Chapter Text
Simon's friends needed help. That was a given.
Most of the boys Simon knew had troubled backgrounds, or had been hurt in some way, and it upset Simon to think about it.
He had walked into the school bathrooms only to find one of his friends having a breakdown one too many times. Professional support was hard to come by at best. That's why, when Simon proposed to the school council a club to help with mental health and they reluctantly agreed, Simon was over the moon.
Ever since that school council meeting, Simon occupied himself with making posters for the school billboard, planning out where he would get people to sit and what they should do.
Even at lunchtimes, the usually observant and quiet Simon would share with the others at the table his grand idea with stars in his eyes - an art therapy club.
None of the boys knew what that was at first. It took Simon some explaining, and some dumb questions (particularly from Maurice), but they got there. The topic of Simon's club was swiftly changed by Jack, who didn't seem interested whatsoever. Simon's smile stifled.
The first day Simon's club opened, there were a mere two attendees.
Jack had told Simon to his face, with a smug expression, that he had better things to do; Samneric guiltily explained they apparently had to do something else after school and wouldn't be able to come and Piggy turned his nose up at the idea of therapy, stating that he was 'perfectly sane, unlike you, Simon'. The others simply didn't show up at all with no notice.
Simon felt a pang in his heart as he looked around the empty classroom he stood in - empty aside from Ralph, who has taken pity upon his friend and decided to come along.
Ralph, who had agreed to come along after seeing how excited Simon was about having his own club, sat at one of the desks Simon had busied himself with arranging into a circle.
Paintbrush in hand and polka-dot apron protecting his school shirt, Ralph started to dip the brush into the palette of bright primary colours.
"Uh, knock knock."
"Roger!" Simon's voice practically oozed with excitement. He stopped fiddling with the music player at the back of the classroom to greet his choir buddy, a bright grin on his face.
"This the right room? It's kinda empty." he muttered, the corner of his lip twitching upwards at Simon's reaction. It was nice to have your presence appreciated. Roger never had that before.
Simon chuckled half-heartedly at that. He couldn't deny, he was pretty disappointed at the lack of members, too.
"I'm sure other people will join soon, maybe they just didn't get the memo." Ralph spoke quietly, concentrated on painting the outline of a pony.
Simon's eyes lit up again at Ralph's positivity and Roger blinked, glancing over at Ralph. He hadn't noted the blonde's presence until he spoke.
"Well, let's get you in an apron, Rog!" Simon chirped, grabbing an almost comically colourful apron from the rack and passing it to his friend.
Holding the apron up in front of him, Roger's face fell and he muttered under his breath, knowing better than to vocally complain however. Simon's feelings were already pretty fragile from being let down by the majority of his friends - Roger didn't want to make it worse. That didn't stop him from bugging Ralph, though. He threw the apron over his head and took a seat beside Ralph, narrowing his eyes over the boy's shoulder to see what he was drawing.
"What's that supposed to be?" Roger smirked, his tone mocking.
Ralph shot up at that, nearly crumpling his paper in the process. "None of your business!" he frowned, glaring at Roger through squinted eyes.
Simon's voice started from the back of the classroom, "Roger please be n-" before being interrupted by blaring music.
Ralph flinched, instinctively covering his ears and raising a brow at Simon, who was now doing a panicked dance as he tried to figure out how to turn it down.
Roger did his best to contain his laughter, however couldn't help but snort at Simon. "Finally got it to work, eh?" he called, raising his voice over the sound of the music.
"Thanks for the help, you two!" Simon laughed, breathing a sigh of relief once he managed to turn the volume down. He hurried over to the desks, sitting opposite of Ralph and Roger.
"Oh, Ralph! You already started - it looks great!" Simon clapped his hands together, delighted at the vaguely pony shaped blob that Ralph had painted.
Roger snickered, and Simon lightly tapped Roger's hand as a warning. "Nicely." he murmured.
Ralph shot a grateful look at Simon, then returned his attention to the painting, tongue poking out the corner of his mouth lost in concentration. As far as Ralph was concerned, this was a masterpiece.
"Now, Roger, use whatever brushes you want, we'll wash everything up together at the end! Feel free to mix any colours too, but do it in a separate palette, mkay? And have fun with it!" Simon explained as he tied his lizard-themed apron around his waist.
With that, the boys got to work, only pausing occasionally to belt out a song that was playing on the music box at the back or to get a drink from the tap.
The one hour time slot Simon had for his club passed by too fast, and even Roger mumbled a disappointed 'awwh' when a teacher popped in to tell them to pack up.
"Well, there's always next week!" Simon said hopefully as the trio scrubbed the paintbrushes clean at the sink. He glanced at his friends and silently hoped they intended to return.
"Of course."
"Why not."
Simon smiled to himself.
The boys finished washing and drying the art supplies, turned the music box off and headed out of the classroom down the corridors. Ralph admired his own artwork as he walked alongside his friends, a proud smile on his face.
Roger on the other hand clutched his piece close to his chest. He had been secretive over it the entire session, ensuring to block their view when either of the others attempted to sneak a glance. Simon respected that, but couldn't pretend he wasn't curious what Roger had painted.
At the school exit, Ralph's father was waiting for his son, who promptly ran into his arms upon seeing him. For Simon, one of his foster parents and for Roger, a member of staff from the local orphanage.
Simon cheerfully waved Ralph off, calling that he'd see him tomorrow as the boy and his father headed home. Ralph returned the sentiment until his figure was a smudge in the distance.
"I had fun, Simon."
"Hm?" Simon blinked, turning back to look at Roger.
"I liked painting." Roger stated, more clearly this time.
"Really? Can I see what you did-"
"M..Maybe next time, I'll see you tomorrow, Simon." Roger took a hesitant step back after Simon had reached his hand out for the paper, his expression uncomfortable. Roger then hurried over to the staff member that had been waiting on him, and did not look back.
Simon raised a hand over his forehead to block out the evening sun, watching Roger disappear down the road through squinted eyes, a determined expression on the boy's face.
It seemed like Simon still had some work to do, and he was more motivated than ever to finish what he started.