"Do you remember what time she was supposed to be back?" Remus asked Reggie.
Reggie shrugged. "No idea, dude. Wanna play Among Us with me?"
Why was his roommate so crazy about Among Us?
"Did Selena tell you what time she'd be back?" Remus asked. "This is kind of important, you know. I'd appreciate it if you'd help me out here."
"Look, Remus, I'd really like to help, but I'm trapped in a room with blue, who just vented, and I'm in serious trouble."
"How the actual heck do you play that game?" Remus muttered. "It's so confusing."
"Want me to teach you?" Reggie offered. "It's actually really easy."
"No. Please. I need to know what time Dora's coming back to LA."
"Dora?" Reggie looked up from his phone. "Haven't you been calling her Tonks? Ever since…"
Remus raised an eyebrow.
"Ever since your breakup on the stairs."
Remus rolled his eyes. "For your kind information, that wasn't a breakup. It was more of a confrontation."
"Same thing." Reggie cursed as his spaceman dude got stabbed.
"No, it's not the same thing. A confrontation is when you come to some sort of conflict, and you voice that out loud. A breakup is when-"
"Okay, Master CFO, you've proved your point."
Remus flicked a wad of paper at him.
The two of them fell into silence, with the exception of Reggie's mutters and curses as he played Among Us. Remus was still trying to think what time she had said she'd be back. Monday evening, she'd said, but what was evening? Seven? Eight? Nine? Had her flight been delayed, or something? Of course, he could wait until later to talk to her, but he wanted to see her now. His heart was aching, and besides, he wanted to truly apologize and get back on good terms with her. She had had every right to ignore his single call, of course, since he had ignored nineteen of her calls, and countless texts. But it still stung, that she had given up on him, especially when she wasn't even at fault. It was all a big misunderstanding that they had gotten entangled in. All he could do was hope that they could fix it.
"So, why the change?" Reggie asked.
"Hm?"
"You've been calling her Tonks this past week," Reggie said. "But you just called her Dora. Slip of the tongue?"
Remus debated on telling Reggie the truth, but he decided against it. "Yeah," he said. "Slip of the tongue."
"Okay," Reggie said, and he didn't comment on it further.
Remus tapped his foot impatiently, trying to think about what he was going to say to Tonks. He obviously wanted to apologize, but he had to do it in a way to show her that he truly meant it. And he didn't even know her that well; how was he supposed to go about this?
Gosh, were all relationships this complicated?
"By the way, we're getting cupcakes," Reggie commented. "There should be a package at the door any minute now."
"Where did you get cupcakes from?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Work," Reggie answered casually. "There's a guy who finally got together with his girlfriend, and so he's sending everyone cupcakes to celebrate."
"Wow," Remus commented, wondering just what kind of a crazy place Reggie worked at. First they got the day off because it was the boss's birthday, then they got cupcakes because some dude got with his girlfriend?
"It says the order's been left at our doorstep," Reggie said. "Cool, want some cupcakes?"
"Reggie, really. I just want to know when she's going to be back. Has Selena told you?"
"Why would Selena have told me?" Reggie asked. "Do you want a cupcake or not?"
"How many are there? And what flavor?"
"There should be six. I don't know what flavor." Reggie went outside and picked up the package of cupcakes, while Remus sat there, shocked.
Who gave everyone six cupcakes because he got together with his girlfriend?
"Okay. They're vanilla. And they've got vanilla frosting, and little confetti sprinkles." Reggie held out a cupcake to him. "Here. I'll give you two."
"Uh, no, one's good," Remus said, accepting the cupcake, and taking a lick. "The frosting is way too sugary."
"Yeah, they're probably not the best quality. But a cupcake is a cupcake." Reggie wrinkled his nose at the cupcake. "If I eat this, then I have to work out two extra hours. Do you think I should?"
"For god's sake, Reggie, just eat the darn thing," Remus told him. "One cupcake isn't going to kill you."
"Yeah, but if there's a lot of sugar, it could mean I get out of shape. And I've spent so much time just getting into shape."
Remus rolled his eyes. "Look, could you text Selena and ask her if D- Tonks is home?"
"Fine, fine." Reggie poked around on his phone. "Done. Happy? Now, let me decide what to do with this cupcake."
"Eat it," Remus muttered. "What else would you do to a cupcake?"
"Well, I could throw it away. Or give it to you. Do you want the cupcake?"
"No, thanks," Remus said. "Just eat the cupcake, it's not going to kill you."
"Yeah, but… I don't know if it's a good idea. I mean, all my working out will go towards nothing!"
Remus rolled his eyes. "Eat it if you want to. If you don't, give it to someone else."
"Ooh, yeah, that's a good idea," Reggie said. "Should I ask Selena?"
"Yeah, sure."
Reggie turned to his phone. "Okay, I just asked her. Also, she says that Tonks got back about an hour ago. She's out, though."
"Who's out? Dora or Selena?"
"See, you called her Dora again," Reggie noted. "Selena's out. Tonks is at home."
"Okay," Remus said, his heart pounding. "I'll be back."
"Wait, where are you going?" Reggie called, but Remus ignored him, pushing the door open and making his way down the stairs to the second floor. He didn't knock just yet, though. First, he needed to think about what he was going to say.
To start with, there was a possibility that she wouldn't even open the door. Maybe she would be asleep, or taking a shower, or maybe she just wouldn't feel like opening the door. Or maybe she wasn't actually home. She could be out with Selena. Or worse, Selena could be home, and Selena could answer the door. He had no idea what he was going to say if he had to face Selena. One angry woman was more than enough.
Of course, it wasn't Dora's fault. He was the one at fault here: he was the one who had made the hasty assumption that Tonks had been dating Wyatt. Now that he knew the truth from that conversation with Wyatt, everything made sense. Wyatt had always said he was coming to the complex to meet a friend, not a girlfriend. And that day on the stairs, Wyatt had never expressly said that Tonks was his girlfriend. Everything had just led to a large misunderstanding.
But he didn't know how she would react. Was she mad at him? Or was she more upset? He definitely knew she was going to feel something. Some negative emotion towards him, for being so rude and not picking up any of her nineteen calls or responding to any of her several texts. She had tried so hard to reach out to him, but he had ignored her, and so she had stopped trying.
Come on, Remus. Do it.
And with a deep breath, he knocked on the door.
His heart was racing at a million miles a second, and he willed himself to calm down.
It'll be okay, said his internal voices.
When Tonks opened the door, she looked at him, confusion and hurt glazing across her face. She was wearing an oversized blue sweatshirt and black shorts. She simply looked at him, not saying anything.
"I want to talk to you," he said, his voice breaking. "Please."
After what seemed like an eternity, she gave a small nod, biting her lip, letting him in. After they walked a few paces into the room, he turned to her.
"Why didn't you pick up the phone?" he whispered.
"What would I have said?" she asked, looking right into his eyes. "You weren't willing to listen."
"I know. And I'm sorry."
"Yeah. I'm sure you are." She wasn't looking at him now.
"I am," he said quietly. "I… I talked to Wyatt about it. And I realized. The whole truth."
"So you were willing to listen to Wyatt, but not me?"
He paused. "No. Not like that. But… I just… I thought it was too good to be true, that you would like me. I mean, there's so many people you could have chosen."
"So because you learned that I like you, you decided that I was actually already in a relationship and being unfaithful to my partner."
Remus took a deep breath and let it out. "No. I just… didn't hesitate as much to believe it. And I'm sorry for that."
She looked away. "It hurts that you didn't believe me."
"I'm sorry," he whispered again. "I know that I've been really stupid, and I feel bad about it, Tonks. I'm so sorry."
She didn't say anything, instead choosing to sit down on the sofa, twiddling her thumbs uncomfortably.
"What did Wyatt tell you?" she asked finally. "I don't want to get into another misunderstanding. I want to make sure you know the real truth, not some filtered version of it."
Remus swallowed. "Well, he said that you and he weren't ever dating. He liked you, but you didn't feel the same way back, that you liked me instead. He played a stupid joke about it, too, but that was it."
"Mm." She still wasn't looking into his eyes.
"I'm sorry," he told her again. "Really."
"I know you are," she said sadly. "And I don't want to forgive you, but I guess I just can't stay mad at you."
He felt bad for putting her in that position. It was kind of taking advantage of her helplessness, right?
What helplessness? asked internal voice 1. She likes you! It's not your fault!
No, it's your fault you look too hot for your own good, internal voice 2 chimed in.
Shut up, Remus told both of them. Why are you both so embarrassing?
"I'm sorry," he repeated to her, for what must have been the thousandth time. He did feel sorry, though. She had never been in a relationship before, and he had contaminated her view of romance, and love, and affection in general. It wasn't the best way to start off your love life. "Really. I feel bad about being such a jerk."
"It's okay," she said softly, the corner of her lips turning up into a small smile. "I know you must have been really confused too. Me going to Seattle didn't really help much, did it?"
"Not really," he admitted. "How was Seattle, by the way?"
"Great. Got a new offer, trying something new, just like you suggested. It's not something I'm familiar with, but it seems fun."
"That's great to hear," he told her sincerely.
She smiled. "Why do you smell like vanilla, by the way?"
"Oh. Some dude at Reggie's work has gotten together with his girlfriend, and he sent everyone cupcakes to celebrate. Reggie was actually planning to send some over to you and Selena, since he's a fitness freak and all that and didn't want to eat them himself, but I thought I'd drop by and talk to you first."
"Ah. Okay." She drummed her fingers against her thigh. "So, do you have to go somewhere now?"
"No," he answered. "Although I do have to go into work again tomorrow. Why?"
"No," she said casually, although her cheeks were turning pink, "I was just wondering. Uh, do you think you'd be able to stay for a little longer?"
"Yeah, of course," he said. "Is there… anything in particular you want to do?"
She shook her head. "It just… I don't even know what to do. I mean, what now? Between… you and me?"
He let out a sigh. "I have no idea either. I just want you to know that I'm sorry-"
"It's okay," she told him. "Remember, once you told me to stop apologizing so much? It's okay. We should just let it go and move on, right?"
Did that mean what he thought it meant?
"Move on?" he asked for clarification.
She shrugged. "You know, it's a saying."
His rapidly beating heart slowed down at that. "Right. Yeah. Of course."
She gave him a tight smile and looked down at her toes, still twiddling her thumbs.
Gosh, was this awkward. Two people who had liked each other, but had then fallen out because of a false misunderstanding, were attempting to reconcile. Was it not a good time to broach the subject of… them?
Remus and Tonks?
"You know, I was thinking-" he said, at the same time as she said,
"Hey, I wanted to-"
They both cut off, staring at each other.
"You first," he told her.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I wanted to ask you… if you wanted to try this out? I mean, I know this entire misunderstanding thing has been kind of awkward, and definitely not ideal, but I mean… I still like you, and… you still like me?" She asked this last part hopefully.
Thank god.
"Of course I still like you," he told her, unable to keep the smile off his face. "Do you think, after all this, that I wouldn't like you?"
"Well, I didn't think you didn't, but I just wanted to make sure-"
"Of course I still like you," he repeated. "I really, really like you."
She gave him a small grin. "So, uh, can we be a… a couple?"
"Yeah," he said, overwhelmed with happiness. "We can be a couple."
