Title comes from "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen.

BAZ

The lift is really, really small.

I give it a wary look as Simon steps in. It doesn't really look like it's big enough for two, not unless the two people in question are willing to basically forgo all personal space. To be fair, I don't normally mind that with Simon, but normally it's by choice.

"I can just take the stairs," I suggest, waiting outside the lift.

"We're going to the twelfth floor," Simon counters. "And we're already running late. Just get in the lift, Baz."

"Will it even fit both of us?"

"It'll be fine," Simon assures me. "The sign says it can hold up to nine hundred kilos. Just get in, would you?"

I give the lift one last look, then I slowly step inside. Simon hits the button for the twelfth floor, and the door closes behind me. I'm practically pressed against him. It's ridiculous, really. What sort of place has a lift this small? And the weight limit has to be some sort of joke. How would you even fit nine hundred kilos worth of stuff in a space this small?

I don't like being in a space this small.

"How long are you going to force me to stay at this party?" I ask in an attempt to distract myself. "Or should I ask, how long is Bunce forcing us to stay?"

"Penny thinks we'll like these uni classmates of hers," Simon says. "And I'm sure you'll survive talking to Normals for a while."

"I don't care that they're Normals," I dismiss. "I wouldn't want to go to this party any more if they could speak magic. I don't want to go to this party, full stop."

"You could have stayed home," Simon replies.

"And leave you to face this alone?"

"I'll have Penny."

"Bunce is the one dragging us into this in the first place. She won't come up with an excuse for you to leave early. I will."

"What sort of excuse?" Simon asks, looking a bit interested despite himself.

"I'll fake some sort of emergency phone call," I say. "Or just play the whiny boyfriend who wants to leave."

"It wouldn't be much of a stretch, would it?"

"Excuse you, I do not whine."

"I mean, sometimes-"

Before Simon can tell me what I sometimes do, the lift makes an awful screeching noise and stops abruptly. The sudden jerk makes Simon stumble, and the lift is small enough that he stumbles into me, practically pinning me against the wall.

"Is something wrong?" I ask, as if that's not completely obvious.

Simon looks over at the door. "I don't think we're there yet," he says. "The screen still says we're on the ninth floor. But…" He leans over and tries a button. "The door won't work. So I think the lift must be broken."

"Broken?" I repeat, uncomfortably aware that my voice has jumped half an octave.

Simon presses the emergency button. If it does anything, we don't see any sign of it. "I'm sure we'll be fine," he tells me, reaching for his mobile. "I'll text Penny."

I fumble for my wand. (Simon almost talked me into not bringing it, but I'm glad I didn't listen.) Maybe I can figure something out. There must be some sort of repair spell that would work on the lift. Sure, it might require a bit of explaining, but I can handle that, as long as I'm not stuck in a lift.

And then, just as I raise my wand, the lights in the lift suddenly turn off, leaving it entirely pitch black, and every single coherent thought leaves my mind in an instant.

SIMON

I can hear the way Baz's breath hitches the second the lights go off. I'm not quite sure what it means, but I saw him raise his wand before everything went dark, so I just wait for him to say a spell. He's probably got some plan to get us out of the lift, some spell that can fix it. (Are there specific spells for fixing lifts or would a normal repair spell work? Sometimes those get fussy around electronics.)

Instead of a spell, though, the next thing I hear is a clatter as Baz's wand drops to the floor.

"Baz?" I ask, properly alarmed. I don't think I've ever seen Baz drop his wand before. (Technically, I still haven't, because I can't see a damn thing in this stupid lift.) "Baz, are you okay?"

Baz doesn't answer, but a moment later, I feel his hand clutch my wrist. "Snow," he says, his voice suddenly raspy.

"That's me," I agree, not quite sure what to say.

Baz's grip on my wrist tightens. Honestly, it hurts a little, but I'm not going to say that while Baz seems to be freaking out. First, I need to figure out why he's freaking out.

"Snow," Baz says again. His voice still sounds absolutely wrecked.

"I'm right here, Baz," I tell him. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not alone," Baz whispers. "I'm not there."

"You're not alone," I agree. I'm not quite sure where "there" is, so I just say, "We're in the lift at Penny's uni friend's flat. The lift stopped. I sent a message to Penny, so she knows what happened. They'll get us out soon, I'm sure."

"I'm not there," Baz says again, clearly speaking more to himself than to me. "I'm not in the coffin."

My stomach turns. The coffin…

I know what Baz is thinking about now.

"You're not in the coffin," I tell him firmly. "You're in a lift. They'll get us out soon. We'll be fine. I'm here with you. We're okay." I try to bend down to get Baz's wand off the floor, but I must pull at my wrist a little or something, because suddenly Baz is making this horribly frightened, wounded noise and grasping for me.

"Simon?"

"I'm not going anywhere," I assure him. Normally, I'd tease him about calling me Simon (he still only does that sometimes, when he's feeling especially soft), but he said it in such a fragile little voice, and I can't tease him for it. "I was just going to get your wand off the floor. I'm not going anywhere."

Baz lets go of my wrist, but only for a half a heartbeat, then he's clutching my shirt. I wrap my arms around him tentatively, not quite sure it's the right thing to do, but given the way he immediately melts, it seems like it is. This close, I can feel Baz shaking. It's not much, just a fine trembling, but I can still feel it, and I wish I could make it stop.

My mobile buzzes in my pocket, and as much as I hate to let go of Baz, I know I should check it. "I'm going to move one of my arms," I tell him, since moving without a warning didn't work well last time, "and check my mobile, alright? I think Penny is texting me back."

Baz doesn't say anything in response, just clings to me even tighter. I grab my mobile and check it. The message is from Penny, and she says that she'll call for help. I send her a text asking if she can spell the lift fixed, and then I remember that I can use my mobile as a torch, and I immediately feel like the biggest moron ever.

It's not much light, but I can see the way Baz relaxes, just a little, when I turn it on. "I should have remembered earlier," I say apologetically. "Is this any better?"

Baz looks at me for a long moment. The light is dim, but he's staring at me like he's memorizing every inch of my face.

"It's better," he finally rasps. "I- I'm sorry-"

"What? No, you don't need to apologize," I assure him quickly. "It's fine. I mean, it's not fine, but that's not because of you, that's just because of the situation. You're fine."

Baz ducks his head. "You can let go of me now."

"Do you want me to?" I ask. "Because I don't mind. It's not like holding my boyfriend is a massive struggle for me."

Baz doesn't say anything, which I interpret as him not wanting to admit that he doesn't actually want me to let go. I was pretty sure that would be the case anyway. Baz hates to do anything he thinks is admitting weakness, but considering the fact that he still hasn't let go of me, I'm pretty sure he doesn't want me to move.

My mobile buzzes with another message. Penny says she'll do her best to fix the lift, but she's not making any promises. I say as much out loud to Baz. "But I bet she'll figure it out," I add. "She's clever, after all."

"Where's my wand?" Baz asks. "I… I dropped it, didn't I?"

"You did," I agree. "It's on the floor somewhere. Do you want me to find it?"

Baz loosens his grip on my shirt. I can see the reluctance on his face as he does it. "I'd feel better if I had it."

I turn my mobile so the light is angled towards the floor, searching for Baz's wand. It hasn't gone far, so I decide to try something. It might not work, but it's worth a try.

Concentrating hard, I twitch my tail in the wand's direction. It's invisible, which isn't making this any easier, but I can still feel it, and if I really squint I can almost see a faint haze where it is. It takes a lot of precision, but I carefully wrap the end of my tail around Baz's wand, and I lift it up and offer it to him.

"I didn't know you could do that," Baz says, taking his wand and gripping it tightly. He seems too stressed to do any real magic with it, but I can see why having it would be a comfort. (My wand was never a comfort, because it hardly ever worked. The Sword of Mages was a comfort, though. That worked.) (I still call for it automatically sometimes, even though it doesn't work anymore.)

"I've been practicing," I tell him, aiming for normalcy. That's usually what Baz wants after he wakes up from a nightmare, so I assume it'll be the same now. "I still don't know why my magic decided I needed a tail to go along with the wings, but I might as well be able to use it for something, right?"

"I like your tail," Baz says, a bit absently.

"I know you do," I say. Baz has made his feelings about my tail very clear. He definitely likes it more than I do. I don't necessarily dislike it, but it's not like I'm the biggest fan of it either. It's just kind of there.

Baz's grip loosens slightly around his wand, so he doesn't have it in a death grip anymore. "Should I try fixing the lift?" he asks. "Do you think good as new would do it?"

"Penny probably has it covered," I say, both because Baz doesn't look like he's in any state to focus on his magic right now and because good as new can be finicky with electronics and things with multiple parts. The last thing we need is Baz good-as-new-ing the lift into separate pieces, or completely wiping all the information on the electronics.

"Has Bunce said anything?" Baz asks.

I check my mobile. "Oh. Apparently, it's an easy fix, so the lift should be running in five minutes tops. And she sent that two minutes ago, so…"

Almost as if I'm speaking magic, the lights in the lift flicker on, and the whole thing starts to rise. "There we go," I say, looking to Baz. "Do you want to skip meeting Penny's friends?"

"I always wanted to skip meeting Bunce's friends," Baz grumbles. He looks wiped out, though. I can see it on his face. I've had my fair share of panic attacks, and they suck. I can't blame Baz for not feeling up to socialization.

"Should we take the stairs down?" I ask, as the lift slows to a stop at the twelfth floor.

Baz makes a choked little noise that could almost be a laugh. "Crowley, yes."

The doors open, and Baz stumbles out of them as quickly as he can. Penny is waiting outside. Baz almost falls on top of her, but he manages to catch his balance before he does.

"Are you alright, Basil?" she asks, sounding a bit worried.

"Never riding in a lift again, but otherwise, yes," he says, aiming for casual and just barely missing. I can tell, and Penny probably can too, but I don't think anyone else would be able to.

I wonder how often Baz just… hides things, and no one is able to tell.

"We're going home," I tell Penny. "Tell your friends we're sorry, yeah?"

"If you're going home, I'm going home with you," Penny says. "This party isn't that interesting anyway."

"I thought you liked these classmates," Baz says.

Penny shrugs. "I think I like them more in class. Besides, it's not like they're really friends. You two are my friends."

"Penny, you can have more than two friends," I say, a continuation of our usual argument.

"I have Agatha," she counters. "That makes three."

"Just because you decide everyone you've spoken to more than once is a friend doesn't mean the rest of us feel the same way," Baz tells me, sounding imperious. He must be feeling better, I suppose. He looks better, now that he's out of the lift. He's always pale and vaguely gray-ish, but he looked sickly in the lift, and it wasn't just the lighting. Now he still doesn't look quite normal, but he looks better.

"Should we at least apologize?" I ask, looking down the hall.

"I'm getting out of this building as fast as I can," Baz says. "You can do what you want, Snow."

"I'll send a text," Penny says, heading towards the stairs with Baz.

"Alright, fine," I say, following them out. "Let's go."

Baz goes down the stairs quickly. Apparently, he meant it when he said he was getting out as fast as he could. Penny hangs back a bit, sticking with me and giving Baz a bit of space. (Part of that space might be because neither of us have vampire speed, which he's definitely using right now. Cheater.)

"Is he okay?" Penny asks me. "He seems…"

It's not my place to tell Penny any details, so I just shrug. "He'll be okay."

It's the truth, I think. Baz is always okay. Maybe some of that is him acting, but I do think he's doing better now than he used to. I think he'll be okay.

Baz is waiting for us outside when Penny and I finally make it down all the stairs. "You two are ridiculously slow," he tells us. "Isn't constantly running towards danger supposed to make you fit?"

"Running towards danger is one thing," Penny says. "Running down stairs is another. I'm not going to run if I don't have to."

Baz rolls his eyes. "Whatever you say, Bunce."

He seems looser out here, more relaxed. Maybe it's just being outside. There's nothing that can trap him out here, nothing to close him in. We're free.

"Anyone want to pop into a café on the way back?" Penny asks. "I'm craving coffee."

"I could go for a pastry," I say. "What about you, Baz?"

"If you two insist," Baz says with a dramatic, put-upon sigh. I can tell he doesn't mean it, though. Besides, he doesn't have to stay with us. If he wanted to go back to his own flat, he could. He doesn't really mind coming to the café, he just has to be dramatic about it.

"I know a good place," Penny declares, starting down the street. I look over at Baz, then we both start following.

We're not far from the building when I gently bump my shoulder into Baz's. "Alright, Baz?"

He looks over at me, and the look on his face… Right now, it's hard to believe Baz and I ever hated each other. His expression is so soft, and it makes me feel soft, and really, this is so much better than fighting.

"Alright, Simon," he agrees, bumping me back.

And I guess that's that, then.