When Sirius left, all Regulus had was his other sibling. The two of them weren't worth enough to make Sirius stay. Sirius didn't care about them.

Alteast they had each other, they can’t leave him in this house. He can’t be alone.

Regulus took a deep breath and sighed as he pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. He stared down at the floor, his eyes following the grain in the hardwood. He wanted nothing more than to get outside and go for a walk but Mother would throw a fit if Regulus as much as dared to open the front door.

So instead he simply sat in his room, doing nothing.

Until his sibling knocked. Until they told him they were going to leave.

"What?" Did he hear that correctly? Did his chest always feel this tight? Was air always this hard to breathe? Was his throat always this dry?

"You're... leaving?" he croaks out. Please, please be lying. He can't do this on his own. "But you-"

He cuts himself off as he chokes down his tears. He can't, won't, cry. He doesn't care, he.. doesn't.. care.

It's not like they promised they'd stay. It's not like he believed them, too.

"I don't want you to go."