Remus woke up and stretched beneath bright canvas, Sirius breathing lightly beside him. It was a little bit too warm and sticky, but he wouldn’t have moved for anything. Lying peacefully under the blankets, he could still taste the salt on Sirius’s skin, feel his heartbeat. At the bottom of the sleeping bag, their feet were tangled together.
Sirius stirred, screwing up his face before he opened his eyes.
“Morning.”
“Morning.”
“Fuck me, my mouth is dry.”
“Yeah, mine too,” Remus agreed, running his tongue over his teeth. All that cider. “I could go and get some water from the pump?”
“Yeah, we’ll both go. Reckon anyone else is up?”
Remus listened carefully, then shook his head. He hoped Sirius wasn’t worried about getting caught - surely no one could question their sharing a tent? What else could they have done? It was probably a bit early to start interrogating Sirius, so Remus held his tongue as they dressed quietly and quickly, fishing about in the bottom of the bed for their clothes, which seemed to have scattered in the night.
Clambering out and blinking hard against the bright daylight, Remus thought that everything seemed to look different. The same; but not quite as he’d remembered it before. More realistic; solid and anchored down.
They sauntered off in the direction of the water pump with their canteens, and as they walked, they fell into step, and Remus felt as though his heart would burst with joy. Stupid, really, such a small thing. The campsite was lovely and peaceful, sparrows darting between the trees overhead, and the occasional camper popping their head out and wishing a polite ‘good morning’ to the boys as they passed.
The water pump was by the shower block, and they both ducked in to wash their faces quickly, before filling their canteens, as well as the others they’d brought.
“Shop sells pasties,” Sirius said, thoughtfully, nodding in the direction of a little wooden hut with a blue and white striped awning, “Shall we get some for breakfast, return to the camp as heroes?”
“Good idea,” Remus smiled, shyly.
They bought far too many Cornish pasties, but they were fresh out of the oven, flaky and buttery and warm, and Sirius had no impulse control.
Back at the tents, no one had stirred yet, apparently, so Remus and Sirius decided they would take their breakfast on the beach. They sat on a sand dune, side by side, munching peacefully and licking the grease from their fingers afterwards.
“I could get used to this,” Sirius said with a grin, rubbing his hands on his jeans, sighing happily at the view. The sand had been washed clean overnight by the tide. Everything was perfect and unblemished. “Never been on a proper holiday before.”
“Me neither.”
Remus wiped his own hands on his corduroy trousers and picked restlessly at the grass.
“Oi,” Sirius said, “What’s up Moony? We said no worrying.”
“Sorry.”
“What’s up?”
“I was just wondering something. It’s stupid, don’t worry.”
They were quiet again. Remus fidgeted some more. He sighed. “Why me?” He asked, quietly.
“Hm?”
“…why me, in the first place? Why not James, or… literally anyone else? Is it just because… is it because I let you? Path of least resistance?”
