144 Full Moons

------

For you, I've waited all these years.
For you, I'd wait 'til kingdom come.

-"'Til Kingdom Come," Coldplay

------

After all the confusion of the day, after he had witnessed his former best friend confess to playing role in murdering their other best mate, and framing another for the crime, after he had seen his former lover for the first time in twelve years, but not exchanged a single word that actually meant something, Remus walks into his dingy flat. He stares at nothing in particular, one word running through his mind, over and over: Sirius Sirius Sirius Sirius.

Other words join, words like innocent and mistake and wrong and innocent innocent innocent. And Remus strides over to his bare kitchen and grabs a dusty bottle of firewhiskey, downing the contents in angry gulps. His hands are shaking and his eyes are watering. He's fouled everything up and he doesn't deserve happiness, because look at Sirius- gaunt, empty, ridden with the horrors of Azkaban and false accusations. Remus keeps drinking.

And then there's a pounding at the door, loud and urgent, and Remus finds himself opening it, and it's Sirius standing there, and suddenly they're both crying and hugging and apologizing over and over and over. Remus can't take his eyes of Sirius, and it hurts more than absolutely anything to see the man with the empty grey eyes and the sunken face and the horrific memories etched into his face, instead of the exuberant boy with the laughing face and the wild grey eyes that he once was.

Sirius won't stop apologizing, and Remus can't stand it, so he kisses Sirius to make him shut up. Sirius tenses and Remus wonders if he'd gone too far, but suddenly Sirius is kissing him back, hard, all fire and passion and electricity. The world is on fire and all Remus can see is Sirius, and suddenly, it doesn't matter how Sirius has changed, because he still loves Sirius just as much as he ever did, and all those years he spent trying to deny it fade away to nothing.

And Sirius stares at him, drinking him in, and smiles. It's a ghost of his former smile, all bright and devil-may-care, but Remus pretends not to notice, and grins encouragingly in response.

"You waited for me?" Sirius asks hoarsely and somewhat hesitantly.

"Of course," Remus whispers huskily and honestly, because there has never been anyone for him but Sirius.

"Twelve years. Twelve years," Sirius pauses and looks pained, "and 144 full moons." He stares at Remus, apologies in his eyes.

Remus shakes his head- it doesn't matter, Sirius is here now, and that's all that counts. "I will always wait for you," Remus promises, grabbing Sirius' face between his hands. "I'd wait another 144 full moons for you. No matter what."

And then Sirius is kissing him again and it's almost as if the last twelve years never happened, because love like this never dies.

Please review :)