Distracted
About twenty minutes later, James and Sirius pulled up to the outdoor rec center that Remus tended to play at. As James parked the car he could see Remus talking to their friend Frank through the chain link fence. Well–really, from where they were sitting, Remus practically towered over the fence. No doubt because of Remus’ father who happened to be almost as tall as Remus, and had played basketball in America in the 90s.
Honking the car horn, James reached his head out the window and waved, “C’mon Moony we don’t have all day!” Remus gave a careless sort of look towards the boys, and returned to his conversation. While they waited for Remus, James figured now was the best time to talk to Sirius.
When James, Sirius, and Peter had met Remus at uni four years ago they became inseparable instantly. However, as much as they were good friends, Sirius and Remus had always had a particular zest for arguing. They had gotten into countless arguments over the years, often venting about them to James and Peter before they inevitably made up.
Initially, these arguments were about the best media to listen to Bowie and Queen on, or which teams they thought would win in a football match. As they grew older, and the sexual tension between the two became clear, the arguments would turn to be about relationships, whether they were in them or not. Subsequently, if one were to hint at any signs of a relationship, James and Peter knew to leave the dormitory quickly before a screaming match broke out.
James still remembers when Remus and their friend Marlene had had a brief stint of dating before Marlene realized that she didn’t care for men. Sirius had been in a terrible mood for the 2 months that Remus and Marlene had been going out, and a smile had magically reappeared on his face when Remus announced that the two had split. James and Peter had taken to having monthly outings between the two of them in which they discussed their two best friends who were stupidly jealous and in love with each other.
Similarly, when Sirius had been going around with Emmeline Vance, a friend of the boys, Remus had taken to spending even more hours at the basketball court. James and Peter often joining him when the couple hung out in the dorm. Even when Sirius and Emmeline had broken up, Remus remained quite stiff for the months to follow, and it took a while for him to warm up to Emmeline again.
Eventually though, Remus ended up breaking down crying to James about the entire situation, and of course about how he was in love with Sirius. Needless to say, James and Peter had tried to drop hints to Sirius because he very clearly felt the same for Remus despite not being aware of it.
Needless to say, Sirius and Remus had gotten into another one of their arguments the other night, and if James hadn’t been so caught up in thinking about his mystery man then he probably would’ve been surprised that Sirius had called Remus earlier, with his stubbornness.
Turning to Sirius, “So, did you and Remus make up from your little lover’s quarrel?” James teased. Sirius, clueless as ever, just gave James a pointed look like he had no idea what James was talking about.
As Sirius' mouth opened to say something the sound of James' trunk slamming shut pulled their attention to the back of the car where Remus was putting away his gear and heading to sit behind the passenger’s seat. As if the conversation hadn’t happened, Sirius returned to looking out the window as James watched his clueless friend, wondering what he was thinking.
Suddenly the car door clicked open, as Remus clambered into the backseat. Even though they were approaching November, Remus still had a thick layer of sweat covering him, and his shorts stuck to his thighs, riding up his legs as he sat behind Sirius.
“Uh, Sirius, would you move your seat up?” for a second James thought that Sirius simply couldn’t understand him; a common occurrence that comes from growing up with Welsh parents, that moved you to America for the first seventeen years of your life. The boys often struggled to understand Remus, especially when he was out of breath from exercise. However James saw his reason for delay as his eyes followed Sirius’ which were staring intently at Remus as he stretched lazily in the back seat. He hadn’t noticed that Sirius’ eyes had moved from the chain link fence to their tanned friend.
Moments later, Sirius seemed to have processed what Remus had said. “Oh right, anything for you Moony…” Sirius replied feebly before sharply shifting his eyes to the dashboard, and straightening his posture. In the rearview mirror Remus’ bit on his cheekbones, hardening his jaw as his cheeks flushed maroon.