Would You Rather

“Okay, I actually have some this time—“

“James—“ Remus interrupted between wheezes, “Please shut the fuck up.”

James pouted, but Remus ignored him.

“But Remusss,” James whined again, putting on his best puppy dog eyes while still somehow managing to keep up his extremely fast pace, “I’ve put a lot of thought into it! Me and Peter stayed up all night on face time for this! I’ve got a whole notes page full of ‘em!”

Remus rolled his eyes. “No one asked you to do that, idiot.”

“Yeah, but we did it anyway.” James waved him off, “We have like two more miles until i’m letting us stop, so you might as well entertain me.”

Remus sighed and gave James the nastiest glare he could muster, but scoffed in agreement nonetheless.

They’d been running since five AM, and Remus felt like he was about to collapse. He was definitely out of shape. Him and James were both drenched in sweat, and James’s glasses had been slipping down his nose for the last twenty minutes. It was making Remus anxious.

Unfortunately, James’s usual running partner (Sirius) was “sick”. That was definitely bullshit, but Effie, James’s lovely mother, would never accuse her sweet little angel, Sirius, of lying. One day, once they’re all graduated, Remus wants to send her an extremely long email detailing all of the terrible, awful things her precious “angel” has done.

But anyway, with Sirius gone, James had passed the duty of torturous morning runs on to Remus, making him his honorary running partner for the day. It wouldn’t have been that bad of a situation, had James not insisted to run seven fucking miles.

Yeah, you heard that right— seven. About five miles ago, Remus had thought James was joking. How naïve of him.

Why exactly seven miles, you may ask? Who fucking knows! It was such a stupid number! Was he just trying to torture himself? Is he just a masochist? Again, who fucking knows?!

Remus thinks there really isn’t anything worse than running.

Except maybe Would You Rather.

…

Yeah, scratch that— Would You Rather was definitely worse.

Remus sighed again.

“Fine, give me one.”

“Alright,” James clapped his hands together excitedly, a wide grin on his face, “Would you rather own your own boat, or own your plane?”

Remus just blinked, unsure if he heard the question correctly. Unfortunately, James made no move to correct himself.

Remus quirked a brow.

“Thats it?”

James nodded, still smiling as they ran.

…

Wow.

“James,” Remus said, a look of disbelief on his face, “What the fuck was that?”

James faltered, nearly tripping over his own feet as he looked over to Remus in confusion. “Whaddya mean?”

Remus gestured at James wildly.

“The question! What the hell was that— it was so fucking lame!”

“What?!” James gasped, “No it wasn’t! Me and Pete found a whole list of questions to ask—!“

“You got that from a list?!” Remus shouted down the quiet morning streets, probably waking up the whole neighborhood, “Why are you stealing questions from a list?!”

“Wha— stealing?!“

“Get creative, James!” Remus reached over to wack the back of James head, watching the way it caused his glasses to bobble off his nose tediously. “I thought you were better than this!”

While James moved his head forward to stare ahead, shellshocked, Remus sighed.

“Alright,” Remus announced, “Try again.”

James blinked.

“Try again?!”

“Yes!”

James still looked extremely lost, but with a push of his glasses and couple more blinks, he seemed to snap into action.

“Um, well— okay then. Would you rather buy a llama from one of those villager guys from minecraft using all of the chocolate you have in under your bed—“

“Hold up, I don’t have—!” Remus started, but James silenced him with his hand and continued.

“Or, buy a real, living loot llama from Fortnite.”

…

Remus groaned.

“I hate you so much.”

“First of all,” James gasped, “That’s absolutely not true— I know you love me— and second, I thought you wanted a better question! That’s what I gave you!”

Remus rolled his eyes. “Barely.”

“What was wrong with that one?!”

“It just lacks your usually— ridiculousness?” Remus shrugged. “I don’t know what word I’m looking for, but it just definitely wasn’t up to the usual standard. Also, what the hell would I do with a loot llama?”

“There’s so much you could do with a loot llama! It could give you your loot when you need it!” James huffed. “And I don’t remember there being a ‘standard’ for Would You Rather questions.”

“There definitely is,” Remus stated, matter-of-factly, “And you didn’t meet it.”

“Well, Lupin,” James clapped him on the back with determination, “Believe me, I’ll be up to standard next time.”

Remus rolled his eyes.

“You better be, asshole.”

•••

They were back at Walmart. Again. You’d think they’d just buy all of their poster boards in advance to make it easier, but apparently, they weren’t smart enough for that.

This time, the mission was to make Peter a sign for his Homecoming date. They still hadn’t decided who the date was going to be, or what was going to be written on the sign, but according to Sirius, that information was irrelevant.

So, that was how Remus ended up at Walmart for the third time that week, with an overeager James and Sirius, and a massive headache. In all honesty, the only reason he agreed to help them was because they promised him Dutch Bros after, and Remus fucking loved Dutch Bros.

“I’m thinking Brittney Mullins.” Remus tuned into James and Sirius’s conversation, where they were apparently discussing Peter’s date. Sirius ran his hands over the packets of sharpies lining the shelves as he talked. “She’s not too popular, and I’ve seen her staring at Peter a few times in Science.”

“I really hate to feed your massive ego,” Remus sighed, “But I’m fairly sure she was looking at you. I heard from Jane in our English that she liked you.”

Sirius and James both chuckled, and the latter clapped a hand to Sirius’s back. “You fucking slut.”

Sirius raised his eyes in fake innocence. “Slut?! How does that make me a slut?! She’s the one who likes me!”

Remus rolled his eyes, and James’s chuckle transitioned into a full blown laugh.

As James wheezed uncontrollably, Sirius huffed, bringing his attention back to the topic at hand.

“Whatever,” Sirius waved a dismissive hand, “We’ll just keep thinking.”

Remus did think about it, but Peter was a hard guy to imagine on a date. It wasn’t like there was anything wrong with him, he was just kinda— strange. Along with that, compared to James and Sirius, he always seemed to be overshadowed. He’s an average guy, but unfortunately, when you surround yourself with very un-average people, it’s hard to stand out. Remus loved him, obviously— he was one of his best friends. That’s exactly why Remus was the most qualified person to state these things. His friends seemed to be having similar struggles, if there silence was anything to go by.

“How about,” James trailed off, looking thoughtfully at the fabric markers, “Melody?”

“Which Melody?” Sirius asked, looking up from where he was sifted through some ugly notebooks with floral designs on the front.

Remus snorted and quirked a brow. “How many Melodys do you know?”

Sirius winked at Remus and opened his mouth to speak, but thankfully, but whatever idiotic answer he was planing on giving was interrupted by James.

“Melody Charmaine, from our Science class, Remus.” James nodded his head toward him.

Ohh, yeah— that Melody.

Remus didn’t really know too much about Melody— only that she was quiet, and smart. It was almost embarrassing how little Remus knew about their school’s student body outside of his friends.

“Oh yeah,” Sirius perked up, “I think she’s in my mine and Pete’s math class!”

“Have they ever talked?” James questioned.

“Um,” Sirius tapped his chin thoughtfully, “I don’t think so. But— it’s never too late to start!”

James smiled and clapped his hands together. “Great! Now just to make her a sign!”

“Can we please actually take some time on this one?” Remus pleaded, “I don’t want to ruin Pete’s chance before he even gets it.”

Sirius put a finger to Remus mouth, which Remus immediately batted away. “Have faith, Moons— I have an idea.”

“Oh god—“

“Really!” James eyes widened with excitement behind his glasses, “What is it?”

“You’ll just have to wait and find out.” Sirius smirked and winked suggestively, making Remus pretend to gag. James chuckled, but grabbed the poster board without further questions.

Thankfully, after getting their supplies, they did eventually make it to Dutch Bros. The downsides to this were, for one, that his friends decided that they didn’t want to go through the drive through, and instead sent Remus to the window all on his own like absolute fake ass bitches. As if this wasn’t bad enough, the employee that happened to be managing the cash register was none other than Marlene Mckinnon.

Marlene was nice, and he was pretty sure she was on the girls wrestling team or something— but aside from that, Remus knew nothing about her. No shock there, though— as he previously stated, he didn’t know anyone. Also un-shockingly, she managed to identify his lanky frame before he even made it to the window.

“Lupin!” She shouted with a smirk, “What are you doing without your little buddies?”

Remus rolled his eyes and scowled. “My ‘little buddies’ sent me up here all on my own and are making me pay for our fucking drinks.”

Marlene snorted. “Tough luck, man. Making you pay for the drinks is evil.”

“Exactly!” Remus exclaimed, “Those rich ass assholes could’ve at least payed— they dragged me all the way out here, promised me Dutch, and then made me pay for my own drink! The audacity!”

“Fake ass bitches.” Marlene joked with a smirk. Remus smiled back, and gave his order without too much grievance.

With the iced tea acquired (plus a hot chocolate for James, despite the fact it was fucking September), and the poster board taking up most of the space in the back seat of James’s car, Remus and his two friends headed back to the Potter household.

Remus absolutely loved James and Sirius’s house. It had become Sirius’s as well during sophomore year, when Sirius turned up at James’s door in a rough state, and needed somewhere to stay. James obviously helped out, and Sirius had his own room that very night. They don’t talk much about what happened, but Remus could tell it was bad. Sirius’s family was terrible, and they all knew it. Thankfully, the Potters were angels, and Sirius had been getting better every day. Well, better, but also much more annoying.

Every time Remus went to the Potter’s house, he wondered how the hell he managed to become friends with people so rich. Like genuinely, they were another level. The Potter’s lived in a gated community that had an actually guard at the front gates managing who came and went. It was insane. It made Remus feel like a homeless beggar on the side of the road.

Remus went to their house so often, he was convinced there was a picture of his face hanging on a “just let him in” list inside of the security room. There probably wasn’t, but the face the guard made whenever he saw Remus made it feel probable.

… Remus hated the stupid guard guy.

James and Sirius engaged in mindless conversation with the front gate guy while Remus sipped on his drink, trying to sink further down in his seat as he heard his friends offhandedly mention his name. The guard scowled in his general direction before letting them in. Fucking asshole.

Remus really hated the stupid guard guy.

When they finally made it to the house, Remus took his time getting out of the back seat, making an effort to groan and complain every step of the way. His friends just chuckled and ignored him, reaching over his stretched body to grab the poster board. Despite Remus’s insistence that they buy more than one board to prepare for the future, his friends only got one.

Fucking idiots.

They burst through the massive doors— yelling to Effie from where she worked in the kitchen— and ran upstairs to James’s room. They rarely went in Sirius’s room, but that was mostly just because it was smaller, and Sirius was extremely protective of it. He wouldn’t even let people sit on his bed— let alone touch his precious things. It was a bit ridiculous, but they all knew it was too touchy of a subject to bother.

James’s room was basically exactly what you’d imagine it’d look like— grey walls, red bedding, and random football related items absolutely everywhere. In all honesty, Remus wouldn’t be surprised if James jacked off to his fantasy football team— that kid lived, breathed, and loved football more than anyone he knew.

Except maybe Sirius.

They immediately dropped down to James’s carpeted floors and pushed old dirty clothes aside to make room for the poster board. Despite Sirius’s insistence he had an idea, he looked just as stumped as the rest of them.

They all just stared at the poster board in silence for a while— the quiet only being broken by occasional suggestions which would immediately get shut down.

“Someone should just look on Pinterest or some shit,” Sirius sighed, “I have no idea what to do.”

“I don’t have Pinterest.” James replied, not even bothering to meet Sirius’s eyes.

“Yeah, but Moony does.”

Both boys swiveled their heads over to Remus, and he sighed in defeat, opening up the dreaded app.

Remus fucking hated Pinterest. Everything about it pissed him off, but the worst part was the fact that the algorithm was absolute shit. If you even so much as miss clicked on a single dumb ass picture of an AI carrot with Adam Sandlers face on it, your feed would be permanently stained with nothing but that for weeks.

…

He definitely wasn’t speaking from experience.

Remus didn’t even remember the reason he downloaded Pinterest; all he knows is that he’ll open it up to find outfit inspo, and somehow ends up getting sucked down the rabbit hole of “Millennial Mom” beige interior design for the next hour.

He searched up “Hoco sign ideas”, and scrolled through the results as James and Sirius moved to watch over his shoulders.

Sirius sighed. “We know nothing about her— how are we going to make a sign?”

Remus shook his head. “How the fuck should I know— this was your guys’s idea.”

“Yeah, but I thought we were going to pick someone stupid to be Peter’s date.” Sirius pouted, “You guys went and picked someone he might actually like, so now I have to actually think.”

“You poor thing.” Remus rolled his eyes.

Sirius rested his chin on Remus’s shoulder. “Can’t we just pick someone else?”

“Why,” James asked with a quirk of his brow, “What’s wrong with Melody?”

“I don’t know, I just want someone else.”

“Well, tough luck.” Remus stated dryly, “‘Cause we’re not switching.”

Sirius groaned dramatically, throwing his body backwards and sprawling on the carpet. James chuckled, but didn’t join him. Instead, he plucked the phone out of Remus’s hand and brought it closer for his terrible eyesight to see.

“I think we should do this one.” James brought the phone away from his face again, now using his finger to point at the picture he’d clicked on.

The sign said “Let’s have a Baja Blast at hoco together,” and had a picture of a Baja Blast badly drawn in the corner.

Sirius burst out laughing, and Remus shook his head.

“Sometimes I genuinely think there’s something wrong with you.”

James laughed along with Sirius, before suddenly going quiet.

”Sooo, we’re doing it— right?”

”Yep,” Sirius nodded with a smirk, “And we’re gonna have a ‘Baja Blast’!”

Remus grimaced.

”Never fucking say that again.”

•••

The shitty poster was made, and the plan was set: hunt Melody down after James and Sirius’s football game, and have Peter ask.

In all honesty, the sign turned out much better than Remus was expecting. They did indeed go with the dumbass Baja Blast idea, but Sirius somehow managed it make creative. They had printed out an old picture they’d found of Peter drinking an ICEE and taped a picture of a Baja Blast on top. Then, using Sirius’s oddly good calligraphy skills, they managed to actually make it look pretty solid. In all honesty, Peter’s chances were looking good— unless she had a boyfriend. Or didn’t like Baja Blast.

The only real problem was the fact that Peter seemed to be scared shitless. He’d basically been a mess since Remus had first briefed him on the plan, and hadn’t gotten any better since. Remus tried to gauge whether or not Peter had a crush on Melody, but he still had no clue. All he knew was that Peter was sweaty as hell, and his anxiety was starting to rub off on Remus.

Remus clapped one of his hands down on Peter’s bouncing thigh and looked over to meet his eyes. Peter looked up at him— oddly terrified.

“If you don’t want to do it, you don’t have to.” Remus said, trying his hardest to sound comforting, “Don’t be afraid of what those idiots would think. They’d make fun of you for like a day, and then they’d forget all about it.”

Peter let out a nervous chuckle and sighed. “You’re right, but that’s not the problem.”

Remus raised a brow, and Peter sighed again.

“I actually like her.”

‘Well, no shit.’ Remus thinks, but he managed to keep that to himself.

“Sooo, does that mean you do want to do it, or don’t?”

“It means I don’t know.” Peter groaned, dropping his head to his hands. “I don’t even know if she likes Baja Blast— she might hate the sign!”

“Nah, she’ll like it. Who the hell hates Baja Blast.”

“Lily hates Baja Blast.”

Remus snorted. “I have no idea why you know that, but Lily is probably not the best person to use as a statistic.”

Peter smirked. “James told me.”

“Of course— literally who else.”

“He’s such an idiot.”

“Yep.” Remus snorted again. “I’m actually kinda impressed he managed to talk to Lily long enough to learn her drink preferences.”

“My guess is that he was eavesdropping.”

“That’s pretty much the only possible solution.”

Peter and Remus both laughed and went back to watching the game— his friend’s nerves seeming to have calmed down by quite a bit.

Sirius and James were doing good— or at least, Remus thinks they are. Unfortunately Peter’s usual commentary had been silenced in turn of anxiously talking about Melody. All he knew was that their team was winning, and that was all he needed to know.

The game seemed to drag on far longer than usual, despite it being a home game. Usually Remus could convince Peter to go and check out the food trucks, or watch little kids fall off the bouncy houses, but that day, Peter refused to move from his seat. He didn’t even go to the bathroom at half time— it was a bit terrifying.

When the game was finally finished— 42-28 Hogwarts— Remus was just about ready to bash his head into the nearest tree. Unfortunately, there were no trees nearby, and not enough time for him to find one.

They had to go get the sign.

Remus was honestly exhausted by how many steps this “plan” required, and if it ended up working, he expected a long ass thank you card from Peter. Or maybe just some food. Food would be fine.

Also, for anyone who was just dying to know the entire plan, here you go:

First, they had to somehow convince Melody to show up to the game and wait for them afterwards on the track. It might sound like an easy task, but considering they’d never talked to Melody in their lives, it just sounded creepy as hell.

Luckily, Sirius managed to charm his way into getting her number (his words not Remus’s) and managed to get her on board. The problem with this, was the fact that the way Sirius set it up made it seem like he was the one asking her. Absolutely terrible.

Sirius tried convincing Remus that she wasn’t thinking of it that way, but Remus is still a bit worried.

The next, and even harder step, was convincing Peter to agree.

It took fucking forever.

After hours and hours of hyping him up, bribing him with food, and cyberstalking Melody on instagram to see if she had a boyfriend, he finally said he’d do it.

Lastly, they just had to hope Melody said yes.

If she rejected him, Peter would be heartbroken— not to mention the hit on his ego.

She needed to say yes, or else Remus was actually going to lose his shit.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Peter asked for the billionth time that night as they walked back to the stadium. He was bending their poster in a way that was fucking up the glue, and Remus ripped the sign out of his hands to preserve their hard work.

“Yes, Pete,” Remus sighed, “She’ll love it.”

“Are you sure though?” Peter continued, “I’m starting to really think this isn’t a good idea— what if she hates it?”

“No, Pete, she won’t.” Remus had been listening to these same questions so many times, his answers were beginning to become automatic.

Peter seemed to be fidgeting more and more as they approached the field, and Remus was resisting the urge to grab him and throw him over his shoulder just to make him stop.

As they rounded the corner of the bleachers, Remus made eye contact with a smiling Sirius waiting with James and Melody. Remus returned the grin and shoved the sign back in Peter’s hands, moving behind the boy to shove him forward.

Peter stumbled, but eventually, they were right in front of Melody.

James and Sirius, being the people they were, had managed to draw a crowd to view the moment. Definitely not helpful.

Merging into the crowd, Remus watched as Peter cleared his throat, slowly and shakily flipping his sign around for Melody to view.

There were a few giggles, but all in all, the reactions seemed to be positive. Melody was smiling— and that was really all that mattered.

“Melody,” Peter’s quiet voice broke through the crowd, “Do you want to go to Homecoming with me?”

There were some ooh’s and ahh’s, but Remus didn’t care about that— he just watched the scene in front of him.

After what felt like an actual eternity, Melody’s smile seemed to grow even wider; her palm slapping over her mouth.

“Really?!” She yelped— eyes wide and words muffled by her hand.

Peter blinked and collected himself. “Y-yes, really!”

She removed her hand again, and was still grinning ear to ear.

“Yes!”

Everyone cheered and immediately crowded in on Peter and Melody in congratulation. Quite a big reaction for a Homecoming proposal, but Remus was sure that had something to do with Sirius. He wouldn’t be surprised if he payed them just to hype Peter up.

They probably fucked the sign up though. Oh well.

Thank god that worked.

Remus never wants to see another Homecoming sign in his life.

•••

“I don’t think I even want to go to Homecoming.”

Remus sighed and buried his face in his hands.

“Lily, please— you’re breaking James’s heart.”

Lily snorted, but ignored Remus’s dramatics.

Lily and Remus had gotten pretty close over the last couple weeks. As much as Remus was against the new seating chart, being partners with Lily wasn’t all that bad. Sure, she made fun of him and would lowkey bully him sometimes, but it was all in great fun.

Lily was kinda mean, but not really. Just a bit harsh, and a bit bullyish.

The one good thing that came out of their friendship was the fact Remus’s chemistry grade was thriving for the first time in the entirety of his high school career. Thank god for Lily Evans.

James was definitely not in the same boat. He spent every science class looking absolutely miserable, and when the hour was finally over, he run at Remus as if he was his husband who’d just returned from war.

It was stupid, but hilarious.

Lily and Remus stayed quiet for all of two seconds before Remus spoke again.

“Are you really not going?” He asked for probably the eighth time that hour.

Lily rolled her eyes. “No, I’m not. It’s not like you’re going either, Remus, so you can’t talk.”

“But I am— they’re forcing me!” Remus groaned, “Sirius is threatening to buy my ticket without my permission!”

Lily giggled a bit at that, and looked up from her paper.

“Are they really?”

“Yes!” Remus yelped, far too loud for the quiet classroom, “They’re making me go, and now you’re saying you won’t even come to suffer with me! The betrayal!”

“Why are they making you go this year— you’ve skipped every other one?” Lily asked, inquisitively. Remus was a bit shocked she knew enough about him to remember such a fact, but he brushed it off.

“I don’t know,” Remus shrugged, “Something about ‘making memories’ and ‘not being a boring piece of shit’. I tried to compromise and say I’d go to prom instead, but they wouldn’t allow it.”

“Poor Remus— has to go to two whole dances this year.” Lily mocked, causing Remus to scowl and return to his work.

Lily, however, didn’t continue working. Instead, she looked across the room thoughtfully.

“Do you really want me there?” Lily asked. “It’s not just for Potter?”

“Nope. It’s for me. They’re probably going to find some way to publicly humiliate me, and I won’t even have you there to laugh from the crowd.”

Lily snorted, but looked intrigued. “But won’t they be busy with their dates?”

“Nope.” Remus looked up from his paper again. “James won’t ask anyone besides you, and Sirius is just an idiot. He keeps saying he’s going to ‘watch over me’ and ‘be my protector’ all night. I’m honestly terrified.”

Lily thought for a moment, tapping her chin in a way that was oddly reminiscent of James. She’d kill him if he said that though, so he kept that to himself.

“Fine, I’ll go.”

“Really—?!”

“But— you have to go dress shopping with me, Marlene, and Mary.”

Remus let out an unintentional grimace, his jaw dropping.

“First of all, I feel like as a man, I shouldn’t be allowed to be there.” Remus stated, “And second, James would probably kill me. So would Marlene and Mary, I’d bet.”

“Aww, come on Remus— it’ll be fun! Marlene and Mary love you!”

Remus’s jaw dropped again.

“Why?!”

Lily scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Oh come on, Remus— stop being an idiot—“

“I’m not—!”

“—everyone loves you!”

“Literally why?! What did I do?”

“Remus,” Lily sighed, “I am not having this conversation with you. Do you want me to go to the dance or not?”

Remus scowled. “This feels like a trap. I’m probably going to show up to the dress place and get the cops called.”

“‘The dress place’?” Lily mocked with a smirk, “Its the mall, Remus, and it’s not a trap. If you go dress shopping with me, I’ll go to the dance.”

Remus side eyed her in distrust, thinking his options over.

“And Marlene and Mary won’t murder me?”

“Nope. No murders.”

“And you’ll be nice to James all night if he decides to talk to you?”

Lily rolled her eyes. “If I must.”

“Well then, Evans,” Remus smirked, “I guess we have a deal.”

He held out his hand for Lily to shake, and she took it with an amused huff.

“And for the record,” Remus added, “If I do get murdered— or get the cops called on me for any reason— I’m automatically blaming you.”

Lily scoffed.

“Whatever you say, Lupin.”

•••

“Please, Moony, don’t I get a ‘best friend’ discount or something?” Sirius fluttered his eyelashes in an attempt to be convincing. Remus scoffed.

“Nice try. That’ll be $3.99.”

Sirius rolled his eyes with a huff, but obliged— reaching to his back pocket to retrieve his phone.

“What’s the point of having an employee friend if they don’t give you the employee perks.” Sirius mumbled under his breath as he fumbled with his apple pay.

“I work at a gas station, Sirius— there are no ‘employee perks’.”

Sirius rolled his eyes again. “Absolutely useless. And who the hell charges four fucking dollars for a donut?!”

“Circle K, apparently.” Remus gestured around himself, handing the donut to Sirius with a brown paper napkin.

“Well, if I can’t get a discount, can I at least get a kiss? As a compromise?” Sirius asked, winking at Remus.

“Absolutely not.”

Sirius pumped his fist. “Damn it.”

Sirius had been sitting at Circle K with Remus for about two hours, and so far he’d managed to buy two energy drinks, an ugly hat with a dog on it, a tube of sour cream and union Pringles, and a strawberry sprinkled donut. Now, he was hiding out behind the counter (which was definitely not allowed, by the way), wearing his dumbass hat and munching on his food. It was criminal that he managed to still look good while doing all that. Life is unfair.

Sirius occasionally liked to wait out Remus’s shifts with him. Why, Remus had no idea. It was usually on days when he had no football practice, and James was off doing something else. Remus could think of a billion other things Sirius’s could be spending his time on, but instead, he chooses to sit behind the counter at a gas station for literal hours.

…

Remus had no idea how he managed to get this lucky.

With no one in the store, and Sirius distracted with Tik Tok and his donut, Remus was able to stare at his friend without anyone there to judge him.

Sirius had always been that type of person with an almost unreal beauty— the type of guy you thought only existed in movies or cologne ads. No matter what he was doing, he always managed to look flawless while doing it. It was just as infuriating as it was impressive.

One month, Peter and Remus had made it their goal to capture one bad picture of Sirius. They put him through actual hell— pouring water over his head, shoving him randomly, taking random pictures while he was eating— but it was all useless. Remus was pretty sure Sirius was using one of the eating ones as his instagram profile picture, which was just adding insult to injury.

Like, honestly— Perfect skin, silky black hair, stunning gray eyes— it was no wonder the whole fucking school was obsessed with him!

And yet, here he was— eating a donut, and waiting for Remus to be done with work so he could take him out to Chipotle for dinner.

It didn’t make any sense, but that was Remus’s life. He couldn’t imagine what he’d do without Sirius.

“Whatcha looking at, Moons?” Sirius asked with a quirked brow, making Remus jump and turn to the cash register.

“Nothing.” Remus mumbled— but Sirius just smirked.

“Do have I have something on my face?”

“Nope.” Remus grumbled again, much harsher this time.

“Oh, so you were just admiring my beauty then?” Sirius joked, a shit eating grin on his face. “Can’t say I blame you, Moons, I’d be looking at me too if I was—“

“Sirius, you have five seconds to shut the fuck you before I kick you out.”

Sirius raised his hands in surrender, still smiling. “No need to get violent— I’ll just print out a picture of myself for you to tape to the cash register. Then you can look at me all you want.”

Remus rolled his eyes and groaned. “Please, for the love of god— don’t.”

The next day, Remus got a slip of paper passed to him in English— it was Sirius’s junior year school photo with a message on the back reading “for my lovely Moony” in perfect handwriting.

…

Fucking asshole.