Thanks to all the fantastic reviewers. You are the reason I'm writing this story. (So please keep reviewing, folks!)
##
Sirius gave up Remus-hunting as the sun rose in the sky. He went back to the flat and ate a slab of the cake Remus had bought just the day before. Hefound he was yawning uncontrollably and, after hunting high and low for perhaps ten minutes, he managed to find a near-empty jar of coffee. Glancing around, Sirius saw there were no mugs that were not piled in the sink and so he added the hot the water straight to the coffee jar.
He drank deeply.
He lit a cigarette and glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall. Half-past six. "Too bloody early," he murmured.
And with that, he went into the front room, settled himself on the sofa and pulled a set of plain wizard robes over him. He went to sleep almost immediately.
##
Remus opened the front door. He went into the front room and found Sirius sprawled out on the sofa. Asleep. There was nothing unusual about that.
Or was there?
Sirius was lying under one of his wizards' robes; it was bunched around his waist to reveal a smooth naked torso.
Sirius opened one eye and gazed at me. "I've been worried about you," he said, his voice coming out as a deep growl.
"I'm sorry for running off. It just came as shock to see you on that podium. Dancing. Stripping." Remus could feel himself blushing furiously. He edged closer to Sirius. "Can you forgive me?"
Sirius opened his other eye and gestured Remus closer. When Remus was close enough, he sat up and whispered in his ear: "Why should I care if you ran off? It's not like I love you or anything. Hell, I'm only living with you because I have nowhere else to go. Well, that's about to change- I'm moving in with my gay lover tomorrow."
Remus leapt back and stared at Sirius, incredulously.
It was in that second that he realised he could not bear to lose Sirius. He loved Sirius.
"Sirius!!!!!!!" He screamed.
Remus awoke with a start and shook his head in an attempt to shake the dream away from him. He was sitting on a bench in the middle of a park, in the centre of London. Everything was lit by the grey light of dawn, though the half-moon still shone in the sky. He could hear the sounds of traffic –the sharp beep of a horn, the low grumble of motors- a short distance away.
Remus started as someone put a hand on his shoulder. He spun around to find himself face to face with a plump, kind-looking woman. "You alright, luv?" she asked him.
"Alright?" Remus coughed. "Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"
The plump woman leaned closer towards him. "You just shouted something, luv. Yeah, that's right. You shouted 'Sirius'. Thought you might have bin having a fit, s'all."
Remus stared at the woman for a moment. "I shouted 'Sirius'?" he asked.
The woman checked her watch. "Yeah. Look, if you're all right now I'll be off." The woman started to walk away but Remus grabbed her arm.
"I was, umm… star gazing," he explained. "I saw Sirius, the star that is, and, erm, got rather excited. That's all."
"Yeah. Whatever," said the woman, stalking off.
Remus sat on the park bench for another hour before he could bear to move. Luckily, it was Wednesday, his day off, so he had all the time in the world to walk and think.
##
Orion was not happy.
When Orion was not happy, he liked to make other people equally unhappy.
At the time that Remus was sitting on his park bench, Orion was lying on a red silk-covered bed, glaring at the Star Club's two bouncers, who cowered before him.
"I am angry," Orion said. His eyes sparkled with malevolence. "Do you know why I am angry?" he asked the bouncers.
Neither of them answered.
"I am angry because you let him go. You let Sirius Black, the stripper, leave."
One of the bouncers dared to speak. He was an ugly brute with a hideous disfiguring scar running down the right side of his face. "But, Mr Orion, sir, what's it matter if we let 'im go. 'E weren't exactly important, was-"
Orion sat up in bed. "SILENCE!" he roared, before collapsing back down as if exhausted. "The stripper was not permitted to leave. Now, unless you wish to pay the price of your stupidity you will find Sirius Black and-"
"Beat him up!" said the second bouncer eagerly.
"Bring him to me. Willing or not." Orion smiled.
"What do we do if 'e won't come back?" asked the scarred bouncer.
Orion started to grin. "Oh, I think he will come to me. Just mention the possibility of a little accident befalling his beloved werewolf." Orion laughed for a moment and the bouncers shivered. "Sirius will come. He has no choice."
The bouncers knew better than to ask why Orion wanted Sirius so much.
##
Remus was wandering through the streets of London, vaguely heading in the direction of the flat.
Great. He's a stripper and he caught me in a strip club. That certainly adds a new dimension to our friendship.
At last now I know the truth. I fancy my best friend. Hell, that isn't even the half of it. I love him. I'm in love with him. Thoughts ran through Remus' head like stampeding horses; leaving worry and anguish in their wake. Remus had no idea how to tell Sirius that he was in love with him. But he knew he must. There was no lying to Sirius; there never had been.
Remus found himself standing outside the door to his and Sirius' flat. He opened the door and entered hesitatingly. "Hello!" he called out softly.
"Remus!" shouted Sirius. He appeared in the entrance hall a second later. Relief showed in his face at the sight of Remus but it was soon replaced by a look of intense awkwardness. "I…" he began. "I, erm, about last night. It's, uumm… I-"
Remus couldn't stand the wretched, apologetic look on Sirius' face. "Why are you apologising. I'm the one who ran off. I'm the one who-"
"-Stumbled across his best friend stripping in a club. I understand if that upset you and I'm sorry." Sirius wrung his hands.
The image of Sirius walking hand-in-hand with a blonde man in a red cloak flickered into Remus' mind. He had to know who that was. "You're boyfriend," he croaked. "Tell me about him."
Something wild flashed in Sirius' eyes. "That bastard! Christ, no! Oh, Remus, how could you even think that he's my boyfriend? Bloody Hell! Never." Sirius stepped away from Remus and looked intently at the tiled floor of the hall. "But I am gay," he murmured.
"I know," said Remus quietly. He stepped towards Sirius and reaching out, he ran a trembling finger down his cheek. "I have to tell you something," he near-whispered.
"Go on."
"I only realised yesterday but then, perhaps," Remus paused. "No," he said eventually.
"What? Perhaps what?" asked Sirius. He moved closer to Remus until their bodies were pressed against each other. "Tell me."
"Perhaps I've known for a while. The thing is, Sirius. It's that I-" Remus couldn't go on. His voice was shaking. "I…"
Sirius took Remus' hands in his. "I love you too, Remus Lupin, " he said gently. "And I've known for a while as well," he added, his lips mere centimetres away from Remus'.
At that moment their front door was blown off its hinges. The Star Club's two meanest bouncers appeared in the now-empty doorway. "Orion would like a word, Sirius" said the bouncer with the disfiguring scar. "Or maybe a bit more than a word…"
He left the threat hanging.