KISS AND TELL. ❪ Remus Lupin ❫ ✓

six

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Gracelyn continued to sneak out in order to stargaze in the Astronomy Tower. Nothing could stop her from admiring the way the stars could shine in even the darkest nights.

Each time she visited, she was reminded of her first encounter with Remus. It always brought a smile to her face. She had the guts to ask the Remus Lupin to be her kissing buddy. Granted, she had a tiny bit of help from Firewhisky, but if he had rejected the idea, she could have blamed it on the alcohol.

So it definitely came as a shock to find Remus stumbling into the Astronomy Tower with a bottle of firewhisky in his hand. It was some sort of déjà vu and she wasn't sure if she enjoyed it or not.

"Remus?" she called out. "What's wrong?"

She didn't like that he resorted to Firewhisky once more. The main point of their kissing buddy agreement was to not let him drown his sorrows in alcohol.

"Everything," he answered. "Everything except you."

"Huh?"

She stood up to catch him in case he threatened to fall over. He was clearly more drunk than tipsy, but he wasn't a complete bumbling baboon.

"I don't have any friends anymore, everyone talks about me with hushed whispers as if I don't hear them, but you - you're still here. Why is that? Then, I realized it's because of the agreement. You just like kissing me, but I do too, so why am I sad?" he rambled.

"Remus - "

"Is it bad I find you absolutely gorgeous?" he asked, letting her grab the Firewhisky to place it far away from him.

She had no clue how he kept obtaining Firewhisky, but she didn't care if she found out or not. She just wanted to make sure he wouldn't fling himself off the tower by accident or on purpose.

"No, it's not bad," she murmured. "But really, you should head to bed and - "

"I hate going to bed," he answered. "I share a dorm with my ex-mates. It's absolute torture not being able to talk to them."

"Why is that you don't talk to them?" she asked.

"It's because I'm - "

Even in his drunken state, Remus was still smart enough to not reveal his lycanthropy to her.

" - just afraid of who I am inside and out," he finished.

She rested a hand on his arm. "And that's all right. Who isn't scared of themselves? Some simply hide it well."

"What are you afraid of?" he asked, stepping closer to her.

She pursued her lips. "Being rejected or alone for the rest of my life. I suppose they're a two-for-one deal."

"Would it be too far to say I really find you attractive right now?"

She offered a smile. "It's the Firewhisky talking."

He shook his head. "Drunk people blurt out the truth."

He brought up a shaking hand to cover one of her cheeks. She leaned into it thoughtfully, eyes open to survey his quivering eyes.

"It's all right, Remus. You're not hurting me."

"How did you - "

"Wild guess," she whispered, before pressing a soft kiss to his hand on her cheek.

He stepped closer to her and kissed her on the lips, hands landing onto her hips as she brought her own hands behind his neck, drawing him closer to her.

He stood back to analyze her. She wanted it just as much as he did. His hands trailed from her hips to underneath her shirt. She shivered from his cold hands. He leaned in to bury his face into the crook of her neck, softly sucking on her skin.

He moved away, lips brushing against hers. "Is this all right?"

"More than," she whispered.

Gracelyn's and Remus's shirts had been discarded. She laid on her back with Remus's robes as a blanket underneath to cover the ground. Her skirt rode up to her hips. He looked down at her, yearning for her as much as he yearned for her, but once he saw her bathed in the moonlight, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

She couldn't waste her first time with a monster like him. She was so beautiful with the moonlight gracing her with its presence, just as the moonlight graced him every full moon.

"I - I'm sorry, Gracelyn. I can't. I'm sorry."

He rushed to grab his shirt and the Firewhisky, scrambling away, leaving his robe with her.