Regulus
[Closure]
***
From: [email protected]
Subject: Participation
Hello, We are Closure,
You are chosen out of thousands of participants to join our vlog for the next segment, "Greatest Love." We will be asking you questions about your 'greatest love.' Please be prepared. Thank you for joining us!
See you, Reg.
***
Regulus looked at the door that'll lead to the studio. He doesn't know what he's doing here, he regrets letting his friends convince him in to joining this stupid segment.
It wasn't even him who filled out the form, It was Barty. He lost in a bet and his friends who never won against him in bets held a grudge for years, finally had the opportunity to get revenge.
'Closure' is a popular segment where they interview a person who seeks well–closure. It includes different kinds of closure not just the romantic one–the most popular episode was the kids who grew up in an abusive household one–and seeing that it's the month of love, the segment are mostly about exes, and his friends thought that making him join was the best idea.
Of course, If he doesn't want to join, his friends won't push him. They know how sensitive this subject is to him. But now…
He thinks… He's ready.
He's ready to talk about it, to talk about the past.
He thinks he's ready to tell their story without feeling his heart break–because their story is beautiful; It's a work of art meant to be shared–and Regulus is tried of trying to keep it to himself. It was so beautiful that fate envied them, so It decided to destroy it.
He thinks he's ready to hear his name without crying–a name his tongue was so familiar with that it turned bitter.
Hehopes he's ready.
Two years. It's been two years since that night.
He can do this.
He opened the door and walked in.
***
"Please introduce yourself."
Regulus is already regretting his decision when the camera starts recording.
But he's already here, so...
"Hi, I'm Regulus, 23, and–" he took a deep breath, "I'm... okay."
"Okay? what do you mean by that?"
"I honestly don't know. I wanted to say happy, but I promised my friends I'd be completely honest in here so," he said, shrugging.
"Okay Regulus, we'll be asking you questions about our current segment, greatest love."
"...Okay."
"What do you think is the meaning of 'greatest love'?"
Him.
"I think, greatest love means 'a love that has no end.' Though the relationship may end, the love for that person will always linger, wether in the form of scar, ghost, or well–heartbreak." he answered after a moment.
"Did you already meet your Greatest Love?"
"Yes."
"How did you find out that they're your great love? And any advice on how the audience can?"
I know because It's him.
Regulus paused and scrunched his eyebrows together. "It's actually hard to explain," he paused, thinking about how to answer the question. "You just know when it's your great love," he continued. "But that doesn't necessarily mean that they're the person you'll end up with, but it's still your great love. Some people are lucky enough to end up with theirs, some end up with someone else, but you'll always know that there's this one person that you shared a 'great love' with."
"Wow. What's the name of your greatest love?"
"James. James Potter," he said, smiling.
He can finally say it, his name.
"When and where did you first meet?"
He looked at the camera and smiled, remembering their first meeting.
"We officially met at my brother's 20th birthday party; he's my brother's best friend whom I hated," he chuckled, remembering how much he 'hated' him. If only he knew how much that party would change everything.
"Did it start from there?"
***
"Where are you? It's already starting!" his brother yelled at the other side of the phone.
Regulus rolled his eyes, "I'm here."
"Where?" He can imagine his brother looking around, trying to find him.
"At the entrance, don't worry, I'll find you." He walked towards the center, looking around the room full of people he didn't know, trying to find his brother's black hair.
He was going to the corner where he thought he saw his brother when he bumped into someone, causing him to let his phone fall.
"Ow–I'm sorry," the stranger said, picking up his phone and returning it to him. "I'm really sorry, I was trying to find Sirius–" Regulus took back his phone, glaring at him.
He was ready to say something until someone interrupted him.
"OY JAMES! Can you help me find my broth–" He stopped talking when he noticed Regulus standing next to James. "Nevermind. James! You found my brother!" Sirius tackled him in a hug.
"You're here," he whispered.
"Happy birthday," he replied, giving Sirius his present, avoiding eye contact.
It was silent for a few moments until Sirius finally broke it. "James, this is my brother, Regulus. Regulus, this is my best friend, James," he said, gesturing to the both of them. "Now, kiss and get along," he joked.
(If only he knew.)
"Um–James. James Potter," he said after a few moments of looking at Regulus' face.
Regulus smirked, noticing the blush on James ears after Sirius said the word kiss. He looked at him up and down and stared at his face.
Oh no.
He's hot.
"Regulus. Regulus Black."
***
"Yes, that's how it started. I mostly ignored him after that, but he kept trying to talk to me. After I gave in and decided to talk to him, we found out we had a lot in common. We talked about various topics, and I found myself laughing at his jokes. I have never smiled so much that my cheeks started hurting in my life, but that day, I did." His heart is starting to ache as he continues to talk about their first meeting.
No, he can do this.
"I think my brother was happy because we're getting along, yet he acted betrayed because we weren't giving him enough attention." He rolled his eyes. "He asked my number before I left, and from then on we talked every day."
"Until one day he asked me on a date, and I said yes." Sometimes Regulus wonders, What if he didn't ask me? Will we still be talking? but he quickly shakes his head at the thought, they'll still probably stop talking.
"What's the one thing you most love about him?"
"I love everything about him," he automatically answered. He cleared his throat after realizing what he said and smiled awkwardly at the camera. "His smile—I love his smile."
"He can light up the whole world with his damn smile, you know?" He's smiling again; he can't believe the thought of a mere smile would make him like this. "I used to call him the Sun in my head because of that, and when someone asks him why he's smiling, he'll always say one word, and our friends would just nod in understanding."
"Word?What word?"
Regulus smiled, looking directly at the camera, "My name."
***
"Regulus."
"Yes?" he asked, looking up from his book to the man doodling on the living room table.
"Would you still love me if I was a worm?" James asked with a serious face.
Regulus looked at him, asking a question with his eyes.
'Really?'
James met his eyes and nodded seriously.
'Really'
He sighed, thinking of why he's dating an idiot. "No."
"WHAT?!"
He closed his eyes and sighed again. "James, you're a worm–"
"But I'm still me!"
"Yes, but you're a worm."
James just looked at him, clearly distressed with the idea that he won't love him if he were a fucking disgusting dirt crawler.
"Padfoot would have loved me If I were a worm," he said, directly looking at him in the eye.
"Well, I'm not Sirius, besides, you call each other by those names, I won't be surprised if–"
"What's wrong with our names?" he asked, pouting.
And If Regulus wasn't weak, he would have continued to deny the fact that he would not love a worm.
Yet, Regulus is a weak weak man.
"Nothing. What do you want me to say anyways?" So weak.
"You were supposed to declare your love in a wormly poetic sense and sweep my nonexistent worm feet."
He sighed.
"Alright," he looked at James earnestly and put one of his hand in his chest right above his heart. "As much as I despise worms and any bugs and that filthy creature in particular, I would still love you. Even in this vast wormy world, I would choose you over any other wormly else. My hatred against worms will be out of the way; I'll face my fears just to crawl to you and be with you," he said dramatically. He reached for James, who's currently trying not to laugh, and held his cheek.
"Because...it's you. Always. There might be a thousand species of worm, but I would find you in an instant. We have this connection that no one can fathom—no one can describe this certain electricity that floods the circuit of our love. I will always find you, choose you. I would love you even if you were a disgusting worm," he continued highlighting the word 'disgusting' in the process, and James finally burst out laughing. He just watched James laugh while smiling.
"Reggie?"
"Hm?"
"I would love you if you were a worm too," he said with a stupid smile.
And Regulus can't understand why a stupid phrase can make his heart flutter, but he knows because it's from James.
"Alright, that's enough. Are you satisfied now?" he asked.
"Yep," He said as he picked up the paper that fell when he laughed and continued doodling with a stupid smile.
Regulus watched him for a few seconds before going back to the couch and picking up his book.
A few minutes passed, and his brother entered the living room running.
"Prongs, you won't believe–Why are you smiling?" He asked while trying to regain his breath.
James just smiled more and answered.
"Regulus."
***
"He liked asking stupid questions and smiling at my answers; one time he asked me if I'd still love him as a Stag after answering if I'd still love him as a worm," he chuckled at the memory.
"I ended up throwing my book at him."
Regulus still remembers how James smiled at him, how genuine his smile always was when he was looking at him.
He misses that smile.
He misses James.
"You mentioned him being the Sun?"
"Yes, James is like the sun—no, he is the Sun. My Sun," he paused. "It's just–he's so bright and warm; he's like the first touch of summer after a cold winter night, you know?" he explained, looking at the camera.
"What's the most memorable thing your greatest love gave you?"
He picked up his necklace under his shirt and revealed a ring. "This," he said, looking at it carefully. It was a silver ring with one small star at the end and a bigger star at the other end. It's worn like a snake around his finger.
"He gave it to me at our first anniversary." It has 'My wish upon a star' engraved inside.
***
"Why does it say that?"
"Reggie?"
He looked away from the city lights and looked at James.
"The ring—why does It say that?" He tilted his head in confusion. He doesn't really understand—well, he understands the star aspect–his name is literally a star–but wish? At least his gift was easy to understand. It was a Sun necklace.
"Don't tell me you've never watched–nevermind I'll fix that later." He kissed Regulus' cheek, he didn't pull back after a few seconds, James was smiling in his cheek now. Not that he minded.
"It says that because you're my star and my wish," he chuckled. "I caught a shooting star, and it granted my wish by being with me."
And how can Regulus not smile at that?
"My lovely lovely shooting star."
***
"What were the last words you heard from him?"
"The last words? hmm, 'Okay then.' were his last words to me," and then he left without looking back.
"What are the last words you said to him?"
"I lied," he said while gesturing quotation marks, "that's probably the last words he heard from me that night, but when he was far enough, I told his retreating back three phrases."
"I tried. I'm sorry. I love you," he said, directly looking at the camera.
"If there was a chance that he is in front of you right now, what do you want to tell him?"
"I tried. I'm sorry. I love you."
"Why did you accept our invitation?"
"Honestly? My friends forced me after losing a bet, and I figured why not? Maybe this will actually help me heal, you know? My first step of healing starts here," he explained.
"Plus, I don't think he'll see this video anyways, he's not really into sad channels."
"What if there's a chance that you'll meet him here?"
"What?" No, please no.
"Do you know that in this segment of closure, we invited exes who coincidentally signed up and asked them the same questions about their relationship?"
"You're kidding," he said, looking around the studio.
They gave him a blindfold.
"No–I know where this is going."
"In a few minutes, you'll be seeing your great love, so please put your blindfold in your eyes, and an armor in your heart."
Now, If they just didn't drop a freaking bomb on Regulus, he would have commented about the corny phrase the interview just spat, but there's only one thing he can actually say after hearing all that and receiving the fucking blindfold.
"Fuck."