CARDIGAN, jegulus spider-man! au

"it's allergy season!"

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james' whole world stops when he sees regulus.

his entire body just—freezes. he can't do anything but look at him.

sure, he's seen him around, but he's never let himself be this close until now. regulus is so beautiful, and the fact that james has known this for years doesn't make his heart beat any slower.

after regulus had called, james had been frantic trying to make himself look good but also trying to be quiet so regulus wouldn't hear him panicking. sirius had been no help, laughing at him as he stumbled over himself and calling out updates of what james was doing through the wall. he managed to piece together a pretty good outfit out of some of sirius' clothes, all the while tackling sirius everytime he embarrassed him.

he didn't go out the front door, knowing that regulus would have to and he didn't wanna run into him before they were supposed to meet, so he resorted to climbing out of sirius' window. he tried to time it perfectly so that regulus would get to the cafe before him, and he succeeded.

now, james is standing in front of him, and he's helplessly admiring him like it's the first time he's ever seen him.

regulus walks closer to him, and james can tell he's a bit more closed off than usual, expression more guarded and posture firmer. james feels a flash of pain in his chest, but he knows he deserves it. he knows regulus probably just cant help it, that he'd do it to anyone who hurt him.

and that's what james has done. hurt him.

suddenly, james tears his eyes away from him, gaze snapping to the ground instead. he swallows thickly, feeling a bit nauseous.

he's very well aware that breaking up with regulus hurt him. it hurt the both of them, but james will never forget the look in his eyes when he said i can't do this.

he'll never let himself forget how it wasn't the first time he made that look appear, either.

"i'm sorry," he blurts, startling them both. regulus' eyes go wide, like he wasn't expecting this yet, but james doesn't stop, "i'm so sorry, regulus. i-,"

"james," regulus murmurs, and james' eyes fall closed at the sound of his name on his lips.

"you look amazing," james says, blinking tears out of his eyes. they can't do this here.

"i—um. sorry if this is a bit...spontaneous-,"

"no! no i, well, you know me. i love spontaneous, so..."

you know me.

"i just figured it was time," regulus starts.

you know me.

"time for us to try and be friends," he continues, voice cracking on 'friends.'

i love you.

"friends. that's...yes. that's great," james responds, surprised to find that he actually means it. he honestly expected regulus to never speak to him again, so if friends is all they ever get to be, james will take it. not happily, but he'll take it, for now.

"i don't want things to be complicated," regulus explains, "because... well. sirius."

james laughs.

"yeah. yeah, i get it. okay. simple, then,"

"simple," regulus echoes.

"great. but, i mean. if we're gonna be friends, i think we need to establish some ground rules,"