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They’re in the piano room this afternoon.
They’ve turned the piano bench sideways so that Simon can sit in front of the piano with Wille plastered against his back, their long fingers covering his own on the keys as they help him practice.
Wille is once again trying to teach Simon how to read sheet music, but they keep getting distracted because every time Simon gets something right, Wille kisses him. It’s a great incentive, but it also has the unfortunate side effect of turning Simon’s brain to mush, so they aren’t getting very far.
A mushy brain and a kink in his neck are worth it to feel the syrupy-sweet press of their lips against his own.
He’ll never get tired of kissing Wille. It feels brand new every time, even when their lips follow the same trail they’ve already taken a thousand times.
He’s not sure how he ever lived without them before.
Wille nudges him gently, fingers pressing into the divots of his hips. “Play that line for me again?”
Simon nods, voice catching in the back of his throat when Wille wraps their arms fully around his stomach, idly toying with the bottom hem of his binder.
He takes a breath.
His fingers are in the wrong spot.
“You can do it. You’re doing so well.” Wille praises, resting their chin on his shoulder.
He takes another breath, puts his fingers on the right keys, and plays the line again.
“Perfect,” they whisper against his cheek. “I’m so proud of you, baby. If you can do the whole thing for me, we’ll be done.”
They’ve been working on this same piece for as long as Wille has been teaching him. The line he just played was the last one, so now it’s time to put it all together.
Simon resets his fingers to their position at the start of the first line. He’s a little nervous.
Wille must notice because they hold him tighter for just a moment. “You don’t have to be afraid. It’s just me. I won’t judge, even if you mess up every single note.”
Simon huffs out a laugh - that really does make him feel better.
They kiss his cheek. “Show me what you’ve got.”
He does.
It’s not perfect - he flubs a couple of notes here and there, and the tempo is rather shaky, but it’s pretty good.
Wille claps when he’s done. “I knew you could do it, baby! I’m so proud of you!”
Simon feels his cheeks heat at their words. He doesn’t have any time to be shy, though, because Wille turns him around so his legs are draped on top of theirs and pulls him in for a deep kiss.
They taste like chocolate, and the satsuma Simon shared with them earlier.
When they break apart, Simon rests his head on Wille’s shoulder. In silent response, they wrap their arms tighter around him, warm and safe. He’ll never get tired of Wille’s hugs either - they hug like Simon is the last good thing on earth and they’d do anything to protect him.
“You did amazing today,” Wille tells him. “You played the whole song.”
“I’m only this good because of you,” Simon murmurs.
They brush their fingers through his hair. “Don’t sell yourself short, love. You’d have gotten here with or without me.”
He hums.
“I brought you something,” Wille says, nudging him for the second time this afternoon.
Simon lifts his head, blinking slowly at his partner. “You brought me something?”
They nod. “For doing good today.”
From their backpack, they pull a blue box with circular cutouts on three sides that reveal an object in golden foil. On the top, it reads “Terry’s Chocolate Orange”.
“What is this?” Simon asks, taking it from Wille’s hands.
“It’s a chocolate orange. I know you love satsumas, and you’ve said before that you like chocolate but you don’t get it often, so I thought maybe you’d like this.” They say. “You’ve never had one before?”
He shakes his head.
Wille lowers their gaze to the box in his hands. “Erik, he used to buy them for me - he’d put one in my stocking every year at Christmas. It was the only time I ever got them, so I’d always try to make it last for as long as possible.”
Simon sucks in a breath. It isn’t often that Wille shares things about Erik; the pain of his death still hurts too much for them to be open about their brother.
Even if he hates the chocolate orange, he’ll eat the whole damn thing, Simon decides.
They shrug, fingers picking at the already-chipped paint on their nails. “Anyway, it’s your reward for doing so well with the sheet music.”
“Thank you, Wille,” Simon says sincerely, pressing a kiss to his partner’s cheek.
Still sitting in their lap, he opens the box, discarding it and the plastic holder on the piano. With careful hands, Simon unwraps the foil to reveal a ball of chocolate, subtly patterned like the skin of an orange would be and already cut into slices.
“You have to snap it apart,” Wille says when he takes too long looking at it.
He holds the ball in both hands and pulls, the same way he does when cracking open an apple. It comes apart easily enough, leaving him with two halves.
Simon snaps off a single slice - one side is smooth, and the other has been molded to look like a real orange wedge.
Taking a bite, Simon hums pleasantly as the chocolate melts on his tongue.
Wille is right - he does love it.
It’s a perfect blend of orange and chocolate and it’s soft .
Wille smiles, taking the halves from him and snapping off another slice. They hold it up to his mouth, tapping it against his lips until he opens them to receive it.
He can’t help but smile in return at the pure love on their face.
There are no words for how gorgeous Wille looks, backlit by the golden light streaming in the windows. The ends of their hair are glowing, and their face is lit up in happiness, their whole focus on Simon.
Overwhelmed, he steals the chocolate back so he can offer a piece to Wille, who takes it gladly, eyes shining.
Simon could live in this moment forever - sitting on Wille’s lap, sharing a chocolate orange between them, the sun setting in the background. It’s perfect.
They continue passing the chocolate back and forth, taking turns snapping slices off to feed to each other until their fingers are sticky, covered in melted chocolate remains.
“I love you,” Simon whispers. “Thank you for sharing this with me.
Wille kisses the corner of his mouth. “I love you too.”