Roman waited until Janus had left to speak. It had taken a while because Janus had been glaring at him like he could kill him with just a stare. And by the way the door slammed behind Janus, this definitely wasn't going to be over in a hurry.

"What's his problem?" Roman asked in Spanish. Remus sighed.

"Can we not do this now?" He was far too tired for this. The muttered words were still Spanish. Old practice runs deep.

"Do what?" Roman asked, still in Spanish.

"You making me speak a language I haven't spoken in years."

"You still understand me, don't you?"

"Obviously!" Remus rubbed his knuckles, wincing. He switched to English with a sigh. "But I'm not speaking to you in Spanish. If you want to be petty like that, you can come back when I can be bothered."

"Petty?!" Roman repeated with a scoff. "To use my own language?"

"You insisted I speak only Spanish at home for a year when we were kids!" Remus snapped. "I'm not starting off on that foot again." He crossed his arms. "You know I can't express myself well enough in Spanish."

Roman huffed out a breath and shrugged. "Fine," he said, finally in blessed English. "Didn't realise you were still so childish."

"Would make sense, since I missed most of my childhood," Remus muttered.

"Hm?"

"Nothing." Remus shook his head. He cracked his knuckles, wincing again. "What do you want, Roman?"

"To talk to my brother." Jesus, even the word hurt. "I assumed you'd want the same thing, since we haven't talked in - what was it? 18 years?"

"Yeah and who's fault is that?" Remus asked. Roman blinked.

"What do you mean?" He gave a little half laugh of confusion. "It's no one's fault, it's just-"

"No one's fault?" Remus repeated. "No one's fault?! You're bullshitting me, you've gotta be. Don't tell me you've forgotten." Roman didn't reply. Remus laughed brokenly. "No, no, of course you wouldn't remember. Of course."

"Remember what?" Something dawned on Roman's face. "Oh, Re, if you mean that-"

"If 'that' is the 9 years I spent in prison for you, yeah!"

"I did mean to bail you out," Roman said. "Honest. I just-"

"You just what, Roman?" Remus snarled. "Forgot? Had more important things to do? Couldn't because you were going out with your friends?"

"I got a posting on a ship, it was a good job," Roman explained. "I was going to get the money I needed and then come back for you, promise."

"You promised you'd testify!" Remus' voice rose and he felt stinging start behind his eyes. "You promised you'd get up on that stand and tell the court something that meant we both got off free! When they called witnesses, you weren't there."

"So what, you didn't get death, did you?" Roman crossed his arms and shrugged. Jesus, that hurt. That hurt.

"Because I broke down on my way out," Remus bit out slowly. "I broke down in tears, weeping about how I didn't know what I was signing. My step-brother made me do it, my step-brother promised he'd be here for me. Where was he? He gave me something to sign, I couldn't read what it said-"

"That's not my fault, Re!" Roman snapped sharply. "It's not my fault you're illiterate."

Remus stared, open-mouthed at Roman. The stinging travelled down to the tip of his nose and he felt his eyes fill with tears.

"You finally said it," Remus whispered hoarsely. Some of the anger cleared from Roman's face, replaced by a sudden clarity.

"Re, I-"

"No." For once, Roman shut up. "I'm not illiterate, Roman, and I'm not stupid. I wasn't stupid, I was a child."

"I was a child too," Roman said quietly. "I was only 15, God's sakes."

"And I was 13," Remus said simply. "I know 15 isn't much but it seemed like an age when you're 13. I needed a step-brother, I needed a friend." Roman's image blurred through the tears but Remus didn't dare blink. "I trusted you. You abandoned me and I trusted you. And why did you abandon me? To go off and snog some silly baker's boy!"

"I never told you that."

Remus shrugged. "I could tell when you came to see me and made your emtpy promise of bail." He wiped his face. "Flushed face, messed up hair, scruffy shirt. Simple. But you know what, Roman?" Remus took a slight step forward. "That isn't even what hurts most. The fact that some village boy is more important than your own step-brother isn't even what hurts me the most. It's the fact that you can't even say sorry for making me waste my entire childhood for you."

"I never asked you to do anything for me, Re," Roman said. He didn't look angry anymore. He looked hateful.

"No, you didn't," Remus conceded. "But what other choice did you give me?"

Badly written but, still, yeouch.
Bye,
Blaize