You Probably Won't See It - Connor Sharpe x reader

chapter 1

"Oh my god, Yumi. Yumi, wake up!" I whispered, then more urgently, shook my best friend's shoulder. Yumi groaned, burrowing deeper into the duvet that smelled faintly of lavender and sleep. We spent most of the evening binging a terrible reality show, and now it was well past midnight.

"What?" Yumi mumbled, one eye cracking open to peer at my wide, illuminated face.

I shoved my phone almost into Yumi's nose. "Look! Look!"

Yumi squinted at the screen. "Is that... is that Connor Sharpe?" Her voice was still thick with sleep, but a sudden jolt of recognition was evident. Connor Sharpe, the internet's current golden boy, with his easy smile, sarcastic wit, and perfect hair. He was everywhere – YouTube, TikTok, Instagram

"He followed me!" I practically squeaked, pulling the phone back slightly, my thumb hovering over the notification. "Connor Sharpe just followed me back on TikTok!"

Yumi was instantly, fully awake. She sat bolt upright, knocking her head lightly against the headboard. "No way! Let me see!" She grabbed the phone, scrutinizing the profile. "It's real! Oh my god, Y/N! What are you waiting for? Text him!"

I stared at her. "Text him? Are you crazy? What do I even say?" My heart was doing a frantic little tap dance against my ribs. This was Connor Sharpe! My biggest celebrity crush, the one whose edits I saved, whose song recommendations I immediately added to my playlists.

"I don't know! 'Hey, thanks for the follow?' No, too casual. 'OMG, I'm your biggest fan! This is insane!' No, too desperate," Yumi rattled off possibilities, already swiping to the messaging icon. "Just say something cool! Something that makes you stand out! Ask him about his dog! Or his new project!"

"But what is his new project? And what if he thinks I’m weird for sliding into his DMs? He probably gets like, a million of these a day," I fretted, snatching my phone back. I stared at the blank chat screen, my thumbs hovering, paralyzed by the sheer enormity of the moment. Every word I typed felt wrong. Too eager. Too casual. Too… fan-girly.

Unbeknownst to us, miles away in a brightly lit studio, Connor Sharpe stifled a yawn as his mom handed him a cue card. His entire family – his mom, dad, Logan, Sam and Aiden  were sitting on a plush sofa, bathed in the glow of professional lighting. They were in the middle of their monthly YouTube family Q&A video, and things had taken a slightly chaotic turn.

"Alright, next question," his dad read aloud from a tablet, a mischievous grin on his face. "This one's from 'CrazyFan20012,' and it's less a question and more a dare." His dad cleared his throat dramatically. "'Connor, we dare you to go on TikTok right now and follow back five random followers. No cheating! We'll check!'"

Connor groaned good-naturedly. "Seriously? What kind of a Q&A is this?" He grabbed his phone. "Fine, fine. Five randoms. Watch me just follow five bots."

His sister giggled. "No bots! Scroll fast and just tap! That's the rules!"

Connor rolled his eyes, but complied. He opened TikTok, navigated to his follower list, and started scrolling quickly, his thumb blurring across the screen. He randomly tapped. One. Two. Three. He paused, scroll-tapped on a fourth, and then, without looking too closely at the username or profile picture, hit 'follow' on the fifth. Y/n.

"There! Done! Satisfied?" he said, tossing his phone onto the cushion beside him, completely forgetting the names of the accounts he'd just followed. "Can we move on to actual questions now? Like, 'What's your favorite color?' or 'What's the meaning of life?'"

Back in my bedroom, the phone lay heavy in my hand. Yumi was practically buzzing with ideas, but I just stared at the screen, a hundred different messages drafted and deleted in my head. I had no idea that the answer to my sudden dilemma was as simple, and as unromantic, as a random tap in a YouTube video.