Chapter 15

Remus

When I wake up the next morning, it's to fingers carefully combing through my hair. It brings back a million memories of Mom waking me up on lazy weekend mornings, and I blink my eyes open to see her softly smiling eyes as she crouches next to the couch.

I smile and hum. "Morning."

"Good morning, darling." She bites back a wider smile. "I see you slept well."

Frowning at her cheekiness, I lift my head. And that's when I realize that I'm laying on top of Sirius, almost completely covering him as he snoozes contentedly, blissfully unaware of the blush creeping up my neck. "Oh."

Mom giggles. "Yes. Oh. I'm happy for you, sweetheart."

I huff a nervous laugh and press my face into Sirius' chest. "Thanks."

Sirius hums, stretches, and smacks his lips. "Oh, morning, Hope." His voice gravelly, soft. I push my face deeper into his t-shirt.

"Good morning, sweetheart. I see my scheming has worked." I whine, and Mom laughs louder. "Oh, you know you can't resist my advice, darling. You finally talked to him."

"Oh, so it's you I have to thank," Sirius hums, looping his arms around my back loosely.

"No, I just encouraged." She runs her fingers through my hair again. "Remus did it all on his own."

"I'm right here," I grumble, turning my head to find her beaming at me. "I can hear you."

"I know." She pats her legs and stands. "Now, I'm making crepes for breakfast. Get changed and come help, yeah?"

As soon as she's out of the room, Sirius flips us over and plants a wet kiss to my cheek. "Good morning, Re."

I snort. "Good morning, Pads."

"How are you feeling about last night?" he asks softly, propping himself up on his elbows and brushing at the hair on my forehead.

I squeeze my eyes closed. How am I feeling about last night? Some of the fear is still swirling in my gut. And honestly, I can't believe that I actually told him everything - like, everything. It's one thing to tell people that I have HIV - that's scary enough. It's something else to tell how I got it. I haven't told that story since...well, since I was little and everything came out the first time. He deserved to know what he was getting into. And really?

I trust him. I trust Sirius. And the way he reacted just adds to that trust.

He's still here, right? He's still on this couch, still smiling, still touching me so gently.

And when I blink my eyes open, he tilts his head to the side and smiles. "What?"

"Nothing. I..." I hesitantly rest my hands on his hips. "I'm still nervous. That was a lot that I dumped on you last night, and it's all kind of hitting me exactly what I told you. It's...scary still, I guess."

Sirius' eyes soften, but his smile stays in place. "Well, I'll just have to prove it to you, hm? That I'm sticking around?"

"I guess so."

We finally get up and Sirius heads out to the bus to change. I join Mom in the kitchen to help slice strawberries. She lasts all of ten minutes before clearing her throat. "So..."

"Mom..."

"I want to know these things." She looks over her shoulder at me. "You don't have to tell me everything. Just...the CliffsNotes version."

I sigh and slide my sliced strawberries into a bowl. "I told him. Everything. The whole story."

Mom whips away from the stove and stares at me. "Everything everything?"

"Yes. Everything."

She blows a breath out and it flutters her bangs. "Wow. Well, I'm proud of you. And...I mean, he must have reacted well, since you fell asleep on the couch together?"

I nod. "He...He was so sweet. Understanding. And we're...going to give it shot."

"Oh, darling," she squeals, rushing around the island to give me a squeeze and a peck on the cheek. "I'm so happy for you two."

"Thanks, Mom."

She returns to the stove, and before she can say anything else, the front door opens and three overlapping voices fill the house.

Loudest of all is Sirius, of course, who's beaming when he comes through the kitchen doorway. "We're not the only ones who figured things out last night, Re. Look. Look!"

He steps out of the way and gestures dramatically at James and Regulus who are hovering behind him, holding hands as Regulus leans on one crutch. As soon as my eyes fall on their intertwined fingers, my jaw drops.

"No way."

"Way!" Sirius gushes. "My baby brother and my best friend. I don't even know who to threaten. Both? Neither? The possibilities are endless."

Mom snorts into a bout of giggles as she adds a crepe to her pile. "Oh, Sirius. You know as well as I do that James Potter wouldn't hurt a fly." James flushes slightly. "And I've only know Regulus for a few days, but he's a sweetheart. I don't think you have anything to worry about."

Sirius waffles his head back and forth, and for a moment, I see his genuine worry. But it's gone almost as quickly as it appears. "You're right." I tuck that look away to ask him about later.

"Wait, wait," Regulus says as he and James finally enter the kitchen completely. "Did you just allude to you and Remus being together, too?"

James lights up, looking between me and Sirius. "Wait, really?" He looks at me for a beat longer, and I give a reluctant smile and nod. "Yes!" He throws his hands up and goes for Sirius first, clinging to him like a cat try to climb a tree.

"James!" Sirius grunts, but he's grinning. And he hugs James back just as tight.

Regulus leans against the kitchen doorway with a smirk. "I don't have any problem figuring out to who to threaten." He shakes his head. "But I won't."

"Because you already did," I throw back.

He rolls his eyes. "That was tame."

"Sure."

James detaches himself from Sirius just enough to drag him over to me and pull me into a bizarre three-way hug. "I'm so happy for you guys."

"Thanks, Prongs," I murmur, tucking my face into his arm.

***

Saying goodbye to Mom is always hard, and this time is no different. Sirius slides into my passenger seat without even asking and holds my hand as we leave Milwaukee. It's now been two days since our talk on the couch, and he's been particularly physically affectionate ever since. I cling to his hand as we hit the interstate and slowly make our way out of the city and into the countryside. I'm not sure how I went for so long without this - his thumb brushing along the back of my hand, the little smiles he throws me when I swear at someone for cutting me off, the unlimited ability I have to stare at him as we wait for gas to pump just across the Illinois border.

Two days and I'm hooked. I mean, I've been hooked for...probably years, but this is deeper, more intense. I'd be more scared if Sirius didn't look just as entranced. He's looking at me more often than not, always a little in awe. I can't blame him.

It's only an hour and a half drive to Chicago, and we park in a Walmart just outside the city to take the train in. We've planned only a day in Chicago, and for the first time since I started travelling with them, we've decided to split up. Well, James and I have decided to split up. He and I stayed up late last night and made plans to take the Black brothers exploring.

Since I know the city well, James asked my advice on where to take Regulus. And since James knows Sirius, I asked him what he thought Sirius would like. We have a pretty good plan, if I do say so myself, and as soon as we get off the train downtown, James and I pull our respective Black in separate directions.

"Hey, what - Re, where are we going?" Sirius asks, frowning up at me. "James and Reggie are going that way."

"And we're going this way," I say. I slide my hand into his and squeeze. "I know you said you wanted to take me on a date, but I beat you to it. This is...this city was a big part of my childhood. And I wanted to share it with you."

Sirius tugs me to a stop and smiles dopily at me. "You're a sap." I shrug. "I assume James has taken my brother on some...wild adventure as well?"

"Yep. He's busy sweeping Regulus off his feet as we speak." I step closer. "We planned it all last night."

"You two are impossible." He presses onto his tiptoes to kiss me. "Lead the way, then."

We make our way to Navy Pier, and I point out things along the way - favorite restaurants Mom and I went to when we came down for a show or little stores Mom always wanted to stop in. He soaks it all in and never lets go of my hand.

Navy Pier is crowded, but we get food in the food court fairly quickly and head up to the greenhouse-like enclosure upstairs. Sirius is enthralled by the plants and the birds and kids running around playing tag. We don't talk much as we eat, just tuck our feet together under the wrought iron table and grin at eat other between bites.

Once we've disposed of our trash, I pull him outside and toward the end of the pier. Sirius gets distracted by the churro cart but is more than content to wander down the pier with me as he munches on his snack. It's windy today - as usual - and his hair is coming loose from the half ponytail he has it in and keeps getting stuck to lips and the sticky filling of his churro. But he never lets go of my hand to brush the hair away, instead using the pinky of the hand he's eating with and almost getting cinnamon sugar everywhere.

By the time we reach the end of the pier, the wind has picked up so much that he gives up trying to keep it off his face and scrunches his face up so adorably, I can't help but melt just a little. I find a spot that's fairly sheltered from the wind and brush the strands back from his face, holding a few while he finishes his churro.

Before I can lose my nerve, I say, "You're beautiful, you know that?"

He smiles, and his cheek puffs out, stuffed with his last bite of churro. "You're sweet." He leans forward and presses a quick, sticky kiss to my lips. "Also, churros are amazing."

"I guess I know that I can always make you happy with food," I laugh.

"Mmhm," he hums, nodding. "Always. Sirius Black hack number one. Which I'm sure you already knew."

"I did." Something warm and syrupy fills my chest. "But now I get to use it in a romantic way and not worry that I'm flirting too obviously."

"Right!" He rests back against the wall we're cowering behind. "Because you can flirt now. In fact, I want you to flirt with me!"

I snort into an embarrassing giggle. "Alright, you weirdo." I join him against the wall, and we gaze out at the lake.

Sirius folds his churro paper up and stuffs it in his back pocket. Just as he slides his hand back into mine, he says, "You know, I don't have many good memories from my childhood."

"I figured as much."

His lips quirk slightly. "But this reminds me of one time we went to Martha's Vineyard for vacation." He frowns. "We didn't go on many vacations. Father was always busy, and Mother hated going anywhere with us alone, even though we had a nanny and she didn't have to do anything with us anyway. But..." He slides closer to me and leans his head on my shoulder. "This one year during summer break, we went to the vineyard. And Regulus and I snuck out while Mother was entertaining some other rich, insufferable women. And we went down the beach and played in the waves. It was so windy and there was this little rickety pier for...I don't know what it was for. But Regulus and I played for hours - hours! - before Mother sent the butler out to find us and bring us home. She was livid and...it wasn't a very pleasant evening." He sighs. "But it was a great few hours. Free."

It's bittersweet. There's so much contentment in his voice but so much...resignation, too. I wish...Well, I wish a lot of things. I wish I could take the bitter out of the sweet for him. He deserves so many sweet memories with Regulus, with James, with friends.

I lay my head on his. "You think Regulus remembers that?"

"Oh, I don't know. I should ask him."

"You should." I squeeze his hand. "But you should also remember that you have so much time to make more good memories with him. You already have."

He tilts his head up and smiles at me. "You're right. As long as James doesn't steal all of his time."

I snort. "James would never. I mean, he would. But he wouldn't do that to you."

"I know." He frowns sightly. "Honestly the only reason I think he's good enough for Regulus. I know he'll take care of him and be so kind about our past and our relationship, because he's been that way with me. It's weird." He chuckles. "It's weird that they're going to date, for sure. And it's...I haven't seen them like kiss yet or anything, and the PDA is going to take some getting used to. But if they're happy, I'm happy."

"You're such a sap."

He groans. "Don't tell anyone. It'll ruin my street cred."