Title: Anywhere You Are
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.***
"What would you do if I had to move back to New York, or out of the country?" Josef asked, looking over at Mick. "You know how vamps have to move around a lot. And I've been here in Los Angeles for over sixty years now. That's a long time for me."
Mick nodded, surprised at the fact that Josef had been in one place for so long. He knew that his lover had spent less than fifty years in New York when he'd been there, though he'd left more because of the failed relationship with Sarah than any other reason.
"Are you thinking about moving on?" he asked, wondering how long it would take him to get everything packed and shut down the "business" he ran here. Of course, he could be a detective anywhere. It wasn't as though he had an office to work out of.
Why would Josef feel that he had to leave LA? Mick instantly felt that something was wrong, that his boyfriend had been threatened in some way that Josef wasn't telling him about. His every nerve was on edge, waiting to hear what the other man would say.
"It's been a long time since I've lived somewhere new," Josef told him with a frown. "Over a hundred years here in one place. Do you know how long that is for me? I usually move after every fifty. But I stayed here for a reason. I think it's time to find some place new."
"Why did you stay here for so long, Josef?" Mick asked, his voice soft and a little hesitant. He knew what he wanted the other man to say, but he wasn't sure that he would hear those words. If he did, then he'd have everything he felt about their relationship confirmed.
"Because of you. Why else would I have stayed in LA for so long?" Josef asked, tilting his head to one side and giving Mick that crooked little grin that he'd come to love so much. "I couldn't leave LA with you here. I'd never leave you behind."
"That's a relief," Mick told him, laughing. He felt relieved by those words; that was exactly what he'd wanted to hear, to know that he was the reason Josef had stayed put in LA for so long. It made his heart sing to know that he was loved so much.
"What did you think? That I was going to give up on you -- on us -- and leave LA before I'd even had the chance to tell you how I felt?" Josef frowned, than laughed, shaking his head. "I'm not that crazy, Mick. I have emotional highs and lows -- but never that badly."
"I was just wondering if I was all that you stayed here for," Mick said slowly, looking around him. "I mean, you've got a beautiful place to live here. And it's one of the hubs of the business world, so it's easy to run Kostan Industries from this city."
"Yeah, but I can do that anywhere," Josef said, shrugging and waving a hand in the air. "You've seen the place in New York where Sarah was kept when she was in a coma. That's beautiful, too. I lived there for a while, and I was thinking about going back."
"To that particular place?" Mick wasn't sure that he agreed with such an idea; after all, that had been the place that Josef would always associate with Sarah, and if the two of them did move out of Los Angeles, he didn't want old memories hanging around.
But Josef shook his head, frowning. "No, I've already sold it," he admitted with a nonchalant shrug. "I was thinking about a place kind of like this one. Why not move to New York? We both like the city. I can show you around all the places you've never been."
"Yeah, you know it a lot better than I do," Mick said, smiling. "And you're right -- I do like the city. I'd like to live there, even though a lot of people say it's kind of a dangerous place. I guess it's not any more so than LA, though. It's got a certain appeal."
"I love New York," Josef said, turning to look at Mick, his dark gaze riveted on his lover's face. "And since we're going to move in together anyway, why not make it in a completely new place? There are so many memories in this one. We need to start fresh."
Mick nodded slowly, not entirely sure that he agreed with everything that Josef was saying. What was his lover running from? He didn't seem to be hiding anything, but a part of Mick wasn't so sure that Josef's idea of moving away from this city was as innocent as it might seem.
"Josef, is there a particular reason you want to leave LA?" he asked, trying not to sound accusatory as he asked the question. He was sure that some of what had been happening lately was making his boyfriend nervous about staying here, but he wanted to be sure about that.
Josef looked down, finally heaving a sigh and nodding. "Okay, I'd like to move away from here because it feels like there's a net closing around me. There's too many people here who know what I am. Or if they don't know for certain, they have suspicions."
"About you being a vampire? Or do you just feel like people are out to get you?" Mick asked, his mind going immediately to Bartolomy. He didn't blame Josef for not wanting to be in the same city as that kind of monster; he himself didn't want to tangle with that particular vampire again.
"I've always felt like people are out to get me," Josef said with a wry snort of laughter. "It's an existence us vampires have to get used to, Mick. But that's not entirely it. I've been here for so long. I'm ready to move on, to try something new. And I want to do that with you."
Mick nodded, his mood softening at the look on his boyfriend's face. Josef looked so young and innocent, so ready to try something new, to jump into an adventure without bothering to look both ways. He needed someone there with him who was more careful, more cautious.
He almost wanted to laugh at that thought. Josef had been around for a lot longer than he himself had; this man knew all about being cautious. Josef could take care of himself; he didn't need anyone to do that for him. He was just along on this adventure for the ride.
And also because the two of them loved each other. He wouldn't let Josef move away from LA without him being right there by his lover's side; he wasn't about to let this man simply vanish from his life, or be so far away from him that they would drift apart.
"So, if I decide to move to New York, do you want to come with me?" Josef asked, his tone hesitant, as though he wasn't sure what Mick would say. The last of Mick's doubts melted away; he knew exactly what he wanted to say, and exactly how he felt as well.
"You bet I do," he said softly, standing up and moving across the room to stand in front of Josef. He wrapped his arms around his boyfriend's slim waist, pulling the other man close against him. "You know that I'd go anywhere you are, Josef."
"It's cold in New York, y'know," Josef told him with a soft laugh. "You'll have to get used to a whole new climate. And it's a lot faster-paced than LA. I bet you'd find a lot of work there. It's the kind of place you'd love living, Mick. And I miss it. I want to go back."
"You only moved here because of what happened with Sarah, didn't you?" Mick said softly, keeping his eyes on the other man's face. He thought that he already knew the answer, but he wanted to be sure. He didn't want them to have any secrets between the two of them.
"Yeah," Josef admitted with a sigh. "But you know why I stayed here, don't you?" His eyes didn't leave Mick's face; Mick could read the sincerity in those dark depths. "I stayed because I fell in love with you. I would have moved on, but I couldn't. You kept me here."
"Thanks for staying here for so long just for me," Mick said softly, raising a hand to brush a few strands of hair back from his lover's eyes. "If you hadn't, then we'd both have missed out on something special, wouldn't we?" he added with a smile.
"Yeah, we would have," Josef agreed, his voice soft and husky. "And if you'd left here, I would have been right behind you, Mick. I'd go anywhere you are. Even before you knew how I felt about you, I would have followed you. I'd have found some excuse to be there."
Mick laughed softly, leaning forward to brush a gentle kiss across his boyfriend's lips. "I'd never have left here. Not knowing that this is where you are. Even if I didn't admit it to myself at the time, I knew that I didn't want to be any place that you weren't in."
"So it's settled, then," Josef said, placing his palm on Mick's chest. "We'll move to New York sometime soon. I own this penthouse, you know. I don't have to worry about a lease. I used to lease the building, but now I own it outright. So we can go anywhere we want, at any time."
"Let's get me moved in here first, so we'll at least have everything together," Mick laughed, shaking his head. "You weren't planning on moving any time soon, were you?" he asked, wondering if there was more to this idea of Josef's than he knew.
Josef shook his head, but Mick couldn't keep back a shiver of apprehension. There was some reason that his boyfriend wanted to get away from LA; he was sure of that. And he had the definite feeling that when he came face to face with that reason, he wasn't going to like it.***