People thought that Lupin didn't love her, not properly, and Tonks could see why. When they were in company he acted indifferently, treating her like she was still a colleague and mere friend. She longed for him to kiss her like there was nobody else in the room, like nothing else mattered.
"We don't have to prove our love to anybody," Lupin had told her firmly when she had voiced her concerns.
And he was right. Besides, people didn't notice the small gestures he made towards her. How, whenever she came to sit by his side, he would turn his body slightly towards hers, keeping his eyes locked on the person he was speaking with as if he had made no such movement at all. And how, whenever they passed, he would purposely make sure that their fingers would brush and he would reach other to give her hand a gentle squeeze as he went. It was the things like these, the small things, that truly mattered.
Whenever Tonks found herself upset about the way Lupin treated her in public, she would remind herself of how he acted behind closed doors, when it was just the two of them. Lupin was so lovely to her that it sometimes formed a lump in her throat. He treated her like a queen, answering to her every beck and call, questioning no demand. He'd talk with her well in to the night, and it was during these long discussions that Tonks would catch glimpses of his dry sense of humour, the humour that most rarely witnessed. Every night when they climbed in to bed together, and the lights had been put out, Lupin would wrap his arms around her and hold her close, in assurance that everything was going to be just fine, and even in these difficult times they still had each other. They'd wake up still entwined most mornings.
Tonks understood why Lupin was shy though, why he was so reserved even with her. Throughout most of his life he had been an outcast in society, shunned by most and treated as something to be held at arms length. It was hard for him to accept love when it was given to him. But Tonks was proud, so proud, of the way he handled his condition, the way he held his head high and continued through life like nothing could hold him back.
In all, Tonks knew that Lupin loved her, and she loved him, and they didn't have to snog each others faces off in front of the whole Order just to prove that.