Chapter Text
‘’Told you. You could do worse.’’
Remus loads his bike and bag into Mr. McKinnon’s car before they drive off. The view from the passenger window becomes progressively more opulent as they ascend from Chino to Orange County. Remus feels the poetic irony.
‘’This is a nice car. I didn't know your kind of lawyer made money.’’
‘’No, we don't. My wife does.’’ Malcolm laughs.
They pull into what looks like the gates to a palace only to see the most dramatic-looking house Remus has ever seen. The car parks and Remus begins to feel a nervousness settle in his stomach. He’s really just going to stay the night at some stranger’s home. They probably have a dungeon judging from the size of the building. They unbuckle to get out but Malcolm pauses.
‘’Um, you know, why don't you wait here for a minute? I'll be back.’’
Malcolm pulls the keys out automatically and then sort of looks like he's trying to decide whether or not to take them. Remus rolls his eyes.
‘’It's no fun if the key's in the car.’’
Malcolm laughs uncomfortably and puts the key back in the ignition before he gets out. Remus waits for a while in the car. He knows Mr. McKinnon is probably talking his wife into letting him stay. This doesn’t seem like an out-of-the-blue occurrence for someone like him. So, Remus waits. Another ten seconds go by before Remus decides he’s bored. It’s dark out now and Remus makes his way down to the end of the ornate McKinnon driveway. He takes out a cigarette and looks up at the sky. It’s full of stars tonight. Remus never really understood the hype around star gazing. Sure, they look pretty but he could never see himself just watching, seeking them out for hours upon end. He suddenly hears faint footsteps coming nearer. He looks over and sees someone, someone who changes his mind because now looking at this person, Remus decides he understands why people can admire stars for the rest of their lives. This person with their long ebony curls that reach just past their shoulders and the even longer lashes that fan out across the highest cheekbones Remus has ever had the chance to witness. This person. This star is one that Remus could admire forever. Remus clicks open his lighter absently in a trance still staring at this star. At this noise, they startle a bit and notice him far beside them.
‘’Who are you?’’ She asks warily but not unfriendly.
Remus pauses. Longer than he should but he can’t fuck this up. This person talked to him, and he can’t think. Can’t think of what to say, how to reply. He can’t fuck this up.
‘’Whoever you want me to be.’’ Fucked it up.
They stare at him like he’s a cliché. Hell, He probably is. But she’s not impressed. Still smiling with a nod of their head ‘’Okay.’’
Remus decides to resort to death by embarrassment.
They notice his cigarette and glance around them like she’s making sure no one is watching.
‘’Hey, can I bum a cigarette?’’
The word ‘’cigarette’’ sounds unfamiliar, almost foreign coming from her mouth, and almost hinted a light strange accent formed around the word. This seems to pull Remus in because he blinked and suddenly they’re an inch apart. He hands her a cigarette and reaches to pull out his lighter but they just lean closer and start to light it with his cigarette hanging loosely in his mouth. She’s smiling at him while never breaking eye contact. Remus feels nervous, but a good nervous. Better than the one he felt before getting in the car with Mr. McKinnon. This nervous felt like oxygen, something he couldn’t ever imagine not having before. It settled in his chest like a missing puzzle piece that was meant to be there all along. They back away from him and inhale.
‘’So, what are you doing here, seriously?’’
‘’Seriously?’’ She nods.
He takes a drag ‘’I stole a car. Crashed it. Actually, my friend did. Since he had a gun and drugs on him he's in jail. I got out and my mom threw me out. She was pissed off and drunk. So, Mr. McKinnon took me in.’’
They laugh at him slightly, assuming he’s joking ‘’You're their cousin from Boston, right?’’
And well, ‘’Right.’’
Malcolm suddenly walks up behind Remus. She drops her cigarette quickly, startled.
‘’Hi, Sirius.’’
‘’Hey, Mr. McKinnon. I was just meeting your nephew.’’
Malcolm looks confused for a moment. ‘’Oh. My favorite nephew, Remus’’ He claps Remus on the back ‘’All the way from Seattle.’’
Sirius looks teasingly at Remus like they just caught him in a lie ‘’Seattle?’’
Remus tries to cover nonchalantly ‘’Dad lives there. Mom lives in Boston.’’
‘’Hmm.’’ Still disbelievingly.
Sensing a tense atmosphere, Malcolm engages ‘’So, we're all really excited about your fashion show fund-raiser tomorrow night, Sirius.’’
‘’Really? You are?.’’ She says with a tilt of her head.
‘’No.’’
Sirius laughs obviously not surprised or upset by his honesty. Remus isn’t quite sure how to contribute to this conversation, so he resorts to just more, not so subtle, staring. A loud rev of a truck interrupts his inner dialogue about the freckles splattered across Sirius’s face and neck. A big pickup truck pulls up in the driveway and parks in front of Sirius.
‘’Come on, let's go.’’ The driver says impatiently to Sirius.
She turns back to Remus with a grin ‘’Hey, you should come by the show tomorrow, check it out. If you don't have other plans.’’ They climb into the truck and kiss the driver leaving Remus shocked. She smiles back at Remus and Mr. McKinnon with a small wave. The guy in the driver’s seat didn’t seem to notice them until now.
‘’Who's that kid?’’ He says faintly to Sirius before driving off.
‘’Let's go inside.’’ Malcolm glances at Remus and notices the cigarette in his hand. ‘’ Uh, there's no smoking in this house.’’
Remus drops his cigarette and continues up the driveway. Malcolm begins to follow but quickly runs back and stamps it out.
-
Remus follows Mr. McKinnon into a small cabin by the pool where there is a woman, whom he assumes is the Mrs. The small house is fully furnished and does not look at all what Remus was expecting some storage unit to look like. It is very comforting and friendly, which contrasts perfectly with the fake friendly smile he is being given right now by Mrs. McKinnon.
‘’So, the pool house is where you're going to be staying. And this is the Queen of the manor herself, my wife Beatrice.’’ He introduces his wife with a kiss on her cheek.
‘’Hello, Remus, welcome to our home. If you need anything let us know.’’ Her words conflict with her tone sounding polite but formal and forced like she couldn’t quite get the words through her teeth.
‘’Thank you, thanks very much.’’
Malcolm claps his hands ‘’Well, we'll see you in the morning. Make yourself comfortable.’’ With one last nod and an unsure smile from Mrs. McKinnon, they leave Remus alone in the pool house.
Remus begins getting settled by tossing his bag on the bed and collapsing onto the bed, failing to fall asleep quickly what with everything on his mind, and the aching in his legs from standing and moving all day. After an hour or two he allows himself to drift off having dreams of police sirens chasing after him and a certain face framed in black.
-
Remus wakes up the next morning to the sun glaring in his eyes through all of the floor-to-ceiling windows in the pool house. Remus walks out of the pool house wondering if he’s even allowed to just walk into the house. He stands there debating whether or not to go inside or just wait until Malcolm maybe comes and gets him when he hears a noise. A few noises actually. Following the sounds leads Remus inside to discover a girl not too far from Remus’s age sitting on the floor playing video games. She doesn’t jump when she sees Remus, instead, she offers a welcoming expression, tilting her head for him to come sit down.
‘’Hey.’’
‘’Hey.’’ He sits down, unsure.
She looks around like she doesn’t quite know what to say ‘’Do you want to play?’’
Remus shrugs and picks up the controller handed to him.
-
‘’Oh, looks like someone's trying to be a hero but you got a little cocky. X O, X O it's an unbeatable combination. Oh, oh, ...’’ The girl he’s learned is Marlene shouts excitedly ‘’OH! What happened to your head? Where did it go? I'm sorry did someone die?’’ She laughs at Remus and basks in her victory ‘’Oh, hey, do you want to play Grand Theft Auto? It's pretty cool, you can like, steal cars ... and… well, not that that's cool. Or uncool, I don't know, um-‘’ Marlene trails off, but Remus gives her a humored look to let her know it’s all right. Both kids turn around to see someone, Mr. McKinnon, coming in carrying groceries.
‘’I see you two have met. Marls, what are you doing inside on this beautiful day? Why don't you show Remus around?’’ He offered with a grin.
Marlene only rolls her eyes sarcastically ‘’Okay, cause it’s so great around here. There's so much to do, Dad.’’ She turns back towards the TV and looks at Remus.
‘’I don't know, unless, what do you want to do?’’
Remus shrugs ‘’What do you guys do around here?’’
-
Some people find sailing to be a peaceful event. With the salty breeze flowing through your body and the silent white noise of crashing waves, who wouldn’t? Remus wouldn’t. Given the obvious, he’s never been sailing before but would never have imagined it to be similar to a bowling ball repeatedly thudding into his head. Marlene seems to be on the more ‘’enjoying it’’ end of the spectrum. She’s been speaking incessantly since they left and is still speaking now, but in this atmosphere she looks more settled, her eyes closed feeling the breeze sift through her lashes still speaking about the designs she’s thinking of adding to her skateboard. She continues with a faint smile on her lips. ‘’I have, um, this plan. Well, I don't-I don't know you'd think but um, next July the trade winds shift west, and I want to sail to Tahiti. I can do it in 44 days, maybe even 42.’’ She declares with a sense of pride.
‘’Wow. That ... sounds really cool.’’
‘’Yeah. Just hit the high seas and catch fish right off the side of the boat. Grill them right here. Just total quiet. Solitude.’’
‘’You won't get lonely?’’
‘’Well, I'll have Mary with me.’’
Remus motions to the boat named Mary. ‘’You're going to take this to Tahiti?’’
Marlene laughs nervously. ‘’Um, no. It's the girl the boat's named after.’’
‘’Ah, She must be pretty stoked.’’
‘’Yeah, she has no idea.’’ She fiddles with her hands, embarrassed. ‘’I've never talked to her before.’’
Remus knows he shouldn’t laugh but.
‘’Yeah, yeah, okay I know’’ She rolls her eyes. ‘’Now, let’s get off this thing before you vomit your brains out.’’
With the boat now pulled up on the sand, they spot Malcolm walking down the beach to them.
‘’Hey, I thought we'd head over to the fashion show at about 7.’’ He says with a wave to them both.
‘’Yeah, sure, have fun, Dad.’’
Malcolm sighs. ‘’Come on, Marls, It's a whole new school year.’’
‘’Yeah, okay, It's also the same kids, Dad. Why do they even need a fashion show? Every day’s a fashion show for these people.’’
‘’Yeah, well Remus has to go. Sirius invited him.’’
This catches Marlene’s attention as she finally straightens up and whips around to look at Remus. ‘’Sirius invited you? I've lived next door to Sirius for like, forever, and, like, she's never even invited me to a birthday party.’’ She says with a certain affront.
‘’Hey, maybe Mary would be there.’’ Remus offers, trying to help Malcolm out.
Marlene snaps her fingers at him. ‘’That's interesting. She IS Sirius's best friend.’’ She thinks to herself before turning back to Mr. McKinnon. ‘’7:00?’’
‘’7:00.’’
Marlene smiles to herself in triumph. ‘’7:00.’’