Chapter O2
CHAPTER O2
The day at the internship was fine, Remus thought. They made him walk around with paper coffee cups like that was going to make him a better interviewer, but it was fine. He got handed his schedule for the rest of the summer break by the sweet old secretary- Olga. And prayed it didn't clash with Elliot's shifts.
So he got out at six thirty and killed time at a public library until seven, when he had to meet Elliot at the factory. It was a short walk, ten minutes later his eyes found the relaxed figure of Elliot, who was leaning against a dirty wall, freshly lit cigarrette hanging from his lips and smoke spiraling above his head. He hugged himself, wanting to get rid of the chilly air this hour of the day seemed to bring. People were scattering around him, collegues that were also finishing their shift and going home for the day.
"Hey" Remus greeted him when he was close enough.
"Hey. Ready?" Elliot asked. They inmediately started walking shouder to shoulder to the bus station, engaging in some small talk until they got on the bus and aching for a soft bed.
"How was the internship?" Elliot asked him after they both found their way to the seats, tighs brushing lightly against each other.
"It was fine, I guess. Juggled coffee cups around all day" Elliot snickered. "Hey! Don't laugh at me"
"I'm not. That's a perfectely worthy task to do" Remus rolled his eyes playfully and shoved him. "What was it? Some newspaper company?" He furrowed his eyebrows, trying to remember exactly what Remus said. He hummed.
"Yes. I've been thinking I would like to be a journalist, so It's perfect. My mum got it for me. Said she had some 'contacts'. I still don't know what she meant by that, she works at a bakery" Remus answered with a smile.
"So no magic related things? After Hogwarts, I mean"
"Well, I dont know, actually. I suppose I could be a Wizarding World journalist, but I'm seeing where this goes. I still got time" Elliot nodded. "What about you?"
"What about me?"
"Do you know what will you do after Hogwarts?" Elliot seemed to grow uncomfortable, shifting slightly in his seat and getting his eyes off of Remus's. He shrugged.
"Keep bending car parts at the factory, I guess. Maybe I'll get promoted to getting paid full minimum wage, who knows? Sounds good to me" he said bitterly, yet attempting to make a joke out of it. But Remus didn't laugh.
Elliot knew how fucking lame he was. He spended all day pushing buttons and lifting compressing machines to arrive home with grease stained clothes and skin in an attempt to put a little more food on the table for his family. He never did good at school, in Howgarts it was even worse. He couldn't change a teacup into a frog if his life depended on it. The only reason he kept going every year was because it meant a mouth less to feed during the year and charging an unreasonable amount of money to wizards for lit assignments was easier. That way he could still send money to his mother while being away. There was also the fact that his father's anger seemed to decrease when he wasn't in the house, so that meant less trouble for everyone too.
When he saw Remus on his front door earlier that day, he thought he could kill him right there on the spot -he was sure he could find some sketchy neighbour to get rid of the body-, making him forget that he ever saw him. It's not that he was embarassed by the way his life was, but it would be easier if he had a nicer home to go back to evey day.
And Remus was the first person in six years he was a little more than aquaintances with. He would have liked it more if everything too personal was kept as far away as possible. He spended way too much time alone at Hogwarts for this absolute dork to break all the walls he had constructed over the years. He had let his guard down, that was his fault.
Friends were useless, it wasn't like they would ever see eachother after graduating. So who cared if Remus Lupin saw how messed up his life actually was? Who cared if he saw the scars that littered his body? As long as he didn't tried to kiss them better, the boy could keep all his teeth in his mouth. Maybe he'll get freaked out and not speak a single word to him next year. Maybe that's for the best.
"I think you could do better than that" Remus looked at Elliot like he could see right through all his bullshit. He scoffed.
"Like what? Average wage? I think that's hopeful thinking, even for yo-"
"I'm serious" Remus interrupted him firmly, as if he was convinced Elliot could be the fucking king of England if he wanted to.
"Yeah, me too, Remus" he said in such a tone Remus knew the conversation was over. Still, he opened his mouth to fight, but quickly closed it when the bus came to a halt at their stop.
They thanked the driver and walked through the streets under an uncomfortable silence, just like before. There were more people outside now, though, mostly drunks, but some normal people were headed to town, since it was friday night. Remus was so tired he couldn't even think about going out.
"Listen, Remus" Elliot stopped them before opening the door to his house. He looked at Remus straight in the eyes with that same stern face he saw him using with Eric earlier. "I don't mind that you are here, really, I don't" he shook his head when Remus went to say something "No. Listen. It's all good, but if I ever tell you to go to my room and close the door, you do it. You understand, right?"
"I don't-"
"Remus. You understand, right?" He repeated a little louder.
"Yeah. Yeah. I understand"
"Good" he took the key out of his pocket and opened the door, being welcomed by warm lights and the smell of a home cooked dinner. Finally closing it behind Remus "I'm home!"
"Hi, honey! Oh! You brought a friend?" said a small woman that was steering something in a big pot. She gave Remus a big smile before heading to kiss his son's cheek.
"Uh, yeah. Ma, this is Remus. He'll crash in my room for a couple days" as fast as it appeared, her smile dropped as she looked severely at Elliot, hands on her hips. Remus believed she and Euphemia Potter would get along well.
"Elio! I told you I didn't want more drug addicts "crashing" in my house!" She whispered at him even thought Remus could hear them perfectly. He also wondered why did she have to ask him that in the first place.
"He's not a drug addict! He's from school. Christ, he's dressed like a librarian, a drug addict doesn't dress like this" Elliot responded in a normal tone, signaling to Remus's lanky figure with his hand, making the boy laugh and his mothers smile return.
"Oh, it's okay, then. Nice to meet you, Remus" they shook hands.
"A pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Faye"
"What a polite boy. I really do hope you actually aren't a drug addict"
"I'm not, ma'am"
"Good. And call me Marian" she looked at her son "Elio, go say hi to Dom, he's with Lupe and Eric in their room. He's been screaming for you all day long"
"I'll take a shower first, I'm disgusting. Don't wanna dirty him" she nodded as both boys started heading to Elliot's room "You wanna go next? I'll save you hot water"
"No, it's okay. I prefer morning showers, either way" Elliot looked at him disgusted.
"So you're a masochist" Remus laughed.
Elliot grabbed some things from the bedroom and dissapeared in the hallway, leaving the sandy haired boy alone. He looked around. There were a couple posters on the walls, The Clash and T-Rex -of course-, a lot of baby stuff laying around, some toys on top of the messy dresser and an old faded black guitar in a corner. Elliot's bed was on the right side of the room and Dom's crane was at the feet of the bed.
A couple minutes later Elliot was back from the shower, curls dripping water and wearing only a pair of underwear. Remus quickly busied his eyes with Marc Bolan's guitar while the other boy got into some comfortable clothes. Long sleeves this time.
"Let's go" When they got out of the room Dominic's little figure was waiting for them on the floor next to the couch, playing with a sock that was laying around. Elliot crouched and opened his arms the instant he saw him with a big smile "Hello, my little munckin!" He said in a sing-songy, kinda creepy voice. Dominic instantly started laughing and walking up to him, changed to crawling when he fell down. Elliot held him close to his chest and left kisses on his pudgy cheeks while they got closer to the table that was finishing being set by Eric and Lupe.
"He'll start walking all the time pretty soon!" said Marian, starting to fill the empty plates with some kind of casserole while everyone took their sits, Remus on Elliot's right, who had his mother in front of him. Across from Remus was Eric and Lupe was next to him. There was no one on the end of the table.
"Good. I can start oredering him to make me sandwiches" said Lupe making them laugh.
"Not on my watch" Elliot told her, althought there was a smile on his face.
"So you are a wizard too, Remus?" Marian asked him.
"Yes. I've met Elliot at Hogwarts. We are in the same house"
"I wish I could do magic" pouted Eric, stabbing a carrot with his fork. "You never do" he recriminated to his older brother.
"That's because I'm shit at it"
"How can you be even be able to do magic and suck at it?" Lupe looked at him incredulous.
"Well, magic is quite hard, actually" said Remus softly, trying to defend his friend.
"Oh, come on! Mr. Top of the Class" Elliot made light fun of him.
"You're top of the class?" The girl asked him, eyebrows raised and mocking smile, laughing sterically when Remus shrugged, embarassed. Quickly Eric followed and that made Dominic laugh, wich made the rest of them smile.
Remus looked at Elliot, as to ask him why were they laughing so hard. "Down here in Jaywick being top of the class isn't a good thing" he explained "But don't mind her. She's a bully" he said, more to Lupe than to him.
"I'm not!" Her laugh dissipated.
"Stop. Don't fight" Marian said, smile still on her face.
"Mom! You're starting to sound like Elliot" said Lupe, looking at her brother with annoyed eyes. Remus could see something snap in the boy's dark eyes.
"You know, in normal families, I should be the one starting to sound like her" he leaned into the table, careful not to squash the baby still on his lap. A challenging look on his face.
The air felt heavy around them, only the sound of forks against the plastic dishes being heard. "Don't" was the only thing Eric said, looking between his siblings.
Elliot was so, so tired. He would never admit it but having to be like a parent on top of a provider, on top of a seventeen year old on top of student was fucking exhausting. And he was annoyed, because it wasn't rare that Lupe would say things just to hurt him. He got it, she was a kid about to go through puberty and he was the one having to boss her around. Hell, he was raising her. He was awful at that age too, probably even worse. But a little gratitude wouldn't hurt nobody.
And he couldn't get why their mother wouldn't just do the job herself, it was her's, after all. He absolutely loved his family, but sometimes he just wanted to crawl up on his bed and never have to get up again. If there was something keeping him from doing just that, it was the urge to give them something he never had: the opportunity to be a kid, to not having to find ways to make a little money at ten years old.
They finished the food in silence and Elliot quickly washed the dishes before heading to his room. He prepared Remus's bed next to his and left him alone so the boy could change to his pijamas in peace. When he came back he cradled Dominic in his arms and layed in his bed with the baby fast asleep between his body and the wall.
Elliot rubbed his eyes tiredly. "You okay?" Asked Remus from his own laying position, trying to play it cool. He nodded, but Remus wasn't convinced.
"Yeah"
"I saw your tattoos, earlier. Do they have any meanings?" That was another way of saying I saw you. I saw your way of ornamenting your body other than with scars and burns. But all he could do now was attempt to get a normal conversation out of Elliot. And then again, he wanted to know everything about him. He thought that could be a good start.
Elliot looked like he was trying to make up his mind about something, debating with himself "Uh... yeah. Yeah. Fuck it" He muttered the last part and slid his shirt above his head to let Remus see his torso.
There were more scars and a couple of healing bruises. But in Remus eyes, he looked absolutely mesmerizing. Elliot had never asked him about his own scars, wich were in more visible places than his, and he always felt grateful for that. So he wouldn't ask him about his, either. Elliot was relieved.
They both sat up on their matresses.
"Uh, some of them are stupid. I got the fawn on a night out, I was high out of my mind and me and a friend saw a deer in the middle of town. We thought it was crazy, so we inmediately got to the closest tattoo parlour" Remus laughed lightly at the story. He then pointed to the flower in his bicep "This was the logo of the record shop my mom worked at back in California. She used to always bring me the ones that didn't sell" he then pointed to the spike in his neck, looking up so Remus could see it "Got this for the year I spent in juvie. McGonagall let me take the 4th year exams all at once, barely passed the year" Remus suddenly remebered that he, in fact, hadn't seen Elliot for the entirety of 4th year. Back then he thought he would never catch a glimpse of him again, but showed up next year.
"What did you get in for?" He asked, fearing he got a little too confident with his question. But Elliot shrugged disdainfully, like he thought it was unfair they locked him in.
"I dealed for a while. Offered Xanax to a stressed looking lady on the street and the bitch ratted me out"
"You dealt at forteen? No wonder she did" said Remus, laughing lightly. Elliot smiled.
"Hey, am I here to talk about my tattoes or juvie?" Remus rolled his eyes playfully and waited for Elliot to continue the tour around his skin. Pointed to the shaky heart on his other bicep "I was dumb enough to let an eleven year old Gia do this one on me with a friends brand new tattoo gun" Remus vocifered his agreement with the boy's past statement "I was an angsty thirteen year old. Leave me alone" the blonde laughed and Elliot twisted his body to show him his back "Apple is Dom's middle name. Eric chose it. Self explanatory" he lastly pointed to the one on his chest. It was a drawing of a man with his arms crossed hanging upside down by one of his ankles "This signifies a waiting phase. Reminds me to slow down and take a step back before making a decision. God knows I've taken too many bad ones already" he finished, laying back on the bed and resting his forearms under his head. "Night" he said before Remus could mutter anything.
Elliot turned off the light and gave his back to Remus, huging the sleeping baby close to his chest.
"... Good night, Elliot"
Elliot fell asleep thinking about how much he wished everything could be different. Remus fell asleep grateful for being able to mutter Elliot's name the next day.