paper cut - minizerk au

[2.2] Lies.

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J-
9:30

The following morning was pretty peaceful. Simon and I awoke, had coffee with some breakfast, watched a little TV and managed to even share a quick shower before we had to walk to college.

At this point, we'd just met up with Vik and Harry on the way down. Harry was smoking, as per, and Vik wasn't happy about it.. Though, he was too polite to say anything. I could tell.

"So, what, you do football training?" Harry had asked Simon following the previous conversation.

Simon sighed, "Noo, I'm doing intense training mainly.. Football is just my bit on the side."

Harry shrugged, blowing a breath of smoke from his lips slowly. "Is Josh your bit on the side, too?" He smirked towards the two of us.

"You may be used to being everyone's second choice, but unfortunately I haven't, Harold," I responded quickly and shot him a sarcastic simper as I did so.

"Fuck off, Josh," Harry told me, clearly not trying not to crack a breath of laughter out at my sick burn.

I felt Simon's hands lock with mine, his palm giving mine a sudden tight squeeze. "Nice one, Joshy.." He whispered, shooting me the most sweet of smiles.

I simply responded with a wink and a squeeze of his hand.
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12:30
The lads and I had all settled down at lunch. Well, everyone was present beside Simon.

"Didn't you say Simon was acting weird last night, Josh?" Tobi asked, raising a brow of concern at me as suspicion had risen in regards to Simon and his whereabouts. There wasn't a clear reason for him to be late.

"Yeah, really fucking weird. Like, he got so defensive and refused to admit that something was bothering him," I responded, playing with the pasta in front of me with my fork.

"His dad, maybe?" Tobi shrugged cautiously, a bottle of water propping his chin up on the circular table.

"They never speak anymore. Even if they did, he would've told me that..." I responded truthfully, genuinely believing my words.

"Doesn't seem like him," Harry chirped in, arm hung loosely around Vik's small shoulders.

I looked towards Vik, who looked very unnerved. He was chewing on his lip and not paying much attention to the conversation at hand.

"Vik," I raised, tilting my head. "You okay?"

His cocoa orbs met mine and sent me a light nod, a blatantly forced smile upon his lips. "Mhm. I'm fine, just.. Tired."

"Tired?" Harry questioned, turning his head to him. "You slept ten hours.. How much sleep does a tiny man need? Fuckin' hell."

I chuckled, as did the rest of us.

Then, to my surprise, I looked up to see Simon walking toward us. His cheeks were pink and he looked very out of breath. I was confused.. He didn't have his intense training until after lunch.

Anyway, he sat beside me and caught his breath. He leaned in, pressing a quick kiss to my cheek.

He smelled different. It wasn't bad or anything. It's just, everyone has a distinctive smell. It was almost as if he smelled like someone else..

"Josh?" Simon asked, stopping me from thinking further to paranoia.

"Sorry, what?" I asked, turning to face him as a forced a smile that matched Vik's from earlier.

"I asked if you're okay? You look pale and.. You're kind of playing with your food," He giggled as he pointed down at my dish.

"Yeah, uh. Not hungry, you know?" I answered, not able to even smile as I was worrying a little. The way he acted last night just makes this all seem more peculiar.