Epilogue #2
“Love you too.” Sami’s eyes were shut. His knuckles were white against Naija’s red dress.
The more of their friendship Baz witnessed —the unprompted buying snacks for each other, the support at all hours of the night, the shameless goofing around with no fear of judgment—the more he understood the meaning of platonic soulmates.
As it was, Naija had become one of his favorite people too.
Finally, Sami peeled himself out of her embrace and stepped up to Baz, cheeky smirk that promised no good in place.
“Congratulations, hayati.”
“Thank you. Remind me, by how much did I beat your GPA again, because—”
Baz cut him off with a kiss. He had endured a hundred jokes about Sami having done slightly better than him (purely because Baz had selflessly sacrificed sleep to support Eevee through a panic attack the night before a huge exam he had subsequently tanked, not that Mr. The-World-Isn’t-Black-And-White cared to acknowledge that nuance), and he’d deal with a hundred more, but this moment was too sweet to hold space for their usual bickering.
“I’m proud of you.”
Sami nuzzled into his neck. His trimmed beard scratched along Baz’s skin, just above his dress shirt’s collar.
“Thank you. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“No, this was all you. You earned it. I’m just lucky to be along for the ride.”
He barely had more than a second to admire Sami’s soft smile before he was blessed with another kiss.
Halima insisted on a thorough photo shoot to celebrate that they had gotten to attend Sami’s graduation after all.
After what felt like an eternity out in the heat of the early Chicago summer, Baz managed to load the four of them into his car and chauffeured them to the Catfé; Sami’s favorite spot to study, allegedly, though Baz had a hunch the only thing he learned there were embarrassing stories about Baz’s teenage years.
Either way, Sami had wanted to have his party here, and Joel and Eevee had been happy to close the shop for the day to make his wish come true, because of course they did.
Baz swore they loved Sami more than him.
He couldn’t visit them alone anymore without being met with a ‘where’s Sami’ before he even got a hello.
A Well Done! banner was rigged on the wall opposite the entrance, tied to two cat beds. Kaina, Zahra, and Tony were already there too, jumping up from the table closest to the door to cheer for Sami and pull him into one hug after another.
Eevee had to drag Joel away from nudging the plates on the buffet into a perfect arrangement to say hello and introduce themselves to Sami’s parents.
Behind them was Jack. Sami had invited him without hesitation, though with Baz’s consent. Jack had teared up and hugged both of them for the first time since their reconciliation, thanking them a million times.
Baz didn’t have the words to express what it meant for Sami, who had such a loving family of his own, to embrace Baz’s broken one.
For him to want to share his milestones with them like they were also his people, and for them not only to accept that, but to rejoice in it and celebrate Sami too… It was indescribable.
Even Aya came by. She arrived shortly after they did, bearing a graduation gift: a pen with Sami’s name engraved into it, like the one she had given Baz all those years ago.
Baz had known she would adore Sami if she only gave him a chance, and he had been right.
One accidental run-in-turned-shared-meal at a Persian restaurant was all it had taken for her to admit that they made a good couple.
Since then, she and Sami had smoothly sailed toward a friendship of their own.
Aya wasn’t the only one who approved; once the initial commotion had settled down, a certain black cat came out of hiding, slaloming around people’s legs without ever touching them to get to her one true love.
“Lu!” Sami picked up the demon from hell, cradling her like a baby. She purred like there was no place she’d rather be. “Hi, baby. My little shaitan…”
None of them had seen Lucipurr instantly falling in love with any human coming, not even Eevee. But of course the chosen one had to be Baz’s boyfriend. That cat seriously had it in for him.
“Don’t encourage her.” Bad enough Baz had summoned a demon with the pun in her name. They did not need to invite the Arabic devil into the mix too.
“Hey, you’re the one who named her.”
“And I’ve been regretting it ever since. She’s powerful enough without being bilingual.”
“Fair enough,” Sami chuckled and pressed his forehead against Lucipurr’s. A crime everyone else would get four claws to the face for, yet Sami only got Lucipurr licking his beard and purring louder than a chainsaw. Unbelievable.
“I wish I could take you home with me,” Sami whispered. Lucipurr meowed like she, too, would love that. Except there was no way that would happen.
Naija couldn’t have been clearer about not wanting pets, at least not while they were still in their starter apartment, and Baz didn’t care to get attacked every time he visited his boyfriend either.
Besides, he liked having Sami at his apartment.
He prettied up the place tremendously, and not just with his shining personality.
More than once, he had turned up at Baz’s doorstep with a bucket of paint or boxes of fairy lights, or with the instruction to grab his keys because they were going furniture shopping.
The hard leather couch had been the first to go, replaced by a gray, fabric one big enough that he and Sami could lie down on it together.
Now that his apartment started to feel like a home, it’d be a shame to never have Sami over again because he was too busy spoiling a cat.
“You know, you could adopt her if you wanted to.” That was Eevee, somehow suddenly next to them.
Why would she say that? She knew Naija had said no the last three times Sami had ‘casually’ dropped how much he loved Lucipurr.
“Eevee,” Baz hissed. Too late. Sami’s eyes were already glowing.
“You know Naija’s answer,” Baz reminded him.
Sami pushed his lower lip out. He rested his face against Lucipurr’s. Why was he wasting his puppy eyes on Baz when he should be convincing—oh, no.
“Absolutely not. I’m not gonna adopt her.”
Lucipurr was a menace thriving on chaos, and the cuddle privileges rarely extended to Baz. He refused to get maimed in his own home.
“You know you love her too! And I’ll be at your place all the time to spend time with her.”
“Is that a threat?”
“Look at her little face,” Sami said in his silly cat voice, making a point of squeezing his cheek against hers. Yeah, the face of the devil. Her dilated pupils and withdrawn claws would not fool Baz.
“She hates me.”
“She loves you!”
“No, she loves you. She hisses at me every time I come close.” To prove it, he offered out his hand—and this traitor of a cat, for the first time in her life, sniffed his fingers before rubbing her cheek along them.
“See!” Sami beamed. “She loves you. She just gets her social signals messed up sometimes and hisses when she doesn’t mean it. Much like someone else I know.”
The autism card, really? Just because Sami had been right about that—turned out, Baz was truly the last to find out; Eevee and Joel had said they long suspected something, and Baz’s provider had hit him with the same “You didn’t know?” Sami had—didn’t mean human neurology applied to cats.
“Who’s gonna look after her when you aren’t there? I have work, and you will, too, soon.”
Once Sami passed the bar, Chicago’s law firms would be stupid not to swamp him with offers. He knew for a fact Aya had left his resume on Erika’s desk, too.
Sami turned to the table where the gang was eating the Congratulations cake. “Hey, Naija? If Baz and I adopt Lu, would you catsit for us?”
“Sure,” she said, licking the white frosting off her thumb. “As long as she’s not at our place.”
Just like that, she threw him under the bus when Baz had backed her decision all this time?
“Thanks, Naija,” Baz said wryly. She gave him a too-wide grin in response.
“Please?” Sami dropped Lu to the floor, ignoring her protesting mreew, and intertwined his hands behind Baz’s neck. The peck he pressed on the corner of Baz’s mouth would not sway Baz.
“No.”
“Please. Hayati…”
“Sami…”
Humming softly, Sami pressed another, lingering kiss on the other corner. Baz’s eyes fluttered shut. The familiar warmth hugged his heart.
“Pretty please?” Sami whispered.
“I… This is not a decision we can make on the spot.”
If he could keep Sami away from the Catfé, Sami’s lack of object permanence should buy Baz a few more weeks of stalling. They at least needed to know which direction Sami’s career would take to make plans.
And who knew. Once Sami had a job, with Naija set to finish her PhD next year and then making good money herself, perhaps they could see about creating a home for themselves.
One in the same neighborhood as Naija—Baz could never be responsible for separating them—but a place of their own, nonetheless.
That would be the time to discuss pets and whether they could do them justice.
The tip of Sami’s nose brushed over his. “But we will talk about it…?” The breathy words caressed Baz’s lips, tantalizing them just seconds before Sami blessed them with a soft kiss.
“I guess so.”
Sami drew back with an “Eek!” that had even Lucipurr flinch. “Thank you!”
“That wasn’t a yes!”
“Sure it wasn’t.” Sami kissed him once more, harder this time, before he scooped Lucipurr back into his arms. “Did you hear that, Lu? You’re coming home with us!”
“That’s not—”
But Sami already walked away to join his friends at the table, throwing his shit-eating grin over his shoulder. That bastard.
Baz forced his lips into a thin line to glare at a way-too-amused Eevee.
“I’m not sorry. She’ll be much happier with you two.”
Yeah. Happy destroying his furniture and hunting him across his apartment.
Joel’s strong hand clutched his shoulder. “That guy plays you like a fiddle. It’s awesome to witness.”
“You’re one to talk.”
“Hey, I’m proud of it. Whipped husband club any day. Maybe you’ll join me there soon.” He winked.
Baz huffed. That was jumping the gun. He couldn’t fathom ever loving anyone the way he loved Sami, but there was no rush to get married. They knew what they had in each other without getting the government involved.
“Did I hear husbands?” Halima asked as she sauntered over, one eyebrow raised, her tone firm. “You didn’t elope without telling me, did you?”
Baz’s eyes widened. “No! Of course not. Joel was just teasing.”
“You know you got to ask me for my blessing. And I am strict.” She pinched her lips and narrowed her eyes—a facade that lasted barely a second before she broke out laughing. Oh, good.
He couldn’t tell if asking for her blessing had been a joke too, but he’d ask Sami about that later.
“Now. You, Mr. Cook.” Halima beckoned Joel closer with her finger. “You did well on the food. But let me show you a little secret on how to make the hummus perfection.”
Joel, nodding eagerly, was hot on her heels as they disappeared into the kitchen.
“You’d look really good in a white tux,” Eevee said.
He would. Not as good as Sami, though.
“One day,” Baz said to her as much as to himself.
For now, he took a seat on the bench by Sami’s side. Lucipurr had migrated from Sami’s arms to his lap, head on her paws, purring like her life depended on it.
She did look innocent like this.
He snuck his arm around Sami’s shoulders, slowly, so Lucipurr would miss it.
Sami met him in a soft kiss before his forehead melted against Baz’s cheek.
And although Lucipurr’s yellow eyes were on him like the laser of a sniper, she didn’t protest. Look at who was learning to share.
Perhaps cohabiting an apartment at some point wouldn’t be doomed to disaster.
Halima’s loud instructions echoed from the kitchen. Ryan and Jack watched her and Joel at work, trading quiet comments. Eevee and Aya laughed about something by the counter, while Naija told the rest of the gang about how great Sami’s speech had been.
This was not how Baz had imagined his life at thirty to be like. Still an associate with no prospect of a promotion, but surrounded by a community; one big, sometimes messy family celebrating his partner’s success.
It was so much better than anything he had dreamed of.
He brushed his lips over Sami’s temple. “I really love you, you know that?”
Every day, he had been saying these words.
Every day, he thought he couldn’t possibly mean them more, that he had reached the maximum any human could feel.
But then Sami would reveal another quirk, or he’d rant for an hour about whatever subject he was hyperfixated on at the time, and Baz’s heart would swell a tiny bit more with something that surpassed words.
“I really love you too,” Sami hummed. Baz bowed his head to seal the promise those words held with a kiss—the promise of forever.
Baz would hold him to that.