Author's Note: Major thanks to Liza for keeping me motivated and helping with ideas and betaing!

For Sophy :)

Also written for...

Jewel Day Challenge. Prompts: Regulus Black, Western!AU, Write about two exes coming back together.

Inescapable Love

2,652 words

Regulus' mother always said that change was inevitable, inescapable. He saw things differently.

There was no denying the changes made to Redfern in the years he'd been away. Certainly, the town was quieter, less crowded, quite a lot dirtier, but underneath the dirt were the same roads he had run along most of his life.

People weren't so quick to change either, he mused. His fondness for Redfern hadn't wavered once since he'd left, and he doubted it ever would. He could only hope other folks in town were a little more accepting of change, otherwise his return wouldn't be as successful as he hoped.

Out of all the buildings on Main Street, The Dusty Goat Saloon was the only one looking better than when Regulus last saw it. The roof no longer threatened to cave in, and it had been given a fresh coat of paint.

He wasn't the least bit surprised to find his brother behind the bar, tending to the crowd with a smile on his face. He'd made his feelings about buying the old place pretty clear in the letters, and the job seemed to suit him.

Regulus found an empty table at the back of the room and waited there until the crowd died down and Sirius finally took notice of him.

"Welcome home," his brother said, serving him a plate of sandwiches. "So, what do you think of the place?"

Regulus refrained from rolling his eyes at Sirius' need for praise. He pretended to have to think about it before shrugging. "It's not bad." There was no need to inflate his brother's ego. "I thought you were going to change the name, though."

Sirius pouted. "Ol' Aberforth wouldn't let me have the place unless I swore to keep it. I wanted to call it the Moony Saloony."

Regulus wrinkled his nose. "I'm sure Remus was heartbroken."

"He was actually really understanding about it. But I figure Abe will kick the bucket pretty soon and I'll be able to safely change the name to reflect my undying love for Moony."

"And lose all of your patrons at the same time."

"Let them go. This is the only saloon in town."

"What happened to Longbottom's?"

"It closed about a week ago. Frank went to visit his cousin in Shaw last month and he met his soulmate. He's moving out there to be with her."

Regulus' hand automatically flew to the black band covering his left wrist, making sure it still covered the name printed there. If his brother noticed the movement, he didn't let on. In fact, Sirius was practically bouncing in his seat when Regulus returned his attention to him.

"Frank's having a party tonight!" he said excitedly.

"So…?"

"It's a going away thing, the whole town is invited. You should come."

Regulus grimaced. "I barely know Frank, and I think I had my fill of parties while living with Mom and Dad."

"This won't be anything like that," Sirius promised. "And it's not like you won't know anyone. Remus and I will be there."

"We'll see. I'm really tired from the trip."

Sirius didn't seem convinced but he didn't push the issue. "Well, I'll leave you to make your rounds. I'm sure I'm not the only person you're dying to catch up with." He winked at him as he got up from the table. "Speaking of which, you might want to swing by the school. It'll be letting out in a few minutes."

Regulus smiled at the advice. As much as he wanted to spend the day with his brother, there was someone he had been more anxious to see.

Lunch forgotten, he hurried down the road to Redfern's only school. Children were already leaving when Regulus arrived. He positioned himself across the street, waiting nervously for a certain to come outside. She didn't leave him waiting for long.

Lily hadn't changed in his two years away. Everything from her long red braid to the faded floral dress was just the same as it had been when they had said goodbye.

Regulus wanted to run to her, to tell her how beautiful she looked and hear her laugh. But he held back, afraid of what she would say to his showing up after two years. Just because his name was on her arm, didn't mean she'd want to see him. His concerns were justified when a stranger appeared from nowhere and took her into his arms. Regulus watched in stunned horror as Lily kissed the stranger and walked off with him.

He stormed back to the saloon, pulling Sirius away from his devoted patrons just to yell at him.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

"Did what, Reg? Is school not out yet?" Sirius consulted his pocket watch, glancing back at his waiting customers. "She ought to have come out by now."

"Lily was outside with … with some strange man." Sirius let out a soft 'ah.' "Who is he?"

"That would be James, our latest Deputy Sheriff and Lily's fiancé. Nice enough fella, and Lily seems to like him a lot."

Regulus scowled. "Then why did you have me go there? Why didn't you tell me about him before I came back to Redfern? You knew I was coming back for Lily."

"You're her soulmate, not James. As well as they get along together, he's not meant to be with her – you are," his brother reassured him, resting a hand on Regulus' shoulder. "I hoped you'd be able to win her back."

"She's not a prize to be won, Sirius."

"Poor phrasing. My point is that you still love her and she probably still loves you. You've come all this way, defied Mom and Dad's wishes … might as well give it a go, hmm?"

He hated to acknowledge his brother's rare moment of wisdom. Lily still didn't know he was back in town. Perhaps having her true soulmate back would be enough. And if not – if Regulus went to her and she still chose James, he would just have to live with that.

:-:

Whenever Regulus had thought back to Redfern, which was often, he always remembered the Evans home being one of the nicest in town. It may not have been big like the Black homestead, but it was a lot more welcoming.

He barely recognized the house now, riding up to it on Sirius' horse. It was in desperate need of repair, and all of the flowers in the window boxes were withered.

He considered himself lucky to have the door answered by Mrs. Evans, the least likely person in the family to slam the door in his face. She seemed happy to see him, inviting him in for tea and cookies, but that's where Regulus' luck ran out.

"I told Lily to go after you," Mrs. Evans said as she refilled his cup. "But her daddy got sick and she just refused to go. Now she's got that boy tryin' to take her away." She grimaced. "He's not right for her."

"I wish I could say I agree, but I haven't met him yet."

"Oh, you will. He doesn't let Lily alone much unless they're working. Just go to that Longbottom party tonight and you'll see."

"I was hoping to avoid it, actually."

"You ought to go, see her. If anyone can change her mind about this wedding, it's you. I can't lose another daughter."

"Has something happened to Petunia?"

Mrs. Evans scowled. "She married a land developer who passed through town last year. He whisked her off to the big city and I hardly hear from her anymore. She settled, Regulus. I don't want that for Lily."

:-:

In the end it took Sirius and Remus to literally drag him to the party, and even then he was ready to bolt at any moment.

Lily was already there, looking bored as she hung off of the Deputy Sheriff's arm while he chatted with the mayor.

"Just go get her," Sirius whispered.

"And say what? 'Lily, I love you, come away with me'? Her fiancé carries a gun, you know."

"Fair enough."

Remus rolled his eyes at the brothers. "I'll distract James so you can talk to her. For all our sakes, don't mess this up."

Regulus watched hopefully as his brother-in-law managed to pull James away, leaving Lily alone by the refreshments. He pushed forward, bracing himself for a bad reaction as he reached out to touch her shoulder, but she turned around before he got close enough.

"I was wondering when you were going to say hello, Regulus Black," she said, scowling at him. "I've seen you spying on me all day."

"I wasn't spying," he said defensively, amazed that he hadn't been slapped or kicked yet.

"You were waiting outside the school, and Momma told me you came to the house."

"Well, yeah. I didn't want to interrupt a moment with your fiancé." He glanced nervously to where Remus was keeping James busy in the corner.

"What are you doing here, Reg? I thought you were happy in the city, away from all of us commoners."

"Don't say that. You know I didn't want to leave."

"Could have fooled me. You said you'd be back after a year-"

"As soon as I turned eighteen."

"It's been two years, and now you conveniently show up when I'm about to get married?" She shot a glare over his shoulder, to where he was sure Sirius was watching them. "That brother of yours has been filling you in on town gossip, hasn't he? And you thought I'd come running back to you just because your name is on my arm?"

Regulus stared at the lace sleeve she wore on her left arm. It was a common trend in the city to cover marks, but almost everyone in Redfern married their soulmates.

"Sirius didn't tell me anything about you, and I would never just assume anything." He hesitated to add anything that might worsen her opinion of him. "But I won't lie; I hoped you'd be waiting for me."

"I did, for a while. After your birthday, when the mark arrived and you didn't, I figured it was time I settled for someone more reliable." She shrugged, as if the promise of marriage meant nothing to her.

"What's the point if they're not your soulmate?"

"You can't expect me to wait around forever, Regulus. The town's going under, in case you haven't noticed. The mine's drying up and everyone's either gone or packing. It's hard to find a soulmate in a ghost town, after all."

"I understand," he said, although he could never imagine marrying someone other than Lily. Even before the mark appeared, he had been in love with her, willing to give up his family and the money just to be with her. It killed him to see her so angry with him now, but he had promised himself that he would respect Lily's choice. "I hope you're happy, Lily. Either way, if you need anything, I'm back in Redfern for good."

"That's good, then when I leave, you will finally understand why storms are named after people," she said angrily, just as her fiancé came up behind her.

"Is everything alright here?" James asked, sizing Regulus up as he put an arm protectively around Lily's shoulders.

Sirius came to his brother's rescue, pulling the younger man back. "Ah, James, I'd like to introduce my brother, Regulus, just back from Tyson City. Reg, this is Deputy James. He's been doing wonders in helping Moody keep this place safe."

"It's nice to meet you, sir." Regulus shook the deputy's hand, even as Lily continued to glare at him. "If you'll all excuse me, I think I'm going to head home. I'm really tired from all the traveling." No one stopped him.

:-:

The rest of Regulus' first month back in Redfern was miraculously free of any more conflict.

Sirius and Remus was gracious enough to allow the young man to sleep in their guest room while he sorted out his situation. He avoided anywhere he thought he might run into Lily and James, mostly keeping himself busy helping out at the saloon or starting an apprenticeship with the cartwright.

His schooling didn't exactly cover how to survive in a dying town, but he was going to learn, even if it meant working himself to death.

He was subsequently half asleep on his feet the next time he ran into Lily, when he was sweeping up the saloon.

"You did this on purpose, didn't you?" Lily howled at him, causing the remaining patrons to stare.

"What are you talking about?"

"Amelia Bones," she spat. "She said she's a friend of yours."

Regulus perked up. "Amelia's here?"

"Oh, yes. She's spent the last hour chatting up my fiancé."

It took a moment for his tired brain to put the pieces together. "By any chance, is James' last name Potter?"

"You know it is."

"I didn't, actually. No one introduced him as such." Regulus grinned. "Lily, I swear, I had no idea he was Amelia's soulmate when I invited her to come visit. I just told her that it was a nice place to get away for a while if her family bothered her too much about … about our break-up."

Lily's eyes widened. "So, she's why you didn't come back right away?"

"Just the opposite. A month before my eighteenth birthday, my mom got sick. It seemed pretty serious for a while, but now I wonder if she was faking the whole thing. My cousin got married shortly after that, and there were a slew of other reasons that kept me from getting on the first wagon out of there. Amelia was the girl Mom was trying to set me up with. She helped me get out before my parents could stop me."

"If you were so keen to come back, why didn't you write to me?"

"I tried to. My parents intercepted every letter I tried to send. You can ask Sirius if you don't believe me. First he heard from me in two years was just a few days before I arrived here, when I was staying in Shaw." Regulus set the broom down with a sigh and joined Lily on the other side of the bar. "I swear, I never stopped thinking about you, but I understand that you're with James now and I would never do anything to interfere with-"

"Lily!" James hurried to the redhead's side and Regulus backed away quickly, returning to his sweeping to give the couple as much privacy as he could.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to spend so much time with Amelia. I was just surprised to finally meet her," the deputy jabbered, unaware of having interrupted anything.

"It's alright, James. I don't blame you."

"But she doesn't mean anything to me."

"James-"

"I love you, Lily. I asked you to marry me and I intend to go through with that."

"I know you do, but this is important. She's your soulmate and you owe it to yourself to see where this could go. You two were made for each other. I won't come between that." Lily removed her engagement ring as she spoke and handed it to James. "Go get her."

Regulus stared in awe, as James did just that, leaving Lily with a small peck on the cheek.

"That was a nice thing you did for them," Regulus told her quietly.

She smiled. "Everyone deserves a chance to be with their soulmate."

"Even us?" he asked hopefully.

"I suppose I could be persuaded to stay in Redfern a little longer."

Regulus tried not to let his excitement show, even as he poured them both drinks.

"To love," he toasted, winking at her.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Black. You've got a lot of time to make up for."

"Yes, ma'am."