Thank you so much for all reviews so far! Keep reading and reviewing! Things are getting good...! We meet James in this chapter, which I am very excited for. I hope you are, too!

Chapter 7: Brother Black

"Can we talk?" Sirius peered around the corner of his best friend James's office and whispered. James, who had been typing at his computer furiously, looked up with a somewhat wild look in his eye. The firm had been stretching everyone just a bit too thin where it came to the Riddle Insurance case, which was now poised to be either their biggest win or biggest loss of the year. All of the junior associates, Sirius and James included, were doing research round the clock. James felt the same way that Sirius did when it came to the firm representing Riddle Insurance, but like Sirius, he gritted his teeth and did it anyway. After the wild look faded from James's eyes a bit, he looked relieved to be taking a break from his work.

"Yes," he breathed, the relief in his voice evident. He rubbed his hands down his face and pushed his hands through his messy, dark hair before he looked up at Sirius. Sirius walked into James's small office and closed the door. James looked slightly surprised, but he only looked quizzically at Sirius who was ringing his hands. Sirius and James had been best friends since before either of them could remember, and other than Priscilla, James was the only person on the planet who knew everything there was to know about Sirius Black. They had been through everything together. They played together as kids, they went to every school together, they were roommates in college and law school, James was best man at Sirius's wedding, and Sirius would no doubt be James's best man when the time came. Sirius told James everything and James did the same. This was why Sirius had made the decision to tell James about his feelings for Remus. He couldn't take it being bottled up inside, and he felt like if he just talked about it, the ball of anxiety that had formed in the pit of his stomach would dissipate just a bit.

Sirius walked to the chair that was sitting across from James's desk that was usually occupied by a client and took a seat. James stared at him, but Sirius looked only at his hands. He was still ringing his hands nervously and he could feel them trembling. The nervous knot in his stomach that had formed some weeks ago seemed to be throbbing, and for a moment Sirius thought he might be sick. He didn't even know where to begin. After a few more moments of silence, Sirius exhaled deeply, prompting James to speak.

"Sirius?" was all he said.

Sirius rushed through his words. "I don't even know where to begin," he said, voicing his thought from a moment earlier.

"The beginning?" James said with a slight tilt of his head. He was leaning back in his chair comfortably with his hands folded in his lap while Sirius was sitting up very straight and leaning forward slightly with his hands fidgeting in his lap. When Sirius finally looked up at James, he tensed even more. He knew James would not judge him. He never had. He knew James would listen and be supportive, but the fear was still there. After he quickly glanced around James's office, Sirius spoke quietly.

"I-um… Well…"

"Sirius, I can barely hear you," James said kindly. He was looking at Sirius with sincerity and understanding. Having known Sirius for a very long time, James knew when Sirius was up for a laugh, and he knew when Sirius wanted to have a serious conversation. This time was the latter, and James understood that when Sirius wanted to have a conversation like this, Sirius would often need time to get to the point he was trying to make. Instead of pressuring him into speaking, James gently waited the way he always did. The last conversation they'd had like this had occurred about three months ago when Sirius had talked about the problems he was having in his marriage with Priscilla, and just like now, it had taken Sirius ages to get to the point.

Sirius cleared his throat. When he spoke this time, the volume of his voice was slightly raised. "A couple weeks ago," Sirius began slowly, "Priscilla and I hired a lawn care service." Sirius paused and took a deep breath. James nodded, not sure where this was going. "The-uh… well, since then, the man who has been doing our yard and I have been… flirting?"

James raised his eyebrows but made no other show of emotion. He remembered Andrew, and he remembered very clearly how Sirius had felt about him and how devastated he had been when he had to break things off. He knew that Sirius loved Priscilla, but he also knew that Sirius was very severely suppressing his feelings for men. James watched his friend, and Sirius's internal struggle was almost visible. His flirtation with this man had apparently been eating at him, and it was clear that in talking to James, Sirius was gaining at least some small semblance of relief. James did not say anything but instead waited for Sirius to continue.

After a few moments, Sirius said, "Well, it's been more than a flirtation… We-uh… We kissed, and we've done a little… I don't know… touching? But that's it. But James," Sirius looked up at him. "I… I think I'm going to have an affair." Sirius paused briefly, sighed, and finally slouched against the back of his chair. "Christ, that sounds stupid doesn't it?" Sirius was finally able to relax a little, and James smiled. "An 'affair'… Well, that's that. I've been flirting with this guy, and I know it's going to lead to an affair, and I don't want to stop it. I don't care. I need this. I've needed it."

James shrugged after a brief pause, but Sirius continued talking. The flood gates were open now; that much was apparent to James. Now that he had broken his silence, Sirius needed to get everything out. Every thought he'd been holding inside for weeks was now able to come to the surface and it felt good.

"I love Priscilla, you know?" Sirius was looking at his hands again. "I do. But this guy… James, I've never felt this way about anyone, even Andrew. When I'm near him… Shit, even when I'm just thinking about him… Like, right now, my heart is racing and my chest feels tight, and there are about a thousand butterflies going crazy in my stomach. I mean, I'm sure some of that has to do with me revealing all of this to you, but mostly it's him." Sirius shook his head and sat up a little straighter once more, looking right at James. "But I don't want to hurt Pris. I'm going to have this affair, and I'm sure she's going to find out, but I can't really bring myself to care. She's just… She's not him."

James and Sirius looked at each other, and Sirius said, "What should I do?"

James sighed and shrugged. "Well, it seems to me you've already made up your mind." Sirius nodded knowingly and James continued. "But if you really want to know what I think… Priscilla is my friend, and I know that no good friend would advocate an affair, but I can see it… this light in your eyes… It's the same light you had when you were with Andy, but it's shining a whole hell of a lot brighter. You know what I think about all of this, and you wouldn't have told me if you thought I would respond any differently. I told you my opinion years ago, and I don't think I need to say it again."

James didn't need to. Sirius remembered. When it had come down to the choice between Priscilla and Andrew, James had told him that the obvious choice was Andrew. He knew that Sirius was gay, and he knew that Sirius was mad for Andrew. He also knew that Sirius would never be truly happy with Priscilla. Every instinct in his body told him to just be a supportive friend and tell Sirius what he wanted to hear, but James had told Sirius that the choice was clear. It had to be Andrew. Sirius hadn't taken James's advice, and they hadn't spoken for a few weeks after that, but eventually Sirius came to realize that James had been right, and he had regretted his decision since. But now… Sirius thought. Maybe it was his destiny to meet Remus, and the only way he could was if he was with Priscilla.

James watched the cogs in Sirius's head turn, and after a few seconds, he spoke up again. "What's his name?"

Sirius's face lit up. "Remus," he breathed. "He's about the most beautiful specimen I've ever seen."

James smiled. There's that light, he thought. "Well, look, only you know what's best for you, but trust me, I rarely ever see you this happy. I love it," he said. "So…" James went on. "He reciprocates your feelings?"

"Oh, yeah. He—"

Suddenly, Sirius was cut off by the door to James's office bursting open.

"Did you hear what happened?" Chloe, another one of the junior associates at the firm, said as she burst into James's office without knocking. When she saw Sirius she jumped and had to clap her hands over her mouth to suppress a scream. Both James and Sirius had jumped violently when she'd burst in, and James looked like he was going to tell her off until she composed herself and spoke again. "Oh…" she lowered her voice and walked toward them. "Are you talking about it right now?"

"What?" Sirius said nervously.

"About Regulus, of course."

Sirius burst through the front doors of his Brooklyn townhome. Once inside, he began to scream obscenities as he hurtled his way through his house and to his office.

"THAT SON OF A BITCH!" Sirius roared. "He's going to undermine this entire case! GOD DAMMIT! MOTHER FUCKER! All my work! All my hard work is going to go straight down the drain! How could he have done this? And of course, somehow the blame will go to me! DAMMIT!" Sirius was seeing red as he entered his office, poured himself a strong drink and gulped it down in one go. "AARGH!" he screamed right before he poured himself another drink and finished it off just as fast as he drank the last one. Sirius continued to scream until he was cut off by the concerned yell of his wife from the doorway.

"Sirius? SIRIUS! What is going on?" she called as she walked into his office with a concerned and agitated look on her face.

"FUCKING REGULUS!" Sirius screamed.

"Okay…" she said slowly in response. "What happened with Regulus?"

"He's been arrested."

"What? Why?"

After he had earned his degree in business administration two years ago, Regulus had been hired on at the Riddle Corporation as a consultant and had quickly made his way up to the higher echelons of the company. This was part of the reason that Riddle had decided to hire Black and Associates to take on their case, and B&A had hoped that having Regulus as somewhat of an insider would be better for the case. They were wrong. Sirius had told his father from day one that Regulus would be a liability, but ever his favorite child, Orion had put all of his faith in his second son.

"Fraud!" Sirius yelled. "JESUS!" Sirius finished his third drink and poured his fourth before he spoke again. "Do you have any idea what this is going to do to this case?"

"But why?" Priscilla looked confused. "Why would they arrest him when they have bigger fish to fry?"

"It's strategic. Completely. Our case is going to lose so much credibility." Sirius sighed very deeply.

"Have you spoken to your father?" Priscilla asked.

"Of course not," Sirius said angrily after taking a drink. "He was tending to Regulus. Trying to get that piece of shit out of this mess… God dammit! How's he going to get the firm out of this mess? We should have never taken on this case. Riddle is a sick company anyway, and now…"

"Okay," Priscilla said gently. "Okay, okay…" She walked over to Sirius and pulled him over to his chair behind his desk. Once he sat down, Priscilla began to massage his shoulders as he sipped on his drink and attempted to calm down. He took several deep breaths and allowed the feeling of Priscilla's hands to wash over him. "Don't throw in the towel yet, honey. Everything will be okay one way or another."

Although he had begun to calm down, at her words, anger suddenly flared up inside Sirius once again. What did she know? She simply could not understand what this meant. Sirius jumped up from his seat. "Look, I've got a lot of work to do."

"Oh… Okay, well, I'll leave you alone," Priscilla said softly.

"Yeah," Sirius said hotly. Priscilla, looking somewhat stung, turned without another word and left his office, closing his door with a rough snap.

After Priscilla left, Sirius filled his glass once more and fell back into his chair. He knew he would get no work done tonight. Instead, he would drown his sorrows in the glass he held in his hand, and he would brood over his idiotic brother. In his state of anger, all Sirius could think about was how seeing Remus was the only thing that would make him feel better. When that thought began to consume him, Sirius opened his laptop in front of him and set to work.

Remus nearly jumped out of his skin when his buzzer sounded. He had been attempting to take his mind off of Sirius by diving into a marathon of some random show on television after he had come home from work that day. He had fixed himself a small dinner, the remnants of which were lying on his coffee table. His apartment was messy, as he had not been expecting company. Remus did not know who it could be. He thought it was probably his mother, but he said a small, quick prayer before he went to the door that it was not Severus.

When Remus opened his front door, the sight in front of him nearly stopped his heart.

"Wha—?"

"Hey," Sirius said.

"H-how do you know where I live?" Remus asked; his mouth hung open after he spoke.

Sirius smiled with droopy eyes. He reached up and put his hand under Remus's jaw and lifted his jaw up to close his mouth. His touch seemed to go right through Remus's skin and to his heart and he nearly gasped. "The internet. Ever heard of it?" Sirius slurred with the smile still plastered on his face.

He's drunk. Remus could not believe it. The man he had been fantasizing about for weeks was here. At his apartment. Drunk.

"Are you going to invite me in, or what?" Sirius said, pushing past Remus and walking into the apartment. Remus stood still in shock with his eyes slightly bulging, but he closed the door when Sirius walked a few feet into the apartment and stopped to look around. He smiled as he looked around and observed the mess. "Cute place," he said with a smirk. He looked back at Remus, who blushed. Sirius thought that blush was possibly the most adorable thing he had ever seen in his life. His smirk turned into a broad smile as he turned and walked to Remus's couch. After he plopped down onto it, Remus rushed over and began clearing off his dinner mess from that night.

"I-I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting anyone," Remus said quickly. After he gathered his wits, however, he suddenly became indignant. "No. I shouldn't be apologizing. What are you doing here?"

Sirius's smile slipped off and his expression softened into a gentle, very slight frown. "I needed to see you."

Remus's heart fluttered. It was official. He was utterly infatuated with this man, and there was nothing Sirius could do to change that. Showing up at his house unannounced in this drunken state—it didn't matter to Remus. He thought it was charming. Remus tried to ignore this thought. He shook his head as he took his dishes to the kitchen. "We hardly know each other," he said with his back to Sirius. He was not trying to be hurtful; he only wanted to know how Sirius would respond. Sirius said nothing. Remus put his dishes in his sink and ran some water over them before he went to his refrigerator and pulled out two beers; although he had a feeling Sirius didn't need one. Remus then sat next to Sirius on the couch and handed him the bottle. Remus tried to keep his distance, but Sirius inched closer after saying his thanks for the beer. Remus could smell the hard liquor radiating from Sirius's mouth and pours, but the smell seemed to give Remus a thrill.

Remus looked straight ahead at his television set. He could feel Sirius's eyes on him. His heart was thumping, but he tried to act nonchalant as he watched what was going on in front of him. This situation was completely unbelievable. Just a few minutes ago, he had been sitting alone his apartment, completely unaware of the fact that Sirius Black was nearly at his doorstep. Remus had a million questions running through his head. Among them: What was Sirius doing here? Obviously he'd had a rough day if he decided to show up drunk to an almost complete stranger's residence. What did he expect would happen? Now and in the future? What was he thinking right now? What was the delicious fragrance he was wearing? Did his wife know where he was? And how on earth could he make the sound of lips pulling away from the suction of a bottle sound so incredibly sexy?

Almost in answer to one of his questions, Sirius asked, "What are you watching?" with his eyes still focused on Remus. He hadn't taken his eyes off of Remus long enough to notice.

"Uh… I don't know…" Remus mumbled. "Law & Order, I think."

"Oh?" Sirius said excitedly, finally fixating on the TV instead of on Remus. "I love Law & Order!" After another moment, Sirius continued. "You know, when I decided to go to law school, I thought I would be just like Jack," Sirius said, referring to the former assistant district attorney character of the show. "I thought I would be catching bad guys and putting them behind bars. Instead I'm defending the bad guys." The slur in Sirius's voice was suddenly gone, and Remus looked over at him with concern. Whatever was bothering Sirius—whatever had brought him here—was clearly eating at him. Sirius stared at the television blankly.

"Sirius, what's wrong? Why are you here?"

Sirius looked at Remus. His stare was so intense that Remus had to look away as his stomach started to do mad leaps. "I just had a bad day," Sirius began. "And all I could think about was seeing you. I know I barely know you, but I knew that the only way I could get through this terrible day was if I could just lay my eyes on you for even a second. I know it sounds crazy, but… I don't know…"

Remus could feel his body trembling. It was possibly the most romantic thing anyone had ever said to him. He could not look at Sirius or he thought he might cry. He knew Sirius was looking at him, but he kept his eyes forward.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Remus asked with his eyes locked on the television.

"No," Sirius breathed. Then, Remus felt Sirius's hand come up behind his neck, and Sirius pulled him into a deep and lingering kiss. Remus whimpered and opened his mouth against Sirius's. He could feel himself losing all control already. The kiss was so perfect. Needy and desperate, but also gentle and passionate. Remus could practically feel Sirius's vulnerability as his tongue and lips enveloped his own. He tasted of bourbon and beer, and Remus had never enjoyed a taste more in his life. When Sirius's hand found its way to Remus's inner thy and began to creep upward, however, Remus broke the kiss.

"I can't…" Remus whispered. Remus wanted Sirius. He wanted him more than words could explain, but after his night with Severus a week earlier, Remus had promised himself that he would never sleep with anyone when they weren't sober ever again. When he'd been with Severus that night, he realized afterwards that he was just as much to blame. He had become dependent on that way of life, and he had to find a way of breaking it or he would never be in a healthy relationship. The only way to do so was to make this pact with himself. It was either sober sex or nothing at all. He knew that Sirius wasn't on drugs, and he knew that they both wanted each other, but Remus would not break his promise. He wanted something more for himself. He deserved something more.

Although Sirius looked completely and utterly crestfallen, he did not protest. He was confused, to be sure, having thought that Remus reciprocated his feelings, but he obeyed Remus's wish. Sirius leaned back to the position he had previously been in and stared at the television as Remus did the same.

"Can I just sit here with you?" Sirius asked. Sirius sounded so broken that Remus was nearly willing to give into his advances, but he knew this was exactly what had gotten him in trouble with Severus a week earlier. He wanted to explain. He wanted to tell Sirius that he wanted him. He wanted to tell Sirius about his relationship with Severus, but he thought it would just be too much.

Instead, all he said was, "I'd like that," hoping to show Sirius that he did want his company. Remus glanced over at Sirius and saw the small smile form on his lips. After that, they sat together in silence and watched the scenes unfold before them. At one point, Remus thought he heard Sirius sniffle, but he kept his face forward and pretended not to notice. He wanted to do more for Sirius, but what he did not realize was that his mere presence was enough. The comfort of Remus next to him was like a comfort he had never known. Sirius began to imagine that this was his life, here with Remus. That they were just a normal couple watching TV together after a long day. He imagined that he and Remus were holding hands. He imagined that there was no Priscilla, no Regulus, no anything complicated. Just the two of them. Here. Forever. If only…

Preview for next chapter:

"...Priscilla is going to her sister's for the rest of the night and into tomorrow."