If James had thought Maze was a good housemate, it was nothing compared to how amazing he was as a boyfriend.


‘Boyfriend’ wasn’t the right word. It sounded so juvenile and lacklustre for the way he felt about the alien. ‘Partner’ didn’t seem right either; Maze insisted it made them sound like a crime-fighting duo or worse still, a law firm. He preferred the word ‘Mate’, as his people would say, but James still wasn’t sure about that one either.


He suggested once, only half jokingly, that they could get married and then they would be able to call each other ‘Husband’. Maze didn’t hate the idea, but he didn’t necessarily like it either. James might have been offended if Maze hadn’t explained that on his planet, marriage didn’t exist. Couples were bonded during a simple ceremony performed by the head of their family and the whole thing was over within minutes. There were was no paperwork, no laws to abide by, no parties, none of the fuss; just a simple promise to be true to each other before their family.


And as they discussed the difference James came to realise that even if Maze had been interested in marrying the human way, he wasn’t human. He had no identification, no birth certificate; nothing he could use to prove who he was to be able to legally marry.


His family had met and approved of Maze, and he even graciously forgave Avery for the part she played in his sister tracking him down and skewering him with a sword. Every one of them commented that they’d never seen him so happy and attributed that change to Maze.


Married, not married. Boyfriend, Partner, Mate. Nothing seemed to fit them but as the months passed, James found he didn’t care so much. He was happier with Maze than he could ever remember being and he didn’t need a label for what they meant to each other. Those that mattered knew what they were to each other and that was enough for him. Maze was his and he was Maze’s, they belonged to each other; nothing else mattered.