Come In and Stay Awhile

"Remus, I need someplace to stay for a little while. Can I stay with you awhile?" He peeks around the obstacle in his way. "My, your couch looks really inviting." His eyes dart back to the man in the doorway. Moist and pleading. "Please, Remus?"

His hand clutched the side of the doorway. "Stay? With me?" Sad. Reduced to a bumbling schoolboy in less than a minute. "But...why?"

"Well, you see, Remus, there are some people after me. And if they ever caught me...well..." He drew his finger across his throat, indicating death. Smart-ass.

"Sirius!" He looked a little startled. And understandably so. When one looked into his eyes they saw love.

A little smile curled on his lips. "Just let me stay. I'll be very...very good." He stepped forward a step sending his spicy fragrance forward a good foot to billow over the other man.

"Good?" He looked at the expectant man's face. He was doing this on purpose! "No."

"No?" Now this was a surprise. "No?!" A note of urgency. He recognized that look.

"No, you will not come to my house to tease me and then demand room and board. No." He shrugged as if there were really nothing he could do about it. "Sorry." As if he couldn't change the rules this one teensy time.

"Remus!" He was desperate.

This time a smile curled on his lips. "Sure. You can stay." He laughed. "So gullible..."

He stared at the other man in shock. "You..."

"Well, man. Don't just stand there sputtering. Come in! Come in!"

-----

Sirius Black was really a very stunning man. All muscle in all the right places. Wide shoulders to hold on to during sex. Big hands to accommodate any willing erection. A warm, hot mouth to ravage. His hair was black, to his shoulders. It was soft and smooth, making anyone with a brain ache to touch it. His face was clean-shaven and angular. But handsome. Gods was he ever handsome. He had a Muggle's sense of style, wearing those rough Muggle jeans that fit him so well and long T-shirts that he always wore half tucked in and half untucked.

Remus Lupin on the other hand was a lanky man. He had little muscle to call his own and very narrow shoulders. His hands were long and delicate. In fact, Remus screamed delicacy. That's what made him so damn appealing. His head was covered in a messy cap of honeyed hair, speckled with dashes of gray. His chin proclaimed dark stubble and his face was thin, almost emaciated. He wore ragged slacks that frayed at the ends. Over that he sported worn, baggy sweaters in drab colors.

Remus grinned a cunning grin, one hand holding on to the doorway and the other beckoning Sirius forward. "Well? Are you just going to stand there?"

Sirius nodded, a little lost and confused. His feet carried him forward into the warmth of Remus's home. "This is nice."

Remus closed the door and gave him a knowing smile. "No, it's not."

Silence.

"So, Sirius, how's Harry?" Remus crossed the front room to the hallway. At the beginning of the hallway was a door and Remus opened this, walking into a small kitchen area. He kept his eyes on Sirius through the large window that dominated the front of the kitchen. "Something to drink?"

Sirius nodded. "Harry's a bit shaken up. He almost won the Triwizard Tournament. A shame that it was rigged. A boy died. Poor Harry saw the whole thing. But you know all that..." Remus nodded. "Well then, I'm fine, Remus. Thank you for asking." Sirius rested his elbows on the ledge of the window. "That's what you meant to ask?"

Remus dropped the knife he was holding and looked up to find Sirius smiling at him. He blushed. "Well, yes...I did."

"How are you, Remus?"

"I'm a bit shaken up. It's not every day you show up on my doorstep. Not since..." Remus picked up his knife and began spreading peanut butter on his bread. He smiled sardonically. "Lunch."

"...Not since Lily and James were alive." Sirius decided to finish the sentence for Remus.

Remus nodded sadly and looked up at Sirius with a wounded look on his face. "I'm sorry I ever doubted you. I mean, you're Sirius. You'd never something like that to Lily and James. You were their best friend..." Remus continued babbling, not a single word falling on Sirius's ears.

Sirius shook his head, it wasn't important to him now. He didn't need to hear this. He just needed to live for the moment; he'd had too many of those stolen away in Azkaban. The thought sounded so corny in his head, but it was the truth. Dwelling over past events, siphoning apologies from past offenders wouldn't do a thing for him now.

"...Which is why I think that maybe it's not such a good idea for you to stay with me."

"Eh?" Sirius looked up, hearing Remus for the first time in a couple of minutes. Again, he tuned the other man out, tumbling into a study of the stunning man before him. A sweep of pseudo-bangs covered Remus's forehead, making Sirius's finger tingle at the mere thought of brushing them aside. Remus's eyes, the color of rich toffee, dodged around Sirius as he spoke, never looking at his guest for more than a second. His nose wrinkled as he spoke, clearly not wanting to speak the words that fell from his mouth. His lips, slightly chapped but still enticing, curled around his words distastefully. He really hated what he was saying. His chin jutted defiantly. He hated what he was saying but, damn, it needed to be said.

"...I'm serious." A pause. "Sirius, are you listening to me?" Remus's guest nodded, urging him to go on. And go on he did. Sirius tried to listen to what Remus was saying, he really did. He couldn't though. His mind kept wandering. He hadn't the faintest idea about what Remus was talking about. A few minutes passed until finally Remus realized that he was talking to himself. He propped his hands up on his hips and stared at Sirius. A few more minutes passed until Sirius finally realized that Remus was no longer talking but looking at him with an exasperated expression on his face. "You're not listening to me."

All that was given in response was a sheepish grin. "Nope."

"You see, that's your problem, Sirius, you're never serious."

"Oh, but I'm always Sirius." Sirius's grin changed from sheepish to cajoling. "Relax, Moony. I'm not staying for long. Just until we contact all of the old gang and get them ready."

"Ready for what?"

"Doesn't matter right now. All that matters now is lunch."

"Would you like a sandwich?" Remus reached for the bread.

"No thanks."

"What would you rather have then? I don't have much." Remus drew his hand away.

"Oh, I think I'll have you."

"Me?" Remus's voice adopted a boyish squeak. Sirius nodded and reached forward, grabbing Remus's collar and crushing their lips together. Surprise hit Remus and his hands pushed at Sirius's shoulders. Sirius's arms wrapped around him, the ledge of the window digging into his abdomen, but he was beyond caring. He was beyond caring about anything...anything except this moment. Remus's hands stilled on Sirius's shoulders, fingers digging into the flesh that gave beneath his fingertips. Sirius's lips singed a path across his chin, down his neck, and to the opening of his shirt. "Sirius, stop...please keep...no, stop." The battle within his mind fell from his lips, confusion storming in his eyes.

Sirius stopped and took a step back. "I thought that you still might have feelings for me."

Remus sighed and returned his hands to the perch of his hips. "Had you been listening to me you would have heard that I do still have feelings for you...but it could never be. Not now. We'd never have time together. We'd never see each other with you on the run. I can't do that again. I can't attach myself to you again. It hurts too much." His voice dropped to a low whimper. He picked up the knife again and clumsily spread more peanut butter than necessary.

"Oh, Remus." Sirius's eyes raked over Remus's frame sadly. He looked at the floor before looking up and, in one fluid motion, he walked around the partition, coming to a halt in front of Remus. Remus looked up at him, giving the impression that he was a deer caught in someone's headlights. "Live for the moment." With that Sirius firmly gripped Remus's lips and kissed him again and again. Some of the kisses lasted for mere seconds, some felt like hours. The knife clattered to the floor but went by unnoticed. Remus's hands tugged their way through Sirius's hair. Sirius smiled against the supple mouth beneath his own. "Love you, Remus Lupin." With that he pressed himself to equally supple body in front of him.

Remus's eyes slid closed. He could feel...everything and barely gasped out a response. "I love you, Sirius Black." It was almost fierce the way he said it. Sirius smile grew and he gradually led Remus down the hall to where he knew was a bed waiting. He nudged Remus down on to the bed and hovered above him. "Sirius?"

Sirius looked like an angel looking down at Remus. "Do you want this?" Remus nodded uncertainly.

Sirius grinned down at Remus and bowed down to reclaim those lips.

-----

The next morning Remus woke alone. He padded to the kitchen wearing only a robe to find Sirius sitting at the small table, fully dressed. "I have to leave."

Remus's mouth dropped open. "But you just got here!"

Sirius nodded sadly. "I know. I received an owl from Dumbledore. They somehow caught wind of me being here. They're coming here now." He waved the letter in the air like a flag of surrender. "You'll have to contact everyone on your own. I explained it all in the letter by the sink. Voldemort's alive. No one is safe." Sirius stood. "I'm sorry, Remus. I wish I could have spent more time with you. I missed you so all of those years."

Remus looked down at the floor. Sirius reached out to touch his cheek, but Remus turned his head. "You'd better go now."

"Damnit, Remus! I never wanted this to happen. I don't want to leave you."

"I know. It gets harder to say goodbye the longer you stay. Just go. I'll contact everyone."

Sirius stared. "Please, Remus...can't I touch you?"

"No! If you do then I'll want you to stay."

"I love you, Remus." Sirius pressed a lingering kiss to Remus's forehead.

"I love you too." Remus still looked down.

Sirius nodded, defeated. He walked out the door and his feet carried him to the end of the drive. He heard his name being called in Remus's voice and turned around. Remus stood in the doorway, his hands rubbing his arms through the thin robe. "Yes, Remus?"

Remus smiled. "Come back again?"

Sirius nodded and returned the smile. "Of course." With that he turned back into a dog and trudged happily back to town.

-fin-