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If you were to ask Regulus what his life would be like at 17 years of age... Wait, actually nevermind this is exactly what he thought life would be like. Maybe not when he was younger, still left with the small slivers of hope and innocence that even his parents couldn't break him of. Looking back now, they might have succeeded if not for Sirius. His brother has always made sure to tell him that he would be able to leave one day, make a better life for himself and be whoever he wished to be; what a joke.
The reality of life hit him full force when his brother left home, if it could be called a home. Sirius left when they were both still young, moved into his best friend's house and never spoke to Regulus in the once kind manner he used as a child again. Regulus supposed Sirius blamed him for the fall of their relationship. His brother has begged him to go with him to the Potter mansion, told him that he would no longer have to stay loyal to his family until he was given off to the son of one of his aunts or uncles. Wouldn't have to force another child into a bloodline as retched at their own.
Regulus had refused of course. His brother failed to see that the family had to have an heir or they would come after them until one, or both, were back in the home. With Sirius gone, Regulus would be expected to step up as heir. A female heir wasn't favored within the family, but it happened and Orion wouldn't go through the trouble of retrieving Sirius unless he had no other choice. Both of their parents would be willing to have Regulus as their heir if it meant getting rid of the handful of his older brother, and while Regulus hadn't known this at the time, when he came out as a man to his parents in order to reroute their anger from Sirius immediately after he left, he would actually be welcomed and accepted so long as he agreed to transition via medicine and magic.
The following year at Hogwarts, Sirius saw him and accused him of refusing to run away with him for the chance to steal the title of heir. He respected Regulus' name and identity, as he always had, but had begun to truly believe his brother was a blood purist and on his way to becoming a Death Eater. He was correct on the Death Eater part to some extent, but the words had still stung.
The younger Black brother developed a support group over the years. Fellow students from around the school's four houses with interesting family dynamics that he had grown to know over time. Two in specific grew on him more than he would have liked to admit.
First, a Slytherin he had shared a dorm with before she realized that she was a woman and had to move dorms, name Eva Rosier. Regulus didn't know much about her family other than her sister Pandora, Eva and him had simply grown close over being Slytherin and "gender silly" as Barty defined them.
Secondly of course, was Barty himself. A Ravenclaw with such an intense drive Regulus has admired for quite a while before ever speaking to him. He later, of course, learned that all the boy's academic success was founded on pure spite for his own father, which Regulus could respect.
Over time he had grown to care deeply for the duo, and at Regulus' last moments he was comforted with the fact that he was able to love them as long as he did.
Regulus never had any expectation to come out of the cave alive. The thought was unrealistic and he refused to entertain it from the very first moment the plan had been formed. It was because of this that he decided to put his own affairs in order before entering the cave. While he dreaded it, this meant that he would have to speak with Sirius one last time. Or at least try to.
This started with Regulus attempting to call upon Sirius to meet him at a shop somewhere, offering for his brother to pick the spot so long as he agreed to talk. Regulus never got an answer to his letter. After this, he attempted to track his brother down and meet him in a public space where he would be unable to make a scene. This also backfired in the younger Black. Sirius became a dog and ran away, which Regulus found mildly amusing at least.
By the night before the plan at the cave was supposed to go into effect, Regulus was hiding in a small cabin away from any of his family or loved ones. He had failed on every front to meet with his brother, deciding instead to write a letter to his brother's lover. The letter would instruct Remus to simply let Sirius hate his younger brother as it would be easier for the duo to continue their lives this way.
Remus John Lupin had been a friend for a couple of years into their time at Hogwarts. They were both intelligent students who could help one another to continue to succeed. Regulus didn't have anything against the boy, they simply grew apart after Sirius left Grimmauld Place and began dating the werewolf. Due to their past friendship, he hoped he could ask this of Remus without the man growing to hate him when he was already gone.
"To one Remus John Lupin,
I am going to go missing soon. I hope you did not startle too much at my blunt opening, but I had to make sure you would not burn this letter after recognizing the handwriting. It is my only hope that you opened the letter at all and did not toss it in the fire already. I have attempted to reach out to my brother for a proper goodbye, and I can only assume that he has taken such attempts as a means to threaten or harm him. This was not my intention if it had not already been obvious. I ask that after the conditions surrounding my disappearance are revealed, you do not defend my name to Sirius. Allow him to soil my name, Merlin knows there's already so much against my name and it will not hurt much. He will wish to curse me himself and will refuse a single good thing be said around him that may show me in a good light. It will not take you long to understand what has happened, and I only ask that you allow Sirius to continue nonetheless. It will be easier for him that way, and easier for you in return; as the two of you should not fight because of me. I hope this letter finds you in decent health, and for what it's worth, I don't hate your existence. I am no blood purist, though I assume you've figured this much by now.
-Sincerely, R.A.B."
Writing the letter made him sick. It felt like he was saying far too much and far too little. He wished again that he had been able to speak to his brother one last time. On the opposite side, he felt sick because he still had another letter to write. To two people he had been avoiding, two people who would have rathered talk to him in person. He knew if he spoke to Eva and Barty in person they would try and talk him out of this, and he couldn't let that happen. The letter would have to suffice.
"My Loves,
I do hope you aren't too upset with how I've avoided you both recently. If I could do things differently I would have spent my every last second before now with you both. Listening to Barty ramble on about various meaningless topics or reading with Eva. I am so sorry I have not been around recently to share kind moments with the both of you. Again I apologize for the news that will uncover within the next few weeks, or months depending on how many people notice I am missing. I have titled this letter the way I did, with a lack of subtlety, purely so that you could not show it as evidence to any Aurors to convince them I am in danger. I am going to go missing soon, and by the time this reaches you it will have been almost a day. Truth be told, I will be dead by the time this letter finds either of you. I am sorry for so much, to both of you. I'm sorry for dragging you into my mess, even if Barty was oh so enthusiastic of receiving the mark to spite his father. I'm sorry for leaving you most of all, though you would do well to remember that you still have each other. It is the one comfort I take while writing this, that I am not leaving either of you alone. I wish you both the best, and I do hope that my current endeavor pays off. Hopefully you will be able to be happy together, maybe even publicly. I love you both and I always will.
-Yours even now, Reggie A. Black"