Black Rose [Regulus Black]

31 - scary rollercoasters & nostalgic memories

It appeared that Regulus had this odd habit of standing outside the window of the restaurant she worked in and scaring the living daylights of her.

Alessandra jumped (quite literally!) to this conclusion when she saw Regulus right outside for the thousandth time and stumbled, nearly dropping her tray of dishes.

Stalker.

Handsome stalker, that broken half of her brain whispered dreamily.

Stalker, he's a stalker, the sane half of her brain snapped.

"What are you doing?" she hissed at him after barging out the restaurant.

"Taking you out on a... what are those called?"

"What are what called?"

"Those Muggle courting things you all engage in."

"Muggle courting?" she repeated, disoriented.

"A... time?" He whipped out two slips of paper from behind his back, and upon close inspection, she realised they were tickets to an amusement park — the amusement park she'd been dying to go to but couldn't afford.

He remembered when she'd told him all those weeks ago.

"A date," she whispered, suddenly feeling weak in the knees, because nobody had done something this special for her. She was taken care of — fed and sheltered and clothed — but nobody other than her best friend had ever gone that extra mile to make her feel so special. "You want to take me to an amusement park?"

He looked alarmed when her eyes sparkled with what looked like unshed tears. "Oh, was I not supposed to- did you not want to- please don't cry."

She pulled him into a hug, his familiar scent and the feel of his arms circling her making her feel all light-headed and euphoric.

Happiness. This is what pure, unadulterated happiness felt like.

"Thank you," she told him, pulling away. Her smile only grew wider when she saw him dip his head bashfully, his cheeks pink. God, she hated to do this to him. "But I can't."

"Why not?" he asked heatedly, alarm flashing on his countenance. "Did I do something?"

"No! No, it's not you. It's not that I don't want to — nothing would give me greater pleasure."

"I can think of a few other things."

It was her turn to blush heavily now, and her stomach felt like it had flipped, but in a good way. She took a few deep breaths, trying to fight the heat in her cheeks, but Regulus had clearly noticed how flustered she was, as shown by the smirk on his face. She cleared her throat, willing herself not to say something stupid and ruin the moment. "Um, anyways, I can't come because I can't just leave in the middle of my shift."

"Yes you can. Lie. Say you're sick. Besides, you haven't missed a single day here for the past two months, they wouldn't mind."

"How do you know I haven't missed a single day?"

A sheepish look came across his face.

Stalkers. The Black brothers were both stalkers.

Why wasn't she feeling more alarmed that her boyfriend was a stalker? She remembered how Janine, a girl she knew, had a remarkably controlling boyfriend who did the same thing.

Except Regulus is better.

Wait, boyfriend?

I called him my boyfriend.

Wait...

Focus, Alessandra!

She snapped out of it, folding her arms. "The job is the only way I have just enough to eat, Reg, it pays my bills. I can't just do that."