Chapter Text
The first thing he notices when he wakes up is the comfortable weight that’s draped over him, covering him in warmth and security. He doesn’t have to open his eyes yet to know it’s Simon sprawled all over him, his head tucked into Wille’s shoulder, an arm across his chest, and a leg draped over his own, completely entangling them together. He sighs contently, starting to blink his eyes open, and feels the soft puffs of air from Simon’s breathing.
He finally manages to open his eyes, turning his head as far as he can without moving the rest of his body to look at his boyfriend. He hears himself let out a soft gasp, and then huffs an almost silent laugh to himself, because he can’t believe he quite literally just gasped at how beautiful Simon is.
But who can blame him? Simon looks positively ethereal in this moment, the warm light of the morning reflecting off of his skin, making him look so soft and positively golden, as if he’s glowing. His mind drifts back to what he’d said when he’d been drunk, before he’d confessed his feelings to Simon; “The moon looks pretty on you, but I think you were made for the sun.” It’s true. Simon’s made for the sun and he can see it now perfectly in this moment. The way Simon looks right now makes it obvious.
He reaches his arm and hovers his fingers above Simon’s skin, tracing the curve of his body in the air just above him, from his shoulder, to his back, to the slope of his waist. He reverses his path, tracing back upwards until he reaches Simon’s cheek, gently brushing two fingers against the soft skin there.
Simon stirs slightly, so he does it again, marveling at how cute his boyfriend is as he scrunches up his nose and buries himself further into the space between Wille’s neck and shoulder.
“Hi,” he says softly, unable to keep the smile off his face.
“Hi,” Simon mumbles back after a moment, his voice muffled from his position.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.” He can’t help but giggle at the way Simon’s refusing to move, staying tangled against him, completely buried face down in the pillow now. “No laughing,” Simon groans, sounding grouchy, which only spurs Wille on more.
“You’re cute.”
“Mmsleeping,” his boyfriend replies, the words pushed together as one, and he tugs Wille further against him, which he is by absolutely no means complaining about.
“Okay okay, well when you wake up can I give you a kiss?”
Simon immediately untangles himself and flops onto his back, his eyes still closed. “I am no longer sleeping,” Simon says with a grin, and then dramatically puckers his lips.
He can’t help but roll his eyes and laugh at his boyfriend’s antics, pushing himself up on his arm and leaning over to press a kiss to Simon’s lips, and then his forehead, and then his cheeks, because sue him, he can’t help himself. Simon giggles in response which makes his heart flutter.
“Boys,” he hears Linda’s voice call from elsewhere in the house. “Do you want breakfast?”
“Yes please!” Simon calls back, finally opening his eyes and blinking adorably at Wille.
“Of course you finally fully wake up when there’s food involved,” he teases.
“You know me, baby,” Simon retorts, and he feels his stomach do a flip at the pet name. “You’re really cute when you’re flustered,” Simon adds with a smirk, and he shoves at his boyfriend’s shoulder playfully.
“Fuck off, it’s not my fault that all you have to do is look at me with your stupidly insanely pretty brown eyes for me to fall in love with you again.”
“Shut up,” Simon mumbles, and Wille gets where his boyfriend was coming from, because Simon also looks really cute when he’s flustered.
As they finish up breakfast Wille hears his phone buzz. “It’s from Felice,” he says, reading the text. “She’s throwing a last minute party at her house tonight because she just found out her parents are going out of town and wants to know if we wanna come?” He looks up at Simon.
“Sure,” his boyfriend shrugs, “why not.”
“Cool,” he says, texting Felice back to let her know they’d be there. The party isn’t until later so the two of them spend the rest of the Saturday goofing around at Simon’s, playing video games, eating snacks, the usual. He texts his mother to let her know that he’s going to a social gathering with Felice , which he only hears back an okay and a behave properly.
Eventually evening rolls around and Simon announces he needs to get ready for the party.
“Get ready? Are you not just wearing what you have on now? I think it looks cute,” he says. “And plus I only have what I packed to wear today.”
“That’s cause you’re biased,” Simon retorts, rolling his eyes. “But I think you look good in what you have on anyways.”
“Well that’s because you’re biased too.”
“Well I’d let you borrow something but you had to go and grow like a tree,” Simon grins, heading toward his bedroom, Wille following behind him.
“Hey, you like that I’m tall,” he teases, enjoying the faint blush that settles on his boyfriend’s cheeks.
“Maybe, who’s to say,” Simon replies, turning back to riffle through his closet. Wille sits and scrolls through his phone as Simon tosses things onto the bed. He immediately loses interest at whatever was on his screen as Simon starts to take off his sweatshirt, noticing the way his shirt rides up when he does so, exposing the beautiful brown skin above his waistband. Following that, Simon quickly tugs his shirt off, and he can’t help the way his eyes roam everywhere.
His thoughts start to drift a little, about the kisses he wants to pepper along Simon’s abs, about the way he’d like to press Simon’s toned arms into the mattress when-
“Staring much?” Simon says in a teasing tone with a smirk on his face, but the blush that’s high on his cheeks gives away how he really feels.
His instinct is to deny it, but he knows that his staring was insanely obvious, and there’s no way of getting out of this one. “Can you blame me? It’s not my fault you look like that,” he sputters, reaching his hand out and gesturing up and down vaguely at all of his boyfriend. “You’re distracting!”
“I love you,” Simon giggles, and then like the menace he is, slides his sweatpants down while making direct eye contact with Wille, leaving him only in his underwear as Wille’s eyes trail down his boyfriend’s body helplessly.
“I, uh, I love you too,” he stutters, which only encourages Simon to giggle more. “Actually I heard the party was canceled,” he jokes, “so we should probably just stay here and, uhh..” his mind is going all sorts of places, thinking about all the different noises he’d like to draw out of Simon. Jesus, what has this boy done to his brain?
“Yeah?” Simon asks with a smirk, sliding on a pair of oversized black pants that have a slight shimmer to them.
“Yeah,” he says, watching Simon blush bashfully, and slide on a pretty brown and black plaid sweater, then crouching down to slide on some black shoes. Simon walks over to his bureau and pulls out a necklace from a box on top, sliding the silver chain necklace around his neck and fixing the clasp.
And that is simply not fair.
“You’re going to be the death of me, Simon Eriksson.”
*
♪
*
♡
*
Eventually they step up to Felice’s house, able to hear the pounding of the music from the front walkway.
“This is cute on you by the way,” Simon says, tugging at Wille’s jumper. “I like this.”
“You’re cute, I like you,” Wille says as they climb the stairs to the front door. He sees Simon smile and laugh in response as Wille starts to open the front door, and Simon kisses him gently on the cheek. Instinctively he whips his head toward the mass of people inside, checking to see if anyone saw, but it seems everyone is either too drunk or too wrapped up in the music to have noticed. When he turns back to Simon he’s already stepping through the door.
“Sorry,” Simon apologizes as he steps past him.
“It’s okay,” he answers, but he’s not sure if Simon even heard him over the music.
“Wille! Simon!” he hears Felice’s voice before he sees her, the girl rushing toward them both to give them both hugs. She’s definitely at least a little tipsy right now. “I’m so glad you guys could make it!”
“Come dance!” He hears Stella shout, and before he knows it he and Simon are being dragged off to dance.
A few hours or so later Wille’s found himself in the kitchen with Simon, Henry and Walter, the four of them taking a break from the party chaos. He’s had enough to drink where he knows he can’t quite perceive time that well, but he’s sure they only got a two second break before Frederika was busting through the door saying, “There you are, we’ve been looking for you. Come on, we're playing truth or dare!”
“Truth,” he hears Maddie say as they join the circle and sit down.
“Have you ever slept with two different people in the same week?” He hears a boy whose name he thinks is Axel ask.
“Duh, of course,” Maddie answers, and the circle cheers. “Alright, Claire, truth or dare?” She asks, looking at a blonde girl across the circle.
“Dare.”
“I dare you to close your eyes, have someone in the circle give you a kiss, and guess who it is,” Maddie says after a moment of thoughts which brings out a chorus of “oooohs” and “aaahs”.
Claire closes her eyes and Maddie nods at Stella, who crawls across the circle, gives Claire a tiny peck on the lips and then goes back to her spot. Everyone laughs as Claire opens her eyes and scans the circle and he can’t contain his own laughter either, giggling at her analyzing everyone and hearing Simon laughing beside him too.
“Hmm, that was definitely a girl kiss,” she says which makes everyone laugh again. “Felice?”
“Nope,” Felice shakes her head.
“It was me!” Stella says. The two girls then high five which makes Wille laugh again.
“Alright, Wille,” Claire says, and he immediately stops laughing because oh God he’s up.
“Truth,” he says, because he’s never been one for dares, but as soon as he hears her question he wishes more than anything in the world that he’d picked dare instead.
“Do you like anyone in this room?”
“Sure, I like everyone in this room,” he answers jokingly, trying to play it off with an easy smile which must work because everyone laughs.
“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” she rolls her eyes playfully. “Do you have a crush on anyone in this room?”
And boy oh boy does he have more than a crush on someone in this room. His eyes flicker to Simon involuntarily and Simon meets his eyes, his lips quirking slightly. He snaps his eyes away though, the sudden feeling that everyone’s watching them making his stomach feel uneasy. He can’t say no, because that would be a lie and he can’t just deny it like that, not when he’s in love with Simon. But he isn’t ready to say it right here right now, so he just says “yes,” looking accidentally directly at Felice when he does so.
The whole circle whoops and cheers, Henry clapping him on the back, followed by a mixture of “who?” and “oh my god!” and “no way!”
“Um, Walter, truth or dare?” He recovers, his eyes glancing over to Simon who’s looking down at his lap.
“Dare.”
He’d been dancing for a bit, and by dancing mostly jumping up and down while mainly watching Simon, the way his body moved, the way the pants he’s wearing looked so incredibly good on him, the way he smiled as he sang to the music. His beautiful, beautiful boy.
Eventually he’d gotten tired, and decided to watch from further away, enjoying sitting on a chair in the corner and watching his boyfriend dance, sipping his drink.
“Hey,” Felice said, sitting on the arm of the chair.
“Hey,” he replies, forcing his eyes to leave Simon and the way he looks so good moving like that to look at Felice who’s sitting… a little too close to him. She’s definitely drunk now, and so is he if he’s being honest.
“Having fun?” She asks.
“Yeah, of course. Thanks for inviting us!”
“Always,” she smiles. “So, you have a crush on someone here, huh?” And he does not want to talk about this. She can’t find out that- “Cause I’m not saying you looked at me on purpose when you said that, but…”
Oh, she thinks the person he has a crush on is her? Shit. He knows that she’s liked him, maybe on and off for a while. Even Simon had mentioned it in one of his letters to him when he’d been away at camp that one summer, but he never thought anything would ever come of it.
“But… I didn’t know you felt the same way I did,” she says, and he doesn’t know when she got that close to him but he can practically taste her lip gloss, and he doesn’t know how to let her down easily, can’t think of a way fast enough, and then that lipgloss is against his lips, just for a moment but at the same time far too long, and he pulls back, shaking his head.
“Felice, I don’t, I’m sorry, I’m not…” he doesn’t know what he’s even trying to say, just somehow trying to convey that he doesn’t want this.
“Oh my gosh,” she says, jolting backwards as well, hopping off of the arm of the chair, her eyes welling with tears. “I’m so sorry, I thought, I didn’t mean-” it seems she can’t manage to finish her thoughts either because before she does she’s rushing away, disappearing into the bathroom.
He looks up, and his eyes immediately meet Simon’s from across the room, and the hurt evident on Simon’s face makes his chest feel like it’s splitting down the middle. Then, Simon turns away, quickly walking toward the front door and slipping through.
“Simon,” he whispers to himself, getting up and rushing after him, mumbling “please don’t have gone far, please don’t have gone far,” over and over again under his breath. When he pulls the door open he lets out a sigh of relief, seeing Simon seated on the bottom step, his elbows resting on his knees.
“ Simon,” he pleads, sitting down next to Simon, wanting to reach out and hold his hand, or press their legs together, but he decides against it. Simon looks up at him, but his expression is hard to read. “Simon I’m so sorry, I had no idea she was going to kiss me, I promise I didn’t want her to, or-”
“I know you didn’t want her to, Wille,” Simon sighs.
“I’m still sorry.”
“I know. It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay…” he trails off, but he doesn’t know exactly where he’s going with this. To his surprise, Simon just reaches out and laces their fingers together, tugging their intertwined hands to rest on his knee
“No, it’s…” Simon pauses for a moment, looking away for a second, seemingly to gather his thoughts before looking back at him. “It is okay. I know you didn’t mean for that to happen in there Wille, and I’m not upset about that. It’s just, I guess it’s just so hard having to hide us sometimes when I’m so happy finally being in a relationship with the person who I’ve loved ever since I met him. And this isn’t me trying to rush you or anything, I’m just being honest with how I feel. I don’t want you to have to rush telling people for me. I want you to tell others for yourself, when you’re ready. It’s just hard being a secret sometimes. But I know that one day it will all work out, and I’m okay waiting for that day.”
He can’t stop the tear that escapes, relieved that he hasn’t completely ruined everything. He quickly wipes it away, hoping that Simon didn’t see. When he looks at Simon again though he sees that he has matching shining eyes of his own, and he reaches out and traces the pad of his thumb across Simon’s cheek. Wille nods, pulling Simon into his chest, wrapping his arms around the love of his life, cradling him against him and sighing in relief when he feels the boy do the same.
“I will figure it out,” he promises, because Simon may be okay with waiting for that day where they don’t need to hide anymore, but he’s not. He can’t keep hiding the person he loves most and he can’t keep hiding who he is. He wants to be free one day and maybe, with enough courage, that day can be soon.
*
♪
*
♡
*
His feet take him pretty much on auto-pilot to Simon’s locker, which is fine by him because that’s where he’d wanted to go anyway. The whole way there a million thoughts and worries are dancing in his head but he forces them away because it’s about time he’s doing this. It’s about time he stops denying Simon, and finally stops denying himself.
Simon’s already at his locker when he arrives, taking out books from his backpack and placing them inside, exchanging them for notebooks inside the locker. The other must hear him approaching, because he pauses and looks over at Wille, who feels very nervous all of a sudden. But then Simon smiles, a small but still positively radiant smile that sends the nerves away instantly, because Simon’s happy to see him.
“Hey,” he says, the sheer relief he feels from even being in Simon’s presence overwhelms him. That’s something that probably should be studied, because how is that even possible?
“Hey,” Simon says softly, doing that thing that he does that makes Wille feel like he’s the only person in the whole world. “How are y-”
“I want to tell people about us,” he cuts Simon off, because he can’t help it. He’s sort of anxious and also excited and he can’t keep the words in any longer. Simon’s calm and neutral expression falters slightly into a frown which confuses him because he’d thought Simon would be happy about this. “What?” He asks after there’s a pause.
“Nothing, that’s great, it’s really great it’s just… I meant what I said before, that you don’t have to do this until you’re ready. That I would wait for you.” The sincerity swimming in Simon’s warm brown eyes makes him feel a little weak in the knees, so he leans his shoulder against the locker.
“I know, I know you meant that. But honestly? I don’t think I’ll ever be ready . I’ll always be overthinking it, or worried about it, or deciding that it’s not the right time. But maybe there just isn’t a perfect time like the ones I’ve tried conjuring in my head. I want to be who I am though, and I especially want to be the person that I am with you. Of course, there’s a part of me that’s doing this for you, but I promise I’m doing it for myself too.”
“Okay,” Simon breathes out, his eyes looking a little shiny, and dammit the second he sees tears in Simon’s eyes they appear in his own eyes too, because they have always been able to feel what’s in each other’s souls in a way that no one else could ever come close to.
“I want our friends to know, I want everyone to know that the Simon Eriksson is somehow my boyfriend,” he says, which makes Simon smile and look downward bashfully. Just his smile alone makes it worth it, he thinks.
Lunch finally rolls around and he feels nervous butterflies fluttering in his stomach. What if his friends look at him differently? What if they don’t want to be his friend anymore? He knows that’s not true because Simon’s gay and they know that, but everyone at this school treats Simon differently, for so many more reasons than just that, but still, it’s what Wille’s afraid of. He feels a little bit ashamed of thinking of his friends that way because he knows they’re better than that, that they wouldn’t treat him any differently because of his sexuality. He’s just making up reasons in his stupid head because in reality he’s the one who’s scared and trying to pretend it’s because of everyone else.
He watches his friends starting to arrive at the usual lunch spot from where he’s been hovering in the hallway, but still he can’t unplant his feet from where they’re rooted themselves.
But then he sees Simon arrive at the table, how even just the sight of him sends flutters into his chest, how Simon’s curls look a little messy from having endured gym class earlier in the day, how cute he looks in his t-shirt covered by a flannel, and his legs magically begin to move themselves.
“Hey,” he says, plopping into the empty seat next to Simon, smiling back when he sees Simon turn to smile up at him.
“Hey,” the rest of the group responds in greeting, Stella then returning to excitedly recounting something to the girls, Henry and Walter having a separate side conversation. He nods at Felice to which she gives him a small smile back before continuing to listen to the girls’ conversation
“You got this,” Simon says quietly so that only he can hear, and squeezes his leg below the table gently.
“I, um, I actually have something to tell you all,” he says, figuring he should just go ahead and say it before he bails out. His friend’s conversations slowly die down and they turn to focus on him, waiting for what he has to say. “I… uh..”
He grabs Simon’s hand under the table and feels Simon squeeze back. He takes a second to breathe and then tugs their hands up onto the table, resting their intertwined fingers on the table for everyone to see. “Me and Simon are boyfriends,” he says, exhaling in relief as he gets the words out.
There’s a pause of silence at first that’s probably less than half a second, but it feels like hours to Wille as he watches Felice’s eyes widen in surprise slightly, a smile spread across Simon’s face, and his other friends' perplexed looks. But then the silence bursts in a chorus of “oh my god!” “No way!” “How long?” “Amazing!”
He feels his cheeks heat up at all the attention, and startles slightly at Henry clapping him on the shoulder supportively. He looks over at Felice again, wanting to know how she’s feeling. She’s smiling too but she must catch on to what he’s thinking pretty quickly because she says, “I’m really happy for you Wille, honestly. And you too Simon!”
“How long have you been dating?” Frederika asks.
“A few weeks,” he answers.
“How long have you liked each other?” Stella adds.
“Years,” he admits.
“Years,” Simon agrees.
“Oh my God! That’s some rom-com or romance novel material right there! I can’t believe they were pining right under our noses and we didn’t even notice!” Maddie says, which makes everyone laugh.
The entire group peppers him and Simon with a million more questions about their relationship before they finally calm down and return to more regular conversations, remembering that they actually have to eat their lunch before their next classes.
“I’m really proud of you,” Simon says, biting into his sandwich. “How do you feel?” He asks with his mouthful which probably should be disgusting but is somehow still so endearing.
“I feel… lighter I guess? Like a weight’s been lifted off me. I don’t know, I’m just really glad I can exist the way I want to with you in school now.”
“Me too,” Simon says softly, and he wants to kiss him. Really wants to kiss him. And he remembers that he can now, and that it wouldn’t be surprising or shocking to anyone at this table. So he does.
He leans in and captures Simon’s lips against his, cradling the back of Simon’s neck. His boyfriend definitely wasn’t expecting it, given the way he gasps into the kiss, but he recovers quickly and gives as good as he gets. There’s nothing better than the feeling of Simon pressing closer against him like it’s the thing he needs to breathe while he gets to feel the softness of Simon’s lips against his as he plays with the curls on the nape of Simon’s neck.
“Oooooh,” Stella and Henry hoot and holler, Maddie whistles, Federika yells “get a room!” and Felice laughs.
They break apart, but not before he can taste the bubbling laughter on Simon’s lips which fills him with a happiness so great he knows he’ll never be able to describe it.
“Alright, alright, settle down,” he groans, hearing Simon laugh next to him.
“Is this how it’s always gonna be now? You two just sucking faces in front of us?” Maddie asks.
“Maddie oh my god ,” Felice laughs.
“You know,” he says to Simon as everyone continues with their chaotic banter, my parents are most likely working really late again tonight, so you could come over after school if you want?”
“And what makes you think I’d want to do that?” Simon asks with that mischievous look that Wille loves so much.
“Hmm, maybe because you know you’d get more of those kisses you seemed to love so much a few moments ago.”
“Just kisses?” Simon tilts his head, his smirk evident now, and his hand sliding higher up Wille’s thigh from where it had been resting.
“ Simon! ” He whisper shouts, because if his boyfriend doesn’t leave him alone he’s going to have a very obvious problem in his pants that he doesn't want to happen right when lunch is ending and they need to go to class.
“What?” Simon asks, taking his hand off of Wille, his face the very picture of innocence.
He shakes his head at his boyfriend, who’s back to grinning impishly. “So is that a yes then?”
“Duh.”
*
♪
*
♡
*
“I know I said it earlier today, but I really am proud of you for telling people about us today,” Simon says, munching on a chip from the bowl they’re sharing while sitting in Wille’s bed, his feet draped over him and a movie propped up on Wille’s laptop at the foot of the bed.
He smiles, turning to his boyfriend and pressing a long kiss to his cheek, and then nuzzling his nose into his boyfriend’s neck, because it’s just so perfect, and everything about him is so perfect, and God he’s in love with him.
“I love you.”
“I love you too,” Simon smiles, and Wille goes back to pressing kisses to Simon’s neck, because how is he supposed to resist? He presses them to Simon’s jaw, then back to his cheek, then to his nose, making Simon giggle.
Simon pulls away suddenly and he opens his eyes, feeling a pang of worry in his chest that he’d done something wrong, watching Simon grab the laptop and chip bowl from the bed and placing them on the ground. “Are you ok-” he starts to ask but Simon scrambles into his lap before he can finish what he’s saying. And before he knows it Simon’s lips are on his, kissing him with an eagerness that fills his stomach with butterflies.
Simon’s hands brush his cheeks, then through his hair, down his neck and across his shoulders, moving anywhere and everywhere indecisively and Wille can’t get enough of it. It escalates quickly, because how could it not, him letting Simon kiss him into the mattress, feeling his blood rush downward as he keeps kissing Simon, feeling Simon’s hands all over him and letting his own hands pull at Simon. His pants feel too tight, and at the same moment Simon presses his thigh against where he’s hard, making him let out a gasp. His boyfriend takes the opportunity to lick into his mouth further and he releases a soft moan, involuntarily pressing up against Simon’s leg, needing more friction. The sensation spreads to his spine, his stomach, his whole body, and he desperately needs more and yet he’s getting everything he needs.
He kisses his boyfriend back with equal fervor, grabbing Simon’s ass and pulling him further against him, pleasure running through him at the feeling of how turned on his boyfriend also is from all of this. He relishes in the moan his boyfriend releases and pulls them together again, receiving the beautiful sound again as a reward.
“So… so you know how we uh,” Simon starts to try to speak, and Wille can’t help but grin at how his boyfriend seems too wrecked already just from this to even speak properly. “So you know how we talked about, you know, going further before…” His boyfriend trails off, and as he studies his face he looks a little nervous, but mostly flustered.
“Yeah,” Wille answers, shifting them a little bit so Simon’s no longer directly on top of him, instead lying partially on him, both of them more on their sides and facing each other. “Whatever it is you want to say you can say it,” he smiles. “I have a feeling I’ll like it if it’s got you blushing like that.”
“Shut up,” Simon pushes at his chest, before sneaking another quick peck on Wille’s cheek. “I was just thinking, uh, maybe I’ve been thinking about it like… more?” The words come out in a higher questioning pitch at the end, making Wille giggle a little. He can’t help it, Simon looks so adorably flustered right now.
“Yeah?” he questions, knowing what Simon’s trying to get at but he can’t help it, he just likes to be a little shit sometimes.
“Yeah, like, you know what I’m saying!” Simon attempts to shove at him again, but he catches Simon’s wrist before he can get there, pressing a kiss to his palm instead, which does nothing to help the blush still burning on Simon’s cheeks.
“I know what you’re saying,” he confesses, feeling his stomach flip flop a little. Because sure, of course he’s thought about it. He literally has the most gorgeous, attractive, really really hot boyfriend in the whole world, who he feels so safe with. And he’s a teenage boy, and those thoughts are on his mind more than he’d like to admit. But just because he’s thought about it a lot doesn’t mean it doesn’t make him nervous. He’s never done that with anyone before, obviously, but he does think he’d like to try.
“Wille?” Simon asks, pulling him out of his thoughts that he must fhave been stewing in for too long, because Simon looks slightly nervous again, chewing on his bottom lip a little.
“I have thought about it a lot more too, yeah,” he answers.
“Oh,” Simon says with a soft smile, stopping chewing on his lip. His dark brown eyes are trained on his, waiting for him to say more, so he does.
“I mean you’re like, you, ” he gestures vaguely to all of Simon. “You look like that and you do this to me,” he adds, gesturing to where he’s still half hard, “so yeah I’ve definitely thought about it a lot.” Simon laughs, which makes him smile.
And then he remembers what they’d talked about before, about how neither of them have gone this far and how it would truly be a first for both of them that they share together. It makes him nervous a little bit, the pressure that he puts on himself because he wants it to be the most perfect first time for Simon.
Simon smiles softly at him and his heartbeat immediately slows, because even Simon just looking at him has that effect it seems.
“What are you thinking about?” Simon asks.
“I was thinking about how I’m kind of excited that it would be a first for both of us together, not that I minded the other things we’ve done weren’t, I just mean-”
“I get what you mean,” Simon assures him, reaching out to squeeze his hand, and then leaving them intertwined. “And me too.”
He squeezes Simon’s hand back and they both just look at each other for a moment, taking in just how much they love each other, and how lucky they are to get to experience a love like this with each other. Simon tilts his chin up, silently asking for a kiss, and Wille instantly complies, pressing his lips gently to Simon’s, who lets his entire body roll on top of him again. One kiss turns into two, turns into many, and soon Simon’s biting on Wille’s bottom lip gently, causing him to gasp.
“Did you mean now?” He asks, in between Simon’s kisses, feeling himself get harder again from the weight of Simon on top of him. They could do it now if they wanted. He hadn’t been expecting anything but he had sort of bought some things a while ago, just in case they ever needed them, just to be prepared.
“If you want, we can, yeah,” Simon says breathlessly, his cheeks flushed and his curls messy, looking so insanely kissable that Wille can’t help himself, and by the satisfied noise Simon lets out when their lips meet again, he’d say his boyfriend isn’t complaining.
“So, uh, who,” he gets the words out in between frantic kisses, “who is doing what exactly? Because I think I might know what I want to do, but I also want you to do what you want, so I think I would try either, uh…” he can see why this was so difficult for Simon to bring up earlier, feeling his own cheeks burning in this moment.
“I think I want to feel you inside me,” Simon says, and fuck if Simon saying that while on top of him with kissed-red lips isn’t the hottest thing he’s ever seen.
He nods vigorously twice, whispering, “that’s what I want too,” before kissing Simon once more. It’s all frantic hands and frantic kisses and moans from there, Simon sitting up to tug his own shirt off before pulling off Wille’s.
A wave of desire floods through him, making him feel a little dizzy as he takes in Simon shirtless, reaching out to trace his finger along the lean muscle of his arms before switching to his abdomen, tracing the beautiful, sculpted lines there. “It’s not fair how beautiful you are,” he mumbles, continuing to trace his hands along his skin.
Simon smiles at his words and then replies “says you, you’re breathtaking Wille.”
“You’re done,” he says, grabbing Simon and pulling him back against him and flipping them over so he’s on top of his boyfriend, now having full ease of access to kiss him everywhere. So he does, enjoying every gasp and laugh he lets out as Wille kisses down his abdomen, slowly reaching the button of his pants. As he gets closer he hears less gasps, and less noises, Simon growing more quiet which confuses him, because normally Simon’s very vocal, especially when he’s about to get what he wants, which is Wille’s lips where he’s hard and waiting for him.
But he’s not making his usual noises that Wille’s come to recognize, and definitely become obsessed with, so he stops, pushing himself up on his arms to look at his boyfriend more clearly.
“Are you okay?” He asks, concerned as Simon blinks his eyes open to look at him.
“Yeah,” his boyfriend answers. “Yeah,” and the second time he says it it’s a lot less convincing. He waits, silently watching in hopes he’ll say more, and when Simon seemingly realizes he’s not going to say anything until Simon elaborates, his boyfriend sighs and says, “I think I just got in my head too much about it, and I started overthinking it, and, I don’t know… sorry.”
“Hey, don’t be sorry,” he says immediately, because his boyfriend should never feel sorry for feeling anything that he feels, especially when they’re doing anything in bed. “It’s okay,” he adds, pushing himself off of Simon and turning so he’s lying on his back, both of them side by side looking up at the ceiling.
“No, I know, I just feel like, ughh ,” his boyfriend groans, dragging his hands through his hair and over his face before dropping them back to his sides. Wille takes Simon’s hand that lies between them in his own, squeezing it gently. “I was the one who brought it up in the first place and started all of this and now I’m the one being weird and dramatic about it.”
“You’re not being weird or dramatic,” he assures him. “You’re experiencing something new that you’ve never done before, and it’s okay if you’re not ready. Simon, I don’t want to do anything that we’re not both ready for, okay? I would wait until the end of time for you.”
“I- fuck you can’t just go saying beautiful things like that Wille,” Simon breathes out, followed by a sniffle.
“I have to, you’re beautiful.”
“ You’re beautiful.” Simon turns on his side so his left cheek is pressed into the pillow, so Wille does the same, finally getting to see Simon’s eyes, shining slightly but he’s smiling, his smile squished slightly against the pillow. He’s perfect.
“I obviously understand the logistics of it and everything, and it’s not like I’ve ever, um, experimented down there before, but I’m worried it will hurt more than I think or I won’t be doing it right, or… yeah, I don’t know really,” Simon continues with a sigh, his eyes wandering Wille’s face, almost searchingly.
“I get that,” he replies. “Would you feel more comfortable in the other position? Or-”
“-No I really want to have you inside me, to get to feel what that’s like.”
“Oh my god,” he groans, “you have to understand what you saying that while looking directly at me does to me.” Simon smiles a little mischievously, and he thinks to himself that every time Simon smiles, he falls in love with him all over again.
“I really love you, Wille,” his boyfriend says, and every time Simon says those words it fills him with something so warm, and so safe, and he can’t get enough of it.
“I love you so much, Simon.” And then he gets an idea. It’s probably a stupid one but he doesn’t care, not if it would help his boyfriend feel more comfortable. “Would it help if we researched everything together? So we could figure it out together beforehand, instead of on your own?”
“Really?” Simon asks, surprised. “That wouldn’t be like, too weird or awkward or anything?”
“Maybe,” he responds, “but it doesn’t matter. I’m sure when we go to actually try it for the first time it’s going to be awkward, and new, and confusing then too. And that’s okay. Since we met you always made me feel like I can be my most awkward or anxious or strange or weird or anything with you and it’s okay. And I hope I’ve made you feel the same.”
“You have,” Simon smiles, and lifts up their still intertwined hands, pressing a kiss to Wille’s.
“So? Should we figure this out together then?”
“Yeah,” Simon smiles, letting go of him for just a moment to pick the laptop off of the floor, linking their hands together again as he opens it.
*
♪
*
♡
*
As the rest of the week goes by, Wille feels like somehow, if it’s even possible, he and Simon are even closer after this past Monday’s events. This week hasn’t been anything largely out of the ordinary, them doing homework together at each other’s houses, hanging out, the usual. But this week is the first week he’s gotten to walk down the school hallway and hold Simon’s hand, and kiss him at his locker in the morning when he says hello, and enjoy lighthearted teasing about how love sick he is from his friends, and he loves it. It feels like he’s finally existing as he was always meant to, mostly. He still hasn’t told his parents, still has to hide Simon from them, but one day he won’t. One day he’ll gather the courage to tell them, to not care what they think, but for now he isn’t that strong.
Speaking of families, every time they’ve hung out at his house or Simon’s this week, one of their parents or Sara has always been around, leaving them with no opportunities to do anything more than quick kisses or make out sessions here and there. Don’t get him wrong, he’s absolutely obsessed with any moment he gets to touch Simon, but his stupid body has been begging him for more. He’s fine with the moments where he’s alone at night, with his own hand and thoughts of Simon, but it’s not the same as Simon’s hands on him.
“Hey,” Simon nudges him as they walk down the hallway to their last class on Friday, hand in hand. “What are you smiling about?”
“Just this,” he says, holding up their joined hands. “I really like getting to do this.”
“Me too,” Simon replies, his voice soft, with an equally soft expression on his face. A slight blush starts forming on his boyfriend’s cheeks and he notices him pause, which makes him a little excited for whatever Simon’s about to say next. “Um, so, Sara’s hanging out with Maddie and Felice tonight. And my mom is working the night shift, so,” he’s relishing in the way Simon’s slightly stumbling over his words a little, “you could come over if you wanted.”
“And it would be just us, you mean?” He questions, unable to keep from teasing his boyfriend.
“Yeah,” Simon smiles a cute lopsided smile, “it would be just us.”
“I’ll be there,” he replies. “So, what do you want to do tonight then?” He can’t resist asking, holding back a laugh as his boyfriend visibly gets more flustered as they slowly approach the classroom.
“You,” Simon says with a grin, looking flustered, before he darts quickly into the classroom without another word, leaving Wille to follow him. He quickly walks in and sits down in the chair, grateful for the cover of the desk, because his plan of flustering Simon might have backfired on him physically a little bit.
I’m here , he texts Simon, and a few moments later Simon’s opening the door. “You’re so cute,” he says, admiring just how warm and soft and cozy his boyfriend looks standing in the doorway of his house, wearing an oversized sweatshirt, his fingers tucked into the sleeves making sweater paws. He loves him so much.
“Leave me alone, weird guy who showed up at my door,” Simon rolls his eyes but steps aside, letting Wille in and closing the door behind him.
“Fine, fine, I’ll go,” he says, pretending to turn dramatically toward the door.
“ Nononono wait,” Simon grabs his hand and tugs him forward so they’re standing right in front of each other, their chests touching. Simon leans in and presses a gentle kiss to his lips, making the already warm feeling he has from being in Simon’s home and around him grow even warmer. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“Since Mama was home when I got back from school we made churros earlier,” Simon says excitedly, heading toward the kitchen with Wille in tow.
“No way,” he exclaims, because he’s had Linda’s homemade churros once before and they were amazing. “If you’d mention there’d be churros I would have agreed to coming over here way faster.”
“You already agreed in like two seconds, idiot.”
“Fine, whatever.”
“It’s because you looooove me ,” Simon says.
“Moron,” he mutters under his breath before snatching the plate of churros from Simon’s hand.
“Hey!” Simon exclaims, but his protests are cut off by Wille pulling him in by the waist with his other hand and crashing their lips together, Simon stumbling back a step with the force. He nudges Simon’s nose with his own, making Simon tilt his head ever so slightly which gives him more access, kissing his boyfriend with more fervor.
He pulls back after a moment, and Simon looks slightly out of it for a bit, his lips slightly red and looking a little flushed. Wille can’t help but feel pleased with himself. Simon clears his throat, and then says “I forgive you.”
“Though so,” he says smugly.
“Asshole,” Simon responds, reaching for the plate of churros, which Wille lifts above them, too high for Simon to reach. “I hate you.”
“That’s a lie and you know it.”
“Fine.”
He relents and gives Simon the plate, and the two of them head to Simon’s room. Simon puts the plate on the bed and grabs a churro, popping it in his mouth and chewing on it messily as he brings up a game on the tv and hands a controller to Wille.
They play for a while, grabbing at each other and bickering the whole time, and stuffing churros in their face, Simon eating way more than he does.
“I don’t want to game anymore,” Simon says, dramatically plopping his controller down and flopping down on his back, closing his eyes.
“What do you want to do then?”
Simon reaches both his arms into the air, making a grabby hand motion. “Kiss me,” he smiles, his eyes still closed.
“Not even a please, Simon?” he teases.
“ Fine, please?” Simon pouts, and Wille’s sure there’s not a soul on earth who would be able to stand up against that.
He lies gently on top of Simon, appeasing Simon’s grabbing motion, and Simon sighs contently and wraps his arms around him. He lets himself bask in the moment for a second, letting his boyfriend hold on to him as he holds on back, the two of them cuddling there together.
Eventually he shifts a little and presses a soft kiss to Simon’s mouth who returns the kiss instantly, relishing at the way he can feel Simon smiling against his lips ever so slightly. He melts into Simon’s touch, letting their bodies fuse together, touching, and kissing, and worshiping until it’s unclear where his body ends and Simon’s begins.
And then it’s a desperate frenzy of unfastening, unzipping, lips brushing, skin on skin, the feeling of his shirt and pants being tugged off and dropped heedlessly to the floor, and him grabbing at Simon to do the same. Heat courses through him and he groans as Simon palms at him gently at first, then harder against his underwear, reaching then to grab at his ass and push them further against each other. He rolls his hips against Simon’s, a flutter going through him at the sound of Simon’s whimper, and suddenly even this thin layer between them is too much.
“Can I-” he asks, his fingers dipping questioningly under the waistband of Simon’s underwear.
“Yes,” Simon answers before he can even finish the question, his voice sounding breathy, and so fucking hot. He slides off the garment, tossing it aside and paying no attention to where it lands, too focused on his mission to touch Simon in all the ways he wants to, and to elicit the beautiful noises that come from Simon’s pretty lips.
He lets his lips and hands wander along Simon’s chest, kissing him everywhere, worshiping him. He thinks he hears a soft “please,” come from Simon’s lips but he isn’t sure, though even just the thought of it spurs him on further. Maybe he should feel a bit embarrassed at how much he loves getting to see Simon like this, laid out for him, beautiful and trusting Wille with the most intimate parts of him. Or be embarrassed at how much it’s clearly doing it for him, judging by how painfully hard he is already, though he can see how beautifully hard for him Simon is too.
“Wille?” Simon asks, and when he looks up there’s warm brown eyes looking at him, questioning.
“Sorry,” he tilts his head with a little smile, “I was just admiring how much I love getting to have you like this. How beautiful you are.”
Simon glows at his words, his smile so bright that Wille almost has to look away, but he never would. Ever. “I feel the same way about you,” Simon sighs contently, his eyes fluttering closed as Wille gently takes him in his hand. He lets his mouth sink down on his boyfriend, the moan Simon lets out going straight to where he’s already straining against the fabric of his underwear, and he proceeds to suck Simon off, spurred on by the beautiful whimpers his boyfriend makes.
He continues until he feels Simon’s hands in his hair, tugging him off a little harshly. He pulls off immediately, eyes flickering to Simon’s to see if anything’s wrong, but his boyfriend is wearing a completely blissed out expression, looking flushed, and beautiful, and angelic. “Are you okay?” He asks.
“Fuck, yes, I’m perfect, I was just about to come already,” his boyfriend opens his eyes and bites his lip, looking shy.
“Hot,” Wille grins, and Simon groans. “And you didn’t want to yet?” He questions.
“Well, no, because…” Simon looks shy again. “Because I was thinking maybe we could try again? To, you know… if you wanted to?”
“Fuck, of course I want to,” he says, pushing himself back up the bed until he’s next to Simon, reaching out to stroke his cheek gently. “But are you sure you want to? There’s no pressure at all, just like I said on Monday. This, what we’re doing now, is perfect for me too.”
“It is perfect,” Simon agrees with a soft smile, and he can’t resist pressing a kiss to Simon’s cheek because they just look so pretty when he smiles. “But I think I am ready. I want to. For real this time.”
“Okay,” he says, “but it’s okay if you want to stop at any point, I promise.”
“The same goes for you,” Simon answers.
“Do you have, um, stuff?” He asks, feeling himself getting a little flustered and nervous as well for what they’re about to do. But he wants to. He really, really wants to. And it’s Simon. It will be perfect, even if everything goes wrong.
“Yeah,” Simon blushes, “I’ll, uh, yeah I’ll get it,” he says, sliding off the bed.
“You’re cute when you’re flustered,” he says, unable to take his eyes off his boyfriend’s naked form as he opens a drawer and pulls out a condom and some lube, placing them on the bed.
“Shut up,” his boyfriend responds, sliding back into the bed, pretending to punch him in the arm while kissing his nose at the same time.
“Make me,” he responds.
“So cheesy,” Simon giggles, his laughter tapering off as he looks down at the materials on the bed. “Ready?” He asks, looking at Wille with wide, brown eyes.
“Ready,” he says, taking in just how much he feels for his boyfriend for a second, how much he loves him, how much he trusts him, how much he’s about to trust him with every single part of himself in doing something both of them have never experienced before. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” Simon says, letting Wille gently push him onto his back, and he waits for Simon to get comfortable. He squirts some lube onto his hand, pauses for a moment and then squirts some more, because he doesn’t exactly know how much is a good amount, but he figures this is probably okay for now.
He gently positions himself between Simon’s legs, hearing Simon breathe out shakily with anticipation as he uses his other hand to push open Simon’s legs more.
“Okay?” He asks.
“Really okay,” Simon nods.
It’s everything and nothing he could have ever imagined from there, filled with lust and pleasure, trust and love, strangled whimpers and unabashed moans, figuring out what works, what feels good, what doesn’t, what brings out the most beautiful noises from Simon, from him, what makes Simon grip at Wille’s arms like if he lets go he won’t survive, two pairs of brown eyes locked onto each other’s, shallow breaths, and finally, a release that washes over them both, making him feel the most ethereal and the most sinful he’s ever felt.
It’s not even five minutes after they’ve cleaned up that Simon’s bonelessly flopping his arms around the bed, as if searching for something. “What are you doing?” He asks, as he almost gets slapped in the face.
“Churros,” is all Simon answers, his eyes still closed, still seemingly coming down from his orgasm.
“Churros?” He questions, before it dawns on him. “You seriously think I left the churros on the bed that whole time?” He snickers.
“Shut up. I want them,” Simon pouts, opening his eyes and pausing the flopping around of his arms on the bed.
“Gosh, you’d think the boy you just had sex with would be nicer to you, but noooo ,” he teases, yet already forcing his spent body to sit up and reach for the almost empty plate of churros on the nightstand.
“I’d be nicer if I was eating a churro,” his boyfriend says, staring dead at him.
“I love you so much,” he laughs at his boyfriend’s antics, handing the plate to Simon who happily accepts it, immediately stuffing one in his mouth. He watches as his boyfriend takes a bite of another one before he’s even finished chewing the first.
“It’s unfair that you still look that hot while you’re actively covering yourself in churro crumbs.”
“It is because I am covered in churro crumbs that I look that hot.”
“Simon, you make absolutely no sense one hundred percent of the time.”
“Thanks bro.”
“We literally just had sex, don’t call me bro.”
“Very sorry bro , won’t happen again.”
“God, I hate you.”
“If that’s what sex is like when you hate me, then I want to know what-”
He slaps his hand over Simon’s mouth before he can finish his sentence, which sends Simon into a fit of giggles.
“Hey Wille,” Simon mumbles out, his words muffled and barely understandable under his hand.
“Yeah, Simon?” He asks, not removing his hand from Simon’s face.
“Ireallyloveyou.”
His heart skips so many beats every time he hears Simon say those words he’s not sure how he’s even still alive at this point. “Say it again,” he asks, taking his hand off of Simon’s mouth.
“I really love you, Wille.”
“I really love you, Simon.”
And with the strength of all the love Simon has given him, and all the love he has for Simon, he finally decides, “I want to tell my parents about me. About us.”
*
♪
*
♡
*
It’s Saturday night. Tonight’s the night. Simon will be here for dinner any time now. This is probably the most nervous he’s ever been.
He hears the doorbell ring and his stomach lurches. He pauses at the bathroom on his way down the stairs, feeling a little dizzy and like he might throw up.
“Wilhelm,” he hears his mother call from downstairs.
“I’ll get it, I’m coming,” he says, forcing himself to walk down the stairs, clutching the banister tightly to steady himself the whole way. He just needs to get himself to the door. To Simon. Everything will feel better once he gets to Simon.
He reaches the bottom of the stairs, then past his mother and father who are preparing dinner for the four of them because he’d said he had something important to discuss with them, and finally to the door, pulling it open.
“Hey,” Simon says, looking so pretty standing there under the darkening sky, the light from the porch lamp creating a little highlight on his nose.
“Hey,” he says, hating that his voice is already shaking when nothing’s even happened yet. Simon must hear it because he steps in through the doorway, pushes the door closed behind him without even turning around and reaches his arms out, tugging Wille against his chest and holding him there. He feels so safe in Simon’s embrace, in the warmth that his boyfriend radiates, both literally and figuratively.
“Thank you,” he says into Simon’s shoulder, wrapping his arms around the boy too. He hears a pan being set down and then footsteps, Simon immediately letting go of him at the noise. This is what he’s doing it for, he reminds himself. So that he can love Simon freely everywhere. So that he doesn’t have to let go every time his parents’ footsteps get closer. So that he can be completely himself in his house in every way, regarding every part of himself.
“Good evening, Simon,” his mother greets his boyfriend.
“Good evening,” Simon says back with a smile that Wille recognizes as so insanely fake he has to keep from laughing. Leave it to being in Simon’s presence for barely a few minutes for him to feel so much better already.
“It’s ready, you boys may come sit,” his mother says, so they do, heading to the dining table and sitting down, Simon greeting his father who’s sitting at the head of the table as they do so.
After they’ve mostly finished their meal, Wille struggling to manage eating at all when his stomach feels like it’s in knots but trying his best to make his plate look empty, his father says, “so Wilhelm, there’s something you’d like to talk about?”
His stomach lurches, “yeah, um.” He can’t do this. He doesn’t know where to start or how to say it. He doesn’t know how they’ll react or what to expect. He sees Simon’s gentle eyes on him, encouraging him, and he wishes he could just say it like Simon had at this very same table once before.
“Wilhelm?”
But maybe he can.
“I’m queer,” he says, and a silence falls over the table. He looks back and forth between his parent’s expressions, but there’s nothing there.
“I don’t understand,” his father says.
He takes a deep breath in and releases it. He’d said it once so he can say it again. “I’m queer. I haven’t figured out everything about my sexuality yet, but I know that I’ve liked not just girls in the past, and I like not just girls now.”
“Wilhelm this is a serious thing to say, you can’t just start saying these things if you aren’t sure,” his mother says, her eyebrows knitted together and her cheeks looking pinched.
He sees Simon frown indignantly at his mother’s words, and he sort of looks like an angry cat which makes the knot in his stomach loosen just a little. He’s so glad he decided to have Simon here for this.
“I am sure, mamma. This is something I’ve always sort of known, but struggled to accept. And for a little while now I’ve finally understood myself and who I am. And I am queer.”
“You’re so young, Wilhelm, there is so much more time to figure out who you are. You don’t have to rush it now,” his father adds. With every word his parents say he feels his fear become drained more and more, replaced with more of a burning anger coming from deep inside him due to their insistence on disregarding what he’s saying because they don’t want to accept it.
“I know that, and I know I will continue figuring out more things about myself, but I know for certain this is a part of me.” He reaches under the table to hold Simon’s hand and finds that Simon’s already there waiting for him. He laces their fingers together and holds tightly. Then he thinks better of it and releases Simon’s hand, pulling his arm out from under the table and placing it on top, resting his palm facing up, inviting. He sees Simon’s confusion for a moment, before he realizes what he’s doing. His eyes flicker between Wille’s, frantically questioning. Wille nods slightly, and Simon places his hand in his, atop the table, no longer hiding.
“And I also know for certain that Simon is a part of me as well. He has always been special to me in a way I could never quite figure out, and then eventually did figure out and became scared of. But I’m not scared anymore. Mamma, Pappa, Simon is my boyfriend, and I wanted you to know that as well.”
His mother’s mouth is agape, and he almost laughs at the sight. If it were him making that expression she’d most certainly tell him to close his mouth before something flew in there.
“I told you Simon should not be sleeping over anymore at this age,” his father addresses his mother.
“This would have happened long before you’d said we shouldn’t allow that anymore-”
“-Enough,” he interrupts his mother. “Simon sleeping over didn’t turn me queer, if that’s what you’re implying. I am queer. My queerness is a part of who I am and Simon did not create that. He is the love I get to receive because of it.
“Darling, this will be too hard for you, people will look at you differently your entire life,” his mother pleads.
“So let them. If people want to judge me for who I am, if you want to judge me for who I am, then so be it. That’s not a reason for me to pretend to be someone I’m not. I won’t hide myself or the person I love anymore.”
Both of his parents are silent at his words, so he takes the opportunity to look at Simon again, who has this look on his face like he’s so proud of him he’s going to burst. He lets his lips quirk upwards at the sight, before returning to look at his parents.
“Alright,” his mother says, barely a whisper.
“I may not understand it, or agree with it” his father begins, “but you’re my son, Wilhelm, so I suppose I’ll have to try.” His mother nods slowly in agreement.
“Okay,” he says, accepting that is the best he’s going to get for now. It could have gone much, much worse. “May we please be excused?”
“Yes,” his mother says, looking like she’s still processing everything that’s been said this evening.
He stands up and starts heading toward the door, not knowing why exactly, just that he needs some air. Simon stands up and follows him, the two of them stepping out and onto the porch. The cool evening air helps him feel like his lungs aren’t closing on him as much, and Simon taking his hands in his helps with that too.
“How are you feeling?” Simon asks him, giving him that look he’s always loved since they were children. The one that makes him feel like he’s the only person in the whole world.
“Okay, I think. Surprisingly,” he huffs out a laugh. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
“I’m really proud of you,” Simon says. “I’m sorry they didn’t make that the easiest conversation to have.”
“Yeah. It could have gone worse though.”
“It could have. It also could have gone better. On their part I mean, you were amazing, of course,” Simon smiles. “I’m glad they’re willing to try though. Hopefully they see how lucky they are to have you in their life. I know I do.”
“I’m the lucky one,” he replies, and Simon just shakes his head with a fond expression, his curls bouncing as he does.
“I’m luckiest,” Simon says, leaning in to press a kiss to his nose, making him laugh.
“Agree to disagree.”
“No, agree to agree that I’m the luckiest to get to love you and also that I love you most.”
“Woah woah, slow down, I love you most,” he protests.
“No I-” Simon begins, but Wille doesn’t let him finish, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend’s waist and pulling him in for a kiss, and then two, and then more. “Not fair,” Simon says after they finally break apart. “That’s an illegal argument maneuver. I love you most.”
He sighs, “I’m going to argue with you about this forever, aren’t I?”
“All I’m hearing is I get to be with you forever,” Simon shrugs with a grin.
“Deal.”