Sirius
It all started with a scarf.
Well okay, that’s not entirely true. It actually started with a lot of staring and a mild to moderate fixation, but ‘it all started with a scarf’ just sounds better, doesn’t it?
Everything that led Sirius up to where he is now happened on their very first night of Uni.
Everyone had already moved in, unpacked, and was familiarising themselves with neighbours when someone in their flat block decided to throw a little moving-in party and spread the word around.
Flash forward to an hour and a sturdy number of drinks later, Sirius is stood by the breakfast island in someone’s flat who he doesn’t even remember the name of. Just when he was about to go back to his room and finish unpacking, enter: the most beautiful boy Sirius had ever seen.
He had come in with a few girls that he seemed to have only just met, as he asked one of them their last name, but nonetheless they were still practically drooling on his shoulder. It would have annoyed Sirius (it didn’t, obviously) if seconds later, said boy hadn’t walked right past him to get a drink and his warm, gentle hand had just barely grazed Sirius’ waist to politely manoeuvre him out the way in the sea of people. If anyone else would have done that, Sirius would have probably slapped them and called them a perv.
But when a tall boy with caramel curls, soft shoulders and mesmerizingly golden flecked eyes did it, Sirius felt an actual bolt of electricity shoot through his veins. Of course, he had felt immediately stupid afterwards, knowing that the other boy hadn’t even so much as glanced at him as he followed out the action, it was merely a means of getting into the kitchen. To him, Sirius was nothing more than another body in the swarm of random freshers corralling around that tiny student flat.
Sirius had stood in the kitchen after that, absolutely transfixed by this boy he didn’t even (yet) know the name of and yet was already planning how many children to have with him.
Everything he did made Sirius’ stomach do a little loop- the half smile barely showing his top teeth every time some random person nodded in acknowledgement at him, the way his long fingers wrapped around his red solo cup and the way he brought it to his lips every so often for a tiny sip and grimaced adorably every time. Even the way he grabbed the arm of the fair red-headed girl he’d come in with every time he laughed at something she said. Sirius wanted to be jealous that it was her arm he was touching and not his, but then he remembered that considering he hadn’t even made it across the room to introduce himself, and therefore this boy had absolutely no idea that he existed, to be jealous of that may or may not make him borderline psychotic.
So he hung around, building up the courage to go and talk to the handsome boy who was now sitting on a sofa talking with some other people that he vaguely recognised.
God, he really didn’t know anyone yet did he? He hadn’t even met his flatmates yet; they weren’t moving in until that evening and he’d already left for the party. And after that what use was this party if he had been here for over two hours and he hadn’t actually spoken to anyone but had just slowly been getting tipsier in the corner whilst ogling the most out-of-his-league man he had ever seen.
Sirius waited and waited for his opportunity to introduce himself, going over and over what he would say in his head.
Just when he thought he saw his opening as the boy stood up and looked to be going to the now emptied out kitchen, he turned around and walked out with the same girls he came in with. Sirius trailed through the room like a lost puppy dog not even aware of what he was doing until he reached the sofa that the other had just been sitting on. When he got there but didn’t sit down, a boy with thick copper hair tapped the back of his ankle with his foot from where he was sitting on the opposite sofa.
“You lost, sweetheart?” He beamed up at Sirius with a flirtatious look in his eyes. The brown-haired boy sat next to him just snickered.
If there was one thing Sirius was good at, it was flirting with random, drunk boys. But right now, as his head was mildly spinning, he couldn’t think of anything worse, even if the boy was quite fit.
“Uhm, no. Think I’m just heading out” he said and bashfully smiled back.
The red head took a sip of his beer and raked his eyes over Sirius’ face. “Shame, we could’ve had some real fun if you’d stayed.”
Sirius didn’t even bother replying but just rolled his eyes and headed for the door when he heard someone behind him saying ‘oi!’ repeatedly. He turned around to see the red head stood up behind him.
“I’ll assume you’re talking to me?” Sirius sneered back, pissed off now that he’d just been ‘oi’d’ at by some random bloke at a house party.
“Calm down mate. Sorry if I made you uncomfy back there, just trying to be friendly and all. Was only gonna say you left your scarf”. The boy looked mildly embarrassed as he held the piece of dark blue fabric out to Sirius, who now felt bad for being rude.
“Oh, no it’s fine. Sorry just tired, big day and all. Anyway that’s not my sc-“
But before he could finish his sentence, he realised the scarf being held out to him was the same scarf that the beautiful curly haired boy had been wearing when he came in.
And who wears a scarf to a Uni party at the start of September?
Before he realised what he was doing, he took the scarf from the boy, muttering a thank you, before heading out the door and back to his flat down the corridor.
When he got back to his flat, he headed straight for his room to grab a towel from his half-unpacked suitcase and then for the bathroom. It took him a few minutes to figure out how the new shower worked but once he set the water to almost scalding, he sat on the cool tiles of the shower floor and let the hot water bounce off his skin as he tried to process the day he’d just had. This was his life for at least the next few years, and he was already exhausted after just one day.
Once he’d dried himself off and slipped into his tracksuit bottoms and a pyjama shirt (it was just an old, faded ACDC shirt that Andy had given him), he checked the time on his phone and saw it was just after 11pm, and Andy had texted him hours ago.
6:04pm
andy <3 : we’ve just got back, hope the rest of your unpacking goes okay. I really think you should’ve let me and Ted stay and help for longer!
7:30pm
andy <3 : just got Dora down, have you had your dinner yet? Make sure you don’t just eat noodles for a whole week!
andy <3 : I just googled it, there is a co-op on the same road as your accommodation, a Morrisons in the town centre and an Aldi that you could walk to in under 30 minutes. So you have NO excuse not to be getting proper groceries!
9pm
andy <3 : I’m off to bed now, shattered after the drive. Don’t wanna cramp your style now you’re a big boy, but do me a favour and drop me a message soon to let me know you’re okay?
andy <3 : love u siri, I am so proud of you.
He smiled at his phone, sitting on the edge of his bed that he hadn’t even made up yet, and sent a quick reply.
11:17pm
sirius: don’t be silly, you guys helped plenty!
sirius: you better have given Dora a goodnight kiss from me, I miss her already.
sirius: I will eat properly, I promise!
sirius: sleep well Andy. I’ll give you a call tomorrow yeah? Love you.
He put his phone down on the bedside cabinet and decided to go and make a cup of tea before bed.
As he reached the doorway to the shared kitchen, he heard voices coming from the other side of the door. Of course, after everything that had happened tonight, he’d completely forgotten that his flatmates had moved in. Looking down at his ratty pyjamas, he considered going to get changed before meeting them, but then thought if he’s going to be living with them for the better side of a year, they might as well get used to seeing him in his loungewear.
Quickly, he threw his still damp hair into a quick bun, so it wasn’t dripping water over his thin t-shirt anymore, took a deep breath and opened the door.
“No way! Moonrise kingdom is like his worst one! Have you seen the French dispatch?”
“Well, no, but my favourite film of all time is fantastic Mr fox. I really relate to the characters and- “
“Oh my god you would definitely play a live action Mr. Fox!”
Sirius cleared his throat, suddenly feeling very small intruding on the conversation that the two boys in the kitchen were currently having.
“Uhm hi, I’m Sirius. I’m in room B”. He smiled at the boys sheepishly and walked to the kettle to flip it on.
“Oh wicked!” the shorter boy said. He had a kind, round face, and dirty blonde hair. He was wearing what looked like a high school leavers sweatshirt that said ‘wormtail’ on the back of it in varsity lettering and was sipping at a mug of his own tea.
“I’m in C and James is in A.”. Sirius made a mental note that James was clearly the other boy standing next to him. “There isn’t anyone currently assigned to room D, but apparently they could just randomly put someone in there at any point in the year if they need to switch dorms or anything.”
“Cool” Sirius said, trying his hardest to think of something to say to James and ‘Wormtail’ that didn’t make him sound incredibly lame or awkward. Luckily, James stepped in.
“Do you want a drink mate?” He asked Sirius. James was taller and more built up than the other boy. He had warm brown skin, a mop of chocolate brown hair and the roundest glasses that Sirius had ever seen. He was wearing a red rugby jersey and a pair of red crocs that only had two jibbitz on- one with lightening McQueen and the other a shooting star.
Sirius replied once the main rumble of the kettle had died down, “Oh, I’m just making one thanks”.
“Nah, I meant the good stuff. That’s what we’re drinking, I just don’t have any actual cups yet so were drinking it out of mugs.” James said with a grin, and then produced a bottle of whiskey seemingly out of thin air.
Sirius chuckled lightly and flicked the kettle off, bringing his mug over to the kitchen cabinet where James was sitting and holding it out for him to pour some of the amber liquid into. “Thanks” he said and sat down opposite his flatmates.
“No problem. You moved in this afternoon, right? Me and Peter moved in around the same time a couple hours ago. We saw your stuff but didn’t know where you were, then we heard a party going on across the hall but decided to stay in for a drink. Felt like the best way to get to know each other was to just get bladdered and get all the formalities and awkward stuff out the way. Head first is the way to go in my opinion”. James winked and downed the rest of his drink in one gulp before pouring himself another measure.
“Yeah and talking about getting the awkward stuff out the way, James actually thinks that Wes Anderson’s best movie is Moonrise Kingdom!” Peter said, sipping his whiskey and laughing when James pulled a dramatic shocked face at him. Sirius felt intimidated that the two boys seemed to have built a rapport already, but he wasn’t about to let his new friends know that he’s a socially awkward anxiety pit, so he did what he always did and put on his mask.
“I mean, it has some good moments, as does The French Dispatch. I overheard you talking about it as I came into the kitchen”. He looked at Peter. “But Isle of Dogs one hundred percent trumps them all.”
Peter looked offended for a second and Sirius worried that he was taking this way too seriously, before he said “Actually, it is good. I never count it because I forget that it’s an Anderson to be honest.”
James chimed in now “I’ve never seen it.”.
Peter and Sirius looked at each other and faked fainting on each other, which left all three of them tipsy and giggling in a pile, resembling a pack of schoolboys that had known each other for years.
For roughly the next hour, they polished off the bottle of whiskey between them as they got more drunk and shared more and more about themselves to, as James put it, ‘get the formalities and awkward stuff out the way’.
Sirius found out that Peter’s high school nickname was ‘Wormtail’ because in year 9 someone had dared him to pick up a worm, they saw on the school field and eat it for £10, but when he’d picked it up he actually realised it was a tail and attached to it that had been hiding in the grass, was a dead rat. He also found out that he was an only child, lived in Newcastle and was going to be studying Film Music.
James went on to tell that he was rugby captain of his high school and college teams and was hoping to sign up on campus as well, was also an only child and was 100% spoiled rotten by his parents (Sirius very much appreciated his self-aware nature). He was studying Biology and the thing he was going to miss the most at Uni was his mum’s Elote and Chilaquiles.
Sirius managed to evade revealing many personal details about himself, something he wasn’t quite willing to do yet. He avoided the siblings question entirely, and told them he lived in Kent, but not who with. He also told them that he was going to be studying Art History and Culture, and that he really liked painting (to which James then proceeded to ask Sirius to ‘paint him like one of his French girls’ and pull a ridiculous pose on the sofa).
After a while of sharing facts about themselves- some deeper than others and all the boys suddenly feeling extremely close and comfortable with each other already, Peter decided he was calling it a night. He waved goodbye to Sirius and James, said that he was looking forward to chatting to them properly tomorrow and plodded off down the hallway to his new room.
James and Sirius sat there for a bit longer, exchanging small talk and having a bit of water because of all the whiskey they’d drunk, not to mention the handful of drinks Sirius had also had at the party. Sirius quickly found out that James was a very open person as well as a physical one. He’d already hugged Sirius three times that evening and liked sitting close to him, with no quarrels about telling him pretty much his entire life story a few hours after first meeting.
Whilst this was new and intimidating to Sirius, he also loved it. James was the person he only wished he could be; open, honest, heart-on-your-sleeve. Maybe James would rub off on him and he would finally learn to trust people. After all, he’d known James Potter all of
two hours and was already pretty convinced that he’d trust the boy with his own life.
Just as they were about to head to bed, Sirius remembered he hadn’t made his.
“fuck” he grumbled under his breath, it was now bordering on 2am and he was struggling to keep his eyes open as he threw the three whiskey mugs in the sink and rinsed them.
“You good?” James questioned from where he was putting a bin bag in their new bin.
“Yeah, yeah” Sirius replied. “Just remembered I haven’t even made my bed yet, effort to make it. Might just sleep on the duvet, don’t want to wake Peter by starting it now”.
“Oh, rough mate. You can sleep in my bed if you want? I mean, not in a weird way or anything. I know we only just met, but I’m not a murderer. I’m also not trying to like get into your pants. You know, share my bed in a very ‘two bros sharing a bed because one bro didn’t make their bed when they moved in’ kind of way. I’m making this worse aren’t I”.
Sirius chuckled and thought it over for a while, admittedly finding it a bit strange to sleep in i-met-you-two-hours-ago James’ bed, but at the same time it would be nice to sleep in actual sheets on his first night away from Andy.
He looked back at James who now honestly looked like he would burst into tears if he said no. “Erm, okay. Thanks. As long as you’re okay with it”.
James grinned, wide. “Of Course! Wouldn’t have offered otherwise. I love sharing beds with people, it makes it less lonely. I never really got to growing up what with having no siblings and all, but when I would go to my grandparents’ house, me and my cousins would all sleep in one big bed, and it was SO much fun! Ooh we can cuddle!” James was very full on and Sirius couldn’t say he wasn’t very endeared by it and secretly loved his doting nature.
Sirius smiled hesitantly at James, trying not to think about his own cousins, and nodded in agreement. They both went to brush their teeth and then wandered into James’ room. As Sirius walked in, he tried to hide his laugh as he saw James’ bed sheets were bright red and blue and covered in Spider Man.
“I LOVE Marvel, especially Spider Man” said James, when he saw Sirius covering his mouth from trying not to laugh. “When I was younger, I was convinced I was another spiderman and I used to tell my parents that they had to keep my identity a secret. They went along with it of course. Turns out I just had a mosquito bite on my leg and was a really fast runner.”. James smiled so fondly when he spoke of his family, which secretly forced a wave of hot bile up Sirius’ throat and a twisting knot through his stomach.
“I like them. I think they’re cool” Sirius replied as he sunk down onto the edge of James bed and took a deep swig from the glass of water, he’d brought in. As awkward and self-conscious of a person as he was, he was far too tired and tipsy for any formalities, and after not too long pulled the bedsheets back and scrambled in next to James who had already layed down and took his glasses off. James was naturally warm, and it instantly filled Sirius with such comfort as he sank into the mattress and the force of it rolled him a bit closer to the other boy.
They both turned on their sides to face each other and had their hands tucked under their heads like at a childhood slumber party. Both boys were extremely sleepy and seemed to be closing their eyes, when Sirius muttered something shyly under his breath.
“What was that Sirius?”
It was a good job it was dark in the room, because he was now flushing a crimson red.
“Uhm, I was just saying. It’s stupid but I erm. Well, I’ve never had a sleepover before?”
“Wait, really? Not even as a kid?” Sirius shook his head.
“Well then” Said James, pulling Sirius in to give him a quick hug, but then retreating back to his side of the bed after a few seconds. “I’m honoured to be your first”.
Shortly, both boys were falling asleep. Considering a few hours ago, Sirius was consuming as much vodka as he could at a strangers flat to try and avoid how nervous he was about being away from Andy and starting his new life here, he drifted off contently next to his new friend, who he was extremely grateful for and actually felt a silent tear roll down his face as he thought about how maybe with James and Peter by his side, this year might not be too hard after all, if he just let himself be liked, loved?
So James and Sirius slept in James’ Spiderman bed, Peter in his own, and no one and nothing on Sirius’ bed.
Apart from a blue scarf, folded neatly on the end.