better than me - minishaw

the kids from yesterday

simon.

He couldn't believe it was possible but he actually had fun with Harry. He had been having the worst birthday in his life but even though it was late in the afternoon, he had actually managed to make it better.

It was already dark when he got home and his father was passed out on the couch, a beer bottle in his hand. How nice.

He ignored the man and made himself some pasta, not caring if he made too much noise, his father wouldn't wake up. When he was done he went to eat it at his bed and finally checked his phone, which had been blowing up with notifications for the past hour.

He unlocked it and saw that all of the messages he had received weren't JJ or the rest, they were actually from the band. Someone had created a group chat and added him in it. It was possible that Stephen had his number so it wasn't that strange, at least he hoped it was that. The other alternative was that Alex could've stalked him or the Cals, who were so dumb that they would've shared it with anyone, even 14-year-old boy who they didn't know.

band

+44 8365 036285 - #1 annoying orange fan: good evening Simon Minter, welcome to the cult.

Simon immediately typed and saved him as Alex in his phone, he had figured out who it was almost instantly.

stephen lawson: alex you can't just add people who don't have your contact saved to a group chat and immediately introduce it as a cult-

+44 3735 946257 - Jim Merritt: yeah stop being yourself, act normal for once

alex elmslie: I am sorry but I am afraid I cannot do that, I must torture you all.

*alex elmslie has sent 20 images*

+44 2893 304022 - ruler of obamaland: I would tell you to shut the fuck up but your photos of the annoying orange are the only thing that's keeping me going right now

Simon figured out the other ones who were talking were James and George so he saved their numbers. That meant that the only person in the group chat who he hadn't added yet was Harry.

alex elmslie: hey george,,,

george andrew: what now

alex elmslie: im calling you gorg now cause it's better

james marriott: are you dumb?

alex elmslie: no! im smart and gorg likes his new name ok stfu

george andrew: no you're definitely dumb but I love being gorg, don't you dare call me anything else ever

harry lewis: the fuck is going on-

stephen lawson: in the past minute, alex has managed to be creepy towards simon, send a bajillion photos of the annoying orange and renamed george to gorg, no one knows why

george andrew: my new name is awesome ok fuck you

alex elmslie: yeah fuck you stephen >:(

Simon couldn't help but laugh at whatever was going on at that moment. They were all so dumb but he liked them a lot, it was refreshing to be around people who were actually nice.

He tried to think back to a time when JJ had been like that but realised that he hadn't felt like that in years. JJ had been the boy he had spent most of his childhood with, the one he never let go.

When they were younger, the two of them would constantly get in trouble (although it was never Simon's fault) but they had so much. He remembered the times they would run around and play stupid pranks on everyone and the countless times they had but toothpaste in Deji's oreos.

It seemed like it would be like that forever but they started to grow up. Suddenly Ethan, Josh and Tobi were thrown into the mix and Simon began to draw more into himself each day. He tried to get along with them at the beginning and it kind of worked.

He had created a fake persona that worked well on the others, they loved him. That was until Simon came to the conclusion that he had a crush on JJ.

It was the worst thing that had ever happened to him in his life, he knew he was fucked. That was when he began to distance himself from them, he couldn't afford for everyone to know his secret.

He was looking at the men he had idolised in a different, maybe his favourite band members could be a little bit attractive...

He was sure he was gay after that and that's when all definitely began to go downhill. His father found out somehow, maybe he had just predicted it but Simon never stood up for himself. His dad hated him for it and his extremely religious mother viewed him as a sinner when he was barely 15 years old.

"you only hear the music when your heart begins to break,
now we are the kids from yesterday"

Only two years had passed and Simon was even more miserable. The only way he coped was with his music. He hated his supposed friends, he couldn't stand JJ anymore and he just wanted to run away from home more than anything in the entire world.

His 17th birthday had been the worst day of his life so far, he had been extremely close to doing something stupid but somehow Harry was there.

Simon had felt extremely alone for the past two years. The only people he sometimes trusted were the Cals but he only knew them because all of their parents were friends. It's not like he even saw them that day.

That's why it was so surprising that Harry was there, they barely knew each other, yet somehow he knew that Simon was at his lowest point that day and how to make him feel better.

He had felt true happiness for the first time in years when he was with him, his emotions were always amplified by him.

Simon had no idea what it was about Harry that made him feel that way, as if both the sun and moon were out at the same time, controlling his emotions. He was joyful but peaceful, warm but calm.

How did Harry manage to see through him that day perfectly? Simon had liked to think that he masked everything perfectly, it always worked around people, why didn't it work on him?

author's note: of course the numbers aren't real,, don't even try,,, I don't even know if they're accurate to the English style,,, here ours are +56 9 [four numbers] [another four numbers] so yeah I'm confused. this is the type of shit I didn't not remember as a kid from england,,,