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Okay, I know that I warn you guys, like, literally every chapter, but this chapter is on the bloody side. So. Yeah.

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Janus hadn't seen- or even heard- Remus in a few days, which was weird. And by weird, he meant distressing. Even when Remus was busy in the imagination, Janus would usually still be able to at least figure out where he was, if not find him. But Remus wasn't in the imagination, and he wasn't causing chaos around the mind palace. Virgil hadn't seen him either, and he knew the others wouldn't have let Remus into their bedrooms for a minute, let alone days. He also couldn't appear in the real world yet, so that really only left Remus's bedroom. But Janus had knocked, and Remus didn't answer, which was out of character for the other side. Usually, the second Janus knocked, Remus threw the door open, so long as he was in the room.

Regardless, he came to stand in front of Remus's door and tried again.

"Remus? Are you there?" he called out. "I haven't seen you in a few days… Are you okay?"

He waited for a moment, hoping for a response, but none came.

"Remus, please, if you're in there, can you answer me?" Janus requested, his voice shaking.

Janus didn't want to cry, but he was scared. It was scary when Remus behaved differently than how he usually did. It meant that something was wrong.

"Remus?"

At this, Janus finally heard something from within the room, a creaking of Remus's mattress. Then, there were light footsteps approaching the door. Still, it didn't open.

"Remus?" Janus repeated.

"I'm here, DeeDee. Do you need me right now?"

Janus put a flat hand on the door.

"I just want to know if you're okay."

He heard Remus take a deep breath.

"I… I will be, Jan. Don't worry about it."

Janus felt his heart squeeze.

"... Did you…?"

"... Yeah. I'll be okay, though. You know that."

"Do you want me to sit with you?"

"... It… It's pretty gruesome, Dee."

"I don't care. If you want me to be with you, I will."

Remus let out a breathy laugh.

"I don't want you to follow after me this time."

"... If I promise I won't, will you let me stay with you?"

Instead of an answer, Janus heard the door unlock. He twisted the knob and pulled it open.

"Oh, Ree…"

Remus was covered in blood, his own blood this time. Janus could see the crimson lines going down his arms, still oozing with new blood. Even worse, though, was the mangled hole in his chest.

Remus crossed his arms so he could cover it.

"I told you it was bad," he joked with a watery smile. "... You don't have to stay with me, you know? I'll be back in a bit."

But Janus stepped into the room anyway, closing the door behind him.

"You always sit with me," he told him.

Remus went to sit on his bed.

"When I find you in time, at least."

"Well, I found you this time."

Janus went over to join him, wrapping the other man in his arms. Remus leaned his head onto his shoulder.

"... Do you want to talk about it?" Janus offered.

"Nah. It's just the same shit as always."

Janus nodded.

"Okay."

His clothes were getting soaked in Remus's blood, his black shirt growing darker as red stained the tips of his gloves, but he didn't care as he pulled Remus closer. Remus's eyelids started to flicker.

Janus leaned down to kiss him, their lips connecting gently. He pulled away after a moment.

"You know I love you, right?"

"Love you too, Dee," Remus replied, a small smile gracing his lips. "I'll be back in a few days probably, so don't worry, okay?"

"This time, do you actually want to come back?"

This was one of the questions that always hung over them so heavily during these moments.

"... I think so… This time, at least. Probably would've done it either way, though. Sorry."

Janus nodded solemnly. They sat together for a while longer, just being together in the silence, before Remus spoke again:

"I think I'm going to take a nap now, okay...?"

Remus's voice was so quiet, and by the end of his sentence, Janus could barely hear him anymore. He felt his lips wobble, but he forced his mouth into a small, gentle smile.

"Okay. Okay, I'll be here when you wake up."

And then Remus closed his eyes, and a few minutes later, his bloody chest stopped moving. It was only then that Janus allowed his expression to fall.

Janus held his body close, eyes brimming with tears while he waited for Remus to return.

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"Virgil… That's…," Roman trailed off uncertainly before taking a breath and trying again. "What should we do? Should we tell the others? Should we confront him?"

Virgil sighed, rubbing tears out of his eyes.

"I don't know. I-I didn't want to believe it, so I didn't… I-I didn't say anything," he responded. "I-I mean… I could be wrong…"

Roman pulled the anxious side into a hug.

"You… you could also be right, though."

Virgil nodded.

"I don't know what to do, though," Virgil told him. "I don't think he'll talk to us, not about this."

Roman grimaced.

"I think… we might have to involve Thomas," he replied hesitantly. "He's more likely to tell him than us, and Thomas can make him admit something if he really wants him to. And Thomas will probably be able to tell if we're just jumping to conclusions or something."

Virgil took a deep breath in.

"Yeah. Yeah, let's… do that."

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Okay, so in case you guys didn't notice, this is a Janus X Remus fic. Romance isn't really my thing, though, so that's not really the main focus. But, yeah.

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