"Virge- Virge, give that back! Give that back right now!"

Remus let out a tiny sigh and leaned back slightly, careful to not fall off the bench again. "He's cute." His brother spared him a small glance before looking back at his phone which he'd hidden in his blazer.

"Then ask him out."

"No fucking way, are you insane?!" Remus said, looking at Roman as if he'd suggested something crazy. "I've never even talked to him, I don't even know if he's-"

"If you finish that sentence with 'gay', I'll kill you." Remus shut his mouth, glaring at his brother. Roman sighed. "Look at his bag. He's got a coming out badge, see? Why would he have that badge if he wasn't gay or at least mlm?"

"But-"

"Re, calm down and go talk to him."

Before Remus could say anything, a boy holding a tattered Stephen King novel ran up to the bench Remus and Roman were sitting on and hid behind it.

"Uh, d'you mind?"

"Sh." He hissed, smiling slightly. Another boy with a mass of scars on the left side of his ran up to Remus and Roman.

"Hey, you haven't happened to..." He trailed off as he spotted his friend. "Virgil you prick!" He yelled, speeding around the bench as his friend took off in the opposite direction. "Give me back my book!"

"Um, excuse me?"

Janus whirled around. It was the boy from earlier that day, when Virgil had stolen his book. He held out Janus' bookmark.

"You dropped this."

"Oh, thanks." Janus said, smiling awkwardly and taking the bookmark back.

"Hey, um, can I ask you something?" The boy asked.

"Uh, sure."

"D'you want to sit with me and my brother at lunch? It's just... I think you're kinda cute and I want to get to know you more."

"Oh. Um..." Janus looked down, blushing slightly. No one had ever called him cute before.

"Oh shit, did I overstep?" The boy asked quickly.

"No, it's fine." Janus said quickly. "Just.. nevermind. I'm Janus and sure."

The boy grinned. "I'm Remus and great. What about your friend?"

Janus laughed. "Sorry, it's just... Virgil hates meeting new people. He'd really rather not."

"Oh, um, okay. So... see you tomorrow?"

Janus grinned and nodded.

Janus let out a small snort of laughter at something Remus had said and tucked his hair behind his ear. He thought someone was glaring at him and looked past Remus to where Virgil was sitting, glaring at him. He felt a small twinge of guilt inside him but looked back down at his book.

"You okay, Jan?"

"Um, yeah."

"You're not eating again."

Janus shrugged and turned a page. "I'm not hungry."

Remus shook his head. "You're going to eat." He threw a packet of crisps at Janus' face. "Eat."

Janus laughed slightly. "I'm really not hungry, Remus. And no thanks." He gave Remus back the packet of crisps. Remus crossed his arms and pouted. Janus rolled his eyes. He couldn't explain it, but everything Remus did made him want to either laugh or blush. Janus supposed it was a crush.

"Remus, I had something at break, calm down. Now you eat and I'll read. Like most lunch breaks."

"Ugh." Roman grumbled. "You two are so boring!"

"Well you're stuck with us, Ro. Get used to it." Remus said, a bit harsher than usually.

"Yeah but it's very obvious that you two-"

"Shut up!" Remus sang. Janus let out another laugh and looked back at his book.

"Hey Jan?"

Janus looked down from looking up at the trees. "Yeah? What is it?"

"I have a question for you. And you're probably gonna say no but I'm gonna try anyway."

"What is it? Are you okay? Is anything wrong?" Janus asked, his mind spiralling through all the bad things Remus could be asking him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. No, nothing's wrong. I was wondering... well, hoping... will you maybe consider going out with me?"

"What? You're serious?"

"Would it change your mind if I said yes?"

"No. I'd love to." Janus grinned and laughed slightly at Remus' shocked face.

"You're serious?"

Janus nodded a little shyly.

"No way."

"Look out, cause here I come." Janus sang quietly along with the film. It was their sixth date and they were lying on the couch in Roman and Remus' cellar, watching  The Greatest Showman. Remus was lying behind Janus, his arm around Janus' waist and Janus' hand resting lightly on his wrist. "And I'm marching on to the beat I drum. I'm not scared to be seen! I make no apologies! This is me!"

Remus' hand was tracing some of the scar's on the left side of Janus' face, making him scrunch his face up every now and then and giggle. "Rem, that tickles."

Remus let out a quiet laugh. Janus went back to watching the film. "You're perfect." Remus breathed. Janus felt his face blush pink. No one had ever called him perfect, either. He'd always been called 'freak', 'weirdo' and a multitude of other names because of his face.

"I'm not." Janus whispered back. Remus' hand stopped tracing his scars and fell away.

"You are." Remus said firmly. "And you always have been."

Janus wriggled around so he was facing Remus. Their faces were inches apart.

"You mean it?" Janus asked, his voice disbelieving but hopeful. Remus swallowed slightly, he could feel his face turning pink.

"Of course I do." He managed. Janus smiled gently and kissed Remus softly. There wasn't any passion or force in the kiss but it made Remus flush bright red and it confirmed the fact in his mind that he'd protect the boy in his arms for the rest of his life.

Well... that's certainly a start. And yes, this chapter was very jumpy-aroundy but it's establishing their relationship, okay?! Get ready for quite a bit of angst in, probably, the next chapter.
Bye,
Queenie