Chapter Text
“Okay, but what if they hate me?” Simon said, straightening out his shirt for what felt like the millionth time. Today was the day he was going to meet Johnny’s family, a massive step in their relationship, and honestly something that Simon hadn’t put much thought into until the other had brought it up one night.
It wasn’t like Johnny had to meet Simon’s family after all.
Johnny wrapped his arms around Simon’s middle, looking into the mirror in front of them. He smiled at the sight; it was the best thing that he could ever see. After all this time, so many months and years of thinking that they would never be able to be happy like this, here they were - not needing to worry about anything going horribly wrong anymore. Johnny pressed a kiss on the taller’s jaw, “They won’t. They know that you make me happy and that’s all that matters.”
Simon put his hand on top of Johnny’s feeling the warm skin beneath his, “You’re sure?”
“Positive, Si. Now come on, if we’re late Eilidh will start calling nonstop.” The other man stepped back, probably going to get his jacket and shoes. Simon stayed in front of the mirror, looking across his face, making sure that there was nothing off in his appearance.
He hadn’t met others families before, there hadn’t been anyone in his past that he had gotten this close to. Johnny was always the exception to everything that Simon had considered normal - he managed to shake Simon’s world completely, turning it upside down. He sighed as he picked up his mask from the counter. Simon wanted nothing more than to be able to go without it, to look at this reflection and not hate what he was looking at. He wished that he could just show Johnny’s family who he was, but that was a big step. Small things, all one at a time, that was what Simon’s therapist said, his life had been hectic and now he had the chance to take it at his own pace. Simon was going to take advantage of that as much as he could.
Simon pulled on a pair of boots, meeting Johnny by the door. “Ready?”
He nodded, not trusting his voice at the moment. Johnny simply smiled; he knew all of Simon’s tells, the small things that he did that spoke wonders. He gripped onto Simon’s hand, interlacing their fingers together. Johnny locked the door behind them as they stepped out.
They made their way down to the train station. Simon had gotten used to trains now, after needing to use them more than he ever did before. There were still too many people - more than he would have wanted to be around - but he was going to hold out for Johnny. Simon would walk to the ends of the Earth for that man. Johnny stayed next to him, rubbing his thumb across the back of Simon’s hand, the pressure guiding him into relaxing. His heart was beating harder and harder the closer they got to their stop - knowing that it was just a short cab ride away from the MacTavish household.
Simon tried to run through the people he would be meeting, all four of them. Johnny had three siblings and a father - one that was much kinder than Simon’s had ever been. The man’s mother had passed away earlier one in life, a sickness taking her away; Johnny was strong about it, but Simon could tell that he was still solemn about it.
Johnny was in the older half of siblings, his older sister Eilidh being a few years older than him. She had a husband named Colby and worked as a nurse at the hospital near their home. She was visiting to meet Simon, and of course to see her brother again after being gone for so long. From the stories that Johnny had told him she was a very strong woman, helping to raise the younger siblings after their mother had passed away.
Then there was Finley, or Fin as he liked to be called. He was still at university, studying polisci and planning on going into the law business. Fin seemed like a smart kid, somebody that had a plan that he was going to follow through with. Simon found that admirable. His girlfriend’s name was Darci, but she lived on campus while Fin had decided to live at home. Johnny had said he had played football in secondary school - apparently, he had been pretty good as well.
The baby of the family was Isabel; she was quieter than the rest of the family and was in year nine - that was what Simon called it because Scottish grades made absolutely no sense to him. Isabel played bass and was hoping to do something with music in her life; Johnny had shown him some clips of her playing and Simon had to say that the girl did have quite a bit of talent. She wasn’t dating anyone, but had a close friend named Cameron and Johnny had admitted that he thought Isabel was going to start dating them at some point; he had also commented that they reminded him of himself and Simon.
Finally the train came to a halt, and Johnny stood up, pulling Simon up as well. “Almost there, love, soon enough you’ll be meeting people that you’ll say are just as insufferable as me,” he said with a smirk on his face.
Simon rolled his eyes, “No one can be as obnoxious as you, Johnny.”
The house was an average house, Simon didn’t really know what he was expecting. He was just a normal red brick house, something about it just made such perfect sense though. Simon could imagine that Johnny grew up here, and not just because he had a massive smile on his face as he guided Simon through the front door.
It was warm inside the home, the smell of great home cooked food drifting through the air. Someone looked up from the couch, “Oh, hey Johnny.”
Said man scoffed, walking over to the couch, “That’s all I get? Haven’t seen you in how long and just a ‘hey’?” He ruffled the person’s hair, causing them to groan in displeasure.
“Okay, alright,” they placed their phone down, eyebrows rising when they saw Simon standing near the doorway, “Hello,” a hand was outstretched, “I’m Isabel, you must be Ghost?”
Simon looked at the hand: he hadn’t thought that Johnny wouldn’t tell his family Simon’s real name. It caused his heart to flutter some though, it was one of those trust things that was so important to him. He clasped Isabel’s hand in his, “You can call me Simon.”
Isabel didn’t seem to be phased at his words, she turned to look at Johnny again, “Dad and Eilidh are in the kitchen, Fin’s upstairs still.” She went back to sit on the couch - no wonder Johnny said she and Simon would get along well.
Johnny sighed, bringing Simon into the kitchen. The smell was even better here. Simon hadn’t had a family cooked meal like this in ages, apparently coming to meet Johnny’s family was going to be even better than he expected. Eilidh was the first person that spotted the two of them, “Dad, Johnny’s here,” she came from the other side of the counter, wrapping her brother in a tight hug. “Haven’t seen you in ages,” she pulled back, giving Johnny a one over, “No major injuries, that’s good.” The woman than spotted Simon standing awkwardly behind, “Ghost, its great to meet you.” Thankfully she didn’t trying to pull him into a hug - they definitely weren’t on that level yet. “Johnny here has been telling me all about you,” her voice tilted in a teasing manner. He could truly see how her and Johnny were related.
She pulled a man out from the other side of the counter, “This is my husband Colby,” the two men shook hands. Simon swore he could sense the anxiety radiating off of Colby - ironic that he was the one that was nervous, though, Simon had to admit that he could be a bit of an intimidating figure.
“It’s nice to meet you both.”
Johnny was glued to his side, making sure that Simon was comfortable as he faced the onslaught of family members. Fin had come downstairs as well, currently on Facetime with Darci who was a bit shocked that she was meeting the infamous Ghost… or rather Simon.
He knew what Johnny was doing when he told his family to call Simon, Ghost. It gave him the opportunity to open up at his own pace, to trust the people that he felt comfortable enough with. The mask stayed on until dinner came, for obvious reasons. The food was amazing; Simon complemented Tate - Johnny’s father - relentlessly on his cooking. The man’s son had not gotten such talent.
After dinner, Tate pulled him aside for a moment, asking Johnny to get some more drinks. Simon was sweating bullets as he found himself alone with Johnny’s father, wondering if this was going to be a horrible shovel talk, or his time to show his disdain at his son’s choice in partner.
But Tate looked at him with a smile, “You know I’ve never seen John this happy before? Probably sad to say, but it's true, the way he looks at you I know that my son’s found the one.” He wrung his hands, “Amelia would have loved to meet you, she’s my wife,” the man rubbed his thumb against the silver ring on his finger. Apparently, he wasn’t one to throw that away, to put it out of sight.
Tate grinned at him, “Thank you, Simon, for everything you’ve done for John.”
Simon took a deep breath, swallowing hard. He never thought about how other people saw his and Johnny’s relationship much. Some of the other 141 members knew, they all had a few things to say, but to Simon that didn’t really matter. This mattered though, knowing that Johnny’s family accepted him, and that they were happy for Simon and Johnny.
“Johnny is the best thing to happen to me, sir, I’ll do anything to keep him safe.”
Simon was leaning against Johnny’s chest, feeling the man run his fingers through his hair. “What did my dad say to you?” The question was soft, sleep heavy in the man’s voice.
He rubbed circles against Johnny’s hip, letting the warmth of the other radiate onto him, “He said thank you, for being there for you.”
Johnny pressed a kiss to the top of his head, “Told you they’d love you.”
“Oh shut it MacTavish.”