Aisles

Chapter 20

Saturday, November 23rd

Remus looked up at Sirius.

"I don't know if we've had much of a chance," He murmured, his voice barely audible. "It's like... one step forward, two steps back,"

Sirius' eyes looked slightly wet. "I'm sorry, Moony, for... for assuming. For not asking you what you really meant. I should've... I should've talked to you about it and not been so bloody immature,"

"I shouldn't have assumed either..." Remus wiped his hand over his eyes. "But, did you mean it? What you said? You do want to be... y'know? Couple-y?"

"Yes, it's everything I want," Sirius walked towards Remus slowly, and took his hands into his own. Remus let him. "We... we know our 'issue' now. We just need to talk things through, and not overthink everything," Sirius raised Remus' hand to his lips and kissed his knuckles softly. "Please, Remus. Give us a chance,"

And how could Remus say no? With Sirius stood so close that he could smell his aftershave, his skin soft against Remus' hands, his lips even softer. His eyes, beseeching, so full of emotion. Pleading with Remus. But what Sirius didn't know, is that Remus had already decided that Sirius was everything he wanted too.

Remus reached out and held Sirius' chin with his hand and pulled him into a kiss. And somehow, it was even better than their first. Remus was intoxicated with the feeling of being in Sirius' arms, at his mercy completely. He felt such a deep love for the man in front of him that it made him dizzy; Remus was too anxious to confess such love but he showed it by kissing every part of Sirius' body and holding him close through the night, as they slept in Remus' bed, so close that when the morning came, they were intertwined and no one would be able to tell when each man ended and the other began.

"Remus, Remus, my Remus," Sirius murmured against Remus' lips.

--<>--

Sunday, November 24th

Sunrise woke Remus up but he stayed very still, careful not to disturb Sirius whose head was resting on Remus' chest. He absently stroked a hand through the long, black hair splayed across him and savoured the moment. He hoped he would never forget how he felt in that instance.

Eventually, Sirius, too, stirred and when he blinked in the sunlight, he turned to Remus with a dopey grin that made Remus' heart swell with fondness. He reached forward and kissed the tip of Sirius' nose.

"Mhm," Sirius hummed happily and he returned his head to Remus' chest. They lay there together for another twenty minutes, again just savouring the moment. Just valuing the contact. Relaxing into it; any worries they may have had seemed so... distant. Irrelevant. Nothing else mattered.

"You're thinking of something," Sirius remarked as he sat at the kitchen island once they'd eventually separated and gotten up.

"I am, but..." Remus pursed his lips. "It's harder than I thought to be... communicative,"

Sirius nodded in agreement, before tilting his head slightly to one side. "Anything I can do to make it easier?"

"Just, don't look at me whilst I say it, I'll be more confident,"

Sirius grinned and swivelled in his chair so Remus was faced with the back of his head.

"Are we... Does this mean we..." Remus sighed, trying to find the words. "Fuck it, are you my boyfriend or what?"

Sirius burst out laughing and swivelled back, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "God, Lupin, you sappy git, when did you get so romantic?" He said, with a (very) sarcastic tone.

Remus rolled his eyes but he was smiling. "Answer the question, dickhead,"

"I can be anything you want me to be, Moony-kins," Sirius' smile widened. "So, yes,"

As much as Remus wished with all of his energy, he could not slow time and eventually the two parted ways to allow for Remus to go to work, and Sirius to go home. He couldn't stop thinking about him, though, and he hoped Sirius was thinking of him in return. Just the knowledge that Sirius Black was Remus' boyfriend was enough to push Remus through the entire shift; he smiled at every customer, hummed songs from musicals and even offered to be the one to clean up the sick in Aisle 4.

This did not go unnoticed - Remus was again reminded to ask Sirius how much James knew, because the guy had a similarly eager smile anytime he looked Remus' way. Remus may have been convinced that this was just an unrelated good mood, if James had not ended the shift by calling Remus his "brother-in-law" at one point (the phrase made Remus so happy that he grinned his entire way home).

He did stop to wonder whether this was too much, too soon. Whether the strength of his feelings only meant the breakup would be more painful when it happened. If it happened Remus corrected himself. But although he did wonder, he dismissed the thoughts quickly. The pain would be worth the happiness that he felt in that moment. The pain would be worth the feeling that he got when he made Sirius smile, or laugh. If it happened...

Remus would trade all the luxuries in the world just to make Sirius happy everyday.

Although he said none of these things aloud, still conscious of Sirius' inexperience with serious relationships, he vowed to show it to him through his actions every chance he got, until one day he would be able to say it aloud. And hopefully hear it back.

A/N: This is a very short chapter, I know! But we are coming to an end - the next chapter will be an epilogue of sorts, and I plan to make it longer to make up for this chapter. I just wanted to prepare you that next chapter is most likely the last, so hang tight and thank you for your support <3