Right Here Waiting - The Untold Story of Smosh's Favourite Bromance

Part 1: Board Game Night

(Note: All the characters in this story are based on real-life people from Smosh. The events in this story in no way reflects events that actually happened/will happen in real life)

2022: 

Ian sat down on the soft sand next to David, wrapping his right arm around him as he did so. They were at the Santa Monica beach in the evening, unblemished after all these years, and remained one of their favourite spots to just chill after a long week's worth of work. They had first met over 10 years ago, and even though they were undeniably different, they've developed some kind of bizarre friendship, and off "I'm so sorry, but they ran out of vanilla...hey bro, what's eating at you? You've seemed down all day. Are you all right?"

David picked a handful of sand and stared at it as the sand slowly trickled through his fingers. "I just can't help thinking how quickly time has moved on. I can still remember the day we first met like it was just yesterday, and so much has changed since then. Mari, Joven, Sohinki have all gotten married, I've had three kids, everything is just moving all so quickly." He glanced across the ripping water to the slowly fading light. "I just wish we all took more time to just think about where we are now, to live in the moment and not worry about what will happen next." 

Ian paused for a moment, and then smiled. "That's why we do this, bro. We're just like all people, and we need a break just like everyone else. This is why I love hanging out here so much, cause this is our slice of the world that no one else can touch. This is where we go to chill, where I can stop being the slapstick funny guy, where you can stop being the gamer dude, and just be plain old Ian and David." He leaned in closer to David, and patted him on the back. "We all carry some weight or burden on our shoulders. Just know that you can always talk to me about it if you need to."

David placed his head on Ian's shoulder. "I'm so grateful to have a friend like you, the literal and metaphorical shoulder for me to lean on. Whenever I'm feeling as if it's all too much, you always know exactly what to say." He felt Ian's cheeks grow hot against him. "Stop flattering me! I'm just doing what any good friend will do."

"Well, then you're a good friend. A very good friend indeed." 

...

2017: 

"Are you on for board game night tonight?" Ian asked as he swept up the latest Game Bang post-punishment mess. "Also, remind me to inform Sunny and Matt to have slightly less explosive punishments on this show. It seems like they always have to leave early after filming these videos." 

"What can I say?", came the muffled sound of David as he fumbled with storing all the camera equipment. "I take great pleasure in pummelling everyone in the games, and then pummelling everyone in the punishments afterwards. I do agree that it is quite annoying that we are the only people left after filmimg, though. " He folded up the tripods and stored them gently next to the camera. "And yeah, for sure. Remind me though, after spending a whole day playing games, why do we spend evenings doing the exact same thing?" 

"It's because we have ladies in our lives, who are clearly concerned about our lives, and believe that we should not spend all our time in front of the screen, even if we don't want to. What can I say? I love my gal, and I want her to be happy." He emptied his broompan into the dustbin, and then placed it back into the closet. "Also, Pam apparently has a new game that she really wants to try out, so...get ready for some surprises?" 

"Yeah, sure, whatever. You guys have corn dogs, right?" "When do we not?" "Good point."

...

Later that night: 

"Ding, dong!" "Oh, it must be Dave and Sabrina. I'll go get it." Ian excused himself from the bowl of M&Ms, and walked down the corridor to open the door to the smiles of David and Sabrina. He felt a quick pang seeing David arm wrapped around Sabrina's waist, but quickly dismissed it. 

"We left Tyler home tonight with the babysitter; he tends to get easily bored with these long board games. Plus, we didn't really want him around this bottle of wine that we brought," David said with a grin and chuckle. 

"Fair enough", Ian replied with a smile. "Joven, Kate, Mari, Peter, Olivia and James are all already here. Snacks are in the kitchen, but we're just about to start." 

Suddenly, Pam popped up next to Ian, and said, "Yeah, come on! I was just about to explain the rules." She led David and Sabrina down the hallway into the dining room as she began explaining the game "So, tonight, we will be playing a Guess-Who kind of game where one person will be the judge and ask a question, everyone else will write down their answer to that question, and the judge will try to guess who wrote what." 

"So...just like Adult Loaded Questions that we played on Game Bang." 

"No...yes...well...kind of. All the questions will be kept perfectly G." 

"Everything is at least PG-13 when I'm around," Dave declared as he swung past the banister. 

Sabrina responded with a hearty laugh, "That's the Dave I know: he's never going to be able to keep that goofiness off anywhere. Just this week, he decided to play Call of Duty in front of our son. Of course it's perfectly fine to expose a two year old to blood and gore, just like any responsible parent would."

"Hey! I can be as serious as I want." Dave replied, sticking out his tongue. Ian chuckled. David can be so ridiculous sometimes. 

As Dave and Sabrina entered the dining room, the group responded with a cheery "Hi!". Pam clapped her hands and announced, "So now that everyone's here, let's just get started, shall we? And yes, you can keep stuffing your face with snacks while we play this as long as you don't get crumbs all over the cards. And yes, I made those fruit tarts myself: I've been practicing a little in the kitchen." A gentle smattering of applause. 

"So anyway, I'll just start. Here we go, nice opening card: What is the best quality about someone in this room, and who has it?" A scribbling of pencils. 

...

"So, Lasercorn, if you didn't say Sabrina had the best quality, who did you put down?" Olivia enquired. "I mean, she is your wife. I think someone might be sleeping on the couch tonight!", she declared, to a chorus of laughter. 

"Oh. Yeah. That...was probably the smart play. I actually wrote down smile, Ian. I mean, no one can deny that the entire room lights up whenever he smiles." David said sheepishly. 

"That's funny, because I wrote Lasercorn, Energy. I mean, if you had any more energy, you'd practically light up. You have such an infectious attitude that no one could even hope to rival you," Ian responded, slightly startled. They glanced quizically at each other for a moment, and then turned away. 

"Oh wow. The Iancorn ship strikes yet again", giggled Mari. "I didn't know the love had already extended to telepathy." A chorus of laughter rose from around the table as both Ian's and David's faces flushed slightly pink. 

... 

"Good night guys! Hope you've all had a great time!" Ian called out to the guests as they left. "I'm going to go get ready to sleep now, Pam," he said as he climbed up the stairs while texting. 

"Hey LCorn, tonight's game got a little bit weird, didn't it", Ian typed, to an almost instantaneous reply, "Yh. Who knew we knew each other so well? Hey. We are really good friends after all: makes total sense." 

Ian placed his phone onto the counter. They were really good friends. There was no denying that. But in that moment, he felt that he could have gone on, poured out every wonderful quality that made David the incredible person that he is. He felt that for the brief sliver of time, there was something more than just friendship. He switched off the lamp and turned to embrace Pam. 

...

David flipped over his phone yet again. Still no reply for Ian. That's normal: he probably just went to sleep after reading it. Nothing out of the ordinary. 

Then what was this empty feeling? 

(To be continued...)