THE 1, theodore laurence

THIS LOVE

THIS LOVE, chapter eight

this love is alive, back from the dead

   LAURIE COULDN'T THINK straight. His mind was a mess. Scarlett was leaving for London this afternoon, and Jo was coming back in two weeks.

He had always loved Jo. It had always made sense to him. Jo was his twin flame. They were a perfect pair. But then Scarlett had come back. And her presence made his thoughts run wild and his stomach burst into butterflies. He didn't know how to feel.

Laurie ran all the way to Scarlett's home, feeling a pang of pain at the sight of the waiting carriage out front. She was really leaving. Again. He couldn't stop it. Again. 

The deja vu was unsettling.

He crossed the foyer, taking in the trunks strewn across it. "Red?"

"Laurie, you're here!" exclaimed Scarlett, hurrying down the staircase to greet him.

"I wouldn't miss this for the world," Laurie smiled sadly, studying her appearance.

Scarlett looked like the epitome of elegance. She was clad in a deep green gown that seemed to make her hair shine, even in the regular lighting. Her usual free hair, was pulled up and done in an unadorned upsweep. Long gloves covered her arms, and a single painted pendant hung from her neck, resting over her collarbones.

"You kept it," murmured Laurie, gazing intently at it.

She laughed a little, glancing down at the pendant. "Oh, it's very fitting in London, you know." On instinct, she reached out to touch it, delicately running a thumb over it.

"Do you have to leave?"

Scarlett's fingers jerked. "What?" she stammered, must've hearing him wrong.

"Can't you stay?" said Laurie, quietly.

"I've already written to my aunt. I can't—"

"Why do you always leave?" he interrupted. "You only stay when you have to and leave immediately. I thought you liked it here."

"I do," insisted Scarlett. "But Europe has always been my home. I'm not sorry that I like to travel but—"

"No," interrupted Laurie, yet again. "That's not what I meant. You always seem bothered, or uncomfortable. What is it that keeps you away?"

 "Nothing," she argued. "There's nothing for me to say."

"I'll ask Amy if you won't," warned Laurie.

"No!" cried Scarlett. "Don't. I — I just can't tell you. You wouldn't either if it was you, so stop trying to get it out of me."

"Do you not trust me?"

"What?! No, Laurie I'd trust you with my life but this — this I can't say."

"Just tell me, Red. There's hardly a thing I don't know about you," he said tiredly.

Scarlett fell quiet. "There's a lot you don't know about me."

A wedge fell between them. After an entire year of being so close, it fell to waste.

"Stay," pleaded Laurie, again.

Scarlett looked dumbfounded and tired. "Why?"

He ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "I just can't bear to let you go again. What if you forget me?"

Tears stung at her eyes. "Laurie, I'd never forget you. I never have. Why should I now?"

"You might run off and marry a wealthy old man, and leave us all behind."

She laughed. "Marry, maybe. But I'd never leave you, not truly. Not as long as I'm breathing."

Laurie frowned. "Marry?"

Scarlett shrugged. "Meg got married. It's my turn next."

"Right," said Laurie, glancing away for the first time.

"I have to say goodbye to Beth and Marmee before I leave," said Scarlett, stepped away slowly.

"Right," repeated Laurie, awkwardly. "I'll, um, wait for you. To see you off."

"Thank you," she smiled softly. She stepped out the front door and gently closed the door behind her.

It was a thank you for a lot of things.

   

AUTHOR'S NOTE

writing shorter chapters so that the story goes faster lol. just one more chapter until part 2!

the gif up there is just a reference to twin flames

q: have you heard about this love (taylor's version) yet? 

go stream!