Chapter 9: Mona Lisa (When the World Comes Down)
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March faded fast and bled into April. The rising temperature outside brought smiles to everyone's faces in anticipation of the fast approaching summer. James and Sirius kept busy with extra practice. Even Peter, the towel boy, was putting in extra time to get the Milton Ravens ready for the play-offs. The extra hours were worth it in the end; they won the play-offs. First time the Ravens took the trophy in sixteen years. James threw a huge party to celebrate, not that he needed a reason.
Regulus stayed hard at work with rehearsals, his effort also paying off when he received a raving review from the local paper for his performance in Mona Lisa. Remus was, as promised, in the front row for each show. Lily even took the time to join Remus at half of the shows. The two of them had been just as busy as the others. Finals were eminent and they were both preparing to take their PSATs at the end of April.
As May dawned, everyone's lives got a lot less hectic. Basketball games, tests, plays and stress were a thing of the past. There were only two weeks left in school and by then, even the teachers had checked out. Classes consisted of the students sitting around, talking, reading, texting, whatever they wanted, while the teachers sat at their desks attempting to beat their own high score at solitaire.
The last day of school was a flurry of turned in textbooks, overfilled trash cans and empty lockers. Sirius was standing at his open locker, staring down at a library book that he could have sworn he returned in October. He shrugged and handed the book to Peter, who was already holding three of James' overdue books and a text book of Lily's. After a while, a short, chubby, blonde girl walked up and laced her hand into Sirius'. James and Lily both gave her a small wave and turned their attention back to each other.
Remus stepped up beside Sirius and rested his arm on his shoulder. "Ready to go, Lily?"
Lily nodded and took a step towards Remus. He was giving her a ride home so that James could have extra time to prepare for the big 'end of the year' party that he was throwing that night.
"You coming tonight, Lupo?" James asked casually. While he no longer felt the need to narrow his eyes at Remus, at least when being watched, the use of his proper name was still out of his ability range.
"Of course he is," Sirius answered for him, smiling.
The blonde girl looked up and smiled at Remus. "Lupo? You must be Remus. It's nice to meet you, I'm -"
Remus held up his hand to silence her. "You know, I don't really bother learning your names anymore. You'll just be a different girl next week."
"Or even tomorrow," James added, beaming at Remus.
"Could be tonight," Lily pitched in, unable to resist.
The girl, whose name was Dora, looked up at Sirius. He covered his mouth and snorted a laugh into his hand, trying to ignore the angry stare he was getting. Remus tugged on Lily's arm and the two of them headed out to his truck.
"My, my, Lily Evans, I'd have to say that you're developing quite the mean streak," Remus laughed as he started the truck and pulled on his seat belt.
"I have not. I just couldn't help it. That little...harpie, yeah I said it, harpie, is always trying to copy my work." Lily huffed and folded her arms as they turned out of the parking lot.
"So it has nothing to do with the rumors that James was messing around with her?" Remus asked, glancing over at her with concern.
"I don't put much stock into rumors. If they were worth a damn, they wouldn't be called rumors, they'd be called facts."
"Well, I know for a fact that James has cheated on you. Many times."
"You don't know. You were drunk and you coulda mistaken someone else for him."
Remus frowned. "Well, I trust Sirius and he's told me plenty of times that he's caught James." He let out a sigh and shook his head. They had already been through the same discussion many times. He knew Lily wouldn't let it sink in unless she saw for herself.
"You just don't like James because he calls you Lupo."
"Yeah, it's all about that. I'm just glad you aren't sleeping with the jerk. You aren't...right?"
"That's not your business." Lily looked out of the window and sighed. "No, I'm not. You know how I feel about sex before marriage."
"Good. I just hope you keep feeling that way."
"Who are you to lecture me, hypocrite. I don't see you waiting 'till marriage."
"Hey! I made a different life choice than you. You know how hard it was for me when I realized that... Look, just because I do something different than you, doesn't make me right. You're the right one here."
"So change then. Don't have sex again until you're married."
Remus laughed and shook his head. "First of all, I don't plan on ever getting married. I couldn't most places, even if I wanted to. Besides, I like it, I'm not gonna just give it up completely. You can call me a hypocrite all you want, that won't change things. At least I'm selective, not like...some people who just go off with any piece of trash that stands still long eno-"
"Remus. You alright there, buddy? You're looking a little pissed off."
"I'm fine," Remus sighed. "I just got carried away. My point was, I don't just throw it around. It has to mean something."
"It should mean that you're in love," Lily pointed out.
"Yeah, it would if I believed in that crap. You know I don't, so why even go there?"
"I don't know, I guess maybe I thought you've changed your mind. With recent events and all."
Remus gave Lily an amused grin. "You think I'm in love with Regulus? Now I know you've lost it. Even if I wanted to be in love with him, I couldn't be. He's just like Cam in so many ways and I'm about ninety-five percent sure that it'll go down the same way. If it hasn't already."
"I saw him. Two days ago."
"Saw who?" Remus asked.
"Cameron. He was at the video store when James and I went in. He's working there now."
"Remind me to never get the urge to rent a movie."
"He asked about you."
"Did you tell him to go fuck himself?" Remus sneered as he pulled onto their street.
"Not in those exact words, but more or less, yeah." Lily laughed.
Remus laughed as well as he pulled into the driveway. He shut off the truck and removed his seat belt.
"You really think he's cheating?" Lily asked, quietly.
"Are you asking about James or Regulus?"
"Regulus. You said he was like Cameron, so you must think that's what he's doing. I don't see it. Every time I see you together he seems so...devoted to you."
Remus took a deep breath and rubbed his fingers over his lips. "Yeah, it's the little things. The way his eyes flick when he gets some texts, the way he smells...different when he's been out all day, the way he holds my hand a little tighter when certain people are around." He let out another deep breath and leaned his head back. "I guess when you have as much experience being played as I have, you learn the tells. Like I said, he's just like Cam, the tells are the same."
"Why not break it off? You don't deserve to be cheated on. If you think he is, then dump him."
Remus licked his lips and shook his head again. He rubbed his hands roughly over his face and put his head on the steering wheel. "Because, I'm crazy about him. I can handle it, as long as he keeps his mouth closed about it, I can handle it. Does that make me completely pathetic?"
"No, but it should make you understand why I can't believe any of those rumors about James. There's only one person that I would ever imagine being with other than him." Lily held up her hand when she saw the warning look on Remus' face. "I'm not trying to talk about that, I'm talking about James. I just feel like if I didn't have him, my world would fall apart."
"I guess that makes us both pathetic."
"You should know something. It's not about me, it's about..." Lily looked out of the window and bit her bottom lip. "If I knew something about someone and they had sorta told me that they were crushing on you, would you wanna know?"
"Someone told you that they had a crush on me? Who? When?"
"It was at James' party, right after your birthday. He was sort of drunk and at the time I thought he was just saying it because he was drunk."
"So you don't think that it was drunken stupidity now?"
"No. I've been noticing...little things. I don't think it's just the beer anymore. I think it was the beer that made him tell me, but I think he was being honest. D-do you wanna know who it was?"
Remus tightened his jaw and closed his eyes. He shook his head and climbed out of the truck.
Lily got out and ran around the truck to head him off. "Why not? I think you should listen. At least if you were with him then you wouldn't be sitting around wondering if he's cheating."
Remus glared down at Lily and put his hand out. "Look, Lily, you're really smart but you need to learn the difference between when a person says something real and when they spout off drunken confessions that aren't true."
"Well, I think it is true," Lily said, angrily.
"Then you're an idiot!" Remus spat. He ignored the look of horror on her face and went on. "You know the number one way to tell if a guy is straight? Do you? It's the way he has a new damn girlfriend every week. Open your eyes, Lily. Let me try and lay this out for you. Me, gay. James, straight. Regulus, gay. Sirius...straight!" He brushed past Lily and headed for his house.
"If you're so sure about that, then how did you know who I was talking about?" Lily called after him, turning to face Remus.
Remus turned around and walked, angrily, back over to Lily. "You think you're so smart, huh? He gets drunk...a lot. He sits there and says that stupid crap...a lot. Time after time I've gotten drunk with him. Not just at the parties, me, James and Sirius, we hang out and drink more than you think. Every time, he looks at me and starts saying all sorts of flirty nonsense. Then every time he sobers up, I get to hear 'so sorry, Remus, I was drunk and talking like a fool'. You know what that's like? Huh?"
Lily shook her head and looked at the ground.
"That's what I thought. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have reality to get back to. If you want a ride to the party tonight, I suggest you be ready by seven." Remus turned and stormed into his house, slamming the door behind him.
Lily was ready at seven and waiting next to Remus' truck with her overnight bag. Fifteen minutes after, Remus came out of the house and headed over to the truck, his own bag hanging from his shoulder. He stopped in front of Lily and pulled her into a hug.
"I'm really sorry. Really, really sorry. I shouldn't have gone off like that." Remus let her go and nodded towards the truck. "Let's go."
"You're forgiven," Lily said as she pulled on her seat belt. "And...you're bleeding." She reached into Remus' glove compartment and pulled out a napkin bearing the local coffee shop logo. She handed it to him.
Remus took the napkin and pulled down his visor to look into the mirror. He pressed the napkin to his split lip and held it there, waiting for the blood to stop. Lily reached over and lifted the side of Remus' shirt, revealing a large, yellowed bruise.
"It's almost gone," she said, clearly trying to keep from looking upset.
Remus nodded and flipped up the visor. He held the napkin in place and started the truck. They rode in silence all the way to West Lake. When Remus pulled into the driveway of Sirius' house, Lily let out a heavy sigh and turned to face him.
"You should go to Phoenix. Stay with your grandparents."
Remus rolled his eyes and opened the door. "Lily, I've made it this long, I can make it one more year. After graduation, it'll be 'goodbye South Lake' and 'hello Connecticut'." He smiled and got out of the truck.
A Note From the Author: For those of you who don't know, Connecticut is home to the Ivy League college, Yale. So, I wasn't being random with the state. More to come on that later. Also, who is this 'Cam' and what part will he play in the future of our story? Stay tuned. Reviews are love, send me a little. Thanks for reading so far and thanks to my anonymous reviewers. :D –Jenna
Now Beta'd by ANP on the HPFF forums.
