It wasn't the unnatural August chill that woke Sirius Black up before the sun had a chance to rise, nor was it the foot unceremoniously dangling an inch from his nose (he batted this away with muffled cursing), but instead, the blonde-now brown haired-girl who unknowingly cuddled her head against his abdomen. Or more specifically, the nightmare he'd had where she'd died. It had started off as a normal enough dream, but progressively it became more and more dark. Marlene was taken by the police, given the death penalty, and killed while all he could do was watch. The nightmare had chilled him straight to the bone with a fear that he could only conquer by gently tugging her body against his and taking solace in the fact that she was there, she was warm. She was alive.
It had been another two weeks since what they both referred to privately as The Bathroom Incident, and since then, there had been multiple repeats. All of them leading to more confused and muddled emotions inside of Sirius. The incidents had been unintentional at first, but then grew with a sort of addicted urgency every time there was a rest stop or a food break. Afterwards Sirius would feel guilty because he knew she really did like him and all he could offer was... well, he didn't know what he had to offer. Fancying her, as he did but hadn't admitted to himself, scared him to death because now did she not only have the power to hurt him, but he now worried about her whenever she was alone. Alone meant virtually unprotected. Alone meant she could be recognized. Marlene could handle herself, sure, but the knowledge of that didn't stop the little Fear Monster inside of his brain from fretting. The worst was if he told her exactly how he felt, she would probably slap him, kiss him, and slap him again because if he knew Marlene, and he was fairly certain he did, she would be offended and flattered.
She really did look beautiful when she slept. He never got to look at her sleeping because he was always the first one out and the last one up, but just then he watched her sleep. The gentle slope of her slightly upturned nose, leading down to her mouth (which hung open slightly, in sleep) combined with her almond shaped eyes were all features of a face that could easily be lost in a crowd, but Sirius couldn't get out of his head. God, he wanted to kiss her. He wanted her to stay wrapped in his arms for the rest of his life. He wanted to be able to kiss her, hold her, and shag her endlessly without all the guilt of not being what she would call 'official'. She shifted in his arms so that her left arm was resting on his chest, hand gently curled around the fabric of his t-shirt. He hoped his heartbeat wouldn't wake her.
Then she sneezed.
"Bless you," Sirius whispered.
"Thank you," She smiled sleepily before frowning and shivering.
"Cold?" He asked softly, running his hands along her arms. She nodded, burrowing her head in his shoulder. Sirius pulled the sweatshirt he'd been using as a pillow out from under his head and held it out for her. She stared at the sweatshirt for a moment, taking in the plain blue color and the largeness-it could easily fit her as a dress. After the moment of scrutiny she nearly tore it from Sirius' hands to yank it over her head and sigh in contentment. Sirius assumed from the warmth it brought, but in reality it was because it smelled of him.
"Now you'll be cold." She stated, as if suddenly realizing his lack of covered skin.
"Nah," He shook his head, pulling her back down into his arms. She smiled at him before leaning up to kiss the underside of his jaw. An electric shock rocketed through him, and he twisted until her mouth was a breath from his. Slowly, gently, he pressed his lips to hers, savoring the feeling. Even if her lips were a little chapped, even if they both had morning breath, Sirius loved to kiss her. The morning breath he could get used to if he woke up to it every morning. Whoa, wait, where had that thought come from? Sirius pulled back, frightened by the committed route his thoughts had begun taking in favor of just lying with Marlene in his arms.
He really did like it when she was in his arms, and, eventually, they both drifted off to sleep again.
Somewhere near an hour later, James, Remus, Sirius and Marlene had all sat down in a quaint little diner for breakfast. Remus had ordered eggs and bacon, James had pancakes and Marlene wanted French toast. Sirius wasn't a breakfast person, and he would eventually make Remus stop for a snack of some sort. At this point though he was just tired, he wished he could rest his eyes for just a minute, but he'd be damned if he let the waiter alone with Marlene. The waiter was a perky blonde haired fellow named Amos, who was very obviously hitting on Marlene every time he came by to "check on" his "favorite customers."
Sirius wanted to sock him.
The waiter came around for the sixth time in ten minutes. "Does anybody need anything?" He addressed the table, but was looking at Marlene.
"No thank you, we're fine." She smiled pleasantly, and he left.
Sirius' frown deepened as he turned back to the conversation he'd been ignoring. Apparently Remus had called his wife and gotten the green light on Sirius, Marlene, and James all living with them until they could find an apartment to hide out in. They lived in Wales and the lot of them would be heading there starting that day. Before then, they had just been driving around, helping Remus with his deliveries. His house was just outside of Cardiff, and had a spare room for all of them to sleep in.
"More coffee?" Interrupted the bloody waiter. Again.
"How about," Sirius began. "You leave us alone for more than thirty seconds, and we'll flag you down if we need anything. You're welcome to hold your breath."
"Si-John," Marlene scolded, almost forgetting to use his fake name.
"What?"
"We're fine, thank you." She said, without turning to look back at the waiter. Once he'd walked away, her expression darkened. "May I speak with you?"
Sirius leaned back.
"Alone," She clarified. He sighed, waiting for her to slide out of the booth before he followed. She walked along the counter until she reached the hallway leading to the bathroom. It was a bare, empty hall with two doors at the end marked "Restroom" and "Staff Only" respectively. Marlene walked until she was at the bathroom door, and then flipped around, walking quickly back towards him.
"What the hell was that?" She furiously whispered.
"Me getting rid of a pest." Sirius scoffed.
"He was doing his job-"
"He was flirting with you-"
"How is that any of your business?" Marlene crossed her arms, eyebrow shooting up.
"Because I'm-"
"What?" She interrupted. "You're my what? Boyfriend? Because I don't think we ever specified what this-" She gestured between them. "-is. You're certainly not my boyfriend, so I don't think you have any right to act that way."
"Marlene, he was all over you."
"And that still doesn't give you the right to act like a jealous twat!"
He rolled his eyes.
"Listen, even if we were dating, do you really think I'd date someone who acted like that?" She laughed humorlessly. "I'm a fully grown woman and I can handle myself."
"You're eighteen-"
"And I can handle myself." She was frowning at him. "I don't need saving from overly flirty waiters. I don't want it. Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I'm helpless."
"I never said-"
"But you imply it when you do shit like that."
"I didn't mean to."
Marlene shook her head. "No, but you did. I'm not mad about the implications, I'm mad-I'm angry because this isn't the first time this has happened! You treat me like property! Fucking hell, I feel like property. We aren't dating. We aren't engaged, or married. I never signed a contract that said 'Marlene McKinnon is now hereby and forever the property of Sirius Black.' I don't like it when you're possessive. I don't find it attractive. It's degrading and embarrassing. Sirius, jealousy isn't a becoming trait."
Sirius rolled his eyes, taking in the physicality of angry Marlene. Her neck and ears flushed; there was a crease between her eyebrows, and the corner of her mouth lifted in a pseudo-sneer. It was dead sexy. "I thought birds liked it when their boyfriends were jealous."
"Their boyfriends," She emphasized the word, and Sirius caught on (or so he thought).
"Alright, Marlene," Sirius smirked. "Would you like to be my girlfriend?"
Marlene looked horrified. "No,"
"What do you mean 'no'?" He raised his voice.
"I mean no!" She matched his volume. "I would not like to be a possessive man-child's girlfriend. I would not like to deal with the sexist idea that I'm lesser. There is no way in hell I'm going to be your girlfriend until you deal with yourself." Sirius looked hurt. He felt hurt. He really didn't know why and somewhere inside he knew he had no right to be, but he really did care about her. Some part of him knew it was coming, and what had to happen next.
"Marlene," He began, reaching out to cradle her cheek with his hand.
"Don't touch me!" She slapped his hand away from her face. "I'm bloody angry with you! You aren't allowed to lay a hand on me unless I tell you. Do you understand that? I really hope you do, because there is no way I'm dating a man who doesn't. My mother did that, and look where that ended me up."
Something in the way she phrased the sentence made Sirius pause. "What do you mean, ended you up? He beat your mother, right?"
"Yeah, r-right, that's what I meant."
"Marlene?" He didn't think. He just reached his hands out again, this time placing them on her shoulders. She looked grateful for the contact for a minute, a second, before her face darkened again.
"I SAID DON'T BLOODY TOUCH ME," She pushed him away. "Jesus Christ, Black! What the fuck did I say not even twenty seconds ago? Don't. Touch. Me. And then you did, I cannot believe you-"
"I'm sorry," He was. He really really was.
"-You know what?" She barreled on, ignoring his apology. "Don't touch me. Don't speak to me. Don't even bloody look at me, unless you have to. I'm so damn angry with you right now! You completely disregarded my feelings, again!"
"I'm sorry," He repeated.
She sighed, her eyes softening just a tad. "I'm going to go back to the table and switch with James, and you're going to sit like normal. No questions, okay?"
He nodded.
"Good," And that was just how it happened. Marlene switch with James, who sent the both of them questioning looks, to which neither replied. Then, when they left for Cardiff, Marlene asked Remus if she could sit up front with him. He had agreed shooting a look back at Sirius just as James had.
Alone in the back of the truck-well not really alone, James was there, but Sirius didn't count him-Sirius thought about everything that had happened. He supposed that he had acted like a prat, and that most of what she said was true, but... He wasn't sexist was he? Just because he was jealous and snapped at a waiter? No, he decided, no he wasn't. It was just her mind overreacting as women tend to do all the time.
The way she had snapped and left. He couldn't help believing that his behavior had broken something between them. The phrase that kept playing in his head was "look where that ended me up" like her father had been abusing her instead of her mother. That would explain the bruises and cuts she had when she arrived, and the lack of them on her mother during the trial. But the only flaw was that Marlene was sent to the asylum because she had caught her father beating her mother and killed him. Unless...unless...
Bloody fucking hell.
A/N- Sorry for the cliffy! Also, sorry this is so short, but I really wanted to get in another update before I went on vacation!
Soon we'll be getting our Jily. I promise. Next chapter. Maybe.
Reviews are well written smut.
