The Call (Part 1)
Chapter 1 - The Call (Part 1)
I have said too much
Been too unkind
I try to laugh about it
Cover it all up with lies
I try to laugh about it
Hiding the tears in my eyes
The phone was ringing again. Sirius cursed himself for not cutting the wiring; all it did was give him a headache. The only people that called him were Marlene and– Remus…
There's another reason to get rid of it , Sirius thought, groaning as he rolled off the couch to end the pallid screech of the ringtone. He picked up the receiver just to slam it back down, allowing for no interruption to his well-crafted streak of ‘radio silence’, as he had been calling it. Marlene had come over almost daily for the first couple of weeks following the breakup, mainly to clean up empty bottles and offer cooked meals, which Sirius greatly appreciated. He wished he could tell her as much, but she had to fuck off to university, so Sirius hadn’t seen her for almost two weeks. He loved her - Marlene was his best friend, he was immensely proud of her, but he could really use someone right about now.
Normally, Sirius would call Remus - have a chat and at some point end up in bed with him - but that option seemed a little needy seeing as they broke up almost 3 weeks ago. It pained him to think about it, to be entirely honest. Sirius hadn’t meant to spark an argument, nor did he intend to snap their 4-year relationship - but you always expect relationships to break. You never expect to lose a friend. He couldn’t remember if things ended on good terms, but judging by the very loud silence from Remus, he guessed they didn’t. Marlene had told him that things were bad for the first week, and the fact that Sirius barely recalled the week in question, he guessed she was telling the truth. Even now, he had to kick past empty bottles and cigarette buts just to get to his landline - which sat barely two meters from the couch that Sirius had resorted to.
There were moments that would come back to him, randomly, sparked by the smallest of things. Standing now over the landline, the day he and Remus had decided to get it flooded his vision.
“What about this?” Remus had asked, holding up the dusty phone. Sirius scowled at him.
“Do we really need one? I feel like everyone we know just calls our cells– and actually, the only people I talk to are you and Marlene.”
“Well, I’m going to get it. You never know”
“I will never understand you,” Sirius slung an arm over his forehead dramatically “You won’t let me get a minibar, and yet you’re thrifting a fucking landline”
“You don’t need a minibar” Remus stuck his tongue out, laughing inwardly.
Sirius looked away, his attention turning to a turntable.
“I’m getting this then” He sulked.
Sirius smiled at the memory, his gaze slipping to the turntable that still sat where he had carefully positioned it all those years ago, back when his record collection consisted of a couple of T. Rex albums and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars , which was still arguably the coolest album name ever. His smile fell abruptly when he clocked the framed photo of Remus on his first day of Uni hanging above the now towering pile of records. Sirius had got it as a joke for Remus’s 21st, but he had loved it so much he insisted on putting it up immediately. All of a sudden, Sirius was crying, and he wasn’t quite sure why. These memories were happy - the happiest Sirius had probably ever been - and yet thinking about them now only made the hole in his heart feel more like an abyss. A part of him was missing, and Sirius didn’t realise what he was doing until the phone was at his ear, and the ever so familiar voice rang out.
Hello?
.+ *^* +.
So hard to find my way
Now that I’m all on my own
I saw you just the other day
My, you have grown!
Remus had never had a breakup before. It was– weird. He wasn’t entirely sure what to do with himself. It was almost like he was missing a limb - a working one at least. It had taken him a week to finally drag himself out of bed the day after, refusing to use his cane; the one engraved with the moon systems snaking up the side surrounded by tiny stars, and of course one eternally bright one. Sirius. For another week after that he hobbled around his Mum’s small home, never without a dosette box full of vicodin in hand for the pain. Approaching the third week now, and Remus was doing better. He still wasn’t using his cane, but what did it matter? It’s not like he ever went out anymore. Sirius may’ve been his boyfriend, but he had also been Remus’ best friend - and losing that was worst of all.
His Mum took good care of him. She was the one that dragged Remus out of his bed on mornings when he felt numb and unable to move. She was the one who fed and dressed him, and made sure he showered when all he wanted to do was lie in his old childhood sheets and hide. When he felt like there was no point in staying in the world, it was his Mum who kept him grounded.
So yeah. He was doing better - not his best - but better. He was using a cane, just not the cane, and he was up and showered before ten every day. Most days, he would only ever think of Sirius once or twice. Other days it was a lot more - but the hole was getting smaller, and Remus was moving on. He was going out to the market, reading many books at once, and finding little things to keep him busy. By the end of the third week, Remus had almost completely recovered. He could speak a good deal of Greek and Latin thanks to the books he found at his local archive, and he barely thought of Sirius at all.
But then he got the call. Seeing Sirius’ name on his phone screen still made his chest flutter, and fireworks go off in his stomach. Remus just stared at it for a minute, wondering why on earth he would call him. Almost without thinking, his thumb hit the answer button and like the old times, the phone was to his ear in seconds.
“Hello?”