The answering machine blinked ominously in the dark, and Sirius sighed heavily as he prepared himself to listen to the usual tirade that James subjected him to everyday on the phone. It was starting to almost become a ritual now; Sirius would come home, purposefully overworked and exhausted; listen to all his messages while he changed, ate whatever he could salvage for dinner; and then promptly fall asleep, sometimes on the couch.

'Sirius, you fucking bastard, why in sodding hell are you avoiding me?'

Sirius rolled his eyes as he shrugged off his coat and toed off his shoes. 'I'm not avoiding you, mate, I'm just busy with work,' he explained to no one in particular.

'And don't think you can get away with any of that "work" shite! That isn't a valid excuse for avoiding your best friend or not keeping your word! You told me you'd be there, you bloody git!'

'Yes, but then later, you told me he'd be there, too,' Sirius replied, rummaging in the fridge for yesterday's leftovers. He fished out Chinese takeout with flourish and gave it an experimental sniff, heaving a sigh of relief on finding that it didn't smell too much like a public toilet.

'I mean, I was searching for you in the stands like an absolute fool, can you believe that? I mean, you missed the others, too, but this was the finals, Sirius! The finals! Do you have any idea how important they were to me?'

'Not as important as me attempting to grope your boyfriend, I'm sure,' Sirius said darkly, stabbing his food with his fork. 'Honestly, do you have to drag him along everywhere you go? He told me he didn't even like football. He prefers cricket, but do you ever bother listening to him, or try to find out what he actually wants to do?'

'Well, you'll be happy to know that we won regardless, and that I'm throwing a big celebration party at the flat tomorrow night. You'd better come, Sirius, I mean it. Or I'll crash at your place instead. Don't think I can't find out where you live.'

Sirius's eyes widened and his food slid off his fork. 'You wouldn't dare.'

'Don't think I won't do it, Sirius, and don't think you can get away with not coming. If you ignore me any longer, I'm ending our friendship, screwing our brotherhood, declaring war against you! Oh fuck, you know that's not true, but it would really be great if you could come, mate. I haven't seen you in ages!'

'It wouldn't be the brightest of ideas: me coming over. Disastrous, in fact,' Sirius tried to reason with James's angry tone. 'You'll end up with your underwear on your head, singing Christmas carols from the roof.'

Sirius tried to push down the little part of him that wanted to go; wanted to see Remus, even if it's just a glimpse. It wasn't like Sirius missed him or anything; he wasn't guilty about what he'd said the last time they'd seen each other. He just wanted to make sure James was all right.

'Be there by seven and bring a date if it makes you happy, but just come.'

Sirius snorted; he hadn't had a date for weeks. To Sirius, no one fit the bill, no one came up to the standards that he set anymore, and no one could quite satisfy him the way he wanted. It was pathetic really – how his sexual life had begun to resemble that of a monk.

'Remus doesn't quite know the team members that well, and he hates Caradoc's drunken ramblings almost as much as you do, so you can keep each other company.'

Sirius groaned.

'Don't be late!'

'Fine,' Sirius snapped, his resolve now in shambles. 'But I'm leaving early and I'm not buying you any gifts.'

XxxxX

The door to James's flat was already wide open when Sirius came in, loud music blaring across the hall and all the way downstairs. The sitting room was crowded with drunk and dancing people, and to Sirius's distaste, Caradoc Dearborn had gotten himself a girlfriend and was sucking her face off on what used to be his favourite couch.

'Disgusting,' Sirius muttered to himself, before bumping hard into someone and finding himself on the receiving end of a very tight hug.

'Sirius!!! It's been so long!!' A very inebriated Fabian Prewett cried as he planted a sloppy kiss on Sirius's cheek. 'Good to see you, mate!'

Sirius forced a smile, trying to get Fabian off him as politely as he could. 'Good to see you, too, Fay. Have you seen James?'

Fabian scrunched up his face in thought. 'Dunno…I think he went in to change. I spilt beer on him, you know.' He grinned as he declared the last part as if it was the biggest accomplishment of his life.

'How fascinating,' muttered Sirius darkly, making his way through the throng of people towards James' bedroom. He was about to open the door when he heard a very loud moan that could only belong to James, and felt his eyes pop out of his head. 'Fuck, you're joking.' The moans were growing steadily more pronounced, and Sirius backed away from the door as if on fire. Blood was rushing to his head, making it pound painfully; his throat clenched painfully. This was why he didn't want to come. This was why he'd been steadily avoiding James for well over a month.

Sirius was ready to walk away as fast as he could, but stopped abruptly when he heard another moan, a decidedly very female one. More on instinct than tact, he flung the door open only to see his best friend on top of Lily Evans, both topless with James's hand underneath her skirt.

'What the fuck?'

Both James and Lily leaped, only noticing Sirius's presence. Lily pulled the sheets around herself, a dark blush spreading across her pale cheeks to match her hair.

'Sirius!' James cried, grinning.

Grinning. Sirius couldn't believe the bastard.

'Sirius, you came!' James said joyfully, climbing out of bed to stand beside Sirius and close the bedroom door behind him. He slung a friendly arm around Sirius's shoulder. 'I was so sure you wouldn't…I was almost beginning to thi-'

'Get the fuck off me!' Sirius cried, shocked at the complete apathy James was displaying. It was as if he didn't know, like it didn't even matter. 'How could you do this to him, James?' he yelled, pushing his baffled best friend roughly in the chest. 'Fuck, does he even know, or are you chea-'

James grabbed Sirius's shoulders firmly, his voice quiet as he spoke, 'Slow down, okay. You're getting ahead of yourself.'

The rage that filled Sirius was unexplainable: burning red hot, consuming, and destructive. It was the first time Sirius had ever wanted to hurt James, to beat him senseless. 'I'm getting ahead of myself? What the fuck do you think you're doing?' He spat venomously. 'What's that…that woman doing here? You're supposed to be with-'

'Remus broke up with me,' James said calmly.

Sirius felt his brain explode. 'WHAT?'

James nodded, smiling. 'Yeah, it was the oddest thing, too. He brought Lily over himself, shoved her towards me, and told us that we were both being daft and even a blind person could see that we were both in love with each other.'

'I don't understand,' whispered Sirius, suddenly feeling very confused and lost. At the same time, a shameless, less curious part of him couldn't help but feel happy at the new developments.

'I don't either, but God Sirius, she's wonderful. She's- I can't even explain it, but I never thought I'd have her in my arms, you know. It's like a dream or something.' James eyes shone with unbridled happiness as he smiled so wide, it looked as if it was going to fall off his face. 'I stand by what I said before; Remus is really the best damn thing that's ever happened to me.'

Sirius felt something in his chest tighten painfully. 'Did he-What will-?' He didn't know what to ask, everything that he'd heard was now starting to overwhelm and confuse him even further.

James sighed, looking down at his feet dejectedly. 'He's going back to Chelsea. Not today!' He hastened to explain when he saw Sirius's worried face. 'Tomorrow, I guess. I tried to make him stay, said he was one of the best friends I ever had, but he wouldn't listen.' James looked up to meet Sirius's eyes, and there was genuine sorrow in his expression. 'He said he was happier in a place where he didn't have people to care about.'

'He loved you,' Sirius whispered quietly and perhaps, a little hatefully.

James shook his head, smiling sadly. 'He didn't. When I told him that I…maybe…you know…he never said it back. Said he wasn't really sure and thank you.'

Sirius felt his heart soar and against his will, his lips turned upwards in a smile. Suddenly, the prospect of seeing Remus didn't seem too unbearable; in fact, it had now morphed into a necessity. 'Where is he? Do you know?'

'Terrace.' When Sirius hastened to go, James grabbed him by the arm. 'You should leave him alone, Sirius; give him some time to gather things.'

'Yeah, sure,' Sirius replied unconvincingly, before running faster than he'd ever done his entire life, up the stairs leading to the terrace.

By the time, he'd reached the top, Sirius was breathless, not from running continuously up four flights, but by the sight that beheld him. Remus was standing there, eyes closed and face lifted to the skies without a care in the world. An occasional wind lifted his hair in a playful dance, made his clothes ripple and lift to reveal the bare skin of his back teasingly before letting his shirt fall back down again.

'Hey,' Sirius said, after having caught his breath and straightened himself consciously.

Remus whirled around quickly, his eyes growing impossibly large as he saw Sirius 'I-I didn't think anyone would be up here,' he stuttered, his cheeks turning pink in the most endearing way. 'I-I guess I should be getting out of your way, huh?'

Sirius grasped Remus's hand before he could move away. 'You broke up with James.' It wasn't said accusingly; it was more of a question, or perhaps a statement that needed to be clarified.

Remus stared at their entwined hands before taking his own back and settling it across the railing. 'It was the right thing to do. James and Lily are meant to be together, and I was always in between. James deserves to be with her.'

'What about you?' Sirius asked, making sure to hold Remus's gaze. 'Have you ever thought about what you deserve?'

Remus turned away to face the streets. 'You'll have your life back in place again. Isn't that what you wanted?' he asked, not quite answering the question.

'And what did you want?' Sirius persisted, undeterred. 'Did you want to be with James?'

Remus sighed heavily. 'Look, I'm not upset if that's what you're hinting at. To me, this is just another day that I'll forget in given time,' his voice came out broken and tired, betraying the apathy in his words. 'I'll go back home, I'll carry on with my life just like always, and James will just be another name on my list of failed relationships.'

Sirius raised an eyebrow. 'You have a list?'

Remus chuckled humourlessly. 'More of a novel, really. It might come as a surprise to you, but people tire of me fairly quick.'

Sirius felt a terrible ache in his chest, and he reached out to place a hand on Remus's cheek, brushing his thumb over smooth skin tenderly. 'They're mad. They're all mad,' he said fiercely, his hand now moving upwards to tucks errant strands of hair behind Remus's ear. 'You're…you're beautiful.'

Remus smiled, moving Sirius's fingers away from his cheek, but keeping them loosely encased within his own hands. 'I remember you having a different opinion not too long ago.'

Sirius's hold on Remus tightened. 'Look, about that; I didn't mean any of-'

'You don't need to apologise. I understand.'

Sirius didn't know what to say after that, so for the first time in his life, he kept quiet, simply watching and admiring Remus's profile with shameless abandon. He drank in every detail, ever curve and slope, wondering how someone could be so beautiful, so flawless in his eyes. Remus, in his part, said nothing about Sirius's unwavering gaze or Sirius's continued hold on his hand; but stared at the busy streets of London with more concentration than necessary.

'Don't go back, Remus,' Sirius said suddenly, breaking the silence and startling Remus. 'Neither of us wants you to. You've sort of become a part of the group. It wouldn't seem right without you.'

Remus smiled softly. 'You'll manage, but I won't. This place has become too personal to me; there's too much attachment and not enough involvement.' Remus rolled his eyes. 'I'm sorry, I'm not making much sense.'

Sirius swallowed, still unsure of what to say. Remus was an enigma; the sort of person who was unpredictable and unreadable. Sirius couldn't tell if Remus was attracted to him or not; he couldn't tell if Remus had been in love with James all along, but too scared to say so. Hell, for all Sirius knew, Remus could be in love with Fabian Prewett.

'It might work out,' Sirius tried, ambiguously. 'It might not always be like this. You won't know if you don't stay.'

Remus shook his head. 'I can't make a person fall in love with me, Sirius.'

Sirius swallowed, taking a chance and continuing, 'But what if…what if he's already in love with you, Remus? What if he can't stop thinking about you; can't stop dreaming about you?' He held Remus by the back of his neck, so that the man had no other choice but to look at him. 'What if for the first time in his miserable life, he's actually fallen in love, but hates himself for it because he can't have it? What if – oh fuck this.'

Sirius crashed his lips into Remus, one arm holding Remus's face firmly in place while the other settled on the small of Remus's back, forcing their bodies impossibly close.

'Stay,' Sirius panted out, still keeping a strong hold on Remus should he decide to get away. 'Share the night with me, spend my life with me.'

Remus looked shocked, hesitant, and confused all at the same time. However, it didn't escape Sirius notice that Remus was holding him just as tightly, fists clenched tightly at the back of his shirt. 'I don't-'

Sirius didn't give him a chance to protest as he kissed Remus again, open mouthed and harder this time. His insides were rampaging wildly, his mind lost surrendering to the complete bliss he felt to have Remus in his arms, to be able to kiss him and touch him without feeling any sort of guilt.

They parted far too quick, chests heaving and hands clutching at each other like lifelines.

'Yeah,' Remus breathed out as he saw the nervous expectance in Sirius's eyes. His face broke into beatific and carefree smile, and Sirius felt his heart flutter madly within his rib cage. 'Yeah…okay,' he said again before pulling down Sirius for another kiss.

The End

That's the end, folks, of Twisted Fates. I hope all of you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. It's been my little baby for a long time, and please excuse any mistakes I've made, or if the ending is crappy or not quite what you expected. It's been a lovely ride regardless. Love to all!! Cheers!