Chamber by Chamber // Snowbaz

Magic, Books, and Sleepy Kisses

"Yeah, I guess they kinda are." I continue reading the book, but when I get to the part where Ponyboy and Johnny run away, my voice starts faltering. My throat is scratchy and I can hardly read above a whisper. It gets to the point where Simon can't even hear me.

"I can't hear you, Baz," He states simply. "Maybe we should stop?" I had been so consumed in the book that I barely even noticed when he spelled the lights off- his book was spelled to glow in the dark when it opened.

"No, it's fine Snow. I just need some water, that's all..." He hops right out of his bed and into our en suite, coming back a moment later with a glass of water held out to me. "Thanks." I grab the glass from him and drink it all, setting the glass on the nightstand in between our beds. Simon still doesn't make a move to go back to his own bed. I raise an eyebrow at him even though he can't see me very well.

Without warning, he sits down on my bed, his back leaning against the wall and his legs spread out in front of him. I'm acutely aware of how our shoulders and hips touch. "What are you doing, Snow?" I sneer at him. It's hard to sound menacing when your voice is minutes away from giving out all together.

"You can just whisper now." He states simply. I don't argue with him, and instead keep reading. A few more pages in, he stretches into a more comfortable position, laying down on my bed. I try not to say anything (for fear that my voice would hitch and give my pining away) when he grabs my arm and pulls me down to lay with him. Throughout the process, I don't stop reading. It's hardly necessary to read at all above a whisper when we're this close. A moment later, he adjusts into a more comfortable position. It catches me off guard when instead of rolling to face the wall, he rolls onto his side to face me. I can see his face in the dark (moles and all) looking up at me. His eyes aren't closed, but I can tell he's getting tired. Frankly, so am I.

I don't know why I roll over to face him, too. It's like some external force physically rolls me that way. I can feel his breath (mouth breather) on my face and I scoot down a tad so we're eye level. I can't believe I'm still able to read (or breathe, frankly) when he puts his arm around me hesitantly and pulls me closer. I can't believe I let him. Our foreheads are touching now and I feel as though I could spontaneously combust any second now.

We stay like this for a long while until our eyelids start drooping. We made good progress- we got to the part where the rumble was just about to start. I let the book fall shut and half-heartedly toss it over my shoulder. (Careful to not let it move Snow's arm from around me). In fact, I lean in even closer until every single part of us is touching- except for our lips. My eyes fall shut and I feel them stick there. Just as I'm drifting off to sleep, I feel something on my lips. Something soft and oh so warm.

Simon Snow.

He kisses me and I slowly kiss him back. He does this nice thing with his jaw, and all I want is to be able to keep kissing him. But alas... I can't stay awake any longer.

*Simon's POV*

When I wake up, the first thing I notice is the strong smell of cedar and bergamot. All at once, everything that happened last night comes back to me. Baz is reading to me. I move to Baz's bed. We're laying together. I pull him closer. So tired. He tosses the book. Baz. Baz's lips.

I let my eyes snap open and I see that it really wasn't a dream. I'm in Baz's bed and I hear him moving around in our en suite. Did I really kiss Baz last night? My enemy? A bloke? Yes, I suppose I did. And the best part is that I still remember everything from the book last night. I had no trouble retaining information when Baz was the one reading it me. But I also remember other things... the kindness of Baz when he said he'd help me. The soft touches. How instead of pushing me away, he pulled me closer. The way his breath felt. How soft his lips were. What's the protocol now? How do we carry on? Do we talk about it? Does he just want to ignore it? I don't really know what I want.