Over Again

It had been roughly a month since the night Regulus had called James. There wasn’t much he could say about the events that had taken place. Since that call, Regulus had tried to avoid anything and everything to do with the other, which wasn’t easy when that was his brother’s best friend. He often heard stories about him when his older brother visited to check on him.

One of those visits is exactly how Regulus had learned James and Lily broke up… Apparently, it was a mutual decision, but he had his doubts. Sirius had often boasted about how in love they seemed when he wasn’t busy talking about his own love life. Regulus seriously envied them because he had been somewhat dreading the relationship he was in the more he thought back to that night a month ago.

But there he was, all alone. Barty had left for the week, and he hated being home alone, but that boyfriend of his wouldn’t allow him to get a pet for times like this.

This wasn’t the first time Barty left for a long time.

It happened quite often.

Regulus learned to get used to it.

On this particular night, it was storming, and Regulus found himself on the couch, hugging a pillow as he tried to drown out the sounds of thunder with the TV. He wasn’t paying attention to what was playing, though he should have been. Maybe it would lessen his anxiety. He likes the rain, don’t get him wrong, but when you add thunder and lighting, it kind of ruins the calm mood the rain brought and only leaves him scared.

Suddenly, Regulus was reminiscing again. There was a time when they had a severe storm, and James had come into the living room where Regulus had sat, much like he is now. His boyfriend at the time had learned what the other liked, disliked, and feared… Barty hardly knew most of those things about him despite knowing him longer. However, on that one night, James had placed a pair of noise cancelling headphones over Regulus’ ears. They were playing some soft instrumental music and ended up lulling the boy to sleep.

Regulus found himself wishing James was there.

He found himself wanting the comfort of the other boy’s arms around him.

Maybe he should have broken up with Barty and gone running to James as Sirius had advised.

Maybe Regulus would call James again. It’s been a month… what could it hurt at this point?

Before he could talk himself out of it, Regulus heard the familiar dial tone in his ear. At the same time, he heard someone pick up; a loud clap of thunder startled him.

‘Hey, Regulus- Are you okay?’ The voice came through the phone—James’ voice.

Regulus smiled slightly at the sound. This seems to be a recurring theme: James asking him if he’s okay.

“Yeah… I’m fine, just the storm, and Barty’s gone for the week.” He sighed, trying to keep himself calm while waiting for James to respond.

‘Yeah, it’s pretty bad out there… Wait, are you alone?’ The concern in his voice did not get lost through the phone, and Regulus wanted to hit himself for smiling.

He still cares about me. Regulus thought before quickly shaking it away.

“Oh… I’m fine- Barty’s just out of town-” Another clap of thunder cut Regulus off this time as he hugged the pillow closer to his chest. “Yeah- I’m fine.” He said once again before James could argue or protest.

‘Reggie… you don’t have to lie to me. I know you’re probably scared right now. I can stay on the phone until the storm settles down… or I can pick you up, and we can return to my place?’

There James goes, doing what he does best and caring about other people.

Regulus wanted to accept the offer so badly. Nothing was stopping him, so he did.

“I would actually… I would like it if you came and picked me up.” He quietly spoke into the phone despite no one else around him. A bad habit, he supposed, one he will probably never be rid of.

‘Stay put. I’ll be there in twenty minutes at most-’

There wasn’t much else to be said, so they said their goodbyes and hung up the phone.

Regulus listened, not that he had anywhere else to go, but he didn’t move from his spot. Not until he received a text from James announcing his arrival.

There was not a single care in the dark-haired boy’s mind as he immediately stood and ran for the door. Once it was open, he was met with the sight of a soaking wet James stood beside his car, grinning like an absolute fool.

Regulus smiled and shook his head.

“Come on, Black. I’m not waiting for the grass to grow.”

He wasn’t even wearing shoes or a coat, but Regulus went running from the doorway right into James’ arms. Regulus didn’t know why… Well, he actually did.

Sometimes, you just know when you’re meant to be with someone. It doesn’t matter how many rough patches you face or how often you are separated. When you are meant to be with someone, you will always find your way back to them, and that’s how Regulus felt about this. He felt as though he and James were meant to be together, and this was them finding each other once more.

If you asked Regulus, he is not one to believe in cliches like this, but when James’ arms wrapped around him, he couldn’t help but feel any other way.

“Okay, I wasn’t expecting that.” James laughed as he kept holding onto Regulus. He wasn’t going to let go of the other.

“Sorry… I really miss you, James. I should have never left you. It was the biggest mistake of my life.” Regulus expressed, getting it all off his chest as they stood there, drenched in the rain.

“I miss you too, Reggie, but aren’t you and Barty happy together?”

That earned a heavy sigh from the shorter male as he pulled back from the hug to look up at James. “No, not really. Barty doesn’t treat me anything like you did, and I’m not very happy. He would be better off with someone else, and honestly, I think he has been seeing someone else.”

“Okay… That’s a lot to get into. Let’s get you back to my house and out of the rain, and we can talk about this, yeah?”

It was that night and one fear-driven phone call that led James and Regulus to get back together. Neither Regulus nor Barty left on bad terms. They, for the most part, had agreed that they were better off as friends.

After some time, Regulus had even gotten to meet Lily and her new girlfriend. They were very sweet people, and he was glad he hadn’t jumped into some crazy assumption about her. His jealousy would have done something like that… but he didn’t, and they all often hung out, going on double dates; sometimes even Sirius and Remus would join them.

Regulus was happy again in the comfort and warmth of his own personal sun, shining like the star he was often told he was. There was no way Regulus would let this get away from him again. He was here with James forever.