Chapter 3 - So You Don't Have a Boyfriend?

Early the next morning, Remus got up at six to do some last-minute studying before class and found a fully dressed Regulus at the kitchen table, stirring a cup of tea. "Good morning," Remus smiled. He was wearing his pajamas pants and a T-shirt, and his hair was a mess. He quickly tried to tame it by running his fingers through it a few times. Regulus looked as gorgeous as ever. Remus wasn't anywhere near done studying the young Brit; he could barely take his eyes off him. "You're up early. Couldn't sleep again?"

"Well... It's past noon for me, remember?" said Regulus. "And it's so hot. Night is bad, but when the sun comes up it's murder." Regulus was wearing jeans, since he didn't own a pair of shorts. He was starting to realize that he probably needed to go buy some.

Remus went to get a glass of milk and then sat down opposite Regulus. "Yeah, it's pretty hot today," he agreed and looked out at the sun, which was still low in the sky. "We'll get the air conditioner fixed soon so you can get a good night's sleep."

"Do you have anything I can eat for breakfast?" asked Regulus. "I could only find tea..."

"Of course," said Remus and got up to look though the cabinets. "We got cereal…." he said and opened the fridge, "…and eggs and bacon and bread so you can pretty much have what you like. I think Peter went shopping yesterday so we'd have some different stuff."

Regulus had seen the bacon and eggs and was quite tempted, but he was embarrassed to admit that he didn't know how to cook them. "Well... If you would like some eggs and bacon, I wouldn't mind some as well..."

Remus smiled at him. "Okay, I'll cook us some breakfast," he nodded and pulled out a frying pan.

They both sat down to eat at the kitchen table when Remus was done cooking fifteen minutes later.

"It's very good," said Regulus as he wiped his mouth with a napkin.

Remus' stared at the plump lips, almost feeling jealous of the napkin. "You know... I could teach you how to cook some simple things if you'd like?" he offered.

"Oh... I can cook simple things," Regulus lied, "but I suppose it wouldn't hurt learning some more advanced stuff." Regulus liked the idea of having a good excuse to spend some more time alone with the young man he found very interesting indeed.

"Well, it'd be my pleasure teaching you. I'm pretty sure they'll have you cooking dinner once in a while like the rest of us," he smiled and rested his chin on his hand. "So you're thinking about staying a while?"

"Yes," said Regulus, sprinkling a bit of salt on his tomatoes. "I feel like I need a long break from the UK."

"Yes, you mentioned that last night. I'm sure Sirius would love for you to stay here. He's missed you a whole lot."

"What are you reading?" asked Regulus, leaning forward to get a look at Remus' books. "King Lear… Antony and Cleopatra…"

"Yeah," said Remus, blushing slightly when Regulus' head got so close he could smell the raspberry scented conditioner in his hair. "It's…" Oh no – now he was envisioning the boy washing his long hair, naked in the shower. "I… I love Shakespeare. His writing style and his complex characters. All that. I always wanted to see one of his plays but I never got the chance. Well, I've seen a few amateur plays, but none with professional actors."

"Really?" said Regulus. "I've seen loads. They run in London all the time. I've seen some of the best performances with the best actors. Ian McKellan, Kenneth Brennagh, Judy Dench, you name them."

"Wow... you're so lucky!" said Remus and looked up, his gaze locking onto Regulus' eyes. They were a very dark shade of gray, like stormy oceans Remus feared he could drown in. "I wish I could go to London and see a play like that sometime," he whispered.

"You should," said Regulus, not breaking eye contact. "So you don't have a boyfriend?" it slipped out before he could stop himself. "Sirius told me you're gay. I hope it's alright. He said it wasn't a secret."

Remus gulped. "N-no, it's no secret. You had to know at some point, I reckon, so why not now?" He leaned back and ran his fingers through his hair. "I haven't had a boyfriend in almost a year and I've kinda given up on it. I reckon I'm not boyfriend material," he said with a short laugh and then shook his head.

"Why?" asked Regulus, surprised. He couldn't see why not. Remus might not be model material but he was definitely not bad-looking and he seemed so nice and interesting. "Are you very selective?"

"Not really. As long as they're nice and have a good personality. I don't care much about looks. Not that I'd mind a good-looking fellah, but that's not important." Remus rested his chin on a hand and sighed. "I reckon I've just gotten a bit guarded. The last one I went out with was a piece of work. He was actually bordering on abusive. Sirius had to tell him to back off or he'd call the cops on him."

"Oh," said Regulus, disappointed. He knew his looks were his forte – not his personality. He could be difficult to be around, he knew that. Not that he wanted to get involved with Remus (or anyone, for that matter) so there was really nothing to be disappointed over. "So you're not attracted to good-looking blokes at all? Someone like… say… my brother? I mean, his looks. Not him."

Remus looked up. "Your brother? Um... yeah, he's very attractive, but he ain't into guys and he's my friend so I'd never go for him! I never had a crush on him, either." Remus looked at Regulus again and felt butterflies flap around in his stomach. It was true that he had never had a crush on Sirius, who was very handsome in a sexy, masculine way. Regulus, however, was a different story. He had an incredibly pretty – almost girlish – face, perfectly sculpted in delicate features, dark eyes under long lashes, black hair falling in a perfect cascade down to caress his slim shoulders. Yes, Remus was clearly not unaffected by beauty, as he liked to believe. He had only just met Regulus and here he was, head over heels for the boy already. What was wrong with him?

"So if you're so much into personality, how come you made such a bad judgement with your last boyfriend?" asked Regulus.

"I dunno," said Remus, feeling rather stupid. "He had me fooled, I reckon. He seemed so nice at first and then turned out to be a real nut job."

"How did people react when you came out?"

"My dad was a bit shocked a first but said he loved me anyway. Mama just laughed and said she'd known since I was little; she was just waiting for me to come out and say it. Peter was the first one I told and he was super supportive. Sirius and Jamie just said that then there were more chicks for them. A few of my friends are no longer my friends, but most have been really nice about it, actually. Bit of a surprise, really. I'd feared worse."

"Well, that's not bad. I know someone who's gay and when he was found out, his parents disowned him. The rest of his family too. And his boyfriend didn't want anything to do with him."

"That's awful!" exclaimed Remus. "Do you still talk to him? Is he alright? Poor guy. And his boyfriend left him as well when he needed him the most? What an idiot!"

"Well... I do talk with him once in a while, although now we're so far apart, so... I don't know him that well, though."

"You should keep up the contact," insisted Remus. "He needs a friend right now after what happened to him." Remus shook his head. "I can't believe people can be so cruel. But he's lucky to have you." Remus smiled and reached out to touch Regulus' shoulder gently.

Regulus looked at the hand on his shoulder and then back at Remus, suddenly feeling a little flustered. "The eggs are nicely done," he said. "Almost as good as our Kreacher used to make them."

"What's a kreacher?" Remus asked and quickly removed his hand when realizing he had left it there.

"Oh, Kreacher is the surname of our butler back home. He has worked for our family since he was very young, and his mother before him. I'm surprised Sirius hasn't spoken of him. He has always liked to slag him off whenever he could. They never liked each other."

"No, he never spoke of anyone named Kreacher. As a matter of fact he never spoke about his home life back in the UK at all." Remus bit his lip. "I think it hurt too much, really. Whenever we asked him he just said he didn't wanna talk about it."

"Oh?" said Regulus, genuinely surprised. "He must have told you something. You must have wondered why he came here and never had any contact with his family."

"He just said his family was horrible and that he didn't want to talk about it so I didn't ask any more. But maybe the thing that hurt him was the lack of contact with you? I didn't even know he had a brother until you sent him that e-mail saying you were coming to stay. Well, Jamie must have known, of course, since Sirius moved over here to live with him and his family."

Regulus looked at Remus in surprise. "Really? Or maybe I just wasn't important enough to think or talk about!"

"I don't think that's the case," Remus said.

"Actually, it's because I never heard from you," Sirius' voice sounded and both boys looked up. The older Black stood in the doorway, his arms crossed, looking a little irritated. "You never answered my mails so I never spoke of you because there was nothing to tell. I knew nothing about you anymore, and until a few weeks ago when you wrote, I hadn't talked to you for five years."

"You could have told them I existed!" said Regulus, quite hurt by the information.

"I could," nodded Sirius. "And you could have answered my bloody mails instead of ignoring me for five years! Don't you think it was hard to leave you behind? And then you ignore me when I write you and explain? I knew you would be okay – I mean, Mum and Dad loved you and you had Kreacher too. But you pretended I didn't exist for five years and now you sit and whinge about me not telling my friends about you?"

"Oh yes, they loved me so much, my life has been a flaming dance on roses," Regulus scoffed. "You think it feels good to be abandoned? Thrown away because you're not a good enough brother? You were the one who left me - why should I bother answering your little mails of guilt just to clear your conscience?"

"What do you mean, thrown away? I'm sorry I left you but as I explained I had to get out of that house! And when Jamie's parents invited me to come to the States I couldn't let that chance slip. What did you want me to do, eh? Take you with me? You were 13! It would have been kidnapping! And you wouldn't have wanted to come, anyway. You were happy being the golden child living in luxury."

Regulus jumped to his feet, suddenly very angry. "You weren't there, so you don't know anything about my life, so you just shut up about how bloody brilliant it was!" he yelled. Then he stormed into the hallway, jammed his feet into his sneakers and slammed the front door as hard as he could on his way out.

Remus looked at Sirius with wide eyes.

Sirius sighed and sat down, starting to eat Regulus' eggs. "I dunno what he's so upset about. Mum and Dad love him. They were always doting on him and telling me what a good son he was compared to me."

"Mm..." hummed Remus and looked out the window. He wondered if that was all there was to it.

"What the hell is going on here?" said James, coming into the kitchen, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He was dressed only in a pair of small briefs and his hair was sticking out in all directions.

"Just my brother throwing a fit," said Sirius.

"You really should go after him," said Remus. "He doesn't know his way 'round yet and could get lost."

"He knows the address and people speak English here so he'll be alright," said Sirius and got up to get a glass of orange juice.

"Temper runs in the family, eh?" said James, a cheeky smile playing on his lips. "What was he pissed off about?"

Sirius told him.

"So he's mad because you didn't tell us a bunch of stuff about him, or what?"

"Yeah... and I bet he would have gotten mad had I told you stuff about him as well," sighed Sirius.

"He seems very high-maintenance," said James and sat down, stealing a piece of bacon from Sirius' (Regulus') plate. "He must've been a difficult child. I bet your parents are relieved to be rid of him."

"Hardly. He was always the perfect son, always behaving precisely as was expected of him."

"Well, he hasn't exactly been a gentleman since he came here," said James. "Maybe he transformed into one of them teenage monsters and your parents kicked him out as soon as he turned eighteen and they could legally do it. Maybe that's why he came here."

"I highly doubt he would want to come all the way here for that," said Sirius. "I mean, he could get a great flat in London with all his money."

Remus got up. He didn't like that they talked about Regulus behind his back like this. "I'm gonna go take a shower," he said.

o0o0o

Regulus walked at a brisk pace for a whole hour until he had calmed down enough to take a rest. He looked around. He didn't recognize anything, although he had looped back at some point, not wanting to get too far away. Well, he knew the address and he wasn't going home for a while, anyway. Not until he was sure Sirius had left. Regulus wasn't sure when he had classes, but he had said he had to work that afternoon so if Regulus went back around then, it should be alright.

Just then he heard someone call his name and he turned his head to see a girl come running towards him. It was Lily.

"Hi," she smiled and brushed her long red hair back. "You're out early. Out for a walk?"

"Yes. Couldn't sleep, so... thought I'd get some fresh air," said Regulus.

"Ah, yes. You still have jetlag, I imagen. Wanna walk with me? My first class ain't for another hour and a half so I got time to show you around if you want? I was planning to do some studying at the library before class, but I can do that later."

"Er... I suppose." Regulus thought he might as well accept her offer, since he did not plan on going back for a while. "What's your major?" he asked as they entered the main building a bit later.

"History," said Lily and waved to a few students that walked by. "How 'bout you? What would you like to study?"

"Oh, um... I'm not sure yet. I will have to think about that." He couldn't tell her that he had not gotten his final exams. He had been taken out of the boarding school when he was disowned. Also, he truly didn't know which education he would like when he got that far. It had always been in the cards that he should go to business school, because he was the heir to the family company, but as things were now he didn't much feel like studying that.

They walked into the courtyard and Lily spotted a greasy-haired young man with a crooked nose standing by the main building. She smiled and waved him over. "Hey, Severus."

The man came over, his eyes scanning Regulus.

"Regulus, this is Severus, an old friend of mine. Severus, this is Regulus, Sirius' younger brother. He might start studying here."

"Oh, goodie. Another Black to spoil my existence," drawled Severus as if the words tasted foul in his mouth. Then he gave Lily a quick nod before leaving.

Regulus raised his eyebrows. "Not a fan of Sirius, I see."

"I'm afraid not," said Lily. "James and Sirius have been pretty mean to Severus. They're all majoring in chemistry. Severus is very gifted and apparently that's a crime. James finally let up because he realized he didn't stand a chance with me otherwise."

"They're bullying other students?" said Regulus incredulously. "That's something children do! How pathetic."

"I agree," nodded Lily. "But Severus and them two just never got along. I think James was jealous." She started showing Regulus around the school. Showed him where his brother studied and where she studied. "And there's the English department. Remus should be arriving soon," she said and checked her watch. "He's usually here a good half hour in advance."

"He seems very studious," said Regulus. "Have you known him for long?"

"Remus? Yeah, I've known him the longest. About six years, I reckon."

"So you've known him before college! Are you both from South Carolina?"

"We're both from here - Columbia," she smiled, "so we're used to that heat you dread so much. "We went to high school together. Remus is a real nice guy, and the tidiest person in that hole of an apartment you live in. Not that it's a bad place when I call it a hole, but you know... five guys living under the same roof and it's bound to get messy."

"I agree. And I certainly would call it a hole. Not exactly what I expected when I moved here. They don't even have a house keeper." They reached a canteen and Regulus stopped. "Would you mind if I got something to eat? I left without finishing my breakfast."

o0o0o

Remus was the first one to arrive home and he found Regulus sleeping on the couch with the fan standing next to him, thin strands of hair fluttering in the air from the fan. He couldn't help standing studying the incredibly pretty sleeping face. Remus thought he would never get tired of looking at it. He smiled as he finally tore himself away and tiptoed into the kitchen with his homework and sat down. Every now and then he leaned in over the table to sneak peeks at Regulus.

Regulus woke to the door being slammed open. Sirius and James barged in, playfighting their way through the apartment and landed on the couch where Regulus squealed and struggled to get up.

"What the hell?"

"Oh, didn't see you there, mate," laughed Sirius and sat up. "Finally getting some sleep, I see. Well, you'll be glad to know that we're getting the air conditioner fixed tomorrow," he said, ruffling Regulus' hair and used his head as a pillar to get up from the couch.

Regulus had just been about to chew out his brother and roommate but the good news about the air conditioner cheered him up, so he just grumbled, "Try to control yourselves, yeah? You're 21, not 11."

"Yes, Mother," said Sirius and grinned before going to the kitchen and retrieving a slice of leftover pizza from the fridge.

A/N: We hope you're enjoying the story. Just one more chap to go until the first of many smut chapters is coming up (chap 5). We know you're looking forward to that ;)