Sirius sat on the opposite end of the sofa, as far away as he could without being completely obvious about it. He listened as Remus spoke, nodding in all the right places. But mentally he was already rearranging how things worked between them. Remus said they would still care, and they would, but it would be different. Even more different than Remus realized. Sirius knew his brother, and Regulus didn't share. Especially not with him. No more kissing and bed sharing would turn into no more casual touch, and then to barely any shared time. Remus would move in with Reg eventually, because Reg wouldn't move here. Regulus disliked James as much or more than he disliked Sirius, and he doubted anything would ever change that. So Remus would start having to choose, and it would only make sense for him to choose Regulus. He'd try, of course he would, finding bits of time here and there. But those bits would get smaller, and farther between, and before any of them knew it Remus would be the person they greeted as they passed each other. It wouldn't happen overnight, but it would happen, and every rejection would feel like the first one all over again. So without even thinking about it Sirius had already begun the process of closing himself off. If you didn't care then it couldn't hurt you. It was a habit so deeply ingrained that he would vehemently deny doing it. But it was still happening. After all, his own family knew he wasn't worthy of love. It had only been a matter of time before everyone else figured it out too. Maybe James and Lily would have another baby, like they'd talked about. And he'd be uncle Padfoot, but he didn't have the excuse of the war to check up on them every day. Peter had almost found love with Cassandra, there was bound to be someone else for him. And Sirius would be alone. Better to close off now, preempt the hurt. Laugh it off and just let things run their course. It had always been inevitable, and he'd fought against it for so long. Maybe it was time to just accept it, and let go. Let them all go. Let them be happy.
"I'm always here if you need me," he said, and he meant it. He'd be here, but he doubted that Remus would ever really need him. "Always. I meant to talk to Regulus anyway. So, yeah, we'll see." He had meant to tell him the truth, finally. But maybe he wouldn't now. Why introduce that sort of darkness to Regs life now they he finally got to live it? No, let him and Remus be happy. It didn't matter that much anyway.