Happy Ending!!
Growing us in a house, never having enough comfort to call home, people assumed Regulus Blacks lack of love came from his upbringing. People heard the stories of his pureblood family, the rumors that followed after sirius left, the quote on quote “abuse” that came with his responsibility.
And they weren’t wrong, for a while, Regulus believed it as well.
He’d been told all his life that love wasnt real and marriage was something of an expectation that he would he forced into when the time came. Hed seen his parents spit curses at eachother late at night thinking no one could here, heard bellatrix complain about her upcoming marriage, heard his friends complain about the ‘stupid idiots’ that broke their heart.
Yet Regulus simply couldn’t understand, so many people suffered from the effects of love, from romance, and for what? For the hopes of finding their special person, why would anyone need someone like that, isnt that what friends were for?
Regulus didn’t know, he never knew, it was something he never so craved. Couldnt he just be happy by himself, why was everyone so obsessed with romance.
He’d seen the way Barty and Evan looked at each other, consuming with nothing more than a simple glance.
He remembered when andromeda run away with ted, leaving behind her whole life in the names of love.
He remembered seeing everyone around him falling, slowly into the hands of love, the caring, gentle hands of romance that strangled reguluss every thought.
He was slowly being left behind, (laufey reference?!?) not fit for this life, he wasnt built correctly. Was he?
And then there was pandora, pandora who prioritised herself over everyone, pandora who had dated people and always ended up happy, knowing what was best for her. Pandora who was there for reg when sirius left, for every angry letter from his parents, for every cry, every laugh, every smile.
~~~Split off for happy ending~~~
For a moment he thought it was pandora, she was his love, but they both knew he wasnt. She read him like a book. “Reg, you dont have to fall in love to be worth something, forcing yourself into the idea will hurt you than help, You are loved and you love, maybe not in the way everyone else does, but you love”
He remembered the day he realised, love was made for him, but not romance, not the flirting or the kisses, not the slight touches or the longing looks. No regulus never craved that.
He wanted to be seen without being stared at.
Wanted to be worshiped without touch.
Loved without anything more.
He craved the smiles that split across his friends faces at a funny joke, the way that mother nature helped her children flourish every year, the way his star shone bright, not powered by a need for attention but by its burning love for the world around. He did love, and he didnt need anyone else to love him back.