PICTURE PERFECT // Jack Manifold X Reader

19

It took Ty a minute to pick up the phone.

"Heyo." He said, sounding far too cheerful for someone who had just turned your world upside down. "Did you watch it?"

"Yeah." You said, still flexing and relaxing your fingers. You wanted to do something with your hands, but you didn't quite know what - if only you'd had one of those little fidget toys to fiddle around with while you contemplated what came next. At the moment, you were leaning towards murdering the twins.

"You sound upset."

You rubbed at your temples. "Hello Dawn."

"Hello sweetheart." Dawn said. She sounded a little farther away than Ty, and far too smug.

"So?" Ty needled. "Thoughts on the subject?"

"I-" You started, only to cut yourself off with a sigh. "Why would you guys send that to me?"

"What, you didn't want to know?" Ty asked. "I thought you were having a whole thing about how you weren't sure if what you were feeling was real or if it was just you being silly - now we know! It was real! You don't have to worry about it anymore!"

You laughed aloud at that - it was quite literally the opposite now. You would have been more than happy to just move on with the rest of your life, not knowing whether or not your suspicions were proven true. Now though, you would be rolling this over and over in your mind for hours, going over every interaction that you'd had with Jack, replaying everything he'd said to you with new light.

Part of you couldn't believe that he had admitted it on stream. But you had said it yourself at lunch that you didn't watch his streams - he probably thought you would never see it. It felt a little like you were going behind his back, even though it was technically public knowledge.

"I'm going to worry about it more now, you massive dickheads." You said. "At least before, I could write it off as something that was never ever going to happen, but now I'm going to be thinking about it for the next two weeks."

The twins fell silent then, no doubt having one of those silent conversations they often had. You paid the silence no mind. Your mind was whirring away at a million miles a minute, building what-ifs in the same moment as it tore other scenarios down for being unrealistic. Maybe it was a testament to how long it had been since anyone had expressed that sort of interest in you, or maybe it was just that you would have never thought someone like Jack would find someone like you attractive, or maybe it was a reflection of just how attractive you had found him, but for some reason your mind wouldn't leave it alone.

"Well if it's going to be bothering you this much, you might as well do something about it." Dawn said offhandedly, her voice now closer to the phone.

"Like what?" You asked. What could there possibly be to do?

"You have to tell him that you saw it, obviously." Ty chimed in. "And then you can lead into the fact that you kind of felt the same way-"

"Okay, no way." You said, laughing a bit. There was no way that he had actually just suggested that.

"Well, why not? You already know he thought you were hot."

"Its still not that simple." You said. "I don't know if I'm emotionally capable of reaching out to someone who's got over a million subscribers - someone who I worked with, too - and being like 'hey I heard through the grapevine that you thought I was hot', much less then asking him out on a date."

Just the thought of it made you clench your fists into the bedsheets you were sitting on, releasing some of the nervous tension out into the range of motion.

Something rustled on the twins end of the line before Dawn spoke. "If you really don't want to do anything about it, we're not going to pressure you or anything. We just thought, since you were trying to figure out what the merch meant and everything... you might have wanted to know."

You sighed, releasing your grip on the sheets in favor of grabbing your phone and flopping backwards, letting your head hit the pillow. You honestly couldn't be mad at them for sending you that clip - you weren't upset, really. You were just trying to wrap your head around what you wanted now. Half of you was a flutter, jumping at the chance that if you played your cards right, it could actually happen. The other half was scared - of rejection, of putting yourself out there in the open, of vulnerability with someone you barely knew.

"Honestly?" You said, looking up at your ceiling.

"Honest?" Ty parroted back.

"I don't know what I want."

There was a moment of silence that stretched over the line for a moment - just the gentle sound of some rustling on the twins end of the phone call permeating the space. Your thoughts quieted for a second as you just listened to the white noise. You were really getting anxious over nothing - it was sort of a good thing, really. And, if you really didn't want to, you didn't have to do anything.

"You don't have to know." Dawn said. "We just thought you might like to have your suspicions confirmed."

You laughed a little. "I guess thank you? I thought it was just another thirst trap, but no." You paused. "I'm starting to recognize the clips the editors use now and it's all you lot's fault."

The twins laughed, and you found yourself smiling as well. Just like that, all the anxiety was gone, drained away as you listened to the twins laugh. Your suspicions were confirmed, but that didn't mean you had to take any further steps until you were ready (if you were ever ready).

Ty, still laughing, broke your train of thought. "We're going to have to get another joke if you're starting to recognize the clips..."