Simon wasn't quite awake yet. He'd slept like the dead. Even opening his eyes hadn't helped him feel more alert. Slowly he became aware of his body and its position in the bed. It was only then that he noticed there was someone curled up against his chest. He froze.

It took him an embarrassingly long time to remember that he'd fallen asleep last night in the same bed as Izzy who was his fiance even if he didn't remember proposing to her. He did however remember that they'd fallen asleep almost two feet apart. That clearly hadn't stuck as the night had gone on.

Slowly, so as not to wake her, Simon moved away. He'd slept well and Izzy's presence was pleasant but it was just a little bit too much too soon. He'd rather just have her wake up alone and not have to explain anything or talk about it.

Once he'd snuck out of the bed Simon left the room, closing the door softly behind him. He'd slept basically in his clothes so getting dressed really wasn't necessary. Coffee on the other hand was definitely a must.

He was sitting drinking his second cup when Izzy emerged from the bedroom. Their bedroom, Simon corrected himself.

"Good morning," Izzy said, with a smile.

Simon couldn't help noticing how beautiful she was in the morning. Her hair was a bit of a mess but somehow it managed to frame her face perfectly all the same. She was wearing the same t-shirt she'd worn last night and had clearly slept in it. Unlike Simon who'd woken up in his shorts, she'd taken hers off and probably only had panties on underneath that baggy t-shirt. It was a very casual kind of beautiful. No make up, no fuss, just her. Simon caught himself staring at her legs.

"Did you sleep well?" Izzy asked him. Simon snapped his eyes back up to her face and nodded. She giggled. "You are allowed to look, you know. Even touch if you want."

Simon made a noncommittal noise and drank more of his coffee.

Izzy didn't push. Instead she just went over to the kitchen and turned the kettle on.

"There's coffee in the pot," Simon told her. He thought that's why she'd boiled the kettle. When she got a bowl down from the cupboard, he realized he was wrong. "I thought you said you don't cook?"

"This doesn't count," Izzy replied. "Instant oatmeal is cooking-free. I can pour hot water like a pro."

Simon couldn't help but chuckle. He wasn't sure what he'd expected her to eat for breakfast but it hadn't been instant oatmeal. From the way she was preparing it, Simon had a feeling she'd done this many times before. It was like she had a system, each movement flowing into the next.

"Do you eat oatmeal often?" Simon asked.

"Yep," she replied. "Every morning."

"Why?" he couldn't help asking.

"It's actually a funny story," Izzy began. "Funny but kinda embarrassing."

"If you can't tell your stranger of a fiance, who can you tell?" Simon said jokingly.

"Well that's just it," Izzy replied. "It's so strange to me that you don't already know stuff like this but here goes."

She turned away from the counter, bowl of oatmeal in hand and joined him at the table.

"When I first moved away from home I'd never had to cook for myself before," Izzy explained while her oatmeal cooled. "I didn't give much thought to meals. If I was hungry I just had some fries or a bowl of ice cream or something. Well anyway after about a month living on my own I was starting to feel like shit. I thought I was really seriously ill so I went to see the doctor. He asked me a bunch of questions and eventually realized how poor my diet was. He told me the cure was a bowl of oatmeal every morning for breakfast."

She paused for a moment to eat a spoonful of her oatmeal then laughed as she added, "He might have thought I was retarded or something." She laughed, clearly the idea didn't bother her. "I had just never given food a thought before I moved out. My parents always made something and I ate it. Suddenly being in charge of my own nutrition was a bit much"

"No kidding," Simon laughed. "I'm starting to understand why I do most of the cooking in this relationship."

"But I am an expert dishwasher," Izzy exclaimed.

"Good to know," Simon chuckled.

"Were you still up for going grocery shopping this morning?" Izzy asked.

"Yeah," Simon agreed then something occurred to him. "Don't you need to go to work today?"

"I wanted to be around when you came home," Izzy explained. "So I took a few days off. Don't worry about it. So shopping then?"

Simon couldn't help but be touched the way she was prioritizing him over everything else.

"I think groceries are a necessity," Simon agreed. "Then we could play more Hogwarts Legacy if that's okay."

"Works for me," Izzy replied cheerily.

"We'll have to make a list which means meal planning," Simon began. He wasn't sure exactly where to find a piece of paper and had just turned to ask Izzy when he noticed her staring at him in a weird way. "What?"

"Oh nothing," Izzy grinned. Simon pointed out her rather obvious grin and she relented. "It's just very you to start trying to make lists. It's nice to see something familiar, that's all."

"I suppose I can understand that," Simon replied. "I have a very memory loss type question."

"Shoot!"

"Where can I find a pencil and notebook?"

"In your desk," she told him. "Remember the tour."

"Right," Simon said. "My desk would be in my office, right?"

"Our office, yes," Izzy reminded him.

Simon got up from the table and walked down past the bookshelf on his left, then down the hall where the bedroom door was and found himself face to face with the door to his office. No wait, their office. That was going to take some getting used to.

Between the two desks in the room, it was pretty easy to tell which was his. The one that was unnaturally tidy and clearly hadn't been used in a while had to be his. Izzy's desk had a half empty water bottle and some clutter on it.

Simon opened the top draw and was rather pleased that the level of organization was up to his standards. Then again he supposed that made sense. His memory loss hasn't changed his personality. Other Simon likely had very similar tastes in stationery.

He collected what he needed and returned to sit at the table with Izzy. It wasn't a very large table, only seating three people, but perfectly suited to a couple living in a small apartment.

Now the only question was deciding what to make. Izzy was a great deal of help here. She was able to list off many of the recipes he'd made for her in the past. She even showed him where in his phone he kept all his recipes. In no time at all, Simon had a very reasonable list.

The more time he spent in Isabelle's company the more relaxed Simon felt. The last day with her had felt somehow like a first date, just a very strange one because his date already knew everything about him and they shared an office. Even so he had to admit he was quite happy to be in her company.

Izzy drove them to the store and Simon went down each aisle only once, making sure to still get everything on the list. She gave him that funny look again and explained that this was always how shopping with him went.

"You only ever go down each aisle once," she explained. "You told me it's the most efficient way to shop."

When they reached the till, Simon learned that they had a joint bank account which Izzy used to pay for the food.

"Sorry I didn't tell you before," Izzy said as they headed back to the car. "I just didn't want to freak you out. It's not a big deal really."

"A smidge of a big deal if you ask me," Simon replied. "So who's paychecks go into what account then?"

"Both our paychecks go into our own private accounts," Izzy explained. "Then we both transferred the same percentage of that pay into the joint one for rent, groceries and other joint expenses."

Simon had to admit it was a rather practical set up and he admitted as much to her. Izzy only smiled at him and said it had been Simon's idea.

When they got home they unloaded the groceries and Simon made lunch. Unlike Izzy he'd only had coffee for breakfast and was quite hungry. He'd found a panini press in a lower cabinet in the kitchen while meal planning and had therefore planned grilled wraps for their lunch.

"Yum," Izzy said once she could smell it cooking. Simon smiled even though he had his back to her.

He really did enjoy Izzy's company. She liked video games, was drop dead gorgeous and totally in love with him. It was kinda like a nerd's dream come true and yet he was still holding back. Simon wanted to feel the emotion he knew he'd once had for her. Rationally, knowing it just wasn't the same as feeling it. It would hardly be fair to her to stay in this relationship just because it was easy when he didn't have strong feelings for her.

Once they'd finished lunch, Simon loaded up the game and they spent a very enjoyable few hours exploring Hogwarts and the surrounding area.

"Look there!" Izzy explained. Simon saw what she meant. "It's the last demiguise moon statue. We will finally be able to open all the cool doors."

Her enthusiasm made him smile. She was so beautiful when she smiled. Izzy hadn't put on any make up today but her lips were still a beautiful shade of dark pink and stood out against her pale skin. Her dark brown hair was out of it's ponytail and fell down past her shoulders. She was still wearing the tank top and comfy shorts she'd worn to the grocery store, but somehow the casual nature of her attire just made her all the more stunning. Simon couldn't even imagine how breathtaking she would be all dolled up.

And she was his… if he was brave enough to let himself fall in love with her.

Simon put down the controller without bothering to pause the game.

"I wanna try something," he said gently. "If that's okay." His gaze was fixed on her lips he was pretty sure she knew what he was going to do. She nodded slightly and Simon went for it.

He closed the distance between them on the couch in one fast motion, but once he was kissing her he moved slowly. One of Simon's hands was at her waist, while the other cradled her face. She all but melted at his touch, making Simon feel like he was doing something right.

Slowly as if trying not to startle him, Izzy moved her arms. She reached forward for him, and as her hand touched his side, Simon felt a strange flipping feeling in his stomach. Without really meaning to, Simon pulled Izzy closer pressing her into his chest. It felt so good, like coming home and being naughty at the same time.

And in that moment Simon realized he could love this woman. In fact, falling for her would be as effortless as breathing.

Even if he never got a single memory back, he would stay and do everything in his power to love her the way she deserved to be loved.


And they lived happily ever after.