Falling in Love At a Coffee Shop [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter 4

Remus' POV

About two hours later he came back in looking deplorable. He had tear-stained cheeks and red, bloodshot, puffy eyes. He was also carrying a small case that probably held all of his belongings seeing as how he didn't have anything else.

His mood lightened just a fraction when he smelt the freshly baked goods. He walked up to me only stopping to set his case down on a seat nearby.

"Hey..." his voice was raspy from crying and he barely talked above a whisper. "I came back to apologize about arguing in your cafe. It was extremely rude and uncalled for. You, in no way, deserved to had to of witnessed that." I stare at him, taking in his rich features and body shape.

After a while, I speak up in what I think is a soft and caring voice, "Are you okay? You look... how say?.. torn apart." He nods his head in answer not trusting his voice.

"Come with me."I take his hand and lead him up to my apartment above my cafe. I unlock the door and lead him inside.

"Would you like some tea?" He nods again still not trusting his voice. When I finish the tea, I hand it to him and sit down next to him on my sofa. I wait for him to start illustrating what happened.

"It all started 2 weeks ago. It was 2 hours past the time he usually arrived home from work and I was starting to get genuinely distressed. I called him somewhere around 10 times, but each time they all went to voicemail. He always answers within 15 seconds even when he was at work. After about 10 more minutes he was home. He said, 'I'm so sorry that I'm late Sri! My supervisor wouldn't let me off!' and then disappeared into our- his bedroom."

He continued to inform me about how distant Dylan had been for about 15 minutes and by the end, he was crying. "And he looked at me with no feeling in his face and just said that he didn't love me, that he's been cheating, and go pack my shit and leave. I don't even have a place to go... After that, I came here.."

That horrible man did nothing to earn Sirius' tears. My heart broke for him. When he looked at me, his eyes lit up.

"Do you... umm... do you want to uh... stay here for a while? So that you can find a place?" I tried to say without my voice faltering from nervousness. Regardless, I, Remus Lupin, could not sustain that task.

"Umm... I'll... I'll stay- but only if you're alright with it." Apparently, he was also very nervous since his voice shook and he stuttered just like me.

I decided that I needed to be the bigger individual in this affair, so I attempted a smile. He smiled back, despite his face still having tear tracks from our previous conversation.

"Do you wanna go get your things from downstairs?"

He nodded and we both set our glasses of now cold tea on the table in front of us before standing up to walk out of the room. I grabbed my wand off of said table and followed him to the door.

Walking down the flight of stairs that divided the store from my living space only took a couple of minutes, but I spent the entire time gazing at Sirius' seemingly silky hair. It just looked so soft... I caught myself edging my hand closer to his hair and quickly shut the action down. We just met. Running my fingers through his hair would be a very pervy thing to do.

I snap my mind back into safe thoughts as we emerged into my abandoned cafe. He stood near the seat that his stuff was in, and observed as I went around the room, cleaning up the day's mess.  It didn't take long as I was just flicking my wand around and spelling things into place. To finish it off, I locked the front door with a swish and turned the 'open' sign to 'closed'.

"Ah, all in a day's work," I mutter, turning around to face the beautiful man who is currently staring off into space. "Would you care to join me for lunch? I don't have much food upstairs but I can fix something up- if you're hungry that is."

My words being addressed to him brought him back to the present, and it took a moment for the words to register in his mind.

"Oh! Sure, but I don't currently have money to repay you-"

I hold up my hand cutting him off. I had learned from his explanation earlier that he is unemployed and had come to the conclusion that he could repay me another way.

"I've got it covered. Besides, I've decided that instead of paying rent or anything you can just run the shop with me, without getting much pay as I'd have your salary to cover the living expenses." I end my explanation with only a slightly flirty wink and wait for his reaction. It doesn't take but a couple seconds of silence for him to smile and his face to light up with relief.

"That actually sounds great. It helps us both out." His French accent is heavy and so cute... Our eyes meet and I feel my face heat up. And watch as Sirius' does the same. "I really cannot thank you enough, Remus... We just met and you've done more for me than ninety percent of the people in my life... " he trails off, staring at the hardwood floor.

I walk up to his short frame and set my hand on his forearm, a small smile on my face. " It's no problem. I'm always here for you Sirius." I almost slip up and call him the pet name he mentioned Dylan calling him, but I stop myself. It's not the right time and I am definitely not the right person.

We smile one more time at each other, our eyes locking and not pulling away until it gets to an embarrassingly long gaze. At that point, Sirius giggles and it's the most precious sound I've ever heard. I turn and hear him following as we climb the steps to the loft we now share.