Chapter Two
On November 2nd, the day before Albus’s 24th birthday, he took Scorpius to work with him. He stood behind the desk of the library watching fondly as Scorpius looked around with wide-eyed, childlike wonder at the paper filled world around him.
He walked through every book-lined aisle of shelves, picking up books and examining each one carefully, tracing the covers and spines with the tip of his finger, tucking one or two under his arm as he went. Sometimes, he would open them and delicately flip through a few pages. At some point, after dropping a rather large handful of books onto the floor, he came back to the desk for a basket.
“I probably should’ve just grabbed one of these from the start, huh?” Scorpius squeaked, his cheeks pink and flushed. Albus was high at the sight of it.
“Knowing you? Yeah, for sure.” Albus smiled. Scorpius had probably read every book in the Hogwarts library, cover to cover, at least twice. But these were muggle books. He might’ve read one or two during a Muggle Studies class, but most of them were uncharted territory yet to be consumed by Scorpius’s knowledge hungry brain.
“Why didn’t you tell me you worked at a library, Albus? I would’ve left Connor and come to live with you way sooner.” Scorpius giggled before cupping a hand to his mouth and gasping. “Sorry, bad joke.”
Albus smiled sheepishly. “I thought I’d mentioned it.”
Scorpius grinned brightly and reached into his basket. “I’m going to read this one first! House of the Scorpion. Do you think they have their very own Scorpion Prince?” It’d been long enough now that Scorpius was comfortable joking about it.
Albus chuckled, trying to hide his smirk. “You are so cheesy.”
“And you love it.” Scorpius’s eyes were glued to his now and Albus felt something bubbling in his stomach. Albus looked down. “Oh come on, nothing to be ashamed of.”
He knew Scorpius was only joking, but he answered seriously anyway. “I’m not.”
After that interaction, Scorpius turned his heel and walked back into the seemingly endless sea of books, leaving Albus alone to watch him once again. As he stared, he wondered to himself if he should really be watching him so closely. Was it creepy? Was he crossing a line?
Those weren’t things Albus ever worried much about when they were kids. Maybe they were at a certain point, when Albus first realized his true feelings, but he grew comfortable over time and Scorpius never seemed to mind. It would’ve been hypocritical if he did; he used to do the same thing to Albus all the time. They were just two best friends who meant the world to each other.
But when they reached adulthood, after Scorpius started seeing Connor, he started to doubt himself. A few months into the relationship, Scorpius started to pull away. Things just seemed different, wrong. Albus tried to rationalize it; obviously he was just jealous and feeling hurt that everything was changing. Scorpius was falling in love, of course he’d be left behind.
Connor started tagging along every time Albus and Scorpius would hang out. Albus had protested once before, to no avail. Scorpius told him Connor just didn’t have many friends and he wanted to get to know him. Albus believed that until the day he pulled Albus aside to give him a talk.
“You need to stop acting like Scorpius is your boyfriend,” he’d said.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Albus replied defensively.
Connor glared at him. “Don’t play dumb, Al. I’ve known you long enough to know there’s nothing innocent about the way you look at him. The way you talk to him. The way you touch him. You’re fucking obsessed with him or something and it’s starting to get creepy. Scorpius didn’t want me to say anything because he’s a nice guy and he cares about you, but you’re starting to make him really uncomfortable.”
After that, Albus backed off. He didn’t watch Scorpius anymore, he hardly even looked at him at all save for the occasional sad glance. He stopped initiating hang outs, only meeting up when Scorpius asked, which became more and more infrequent the more time had passed.
When they would hang out, Scorpius never touched Albus, and Albus never touched him. Albus second-guessed every word he said. He could tell that Scorpius’s words were becoming much more careful and deliberate too, like he was holding back. Up until recently, Albus thought it was because he made Scorpius uncomfortable, because things were changing and Scorpius was pulling away because he didn’t want to be best friends anymore.
Now, though, Albus couldn’t help but wonder if Connor had given Scorpius a similar talk, knowing how awful Connor was it wouldn’t be far-fetched for him to have been controlling Scorpius’s relationship with Albus. It would make sense, given how quickly Scorpius had reverted back to his pre-Connor ways. But he would never ask, never confirm. He couldn’t.
Suddenly, he was pulled from his thoughts by a furiously ringing bell. He looked up to see a familiar face staring down at him, though not the one he expected. “Excuse me, I’d like to check these out, please.” The woman continued to ring the bell. “Seriously, Al, I’ve been standing here for several minutes now.”
“Fuck off, Sherry,” Albus groaned as he grabbed the stamper to his left.
“Is this how you speak to all of your customers? Just wait until your boss hears about this,” Sherry said with a smirk.
“You are my boss.” Albus rolled his eyes.
“Yeah yeah, whatever. On to more important matters,” she said, raising her hand as if to shake away the previous topic. “Who’s that lad you keep staring at? He’s fit, for sure, but you look like a serial killer.”
Albus rolled his eyes again, more exaggerated this time. “That’s Scorpius.” They both looked over to him then, watching as he sat in a large, worn and tattered green chair in the corner of the reading nook. He was too focused on his book to notice either of them.
“The Scorpius?” Sherry raised an eyebrow.
“How many people named Scorpius do you think I know, Sher?” Albus groaned while still, albeit a bit shamefully at that point, watching Scorpius as he adjusted his reading glasses and turned another page.
“I don’t know, at least one,” she said with a shrug.
“He’s the one and only.” Albus couldn’t help but chuckle; Scorpius had just given himself a paper cut, shrieked, and sucked on his finger. Adorable, Albus thought.
“He seems like a dork. I can see why you like him so much.” Sherry smiled, something quite rare for her. “Anyway, I just wanted to let you know, I’m giving you the day off tomorrow. I’ll cover the desk for you. Enjoy your birthday, babe.”
Scorpius perked up at the comment. Albus watched as he closed his book and thoughtfully placed it back into the basket, then made his way over to the desk.
“Babe, huh? Since when were you into women?” Scorpius grinned, nudging Albus with his elbow and looking Sherry up and down. “I guess I can see why. You have very nice hair. Like a horse.”
“Thanks?” Sherry said, clearly a bit confused.
“A very well-kept horse, obviously! A show horse. What? They’re pretty, it’s a good thing!” Scorpius started to turn red. Sherry raised an eyebrow.
“He’s gay, Sher, he doesn’t know how to talk to women. But he means well.”
“Wizzo! Albus saves the day once more,” Scorpius squeaked.
“…Wizzo?” Sherry repeated. Albus smacked his forehead and Scorpius hid his face in his hands.
There was a brief pause before Albus spoke. “Like I said, the one and only.”
After his shift ended, he helped Scorpius sign up for a library card and then helped him pick out which books to take home. Albus had informed him of the 10 book checkout rule, but Scorpius had managed to convince Albus to let him check out 11 instead.
Once he finished locking up the library and headed out the door, Albus stopped to check his phone for the first time all day. He never really used it all that much; he didn’t know why muggles were so bloody obsessed with them. The screen was illuminated with a string of notifications, all of them texts from the same person.
Michael
11:30 am - hey, we still hanging out for ur b-day tomorrow? :*
11:31 am - ik ur at work but just hmu whenever u get this
13:30 pm - ill grab indian omw, ur favourite
13:31 pm - and maybe a few other things ;)
13:34 pm - u want a sneak peek?
Albus grimaced and closed his phone before running to catch up to Scorpius, who was now several metres ahead of him. With everything that was going on, he’d completely forgotten his prior birthday plans.
“Is everything alright?” Scorpius asked as he looked to Albus, a soft smile painted on his face. He’d have to deal with Michael later.
—
The following morning, Scorpius surprised Albus with breakfast in bed: pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs with maple syrup drizzled on top. A staple breakfast that just so happened to be his favourite.
“Thank you. It smells amazing.” Albus smiled sleepily as he outstretched his arms with a yawn.
“Only the best for you.” Scorpius smiled wide as he booped Albus on the tip of his nose.
Scorpius watched nervously as Albus brought the fork to his mouth. “Does it taste okay? I’m sorry if it’s bad. I know I’m not the greatest cook but—”
“It tastes amazing, Scor, what did you put on the eggs?” Albus asked, mouth full.
Scorpius smiled shyly, and Albus couldn’t help but notice the soft flush of his cheeks. “Oh, you know, nothing special really: salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder, a little bit of cumin.”
“Mmm,” Albus groaned with delight. “Well, you can make breakfast for me every morning. What about you? have you eaten already?”
“Er, no, not yet. I wanted to make sure the birthday boy was fed first. It is your day, after all,” Scorpius said sheepishly.
“Well, why don’t we share, then? Come sit with me and share this culinary masterpiece,” he replied, patting the spot in bed next to him. Scorpius didn’t protest and instead bounced over happily and plopped himself into place.
Albus decided he wanted to spend much of the day in his bed, of course with Scorpius to keep him company. In the first few hours he was awake, he was curled up into a tight ball on his bed. Meanwhile, Scorpius was lounging next to him, head buried in a book. Every once in a while, he would open his eyes to get a peek at his best friend. Albus loved to watch him read; he always furrowed his brow and made the most adorable facial expressions every time something interesting happened.
As he watched Scorpius adjust his reading glasses for the third time in 5 minutes, there was a knock at the door. Oh, bloody hell. He’d never cancelled on Michael.
On his walk to the front door, Albus prayed for a miracle. Maybe it was a pizza man delivering a pizza to the wrong door. Or maybe Scorpius had somehow managed to stealth order a pizza, and it was the right door. Or the police were coming to arrest him for a crime he didn’t remember committing, which somehow still seemed better than the reality.
Albus took a deep breath before opening the door. He couldn’t think of anything he could say that would make this better, and decided he’d just bite the bullet. He’d definitely need a drink after this. “Hi.”
“Hey, Al,” Michael started. “Did you forget to charge your phone again? You never texted me back.” He attempted to take a step into the door, but Albus body-blocked him.
“No, I, er— I just forgot, I guess,” Albus stuttered. “I meant to cancel. I just have a lot going on right now; I’m not really feeling well.” He faked a cough.
“Right, okay. Still, you could’ve at least taken a second to let me know. But hey, guess I can’t stay mad at the birthday boy.” Michael lifted up the bag in his hand. “I did bring food though, might as well eat it?” Michael said with an empathetic smile.
Albus watched the smile quickly fade from his face as he felt something— no, someone, pass behind him. Fuck. He should’ve told Scorpius to wait.
“Oh, I get it. You’re blowing me off for some other guy?” Michael seethed through gritted teeth. Albus grimaced.
“It’s not what it looks like, really, it’s not. He’s my—” Albus himself off. “We can talk about this later. You should leave.”
“Fuck you, Albus,” Michael said as he dropped the bag in his hand, “enjoy the Indian.” Albus stood there for a moment as he watched him storm off down the hallway, until he eventually disappeared out of sight. Then he turned around and closed the door behind him, completely straight faced. It wasn’t long after that Scorpius spiraled into a profuse apology.
“Godric, Albus, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have left the room. I really wasn’t trying to ruin anything for you. This is all my fault.” Scorpius began to hit himself in the face, but stopped almost as abruptly as he’d started because Albus had grabbed his hands. “Sorry, bad habit of mine. Somewhat new. Because of— you know. It doesn’t matter. I’m working on it. What matters is I’m so, so sorry. And now I’m making it all about me when I’m the one who’s done something wrong. So I’m sorry for that, too.”
“Scor, look at me,” Albus said, still holding Scorpius by the hands. He waited for Scorpius to return his gaze before continuing. “It’s alright, I promise. I really don’t care, and even if I did, I wouldn’t be mad at you because that wasn’t your fault. I ignored him. That’s on me, not you.”
Scorpius didn’t respond, so Albus took it as an invitation to continue. “Besides, I wanted to spend my birthday with you. You’re way more important to me than some guy I’ve only known for a couple of months,” he said, smiling softly. “Now, come here. I want a birthday hug.”
And with that, Scorpius collapsed into him, sobbed quietly (which Albus could tell he was trying to hide), and wrapped him into a squeezing hug. Albus could tell something inside of Scorpius had changed, but he didn’t think now was the time to talk about it. He knew Scorpius’s situation was delicate and complex, that it would take a while for him to adjust to a life where he didn’t have to walk on eggshells or worry that every argument would end with a hand around his throat. Albus knew he’d get there eventually, but it would require a lot of patience and care.
After Scorpius calmed down, they spent the remainder of the afternoon reading books and watching films, taking breaks every once in a while to have a bite or two of the Indian that Michael had left with them. And in the evening, they made their way into the kitchen to eat mint chocolate chip ice cream straight from the tub. Scorpius laughed as he flung ice cream at Albus’s chest, and Albus, faking offense, took a scoop into his hand and mashed it into Scorpius’s face, prompting a full on ice cream war.
After night fell, they cleaned themselves up and changed into fresh pajamas before hopping into bed and curling up together, just like old times.
Albus really had missed this in the time they were apart. During his friends absence, he tried to fill the empty space with a handful of different faces and personalities, but it just never felt quite right, that’s how it was with Michael. He knew they were different people and it wasn’t fair to compare them, but he found himself unable to stop it.
Scorpius was awkward and neurotic at heart, as much as he tried to insist otherwise in prior years, but still brave and undeniably loyal. He was also encouraging and optimistic, which was what Albus liked the most about him, as it seemed to balance out his own gloominess and negativity perfectly. Michael, meanwhile, was the complete opposite. He was a nice guy and not too terrible to be around, but he didn’t have the right aura around him. He was self-assured and well-composed, never seeming to worry what other people thought of him. Albus thought that was probably a good thing, but it made him feel insecure, he felt like they were on completely different levels.
Had Scorpius not shown back up in his life, Albus would probably be curled up beside Michael right now instead, searching his eyes for a spark and trying desperately to feel the same intense emotions for him that he was feeling in the present moment.
“You still have a bit of ice cream on your face. Here, let me get it for you.” Scorpius giggled as he licked the tip of his finger, delicately cleaning Albus’s cheek.
“Scor, ew, that’s so gross,” Albus started, prompting him to dramatically lick 2 more of his fingers and smear them across the entire left side of Albus’s face. “Stooooooop it!” He shrieked, giggling.
“You know you love it,” Scorpius said.
“You know that I do NOT,” Albus groaned. But he wasn’t mad, he was happy, and Scorpius knew that, too.
After Scorpius had fallen asleep, Albus thought about having a drink or two, just to celebrate. What was the harm? He was going to have trouble sleeping without it, he was still all revved up from the events of the day and didn’t feel even the least bit tired.
Standing up from his bed, he headed into the kitchen, bottles quietly clinking around as he shuffled through the pantry. He’d decided on vodka, quick and smooth. He stared at the bottle for a few moments, wondering if he really wanted to do this right now. What would Scorpius think? But it wasn’t like he was going to get pissed, he only wanted one shot. He poured it, as quietly as he could, into a shot glass. Bracing himself, Albus downed it, and after letting it sit for several seconds, feeling unsatisfied, he decided on two, then three.
After a few minutes had passed, Albus felt that pleasant buzz he was after. He made his way back to the bedroom and curled up beside Scorpius once again, facing him. He watched him, only for a moment, taking in his beauty. And with a tired yawn, his eyes fluttered shut.
There might’ve been a hiccup or two, but Albus decided it was the best birthday he’d had in a long time.