THIS LOVE | shayne topp

1.17

ELEANORE HAD BEEN BACK in LA for almost a week now. She was spending a lot of time at home, just needing some time alone after a long, busy, and exhausting weekend.

The first conversation Eleanore had when she was out of that airport was Aaliyah asking her about her and Shayne and the whole falling asleep in the same bed situation. Which, there wasn't much to talk about. They were just having a conversation and fell asleep in the same bed, that was all.

Aaliyah had walked in, waking both of them up by accident when she gasped really loud, then slamming the door shut. She never brought it up in front of anyone, which Eleanore was grateful for. Her and Shayne just laughed about it after the incident.

Right after this happened, Shayne just excused himself and went back to his own room to shower and get ready for the day. Not even the two of them brought it up, but neither of them felt awkward about it either.

Right now, Aaliyah, Eleanore, and Damien were doing finishing touches a little surprise birthday party for Shayne, which was later this week. Everyone had already been invited, and it was being hosted at the Smosh office.

Shayne already made plans to invite some people out for dinner and drinks, which was still happening, but they're doing this the day before, on his actual birthday. The three of them were in Aaliyah's living room, just finishing off their conversation.

All "invites" had been sent out, and everything was officially planned. By invites, it was just a big group text that was sent to Shayne's close friends. It was just planned on a work day, which was actually not a work day and was now just a party.

Eleanore wasn't the best at keeping secrets, so the rest of the week she was just avoiding Shayne at all costs. Any texts he sent her way, she responded back dryly or just didn't at all. Eventually he just stopped trying.

Aaliyah called her laughing one morning because Shayne was asking her why Eleanore wasn't responding, which made her feel incredibly bad. She was voluntarily ignoring him, she just didn't want to spill the surprise.

And now thinking about it, she thought that he probably thought it was because of what happened in Florida in the AirBNB. Which definitely wasn't the case.

Now, here she was, nerves rushing through her body while waiting for Shayne to arrive at the Smosh office. Aaliyah was planning to "arrive" at the same time as Shayne so they could walk in together. Aaliyah gave Eleanore the option to do it, but they didn't want Shayne to get suspicious of her just randomly showing up without her being on the call sheet.

Tommy was sitting with her, just keeping small talk but every so often just stopping to silently scroll on their phones while they waited. A lot of the cast and crew came up to her telling her it was a good idea to throw this, when in reality it was all mostly Aaliyah.

Her phone pinged loud, and she immediately checked to see a text from Aaliyah reading 'He's pulling in rn. I'm gonna start heading inside'.

Eleanore announced "He's here!". Everyone responded in their own ways, getting up to get ready for his entrance.

Aaliyah walked in first, holding the door open for her brother who walked in shortly after, immediately being shocked by all the party decorations covering their usual set up in the lounge area.

Eleanore stood up from her seat with a smile, walking over to them. Shayne looked around, then finding her gaze and smiling back, immediately relaxing his shoulders. "Surprise! Happy birthday."

Shayne chuckled, messing with the hem of his shirt. His actual birthday was today, and his dinner and drinks was tomorrow night. They still had work today though, just not too much to do. It was a lighter work day today.

"Thanks. This is really nice, El." Shayne lightly grabbed her arm just right above her elbow, and she blushed awkwardly.

She cleared her throat. "Aaliyah and Damien really planned this. I was kind of just there for moral support." Eleanore laughed.

"Well still, this is really nice." Shayne turns to Aaliyah and Damien who was walking over. "Thanks, guys."

A little longer, people started to disperse and were in their own conversations. Shayne walked back over to Eleanore with a deep breath, running a hand through his hair. Eleanore could tell he was stressed out, and immediately felt bad.

"I'm sorry, I know you don't like surprises. I don't know why we did this." Eleanore rushed through her words while she grabbed onto his arm with stress.

Shayne laughed, "It's fine. The gesture is really nice, El. I just wasn't expecting it but I really appreciate it. And I am enjoying this a lot." He placed his hand on top of hers.

She took a deep breath and nodded her head. The two of them just stood together for a while, neither of them really wanting to talk to too many people, just sitting comfortably in each others presence.

When people would come over to talk to Shayne, Eleanore just stood awkwardly leaning against the wall, scrolling on her phone to not seem like she was just following around like a lost puppy, even though she kind of was.

They had some food catered and sodas and waters out for everyone, since now it was nearing lunch time. Eleanore did end up making Shayne wear a little birthday hat on his head, which he protested until finally Eleanore just forced it onto his head.

Eleanore managed to get lots of pictures, but wasn't planning on posting them just yet. There was one picture she got of the two of them together, standing very close with their party hats on. In the picture it was obvious she was enjoying it was more than he was.

She had her arm around his shoulders, and snapped a quick selfie of the two of them. Her head was leaning lightly into his with a big smile on her face while he just pressed his lips together in a very tight smile.

She thought it was really funny, and immediately posted it on her Instagram story, tagging him.

Hours later, she ended up going back to her apartment since they did still have to work that day, and there wasn't much for her to do but just sit there. Which in reality, she was just going to do back at home anyway.

Right before she went to bed, she got a text from Shayne reading, 'Thanks for today. I know I said it a lot but I appreciate it so much, thanks again.'