Evan was rambling about Regulus again. He knew Barty didn't mind. After all, Evan was forced to listen to Barty rant about James for years before they go together.
Evan is lying on Barty's bed while Barty finishes his charms essay.
"Evan, you should probably tell Regulus that you like him," Barty suggests gently after Evan is done ranting.
Evan sighs. "But what if he doesn't like me back?"
Barty shrugged. "Then you can move on. But I doubt he doesn't like you."
Evan frowns. "I don't-"
Barty cuts him off. "It's very clear that you love him. With how much you talk about him and how you act around him but regulus isn't the best at this kind of stuff."
Evan's frown deepens. "What do you mean?" He asks.
Barty waves his hands, trying to find the work he's looking for. "He's not very good at... like... reading people sometimes."
"He's great at read people," Evan argues.
Barty nods. "That's why i said sometimes. He's not as good at reading people when he's too busy staring at them."
Evan rolls his eyes. "He doesn't stare at me. If anything I stare at him."
Barty snorts. "You both stare at each other. Reg will be staring at you and then you'll look over and he'll look away and you'll stare at him. It's infuriating."
Evan stares at the ceiling without responding.
"I don't know," he whispers.
Barty shrugs. "Think about it a bit."
It took Evan a while to respond.
"I do like him. I like him so much. I just don't want to get hurt."
Barty looked over at his friend. "I know. But... y'know... Sometimes some people are worth that risk."
Evan tried to keep from crying. He hated the dull ache in his heart that longed to be loved. He hated that he was so close to Regulus yet couldn't talk to him about this.
Before he could register what was happening, barty was sitting on his bed with his arms open, offering a hug.
Evan greatfully expected the hug, wrapping his arms around barty and burying his face in barty's shoulder. They sat there like that, just the two of them, for quite some time. And if Evan shed a tear or two, well that was nobodies business.
......
Regulus had heard most of it. He heard enough to know that Evan definitely liked him. He felt terrible for Evan, he didn't want the boy he liked to feel sad, but Regulus himself was happy. He was happy because he was so so grateful that Evan liked him back. But it was quite clear that Evan would not be acting on his feelings anytime soon.
That was fine though. Regulus could do the flirting, he just needed to know that Evan liked him in the first place.
......
Regulus walked into his dorm. This is a few days after he over heard Evan and Barty talking.
Evan and Barty are going their homework, making small chatter as they work.
"Hey, Evan?" Regulus asked.
Evan looked up from his essay. "Hey Reg, what's up?"
"Can I talk to you?"
Evan tensed slightly. "I- sure."
Regulus looked at Barty. The boy smirked before throwing Evan a wink and standing up and walking out of the dorm.
Evan stands up and walks closer to Regulus. "So what did you want to talk about?" He asks once Barty is gone.
Regulus smiles slightly. "About your crush on me."
Evan's eyes grow wide. "I- I don't- you- i-"
Regulus takes a step towards Evan, which causes Evan to take a step back and nearly bang into the wall.
"Don't try to deny it, I heard you and Barty's conversation the other day about me," Regulus tells him.
Evan's lips part slightly in shock.
"I- I'm sorry, if you don't like me we can just go back to being friends."
"Evan."
"We don't have to let this come between us, I do like you but I don't want it to be awkward between us."
"Evan."
"Your my best friend and I don't want to-"
"EVAN."
Evan's mouth shuts so fast that Regulus is pretty sure he heard his teeth click.
Regulus looks up at him and raises an eyebrow. "Have you considered that I like you back?"
Evan splutters, eyes somehow going even bigger.
"You- you do?"
The corner of Regulus' lip twitches up.
"Yes mon amour."
Evan's face goes red.
"Can I kiss you?" Evan asks hesitantly.
Regulus has to bite back a grin. "Of course."