Chapter 5

Regulus

The sun never stops shining in California, it seems. It's not like I've never been to the beach or spent time in the sun, but I don't exactly have a wardrobe conducive to the west coast. And when I emerge from the teeny tiny bus bathroom in my customary black jeans and button up, Sirius takes one look at me and shakes his head.

"Absolutely not." He pinches my shirt between his fingers and tugs me back toward his bed.

"What are you doing?" I ask, pulling my sleeve out of his grasp and sending a confused and slightly desperate look at James over my shoulder. He gives me a sympathetic smile from where he's flipping pancakes but doesn't even attempt to save me.

"You cannot dress like that."

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

Sirius looks me up and down. "You look like a trust fund kid. And you're going to roast to death in that outfit. Black and long sleeves? In California? In June?"

"I can roll the sleeves up."

"Or you can borrow some board shorts and a tank top until we get you your own. You gotta embrace the SoCal experience, Reggie. When in Rome and all that."

He grabs the bottom of his bed and the whole mattress lifts to about forty-five degrees and stays there. Underneath is a myriad of boxes and organizing dividers. Most of what I can see is clothes, and Sirius rummages around and produces a pair of bright red swim trunks and a lime green tank top.

"No."

"Reg," Sirius whines. "Come on."

"At least pick a different color."

Sirius pulls out a white tank top instead and raises an eyebrow. I huff, snatch the clothes from him, and duck back into the bathroom. It's a tiny room with just enough floor space between the toilet and the shower to get dressed. Thankfully, the shower is a decent size, because I did not want to attempt the campground showers. I have to cinch the shorts a truly ridiculous (but thankfully not too noticeable) amount, and I'll be holding my elbows to my sides all day trying to cover where the arm holes dip down almost to my hips. But they're otherwise comfortable.

James smirks when I come out of the bathroom again, and Sirius grins from the couch. "Shut up."

The two couches on either side of the bus pull out to meet in the middle and make a queen bed. It's been stowed away from when I used it last night, and a table is set up instead. James has filled it with pancakes, bacon, and hashbrowns. He sets three plates out and flourishes at them with a smile. "Breakfast is served, Reg."

I ignore the way the nickname makes my stomach flutter and slide onto the couch across the table from Sirius. "Wow."

Sirius snorts from where he's scrolling through his phone. "He's trying to impress you, Reggie. Normally, we just have cereal." James sits heavily next to Sirius and rolls his eyes. Sirius shows him his phone screen. "Which picture do you want me to post of you? I like this one, but this one is good, too."

"Hm. The first one."

"What pictures?" I ask, claiming a pancake and a strip of bacon. Every single thing that they talk about or do or joke about is absolutely fascinating to me. And I've had to stop myself from asking the millions of questions that have run through my mind in the last twenty four hours. I should start writing them down.

Sirius turns his phone toward me. He has a story draft on Instagram pulled up, and there's a picture of James surfing waiting to be posted. It's a great picture, and James looks incredible, all tan and muscled and wet.

Trying to cover how flustered I suddenly feel, I hum and scoop hashbrowns onto my plate. "Do you guys make money off of your Instagram account?"

"Mm. Some," James says, drowning his pancakes in syrup. "We've done a couple sponsorships and Sirius gets asks about modeling every other day."

"I do not."

"You do, too."

I take the syrup from James. "Have you ever modeled, Sirius? I can see it."

Sirius snorts. "No. I haven't."

"This might be too personal of a question, so stop me if -"

"You'll learn very soon that no question is too personal around here," James informs me. There's a twinkle in his eye, but he looks genuine. That seems to be his default setting.

"Alright, then." That feels like a challenge, but I start easy. "How do you guys pay for all of this?"

The question I really want to ask is how Sirius has been faring financially since leaving. I don't think I'm overly materialistic or will particularly miss high society, but money is kind of important to exist in the world. It's one of the big things that's been on my mind since I left. My parents have always made it clear that we have trust funds, to be accessed when we turn twenty five, but that they're revocable. Threatening to dissolve the trust was one of the ways they kept us - well, mostly me - in line. Another was only paying for school at the very last minute, just in case I decided to do what I did three days ago. I'm fairly certain they haven't paid for my last year at Harvard. And since I don't have any money that's technically, one hundred percent mine...

Sirius seems to understand immediately but thankfully doesn't voice my panic in front of James. He just smiles. "Well, Prongsie here works, sort of. His dad's an architect, has his own firm. So, James does some admin type work for him."

"My parents are very big on me learning to make my own money, even though we're, you know, well off."

James' cheeks darken just a little at the admission. I don't know why. It's not a secret that the Potters are wealthy. In fact, our parents think they proclaim it too loudly, always donating to charities and hosting big fundraisers in their beautiful house. But that's just because the Potters are "new money," which means Mom always thought it was inappropriate for Sirius to be friends with James. I hope he doesn't think I feel the same way.

"I, on the other hand, am quite self sufficient," Sirius says proudly. James rolls his eyes. "Do you remember Uncle Alphard?"

"Of course. Mom's brother. She finally burned him off the family tapestry a few years ago."

"Probably because he left everything to me."

I stop with a forkful of hashbrowns halfway to my mouth. "He didn't."

"He did." Sirius stabs at his pancakes. "He never contacted me, oddly. But his lawyer showed up at James' parents' house right after we graduated. Told me he'd just passed and that he'd recently changed his will to leave everything to me. Some money, a car, his townhouse in Boston."

"Wow."

Sirius glances at me hesitantly, like he's not sure how I'll take this conversation. I'm not sure how I'm taking this conversation. "Yeah. It was enough to help James pay for this bus and the build. And I still have a lot to spare. And the house...well, I didn't really want to live there, at least not for a while, so I rent it out. Make a good a chunk of change off of it, too."

There's a small bubble of jealousy sitting somewhere in my chest, but I'm also relieved that Mom's threats and dramatic fortune telling of Sirius living on the streets didn't come true. "Well, that's good."

"He wrote me a letter," Sirius says after a moment of silence. "I don't have it with me, but I'll show you the next time I'm in Boston. He said he'd heard about the disownment and that my trust fund had been revoked, and he wanted me to be taken care of." He ducks his head until I meet his eyes. "He mentioned you, too. Wanted me to use the money to take care of you if you ever needed it. I already have some set aside for you. I'll get an account set up today."

The bubble of jealousy pops and disappears, replaced by hope and awe and some emotion I can't quite name. If James wasn't still here, I'd probably cry. But I'm not quite to the point of letting James Potter see that much vulnerability yet. Instead, I give Sirius a wobbly smile and say, "Ok."

Sirius smiles back. "Ok."

We fall silent while we eat, and I process as much as I can. There have been too many things to process the last few days that my brain is on overdrive. But this is good. I can process the goodness, at least. I'm not destitute. I can finish my last year of school if I want to, and I don't have to worry about paying for things or contributing to groceries while I'm here. How long I'll be here is another question entirely, one that I hope Sirius doesn't ask again - at least for a few days while I get my head on straight.

After breakfast, James stays in the bus to work on a few things and Sirius drags me out to the beach. Remus has a beach chair and umbrella set up on the portion of beach just past the campsite the girls are sharing. He's in jeans rolled up past his ankles and a light, billowy white button up. I'll have to ask where he got it. He looks up from the laptop balanced on his knees and smiles as we wander up to him.

"Morning."

"Morning," I greet. And then I point at him. "So, he gets to wear jeans and a button up?"

Sirius scoffs. "Those are light jeans, Reggie. And a light button up. He's not going to die from heat stroke."

"I see Sirius' wardrobe vomited on you," Remus says.

"Yeah, well, I at least exchanged the bright green shirt he wanted me to wear."

"Good choice."

"Yeah, yeah. You two can bond over finding me annoying later." Sirius nods at the ocean. "I assume the girls are out in the water again. I didn't see them in the campsite."

Remus nods slowly. "Yup. Lily's the only one not swimming. But she wanted to stick her feet in the waves."

"I'll go grab her. Ease him into the chaos." He kicks his flip flips off and takes off toward the shore.

"Is Lily chaotic?"

"Mm. Depends on the day," Remus hums, focused back on his laptop.

I was a bit out of it last night, but I didn't miss the way Remus and Sirius looked at each other when they thought no one else was paying attention. On the night of his fourteenth birthday, Sirius snuck into my dorm at school and told me he was gay. I admitted to my own sexuality crisis, and we stayed up for hours talking about who we thought was hottest at school. I asked Sirius if he had a crush on his best friend, James Potter, and he shrugged, saying he was cute but felt more like a brother than a boyfriend.

I didn't really believe him. They shared a dorm and spent all of their time together. And I couldn't imagine anyone not thinking of James Potter as anything but boyfriend material. But Remus Lupin is Sirius' type, through and through. I make a mental note to ask James how long they've been dancing around each other.

I'm about to ask Remus what he's working on when Sirius reappears, now shirtless and showing off a myriad of tattoos I've seen glimpses of on Instagram, hauling a slightly disgruntled looking woman. She's beautiful, curvy and covered in freckles. Her one piece is a bright yellow with little ruffled sleeves on the shoulders, and she has a tie dyed scarf/blanket thing tied around her hips.

And she's arguing with Sirius, which means I like her already. "Honestly, Black, if this surprise isn't chocolate or a new paint set or something, I might actually kill you for pulling me away from watching my beautiful wife."

"It's worth it. I promise."

"Well, what is -" She looks up from her feet and pauses when she sees me, nearly yanking Sirius off his feet. She pulls her sunglass off to appraise me. Even from here, I can see the greenness of her eyes, and they twinkle with a bit of mirth that has me both excited and terrified. "Regulus Black, I assume."

"You assume right," I answer.

She stumbles the last few feet through the sand until she's right in front of me, smiling broadly. The brim of her huge straw hat almost pokes me in the eye. "I'm Lily Evans. It's so good to finally meet you. Sirius tells so many stories about you, I feel like I know you already."

"Well, don't believe everything you hear."

"I won't," she chuckles, her smile so big it nearly squeezes her eyes closed. "And if you want any embarrassing stories of Sirius, let me know. We've got plenty."

"We do," Remus agrees. Sirius huffs and rolls his eyes but doesn't argue.

Lily looks me up and down again. "Who dressed you this morning?"

"Sirius."

"And did he give you any sunscreen?"

"No." I instantly become aware of the sun stinging the tops of my shoulders.

"I didn't think so." She sweeps her hat off her head and shmushes it over my curls. "You're going to burn to death out here. Come to our bus, and I'll get you some sunblock, Casper." She stomps past me, and I send Sirius a look. He just shrugs.

So, I follow Lily to the bright blue short bus Sirius and I passed earlier. She's already inside, and I stand at the bottom of the stairs until she waves me in. Their bus is a riot of color. The backs of the steps have been covered in a 70s floral design that continues in the curtains on the windows and the seat cover on the driver's chair. Just behind the driver's chair is a little enclosed space with a curtain across it that I assume is the shower. It's amazing they even fit a shower in here. Across from the shower is a simple kitchen - a sink, a two burner cooktop, some prep space, and a mini fridge under the counter.

An l-shaped couch takes up the rest of the space between the kitchen and bathroom and the bed. It's a nice muted orange with pink and white flower pillows and a single blanket thrown over it. The bed is in the back and is decked out in greens and blues that match some of the flowers and leaves in the floral pattern. It looks like the 70s threw up in here. And I love it.

"Wow," I whisper as I get to the top of the steps.

Lily beams at me from where she's rummaging in a little cupboard above the bed. "I know, right? We found the flower fabric, and we could not stop staring at it. So, we designed the whole bus around it. The peel and stick tiles on the back of the stairs? We ordered those custom with the same print, because we wanted them to match."

"You guys really get into your buses, huh?" I can't stop looking at everything. James and Sirius' bus is boring compared to this. They have no design skill whatsoever.

"Yeah, a little. And we're not even full timers. We only travel during the summer." She steps off of the couch and tosses me a bottle of sunscreen. "You can keep that. I've got plenty."

"Oh, I don't -"

"It's all good. I saw Sirius his first summer on the road - before he figured out sunscreen. He was a lobster and miserable. Consider it a gift from one ghost to another."

"Thanks."

"And before I reclaim my hat, let's get some on your face." She takes the bottle back and presses some onto her fingers. "Can't have beautiful skin ruined by the sun."

I flush slightly. "You think my skin is beautiful?"

Lily gapes at me. "Yes. You and Sirius have like...porcelain doll skin. I swear the Black genes are magical or something."

"Mm. Looks, maybe." I close my eyes so she can smear sunscreen onto my cheeks. "The personality genes are lacking."

"Well, you and Sirius must be anomalies, then."

I don't get a chance to respond, because someone says, "Should I be jealous?"

I open my eyes just in time to see Lily roll her eyes and smile at whoever is behind me. "Mary, this is Regulus, Sirius' brother. Regulus, this is my wife Mary."

She turns me around by the shoulders. Mary is beautiful, too. How do Sirius and James find all of these beautiful people? Maybe it's my inability to find anyone not beautiful. But Mary really is gorgeous. She has on a wetsuit tied at her waist and a bright blue tankini top that stands out stunningly against her dark skin.

When she smiles at me, only half of her mouth turns up. "Hiya. Nice to finally meet you. Felt like Sirius was keeping you captive in their bus."

"I only got here yesterday."

"Well, we wanted to meet you last night, have a big dinner all together." Mary shakes her head. "But Sirius didn't want to overwhelm you. I mean, how could we be more overwhelming than him and James?"

"You're not," I chuckle. "But I think anything might have been overwhelming yesterday."

Lily spins me back around and continues applying sunscreen to my face. "Well, what about a dinner together tonight? I'm sure James would grill burgers. We can all bring something."

"Um, well. I'm fine with it. But it's not my bus and not my burgers, so..."

"I'll ask James," Mary says, and her footsteps tap back down the stairs.

"There." Lily clicks the bottle closed and hands it to me again. "Now, get your arms and don't forget to reapply every few hours."

I smile at her. "Thanks."

"Anytime. Us poor pale skinned souls gotta stick together." She shuffles around me and leads the way out of the bus. "Have you been down the ocean yet?"

"No."

"Well, come on then."