Peace when you are done

Epilogue - Simon POV

Simon POV

It's almost physically impossible to drag myself out of bed when he's still in the bed. I can roll over and see him sleeping on his back. I can reach out for him, drape my arm over his body, and rest my head on his bare chest. Why would I ever choose to get up when it means I have to leave this? I kiss him on the cheek, softly so that I don't wake him up. Today I am going to get up before him, but it's still because of him.

I'm going to bake scones for Baz this morning. I thought about if it was selfish to make them for Baz since they are my favorite, but they are the same scones he made for me at his parents. I got the recipe from Daphne. And then I stopped thinking about that because I don't like to overthink things.

Baz and I have been getting pretty good at baking. We started with the food times channel, then tried out some YouTube instructions, and 2 weeks ago we even took a bread making class together. The scones will be even better today than when Baz first made them. I get to work measuring, mixing, and molding.

No sooner than I've put the scones in the oven, Baz is up. I'm still wearing an apron, and I haven't made our tea yet.

"Good morning, Darling," I say. I feel a little flustered. I don't normally call him that. I'm just so excited for the things I'm going to tell him. Now's the time. I show him my portfolio of work for my new job. He seems happy but maybe a little like he was expecting me to say something else? I was going to. I am going to. Ahhh, just spit it out, Simon.

"Where is this place, love?" Baz asks. "It looks really familiar. Is it nearby?"

This is perfect! I wanted to talk to him about this neighborhood anyway. Penny thinks we should get a larger place now that Baz has moved in and Shepard is here all the time.

"I'll show you!" I grab Baz into my arms and take off with him. He's giggling. I love it when I can make him giggle.

Normally if one of us is carrying the other, it's Baz carrying me with his vampire super strength (so hot). This is working though. I hear Penny shout her new spell on me "Thank you, next!" She came up with it for when I need to fly for work. Shepard came up with it actually, based on an American pop song. No one can take note of me because I've already been dismissed, but I remain visible to people who really love me (Penny and Baz).

"There it is. The house there on the right."

Baz looks completely taken with the neighborhood. It's tough finding rental houses in London, but when you work in real estate, you can get a bit of an inside scoop. There are several properties in this neighborhood managed by my new employer. By the time our lease is up, some will be coming available. We'll have a garden, and then we can get a dog like Baz wants us to.

I look down at Baz's hair blowing in the wind, his head resting against my chest. The running and the flying and the view have given me a surge of adrenaline, a rush of courage.

"Baz, there is one more thing I wanted to tell you this morning." I can say it. I can say it and still hold him here and keep him. I can say it and not have that mean I'm doomed to lose everything. I'm going to say it. And then he tells me.

"I love you, too, Baz."