A few weeks passed and Aaron was getting more and more comfortable around Simon. He would occasionally sneak into the secret playroom every now and then just to keep his mind at ease and sometimes, he'd just wear some comfortable clothes before bed and go in and just read every book on the little shelf, finding them quite intriguing and sometimes even falling asleep to them.

Simon had given his monthly pay-check and he now felt like a billionaire. Simon had even helped him make a bank account so now he had enough money to go shopping for clothes and some other little things.

He didn't want to waste money on that, saying that the clothes he had were quite plenty but Simon convinced him otherwise and the two were now getting ready to head to the mall.

They had dropped Casper off at a daycare for cats, Aaron didn't even know such a thing existed until then.

Once they reached the mall, anxiety levels sky rocketed over the Earth's atmosphere and probably passed the moon. So many people passed, going in and out of the shops, chatting about who knows what, children crying for things, teens taking pictures of everything they stopped. The mall had everything.

Aaron found himself lingering closer and closer to Simon, keeping his head low. Simon noticed this and couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "Wanna hold hands? You don't want to get separated in the such a big crowd now do you?" Simon said and reached his hand to him.

Aaron looked at it for a bit and was going to consider it but suddenly became too shy. "I'll be okay, I'll try to keep up." He denied, shaking his head as he spoke.

"Alright, if you say so." Simon smile and brought his hand back. "You wanna buy clothes or shoes first?" He questioned, looking around the place.

"Clothes are okay." Aaron replied.

They walked for a while before stopping at a teens area. They stepped in and the place was pretty descent. Nothing looked too expensive and it wasn't that crowded. "Why don't you pick out whatever you'd like, I'll be here when you're done." Simon said to him and he nodded.

He wandered around the place, looking for something that would catch his eye. By the end of that, he ended up picking out a pair of black ripped jeans, two skinny jeans, a few band T-shirt's and a hoodie for the cold. He of course didn't forget some soft sleep wear and under wears.

Simon was surprised when he saw Aaron walk back only fifteen minutes later with two bags. "Are you sure that's all you need?" He looked down at the bags.

"Mhm, I can always wash them and wear them again." Aaron replied with a bright smile on his face.

Simon liked the smile, so he didn't say anything and just lead the boy to where the shoes were located. He only picked out two pairs, one high top full black converse and another random pair of black tennis shoes, and of course some socks as well.

Simon was honestly confused. "Most kids your age like pampering themselves whenever they have the opportunity to buy whatever you know." He said to Aaron as they left the store.

Aaron was raised on a budget of zero. All the clothes he owned previously belonged to the youngest boy his grandmother had. Some were much too big for his small figure and since he never really went out and picked his own style, when he got the chance he didn't know what to do. He just kept it on the low and didn't get too many things. Part of him wanted to break that past spirit and splurge but the other was still dwelling in the past.

They passed a few more shops and Simon lead him to a specific one that really caught his eyes. It was a teen section, but most of the stuff was for girls, except a small little section for guys that had graphic tees and baseball caps.

Aaron didn't pick anything out, Simon was the one looking around. "It must be something for a girl." He thought, standing behind him and observing the focused expression that was on the man's face as he looked over the accessories.

He trailed his eyes to the rest of the store and then landed on the prettiest pair of overalls he had ever seen. They had two versions: the generic denim blue that was ripped on the knees, and a soft pastel pink short overalls with the word 'mochi' written on the chest part in white.

He didn't want to buy them or anything like that, he just thought they looked adorable, the girl's who wore them must've looked so cute in them. "Wanna try them on?" He heard Simon's voice out of nowhere.

His face immediately turned red. "Huh? Oh no. I was just—" He was stopped when Simon's forefinger touched his lips.

"I need you to speak your mind around me. If you want them, just tell me and I'll get them Alright?" He said and raised an eyebrow, probably waiting for Aaron's response.

"I know."

"Great! I'll just ask them to get your size!" Simon said excitingly and walked up to the women at the counter.

"Wait! that's not what I...meant." It was too late, Simon was already talking to the lady while pointing at the items. If Aaron refused now, Simon would get the wrong message again.

Before heading home, they stopped at a frozen yogurt bar and bought some. They also decided to stop at an expensive fast food place for some reason, Simon refused to take Aaron to McDonalds "You're stomach will hurt for the next weeks if I take you there." That was his reasoning.

They picked up Casper from the daycare and headed to the house.

Aaron and Casper were rolling on the carpet for no good reason as Simon watched Walking Dead on the television. He didn't even seem to enjoy the show, all he did was call out everything wrong with it and question what the director was thinking while shooting the scenes.

While in the middle of all that, Simons cell phone that was set on the coffee table vibrated and he picked it up, looking at the ID and answering the call.

"Yes?" He was first to speak.

After a minute or two, he hung up and looked over at the two crazy kids. "Aaron." He called out to him and got his attention. "one of my close friends is coming over tomorrow in the afternoon. There's something he needs to pick up and since I'll be at work, I'd like you to just let him in, let him take what he needs and he'll be out of your way." He explained.

"What does he look like?" Aaron tilted his head to the side.

Simon looked through his phone and pulled up an image, showing it to Aaron.

The guy wasn't all that bad. He had that man bun hair style going on and sported some deep sea green eyes. Aaron nodded once he got the man's face deep in his head. "His name is Alan. He can be a bit sarcastic but he's not a bad person." Simon said with a smile.

"Alright, I'll try to remember." Aaron smiled back.

Simon's smile suddenly disappeared and his eyes went dark. "If he touches you in anyway, even if it's a simple handshake, make sure to call me on speed dial right away." His voice was dead serious and he cracked his knuckles as he spoke.

"W-Why?" He stuttered. He was a bit scared of the sudden at the change in personality. Was Alan some kind of sex offender? Then again, why would Simon have a sex offender for a friend? He gulped at the thought.

"Aaron, just listen and do as I say. Forget handshake, if he smiles at you, I don't care if it's to be friendly, just. Call. Me." Simon emphasised, slamming his hands on the coffee table and startling the life of Aaron.

Aaron quickly nodded, he was still lost but he didn't want to continue with this conversation, it made Simon look like a whole new person that Aaron didn't know whether he was supposed to like or hate.

It was already half passed ten so they all decided to call it a night. Aaron got into his new pyjama set once he finished showering. It wasn't anything pretty, just some soft fabric dark blue bottoms with moons and stars along with a white matching shirt with Luna from Sailor Moon in the centre.

He decided to visit the secret playroom again, he fell asleep the night before and didn't get to see the ending of the Mr. Brown Can Moo, how about you? Book.

It wasn't one of his favourite Dr Seuss books out of the ones he had read, Horton Hears a Who had to be one of his top picks. He lay on his stomach on the soft carpet while kicking his legs.

A few minutes later, he had started another children's book. This wasn't something he got when he was living with his grandmother, she'd tell him that only smart and educated kids were allowed to read books and he wasn't one. He obviously fell for it and went all his life thinking he wasn't educated because not once did his grandmother let him lay his hands on them.

After reading three books, he started talking to the stuffed animals and even gave them all names, the small cute sheep plush he called 'Snow' being his most favourite with Totoro in second place and Jiggly puff in third.

He made a promise to tell Simon even the smallest things but here he was, trespassing in a room he clearly was not allowed in and playing with kids stuff like a three year old.