Showstopper

Sirius finishes making three cups of tea; one for the light of his life, his best friend, his other half. The second cups are for his loving boyfriend and the last one being for himself. He places one in front of James, then Remus before taking sip of his own. Sirius gives the other two a few moments to fully wake up before he looks over at James with a hopefully look in his eyes and a small smile as he says "Prongs, has Reggie texted you back yet? I know you sent the song and well... I just wanted to check in." Sirius didn't even have to wait for the response James would give him because the way James' face had fallen was answer enough but Sirius waited and gave James the time he needed to respond.

James takes a few moments to try and control his facial expressions, which is clear to Sirius. Once his face is more neutral probably trying to make it so that Sirius doesn't worry, he shakes his head slightly as he says "No.", James takes a sip of his tea while avoiding Sirius' eyes.

Sirius nods slightly before saying "It's okay, just give it some time and well maybe he'll come around. If not, we'll figure something else out Prongs." Sirius looks over at the clock before back at Remus and James as he says "Anyway, I've got to go meet up with Marlene for breakfast. I don't know when I'll be back but your free to stay here with Moony." He knows by the look on Remus' face that he knows Sirius is lying and that he does not argue with whatever plan Sirius has cooked up. So, he gives him his false sweet smile, that he knows won't work but will hopefully keep him from calling out Sirius' lie.

It works because Remus keeps quiet, whereas James says softly "No, it's okay. I'm going to head home and see if I can come up with a different plan to talk to Reggie, or I don't know do something to at least keep my mind off of everything." At this response, Sirius and Remus sharing a silent look of concern but Sirius can't handle this right now, not with his plan to go over to Regulus' unannounced and talk this shit out. Sirius is torn on what to do but decides that his plan would help both parties out faster, and likely better than sitting here trying to get James in a better mood. If his plan works than well James will be in a better mood then, if not well Sirius will help him figure something else out.

Sirius finishes his tea and moves over kissing Remus on the cheek before moving to the living room to grab his leather jacket, he then moves back into the kitchen just as James finishes his own tea. The two of them leave the apartment together but go their separate ways, James to his car to make his way home while Sirius heads over to his bike and takes off in the direction of Regulus' flat. It takes about twenty minutes for him to arrive, and he parks under a tree out on the curb near Regulus' flat. He makes his way up to the flat and knocks on the door, Sirius stands waiting for him to answer the door and when he doesn't, he knocks again this time louder. About five minutes passes from what Sirius can tell and his irritation grows a bit as he knocks even louder hoping to grab Regulus' attention. When the door opens finally, he's surprised because it wasn't Regulus who opens the door it was Evan Rosier, one of Regulus' friends. Sirius' face portrays his surprise whereas Evan's face is full of sleep that slowly fades as irritation and slight anger take over his features as he says sharply "What the hell are you doing here?"

Sirius' expression changes from surprise to irritation at the tone Evan is using and he glares at him, as he says sarcastically "To see you, don't be daft. I'm here to talk to MY brother. Move." He steps forward as if to maneuver around Evan and into the flat, but he's stopped by Evan's hand on his shoulder to which Sirius shakes it off instantly. Before either man could speak up, Regulus' voice is heard from within the flat.

"Let him in Ev, and Siri don't be a dick to Evan. I don't have the patience to listen to y'all bicker right now." Regulus' voice is strong and loud, yet Sirius could hear the underlying strain, a strain that held so many emotions that Sirius wasn't even able to begin to decipher what they could be. With Regulus' statement Evan moves back into the flat, but ignores Sirius as he follows him in. Sirius watches Evan as they move into the living room, Sirius' eyes wander until they see Regulus who is sat on the couch next to Pandora. Sirius wonders if the Rosier Twins had stayed the night to be with Regulus in the same sense that James had stayed at Rem and Sirius' place. James had needed the support and it's clear to Sirius that Regulus had needed just as much support especially if his suspicions where correct about whether or not the Rosier Twins had actually stayed the night.

Sirius moved further into the living room as he looked at Regulus curled up on the couch next Pandora just as Evan takes a seat next to Regulus, he kind of wished that Regulus' friends weren't here for this conversation but he was also glad that Regulus had his support system so he shook his head slightly to allow himself to stop thinking about it and just get to the point of why he was here at the moment. "I uh wanted to talk to you about James." Sirius said softly as he watched Regulus.

Regulus had stiffened instantly, a frown falling across his features as Evan straightened in his spot his fists clenched, Pandora had moved closer to Regulus and Sirius could see her hand rubbing Regulus' back. Sirius knew from their reactions that it was likely that this could blow up but he needed to do this, it had become clear to him how much James loved Regulus and if Sirius was right about Regulus' current state well than Regulus must love James just as much if not more. He couldn't bare the way to see the way they were both feeling right now and that alone pushes Sirius to subconsciously move closer to Regulus.

"You don't even have to say anything to me but please Reg, just listen to what I have to say. You aren't even answering his calls or texts and I know he's been trying.
James is going crazy right now and I can't handle to see him this way, especially when I think if you knew everything that you would understand. I know that part of this is unknowingly my fault." Sirius says softly, he's close enough to Regulus now that if he reached out, he'd be able to touch him, but he knows he shouldn't. "He didn't want to cause a rift between us seeing as well... you know we haven't been as close as we used to be and with you leaving home too well, we have a lot we still need to work through, and he wanted to give us the time to do that and well I'm me so he just he was being careful. And I'm sorry if that hurt you, truly I am Reggie, but it still doesn't make sense why you aren't reaching out to him now?"

If looks could kill the look Evan was giving would have killed Sirius instantly, and it seemed that Evan was going to be the one to answer as he leaned forward, his lips slightly drawn out as if he was going to speak but Regulus cut him off with a disgruntled noise and a sharp voice. "Yeah, I bloody know why we kept it a secret, we always communicated. Always. The fucking problem is the fact that he hasn't even tried to deny the rumors of Lily fucking Evans. If he cared so fucking much then why wouldn't he reach out to me after it blew up a week ago. Why hasn't he publicly fucking said the rumors are untrue huh? It's about communication Sirius! And I'm not going to be the one to reach out when I did nothing wrong here! Why should I tell him that everything is okay, when he hasn't even explained what happened? A song, yes. Last night! After a week of nothing! He only said anything to me after OUR song came out, so clearly his mind is fucking elsewhere."

The anger in Regulus' voice in clear as day, and if anyone else had been having this conversation they'd probably respond in anger or frustration, but Sirius knows Regulus more than either of them before today had honestly realized because to Sirius' ears it's not the anger that is most clear, it's the pain. And that pain hits Sirius in his very soul, his baby brother is hurting. Sirius stands there staring at him, unsure of what to say in this moment because it feels as if he's just making things worse but then it hits him. Something Regulus had said, it starts to run through his mind, how James hadn't reached out after the photos of Lily and him had started to go viral and it clicked so he asks softly "Reg, this is about the fact he hadn't gotten ahold of you or publicly denied things with Lily?"

Regulus doesn't give a verbal answer at all, the pain in his eyes is still clear as day as he nods slightly as if to say mainly. Which causes Sirius to bark out a surprised laugh before quickly shutting up, that wasn't the right thing to do but honestly sometimes he can't control it. He always laughs when he shouldn't and the look on Regulus, Pandora and Evan's faces clearly show this is one of the worst times to have accidentally laughed. Sirius holds his hands up in playful surrender as he says sincerely "I'm sorry, truly. I didn't mean to laugh; it's just well I understand it all now. Regulus, he didn't reach out because he didn't know. And I know what your thinking, how didn't he know, it's actually pretty simple. James posts regularly to keep the fans happy, to keep the press of his back. But he doesn't check his notifications nearly as often, it's not really his best quality you know? James didn't even know about the photos nor about how crazy the internet was until I brought it up to him. You know what he did right after he found out? He reached out to you, he called. And when you didn't answer? He came to me; he told me everything. Your guy's story, about the love you two share. He was a mess, still is. But he's trying Reggie."

Sirius rushed to explain everything he knew in hopes that it would help them, he hated seeing his baby brother and best friend in pain. Typically, he would solve either of those issues by getting back at whoever had hurt them, but they were unintentionally hurting each other and both parties seemed to be oblivious to what harm they were causing the other.

The entire room was silent after Sirius' explanation, it was clear that this was not anything that the three of them had been expecting Sirius to say and each of them needed a moment to let the information to sink in. The look of Regulus' face showed his emotions so clearly, which was a bit surprising to Sirius because Regulus was usually able to conceal his emotions or at the bare minimum what he could be thinking about, but this topic clearly affected him hugely. Evan's face held suspicion and a bit of left over anger, whereas Pandora's usually expressive face held a blank empty look that unsettled Sirius move than the fact that Regulus' face was extremely expressive. The silence dragged on for what felt like forever but was likely on a moment or two, but Sirius had said his piece and well he was hoping Regulus would ask something or give Sirius something to work with.

The one to break the silence is Evan, and if the look on his face was any indicator of what he might say well Sirius was prepared for just about anything. "IF what you're saying is true, then why isn't he the one whose here right now? If he didn't do anything wrong, if he just found out. Why are you here and not him. Explain that because to me, this all sounds like fucking bullshit."

His words hit exactly how he had meant for them to, Sirius was enraged. How dare he try and act like Sirius was lying, as if James didn't care enough to be here, as if they would intentionally come up with a lie to try and get James' back into Regulus' good grace. It took everything within Sirius not to explode in that moment, a year ago he would have and it would've made everything ten times worse. Sirius took a deep breath before saying in a voice full of anger and badly concealed venom "Because James cares about Regulus, and if he's not answering then it's clear that he wants to be left alone or to have his space and James would never especially right now risk upsetting Regulus further by just showing up. But this is eating him alive, and if I can tell that as clear as I can right now, then it's fucking bad. James may seem like the type to wear his heart on his sleeve, and he is. But when he feels down, hurt or anything that he deems remotely bad? He BURIES it. So much so that it took our group years to even realize that he felt that way at all, James is sunshine. He's always been sunshine, but of course he has bad day it's just you never notice. No one notices, and EVERYONE can notice it right now. So that is why I am here. Because he won't disrespect the boundaries that Regulus has set, even if it kills him inside. You would do the exact same thing as me, and you know it." Sirius looks Evan dead in the eyes as he speaks, so he misses the look of pure agony on Regulus' face as Regulus finally understands the gravity of the situation and how deeply it has actually affected James.

The room is silent as the words sink in, each of them locked in their thoughts as they all try to process the information. The look on Regulus' face is clear as light, the doubts are visible for all to see. Did he truly jump to conclusions this quickly when James wasn't even aware of what was going on? Did he even believe the rumors to begin with or was it the past trauma that always had him running before he's fully thought it through, because in his experience it was always better to leave before you can be hurt rather than wait around and hope that he might be wrong. Pandora's face is still more closed off than her normal cheery smile or at least slight happiness that she always seemed to carry. It was as if she had disassociated from the conversation going on around her as she began stuck in her mind. And Evan, well face flashed through multiple emotions, each one faster than the other making it hard for Sirius to even begin to try and understand what he might be thinking.

"I- I didn't know. I would never have allowed James to be hurt had I known the truth. I should've tried to talk to him when it all went viral, but he's James he always seems to know what's going on with everyone else, so I thought he'd know what was going on with himself and his image... He always knows... Siri, he always knows. I didn't want to wait around and get hurt... I didn't mean to hurt him; I would never have intentionally- well maybe I meant to with the song, but I was hurting. I just well, I'll talk to him. I just you... you know me, you know what it was like in that house. Of course, I- I- I didn't know if I could trust h-" Regulus rambles on as he tries to make sense of the situation and how he could possibly fix this.

Of course it isn't all on Regulus, there was clearly a lot of miscommunications but if he'd been able to trust James whole heartly than maybe this wouldn't have happened. And it's not like his trust issues are on James or made worse by anything James had done, it was purely from past experiences and the depths of damage done to his mind. He loved James completely and he knew that right now he needed to try and figure out the best way to try and fix things, it wouldn't be easy and after this they would definitely have lots that they needed to work through, but James was worth it. All of it, even the pain that Regulus had recently gone through even if it was all a dumb miscommunication. The pain was real and would likely stick with him for as long as he would live but James was worth everything and anything, and Regulus was willing to do whatever it took.

Sirius moved to Regulus' side completely and knelt down beside him before placing his hand on top of Regulus' knee as he says kindly "Reggie, I know that this was not something you did intentionally, you have always been the type to love completely and with everything you have. You have also always been the type to burn those who you believe burned you, and I understand it wholeheartedly and I will do whatever I can to make this easier on you and James. I will be there whenever you need me, however you need me. And knowing James he will do anything to help you fix this, to help you guys fix this. I can see the love he has for you and I'm sorry that you guys are in this place right now."

Before he even finishes speaking Regulus had reached down and placed his hand on top of Sirius'. Sirius smiles slightly at Regulus as their eyes meet, the encouragement is written across Sirius' face and imbedded in his eyes. The smile only seems to grow as Regulus speaks "I know, thank you for coming and explaining... I'll call him or I don't know... But I'll do something." His voice is low and nervous but it's sincere. And that's all Sirius could ask for in this moment, he knew that whatever happens that it will take some time, but he would be there for both of them whenever they needed. Through it all, until the very end no matter the way things turned out because Regulus and James were two of the most important people in his life.