Title: Hold On To the Nights
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Josef Kostan/Mick St. John
Fandom: Moonlight
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,637
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.***
"There's something soothing about the night, isn't there?" Mick mused as he and Josef sat on the warm sand of the beach, looking out over the waves. "I used to dislike the night when I was a little kid. Now it feels like the most comfortable place I could be."
"That's because you're a vampire, Mick," Josef told him with a hint of laughter in his voice. "You almost fit that old stereotype of vampires as night creatures when you say stuff like that. Well, expect that you want your humanity back, and you like being in the sun."
"What makes you think I like being in the sun?" Mick countered with a slight frown. He couldn't repress a shudder at the thought of the last time he'd been in the sun without blood. He'd had to drink that egotistical bitch's blood, and it had made him feel sick.
Just the thought of touching her in that way almost made him want to retch here and now, but he fought down the feeling and turned to his boyfriend with a smile, trying to push the memory into the back of his mind and hide it away from Josef.
"I'd a lot rather be out in the night," he said softly, moving closer to the man sitting beside him and sliding an arm around Josef's waist. "Especially when I have such gorgeous company. Right now, there's no place I'd rather be, or anyone I'd rather be with."
"I wish we could spend all of our nights like this," Josef said with a sigh, leaning his head against Mick's shoulder and closing his eyes. "Sometimes I hate feeling like I have to keep up appearances and go to parties and be civilized. I'd rather just be with you."
"You're a businessman, Josef," Mick reminded him, a slight admonition in his tone. "We all have to spend time fulfilling responsibilities when we'd rather be doing something else. You wouldn't have as much freedom as you do if you didn't schmooze the public sometimes."
Josef heaved an exaggerated sigh, then lifted his head from Mick's shoulder and laughed, shaking his head. "Yeah, you're right. I complain about it too much, I guess. But really, I do wish that we had more nights like this to spend together, just the two of us."
"That'll happen more once I move in," Mick reminded him. "It's less than a month before the lease on my place runs out, and we can get everything moved into yours. Well, not everything. some of the old furniture can go. I know you're not too fond of it."
"I won't ask you to get rid of anything you want to keep," Josef told him, his voice soft. "I just pretended to dislike some of your stuff, Mick. I thought you knew that. To be honest, I wanted to be around it all the time, just to feel like I was close to you."
"Really?" Mick was honestly surprised to hear those words. "I thought you really didn't like that old couch. You always said it was comfortable to sleep on, but that it was starting to sag. I figured you'd rather have that carted off to the dump. Or to the Salvation Army."
Josef shook his head, laughing again. "Are you kidding? We've made love on that couch so many times that it's part of our relationship. I think I'd miss that old thing like crazy if you got rid of it. So it's coming with you. So are a lot of other things."
"Will you have to move a lot of your stuff around to make room for me?" Mick asked, feeling a little anxious at the question. The last thing he wanted to do was make Josef feel too crowded in his own home, but there were some things he couldn't bear to leave behind.
But Josef shook his head again, sliding his own arm around Mick's waist. "Hey, don't worry about it," he said softly, turning his head to brush a kiss against Mick's cheek. "Even if I've got to do some moving around, I want you there. It's not a problem."
"There won't be many more nights when I'll be going home to my own apartment," Mick told him, looking up at the moon shining down brightly upon them. "I'll be looking at this moon from the window of your place. Our place," he corrected himself with a smile.
"In all the years I've been alive, I've never lived with anybody before," Josef said softly, his tone thoughtful. "I've never even considered it. I figured that I'd live with Sarah once I'd turned her -- but there was a big part of me that didn't want to."
"She only wanted to be with you so she could be immortal," Mick said, the words coming out before he could stop them. "She just wanted to use you, Josef. I don't believe for one second that she really loved you. Any more than I believe Beth loved me."
"I don't either," Josef said softly, turning his face away. Mick could hear the hurt behind his words, and he cursed himself for opening that old wound. He shouldn't have let his thoughts come out so quickly; this was supposed to be a night for the two of them, not for old memories.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart," he murmured, tightening his arm around Josef's waist. "She was a fool. Anybody who had the chance to be with you and then didn't lose their heart completely isn't worth your time. But I'm glad you didn't end up being with her."
"Me too," Josef told him, looking back at him and reaching out a hand to tuck a strand of Mick's hair behind one ear. "If I was, then I'd be trapped with her in the same way that you were trapped with your ex-wife. I couldn't live like that."
"You'll never have to," Mick told him, his voice soft and gentle, his heart in his words. "I promise you that, Josef. I'll do everything I can to make your life happy in every way. As long as I'm with you, I know mine will be. That's all I've wanted since I first met you."
Josef didn't answer him; the other man simply nodded and rested his head against Mick's shoulder again, looking out over the waves rolling in to the beach. It was a calm, peaceful scene, one that Mick wanted to hold on to for as long as they possibly could.
He wanted both of them to hold on to the nights they spent together, to keep all of those nights in their memories for the rest of their lives. Every moment they had together was precious to him; he never wanted to forget a single second.
They'd had to spend so many nights apart; first because of his misbegotten marriage, then because of him being a idiot over that lying Beth bitch. But now all of that was behind them; they belonged to each other, and an eternity of nights stretched out ahead of them.
Mick wanted to hold on to every moment he spent with Josef; he wanted every second to be imprinted on his brain forever, even though he knew that they wouldn't be. Memories were meant to fade; they were designed that way for a reason.
But he could hold on to the nights for as long as possible, remembering the times that he and Josef had sat out here on the beach under the moonlight. He would remember the times they had walked along the city streets at night, simply holding hands and enjoying each other's company.
Every moment they had together was memorable, even if they were just sitting quietly in the living room listening to music and not saying anything. But he moments he enjoyed most were when he was in bed with his lover, holding Josef while he slept.
Those were the nights that he wanted to hold on to the most; the nights when he felt that he was on top of the world, that he had everything he could possibly want from life for all eternity, simply because he was holding Josef Kostan in his arms.
Mick blinked as the moon's brightness was lessened by a drifting cloud, turning his head to look at Josef. His boyfriend was watching him, a slight smile on his face, a twinkle in those beautiful dark eyes. He could tell without needing any words spoken just what his lover was thinking.
"It's time for us to get back to your apartment, isn't it?" he asked softly, raising an eyebrow. "And I don't have to ask what you're in the mood for once we get there." He was in that mood himself, but he was sure that Josef divine that just by looking at him.
"Past time," Josef answered with a grin. "Even though I've got to admit that I enjoyed sitting out here with you. There's something really relaxing about the beach. It always makes me feel soothed. But when I'm with you, it also makes me feel incredibly horny."
Mick couldn't help smiling as he got to his feet and held out a hand to help Josef up from the ground. Oh yes, this was going to be one night that he definitely wanted to hold in his memory -- not only what had already passed, but what was still to come.***