Work Text:
Sirius strode into the coffee shop, trying to maintain an air of calm he didn't feel.
"No."
Lily stood behind the counter, staring daggers at him. It was especially unsettling as he was the only patron in the shop this close to closing.
"Evening, Red." Sirius nearly flinched under her stare, but as scary as Lily looked, she had nothing on Walburga.
"No."
"Look, I know you're trying to protect your friend-"
"I'm trying to protect my coffee shop." Lily scoffed. "Marlene is known for throwing things when she's this upset."
Lily had a point, but Sirius wasn't going to back down.
"Then we'll go out to your back patio." Sirius walked around the counter and flashed Lily a smile. "Thanks for understanding, Red."
"Sirius!" Lily yelled, but didn't bother to move from her spot at the cash register. "I forbid you from going back there."
So much for approaching Marlene unannounced.
He turned, glaring. Lily waved a delicate hand at him and grinned.
"Well played."
"Don't make her break anything." She blew him a kiss. "Now go."
Sirius did just that.
He finally found Marlene attempting to scale the fencing that wrapped around the patio seating Lily had set up in this garden space.
"Really, Marls?"
"If my jeans weren't stuck it would have worked." She swore as she tried to free her leg.
"Don't rip them." Sirius reached her in three long strides and gently untangled her jeans from the fence. "Can we talk?"
"What's there to talk about?" Marlene snapped but climbed down from the fence so Sirius took it as a good sign.
"Oh, I don't know." Sirius didn't keep the sarcasm out of his voice. "We could talk about what the Iron Lady is up to, or perhaps Her Majesty's most recent tour, or how about this morning when you knocked me senseless by telling me you loved me and then ran before I could get enough of my brain to function to say it back?"
"You didn't say it back!"
Sirius heard the crack in her voice and tried to pull her into his arms but she backed up against the fence.
"I didn't." He dropped his head. "And I'm sorry. I haven't had anyone say that to me since Mia passed. It…well to be perfectly frank with you, I was completely baffled to feel like you'd managed to fill a hole in my soul and to simultaneously miss Mia so brutally all over again that it scrambled my brain."
Marlene stared at him. Sirius watched the fight drain out of her wide eyes as the reality of his words settled.
"Surely someone…" Marlene trailed off, her jaw slacked and he saw the pain shift to a new anger in her ice blue eyes. "You mean to tell me James didn't have the decency to once tell you he loved you in the last six months! You're his bloody brother! I'm going to ki-"
Sirius didn't let her finish. He took her face in his hands, bringing his lips to her in a gentle kiss, cutting through her anger, healing the hurt he'd caused, and proving the three words he spoke next.
"I love you."
She pulled him back to her lips, devouring him, running her nails against his scalp, pulling him closer. He pressed her against the fence, letting his hands roam, giving into the passion that Marlene always stirred in him.
"Go home!" Lily yelled from the door. "I absolutely refuse to let you shag in my cafe."
"Technically, we're not in your cafe, Red. We're behind it."
Marlene snorted, but Lily pointed towards the cafe's front door.
"Go celebrate at home. I'll close up without Marlene."
"Thanks, love." Marlene blew her a kiss and grabbed Sirius' hand. "I'll come in early the day after tomorrow."
"Because you'll be late tomorrow." Lily laughed. "Get out of here."
Sirius didn't wait for Lily to change her mind. He pulled Marlene out the door, dropping a quick kiss to Lily's cheek as they passed.
"Thanks, Red."
"Oh." Marlene stopped. "Tell James I'd like a word with him at some point."
Lily frowned but nodded. Sirius suspected she saw the same danger in Marlene's smile that he had.
Not willing to let anything more escalate, he pulled Marlene to the curb and his waiting motorcycle.
"Hey." She grabbed his shoulder before he could climb on. "I love you."
Sirius cradled her face again and kissed her in the fading sunlight.
"I love you too."