03 | GROCERIES
“Is that who I think it is?” Sirius speaks up as Remus inspects the pricing of the brie in his hand. The mousy haired brunette doesn’t look up but James eagerly whips his head around to the direction Sirius points to and immediately smiles.
“Hey Remus, look!” James nudges their tall friend in the side and quickly escalates to shaking his shoulder for attention. Remus finally looks after putting the brie in their shopping cart and smiles lovingly at the image of you reaching up to get a gallon of milk. You’re the perfect picture of domestic cosiness, dressed in an oversized grey sweater that reaches your mid thigh along with tall white socks and white platform sports trainers.
“She looks so cute!” James squeals beside him and Remus nods in agreement, admiring your pretty legs and casual hairdo.
“Let's go say hi lads!” Sirius is already approaching you mid way through his sentence and slings his arm across your shoulders when he finally reaches your side, “Hey Princess,” Sirius grins at your shocked expression which quickly morphs into a bright smile.
“Sirius!” you beam up at the tattoo artist who affectionately presses a kiss to your forehead. Looking over his shoulder, your smile grows at the sight of James approaching you with Remus close behind, pushing along a shopping trolley, “James, Remus!” you give them an excited wave as you adjust the basket in your other arm, “Hello!”
“I see our angel’s up to some shopping,” James starts with his boyish grin as your cheeks heat up from the nickname, “Do you need help carrying that?” he reaches for your basket but you politely say you’re fine. He doesn’t protest but frowns, looking like a kicked puppy and only wanting to be helpful to you. He is at your disposal and eager to serve. The image of his pitiful eyes pulls at your heartstrings but you stay strong.
“Would you like to shop with us?” Remus asks, stealing your attention as he leans his forearms on the handles of the trolly and smiles sweetly at you, “You can help us choose what to have for tea tonight,”
“You guys live together?”
“Oh yeah, want to join the flat?” Sirius teasingly suggests beside you, “We have a spare room,” you laugh but shake your head ‘no’ which the tattoo artist snaps his fingers at and clicks his tongue in a comical ‘damnit’ display, “oh well,”
“So will you help us decide what to have for tea?” James pipes up and returns your attention to Remus’s original suggestion.
“Why not?” you shrug your shoulders good naturedly, “It could be fun,” the three men cheer, bringing a smile to your lips. Even though they look intimidating from afar with their height, tattoos and piercings, they were all sweethearts deep down.
The four of you go through each aisle, the boys gathering their household staples while you tick off the few items that were on the list you brought along so as to not forget anything. Remus managed to convince you to put your tray in their trolley so you weren’t weighed down and could move freely without having to burden someone else too much. The brunette was happy to push around the cart as it meant he stayed behind and could keep a better eye on the two men before him as well as yourself.
Trying to be casual, you speak up as you inspect the prices of the tomatoes before you, “So…what would you guys like for lunch tomorrow?” The three men look at each other with questioning eyes but James quickly deciphers your question and practically hops in place after realising.
“So, you mean you’ll come and bring us home made lunch tomorrow too?” James asks, the stars in his eyes appearing brighter through the light shining on his glasses.
“Y-yeah,” you stammer softly, trying not to seem too timid.
“You truly are an angel,” Sirius chuckles and leans into James’s side, who grins from ear to ear.
“Are you sure it’s not too troubling for you?” Remus asks, not meaning to sound rude but is sincerely concerned that you’re going too out of the way for them.
“It’s really no trouble at all. I have the time and I love cooking for other people too so I’m doing it for myself as well,” your answer seems to convince Remus enough and his tense shoulders ease from the assurance.
“Then you really are an angel,” Remus shares a fond smile with Sirius as James huffs playfully.
“That’s what I’ve been saying!” the glasses-wearing tattoo artist stresses, knowing that he was the one who gave you that nickname first.
You giggled and reiterated your earlier question, “So? What would you guys like to have for lunch tomorrow?”
“Pasta,”
“Egg fried rice,”
“Burritos,”
They each answer separately and shoot each other a silent glare for burdening you with different preferences. But you just giggle and bring their attention back to you again, their expressions visibly soften at the sweet sound.
“And for dessert?” you prompt.
“Something with chocolate,”
“Treacle tart,”
“Victoria sponge cake,”
Again, they all answered separately and glared at each other, which made you giggle once more. In some ways they were different but in other ways, they were the same.
Sirius and James had insisted on going down each aisle so that they don’t miss anything from their list and can pick out stuff that they changed their minds on getting. Like the kind person you were, you agreed and followed them through the store as Remus chuckles to himself, already used to their antics. He knows them and knows all their hidden motives. James and Sirius were usually the first to start complaining about being in the store too long but they wanted to spend more time with you. It wasn’t necessary and was probably a waste of your time but, despite usually being the one to keep them from stepping out of line, especially when it comes to other people, Remus turned a blind eye. With this particular scheme, he approves; he wants to be around you for longer as well. He can be quite the greedy and mischievous person himself.
You had a shopping list that you planned on sticking to faithfully so that you don’t go over your budget for the week. However, that didn’t stop you from freely examining things that caught your eye in passing, especially when the four of you entered the snacks section. The boys have already picked out their favourite snacks and had immediately seen you looking at an assortment of chocolates, a pack of jelly, soft sweets and a box of cereal bars.
From the silence, you notice that the boys have finished picking out their snacks and smile sheepishly at them. You quickly put back the items that briefly caught your interest and slowly led the way out of the aisle. Behind you, James takes several bags of the jelly and soft candy you picked up and put them in their cart. Sirius, followed along with putting a few boxes of the cereal bars you picked up into their cart too. And Remus nonchalantly put a larger box of the assorted chocolates you eyed up into their trolley. If you weren’t getting it, they were getting it for you and, of course, not just one packet will do.
It wasn’t until you had finished checking out your items and were waiting for the boys to check out theirs that you noticed an additional bag that they kept separate from the rest of their shopping.
“What’s that?” you asked as James handed over the bag.
“Just a little something for our angel,” he grins. When you look in the bag, you gasp and turn to the three men with wide eyes, mouth agape.
“You didn’t have to you guys,”
“We wanted to so please accept it,” Remus assures as you smile.
With a swell of bravery, you move forward to thank them properly with a racing heart and heated cheeks but trip over your undone laces. You yelp and don’t fall too far before James catches you in his arms, steadies you and drops down to a knee where he proceeds to tie your shoelaces up for you.
“Careful there, love,” Sirius voices, hand on his chest to slow his panicked heart, “you had my heart ready to leap out my chest there,” he laughs good-naturedly at the flustered expression you pull. There was a silence that followed as James finished tying your shoelaces but from the corner of your eye, you witnessed Remus with an endearing smile on his lips, muttering something to himself softly, “What was that Moony?” Sirius asks, catching onto the brunette’s muttering as well.
James stands back up and affectionately pats your head as you all tune into Remus’s contemplation, “Her little squeal,” Remus voices with a slight chuckle, “it was really cute,” he smirks at you as he rubs at his bottom lip with a finger and heat crawls up your neck.
Sirius hums in agreement and laughs boisterously, “it was really cute, wasn’t it?” he winks at you and James presses a kiss into your temple.
“Our cute angel,” he mutters against your skin, smirking at the heat he feels radiating from your cheeks.