𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐖 𝐁𝐎𝐘 [𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐖]

four

The sun was just setting when Harry and Simon left the apartment.

Harry was more appropriately dressed for the November weather today, with black joggers covering his legs and a black hoodie covering his skinny arms. Simon grinned when looking at the Guernsey boy as he thought about the plans he had for him tonight, to which Harry was clueless about. Realising there were still people about and they needed to sell their act off, Simon intertwined his fingers with Harry's, much to the boy's surprise. Nevertheless, they walked through the streets of London together as they waited for night time to come.

When darkness had wrapped up the sky and the only light left on the streets was those of the streetlights, Simon had decided it was finally time to strike. He let his hand slip from Harry's grasp as he tied his black mouth bandana around the lower half of his face, whilst Harry watched with an almost awe struck expression.

"Like what you see?" Simon said with a smug expression.

"Fuck off." Was Harry's response.

The two boys walked down the shady parts of London as they talked about college and what Harry wanted to do when they finished school, until Simon stopped walking when he approached the door of a house.

The house in question had two tiles missing from the roof, a smashed window and another window that was boarded up with flimsy wood.

"Well these residents definitely aren't popular are they.

"Nope," Simon replied, "The house is full of teenagers who have been squatting the past few months, causing trouble for the elderly."

Harry nodded at Simon before asking if they were robbing or killing, making Simon chuckle.

"As much as I would love to kill some wanna be mischief makers, that would be too much work. You, on the other hand, are going to go in there and take any money or valuables you can find."

"What? Why me?"

"Because I want to see if you can do it or not. No point in having a partner who just stands there looking gormless."

Harry huffed and puffed before looking at the door with slight intimidation. If he couldn't even throw a punch, had been jumped by gangs numerous time for no reason and still hadn't learned to fight, how the hell was he supposed to kick off a door.

Well, he didn't have much time to dwell on it, because Simon was stood behind him making clock noises and telling him they didn't have all the time in the world. So, taking a deep breath, Harry raised his leg and used all the strength he had inside him to kick the lock off the doors.

He shut his eyes.

Then he opened them.

To his utter surprise, the door had come clean off its hinges, with a large hole through the middle of it where Harry had kicked. Simon was also shocked, and spent a brief time clapping at Harry's new found strength before pushing him inside the house.

"Remember," he whispered, "straight in then straight out."

Harry nodded and took further steps inside the house, remembering to be as quiet as possible. He had managed to pick up a few pound notes off the room table, which was standing on three legs, some jewellery from the kitchen drawer, and had even managed to sneak into one of the upstairs bedroom and take some more money without being noticed.

Meanwhile, Simon was stood outside and leaned against a wall, setting up his new phone. It was a sketchy part of London in the late hours of the night, so he had no worries about being caught. Harry had been inside for about 5 minutes, which was usually the time that Simon took to get what he needed and leave. When 5 minutes turned to 10, Simon begun to get anxious.

Out of nowhere, Harry came flying at him from the ally at the side out of the house, panting something about needing to run. Simon took the hint and took off down the maze of streets as fast as he could, Harry not too far behind. When they felt they were safe, both boys stopped and Harry sunk down the wall.

"Was...escaping...someone...up...oh god I'm going to be sick." Harry said whilst gasping for air, emptying his pockets in the process. Simon gawked at all the money and expensive jewellery that came pouring out of Harry's pockets, not expecting him to be so good on his first try.

The Shadow picked up all of Harry's stolen goods and stuffed them into his bag before offering his hand out to Harry, who was still panting for his breathe but he took Simons hand anyway. They walked through the maze of streets back to Harry's apartment in a comfortable silence, and Simon couldn't help but notice the way their hands kept brushing together. He was going to hold his hand, but with no one around, it wouldn't make sense.

Both boys kicked off their shoes and while Harry was occupied with checking the time on the phone, Simon looked at some of the photos on the wall. Most of them were of Harry with his siblings, but one of them in particular caught Simon's eye. In the photo Harry was younger, maybe 15, with a big grin on his face as another boy around the same age his arms wrapped around Harry's waist and was kissing his cheek.

"Who's this?" Simon blurted out.

Harry's head snapped in Simon's direction and when he saw what photo Simon was referring to, he picked it up and threw it in the bin.

"It doesn't matter, that photo shouldn't be there." Harry muttered.

"Where am I supposed to sleep?"

"Fucking hell you ask a lot of questions," Harry said while running his fingers through his hair, "you can sleep in my bed."

And so Simon did. With them both facing opposite to each other, the room was silent apart from Harry's light snores. As he drifted off into sleep, Simon couldn't help but think about how defensive Harry was about the photo earlier and how mysterious it was.

Oh well, Simon thought, two can play at that game.