Jayce being gone changed things. Of course it would; he was Simon’s older brother, and your best friend. It was hard for you to wrap your head around the idea that he would be so willing to leave you all behind to go vigilante with Izuku, but you supposed it also made sense, in an unfortunate way. Simon, however, understood immediately, even if he didn’t like it. You’d only recently put his younger sister in jail, and that had driven a rift between the three of you that, for a while, you were scared might push you apart completely.

You and Simon only had each other now. Hitoshi wasn’t talking to you, because he was too busy grieving the boyfriend that he hasn’t lost. So, it was just the two of you, always. He’d come to your house for dinner or vice versa, or you’d both sit on Jayce’s bed and talk about how stupid he was for doing this, and how it was just like him to risk his life for strangers.

Embarrassingly, the alone time did wonders for your budding feelings. Simon had been in love with you for more years than he could count on one hand, and you’d been the same, albeit a lot more subtly than him. Maybe it was the mixing emotions, the fact that you hadn’t been kissed in so long, and several years of pent up affection that did you in.

No matter how you got here, one thing was clear. Simon’s hand was cupping your cheek, holding you close, as your lips pressed together for the first time, sending shockwaves through your body and hypothetical fireworks into the sky. Time stopped for you, here in this moment with him, where you can taste his vanilla chapstick and feel his long blonde eyelashes barely touching your cheek, even with his eyes closed.

Suddenly everything made sense. Something was forever changed for you, in that moment, and when you pulled away and met his bright blue gaze, you forgot about everything wrong in the world, because why would anything but he and you matter right now?

“You’re staring,” he whispers, a smile already curving his lips, but his eyes haven’t left you either.