Chapter 3: Fragile Feelings

"Why's there a freakin' cat on the weight bench?" Peter whined at no one in particular. Buttercup cocked her head in his direction, then continued surveying her new kingdom. "Shoo! Get outta here!" Peter flapped his arms at the tawny tabby, then abruptly snatched his hand away.

"Ouch! The bitch scratched me." He shook his head and grumbled, "I hate cats."

"Probably 'cause he looks so much like a rat," Sirius muttered, and James chuckled.

"She's with me, Pete," he explained, walking over to where different-sized barbells were lined up on the gym floor. He selected a bar stacked with 250 pounds of weight and lifted it to his shoulders with a grunt. "Rescued her from that apartment fire on Wednesday and haven't got her back to her owner yet."

"Oh, yeah?" Peter's eyebrows shot up with sudden interest. "She belongs to that cute redhead?"

Peter had been outside the building, manning the truck with a few other guys, when Sirius strode through the main entrance with an unconscious Lily in his arms. Sirius had transferred her to the EMTs and was heading back inside when James had come running out of the building cradling a yowling yellow cat.

Something in Peter's tone made James pause in his workout. "Her name's Lily," he said firmly. "And yeah, Buttercup's hers."

"I thought she was leona," Sirius said, waggling his eyebrows at James in the gym's mirror. He motioned for James to resume lifting, and James huffed out an irritated breath, his face heating up in a way that had nothing to do with exercise.

"Shut up," he growled. Even though he knew Sirius was (mostly) teasing, he was keenly aware that he had, in fact, been thinking of Lily Evans as la leona in his head. That among myriad other, less appropriate thoughts.

Hell, he'd almost referred to her as his girl when they'd visited her at the hospital. What was that about? Just because she was possibly the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, with green eyes as wide as any Disney princess, and a pretty mouth with imminently kissable, heart-shaped lips, or because her body was soft but her thighs looked like they could crack coconuts, and she happened to fit perfectly in his arms, didn't mean he could just walk in and lay claim to her like some sort of sixteenth-century European explorer "discovering" the Caribbean.

Right?

Right.

James closed his eyes for a moment, willing himself to focus on his squats.

"That girl was fine," Peter drawled. "Gotta love it when they don't have time to put on real clothes. She had great legs."

"Yo, show some respect," James snapped, standing up quickly and releasing the weights with less control than he would've liked. "She just lost her house."

Sure, he'd been thinking about her legs only seconds ago, but he would never talk about her the way Peter was doing. And he would definitely never make jokes about someone who had recently been through a fire. What kind of low-life did that?

As if to cement his low-life status, Peter rolled his eyes. "Whatever, bro. I'm just saying what we're all thinking."

James scowled, but Sirius let out a low chuckle. "Count on Pettigrew to keep it classy," he said, shaking his head. He raised his eyebrow at James as he took his position in front of the weights. "Spot me on these squats?"

Glad for any excuse to ignore Peter, James obliged. But Pete wasn't finished.

"Seriously," he said, meeting James' eyes in the mirror, "if that's what she wears to bed, I wouldn't mind making a house call, know what I mean?" He laughed an ugly laugh.

James' vision went red, and abandoned his role as Sirius's spotter, moving towards Peter with his fists clenched.

Fortunately (depending on who you ask), before he got anywhere near Peter's exceedingly punchable face, Lieutenant Shacklebolt's voice came blaring over the PA system: "Attention! James Potter, report to the bay doors. You've got a visitor. Repeat, Potter to the bay doors."

"Go on," Sirius said, lowering the weights and rolling his neck. "I'm done in here, anyway." He put a hand on James' back with enough pressure to turn him away from Peter and towards the door.

James snorted, but he let Sirius guide him out of the gym. He toweled off and tried to rein in his temper before making his way to the front of the fire station to greet his visitor.

And then he saw Lily, chatting with Frank, and suddenly it was like everything was happening in slow motion.

She was wearing a dark wool coat that stopped just above her knees and brown leather boots that stopped just below them, and James hadn't known knees could be sexy, but, well, now he did. She set down the cat carrier she was holding and tugged a gray hat off her head, then shook out her thick, tousled red hair, and that was sexy, too. Her cheeks were pink, whether from the cold or excitement James' couldn't be sure, and her eyes were shining as she beamed at something Frank said.

James really wanted to be the one receiving that look.

But he bit back his ridiculous envy and smiled as he approached them.

"La leona returns for her cub," he said, resisting the urge to wrap her in a hug. It would be too familiar, no matter how much he wanted to feel her body against his again. This time without the threat of being burned alive.

Lily laughed a bright, happy laugh, and James' chest swelled with pride. "Maybe I should be calling you the lion, you're the brave one," she said, an admiring smile on her face. "Thank you for saving her."

I'd lead a rescue mission to actual Hell, if it would make you smile like that, James thought. But he just grinned and said, "It's my job."

"And now they're best friends. He takes her everywhere," Frank teased. "He was probably hoping you wouldn't show up so he could keep her."

"Oh, really?" Lily said. She put a hand on her hip, eyes twinkling. "Are you trying to steal my cat?"

James flashed his teeth at her as he shook his head. "Hell nah. I've seen how protective you are of her," he declared. "I'm not gettin' between you and your cub. Actually, if I knew you were here, I'd have brought her down. I know you can't wait to see her."

"Yeah," Lily said, and she bounced on her toes a little. "I know she's fine, but I need to hold her myself, you know?"

"Yeah, I get it." He turned back towards the gym. "Lemme go get her."

Frank glanced between James and Lily with a knowing smirk and put a hand on James' shoulder. "I'll do it, Potter. You stay here."

"Bet. 'Preciate it," James said, grinning at his friend. But the smile faded, replaced by a more intense expression, when he caught Lily staring at him. Like she trying to etch every detail of his face into her memory.

Or maybe like he had something stuck in his teeth. Shit.

James took a deep breath. He hadn't eaten in hours; his teeth were probably fine. Still, he ran a nervous hand through his curls, only to find they were damp with sweat and probably sticking up in every direction. It suddenly occurred to him he might look and smell terrible.

It was bizarre, this insecurity he was feeling. He was generally more than satisfied with the way he looked, and he was pretty confident – some would say cocky – in his ability to impress women. And yet, here he was, unraveling under a pretty girl's gaze.

Get your shit together, he ordered himself, lifting his chin in a way he hoped looked self-assured. Eyebrows raised and a smirk on his lips, he asked, "Why you sweatin' me, Evans?"

Lily recognized his teasing for what it was, and she giggled. She blinked as if breaking free from a trance, then wet her lips with the tip of her tongue before she spoke. "I'm not, Potter. I just didn't know you wear glasses."

"Oh." James ignored the distraction presented by Lily's tongue and pulled his glasses off his face, reflexively polishing them on the edge of his t-shirt. "Yeah, sometimes. I've got contacts, but I hate them." He held the glasses out to her, like an idiot.

She chuckled as she took them, probably because she hadn't asked for them and had no use for them herself. But then she reached up like it was the most natural thing in the world and slid the earpieces over his ears, nearly mirroring what James had done with her oxygen mask in the hospital. She gave him a nod and a small smile as she settled the black frames back into place.

"I like them. They fit your face."

She was less than an arm's length away. If he just reached out, James could grab her hand, or stroke her hair, or—

"Here she is!" Frank announced cheerfully, and Lily whirled away from James, blushing. James mentally cursed his friend's timing, but his irritation melted away as Lily's face lit up again at the sight of her cat.

"Oh, thank you!" she cried, taking Buttercup from Frank's arms. "There you are, my sweet girl," she crooned. She buried her face in the cat's orangey fur and whispered, "I'm so glad to have you back."

"I think she missed you," James said, just to say something.

"Maybe," Lily murmured, her cheek still pressed against Buttercup's head. "But it sounds like you took good care of her. You don't understand how grateful I am."

James shrugged, his mouth curving up in a half-smile. "Since you were crawling through a burning building to get her back, I think I can guess."

"Still," she said earnestly, "I want to thank you. You have to come over for dinner."

"Aw, you don't have to do that," he said, even as everything inside him demanded he take her up on her offer. But he didn't want her to ask him out of a sense of obligation. He wanted it to mean something more than that. "I was just doing my job. I'm just glad you're both okay, honestly."

"No, I insist." She looked up at him through her eyelashes, her smile mischievous. "And in case you were worried, Remus will be doing the cooking, so there's no risk of me setting the kitchen on fire."

The words hit James like a bucket of cold water to the face. He blinked and ran a hand over his jaw, composing himself, before he asked, "Remus?"

"Yeah." Lily's brow furrowed. "You met him at the hospital, remember? I'm staying with him. And he's happy to do it," she rushed on. "He's so grateful, too. That you saved me from myself, I mean." She laughed awkwardly.

"Right." James dragged his hand through his hair again.

"So, please, take this." She cradled Buttercup in one arm and dug in her coat pocket with the other, eventually producing a small red envelope. "Here. Your invitation."

James reached out, his fingers brushing Lily's as she passed him the envelope. He didn't think he imagined the spark he felt when they touched – his heart skipped a beat, and he heard her breath catch – but he ignored it. "Invitation, huh? So formal."

Lily's cheeks flushed pink. "I just like handwriting cards. Nobody sends cards anymore, you know? Not with, like, personal messages inside." She shrugged, seemingly embarrassed. "My mom used to do it, and I've always thought it was nice."

"It is." James smiled reassuringly. He turned the envelope over in his hands gently, as though he thought it were either very fragile or very dangerous.

Most likely both.

"Good." Lily gave him that sunshine smile, but then turned away and busied herself with putting Buttercup into her cat carrier. "So, next Saturday?" she asked, barely sparing him another glance. "The address is on the card. Oh, and Sirius is invited, too. Remus and I want to thank you both."

"Sure, okay," James said, hoping he didn't sound as disappointed as he felt. But every word she spoke made her intentions as clear as if she'd unfurled a banner reading, "NOT A DATE."

Maybe I did just imagine that spark.

...

AN: Hey, glad you're still here! Hope you're enjoying reading as much as I'm enjoying writing. This is the longest chapter yet, so I hope it doesn't drag. And we've got some angst and drama coming soon, so get ready :-) Comments, substantive or otherwise, make my day, so feel free to leave me some words! xo