om_main | Jean-Paul and Simon backdated 11/17

Simon gets Jean-Paul back after the attempted shooting. The mask drops.

The first text had taken his breath away. He'd been glad to hear it from Jean-Paul and not the news, or social media, but hearing it at all meant that it had happened, and it was really hard to reconcile that someone had just tried to kill Jean-Paul. Again.

Instinct was to get in his car and drive down there, but he knew that Jean-Paul would rather that he stayed safe, and Jeanne-Marie was with him. The two of them together were more than a match for anything that came at them. Simon wasn't exactly a match for any threat, except for injuries and illness.

So instead of racing to his boyfriend's side, he'd begged off of work and had gone up to their room, changing out of the scrubs and into a pair of jeans and a soft v-necked sweater. He lit an apple-cinnamon scented candle in the corner, turned on the low sounds of a rainforest on his iPod, then had queued up some cooking shows on Netflix. It had become routine for them when Jean-Paul woke to nightmares in the night, and Simon suspected he might need it when he got home.

Then he sat back against the headboard and hooked his iPad into his lap, opening up an article he needed to read for class. He was too worried to really read it through thoroughly, but managed to keep his eyes on the text for the next hour.

Finally, Jean-Paul texted to say he was on his way home. He knocked on the window and let himself in about ten minutes later. Either the twins had driven to the signing with Lydia, or he would get his car later.

"Hey." For once, there was no smile or attempt to downplay what had just happened, and he went right to Simon. The best way to let his boyfriend know he was intact wasn't to tell him, but to literally let him feel it.

Simon stopped pretending to read and tossed his tablet on the nightstand, reaching out for Jean-Paul to pull him onto the bed beside him, hands slipping up under his shirt, fingers skating across his skin as his eyes went glassy.

Jean-Paul's muscles were tense and knotted under his hands. He was physically unhurt, but he was shaking within moments of being in Simon's arms. The adrenaline had passed and bravado was useless here, where he was safe. Jean-Paul pressed his face into the crook of Simon's neck, choking on a sob.

Simon's arms wrapped around him fiercely, holding him close, ducking his lips into Jean-Paul's hair and suppressing a shudder. All the fear he'd felt came rushing back, coiling in his throat, feeling the nervous tension through Jean-Paul and fighting to keep it from creeping into himself as well. Instead, his fingers stroked his boyfriend's back and the nape of his neck, warm breath ghosting across his scalp.

"I'm all right." A broken, whispered lie. "It...he didn't even get a shot off. No one got hurt. I'm all right."

"You will be," Simon promised firmly, not directly acknowledging the lie. "I've got you. I love you. We're safe."

Jean-Paul took a deep breath, but didn't lift his head. He gave himself another minute to hide against Simon, soaking in the familiar stimulus that promised it was going to be OK. Finally, he pulled away to wipe his eyes.

"Desole...I...going to school is going to suck this week, I guess..."

"Fuck that," Simon told him, fire in his eyes. It said something that he was so free with his cursing, which he normally only chose for particularly poignant moments. "I'm staying here this week. I'm staying with you."

"I'll be all right." Jean-Paul's voice broke, but he met Simon's eyes. "I did everything right. I took him down and looked good doing it. I don't want..." Oh, but he did want. He just wanted to stay here in this room with Simon until it felt like the whole world no longer wanted to see him dead. "I don't want this to change things."

Simon ducked down, pressing his mouth to Jean-Paul's, but it was mostly just a press of lips and nuzzle of nose than anything. He just wanted to be close. When he pulled away - just a couple of inches - he shook his head. "Just this week. I'm canceling classes and not letting you out of my sight."

Jean-Paul sighed and sank against him again. "Can we go for our usual drive anyway?" he murmured?

Simon frowned, threading his fingers into Jean-Paul's hair. "Why would you want to?"

"To feel normal." There was so much more to the sentiment, but it all boiled down to those words.

Simon hesitated. He didn't want to expose Jean-Paul to that again. He frankly didn't want to let the other teen out of the house, but he managed to swallow the sentiment. He knew very well which of them was capable of protecting himself and which was...less so. Jean-Paul was on a strike team, for God's sake. After another moment of hesitation...well, maybe two, Simon sucked a breath and nodded. "Alright, but we need to get you tinted windows. And perhaps start taking more than one route."

"It was one crazy, Simon..." Jean-Paul felt his stomach twisting again. For once in his life, he didn't want to fight. "We'll talk about it later? I just want you for now."

"Hey," Simon pressed his lips against the side of Jean-Paul's head, tightening his arms around him. "You have me. I'm right here."

"I told you it was probably going to get worse," he sighed, trying with all his might to let Simon's presence soothe him. "I just didn't think it would be so quick."

Simon feathered his fingertips through Jean-Paul's hair, down the back of his neck. "It was one crazy," he echoed softly. "I'm here, and we're going to work it out. I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

"M'lucky." Jean-Paul sighed and tried to burrow closer, though there was no space between them as it was. "My protective boy friend knows where they hide the scalpels and all the really nasty drugs."

"I do," Simon agreed, smiling into his hair. It was ridiculous, he knew, to pretend he was anything but helpless when it came to protecting the speedster, but he couldn't help indulging Jean-Paul. "I'm also pretty good with a sword."

Jean-Paul laughed...no, giggled against Simon's shoulder. "So would that make me your damsel, then?"

"Hell no," Simon snorted. Then he got a twinkle in his eye as he nipped softly at his boyfriend's ear. "More like, my eromenos."

That got Jean-Paul to lift his head. "I am only half a year younger than you, you ass!"

Simon's laugh broke softly against his ear. "Mmm, my mistake."

"Liar." Jean-Paul pushed him gently down onto his back and stretched out atop him with a sigh. "You're too stupid perfect to make mistakes."

Simon slipped an arm around him again as they shifted, then pushed a hand up into his hair. "I'm flattered, but we both know I do. I certainly did when I hesitated in giving into my attraction to you."

Jean-Paul snorted a laugh and leaned into the touch. "Mmm...maybe it wasn't a mistake. What if giving in had made me even more insufferable?"

"I like you insufferable," Simon grinned, sliding a hand slowly down his spine. "I figured you would have noticed that by now."

"I guess I was an acquired taste." He rested his chin on Simon's chest and closed his eyes. "The idea of you going back to school scares me."

"I said I would stay," Simon promised him softly, making gentle circles with his fingers in the small of his back.

"You can't stay forever." He sighed and looped his arms loosely around Simon's neck. "What if the next time they go after you to get at me?"

"I thought we weren't talking about this?" Simon asked, meeting his gaze with a quiet look, his fingers still caressing and combing through his hair.

"So did I. Desole...I just...I just want to be here with you, but my mind's racing between a million things at once right now. Protect you." He caressed Simon's cheek. "Protect Jeanne-Marie. Fight. Run. Hide."

"I understand," Simon murmured, tipping his head into the touch, sliding his fingers up under Jean-Paul's shirt, gently caressing his lower back. "What can I do?"

"I don't want things to change," Jean-Paul insisted. "I don't want to be looking over my shoulder every second. But...I'd lose my mind if anything happened to you because of me. I'd lose my heart."

Simon sighed softly and dropped his lips back in Jean-Paul's hair. "Nothing is going to happen to me. But Jean-Paul, if something did happen...it wouldn't be your fault."

Jean-Paul turned his head up carefully so as not to bump Simon's nose, and kissed him sweetly. "Non? I would not trade us for anything in the world, but your life would be a lot easier if you had managed to resist me."

"Do you think so?" Simon met his gaze seriously. "If I had been forced to deal with River's situation without you? Do you think I would have been better off?"

"You wouldn't have been alone. There would have been Paige, maybe Lil. And I doubt either of them would have put you in the line of fire so often." Despite himself, Jean-Paul was relaxing again. The familiar stimuli, Simon's touch, and the steady beat of his boyfriend's heart next to his were helping him to focus. "I don't want to give you up. I just...wish I could keep you safe forever, that's all."

Simon ignored the remarks about Paige and Lil, since that was in the past, even if Simon didn't think either would have ever worked out. Instead, he relaxed at Jean-Paul relaxing and kissed him again. "Trust me, I'm familiar with the sentiment," he murmured softly.

"So no issues if I walk you to class for a while?"

"If that's what you want," Simon agreed, scratching his fingers softly across the back of his neck.

"Oui..." He lifted his hand to twine his fingers with Simon's. "Unless you don't want the extra attention."

"I don't mind," Simon murmured, meeting his gaze. "It's alright. As long as it's what you want."

"I can't decide what I want. But...it's a good plan." He squeezed Simon's hand. "When you go back."

"When I go back," Simon agreed, squeezing back, then reaching for the remote. "Want to watch a few episodes of Chopped?"

Jean-Paul laughed. "Promise to back me up when I start throwing insults?"

Simon snorted softly. "Please, as if I have any base of knowledge from which to judge. I just take my cues from you."

"Mmm. That's an excellent life model, you know."

Simon grinned and caught his mouth in a kiss, trying to pretend that his heart wasn't pounding at the sudden realization that he could have lost this today.