Part 7 of lieutenant!simon stays with sergeant!reader because his flat has mold and seeing you off-duty knocks him sideways
It happened that Thursday.
It shouldâve faded by now. The nightmare, the panic, the way your lips brushed the side of his head. But Simon carried it through the week like a bruise he couldnât stop pressing at. Heâd gone quieter, sharper around the edges and he thought heâd hidden it well enough. So, when he heard the front door earlier, he assumed youâd left for your run.
Slippers by the door, jacket missing from the hook, the same routine youâd followed for the last few weeks. But he hadnât realized youâd doubled back for your headphones.
His voice reached you before you rounded the corner into the kitchen. ââno, itâs fine,â Simon was saying stiffly, that clipped edge he used with strangers. âJust send the bloody invoice. Iâll pick up the keys tomorrow."
You froze in the hallway, breath catching. The keys? Your hand tightened around your water bottle, cold plastic creaking under your grip.
âYes, I know itâs been ready,â he snapped, pacing a tight line. âBloody hell, no, Iâm not givinâ up the placeâIâll move back in. Didnât have fuckinâ time before now.â Your stomach dropped.
Ready? Before now?
You stepped into the doorway, quiet but not quiet enough. His head snapped up and the change was instantaneous. His voice softened, shoulders straightened slightly, like he could tuck whatever truth heâd just admitted back under the surface. He ended the call with a short, âIâll ring you later,â and slipped his phone into his pocket.
You stared at him. âMoldâs been cleared for a week?â
He blinked, jaw flexing. âWas gonnaâ tell you.â
âWhen?â you shot back, not loud, not even sharp, just flat. Controlled. The kind of tone you used in the field when something didnât add up.
His nostrils flared. âDidnât think it mattered.â
âYouâve been living here for six weeks,â you snapped, the first crack in your composure. âCooking in my kitchen, sleepinâ in the bed I donât use, acting likeââ
You cut yourself off. Acting like what? Like he belonged? Like he wanted to be here
He crossed his arms, defensive. âI wasnât takinâ advantage.â
âThatâs not what I said.â
âYouâre implyinâ it.â
âNo, Simon,â you said, stepping closer. âIâm asking why you lied.â
His jaw ticked again. He looked away, the tell he never realized he had. âI didnât lie.â
âSaying nothing is the same damn thing.â
He scoffed under his breath. âAinât always.â
âOh, so weâre doing technicalities now?â
He bristled. âYer pissed at me. Fine. Be pissed.â
You threw your hands up. âIâm notâ I donât even know what I am.â Your voice wavered, barely a crack. âYou kiss me and then act like that didnât happen. You sleep down the hall but hover like youâre guarding the perimeter. You make me tea every morning like its muscle memory but canât look me in the eye long enough to tell me your flatâs been fine for days?â Your voice is high and clipped.
He stepped forward. So did you. âTell me what Iâm supposed to think,â you whispered.
He stared at you like youâd just pulled the pin from a grenade. Then something in him snapped.
âI DONâT FUCKINâ KNOW, DO I?!â he shouted. The sound ricocheted off the walls. You startled, not because you were afraid of him, but because youâd never heard that volume from him inside four safe, domestic walls.
Hands fisted at his sides, shoulders drawn tight, breathing hard, the mask sliding back over him like a shutter slamming down. âDonât know what Iâm supposed to think,â he growled, pacing once, sharp, ripping a hand through his hair. âDonât know how Iâm supposed to stay away when youâ when this placeââ He stopped himself, tension vibrating through him. âAnd youâre askinâ why I didnât say anything?â
You swallowed. âYes.â
He laughed. Harsh. Bitter. âBecause I knew thisâd happen.â
You blinked. âWhat? Me asking why you lied?â
âNo,â he snapped. âMe fuckinâ it up.â
You opened your mouth but he cut you off, louder now, voice cracking, âYou think I donât know what it looks like? Lingerinâ around here. Cookinâ in your kitchen. Sleepinâ down the hall wantinâ toââ He bit down on the sentence so hard his jaw trembled. ââwantinâ too much.â
Silence. The moment was heavy and fragile. You hadnât moved and neither had he. He finally lifted his eyes to yours, and this was the worst part â he looked furious, but every bit of it was directed inward.
The self-hatred, the fear, the guilt. All of it aimed squarely at himself. Not you, never you. He stepped back like heâd come too close to something dangerous. Like you were the thing that could make him lose control.
âYou shouldnât jusâ be angry,â he muttered, voice ripping low. âYou should kick me out.â
You stared at him, chest tight, heart pounding, realizing he actually believed that. You stared at the rigid line of his shoulders. At the fists he kept clenching and unclenching. At the way he couldnât look at you without flinching, like wanting you was a weakness that disgusted him.
He thought you should kick him out. He genuinely thought that.
âSimon,â you said, voice low but steady, âif I wanted you gone, youâd be gone.â
His breathing stuttered. Just once. âAnd Iâm not angry because youâre here,â you added. âIâm angry because youâre acting like it doesnât mean anything.â
That got him. His head snapped toward you. âIt doesnâtââ
âOh, fuck off,â you cut in, stepping forward. âWeâre way past pretending.â
His eyes went wide, then narrowed, not at you, but at himself, because he had no argument. None. He took a step closer. âYou donât know what youâre sayinâ.â
âI know exactly what Iâm saying.â
âYou donât.â
âThen tell me Iâm wrong.â
Silence. Thick. Brutal. His jaw worked, breath heaving, eyes burning with everything he refused to say. He looked furious. Wrecked. Cornered. At himself. At you. At the six weeks of pretending you both hadnât already crossed a line the minute you folded and stacked his laundry for him.
You felt heat rising in your chest, the kind of frustration that made your hands shake. âSay it, Simon. You fucken canât evenââ
He moved.
One second there was air between you, the next his hand was in your hair, the other gripping your waist, pulling you into him with a force that wasnât gentle by any definition of the word.
He kissed you like he hated it. Like he hated that he wanted it. Hated that heâd let it get this far. Hated himself for every reason he stayed and every reason he shouldâve left.
Your gasp hit his mouth, swallowed instantly, your hands fisting in the front of his shirt as you dragged him closer, matching his anger with your own. You kissed him back like you were furious with him. With yourself. With all the ways youâd both been so stupid.
His lips were hot, harsh, desperate. Yours answered with equal fervor.
He muttered something against your mouth â half-growled, half-broken. âBad fuckinâ idea, this,â he breathed, but it came out like a confession, not a warning.
âToo late,â you shot back, dragging his lips down to you again.
He groaned, low and ragged, like heâd been holding it back for weeks and his hands slid to your hips, gripping hard enough that you felt your breath catch. âWeâre fuckinâ idiots,â he muttered against your mouth.
âYeah,â you mumbled, brushing your lips over his. âAbsolute idiots.â
He huffed a breath that wasnât quite a laugh, then suddenly bent, one arm hooking behind your thighs, the other bracing your back. Before you could react, you were in the air.
âSimonââ
âNot talkinâ anymore,â he growled, standing to his full height with you cradled against him. âWeâre too bloody stupid for talkinâ.â
He kissed you once more, quick and sharp, as he carried you down the hall like it was the most natural thing heâd ever done.



















