stumbling into line (sidemen ff)

Chapter 10: 'That's what we're doing now, you plonker.'

"Monei?" Simon hears Ethan's voice from the front hall as Cal screams, scoring another goal.

"In the living room!" He shouts in return, wondering how he is gong to react to Cal finding out about their relationship

Ethan strode in, a massive smile on his face.

"Guess what?" He asks, the smile growing bigger, "Ads is coming to visit!"

"Who?" Simon feels bad asking the question, he feels like if Ethan is so excited about this person then he should know about them, yet he doesn't, and it makes him a little upset.

"Ads, Adri, Adriana!  My friend from back home, who I haven't seen for a whole year!" Simon remembers, Ethan talked about her when he was drunk once.  Completely forgetting he was with Simon, a person he didn't have to hide from, and mentioning that they were best friends growing up even though they weren't the same age and that she had the nicest boobs he had ever seen.

"Oh yeah, I remember, you said she had nice tits." Simon murmurs, Cal bursting into a fit of laughter.  Ethan's face falls and his eyebrows knit together in confusion.

"What?  But she's my friend, I would never say that." He says, trying to defend himself and failing miserably.

"And you're gay." Simon adds, forgetting that Ethan didn't know that Cal knew.

Ethan's eyes widen as his face greys, "What?" He asks, short and blunt, like a rock against the floor.

"Oh, uh, yeah.  Um, Cal knows.  And before you start going on a rant about how you trusted me, I didn't tell him, he guessed and he is perfectly fine with it." 

Simon knows Ethan is scared and doesn't know what to do because his hands are shaking and Ethan's hands are like the gateway to his mind.  They always betray when he is sad or scared or angry or excited.  He was scared and Simon didn't like that.  Simon never liked that.

"Honestly, dude.  I'm perfectly fine with it." Cal intervenes, picking up on Ethan's slight awkwardness accompanying his fear.

He nods his head and takes a couple deep breathes before clamping his hands together in front of him to attempt to control them.

"Okay." He whispers, still nodding his head, "This is good, I guess."

"It is." Simon reassures, standing up and pulling him into a hug.  It isn't an intimate hug.  It's a friendly hug, the sort of hug that Simon would give Josh or JJ or even Vikk if they were upset.  He didn't want to make Ethan uncomfortable by being intimate in front of Cal.

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"So, when is she coming?" Simon asks as they lounge on the sofa.  Cal having left around ten minutes ago.

"Next Wednesday.  She's staying at my place too so you won't be able to come around." Ethan mentions, tangling his feet in with Simon's.  They are both laying at opposite sides of the sofa, their feet meeting in the middle. 

"Okay, do you ever think the guys get suspicious that I only sleep here four days a week?" Simon thinks out loud, listening to the faint clattering coming from Lewis and Dan (#dewis) in the garage/Sidemen clothing HQ.

"Yeah, but they probably think you have a girlfriend or something." Ethan mentions, his signature laugh filling the room and probably the whole house.  He hears footsteps coming from the general direction of the garage and Dan walk in, followed by Lewis, whose face is no longer busted up except for two pieces of medical tape over his eyebrow.

"When did you get here?" Dan asks, walking over to the windowsill and picking a clipboard up with a load of addresses on.  Lewis plops down in an armchair and throws his head back and closes his eyes.  Ethan doesn't bother answering his question, he doesn't see a need too.