c r e e p • ding dong x reader

2

"Hey, if it's not too much trouble, wanna c-"

"Y/N!"

He never hesitated to call your name, did he?

Turning your body to face Matt, you saw the excited expression on his face as he sprinted to you from the other room. "I'm kind of in a conversa-" Without mulling it over, he blurted out the words, "We're all going out for food, wanna join?" before you were able to finish your own sentence. Anybody could tell that he was ecstatic now that you had become familiar with everyone, it was as if he wanted this for so long: his friends getting along with other friends. You couldn't quite understand why, but it was best not to overthink it.

Looking back at Julian, he merely shrugged and agreed to going out with everyone as well. "We'll just finish our conversation over at the restaurant.", he stated. You sighed, already feeling exhausted from the chaos earlier, but complied nonetheless.

The six of you decided to take two vehicles, one being yours and the other belonging to Ryan. Ryan took Matt, Chris, Ding Dong, and himself while you decided to take Julian with you in your own car. Once everyone was seated in their designated seats, you followed Ryan (who revealed that you would all be going to a chill pizzeria that wouldn't mind your loud joking), not knowing your own way, while Julian brought up the conversation from earlier.

"So as I was saying, before being so rudely interrupted, would you consider being on our channel next time? If not, that's totally fine as well." You gave him a quick glance as you drove, careful not to lose Ryan amidst all the traffic. "Really? That would be awesome, I'd definitely love to." He smiled and threw his hands up briefly. "Great! We'll let you know when we desire your presence." You let out a small chuckle before pulling into a parking spot adjacent from Ryan's, finally reaching your destination. It felt relieving to know that Julian was more than happy to welcome you as a close friend; he seemed legitimately excited to work with you, causing butterflies to invade your stomach. You decided it was time to allow people like them into your life. The only other people you trusted greatly were Matt, Ryan, and the Game Grumps, yet another channel that you had the privilege of collaborating with from time to time.

Unfortunately, the feeling of delightfulness didn't last long before you remembered one person who didn't seem as excited to meet you as everyone else: Ding Dong. Why was he so quiet around you? Were you too loud for him? Too annoying? Not up to his standards? It made you feel uneasy, which wasn't a good sign at all. You let things like this get to you too easily, causing you to take a downward spiral into an everlasting anxious state of mind. It felt uncomfortable for you- all of you would be at one table chatting away, except Ding Dong. Would he remain unresponsive like he did all day? It was only a matter of time before you were pulled out of your thoughts by Julian, who had begun the trip from your parked car to the entrance of the pizzeria and called your name once he noticed you were stuck in the driver's seat. Hesitant to leave, you quickened your pace once your feet hit the pavement, and the two of you continued side by side.

You felt the outdoor breeze wither away as you stepped foot into the establishment, noticing that Ryan and the others were right in front of you, already ordering a table. With everyone but Julian's back facing your direction, you took advantage of the moment and glanced over at Ding Dong, who had been chuckling at a joke that Chris or Matt probably told. Your gaze shifted to his posture, slouched ever so slightly in a relaxed way, fitting into the hoodie that seemed half a size too large. His shoulders rose up and down with every laugh that escaped his mouth, and you couldn't stop staring. Even his hair seemed incredibly soft, and barely shook when he began to turn his head in your direction.

Shit.

You caught yourself staring a split second before he had the chance to lock eyes with you, and you decided to let your eyes roam around the restaurant, since you've never stepped foot in this fucking place before. It looked more sporty than elegant- it was a pizzeria for God's sake- yet its design appealed to you more than anything fancier would. At this point you were desperately trying to distract yourself from looking at or even thinking about Ding Dong. Luck was not on your side today, for Julian had noticed the whole ordeal happen from the corner of his eye as he stood beside you. Before you knew it, Ryan and the others were already being escorted to their table, meaning you and Julian followed close behind. The table turned out to be a booth (a/n: i know none of you care but even though i require personal space a part of me has always favored booths idk), while Ryan, Matt, and Chris decided to sit on one side while you, Julian, and Ding Dong filled the other. Avoiding any interaction with the waiter, you took the seat closest to the wall, which happened to have a window displaying the indescribable sunset that quickly caught your eye. Everyone else's voices were once again drowned out as you stared blankly at the pinks, reds, and oranges swept across the sky. Julian's elbow to your right arm finally broke you out of your trance, and you were forced to turn around and compromise what toppings you would get for the pizza. Once a decision was made (do you fucking think im going to assume topping choices assumption is disgusting for a millennial such as i), you turned to the window again, only to be tapped on the shoulder this time.

"What, Julian?" You spoke a little more bitter than expected.

"I saw the way you were staring at," (he made a subtle gesture to Ding Dong) "earlier. What was up with that?"

So he DID see you! Great.

"That was nothing, I happened to be thinking about something else, no big deal." You hoped that he would quit bugging you at this point, but no dice. "Hey, I'm not saying it's weird or anything, I'm just wondering if you've got, like,  a THING for him." Although you knew the question was bound to come up with Julian's curious nature, it still came as a shock to you, especially when Ding Dong was barely a couple of feet from you, already occupied with the others. You didn't know how to respond, for you didn't know the answer to the question yourself. It wasn't a completely far-fetched thought, but it wasn't familiar to you. You saw everyone as their own, unique, significant being, so you grew to be quite picky when it came to boyfriends/girlfriends.

"I- I don't think.. so..?"

This, of course, was a terrible response, because Julian could already tell that you were indeed falling for the man known as Ding Dong. So when he exclaimed "Oh, my God, you totally are!" a little too loud for your liking, you had to "shush" him in order to prevent the others from joining the conversation. "Alright, alright, I don't know, but he just seems like a good guy, okay? Stop assuming so fucking quickly, you cunt." And so he promised to keep your "secret" safe with him and him only, and the night went on. There was indeed yelling, screaming, even more jokes and insults from before. Ding Dong seemed to socialize fine when he was interacting with only everyone else but you.

The same thing had happened earlier: no words to you, only to the rest of your friends.

This would not be the last of your mulling, there would be so much more thinking to come. You would stay awake for nights on end wondering why in the hell this man refused to talk to you. The stranger concept of it all was probably why you never even risked making any move on him. Before the two of you could talk, get to know each other, hopefully move on from being friends, you would need to do some actual fucking talking.

And talk you would.

a/n: i hope this was long enough bleh. see funny fact i rewrote this like six times because im the most indecisive person i know, so it took forever to actually publish. i really fucking like pizzerias im sorry if that was too cliche oops. anyhoo, hoping for this to actually go somewhere with multiple chapters! (im also going to put more into chapters lmao) and ill update any mistakes because im trying to make this gender neutral eee