spring fallouts

march 28th, 1986

“please put the fag out, it smells awful.”

“first of all, no, second of all, no it doesn’t.”

Remus opened Sirius’s window with the little remote in the front, not fully realizing it was raining.

“hey! hey! hey! hey! stop! i’m literally getting wet and-” Sirius yelled in protest, desperately trying to keep the nicotine stick away from the pouring water. “thanks. the cig is out now.”

James was now full on laughing at him, making Pete laugh as well; Remus turned to them with a mischievous grin and slowly put his hand on the remote again.

“Pads, hide ur fag,” Sirius quickly held the new, freshly lighted cigarette behind his back, as James and Pete tried to back away from the window as well. “well, since you guys thought it was so funny,” he opened both their windows. “here you go.”

the water ran into the car like crazy, full on wetting both boys on the left. Sirius quickly managed to get his hand to the remote, closing the windows.

“sorry moony, it was a good one; but they’re definitely gonna try to get back at you if it went on for longer.”

Remus laughed, putting his left hand to the back, giving Sirius a pat on the shoulder. “thanks, pads.”

“i’m still pissed that that’s my new nickname, there’s oh so many things you’d be able to call me; and you folks chose pads.”

James stopped him, “sorry mate, but you kind of chose it yourself.”

“you barely knew what a pad was, therefore, you deserve a lovely nickname to match that.” Pete laughed at his own statement. Sirius however, didn’t think it was that funny and gave him the middle finger.

“my car is wet now, though.”

“that’s your own fault.”

Remus shook his head and made a right suddenly, confusing especially Sirius and Pete who were in the back, and had literally no sense of orientation. James however knew where he was heading.

“oooh, that’s where you’re going!”

“exactly right, but first gas.”

James snickered and continued making notes on the map, in the back, Pete and Sirius were currently playing some license plate game, one of those games seven year olds would play on a long drive when going on vacation.

Remus stopped at the gas station and he went in to pay, at first he had wanted to bring the others some ice cream, or something, but they were going somewhere which was going to be way more fun. he did buy two more packs of cigarettes, he didn’t know how else he was going to get through the next couple of days if he hadn’t.

the town they were currently in, which was a small town named Thame, felt awfully British to Remus, small houses next to the road, couple of trees, some shops; but nothing major. The boys came from a very different part of the country, London most definitely had its parts, too. yet that was so different.

the weather didn’t help much either, if it would have been hot weather, it would have been much different. Remus didn’t have to doubt it once to say that the town would look gorgeous if the weather was better.

he stopped for a bit to admire his car, he found it looked quite beautiful. he adjusted his jacket and aimed his sight at his three best friends in the car; Pete, who was so effortlessly funny, such a chill person, it felt like nothing could ever bother him. then there was James, who was by far the kindest person Remus had ever met. James was also really funny, an awesome cook, which was a trait he inherited from his mum. then there was Sirius.

Sirius who had a beautiful smile, who was so good at cheering people up, Sirius who, even in the darkest of days, could make a room light up with simply being there. Sirius who could make Remus laugh so hard he couldn’t breath, and Sirius who had the most comfortable aura Remus had ever seen in a person. Sirius was by far one of the best friends Remus had ever had.

of course Remus got annoyed by his ultra hyper behavior sometimes, but he didn’t think he could ever stay mad at him. Sirius was Sirius.

Remus walked back to the car and threw in the receipt first, quickly closing the door, trying to stop any more rain from coming in. he then lit another cigarette and put it on his mouth, he took a long drag and let his head fall back against the headrest.

James and Pete appeared to be in their own world, jamming to a song playing on the radio. Remus turned his head towards them and let out a small laugh, until pale, slim hands made their way to the nicotine stick hanging from his mouth, making him turn to the boy behind him.

Sirius grinned, while also taking a big drag from the fag. he ruffled his own hair, putting some of it in a bun. Remus was probably smiling as well, by now.

“come on lads! stop the staring!” James said, with a grin on his face; he winked at Remus and turned away, making Remus’s cheeks heat up.

“Moony, let’s go.”

“alright, alright Pete.”

Peter sighed and pulled his sweater a little further up his arms; showing the sleeve of tattoos covering his left arm, and the few on his right. People often saw Pete as a soft boy, while in reality, he was everything but one.

Remus started driving again, he made a couple of turns, started talking to James about the familiar place; which they were both excited to return to. after around ten minutes, they arrived at a little pub, a little distant from the rest of the town.

“your fifteenth!” Sirius suddenly gasped as they got out of the car, putting an arm around Remus’s shoulder, making him turn to Sirius while grinning. “never thought you would have remembered it.”

the fifteenth birthday in question, had been Remus’s fifteenth; that year his birthday fell in a weekend, so they took the bus and went here. obviously they were three years away from the legal age of drinking, but back here they didn’t ask for ID’s, so they had the ability to get as drunk as they wanted without anyone stopping them.

now almost all of them were eighteen, except for Pete; who was turning eighteen in less than a couple of months, so it didn’t matter much, anyway.

they walked inside of the pub, which was filled with some men, who were following a soccer game on the television, and a couple of other people, who were drinking and overall having a fun time. the four of them sat down at a table a little in the back, Remus and Pete both immediately lit a fag, earning a disapproving look from James, who despised smoking with a passion.

“can i help you guys?”

Remus looked up at the voice, a boy, who seemed to be a couple of years older than them, had a light brown mullet, was wearing the work uniform of the pub; he had a big grin on his face, and Remus could see the tattoos covering his neck.

Remus swallowed and quickly looked down at the table, James, who was sitting across from him was giggling at that reaction.

“id like a whiskey, thank you.” James said, as he looked at the drinks menu, handing it back to the boy who grabbed it, wrote it down and smiled at Pete, who ordered a beer.

“i uh, do you have this uh, scotch?” Sirius asked, mumbling a bit. Remus looked at him, seeing Sirius’s cheeks all red and him acting way more nervous in general.

“of course we do,” the boy said, with a sugar sweet smile on his face. he turned to Remus. “how ‘bout you?”

it was like Remus suddenly forgot how to talk, he coughed and, attempted, to start talking again.

“a beer, please.”

“sure, it’s coming right up.”

the boy walked away as Pete and James started laughing again, Pete was full on giggling by now.

“what is up with you guys? of course, he was handsome, but you guys can’t even act normal anymore.”

“bugger off.”

“okay mister, ‘uh can i uh, do you uh, i uh’” James said, trying to keep in his laugh as he made fun of Sirius. making Remus laugh as well.

“oh shut up! you literally forgot how to talk, at least i could talk.”

“if ‘uh can i uh’ is talking, according to you, i wonder how you ever got through school.”

Sirius elbowed him, making Remus burst out in laughter.