Simon was entirely certain that he was the unluckiest person to ever live. Not that he was exactly living any more. Things had slowly begun going downhill since he had met Raphael. The only thing that had ever kept Simon from going insane was the fact that he had somehow ended up with Raphael, but he still was quite unsure of how that happened, not that he was ever going to question it.

At the moment, he was questioning whether or not he and Raphael were going to make it out of their current situation alive, or rather, undead. For a few moments, Simon simply started at Raphael where he was on the ground, unmoving, after being thrown into a wall. There had been a demon attack at the Dumort, something that Simon had not entirely been prepared for, and now Raphael was lying in a pool of his own blood, a pool that was spreading rather quickly.

Finally, Simon's legs allowed him to move toward Raphael, kneeling down beside of him. He was still unable to touch Raphael in any way, panic quickly coursing through him. Simon had no idea what to do, he had no idea of anything that might help save Raphael. He was losing blood far too quickly to allow his body to heal in any manner.

For a few moments, Simon looked around wildly, looking for anyone who could help him. That proved hopeless, so he turned back to Raphael, attempting to assess whether or not it would be okay to move Raphael, whether or not he could get Raphael to Magnus in time. By the way Raphael was losing blood, Simon knew that he wouldn't be able to get there in time, no matter how quickly he ran. The more he looked at Raphael, the worse he began to feel. Pretty soon, he felt crippled by his fear and, although he knew he was running out of time, he couldn't seem to make himself move.

Just as Simon was about to give up, knowing he couldn't do anything for Raphael himself, he heard a voice behind him. "Simon?" He almost felt a flicker of hope, then he realized that it was Jace. Of course it had to be the one person who he felt was least likely to help either of them. Of course Jace was breaking the Law just by setting foot inside the Dumort uninvited.

As Jace knelt down and reached out to touch Raphael, Simon couldn't help but move to stop him. "Do not touch him," he said through his teeth, surprising both Jace and himself. Simon didn't really expect Jace to listen to him, but Jace slowly leaned away from Raphael, looking over at him with a glance that was both terribly curious and painfully sympathetic.

For several very long moments, Jace looked back at Raphael, finally responding in a voice that was much softer than Simon had ever heard it. "I can help him, Simon, but you have to let me." When Simon didn't respond, Jace continued, seeming to understand that Simon wasn't following him. "I saved you, Simon, on the boat, and I can do the same for Raphael. I can't say I'm livid at the thought of having someone suck the life out of me again, but I'll do it, Simon."

Simon looked to Jace with an open look of surprise. There was no way someone who always seemed to dislike him so much would be willing to help him in that way. But he could tell that Jace was being genuine, that he meant it more than he would probably be willing to admit. Simon took once last glance at Raphael before nodding to Jace.

Simon couldn't help but smiling as Raphael regained consciousness. He had decided that since Raphael was drinking from Jace and that the sun was going to rise terribly soon that he would let Raphael wake up in the sun. Seeing as he got his Daylighter abilities from Jace's blood, he had thought it fitting that Raphael would see that he had gotten them as well as soon as he woke up. This seemed like a wonderful idea at the time, but upon waking up, Raphael seemed a bit more worried than Simon had thought he would have.

"Simon?" Raphael looked up at him with borderline terror. "I'm dead, aren't I?" he made a small movement to indicate the sunlight that he was sitting in. At that, Simon couldn't help but laugh and be a bit sarcastic, it was something he did when he was happy, and he had never been happier to hear Raphael say his name.

"You've been dead for a while now, Raph, I'm going to need you to be a bit more specific," Simon reached down to gently push the hair out of Raphael's eyes. Simon had thought that Raphael would be much happier, but he hadn't guessed at how long it would take for Raphael to realize that what was happening to him was real. "You're a Daylighter now, Raph. I'll explain that later, but you're not any more dead than you have been for years now."

That took a few moments to sink in, and then Simon found Raphael's lips on his. It surprised him at first, but then he sank into Raphael in the way he always had, in a way that he had always almost hated. When they broke away, Simon was happy to see the almost ecstatic look in Raphael's eyes. He watched as Raphael turned and saw Jace beside of them. "Do not tell me I had to drink from him," was Raphael's next response.

Before Simon could do anything other than chuckle, Jace was speaking, his usually sarcastic tone back in his voice. "Trust me, it was much worse from this end, Daylighter." At that, Raphael's smile automatically widened in a way that seemed as though he couldn't help it. He looked up toward the sun and gently closed his eyes.

"I almost feel warm again," he said, rendering Simon speechless. "Almost like the warmth I feel when I'm with you." Simon almost lost it at that, but he forced himself to keep that from showing and he just reached over to gently kiss Raphael once more. He forced himself to keep from looking over at Jace, knowing without looking that Jace was making some sort of unseemly face at the moment.

"Let's get you back inside, Raphael. You need rest." Simon got up and held out his hand to help Raphael up. As soon as Raphael was standing, however, he took hold of Simon's hand and forced him to stay still. Simon turned back around to see an unreadable expression in his eyes. Raphael began slowly shaking his head, and Simon could see that suddenly having Daylighter abilities had affected Raphael much more than he had thought it would.

"There's no way I can sleep, Simon." His voice was so soft that Simon was momentarily unsure that it was the Raphael he knew who was speaking to him. "I want to go to Central Park." It was more of a statement than a request, and Simon knew it was one that he could never deny. He simply nodded and began moving away from the Dumort, knowing that Raphael would have automatically done the same for him.

"It's just been so long," Raphael said as they were walking through the streets. Simon gave his hand a gentle squeeze, a smile still plastered on his face at the thought of just how happy Raphael truly was. He had never thought that Jace would do anything to top what he had done in saving Simon himself on Valentine's ship. But now, here he was, taking that thought back.

"I can't even imagine it, Raphael," Simon replied, knowing that the short time he had been deprived of the sun had been nothing compared to how long Raphael had been. "You're practically radiating happiness; you know that right?"

Raphael chuckled and turned to face Simon, stopping Simon in his tracks. "That's not quite just happiness, Lewis," he said, obviously fighting to keep the huge smile off of his face. When Simon only raised an eyebrow, Raphael continued, the smile gaining ground. "I think most people would call it love," he said, and Simon knew his heart would have skipped a beat if it had been beating at all.

For several terribly long moments, Simon didn't have any idea of how to respond. He and Raphael had never been anywhere near saying that they loved each other, and now that Raphael had said it, Simon was suddenly gripped by a fear he didn't quite understand. Confusingly, Raphael chuckled again. "Simon, you look like a deer in headlights. You do not have to say that back to me, I just thought that I should start being honest with you."

As Raphael began to turn away, Simon panicked and began moving, not really understanding what he was doing or why. He gripped Raphael's hand tighter and forced him to turn back around. Just as Raphael was about to ask him what was going on, Simon stepped in closer to kiss him in a way that they had never kissed one another.

When they pulled apart, Simon refused to allow Raphael to talk yet. "As long as you're being honest, I guess I should be honest with you, too." Simon was absolutely thrilled to see the excitement that was already in Raphael's eyes intensify. "You're a very stupid Daylighter if you don't think I love you, too, Santiago."

Before Simon could say anything else, Raphael immediately walked past him, holding onto his hand and leading him back the way they had come. Simon was fairly certain he heard Raphael mutter something close to, "I need to get you home," but he was too caught up in the emotions coursing through him to focus on anything other than following Raphael home.


The next one is going to hurt a lot, and I am not at all sorry!

Also, as always, let me know what you thought and if you have any letter suggestions!