Friday night brought Simon home with boxes of pizza. He’d had a busy night full of freshly 18 year olds, getting their first tattoos. He’d texted the rest of the house to wait for food until he got there.

As Jia had requested, they were set to watch movies. They hadn’t waited for Simon to start that part and as he came to set the pizzas on the table, he realized it wasn’t there. The area had been reorganized, like Heechul usually did when watching movies, so the whole living room floor was a cuddle fest of blankets and pillows. Finding an empty spot near the TV to drop off the pizza boxes, Simon crept out quietly to change and grab his own blankets and pillows.

Leeteuk was sitting up under a blanket; Heechul was lying beside him with his head on his lap. Victoria and Jia were sitting up, cuddled together under the same blanket and Gain was perpendicular to Heechul, using his hip as a pillow. They were watching a movie about people suffering from Stigmata.

Simon came back and decided to sit near Jia and Vic, away from Teuk and Chul. He wasn’t saying that their cuddling sometimes made him uncomfortable, but it did. What made him even more uncomfortable was how quiet Gain had been lately. Her problems with JoKwon were really messing her up. Simon reached for a slice of pizza, prompting the others to follow suit like a pack of ravenous wolves.

The movie went through a series of jump scares causing Vic and Jia to yelp and grab for each other, hiding their faces. Heechul just laughed at them, petting through Gain’s hair as he watched. Leeteuk tried not to choke on pizza as one of the scares made him jump. He chuckled around his bite and watched the movie again.

Simon smiled as he looked over his makeshift family, watching them instead of the movie. He remembered back to when Heechul couldn’t pay him to make him want to live in this house. Now he felt like Heechul couldn’t pay him to leave. Even though none of the girls put out, it was okay, because he’d come to love them as sisters, just like Heechul did.

And then there was Heechul. Simon’s attention was brought to his life-long friend. The real reason Simon had finally agreed to move into this house was because of Heechul. The last time Heechul had gotten with him, he’d nearly begged Simon to come live with him. Heechul’s bad relationship stories were getting out of hand and Simon knew he needed his company to not get caught up in crap like that again. Simon had agreed to move in out of his own desire to protect Heechul. But now there was Leeteuk.

Simon shifted his attention to the oldest among them, the guy who looked like he wouldn’t hurt a fly. Simon had felt the strength Leeteuk was hiding behind his calm demeanor. If push came to shove, Simon trusted that Leeteuk would be able to take care of Heechul and protect him from his past. Simon had this gut feeling that that day would come sooner than later. He hoped if it happened it would happen when Donghae came to visit.

Donghae was even more protective over Heechul than Simon was. After Heechul’s first girlfriend turned sour, Donghae had insisted that Heechul only date girls that he’d checked out first. Heechul had ignored him of course, going to guys after that, pissing Donghae off royally. Simon had been caught in the middle of that fight, dodging everything that had been thrown and broken only to watch them make up like brothers and go out for food.

Every time Heechul was put into the hospital because of his last boyfriend, Donghae had dropped work and come to sit sleeplessly in the waiting room beside Simon. Heechul’s suicide attempt was the hardest on both of them. The only sleep they got was because they’d agreed to take watchful shifts. Heechul’s mom had brought them food and told them to go home, but they’d ignored her completely. Both Donghae and Simon knew if they left the hospital, it would be to find the bastard and kill him.

When Heechul’s boyfriend showed up at the hospital to say his goodbyes, Simon had to hold Donghae back. Donghae stayed right outside the room, waiting for Heechul to make any sound so he could run in. But he’d never gotten the chance and Simon and Donghae had to watch with hate seething through their bodies as the old boyfriend left the hospital, unscathed.

Bringing Heechul home after he was taken off suicide watch, Donghae stayed with him for a month. He said he needed to make sure Heechul was smiling before he could leave, but Simon knew he was there to make sure Heechul didn’t get weak in the resolve and call his boyfriend, begging to come back.

The Heechul during that time was a completely different person than the guy they had grown up with. He was weak and impressionable instead of silver-tongued and steadfast in his stubborn personality. Simon knew Heechul couldn’t be trusted alone and Donghae wouldn’t allow Heechul to bring him to any more hospital visits.

Slowly, Simon and Donghae had watched Heechul’s rebirth. Buying the Sharehouse had been the first step and from then on, Heechul had blossomed back into his own. Simon was here to make sure he continued to be himself. Seeing Heechul nearly beg him to come live in the Sharehouse had made Simon worry that Heechul was getting into something he couldn’t handle alone. Simon wasn’t sure Heechul would ever be able to handle much on his own again, but he didn’t care. Simon would always be there for his best friend.

Simon turned his attention back to the movie and sighed happily in the company of friends. His makeshift relatives.