Come Close I'll Show You Heaven

Reg’s birthday party was in full swing. James, Lily, Marlene, Dorcas, and Mary had all brought snacks and they set up a little beige buffet in the kitchen, alongside the impressive collection of alcohol. They’d also written down a list of games they’d played at parties at uni, so they could teach Sirius, who was like an excitable puppy.

“Alright, classic, truth or dare,” James announced, pulling a piece of paper out of the hat full of games. “I trust you don’t need an explanation for this one, Pads?” Sirius shook his head, “Alright, truth or dare?”

“Dare.” Sirius grinned. He was a couple of vodka and cokes in and feeling incredible.

“I dare you to let Lily draw on your back in permanent marker,” James said as Lily laughed next to him. James and Lily together were a force of nature, he helped her let loose and she helped him know where the line was. He hadn’t had much time with the two of them as a couple before he’d left, but they were so good together.

“Alright.” Sirius pulled his t-shirt over his head as Reg left to find a marker. He wanted to get more tattoos. He had the start of a sleeve on his left arm, one on his collar bone and one on his thigh. Eighteen-year-old Sirius had more money than sense, but the inked parts of him felt more like him than the rest of him.

He didn’t miss Remus’ sharp inhale as Sirius’ T-shirt flew across the room and hit Marlene in the face. Sirius looked at him at the corner of his eye and found Remus’ eyes dragging down his torso. Interesting. Lily settled behind him and got to work, warning him to stay still.

“Reg, truth or dare?” Sirius asked.

“From you? Better be a truth.”

“What’s the worst date you’ve ever been on?” Sirius said after a few seconds.

“Oh no.” Regulus giggled, and Sirius’ heart melted a little bit. “Well, I went out with a guy when I was at uni. He decided that taking me to Greggs, only buying himself a Steak Bake and then trying to grope me in a park was the perfect first date.”

“That’s the perfect first date when you’re like, fifteen.” Marlene cackled. “How old were you?”

“Twenty-two!” Reg shook his head. “It was… grim. I didn’t see him again.”

Sirius nodded, chuckling to himself.

“Remus, truth or dare?” Reg asked smugly.

“Oh, fuck. Not from you.” Remus frowned. “Ok, dare. No! Truth. No! Dare. Dare.”

“You sure?” Sirius said next to him.

“No,” Remus said with an exaggerated worried expression.

“I dare you to text an ex and wish them a happy birthday.”

Remus stared at him, “Just… wish them a happy birthday?” Reg nodded, “You’re not very good at this.” He pulled out of his phone and decided on Caradoc, eying Regulus suspiciously.

Remus

Happy Birthday! 🥳 Hope you have a great day 🥰🥰🥰

He showed Reg, who accepted the dare as complete. “Alright, Mary. Truth or Dare?” Remus asked.

“Truth!” She grinned.

“If you had to marry someone in this room, who would it be?”

“You, obviously.” She rolled her eyes and smiled at him, “No competition.”

Well, Remus hadn’t expected that. He had very much expected that Sirius would be Mary’s type. He smiled at her, “Good answer.”

The game continued for a while. Lily finished Sirius’ ‘tattoo’ and they gathered around as she unveiled a genuinely gorgeous floral design. “Everyone’s birth flower.” She shrugged. Sirius was speechless, he just pulled her into a hug.

Eventually, he managed, "Take a photo, I love it! Will you design my next tattoo?" Lily smiled and nodded, a little tearfully for so early in the evening.

Remus’ phone interrupted the moment. He opened the messages app and, “Oh! Well, that is… certainly a penis.” He turned the screen off and sat it facedown on his leg, covering his face as Reg almost fell off his chair laughing.

“He sent you a dick pic?”

“Yep.” Remus started to laugh, “It… was not a good one. Terrible lighting. Poor composition. 1/10.” Sirius snorted and Remus turned to look at him. “I’m glad this is amusing for you. I have to see this guy at work on Monday.” They all laughed harder.

They quickly moved through a game of Ring of Fire, Ride the Bus and Drink while you Think. Lily whooped as she opened the paper, “Oooooh! Never Have I Ever. I feel like a kid again!”

“Never have I ever been attracted to my best friend’s sibling,” Reg yelled immediately. Remus’ mouth dropped open before he sighed, picked up his drink, turned to look at Sirius, raised an eyebrow and took a sip. It felt like the rest of the party melted away for a moment. The way Sirius was smiling at him now made him feel like he was something incredibly precious and he liked it. He really liked it.

The moment was somewhat ruined when James, after a very long, very pointed look from Lily, sipped his drink. Sirius’ head snapped around, “James!”

“I was seventeen. Leave me alone.” James covered his face with his hands as Regulus smirked, looking between his brother and James.

“And you knew about this?” Sirius turned to Lily.

“I actively encouraged it, thinking it might take the heat off me.” She laughed, “Turns out it actually made me really jealous, and the rest is history.”

“My own brother.” Sirius looked across at Reg who was shaking his head slowly. “The irony isn’t lost on me, before you say anything, Reg, shut up. Alright, thanks for that James, you traitor. Who the fuck is next?”

“Never have I ever gone on a blind date, and it turned out to be a 67-year-old woman?” Remus looked over at Reg, who drank sulkily.

Everyone stared at Regulus, who said nothing.

“I’m begging you to elaborate,” Sirius said.

Reg looked at Remus, who was looking very pleased with himself. “We met on... a forum.”

“What kind of a forum?” Sirius asked, Remus’ shoulders were shaking now.

Reg sighed, “A forum for people who enjoy the writings of Victor Hugo.”

Sirius almost forgot how to breathe. He remembered teenage Regulus, clutching his copy of Les Miserables as he fell asleep at the foot of Sirius’ bed. “How did you not know she was 67?”

“I think you mean, how did she not know he was 19?” Remus said, so only Sirius could hear.

“Nineteen?” Sirius took a mouthful of his drink and instantly regretted it. He managed to swallow it eventually, then noticed the look on Remus’ face. The way his eyes tracked down Sirius’ throat as his Adams apple bobbed.

Regulus cleared his throat loudly. “Sirius, it’s your turn.”

“Oh.” Sirius grinned, “Never have I ever… well I feel like this isn’t fair. I missed a decade, how do I know what you all have or haven’t done!” Marlene threw his t-shirt back at him and he caught it one handed.

“Go generic then.” Reg rolled his eyes. “Or pick something you want to know about someone.”

Oh, he wasn’t even trying to be subtle now. Wonderful. Sirius didn’t know what was worse, being forbidden to go anywhere near Remus, or being actively encouraged by his little brother. Tipsy Reg was dangerous, he was learning.

“Ok, never have I ever kissed someone in this room.”

Everybody drank.

“Well... alright then.” Sirius was left with even more questions now.

“Never have I ever thought a cartoon character was hot,” Mary said.

“When you say hot…” Remus started.

“Just drink, Remus.”

Remus sipped his drink defiantly, “I know I’m not the only one. You’re liars.” Sirius, Dorcas and Lily all slowly sipped their drinks. “I knew it!”

“Lily’s was the lion from Lion King 2,” James said before Lily shoved her hand over his mouth.

“Dorcas’ was Marge Simpson!”

“Marlene!”

“I know both Sirius’ and Remus’.” Reg said with an unnerving grin.

“You have to tell us.” Lily said, “It’s the law.”

“Are they better or worse than Kovu and Marge?” Marlene asked, ruffling her girlfriend’s hair.

“Well, probably better.” Reg’s smirk was unbearable now, “I also happen to know that it’s the same cartoon character.”

Remus’ head snapped around to look at Sirius. “Really?”

“Well apparently.” Sirius shrugged, “How would I know?”

He had a point, Remus conceded. “It’s James from Team Rocket.” He sighed.

“Hey, I was having fun with that!” Reg whined.

“All the more reason to nip it in the bud,” Sirius said, but he only had eyes for Remus. He pulled his T-shirt back over his head. “Back in a minute. Someone remember the questions so I can drink when I get back.”

He stood up and headed for the bathroom. He splashed his face with cold water a couple of times. Everyone in the living room was lovely, and he was having such a good time, but his social battery had died over an hour ago. More vodka would probably help, he reasoned.

As he entered the kitchen, he jumped, not expecting anyone to be in there.

“To protect the world from devastation.” He said in a low voice.

“Please tell me you’re not doing what I think you’re doing.” Remus continued pouring his drink, not even looking over his shoulder.

“And what’s that?”

“Flirting with me using Pokemon quotes.”

“Remus, darling, if I was flirting with you, you’d know about it.” He grabbed the coke from the fridge.

“Yeah?” Remus turned around and leant back against the counter. “Go on then.”

“What?” Sirius tried not to look surprised.

“Flirt with me.”

“Come close, I’ll show you heaven,” Sirius murmured, taking a step towards him.

Remus paused running the words through his mind, “Come close, I’ll… Isn’t that a Taylor Swift lyric? Do you not have anything original, Sirius? What’s next, you’re going to—” Remus shut up when Sirius’ palm pressed against his chest, then grasped the front of his t-shirt. Their eyes met and Sirius swore they were both leaning in when James stumbled into the kitchen.

“Regulus said there’s beer in the—” He stopped, “Oh. Oh no. I didn’t mean to— Pretend I’m not here.” He grabbed a beer from the fridge, “Carry on, lads.” And he left.

Sirius leaned his head against Remus’ shoulder as they both started laughing. “You don’t understand how absolutely classic James that was.”

“He seems great.” Remus curled his hand around the back of Sirius’ neck, enjoying how close they’d found themselves. "Albeit with terrible timing."

“He is. He looked for me for years, you know. Can’t believe he just accepted me back into his life so easily.”

“You do know you didn’t do anything wrong, right?” Sirius looked up from Remus’ shoulder. “You were… I feel like the word victim can be loaded in a way, but that’s what you were. You didn’t set out to hurt anyone, quite the opposite, and you didn’t choose to be away for a decade.”

“Spoken like a man who’s had a lot of therapy.” Sirius smiled when Remus laughed, ok, that hadn’t been an overstep, good. “Thank you, though.”

“Anytime.” Remus removed his hand and stepped away slightly to grab his glass. Sirius missed his closeness instantly. He caught Remus’ hand as he passed Sirius to return to the living room and linked their little fingers for a moment. Remus smiled at him over his shoulder, before leaving the kitchen.

He poured less vodka than he thought he needed into the Coke and stirred it with a straw. He was not looking forward to James’ inability to have a poker face as soon as he sat back down.

Predictably, James grinned at him the moment he saw him. He rolled his eyes as he took his seat next to Remus. He rested his hand on the floor between him and Remus and smiled softly when Remus placed his hand so their pinky fingers touched.

“What did I miss?” Sirius asked.

“We gave up on that. James wants to play Cards Against Humanity.” Lily said with a fond smile.

“What’s that?” Sirius asked.

Remus turned to him, “Oh, you’re actually going to love it. You get ten black cards with a word or phrase on them and we take it in turns to read out a white card with a sentence or a question on and you have to play the best answer from your black cards.” Sirius didn’t look convinced. “One of the cards just says; Madeleine McCann.”

“Oh.” Sirius’ eyes widened. “Well, alright then, sounds appropriately unhinged.”

Sirius, despite not getting several references, was unsurprisingly good at the game. At some point during Lily’s turn to read the white card, Remus’ hand moved even closer and Sirius threw caution to the wind and turned his palm up. He was delighted when Remus, without even looking at him, linked their fingers and squeezed his hand. His hand was cold, and he decided it was that, rather than the thumb tracing patterns across his wrist, that made him shiver. He could see Remus grinning out of the corner of his eye.

Just after midnight, James was falling asleep on Lily’s shoulder and Mary had been telling the same story about how her brother knew Greg Davies’ neighbours for the last ten minutes and nobody knew any more than when she’d started. Marlene slowly stood up.

“I think we may be getting old.” She grimaced. “Because I really want pizza and my bed.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Dorcas let Marlene help her to her feet. “This was so fun. Let’s do it again soon please.”

“Absolutely.” Reg nodded. “Turns out being social with people I actually like is a lot easier than I thought.”

“I’m sure the wine helped.” Mary smiled knowingly at him as she got to her feet too.

Lily shook James’ shoulder gently, “Time to go home, Jamie.”

“No, I want to play more,” James mumbled. “Sirius has never played this one.”

“We stopped playing games almost an hour ago, love.” She kissed his temple. “Come on, let’s go relieve Bill.”

James huffed, opening his eyes. “Oh, people are vertical. Have you ordered the Uber?”

“Yeah, it’ll be here in five minutes.” She smiled at him. “You’re barely awake.”

“It’s late!” James smiled, eyes closing again. “The kids will be awake in five hours.”

“Ugh! Don’t!” Lily groaned. “Why did I have kids with a morning person?”

🌙✨🌙✨🌙

By the time everyone had left it was almost one am, Regulus had given Sirius and Remus, still in the living room, a very stern look as he said goodnight. When Sirius stood up to hug James and Lily goodbye, he’d had to let go of Remus’ hand and he missed it instantly. He’d manoeuvred himself to the sofa, but Remus was still sitting on the floor, his head resting against Sirius’ knee. Sirius ran a hand through Remus’ curls gently, enjoying the soft noise he made.

“Remus?” Sirius said quietly.

“Yeah?”

“I… like you. A lot. Fuck this was easier when I was younger I swear. I am very out of practice.” Remus laughed against his thigh. “Assuming that you might feel the same if I haven’t misread things, would you mind if we took this slowly?” Remus turned his head to look up at him, “I’ve been out of action for a decade, and that’s bound to get complicated at some point if we rush into anything.”

Ok, Remus was smiling at him, that was probably a good sign.

“I think, that would be a good idea for me, as well. And for what it’s worth, I like you too. You’re wonderful.” He said slowly, “Not to go morbid on you or anything, and ruin your big sappy moment, but I have some baggage… trauma, I suppose, is… what it is. I want to tell you about it, it’ll probably make me easier to understand once I… But not now. Let’s just have now.”

“Would it be ok if I kissed you?” Sirius asked. “Or would that be too soon, or too sappy?”

Remus’ face broke into a grin and he nodded, “More than ok.”

He let Sirius pull him up onto the sofa and they stared at each other for a moment before Remus decided to be brave, and pulled Sirius towards him by his shirt into a sweet kiss. Just as he was about to pull away, Sirius’ hands were in his hair as he angled his mouth slightly to deepen the kiss. Remus pushed him backwards slowly until he was leaning over Sirius, propped up on one arm, kissing down his neck.

“Mary forgot her—” Regulus walked into the living room and stopped. “Oh. Well, alright then. Should've known.” He walked past them to the front door, where he proceeded to hand Mary her keys before they both turned to look at Sirius and Remus on the sofa, still tangled together, albeit staring at the door wide-eyed.

“Wow, nobody saw this coming,” Mary said, laughing. “I’m shocked. Shocked, I tell you!”

“Alright, Mary.” Remus rolled his eyes, before looking down at Sirius. “I bet you a tenner that Reg will say ‘That’s what you get for doing that shit in public.’” He said quietly.

“That feels like a bet I won’t win. But you’re on.”

Reg laughed at something Mary said and closed the door. He paused for a moment before looking back at them. “That’s what you get for doing this shit in public.” He smirked, then looked bewildered as the two of them erupted into laughter, Remus’ face dropping into the crook of Sirius’ neck.

“Verbatim!” Sirius wheezed.

“Please don’t fuck on the sofa. I have to sit there.” Reg rolled his eyes and went back to his room. “You both have beds.”

Remus rolled onto his side, off of Sirius. “Taking it slow?”

Sirius nodded, “Taking it slow.”