A Little Bit of Hell and Heaven

Part 16

"Ow!" Simon exclaims, rubbing his cheek. "What was that for?"

"You were married to her?!?" Steven shouts. "And you didn't think that might be an important detail to share?"

"In all honesty," Simon awkwardly runs a had through his hair, "I had completely forgotten about that."

Now, Steven is just plain confused. "How - how do forget that you were married?"

"Well," Simon sighs. "Casey and I had been 'friends' for about 100 years. I had no clue she was in love with me. One night, she got me really drunk and then she teleported us to Vegas and we eloped. The marriage lasted for six days, but only because she wouldn't sign the divorce papers. And then I met you two weeks later."

"Well that's -" Steven pauses. "That's quite the story. I mean, I totally believe you, but it just makes me wonder what other interesting experiences you've had that you haven't told me about yet."

"Too many," Simon groans. "And right now, I just want to sleep."

"It's, like, one in the morning," Steven protests. "That's like noon, vampire time."

"Yeah, but so far tonight, I've walked five blocks twice on a leg that doesn't work all the way, fallen on my face, been frozen in magic ice, and had to deal with an overexcited amnestic boyfriend."

"Oh, so I'm officially your boyfriend now?"

"You have been for a while. Have I not -? Is this the first time I've said it?"

"Yes, it is." Steven smiles and pulls Simon close. They breathe the same air for a moment, until Simon can't handle it any more. He kisses Steven with all the energy and passion that he can muster. Steven completely relaxes and melts into Simon's embrace. They were made to be together and nothing could keep them apart for long.

Simon breaks away first. Steven sighs and leans forward slightly, not wanting it to end. Simon stands, runs a hand through Steven's hair, and kisses his forehead before walking out of the bathroom and into his bedroom. He collapses on his bed, wraps himself in a blanket, and quickly falls asleep, not even bothering to take off his brace.

Steven is still sitting on the bathroom counter. Thoughts are trampling through his brain like a stampede of elephants. Simon was married to that demon of a woman. She has amnesia-inducing lipstick. Simon's so sweet. I wonder how many other secrets he has. Or if he even remembers them. He's been alive for... over 300 years. Steven yawns. He hops down from the counter and wanders into his bedroom. He stands in the doorway and stares at his empty bed. It looks cold and lonely. He turns away from his own room and looks to Simon's room. He takes one step toward Simon's room, then, suddenly, his eyes roll back in his head and he falls to the ground hard in the middle of the hallway.

Simon is awoken by a loud thud outside his bedroom door. "Steven?" he calls out tentatively. There is no response. He grabs a pocketknife from his bedside table and cautiously approaches the door. He throws open the door and brandishes the small knife. There is nothing there. He steps into the hallway to look around and his foot hits something. Simon looks down and sees Steven's body laying on the floor. He drops to his knees beside Steven. Steven is still breathing, and Simon can see no obvious wounds anywhere on his body. He must have just fainted.

Steven is in the middle of a dimly lit space, surrounded by nothing. The light around him shines brighter and brighter until Steven is forced to close his eyes. Even then, its brilliance shines through his eyelids. His eyes begin to water from the intensity of the light. Then, suddenly, the light disappears and Steven is left stranded in complete darkness. He blinks repeatedly, trying to get his eyes adjusted to the pitch blackness surrounding him. A rectangle of light appears before him, pictures flickering across it like an old-fashioned movie projector.

There was a picture of a little boy with dark hair, dressed up in a frilly shirt and a dark coat, with the Victorian style pants. Then another picture of the same boy, a year or two later, in a similar outfit. Five more pictures of the boy pass by before Steven realizes that these are pictures of Simon. Simon playing the piano, Simon holding a baby girl, Simon leading a pony with a little girl seated on it, Simon and the same girl, a few years later, riding horses side by side. Then, a picture of the girl and an older man and woman, all dressed in black, surrounding a tombstone. The inscription on the tombstone reads: Simon Eric Taylor. Feb 12, 1684 - May 8, 1703. The picture vanishes and Steven is left in the dark once more.

Steven shuffles carefully forward. He only makes it a foot or two before the rectangle of light appears with a new picture on it. A young woman, holding a bouquet of flowers, wearing a wedding dress and veil. She is kneeling in front of three tombstones and sobbing into her bouquet. Steven squints to read the tombstones. Hunter Percival Taylor. Jan 31, 1659 - Apr 2, 1709. Mary Cowen Taylor. Jul 17, 1667 - Jan 18, 1720. And the last one, Steven has seen. Simon Eric Taylor. Feb 12, 1684 - May 8, 1703. The picture fizzles away and Steven is engulfed by the darkness.

Simon is sitting in the hallway, cradling Steven's head in his lap. He's leaning back against the wall, halfway asleep. He'd been sitting there for over an hour, waiting for Steven to wake up. Steven kept turning restlessly and there were tears streaming down his face through tightly shut eyelids. Eventually, Steven goes still. The tears stop flowing and his eyes flutter open.

"S-Simon?" Steven's voice is shaky and his eyes are still watery.

Simon sits bolt upright, fully awake. He looks down at Steven, his face a mask of all too many emotions. A single tear falls from his eyes and rolls down his cheek. He tries to speak, but chokes on the words, so he instead leans forward and kisses Steven, gently and tenderly.

"Simon - Simon - wait," Steven murmurs against Simon's lips.

Simon barely pauses to speak. "What? What's wrong?" He asks between kisses.

Steven tries to sit up, but is held back both by Simon's tender kisses and by the sudden wave of nausea and dizziness that washes over him. He falls back into Simon's lap, then gently pushes Simon back away from him.

"Simon, stop." Steven's eyes are pleading and he looks - afraid? concerned? angry? depressed? "Please, we need to talk."

Simon helps Steven sit up. Steven's whole body is tense. Even his wings are folded behind him tightly. He's staring down at his hands, which are balled into fists in his lap. A tear falls from his face onto the carpet and he looks up at Simon. Despair is etched into his face. He looks as though the weight of all the sadness and pain in the world has been dumped on his soul. Simon opens his mouth to speak, but Steven speaks first.

"You had a sister?" Steven is crying. Tears are streaming down his face in shining rivulets. "You had a family, Simon! You never mentioned them. Don't you miss them?" Steven is sobbing uncontrollably now.

Simon's expression is somber. "Yes, Steven," he says quietly. "There's not a day that goes by where I don't feel like I have a hole in my heart." His voice wavers. Tears brim in his eyes and silently spill over down his cheeks. "I watched both my parents die, ten years apart, from the same sickness. I watched my little sister fight the same illness, and overcome it, only to watch my mother die from it, weeks later. I was there on my sister's wedding day, out of sight, when she was completely devoid of family. I witnessed it all, and there was nothing I could do, because to them, I had died 20 years earlier. I have had to live with that pain for 300 years."

Steven and Simon sit there in the hallway, silently sobbing. They are physically only feet away from each other, but their minds are elsewhere, worlds away, untouchable. Each thinking about their own unfathomable loss, years of heartbreak washing over them, and years of regret. They fall asleep in the hallway, exhausted from the weight of their pain and their sorrow.