They are laying in bed next to each other, both exhausted but too hyped up after the hunt to sleep just yet.

Simon has his hand around Izzy's waist and she is squeezing the pillow to death under her head, both of them looking into each other's eyes, sleepy, but not quite.

Something strange, an emotion that is half sad appears in Izzy's eyes and Simon wants to make it go away, but she whispers to him.

"You always draw the short straw, chulo."

Her voice is soft and quiet and so gentle and full of compassion Simon wonder how he ever deserves that, as she continues.

"Falling for your best friend who only ever saw you as a brother, being thrust into this world, becoming a vampire, then a Daylighter. Bearing the Mark of Cain… Having your own mother... " Izzy chokes up a bit and Simon wants to say something but his throat feels dry, so he just rubs circles onto her back. "And then sacrificing yourself in Edom and entering this world again and then going through the Academy to get back to me and losing George too, it's just so not fair…"

A tear slides down her cheek and Simon wipes it away, his own eyes glistening too.

He chuckles softly as he kisses her forehead.

"It was a bumpy road, wasn't it?"

And Izzy laughs with him and it's the most wonderful sound in the world.

"But I didn't get the short straw, you know. It might have been a bumpy road, but in the end, I was the one who won the lottery."

The genuine confusion in her eyes makes Simon's heart swell, and he laughs softly and pecks her on the lips seeing her blush and hide her face in the pillow, but her eyes are still locked with his, so he looks at her, and dead serious, whispers.

"How could I ever say I drew the short straw, when in the end, I got this beautiful, amazing warrior princess of mine?"