Drunk Nights and Late Decisions (snowbaz)✔️

Chapter 9

Huge thanks to Simon_Snow for editing this, give her some love, and go follow her.

Simon
The days have been passing slowly, there's a weird tension between Baz and Fiona, but I don't want to ask and pry. We've been at her place for about a week, but I still don't feel totally comfortable spending my time there. The first morning I woke Baz up, because I didn't want to make breakfast alone. He pulled the blankets over his head and assured me I could make whatever I wanted.

I ended up just sitting awkwardly in the kitchen until Baz got up.

I look over at the clock, it's about three in the morning I'm standing in the kitchen, the cold from the tiles seeping into my feet through my thick wool socks. I'm surprised to not find Earl Grey in Fiona's wide selection of tea, I frown and continue to look through the different varieties. I pause when I hear footsteps making their way down the hall towards me. The sound makes my heart race, I'm graduating this year, and hearing noises in the dark still scares me, that's fucking disappointing.

"Hey." Fiona mumbles, reaching over my shoulder to grab a mug and a bag of orange pekoe tea.

"Hey." I respond a bit to loud, she watches me from the corner of her eyes as she fills her mug with water from the sink. "What're you doin' up right now?" She asks, clumsily pouring the water into a kettle.

"I don't know, I'm not tired. I was hoping to find some chamomile, it helps me sleep." I shrug.

"Top shelf."

"Thanks." I reach up and retrieve the box, finding it exactly where she said it would be. Awkward silence hangs between us while I collect the rest of the things I need for tea.

"Um, do you want me to boil you some water?" She asks, I think it's an attempt to try and fix the awkwardness.

"Yeah, if it's not to much trouble." She adds more water to the kettle, and the uncomfortable silence returns. "Um, would it be okay if I asked you a question?" I ask nervously, clutching the mug in my hands to keep me from fidgeting.

"Yeah, shoot." She responds distractedly.

"Why do you hate me?" I ask, desperately wanting to know how I can be accepted by this family.

"Oh Simon," She sighs. "I don't hate you. It's complicated you know, the old families. Everyone has built up bitterness, it goes along with the jawline... its genetic" She laughs bitterly, and leans back against the counter beside me. "Maybe it'll stop with Baz and his siblings, maybe they'll finally break the pattern."

"Do you want them to?" I asks curiously, I'd think Fiona wouldn't want the resentment towards the Mage to wear off, but maybe I'm wrong. The way she treats Baz isn't what I'd expected, maybe I was too quick to make such harsh judgments on her.

"I didn't think I did, but the way Baz lights up when you're around has made me reconsider." She tells me. I look over at her, the only light source is the moonlight pouring through the window and the mild glow of the stoves clock. It illuminates her face, highlighting the deep set wrinkles around her eyes and forehead. Even when we showed up at her door, she looked exhausted. I wonder if I should ask if she's okay, but I worry it's to invasive.

"How're you doing? Just like in general?" I ask. This, right now feels like a movie. The overprotective guardian bonding with the hated boyfriend trope, it's almost laughable.

"Life's been a lot, you know? Everything's just a little bit-"  The whistle on the kettle goes off, Fiona looks like she just got ice cubes poured down her back. "But it's all good, I'm fine." And suddenly she's put her guard up again. "Goodnight Simon." She pours her hot water and leaves.

I watch as she leaves, and make a note to myself that she drinks her tea black; those are the type of people you have to watch out for. Those are the people with impeccable self control, because no one prefers their drink black. People find one reason or another to slowly start removing the cream and sugar, and suddenly they claim they prefer it that way. I shake my head to clear my weird rambling brain, and realize I've been staring into my tea for far to long. I remove the bag of rehydrated leaves and throw it out.

I sit down at the table and sip at my tea, I don't know why, but there's a weird restlessness inside me. It's fucking three in the morning and all I want to do is go on a run... and I hate running. I get up from the table taking my tea with me and walk out of the house. I'm halfway down the block when I realize that I didn't put on any shoes, and that wearing a coat would have probably been a good idea. I keep walking though, until I get to clearing filled with discarded newspapers and other miscellaneous things. I sit in the grass and stare up at the sky, I suddenly realise how small everything is. I take a breath and try to reflect on every good that's happened, we may have had a rocky couple days, and everything may not be perfect, but at least Baz and I have a place to sleep, and we have each other.

________________________________
Hey y'all, hope you liked this, if you aren't yet, go follow Simon_Snow she's the awesome person editing this for me. If you liked it voting is appreciated. If you have any criticisms, comments, or suggestions, I'd love to hear from you folks