Chapter 12
Regulus regretted saying yes to Barty’s dinner invitation almost immediately.
When they walked into the small, Italian place, Regulus’ eyes skimmed over the warm toned lights, laughing families and hugging people who were so awfully happy it gave him the urge to puke. This place looked so familiar somehow, but Regulus didn’t know why.
‘Barty, where the fuck did you bring me?’ Regulus asked, scowling. ‘I brought you to a pizza and pasta place. I thought you loved pasta?’ Barty asked, smiling at the hostess who smiled at him. ‘Vous êtes mignons tous les deux,’ she said, smiling brightly and guiding them towards a clean table. You two are cute. Barty frowned. ‘What did she say?’ he asked, the still scowling, Regulus. ‘Fucking bullshit she said,’ he grumbled underneath his breath, making sure the hostess left before he said it.
It was bullshit. Regulus and Barty, that was. Same as Evan and James. It just didn’t make sense. All of it was starting to slowly eat Regulus up alive, and he just wanted his easy boyfriend back. He wanted his only problems to be the ones he has with Sirius, but guess that was too much to ask.
They ordered drinks by their waiter and Regulus, just for the urge to do something, grabbed Barty’s ring finger where he wore an old silver ring. Its colours were slowly fading from how old it must’ve been, but Regulus knew where he got it from. ‘You still wear that old thing? Don’t you have loads of other rings to wear?’ he asked, a scowl still on his face. ‘What?’ Barty looked back to Regulus. He must not have noticed Regulus grabbing his hand to look at his rings.
‘My ring. Why’d you still wear it? I gave it to you three years ago,’ Regulus said, but Barty frowned. ‘You gave it to me five years ago. In the first week of school,’ Barty said, a little confused. ‘Right. Same thing. Why’d you still wear it?’ Regulus repeated himself, impatient for an answer.
‘Because It’s comfortable. Why do you still always wear Evan’s old sweater that he gave to you three years ago when you were cold?’ Barty challenged, smirking. Regulus scoffed and ignored him, glancing over until his eyes fell on their waiter. He was busily running around and smiling at everyone. His energy fit this place perfectly, but Regulus debated if he fit in himself.
He walked towards one of the other waiters, one who looked a little older. The two started talking in angry, hushed tones. The talk ended with the oldest boy giving the youngest boy a hit to his shoulder that looked a little too hard to be meant nicely. ‘He’s cute, huh?’ Barty hummed, also looking at the two boys. Regulus looked up in alarm. ‘What?! No, that wasn’t- I wasn’t. I wasn’t looking at him because of that. I’m in love with James,’ he said, irritated by Barty’s assumptions. ‘Just because you’re in love with James, doesn’t mean you can’t look at other people,’ Barty said, a smirk appearing on his face.
‘And just because you’re a slut, doesn’t mean I have to be,’ Regulus hissed back, snatching up his menu and holding it in front of his pale pink cheeks. Barty shrugged. ‘I have no shame in my sluttiness. It really just proves I’m good at what I do and I pull loads,’ Barty said, winking at the waiter when he caught his eyes. Regulus saw bright pink blossoms growing on the waiter’s cheeks and he rolled his eyes.
Insufferable, that’s what Barty is.
When their dinner came, and they had enjoyed it, Regulus came to the realisation that this wasn’t… terrible. Regulus didn’t hate dining out with Barty, even though he could be so irritating sometimes. It gave the evening some spice, after all. He looked around the room to find their waiter and order desserts when he saw familiar blonde curls at a table not far from here.
His expression immediately turned sour, and Barty seemed to catch onto it immediately. Suddenly Regulus remembered where he knew this place from. It was Evan’s favourite in France. He took both of them here a few times when they were younger. Regulus hit his head on the table in frustration, and didn’t lift it until Barty tapped his head.
‘You wanna make things at least a little better? Start apologising to Ev. He just went into the bathroom,’ Barty whispered to him. ‘Go ahead, I’ll order dessert for you,’ he nudged, practically pushing Regulus away. He groaned, but made his way to the bathroom.
When he opened the door, Evan was waiting on him. Arms crossed, angry eyes. Guess he must’ve known. ‘Stop fucking following me everywhere Regulus! I will file a restraining order against you if you don’t leave me alone,’ Evan snarled. ‘Okay, but this time I swear I didn’t know I was following you. And we’re already done eating anyways, so how could I have followed you? Listen, I wanted to say-’ ‘I don’t want to hear it, Regulus. Just please leave me alone. You know this is my favourite place,’ Evan said, his eyes slowly dulling to a brownish hazel in front of Regulus’ eyes.
He got it now, how Barty thought his eyes were multicoloured. And Regulus would never say it out loud to Barty, but he was right.
‘I didn’t- I forgot. I- I uh… I really want to say something, Ev,’ he tried, his eyes desperately darting around the room. Evan sighed deeply and raised an eyebrow, waiting for Regulus. ‘I’m… I- I am…’ he stuttered, not knowing why it was so hard to utter those words. Evan scoffed. ‘Must be hard to say sorry when you don’t really mean it, huh? Why are you really here, Regulus? You want to get into Barty’s good graces and thereby his pants now?’ he asked, looking at Regulus with some emotion close to disgust, but not quite that.
‘No, I don’t want to get into Barty's pants. Ew,’ Regulus answered, shuddering at the idea and looking away from Evan. ‘I really want to say it, okay?’ he added desperately. ‘Yeah, but what’s the motive behind it? Because You don’t really have to utter the words, as long as the motive is right. If you’re really sorry, you’d have no problems coming up with a better idea on how to apologise,’ Evan said. He shook his head once, twice, three times before pushing past Regulus, who didn’t utter a word, and left the bathroom.
Regulus was left there, alone. He didn’t know what to do, so he just did nothing. He just stood there, alone with his dangerous thoughts and the words Evan had spoken to him. If you’re really sorry, you’d have no problems coming up with a better idea on how to apologise. Okay, so yes, Regulus wasn’t really sorry. He was sorry for some of the things he said, but the kiss that started all of this he wasn’t sorry for. He and Barty are friends. There would’ve been no problems if Regulus had kissed Evan, because it was just a kiss. He still thought Evan was dramatic.
Maybe that’s why he couldn’t say it.
When Regulus realised standing here did nothing useful, he made his way back to Barty. Barty was flirting with the waiter, who looked extremely flustered, but also happy. Regulus scoffed and took a turn for the door.
He’d come back when Barty was done.
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌
‘Oh absolutely fucking not! Really? You work here?’ Evan groaned, running a hand through his hair in frustration.
‘Okay Ev, that’s a little harsh,’ Mary said, frowning at the poor boy whose cheeks had become void of any colour. ‘No, it’s not. This… Dude, stole my scooter!’ he exclaimed in exasperation as Lily pulled a shocked face and Sirius began laughing. ‘Oh that’s brilliant!’ he laughed, throwing his head back. Evan quickly noted the way Remus stared at Sirius, before turning back to the waiter.
‘Is there no one else available to take our orders?’ Evan asked, sharing a look with James who was busying himself with trying to shut Sirius up, and failing miserably. If only Evan was in the shoes of Alice and Emmeline, who had planned a double date with two boys they met on the beach. Then he wouldn’t have been stuck with freaking Sirius, and a freaking scooter thief as his waiter.
He shook his thoughts away and turned to face James, but instead his eyes fell on the two people he’d rather not see tonight. ‘If this night could’ve gotten any worse,’ he grumbled angrily. He faced the thief and sighed deeply. ‘I’m sorry for getting so worked up, I’m not really mad anymore. Could you get me an iced tea please?’ he asked, smiling softly at the boy. He couldn’t do anything about his past actions anyways.
‘Yeah, yeah of course. Thank you,’ he murmured, writing Evan’s drink on his notepad. While the rest ordered, Evan excused himself to the bathroom, making sure he deliberately walked in Barty’s line of sight, so one of them would see him.
When the door opened, Evan crossed his arms and threw a glare at Regulus. He thought about how awkward this would’ve been if it wasn’t Barty or Regulus walking through the door, but then he turned back to the boy at hand. ‘Stop fucking following me everywhere Regulus! I will file a restraining order against you if you don’t leave me alone,’ Evan snarled. He felt rage bubbling up slowly in the pit of his stomach. He couldn’t even have his own fucking life. How pathetic was that?
‘Okay, but this time I swear I didn’t know I was following you. And we’re already done eating anyways, so how could I have followed you? Listen, I wanted to say-’ ‘I don’t want to hear it, Regulus. Just please leave me alone. You know this is my favourite place,’ Evan interrupted him, the sore feeling of rage slowly bubbling down again. He couldn’t really be mad at Regulus, even after all they’d been through. ‘I didn’t- I forgot. I- I uh… I really want to say something, Ev.’ Evan saw Regulus’ desperate eyes flying everywhere, but Evan. Regulus wasn’t looking at him, though he was so guilty. Evan didn’t believe him one bit.
He sighed deeply and raised an eyebrow, waiting for Regulus. ‘I’m… I- I am…’ Regulus stuttered, earning a scoff from Evan. Of course he couldn’t say it. ‘Must be hard to say sorry when you don’t really mean it, huh? Why are you really here, Regulus? You want to get into Barty’s good graces and thereby his pants now?’ he asked, pinning Regulus down with his gaze. He unconsciously ran a hand through his hair, the curls flopping back over his forehead.
‘No, I don’t want to get into Barty's pants. Ew,’ Regulus answered, shuddering at the idea and looking away from Evan again. ‘I really want to say it, okay?’ he added desperately. Regulus always did this. Saying he wanted to, but not actually doing it. Saying he wanted to say sorry was just another stupid example of how cowardly he could be sometimes.
‘Yeah, but what’s the motive behind it? Because You don’t really have to utter the words, as long as the motive is right. If you’re really sorry, you’d have no problems coming up with a better idea on how to apologise,’ Evan said. He waited for an answer from Regulus, which didn’t come. He waited a few more seconds, shaking his head and sighed again, giving up. This wasn’t working. Maybe he was better off without Regulus and Barty after all.
He left Regulus there in the bathroom, softly muttering ‘I’m sorry too,’ before closing the door and shaking his head a little, putting on a big smile and returning to his friends. His eyes fell on Barty, who was still sitting alone, talking with the thief-waiter. He was all big smiles and puppy eyes, flirting it was. Evan scoffed.
8.10 PM
Fucking hell Barty? Really?
Evan saw Barty look at his phone, mutter something to the waiter who smiled, nodded, and walked off. Then he opened Evan’s text.
8.13 PM
Ohmy ohmy, you can still text me
8.13 PM
Of course I can. Now explain
Fucking around again?
8.14 PM
What? Jealous?
Hes cute, why cant I have my fun?
8.15 PM
He’s a thief, Barty
And you’re a real asshole
8.16 PM
Oh please, the one time I don’t want to sleep with someone to forget about Regulus and you cant even be happy about it.
8.16 PM
Fuck you Barty
8.17 PM
Thought it was clear I was fucking the waiter, but okay
‘Ev?’ Evans' head shot up, surprised when he saw the whole table looking at him. Lily frowned at him, asking ‘is everything okay?’ before motioning towards Evan’s phone, which was now face down on the table. Evan frowned ‘Yeah? Why wouldn’t it be?’ he asked the girl.
‘Because your face was twisting with an insane amount of anger, dude. We thought you were exploding from it or something,’ Mary said, also looking a little worried. Evan raised both his eyebrows. ‘Oh! Oh, no I’m fine. Just, just some… stuff,’ he said, not entirely convinced of the last word. The girls luckily seemed to drop it though.
‘Was it my brother? What did he say?’ Sirius asked, pressing on further. ‘Sirius,’ Remus said, warningly. Sirius levelled him with a gaze awfully similar to Regulus’, before turning back on Evan. ‘Come on, spill. What did he say?’ he asked, leaning a little further over the table. ‘He didn’t say shit. It wasn’t Regulus, Sirius. Drop it,’ Evan answered, his eyes burning against Sirius’ cool grey ones.
‘Oh. Sorry,’ Sirius muttered, looking away from Evan and fidgeting with his hands a little bit.
So curious about his brother, and still such a bitch to him.
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌
‘Okay, so, tiny problem,’ Marlene said, softly nudging Dorcas with her shoulder. Dorcas looked up, raising an eyebrow and frowning at the girl. Tiny problems of Marlene weren’t tiny, most times.
‘What’s wrong?’ Dorcas asked, a worried frown appearing on her face. ‘Well uh, I dialled James in our room right? And he didn’t pick up?’ Marlene started. Dorcas nodded, urging the girl to go on. ‘He uh, kind of didn’t call back. And I kind of didn’t uh… Call him again?’ Marlene said, smiling guiltily. Dorcas’ eyes narrowed.
‘What? Marls, we can’t just show up there without a place to sleep! Oh my god, I’m calling Ev, hold on,’ Dorcas muttered, sighing deeply and shaking her head. ‘I’m sorry! I totally forgot,’ Marlene apologised, but Dorcas waved her off. ‘It’s fine, don’t worry. I should’ve reminded you, because I know how forgetful you can get sometimes,’ she said, smiling at the blonde who smiled back, relieved.
Dorcas walked a few steps away and dialled Evan. The phone rang for a while, before it went over to voicemail. Did they have no cell service in France or some shit? She groaned, and walked back towards Marlene, but was almost immediately called back.
‘Hey Dora, how are you?’ Evan asked. Dorcas could almost hear the strained smile in his voice. ‘I’m good, how are you?’ she asked. ‘Oh, you know. I’m still alive, so I must be doing something good,’ he muttered back. Dorcas could hear a few cars racing by in the background of Evan’s call. ‘That sounds awfully optimistic. But listen, I have a surprise for you. And a question,’ Dorcas said, coming straight to the point.
‘Yeah? Something wrong? What can I do?’ Evan asked, his tone casual. Dorcas smiled at how easily he offered help. He really was a good friend, though a little stupid at times. ‘Well, I’m kind of stranded at the airport in France and was hoping for a ride and maybe a room?’ Dorcas asked, smiling when she heard Evan’s ‘Mon dieu, no way!’ on the other line of the phone. ‘Yes way. Come pick me and Marlene up,’ Dorcas said, smiling along with the boy’s enthusiasm.
‘Oh dieu, Dora I love you! You have, like, impeccable timing as alway too! Right now I’m out to dinner, but I think I can make it around nine, is that okay? And of course you and Marlene can sleep in my house. I have loads of rooms free, anyways,’ Evan said, still enthusiastic.
‘Yeah, I had a feeling you needed some support from your friends. Dating Reg’s ex Ev? Really? It’s like you want to die,’ Dorcas said, shaking her head, though she knew Evan couldn’t see it. ‘Yeah yeah, I’m an idiot, I know,’ He muttered back, sighing deeply. ‘But I gotta go now. Need to get a car and all. I’ll see you in a bit. Byeee!’ Evan said, before he hung up. Dorcas wanted to ask him how he was getting a car, but he was gone before she could.
She walked back over towards Marlene, who was wrapped up in a video game again. ‘Marls, I got us a house and a ride,’ Dorcas said, getting a wide grin from Marlene in return. ‘You’re an angel, my love,’ she said, before turning back to her game and groaning. ‘I lost again,’ she muttered, clicking her phone off and leaning closer to Dorcas.
‘Awh, poor you. I’m sure you’ll win eventually,’ Dorcas muttered, smoothing Marlene’s rogue hair and kissing her cheek. Marlene hummed softly as a reaction. ‘Did you know that Remus is also in France?’ Marlene asked, looking at Dorcas with her clear blue gaze. ‘No, I didn’t,’ Dorcas admitted, closing her eyes and leaning back into her chair. It was still pretty early, but Dorcas was incredibly tired from the trip.
She had wanted to sleep in the plane, but the seat beside Marlene and Dorcas was occupied with a mother and her baby, who was screaming almost the entire ride. Dorcas wanted to punch the baby until it had a reason to scream. She didn’t of course, but still she wanted to.
She started softly playing with Marlene’s hair, who hummed contently and offered a sip of her drink to Dorcas. ‘What is it?’ Dorcas asked, taking a sip and pulling a sour face. ‘Dragon fruit refresher, why? You don’t like it?’ Marlene asked. ‘No, it’s disgustingly sweet. Why didn’t you just buy coffee?’ Dorcas asked, earning a frown from Marlene. ‘Because I don’t like coffee? You know I’m a red bull girl at heart Dor,’ she said, earning a small chuckle and a shake of her head from Dorcas. ‘Of course you are. I thought you’d like the caffeïne though, whether it was in coffee or in red bull,’ she murmured softly, glancing around at the bustling airport.
She was so incredibly happy that she’d met Marlene. Marlene was like the jam to her peanut butter (though she didn’t like peanut butter). Dorcas didn’t even know what she’d do if she’d ever lose Marlene. She may never date anyone again. She may never love anyone again, after feeling how Marlene loves.
And Dorcas felt like she was fine with that. She didn’t need anyone else. If Marlene ever thought of leaving her, Dorcas would just hold her captive. She wasn’t leaving, because Dorcas wouldn’t be able to handle Marlene leaving.
Around half an hour later, Evan arrived and found the two girls sleeping on each other’s shoulders. He smiled softly and sat down besides Dorcas, after which he grabbed his phone and shot James a message.
9.13 PM
They’re kinda asleep, James
9.13 PM
Oh. But my dad and I are waiting in the car
9.14 PM
Yeah, yeah, I know
I’ll wake them up
He snapped a quick picture of them, before softly shaking Dorcas awake. She squinted at him, eyes sleepy. When she saw him, though, all sleep disappeared from her face and was replaced with pure enthusiasm. ‘Evy!’ she exclaimed, before hugging him tightly and earning a bright laugh from her friend.
‘Dora!’ he yelled back in just as much enthusiasm as her. She didn’t really want to let go of him, she had missed him incredibly much. Though the boys were a bother to be around sometimes, she truly loved them with all of her heart. She let him go to examine him a little. His hair was curly now, Dorcas wondered if he went to a hairdresser. It looked good on him. His face was tanned, and Dorcas noticed the smallest bits of freckles on his face. His eyes were a hazy golden green in this light, complemented by his sun kissed cheeks.
‘Summer looks good on you, Ev,’ she muttered, smiling at him before hugging him again. ‘Oh I missed you so much!’ Dorcas said, hugging him so tightly she could hear him punch out a surprised, breathless laugh. ‘I missed you too, Dora,’ he answered. ‘Okay lovebirds, you’re reunited. Now let’s get out of here. Please,’ Marlene groaned, getting up from her chair and rubbing his eyes.
As they all filed out of the airport, Dorcas was sure this vacation was going to be a memorable one.