Aisles

Chapter 4

Sunday, October 13th

When Remus woke up, he felt disorientated and it took him a few seconds to realise where he was. He pushed the blankets off, cracked his back and stood up - only to have to collapse back onto the sofa from the arrival of the most painful headache he had ever experienced. Marlene was still sleeping on the sofa opposite and when Remus checked his phone, it read only 9 am.

He managed to stand up again and was folding up the blanket when Sirius poked his head out of the kitchen and beckoned him over. Remus padded into the kitchen, careful to not wake Marlene. When he entered the room, Sirius handed him another glass of water.

"Thanks," Remus said weakly, rubbing his eyes.

"No problem. How's your hangover?"

Remus groaned as a response and Sirius smiled tightly before biting his lip in worry.

I really am sorry about your first day. I had to... well. I wouldn't have left you there if I felt like I had another option," Sirius said slowly. Remus looked at him, surprised at how soon he addressed it.

In the (very) short time that he'd known him, Sirius had always seemed so confident, so... sure of himself. He flirted with customers to keep them happy about wait times, danced as if no one was watching (cliche, I know) and had a self-assured manner in everything that he did.

But now, he looked embarrassed, ashamed even. Remus was about five inches taller than Sirius so had to look down at him a bit. He smiled at him softly.

"It's okay, don't worry about it," He said. He meant it too. Sure, he'd been angry at first but it must have been a big deal from the way everyone was acting. Marlene liked to gossip with him during their shifts together; she explained how protective Lily and James were over him, but in the months that she had worked there, Sirius had never once missed a shift, even showing up when he was hungover.

Sirius looked instantly relieved, which improved Remus' mood dramatically. He understood why James and Lily felt so protective over him - he was just someone that you wanted to protect. Any moment where he didn't seem confident was just... wrong.

They each had a cigarette on the balcony, in a comfortable silence, and Remus looked out at the view.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Sirius finally spoke.

"Yeah, I'd kill for a view like this," Remus replied, "My bedroom window looks out onto a literal concrete wall,"

"Yeah, when we moved in a couple years ago this was my favourite part of the whole apartment. It's selling point," Sirius said, his gaze fixed onto the view, too. "Do you ever miss Wales?"

Remus shook his head. "I'd always wanted to come to London, I loved the busyness, the buildings. It didn't disappoint,"

"The thing I love about London is how different it is from one area to the next. This is nothing like the part that I grew up in,"

They stayed on the balcony talking for another few minutes before Sirius said,

"I've got to go run some errands, but help yourself to any food, coffee, stuff like that. See you at work on Monday, Remus," Sirius smiled kindly at Remus before stubbing out his cigarette and leaving the balcony, a hand raised in goodbye. Remus stayed for a few more minutes before quietly grabbing his stuff and taking the bus home.

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Monday, October 14th

"So, how long have you and your girlfriend been together?" Sirius said, as he walked into the backroom in the five minutes before the two began their shift. Remus paused for a moment to look around, to see who Sirius was talking to because it absolutely could not be him.