Liability [Simon Ghost Riley]

welcome home

She was ecstatic to lead Simon inside, to show him around. Unsure where to begin. She turns to something out and notices him carrying the massive package into the house without the slightest hint of struggle. "Where do you want this love?"

"Oh my god just set it here, thank you" she points to the wall "you didn't have to do that" she responds, rubbing her hands together nervously.

"No problem" he shrugs, "what have you got that's so big?"

"Oh uh thats my bookshelf, I'm turning my office into a library" she smiles

"How were you planning on gettin that to the office?" he teases

"I hadn't gotten that far"

"Noted" he smirks, placing a band on her lower back "I'd love a tour"

"Right!" she squeaks, her face blushing madly at the feeling of his hand.

She shows Simon the kitchen and all the organizing she'd done in her spare time. As she continues throughout the house explaining everything in what to most would be far too much detail, Simon's heart swelled. He loved to listen to her talk, it was clear she put a lot of thought into making her space feel warm and welcome. Everything he saw, every decoration, wall print, even the paint color all made sense. It was so beautifully her. He'd never felt so instantly comfortable in an unfamiliar space before.

She shows him her office where the bookshelf would be and explains her vision, clearly unhappy with the current state of the room. She shows him her bedroom and he takes note of her shift in body language and red cheeks. It was reassuring to him that he had such an effect on her. She leads him down to the steps once more and brings him through downstairs and out to the backdoor. She opens it and they step out onto her deck.

"So this is the backyard, its a work in progress, my parents and I have been working on it. It looks weird now but trust me there's a vision" she reassures

"This is beautiful" he notes

The thoughtful placement of the flowers and the nearly completed stone path leading to the gorgeous willow tree. He could see freshly dug holes where her flowers would bloom in the coming weeks.

"Thank you! I'm really happy with it, after the path my plan is to redo my entire deck, I want to have an area out here where I can sit out here and read" she says

"That sounds nice"

"I think so too" she nods before looking up at him "do you wanna go inside and sit, you must be exhausted"

"Sure" he smiles

"Can I get you anything? Water, tea, I don't have beer but I can Instacart some"

"Water would be nice"

"Coming right up!" she grabs him a glass of water while he walks into the living room and sits on the couch, taking note of the TV, playing her music on shuffle. After a minute or so she returns with a bowl of oreos.

"My favorite, thank you love"

"I know" she muses as she sits on the other side of the couch, sitting with her legs crossed as she leans her head on her hands.

"How are you?" she asks

"I should be asking you that question"

"I'm doing good" she admits softly, rubbing her hands together.

"I'm glad to hear that" his eyes searched hers for any sign that she might not be telling the full truth.

"Yeah me too, it's been hard. Nights are the worst but I'm okay, really" she breathes, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. He reaches over and grabs her hand, holding it gently in his own. She smiles softly and moves his hand to her cheek, leaning into his warm skin.

"I missed you" she murmurs

"You have no idea how hard it was to watch you leave, I wish I could've been here sooner" he says

"I don't blame you"

"I should've been there, should've seen it comin'" he admits, referring to Las Almas.

"Don't say that Simon, there's absolutely no way you would've known Graves and Shepard were dirty"

"It's my job to protect you, and I - I didn't"

"But you did! You saved my life, as soon as I heard your voice a part of me knew I was gonna be okay, that you weren't going to let anything happen. I was so fucking scared but I still knew that I was gonna be okay. Nobody in this world makes me feel the way that you do" she replies, her words holding so much more meaning than just that day. Recalling back to every moment she spent with him. "Even now, it's like all of the nightmares and memories, they're nothing. Sitting here with you makes me feel protected, I feel more secure than I have in months"

"I feel the same" he admits "This place feels familiar to me, like I've been here before"

"That's because it's been waiting for you" she nearly whispers, looking at him with all the love in the world "I've been waiting for you, for so long"

"I'm here now" he murmurs as he gently pulls her closer to him, moving the pillow that separated them to the ground. "Don't plan on leaving anytime soon"

"Really?" she asks hopefully as he places a hand on her face, trialing his thumb from her lips to her jaw. "As long as you'll have me" he responds

Simon closes the distance between their lips and kisses her gently. Her hands move to his chest as he pulls her closer. She swings a leg around him and moves to place herself in his lap, with her hands guiding her. As she settles he smirks at the little gasp she lets out at the feeling of him beneath her. His hands fall to her waist, groaning as she involuntarily rocks her body against him. He pulls back and looks at her, smiling softly.

"What?" she asks breathlessly

"Fucking gorgeous" he says kissing her once more. However this one was much shorter, as he didn't want things to get too carried away. He pulls her into his chest and holds her there, wrapping his arms around her body as she curls into him.

"Welcome home Si" she whispers in his ear

Both understood that this was their home. The beginning of their new life together.