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Getting the Gays’ Shit Together
Pete the Gay Protector
Gentle and gentleman.
We’ve done it.
The last of the gays have achieved logic.
[Rosekiller.jpg]
Regulus the Gay Reinforcer
Are they finally officially together?
Like not just off and on? Dating dating?
Pete the Gay Protector
They’re official.
How long they’ll stay official I’m unsure of, but they’re official boyfriends.
Regulus the Gay Reinforcer
Thank Merlin and Morgana both for that.
James the Gay G(j)enerator
We’re done?
For real?
For good?
I can go back to living a normal life?
Regulus the Gay Reinforcer
You live with my brother and you have met our friends, how normal can your life be?
James the Gay G(j)enerator
I suppose
Only a couple days after the official getting together of Barty and Evan -- Pete and James have started calling it the ‘Dawn of the Gaypocalypse’ though Regulus hates the nickname for it -- Sirius and Remus invite everyone out for a bit group date, plus James, Regulus, and Pete, since there’s a drag show going on. Everyone agrees, dresses up in their finest slutty clothing, and meets up at the bar it’s happening at.
James, as the type of person who’s always early, is one of the first ones there alongside Regulus, Lily, Mary, and Pandora. Sirius and Remus are quick to arrive shortly after, Pete just behind them, and they get everything all sorted out with the reservation. Soon enough, the rest of the group is showing up and they’re all ordering their first rounds of drinks -- though James is sure that Barty, Evan, Marlene, and Dorcas pregamed hard.
Everything’s going, conversations are flowing easily, drinks are flowing easier, and the first act comes on. The first person out is Marlene’s cousin, so they make their way over to them and starts flirting heavily with James, who is more than willing to give them some money. After a couple seconds, they wink at James and disappear from the group to go to other tables.
The song they were performing ends shortly after and the crowd has some time before the next queen comes out, so Sirius leans heavily into his best friend, throwing his arm around their shoulder, “Looking at you, getting all flirty.”
James rolls their eyes, “I’ve known them for so long, it’s practically second nature.”
“Well, I mean it’s a good opportunity for you.” Barty says, wiggling his eyebrows, “It’s been a while since you’ve got with someone, hasn’t it.”
They shake their head, feigning nonchalance, “Not that I really mind. I’ve been busy trying to get all of you fucks together, I haven’t had much time for myself.”
“Thinking about it,” Remus hums, “You’re the one that’s all obsessed with love. You’re the one that wants to have the perfect ending and romance. And yet you’re one of the only ones left without a partner in the group.”
“I mean, like I said, I’ve been dealing with all of you guys, so I haven’t had the time to try and date someone. Like I said, I’m fine with it.”
“Are you really?” Sirius hums, furrowing his brows in a rather dramatic fashion, “I mean, I get Reg and Pete being okay with not dating anyone right now, but you?”
“I’m fine, Pads.” They roll their eyes, “Seriously.”
“If you’re sure.” He whistles, standing up to order the group another round of drinks.
Throughout the night, several of their friends begin sneaking off or leaving for various reasons; work, sex, exhaustion, you name it. Eventually, just leaving Regulus and James holding down the fort at their table while the others still at the bar are dancing around since the drag show ended not long ago. And James is definitely… a little too drunk. The world is spinning just slightly and they can feel their emotions slipping away from them.
They only notice that they’re crying when Regulus moves to sit right next to them, “James? Hey, what’s happening?”
“I don’t… I don’t know.” They sniffle, going to wipe at their tears, “I don’t really know why I’m crying, I didn’t even know that I was crying until you mentioned it. I’m sorry.”
“No, you don’t have to be sorry,” he shakes his head, “Is it something that we talked about earlier in the night?”
James thinks for a while, attempting to wrack their brain over what possible turmoil they might be having before they nod, “I think… Fuck I think it was talking about me being single.”
“What about it?” Regulus asks softly, angling his body so he’s hiding James from the rest of the bar, “What’s going on in that lovely little head of yours, James?”
“I don’t… I don’t-” they shake their head, “I don’t know. I don’t know why I was so affected by what they were saying. I don’t-”
“It’s okay,” Regulus stops them, genly resting a hand on their arm, “You don’t have to understand right now, you’re incredibly out of it. Just breathe.” He takes their hand and rests it over his chest, “Breathe with me, Jamie.” And James does, at first their breaths are stuttering but they eventually get the hang of it. After a couple seconds of their breathing being normal, Regulus hums, “Alright, let’s get you home. I’ll tell our friends that we’re leaving and I’ll take you back to your place.”
“I don’t…” and they can’t seem to finish their thought.
But Regulus understands nonetheless, “If you just look down or at the wall or something, no one will notice that you’ve been crying. Will you be okay here for a while?” James nods so Regulus hands them the water that he’s been drinking and goes to tell their friends that they’re leaving. James is barely aware of his leaving before he’s coming back to them, helping them to stand up and guiding them to his car.
James barely registers the ride back to their flat, and Regulus is escorting them back into their house before they even know what’s happening. Their shirt feels wet as Regulus helps them change into sleep clothes and they’re sure that it's from tears that they barely registered enough to wipe away. How long have they been crying? How hard have they been crying?
That’s embarrassing.
Finally, Regulus is helping them get into bed and getting ready to leave, until they reach out and grab his hand, “Wait, I… I don’t know if I want to be alone. Sleep with me?”
“Are you sure?”
“Only if-” they furrow their brows, “Only if you’re comfortable with it.”
“I don’t mind,” Regulus shakes his head, “I’ll have to borrow some of your clothes.”
“That’s okay…” they shake their head, “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologise, James,” he hums, pulling away to grab something from their closet for himself, “Have you been having a hard time and the alcohol just made everything come out or?”
“I dunno.”
“That’s okay,” Regulus says before James can start spiraling again, “You don’t have to know. You just need to drink some water and go to sleep. We can figure it out in the morning.”
They groan, “I’m going to want to ignore it in the morning.”
“I promise I won’t let you.” James nods and Regulus climbs into the bed with them, figuring out the best way for them to sleep through the night.
…
Needless to say, James wants to be swallowed up by a hole that leads to the deepest pits of hell when they wake up. Regulus is laying next to them, looking fucking angelic with his lips slightly parted with his breaths and his eyelashes brushing so gently against his cheeks, which doesn’t help their burning shame -- or face, as they can feel their cheeks warming greatly.
And before they can begin to process their own emotions and feelings other than their initial ones upon waking up, Regulus’ eyes are fluttering open and groaning softly. He stares at James for a while before he seems to register what happened the previous night. And, with some reluctance, he pushes himself to sit up properly, “I’m going to make us some tea, get you some water and pain medications. You’re going to sit here and gather your thoughts, try and figure out what you want me to know and what I’m not allowed to know, and you’ll get Prongs and we’re going to sit down and you’re going to talk.” James nods gently and Regulus nods back, standing up to go about starting the whole thing.
He comes back a while later with his arms full of two mugs, a glass of water, and a package of pain killers. James helps him put everything down before Regulus is settling at the foot of the bed, nursing one of the mugs that Sirius bought for him to have at their house. James takes the painkillers and grabs their own mug of tea, holding their stuffed deer to their chest and crossing their legs, leaning against the wall behind their bed. They take a long drink of their tea, delighting in the grounding sensation of the burn against the top of their mouth, before they sigh, “I don’t… I don’t know where to start.”
“So I’ll start. How are you feeling this morning, James?”
“Like shit,” they laugh, sobering up a moment later and furrowing their brows, “I’m really sorry that you had to see that last night, and that I made you stay the night here. That was… you shouldn’t have to see something like that, you shouldn’t have had to take care of me.”
“Nonsense.” Regulus shakes his head, “You and I both know that if I didn’t want to do something, I wouldn’t do it. Contrary to popular belief, I do like you, James. I want to see you being okay.” After a couple seconds, he hums, “I asked you last night if you had a bunch of stuff going on in your mind, but you weren’t sure. Are you able to articulate it better?”
James hums, “I was pretty out of it last night…” they shake their head, “You and I both know that I get really emotional when I’m drunk, and it just… it gets worse when I’m not doing well and… I don’t know why, but I haven’t been doing well. I’ve been stressed, I've been anxious, and I don’t know why. There’s not- there’s not like a specific reason that I would be feeling this way.”
“That’s alright, we all get like that sometimes,” Regulus nods, taking a second to take a drink of his tea, “Does any of it have to do with you being single?”
They take a second to respond, gathering their thoughts and trying to sort through it, “I think that… with all of our friends getting together, I feel like I’m… falling behind? I guess. Like, I should be dating, I should be living with my partner, I should be… I don’t know. Further in my love life than I am.” Regulus opens his mouth to speak, but they hold out their hand to pause him, “I know that I shouldn’t be worried about it, like I would never judge Pete, or even you, for not dating anyone or anything, so I don’t know why I’m putting the pressure onto myself.”
“You’re hard on yourself, James. You know this.”
They nod, “I am. And I guess-” they shake their head, “I think that part of it is that I’m a hopeless romantic. Like, my parents were dating in high school and got married shortly after, Sirius and Remus have been joking about marriage for a long time, and here I am. I’ve always believed that I would be married shortly out of high school, to my high school sweetheart that I got with early on in life, and I don’t know why I’m still holding myself to that expectation, even if I know that it’s illogical.”
“Because that’s how we work, James.” Regulus smiles gently, reaching forward and taking their free hand, “I’ve gone through the same time. I can understand on a level what you’re feeling, and I’m sorry that you are feeling this way.”
“I’m sorry that you have to see this, it’s none of your business.”
“I’m not, James.” He shakes his head, “I’m not sorry about seeing this. You clearly needed this and I’m glad to be the person that you can talk to about it, I’m glad to be able to see that you’re getting better or you’re doing alright. I’m more than happy to be there for your crash so you don’t burn up.”
“You’re too good for me,” they wipe the tears that have begun to flow once again, and they’re quiet for a moment before they sigh, “I haven’t wanted to tell you this, I don’t… I’ve never wanted to say this because I don’t want to make you uncomfortable or make things awkward, but since we’re talking about relationships… I’ve been borderline in love with you for years.”
Regulus is silent for a moment, just processing what they said. Apparently his silence is long enough that James starts gearing up to apologise, and Regulus is quick to stop them in their tracks, “Thank Merlin.”
“What?”
“I think I’ve been in love with you since I was in second year.”
It’s almost comical the way that their watery eyes widen, “What?”
“I was… a little obsessed with you after we met, but I didn’t really know why or what it meant until it was too late and I was sure that I was in love with you.” He shakes his head, “In no world did I think that you would feel the same way.”
James hums, contemplative, “I don’t know how long it’s been, at some point it was just… something that I felt about you and I didn’t think twice about you so I can’t like- give you an exact time, but it’s been long enough.” They’re quiet for a moment, taking a drink of their tea and staring down into the liquid for a while, hyper aware of where Regulus is running his thumb over their hand, “I think that’s part of what the breakdown last night was. Sirius and Barty were pestering me about not dating anyone, which I think I was sensitive enough to take their joking as… an insult, but that happens often so that’s not new. Either way, it was that and then I was left alone with you and you… you looked so fucking pretty last night you were all splayed out in your chair and relaxed and everyone around us was being gross and in love and it all just bubbled over and-”
“James,” Regulus says, his hand holding James’ trailing up to hold their arm and looking them in the eyes, “Breathe, love.” And James does, he watches Regulus’ face and takes a couple deep breaths, opening their mouth after a couple minutes, “I swear, if you try to apologise to me, James Potter, so help me I will kill you.”
James nods and goes to apologise before stopping themself, “Right.”
Regulus smiles softly at them, “Good job,” and he grins when their cheeks flush, “I’ll note that for later.” Then he shakes his head, “How about we spend the day together, just lounging in your room and watching a show on your laptop? That way I can make sure that you’re alright and we can take some time with each other and talk about how we want our relationship to move forward.”
James nods, “Yeah, that… that sounds good. What- what about Sirius and Remus?”
“You and I both know that I can get him off my back easily without giving away too much,” he levels them with an unimpressed look, “Remus is a bit of a different story, but he’s nowhere as annoying as my brother about it. I also imagine that both of them are so hungover that they’re going to be lifeless for half of the day.” He shrugs with one shoulder, “Which, if that’s the case, then I can tell them that I’m over because Barty and Evan were being annoying and you’re the only one that cared to entertain me.”
“That sounds good, thank you Reg.”
“Anything for you, James.” Regulus smiles, moving over so he’s sitting with James instead of across the bed from them. James is quick to readjust and move so they’ve got their arm wrapped around him, holding Prongs in the hand that they’re holding him with, and their tea held off to the side so they don’t spill it. They bury their face in his shoulder and just breath him in for a while.
Neither of them talk for about an hour, just basking in each other and drinking their tea as it gets cold. When they’ve finished off their teas, they both get up and brush their teeth and their hair and James makes them a quick breakfast that they can leave some leftovers for Remus and Sirius for whenever the two of them wake up -- Pete is already up and about when they get out into the kitchen, and he sends them a bit of a knowing look. Of all people, Pete would be the person to know about them getting together, or at least sorting their shit out. He’s one of the only people that has seen them be authentically themselves together, as they usually both have a bit of a persona up when they’re around their friends, and he’s talked to the both of them about relationships enough to know what they think and how they act.
When they head back into James’ room, James pulls out their laptop and puts on a show of Regulus’ choosing -- James doesn’t watch anything ever, and Regulus loves watching things so they just listen to what he tells them to put on -- and they spend the day cuddling. At some point in the day, Sirius comes to check up on them and ensure that James is showing signs of life, shocked at the fact that Regulus is in the house before he easily explains it away, thankfully having had time to jump apart from each other and get settled in an entirely platonic position.
And as the night comes to a close and Regulus is getting ready to go back to his flat, despite James’ many pleas for him to stay another night, the two of them sit down and really figure out their relationship and how they want to go about it in the future with each other and their friends.
~~~~~
It’s New Years and the Marauders are finishing up with the final touches on their decorations before their friends start to arrive, laughing and blasting music and just generally enjoying life and drinking the wine that Sirius has already popped open.
And just like usual, Regulus, Lily, Mary, and Pandora are the first to arrive at their house. Followed shortly by Dorcas and Marlene, then finally Evan and Barty after about an hour. And the wine starts flowing and the music is still blasting and the couples are dancing and enjoying their night.
It’s nearing midnight and the group has settled down to play some good old Cards Against Humanity and other such games that result in many bouts of shouting and arguments and even more bouts of pure joyous and rather lewd laughter.
And when they all decide to move onto another game. A team game. Most of the teams are relatively obvious: Sirius and Remus, Barty and Evan, Marlene and Dorcas. Then Sirius barks out a laugh, “Oh, what an odd little group we’re left with. The throuple and the three singles.” And James hides his laughter in the motion of taking a drink from his wine glass.
Pandora laughs softly, “I’ll work with Pete, so Lily and Mary can be a team together.” The two girls nod and move just marginally closer to each other while Pete makes room for Pandora on his spot on the floor in front of the table.
Sirius turns to his brother and best friend, “Looks like you guys are paired together for this.” James feigns annoyance as Regulus stands up from where he’s been curled up on the armchair that he’s been settled in all night and moves to sit on the arm of the couch next to James, As soon as he’s settled, James silently reaches up to wrap their hand gently around his ankle, rubbing their thumb along his achilles tendon and watching Regulus’ shoulder relax.
Having so many teams, there are several minutes where the other teams aren’t doing much other than goading whoever is planning and making their move, giving Pete time to pull out his phone.
Getting the Gays’ Shit Together
Pete the Gay Protector
Oh how unfortunate for you two young ‘singles’ to have to work together
James grins, showing the text to Regulus as discreetly as possible before going to reply.
James the Gay G(j)enerator
Truly unfortunate
I’m so upset about it
Pete the Gay Protector
I can only imagine how torn up you are
James is going to respond, but the game turns to them and Regulus, so they have to put their phone away and whisper to Regulus about their next move.
And about an hour later, the group of drunk adults have all settled. The board games are put away, the bottles of wine and champagne are mostly empty on the coffee table, the dessert has been pulled out and put back away, and they’re five minutes to midnight.
Sirius, who’s very drunk at this point, laughs as they’re talking about the tradition of kissing at midnight, “Oh poor James, Reggie, and Pete. Having to third wheel us all of the time. Having no one to kiss at midnight. I almost pity you all.”
James rolls their eyes, “I’ve told you that I don’t mind being single.” Regulus hums and nods and Pete just gestures to himself, making the group drunkenly laugh. Though as soon as someone changes the topic to something that James doesn’t care to follow, Pete catches their eye and winks at them, pointedly tracing where their body is pressed tightly against Regulus’ on the couch.
At when the countdown passes and the group shouts ‘Happy New Year’ with the most discordant shouting possible, some popping poppers and others blowing noise makers before turning to kiss their significant other. And in the distraction, James turns to Regulus and pulls him in for a peck that lasts much less time than any of the others’ so as to not give away their relationship.
Getting the Gays’ Shit Together
Pete the Gay Protector
I was wrong before
Now the last gays have officially gotten together
[JegulusNewYearsKiss.jpg]
James laughs and shows the phone to Regulus, taking a second to save the picture and making it their lockscreen.