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Baz
I’m literally rocked awake. Pushed back and forth on the hotel mattress like a rolling pin. The clock right in front of my tired eyes reads 11:00am, which is late for me to get up. But considering the heavy amount of alcohol I drank last night, I’d much rather stay in bed. Plus my head is throbbing. And the loud voice of my boyfriend does not help with that.
“Baz Baz Baz!” Snow yells gleefully.
“What?” I growl.
“You gotta get up. Today’s the day.”
I roll over to face him. He’s smiling so hard his gorgeous face must hurt. He’s all tan from our two weeks in California sun. It makes his freckles even more prominent on his tawny skin. I’d find it adorable if he hadn’t just shaken me awake.
“And what day would that be, Snow?”
“Our last full day in California. And there’s still one thing we haven’t done...” He cocks an eyebrow. I groan and slide a hand across my face.
“The beach,” I grumble.
Simon throws his arms up. “The beach!”
There are very good reasons I’ve been avoiding the beach. The beach is nothing but stinging sunlight, people there tend to be awful, and sand is very itchy. But I promised Snow we’d go to the beach at least once while here in America. And I keep my promises, especially to him.
Snow and Wellbelove sit in the front seat. They’re singing along to some pop song together at the tops of their lungs. As great as it is that they’ve mended their friendship since the Christmas break incident, Simon is a very poor vocalist. My ears ache as he yell-sings. (He’s somehow off key on every single note.) I’m ignoring them as best I can. Bunce is next to me, staring out the window. She’s got a huge floppy sunhat on and and tie dye sundress. I think she’s ignoring just as much as me.
“What do you plan on doing at the beach, Bunce?” I ask.
Bunce flicks her gaze to me and smirks. “I have a date, actually.” She reaches into her bag and pulls out a thick book. The red cover reads The Brothers Karamazov in big bold letters. “His name is Fyodor. We’re getting along very well.”
I smirk. “What a coincidence.” I pull out my copy of War and Peace. “I’m seeing a Russian man as well.”
Bunce barks out a laugh. (Thankfully someone appreciates my literary humour. No one else will.) “Well, don’t let Simon know. He’ll be jealous.”
“Don’t let me know what?” Of course Simon is listening at that exact moment. He narrows his eyes at us.
“Nothing, love,” I say, patting his hand. “Just some Russian literature jokes.”
He rolls his eyes, muttering something along the lines of "pretentious gits". He quickly resumes the upbeat ear torture.
I look back out the window. I’m still dreading all this. I try to focus the passing scenery, but it doesn’t shake any of my worry. Soon, my eyes wander to Simon the front seat. He seems so happy. I like him like this, carefree and enjoying himself. He notices me and smiles in the rear view, face glowing and eyes lit up. My worries lessen just a bit.
The sun is officially not the worst part of the beach. The people are.
Lots of bustling, pushing, loud people, all with very important places to be obviously. I’m shoved four times as I walk across the sandy surface. I growl at them under my breath. Luckily, we soon find a nice spot in moderate shade.
“Perfect,” I say. I unfold the tiny chair and plant it in the sand. I lounge back in it with my eyes closed. The sun hits my eyelids, making me see wonderful swirls of red and orange. Until a shadow crosses in front of me. I groan and crack one eye open.
“You’re blocking my sun, Snow,” I mutter.
He’s standing over me with his arms crossed. He looks a bit annoyed, if his furrowed brow is any clue, but what I mostly see is concern. I wonder what he's so concerned about.“Shut up, you hate the sun,” he says. “Are you going to sit here all day?”
“I said I’d go to the beach with you. That doesn’t mean I have to do any typical beach activities.”
“We came here to have fun.”
I pull out my book. “Tolstoy is fun for me. Pierre is being an idiot again and it’s bloody entertaining.”
He sighs and smiles slightly. He may not understand, but at least he accepts it. “Very well. If that’s what you’d like. But can you at least help me out?”
“Of course.”
He pulls off his baggy white t-shirt, and my breath hitches. I’m transfixed by the muscles moving in his back as he bends over the beach bag. He tosses a plastic tube at me.
“Get my back for me, will ya? I don’t want to burn to a crisp out there.” I do hear his voice, I swear. But he’s stretching his arms over his head and my brain is simply not functioning.
He kicks my foot, jolting me out of my trance. He giggles and shakes his head.
“You’re so easily distracted,” he sighs, sitting on the sand so his back is to me.
“Oh fuck off, Snow.”
“Nope!” He tilts his head back to grin smugly. “You’d miss me too much.”
I sigh, twisting one of his curls around my finger. “Unfortunately. You’re absolutely infuriating.”
“Right back at you, Pitch.” He looks forward again and scoots back. “Now please do this. I really want to get in the water.”
I squeeze out some of the sunblock. I rub it on him slowly, taking my time to feel every muscle. It’s not like I haven’t before. But I still savour how his skin feels under my touch, tracing his moles and freckles as I go. He groans in protest.
“Hurry up, Baz.”
“Am I not allowed to enjoy touching my boyfriend’s back?”
“Of course you are. Just get on with it now. You can touch me more later.”
"That a promise, Snow?"
He looks at me with wicked glint in his eye. "Certainly. But now, please hurry up?"
I sigh heavily and do as he asks. When I’m done, I lean forward and kiss the mole on his neck. “Have fun, love,” I whisper next to his ear.
He hums happily, caressing my arm. “You too, darling.”
With that, Simon jumps up and runs towards the ocean. Bunce and Wellbelove are already in there. (Wellbelove somehow convinced her to not sit and read like me.) I pull my beach cover up closer around my body and pick up my book.
Usually, when I read, the rest of the world sort of fades away. The story plays in my head like a movie. But right now, the film keeps stopping and starting. Every time I start to get sucked back into the tale of Russian aristocracy, something pulls me back out. Hearing Simon’s loud laugh, or Wellbelove’s giggling shrieks, or Bunce’s berating their antics with affection in her voice.
After barely getting through three pages, I look up over my book. Simon is sitting near the water’s edge, making a tiny mountain out of wet sand. His soaked curls are plastered to his head. He’s smiling in a soft way. Not with unbridled mad joy or carefree glee, just sort of peacefully content. I love seeing him like this. And you know, I think I’d rather be out of my comfort zone with him now than relatively safe by myself.
I walk up behind him, then kick a bit of sand next to his leg.
“What are you building there, Snow?”
Simon’s head whips around, face filled with confusion. But quickly he softens and just shrugs.
“I don’t know. Maybe a castle. So far it’s just a lump.”
I sit down opposite from him with my legs crossed. “Need some help?”
“Would appreciate it, love.”
We start playing with sand together. Just lazily tossing the substance between our hands, letting it run through our fingers, adding to Snow’s little lump, which slowly gets bigger. It’s like we’re little kids. And it’s surprisingly fun for such a simple activity. Despite the sun beating down on us and people being idiots. A man walks past us far too quickly, bumping my shoulder. I sneer as he walks past.
“Hey,” Simon reaches out to put his hand over mine. “It’s alright. He was an arsehole.”
“The beach seems to attract those,” I grumble.
He grips me a bit tighter. “You okay? You want to go back to your chair? I’d understand.”
“No no.” I flip my hand and hold his properly. “I’d rather be here with you. No matter the arseholes.”
The right half of his lip pulls up in a half smile. He squeezes my hand. “Thanks.”
“Hey lover boys!” We both turn to Agatha, who has her hands cupped over her mouth. “Penelope and I hereby challenge you two to a water war! Winners pick what we have for dinner tonight!”
Simon faces me, expression pinched with tentative worry. “You wanna? You don’t have to. I can easily take those two on my own.”
I suck on my fangs (Snow’s right, I definitely do it when I’m thinking). The anxiety and nervousness run cold through me. But the heat of Simon’s hand on mine fights it back.
“I’m not taking off my shirt,” I say flatly as I remove my sunglasses. “Don’t want a bigger sunburn than needed.”
“That’s fine. I’ll meet you out there.” He gives me a single cheek peck and runs into the water. I walk back to my spot to deposit my beach cover on the chair. I pull down my black long sleeve to make sure it reaches the top of my swim trunks. No need to turn completely red later.
I dip a toe in the ocean, and it’s freezing. Not sure what else I expected though. Simon motions for me to come on. With cautious steps, I walk further and further in. When I reach Snow and the others, I’m hip deep in water
“So how does this work?” I say.
“Like this!” Penny shouts, just as she splashes me with salt water. I sputter and gasp. Simon is looking at me nervously, like he’s not sure what I’ll do. But I know exactly what I’m going to do.
“Oh,” I chuckle, “it’s on, Bunce.”
I splash back at her. With my strength, it’s a practical wave that knocks her over. Wellbelove retaliates immediately. She’s quite a formidable opponent. Soon we descend into furious splashes. I aim for Bunce, who is not too strong but very determined. My shirt is quickly soaked through. Simon gets more than a few lucky shots in on Wellbelove. But then he hits her right in the face so hard she has to stumble back a couple feet. He laughs maniacally. Bunce and Wellbelove glare at him, then give each other a knowing look. All their water attacks turn on Snow. He shrieks and yells, arms up in defence against the water.
“Baz!” He yells. “Save me!”
“Sorry, love, I think this is well deserved.”
He stares daggers at me, but I just smirk. A slow, devious smiles spreads across his face. My heart stops. What in Merlin’s name is he thinking? Out of nowhere, a huge crashing wave from Snow’s direction hits me right in the face. I stumble and my heel hits a rock, making me fall back into the water. Everything is blurry, and kind of muffled. A strong freckled hand grips my wrist and hauls me up back into the dry world. I gasp and blink, only to see a curly haired man doubled over in laughter.
“Oh Crowley,” he sputters. “Your face!”
“How the fuck did you do that?” I say, still catching my breath.
He wipes a laughing tear from his eye. “Just cause they’re invisible doesn’t mean they’re useless.” The water around his back ripples. Right, his wings. He’s been learning to use them more.
I chuckle. “You sneaky bastard. That’s cheating.”
“I don’t see how it’s any different from your vampire strength.”
With a few steps, I’m right next to him. I put an arm around his waist. “You have a point, Snow. For once.”
“Oh thank you.”
Wellbelove and Bunce have abandoned us in favour of scouring the ocean floor for seashells. Snow leans his head on my shoulder. I just caress his side, enjoying feeling of his wet skin under my fingers. I want to stay here forever, even in spite of the freezing cold water.
“Hey,” Snow whispers. “Wanna try something?”
“Depends,” I say, looking down at him, “will I be grievously injured?”
“I sure hope not. It’d take a huge fuck up to do that.”
“Mm, but you do specialise in those.”
He pinches my side, and I snicker. “Prat. Just trust me, alright?”
I push some of his soaked hair out of his face. “I always do, Simon.”
Snow smiles ear to ear. “Alright then. C’mon kneel down on the ground.”
He holds my hands as we kneel on the ocean floor. A couple of shells stab my skin. I wince, but simply adjust. Just our heads stick out of the water. I’m still not sure what the point of this is.
“Okay,” Simon says, “on the count of three, dunk your head underwater, alright? And stay there.”
“For how long, Snow?”
“Just wait. You’ll know when.” He’s got a cheeky look on his face that makes me both excited and anxious. “Okay, 1, 2, 3!”
I take a deep breath and submerge my head. The water rushes into my ears and stings my eyes so much I have to close them. I feel what must be a hand curve around jaw. Something softly presses against my mouth. I recognise it as Snow’s lips (I’d know his lips anywhere). He kisses me slowly, probably because the water is forcing him to. I place my hand over his. It feels nice, in a dreamy and distant sort of way.
One problem though: being underwater means we run out of breath very quickly. It only takes a few seconds before I need air. I pull back and rocket to the surface, taking a huge gulp of air into my lungs. Simon follows only moments later. We’re back to kneeling in front of each other.
“Underwater kiss?” I say, still breathing harshly. “Really, Snow?”
He shrugs. “Always looks so romantic in the movies.”
“Movies don’t account for the need for gas exchange, obviously.”
“I guess so.” He looks a bit disappointed, and very embarrassed. I bet dollars to doughnuts he’s picking at his damn nails again. I grab his right hand, lacing our fingers together.
“It was a lovely idea, Simon. And very sweet of you. If I’m going to do stupid rom-com shite, I’m glad I’m doing it with you.”
His face softens, the . “Thanks, love.”
I tug forward, making him yelp. We’re nose to nose. “Now how about kissing me up here, where we can breathe properly?”
He smiles deviously, like when he wing splashed me, like whenever he has a wicked idea. “Very well, if you insist.”
Simon’s mouth crashes on mine. Not in slow motion, but fast and hot. I grab at his hair, running my fingers through the soaking wet strands. He wraps his legs around my torso, practically crushing our chests together. I moan softly as his tongue flicks against my bottom teeth. Scratch my earlier sentiment. This is where I want to stay forever, with Simon Snow in my arms, kissing me until I’m breathless.
“Hey!” The sharp voice snaps us out of the moment. We both turn to see Bunce with her hands on her hips. “Is not even the ocean safe from your snogging?”
“When are you going to learn that nowhere is safe from our snogging, Bunce?” Simon laughs heartily, letting his forehead fall against my shoulder.
“You two are disgustingly cute, y’know.” Wellbelove says, smiling softly. In another time, I would’ve sneered at her. Been insulted by her words. But we know each other better now. Merlin, we might almost be friends. What an unpredictable occurrence. I know she has no ill will.
“That’s the plan!” Simon shouts. “We’re aiming for the ‘cutest vampire-dragon man couple in England’ award!” The girls roll their eyes at us simultaneously.
“That’s not even a thing, Snow.” I say with a smirk. He looks at me with his glittery blue eyes and matching grin.
“No, but we can damn well try.”
“I certainly can’t disagree with you there.”
He kisses me again. Short and sweet. I still feel it everywhere in my body. He pulls back, playing with a piece of my wet hair.
“You’re amazing,” he sighs, voice wistful and dreamy. “I love you.”
“And you’re terribly sappy. But I love you too.”
He leans back, arms still wrapped around my neck and legs clinging to my waist. “Wanna look for seashells? It’d be a great present for Mordelia.”
I scoff. “I doubt Mordelia would think so. But it would piss her off, which would be infinitely more entertaining.”
Snow giggles as he disentangles himself from me. “You’re the worst brother.”
“Now you sound like Mordelia. Stop it.”
He keeps snickering as we run our fingers across the ocean floor. But it’s not long before my left hand is holding his right. Yeah, I’d rather be doing that than looking for silly shells.
It’s not until much nightfall that we head back to the hotel. We stayed at the beach later than planned, and then got dinner at a burger joint. (There was a great row over who won the water fight, until we agreed that we all wanted greasy American burgers.) Bunce sits in the front this time. I don’t mind being in the back though. It means Snow can doze off on my shoulder. He keeps one arm wrapped my stomach, snoring softly into my shirt.
When we reach the hotel room, having bid goodnight to Wellbelove and Bunce, I’m half dragging Snow. His feet are catching on the cheap carpet. Thank magic for vampire strength. I manage to get him into our bed. He flops unceremoniously, legs hanging off. I sit next to him on the end.
Only now do I recognise the stinging sensation across my legs. I touch a finger to my thigh, and feel raw scratchy skin. Looking at the redness of my flesh, I know exactly what’s wrong. Damn. Guess three layers of FPS 100 still isn’t good enough for a vampire.
“You alright, love?” Simon mumbles sleepily, leaning up slightly.
“Nothing terrible,” I reply. “Just a sunburn.”
He sits straight next to me. “Thought you put on sunblock.”
“I did. But that stuff is made for humans with normal UV ray tolerance.”
Simon dashes over to his suitcase and starts rummaging. He soon scurries back, holding a small plastic bottle filled with clear gel. My heart seizes.
“That better not be what I think it is, Snow,” I say as calmly as possible. “Because today has been a long day and I don't think either of us are in the mood.”
He rolls his eyes in an almost perfect imitation of Bunce. “No, you dirty minded git. It’s aloe vera. S’pose to help with sunburns. Now sit against the headboard.”
I do as he says. He squeezes some of the liquid out onto his hand. When it touches my skin, the rush of coolness spreads through my body. I sigh under my breath. Snow may have a point. This feels quite soothing. He rubs up and down my left leg first then my right, spreading the gel as he goes. Despite his apparent exhaustion, he’s good at taking his time, making sure he doesn’t miss anywhere. I let myself melt into the sensation. The burned, raw feeling fades under his soft hands. Crowley, if I wasn't so tired, I would jump my amazing boyfriend right now.
“Feeling better?” he whispers.
“M-hm,” I hum out. “Very much so. Please don’t stop.”
“I would happily contintue. But I think we both need to sleep.”
I groan, head falling back. “Sadly can’t argue with you there.”
Snow’s hands leave my legs. He tugs off my shoes and shorts and t-shirt. (This would be much sexier if we weren’t both so knackered.) He rummages around in our suitcases, and tosses my fleece pyjamas at me. I put them in with great effort. Flopping down flat on the bed feels like falling on a cloud. Snow clambers in after me, the mattress sinking with him. He holds me from behind, an arm across my middle. He’s careful not to touch my legs. I hold his hand on my stomach.
“Thank you,” he whispers against my neck. “For everything today.”
I scoot closer to him. “I promised you the beach, Simon. And I told you, I keep my promises.”
“No, it’s just that, I mean-” he sighs, regaining his composure. “Thank you for trying. You know, stepping out your comfort zone back there. I know it wasn’t easy, but I had a lot of fun with you today. So I want you to know how grateful I am. It means a lot to me.”
My heart is beating incredibly fast. Simon may not be good with words most of the time, but when he finds them, Crowley, they’re always so beautiful. I flip around so I can look at him properly. The moonlight dances across his skin and shiny smile. I reach out to stroke his cheek.
“Well, thank you for waiting for me to come to you. It was very considerate.”
He taps his forehead against mine. “It was worth the wait. You’re worth the wait.”
I look down. “Stop, you’ll make me blush.” I chuckle to hide the nervousness in my voice.
“Y’know,” he says as he knocks my chin up, “that sarcasm doesn’t really work when you're actually blushing.”
“Oh shut up, Snow.”
He giggles as he pulls me against his chest. I just let him, snuggling closer into his too big t-shirt. We’re too tired for anymore banter.
“Goodnight, Baz,” he mumbles into my hair. “Love you.”
I trail my fingers up and down his back. Today has been unexpected and unplanned in so many ways. Which was nice, but I’m glad it’s ending like this. Laying here, in Simon’s familiar, comforting embrace. And I really hope to end many others in the same way.
“Love you too, Simon.”