Requested by: @Usocheezie
Words: 1977
Description: Remus is deaf. After a year and a half of dating Sirius, they run into some scary problems at the Mall.
Story:
Remus sat down at the table he usually occupied at his favorite coffee shop after ordering his coffee. He usually just typed his order on his phone and showed it to the barista. They were all used to it by now, as he visited quite often.

Remus pulled out his book and started reading from where he left off. He got quickly distracted and didn't notice that the barista had called his order. Sirius, sitting at another table working on a college paper, noticed that the barista, who was swamped with making a bunch of other drinks, was trying and failing to get the man's attention.

Sirius sighed and stood, a little annoyed to say the least. "Hey, mate, you're coffee's ready," he called to the young man reading his book. He got no reaction.

The barista sighed. "He's deaf, he can't hear you."

Sirius instantly felt bad and got up to get the coffee for the man. He slid into the seat across from him and set his laptop down, sliding the coffee across the table.

The man, startled, looked up at Sirius. He smiled his thanks, taking a sip of his coffee. Sirius meanwhile, was low-key staring at the man. He looked to be about Sirius's age with curly light brown hair and warm amber eyes with what looked like a bit of green around the pupil. His face had no shortage of freckles, and Sirius spotted some more on the man's shoulders from where his oversized sweater slipped a little.

Remus looked up from his coffee and noticed Sirius's gaze. He started to sign something, but figured that the man sitting across from him probably didn't know sign language, so he dug around in his bag for a notepad and a pen.

Hey, my name's Remus Lupin, he wrote before sliding the paper over to the man across from him.

Sirius smiled and wrote down his own name.

Remus smiled. I'm twenty-two, you?

Sirius nodded. "Me too," he said. His cheeks turned a light pink. "Oh, I forgot you can't hear me," he said to himself, embarrassed.

I can read lips pretty well, Remus wrote. Sirius nodded as a sudden feeling of nervousness came over him. His heart beat just a little bit faster as they spent most of their afternoon exchanging disjointed conversation. The two became friends almost instantly, like they were always meant to find each other.

Finally, Sirius checked his watch and his expression deflated. "Aw, I have to head back to the dorms. My mate James and I are seeing a movie."

Remus found himself blushing slightly as he watched Sirius's lips move, forming a response he couldn't hear. He was used to lip reading, but he's never felt butterflies before.

Sirius started to pack up his things, but before he left, he scribbled down his phone number onto the pad of paper that was full of exchanged notes. He gave Remus a bright smile and a wave as he slipped out of the coffee shop.

+++

The two never went a day without some form of communication. They would text each other all day and meet up at the coffee shop whenever they could. After the first month of their newfound friendship, Sirius asked Remus on a date.

Remus was surprised and so, so happy. Sirius took him to a nice dinner and then to go ice skating afterwards. Remus had a lot of fun, the best part in his opinion, was watching Sirius fall. Before they'd started, Sirius had bragged to Remus that he was the best, most graceful skater there was. Remus thought it was the funniest thing when Sirius continued to prove himself wrong and he simply couldn't stop laughing.

Usually, Remus tried not to make any sound. He was terribly self-conscious of his voice as he had no idea what it sounded like or how to properly form words. But every once in a while, on a rare occasion, he would laugh.

Sirius loved Remus's laugh. It was the one effortless thing about Remus, it sounded so carefree and musical. Sirius knew Remus hated it, but Sirius loved his laugh.

A month after they started dating, they were sitting around Sirius's dorm that he shared with James Potter. Sirius and previously watched Remus have a sign language conversation with James's girlfriend Lily, who had learned sign language in high school as a hobby.

He hadn't seen Remus so delighted in awhile. The way his face lit up when he saw that someone else knew his language was a beautiful thing.

As they sat on the couch, Sirius asked if Remus would teach him.

They spent countless hours, Remus trying to teach Sirius sign language. It took a lot of work, but Sirius was determined. Once he'd learned, that was the primary way Sirius and Remus communicated with each other.

One thing James and Sirius loved to do was have movie nights. James suggested they invite Remus over to join one night, so they found a movie and put on the subtitles. Remus and Sirius cuddled through the whole movie. If ever Remus missed something, Sirius would sign it to him.

One day when Remus came over to the dorms, Sirius had been listening to music. Remus could tell that Sirius was really enjoying it because of the way he could see his fingers tapping away to a beat, how he swayed, and sometimes mouthed the words.

Remus was a little sad because he couldn't hear the music and he wished he could. Anything that made Sirius so carefree and happy, he wanted to hear.

Sirius signed to Remus that they should dance. Remus felt foolish, there was no beat for him to dance to. Sirius assured him that there was nothing to be embarrassed about. He turned up the bass on the sound system so that it shook the floor so Remus could feel it rather than hear it. Then he grabbed Remus's hands and showed him where to put his hands and to watch his feet. Once Remus got the hang of the swaying dance they were doing, he looked up to see that Sirius was mouthing the words for him. He realized that Sirius was probably singing them rather than mouthing them, but he felt pretty special that Sirius was doing this all for him, so he could have the experience. Dancing with Sirius soon became one of his favorite things.

+++

(it's about to get real folks)

One day, about a year and a half after they'd started dating, it was late April and the two decided to spend a day at the Mall.

The day started off with the couple getting Starbucks to walk around the Mall with, looking in store windows and shopping around. They ended up in a shoe store where Remus looked around for a new pair of converse.

The shoe store helper who was trying to help him find the right size had a thick beard, making it hard for Remus to read his lips so Sirius played translator for them.

They spent a fair bit of time in the Mall's arcade as well, playing quite a few games.

Finally, right before they were planning on heading home, they ended up in the American Eagle store that Remus liked. He was browsing through the clothing racks, checking the prices on some skinny jeans he liked, when Sirius heard gunshots.
His heart seized up in panic. Those were definitely gunshots he heard. Inside the Mall. A loud announcement came over the speakers.

"ATTENTION ALL SHOPPERS. PLEASE STAY CALM. THERE IS A SHOOTER IN THE BUILDING AT THE NORTH END OF THE MALL. THOSE OF YOU IN THE NORTH END, TAKE COVER. IF YOU CAN GET OUT OF THE MALL, PLEASE DO SO."

And then came the blaring alarms. Remus was still oblivious to it all. Of course he hadn't heard any of it. It wasn't until he caught sight of a family running by the store that he moved his attention from the clothing racks to Sirius.

Meanwhile, the store clerks had rushed to the entryway of the store, pulling shut the big glass doors.

"Take cover in the dressing rooms!" One of the ladies said. Remus was looking on in confusion and worry. Sirius grabbed his hand and pulled him along to the back of the store. He hated that they were at the North end of the Mall. He hated that they'd stopped at American Eagle at all. He wished they'd just gone home.

They were just to the back of the story when the power cut out. Remus made a whimpering noise as his hand shot out to grab Sirius's in a panic. Sirius hated that he couldn't stop to explain to Remus what was going on, but he had to first focus on getting them to a safe place to hide. He felt terrible for Remus, who was watching the people around him panic and hadn't a clue what was happening around him.

Sirius pulled Remus along behind him and crawled under the door to an empty but locked dressing room, opening the door and pulling Remus inside with him. It was totally dark in there and Sirius took out his phone and turned on the flashlight.

Remus was huddled next to Sirius on the bench, panicked tears streaming down his face. Sirius wiped them away gently. He would tell Remus that it was alright, but he knew he shouldn't. He needed to be quiet and the flashlight would cast weird shadows on his lips and Remus wouldn't be able to tell what he was saying anyway.

So instead he did his best to convey the situation to his boyfriend through sign language, telling him that they had to be still and quiet and wait for help.

Sirius would jump every time he heard a gunshot. They were getting consistently closer. He held Remus's trembling body closer to him as they waited in near silence for what seemed like hours.

And then Sirius heard the glass doors open and footsteps inside the American Eagle. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly as the footsteps headed straight to the dressing rooms. There were whispers exchanged by a few people and then the door to the dressing room Remus and Sirius were hiding in was pushed open and a flashlight shone through the darkness.

"Hey, are you two alright?" A man asked. "I'm Officer Grayson, the shooter has been apprehended, you're safe now."

Sirius sighed in relief, letting Remus out of the hug so he could sign to him that they were safe. The worry lifted from his shoulders just a little and he stood when Sirius offered him a hand.

They followed the officers and a crowd of other people that had been trapped out a door at the West entrance and Remus and Sirius headed over to the car.

Remus, still shaking a little, held Sirius's hand the whole way home.

When they got back to the dorms, James tackled the both of them in a tearful hug. "I was so worried," he cried. "I saw the whole thing on the news. Are you alright?"

Sirius nodded, "Yeah James, we're fine."

Lily, standing right behind James, asked Remus in sign language. He answered her with shaking hands.

That night, when the panic and the chaos had calmed down, the two of them sat cuddled up in bed. Remus laid there with his hand over Sirius's heart, feeling it beat a comforting rhythim into his hand.

Sirius sighed, pulled Remus closer to him. I love you, he signed.

Remus smiled weakly. I love you, he signed back.