Sweet Sixteen
Sirius was styling James’s hair for the party because, according to him, James knows shit about hair and Six is a master in dominating the arts of curls. James was late to his own party, his family and friends were already downstairs and the bride (Sirius) was making him stay up here to finish his hair. Reggie was just released from Sirius claws, 1. Because they needed someone downstairs to help with something and 2. Because his hair was already half done by himself, but Sirius insisted on updating the hairstyle. So, they were all alone now, gossiping and whining about their love lives.
“I think he likes you.” Sirius said, scrunching a piece of James’s hair.
“Eh, I don’t know,” James replied, shrugging.
“You gonna tell ‘im?” Sirius questioned, arching both of his brows, almost reaching his hairline.
James' smile slowly vanished. “Yeah. Friday night.”
“Hey. What’s wrong?” Six asked, quitting the hair to rest his hands on both of James’s shoulders. It was quite a scene to watch. Since that time, or since always, James was already taller and bigger than most of his friends. Hitting the gym was always a priority to him, after his studies. Sirius comforting a man that could almost rest his chin on his head when they were up was beautiful and always welcome to James. Pads was easily one of the few people in this world that James would let his guard down and show signs of so called ‘weakness’. In a society where men have a fragile masculinity, James couldn’t give a fuck. Monty was never scared to cry, so why would James?
This is also something that this family showed Sirius and Regulus that was okay to do. It was always okay with them.
“I don’t know. I just feel off about this topic,” James answered, resting his head on Sirius. “I feel like I’ll just get this off of my chest by telling him, because it is probably not reciprocal, but it may change things. I’m terrified of that.”
“I can’t guarantee you that it’s reciprocal. And I can’t guarantee you won’t get hurt in this process. But I can guarantee nothing will change with Reggie, this I know. And I can also guarantee that I’ll be here for you.” Sirius said, hugging him and getting up. “And! There’s no room for angst or sad shit today. Now you’ll let me finish here and you’ll head downstairs and dance and drink and smile and be happy, ok? This is your day!”
James couldn’t help but grin hard. Soulmates aren’t always romantic partners, and James was lucky to find him when he was just a little kid. “Okay!” he answered, going back to sitting up straight so Pads could finish his hair.
###
“James! Meu amor!” Vovó Maria called him the moment he went down the stairs. He was wearing a light blue, almost gray pair of loose jeans, red converse, a band shirt and one of Sirius’ big cool jackets.
“Vovó!” He grinned, running to the smiley woman. Vovó Malou was tall, probably 5’9, almost 6 feet. She was a light skinned woman, with green shiny eyes and a charisma people would die for. Her husband, Joseph, also a tall man, was a dark skinned man, with kind brown eyes and a smile. He was always happy and a very gentle man. James loved both of them dangerously.
“I missed you so much, boy! Here, have something to drink,” she said, handling him the most doubtful looking cocktail.
“Thanks,” he replied, smelling the thing. “What’s in this, vovó?” James asked, suspiciously.
“I don’t know. I know it’s strong.” She said, grinning. “Oh, boy. You are missing out so much not living in Brazil in your teens. Parties are way more fun there, alcohol and people to kiss everywhere.”
“Vó!” He exclaimed, aghast.
“What? At your age I was having the time of my life!” She smirked, making James squirm. Truly, her stories about her teens are the best. One of James’s favorites is the one where in a friend of hers eighteenth birthday, they made a girls night with lots of alcohol, so disordered that the girls started kissing one another and jumped in the pool naked at midnight. Pure chaos.
“I wanna be like you when I grow up, Vovó,” James stated, proud. “Where’s Vovô?”
“He’s over there, honey!” She pointed to the part of the room where all of his friends were reunited, talking. His friends and his grandpa. Of course, how could he forget? The man loves being out of his circle. He immediately ran over there, scared of what he was going to walk into.
“…and then he came home all flushed with his dirty clothes, saying ‘vovô, i think i got a girlfriend!’. They held hands all the time that summer. So cute.”
James whined, “please, tell me you’re not talking about me.”
“Filho!” Vovô exclaimed, beaming. “I was just telling your friends here that you were such a flirt as a kid!” He turned to the friends, “he was five, can you believe it?”
Everyone was now saying things like ‘no way!’, ‘no’, and ‘james, you’re nasty!’. They were having loads of fun with vovô Jo.
“Come here!” Vovô Jo opened his arms, catching James in a warm hug. “So. E as namoradinhas?” He cocked an eyebrow, smirking at James.
James groaned, “you and vovó planned on humble me today, didn’t ya?”
Joseph shrugged, his eyebrow reaching his hairline when he continued, “namoradinhos?”
James was speechless. These elders, truly concerning how sassy they are. Better pretend he is oblivious. “Actually, vovô, my Portuguese is a little rusty! Haha! But I missed you so much!”
Joseph smiled even wider, “Oh, I missed you too, kiddo!” He said, hugging James again.
“Hi guys!” James greeted everyone, after letting go of his grandpa.
The party went on after this. Everyone was pretty drunk on expensive wine and James’s grandparents were probably the most cheerful people there, especially after the alcohol kicked in. Regulus and James were dancing together to a brazilian song named ‘whiskey a go go’, while sirius and effie were downing (more) shots.
Eu perguntava ‘do you wanna dance’? (I asked ‘do you wanna dance?’)
E te abraçava ‘do you wanna dance?’ (and I hugged you ‘do you wanna dance?’)
Lembrar você, um sonho a mais não faz mal (Remind you, one more dream can’t hurt)
James’ hand were tied with Regulus’, while they danced and screamed the lyrics.
À meia luz o som do Johnny Rivers (At half light to the sound of Johnny Rivers)
Aquele tempo que você sonhou (That time that you dreamed)
And it was like they were alone in the room, everything else was blurry, they were both having the time of their lives.
Senti na pele a tua energia (I felt it on my skin, your energy)
Quando peguei de leve a tua mão (When I lightly took your hand)
And James, with a not so rusty Portuguese, decided to honor the song, taking Regulus hand in his, intertwining their fingers, letting the electricity flow through their bodies.
A noite inteira passa num segundo (The whole night goes by in a second)
O tempo voa mais do que a canção (Time flies faster than the song)
So they danced. And danced.
Quase no fim da festa (Almost at the end of the party)
Um beijo então você se rendeu (You surrendered to a kiss)
Na minha fantasia (In my fantasy)
O mundo era você e eu (The world was you and I)
The thought came to his mind in a swiftly impulse. What if? Here and now, on the day of his birthday, James decided: he is going to kiss Regulus Black. His drunk self thought that was absolutely the greatest idea ever. And he went for it. James looked at Reg in the eyes, at their intertwined hands, and he knew Reg would let him. He knew. Slowly, he began to approach his head to his, when-
“James, honey!” His grandma interrupted him. Then, he remembered he was in a crowded place, and all of his family members and friends were there. Oh. “Come here, dance with vovó a bit, yeah?” she said, grinning and pulling him away from Regulus delicately.
Joseph came right after, taking Regulus on a dance, too.
“Vó… I was- I-“ His voice was shaky, he didn’t know how to react or what to do or what this meant.
“I know, bebê. I know.” Vó Malou said, affectionately patting his arm.
“You know?”
“Let’s go outside, huh?” She took James by the arm, directing him to the back garden.
He just nodded, following.
They sat on the swing in silence for a few minutes.
“I was going to kiss him, vovó,” James said, letting all of the air trapped in his lungs out. There. Done.
“Oh, I know, honey,” she laughed graciously and with so much fondness that James relaxed a bit.
“Why did you stop me? You don’t lik-“
“James,” she interrupted him. “I know what you’re thinking. Don’t be scared, meu amor. I would never be that kind of person, nor your avô. I raised your father right and Effie is a wonderful woman. You have nothing to be scared of.” She said, in a tender voice.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” She smiled. “I stopped you because you are both drunk right now.” James opened his mouth, like he was about to say something when his vovó stopped him, raising her index finger. “Don’t say I did things like that when I was your age, because I only did that when it was a feelingless casual make out or hook up.” James made a disgusted face. This isn’t information he wanted to know. She chuckled, then proceeded to put on a straight face. “James, I could see in your eyes, this wasn’t casual. You wouldn’t like to wake up tomorrow and not remember what happened. And if he doesn’t remember? And if you do something you regret? This is something you have to be sober to do, bebê. Both of you have to be sober. And you wouldn’t like an audience. Not that anyone but me, vovô, your folks and little Sirius was paying attention, but you’ll want it to be private, to be a moment only you two can share, you know? And I get it that kissing your loved one for the first time to ‘Whiskey A Go Go’ is absolutely magical, but hold on, honey. Hold on just a little bit.”
James shifted on his seat, hugging this woman he loves so much, then resting his head on her shoulders. “Thanks Vovó.”
She chuckled. “I’m always here honey. And what the fuck were you worried about? Have you heard about my teen years? I was no one’s peace!”
James laughed. Loud. How he loves this family. “I don’t know! It isn’t because you had a girlfriend that I'm allowed to have a boyfriend!”
The woman was aghast. “First, she dumped me before I even came close to becoming her girlfriend and second, the sass! You’re really your parents’ son.”
“Let my sass be! And did you really go to a concert together for a first date? Vó, you’re crazy.” He shakes his head in disbelief.
“We did, yeah.” She chuckled. “But I'm glad it didn’t work out. It made things possible for me to meet your gorgeous avô.” She sounded like a teenage girl daydreaming. True love never really dies.
They were in a comfortable silence for a tad, when an impossible to not recognize song started playing. “Oh my god! Let’s go inside, I need to dance this one with your avô!” She said getting up and taking James’s hand for them to go inside. Exagerado by Cazuza was playing and James never felt more that he belonged in a place than in this house with these people and everything they love.
Paixão cruel, desenfreada (Cruel, unrestrained passion)
Te trago mil rosas roubadas (I bring you a thousand stolen roses)
Pra desculpar minhas mentiras (To apologize for my lies)
Minhas mancadas (My slip-ups)
Exagerado (Intensified)
Jogado aos teus pés (Thrown at your feet)
Eu sou mesmo exagerado (I'm really intensified)
Adoro um amor inventado (I love a made up love)
###
Happy birthday songs were always a mess.
First the english version (the boring one, according to Monty).
Then the Brazilian Portuguese version.
And then, the humiliation.
The infamous ‘com quem será?”
A traditional brazilian song that is sung after the ‘happy birthday’ one, pure humiliation. It basically is a song where the people in the party choose someone to be your future partner, usually someone completely random. The song says that they get married, have two kids and then split up. The victim, along with James, was Pete, who had to clarify at the end: “we’re just platonic husbands! Pla-to-nic!”
Another brazilian tradition that they carry on with is the birthday cake first slice. Usually the birthday boy gives it to one of their most loved ones. This year, James gave it to Vovó. She smiled softly and mouthed ‘Eu te amo’ to him.
Everything would be fine, as long as he had them.
After that, everyone left, leaving Sirius, Reggie and James to give the house a little clean up. Monty and Effie were there, too. But soon Sirius dismissed them, telling them to go get some sleep ‘cause they would handle the rest. Effie thanked him, saying, and I quote: ‘I have the best sons ever!’ as she was heading upstairs to hers and Monty’s room, still a little too drunk, while Monty quickly followed her, giggling like a teenage boy.
In a little while, they finished what they had to do and headed to sleep. James’ room was filled with gifts from everyone he knows, but now he was more excited to sync and merge with his bed. After taking a quick shower, brushing his teeth and changing, he finally turned off the switch and dropped his body on the bed.
Today was amazing.
Unexpectedly, the door opened, letting a weak light come through the crack. Someone entered, closing the door behind them. James couldn’t see it, but he knew it was Regulus.
“James? Can I sleep here?” He whispered. And before James could answer, he added, “I don’t care if I can’t, I will.”
James chuckled lightly, his voice already sleepy and hoarse. “You know you can. C’mere.”
Regulus climbed the bed, slipping himself under the covers and bringing his body close to James’. They were face to face. More like face to neck, but you get what I mean.
Not the time.
‘Hold on’
So James brought him closer, adjusting so Reg could sleep on his chest, while one of his biceps was serving as pillow for him, fitting perfectly under his neck, and the other, around Reg’s waist, always bringing him closer.
Hoje ninguém vai estragar meu dia (Today no one’s gonna mess up my day)
Só vou gastar energia pra beijar sua boca (I'm only spending energy to kiss your mouth)
Fica comigo então, não me abandona não (Stay with me, then, don’t let me go)
Alguém te perguntou como é que foi seu dia? (Did someone ask how was your day?)