Title: Everything Must Change
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Josef Kostan/Mick St. John
Fandom: Moonlight
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,777
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Josef Kostan or Mick St. John, unfortunately. Please do not sue.

***

Mick sighed as he looked down at the lights of Los Angeles outside the window of Josef's penthouse. Only another few weeks, and it would be their penthouse, he told himself, trying to take in the enormity of the change that was looming ahead of him.

It wasn't that he didn't want to move in with Josef. Being here in the same apartment with his boyfriend would mean that they could be together a lot more -- and all of their nights would be spent with each other. That was something he really looked forward to.

But it felt strange to be giving up his own place, the apartment that he'd had for so long. Even the rickety old elevator felt like home now; he'd come to love that place in the decades that he'd lived there, even though the neighborhood had changed a lot.

Becoming part of another person's life in such an intimate way was something he hadn't wanted to do for a long time. He'd thought that he had wanted it, but that had turned out to be a huge mistake, and he was glad that he'd discovered that before it had been too late.

What would he have done if he'd manged to tie himself to Beth? He didn't need to think long about the answer to that question, Mick told himself wryly. He'd have been utterly miserable -- because she would never have let him go once she felt that she had him.

He'd have spent the rest of his life yearning for Josef -- because he didn't doubt that Beth would have found some way to have herself turned once she'd known that he didn't really love her, in a desperate attempt to hold on to him. Even if he hadn't done it, someone would have.

She had a way of talking people into doing what she wanted them to do -- or finding a way to force them into it against their will. Mick shuddered to think that he could ended up wasting years of his life with her, if he hadn't realized what she was really like in time to step away.

It shouldn't have taken him so long to realize that Josef was the person he really loved -- especially since Josef had been dropping hints and holding out a hand to him ever since Coraline had "died." He had been the one person who'd always been there.

And Josef hadn't just been there in a romantic way, Mick thought with an inward smile. In fact, at first, it hadn't seemed like a romantic proposition at all. Josef had merely been there as a friend, to give him support when he'd needed it the most.

It had only been recently that he'd finally acknowledged his own feelings for the other man -- even though he had to admit that he'd harbored those feelings for a long time. Maybe even from the first time they'd met, though he'd never have admitted to them back then.

So much had changed for him in the time that he'd known Josef. He'd married a woman he'd thought he loved, and who had brought him an everlasting life that he didn't want -- a life as a monster. And he'd only gone from bad to worse since then.

He had actually let himself be led astray by a woman who had been good at hiding her true colors; the proverbial wool had been pulled over his eyes so thoroughly that he'd almost committed himself to her. He could only thank providence that he'd seen what she was really like in time.

Being with Josef had been a huge change for him. He had thought that it would be hard for him to admit to the world -- and even to himself -- that he was in love with a man, that he wanted to spend his life with someone of his own sex.

Oh, he'd had lovers in the past, men who had taught him how to be intimate with another male. He'd cared for them, yes -- but he hadn't been in love with them. Not the way that he was with Josef. He hadn't wanted to spend eternity with them, to give them everything he was and could ever be.

Josef was the only man he'd ever felt that way about -- and in, truth, the only person he'd ever had those feelings for. Even in the deepest throes of his obsession with Coraline, the word "forever" had never come into his mind as more than a fleeting idea.

With Josef, it was different. Falling in love with him had changed everything in Mick's life; he had become a different person, seeing the world around him and his own life with new eyes. There were so many more possibilities now; eternity was open to him, beckoning him to step forward.

Everything had to change. He knew that. Nothing in life could always stay the same -- especially with lives as long as the ones he and Josef had been granted. He couldn't everything to always be at status quo, never changing, never moving forward into the future.

But it was so hard to let go of what he'd always thought of as his freedom, his independence. It was scary to move in with Josef, to know that there would always be someone else around, even if that someone was the man he loved with all of his heart and soul.

Why should it make him feel nervous? Mick asked himself, sighing again. He should feel excited about moving in with Josef -- and a part of him was. He wanted to be able to spend more time with the man he loved, so why did he feel a rising panic?

Probably because every time there was a major change in his life, it was usually a change that made him reflect on his life and not like what he saw there, Mick thought wryly. The big milestones in his life usually involved some momentous occasion that hadn't always been good.

This was a momentous occasion -- and there was no reason for him to think that it wouldn't turn out to be a good one, Mick told himself firmly. He was going to move in with Josef. He was going to move ahead with his life, and accept the changes in it.

Besides, if he lived with his boyfriend, not only would he be with Josef every night and wake up with his lover wrapped in his arms every day, he'd also have a lot of luxuries that he didn't have now. He'd have all of Josef's wealth and influence at his disposal.

Maybe that wouldn't always be a good thing -- but he wasn't going to turn the offer down just to preserve his standing as a "poor detective." There was no reason for him not to put all of the advantages that living with Josef could give him in his profession to good use.

And it wasn't as though he was asking for those things. Josef was offering them to him, freely and openly. Their relationship was the important issue at stake for both of them; the professional perks that could come from living here didn't matter.

The main thing to remember was that he would be with Josef, Mick reminded himself. He would spend his time at home with the man he loved, rather than watching the clock and wondering when he would be able to hold Josef in his arms again.

The need to see his boyfriend now, to soothe his nerves, just to have Josef's lips on his and his arms around the other man, was almost overwhelming. Mick glanced at the clock, relieved to see that his lover should be here in just a few minutes.

One thing that he was sure would never change -- and that was the way that he felt about Josef Kostan. Mick knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he would love Josef for all of eternity, that this man was the person he'd always been destined to spend his life with.

If only he had managed to realize that decades before, when he'd been blinded by his obsession for someone who had been the antithesis of everything he'd thought she was! But that time was long past; he couldn't keep castigating himself for old mistakes.

A change was in the air -- and Mick knew that it would be a good change. It was only the stubborn part of his mind that resisted change, that wanted to keep on as it had always been. But he wasn't going to listen to that side of himself this time.

Everything must change. What was that old song? he asked himself, frowning. Oh yeah, "Turn, Turn, Turn." There was a time to every season, a purpose for everything. And all the seasons changed, each one turning over and leading into the next.

It was time for him to embrace the changes in his life, instead of looking at them with suspicion. Moving in with Josef was going to be a good change in his life -- and if there were any down side to it, he and his lover would work those out between the two of them.

Mick smiled as he heard the elevator bell ding; Josef would be coming into the penthouse in a few seconds, and nothing would soothe his nerves like holding his boyfriend, looking into those eyes, seeing that beautiful face, that smile, hearing the other man's voice.

What was it about Josef that could take all of his worries away, make him feel as though everything was right with his world just by being here beside him? Maybe that was what love -- real love -- could do to a person, Mick thought, his eyes riveted on the door.

When he heard Josef's key in the lock, he turned and headed for the door, wanting to greet his boyfriend as he came in. He couldn't wait another moment to hold Josef in his arms, kiss him, love him -- and he couldn't wait to make this his home and start the next phase of their lives together.

***