Chapter 3
'Remus, I'm home' said James closing the door behind himself.
'James! James, Prongs shh come here' Remus gestured to come closer so that he could whisper in his hear.
'What's going on?' James was trying to speak quietly but anyone who knows him will tell you he has a very loud tone of voice.
'He's still here' hissed Remus.
'I'm sorry, who are we talking about?'
'The guy I hooked up with last night, it's past noon, and he's still here' Remus sounded as if having this guy over was pure torture.
'Did you tell him to leave?' asked James with a sweet mocking voice.
'It's awkward, can you do the thing please?' implored Remus, looking towards the door of his room in a frantic way.
'No, I told you I didn't want to do the thing anymore' he would have done it anyway, but ha could still try to get something out of it.
'I'll let you borrow my Bowie vinyl, whenever you want for a month'
'Deal' said James pretending without even thinking about it.
With fast feet, James crossed the living room reaching Remus' room and throwing the door open
'I can't believe you did this to me' shouted James looking away from the man sprawled out on Remus' bed.
'It's the SECOND time, don't you care that you're breaking my heart?!?? we've been together for TWO YEARS' Remus who had joined him in the doorway was now getting hit on the chest while James cried his eyes out.
'I can explain love, you know it's not what it seems like!!' Remus could barely hold the smile James' performance was causing.
'I want him to leave, I hate you! How could you do this to me' James was sobbing so hard that the words came out all choked up.
The man in Remus' bed, who had been looking at the interaction with a pale face, was now rapidly trying to collect his clothes. He stumbled on the duvet on his way out, got out of the house with only his boxers on and burning cheeks and slammed the door after himself.
After five seconds of complete silence. the two burst into uncontrollable laughter, falling to the ground next to their couch trying to ease their breath.
Once they had calmed down they cuddled next to each other looking at the black screen of their television.
After a few minutes of comfortable silence, James shifted to look Remus in the eyes.
'So who was the guy?' he asked sensing that something was off.
'It was nobody important' mumbled Remus glancing away.
'And why did you want him to leave so desperately?' talking with Remus sometimes felt like forcing words out of a very quiet kid.
Remus sighted before answering
'Earlier I woke up to him pushing my tshirt up, trying to see underneath, even if last night I told him I preferred to keep it on' he answered with a sad smile.
'I'm so sorry Remus, he should have respected your boundaries'
'It's not that big of a deal'
'It is' said James with finality.
'I-I just don't want people I don't trust to see them and ask questions about what happened. It took me months to show them to you and... and I don't want the constant reminder' a tear fell from his eye, and he rapidly pushed it away with the back of his hand.
'Rem, it's okay, you don't owe anyone an explanation' reassured James in a soft voice.
'B-but, I would, you know? If you asked again I'd tell you' whispered Remus, almost scared of James taking him up on the offer.
'I know' smiled James, cuddling a little bit closer.
Remus sent him a thankful glance and that was it, the moment passed and they went back to safe topics.
The thing is, James doesn't need to know. Knowing that Remus trusts him is enough, and if he wanted to tell him he'd be the one to open the conversation.
Maybe they're not the kind of friends who would be described as soulmates. They don't know everything about each other, and can go for more than a week without talking when James is out of town, but they're always going to be there when a shoulder to cry on or a hug are needed. They like it that way.
'Let's open a beer, yeah?' they looked at each other with matching grins.
^^^^^
Riding in a car in complete silence was making James nervous, and he couldn't stop squirming in his seat.
Ha had received a text on his work phone, from an unknown number, with only a time and place.
-17:30 Alice's Statue, Central Park
It wasn't far from his house and he headed out sending a quick goodbye ti Remus.
When he arrived at the meeting spot, he saw Regulus waiting for him. The second their eyes met he started walking heading out of the park.
James jogged a bit to catch up with him
'hi'
no response,
'So where are we headed to?' James tried to not be bothered by the silence treatment his new work partner was giving him.
He gave up on trying to make small conversation and followed his steps.
When they reached a parked car Regulus unlocked it and got into the driving seat.
James stopped his steps looking at the car without moving towards it.
He couldn't believe Regulus had texted him to ignore him and leave in less of 15 minutes.
Who does this guy think he is? With his posh french accent, unusual for a Russian agent, that James was dying to ask him about. The perfect styled clothes, impeccable hair, high cheekbones and cold eyes.
'Potter, are you done staring? Are you getting in or do you need an invitation?' the tone Regulus was using was the same people use to reprimand kids when they are disappointed.
Oh, he wanted him to come. James walked to the other side of the car, set and looked out of the window with burning cheeks.
Not that looking at Regulus would have made a difference, he was already putting the car in motion not sparing James a glance.
Now, after 30 minutes of absolute silence James couldn't take it any longer and reached for the radio with his hand.
He received a smack on the hand, and retreated quickly.
Rule number one: do not touch Regulus' car without permission, understood.
After a few minutes of silence more, during which James had a grumpy look on his face and Regulus was completely unbothered, James spoke again
'No conversation, and no radio. What am I supposed to do while you drive? I don't even know where we are going' complained James.
'Will you shut up if I answer your questions?
... 'Yes'
'You have three questions' for a person who didn't want to talk to James, three was a pretty large number.
'Where are we going?' the first question, was the obvious one anyone would ask while driving with a stranger towards god knows where.
'Boston' that was a four hours drive, it was going to be a long evening.
'Why?'
'We're meeting Lily Evans' it was unlikely that Regulus had warned Lily that they were visiting.
The polite thing to do would be to text Lily and tell her they were coming, but James doubted she'd be enthusiastic to meet the person who tried to shoot her 24 hours prior. He hoped Lily liked surprises.
'Why do you have a french accent?' James blurted the question out without even realising it.
'What?' Regulus sounded confused, the first real emotion James could see aside from annoyance.
'Your accent, you're supposed to be Russian but your accent is french' James explained but Regulus had probably understood the question and was just confused about why he was asking in the first place.
James had to admit he didn't know either.
'I'm half french' Regulus said slowly, weighting he's words carefully as if trying to not give away too much.
'Cool, my third cousins are Indian. Is it your mother's or father's side?'
Regulus tensed up at the question, James felt like he had touched a raw nerve and shut instantly his mouth.
Maybe he was looking too much into it and Regulus was just following he's three questions rule.
James sighted and tried to curl up on the seat and pretended to sleep.
He didn't trust Regulus enough to drift off, but having his eyes closed made the awkward silence more bearable.