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❝ 02 , it was embarassing ❞

Despite going to sleep late, Demi woke up as the sun rose across the horizon. The sheer fabric of her under-curtains let the sun leak through across her face as she let out a soft groan and rolled over onto her side. She pushed her arms above her head, stretching her back out before she kicked her covers back.

It took a minute for her to fully come back to life but once she had; her morning started.

She went to the bathroom first and brushed her teeth and then came back to her room. She switched her bedroom lamp off and then took a sip from the glass of water before she made her bed. The throw pillows that had fallen to the floor were placed back into their rightful place and she changed into her running gear.

She took her glass of water down with her and poured what was left away before she picked up an apple. Once she had eaten the apple, she threw the core in the bin before she headed out for her morning run. The sun had risen fully now which meant that she didn't have to worry about lurkers or stalkers as her feet smacked against the concrete pavement.

It was relatively quiet this early in the morning but by the time she had finished her run, half an hour or so later, London was alive and she could hear the noise. All of the noise. Chatter, business men heading to work, trains and buses and cars heading back, the noise of bikes zooming past Portland Row.

The sun shone on Demi's back as she pushed the front door open. She dropped her hair out of the ponytail, brushing it to one side to keep it out of her face as she headed upstairs to the bathroom.

Hopefully, Anthony was finished with his shower. He always showered in the morning and they had gotten into a routine. He was always first and then she jumped in once she was back from her run.

Today, he was walking out of the bathroom when she reached the top of the stairs. He had just his towel wrapped around his waist and his eyes widened slightly when they made awkward, brief eye contact.

"I thought you'd lie in," He muttered as he adjusted the towel around his waist. Demi shrugged it off, averting her gaze as she cleared her throat.

"I didn't close my curtains so I just went out," She mumbled in response. He nodded his head and she briefly looked up at him, catching his awkward gaze. Then he shuffled past her and headed to his room as she headed into the bathroom.

Demi closed the door behind her and let her head fall against it with a soft 'thunk'. Her cheeks were coloured a soft red and she could feel the heat in them as she let out a silent scream.

She was a complete idiot. It was embarrassing enough that Anthony had caught her after a run when she was sweaty with greasy hair and a red-face but she had run into him after his shower and totally invaded his privacy. Even if it was an accident, the anxiety still churned in her gut. A soft sigh escaped her lips before she switched the shower on.

Demi knew, logically, that this was the reality of living with two boys. Of course they'd run into each other at less than ideal moments but it still made her feel embarrassed.

Once she was finished with her shower, she washed her face and moisturised before brushing her hair through and getting dressed into a fresh set of clothes in the comfort of the bathroom.

She then headed downstairs to make breakfast. Well, she had expected to make breakfast but when she came into the kitchen, Lockwood was plating up two servings of breakfast. Eggs, bacon and toast cut into triangles (for Demi) and rectangles (for Lockwood).

"Perfect timing," Anthony said as he dropped the pan onto the stove. He then took her plate and placed it onto the table with his usual flair, pulling her chair out. She dropped into the seat and he placed his own plate down in his usual seat, "Juice?" He asked. Demi nodded her head and he poured her a glass before putting it back in the fridge.

"Any new cases?" She asked curiously. Lockwood shook his head and she cut into her egg. It was made just how she liked it. The yolk was still a little runny and she used her toast triangles to mop it up before plopping some bacon on top of it.

"We'll probably get a few calls later," He responded. She sighed and then took a bite out of the bacon and toast. Before either Demi or Lockwood could say anything, their heads turned to the door where a slightly dishevelled George was standing. He had his glasses on but they seemed to be a little lopsided as if he'd slept in them. Demi tried not to chuckle.

"Thanks for making some for me," George said sarcastically as he dropped from the last step to the kitchen floor.

"I thought you'd have a lie in" Anthony responded as he placed down his knife and fork. George didn't say anything as he walked over to the cupboard and grabbed a bowl. There was a hint of annoyance in the way he shoved the cupboard doors but he always woke up grumpy, especially recently.

"I didn't," George said as Demi continued to silently munch on her bacon and egg toast. She didn't know what to say.

"Well, I can see that. I would have made you some had I know. You were up late so you usually lie in," Lockwood defended himself nonchalantly. He was leaning back in his chair casually, one arm resting on the back of the chair loosely. He was watching George move around and pick up the milk and his cereal of choice - Coco Pops.

"We have a case that I need to research," George said as he placed his spoon in his bowl. He rolled up the inner plastic cereal bag before dropping it back into the cardboard and putting it away, "I actually want to research this time," He added, a sense of bitterness to his tone. This was the usual routine, Demi had gotten used to it now. But that didn't mean she liked listening to them bicker so much.

"We're not due to visit for a few days so that's plenty of time. I can help if yu want," Demi suggested as she cut up her bacon into smaller rashers. George shrugged and then he moved over to the kettle. He filled it up and then flicked it on. He then poured the milk into his cereal bowl.

"I'm fine alone," He dismissed as he abandoned the milk in favour of mugs. He went through and picked his choice of the day. It was always a hard choice and as Demi ate another slice of toast with bacon, she watched him curiously.

It was always a hard pick between the redbus mug and the hot pink neon mug. It all depended on his particular mood of the day.

This time, he picked the red-bus mug just as the kettle switched off, the sound of bubbling and boiling water filling the otherwise silent room.

"Do either of you want tea?" He asked as he grabbed another two mugs from the hangers. He already knew the answer before they even said it. It was just a formality but when he glanced back, they both nodded.

"As long as you don't poison it," Anthony teased.

Demi smiled and stared down at her breakfast for a moment before she continued to eat. Mornings in their little house were always what Demi enjoyed the most even if it meant some awkward run-ins at times.

***

The British Archives were always bustling with people yet there was usually an odd silence that spread across the whole place. Demi would have found it unsettling if she wasn't so used to silence. The house always felt silent, London was always silent after curfew. It had become a staple in her existence as she moved through life.

But at least in the British Archives, she was surrounded by books. She wasn't as big of a fan of books as George was but there was something comforting about sitting between the shelves while thumbing through pages for information. It was calming and it reminded her of being a young child sitting in the corner of a library up to her nose in textbooks as she desperately tried to prove herself.

Only two people had ever been able to bring her out of her books then and now she had lost the passion for reading fiction but it still brought her a sense of comfort.

George weaved through the shelves and Demi followed diligently. They headed straight to the newspaper archives. From what they had been told about the house, it hadn't been renovated since it was originally built 50 or 60 years ago so they had at least a few decades to cover.

The owners didn't know much about the history of the house which meant that they were going in almost completely blind. It was painfully frustrating when a case like this came up but George knew the best ways to deal with it.

So, he took a few papers of interest while Demi continued to thumb through them, not really sure what she was looking for. But when a particular few papers seemed to call to her, she picked them up and went searching for George.

He was sitting at one of the bigger tables towards the edge of the fourth floor balcony. The newspapers were laid out in front of him and he had his notebook and a pen in hand. His gaze was fixed on one of the papers, his finger tracing across the line he was reading before Demi dropped down across from him. She placed the few papers down she had picked up and adjusted in her seat, pulling her foot up to rest on the edge of the chair.

The two stayed in relative silence as they read through the newspapers. Demi commented if she found anything of interest in the papers. It was never anything specific to the case but things she knew would be of interest to George.

And after around an hour or so of reading through mountains of papers, they were both getting a little antsy. Demi had taken to sitting on the floor, her back against the leg of the table but when she heard George huff softly, she sat up on her knees. Her chin rested on the edge of the table as she looked over at him.

"What's up?" She asked. George lifted his gaze and shrugged. He then closed the paper he had been reading through and leant back in his chair.

"It's gonna take us days to find anything," He responded. Demi crawled up onto her chair and sat cross-legged awkwardly as she met his gaze.

"I've found a few mentions of the area." There was a hopeful note to Demi's tone but they knew that it meant nothing in the grand scheme of things. If they couldn't find the house specifically then it would be useless. And the databases that they could search through were incomplete which rendered them also completely useless. There was no easy way to find specifics.

"What happened last night?" George asked as he closed his notebook. They were in the area of the Archives where talking was allowed so Demi didn't feel all that bad even if people were working around them.

"Nothing out of the ordinary. We found the Source relatively quickly and Lockwood said that he got rid of it permanently. We came back earlier than usual," Demi shrugged. Nothing had gone wrong. It had been a completely ordinary, boring case. George narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back in his chair.

"Lockwood never makes himself breakfast, let alone someone else," George responded. Demi scoffed and she flipped over the newspapers that were in front of her. There was nothing of importance in them as much as she had read.

"He was just being nice." Demi brushed it off. Her relationship with Anthony had been characterised by him doing little things for her. Filling up a glass of water for her to take to her room before bed, buying her new shower products if he noticed they were running low, getting her snacks or making her lunch when she had been holed up in her room tinkering all day. It was normal behaviour for the past six or so months that they had known each other.

"Did he upset you?" George asked. Demi opened the next page of the newspaper and scoffed, briefly meeting George's gaze.

"No. Nothing happened." Her tone was final but George still wanted to question her. Her gaze returned to the newspaper and then she saw it. Printed in bold letters, the exact house that they were researching. Her jaw dropped and her eyes scanned over the page before she twisted it so George could see it.

"Murder, suicide, that's our problem!" Demi exclaimed and it was only after the words escaped her lips that she realised it was a weird thing to say. She glanced around but when nobody seemed to give her odd looks, she looked back to George who was smiling. Though he looked a little horrified.

"What's the date on that?" He asked and Demi lifted up so she could read it out to him. He nodded and noted it down before he began to sort through all the newspapers that he had with him. It took a few minutes but they had suddenly amassed a pile of newspapers and information on the case and the house.

Demi was glad but also the more she read of the case the sadder it became. A husband and wife were the victims. The husband murdered his wife before he committed suicide in the house. Which likely meant that the wife was lingering, a death that was unfair and traumatic. There would be death glows in the house then.

"Lockwood's gonna be glad we researched," Demi muttered as the pair continued to flick through papers. George hummed in response.