Chapter Text
Jimmy can't help the groggy grin that works its way onto his face. The series of soft kisses pressed against his bare shoulder blade pulling him awake. It's the small moments like these that Jimmy loves the most. When the world is calm, where there are no thrashing waves of memories and nightmares to pull them under. Moments where they can just be, pretend like nothing has ever happened to either of them. A soft hum falls from Jimmy’s lips which earns a soft mumble of a chuckle against his skin.
"Mornin'." Johnny mumbles from behind Jimmy and he swears his heart just might burst right out of his chest. Getting to wake up with Johnny, getting to fall asleep with their limbs tangled, it's more than Jimmy could have ever hoped for. That the man he had fell in love with, loved him back for some damn reason.
"Morning." Jimmy replies as he rolls to his back, head turning to the side so he can see Johnny. His hair is sticking up in all sorts of angels, a mess of curls that Jimmy loved so much. And it's in the morning when Johnny's eyes look more clear. His usual cloudy anxiety ridden eyes, that often look so confused throughout the day look so bright in the morning light. Maybe it's because he had just woken up, that the confusion of the day hasn't sunk into him yet, making him question things that he had once known off the top of his head. Jimmy shakes his head some. There is no need for ruining a nice morning with thoughts like that, though they always seem to creep in when he least expects them to. So instead, he snakes an arm around Johnny's waist and pulls him close, both of their lips quirking before Johnny closes the space and kisses Jimmy gently.
Automatically, one of Jimmy's hands goes up, tangles in the mess of curls, his eyes close for a second, taking a deep breath. Inhaling the scent of Johnny, of the life they had made with one another. As Johnny pulls away, Jimmy blinks his eyes back open, to be greeted with Johnny's lopsided grin.
"I love you." Jimmy says softly, pushing a strand of hair off of Johnny's fore, which only makes the grin on Johnny's face grow even more.
"I love you too." Johnny says before he stifles a yawn, his nose scrunching up some and Jimmy is such a goner for the man next to him.
They fall quiet for a moment, Johnny's leg wedges in between Jimmy's, their limbs becoming one. The blanket strewn along their lower halves, the warm morning air flirting its way into their room. The golden sun brings out a few small freckles on Johnny's face. Ones that aren't quite visible to the eye unless you're up close to him like this. Jimmy has spent hours memorizing those freckles, the dips and contour of his face, the thin scars that mar his skin, that dips along his chin and jaw- sometimes hidden away by days stubble. Visible reminders of what Johnny has been through. And Jimmy knows if he was to dip his fingers under the fabric of Johnny’s shirt, he would be greeted with more rough scars. Ones that cascade along his neck and back, criss-crossing over his spine, often making Jimmy wonder how the hell Johnny had survived what he did. A silent strength to the man who is so gentle, who loves with his entire heart, who trusts more than one should after being through a war. But yet that’s Johnny- braver, stronger than all of them combined. At times Jimmy can’t help but wonder if he could struggle day to day like Johnny does. If he would be strong enough to face every day not knowing what he might remember, forgetting his past and what made him who he is today. It’s terrifying, he could only begin to imagine what Johnny goes through each day; and how Johnny does it with a smile on his face. Jimmy knows that there’s no room for comparison for what each of them had been through, for the ghosts that still haunt each of them but if he had to pick one of them out of the band that showed nothing but unwavering courage- for Jimmy, it would always be Johnny.
He feels a thumb press between his eyebrows, where his face has furrowed some, and is greeted by a warm laugh. “You’re thinking too hard again, Jim.” Johnny’s voice fills the quietness of the room and Jimmy feels his face relax once more. Like most conversations with Johnny, there is a slight pause, one that Jimmy never minds. Knowing that it takes Johnny a few seconds every now and then to gather his words, to string together what he wants to say. And if there is one thing Jimmy has in the world, it’s patience for Johnny.
“What were you thinking about?” Johnny finally asks, rolling on his side some so he can face Jimmy better, his hand dropping down to cup the other man’s face. Jimmy instantly shivering under the gentle touch of Johnny, his calloused fingers from his drums bringing a comfort to Jimmy that he didn’t know touch could do.
“Just about how much I love you.” Jimmy replies, closing the small space between them as Johnny drops his hands back down, and Jimmy presses a kiss to his forehead. There is no way he would tell Johnny what’s on his mind. How he is pretty sure Johnny is the strongest and bravest man he had ever met. That he doesn’t know how Johnny does it day to day, how he can still manage to smile and laugh and joke when his whole life has been taken from him. That he doesn’t remember how he came to be the amazing man he is today that Jimmy has fallen in love with.
He looks back over at Johnny who has turned a bright shade of red, one that dusts along his cheeks, and the very tip of his nose. The kiss that Johnny presses back to the corner of his mouth is everything that Jimmy needs. They can say those words over and over, how much they love one another but sometimes, like now, it’s the simple kisses that show just that. And Jimmy knows that at times actions speak better than words for Johnny- another thing on the long lists of reasons why he loves Johnny Simpson with his whole heart. As the kiss comes to an end, Johnny’s pressed their foreheads together, his arms wrapping tightly around Jimmy, their bodies sinking in against one another, melting and molding, becoming one. Jimmy knows that this is where the two of them are meant to be- home, with each other.