Walmart
^ I know! Lucius just won’t listen to me! Anyways, I want a picture of this James. You’re describing him to sound like Zeus. Picture! Soon!
Regulus rolls his eyes at Narcissa’s text, his face slightly turning red. He was NOT describing James like Zeus, for your information. He sighs as he sets his phone back in his lap.
It had been around 30 minutes since they left. The group is now in Omaha, or Regulus assumes so. The traffic isn’t bad because it’s almost 9:30 pm.
James’s driving isn’t horrible, Regulus thinks. He’s taken a couple sharp turns, and almost hit a deer, but other than that Regulus has felt safe. James is a quiet driver, which Regulus has notices that it’s the only time James is quiet. Regulus likes it, a lot, actually. It’s calm.
Regulus looks back to see both Sirius and Remus asleep. Sirius is slumped towards the middle, his phone still on his lap and his legs crossed under him. His neck is cranked in an awkward angle which makes Regulus sure his brother will complain about it.
Remus is asleep in his seat. He’s clearly more comfortable with his legs straight out. His head is lolled back, his mouth slightly open.
Regulus wonders why Remus sleeps so much. He’s slept practically the whole time Regulus has known him. But, in Remus defense, Regulus knows that Remus is a busy person. He doesn’t bother to ask, since it’s not his business.
James pulls past a Canes and into the Walmart parking lot. He shuts off the car, unplugs his phone, and gets out. Regulus follows in suit.
“I’ll wake up Remus, you get Sirius?” James says, walking around the truck to Remus’s side. Regulus nods and walks over to Sirius’s side.
“Wake up, asshole,” Regulus says, shaking Sirius awake.
“Fuck off,” Sirius grumbles.
“Get up, we are here.” Regulus grabs Sirius wrist and practically drags him out of the car. Sirius huffs, but finally gives in. Remus, who’s rubbing his eyes, is standing next to James on the other side of the truck.
“Ready to go?” James asks.
Regulus nods, ignoring Sirius’s protests to being woke up. James leads the group into the store.
Regulus thinks it’s so.. bland. Everything is either blue or gray, and the lights are so blinding.
As soon as you walk in, there is a large section of fruits and vegetables, next to the meat section.
“Ma said she needed some milk so we will get that first, then we can go look around,” James says. He starts to walk in the direction of the milk aisle. He moves like he knows the place like the back of his hand. Which, Regulus thinks, is probably true.
James and Remus have lived their whole lives here. Well, at least James has. Remus has only spent a short time.
Regulus can’t help but feel like an intruder into their lives. Regulus knows, technically, the Potters chose him, but it doesn’t make him feel any less guilty.
Regulus snaps out of his thoughts when he feels a gentle hand on his bicep. He turns to see Remus guiding him in the direction James and Sirius went.
“James got distracted by the ice cream, so he’s another aisle down,” Remus explains, “I don’t want you getting lost. This place is a maze.”
Regulus makes an ‘O’ shape with his mouth as he follows Remus down the aisle.
He’s come to like Remus, a lot, actually. Remus is quiet, but not a shy quiet, he just doesn’t talk. Remus isn’t afraid to speak his mind, and Regulus likes that.
Regulus likes how calm Remus always is. He’s like a direct contradiction of James. They balance each other out, loud and cocky to quiet and calm.
Regulus and Remus turn the corner to see Sirius and James fighting over an ice cream flavor.
“Mint chocolate chip literally tastes like toothpaste,” James huffs, crossing his arms over his chest like a pouting child.
“It does not! It’s a perfect combination of mint and chocolate!” Sirius counters, mocking James’s stance.
“Just get the stupid chocolate so we can go?” Remus says, glancing between the two different tubs of ice cream — chocolate and mint chocolate chip.
“But—“
“We can get a mint whipped cream or something. It’s basically the same thing,” Remus says, his voice calm and a little annoyed.
“Oh,” James and Sirius say at the same time.
“Want to go ride the bikes?” James says. Sirius eyes light up and before Regulus can realize what happened, James and Sirius are gone.
Remus sighs, rubbing his temples. He grabs the ice cream and walks down to the milk.
“Fucking children. I’m friends with children,” Remus mumbles.
Regulus smiles as he jogs up to catch Remus. “Do you know what kind of milk Effie needs?”
“Yeah, the Potters always get the red cap.” Regulus nods, looking at the fridges of milk. Remus reaches down, a small wince of pain coming over his face. He grabs the milk and straightens up, the flicker of vulnerability gone.
Regulus pretends he didn’t notice.
Remus walks down the aisle to where the whipped cream is. He kneels down, winces, and grabs the green bottle of mint whipped cream.
Regulus pretends he doesn’t notice.
The duo sets off towards the toys — where the bikes are.
“So, um, Remus?” Regulus asks, messing with his ring on his finger. He takes Remus’s low hum as a sign to continue. “How long have you lived in Nebraska?”
“Around.. 6 months I think? It was a couple weeks after my 16th birthday,” Remus says, shrugging his shoulders.
“Right, and where did you live before that?”
“Cheyenne,” Remus responds, then chuckles at the confused look on Regulus’s face. “It’s in Wyoming, which is another state. It’s around.. 7 hours.”
“That’s the one with all the cowboys, right?” Regulus asks.
“Yeah, there are a lot of cow—“
“WEEEE!” James exclaims as both him and Sirius ride around on the kid bikes. James isn’t a small person, so his body is crouched into the bike. Sirius, who also isn’t small, looks the same way.
Regulus shakes his head but can’t keep himself from not smiling. Regulus opens his phone, pulls out his Snapchat, and takes a dual camera photo. One side is of him and Remus, pretending to be annoyed. The other side is of Sirius and James riding the bikes.
^ It’s only been a day and we are already sick of them :(
Regulus sends the photo to Narcissa then closes his phone.
“Sirius! Watch this!” James says, leaning backward on the bike to hit a wheelie.
“Hey! I want to try!” Sirius says. He pulls the front tire up to ride, until he looses his balance and falls off the side. Remus tenses, but both Regulus and James burst out laughing.
“Idiot!” James says, stopping his bike fully to clutch his ribs. Regulus smiles so wide the muscles in his cheeks hurt.
Sirius pouts, his bottom lip turned out. “It hurt.”
“You fell, stupid.”
“Hey, that’s not nice,” Sirius pouts at Regulus, until he can’t and starts to laugh too. Regulus sees the corner of Remus’s lips turn up.
James walks over and offers a hand to Sirius, pulling him back to his feet. Remus wheels the bikes back into place.
“Oh, good! You got the milk!” James says, beaming at Remus.
“And the ice cream, and the whipped cream,” Remus adds.
“You’re amazing, Remus,” James says, his smile bright like a ray of sunshine.
“Right, what else did you want to get?” Remus asks.
“Oh, um, nothing, I think. Unless you guys want some snacks?” James asks, looking around at the group, “ma was thinking we could watch a movie? I know it’s late, but she says she already made cookies.”
Remus smiles, “we can’t deny your mother’s cookies.”
“Cmon, I want to eat like a true American fat man!” Sirius says, already heading down the toy aisle and back towards the food. James laughs, throwing his head back as he sprints after Sirius.
“No, I’m serious. Effie makes the best cookies,” Remus says, looking down at Regulus, “it’s so hard to deny them.”
Regulus and Remus follow Sirius and James down the candy aisle.
Sirius looks like a little kid in a candy store. He’s gazing at the candy like it’s made of gold. James is already down the aisle, picking out a pack of gummies.
“Go ahead. Pa is paying. Pick what you want,” James says, flashing Monty’s card between his fingers. Sirius grins and picks out a bag of gummy bears. Remus picks out a chocolate bar. Regulus hesitates, then grabs a small pack of Reeses.
“Ready?” James asks, counting all of the items and placing them in a hand-held basket. Everyone nods as James effortlessly picks up the basket and walks towards self checkout.
James quickly buys everything, puts it all in one bag — ignoring how Remus says the plastic will break — and sets off back towards the truck.
“You all can go to sleep if you want,” James says, putting the bag in the middle back seat. “I don’t really mind.”
Sirius nods, his body slumped down and his eyes half-lidded. Remus, who’s in the back passenger seat, is already asleep, his head back and his mouth open. James chuckles as he moves over to place the seatbelt over Remus.
Regulus settles into the passenger seat, buckling his own seatbelt. He leans back as James messes with his FM transmitter. Soon enough, Friends by Chase Atlantic starts to play.
James pulls out of Walmart and back onto the interstate without saying a word.
Regulus wants to know why James does that. James is never quiet, expect for when he drives. Is it concentration? Regulus wants to know.
*Cissa <3 saved your snap in chat
^THATS JAMES?!
Narcissa saves the snap that Regulus took, the one of Remus and Regulus shaking their heads at Sirius and James, in chat. She drew a large red circle over James’s face.
^Yeah, that’s James
Narcissa sends a snap back that makes Regulus smile. It’s a photo of her and Bellatrix, both pretending to be swooning over James.
Regulus is pretty sure that if his cousins actually met James, they wouldn’t like each other.
Regulus shuts off his phone and leans his head on the window, watching the Nebraska land go by. It’s boring, Regulus thinks, but it’s refreshingly new. Most of the land is farm land, but there are old farm houses. Earlier, they even passed cows and horses.
Regulus looks over at James. This is one of the rare moments when James is quiet, but he’s not still. James is drumming his fingers on the steering wheel to the beat of the song.
Regulus leans back in his seat slightly, subtly studying James.
Regulus can’t deny that James is practically perfect. James has big, teddy bear brown eyes hidden behind the silver rims of his glasses. His skin is a perfect tan color, with small freckles all over. James’s nose slopes perfectly and doesn’t make his face look awkward. His jawline is perfectly chiseled. His lips are soft and pink, not too big, not too small.
Regulus finds himself wondering what they taste like.
Regulus clears his throat and looks away to keep himself from blushing too much.
James turns his head, just slightly, then looks back at the road.
“So.. uhh.. when does school start?” Regulus asks once the awkward silence starts to get unbearable.
“August 23rd, so.. about a week and a half,” James says, “but ma said you guys will go in a day before so you can get a tour and everything.”
“Oh.. okay.”
James nods then turns back to the road.
Regulus spends the rest of the car ride in silence, looking out the window.
It’s not until James turns into the driveway that Regulus realizes they are home.
“You get Sirius, I’ll get Remus?” James asks.
Regulus smiles as he makes his way to Sirius’s side of the car.