Boo

Ch. 23

Remus groaned, burying his face in his arms.

He was currently sitting on the floor of Emile's office, trying to finish up his homework. He had promised Roman he would go out to dinner with him, forgetting about the amount of work that was waiting ominously in his bag.

"What's wrong?" Emile spoke up from where he was doing paperwork at his desk.

"Fucking homework." Remus growled, glancing up at Emile. "My teachers hate me, I'm convinced."

"What about Mr. Tabian? You said that he liked you." Emile pointed out.

"If he liked me, he wouldn't have assigned three essays in the same week." Remus grumbled, pouting childishly.

"Is he even allowed to do that?" Emile frowned, brow furrowing.

"Apparently." Remus sighed heavily, shifting so that he was lying on his stomach.  "They're all on the same topic, though. He wants me to write an essay that agrees with the subject, one that disagrees with the subject, and one that had no opinion."

"That's brutal." Emile grimaced. "Glad I don't have to deal with that anymore."

"Thanks." Remus muttered dryly, shooting Emile an unimpressed look.

"What's the topic?" Emile asked, putting his paperwork to the side.

"Uh, something about the state. I dunno." Remus huffed, shaking his head.

"How long does it have to be?"

"Two pages." Remus ran a hand through his hair. "Maybe I should drop out of school, work for Ms. Ågren full time."

"Well, uh, no. That doesn't sound like a good idea." Emile smiled weakly. "What would be your cover?"

"Good point." Remus sighed. "I really don't wanna do this, though."

"Then don't." Emile shrugged. "He can't make you do shit."

Remus brightened instantly. "You're right!" He shut his computer with a bright grin on his face. "Thanks, Da--er." Remus went bright red.

Emile smirked in amusement, ignoring the way his heart swelled. "What was that?"

"N-Nothing!" Remus squawked, grabbing his computer and frantically standing up. "I gotta go! Bye!" He shot out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

Emile released a fond chuckle, returning to his paperwork.

---

"I don't know what to do!" Remus sobbed, tugging at his hair as he frantically paced back and forth in Emile's office. "She's only given me two days to decide!"

"You should do what she says, Remus. It's the safest option." Emile told him gently.

"And live the rest of my life as a killer?! I never wanted that! You know I never wanted that!" Remus yelled.

"Then what, huh? You're just going to let her--?"

"Of course not!" Remus snarled, appalled at the thought. "I could never do that!"

"Those are your only two options, Ree." Emile frowned.

"I know that!" Remus snapped. He took a deep breath, slumping down onto Emile's fainting couch. "What would you do if you were me?"

"Well, if I were you, I imagine I would do something brash and reckless, face the problem head on, or try to come up with a new solution." Emile hummed thoughtfully. "But I'm not you, so who knows?"

"Come up with a new solution...?" Remus murmured, seeming to think about it. An idea seemed to come to Remus' mind, and he nodded minutely.

"Whatever you pick, just know that I would never think any less of you." Emile told him gently. "You're so young, and already you're ahead of many other people in this industry. Take Jasper, for example. He's 9 years older that you, and has been doing this for way longer than you. You're way ahead of him."

"Jasper's an idiot, so that doesn't really matter." Remus scoffed. Emile laughed.

"That's not very nice." He lightly scolded, no real heat behind his words.

"He threatened to kill me when we first met, I don't really care about being 'nice.'" Remus rolled his eyes.

"Fair enough." Emile chuckled. "Seriously, though. I'm proud of you, Ree. Nothing could ever change that."

Remus teared up a bit, but cleared his throat to hide it. "...thanks."

---

Emile stared blankly at the body that lay in the coffin.

He almost looked like that boy he met, all those years ago. (Well, besides the mustache.)

Although, the boy he had met had been full of life and energy. Obviously, the boy in the coffin was not.

He really wasn't aware of who else was there. He knew that Roman was there---He was sat to Emile's right. Patton, Roman's roommate, was also there. He was currently trying to get Roman to say something.

They had put Remus in a suit.

Remus never liked suits. He said they felt stuffy and claustrophobic. Still, he had worn them when Ms. Ågren asked him to.

They had managed to tame his wild hair, laying it flat against Remus' skull.

And it was wrong, wrong, wrong.

Remus wouldn't like this. He would mess his hair up intentionally whenever Emile tried to fix it. He would grin cheekily at Emile, and claim that be was going for that 'wild and rugged' look. He had been trying to get stubble to match, but could only grow a mustache.

He was getting there, though. He had been, at least. The faint shadow on his chin was an indicator of that.

Well, he wouldn't be able to now that...

Now that he was dead.

A/N:

SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY