Chapter 1
Remus was tired and sore and ready to find a bed to sleep in. He had been driving all damn day and his truck with its messed up suspension, was anything but kind to bony ass sitting in the worn out seat. Once or twice he thought about pulling into one of the few shitty little dive bars he had passed on the highway.
He wanted a beer.
He wanted to sleep more though, so on he went.
Not that he had beer money anyway. He had spent his last dollar on gas about ten miles back. Being a hired farm hand didn’t pay too well most days and that stingy old fucker in Gallatin had only given him five bucks and half a pack of stale cigarettes for two days of shoveling horse shit in the July heat.
He felt like bashing his head into the steering wheel.
As of three hours ago, he has no money, no place to stay and no job.
He truly was God’s favorite, wasn’t he?
Remus found himself barreling down a one lane gravel road in the pouring rain at around two o’clock in the morning. He was completely alone with big rolling fenced in fields on both sides, no other vehicles around. Lighting struck overhead, thunder rumbling along after it. And then his stomach decided that was it’s cue to start in.
He groaned, turning his head to find his half eaten pack of m&m’s in the seat beside him. Spotting them, he reached over. Then the truck hit a pot hole of biblical proportion and threw them into the floor board.
“Shit.”
The rain was nearly deafening on the cab’s roof, tearing away at his last nerve as he ducked down to retrieve them.
Goddamn it, he was worn out. He couldn’t see good in the dark, not with his headlights the way they were. No, if he didn’t come across a motel or something he’d park on the side of the road. He’d sleep in his truck if he had to-
A horn blared.
Remus jerked upright but it was too late. He had about half a second to see a big green combine before it slammed into him. He was too shocked to brace himself. His head hit the windshield and he felt something crack.
Wether it was the glass or his skull, he didn’t know. All he could do was hit the brakes and hold the wheel as the tractor crunched in his hood and threw his truck angrily into a fence post.
Blinking something warm and wet out of his eyes, Remus tried to right himself. M&m’s were scattered across the dash like confetti, his tool bag had slid under the gas pedal, and his windshield had a nice big crack running down the side of it. His left headlight was out completely, his right tweaking in and out of consciousness to illuminate the field he had crashed into.
Something under the hood was smoking.
“Fuck,” he hit the steering wheel, “fuck!”
He snatched the handle and yanked his door open, stepping out into the storm to find the idiot that was driving a combine around with no headlights on in the middle of the fucking night. He was bound and determined to ring the motherfucker’s neck if he could get his hands around it.
He heard the driver cut the engine as he made his way back onto the road, a thin silhouette climbed its way down the steps and met him in the middle. The short walk he had taken had left Remus drenched, the cotton of his shirt sticking to a fresh cut on his forearm like cold glue.
He hadn’t even gotten a good look at the stupid fucker before he started in on him.
“What the fuck are you doin’?” Remus hollered, his pointer finger finding its way into the man’s chest, “You totalled my fuckin’ truck!”
The idiot could speak, come to find out.
“You listen here, asshole,” the man said in a voice deeper than Remus had expected, with a drawl smoother than summer sunshine on water, “I was comin’ to see if you were okay and apologize, but I don’t think I’m gone do that since your head has found it’s way up your ass.”
Remus’ hand was shoved away and the man now had his finger in Remus’ chest, “I don’t owe you not a damn thing. YOU hit MY fence, motherfucker. If anyone owes anythin’, it’s you.”
The man had backed Remus into the glitching glare of his singular headlight, and he could now get a good look at him. He had a thin, pinched face with jutting cheek bones and icy grey eyes almost hidden under a mop of long sopping wet black hair. He wore one of them fancy button ups with a pointed collar and obnoxious patterns along with a set of well fitted jeans and round toed boots.
He was a looker, no doubt.
And Remus was still a pissed off motherfucker with no truck.
“What the hell are you doin’ on a combine in the middle of the night?” Remus raged on, ignoring the odd look growing on the man’s face as he looked Remus over, “That thing has headlights, you stupid fucker, why the hell ain’t you turned ‘em on? You could have killed me!”
The man wasn’t listening evidently, seeing as he reached over and tapped Remus’ forehead. A bolt of pain shot through him.
“Ow!” He slapped the hand away, “The fuck are you doin? Quit that. I ain’t done with you-“
“You are for now. You’re bleedin’, badly,” the man’s icy eyes turned concerned, now eyeing Remus’ bleeding arm. Remus held it to his chest, out of poking distance, “Get on the combine, I need to get you to a doctor.”
Now Remus was pissed and confused.
“I don’t need a doctor,” he grouched, “And I ain’t gettin’ up there with you, I don’t know you from Adam. Besides, you sure as shit can’t drive that thing and I can’t leave my truck to sit and smoke.”
“The hell with the truck right now. The rain will cool it off,” the man told him, hands on his hips, “You are bleedin’ from you’re head, that’s serious. You could die for all I know. And if it makes you feel any better, YOU can drive the combine. Im not supposed to be on it anyway. My house is just up the road passed that willow tree.”
Remus looked to where he was pointing. It wasn’t far, maybe a quarter of a mile.
“I still don’t know you.”
The man scoffed airily, already stepping back onto the road, “What like I’m gonna try to kill you twice in one night? I can take a hint when God gives me one.”
Remus just kind of stared at him, appalled. He took a second to look from his busted truck to the combine and back again. Fuck. What kind of decision was this?
A real easy one apparently.
He cursed under his breath before yelling up to the man climbing the tractor’s steps, “I’m comin’. Let me grab my shit.”
“Well, hurry the hell up, I’m shiverin’.”
And who’s fault was that?
Remus stomped back over to his truck to grab his duffel bag of clothes. He opened up his glove compartment to fumble around before finding his cigarettes. He opened the crumpled pack and peered in.
Thank God.
Not one was broken.
The combine’s horn blared again, making Remus hit his head on the mirror. He gave another frustration groan before righting himself and stomping back to the road.
His worn boots slipped a little as he climbed the tractor’s steele steps and to the top. Thankfully, the seat was a bench someone had rigged in.
The man has just turned the key in the switch when Remus nudged him with the toe of his boot, “Uh uh. Move over, you ain’t drivin’ shit.”
The man rolled his eyes but obliged, letting Remus plop down on the leather bench with a grunt. Remus made a show of hitting a switch and the lights came on.
Shifting into drive, he asked, “You did know that was there, right? You’re not completely useless?”
The man grumbled something under his breath.
“I didn’t catch that.”
“I told you I wasn’t supposed to be drivin’ the damn thing anyway,” the man grumbled out, and when Remus scoffed he said, “I’m bein’ serious.”
Remus just shook his head, choosing to lift a cigarette to his mouth from the open pack. He patted his pockets. Empty. Shit.
The man sighed, “Here.”
A flame flickered to life and Remus inclined his head to the man beside him. Lighting it, their eyes met for the briefest moment. Remus looked away to the road.
“Well, I guess an introduction is in order, don’t you think?” Remus grunted out, “I’d like to know the name of the man that tried to kill me.”
“I didn’t try, it was an accident,” the man told him heatedly, then added, “I’m Sirius.”
“Yeah, I get that, but your name,” Remus went on slower this time. Maybe the crash had rattled him a bit too, “What is your name?”
“Sir-i-us,” the man drawled out each syllable mockingly, “My name is Sirius Black. And you, dipshit? The hell’s your name?”
He snatched the cigarette from Remus’ lips to bring it to his own. It took Remus a second to blink away shock and more blood before answering, “Remus Lupin. You got an odd name, your mama not love you or somethin’?”
“Or somethin’,” Sirius snorted, “Pull in over there, behind the barn.”
Remus did.
It turned out Sirius Black wasn’t just an idiot, he was an idiot with lots of money.
There was a big white two story farm house just past the barn with all the rich fixings. It had a covered wrap around porch adorned with half a dozen rocking chairs and potted plants. There was a tall trellis that clung to the right side, a thriving rose bush creeping ever upward up on it.
A few yard back past the massive barn, sat an equally impressive building he assumed to be a chicken coop. If he squinted through the rain in his eyes, Remus could almost make out what he thought was a tire swing on an old oak.
Sirius Black had his own little slice of heaven out here. Remus wondered what he did for a living. It wasn’t labor, that was for sure. Sirius’ hands were far from callused as they should be if he did field work. And that shirt he wore was too fancy to be getting dirty.
“So,” Remus said as he cut the engine, climbing down behind Sirius, “What were you doin’ on the combine? You said you ain’t supposed to be on it.”
It had stopped raining, the clouds dispersing to wash Sirius’ pale face in moonlight as he looked back at Remus.
“My folks are out of town and I let a buddy of mine use it,” Sirius told him, beckoning Remus to follow as he walked around to the other side of the barn, “James was too drunk to bring it home and I had no one else to do it. Ain’t got a farm hand or anythin’.”
Remus’ head was beginning to ache. Or maybe it had been aching for a good minute and he just hadn’t noticed? He wasn’t sure.
“Hey,” Sirius’ voice was a loud bang in his ear startling him awake, “Dont start noddin’ off. Shit, your head’s bleedin’ again.”
Remus felt an arm around his shoulders, holding him up. Sirius helped him sort of wobble to the passenger side of a shiny black car that looked like it had just been taken from the lot.
Goddamn this man had money.
Remus let Sirius open the door and help slide him in. The seat was a smooth dense leather that nearly felt like butter under Remus’ hands and he fought to remain upright. He doubted Sirius would take kindly to his head putting a dent in the sleek white dashboard.
Remus’ brain was thumping violently in his skull, he felt the cut on his arm pulse in tune with it. He felt like throwing up.
The engine roaring to life woke him again. It purred and growled as Sirius yanked it into reverse. Remus would have scolded him had he had the energy. The idiot will burn up the clutch if he’s not careful.
“WAKE UP, DIPSHIT.”
Remus felt the flat of a hand pop him across the mouth and jerked away from the shock, the pain of it.
“I’m up,” he blinked rapidly, shaking his head. That made the world tilt ominously, “Fuck, I’m up. Stop smackin’ me.”
Remus glanced out the window and back at his truck as they passed.
Fuck.
What was he going to do?
“Where are we goin’?”
“To a doctor. I told you,” Sirius said, easing the car over a little to let a motorcycle pass, “A friend of mine is one and she owes me a favor anyway. She lives just up here on the square.”
A square?
“What square?” Remus asked, he felt warm copper creep into his open mouth and wiped it away with the back of his hand, “I came from this direction. Why didn’t I see it?”
He could have stopped and found an inn or a hotel or something. He could be in a nice warm bed right now instead being in a car with his attempted killer and an aching head wound.
Was he God’s favorite or what?
“Because you don’t pay attention, I take it,” Sirius told him, then added as an afterthought, “How come you didn’t see me in that big ass combine comin’ right at you? I might not have had my lights on but you did.”
“I was reachin’ for somethin’ in the floor,” Remus grunted out, ready to change the subject.
Sirius let out a disbelieving scoff, “And just what the hell was so important you had to get that caused this whole mess?”
Remus shot him a glare, “I didn’t cause it, you did.”
“Sure,” Sirius told him, “But what was it? Come on.”
Remus sighed.
Sirius made a show of putting his hand up to his ear, “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that?”
Remus thought about punching him.
But that would cause another wreck.
“A pack of m&m’s.”
“A pack of-“
Sirius bust out laughing as they turned onto the square. He was still laughing when he parked.
“Ah, fuck you.”
Remus made to grab the door handle and missed by inches. He wanted out this damned car.
“Hold on. Don’t hurt yourself,” Sirius got out between giggles, opening his own door to walk around to the passenger side to help Remus to his feet.
The asshole was still smiling as they made their way down the street. Sirius stopped them in front of a brick building. Painted in swirling cursive across the big picture window was ‘McKinnon Medicines’. A wooden sign hanging on the door read ‘CLOSED FOR THE NIGHT.’
Apparently Sirius either couldn’t read or just didn’t care. He helped Remus up the little wooden stair, lead him to the cool brick wall to lean on, and then hammered on the side of the screen door like his life depended on it.
Remus heard something move overhead, then lights began coming on one by one upstairs. It took Remus a few seconds to realize he should probably move out from in front of the of the door. Who ever was inside probably didn’t wake up happy.
And he was right.
But he didn’t move fast enough.
Before he could register the lock clicking open, a shotgun was being cocked and shoved in his face from behind the screen.
Remus tried to stop it, but he got spooked and his feet were already in motion and his head was still fuzzy.
There was a great splash and Remus found himself in a deep mud puddle. He stared up wearily at the angry blonde woman looking down at him, sawed off trained on his chest.
“Marlene!” Sirius scolded the woman, moving quickly to get Remus back to his feet. His fancy boots and pants now soaked through with mud.
“Sirius?” The woman lowered the gun, noticing him for the first time it seemed, “What the hell are you doin’ beatin’ in my door at this time of night? Who is this?”
“It’s a long story.”
Remus heard a rooster crowing somewhere off in the distance as Sirius helped him back up the step.
Marlene lowered the gun to her side to usher them in, eyes widening as she took in Remus’ blood soaked face.
“Good lord, let’s get him into a bed,” Marlene said, leading them down a short hall to what Remus guessed was an exam room.
She was tying her hair back out of her face when she asked, “What the hell happened?”
“He ran me over,” Remus groaned as Sirius plopped him down onto the bed.
“YOU WHAT??”
“I ran his truck over-“
“With me in it,” Remus corrected, holding his aching head in his hands.
“I think he might have a concussion,” Sirius told Marlene, who was running about the small room digging through cabinets and drawers, “He hit his head on the windshield hard enough to crack it-“
She was shoving a bowl into Sirius’ hands, “Go fill it with cold water from the sink.”
Sirius only sputtered for a second before leaving the room.
Then Marlene swooped down onto Remus like a vulture, pushing his hands out of the way to get a better look at the wound. He hissed as she prodded at it gingerly.
“It’s pretty big, but it’s fixable,” she told Remus, titling his head this way and that, “But you’ll need stitches.”
God.
Stitches were expensive. Doctors were expensive. He didn’t have any money.
He tried to get up, “Look, I can’t afford stitches-“
“I don’t give a damn about money. Shut up and sit down,” Marlene told him, and with a strength he didn’t think she possessed, shoved him bodily onto the bed again, “You aren’t leavin’ here lookin’ like that.”
He didn’t feel like arguing with the woman.
Sirius came back into the room, placing the bowl of water and a short stack of towels on the bed beside him. He gave Remus a worried glance.
Remus felt his eyes begin to droop. He tried to stay awake, really he did. But he had been driving for nearly twelve straight hours. He was cold and wet and hungry.
He felt Marlene dab at his forehead with a wet towel and didn’t have it in him to flinch away from it. He just leaned over, let her do as she pleased.
In a last effort to remain conscious, he looked up. Stormy grey eyes met his and Sirius held his gaze until finally, when he couldn’t stand it anymore, he felt asleep.
Jesus Christ, what a damn day.