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The right balance between meddling and letting your friends be miserable idiots

Chapter 4

Notes:

Here's the final chapterrrr hope you enjoy :)

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Evan is an oddly sensitive friend, Dorcas has recently realised. That’s to say, this morning. When he called her to ask if she needed help to sort out her feelings regarding Marlene.

“I know what it’s like to not let yourself want your best friend because you’re terrified to ruin everything,” he said. “But I think we both know denial isn’t healthy. You can tell me to fuck off if I’m completely overstepping your boundaries. I just wanted to let you know that I’m here, and I care.”

She didn’t speak for a full minute. “Nobody knows,” she’d finally whispered into her phone.

“You can tell me about it, if you like.”

So Dorcas did. It hurt, but it felt good to finally confess all of it to someone. And now Dorcas is on a mission to confess to another someone. The someone directly concerned.

Marlene is waiting for her on a bench, her wavy blond hair messed up by the wind. It’s almost chilly, but that’s not why Dorcas is shivering. Her heart is hammering in her chest, her fingertips tingle, and her stomach is tied in knots. This is either the most mature thing she’s ever done, or the biggest mistake in the history of mistakes; she can’t know until she’s done it. She walks over to the bench and sits next to her friend.

“Hullo,” Marlene says.

“Hi,” Dorcas pushes past her lips. She’s having trouble remembering how to breathe.

“You okay?” Marlene asks, leaning in slightly.

Dorcas hums. “Had a call from Evan today,” she starts.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.” She takes a deep breath, counts to three, exhales. “I hadn’t realised before how similar he and his sister are.” She risks a glance at Marlene, who cocks her head, inviting her to elaborate. “Pandora is… probably more subtle, but they’re both observant. I guess… they notice things.”

Marlene doesn’t say anything. Dorcas looks up to the sky, so full of clouds there are only a few spots of blue.

“Anyway, Evan thought I might need help, so he called me. And now I’m—” Fuck, this is hard. “Now I need to tell you about it, too.”

“Hey,” Marlene says softly, taking Dorcas’s hand off the edge of the bench it was gripping tightly and entwining their fingers. “Whatever it is, you can tell me. If I can help in any way, you know I’ll always be here for you.”

She forces herself to meet Marlene’s wide, honest eyes. Her heart clenches at the thought that she might lose her, that this might be the end.

“I’m scared,” she whispers.

Marlene squeezes her hand. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”

Tears spring into Dorcas’s eyes and blur her vision. She closes them, making the salted water roll down her cheeks. “I’m in love with you,” she chokes out.

There. It’s out.

She’s said it.

The world continues to turn.

“Dorcas,” Marlene says fiercely. “Dorcas, look at me.”

She peels her eyes open again to find her friend searching her face.

“Did you mean that?” she asks softly.

Dorcas nods, unable to speak.

The breath Marlene lets out could almost be a laugh. “Dorcas, I love you too. I’m in love with you.”

Oh. Oh. Dorcas was not expecting that.

“I’ve been in love with you for… God, I don’t even remember ever not loving you,” Marlene continues, and Dorcas closes her eyes again, overwhelmed by a foreign happiness. “No, look at me. Did you mean it?”

She’s grinning madly, tears completely forgotten, when she tells her, “Yes. Yes. Marlene, I love you.”

“Like, romantically?”

“Yes. I love you romantically.”

Marlene giggles, still holding her hand. “Well that works out nicely, then.”

 


 

“Regulus?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I talk to you?” James asks him.

Regulus looks up from the coffee machine, a question in his eyes. “Sure.”

The only people with them are Lily, Pandora, Dorcas and Marlene, the first two shooting James a look that says, don’t worry, we’ll distract them. Not that that’s needed—Marlene and Dorcas seem to be perfectly capable of distracting each other all on their own, especially now that they’re together. Still, James is thankful. He’s already lucky that Sirius isn’t here—he owes that one to Remus—but he knows better than to hope for a moment alone with Regulus to happen naturally.

He’s almost surprised Regulus doesn’t find an excuse to say no right now. Instead, he takes his cup of coffee and follows James a bit further off, where their friends can’t hear them.

“What did you want?” he asks.

James pushes his glasses back up, then runs a hand through his hair. “You’ve been avoiding me,” he states.

Regulus frowns. “No I haven’t.”

“Yeah, you have.”

“Just been busy.”

“Bullshit. You’ve got time to hang out with Lily and Remus all the time.”

“We study together,” Regulus retorts.

“Right. What about Barty and Evan, then?” James insists.

“They’re my best friends.”

James takes a deep breath. “Okay. That’s fair,” he relents. “I guess I can’t be offended you don’t consider me your best friend. I don’t consider you my best friend either.”

“Okay.” Regulus looks at him with an almost bored expression, a slight scowl.

“But,” James continues, “I still don’t enjoy you avoiding me.”

“I haven’t—”

“Stop it. Yes you have. You’re never around when I come over. And I come over a lot.”

“I know, my brother’s your best friend,” Regulus says with a roll of his eyes.

“He is,” James agrees, fighting back a smile. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy your company.”

Regulus stays silent, fiddling with a loose strand at the end of his sleeve.

“I’d like to spend more time with you, Reg,” James says softly.

“Why?” Regulus asks with a frown, like he truly can’t imagine a single reason James would want to be around him.

“Isn’t it obvious?”

He shakes his head, eyes wide.

James does his best to keep his heart from beating out of his chest as he admits, “I really like you.” Regulus keeps on shaking his head. “I do, Regulus. I really, really do.”

“I can’t believe it,” Regulus whispers.

“Please. Give me one chance, and I’ll prove it to you.”

He scoffs, eyebrows shooting up. “Why would— Why?”

“Why what?” James asks.

“I don’t understand. I thought…” Regulus frowns again. “Fuck, they were right,” he murmurs.

This isn’t making much sense to James. “Regulus,” he pleads. “Can you just— Put me out of my misery and tell me if this is reciprocated or not. Please.”

Regulus blinks up at him from beneath long, black lashes, and his grey eyes steal James’s breath for a second. “Oh,” he says. “I thought… Didn’t you realise?”

It’s James’s turn to shake his head, lost.

“James, I’ve liked you for ages. Since I first met you, if I’m honest.”

“Oh, thank God,” James breathes out.

“Do you actually like me?” Regulus asks.

Well, Pandora did warn him this might be the problem. “Yes,” he confirms. “Yes, Regulus, I really do like you. Is that okay?”

Regulus nods vigorously, until his eyes suddenly widen. “What will Sirius say?”

James chuckles and rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. “Well, I actually told him the other day.”

“What?”

“Yeah. When he and Remus started dating,” he explains with a smile. “After he’d told me all about it, I said I had a confession to make, and I told him I’ve had a crush on you for a while.”

“And? What did he say?”

James’s grin widens. “He was beyond ecstatic. He actually wanted to play intermediary, but I forbade him. Shit, he’s gonna lose it when he finds out I told you while he wasn’t here to see your reaction.”

A laugh bubbles out of Regulus, the most beautiful sound James has ever heard.

“So,” he blurts, running on adrenaline now, “will you be my boyfriend?”

Another look of surprise on Regulus’s face, before it breaks out into a blinding smile. “I’d love to,” he replies.

Notes:

Wolfstar gets a happy ending! And dorlene gets a happy ending! And jegulus gets a happy ending! This was sooo fun to write, thank you for reading and for each kudo/comment, they truly mean the world to me <3
Also, I'll be posting a jegulus/wolfstar christmas fic throughout december (a lot longer than this one hehe), so if you're interested, I hope you'll check it out! The first chapter will be up on december 1 :))