Book 4 lost save file 3: Laurence

It was a simple task, one he’d been preparing months for with Ms. Daphne. It should have been easier still to fetch a friend along the way.

He hadn’t expected to find Rosalie laying on her bed like a corpse.

He’d mistaken her as one at first. Roses sprung from her body like she was already decomposing in the ground. But he looked closer, and found that she was breathing. Just barely, but she was alive.

There was only one person that could have done such a thing, and Laurence had no intention of being found by her.

He dropped his suitcase and cradled Rosalie close, nearly pricking himself on the thorns. He closed his eyes. When had he started crying?

No, no, none of that. It was time to leave.

Laurence waited.

Nothing.

Damn it all! He was too nervous now!

Breathe in, breathe out, a voice sounding like Daphne whispered in his ear. Focus on the one you care for. The one you love.

“Come on, Iris,” he pleaded. “She needs you.” I need you.

It was an old memory he conjured. One still untainted by time and cruelty. Iris had conjured a binder for him when he’d first started developing in his chest. He wasn’t even certain he wanted on at the time, still curious and feeling different. It was such a simple gesture, and it meant the world to him.

He remembered how Iris smiled then. That smile never changed in the years that followed.

He prayed that smile hadn’t changed now.

Wind swept past his face despite the closed off room. He opened his eyes.

The portal flared to life, dousing the room in now familiar yellows and greens. He did not hesitate.

In his haste he’d nearly forgotten his suitcase. Not that it mattered, a small voice in him said. Not when Iris could make whatever it was he needed.

He needed Iris to be there–

And he was.

He barely recognized the changes in Iris at first, just frantically begging for help. Everything was a blur after. He’d been separated at some point, from both Rosalie and Iris. Laurence fought tooth and nail, but it was Iris who had reassured him that he’d be alright.

He was too tired to fight after.

But that didn’t stop his mind from racing.

He was in Goose Lake Valley, according to the stern woman with a sword. And he knew immediately that the blade wasn’t purely for intimidation. Iris, it seemed, was still trapped amongst murderers, specifically the pink haired one that spirited him away from the tower. 

The interrogation must’ve lasted hours, and it was adrenaline and fear that kept him awake, still. They slapped a cuff on him, and as he was ushered away by the girl with the messy hair he could tell he would be under surveillance at all times in his “new home”.

To his relief, he was allowed to visit Iris. The woman named Heather seemed friendly enough, but there was a sharpness lying beneath her eyes he didn’t like. He’d recognize the look easily enough now. Still, she sent him down the elevator alone.

Which meant he could speak to Iris alone.

He’d waited months for this moment, perhaps years.

Everything he wanted to say to Iris, if only he was free from the eyes of the tower, hidden in every wall.

Why did you leave?

Did it hurt?

How did you heal?

Are you okay?

What have you been up to?

I’m so sorry.

Every word he’d held was lodged in his throat the moment he stepped outside the elevator.

There was no hiding the defeat in his slumped posture, brushing his hand softly over Rosalie’s. His eyes were miles away, the darkness beneath them worse than even the days after any of his creative all-nighters. 

But he still was so beautiful.

He must have paused and gaped like an idiot for a solid minute, unable to approach. Luckily Iris was too absorbed in his thoughts to notice. At least, he hoped that was the case. It wasn’t unlike Iris to pretend he hadn’t just to help Laurence save face.

He was kind like that. Too kind for someone like Laurence.

The thought sobered him up. Nearly a decade's worth of harsh words flooded his mind, accompanied by even harsher actions. Oh what a fool he’d been, he’d always known. But Laurence was always a coward, not like Iris. What he’d always labelled as stupidity was really bravery within Iris’s heart. Brave enough to show the world who he truly was, what his heart looked like.

The tower had taken it and stomped on it countless times, Laurence included.

Perhaps the only stupid thing Iris had done was pick it back up and stitch it back together, only to let Laurence do it all over again each day.

No, enough of that.

He marched onwards, feigning casualness when he sat down besides Iris. Those dulled brown eyes didn’t stray from Rosalie.

Still, he persevered to speak the two words that were years too late. 

“I’m sorry.” 

Even before he’d spoken them aloud he knew that he was forgiven.

Because Iris was kind like that.