Miniminter [sidemen]

The Pity Party [Simon]

You were beginning to regret agreeing to spend the day with Freya.

In hindsight, you knew that you wouldn't actually be spending the day with your best friend-slash-roommate. It was Valentine's Day; of course she'd be giving most of her time to her boyfriend. Like, you knew that when she suggested taking you with her to his house that you'd be hanging out alone on his couch while she and Josh did whatever couples do on Valentine's Day together in his bedroom. But knowing didn't make it suck any less.

You settled into the couch cushions after raiding the kitchen nonetheless, feeling dumb and lonely and annoyed at everything. "Alright, Cheerios. It's just you, me, and romantic films tonight."

And, for about two and half hours, that's all it was.

Then the front door opened.

"Josh? Josh, I'm home."

Whoever had just unlocked the front door made his way into the living room, and you peaked at him over the back of the sofa. Ah. Simon Minter. Josh's best friend and housemate and an acquaintance of yours because of it. Had you honestly expected anyone else? You eyed the bouquet of red roses in his hand with discontent; Valentine's Day made you sick.

An expression of confusion materialized on his face when he saw you. "Y/n?" he asked, stuffing his keys in his pocket and dropping the flowers on the counter. "What are you doing here?"

Your answer was short. "Freya invited me."

"Invited you to keep the TV company while she got it on with Josh, yeah?"

You weren't looking at him, but you knew he was making fun of you, grinning that way he always did. "Screw you."

Simon collapsed casually on the couch beside you, all long limbs and carefree demeanor. "Oi, calm down. I'm sorry I've crashed your pity party."

You cut your eyes at him, face flaming. "This isn't a pity party!"

Simon hadn't been looking at you, but he did when you snapped at him. He appeared shocked for only a moment before fitting his joking expression back on his face. "Oh come on, Y/n, you're stuffing your face with cereal on your best friend's boyfriend's couch while watching sappy films all by yourself. On Valentine's Day. This is the definition of a pity party."

"Well," you began through gritted teeth, "I don't exactly see you with a companion tonight, Minter." You wondered briefly about the flowers Simon had left sitting on the countertop. Who'd given those to him? Last time you'd checked Simon was as single as you were.

He didn't appear as hurt by your statement as you'd hoped, but he didn't seem inclined to explain the bouquet of roses either. Instead, he shrugged and grabbed at the cereal box that sat between the two of you on the couch. Digging out a handful, he said, "I suppose we're pity-partying together, then, yeah?"

"I don't recall inviting you, actually."

"But you admit it's a pity party."

"No. It's just me, watching 'The Notebook' while eating Cheerios with the company of a couple of 'island breeze' candles. No pity, no party."

"No party, no fun," Simon added, nudging into you with his shoulder. The couch seemed so much smaller with him sat on it. There was no doubt that he was thin, but with his legs and arms stretched out like they were, his presence was all-encompassing. And you hated the fact that you didn't mind it one bit. To compensate for the fluttery feeling in your stomach, you swallowed another handful of Cheerios.

Simon was relentless. "Vik's gonna be pissed when he comes home to find that you ate all of his cereal."

"Don't you have someone else to bother? I can't hear Ryan Gosling."