Chapter 9
‘Goodmorning, goodmorning Jamesie James! Today is a gorgeous day to go to the airport and pick up- Evan?!’ Sirius’ mouth fell open wide.
Both boys in bed woke up in a rush. James unconsciously moved so he was half in front of Evan, who yawned and stared at Sirius in shock. ‘Okay, Sirius,-’ ‘No. Nuh uh. Need I remind you how heartbroken my brother left you? He’s practically the same!’ Sirius said in an off tone. He wasn’t really mad, though he didn’t get why he wasn’t.
‘Excuse you? I am not Regulus! I have way better style, thank you very much,’ Evan said, crossing his arms, letting the blanket fall, uncovering his bare chest. He looked at it once, looked at James, looked at it twice and blinked. ‘James?-’ ‘You were tossing and turning, and sweating really bad, so I thought you must’ve been warm. I woke you up to ask if you were okay, but you only tossed out your shirt and went to sleep again,’ James stuttered, his eyes firmly on Evan’s.
‘Yeah, that sounds like something I’d do. I once woke up, walked to the kitchens at school, ate something, walked back, and promptly fell asleep in Barty’s bed. Without even really being awake too,’ Evan said, shrugging.
‘Oookaaay. That doesn’t tell me why you’re in James’ bed though, Rosier,’ Sirius said, dragging out his words. Evan’s lips crooked up into a smile and he winked at Sirius. ‘That, James, is an example of a perfect pronunciation of my last name. You need to have that little French tilt to it. It’s more in the back of your throat you know? You say it so weird,’ Evan said, poking James in his ribs and laughing.
Sirius felt weird seeing one of his brother's best friends be happy with his best friend. Evan never really seemed to laugh so genuine as he was now, when he was with his other friends. It always seemed louder, more boasting. Kind of how Sirius was with people he knew, but didn’t know him.
‘I say it weird? Weird how?’ James asked, his eyebrows in a frown. ‘I don’t know. Nothing I’ve heard before but it’s weird. You have an accent,’ Evan said, wiggling his eyebrows and snickering softly. James groaned and closed his eyes, a little ashamed.
‘I will do my best to pronounce it right, okay?’ James grumbled back, poking Evan in his ribs in return. Sirius coughed loudly, making both boys look at him. ‘Back to the start of this conversation, why are you in James bed?’ Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow.
‘Because I was sad and James wanted to comfort me. Oh, and he’s my boyfriend you total idiot,’ Evan said, raising a playful eyebrow back at Sirius and poking James while he wasn’t looking.
‘Mierda! Stop doing that!’ he protested, poking Evan back. The two started tickling each other again and Sirius coughed loudly again. A little bit louder though, so they could hear him. ‘James, what happened to your mysterious loverboy?’ Sirius asked, eyeing Evan. ‘Because surely he is not the one you’ve been fawning over,’ Sirius said, still looking at Evan in suspicion.
‘Well Sirius…’ James responded, slowly looking up at Sirius and smiling. Sirius sighed deeply. ‘I am deeply, deeply disappointed in you, James. But uh, Remus arrives in a few hours, so we gotta eat some breakfast. I think Effie already knows you have a guest over, because she put an extra plate on the table,’ Sirius said, before turning on his heel and leaving the two of them alone in James’ room.
Evan’s eyes went wide. ‘James, I can’t meet your parents! That’s… That’s…’ Evan said in a panicked voice. James chuckled softly. ‘Ev, it’s okay. My parents are really chill. They’re the best people on this earth that I know. You’ll be fine,’ James explained, handing him a shirt from James’ closet and flashing a bright smile. ‘Now get up and fix your pretty curls. Or don’t, but that kind of makes you look like me, so.’ He dragged out the last word until Evan shook his head. ‘No, nope. Can’t have that if I’m going to be meeting your parents.’ He stood up and put on James’ shirt without really looking at it. ‘Oh and, by the way, don’t expect to meet my parents. They’re far, far away,’ Evan added nonchalantly, looking for a mirror in James’ room.
James, who was previously sticking his nose in his closet, turned around to face Evan. His cheeks turned pink and he smiled. ‘Red looks good on you Evy. Why don’t you ever wear it?’ he asked, making Evan look at the shirt in confusion. It was an oversized t-shirt with ‘LAS VEGAS’ scrawled on the back in messy writing. It was bright red, a colour that Evan indeed never wore.
‘It doesn’t look good on me though, it makes me look really red in the face,’ Evan protested, already debating whether to pull the shirt off and put his own from yesterday back on. ‘It makes you look cute. But if you want another, not red, shirt, here,’ James said, throwing him a dark blue shirt that fitted better in Evan’s colour scheme. This one he examined really well before putting on. It was a band tee, one from Hozier. Evan noted that it came from one of their tours, meaning James must’ve gone to one. This meant James had good taste in music. Another thing Evan quite liked about him.
‘Do you have a mirror or something I can use to fix my hair?’ Evan asked, looking around but still finding no mirrors. ‘Oh, yeah, here.’ James closed the closet door and Evan was face to face with himself.
‘Ah, wonderful. Thank you for telling me my hair looks like yours, but this is way, way worse. And you may take that as a compliment,’ Evan said, busying himself with pulling on strands and shaking his head, combing through his curls with his fingers.
After he was done, both boys walked down the stairs. Evan was fidgeting with his hands, but he didn’t really realise why he was. He desperately wanted to grab James and just go back upstairs to the safety of James’ room. He wasn’t prepared to meet James’ parents. What if they didn’t like him? What if Evan wasn’t good enough for them? What if they heard all about Regulus and now decided James wasn’t allowed to date boys like Regulus? Because even though he hated being compared to Regulus, Evan knew he and Regulus were cut from the same cloth.
And maybe the worst thing was that Evan knew he wasn’t good enough for James. Maybe that was why this was scaring him so much. He was so nervous. He was shaking when he reached the final step of the stairs.
James turned around with a smile on his face, which quickly turned to a worried frown. ‘Ev, are you okay? What’s wrong?’ James asked him softly, grabbing his hand and calming it’s fidgeting. ‘I uh… I really don’t- don’t think that this,’ he gestured a little vaguely, ‘is such a good idea. Maybe another time, but not right now,’ Evan said, trying to bolt, but being stopped by James’ grip on his hand.
‘Ev? What do you mean with ‘this’? Us?’ James asked, hurt and confusion playing on his face. Evan’s eyes grew big from surprise. ‘Oh! No, James no of course not! No, I was talking about meeting your parents. I… I’m just so scared I’ll do something wrong, you know?’ Evan muttered, eyes falling on the floor, James’ multicoloured socks a big contrast to the beige floor.
‘What do you mean ‘do something wrong’? You can’t do anything wrong, Evy. You’re already my boyfriend anyways, what are they going to say?’ James asked rhetorically. ‘They are going to ask you about your entire life story though loverboy. Get ready,’ Sirius said casually, while passing the both of them beside the stairs and skipping into the kitchen.
Evan’s eyes became wide with worry, but James shook his head and sighed. ‘That’s not true. They’ll ask a little bit, but when they notice you’re uncomfortable, they’ll stop, I promise,’ James said, smiling carefully at Evan. Evan didn’t smile back, but he had to admit he felt a little better.
So into the kitchen they went, and Evan was met with one of the warmest embraces he had ever gotten in his life. ‘Oh,’ he punched out surprised, his eyes wide. He moved to hug the woman back carefully and he looked at James over the woman’s shoulder.
James’ cheeks were red from embarrassment and he sighed deeply. ‘Mamá, let go of him. Please,’ James said, pulling a face. ‘Oh Jamie, always so embarrassed of your mother.’ The woman let go of Evan. ‘Hello dear. Oh, did I startle you with my hug?’ the woman asked, looking at Evan’s shocked face. ‘Oh. Uh, a little yeah,’ Evan said, smiling at her. ‘Oh, I’m sorry mi querido niño,’ she said, taking Evan’s hand and shaking it with a warm smile. Evan immediately saw where James got his kind heart and bright smile from, though he wondered what his mom had just called him, frowning in instinct.
‘Oh Effie darling, you’re scaring the poor boy. What if he won’t come back after this?’ A man, who was standing behind Euohemie said. He glanced at Evan before putting an arm around her. ‘I’m Fleamont, or Monty, whichever you prefer,’ he said, smiling at Evan smoothly, before sniffing something and turning back to the oven.
Evan was dumbstruck. Fleamont was the spitting image of James, if only a little taller and older. Evan felt ashamed to think about it, but if James looked like that later, Evan wouldn’t ever let him go. Ever. Euphemia was a lucky woman, that he was sure of.
‘Ev, you’re making a face. Let’s not fall for my mother, please. We already have a few too many of those,’ James said, looking at Evan a little worried. ‘What? Oh! No, no. I’m sorry, but I am really gay, and like, really not into women, even though I must say you are really sweet and beautiful ma’am,’ Evan mumbled really fast. He was desperate to pull the conversation into another direction.
Euphemia and James shared a look and then burst into small giggles. Evan frowned and looked at James, before turning to look at Sirius who was looking at him with a raised eyebrow. ‘Flirting with Monty doesn’t work. I’ve tried,’ he said, which led to James and his mother laughing even harder. Fleamont stood up with a baking tray filled with pastries on top of it. ‘Sirius, you’re embarrassing the poor boy. James, Effie darling, stop laughing, his cheeks are red as beets,’ Fleamont said, giving him a sympathetic smile. Fleamont was not helping his embarrassed blush.
‘Oh, mon Dieu,’ Evan muttered, wondering how big of a commotion it would cause if he bolted out of the room. James was the first to stop laughing, though a smile was still edged on his face and his chest irregularly went up and down with small giggles. ‘Sorry Evy. It’s just funny, because seemingly everyone I bring around my house has a minor moment of ‘oh wow’ when they see my parents. Most times it’s just a minor little crush that stays for the first days of meeting them and then it goes. Sometimes…’ he muttered, sharing a knowing look with Euphemia, even though Evan didn’t know and he wanted to.
‘Sometimes what? Tell me, please,’ Evan said, looking at Sirius for help. ‘Well sometimes, someone comes over very regularly and develops some… actual feelings,’ he said, grinning at Evan. Fleamont snickered softly. ‘The amount of times I had to tell that girl I love Effie uncontrollably much, and I will never live without her as my wife,’ he said, earning another frown from Evan. ‘James, who are we talking about, again?’ Evan asked. ‘Oh, we’re talking about Marlene. Don’t think you know her, though,’ James said, still snickering.
‘Marlene McKinnon? As in Dorcas’ girlfriend? I do know her. Blonde shaggy hair with brown roots for the vibes? Awesome clothing style and amazing sass?’ Evan asked, raising an eyebrow. He subconsciously started smiling at the thought of his friend. He really had to call Dorcas someday soon. He missed her.
‘That’s the one, yeah. You know Dorcas?’ James asked, earning a small nod. ‘She’s one of my best friends.’ James smiled at Evan and motioned for him to sit down at the kitchen table. He sat down beside James, who was beside Sirius.
The kitchen table was decorated with lots of food and beverages. It was like an all inclusive hotel breakfast, but then the quality looked so much better. ‘Who wants a tortilla de patatas?’ Fleamont said, holding up a plate with twelve of them. ‘Oh me! Me!’ Sirius said, already holding up his plate for Fleamont to put one on top of it.
‘Wow, desperate much,’ James muttered softly before saying thanks to his dad and biting into his tortilla de patatas. ‘Do you want one, Evan?’ Fleamont asked with an easy smile. Evan nodded silently and smiled when Fleamont gave him one. He had never eaten one, and he had a hard time placing it. He didn’t know much about food cultures, but it sounded foreign.
‘Okay, so, plan for today. We pick Remus up. Are you coming too Evan? Not sure if there’ll be enough room in the car then, but I can sit on Remus’ lap, no problem at all,’ Sirius started. He loaded his plate with food, after which he took a bite and continued on talking, food in his mouth. ‘And then we go to the girls. They probs want to say hi to Remus too, you know?’ He said, still eating. James chuckled at him and swallowed his food.
‘Maybe not talk with food in your mouth Siri? It’s kind of hard to understand you like that,’ James said. ‘Yes Sirius, he has a point. And we talked about table manners two days ago. You can’t possibly have zero manners learnt to you,’ Euphemia said in a light tone, a soft smile painted on her lips. If she wasn’t smiling, or talking so unseriously, Evan would’ve thought she reminded her of his own father a bit. But she was talking sweetly, making a kind joke about it.
‘I try not to think too much about my manners and the people who learnt them from me, thank you very much. But I’ll finish eating what’s in my mouth before talking again, sorry. I’m just excited because Remmy is coming,’ Sirius said.
‘Alright. Monty, if you take the boys to get Remus, I will run to the store to get dinner for tonight. James, if you want to, you can invite the girls to come along for dinner, I’m making empanadas. If you want to, you can come too, Evan,’ Euphemia said, just as Evan’s phone beeped with a message. He looked at it quickly and saw he had around 10 missed messages from Regulus, 70 from Barty and roughly 20 missed calls from both of them. Oops.
‘Uh… Well, I’d love to, but I have to go home first to grab some new clothes and stuff if that’s okay?’ he asked, smiling. ‘Yes of course that is, mi querido niño. If you just leave after breakfast, and make sure that you’re back at one, you’ll be on time,’ Fleamont said, pouring some fresh ju d’orange into a cup and handing it to Effie. ‘I will, thank you,’ He said. ‘Effie, I thought that name was reserved for me,’ Sirius pouted, giving her a sad smile. ‘It is not, Sirius. I call you loads of things,’ she said, raising an eyebrow. That was the end of that talk, because Sirius shrugged and continued eating
After breakfast, Evan opened the messages. He was kind of hurt that Regulus only sent 10 messages. It wasn’t much in comparison to Barty's 70.
0.12 AM
Where are you? Still at the beach?
0.34 AM
Barty came home without you, he said you were mad at him.
Do you want me to come?
0.36 AM
Ev?
*missed call from Regulus*
0.12 AM
*missed call from Regulus*
1.54 AM
You’re not at the beach, I know that now.
Where are you?
Fucking answer me Evan.
*3 missed calls from Regulus*
3.48 AM
I really fucking hope you have a good reason you’re ignoring us.
Still?
I give up. Have fun fucking idiot.
That was when Regulus had called him two times more, and then given up. Evan quickly skimmed over all of Barty’s messages, but stopped when he’d almost reached the end and found one large text. Barty never wrote large texts like these.
4.36 AM
Okay listen, I know you’re mad at me and Regulus, but you’re really fucking scaring us. We want to know if you’re safe, but we couldn’t find you anywhere. I’m sorry for saying that I would go and fuck Regulus, you know I didn’t really mean it, right? I wouldn’t do that to you. I just want to have another chance. Please? And if you don’t want to give me another chance, that’s also fine, but just please come home.
Please.
5.02 AM
I still can’t sleep. Reg is sleeping on the couch though.
He’s waiting till you return
5.21 AM
Im so tierd
I can barley keep my eyes oepn
But i cant selep
Im sory
I love you
relaly i do
Even tough i dont alewasy sho it
5.46 AM
Good night Ev
If youre safe
And that was the end of the messages. He blinked away tears and sniffled softly. He tried to take a deep breath, but a knot had formed in his chest that was making it hard to breathe. He clicked off his phone when he heard James walking in, and he smiled at him. James didn’t smile back though. ‘What’s wrong? What happened Ev?’ James asked, concerned immediately.
‘No, nothing. I just… I really have to go home now. I kind of didn’t tell Regulus and Barty where I went, so they went kind of crazy…’ Evan muttered softly, guiltily trapping his lower lip in between his teeth. ‘Ev? You didn’t tell them? Oh god, you have to let them know you’re okay,’ James said, but Evan shook his head.
‘No, they’ll know when I come home. I’ll be there within ten minutes anyways,’ he said, having already scoured out the route to his house. ‘Not without your scooter, you won’t. It’s still parked at the restaurant, is it not?’ James asked. Evan closed his eyes and muttered a soft ‘fuck’ underneath his breath before opening them again and looking at James. ‘How long is the walk?’ Evan asked James. ‘I think around twenty five minutes. Thirty if you don’t know which way you’re going.’
‘Then I best be going. I’ll uh… You know what? Here. Pick me up with my scooter at one?’ He asked, throwing the keys to James who caught them and smiled. ‘I’ll be there,’ James said, winking at Evan and making his heart flutter.
On the way to what would wait for him home, he put in his airpods to drown out his thoughts. His favourite album, RED (Taylor’s version), was playing. He thought it fit the vibe. And Evan never said no to listening to RED. He was scared to face an angry Regulus at home, but he had to. He was just going to ignore Barty and his messages for how long he could.
If he could. He wasn’t sure about it.