, those words were nowhere near my guess, which Lorenzo's mum said with so much ease. I was glad would definitely be an understatement, I sure hoped they knew I was dumbfounded with both horror and combusting with joy. I just kept on looking at them before Mr. Bazin spoke up, breaking the deafening silence. "His room is upstairs, towards the right. Go on." He smiled, indicating at the white staircase going up in an arch.

His room wasn't hard to find, the door was painted in black, with some chipped stickers decorating the frame. But the peculiar thing was the door, it did not hold knobs like the others, instead, it had a latch with a metal- A huge metal lock on it. The latch wasn't closed, but the door still held the sinister lock, giving it a spooky vibe.

I knocked on the door, sure enough, I didn't get a reply. So I banged on it, with my fist.

"Va-t'en maman! Je ne sors pas."  The voice from inside shouted, frustrated. Never had I imagined I would ever feel relieved by his mere voice, even when his words made absolutely no sense to me.

"Lorenzo, it's me," I whispered quietly.

"London?" I heard some shuffling and soon enough the voice was nearer to the other side of the door frame, a lot more clearer. "What the hell are you doing here? Get lost." Typical Lorenzo. I held back a smile breaking over my face, after learning so many disconcerting things.

"You need to come back. We need to complete the shoot." I said, my tone revealing my concern, but I was sure it wasn't just for the shoot.

"I don't want to."

"What the hell do you mean by, you don't want to? It's not just your task. We have all worked hard for this and I'm not going to allow you to ruin it for all of us!" My voice had picked up an octave, anger pouring out.

"Ha! And whose fault is it, that it isn't complete already?" That made me shut up.

"I apologized for it already, I know I was a stupid ass to you that day. I'm sorry." The guilt built in me, I hadn't yet apologized to his face, the last time it was over the phone and now this stupid door stood in between.

There was no reply from the inside. Suddenly all the anger left me, as I remembered Mr. Bazin's words from downstairs.

"Enzo are you alright? Open the door." There was no sign of him opening the door, "Hey, talk to me!"

"I have nothing to speak to you. So fuck off." His words were weak, muffled by the door in between. I saw this coming, honestly, him shutting me out again after things which had civilised between us and now how I had ruined them. I felt all the more at fault, now that his parents had revealed his condition to me. It wasn't an excuse for his behaviour though since the beginning towards me, him acting all arrogant towards me. I was certain suffering from trauma might set you off sometimes, but I had a feeling there was more to it than whatever I had learned about him. I didn't know if I could take anything further than this, it was already a lot triggering, and I couldn't help but feel for him.

I understand the part of depression and trauma, it wouldn't have been easy on him these years, such things do affect victims' lives but outsiders are unaware of how much they hurt from within. That or maybe even after knowing, they just don't bother being decent towards such people. No one deserves going through this, Lorenzo of all, sure as hell didn't.

"It's alright if you don't want to talk about it. If you don't trust me enough for it. But if it puts you at ease, I'll answer the question you had asked me the other day in the forest."

"I don't want to listen, leave me alone."

"You might find me annoying, the feeling is mutual. But I know for one, you do not want to be left alone. So, shut up and listen."

"I'm not opening the door." He mumbled, as I heard him slumping down against the door, I did the same. I rested my head against the cold surface as I opened the book that was long left untouched.

"...my parents, you saw them... they both are always having these wrangles. From the beginning, I always thought it was because of me. I was the reason they fought. Maybe it was. Maybe it still is. I don't even know, to be certain. But now I know something more." I gulped at the sudden dryness in my throat.

"I got to know that I probably had a twin brother. And my life suddenly took a halt. All my nightmares, my hydrophobia, my parents' fights, everything started to make sense. It probably sounds really weird, but all I could think of was my missing other half. A void that had always been there, I knew it subconsciously, there was something always missing. My mind was nowhere and everywhere that's why I... I ran away to Boston. My Mama was the only one I could think of going to." I took in a shuddering breath, before continuing. There was no sound from the other side of the door, he might have felt asleep for all I knew, but at this point, I couldn't stop, I didn't want to stop. I had held on to things for long and it was refreshing to let go.

"So, as I lay there in Mama's house, all I could think was how different my life would have been with my twin. How my parents wouldn't have fought and would have been home instead of spending their nights at the hospital. How I wouldn't have laid every night alone in our house. Tell you what, having a house to yourself is hyped, there's no fun in living like a dead ghost. How I would have gone out more instead of staying cooped in Mama's little nest." My words were starting to strain as a lump started to form in my throat. Feelings emotions, wasn't new to me, expressing them was. It wasn't like me to act like a crybaby at the tale of the Titanic.

"How I could have gone to the swimming pools in the summers with all the other children. I would have never have to be afraid to sleep with the fear of facing my nightmares every night. Not waking up in the middle of the night with my body covered in sweat." I was literally on the verge of exploding from emotions, I didn't want him to know I was crying or anything. For all I knew, it must be even harder on him to express how he felt, my misery was nowhere near his. I tried to slow down my breathing, as I found myself on the edge of combusting. Hell, I was on the verge of crying.

"I'm sorry." I heard before my unshed tears would roll off my face, I was sure what I heard was probably mistaken.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry, about what I had said about you deserving your nightmares over the call the other day. I was pissed, but I did not mean it, it was just in the heat of the moment." He continued weakly, like the life in him might have been knocked out. I felt at peace, now that he was talking to me.

"It's fine. I said things I didn't mean it as well. So I guess we're even."

He just let out a vibrating hmm, making my chest warm.

"Lorenzo..."

"Yes..." He replied huskily.

"Will you let me in?" I asked testing the waters.

"No."

That was an abrupt reply. Nevertheless, I heard the screeching sound of the latch being opened. Revealing the guy I wanted to murder just an hour ago. But something had changed in the past hour. I had laid myself bare in front of him, letting my deepest hesitancy out to this guy.

His face was pale, his pretty brown eyes now engulfed with dark circles, indicating the lack of sleep. He looked weary and tired. I had never seen him like this, gone were his intimidating t-shirts and tight leather pants, instead, he was wearing some soft pajama pants while his torso was buried into, what looked like a handmade grey sweater. He looked so small and brittle, I wondered if he would break if I touched him. I wanted to embrace him so bad, for the way I had been to him. Even when he was majorly at fault most of the time, but going slow sounded a better option. Just because I know about his past, I was sure there was more to it. I wasn't going to empathize with him, no, instead, I was gonna show him how being through a tragedy once does not automatically make his entire life one.

"Can we go somewhere else instead?" He managed to keep a smile, it was a weak one. But the small gesture from his part, it was sure as hell enough to make me retain it for life.

~¤~

(A/N: Helloooo fellow readers!!

Very sorry for the very late update. It's been exactly a year but our entrance exams are lagging the update schedule :(((

Anyway, Happy New Year!!! Let's make 2022 a wonderful journey with London & Lorenzo;) -Love, Maads<3
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I have missed you buttercups, we still have our entrance exams this year but we will try to update. Looking forward to a year full of hope, love and accomplishments. Lorendon send love シ︎
~Aarch )