#firefighter!simon

Firefighter!Simon who, miraculously, has the night off. He decides to stay in the hospital until you wake: thinking it would be the gentlemanly thing to do to make sure your friends or family were made aware of the devastating fire. But when you finally blink awake and Simon asks all his questions, he’s stumped when you hit him with a ‘I don’t have any family’. Simon can’t stop himself from blurting out ‘You c’n stay with me. If you want.’

It takes a full day for you to be cleared before Firefighter!Simon picks you up from the hospital to take you to his (more than) humble abode. He finds that you quickly find happiness in the kitchen, but are more than disappointed to see he has barely anything to cook or bake with. “A damn shame” you say. With the remaining daylight hours, Simon finds himself driving you to a little supermarket in the corner of the city he hadn’t had the time to be explore. You insist on buying everything, telling Simon (a man who you really knew nothing about) it was the least you could do since he saved you from homelessness. And dying.

The rest of your first day in your temporary home with Firefighter!Simon is spent cooking. You whip up a marvelous pasta dish with hearty meatballs that almost make drool seep from Simon’s lips. He sits at the island watching you move around his space like you’d been there millions of times, an unfamiliar feeling blooming in his gut similar to fondness. Since picking you up some new clothes, Simon had learned a little bit more about you than Simon thought healthy. It was unfortunate enough for him to have been unable to get laid in over three months, but it was even more unfortunate that he had such a pretty bird in his apartment making him food and insisting on being near him when he sure as hell couldn’t make a move on her.

Firefighter!Simon who gets comfortable in his routine with you. On the days he’s not at work at assfuck 0200, he’s up making a simple breakfast for you and him before rhe day starts. You’ll eat and concerse a little awkwardly but that wont stop you from asking all about how he slept and if his buddies wanted more of those monster cookies you’d made to thank them for saving you and your fellow tenants. Simon had to relay many praises of your work in the kitchen, only ommiting the details and sly jokes about how ‘Simon’s girl’ was already taking care of the family. You’d go to work by bus or train- depending on how you felt- and then come home and make dinner or reheat leftovers. If Simon was at work, you’d laze on the couch in the main room and watch television and read. If Simon wasn’t at work, you’d bring the softest blanket from the room Simon had placed you in and watch a movie. More often than not, you would scoot closer and closer to Simon before falling asleep against him. When you woke up, you were in your bed- undoubtedly carried by Simon. Oh well. Its what friends do.

Firefighter!Simon who sees you as a friend. It’s basing your third week in his home and he feel comfortable around you. You’re good at reading his silence- the set of his shoulders and the future of his brow say enough- and he can’t be more thankful of that. For someone so new to his life, you seem to know exactly when to let a comfortable silence fall between you and when to start chattering about them things that come to your mind. But when you are the silent, short-tempered, and fatigued one, Simon is more than scared to get in your way. “Needa talk?” He offers, sliding you a cup of steaming coffee when you level a glare at the mug that had irritated you at such an inconveniently early hour. You heave a sigh and your head crumbles down into your arms. “I’m a mess, Si,” you tell him. Though your voice is muffled, Simon hears the shakiness in your throat trying to escape. He rounds the corner of island and places a large palm on your back in his attempt to comfort you. You are wrapping your arms around his neck and buring your face into the frail fabric of Simon’s shirt before he even knows what’s happening. And- as avoidant as Simon is to physical touch that doesn’t occur during work hours or when you fall asleep on him or when you slid your hand in his gloved hand during The Ambulance Ride- Simon didn’t mind your arms and warmth around him. When you started shaking in his arms was when Simon had to clench his jaw. It pained him that it pained you- and he didn’t even know what was ailing you! Simon tried to soothe himself with the knowledge that he was giving you the best comfort he could offer.

A day later you wake up to a crime scene in your underwear in the middle of the night so you decide to take a midnight trip to the convenience store a literal block away without letting Firefighter!Simon know. I mean, hey, he needs sleep and you were not going to wake him up to let him know you would be gone for a total of five minutes! But when you were on your way back to his house, you noticed someone following you. As you turned right for the third consecutive block, you finally fumbled for your phone.

Boone wrapped an arm around your shoulder and offered Lorraine a finger to shake as a goodbye. “It’s nothing. I think ‘Raine, here, will be good with you. I think we’ll try for four days and then… I mean we’ll hopefully have someone lined up to take her.” Boone fell quiet, thinking. “But, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. I know your man’s probably waiting for you if he’s at home. Bye, good luck,” Boone offered you, patting your shoulder before taking his leave.

You quickly got Lorraine in her car seat, surprised at how well she took being away from human warmth. She babbled quietly in her seat as you drove and that gave you time to think about Simon. You’d probably have to stay in the guest bedroom with her for the night… You didn’t want Simon’s already messed up sleep schedule further interrupted by the little freeloader you’d happily host for a few days. You hope Sally packed enough formula and diapers. As you turned onto the road where you lived, you heard Lorraine’s breathless giggles.

“Almost home, Rainey girl,” you said through a chuckle. “But you somehow knew that already didn’t you?” You slung Lorraine’s diaper bag over your shoulder before unbuckling the giggling girl. Huh. You really can’t believe that this was the baby that turned purple when she wasn’t being rocked right.

You saw Simon’s truck in the drive and pointed it out to Lorraine, saying “that’s the guy I was telling you about, Lorraine. You gotta be nice, okay? He might be a little scared of you at first.” Lorraine laughed like she knew what you were saying as you unlocked the door and stepped inside.

Simon was already walking to the door when you brandished Lorraine like a shiny new toy. “Isn’t she adorable?” You exclaimed, seeing Simon’s wide eyes. “Can you hold her while I put her stuff away?”

Your boyfriend still hadn’t said a word as you grabbed him by the comfortingly calloused hand and led him to the living room so he could sit down. “Here,” you said, carefully resting Lorraine’s body into Simon’s massive hands. You could see the tremor in his arms so you gently placed your hand around his wrist and adjust his hold so he was supporting her head. “Keep a hand here so she can see you,” you said dropping your volume. You fixed his other hand and stood back to admire your handiwork. Simon watched you solemnly. You smiled a little- the sight more than a little comical: Simon- a large and hulking man- holding a squirming five month old- a small and not at all hulking baby- away from him like he was going to crush her.

Gently urging Lorraine closer to Simon, you finally saw your boyfriend’s eyes drop to the baby girl. If you had to guess why he was so nervous about holding her, you would guess that he’s not held a child since his days training. Whenever there’s a call and there are babies involved, Simon lets the more… equipped people care for them while he battles the smoke and fire to get them out safely. But you saw his eyes soften. Lorraine observed him carefully, one hand reaching up to his face. Warmth blossomed in your belly seeing Simon like this. Made you wonder if he wanted his own kids and if he did, would he want you to be their mama?

After you rose quietly and found room for Lorraine’s stuff, you took a picture of the two on your phone, centering Simon’s frame huddled over a babbling Lorraine. You could see the slight curvature of Simon’s lip.

Later that night you were feeding Lorraine, your plate of half-eaten chicken on the coffee table. Simon was just sitting down on the couch after getting his third plate, lifting your legs so he could have one hand resting on you while the other hand had the job of diligently bringing chicken to his mouth. Lorraine was great with a bottle and even better at spitting it back up.

Simon looked over to see a wide smile lifting your beautiful features. In that moment, Simon wondered how he’d done it: earned a beautiful girl who had a beautiful heart and loved a man who wasn’t all that beautiful. But he was too captured by the way your bottom lip pushed out as you cooed at the adorably tiny human in your arms that was blinking tiredly at you. Simon thought you were saying something like ‘I know! So much for a little girl! You’re so tired aren’t you, Rainey girl?’ His heart squeezed in his chest.

He patted your leg and you looked up and that look of adoration didn’t leave your eyes and Simon was sure you wanted to kill him with your sweetness. “Hi baby,” he greeted quietly to you. “Hungry?”

You nodded, still smiling. You watched Simon place his plate by yours before snatching up your unfinished food. He speared some chicken and brought the fork up to your lips. Simon wanted to pause the moment and soak in this feeling forever. Your eyes didn’t leave him until Simon set the fork back down onto the empty plate. “Thank you, Si,” you whispered.

The man nodded, all soft eyes and sweet thoughts and melting heart. “Burp her, I’ll get the crib ready.” Oh! You remembered Boone putting a small and movable crib in the backseat. You had no time to thank Simon before he took your plates and got up. Oh well. You knew his love language was acts of service anyway.

Lorraine went down easily after an obscene amount of spit-up and hiccups. But oh well- wins with the losses! Simon had already had your shower water at the temperature you liked and he waited shyly by the door. As if you would ever say no to showering with him.

And when Simon was slipping his shirt over your arms, you felt that warm feeling in your stomach as you watched him through the mirror. “Simon?”

Solemn and strong as ever, Simon fiddled with the lace of your underwear as he reached for his toothbrush. “Hm?”

“I love you, Si,” you said quietly.