adventurous // wolfstar au ✔️

s i x t e e n

"i'm sorry," remus whispers. he's clinging to the collar of sirius' shirt, wanting him to stay but knowing he should go.

"baby, shhh. i've got you," sirius whispers, kisses his forehead. "i won't let you go again."

"you have to go," remus murmurs. "my dad will be home soon."

"i don't want to leave you --" sirius is cut off my the sound of the garage going up, and sees remus' face go pale. he desperately pushes at sirius' chest, trying to get him out of the house before his dad comes in. "remus..."

"please," remus hisses, tears in his eyes. 

sirius doesn't go, though. he knows remus is scared, and he can't leave his sweetheart when he's pale as he is, trembling, tears in his eyes. so sirius stays, holding his hand, running his thumb along the back of his love's hand, trying to soothe him.

remus' father enters the house just moments later. all remus can do is watch as his father's face goes from pale to pink to red, and remus goes even paler in response. 

"who the fuck are you?" remus' father demands of sirius, glaring at him. he's quite an unpleasant man, sirius would've known that even if he hadn't seen the giant bruise on remus' cheek.

"i'm sirius," sirius introduces himself. he's nervous as shit, but he knows remus is even more scared, so he tries to reign it in. he has to be strong.

"that doesn't answer who the fuck you are," remus' father responds, immediately opening a beer and downing it in, like, two gulps.

"i..." sirius hesitates. he doesn't know what to say. he doesn't want to out remus, but he doesn't know how to explain the situation otherwise. 

"he's my boyfriend," remus blurts. he goes red as a stop sign as soon as he says it, but god, he loves sirius, and he's not ashamed of it. he doesn't care if it means his dad beats the shit out of him -- this is his life, and this is his boyfriend, and he deserves to be happy with him.

"your what?" remus' father demands, furious. he downs another beer, and then opens a third. he hasn't processed this yet, isn't as angry as he will be yet, and remus clings to sirius' hand even tighter. "he --" remus' dad hiccups, "he's your what?"

"m-my boyfriend," remus stammers.

it happens so fast. one minute remus' father is seated at the table, and then he's lunged across the room, hands around remus' throat. remus is screaming, covering his face with his arms. he's so used to his father going straight for his face that he doesn't even try to stop his father from choking him. sirius is so startled by the action that it takes him a second to react, and he shoves remus' father away from him.

"get your hands off him!" sirius shouts. remus' father drunkenly stumbles back, and then goes for sirius. sirius is just as accustomed to having the shit beat out of him as remus is, and ducks as remus' dad swings at him.

"stop it," remus cries, tugging at his father's shoulder. getting the shit beat out of himself is bearable, but knowing that sirius could get hurt has remus fighting back for the first time in his life. remus' father jerks his elbow back, which catches remus right in the nose. remus jerks back with a cry, hands pressed to his face. he can feel the warm blood gushing down his face, and his eyes well up just from the severe ache of it.

"remus!" sirius yells, but remus can't say anything, just has his hands pressed to his nose. he feels sick and dizzy just from the sight of the blood dripping down to his shirt. with one final shove, remus' dad stumbles back and collapses on the floor, smacking his head against the kitchen table and hits the floor, unconscious. "remus, baby, are you okay? let me see," sirius demands. 

remus is sobbing, not entirely sure of when he'd even started crying. "you have a b-black eye," he chokes, gently touching just under sirius' bruise. 

"don't worry about me, remus," sirius half-chuckles. he loves his boyfriend so much. his nose is gushing blood but he's more concerned about sirius than himself. "oh, sweetheart, he got you good, huh?" he asks gently, tilting remus' head back so he can see how bad it is.

"ouch," remus whines. 

"i'm so sorry, baby...here." sirius grabs a dish towel and holds it to remus' nose. "i don't think it's broken, just a bloody nose. i'm so sorry, angel, i know it must hurt."

"my dad," remus says suddenly. "is he...?"

"no, remus, it just knocked him out. i can see him breathing."

remus starts to tremble. "he...he's gonna kill me...oh my god...sirius, he's gonna kill me...i'm actually going to die..." he shakes his head. god, he's dizzy from the blood loss, from how much it's staining the towel, and it only intensifies by how fucking scared he is. "sirius, you have to go. you have to go before he wakes up. please."

"remus, if you're thinking after all this shit, i'm leaving you, you've lost your mind."

"i don't want him to hurt you," remus finally sobs. "it would kill me."

"i know, love. and i won't let him...we're getting out of here. go grab some clothes?"

"what?"

"remus, quick! please! we'll figure it all out in the car."

remus goes. he's too scared to think, he just grabs his suitcase from the road trip (still mostly packed), and shoves clothes in it. six minutes later, he's back in the living room, his father still slumped against the wall.

"come on," sirius says, voice tense. he takes remus' suitcase in one hand and takes remus' hand in the other. remus doesn't say anything until they're in the car -- he tries to, a few times, but sirius' shoulders are so tense and he grabs so tightly onto the steering wheel that remus doesn't want to make him anymore upset by saying anything. "are you all right?" sirius finally asks.

"huh? me? yeah," remus replies, confused. his voice is muffled by the towel still held to his nose. "i...are you? i'm sorry."

"you have nothing to apologize for, baby boy." sirius kisses the back of his hand. "i'm sorry."

remus shakes his head. "nothing is your fault." he presses sirius' free hand to his cheek. "i love you, sirius."

"i love you, angel." sirius gives his hand a squeeze.

"where are we going?"

"i can't let you stay here with him...i could never...remus, i don't think i could be without you anyway...but knowing you're here...with him hurting you..." sirius shakes his head. "you're coming with me, love. me, james, and regulus, and hopefully lily, too. the family you were given...they won't always treat you right, remus, and they won't love you how you deserve. but lily, james, regulus, and i...we will. we'll be what you need."

remus is going to cry again. "i love you so much, sirius. i think it might kill me."

sirius finally cracks a smile. "i know exactly how you feel, my love."