James
James woke up to Regulus curled around him again. This time, it was the morning and he could actually get up. He extracted himself from Regulus carefully, as to not disturb him. He picked up the living room a bit, putting the blanket back in its cabinet. By then, Regulus was awake and grabbing his things.
“Where’re you going?” “That’s none of your business.” “Well, ok then. Guess you woke up on the wrong side of the bed.” “No, it’s not that, it’s just, I can’t tell you just yet.”
That surprised James. He stepped out of Regulus’s way, waving a quick goodbye before he left. He realize about five seconds after he left that James’s favorite red sweater was on Regulus. He ran out after Regulus, out of breath when he caught up.
“James.” “Nice sweater,” he smirked. “Have a good day, love.”
James noticed a small group of people around them, maybe 5 or 6 girls, all jumping.
“Let’s put on a show,” Regulus whispered into James’s ear.
James gulped. Regulus leaned into James, putting his hands on James’s shoulders. James grabbed his hips and pulled him into a kiss. He knew that he was done for when Regulus made a sort of surprised noise against his mouth. James hooked one of his thumbs around Regulus’s belt loops and pulled him closer. Regulus made a wonderful sound into James’s mouth. His lips tasted like the beach. A little bit salty, but in a good way. Surprisingly, James was the one who broke away from the kiss first. He unhooked his thumb, but kept his hands there.
“That was lovely,” James said, much louder than necessary. Instead of Regulus getting flustered, he just grinned. “Well obviously it was lovely, I’m Regulus Black. Everything I do is lovely.” James opened his mouth and then closed it again. “Why do you think I brag to my friends about you being lovely? Now I truly must be going, but my day is much better now, amor.”
James was bright red. How had that just happened? James was the one who flirted. James flustered people. James made people feel butterflies. So how was Regulus doing it to him? Two of the girls ran up to James.
“Hi, I’m Ellie and that’s Briar. We just came to ask you, is that your boyfriend?” “Well, yes of course he is.” “Oh that’s wonderful! We hoped he was!” “What do you mean by that?” “Well, after Lily, lots of your fans left. She kinda put you into a depression. But now you have him! I mean, over the last two weeks there have been hundreds of pictures of you with him, and you look so happy!” “I am. He makes me happy.”
They asked for pictures and he obliged, not understanding why he was getting so much more popular. He went back into his apartment to find texts waiting for him from Dorcas. She was asking him some very odd questions.
“Do you like more feminine guys?” Yes. “Do you like guys with makeup?” Yes. “Would you feel weird if a guy was wearing a skirt?” No, I think it’s really cool (and kinda hot). “Ok thanks that’s all.” That was weird Dorcas. “You’ll understand tonight. Just come to our bar, the one we met at.”
To be honest, that was the weirdest text that James had ever read. At six, he started to get ready. He assumed Regulus was going to be there, and after what he pulled this morning, he wanted to at least look good if Reggie was going to make him look like a fool. He put on a white shirt and a red tie. He wore black pants and a pair of converse. He even cleaned his glasses for the occasion, which he never did. Upon checking himself in the mirror, he decided to take a page out of Regulus’s book and unbuttoned the first three buttons of the shirt. He finished his look with a leather jacket, courtesy of Sirius. James then thought of Sirius. Had the news of James and Reggie reached him yet? There was no real way of knowing, as Sirius didn’t have his phone. Besides, he was busy with Remus. James shook off the anxiety, grabbed his keys, and walked out of the house. He decided to walk to the bar, as it was faster and more efficient. When he got there, he saw Dorcas and Marlene at a table.
“Where’s Reggie?” “Your little boyfriend? You’ll see later,” Marlene joked. “Shut up.” “You know, you look nice for a bar,” Dorcas teased. “Dorcas, if you don’t-” “Shhh! It’s starting.” “What’s-”
Marlene grabbed his face and pushed it toward the stage. James actually gasped. On the stage was a small band, made up of three people he knew, and two he didn’t. Evan, Barty, and Regulus. The two he didn’t know were in suits, fully dressed up. Barty, Evan, and Regulus, however, were wearing something a little less… conventional. James then noticed that Regulus had the microphone. He was the singer. Of course he was. James was throughly overstimulated, but not by the lights or the music, but by Regulus. Not only was his voice distracting, but the fact that Regulus was in a white collared top, unbuttoned halfway down with a green tie around the collar. He also in fishnets and black stiletto boots that went up to his knees.
The way that James could see this is because Regulus Black was wearing a charcoal colored pleated skirt. It didn’t help that he was still wearing his rings, and James didn’t know what to do. Regulus danced around the stage, singing, but never breaking eye contact with James. When the song was over, James was at the front of the stage. Regulus sunk down to his knees, staring at James.
“You look,” James started, but he never finished.
Regulus took James’s tie in both of his hands and kissed him. James was so shocked, he made a strange noise before sinking into the kiss. He tasted like tequila. James let his hands hold on to his thighs as he deepened the kiss. His hands played with the bottom of the skirt, before entirely going under the skirt and grasping the top of his thighs. Regulus let out a low moan into his mouth, making James want to explore every square inch of him. They broke the kiss at the same time, gasping for air.
“Hello, amor. You look quite ravishing tonight. I’m glad I got to taste you before anyone else. After all, you are the only one I want to taste.”
Regulus laughed as James turned pink. James started to chew on his lip.
“Regulus, how much have you had to drink? A shot of tequila. That’s it, I swear.” “Oh, ok good. That’s good. Very good.” “Have you lost your ability to talk? Because that would be quite unfortunate as I like your voice.”
James’s knees went weak. He was grinning so widely that he thought his face might fall off. James had a very good idea, he thought. He shouldered off his jacket and threw it onto Regulus. He didn’t protest, just put it on. James smiled and gave him a quick kiss, for the crowd watching them obviously, and then he knew he had to say goodbye for now.
“I have to go, and you have to sing. We will continue this when you’re done.” “Oh I can get other things done too,” he said, smirking. “Regulus.” “James, amor, I have three more songs, can you not fall in love with me in that time?” “Too late,” he said, not realizing it until it was out of his mouth. Regulus’s facade melted for just a second before he said, “too bad I beat you to it.”
With that, and no other explanation, Regulus got up and got ready for his next song. James had forgotten about the skirt until he saw it again. He knew he had to tell Regulus. He wasn’t sure when, but he knew he had to.
Regulus finished his songs and came off the stage. He made a beeline for James. James, who hadn’t taken an eye off of him the whole preformance, took him by the hand to Dorcas and Marlene. They all talked for a while, and James started tuning them out. He was thinking about Sirius. He would be home in 4 days, and by then he’d know all about James and Regulus. James decided he’d explain as soon as Sirius got back. About how the dating was fake, but James’s feelings were real. He could only hope that Sirius would let him continue with the fake dating. James bit the skin off of his lip as he thought.
All of a sudden, he felt a tugging sensation in his hair. It hurt, yes, but it also felt… nice? The hand pulled hard and James head fell back, right onto Regulus’s shoulder.
“If you keep biting your lip, I’m going to bite it for you, James.” James blushed furiously, sitting up straight. “Jesus, you two. Get a room already.” “Oh we will,” they both said at the same time.
All four of them found this absolutely hilarious, and they were laughing about it for minutes. A little while later, not quite sure how it happened, but, selfishly, glad it did, Regulus was halfway in his lap. He assumed it had something to do with Evan and Barty joining them on the couch, making them tight on space.
“Can I go back?” “What?” “Where I’m sitting right now is incredibly uncomfortable. Can I just go back and sit on your lap? I’ll sit sideways, that way it’s not too uncomfortable. I just am claustrophobic and-”
James reached under Regulus’s arms and pulled him into his lap.
“I suppose I will take that as a healthy yes,” he said, slightly shocked still.
As they all talked, James was retelling one of the funniest stories about him and Sirius and Regulus when they were little, when he felt Regulus’s hand, which was previously on his waist, shift a bit. Two of his fingers very lightly slipped inside his waistband. He didn’t move then further down or take them out, he just held his fingers at the very top of his waistband. He slowly moved them back and forth, never moving downward. Just side to side. It was only then that he realized he stopped talking.
“Keep talking, slut,” Regulus whispered into his ear.
James looked utterly shocked. Did he just call him a slut? How was he a slut? Granted, when he saw Regulus in the skirt, a few unholy thoughts came into his head, but a slut? Maybe. What was even more confusing to James was the fact that he liked being called a slut. He had no idea why, or even if his brain was playing tricks on him, but he thought he liked it. Then, the thought came across James that he could have just misheard him.
“Jesus, Reggie, what’d you say to the poor boy?” “I said ‘keep talking you donut’.”
James knew what he heard, but decided to ignore it. He continued, only pausing when Regulus would move his fingers out of the pattern. Why Regulus’s fingers stayed there, he would never know, but he liked it way too much to say anything about it. When James checked his phone, he realized it was getting quite late.
“James, do you wanna come back to mine?” “Yeah, sure, ok.”
They grabbed their things and said goodbye to the group, then left the bar. They walked to Regulus’s, keeping a low conversation, mostly about Evan and Barty. When they got there, James absolutely insisted on sleeping on the couch. Regulus eventually obliged, going into his bedroom, leaving the door open. James laid down on the couch, curled up in a blanket. He just had his boxers on, so he was a little cold. He fell into a fitful sleep, having a horrible nightmare about everyone he loved dying. They all were yelling at him, saying it was all his fault. He jolted awake, shaking a bit. He was cold, and for some reason really really needed someone to hold him. When he walked into Regulus’s room, his reading lamp was on. He had a book in his hands, glancing up at James. As soon as he saw his face, he abandoned the book.
“What happened? James, why are you crying? Amor, what happened?”
James shook now, starting to cry even harder. He just stood there, not even sure if he was going to be able to convince Regulus to touch him, let alone hold him. That made him sob harder.
“C-c-can I come i-in?” “Of course, but I need to know what happened. That way I can make sure to brutally murder whatever it was that hurt you.”
Regulus patted the spot next to him in the bed, turning off the light as James crawled in. Regulus put his arms around James, holding him and wiping the tears that gathered on his face.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” James kept saying over and over again. “James. James look at me. You have done nothing wrong. You have nothing to apologize for. I am here, ok? Just take deep breaths. In and out.”
James focused on Regulus’s voice, listening to the way he said everything. He stopped crying, just letting Regulus hold him.
“James, baby, what happened? Why were you crying?” “I, erm, had a nightmare. All of you died. It was my fault. I killed all of you. Not on purpose, but I still think I killed you, even if it was on accident. I woke up, and you’re gonna think this next part is really stupid, but I just started crying. All that was going through my head was, ‘I need someone to hold me’. I haven’t been held like this since I was a baby. I don’t really get touched much, other than Sirius. It sometimes makes things better, but sometimes it doesn’t. You seem to make it better, though. I dunno, it’s really dumb. I’m sorry for this, I’m going back to the couch now. Good night, Reggie!”
He started to roll off the bed before getting pretty much tackled by Regulus. He was kneeling now, with James legs under his.
“Look at me James. Do not ever apologize for nightmares. Do not ever apologize for wanting to be touched. And especially do not ever apologize for crying, do you understand me?”
James nodded.
“I think you might be touch starved. I don’t want to diagnose you, obviously, but it sounds like it. James, I will always be here. All you have to do is ask.” “Ok. Thank you Regulus. I do have a question, though. Why did you call me a slut?” “That’s it? That’s the only thing you’re questioning? Mainly because I wanted to get a reaction out of you. It’s funny.” “Oh. Ok.” “I assume you didn’t like it, so don’t worry, I won’t do it again.” “No, it’s- it’s fine.”
James knew it was a bolder comment, but he also knew it might mean he’d probably do it again.
“Oh? Okay. James, I’m going to adjust my position, but I promise I’m not moving away.” “Ok Regulus. Goodnight, I lo- I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
James fell asleep with Regulus clung to him again, his hands in Regulus’s hair, his fingers on his waistband. James felt his heart pick up, but he kept playing with his hair. He fell asleep like this, in such a vulnerable position. He whispered to the stars when Regulus stilled.
“Thank you for sending an Angel to me. He is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me. I just wish it could stay like this forever.”