Chapter 10
“Are those comfortable?” James asked as Regulus walked into his bedroom, looking like he was being swallowed whole by a blue Wallows hoodie and a pair of grey checkered pajama pants. He was trying his best not to gawk for Sirius’ sake, but Regulus really did look divine in his clothes. “I can see they’re too big for you, so I can just–”
“It’s fine,” Regulus blurts out, fighting with one of the sleeves to untuck his hand so he can move his hair out of his face. “These are fine. They’re comfortable.”
“Am I going to get that one back?” James asked, not being able to help the smile that tugged at the corners of his lips. Regulus just scoffs and rolls his eyes.
“Not bloody likely,” Regulus answers, moving to sit on the bed, scooting backward until he was on the far right of it, his back pressed against the wall and his knees tucked under his chin. Sirius just watched from beside him, staying shockingly silent, as he had been since Regulus climbed into the backseat of James’ car.
“Do you want tea or anything? Either of you?” James asked from the desk chair he was sitting in, leaning forward with his his elbows on his knees. Regulus shook his head, and Sirius did the same.
“I’m sort of tired,” Regulus shrugs, eyes focusing on the loose string at the hem of his sleeve. “I’m not the most fun to have a sleepover with.”
“Well, I think you’re great,” James smirks and two loud scoffs sound from the other side of the room.
“New rule, no flirting in front of me!” Sirius furrows his eyebrows, turning his head between Regulus and James.
“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Regulus rolls his eyes, moving his head back the slightest bit to bury the bottom half of it in his arm, which was now laying on top of his knees.
“Okay, why don’t we get you something to eat, Reggie–”
“Don’t call me that.”
“–and we can turn on a movie or something,” Sirius smiles widely, standing up from the bed. “I’ll go order pizza.”
“Pizza sounds terrible right now,” Regulus’ nose scrunches, and James tries not to melt. “Can you just get water or something?”
Sirius scoffs and widens his eyes, seeming to be offended. “How does pizza sound terrible? It’s pizza!”
“Where do you want food from, Regulus?” James asks, gaining the boy’s attention. His stomach twists as he comes in contact with soft green eyes rather than sharp grey ones.
“I don’t know. It sounds stupid, but I’m not really hungry,” Regulus sighs.
“It’s not stupid, that’s just how it is,” Sirius states, walking back to the bed and scooting next to Regulus. He motions for James to do the same, and he is more than happy to oblige. They make something James could only refer to as a Regulus sandwich. “What about sushi? You used to love sushi.”
“I haven’t had sushi in years, so I don’t know if I even like it anymore,” Regulus shrugs, not even trying to fight against his current position.
“What?! Why not?!” Sirius exclaims, sitting straight up and playfully slapping a hand to Regulus’ knee.
“Mother says that sushi isn’t classy enough for a Black’s cuisine, so I had to stop eating it,” Regulus answers and Sirius rolls his eyes so hard that James is shocked they don’t get stuck back there.
“Sushi it is because fuck Walburga,” Sirius pulls his phone out of his back pocket and opens a food delivery app, then shuffles out of the bed. “I’m going to go ask Effie and Monty if they want anything. You two please fucking behave. I will be back in five minutes.”
With that, he was gone, and James and Regulus were plunged into a silence that bordered along awkward and comfortable. It was kind of hard for them to be awkward with each other when they were pressed against one another, entire sides of their bodies touching. Still, the quiet couldn’t be considered the most comfortable thing ever.
Only an hour prior, Sirius was cleaning Regulus’ back with medical supplies in the bathroom while James did the quickest patrol of his life. He had come back to Regulus with bandages wrapped around him, his torso completely covered. He hadn’t hesitated to offer his clothes up for pajamas, and it was so worth it.
James had left Regulus and Sirius alone after they got back to his place, because he knew that Regulus would only want to talk to his brother. When Sirius called him into his room a few hours later, both brothers had tear-stained cheeks and Sirius was already digging under his bed for his horde of first aid supplies.
“You’re quiet,” Regulus murmurs, and suddenly James is aware of the head laying on his shoulder. Oh, he could explode, truly.
“Don’t you like the quiet?” James questions, leaning his head on top of Regulus’.
“Not from you,” Regulus’ voice is barely above a whisper. James can’t stop a smile from spreading on his face, nor can he fight the impulse to plant a soft kiss delicately between dark curls. Regulus hums, burrowing his head further into the crook of James’ neck.
“Well, I like hearing your voice too,” James admits, because it’s true, and it’s not like he’s tried hard to hide it.
“My voice is nowhere near as nice as yours,” Regulus scoffs and James just laughs gleefully because this all just feels so right. The only thing really missing is–
“Do you want to watch something?” James asks, nodding his head toward the television at the foot of his bed. “Like a movie or a show?”
“Is this one of those things where you put on a scary movie so that I get freaked out and we make out or something?” Regulus lifts his head to make eye contact, flashes of humor in his eyes. James laughs loudly.
“Yes, you caught me red-handed. I want to turn on a scary movie, even though I hate horror movies, so that we can snog and face the wrath of your brother when he inevitably walks in on us,” James nods, feigning a look of disappointment, and Regulus lets out a light laugh. And that. Just wow.
“You turn on whatever you want. I really don’t mind either way,” Regulus shuffles to press his body somehow closer to James’.
“Ever watched Glee?” James asks with a small smile. He feels Regulus shake his head no. “Well, we can watch that when Sirius gets back, yeah?”
***
Regulus woke up very comfortable pressed between two bodies, one of which had its arms and legs draped over him, along with its chest against his back. Soft snores were let out behind his ear, sending shivers down his spine. Pulling away seemed to be impossible, so he laid there and endured it, his eyes still closed.
When he did open his eyes, he came face to face with his brother, who was sleeping quietly. No one in the Black family snored, and Sirius was not excluded from this benefit. Soft breaths pushed and pulled at a knotted curl laying directly under his nose, and his eyeliner from last night was smeared near his temples. He looked so peaceful like this, and Regulus is instantly sent into the past.
When they were younger, he and Sirius were terribly nightmare-ridden. So, to deal with this, they would sneak into each other’s rooms all the way into their teens. The night before Sirius left, Regulus had a nightmare about just that, and his brother shushed him and held him until he could peacefully fall asleep again. Looking back, Sirius didn’t make any promises of staying like he had the many times prior, and it’s on Regulus for not realizing that at the time.
As for the person behind him, who was bringing him so much comfort, this was new. The warmth that engulfed his entire body was something he had never really experienced before. As a result to his completely fucked up family tree, Regulus’ circulation had always been very bad, which meant he was in a constant state of feeling like he was going to freeze to death. Having James Potter, who was basically a personal radiator, pressed against his back was somewhat life-changing. It was borderline upsetting because how was he supposed to sleep well ever again if a million blankets couldn’t be as warm as the person next to him?
“Reg? You awake?” A deep, groggy voice asks in his ear, sending goosebumps shooting down his entire body.
“No,” Regulus answers, grabbing James’ arm and pulling it up from his waist before shifting to face him. He’s faced with a sleepy grin and extremely messy hair. Like this, their faces are so close that Regulus can feel James’ breath on his upper lip.
“How’d you sleep?” James asks, placing a hand on Regulus’ arm then soothingly rubbing up and down.
“Shockingly well,” Regulus moves his hand to push a strand of hair out of James’ face. “Though, I’m pretty sure Will Schuester haunted me in my dreams.”
James lets out a small laugh at this, making sure to stay quiet as to not disturb his, still sleeping, best friend. “Yeah, he’s definitely creepy.”
“Understatement of the century,” Regulus rolls his eyes. “What time is it?”
James lifts his arm above his head to grab his glasses from the window sill sitting directly behind his bed, then lifts his head to look past Regulus. His eyes widen a bit before he lays back down, his glasses getting the slightest bit disheveled when the side of his head hits the pillow. “12:30,” he answers.
“Holy shit,” Regulus breathed out, sitting up and turning to look for himself. It was, in fact, around 12:30 in the afternoon. “So much for breakfast.”
“I can still make the pancakes if you want,” James reassures him, also working to sit himself up. At the movement, Sirius begins to stir.
“We could go out for lunch and save the pancakes for a better day,” Regulus shrugs, looking over to make eye contact with James. “I’ll pay.”
“Absolutely fucking not!” James exclaims, pressing a hand to his bare chest in fake offense. His bare chest.
James is shirtless.
There’s just dark skin and muscles.
Okay, that’s fine. Completely fine and normal. Perfect, actually, in Regulus’ opinion.
“Why not?” Regulus kneads his eyebrows together and he starts to scowl.
“Because I refuse to let you pay for me to eat,” James rolls his eyes.
“I don’t. You can pay f’r me t’ eat, Reggie,” Sirius mumbles groggily from where he lays. “Invite Moony, too.”
“That’s settled, then,” Regulus nods, climbing over Sirius to get out of the bed.
Not even an hour later, he was sitting across from James at a small cafe just down the street from the Potter’s residence. Next to him sat Remus, and across from Remus was Sirius. The table they were at had a small umbrella, which didn’t seem very necessary considering it was mid-October, but was still appreciated by the two brothers who seemed to burn no matter how hidden the sun was.
Before they left, Sirius had, once again, cleaned Regulus’ back after he had hopped out of the shower. He was currently wearing a different one of James’ incredibly comfortable jumpers and a pair of Sirius’ jeans. The outfit was perfect for the weather, but he couldn’t help but think that maybe he should bring some of his clothes from Remus’ over to the Potter’s. That would mean no more kind donations from James’ closet, though, and that thought felt criminal.
James looked radiant today, but when didn’t he? The two of them hadn’t talked about the party yet, which Regulus was thankful for, because one emotional conversation is all he could handle for the next few weeks. Instead, Regulus was more than happy to give and receive physical affection, because that’s really the only way he knew how to express himself in situations like that. Would it be nice to know how James feels about the whole kissing thing? Absolutely. Was Regulus going to ask? Absolutely not, because his fear of rejection seemed to overrule any logic bouncing around his brain.
“What about you, Reg?” Sirius’ voice broke him out of his thoughts, and, completely unaware of the topic at hand, he just shot him a confused look in response. “What are you dressing up as for Halloween?”
“I’m not,” Regulus looked back down at his chocolate croissant that he had only taken two bites from before deciding he wanted nothing to do with it anymore. Two loud gasps sounded from across the table and he rolled his eyes.
“Why not?” James asked, his eyebrows furrowed when Regulus looked up at him. “That’s, like, the best part of autumn!”
“I have no reason to dress up. I’m too old to trick or treat,” Regulus shrugs, continuing to pick crumbs off of his croissant while keeping eye contact.
“We have the perfect solution for that!” Sirius exclaims, a wide smile on his face. Regulus feels his shoulders deflate, motioning for his brother to go on despite already knowing what he’s going to say. “We’re throwing a party on Halloween night, since it falls on a Saturday this year!”
“Absolutely not,” Regulus shakes his head, rolling his eyes once more when his brother lets out an offended scoff. “Why would I ever want to go to another party again after the last one was a complete disaster for everyone at this table.”
He didn’t bother looking over at James, not feeling awake enough to face the puppy dog eyes he felt burning into his skull. Instead, he looked over at Remus, who just shrugged a little, clearly feeling awkward at the mention of it. To be fair, it really did fucking suck.
“Well, yeah, but–”
“I need another coffee,” Regulus blurts out, pushing himself away from the table and standing up quickly, fighting not to cringe at the shriek of the chair legs against the pavement. Then, he turns and walks away from the group, walking his way up to the front.
After receiving his drink, he still stands in a corner of the cafe, deciding that the confused glances his way were better than the three boys who were going to try and convince him into going to another disaster party. What was his brother thinking, truly? Why would any of them think that he would want to relive anything like that ever again? It sucks even more because he and Remus had planned to spend Halloween together months prior like they did every year, but he was no doubt going to this party with Sirius. Ugh.
His phone buzzes in his back pocket and he takes it out, knowing it will be a message from someone outside, but opening it anyway. As he predicted, James’ name popped up, along with a text.
‘Will you come back out here please? Sirius and Remus are starting to act weird but they’ll stop if you’re out here…….also i miss you :(‘
Regulus lets out a small huff of air through his nose, rolling his eyes before tucking his phone back into his pocket. He takes another drink of hsi iced coffee–his personal liquid courage–then makes his way to the table outside. Sirius and Remus were, in fact, being all weird and from this angle, Regulus could see the way their legs were interlocked under the table. Weirdos.
“You two stop that,” Regulus grimaced as he sat down, catching everyone’s attention.
“Not unless you agree to going to the party,” Sirius only glances toward him, then continues to make disgusting eyes at Remus, who’s seemingly playing along.
“This is fucked up,” Regulus wrinkles his nose, glancing over at Potter, who seemed just as grossed out as him. “We’re in public.”
“We’re really not even doing anything,” Remus shrugs, slowly sipping from the straw in front of him. It goes on for a minute longer before Regulus breaks, because it truly is the worst thing he’s ever seen. He was definitely not going to be finishing his croissant now.
“Fine, I’ll go to your stupid fucking party. Just stop doing that,” Regulus shuddered disgustedly, rolling his eyes when Sirius threw his hands up in victory. “I cannot stand you.”
“You love us,” Sirius smiles, snatching the pastry from Regulus’ plate and taking a bite.