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Remus sits, lounging on the couch in a bit of a Superbowl daze. He doesn’t like football. In fact, his understanding of it is limited to the flag football unit in gym class years ago, but he is always happy for any excuse for drinks, good food and even better company. In fact, he doesn’t even really know who’s playing, all he knows is that one of the team’s has a racially insensitive name and he has taken to calling the other team ‘the blue ones.’
It’s coming up to the end of the second quarter and the racially insensitive team is in the lead by a landslide. The game is interrupted by what seems to be yet another commercial break. Remus smiles as he listens to Lily and Frank bicker over the latest play and tugs his phone out of his pocket to scroll through Twitter. There are lots of people discussing the game and others who are just waiting for the halftime show to come on. Among these Remus finds a tweet from one of his favourite musicians:
Washington has this in the bag 💪🏼 💪🏼 Might as well give it up now Patriots 🤷♂️
Remus snorts, appreciating the overzealous confidence that could only come from someone with the ability to play on stage in front of millions of people and somehow make you feel like he was playing just for you. He quickly types up a reply and hits send without thinking much about it.
Confident much @padfoot09? When the Patriots win, you better go on a date with me.
He tosses his phone to the side and is surprised to hear it buzz a moment later. He reads the notification off his lock screen.
Game on @moonymoons
Remus smiles, basking in the specific drug of being recognized by someone famous online. He knows Sirius Black is likely just a regular person like anyone else. But to Remus he’s an amazing musician and an even better lyricist, and to the rest of the world he’s the most eligible bachelor and biggest heartthrob. Remus can’t help but feel a little special to be recognized by him even if it is just for some stupid joke.
Remus cracks open another cider and settles in for the rest of the game. Although, he is starting to learn his friend’s reactions are the best part. It’s entertaining to watch them yell at the screen as if the players can actually hear them or like they know any better than the decisions that the coaches are making.
The rest of the game passes by in a bit of blur. The halftime show went off without a hitch, although Remus guessed some of the underlying political messaging would be all over the news for the next few days because damn it if someone in a position of privilege uses their voice to speak out about human rights concerns. As for the rest of the game, Remus was delightfully surprised to watch the blue ones make a wonderful comeback to beat the racially insensitive team. It made for an interesting game at least. No one really knew who was going to win until those last few seconds on the clock counted down.
As the team runs the field to celebrate and Frank and Lily break out into another argument of who the better team is, Remus slips off to the bathroom. Shaking his head at his friend's antics as he smiles quietly to himself. When he comes back, everyone’s sitting in their positions on the couch. Remus guesses that Alice has managed to reel Frank back in but Lily still looks like she’s ready for another round.
“Your phone’s been going off the whole time you’ve been gone Mr. Popular,” Lily tells him, not taking her eyes off the screen.
Remus goes to pick up his phone, confused, and a little worried as to who might be messaging him, only to find out that his Twitter had practically exploded.
“Oh my god,” he murmurs as he opens the app.
“What?” Lily asks.
Remus shakes his head and holds it out to her so she can read the message herself. It’s from Sirius Black:
@moonymoons DM me 😉
“Oh my god,” Lily repeats.
“What?” Frank asks, all previous rivalry forgotten in the desire to not be left out from something.
“Remus’ got a date with Sirius Black.”
“The singer?” Alice asks wide eyed. “How??”
Remus nods his head slowly in disbelief.
“Bet him on Twitter that the Patriots would win. Here,” Lily says, thrusting Remus’ phone back into his hands. “You have to message him!”
“Alright,” Remus says. “But he probably won’t follow through with it anyways. Besides, he doesn’t live near here and it was a stupid bet.”
Remus opens up his messages and tries to think of something witty to say before finally landing on:
- Told you they’d win
He watches the three dots appear that tell him that Sirius is typing. When the message finally comes in he has to blink twice to make sure he isn’t imagining it.
- So? Where do you want to go on our date?
“Holy shit,” Remus says. “He wants to go through with it.”
Lily, Frank, and Alice quickly crowd around him so that they can read over his shoulder.
“What are you going to tell him?” Alice asks.
“I don’t know!” Remus exclaims. “What do you tell a Grammy award winning multi-millionaire when he asks you where you want to go on your date?”
“Here,” Lily says, snatching the phone from him. They all watch nervously as her fingers fly over the keyboard before she hands it back to Remus. Frank and Alice lean in quickly in order to read over his shoulder.
“What are your thoughts on pancakes?” Remus reads aloud. “Really Lils?! That was the best you could come up with?”
“Shh,” she says as she swats him in the arm, “he’s typing.”
They all watch the screen in silent anticipation until a soft whoop announces the arrival of another message.
- Love them. Where did you have in mind?
“Is now a good time to tell him I don’t live in LA?”
“Probably,” Lily says.
Remus casts a despairing look at Frank and Alice who simply shrug at him sympathetically.
- There’s a diner near here that’s my favourite. But I don’t live anywhere near LA
Remus debates about adding ‘and I don’t have the money to get there either’ but decides against it.
- Where are you?
Remus sends back the name of his small town and braces himself for Sirius to tell him that it’s too much, and this was all over.
- Just googled it. I’ll be in New York in a few weeks for a concert. Maybe I can get you tickets and then we can do pancakes in the morning?
“How far away is New York?” Remus asks Alice, knowing she’d made a trip out there last fall to see a new musical she was excited about.
“I think it took us sixteen hours, but we did get stuck in traffic.”
“Is Sirius Black really going to drive sixteen hours with me to have pancakes for breakfast?”
“Sounds like it, mate,” Frank says and he looks just as astonished as Remus feels. His phone buzzes with another message from Sirius:
- You in?
Remus looks at his friends hoping they know what the right answer is to the question. In some way, he hopes one of them will remember some pressing engagement he has to attend so he can get out of this crazy idea. But they all just look at him with hopeful glances and shrugs. He sighs and turns back to his phone.
- I’m in. Send me the date and time.
Two weeks later, Remus finds himself pacing the entryway of his hotel room waiting for the car that Sirius was sending for him. A car. A private car. He has pinched himself too many times trying to prove that this was real. He checks his phone for the millionth time, not sure what he’s expecting as Sirius is probably deep in pre-concert preparations.
He glances down at his outfit that Frank, Alice, and Lily had helped him pick out. He plays with the threads on the tight black skinny jeans, as he looks over the worn Ramones crop top that Alice had lent him, topped off with his button covered jean jacket that Lily had convinced him was cool and not old looking at all. They’d painted his nails black and silver and given him some pretty killer eyeliner, which had somehow managed to survive the crazy combination of transportation he’d opted for over the sixteen hour drive. First the car ride to the airport, then the short flight in a too small plane, and finally the subway trip to the very fancy hotel Sirius had insisted he pay for, and not a smudge in sight. Still, he’s nervous. He’s sure that Sirius will see him and call this whole thing off.
Everything about the last two weeks has felt surreal. Sirius and him have been messaging back and forth on Twitter to sort out the details until one morning Sirius had asked for his phone number, saying it would be easier to communicate that way, and he felt he could trust Remus to not give it out to people. Lily had practically had to give him the heimlich maneuver to stop him from choking on his frosted flakes.
Honestly, Remus was more than happy to get off Twitter. He’d been bombarded by superfans after the news went public that Sirius was taking him on a date. Some people wanted to let him know how lucky he was. Others were a bit more aggressive in their opinions on Remus going on a date with who they considered to be their man.
More than anything, Remus was surprised to discover how much they had in common. How quickly their conversations had gravitated from necessary details to their favourite morning cartoons and sweatpant brands. Remus has always felt that Sirius Black has a window to his soul. He just hadn’t realized how big that window truly was.
His phone buzzes in his hand and he answers the unknown number to discover that Sirius’ driver is waiting outside. After triple checking his pockets and locking the door, Remus makes his way downstairs and into the waiting black car. The seats are leather and a bottle of champagne sits on ice in front of him. There’s a note tied to it that says ‘See you soon, Moony’ and Remus would be lying if he didn’t admit that it sends his heart aflutter. He tries to reel himself in and remind himself that this will be one incredible, amazing night but it isn’t going to be some grand rom-com where they ended up together forever.
“Everything to your liking, Mr. Lupin?” The driver asks.
“Yes, excellent, thank you,” Remus says, blushing at the formality. He’s just some poor kid who had worked his ass off to get through college. He never thought he’d get to experience this level of decadence.
When they arrive at the venue, Remus finds himself ushered into the backstage door and passed off into the hands of a very exhausted looking manager who introduces herself as Marlene. She sets him up with a backstage pass, tells him where he can and can’t go, and leaves him in a room full of more food and drinks that Remus would probably buy in two months worth of groceries, with the instruction that someone would come and find him before the concert begins.
Remus munches on some chocolate covered strawberries and cracks a can of alcoholic cider open as he tries to settle his nerves in preparation for the concert. It feels like he’s in that room for hours. He sends messages to their friend group chat, updating them on what’s going on, and laughing when Lily warns him to watch out for Sirius trying to lure him into any cults. Apparently, that’s the wild theory the tabloids have come up with this week.
He also receives a picture from Sirius. He’s wearing a black button down, which is completely undone to reveal his tattoos, and he has heavy eyeliner on and is sticking his tongue out with his hand in a punk rock sign. He’s captioned it, ‘See you soon!’ Remus is pretty sure he’s died and gone to heaven.
Eventually, another stagehand comes to grab him and take him up to the side of the stage so he can watch the show. Remus chats with some of the other people loitering around but falls silent when the lights finally dim. The crowd roars as a signal spotlight comes on and then into the light strides Sirius and his guitar.
He’s breathtaking, standing in the centre of the stage like it’s where he belongs and from the first strum of his guitar, he has the audience eating out of the palm of his hand. Remus dances and screams the lyrics to every song. He tries not to faint when in the midst of one of his numbers, Sirius turns and gives him a little wink.
Remus has always loved live music. He’s seen countless underground shows and up and comers in bars whenever he could. But he’s never been to a concert like this before. He’d wanted to but by the time you added up the cost of the ticket, travel, food, and accommodations, it was more than he could bear. But being here now, he realizes this is a whole different beast. A part of him misses the quiet intimacy of those smaller shows, but he can’t help feeling the powerful pull of the electricity that runs through the crowd. There’s something so haunting and surreal in the way that Sirius can stop singing at any point and the audience can carry on from where he left off without missing a beat. It’s beautiful to feel connected to a group of familiar strangers. To know that everyone in this theatre had been touched by the beauty of Sirius’ music somehow, that they felt that same powerful pull that Remus had when he’d heard his voice over the radio for the first time, that they had known that somehow this had been created just for them. They are here as a collective but there’s something so personal about their own experiences.
“How are you all doing out there?” Sirius asks and the crowd roars in response.
“Excellent, excellent. I think we’re going to slow it down a bit for this next one,” Sirius says. And Remus closes his eyes as he hears Sirius’ guitarist pluck out the opening notes to his favourite ballad. When he opens them again, Sirius is standing right in front of him. He beams at him as he mouths a silent “hi” before grabbing his hand. He tilts his head to ask if this is okay as he hands his guitar off to a roadie. Remus nods and finds himself being dragged out onto the stage with him. He lets go of Remus centre stage and turns to face him, there’s so little room between them that Remus could lick the microphone in Sirius’ hand if he wanted to.
You’ve been howling in your sleep
Werewolf dreams coming over me
I’ve been counting sheep
Think I need a hundred more to set me free
Sirius reaches a hand out to place it on Remus’ waist as he croons in his beautiful lilting voice. His grey eyes search Remus’ for an answer and he nods allowing Sirius to rest his strong hand on his hip.
Muddy footprints in the dark
Darling, I swear you’ve collared my heart
I’ve got butterflies
But can you see the darkness in my eyes?
Sirius leans his forehead against Remus’ as the guitar builds up to the chorus. The crowd is losing their mind but Remus can’t hear them. His world has narrowed down to this one point of touch. To the feeling of Sirius’ warm skin pressed against his. The moment seems to last forever before he’s pulling away to sing again.
It’s a full moon baby
Demons crawling over me
But then I see your star lit eyes
Darling, I swear you were sent to set me free
Set me free
Remus loses himself in the rest of the song. Even though he knew he could sing the words from heart with headphones on blasting the Sesame Street theme. But he slips away from all of that in the feel of the sensuous way that Sirius is moving against him, in his warm breath against his cheek, in the way his eyes never seem to leave Remus’ body if even for a moment.
But as always, the song must come to an end and the final roar of the crowd breaks the spell and Remus finds himself blushing madly with the realization that tens of thousands of people were witness to this private moment between the two of them. Sirius smiles at him and gives his hand another squeeze before Remus is flanked again by roadies. One handing Sirius’ his guitar tuned for the next song. The other coming to guide him backstage again.
Remus spends the rest of the concert love drunk. His eyes don’t leave Sirius for a single moment.
When it’s over, Remus is led back to the same room he was in before. He’s not quite sure what he’s supposed to do next and he’s about to try and find his way back to the hotel when there’s a knock on the door and Sirius Black himself is standing there.
Away from the darkness of the stage and in the harsh fluorescent light, Remus can fully take him in. The dark black hair that is slicked back with sweat. The taunt muscles of his chest that are covered in black ink of various runes and images. The black flowy pants that Remus swears sit a little too low on his hips.
“Hi,” he says with a smile.
“Hi,” Remus says trying to gain his composure and hoping that Sirius doesn’t notice him staring.
“Hope you didn’t mind me dragging you on stage. I did promise you a date after all,” he walks by Remus to the table of food and pops a grape in his mouth, curling his lips around it in a way that should be illegal.
“No, of course not,” Remus says, mentally bashing himself for sounding like an idiot. “Moonlight is my favourite song. I mean of yours… well that’s a lie. It’s my favourite song in general. I think Spotify said I listened to it over four hundred times last year. Oh my god, I need to shut up,” Remus buries his head in his hand as Sirius laughs and of course, the sound is as beautiful as his singing voice.
“I’m flattered,” Sirius says. He considers Remus for a moment and opens his mouth to say something else before he’s interrupted by someone yelling his name from the hallway. “Shit, my manager,” he says. He drops the rest of the grape vine back on the plate and starts to head to the door. “Still good for pancakes tomorrow morning?”
“Yeah, but you do know how long of a drive it is right? Might be night before we get there.”
“Who said anything about driving?”
And with those cryptic words and one last smile, he slips out of the door and away into the night.
Remus goes for a simpler outfit the next morning. Jeans and one of his better sweaters. A loose knit maroon one that is one of the last sweaters he has where the neck isn’t stretched. He packs up his things from the hotel and waits for the knock on his door.
When he answers, he’s surprised to see how different Sirius looks. Last night’s makeup is all washed off, and his hair is tied back in a messy bun. Instead of a bold stylish outfit he’s usually known for he wears loose jeans, an old t-shirt, and a leather jacket. A pair of aviator sunglasses sit perched atop his head.
“Ready?” He says with a smile.
“Of course,” Remus says and goes to grab his bags until Sirius tells him someone else can get them for him. It’s odd to him, this life of being able to count on other people for things. It also feels wrong in some way to have them do what he could so easily handle on his own but he decides to let it go for once.
He and Sirius weave their way through the lobby, his security detail staying close at hand until they are safely in the black car from the night before. Sirius seems to heave a sigh of relief as the door is closed and the jeers of fans are locked out from outside.
“What time do you think we’ll be there?” Remus asks.
“Maybe 11?” Sirius says. “Why?”
“No reason,” Remus tells him but pulls out his phone to send a quick message.
They stay relatively quiet for the rest of the car ride until they arrive at another tall, dark, building. Remus is confused. He had figured that if they weren’t driving they’d be heading back through the small convoluted method he’d taken to get here. Sirius leads him to the elevator and Remus feels a quick flash of fear as he wonders if Lily’s cult theory is true. But then the door bings and Sirius guides him out of the elevator and onto the roof where a black helicopter sits waiting for them.
“You’re shitting me,” Remus says and gets to hear Sirius’ wonderful laugh again.
“Nope, you don’t have a fear of flying do you?”
Remus shakes his head.
“Good,” Sirius says and surprises him by climbing into the pilot’s seat.
“You fly?”
“Not as well as I sing.”
Remus’ face pales and Sirius is quick to assure him he’s just kidding.
He pulls down his sunglasses and settles a headset over his ears before reaching over to help Remus put his on. Sirius’ hands brush gently against Remus’ cheek and he finds himself blushing for the umpteenth time.
Flying in a helicopter is so much different from being in a plane. It’s loud for one thing, but Remus quickly gets used to using the headsets to communicate with Sirius. Being in a helicopter also means they are that much closer to the ground and Remus watches as they get closer and closer to his hometown. From up here, the farmer’s fields separating the suburban sprawl looks almost beautiful. It makes him hate the tiny village that has kept him trapped a little less.
Sirius has to bring the helicopter down about an hour out of the village, since that’s the nearest available helipad. From there it's back into another car and then to the restaurant.
Before they get out at the diner, Remus catches Sirius steeling himself again, he feels grateful that he thought to send the text message ahead of time as they climb out of the car and up to the front doors.
Sirius goes to open the door for him but Remus shakes his head, stepping ahead of him to knock gently. Sirius looks at him confused but Remus doesn't say anything until Dorcas is opening the door for them.
“Hey Dor,” Remus says smiling as she steps aside to let them in. “Thanks again for doing this I promise I’ll pay you back.”
She waves her hand in dismissal. “Don’t worry about it.”
Sirius seems surprised that she doesn’t seem to stare or look at him in that awe inspired way people stare at celebrities. Dorcas slips back into the kitchen and Remus guides him over to his favourite booth with a view of the river. He feels slightly self-conscious of the worn floors and duct tape vinyl but has an odd feeling this will be a welcome change for Sirius.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Remus says as he sits down across from him and gestures absent-mindedly at the obvious absence of other guests. “I thought it might be nice for you to not be interrupted by fans for a change.”
He watches as Sirius’ face lights up with understanding. “Thanks, you didn’t have to do that.”
“I honestly don’t know how you’d stand it. All that attention all the time.”
Sirius smiles at him softly, “I don’t know. You did pretty good with it last night.”
Remus blushes and looks back down at the table.
“But, yeah, it can be exhausting sometimes. People don’t look at you like you’re a human being you know? They treat you like some kind of God or something.”
Remus feels a small tinge of guilt, remembering how awe-struck he’d been when he’d been messaging Sirius on Superbowl Sunday.
“So,” Remus says, changing the subject, “you don’t have any allergies do you?”
Sirius shakes his head.
“Good. I’ve asked Dorcas to bring us some banana pancakes, plus waffles and her famous fried chicken. I know we agreed on pancakes but it would be sinful for you to come all the way out here and not get to try it.”
Sirius smiles, “Sounds delicious.”
“Believe me it is.”
Dorcas kicks open the door to the kitchen. “Y’all want something to drink?”
Remus looks at Sirius, “Root beer float?” He nods. “Two,” he tells Dorcas who nods and then slips back into the kitchen.
“So Patriots fan?” Sirius asks as Dorcas sets the floats down in front of them.
“Actually, I don’t know anything about football. I just thought you were being cocky,” he teases as he takes a sip from his straw. “What about you? Washington? Can’t say I’m a fan of the name.”
Sirius flinches, “Yeah, I feel bad for supporting the team. I mean it’s kinda sad that we still have sports teams with that name in our day and age. I just try and call them Washington. I know it doesn’t fix everything but…”
“You do what you can?”
Sirius nods. “No point in having a platform if you don’t use it.”
Remus smiles, thinking of the pictures online of Sirius holding up various pride flags that fans have handed him on stage. He’s gotten himself in hot water more than once for calling out other artists and stars for inappropriate, racist, ableist, and sexist behaviour. If Remus was honest, it only made him like his music more.
“What about you?” Sirius says, “Tell me all about the infamous Remus Lupin.”
“Not much to tell.”
“Where do you work?”
“I’m a curriculum developer for a school board.”
“I like it,” Sirius says, curling his lips around the straw the same way he did with the grape last night. “Taking the system down from the inside.”
“Trying. Nothing like having a stage of millions at your disposal.”
Sirius' smile falters and Remus immediately regrets saying it. “Doesn’t matter much when you don’t know if half of them are listening to what you’re saying or just staring at your body.”
“Well, if it helps at least one fan is,” Remus says, trying to regain control of the conversation.
Sirius smiles but Remus can tell it’s half-hearted. He’s rescued by Dorcas arriving with steaming plates of food that she puts down on the table in front of them.
“Oh my god,” Sirius says. “My trainer is gonna hate me for this.”
Remus laughs but thinks about how difficult it must be to have every element of your life prescribed and controlled. To be put under a harsh spotlight and scrutinized every second of every day.
Remus pours syrup on the pancakes and Sirius is quick to cut into the stack and stuff an ungodly amount of food into his mouth at once. Sirius lets out a moan that would have made Remus self-conscious if there had been anyone else around.
“Not gonna lie. I thought pancakes were a creative but weird date idea but honestly these are worth it.”
“Guess you’ll have to make bets with strangers on Twitter more often.”
“That means I’d have to go on dates with other people instead of you,” Sirius teases reaching for a piece of a chicken.
And Remus hates how he can do that to him. How with a few words he can have him melting into a puddle. He tries to act normal as he layers chicken and waffle together before taking a bite.
“Very funny,” Remus says.
“Why do you do that?” Sirius asks.
“Do what?”
“Make yourself smaller when other people come in the room. You did it last night too in the dressing room and this morning on our way out to the car.”
“I don’t know, I guess I just think I’m not worth drawing attention to. Might as well leave the spotlight for someone else.”
“But you didn’t do it on stage yesterday,” Sirius says as he pops another piece of chicken in his mouth, pausing to lick the grease off his fingers. Honestly, Remus swears he could make picking up dog poop look sexy.
“Your music makes me feel like I’m worth something,” Remus says without thinking. “Sorry, that’s weird.”
“No,” Sirius says, laying a hand on top of Remus’. “It’s not. I like that you’re honest with me. Some people I don’t know if they really listen to what I’m saying. But you, last night, I could tell you were really hearing me. That you were there with me in the moment. You play the same songs a million times you start to forget what that feels like.”
“Well,” Remus says realizing that this may be the only chance he gets to tell Sirius how much his music has meant to him, “it makes me feel invincible. It makes me believe that there’s beautiful things in pain. That I’m not alone in this world. That even through darkness I can find love. That even through darkness I can find myself again.”
Sirius stares at him, the same way he was looking at him in the dressing room last night before they got interrupted.
“What?” Remus asks, worried he has food on his face.
“Nothing,” Sirius says. “It’s just you show your face to the world. You might try to hide it but last night I just couldn’t shake the feeling that I was really seeing who you were and you were seeing me too.”
Remus' jaw hangs slightly ajar. He doesn’t quite know what to say to such a monumental statement, to such a declaration.
The double doors to the kitchen open and Dorcas walks out to see if they need anything. Remus can’t decide if he’s happy or mad for her interruption. Sirius tells her how amazing the food is and she beams in response before slipping away again. Remus doesn’t say anything but he knows the diner is struggling. An endorsement from Sirius would put her back on the map. Hell, it might put this whole town back on the map.
Sirius is quiet for a moment after Dorcas’ disappears. He seems embarrassed about what he said earlier.
“Mind if we take a picture for Instagram? My PR agent thinks this will be good press.”
“Of course not,” Remus says, trying not to feel deflated at the change in conversation. But when Sirius pulls out his phone to take a picture of the two of them, he doesn’t take his hand off Remus’. In fact, he keeps it there for the rest of the meal.
They spend the rest of their time talking about their lives. Remus learns Sirius started playing music as an escape from his family who he doesn’t have the best relationship with. He tries hard to keep it all from going public to protect his little brother who still lives at home. Sirius learns that Remus was attacked by a rabid dog as a kid and kept doing his schoolwork in his bed at home because he couldn’t bear to fall a grade behind the other kids, despite the fact that most of them didn’t like him much.
They talk about everything. Remus talks about his friends and Sirius talks about life on the road. They share embarrassing childhood memories and awful drunken mistakes. They laugh and smile with each other and before either of them knows it the food is gone and it's getting much too late. Remus promised Dorcas she’d have the restaurant back for the dinner rush and Sirius has to be getting back to New York for a late-night talk show he’s supposed to be on.
Sirius gives Dorcas a hug and promises to plug her restaurant every chance he gets as long as she guarantees there will always be a table for him whenever he’s in town. He leaves her a very generous tip as a thank you for shutting the restaurant down for him. Remus’ could swear he sees Dorcas whisper something to Sirius that makes him smile but he can’t say for sure. She gives Remus a hug too and he reminds her to drop by for game night this weekend.
They step back outside into the warm glow of the late afternoon and both of them pause on the front steps, unsure of what to say or where to go from here.
They both go to speak at once and then pull back blushing as they both try and tell the other to go first. After some laughter, Remus finally convinces Sirius to go ahead.
“Thank you for seeing me,” Sirius says. “I haven’t felt this way in a really long time. It feels good to just be a person again for a little while.”
“And thank you for giving me my thirty seconds of fame,” Remus says. “For showing me that I deserve to be in the spotlight sometimes.”
Sirius blushes as he looks down at his feet and Remus’ stomach backflips with the idea that he can make him feel this nervous.
“Can I kiss you?” Sirius asks and suddenly his nerves become contagious.
Remus nods and Sirius steps forward to meet him. He places his hand on his hip just as he did last night, and he leans in slowly. The kiss is soft and sweet and full of meaning. If Remus were a songwriter, he could write a million ballads about this moment. About the way that it feels like Sirius was trying to translate everything he ever wanted to tell Remus’ into the movement of his lips.
When they part they’re both a little flushed and smiling, Sirius slips his aviators on as two black cars pull up. One to take Sirius back to his helicopter. The other to take Remus home, back to his ordinary life.
“Goodbye, Remus,” Sirius says as he heads to the first car.
“Bye, Sirius,” Remus tells him and he stands and watches until all that’s left of Sirius is a cloud of dust.
At home, Remus collapses on the couch. He tries to pick up a new policy he needs to read over for work but his mind can’t focus. All he can see is Sirius’ gentle smile. All he can feel is Sirius’ lips on his. All he can hear is the sound of Sirius’ voice as they stood chest to chest.
His phone buzzes beside him and Remus’ is sure it’s Lily looking for more details. He’s had to disable pretty much all his social media apps. That smiling picture of the two of them in the diner has gone viral and Remus is a little too interested to see what crazy stories the tabloids come up with about the identity of Sirius’ mystery date.
When he picks up his phone, however, he’s surprised to see it’s a message from Sirius. He’s in a hotel room somewhere and Remus’ luggage is in the background.
- Someone forgot to get this to the car that took you home. Guess we’ll have to see each other again.
Remus smiles as he types up his response.
- It’s a date
He watches nervously, waiting for Sirius’ reply hoping beyond hope that it wasn’t a simple mix up and Sirius truly does want to see him again. He doesn’t have to wait long before his phone is buzzing again in his hand.
- I can’t wait
That night Remus watches Sirius’ interview on tv, smiling as he alludes questions about his new mystery man with ease and grace. Afterwards, he goes to brush his teeth and get ready for bed when his phone buzzes again.
- Syrupy kisses in dusk’s early light
I can’t shake the feeling I’ve known you all my life
Dear god, please don’t let this feeling pass me by
He falls asleep that night smiling like an idiot with Moonlight playing on loop in the background.