Chapter 12: The Day He Left
The day came that Sirius had been dreading. This was the day, he had to say goodbye. He hadn't told Remus, though they were together the day before. Sirius thought it would be better for the two to hang out casually and not like it was the last time they'd see each other.
"Hey, Sirius?" James' voice called from the kitchen.
"What's up James?" Sirius' voice was sad and lower than he wanted it to be.
"I got you some stuff to take with you on your car ride." James smiled weakly. He was pale, James wasn't anywhere near ready to say goodbye to Sirius.
"That's really nice of you, but you didn't have to get me anything."
"Well, I got you coffee." James knew that would get Sirius' attention.
"Oh?" James was right, the mention of coffee did intrigue, Sirius.
"Some ordinary snack foods, gas money, water." There was a black gas station plastic bag filled with the goods James got with a coffee right next to it. James paused and gave Sirius a smirk which threw him off guard. "Oh and, this."
Sirius stared in shock, not knowing what to think or say. All that came to his mind was a sound of joy, confusion, excitement, and the slightest bit of fear. What would that sound like?
James knew something was wrong when he hadn't heard crying, screaming, denying laughter, or even just a sigh from his living room the night before today. Remus and Sirius seemed completely normal. Had Sirius not told Remus that he was leaving? James knew that would hurt Remus much more than just being told Sirius was leaving. It had happened to him.
The first time Sirius left, Sirius didn't tell him he was going. All he said was that they needed eggs, and he was going to the store to get some. James was just getting a bottle of water from the fridge when he realized they had a full carton of eggs. James called Sirius immediately after that, but the call went straight to voicemail. That is when James really started to panic. Hours passed without a word from Sirius, James just wanted to know if he was safe. Suddenly, he got a text from Sirius much shorter than he would've liked. The text read "Sorry James, I swear I'll be back one day." Poor James lost his brother that day.
Sirius remembered the day he left too well. It wasn't like the time he ran away from his "family." Sirius was so scared to leave, he was too nervous to even tell James the truth. What. was he just supposed to say "Look brother, I just got a job to be a photographer but I have to leave you behind," was that the right thing?
Sirius drove, drove, and drove. He didn't know when he would stop or what his destination looked like, but it was too late. Sirius was on the road for what seemed like forever, he was exhausted. There were no words to explain all the thoughts running through Sirius' mind. It was unbearable.
He just left and didn't text James until he got to a hotel. Sirius couldn't believe what he did. He just left his only friend for some stupid job that wouldn't even pay well. He cried for a while after he sent his message to James. It wasn't until he received James' reply did he stop crying. "Sirius it's ok, where did you go? Are you safe? Do you have money? When will you be back?" His tears stopped, James wasn't upset, he was worried. He'd never seen James act this way, it was almost like Sirius leaving brought out another side of him.
"So what do you think?" James asked not even holding onto the surprise anymore.
"I…" Sirius hesitated. "I think you-"
"Hey!" James interrupted. "I'm sure I don't deserve any of the cruel words you're about to give me." He finished, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Well, I'm sure you do." Sirius shot back with a flaming passion. "As for the surprise, well I-"
