#ocjake

Chapter Seven

Lily had almost her whole body in the wardrobe, locking for something decent to wear. She would think she found something, then decide it wasn’t good enough and toss it out. Several articles of clothing flew past, or hit, Remus. 

She was mumbling to herself, sounding like she was on the verge of tears. Remus pulled the skirt off that had hit him in the face and stood up. HE grabbed Lily’s shoulder and gently pulled her out of the wardrobe. 

“Go shave, shower, wash your body, hair,” Remus listed it off. “Go do whatever cleansing stuff you do,”

“B-but my outfit..” Lily mumbled. “What on earth do I wear!?”

“I’ll sort it,” Remus reassured with a friendly smile. “Go shower, go on,”

Lily just sighed in defeat and trudged into their shared bathroom. Remus spun around, looking at the mess of clothes. 

He’s gay. What the fuck do women like to wear to feel good. So he turned to the two people who could actually help. 

“So,” Mary laughed. He had faced time her and Marlene on their messenger group chat. Jake had also joined. Remus had Lily’s phone, plus she was showering. “You need us to help you plan an outfit for Lily?”

“Well yes,” Remus confirmed. “I simply don’t know how girls… work??” He sounded very unsure. His friends nodded their heads. 

“What kind of clothes does she have?” Marlene asked.

“Wearable ones? I’m confused,” 

“Clearly. Show us her wardrobe,” Mary said.

“That’s more her room right now,” Remus mumbled. He panned the phone camera around, going through her clothing.

“Where are they going?” Jake finally spoke up.

“To a pub,” Remus answered.

“Oh! I got it!” Marlene shouted. There was shouting heard through the speaker, Marlene saying sorry, before turning back to the camera. “Remus go get that black tee. No the other one, that’s not even black, yeah that one. Okay now go get that long high waisted skirt, the yellow one. High waisted as in it sits high on the wa- she only has one long yellow skirt! Yes, that one.”

“Remus, my boy,” Jake tuttued. “You’re hopeless,”

“Shut up, you are a child,” Remus responded. 

“Go over to her shoes,” Mary ordered. Remus did as said. Mary hummed as she thought then gasped when she saw the perfect ones. “Those! The short brown heels! No, the boot looking ones. Yep!”

Remus set up all the clothes and laid them out on the bed. He faced the camera to his clothing person. Everyone agreed that would look good.

“What about jewelry?” Jake gasped. 

“What about these?” Remus asked, uncertain. He held a short heavy gold necklace, and a long necklace with an almost spear at the end to the camera. Everyone said yes. “See, I’m not so hopeless,”

“And when are you next going out on a date, Mr. Lupin?” Marlene asked. 

She did have a boyfriend, they met at college. Jake also has a girlfriend, his high school sweetheart. Mary was going for Sirius. Lily was currently getting ready for a date.

Remus huffed. “Mary doesn’t have a boyfriend,” He mumbled.

“Just you wait, I will get Sirius,” Mary said determined.

“But really Remus, do you currently have anyone you fancy?” Jake turned serious.

“This is about Lily,” Remus put the conversation back on track. He held up gold cross earrings and a slightly thicker than thin gold bracelet. He added it to the necklaces. 

“I’ll send a photo of how she should have her hair and makeup, our poor Remus’ brain would explode if I tried to explain it,” Mary mocked.

“Okay, okay. I’ll send you guys a photo,” He then left the call just as Lily walked out. 

“I shaved  my coochie, I don’t know if I should have,” Lily announced, standing wither her towel wrapped around her body. “Is that going to far?”

“Whatever makes you comfortable?” Remus provided, uncomftorbale. Lily just nodded and looked at the outfit laid out on her bed. “Get changed into those, I had Mary, Marlene and Jake help,”

Lily just nodded. She took off her towel and began getting changed. Remus had the decency to turn around, even though they have seen each other naked multiple times. They were one anothers firsts after all.

Remus turned back around to see Lily with the clothes on. He helped her put on the jewelry, then assisted in makeup, which was just passing her the products. Same with hair.

She pulled on her shoes, and after five minutes, decided on perfume. Another five minutes and she had a handbag.

“How do I look?” She asked shyly.

“Gorgeous,” Remus said, breathless. He knew Lily was beautiful, she always has been inside and out, but wow.

The shirt fit tightly, accenting her breasts nicely. The skirt was tight around her waist but flowed nicely. Her shoes added some extra height, which is always nice, especially in her opinion. Her makeup wasn’t too drastic, but it showed off her green eyes and freckles across her cheeks. Her hair was pinned down on one side, the rest of her hair fluffy resting on her shoulder.

Lily blushed. “Thanks,” She checked her phone. “Oh god, he’s here,” She looked up at Remus in panic.

He smiles comfortingly. “You will do great. Go out, have a good time.”

Lily just nodded, hyping herself up. She bid goodbye to Remus, giving him a kiss on the cheek then leaving.

Shit, he forgot a photo. Oh well.

He went to their kitchen and made himself some ramen to eat for when he goes and binges some new anime series. He was thinking about starting Vampire Knight.

~~~

As Remus was halfway through episode eight of Vampire knight, he heard the door open and close. He paused the show and looked over his shoulder, seeing Lily leaning against the wall, a happy smile on her face.

“So it went well?” Remus mused.

“Went well? Remus it went great,” Lily sighed, walking over and sitting on the couch next to Remus. She laid down, putting her head in her friends lap.

He begun running his fingers through her hair.

“He picked me up in his car, said I looked absolutely gorgeous. Then he asked about my day, and my week. He opened the door for me, pulled out my chair for me. He was such a gentleman. He shouted food and drinks. Oh it was lovely. Oh! He…”

Lily continued to talk about her date, trying to fit in every detail. Remus listened intently, smiling. He would nod or ‘mhm’ where was needed, but she was content and happy. Once she finished talking Remus smirked.

“To think at the beginning you said you could never like him,” Remus brought up. “When do you think you started to develop feelings?”

“When I knew he got the flowers for me,” Lily thought. “As soon as he asked what my favourite flowers were, that’s when.” Remus aww’d.

~~~

Remus was so tired. Today it just so happened to be busy. Lily and Marlene were at uni, he had no idea about Mary, and Jake called in sick. A few minutes after he turned the sign from closed to open, it was customer after customer. When he finally got a break from the customers, all the orders came in and he had to sort through those.

It had been twenty minutes since he had seen the last customer and boy was he happy. He went to go make a coffee and sort through the orders once more. Making sure he had gotten all the right ones, people were coming to pick them up, things like that.

Then he remembered.

He has to deliver Sirius’ flowers.

He could very well send Marlene or Lily over when they come in, but something was pulling at him to do it himself.

Right as he thought this, the bell rang. Remus looked up, seeing Marlene walk in.

“Marlene! My saviour!” He cried. “It’s been so busy Marl’s, so so busy,”

Marlene laughed and patted his head. “You poor thing. Also Mary is sick as well, I dropped by her place on my way here. I think she’s worse than Jake..”

“She’s hungover, isn’t she?” Remus asked. Marlene nodded. “Should've guessed.”

Marlene laughed. She clocked on then checked with Remus on the orders. She gave the flowers a quick water and picked out all the dead or dying flowers. She put the dead flowers in a vase without water, and the dying ones in a vase with water.

She found two bunches of Rose’s in the orders and asked Remus about them.

“Shit, right,” Remus scratched the back of his head. “I have to go deliver these to Sirius across the street,”

“Mary would be jealous,”

“Well she shouldn’t be hungover,”

Marlene laughed. “Alright, you do that, I’ll take over,”

“Thanks Marls,” Remus grinned. He made sure his phone was in his pockets. He grabbed the rose’s and traveled across the street.

He wouldn’t admit it, but he struggled to open the door. He did it in the end though. Watching the door close behind him, he turned around with a sigh, but smirked when he saw James Potter at the counter.

“Hello and welcome to Black’s Tatt’s, how can I help you today?” James greeted.

Remus and James have never properly met. He had only seen James when he comes into the shop, but never had a proper meeting.

“Oh,” James eyed widened in realization. “You must be from across the street, with Sirius’ flowers orde- Oh! You’re Remus!”

Remus laughed lightly. “How was the date the other night?”

“I’m sure Lily told you,” James went all shy. “But it was really good, I really like Lily,”

“I could tell,”

“Would she want to go on another date?”

“God yes, hurry up and ask her,”

“I will when I get off work. I’ll go grab Sirius.”

James spun around on his spinny chair, Remus instantly wanted one, and went off to go find Sirius.

Remus walked closer to the counter and looked around. It was nice, and it felt comfortable. Which is always good when you run a place where you stab people with needles.

James returned, with Sirius by his side.

There were no customers in the shop.

“Hiya Remus!” Sirius greeted gleefully, a smile on his face lighting the whole room up. 

He wasn’t tall, but he also wasn’t short. He would be just over Remus’ shoulder. He looked skinny, especially around the waist, but you could tell he had muscles, bulging slightly on the biceps, arms in general, and thighs.  He had black hair that just hit his shoulders. It looked ruffled, yet both silky and soft at the same time. The startings of a beard on his face, giving him that sexy stubble most men couldn’t pull off. His eyes were a silvery grey, looking right into his soul. They had a past hiding behind them, Remus could tell that much. He wore a Guns N’ Roses shirt. The sleeves went down to his elbows and were black, as well as the collar. The rest of the shirt was white, the front and back hanging lower than the sides. They were matched with very tight fitting black jeans, that had rips in random places. On his feet were a pair of torn black and white converse. Those pants did wonders for Sirius’ legs, Remus thought. He had a cigarette tucked behind his ear and a lighter in his hand that he was sliding into his pocket. He carried himself with confidence, but with a hint of goofiness. Remus hoped he could get to know him more.

“Hi Sirius,” Remus returned the smile.

“I was about to go for a smoke, so you have good timing,” Sirius leaned over the counter once he reached it, smiling at Remus. “I’m guessing those are the flowers for me?”

“Sure are,” Remus confirmed. 

“Aw you shouldn’t have,” Sirius chuckled. “Actually, we have a minor issue. I don’t have any vase’s,”

“Oh,” Remus went to scratch his face, remembering he was holding flowers he decided not to. “We have some at the shop, if you would like to come see?”

“Okay!” Sirius was suddenly excited. “Let me get those out of your hands,” he grabbed the flowers out of Remus’ hands and handed them to James. “Take care of these while I’m gone,”

James rolled his eyes. “Don’t be gone too long,”

“Yes, Prongs,” Sirius replied. He walked out from behind the counter and walked with Remus out the door.

“Prongs?” Remus queried.

“It’s a nickname for James. Mine is Padfoot, and our other friend, Peter, is Wormtail,” Sirius explained. Remus just nodded silently.

They walked into his shop and Marlene welcomed them. “Welcome back Remus, and friend… Sirius, right?”

Sirius saluted. “The one and only, I think,” Marlene laughed.

Remus led him to the vase’s. There were a selection of tall ones, thin ones, small ones, and fat ones. 

Sirius picked up two that caught his interest. They were tall and went from wide at the top, to even wider. In a nice white colour. “These two, please.”

They went up to the counter and Remus rung them through. Once Sirius had paid for those, they went back over to the tattoo shop.

Remus wanted to sit down.

Remus helped Sirius put the flowers in the vase’s, with the right amount of water. He told the shorter boy how to take care of them. Then Sirius gave him the cash.

“Thank you for this, Remus,” Sirius said earnestly.

“I’m just doing my job,” Remus chuckled. “I’ll see you around I suppose?”

“Yeah, probably next Monday,” Sirius smirked.

Remus laughed, said goodbye to James, then left. He wanted, no needed, to sit down. When he got in the shop, he acknowledged Lily with a small wave and instantly went into his office. He crashed into his chair and laid his head on the desk. 

“Hello my dearest friend,” Lily said sarcastically, popping her head through the doorway.

Remus just grunted, then he heard his phone buzz. He pulled out his phone and read the text.

Sirius Black:

After all that, I completely forgot to tell you 

I have your flower notebook

Sirius Black:

Want to go for coffee again?

I can give it back to you then,

CHAPTER FOUR

“Sirius?” James asked in a sweet tone. “You still picking up those flowers for me?”

“I don’t see why you can’t,” Sirius responded, cleaning up his station as he had just finished  session.

“What if she’s there,” James argued.

“You ask her out on a date,”

“Yeah, Potter,” Alyce snickered. “Don’t be a pussy,”

James just stuck his tongue out.

“Actually, I do want to go over there anyway,” Sirius said. “I’ve had this idea for awhile and I want to talk to the manager about it?”

“What? You want to give the cute Orders Manager a free tat?” Alyce smirked.

Sirius pulled a face at her. “No, I was thinking about having weekly flowers at the shop,”

“Why?” James asked. “Seriously, where did this idea even come from? Flowers? Punk boy Sirius wants flowers?”

“Are you okay?” Alyce asked. “Did you have a fall? A fever?”

“The more you make fun of me the more I cut your pay,” They immediately shut up. “When am I picking up these flowers?”

“Sirius, you called,” James stated.

“Oh, well I forgot,” Sirius shrugged. “I’ll go over now,”

“Don’t mention me to Lily!” James shouted.

“Aye aye captain!” Sirius saluted. 

He momentarily clocked out and grabbed his phone and wallet, heading over to the other side of the street. He pushed open the door, hearing the little bell jingled above him as he walked in. He looked at the counter and saw a guy with a buzzcut. 

“Welcome to Lupins’ Lotus’, how can I help you?” The guy asked nicely.

“Hi, I’m here to pick up some flowers for James?” Sirius said, or more asked.

The guys eyes widened a little. “One moment please,” He said then quickly disappears through the doorway behind him.

Sirius looked at the spot where the man once was with confusion. He blinked and shook his head, looking at the flowers around him and smelling some of them. 

“Hi,” A feminie voice said, now next to him. He jumped a little. “My name is Mary, I am the Orders Manager. You must be Sirius?”

“The one and only, I think,” Sirius laughed. “I’m here to pick up some Zannia’s for Potter, or James,”

“My friend, Jake, is just grabbing those for you,” Mary smiled politely. “So, you work at the tattoo parlour across the street?”

Sirius nodded. “The only one in town,”

“That’s nice,” Mary said.

Sirius felt awkward. How long does it take to get flowers? 

He looked at the girl standing in front of him. She was quite attractive, no, very attractive. Shame, really. Especially since she is flirting with him. He almost felt bad for what would happen.

“Is the manager around to talk to?” Sirius asked.

“He is with family today, so I am the manager in charge for today,” Mary explained.

Sirius was about to say something when another voice spoke. “No she is not,” A girl with red hair said. He knew straight away that was Lily.

“You must be Lily,” Sirius grinned. “James can’t wait to see your reaction,” He grinned even more knowing that James will most definitely hit him for this.

“Oh,” Lily laughed awkwardly. ‘Well, I am in charge for today. Remus, the Manager, if visiting family today. How may I help you?”

“I just wanted to talk to him about flowers and stuff..” Sirius knew that sounded weird. “It’d be better if I could actually talk to him, only because he is in charge no offence to you girls,”

Lily laughed. “None taken. Mary, get Sirius’ number and put it in the notebook with a note for Remus, I’ll go see if Jake pulled a precious muscle,” She then walked away.

Mary smiled at Sirius again. She grabbed a pen and a black sparkly notebook. “So, full name and number please,”

“Sirius Black,” He then told her his phone number.

She wrote it down then gave him a wink, he just smiled back. The guy from earlier walked out, Sirius is pretty sure his name is Jake, along with Lily. Jake handed Sirius the flowers and yeah, Sirius thought, they looked really nice. Understandable Lily likes them.

“That will be thirty dollares please,” Mary said. Sirius handed her the money James gave him and she give him the change.

“Thank you,” Sirius grinned. “Good luck Lily,” He left, walking back over to his shop.

 ~~~

“How do I english,” James was panicking.

“Well, you open your mouth and do the thing you've been doing for like, all of your life- ow!” Sirius rubbed the back of his head, jutting out his bottom lip. 

“Thanks, asshole,” James, the person who just slapped Sirius in the back of the head, said. “Peter, how do I talk to girls?”

“Has Wormtail even had a girl- Ow! Is it abuse Sirius day?” Sirius now rubbed his bicep.

“Like you talk to every other girl James,” Peter said calmly, ignoring Sirius.

“But Lily isn’t every other girl!” James argued. “She’s..” He sighs. “Perf-”

“I don’t want to hear it,” Sirius interrupts. “By my calculations it would be the 139,44-”

“You’re saying random numbers,” Peter interrupts this time.

“Maybe,” Sirius shrugs. “But I shut him up,”

“You guys aren’t helping!” James huffed. “I must confind in the lesbian, Alyce!!”

They all heard a loud sigh. “What, Potter?”

“How do I talk to Lily?”

“Go up to her, say hello, ask her how she is, how her day has been, then give her the flowers,”

“But what do I do after that?”

“Depending on what reaction?”

“Bad,”

“Apologise, then just walk away,”

“Lame!” Sirius shouted. “You shouldn’t give up that easily,”

“Sirius that’s harassment,” Peter whispered.

“Oh,” Sirius said quietly.

“What about good?” James asked.

“Improvise, use your brain,” Alyce tapped his head. “Ask her on a date,”

“Oh god I don’t know if I can do that,” James freaked. “That’s scary,” 

Alyce just rolled her eyes. “Have your balls dropped yet, Potter?”

James scrunched up his face, repeating her words in a childish tone. “Yes, they have dropped,”

“They are just very small,” Sirius grinned.

“You actually aren’t helping,” Peter shook his head. “In any way, at all,”

Sirius stuck out his tongue and folded his arms across his chest. “I’m right,” He mumbled to himself.

“Where are you doing it?” Alyce asked.

“At college tomorrow morning,” James confirmed. “We have history together,”

“Do it after class,” Alyce suggested.

“How will I hide the flowers?” James queried.

“Sirius, do you have a session or a class tomorrow?” Alyce turned to the boy in question. He shook his head. “He can drop them off,”

“Okay,” James nodded. “Easy enough,”

Now it was all sorted. The conversation was had as everyone was cleaning up. They did the final cleaning then grabbed their bags and jackets and walked out back, Sirius behind locking every door and window. 

“Good luck man,” Alyce clapped James on the back. “You’ll do great,” She then left, getting in her car.

“Yeah, I believe in you prongs,” Peter gave him a supportive smile then got in his own car.

“So glad I have my own man to take me home,” Sirius fluttered his eyes, climbing into James’ car, the other boy getting in the driver's seat.

“And I’m so glad I get to take you home,” James said sarcastically. 

Chapter Five

“Mary is still upset, she reckons you should give manager job to her,” Lily commented as she was brushing her hair.

“When you, Marlene and myself die,” Remus yaned, “Maybe,”

“What about Jake?” Lily asked.

“He is a kid,” Remus shrugged. 

“He is a year younger than us,” Lily said, Remus shrugged again. “Are you sure you’re okay to come in today? You are dealing with the ‘kid’ and Mary,”

“I’ll be fine, I think,” Remus replied. 

Lily didn’t bother to argue back, Remus was going to insist on going in even though he had a very prominent limp. So they walked out to the car, at least Remus would accept a lift, and Lily dropped the boy off at work before going to uni.

Remus did what he usually does to open up the shop, just a little slower than usual. He made an extra strong coffee this morning, hoping it will help him get through the day. He flipped the closed sign to open and walked behind the counter. He checked the system and the notebooks, looking at orders, notes, money, etc to make sure nothing was out of order. 

There were a few orders for today, one name Remus recognized. It was an old man who, at the start of every month, would buy his wife flowers. That made Remus smile.

Remus continued drinking his coffee, helping customers when they came in, advising them what flowers would be best and helping one lady and her child on how to take good care of their flowers. 

Around eleven, Mary walked in. 

“God Remus, you lowkey look like shit,” She stated, concern in her voice.

“I highkey feel like it, but it’s fine,” Remus brushed the concern off. “John is coming to pick up this months flowers,”

“Gladiolus’?” Mary asked. Remus nodded in confirmation. “Do you need me to get those ready?”

“Yes please,” Remus smiled in relief.

Mary grinned. “Sure thing boss!” Remus rolled his eyes with a chuckle. “Oh, you need to call Sirius Black back, his name and number is in the notebook,”

“You handle the flowers and I’ll handle the phone call,” Remus knew Mary wasn’t happy with that but she just saluted him and went to do her job.

Remus sighed, wondering why he asked his crackhead friends to work for him, but they do get their jobs done. Sometimes. He grabbed the notebook, walking to the phone in the staff room. He grabbed a chair and sat next to the phone, dialing the number. 

“Hello, Black’s Tatt’s, Alyce speaking, how may I help you?” A female spoke over the line.

“Hi, this is Remus the manager of Lupin’s Lotus’, Sirius Black wanted to speak to me?”

“I’m afraid he’s at uni right now, but when I reach him I will tell him to call you back,” The voice, Alyce, responded.

“Alright, thank you, goodbye,” Then Remus hung up after Alyce told him to have a good day. 

Mary poked her head around the doorway. “What’s happening?” She asked.

“He is at uni right now,” Remus responded. “So he will call me back,”

“Seems you guys keep missing each other,” Mary laughed, Remus just laughed along. Almost as if they had to talk, but they just kept missing their chances. 

~~~

It was two hours later when the phone rang again. Mary was in the middle of putting through a payment so Remus went to go answer the phone.

“Hello, Lupin’s Lotus’, Remus speaking, how may I help you?” Remus greeted the customer.  

“Hi, this is Sirius Black,” The voice answered. “Seems I finally caught you.”

Remus chuckled, “Yes, looks like we both have quite a busy schedule.”

“Well, I wanted to have a chat with you about getting some flowers into my shop weekly,” Sirius said. “Would you like to go get a coffee? I only have one session today and finish at three,”

“Three-thirty then?” Remus asked. “I will have to get someone to close up, but yes I can do coffee,”

“Great!” Sirius exclaimed. “The coffee shop down the road? Um… Weasley Tea?”

“Sounds good,” Remus nodded even though Sirius couldn’t see him. “I will see you then,”

“Alright! See you then!” Remus could almost hear the smile. Sirius then hung up.

Remus walked out, helping Mary with the few customers that just came into the shop. John came to pick up his flowers, a lady came in and ordered a bunch of flowers for a funeral, and a little boy bought one singular pink rose for his new girlfriend.

“Ah, young love,” Mary sighed dreamily.

“Mary they are like two years old,” Remus argued.

“They are seven,” Mary laughed.

“Every child under the age of thirteen is two,” Remus explained. “Then once they hit thirteen, they are that age until they are eighteen. At eighteen you are sixteen until you are twenty-one,”

“So you are sixteen?” Mary asked, Remus just gave a sharp nod. She burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Jake questioned, clocking on.

“You, Lily and Remus are sixteen,” Mary answered with a straight face.

“No, Jake is twelve,” Remus corrected.

“I’m twelve? What?” Jake was very confused.

“Why is Jake twelve?” Mary ignored Jake. 

“He is, and always will be a child,” Remus supplied.

“Am I immature?” Jake was lost.

“He is physically bigger than you, and looks older than you. Remus, you look twelve,”

“Maybe I do look twelve, but Jake IS twelve,”

“You see him as a little brother don’t you!?”

“That’s weird, and gross. No,”

“I’m so confused,” Jake frowned. 

“Sorry Jake,” Remus said, stopping what Mary was about to say, “That’s just how it is,”

Mary huffed but left the conversation at thst. Then she remembered something. “Did Sirius call you back?”

Remus nodded. “ I’m going to go get coffee with him..” He looked at the clock. “In an hour,”

“Oh,” Mary said.

“I’ll make sure to mention you,” Remus added quickly. Mary grinned. “But, Jake do you think you can close up on your own? Or should we just close up early today?”

“No need,” Jake shook his head. “I can close up,”

“Thanks, champ,” Remus said and patted the younger boys head.

“You do think of me as a child!”