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The bell above the door announced the arrival of another costumer, his hair blowing in the wind of the opened door.
The dark walls and the slight golden glow of the table lights covered the customers of the small café like a blanket fort built by a child that was secretly reading past bedtime. Only a few tables were occupied but the line in front of the counter indicated that the morning rush had not worn off yet.
“Good morning, Sirius. Same as usual?” The man behind the counter smiled. Sirius looked up, torn from his thoughts. He straightened himself, trying to remember how to form words.
“Yeah, thanks, Tom”, he answered. Tom was an old friend of his, but the morning rush did not allow the usual small talk. Sirius was not in the mood for it anyway.
Sirius moved to the side of the counter next to the other people in line, waiting for their drinks. Their faces and orders unfamiliar to Sirius. He felt like a stranger in the place that used to be like a second home to him. In the past few years, the clientele had changed and Sirius’s life had changed with it. He thought about the years he had spent working here, making small talk with everyone that walked through the door, knowing things about them not even their therapist knew.
His eyes instinctively shifted to the small table in the corner. It caught him off guard to see a young couple squeezed together on the small bench, even though he knew not to expect the familiar face.
“Need another Hot Chocolate?” Sirius asked as he collected the empty mugs.
“Yes, thank you. With whipped cream and cinnamon, please”, the boy shot Sirius a quick glance before turning back to his book.
“I know”, Sirius smiled at him. “What are you reading there?”
The boy looked up at him, surprised but friendly. For months Sirius had watched him study from afar too scared to talk to him beside the professional small talk. His previous attempts to talk to the boy had all consisted of Sirius hurrying back to hide behind the counter before a single word was shared between them. Regret clogged Sirius’ mind, the moment the hazel eyes met his. He should have done this months earlier.
“It’s for uni. I study astronomy.”
Sirius felt oddly insecure without the safety of the counter, but he also did not want the conversation to end. He knew Tom would fake another annoyed groan like he had done after every single one of Sirius’s failed attempts to talk to the boy. He took a quick look at the pages the boy had been reading.
“Are those the moon phases?”, he asked.
“Yes, it’s a waning gibbous moon actually.”
Sirius nodded knowingly. He had no idea what that meant.
Sirius looked down at his forearm. A dark circle graced his wrist. New Moon. He had gotten the tattoo shortly after his first conversation with the boy at the corner table, who had become so much more than that. It changed with the lunar phases.
“A Premium Caramel Latte with glitter sprinkles and a Hot Chocolate with whipped cream and cinnamon for Sirius”, a barista yelled out. Sirius went to the counter to collect his drinks before thanking the woman behind the counter.
Sirius pulled into the driveway, shaking his hair as he took off the helmet.
“Honey, I’m home”, Sirius yelled in a high-pitched voice as he entered their house.
A second later Remus’s excited face appeared in the doorframe.
“Thank God. I’m dying.” He grabbed the Hot Chocolate from Sirius’s hands.
“Well, I hope not today. Would be pretty bad timing”
“Don’t worry. I would never leave you at the altar. Though I’m sure you would love the drama.”
“Yeah, that’s true. It’s not my fault I’m a Scorpio though”, Sirius said smiling. He got up on tiptoes and kissed Remus’s forehead.
“I have to start getting ready now, if I want to be done on time. Love you”. Sirius yelled the last sentence while quickly going up the stairs.
“I love you, too”, Remus yelled after his fiancé before smiling to himself while hastily drinking his Hot Chocolate.