#thread:sooi

He’d spent the last week completely avoiding the shared living space of the four boys, nearly successfully, even relocating his medications from the corner of that cabinet in the kitchen to the top drawer of his bedside table, just so he needn’t venture into the one place Sirius spent a good amount of quality time and run into the other man. It was stupid, really, tiptoeing around the flat in the wee hours of the morning to shower and prepare for the day. Remus would slip out the door before James or Sirius or Peter woke, exhausted from tossing and turning all night but alone and unseen, and spend the day at the university. Only to return during the hours he knew Sirius had class or work, he’d sneak back to his room and sneak away from any questions coming from any angle before they had a chance to ask.

Sure, he wouldn’t be able to keep up this little routine forever. But for now, until he could look at Sirius again and actually breathe, it would work.

Meanwhile, his current way of doing things left little interaction with James or Peter, a fact that the two were sure to notice. Remus already prepared the speech in his head -- just busy, so much work to do, and there’s midterms just around the corner, and hadn’t they heard that he’d started tutoring English to a foreign exchange student? 

Sighing, Remus tapped the end of his pen on the notebook opened across his usual table in the library, mentally preparing himself for the interrogation he’d surely undergo once James arrived. They planned to study together for the afternoon, and Remus entertained the idea of texting him to cancel their meeting with some excuse about being too tired or too sick or too something. But he’d have to deal with James’ strongly motherly way of caring far too much for his own good eventually, so erasing the message he’d been typing out, Remus frowned. A few clicks and he brought up his iTunes, popped on some Arctic Monkeys to pump through his headphones while he waited, and dropped his head into his hands.

If he was lucky, James wouldn’t have noticed his lack of existence over the past week, and he’s come in with a laugh like nothing ever happened. But Remus Lupin never seemed to be very lucky.