For @goodboylupin's Candy Hearts Challenge. My candy heart prompt was "UM HI"
Benjy has fallen head over heels. Again. But he swears this time it's different! Again. However, it turns out his new love interest is already dating this Remus guy, and he's just using Benjy to cheat on him. Somehow, Remus himself seems to be more interested in Sirius Black's reaction to the whole situation than in his actual cheating boyfriend.
There's Always Something
Benjy has never felt like this before.
Sure, he’s been in love before. Benjy is quite a sucker for love, actually. He falls fast and always immediately jumps in head-first, which has never had any good results in the past.
But then again, it has never felt like this in the past. The eruption of butterflies at just the meeting of their eyes, the light-headedness that has nothing to do with the wine he’s been drinking, the excitement that for once doesn’t resemble anxiety. It makes him think that all those times before weren’t even crushes, if this is what it’s supposed to feel like.
Benjy has always considered himself a hopeless romantic, but in retrospect, he might have been just hopeless. Like when he claimed the charming man from the coffeeshop who once made his latte art resemble a heart was the love of his life, or when he swore he was going to marry his handsome neighbour who had helped him carry in some heavy boxes when he was moving in, even after he met guy’s girlfriend, or when he was so sure that his friendly trainer in the gym was the one for him, or even way back in high school, when he didn’t stop talking about how smitten he was with the very fit, very broad-shouldered, and very straight jock who was one class above him.
Over a week ago, Benjy ran into said jock again, who was still very fit, still very broad-shouldered, but, as it turned out, not quite so straight anymore.
Benjy had blushed when he entered the deli and suddenly stood face-to-face with the man he still vividly remembered from his school days, Caradoc Dearborn. While Benjy immediately recognized him, he truly didn’t expect Caradoc Dearborn to even know who Benjy was, so he had stammered a quick hello and walked away, expecting that to be the end of it. However, when Benjy was about to leave, Caradoc Dearborn suddenly approached him. He gave Benjy his number, saying it was nice to see him again, and that it would be nice to catch up some time. They texted for about a week before deciding to meet up for coffee. Coffee turned into dinner, and dinner turned into drinks.
And that’s were they are now, sitting together in a cosy bar, so close that there legs are pressed together, just talking and talking and talking. Talking to Caradoc is easy, listening to Caradoc is captivating, and hearing Caradoc laugh is mesmerizing.
From the moment they started talking, Benjy doesn’t ever want it to stop.
Somewhere during their conversation, Caradoc’s hand has ended up on Benjy’s thigh, and Benjy is trailing his hand up over Caradoc’s very impressive biceps. Caradoc reaches out to brush a strand of hair from Benjy’s face, Benjy leans into the touch, Caradoc leans in too, their faces suddenly very close, and almost simultaneously, both of them move in further, slowly closing that last bit of distance between them, and...
Caradoc is abruptly jerked backwards, pulled from his barstool and shoved up against the wall.
Benjy nearly face-plants into the empty bar stool in front of him, and can barely catch himself. “What the-?”
Benjy looks up at the man who has grabbed Caradoc by his collar and is currently glaring at him furiously. He knows that man. Well, he doesn’t know him, but he knows who he is. Everyone does. He’s the kind of guy who walks into the room and you immediately say ‘who is that?’
Sirius Black unfairly handsome, like he’s designed for the sole purpose of making the rest of mankind feel inadequate. Too intimidating for Benjy to ever even dare to talk to, but that’s not to say he hasn’t enjoyed the view from time to time.
One more reason why everyone has had Sirius Black’s name on their lips lately is because of his notorious, high profile family, whom he recently dramatically cut ties with. Everyone loves to speculate about what happened, and Benjy has heard the wildest stories flying around about the fallout between Black and his family.
Benjy most certainly isn’t enjoying the view now, now that Black is pushing the latest Love of His Life up against the wall.
“Um, hi,” Caradoc says, blinking at Black.
“Don’t ‘hi’ me,” Black snaps. “What the hell, Dearborn? How could you?”
“It... It’s not what it looks like!”
“What ‘it looks like’,” Black snarls. “Is that you were about to stick your tongue down that guy’s throat!”
Oh, Benjy really hopes that it is what it looks like!
“Yeah, okay,” Caradoc says. “I suppose that is what it looks like, but I’m not cheating!”
“Oh, right, no, of course,” Black says, rolling his eyes. “Because surely your boyfriend would be absolutely fine with you snogging some other guy!”
Boyfriend? Benjy’s heart drops. Of course, there’s always something, isn’t there? It’s only the first date and it shouldn’t hurt this much, but god, it bloody does!
Caradoc shakes his head. “Sirius, please, it’s something between Remus and I.”
“Oh no,” Black says. “I’m not going to keep this from Remus! You can forget about that! You know what? I knew from the very start you weren’t good enough for him! I should’ve just spoken up back then.”
“Yes, that would’ve saved us both a lot of trouble,” Caradoc mutters.
“I just hope Remus will realise-”
“Remus will realise what?” A guy with floppy, honey-coloured hair and matching honey-coloured eyes comes walking up to them. He looks curiously from Caradoc to Black, his expression strangely... hopeful?
“Remus!” Black says, sounding way too pleased for the current situation, as he turns to the guy, apparently Remus, apparently Caradoc’s boyfriend. “Excellent timing. I think your boyfriend has something to say?” He looks at Caradoc with a slightly smug smile on his face.
Caradoc sighs. “Sirius seems to be under the impression-”
“Sirius isn’t under any impression!” Black interrupts sharply, glaring at Caradoc. “Sirius saw with his own eyes!” He turns back to Remus. “Dearborn was about to snog this random guy here!”
Benjy opens his mouth to protest, because Black may have a good reason to be angry, it’s not Benjy’s fault and Black doesn’t need to talk about him like that, but Caradoc beats him to it.
“Don’t talk about him like that!”
Benjy feels a tingle in his stomach at hearing Caradoc defend him, he’s just so... No, Benjy, no! He’s a liar and a cheater and you deserve better!
Remus presses a hand against his chest and gasps dramatically. “Caradoc! How could you!” He says, rather theatrically, Benjy thinks.
“That’s exactly what I said,” Black says triumphantly.
The way Remus is studying his face makes Benjy think he’s more interested in Black’s reaction to the situation than in his actual cheating boyfriend.
“And I said that it wasn’t like that!” Caradoc exclaims, looking more fed up than guilty or ashamed.
“Caradoc!” Remus hisses, giving him a pointed look.
“I mean, yes, I suppose it is, but...”
“Caradoc!” Benjy says, aiming to sound angry, but it comes out more like heartbroken.
“I mean, no, it’s not...” Caradoc rubs his temples. “Oh, fuck this.” He looks at Remus. “Sorry, Remus. I’m done with this.” He turns to Black. “Remus and I aren’t dating.”
Remus lets out another one of those overly dramatic gasps.
Black’s eyes narrow. “You dare deny it?” He asks in a dangerous tone. “You would just dismiss your relationship with Remus like that, while there are so many people who would die to be with Remus, who would want nothing more than to have him to themselves?”
“I know at least one,” Caradoc mutters under his breath, at the same time as Remus asks “You really think so?” while beaming at Sirius.
“Of course!” Sirius says wholeheartedly. “You deserve someone who knows how lucky they are.” The last part is said with sideways glance in Caradoc’s direction.
Caradoc rolls his eyes. “Remus and I were only pretending to date to make you jealous,” he plainly states.
Sirius blinks at him. “Why... Why would you want to make me jealous?”
Benjy crosses his arms over his chest. “Were you just using me to make him jealous too?” He demands. For some reason, he feels especially hurt that he isn’t even the only one Caradoc was using to make Black jealous. Maybe his friends did have a point when saying he needs to work on his self-esteem...
“Not me!” Caradoc exclaims. “Remus wants to make you jealous.”
Remus lifts his chin. “Why, I do not know of what you speak,” he says airily.
“Oh, Remus, let it off!” Caradoc snaps.
“Fine!” Remus throws his hands up in the air. “Fine! It’s true! It was me!” He turns to Black looking almost defiantly. “I asked Caradoc to pretend to be my boyfriend to help me make you jealous.”
Benjy’s previously sunken heart perks up a little. Caradoc isn’t a cheater! He’s just a loyal friend!
Black stares. “You... What? Why?”
“Because!” Remus exclaims, poking his finger against Black’s chest. “Because I like you, and I know you like me too, but you never bloody say it!”
“And you thought pretending you were happy with someone else would make me more inclined to say it?” Black asks incredulously.
“Every time something seemed to happen between us, you drew back! I thought that maybe the possibility of losing me to someone else would finally give you the push you needed to speak up.”
“Really?” Black crosses his arms over his chest. “The person who thought it a better plan to fake an entire relationship rather than just have a conversation with me is lecturing me about speaking up?”
Benjy must admit he makes a fair point.
Remus places his hands on his hips. “You’re damn right I am! If you like me, you would fight for me!” He averts his gaze. “But you didn’t. So maybe I was wrong. Maybe you don’t like me.”
“I don’t like you,” Black says. “I bloody love you, Remus!”
Remus spreads his arms. “Then why didn’t you fight for me?”
“Because loving you means wanting you to be happy,” Black says. “And believe me, Remus, wanting you to be happy and wanting you to be with me are two very different things.”
There’s a beat of silence.
“What... what’s that supposed to mean?” Remus asks, but his tone is much softer now.
Black runs a hand through his hair. “Look, Remus. You’ve got your shite figured out. You’ve got your own place, you work as a teaching assistant, from where you can get your accreditation and grow into becoming an actual teacher, and you love your job and are damned good at it. You’ve had a rough time, and now you’ve got your life on track. But me? I just got kicked out of my parents’ house, am crashing on my best friend’s couch, and just dropped out of my Business and Accounting studies my parents forced me to do. I never applied for any scholarships, because, you know, rich parents, and now I’m disinherited, so I’ve got no idea how I’m ever going to afford any type of education ever again. In short, I’ve got no place to live, no money, and no idea what I’m going to do with the rest of my life. Why would I let you be a part of that? Why would you want to be a part of that?”
“That makes sense,” Remus says.
Black drops his gaze, but then Remus continues. “Or rather, that would’ve made sense, had it been anywhere near the full story.”
Black looks up again.
Remus takes a step forward. “You forgot to mention how strong and brave you are for defying your family, no matter how much it’ll cost you, or how a fiercely loyal you are to your friends and how you’ve always been there for me, but find it so difficult to ask for help yourself, or just how clever and talented you are, and how you can now finally use that drive and passion to follow your own path, and I can’t wait to see where it’ll take you, but Sirius, there’s no rush. You’re allowed to take your time to figure things out, and while you do, I want to be there with you. So please, let me be there with you.” Remus takes another step towards Black and places a hand on his cheek. “Please, let me be with you.”
Black responds by moving in and kissing Remus, his arms coming around Remus’ waist to pull him even closer, and Remus’ hands sliding into Black’s hair.
Benjy starts to clap.
Remus and Black pull apart and give Benjy a puzzled look.
Benjy awkwardly scrapes his throat. “Um, sorry. It... It seemed like a clapping-moment?” He scratches his head. “I’m sorry. Please, um, don’t mind me. Sorry.”
Remus shakes his head and seems to want to continue the kiss, but at that point, a young man with hazel eyes, messy, dark hair sticking up in all directions, and a calm, easy-going manner about him has wandered up to the group, casually sipping his beer.
“Everything settled here?” He asks, looking from Remus and Black to Benjy and Caradoc. “Everyone got the respective man of their choice?”
Remus holds on to Black’s arm. “I’ve got mine!” He beams.
Black smiles at him completely besotted. “And I mine.”
They’re actually cute together. Benjy can’t help it. Besides the fact that Black ruined his moment with Caradoc and insulted Benjy, and Remus nearly ruined things between him and Caradoc all together by not fessing up about his scheming, Benjy finds himself rooting for them.
His thoughts are interrupted by Caradoc gently tapping him on the shoulder. “What about me?” He asks softly. “Have I got the respective man of my choice?”
Benjy can’t help the smile spreading over his face. “Who knows, if you play your cards right.”
Two years later
“And I pronounce you now husband and husband! You may kiss the groom.”
“And now you may clap,” Caradoc whispers in Benjy’s ear.
Benjy glares at him as the room bursts out in applause as Remus throws himself at Sirius, who is all too happy to catch him and pull him into a passionate kiss.
Caradoc chuckles and kisses Benjy’s cheek. “I’m sorry, love. I’m just teasing.”
Benjy doesn’t reply, but he lets Caradoc wrap his strong arms around him and pull him close, and he rests his head on Caradoc’s shoulder with a content sigh as Caradoc starts gently treading his fingers through his hair.
They watch as Remus and Sirius, Mr and Mr Lupin, make their way back down the aisle, towards the exit, Remus holding on to Sirius’ arm and Sirius smiling at him completely besotted, both of them beaming more brightly than Benjy has ever seen anyone beam.
“They really are cute together,” Benjy says.
“Hmmm,” Caradoc hums.
“And it was such a beautiful ceremony,” Benjy sighs.
Caradoc moves a bit closer to whisper in his ear. “Do you think that’ll be us someday?”
Benjy’s stomach erupts in flutters, like it still does every time he’s reminded that Caradoc is actually his. He can’t help the smile spreading over his face. “Who knows, if you play your cards right.”
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