A Shoulder to Lean On -- February 1977

I leaned forward and put a hand on his knee. "Remus..." I said, unsure of what else I could say. I hated seeing him so down and out. I moved closer and gave him a big hug. "I know it's got to be hard... but please don't let it get in the way of your feelings for Chloe. Please..." I just knew how Chloe felt about REmus! But I wasn't going to divulge more than what she ahs told him.

I pulled back adn looked at Ember, slightly bemused. "It almost sounds like you're begging me to give Chloe a chance," I said. "You know I am, Ember... I just don't know how things will go with my other side."

I sat back in my chair and looked athim. "Just try not to worry about it. did you really worry about it with us until the little incident?" I asked him. Hoping that the answer would be no.

I thought about that for a minute. "To be honest, at first I did... but then the more we hung out the less it was on my mind. But look how well that went, Ember. I hurt you," I said, waving my hand at her leg.

I rolled my eyes. "It was a scratch," I said, dismissing it. "So you see? the more comfortable you got, the easier it was to unwind a little bit. Just give it time and I'm sure the same thing will happen with Chloe," I said matter-of-factly.

I chuckled and stared at Ember. "And you think it'll be just that easy?" I questioned, becoming entertained with her logic on the subject matter.

"Well... perhaps," I said, letting some doubt in. "I mean... you never will know for sure unless you let it happen naturally and easily."

I sighed and shook my head. "Ember, nothing is easy for me. Not with my furry little problem," I said.

I rolled my eyes and stood up. "Remus, if you can't see by now that you're the one that makes things more difficult than they should be... then I can't help you," I said, putting my hands on my hips. "Just try with Chloe, okay? Make things easier on yourself. Everthing will be fine with the two of you," I assured him. I mean... it finally seemed like everyone was happy. Everyone was with who they were meant to be with... even if it was just for alittle while.

I couldn't help but chuckle a little bit. I stood up and hugged her. "Ember... no need to get all feisty," I told her. "I'll try to be more optimistic, okay?"

I sighed with relief and gave him a hug back. "You better... you're a good man, Remus, whether you see it or not," I informed him.