#inspired by the sticker sheet post and the jegulus tags therein

[queerregulusablack]

James rolled across the bed and onto his stomach, abandoning the campus map he’d been annotating in favour of reaching for the other boy sat with him in his bed; and he smoothed the sticker balanced on his thumb onto the apple of his cheek with an efficient little sweep of the digit, smiling when he’d achieved his goal.

Regulus Black held himself very still for a moment, eyes still on the book open in his lap, before they finally flicked up to meet James’.

He arched an eyebrow at him incredulously.

“What have you done to me, Potter?”

James’ grin widened, and he shuffled closer on his stomach; and for a moment, just took in the sight of his lovely boyfriend, cross legged on his bed while he read through one of James’ University textbooks, devouring pages on Cultural Theory for no reason but that the book had been out when he’d come over.

Even longsuffering and watching James with that dry, amused smirk pulling at a corner of his mouth, he was all kinds of breathtaking, long hair mussed around his face from the enthusiastic snog James had initially greeted him with, his most recent stolen-jumper gaping around his collarbones, knees peeking through the tears in the knees of his jeans.

James loved him all the time, but this was always special. When he was dressed how he wanted, wrapped up in Sirius’ hand-me-downs and the secret things he’d purchased with years-worth of scraped together pocket money - the lilac converse abandoned beside James’ bedroom door, his favourite floral-printed sunglasses - instead of primped and polished to his mother’s standards.

He was hot when he was dressed up like that too, of course, but James felt too full when he was like this.

When he was James’ Regulus. Not Walburga’s, or Orion’s, but James’, loose and comfortable and smiling with his eyes.

On the apple of his cheek, where his blush always stained darkest, the little purple star James had stuck there cheerfully read ‘good job!’ and, well, yeah. Accurate.

“Just a reminder of how good you are, Reg,” he informed him airly; and predictably, Regulus went bright pink across both cheeks before he reached to carefully peel the sticker from his face, and look at it himself, the star stuck to the tip of his pointer fingers while he peered down at it.

He scrunched up his nose - but didn’t stop blushing, in fact turning an even darker pink once he’d read the words - and looked back at James, before he reached out and stuck it to James’ forehead instead, right above his eyebrow over an old chickenpox scar Regulus liked to trace his fingertips over when he was granted the opportunity.

The smile that pulled at his lips was the briefest flicker of upturned lips, tiny and soft and so thoroughly pleased, and James stared at him and thought I love you, I love you, I love you.

“Stop that,” Regulus murmured, poking him between the eyes; and James grinned back at him, before tackling him to the bed, and ducking in to swallow his giggles.

Several minutes later - when Regulus had been kissed to James’ satisfaction for the time being, because while he would never have kissed him enough he understood that sometimes the other boy needed to breathe - James pressed his lips to Regulus’ cheek, directly over the spot he’d previously placed the sticker; and Regulus huffed back at him, both hands braced against his chest, before he murmured into the space between them.

“You’ll come back to visit sometimes, right? After you’ve moved on campus, you’ll still come back and visit. Not just on holidays to see your parents.”

He wouldn’t meet his eyes, instead staring resolutely at James’ collarbones; and James sighed, and reached to take hold of the hand resting over his heart, holding it tight against his chest.

“I told you at the start, when you were still trying to pretend you didn’t like me back. There’s no getting rid of me, Reg. I’ll visit so often it’ll be like I never went away at all. Hell, you’ll be sick of the sight of me before Christmas even rolls around.”

Regulus scoffed softly, but he’d relaxed again, and he turned his hand in James’ grip so he could interlock their fingers instead; and James hummed happily, and scattered more kisses over his face, lips brushing his cheeks and his eyelids and the tip of his nose.

“I’m not ever going to be sick of you, Jamie,” Regulus whispered, in the millimetres of space between their lips before James could kiss him properly; and he froze, chest suddenly so full he felt like he could burst, breathing out shakily.

God. God, I love you.

James used his free hand to cup Regulus’ jaw in his hand, and led him up into the next kiss; and when they met, he felt him sink into it.

I love you, he thought, and I’ll never leave you, not ever, not for anything, not long enough for you to miss me.

And for a perfect, sun-kissed moment, it was the absolute truth.

(for @siriuslythatbitch)

#jegulus #starchaser #james potter x regulus black #regulus black #james potter #Reception Teacher!Regulus #(a prequel glimpse before the true narrative starts) #Korean!Regulus #Desi!James #QRABs Fic #inspired by the sticker sheet post and the jegulus tags therein #and dedicated to one of my favourite enablers <3