Chapter Text
Baz
It had been eight months since filming had wrapped on Carry On and the cast was reuniting at the same hotel they’d first gotten together at in California for the movie premiere. When Simon and Baz had arrived, hand in hand, the crowd that waited for them outside of the hotel had stunned Baz. There were hundreds of people dressed in Watford green clamoring for a photo or an autograph. There were signs that had drawings of them in hearts and said things like “Sam and Beau? More like Simon and Baz!” They’d hurried inside and up to their shared room to get ready. There was going to be an impromptu cast party that night, before they all had to get back into professional mode for the movie premiere the next evening.
“Did you bring the right outfit this time dear?” Baz asked meanly.
Simon was adjusting his swim trunks and glared at Baz.
“You going to lose playing Chicken again, my love?” Simon shot back.
Agatha had already paid off the hotel worker to let them into the pool after hours again for old time’s sake. Not, Baz thought, that she probably had to. The movie and David Snow’s trial had made them all more famous than they had ever been before. He seriously doubted the hotel would have denied them anything they wanted.
As they walked to the elevator, Baz took Simon’s sun-kissed face in.
It wasn’t as if it had been all sunshine and roses since they’d wrapped filming. While Baz had enjoyed the pandemonium their first official Instagram post as a couple had made it wasn’t as if the things Baz had been afraid of hadn’t happened. While much of the media coverage had been positive some of it had of course been homophobic. Worse than that, some of the coverage suggested their relationship was a PR relationship to help the movie recover from the scandal of the trial. Many fans had been supportive of them but both he and Simon dealt with a barrage of hateful comments about their sexuality every day. There were also fans that speculated about their sex life and followed them around in public, demanding they kiss for their own amusement. It was exactly what Baz had been worried about.
But Baz had found eating breakfast in bed at Simon’s flat was worth the rest of the noise and they handled it together. Surprisingly, Malcolm and his aunt Fiona had come around. His stepmom frequently invited Simon over for dinner and Malcolm had, on more than one occasion, made Simon smoke a cigar with him on the balcony overlooking the gardens to “bond.” Simon had bravely suffered through it. They’d also stood behind him during the trial and made several press statements making it clear that Simon was family.
The trial had gone faster than Baz would have thought. Numpty had been arrested the same night as David Snow and had been forced to turn over all of the evidence he’d held onto over the years. Thankfully, this included the horrible photos of Baz’s mother and they’d only been seen by the jury during the trial. Baz would never have to worry about them being leaked to the press ever again. Numpty had cut a deal so he wouldn’t have to face a lengthy sentence for the charges of blackmail and hiding evidence. His testimony had been key in convicting David Snow.
Because the accident had happened in Los Angeles, David Snow had been charged and incarcerated in the United States. He had received the maximum sentence for gross manslaughter and tampering with evidence. In total, he would only be in prison for eleven years. While it didn’t feel like enough, Baz and Simon both agreed that no amount of time spent behind bars would ever feel like enough to either of them. David Snow had been responsible for the death of both of their mothers, one way or another, and there was no amount of justice that could make up for that. They were comforted by the fact that at least David Snow would never have a career again and they both knew that was the true life sentence for him.
The one good thing to come out of all of it was Lady Ruth Salisbury, Simon’s grandmother, and Jamie Salisbury, Simon’s uncle, reaching out to Simon. They explained that when Lucy was seeing David, Ruth had told her that she didn’t approve. There was something about David that struck her as off and she had pushed her daughter to stop seeing him. Jamie had backed Ruth at the time, agreeing with her. Lucy had cut them off, not wanting to hear about it and when David had left her heartbroken and pregnant, she had been too ashamed to reach out to them for help. She’d begun contact again close to her death but Ruth explained that when David stepped in to take custody of Simon, her and Jamie had been prevented from fulfilling Lucy’s wishes. Lucy had only told them over the phone that she wanted them to take care of Simon, she hadn’t had time to put anything into writing. When they saw how happy Simon looked in the press, they hadn’t wanted to interfere and they worried they would lose against David’s legal team. David had prevented them from reaching out to Simon over the years, unbeknownst to them, and they had figured Simon didn’t want to know them. In the past couple of months, Simon and Baz had gone over frequently. Ruth made Simon as much cake as he wanted and Jamie was always game to play a game of football in the backyard.
They held hands as they made their way down to the pool. When they arrived they were greeted by Simon’s PR agent, Shepard, who was grinning.
“The coverage this movie is getting is amazing. The sequels are a done deal at this point, I guarantee it.”
Recently Simon had been exploring the possibility of directing. While he loved films and the way they told stories, he was no longer interested in acting. Ebb Petty had offered to take him under her wing and mentor him. Simon had already lined up some small projects. Baz too was done with making big films, at least for now. He had signed on for some exciting indie projects which his father had actually helped arrange. Still, both of them were contracted for the Carry On sequels and frankly neither of them really minded. This was the movie that had brought them together and had given them lasting friendships. They would never let the fandom down and they didn’t mind getting to spend their working hours together.
Penny bounced forward, swimsuit already dripping and threw her wet arm around Shepard.
“Is my boyfriend bothering you with work stuff Simon?”
Baz grinned.
Shepard and Penny had recently started dating after Simon had introduced them both during one of the press events for the tour. They both lived in Los Angeles and they had an almost instant connection. He was happy for her.
“It’s fine Penny,” Simon insisted, as he walked into the pool area, “It is what I pay him to do after all.”
Shepard kissed Penny’s wet cheek lovingly.
“She’s got to keep me in my place,” he said.
“You know it,” she agreed, pinching his side before jumping back in the pool.
“Baz!”
Baz turned to find Agatha running up to him. She looked perfect, as always, in an ice blue bikini. Trailing behind her was her dog, Lucy, whom she’d adopted from set. She’d named her after Simon’s mother as a tribute to everything they’d all been through. Only Agatha, Baz thought, could get away with bringing a dog to the pool. Behind Lucy was Niamh, Agatha’s girlfriend. Niamh had been the animal trainer on set. When Agatha had adopted Lucy, she’d gone on to torment Niamh nonstop by calling her at any hour of the day (and night) asking her in a panic about what to do whenever Lucy so much as snored. Eventually the tenor of conversation had shifted to flirting and they’d fallen in love.
She threw her arms around Baz in a bear hug.
“I’ve missed you!” She crooned.
“We went on a double date with you guys last week,” Baz said.
Baz had recently moved into Simon’s cozy flat. He’d been sleeping there most nights and it had gotten so frequent that the press had announced that Baz had officially moved in. This had made Simon laugh so hard that he’d started to cry. They had decided that they may as well make it official after that. They spent much of their time hanging out with Agatha and Niamh and were considering buying a place in Los Angeles to spend more time with Penny and Shepard as well.
“You wouldn’t think so the way she’s acting,” Niamh said gruffly, rolling her eyes.
“Whatever,” Agatha said, “Jet Lag makes me emotional.”
Simon was getting into the pool, splashing Penny and Agatha was pulling Baz to join them.
“You two game for a rematch?” Agatha challenged them.
Penny and Simon looked at each other mischievously.
“As long as you two don’t mind losing,” Simon said.
Baz raised an eyebrow.
“Losing team has to get coffee for the winning team in the morning,” Baz said.
“Those are some pretty low stakes,” Niamh muttered.
“They have to be up at 6 AM for interviews,” Shepard said with an evil grin.
“Oh you are so on babe,” Simon said, “Just remember I like my coffee half an hour before I have to leave for the day.”
“How could I ever forget?”
With that Baz waded into the pool with Agatha and got her on his shoulders. Penny followed suit and climbed up on Simon’s.
“You ready?” Baz asked.
Simon grinned.
“Always,” he said.
Let the games begin, Baz thought.