Chapter Text
Baz
It’s a Friday when Headmistress Bunce asks me if I want to spend the weekend at her house with Penelope and Simon.
“It’s come to my understanding that your relationship with Mr. Snow is… less volatile now, and Penelope suggested it would be a good idea if the two of you saw each other this weekend.” She tips her head to the side a little, squinting her eyes at me. “It might certainly be a cure for texting in class.”
I keep my head down, embarrassed. It happened just that one time but it’s just my luck that the first time I’m not paying attention to class it’s the first time I get told off for it. (And technically, it’s her fault for letting us have phones now.)
“So what do you say, Mr. Pitch?”
I raise my head, still not quite looking into her eyes. I miss Simon. Every day just a little bit more. Spending time with him would be salvation. It would be finding an oasis in the middle of the desert. “Of course,” I say. “That sounds lovely.”
“Alright then,” Headmistress Bunce says, getting up from her chair and brushing the hems of her trousers. “I’ll give you time to pack what you need for the weekend, then we’ll meet at the gate in, say, an hour?”
“Of course, Headmistress.”
When I’m back in our dorm (it will always be our dorm, even if he’s not here anymore) I can’t help but glance at Snow’s empty bed and smile. Maybe we’ll get to sleep in the same room again.
Snow and I will not be sleeping in the same room again. We’re still in the car when Headmistress Bunce fixes me with a glare in the rear-view mirror and informs me she talked with Penelope to offer me her room. That, admittedly, brings some inconveniences in my plan of completely ravishing Snow as soon as I can get my hands on him, but maybe I could convince Bunce to let me sneak into his room without alerting her parents.
I really want to do this whole relationship thing properly. Which is a lot more difficult than you might think, considering I’ve never been in one before. I never know if what I’m doing is right, if I’m pushing too much, or being too far away. I don’t know what we’re supposed to be doing when we're alone. But even though dating Simon Snow isn’t the erotic gropefest I’ve always imagined to be, I wouldn’t give it up for anything in the world.
It’s already dark when we arrive at the Bunce household. The place is cosy and well lived in, stacks of books and clothes scattered everywhere (Bunce has a horde of siblings. But who am I to critique this.) and when I reach the hallways I’m greeted by Penelope, who apparently decided we're close enough now that we hug.
“It’s good to see you, Baz,” she says, a smile plastered on her face.
I clear my throat. “Yes. It’s good to see you too, Bunce.”
She rolls her eyes. “Almost everyone in this house is a Bunce. I’m afraid you’ll have to start calling me Penny.”
I wrinkle my nose and she rolls her eyes taking my bag. (It’s probably too big for only a two-day stay, but I do like to have my options.)
“C’mon, I can show you my room and then we can go see if Simon’s up.”
It’s embarrassing to admit, but when I hear Snow’s name a smile creeps on my face. I’m eternally grateful that she’s already going up the stairs and can’t see me.
When we get to her bedroom, she throws my bag on her bed without a second thought (purple covers. Her entire room is aggressively purple.) then she turns to me, hands on her hips, all business. “Basil, do you know why I wanted you to visit this weekend?”
I blink. “No.”
She huffs, like I’m being difficult. “What’s going to be in two days from now on?”
“Sunday?”
She huffs again. “The date, Baz! The date!”
I don’t say anything for a while, trying to think. “February…14th?”
“Yes. And what do people celebrate on February 14th?”
“Celebrate? What are you on— oh.”
Bunce raises her hands in the air. “Finally!” She goes to sit down on her bed and I can definitely see her skirt going up her thighs. “Look, I asked mom if you can visit this weekend so you and Simon could spend Valentine’s day together and be as gross as the two of you want. Crowley knows he needs a win.”
My face falls a little at that. I’ve been trying to do everything I can to take his mind off things, and I know Penelope has been doing the same thing. But it’s hard for him to pretend nothing happened when he lost his magic and his mentor and he can’t even get out of the house because of tail and wings.
“Yes,” I say. “That would be good for him, I think.” I frown. “You could have told me. I might have tried to get him something.”
She shrugs. “I assumed you already did.”
Simon
I’m sitting on the bed in the guest room when Penny knocks on the door.
I know it’s Penny, even though the door is closed. No one comes inside my room except her (and I guess it is my room with how much time I spend here) and I want to tell her to come in, but apparently she doesn’t need an invitation because the next second the door is pushed into the wall.
“I’ve got something for you,” she says, and then she drags Baz into the room by the elbows.
He frowns at her for a moment before turning his head to face me. “Hello, Snow.”
“Baz!” I say, jumping out of bed. I try to take a step towards him, but I trip over my tail and almost fall on my face if not for him catching me.
“Glad to know you’re still just as clumsy as the last time I saw you,” he says, and there’s something warm in his voice as he laughs.
“Fuck off,” I say, pushing myself upright. “What are you doing here?”
“I invited him here,” Penny says. “Thought it would be nice.”
Baz raises an eyebrow. “I can leave if you’re already sick of me.”
He says it as a joke, but I don’t think he’s joking.
I grab his hand. “Don’t leave.” I want to cup his cheek, but I don’t know if he’ll let me. I do it anyway because I was never known for my good critical thinking. “I’m glad you’re here.”
His eyes soften, and he presses his cheek into my palm. “I’m glad to be here too.”
This is softer than we’ve been in a while. I sort of don’t know what to do. I don’t know what he wants. When Penelope clears her throat, I’m almost glad for it as we break apart.
“Enough flirting, you two. There’s time for that later.” She looks at me and then at Baz. “Hungry?”
Baz
Dinner looks lovely, but I touch nothing despite being famished. I’m not too keen on having Bunce's family realise they invited a vampire for a sleepover. I might wake up the next day in a tower.
Penelope’s mom notices and frowns at me the whole way through dinner but doesn’t say anything, even as Simon starts eating from my plate as well. Hopefully, whatever conclusion she’s drawing to herself in her head is not even close to the real one.
Snow is sitting next to me and we’re holding hands even as he keeps eating and the entire ordeal is a bit uncomfortable, but I still don’t let go. (I’ll never let go of him.)
When dinner is over, Snow drags me back into the guest room with him and plops onto the bed. He’s unfolding his wings and his whole body is shaking with the process. It would take a better man than me not to stare.
“If you want,” he starts, his left wing still shaking a little, “I can go a little later and grab you something to eat. Penny’s family is used to me sneaking into the kitchen at night.”
I raise an eyebrow. “I wish I could say I’m surprised.”
He laughs, reaching a hand out to drag me down onto the bed. I settle next to him, my head on his shoulder, his arms circling my legs. His tail is slowly wrapping itself around my calf, but I don't think he even realises he’s doing it.
Neither of us says anything, but I don’t think we need to. This is nice. Us. Sitting together. Cuddling . There’s no reason for either of us to ruin it by talking about our insecurities.
I’m pretty sure Snow is almost asleep when Bunce enters the room with a plate in her hand. She frowns, sitting at the edge of the bed so as to not disturb Simon.
“My mom thinks you have an eating disorder and you’re afraid to eat in front of others,” she whispers. There’s an amused smile slowly working its way on her face. “She said I should tell you to seek professional help and then gave me a list.”
“Could be worse,” I say.
Snow stirs, and when I turn my head, I can see one of his eyes is open. “There’s no need to whisper. M’awake,” he mumbles into my hair.
I kiss the mole on his cheek. I can’t help it. He’s gorgeous like this. All sleepy and rumpled and soft and mine .
He closes his eyes again and tugs up at my chin so our lips are brushing and then we’re kissing. The angle is a bit awkward and I have to crank my neck quite a bit, but kissing Simon is always lovely, so I don’t mind.
Penelope must mind because she coughs loudly, and then shoves the plate into my hands while simultaneously handing me some napkins and a fork. “Dinner. Then you sleep in my room.”
Snow makes a noise of protest as I step away from him so I could hold the plate better. I raise my head to look at Bunce. “Can’t you just—”
“No,” she says firmly, cutting me off. “Do you know what I had to do to convince my mom to let you stay here? Let her have her trust in you for at least one night before you go break it.”
I try not to frown. “Fine.”
Penelope is sitting with her back to us as I eat, scrolling through her phone (Snow must have told her I don’t like people seeing my fangs.)
Somewhere between my second and third bite, Snow repositions himself, circling his arms around my waist and propping his chin on my shoulder. Every once in a while he grabs my hand, guiding the fork to his own mouth. I let him.
“Do you ever not eat?” I ask him, not real bite to my voice.
He pretends to think for an answer. Then he just kisses my cheek and I can feel the grease. “Not really, no.”
After I finish eating, Bunce takes the plate from my hands and tries to usher me out the door so she could change into her pyjamas. I raise an eyebrow like she should be more worried about Snow seeing her naked than me and she rolls her eyes. (Bunce rolls her eyes a lot.)
“Out,” she says.
I hover at the door, looking at Snow, face already buried in the pillow. He’s on his belly and his wings are curled up around him like a makeshift blanket. “Good night, Snow.”
“Night,” he mumbles, and I think I can see the corner of his mouth forming a small, satisfied smile.