A/N: I'm back! Hope you all had a nice summer!

As promised: the second part of the date :)

Enjoy!

Surrey, May 13, 2020

When they finally pulled through the gate into Sirius's driveway, Remus's eyes widened. Glass and steel dominated the limestone façade of the big house, giving it a sharp, modern look more reminiscent of Beverly Hills than Surrey. The trees, bushes and lawn in front were well-kept (though Remus doubted Sirius had ever picked up a set of shears in his life), and the garage looked big enough to contain at least ten cars. A tall brick wall surrounded the whole plot, shielding everything from prying eyes.

Remus gave a low whistle. "I'm a bit disappointed; I expected an old mansion," he said, inspecting the large house.

"Nah. They're not all they're cracked up to be." Sirius winked, stepping out of the car. "I like it light and open. Got a small studio upstairs and a hot tub in the backyard."

"You realise this is England, right?" Remus cocked an eyebrow at Sirius over the roof of the car.

"True." Sirius laughed and pushed his door shut. "It doesn't see nearly as much action as I imagined when I installed it."

They were approaching the front door when a sound made Remus stop in his tracks. Sirius was a few steps ahead of him and didn't notice his hesitation as he inserted his key into the lock.

"You have a dog," Remus said, swallowing and taking a step back.

"Yeah, but don't worry, he's all bark, no bite." Sirius chuckled, but the smile faded from his face when he turned to look at Remus. "Are you alright?" he asked, stepping away from the door and towards Remus.

"Yeah, I just… didn't realise you had a dog…" Remus stammered, mentally kicking himself when he suddenly remembered the question that had earned Marlene those tickets and set this whole thing in motion.

"Sorry, I should've warned you," Sirius said. "Tell you what—you wait here, and I'll go let him in the back garden, okay?"

"Okay…" Remus said, hating how strained his voice sounded.

From an acceptable distance, he watched Sirius unlock the door and catch a big black furry mass of a dog in his arms.

"Whoa, Snuffles, settle down, alright?" Sirius admonished the beast, all the while ruffling its ears affectionately. "Snuffles, sit!" he commanded and snapped his fingers before pointing at the floor. When he was confident the dog was sitting, he reached up to disable the alarm system. "Good boy," he praised and tossed him a treat from a jar on a high shelf. "Come on," he whistled and led the mutt down the hall. They vanished out of sight and Remus held his breath.

Well, aren't we off to a great start?

A minute later, Sirius reappeared in the doorway, beckoning Remus in. "Coast is clear." He smiled.

"Sorry I—" Remus took a deep breath. "I know it's silly but…."

"Hey, no need to apologise," Sirius said, taking his hand and leading him inside. "He can be a mouthful, but he's a real softie."

"I guess it helps with a name like Snuffles." Remus snorted, trying to shake his uneasiness.

Sirius barked a laugh. "Yeah, I found him five years ago—just this little puppy wandering the streets, and my cousin, who was twelve at the time, named him. Before I could do anything, he responded to it." He shrugged and hung Remus's jacket for him.

"Did you know he was gonna grow to this size?" Remus asked.

"Absolutely not!" Sirius laughed. "I tried for a month to find his owner, but no one claimed him, so my cousin convinced me to keep him. She takes care of him when I'm away. Now that she's older, she likes to stay here, y'know, get away from the watchful eyes of her parents and all, so it's a win-win." He gave a playful shrug. "Anyway, welcome to my humble abode—would you like the grand tour?" he asked, putting on his poshest accent and offered his arm to Remus.

"Thank you, kind sir, I would indeed," Remus said, taking his arm. They both snorted and Sirius laced their fingers together instead, dragging him down the corridor.

The house was enormous. The ground floor had a big modern kitchen, a dining room, and a TV lounge, as well as four guestrooms (one of which belonged to Snuffles) and two bathrooms. The first floor had the master bedroom with a full ensuite bathroom, a gym, an office, and the studio that Sirius had mentioned. Everything was kept in a light colour scheme, and the rooms were airy and spacious—perhaps due to the scarcity of furniture in most of them. It honestly resembled a real estate catalogue more than a home, but Remus didn't say anything. Strangely enough, Sirius had seemed more at home in that hotel room than he did here. Except for the studio, which almost resembled a miniature version of Kingsley's Guitars. It was like everything Sirius was had been condensed into this one room. The walls and ceiling were painted dark and covered with rugs, foam, and old concert posters. A rack of guitars stood to one side, next to a couple of keyboards. The corner hosted a comfy-looking sofa next to a mini fridge and a floor-to-ceiling vinyl collection. At least ten amps were stacked along the walls and a drum kit took up most of the remaining floor space. A smaller room connected to the studio and contained mixing equipment and a row of computer screens.

The only other room that looked lived in was the guestroom where his cousin stayed when she was dog-sitting. It was a typical teenage bedroom, with candles and bottles of nail polish dominating the horizontal surfaces and punk posters and fairy lights dominating the vertical ones. If it hadn't been for the sheer number of guitars and other instruments littered all over the house, Remus would have never guessed that this was the home of a rock star. Some were prominently on display, others were stashed in random corners, ready to play if the mood should strike. The living room had a row of violins hanging on the wall in lieu of art, the TV room had a cello sitting in a corner, and even the master bedroom had a keyboard and three guitars. No matter where you were in the house, you always had an amp within reach. Though you would need to sit directly on it, because of the general lack of chairs.

"Do you actually play all of these?" Remus said, slightly awed but also confused as to why someone would need so many guitars.

Sirius laughed. "Most of them. Some are just for sentimental value. This one for example—" He pointed to a beat-up nondescript guitar hanging on the wall in the TV room. "This was my first electric. Sounds absolutely terrible, but I can't seem to part with it…. And this here belonged to Stevie Ray Vaughan," he said reverently, pointing to one sitting in a glass case. "Haven't felt worthy to play that one yet."

Remus just nodded, not wanting to confess that he had no idea who that was.

"Oh, but this one…." Sirius smiled gleefully and pointed to a guitar leaning against the sofa. "This one glows in the dark!" Seeing Remus's face, he added, "Okay, I admit I might have a problem—I see a nice guitar and I've just got to have it." He laughed. "Anyway, I could talk for days about them, so before I risk boring you to death, what do you say we get something to eat?"

He led Remus into the kitchen and opened the fridge, pulling several trays of food out. There wasn't much else in there—not even an old jar of mayonnaise or a long-forgotten bottle of ketchup.

"I would have liked to impress you with a nice home-cooked meal, but I can't cook to save my life. And it would be such a shame for you to end up with food poisoning on your first visit, so I hope this is alright?"

"This looks lovely," Remus reassured him, surveying the spread of antipasti. First visit, Sirius had said….

"I'll have you know that I sliced the tomatoes all by myself," Sirius boasted and pulled out a bottle of white wine, silently asking Remus if he wanted any.

"Sure," Remus nodded, and Sirius went to find some glasses in a cupboard. "I'm gonna refrain from pointing out that the only thing in your cupboard is wine glasses," Remus teased.

Sirius barked a laugh. "A man's got to have priorities, right?"

He'd also prioritised having a grand piano in the dining room instead of a table, so they chose to eat in the kitchen, seating themselves on a couple of barstools at the island.

"I see you weren't kidding about the Italian food," Remus remarked as they dug into the food. "Do you actually cross-stitch too?"

"It's on my bucket list." Sirius winked and popped an olive into his mouth.

It had got dark outside by the time they finished the meal. If Remus had been worried about them not having anything to talk about, it had been thoroughly put to rest by now. It didn't matter that he didn't know anything about music or motorbikes—Sirius had plenty of stories to keep the conversation flowing. They also found a common interest in literature; Sirius telling Remus about his inspirations, keen to hear his angles on it. And he seemed genuinely interested in Remus's (in his own opinion) painfully mediocre and uneventful life, asking in-depth questions about his work and his friends. It didn't escape his notice, though, that Sirius got quiet whenever he mentioned his volunteer work, so he didn't stay on that subject. No need to ruin the nice mood.

"Y'know, James has been talking a lot about Lily." Sirius smiled and took a sip of wine, after Remus had finished telling a story from their school days.

"Really?" Men like James must meet new girls every day and would've surely already forgotten all about Lily.

"Yes, I think he's quite smitten," Sirius said, tapping his chin.

Remus laughed. "But why, though? I mean, I obviously think she's great, but she wasn't exactly acting friendly that night, was she?"

"Ah, I think you hit the nail on the head there." Sirius sniggered. "James is sort of wired differently—if he's told he can't have something, he'll just try harder. It's been useful in our career, but when it comes to people, it's really just obnoxious," he said, his fond smile somewhat mitigating his words.

"Oh dear, I think we'll have to keep them apart, then, because Lily is too goddamn stubborn to change her mind once it's made up."

"I reckon it would be healthy for him, actually—he's not used to being told 'no'," Sirius mused, but before Remus could comment further, there came a loud bark from the garden, making him jump in his seat.

"Ah sorry. That's Snuffles reminding me of his dinner," Sirius said, getting up. He must have seen the way Remus's body tensed, because he regarded him curiously for a moment before adding, "If you want, you can go make yourself comfortable in the lounge while I feed him?"

Remus glanced at his watch, surprised at how late it had got. "Erm, actually, I should probably be thinking about getting home, I've got work in the morning, so…" he said regretfully and got to his feet too.

"Oh, right," Sirius said, "I'll take you home, then."

Remus didn't miss the disappointment in his voice. "You don't have to, I can just catch a bus or something," he hurried to say.

"Absolutely not," Sirius insisted. "I'll drive you. Though… I could also wait until morning?" he added, fixing Remus with a look and stepping close to him.

"Erm…." Remus swallowed, getting lost in those eyes for a moment. "I dunno…."

"I promise I'll behave." Sirius grinned and leant close.

"Now, what would be the fun in that?" Remus said and closed the distance between them. He didn't think he'd ever get tired of kissing Sirius. It was like there was a magnetic force, pulling them together, and he wondered why he'd ever bothered doing anything else in his life. Why had they wasted an entire evening talking and eating when they could have been doing this? Things quickly got heated and Remus was up against the fridge with his shirt half off when they were once more interrupted by barking.

"Damn dog…" Sirius grumbled as he reluctantly pulled back. "Will you promise to hold that thought, while I go put him in his room and feed him?"

"Just hurry back, yeah?" Remus said and drew him close, giving his arse a squeeze.

Sirius groaned and his eyes disappeared into the back of his head for a second. "Why don't you meet me in the bedroom?" he suggested and gave him a hard kiss before disengaging again.

"Deal," Remus said, following Sirius out of the kitchen. He sped up his pace when Sirius opened the garden door but didn't miss him telling the dog, "Alright, you little cockblocking bastard—you hungry…?"

Snuffles' only answer was a yip and a shaking of fur.

Smiling to himself, Remus walked up the stairs.

They didn't do much in the way of actual sleeping that night; contrary to earlier assertions, Sirius did not behave (not that Remus had any objections), so it was an extremely groggy Remus who woke up in the small hours of the morning. It was still dark out, but he felt Sirius sliding out of bed, obviously trying to be quiet.

"What time is it…?" Remus mumbled, turning his head towards Sirius.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," Sirius whispered. "It's only five, you can go back to sleep." He reached down and stroked Remus's knee from where it was poking out of the covers.

"Where are you going?" Remus asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Just going to take Snuffles out for a quick run, I'll be back soon," Sirius said and smiled.

"What are you—some sort of superhuman…?" Remus grumbled into his pillow.

"Hardly." Sirius laughed. "Just go back to sleep. I'll pick up some breakfast on my way back, and then I'll drive you to work."

"Okay…" Remus muttered, his eyes already falling shut again.

By the time his alarm rang, the world had gained a bit more colour, and he could hear Sirius rummaging in the wardrobe.

Groaning he reached for his mobile and shut off the alarm.

"Good morning," Sirius said behind him, sounding way too chipper for the time of day.

Remus yawned and stretched his long limbs, rolling over to look at him.

"Yup, definitely superhuman," he mumbled as he took in the sight of a sweaty Sirius standing there in nothing but his running shorts, in the midst of pulling some fresh clothes out.

"Join me in the shower, and I'll demonstrate my powers?" Sirius grinned and undid the tie in his shorts.

The shower ended up being a lengthy affair, and the bagels Sirius had picked up on his run, had to be eaten in the car as he drove them into London.

A man's got to have priorities, right?

"So, what are your plans for the day?" Remus asked between bites.

"We have a few meetings this morning; with the label, our agent, our accountant,"—he paused for a grimace—"then Gideon and I will hit the gym, before I'm off to lunch with a couple of lads from Fender who want me to look over some designs, and then we'll hopefully have a few hours in rehearsal before we have to be at the BBC studios to shoot an interview. After that, James, Peter and I are having dinner with a guy who wants us to do some charity event next year, and then we'll go and support some friends who are playing at a club out in Camden."

"Whew." Remus whistled. "Is this like a normal day for you?"

"Well, it's not every day that starts out as great as this one." Sirius chuckled. "But I like to keep busy. Strike while the iron is hot. You never know when all of this is going to go away…" he trailed off, glancing in his wing mirror as another car passed them.

"Is that something you worry about?" Remus asked, surprised at this sudden change in mood.

"Every day," Sirius admitted. "Y'know, we're incredibly blessed to be doing what we're doing and make a living off it. It's not just a job or a hobby; it's a lifestyle. But it's one that's totally dependent on other people's goodwill, isn't it?"

"I suppose…" Remus said, unsure of how to respond to that. He had never had to consider something like that in his own life. He got his pay check every month, even if he had off-days or had to call in sick. "And you think that would change if people knew you were gay?" he ventured a guess.

Sirius winced almost imperceptibly at the word, but his eyes remained fixed on the road ahead. "Oh, I know it would," he said in a tone that signalled the end of that discussion.

Remus sat back in his seat. There were a million things he wanted to ask, a million things he wanted to say, but he sensed that Sirius wouldn't really be receptive. And it wasn't his place. So, they just sat in silence, watching the traffic as they snailed towards London.

"Look…" Sirius said after about ten minutes. "I'm sorry, I just…." He sighed and shook his head. "My life has been a little… messy… these last few years and I'm just trying to keep my head down. I've always just sort of paved the road as I go, but now I'm finally at a place where I can see a few steps ahead, and I don't want to disrupt that. Not if I can help it."

"I understand. You don't have to apologise," Remus reassured, sending Sirius a smile and firmly forcing down the disappointment that bubbled in his stomach. It wasn't like he had hoped to bring Sirius home to meet his parents anyway. They were just two people having sex. Pretty phenomenal sex, but that was hardly relevant. Sirius was leaving for a year-long tour in a few days, so what was the point in getting involved?

Sirius could keep his life undisrupted, and Remus could just have fun.

It was allowed.

It didn't have to mean anything, right?

Right…?

A/N: Thank you for reading! The next chapter will be posted next Thursday, so stay tuned.