A/N: Okay, so technically this probably takes place in the book-verse because Alice is mentioned, but you don't need to have read the book to understand it and it includes Nora's love of cooking, which isn't in the books so idk

This was inspired by a prompt I saw on Instagram and the title is from Fireflies by Owl City

---

Simon's parents were out of town for the weekend to help Alice move into a new apartment, which left Simon and Nora at home alone with Bieber for three days. It had started out calmly enough, with watching Netflix, listening to music, and meeting up with friends at Waffle House. But Saturday night brought a movie marathon. It was past one in the morning as the credits to The Greatest Showman rolled when Nora perked up and said, "I'm hungry."

When Simon didn't respond, she looked over at him only to see that he was grinning at his phone. "Simon, did you even watch the movie?"

Simon looked up when he heard his name. "Huh?" Truth be told, he had tried to watch the movie, but his conversation with Bram was just so much more interesting than the movie Nora had chosen. And really, he'd mostly agreed to it because of Zac Efron.

Nora rolled her eyes. "I'm hungry."

"Okay, well, you're a chef. Go make some food."

Nora stood up and walked over to Simon. She stared down at him until he finally looked at her. "I don't know what you want."

"I want you to help me make brownies."

"Why?"

"Why not? It's two in the morning and we've got no adults here to tell us we can't."

"But if I help you make brownies, then I can't text Bram, who will get bored because no one else is up at two in the morning."

"Tell him to come over and help us."

Simon opened his mouth to respond with a reason he couldn't do that, but then he realized he couldn't think of one. Their parents were gone and Bram was awake. "Fine," Simon shrugged. The worst that could happen was Bram saying he couldn't sneak over without his mom noticing, and then Simon would have an excuse to not help Nora make brownies.

---

Less than ten minutes later, Nora, Simon, and Bram were in the kitchen, gathering the ingredients needed to make brownies. Well, Simon and Bram were gathering whatever Nora told them to because she had the recipe.

Once the ingredients were all in the bowl, Nora mixed them together and told Simon and Bram to "stay out of the way so she could do her thing". Simon and Bram sat at the table and left Nora alone, talking in quiet voices so as to not disturb Nora, who seemed very focused on mixing the brownie batter.

"So... why are we doing this?" Bram asked.

Simon shrugged. "Nora wanted brownies. And it's 2:00 am, so it's not like there's any logic to any decisions being made right now."

"That's fair."

"Simon, why don't you put some music on?" Nora suggested as she poured the brownie batter into a pan. "It's too quiet."

"Sure." Simon scrolled through his music library before settling on an album and pressing play. Music immediately began to fill the kitchen. Nora was absentmindedly humming along to it as she placed the brownies in the oven.

"Alright. Brownies should be done in about twenty minutes," Nora announced. She took her oven mitt off and set it on the counter. "What should we do until then?"

Bram and Simon looked at each other and shrugged. They both looked at Nora.

"Well I don't know. That's why I asked you."

Bieber barked suddenly, interrupting the conversation (not that it was much of a conversation), and all three teenagers looked at the dog, who was standing by the door, looking at them almost expectantly.

"I'll take him out for a walk," Nora volunteered, mostly so she wouldn't be stuck waiting awkwardly for Simon to get back inside.

"We could all go outside," Simon suggested.

"I'm fine with that," Bram said.

---

Simon ended up being the one to hold onto Bieber's leash because when Nora saw the fireflies outside, she had to catch one. It wasn't long before she walked over to Simon and Bram, her hands cupped together. "Caught one."

Bram stopped walking and peered into Nora's hands as she opened them up slightly. Light shone out from Nora's hands for a moment and it illuminated Bram's smile. Simon didn't care much about observing the firefly, but he found himself smiling at Bram. It was such an absurd moment, the three of them outside at 2:30 in the morning, looking at fireflies while they waited for the brownies to cook. Simon really couldn't not smile.

After Bram and Simon had both admired the firefly Nora caught, she turned around and held her hands up towards the sky, letting it go. It flew away, joining the other fireflies flickering in the night. Simon felt Bram's hand brush against his and Simon entwined their fingers. The two looked at each other and grinned before turning their attention back to the fireflies.

---

Nora pulled the pan of brownies out of the oven and set them on the table. She, Simon, and Bram studied them quietly for a moment before Nora said, "They need frosting."

"And Oreos," Simon and Bram added in unison. They looked at each other and laughed.

Nora shrugged. "Fine, but I'm not crushing them up. I'll put the frosting on."

While Nora frosted the brownies, Simon and Bram crushed up Oreos to sprinkle on top of the them. Once they were done, the three stood back and admired their work.

"Now the real test: Taste." Nora turned away and grabbed three plates and a knife. She cut the brownies, and handed one to Simon and one to Bram before placing one on a plate for her. "On the count of three... One... Two... Three!"

They all bit into their brownies. Simon took another bite before he even finished chewing his first one. Bram complimented them before he continued eating his.

"Not bad for 2:00 am," Nora agreed before taking another bite.

Simon finished his brownie first an immediately reached for the knife so he could cut himself another one. When he noticed Bram was almost done, he offered another to him.

"Sure." Bram held his plate towards Simon, and Simon set another brownie on it.

"The Oreos were a good idea," Nora admitted.

"Oreos are always a good idea," Simon replied. Both he and Bram started laughing.

---

Bram left not much later, but he told Simon he expected him to save at least one brownie for him, and Simon promised he would. After he left, Simon and Nora moved the brownies into a different container (possibly eating one or two as they did. Possibly) before deciding it was probably time to go to sleep.

"That was fun," Nora said, practically giggling because it was so late. "Making brownies is a lot more fun at 2:00 am than at 2:00 pm.

"Yeah," Simon agreed. "G'night." He waved as they turned separate ways to go into their bedrooms.

"Night!"

Simon plopped down onto his bed and sighed happily. He wasn't usually one for cooking (or catching fireflies), but Nora was right. Things were a whole lot more fun when you did them at 2:00 am instead of at normal times. And it didn't hurt that Bram was there as well.