MOON MAN. remus lupin ✓

viii. bad weather

Before Remus knew it, two months had passed.

     Summer was a distant memory and winter loomed over their heads. People started to pull out their scarves and gloves. Liam, too, was bundled up more than usual one day during work—a striped yellow scarf and a beanie too large for his head.

     He noticed a lot about Liam, if he was being completely honest. He noticed the way his eyes crinkled when he smiled, his immense love of baked goods, his inability to go without a cup of earl grey for very long. Seeing Liam after the open sign had been turned around, swapping a story or two about a rude customer, the lunches they went out to on Fridays ( a new 'tradition,' as Liam put it ), the debates about their favourite books.

     He wasn't sure what they all meant. Still, he didn't fight against it. He didn't think it was possible.

     One cold Tuesday evening, Liam stopped him before he could leave the book shop. The wind howled and the trees battered against the front of the shop. He'd wanted to get back to the flat before it got worse.

     Still, when Liam's hand wrapped around his arm, all thoughts of leaving the shop vanished.

     "Hey, Remus?" Liam sounded unsure, as if he had been dithering on something all day. Looking back, he remembered the uncertain glances Liam occasionally threw his way when he thought Remus was too busy with someone to realise.

     He spun around to face him and, rest assured, Liam's that uncertainty lingered behind his eyes.

     Remus made a sound. "Hmm?" The silence of the room was suffocating.

     He took a moment to respond. "I—can we talk before you go home tonight? There's something I need to tell you."

     He nodded, and Liam pulled him into the back room, where a small heater warmed the air enough to fight off the cold of the rest of the shop. They took a seat on the small, beaten couch. Liam looked at him, his hazel eyes aglow with an emotion Remus couldn't place. They were more open, vulnerable, than he was used to. His right leg began to jump.

     "You—we—" He said, before averting his eyes to the floor. He didn't speak for a few minutes, and Remus allowed him the time to gather his thoughts.

     At one point, Remus reached out to hesitantly place his hand Liam's leg. His friend startled and his gaze snapped away from where it had been to rest on him. It appeared to be the right thing to do because he opened his mouth.

      What came next would damn him.

     "Remus, I know you're a werewolf."

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