Baz

As Simon and I enter the mansion through the back door, we find Fiona and father are already gone. They must have made their way over to the dinner table to wait for us. I kick off my shoes and Simon removes his jacket, hanging it on a little coat rack we keep for the backyard.

I fumble for Simon's hand as we start making our way to the dining room, determined to flaunt our newly developed real relationship. Before I can even leave the room, Simon pulls me to him and presses a brief kiss to my lips.

I stop in my tracks, determined to kiss him for longer, but Simon only pulls away with a smile. Groaning in protest, I nudge my nose along Simon's jawline. He gives in and kisses me once more before looking me in the eyes.

"We'll save the rest for later, Baz."

Then I'm smiling, the promise in Simon's words are enough to have me stop complaining. Our hands are still locked together as we approach the dinner table, and I find all of the eyes in the room on us.

Mordelia is the one that appears confused. She's seven, so I wouldn't expect her to understand. Father sends me a warm look, and all I can do is smile as Simon settles in to the chair next to me.

"I see you two have had a good day." Smirking, Fiona breaks the silence, pointedly looking to where our hands disappear beneath the tablecloth. I feel Simon squeeze my palm before speaking.

"We've worked everything out this afternoon. The whole fake dating scenario shouldn't have gone as far as it did. Baz must have been feeling brave today, because he told me he likes me. We're dating for real now. Baz is my boyfriend."

Hearing the words 'Baz is my boyfriend' leave Simon's mouth has my heart fluttering.

"I'm glad to hear that you boys are happy," Father starts. "I know you've been through a lot."
He's looking at me while saying those words, and the support from him is getting me to cave.

"Thanks, father." I say, hoping my tone doesn't betray just how soft I'm feeling. As everyone starts digging in to their dinners, I chance a look at Mordelia. She's focused in on her meal, no longer caught up in Simon and I, but I'm smart enough to know she won't let it go so easily.

Just then she looks up and finds my eyes already on her. I freeze for a moment, attempting to guess at what she'll say.

"Why are you dating a boy?" She says. Just like that silence passes through the room, and I notice Fiona with a hand over her mouth, trying to stop herself from laughing. Simon stills beside me.

I open my mouth to speak, but father beats me to it. "Baz can be with whomever he wants to, sweetie. Some people are meant to love differently, and that's more than okay. There are boys that like boys and girls that like girls, all that matters is that you're happy."

Surprisingly enough, Mordelia seems satisfied with that answer, nodding and returning to her food.

My eyes return to father then, and he's looking at me with an expression that is softer than I've seen from him. Fiona leans over and squeezes his shoulder, seemingly picking up on the feat that is father openly accepting me.

Simon leans over and brushes a thumb across my cheek, and suddenly I'm aware of the tear rolling down my face. I'm smiling softly, and as my eyes flit to the boy in front of me, I realize Simon is too. He finds my hand under the table once again, squeezing once before letting go and turning back to his plate.

As Fiona and Simon focus back on eating, father nods his head once in my direction. I mouth a soft "I love you," before going back to my dinner.

Simon

After finishing up, I carry my plate into the kitchen. Baz follows, leaving his utensils in the sink. He lets Malcolm know that we'll be heading up to his room for the night.

Padding up the stairs, my mind goes to the time where I'd found Baz in this upstairs hallway, curled up against the wall and crying. That was after overhearing his dad talking to Fiona. It was an amazing thing to see how much people can change. Tonight's dinner was a demonstration of that.

I let Baz walk ahead of me and open the bedroom door before following him inside. The promise from earlier pops into my head, and I pull Baz to me before kissing him. He fumbles for the doorknob and pushes it closed behind him.

Then hands are in my hair, and I'm falling. I've never felt so in love with Baz, partly because we can be together without consequence now. I've allowed myself to fall deeper into this boy, knowing that it'll all work out.

Baz's back hits the door and we both chuckle against lips. It's not long before we're kissing again, trying to convey things beyond words.

There's a knock at the door then, and we freeze. Baz looks at me partly with humor in getting caught and partly in question of who's at the door. After a couple of seconds there's another knock, and Baz peels himself away from me and the door in order to open it.

He visibly relaxes when realizing it's only Fiona, holding the house phone. Bringing it to her ear, she says "give me a minute," before covering the receiver with her hand.

"Jesus god, Baz. It's not like I walked in on you two having sex. You look fucking mortified."
He releases a strangled laugh at that, which in turn gets Fiona and I to start laughing. "Okay, okay. Your friend Niall called the house, saying he had to talk to you. Do me a favor and speak to your mate before resuming your snogging."

With that she shoves the phone into Baz's hand and walks away. I shut the door and nod at Baz in a sort of 'don't mind me' gesture. I sprawl myself over Baz's bed and stare at the ceiling as he lies on the couch by the fireplace.

"What's going on, Niall?" There's a few beats of silence before Baz starts laughing.

Baz

It's hasn't been very long since I'd last spoken to my mates Dev and Niall. At some point during this trip when all I could think about was Simon, I called Niall and told him to put the phone on speaker, so Dev would be able to hear.

That day, I got into explaining what I've felt for Simon, or how exactly it happened. I figured it would be easier to tell them over phone than in person, hoping they would understand. Of course they were more than okay with everything, joking around about what the two of us do in our dorm back at Watford.

Niall's phone call was a little bit of a shock to me, though I'm curious as to why he's calling, if there's a reason at all. He may just be calling to say hello.

I put the phone to my ear. "What's going on, Niall?"

He breathes a sigh of relief at my voice before speaking. "Long story short, Dev kissed me, and I'm having a bit of a sexuality crisis."

Just like that I'm laughing, I know I shouldn't be, but the thought of something similar to my crisis over Simon happening to Niall is almost freeing.

"Sorry," I say, finally calming down. "I know I shouldn't be laughing."

"Asshole," Niall says. "It's not funny. I think I like him, Baz. And I'm scared I fucked things up after Dev kissed me. I didn't know how to react at the time, but after getting some time to think back on it, I think I want to do it again"

"That's great, Niall! Not that you possibly fucked things up, but that you figured yourself out. Don't you think if you tried kissing Dev tonight, explaining that you were confused, he'd be understanding? He probably still wants you, mate."

Simon makes a strangled sound of surprise from where he lies on the bed, and it's a struggle to bite back the laugh clawing up my throat.

"I hope so." The line goes quiet for a few seconds, and the sadness in Niall's voice hurts to think about. I've felt this way about Simon for years. "I don't know what I'll do if he hates me, Baz."

"He wouldn't, Niall, you and I both know that. If Dev was the one to kiss you, I think he'd be pretty happy to have you decide you liked it." He huffs out a breath.

"Thanks a lot, Baz." Niall's voice is soft with emotion, and I'm overcome with a feeling I can't pinpoint. It's hard hearing my mate like this.

"Niall?" I say, hoping he he's still on the line. "Hey, don't hang up yet."

"I'm still here. What is it?"

"I love you, mate. You'll do great." I can almost see the smile on his face as the line goes dead.

Simon

Overhearing the conversation Baz has had with Niall made me feel almost ashamed. I probably shouldn't have been staying in the same room. The way Baz spoke to his friend is something I can't get over.

"Hey," Baz says, smiling as he lies next to me. He mirrors my position, lying with both hands behind his head, eyes on the ceiling.

"Sorry I listened." I say. "That sounded pretty personal." Baz leans over and kisses my cheek, my face warming at the contact.

"It's alright, you couldn't have known what that'd be about. I can guarantee those two are going to be all over each other when we get back to Watford. You'd've found out on your own pretty fast."

I roll over and rest my head on Baz's chest. "You gonna sleep with me again tonight?" I mumble, remembering what happened the last time we shared this bed. The morning after we did- to be precise. That was when I'd caught Baz being self conscious about his body.

He must realize it too, because I catch a hand unconsciously graze over his shirt, right above where his ribs are. I lift my head from were it rests against Baz's chest. Tugging the front of his shirt down lower, I kiss Baz's collarbone in subtle reminder that his body is perfect the way it is.

One hand moves to rest on the back of my neck, and I lean into the touch, dropping my head back to Baz's chest. "Yeah," He says. "We can both sleep here tonight."

With that, the two of us get ready for bed. I settle in first and wait for Baz, pulling him to me once he slithers under the covers.

It's a beautiful thought, that love will come through in the end. That we can all have something in this cruel world. Love will always win.