Page 99 of A Minute More

I love being here with him. I’m farther away from my mom and sister, but I have no intention of ever moving back. I’ll stay here with Simon for as long as he’ll have me.

He better have me for forever. That’s the plan anyway.

“I want that too,” I say but don’t commit. I’m not sure if he needs more time. But then again, who am I to judge? Technically it has been a year since his partner passed. Is that enough time?

I’ve spoken with my mom about it, and she gave me some sage advice. People deal with grief differently. If I trust Simon, I should trust that he can make the best decision for himself.

“Can I think about it?” I ask and Simon nods, resting his head on my chest, right above my beating heart.

“Of course. I’ll wait forever for you.”

We lay like that, the two of us falling asleep, and when we wake, Simon makes me breakfast. As we eat, he slides something across the table.

“What’s this?” I ask, staring down at the key between us.

“A key. For you. So you can come and go as you please.”

I shouldn’t take it, but I do, slipping it into my pocket. Simon looks relieved, smiling softly into his bowl of oatmeal, slowly sliding the spoon into his mouth. I stare for far too long at those lips before devouring my own breakfast and then standing up.

“Alright, gotta go.”

I lean down and kiss him softly, and Simon mutters, “It could be like this every day.”

Yeah. I fucking know it. And it’s getting harder and harder to deny it. What our life could be like. Why am I so hung up on this timeframe I’ve placed in my head?

Because you don’t want to end up hurt.

I ponder that all day and the following week, waffling back and forth about it. I can tell that my indecision is taking a toll on Simon.

“I worry you just won’t come back one day,” he admits softly one night, and I pull him to me, reassuring him that of course I will. I’ll always come back. Now that I have him, there’s no way I’m giving him up.

But I never thought that maybe one day he wouldn’t come back to me.

* * *

Simon’s still not home and I’m pacing the front porch, trying like hell to get in touch with him. He went to class and was supposed to be back two hours ago but hasn’t returned. Part of me worries that he’s grown tired of me and finally decided to run away, but the rational part of me worries that something happened.

What if something happened and I didn’t move forward with us? What if I blew our chance at happiness?

I’m an idiot, I think as I sink down in the chair overlooking the front lawn. I shouldn’t have wavered and messed with his feelings. Should have just moved in when I wanted to. Shouldn’t have made us wait.

Fuck. Me.

Suddenly, I see an unfamiliar car pull up to the driveway, and I nearly topple out of the chair to get to it. An unfamiliar man appears and rounds the front of the car, and I literally hold my breath as he opens the passenger side door.

And there he is. Simon, grabbing on to some crutches and hobbling out of his seat.

“What the fuck happened?” I ask, rushing to his side, not so gently pushing the other man out of my way to get to him.

“The robot attacked me,” he says with a pained smile, and I just gape at him.

“Are you serious?” I ask as he leans on me, hobbling slightly. I help him get his crutches situated, and he gazes up at me. God, I was so worried. So fucking scared.

“I am kind of. But it’s fine. Brad took me to the medical center and they fixed me up. It’s just a sprain.”

I forgot Brad was there.

“Thanks, man,” I say and then usher Simon inside, helping him get seated on the sofa and propping his foot up.

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