cookies
It's nearly midnight. The sky is dark and bats occasionally streak through the sky. The stars twinkle brightly and the moon practically glows, only a crescent but still enough to provide quite a bit of moonlight.
Regulus creeps out of bed. He's only 16, how had he managed to escape from his parents, he'll never know.
James, fucking James, had to have invite Regulus to live with him.
"Mum won't mind. She welcomed Sirius with open arms, she'll do the same with you," James had said. And Euphemia didn't mind. She welcomed him. It felt to Regulus as though that hospitality made it worse.
So he's awake. He's awake, and he can't sleep, and it's too cold, being December and all, and he's hungry because he refuses to eat dinner with the Potters (“James, I don't want to intrude. It'd be weird."), and he needs something. So he goes into the kitchen, flinching with every creak in the floorboard. God, could it be any louder? he thinks irritably, holding a dim flashlight to see a little in front of him.
Regulus makes his way into the kitchen, squinting through the darkness.
"Reg? What're you doing up?" comes James mother-fucking
Potters voice from the counter.
"Couldn't sleep. What are you doing at midnight?" Regulus replies tiredly.
"Making cookies. I couldn't sleep either. Wanna help me make them?" he offers like the sweet, kind person he is. How dare he.
"Sure, nothing better to do," Regulus sighs, grabbing an apron to protect his pajamas. He approaches the counter, checking the instructions and where James is step-wise and jumping straight into helping him.
They work in perfect sync, no words uttered as they just... do. They work so well together it's odd.
The cookies go into the oven and Regulus hops up onto the kitchen island, swinging his legs as James stands next to him.
"Jaime... c'mere," Regulus mutters, mind foggy with sleep deprivation. James moves to stand between his legs.
"Yes?"
"Got some flour on you" Regulus says distractedly, brushing it off James' nose gently.
"Thank you, love," James whispers, not a coherent thought behind his eyes.
What possesses Regulus' soul, he'll never know, but suddenly, at almost 1 in the morning in James' parents' kitchen, Regulus believes it the best idea to kiss him.
And so he does.
And so does James, apparently.
It's a mutual transaction. Regulus kissed James first (but he'll never admit it), so in return James obviously has to kiss him back (because what else are you gonna do when your best mates little brother kisses you in your parents' kitchen after making cookies at midnight).
And so they kiss... and kiss... and kiss. For god knows how long. Long enough, evidently, for the cookie timer to go off.
"Shit, I forgot about those," James says with flushed cheeks, moving to quickly shut the alarm up and remove the cookies from the oven, laughing softly as he returns to his place in front of Regulus.
He kisses Regulus again with a more playful smile.
They pull away long enough to put the cookies away and clean up before stumbling up the stairs in a fit of giggles, collapsing into James' bed and passing out almost instantly.
"Prongs… WHY THE LIVING FUCK ARE YOU IN BED WITH MY BABY BROTHER??!?!?" comes Sirius' angry voice in the morning as they both wake with a start, James pulling Regulus closer instinctively.
"This is gonna take some explaining. At least we have cookies," Regulus mumbles into James' chest, slightly amused at the anger secreting from his brother.