A/N:I told myself I wouldn't post again until this was complete, but I finally got this chapter complete in a way I felt good about, so it's going up. The previous chapters have been edited a bit to give myself more room for what the conclusion of this story could look like. I welcome ideas or if you just have an interaction you wish to see, feel free to suggest it below.

"You look like hell."

Lily yawned and combed her hair back with her hands, leaning back against a tree. She hadn't put on makeup nor had she showered, so this statement was impossible to refute. She had one more class today, and then she could finally sleep. Next to her, Severus looked immaculate in a grey cardigan and soft brown boots. The ends of his hair not obscured by the knitted cap swirled in the autumn chill. This was what love did for him, and god was she jealous.

She had decided to just drop the issue with Remus. Clearly she had misread things, and the next time she saw him, all he had said was that he had missed seeing her at the party. Granted, he had been on his way out, and the topic of Severus's date monopolized the rest of that evening and left no room for further analysis, but it seemed as though there was nothing to be miscommunicated from his perspective. Not wanting to needlessly rock the boat, she went about as if her heart hadn't had a solid whack to it with a hammer.

Severus grabbed her wrist. "You need a pick-me-up." Ignoring her sounds of protest, he led her down a couple streets to a long bricked establishment with a blue awning and The Sun and Moon Tavern written on the door in loopy gold writing. Coffee couldn't hurt, she supposed, and she followed him inside. The line was short, consisting mostly of stragglers leftover from the morning rush, and the pair queued up behind a boy with black hair that seemed to defy gravity toting a shoulder bag in their school's colors. Lily zoned out, running through her list of assignments she had to make progress on, and only tuned back in when the boy in front of them was next.

"You stood in line," the cashier said, sounding far too familiar. "That's new." The hum of amusement in his voice made Lily's stomach flip and she blinked. No, absolutely not. But there was no mistaking that mop of honey brown hair and olive green eyes blinking at the boy in front of them. She cast her eyes at Severus, who was adding things to his calendar and hadn't noticed a thing.

Lily frantically tossed her head forward to gather her unkempt hair in a semi-decent bun, as the customer in front of them responded to Remus's question that was not actually a question. "Didn't fancy getting chewed out by Meadowes," he replied, looking around cautiously. She watched Remus shake his head.

"She's out sick."

Who they were discussing, she didn't know, but the boy let out a curse of pure jest, and ordered without further dramatics. Remus fiddled with the register and raised his head, a service worker grin plastered on.

"Oh, hey guys," he said, the grin peeling off to reveal his true smile, crooked and with a hint of tooth. Lily tried to return it, surreptitiously checking her hoodie for any stains that had escaped her notice this morning.

"I didn't know you worked here," Severus said with a thin smile that was upturned only slightly. To anyone else, that would be received as cold and detached, but Remus simply returned it with his normal warmth and nodded. Lily wished she could muster that energy, but she was so tired, and ill-prepared to face Remus without a chance to properly brace herself. She settled for a wave, regrettably coming off as reserved as Severus had with none of the charm that came with being a loner.

Remus tilted his head. "You okay, Lily?"

"Yeah, just tired," she replied sharply, and then winced. But Remus didn't seem to think anything was amiss, and she couldn't tell whether or not that upset her. Thankfully, Severus was able to order for both of them and she slumped into a booth as soon as she could.

"You have to get a handle on this."

Lily blinked and looked up at Severus. "What?"

"Your little crush on my roommate," he said dryly. "I think it's making you crazy."

Lily opened her mouth and promptly shut it. She should have known that her behavior towards Remus had not gone unnoticed, and she could only blame herself. For the past two weeks, every time she saw him, she tried so hard to act casual, but it was difficult to pretend like she wasn't hurt and confused. But these things often slipped by Severus, and he had only the faintest understanding of what was really going on. She stared past him, her side of the booth giving her a vantage point of the boy who had been in front of them, seated barside. Now she could see his face, thin and slightly rectangular lenses framing hazel eyes that darted toward her every now and then. That, paired with the conversation he appeared to be having with Remus, gave Lily a sick feeling. Maybe he had known she had read the invitation as a date, but didn't want to hurt her feelings, so he just played dumb and pretended like she hadn't. Pretended in all ways aside from taking the piss out of her to his friends.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Lily scoffed. "Being in a relationship has clearly given you a rose colored tint of your surroundings," she added, grinning when Severus flushed and insisted that he was not in a relationship. Of course not, if he were in a relationship, Lily would have already vetted the boy. Severus was a more private person, but he couldn't keep anything from her. In any case, her response took the heat off of her, and when their names were called, Severus gladly volunteered to retrieve them.

The coffee put little dent in the sluggish feeling Lily had woken up with, but fortunately Severus had never been the chatty sort, and an hour passed in mostly silence. He hoisted his bag from under the table and pulled out a pair of gloves.

"If I don't wear these, my fingers will be numb all lecture," he sighed as he slipped them on. "You wanna walk with me, since yours is on the way?"

She gladly would have, staying in the cafe with Remus right there was not ideal, but walking all the way back to that part of campus only to be stuck in a crowd unable to get any work done before class was even less ideal. She drained the last dregs of her coffee and shook her head, all the while surreptitiously rubbing the back of her neck.

"I think I'll get more work done if I stay."

Severus nodded and as Lily pulled out her laptop, she saw him approach the register and murmur something to Remus. She turned her attention back to her document screen with a soft groan. So many half finished assignments.

He wasn't staring at her. And even if he was, there weren't that many customers, so it was only natural to keep a steady eye on the few he had. Plus Severus told him to keep an eye on her. He was being a good barista, some might argue that he was going above and beyond. He made the mistake of voicing this to James, who shook his head and gave him a pitying smile.

"Listen to yourself, Moony, you are head over heels for that girl. If you don't talk to her, you're resigning yourself to suffer indefinitely, is that what you want?"

"If I tell her, there's a good chance she'll want nothing to do with me, and I don't want to risk that," Remus insisted, even while the voice in his head reminded him that the easy friendship he and Lily had before this nonsense had been missing since, a detached acquaintanceship in its place.

As if reading his mind, James stuffed his used napkins into his empty to go cup and crushed it with a shrug of his shoulders. "Personally mate, I don't think you really have much to lose. Even if she does like you back, she isn't going to wait for you to catch up."

If Remus could craft a response to that, James didn't give him ample time, as he shot his crushed up cup into the trash chute by the door and heaved a sigh.

"I know Sirius already bothered you about it, but he's high on love, and he just wants the same for you, we both do. We've known you long enough to know that neither of us can make you do anything you don't want to do, so just think about what I said, alright?"

Remus smiled softly. "I will, I promise."

Once James disappeared with the tinkling of the doortop bell still echoing faintly in his ears, Remus went into the back room and took a deep breath. James and Sirius were right, he was doing himself no favors carrying on this way, lying to Lily's face. Maybe if she was still here at the end of his shift, he could drop by her table, say his piece, and bolt for class. He returned to tend to the line that was forming once again with a renewed spirit and lighter heart. He was absorbed in the lunch rush, so much so that by the end of his shift, he feared he had missed his window of opportunity. Yet there she was still, a pile of red hair slumped in front of an open laptop. He finished three more patrons' orders before clocking out, but not before he whipped up two small mochas and brought them to her table. The mass of red hair moved slowly, rising to reveal a human face.

"I thought you could use a bit more caffeine," Remus said quickly, as it occurred to him how this action could be misconstrued as creepy. "Don't worry, it's on me."

Bleary green eyes stared at him between stray pieces of auburn hair, glazed over until a solid blink cleared them of fog. "What time is it?"

"Quarter til two," Remus replied, and Lily straightened up, her hands fumbling frantically for her bag.

"I am incredibly late for class, I can't believe I fell asleep," she muttered, shutting her laptop and stuffing it into her backpack. "I closed my eyes for one second, I swear!"

She stood up, wringing her hands, and Remus instinctively grabbed them with his own. "It's okay, missing one class won't kill you."

Her breathing quickened. "One class turns into two and three, next thing you know I'm flunking out and I have to move back into my parents' house and watch my sister become more successful than me. And her only goal is to marry rich, so that would really be a knife in my ribs."

"That would never happen," Remus said softly and Lily nodded, taking a deep breath. Her eyes darted down to their joined hands, and like hot coals, he dropped them.

This was his chance, tell her how he felt and make his escape. But he couldn't leave her alone in this state, nor did he want to. "Hey," he said, clapping her shoulders in what he hoped was a more platonic manner. "Why don't you come back to our apartment? I'll order pizza and we can just watch movies and forget about coursework."

Lily furrowed her brow and chewed her lip, and Remus swiftly backpedaled. "I mean I don't need to be there, you could take my key and you wouldn't be bothered. Or you could just go to your own place, obviously, but the bottom line is I really think you should take a day off, for your own sake." He was really bungling it up now. And his hands were still on her shoulders, weren't they?

"Don't you have class too?" she asked after quite a long silence.

He did, and he had already missed a session this week, so he really shouldn't miss another. "It's just a lecture day, I'll get the notes later." Was that a yes then?

A great battle was being waged in her mind. It was a bad idea, absolutely terrible. She was supposed to be distancing herself from Remus, not putting herself in a position to be alone with him. She peeled his hands from her shoulders and met his gaze, olive eyes bright and wide. If she wanted to, and she did, she could convince herself they were the eyes of a significant other worried about her well being. A polite decline was at the peak of her mouth, but when she opened her mouth, an avalanche of acceptance buried it.

Remus's lopsided grin returned. "Cool. I've just clocked out, do you wanna go now?"

Lily nodded robotically, not trusting herself to speak further. She followed him out the door and they walked in silence. She should have said something, but when she tried, she ended up nearly tripping on a crack in the sidewalk, and thank god Remus had pressed the crosswalk button at the same time and missed it. No, better to just not say anything, and clearly he agreed, because it was only when they got into the elevator that he spoke.

"Are you allergic to anything?"

She blinked in time to the chime of the elevator opening to their floor. "What?"

"Or did you not want to do pizza?" Remus continued, stepping out and twisting his hands together. "We don't have to, we could get something else, or we don't have to eat. I just haven't really eaten today-"

"No, pizza's totally fine," she said, cutting him off in alarm. "What do you mean you haven't eaten?"

They got to the door and Remus shrugged as he fumbled with the key. "I mean aside from too much coffee and this muffin that came out horribly deformed." He laughed as he said it. "But I try not to let it become a regular thing. So allergies, or any deal breakers?"

"No allergies," Lily said as they entered, and she heaved her bag onto the little table beside the key bowl. "And I'm good with most toppings. But if you put pineapple on there, I will walk out and you'll never see me again," she added, widening her eyes in what she hoped came off as comedic.

Remus chuckled softly as he perched himself on the arm of the couch, tapping what she assumed was their order into his phone. "Well we can't have that. How about we keep it simple, spinach and grilled chicken?"

Lily sank into the middle seat of the couch, still cognizant of the importance of personal space, and folded her arm over her eyes. "Yeah that's good." The space beside her dipped, indicating that Remus had moved off the arm of the couch onto the right cushion. His elbow brushed lightly against her ribs, and his shoulder knocked hers once or twice as he shifted in place, the sensations firing like missiles up into her neck.

"Alright, should be half an hour or so," Remus sighed, standing up like the traitor he was. He handed the television remote to her. "You pick the movie, I'm gonna grab some blankets."

She's in the apartment, I don't know what to do!

Sirius snorted, and his table mate looked up at him. "Sorry, my friend is having a minor crisis," he said briefly, before turning his attention back to his phone.

You just left her in your apartment to go to class?

No I skipped class, but it's fine

Remus John Lupin, skipping class?

Shut up, she didn't want to be alone

You're making it so easy right now

Sirius please, I am completely out of my element

Sirius sighed. "Give me a sec, alright?" He clicked the call button and Remus immediately picked up.

"Okay what do you need from me?"

There was a shuffle and a soft thump, possibly Remus sinking to the floor. "I just like her so much," he groaned. "And James was all 'tell her before it's too late' but what if it is already too late? And like she's here because she needs a friend, I don't want to one of those guys that ruins that, and-"

"Spiraling." Sirius shook his head, even while knowing Remus couldn't see him. "Moony, you are hands down the most likable person I have ever known, worst case scenario she turns you down and pretends like you never said anything, swear on it. Sorry," he added in a whisper as his table mate glared at him. "I'm in the library."

"You're right," Remus sighed. "Thank you, I really- wait, you're in the library?"

"Well I'm here with my uh-" he paused to meet the gaze of his table mate, who quirked a brow at him. "Boy person thing, so it's sort of a date. Unless it's not?"

The boy sitting across from him flushed and waved him away, scribbling in an open notebook, which Sirius interpreted as a say whatever you want type of deal. "It is a date."

"I won't keep you then. Thanks again, Padfoot."

"No problem." Sirius hung up and put his head in his hands, a soft smile on his face. "It's okay, right?"

Severus made a humming sound, his focus on his laptop screen. "Is what okay?"

"That I didn't call you my boyfriend." Sirius watched Severus curl a fist under his chin, and his lips were pulled in. "It's just, I have this tendency to go all in really quickly, and I don't want to do that with you."

"I get that," Severus said, and chewed at his lips again and half smiled. "Well, not really, because I've never dated anyone before, but I see your vision."

Sirius laughed. "See, I know my friends are going to like you. I like you. Shut up," he huffed as Severus's lips twitched. "You know, you're mean sometimes."

"Only sometimes?" Severus replied airily. "I guess that means I like you too." He tapped his foot against Sirius's and there was a softness to his eyes. "Do you want me to meet your friends?"

"Well yeah," he replied easily, because he had been fighting the urge to do so since their first date. "But I do like keeping you all to myself," he added, reaching across to tuck a loose piece of Severus's hair behind his ear. The other boy's now flushed face twisted in a way that Sirius had come to recognize meant he was pleased but annoyed with himself for feeling such.

Severus didn't respond to this, shrugging Sirius's hand off and going back to his work, so he did the same, until he was gently kicked under the table.

"I like keeping you too."

He was distinctly not looking at him, fixated on his laptop screen, but his mouth was curled in one of those half smiles Sirius was quickly becoming addicted to. He kicked him back, and was rewarded with the faintest huff of laughter.

Lily was still flipping through movies when Remus had finally pulled himself off the floor and came back to the living room, laden with blankets. Her head turned sharply toward him and she jumped, the remote hitting the floor with a clatter. She hastily picked it up.

"Sorry, oh my god, it's really not been my day. Are you okay?" she asked.

Remus nodded even though he felt as though he were about to keel over with anxiety. He dumped the blankets onto the cushion beside her and sunk into the remaining space on her right. "Actually, I need to tell you something."

Lily sat up and shifted so she was facing him. She looked almost as nervous as he felt. "Yeah?"

Remus opened his mouth and found that words were just not coming out. "It's er-" He chewed on his lower lips and interlocked his fingers together, and several minutes must've passed when she broke the silence.

"It's alright, I can take it."

That didn't quite make sense, but her calm voice jolted him. "I like you." And not stopping to gauge her reaction, he kept talking, hoping the awful feeling in his stomach would dissipate if he did so. "I think you're really pretty and cool, and I've wanted to ask you out, but I couldn't get up the nerve. And if you don't feel the same way, that's fine, but I just couldn't keep going on like this."

Lily tilted her head, her brows knitted together, like she was putting several pieces of a puzzle together.

"I'm sorry," Remus sighed, clapping a hand to his burning forehead so he didn't have to look at her eyes that were surely gazing at him with pity. He chanced a glance through his fingers and found that Lily had rested her head against the top of the couch and was giggling quietly. And that was so much worse, unexpectedly so. She coughed several times before she was able to speak properly, and her eyes widened.

"Oh my god, no I'm sorry. Severus was right, I've gone nuts," she groaned. He didn't know what Severus had to do with anything. "It's just, I thought you were about to let me down gently, I had completely given up on the idea that you liked me back."

Remus's head was foggy. "Like me back?" he repeated, lowering his hands and blinking at her. She wore a lopsided grin that blurred as she nodded emphatically.

"I only wanted to go to that party because you invited me and I thought that was a sign. But I couldn't find you, and I thought I was misunderstanding things, and you didn't-" she paused to take a breath, and her voice caught. "You didn't say anything and I felt so stupid."

"You're not stupid," he said quickly, grabbing her hands. "I'm stupid for not being direct. I was trying to ask you out when I mentioned the party, and I didn't even have a good time because I couldn't find you."

Lily laughed quietly and squeezed his hands. "I could have said something too, so I guess we're both a little stupid."

It was like time was standing still, the pair of them just smiling at each other, tension melting off them in waves. And then there was a sharp knock on the door breaking their reverie. Oh right, he ordered pizza. Lily patted his cheek, letting out another giggle, and got up to retrieve their food, which Remus was grateful for, because he was unsure his legs could support him right now.

"Just so we're on the same page," he said in a steeled tone when she sat back down. "This is a date now, right?"

Lily leaned towards him and kissed him softly on the cheek, and then leaned back to grin soppily at him. "Definitely."

End Note: They watched Legally Blonde and Sirius has made Remus watch it so many times he was able to impress Lily with his analysis and commentary.