𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐖 𝐁𝐎𝐘 [𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐖]

five

Harry's eyes shot open when he felt an arm wrapped around his waist and someone's warm breath hitting the back of his neck. He relaxed slightly when he realised it was just Simon who was still in a deep sleep, but was confused as to why the boy was snuggled up to him. Maybe it was just a habit, Harry thought as he pulled a pastel blue shirt over his chest, or maybe he was just lonely and needed someone to cuddle. Nevertheless, it was weird, the blonde thought to himself as he pulled on a pair of grey joggers and slid into his trainers.

Harry was ready for college before Simon had even stirred. Realising they were going to be late, Harry jumped onto Simon and put all his body weight on the sleeping boys chest, making him groan and try to push Harry away.

"Get up," Harry said in a sing-song voice, "we're going to be late for college."

"Shit, I thought it was Saturday." Simon said with slight panic as he ran one hand through his hair while using the other to pull on a pair of black ripped skinny jeans. Harry tossed him a shirt and was tugging him out of the house while Simon was just spitting out his toothpaste. They practically sprinted to college, and to their relief, had got there just before the doors had closed.

The Guernsey boy intertwined his fingers with Simon after remembering their bet.

They walked in silence down the corridor whilst some stopped and stared, some whispered to their friends, and some didn't care. It gave Harry some confidence in a way, people had never gone out of their way to talk about him before. Wether it was good or bad, he was just happy to not be invisible anymore.

"I didn't know Simon was gay." Harry heard one person whisper.

"You learn something new everyday," Simon chuckled.

They made their way over to Simons locker, where his very small circle of friends awaited him. From what Harry had heard through others, Simon had known his friends since they were very little. Harry shifted on his feet uncomfortably while the boys stared at him, trying to figure him out.

A brown haired boys with honey eyes and very noticeable eyebrows was the first to speak up.

"Hi, I'm Vikram, but you can call me Vik." He spoke up with a smile.

Simon let out a small sigh of relief as he realised the boys weren't going to hate Harry. Slowly but surely, the boys - JJ first, followed by Ethan, Tobi, and Josh - introduced themselves and immediately seemed to warm up to Harry. They were keen to hear anything he had to say and Simon was happy with the fact that his fake boyfriend had seemed to fit right in with his misfit friends.

"You don't have to be cautious around these lot, Harry, they know who I am." Simon had mentioned to him whilst they walked to their first class.

"SHADOW BOY FOR THE DUBBBBB!" JJ screamed at the top of his lungs while Harry looked at him, mortified. A few students gave him strange looks on their way past, some commenting on his 'cheese string' hair, which JJ took no notice to as he skipped away to his class.

"You'll get that from JJ a lot, he's a bit of a loose screw." Vik said before he chased after JJ. Harry had noticed that Vik didn't really speak a lot, he only really seemed to talk when JJ did. Cute.

"Aren't we all?" Josh said while looking at something on his phone. Ethan and Tobi muttered something in agreement before saying goodbye to Harry and splitting off as they made their way down the corridor to wherever they needed to be.

"Well, I guess this is where I love you and leave you," Harry said with a grin on his face.

"You're awfully good at this whole acting thing," Simon said with a lift of his eyebrow, "but I guess I'll see you at lunch."

"Indeed you will," Harry said before kissing Simons cheek, "Bye!"

And all Simon could do was stand there, dumbfounded, rubbing the spot where Harry had kissed him as he watched the boy walk away.

Simon quickly spotted his friends sat on an outside table during lunch, and they all already seemed to be deeply engaged in a conversation with Harry. Simon quickly scooted his way over to them and squeezed in next to his fake boyfriend, placing his hand on the boys leg and squeezing it comfortingly.

"Are you sure a one bedroom apartment is going to be big enough for all of us? Have you seen the size of us?" Tobi said.

Simon grinned. He knew what joke was coming next.

"What Tobi meant was...have you seen the size of Ethan?" Josh said, bracing himself for the beating he was going to get from Ethan. The boys were breathless in laughter for a good five minutes while Ethan chased Josh around the table, shouting things like 'come here you old fuck!' and 'why do you run like you've shit yourself?'

After the boys had settled down, Simon asked what they had been talking to Harry about. JJ and Vik said 'sleepover' at the same time, making the boys turn and glare at each other before returning to their food.

"You really think they're all going to fit? Have you seen how tall Josh is?" Simon said.

Harry sighed, "Go on Josh, how tall are you?"

"1.8 metres." Josh grinned. Tobi was going to say something about how he could've just said 5 foot 11, but Ethan cut him off.

"One centimetre for every year he's been on the planet." Ethan said before he burst out laughing.

And they were off again. Chasing each other around the table while shouting at each other, laughing so much they were out of breath, all whilst still managing to eat their food. No food goes untouched, Harry thought to himself.

And even though he knew what he was letting himself in for, 7 boys sleeping in a one bedroom apartment on a Friday night, he wasn't in the right mind space to care right now. Because, for the first time in his life, Harry finally felt like he belonged.

Home, he thought to himself.

Home.